Mower County transcript., 1907-03-06
CHATTER; ]! x.

CHAPTER X.
The Promised Land.
So far on their march the Lord had
protected them from all but, ordinary
hardships. True, some members Of
the company had suffered from q
fever which they attributed to the
clouds of dust that enveloped the col
umn of wagons when In motion. and
to the great change of temperature
from day to night Again, the most
Of them were for many weeks with
out bread, saving for the sick the lit
tie flour they had and subsistlng upon
the meat provided BY the hunters.
Before reaching Fort Laramie, too,
their stock had become weakened for
want of food; an extended drought,
the:svast herds Of buffalo, and the In
dian nres having combined to destroy
! the pasturage.
This weakness OF the. animals made
! the march for many days not more
than five or six miles q day. At the
/. last they had fed to the stock not only
] all their grain but the. most Of their
crackers and other breadstuffs. But
these were slight matters to = perse-.
cuted people gathering out of Baby
lon.
Late In June they reached tho
South Pass. For many hundred miles
they had been climbing the backbone
of the continent. Now they had
reached the summit, the dividing
ridge between streams that flowed to
the Atlantic and streams that flowed
to the Pacific. From the level prairies
they had toiled up into the fearsome
Rockies where bleak, grim crags
lowered upon them from afar,. and
distant submits glistening with snow
warned them of the perils ahead.
Through all this time of marching
the place where they should pitch
the tent of Israel was not fixed upon.
When Brigham was questioned
around the campfire at night, his
only reply was >that he would know
the site of their new home when he
saw it. And it came to be told among
the men that he had beheld In vision
tent settling down from heaven and
resting over a certain spot; and that
voice had said to him, Here is the
place where my people Israel shall
pitch their tents and spread wide the
curtains of Zion!" 1t was enough.
He would recognize the spot when
they reached 1t.
From the trappers, scouts, and
guides encountered along the road
they had received much advice as to
eligible locations; and while this was
various as to sites recommended, the
opinion had been unanimous that the
Salt Lake valley was impossible. It
was, they were told, sandy, barren,
rainless, destitute of timber and veg
citation, infested with hordes of hun
cry crickets, and roamed over by
bands of most savage Indians In
short, no colony could endure there.
They dared not, indeed, go to a
fertile land, for there. the Gentiles
would be tempted to follow them
with the old bloody end. Only in a
desert such as these men had de-
scribed the Salt Lake valley to be
could they hope for peace. From
Fort Bridger, then, their route bent to
the southwest along the rocky spurs
of the Uintah mountains; whose snow
clad tops cleaned q blush white in
the July sun.
BY the middle of July the van
guard of the company began the de-
scent Of Echo canyon -Asnarrow slit
cut straight down a thousand feet
into the red sandst0ne,-the pass
which a handful of them was to hold
few years later against q whole
army of the hated Gentiles.
The hardest part Of their journey
was still before them. Their road
had now to be made as they went,
lying wholly among the mountains.
Lofty hills, deep ravines with jagged
sides, forbiddtng canyons, all but Inn
passable streams, rock-bound- and
brush-choked up and down, through
or over all these obstacles they had
now to force passage. cutting here.
dl1g1ng there; now dOuble-lo locking the
wheels Of their wagons to prevent
their crashing down some steep In
cline; now putting Ave teams to one
load TO haul 1t up the ock-strewn
side Of some waterway
From Echo canyon they went down
the Weber. then toward East canyon, !
dozen of the bearded host going for
Wall with s,ades and axes as SAP
( pels. Sometimes they made mile IN
five hours; sometimes they we're less
lucky. But at length they were fight.
Ing their wsy up the choked East
canyon, starting fierce gray wolves
from their latrs IN the rocks ana hear.
Ing at every rod o. their hardfouRht
way the swift and unnerving song of
the eoiled rattlesnaxe. .ss5 5ss
Eight fearful miles. they toiled
through this cash ID the mountain:
a then 536 Ovor thar $88 c,,,.. =. ~ -. !.