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diff --git a/13170-8.txt b/13170-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecb1738 --- /dev/null +++ b/13170-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14829 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lake of the Sky, by George Wharton James + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lake of the Sky + In The High Sierras Of California And Nevada. Its History, Indians, + Discovery by Fr‚mont, Legendary Lore, Various Namings, Physical + Characteristics, Glacial Phenomena, Geology, Single Outlet, Automobile + Routes, Historic Towns, Early Mining Excitements, Steamer Ride, + Mineral Springs, Mountain and Lake Resorts, Trail and Camping Out + Trips, Summer Residences, Fishing, Hunting, Flowers, Birds, Animals, + Trees, and Chaparral, with a Full Account of the Tahoe National + Forest, the Public Use of the WateThe Project Gutenberg EBook of The + Lake of the Sky, by George Wharton James + + +Author: George Wharton James + +Release Date: August 13, 2004 [EBook #13170] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAKE OF THE SKY *** + + + + +Produced by Ronald Holder and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: Cascade Lake and Lake Tahoe] + +THE LAKE OF THE SKY + +LAKE TAHOE + +IN THE HIGH + +SIERRAS OF CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA + +Its History, Indians, Discovery by Frémont, Legendary Lore, Various +Namings, Physical Characteristics, Glacial Phenomena, Geology, Single +Outlet, Automobile Routes, Historic Towns, Early Mining Excitements, +Steamer Ride, Mineral Springs, Mountain and Lake Resorts, Trail and +Camping Out Trips, Summer Residences, Fishing, Hunting, Flowers, +Birds, Animals, Trees, and Chaparral, with a Full Account of the Tahoe +National Forest, the Public Use of the Water of Lake Tahoe and Much +Other Interesting Matter + +BY + +GEORGE WHARTON JAMES + +_Author of_ + +"Arizona, the Wonderland," "California, Romantic and Beautiful," "New +Mexico, the Land of the Delight Makers," "Utah, the Land of Blossoming +Valleys," "Quit Your Worrying," "Living the Radiant Life," etc. + +_With a map, and sixty-five plates, including a folding panorama View_ + + +L.C. PAGE & COMPANY BOSTON PUBLISHERS + +Copyright, 1915, BY EDITH E. FARNSWORTH + +_All Rights Reserved_ + + +TO ROBERT M. WATSON + +(_To his friends "Bob"_) + +Fearless Explorer, Expert Mountaineer, +Peerless Guide, Truthful Fisherman, +Humane Hunter, Delightful Raconteur, +True-hearted Gentleman, +Generous Communicator +of a large and varied Knowledge, +Brother to Man +and Beast and Devoted +Friend, + +AND TO ANOTHER, + +though younger brother of +the same craft + +RICHARD MICHAELIS + +These Pages are Cordially Dedicated +with the Author's High Esteem +and Affectionate Regards. + +[Illustration: "Bob" Watson, Tahoe guide, at home, with his dog +Skookum John] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +California is proving itself more and more the wonderland of the +United States. Its hosts of annual visitors are increasing with +marvelous rapidity; its population is growing by accretions from the +other states faster than any other section in the civilized world. +The reasons are not far to seek. They may be summarized in five +words, viz., climate, topography, healthfulness, productiveness and +all-around liveableness. Its climate is already a catch word to the +nations; its healthfulness is attested by the thousands who have +come here sick and almost hopeless and who are now rugged, robust and +happy; its productiveness is demonstrated by the millions of dollars +its citizens annually receive for the thousands of car-loads (one +might almost say train-loads) of oranges, lemons, grape-fruit, +walnuts, almonds, peaches, figs, apricots, onions, potatoes, asparagus +and other fruits of its soil; and its all-around home qualities are +best evidenced by the growth, in two or three decades, of scores of +towns from a merely nominal population to five, ten, twenty, forty or +fifty thousand, and of the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles and +Oakland to metropolises, the two former already claiming populations +of half a million or thereabouts. + +As far as its topography, its scenic qualities, are concerned, the +world of tourists already has rendered any argument upon that line +unnecessary. It is already beginning to rival Switzerland, though that +Alpine land has crowded populations within a day's journey to draw +from. One has but to name Monterey, the Mt. Shasta region, Los +Angeles, San Diego and Coronado, the Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, the Big +Trees, the King and Kern River Divide, Mono Lake and a score of +other scenic regions in California to start tongues to wagging over +interesting reminiscences, whether it be in London, Paris, Berlin, +Madrid or Petrograd. + +Books galore are being published to make California's charms better +known, and it has long seemed strange to me that no book has been +published on Lake Tahoe and its surrounding country of mountains, +forests, glacial valleys, lakes and canyons, for I am confident that +in one or two decades from now its circle of admirers and regular +visitors will include people from all over the civilized world, all of +whom will declare that it is incomparable as a lake resort, and that +its infinite variety of charm, delight and healthful allurement can +never adequately be told. + +Discovered by the "Pathfinder" Frémont; described in the early days of +California history and literature by John Le Conte, Mark Twain, Thomas +Starr King, Ben C. Truman, and later by John Vance Cheney and others; +for countless centuries the fishing haunt of the peaceable Nevada +_Washoes_, who first called it Tahoe--High or Clear Water--and +of the California _Monos_; the home of many of their interesting +legends and folk-lore tales; occasionally the scene of fierce +conflicts between the defending Indians and those who would drive +them away, it early became the object of the jealous and inconsequent +squabbling of politicians. Its discoverer had named it Mountain Lake, +or Lake Bonpland, the latter name after the traveling and exploring +companion of Baron von Humboldt, whose name is retained in the +Humboldt River of Nevada, but when the first reasonably accurate +survey of its shores was made, John Bigler was the occupant of the +gubernatorial chair of the State of California and it was named after +him. Then, later, for purely political reasons, it was changed to +Tahoe, and finally back to Bigler, which name it still officially +retains, though of the thousands who visit it annually but a very +small proportion have ever heard that such a name was applied to it. + +In turn, soon after its discovery, Tahoe became the scene of a mining +excitement that failed to "pan out," the home of vast logging and +lumber operations and the objective point to which several famous +"Knights of the Lash" drove world-noted men and women in swinging +Concord coaches. In summer it is the haunt of Nature's most dainty, +glorious, and alluring picturesqueness; in winter the abode, during +some days, of the Storm King with his cohorts of hosts of clouds, +filled with rain, hail, sleet and snow, of fierce winds, of dread +lightnings, of majestic displays of rudest power. Suddenly, after +having covered peak and slope, meadow and shore, with snow to a depth +of six, eight, ten or more feet, the Storm King retires and Solus +again reigns supreme. And then! ah, then is the time to see Lake Tahoe +and its surrounding country. The placid summer views are exquisite +and soul-stirring, but what of Tahoe now? The days and nights are free +from wind and frost, the sun tempers the cold and every hour is an +exhilaration. The American people have not yet learned, as have the +Europeans in the Alps, the marvelous delights and stimulations of the +winter in such a place as Lake Tahoe. But they will learn in time, and +though a prophet is generally without honor in his own country, I will +assume a role not altogether foreign, and venture the assertion that +I shall live to see the day when winter visitors to Lake Tahoe will +number more than those who will visit it throughout the whole of the +year (1914) in which I write. One of the surprises often expressed +by those I have met here who have wintered in the Alps is that no +provision is made for hotel accommodation during the winter at Lake +Tahoe. + +To return, however, to the charms of Tahoe that are already known to +many thousands. Within the last two or three decades it has become the +increasingly popular Mecca of the hunter, sportsman, and fisherman; +the natural haunt of the thoughtful and studious lover of God's great +and varied out-of-doors, and, since fashionable hotels were built, the +chosen resort of many thousands of the wealthy, pleasure-loving and +luxurious. What wonder that there should be a growing desire on +the part of the citizens of the United States--and especially of +California and Nevada--together with well-informed travelers from all +parts of the world, for larger knowledge and fuller information about +Lake Tahoe than has hitherto been available. + +To meet this laudable desire has been my chief incitement in the +preparation of the following pages, but I should be untrue to my own +devotion to Lake Tahoe, which has extended over a period of more than +thirty years, were I to ignore the influence the Lake's beauty has had +over me, and the urge it has placed within me. Realizing and feeling +these emotions I have constantly asked with Edward Rowland Sill: + +What can I for such a world give back again? + +And my only answer has been, and is, this: + +Could I only hint the beauty-- +Some least shadow of the beauty, + Unto men! + +In looking over the files of more of less ephemeral literature, as +well as the records of the explorations of early days, I have been +astonished at the rich treasures of scientific and descriptive +literature that have Lake Tahoe as their object. Not the least service +this unpretentious volume will accomplish is the gathering together of +these little-known jewels. + +It will be noticed that I have used the word _Sierran_ rather +than _Alpine_ throughout these pages. Why not? Why should the +writer, describing the majestic, the glorious, the sublime of the +later-formed mountain ranges of earth, designate them by a term coined +for another and far-away range? + +I would have the reader, however, be careful to pronounce it +accurately. It is not _Sy-eer-an_, but _See-ehr-ran_, almost +as if one were advising another to "See Aaron," the brother of Moses. + +Tahoe is not _Teh-o_, nor is it _Tah-ho_, nor _Tah-o_. +The Washoe Indians, from whom we get the name, pronounce it as if it +were one syllable _Tao_, like a Chinese name, the "a" having the +broad sound _ah_ of the Continent. + +Likewise _Tallac_ is not pronounced with the accent on the last +syllable (as is generally heard), but _Tal['x]-ac_. + +While these niceties of pronunciation are not of vast importance, they +preserve to us the intonations of the original inhabitants, who, as +far as we know, were the first human beings to gaze upon the face of +this ever-glorious and beautiful Lake. + +When Mark Twain and Thomas Starr King visited Tahoe it was largely in +its primitive wildness, though logging operations for the securing of +timber for the mines of Virginia City had been going on for some time +and had led to the settlement at Glenbrook (where four great saw mills +were in constant operation so long as weather permitted), and +the stage-road from Placerville to Virginia City demanded +stopping-stations, as Myers, Yanks, Rowlands and Lakeside. + +But to-day, while the commercial operations have largely ceased, the +scenic attractions of Lake Tahoe and its region have justified the +erection of over twenty resorts and camps, at least two of them +rivaling in extent and elaborateness of plant any of the gigantic +resort hotels of either the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, the others +varying in size and degree, according to the class of patronage they +seek. That these provisions for the entertainment of travelers, yearly +visitors, and health seekers will speedily increase with the years +there can be no doubt, for there is but one Lake Tahoe, and its lovers +will ultimately be legion. Already, also, it has begun to assert +itself as a place of summer residence. Fifteen years ago private +residences on Lake Tahoe might have been enumerated on the fingers of +the two hands; now they number as many hundreds, and the sound of +the hammer and saw is constantly heard, and dainty villas, bungalows, +cottages, and rustic homes are springing up as if by magic. + +_Then_ Lake Tahoe was comparatively hard to reach. _Now_, +the trains of the _Southern Pacific_ and the _Lake Tahoe +Railway and Transportation Company_ deposit one on the very edge of +the Lake easier and with less personal exertion than is required to +go to and from any large metropolitan hotel in one city to a similar +hotel in another city. + +It is almost inevitable that in such a book as this there should be +some repetition. Just as one sees the same peaks and lakes, shore-line +and trees from different portions of the Lake--though, of course, at +slightly or widely differing angles--so in writing, the attention of +the reader naturally is called again and again to the same scenes. But +this book is written not so much with an eye to its literary quality, +as to afford the visitor to Lake Tahoe--whether contemplative, actual, +or retrospective--a truthful and comprehensive account and description +of the Lake and its surroundings. + +It will be observed that in many places I have capitalized the common +noun Lake. Whenever this appears it signifies Lake Tahoe--the chief of +all the lakes of the Sierras. + +While it is very delightful to sit on the veranda or in the swinging +seats of the Tavern lawn, or at the choice nooks of all the resorts +from Tahoe City completely around the Lake, it is not possible to +write a book on Lake Tahoe there. One must get out and feel the +bigness of it all; climb its mountains, follow its trout streams; +ride or walk or push one's way through its leafy coverts; dwell in the +shade of its forests; row over its myriad of lakes; study its geology, +before he can know or write about Tahoe. + +This is what I have done. + +And this is what I desire to urge most earnestly upon my reader. Don't +lounge around the hotels all the time. Get all you want of that kind +of recreation; then "go in" for the more strenuous fun of wandering +and climbing. Go alone or in company, afoot or horseback, only go! +Thus will Tahoe increase the number of its devoted visitants and my +object in writing these pages be accomplished. + +[Illustration: Signature] + +George Wharton James + +TAHOE TAVERN, June 1914. + +[Illustration: PANORAMA FROM SOUTH END FALLEN LEAF LAKE. +Captions along top edge of illustration: Angora Peak--Glen +Alpine--Mt. Tallac--Rubicon Peaks--Fallen Leaf Lake] + +[Illustration: PANORAMA FROM SOUTH END FALLEN LEAF LAKE. +Captions along top edge of illustration: Mt. Tallac--Rubicon +Peaks--Fallen Leaf Lake--Lake Tahoe] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + Introduction + I Why "the Lake of the Sky"? + II Frémont and the Discovery of Lake Tahoe + III The Indians of Lake Tahoe + IV Indian Legends of the Tahoe Region + V The Various Names of Lake Tahoe + VI John Le Conte's Physical Studies of Lake Tahoe + VII How Lake Tahoe Was Formed + VIII The Glacial History of Lake Tahoe + IX The Lesser Lakes of the Tahoe Region and How They Were Formed + X Donner Lake and Its Tragic History + XI Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River + XII By Rail to Lake Tahoe + XIII The Wishbone Automobile Route to and Around Lake Tahoe + XIV Tahoe Tavern + XV Trail Trips in the Tahoe Region + To Watson's Peak and Lake + To Squaw Valley, Granite Chief Peak, Five Lakes + and Deer Park Springs + To Ellis Peak + XVI Camping Out Trips in the Tahoe Region + To Hell Hole and the Rubicon River + XVII Historic Tahoe Towns + XVIII By Steamer Around Lake Tahoe + XIX Deer Park Springs + XX Rubicon Springs + XXI Emerald Bay and Camp + XXII Al-Tahoe + XXIII Glen Alpine Springs + XXIV Fallen Leaf Lake and Its Resorts + XXV Lakeside Park + XXVI Glenbrook and Marlette Lake + XXVII Carnelian Bay and Tahoe Country Club + XXVIII Fishing in the Lakes of the Tahoe Region + XXIX Hunting at Lake Tahoe + XXX The Flowers of the Tahoe Region + XXXI The Chaparral of the Tahoe Region + XXXII How to Distinguish the Trees of the Tahoe Region + XXXIII The Birds and Animals of the Tahoe Region + XXXIV The Squaw Valley Mining Excitement + XXXV The Frémont Howitzer and Lake Tahoe + XXXVI The Mount Rose Observatory + XXXVII Lake Tahoe in Winter _Written by Dr. J.E. Church, Jr., + University of Nevada_. +XXXVIII Lake Tahoe as a Summer Residence + XXXIX The Tahoe National Forest + XL Public Use of the Waters of Lake Tahoe + +APPENDIX + + A Mark Twain at Lake Tahoe + B Mark Twain and the Forest Rangers + C Thomas Starr King at Lake Tahoe + D Joseph LeConte at Lake Tahoe + E John Vance Cheney at Lake Tahoe + F The Resorts of Lake Tahoe + +[Illustration: TAHOE TAVERN, LAKE TAHOE, CALIF.] + +[Illustration: STEAMER TAHOE OFF CAVE ROCK, NEVADA SIDE, LAKE TAHOE] + + + + +THE LAKE OF THE SKY +LAKE TAHOE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHY "THE LAKE OF THE SKY"? + + +Lake Tahoe is the largest lake at its altitude--twenty-three miles +long by thirteen broad, 6225 feet above the level of the sea--with but +one exception in the world. Then, too, it closely resembles the sky +in its pure and perfect color. One often experiences, on looking +down upon it from one of its many surrounding mountains, a feeling of +surprise, as if the sky and earth had somehow been reversed and he was +looking down upon the sky instead of the earth. + +And, further, Lake Tahoe so exquisitely mirrors the purity of the sky; +its general atmosphere is so perfect, that one feels it is peculiarly +akin to the sky. + +Mark Twain walked to Lake Tahoe in the early sixties, from Carson +City, carrying a couple of blankets and an ax. He suggests that his +readers will find it advantageous to go on horseback. It was a hot +summer day, not calculated to make one of his temperament susceptible +to fine scenic impressions, yet this is what he says: + + We plodded on, two or three hours longer, and at last the Lake + burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand + three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by + a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft full three + thousand feet higher still. It was a vast oval, and one would + have to use up eighty or a hundred good miles in traveling around + it. As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly + photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely be + the fairest picture the whole earth affords! + +And there you have it! Articulate or inarticulate, something like this +is what every one thinks when he first sees Tahoe, and the oftener +he sees it, and the more he knows it the more grand and glorious it +becomes. It is immaterial that there are lakes perched upon higher +mountain shelves, and that one or two of them, at equal or superior +altitudes, are larger in size. Tahoe ranks in the forefront both for +altitude and size, and in beauty and picturesqueness, majesty and +sublimity, there is no mountain body of water on this earth that is +its equal. + +Why such superlatives in which world-travelers generally--in fact, +invariably--agree? There must be some reason for it. Nay, there are +many. To thousands the chief charm of Lake Tahoe is in the exquisite, +rare, and astonishing colors of its waters. They are an endless source +of delight to all who see them, no matter how insensible they may be, +ordinarily, to the effect of color. There is no shade of blue or +green that cannot here be found and the absolutely clear and pellucid +quality of the water enhances the beauty and perfection of the tone. + +One minister of San Francisco thus speaks of the coloring: + + When the day is calm there is a ring around the Lake extending + from a hundred yards to a mile from the shore which is the most + brilliant green; within this ring there is another zone of the + deepest blue, and this gives place to royal purple in the + distance; and the color of the Lake changes from day to day and + from hour to hour. It is never twice the same--sometimes the blue + is lapis lazuli, then it is jade, then it is purple, and when the + breeze gently ruffles the surface it is silvery-gray. The Lake + has as many moods as an April day or a lovely woman. But its + normal appearance is that of a floor of lapis lazuli set with a + ring of emerald. + +The depth of the water, varying as it does from a few feet to nearly +or over 2000 feet, together with the peculiarly variable bottom of the +Lake, have much to do with these color effects. The lake bottom on a +clear wind-quiet day can be clearly seen except in the lowest depths. +Here and there are patches of fairly level area, covered either with +rocky bowlders, moss-covered rocks, or vari-colored sands. Then, +suddenly, the eye falls upon a ledge, on the yonder side of which the +water suddenly becomes deep blue. That ledge may denote a submarine +precipice, a hundred, five hundred, a thousand or more feet deep, and +the changes caused by such sudden and awful depths are beyond verbal +description. + +Many of the softer color-effects are produced by the light colored +sands that are washed down into the shallower waters by the mountain +streams. These vary considerably, from almost white and cream, to +deep yellow, brown and red. Then the mosses that grow on the massive +bowlders, rounded, square and irregular, of every conceivable size, +that are strewn over the lake bottom, together with the equally varied +rocks of the shore-line, some of them towering hundreds of feet above +the water--these have their share in the general enchantment and +revelry of color. + +Emerald Bay and Meek's Bay are justly world-famed for their +triumphs of color glories, for here there seem to be those peculiar +combinations of varied objects, and depths, from the shallowest to the +deepest, with the variations of colored sands and rocks on the bottom, +as well as queer-shaped and colored bowlders lying on the vari-colored +sands, that are not found elsewhere. The waving of the water gives a +mottled effect surpassing the most delicate and richly-shaded marbles +and onyxes. Watered-silks of the most perfect manufacture are but +childish and puerile attempts at reproduction, and finest Turkish +shawls, Bokhara rugs or Arab sheiks' dearest-prized Prayer Carpets are +but glimmering suggestions of what the Master Artist himself has here +produced. + +There are not the glowing colors of sunrises and sunsets; but they are +equally sublime, awe-inspiring and enchanting. There are Alpine-glows, +and peach-blooms and opalescent fires, gleams and subtle suggestions +that thrill moment by moment, and disappear as soon as seen, only to +be followed by equally beautiful, enchanting and surprising effects, +and with it all, is a mobility, a fluidity, a rippling, flowing, +waving, tossing series of effects that belong only to enchanted +water--water kissed into glory by the sun and moon, lured into softest +beauty by the glamour of the stars, and etheralized by the quiet and +subtle charms of the Milky Way, and of the Suns, Comets and Meteors +that the eye of man has never gazed upon. + +There is one especially color-blessed spot. It is in Grecian Bay, +between Rubicon Point and Emerald Bay. Here the shore formation is +wild and irregular, with deep holes, majestic, grand and rugged rocks +and some trees and shrubbery. Near the center of this is a deep hole, +into which one of the mountain streams runs over a light-colored sandy +bottom where the water is quite shallow. Around are vari-colored trees +and shrubs, and these objects and conditions all combine to produce +a mystic revelation of color gradations and harmonies, from emerald +green and jade to the deepest amethystine or ultra-marine. When the +wind slightly stirs the surface and these dancing ripples catch the +sunbeams, one by one, in changeful and irregular measure, the eyes are +dazzled with iridescences and living color-changes covering hundreds +of acres, thousands of them, as exquisite, glorious and dazzling +as revealed in the most perfect peacock's tail-feathers, or +humming-bird's throat. Over such spots one sits in his boat +spell-bound, color-entranced, and the ears of his soul listen to color +music as thrilling, as enchanting as melodies by Foster and Balfe, +minuets by Mozart and Haydn, arias by Handel, nocturnes and serenades +by Chopin and Schumann, overtures by Rossini, massive choruses +and chorals by Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn, fugues by Bach, and +concertos by Beethoven. + +The blue alone is enough to impress it forever upon the observant +mind. Its rich, deep, perfect splendor is a constant surprise. One +steps from his hotel, not thinking of the Lake--the blue of it rises +through the trees, over the rocks, _everywhere_, with startling +vividness. Surely never before was so large and wonderful a lake of +inky blue, sapphire blue, ultra-marine, amethystine richness spread +out for man's enjoyment. And while the summer months show this in all +its smooth placidity and quietude, there seems to be a deeper blue, +a richer shade take possession of the waves in the fall, or when its +smoothness is rudely dispelled by the storms of winter and spring. + +So much for the color! + +Yet there are those who are devoted to Lake Tahoe who seldom speak +of the coloring of its waters. Perhaps they are fascinated by its +fishing. This has become as world-famed as its colors. Thousands, +hundreds of thousands, of the most gamey and delicately-flavored trout +are caught here annually, both by experts and amateurs. The Federal +and State governments, and private individuals yearly stock the main +Lake and the hundred and one smaller lakes of the region with the +finest species of trout obtainable, and the results fully justify the +labor and expense. + +To the mountain-lover the Tahoe region is an earthly paradise. One +summer I climbed over twenty peaks, each over nine thousand feet +high, and all gave me glimpses of Tahoe. Some of them went up close to +11,000 feet. + +Are you an admirer of Alpine, nay, _High Sierran_, trees? You +will find all the well-known, and several rare and entirely new +species in this region. This field alone could well occupy a student, +or a mere amateur tree-lover a whole summer in rambling, climbing, +collecting and studying. + +And as for geology--the Grand Canyon of Arizona has afforded me +nature reading material for nearly three decades and I am delighted +by reading it yet. Still I am free to confess the uplift of these +high-sweeping Sierras, upon whose lofty summits + + The high-born, beautiful snow comes down, + Silent and soft as the terrible feet + Of Time on the mosses of ruins; + +the great glacial _cirques_, with their stupendous precipices +from which the vast ice-sheets started, which gouged, smoothed, +planed and grooved millions of acres of solid granite into lake-beds, +polished domes and canyon walls and carried along millions of tons of +rock debris to make scores of lateral and terminal moraines; together +with the evidences of uplift, subsidence and volcanic outpouring of +diorite and other molten rocks, afford one as vast and enjoyable a +field for contemplation as any ordinary man can find in the Grand +Canyon. + +But why compare them? There is no need to do so. Each is supreme in +its own right; different yet compelling, unlike yet equally engaging. + +Then there are the ineffable climate of summer, the sunrises, the +sunsets, the Indians, the flowers, the sweet-singing birds, the +rowing, in winter the snow-shoeing, the camping-out, and, alas! I must +say it--the hunting. + +Why man will hunt save for food is beyond me. I deem it that every +living thing has as much right to its life as I have to mine, but I +find I am in a large minority among a certain class that finds at Lake +Tahoe its hunting Mecca. Deer abound, and grouse and quail are quite +common, and in the summer of 1913 I knew of four bears being shot. + +Is it necessary to present further claims for Lake Tahoe? Every new +hour finds a new charm, every new day calls for the louder praise, +every added visit only fastens the chains of allurement deeper. For +instance, this is the day of athletic maids, as well as men. We find +them everywhere. Very well! Lake Tahoe is the physical culturist's +heaven. + +In any one of its score of camps he may sleep out of doors, on the +porch, out under the pines, by the side of the Lake or in his tent +or cottage with open