Howard Stansbury’s Expedition around the Great Salt Lake: An Examination of the Route and the Maps

Howard Stansbury’s Expedition around the Great Salt Lake: An Examination of the Route and the Maps

By JESSE G. PETERSEN

We find history written in documents—but history is also written on the land. Consider the Great Salt Lake, surveyed by Captain Howard Stansbury in 1849. The resulting map and report shone a light on this little-known area. However, most historical sources have an imperfect nature because they are representations created by limited human beings. In this case, Stansbury’s journals, report, and maps, as well as the land itself, do not always agree. This article offers a tour around the Great Salt Lake with Stansbury’s expedition, using these historical sources and showing where the sources conflict. The land itself, though changed in some respects since 1849, resolves the differences.

In the summer of 1849, Stansbury arrived in what is now the state of Utah to conduct a geographical survey of the Great Salt Lake and the country immediately surrounding it. Stansbury, a civil engineer and a member of the U.S. Army’s Topographical Corps, had previously conducted engineering and surveying projects in the Great Lakes area. Lieutenant John W. Gunnison, also a military engineer, accompanied Stansbury to Utah as his second-in-command.

The nineteenth century was a time of exploration in the United States. Much of this was accomplished by private individuals (such as fur trappers and traders) and through business ventures, but the U.S. government was also involved in exploration and surveying. Government-sponsored explorations essentially began with the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest (1804–1806). Zebulon Pike’s journey to the southwestern region of the current United States soon followed (1806–1807). During the 1840s, the U.S. Army sent John Charles Frémont on several expeditions to learn about the geography of previously unexplored areas of the West. As more and more of the country opened up and settlers began moving to the West, the emphasis began to shift from exploring to surveying, for it was increasingly important to know what was where and who controlled the land. A few months after members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints began to settle in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, the Mexican War ended and the United States acquired the area that is now Utah. Just a little over a year later, Stansbury received orders from Colonel John J. Abert, the chief of the Army’s Topographical Bureau, who had the responsibility for the exploration and development of the country west of the Mississippi River. Abert’s orders instructed Stansbury to survey and map the Great Salt Lake valley, locate suitable routes for travel and supply, note natural resources, and observe indigenous tribes and the Mormon settlers. 1 This article deals with the journey of exploration that Stansbury made around the western side of the Great Salt Lake.

Howard Stansbury’s “Map of the Great Salt Lake and Adjacent Country in the Territory of Utah.”

DAVID RUMSEY MAP COLLECTION

At that time, as far as Euro-Americans were concerned, the area lying due west of the Great Salt Lake was truly terra incognita—and it remains little-known today. A few mountain men, including Peter Skene Ogden and Joseph R. Walker, had traveled through the country on the northern side of the lake, and emigrant parties who had followed the Hastings Road in 1846, 1849, and 1850 had passed by the southern shore of the lake. No one, however, had ever traveled along, or even near, the western shore. Stansbury wrote that he had been told by mountain men and Indians that a number of trappers had attempted to travel around the western side of the lake in search of beaver, “but always without success; the adventurers being invariably obliged to return with the loss of most of their animals.” Stansbury planned to fill in this gap, explaining the need to do so as follows: “The expedition was deemed necessary, to enable me . . . to gain some knowledge of the means and appliances necessary to carry on the survey with safety and expedition.” 2 In other words, he felt that in order to accomplish his main goal of completing a survey of the lake, he had to know something about the country to the west.

Howard Stansbury, the U.S. Army officer who commanded a military survey party that was sent to Utah in 1849.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Stansbury arrived in Salt Lake City on August 28, 1849, and began meeting with local officials, including Brigham Young; making arrangements to house and feed his men and livestock; and starting the surveying operations. On September 12, with a party composed of several soldiers and at least five or six civilians, Stansbury left Salt Lake City and set off on a trip to Fort Hall, which was located on the Snake River in present-day Idaho. On the return trip, the party camped on the Bear River just below where it comes out of the narrows between the Cache and Salt Lake valleys. From this base, he began the journey that would take him around the Great Salt Lake.

A number of years ago, I became interested in Stansbury’s journey around the lake and began examining the route that he followed. The major sources of information for this study were Stansbury’s personal journal and the report that he submitted to the United States Senate following his explorations and surveys in Utah. 3 In both his journal and his report, Stansbury included extensive descriptions of the country he traveled through and the route that his party followed each day. In many instances, these descriptions include his estimates of the distances between certain geographical features along the route. However, it is important to keep in mind that during this trip, all of his distance figures were estimates. Entries in his journal show that during the trip to Fort Hall he used an odometer that was presumably mounted on a wagon, but during the trip around the lake he traveled without wagons and had to rely on estimation. As we shall see, a number of his estimates seem to be well off the mark.

Two maps accompanied Stansbury’s report to the Senate. The first covers the area between the Missouri River and the Pilot Range, which is located along the Utah–Nevada border; it is entitled “Map of a Reconnoissance between Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri River and the Great Salt Lake.” The second map, entitled “Map of the Great Salt Lake and Adjacent Country,” is drawn to a larger scale and covers only the area between the Wasatch Mountains and a point just west of the Newfoundland Mountains. 4 According to information that is found on the maps, Stansbury directed their preparation with the aid of Gunnison and Albert Carrington; Charles Preuss and Gunnison did the actual drawing. The scholar Carl I. Wheat stated that Gunnison apparently “had primary responsibility in the construction of the map.” 5 Carrington’s personal journal indicated that in early 1851 he was in Washington, D.C., engaged in “plotting” various locations for the maps. For example, on February 8, 1851, Carrington wrote, “laid Fremont Isle into general map & it fitted exactly.” 6 The nature of Preuss’s responsibilities remains unclear. Wheat also suggested that Stansbury’s maps relied heavily on “the composite Frémont map” but had been “elaborated in certain areas on the basis of more intensive investigation.” 7 Notably, of the four individuals involved in making the maps, only Stansbury participated in the actual expedition around the lake. Of critical importance to this study is the fact that both of Stansbury’s maps have lines on them that were intended to show the route that the party followed.

