The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-04

ert, the persistent sagebrush, and tn
! uncovered rattlesnake. No housewife
mad ever shut out its summer noon, o
! prepared the evening meal for return
ing husbandman. 1t was, in all re
spects, as it had been knownsfor years
! a part of the Great American desert
what could Brigham expect to do here
Here, again. as in the case OF the Pill
grims of the Mayfiower comes in the
! motive power of faith, the conviction
/ that that limitiess POKER called Goo
/ was behind him, leading and directine
MIN, and that all must be well. becaus,
ne seemed to have directed the step:
ana marchings oc his people to this
SPOT 1nere was nothing on all the
surface OF the valley to indicate thai
thousands Of people could live here,
ana yet here the stop was made. as II
the pioneer wave, having rolled so far
mad spent its momentum. and the half
must come Derforce
The people were ZOO miles from sup
plles- there were no farms. The dry,
baked ground gave no signs of fruitful
ness Bridger. when he heard of the
stop IN this valley, said he would give
a pound of gold for each pound of
wheat and corn the deludsd Mormons
could raise. He died bankrupt long ago.
Inc story of Utah from 1S47 for Is
years, is the truth, stranger than ro-
nance, of the wonderful work of Brig
nam Young as a leader of men. He
had undertaken to find homes for.
thousands of men, women and children.
Before him was a desert No Amer
lcan had seen an irrigating ditch. Yet
not one foot OF this desert would pro-
duce a crop without water. Brigham
was wholly practical. He said: Take
the wafer out of the streams and make
II serve as rain. The Mormons, with
a mil,
hrst. American system of irrigation.
Today there are half a million acres
under irrigation in Utah, and it has all
been done under the counsel of Brig
nam Young. When the craze of Cali
fornia gold was carrying thousands
through Salt Lake and the Mormons
were anxious to go, Brigham said: No.
on are here as Latter-day Saints.
our first duty is to make this a home
Tor thousands who are coming. Make
THIS land productive and the Saints
can live; and when prosperity is Sc
cured you can find plenty of gold and
silver right here. at your doors. 1t
was his unfolding will that held the
people together, saved Mormonism and
made Utah what she is today. Of
course. the mining interests, conducted
by Gentiles, have aided in the develop
meat OF Utah, hut the miners would
desert had there not been thousands
Of Mormons here digging away at the
soil for something to eat.
Utah is now glory among the states
and all her people are justly proud of
her. But the man who made her great
was the Columbus of America, now
sleeping, as the other slept, under the
piled odium of a nation. But, as in /
he rolling years. it became known /
hat Columbus was one of the few
are, grand souls of the world SO will /
t become known that Brigham Young.
whether right or wrong in his faith.
vas also a brother-soul of every great
me who has lifted higher the vision of
humanity and made perseverance hon
'rable. No monument erected to
Brigham can ever be grand enough to
clipse the glory that shines upon him
rom the success Of his sublime work
S the greatest of American citizens.
CHARLES ELLIS.