399 - 403
President's Office
G. S. L. City, Dec 23d 1864
Judge J. F. Kinney,
Washington City D. C.
My Dear Sir:
Your welcome and interesting favor of Nov 24th has just been received and perused with much pleasure. It is satisfactory to hear from you, and learn of your movements and the political news at Washington. Your favors Augt. 29th and Oct. 9th-- the first from Nebraska City and the latter from Washington City-- were received, though not in due course, owing to the interruption of the Mails. I acknowledged their receipt to you in my last, written on Nov. 3rd, which I hope you duly received. In that letter I gave you the news up to that date.
The Legislature met on Monday, the 17th instant, and immediately afterward proceeded to organize the Committees for the Council and House. The Council and House are now in good working order, and are attending with due diligence the business before them. The Governor's Message, which you will have doubtless received ere this reaches you, is a brief, harmless document, and has been pretty well received. It has been referred to the appropriate Committees.
A company has been recently orginized styled the Deseret Irrigation and Navigation Canal Company, and which will probably be chartered during this present Session of the Legislature for the purpose of bringing the waters of Jordan river from a point not far from the line of Great Salt Lake and Utah Counties, and close to the point of the mountain, to this City. It is the intention to construct the Canal for navigation as well as irrigation purposes, and to use it for bringing Wheat and other products from the South and Granite rock the Cottonwood. The water is also much needed in the City for irrigation our City lots. The digging will be commenced in a few days, and it is expected that the canal will be completed between the Cottonwoods and the City this winter. An artesian well is being sunk on the Bench in the 20th Waard, as an experiment, and with the hope tapping an artesian stream that will furnish a good supply of water for that part of the town. The Company have dug 165 feet; but have failed to strike even the surface water. When they had reached that depth they thought it unsafe to dig any further, and have now commenced boring.
The Volunteers excite no more attention here, than they did when I last wrote. They are almost entirely unnoticed by the citizens. The Vedette Office has been offered for Sale I understand; but nobody has a disposition to gratify them by purchasing. The articles in the Vedette's columns for the past few days have been very virulent, written, I think, with a view to selling out. They hope to make themselves so offensive that somebody will buy them out to get rid of them.
We have had some very fine soaking rains this month; they fell when ground was free from frost and have been greedily drank up by the thirst earth. There is more snow piled up now in the mountains than there was at the close of last winter, and the prospects are that, with the rain which we have had, and the Snow in the Mountains, we will have plenty of water, and, consequently, good crops next season. The convention which was called for the purpose of regulating the prices of Grain, &c., has been attended with excellent effects. Farmers have been able to obtain good prices for their produce, which they never have received previously since our settlement of these valleys.
Respecting the Land Office, about the wisdom of establishing which you ask what I think, My view is that its establishment would be impolitic, and had better say nothing about it. We do not want a land Office here; if they will not pay us what they owe us we do not feel under obligations to pay them for land. They have not yet given us our quota of arms, to which in common with other Territories, that have received theirs, this Territory is fully entitled. If the establishing of a land Office here should be referred to, they might be reminded of their unfairness to us in this matter of Arms.
A company has been organized with about $16,000 stock to build a Store House at the head of navigation on the Colorado River. We are strengthening our Settlements which have been already formed in the South and are making two new settlements there on the road between St. George and the proposed site of the Warehouse, as places of supply and rest for the teams and travellers moving to and fro by that route. Five Steamboats are plying on the Colorado, at the present time, up as high as what is known as Hardy's Landing. This point is about 200 miles from St George; but it is not doubted that steamboats can come much higher up the river than that, probably as high up as the mouth of the Rio Virgen. How high they can come will doubtless be decided this winter, as Mr Anson Call, who has been selected to locate and build the Warehouse, is now exploring the country, and has been furnished with means to have the capacity of the river tested by actual experiment. The probabilities are that we shall in future import largely by that route, as from present appearances, the interruptions of R. Road travel between the Eastern Cities and the West, causing shipments to be seriously delayed, and the Indian troubles on the plains, will make the importation of merchandize a precarious business. In view of the importance of this route to us in our future operations, it is desirable that we should have our Territorial boundary extended on to the Colorado river. To do us justice, Congress should grant us about two degrees on one or the other side of that river to the Gulf of California, or to the boundary of the United States in that direction. This addition to our Territory would give us such an outlet on the Western ocean as we need.
I hope that you will be successful in obtaining ample postal facilities for our new Settlements; they are much needed by us.
The resolution introduced by you, sustaining the constituted authorities in their efforts to suppress the rebellion was quite appropriate and timely. I think your bill, which you introduced last Session, authorizing the Probate Judge of Great Salt Lake County to enter the land embraced within the City limits at the Minimum price, in trust for the owners and bona fide claimants of lots, is a good one, and will be advantageous, if you can get it passed which, however, I think exceedingly doubtful. As to Mr. Ashby's intimation of his intention to carve out a new Territory from Northern Utah and Idaho; we think it will be all right, if he succeeds in carrying out such a project; it will give us two Territories instead of one. He cannot do anything against the Truth; for all that he does will be for the good of this people and the accomplishment of the destiny promised unto us. So far as Judge Drake is concerned, we know no more about him than if he were not in the Territory. If I were there, I would not ask for his removal; he is not known here; I do not suppose that one citizen out of a hundred knows anything about his being in this country.
Marhsall Gibbs is doing just about as usual. My health continues good as does that of the people generally. President Kimball desires a kind remembranch to you.
With love to yourself and kind regards to your family
I remain Yours truly
Brigham Young