railroad. A bathing-house has been erected on
ID ROCK.— GREAT SALT LAKE.
150
the wharf , where conveniences for a salt water
bath are kept. The waters of the lake are very
dense, and it is almost impossible for bathers to
sink. In former times three barrels of water
would make by evaporation, one barrel of salt;
now four barrels of water are required to effect
the smiie result. A company has been organized
in Salt Lake City, to manufacture salt from the
waters of this lake near Millstone Point, and
vats are to be erected the present year. An ex-
cellent quality can be made and sacked — ready
for market for 11.50 per ton.
Half-Wat/ House, — 25 miles from Salt
Lake City, and Tooele Station :J7 miles are the
next stations an 1 termini of the road. Grant-
ville is one of the richest agricultural towns
of Utah. Stages leave here for the mining
camps on the western slope of the mount-
ains, and a large amount of freighting is done
with teams to and from the mines. The sta-
tion will lose its importance as soon as the
road passes beyond it. There are large springs
of fresh water near the station, which sup-
ply a flouring mill and woolen factory with
power. On the left side of the track, before you
reach the station, is " E. T. City" — the initials
being those of E. T. Benson, who was interested
in the town. It is simply a settlement of Mor-
mon farmers, nestled under the mountains. The
woolen factory alluded to is a long, low stone
structure, with approved modern machinery,
about one and three-fourths miles from the sta-
tion, north of the track. This route must prove
very attractive to travelers, and one which will
amply reward them in the pleasures it will
afford. The rich mining districts of Rush Val-
ley, Ophir and others, are reached by this line
of road. The Hidden Treasure and other mines
in these districts have already acquired a repu-
tation and standing among the first mines in the
country.
Social Life Among the Mormons. — Be-
yond the limits of Salt Lake City the uniform
character of Mormon families is of exceeding
plain ways of living, almost all being of very
modest means, and even poor. What the better
families have gained has been by the hardest
and most persistent labor. It is said that when
the city was first settled, there was not found
over fl.OIIO in cash for the whole community,
and for a long series of years thereafter money
was little used, and the people lived and paid for
their wants by barter, and a writer facetiously
says : " A farmer wishes to purchase a pair of
shoes for his wife. He consults the shoemaker,
who avers his willingness to furnish the same for
one load of wood. lie has no wood, but sells a
calf for a quantity of adobes, the adobes for an
order on the merchant, payable in goods, and the
goods and the order for a load of wood, and
straightway the matron is shod.
"Sever! water-melons purchased the price of a
ticket of admission to the theater. He paid for
the tuition of bis children, seventy-five cabbages
per quarter. The dressmaker received for her
services, lour squashes per day. He settled bis
church dues in sorghum molasses. Two loads of
pumpkins paid his annual subscription to the
newspaper. He bought a ' Treatise on Celestial
Marriage ' for a load of gravel, and a bottle of
soothing syrup for the baby, with a bushel of
string beans."
In this way, before the advent of the railroad,
fully nine-tenths of the business of the Mormon
people was conducted. Now barter has given
place to actual circulation of money.
While there is not what may be called dis-
tress or abject poverty in any part of the Mor-
mon settlements, yet with many, especially ,the
new emigrants, their means are so limited, and
the labor so hard, it would be exceedingly dis-
couraging to exist, but for the grand confidence
all have in the joys to come promised by their
religion and their leader.
Except in the cities there is little or no form
of amusement, and the Sabbath is mainly the
great day of reunion, when the population turn
out en masse to the Tabernacle or other places of
worship.
In the church services no one knows, until the
speaker arises, who is to preach from the pulpit,
or what may be the subject.
Tin- subjects of sermons, addresses and exhor-
tations are as wide as there are books. A writer
has laughingly said : " In the (beat Tabernacle,
one will hear sermons, or advice on the culture of
sorghum, upon infant baptism, upon tin: best
manure for cabbages, upon the perseverance of
the Saints, upon the wickedness of skimming
milk before its sale, upon the best method of
cleaning water ditches, upon bed-bug poison,
upon the price of real estate, upon teething in
children, upon the martyrs and persecutions of
the Church, terrible denunciations of Gentiles
and the enemies of the Mormons, upon olive oil
as a cure for measles, upon the ordination of the
priesthood, upon the character of Melchisedec,
upon worms in dried peaches, upon abstinence
from plug tobacco, upon the crime of foeticide,
upon chignons, twenty-five-yard dresses, upon
plural marriages, etc."
