Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/912

UTAH. of the Governor, justices of the Supreme Court, and the Attorney-General. The Governor may call extra sessions of the Legislature, and exercises a veto which may be overruled by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each House.

. The Supreme Court consists of three elected judges, but after 1905 the number may be increased to five, who shall serve six years. The State is divided into seven judicial districts (subject to change), in each of which from one to three district judges are elected for four years. Other courts inferior to the Supreme Court may be established by law.

. The Legislature provides a uniform system of county government. Precinct and township organization, the incorporation, organization, and classification of cities and towns are established by general laws.

. The finances are in a satisfactory condition. At the time of admission into the Union the State assumed the small debt of the Territory, amounting to $700,000, and additional bonds to the amount of $200,000 were issued. The debt remained at the same level, but the 5 per cent. bonds were refunded by 3½ per cent. and 3¼ per cent. obligations. The income of the State is derived mainly from a general property tax and sale of public lands. In 1902 the total receipts were $1,409,256, of which the property tax supplied 65 per cent. and the sale of public lands 27 per cent. The expenditures were $1,349,654, of which almost 50 per cent. were for school purposes. The cash in the treasury on January 1, 1903, was $565,259, more than half being in the school fund.

. In 1900 there were 53.755 men of militia age. The organized militia, in 1901, numbered 526 men.

. The population by decades has been as follows: 1850, 11,380; 1860, 40,273; 1870, 86,786; 1880, 143,963; 1890, 207,905; 1900, 276,749. In 1900 the State ranked forty-third among the States of the Union. There were 3.4 inhabitants per square mile. The population is largely limited to the irrigated or mining districts. In 1900 there were 141,687 males and 135,062 females. The foreign born numbered 53,777; Indians, 2623; negroes, 672; Chinese, 572; and Japanese, 417. The English, Danes, and Swedes are the most numerous of the Europeans. Salt Lake City, the capital and largest city, had 53,531 inhabitants in 1900; Ogden, 16,313; Provo City, 6185; and Logan, 5451.

. Utah is the centre of Mormonism. About three-fourths of its population is allied with the Mormon Church. (See .) In recent years many other denominations have entered the State, of which the Catholics and Methodists are numerically the strongest.

. The present public school system was introduced in 1890, superseding in large part the many sectarian institutions then in existence. The control of the public schools is in the hands of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, elected for four years, and a board of education. The expenditures for school purposes in 1902 aggregated nearly $1,460,000. In the census year 1900 the population of school age numbered 106,513, of which 64,925, or about 60 per cent., were in attendance. The illiterates at that date formed 3.1 per cent, of the population ten years of age and over. The report of the State Superintendent for 1902 showed a school attendance of 76,466. The leading institutions are the (q.v.), at Salt Lake City; Brigham Young College, at Logan; and the Agricultural College of Utah, also at Logan. A State normal college is maintained in connection with the State University, and there is a branch normal school at Cedar City.

. There is an insane asylum at Provo City. A reform school is located at Ogden, and a penitentiary at Salt Lake City.

. The first white explorers of Utah were Spaniards, sent by (q.v.), who reached the Colorado River in 1540. Two Franciscan friars seeking a direct route to the Pacific went from Santa Fe to Utah Lake in 1776. In the winter of 1824-25, James Bridger, a trapper, seeking to determine the course of the Bear River, discovered the Great Salt Lake. Other trappers followed in 1825-26, and established posts in the region. Later immigrants to Oregon and California passed through without halting. The real history begins when the (q.v.), despairing of peace in Missouri or Illinois, determined in 1846 to move west. The Mexican War was then in progress, and in June, 1846, while the emigrants were encamped at the site of Council Bluffs, Iowa, a Mormon battalion was raised for the conquest of California, which then included the whole southwestern part of the United States. The march of the Mormon people was slow and painful. On July 21, 1847, the advance guard reached the present site of Salt Lake City. Other bands rapidly followed, and by 1852 they numbered 15,000. The United States did not obtain possession of the territory until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, and did not immediately provide for its government. At first the Church officers were the rulers, but with the coming of non-Mormons in 1849 the State of Deseret was organized, a constitution adopted, and a delegate sent to the United States Congress asking admission. Congress refused to admit the State, but organized the Territory of Utah (September 9, 1850), with boundaries much more extended than at present, and (q.v.) was appointed Governor. He soon quarreled with the other Territorial officers sent out, and the General Assembly adopted the laws of the State of Deseret. In 1854 and again in 1856 admission to the Union was sought. There was constant wrangling, owing partly to the fact that many officers sent out were incompetent and partly because the authorities of the Church were determined to rule at any cost. In 1857 it was determined that Young should be superseded as Governor, and for this purpose it was considered necessary to make a display of military strength, as Young had defied the authority of the United States. A force under General Harney (afterwards succeeded by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston) started from Fort Leavenworth. Though there was no fighting of consequence, the Mormons, by burning supply trains, disabling and stampeding teams, setting fire to the grass, etc., prevented the entrance of the troops into Salt Lake City until June, 1858. They found the city deserted and ready to be set on fire if necessary. For some years troops were kept in garrison here, but the attention