INTRODUCTION. 5 



rights, by the spiritual leaders. Nothing can be further 

 from the real state of the case. The tie that binds a Mor- 

 mon to his second, third, or fourth wife, is just as strong, 

 sacred, and indissoluble, as that which unites him to his 

 first. Although this assumption of new marriage bonds 

 be called " Sealing ^^ it is contracted, not secretly, but under 

 the solemn sanctions of a religious ceremony, in the pre- 

 sence, and with the approbation and consent of relatives 

 and friends. Whatever may be thought of the morality of 

 this practice, none can fail to perceive that it exhibits a 

 state of things entirely different from the gross licentious- 

 ness which is generally thought to prevail in this commu- 

 nity, and which, were it the case, would justly commend 

 itself to the unmingled abhorrence of the whole civilized 

 world. The recent acquittal of a Mormon Elder for shoot- 

 ing the seducer of one of his wives, on the ground that the 

 act was one of justifiable homicide, fully corroborates the 

 truth of this remark, and shows in how strong a light the 

 sacredness and exclusive character of such relations are 

 viewed by the Mormons themselves. 



The route pursued by the expedition on its return, 

 through a pass in the mountains hitherto unknown, will, 

 perhaps, lead to further investigation of that remarkable 

 depression lying between the Park Mountains and the 

 South Pass. That a feasible route may be traced through 

 this depression has been satisfactorily demonstrated; and 

 the saving in distance cannot but prove an object of im- 

 portance, either in the establishment of a post route, or in 

 the construction of a railway communication across the 

 continent. The development of the inexhaustible mine- 

 ral resources of the coal basin of the Green Kiver valley, 

 may be found, and at no very distant period, to go far 

 toward lessening the obstacles which at present exist in 

 the settlement of a country so destitute of other fuel. It 

 is to be hoped that the government will not discontinue 

 the further examination of these most interesting regions. 

 From the heads of the Arkansas to the northern boundary 



