History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

276 IN THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
had been worked hard while driven to the valley and
after their arrival, while those turned out to range did
not fatten quickly. Butter and tallow were needed.
One wild steer, well fattened, was brought in from
Goodyear's rancho. A herd of deer crossing from one
rano'e of mountains to another was startled by the
unexpected obstruction of the fort, and one sprang
into the enclosure and was killed. Wild sago and
parsnip roots constituted the vegetable food of the
settlers. A few deaths occurred from poisonous
roots. The bracing air and hard work stimulated
appetite as stores decreased. For coffee parched bar-
ley and wheat were used, and as their sugar gave out,
In the
they substituted some of home manufacture. 4
spring thistle tops were eaten, and became an important
article of diet. 5
Anxiety began to be felt about clothing, and the
hand-looms were now busily at work, although wool
was scarce. 6 As shoes wore out, moccasins were substituted,
and goat, deer, and elk skins were manufactured
into clothing for men and women, though
most unsuitable for use in rain and snow.
At the time of Parley P. Pratt's arrival, the city
of Great Salt Lake consisted of a fort enclosing a
block of ten acres, the walls of part of the buildings
being of adobes and logs. There were also some
tents. 7 As additional companies came in, they ex-
4 ' We manufactured our own sugar and molasses from beets, corn-stalks,
and watermelons, and made preserves for winter, which were excellent, byboiling
the rinds of the melons in this molasses.' Home's Migrations, MS.,
30. ' I attempted to make sugar out of corn. A rude apparatus was made
to squeeze the corn stalks, but the manufacture was not altogether a success.
After this, beet molasses followed. The boiler I used this time I made out
of some stove piping and lumber. Brother Cannon and I assisted to saw our
lumber.' Taylor's Reminiscences, MS., 16.
5 Geo. Q. Cannon, in Juv. Inst., xix. no. 5, 68.
6 ' They collected the hair of the buffalo from the sage brush as they
travelled, and used also the hair of cows.' Home's Migrations^ MS., 35.
From this blankets were woven and used in exchange with the Indians. Mrs
Home remarks that ' in Nauvoo there was a man dressed throughout in a suit
made from the curly hair of his dog, which was sheared annually.'
7 It stood on what was later known as the 6th Ward Square.