VALLEY OF TRIUMPH

[Music] ha ha ha ha ha hmm ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha my [Music] the great salt sea america's great salt sea is one of the strangest yet most fascinating and interesting bodies of water in the world long before history began this inland sea dominated and ruled the great valley in which it lay unchallenged jealous and supreme first its rule was by might of size when its far-flung waters rolled a thousand feet deep around the base of the many mountains which hemmed the sea in then as it shrank the waters turned to brine and rule continued by dealing out death to living things leaving the valley desolate and alone but the will of man has changed the story once again by the sweat and brown of honest toil by courageous and determined faith man has conquered the wilderness and the valley has triumphed over desolation today great salt lake is but a shriveled remnant of that vast inland sea it covers 1700 square miles with an average depth of 13 feet for the most part it is inaccessible its shorelines are protected by miles of mud and morass that keep most intruders far from its regular waters near salt lake city however it obligingly offers its few beaches and boating facilities it is the saltiest natural body of water in the world in a glassful one-fourth of its volume is salt the kind you use on your table in a land where water is the very essence of life itself this water ironically enough is more barren more desolate and more of death than the very desert around it yet for all this the lake is a delightful and almost unbelievable playground lying at the north end of the state of utah salt lake city in great salt lake sit at the crossroads of both the old and the modern west the early trails to oregon california and the pacific skirted the lake and crossed the great south encrusted desert today's fine paved highways from the west northwest south southwest and east meet shake hands cross each other and continue on their many ways through this unique city on the shores of the shimmering great salt sea but about 75 000 years ago old lake bonneville would have covered salt lake city by almost a thousand feet the ancient levels may still be seen high on the sides of the mountains surrounding the valley levels showing two three four distinct stages as the water receded it finally fell away from a level that covered a large part of northern utah some of nevada and idaho to the relatively small area it now fills in the lowest part of the salt lake valley basin then came men hunters trappers and the pioneers they saw in this valley their land of promise a likeness to the holy land and they took that likeness to be a favorable omen the sea of galilee and the dead sea connected by the river jordan here was the same geographical situation a freshwater lake a river and a dead sea the water from the lake drained through a small twisting river and flowed into the dead sea the pioneers called the twisting river jordan took waters from its narrow stream turned it out onto the dead desert and the miracle happened the land came alive and the desert blossomed and one of the most unusual cities in the world was born here is the way it looks today a vista of farms trees homes and industry stretching for almost 200 miles from far below provo on the south up to salt lake city north to ogden second largest city of utah on to brigham city and still farther on into cache valley to the northeast all area that was once covered by old lake bonneville since those early days agriculture has continued to be the basic economy of the valley for the first time known in modern history irrigation was begun water was taken from canyon streams in nearby mountains as well as from the jordan and turned out onto more desert soil today a network of irrigation canals patterns the whole valley farmers work from daylight to dark in their ditches and in their fields to get the precious water onto the soil they irrigate in turns night or day around the clock and the soil rewards them with rich harvest hundreds of important crops are raised corn small grains potatoes sugar beets alfalfa fruits meat and poultry for everybody's table wherever life-giving water the fresh clean water of the canyons can be turned onto the baked soil the miracle of the pioneers happens all over again the desert lives and gives bountiously but hurrying bustling modern salt lake city nerve center for commerce for industry for transcontinental transportation portrayed in cattle copper oil minerals and produce of the whole region between denver and the pacific has little time to grow contemplative on her historical past railroads bus lines airlines and paved highways converge on this city by the great salt sea the utah state capitol building sits on a hill overlooking the valley the university of utah first university west of the missouri is one of the top level educational institutions of the entire country only one of the many schools of advanced learning in the region 40 miles north of salt lake city is ogden utah's number two city to ogdenites it's number one north of ogden is brigham city picturesque nestled beneath the protecting might of the wasatch range the big arch sign over main street announces the city's major claim to fame out at the bird refuge a few miles from ogden and brigham a huntsman's paradise spreads out before us where the fresh water of bear river spreads across the marshes before mixing with the briny waters of great salt lake sixty thousand acres have been set aside by the federal government as a sanctuary for wild birds thirty-five miles of man-made dikes control the fresh water flow and more than 200 