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Show I The Great Salt Lake ; ; i! Vv- tt I . . ir-flr-'l.,, .J. - ,j '? Great Salt Lake Yatch Club on annual eraiz and anchored off Elephant Heal j on west tide of Antelope iiland. Great Bait Laka. ' Thla to one of eerie of artlelea to appear In thil newspaper, I ' aponaored by the Salt Lake Advertising Club, associated ehrie clubs of lis. southern and central Utah, and chambers of commerce ; part of a B program to point, out Utah's resources so that loeai people will "Know Utah Better". By THOMAS 0. ADAMS (Member of Great Salt Laka Basin Authority) ' In trapper days Great Salt Lake was thought to harbor on its island! I -a race of giants and to have a subterranean outlet at whose entrance u ' Immense whirlpool existed which would draw to destruction the canoei and rafts of any rash explorer. The explorations of Fremont and mor particularly those of Stansbury in 1850 (and later others gave ns mors accurate Information about the lake, but the interest the lake has lor all, and even glamour for some, has not been in any way dispelled. Great Salt Lake, because of its saltyness, its elevation, and Its desert situation is the object which causes great numbers of people to select a route of travel along its shore or over it The two pria-, ' cipal attractions enjoyed by the casual visitor are the rare views, especially es-pecially the sunsets, and bathing in the lake. A combination of atmospheric conditions existing over Great Salt Lake produces exquisite sunsets rarely occurring elsewhere. Soma-times Soma-times the whole western sky will assume a bright, flrey aspect whick will, as the sun sinks, change to a deep crimson-tinged, golden glow and then continue through colors of dying sea embers, to a deep purpli as night sets in. At other times, while the sun is sinking, a brilliant " blast of yellow resembling the glow from a furnace is shot nearly hall' way to the zenith and as it gradually fades the sky around changes through delicate greenish blue to turquoise with wraiths of pink which become deeper and give way to purple-black as the last of the day disappears. dis-appears. Many persons go to the lake shore to sit in admiration whila the day fades. Bathing in Great Salt Lake is of particular interest because one can, honestly float In fact one can float with his head entirely out of tha' water and carry, if he choose, a considerable weight The ability to I float is, however, not the only attraction to bathing in the lake. Tha waters in the bathing seasons are pleasantly warm, more so than though they were fresh, and the salt furnishes an exhilaration greatly enjoyed by many. One who Is bathing for the first time in the lake may have the membranes of his throat, nose and eyes disagreeably irritated by the salt water if he is not careful to keep these portions of his head . free from spray, but after a few times In the lake one acquires an im munity to this irritation and after some experience and knowledge of how to do it may even dive in the waters without harm. Great Salt Lake has been the scene of several tussles of man wlti nature. One in which man triumphed and which is a notable undertaking under-taking is the Lucin Cutoff, a railroad line of the Southern Pacific System Sys-tem carried over the middle of the lake on trestle and rock embankment embank-ment for 35 miles. Its construction involved the driving of great num-i-bers of piles; sometimes one on top of another so soft and unstable was the bottom of the lake. Also, many trainloads of earth and rock had to be dumped into embankments before these were raised high enough to furnish a safe height for the track. The difficulties of thu construction are well illustrated by experience in one part of the embankment em-bankment where rock sufficient to build an embankment over seven hundred feet high has been deposited to raise the track only fifteen feet above the bottom of the lake. f j The bird life of Great Salt Lake is very interesting and of great j national importance. Many thousands of gulls nest on its islands and are a conspicuous feature anywhere food is to be found. Twenty-fiva thousand pelicans raise their young on Its islands, making these rookeries of first importance in the west. Small colonies of cormorants and herron also nest on the islands. The bird life of the shoreline marshes is very extensive. In the, Bear River Marshes, the federal government maintains a large bird-Banctuary bird-Banctuary upon which many thousands of ducks, geese, swan and other migatory birds nest Nearby there ia a state reservation and a second state reservation has been constructed recently at Locomotive Springs at the north end of the lake. Further bird nesting grounds are being built on the southeast shores of the lake. Bail boats maneuvering oil Black Bock Beach, Great Salt Lek. Only the most persistent Individuals now enjoy one of the finest features of Great Salt Lake, its boating opportunities. Early explorers made short trips on the lake. Fremont in 1843, rowed in a rubber canoe to the later island named for him. Stansbury built a sizable sailing craft and used it to carry his supplies and men. Brigham Young had a boat on the lake which was ingeniously propelled by a horse operated treadmill. Several large steam boats were later built The "City of Corinne", a 170-foot sternwheeler, made trips early in the ,s seventies from Corinne (20 miles up the Bear River) to Garfield and -returned with ore to the railroad. The "Promontory", almost as large, was built and used by the Southern Pacific Railroad during the construction con-struction of the Lucin Cutoff in 1902-1903. Since that time over a hundred hun-dred boats of substantial size have been built and operated on the lake, but at a penalty of considerable effort and at a risk incurred in anchoring anchor-ing a boat in the open without the protection of a harbor or break- water, and unattended. At times when evaporation and deficient rain-. fall drive the lake to low level it recedes along its gently sloping shores and remains virtually inaccessible to those who would boat upon its water. It is expected, however, that this condition and the opportunities for recreational boating eventually will be fully realized, and the necessary nec-essary facilities where boats will be accessible and safe. Great Salt Lake has a 1000 square miles of navigable water; there is no driftwood, drift-wood, seaweed, or barnacles. Boats go at a speed considerably greater . than on fresh water and fine breezes make sailing practicable. f - Ma Reade- Do Jour part to advertise Utah. Please send Otis arlkU to umi friend or relative or business associate oat of the State. |