Arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, at long last.

Again, this is all in Zerah's own words:

"We arrived in the valley about the twenty-third of September, 1847, with all our stock except the sheep.  Those we lost at Winter Quarters.  We immediately prepared to build.  I found grain scarce and hard to get.  John Kneff was building a mill, the only one in the valley.  I sold three cows to pay his workmen that I might get grain for twenty dollars in grain, but he said he could not let anyone have more than half that sum, and that was not half what I had paid for.  This made me feel very disagreeable because I had a large family and three other families of my friends that had no way of helping themselves and money would not buy it.

I thought on it one night and then came to the conclusion that I would build a mill and take a part of the toll of the grain that was in the valley.  Accordingly I rallied my help, went onto the mill site, dug a hole in the bank to live in through the winter about the first of December, and we commenced getting timber, without feed for our cattle and but little for ourselves.  We continued our labor with about half rations upon all the different branches of the work till the first of March.  By that time we got the first grist mill started and timber out for a sawmill.  When done I ground for one-sixteenth, while others ground for one-twelveth.  From that time we had  bread to eat with all our families.  I have seen the hand of God in preserving ourselves and cattle while the snow was three feet deep in the canyon where we got the timber and some of the time more than one foot in the valley, and we had not as much fodder as could be carried in one load.  When I looked upon the circumstance I could not comprehend it in any other way but the marvelous power of God in sustaining them.

1850 was a hard season for many.  After we got our mill running we had enough, but lived prudent on account of so many that had none.  Indian meal would command five dollars a bushel, but so many poor had none that I sold all that I had to spare one dollar a bushel, though I was offered five dollars by those that were going to California.  But their gold would not buy it of me when so many poor were starving.  There were some informed me that they had not any bread in their houses for six weeks and came to me to buy bran, but I sold none---I gave them that.  This scarce time caused people to scratch for life to raise grain, but the crickets were very troublesome and destroyed many crops in 1851.  But in 1852 the gulls came and destroyed them according to the word of the prophet.

We built a house thirty-four by thirty feet on the corner of block eighty-two on Jordan Street.  The next season we built a large barn and made a farm over Jordan about two miles off which gave us a good chance to keep cattle.  There was nothing then of a very extraordinary nature with exception of Brother Brigham preaching continually to bring the church into obedience, but they were growing rich and careless till about the time of the October conference in 1856 when I understood Brother Brigham to say that the Lord would wait no longer.  I think he did not define what chastisement testimony that some uncommon event was near at hand, but I was not aware that I had become so dull and careless relative to my duty till Brother Kimball called on me in public to awake to my duty.  I began to call more fervently on the Lord.  I soon saw that Brother Kimball was right and that I was holding a high and responsible station in the church as asleep with many others.  (At this time, Zerah was one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy.)

Brother Grant, who was one of Brigham's counselors, was authorized to preach repentance to the people and to a good effect.  I with the associates of my council went before Brother Brigham and informed him that if he knew of any others that would take our places better, magnify it for the interest of the kingdom than we could, he was perfectly at liberty to do so, but he told us to go and magnify our calling ourselves.  There was much confessing among the people of their faults.

Brother Brigham gave some strong prophetic language relative to the United States of America.  I think not far from this the president and congress became very hostile to us and seemed to have designs to brand us like themselves or destroy us.  Therefore, they sent an army to bring us to or destroy us, but we thought it not best to bring them in among us because we did not like their hostile spirit nor their habits.  Therefore, we sent a few of our young men to meet them, which brought them to a stand for further consideration.

In the spring following, all the north part of the territory moved south till the army passed through to their quarters at Camp Floyd.  But previous to this the president and congress saw their mistake in sending the army here.  Notwithstanding, they had charged us with treason and many other offenses.  They sent commissioners here, forgave all our sins against them and wished peace and tranquility.  Accordingly we all moved back to our possessions peaceably."

Some records indicate they arrived in the valley in September of 1848, not 1847.
Brother Brigham is, of course, Brigham Young.
Johnston's army came to Utah in May of 1857 under orders from President James Buchanan.  They were blocked from entering the valley, as Zerah refers to.  They left in July of 1858.  There were no battles fought in this "war" and things ended peacefully after Brigham Young gave up his governorship.  How interesting to hear from someone who actually lived through this historical event.  Zerah doesn't say much about it but he wrote this history years after the occurrence.  This is the time when Brigham had the foundations of the temple covered in sand to prevent the army from seeing it.  When they later returned to resume work on the temple they found the foundation had cracked and it is then that they chose to use the granite stone that the Salt Lake Temple is so famous for.
Also, how great to hear from Zerah about the historical event we all have heard so much about growing up in the church, the crickets and the gulls.  Our ancestors were a part of that and lived through that miraculous event.