different species of birds rest and feed on these waters every year another of the strange chapters in the life of the salty inland sea we catch this big can of the goose sitting on her nest and when she takes off we realize it will not be long before the little ones hatch we arrive here as early this morning as photographic light will permit and find one of them out already it reminds us of two teenagers we heard quizzing each other why does a baby goose walk softly answer because it can't walk hardly but this older one doesn't take long to find the water join the family and soon pull out of camera range in a special pond maintain the start of a hospital we find two beautiful white whistling swan they were sick and stayed behind when the others left on a little island about 150 yards long we find a colony of avocets the adult birds are very busy apparently out in the water feeding but we notice they don't leave the island very far and keep working their way back as soon as we step onto the ground from the boat we understand why nests are all over the place these little fellows would win a prize most anywhere but they don't like photographers i try my best baby technique to induce this one to stand up on its spindly lakes but it has its own ideas finally after many tries and much maneuvering success arrives birds are everywhere some we can photograph and some we can't ducks this old pelican gliding along geese cormorants black ibis nesting kill deer and seagulls gulls by the thousands screaming wheeling squawking seagulls it was because of these birds that this monument was erected on temple square in salt lake city to commemorate that early june day in 1848 when gulls flew in by the thousands from great salt lake settling upon the hordes of crickets that were destroying the grain crops of the pioneers to the people it was a miracle the gauls devoured the crickets flew out to the lake disgorged them and returned for more the crickets were gone the crops were saved here we watch with interest as annual census is taken in the gull colony there are many such colonies around the refuge and more out on the islands of great salt lake but this one is typical the nests are counted and the eggs within each nest there are two adult gulls for every nest and only about half of the adults have nests in any given year so by multiplying the number of nests by two and doubling the result you have the number of adult birds the number of eggs accounts for the new young and thus the total figure is reached gulls gulls by the many thousands still stock the shores of the great salt lake parent gulls never leave their nests very far though the birds are gregarious they are also cannibalistic and unprotected eggs or young are soon devoured by the rest of the screaming horde while the adult birds quarrel and fight among themselves there is little they can do about a cameraman except to march around nearby standing moving crying calling they edge closer then move farther back always trying to get that hateful cameraman away from their nest and no wonder with this going on at home no parent ought to be far away coming into this old world is a difficult job most anyone can verify that but when the ordeal is over victory is indeed a prize and so as long as there are descendants of the pioneers in great salt lake valley there will be a reverent place in their hearts for the seagulls that wheel and cry in the winds above the great salt sea but we had heard a pelican island too out in the lake and we wanted to see if stories of these birds were really true that thousands of them lived on the island that since no fish could live in the briny water nearby the adult birds would fly the 50 mile round trip to freshwater bear river refuge or the 100 mile round trip to utah lake fill their gullets with fish then return and disgorge them to feed the hundreds of young who could not yet leave the salt surrounded island the reports were true all right great numbers of the birds have already left in seasonal migration as we arrive but there are still more around than we can count constantly as i watch them that childhood limerick keeps coming back what a wonderful bird is the pelican his beak holds as much as his belly can he stops enough in his beak to last him a week though i don't see how the well he can arnold never seems satisfied with just looking at something he always wants to get closer even if getting closer involves something of a risk it's a good thing the bird doesn't have teeth comparable to its bill or i doubt mr whitaker would be quite so brave on our way back we arrive at the lucine cutoff just in time to catch the crack streamliner city of san francisco crossing the fill and heading for the 20 miles of trestle that crosses the lake on a direct line west toward san francisco from ogden going to sea by rail here is another of the absorbing chapters in the life of this valley and its salty inland sea to build this cut off the southern pacific spent millions of dollars everybody said it couldn't be done but it was it took three thousand men a year and a half to do the job and the piling of the trestle took thirty eight thousand trees each pile is 100 feet or more in length the deepest water beneath the trestle is 40 feet brian is a wonderful preservative so most of the original piling are still here exactly as they were sunk into the salty water in 192 and three we hang around the trestle until sundown when the sky the sun and the sea conspire and reward us with an evening glory priceless yet free to anyone who cares to look in this valley of the great salt lake this morning we find ourselves here on antelope island largest of the