University of California Berkeley This little book will be sent to any address free, upon, application to J. H. BENNETT, Geri'l Pass. Agent Rio Grande Western Ry. SALT LAKE CITY. S. K. HOOPER, Geq'l Pass. Agerjt Denser & Rio Grande R. R. DENVER, COLO. COPYRIGHT BY S. K. HOOPER AND this is the President's office. The Tithing House, where are collected the tithings, is in the same block with the Bee Hive and the Lion House. Across the street in front of the Bee Hive is the Amelia Palace, or the Gardo House, which was built by Brigham Young as a residence for his favorite wife, Amelia Folsom Young. The Eagle Gate is an archway surmounted by a large eagle, and spans First East street, or State Road as it is called. Fort Douglas is a Regi- mental Post situated three miles east of the center of the city, and is at an elevation of about 400 feet above the city proper. The site is beautiful and affords a lovely view of the entire valley, city and lake. The post and grounds are regularly irrigated and accordingly kept in beautiful condition. The Warm and Hot Springs are located in the north part of the city and are grealy prized for their wonderful curative qualities. Water from these springs is piped to the city, where splendid baths are provided in a large Natatorium, centrally located. At the Chamber of Commerce, which has temporary rooms while waiting for the completion of its new building, there is to be seen a very fine collection of the mineral, agricultural, manu- facturing and other resources of the Territory of Utah and the City of Salt Lake. Any one desiring to procure a proper idea l6 SALT LAKE CITY. of the variety and extent of these resources and the future possibilities of Salt Lake City and Utah, or who may want any printed or illustrated matter concerning the City or Territory should not fail to visit the Chamber of Commerce at No. 71 West Second South street. As was before stated Salt Lake City is one of the best amusement and theatrical cities of its size in the West, and sup- ports two first-class theaters, the Grand Opera House and the Salt Lake Theater, which are occupied almost constantly by the very best organizations that cross the continent. Other points of great interest are the Z. C. M. I. boot and shoe and other factories, institutions which have grown up and are highly creditable to the city. The magnitude of these institutions is ample evidence of the extent to which any and all lines of manufacturing may be developed here for supply- ing the vast territory tributary to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is noted for being one of the best hotel cities in the country, and in order to meet the rapidly growing demands of the traveling public there are now under construction two im- mense hotels of three hundred rooms each, which will cost half a million of dollars apiece. There are in successful operation in this city manufac- turing establishments of the following character: Boots and shoes, knitting and overall, silk, woolen and paper mills, tan- neries, confectioneries, fence and mattress factories, cracker factories, show case makers, stone works, brick yards (with splendid quality of clay for building, for fire and paving brick, in inexhaustible quantities) aerated water works, roller grist mills, cigar factories, vinegar factories, soap factories, salt re- fining works, chemical works, glass works, wooden work establishments, printing, book-binding, lithographing, brewery, etc., etc. The statistics taken in 1887 show that over five thousand employes were engaged in these various industries. There are splendid fields here in all lines of manufacturing SALT LAKE CITY. 17 which have been found profitable at any of the manufacturing centers of the East. The wholesale business of Salt Lake City was in round numbers last year six million dollars. This, like the manufac- turing business, presents a splendid field for development in any department to be mentioned. Outside wholesalers are just now beginning to appreciate the fact that Salt Lake City is destined to be the next great commercial center in the westward march of empire, and almost daily new mercantile enterprises are being established either on a retail or a wholesale scale, and numerous firms engaged in the retail business are branching out rfs wholesale establishments. As to her public improvements Salt Lake City is far in advance of many other cities of her size in the East. Besides having an inexhaustible supply of pure and wholesome water, she has one of the most thorough systems of electric lighting, both arc and incandescent, to be seen in the United States, all of her streets being brilliantly lighted all night. In addition to a very complete telephone system, consist- ing of over five hundred instruments, the city has an American District Telegraph messenger service. Her gas plant supplies a good quality of gas at prices usually prevailing in cities of her size. In addition to the present company there is now applying for a franchise a company which proposes to furnish gas for light, fuel and power pur- poses at a very low degree, so low in fact that it will be cheaper for manufacturing and domestic purposes than soft coal, of which latter, by the way, there is an inexhaustible supply and of very superior quality to south and east of Salt Lake City. For smaller manufacturing institutions, such as do not care to invest in separate power plants, or for large ones who find it more profitable to utilize a cheap power furnished by electricity derived from the utilization of the immense water power found in the mountain streams emptying into the Valley of the Great OGDEN RIVER. SALT LAKE CITY. . 