Show 79 Salt Lake As early as 1825 very little was actually known visited it would likely have done so in bullboats via river mouths and would have had no occasion to penetrate beyond the point where the fresh water tends to diminish the actual brackishness of the water Ashley himself actually visited the lake only once in person This was in the summer of 1826 He conducted his business through lieutenants who would naturally give his name to some of the newly discovered rivers and lakes His visit in 1826 was no doubt to the newly constructed post at the juncture of the Weber and and Ogden rivers One of the most outstanding characteristics of the of the lake Ken who might have the custom of holding annual Rendezvous was a time of celebration settling rendezvous accounts equipping for the coming year etc The 1825-2- 6 rendezvous was one of the largest ever held and it was Rocky Mountain trappers was the site of the new Ashley post where Provot had spent the previous winter Alter estimates that a total of 3200 people attended® However moved from Cache valley to Ogden the estimated number of participants is usually much smaller Dale places the total between 600 and 700 including Indians James Beckwourth has this to say of the rendezvous in 6 J 7 Dale C Alter Ashley-Smi- th James Bridger 68 Explorations 166 |