"At half-past seven the large national flag, measuring sixty-five feet in length, was unfurled at the top of the liberty pole, which is 104 feet high, and was saluted by the firing of six guns, the ringing of the Nauvoo bell, and spirit-stirring airs from the band.
"At eight o'clock the multitude were called together by music and the firing of guns, the Bishops of the several wards arranging themselves on the sides of the aisles, with the banners of their wards unfurled, each bearing some appropriate inscription.
"At a quarter past eight, the Presidency of the Stake, the Twelve, and the bands, went to prepare the escort in the following order, at the house of President Brigham Young, under the direction of Lorenzo Snow, J. M. Grant, and F. D. Richards: "(1) Horace S. Eldredge, marshal, on horseback, in military uniform; (2) brass band; (3) twelve bishops bearing the banners of their wards; (4) seventy-four young men dressed in white, with white scarfs on their right shoulders, and coronets on their heads, each carrying in his right hand a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, and each carrying a sheathed sword in his left hand; one of them carrying a beautiful banner, inscribed on it, ' The Zion of the Lord ;' (5) twenty-four young ladies, dressed in white, with white scarfs on their right shoulders, and wreaths of white roses on their heads, each carrying a copy of the Bible and Book of Mormon, and one carrying a very neat banner, inscribed with 'Hail to our Captain;' (6) Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards, Parley P. Pratt, Charles C. Rich, John Taylor, Daniel Spencer, D. Fullmer, Willard Snow, Erastus Snow; (7) twelve Bishops, carrying flags of their wards; (8) twenty-four Silver Greys, led by Isaac Morley, Patriarch, each having a staff, painted red at the upper part, and a bunch of white ribbon fastened at the top, one of them carrying the Stars and Stripes, bearing the inscription, 'Liberty and Truth.' "The procession started from the house at nine o'clock. The young men and young ladies sang a hymn through the streets, the cannon roared, the musketry rolled, the Nauvoo bell pealed forth its silvery notes, and the air was filled by the sweet strains of the brass band. On arriving at the Bowery the escort was received with shouts of 'Hosanna! to God and the Lamb!' While the Presidency, Patriarch, and presiding Bishops were passing down the aisle, the people cheered and shouted, 'Hail to the Governor of Deseret.' These being seated by the committee on the stand, the escort passed round the assembly, singing a hymn of praise, marched down the aisle, and were seated in double rows on either side. The assembly was called to order by Mr. J. M. Grant. On being seated, Mr. Erastus Snow offered up a prayer.
"Richard Ballantyne, one of the twenty-four young men, came to the stand, and, in a neat speech, presented the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to President Young, which was received with three shouts, 'May it live forever,' led by the President.
"The Declaration of Independence was then read by Mr. Erastus Snow, the band following with a lively air.
"The clerk then read 'The Mountain Standard,' composed by Parley P. Pratt:—
"Lo, the Gentile chain is broken,
Freedom's banner waves on high.' "
After the above had been sung by the twenty-four young men and young ladies, Mr. Phinehas Richards came forward in behalf of the twenty-four aged sires in Israel and read their congratulatory address on the anniversary of the day. At the conclusion of the reading, the assembly rose and shouted three times, 'Hosanna! hosanna! hosanna! to God and the Lamb, forever and ever, Amen,' while the banners were waved by the Bishops. The band next played a lively air, and the clerk then rose and read an 'Ode on Liberty.' "The ode was then sung by the twenty-four Silver Greys, to the tune of 'Bruce's Address to his Army,' "The hour of intermission having arrived, the escort was reformed, the Bishops of each ward collected the inhabitants of their respective wards together, and marched with them to the dinner tables, where several thousand of the Saints dined sumptuously on the fruits of the earth. Several hundred emigrants also partook of the repast, as did also three score Indians."
Orson Hyde, President of the Twelve Apostles, in the Frontier Guardian, published at Kanesville, Iowa, thus explains this first celebration, at which, it will have been noticed, the Declaration of American Independence was read: "Our people celebrated the 24th of July instead of the 4th, for two reasons—one was because that was the day on which Brother Young and the Pioneers first entered the valley; and the other was, they had little or no bread, or flour to make cakes, etc., that early, and not wishing to celebrate on empty stomachs, they postponed it until their harvest came in."
The explanation of Apostle Hyde has historical pertinence, when it is remembered that in the Spring of this year the community were put on rations; it was this very harvest of 1849, that saved the people from a continuance of the famine, caused by the destruction of the crops by the grasshoppers in 1848.
Here a passage of history seems due to the soldiers of the Mormon Battalion, relative to their connection with the early times of California, and the finding of gold, which largely tended to the rapid growth of Great Salt Lake City and started its currency.
On being discharged from the United States service, four of the Mormon Battalion found employ with Mr. Thomas Marshall, in digging Captain Sutter's mill race, on the Sacramento River. One day these brethren were attracted by the mysterious movements of their foreman, Mr. Marshall, whom they partly surprised in the act of washing something which his shovel had just turned up.
That something was gold! The discovery was at once shared by Mr. Marshall and his men. Of course, at first there was some secrecy preserved, but such a discovery could not be long hid, and soon the Mormons of California, both those of the Battalion and those who sailed to the Bay of San Francisco with Mr. Samuel Brannan in the ship Brooklyn, were working in the gold diggings.
So that notwithstanding Mr. Marshall's shovel brought the initial glitter of California gold to light, it was the shovels of Mormon Elders that spread the golden tidings to the world.
No sooner was the discovery bruited than the whole civilized world seemed flocking to the new El Dorado. Scarcely a nation but sent its adventurous spirits to the paradise of gold. From the American States themselves came colony after colony pouring daily towards the west. Gold was the incentive at first, but as that wondrous emigrational tide swelled, it became more like the migration of a dominant race for the purpose of founding a new empire. This did finally become the proper character of the movement.
The best blood of America was in those emigrant companies, and they took with them enough resources to found a new State; but there was no "royal road" to the land of gold; fifteen hundred miles then intervened between the western frontier of the States and Great Salt Lake City. The Mormon Zion became the "half-way house'' of the nation.
But the ambitious and spirited emigrants to California could not endure the tedious journey as the Saints had done. Before they reached the mountains they began to leave fragments of their richly-laden trains by the wayside. All along the route was strewn valuable freight, with the ruins of wagons and the carcasses of oxen and mules.
By the time the gold-seekers reached the valley of the Great Salt Lake, they were utterly impatient and demoralized. Many had loaded their trains with clothing, dry goods, general merchandise, mechanics' tools and machinery, expecting to find a market where gold was dug and a new country to be settled.
But the merchant, alike with the adventurer, was at last subdued by the contagion of the gold fever and provoked into a mania of impatience by the tedious journey. News also reached the overland emigrants that steamers, laden with merchandise had sailed from New York to California. The speculations of the merchants lost their last charm. That which was destined for California was left in Utah. In absolute disgust for their trains of merchandise and splendid emigrant outfits, they gave the bulk to the Mormons at their own price, and for the most ordinary means of barter. A horse or a mule outfit to carry the gold hunter quickly to his destination, was taken as an equivalent for wagons, cattle, and merchandise.
Parley P. Pratt, writing