Page:History of Utah.djvu/344



rency, in either gold or paper, was afterward desig- nated as valley tan, a name synonymous with home- made or of Utah manufacture, the origin of which will be explained later. ^^

Of the houses built early in 1849, few had more than two rooms, many had only board windows, and some were without doors. Several of the adobe houses in the fort had fallen down from the effects of the thaw. When at last they had learned how to make adobes, they were of the best kind. Alkali at first was mixed with the clay, which, when exposed to rain, would expand and burst the bricks. After this year more commodious structures were erected for public and private use, the means being supplied in part by traffic with emigrants for California. Conspicuous among them was the council-house on East Temple street, a two-story stone edifice, forty-five feet square,^^ used originally for church purposes, and afterward occupied by the state and territorial legislatures. In front of the council-house was temple block, on the south-west corner of which stood the tabernacle, buiit in 1851-2, on the ground now occupied by the assem- bly hall, with accommodation for 2,500 persons, ^^ and consecrated on April 6th of the latter year.^'' Dur-

^* See chap, xix., note 44, this vol.

'^'I was appointed superintendent of public works in the fall of 1848. The first house that was built was a little adobe place that was used for the church office. . .The little office that was the first place built was one story, about 18 by 12 feet, slanting roof covered with boards and dirt. This re- mained the church office for about two yeai'S. . .The foundation of the council- house was laid in the spring of 1849, and then the first story put up.' Wells^ Narr., MS., 41-2. Built by tithing. Hist. B. Young, MS., 1849, 55. At a meeting held Oct. 1, 1848, it was I'esolved to build a council-house, and on the 7th of November masons commenced laying the foundation. Utah Early Records, MS., 36, 38.

'® Linforth gives its dimensions at 126 ft by 64, and states that the roof was arched, without being supported by pillars. Route from Liverpool, 109. In Utah Early Records, MS., 125, 127, it is stated that the dimensions were 120 by 60 ft, and that work was begun May 21st. See also Deseret News, May 17, 1851; The Mormons at Home, 112-13, 147-9; Burton's City of the Saints, 270.

" At a general conference, the proceedings of which are related in the Coiilrlbutor, ii. 333. The conference lasted several days, and at its conclusion a collection was made to provide funds for a sacramental service, $149 beijig given in coin, together with several pounds' weight of silver watch-cases, spoons, rings, and ornaments. From the silver, cupa were made, which are still in use at the tabernacle.