Brigham Young had less charisma but more leadership than Joseph Smith. He could stand up in conference. . . the ultimate mother of all church meetings I suppose. . . . and announce that a new settlement was needed, say somewhere over ten horizons in some intractable desert with a river running through it, and ask for volunteers. . . . and my great grandpa jumped right up be the first volunteer. . . . ggpa was a sailor who had never seen a desert. . . . well, unless you wanna call the plains or Wyoming a desert. . . .nothing like the Southwest. . . .
The settlement was needed to raise cotton because with the Civil War in the news, the supply of cotton was uncertain, and the need for cloth was real. ggpa was not a farmer, had never planted cotton or worked with it. He did know how to raise grapes and make wine, though. His grapevines are still going strong.
Turned out, they couldn't even get the wagons into "Dixie" without ropes and somebody who knew how to hoist big stuff over cliffs. Everyday work for a sailor.
