"Joseph Smith, Jr., President, with his brother Hyrum, Patriarch of the whole Church, suffered martyrdom in Carthage, Illinois, June 27th, 1844, and the Church was driven into the wilderness in 1846." Then followed the names of all the general authorities of the Church as at that time constituted.[2] To the specifications given in the foregoing it is necessary to add only the following to make the description fairly complete. The tower is thirty-one feet square; the vane on the tower is one hundred and seventy-five feet from the ground. The foundation of the entire basement story consists of a black basaltic lava, a rock occurring abundantly in the region and well adapted to the purpose. The soil of the place is sandy and heavily impregnated with alkaline mineral salts; and no rock that readily undergoes disintegration, either through abrasion or as the result of a solution of cementing material, is suitable for foundation work in this soil. The foundation of the building extends below the ground-level ten feet. About two-thirds of the east end and a portion of the northerly side rest on bed-rock in place; throughout the rest of its extent the foundation is laid on a thick layer of broken volcanic rock firmly compacted under the blows of a nine-hundred-pound pile driver. A capacious drain encircles the building and connects with a yet larger drain fifty feet easterly from the square tower. The foundation is twelve {213} feet wide at the bottom, and the walls are gradually diminished in width so that at the level of the basement window sills they have a thickness of three feet eight inches. Above the basement story the building is constructed of the fine red sandstone of the region, from quarries specifically located and opened for this work. Timber and lumber had to be hauled by team from distances of from seventy to ninety miles. The Temple stands in the open plain on but a slight elevation, practically devoid of all the prominence that belongs to a commanding position of altitude. The ground on which the building rests, as well as the region for miles round about, is of a prevailing dark-red color; and this, too, is the color of the sandstone of which the Temple is built. Naturally, the building as a whole would blend with its surroundings, so as to be practically invisible from even a moderate distance. A contrast has been afforded by whitening the walls; and as a result the structure has become a striking feature of the landscape.