19 Salt Lake, there is now being perfected a company which will put in plants to develop many thousands of horse power for distribution throughout the city The street railway system in Salt Lake City is as thorough and efficient as could be desired anywhere. The latest im- proved electric lines are in successful operation on twenty-two miles of track belonging to the Salt Lake Street Car Cbmpany, which is soon to replace with electricity its eight miles of horse car lines yet in use. With its extensions to be made in the immediate future and the construction of the electric lines by two other companies. Salt Lake City will have, by the end of 1890, no less than fifty miles of splendidly equipped electric street railways. There is now nearing completion a splendid system of sewer- age, consisting of over eleven and a half miles of sewers. Active operations for paving the principal business and resi- dence streets of the city, have already begun, and the contracts are now let for paving of the best character upon other streets, which will mean the employment of a vast amount of labor and the substantial development of the city. For the residence portions of the city there is in contempla- tion a plan by which the centers and sides of Salt Lake's broad avenues will be parked, seeded down to blue grass and set in trees with paving on either side of the center strip of parking. The electric light, telephone, railway wires are all strung on poles placed in the middle of the broad streets, between the double car tracks. The city authorities have ordered and are now using a large number of new sprinkling carts in the business and residence portions of the city, making the streets most delightful for driving. Among other metropolitan features which Salt Lake City possesses, her extensive fire alarm system and very efficient steam fire department are not to be omitted, nor is her well disciplined, finely uniformed and highly creditable police force, which would soon amount to sixty men. Her health depart- ment is a very efficient one. SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. CHAPTER III. SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. SALT LAKE is the best provided with railway connec- tion of any city of this Inter Mountain country, as it has direct railway connection with all the railroad towns in the territory indicated; not only is this the case, but there are at present in an advanced stage of development, railroads from Salt Lake City to San Diego, California, to Los Angeles, California, and one direct to San Francisco, Cali- fornia, and another in contemplation, north along the west side of the Great Salt Lake into Idaho, which will give her competing lines into all portions of her tributary Inter Mountain country. All of the Inter Mountain lines of the Union Pacific railroad have been consolidated as the Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern, with general offices at Salt Lake City. The general offices of the Rio Grande Western, which is now standard gauge its entire length, and forms a link in the Great Trans-continental Trunk line, have been removed to Salt Lake City, where are also located its extensive shops. The Salt Lake and Fort Douglas, the Salt Lake and Eastern and the Utah Western are all narrow gauge roads which diverge from Salt Lake, distances are from twenty to fifty miles, with contemplated extensions much farther, now open for direct communication, Salt Lake City and numerous splen- did mining localities tributary to her. In the matter of development Salt Lake City is progressing at a rate and with a degree of solidity not to be witnessed in any other city of her size. On the i5th of April there were in actual construction (to say nothing of almost as many more decided upon or in contemplation) no less than twenty-seven business blocks and manufacturing establishments, whose total SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. IN SPANISH FORK CANON. cost will be $2,625,000. In addition to this amount there is now being expended no less than one million dollars for private residences. Taking the business and public buildings (excluding a new city hall and court house costing two hundred thousand dollars) the manufacturing establishments, the various public improvements, the street railway extensions, the railway construction and other forms of improvements, there will be expended in Salt Lake City during the present season not less than six million dollars in the way of permanent improvements. 22 SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. There has already passed the U. S. Senate a bill appro- priating five hundred thousand dollars for a federal building in this city, and the matter is now pending before the House. With the successful efforts now being put forth by Salt Lake City's lively and energetic people, to secure manufacturing and other enterprises, which will materially develop and establish upon a firm and substantial basis, the metropolis of this Inter Mountain Country, there is now no better city in which to make either a location for residence, for health or for business, or where money can be invested with greater safety and more certainty of good returns than in Salt Lake City. Contrary to the ideas which have apparently prevailed in certain sections of the country, the people of Salt Lake are of very sociable and very thrifty character and invite new acqui- sitions in business and other lines. In this work the Gentiles, who are now in the majority, are united with the Mormons. For persons seeking investments in mining properties, in agricultural lands, in stock, or in the grazing business, the country immediately tributary to Salt Lake City cannot be equalled. The mineral wealth of Utah and its adjacent states and territories is comparatively unknown and practically un- developed. Almost daily for the past sixty days there have been filed with the Secretary of Utah, articles of incorporation for some new mining enterprise, which makes its headquarters in Salt Lake City. As the wealthy mine owners, stock raisers, etc., of California have made their residences and spend their money at San Francisco, and the similar classes of Colorado do the same at Denver, just so do the mine owners, stock raisers, speculators and investors of this whole Inter Mountain country come to Salt Lake City to reside, to secure the best opportunities for educating their children and to enjoy life from the profits of their very lucrative properties. SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. 