Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-05-17
LETTER FROM SALT LAKE.

May Stni 1000 }
ED. Ngws.-Dear Sir: A week ago
gave you as well as I was able, a descrip
ton Of this city, and now, agreeable t
promise, 1 will sketch to you the charac
ter Of the people who inhabit it. The!
are composed of two classes-Mormon'
and Gentiles. The line Of demarcatior
between them is clearly defined and cast
never more completely separated a people
than religious beliefs separate them here,
The GENTLE portion Of the community
includes all sects and all conditions moi
Mormon. Here the Jew is Gentle and
the white and the black, the christian and
the pagan, learned and unlearned, who do
not see in Brigham Young prophet and
O reyelator, or who lave not faith in his
power to perform miracles or fail to recog.
nIze in him the younger brother of Jesus
Christ"-are oil placed under the same
ban Of prescription, refused fellowship
with the Saints, and treated as interlopers
and trespassers, as far as the Mormons have
power to treat them 80. The Gentles
number about one-tenth Of the population
of the city-not reckoning the soldiers at
Camp Douglas-of which not more than
one-half are Government residents. They
carry on q much greater proportion OF the
business, however, and the heaviest
freighteis and w~ealthiest merchants OF
Salt Lake are Gentiles. Most Of them are
Americans. The foreigners by allegiance,
or BY birth, who belong to that class, are
mostly German Jews, who carry on all
sorts Of mercantile operations. from Yend-
ing peanuts up to whole-saling to theex-
tent of hundreds Of thousands Of dollars
per year. AS n great class, the Gentiles
are sober, industrious and enterprising.
They are the ones who devise and put
into execution nearly all the schemes OF
improvement. who prospect the mines,
and dig the coal and the Gentiles are
the people who will raise this Territory
to the position she deserves by the devel-
opment of her natural resources and the
extension Of her trade.
Two months ago the lst Michigan Vet.
Cavalry was mustered u Of service here,
and for many days afterwards knots Of
the boys who had so calamity wore the
blue were to be seen on the streets at any
hour Of the day. Few remain here now.
Full one-half Of them are prospecting the
hills and gulches or delving in the mines
Of Utah, Nevada or Montana, and nearly
all the rest have returned home to the
burr-oak plains of Michigan.
About $50 troops are still retained in
service in this Territory, perhaps 200 Of
them are from Nevada, 200 from Cali
fornia. and the remainder made up OF a
part Of the 9Th U. S. regulars. About
400 Of these troops are now stationed at
Camp Douglas; $50 are 800 miles hence,
at the Ruby Valley mines. where they
have been stationed, 10 protect the miners
in their endeavors to open up the mines.
for the past year. 1t is a promising dis.
tric,, and opening its wealth to the world
is the last thing the Mormons would per-
nit to be done, if it were in their power
to prevent; as the fact Of there being rich
mines in the near vicinity Of their settle
is the surest lever that could be
used to overthrow their doctrine Of polig-
and blood atonement.
But I find I am DEPRESSING from the line
| proposed to follow. The Gentle portion
Of the community, l have stated, were,
soldiers, miners, merchants, freight
ers, and their assistants. The Mormons
do a fair share Of freighting, have q few
extensive mercantile establishments, but
the great mass Of them are engaged in az
riculture, various mechanical trades, and
small retail business. They have posses
sion Of the soil. and for neither love nor
money can the Gentiles get it from them.
All act together, and under the direction
of their chief ruler, Brigham. They are
without exception reticent on the
subject Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS acting
on the principle OF "tell no stories and
YOU tell no les" always address each
other as brother and sister, and never speak
of Brigham but in the most reverential
manner, and always as "the President"
How. Americans could be so obsequious
as are the Mormons to their Councillors,
Apostles, Bishops, Elders, and what not,
is usually the subject of wonderment to
the newcomer; but it is easily explained.
Fully three-fourths Of the Mormons are
foreigners by birth, and half Of them now
are by allegiance. The great majority OF
the foreign born are from the lowest class
of English, Scotch and Danish peasantry,
illiterate, and capable Of going only in
leading strings all their lives. Such men
wher blinded by all the bigotry Of reli-
gious fanaticism can be keptin most perfect
command. And so the Mormons are.
They pay their fittings regularly ; they
attend the Tabernacle as constantly as the
Sunday ; take an additional wife at
the instance of the President or their
Bishop, and never think Of questioning
authority. No one looks into the records
of the tithing Office to see whence comes
or whittier goes the money, the butter, the
potatoes, or the carrots. And, unworthy
to enter into the sacred precincts Of happy
Heaven, would be he who should let the
least suspicion rise in his mind that his
superiors in the priesthood, much more
the head Of the Church Of Latter Day
Saints, were making un~warrantable use OF
that which had been consecrated to the
Lord.
At some not distant time I will give you
items more particularly concerning us
rael." BOISE.
BrLLIoN.-E Edwards s. Wiegand, Gold
Hill. received this morning, for melting