Monument at Pioneer View

IMPROVEMENT ERA Vol. XXIV SEPTEMBER, 1921 No. 11 Monument at Pioneer View* Celebration of the 24th of July by the Y. M. M. I. A., at the Mouth of Emigration Canyon By President B. H. Roberts, of the First Council of Seventy Seventy-four years ago yesterday (July 24, 1921) an inci- dent occurred on or near the spot where we now stand that is destined to live in the memory of men through the ages to come. At the time this incident occurred little was thought of it. It was quite natural that it should happen just as it did. It fitted into the day's work completely, and many years elapsed before men began to sense the significance of it. It is that way with so many of History's most important incidents — it requires time to unfold their full import. Before giving an account of the incident itself, let us see if we can get something of the at- mosphere of it. It will not be necessary to tell the story of the people among whose leaders the incident referred to happened. That is well known to you and to History. It will be sufficient to say that on their expulsion from Nauvoo, 111., they began their westward movement that finally terminated in their settling in the Salt Lake valley, and other valleys of what we now call Utah. This western movement was headed by a special band of pioneers, less than one hundred and fifty in number, but augmented on the journey by additions at Fort Laramie from a company of Saints who had wintered at Pueblo, usually called the Mississippi Saints, because they had come from the state of that name, and also by a small number from the Pueblo detachment of the in- valided "Mormon" battalion, who overtook the pioneers at Green River on July 4. *Delivered at the dedication of the monument at Pioneer View, July 25, 1921, the spot where Brigham Young stood and, gazing into the valley, said, "This is the place."

960 IMPROVEMENT ERA Stricken with Fever On reaching Bear river a number of the pioneer band were stricken with "mountain fever," among them Brigham Young, who became so ill that he was compelled to stop at the Bear river encampment with others who were sick. The main en- campment passed on, leaving the sick and a few wagons with well folks to care for those stricken with the fever. This out- break of fever slowed down the march for some days. Recognizing the value of the time element in their move- ments, on the 13th of July an advanced company was organized under the leadership of Orson Pratt, consisting of 23 wagons and 42 men, quite a number of whom were of the Mississippi com- pany. These were to press on with all speed, find and follow the wagon trail into Salt Lake valley made by the Donner-Reed company of the year before. That party consisted of 87 souls, of which 36 were men and 21 women, the rest children. They must have had from 20 to 25 wagons. From this time on the pioneer train was divided into three divisions: Orson Pratt's advance company, the main division, comprising the larger number of men and wagons under the leadership of Willard Richards and George A. Smith, and the third division, comprising a few wagons conveying the sick, among whom was Brigham Young. The Place of Destination The noon encampment of Elder Pratt's advance company on July 21st was at what is now called Little mountain; and, hav- ing been overtaken that morning by Erastus Snow, sent forward from the main division of the pioneer train, these two, Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow, leaving the advance company to im- prove the road and move down the canyon as far as possible, took one horse between them and followed the wagon trail of the previous year to the mouth of the canyon. This trail leaving the creek on the right, ascended a very steep hill of the "hog- back" type. From the summit of it a fine view of Salt Lake valley is to be had from what we now call the Jordan Narrows to Great Salt Lake. "On ascending this butte," Erastus Snow wrote in his journal entry of that day, "we involuntarily, both at the same instant, uttered a shout of joy at finding it to be the very place of our destination, and beheld the broad bosom of the Great Salt Lake, spreading itself before us." Orson Pratt journalizing of the same incident, says: "After issuing from the mountains among which we had been shut up for so many days, and beholding in a moment such an extensive scene open before us, we could not refrain from a shout of joy