doors and windows. At sunrise, or later, in his +bathing suit, or when away from too close neighbors, clothed, as +dear old Walt Whitman puts it, "in the natural and religious idea of +nakedness," the cold waters of the Lake invite him to a healthful and +invigorating plunge, with a stimulating and vivifying swim. A swift +rub down with a crash towel, a rapid donning of rude walking togs and +off, instanter, for a mile climb up one of the trails, a scramble over +a rocky way to some hidden Sierran lake, some sheltered tree nook, +some elevated outlook point, and, after feasting the eyes on the +glories of incomparable and soul-elevating scenes, he returns to camp, +eats a hearty breakfast, with a clear conscience, a vigorous appetite +aided by hunger sauce, guided by the normal instincts of taste, all of +which have been toned up by the morning's exercise--what wonder that +such an one radiates Life and Vim, Energy and Health, Joy and Content. + +Do you know what the lure must be when a busy man, an active man, +an alert man, a man saturated with the nervous spirit of American +commercial life, sits down in one of the seats overlooking the Lake, +or spreads out his full length upon the grass, or on the beds of +Sierran moss, which make a deliciously restful cushion, and stays +there! He does nothing; doesn't even look consciously at the blue +waters of the Lake, on the ineffable blue of the sky, or the rich +green of the trees or the glory of the flowers--he simply sits or +sprawls or lies and, though the influence is different, the effect is +the same as that expressed in the old hymn: + + My soul would ever stay, + In such a frame as this, + And sit and sing itself away, + To everlasting bliss. + +There's the idea! Calm, rest, peace, bliss. Those are what you get +at Lake Tahoe. And with them come renewed health, increased vigor, +strengthened courage, new power to go forth and seize the problems +of life, with a surer grasp, a more certain touch, a more clearly and +definitely assured end. + +There are some peculiarities of Lake Tahoe that should be noted, +although they are of a very different character from the foolish and +sensational statements that used to be made in the early days of its +history among white men. A serious advertising folder years ago sagely +informed the traveling public as follows: "A strange phenomenon in +connection with the Truckee River is the fact that the Lake from which +it flows (Tahoe) has no inlet, so far as any one knows, and the lake +into which it flows (Pyramid Lake, Nevada), has no outlet." + +[Illustration: MT. TALLAC IN STORM. LAKE TAHOE, CAL.] + +[Illustration: THE PICTURESQUE TRUCKER RIVER, NEAR LAKE TAHOE] + +How utterly absurd this is. Lake Tahoe has upward of a hundred feeders, +among which may be named Glenbrook, the Upper Truckee, Fallen Leaf +Creek, Eagle Creek, Meek's Creek, General Creek, McKinney Creek, Madden +Creek, Blackwood Creek, and Ward Creek, all of these being constant +streams, pouring many thousands of inches of water daily into the Lake +even at the lowest flow, and in the snow-melting and rainy seasons +sending down their floods in great abundance. + +To many it is a singular fact that Lake Tahoe never freezes over +in winter. This is owing to its great depth, possibly aided by the +ruffling and consequent disturbance of its surface by the strong +northeasterly winter winds. The vast body of water, with such +tremendous depth, maintains too high a temperature to be affected +by surface reductions in temperature. Experiments show that the +temperature in summer on the surface is 68 degrees Fahr. At 100 feet +55 degrees; at 300 feet 46 degrees; at 1506 feet 39 degrees. + +Twenty years ago the thermometer at Lake Tahoe registered 18 degrees +F. _below zero_, and in 1910 it was 10 degrees F. below. Both +these years Emerald Bay froze over. Perhaps the reason for this is +found in the fact that the entrance to the bay is very shallow, and +that this meager depth is subject to change in surface temperature, +becoming warmer in summer and colder in winter. This narrow ridge once +solidly frozen, the warmth of the larger body of water would have no +effect upon the now-confined smaller body of Emerald Bay. Once a firm +hold taken by the ice, it would slowly spread its fingers and aid in +the reduction of the temperature beyond, first producing slush-ice, +and then the more solid crystal ice, until the whole surface would be +frozen solid. + +An explanation of the non-freezing of the main Lake has been offered +by several local "authorities" as owing to the presence of a number of +hot springs either in the bed of the Lake or near enough to its shores +materially to affect its temperature. But I know of few or no "facts" +to justify such an explanation. + +When I first visited Lake Tahoe over thirty years ago I was seriously +and solemnly informed by several (who evidently believed their own +assertions) that, owing to the great elevation of the Lake, the +density of the water, etc., etc., it was impossible for any one to +swim in Lake Tahoe. I was assured that several who had tried had +had narrow escapes from drowning. While the utter absurdity of the +statements was self-evident I decided I would give myself a practical +demonstration. To be perfectly safe I purchased a clothes-line, then, +hiring a row-boat, went as far away from shore as was desirable, +undressed, tied one end of the rope around the seat, the other around +my body, and--jumped in. I did not sink. Far from it. I was never more +stimulated to swim in my life. My ten or fifteen feet dive took me +into colder water than I had ever experienced before and I felt as +if suddenly, and at one fell swoop, I were flayed alive. Gasping for +breath I made for the boat, climbed in, and in the delicious glow that +came with the reaction decided that it was quite as important to +feel of the temperature of lake water before you leaped, as it was +to render yourself safe from sinking by anchoring yourself to a +clothesline. + +But I would not have my reader assume from the recital of this +experience that Lake Tahoe is always too cold for swimming. Such is +not the case. Indeed in June, July, August and September the swimming +is delightful to those who enjoy "the cool, silver shock of the plunge +in a pool's living water," that Browning's _Saul_ so vividly +pictures for us. Hundreds of people--men, women and children--in +these months indulge in the daily luxury, especially in the coves and +beaches where the water is not too deep, and the sun's ardent rays woo +them into comfortable warmth. + +After a warm day's tramp or ride over the trails, too, there is +nothing more delicious than a plunge into one of the lakes. A short, +crisp swim, a vigorous rub down, and a resumption of the walk or ride +and one feels _fit_ enough to conquer a world. + +It can be imagined, too, what a lively scene the Lake presents in the +height of the season, when, from the scores of hotels, resorts, camps, +private residences, fishermen's camps, etc.; fishing-boats, row-boats, +launches, motor-boats, and yachts ply to and fro in every direction, +unconsciously vying with each other to attract the eye of the +onlooker. The pure blue of the Lake, with its emerald ring and varying +shades of color, added to by the iridescent gleam that possesses the +surface when it is slightly rippled by a gentle breeze, contrasting +with the active, vivid, moving boats of differing sizes, splashed with +every conceivable color by the hats and costumes of the occupants--all +these conspire to demand the eye, to enchain the attention, to +harmlessly hypnotize, as it were, those who sit on the shore and look. + +And when is added to this the spontaneous shouts and shrieks of +delight that the feminine "fishermen" give when they are successful +and make a catch, the half-frenzied and altogether delighted +announcements thereof, the whole-hearted or the half-jealous, +half-envious return-congratulations, while now and then the large +steamer, _Tahoe_, or an elegant private yacht, as the Tevis's +_Consuelo_, crosses the scene, one may partially but never fully +conceive the joy and radiant happiness, the satisfaction and content +that Lake Tahoe inspires and produces. + +Lake Tahoe covers about 190 square miles, and its watershed is about +500 square miles. The boundary line between Nevada and California +strikes the Lake on the northern border at the 120th meridian, and +a point at that spot is called the State Line Point. The latitude +parallel of this northern entrance is 39° 15". The boundary line goes +due south until about 38° 58" and then strikes off at an oblique angle +to the southeast, making the southern line close to Lakeside Park, a +few miles east of the 120th meridian. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRÉMONT AND THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE TAHOE + + +Like so many other great discoveries that were to have an important +effect upon the lives of countless numbers of people, the discovery +of Lake Tahoe was accidental. Nor did its finder comprehend the vast +influence it was to possess, not only upon the residents of California +and Nevada, but upon the travel-loving and sight-seeing portion of the +population of the whole world. + +John C. Frémont, popularly acclaimed "the pathfinder," was its +discoverer, on the 14th day of February, 1844. In the journal of his +1843-44 expedition he thus records the first sight of it: + + Accompanied by Mr. Preuss, I ascended to-day the highest peak + to the right from which we had a beautiful view of a mountain + lake at our feet, about fifteen miles in length, and so nearly + surrounded by mountains that we could not discover an outlet. + +It cannot be deemed out of place in these pages, owing to the +significance of the discovery by Frémont, to give a brief account of +the exploration and its purposes, in the carrying out of which Tahoe +was revealed to the intrepid and distinguished explorer. + +Fortunately for us, Frémont left a full story of his experiences in +the Nevada country, complete in detail, and as fresh and vivid as if +but written yesterday. This account, with illuminating Introduction, +and explanatory notes by James U. Smith, from whose pioneer father +Smith Valley is named, was republished in the _Second Biennial +Report of the Nevada Historical Society_, from which, with the +kind permission of the secretary, Professor Jeanne Elizabeth Wier, the +following extracts are made. + +Frémont had already made his first exploration of the Rocky Mountains +and South Pass in the summer of 1842. It was in this expedition that, +standing on the highest peak of the Rockies, he looked down into +the vast area beyond, known as the Great Basin, comprising with its +mountain ranges the whole western portion of the continent of North +America. This he determined to explore, and it was on this second +expedition that Lakes Pyramid and Tahoe, the Truckee River, etc., were +discovered. + +Later, Frémont made his third western journey, that in which he +came into conflict with the Mexican officials of California, became +governor of California, and was finally placed under arrest by General +Kearny, and taken back to Washington to be tried for mutiny. The +results of that unfortunate Kearny conflict are well known. + +At the official close of the dispute he made his fourth expedition +and finally his fifth, all of which are fully treated in Smucker's and +Bigelow's _Life of Frémont_. + +To return now to the second expedition. In the words of Mr. Smith: + + The object of the expedition was purely for the purpose of + exploring and otherwise getting scientific information about + the great territory between the Missouri frontier and the + Pacific Ocean. Emigrants were making their way westward to + the new Oregon Territory, and hunters and trappers had been + visiting portions of that region. Farther north the fur + companies had their posts and did a regular business with the + trappers and Indians. But little was known about the regions + further south, and especially the great territory between the + Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountain chains, and that little was + freely adulterated with fiction. + + Great Salt Lake was supposed to be a very strange and + wonderful lake, the islands of which were covered with woods + and flowers, through which roamed all kinds of game, and whose + waters were sucked down in a great awe-inspiring whirlpool + into an underground passage under the mountains and valleys + to the distant sea. Another myth, or rather pair of myths, in + which geographers placed sufficient faith to give a place on + the maps of the time, was the great Buenaventura River, and + that semi-tropical Mary's Lake, the waters from which found + their way through the Sierra Nevadas to San Francisco Bay. + Mary's Lake was supposed to be a body of water such as a + traveler dreams about, whose clear waters were bordered by + meadows ever green, a place on whose shores he could pitch his + tent and cast aside all thought or care of the morrow. Frémont + counted on this lake as a place where he could recuperate + and make ready for a final dash eastward across the unknown + country to the Rocky Mountains and thence home to the + Mississippi River. Contrast these anticipations with the + hardships and fears he encountered while groping his way + through the Black Rock Desert, north of Pyramid Lake. + + But Frémont was a good leader followed by courageous men, and + disappointments did not make weaklings of either him or his + men. His party, on leaving Missouri, consisted of thirty-nine + men--Creoles, Canadian-Frenchmen, Americans, a German or two, + a free negro and two Indians. Charles Preuss was Frémont's + assistant in topography, and it is likely that he made his + sketches, several of which were published in the original + report. Another member of the party, and one who joined it + in the Rocky Mountains and is of special interest to us, was + Christopher Carson, commonly known as "Kit" Carson. Frémont + speaks of him in very friendly and flattering terms. At the + time of the meeting with Carson, he says: "I had here + the satisfaction to meet our good buffalo hunter of 1842, + Christopher Carson, whose services I considered myself + fortunate to secure again." On another occasion, when Carson + had successfully performed a responsible errand, he says: + "Reaching St. Vrain's Fort ... we found ... my true and + reliable friend, Kit Carson." Frémont left Kansas City, Mo., + May 29, 1843. + + His general route was along the _old_ "Oregon Trail," + then the _new_ "Oregon Trail," but at many places his + route was different. He followed up the Kansas River instead + of the Platte. But he crossed the Rocky Mountains over the + South Pass, which is that of the Union Pacific Railroad, + and was common to the Oregon Trail and the emigrant road to + California. During nearly the whole journey to Oregon + Frémont divided his party. One part he placed in charge of + Fitzpatrick. This consisted of the carts with the bulk of the + supplies and about half of the men. The other part consisted + of a mounted party with packhorses and the howitzer. Frémont, + of course, took charge of the latter party, for, traveling + light as it did, he was able to make detours covering country + he wished to explore, always, however, using the other train + as a base of supplies. The course of the other party was + generally along the emigrant road to Oregon. + + After crossing the Rocky Mountains, Frémont went south with + his party to explore Great Salt Lake. Thence he returned north + again to the emigrant road, which then followed in a general + way the Snake or Lewis River to the Columbia, with the + exception of the great bend in northeastern Oregon which was + traversed by a shorter route. Along the bank of the Columbia + the road followed to the Mission Station at the Dalles, + or great narrows of the river. At this point many of the + emigrants transferred their baggage to barges and floated + with the current to their destination on the Willamette River. + Others continued by land down the river. Frémont's division + reached the Dalles November 4th. Fitzpatrick's train did not + come in until the 21st. The latter left his carts at the mouth + of the Walla Walla River according to Frémont's orders; and, + after making pack-saddles, transferred what was left of his + baggage to the backs of his mules for the trip down to the + Dalles. In the meantime Frémont, with Preuss and two of the + other men, had gone down to Fort Vancouver in canoes. This was + the headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company for the West. Here + supplies for the return journey were obtained. + + Having transported these supplies up to the Dalles in barges + propelled by Indians, he was ready to take up the final + preparation for the homeward journey. It is best to let him + describe these preparations in his own words. He says: + + "The camp was now occupied in making the necessary + preparations for our homeward journey, which, though homeward, + contemplated a new route, and a great circuit to the south and + southeast, and the exploration of the Great Basin between the + Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. + + "Three principal objects were indicated, by report, or by + maps, as being on this route, the character or existence of + which I wished to ascertain, and which I assumed as landmarks, + or leading points, on the projected line of return. The first + of these points was the Tlamath Lake, on the tableland between + the head of Fall River (this is now called by its French name, + the Des Chutes River), which comes to the Columbia, and the + Sacramento, which goes to the Bay of San Francisco, and from + which lake a river of the same name makes its way westwardly + direct to the ocean. + + "This lake and river are often called Klamet, but I + have chosen to write the name according to the Indian + pronunciation. The position of this lake, on the line of + inland communication between Oregon and California; its + proximity to the demarcation boundary of latitude 42 deg.; its + imputed double character of lake, or meadow, according to + the season of the year; and the hostile and warlike character + attributed to the Indians about it;--all make it a desirable + object to visit and examine. From this lake our course was + intended to be about southeast, to a reported lake called + Mary's, at some days' journey in the Great Basin; and thence, + still on southeast, to the reputed Buenaventura River, which + has a place in so many maps, and countenanced the belief + of the existence of a great river flowing from the Rocky + Mountains to the Bay of San Francisco. From the Buenaventura + the next point was intended to be in that section of the Rocky + Mountains which includes the heads of Arkansas River, and of + the opposite waters of the California Gulf; and thence down + the Arkansas to Bent's Fort, and home. + + "This was our projected line of return--a great part of it + absolutely new to geographical, botanical, and geological + science--and the subject of reports in relation to lakes, + rivers, deserts, and savages, hardly above the condition of + mere wild animals, which inflamed desire to know what this + _terra incognita_ really contained. It was a serious + enterprise, at the commencement of winter, to undertake the + traverse of such a region, and with a party consisting only + of twenty-five persons, and they of many nations--American, + French, German, Canadian, Indian, and colored--and most of + them young, several being under twenty-one years of age. + + "All knew that a strange country was to be explored, and + dangers and hardships to be encountered; but no one blenched + at the prospect. On the contrary, courage and confidence + animated the whole party. Cheerfulness, readiness, + subordination, prompt obedience, characterized all; nor + did any extremity or peril and privation, to which we were + afterward exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine + spirit of this brave and generous commencement. + + "The course of the narrative will show at what point, and for + what reasons, we were prevented from the complete execution + of this plan, after having made considerable progress upon it, + and how we were forced by desert plains and mountain ranges, + and deep snows, far to the south and near to the Pacific + Ocean, and along the western base of the Sierra Nevada; where, + indeed, a new and ample field of exploration opened itself + before us." + +From these quotations it is evident that Frémont had no idea of +entering California at this time. He was simply driven to it by +circumstances over which he had no control. + +Leaving the Dalles, Frémont followed up the Des Chutes River to its +headwaters in southeastern Oregon, thence he crossed over the divide +to the waters of the Klamath, which he followed southward to what is +known as Klamath Marsh. This he called "Klamath Lake." + +Now started the hunt for Mary's Lake and the San Buenaventura River. +The party came down through southeastern Oregon into Nevada, where +they camped on the night of December 26, in Coleman Valley, on what +is called Twelve-Mile Creek, and about eleven miles from the present +California line. It may be noted here that at that time the parallel +between Nevada and California on the south and Oregon on the north, +was the southern boundary of the territory of the United States. +Frémont was, therefore, about to cross into Mexican territory. + +He then progressed southward through what are now Washoe, Humboldt, +Churchill and Lyon counties, and over the California line into Mono +County, back again into Douglas, and thence over the mountains south +of Lake Tahoe, but did not find Mary's Lake, nor the places upon which +he relied to recruit his animals and give rest to his party. He did, +however, find Pyramid Lake. This being the body of water into which +the Truckee River flows, and the Truckee being the only outlet to Lake +Tahoe, it is well that this portion of the account be given in full. +Frémont and Carson were on ahead. The day was January 10, 1843. +Frémont writes: + + Leaving a signal for the party to encamp, we continued our way + up the hollow, intending to see what lay beyond the mountain. + The hollow was several miles long, forming a good pass (some + maps designate this pass as Frémont Pass, others as San Emidio + Canyon), the snow deepened to about a foot as we neared the + summit. Beyond, a defile between the mountains descended + rapidly about two thousand feet; and, filling up all the lower + space, was a sheet of green water, some twenty miles broad + (Pyramid Lake). It broke upon our eyes like the ocean. The + neighboring peaks rose high above us. One peak, on the eastern + side of the lake, rises nearly forty-four hundred feet above + the lake, and on the side (toward which Frémont was looking) + one peak rises 4925 feet above the lake; and we ascended one + of them to obtain a better view. + + The waves were curling in the breeze, and their dark-green color + showed it to be a body of deep water. For a long time we sat + enjoying the view, for we had become fatigued with mountains, + and the free expanse of moving waves was very grateful. It was + set like a gem in the mountains, which, from our position, + seemed to inclose it almost entirely. At the western end it + communicated with the line of basins we had left a few days + since; and on the opposite side it swept a ridge of snowy + mountains, the foot of the great Sierra. Its position at first + inclined us to believe it Mary's Lake, but the rugged mountains + were so entirely discordant with descriptions of its low rushy + shores and open country, that we concluded it some unknown body + of water, which it afterwards proved to be. + + On January 13th we followed again a broad Indian trail along + the shore of the lake to the southward. For a short space we + had room enough in the bottom; but, after traveling a + short distance, the water swept the foot of the precipitous + mountains, the peaks of which are about 3000 feet above the + lake. The trail wound around the base of these precipices, + against which the water dashed below, by a way nearly + impracticable for the howitzer. During a greater part of the + morning the lake was nearly hid by a snowstorm, and the waves + broke on the narrow beach in a long line of foaming surf, + five or six feet high. The day was unpleasantly cold, the wind + driving the snow sharp against our faces; and, having advanced + only about twelve miles, we encamped in a bottom formed by a + ravine, covered with good grass, which was fresh and green. + + We did not get the howitzer into camp, but were obliged to + leave it on the rocks until morning. The next morning the snow + was rapidly melting under a warm sun. Part of the morning was + occupied in bringing up the gun; and, making only nine miles, + we encamped on the shore, opposite a very remarkable rock in + the lake, which had attracted our attention for many miles. + It rose, according to our estimate, 600 feet above the water, + and, from the point we viewed it, presented a pretty exact + outline of the great pyramid of Cheops. Like other rocks, + along the shore, it seemed to be incrusted with calcareous + cement. This striking feature suggested a name for the lake, + and I called it Pyramid Lake; and though it may be deemed by + some a fanciful resemblance, I can undertake to say that + the future traveler will find much more striking resemblance + between this rock and the pyramids of Egypt + than there is between them and the object from which they take + their name.... + + The elevation of this lake above the sea is 4890 feet, being + nearly 700 feet higher than the Great Salt Lake, from which + it lies nearly west, and distant about eight degrees of + longitude. The position and elevation of this lake make it an + object of geographical interest. It is the nearest lake to the + western rim, as the Great Salt Lake is to the eastern rim + of the Great Basin which lies between the base of the Rocky + Mountains and the Sierra Nevada--and the extent and character + of which, its whole circumference and contents, it is so + desirable to know. + +The Indians then directed him to a river of which he says: + + Groves of large cottonwood, which we could see at the mouth, + indicated that it was a stream of considerable size, and, at + all events, we had the pleasure to know that now we were in a + country where human beings could live. Reaching the groves, + we found the inlet of a large fresh-water stream (the Truckee + River), and all at once were satisfied that it was neither + Mary's River nor the waters of the Sacramento, but that we had + discovered a large interior lake, which the Indians informed + us had no outlet. It is about 35 miles long, and, by the mark + of the water-line along the shore, the spring level is about + 12 feet above its present waters. + + In the meantime, such a salmon-trout feast as is seldom seen + was going on in our camp, and every variety of manner in + which fish could be prepared--boiled, fried and roasted in + the ashes--was put into requisition; and every few minutes an + Indian would be seen running off to spear a fresh one. Whether + these Indians had seen whites before, we could not be certain; + but they were evidently in communication with others who had, + as one of them had some brass buttons, and we noticed several + other articles of civilized manufacture. We could obtain from + them but little information about the country. They made on + the ground a drawing of the river, which they represented as + issuing from another lake in the mountains three or four days + distant, in a direction a little west of south; beyond which, + they drew a mountain; and further still, two rivers; on one of + which they told us that people like ourselves traveled. + +They still wandered to the south, passing near where Dayton, Nevada, +now is, and reaching Bridgeport and Mono and Twin Lakes. Here they +struck north and west again and soon had to leave the howitzer. +Passing through Antelope Valley they reached Markleeville in deep +snow, passed Graver's Springs, entered Faith and Hope Valleys, and +here it was Frémont gained his view of Lake Tahoe. It was February 14, +1844. He says: + + The dividing ridge of the Sierra is in sight from this + encampment. Accompanied by Mr. Preuss, I ascended to-day the + highest peak to the right [probably Stevens Peak, 10,100 feet + above sea-level], from which we had a beautiful view of a + mountain lake at our feet, about fifteen miles in length, and + so entirely surrounded by mountains that we could not discover + an outlet [Lake Tahoe]. We had taken with us a glass, but + though we enjoyed an extended view, the valley was half + hidden in mist, as when we had seen it before. Snow could + be distinguished on the