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" 7 "the most dreary river I. have fiver seen - a deep rapid stream, almost a torrent, passing swiftly by, and roaring against obstructions" (Hafen and Hafen 1954). His expedition followed the Wolfskill-Yount route northward out of the Colorado River basin to lltah Lake. They had completed a circle around the great interior basin that Fremont mapped and named the Great Basin (Cline 1963, Hafen and Hafen 1954, Woodbury 1950). The Mexican War ended Spanish domination of the West; Mormons began moving westward from the Missouri River to the Great Salt take Vaiiey in 1847 to~escape from persecution. They built outposts, forts and settlements in a vast region they hoped to dominate (Woodbury 1950). In 1848 mail courier Kit Carson, a member of Fremont's 1844 expedition, left California carrying news. of the gold discovery over the Old Spanish Trail to St. Louis, Pissouri. The news reached New York and culminated in the 1849 goldrush (Hafen and Hafen 1954). Strictly a horse and mule trail and suited for travel only during the spring and fall, the 01d Spanish Trail was impractical as a wagon route. Go]dseekers leaving Santa Fe followed the southern route to California through the Giia River valley opened during the war with Mexico (Cline 1963, Crampton 1972). During 1848 the last large hlexican mule caravan travelled from California to Santa Fe. Until this time the Old Spanish Trail served " as the main route to California. Although it was nearly 1,900 km long, it avoided the nearly impossible canyons and belligerent Apaches south of the Grand Canyon (Crampton 1972). A section of the trail