Ship vanished in Utah’s Great Salt Lake 86 years ago. Now drought’s uncovered it again
W.E. Marsh No. 4, a vessel that was part of the Southern Pacific Railroad fleet, was last seen floating the waters of Utah’s Great Salt Lake 86 years ago.
It had not been seen in decades, the Utah Department of Natural Resources tweeted on Dec. 14.
Now, with ongoing drought, it’s resurfaced, the department said.
The vessel was used to help build the Lucin Cutoff, the department said, a 102-mile stretch of railroad trestle across the lake from Ogden to Lucin, according to Utah’s Department of Cultural and Community Engagement.
Construction on the trestle began after Edward Henry Harriman acquired control of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1901, according to the department.
“The project required the labor of 3,000 men, took one and one-half years of actual construction, and cost over $8 million,” the department said.
W.E. Marsh No. 4 was among the first boats to set sail in the lake’s waters to build the trestle in 1902 and was used to transport people “back and forth to the work site,” as well as to “haul or push barges around,” Great Salt Lake State Park Manager Dave Shearer told ABC4.
“It’s very exciting to see a piece of history that people can come out and see, but it’s also sad that the lake is this low,” Shearer told the outlet. “We’ve got trouble out here. Problems.”
The Great Salt Lake, “the largest body of water in the western hemisphere without an outlet to the sea,” is suffering from record-low water levels that scientists find worrying, PBS reported.
Senator Mitt Romney, who introduced a $10 million bill passed by the Senate to study the Great Salt Lake in July, wrote on Twitter on Dec. 9 that “a shrinking Great Salt Lake poses a significant threat to Utah and our neighboring states.”
Romney urged that if the lake runs dry, the “exposed dusts and metals at the lake bed” could be a determinant to residents’ “health and well-being.”
“To save the lake, we need to dramatically reduce our water usage in Utah and the West,” he tweeted.
This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Ship vanished in Utah’s Great Salt Lake 86 years ago. Now drought’s uncovered it again."
