Utah

UTAH, long called "Deseret," which in the Book of Mormon means "land of the working bee," is one of the Rocky mountain States in the western part of the United States. It is situated be tween and 42° N. and 109° and 114° W. Its area is 84,990 sq.m., of which an average of 2,806 sq.m. is water surface. The area is equal to that of England and Scotland combined. Utah was the main habitat of the Ute tribe of Indians.

Physical Features.

A line drawn with a slight westward con cavity from the middle of the northern boundary to the south western corner would divide Utah into its two main physiographic regions, the Great Basin to the west and the plateau region to the east. For a long distance this line would follow the high crest of the Wasatch mountains, a magnificent range running north and south, forming the great backbone of the State, and dividing the drainage of the Colorado river system from that of the Great Basin. Centuries ago the Great Basin region was covered by a vast expanse of water, about 19,000 sq.m. in area, known to geologists as Lake Bonneville. Shoreline at 17 distinct levels can still be traced on the mountain side. Great Salt Lake is a shrunken remnant of this inland sea, and the rest of the basin is its one time bed. The land of the basin floor, parched and barren in its uncultivated state, unless alkaline, is very fertile, and produces abundantly when irrigated. Along the eastern fringe of the basin, where the land can be watered by the streams flowing down from the Wasatch range, are to be found the most populous districts of Utah. The monotony of the level basin floor is broken here and there by steep isolated north and south mountain ranges of monoclinal structure which rise abruptly several thousand feet above the plain. There is no drainage outlet, so the streams merely flow into the low places where, during the dry season, the water evaporates, leaving barren "mud flats" on the basin floor. In the larger depressions the water does not entirely evaporate but re mains, forming saline lakes whose areas increase and decrease with the season. The largest of these is Great Salt Lake, having an area at its greatest extent of 2,000 sq. miles. One-third of this area is lost annually by evaporation. Its waters have an average salt density of 17% or about 31 times that of the ocean.

The lake is fed by Bear river from the north, Weber river from the north-east and Jordan river from the south-east. The Jordan carries the overflow from Utah lake, a fresh water body 127 sq.m.

in area. South-west of Great Salt Lake is a broad flat stretch, more arid and barren than the rest of the basin, known as the Great Salt Lake desert. It is low, and in the spring covered partly by water. South of this desert and in the west central part of the basin is Sevier lake, fed by the Sevier river. This Lake at times attains an area of 188 sq.m., but during the dry season evaporates completely, leaving a crystalline residue of impure sodium chloride and sulphide 5 in. in depth to mark the lowest portion of its site. The Great Basin as a whole rises gradually and imperceptibly from an elevation of 4,300 ft. at the shores of Great Salt Lake to an altitude of about 6,000 ft. in the south of the State.

East of the Wasatch range is the so-called "plateau region," much higher on the average than the Great Basin but deeply cut by valleys and canyons, which carry its drainage to the Colorado river. On the north this area is bounded by the Uinta mountains, the highest range in Utah and the only important range in the United States to run directly east and west. It extends at right angles to the Wasatch range and almost meets it on the west. King's peak (13,498 ft.) is the highest altitude in the State, while Mt. Emmons (13,428), Gilbert peak (13,422), Mt. Lovenia (13,250) and Tokewanna peak are the others rising above the 13,00o ft. mark. Between the peaks local glaciation has carved deep amphitheatre-like valleys, many of them containing alpine lakes, wild and difficult of access. South of the Uintas the plateau

summits rise to 9,000, 10,000 and ii,000 feet. They are generally forested, but are too high and difficult of access to be inhabited. The people of this region live in the valleys along the streams between the plateaux. South toward the Colorado river the plateaux drop rapidly in a series of brightly coloured sandstone cliffs resembling giant terraced steps, and are named from the colour of the outcropping sandstone. The Pink Cliffs are the high est and most conspicuous; then come the White Cliffs, Vermilion Cliffs and Grey Cliffs. In this southern portion also are several interesting mountain groups which do not properly belong to the plateau system. They have been formed by the intrusion of molten igneous rock between the layers of sediments, causing the overlying layers to arch up into dome mountains. Such groups are the Henry mountains, west of the Colorado, and the La Sal and the Abajo mountains, east of the Colorado. South-east of the Colorado, and especially in the region drained by the San Juan river, there are almost no areas capable of cultivation; the soil is sandy and the population scanty. Much of the area is relatively inaccessible even by pack horse for trails, and watering places are few. Yet here some of the most picturesque scenery of Utah is to be found. The richly coloured sandstone has been moulded by erosion into such fantastic figures as the Navajo Twins, Organ Rock, Needle Rock, Train Cliff, Ostrich Rock and the famous pear-shaped balancing rock in the La Sal mountains. In Monu ment park slender spires and mighty bluffs lift steep red stone sides perpendicularly to great heights. The region abounds in natural bridges, including the graceful Rainbow bridge, 3o8 ft. high and 274 ft. between its abutments. Dainty Kachina with a width of i86 ft. and height of 205 ft., and the massive Sipapu, 222 ft. high and 261 ft. long, are wedged in the White Canyon. Innumerable prehistoric ruins and cliff-dwellings are found in this region also, and are the best described in Byron Cumming's bulle tin entitled The Ancient Inhabitants of the San Juan Valley. Many of these are in giant crevices several hundred feet above the canyon bottoms. The region has been only partly explored archaeologically, and new ruins are constantly being reported. Other caves have been found to contain remains of the basket-makers, predecessors of the cliff-dwellers. Many caves are covered with Indian picto graphs and large paintings of animals. In one place tracks of the prehistoric dinosaur were found imprinted in the sandstone. In the Henry mountains, where the fossilized remains of dinosaurs and many other prehistoric animals have been found, Dinosaur National Monument has been created. This whole region of south eastern Utah, a vast, strange and weird land, was one of the last parts of the United States to be explored. It was not until 1904 that the outside world heard of its natural bridges, the largest in the world. The deep twisting canyons provide the most awe inspiring scenery but the greatest obstacles to travel through the region. Besides the great canyons of the Colorado, the Green and Grand rivers, there are many of similar grandeur in the tributary streams. The San Juan Canyon Is sometimes called the "Little Grand Canyon of the Colorado." On the Rio Virgin in south western Utah is Little Zion Canyon, now set aside as Zion National park. It was named by the Mormons who discovered and settled it, though their settlers were later driven out by the Indians. In Bryce Canyon there are acres of fantastic tower and turret forma tions formed by erosion only, the softer red rocks being capped by a harder stratum which resists weathering.