higher parts of the coast mountains, + eastward, as far as the eye could extend. It ranged over a + terrible mass of broken snowy mountains, fading off blue in + the distance. The rock composing the summit consists of very + coarse, dark, volcanic conglomerate; the lower parts appeared + to be of a slaty structure. The highest trees were a few + scattered cedars and aspens. From the immediate foot of the + peak, we were two hours reaching the summit, and one hour and + a quarter in descending. The day had been very bright, still, + and clear, and spring seemed to be advancing rapidly. While + the sun is in the sky the snow melts rapidly, and gushing + springs cover the face of the mountain in all exposed places, + but their surface freezes instantly with the disappearance of + the sun. + + I obtained to-night some observations, and the result from + these, and others made during our stay, gives for the latitude + 38 deg. 41' 57", longitude 120 deg. 25' 57" [the correct + longitude for this place is 119 deg. 58'], and rate of the + chronometer 25.82. + +The next night they encamped on the headwaters of a little creek, +where at last the water found its way to the Pacific. The following +morning they started early. + + The creek acquired a regular breadth of about 20 feet, and we + soon began to hear the rushing of water below the icy surface, + over which we traveled to avoid the snow; a few miles below + we broke through, where the water was several feet deep, and + halted to make a fire and dry our clothes. We continued a few + miles further, walking being very laborious without snowshoes. + + I was now perfectly satisfied that we had struck the stream on + which Mr. Sutter lived; and, turning about, made a hard push, + and reached the camp at dark. Here we had the pleasure to find + all the remaining animals, 57 in number, safely arrived at + the grassy hill near camp; and here, also, we were agreeably + surprised with the sight of an abundance of salt. Some of the + horse-guard had gone to a neighboring hut for pine nuts, + and discovered unexpectedly a large cake of very white, fine + grained salt, which the Indians told them they had brought + from the other side of the mountain; they used it to eat with + their pine nuts, and readily sold it for goods. + + On the 19th, the people were occupied in making a road and + bringing up the baggage; and, on the afternoon of the next + day, February 20, we encamped, with the animals and all the + _materiel_ of the camp, on the summit of the pass [Carson + Pass, at the head of Hope Valley] in the dividing ridge, 1000 + miles by our traveled road from the Dalles to the Columbia. + + The people, who had not yet been to this point, climbed the + neighboring peak to enjoy a look at the valley. + + The temperature of boiling water gave for the elevation of the + encampment, 9338 feet above the sea. + + This was 2000 feet higher than the South Pass in the Rocky + Mountains, and several peaks in view rose several thousand + feet still higher. Thus, at the extremity of the continent, + and near the coast, the phenomenon was seen of a range + of mountains still higher than the great Rocky Mountains + themselves. This extraordinary fact accounts for the Great + Basin, and shows that there must be a system of small lakes + and rivers scattered over a flat country, and which the + extended and lofty range of the Sierra Nevada prevents from + escaping to the Pacific Ocean. Latitude 38 deg. 44', longitude + 120 deg. 28'. [This latitude is that of Stevens Peak, the + highest in that ridge, 10,100 feet, and of course he did not + go over the top of that peak, when Carson Pass, 1600 feet + lower, was in plain view; this pass is the lowest one visible + from the route on which they had come; another pass much lower + leads out from the other or northern end of Hope Valley, but + was not visible from their trail. The summit of Carson Pass + is approximately latitude 38 deg. 41' 50"; longitude 119 deg. + 59'. Frémont's longitude readings are unreliable, owing to + error in his chronometer.] + +From this point on, following the south fork of the American River, +sixteen days from the summit landed Frémont and his party at Sutler's +Fort, March 8. Of their arrival Frémont says: + + A more forlorn and pitiable sight than they presented cannot + well be imagined. They were all on foot, each man weak and + emaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaciated + as themselves. They had experienced great difficulty in + descending the mountains, made slippery by rains and melting + snows, and many horses fell over precipices and were killed, + and with some were lost the packs they carried. Among these + was a mule with the plants which we had collected since + leaving Fort Hall, along a line of 2000 miles of travel. Out + of 67 horses and mules, with which we commenced crossing the + Sierra, only 33 reached the valley of the Sacramento, and they + only in a condition to be led along. + +In concluding this chapter it should not be overlooked that on his +maps of the expedition of 1843-44 Frémont called the mountain lake he +had discovered "Lake Bonpland." He says in a private letter: "I gave +to the basin river its name of Humboldt and to the mountain lake the +name of his companion traveler, Bonpland, and so put it in the map of +that expedition." + +[Illustration: A Washoe Indian _Campoodie_, Near Lakeside Park, +Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Washoe indians at Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: The 'Signal Code' Design] + +Amadé Bonpland was born at Rochelle, France, in 1773. He was educated +as a physician but became a noted botanist. He accompanied Humboldt +to America, and subsequently became a joint author with the great +traveler and scientist of several valuable works on the botany, +natural-history, etc., of the New World. He was detained as a prisoner +for nearly ten years by Dictator Francia of Paraguay to prevent him +from, or to punish him for, attempting to cultivate the maté, or +Paraguay tea, in that country. He died in 1858 at Montevideo, the +Capital of Uruguay, in South America. + +His name as applied to Lake Tahoe is practically unknown, save to the +curious investigator or historian. Other names given by Frémont have +"stuck" to this day, amongst them being Humboldt, Walker, Owen, Kern +and Carson rivers, Pyramid and Walker lakes, etc. + +The vicissitudes of the naming of Lake Tahoe is of sufficient interest +to occupy a whole chapter, to which the reader is referred. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE INDIANS OF LAKE TAHOE + + +Since Lake Tahoe was the natural habitat of one of the most +deliciously edible fishes found in the world, the Indians of the +region were bound, very early in their history here, to settle upon +its shores. These were the Paiutis and the Washoes. The former, +however, ranging further east in Nevada, were always regarded as +interlopers by the latter if they came too near to the Lake, and there +are legends current of several great struggles in which many lives +were lost, where the Washoes battled with the Paiutis to keep them +from this favored locality. + +Prior to the coming of the emigrant bands in the early 'forties of the +last century, the only white men the Indians ever saw were occasional +trappers who wandered into the new and strange land. Then, the +beautiful Indian name, soft and limpid as an Indian maiden's eyes, was +_Wasiu_--not the harsh, Anglicized, _Washoe_. Their range +seemed to be from Washoe and Carson valleys on the east in winter, up +to Tahoe and over the Sierras for fishing and hunting in the summer. +They never ventured far westward, as the Monos and other mountain +tribes claimed the mountain regions for their acorns and the game +(deer, etc.), which abounded there. + +While in the early days of the settlements of whites upon their lands +the Washoes now and again rose in protest, and a few lives were lost, +in the main they have been a peaceable and inoffensive tribe. The +Paiutis were far more independent and warlike, placing their yoke upon +the weaker tribe. Indeed, when I first talked with the older Washoes +and Paiutis thirty years ago they were full of stories of big wars +between themselves. They showed me rocks near to the present town of +Verdi, on the line of the Southern Pacific, on which their ancestors +had made certain inscriptions which they interpreted as warnings to +the Paiutis not to dare trespass beyond that sign, and the Paiutis had +similar notices inscribed upon bowlders near to their boundary lines. +As a result of one of their fights the Washoes were forbidden the use +of horses, and it is only since the whites have exercised control that +the weaker tribe has dared to disregard this prohibition. + +To-day they number in the region of six hundred men, women and +children. On account of their nomadic habits it is impossible to +secure a complete census. + +In appearance they are heavy and fat, though now and again a man of +fine, muscular form and good height is found. The women have broad, +shapeless figures and clumsy, deliberate movements. The older they +get the more repulsive and filthy they become. While young some of the +women have pleasing, intelligent and alert faces, while children of +both sexes are attractive and interesting. But with them as with all +aboriginal people who have absorbed the vices and none of the virtues +of the whites, the Washoes are fast losing power, vigor and strength +by disease and dissipation. The smoke of the _campoodie_ fire is +also ruinous to their eyes and ophthalmia is prevalent among them. It +is no uncommon thing to see a man or woman entirely blind. + +The old-time methods of clothing have entirely disappeared. When I +first knew them it was not unusual to find an old Indian wrapped in +a blanket made of twisted rabbit-skins, but I doubt if one could be +found to-day. The white man's overalls, blouse and ordinary coat and +vest for the men, with calico in variegated colors for the women, seem +to have completely taken the place of their own primitive dress. A +pair of moccasins, however, now and again, may be found in use at a +dance or on some special occasion. + +They still paint and tattoo their faces, hands and wrists, in lines, +triangles and circles. On their bodies also stripes of irregular +design and varying colors are often used, all having a symbolic +meaning originally, now lost, however, at least to all the younger +members of the tribe. Painting the face has a definite and useful +purpose. It softens the skin and prevents the frosts of winter from +cracking it. + +Their dwellings are of the rudest character, mere brush shacks in +summer, and in winter, nondescript structures of brush, old boards, +railroad ties, tin cans, barrel-staves, old carpet, canvas, anything +that will sustain a roof and keep out wind, rain and as much of the +cold as possible. Their name for this structure is _campoodie_. +Of course there is no pretense of sanitation, cleanliness or domestic +privacy. The whole family herds together around the smoking fire, thus +early beginning the destruction of their eyesight by the never-ceasing +and irritating smoke. + +Their native food consists of fish, the products of the chase, which +include deer, antelope, an occasional bear, rabbits, squirrels and +even coyotes, mountain-lions and wildcats, with acorns, manzanita +berries, currants and the seeds of wild peaches and the various +grasses, together with a large assortment of roots. While they gather +and eat pine nuts, they generally save them for purposes of barter or +sale. Their carrying baskets contain a good wheelbarrow load and are +called _mo-ke-wit_. + +They are great gamblers, their chief game being a guessing contest, +where sides are chosen, the fortune of each side depending on its +ability to guess who holds a certain decorated stick. Men and women +alike play the game, though generally the sexes separate and play by +themselves. Quiet chanting or singing often accompanies the game. All +alike smoke the cigarette. + +[Illustration: Dat-so-la-le, the artistic Washoe basket maker] + +[Illustration: One of Dat-so-la-le's masterpieces, 'Our Hunters' +design] + +[Illustration: 'Our Ancestral Hunters' design] + +[Illustration: Washoe baskets made by Dat-so-la-le, 'Happy Homes' +design] + +Of their religious beliefs little can be said. The fact is their +simple nature-worship and the superstitions connected with it have +been abolished, practically, by their association with the whites, and +we have given them nothing as substitutes. As Mrs. W.W. Price says in +a letter to me: + + In several talks with Susan and Jackson, after the death + of Susan's sister, I endeavored to find out some of their + religious beliefs. But these talks were not very satisfactory. + Neither one knew what he did believe. Their old Indian + religion--whatever it may have been--seemed to have passed, + and the religion of the white man had not taken very deep + hold. + + While Susan felt that she must cut her hair short and burn all + her sister's things and do just so much wailing each day to + drive off the evil spirits (on the occasion of her sister's + death), she took most _comfort_ in doing as "white woman" + do--putting on a black dress. + + The most interesting result of my talks with Jackson was the + following ghost story, which he told me to show that Indians + sometimes did live again after death. His grandmother had told + him the story and had heard it herself from the man to whom it + had happened. It is as follows: "An Indian woman died, + leaving a little child and her husband. The latter spent the + accustomed four days and nights watching at her grave without + food or drink. On the fourth night the grave suddenly opened + and the woman stepped out before him. 'Give me my child,' said + she. The man said not a word but went quickly and brought the + little child. The woman did not speak but took the child and + suckled it. Then holding it close in her arms, she began to + walk slowly away. The man followed her, but he did not speak. + On, on they went, through forest and meadow, up hill and down + dale. + + "By and by the man made a movement as though he would take + hold of her to stop her. But the woman warded him off with a + wave of her hand. 'Touch me not,' she said. 'If you touch me, + you must die too!' She stood and suckled the child once more, + then laid him gently in her husband's arms. 'Go home,' she + said, and faded from his sight. + + "Home he went with the child, full of awe and fear. + + "A few days afterwards the child died, though there was + nothing the matter with it. The man, however, lived to be very + old." + + Jackson was not sure whether he believed this story or not. + But his manner of telling it indicated that it was very real + to him. + +Now and again near Tallac one may see one of the dances of the +Washoes. Though war is past with them they still occasionally indulge +in their War Dance and its consequent Scalp Dance. There are not more +than ten or a dozen of the old warriors still living who actually +engaged in warfare in the old days, and these are too old and feeble +to dance. But as the young men sing and throw their arms and limbs +about in the growing frenzy of the arousing dance, and the tom-tom +throbs its stimulating beat through the air, these old men's eyes +flash, and their quavering voices become steady and strong in the +excitement, and they live in the conflicts of the past. + +Another of the dances that is still kept up is the Puberty Dance. +Many white people have seen this, but not having any clew to its +significance, it seemed absurd and frivolous. When a girl enters the +door of young womanhood the Washoe idea is to make this an occasion +for developing wiriness, strength, and vigor. Contrary to the method +of the white race, she is made, for four consecutive days, to exert +herself to the utmost. She must walk and climb mountains, ride and +run, and when night comes on the fourth day, she and her mother, and +as many of the tribe as are available, begin to dance at sunset and +keep it up all night. The girl herself is designated by a long and +slim pole which she carries in her hand, and which towers above her +head. By her side stands her mother. The leader of the dance begins a +song, a simple, rhythmic, weird chant, the words of which are archaic +and have no significance to the Indians of to-day, but merely give +syllables to hang the tune upon. As the leader sings he slowly moves +his legs in a kind of oblique walk. The young men take his hand +and follow. The women unite, and a rude circle is made, generally, +however, open, at the place where the dance-leader stands. After once +or twice around, the leader moves first one foot, then the other, +sideways, at the same time jogging his body up and down in fairly +rapid movement, in perfect time to his song. In a few moments all are +bobbing up and down, with the onward side-shuffling movement, and the +real dance is on. This continues according to the will of the leader. +When his voice gives a sudden drawling drop that dance ends. There are +a few minutes for relaxation and breath, and then he lines out a +new song, with new syllables, and a new dance begins. This continues +practically all night, the dance-leader showing his memory power or +his composing genius by the number of new songs he introduces. I have +counted as many as thirty to forty different tunes on one occasion. + +Just at sunrise the mother of the girl fetches one or two buckets of +cold water, while the maiden undresses. The water is suddenly dashed +over her "to make her vigorous and strong," and the dance comes to an +end. + +This rude and rough treatment, in the early days, was made to have all +the potency and sanctity of a religious rite. The reason for it was +clear. The Washoes were surrounded by people with whom they were +often at war. Indian warfare takes no cognizance of sex or its special +disabilities. In order that their women should not be regarded as +_hors de combat_, or enfeebled, at such times and thus hamper the +movement of the tribe in case a sudden flight was needed, the shamans +or medicine men taught that strength, activity and vigor were just as +possible at that time as any other. "Those Above" commanded that it +be so. Hence all the sanctity and seriousness of a religious rite was +thrown around these dances, and though the Indians of to-day have +lost many of their old customs, this is one that is still rigorously +observed. + +Another singular custom that still obtains is where, after the birth +of a first child, the _husband_ and _father_ is required to +fast and work arduously from the day of the birth until the child's +navel shrivels off. This is to make him strong and vigorous, so +that he may be able to give as much strength to his second and later +children as he did to the first. + +As soon as a girl matures she is marriageable. Several and simple are +the ways in which a Washoe youth shows his preference and desire +for marriage. Equally simple are the girl's signs of acceptance or +rejection. There is no ceremony as the White Race understands that +term, though to the Indian there is everything that is necessary to +make the rite as binding as it is to his white brother and sister. + +Though polygamy has always been practiced, the custom to-day limits +the wives to two, and only a few men have more than one wife. Where +plural wives are taken they are generally sisters. There is little +intermarriage among other tribes. Though it occasionally occurs it is +fiercely frowned upon and all parties are made to feel uncomfortable. + +Prostitution with the whites and Chinese is not uncommon, and children +born of such relationship have just as good a standing as those born +in wedlock. The Indian sees no sense in punishing an innocent child +for what it is in no way responsible for. He frankly argues that only +a silly fool of a white man or woman would do so cruel and idiotic a +thing. + +Children are invariably welcomed and made much of at birth, though it +is seldom a Washoe woman has more than four or five babies. They are +always nursed by the mother, and not often weaned until they are four +or five years old. + +In the early days the labor of the sexes was clearly defined. The man +was the hunter and the warrior, the guardian of the family. The +woman was the gatherer of the seeds, the preparer of the food, the +care-taker of the children. To-day there is not much difference in the +division of labor. The breaking down of all the old customs by contact +with the whites has made men and women alike indifferent to what work +they do so that the family larder and purse are replenished thereby. + +In the early days the Washoes were expert hunters of bear and deer. +They used to cross over into the mountains of California for +this purpose, and the women would accompany them. A camp would be +established just below the snow line, and while the men and youths +went out hunting the women gathered acorns. My informant, an old +Indian, was a lad of eighteen at the time of which he spoke. In effect +he said: "One day while I was out I found the tracks of a bear which +I followed to a cave. Then I went to camp. But we Indians are not +like you white men. You would have rushed in and shouted to everybody, +'I've found a bear's track!' Instead I waited until night and when all +the squaws had gone to bed I leisurely told the men who were chatting +around the camp fire. They wished to know if I knew where the cave +was, and of course I assured them I could go directly to it. The next +morning early my uncle quietly aroused me, saying, 'Let's go and get +that bear.' I was scared but had to go. When we arrived he took some +pieces of pitch-pine from his pocket, and lighting them, gave me one, +and told me to stand at the mouth of the cave ready to shoot the +bear, while he went in and drove it out. I didn't like the idea, but I +daren't confess my cowardice, for he at once went in. In a few moments +I heard terrific growlings and roarings and then the bear rushed out. +I banged away and he fell, and I was proud to tell my uncle, when he +came out, that I had killed the bear. 'No, you didn't,' said he; 'your +shots all went wild. Here's the shot that killed him,' and sure enough +it was a shot of a different size from that of my gun." + +"Another time when I found a bear in a cave he said, 'You must go in +this time and drive out the bear.' I was sure I couldn't do it, but he +insisted, and thrusting the lighted sticks into my hands bade me crawl +in, keeping my eyes fixed the while, as soon as I saw them, upon those +of the bear. I was to keep my back to the wall, and when I got well +in, was to dash the light behind the bear and give a yell. I crawled +in all right and soon got to where I could just about stand up, but +when I saw the bear and he began to growl I was scared and backed out +pretty quick and said I didn't have light enough. My uncle grabbed the +sticks from me, called me a coward, rushed in, and as the bear dashed +out shot and killed it." + +It is generally thought that Indians are good shots, but the testimony +of the hunters of the Tahoe region is that the Washoes are very +poor shots. One hunter tells me he has seen an Indian take as fine +a standing shot as one need desire, again and again, and miss every +time. On one occasion he was hunting deer with an Indian. The latter +had gone up a steep slope, when, suddenly, he began to fire, and kept +it up until fourteen shots were fired. Said he: "I was sure he must +have a bunch of deer and was making a big killing, and hurried up to +his side. When I got there I found he had sent all those shot after +one buck, and had succeeded only in breaking its leg. With one shot +I killed the wounded animal, went up to it and was about to cut its +throat, when he begged me not to do so, asserting that if I cut the +deer's throat that way I should never get a standing shot again, the +deer would always be able to smell me." + +This is a quaint superstition. The Indians believe that though the +particular deer be slain it has the power of communicating with living +deer and informing them of the peculiar "smell" of the hunter. Hence, +as in the olden days they had no guns, only bows and arrows, and were +compelled to creep up much nearer to their prey than is needful with +a gun, anything that seemed to add to the deer's power of scenting the +hunter must studiously be avoided. + +And, although the gun had rendered the old methods of hunting +unnecessary, this particular precaution still persisted and had all +the force of established custom. + +My friend then continued: "Another superstition I found out as I +cleaned this deer. I cut out the paunch, the heart and the liver and +offered them to the Indian. He refused them, saying it was food fit +only for women, children and old men. If he were to eat them he would +never have luck in hunting again." + +This superstition is common with many Indian tribes. It is based upon +the idea that one becomes like that which he eats. If one eats the +heart of a mountain-lion or bear he becomes daring and courageous. +But to eat the heart of the timid deer is to make oneself timorous and +cowardly. + +As soon after puberty as possible a boy is taken out by his father +or uncle on a hunt. Prior to that time he is not allowed to go. But +before he can eat of the product of the chase he must himself kill a +deer with large enough horns to allow him to crawl through them. + +A friend of mine was out with a Washoe Indian whose boy was along +on his first hunting expedition. They hunted a deer for nearly three +days, but as soon as they found tracks the father, after studying them +awhile, said: "This a little fellow. No good. He not big enough"--thus +signifying to his son that his horns were not large enough to allow +him to crawl through, hence it was no use following the animal +further. + +The Indian is quite sure that deer can smell him and know when he +is on the hunt. He becomes skillful in detecting and following their +tracks, and knows just how to circle around their hiding-place and +suddenly walk in upon them. My friend, referred to above, who is a +great hunter, was once out with a Washoe. They had had three "bad" +days, when suddenly they found a deer's track. It was fresh, but when +they came to the hole where he had lain down to rest, though the place +was quite warm, the deer had gone. The Indian at once exclaimed: "That +deer smell me. I must get rid of the Indian smell." Accordingly he +scooped out a hole in the ground, heated a number of rocks in it, +then, spreading fir boughs over them, lay down over the rocks and +took a "fir-sweat" for fully ten to fifteen minutes. As he arose he +exclaimed: "Deer no smell me to-morrow," and my friend said he did no +longer smell like an Indian, but like burnt fir wood. + +Turning to the Indian, however, he said: "You're all right, but how +about me?" to which the reply instantly came: "You all right. Deer +only smell Indian. He not smell white man." + +Chief among the women's work is the making of baskets. The best +Washoe basket makers are not surpassed by any weavers in the world. +At Tallac, Fallen Leaf, Glen Alpine and several other resorts +basket-makers may be found, preparing their splints, weaving or trying +to sell their baskets. + +Not far from Tahoe Tavern, about a quarter a mile away in the +direction of Tahoe City, is the little curio store of A. Cohn, whose +headquarters are in Carson City, the capital of the State of Nevada. +Mr. and Mrs. Cohn hold a unique position in their particular field. +Some twenty-five years ago they purchased a beautiful basket from a +Washoe Indian woman, named _Dat-so-la-le_ in Washoe, or Luisa +Keyser in American, for she was the wife of Charley Keyser, a general +roustabout Indian, well known to the citizens of Carson. Luisa was a +large, heavy, more than buxom--literally a fat,--ungainly squaw. But +her fingers were under the perfect control of a remarkably artistic +brain. She was not merely an artist but a genius. She saw exquisite +baskets in her dreams, and had the patience, persistence and +determination to keep on weaving until she was able to reproduce them +in actuality. She also was possessed by an indomitable resolution to +be the maker of the finest baskets of the Washoe tribe. While she was +still a young woman she gained the goal of her ambition, and it was +just about this time that she offered one of her baskets to Mr. Cohn. +He saw it was an excellent basket, that the shape was perfect, the +color-harmony superior to any he had seen before, the stitch small, +fine, and even, the weave generally perfect, the design original and +worked out with artistic ability. He saw all this, yet, because it +was Indian work, and the woman was a rude, coarse mountain of flesh, +a feminine Falstaff, of a lower order of beings and