Portions of this are doubtless the extrava-
gant' of humor, yet it is true every possible
thing, secular or spiritual, is discussed from the
pulpit which tin' president thinks necessary for
the instruction of the flock. We attended' per-
sonally one Sunday a Sunday-school celebration
in the Tabernacle, where the exercises were en-
livened with a spirited delivery of "Marco Boz-
arris," " Cay Young Lockbivar," the singing of
"Home, Sweet Home," and the gallery fronts
were decorated with gay mottoes, of which there
shone in great prominence, " Utah's besl crop,
children."
REPRESENTATIVE MORMONS.
I.- W. Woodruff. 2.-John Taylor. 3.-Mayor Daniel H. Wells. 4.-W. H. Hooper. 5.-President Brigham Young.
C— Orson Pratt. 7.— John Sharo. S.— George Q. Cannon. 3.— Orson Hyde.
152
TMM &&GXFS© W@VtWlT.
The city Mormons are fond of the theater and
dancing, and as their president is both the owner
of the theater and its largest patron, the Saints
consider his example highly judicious and ex-
emplary, so the theater is crowded on all occa-
sions. We were present, on one occasion, in 1 869,
when we witnessed over thirty of the children of
one of the Mormons sitting in a row in the
dress circle, and the private boxes rilled with Ids
wives. The most striking event of the evening
was when one of the theatrical performers sung
this ditty :
" If Jim Fisk's rat-and-tan, should have a bull-dog pup,
Do you think Louis Napoleon would try to bring him up ? "
This elicited tremendous applause, and the per-
formers, much to their own laughter and aston-
ishment, had to repeat it.
A few years afterward, in witnessing a large
body of Mormon children singing their school
songs — we noticed the end of one of their little
verses :
"Oh, how happy I ought to he,
For, daddy, I'm a Mormon."
As justifying their amusements, the Saints
thus say, through one of their authorities :
" Dancing is a diversion for which all men and
women have a natural fondness."
Dancing parties in the city are, therefore, quite
frequent, and the most religious man is best en-
titled to the biggest amount of fun. Hence
their religion should never be dull.
" As all people have a fondness for dramatic
representations, it is well to so regulate and gov-
ern such exhibitions, that they may be instructive
and purifying in their tendencies. If the best
people absent themselves, the worst will dictate
the character of the exercises."
Therefore every good Mormon, who can get a
little money, indulges in the theater.
The Religion of the Mormons. — It is
not the purpose of this Guide to express opin-
ions of the religious aspect of Mormonism ; but,
as all visitors who come from the East, seeking
either from curiosity to gain reliable information,
or, having prejudices, expect to gratify them
with outbursts of indignation, we can only stand
aloof, and explain, calmly and candidly, a few
facts as we have found them by actual contact
and experience with both Mormons and Gen-
tiles, and leave each reader to judge for himself
the merits of this vexed question.
So thoroughly and implicitly have the masses
of the Mormon people been led by their leader,
that no one must be surprised to find that they
are firm believers and obedient servants to ail
the doctrines and orders of the Church. They be-
lieve just as they are told.
Whatever, therefore, there is in their life,
character and business, industry and enterprise,
that is good and praiseworthy, to Brigham Young,
their leader, belongs the credit. But for what-
ever there is wicked in their religion, life, faith,
deeds and church work — and for whatever is
lacking in good, to the same powerful mind and
willful hand, belongs the fearful responsibility.
Whether Mormonism be a religion or not —
yet candor must confess, that if it fails to i;i\'-
and preserve peace, contentment, purity; if it.
makes its followers ignorant, brutal, supersti-
tious, jealous, abusive, defiant ; if it lack gen-
tlein-ss, meekness, kindness, courtesy ; if it brings
to its homes, sadness and discontent, it cannot be
that true religion, which exists alone by sincere
trust in Christ and love for heaven. If in all its
doctrines, services, sermons, prayers, praise and
church work, it fails to give the soul that seeks
after rest, the refreshing, comforting peace it
needs, it cannot be everlasting.
