1,000 feet deep in places. Through Red Rock 
Pass in its northern rim its waters drained by 
way of old channels of the Snake and Columbia 
j 
Rivers into the Pacific Ocean. 
Over the centuries the climate underwent a 
change from wet to dry, and with increasing 
aridity the level of the lake fell below its outlet 
and drainage ceased. The area covered by water 
shrank; the lake became increasingly salty. 
Great Salt Lake is the present-day remnant of 
old Lake Bonneville; it is a tenth the size of its 
ancestral lake, its average depth is not more 
than 20 feet, and it contains one part of salt to 
five parts of water. The flat land enclosed 
within the rim of mountains is the former floor 
of Lake Bonneville. This is the site of the Bear 
River Refuge. 
T HE WATERFOWL THAT FLEW OVER THIS PART of 
the Pleistocene world must have found little to 
attract them to the deep, steep-walled Lake 
Bonneville. But as Great Salt Lake matured 
and the receding waters reached the present 
valley floor, marshes developed at the mouths of 
rivers and streams, and unexcelled habitats were 
created for water birds. Early records of the 
bird life of these marshes are vague as to the 
species, but they give a clear impression of the 
vast hordes of waterfowl that must have supplied 
food for generations of Indians. 
Following Jim Bridger and the few adven- 
turous trappers that searched the Bear River and 
other mountain streams for beaver and other fur 
animals, came Capt. John C. Fremont and his 
exploration party. On September 3, 1843, Cap- 
tain Fremont visited the delta of the Bear River. 
In his official report he gave the following de- 
scription : 
' / ' 
/ 
/ 
I 
I 
m 
14 
m 
X. 
The Bear River marshes are famous for 
their green-winged teal, among the 
most beautiful of ducks and the smallest 
American waterfowl. 
2 
“The waterfowl made this morning a noise 
like thunder. A pelican {Pelecanus onocrota- 
tus^ was killed as he passed by, and many geese 
and ducks flew over the camp. Descending the 
river for about three miles in the afternoon, we 
found a bar to any further travelling in that 
direction — the stream being spread out in sev- 
eral branches, and covering the low grounds 
with water, where the miry nature of the bottom 
did not permit any further advance. We were 
evidently on the border of the lake, although the 
rushes and canes which covered the marshes 
prevented any view; and we accordingly en- 
camped at the little delta which forms the mouth 
of Bear River; a long arm of the lake stretching 
up to the north between us and the opposite 
mountains. The river was bordered with a 
fringe of willows and canes, among which were 
interspersed a few plants; and scattered about 
on the marsh was a species of JJniola, closely 
allied to IJ. spicata of our sea coast. The whole 
morass was animated with multitudes of water- 
fowl, which appeared to be very wild — rising 
for the space of a mile round about at the sound 
of a gun, with a noise like distant thunder. 
Several of the people waded out into the 
marshes, and we had tonight a delicious supper 
of ducks, geese, and plover.” 
A few years later Capt. Howard Stansbury, 
making a reconnaissance of a new route through 
the Rocky Mountains, arrived at Bear River 
Bay on October 22, 1849. It was covered, he 
wrote, “by immense flocks of wild geese and 
ducks among which many swans were seen, 
being distinguishable by their size and the white- 
ness of their plumage. I had seen large flocks 
of these birds before, in various parts of our 
country, and especially upon the Potomac, but 
never did I behold anything like the immense 
numbers here congregated together. Thou- 
sands of acres, as far as the eye could reach, 
seemed literally covered with them, presenting 
a scene of busy, animated cheerfulness, in most 
graceful contrast with the dreary, silent solitude 
by which we were immediately surrounded. 
After the fur trappers and the explorers and 
the gold seekers came permanent colonists. 
When the Mormon pioneers arrived in the valley 
of the Great Salt Lake in 1847 and established 
their settlement, the country was inhabited only 
by Indians and was part of the region belonging 
to Mexico. At the close of the Mexican War 
in 1848 it became part of the United States. The 
Territory of Utah was established in 1850. In 
1869 the rails of the first transcontinental 
railroad were joined within sight of the present 
refuge, and the rapid advance of civilization into 
the wilderness began. 
W ATER, AND CONFLICT FOR WATER USE, domi- 
nate the history of the area. The first need of 
the permanent settlers was the production of 
life-sustaining crops. On the valley floor the 
poorly drained soils contained a high concentra- 
tion of soluble salts, and cultivation was neces- 
sarily restricted to better drained lands near the 
base of the mountains. Here irrigation was nec- 
essary. Although good agricultural land was 
at a premium, water was even more scarce in 
these arid lands of the Great Basin. 
Little by little, every possible source was uti- 
lized ro its fullest extent. The Bear River, in 
its 600-mile course from the Uinta Mountains 
through parts of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho to 
Great Salt Lake, is said to be the most completely 
utilized river in the world. The Bear River 
Valley canal and irrigation system, one of the 
