AMONG THE MOEMON SETTLEMENTS. 131 



One thing could be said of Fillmore City, which could be 

 said of no other Capitol in the Union : that no intoxicating 

 beverages were sold within its limits ! There were thirty 

 individuals in our party — men who conscientiously believed 

 that a proper putting down of spirits was good for keeping up 

 the spirits — and that "Mormon lightning" was an excellent 

 article for lightening up the mind as well as the purse — and 

 these had looked forward to the time when they would arrive 

 in Fillmore City with as much pleasure as the sand-choked 

 Arab gazes upon the blooming oasis in advance of him. But 

 lo 1 when they arrived in the haven of their thoughts they 

 were doomed to bitter disappointment : for a miserable species 

 of beer was the strongest article to be had for love or money. 

 This and pumpkin pies were the staple productions of Fillmore, 

 and a goodly portion of both articles was disposed of during 

 our short sojourn in the place. We left the city about ten 

 o'clock, and encamped at midnight in the midst of a grease- 

 wood-covered plain, eight miles from the city. The night was 

 cloudy and cold, and in order to protect ourselves from the 

 force of the wind, we built a bulwark of bushes in the form of 

 a circle, and making a good fire in the centre, we laid down, 

 rolled up in our blankets, and endeavored to court the drowsy 

 god; but a rain, which soon commenced falling, made our 

 efforts vain for awhile. " Kind nature's sweet restorer, balmy 

 sleep," at length asserted its sway, and with a dreary wind 

 blowing around me, and a driving rain soaking my blankets, 

 I slept — as well as could be expected. 



The next morning we were detained by lost horses. We 

 saw Indians riding along the far edge of the valley and we 

 feared they had stolen them, but the Mormons found them 

 by noon. In the afternoon we passed an isolated house 

 occupied by three women, doubtless the wives of the absent 

 proprietor, some children, and an almost naked Indian. The 

 women had repulsive faces, one of them much older than the 



