History informs us that during the late summer and early fall of 1846, the Saints gathered at Florence on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River where they passed the dreary winter preceding a 1000 mile journey to the Rocky Mountains the following spring. Early in the spring of 1847 their time was occupied in preparing for this perilous journey. The advance company consisting of 143 men, three women, two children, 73 wagons, 93 horses, 52 mules, 66 oxen, 19 cows, 17 dogs, and some chickens left Winter Quarters April 14, traveling over trackless plains and desolate desert wastes, through rivers, and over mountains; the dusty caravan entered the Salt Lake Valley on the 24th of July, 1847. Expressions of joy and disappointment came from the mouths of the weary travelers. Some of the leaders expressed themselves as "being joyfully disappointed." To them the thrifty growth of grass and brush along streams and around springs indicated a richness of soil. President Young, in gazing on the scene in the valley below, was enrapt for several minutes in vision. He had seen the Valley before in vision, and upon this occasion, he saw the future glory of Zion and of Israel as they would be in the "Valleys of the Mountains." When the vision had passed, he uttered these historic words, "It is enough. This is the place, drive on." Today after a few hundred mile journey in our modern, rapid transportation conveyancies, we would consider it very unusual not to enjoy as long as a day, at least, in which to recuperate. The Pioneers, haggard and worn after a journey which took three months, covering a distance of 1000 miles with horses and oxen, had no time to relax; emergencies were too pressing. Upon arrival here, their immediate concern was to clear, plow, and seed the land; a task to which several of the companies were assigned. Others were charged with the construction of a fortress to protect them from Indian attacks, and some were assigned the job of erecting shelters and living quarters, still others were held responsible for construction of ditches and the building of dams across streams to divert the water to the thirsty land. The time that elapsed between their arrival and the frost in the fall was too short for crops to mature and all that was harvested were small, half-grown potatoes which were cared for seed the following year. By late December 1847, 2,000 Saints had arrived in the Valley. Like the first company, the food supply they brought with them had to be stretched to hold life and body together until the harvest the following year. At the beginning of 1848, carefully selected groups chosen from these hundreds who had already arrived were sent out to explore and settle various regions of the state. Thereafter, groups from the hundreds who arrived here during 1848 and years following ventured the establishment of new settlements, while others were absorbed in colonies started by those preceding them. Much privation, toil, and suffering were involved in the process of colonization. In 1848 near disaster visited the colonies when crops that flourished in the Spring giving promise of a bounteous harvest were struck by a killing frost -4- in June, followed by hoards of locusts that swarmed over fields by the millions threatening total destruction. While the Lord maketh the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the unjust as well as the just, yet he always has special blessings in store for those who love and obey Him. In this dark hour when it appeared all was lost, a ray of hope broke through the clouds of despair when, like a thunder bolt out of a clear sky, thousands of seagulls swooped down over infested fields out of nowhere, devoured the pests, and saved enough of the scant crop for harvest that secured the stricken settlers from starvation In the valleys north and east of Salt Lake City, headquarters of the Church, settlements sprang up within the bounds of counties we know today as Summit, Wasatch, Morgan, Davis, and Weber. Captain James Brown and Lorin Farr, prominent leaders for the same people they traveled with, settled what is now Ogden City in 1848. Brownsville, in honor of Captain Brown was adopted as a name for the small village and during the years following the colony made a steady and somewhat rapid growth as many of the Pioneer immigrants came directly here to locate rather than going to Church headquarters in Salt Lake. In 1850 these two men, assuming leadership of their group, were instrumental in planning and designing and designating streets in the village. It is understood that the name of the settlement was changed at this time with the consent of all concerned from Brownsville to Ogden. Named so for Peter Skene Ogden who led a group of Hudson Bay trappers into this region as early as 1824. It is believed that in recognition of this fact and to perpetuate the worthy name of this bold frontiersman, Ogden was chosen as an appropriate name to replace Brownsville. In 1841 Miles Goodyear, another early 19th century frontiersman and trapper, obtained a patent from the Mexican Government giving him the land between the Wasatch Mountain range and Great Salt Lake for a permanent trading post which he established near where the Sperry Mill now stands at 220 W. 30th Street, Ogden. In 1848 during the colonization of Brownsville, later known as Ogden, Captain Brown purchased Goodyear's claims for $3,000, but the United States Government refused later to recognize the claims. According to disclosures after intensive research work conducted by the "Works Project Administration" during the depression years preceding 1933 and the beginning of the Second World War, Ogden was incorporated a city February 1851 by the State of Deseret. The associated press reported as recent as July 18, 1956, that Ogden was legally incorporated a city in 1861. This was a later disclosure by the W.P.A. Ogden, of course, at this early date was surrounded by a wilderness extending far to the north and south, bounded on the west by Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch range of mountains forming a picturesque background on the east. This vast stretch of desert waste was dotted here and there with Indian colonies, occupied by members of the Shoshone Tribe. We would be safe in assuming that, according to customs and tradition of our American Indian, bands of their mustangs (horses), together with the native wild life, roamed this open country. Sources of information that would shed light on the number of big game animals In the area are limited. We do know that the principal part of Indian clothing and covering for wigwams were made from the hides of deer, elk, bear, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions. It is reported that the native forms of wildlife retreated to secluded haunts in the nearby mountains. -5-