Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-12-09

these beaches would depend Tor thci
size upon the length Of the time that thI
lake remained substantially at the SAINT
level aud upon the exposure o
the shores to the action Of ih'
waves and currents. As the LAX,
fell these beaches would be formed In
succession one below the other, Oh,
lower abutting against the base Of The
other. and this we found to be The cas-,
in all the principal beaches that are
known within the area OF the old lake
II IS argued by Mr. Gilbert that the
lake rose to is outlet and dried ug
twice, and is rising is based largely on
the discovery Of the remains Of an an
! cicnt beach underlying the present
! beach, and the fact OF the difference ia
the sediments OF the lake. the lower
ones being yellow and the upper ones
white or light colorcd. and to the find,
ing Of what he supposed 10 be an Illus.
tfltion OF beaches laid ono above the
other, which could have been formed
DO no other way than when the lake
was rising. To my mind, however bis
reasons arc erroneous. The change loo
the sediments OF the lake could be due
/ aud even arc ON his own basis argued as
/ due to the sa.tincss OF the lake as DC
dried up, which would change the scdi-
menls from yellow 10 white, and which,
upon his own reasoning, would make
/ four sets OF beds with yellow clay com.
| posing the fourth aud the second. and
| white clay or mari the third and the
first We do not. however find any
such state Of affairs. II IS perfectly
/ evident that q lake which b. falling as
Lake Bonneville IS known TO have fallen,
would Of necessity have risen in the
same way, and when 10 was rising Dc
would form beaches which were depos-
tied one above the other and then when
% fell u would partially obhlCnte those
beaches and build others upon them in
succession This, therefore, will cx.
plain al the facts Of the history OF the
lake with one rise and fall ilr better
than the forced assumption Of two such
periods. These old beaches Il would
require too much time to enter into "a
discussion OF their history or OF the
proofs which so 90 show that they are
beaches. II IS sufficient, however 90
say that they are substantially water
levels for distance o. twenty-five hun
bred miles around the circumference of
the old lake aud that they show every
phase OF beaches which are now being
formed, not only IN Great Salt Lake,
bur ln all other lake. with which We are
acquainted.
That the time when the lake had rs
outlet and was q fresh water lake was %
period of cold rather than OF increased
moisture Is proved reasonably well by
the fact that at that time glacier occu.
pied the whole OF Little Cottonwood
canyon aud flowed down into the lake
and deposited iis sediments there, and
It's icchergs undoubtedly n0aicd out
upon the lake making Il most pictur.
csquc and interesting body Of water.
Tia; The lake was also fresh water
lake Is shown by the hcl that the DE In
all a. rivers aud streams which How
into Great Salt Lake today IS identical.
The same fishes arc to be found in all the
streams. and DO Is unreasonable 60 sup.
pose that being Isolated for a period
represented by an almost infinite length
Of time. that they would not have shown
differences. while II they had been $50.
lated only but a few thousand years
represented only by the drying up Of
the lake, their uniformity in character
and life would be better understood.
Coming 10 the present history Of the
lake, itgocS back, SO FAR rs my records
are concerned, to ts4l, the time when
Colonel Fremont first saw the lake. The
time Is not sufficient TO explain all the
methods by which my diagrams Of the
! oscillations have been made. but Il Is
sufficient to say that the observations Of
Fremont, the old bar running between
Snusbury Island and the main lands and
the one running from Antelope Island to
the main land, the diaries and memories
OF the Old settlers from 1877 10 1877,
and the regular official observations
which have been taken since, have Cs-
tablIshed the fact that the lake still has
periods Of oscillation more or less rcgu-
lar. due TO climatic Influences, aud that
Il is possible to predict from these OBJ
! setvdtions the probable amour, of rain.
iall which will occur during the succeed.
INK season and also whether the lake
Will rise or fail. The lake from these
observations shows three sets OF periods
OF oscillation, one represented by three
/ years, another greater oscillation made
up OF three Of the three year periods,
aud another grand oscillation made up
OF about three of the nine year periods.
| and the greatest difference Of elevation
| between these Is about thirteen feet
The lake Is now within two feet of the
| iNNNNA IlNlWA tNNl hnnNllt ana VIII pt0NH
ably 80 down TO is former level within
a few years. II will then begin to rise
until u reaches point near or ab we
| the highest point ever known, when the
back water from the Jordan river sub
merged the suburbs Of salt Lake City.
lis quite certain that Great Salt Lake
was never dry from the fact that We find
no salt beds anywhere beneath is surface.
Il is quite certain, also, that for genera
/ tons the lake will never rise sufficiently
to imperil any portion Of Salt Lake City
/ permanently. II Is possible, however,
that In ages 10 come, through climatic
changes the lake may reach lbs old out.
let, aud in that case Fort Douglas will
he located on It's shore and salt Lake
| City will be buried several hundred feet
beneath is surface, Al that time the
most interesting study OF the inhabitants
! OF Utah Will be the antiquities which lie
beneath the surface OF the lake. Il is
aossIbe, also, that II, as some suppose.
this Is a period In the history OF the
earth in which h Is getting gradually
! dryer that Great Salt Lake will never
rise much above rs present level, and
that at some time In the future IL will be
entirely dry. Should that time ever
come, however, Utah will De uuinhabit,
able, Tor there will be no water to sup
| port lie except near the SUBMITS Of the
. I.IftH mountain q