An in-depth comparison of Stansbury’s day-by-day journal entries and subsequent report and the route of the expedition as it is depicted on his maps has convinced me that, in a number of instances, the trail on the maps does not correspond with Stansbury’s descriptions of his route. I fully realize that challenging the accuracy of these historic maps is not something to be taken lightly, but the discrepancies are so profound that I have had to conclude that either Stansbury’s descriptions or his maps have some serious flaws. After considering two facts—that Stansbury wrote his descriptions every day, on location, while those who drew the trail lines were not members of the party—I have concluded that where differences exist, the route shown on the maps must be incorrect.

Further, I also found that two of the mountain ranges on Stansbury’s maps were misplaced to some extent. The mapmakers placed the Newfoundland Range approximately ten miles too far to the north and the Silver Island Mountains about eight miles too far to the east. These errors apparently contributed to the trail being drawn through the center of the Newfoundland Mountains, rather than passing by their northern tip.

During the several years that I was investigating the Stansbury expedition, I made several extended trips into the general area of the route in order to observe the terrain firsthand. I quickly learned that it is not possible to simply get on the trail and follow it all the way from the Bear River to the Pilot Mountains. The route simply does not exist as a continuous drivable route. For example, a securely locked gate bars the way along the western shore of the Promontory Mountains. The extensive mud flats that lie between the Newfoundland and the Silver Island mountains create another inaccessible section. But other than these two places, I made my way into the general area of most of the expedition’s route.

At this point, the reader might very well ask why it is important to know that the expedition followed a route that did not exactly match the trail that is shown on the maps. For many people, the fact that the expedition went on one side or the other of a certain mountain might not seem important to the outcome of the mission. But on the other hand, there are others who have a deep interest in knowing, as closely as possible, the exact routes that the early western explorers traveled. When they look at a map or travel through an area of historical importance, they value knowing where explorers and other earlier travelers were and what they experienced. From a historical standpoint, these discrepancies demonstrate that the creator of a historical source is influenced by place, time, and perspective. They show that the more sources used, the more complete and accurate the picture of the past is. And finally, for those who love Utah’s geography and the layers of history on the land, this investigation into Stansbury’s route will deepen their sense of place and past.

We will now begin to follow Stansbury’s route around the lake, first through excerpts from his journal and report, and then through my interpretations of how his descriptions compare with the landscape and the trail on his maps. On the accompanying maps, dotted lines depict the route that I believe Stansbury actually followed. The dashed lines represent my adaptation of the trail as it is shown on Stansbury’s maps.

Stansbury and all of the members of the Fort Hall expedition left the base camp on the Bear River sometime during the afternoon of October 19, 1849:

JOURNAL: Having completed my preparations, accompanied the provision wagons from the encampment 2 ½ miles above the ford of Bear River, to this ford, saw them safely over the stream & on their way to Salt Lake City. . . . Turning to the S.W. followed the emigrant trail to Oregon & California about four miles which brought us to the crossing of the Malade. 8

REPORT: From the ford of Bear River we followed the emigrant road westward for about four miles, which brought us to the Malade River. 9

The groups apparently split up at or quite near the site of what later became known as Hampton Ford. The major portion of the Fort Hall expedition, with all of the wagons, crossed the river and headed south for Salt Lake City. Stansbury headed west with his smaller exploring party, which, as he indicated in his report, consisted of “five men and sixteen mules.” 10 However, in his journal, Stansbury listed the names of six people, in addition to himself, who belonged to the party: Dr. James Blake, August Archambault, August Tison, Piche, Boyer, and Louis Rivard. 11 Blake was a physician and naturalist whom the army employed to accompany the survey party. Archambault, a mountain man who had traveled with Frémont in 1845, acted as a guide for Stansbury.

Note that a conflict exists between the journal and the report in regard to the direction of travel. The journal says that the group traveled southwest along the emigrant trail, but the report states that their direction of travel was west. An examination of the local topography shows that the report was in error. If the party had traveled directly west from Hampton Ford, they would have reached the Malad River after traveling only 1.6 miles, rather than the four miles mentioned in both the journal and the report. But by heading in a southwest direction, they could have traveled four miles before reaching the Malad at a point just east of the present-day community of Garland. After a difficult crossing, the party made camp on the west bank of the river.

During this day’s journey, we encounter the first major discrepancy between the route drawn on the map and the written sources. Although both the journal and the report state that the party followed the emigrant road while traveling between the Bear and the Malad rivers, the map shows that Stansbury’s trail left the emigrant road at the Bear River and was approximately a mile south of the emigrant road when it reached the Malad River. The emigrant road that Stansbury referred to was a section of what was known as the Salt Lake Cutoff, which at that time was used by California-bound emigrants traveling between Salt Lake City and the California Trail.

