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Chapter XXVI. Population and Statistics Salt Lake City The Temple The New Tabernacle The Museum Condition of the Inhabitants Distinctive Features Salt Lake County Davis County Ogden Cache County Rich County Summit County Brigham City Nephi Provo Uintah, Emery, San Juan, Garfield, and Piute Counties Sanpete and Sevler Counties Iron, Kane, and Washington Counties Schools The University of Deseret The Deseret Alphabet Libraries Journals and Journalism. In all the stages of her existence, Utah has been constantly expanding, her growth, far from depleting her resources, only adding to her strength. Originally one of the most barren spots on the face of nature, with nothing to attract even attention, the land has become as fruitful a field, and her people as busy a commonwealth, as can be found, with few exceptions, elsewhere on the Pacific slope. With her unkindly soil, her extremes of temperature, the thermometer varying between 110° above and 20° below zero,1 her slight and uncertain rainfall, without foliage, except such as was found here and there in narrow, rock-ribbed gorges, with fuel almost inaccessible at points where habitation was possible, with no nearer sources of general supply than the small and scattered communities on the Pacific coast, and with all sources of supply often practically cut offamid this forbidding and 1On Feb. 5, 1849, the mercury stood at 33° below zero at S. L. City. The mean temperature for 19 years was 51° 9', and the highest 104' in 1871. For meteorological tables, see Meteor Reg., passim; Surgeon-Gen. Circ. 8, 1875, pp. 339-40, 345; Wheeler's Surveys, ii. 535 et seq. |
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inhospitable region, the Mormons built up their settlements, which, nevertheless, grew with a steady and stalwart growth. As year followed year, the magic wand of progress touched into life these barren and sand-girt solitudes, and in their place sprang up a country teeming with the wealth of gardens and granaries, of mines and mills, of farms and factories. To show how this has been accomplished, and more especially to explain the industrial and social condition of the people during the first years of the present decade, will be my task in the concluding chapters of this volume. At the close of 1883 the population of Utah was estimated at 178,121, of whom 92,081 were males, 86,040 females, 123,506 of native and 54,615 of foreign birth.2 In 1880 there were 14,550 persons employed in agriculture, 4,149 in trade, and 10,212 miners, mechanics, and factory operatives; though notwithstanding the industrial activity of the settlers, the percentage of bread-winners was smaller than in any state or territory of the union with the exception of West Virginia, this fact being due mainly to the large proportion of women and young children. A noteworthy feature in the community was the small amount of debt, crime, and pauperism, the entire public debt, city, county, and territorial, being in 1879 only $116,251, and the number of criminals and paupers being, as elsewhere noticed, much below the average throughout the United States.3 The death-rate for a series of years averaged about sixteen per thousand, though for 1880 it was somewhat higher on account of the prevalence of diphtheria.4 2Utah Gazetteer, 1884, p. 300, where the population is given by counties. In the census report for 1880 the total population is given at 143,963, nearly 20,000 of the foreigners being English, and about 8,000 Scandinavians. 3In 1879 there were 33 paupers and 60 criminals. The number of prisoners at the Utah penitentiary for each year, with various statistics, will be found in the reports of the warden and directors in Utah Jour. Legisl., passim. In later years we hear little of such outrages as were alleged to have been committed about the time of the Utah war. 4In 1877-8 diphtheria was also common. See Utah Sketches, MS., 27. Description of Huntstville, MS., 6. For mortality in S. L. City between 1870 (cont.) |
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Of the progress of settlement up to the close of 1862 mention has already been made.5 At that date nearly all the available land in Utah had been taken up, and in 1883 colonies had been pushed forward into adjoining territories, until they extended from north to south in an unbroken line of about 1,000 miles, all of them under the religious and political control of the Mormon priesthood.6 (4cont.) and 1878, see Deseret News, Jan. 8, 1879. In 1870 there were 281 deaths in S. L. City, in 1878, 497, the latter being the largest number recorded during the interval. The principal hospitals at S. L. City were the Deseret, Holy Cross, and St Mark's, the last two being mainly supported by the contributions of miners, who are entitled to its benefits. It was not until 1880 that a territorial insane asylum was established, though one was projected in 1869. See Utah Laws, 1880, 57-65; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1869, 124-5; and for grand jury report on asylum, which is built on a high bluff of the Wasatch near Provo, S. L. C. Tribune, Nov. 22, 1884. 5See caps. xiii. and xxii., this vol. 6In 1880 there were, according to the census report, 3,205 Mormons in Idaho, 1,338 in Arizona, 800 in Nevada, 234 in Washington Terr., and 241 in Colorado. There were also 1,131 in California, 451 in Wyoming, 554 in Montana, 394 in Iowa, 208 in Nebraska, and 260 in New York. These are probably below the actual figures at that date, and certainly much below the figures for 1885. The Bannack stake, in the Snake River country, Idaho, alone contained, for instance, on January 31, 1885, 1,770 souls, being divided into eight wardsLouisville, Menan, Lyman, Rexburg, Teton, Wilford, Parker, and Salem. The first Mormon who visited the Snake River country with a view to settlement was John R. Poole of Ogden, who went there in Feb. 1879, and on his return reported favorably to Franklin D. Richards. The first family to settle there was that of Jos. C. Fisher, who in March 1879 located at Cedar Buttes Island, being joined soon afterward by Poole and others. Ricks, Banaack Stake, MS., passim. For account of Mormons in Oneida co., see Silver City Avalanche, Sept. 17, 1870, March 27, 1875; in Bear Lake Valley, Boisé City Statesman, Oct. 16, 1879; for agitation on the polygamy question in Idaho, Id., Sept. 3, 1870, Dec. 6, 19, 1879; Ogden Freeman, Feb. 28, 1879. The first attempt to settle the country bordering on the Little Colorado in Arizona was made in 1873, but the party returned, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the place. Some three years later missionaries were ordered to make permanent settlements in this region, and at a meeting held at Salt Lake City in January 1876, companies were organized and captains appointed for this purpose. The first teams arrived at the Sunset crossing of the Little Colorado on the 23d of March, and after the brethren had explored the neighborhood, W. C. Allen and his company resolved to form a settlement about 20 miles to the south-east of the crossing, to be named after the captain; Geo. Lake and his band settled on the opposite side of the river, two miles to the south-west of Allen, on a spot which they called Obed, near which were springs and meadow-land; Lot Smith and his company formed a colony three miles north-east of the crossing, at a place which was called Sunset, and Jesse O. Ballinger, with his party, settled about four miles north of the crossing on the west side of the river, the settlement being named Ballinger. The brethren proceeded to plough, construct dams, and put in crops, but encountered many difficulties, the river-bottom being treacherous and full of quicksands. At Obed chills and fever prevailed, the settlers being forced to abandon the place and join the other colonies. In November 1877 a number of proselytes arrived from the southern states in a destitute condition; but (cont.) |
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As Paris is said to be France, so it has been said of Salt Lake City that it is Utah, for there the commerce, (6cont.) though all the camps were scantily supplied, their wants were at once relieved. During this season sufficient grain had been raised to last with economy until the following harvest, and meanwhile other settlements had been started, one 25 miles up the river from Allen, to which was given the name of Woodruff, and one 50 miles south of Woodruff, which was called Forest Dale, the name Ballinger being now changed to Brigham City, and Allen to St Joseph. In this year, also, the colonies of eastern Arizona were divided into two presidencies, those on the Little Colorado being west of the dividing line. According to a stake report, dated Aug. 31, 1878, there were at Sunset 114 souls, at Brigham City 230, at St Joseph and Woodruff each 67, and including other small settlements, a total of 587. The harvest of 1878 was severely damaged by floods, but that of 1879 was a bountiful one. In 1880 the crops again suffered from excessive rains and freshets. Settlements on the Little Colorado. MS. The St Joseph stake at Pima, Ar., was organized in Feb. 1883, the place being first settled in 1879 by families from eastern Arizona. St David was founded in 1878, Philemon C. Merrill being the first settler; Curtis in 1881 by the Curtis family; Graham, so named from the peak a few miles to the south, in 