Mormonism has accomplished much in in-
dustry, and perseverance, in reclaiming Utah's
waste lands and barren plains. It has opened a
country, which now is teeming with riches inex-
haustible and untold wealth is coming to a
scene, once the very type of desolation. We
give to the Mormons every worthy praise for
their frugality, temperance and hard labor. No
other class of people would have settled here.
By patience they have reclaimed a desert, — peo-
pled a waste, developed hidden treasures, have
grown in thrift, and their lives bear witness to
their forbearance, and complete trust and faith.
How The Mormon Church Influences
Visitors. — The system of polygamy is not the
only great question which affects the future of
Utah. More than all things else, it is the Power
of the Rulers of the Mormon Church. It is natural
that they should make efforts to maintain it by
every use of power; gentleness if that will do the
work, coercion if not.
It is unfortunate that in the spiritual services
of the Church, they fail to impress visitors with
proper respect. Their sermons, all eastern
travelers have uniformly admitted, were remark-
able in the absence of spiritual power. The
simple truths of the Gospel rarely ever are dis-
cussed, the life of Christ, the Gospel of the New
Testament, the "Sermon on the Mount" — the
Cross are all ignored, — the Psalms of David, the
life of Daniel, Solomon, and the work of the
twelve Apostles are rarely referred to; instead,
visitors are compelled to listen to long argu-
ments justifying Mormonism and plural mar-
riage, and expressions of detestation for their
enemies.
We heard three of the elders talk at one of
their Sabbath meetings, during which the name
of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world, was
scarcely mentioned. One talked of the wonder-
ful conversion as he claimed, and baptism of
some Lamanites (Indians), not one of whom to-
day, can give a single intelligent reason for the
course he has adopted. Another told of the
time he was a local preacher in the East, of the
Methodist Church, and of the trials and persecu-
tion they had endured there. The third was
quite belligerent in tone, and gave utterance to
what might possibly be interpreted as treasonable
sentiments against the government of the United
States. In the meantime the audience accepted
all that was said with apparent relish. We
thought of the saying of one of the popular
humorists of the day, to the effect that " if that
kind of preaching suits that kind of people, it is
just the kind of preaching that kind of people
likes." Their preachers will often take a text
from the sayings of the prophets, and give it a
literal interpretation that would grate harshly
upon orthodox ears, while the listener would be
amused at the ingenuity displayed in twist-
ing the word of God — making it mean anything
desired.
It is exceedingly unfortunate for the cause of
the Mormons, that such exhibitions of nature
are made, the only result of which is to increase
the prejudice of all visitors, and tend to grad-
ually change the minds of those who would
gladly be cordial, but feel they can not. We
speak in candor ; the efficacy of a religion is
judged by its purity of life and speech. A true
religion wins admiration from even its enemies.
But Mormonism seems never to have made a
friend of an enemy, and only returns even
deeper resentment.
A religion which does not do as Christ com-
manded, " Pray fir them which persecute you,
bless and curse not," — but treasures its resent-
ments and fulminates its curses continually — can
it be any religion at all '!
Inconsistencies. — Another circumstance,
one very unfortunate for the Mormons, and al-
ways noticed by strangers, is the inconsistency
of their history.
In tin.' original revelation to Joseph Smith,
there was not only no mention of polygamy, but
in the Book of Mormon, such a practice was
fiercely denounced. In the second chapter of the
Book of Mormon, there originally appeared this
warning to the Nephites :
" Wherefore, hearken unto the word of the Lord,
for there shull not any man among you have sore it
be one wife ; and concul/ines he shall have none ;
for I the Lord God, delightelh in the chastity of
woman."
The following comments and arguments based
on the above, seem absolutely necessary, and im-
possible for any one to controvert :
1. //" Joseph Smith wrote this under the inspira-
tion of the Holy Spirit, then present Mormon prac-
tices and doctrines, being wholly different, are not
true nor worthy of confidence.
2. If Joseph Smith did not write this under the
inspiration of the Almighty, then Joseph Smith did
not receive a true revelation, was not a true Prophet,
and what he has written h<ts been entirely unworthy
the confidence of his people.
3. If Mormonism since then has found a new
revelation totally opposed to the first, then the first
must have been false.
i. If the' first revelation was false, then the
Book of Mormon is wholly false and unreliable, and
Joseph Smith was an impostor.
