The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-01-26
7 II M y y II
THE FLOWER OF UTAH

shores Of the MISSISSIPPI 10 he western
slopes of the Rocky mountains they
had struggled on with constGncy
almost unparalleled in history. The
savage man, and the savage beast,
hunger thirst, fatigue and disease
every impediment which nature could
place in the way, had all been over
come with Anglo-SINon tenacity. Yet
the long journey and the accumulated
terrorS had shaken the hearts of the
EtouteSt among them. There was not
one who did not sink upon his knees in
heartfelt prayer when they saw the
broad valley of Utah bathed in the
sunlight beneath them, and learned
from the lips OF their leader that this
was the promised land, and that these
virgin acres were to be theirs forever
more.
Young speedily proved himself 10 be
Skilliul administrator as well rs
resolute chief Maps were drawn and
charts prepared, in which the future
city was sketehed our. All around
farms were appOrtioued and allotted in
proportion to the standing Of each iu-
diy;dual The trgGesmau was put 10
his trade and the artisan 70 his calling,
In the town streets and squares sprang
mp as ii by yIuagic. In the country there
was draining and hedging, planting
and clearing, until the next summer
saw the whole country golden with
the wheat crop. Everything pros
pered in the strange settlement.
Above all, the great teuple which they
had erected in The center Of the city
grew ever taller and taller. From the
first blush of dawn until the closing
Of the twilight, the clatter of the
hammer and the rasp Of the saw We're
never absent from the monument
which the immigrants erected to Him
who had led them safe through many
dangers.
The two caStaways, John Ferrier and
the little girl who had shared his for
tunes and had been adopted as his
daughter, accompanied the NOrmous
10 the end Of their pilgrimage. Little
Lucy Ferrier was borne along pleas
antly enough in Elder Stangerson
wagon, = retreat which she shared
with the M0rmous three wives and
with his son. 4 headstEoug forward
boy Of twelve. Having rallied, with
the elasticity Of childhood, from the
shock caused by her mothers death,
she soon became q pet with the women,
and recouciIed herself to this Eew life
in her moving capvas-cOgered home.
In the meantime, Ferrier, having re-
covered from his priyatious distin-
guished himself as a useful guide and
an interchangeable hunter. So rapidly
did he gain the esteem Of his new
companions that when they reached
the end Of their wanderiugs it was
unanimously agreed that he should be
provided with as large and as fertile q
tract Of land as any Of the settlers,
with the exception Of Young himself,
and Of Stangerson, KimbalI. Johnston
aad Drebber, who were the four princi-
pal elders.
On the farm thus acquired John Fer
rier built himself substantial log
house, which received SO many addi-
tiOns in succeeding years that it grew
into a roomy villa. He was u man Of q
practical turn Of mind, keen in his
dealings and skiIlful with his hands.
His iron constitution enabled him to
work morning and evening at impro7-
ing and tilling his lands Hence it
came about that his farm and all that
belonged 10 him prospered exceeding
ly. In three years he was better off
than his neighbors, in six he was well
10 do, in nine he was rich, and in
twelve there were not half a dozen men
in the whole of Salt Lake City who
could compare with him. From the
great inland sea to the distant Tah-
satch mountains there was no name
better known than that Of John Fer.
rier
There was one way, and only one, in
which be offended the susceptibilities
Of his coreligionists. No argument or
persuasion could ever induce him TO
set up a female establishment after
the manner Of his companions He
never gave reasons for this persistent
refusal, bat contented himself BY reso-
.lutely adhering 10 his determination.
There were some who accused him Of
.lukewarnness in his adopted religion,
and others who put it down TO greed OF
wealth and reluctance to incur ex-
pense. Others, again, spoke OF some
early love affair, and Of fair-haired
girl who had pined away on the shores
of the Atlantic. Whatever the reason,
Ierrier remained strictly celibate. In
every other respect he conforIned to
the religion Of the young settlement
and gained the name Of being an or.
thodox and straight-wallsing man.
Lucy Ferrier grew up within the log
house, and assisted her adopted father
in all his undertakings The keen air
of the mountains and the basamic
.odor Of the pine trees took the place Of
nurse and mother to the young girl.
As year succeeded TO year she grew
taller and stronger, her cheek more
Iruddy and her step more elastic. Many
II wayfarer upon the high-road which
ran by Terriers farm felt long-foryot-
ten thoughts revive in his mind as he
watched her 1.-THE, girlish figure trip
ping through the wheat fields, or met
her mounted upon her fathers mus
tang, and managing it with all the
ease and grace of true child of the
west So the bud blossomed into
flower, and the years which saw her
father the richest of farmers left her
as fair specimen Of American girl
hood as could be found on the whole
Pacific slope.
1t was not the father, however, who
first discovered that the child had de-
veloped into the woman. IL seldom is
In such cases. That mysterious change
is too subtle and too gradual to be
measured by dates. Least of all does
the maiden herself know it until the
iona ~ a voice or fhe fc1,nb nf a hand