1881; Thatcher, named after Apostle Moses Thatcher, in 1882, by John M. Moody; Central, in the same year, by Joseph Cluff and others; McDonald, named in honor of A. F. McDonald, president of the Maricopa stake, by Henry J. Horne and others; Layton, named after President C. Layton, by John and Adam Welker, Ben. Peel, and a few others. All these settlements are in Arizona. The Mesa settlement, belonging to the Maricopa stake, was founded by companies from Bear Lake co., Id., and S. L. co., Utah. Leaving S. L. City immediately after the death of Brigham Young, they reached Salt River in Jan. 1878, and soon afterward began the construction of a canal to the present site of the town. After a year's labor, only a small stream of water was obtained, barely sufficient for planting gardens, as the ditch was cut through a very difficult formation. The settlers persevered, however, their labors diminishing as their numbers increased, and in 1885 a canal had been built carrying 5,000 inches of water, at a cost of $43,000. Lehi, formerly Jonesville, also near Salt River, was founded in 1877 by a party of 71 settlers. In the autumn of this year a few members of the company became dissatisfied with the location, and set forth for San Pedro River, where they founded the settlement of St David, so named by Prest A. F. McDonald after David Patten, whom the Mormons regard as a martyr. Maricopa Stake, MS. In the Gila Valley the settlers bought squatter claims of Mexicans, and in 1885 had constructed over 60 miles of canals from 8 to 16 feet wide, besides a number of smaller ditches. The soil is a fertile, sandy loam, producing two crops or more a year, excellent for grapes and fruit, and of fair quality for all farm products. Sorghum produces three cuttings from one planting, and lucern is cut five or six times a year. Not more than five per cent of the land is arable, the remainder being grazing-land. Martineau's Settlements in Arizona, MS. For monogamic settlements in Montana, see Galveston News, Dec. 1, 1884. In the fall of 1877 Elder John Morgan led a colony of saints from the southern states to Pueblo, Colorado, where they wintered. In March of the following year, James G. Stuart, being ordered to visit the colonists, found them living as best they could, and working at whatever they could find to do. Mainly through the elder's efforts, two settlements were founded, to which were afterward given the names of Ephraim and Manassa. Stuart's Colonization in Colorado, MS. In 1884 the Mormons established a colony at Las Cruces, Sonora, Mex. At the same time their leaders issued a proclamation stating that no general migration to Mexico was intended. The Mexican Financier, Jan. 31, 1885. In La Nueva Era, Paso del Norte, Chihuahua, Apr. 8, 1885, p. 2, it is stated that 200 Mormons had established a colony at Corralitos, Galeana, in that state. |
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arts, industries, and interests of the territory are mainly centred. In 1883 the capital contained a fixed population of about 25,000, its corporate limits including about fifty square miles,7 divided into five municipal and twenty-one ecclesiastical wards. The city was well supplied with all modern comforts and conveniences, including gas and electric lights,8 street-railroads,9 hotels,10 markets, libraries, theatres,11 clubs, and saloons, where men might drink, smoke, and discuss politics and religion. Through all the streets, which were about double the usual width, ran the limpid waters of City Creek, the Jordan, Red Butte, 7Ten from east to west, and five from north to south, allowing for two square miles occupied by the Fort Douglas reservation. By act of Jan. 18, 1867, the western boundary was removed from the banks of the Jordan to a line running due north and south about two miles west of the river. By act of 1872 the south line was removed to Tenth South street. 8In 1877 George Erb organized the Rocky Mountain Electric Light Co. at Salt Lake City, afterward extending his operations to Ogden, Albuquerque, Cheyenne, Silver City, and Tucson, where, in 1884, all the works were in successful operation. Erb's Electric Lights, MS. Erb, a native of Penn., enlisted as a volunteer in the union army in 1861, being then 18 years of age. After serving for three years he removed to southern Utah, and in 1877 to S. L. City. For account of city gas-works, see Deseret News, Aug. 27, 1873. The city was first lighted by gas July 7, 1873. 9In 1872 the S. L. C. Street Railroad Co. was organized. It was in running order in June of the same year, its length being about seven miles. R. R. Anderson, in Utah Jottings, MS. In 1883 horse-cars ran every half-hour in eight different directions. Graham's Utah Direct., 1883-4, 184. 10Among the principal hotels in S. L. City in 1883 were the Walker House and the Continental, formerly the Townsend House. The former was built in 1872, at a cost of $140,000. Walker's Merchants and Miners of Utah, MS. For description, see Deseret News, Sept. 4, 1872; S. L. C. Tribune, Sept. 7, 1872; Sala's America Revisited, 290-4; for mention of the Garde House, sometimes nicknamed the Amelia Palace, see Dall's First Holiday, 101-3; Duffus-Hardy's Through Cities and Prairie, 113. 11An account of the various libraries is given later in this chapter. The theatre at the corner of First South and First East streets was 175 by 80 ft, with a stage 62 by 32 ft. It was of rock and adobe, with granite finish, fluted pillars, and massive cornices, cost $200,000, and had a seating capacity of at least 1,500. In 1882 the Walker Bros built the opera-house, at a cost of $136,000, within a few yards of their bank. Its dimensions were 167 by 67 feet, with a height of 60 feet. The interior was tastefully decorated and upholstered, and the stage well supplied with scenery and appointments, the drop-scene being remarkably handsome. Walker's Merchants and Miners of Utah, MS.; Graham's Utah Direct., 1883-4, 193. For further mention of theatres and theatricals, see p. 584-5, this vol.; Cooke's Theatr. and Soc. Affairs in Utah, MS.; Ward's Lectures, 40; Hubner's Round the World, 80; Bowles' Our New West, 229-31; Richardson's Beyond the Mississippi, 358-9; Rusling's Across Amer., 178-81; Beadle's Life in Utah, 245-6; Ludlow's Heart of the Continent, 334-7, 365-7; Rae' s Westward by Rail, 108-10; Millennial Star, xxix. 70-3; Deseret News, March 27, 1867; Overland Monthly, v. 276-9. |
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and Emigration cañons,12 cooling the air, cleansing the thoroughfares, and giving life to verdure. The adjacent lands were cultivated, and most of the houses were surrounded with orchards, so that in early summer Zion wore the appearance of Eden in bloom. The flowers were full of beauty and fragrance, surpassing, if possible, in this respect, the ancient towns of Mexico, or the modern capital in the days of Cortés. Aside from the temple and the tabernacle, Salt Lake City thus far had little to boast of in the way of architecture, nor was that little interesting. The temple, when finished, was to cost several millions,13 and the walls of gray granite, more than six feet in thickness, with a length of 200 and a width of 100 feet, were to reach a height of 100 feet.14 It was determined that this building should be of elegant design, magnificent proportions, and unique pattern, a marvel of beauty, strength, and solidity.15 As a structure in which a vast assemblage can see and hear, the new tabernacle, west of the temple, completed in 1870, is a remarkable edifice. It is elliptical in shape, with a primitive diameter of 233 feet, a conjugate of 133 feet, and a height of 70 feet, its huge dome-shaped, or as some term it, dish-cover roof of heavy, bolted lattice-work resting on sandstone pillars. 12By act of Feb. 20, 1880, in Utah Laws, 1880, 55-6, amending the city charter, the city council was authorized to borrow $250,000 for the construction of a canal, tapping the Jordan at a point 25 miles south of the city, for irrigation purposes, thus releasing nearer and better sources of supply for domestic use. It was finished in 1881, at a cost of $200,000. In 1884 there were 13 miles of main pipes, which were tapped at regular intervals by hydrants, so as to insure a sufficient supply in case of fire. The city had a very efficient fire department. See Utah Direct. and Gaz., 1874, 177, 1879-80, 56. 13In 1886 it had already cost some $2,500,000. 14In 1884 they were over 60 feet above the ground. 15Under President Taylor's administration more work in the same time was done on the temple than ever before. Utah Notes, MS. For condition of the temple building in 1860, see p. 582, this vol.; at other dates, Deseret News, Nov. 20, 1867, Aug. 20, 1873, May 27, 1874, Aug. 23, 1876, July 3, Nov. 20, 1878; Millennial Star, xxxvi. 273-5; Harper's Mag., Aug. 1883. In quarrying the granite at Little Cottonwood cañon, the workmen dislodged huge bowlders from the mountain side, and sent them crashing down to the railroad track, a descent of 700 feet. One of these bowlders weighed 21,000 tons. |
