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Show l~Uje.4- IJd0~ o-f V, Pf1)./.lLJ / '7 S J.. ~ TJ-IE MORMON VILLAGE SLL v{v-h I l36 l) I ,4 P~. R..lv~ ~~ "(",d ~~ iL +' ., U-b lA ~ for a num~er of years directed not alone the religious life of the members, but all temporal affairs as well. The main source of population increase was immigrants, chiefly from Scandina~ vian countries, converts to the Church whose motive for coming was doubtless a religious one. It was natural, therefore, that second only to the construc~ tion of homes came the building of churches. Even in the old fort, small as it was, the people built a "meeting house" or "House of the Lord." Subsequently several church structures were erected. But the community was not to retain its religious homogeneity for long. In the spring of 1875 a Presbyterian missionary held services in one of the school houses and a Presbyterian mission school was established in 1879. A Methodist Church was or~ ganized in 1883 by a lay preacher, and in 1885 a building was erected. At present neither of these churches is active, because of insufficient membership to maintain them. It would be a mistake to assume that all was sweetness and light among these early settlers. On the contrary, they had their differences and cleavages. There was criticism of the local . leadership, and in 1863 Brigham Young considered it necessary to send a strong leader from the outside to direct the community. Canute Peterson was "called" to Ephraim to be Bishop of the Ward. Peterson later had jurisdiction over all the settlements in Sanpete County and was a leader of outstanding reputation in the area. Cooperative Experiences. The first "field" to be reclaimed was enclosed by a common fence. Labor of all members of the colony was directed by one head. The fort in which the first residences were built was common property. It was not until 1860 that the site for the town was surveyed and lots appor~ tioned to the families. The families then moved out of the fort antI built homes upon their respective lots. This is important to note, because it invalidates the hypothesis held by some observers that "protection" against the Indians was one of the "causes" for the vil1age pattern among the Mormons. Actually, in Ephraim as in other settlements during this period, "pr~ tection" was provided by the construction of forts. When the af EPHRAIM, 1925 137 danger was removed and the forts could safely be abandoned the farmers might have moved to their respective farms - bu~ they did not. Rather they moved to the lots assigned them on the village site. , ' . Cooperative effort was necessary in the establishment of the majority of the community institutions since no individual had suffi~ient capital to found private concerns. Brigham Young had .Int;oduced co~perative merchandising with the founding of lIOn s Coop~ratlve Mercantile Institution in 1868, and in 1872 a cooperatIve store was established in Ephraim. Previous to this time, about 1860, a cooperative flour mill had been built in the canyon east of town. These communal institutions of the pioneer period were . short~lived, and appear therefore to have been the result of the compelling forces of the pioneer era. As the settlement grew and the people began to feel secure, the original motivation for cooperative activity seemed to weaken and the system of co.mpetition took its place. The pioneers indubitably acccrm~ plished goals which seemed to lie beyond their power largely because of their willingness to pool their efforts in the common ~terest.. It can ha~dly be said justifiably that these eady expe~ pences In cooperatIve effort have carried over into contempo~ rary Ephraim. There is no evidence at least in the more formal coope~ative organizations that Ephraim farmers are any more conspICUOUS than farmers of other regions of the United States. I LAND TENURE The religious and ethical idealism of the early Mormons had as one of its practical applications the equal distribution of land and i~rigation water. At one time the Mormons attempted to establIsh a brand of semi~communism which they refer to as the United Order. This called for the communal ownership of the ~an? -. "the ea;,th is the L,?rd's" - but it was to be operated by .IndI~lduals as stewards. By the time the pioneers had arr~ved In Utah, however, the United Order had been temp~ ~anly abandoned. However, the principle of equality, inherent In the communal system, prevailed in the distribution of private property in the land and water. Thus as each "field" or rela~ |
