Jim Bridger

Jim Bridger

The Spanish missionary explorers Dominguez and Escalante learned of Great Salt Lake from the Native Americans in 1776, but they never actually saw it. The first white person known to have visited the lake was Jim Bridger in 1825. Other fur trappers, such as Etienne Provost, may have beaten Bridger to its shores, but there is no proof of this. The first scientific examination of the lake was undertaken in 1843 by John C. Fremont; this expedition included the legendary Kit Carson. A cross, carved into a rock near the summit of Fremont Island, reportedly by Carson, can still be seen today.

Today's Great Salt Lake is a large remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville, and occupies the lowest depression in the Great Basin. The size, shape, and location of this depression have been controlled by Basin and Range faulting. Subsidence within the depression, caused by downfaulting, has accommodated deposition of as much as 12,000 feet of sediment carried into the lake by its tributaries. It has also allowed the lake to remain in a relatively constant position. Other relics of Lake Bonneville are Utah Lake, Sevier Lake, and the Great Salt Lake Desert containing the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.

1. What lake did Dominguez and Escalante learn of from the Native Americans, but never saw it?

Lake Powell
Bear Lake
Lake Erie
Great Salt Lake

2. Who was the first known white person to visit the Great Salt Lake?

Dominguez
Jim Bridger
Escalante
John C. Fremont

3. In what year did the first scientific examination of the lake happen?

1776
1825
1843
1900

4. What is carved into a rock near the summit of Fremont Island?

a cross
graffiti
a horse
an arrow

5. What occupies the lowest depression in the Great Basin?

Fremont Island
Great Salt Lake
Bonneville Salt Flats
Utah Lake

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