The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-09-29
W|LFORD WOODRUFF
GAVE FIRST WELCOME
In Speech to First Irrigation
Congress, Related Settlers
Early Experiences.
SOIL LIKE ADAMANl
Diverting of City Creek Was
First Step in Irrigation
West of Rockies.

When the FIRST Irrigation congress was
called TO order in this city twenty-one
years ago, wilford Woodruff. president
Of the Mormon church. delivered an ad-
dress of welcome TO the delegates
President Woodruff welcomed the deie-
gates in a few words and called their
attention to the evidences Of the enee's
Of irrigation already noticeable at tha'
time. He spoke briefly OF conditions as
they existed at the time OF the iiIst en-
trance Of the Mormon people into the val
ley and related INCIDENTS of the hrst Gay
camp where Salt Lake now STANDS
The soil, President Woodruff SAID, "hs
too hard for plowins. To soften ne
ground City creek WAS diverted aho tne
Hrst irrigation system put into praCuce'
The speech, delivered September Is.
1891, in full was as follows:
Gentlemen of the IRRIGATION Con Con
fui ii that have have lived in the nesh long
enough in this territory TO behold
the faces OF such A congregston o.
gentlemen as ] see here eodSna sooay: your IT
time or attention In arguing or talk
ing or conversing particularly upon
the subjects or at least those princ-
Piles for which you have gathered to-
Eether: but what l will say will be
few words concerning our arrival
here and upon the principle OF irriga-
Forty-one years ago: the, 24th OF
July last. entered this valley with
1t3 emis-ants, or, In other words.
pioneers. We we're lea by Prsslden5 LInd
upon YVES then the Great American
desert. and certainly as far as we
could see It did not deyiate from that
In the least We found barren des-
ert here There was no mark Of the
AngIo-Saxon race. no mark OF the
white man; everything was barren
dry and desert
The First Camp.
We pitched our camps a little dis
tance 10 the southwest from here
about II O'Clock In the day. We had
& could produce. OF course. of all
this company nearly the whole Of us
were born and raised In the New
England states of Vermont, Maine,
Massachusetts and Connecticut.
We had no experience In irrigation.
We pitched our camp. put some teams
onto our plows-we brought our plows
with us-end undertook TO plow the
earth; but we found that neither wood
nor Iron was strong enough to make
furrows here in this hard soil. It
TO turn water onto It. We would !
have done anything. We went and
turned out the City creek. We turned
IL over our ground. Come to put our
teams upon 1t. OF course they sank
In the mud.
We had to wait until this land dried
enough to hold our teams up. We
then plowed our land. We put In our
crops and we stayed here one month
During that time President Young
laid out this city. as you see 1t to-
day Ia the midst OF sagebrush. with
not q house within hundreds Of miles
OF US. We built fort around ten
acres. three sides of adobe walls
eighteen feet high, and one side with
logs out of the canyon. We then re-
turned home and some two thousand
men followed us. President Cannon
here was one Of the company that
came In after We did.
Irrigation Essential.
Now what wish TO say is this:
Tou gentlemen come here today; you
see the city; you go through the
country Here are q thousand miles.
filed with cities, town, villages. gar
dens and orchards. and the products :
Of the earth that sustain the people.
w, Without & this water-this irrigation
this country would be barren as
It was in 1s+7, as we found It, This
irrigation is what you have met to
Now. I am satisfied that 1t matters
not; whatever you decide upon in this
matter and you unite upon. st will
Hsh But to eVey nt.s not and Gny tsrr to
tory where these arid lands exist
and whoever occupies these lands OF
course has got to have the water TO
perform the work. We have had TO
do the ga me
We have had TO learn by expert
ence, and all that we have obtained
in these mountains has been by irri-'
CATION. There are portions yet which
have not been irrigated, and as one
gentleman said here. II you can make
two drops of water where there was
one, or two spears Of grass where
there was one. you are benefactors to
mankind ] say, God bless you In
your efforts