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Its seating capacity is about 9,000,16 and in the building are twenty doors, some nine feet in width, and all of them opening outward, so that in case of fire a full congregation can make its exit in three or four minutes. As was the case in the old tabernacle,17 the acoustic properties are remarkably good, and it is said that one standing in the east end of the gallery and uttering a few words in his lowest tone can be distinctly heard in the amphitheatre where the church dignitaries are seated, at the opposite end of the building.18 On the site of the old tabernacle now stands the new assembly hall,19 which is also the stake house for the Salt Lake stake of Zion. It is built of rough-hewn granite, the rock being taken from the same quarry that supplies material for the temple, and with frescoed ceiling, representing important events in church history. Though church-like in appearance, it is considered one of the most sightly structures in the city.20 Of the endowment house and other buildings on temple block mention has been made elsewhere. On South Temple street is the museum, where are specimens of home art, in painting and sculpture, also home products and manufactures, as in cotton, wool, silk, cloth, paper; gold and silver bullion and coins, with samples of the ores and minerals of Utah; 16Richards' Utah Miscell., MS. In Utah Notes, MS., 2, it is given as low as 7,000. Other authorities say 12,000 to 13,000, but recent estimates show this to be an exaggeration, though including standing-room, the former figure is about correct. 17For mention of the old tabernacle and its organ, see p. 292, this vol. 18For further descriptions of this tabernacle, see, among others, Sala's Amer. Revisited, 296-8; Bonwick's Mormons and Silver Mines, 10-17; Marshall's Through Amer., 1658; Duffus-Hardy's Through Cities and Prairie, 113-15; De Rupert's Cal. and Morm., 138-46; Deseret News, May 4, 1870, on which date were delivered the inaugural addresses. 19The corner-stones were laid Sept. 28, 1877, and it was dedicated Jan. 9, 1882, though public meetings were held in it as early as Apr. 4, 1880. Until Apr. 1879 it was called the new or little tabernacle, its name being changed at that date to the Salt Lake Assembly Hall. It is 120 by 68 feet, and can seat 3,033 people. Richards' Utah Miscell., MS. 20Utah Notes, MS., 2; Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 204. The building is 120 by 68 ft, the height of the tower which rises from the centre being 130 ft. It has excellent acoustic properties, contains a large organ, rich and sweet in tone, and was dedicated in the spring of 1880. |
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petrifactions, fossils, and obsidian; Indian weapons, scalps, ornaments, pottery, wampum, and the boat in which Kit Carson crossed the waters of great Salt Lakethe first craft launched by white man into the Dead Sea of the West.21 Other prominent buildings in Salt Lake City, and many points of interest within easy reach of the capital, as Great Salt Lake, the mineral springs, Fort Douglas, Parley's park, the Cottonwoods, Ensign and Twin peaks, Echo cañon, American Fork cañonthe so called Yosemite of Utahhave been described for the most part in other portions of this volume, and in many of the countless volumes that have been written concerning the Mormons. In order to see Salt Lake City at its best, one should stroll about three o'clock in the afternoon through Main and Temple streets, which are to this city what Market and Kearny streets are to San Francisco. At that time the spacious sidewalks are crowded with well-dressed women passing to and fro among the shops, prominent among which stands out the Zion's coöperative store, or, as it is usually termed, "Zion's Coöp." In no part of the city, or elsewhere in Utah, are there signs of abject poverty, and there are few beggars, tramps, or drones, the idle and dissolute being discountenanced by the community.22 21Sala's America Revisited, ii. 295; Bonwick's Mormons and Silver Mines, 18-21; Gaz. of Utah, 1874, 178; S. L. C. Tribune, Jan. 1, 5, 1878; S. L. C. Herald, Sept. 13, 1878. In 1882 occurred the death of Joseph L. Barfoot, for several years curator of the museum. Born at Warwick Castle, England, and, as he claimed before his decease, legitimate heir to one of the greatest earldoms in the realm, his ancestry being traced back on the father's side to Robert Bruce of Scotland, and on the mother's to Bishop Ridley, he enlisted in the marines, probably on account of some family quarrel. His discharge being procured, he joined his father, who was superintendent of the Mormon Mission in London, and in 1856 Joseph joined the Mormon church. S. L. City Contributor, iii. 250-2; Campbell, Circular Notes, i. 62, states that his father was merely tutor at Warwick Castle. 22For descriptions of S. L. City in 1883-4, see The Mormon Metropolis; in 1881, Sala's Amer. Revisited, 290-317 (with cut); Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 73-6; in 1879, N. Y. Observer, in Portland Wkly Christ. Advoc., Feb. 6, 1879; in 1878, Marshall's Through Amer., 163-82; in 1877, Boyer's from Orient to Occident, 61-3; Musser's Fruits of Mormonism, 3, 11; Leslie's Cal., 74-5, 91-5, 103; Taylor's Summer Savory, 20-1; in 1876, Jackson's Bits of Travel at Home, 19-22; in 1875, Williams' Pac. Tourist, 132-40, 150-2; (cont.) |
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While not communists, the elements of socialism enter strongly into all their relations, public and private, social, commercial, and industrial, as well as religious and political. This tends to render them exclusive, independent of the gentiles and their government, and even in some respects antagonistic to them. They have assisted each other until nine out of ten own their farms, while commerce and manufacturing are to a large extent coöperative. The rights of property are respected; but while a Mormon may sell his farm to a gentile, it would not be deemed good fellowship for him to do so. Salt Lake county contained, in 1883, nearly one fifth of the population of Utah, the eastern side of the valley, where the streams of the Wasatch Mountains are utilized for irrigation, being the principal farming section; while the western portion, in the neighborhood of the Oquirrh Range, was but sparsely settled. In this county were found, with the exception perhaps of coal, nearly all the minerals that contribute to the wealth of communities. Alta, the mining town of Little Cottonwood, contained a considerable population until the spring of 1878, when it was almost destroyed by fire. Bingham, about thirty miles south-west of the capital, was surrounded by productive mines; and Sandy, where the Bingham cañon and Cottonwood ores were forwarded for sampling, was a thriving village.23 (22cont.) Curtis' Dottings, 18-28; in 1872, Bonwick's Mormons and Silver Mines, 8-10; Washington Star, in Deseret News, July 10, 1872; Oakland Monthly Rev., i. no. l, 18-19; in 1871, Hubner's Round the World, 76-80; Greenwood's New Life, 137-8, 142-4; in 1870, Nordhoff"s Cal., 40-2; Nelson's Pict. Guide-Book, 10-25; Kneeland's Wonders of Yosemite, 19-21; Overland Monthly, v. 270-3, 275; in 1869, Rae's Westward by Rail, 104-12; in 1868, Goddard's Where to Emigrate, 152-3; Bowles' Pac. Railroad, 40-51; Ludlow's Heart of the Continent, 315-28; Beadle's Life in Utah, 240-7; in 1867, Hepworth Dixon's New Amer., 133-41; McClure's 3,000 Miles Through the Rocky Mts, 165-6 (with cut); in 1866, Rusling's Across Amer., 163-6; Life among the Mormons, 88-97; in 1865, Bowles' Our New West, 202-3, 206, 219-22 (with cut); Barnes' From Atlantic to Pacific, 54-5; Richardson's Beyond the Mississippi, 347 (with cut); in 1860-2, pp. 577-90, this vol. (with plan). 23Among other growing settlements in Salt Lake co. at this time were (cont.) |
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Of the establishment and progress of other settlements, up to the close of 1862, mention has already been made.24 Davis county, north of Salt Lake, was settled by quiet pastoral and agricultural communities of the old-fashioned type. Farmington, Centreville, Kaysville,25 and the three towns named Bountiful,26 were, in 1886, reasonably prosperous, resembling somewhat small English villages, except for the fact that no ale-houses were to be seen in their midst. Ogden, or, as it was sometimes erroneously called, Junction City, the site of which was purchased, as the reader will remember, in 1848, for some $2,000 or $3,000, ranked in 1883 next to Salt Lake City in population.27 In the centre of a network of railroads and of a prosperous agricultural region, with excellent (23cont.) Mill Creek, East Mill Creek, Big Cottonwood, South Cottonwood, Union, North Jordan, South Jordan, West Jordan, Brighton, Butlerville, Granite, Draper, Herriman, Mountain Dell, and Pleasant Green. 24See caps xiii., xxi., this vol. 25So called after a bishop and early settler named William Kay, who owned a large portion of its site. About the year 1857 the bishop's interest was purchased by John S. Smith, an Englishman by birth, who, landing in Canada in 1841, afterward proceeded to Nauvoo, and was one of those who took part in the exodus. Mr Smith is now one of the principal farmers in Davis co. Among other prominent men in that county may be mentioned the following: Joseph Barton, a native of St Helens, Lancashire, England, settled at Kaysville, his present home, in 1862, being then only 14 years of age. In 1869 he was elected county surveyor, and since that date has held the appointments of city recorder of Kaysville, county clerk, and prosecuting attorney, the last two of which offices he filled in 1885. In 1884 he was a member of the territorial legislature, and almost throughout his career in Utah has occupied positions of trust, though they have come to him unsought, and somewhat against his will. N.T. Porter, a native of Vermont, was one of the first settlers in Centreville, where he took up his abode in 1849, after suffering all the hardships of the expulsion, and of a long residence at Winter Quarters. Jos. Egbert, a native of Salina co., Ind., was a pioneer, sharing the blanket of Orson Pratt during the jonrney, and driving the first team that entered the valley. John R. Baines of Kaysville, a native of Bedfordshire, England, arrived in Utah with a capital of l0 cents, and afterward accumulated a fortune of $100,000 by farming and traffic. The president of the Davis stake was W. R. Smith, who was for several years a member of the legislature, and for nine years probate judge. He was born in Ontario, Canada. 26South, East, and West Bountiful. The last was sometimes called Wood's Cross. Bountiful was a city in the book of Mormon. Richards' Utah Misc., MS., 4-5. Prominent among the citizens of West Bountiful was W. S. Muir, a Scotchman by birth, who, accepting the Mormon faith, set forth for Nauvoo, and in 1847 was a corporal in the Mormon battalion. In the following year he started, in connection with Sam. Brannan, the first store ever opened at the mines of California. 27In 1883 it contained about 8,000 inhabitants. |