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 961 which almost involuntarily escaped from our lips the moment this grand and lovely scenery was within our view." Leaving the summit from which they obtained this view, the two pioneers descended the eastern slope of the valley in a southwesterly direction to a point where they had seen canes growing that looked like waving grain. This led them to the banks of a stream now known to us as Mill Creek. Remembered Instructions Here they remembered instructions from President Young, received July 19 per the hand of Orrin Porter Rockwell, telling the brethren that when they emerged into Salt Lake valley "to turn a little to the north and put in their seed." This also was confirmed by a communication from Willard Richards and George A. Smith, in charge of the main division of the pioneer train, giving this same instruction about turning to the north, on emerging into the valley, and giving the reason therefor. I quote from their letter: President Young gave us his views concerning a stopping place in the basin [Salt Lake valley] by saying that he felt inclined, for the pres- ent, not to crowd upon the Utes [Ute tribe of Indians] until we have a chance to get acquainted with them, and that it would be better to lean to- wards the region of Salt Lake rather than the Utah [lake], and find some place for our seeds and deposit them as speedily as possible — regard- less of a future location. The president thinks that the Utes may feel a little tenacious about their choice lands on the Utah [lake]. We had better keep further north towards the Salt Lake, which is more of a war-like or neutral ground, and by doing so we should be less likely to be disturbed, and also have a chance to form an acquaintance with the Utes, and having done our plant- ing, shall seek a site for our location at our leisure. Remembering these instructions of the President, and ob- serving that they had borne southward rather than to the north from the mouth of the canyon, our pioneers turned to the north, which brought them to the stream we now call City creek, and on the present site of Salt Lake City. The Valley Explored The next morning, July 22, a party of nine horsemen, headed by Orson Pratt and George A. Smith, rode out into the valley to explore it, directing the remainder of the camp to pro- ceed with the road making down into the valley. At the mouth of the canyon the exploring party left instructions to follow the creek bed, that by cutting away the underbrush and digging away the rocks, a better and safer road could be had than by going over the steep hill over which the Donner-Reed train had passed the previous year. A circuit of more than 15 miles was made by the exploring

962 IMPROVEMENT ERA party during the day; and at night they found their camp had moved down to the camp on Mill creek. The next morning the instruction of President Young to bear to the north upon entering Salt Lake valley was again called to mind, and the whole encampment, now comprising Orson Pratt's advance company and the main division, moved three or four miles northward and camped on the forks of what we call City creek, the present site of the city lying at our feet. Here by prayer of thanksgiving and praise they dedicated the land and began the plowing and planting of it that day. This was on the south fork of City Creek, which roughly, and in a somewhat meandering course, ran south, parallel with our pres- ent State street, while the other fork in the same manner, paralleled North Temple street, the division of the stream be- ing a little east of Temple Square; and the first plowing was done near where the Auerbach and Company's store — once the Knutsford Hotel — now stands, on State street. Meantime, President Young's division of the train had been moving slowly and painfully through the mountains over the rough wagon trail. On July 23 his company passed over Big mountain. Of this event his journal history says: I ascended and crossed over Big mountain; when on its summit I di- rected Elder Woodruff, who had kindly tendered me the use of his carriage, to turn the same half way round, so that I could have a view of a por- tion of Salt Lake valley. The spirit of light rested upon me and moved over the valley, and I felt that there the Saints would find protection and safety. From this rolling summit of Big Mountain only a very limited glimpse of the Salt Lake valley can be had, and that in the extreme southwest part of it, the slope next to the west range of mountains. The incident here recorded by President Young is not the incident we are here today to celebrate. In Mountain Dell The night of the twenty-third of July, President Young's company encamped on the east side of Little mountain, in what is now called Mountain Dell. The next day, the memorable July 24, his company passed over Little mountain, down what we now call Emigration canyon, out of the mouth of it to the point where we now are gathered. And now for the only account of what happened on this spot 74 years ago. This is given in a discourse by Wilford Wood- ruff, delivered by him in Salt Lake City on the thirty-third an- niversary of Pioneer day, 1880: On the twenty-fourth I drove my carriage, with President Young lying on a bed in it, into the open valley, the rest of the company following. When we came out of the canyon into full view of the valley, I turned the

