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Show 49 t h e N e ig h b o r. The' two a r t i c l e s in t h e N eighbor d e a l i n g w ith u n b u rn t b r i c k b u i l d i n g i n th e E a s t a r e ti m e l y i n t h a t th e y c o i n c i d e w ith an e r a o f i n t e r e s t i n c o l l e c t i n g d a t a h e l p f u l t o th e fo u n d in g o f s e t t l e m e n t s i n th e a r i d West. But sp ecu l a t i o n a b o u t t h e im pact o f t h e s e two a r t i c l e s i n t h i s r e g a r d s h o u ld be c a u t i o u s , f o r t h e r e i s no r e a l e v id e n c e t h a t u n b u rn t b r i c k s w ere u sed p r i o r t o th e S a l t Lake V a lle y o c c a s i o n i n 1847. On th e G re a t P l a i n s o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r t h e S a i n t s t o u se adobe were a b u n d a n t. In 1846 (one y e a r b e f o r e e n t e r i n g Utah) t h e Mormons d u r in g t h e i r w e s t e r n m ig r a tio n e s t a b l i s h e d m ig ra n t r a y s t a t i o n s i n a r e a s on th e G re a t P l a i n s where w e a th e r in g of adobe would n o t have been e x c e s s i v e . Indeed, n e a r one te m p o ra ry Mormon s e t t l e m e n t i n N e b ra sk a , an adobe f o r t l a t e r b u i l t by non-Mormons s u r v i v e d f o r many d e c a d e s. 7 But p ro b a b ly nowhere on t h e P l a i n s would adobe have been more u s e f u l t o t h e Mormons th a n a t W inter Q u a r t e r s n e a r w hat i s now Omaha. Founded i n 1846 by Brigham Young, W in te r Q u a r t e r s s e r v e d f o r many y e a r s as a te m p o ra ry haven f o r Mormon p i o n e e r s en r o u t e t o t h e S a l t Lake V a lle y . There a re f r e q u e n t r e f e r e n c e s i n t h e e a r l y d i a r i e s t o t h e b u i l d i n g o f d u g o u ts and l o g h o u s e s , b u t none m en tio n adobe or s u n - d r i e d b r i c k . One e a r l y r e s i d e n t a t W in ter Q u a r t e r s to o k a c en su s and r e p o r t e d "538 lo g h o u s e s , and 83 sod [d u g o u ts] were i n h a b i t e d by 3483 ^ F o r t N io b r a r a , b u i l t o f adobe ( M i l l e r , 3) i n 1880 n e a r a n abandoned Mormon camp e a r l i e r e s t a b l i s h e d by Newell K. K night (A m erican Guide S e r i e s , N e b ra s k a , 3 9 8 ). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. |