The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-26

| George A. Smith was the president OF
the company, Joseph Horne the scout
or guide, Thomas S. Wheeler the In
dian interpreter, and John D. Lee,
afterwards OF Mountain Meadow mas
/ sacre notoriety, the clerk. Arson Call
was the captain of the first so wagons
and Simon Baker captain of the sec
| ond 90 wagons. Provo had been an
pointed as the rendezvous for all who
desired to participate in the expedi-
ton, and on December 10, 1850, the
journey to this country began. On
the 18th, four days after starting, a
military organization was effected, AMI
Apostle George A. Smith was elected
major. There were 167 persons in the
company, and of the number 119 were
males over the age of Is, 80 were fe-
| males over the age of IA, and IS were
children under the age of IA. The
outfit consisted of 101 wagons, 2 car
riages, 1868 oxen, 100 horses, u mules,
LAG COWS, 20 beef cattle, IA dogs, Is
cats and III chickens. The supplies
consisted of flour, wheat, corn, oats,
barley, potatoes. groceries and tools
IN ample quantities, and the armament
consisted of brass cannon, 129 guns,
81 pistols and 8 swords.
THE PROMISED LAND"
On January 10, 1851, after a not very
eventful journey, the pioneers sighted
Little Salt Lake valley. In the Jour-
! nal of the expedition, copy of which
is in the possession of William c..
Mitchell of Farowan, and from which
l quote, the event is recorded in the
following language: THE cannon was
fired and "a stands of small arms, fol-
lowed by three cheers for Iron county
and three cheers for the governor Of
Deseret."
On January Is the expedition reached
Center Creek, as it was then chris
tened, and on the land which it wat-
cred was established Parowan. In
those days the people of Utah were not
laggards. The men were at once set
to work building fort and a meeting
house, the land was surveyed and each
person was allotted for building pur-
poses lot not exceeding two rods
in width. The houses were to be the
outer walls Of the fort, and every
space intervening between the houses
was walled up.
On January 16 the county Of Iron was
organized. A convention was also held
and nominations for the county offices
were made. The next day the cleo
ton was held. One hundred and sew
enteen votes were polled, and the lucky
nominees Were: jefferson Hunt, repre-.
sentative; Elisha H. Groves and Ed
son Whipple, associate judges; James
A. Little, sheriff; James Lewis, re-
corder; Joseph Horne, assessor and
collector; Almon l.. Fulmer, supervisor
of roads; magistrates, Arson Call, ].
D. Lee and Tarlton Lewis. The cleo
ton was celebrated with a banquet,
at which 40 persons participated. On
the 18th Representative Hunt and
party departed for Salt Lake City, and
on the 22nd the first articles manufac-
tured in Iron county were made. They
were two grindstones, and the arti-
sans were William Adams, father of
the present bishop of Parowan, Charles
Adams, and another.
DISSATISFIED SETTLERS CoUN-
SELED.
Until April 10 the pioneers worked
as only the early settlers of Utah could,
and soon had a most presentable town.
without any event of note transpir-
ing, but on that day Apostles Farley
P. Pratt and Charles c. Rich arrived.
One month later President Brigham
Young and company, among whom was
MILFORD Woodruff, visited the settle
ment- Many of the settlers, it seems,
had become dissa tisfied with their sur
roundings, and some had left, while
others were preparing to follow their
example But those remaining were
counseled with and the result of ac-
cepting that counsel in the spirit in
which it was rendered is to be seen
in the towns of Paragoonah, Summit,
Cedar City Kanarra, and the other set
Elements which dot the valley, all
spring, so to speak, from the loins of
Parowan, the citizens of which have
always fostered and cared for them
until out of their swaddling clothes.
On August IA of the same year an
other election was held. John A. Bern
hisel received the unanimous vote of
the settlement for delegate to con-
gress. George A. Smith was elected
to the legislative council, and Elisha
H. Groves 10 the house of represent
atives.
Among the early settlers We're Will
lam Empey, father of Nelson C. EN-
pey of Salt Lake City, and Chandler
Holbrool1, father of Lafayette Hol-
brook, Republican candidate for con-
gress.
ONLY A FEW OF THEM LEFT.
In time many of the early settlers
removed to more favored spots in
Utah, and because of these removals
and deaths today only seven of the
original pioneers remain in the county.
They are z. 3. Decker, John H. Hen
derson, R. E. Miller, Sidney r. Burton
and William c. Mitchell of Parowan.
John Topham of Paragoonah, and
George Wood of Cedar City.
Volumes could be written relating to
the experiences of the early settlers
For years all the males who. could
handle a gun were members of the
militia. They were known as minute
men. To the fields they carried their
arms; they never Journeyed even a
few miles from the settlements unless
they went in companies of tens. Every
house was a fortress, every man
soldier. Indians were constantly raid
ing; numerous skirmishes We're had
with them, and the settlers cattle were
often driven off. But very little blood
was shed, for then as now the resi-
dents Of Iron county are men of peace
and harmony. The valley is like one
vast brotherhood, where everyone is
trying to live up to the golden rule,
and where open-handed hospitality is
extended to the stranger, no matter
what his creed.
HOME INDUSTRY is FOSTERED.
Parowar and Cedar City each have
their hives of industry, where hides
are tanned into leather with canaigre
root; where the leather thus obtained
is made into shoes; where furniture,
not costly but substantial, is made.
For such a small population Iron
county has an admirable school sys-
tenn; Parowan has a magnificent So
cial hall and numerous well-built resi-
dences. Cedar City has tabernacle
and is now constructing modern so
eial hail. The old social hall, erected
in 1851, stands on the adjoining lot In
the Indian days it stood in the fort
grounds, located one mile west of the