GREAT BASIN PROBLEMS 
229 
which methods of extraction are known. The vast deposits of oil 
shale must be made a source of gasoline and related products. The 
untouched deposits of alunite must yield potash and aluminum. 
Hundreds of other products need the development of methods for 
making them commercially profitable. All this requires scientific 
research of the highest order. The U. S. Bureau of Mines is mak¬ 
ing a beginning in this direction, and the Great Basin states are 
making small appropriations out of their strained purses for this 
purpose. The development of processes for the utilization of the 
mineral resources of the Great Basin is another great research 
problem, in which the “applied” and “pure” scientist may find 
ample play for their ideals and methods. 
The trappers and traders who first came into the Great Basin 
were lured into it by the natural instinct for adventure that lingers 
in the human breast. Since that day, the Far West has held out to 
thousands the lure that the sea offered to earlier generations. Large 
numbers of the race are born pioneers. They like to strike out for 
themselves, in new places, and to win their own empire from the 
untamed forces of nature. The Great Basin and the Great West, 
have been settled by such men and women—perhaps the most vig¬ 
orous and intelligent of our country. 
Then, historically, the foundations of civilization in the Great 
Basin were laid by a people who with lofty spiritual ideals sought 
in the wilderness a place where these ideals might be woven into 
human lives. As a result of the united efifort of the spiritual work¬ 
er, the lover of conquest, and the seeker for the unknown, a sys¬ 
tem of life has been wrought out in the desert which is worthy of 
the most careful study. Out of the desert has come the beginnings 
of an empire, holding within itself every device of modern civi¬ 
lization. How was it done? With this question, the Great Basin 
offers another of its research problems. As this study progresses, 
other communities may find much help in the solution of their own 
problems. So recent is the unique and successful settlement in 
the Great Basin, that the scaffolding and foundations of the build¬ 
ing are still clearly visible to the mind of the trained searcher after 
new helps in the building of a more satisfactory world in economic 
and social results. 
I may not go too far ahead if I say that the proper presentation 
to the nation of the scenic wonders of the Great Basin is a true 
