Scientist believe that long time ago the Great Salt Lake was a part of an ancient lake called Lake Bonnevile. This ancient lake gradually dried up into smaller lakes. The largest one is The Great Salt Lake.

    The Great Salt Lake was first noted on maps by two Roman Catholic priests, Silvester Velez de Escalante and Francisco Atanasio Dominguez but they never saw the real lake. People believe that James Bridger was the first man to reach the lake. He discovered the lake in 1824.