The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-08-05
F|Tz MAC DRIVES
ACROSS DESERT
Inspects Deep Creek Country,
Which He PrOnounces a
Mineral Empire.
RAILROAD is VERY
MUCH in DEMAND
Construction Would Cost Little,
Owing to Formation of
the Region.
Special TO Tho Tribune.

| Special TO Tho Tribune,
ST. JOHNS, Aug, 4,-Across the Great
Salt lake desert TO Ely and return under
| blazing July sum- across seven ranges
( OF mountains and through a dozen des-
| ert mining camps that will soon begin to
make history for Utah and Nevada; fly
| Ing from water to water by moonlight
and starlight and no light. to save your
| team from the heat and drouth of tho
| midsummer sun, and neyer missing the
l road onoe in tho whole GOO miles OF the
| trlp-well, wouldn't that be frontier
experience for anyone? Wouldn't II open
anyone's eyes TO lot OF new sights and
! rare scenes? Well. / should guess yesl
| Picking your way through the Deep
| creek country by moonlight Is a good
! deal like prowling through the vaults
OF the United States treasury all alone
! by the light OF q tallow dip, only there
are moro millions of wealth In the camps
along this road than were ever stored
| In the vaults of the United States treas
ury at one time. And some day Salt
! Lake will get line onto those millions
OF mineral wealth-those hundreds OF
| millions. l should say-and begin TO
gather them unto herself, and then-but
| there has got TO be a railroad before
there is any drawing In OF that vast
wealth by Salt Lake.
And that's what / went out TO see
about-to see and inform some people IL
there is anything our In that desert wild
that would justify the building OF
railroad Well. well. 1t is 10 laugh!
That anyone in Salt Lake of this gener-
alton should be In doubt that railroad
TO the camps OF the Deep creek coun-
try Will prove a paying investment! II
sounds too funny-after you have been
out there and seem Why, that country
is mineral empire and 1t is the easiest
part of all Utah TO build a railroad into
absolutely tho easlest-because you
have perfectly level old lake bed all
tho way from beginning to end to lay
your track on Most OF the way 1t is
what Is called "the Great Salt lake des-
ert, and the rest of 1t Is the present
Salt lake valley, the same as from the
city out to Garfield beach. But ages
ago IT was all one great fresh water
lake. moro than $50 miles wide. And
deep-well, you can see how deep it
was by the benches 1t has left up on
the sides OF the mountains. 1t was
hundreds OF feet deep. II II was there
now there would not be any need of q
railroad to the Deep creek country.
Steamboats, would do the business But
it isn't there now; nothing left OF it
but the bed, and that bed offers the
loveliest kind of line for a railroad
all the way from Salt Lake to tho north
point of Dutch mountain. where Deep
creek once poured It's volume into the
ancient lake,
Camps Are Accessible.
That ancient lake was fresh because
1t had a great outlet to the ocean
through the Snake river of Idaho and
the Columbia. Our Salt Lake of today
is the briny residual of that great body
of water, All the mining camps of the
Deep creek country are on mountains
that were eithor Islands or bold prom
ontories In the southern part OF that an
Client lake and by following the old
lake shore around the southern border
you come to them one after another
Granite Mountain, Dugway, Fish Springs, |
Clifton, Gold Hill and Dutch Mountain. |
They all lie but a few hundred feet
above the old lake bed, the present des-
ert, and are very accessible. How in
the Old Scratch that has come to be re-
garded in Salt Lake as n difficult coun- |
try 10 build q railroad into Is more than |
can divine, for 1t is absolutely the |
easiest stretch of country TO carry q |
railroad through in all the wide, wild. |
woolly West Perhaps the old Overland |
stage route gave the evil impression. !
Some genius OF imbecility presided over
the laying out OF that highway. II is |
the road I followed all the way from |
Rush valley, west Of Mercur. to Steptoc
valley, Nevada, where / left IT at She'll
bourne puss and turned south forty-lvo
miles to Ely. 1t was laid out in 1S60-61
by the government as military ard tele- |
graph line, and II there is mountain
range anywhere between Salt Lake and
which 1t didn't cross 1t was
because the military couldn't |
find It But that Is the way profession
alism always multiplies difficulties.
There was no more sense In carrying that
line over some Of the ranges 1t crosses
than OF carrying 1t oyer the moon.
Water says you. Now, don't talk
carried the road away from the springs
as much as they could.
II you send out corps OF engineer to-
day from Salt Lake to survey q route
TO the north point Of the Deep creek
range Dutch mountain. 1t Is called),
they Will spend lfteen months running
lines over every range In western Utah
and report you line that Will cost $751; |
600 a mile to build But II you Will get
q rancher In Skull valley to hitch UP his
team to the lumber wagon and put q
couple OF barrels OF water on, and put
your expedition in charge of newspaper
man who knows how to handle q COM
pass and spirit level. he'll be back in
fifteen days with route for you that
nowhere reaches more than ono per cent |
grade and that can be built and equipped
complete for such traffic for ten thousand
dollars q milo OF less. Why. you can't |
find grade in going from Salt Lake to
Dutch mountain unless you hIro q pro-
fessional engineer to hunt II up for you
and figure several months on tho DIFF
nculties of overcoming It. Why, just look
at any map of Utah and you Will 500
that Salt Lake City and Dutch mountain
are on opposite shores OF ancient Lake
Bonneville. 'Nough said; IL you follow
tie shore line you can't encounter any
grades to speak Of and your road can be
carried to every camp In the Dugway-