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 963 side of my carriage around, open to the west, and President Young arose from his bed and took a survey of the country. While gazing on the scene before us, he was enwrapped in vision for several minutes. He had seen the valley before in vision, and upon the occasion he saw the future glory of Zion and of Israel, as they would be, planted in the valleys of the mountains. When the vision had passed, he said: "It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on." So I drove to the encampment already formed by those who had come along in advance of us. This is the only direct account given of the incident, "This is the Place," although Elder Woodruff's lengthy journal entry for that day, gives strong corroborative testimony of halting to view the valley upon emerging from the canyon, and of Presi- dent Young expressing his satisfaction with what he saw. I quote that part of the journal entry: Pleasing Thoughts Our hearts were surely made glad after a hard journey ... to gaze upon a valley of such vast extent, entirely surrounded with a perfect chain of everlasting hills and mountains, covered with eternal snows, with their innumerable peaks like pyramids towering towards heaven, present- ing at one view the grandest and most sublime scenery that could be ob- tained on the globe. Thoughts of pleasing meditation ran in rapid suc- cession through our minds while we contemplated that not many years hence, and the house of God would stand upon the top of the mountains, while the valleys would be converted into orchards, vineyards, gardens and fields by the inhabitants of Zion, and the standard be unfurled for the nations to gather to. President Young expressed his full satisfaction in the appearance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints and was amply re- paid for his journey. After gazing a while upon the scene we traveled across the tableland four miles to the encampment of our brethren who had ar- rived two days before us. The prophetic fervor, the exalted spirituality of this pas- sage needs no comment; and the corroborative value of the pas- sage in support of the same man's statement in his discourse is apparent. Brigham Young's own account of his entrance into Salt Lake valley is very simple. In his journal history, yet in manuscript, he has this entry: July 24, (1847) I started early this morning, and after crossing Emi- gration canyon creek eighteen times emerged from the canyon. Encamped with the main body at 2 o'clock. About noon the five-acre potat* patch was plowed, when the brethren commenced planting their seed potatoes. At 5 o'clock a light shower accompanied by thunder and a stiff breeze. Simplicity of all Great Things So closes the great leader's account of the pioneer journey from the Winter Quarters on the banks of the Missouri, to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, a distance of a thousand miles. How simple all great things are! Later there was further confirmation of the right place

964 IMPROVEMENT ERA having been selected. Returning from a brief exploring trip in the valley on the afternoon of the 28th President Young said: Some of the brethren talked about exploring the country further for a 6ite for a settlement; I replied that I was willing that the country should be explored until all were satisfied, but every time a party went out and returned, I believed firmly they would agree that this is the spot for us to locate. (Journal History of Brighcan Young. Entry for July 28, 1847.) And now this memorable saying, "This Is The Place," his- torically established, what about it? Is it the place? Remember the limitations connected with the declaration. "President Young expressed his full satisfaction in the appear- ance of the valley as a resting place for the Saints," is the quali- fying statement from the journal of Wilford Woodruff. It must be remembered always that neither Utah nor the adjacent states of the intermountain west, nor the Pacific coast states mark off the spatial limits of the work in which the Latter-day Saints are engaged. Their mission is to bring to pass the redemption of Zion, and the whole of America — both her great continents — is Zion. Their mission is even larger than that; their message is "unto every nation, and kindred, tongue and people" — a universal message ; but a special work is to be wrought in the land of Zion, a work of warning, of admonition; a work of temporal as well as spiritual import. To hold high the standards of ancient as well as modern American ideals that shall recognize God in hu- man affairs, and accept Jesus Christ especially as the "God of the land" (see Book of Mormon, Ether, II) and the righteous- ness of the gospel as the moral standard of the people who should dwell in the land under God's pledge of security. In this high, and Zion-wide, and world-wide mission, Salt Lake valley, Utah, the intermountain west is but a "resting place" for the Saints; broader fields await their activity and service for humanity. While the valleys of the mountains of the west may never be deserted by them, those valleys are too narrow for all their work. But they have answered well for a resting place. Here the Saints have been preserved as a peo- ple, their identity has not been lost. The value of their com- munity life has been demonstrated. The pioneers themselves were poor when they came into the Salt Lake valley. For years they went on gathering the poor from the lands whence they themselves had fled, and then they gathered the poor from the lands beyond the seas, from England ; from all the British Isles ; from the Scandinavian countries, from Switzerland, from Ger- many and from the islands of the seas. Deserts Subdued It has been a gathering from nearly all the nations and peo-

