Looking West from Cedar City, Utah

When Jed Smith passed us by, in 1826, 
The junipers made a rush down from the hills. 
They were cut back 
Before they got to the freeway. 

At Mountain Meadows, after the massacre, 
The soldiers built a rock cairn, and at the top 
They placed a sign: “Vengeance is mine, 
Saith the Lord.” 

A year later, Brigham Young drove out 
In a buggy and looked at the sign. 
“Vengeance is mine,” he repeated, 
“And I have taken a little.” 

Forty miles west, in 1776, 
Father Escalante pitched his furthest camp. 
He was ten ranges short of Monterey, 
500 miles from Donner Pass. 

This is still a fairly good place to pitch camp, 
To turn back.