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manufacturing facilities, and with many of the attractions and conveniences of modern cities, including a theatre28 and one of the best hotels in the country, with gentile churches and schools, both protestant and catholic, the western terminus of the Union Pacific was probably the most cosmopolitan town in Utah.29 Among the other settlements of Weber county the most prominent were North Ogden,30 Harrisville, Huntsville,31 Lynne,32 Slaterville, Uintah, Plain City, Hooperville, and West Weber.33 28Opened Jan. 4, 1870. Stanford's Ogden, MS., 10. 29For act to incorporate Ogden, see Utah Compiled Laws, 746-54; Deseret News, Jan. 30, 1861. For act amending charter of incorporation, see Utah Laws, 1880, 4-5. In 1885 the mayor of Ogden was David H. Peery, a Virginian, who during the civil war served as assistant commissary under General Marshall. In 1864, after being honorably discharged from the confederate army, he arrived in Utah with the sum of $1,400, saved from the wreck of his property. In 1885 he was the owner of several blocks of business buildings, and was worth about $150,000, being at that date a member of the territorial legislature. In 1880 the city and county built a bridge over the Weber, at a cost of $16,000, and in the same year the city constructed a reservoir on Court-house hill to collect the waters of several small springs which were conveyed in pipes to Main street. Stanford's Ogden, MS., 15-16. For sketch of the business growth of Ogden, see Tullidge's Mag., i 478-84. For description of town at various dates, see Bonwick's Silver Mines, 22-3; Millennial Star, xxxi. 518; S. L. C. Tribune, Jan. 1, 1878, July 6, 1879, Jan. 1, 1881; Telegraph, May 18, July 8, Dec. 19, 1869; Herald, Dec. 12, 1877. Topographical plan, in Wheeler's Surveys, ii. 471. 30With a population in 1880 of 956. Stanford's Ogden, MS., 8; about 900. Amos Maycock, in Utah Sketches, MS., 115. In 1883 it was about 1,200, and in 1886 some 1,500. 31Harrisville was an agricultural Settlement containing in 1880 about 60 families, most of them Scandinavians. Though subject to early frosts, cereals were raised, with the exception of wheat, and in the neighborhood was good pasture. A considerable income was also derived from the sale of shingles and railroad ties. Stanford's Weber Co., MS., 5, 11-12. In the Description of Huntsville, MS., 1-6, and Utah Sketches, MS., are particulars as to the resources and growth of Huntsville from 1860, when it was founded, until 1880. 32An agricultural settlement two miles north of Ogden, containing in 1880 about 500 inhabitants. Stanford's Weber Co., MS., 1. 33Slaterville was organized as a county precinct in 1864. Population in 1880 about 400. Uintah, at the western entrance of Weber cañon, was first known as East Weber, the name being changed to Easton early in 1867, and in the same year to Uintah. At Plain City the raising of fruit and vegetables, especially strawberries, was the principal industry. Hooperville, settled in 1869, had in 1880 about 100 families. West Weber, organized as a ward in 1877, mustered at the same date nearly 700 inhabitants. There were also small settlements at Mound Fort, a mile north of the Weber; Eden, near Huntsville; Marriotsville, three miles north-west of Ogden; Riverdale, two miles south of Ogden; and several others. Id., passim. In the Brief Historical Sketch of the Settlements in Weber County, by Joseph Stanford, MS., are given in minute detail the leading incidents in the history of all the principal settlements of Weber co. from their foundation until the year 1880. The Historical Sketch of Ogden City, MS., by this author, covers (cont.) |
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In Cache county were added to the settlements already mentioned Richmond, a farming town34 on the line of the Utah and Northern railroad; Lewiston on the west bank of Bear River, opposite Richmond; Benson, eight miles south-west of Logan; and Newton, a thriving village a little to the north-west of the same town.35 The corner-stones of the Logan temple were laid in 1877, its site being chosen by Brigham a few weeks before his death. The structure is of stone, painted and plastered in variegated tints, and capped with an iron roof.36 Rich, or as it was first termed Richland, county, in the north-eastern corner of the territory, was organized in 1864, being carved out of Cache county,37 Randolph, the county seat, near its centre, and surrounded with excellent pasture-land, Garden City at its extreme north-west, and Woodruff38 on Bear River, being now the principal settlements. The limits of Summit county on the south were extended in 1872 by an act of the Utah legislature, and in 1886 it was bounded on the north by Wyoming and Morgan county, and on the south, east, and west by Uintah, Wasatch, Morgan, and Salt Lake counties. In 1883 Park City, the centre of supply for the Ontario and other mines, was the most considerable town.39 Brigham City, the county seat of Box Elder, west of Cache county, and on the line of the Utah and (33cont.) the same period, commencing with the time when its site was purchased by Captain Brown from Miles Goodyear. 34Incorporated Feb. 6, 1868. 35At the southern end of Cache Valley is the town of Paradise, and scattered throughout the valley are several small settlements. For descriptive sketch of Cache co. settlements, see S. L. C. Herald, Nov. 3, 10, 1877. In 1880 Paradise had 490 inhabitants. Orson Smith, in Utah Sketches, MS., 1-2. 36See, for ceremony of laying the corner-stones, Deseret News, Sept. 26, 1877; for dedication, Biog. Lorenzo Snow, 452-3; for act incorporating Logan City, Utah Compiled Laws, 711-18; for description of the city, Deseret News, Oct. 15, 1873, July 23, 1879; S. L. Weekly Herald, March 31, 1881. 37For organic act, see Utah Acts Legisl., 1863-4, 18-19. The county was named after Apostle Chas C. Rich. 38Named after Apostle Wilford Woodruff. Richards' Utah Miscell., MS., 4. 39The other principal settlements besides those mentioned elsewhere were Echo and Wanship, both on the line of the Utah Eastern railroad. Wanship was named after an Indian who was much respected. Richards' Utah Miscell., MS., 3. |
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Northern railroad, together with Willard City, seven miles farther to the south, had in 1886 become places of note. The site of the former was remarkably picturesque.40 Tooele and Grantsville, in Tooele county, south of Box Elder, had each in 1880 a population of about 1,200, and Corinne, incorporated in 1870, about 400.41 Nephi, the county seat of Juab county,42 contained in 1880 a thriving population of about 2,500, most of them farmers, though the manufacturing interests of this town were not inconsiderable, the Tintic mines furnishing a market for surplus lumber and produce.43 Utah county, with two lines of railroad,44 excellent farming-lands45 and manufacturing facilities, and the largest fresh-water lake in the territory,46 ranked second in population to Salt Lake county,47 and first in its yield of cereals and fruits. By persistent effort, the 40Willard City is named after Willard Richards. Richards' Utah Miscell. MS., 7; Brigham, of course, after President Young. Both were incorporated in 1867. See Utah Compiled Laws, 737-9, 743-5. At Brigham City choice fruit was raised in abundance. In 1880 there was a large tannery and a woollen factory in operation. Near Willard City grain, fruit, and vegetables were raised, but the facilities for manufacture were meagre. A. Christensen and G. W. Ward, in Utah Sketches, MS., 45-104. For descriptions of Brigham City at various dates, see McClure's 3,000 Miles beyond the Rocky Mountains; Deseret News, July 24, 1862, Jan. 16, 1878. In 1883 Call's Fort, already mentioned, had only 35 families. Among other settlements were Honeyville on the line of the Utah and Northern railway, organized as a ward in 1877, and Snowville, a stock-raising centre, fifty miles north-west of Corinne, settled by A. Goodliffe and others in 1876. 41For acts incorporating these towns, see Utah Compiled Laws, 740, 843-52. Grantsville was named after Col. Geo. D. Grant. Richards' Utah Miscel., MS., 6. In the neighborhood of Tooele many kinds of farm and orchard products were raised. At Grantsville, also a farming settlement, there were 25 artesian wells. F. M. Lyman, John Rowberry, and Harrison Severe, in Utah Sketches, MS., 29, 151. For historical sketch of Corinne, see Tullidge's Mag., ii. 243-6. 42Juab is Indian or Spanish-Indian for fiat. For acts defining and extending the limits of the county, see Utah Acts Legisl., 1868, pp. 41-2; 1870, 127. 43Mona, eight miles north of Nephi, Juab, on the Utah Central, and Levan, seven miles east of Juab, were also promising settlements. At Nephi there were in 1880 two hotels, a furniture factory, and a large coöperative store. Geo. Teasdale, in Utah Sketches, MS., 112. 44The Utah Central and Denver and Rio Grande. 45In 1880 there were over 40,000 acres in tilth. 46Utah Lake is 40 miles in length, with an average width of 10 miles. 47In 1883 Salt Lake co. had 41,890 and Utah co. 23,472 inhabitants. Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 300. |
