Great Salt Lake, in Utah, stretches along the western base of the Wahsatch Mountains, about four thousand two hundred feet above the sea, forming a principal drainage center of the Great Basin. Well-marked shore-lines on the mountains around, reaching one thousand feet higher than the present level, show that the lake had formerly a vastly greater extent; this prehistoric sea has been named Lake Bonneville. Great Salt Lake is over eighty miles long and from twenty to thirty-two broad, but for the most part exceedingly shallow. It contains several islands, the largest Antelope I., about eighteen miles long. Its tributaries are the Bear, Ogden, Jordan and Weber, the Jordan bringing the fresh waters of Lake Utah; but Great Salt Lake has no outlet save evaporation, and its clear water consequently holds at all times a considerable quantity of saline matter in solution. Several species of insects and a brine-shrimp have been found in its waters, but no fishes; large flocks of water-fowls frequent the shores.
The first mention of Great Salt Lake was by the Franciscan friar Escalante in 1776, but it was first explored and described in 1843 by Fremont.
Champlain is a beautiful lake separating the states of New York and Vermont, and penetrating, at its north end, about six miles into the Dominion of Canada. Lying ninety-one feet above sea-level, it is one hundred and ten miles long, by from one to fifteen broad, empties itself into the St. Lawrence by the Richelieu River, and has communication by canal with the Hudson. The lake, now an important trade channel, was the scene of several incidents of the French and Indian revolutionary wars; and here a British flotilla was defeated by the Americans September 11, 1814. It was discovered by Champlain in 1609, and in 1909 tercentenary celebrations of its discovery were held along its shores.
Natural Wonders.—Of the great natural wonders the chief are the Niagara Falls, the Grand Cañon of Colorado, and Yellowstone Park. The Sequoia, General Grant and Calaveras Parks—all reservations of the famous big trees, many thousands of years old, have also great scenic interest. Mt. Ranier Park, in Washington, encloses the noblest and most interesting mountain of our Pacific Coast. The chief feature of Crater Lake Park, in southern Oregon, is a lake two thousand feet deep, occupying the crater of an extinct volcano on the summit of the Cascade Range, with walls one thousand to two thousand feet high. The latest addition is Glacier Park, in northwestern Montana. It is named from its glaciers, of which there are over sixty within an area of five square miles, and contains numerous snow-capped peaks seven thousand to twelve thousand feet high. It also contains Lake McDonald, one of the most beautiful alpine lakes. Among the national monuments are the petrified forests in Arizona.
GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO,
is a tract of land about five hundred acres in extent, thickly strewn with grotesque rocks and cliffs of red and white sandstone. Among the chief features are the Cathedral Spires, the Balanced Rock, etc. The Gateway of the Garden of the Gods consists of two enormous masses of bright red rock, three hundred and thirty feet high and separated just enough for the roadway to pass between.
Garden of the Gods, a region in Colorado, is noted for its view of Pike’s Peak, and its weird and grotesque rock pinnacles, needles, etc., some of which receive descriptive names such as Cathedral Spires. The region is about five hundred acres in extent, and in 1908 was presented to Colorado Springs city.
Grand Canyon.—See under [Colorado River].