REPORT: October 20 . . . Continued on the emigrant road about four miles, when we left it and turned more to the southward. . . . In about a mile we came upon three or four beautiful springs of clear, bright water: they were gushing out from a rocky point . . . and unite to form a branch which runs southward some miles, and then sinks in the sand, before reaching the lake. 12

From the crossing of the Malad River, the emigrant road continued in a slightly southwest direction to make its way past the southern tip of Point Lookout Mountain. Although Stansbury recorded that he followed the emigrant road for four miles, his Great Salt Lake map shows the route as being well south of the emigrant road. Stansbury also wrote that upon leaving the emigrant road he turned to the south and traveled another mile and came to some brackish springs. His Great Salt Lake map identifies this feature as Emigrant Springs. This spot is now known as Salt Spring and is located at the foot of Point Lookout. The springs are the source of a creek that flows to the south. On the maps, the trail is located approximately two miles south of the springs and does not show a turn to the south in this area. If Stansbury had followed the trail that is shown on the maps, he would have missed the springs entirely.

Bear River to Salt Spring. On this and following maps, a dotted line represents the route Stansbury described in his reports and journals, while a dashed line represents the route shown on his maps.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

REPORT: Following down this stream for several miles, we struck on a succession of bare, level plains, composed of white clay and mud, with occasional pieces of limestone and obsidian scattered on the surface. 13

The stream that comes out of Salt Spring is known as Salt Creek and it flows in a slightly west of south direction for about five or six miles and then enters the Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area. The trail that is shown on the maps does not follow the stream at all, but crosses it at a point about two miles south of Salt Spring and continues in a generally westward direction until it comes to the eastern base of the Promontory Range.

JOURNAL: In the afternoon being fearful of being caught without water, turned farther to the west & made for the foot of the range of hills constituting the western boundary of the Valley, when we came upon a small stream running slowly to the south with marshy banks. It is about 15 ft wide & 1 foot deep, quite salt & almost unfit to drink. Having no prospect of finding better however we encamped on its right bank for the night. . . . Days travel estimated at 22 miles. 14

The party’s route through the swampy area that lies to the south of Salt Spring is somewhat uncertain, but it probably skirted the western side of Little Mountain and then crossed today’s Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area. Stansbury noted that at some point during the afternoon, the party “turned farther to the west” and headed toward the Promontory Mountains. 15 Though Stansbury did not provide a definite time or a mileage estimate, it appears that the party had been traveling mostly south since leaving Salt Spring and that by turning more to the west, they would have begun heading in something of a southwest direction. I have worked out a route through this area that has the party traveling twenty-two miles during this day’s journey; on this possible route, the spot where they made the turn is in the vicinity of Hull Lake, about sixteen miles from the previous night’s campsite. However, this turn to the southwest does not appear on the trail that is shown on Stansbury’s maps. At sixteen miles from the campsite, the trail on the maps heads almost due west, and when it does make a turn, it is to the south. Additionally, the trail on the maps does not cross “a succession of bare, level plains, composed of white clay and mud,” nor does it ever come to “a small stream running slowly to the south.” 16

Maps of this area show several small, unnamed drainages, but only one that appears to be large enough to match Stansbury’s description of the stream where they stopped. The most likely spot for this campsite is about 6.8 miles directly south of the junction of State Route 83 and State Route 102, and 4.5 miles east of the unpaved road that follows the eastern base of the Promontory Mountains. This drainage runs in a slightly east of south direction; the water probably flows infrequently.

JOURNAL: Oct 21—We struck diagonally for the foot of the mountain still travelling over the hard dry mud . . . Before reaching the base of the hills some Indians were discovered, . . . As we came along we passed their encampment, . . . Following down at the base of the hills for about two or three miles encamped on a small spring branch, . . . At the spot where we left the Indian Camp there is a spring with plenty of water but it is brackish & bad. Days travel about 8 mils. 17

REPORT: October 21 . . . There being neither grass nor water at this point, we left it early, and made in a south-west direction for the foot of the mountain, travelling over a hard, even surface of dry mud, as level as a floor and without a particle of vegetation of any kind. Before reaching the base of the hills, we descried some Indians at a distance, who as soon as they discovered us, commenced a most rapid and precipitate flight. . . . Following down the eastern base of the promontory for about two miles, we encamped on a small spring-branch, coming down from the mountains, furnishing very tolerable water and plenty of grass. 18

Salt Spring to Sweetwater Spring.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

If the group had traveled on the trail that is shown on the maps, at twentytwo miles from the Malad River they would have been near the eastern base of the Promontory Mountains, and if they had then begun to travel in a southwest direction, they would have been climbing into the mountains, not crossing a level plain. The Indians’ camp was probably at Sweetwater Spring, which is located only a few yards from Promontory Road, a graded dirt road that runs north and south along the eastern base of the Promontory peninsula. At this spring, for the first time since leaving the Bear River, the trail that is shown on the maps finally begins to coincide with the party’s route as it was described by Stansbury. From Sweetwater Spring, the party turned south and followed a route that would have been the same, or nearly the same, as today’s unpaved road. The campsite for the night of October 21 was probably at the mouth of Choke Cherry Canyon.

During the following three days the party traveled along the shoreline of the Promontory peninsula, first continuing south, then rounding Promontory Point, and then heading north along the peninsula’s western side. Late in the evening of October 24, they approached the northeast corner of Spring Bay and an area known as Salt Wells Flat.

Salt Wells Flat.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

REPORT: October 24 . . . At ten o’clock we reached a small sluggish stream, containing some water entirely too salt for our use, but which the poor animals drank with great avidity, having been without for more than twelve hours. Here we lay down for the night, both man and beast much fatigued with the day’s march. 19

Since it was already dark when they reached the stream, Stansbury was unable to get any real sense of the terrain until the next morning.

