THE GREAT SALT LAKE BASIN. 565 
In the mountains east of the Jordan are three little parks, or elevated 
valleys—Parley’s Park, Kansas Valley, and Round Prairie—which be- 
long to the basins under consideration. Parley’s Park is elevated about 
2,000 feet above Salt Lake, and is five to six miles long and two to three 
miles wide. Itis watered by Canon Creek, and could be easily irrigated ; 
but, on account of its elevated situation and mountainous surroundings, 
it is too cold for any except the hardier productions. The recent dis- 
covery of mines in the mountains in its vicinity may bring it into notice. 
Kansas Valley, which is similar to Parley’s Park, is about ten miles 
long and two to four miles wide, and can also be irrigated. Both 
afford good grazing fields; but, on account of the difficulty in reaching 
them, and their small size, will not be of much value in an agricultural 
point of view. 
RUSH VALLEY. 
‘This valley appears to be a small, isolated basin, having a distinet 
water system of its own, Rush Lake, 1 ying in the north part, being the 
reservoir. It is about forty or fifty miles in length from north to south, 
and averages fifteen miles in width, a large portion of which can be 
irrigated, estimated at three hundred square miles. Clover Creek, 
which flows into Rush Lake, is a stream of considerable size, and ai- 
fords sufficient water not only to irrigate a large extent of land, but also 
power to drive machinery. ‘The lake is about ei ight miles long and three 
to four miles wide. Some mines recently discovered at the north end of 
this valley, if they prove productive, will furnish a market for farm pro- 
ducts. Stockton, at the north end of the lake, is a village of considera- 
ble size. The farms in this vicinity are irrigated from a stream running 
from the mountains near by, and emptying into the lake. 
SEVIER RIVER BASIN. 
‘This comprises the country drained by the Sevier River and its trib- 
utaries. The river, rising in the southwestern part of the Territory, 
runs a little east of north between two ranges of the Wahsatch Moun- 
tains for one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty miles, where 
it breaks through the western ridge and runs southwest forty to fifty 
miles, and empties into Sevier Lake. Its principal tributaries are the 
San Pete River and Meadow Creek. The former, rising a little south of 
Mount Nebo, runs southwest through the San Pete Valley and joins the 
Sevier River near the crossing of the one hundred and twelfth meridian 
and thirty-ninth parallel. The latter commences in the divide south of 
the Rush Valley and traverses the plains west of the mountains, unit- 
ing with the Sevier atthe bend. From information furnished the Depart- 
ment, it appears that the south side, at least, of this lake has a well-defined 
shore, and that the river, for some distance above its entrance into the 
lake, is occasionally flanked by bottoms which are susceptible of culti- 
vation, and that a number of spots west of this, formerly supposed to 
be utterly sterile, may be rendered productive. The irregular form of 
this basin and the uncertainty in regard to its western rim make it 
impossible to give a reliable estimate of its area. 
The San Pete Valley, which is watered by the San Pete River and 
numerous small tributaries, counting from Fountain Green to Gunni- 
son is forty-four miles long and averages fully five miles in width. At 
least two hundred square miles, or nearly the entire surface of this beau- 
tiful and fertile valley, can be irrigated. The returns of the Agricul- 
tural and Manufacturing Society for 1866~67 give nearly twenty thou- 
sand acres as the number .then .under irrigation, which has been in- 
