prepared for a freezing night by a blazing fire. The furniture—two bunks, with buffalo robes, tables and chairs, which were bits of plank mounted on four legs—was of the rudest. I whiled away the last hours of light by adding to my various accomplishments an elementary knowledge of felling trees. Handling the timber-axe is by no means so simple a process as it appears. The woodman does it by instinct; the tyro, who is always warned that he may easily indent or slice off a bit of his leg, progresses slowly and painfully. The principal art is to give the proper angle to the blade, to whirl the implement loosely round the head, and to let it fall by the force of its own weight, the guiding hand gliding down the haft to the other, in order not to break the blow. We ate copiously; appetite appeared to come by eating, though not in the Parisian sense of the phrase—what a treasure would be such a sanitarium in India! The society was increased by two sawyers, gruff and rugged men, one of whom suffered from ophthalmia, and two boys, who successfully imitated their elders.
Our fireside chat was sufficiently interesting. Mr.S——— described the ceremonies of the last Mormon Independence Day. After the preliminaries had been settled as below,[1] the caravans
- ↑ Extract from the Great Salt Lake correspondent of that amiable and conscientious periodical, the "New York Herald."
The Great Twenty-fourth of July.
"In my last I gave your readers a full account of the Mormon demonstrations on the anniversary of American independence. That done, they have now before them the celebration of their own independence. Adhesiveness is largely developed in the Mormon cranium. They will hold on to their notions. On the 24th of July, 1847, Brigham, at the head of the pioneers, entered this now beautiful valley—then a barren wilderness. Forgetful of the means that forced them here, the day was set apart for rejoicing. They laid aside the weeds of mourning, and consecrated the day to feasting and dancing. The Twenty-fourth is the day of deliverance that will be handed down to generations when the Fourth is immeasurably forgotten. Three years ago, two thousand persons were congregated at the head-waters of Big Cotton-wood, commemorating independence, when messengers from the East arrived with the intelligence that the troops were on the plains. I need not farther allude to what was then said and done; suffice it, things have been so disjointed since that Big Cotton-wood has been left alone in solitude. Setting aside the restraint of years, it seems that the faithful are to again enjoy themselves. The following card tells the marching orders; the interstices will be filled up with orations, songs, prayers, dances, and every kind of athletic game that the young may choose to indulge in:
"Twenty-fourth of July at the Head-quarters of Big Cotton-wood.—President Brigham Young respectfully invites to attend a picnic excursion to the lake in Big Cotton-wood Kanyon, on Tuesday, the 24th of July.
"Regulations.—You will be required to start so as to pass the first mill, about four miles up the kanyon, before twelve o'clock on Monday, the 23d, as no person will be allowed to pass that point after two o'clock P.M. of that day. All persons are forbidden to smoke segars or pipes, or kindle fires at any place in the kanyon, except on the camp-ground. The bishops are requested to accompany those invited from their respective wards, and see that each person is well fitted for the trip with good, substantial, steady teams, wagons, harness, hold-backs and locks, capable of completing the journey without repair, and a good driver, so as not to endanger the life of any individual. Bishops, heads of families, and leaders of small parties will, before passing the first mill, furnish a full and complete list of all persons accompanying them, and hand the same to the guard at the gate.
"Committee of Arrangements.—A. O. Smoot, John Sharp, L. W. Hardy, A. Cun-