2 3 OGDEN CANON NEAR POWDER DAM. Salt Lake City is just now entering upon an era of substan- tial development in her business and permanent improvements and steady growth in her realty values, which promises to carry her forward without interruption, as less bountiful resources in a very short time developed and made Denver what she is and all she promises to be. Salt Lake's prospects are even brighter than were those of Denver, for the reason, that when Denver was Salt Lake's present size, the means and the methods for the rapid growth and development of cities were not so thorough nor so quick in their results and benefits as are those with which Salt Lake is now adequately provided. Her railway connections both east and west, north and south, far exceed those which Denver enjoyed at a corresponding 24 SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. period in her existence. In addition to the resources which were common to Denver and are now to Salt Lake, the latter city has, as a very potent factor to her future growth and develop- ment, the wonderful Salt Lake and her other splendid summer attractions and health resorts, which will make this city second to no other in the country, as a place to which the wealthy and the intelligent people of our country will make their regular pilgrimages. Salt Lake City is beginning to rival some of the better known summer resorts in the extreme Northern states and on the Atlantic Coast, for the reason that all of the attractions to be found separately at these various summer resorts can be found in close proximity and of superior character within an hour's ride of Salt Lake City. Even now, wealthy people from different parts of the country are erecting summer cottages on the Lake, or in the mountains close by Salt Lake, and in a few years, without any question, the Great Salt Lake of Utah, with its unrivalled attractions of beautiful mountain scenery, delightful and invigorating bath- ing, splendid boating and sailing, will rival, in the number of its resorts, extent of its hotels and beauty of its cottages, lakes Minnetonka and Oconomowoc. Salt Lake City with its remarkable medicinal and thermal springs will be the Saratoga of the West, and for its mountain trout fishing, delightful camping and hunting, will have no superior anywhere in the country.- There is no place to which the tourist or pleasure or health seeker can turn with greater assurance of finding all of the attractions for which he could wish, and will be afforded him, than are to be found here. Salt Lake City's municipal affairs are conducted upon a broad gauge but an entirely economical basis. Her total assessed valuation of $16,611,752 is only about one-fifth of the actual value of the property it represents. Her rate of valuation for city purposes is no greater than for territorial SALT LAKE CITY AS A RAILROAD CENTER. 25 purposes. Her total rate for general taxation is only one cent and seven mills on each dollar of assessed valuation. With a total of sixteen banks and a capital of over $4,000,000 on May ist, 1890, Salt Lake is the strongest financial city of her size in this country. With two well conducted morning and two well conducted evening papers, and some twenty other papers, the press of Salt Lake City is well represented, and does the city much effective work. 26 THE FUTURE OF SALT LAKE CITY. CHAPTER IV. THE FUTURE OF SALT LAKE CITY. r) the seeker after investments, profits, or a business location, no city presents more variety or greater as- surance of success than does Salt Lake City. At no time in the history of this country has there been an instance of any city which possessed greater certainty of a grand future than does Salt Lake City to-day. Her location is most fortun- ate, but her immediate possibilities and prospects, to be fully appreciated, must be investigated. Situated as she is, in the very heart of this great Inter Mountain country, with railroad communications to all portions that have been in any way developed, and with other lines to undeveloped parts of the same in contemplation and construction, Salt Lake City occupies a position which has given her absolute control of this great Inter Mountain country, as its metropolis. Taking Utah as a basis, with her 250,000 people, and her wealth of 127,000,000 of dollars, Salt Lake also has naturally tributary to her all the vast resources of northern Arizona, Nevada, southeastern Oregon, Idaho, western Wyoming and western Colorado, a country in extent unequalled by that which is tributary to any other one city in the United States. That this vast and wonderful country needs a metropolis, and that Salt Lake City is destined to be that metropolis, are set- tled and established facts. The hidden wealth with which these mountains teem, will be a constant source of revenue to Salt Lake constant because these precious metals are to be found and to be developed at any time of any year, day or night, simply by the application of the rapidly improving methods for developing the same. This wealth is not suscepti- ble of eradication by such fickle elements as lack of rain, hot winds, or destructive pests. The development of these GUNNISOK'S BUTTE. 28 THE FUTURE OF SALT LAKE CITY. resources will create and sustain a most desirable market for a large and highly prosperous agricultural and industrial com- munity, and by reason of the great cost of importing across the mountains surrounding this Inter Mountain country, agri- cultural productions and manufactured goods, there are afforded in this section unexcelled advantages for agriculture, for manu- facturing, and for industrial enterprises. These various elements in the makeup of this Inter Mountain country blend harmoniously, and provide mutually beneficial trade relations. The mineral resources of Utah in particular, and of this Inter Mountain country in general, cannot be appreciated, much less estimated, as their development is yet only in its infancy, as are also the agricultural resources of the section named. All are mutually beneficial to each other. That Salt Lake City will develop as rapidly and as greatly as has Denver, is readily apparent to any one who will investigate the relative resources of the two cities. When Denver was the present size of Salt Lake City, about 50,000, she had, as her own territory, a country comprising Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, with mineral wealth only upon one side of her territory, and with a much more limited agricultural and grazing country than that which surrounds Salt Lake in all directions, as do also her wonderful mineral resources. By the time Salt Lake's tributary territory has been developed to the degree that Denver's tributary territory is at the present time, the resources and the products of the former will, by careful estimation of practical men, be fully twice as great as are those of the latter city's territory. As a consequence there is every certainty of the constant and rapid development of Salt Lake City into a metropolis equaling, if not excelling, the proud record made by the wonderful city on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Almost every known mineral or mineral product which can be utilized in the arts and sciences is to be found in Utah, and TROUT POOL OGDEN CANON. 