REPORT: October 25 . . . We had an opportunity this morning of seeing fully the ground over which we had passed the night previous. It consisted of an oval flat of clay and sand, some four or five miles broad from east to west. . . . Three streams came down from this low ridge, and, flowing to the southward, either sank into the sand or discharged themselves into the lake, which we now judged to be some six or eight miles to the southward, the flat extending in that direction to the water’s edge. Two of these streams (all of which were salt) we crossed without much difficulty; but the third, on the western side of the flat, was impassable, and we had to ascend it for three miles before we could obtain a crossing. 20

Three small streams flow in a southwest direction through Salt Wells Flat. Finding that they could not cross the third stream, the party turned to the northeast and made their way upstream until they came to the vicinity of Salt Wells, where they found a place to cross. Here again, the trail that is depicted on the maps does not correspond with Stansbury’s description of the route. Even though Stansbury mentioned three streams, the map shows only two; further, the map shows that the trail crossed the northernmost stream at the point where it first reached the stream, rather than changing directions and following it upstream, as Stansbury described.

JOURNAL: Crossing over to the western ridge we crossed its summit & descended into a plain somewhat similar to the last in form only much more extensive in all directions & forming at no time any part of the Lake but only an extended plain or valley. 21

REPORT: Leaving it [Salt Wells Flat] behind us, we ascended a ridge to the west of it, two or three miles broad. . . . Descending its western slope, we came into another plain, somewhat similar to the last in form, but much more extensive in all directions. 22

Once they had crossed the third stream, Stansbury’s group turned to the northwest; after traveling about five and a half miles, they crossed the summit of a wide pass between the southern end of the Hansel Mountains and Monument Peak, which Stansbury identified as “Teton” on his Great Salt Lake map. After crossing the third stream at the point where Stansbury said they could not cross it, the trail on the map continues almost straight ahead along the eastern side of Monument Peak and rejoins the actual route near the summit of the pass.

At the northern foot of the pass the party turned to the west and began traveling across Curlew Valley. Near the western side of this valley, at a point about nine miles northeast of the old railroad town of Kelton, the routes separate again, and this separation marks the beginning of the most serious discrepancy between Stansbury’s descriptions of the route and the trail that is shown on his maps. The route that Stansbury’s party actually followed began to veer slightly to the south, while the trail on the maps continues west for another six to eight miles, and then begins a long sweeping curve that eventually heads south.

REPORT: Over this desolate, barren waste, we travelled until nearly dark, when we reached a rocky promontory, constituting the southern point of a low ridge of hills jutting into the plain from the north. . . . The mules having been without water or grass the whole day, and our stock of the former being insufficient to give them even their stinted allowance of one poor pint, we halted for a couple of hours, and drove them upon the side of the mountain to pick what they could get from the scanty supply of dry bunch-grass that grew in tufts upon its side. 23

At the western edge of Curlew Valley, the group came to the southern tip of the Wildcat Hills. These low hills lie to the east of the Raft River Mountains and about eighteen miles to the southwest from the town of Snowville. The southern point of these hills is marked by several small knolls that rise sharply out of the surrounding terrain. It was here that Stansbury and his party stopped for about two hours in order to give their animals a chance to rest and to graze on the scattered bunchgrass.

JOURNAL: We loaded up again & continued on in hopes of finding water. . . . Rode on until nearly eleven o clock, in a southward direction about ten miles, when finding the indications of water growing worse & the mules nearly worn out, halted for the night on top of a ridge, & bivouacked on the ground. 24

REPORT: At eight o’clock we replaced the packs upon our mules . . . and rode on till near midnight by the light of the moon, in a south-westerly direction, over a country similar to that we had traversed during the day; when, finding the indications of water growing less and less promising, and that our animals were nearly worn out, we halted, and covered with our blankets, we lay down on the ground till morning. 25

Although Stansbury’s journal notes that they traveled in “a southward direction” for ten miles, this could not be correct because that would have put them in the lake or on the swampy mud flats, depending on how high the lake level was at that time. But by traveling in a southwest direction (as the report notes), they would have passed very close to the now-abandoned site of Kelton and then climbed into the foothills of Baker Mountain. When they reached what Stansbury described as a ridge, they stopped and made camp.

Today, a fairly well-travelled dirt road known as 8560 North heads in a southwest direction from Kelton and climbs into the eastern foothills of Baker Mountain. Stansbury’s party probably followed this same general route. The point at which this road crosses the eastern ridge of these hills is about thirteen miles from the southern tip of the Wildcat Hills. In his journal, Stansbury stated that they had traveled about ten miles, but considering the fact that they had been traveling in the dark, this error can be considered as minimal. In this area, Stansbury’s maps lack much detail, and even though the summit of Baker Mountain rises over 1,200 feet above the level of the flats around Kelton, the maps show the entire area as a level plain.