without Falstaff's +geniality and wit, he passed the basket by as merely worth a dollar +or two extra, and placed it side by side with the work of other +Washoe and Paiuti squaws. A Salt Lake dealer came into the store soon +thereafter and saw this basket. "How much?" he asked. The price was +given--rather high thought Mr. Cohn--. "Twenty-five dollars!" "I'll +take it!" came the speedy response. + +A month or two later Cohn received a photograph from the purchaser, +accompanied by a letter. "You know the basket, herewith photographed, +which I purchased from you. Have you any more by the same weaver, or +of as good a weave? If so, how many, and at what price? Wire reply at +my expense." + +Then Mr. Cohn awoke, and he's been awake ever since. He wired his +list of Dat-so-la-le's baskets, but he has had no reply, and that was +twenty-five years ago. He then made arrangements with Dat-so-la-le +and her husband. He provides them house, food, clothing and a certain +amount of cash yearly, and he takes all the work Luisa makes. Every +basket as soon as begun is noted as carefully as every breeding of a +thoroughbred horse or dog. Also the date the basket is finished. It +is then numbered and photographed and either offered for sale at a +certain price, which is never changed, or is put in the safety-deposit +vault of the bank, to await the time when such aboriginal masterpieces +will be eagerly sought after by the growingly intelligent and +appreciative of our citizens, for their museums or collections, as +specimens of work of a people--the first American families--who will +then, possibly, have passed away. The photographs, here reproduced, +are of some of Dat-so-la-le's finest work. + +[Illustration: Susie, the Washoe indian basket maker, and narrator +of indian legends] + +[Illustration: Jackson, the Washoe indian, telling traditions of +his people about Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake] + +[Illustration: Lake Tahoe near Tahoe Tavern, looking south] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +INDIAN LEGENDS OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +As all students of the Indian are well aware these aboriginal and +out-of-door dwellers in the forests, canyons, mountains, valleys, and +on lake and seashores are great observers of Nature, and her many +and varied phenomena. He who deems the Indian dull, stolid and +unimpressionable, simply because in the presence of the White Race he +is reserved and taciturn, little knows the observing and reflecting +power hidden behind so self-restrained a demeanor. Wherever natural +objects, therefore, are of a peculiar, striking, unusual, unique, +or superior character, it is reasonable to assume that the Indians, +living within sight of them, should possess myths, legends, folk-lore, +creation-stories or the like in connection with their creation, +preservation, or present-day existence. This is found exemplified +in the legends of Havasupais, Hopis, Navajos and Wallapais as to +the origin of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, of the Yohamities, Monos, +Chuc-Chances, and others, of the distinctive features of the Yosemite +Valley, the Hetch-Hetchy, etc. + +While the present-day, half-educated, half-civilized Washoes are by no +means representatives of the highest elements of natural enlightenment +among the Indian race, they do possess legends about Tahoe, the +following being the most interesting. + +All these stories, except the last, were gathered by Mrs. W.W. +Price of Fallen Leaf Lodge, from Indians with whom she has been very +familiar for several years, named Jackson and his wife Susan. There +has been no attempt to dress them up in literary fashion. They are +given as near to the Indians' mode of telling as possible. They are +wonderfully different from certain stories recently published in +current magazines, professing to be Legends of Lake Tahoe. These +latter are pure fiction, and to those familiar with Indian thought, +reveal their origin in the imaginative brain of white writers who have +but faint conceptions of Indian mentality. Mrs. Price is a graduate +of Stanford University, and took great pains to preserve the Indians' +exact mode of expression. As she herself writes: + + Long before the white man saw and wondered over the beauty of + Tahoe, theorizing over its origin and concocting curious tales + about its "unfathomable" depths, the Indians knew and loved + it. And as among all other peoples, legends have grown up to + account for every phenomenon of Nature, so among the Washoe + Indians stories about Tahoe have been handed down from + generation to generation. + + I do not vouch for these legends. The modern Indian too often + tells what he thinks you want to know,--if only you will cross + his hand with silver. But there are touches here and there + that make me feel that for the most part they are remnants of + very old legends. + + + THE ORIGIN OF TAHOE, FALLEN LEAF, AND OTHER LAKES + + Long, long ago, before the white man came to Nevada, there + lived in the meadow over beyond Glenbrook a good Indian. But + though he was good, he was much annoyed by the Evil Spirit, + who constantly interfered with all that he tried to do. + Finally, he determined that he must move away and get over + into the valleys of California. But when he tried to escape, + the Evil One was always there ready to trip him in some way or + other. + + In his trouble the Good Spirit came to his aid, giving him a + leafy branch which had certain magic qualities. He was + to start on his journey. If he saw the Evil One coming he was + to drop a bit of the branch and water would immediately + spring up. The Evil One could not cross water, and thus, being + delayed by going around, would give the Indian time to escape. + + The Indian made his way well along to where Tallac Hotel + now is, when, looking back, he saw the Evil One off in the + distance approaching with such strides that his heart was + filled with great fear. In his terror he tried to pluck a leaf + but it snapped off and he dropped almost his whole branch. + To his delight and relief the waters began to rise and soon + "Tahoe"--_Big Water_--lay between him and his enemy. + + Free-heartedly he hurried on his way up the canyon, but when + he reached the spot where the head of Fallen Leaf Lake lies, + he turned to reassure himself. Away off the Evil One was + advancing. A new terror filled his soul. In his hand there + remained of his magic branch only one little twig with a + single leaf on it. + + Plucking the leaf, he threw it down and watched it fall + waveringly through the air. As it touched earth the + waters again began to rise and "Doolagoga"--_Fallen + Leaf_--sprang into being and on its surface floated the + little leaf, as many leaves now float in the fall of the year. + + Turning, he sped up the ravine, dropping bits of his twig as + fear directed him, and in his path, Lily, Grass, and Heather + lakes came up to guard his way. + + At last he was over the crest of the mountain and found + himself safe in the long-wished-for Valley of California. + + + THE LEGEND OF THE TWO BROTHERS + + Once long ago in Paiuti-land, Nevada, there lived two + brothers. The older was a hunter and brought home much game. + His wife, whose name was Duck, used to cook this for him, but + she was very stingy to the younger brother, and often times he + was hungry. When he begged her for food, she scolded him and + drove him out of the _campoodie_, saying, "Got none for + you." + + One day when the older brother was off hunting Duck was + cleaning some fish. She had been very cross to Little + Brother, refusing to give him any food, and he was terribly + hungry. Presently he came creeping up behind her and when he + saw all the fish he became very angry. He took up a big club + and before Duck could turn around he hit her on the head and + killed her. Paying no attention to her dead body he cooked and + ate all the fish he wanted and then lay down in the sunshine + on a big rock and went fast asleep. + + By and by his Hunter Brother came home. Of course when he + found his wife dead, he was filled with great anger at his + young brother, though his anger was lessened when he thought + of his wife's cruelty. He shook him very roughly and said, "I + no like you any more! I go away. Leave you alone!" But Little + Brother begged, "Don't be angry! Don't be angry! Let's go far + away! I help you all the time! Don't be angry!" + + Gradually he persuaded the Hunter Brother to forgive him and + they started off together toward the "Big Water"--_Lake + Tahoe_. On the way the Hunter Brother taught the Little + Brother how to shoot with a bow and arrow. By the time they + reached the spot now known as Lakeside both their belts were + filled with squirrels that they had shot. + + At dusk they built a good fire and when there were plenty of + glowing coals, Hunter Brother dug a long hole, and filling it + with embers, laid the squirrels in a row on the coals covering + them all up with earth. + + He was tired and lay down by the fire to rest till the + squirrels should be cooked. With his head resting on his arms, + the warmth of the fire soothing him, he soon fell fast, fast + asleep. + + Little Brother sat by the fire and as the night grew darker, + he grew hungrier and hungrier. He tried to waken his brother, + but the latter seemed almost like one dead and he could + not rouse him. At last he made up his mind he would eat by + himself. Going to the improvised oven, he began to dig up + the squirrels, counting them as they came to light. One was + missing. Little Brother was troubled. + + "How that? My brother had so many, I had so many!"--counting + on his fingers--"One gone!" And he forgot how hungry he was as + he dug for the missing squirrel. + + All at once he came upon a bigger hole adjoining the cooking + hole. While he stood wondering what to do, out popped a great + big spider. + + "I'll catch you!" cried the spider. + + "No, you won't!" said the boy, and up he jumped and away he + ran, followed by the spider. They raced over stock and stone, + dodging about trees and stumbling over fallen logs for a long + time. At last Little Brother could run no more. The spider + grabbed him and carried him back to his hole, where he killed + him. + + It was almost daybreak when Hunter Brother awoke. He called + his brother to bring more wood, for the fire was almost out. + Getting no answer he went to look at the cooking squirrels. + + Greatly surprised to see them lying there all uncovered, + he, too, counted them. Discovering one gone, he thought his + brother must have eaten it and was about to eat one himself + when he saw the old spider stick his head out of the hole. + Each made a spring, but the Hunter Brother was the quicker and + killed the wicked spider with his knife. + + Carefully he now went into the spider's hole. There, stretched + out on the ground, lay Little Brother _dead_! Taking + him up in his arms, he carried him outside. Now this Hunter + Brother was a _medicine-man_ of great power, so he lay + down with Little Brother and breathed into his mouth and in a + few minutes he came back to life and was all right.[1] + + The Hunter Brother was very happy to have his Little Brother + alive again. He built up the fire and while they sat eating + their long-delayed meal Little Brother told all that had + happened to him. + +[Footnote 1: Susan who was telling this story offered no reason why +he had not restored Duck, his own wife, to life.] + + The sun was quite above the horizon before the meal was + finished, and soon Hunter Brother was anxious to be moving on, + so they took their way along the lake shore. On their way they + talked and laughed one with another and seemed to agree very + well, until they had gone around the lake and + reached where Tahoe City now is. Here they quarreled and the + Hunter Brother left Little Brother to return and go up the Big + Mountain--_Tallac_--where he had heard there were many + squirrels. After his departure, Little Brother decided to + follow him and get him to make friends again. So he trudged + along the lake shore until he came to Emerald Bay. + + There lying on the log at the edge of the lake, lay a + water-baby. It was asleep with its head resting on its arms + and its beautiful, sunshine-golden-hair was spread over it. + + "Oh," said Little Brother, "I'll get that beautiful + sun-shine-hair as a present for my brother!" So he crept very + softly down on the log, thinking to kill the water-baby before + it awoke. But he was not successful in this, for the creature + opened its eyes as he laid his hand on its hair, and a furious + fight ensued. Sometimes it seemed as though Little Brother + would be killed, but finally he was able to scalp the + poor water-baby and get possession of the beautiful + sunshine-golden-hair. Every one can see where this fight + occurred. The red hill near Emerald Bay stands as a memorial + of the struggle, for its color is caused by the blood of the + slain water-baby. + + Tucking his prize in his hunting shirt and hugging it close, + Little Brother now went on, murmuring to himself, "Oh, + my brother like this, my brother like this beautiful + golden-sunshine-hair!" + + But suddenly, as he was climbing upward, he noticed the water + lapping at his heels, and when he turned to see whence it + came, he found that the big lake behind him was rapidly + rising, and even as he stood wondering, it arose above his + ankles. + + Then he remembered what he had heard of revengeful + water-babies, but frightened though he was, he could not + bear to throw away his prize. However, he knew he must do + something, so he plucked out a few hairs from the scalp and + threw them into the ascending waves. For a minute the water + ceased to rise and he sped onward, but before long he felt the + water at his heels again, and knew that once more he must + gain a short respite by throwing out a few of the + golden-sunshine-hairs. + And ever and again he had to do this until at last he spied + his brother ahead of him. "Ah, brother," he cried, drawing the + scalp from his blouse, "see what a beautiful present I have + for you!" + + But when his brother turned toward him he saw only the angry, + rising waters, and rushing forward he snatched the beautiful + sunshine-golden-hair and cast it back into the waters, crying, + "How you dare meddle with water-babies? Don't you know water + surely come up and get you?" + + And poor Little Brother felt very sad; but the danger he + had been in seemed to have endeared him once more to Hunter + Brother and they stood arm-in-arm and watched the waters + recede. + + But there were hollows in the land and when the waters went + back they held the water and so were formed that chain of + lakes on the other side of Tallac and Emerald Bay, the Velmas, + Kalmia, Cascade, and others. + + The rest of the story is confused and full of repetitions. + The gist of it is that Little Brother was ever getting into + trouble from which Hunter Brother had to rescue him, for which + Little Brother was most grateful and would go off seeking for + a present to give to the Big Brother who was so kind to him. + + Once he got a young bear cub. He thought it was a dog. He + petted it and brought it to his brother as a hunting-dog. + + Finally, after Hunter Brother had made a first-class hunter + of Little Brother so that he could use his bow and arrows with + great success, they went down toward the Sacramento Valley + hunting deer. They followed a fine buck over hill and dale but + could not get a good shot at him. At last worn out by running + and suffering greatly, the Little Brother lay down and died. + When his brother found him, he did not attempt to bring him to + life again but buried him under a pile of rocks and leaves. + + + THE "WILD-GRUB" HOLE AT GARDNERVILLE + + Once upon a time there was an old Indian who lived over in + Hope Valley with his two grand-daughters. He was a mean old + man. He made the girls work very hard all day + long. They had to gather wild grass seeds and acorns and grind + them into flour all the time. The old man caught plenty of + fish and frogs which he took off for his own eating, but he + gave the girls none. + + One day he came in with a woodchuck skin and told the girls + to fill it with wild wheat flour. He did not tell them what + he wanted it for. When the skin was full he left the + _campoodie_ without a word as to where he was going. But + the bag leaked and a little stream of flour trickled out and + marked his path. He went away off to a lake where he caught + plenty of fish and frogs on which he feasted until he could + eat no more. Then he lay down by his fire and was soon fast + asleep. + + Meanwhile in the _campoodie_ the two girls were talking + about the old man's meanness. "He makes us work so hard and we + never have any fish to eat. He keeps it all himself," said the + older girl. + + "I wonder where he's gone now?" said the younger one, going to + the door-way and looking out. Suddenly she noticed the little + line of flour trailing off through the woods. "Ah, now I'll + find him!" And just calling to her sister that she would be + back soon, she darted off. + + It was dark when she came back weeping. She threw herself on + the ground outside the _campoodie_ and poured out her + story. She had found the old man lying there fast asleep, + gorged with fish. The remnants of his feast lay all about him. + She had not dared to waken him or speak to him, but coming + home, had made up her mind to run away and not work for the + mean old man any more. + + To this the sister agreed, and at daybreak they were scurrying + off through the forest. + + All day they traveled and when night came they were still in + the wilds far from any Indian camp. + + Worn out, they lay down under a great pine and looked up at + the stars. + + "Oh," said the older girl, "see that fine Star-man up there! + I'd like to marry him!" + + "Oh, no!" said the younger, "he belongs to me. I'd like to + marry him!" + + They lay there telling what each would do could she only marry + the Star-man, until they fell asleep. + When they awoke in the morning, lo, they found themselves + up in the sky, and the elder girl had a baby already--a + star-baby! At first the girls were very good to the star-baby + but it cried a great deal. One day the younger girl was very + cross and put it outside of the _campoodie_. The poor + baby cried all the more until the elder sister took pity on + it, but when she had fed it and it still cried, the younger + sister became very angry and told her sister to put that + "brat" outside. The sister was tired too, so she put the poor + baby outside. + + When the baby could not make them come to him, he got up and + went to find his grandfather, the Moon. He told him how mean + his mother and aunt were to him. The old Moon was very angry. + He took the star-baby by the hand and went tramping back + through the sky to find the cruel mother and her sister. + + Now, the girls had been getting rather tired of their + sky-_campoodie_ and they longed for their home on the + earth. They used to go to a hole in the sky and look down on + the earth, wishing they were there again. Indeed, at the time + the star-baby went off to find his grandfather, the Moon, they + were at the hole in the sky, amusing themselves by looking + through and indulging in vain regrets that they were no longer + there. + + "Oh, sister," suddenly said the elder, "there goes our old + grandfather! Poor old man! I wish we were with him! See, he's + carrying big bags of wild wheat-flour and acorns!" + + Just then the old Moon came tramping up, and the whole sky + trembled. The people on earth said it was thundering. He + grabbed the two girls by their hair and shaking them till they + were almost dead, he hurled them down through the hole. + + Down, down, they went, straight down to where their old + grandfather was walking along, little suspecting what was + coming. They both hit him and, coming as they did with such + force, they made a deep hole in the earth in which they were + almost buried. + + That hole is over by Gardnerville. In that hole Indians can + always find plenty of wild-grub--wild-wheat, wild potato, wild + acorn--plenty there. Snow very deep. No + difference. Always plenty wild grub there. I see that hole. I + believe that story! + + + THE ORIGIN OF THE DIFFERENT INDIAN TRIBES + + Long, long ago, away over in Paiuti-land there were some young + boys and girls playing. They played all sorts of games, but + they liked hand-ball best. And as they played, they sang songs + of gladness. + + There was one old woman, their grandmother, who would not play + with them. She had a little baby, her youngest grandchild, + whom she was trying to quiet, but the little one cried and + cried continuously. + + By-and-by the old woman heard a noise outside. She was + frightened and called to the young folks. "Some one's coming! + You better stop! Better hide! Maybe Evil One, devil, coming!" + + But the young folks paid no attention to her warning. They + kept on playing harder than ever. The old woman covered the + baby with a big basket and hid her own face in her shawl. + + Then the Evil One came in. All the young folks turned to see + who was coming in and as soon as they looked upon his face + they fell dead. Only the old woman and the baby were left; for + the Evil One did not see them. + + When he was gone, the old woman snatched up the baby and + hurried off down to the river. As she was hurrying along she + met an old man. + + "Where are you going?" said he. Then the old woman saw that it + was the Evil One himself. She was afraid but she did not want + him to know it. She kept the baby covered in the basket and + answered, "I'm going to the river to get wild potatoes!" + + "Where are all the girls?" asked the Evil One. + + "Oh, they are all over behind the big mountain, playing ball!" + + The Evil One went off to find them, because he thought there + were still some left, and the old woman quickly dug a big hole + and hid herself and the baby away in it. + + When the Evil One found that the old woman had told him a lie, + he was very angry. He came back and + hunted all day long till sundown for her that he might kill + her. But he could not find any trace of her. He finally went + home and then the old woman took the baby and hid on the top + of a big rock, over near where Sheridan now is. + + In the morning the Evil One came back to hunt further, but + without success. + + "I guess that the old woman is dead," said he, "or maybe she's + gone across the river." But the Evil One loses his power if he + touches water, so he dare not cross the river to follow her. + + The old woman watched him from the top of the rock. Many times + she feared lest he should find her, and she covered the baby + more closely. + + At last when he had given up the hunt, she saw him take a + great basket and set it down in the road. Into this basket + he put great bunches of elderberry roots, and as he put each + bunch in, he gave it a name--Washoe, Digger, Paiuti, and so + on. Then he put the lid on tightly and went off through the + forest. + + The old woman watched till the Evil One had gone. Creeping + quietly down, she came with the child--she was a little girl + now, not a wee baby any more--and sat down near the basket. + + Presently there was a murmuring in the basket. "Oh, + grandmother, what's that noise?" said the little girl. + + "Never mind," said the grandmother, "don't you touch the + basket!" + + But the little girl kept teasing, "Oh, grandmother, what's in + there?" + + And the old woman would say, "Don't you touch it!" + + The old woman turned her back just one minute and the little + girl slipped up and raised the lid ever so little. There was + a great whirring noise; the lid flew off and out came all + the Indians. Off through the air they flew--Washoes to Washoe + land; Diggers to Digger land; Paiutis to Nevada--each Indian + to his own home. + +The story given above is the one told by Jackson, but his wife, +Susan, tells the same story with these essential differences. In her +narrative there is no Evil One. The old woman scolded the young people +for playing, but they are not all killed. It is the old woman herself +who took a Paiuti water-bottle and after filling it with water, took +wild seeds and placed them in the bottle, naming them the different +Indian tribes. The seeds swelled in the water until they were as big +as eggs and out of these the Indians hatched like chickens, and began +to fight. It is the noise of the fighting that the baby hears. + +As in Jackson's story the baby lets them out, but it is the wind that +carries them off to their various homes. + + HOW THE INDIANS FIRST GOT FIRE + + The Indians were having a "big time" in a great log cabin. + All the birds were there too, for in those days the Indians, + birds, and animals could talk to each other. + + They were dancing all around the room and all were merry as + could be. They had a huge wooden drum and, as they passed + this, the dancers kicked it to make music. + + Now, among the birds who were there was a big blue-jay. He was + a very saucy fellow, just full of mean tricks. When he came to + the drum, he kicked it so hard that he broke it all to pieces. + Of course this caused a great commotion. Every one was so + provoked by his rudeness that they threw him out of the door. + + It was raining hard and the impudence was soon washed out of + Mr. Blue-Jay. He begged at the door in vain, and at last he + huddled up on the branch of a tree, thinking himself greatly + abused. + + As he sat there, suddenly, far off, he saw a strange light. + Now the Blue-Jay has an infinite amount of curiosity, so away + he flew to investigate, quite forgetting his troubles. + + It was fire which the Indian god had brought down to earth. + The Jay got a piece and soon came flying back to the great + cabin where the dance was still going on. + + When he called now at the door, saying that he had something + wonderful to show them, they knew that he was telling the + truth. They let him come in, crowding about him to see this + wonderful thing. They did not know what + to make of this strange new thing. Lest anything should happen + to it, they dug a hole and buried the fire most carefully. + + Tired out with the night's dancing the Indians all went off + to rest, leaving the birds to watch the precious fire. But + the birds were tired too, and it was not long before they were + fast asleep. All except the owl. He was wide awake and he, + being very wise, knew that the fire must be put in a safer + place. He went out and calling the yellow snake, the rat, and + the little "hummer" bird, he explained what he wanted them to + do. The snake was to worm his way in under the logs and wait + there till the hummer-bird brought him the fire. The rat was + to go in and chew all the birds' wings so that they should + not be able to catch the little hummer. They were all so fast + asleep that the rat was able to do this very easily. + + All went just as they planned. The snake took the fire and + hid a little spark of it in every buckeye tree. And there the + Indians found it when they needed it. For rubbing a piece of + cedar and buckeye together, they very quickly make the spark, + and produce fire. + +A LEGEND OF LAKE TAHOE + +The following legend was published some years ago in _Sunset +Magazine_. It was written by Miss Nonette V. McGlashan, who heard +it from a Washoe squaw. The story was told with strange gestures and +weird pathos: + + The ong was a big bird, bigger than the houses of the white + man. Its body was like the eagle's, and its wings were longer + than the tallest pines. Its face was that of an Indian, but + covered with hard scales, and its feet were webbed. Its nest + was deep down in the bottom of the Lake, out in the center, + and out of the nest rushed all the waters which fill the Lake. + There are no rivers to feed the Lake, only the waters from the + ong's nest. All the waters flow back near the bottom, in great + under-currents, and after passing through the meshes of the + nest are sent forth again. Every plant and bird and animal + that gets into these under-currents, and sometimes the great + trout that are swept into the net-like + nest are there held fast to furnish food for the ong. + + He ate everything, he liked everything, but best of all he + liked the taste of human flesh. No one ever heard or saw + anything of such poor mortals as were drowned in these waters, + for their bodies were carried to the ong's nest and no morsel + ever escaped him. Sometimes he would fly about the shores in + quest of some child or woman or hunter, yet he was a great + coward and was never known to attack any one in camp, or when + two or more were together. No arrow could pierce his feathers, + nor could the strongest spear do more than glance from the + scales on