{136} Where in 1847 nought but a wilderness of sagebrush and sunflowers stretched from the Wasatch barrier westward toward the shores of the great salt sea, now appears a stately city, even as was then foreseen in prophetic vision. On the site selected but four days after the advent of the pioneer band of "Mormon" colonizers, stands a massive structure, dedicated to the name of the Most High. It is at once an object of wonder and admiration to the visitor, and a subject of sanctifying joy and righteous pride to the people whose sacrifice and effort have given it being. On the east center tower appears an inscription, the letters deep-cut in stone and lined with gold: Holiness to the Lord THE HOUSE OF THE LORD Built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Commenced April 6, 1853 Completed April 6, 1893 In one of the upper rooms a splendid art window presents an excellent view of the completed building, with side inscriptions as follows: {137} Corner stone laid April 6, 1853, by President Brigham Young Assisted by his Counselors Heber C. Kimball, Willard Richards Dedicated April 6, 1893, by President Wilford Woodruff Assisted by his Counselors George Q. Cannon, Joseph F. Smith These memorial tablets in stone and jeweled glass give the essentials as to dates in the history of the great Temple; some further data, however, may be of interest to the reader. The Temple Block, a square of ten acres, was laid off in 1847, and is today one of the choicest sites within the city. At the General Conference of the Church held in April, 1851, an official vote was taken whereby the erection of the Temple was authorized. Be it remembered that this action was that of a people despoiled and in poverty, struggling with the unsubdued desert, the while menaced by hostile savages; and that at the time the entire population of Utah did not exceed thirty thousand souls, of whom fewer than five thousand were living within the area of the prospective city. A general epistle issued by the First Presidency of the Church, April 7, 1851, is instructive in this connection: "A railroad has been chartered to extend from the Temple Block in this city to the stone quarry and mountain on the east, for the conveyance of building materials; the construction to commence immediately. * * * We contemplate laying a wall around the Temple Block this season, preparatory to laying the foundation of a Temple {138} the year following; and this we will be sure to do, if all the Saints shall prove themselves as ready to pay their tithing, and sacrifice and consecrate of their substance, as freely as we will; and if the Saints do not pay their tithing, we can neither build nor prepare for building; and if there shall be no Temple built, the Saints can have no endowments, and if they do not receive their endowments, they can never attain unto that salvation they are anxiously looking for."[1]