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Show THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH. 23 tinue our intended route along its eastern base to the Spanish trail."* Thus, like Father Escalante and Walker, Fremont was foiled from directly crossing the Great Basin on account of its reported arid nature; and evaded it by keeping along its southern edge. The next authentic account we have of any explo-rations within the Great Basin is to be found in the pamphlet entitled " Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, in illustration of his map of Oregon and California, by John Charles Fremont, addressed to the Senate of the United States. " f This Memoir and the accompanying map show that Colonel Fremont, in his explorations of 1845, entered the Great Basin by way of the Timpanogos River ; J followed down the valley of Utah Lake, and its outlet, the Jordan Eiver, to its mouth in Great Salt Lake; turned this lake at its southern borders; passed westwardly by * Fremont's Report, p. 254. ) Seriate Miscellaneous Doc., No. 148, 3d Cong., 1st Session. J Fremont's map represents, and Lieutenant Warren's Me-moir gives currency to the error, that Fremont passed from the Duchesne's Fork, up Hariri's Fork, and thence across the divide to the Timpanogos. This is a physical impossibility; for Morin's Fork, or White Clay Creek, as it is now called, is a tributary of the Weber, and instead of running into Duchesne's Fork, and being thus a tributary of the Colorado, is, on the contrary, a tributary of the Great Salt Lake In other words, Duchesne's Fork and Morin's Fork are on opposite sides of the divide, the Uinta range. The mistake on Fremont's map has arisen evidently from carelessness on the part of the draughtsman; and Lieutenant AVarren, knowing nothing personally of the error, naturally has given currency to it. |