DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



223 



Wasatch Range, -^hich lies due west of Thistle. The most southerly 

 point of this range is Mount Nebo, a peak which lies so far to the south 

 (left) that it is obscured by the low hills in the foreground. 



The appearance of the valley improves in its lower course; more 

 of the ground is irrigated, and there are indications that the train is 

 approaching a town or a railroad junction. Just before reaching 

 the station at Thistle there is a complete change from the soft rocks 

 of the Wasatch formation to the hard blue limestone and red and 

 gray sandstone of the Jurassic system, which form a decided con- 

 striction in the width of the vaUey. 



The railroad turns abruptly north and is joined at Thistle by a 

 branch line which traverses the rich Sanpete Valley and extends as 

 far south as Marysvale. This valley was early 

 settled by Mormon families sent out from Salt 

 Lake City by Brigham Young for that purpose, 

 and in 1849, in order to protect these outlying set- 

 tlements as well as those in the Salt Lake Valley, 

 the State of Deseret ^^ was organized. The organizers passed through 

 much the same experience as those who attempted to organize the 

 State of Jefferson in what is now Colorado, but their motives were 

 obviously quite different. The State of Jefferson was organized to 

 protect the people and their property from the lawless hordes that 

 would be attracted to the country by the discoveries of gold, whereas 

 the State of Deseret was organized to protect and strengthen the 

 Mormon Church by having the machinery of government controlled 

 by the dignitaries of the church.'^ 



Thistle. 



Elevation 5,033 feet. 

 Population 417. 

 Denver 681 miles. 



" The word " Deseret " is taken from 

 tbe Book of Mormon and means honey- 

 bee. It is written in the Book of 

 Ether of the people who came over 

 the great water from the old world to 

 the new : "And they did also carry 

 with them ' deseret,' which, by in- 

 terpretation, is a honeybee." The 

 honeybee, or rather the beehive, is one 

 of the important symbols of the Mor- 

 mon Church, and the word " deseret " 

 is used as the name of the most in- 

 fluential church newspaper, the Des- 

 eret News. 



"Bancroft, in his History of Utah 

 (pp. 439-440), describes the situation 

 as follows : 



" Until the year 1849 the Mormons 

 were entirely under the control of their 

 ecclesiastical leaders, regarding the 

 presidency not only as their spiritual 



head but as the source of law in tem- 

 poral matters. Disputes were settled 

 by the bishops, or, as they were also 

 termed, magistrates of wards, ap- 

 pointed by the presidency. The brother- 

 hood discountenanced litigation, but 

 the population did not entirely consist 

 of members of the church. There was 

 already in their midst a small per- 

 centage of Gentile citizens gathered 

 from nearly all the civilized nations of 

 the earth. It was probable that, as 

 the resources of the territory were de- 

 veloped, this number would increase 

 in greater ratio, and it was not to be 

 expected that they would always re- 

 main content without some form of 

 civil government. Not infrequently 

 litigation arose among the Gentiles, or 

 between Mormon and Gentile; and 

 though strict justice may have been 