JOURNAL: Oct 26 Started in the morning in search of water for the mules without which we could not go any farther. By the spy glass discovered some willows & grass which looked as if there might be water. Directed our steps thither, & after some search found a small spring coming out from under a bank. This we cleared out, dug a hole to contain its waters, & soon had plenty of excellent water for all. 26

REPORT: October 26 . . . Sweeping the horizon with a telescope, I thought I discovered something that looked like willows to the north-west, distant about four or five miles. Reanimated by this gleam of hope, we saddled up quickly and turned our steps in that direction. We soon had the lively satisfaction of finding our expectations confirmed; for, arriving at the spot, we found, after some search, a small spring welling out from the bottom of a little ravine, which having with some labour been cleaned out, we soon enjoyed a plentiful, most needed, and most welcome supply of excellent water for all. The whole party being much exhausted from their long abstinence and unceasing exertions, we halted here for the day. 27

The wording in the report makes it sound as if Stansbury was still at the campsite when he sighted the willows, but this presents a problem. If he was still at the campsite, all he could have seen to the northwest would have been the bulk of Baker Mountain. However, the journal entry states that he was “in search of water,” which suggests that he was no longer in the immediate area of the campsite when he spotted the willows. If this search had taken him less than a mile to the west, he would have come to the ridge of the mountain and would have had a clear view to the northwest and the Dove Creek drainage area. Stansbury was aware that willows can indicate the presence of water, and he decided to investigate this possibility. Leaving the ridge where they had camped, the group circled around the southern foothills of Baker Mountain and reached Dove Creek at a point near its confluence with Cotton Creek. The distance traveled would have been about four and a half miles.

Wildcat Hills to the Hogup Mountains.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

It should be noted that the trail on the maps would have crossed Dove Creek at a point somewhere within two or three miles upstream from where the party found the spring. However, that trail would have been traveling in a southwest direction when it reached the creek, rather than northwest, as Stansbury suggested.

JOURNAL: Oct 27—Started early sun 1/2 hour high, ascending a ridge for about two miles, struck across a large sage plain in the direction of a high peake on a ridge, to the left of which we passed. 28

REPORT: October 27 . . . Resuming our journey, we took a course south by east, which led us past the ridge upon which we had halted two nights before. . . . We then passed along the base of a range of low hills, composed apparently of trap and basalt. After travelling ten miles, we came to a range of higher hills extending northwest and southeast. 29

A section of the Hastings Road, which Stansbury followed to Salt Lake City. He would have passed this point just before reaching the Grayback Hills. This image conveys the austerity of the land through which Stansbury and his team traveled.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

What Stansbury’s party did upon leaving the campsite on Dove Creek represents the most critical factor in my theory of the expedition’s route. If they had traveled south from this area, as the maps indicate, their route would have taken them well to the west of the Hogup Mountains. But Stansbury described a route that went in a southeast direction and took them to the eastern side of the Hogup Mountains. In his journal, Stansbury wrote that when they left camp on the morning of October 27, they climbed up a slope for about two miles. Further, in his report he stated that they traveled in a southeast direction and passed by the ridge where they had camped on the night of October 25. This route would have taken them up and over Baker Mountain’s southern foothills. Soon after crossing today’s 8560 North, they would have come to an area that fits Stansbury’s description of a “sage plain.” Upon reaching the eastern edge of this plain, they would have skirted the base of some low hills of volcanic origin, composed of “trap and basalt.”

In his journal Stansbury mentioned a “high peake on a ridge, to the left of which we passed.” Madsen wondered if this peak was either Table Mountain or Peplin Mountain, but it is quite certain that the party’s route would have been to the right, rather than the left, of both of these peaks. 30 Their route was probably along the southern edge of a large cove-like area known as the Hogup Bar. Immediately to the south of this area there is a relatively high butte that makes up the northernmost point of the Hogup Mountains. The party’s route would have been to the left of this butte, which at its highest point is about a thousand feet above the surrounding terrain. Stansbury also noted in his report that they had reached this place after traveling ten miles. My plot of the most likely route through this area measures just ten miles.

A quick look at a map of this area will show that the shortest route to Pilot Peak, which is where the party eventually ended up, would have gone southwest from the camp on Dove Creek. Why then did Stansbury decide to travel in a southeast direction? The answer to this question must lie in Stansbury’s priorities at that time and the likelihood that he was not yet desperate enough to divert from those priorities. The major objective of the expedition was to travel around the Great Salt Lake, staying as close as possible to its shoreline. Apparently, on the morning of October 27, Stansbury wanted to get back to the lake. A route to the southeast would take him there. The following day, Stansbury encountered circumstances that persuaded him to change his mind about traveling along the shore of the lake.

REPORT: We then passed, in a southerly direction, through deep sand, along what at one time had been the beach of the lake, as drift-wood was frequently seen lying on the sands that stretch out to the eastward for many miles. In one instance a drifted cottonwood log was seen, lying near what had evidently been the water-line of the lake. . . . On our right was a high ridge or promontory, with a narrow bottom sloping down to the edge of the flat. . . .

The country today has been similar to that passed over previously—dry, barren, and entirely destitute of water. We dug a well some five feet deep in the edge of the flat, which soon filled with water. The mules crowded around the hole, and seemed to watch the process of our labour, as if sensible of the object of our exertions, but upon tasting the water, refused to drink, although they had been travelling the whole day without a drop. Day’s march, about sixteen miles. 31

Today, a narrow zone covered by a heavy growth of greasewood, or salt brush as it is sometimes called, extends along the entire length of the eastern base of the Hogup Mountains. If the same growth existed in 1849, it is quite certain that the party would have avoided this heavy vegetation by traveling along its eastern edge. This would have put them in the “deep sand, along what had at one time been the beach of the lake.” Stansbury was describing the wide western beach of the Great Salt Lake.

After reaching this ancient beach and turning to the south, they traveled for about six miles and then made camp on the edge of the sand. It appears to me that this campsite was about seven miles northwest of Dolphin Island. Stansbury mentioned passing numerous pieces of driftwood. It is unlikely that they would have encountered driftwood if they had been to the west of the Hogup Mountains.

