The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901

by William Alexander Linn

* New York Tribune, October 9, 1849.

The winter of 1848 set in early and severe, with frequent snowstorms from December 1 until late in February, and the temperature dropping one degree below zero as late as February 5. The deep snow in the canyons, the only outlets through the mountains, rendered it difficult to bring in fuel, and the suffering from the cold was terrible, as many families had arrived too late to provide themselves with any shelter but their prairie wagons. The apprehended scarcity of food, too, was realized. Early in February an inventory of the breadstuffs in the valley, taken by the Bishops, showed only three-quarters of a pound a day per head until July 5, although it was believed that many had concealed stores on hand. When the first General Epistle of the First Presidency was sent out from Salt Lake City in the spring of 1849,* corn, which had sold for $2 and $3 a bushel, was not to be had, wheat had ranged from $4 to $5 a bushel, and potatoes from $6 to $20, with none then in market.

* Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 227.

The people generally exerted themselves to obtain food for those whose supplies had been exhausted, but the situation became desperate before the snow melted. Three attempts to reach Fort Bridger failed because of the depth of snow in the canyons. There is a record of a winter hunt of two rival parties of 100 men each, but they killed "varmints" rather than game, the list including 700 wolves and foxes, 20 minks and skunks, 500 hawks, owls and magpies, and 1000 ravens.* Some of the Mormons, with the aid of Indian guides, dug roots that the savages had learned to eat, and some removed the hide roofs from their cabins and stewed them for food. The lack of breadstuffs continued until well into the summer, and the celebration of the anniversary of the arrival of the pioneers in the valley, which had been planned for July 4, was postponed until the 24th, as Young explained in his address, "that we might have a little bread to set on our tables."

* General Epistle, Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 227.

Word was now sent to the states and to Europe that no more of the brethren should make the trip to the valley at that time unless they had means to get through without assistance, and could bring breadstuffs to last them several months after their arrival.

But something now occurred which turned the eyes of a large part of the world to that new acquisition of the United States on the Pacific coast which was called California, which made the Mormon settlement in Utah a way station for thousands of travellers where a dozen would not have passed it without the new incentive, and which brought to the Mormon settlers, almost at their own prices, supplies of which they were desperately in need, and which they could not otherwise have obtained. This something was the discovery of gold in California.

When the news of this discovery reached the Atlantic states and those farther west, men simply calculated by what route they could most quickly reach the new El Dorado, and the first companies of miners who travelled across the plains sacrificed everything for speed. The first rush passed through Salt Lake Valley in August, 1849. Some of the Mormons who had reached California with Brannan's company had by that time arrived in the valley, bringing with them a few bags of gold dust. When the would-be miners from the East saw this proof of the existence of gold in the country ahead of them, their enthusiasm knew no limits, and their one wish was to lighten themselves so that they could reach the gold-fields in the shortest time possible. Then the harvest of the Mormons began. Pack mules and horses that had been worth only $25 or $30 would now bring $200 in exchange for other articles at a low price, and the travellers were auctioning off their surplus supplies every day. For a light wagon they did not hesitate to offer three or four heavy ones, with a yoke of oxen sometimes thrown in. Such needed supplies as domestic sheetings could be had at from five to ten cents a yard, spades and shovels, with which the miners were overstocked, at fifty cents each, and nearly everything in their outfit, except sugar and coffee, at half the price that would have been charged at wholesale in the Eastern states.*

* Salt Lake City letter to the Frontier Guardian.

The commercial profit to the Mormons from this emigration was greater still in 1850, when the rush had increased. Before the grain of that summer was cut, the gold seekers paid $1 a pound for flour in Salt Lake City. After the new grain was harvested they eagerly bought the flour as fast as five mills could grind it, at $25 per hundredweight. Unground wheat sold for $8 a bushel, wood for $10 a cord, adobe bricks for more than seven shillings a hundred, and skilled mechanics were getting twelve shillings and sixpence a day.* At the same time that the emigrants were paying so well for what they absolutely required, they were sacrificing large supplies of what they did not need on almost any terms. Some of them had started across the plains with heavy loads of machinery and miscellaneous goods, on which they expected to reap a big profit in California. Learning, however, when they reached Salt Lake City, that ship-loads of such merchandise were on their way around the Horn, the owners sacrificed their stock where it was, and hurried on to get their share of the gold.