5. If the first revelation teas true, then (as the
decrees of the A/mighty once given, never change),
the second revelation is not true, nor ever was in-
spired by God.
6'. As History proves that Joseph Smith received
and promulgated both the first and second revela-
tions — as one of these must be false — as no Prophet
could ever be falsely led, if instructed by the Al-
mighty — ('( follows that Joseph Smith never received
a true inspiration, was not a true Prophet — that
Mormonism is not a revealed religion.
Another inconsistency, fatal to the claims of
the Mormon religion, is the curious act of Joseph
Smith at Nauvoo. On the 12th of July, 1843,
Smith received the new revelation. When it
was first mentioned, it caused great commotion,
and many rebelled against it. A few elders at-
tempted to promulgate it, but so fierce was the
opposition that at last, for peace, Smith officially
made public proclamation against it in the
Church paper as follows :
Notice. — As we liave lately been credibly informed tbat
an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, by the name of Hiram Brown has been preaching
polygamy and other false and corrupt doctrines in the
County of Lapeer and State of Michigan,
This" is to notify him, and the Church in general, that he
has been cut off from the Church tor his iniquity, and he is
further notified to appear at the special conference on the
Gth of April next, to make answer to these charges.
Hâ„¢ Sm!th!: } Presidents of the Church.
Query. — What is the world to think of a
religion, or a people, when their Prophet falsifies
his own record, and denies his own revela-
tion ?
Subsequent history shows that in less than
three years from the publication of the above
notice, the Mormon leaders were living in open
and undisguised polygamy.
Would a Prophet who ever received a true revela-
tion deny it, punish his followers for observing it, and
then practice it for himself'
How appropriately the answer is given to this
question when one takes up the Mormon Hymn
Book, and finds among its verses, used in their
church services, the following leading lines :
1. " The God that others worship is not the God for me."
2. " A church without a Prophet is not the church for me."
3. " A church without Apostles is not tho church for me."
4. " The hope that Ctentiles cherish is not the hope for me."
" It has no faith nor knowledge; far from it I would be."
5. " The heaven of sectarians is not the heaven for me."
The Netc Iionte. to Montana and the Yel-
lowstone, The Utah Novtltem Ji. 11.
This new railroad lias been lately pushed rap-
idly northward toward Montana. Upwards of
300 miles are expected to be finished this year.
154
. iiir'
mm
; â–
O
S
a
o
H
O
CO
ft
n
o
-
ft
W H
s
<!
CO
H
<!
ft
M
O
ft
O
TME c P,~iG£FIG TQW l B£$T.
155
Upon this road are several points of very great
interest, worth the special visit of tourists for
one or two days. The road alter leaving Ogden
runs for a number of miles close to the foot of
the Wahsatch Mountains. On its way it passes
a Sulphur Spring where arises a dense cloud of
vapor. The road gradually rises above the valley
upward to the mountain range, giving grand
views of the Great Salt Lake, and its islands,
with the orchards and grain fields below. A
backward look reveals the glories of the mount-
ains. Reaching the Summit, there is a glorious
view of an interior valley of the Bear River,
with its villages and distant views of canons
and peaks. The road then descends rapidly
into the Cache Valley. The land is remark-
ably rich and well irrigated. Near Logan is
a high plateau 300 feet above the town whence
a fine view of the valley is obtained, and over
fourteen villages seen, surrounded with a series
of mountains capped with snow. The scene is
most picturesque. Near Oneida and 30 miles
distant are the famous Soda Springs of Idaho,
which can now be reached by stage. A place
where most remarkable cures have been
effected. For tourists to the Yellowstone, this
is now the only available route, saving over
300 miles horseback riding from any other
point.
The Gh-eat Salt Lake.
In many respects this is the most wonderful
body of water on the American Continent. It is
the chief object of interest in the physical geog-
raphy of the great basin in which it is located.
Its waters are saline and brackish, unfit for use,
and uninhabited by representatives of the finny
tribes.
Its Discovery. — In his report on this lake,
Captain Stausbury speaks of a French explorer,
with an unpronounceable name, who left the west-
ern shores of the great lakes sometime in the
seventeenth century, and proceeded westward for
an undefined period, and made extensive discov-
eries on the Mississippi, Missouri, and other
western rivers, and either saw, or heard from the
Indians, of the Great Salt Lake. His accounts,
however, are somewhat mixed, and not at all sat-
isfactory. It is reported that John Jacob Astor
fitted out an expedition, in 1820, to cross the
Continent, meet a vessel he had sent round Cape
Horn, and at some point on the Pacific Coast,
form a town which should be to it what New
York was to the Atlantic Coast, the greatest
commercial emporium of that part of the country.
