Humboldt Sink

Humboldt Sink is an intermittent dry lake bed, approximately 11 mi (18 km) long, and 4 mi (6 km) across, in northwestern Nevada in the United States. The body of water in the sink is known as Humboldt Lake. The sink and its surrounding area was a notorious and dreaded portion (called the Forty Mile Desert) of overland travel to California during the westward migrations of the mid-1800s, which were largely undertaken along the California Trail.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt Sink
• Page 115 - Brown, D. J., 2009, The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party: Harper Collins, New York.