ORSON PRATT SCRIPT
Welcome to the St. George Opera House. I was assigned by Brigham Young along with Erastus Snow to colonize this area. Culture and education are essential elements to our way of life. This modest but beautiful building is in constant use. You can see that we are civilized folk even though we live in this distant desert. I’ve visited many places in the world and seen how people live and I do not feel terribly disadvantaged living here. We’ve brought culture and learning to this isolated empire.
You might be surprised to find me here in St. George. I guess I am surprised myself. My normal haunts are in London or Vienna or even Persia but Brigham assigned me here. He would like to make a pioneer out of me. It is a rather tough task because I am a man of words, of science, of speculation — not a man of a shovel. My world is in Astronomy, Mathematics, Theology and I have written a few books. Not that I haven’t done some practical things. Now take this device for instance (odometer). Do you know what this is? When we were crossing the plains to come here we wanted to have some idea of the distance traveled each day. First a red flag was tied to the spoke of a wagon wheel. The circumference of the wheel was measured and then someone counted each complete turn of the wheel. You can imagine this was a very tedious and boring task. I was asked to find a better method. William Clayton suggested an idea involving wooden cog wheels that could attach to the hub of a wagon wheel to tell the exact miles we traveled each day. I designed the plans for this odometer and then Brother Appleton Harmon, an accomplished carpenter, built it. (Have child or someone in group turn odometer for you) Creating ideas like this is how we can make our minds work to have a better way of doing things. This represents progress.
You will meet my fellow apostle, Erastus Snow at the Tabernacle. He is my junior and I am supposed to be instructing him but it doesn’t work that way. When we arrived here I suggested that we settle at a higher elevation where the air was crisp and the water fresh. I had heard that the people living in Washington were sick and I felt that elevation was the problem. Elder Snow would have none of that. Brigham Young had said we were to settle between the two mesas and that was exactly what he was going to do. He was always an obedient man and respected authority. I tend to respect reason and reason said to me — settle at the higher elevations. So I took my family up to Rockville but Erastus took the majority of the people to this spot. After a while Erastus entreated me and I moved here to join the major body of the saints. He argued that my presence was needed to encourage the main body.
I agreed. I modeled my home here after some homes I’ve seen in other parts of this country and in England. When you pass my house, notice the green paint on the gate and fence. White paint was ordered for the temple. When the containers were opened the paint was green. The folks here were given the green paint to cover their gates and fences and beautify their yards. White paint arrived later for the temple. Go visit there if you have time. I think both the temple and the tabernacle are works or art.
I am not much of a pioneer but I am helpful at building a library and schools. I established the base meridian here and in Salt Lake and helped lay out theses nice wide streets. It is an ambitious undertaking . Knowledge is important! Whatever we learn will be a part of us forever. Irrigating, farming, cattle raising, etc. are all vital but astronomy, calculus and geometry are where I feel more at home. Some people call me a dreamer, a stargazer, a mathematician, even a scientist but I am just a modest thinker. We are never too young to start learning useful things and we are never too old to learn and embrace new ideas. Always keep an open mind. If there is something good and useful, add this to your knowledge and skill for the betterment of yourselves and others. We have done pretty well here with virtually nothing to start with except our faith, commitment to live good lives and a lot of sweat and toil.
I don’t know how long I will be here in Dixie. It is certainly no place to rest, no place for old folks like me. This is a place for young muscles and enduring women. I love missionary service and I suspect that I may soon be off on another mission to some distant land. Thanks for stopping by. I hope your efforts in life will be fruitful as ours here at the junction of the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau and the Great Mojave Desert.
Perhaps before you leave with your tour guide to see Brother Snow, you might be interested in some excitement that happened in this very room. Our local cast was performing the melodrama “Jennie Brown”. In the final scene, the heroine was mistreated and denied her children by the villain. A tipsy miner in the audience became enraged, jumped to his feet and vowed to kill the scoundrel with his pistol. Friends realized what was happening, and grabbed the miner’s arm. The gun went off and put a bullet hole through the ceiling. The evidence is still here today.... (small patched hole next to the bank of lights painted the same color as the ceiling).
06 Feb 2004