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inhabitants of Provo, the county seat, built up a settlement that ranked among the leading towns of Utah, with handsome public and private buildings, a theatre, a large tabernacle, and, as will presently be mentioned, the largest woollen-mill in the territory. Prominent among its industries was the drying of fruit, of which several hundred tons were forwarded yearly to market.48 In 1883 the other principal towns were fairly prosperous, several of them, as Payson,49 Spanish Fork,50 and Springville,51 having wealth and population sufficient to support a number of schools and churches, a theatre,52 and the inevitable young men's and young women's mutual improvement associations.53 Uintah county, in the eastern portion of Utah, was organized in 1880,54 with Ashley as the county seat. 48See, for act incorporating Provo, Utah Acts Legisl., 1866, 120-5; for names of municipal officers between 1861 and 1877, see Provo City Revised Ordinances, iv.-v.; in 1880, Utah Sketches, MS., where is a brief historical sketch of the town. Among the most prominent men in Provo may be mentioned Abraham O. Smoot, a native of Owen co., Ky, who joined the church in 1835, being then in his 21st year, and a few months later was ordained an elder. Of his missionary labors, and the part that he played during the exodus and the Utah war, mention has already been made. Chosen mayor of Salt Lake City in 1857, he was reappointed to that office at each election until 1866, when, declining the mayoralty, he served for twelve years in the legislature. In 1868 he removed to Provo, where he was also elected mayor, holding that office for twelve years, and receiving no pay for his services in that capacity in either city. In 1884 he was president of the Provo Manufacturing Company, the Provo Bank, the Provo branch of Zion's Coöporative Mercantile Institute, and the Utah county stake. Utah Early Scenes in Church Hist., 17-31; Tullidge's Mag., iii. 297-9. 49At Payson there was a coöperative store established, mainly by the efforts of Wm Douglas, who arrived in Utah in 1848. See for act incorporating Payson, Utah Acts Legisl., 1865, 42; for act extending limits, Utah Laws, 1882, pp. 18-19. 50Among the prominent citizens of Spanish Fork may be mentioned the bishop of ward, Geo. D. Snell, a descendant of one of the pilgrim fathers and a native of New Brunswick, whence he removed to Utah in 1854. In 1878 he was elected a member of the legislature. Wm Creer of the same city, and an Englishman by birth, was also a member of the legislature in 1883, and served on some of the most important committees. In 1882 the limits of Spanish Fork City were altered. Utah Laws, 1882, 8. 51The first mayor of Springville was G. D. Wood, who came to Utah in 1848, and in 1884 was still mayor, though 76 years of age. His son, L. S. Wood, was also one of the prominent men of Springville. 52The Payson theatre was the second largest in Utah, and had a seating capacity of 800. 53Midway between Payson and Utah Lake, on the line of the Utah Central, the settlement of Benjamin was founded in 1870. Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 156. 54For organic act, see Utah Laws, 1880, 11-12. |
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In the same year Emery and San Juan counties, and in 1882 Garfield county, were organized, with Castle Dale, Bluff City, and Panguitch as their several seats.55 Emery county was noted as an agricultural and mineral district, full of inherent wealth and resource. In Garfield county, below the junction of the Green and Grand rivers, is first encountered the weird scenery of the Colorado. Toward the south and in San Juan county the traveller, standing on the cliffs that overhang its banks, after making his way over leagues of sandstone, where there is no blade of grass or drop of water, sees below him the stream which Captain Cárdenas discovered in 1540,56 still gliding peaceably, after a lapse of more than three centuries, through valleys as yet untrodden by man. Near the point below which the waters of the Green and Grand are named the Colorado, ran the eastern boundary line of Piute county, organized in 1865,57 and of which Junction was the county seat.58 Beaver City, in the county of that name west of Piute, had in 1883 a population of about 2,000, and was one of the principal manufacturing centres of southern Utah.59 In Sanpete county,60 south of Utah and Uintah counties, Manti was in 1883 the largest and one of the most prosperous towns. Built on a solid rock near its suburbs, and at an elevation of several hundred feet, stood the walls of an unfinished temple, facing toward the west, and destined when finished to be one 55For organic acts, see Utah Laws, 1880, 4-5, 10-11, 1882, 98-101. Emery co. was named after Gov. Emery, and Garfield after President Garfield. Emery and San Juan were both bounded on the east by Colorado. 56See p. 1-5, this vol. 57Utah Acts Legisl., 1865, 16. 58Utah Laws, 1878, 48. Circleville, settled in 1860, was the county seat until 1868, when it was removed to Bullion. Utah Acts Legisl., 1874, 6; thence to Marysville, and again to Junction. 59Beaver was incorporated in 1867. Utah Acts Legisl., 1867, 4-5. For plan, see Wheeler's Geog. Surveys, ii. 491. 60For act changing the limits of Sanpete, Utah, and Wasatch counties, see Utah Laws, 1880, 18-19. By act of 1864 the county seat of Sanpete co. was removed from Manti to Moroni, and by act of 1865 again fixed at Manti. Utah Acts Legisl., 1863-4, 21; 1865, 16. |
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of the finest in existence.61 Ephraim City, incorporated in 1868,62 contained in 1883 about 2,500 inhabitants, and rivalled the county seat in aggregate wealth, all its citizens being men of means, though none very rich. Among other towns and villages may be mentioned Spring City, nine miles north-east of Ephraim, incorporated in 1870; Mount Pleasant, second to Manti in population, incorporated in 1868; and Fairview, in the northern section of the county, incorporated in 1872, with an area of twenty square miles.63 In 1864 Albert Lewis and ten other citizens from Manti pitched their tents on a spot later forming a portion of Main street in Richfield, Sevier county, Lewis soon afterward building a hut of cottonwood logs, cedar posts, and mud. During this and the following year it is related that 600 bushels of wheat were harvested from 10 acres of land. In 1865, the settlement being then reënforced, a canal was made, eleven miles in length, tapping the waters of the Sevier. In this year, also, Sevier county was organized.64 After the cessation of Indian raids in 1865-6, of which mention has already been made, other portions were occupied, several villages, among them Salina, Glenwood, Vermilion, and Joseph, being built on the banks of the river. Parowan, the seat of Iron county, south of Sevier, had in 1883 a population of 800, the leading interests being farming and lumbering. Cedar City had about the same number,65 and Summit, six miles south-west of Parowan, and Kanarra, formerly in Washington 61The site of Manti temple was chosen by Brigham, and ground was broken Apr. 30, 1877. The corner-stones were laid Apr. 14, 1879. Deseret News, May 7, 1879. For condition in 1882, see Robinson's Sinners and Saints, 163-5. 62Utah Compiled Laws, 828. 63Chester, about four miles west of Spring City, was settled in 1882 by R. N. Allred and others; Mayfield, ten miles south of Manti, by families from Ephraim and Fort Gunnison in 1873-5. In 1880 there were 16 considerable towns and villages in Sanpete co. J.B. Maiben, in Utah Sketches, MS., 173. 64Wm Morrison, Paul Poulson, and James M. Peterson, in Utah Sketches, MS., 134-6; Utah Acts Legisl., 1865, 16. 65For acts incorporating Parowan and Cedar, Bee Utah Compiled Laws, 1868, 808-11. |
