The Pacific tourist:

TN& 9drle PoiFJr. t be directed toward improving those already established, rather than in new and costly experiments. The Utah Southern Railroad.-This road is really a continuation of the Utah Ceintral. It was begun o n the 1st d ay of May, 1871, and completed to Sandy that same year. In 1872 it was extended to Lehi, about thirty miles from Salt Lake City. In 1873 it was extended to Provo, and its present terminus is at York, a little place just across the divide between Lake Utah and Juab Valley. It will probably be extended from a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles the present year. York is 75 miles from Salt Lake City, and 16 miles from Nephi, the next town on its proposed line of any importance. The stockholders of the Union Pacific Road, own a controlling interest in this, as also in the Utah Central. It will probably be extended to the Pacific Coast sometime. The following is the record of freight received and forwarded at the Salt Lake City Station for the year 1875. Freight received, 70,916,527 lbs. Freight forwarded, 71,969,954 lbs. Its gross earnings for same period,were $188,987.60,-and its operating expenses, were $120,650.87. The great bulk of its business is between Salt Lake City and Sandy, though travel and traffic are gradually increasing on the balance of its line, and will rapidly double up as soon as the road shall have reached the rich mining districts in the southern portions of Utah, which are at present comparatively undeveloped. Its general direction is southward from Salt Lake City, up the Jordan Valley to the Valley of Lake Utah, and thence across the divide as before mentioned. Travelers visiting this Territory should not fail to visit the towns, valleys and mountains on this line of road. The Valley of Lake Utah especially, entirely surrounded by mountains lofty and rugged, will compare favorably, so far as magnificent scenery is concerned, with anything of a similar character to be found either in Europe or America. Leaving Salt Lake City, we slowly pass through the limits of the corporation where cultivated fields and gardens, with farm houses and fine orchards of all kinds of fruit trees, giving evidences of thrift on every side, greet our gaze. Streams of water are constantly running through the irrigating ditches, and the contrast between the cultivated lands and the sage brush deserts, sometimes side by side, is wonderful. On our left, the everlasting mountains, with their crowns of snow almost always visible, stand like an impenetrable barrier to approaches from the east, or like eternal fingerboards, and say as plainly as words can indicate " go south or north; you cannot pass us." On the right, the river Jordan.winds its way to the waters of the great inland sea, while beyond, towering into the sky, are the peaks of the Oquirrh Range. You will need to keep your Flowers are very abundant, and vegetables are wonderfully prolific. In the gardens of William Jennings, may be seen growing out doors on trellises, grapes, the Black Hamburgh, Golden Chasselas and Mission grape, varieties which are only grown in a hot-house in the East. Through all the gardens can be seen an abundance of raspberries, gooseberries and currants. In Mr. Jennings's garden, in summer, may be seen a pretty flower garden, 150 feet in diamneter,within the center of which is a piece of velvety lawn-the finest and most perfect ever seenwhile from it, southward, can be caught a specially glorious view of the Twin Peaks of the Wahsatch Mountains, capped with unvarying snow. F'ututre of Salt Lake Cit?y.-The future of Salt Lake depends upon two things-the mines and the railroads. If the mines are developed and capital is thus increased, it will have a tendency to cause an immense amount of building in the city, and a corresponding advance in real estate. It is claimed that the citv now has a population of 30,000 souls, but we think 22,000 a closer estimate. Many parties owning and operating mines make the city their place of residence, and some have already invested in real estate there. We heard the opinion of a wealthy capitalist- a gentleman operating in mines-to the effect that in ten years Salt Lake would number 250,000 people, but he was a little enthusiastic. If the Utah Southern is extended to the Pacific Coast, it will add largely to the wealth, population and influence of the "City of the Saints." The silent influence of the Gentiles and the moral power of the Nation has already had an effect upon the Mormons of the city, which will soon be felt throughout the Territory. The discovery and development of the mines will largely increase the Gentile population throughout the Territory, and their influence will then be each year more powerfully felt, and we question if Mormonism will be strong enough to withstand them. Newspalcper's.-The press of Salt Lake is exceedingly peculiar. The Daily News is the recognized church organ; the Daily Heral d is more lively. It is the organ of the so-called progressive Mormons. The Daily Tribune is a stinging, lively journal-the leading organ of the opposition to the priesthood and the theocracy. The Mail is an evening paper under Gentile influences, but not as bold or belligerent as the Tribune. The Utah Weekly Miner is a paper devoted to the development of the mineral resources of the Territory. There is another little evening paper called the Times, under churchl influences. Fortunes have been expended upon newspaper enterprises in Salt Lake, but with the exception of the three papers first mentioned, none have succeeded. The ground is now, however, fully occupied, and further efforts should I I 140

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Title
The Pacific tourist:
Author
Williams, Henry T.
Canvas
Page 140
Publication
New York,: H. T. Williams,
1876.
Subject terms
West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
Central Pacific Railroad Company.
Union Pacific Railroad Company.

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"The Pacific tourist:." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afk1140.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2025.
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