Daniel H. Wells

“ Here can be produced the things that are necessary for the comfort and benefit of man; and with these elements that have lain dormant. so long is combined the blessings of the most secure places and the most formidable barriers against interruptions from any foreign foe. I feel every time I think of it, as I stated south, that every mountain ridge, the wide and extended plains, and even sage brush, I look upon as a friend to the Saints, and that they are thrown around them as an insurmountable barrier against those who desire the overthrow of the kingdom of God upon the earth. ”

“ This, I am happy to say, is the case, although there are some who do very little towards building up the kingdom of God, while there are many that do things towards building up the Devil's kingdom; but this is not as it should be. We have come here to get rid of doing that; we have come to establish peace and righteousness upon the earth; we have come here because the Lord wanted us and all his people to form a nucleus where his chosen ones could rally round and build up a kingdom. ”

“ This land is choice above all other lands for the Saints of God, for there is no other land that I know of by travel, by description, or by report, that combines so many and such great facilities and advantages to benefit the Saints of the Most High. ”

“ There is land and locations, with water privileges in abundance, and then we are finding more continually: the people are extending their settlements on all sides, making a complete cord of settlements on the east and west of our present locations. ”

“ We can raise the flax, the pork, the beef, and the sheep, and we can get up an exchange of commodities with the people in the southern settlements, and furnish them the things which they cannot produce so easily, and in exchange receive what they have to dispose of, and thereby establish an international trade between the people of the north and south in this Territory. ”

“ The olive, the cotton, and all those things which come from warm climates, can be raised in abundance. The soil is very rich, light, and loose, and suitable for the growing of those fine provisions and commodities of life that are grown in southern localities, such as indigo, tobacco, cotton, and many other articles that cannot be raised in this northern part of the Territory: they can be cultivated in great abundance in the southern portions of Utah. ”

“ It will not do to abuse it like we do heavier soils: it is light and will easily waste away; but, if properly cultivated, it will produce very abundantly. It is not so well adapted to wheat as the soil in this and the other northern counties. ”