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county, were prosperous farming villages. In Kane county, south of Iron, the first settlement, named Kanab, was established in 1870.66 St George, the county seat67 of Washington, and a few miles north of the Arizona line, was in 1886 one of the principal cities in southern Utah, and though built on alkaline sands and artificial soil, was one of the garden spots of the country. In its suburbs was a temple built of red sandstone, and dedicated in 1875, its baptismal font being presented by Brigham.68 In common with all the leading towns of Utah, St George was well supplied with schools, containing in 1883 no less than five school-houses, one of which belonged to the presbyterian mission. At that date there were in the territory 411 district schools,69 and the total expenditure for school purposes was in 1879 about $293,500, or some $6 per capita of the school children,70 the term lasting on an average little more than four months in the year. Upon the establishment of schools belonging to other religious denominations, or as they were usually termed in Utah, mission schools, educational results were more satisfactory, and if much was professed, much was actually taught. The Saint Mark's grammar-school, founded in 1867 in connection with the 66Utah Sketches, MS., 100. Among other settlements were Johnson, some ten miles east of Kanab, Pahreah, near the junction of Pahreah River and Cottonwood Creek, settled in 1872, and Orderville, on the west bank of the Virgen, in 1875. In 1869 the seat of Kane co. was removed from Rockville to Toquerville. Utah Acts, 1869, 17. 67For act to incorporate St George, see Utah Compiled Laws, 814-20. It was made the county seat in 1863. Utah Acts Legisl., 1862-3, 5-6. 68For dedication and description, see Millennial Star, xxxvi. 252-5; Deserst News, Apr. 8, 1874, Jan. 17, Apr. 26, Sept. 13, 1876. For plan of St George, see Wheeler's Geog. Surveys, it. 491. Six miles from St George was the village of Washington. and three miles north of Harrisburg the town of Leeds, first settled in 1868-9 by R. H. Ashley and others. Pinto, in the northern part of the county, was settled by Jacob Hamblin and others in 1856. The mining camp of Silver Reef was about one mile from Leeds. 69Of these 111 were primary, 60 intermediate, and 240 mixed. Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 293. 70Rept Dist Schools, 1880, p. 11. The value of district school property was in 1879 $393,984.57, of private school property $175,000. |
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episcopal church, the Salt Lake seminary, established by the methodists in 1870, and others founded later by various denominations,71 received so much of patronage that it became necessary for the Mormons to bestir themselves in the matter, and there was afterward more efficiency in the school system, private institutions being also founded by the saints, among them the academy at Provo,72 and the Brigham Young college at Logan.73 For many years a great advantage to Mormon as against gentile schools was the fact that they were allowed to use their meeting-houses for public school purposes. In 1880, when the legislature passed an act creating school districts,74 and authorized a tax for the erection and repair of school buildings, these meeting-houses were constituted legal district schools, though retained for religious purposes, the gentiles, none of whose children, with rare exceptions, attended them, being also axed for this purpose. Hence, legal conflicts arose, the decision of the courts being that Mormon school trustees could not collect such taxes 71Presbyterians, congregationalists, and catholics. Harrison's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS., 63. Among them was the Salt Lake Collegiate Institute founded by the presbyterians, the Salt Lake Academy by the congregationalists, and St Mary's Academy by the catholics. The presbyterians a one had in 1883 33 schools and 2,200 pupils. Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 280. 72Opened Jan. 1876, burned Jan. 1884, and rebuilt the same year. Id., 278-9, Albert Jones, in Utah Co. Sketches, MS., 59-60, 64, states that it was founded for the children of members of the church in good standing, though others are admitted, and that in 1880 it had 431 pupils. See also, for faculty, course of instruction, etc., Contributor, ii. 179-80, 241-2, 272-3; Deseret News, April 17, 1878, Feb. 5, 1879; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1880, 461-5, 489-93. among the professors in 1883 was Elder Karl G. Mæser, formerly of the Budig institute, Dresden. While presiding over the European mission in 1855, F. D. Richards heard that he was desirous of being informed as to the fath and doctrine of the saints, and a few months later visited that city by invitation in company with elders Win H. Kimball and Wm Budge, baptizing eight persons and organizing the first branch of the church in Saxony. Mæser was left in charge, and when the government banished the saints from fatherland, as we have seen, he and most of the other converts gathered to Utah. Richards' Miscell., MS. Mr Richards states that the B. Y. academy is one of the best and most popular educational institutes in the territory. 73Opened in Sept. 1878, the number of pupils in 1880-1 being 160. In 1877 a tract of nearly 10,000 acres south of Logan City was deeded for this purpose to a board of trustees by Brigham. Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 283-4. In 1883 Mariner W. Merrill presided over the educational affairs of Logan temple. 74A copy of it will be found in Rept Dist Schools, 1880, 71-80. |
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while the buildings stood on record as church property. Many of the ward meeting-houses, therefore, were transferred to school trustees.75 The University of Deseret, founded, as we have seen, in 1850, and incorporated the same year,76 the curriculum of which was to include all living languages and sciences, had but a nominal existence until 1869. At the former date there were no efficient private schools in the territory, no public-school law had as yet been passed by the legislature, and there were few competent teachers. As the university 75Harrison's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS., 67-71. The first gentile elected school trustee in Utah was Benjamin Grundy Raybold, a native of Birmingham, England, who came to Utah in 1862. Finding no other occupation, he began his career among the saints as a hod-carrier; then he turned carpenter; then postmaster; then journalist; and finally, in 1866, found employment with the Walker Bros, to whom in 1885 he was confidential clerk. A brief history of the Mormon school system from 1850 to 1875 will be found in U.S. Educ. Rept, 44th Cong. 2d Sess., 458-60. See also, for further information, Id., 42d Cong. 2d Sess., 21, 383-4, 600-4; 42d Cong. 3d Sess., 377-80, 416, 608-13, 942-97; 43d Cong. 1st Sess., xxii.-cxxiii. 460-3, 475, 510-12, 728; 43d Cong. 3d Sess., xiii., cxxv., 500-2, 507, 526-34, 733; 44th Cont. 1st Sess., xxvi.-ccxxiii. 510-14, 548-54; 44th Cong. 2d Sess., passim; H. Ex. Doc., 46th Cong. 2d Sess., vol. xi., cxxvii.; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1859-60, 22-6; 1860-1, 78-9; 1861-2, 65; 1863-4, 96-9; 1864-5, 110-14; 1865-6, 17-18, 170 -3; 1869, 14-15, 108, 176-8; 1870, 191-9; 1872, 228-30; 1876, 28-9, 78-9; 1878, 33-4, 345-80; 1880, 442-60; Utah School Bepts, passim; Bien. Rept Supt Dist Schools, 1880, 1882, 1884; Utah Sketches, MS., passim; Stanford's Weber Co., MS., 1-23; Linforth's Route from Liverpool, 104, l10-11; Remy's Jour. to G. S. L. City, ii. 177-94; Burton's City of the Saints, 512-16; Gunni-son's The Mormons, 80-1; Ward's Husb. in Utah, 264-6; Hollister's Res. of Utah, 72-3; Utah Pioneers, 33d ann., 30-4; Utah Besources, 55-8; Todd's Sunset Land, 179; Utah Gazetteer, 39-40, 175-6; 1884, 278-94; Contributor, i. 84; ii. 240, 270; iv. 182-3, 352-3; Millennial Star, xxxiii. 551; Deseret News, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, 1850, Feb. 22, 1851, March 19, 1853, Jan. 11, 1855, Apr. l, 1857, Apr. 11, Oct. 24, Dec. 5, 1860, Jan. 15, 1868, Apr. 17, 1872, Feb. 13, 1878, March 26, 1879; S. L. C. Tribune, Nov. 1, 1873, March 25, Aug. 29, 1876, March 3, 20, Apr. 21, 1877, March 20, Sept. 21, 1878, Apr. 23, May 22, Sept. 6, Nov. 20, 1879; Herald, Jan. 30, Apr. 13, 1878. For disbursement of school revenue, see Utah Jour. Legisl., 1880, 469-81; for evening-schools, Deseret News, Dec. 28, 1854, Dec. 5, 12, 1860; Sunday-schools, Harrison's Crit. Notes on Utah, MS., 71-3; Cannon's Sunday-schools in Utah, MS., 3; Juv. Inst., xv. 89; Deseret News, Apr. 14, 1869. Mr Harrison states that until there were gentile churches in Utah the Sunday-school was almost unknown. This the Mormons deny, saying that Sunday-schools have been taught in Salt Lake City since 1857, the Sunday-school Union being established in 1866. For gentile churches and missionary work in Utah, see Hand-Book of Mormonism, 77-86; Utah Gaz., 208-11; Marshall's Through Amer., 230. 76With Orson Spencer as chancellor, Dan. Spencer, Orson Pratt, Jno. M. Bernhisel, Sam. W. Richards, W. W. Phelps, Albert Carrington, Wm I. Appleby, Dan. H. Wells, Robt L. Campbell, Hosea Stout, Elias Smith, and Zerubbabel Snow as regents, and David Fullmer as treasurer. Des. Univ., MS., 3. |
