Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-08-24
ogden. Utah, Aug. %, 1909.

tDgne1l, lLNil, Shus7. -
| "He who digs Well constructs
stone fountain, plants u grove of trees
BY the roadside, plants an orch "a q,
builds a durable house, reclaims q
swamp. or so much as puts stone seat
by the waSside, makes the land SO az
lovely and desirable, makes q fortune
which he cannot carry With him. put
whichis useful to his country long AZ
forwards.
"a man Is a man only rs he makes
~ - B ! S IS s. !, 'EMERs
70 many thousands of people in the
United States, the term Mormonism,.
signifies lawlessness.zf wickedness and
immortality, while the Mornons them
selves are generally believed to be an
iilliterate, immoral and a DANCE fous. pep
pie. From my own persona obset'Ta-
lions and acquaintance With these peo-
pie, in Salt Lake City and other towns
in Utah. / find them on the contrary,
+ to be God fearing, law-abidfng and q
well educated community. And it Is
safe to say. thereis no part of the Unit
ed States. where life is safer than IN the
land OF the Mornans; no place. where
there is less lawiessness. They are a.
people who have accomplished so much,
that is good, who have endured danger.
privation' and suffering, who have stood
the obloquySof more powerful sects, all
for the sake of their religion. They
5havefn them much that isscommenda-
bile; they deserve more than abuse; they
deserve admiration, no matter what.
may have been their shortcomings in
EtheSearlier stages Of their career
The present confines of the State Of
Utah were explored by Spanards in the
sixteenth century. 1t was not until the
latter part of the eighteenth, and the
beginning of the nineteenth centuries
however, that trappers and fur traders
wandered through the Wasatch Nouns
stains on their way to the Pacific coast.
No permanent settlement was made in
Itch until the coming of the Nor
mon pioneers under Brigham Young in
E1S47. The original band of .'Latter-day1
Saints consisted of l47 persons, but by
1850 the population of the Territory was
1900 inhabitants. From 1S47 to 1852, the
long wagon trains of the Mormon e&-
lies from Nauvoo, Illinois, together
with emigrants from the British Isles
lined the roads westward from the Mis-
5sissippi and Missouri rivers. Most of
b them travelled with their own teams;
Others were assisted by friends, while
many even walked and pushed a hand
cart laden with all their earthly posses
isions. This meant a long and painful
tramp of 1000 miles, and indescribahle;
8hardships During the % years that
this kindaofs travel was IN vogue. 1t IS
estimated that $4,000 "Mormons" ems,
'igrated to Utah, Many died through
exposure and hardships while crossing
the plains, and many more succumbed
Ia the cold during the severe winters
that followed. From 1S47 to 1868 inclu-5
siye. the Saints who were seeking homes
in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains.
we're compelledfto submit to camp life
and weary travel for weeks and months,
in order to reach the goal of their ann
sbition.. Upon their arrival In Salt6Lakes
City. the people had a struggle for eX-
istence and It was because of their hard
toll and sublime faith In God, that the
desert soil was reclaimed from its ster-
i,ity, and !iterally-not figuratively--5
mad to blossom as the rose. since
then the growth OF Utah has been heal
thy and normal, and the beautiful city
of Salt Lake will ever stand asa monu-is.
ment to the thrift and endurance OF the
"Morrnons."
The following is a clipping taken from
the Deseret Evening News of Septem-
her %, 1868, announcing the arrival of 4
Mormon wagon train laden with emil.
grants 90 of whom died while crossing
the plains:
This morning Capt. j. G. Holman's
OK train of So wagons got in bringing
little over 600 passengers. He had
with his train tina immigrants that
crossed the Atlantic in the Emerald
Isle, a number of whom had to go into
hospital on reaching New YORK, ana
among whom there had been much SICK
ness on the sea voyage S several W .'et'
sick when they left the cars at Benton,
but the mortality from the trip from
that point was not high. considering
these circumstances. The passengers
are nearly all in excellent health now.
Accommodating his train We're also SIX
independent wagons, and some ao per-
sons not included.ln the 600simmigrants-
He Capt. Holman) left Benton with his
train on Sept /, and consequently made
the trin In about "a days, although there
we're several detentions on the way.
This is the last immigrant train of the
season.
Less than six years after the first pio-
necrs found In this valley desolate,
sagebr,1sh Wilderness, they laid the
| foundation walls of the famous Nor
| mon" Temple. These We're sixteen feet
| wide and eight feet deep: while above
| til ground the walls vary in thickness
| from six to nine feet. In 1873 a railroad
| was built to the granite quarries nearly
| twenty miles southeast OF the City,
Prior to that time the huge blocks OF
! stone were hauled by#ox teams, requir-
| ing at times four yoke of oxen four
1 DAYS to transport a single stone The
| building was completed in 1883, just
| forty years after 1t was commenced
] and at q cost, by some estimated al
! 81, DOC, 900
| The temple is a massive granite struc-
| ture with six majestic spires. 1t is 1St
feet long by 20 feet wide its greatest
| height being a22 feet to the top of the
/ figure which surmounts the central
1 eastern tower. This siTure5is Il Feet IN
/ height, is of hammered copper covered
with goldleaf. 1t represents the Angel
/ Moroni, the son OF Mormon. Mormon
was the writer of the Book of Mormon,
4 the book which. according to the be-
= lief of the saints, is an inspired his
torical record of the ancient inhabitants
of this continent, in many respects cor
a responding to the Old Testament. The
1 Book of Mormon was revealed to Joseph
Smith by the Angel Moronl. and later
delivered to him by the same parsonage.
1t was in the form Of golden plates, up-
on which We're engraved characters,
which Joseph Smith translated to the
English language These plates were
hidden IN hill, known to that ancient
people as Cumorai1. and situated in
what is now western New York
Visitors are not admitted to the tenn
pie | considered this quite strange. as
any person can enter tho churches OF
any denomination elsewhere. and upon
making Inquiry, was told by a guide
that the temple is not a church or a
public place of worship: that it is tc
thorf what Soiomon's temple was fr