This book is included in the Outdoor Survival - Bio-Regional Environments section.
National Geographic Magazine
Vol. XVII, No. 9 - WASHINGTON - September,
1906
THE area lying to the west and southwest of Salt Lake City and extending to the Sierra Nevada and the ranges east of Los Angeles was for a long time included under the caption "The Great American Desert."
The discovery of gold in California in 1849 was the beginning of the conquest of this thirsty region, the direction of
greatest travel being but little south of west from Great Salt Lake to the vicinity of the Donner Pass in the Sierra 'Nevada,
since used by the Central Pacific Railroad in crossing this range. In seeking for better routes to the new El Dorado, parties
journeyed southward across the wastes of sand and rock searching for the lower passes which would be perennially available. In this direction the number of mountain ranges to be crossed is largely increased, but by going well southward the great wall of the Sierra Nevada is escaped, though the desert journey is very much lengthened and the hardships encountered by many parties
were most appalling.
The desert took frequent toll in the lives of man and beast, and indeed does sometimes today, though the dangers are
now comparatively insignificant.
With the discovery of the Comstock mines there came a period of tremendous activity in the search for the precious metals, more particularly for silver, and much of the desert region was traversed by the hardy prospector and his burro. In this way the long distances between watering places were divided by the discovery of springs and "tanks" (natural reservoirs), and gradually this part of the "American Desert" diminished in area and lost some of its fearfulness.
In the 60's and 1871 -'72 government expeditions under Lieut. George M. Wheeler traversed several routes across the desert, making topographic sketches and notes of interest and value, but few complete maps were printed. In 1865, and several times since then, the boundary line between Nevada and California was run, which cut through much of the most difficult country. The reports of and the stories by members of these expeditions did not tend to populate the region with great rapidity.
In many instances the prospectors were successful, and the camps of Silver Peak, Lida (or Allida), Reveille, and others sprang up, and had their periods of rise, prosperity, and decline, many becoming completely uninhabited.
During the period of activity many travelers became permanent residents, took to wife dusky maidens from the Indian tribes, and located ranches at various springs and streams, oases in the expanse of waste, where small herds of cattle or horses were maintained.
From the eastward the Mormons pushed gradually away from the streams of southern Utah and established farms and ranches at such places as furnished water, but there is a belt of country one hundred miles or more in width between these points and the water-fed valleys at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, which is almost wholly barren and very dry.
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