n was the
demonstration of the existence of the Great Basin. In his report,
Fremont, while speaking of its vast sterile valleys and of the
Indians which inhabit them, says: "That it is peopled we know,
but miserably and sparsely ... dispersed in single families ...
eating seeds and insects, digging roots (hence their name) [Digger
Indians], such is the condition of the greater part. Others are
a degree higher and live in communities upon some lake or river
from which they repulse the miserable Diggers.

"The rabbit is the largest animal known in this desert, its flesh
affords a little meat.... The wild sage is their only wood, and
here it is of extraordinary size--sometimes a foot in diameter and
six or eight feet high. It serves for fuel, for building material,
for shelter for the rabbits, and for some sort of covering for the
feet and legs in cold weather. But I flatter myself that what is
discovered, though not enough to satisfy curiosity, is sufficient
to excite it, and that subsequent explorations will complete what
has been commenced."

THE STORY OF GREAT SALT LAKE

The most interesting geographical feature of Utah is the Great
Salt Lake. Few tourists now cross the continent without visiting
the lake and taking a bath in its briny waters. This strange body
of water has, however, been slowly growing smaller for some years,
and probably will in time disappear. A study of the history of the
lake may throw some light upon the important question of its possible
disappearance, and it will certainly bring out many interesting
facts.

We do not know with certainty who was the first white man to look
upon this inland sea, although it is supposed to have been James
Bridger, a noted trapper, who in 1825 followed Bear River down to
its mouth. He tasted the water and found it salt, a fact which
encouraged him in the belief that he had found an arm of the Pacific
Ocean.

More than two hundred years ago there were vague ideas about a
salt lake situated somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains. In 1689
Baron Lahontan published an account of his travels from Mackinac
to the Mississippi River and the region beyond. He states that he
ascended a westerly branch of the river for six weeks, until the
season became too late for farther progress. He reports meeting
savages who said that one hundred and fifty leagues beyond there
was a salt lake, "three hundred leagues in circumference--its mouth
stretching a great way to the s