Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-07-14
UTAH
BY J. II, Paul.

~ GATHERING travel to California
ess> and oregon commenced in 1916.
but it became an unparalleled
movement in 1919. The Mormon
battalion, enlisted for the Mexican war.
came into California from the south
and was there mustered out. Some of
the battalion men discovered the first
gold in the sands of California
stream.
THE DAYS OF 40.
Soon the gold rush began. National
hard times prevailed. Ministers. doc
tors, lawyers. merchants and farmers
with their families caught the new
yellow fever and betook themselves to
journey fifty times as long and hard
as they had ever taken before. A party
of Ave Frenchmen pushed a hand wagon
from Missouri to the coast; one man
trundled his possessions in a wheel bar
row. At its best, 1t was a journey
that can scarcely be understood by the
present generation" at its worst, with
Indian massacres, thirst, SHOWS, ten
derfootedness and disease, It was one
of the ghastliest highways in history"
In the height of this migration
from 1000 to 5000 immigrants died OF
Asiatic cholera, which, as Lummis
says, "crawled in upon the plains and
like n gray wolf followed the wagon
trains; and IL there was a half mile
which the Indians failed to punctuate
with a grave, the cholera took care
to remedy the omission" In 1S4g, $4,000
people took this journey. Great freight
ing enterprises sprang UP. BY the six
ties, 800 heavily laden wagons some
times passed Fort Kearney in one day
One firm employed $4,000 oxen, $3.50 big
wagons-mostly prairie schooners,"
with huge boxes. feet deep, often II
feet long. carrying from 5000 TO 10000
pounds each, and drawn by from to
l2 yoke OF oxen. bull whackers,"
tho OK drivers were termed; the mule
drivers. "Jehus.'
THE MAIL COACH.
The first mail route from Inde-
pendence. Mo. to Salt Lake, l,2OO miles
was a monthly stage. The news Of the
creation of Utah territory by Congress
i'm September 1850, reached Salt Lake
City the following January; but 1t was
sent by fast route Via Panama to San
Francisco. and thence TO Utah by pri-
waite messenger. The eastern mails
for November, 1850, reached California
In March. 1851. The overland stage to
California began as a seml-weekly
To traverse this wilderness with it's
deadly deserts and sand storms, mir
age torture Of thirst and dangerous
Indian tribes, required shrewd drivers
Of iron nerve. Then came the ever
dashing pony express, which carried
mail faster, further, safer than II has
ever been transported by horse power
before or since. Tho time of these
riders from Independence TO San Fran
cisco $50 miles, was ten days. AT
1870 stations, 10 or more miles apart
according as water CHANGED, the riders
changed horses and mails, buffalo
ba "a af
n record Of 8s4 miles. stopping only
to change horses ana swallow hasty
meal Jack Keetley made run of
$40 miles In 81 hours. Overland mes
senRers gallopcd six days and nights
without taking or their clothes. As
for the stage drivers, they were the
best whips I'm history. One made GIG
miles IN ii9 hours. without sleep. Their,
were no roads Tho famous Concord
coaches pounded across the prairie
sWard. forded rivers climbed noun
tains, and pitched down them again.
I'm 1856, the government tried camcls
for the southwestern service. and Inn
ported oriental drivers with them But
the camels could not stand the jour
ney; several died OF thirst, and tho
rest were finally turned loose in Arl-
iona.
II was this vast traffic 10 which tho
cultivated fields OF the Wasateh val
leys gave needed sucoor, and from
which by exchange OF producta-mosl
~ through barter, for there was al
most no money OF the neees-
saries OF life were supplied 10 the
hard working aglicultursts. Barter
was universal among the settlers,
Presently storchouses grew up, and
the business Of the merchant began. A
man who had saved enough might 80
cast and return with schooner or
a train OF wagons bearing the products
OF civilization But no one dreamed
that the railroad was coming so soon
How could IL cross mountains and des-
| erts, hauling Ties from 100 10 1000
miles, no change a Journey that re-
CURED i've months into one OF only
three and one-half daya-this was what
was done. The Union Pacific built 60
miles In one MONTH $4,000 men and 500
teams an working at once made the
dirt hy on the Utah grade and IN 1863
the completion OF the Utah Central rail-