30 THE FUTURE OF SALT LAKE CITY. in the adjacent states and territories; and in such quantities and so located as to be susceptible of development and practi- cal application. For the utilization of these products used in the lines of manufacturing, Salt Lake City presents the greatest possible advantages. She has in easy reach, great bodies of iron ore of a high grade and veins of coal, which for coking and general manufacturing purposes are not excelled by even the famous Connellsville coal and coke. For manufacturing purposes of a lighter nature than those which require such large quantities of fuel for smelting and refining purposes, there has been organized in this city a company which will furnish to consumers, at purely nominal cost, fuel gas for light- ing, heating and for manufacturing purposes. Another source of developing power for industrial purposes and generating light for domestic and public uses, is found in the great amount of water power in the several creeks which empty out of the mountain canons into the valley of the Great Salt Lake at arid near Salt Lake City. This power is practically inexhaustible, and can be easily utilized and turned to great profit, not only to the city, but to the promoters of such an enterprise as would develop the same. This matter has been given a thorough investigation by experts, and pro- nounced entirely feasible. A company is now forming in this city for the purpose of utilizing this power. The sources of small and diversified industries already in operation here, the electric street railways, and electric light companies, etc., etc., already provide ample opportunity for disposing of such power at profitable figures, which is not the case in any other city in this great Inter Mountain country. Already there are daily accessions to the industrial and com- mercial institutions of Salt Lake City, each one of which aids in strengthening Salt Lake's position as the metropolis of the territory indicated. THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 31 CHAPTER V. GREAT SALT LAKE. ^ O persons in search of pleasure no more delightful place can be found than Salt Lake City, which vvith- M. out exaggeration excels all other places in point of variety, diversity and excellent character of its various kinds of recreation and summer resorts, to be found anywhere. There is no other city in this country which has such a variety of summer attractions so ready of access. At the Great Salt Lake which is only thirty minutes ride from the city, is to be found salt water bathing excelling that at the Atlantic or Pacific seaside resorts. There are two beautiful and thoroughly equipped bathing resorts, of which Lake Park on the Rio Grande Western Railroad is the one most easy of access and which possesses unexcelled attractions. By the beginning of the season there will be opened two more first class resorts for the accommodation of the rapidly increasing crowds, who daily throng the beautiful white-sanded beaches of this inland sea. The Great Salt Lake is 120 miles in length by 60 miles at its greatest width. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and dot- ted with picturesque islands of various sizes, the largest contain- ing about thirty thousand acres. Pleasure boats of all sorts and descriptions ply upon the lake 'and afford diversion for the numerous visitors to this great summer resort. The popularity of these resorts is evidenced by the fact, that more than a quarter of a million of people avail themselves of the pleasures of a bath in Salt Lake during the season, between the middle of May and the middle of September. The specific gravity of these waters is about seventeen per cent, greater than that of the Atlantic Ocean's waters, and they carry in solution, according to the season of the year, from eighteen to twenty- two percent, of salt. During the mid-summer afternoons and evenings these waters are almost lukewarm, and a bath after CASTLE GATE. THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 33 business hours is not only restful and invigorating but has also the effect of a tonic. The popularity of this great resort has only begun, but without doubt, as its superior attractions become more generally known it will secure deserved recog- nition as one of the leading summer resorts of the United States and must become a strong rival to the more expensive places of a similar character upon our seaboards. The mysterious characteristics of this great inland sea appeal strongly to the imagination. In this connection the following verses by W. E. Pabor may be very appropriately quoted' Over the Oquirrh ranges Pearly clouds of softness rest, Blending with the rippling changes On great Salt Lake's wave swept breast. In the sunset I am roaming, Looking out across the deep Tideless waves that in the gloaming Moan as if in dreamy sleep. Locked in the embrace of mountains, Whose green frontlets watch the isles. Guarding the enchanted fountains Where a siren sits and smiles. Lake of mystery and wonder, Lake of silence so sublime, In thy depths we look and ponder On the strangest gift of time. Lower down the crimson chamber Of the west the sunset falls ; Creamy cumuli of amber Penciled on its crystal walls; Now the tints change into umber, Twilight shadows creep along Slowly, like the sense of slumber, Through the solace of a song. THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 35 As the sunset's charm thrills through me, Musing on the sand swept marge, Fancy brings a boatman to me With his pearl-enameled barge; And he bids me leave the highlands, With their shadow and their stain, And sail with him to the islands Lying in the azure main. Farewell now to all things human, In the boatman's barge I stand, Trust of man or love of woman I leave on the shore of sand. Through empurpled mists that hover Round the islands of the blest, In the sunset I go over To the lotus land of rest. The lake has an area of 2,500 square miles and its surface is higher than the Alleghany Mountains. Its mean depth is about 60 feet and numerous small islands ornament its bosom, the principal of which are the Antelope and the Stanbury. At different periods the revel of the lake has changed and re- changed most perceptibly, which has led scientists to conjec- ture that the shore land was by no means stable. It compares with other bodies of saline water analytically as follows: WATER. SOLIDS Atlantic Ocean . . . 