This expedition, it is said, crossed the Rocky
Mountains, near Fremont's Peak in the Wind
River Range, and after reaching the Tetons sep-
arated into small parties, each one exploring on
its own account. One of these, consisting of
four men and commanded by a Mr. Miller,
hunted around the vicinity of Snake River and
the Soda Springs, finally crossing into Cache
Valley, a little north-west of Corinne. It is fur-
ther reported that Miller, in one of his rambles,
ascended the mountains south of this valley, and
here, for the first time, beheld the waters of the
great inland sea spread out before him. He re-
turned to his party, and with them proceeded to
the lake, and on further inspection concluded it
was an arm of the ocean. This was its first dis-
covery by white men. The next recorded visita-
tion is that of John Bedyer, in 1825, and the
next was by Captain Bonneville, in 1831, who
saw it from the Red Buttes in the 'Wahsatch
Range, and whose account was written up by
AVashingtou Irving. In 1832, Captain Walker
first attempted to explore it with a party of forty
men. He traveled around the northern and
western boundaries, but was compelled to aban-
don the undertaking for want of water for his
animals and men. Captain Stausbury after-
wards explored it, and his report contains the
only reliable information concerning this re-
markable lake that has been published from
official sources, though subsequent observation
has revealed many facts and phenomenon con-
cerning it which would be highly interesting if
they could be collected and given to the world in
tangible form. General Fremont also visited
this lake, and has given some information about
it.
Analysis. — The only analysis of its waters
that we have been able to obtain is that given
by Dr. Gale and recorded in Captain Stansbury's
report. We quote : " It gives the specific gravity,
1.170; solid contents, 22.422 out of 100 parts.
The solid contents when analyzed gave the fol-
lowing components :
Chloride of sodium, 20.196
Sulphate of soda, 1.834
Chloride of magnesium, 0.252
Chloride of Calcium, a trace.
Loss,
22.282
0.140
22.422
A remarkable thing about this analysis is that
the specific gravity, as here given, corresponds
exactly with the mean of eight different analyses
of the waters of the Dead Sea of Palestine, which
is largely above that of the water of the ocean.
This analysis reveals what is now generally
known, that here is a source from which salt
enough can be obtained to supply the Continent.
When it is considered, however, that all the
streams flowing into this lake are fresh water,
draining the water-shed of a large area of
country, and discharging from the springs, melt-
ing snows and rains of the great basin, an im-
mense volume of water, the puzzling question
very naturally arises as to the source of this
abundant supply of saline matter. The various
saline incrustations, however, at various points
on the surrounding shores, indicate clearly that
156
TBE &&€IWi€ F&¥ ( MIST.
sunn- portion of the earth is saturated with this
ingredient. Still this lake is without any visi-
ble outlet, and with all the great influx of fresh
water, annually, why does it remain so salty?
The inference naturally follows that it washes
some vast bed of rock salt or saline deposit in
the bottom of the lake, hitherto undiscovered.
Without facts, however, even this is a supposi-
tion which may or may not be true. The shores
of this lake, especially toward the city bearing
the same name, have now been settled nearly
thirty yews, and it would be strange indeed if
the changes which have been gradually going
on in this lake should not have been noticed.
The elevation of the lake is given at 4,200 l'eet
above the level of the sea. The elevation of
Salt Lake City is given at 4,351 feet above the
sea — difference of 151 feet. The figures here
given as the elevation of the lake, we think, are
based upon observations and calculations made
several years ago, perhaps by Captain Stansbury.
The observation of the old settlers is, that it is
not correct — that the lake is from ten to fifteen
feet higher now than it was in 1850, and that in
proportion as the water rises it becomes less
salty. Reliable citizens have informed us that
in 1850, three barrels of water evaporated would
make one of salt; now, four barrels of water are
required for the same result. This fact leads to
the opinion that the humidity of the atmosphere
in this region of the Continent is increasing — in
consequence of which there is less evaporation —
evaporation being greater and more rapid in a