CHAPTER 2
NATIVE AMERICANS IN TOOELE COUNTY Prehistoric Indians The land that is now Tooele County has been home to h u m a n beings for at least 10,000 years and includes habitation sites that are of great i m p o r t a n c e to archaeologists and other researchers of ancient life in the Western Hemisphere. Some 25,000 years ago, ancient freshwater Lake Bonneville covered much of future Tooele County—its surface being more than 1,000 feet above that of its present remnant, the Great Salt Lake. Many of the mountain ranges in the Great Basin were partially submerged by the water, leaving the peaks as islands. It is believed that some 20,000 to 15,000 years ago migration into the Western Hemisphere occurred across the Bering Strait, the new inhabitants gradually spreading across the continents of N o r t h and South America. Tooele County could well have been in a migration pathway or even have been the site of lengthier habitation; however, since such activity would likely have been around the fluctuating shores of the Lake Bonneville, any cultural remains would most probably have been short-lived. And, in fact, none have been found. The climate was 33