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could be of little service without preparatory schools, and the grant of $5,000 a year had been made from an empty treasury, it was converted into a parent school, of which mention has before been made,77 the attendance being invited of all who wished to qualify themselves as teachers, or for other reasons to acquire a somewhat liberal education.78 In 1852 the parent school was closed for lack of funds,79 and from that date until fifteen years later nothing further was attempted, although meanwhile valuable tracts of land had been set apart for the future state by congress for the establishment of a university.80 During most of this interval, however, the board of regents exercised a general supervision over the schools of the territory.81 In the autumn of 1867 an educational institute was established by the board, and conducted at the council-house, mainly as a commercial academy,82 until 1869, when classical, scientific, and normal departments were added, though at this date it was in fact rather a high-school than a university.83 Students of 77See p. 324, this vol. 78It was opened Nov. 11, 1850, at the house of Mr Pack, in the 17th ward of S. L. City, Cyrus Collins being appointed teacher, but succeeded the same year by Orson Spencer and W. W. Phelps. The terms were $3 a quarter. Id., 6, 10; Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 287. 79Des. Univ., MS., 24; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1853-4, 115. 80By act of 1855 a grant was confirmed of nearly a section of land lying east of S. L. City. By contributions of labor and produce, nearly all of it was enclosed with a stone wall. A building was also commenced in the 13th ward for the use of the parent school. Des. Univ., MS., 8-9; Utah Acts Legisl., 1866, 110. By act of congress, approved Jan. 21, 1855, two sections, including 46,080 acres, were reserved for a university, said lands to be disposed of under the direction of the territorial legislature. Utah Laws, 1878, 172. In 1859 the legislature passed an act to provide for the selection of two townships for this purpose. Utah Acts Legisl., 1866, 93-4. 81By act of 1851 the chancellor and board of regents were authorized to appoint a superintendent of primary schools, to be under their control, his salary not to exceed $1,000 a year. By act of 1866 the right of making such appointment was transferred to the legislature. Des. Univ., MS., 4-5, 24. 82Of which David O. Calder was principal. 83The course lasted four years in the classical and two in the normal department. In connection with the normal department was a 'model school,' where pupils were prepared for the college course. The charges were $20 per term for the classical, $15 for the normal and commercial, and $8 for the preparatory course, with extra charges for modern languages, music, etc. The rates for tuition were afterward reduced. For studies and faculty, see Catal. Univ. of Deseret, 1868-9, 5, 14-16; for list of text-books, Id., 1869-70, 25-6. |
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p. 711 |
both sexes were admitted, the total attendance in 1870 being 546,84 while in 1884 the number was but 298, the decrease being due to want of sufficient appropriations, suitable buildings,85 and preparatory schools. In 1882 the university included an academic, a normal, and a preparatory department. In the first the courses included elementary mathematics, a little Greek and Latin, and a smattering of ancient, mediæval, modern, and natural history, physical science, political economy, logic, and English literature. On completing any one course, and keeping only three terms, the student was entitled to a certificate of graduation. In the normal department the curriculum, apart from the theory of teaching, was about the same as in the junior classes of a San Francisco high-school, and in the preparatory department almost identical with the subjects usually taught in the lower grades of a grammar-school.86 Although the standard is somewhat low, it is probable that in the University of Deseret more has been accomplished, at an average cost for each pupil of $50 or $60 a year per capita, than in many similar institutions, where the pretensions were greater and the expense in proportion.87 84There were 307 males and 239 females. Id., 1869-70, 21. Des. Univ., MS., 27. 85At the session of 1879-80 the legislature appropriated $20,000 for the university, and soon afterward the city council donated to the regents the finest public square in the city. A building was at once commenced, but the appropriation was almost expended before the basement was finished, under the expectation that the legislature of 1881-2 would vote a sum sufficient to complete it. Such a bill was passed, but failed to receive the governor's signature. At the beginning of 1884 the walls and roof had been completed, and a portion of the building was ready to be occupied, the money being raised by contribution. For the two years ending Dec. 31, 1879, the receipts were $18,151.44, of which $9,200 was from territorial appropriations, and $5,986.80 from tuition fees. The salary of the president, J.R. Park, was $2,400 a year. At this date the institution was $5,384.14 in debt. Bienn. Rept Chancellor Univ. Deseret, 1878-9, 11-13. In 1854 Orson Hyde was appointed chancellor, in 1857 and 1861 Albert Carrington, the interim being filled by Orson Pratt, elected in 1858; in 1869 Dan. H. Wells and in 1878 Geo. Q. Cannon were appointed. Des. Univ., MS., 35. 86See Circ. Acad. Dept Univ. of Deseret, 1880-2, 9-10. 87In 1870 a school in connection with the university was established at Provo, with Myron Tanner of that city, A. K. Thurber of Spanish Fork, and L. E. Harrington of American Fork as executive committee, and Warren (cont.) |
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p. 712 |
At a meeting of the board of regents, held in October 1853, Parley P. Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George D. Watt were appointed a committee to prepare a small school-book in characters founded on some new system of orthography, whereby the spelling and pronunciation of the English language might be made uniform and easily acquired. A further object was exclusiveness, a separate people wishing to have a separate language, and perhaps in time an independent literature. After some previous discussion, it was agreed that each regent should prepare an alphabet of his own contrivance and present it to the board. Parley Pratt was in favor of adopting one in which each letter should represent a single sound, but as some of the letters represent no sound except when in combination with other letters, and others are of uncertain sound, depending on such combination, the task would seem a difficult one. Finally, at a session held in December of this year, characters were adopted, under the style of the Deseret alphabet, the number of letters, or rather sounds, being thirty-two, of which the so-called vocal sounds were eleven, including six long, with short sounds to correspond, four double and one aspirate, and twenty-one articulate sounds. Thus the long sound of the letter e in meter was represented by a character resembling the Greek sigma reversed, the double sound of woo in wood by one resembling omega, the aspirate by phi, and the articulate sound of f by rho. While these characters are apparently borrowed from the Greek, this is also the case in the plates (87cont.) Dusenberry principal. It lasted only a few years. Deseret Univ., MS., 27-8. In 1884 a deaf-mute department was opened in connection with the university. Annual of Univ. of Deseret, 1884-5, 36-7. For further items concerning the university, see the circulars and reports above quoted. Deseret Univ., MS., passim; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1870, 168-72, 1876, 121-7, 1878, 295-6, 355-7, 381-91; Ann. Univ. Deseret, 1884-5, 7-38; Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 24-5; S. L. C. Contributor, ii. 13-16, 48, 82, 110, 142; Deseret News, June 9, 1869, Jan. 5, 1871: S. L. C. Tribune, Aug. 13, 1876, March 9, 1878; Herald, Nov. 17, 1877, Nov. 22, 1878, Jan. 30, 1881. Most of the details given in the text are taken from the Deseret University, MS., 1-35, which, besides a brief historical sketch of that institution, contains some valuable items concerning the district schools and the district school system of Utah. |
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p. 714 |
from which the book of Mormon is said to have been translated, where the letters pi, rho, tau, phi, chi, some of them as in manuscript, and others as in printed Greek, can be distinctly traced. Type was ordered, and with a view to durability, made so as to contain neither the top nor tail extensions of the letters. At a meeting of the board of regents, held in March 1854, some of it was presented to the members; and between that date and 1869 were published in the Deseret alphabet a primer, the book of Mormon, and the first book of Nephi. Some attempt was made to introduce into the public schools books thus printed, but without success. The tailless characters, and the monotonous evenness of the lines, made the words difficult to distinguish, and it was found impossible to insure uniform pronunciation and orthography. Within a few years the alphabet fell into disuse, and is now remembered only as a curiosity.88 In connection with the university may also be mentioned its library, containing at the close of 1875 about 10,000 volumes, later reserved for the use of students, but for many years open to the public.89 The territorial library, for which, as we have seen, an appropriation was made by congress in 1850, further grants being made by the Utah legislature from time to 88Richards' Utah Misc., MS., 13-16; Des. Univ., MS., 16-18; Richards' Incidents in Utah Hist., MS., 63. The preparation and use of the alphabet were ordered, or at least suggested, by Brigham Young, who, in his address to the legislature of 1853, thus gives his reasons: 'While the world is progressing with steam-engine power and lightning speed in the accumulation of wealth, extension of science, communication, and dissemination of letters and principle, why may not the way be paved for the easier acquisition of the English language, combining, as it does, great extension and varied expression with beauty, simplicity, and power, and being unquestionably the most useful and beautiful in the world. But while we freely admit this, we also have to acknowledge that it is perhaps as much abused in its use, and as complex in its attainment, as any other.' In the Deseret News, Aug. 19, 1868, the weeding-out of objectionable literature is stated as an additional reason. In 1855 $2,500 was voted by the legislature for the new type and for printing books in the Deseret characters. Utah Acts Legisl., 110-11. In 1859-60 the Deseret alphabet was used in keeping Brigham's ledger, and to some extent in the historian's office and in journalism. In 1877 an attempt was made to have the book of Mormon printed in Pitman's phonoype, and Orson Pratt started for England for this purpose, but returned at the death of Brigham in August of that year. No further effort was made. 89Des. Univ., MS., 29; Utah Gazetteer, 228. |
