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 1S62. 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 

 Cit};- 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 (PI. 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 

 Population ii's 110* f^om 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 Oregon 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.*^" 



■"' See footnote 83, p. 237. 



