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Show 128 CITY OF THB GREAT SALT LAKE. the constitutional right of the United States to hold jurisdiction there, have organized a provisional State government, under which the civil policy of the nation is duly maintained. 1' « That there is now a sufficient number of individuals residing within the State of Deseret to support a State government." They therefore asked " that, if consistent with the constitution and usages of the Federal Government, the constitution accompanying the memorial be ratified, and that the State of Deseret be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with other States"-" or such other form of civil government established, as Congress in its wisdom and magnanimity might award." A constitution and petition for a Territorial organisation had been previously forwarded to Congress; but in consequence of in* formation received afterward, a memorial for a State government was substituted in its room. Such is a brief sketch of the origin • and progress of this colony, and the condition in which we found it upon our arrival in August, 1849. A city had been laid out upon a magnificent scale, being nearly four miles in length and three in breadth; the streets at right angles with each other, eight rods or one hundred and thirty- two feet wide, with sidewalks of twenty feet; the blocks forty rods square, divided into eight lots, each of which contains an acre and a- quarter of ground. By an ordinance of the city, each house is to be placed twenty feet back from the front line of the lot, the intervening space being designed for shrubbery and trees. The site for the city is most beautiful: it lies at the western base of the Wahsatch Mountains, in a curve farmed by the projection westward from the main range, of a lofty spur which forms its southern boundary. On the west it is washed by the waters of the Jordan, while to the southward for twenty " five miles extends a broad level plain, watered by several little streams, which, flowing down from the eastern hills, form the great element of fertility and wealth to the community. Through the city itself flows an unfailing stream of pure, sweet water, which, by an ingenious mode of irrigation, is made to traverse each side of every street, whence it is led into every garden- spot, spreading life, verdure, and beauty over what was heretofore a barren waste. On the east and north the mountain descends to the plain by steps, which form broad and elevated terraces, commanding an extended view of the whole valley of the Jordan, which is bounded on the west by a range of |