Salt Desert Trails

Introduction by Peter Delafosse
Edited by Charles Kelly

First published in 1930, Salt Desert Trails tells the story of the Great Salt Desert crossings by early explorers and emigrant parties. Central to the story is the opening of the Hastings Cutoff in 1846, which led to the tragedy of the Donner Party and the pioneering of the emigrant trails through Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

Charles Kelly (1889–1971) was an author, historian, printer, and the first superintendent of Capital Reef National Park.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Charles Kelly, Trails Historian
Charles Kelly's Salt Desert: A Photographic Gallery
Maps
Preface (1930 Edition)
Preface (1969 Edition)
Acknowledgments

1. Lansford W. Hastings
2. The Great Salt Desert
3. Jedediah Smith
4. The Bartleson Party
5. Frémont's Expedition
6. James Clyman
7. The William H. Russell Party
8. The Young and Harlan Party
9. The Lienhard Journal
10. The Jefferson Map
11. The Donner Party
12. Further Activities of Hastings
13. The Cutoff in 1847
14. The Stansbury Expedition
15. The Gold Rush
16. The Beckwith Survey
17. The Simpson Survey
18. A Bicycle Crosses the Desert
19. The Railroad and Modern Highway
20. Trailing the Pioneers

Index