First Explorations to the Great Salt Desert
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The Great Salt Desert
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The Great Emigrant Flood

First Explorations to the Great Salt Desert, also, The Great Salt Desert, also, The Great Emigrant Flood. . , First Explorations to the Great Salt Desert , Prior to May of 1841, no wagon roads to Oregon or California existed - only long-distance Indian footpaths worn deeper by fur trade caravans hauling supplies into the Rocky Mountains. In the early weeks of May that year several covered wagons left Independence, Missouri, with Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, who had agreed to guide them and a company of missionaries bound for the Pacific Northwest. At the great bend of the Bear River in southeastern Idaho, the missionaries continued to the Northwest and the venturesome company of settlers led by John Bidwell and John Bartleson turned their nine wagons toward California. , , Bidwell and Bartleson swung their wagons south along the Bear River to the north shore of the Great Salt Lake before turning west across the Promontory Mountains. Uncertain of the best route to follow, they finally rounded the northwestern edge of the Salt Desert and found a chain of springs at the base of the Pilot Range. From there they turned westward through mountain passes and across broad, dry valleys to become the first emigrant company bound for California by way of the Humboldt River. , , In the autumn of 1845. John C. Fremont of the United States Corps of Topographical Engineers entered Utah and camped at the site of the future Salt Lake City. Several days later the expedition turned westward along the south shore and entered Skull Valley. A day later they rested and camped at Redlum Spring on the eastern slope of the Cedar Mountains. Five miles south of the Spring, Fremont followed a canyon up through the mountain eventually reaching a high vantage point where the group came face-to-face with the most desolate place they had ever seen - the Great Salt Desert. , , Fremont's course from the Salt Lake Valley through Skull Valley and across the Salt Desert laid the groundwork for the eventual route of the Hastings Cutoff. , , [caption] The third of Fremont's five expeditions through the American took to the Great Salt Lake region in 1845, with approximately 60 mounted men and pack mules. , , (second panel:) , The Great Salt Desert , , The Hastings Cutoff to the California Trail continues approximately 60 to 80 miles northwest from Hastings Pass toward Grayback Mountain, the Great Salt Lake Desert, the Silver Island Mountains, and Pilot Peak. Named in 1845 by John C. Fremont, Pilot Peak served as a valuable landmark for guiding wagon trains across the desert. The first water and grass after crossing the desert are at the base of the peak. , , In places, the mud flats on the salt desert are estimated to be 8,000 feet thick. At some locations, the thin layer of salt encrusting these mud flats is easily broken through. The flats became a major problem for the pioneers whose heavy wagons and livestock would become mired in the murky mess. Pulling the wagons became especially difficult when the oxen, already distraught with thirst, fatigue, and hunger, became stuck. The thickness of the brine and mud, combined with a lack of drinkable water and the heat and exhaustion, forced many pioneers to abandon their wagons and many of their livestock to die. , , In 1845, John C. Fremont traveled west from the summit of the Cedar Mountains, across the desolate plain of the Great Salt Lake Desert. The journey was arduous for his pack animals. Ten of his mules and several horses gave out and were left to die. Fremont's expedition had no wagons to pull, just pack animals carrying provisions and camp equipment. After arriving in California, Fremont stated that the crossing was safe for wagons and that this new route was 800 to 900 miles shorter than the established Fort Hall route. It was preferable "not only on account of the less distance, but...less mountainous, with good pasturage and well-watered.” Fremont's optimistic assessment led Hastings and the emigrants following his trail to underestimate the actual difficulties they would encounter. , , [photo caption]The Great Salt Lake Desert extends for 4,000 square miles between Salt Lake City and the Nevada border. Despite its dreadful reputation and appearancs, parts of its uplands supports a rich variety of flora and fauna. , , "...the soil was composed of sand and gravel, from which nothing but small, thorny shrubs, greasewood, perhaps 1½ feet high, eked out a miserable existence... No sound was perceptible except our own muffled footfalls in the loose sand, which had been made unstable by the wagons and the hoofs of the livestock in advance of us. As the sun rose toward the zenith, however, its effects became ever more difficult to endure; there was then nothing which provided any shade at all, and if we threw ourselves on the ground, we felt the heat all the more, so that we longed for the return of night" , - From the Heinrich Lienhard journal of 1846 as translated and published by journalist Samuel C. Young in the San Jose Pioneer on November 9, 1878 , , (third panel:) , The Great Emigrant Flood of 1849-1854 , Historians often compare the 1848 discovery of gold in California to the effect high octane fuel has on a fire. Within the next few years more than 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers scrambled across the Sierra-Nevada in search of fortune or a new life. , , The road to California was not a single route. It followed the established Oregon Trail to Fort Bridger before splitting either toward Salt Lake City or to Fort Hall, and eventually the Sierra-Nevada, where it further split into several interior valley destinations. One of the routes through Utah, known as the Hastings Cutoff, rejoined the main California Trail at the Humboldt River in northeastern Nevada. , , Travel conditions on the cutoff during most years were generally harsh. Grass for livestock, food to eat, and clean water to drink became scarcer as the pioneers advanced westward. Cholera and other diseases took their toll as well. , , American Indians especially suffered from the streaming onslaught of "forty-niners" across the western landscape. For centuries, native peoples had lived in the West without outside competition for resources. However, the flood of pioneers and the additional rivalry for food sources, land, water, and space threatened to destroy their way of life. , , Wagon ruts and traces can still be found in the vast undeveloped West , reminders of the triumphs, struggles, and sacrifices made by those who blazed a road through the wilderness in pursuit of a dream. , , "We were now thrown entirely upon our own resources. All the country beyond was to us a veritable terra incognita, and we only knew that California lay to the west. Captain Fitzpatrick was not much better informed, but he had heard that parties had penetrated the country to the southwest and west of Salt Lake to trap for beaver; and by his advice four of our men went with the parties to Fort Hall to consult Captain Grant ...to gain information. Meanwhile our depleted party slowly made its way down the west side of Bear River." - John Bidwell The First Emigrant Train to California," The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 41:1 (November 189?)