THE LAND AND THE CITY.
The land in which the city of Zion is to be built will ever be of
interest to the saints, and I therefore give the following description
of that section of Missouri.
The Missouri River, though flowing east in the main, takes a meandering
course through the State to which it has given its name. The "river
bottom" is a low strip of land on either bank of the stream, and varies
in width from a few hundred yards to several miles. The character of
the soil in the bottom is, of course, alluvial, and very fertile. The
Missouri is said to be a "treacherous stream" by the people living on
its banks. By that they mean it frequently changes its channel. Several
places were pointed out to me, as I passed down it, that used to be the
main channel of the stream; but which are now overgrown with trees,
underbrush, and fields of waving corn; while here and there the stream
is cutting its banks, and mass after mass of sandy, alluvial deposit
of former times is caving in--the river is cutting for itself a new
channel--or moving obstructions from an old one in which it flowed ages
ago.
But however often the Missouri may change its banks, the main stream
never leaves the river bottoms, for the reason that these bottoms are
walled in by the "bluffs." The word bluff naturally suggests to the
mind rugged cliffs rising almost perpendicularly from the bottoms to
dizzy heights--but such are not the bluffs of the Missouri. While
occasionally one may see a bold cliff rising from the water's edge,
yet they are not numerous. The Missouri bluffs are sharp, rolling
hills that run parallel with the river on either side, and are usually
timbered. They vary in width, sometimes extending ten or fifteen miles,
and then again narrowed down to a few hundred yards by some patch of
prairie that approaches very nearly to the river bank.
Back from these bluffs are stretched out great rolling prairies, the
extent of which quite bewilders one. They are divided into what appear
to be immense meadows by the strips of timber land which invariably
border the winding streams. Standing on an eminence that overlooks
these alternate prairie and timber lands, extending as they do as far
as the eye can reach--with here and there a crowning hill ornamented
with a pretentious farm house, or some more humble dwelling half hidden
from your view by the thick foliage of the trees, with cattle feeding
on a thousand hills--all this is very likely to make the beholder
imagine himself in some enchanted realm. But to be more particular:
Jackson County, which is the center place of Zion, is in ninety-four
west longitude, and thirty-nine north latitude, being nearly equally
distant from the northern boundary of the United States and the Gulf of
Mexico. It is also about midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific
Oceans, making it the most central point within the United States, and,
with reference to both North and South America, a central place in
this western hemisphere, of which in the future it will be the great
capital. The climate is delightful, being mild at least three-fourths
of the year The soil of Missouri is, for the most part, a rich, black
loam, in places intermingled with sand and clay, and is from two to
ten feet in depth, with a sub-soil of a fine quality of clay. Both
climate and soil are favorable to the production of all the fruits and
vegetables of the warm temperate climate: not only the hardy cereals,
such as oats, barley, wheat, rye, buck-wheat, corn, etc., but also
tobacco, cotton, flax, sweet-potatoes and all other common vegetables,
as also fruit, apples, pears, apricots, persimmons, plums of many
varieties, the luscious peach, the delicious grape, and a great many
kinds of berries grow in abundance. It is either Stanley or Livinstone
who, in speaking of some parts of Africa, says: "The people tickle the
soil with a hoe, and it laughs with plenty." It is so with the land of
Zion.
Though the supply of timber useful for lumber purposes is nearly
exhausted, you still find luxuriant growths of hickory, some black
walnut, a variety of oaks, plenty of elm, cherry, honey-locust,
mulberry, bass-wood and boxelder; huge sycamores and cottonwoods grow
in the river bottoms, as also hard and soft maple.
Formerly many wild animals roamed over the prairies or lived in the
woods; such as the buffalo, elk, deer, bear, wolf, beaver, and many
smaller animals; wild turkeys, geese, quail, and a variety of singing
birds: in short, it was once the hunter's paradise. Civilization,
however, has driven away nearly all these animals, especially the
larger ones; but they are replaced by the domestic species so useful
to man, both for food and clothing, as well as being of valuable
assistance in his labors.
The clay, of which there is unlimited quantities, makes a fine quality
of brick. Stone quarries which supply a good quality of light-colored
sand-stone, are abundant, so that substantial building material may be
said to be plentiful. Such is the land of Zion as I found it--a land
with resources well-nigh unlimited, a land yielding an abundance of all
useful products though but indifferently cultivated by the husbandmen
who possess it--a land of surpassing loveliness, though its beauties
are often marred rather than increased by those who inhabit it; while
its magnificent resources are very far from anything like complete
development.
The land being thus beautiful in its products when only partially
developed, the mind naturally inquires what will it be when its
resources are fully developed--when the idleness and indifference of
its people shall be banished--when it shall be possessed by the saints
of the Most High, who will consecrate their substance for the building
of Zion; and all their exertions will be to glorify God, and benefit
mankind--when covetousness is subdued and virtue and righteousness
shall reign in every heart--and when under the blessings of Jehovah the
land shall yield in its strength! When the glory of Lebanon shall be
brought to Zion, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box tree together;
when for brass, will be brought gold; and for iron, silver; for wood,
brass; and for stones, iron, to glorify the place of God's sanctuary!
