INTRODUCTION 353 



The conclusion readied is that the great body of water of which Great 

 Salt Lake is a last vestige is not, after a]l, an anomaly amoiio- desert 

 features, but that it merely represents a s]jecial phase of a througli- 

 flowing stream that was not quite large enougii to niastei' the orogenic 

 barrier which chanced to arise athwart its path, while its neai'cst neighbor 

 and parallel stream, the Green Eiver, reeuforced by the Grand and other 

 eastern ti'ibutaries, was suflftciently powerful to hold its own against all 

 vicissitudes aiul to carve through 'the rapidly bnlging Colorado dome a 

 Titan among cliasms. Blocked by such a formidable ram])ai"t, the old 

 river spread out far and wide over the adjoining intermont plains, until 

 finally, after its headwaters were diverted, it could no loiiger furnish the 

 lake with its chief supplies. 



Incongkuitiks of pREVAiLiNc; Hypothesis 



aJJNlJh'AL f<TATb]iU':XT 



A'^iewed from a strictly lacusti'ine angle, ancient Lake Bonneville is 

 surely an anomaly. Its consideration has been invariably a treatment 

 of a typical moist climate phenomenon, with exact counterparts in such 

 bodies of water as Lakes Erie and Michigan. Indeed, it is expressly 

 stated in the Boinieville monograph that the hitter's main purpose is to 

 depict the features of normal lakes. How far this central concept has 

 warped the interpretations of the features presented and has colored the 

 historical account of the la'ke is difficidt to estimate. 



As a special phase of an exotic desert feature, Lake Bonneville's exist- 

 ence assumes a new meaning. 



When in the course of a recent search through the literature relating 

 to ancient Lake Bonneville for facts elucidating another theme various 

 conclusions were met with which did not seem to be supported sufficiently 

 by the testimony presented and statements were noted which were far 

 from being satisfactory explanations of the phenomena displayed, it was 

 found that only by actual examination on the ground could tlieir verity 

 really be substantiated. When hiter these evidences came to bo critically 

 passed in review in the field the incongruity of many of them was still 

 further magnified. At the same time many additional facts were noted 

 rendering necessary different interpretations of old records and the in- 

 troduction of new ones. 



VXUtiUAL l>Oi<lT]<)\ OF LAKE'H INTAKE AND OUTLET 



Bear Eiver, which is considered by some writers as the main tributary 

 of old Lake Bonneville, supplying, it has been estimated, more than one- 



