32 EXPLORATIONS ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH. 



nated with the salts which are brought down by the rains from the mountains, and 

 these salts, it would seem, are gradually evolved to the surface by the process of tillage. 

 Indeed, the truth seems to be that not only is the cultivable portion of the Territory a 

 very inconsiderable traction of the whole area, but even this portion is destined, in all 

 probability, by tillage to become more and more contracted. The abandoned ruins 

 of cities in New Mexico point, most indubitably, with their present surrounding desert 

 wastes, to a like deterioration of soil, and such is likely to be the fate of the present 

 cultivable portion of Utah. The great staple is wheat, of which, in the valley of 

 Great Salt Lake, I have been informed as many as seventy-five bushels have been 

 raised to the acre. This, however, is rare. Forty bushels are more common. Oats 

 and barley thrive; corn is raised in some of the warmer valleys, but the high altitude 

 of the valleys generally makes the climate too cold for this cereal. Potatoes, garden 

 vegetables, and berries do well. The peach, apricot, and melon also mature, and the 

 apple is raised in Great Halt Lake Valley. It must be borne in mind, however, that in 

 order to raise anything in this Territory, the land, in addition to the usual tillage, has 

 to be irrigated. The kind of fencing used, on account of the difficulty of obtaining 

 suitable rails, is the mud or adobe wall, which, in consequence of degradation from 

 rains, requires extensive repairs every spring. 



In regard to the resources of the Territory, agricultural, manufacturing, and per- 

 sonal, I refer the reader to the interesting paper from Dr. Garland Hurt, constituting 

 Appendix N. To this should be added the arable capabilities of the valley of Green 

 River, in the eastern portion of the Territory; of Crosman, Antelope, and Steptoe Val- 

 leys, on my more southern route; and of Walker's and Carson's Valleys, in the western 

 portions of the Territory. 



In regard to the pastoral capabilities of the Territory, I may say that they abound 

 in a number of valleys, and on the mountains generally, the chief difficulty being the 

 preservation of stock in the winter, which, on account of the rigor of the climate, 

 except in the lowest and warmest valleys, or under artificial shelter, cannot endure till 

 spring. The Government and Government contractors have in the aggregate lost, I 

 may say, thousands of heads from this cause since the entry of the Army into the 

 Territory in the fall of 1857. 



In relation to the propriety of the term "Great Basin," as applied to this re<rion of 

 country, I may remark that if by it the notion is entertained that this great area is 

 chiefly of a hydrographic character, that is filled with lakes and rivers, the idea is 

 erroneous. Erroneous will also be the idea that, because it is called a basin, it must, 

 as a whole, present a generally concave surface. The truth is, this is only a basin so 

 far as that the few lakes and streams that are found within it sink within it, and have 

 no outlet to the sea. 



regarding them in succession, not in the order of magnitude, we have — 



1st. Lake Sevier Basin, elevation of lowest point above the sea slightly less than 



4,690 feet. 



2d. Great Salt Lake Basin, elevation of lowest point above the sea, 4,170 feet. 



(o) See my report of Navajo expedition, Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 64, 31st Cong., 1st seas., pp. 74 and 106. 



