OCR Text |
Show Among the mountains, those that lie to the west of the river St. Pierre are called the Shining ^ fountains, from an infinite number of shining stones of an amazing size, with which they are covered, and which, when the sun shines full upon them sparkle so as to be seen at a great distance. This extraordinary range of mountains is calculated to be more than three thousand miles in length, without any very considerable intervals, which I believe surpasses anything of the kind in the other quarters of the globe. Probably in future ages they may be found to contain more riches in their bowels than those of Indostan and Malabar, or that are produced on the golden coast of Guinea; nor will I except the Peruvian mines. To the west of these mountains, when explored by the future Columbuses or Raleighs, may be found other lakes, rivers and countries full fraught with all the necessaries or luxuries of life; and where future generations may find an asylum, whether driven from their country by the ravages of lawless tyrants, or by religious persecutions, or reluctantly leaving it to remedy the inconveniences arising from a superabundant increase of inhabitants; whether, I say, impelled by these or allured by hopes of commercial advantages, there is little doubt but their expectations will be fully gratified by these rich and unexhausted climes. In 1776, while the Declaration of Independence was being considered by the thirteen colonies of America, Escalante, a Franciscan priest from Santa Fe, came into the vales of Utah. yftiile he reached only as far north as Utah Lake, he learned from the Indians about the salt sea that lay to the north beyond the hills. In 1826, Jedediah Smith of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company encamped upon the waters of the Great Salt Lake; and a year or two before, the old scout of the Rockies, James Bridger, reached the shores of the lake by way of Bear River. In 1833, J. R. Walker of Captain Bonneville's command, skirted the western shores of the Lake, and in 1842 John C. Fremont wrote a description of it, after he had reached one of the large islands which afterwards became known as Fremont's Island. When John Bidwell took his company to California in 184- 1, he looked upon the placid waters of the Lake; and in 1846, the Donner party passed along the south shore of the Lake over the deserts of Nevada to California. Up to 1847, no one seemed to have any idea of the possibilities of the land, nor the hidden resources of the hills and mountains. In that year, a company of Mormon pioneers came through Emigration Canyon under the leadership, of Brigham Young. For the first time, they seemed to understand the richness of the soil of the vales of the Great Basin, and they evidently knew something of the hidden treasures of the Rockies. Here the little company of L- brmons made a camp, and in time, the " hosts of Zion" came and settled the vales of Utah. Small canals and ditches were dug, and by a process of irrigation, the valleys were redeemed and " made to blossom as the rose," The colonists settled upon the lands; homes were built; and cities, towns, and golden fields of grain took the place of the haunts of the Indians. - 3 - |