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p. 715 |
time,90 contained in 1883 about 4,500 volumes. At the same date the masonic library, established in 1873, contained nearly 6,000 volumes, the odd-fellows' about 1,500, and there were smaller libraries in connection with various literary, benefit, secret, and mutual improvement societies.91 Like citizens of the United SLates elsewhere, the settlers of Utah have always been patrons of news-papersand except that their columns are cumbered with church matters, interesting only to the saints, their journals compare very favorably with others published on the Pacific slope. The news is fairly reliable, but the editorial and other comments must be taken at the reader's own valuation. In freedom from journalistic scandal-mongering, they certainly rank among the foremost, and if sometimes dull, they are never silly or obscene. As a rule, the Mormon journals are less rabid in politics and religion than the gentile newspapers. Of several of the former mention has already been made. In 1867 was first published and issued daily the Deseret Evening News, the weekly having been first issued in 1850. The Daily Telegraph first appeared on the 4th of July, 1864, under the parentage of T. B. H. Stenhouse,92 and in 1869 was removed to Ogden, where it expired during that year. The Juvenile Instructor, an illustrated Sunday-school periodical published semi-weekly at Salt Lake City, was established by George Q. Cannon, the first number appearing January 1, 1866. The Salt Lake Daily Herald came into existence in June 1870, 90The last one in 1882. 91For mention of such societies, see Contributor, ii. 27-9, 31-2, 61, 92-4, 159, 222, 287, 350; Deseret News, Aug. 7, Nov. 20, 1878; Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 218-25. For further details as to libraries, see Id., 228-30; Burton's City of the Saints, 286-7; Deseret News, Aug. 20, 1862; S. L. C. Tribune, March 15, Nov. 22, 1873, Dec. 18, 1875; Reno Gazette, Dec. 6, 1880; Bonanza City (Id.), Yankee Fork Her., Sept. 25, 1879; observatories, Wheeler's Geog. Surveys, ii. 7-9, 461-7, 469-71. The office of superintendent of meteorological observations created by act of 1857 was abolished by act of 1870. Utah Jour. Legisl., 1876, 179-80. 92The author of Rocky Mountain Saints. His decease occurred in 1882. |
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p. 716 |
Edward L. Sloan being the first editor. The Woman's Exponent, a semi-monthly woman's-rights paper, was first issued June 1, 1872, under the care of Mrs Louise L. Green Richards, and afterward transferred to Mrs Emeline B. Wells. The Salt Lake Daily Times, a theatrical and advertising sheet of which John C. Graham was editor and proprietor, commenced December 24, 1875, and in March 1881 its publication ceased. The first number of Tullidge's Quarterly Magazine appeared in October 1880. This publication is embellished with steel engravings, and has been favorably received, not only in Utah, but in the eastern states and in England. Considerable sums have been subscribed for the publication therein of city and county histories. The Ogden Junction was first issued as a semiweekly in charge of F. D. Richards on the 1st of January 1870. Mr Richards associated with himself C. W. Penrose, to whom he resigned the editorship, subsequent editors being John Nicholson, Joseph Hall, and Leo Haefli. Soon after its first appearance the paper became a daily and its name was changed to the Ogden Herald.93 The Provo Daily Times, which started into being August 1, 1873, has had a varied experience, being successively called the Provo Tri-Weekly Times, the Utah County Times, the Utah County Advertiser, and the Territorial Inquirer, the last being its present name.94 The Beaver Enterprise was instituted early in 1874, Joseph Field being editor; the Southern Utonian was also published at Beaver City in March 1881, with F. R. Clayton as editor,95 and the Beaver County Record, at first a 93Among those who early took an interest in newspapers may be mentioned Sidney Stevens, who in 1885 was still one of the largest proprietors of the Herald. Mr Stevens, a native of Somersetshire, England, came to Utah in 1863, settling two years later at North Ogden, where, and at Ogden City, he has ever since been actively engaged in business. Among other ventures, he has been largely interested in the shipment of produce to the eastern states, forwarding as many as 470 car-loads in a single year. To his enterprise the terminus of the Union Pacific is in no small degree indebted for its recent growth. 94It has been edited at various dates by R. T. McEwan, R. G. Sleater, J. T. McEwan, and John C. Graham. Richards' Bibliog. of Utah, MS., 18. 95Later Dan. Tyler became editor. Ibid. |
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p. 717 |
weekly and afterward a semi-weekly, in 1883, with F. R. Clayton and R. Maeser as editors. In addition to the above, and to those already mentioned, numerous daily, weekly, monthly, semi-weekly, and semi-monthly publications were issued at the capital and elsewhere in the territory, some of them having but an ephemeral existence, and some being in existence to-day. For an account of them, I refer the reader to the note subjoined,96 where it will be seen that 96Additional list of publications, showing name, where located, frequency of issue, and, where possible, date of establishment and suspension:
(cont.) |
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p. 718 |
about one hundred newspapers and periodicals have been published since June 15, 1850, when the first (96cont.)
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p. 719 |
number of the Deseret News announced to the saints the death of John C. Calhoun.97 97For further mention of Utah journalism, see Richards' Bibliog. of Utah, MS.; Millennial Star, xxxvi. 731-2; xxxix. 127; Remy's Jour. to G. S. L. City, i. 189-90; Beadle's Life in Utah, 534-8; Richardson's Beyond the Mississippi, 351; Smith' s Rise, Progress, and Travels, 27; Bonwick' s Mormons and Silver Mines, 160-2; Tucker's Mormonism, 246-7; S. L. C. Contributor, ii. 209-10, iv. 352; Pettengell's Newsp. Direct., 1856. In connection with Utah literature may be mentioned Eliza R. Snow, the sister of Apostle Lorenzo Snow, and the second of the seven children of Oliver Snow, a native of Mass., and a farmer by occupation, though one much occupied by public business and holding many responsible positions. While still almost a young girl, Sister Snow commenced writing for various publications, under an assumed signature, and later in life published nine volumes, two of them being of poetry, and several reaching a second edition. Miss Snow was baptized as a Mormon in 1835, and the following year removed to Kirtland, residing in the family of Joseph Smith and teaching his children. After a brief residence at Adam-on-Diahman and Quincy, she repaired to Nauvoo, and, at the expulsion, crossed the Mississippi with the first parties, reaching the valley of Great Salt Lake with Parley P. Pratt's companies. Snow's Autobiog., MS., passim; Richards' Narr., MS., 116-7; Tullidge's Mag., 116-17. In connection with the press of Utah may be mentioned Chas W. Penrose, who was called to the ministry at the London conference of 1850, being then only in his 18th year. Mr Penrose commenced his literary career as a contributor to the Millennial Star, of which he was editor about 1867, having before that date passed several years in Utah, where, however, he found little encouragement as a journalist. Returning in 1870, he was appointed to the editorial charge of the Ogden Junction, which position he filled for seven years, after which he became editor of the Deseret News. In 1876 he was elected member of the legislature for Weber co., in which body he was for several sessions a tireless worker. Among the measures that he introduced was one to remove the political disabilities of women, which passed both houses, but failed to receive the governor's signature. Tullidge's Mag., ii. 27-30. |
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