JOURNAL: Oct 28—There being no water, it became imperative on us to keep moving . . . Followed the edge of the sand with the promontory on our right for some miles when we ascended it, . . . Then crossing ridge we descended into a plain or sort of bay extending to the north some twenty miles partly covered with sage & partly to the west with mud & salt. It appeared to be bounded on the west some 20 or 30 miles distant by a high ridge running north which was I think the same near which we encamped on Friday. 32

REPORT: October 28 . . . We were on the road very early, and followed for several miles, down the edge of the sand at the foot of the range of hills on our right, when we ascended it, taking a course south-west by west. . . . The ridge was about five miles wide, stretching off to the southward, and about five hundred feet above the level of the beach. 33

Stansbury’s journal implied that the group was traveling between the lake and the eastern base of the Hogup Mountains. As they approached the southern end of the mountains, the party made a turn to the southwest and climbed over the ridge, crossing it at a point about a mile to the north of Broom Mountain.

The location of the ridge that Stansbury mentioned in the above entries is a key element in determining the actual route of the expedition. Stansbury’s maps show the trail going about halfway down the eastern side of what he called “Rocky Ridge” and then abruptly turning to the west, through the mountain. It is quite evident that his Rocky Ridge is today’s Newfoundland Mountains. It appears that most people who have studied Stansbury’s expedition have relied on his maps rather than his descriptions; they have assumed that when he mentioned the ridge that he crossed on the 28th, he was referring to Big Pass, which is located near the center of the Newfoundland Mountains. However, it is my conclusion that in this area the maps are in serious error, and Stansbury’s party did not go through Big Pass. There are a number of reasons for this conclusion, and we will get to them later, but for now we will continue to follow the route as described by Stansbury.

JOURNAL: The plain seemed to contain several Island mountains or hillocks rising from it as from the water. To one of these distant about 12 miles, &S W by West we directed our course, over sage at first & then the usual mud plains. We arrived here about 1 ½ hour before sundown and stopped to get supper & give the mules a chance to pick a little grass. . . . The mountain at the foot of which we stopped extended some miles to the South & S.W. The Dr ascended it but could see no signs of the Lake in any direction. This point was about 20 miles from our starting point in morning. 34

REPORT: Leaving the ridge, we entered upon a plain or sort of bay, partly covered with artemisia [sagebrush], and partly (to the westward) with mud and salt. . . . The plain contained several island mountains, rising from it as from the water. To one of these, distant about twelve miles south-west by west, we directed our course and reached it about an hour before sunset. Here we stopped for a short time to prepare our scanty supper, and to give the mules a chance to pick a little grass, which was scarce and dried up. Not a drop of water had we met with the whole day. . . . The rocky island, at the north end of which we halted, extended many miles to the southward, and was apparently surrounded on all sides by the mud-plain. One of the party ascended it, but could see nothing of the lake, nor any appearance of water in any direction. 35

Hogup Mountains to Pilot Peak. On this map, unlike the other maps pictured in this article, the dashed line does not conform to the alignment of the trail as it appears on Stansbury’s map. Instead, it has been adjusted to conform to the actual geography of the area.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

From the ridge near Broom Mountain, Stansbury would have had a clear view of the Newfoundland Mountains, the Silver Island Mountains, and Crater Island, all of which are surrounded on all sides by extensive mud flats. He would also have been able to see the Pilot Range, rising to the west of these “island mountains.” After crossing the ridge Stansbury recorded that they traveled in what he called a “southwest by west” direction and came to one of the islands. Stansbury clearly stated that they stopped at the north end of an island that extended many miles to the south. 36 The Newfoundland Mountains run almost exactly north and south, for about eighteen miles. He also noted that the distance from the ridge to the spot where they stopped was about twelve miles. The actual distance from Hogup Ridge, just north of Broom Mountain, to the northern tip of the Newfound Mountains is 14.8 miles—which, under the circumstances, would not have been a significant error.

JOURNAL: It now became a serious point to find water for the mules, who had been without two days & a night. I accordingly determined to go on during the night as far as possible so as to be able to reach the Western ridge bounding this basin as early as possible the next day. . . . We accordingly loaded up & proceeded on the same course, across a mud & salt plain quite soft in some places which made the travelling quite

heavy. The mules were very weak & tired & the whole party were on foot nearly the whole march. We continued on until 12 at night when we encamped on the north side of a small isolated butte of Volcanic rock, having just before crossed a very soft muddy drain with water in it, but as salt as brine. . . . To the north & to the south of us rose a butte similar in character to the one near which we encamped. The southern of which had evidently formed part of a Crater. 37

REPORT: We accordingly saddled up about dark and proceeded on the same course, directing our steps toward another island in the plain, which appeared to be about fifteen miles distant. . . . Our course lay over a flat of damp clay and salt mud, in many places soft and deep. . . . We continued on until after midnight . . . when we reached a small isolated butte, which was only a pile of barren rocks, with scarce a blade of grass upon it. . . . On each side of us, to the north and the south, was a rocky island or butte, similar in character to the one near which we had halted, but much larger. 38

Significantly, Stansbury stated that they continued to travel “on the same course” that they had been following before stopping for their supper. Thus their direction of travel would have continued to be west-southwest. After traveling twenty-two miles, rather than the fifteen that Stansbury estimated, they came to a stop at the base of a small butte. Stansbury wrote that to the north of their campsite was a larger butte and to the south there was an even larger one that contained a crater. There can be little doubt that they were at the northern end of Crater Island, which lies to the north of the Silver Island Mountains. At the northern end of Crater Island there can be found a small isolated knoll, which at its highest point is about three hundred feet above the surrounding mud flats. About a half mile to the south is a smaller knoll, and then, immediately to the south, is the main part of Crater Island. According to Stansbury’s description, the party’s campsite was near the northern base of the smallest knoll.

