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From the peak I looked over a broad landscape surpassing anything I had seen in emptiness and gloominess. Crusts of a dirty whitish clay rose through the sand, which is covered for long distances with white salt crusts. As far as the eye could see, no trace of vegetation, no plant, not a blade of grass, not even the almost always present artemisia, no trace of any animal, no impression from the foot of a living creature in this bare flat ground.
--Jacob H. Schiel describing the salt flats bordering the Great Salt Lake in 1853
Home to the officially designated "loneliest road in America," the Great Basin has long been thought of as vast and vacant. Indeed, its various names evoke a feeling of expanse-- Great American Desert, Basin and Range country, the sagebrush ocean. Mountain men, explorers and military expeditions crossed the Basin throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, most looking for something else, like a river passage to the sea. Wave after wave of emigrants moving to California and Oregon saw the Basin as a place to get through as quickly as possible.
With patience and a willingness to let the bigness of this country enter one's soul, an observer will see that the "Big Empty" is anything but empty. On the contrary, it is a great ecosystem, rich in plants, animals, and minerals. With the information and activities in this article and on the accompanying foldout, you can guide students to explore the Great Basin and begin to understand the ways in which such an arid and seemingly harsh environment can support so many living things, from antelope, bighorn sheep, jackrabbits, and raptors, to sagebrush, pinyon, mountain mahogany, and conifer forests. You will also be able to help students understand the transformations our land is undergoing and the important role they will play to ensure its long-term health and productivity.
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