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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



canyon is cut entirely in gray limestone and calcareous shale, and 

 here the slopes are generally smooth and the canyon, though V- 

 shaped, has not particularly steep walls. The canyon continues to 

 widen and the surrounding hills to diminish in height until about a 

 mile above the station of Dale the valley is very broad and shallow. 

 Here the creek forks and the railroad follows the south fork to its 

 head. If the traveler will observe closely the slope north of the 

 stream at the point where it divides he will see an old road winding 

 up over the low ridge which separates it from Emigration Canyon. 

 This road is the old Mormon trail. It crossed the high mountain 

 that may be seen on the left, came down the north fork of the 

 creek, and then crossed the divide to Emigration Canyon, in which it 

 may still be seen at the point where it comes down to the creek. As 

 the traveler who makes the journey from Salt Lake City to Park 

 City has an opportunity to see some of the country crossed by the 

 Mormon pioneers a more extended description of the route they fol- 

 lowed and the reasons for so doing are given in the following foot- 

 note. ^^ 



'"Although it is probable that be- 

 tween the years 1825 and 1840 most of 

 the streams, valleys, and passes of the 

 region about Great Salt Lake had been 

 traversed by hunters and trappers in 

 search of the beaver, these dauntless 

 explorers left few if any records of 

 their explorations, and the credit for 

 the discovery of new routes and the 

 making of new trails must be given to 

 those who first gave to the world a 

 written description af their travels. 

 This is undoubtedly true of the route 

 that the Mormons followed down Emi- 

 gration Canyon. It is probable, in- 

 deed almost certain, that Jim Bridger 

 was familiar with every valley and 

 canyon and mountain pass in this 

 region long before the advent of the 

 Mormon pioneers, but the information 

 was never published, and it was circu- 

 lated only from one trapper to another 

 by word of mouth. 



The main route through this western 

 country until 1846 was the Oregon 

 Trail, which crossed southei*n Wyom- 

 ing to Jim Bridger's fort, near the 

 southwestern corner of the State, and 

 then turned sharply to the north and 

 passed through Idaho. Emigrants to 

 Oregon and California traveled to- 



gether by the usual route up Platte 

 River, along the Sweetwater, and 

 through South Pass to Fort Bridger 

 and then to Bear River valley. They 

 followed this stream as far as the soda 

 springs, where those for Oregon turned 

 north to Fort Hall, and those for Cali- 

 fornia followed Bear River southward, 

 until at a point within 10 miles of 

 Great Salt Lake they turned to the 

 west to Ogden (Humboldt) River. 

 (See fig. 63.) 



The route thus described was fol- 

 lowed until 1846, when the emigrants 

 destined for California were met in 

 the region of Fort Bridger, which pre- 

 viously had been abandoned, by Lans- 

 ford W. Hastings and James M. Hud- 

 speth, guides, who induced the emi- 

 grants to try shorter routes than that 

 by the soda springs. One of the par- 

 ties, which was guided part of the 

 way by Hudspeth and equipped with 

 pack mules, followed down Echo 

 Canyon and Weber River along the 

 present route of the Union Pacific 

 Railroad to Great Salt Lake. This 

 party had little difficulty and was one 

 of the first of the season to reach Cali- 

 fornia. Two parties guided by Hast- 

 ings had much difficulty in finding a 



