Twelve Mormon Homes : Twelve Mormon homes visited in succession on a journey through Utah to Arizona.

Twelve Mormon Homes, page 101

rows of cottonwood trees. These grow so fast that although planted only twenty-one years ago, in the infancy of the settle- ment, they give the town quite a middle-aged look, their branches already over-arching the streets. When we reached the end of a day's journey, after taking ofi our outer garments and washing ofi the dust, it was the custom of our party to assemble before the fire in the sitting-room, and the leading "brothers and sisters" of the settlement would come in to pay their respects. The front door generally opened di- rectly from the piazza into the parlor, and was always on the latch, and the circle round the fire varied constantly as the neighbors dropped in or went away. At these informal audi- ences, reports, complaints, and petitions were made; and I think I gathered more of the actual working of Mormonism by listen- ing to them than from any other source. They talked away to Brigham Young about every conceivable matter, from the flux- ing of an ore to the advantages of a Navajo bit, and expected him to remember every child in every cotter's family. And he really seemed to do so, and to be at home, and be rightfully deemed infallible on every subject. I think he must make fewer mistakes than most popes, from his being in such constant inter- course with his people. I noticed that he never seemed uninter- ested, but gave an unforced attention to the person addressing him, which suggested a mind free from care. I used to fancy that he wasted a great deal of power in this way; but I soon saw that he was accumulating it. Power, I mean, at least as the driving- wheel of his people's industry. Among the callers who dropped in at Parowan, my attention was drawn to a tiny old woman, who seemed blown into the 101