The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-05-05
. IN THE PROMISED LAND
A YOuag Lady Describes her Trip
to Salt Lake City.
(Saidee F. Kinnear in the Baltimore
Au,arF0au
: ++++4+4+++++++++*T

American.)
But now the scenery changes once
more. We are about to enter the most
beautiful valley OF the United States
the land Of Canaan, as the Mormons
called IL when they saw it for the FIST
time, after Journeying YEARLY over the
desert. Anyone seeing Il as I saw it
that day would not be surprised that
the MOrmons thought il the Promised
Land. AS far as the eye could reach
were lovely fields-not the arid wastes
Of Colorado. but we'll watered farms
that had a natural healthy appearance,
and not the forced irrigated aspect that
Colorado cultivated fields have On
one side were the Wasatch mountains
and on the other side were the Sierra
! Nevada. These were covered with
snow. Oh, for the pen of a Brann or
the brush OF a Bierstadt TO picture
the beauty of the Salt Lake valley!
Heavy clouds hung below the SUBMITS
. Of the mountains, and the snowy peaks
/. cleaned above them, At times we
could see nothing Of the lower portion
OF the mountains at all, only the daz-
cling wilderness of the peaks, like beau
tiful emblems Of goodness pointing men
I TO higher things. To the left lay Utah
lake, Of fresh water, rejecting the
mountains. This lake is fourteen miles
wide and twenty-fOur miles long, and
/ is mistaken by most tourists for the
/ Great salt lake itself. Imagine the
Mormons coming upon this most beau
/ tiful spot. after travelling, fOotsore and
I weary pushing their handcarts from
/ the Missouri river and over that cruel
desert.
To me the land of the Mormons is a
most romantic and interesting place.
From the time we left the Wasatch
mountains the valley is one succession
of villages showing plainly the hand Of
care. Everything is most beautifully
I kept, and the lanes and roads are stud
/ ded with graceful Lombardy poplars.
The meadows are like a dream OF beau
/ ~, and one can easily imagine how
Brigham Young drew around him the
tendrIs of the peoples affections when
! they saw verified the vision which he
/ had declared to them had come from
/ heaven.
Salt Lake City is so different from
anything I had ever seen that it made
/ a very strong impression on me. Like
I other inexperienced fasteners, I had
( a vague mental picture OF what a Nor
I mon was like One does not outgrow
/ the idea that a Mormon is a very bad
man, with more than one wife. The
I first thing that impresSes a stranger
| is the old G ppearance of the city, in
/ striking contrast TO the west generally.
| Another thing that is impressive is the
number of doors to each house, even
/ the humblest. OF course, these are for
/ the different wives with which the
master might be blessed.
q 81 q
! The first thing to see was the Great
/ Salt lake. Impatient to view this Won
/ derful body Of water, we took the train
TO Saltair at our first opportunity. Here
/ is an immense pavilion with 40 bath
houses and a large dancing hall 200 feet
/ long. We climbed two flights of stairs,
! walked over to the edge Of the pavilion,
and there before US lay the Great Salt
/ lake. Though the wind was blowing,
this eZpanse Of water moved in gentle
/ ripples. This is because il is so heavily
! freighted with salt, being p per cent
salt, while the ocean contains only 3
/ per cent. one cannot help feeling awed
as he stands looking at Ahis immense
/ lake stretching away in the distance
| Ike an ocean. Antelope mountain
/ stands out in the lake, a rugged island.
/ As far as the eye can reach, this inland
/ sea moves heavily and sluggishly like
] syrup. On every side are the noun
/ tains, silent and beautiful In summer
/ time the air rings with the merry
/ laughter Of the bathers, the sound OF
/ the music and the shutting of the feet
\ of the dancers. But it seemed 10 me
I that the majestic silence Of nature,
/ when nothing was heard but the gentle
/ swish of the water against the pavilion,
was more in keeping with this great
! water mystery.
This lake is ninety miles long and
/ thirty-tive miles wide. 1t is impossible
! for a person to sink in this water, but
( bathers find great difficulty at first in
! learning to float level, as there is
! decided tendency for the feet to fly
/ upward, submerging the head But
/ after once learning the art it is easy
! enough to float. and one can even lie
/ floating comfortably and enjoy reading
/ The salt Lake Herald When one
comes out of a bath in this lake there
/ is a thick layer Of salt all over the
body, which has to be scraped of be-
fore dressing.
( The next day we started out to see
the famous Bee Hive and Lion houses.
! The former is a spacious dwelling, with
a bee hive on top. The Lion house adj
I joins 1t, and is so called because a
I ferociOus looking stone lion guards its
l portals. These were the dwellings Of
4 Brigham Young. and counted as
/ many as nineteen doors in the Lion
/ house. AS 1 stood there I wondered. as
! / had many times before, if Brigham
/ Young was a clever rogue or a sincere
man, worthy of the love Of so many
/ people. That he was a clever man is
/ plainly seen when one visits Salt Lake
I City. Whether he was a rascal or not
is a question hard to answer. Ruled
4 by his hand as by a rod Of iron, they
J still revere his memory and speak of
/ him with great affection Brought By
1 him from their native lands across a
/ desert, where they endured hardships
I known only to God himself, guided by
/ him in every movement they made,
( they Obeyed and loved him. Truly. we
must admire him for the force of his
( character, il we cannot swallow his
dogmas.
! Across the street from the Beehive
/ house stands Amelia's palace. built for
his youngest and favorite wife This
is large and beautiful place, and is
! now occupied by a private family
Amelia is the only one of YOung's wives
/ who is still living and she makes her
1 home now in salt Lake City.
Our next visit was 10 the old tithlng
/ house. Here the Mormons used TO
! throng, bringing with them one-tenth
! of all their earthly possessions. Horses.
/ cattle, fruits, vegetables and every
/ product Of the farm found its way into
| this old yard. to bear witness TO the
sincerity OF the MOrmOn's religion. It
l Is said that Brigham Young kept a
/ strict account Of the finances Of all his
flock, and when he saw that the Lord
had especially prOspered some brother,
I he was quietly summoned to the pres
/ ence of the president and told to take
I another wife. and the mandate was al
/ ways Obeyed.