his face and legs, yet his coward's heart made him + afraid for his toes had no claws, and his mouth no beak. + + Late one fall, the Washoes were making their final hunt before + going to the valleys and leaving the Lake locked in its winter + snows. The chief's daughter was sixteen years old, and before + leaving the Lake he must select the greatest hero in the tribe + for her husband, for such had been the custom of the Washoe + chiefs ever since the tribe came out of the Northland. + Fairer than ever maiden had been was this daughter, and every + unmarried brave and warrior in the tribe wished that he had + performed deeds of greater prowess, that he might be certain + of winning the prize. That last night at the Lake, around the + big council fire, each was to recount to the chief the noblest + achievement of his life, and when all were heard the chief + would choose, and the women join the circle and the wedding + take place. For many years the warriors had looked forward to + this event, and the tribe had become famed because of acts + of reckless daring performed by those who hoped to wed the + chief's daughter. + + It was the morning of the final day and much game and great + stores of dried trout were packed ready for the journey. All + were preparing for the wedding festivities, and the fact that + no one knew who would be the bridegroom, among all that band + of warriors, lent intensest excitement to the event. All were + joyous and happy except the maiden and the handsome young + brave to whom she had given her heart. In spite of custom or + tradition her love had long since gone out to one whose feet + had been too young to press the war-path when last the tribe + gave battle to their hereditary foes, the + Paiutis. He never had done deed of valor, nor could he even + claim the right to sit with the warriors around the council + fire. All day long he had been sitting alone on the jutting + cliffs which overhang the water, far away from the laughter + and shouts of the camp, eagerly, prayerfully watching the + great Lake. Surely the Great Spirit would hear his prayer, yet + he had been here for days and weeks in unavailing prayer and + waiting. + + The afternoon was well-nigh spent and the heart of the young + brave had grown cold as stone. In his bitter despair he sprang + to his feet to defy the Great Spirit in whom he had trusted, + but ere he could utter the words his very soul stood still + for joy. Slowly rising from the center of the Lake, he saw the + ong. Circling high in the heavens, the monster swept now here, + now there, in search of prey. The young brave stood erect and + waited. When the ong was nearest he moved about slightly to + attract its notice. He had not long to wait. With a mighty + swoop, the bird dashed to earth, and as it arose, the young + brave was seen to be clasped fast in its talons. A great cry + of horror arose from the camp, but it was the sweetest note + the young brave had ever heard. The bird flew straight up into + the sky until Lake and forest and mountains seemed small and + dim. When it reached a great height it would drop its prey + into the Lake and let the current draw it to its nest. + Such was its custom, and for this the brave had prepared + by unwinding from his waist a long buckskin cord and tying + himself firmly to the ong's leg. The clumsy feet could not + grasp him so tightly as to prevent his movements. At last + the great feet opened wide, but the Indian did not fall. In a + mighty rage, the ong tried in vain to grasp him in his teeth, + but the strong web between the bird's toes sheltered him. + Again and again the bird tried to use his horrid teeth, and + each time his huge body would fall through the air in such + twistings and contortions that those who watched below stared + in bewilderment. But what the watchers could not see was that + every time the huge mouth opened to snap him, the young brave + hurled a handful of poisoned arrowheads into the mouth and + down the big throat, their sharp points cutting deep into the + unprotected flesh. The bird + tried to dislodge him by rubbing his feet together, but the + thong held firm. Now it plunged headlong into the Lake, but + its feet were so tied that it could not swim, and though it + lashed the waters into foam with its great wings, and though + the man was nearly drowned and wholly exhausted, the poison + caused the frightened bird such agony that it suddenly arose + and tried to escape by flying toward the center of the Lake. + The contest had lasted long and the darkness crept over the + Lake, and into the darkness the bird vanished. + + The women had been long in their huts ere the council fire + was kindled and the warriors gravely seated themselves in its + circle. No such trifling event as the loss of a young brave + could be allowed to interfere with so important an event, and + from most of their minds he had vanished. It was not so very + unusual for the ong to claim a victim, and, besides, the youth + had been warned by his elders that he should not go hunting + alone as had been his habit of late. + + But while the warriors were working themselves up into a fine + frenzy of eloquence in trying to remind the old chief of their + bygone deeds of daring, an Indian maiden was paddling a canoe + swiftly and silently toward the middle of the Lake. Nona, + the chief's daughter understood no more than the rest why her + lover had not been dropped into the Lake, nor why the ong had + acted so queerly, but she knew that she could die with her + lover. She took her own frail canoe because it was so light + and easy to row, though it was made for her when a girl, and + would scarcely support her weight now. It mattered nothing to + her if the water splashed over the sides; it mattered nothing + how she reached her lover. She kept saying his name over + softly to herself, "Tahoe! My darling Tahoe!" + + When the council was finished, the women went to her hut to + bid her come and hear the decision her father was about to + render. The consternation caused by her disappearance lasted + until the rosy dawn tinged the Washoe peaks and disclosed to + the astounded tribe the body of the ong floating on the + waters above its nest, and beside it an empty canoe. In the + foreground, and gently approaching the shore was the strangest + craft that ever floated on water! It was + one of the great ong's wings, and the sail was the tip of the + other wing! Standing upon it, clasped in each other's arms, + were the young brave, Tahoe, and the daughter of the chief. + In the shouts of the tribe, shouts in which warriors and women + and children mingled their voices with that of the chief, + Tahoe was proclaimed the hero of heroes! The decision was + rendered, but the ong's nest remains, and the drowned never + rise in Lake Tahoe. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE VARIOUS NAMES OF LAKE TAHOE + + +We have already seen that Frémont, the discoverer of Lake Tahoe, first +called it Lake Bonpland, after Humboldt's scientific co-traveler. +That name, however, never came in general use. When the great westward +emigration began it seemed naturally to be called by its Indian name, +Tahoe. + +In _Innocents Abroad_ Mark Twain thus petulantly and humorously +expresses his dislike of the name, Tahoe, and sarcastically defines +its meaning. + + "Sorrow and misfortune overtake the legislature that still + from year to year permits Tahoe to retain its unmusical + cognomen! Tahoe! It suggests no crystal waters, no picturesque + shores, no sublimity. Tahoe for a sea in the clouds; a sea + that has character, and asserts it in solemn calms, at times, + at times in savage storms; a sea, whose royal seclusion is + guarded by a cordon of sentinel peaks that lift their frosty + fronts nine thousand feet above the level world; a sea + whose every aspect is impressive, whose belongings are all + beautiful, whose lonely majesty types the Deity! + + "Tahoe means grasshoppers. It means grasshopper soup. It + is Indian, and suggestive of Indians. They say it is + Pi-ute--possibly it is Digger. I am satisfied it was named + by the Diggers--those degraded savages who roast their dead + relatives, then mix the human grease and ashes of bones with + tar, and 'gaum' it thick all over their heads and foreheads + and ears, and go caterwauling about the hills and call it + _mourning_. _These_ are the gentry that named the + Lake. + + "People say that Tahoe means 'Silver Lake'--'Limpid + Water'--'Falling Leaf.' Bosh! It means grasshopper soup, the + favorite dish of the Digger tribe--and of the Pi-utes as well. + It isn't worth while, in these practical times, for people to + talk about Indian poetry--there never was any in them--except + in the Fenimore Cooper Indians. But _they_ are an extinct + tribe that never existed. I know the Noble Red Man. I have + camped with the Indians; I have been on the warpath with them, + taken part in the chase with them--for grasshoppers; helped + them steal cattle; I + have roamed with them, scalped them, had them for breakfast. I + would gladly eat the whole race if I had a chance. + + "But I am growing unreliable." + +With all due deference to the wisdom--as well as the humor--of Mark +Twain as applied to Lake Tahoe, I emphatically disagree with him as to +the Indians of the Tahoe region, and also as to the name of the Lake. +Tahoe is quite as good-sounding a name as Como, Lucerne, Katrine or +Lomond. A name, so long as it is euphonious, is pleasing or not, more +because of its associations than anything else. The genuine Indian, +as he was prior to the coming of the white man, was uncorrupted, +uncivilized, unvitiated, undemoralized, undiseased in body, mind and +soul, a nature-observer, nature-lover and nature-worshiper. He was +full of poetic conceptions and fired with a vivid imagination that +created stories to account for the existence of unusual, peculiar or +exceptional natural objects, that, in brilliancy of conception, daring +invention, striking ingenuity and vigor of detail _surpass_, or +at least equal, the best imaginative work of Kipling or _Mark Twain +himself_. It seems to me that his--the Indian's--name for this +Lake--Tahoe--is both euphonious and full of poetic and scientific +suggestion. It is poetic in that it expresses in a word the unequaled +height and purity of so large a body of water, and scientific in that +it is truthful and accurate. + +But Frémont, the discoverer, evidently did not ask or seek to know its +Indian name. As stated elsewhere he erroneously conceived it to be the +headquarters of one of the forks of the American river, flowing into +the Sacramento, and he so depicts it on his map, giving to it the two +names "Mountain Lake" or "Lake Bonpland." But neither of these names +was acceptable and they practically dropped out of sight. + +When the first actual determination of Tahoe's outlet through the +Truckee River was made is not definitely known, but its approximate +location was well enough established in 1853 to enable the official +map-maker of the new State of California to depict it with reasonable +accuracy, and, for some reason, to name it Lake Bigler, after John +Bigler, the third Governor of California. + +Citizens are still living both in Nevada and California who well +remember when the Lake held this name, and the majority of people +undoubtedly used it until 1862. Officially, also, it was known as Lake +Bigler in 1862, for in the Nevada _Statutes_ there is recorded +an Act approved December 19, 1862, authorizing certain parties to +construct a railroad "to be known as the _Lake Bigler and Virginia +Railroad Co_., to commence at a point on the Kingsbury-McDonald +road known as the Kingsbury and McDonald Toll House, thence along the +southern and eastern shores of _Lake Bigler_, and in most direct +practical route, to the divide between Virginia City and Washoe Valley +on east side Washoe Lake, over and through the most practical pass +to Virginia City," and a further right to construct branch road from +Virginia to Carson City, Nevada. + +In 1861, however, while Downey was Governor of California (he having +been elected Lieut. Governor, and taking the office on the resignation +of Governor Latham in January 1860), an attempt was made to change the +name from Bigler to the fanciful one of Tula Tulia, but fortunately it +failed and the old name remained in general use. + +But in 1862 another effort was made in an entirely different direction +and this time with success. It was brought about through the work +of William Henry Knight, still living in Los Angeles, who has kindly +furnished the following account: + + In the year 1859 I was the youngest member of an overland company + which crossed the plains and mountains from St. Joseph, Mo., to + California. Our train was in three divisions and consisted of + about twenty persons, and forty horses and mules. + + One morning in the middle of August we left our camp at the + eastern base of the double summit of the Sierra Nevadas and + began our ascent. Mounted on my faithful steed, Old Pete, I + pushed on in advance of the caravan, in order to get the first + view of the already famous mountain lake, then known as Lake + Bigler. The road wound through the defile and around the + southern border of the Lake on the margin of which we camped + for two days. + + As I approached the summit I turned from the main road and + followed a trail to the right which led to the top of a + bare rock overlooking the valley beyond and furnishing an + unobstructed view. + + Thus my first view of that beautiful sheet of water was from a + projecting cliff 1000 feet above its surface, and it embraced + not only the entire outline of the Lake with its charming bays + and rocky headlands but also the magnificent forests of giant + pines and firs in which it was embosomed, and the dozen or + more lofty mountain peaks thrusting their white summits into + the sky at altitudes varying from 8000 to 11,000 feet above + sea level. + + The view was, indeed, the most wonderful combination of + towering mountains, widespreading valley, gleaming lakes, + umbrageous forests, rugged buttresses of granite, flashing + streams, tumbling waterfalls, and overarching sky of deepest + cerulean hue--all blended into one perfect mosaic of the + beautiful, the picturesque, and the majestic, that mortal eye + ever rested upon. + + No imagination can conceive the beauty, sublimity and + inspiration of that scene, especially to one who had for weary + months been traversing dusty, treeless and barren plains. The + contrast was overwhelming. Tears filled my eyes as I gazed + upon the fairy scene. I recall the entrancing picture to-day, + in all its splendid detail, so vividly was it photographed + upon my brain. + + Since that hour I have crossed the continent ten times, over + various railway routes, visited most of the States of the + Union, and seven foreign countries, heard the testimony of + others whose travels have been world-wide, and I doubt if + another scene of equal enchantment exists on the face of the + globe. + + In 1861, two years after my visit to Tahoe, I gathered the + data for compiling the first general map of the Pacific + States, which embraced the region from British Columbia to + Mexico, and from the Rocky Mountains to the coast. It was + ready for the engraver in February, 1862. I had instructed + the draughtsman, V. Wackenreuder, afterward connected with + the State Geological Survey, to omit the name of Lake Bigler, + which was on contemporary maps. + + I invited John S. Hittell, editor of the _Alta + California_, a leading San Francisco daily, and Dr. + Henry DeGroot, writer on the _Evening Bulletin_ and + correspondent of the able _Sacramento Union_, to come + round to Bancroft's publishing house and inspect the map. + + Dr. DeGroot had just returned from a visit to the Comstock + silver mines in the Washoe district of Western Nevada. He + suddenly turned to me and said: "Why, Knight, you have left + off the name of Lake Bigler." I remarked that many people had + expressed dissatisfaction with that name, bestowed in honor of + a Governor of California who had not distinguished himself by + any signal achievement, and I thought that now would be a good + time to select an appropriate name and fix it forever on that + beautiful sheet of water. + + The suggestion met with favor, and several names were + proposed--Washington, Lincoln, then war President, Frémont, an + early explorer, and other historic names. I asked Dr. DeGroot + if he knew what the native Indians called the Lake. + + He drew a memorandum from his pocket and read over a list of + Indian names local to that region, and exclaimed: "Here it is; + they call it 'Tahoe,' meaning 'big water,' or 'high water,' or + 'water in a high place.' The word rhymes with Washoe." + + I did not quite like the name at first mention, but its + significance was so striking that I asked if they--Hittell + and DeGroot--would favor its adoption and back it up with the + support of their newspapers, and they agreed to do so. + + They advocated the adoption of the new name in their + respective journals, the country papers almost unanimously + fell into line, I inserted it on the map which bore my + name--William Henry Knight--as compiler, and which was + published by the Bancroft house in 1862. + + I immediately wrote to the Land Office at Washington, + reported what I had done, and the sentiment that prevailed in + California, and requested the Federal official to substitute + the name of Tahoe for Bigler on the next annual map to be + issued by his office, and in all the printed matter of the + Department of the Interior thereafter. This was done. + + But a curious thing happened. Nevada was under a territorial + government appointed by the Democratic administration of + President Buchanan. The Territorial Legislature was in session + when the subject was agitated by the California newspapers. A + young statesman of that body, thirsting for fame, rose to + his feet and in vociferous tones and with frenzied gestures, + denounced this high-handed action of California in changing + the name of that Lake without consulting the sister + commonwealth of Nevada, as, according to the map, half of + that noble sheet of water was in Nevada, and such action would + require joint jurisdiction. But his impassioned words were + wasted on the desert air of the Sagebrush State. He could not + muster enough votes to enact his indignation into a law, + and the calm surface of Lake Tahoe was unruffled by the + tempestuous commotion raging in legislative halls at Carson + City. + + It was thus that the beautiful, euphonious, and significant + name of "Tahoe" was first placed on my own map, and + subsequently appeared on all other maps of the State, because + it was universally accepted as a fitting substitute for the + former name of "Bigler." A traveled writer refers to the Lake + and the name selected in these terms: + + "Thus it was that we went to Lake Tahoe, the beautiful 'Big + Water' of the Washoe Indians--Tahoe with the indigo shade of + its waters emphasized by its snow-capped setting. The very + first glance lifts one's soul above the petty cares of the + lower valleys, and one feels the significance of the Indian + title--'Big Water'--not referring to size alone, but to the + greatness of influence, just as the all-pervading Power is the + 'Big Spirit.'" + +One would naturally think that there had been changes enough. But +no! In spite of the fact that the Federal government had accepted the +change to Tahoe, and that the popular usage had signified the general +approval of the name, the Hon. W.A. King, of Nevada County, during the +Governorship of Haight, in California, introduced into the assembly +a bill declaring that Lake Bigler should be "the official name of +the said lake and the only name to be regarded as legal in official +documents, deeds, conveyances, leases and other instruments of writing +to be placed on state or county records, or used in reports made by +state, county or municipal officers." + +Historian Hittell thus comments on this: "The bill, which appears to +have been well modulated to the taste and feelings of the legislature, +went through with great success. It passed the Assembly on February +1, the Senate on February 7; and on February 10 it was approved by +the Governor. It remains a monument, if not to Bigler, at least to the +legislature that passed it; while the name of the Lake will doubtless +continue to be _Tahoe_ and its sometime former designation of +_Bigler_ be forgotten." + +Now if Mark Twain really objected to the name Tahoe why did he not +join the Biglerites and insist upon the preservation of that name? + +On the Centennial Map of 1876 it was named "Lake Bigler or Lake +Tahoe," showing that some one evidently was aware that, officially, it +was still _Lake Bigler_. + +And so, in fact, it is to this date, as far as _official_ action +can make it so, and it is interesting to conjecture what the results +might be were some malicious person, or some "legal-minded stickler +for rigid adherence to the law," to bring suit against those whose +deeds, titles, leases, or other documents declare it to be Lake Tahoe. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JOHN LE CONTE'S PHYSICAL STUDIES OF LAKE TAHOE + + +In certain numbers (November and December 1883 and January 1884) of +the _Overland Monthly_, Professor John Le Conte, of the State +University, Berkeley, California, presented the results of his +physical studies of Lake Tahoe in three elaborate chapters. From these +the following quotations of general interest are taken: + + Hundreds of Alpine lakes of various sizes, with their clear, + deep, cold, emerald or azure waters, are embosomed among the + crags of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The most extensive, as + well as the most celebrated, of these bodies of fresh water is + Lake Tahoe. + + This Lake, ... occupies an elevated valley at a point where + the Sierra Nevada divides into two ranges. It is, as it were, + ingulfed between two lofty and nearly parallel ridges, one + lying to the east and the other to the west. As the crest of + the principal range of the Sierra runs near the western margin + of this Lake, this valley is thrown on the eastern slope of + this great mountain system. + + The boundary line between the States of California and Nevada + makes an angle of about 131 degrees in this Lake, near its + southern extremity, precisely at the intersection of the 39th + parallel of north latitude with the 120th meridian west from + Greenwich. Inasmuch as, north of this angle, this boundary + line follows the 120th meridian, which traverses the Lake + longitudinally from two to four miles from its eastern + shore-line, it follows that more than two-thirds of its area + falls within the jurisdiction of California, the remaining + third being within the boundary of Nevada. It is only within a + comparatively recent period that the geographical coordinates + of this Lake have been accurately determined. + + Its greatest dimension deviates but slightly from a medium + line. Its maximum length is about 21.6 miles, and its greatest + width is about 12 miles. In consequence of the irregularity of + its outline, it is difficult to estimate its exact area; but + it cannot deviate much from 192 to 195 square miles. + + The railroad surveys indicate that the elevation of the + surface of its waters above the level of the ocean is about + 6247 feet. + + Its drainage basin, including in this its own area, is + estimated to be about five hundred square miles. Probably more + than a hundred affluents of various capacities, deriving their + waters from the amphitheater of snow-clad mountains which + rise on all sides from 3000 to 4000 feet above its surface, + contribute their quota to supply this Lake. The largest of + these affluents is the Upper Truckee River, which falls into + its southern extremity. + + The only outlet to the Lake is the Truckee River, which + carries the surplus waters from a point on its northwestern + shore out through a magnificent mountain gorge, thence + northeast, through the arid plains of Nevada, into Pyramid + Lake. This river in its tortuous course runs a distance of + over one hundred miles, and for about seventy miles (from + Truckee to Wadsworth) the Central Pacific Railroad follows its + windings. According to the railroad surveys, this river makes + the following descent: + + _Fall_ + _Distance Fall per Mile_ +Lake Tahoe to Truckee 15 Miles 401 Ft. 28.64 Ft +Truckee to Boca 8 " 313 " 39.12 " +Boca to State Line 11 " 395 " 35.91 " +State Line to Verdi 5 " 211 " 42.21 " +Verdi to Reno 11 " 420 " 38.18 " +Reno to Vista 8 " 103 " 12.87 " +Vista to Clark's 12 " 141 " 11.75 " +Clark's to Wadsworth 15 " 186 " 12.40 " +Wadsworth to Pyramid Lake 18[1] " 187[1] " 10.39 " + ______ _______ _______ +Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake 103 " 2357 " 23.11 " + + [Footnote 1: The elevation of Pyramid Lake above the sea-level + has never, as far as we know, been accurately determined. + Henry Gannet, in his _Lists of Elevation_ (4th ed., + Washington, 1877, p. 143), gives its altitude above the sea as + 4890 feet; and credits this number to the _Pacific Railroad + Reports_. But as this exact number appears in Frémont's + _Report of Exploring Expedition to Oregon and North + California in the Years 1843-44_. (Doc. No. 166, p. 217), + it is probable that the first rude and necessarily imperfect + estimate has been copied by subsequent authorities. This + number is evidently more than 800 feet too great; for the + railroad station at Wadsworth (about eighteen or twenty miles + from the lake), where the line of the railroad leaves the + banks of the Truckee River, is only 4077 feet above the + sea-level. So that these numbers would make Pyramid Lake 813 + feet above the level of its affluent at Wadsworth; which, + of course, is impossible. Under this state of facts, I have + assumed the elevation of this lake to be 3890 feet.] + + During the summer of 1873, the writer embraced the opportunity + afforded by a six weeks' sojourn on the shores of the Lake to + undertake some physical studies in relation to this largest of + the "gems of the Sierra." Furnished with a good sounding-line + and a self-registering thermometer, he was enabled to secure + some interesting and trustworthy physical results. + + (1.) _Depth_. It is well known that considerable + diversity of opinion has prevailed in relation to the + actual depth of Lake Tahoe. Sensational newsmongers have + unhesitatingly asserted that, in some portions, it is + absolutely fathomless. It is needless to say that actual + soundings served to dispel or to rectify this popular + impression. The soundings indicated that there is a deep + subaqueous channel traversing the whole Lake in its greatest + dimension, or south and north. Beginning at the southern end, + near the Lake House, and advancing along the long axis of the + Lake directly north towards the Hot Springs at the northern + end--a distance of about eighteen miles--we have the following + depths: + +_Station Depth in Feet Depth in Meters_ + +1 ............... 900 274.32 + +2 ............... 1385 422.14 + +3 ............... 1495 455.67 + +4 ............... 1500 457.19 + +5 ............... 1506 459.02 + +6 ............... 1540 469.38 + +7 ............... 1504 458.41 + +8 ............... 1600 487.67 + +9 ............... 1640 499.86 + +10 ............... 1645 501.39 + + These figures show that this lake exceeds in depth the deepest + of the Swiss lakes (the Lake of Geneva), which has a maximum + depth of 334 meters. On the Italian side of the Alps, however, + Lakes Maggiore and Como are said to have depths respectively + of 796.43 and 586.73 meters. These two lakes are so little + elevated above the sea that their bottoms are depressed 587 + and 374 meters below the level of the Mediterranean. + + (2.) _Relation of Temperature to Depth_. By means of + a self-registering thermometer (Six's) secured to the + sounding-line, a great number of observations were made on the + temperature of the water of the Lake at various depths and + in different portions of the same. These experiments were + executed between the 11th and 18th of August, 1873. The same + general results were obtained in all parts of the Lake. The + following table contains the abstract of the average results, + after correcting the thermometric indications by comparison + with a standard thermometer: + +Obs. in Feet in Meters F. deg. in C._ + + 1 ...... 0-Surface 0-Surface 67 19.44 + + 2 ...... 50 15.24 63 17.22 + + 3 ...... 100 30.48 55 12.78 + + 4 ...... 150 45.72 50 10.00 + + 5 ...... 200 60.96 48 8.89 + + 6 ...... 250 76.20 47 8.33 + + 7 ...... 300 91.44 46 7.78 + + 8 ...... 330 (Bottom) 100.58 45.5 7.50 + + 9 ...... 400 121.92 45 7.22 + +10 ...... 480 (Bottom) 146.30 44.5 6.94 + +11 ...... 500 152.40 44 6.67 + +12 ...... 