From, the Salt Lake Valley.— We are indebted
to a friend for printed slips of what is styled the
" Third General Epistle of the Church of Jesus Christ,
of Latter Day Saints, from the Great Salt Lake Val-ley,
to the Saints scattered throughout the earth."
It is very long, and devoted to Church matters, but
is not without interest in the account which it gives
of the trials of those who inhabit that far- off land.
The latest emigrants arrived at Salt Lake City on the
1st of December, in a very destitute condition. They
left their wagons about forty miles back, and their
teams twenty— themselves without provisions. They
left the States on the 24th of September, the snow
very deep.
Capt. Stansbury, of the U. S. Topographical En-gineers.
stationed at Salt Lake City, attempted to
send an express to Fort Hall some time in Decem-ber,
but so deep was the snow that it was obliged to
return. On the 5th January he sent a second express
to Fort Hall, which accomplished its mission, and re-turned
after a tedious journey, together with the
Paymaster and some other officers of the Army.—
There were imiwence quantities of snow on the
route. A large portion of Government cattle died at
Cache valley, from the severity of the weather— the
snow being from ten inches to two feet in depth, and
in the adjoining Canons six to eight feet deep.
The snow in the Valley disappeared in the latter
part of February, but ploughing did not commence
till near the first of April.
" As we anticipated in our last letter, about sixty
families, under the presidency of Patriarch Isaac
Moreley, left this place in October, and commenced a
settlement at San Pete ( Sand- pitch) Valley, one
hundred and thirty- four miles south. They have suf-fered
many inconveniences from deep snows and se-vere
frosts, for want of houses and other necessaries
common in old settlements, and have lost many of
their cattle; but they have laid the foundation of a
great and glorious work, and those who persevere to
the end in following the counsel of heaven, will find
themselves a thousand fold richer than those who
have made gold their counsellor, and worshipped it as
their God. Their cattle now living, have been sus-tained
by their shovelling snow from the grass, and
feeding their provision and seed grain, and we have
sent them loaded teams, to supply their necessities
until after seed- time.
" The Utah Lake Indians have been very trouble-some
for a long time; and even before the pioneers
arrived in the valley, we were told by all the moun-taineers
we met, that " they were bad Indians, and
that we could not live near them in peace, and that
other clans of the Utah nation did not like them."—
On acquaintance we found all these statements true;
and particularly since our last communications, they
have been very hostile, killed many scores of our
cattle, stolen horses, waylaid and shot at the brethren
at Utah, until self defence demanded immediate ac-tion.
" Their doings were presented to Capt. Stansbury,
also the Paymaster, and such officers of the U. S.
Army, stationed at Fort Hall, as were here at the
time, and they were unanimous in their decision, that
it was necessary that those Indians should be chas-tised,
and that it belonged to U. S. troops at Fort
flail, to do it, but the snow was so deep, they could
not come hither; therefore,, it became necessary
for the citizens to proceed against them, which they
did, advised by all, and accompanied by some of the
said national officers; when a portion of the Indians,
entrenched in a deep ravine covered with thick brush,
near Fort Utah, fought desperately two days, the
8th and 9th of February, with the loss of several of
their warriors. One of our brethren was killed, and
a few wounded, who have since recovered. After a
few more skirmishes, in which none of the brethren
were killed or wounded, peace was restored."
[ A private letter states that they killed about forty
of the Indians].
On the 22d of February, a severe shock of an earth-quake
was felt in the valley. The health of the peo-ple
of the valley is represented as good.
The General Assembly of Deseret has been in ses-sion
at different times, and created Weber, Great Salt
Lake, Utah, Savpete, Yoab, and Tuille counties— es-tablished
courts, created sheriffs, constables, justices
of the peace, a State Marshal and attorney— and in-stituted
a regular system of jurisprudence. They
have also established a State University at Great Salt
Lake city, and appropriated for its benefit $ 5000 a
year for twenty years, to be paid out of the public
treasury.
" On account of the severe weather, little has been
done on the public buildings since last fall. The
foundations of the public store- house and store are
laid, and the aqueducts, from the warm spring to
the public baths are rapidly progressing, and they
will be ready for use in a short time.
" Captain Stansbury, with his Topographical En-gineers,
are surveying Great Salt Lake, and the ad-jacent
country, for the purpose of mapping, which/
when completed, will unquestionably be very inter-esting
to our friends abroad, for by it they will better
understand our relative locations.
There is a good deal of lamentation about the dis-position
of " The Saints " to go hunting after gold in
California ; but guards are placed around them, in
the persons of some of the Elders.
" Furnaces and forges are much needed here, for
the fu rnishing of mill irons, machinery, fanning uten-sils,
culinary vessels, railway tracks, and many other
things, and we hope that Elder Pratt has already
sent on men, who will be here to start the business
this season; if he has not, we trust he will not lose
sight of this important object against another winter."
This circular is dated 12th April, and contains
many other references to the immediate affairs of the
Church.—[ St. Louis Republican, June 11.
