Bonneville Salt Flats Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt for driving on by taking a Pierce-Arrow onto the surface of the flats. A railway line across the Bonneville Salt Flats was completed in 1910, marking the first permanent crossing. The first land speed record was set there in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff. Entertainment filmed at the salt flats include portions of "Knight Rider", "Warlock", "Independence Day" (1996) and , "SLC Punk", "Cremaster 2" from "Cremaster Cycle", "The Brown Bunny", "The World's Fastest Indian", "Gerry", "The Tree of Life", "Top Gear", "" and "". Furthermore, the Pontiac Bonneville
Utah State Fair through the Salt Lake Valley of what is today Utah. With the high rugged Rocky Mountains on the east and miles of unfriendly, hot, dry desert and salt flats on the west, most of these early explorers and settlers found the climate and land an inhospitable environment in which to settle. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) had been established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in New York. Due to religious persecution, the group moved further and further west, yearning for a land to settle in which they could practice their religion. Following the murder of