600 182.88 43 6.11 + +13 ...... 772 (Bottom) 235.30 41 5.00 + +14 ...... 1506 (Bottom) 459.02 39.2 4.00 + + It will be seen from the foregoing numbers that the + temperature of the water decreases with increasing depth to + about 700 or 800 feet (213 or 244 meters), and below this + depth it remains sensibly the same down to 1506 feet (459 + meters). This constant temperature which prevails at all + depths below say 250 meters is about 4 degrees Cent. (39.2 + Fah.). This is precisely what might have been expected; for it + is a well established physical property of fresh water, + that it attains its maximum density at the above-indicated + temperature. In other words, a mass of fresh water at the + temperature of 4 deg. Cent. has a greater weight under a + given volume (that is, a cubic unit of it is heavier at this + temperature) than it is at any temperature either higher or + lower. Hence, when the ice-cold water of the snow-fed streams + of spring and summer reaches the Lake, it naturally tends to + sink as soon as its temperature rises to 4 deg. Cent.; and, + conversely, when winter sets in, as soon as the summer-heated + surface water is cooled to 4 deg., it tends to sink. Any + further rise of temperature of the surface water during the + warm season, or fall of temperature during the cold season, + alike produces expansion, and thus causes it to float on + the heavier water below; so that water at 4 deg. Cent., + perpetually remains at the bottom, while the varying + temperature of the seasons and the penetration of the solar + heat only influence a surface stratum of about 250 meters in + thickness. It is evident that the continual outflow of water + from its shallow outlet cannot disturb the mass of liquid + occupying the deeper portions of the Lake. It thus results + that the temperature of the surface stratum of such bodies of + fresh water for a certain depth fluctuates with the climate + and with the seasons; but at the bottom of deep lakes it + undergoes little or no change throughout the year, and + approaches to that which corresponds to the maximum density of + fresh water. + + (3.) _Why the Water does not freeze in Winter_. Residents + on the shore of Lake Tahoe testify that, with the exception + of shallow and detached portions, the water of the Lake never + freezes in the coldest winters. During the winter months, the + temperature of atmosphere about this Lake must fall as low, + probably, as 0 degrees Fah. (-17.78 deg. Cent.). According to + the observations of Dr. George M. Bourne, the + minimum temperature recorded during the winter of 1873-74 was + 6 deg. Fah. (-14.44 deg. Cent.). As it is evident that during + the winter season the temperature of the air must frequently + remain for days, and perhaps weeks, far below the freezing + point of water, the fact that the water of the Lake does not + congeal has been regarded as an anomalous phenomenon. Some + persons imagine that this may be due to the existence of + subaqueous hot springs in the bed of the Lake--an opinion + which may seem to be fortified by the fact that hot springs do + occur at the northern extremity of the Lake. But there is + no evidence that the temperature of any considerable body of + water in the Lake is sensibly increased by such springs. Even + in the immediate vicinity of the hot springs (which have in + summer a maximum temperature of 55 deg. C. or 131 F.), the + supply of warm water is so limited that it exercises no + appreciable influence on the temperature of that portion of + the Lake. This is further corroborated by the fact that no + local fogs hang over this or any other portion of the Lake + during the winter which would most certainly be the case if + any considerable body of hot water found its way into the + Lake. + + The true explanation of the phenomenon may, doubtless, be + found in the high specific heat of water, the great depth of + the Lake, and in the agitation of its waters by the strong + winds of winter. In relation to the influence of depth, it + is sufficient to remark that, before the conditions preceding + congelation can obtain, the whole mass of water--embracing a + stratum of 250 meters in thickness--must be cooled down to + 4 deg. Cent.; for this must occur before the vertical + circulation is arrested and the colder water floats on the + surface. In consequence of the great specific heat of + water, to cool such a mass of the liquid through an average + temperature of 8 deg. Cent, requires a long time, and the cold + weather is over before it is accomplished. In the shallower + portions, the surface of the water may reach the temperature + of congelation, but the agitations due to the action of + strong winds soon breaks up the thin pellicle of ice, which is + quickly melted by the heat generated by the mechanical action + of the waves. Nevertheless, in shallow and detached portions + of the Lake, which are sheltered from the action of winds and + waves--as in Emerald Bay--ice several inches in thickness is + sometimes formed. + +[Illustration: Lily Lake] + +[Illustration: Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Pyramid Peak and Lake of the Woods] + +[Illustration: Clouds Over the Mountain, Lake Tahoe] + + (4.) _Why Bodies of the Drowned do not Rise_. A number of + persons have been drowned in Lake Tahoe--some fourteen + between 1860 and 1874--and it is the uniform testimony of the + residents, that in no case, where the accident occurred in + deep water, were the bodies ever recovered. This striking fact + has caused wonder-seekers to propound the most extraordinary + theories to account for it. Thus one of them says, "The water + of the Lake is purity itself, but on account of the highly + rarified state of the air it is not very buoyant, and swimmers + find some little fatigue; or, in other words, they are + compelled to keep swimming all the time they are in the water; + and objects which float easily in other water sink here like + lead." Again he says, "Not a thing ever floats on the surface + of this Lake, save and except the boats which ply upon it." + + It is scarcely necessary to remark that it is impossible that + the diminution of atmospheric pressure, due to an elevation + of 6250 feet (1905 meters) above the sea-level, could sensibly + affect the density of the water. In fact, the coefficient of + compressibility of this liquid is so small that the withdrawal + of the above indicated amount of pressure (about one-fifth + of an atmosphere) would not lower its density more than one + hundred-thousandth part! The truth is, that the specific + gravity is not lower than that of any other fresh water of + equal purity and corresponding temperature. It is not less + buoyant nor more difficult to swim in than any other fresh + water; and consequently the fact that the bodies of the + drowned do not rise to the surface cannot be accounted for by + ascribing marvelous properties to its waters. + + The distribution of temperature with depth affords a natural + and satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, and renders + entirely superfluous any assumption of extraordinary lightness + in the water. The true reason why the bodies of the drowned + do not rise to the surface is evidently owing to the fact that + when they sink into water which is only 4 deg. Cent. (7.2 + deg. Fah.) above the freezing temperature, the gases usually + generated by decomposition are not produced in the intestines; + in other words, at this low temperature the + bodies do not become inflated, and therefore do not rise to + the surface. The same phenomenon would doubtless occur in + any other body of fresh water under similar physical + conditions.[2] + +[Footnote 2: It should be noted that since 1874 there have been +remarkably few deaths from drowning in Lake Tahoe, and that the major +cases of those referred to by Dr. LeConte were of workmen and others +who were generally under the influence of intoxicants.] + + (5.) _Transparency of the Water_. All visitors to this + beautiful Lake are struck with the extraordinary transparency + of the water. At a depth of 15 to 20 meters (49.21 to 65.62 + feet), every object on the bottom--on a calm sunny day--is + seen with the greatest distinctness. On the 6th of September, + 1873, the writer executed a series of experiments with the + view of testing the transparency of the water. A number of + other experiments were made August 28 and 29, under + less favorable conditions. By securing a white object of + considerable size--a horizontally adjusted dinner-plate + about 9.5 inches in diameter--to the sounding-line, it + was ascertained that (at noon) it was plainly visible at a + vertical depth of 33 meters, or 108.27 English feet. It must + be recollected that the light reaching the eye from such + submerged objects must have traversed a thickness of water + equal to at least twice the measured depth; in the above + case, it must have been at least 66 meters, or 216.54 feet. + Furthermore, when it is considered that the amount of + light regularly reflected from such a surface as that of a + dinner-plate, under large angles of incidence in relation + to the surface, is known to be a very small fraction of + the incident beam (probably not exceeding three or four per + cent.), it is evident that solar light must penetrate to + vastly greater depths in these pellucid waters. + + Moreover, it is quite certain that if the experiments + in relation to the depths corresponding to the limit of + visibility of the submerged white disk had been executed in + winter instead of summer, much larger numbers would have been + obtained. For it is now well ascertained, by means of the + researches of Dr. F.A. Forel of Lausanne, that the waters of + Alpine lakes are decidedly more transparent in winter than in + summer. Indeed, it is reasonable that when the affluents of + such lakes are locked in the icy fetters of winter, much less + suspended matter is carried into them than in summer, when all + the sub-glacial streams are in active operation. + +Professor Le Conte goes into this subject (as he later does into the +subject of the color of Lake Tahoe) somewhat exhaustively in a purely +scientific manner and in too great length for the purposes of this +chapter, hence the scientific or curious reader is referred to the +original articles for further information and discussion. + + _Color of the Waters of Lake Tahoe_. One of the most + striking features of this charming mountain Lake is the + beautiful hues presented by its pellucid waters. On a calm, + clear, sunny day, wherever the depth is not less than from + fifty to sixty meters, to an observer floating above its + surface, the water assumes various shades of blue; from a + brilliant Cyan blue (greenish-blue) to the most magnificent + ultramarine blue or deep indigo blue. The shades of blue + increasing in darkness in the order of the colors of the + solar spectrum, are as follows: Cyan-blue (greenish blue), + Prussian-blue, Cobalt-blue, genuine ultramarine-blue, and + artificial ultramarine-blue (violet blue). While traversing + one portion of the Lake in a steamer, a lady endowed with a + remarkable natural appreciation and discrimination of shades + of color declared that the exact tint of the water at this + point was "Marie-Louise blue." + + The waters of this Lake exhibit the most brilliant blueness + in the deep portions, which are remote from the fouling + influences of the sediment-bearing affluents, and the washings + of the shores. On a bright and calm day, when viewed in the + distance, it had the ultramarine hue; but when looked fair + down upon, it was of almost inky blackness--a solid dark + blue qualified by a trace of purple or violet. Under these + favorable conditions, the appearance presented was not unlike + that of the liquid in a vast natural dyeing-vat. + + A clouded state of the sky, as was to be expected, produced + the well-known effects due to the diminished intensity of + light; the shades of blue became darker, and, in extreme + cases, almost black-blue. According to our observations, + the obscurations of the sky by the interposition of clouds + produced no other modifications of tints than those due to + a diminution of luminosity. + + In places where the depth is comparatively small and the + bottom is visibly white, the water assumes various shades + of green; from a delicate apple-green to the most exquisite + emerald-green. Near the southern and western shores of the + Lake, the white, sandy bottom brings out the green tints very + strikingly. In the charming _cul-de-sac_ called "Emerald + Bay," it is remarkably conspicuous and exquisitely beautiful. + In places where the stratum of water covering white portions + of the bottom is only a few meters in thickness, the green hue + is not perceptible, unless viewed from such a distance that + the rays of light emitted obliquely from the white surface + have traversed a considerable thickness of the liquid before + reaching the eye of the observer. + + The experiments with the submerged white dinner-plate, + in testing the transparency of the water, incidentally + manifested, to some extent, the influence of depth on the + color of the water. The white disk presented a bluish-green + tint at the depth of from nine to twelve meters; at about + fifteen meters it assumed a greenish-blue hue, and the blue + element increased in distinctness with augmenting depth, + until the disk became invisible or undistinguishable in the + surrounding mass of blue waters. The water intervening between + the white disk and the observer did not present the brilliant + and vivid green tint which characterized that which is seen in + the shallow portions of the Lake, where the bottom is white. + But this is not surprising, when we consider the small amount + of diffused light which can reach the eye from so limited a + surface of diffusion. + + In studying the chromatic tints of these waters, a hollow + pasteboard cylinder, five or six centimeters in diameter, and + sixty or seventy centimeters in length, was sometimes employed + for the purpose of excluding the surface reflection and the + disturbances due to the small ripples on the water. When + quietly floating in a small row-boat, one end of this + exploring tube was plunged under the water, and the eye of + the observer at the other extremity received the rays of light + emanating from the deeper portions of the liquid. The light + thus reaching the eye presented essentially the same + variety of tints in the various portions of the Lake as those + which have been previously indicated. + + Hence it appears that under various condition--such as depth, + purity, state of sky and color of bottom--the waters of this + Lake manifest nearly all the chromatic tints presented in + the solar spectrum between greenish-yellow and the darkest + ultramarine-blue, bordering upon black-blue. + + It is well known that the waters of oceans and seas exhibit + similar gradations of chromatic hues in certain regions. + Navigators have been struck with the variety and richness of + tints presented, in certain portions, by the waters of the + Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and + especially those of the Caribbean Sea. In some regions of the + oceans and seas, the green hues, and particularly those tinged + with yellow, are observed in comparatively deep waters, or, at + least, where the depths are sufficiently great to prevent + the bottom from being visible. But this phenomenon seems to + require the presence of a considerable amount of suspended + matter in the water. In no portion of Lake Tahoe did I observe + any of the green tints, except where the light-colored bottom + was visible. This was, probably, owing to the circumstance + that no considerable quantity of suspended matter existed in + any of the waters observed. + + _Rhythmical Variations of Level in Lakes: or + "Seiches."_--As might be expected, the waters of Lake + Tahoe are subject to fluctuations of level, depending upon + the variable supplies furnished by its numerous affluents. In + mid-winter, when these streams are bound in icy fetters, the + level falls; while in the months of May and June, when the + snows of the amphitheater of mountain-slopes are melting most + rapidly, the level of the Lake rises, and a maximum amount + of water escapes through its outlet. According to the + observations of Capt. John McKinney, made at his residence + on the western shore of this Lake, the average seasonal + fluctuation of level is about 0.61 of a meter; but in extreme + seasons it sometimes amounts to 1.37 meters. The Lake of + Geneva, in like manner, is liable to fluctuations of level + amounting to from 1.95 to 2.60 meters, from the melting of the + Alpine snows. + + But besides these variations of level due to the variable + quantities of water discharged into them by their affluents, + many lakes of moderate dimensions are liable to rhythmical + oscillations of level of short duration, which are, obviously, + but produced by fluctuations in the supply of water. It is to + this kind of species of variation of level that our attention + will be directed in the sequel. + + This interesting phenomenon was first recognized in the Lake + of Geneva; but was subsequently found to be common to all + the Swiss lakes, as well as to those of Scotland. It is, + therefore, a general phenomenon, which may be observed in all + lakes of moderate dimensions. The inhabitants of the shores + of the Lake of Geneva have long designated this rhythmical + oscillation of the level of the water by the term of + _Seiche_; and this designation has been adopted by + scientific writers. + + These _Seiches_ were first signalized in the Lake of + Geneva in 1730, by Fatio de Duillier, who ascribed them to the + checking of the flow of the waters of the Rhone on the shoal + near Geneva by the force of the wind at mid-day. Addison + and Jallabert, in 1742, supposed them to be caused by sudden + increments in the discharge of the affluents, due to the + augmentation in the amount of snow melted after mid-day; or + to the sudden increase in the flow of the Arve, checking + the outflow of water by the Rhone. Bertrand supposed that + electrified clouds might locally attract and elevate the + waters of the lake, and thus produce oscillations of level. + H.B. de Saussure, in 1799, attributed the phenomenon to rapid + local variations of atmospheric pressure on different parts + of the lake. J.P.E. Vaucher, in 1802 and 1804, adopted de + Saussure's explanation, and confirmed it by many excellent + observations. He, moreover, established that _Seiches_, + more or less considerable, occur in all the Swiss lakes; and + that they take place at all seasons of the year, and at all + times of the day; but, in general, more frequently in spring + and autumn. As regards the cause of the phenomenon, Vaucher + shows how rapid local alterations of atmospheric pressure + would produce oscillations in the level of the lake, and + compares them to the vibrations of a liquid in a recurved tube + or siphon. Finally, Arago maintained that _Seiches_ may + arise from various causes, and traced the analogy between them + and certain remarkable oscillations + of the sea, including those arising from earthquakes. + + But physical science is indebted to Professor F.A. Forel, of + Lausanne, for the most complete and exhaustive investigation + in relation to the phenomena of _Seiches_. This + accomplished physicist began his researches in 1869, and has + continued them up to the present time. He has been able to + demonstrate that these rhythmical oscillations occur in nearly + all the Swiss Lakes (he studied the phenomena in nine of + them), and that they follow in all cases the same general + laws. Those of the Lake of Geneva have received the most + elaborate and prolonged investigation. In March, 1876, Forel + established a self-registering tide-gauge (_limni-metre + enregistreur_) on the northern shore of this lake, at + Morges; and, with the coöperation of P. Plantamour, another + one was installed in June, 1877, at Secheron, near the city + of Geneva, at the southern extremity. Since these dates, + these two instruments have, respectively, been registering + oscillations of the level of the water of the Lake of Geneva; + and they are so sensitive as to indicate the waves generated + by a steamer navigating the lake at a distance of ten or + fifteen kilometers. + + From a most searching investigation of all the phenomena + presented by the _Seiches_ in the Swiss Lakes, Forel + deduces the conclusion that they are really movements of + steady uninodal oscillations (balanced undulations), in which + the whole mass of water in the lake rhythmically swings + from shore to shore. And, moreover, he shows that the water + oscillates according to the two principal dimensions of the + lake; thus, giving rise to longitudinal _Seiches_ + and transverse _Seiches_. They occur in series of + tautochronous oscillations of decreasing amplitude; the first + wave produced by the action of a given cause having a maximum + amplitude. + + _Causes_. The disturbances of hydrostatic equilibrium + which generate _Seiches_ may be produced by a variety of + causes. Among these, the following may be cited: (a) Sudden + local variations of atmospheric pressure on different parts of + the lake. (b) A descending wind, striking the surface of the + lake over a limited area, (c) Thunder-storms, hail-storms, and + water-spouts; and especially when the accompanying winds act + vertically. (d) The fall of a large avalanche, or of a + land-slide into the lake. (e) And lastly, earthquakes. + + Observations show that the most frequent and evident of + these causes are variations of atmospheric pressure and local + storms. With regard to earthquake shocks as a cause of such + fluctuations of level, it is a singular and significant fact + that since Forel has established the delicate self-registering + apparatus on the shores of the Lake of Geneva, no less than + twelve earthquake shocks have been experienced in this portion + of Switzerland, and they have had no sensible influence on + these sensitive instruments. In fact, a little consideration + in relation to the character of such shocks renders it highly + improbable that such brief tremors of the earth's crust + could have been any agency in the generation of rhythmical + oscillations of the whole mass of water in the lake. Indeed, + it is very questionable whether any earthquake waves are ever + produced in the ocean, except when the sea-bottom undergoes a + permanent vertical displacement. + + _Lake Tahoe_. From inquiries made of the inhabitants of + the shores of Lake Tahoe, I was not able to discover that any + rhythmical oscillations of the level of its waters have ever + been noticed. Some residents declared that they had observed + sudden fluctuations of level, which, from their suddenness, + they were disposed to ascribe to disturbances of the bottom of + the Lake due to volcanic agencies, although they were + unable to coordinate such oscillations with any earthquake + manifestations on the adjacent shores. + + It is evident, however, that until arrangements are + consummated for recording systematic observations on the + variations of the level of this Lake, we cannot expect + that its _Seiches_ will be detected. Of course, + self-registering gauges would give the most satisfactory + results; but any graduated gauge, systematically observed, + would soon furnish evidence of the phenomenon. For the + longitudinal _Seiches_, "Hot Springs," at the northern + extremity of the Lake, or "Lake House," at the southern end, + would be eligible stations for gauges; and for the transverse + _Seiches_, Glenbrook, on the eastern shore, or Capt. + McKinney's on the western margin, would afford good stations. + As far as I am aware, true _Seiches_ have never been + observed in any of the American lakes. This fact is the more + remarkable from the circumstance that long-continued and + careful observations have been made on the fluctuations of + level of several of the large Canadian lakes, with the view of + testing the possible existence of lunar tides. Perhaps these + lakes may be too large to manifest the uninodal rhythmical + oscillations which have been so successfully studied by Forel + in the smaller lakes of Switzerland.[3] + + Be this as it may, there can be no doubt that Lake Tahoe is a + body of water in all respects adapted for the manifestation of + this species of oscillation; and that, like the Swiss lakes, + it is subject to _Seiches_. Indeed, the far greater + simplicity in the configuration of the basin of Lake Tahoe + than that of the Lake of Geneva must render the phenomena much + less complicated in the former than in the latter. + +Professor LeConte then gives his computations as to the probable +duration of the oscillations on Lake Tahoe, should they occur there. + +[Footnote 3: It is proper to add that _Fluctuations of level in the +North American lakes_ have been noticed by various observers, from +the time of the Jesuit Fathers of the period of Marquette, in 1673, +down to the present epoch. Among those who have discussed this problem +may be mentioned in chronological order: Fra Marquette in 1673, Baron +La Hontan 1689, Charlevoix 1721, Carver 1766, Weld 1796, Major S.A. +Storrow 1817, Capt. Henry Whiting 1819, H.R. Schoolcraft 1820, Gen. +Dearborn 1826-29.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +HOW LAKE TAHOE WAS FORMED + + +Lindgren, the geologist, affirms that after the Sierra Nevada range +was thrust up, high into the heavens, vast and long continued +erosion "planed down this range to a surface of comparatively gentle +topography." He claims that it must originally have been of great +height. Traces of this eroded range (Cretaceous) "still remain in +a number of flat-topped hills and ridges that rise above the later +tertiary surface. There is reason to believe that this planed-down +mountain range had a symmetrical structure, for somewhat to the east +of the present divide is a well-marked old crest line extending from +the Grizzly Peak Mountains on the north, in Plumas County, at least +as far south as Pyramid Peak, in Eldorado County. At sometime in +the later part of the Cretaceous period the first breaks took place, +changing the structure of the range from symmetrical to monoclinal and +outlining the present form of the Sierra Nevada." + +This great disturbance he thinks, "was of a two-fold character, +consisting of the lifting up of a large area including at least a +part of the present Great Basin [Nevada and Utah] and a simultaneous +breaking and settling of the higher portions of the arch. Along the +eastern margin a system of fractures was thus outlined which toward +the close of the Tertiary was to be still further emphasized. The main +break probably extended from a point south of Mono Lake to Antelope +Valley and from Markleeville northward toward Sierra Valley. A large +part of the crust block to the west of this dislocation also sank +down. This sunken area is now indicated by Lake Tahoe and by its +northward continuation, Sierra Valley, separated from each other only +by masses of Tertiary lavas.... It is worthy of note that within the +area of the range no volcanic eruptions accompanied this subsidence." + +He continues: "As a consequence of this uplift the erosive power of +the streams was rejuvenated, the Cretaceous surface of gentle outline +was dissected, and the rivers began to cut back behind the old divide, +carrying their heads nearly to the present crest line that separates +the slope of the Sierra from the depression of Lake Tahoe." + +These rivers are the great gold bearing streams that caused the mining +excitement of 1849. They all head near the Tahoe region, and include +the Yuba, Feather, American, Mokelumne, Calaveras, Cataract, and +Tuolumne. + +Here, then, were two crest lines--the old Cretaceous line of which the +Crystal Range immediately overlooking Desolation Valley on the west, +with Pyramid and Agassiz Peaks as its salient points,--and the new +Tertiary crest line, reaching somewhat irregularly from Honey Lake +in the north to Mono Lake in the south. At the north of Lake Tahoe, +"southwest of Reno, a large andesitic volcano poured forth lavas which +extend between the Truckee River Canyon and the Washoe Valley. In the +region extending northward from Lake Tahoe to Sierra Valley enormous +andesitic eruptions took place, and the products of these volcanoes +are now piled up as high mountains, among which Mount Pluto nearly +attains 9000 feet." + +These are the volcanic lavas which united the two crests forming the +eastern and western borders of the Tahoe basin or depression, and +through which the Truckee River had in some way to find passage ere it +could discharge its waters into Pyramid Lake, resting in the bosom of +the Great Basin. + +Here, then, we have the crude Tahoe basin ready for the reception +of water. This came from the snow and rainfall on its large and +mountainous drainage area, a hundred greater and lesser streams +directly and indirectly discharging their flow into its tremendous +gulf. + +Its later topography has been materially modified by glacial action, +and this is fully discussed by Professor Joseph Le Conte in the +following chapter. + +It should not be forgotten, however, that while Mt. Pluto was being +formed, other vast volcanic outpourings were taking place. Well back +to the west of the Tahoe region great volcanoes poured out rhyolite, +a massive rock of light gray to pink color and of fine grain, which +shows small crystals of quartz and sanidine in a streaky and glossy +ground mass. On the summits nearer to Tahoe the volcanic outflows were +of andesite, a rough and porous rock of dark gray to dark brown color. +Lindgren says: "By far the greater part of the andesite occurs in the +form of a tuffaceous breccia in numerous superimposed flows. These +breccias must have issued from fissures near the summit of the range +and were, either before their eruption or at the time of issue, mixed +with enormous quantities of water, forming mud flows sufficiently +fluid to spread down the slope for distances of fifty or sixty +miles. The derivation of the water and the exact mode of eruption are +difficult to determine.... Towards the summits the breccias gradually +lose their stratified character and become more firmly cemented. Over +large areas in the Truckee quadrangle the andesite masses consist of +breccias containing numerous dykes and necks of massive andesite.... + +"The andesite volcanoes were mainly located along the crest of the +Sierra, in fact, almost continuously from Thompson Peak, west of Honey +Lake, down to latitude 38° degrees 10'. Farther south the eruptions +diminished greatly in intensity.... Along the first summit of the +range west of Tahoe the greatest number of vents are found. Beginning +at Webber Lake on the north, they include Mount Lola, Castle Peak, +Mount Lincoln, Tinker Knob, Mount Mildred and Twin Peak. The andesite +masses here in places attain a thickness of 2000 feet. An interval +followed in the northern part of the Pyramid Peak quadrangle where no +important volcanoes were located, but they appear again in full force +in Alpine County. Round Top, attaining an elevation of 10,430 feet, +and the adjacent peaks, were the sources of the enormous flows which +covered a large part of Eldorado County. Still another volcanic +complex with many eruptive vents is that situated in the western part +of Alpine County, near Markleeville, which culminates in Highland Peak +and Raymond Peak, the former almost reaching 11,000 feet. The total +thickness of the volcanic flows in this locality is as much as 4000 +feet." + +It is to these breccias we owe the volcanic appearances in the Truckee +River Canyon, a few miles before reaching the Lake. There are several +layers of the andesites breccias at the head of Bear Creek Canyon, +above Deer Park Springs. + +"None of the craters," says Lindgren, "of these volcanoes are +preserved, and at the time of their greatest activity they may have +reached a height of several thousand feet above the present summits." