Historical surface levels of the Great Salt Lak

Little is known about the Great Salt Lake prior to the Mormon settlement in 1847. Several studies have been conducted to extrapolate from what we know about the Great Salt Lake's past surface levels. These studies have used a variety of techniques to estimate historical lake levels, including geological and archeological methods, and precipitation and tree-ring data analyses. Despite these preliminary efforts, results have failed to generate a useful representation of the lake, both in describing its past behaviors and predicting its future.;This study explored the history of the Great Salt Lake by utilizing information from several sources, including historical accounts, and tree-ring data. The data generated an historical model of the Great Salt Lake and provided a new historical perspective on the historical surface levels of the lake.;Results indicated that an accurate model of the Great Salt Lake could be generated from both precipitation and tree-ring data. From this, a model using tree-ring data was constructed going back to the year 1614. Modifications of this model corroborated historical accounts back to the mid-eighteenth century with some accuracy. These results indicated that the Great Salt Lake surface level was much higher during the mid-eighteenth century than at any time during recorded history. Despite these models' usefulness in extrapolating the past, they failed to provide reliable data for future predictions.