A^IO^'G THE MORMONS. 603 



them no captives more important than many horses and 

 cattle belonging to the white settlers. 



October 23, 1851, the first municipal election was 

 held in Ogden. 



1852 found one hundred families living within city 

 boundaries. 



In 1854, a memorial was addressed to Congress, by 

 the territorial legislature, urging the construction of 

 an overland railroad. But it was May, 1868, before a 

 contract was made between Brigham Young and the 

 superintendent of construction of the Union Pacific 

 Railroad for grading between Echo Canyon and the 

 terminus of the line. At Weber Canyon there was 

 blasting, tunnelling, and heavy stone work for bridges 

 to be done. This work earned 1,000,000 or perhaps 

 1,250,000 dollars' worth of wages. The labor was 

 splendidly done, but the remuneration came slowly. 

 Finally, however, the Union Pacific Railroad turned 

 over 600,000 dollars' worth of rolling stock, and other 

 property to the Mormons. On May 17. 1869, ground 

 was broken for a railroad between Salt Lake City and 

 Ogden, So the city grew and flourished. 



Ogden has an elevation of 4,340 feet. The ground 

 plan of the city is spacious, the drainage good, the 

 climate exceedingly healthy. 



About the time I rode through, the population num- 

 bered 6,000 souls. The city contained one of the 

 finest schools in Utah, a hotel which ranked among 

 the best in the Union, a daily paper, a theatre, three 

 banks, numerous Gentile churches, a 16,000 dollar 

 bridge across the ^yeber, a reservoir, and a Court 

 House, which was such an architectural beauty that 

 all Utah may well be proud of it. 