96 5 3.5 Mediterranean . . . .96.2 3.8 Dead Sea . . . . 76.0 24.0 Great Salt Lake . . 86.0 14.0 In specific gravity, distilled waterybeing unity, the followin comparison exists: Ocean Water . 10.27 Dead Sea ...... 11.16 Great Salt Lake .... 11.07 THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 37 This feature of a summer resort, together with the splendid fresh water boating and bathing which are afforded at Utah Lake, (a splendid body of fresh water containing 125 square miles, and only an hour's ride south of the city by rail,) and the delightful hunting, fishing and camping in the mountains immediately surrounding Salt Lake City, make her the most desirable summer resort to be found anywhere. There is no other city to be named which possesses in so great a degree the diversity of resorts andrecreations that are to be found immediate- ly accessible to Salt Lake City. And this fact alone is the source of great profit to Salt Lake City, which can grow and develop as a summer resort in the same degree that St. Paul and Minneapolis grew upon the strength of the summer attractions of which they were the commercial centers. After a day spent so pleasantly at the beach, the pleasure seeker can return to the city and enjoy the cool, bracing atmosphere of the Salt Lake summer night. Should he desire to wile away a few pleasant hours by a drive about the city, or into the beautiful canons close by, or to attend the theatre or the opera, and witness the presentation of the standard stage attractions by the first class companies of the country, he will have that privilege, as this city with its Grand Opera house and the Salt Lake theatre is recognized as the greatest amusement place of its size in the country. 38 THE CITY OF OGDEN. CHAPTER VI. THE CITY OF OGDEN. HE City of Ogden is one of the most beautiful towns in America. It is one of the oldest settlements in 1. Utah, and has now attained the dignity of quite a metropolitan city with 20,000 inhabitants. It is the key to the railroad situation in the Inter Mountain region, and has the trackage and terminals of the seven railroads at present in the Territory. As a place of residence Ogden has few peers. It nestles at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, several of whose peaks reach an altitude of nearly two miles above sea level and tower one mile above the city. From Salt Lake City to Ogden there is a regular procession of villages with Great Salt Lake plainly in sight on the west and the glorious Wasatch range rising in majestic grandeur on the east. One is given an entrancing view of the city and its environs immediately upon arriving at the handsome new Union depot. The picture is one that never tires the eye or ceases to appeal to the sense of beauty. The mountains rise abruptly from the eastern and north- ern limits of the city like guardian sentinels shielding the people from the cold blasts of the north and the rasping, bone search- ing currents from the east. The city gently slopes from the foot of the mountains west towards the great lake, its western lines reaching within a short distance of those briny waters that are so near the point of saturation that nothing that has life can exist in them. Two rivers flow through the city. The Ogden and the Weber. These generous streams pour from two canons with similar names. They are celebrated trout streams, attracting hundreds of visitors every year who " whip " them for miles, and are rewarded by generous "catches" of speckled beauties that gamely rise to the fly. Ogden Cafion is directly east of the city. The water in GATE OF LODORE. 40 THE CITY OF OGDEN. this canon is as pure and sparkling as any water ever quaffed by man. From this store of living waters drained from the heart of the mountains the city gets its supply of water for all purposes. It is in abundance throughout the year, irrigat- ing countless acres of the must fertile land in the world, after supplying the city with liquid comfort. Standing on the elevated plateau east of the city one has a splendid view of a most delightful panorama, composed of mountain, lake, valley, city and sky, that has to be seen to be fully enjoyed. There is probably no spot on earth where all the elements of a most lovely picture are more markedly present. It seems that -in this beautiful city, that was only a raw village a few years ago, is combined the essentials for the prosperity and happiness of men. It is in the midst of a most lovely and fertile region watered by several of the most romantic and bounteous rivers in the Rockies. It has an atmosphere that is almost incom- parable, a wealth of mineral beyond computation and a population filled with energy, business pluck and broad gauge effort. The varied beauty of the Salt Lake Valley is almost magical. The great American Dead Sea is the central piece of the picture as viewed from the heights about Ogden. It is so near the city that one feels he can walk to it in a few minutes. Its bold islands and fringes of noble mountains stand out in blue-toned beauty, capped with eternal snow. In the north and south are stretches of lovely valley and glimpses of lofty mountains, whose snow-wrapped peaks loom softly against the blue background of rare and bracing air. On specially clear days one can see dimly outlined in the far, far west the hazy forms of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The valley is equal in beauty to the famous vale of Cashmere, and is as fertile as the wildest imagination can conceive. It is one vast stretch of farm, garden and orchard, watered by musical streams and dotted with pretty villages and farm houses. The city is about four miles square. It is laid off at right angles. The streets are THE CITY OF OGDEN. 