Brigham Young

“ I feel thankful for the privilege of lifting up my voice before you this day, my brethren; I feel that it is a great privilege. There is no other people on the earth that are blessed like this people, though some of them say they are not blessed, because they have trials,—that they are not blessed as they wish to be, because they have cares upon them, because they are persecuted and hated. ”

“ The world will hate us to perfection; and if they have not spoken all manner of evil against us, falsely, it is because they have not knowledge enough to do it. At this time there is no falsehood which they can invent, but what they are active in their service to their father the devil against the Saints ”

“ He said to his disciples formerly, which will also correctly apply to the Saints in our day, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven ”

“ Is there anything of a valley? "Yes, something." Is there any timber there? "I think there is pretty plenty of timber on the river, such as cottonwood, quaking asp, and willows." Is it anything of a country for settling? "I should think likely it might be." Is there any timber in the mountains? "I should presume there is." How are the mountains situated? "Similar to other mountains in other countries." That is about all I have ever been able to learn of the country, previous to my late journey. ”

“ They have felt that the faith of the Saints has been in their behalf; they have been sustained and upheld, and brought through their trials by the arm of Jehovah, by the faith of the Saints.
The brethren have done me a kindness, and I am thankful to them for it. I am also thankful that I live in the midst of a people whose hearts and faith are measurably one, that what they rightly ask for is granted unto them; and that when they feel to bless an individual or a people, that individual or people is blessed ”

“ From the Rocky Mountains, at the source of Snake River, this plain extends some 150 miles to 200 miles in a westerly and south-westerly direction: and from the mountains south of Snake River to those north is a distance of some 90 miles. I never had this idea before, nor could I get it from any man I had conversed with. It is a vast, desert plain, and we called it Shanghi Plain. I think it is as desert a country as ever was brought together to aid in holding the earth from parting asunder. ”

“ Upon the banks of Snake River, when it does not overflow, there is a lengthy, narrow strip of good soil, varying from a quarter of a mile to ten rods wide, and in some places not six inches wide. It is a sterile, barren, desert country, filled with belts of rock and sand. As we passed over some portions of Shanghi Plain, the brethren undertook to remove the stones, so that we might drive our waggons with a little more ease to ourselves and less danger to our vehicles. ”

“ And if the Malad is a good valley, we can go further north to those not quite so good; and the further we go north the less good characteristics are connected with the valleys, except in the articles of fish, water, and, in some instances, timber ”