240 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
On the same terrace, but a little to the right, may be seen the build- 
ings of Fort Douglas, which has been occupied continuously as an 
army post since 1862. Still farther to the right is the rather insignifi- 
cant Emigration Canyon, down which Brigham Young’s party came 
on July 24, 1847, and took possession of the valley. (For a descrip- 
tion of the route followed by the pioneers, see p. 248.) 
Many travelers unfamiliar with this region imagine that Salt Lake 
City stands on the shore of Great Salt Lake, but in fact the nearest 
point of the lake is 10 miles distant. The site of the city was chosen 
not because of its nearness to the shore of the lake, but because of the 
abundance of fresh water which comes from the mountains. The 
city, however, appreciates the value for recreation of such a body of 
water as Great Salt Lake, and a pavilion called Saltair has been built 
at the beach, which affords bathing facilities to those who wish to try 
a dip in the heavy waters (Pl. XCIV, B). It is a popular resort, 
easily reached by electric train during the season. Saltair is de- 
scribed more fully on page 244. 
The next stop in this journey is at the new passenger station of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in Salt Lake City, the 
metropolis of the Great Basin and the home of the hierarchy of the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known 
as the Mormon Church. Salt Lake City, the capital of the great 
State of Utah, is in the eastern part of the Great 
Salt Lake City. = Basin, at a point where several routes of travel 
Pa theme erage 2 the Pacific coast converge into main eastern 
Denver 745 miles. trunk lines. It has direct connection with Los 
Angeles on the southwest by the Los Angeles & Salt 
Lake Railroad ; with San Francisco on the west. by the Western Pacific 
and Southern Pacific railroads; with Portland and Seattle on the 
northwest by the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon Railroad & 
Navigation Co.’s line; with Butte and Helena on the north by the 
Oregon Short Line; and with the East by the Denver & Rio Grande 
Western and Union Pacific railroads. The Union Pacific trains run 
over the tracks of the Qregon Short Line to Ogden, and the Denver & 
Rio Grande Western main line also extends to Ogden. 
Salt Lake City is the center of a large and prosperous metal-min- 
ing district ; it has almost unlimited fuel resources in coal fields that 
lie 100 miles to the southeast, and it stands in the midst of a rich 
agricultural region that can supply food for many times its present 
population. 
The general traveler, however, will find the chief interest in 
Salt Lake City in the Mormon people, their mode of life, and the 
peculiar institutions they have built up.$* 
‘iannctamamtampcaieeet 
“See footnote 838, p. 237. 