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 965 pies of the earth, a gathering of the poor, and largely with empty and bare hands the deserts and solitary places have been subdued and made to yield increase for the sustenance of man; and meantime the religion and the Church of the Latter-day Saints, have been preserved, both institutions and the people, and have been kept constantly in the eyes of the world. This could scarcely have been done under any other conditions save those that have obtained in Utah and the surrounding states during the last seventy-four years. Suppose President Young and his associates had listened to the pleadings of very earnest and influential men to pass on into California, and had there settled their people? What would have been the result? As a people, as a Church, the Latter-day Saints, together with their religion, would have been lost. California now has a population of three and one-half millions; in ten or fifteen years she is likely to double that population. Where would the Latter-day Saints have been in the midst of these millions? Where would have been their op- portunity to demonstrate the value of their church organiza- tion, their system of community life — the gathering of the poor, and teaching them by a system of mutual helpfulness that man can subdue waste places, make them fruitful and prove that "states though very poor may yet be very blessed," and at last, by mutual helpfulness may become affluent in both material and spiritual riches. Had Clear Vision From the commencement of the "Mormon" exodus from Il- linois and other states, Brigham Young had clear vision of con- ditions needful for his people. Writing to James K. Polk, presi- dent of the United States, under date of August 9, 1846, he said : The cause of our exile we need not repeat. . . . Circumstances have placed us in our present situation on a journey which we design shall end in a location west of the Rocky mountains, and within the basin of the Great Salt Lake, or Bear River valley, as soon as circumstances shall per- mit believing that to be a point where a good living will require hard labor, and consequently will be coveted by no other people, while it is surrounded by so unpopulous but fertile country." (History of Brigham Young, manuscript, book No. 2, pages 52-3). As a resting place, then, for the Church of the Latter-day Saints, as a gathering place; as a place for developing their sys- tem of religion and their community life, until they should be- come strong — strong enough for the undertaking of their larger Zion-wide and world-wide mission — undoubtedly — "This is the place." This valley stretched forth here at our feet; our Utah, the whole mountain west — this was and is, for just now, "the right place."

J66 IMPROVEMENT ERA From Another Angle For the purpose of viewing this incident we are celebrating from another angle, and that not from a sectarian view, let us ask again, "Is this the place?" To that there is but one answer. Look about you and be- hold what God hath wrought! Behold the miracle wrought under the blessing of Almighty God, by the toil and suffering and sacrifice of the pioneers of our state; for to them must be accorded the honor of laying the foundations and making pos- sible all that we this day see lying before us, and extending throughout our state and throughout the surrounding mountain states. Their labors and achievements extend beyond the boun- daries of Utah; their community was the parent community of the mountain west. Utah's state emblem — the bee-hive — repre- sents more than mere industry, noble as that may be. A bee- hive suggests swarming and the making of other colonies of bees; the gathering of more honey to feed more bees and men with sweets, thus ever multiplying values and extending benef- icence. The Gentiles and the Land of Zion The planting of the Salt Lake colony meant more than the founding of a resting place for the Latter-day Saints. It neither comported with the character of that people or with the nature of their mission to be long isolated from their fellow citizens of the great republic of the new world. Though regarding them- selves as remnants of some of the tribes of Israel, gathering from whence they had been scattered — "sifted," is the Biblical phrase — among various nations of the earth, and settling in a "choice land" of larger promise than Palestine, yet they knew from books accepted by them as of Scripture value that they held no exclusive title to the land of Zion, or any part of it; for in their sacred books it is said that "the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God." "Wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute? And the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land. And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land who shall raise up unto the Gentiles; and I will fortify this land against all other nations; and he that fighteth against Zion [meaning America] shall perish, saith God." (II Nephi X.) So "This is the place" in the "Mormon" view of it, not alone for the Latter-day Saints but for the Gentiles also; not for "Christians" only and our brothers of Judah, but for pagans, too, if they will come. Looking off there to the northwest, back of the state capitol, you may see that rounded sugarloaf-shaped

