Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-01-08
BONNEVILLE BASIN.
The Interesting Story Of the Great Salt Lake,
as Told by Or. Talmage.

puhliC course was delivered ldhl nlBut
according to announcement. The lee
lurer was Dr. j. Il. ralmage and the
subject was Lake Bonneville, a sub
jcct OF more than passing interest in
this locality, possessing as II does
both general And local Importance.
The address was coRmenced prompt
~ at the hour appointed. 1t consisted
Of an interesting description of the
rise and fall OF the lake volume and
N the great climatic changes produce
Ing such marvellous results, The
st,tcoptloon was used with good effect,
and number of very interesting pie
lures were shown: some Of these were
reproductions Of illustrations pub
ished by the United States geological
survey, and others original photo
graphs taken by the speaker. In ad-
| dltion maps. charts, and numerous
specimens OF lake products were dis
played. Among the pictures were ex-
Ccllont Illustrations of the shore lines.
OF the fault Disturbances, and of the
glacial deposits In the canyons of this
valley; and photographs OF the present
living inhabitants of the lake.
The speaker dlsclaimod credit for
much originality in the facts pre-
| scnted,and culoglzed the earnest work.
crs to whom we are indebted for
knowledge Of lake Bonneville, Among
these he mentioned Beckwith, STAINS
bury, Blake, Simpson. Bradley, King.
| Hayden, and more particularly Grove
Karl Gilbert, whose excellent mono
graph on the subject is the standard
| work of reference. Lake Bonneville
was named In honor of Capt Bonne-
vile, whose early explorations in this
| region have been recorded by Irving.
| The body of water once filled the east
ern part of the Great Basin while in
| the western part was the smaller sis
| ter water body known as Lake La
hontan. The Great Basin. Is not. as
| the name would indicate, n single de-
preston, but in reality series of de-
| pressions constituting n single drain
| age area. 1t Is the largest closed
drainage area In North America, EN-
| bracing as 1t does the western half of
Utah, including all that portion which
drains westward from the Wasatch
range and the plateaus, parts OF south
| ern Idaho. almost the whole of Me-
vada,th eastern portion of California,
southeastern Oregon. and southwestern
| Wyoming.
In area the Great Basin is approxi-
| mately 100000 square miles. Lake
| bonneville at the time of it's greatest
extent could be properly called an
inland sea. II was fed from the snowS
OF the Wasatch and Uintah mountains.
| II measured about 300 miles north and
south and about $50 miles east and
west, and covered about 1880 square
miles; this made II nearly the equal of
Lake Huron in area. OF this great
sea, Salt Lake IL the largest remnant,
and Utah and SEWER lakes arc smaller
| frngmental remains. An ancient luke
covered the central part Of Utah. reach
ed into Idaho and Nevada, and almost
touched the Arizona llnc,and composed
among the principal divisions, "a the
main body, (2) Utah bay. (D Sewer
bay, "a Escalante bay. and (5) Cache
bay. These were defined by islands
and archipelagos existing today as
| ranges Of elevations. EIscalante bay
is claimed by some to have been al
ways n separate water body. When
the lake found an outlet 1t remained for
| level and 50 recorded Its shore
history Under other conditions when
the water supply and loss by evapora.
ton were balanced. the lake remained
at liked levels and so carved for Itself
9, record on It's shore line. These shore
lines are well marked along the entir,
lake margin. The principal levels ir
descending order are. "a the Bonnevill,
shore line the highest and most con.
| spicuous, about 900 feet above the
present level of the present lake; (2)
the Intermediate shore lines, far less
conspicuous than either the foregoing
| or the following, 90 Provo shore. about
400 feet below the Bonneville, and con.
scquently about 600 feet above the
| present water level; () Stansbury
shore line, well marked on Stansbury
island and occurring about 900 feet
above present lake surface. The chron-
| illogical order Ia % Intermediates; (2)
Innnn
When the lake had stood for some
time at its highest level. 1t found for
Itself an outlet; this occurs at Red
Rock pass at the north end of Cache
| Valley, and deep niche was cut In the
| rim of the lake basin at this polnt
through which mighty river flowed,
rapidly lowering the level OF the lake
| 10 that of the Provo shore line. To
| this river the name Bonneville river
| has been applied. II was larger than
| Niagara; 1t traversed Snake River val
| ley being tributary to the Columbia.
| water level the lake has shrunk by
| desicoation. In this course of shrink
/ age the main divisions became isolat-
| ed. During the lake epoch, and par
ucularly at the Provo stage. many
deltas were formed. Anon the most
conspicuous of these are the Logan
delta, the Weber delta. City Creek
delta, Rock Canyon delta, near Provo,
and others near American Fork Span
lsh Fork, and other canyons. In many
places the shores are dcformed by
faults. An excellent example of a
fault scarp Is seen Just north OF this
city. This may be traced from a
point north of Willard City TO Nephi.
and II represents one OF the great faults
OF the world. Volcanic forces We're
active In the lake area. In Willard
county there are many well preserved
oraters, some Of them recent. 1t is
probable tha ava has poured out on
the lake bottom. The lake is now
diminishing by deslccation. Sewer
lake Is about dried away and Utah lake
would show the effect OF shrinkagc
We're 1t not that It's level is regulated
by it's natural outflow. Water collected
from Great Salt Lake In 1850 yielded to
Dr. Gales's analysis 20 IS per cent solid
matter; then the level rose and the
Nptcr became more dilute. In 1863 IL
contained, according to Allen, IA 90 per
cent solid matter Analysis by Tai
mage December 1856, showed tG 7iG
per cont solids; In August, 1859. 10 55l
per cent, and In September 1892, over
22 per cent The greater rart OF the
solids contained is salt.
The lie OF the lake Includes. OF
course. hut few species. Among the
plants there IL n variety Of Algue. and
among the animals the Brine shrimp.
larvae and pupae OF a gnut, larvae OF
u tipulR fly and n coriXa.
It Is probable that the maximum
water level curr'Fronded in time with
the period OF maximum glaciatlon in
parts farther east.
Nr. Talmage dcplored the fact that
mus faF mo- work has bepu done under