It was July 24, 1847 that the first company of Mormons looked upon Salt Lake Valley, and Brigham Young, their leader, said: "This is the place." From Feb., 1846, when they were forced to leave Nauvoo, Ill., they had been on the move. About 15,00o Mormons crossed Iowa that summer, and wintered along the Missouri in camps they built. In April, Brigham Young's advance party of 143 men, 3 women and 2 children left Missouri with 73 wagons loaded with seeds and implements. In July Parley P. Pratt's party of 1,550 started with 58o wagons. This party, typical of later ones, was divided into companies of ioo wagons, and these again into companies of ten, each with its captain. Horses, cattle, sheep, hogs and chickens were taken along. About 2,000 Mormons were in Salt Lake Valley at the end of autumn in In 1848 other parties were on their way, and about i,000 wagons arrived that year. But this did not end the expeditions. Mission aries were working throughout the east and in Europe, especially in England and the Scandinavian countries, preaching of the new Zion. Party after party crossed the plains by ox-teams in the years following until the Union Pacific railway was built in 1869. Many of the immigrants came from far lands. A fund was pro vided by the Church to aid the poor, and the money was returned as soon as the immigrant could afford to pay. In 1856 there was such an increased number of poor refugees from Europe that a cheaper way to transport them to Utah was needed. So handcarts were provided them at Iowa City, the terminus of the railroad, and three expeditions set off during the summer. The first reached Utah safely, but the last two were caught by winter storms on the plains, and before they could be rescued 66 of the first party and nearly 25o of the second died from lack of food and the cold.
The winter of 1848-49 severely taxed the resources of the pioneer community at Salt Lake, but after the emigration of gold seekers to California began in 1849 matters brightened. A large percentage of the teams came by way of Salt Lake City and found the settlement a welcome stop on their long journey. The Mormons traded with them, receiving high prices for fresh horses and food supplies. In Feb. 1849, after the South-west was trans ferred to the United States, a convention was called to organize a State under the name of Deseret. The petition for Statehood was sent in at once and a provisional State Government set up to function meanwhile. In the first election Brigham Young, already the president of the church, was elected governor. Instead of gaining Statehood at this time, Deseret was only made a Territory and its name was changed to Utah. Young's election was con , firmed by appointment from the President. In contrast to other western States, order and harmony prevailed in Utah before the government was established because the Church superintended matters and acted as a Government. Its officials distributed pro visions, apportioned lots and farm plots, and ordered what work was to be done and the methods to be followed. Even after the territorial government was under way, the church continued to direct affairs, and so often came into conflict with the appointive officers sent out by the Federal Government.
The very same afternoon that the advance body of Mormons reached the valley of Great Salt Lake, three ploughs were put into the potatoes were planted and the waters of City Creek turned over the plot. Thus began the agricultural life upon which
their communities were founded, and thus also began the irrigation which was to make agriculture possible. The Mormons were the first to practise irrigation on a large scale in the United States. The farm area grew quickly along the western slopes of the Wa satch range, but the church did not rely on that only. Explorers were sent in all directions to select the most fertile valleys with plenty of convenient water available. Colonists were then selected, 3o or 4o families from those that were constantly coming, to go and settle each valley. In 1848 the Ogden valley was settled, in 1849 the Sampete valley, in 1850 Utah valley and the valley of Little Salt Lake. In time there were few valleys in Utah that Mormon colonies had not settled, spreading like bee swarms from the mother hive at Salt Lake City. They really settled by church congregations as in early New England, and the meetings where the pioneers came together and discussed their local affairs re sembled the New England town meetings. Most of the manu factured articles needed were made in the home, though small grist and saw mills and tanneries were quickly set up. In 1850 the U.S. census gave the value of manufactures in Utah as $291, 220. Merchants were establishing stores and bringing their stock over the plains from the east by long freight trains, one of them in 1853 numbering more than 400 wagons. Coal was early sought, and the mines developed. In 1849 iron was discovered, plans for an iron foundry laid, and the call sent to Europe for "blowers, moulders and all kinds of furnace operations." In 1852 the first pig iron was made. Erastus Snow went to England to study the great iron factories of that country and in 1853 became president of the newly incorporated Deseret Iron Company. The mining of precious metals, however, was discouraged by President Young, partly because he felt prosperous farms made better homes than the feverish, impermanent mining camps, and partly because he knew gold discoveries would draw hordes of "Gentiles," out of harmony with his ideals and plans, to his colony. In 1863 when General Conner brought his company into Utah, he allowed his men, many of whom were old California miners, to prospect, and he also actively aided them. lie himself staked the first claim in the State. Thus even during Young's lifetime many mines were opened. The early ore was sent to Wales for smelting, but in 1870 the Woodhull Brothers of the Little Cottonwood mine completed the first smelter. In 1871 the Walker brothers built the Pioneer Crushing and Amalgamating Mill with 15 stamps to work the silver ore of the Ophir mine, which they had located the previous year. The coming of the Union Pacific railway in 1869 stimulated mining. It also brought an influx of non-Mormons who were to increase steadily as the years went by. The Utah Central and the Utah Southern railways built extension lines to the Bing ham, Little Cottonwood and American Fork mining districts. Later the Utah Eastern passed up Parley's Canyon and helped in the development of the Park City mines. The Deseret News, pioneer newspaper of the Rocky mountains, was established at Salt Lake City in June 1850. The Salt Lake Herald (independent policy) and the Salt Lake Tribune (anti-Mormon) followed. The Tribune became the mouthpiece of the liberals.