The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-25
Dir TIL At
ST. GEORGE
BY A. F. MILES.

st. Georges first Christmas was
celebrated in the ST George valley be-
fore it had been decided definitely just
in what part of the valley the town
would be located This valley, located
on the north bank of the Rio Virgen,
was the southernmost point reached by
the party of explorers under Farley P.
Pratt, who came south in 1853, in ODE
dience to orders from President Brig
ham Young.
On the return of Pratt and his party
it was decided to Immediately settle up
and develop the country. At the De-
tober conference fifty families were
called to go and settle the st. George
valley, the town to be named in honor
of Apostle George A. Smith. Among
those chosen to establish this settle
ment, which was to be headquarters
for this western cotton district (Which
was now become the main industry of
this section), were: Apostle Erastus
Snow, Angus M. Cannon, David H.
Cannon, Israel WINS, William Carter,
the man who plowed the first furrow
in Utah: George Jarvis, Jabez Wood
",
father of Judge McCarty; James S.
Black and Robert Gardner BY De-
cember about thirty-five of these fam
lilies had arrived in the valley, and
encdmped in the eastern part of the
valley, on what is now the adobe yard
They came with all sorts of outfits,
SUCH as they had been able to procure
from the meagre resources at their dis
posal, making the journey of 300 miles
with OK teams, enduring hardshipS and
privations. which, it is safe to say the
Pilgrim Fathers never equaled or
dreamed of in their voyage in the tight
little Mayfower.
BRAN BREAD FOR DINNER.
Christmas day found the hard-work-
ing colonists happy, but poor, living in
wagons, only a few having tents. Food
was none too plentiful among them.
Many were already out of flour, and
were compelled to celebrate the day of
feasting with such humble fare as bran
bread. 1t was under such conditions
as these-houseless, homeless, when all
Christendom were feasting and making
merry-that George NJ. Cannon, now
cashier of lions Savings Bank & Trust
company Of Salt Lake City, was born,
thus obtaining the distinction of being
CllC III ~ CIillQ DOIll III TIE Ol. NT6OISG
valley. A piece of ground was cleared
off and leveled for a dancing floor. The
people gathered together, and a jolly
good time followed.
Angus NJ. Cannon sang the Mar
seillaise." and dancing was the order
of the day. But, as if the needy, lily
provided-for pilgrims had not already
endured enough OF hardship and mis-
cry, the day, hitherto fine and propi-
tious, turned stormy, and a sleeting
rain fell; and the beautiful dancing
floor, which a few minutes before, had
given the enthusiastic devotees of
Terpsichore most convincing evidence
of it's solid and enduring qualities in
the shape of Jared and aching limbs
and bruised and battered bunions,
now became a mass of mud, knee
deep; and, extricating themselves as
best they could from the bog of adj
hesive clay soil, which chung to their
feet in huge fakes, leaving tracks be-
hind as though a herd of elephants had
walked through the camp, they betook
themselves to whatever shelter they
had or could improvise, and spent the
rest of the day in the dampest kind OF
style, and in this wretched condition
they spent the next forty days, the
rain scarcely slackening.