many islands in the lake it is now privately owned and used as grazing land for sheep and cattle as if to add amazement to the strangeness we sense as hovering over the lake antelope islands surrounded by white brine and water which is 24 percent salt has 23 living springs of sparkling fresh water dotting its 15 mile length the water of the springs is cool sweet and refreshing more so perhaps because as we drink we look out over the salt the sea and the fertile farms which lie between us and the mountains now we find ourselves out on the blinding white bonneville salt flats made famous all over the world as the racing ground for kings of endurance and speed on wheels petzlaff ab jenkins sir malcolm campbell george e.t eisen and john cobb we have no such visions as those men had ours is just a monstrous curiosity theirs was a monstrous urge for speed both can be well satisfied on the bonneville salt floor a long line of telegraph poles cut straight as a die for 20 miles across the flats the spring rains fill the flats with fresh water but the salt floor is so deep and concentrated that before long the fresh water has become heavy and dead with soaked up salt as the water dries away the salt is precipitated again upon the flat floor and in regular collars around every pole now we decide to do a little speed run ourselves but 85 to 90 miles per hour is fast enough for us we shake our heads trying to understand what 394 and one-tenth miles per hour would be like the record hung up by john cobb over the same ground those mountains would be a steady blur at such terrific speed then we discover something just slightly more comprehensible the salt which seems like hard concrete under our feet is actually full of moisture as we slow down the tires pick up a complete coating of it salt not snow mind you but it clings like wet snow perhaps it's only because we're uninitiated but even so we're as absorbed and interested as you will be the first time you drive your car out onto these famous flats and while we're talking of salt that common everyday variety of your meal table let's take a look at still another chapter in the story of the lake and of its rule in the valley a few miles back from the lake is a factory first built long before the turn of the century from it now every day still comes salt for the many uses to which salt is put to begin with the water is pumped from the lake and turned into great ponds covering hundreds of acres the ponds are connected by ditches and the water drains from one to the other all was at the opposite end from which it entered in this way any given drop or particle of water stays in each pond for some time during which it is subjected to regular processes of evaporation as it passes from pond to pond the water becomes increasingly heavy and dense and when a given density is reached salt precipitation becomes fairly rapid the salt is dropped to the floor of the pond then the excess water with a certain degree of unprecipitated minerals and impurities still in solution is drained off leaving a layer of salt on the pond floor when this layer reaches four to six inches in thickness the pond is ready for harvest the harvesting is done as you see it here the thick salt layer is plowed up as if it were a piece of ground and specially built shovels scoop it up haul it to the elevator which piles it in a long high windrow across one edge of the pond near the railroad tracks when that is done the salt is scooped by power shovel hoisted by elevator built again into railway cars and hauled to the factory the salt you see here is already more than 96 percent pure but inside the factory additional purification processes are followed and finally the salt is packaged for shipment table salt loose salt bags of salt and block salt for cattle all taken from the waters of this great salt lake but perhaps like some people you get your first real look at great salt lake from the windows of the streamliner city of los angeles as it races by the beaches at the south end of the lake if so it introduces you to what many tourists believe is the most enjoyable chapter of all in the story of this valley and its inland sea swimming in water so heavy you can't sink here is an experience you find hard to believe until you see it also one which every visitor should try at least once but don't forget the warning signs you see them at all beaches and they mean what they say do not die water is 24 salt we learn of a whole group of girls going out for a day long party at sunset beach so we invite ourselves along and what a day it is it starts out like fun and stays that way hour after hour as the day slips by first is play on the beach itself lots of play for the girls then they get out on a boat and anyone who loves a boat the slap of little waves in a spanking breeze the throb of a motor and driving propeller the smell of salt and water in the air which eddies whirls and drives on by your face the bright blue of the sky the clear-cut outline of mountains in the distance and well look for yourself it's all here then they pull in to take the photographer aboard and that's a break for him and as we pull away from the boat well and head back out into the lake i begin to understand some of the fascination this lake holds for the people who play on its blue and on its beaches the ladder is finally put down and then comes the miracle and the fun the miracle of water so buoyant you can't sink so heavy you float like a cork on its surface and fun well that is a completely natural result of everything else the girls laugh swim and float they call to each other and to the cameraman and an hour slips by before we know it then