Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-11-25
BRIGHAM yOUNG'S MONUMENT
Time Has Shown Wisdom Of
Mormon Leaders Choice
Salt Lake City. Selected BY Him for a
Home Despite Protests Of His
Followers, a Pictures
HFat que Place
(By Frederic J. Haslsin)

Lake City IL one of the most picturesque
cities in this country.
1t lies in high, natural ampitheater.
with golden. satiny mountains forming
high barricade on three sides, while on
the fourth the city slopes down to a fer
tile valley, fenced Off in orchards and
farms. The Great Salt Lake Is visible,
only through a telescope, being 12 miles
distant, and the Great Salt Desert is
even farther away. After the first shock
of surprise you cease to connect the city
with salt in any way-it is so green and
fresh-looking-and later you are glad to
have the Salt Lake where 1t liz in all its
solemn, desolate grandeur as you behold
II from the window of a Southern Paci-
fic train on your journey westward
When the Mormons first saw Salt
Lake City they did not like It. They had
Travelled for thousand miles or more
In tedious and painful fashion. walk
ing and driving OK carts all the way from
Missouri. and they were, to borrow
phrase from the Mormon Bible exceed
Ing sore Their feet especially were sore.
But even so. they declared that they
would go on for another thousand
miles rather than settle down on the
site they beheld from Emigration Can
yon-merely great, placid basin Of
sand. dotted with grey sagebrush. Brig
ham Young. however, appeared to be
much impressed with 1t. He remained
silent for several minutes. gazing down
on its snug, cliff protected baroness. and
then he made his historic remark, "This
Is the place.
The Mormons didn't like II any better
after that, but there was no disputing
Brfghams word You can better UNDER
stand this after seeing the portrait of
the Mormon leader which hangs in the
No
with a square jaw and high forehead,
with shrewd grey eyes and thin,
straight mouth curving down abruptly
at the corners. So the party moved down
into the basin and camped on the ground
where the City Hall stands to-day. There
were 14S men in all. three women. two
children and horses. mules, oxen, dogs
and chickens. Personal belongings were
few. because most Of the space in the OK
carts had been required for rifles, crude
farming implements, seed grain and a
years supply of provisions. One lonely
cannon also added greatly to their cour-
age in a country filled with hostile In
dams.
FIRST IRRIGATION
Under the direction of Young the camp
ers Immediately started breaking the
sun-baked earth. but In doing so broke
their plows. When most Of the farm i'm
PIGMENTS had been ruined for life and
all seemed lost. Young had an inspira-
ton. He ordered them to dam the near
by mountain streams so that they flood
ed the land, and thus, according to Utah
historians. irrigation by white men be-
gan in America.
A fort was built as a precaution against
attacks from Indians, but as Young's
policy Of making friends with the saw
cf,,I
abandoned and log houses were built.
Then, just as conditions were becom-
ing fairly tolerable. came the crickets.
In huge. ravenous droves they descend
ed on the new struggling crops and
started devouring them while the poor
pioneers looked helplessly on. Insecti-
cides were not on the market then and
y is doubtful II any insecticide ever in
vented would have proved a match for
these fabulous Utah crickets. Neverthe-
less. once more all was not lost In the
wake Of the crickets came an equally
ravenous flock Of gulls-thousands of
them-filling the air with their harsh
screeches of delight as they fell upon
the choice. fat insects. The Mormons be-
Heved that the coming of the birds was
the work of God. but they also gave
the gulls due credit. and in Utah to-day
the gull is sacred bird, rlgidly protect
ed by law.
In 1s49 Brigham Young started to put
into operation his plans for building
great independent Mormon empire.
Salt Lake City was not permitted to
grow up In the usual haphazard fashion
OF most American cities: It was carefully
planned and laid out in straight. wide
streets, with long rectangular blocks. six
to mile. Young said. Let there be
HFeen lawns Shy1,ha ~,
due time his word was obeyed To-day
nearly every house stands in its own
green grounds, shaded by tall trees.
usually poplars and invariably some
where in the foreground hard at work,
Is the secret Of all this greenery-the
humble garden hose.
EARLY SCHOOLS
Next, Young turned his attention to
the provisions of educational facilities
to which he attached enormous import
ance, although he himself had been
trained as a glezer and cabinet-maker
and had suffered only one week of school
The first class-ro were opened In
f0ts and wagons. but these were soon
transferred into log houses and later
into pretentious quarters Of adobe brick
and stone. As early as 1850 the Mormon
University of Deseret was founded
while two years later territorial library
was established in the Council House.
and books. hauled by OK team all tho
way from New York. To-day SO per cent
OF Utah's revenue is spent on education
The matter of recreation was also given
practical consideration. Young holding
even at this early day that play was a
fundamental necessity of human exist
snce. So. while the first school was be-
Ing built, men were also at work erecting
q theatre, and the Mormon farmers be-
gan to alternate their blowing with re-
hearsals OF popular melodranas.
In the exact center OF the city, dividing
II into four sections, large space was
set aside for religious worship, and n
thick adobe wall built around It. This
wall has since been reinforced with con-
crete but the buildings erected within
It retain all of their pristine picturesque
ness. The Mormon Temple of course,
ought to be phenomenaly sturdy for it
was built by elaborate and tedious
process covering a period OF 40 years.
The huge, greyish-white stones that
form its walls were hauled by OK team
from granite quarries 20 miles from the
city and the Mormons claim that it
often took four yoke of oxen four days
to cart one stone. After the stones ar
rived they still required a great deal of
attention. for they had to be fitted to-
gether without the use Of mortar.
The object Of all these 40 years Of in
credible toll is not, as might be expect
"a, a thing of overwhelming beauty. It
is too frequently punctured with curious