Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-06-07
PAHVANT VALLEY.
Developments at and Near the Town
Of DeSeret,
"ElsInore and .Neversweai,'
'suckertoWn' and DeseseL

named will detect the sarcasm il
the comparison drawn.
1be history Of Deseret, like tina
Of scores Of other Mormon" settle
ments, has been n perpetual struggl
with natural obstacles, consisting o
extreme fluctuations In the volume
OF water in the SEWER River, n loos
soil causing dam building to be no
only expensive but uncertain ant
oft-times disastrous. From its frs
settlement until some four year
ago Desert has been NJ
arena wherein the unfiinchins
courage and perseverance Of the av
erage ''NIormon'' settlers have beer
pitted against great natural obstacle:
and forbiddiug Surroundings. Twice
deserted on account Of bursted dams,
its generous soil, with an abundance
| Of water, has caused n return.
-Four yelrs ago, right on the heel:
Of a most disastrous season, the
settlers rallied, and with the assist.
auce rendered by the now COnfis-
Gated Church fund (which furnished
hpead to the tOilers, who had but
scant food and clothing in mid
winter built 4 canal twenty-fOur
feet wide on the bottom, over four
miles long, and nearly all in heavy
cutting. They thus solved the
water problem in 4 permanent
manner, and gave a stability TO the
place which invites settlers 10 perma-
nent homes.
That Deseret was net the third
time deserted is chiefly due to the
assistance OF Church funds, which
fact, with many other examples,
stands Us an enduring REPUTATION
against the allegation that the
Church fund was being used for
unworthy purposes, as also against
the wilful Ieryersity Of those who
nave been chiefly instrumental in
its coufislation.
Deseret Is situated In the Pahvant
Valley, midway between the east
and west ranges Of mountains, the
nearest Of which Is about twenty
miles distant. The surrounding
country-which iH the remote Yast
was "A small part u the Shiny bel Of
Lake Bynncvilie-is fiat and I'M
broken, save here and there where
sand dunes and upliitrd plltcaus Of
volcanic rock relieve the mOnOtOny
Of the landscape. Imagine this wild
plain covered with greasewOOd-a
shrub generally conceded to be both
useful and ornamental in the all
senCe OF any other vegetatiOn-the
SEWER River winding IFS way across
the valley 10 the Dead Sea Of Mil
lard County, with occasionally few
{ atches Uf willows and meadow
along the river bottom, and 4 good
Idea Of Deseret scenery will have
been obtained.
Making our unfinished meeting
house, which stands near the north
bank Of the river, the initial point
for description, It viii be about one
mile east 10 Oasis, 4 station on the
o. :. & L. y. Railway. East Of
that point the farming land i taken
for two or three mites. Three or
four miles south and southwest are
ranches and stock farms.
the course Of the river
the west, ranches and stock
farms can be made for a distance OF
ri least fifteen miles.
The principal part Of the farming
land, however. lies north ana north /.
west, the northern liInit being I
about three miles distant anu I.
marked by a branch Of our canal. /
To the northwest = fine tract Of land .
stretches out in an almost unbruken I
plain for n distance Of from fifteen I
- twenty miles. aai nearly all sus- /
'eptible Of profitable tillage.
Six miles north and three miles .
west we came upon 4 scene which. /
n it, strange contrast with those Of /
ninety days since, fills Us with adj
for the pluck ami enter
rise which'have, within 20 short
imC, transformed one thousand
cres Of greasewOOi desert into "A
,reen stIet IA ofgrOwing grain, Civ
ng ample promise Of an abundant
eturn. Its known rs the Coop,
arm, with Lehi Pratt, OF your city,
5 its superintendent. The CO-Op,
arm is owned 10y the salt Lake aud
)eseTet Irrigation and Manufac-
uring Company. This company
work last fall on a canal
ighiecn feet wide on the bottom aud
pwards Of twenty feet deep al its
Intersection with the upper portion
( the Dessert Canal, and ran il
everal miles in a westerly direction
D the surface, where, for many miles
rest and north, the precious fluid
an lie spread and thousands Of
cres Of choice land made 10 yield /
hundant crops Of grain and alfalfa.
Last. but by no means least. are
he enicrprising efforts Of Messrs.
RATS and Jensen at LaketOwn. or
lngersoll," about twelve miles be-
Nv here. on the river. Mr.. Crafts,
n old-timc resident OF Laket0wn,
nd several Others last year located
nd improved several natural lakes,
18th n view Of storing water for ir-
cation purposes. These lakes
over an area Of from sixteen to ,
square miles Of surface,
'hich by a reasonable outlay OF Ia .
Or can be made 10 hold four feet :
water available Tor irrigation.
hey are now well stocked with
lrp. Let any one interested figure Z
NJ .he importance Of this enter
rise. \ canal from the lowest lake
nearly completed 10 a fine body r.
land lying north and west, where
20 hundred acres Of oats and alfalfa !
Il going in with n rush. This j. 4
.erely test; next year viii witness
revolution for Laketown.
Those who saw the Sewer River !
y below its numerous tributaries in +,
lie months Of July and August NAV
nile at the idea Of such Il large
'relge being cultivated 50 far down y
e river; but II has been demon !
rated that by seeding in NOvem- :
r, flooding the land, and letting il !
seze up during the winter, grain
Ill be in advance Of the drUuth 10y ]
e time the spring floods are over, n
ais il usual with Us from the Goth e
she last Of June, or later. There / a
a body OF water at least sixty feet 4
Ide aud twelve feetdeep now flow I
z by here, with a f1ur-mile cur 4
nt, and during many years Obser- II
ton II has never been less than I,
or eight feet deep az this season. IN
us wealth will be used in the I'M !,
sdiate future sufficiently for do OF
site purposes. =
We now number nearly 1900 %
as \ good shoemaker could fiud n,
ady employment and would be n
.lcomed, and hundreds OF those 81
N the ''bOUm" towns Of North "
! Utah, while finding rest here a
m real estate agents, may meet er
IN prosperity If they will but put II
.ir shoulder TO the wheel;'' but L
y must not expect to move in II
upper crust'' Of Dcseret soci- q,
unless they are "rustlers." in
GUN. II
)EsERET, June 18th, 1890. nj
The Pound Sterling" q
d Won tsnusEr vt-b,- 81. E.1s-l / II