41 broad and well shaded by umbrageous trees, kept in splendid condition by the sparkling mountain water that is in abundance in every part of the town. The dwellings of the people are pretty and many of them large and stylish. It does the eye of the traveler good to ride through the city and look at the lovely lawns and beautiful flowers. In the spring the air of the residence part of the town is permeated with the odor of violets and new mown grass. In the summer the abundance of roses and other flowers perfume the atmosphere, while all around are trees and shrubbery rejoicing in a wealth of tender foliage. The city has several parks well set in trees and beautiful grasses, whose smooth lawns invite to repose and refreshment during the warm months. The drives in and about Ogden are very fine. But the people are engaged in building a boule- vard this summer that will scarcely find an equal in the world. It will reach from the lake east to Ogden Cafion and up that grand gorge for eight or nine miles. The length of this superb drive will be about twenty miles. For the most part of its length the boulevard will command the view of valley, lake and mountain above mentioned. The business part of the city is well built and fully equipped to supply the needs of the vast stretch of agricultural and mineral country tributary to it. There is a large retail and wholesale trade centered here, which is increasing at a rate that indicates a great future for this beautiful mountain city. Nature has done a great deal for Ogden and its immediate neighborhood. Within a few miles of the city, easy of access, are beautiful and shady parks where a whole day or afternoon can be passed enjoyably. North of the city are the Wasatch Mountains whose snow-capped peaks are glorious to gaze upon, radiant in the interchangeable garb of green and purple. These mountains loom skyward thousands of feet, and inter- mingle with the clouds, presenting a sight that is indeed enchanting. From the top of Ogden Mountain, the highest THE CITY OF OGDEN. COLD WATER CANON. of the range, the country for hundreds of miles around is pictured to the observer with a clearness and distinctness that when objects a hundred miles away are pointed out and the distance stated, words of surprise and astonishment escape from the lips of the entranced beholder. These mountains besides furnishing such excellent views and means of observa- tion supply many attractions for the geologist and seeker after curiosities. They are prolific of minerals of every variety and with little difficulty beyond the tax of stooping over, the THE CITY OF OGDEN. 43 explorer can become supplied with an abundance of handsome specimens of minerals designed to beautify the parlor or orna- ment the sitting and dining room. In the very heart of the Wasatch range of mountains is Ogden Canon, nine miles in length, which is an entrancing spot and adapted by nature to cause the visitor to gaze in per- fect astonishment. A beautiful driveway and footpath traverses the entire distance through the canon, which has few superiors, if it has any at all, for the stateliness of the mount- ains, its rush of waters and its manifold attractions. The magnificent mountains towering thousands of feet high are beautiful to behold. In many places the formations are chiseled and carved out through exposure to the elements in manners to instill one with the belief that it had been done by human hands. The canon is a favorite resort for the people of Ogden and tourists, and all hours throughout the day the road through it is lined with people on foot and in vehicles admiring and enjoying the greatest of giants of Nature's own gift. The roar of the restless waters of the great falls as they empty into the Ogden River strikes the visitor with awe, and their turbulency and swiftness are equal to the rapids of the famous St. Lawrence River. This vast fall of water is soon to be utilized. The Ogden Power Company, recently organized through the efforts of one of the leading business men and capitalists of Ogden, is now building great works in the canon for the purpose of storing the water to be utilized for driving the machinery in all parts of the city by electricity. The stock is owned by Ogden and San Francisco capitalists to the amount of $250,000. It is a great work and one that future generations will thank its originator for having handed down to them. The water is also intended to furnish power for manufacturers, and electric street railways which are projected and will soon be in operation. Among the innumerable attractions of the canon is the hot springs, which are located near its mouth. The water is suffi- 44 THE CITY OF OGDEN. FALLS IN WHEELER'S CANON. ciently temperate to make bathing agreeable and pleasant. The baths are free to everyone and are liberally patronized and beneficial results are invariably the case. At times the wind blows down the canon at the rate of sixty miles an hour, and one caught in one of these gales enjoys an experience that is exhilarating and wildly exciting. It is a pleasant excitement though and in the exuberance that immediately takes posses- sion of the sightseer induces him or her, to greatly enjoy the flurry. The great rapids lash and splash, and their roar can be heard high above the murmurings of the wind. They appear to laugh with merriment as they dash their cool and invigorating spray into the faces of those perambulating the banks of the stream. No pen can describe the grandeur and weirdness of Ogden Canon. It must be seen in a leisurely way to be thoroughly appreciated. THE CITY OF OGDEN. The winters in the valley are not long and the cold is pleas- antly tempered by the air from the lake. Although Ogden is 4,300 feet above sea level it rarely experiences very low temper- ature. In the hot months the heat is tempered by mountain breezes and the salt air from the lake. The nights are uniformly cool and pleasant. These facts, with its perfect drainage, broad and splendidly shaded streets, pure and delicious water, render it the delight of the tourist and the happy residence of a busy and prosperous people. The valley is wonderfully productive from a point ten miles north of Ogden away south of Salt Lake City. The farms in this tract of country are among the most valuable acre property in the world. But the extreme northern end of the valley has heretofore been scantily tilled, owing to