mr whitaker steals the spotlight we don't realize at first what he intends to do but we soon find out who's afraid to die the yells and then he goes and what about the sign well if you know what you're doing he tells us afterwards it's very simple keep your eyes and nose closed tight stay under only half a second suck the salt off your fingers clean out your eyes and everything's just like before and off he goes but we still do not recommend it for tourists then he tries something else the state department of publicity claims it can be done he calls to the girls try it lie on the water and read a newspaper well it soon becomes obvious that the news today is all wet but the department of publicity scores it can be done with a little bit of balance the choo choo train is a great success too since we're admitting a bit of slapstick in fact arnold appears hugely to enjoy being the locomotive and such meritorious effort must surely win reward even if it's only a self-satisfied feeling but it's mid-afternoon the party is over and we must get back to the city in the heart of the valley near the mountains is salt lake city founded by those first pioneers in the heart of the city is temple square without doubt the greatest tourist attraction in the state of utah and one of the most outstanding focal points of tourist interest in all the world visitors from 39 states and seven foreign countries have signed temple square register in a single day since world war ii a great up surge in travel has taken hold of people the daily parade of sightseers through this historical spot numbers in the thousands more than a million in one year they come they look they listen to the story of these early settlers of the west in this valley by the great salt sea temple square is a 10-acre area housing the historical heart of the valley under the pioneers the mormon temple which took 40 years to build the great tabernacle into which 10 000 people gather on special occasions where you hear a pin drop 200 feet away and where music of the great tabernacle choir and oregon is broadcast over a nationwide network every sunday morning a weekly program since 1929 one of the longest sustained programs in radio history the organ was first built back in the days of brigham young by a convert to the church joseph ridges he hauled the pine timber 300 miles by ox teams from southern utah and produced a remarkable instrument in the midst of a 2000 mile wilderness the organ has been remodeled a number of times the last in 1948 it is one of the truly fine instruments in all the world with more than 10 000 pipes ranging in length from 5 8 inch to 32 feet these people are members of the great choir an unusual and distinctive choral group composed of approximately 375 members none of whom receives pay for his services singers are representative members of the mormon church housewives farmers doctors lawyers stenographers dentists and drug store clerks 169 different business professions in all and every person with fine voice and musical ability the choir was first organized back in early days and has functioned continuously since as a choral group it has one international acclaim has taken numerous concert tours has distinguished itself in circles where the finest in music is offered and finally has won millions of friends and listeners around the world to its weekly radio renditions meet some of the principals of the choir as we met them one evening in rehearsal they weren't dressed up they said to appear in pictures good we replied we'll know you better if you let us see you work so they let us and our cameras in this is j spencer cornwall director of the choir here is frank w asper organist alexander schreiner organist and richard l evans is radio commentator originator and author of the spoken word you will hear him in a moment and the choir too exactly as you listen to them each sunday morning admitting them by way of your radio speaker as invited guests to the intimate friendliness of your own home [Music] so once more we welcome you within these walls as music and the spoken word are heard again from the crossroads of the west from temple square in salt lake city we bring you at this hour the music of the tabernacle choir and organ but j spencer cornwall conducting the choir alexander schreiner and frank w asked for tabernacle organists and the spoken word by richard evans and now from the valleys of the west from the snow-capped hills from the shores of the inland sea the tabernacle choir recalls one of the anthems of evan stephens let the mountains shout for joy let the valleys sing and the hills rejoice let them all break forth into song and be glad before the lord for the wilderness has blossomed as the rose and the barren desert is a fruitful field god [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] and so a valley has come to life on the shores of the dead salt sea a city has been born in a wilderness the mountains are crowned with joy and a new glory and once again the spirit which is america the spirit planted at plymouth rock nurtured fought for and died for along the mohawk in the ohio has triumphed over the wilderness the spirit of free men and women indomitable courage simple faith in divine good and willingness to work boundless unceasing work that is the story of this valley and its triumph the story of america the story of free men everywhere and it must continue to be their story if they would escape the toils of those who would enslave and destroy with false promises and hopes so knight steals easily across the mountain peaks and tucks this valley with its great salt sea gently beneath her purple robes for sleep you