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Show S u b s e q u e n t t o t h i s m e e tin g , f o r th e n e x t s e v e r a l months and y e a r s many p e o p le c o n tin u e d t o a r r i v e i n th e v a l l e y who had had c o n t a c t w ith M exicans and who c o u ld have c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e s k i l l o f making adobe. Most s i g n i f i c a n t among t h e f i r s t of t h e s e w ere th e re m a in in g members o f t h e Mormon B a t t a l i o n d i s c h a r g e d a t San Diego. Some o f th e s e s o l d i e r s had even b een employed f o r a tim e i n San Diego c l e a r i n g a y a rd f o r t h e making o f b r i c k s (J e n s o n , 1899, 3 3 ). M ention s h o u ld a l s o be made o f th e f a c t t h a t by th e tim e Mormons t r a v e l i n g o v e r la n d r e a c h e d S a l t Lake V a lle y , adobe would n o t have b e en t o t a l l y new t o any of them . F t . L a ra m ie , a way s t a t i o n u sed by a l l Mormons c r o s s i n g o v e r la n d from th e E a s t , was b u i l t i n p a r t o f adobe b y I n d i a n l a b o r from New Mexico (A m erican Guide S e r i e s , Wyoming, 1 6 2 ). In summary, i t a p p e a r s t h a t in f o r m a t io n a b o u t th e p r a c t i c e o f b u i l d i n g w i t h s u n - d r i e d b r i c k s was o c c a s i o n a l l y a v a i l a b l e t o t h e Mormons i n t h e E a s t b u t t h a t i t w f-s never ta k e n s e r i o u s l y enough t o become a common f o l k p r a c t i c e . It i s perhaps s i g n i f i c a n t to o t h a t s u n -d rie d b r ic k in th e E a s te rn U n ite d S t a t e s was not r e f e r r e d t o by t h e S p a n is h term " a d o b e ," n o r were th e S p a n is h o r M exicans c i t e d a s exam ples o f p e o p le s u t i l i z i n g s u n -d rie d b r ic k ex cept i n th e l a t e r r e p o r ts of w e s te r n t r a v e l e r s . In t h e e a r l y w e s te r n j o u r n a l s th e te rm "ado b e" i s u s u a l l y i t a l i c i z e d and o f t e n d e f i n e d f o r American read ers. I t a l s o a p p e a r s t h a t e v en when t h e f i r s t w estw ard m i g r a t i o n was i n p r o g r e s s , t h e Mormons i n 1846 were s t i l l u n f a m i l i a r w i t h making a d o b e s , a m a t e r i a l w hich c e r t a i n l y Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. |