Over the Rim : the Parley P. Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern Utah, 1849-50

Smart, William B. and Smart, Donna T.

ISBN 10: 0874212820 / ISBN 13: 9780874212822

Published by Utah State University Press, Logan, UT, 2008

About this Item

Brand new hardcover book! ; "This little-known expedition, led by Parley P. Pratt, thus had a large impact on Utah history. It was also a dramatic and adventurous journey. The journals of the expedition - published complete in Over the Rim for the first time - record the feat of an unusual party of righteous frontiersmen who, challenged by harsh weather and difficult terrain, opened a way for Mormon expansion toward the Pacific coast and along the way documented much about both their new homeland and the native Utes and Paiutes their people would displace." ; 6" x 9"; 280 pages;

Seller Inventory # 60093

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Over the Rim : the Parley P. Pratt Exploring Expedition to Southern Utah, 1849-50
• Publisher: Utah State University Press, Logan, UT
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874212820
• ISBN 13: 9780874212822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
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About this title

Synopsis

This is the first book about an important but little-known expedition sent by Brigham Young to explore southern Utah. Led by Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt, the party travelled from Salt Lake City south across the rim of the Great Basin to the Virgin River near future St. George. They brought back to Mormon leaders their first detailed portrait of the country to the south that the church planned to settle. By 1849, the new Mormon settlement at Great Salt Lake City was taking on an air of permanence as companies of Latter-day Saints continued to arrive. Brigham Young and other leaders needed to find homesites for the growing body of settlers and to learn more about the expansive region, extending as far south as the coast, they had selected for colonisation. Pratt's party of fifty set out in the winter of 1849-50. They followed the Spanish Trail and other existing paths but also found new routes. As they went, they noted possible town sites, agricultural and mineral potential, water supplies, and other resources, creating an often-followed blueprint for the Mormon push south.Their descriptions of the Utes and Paiutes, including leaders Walkara and Arapeen, are among the most valuable parts of the journals. The Indians welcomed the travellers but were suffering from disease, increasing white settlement and travel in their territories, and trade in Indian slaves. Such encounters helped shape future relations with the tribes. Made in the depth of winter, the arduous journey included many hardships and adventures but had a permanent impact on Utah history.