In the spring of 1847, President Young and a small company numbering 143, including three women, started from the Missouri river to find beyond the Rocky Mountains a place of rest, where they might build and inhabit homes and worship God "free from the furious rage of mobs." After an interesting and trying journey of about three months this noble band of pioneers entered Salt Lake valley July 24th, 1847, over a thousand miles from the Mississippi river. As they emerged from the mouth of what was afterwards named Emigration Canyon, they stood upon a plateau facing westward. To the north and south a great valley extended, bordered on the west by mountains and a great inland sea of salt water, the Great Salt Lake. The islands in the lake are mountains almost destitute of timber, but supplied with grass suitable for the grazing of horses and cattle. The valley was poorly watered, and dry and sterile was the appearance of the country before them. But God was their leader. He had shown to President Young beforehand the Salt Lake Valley. When the pioneer band entered the valley the Prophet said, "This is the place. Here we will build a city." When they came upon the ground where the temple now stands, President Young, thrusting his cane into the ground, said in substance, "Here we will stay, and upon this ground we will build a temple." All the events conducing to the growth and development of the valleys prove that President Brigham Young knew whereof he spoke, and God has confirmed his words by the many blessings of divine Providence showered upon the people in building up a commonwealth in what was in those days a great barren waste. The soil upon which the Saints then stood belonged to Mexico. Those pioneers were as truly exiles from their country as were the Puritans who sailed the trackless ocean and planted their feet upon Plymouth Rock. And yet the Latter-day Saints then had five hundred men in the American army, in the contest with Mexico. Upon a prominent mountain peak, called Ensign, the "Mormon" pioneers planted the Stars and Stripes, the flag of their country, and possessed the land as citizens of the United States. Upon the arrival of this first company the work of plowing and building immediately commenced. It would take volumes to tell the history of the growth and progress of the Saints from that time till now; but this wondrous recital is written upon the mountains and in the valleys, which are open to the inspection of all people. In the fall of 1847 a large company of Saints crossed the plains, led by President John Taylor and other prominent men. The companies continued to pour into Salt Lake valley and spread into the valleys north and south each year from 1847 to 1900, coming as Latter-day Saints, under the regulations of the Church. The leading brethren had made covenant that they would not cease their energies until all the Saints who would remain faithful should be gathered to the place appointed.