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE GLACIAL HISTORY OF LAKE TAHOE + + +We have already seen in the preceding chapter how the great basin, +in which Lake Tahoe rests, was turned out in the rough from Nature's +workshop. It must now be smoothed down, its angularities removed, its +sharpest features eliminated, and soft and fertile banks prepared upon +which trees, shrubs, plants and flowers might spring forth to give +beauty to an otherwise naked and barren scene. + +It is almost impossible for one to picture the Tahoe basin at this +time. There may have been water in it, or there may not. All the +great mountain peaks, most of them, perhaps, much higher by several +thousands of feet than at present, were rude, rough, jagged masses, +fresh from the factory of God. There was not a tree, not a shrub, not +a flower, not a blade of grass. No bird sang its cheering song, or +delighted the eye with its gorgeous plumage; not even a frog croaked, +a cicada rattled, or a serpent hissed. All was barren desolation, +fearful silence and ghastly newness. + +What were the forces that produced so marvelous a change? + +Snowflakes,--"flowers of the air",--as John Muir so poetically calls +them. They accomplished the work. Falling alone they could have done +nothing, but coming down in vast numbers, day after day, they piled +up and became a power. Snow forms glaciers, and glaciers are mighty +forces that create things. + +[Illustration: Gilmore Lake, Pyramid Peak and the Crystal Range, +in winter, from summit of Mount Tallac] + +[Illustration: Desolation Valley, Looking Toward Mosquito Pass] + +[Illustration: Heather Lake, near Glen Alpine] + +[Illustration: Susie Lake, near Glen Alpine Springs] + +Let us, if possible, stand and watch the Master Workman +doing the work that is to make this region our source of present +day joy. We will make the ascent and stand on the summit +of Pyramid Peak. This is now 10,020 feet above sea level, +rising almost sheer above Desolation Valley immediately at our feet. + +The first thing that arrests the visitor's attention is the peculiar +shape of the peak upon which he stands, and of the whole of the +Crystal Range. Both east and west it is a great precipice, with a +razor-like edge, which seems to have been especially designed for +the purpose of arresting the clouds and snow blown over the mountain, +ranges of the High Sierras, and preventing their contents falling upon +the waste and thirsty, almost desert-areas of western Nevada, which +lie a few miles further east. + +Whence do the rains and snow-storms come? + +One hundred and fifty miles, a trifle more or less, to the westward +is the vast bosom of the Pacific Ocean. Its warm current is constantly +kissed by the fervid sun and its water allured, in the shape of mist +and fog, to ascend into the heavens above. Here it is gently wafted by +the steady ocean breezes over the land to the east. In the summer the +wind currents now and again swing the clouds thus formed northward, +and Oregon and Washington receive rain from the operation of the sun +upon the Pacific Ocean of the south. In June and July, however, the +Tahoe region sees occasional rains which clear the atmosphere, freshen +the flowers and trees, and give an added charm to everything. But in +the fall and winter the winds send the clouds more directly eastward, +and in crossing the Sierran summits the mist and fog become colder and +colder, until, when the clouds are arrested by the stern barriers +of the Crystal Range, and necessity compels them to discharge their +burden, they scatter snow so profusely that one who sees this region +only in the summer has no conception of its winter appearance. The +snow does not fall as in ordinary storms, but, in these altitudes, the +very heavens seem to press down, ladened with snow, and it falls in +sheets to a depth of five, ten, twenty, thirty and even more feet, +_on the level_. + +Look now, however, at the western edge of the Crystal Range. It has +no "slopes." It is composed of a series of absolute precipices, on the +edge of one of which we stand. These precipices, and the razor edge, +are fortified and buttressed by arms which reach out westward and form +rude crescents, called by the French geologists _cirques_, for +here the snow lodges, and is packed to great density and solidity with +all the force, fervor and fury of the mountain winds. + +But the snow does not fall alone on the western _cirques_. It +discharges with such prodigality, and the wind demands its release +with such precipitancy, that it lodges in equally vast masses on the +eastern slopes of the Crystal Range. For, while the eastern side +of this range is steep enough to be termed in general parlance +"precipitous," it has a decided slope when compared with the sheer +drop of the western side. Here the configuration and arrangement of +the rock-masses also have created a number of _cirques_, where +remnants of the winter's snow masses are yet to be seen. These snow +masses are baby glaciers, or snow being slowly manufactured into +glaciers, or, as some authorities think, _the remnants of the vast +glaciers that once covered this whole region_ with their heavy and +slowly-moving icy cap. + +On the Tallac Range the snow fell heavily toward Desolation Valley, +but also on the steep and precipitous slopes that faced the north. +So also with the Angora Range. Its western exposure, however, is of +a fairly gentle slope, so that the snow was blown over to the eastern +side, where there are several precipitous _cirques_ of stupendous +size for the preservation of the accumulated and accumulating snow. + +Now let us, in imagination, ascend in a balloon over this region and +hover there, seeking to reconstruct, by mental images, the appearance +it must have assumed and the action that took place in the ages long +ago. + +Snow, thirty, fifty, one hundred or more feet deep lay, on the level, +and on the mountain slopes or in precipitous _cirques_ twice, +thrice, or ten times those depths. Snow thus packed together soon +changes its character. From the light airy flake, it becomes, in +masses, what the geologists term _névé_. This is a granular +snow, intermediate between snow and ice. A little lower down this +_névé_ is converted into true glacial ice-beds, which grow +longer, broader, deeper and thicker as the _névé_ presses down +from above. + +Lay minds conceive of these great ice-beds of transformed snow as +inert, immovable bodies. They think the snow lies upon the surface of +the rocks or earth. The scientific observer knows better. By the very +inertia of its own vast and almost inconceivable weight the glacier is +compelled to move. Imagine the millions of millions of tons of ice of +these sloping masses, pressing down upon the hundreds of thousands of +tons of ice that lie below. Slowly the mass begins to move. But +all parts of it do not move with equal velocity. The center travels +quicker than the margins, and the velocity of the surface is greater +than that of the bottom. Naturally the velocity increases with the +slope, and when the ice begins to soften in the summer time its rate +of motion is increased. + +But not only does the ice move. There have been other forces set in +motion as well as that of the ice. The fierce attacks of the storms, +the insidious forces of frost, of expansion and contraction, of +lightning, etc., have shattered and loosened vast masses of the +mountain summits. Some of these have weathered into toppling masses, +which required only a heavy wind or slight contractions to send them +from their uncertain bases onto the snow or ice beneath. And the other +causes mentioned all had their influences in breaking up the peaks +and ridges and depositing great jagged bowlders of rock in the +slowly-moving glaciers. + +Little by little these masses of rock worked their way down lower into +the ice-bed. Sometime they must reach the bottom, yet, though +they rest upon granite, and granite would cleave to granite, the +irresistible pressure from above forces the ice and rock masses +forward. Thus the sharp-edged blocks of granite become the +_blades_ in the tools that are to help cut out the contours of +a world's surface. In other words the mass of glacial ice is the +grooving or smoothing _plane_, and the granite blocks, aided +by the ice, become the many and diverse blades in this vast and +irresistible tool. Some cut deep and square, others with flutings and +bevelings, or curves, but each helps in the great work of planing off, +in some way, the rocky masses over which they move. Hence it will +be seen that the grooving and marking, the fluting and beveling, the +planing and smoothing processes of the ice are materially aided and +abetted by the very hardness and weight of the granite and other rocks +it carries with it. + +Now let Joseph LeConte take up the theme and give us of the rich +treasure-store of his knowledge and observation. In the _American +Journal of Science and Arts_, Third Series, for 1875, he discussed +the very field we are now interested in, and his fascinating and +illuminating explanations render the subject perfectly clear. Said he: + + Last summer I had again an opportunity of examining the + pathways of some of the ancient glaciers of the Sierra. One + of the grandest of these is what I call the _Lake Valley + Glacier_.[1] Taking its rise in snow fountains among the + high peaks in the neighborhood of Silver Mountain, this great + glacier flowed northward down Lake Valley, and, gathering + tributaries from the summit ridges on either side of the valley, + but especially from the higher western summits, it filled the + basin of Lake Tahoe, forming a great "mer de glace," 50 miles + long, 15 miles wide, and at least 2000 feet deep, and finally + escaped northeastward to the plains. The outlets of this great + "mer de glace" are yet imperfectly known. A part of the ice + certainly escaped by Truckee Canyon (the present outlet of the + Lake); a part probably went over the northeastern margin of + the basin. My studies during the summer were confined to some + of the larger tributaries of this great glacier. + +[Footnote 1: This is the name given by Dr. LeConte to the Basin in +which Lake Tahoe rests and including the meadow lands above Tallac.] + +[Illustration: Pyramid Peak and Lake of the Woods, near Lake Tahoe, +Calif.] + +[Illustration: Snow Bank, Desolation Valley, near Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Grass Lake, near Glen Alpine Springs] + + _Truckee Canyon and Donner Lake Glaciers_. I have said + that one of the outlets of the great "mer de glace" was by + the Truckee River Canyon. The stage road to Lake Tahoe runs in + this canyon for fifteen miles. In most parts of the canyon the + rocks are volcanic and crumbling, and therefore ill adapted + to retain glacial marks; yet in some places where the rock + is harder these marks are unmistakable. On my way to and from + Lake Tahoe, I observed that the Truckee Canyon glacier + was joined at the town of Truckee by a short but powerful + tributary, which, taking its rise in an immense rocky + amphitheater surrounding the head of Donner Lake, flowed + eastward. Donner Lake, which occupies the lower portion of + this amphitheater, was evidently formed by the down-flowing + of the ice from the steep slopes of the upper portion near the + _summit_. The stage road from Truckee to the summit runs + along the base of a _moraine_ close by the margin of + the lake on one side, while on the other side, along + the apparently almost perpendicular rocky face of the + amphitheater, 1000 feet above the surface of the lake, the + Central Pacific Railroad winds its fearful way to the same + place. In the upper portion of this amphitheater large patches + of snow still remain unmelted during the summer. + + My examination of these two glaciers, however, was very + cursory. I hasten on, therefore, to others which I traced more + carefully. + + Lake Tahoe lies countersunk on the very top of the Sierra. + This great range is here divided into two summit ridges, + between which lies a trough 50 miles long, 20 miles wide, and + 3000 to 3500 feet deep. This trough is Lake Valley. Its lower + half is filled with the waters of Lake Tahoe. + The area of this Lake is about 250 square miles, its depth + 1640 feet, and its altitude 6200 feet. It is certain that + during the fullness of glacial times this trough was a great + "mer de glace," receiving tributaries from all directions + except the north. But as the Glacial Period waned--as the + great "mer de glace" dwindled and melted away, and the lake + basin became occupied by water instead, the tributaries still + remained as separate glaciers flowing into the Lake. The + tracks of these lingering small glaciers are far more easily + traced and their records more easily read, than those of the + greater but more ancient glacier of which they were once but + the tributaries. + + Of the two summit ridges mentioned above the western is the + higher. It bears the most snow _now_, and in glacial + times gave origin to the grandest glaciers. Again: the peaks + on both these summits rise higher and higher as we go toward + the upper or southern end of the Lake. Hence the largest + glaciers ran into the Lake at its _southwestern end_. + And, since the mountain slopes here are toward the northeast + and therefore the shadiest and coolest, here also the glaciers + have had the greatest vitality and lived the longest, and + have, therefore, left the plainest records. Doubtless, careful + examination would discover the pathways of glaciers running + into the Lake from the eastern summit also; but I failed to + detect any very clear traces of such, either on the eastern or + on the northern portion of the western side of the Lake; while + between the southwestern end and Sugar Pine Point, a distance + of only eight or ten miles, I saw distinctly the pathways of + five or six. North of Sugar Pine Point there are also several. + _They are all marked by moraine ridges running down from + the summits and projecting as points into the Lake_. + The pathways of three of these glaciers I studied somewhat + carefully, and after a few preliminary remarks, will describe + in some detail. + + Mountains are the culminating points of the scenic grandeur + and beauty of the earth. They are so, because they are also + the culminating points of all geological agencies--igneous + agencies in mountain _formation_, aqueous agencies in + mountain _sculpture_. Now, I have already said that the + mountain peaks which stand above the Lake on + every side are highest at the southwestern end, where they + rise to the altitude of 3000 feet above the lake surface, or + between 9000 and 10,000 feet above the sea. Here, therefore, + ran in the greatest glaciers; here we find the profoundest + glacial sculpturings; and here also are clustered all the + finest beauties of this the most beautiful of mountain lakes. + I need only name Mount Tallac, Fallen Leaf Lake, Cascade Lake, + and Emerald Bay, all within three or four miles of each other + and of the Tallac House. These three exquisite little lakes + (for Emerald Bay is also almost a lake), nestled closely + against the loftiest peaks of the western summit ridge, are + all perfect examples of glacial lakes. + + South of Lake Tahoe, Lake Valley extends for fifteen miles as + a plain, gently rising southward. At its lower end it is but + a few feet above the lake surface, covered with glacial drift + modified by water, and diversified, especially on its western + side, by débris ridges, the moraines of glaciers which + continued to flow into the valley or into the Lake long after + the main glacier, of which they were once tributaries, had + dried up. On approaching the south end of the Lake by steamer, + I had observed these long ridges, divined their meaning, and + determined on a closer acquaintance. While staying at the + Tallac House I repeatedly visited them and explored the + canyons down which their materials were brought. I proceed to + describe them. + + _Fallen Leaf Lake Glacier_. Fallen Leaf Lake lies on the plain + of Lake Valley, about one and a half miles from Lake Tahoe, its + surface but a few feet above the level of the latter Lake[2]; + but its bottom far, probably several hundred feet, below that + level. It is about three to three and one-half miles long and + one and one-fourth miles wide. From its upper end runs a canyon + bordered on either side by the highest peaks in this region. The + rocky walls of this canyon terminate on the east side at the + head of the lake, but on the west side, a little farther down. + The lake is bordered on each side by an admirably marked débris + ridge (moraine) three hundred feet high, four miles long, and + one and one-half to two miles apart. These moraines may be + traced back to the termination of the rocky ridges which bound + the canyon. On one side the moraine lies wholly on the plain; on + the other side its upper part lies against the slope of Mount + Tallac. Near the lower end of the lake a somewhat obscure branch + ridge comes off from each main ridge, and curving around it + forms an imperfect terminal moraine through which the outlet of + the lake breaks its way. + +[Footnote 2: Professor Price informs me there is a difference of + eighty feet between the level of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake.] + + On ascending the canyon the glaciation is very conspicuous, + and becomes more and more beautiful at every step. From Glen + Alpine Springs upward it is the most perfect I have ever seen. + In some places the white rocky bottom of the canyon, for many + miles in extent, is smooth and polished and gently undulating, + like the surface of a glassy but billowy sea. The glaciation + is distinct also up the sides of the canyon 1000 feet above + its floor. + + There can be no doubt, therefore, that a glacier once came + down this canyon filling it 1000 feet deep, scooped out Fallen + Leaf Lake just where it struck the plain and changed its angle + of slope, and pushed its snout four miles out on the level + plain, nearly to the present shores of Lake Tahoe, dropping + its débris on either side and thus forming a bed for itself. + In its subsequent retreat it seems to have rested its + snout some time at the lower end of Fallen Leaf Lake, and + accumulated there an imperfect terminal moraine. + + _Cascade Lake Glacier_. Cascade Lake, like Fallen Leaf + Lake, is about one and one-half miles from Lake Tahoe, but, + unlike Fallen Leaf Lake, its discharge creek has considerable + fall, and the lake surface is, therefore, probably 100 feet + above the level of the greater lake. On either side of this + creek, from the very border of Lake Tahoe, runs a moraine + ridge up to the lake, and thence along each side of the lake + up to the rocky points which terminate the true mountain + canyon above the head of the lake. I have never anywhere seen + more perfectly defined moraines. I climbed over the larger + western moraine and found that it is partly merged into the + eastern moraine of Emerald Bay to form a medial at least + 300 feet high, and of great breadth. From the surface of the + little lake the curving branches of the main moraine, meeting + below the lake to form a terminal moraine, are very distinct. + At the head of the lake there + is a perpendicular cliff over which the river precipitates + itself, forming a very pretty cascade of 100 feet or more. On + ascending the canyon above the head of the lake, for several + miles, I found, everywhere, over the lip of the precipice, + over the whole floor of the canyon, and up the sides 1000 feet + or more, the most perfect glaciation. + + There cannot, therefore, be the slightest doubt that this also + is the pathway of a glacier which once ran into Lake + Tahoe. After coming down its steep rocky bed, this glacier + precipitated itself over the cliff, scooped out the lake at + its foot, and then ran on until it bathed its snout in the + waters of Lake Tahoe, and probably formed icebergs there. In + its subsequent retreat it seems to have dropped more débris in + its path and formed a more perfect terminal moraine than did + Fallen Leaf Glacier. + + _Emerald Bay Glacier_. All that I have said of Fallen + Leaf Lake and Cascade Lake apply, almost word for word, to + Emerald Bay. This beautiful bay, almost a lake, has also been + formed by a glacier. It also is bounded on either side by + moraines, which run down to and even project into Lake Tahoe, + and may be traced up to the rocky points which form the mouth + of the canyon at the head of the bay. Its eastern moraine, as + already stated, is partly merged into the western moraine + of Cascade Lake, to form a huge medial moraine. Its western + moraine lies partly against a rocky ridge which runs down to + Lake Tahoe to form Rubicon Point. At the head of the bay, as + at the head of Cascade Lake, there is a cliff about 100 feet + high, over which the river precipitates itself and forms a + beautiful cascade. Over the lip of this cliff, and in the bed + of the canyon above, and up the sides of the cliff-like walls, + 1000 feet or more, the most perfect glaciation is found. The + only difference between this glacier and the two preceding is, + that it ran more deeply into the main lake and the deposits + dropped in its retreat did not rise high enough to cut off + its little rock basin from that lake, but exists now only as a + _shallow bar_ at the mouth of the bay. This bar consists + of _true moraine matter_, i.e., intermingled bowlders + and sand, which may be examined through the exquisitely + transparent water almost as perfectly as if no water were + present. + All that I have described separately and in detail, and + much more, may be taken in at one view from the top of Mount + Tallac. From this peak nearly the whole course of these three + glaciers, their fountain amphitheaters, their canyon beds, and + their lakes enclosed between their moraine arms, may be seen + at once. The view from this peak is certainly one of the + finest that I have ever seen. Less grand and diversified in + mountain forms than many from peaks above the Yosemite, it + has added beauty of extensive water surface, and the added + interest of several glacial pathways in a limited space. The + observer sits on the very edge of the fountain amphitheaters + still holding large masses of snow; immediately below, almost + at his feet, lie glistening, gem-like, in dark rocky setting, + the three exquisite little lakes; on either side of these, + embracing and protecting them, stretch out the moraine arms, + reaching toward and directing the eye to the great Lake, + which lies, map-like, with all its sinuous outlines perfectly + distinct, even to its extreme northern end, twenty-five to + thirty miles away. As the eye sweeps again up the canyon-beds, + little lakes, glacier scooped rock basins, filled with + ice-cold water, flash in the sunlight on every side. Twelve or + fifteen of these may be seen. + + From appropriate positions on the surface of Lake Tahoe, also, + all the moraine ridges are beautifully seen at once, but the + glacial lakes and the canyon-beds, of course, cannot be seen. + + There are several questions of a general nature suggested by + my examination of these three glacial pathways, which I have + thought best to consider separately. + + _a. Evidences of the existence of the Great Lake Valley + Glacier_. On the south shore of Lake Tahoe, and especially + at the northern or lower end of Fallen Leaf Lake, I found + many pebbles and some large bowlders of a beautiful striped + agate-like slate. The stripes consisted of alternate bands + of black and translucent white, the latter weathering into + milk-white, or yellowish, or reddish. It was perfectly evident + that these fragments were brought down from the canyon above + Fallen Leaf Lake. On ascending this canyon I easily found the + parent rock of these pebbles and bowlders. + the It is a powerful outcropping ledge of beautifully striped + siliceous slate, full of fissures and joints, and easily + broken into blocks of all sizes, crossing the canyon about + a half mile above the lake. This rock is so peculiar and so + easily identified that its fragments become an admirable index + of the extent of the glacial transportation. I have, myself, + traced these pebbles only a little way along the western + shores of the great Lake, as my observations were principally + confined to this part; but I learn from my brother, Professor + John LeConte, and from Mr. John Muir, both of whom have + examined the pebbles I have brought home, that precisely + similar fragments are found in great abundance all along the + western shore from Sugar Pine Point northward, and especially + on the extreme northwestern shore nearly thirty miles from + their source. I have visited the eastern shore of the Lake + somewhat more extensively than the western, and nowhere did I + see similar pebbles. Mr. Muir, who has walked around the Lake, + tells me that they do not occur on the eastern shore. We have, + then, in the distribution of these pebbles, demonstrative + evidence of the fact that Fallen Leaf Lake glacier was once a + tributary of a much greater glacier which filled Lake Tahoe. + + The only other agency to which we could attribute this + transportation is that of shore ice and icebergs, which + probably did once exist on Lake Tahoe; but the limitation of + the pebbles to the western, and especially the northwestern + shores, is in exact accordance with the laws of glacial + transportation, but contrary to those of floating ice + transportation--for lake ice is carried only by winds, and + would, therefore, deposit equally on all shores. + + Again: I think I find additional evidence of a Lake Tahoe + "mer de glace" in the contrasted character of the northern and + southern shores of this Lake. + + All the little glacial lakes described above are deep at the + upper end and shallow at the lower end. Further, all of them + have a sand beach and a sand flat at the upper end, and great + bowlders thickly scattered in the shallow water, and along the + shore at the lower end. These facts are easily explained, + if we remember that while the glacial _scooping_ was + principally at the upper end, the glacial + _droppings_ were principally at the lower end. And + further: that while the _glacial_ deposit was principally + at the lower end, the _river_ deposit, since the glacial + epoch, has been wholly at the upper end. + + Now the great Lake, also, has a similar structure. It also has + a beautiful sand and gravel beach all along its upper shore, + and a sand flat extending above it; while at its lower, or + northern end, thickly strewed in the shallow water, and along + the shore line, and some distance above the shore line, are + found in great abundance _bowlders of enormous size_. + May we not conclude that similar effects have been produced by + similar causes--that these huge bowlders were dropped by the + great glacier at its lower end? Similar bowlders are also + found along the northern portion of the eastern shore, because + the principal flow of the ice-current was from the southwest, + and in the fulness of glacial times the principal exit was + over the northeastern lip of the basin. + + _b. Origin of Lake Tahoe_. That Lake Tahoe was once + wholly occupied by ice, I think, is certain; but that it + was scooped out by the Lake Valley glacier is perhaps more + doubtful. All other Sierra lakes which I have seen certainly + owe their origin to glacial agency. Neither do I think we + should be staggered by the size or enormous depth of this + Lake. Yet, from its position, it may be a plication-hollow, + or a trough produced by the formation of two parallel mountain + ridges, and afterward modified by glacial agency, instead of a + pure glacial-scooped rock-basin. In other words, Lake Valley, + with its two summit ridges, _may be regarded as a phenomenon + belonging to the order of mountain-formation and not to the + order of mountain sculpture_. I believe an examination of + the rocks of the two summit ridges would probably settle + this. In the absence of more light than I now have, I will not + hazard an opinion.