Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-09-17
GREELEY's LETTERs--xxII.
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY.
SALT LAKE AND ITS ENvIRoNs.

SALT LAKE AND ITS ENVIRoNs.
SALT LAKE Cry, July lS, 1859.
A party of us visited the Lake on Sat-
urday. 1t is not visible from this city, tho
it must be from the mountains which rise
directly north of it, and more / remotely on
all sides /; but Antelope, Stansbury, and
perhaps other islands in the Lake, being
mainly covered by high, rugged bills or
mountains, are in plain sight from every
part of the Valley The best of these
islands is possessed by "the Church" (Mor-
mon) as herd ground or rasche for its
numerous cattle, aud is probably the best
tract for that purpose in the whole Terrific
ry. That portion of the Lake between it
and the Valley is so shallow that cattle
may at most seasons be safely driven over
to the island, while it is so deep (between
three and four feet) that none will stray
back again, and it would be difficult and
dangerous to steal cattle thence in the
night, when that business is mainly carried
on. So the Church has large and capital
pasture, and her cattle multiply and wax
fat at theleast possible expense The best
canon for wood near this city is likewise
owned by "the Church"-h0a0 owned can't
pretend to say-but whoever draws wood
from it must deposit every third load in the
Church's capaclous yard. These are but
specimens of the management whereby, tho
the Saints are generally poor-often quite
poor, so that Saint who has three wives
can sometimes hardly afford to keep two
beds-yet "the Church" has a comfortable
allowonce of treasures laid up on earth
And her leading Apostles and dignitaries
also, by curious coincidence, seem to be
in thriving circumstances 1t looks to me
as though neither they nor the Church
could afford to have the world burned up
for while yet.
Crossing, just west of the city, the Jor-
dan (which drains the fresh waters Of Lake
Utah into Salt Lake, and is large, slug
gish creek), we are at once out of the
reach of irrigation from the northern hills
the river intercepting all streams from
that quarter-and are once more on parch-
ed clay plain covered mainly with our old
aequaintances, Sagebush and Greasewood;
though there are wet springy tracts, es-
pecally toward the southern mountains and
near the Lake, which produce rank, coarse
grass. Yet this seeming desert has natu-
rally better soil than the hard, pebby
gravel on which the city stands, aud which
irrigation has converted into bounteous
gardens and orchards. rejoice to perceive
that dam over the Jordan is in progress,
whereby considerable section of the val
ley of that river Gao miles long by an aver
age of 20 broad) is TO be irrigated, There
are serious obstacles to the full success Of
this enterprise in the inequality of the
plain, which is gouged aud cut up by nu.
merous (now dry) water-courses; but. il
this project is well engineered, it win double
the productive capacity of this valley, aud
l earnestly trust it may be, In the absence
of judicious and systeme.do irrigation, there
are far too many cattle aud sheep on this
great common, as the Gaant look Of most
Of the cattle abundaptly testifes. Water