MONUMENT AT PIONEER VIEW 967 hill in the side of the mountain; that is "Ensign Peak," named so, not because any United States flag was raised upon it on the 26th day of July — as is sometimes erroneously reported — when visited by Brigham Young and others of the pioneers for the first time, but because the pioneers had carried with them the conviction while crossing the plains — and even before that — that they would yet raise an ensign that would include all the flags and ensigns of the world — the ensign of humanity. The spirit of their thought was voiced by one of the apostles of the Church who followed hard upon the heels of the first pioneers — Elder Parley P. Pratt — in the hymn, saying: See on yonder distant mountain, Zion's standard wide unfurled, Far above Missouri's fountain, Lo, it waves for all the world. Freedom, peace and full salvation Are the blessings guaranteed, Liberty to every nation Every tongue and every creed. And so following. All Dwelling in Peace "This is the place," then, where all may share in the bless- ings of the land of opportunity. Behold all men dwelling in peace here, in this, one of the cities of Zion. Jew and Gentile, "Mormon" and Catholic, believer and skeptic — none more free than those living here. None more secure in their property rights and religious freedom — "This is the place," for the en- joyment of these things. A Vision of the Past I wonder if we could banish for a moment what we see be- fore us at our feet and think of this valley, in part at least, as it was when Brigham Young halted upon this spot seventy- four years ago, and, trembling from fever weakness, looked over the valley and declared this to be the place. Let us try it. There is no city in view; no smiling country marked with the careful lines of industry. No fields, no orchards. No paved or other kinds of roads. No railroads. No smelter smoking stacks — the mineral wealth of the region was unsuspected. There is no capitol in the foreground of Ensign peak; no skyscrapers, no six-towered temple, no cluster of university buildings crowning Federal heights; no Utah or Newhouse Hotels; no electric street car system, no electric lights — all these things have vanished, nothing but the largely arid plain and the sur- rounding mountains. A few scattered trees and bushes line the several streams, some of them lost in the plain before reaching

968 IMPROVEMENT ERA the Utah outlet, as our Jordan river was then called. Millions of black crickets abound, which later would menace the settlers' crops and threaten the success of the colony planting. A vast solitude is brooding over the valley, as it had brooded over it for ages. Then this pioneer band comes, and the leader of it stands up here where we now stand, and taking into account all this that I have feebly described to you, calmly says to his friends — "This is the place, drive on." And they go to the encampment and begin building the city we now see before us. "This is the Place!" Prophecy, this! Inspiration, this! Genius! Who can doubt it when he may behold the confirmation of it in a splendid city and a great commonwealth? Golden words these — "This is the place." Cherish them, fellow citizens — young men and maidens of Utah — make them live now and for the future; and not alone to express material advantages, but for moral worth and spiritual power as well. "This is the place," not only for material advantages, but for the finer things in life as well; for music, art, and science; for learning and culture; for the development of honor and integrity, in the individual, and in the community life. These are the things of the spirit, they pertain to the people, and the people are of more importance than things. "Money hath but money's value, Virtue is not bought or sold, And a nation's wealth is reckoned From her people, not her gold." To you all, I commend this view of the words: "This is the Place"