| OCR Text |
Show 128 ~ . CRY OF ? HB OftBAT SALT* LAKH. ' » - * •. * the constitutional right of the United States to hold jqrisdittioh there, hare organized a provisional State government, under which the civil policy of the natipn is duly maintained. 1' " That there is now a sufficient number of individuals residing within' the State of Dpseret to support aStategovemm^ nt*" They- tbBrefore asked « that, if consistent with the constitution and usages of the Federal Government, the constitution accompanying the memorial be rati- • . fed, and that the State of Deseret be admitted into^ he Union on • an equal footing, with- other States"-'* or such other forrii of'civil government- established,; as Congress in its wisdom and magnanimity might award."' •' > • A constitution and petition * foi a* Territorial organisation had , been previously forwarded to Congress-; but in corifcefluenoe 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 pf 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 bread A ; the streets at right angles with* each other, eight rods or one " hundred and thirty- two feet wide, with sidewalks of twenty feet 5 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 frontline of the lot, the intervening spate . being designed for sjirtlbbery and trees. The site for the city is most beautiful: it lies, at the western base of ' the Wahsatch Mountains, in a curve formed by the projection > westward from the maul range, of a lofty spur which forms its southern boundary. On the west it is washed l> y the waters of the Jordan, while to the southward for twenty* flve miles extends v • a broad level plain, watered by several little streams, tfhich, flow* ing down from- the eastern hrlls^ form the gre^ t element of fertility and wealth tp the community. Through the < rity itself flow* an Wailing stream of pure, sweet water, which, by an ingenious mode of imgatidn, is made to traverse . each side of every street* whence it is led mto every garden- spot, spreading life; verdure, and beauty over what was heretofore a barf en waste. . On the east and north the mountain descends* to the plain by steps, which form broad and elevated terraces, commanding an extended view df the whole valley of the Jordan, trhich is bounded on the west by a range of |
