Kayla Turley

Welker
English 1010 2A
October 8, 2015
The Story of the Island:
Everything has a story to tell, though some are farther into their stories than others.
Antelope Island is far into its story, so far in fact that it needs help to finish it. As people we are
protecting the Island in a fight to assure it receives the resources it needs to continue its story.
What exactly attracts people to Antelope Island or the Great Salt Lake in general? Its not the
thought of swimming in the big beautiful lake, or the nose cringing smell of the air that
surrounds it. Maybe its the vast history that accompanies it but Id like to believe that it is the
nothingness and the ability to continue writing your story in a place thats still working on its
own.
When I was little I was attracted to the Great Salt Lake because of the enormousness of it.
There was so much to try and take in. As I would go cross the causeway I was riding on a road
broken to pieces from the strength of the water that surrounded it. Water coming whooshing over
the road as the car tires speed over the bumpy pavement. Each bump adding a small piece to my
story. As I approached the end of the causeway to enter the Island I see a beautiful marina to the
right filled with beautiful sailboats of all shapes and models.
Now when I go to the Island the first thought I have is wheres the lake? I look to the
right and the left and all I see is a layer of desert sand stretching on for miles where my beautiful

lake used to be. As I continued driving down the causeway the disappointment begins to over
whelm and progresses deeper into me. I looked off to the right where the marina should be and
all I saw was the left overs of the wooden docks, that used to hold the most beautiful boats,
laying in the dryness of the whitened desert sand where the lake used to be. That was the end of
the smooth, newly paved road.
Once I approach the visitors center it is fairly obvious that the parking area has been
repaved too. I walked up the ramp towards the visitors center on my right there was a solid
cement wall until I reached the half way point between the parking
lot and the building, where a rectangular look out is cut into it. I
could see a straight shot of the entire causeway and the Wasatch
Mountains in the background. On those mountains, clearly seen, a
point where Old Lake Bonnevilles capacity used to be. The
remnants of the sandy beaches still remain and the un-abundance of
foliage is visible until above where the lake used to sit. Lake
Bonneville being an Ice Age lake was large. The lake extended from
the highest peaks of the Island all the way into the Wasatch
Mountains. The Great Salt Lake is what remains of The Old Lake
Bonneville. The Great Salt Lake is now at a record low and could
soon be endangering the species its inhabitants with increase of the
salinity of the lake and many other factors.
When I finished looking around the beautiful visitors center with all the information and
insights it had to offer, I headed down the road towards Fielding Garr Ranch. The winding of the
one thoroughfare on the island shows much more than a straight shot to the Ranch would have. A

large yellow caution sign on the side of the road pictures a bison and reads please stay on road. I
was completely surrounded in brown foliage. Once in a while I would look off to the side of the
road and see large wild flowers. They stood as tall as me almost looking like unproportioned
sunflowers with bright yellow petals the size of dimes. I would look out onto the side of the hills
next to me and look for a second, wondering is that a rock or a bison? When I finally ran into the
herd of bison there was no question to what it was. Within that square mile I would see between
eighty and one-hundred bison, at least fifty percent of those were babies. The largest in that
particular herd was up on the side of the hill, laying where the dirt road started, enormous clouds
of dust surrounding him, in an attempt to protect himself from the sun. The mothers and baby
bison were down where the lake used to be covering themselves in layers of mud that one of the
forty springs was producing. Up the hill I could locate where the spring started, it was
surrounded by some of the only green on the island: trees, bushes and, large colorful flowers.
When I pulled into the ranch there was a sign that read 133 years of ranching history. A
ranger sat and talked with me for a little while about the history of the beautiful ranch; the fact
that the LDS church owned the island before it became a state park and how the ranch made
enough money and game to feed new comers who had moved to Utah to convert to the church.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the ranch was the songs of the unidentified birds
hiding in the tall but seldom trees. The closer I got to the old ranch house a familiar smell
overwhelmed me, old books and lantern fluid, with a hint of something sweet.
We were entrusted with an Island so beautiful and rich in history, why are we standing
idly by watching the beauty fade as the islands story begins to come to an unnecessary end, due
to hoarding of the water up stream. Many people use this location as a place to continue their

stories and engage themselves in the history of the past. We have interfered with Mother Natures
ability to care for her lake, so we take that legacy into our own hands.

Bibliography:
Antelope Island State Park. Salt Lake City: Utah State Parks, 2015.
Fielding Garr Ranch 1848-1981. Salt Lake City: Utah State Parks, 2015.
Jones, Jennifer C. Prod. Into a World of Wonder. Friends of Antelope Island, 2012.
Maffly, Brian. Great Salt Lake at near-record low level The Salt Lake Tribune Feb. 2015: 1-7
Kunz, Brooke. 16 facts about the Great Salt Lake you probably didnt know News 24 2015.