History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

292 IN THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
rency, in either gold or paper, was afterward designated
as valley tan, a name synonymous with homemade
or of Utah manufacture, the
will be explained later.
origin of which
14
Of the houses built early in 1849, few had more
than two rooms, many had only board windows, and
some were without doors. Several of the adobe
houses in the fort had fallen down from the effects of
the thaw. When at last they had learned how to make
adobes, they were of the best kind. Alkali at first
was mixed with the clay, which, when exposed to rain,
would expand and burst the bricks. After this year
more commodious structures were erected for public
and private use, the means being supplied in part by
traffic with emigrants for California, Conspicuous
among them was the council-house on East Temple
street, a two-story stone edifice, forty-five feet square, 15
used originally for church purposes, and afterward
occupied by the state and territorial legislatures. In
front of the council-house was temple block, on the
south-west corner of which stood the tabernacle, built
in 1851-2, on the ground now occupied by the assembly
hall, with accommodation for 2,500 persons, 16 and
consecrated on April 6th of the latter year. 17 u See chap, xix., note 44, this vol.
Dur-
15
'I was appointed superintendent of public works in the fall of 1848.
The first house that was built was a little adobe place that was used for the
church office. . .The little office that was the first place built was one story,
about 18 by 12 feet, slanting roof covered with boards and dirt. This re-
•
mained the church office for about two years . . . The foundation of the council
house was laid in the spring of 1849, and then the first story put up.' Wells'
Narr., MS., 41-2. Built by tithing. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 55. At a
meeting held Oct. 1, 1S48, it was resolved to build a council-house, and on
the 7th of November masons commenced laying the foundation. Utah Early
Records, MS., 36, 38.
16 Linforth gives its dimensions at 126 ft by 64, and states that the roof
was arched, without being supported by pillars. Route from Liverpool, 109.
In Utah Early Records, MS., 125, 127, it is stated that the dimensions were
120 by 60 ft, and that work was begun Mav 21st. See also Deseret News,
May 17, 1851; The Mormons at Home, 112-13, 147-9; Burton's City of the
Saints, 270.
17 At a general conference, the proceedings of which are related in the
Contributor, ii. 333. The conference lasted several days, and at its conclusion
a collection was made to provide funds for a sacramental service, $149 being
given in coin, together with several pounds' weight of silver watch-cases,
spoons, rings, and ornaments. From the silver, cups were made, which are
still in use at the tabernacle.