EI.DORADO 8i 



the valley, but groceries, dry goods, hardware, ma- 

 chinery and everything used or consumed, not pro- 

 duced by the settlers, was hauled from St. Louis, prin- 

 cipally by mule and ox teams, a distance of nearly 

 1,500 miles. The same conditions continued, more 

 than 20 years, or until the completion of the Union 

 Pacific railroad, in 1869. Utah, like a large portion 

 of all that interior region was quite destitute of forest 

 trees, and the inconvenience to farmers and others 

 from this cause was very great. In the vicinity of Salt 

 Lake City no trees grow except those that have been 

 planted, and the nearest fuel supply of wood to the 

 citv is from 15 to 20 miles distant. Gas and coal 

 which are found in abundance in Utah, are chiefly used 

 at present. 



Viewed without prejudice, and in the light of subse- 

 quent events, the immigration of the Mormons to 

 Utah was one of the greatest events of historv. Dur- 

 ing the winter of 1846-47 a body of 6,000 Mormons 

 w-as temporarily located upon the banks of the Mis- 

 souri river above Council Bluffs, since known as their 

 "winter quarters." They had been unable to live 

 peaceably with their neighbors in Missouri and Illi- 

 nois (probably both being to blame), and were pre- 

 paring to travel west to find a place where thev could 

 live in peace. With Brigham Young as their leader, 

 (recognized as "prophet, priest and God's anointed," 

 and who claimed to have had a vision of the "promised 

 land" in the far west, where a great temple would be 

 erected and where thev would await the second coming 

 of Christ), thev started across the almost trackless 

 plains to brave the Indians, the Avild animals, the des- 

 ert and the storms. The vanguard of the emigration. 



