| OCR Text |
Show 1;5 it was to befriend the redmen rather than to antag teir intention onize them. into the old Ore followed to the northward up tne west side ,of gon the North Platte, perhaps because of the difficulty they would have had in passing through thack Hills along the other side of thstream {not to be confused with the "Black Hills" of Dakota)"o;:).tbe.Sweet Laramie, they Trail, which they At Fort Platte, perhaps crossed the confluence; and then up that st ream, with some variations, un they had crossed South Pass. Beyond this crossing of the 6onti nental Divide, thc7 took tho left hand fork to Fort Bridger. From Bridger, a new road had been used, perhaps opened by the Hastings party and the Donner company in 1846. It went westward water til Bridger, in the Green hills, of the Uintah Range from drainage, River to Echo over Canyon. a low spur, Along this road, or foot the Mormon Pioneers travelled down Echo Canyon to the Weber River, then aseended the Weber a few miles; and then over the comparatively low divide to East eanyon, up whicb-together with a branch of the same;--they ascended to the summit of the Wasatch Range at Big th route of the Donners in 1846, who lost so cause of indecision and lack of unity and much perhaps behind what far fell maT woll ba ve been, their schedule, so ltnergy, se_rewinter of 1846-4.7 came upon them the snows tha t the of Mountain. time Thias '- ",1', high Sierras---forcing encampment with Hastings had descended the difficulty shortly hefore co ing to the Great Salt Lake Valley, that he advised the Donner party to take the shorter route over the mountains directly to the site of Both tha Donner party and the the efuture Salt Lake City_ Mormon Pioneers had begun their long journeys in April; but it was September before the Donnars left the Great Salt Lake---too late. on the east side of the territi¢ tragedy and loss of life. Weber itself; but met with so much As he pass84 over.Bi@Mountain, but partially recovered from his carriage he was riding---turn portion of the Salt Lake Valley visible from that eminence---perhaps the northern end of the Oquirrh Mountains and. the southern part of the Great After a few Salt Lake. with the wide intervening valley b.etween. moments intently gazing at the scene, he spoke, "Enough. ive on. If he had had He h8.d seen it in dream. This is the right p Lace"; misgiYinga since his experience at or near Council Bluffs, when the for military service in 1846, his fears Mormon bo7S were requisitioned The Mormons were late for planting were apparently dispelled here. a crop, and food was rather short for the following winter season; but after that time, they seem to have had sufficient for their needs "if used with economy", siCkness, Brigham Young had Wilfol Woodruff---in whose the vehicle s he could view tbat ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bancroft's Appraisal of Mormons €olonizers as Historian Hubert Howe Ban«roft has this to say about the Utah colonization period:--"In all stages of her existence, Utah has b:een constantly expanding; Her growth--far from depleting her resources-- adding to her strength. Originally one of the most bar onlT ren spots on the face of nature, with nothing to the land has become attention, people as busy a oommonwealth as as fruitful can be a attract even field found, and her with few ex- |
