The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-31

Those WHO rrc especially interested
iu Tie his;nrv of the Indian raids of
southern. uud central southern Utah.
shnuld fake th" Denver aud Ejo tirandc
from salt Lake 10 Marysygic and. en-
route. stop over at the principal towns
and interview the old residents In y
general way historians uf Utah hav"
written thc story, huI ih"rc arc many
personal details That. IN the interest
of hrevity. they were compelled lu omit.
hut. ~ written, would be intensely IN.
Icrcsting TO the public. Nearly every
town from Lehl souih has It's history
Of tragedies which yet lIngcr IN the
memories ana hearts Of the old-tmcrs
T. Is not iufrcQacnr that some
smart Alec who knows absolutely
nothing OF those early davs. butts in;o
tho newspapers with snccring remarks
about the 'ludau wars = Of Utah. And
'hry invariably cNclos" the word war
within quotation marks. In the full
meaning Of the word war thcrr WAS
nothing of tho kind. But if those ten
der-foot writer's mean that those early
days We're without real frontier strcnT.
opsitY then they arc = bunch of hope
lcss imbecies or saccring cgot,is, and
those terms arc synonymous aud inter
ChangcablC.
The facts arc that thc early settlers
were a thousand miles from military
assistance from Uncle Sam while homes
were being won from the desert And
although Mormon historians and pul.
rltccrs, in their anxiety 10 create jhc
impression that real miracles were
wrought IN behalf of the oNilcd Saints.
ovcr-worlrd their anxiety. rs well ms
the miracles. in their hvSt"rical effort
20 manufacture sympathy and converts
hr cNaggcraiine those early difficulties.
ii would have been no place for those
soft-brain and softhand pencil pushers
who snecr about those Indian WARS
The choicest land nearly ALWAYS lies
lmmediajclv below those points where
the mountain streams emerge from the
canyons. aud of which Sail Lake CITY
Is Il fair example. And some of the
faithful here in ZION regard il rs
burning shame that 50 much choice
mountain made soil should he ruined for
agricultural purposes by the BabyloniaI
skyscrapcrS And although have wan
dcr"d million mules or so from the |
faith taught by Joseph Smith, thc !
Prophet. and billion miles from the |
political and polvgamous trcaclcry- OF |
the present Mormon yiccgcrcmi. there
often comes 10 me I'm honest uncon-
sci1uS wieh that those nature. disfigur- |
ing skr-Scrapcrs wopld. like an unlovclv |
nightmare. disappear, and that. IN their !
places, might return The orchards. the I
shade trees. The rude adobe dwellings. |
the unpaycd sidewalks and dusty streets |
al 1897. and the happy go-lucllv from
tier life And If an "apostatcf oc-
caSIonaliv feels that way. why should |
any unGodlv, sordid Gentle blame the |
old time Saints for wishing that the de- !
sccn,dant int fact Of old man shcm
would fold their Skv. .ScrapcrS and "si-
lcnilY steal awav?'
Tho foregoing is wandering But ilc
gentle Saint, a well rs the un broke
Gentle, viii surely pardon tho wander
ings of II fellow I'ho. according 10 tho
decree Of the "propbrts. rs destined !
10 wander nu;il he brings mp in Sbco.
or even Il hotter place.
While on the subject. il is pertinent
10 briefly notice thc case with which
The old.timcrs solved the problem OF
irrigation Any ono who cares TO OK
; mine the topography Of the 81" of
Salt Lake City viii readily obscrc"
he" easy it' was TO turn the wafer
from City creek onto the thirsty soil
rows. 10 make the desert blossom aq
I lIc ToSr >, IT'S modern dollars against
the old-timc doughGuts that Samuel
1Wrnhov WASH I more than thirty min
E'"s putting in n dam in City crnaN
and %etIlng the water on the land after
hls a1ortivc effort at "d1y' plowint,
i 1d that was ;hc first effort al irrigI.
~" ~ '"c "Hu anu WOollN WtSi. All
fhai The NciVll engineers Of those
carly days needed 10 know was tllaS
water would run down hill, and then
guess nj The direction None or those
old-timc engineers would have rn.
dcrlakcn 20 build an naucduct with
an outlet four feet below HE bed of
he Jordan river, and then hoped and
PRAYED thai bouIdcls weighing a tor
or TWO Would be forced up into the
river and swept down stream lilo sn