REPORT: October 29.—On awaking early, we found the mules gathered around us, looking very dejected and miserable. . . . Before us, indeed, lay the mountain where we hoped to find both food and water for them, but between lay a mud-plain fifteen or twenty miles in extent, which must be crossed before we could reach it. I was much afraid the animals were too weak to succeed in the attempt, but it was our only hope. We set out, the whole party on foot, pursuing the same general course of south-west by west that we had followed yesterday. . . . We soon came upon a portion of the plain where the salt lay in a solid state, in one unbroken sheet, extending apparently to its western border. . . .

At two o’clock in the afternoon we reached the western edge of the plain, when to our infinite joy we beheld a small prairie or meadow, covered with a profusion of good green grass, through which meandered a small stream of pure fresh running water, among clumps of willows and wild roses, artemisia and rushes. . . . Both man and beast being completely exhausted, I remained here three days for refreshment and rest. . . .

We had encamped at the eastern base of a range of high mountains, stretching a great distance to the north, and terminated, three miles below, in an abrupt escarpment, called Pilot Peak. 39

Near the east side of the Silver Island Mountains. Stansbury passed by this location on his way from Donner Spring to Salt Lake City.

UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

From the north end of Crater Island the party traveled in a southwest direction, crossing the mud and salt flats that lie between the Silver Island Mountains and the base of Pilot Peak. Stansbury estimated that the mud and salt flats between the Silver Island Mountains and Pilot Peak were “fifteen or twenty miles in extent.” This section of the Salt Flats is about twenty miles in length. By crossing the flats in a southwest direction, the party traveled eleven miles before reaching the western edge of the flats. At that point they made camp at a good spring and decided to stay for a few days. One might be tempted to assume that they were now at Donner Spring, but they were still some distance north of that location. Charles Kelly, an early trails researcher and Utah historian, identified the spot where they camped as McHouston Springs. 40 Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any further information relating to a spring of this name, and there are at least a dozen springs in the first few miles to the north of Donner Spring. However, in his journal entry for November 2, Stansbury wrote that it was two and half miles from this campsite to Donner Spring. Based on this information, it would appear that Kelly’s McHouston Springs was probably two and a half miles north of Donner Spring, where a spring and a well can now be found at the lower end of a drainage channel known as Bettridge Creek. This small, intermittent stream could have been the one that Stansbury observed meandering through the willows near his campsite. The final discrepancy between Stansbury’s description of the route and

the maps concerns the area between Crater Island and Pilot Peak. The trail on Stansbury’s “Fort Leavenworth to the Great Salt Lake” map skips the McHouston Springs campsite entirely and runs in a direct line from the north end of Crater Island to Donner Spring. However, in his writings, Stansbury noted:

JOURNAL: Nov 2 The course from camp is East, but we followed the edge of the bay South 2 – ½ miles to a point where a road from Mormon city crosses to take advantage of the beaten track as the mud is quite soft. At this point there are several excellent springs & numerous company of emigrants have lately encamped there. 41

REPORT: November 2 . . . Following the western edge of the mud-plain at the foot of the range for three miles, we came to the southern point of the mountain. . . . The route from Salt Lake to this point was first taken by Colonel Frémont, in 1845. A year afterward, it was followed by a party of emigrants under a Mr. Hastings. 42

Upon leaving camp on November 2, the party travelled south until they reached Donner Spring. After a brief stop at the spring, they turned to the east and proceeded on their journey. Because the party’s journey from Donner Spring to Salt Lake City involved no new exploration and simply followed Hastings Road, the route of which has been well established by numerous trails researchers, our examination ends at this point.

Before ending this investigation of Stansbury’s route around the Great Salt Lake, it might be useful to take a closer look at the arguments against Stansbury’s crossing of Big Pass—for while Stansbury’s maps clearly show the trail going through Big Pass, I contend that Stansbury’s party did not cross Big Pass. My reasons for this belief follow.

First, consider Stansbury’s description of the ridge itself: “The ridge was about five miles wide, stretching off to the southward, and about five hundred feet above the level of the beach.” 43 A measurement taken across the Hogup Ridge just north of Broom Mountain gives us about six miles compared to Stansbury’s estimate of five miles, but the distance across Big Pass is only two and a half miles. The point where I believe Stansbury crossed Hogup Ridge stands about 400 feet above the level of the beach. Big Pass is 720 feet above the mud flats that surround the Newfoundland Mountains. Although neither elevation is the same as Stansbury’s 500 foot figure, the Hogup Ridge elevation is much closer to it. Then there is Stansbury’s use of the word “beach.” There is clearly a sandy beach at the eastern base of the Hogup Mountains, while mudflats surround the Newfoundland Mountains on all sides, with no beach in sight.

Second, while on the ridge, Stansbury noted that about twelve miles to the southwest, an island rose out of the plain. If Stansbury had been on Hogup Ridge, he would have been looking at the Newfoundland Mountains, the northern tip of which would have been fourteen miles from the ridge. However, if he had been at Big Pass, the only "island" visible to the southwest would have been the Silver Island Mountains, whose eastern tip would have been nearly twenty miles away.