Surely when this shall come to pass, the land of Zion shall be the
perfection of beauty.
Independence, designated as the center place of Zion, is in the
northern part of Jackson county, about three or four miles south of
the Missouri River. It is located nearly midway between two small
rivers which flow northward and empty into the Missouri; the stream
on the west is called "Big Blue," and the one on the east "Little
Blue." The town is situated in the river bluffs already described as
sharp, rolling hills, many of which at one time were covered with fine
growths of timber and even now some of them are partially covered
with beautiful groves. Independence in 1831, as stated in a previous
chapter, was a frontier town with all the disadvantages implied by that
term. It had a mixed population of white men from many sections of the
Union, chiefly, however, from the south, some of whom had moved into
the western wilderness to escape the consequences of unlawful deeds
committed elsewhere; vagabond Indians and renegades who had mingled
with them; besides a number of negro slaves. Society was as varied as
the character of the population, but on the whole may be described as
being without stability, regard for law, or religion. Of late years,
of course, the character of Independence has been entirely changed.
Western Missouri is no longer the frontier of the United States, nor is
Independence a frontier town. It is now a delightful residence suburb
of Kansas City, Missouri, with many attractive homes.
Having given a description of the land of Zion and the town of
Independence, it may be interesting to learn something concerning
the city of Zion that shall yet stand there to the glory of God. Of
necessity the description will be imperfect, as the available materials
for such description are very meagre. While the prophets have written
much concerning Zion and her future glory, their rapturous effusions
do not furnish matter for a definite description of the city. In June,
1833, however, Joseph Smith and the elders in Kirtland, Ohio, sent a
plat of the city to the brethren in Missouri. We have been unable to
find the plat, but an explanation of it is recorded in the history of
Joseph Smith,[A] from which we learn the following:
[Footnote A: Millennial Star, Vol. 14, p. 438]
The city plat is one mile square, divided into blocks containing ten
acres each--forty rods square--except the middle range of blocks
running north and south; they will be forty by sixty rods, containing
fifteen acres, having their greatest extent east and west. The streets
will be eight rods wide, intersecting each other at right angles.
The tier of blocks forty by sixty rods will be reserved for public
buildings, temples, tabernacles, school houses, etc.[B]
[Footnote B: By this arrangement, it will be observed that the blocks
in the city cannot be uniformly forty rods square (if the middle range
of blocks running north and south are made forty by sixty), as the
plat east and west would lack twenty-eight rods, and north and south
eight rods, of being sufficient for such an arrangement. Either the
outside tier of blocks must be less than forty rods square, or the city
plat must be more than a mile square. It must be three hundred and
forty-eight rods east and west, (instead of three hundred and twenty)
by three hundred and twenty-eight north and south.--B. H. R.]
All the other blocks will be divided into half-acre lots, a four rod
front to every lot, and extending back twenty rods. In one block the
lots will run from the north and south, and in the next one from the
east and west, and so on alternately throughout the city, except in
the range of blocks reserved for public buildings. By this arrangement
no street will be built on entirely through the street; but on one
block the houses will stand on one street, and on the next one on
another street. All of the houses are to be built of brick or stone;
and but one house on a lot, which is to stand twenty-five feet back
from the street, the space in front being for lawns, ornamental trees,
shrubbery, or flowers according to the taste of the owners; the rest of
the lot will be for gardens, etc.
It is supposed that such a plat when built up will contain fifteen or
twenty thousand population, and that they will require twenty-four
buildings to supply them with houses for public worship and schools.
These buildings will be temples, none of which will be less than
eighty-seven feet by sixty-one, and two stories high, each story
to be fourteen feet, making the building twenty-eight feet to the
square. I say none of these temples will be smaller than this, but of
course there will be others much larger; the above, however, are the
dimensions of the one the saints were commanded to build first.
Lands on the north and south of the city will be laid off for barns and
stables for the use of the city, so there will be no barns or stables
in the city among the homes of the people.
Lands for the agriculturist are also to be laid off on the north and
south of the city plat, but if sufficient land cannot be laid off
without going too great a distance, then farms are to be laid off
on the east and west also; but the tiller of the soil as well as
the merchant and mechanic will live in the city. The farmer and his
family, therefore, will enjoy all the advantages of schools, public
lectures and other meetings. His home will no longer be isolated, and
his family denied the benefits of society, which has been, and always
will be, the great educator of the human race; but they will enjoy the
same privileges of society, and can surround their homes with as much
refinement as will be found in the home of the merchant or banker.
"When this square is thus laid off and supplied, lay off another in the
same way," said Joseph to those to whom the city plat was sent, "and
so fill up the world in these last days, and let every man live in the
city, _for this is the city of Zion._"