the difficulty of get- ting water on the lands. This blot on an otherwise magnificent region is now in a fair way to be wiped out. About one year ago some capitalists conceived the design of a great canal to irrigate this country, something like 500,000 acres. They organized and stocked an enterprise called the Bear River Canal Company, bonded it for $2,000,000, surveyed the route and through contractors started the work last summer. Bear Lake is a beautiful sheet of water in the Wasatch Mountains forty-five miles north of Ogden. The water in this lake, which is six by thirty miles in extent, is of great depth and pureness. It is supplied by mountain streams and springs and pours its surplus water into Bear River. This river winds its tor- tuous course through the canon to and across Salt Lake Valley, and finally pours its waters into the great Dead Sea of America. The waters of the river are of great volume and inexhaustible. The plan contemplates two canals, one on each side of the river. The west branch debouches from the Bear River Canon and is to irrigate the lands lying at the northern end of the valley and about the northern arms of the Great Salt Lake. The east branch winds along the high bench at the western 4 6 THE CITY OF OGDEN. BUTTES OF THE CROSS. base of the Wasatch range, and is to supply the land as far south as Ogden, where, if there be no use for the surplus water brought to this point, it will be suffered to run into the Ogden River. The work is well under way with a fine prospect of being finished before next winter. It is probable that no similar work of its magnitude and physical difficulty has ever been undertaken in the United States. In order to shorten distance it has been necessary to tunnel hills, blast down solid rocks and excavate millions of tons of earth on mountain sides. This stupendous enterprise has challenged attention all over the country. Its successful completion will be a triumph for American brain and financial pluck. It will reclaim land that now produces only sage brush and scant wild grasses, and which will be worth from $2,000,000 to $25,000,000. It is estimated that the reclaimed land will support a farming popu- lation of more than 100,000 souls and will soon be thrown open to settlement. As a sort of supplement to the irrigation scheme the company has contracted with the city of Ogden to THE CITY OF OGDEN. 47 supply the city with a new and extensive water system capable of furnishing water for a city of nearly 200,000 people. The work of laying the mains will be completed at an early date this summer. In close proximity to Ogden, and easy of access, are many attractions and pleasant resorts for excursion parties, and in the proper season they are extensively patronized. An enjoy- able spot, where one can find quick and permanent relief and cure for the many maladies the human form is heir to, is the Utah Hot Springs nine miles distant from Ogden. The waters are thoroughly impregnated with iron and other health restoring minerals, and pour forth in great volumes from the earth at a temperature of 125 degrees. They are quite salt, but not unpleasant to the taste, and but few people are able to undergo the first bath owing to the intense warmth of the waters. However, the bather quickly becomes accustomed to the waters, and the place is furnished with every convenience to assure the comfort and enjoyment of the patron. The waters contain such ingredients as chloride of sodium, iron, magnesia and nitre, in strong solution, and for rheumatic troubles and blood diseases cannot be surpassed. Additional improvements are contemplated, and men will be put at work shortly improving the already handsome hotel. Near by the springs is a mile track, which is the finest and speediest in the country, and a summer meeting for large purses will be held. The country around Ogden is wonderfully productive. The lands yield in wheat from 40 to 80 bushels to the acre and other cereal crops in proportion. The hay crop is immense and pays handsomely. Farmers manage to cut three crops of alfalfa each season. The country in this part of the valley is also a great fruit growing region. Peaches, pears, apples, grapes, apricots, etc., do exceedingly well, and the fruit is of a delicious flavor. The yield in potatoes is almost beyond belief. It is a common thing for the best lands to produce from 600 to 800 bushels to the acre, while the most indifferent soil easily THE CITY OF OGUEN. EARLY MORNING ON OGDEN RIVER. produces 400 bushels per acre. The market for all the prod- ucts of the valley is found in the numerous cities and mining camps of Utah and neighboring states and territories. The prices realized are always good, which insures the farmer good returns for his labor. All crops are raised by irrigation. Such a thing as crop failure has never been known in the valley. SCENERY OF UTAH. 49 CHAPTER VII. SCENERY OF UTAH. HE scenery of Utah is grand and picturesque, abound- ing in strong contrasts and startling changes. Moun- tain and valley, lake and forest, alternate in bewildering beauty. As one approaches from the East via the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad the scenery is wonderfully varied and attractive. In a book devoted to Utah it would hardly be ap- propriate to describe at length the scenery on the Rio Grande Railroad in Colorado, but those who approach Salt Lake City or Ogden from the east will have the pleasure of passing through this scenery, including the Royal Gorge, Grand Canon of the Arkansas, Marshall Pass and Black Canon, and will have the privilege of beholding Pike's Peak, the Collegiate Range, the Sangre de Cristo and Mounts Ouray and Shaveno therefore, this brief mention may not be considered out of place. At Grand Junction the Gunnison River joins the Grand, which flows through a fertile valley where numerous farms have been located and a considerable city has grown up. A few miles beyond Grand Junction the Colorado line is passed and the traveler is in Utah, and the railroad is under the manage- ment of the Rio Grande Western Company. The scenery for the next hundred miles has grandeur enough in variety to make it interesting. The Book Cliffs, which are a richly colored and peculiar formation, are followed for some distance, while to the southward rise the snowy groups of the Sierra la Sal and San