| 77 in Caldwell County, and the location of the second temple, the Mormons came pouring in and soon a village of respectable proportions sprang up where the wild prairie grass waved tall and luxuriant. As has been stated the town site was a mile square, giving plenty of room for the building of a large city. It was laid out in blocks 396 feet square, and the streets were alike on a grand scale. The four principal avenues were each 132 feet wide, and all the others 82 1/2 feet wide. These diverged at right angles from a public square in the center, designed as the site of the grand temple.
"Nearly all the first houses in Far West were log cabins. In a few months, however, some frames were built, a portion of the lumber being brought from lower Ray, and a portion being whip sawed. Perhaps the first house was built by one Ormsby; this was in the summer of 1836. It is said that John Whitmer's house was built January 19, 1837. In the fall of 1836 a large and comfortable schoolhouse was built and here courts were held after the location of the county seat until its removal to Kingston. The Mormons very early gave attention to educational matters. There were many teachers among them and schoolhouses were among their first buildings. The schoolhouse in Far West was used as a church, as a town hall, and as a courthouse, as well as for a schoolhouse. It first stood in the southwest quarter of town, but upon the establishment of the county seat it was removed to the center of the square."-Pages 120, 121.
The act of the legislature providing for the organization of Caldwell County was as follows:-
"Hon. Alex. W. Doniphan, then a representative elect from Clay County, had been the leader, if not the proposer, of the scheme, and to him was assigned the work of preparing and introducing into the legislature the act organizing the new counties and of pressing the bill to a passage. Fearing that a separate bill to organize the 'Mormon county' might be defeated, Gen. Doniphan incorporated that proposition in the bill to organize the other county, and early in the month of December, introduced the measure, which soon passed without much opposition. Following is a copy of the important provisions
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