EXAMINATION OF WATERS OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 233 



western side of tlie lake there are no bigli mouutaius, and as there is 

 Dothing therefore to abstract the moisture from the winds there is 

 practically no drainage into the lake from the westward. 



The laud on the west side is, iu general, a desert with scattered short 

 mouutaiu rauges of small altitude and the isolated, partly buried buttes 

 and peaks commonly called " lost mountains." 



BEAR RIVER. 



Bear Elver rises in the northern part of Utah in a number of small 

 streams which spring from the east slope of the Wasatch Mountains 

 and the north slope of the Uinta Mountains, at an altitude of about 

 10,000 feet. The course of the stream is at first northerly, several 

 times crossing and recrossing the boundary line between Utah and 

 Wyoming and receiving on its way many small streams from mountain 

 ravines. At Border Station the Bear River finally leaves Wyoming, 

 and entering Idaho is deflected to the northwest as far as Soda Springs, 

 where it circles the end of the Bear River Mountains and takes a 

 southerly course. 



Bear Lake, about 22 miles long by 7 miles wide, lies across the 

 boundary line between Idaho and Utah, being contained in about 

 equal parts in each State. North of the lake is an extensive marsh, 

 separated from it by a long, low ridge of sand thrown up by the waves 

 to a height of from 2 to 5 feet above the water level, and pierced iu two 

 places by narrow passages, through which the water flows from the lake 

 into the marsh, or from the marsh into the lake, depending u])on the 

 relative level of each. 



Bear River flows through the northern and eastern part of the marsh, 

 flooding it in times of high water and draining it during dry seasons, 

 and from the conditions stated it follows that the lake to some extent 

 acts as a reservoir, receiving some of the surplus water during flood and 

 relinquishing it again when the river falls. Three million whitefish 

 fry were planted in this lake by the United States Fish Commission 

 in March, 1896, but no evidence has been received that this attemiit to 

 introduce the species was successful. 



South of Soda Sx^rings the Bear River flows through the fertile Gen- 

 tile and Cache valleys, the principal tributaries in this region being the 

 Cub River and the several branches of the Logan River on the east aad 

 the Malade River on the west bank. 



In its lower reaches, below Corinne and the mouth of the Malade 

 River, the river meanders through a low j)laiu used in part for grazing, 

 the width of the stream here measuring between GO and 75 yards. In 

 the northern part of section 31, township 9 north, range 3 west, it first 

 breaks from its well-defined channel and a large part of its water 

 escapes in two overflows, which spread out into a broad, shallow lake, 

 extending over a large section of what is indicated on the maps as dry 

 laud and known to the duck hunters as Bear River Bay. 

 - A few miles lower in its course the river again breaks out in a series 

 of overflows, one of which discharges northward through a shallow 



