Show the great salt lake am N I 1 I 1 q ini I 1 I 1 AR ak e great salt lao lake club on annual cruice and anchored oil off elephant head on an west weft side of at antelope island great salt sale lake this Is one of a teries of articles article to appear in this newspaper sponsored pons ored by the salt lake advertising club associated civic clubs club of 0 southern and central utah and chambers chamb cra of commerce part of I a program to point out resources so that local people will know utah better by THOMAS C ADAMS member of great salt lalio lake basin authority in trapper days great salt lake was thought to harbor on its islands a race ot of giants and to have a subterranean outlet at whose entrance in an immense whirlpool existed which would draw to destruction the canoes and rafts of 0 any rash explorer the explorations ot of fremont and more particularly those ot of stansbury in 1850 and later others gave us more accurate information about the lake but the interest the lake has tor for all and even glamour for some has not been in any way dispelled great salt lake because of 0 its saltiness salty ness its elevation and Us its desert situation Is the object which causes great numbers ot of people to select a route ot of travel along its shore or over it the two principal attractions enjoyed by the casual visitor are the rare views view S es tilly the sunsets and bathing in the lake A combination ot of atmospheric conditions existing over great salt lake produces exquisite sunsets rarely occurring elsewhere sometimes the whole western sky will assume a bright alrey aspect which will as the sun sinks change to a deep crimson tinged golden glow and then continue through colors ot of dying sea embers to a deep purple as night sets in at other times while the sun is sinking a brilliant blast ot of yellow resembling the glow from a furnace Is shot nearly halt half way to the zenith and as it gradually fades the sky around changes through delicate greenish blue to turquoise with wraiths ot of pink which become deeper and give way to purple black as the last ot of the day disappears many persons go to the lake shore to sit in admiration while 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 the water and carry it if he choose a considerable weight the ability to float la 19 however not the only attraction to bathing in the lake the 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 cine who Is bathing tor for the first time in the lake may have the membranes ot of his throat nose and eyes disagreeably irritated by the salt water it he Is not careful to keep these portions ot of his head free from spray but after a few times in the lake one acquires an immunity to this irritation and after some experience and knowledge of 0 how to do it may even dive in the waters without harm great salt lake has been the scene ot of several tussles ot of man with nature ono one in which man triumphed and which is 13 a notable undertaking Is the lucin cutoff a railroad line of the southern pacific system carried over the middle of the lake on trestle and rock embankment for 35 miles its construction involved the driving ot of great numbers of piles sometimes one on top of another so eo soft and unstable was the bottom of the lake also many trainloads train loads of earth and rock had to be dumped into embankments before these were raised high enough to furnish a sate safe height for the track the difficulties ot of this construction are well illustrated by experience in one part of the embankment ban kment 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 the bird life of great salt lake Is very interesting and of great national importance many thousands of gulls nest on its islands and are a conspicuous feature anywhere food Is to be found twenty five thousand pelicans raise their young on its islands making these rookeries rook eries ot of first importance in the west small colonies ot of cormorants and herron also nest on the islands the bird life of the shoreline marshes is very extensive in the dear bear river marshes the federal government maintains a large bird sanctuary upon which many thousands of ducks geese swan and other mig minatory atory birds nest nearby there Is a state reservation anda and a second state reservation has been constructed recently at locomotive springs at the north end ot of the lake further bird nesting grounds are being built on the southeast shores of the lake W ZIL sail bell boats maneuvering os off black rock bock beach great salt birke 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 tor 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 Corl a toot foot sternwheeler stern wheeler made trips early i in the seventies from corinno 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 st of the lucin cutoff in 1902 1903 since that time over a hundred 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 a boat in the open without the protection of a harbor or breakwater and unattended at times when evaporation and deficient rainfall 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 tor for recreational boating eventually will be fully realized and the necessary facilities where boats will be accessible and sate safe great salt lake has a 1000 square miles of navigable water there Is no driftwood seaweed or barnacles barnacled barn acles boats go at a speed considerably greater than on fresh water and fine breezes make sailing practicable MK mit READER do y your 0 ur port part to Is caverl adver itse utah llan please send tena this article to la some same friend or relative or business lu buu siness neu associate out of the state slate |