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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



Soldier Creek, which the railroad has been following from Tucker, 

 is here joined by Thistle Creek, and together tlie two streams form 

 the Spanish Fork. The canyon at Thistle is narrow, and its walls 

 are composed of bluish limestone on the east and banded red and 

 gray sandstone or quartzite" on the west. The blue limestone con- 

 tains marine shells which show that its age is Jurassic. It normally 

 belongs beneath the Cretaceous rocks, which are so conspicuous alono- 

 the railroad from Green Eiver nearly to Kyune. Near Thistle 

 the rocks dip steeply to the east, but toward the north the dip de- 

 creases until they lie nearly flat. They also change in character, 

 for they become much softer downstream and ace composed almost 



done by the bishops, it was difficult for 

 the latter to believe that such was the 

 case. * * * Ti^g Saints regarded 

 their courts as divinely commissioned 

 and inspired tribunals ; but not so the 

 Gentiles, by whom reports were freely 

 circulated of what they termed the 

 lawless oppression of the Mormons. 

 Thus it became advisable to establish 

 for the benefit of all some judicial 

 authority that could nol be questioned 

 by any, whether members of the 

 church or not, and this authority must 

 be one that, being recognized by the 

 Government of the United States, 

 would have the support of its laws and 

 the shield of its protection. Further 

 than this, if the Mormons neglected to 

 establish such government, the incom- 

 ing Gentiles would do so ere long." 



To accomplish this purpose a con- 

 vention composed of " the inhabitants 

 of the part of upper California that 

 lies east of the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains " was called to meet in Salt Lake 

 City on March 4, 1849. A constitution 

 was drafted for the State of Deseret, 

 which was defined as extending from 

 latitude 30° to the border of Oregon, 

 and from the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Sierra Nevada, together with consider- 

 able territory that is now within the 

 Republic of Mexico. A general elec- 

 tion was held at Salt Lake City on 

 the 12th of March, and Brigham Young 

 was chosen governor of the new State. 

 On July 2 the general as.sembly con- 

 vened, and on the next day Willard 



Snow, being appointed speaker of the 

 house of representatives, administered 

 the oath or affirmation to the executive 

 officers. Bancroft (History of Utah, 

 p. 443) says: 



" Thus did the brethren establish, in 

 the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the 

 State of Deseret. It was certainly a 

 novel and somewhat bold experiment 

 on the part of the Saints, mustering 

 then little more than one-sixth of the 

 number required for the admission as 

 a State, thus to constitute themselves 

 a sovereign and independent people, 

 with a vast extent of territory, and 

 calmly await the action of'Congi'ess 

 in the matter." 



On July 5 Almon W. Babbitt was 

 elected delegate to Congress, and on 

 the next day a memorial to Congress 

 was adopted, asking for admission as 

 a State. Babbitt proceeded to Wash- 

 ington, but Congress refused to recog- 

 nize him as a delegate from a State 

 which had no legal existence. The 

 Territory of Utah Avas provided for by 

 an act of Congress September 9, 1850, 

 and President Fillmore appointed Brig- 

 ham Young its first governor, 



" Quartzite is a term applied to a 

 sandstone that has been changed into 

 a hard, dense flinty rock by the depo- 

 sition around the sand grains of silica 

 from percolating water carrying ma- 

 terial of that kind in solution. A 

 quartzite is much harder than a sand- 

 stone, is more resistant to the weather, 

 and is generally nearly pure silica. 