Detail of Stansbury's "Map of a Reconnoissance," with additions. The broken lines have been added tos how the actual shape and location of the Newfoundland and Silver Island mountains. The superimposed dotted line shows Stansbury's actual route. It is quite apparent that the misplacement of these mountains contributed to the inaccurate depiction of the expedition's route.

JESSE G. PETERSEN

Third, due to their misplacement of the Newfoundland Mountains, the expedition maps depict Crater Island as lying in the southwest direction from Big Pass. Modern maps, however, plainly show that the northern tip of Crater Island is almost due west from Big Pass. This is significant because Stansbury indicated that his party followed the same “south-west by west” course for the entire distance between the ridge and the base of the Pilot Mountains. If you go southwest from Big Pass you end up at the base of Cobb Peak in the Silver Island Mountains, not at the northern end of Crater Island and not at Donner Spring.

Fourth, if Big Pass was the ridge, an entire mountain has gone missing. Stansbury stated that after crossing the ridge, the group traveled to an “island mountain,” stopped for supper, and then continued on to Crater Island. This means that there was a mountain between the ridge and Crater Island. No mountain, however, exists between Big Pass and Crater Island.

In summary, examining Stansbury’s descriptions of the route his expedition followed after crossing a ridge on October 28, 1849, yields no evidence that Big Pass was that ridge. On the other hand, everything that Stansbury wrote supports the concept that they crossed Hogup Ridge and then pursued a straight-line course to the base of the Pilot Range, passing the northern tips of the Newfoundland Mountains and Crater Island as they did so.

Of course it is impossible to consider this information without wondering how it could have happened. What could have caused these discrepancies in the layout of the trail? Certainly, a serious lack of communication must have existed between those who participated in the expedition and those who created the maps. Moreover, it seems quite clear that of the five or seven men who made the trip around the lake, only Stansbury had any involvement in the preparation of the maps. The question then becomes, by what method did Stansbury communicate the information about the location of the trail to Carrington, Gunnison, and Preuss? Did they first draw the maps with the lake, the rivers, and mountains in place, and then have Stansbury point out the trail? Did Stansbury give them written information about the trail? Did they have access to his journal and his report? Unfortunately, answers to these questions are apparently unavailable. Further research might provide some of the answers, but for now, we can only wonder.

None of this, however, should detract from Stansbury’s significance and from his accomplishments. As William Goetzmann wrote of Stansbury’s journey around the lake: “It had been a daring feat of exploration; succeeding where the mountain men had all failed, and by means of his map of the western portion of the lake Stansbury had painted at least one more bold stroke into the unfinished portrait of the national landscape.” 44

Jesse G. Petersen spent thirty years in law enforcement, including twenty years as chief of the Tooele City Police Department. He has authored and edited books on the Lincoln Highway, the James H. Simpson expedition, and emigrant diaries.

NOTES

1 William H. Goetzmann, Army Explorations in the American West, 1803–1863 (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1991), 219; Brigham D. Madsen, ed., Exploring the Great Salt Lake: The Stansbury Expedition of 1849–50 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989), xviii.

2 Howard Stansbury, Exploration of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988), 97.

3 Stansbury’s original journal is located in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., but selected portions of it appear in Madsen’s Exploring the Great Salt Lake. The Smithsonian reprinted his original report in 1988 as Exploration of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake.

4 These maps are available in Madsen, Exploring, rear insert, and on several Internet sites.

5 Carl I. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West, 1540–1861, vol. 3, 1846–1854 (San Francisco: Institute of Historical Cartography, 1958), 118.

6 Madsen, Exploring, 750.

7 Wheat, Mapping, 118.

8 Madsen, Exploring, 173.

9 Stansbury, Exploration, 98.

10 Stansbury, Exploration, 98.

11 Stansbury never mentioned the names of the other members of the party. One of his field notebooks, which is published in Madsen’s book, contains a list of the civilian members of the main body of the surveying team. Archambault is spelled Archambeau; Tison is spelled Tesson; Piche is listed as Louis Piche; and three Boyers are listed as Nelson, Sid, and Vide. According to this list, regardless of whether there were five or seven members, Stansbury was the only military person on the expedition around the lake. Madsen, Exploring, 10, 174.

12 Stansbury, Exploration, 98.

13 Ibid., 99.

14 Madsen, Exploring, 174.

15 Ibid.

16 Stansbury, Exploration, 98; Madsen, Exploring, 174.

17 Madsen, Exploring, 175.

18 Stansbury, Exploration, 99.

19 Ibid., 104.

20 Ibid.

21 Madsen, Exploring, 179.

22 Stansbury, Exploration, 104–105.

23 Ibid., 105–106.

24 Madsen, Exploring, 180.

25 Stansbury, Exploration, 106.

26 Madsen, Exploring,180.

27 Stansbury, Exploration, 106.

28 Madsen, Exploring,180.

29 Stansbury, Exploration, 107.

30 Madsen, 180, n. 58.

31 Stansbury, Exploration, 107.

32 Madsen, Exploring, 180–81.

33 Stansbury, Exploration, 107–108.

34 Madsen, Exploring, 181.

35 Stansbury, Exploration, 108.

36 Ibid.

37 Madsen, Exploring, 181–82.

38 Stansbury, Exploration, 109.

39 Ibid., 109–111.

40 Charles Kelly, Salt Desert Trails (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1996), 132, n. 4.

41 Madsen, Exploring, 183–84.

42 Stansbury, Exploration, 112–13.

43 Ibid., 108.

44 Goetzmann, Army Explorations, 222.