Rafael Mountains. Green River, which goes to form the Rio Colorado, is soon passed with its swift flowing current which comes from far up in the Yellowstone Park and finally mingles, after wandering 2,000 miles, with the waters of the Pacific. SCENERY OF UTAH. 51 From where the road crosses Green River, may be seen in the distance the summits of the broken walls that form the grand canon of the Colorado fifty miles away. Soon the peaks of the Wasatch rise beyond Castle Valley. The scenery becomes more picturesque and the beautiful in nature again appears as we approach Castle gate at the entrance of Price river canon. This bold and striking rock formation is similar in many respects to the gateway of the Garden of the Gods. The two huge pillars or ledges of rock composing it are offshoots of the cliffs behind. They are of different heights, one measuring five hundred and the other four hundred and fifty feet from top to base. They are richly dyed with red and the firs and pines growing about them, but reaching only to their lower strata, render this coloring more noticeable and beautiful. Be- tween the two sharp promontories, which are separated only by a narrow space, the river and the railroad both run, one pressing closely against the other. The stream leaps over a rocky bed and its banks are lined with tangled brush. The turreted rocks, the rushing stream and the darkling canon bring forcibly to mind that wonderful dream of Coleridge: "In Xanadn did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree; Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man, Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round; And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Infolding sunny spots of greenery." Once past the gate, and looking back, the bold headlands forming it have a new and more attractive beauty. They are higher and more massive, it seems, than when we were in their shadow. Huge rocks project far out from their perpendicular WINNIE'S GROTTO. SCENERY OF UTAH. 53 faces. No other isolated pinnacles in this region approach them in size or majesty. They are landmarks up and down the canon, their lofty tops catching the eye before their bases are discovered The impression made by these remarkable monoliths is best conveyed by the following poem: " Stand, stranger, stand. The castle gate Through which you pass to fairy land Is mine to guard. What happy fate Bids you within its border ? Stand!" Warder of this stately castle, Stay the menace of your hand. I am but a simple singer Singing songs throughout the land. Through the time-stained rugged portals I can catch a glimpse afar, Where the light shines on the woodland Like the light of the morning star. Let me pass, O, stern-faced warder, Through the wondrous castle gate; Let me walk within the garden Led by fancy and by fate. For the sunlight and the moonlight And the starlight, as they fall, Seem replete with happy fancies Making pictures on the wall. Gateway to a happy valley, Open wide and let my feet Wander in the flowery meadows Where the shining waters meet. Frowning cliffs lift up to front me, Sunset hues the rocks that rise, But my eyes have caught a vision Of green fields and violet skies. 54 SCENERY OF UTAH. Lying over Soldier Summit In the valley of the West, With the bloom and blush of Eden Lying softly on their breast, Vales of splendor, vales of beauty, Meet to melt a heart of stone; Vale of Tempe pales in glory When beside thy brightness shown. Other lips have uttered fancies, Other eyes on thee have shone, Other feet have walked these meadows, Passing through the gate of stone. But my lips can not keep silence, Or my eyes their rapture bate, As they catch a glimpse of Eden Through the cliff crowned Castle Gate. " Pass, stranger, pass, the olden time Was full of song of mirth and cheer; Sing any song that suits your rhyme, And let it echo round the year." Beyond the gateway weird and fantastic rock formations abound like bastions, battlements and castles. Rock pinnacles rise on every hand in massive majesty. The road runs along the banks of the river which is never lost sight of. A well- worn wagon road follows the canon, and it was through this pass that Albert Sydney Johnston led his army on his return from Utah. The scene is one to delight the eye of the artist as the shadows gather in the depths of the canon and the sun gilds the towering heights. Through Spanish Peak, a depres- sion in the range, one can seethe heights of Mount Nebo over- looking the " Promised Land," and suddenly, the train darting out into the Utah valley, there lies spread out before the trav- eler the land which the Mormons have made to blossom as the rose. It is a scene of Arcadian beauty, as the setting sun rests upon the meadow lands the tinkle of the cowbells is heard. The train rolls rapidly by thrifty farm houses, fields SCENERY OF UTAH. 55 WATERFALL CANON. green with alfalfa, across irrigating ditches that make peren- nial spring time. Utah Lake lies in the center of the valley of the same name. It is a picturesque sheet of clear, fresh water, to the north of which lie the Mormon towns of Provo and Springville. The scene is an entrancing one. Eastward the oblong basin is shut in by the Wasatch mountains, and on the West is the 56 SCENERY OF UTAH. Oquirrh Range. Northward are low hills, or mesas, crossing the valley and separating it from that of the Great Salt Lake, while in the south, the east and west ranges approach each other and form blue-tinted walls of uneven shape. To the left of this barrier, Mount Nebo, highest and grandest of the Utah peaks, rises majestically above all surroundings. Its summit sparkles with snow, and its lower slopes are wooded and soft, while from it and extending north and south run vast, broken vari-colored confreres. The valley is like a well-kept garden; farm joins farm; crystal streams water it, and scat- tered about in rich profusion are long lines of fruit trees, amid' which are trim white houses. Salt Lake City is visible and be- yond slumber the waters of the Great Salt Lake. The scenery of the Great Salt Lake and that between Salt Lake City and Ogden, including the canons and mountains in that vicinity, have been described in another place, therefore, suffice it to say that for variety, beauty and grandeur the scenery of Utah is unrivalled. Rio GRANDE WESTERN RAILWAY