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History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

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276 IN THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.<br />

had been worked hard while driven to the valley and<br />

after their arrival, while those turned out to range did<br />

not fatten quickly. Butter and tallow were needed.<br />

One wild steer, well fattened, was brought in from<br />

Goodyear's rancho. A herd <strong>of</strong> deer crossing from one<br />

rano'e <strong>of</strong> mountains to another was startled by the<br />

unexpected obstruction <strong>of</strong> the fort, and one sprang<br />

into the enclosure and was killed. Wild sago and<br />

parsnip roots constituted the vegetable food <strong>of</strong> the<br />

settlers. A few deaths occurred from poisonous<br />

roots. The bracing air and hard work stimulated<br />

appetite as stores decreased. For c<strong>of</strong>fee parched bar-<br />

ley and wheat were used, and as their sugar gave out,<br />

In the<br />

they substituted some <strong>of</strong> home manufacture. 4<br />

spring thistle tops were eaten, and became an important<br />

article <strong>of</strong> diet. 5<br />

Anxiety began to be felt about clothing, and the<br />

hand-looms were now busily at work, although wool<br />

was scarce. 6 As shoes wore out, moccasins were substituted,<br />

and goat, deer, and elk skins were manufactured<br />

into clothing for men and women, though<br />

most unsuitable for use in rain and snow.<br />

At the time <strong>of</strong> Parley P. Pratt's arrival, the city<br />

<strong>of</strong> Great Salt Lake consisted <strong>of</strong> a fort enclosing a<br />

block <strong>of</strong> ten acres, the walls <strong>of</strong> part <strong>of</strong> the buildings<br />

being <strong>of</strong> adobes and logs. There were also some<br />

tents. 7 As additional companies came in, they ex-<br />

4 ' We manufactured our own sugar and molasses from beets, corn-stalks,<br />

and watermelons, and made preserves for winter, which were excellent, byboiling<br />

the rinds <strong>of</strong> the melons in this molasses.' Home's Migrations, MS.,<br />

30. ' I attempted to make sugar out <strong>of</strong> corn. A rude apparatus was made<br />

to squeeze the corn stalks, but the manufacture was not altogether a success.<br />

After this, beet molasses followed. The boiler I used this time I made out<br />

<strong>of</strong> some stove piping and lumber. Brother Cannon and I assisted to saw our<br />

lumber.' Taylor's Reminiscences, MS., 16.<br />

5 Geo. Q. Cannon, in Juv. Inst., xix. no. 5, 68.<br />

6 ' They collected the hair <strong>of</strong> the buffalo from the sage brush as they<br />

travelled, and used also the hair <strong>of</strong> cows.' Home's Migrations^ MS., 35.<br />

From this blankets were woven and used in exchange with the Indians. Mrs<br />

Home remarks that ' in Nauvoo there was a man dressed throughout in a suit<br />

made from the curly hair <strong>of</strong> his dog, which was sheared annually.'<br />

7 It stood on what was later known as the 6th Ward Square.

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