Page:History of Utah.djvu/380

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inning with



was not unheeded; but the supply of home-manufac- tured goods did not, of course, keep pace with the de- mand. Such commodities as were not the products of home industry were, for the most part, obtained by barter with passing emigrants, or were brought in wagon trains by way of Kanesville;^^ though already traffic had been opened with regions far to the west- ward on either side of the Sierra Nevada. ^°

According to the United States census returns for the year 1850, the population of the valley of Great Salt Lake mustered 11,354 persons, of whom about 53 per cent were males, and 6,000 residents of Salt Lake City.^^ There were 16,333 acres under culti- vation, on which were raised 128,711 bushels of grain. The value of live-stock was estimated at $546,698, and of farming implements at $84,288. At the close of 1852, the total population was variously estimated at from 25,000 to 30,000,^^ of whom perhaps 10,000 resided in the metropolis. The assessed value of

a shoestring (if we cannot begin higher).' 'When we have manufactured an article, sell it for cash or its equivalent, as low, or lower, than it can be bought for at the stores. ' In the fifth general epistle is the following: ' Beach and Blair have opened a general manufacturing establishment; . . . are now making molasses and vinegar. Several grain and lumber mills have been erected in the various settlements, . . . chairs and various articles of furniture are multiplying,. . .two or three threshing-machines have been in successful operation.' Hist. B. Young, MS., 1851, 24. 'We are going in extensively for home manufactures. My own family alone have this season manufactured over 500 yds of cloth, and the home-made frequently makes its appearance in our streets' — a great blessing, 'if it will prove an inducement to the people to depend and rely upon their own resources for their own supplies.' Id., 1852, 16.

^^ On May 1, 1851, the first train of merchandise for the season arrived in the city, laden partly with sugar, coffee, and calicoes. Utah Early Records, MS., 127.

2** On Nov. 19, 1848, Capt. Grant of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived from Fort Hall with pack-horses laden with skins, groceries, and other goods. On April 17, 1851, a small party arrived from Fort Hall in search of provi- sions and Indian trading goods. On the 10th of the same month, Col Reese sent ten or twelve wagon-loads of flour toCarson Valley for trading purposes. M, 39, 125, 127.

" The returns were made under the direction of Brigham Young, who was appointed census agent. Utah Early Records, MS., 112; Deseret News, Oct. 5, 1850.

^^ Early in 1853 the Deseret Almanac places the number at 30,000, while in Orson Pratt's Seer it is given at 30,000 to 35,000. Olshausen's Mormonen, 192. At this date it was estimated at 25,000 by the gentiles. Burton's City of the Saints, 357. Probably the Mormons exaggerated, as they desired to