[3] + +[Footnote 3: This question practically has been settled by Mr. + Lindgren, and his conclusions are given in an earlier chapter.] + + _c. Passage of slate into granite_. From the commencement + of the rocky canyon at the head of Fallen Leaf Lake, and up + for about two miles, the canyon walls and bed are composed + of _slate_. The slate, however, becomes more and more + metamorphic as we go up, until it passes into what + much resembles _trap_. In some places it looks like + _diorite_ and in others like _porphyry_. I saw no + evidence, however, of any outburst. This latter rock passes + somewhat more rapidly into _granite_ at Glen Alpine + Springs. From this point the canyon bed and lower walls are + granite, but the highest peaks are still a dark, splintery, + metamorphic slate. The glacial erosion has here cut through + the slate and bitten deep into the underlying granite. The + passage from slate through porphyritic diorite into granite + may, I think, be best explained by the increasing degree of + metamorphism, and at the same time a change of the original + sediments at this point; granite being the last term of + metamorphism of pure clays, or clayey sandstones, while bedded + diorites are similarly formed from ferruginous and calcareous + slates. Just at the junction of the harder and tougher granite + with the softer and more jointed slates, occur, as might + be expected, cascades in the river. It is probable that the + cascades at the head of Cascade Lake and Emerald Bay mark, + also, the junction of the granite with the slate--only + the junction here is covered with débris. Just at the same + junction, in Fallen Leaf Lake Canyon (Glen Alpine Basin), + burst out the waters of Glen Alpine Springs, highly charged + with bicarbonates of iron and soda. + + _d. Glacial Deltas_. I have stated that the moraines of + Cascade Lake and Emerald Bay glaciers run down to the margin + of Lake Tahoe. An examination of this portion of the Lake + shore shows that _they run far into the Lake_--that + the Lake has been filled in, two or three miles, by glacial + débris. On the eastern margin of Lake Tahoe, the water, close + along the shore, is comparatively shallow, the shore rocky, + and along the shore-line, above and below the water, are + scattered great bowlders, probably dropped by the main + glacier. But on the west margin of the Lake the shoreline is + composed wholly of moraine matter, the water very deep close + to shore, and the bottom composed of precisely similar moraine + matter. In rowing along the shore, I found that the exquisite + ultramarine blue of the deep water extends to within 100 to + 150 feet of the shore-line. At this distance, the bottom could + barely be seen. Judging from the experiments of my brother, + Professor John Le Conte, according to which a white object + could be seen at a depth of 115 feet, I suppose the depth along + the line of junction of the ultramarine blue and the emerald + green water is at least 100 feet. The slope of the bottom is, + therefore, nearly, or quite, 45 degrees. It seems, in fact, a + direct continuation beneath the water of the moraine slope. The + materials, also, which may be examined with ease through the + wonderfully transparent water, are exactly the same as that + composing the moraine, viz: earth, pebbles, and bowlders + of all sizes, some of them of enormous dimensions. It seems + almost certain that _the margin of the great Lake Valley + glacier, and of the Lake itself when this glacier had melted + and the tributaries first began to run into the Lake, was the + series of rocky points at the head of the three little lakes, + about three or four miles back from the present margin of the + main Lake; and that all lakeward from these points has been + filled in and made land by the action of the three glaciers + described_. At that time Rubicon Point was a rocky + promontory, projecting far into the Lake, beyond which was + another wide bay, which has been similarly filled in by + débris brought down by glaciers north of this point. The long + moraines of these glaciers are plainly visible from the Lake + surface; but I have not examined them. Thus, all the land, for + three or four miles back from the Lake-margin, both north and + south of Rubicon Point, is composed of _confluent glacial + deltas_, and on these deltas the moraine ridges are the + _natural levees_ of these ice-streams. + + _e. Parallel Moraines_. The moraines described above are + peculiar and almost unique. Nowhere, except about Lake Tahoe + and near Lake Mono, have I seen moraines in the form of + _parallel ridges_ lying on a level plain and terminating + abruptly _without any signs of transverse connection + (terminal moraine) at the lower end_. Nor have I been + able to find any description of similar moraines in other + countries. They are not terminal moraines, for the glacial + pathway is open below. They are not lateral moraines, for + these are borne on the glacier itself, or else stranded on the + deep canyon sides. Neither do I think moraines of this kind + would be formed by a glacier emerging from a steep + narrow canyon and running out on a level plain; for in such + cases, as soon as the confinement of the bounding walls is + removed, the ice stream spreads out into an _ice lake_. + It does so as naturally and necessarily as does water under + similar circumstances. The deposit would be nearly transverse + to the direction of the motion, and, therefore, more or less + crescentic. There must be something peculiar in the conditions + under which these parallel ridges were formed. I believe the + conditions were as described below. + + We have already given reason to think that the original margin + of the Lake, in glacial times, was three or four miles back + from the present margin, along the series of rocky points + against which the ridges abut; and that all the flat plain + thence to the present margin is made land. If so, then it is + evident that at that time the three glaciers described ran + far out into the Lake, until reaching deep water, where they + formed icebergs. Under these conditions, it is plain that the + pressure on this, the subaqueous portion of the glacial bed, + would be small, and become less and less until it becomes + nothing at the point where the icebergs float away. The + pressure on the bed being small, not enough to overcome the + cohesion of ice, there would be no spreading. _A glacier + running down a steep narrow canyon and out into the deep + water, and forming icebergs at its point, would maintain its + slender, tongue-like form, and drop its débris on each side, + forming parallel ridges, and would not form a terminal moraine + because the materials not dropped previously would be carried + off by icebergs_. In the subsequent retreat of such a + glacier, imperfect terminal moraines might be formed higher + up, where the water is not deep enough to form icebergs. It + is probable, too, that since the melting of the great "mer de + glace" and the formation of the Lake, the level of the water + has gone down considerably, by the deepening of the Truckee + Canyon outlet by means of erosion. Thus not only did the + glaciers retreat from the Lake, but also the Lake from the + glaciers. + + As already stated, similar parallel moraine ridges are formed + by the glaciers which ran down the steep eastern slope of the + Sierras, and out on the level plains of Mono. By far the most + remarkable are those formed by Bloody + most Canyon Glacier, described by me in a former paper. These + moraines are six or seven miles long, 300 to 400 feet high, + and the parallel crests not more than a mile asunder. There, + also, as at Lake Tahoe, we find them terminating abruptly in + the plain without any sign of terminal moraine. But higher up + there are small, imperfect, transverse moraines, made during + the subsequent retreat, behind which water has collected, + forming lakes and marshes. But observe: these moraines are + also _in the vicinity of a great lake_; and we have + abundant evidence, in very distinct terraces described by + Whitney[4] and observed by myself, that in glacial times the + _water stood at least six hundred feet above the present + level_. In fact, there can be no doubt that at that time + the waters of Mono Lake (or a much greater body of water + of which Mono is the remnant) washed against the bold rocky + points from which the débris ridges start. _The glaciers in + this vicinity, therefore, must have_ run out into the water + six or seven miles, and doubtless formed icebergs at their + point, and, therefore, formed there no terminal moraine. + +[Footnote 4: _Geological Survey of California_, Vol. I, 451.] + + That the glaciers described about Lake Tahoe and Lake Mono ran + out far into the water and formed icebergs I think is + quite certain, and that parallel moraines open below are + characteristic signs of such conditions I also think nearly + certain. + + _f. Glacial Erosion_. My observations on glacial pathways + in the High Sierra, and especially about Lake Tahoe, have + greatly modified my views as to the nature of glacial erosion. + Writers on this subject seem to regard glacial erosion as + mostly, if not wholly, a _grinding_ and _scoring_; + the débris of this erosion as rock-meal; the great bowlders, + which are found in such immense quantities in the terminal + deposit, as derived wholly from the crumbling cliffs above the + glacial surface; the _rounded_ bowlders, which are often + the most numerous, as derived in precisely the same way, only + they have been engulfed by crevasses, or between the sides of + the glacier and the bounding wall, and thus carried between + the moving ice and its rocky bed, as between + the upper and nether millstone. In a word, all bowlders, + whether angular or rounded, are supposed to owe their + _origin_ or _separation_ and _shaping_ to + glacial agency. + + Now, if such be the true view of glacial erosion, evidently + its effect in mountain sculpture must be small indeed. + _Roches moutonnées_ are recognized by all as the most + universal and characteristic sign of a glacial bed. Sometimes + these beds are only imperfect _moutonnées_, i.e., they + are composed of _broken angular surface with only the points + and edges planed off_. Now, _moutonnées_ surfaces + always, and especially angular surfaces with only points and + edges beveled, show that the erosion by grinding has been only + very superficial. They show that if the usual view of glacial + erosion be correct, the great canyons, so far from being + _formed_, were only very _slightly modified_ + by glacial agency. But I am quite satisfied from my + own observations, that this is not the only _nor the + principal_ mode of glacial erosion. I am convinced that + a glacier, by its enormous pressure and resistless onward + movement, is _constantly breaking off large blocks_ from + its bed and bounding walls. Its erosion is not only a grinding + and scoring, but also a _crushing and breaking_. It + makes by its erosion not only rock-meal, but also large + _rock-chips_. Thus, a glacier is constantly breaking off + blocks and making angular surfaces, and then grinding off the + angles both of the fragments and the bed, and thus forming + rounded bowlders and _moutonnées_ surfaces. Its erosion + is a constant process of alternate _rough hewing and + planing_. If the rock be full of fissures, and the glacier + deep and heavy, the rough hewing so predominates that the + plane has only time to touch the corners a little before the + rock is again broken and new angles formed. This is the case + high up on the _canyon walls_, at the head of Cascade + Lake and Emerald Bay, but also in the _canyon beds wherever + the slate is approached_. If, on the other hand, the rock + is very hard and solid, and the glacier be not very deep and + heavy, the planing will predominate over the rough hewing, and + a smooth, gentle billowy surface is the result. This is the + case in the hard granite forming the beds of all the canyons + high up, but especially high up the canyon of Fallen Leaf Lake + (Glen Alpine Basin), where the canyon spreads out and extensive + but comparatively thin snow sheets have been at work. In some + cases _on the cliffs_, subsequent disintegration of a + glacier-polished surface may have given the appearance of + angular surfaces with beveled corners; but, in other cases, + in the _bed of the canyon_, and on elevated level places, + where large loosened blocks could not be removed by water nor + by gravity, I observed the same appearances, under conditions + which forbid this explanation. Mr. Muir, also, in his + _Studies in the Sierra_, gives many examples of undoubted + rock-breaking by ancient glaciers. + + _Angular_ blocks are mostly, therefore, the ruins of + crumbling cliffs, borne on the surface of the glacier and + deposited at its foot. Many _rounded_ bowlders also have + a similar origin, having found their way to the bed of the + glacier through crevasses, or along the sides of the glacier. + But _most of the rounded bowlders_ in the terminal + deposit of _great glaciers_ are fragments _torn off by + the glacier itself_. The proportion of rounded bowlders--of + upper or air-formed--to nether or glacier-formed fragments, + depends on the depth and extent of the ice-current. In the + case of the universal ice-sheet (ice-flood) there are, of + course, no upper formed or angular blocks at all--there is + nothing borne on the surface. The moraine, therefore, consists + wholly of nether-formed and nether-borne severely triturated + materials (_moraine profunde_). The bowlders are, of + course, all rounded. This is one extreme. In the case of the + thin moving ice-fields, the _glacierets_ which still + linger among the highest peaks and shadiest hollows of the + Sierra, on the other hand, the moraines are composed _wholly + of angular blocks_. This is the character of the terminal + moraine of Mount Lyell glacier. These glacierets are too thin + and feeble and torpid to break off fragments--they can + only _bear_ away what falls on them. This is the + other extreme. But in the case of ordinary + glaciers--ice-streams--the bowlders of the terminal deposit + are mixed; the angular or upper-formed predominating in the + small existing glaciers of temperate climates, but the rounded + or nether-formed greatly predominating in the grand old + glaciers of which we have been + speaking. In the terminal deposits of these, especially in the + materials pushed into the Lake, it is somewhat difficult + to find a bowlder which has not been subjected to severe + attrition. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE LESSER LAKES OF THE TAHOE REGION AND HOW THEY WERE FORMED + + +This is not to be a description of the scores of Glacial Lakes found +in the Tahoe region, but an answer to the questions so often +asked about practically all of these lakes, as to their origin and +continuance. + +Rich as our Sierras are in treasures none are more precious than +these. They give one pleasing surprises, often when least expected. +For while the tree-clusters, the mountain-peaks, and the glowing +snow-banks throw themselves into our view by their elevated positions, +the retiring lakes, secluded, modest, hide their beauty from us until +we happen to climb up to, or above, them. + +From the higher summits how wonderfully they appear. Let the eye +follow a fruitful branch of an apple, pear or peach. How the leaves, +the stem, the fruit occur, in sure but irregular order. It is just +so with the glacial lakes of the Sierras. They are the fruit of the +streams that flow from the glacial fountains. They lie on rude and +unexpected granite shelves,--as Le Conte Lake; under the shadow of +towering peaks,--as Gilmore Lake; on bald glacier-gouged and polished +tables,--as those of Desolation Valley; embosomed in deep woods,--as +Fallen Leaf, Heather and Cascade; in the rocky recesses of sloping +canyons,--as Susie, Lucile and the Angoras; hidden in secret recesses +of giant granite walls,--as Eagle; or sprawling in the open,--as Loon, +Spider, etc. + +What a variety of sizes, shapes and characteristics they present. +There are no two alike, yet they are nearly all one in their +attractive beauty, in the purity of their waters, and in the glory, +majesty, sublimity and beauty mirrored on their placid faces. + +In poetic fashion, yet with scientific accuracy, John Muir thus +describes their origin in his _Mountains of California_, a book +every Tahoe lover should possess: + + When a mountain lake is born,--when, like a young eye, it + first opens to the light,--it is an irregular, expressionless + crescent, inclosed in banks of rock and ice,--bare, glaciated + rock on the lower side, the rugged snout of a glacier on the + upper. In this condition it remains for many a year, until at + length, toward the end of some auspicious cluster of seasons, + the glacier recedes beyond the upper margin of the basin, + leaving it open from shore to shore for the first time, + thousands of years after its conception beneath the glacier + that excavated its basin. The landscape, cold and bare, is + reflected in its pure depths; the winds ruffle its glassy + surface, and the sun thrills it with throbbing spangles, + while its waves begin to lap and murmur around its leafless + shores,--sun-spangles during the day and reflected stars + at night its only flowers, the winds and the snow its only + visitors. Meanwhile, the glacier continues to recede, and + numerous rills, still younger than the lake itself, bring + down glacier-mud, sand-grains, and pebbles, giving rise to + margin-rings and plats of soil. To these fresh soil-beds come + many a waiting plant. First, a hardy carex with arching + leaves and a spike of brown flowers; then, as the seasons grow + warmer, and the soil-beds deeper and wider, other sedges take + their appointed places, and these are joined by blue gentians, + daisies, dodecatheons, violets, honey-worts, and many a lowly + moss. Shrubs also hasten in time to the new gardens,--kalmia + with its glossy leaves and purple flowers, the arctic willow, + making soft woven carpets, together with the healthy bryanthus + and cassiope, the fairest and dearest of them all. Insects + now enrich the air, frogs pipe cheerily in the shallows, soon + followed by the ouzel, which is the first bird to visit a + glacier lake, as the sedge is the first of plants. + So the young lake grows in beauty, becoming more and more + humanly lovable from century to century. Groves of aspen + spring up, and hardy pines, and the hemlock spruce, until it + is richly overshadowed and embowered. But while its shores + are becoming enriched, the soil-beds creep out with incessant + growth, contracting its area, while the lighter mud-particles + deposited on the bottom cause it to grow shallower, until at + length the last remnant of the lake vanishes,--closed forever + in ripe and natural old age. And now its feeding-stream goes + winding on without halting through the new gardens and groves + that have taken its place. + + The length of the life of any lake depends ordinarily upon the + capacity of its basin, as compared with the carrying power of + the streams that flow into it, the character of the rocks over + which these streams flow, and the relative position of the + lake toward other lakes. In a series whose basins lie in the + same canyon, and are fed by one and the same main stream, + the uppermost will, of course, vanish first unless some other + lake-filling agent comes in to modify the result; because at + first it receives nearly all of the sediments that the stream + brings down, only the finest of the mud-particles being + carried through the highest of the series to the next below. + Then the next higher, and the next would be successively + filled, and the lowest would be the last to vanish. But this + simplicity as to duration is broken in upon in various ways, + chiefly through the action of side-streams that enter the + lower lakes direct. For, notwithstanding many of these side + tributaries are quite short, and, during late summer, feeble, + they all become powerful torrents in spring-time when the + snow is melting, and carry not only sand and pine-needles, but + large trunks and bowlders tons in weight, sweeping them down + their steeply inclined channels and into the lake basins with + astounding energy. Many of these side affluents also have + the advantage of access to the main lateral moraines of the + vanished glacier that occupied the canyon, and upon these they + draw for lake-filling material, while the main trunk stream + flows mostly over clean glacier pavements, where but little + moraine matter is ever left for them to carry. Thus a small + rapid stream with abundance of loose transportable material + within its reach may fill up an extensive basin in a few centuries, + while a large perennial trunk stream, flowing over clean, + enduring pavements, though ordinarily a hundred times larger, + may not fill a smaller basin in thousands of years. + +[Illustration: Tamarack and Echo Lakes] + +[Illustration: Cascade Lake, Near the Automobile Bouldvard, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Memorial Cross at Donner Lake] + +Many striking examples of these successive processes may be seen in +the Tahoe region, as, for instance, Squaw Valley, which lies between +the spurs of Squaw Peak and Granite Chief. This was undoubtedly +scooped out by a glacier that came down from Squaw Peak and Granite +Chief. The course of the ice-sheet was down to the Truckee River. +When the glacier began to shrink it left its terminal moraine as a +dam between the basin above and the river below. In due time, as the +glacier finally receded to a mere bank of half-glacierized snow on the +upper portions of the two peaks, the basin filled up with water and +thus formed a lake. Slowly the sand and rocky debris from the peaks +filled up the lake, and in the course of time a break was made in +the moraine, so that the creek flowed over or through it and the lake +ceased to exist, while the meadow came into existence. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DONNER LAKE AND ITS TRAGIC HISTORY + + +Closely allied to Lake Tahoe by its near proximity, its situation on +the Emigrant Gap automobile road from Sacramento to Tahoe, and that +it is seen from Mt. Rose, Mt. Watson, and many Tahoe peaks, is Dormer +Lake,--lake of tragic memories in the early day pioneer history of +this region. + +It was in 1846 that James T. Reed, of Springfield, Ill., determined to +move to California. This land of promise was then a Mexican province, +but Reed carefully and thoroughly had considered the question and +had decided that, for his family's good, it was well to emigrate. He +induced two other Illinois families to accompany him, those of George +and Jacob Donner. Thursday, April 15th, 1846, the party started, full +of high hopes for the future. The story of how they met with others +bound for California or Oregon, at Independence, Mo., journeyed +together over the plains and prairies to Fort Hall, where Lansford W. +Hastings, either in person or by his "Open Letter," led part of the +band to take his new road, which ultimated in dire tragedy, is well +known. + +The Oregon division of the divided party took the right-hand trail, +while the other took the left-hand to Fort Bridger. It is the +experiences of this latter party with which we are concerned. +Misfortune came to them thick and fast from this time on. The wagons +were stalled in Weber Canyon and had to be hauled bodily up the steep +cliffs to the plateau above; some of their stock ran away, after +heartbreaking struggles over the Salt Lake desert; mirages intensified +their burning thirst by their disappointing lure; Indians threatened +them, and finally, to add despair to their wretchedness, a quarrel +arose in which Mr. Reed, in self-defence, killed one of the drivers, +named Snyder. Reed was banished from the party under circumstances of +unjustifiable severity which amounted to inhuman cruelty, and his wife +and helpless children, the oldest of them, Virginia, only twelve years +of age, had to take the rest of the journey without the presence of +their natural protector. Food supplies began to give out, the snow +fell earlier than usual and added to their difficulties, and before +they reached the region of the Truckee River they were compelled to +go on short rations. Then, under suspicious circumstances one of the +party, Wolfinger, was lost, and though his wife was informed that he +had been murdered by Indians, there was always a doubt in the minds of +some as to whether that explanation were the true one. On the 19th +of October, an advance guard that had gone on to California for food, +returned, bringing seven mules ladened with flour and jerked beef. The +story of this trip I have recounted more fully in the book _Heroes +of California_. Without this additional food the party never could +have survived. On the 22nd they crossed the Truckee River for the +forty-ninth time. + +Heavy snow now began to intercept their weary way. They were finally +compelled to take refuge in an abandoned cabin near the shore of what +is now known as Donner Lake, and there, under circumstances of horror +and terror that can never fully be comprehended and appreciated, the +devoted men, women and children were imprisoned in the snow until the +first relief party reached them, February 19th, with scant provisions, +brought in at life's peril on snowshoes. A "Forlorn Hope" had tried to +force its passage over the snowy heights. Fifteen brave men and women +determined to see if they could not win their way over and send +back help. Out of the fifteen seven only survived and reached the +Sacramento Valley, and they were compelled to sustain life by eating +the flesh of those who had perished. + +The second relief party was organized by Mr. Reed,--the banished +leader--and thirty-one of the party were still in camp at Donner Lake +when he arrived, with nine stalwart men to help, on March 1st. On the +3rd nine of them left, with seventeen of the starving emigrants, but +they were caught in a fearful snow-storm as they crossed the summit, +and ten miles below were compelled to go into camp. Their provisions +gave out, Mrs. Graves died, leaving an emaciated babe in arms and +three other children, one a five-year-old, who died the next day. +Isaac Donner died the third night. Reed and Greenwood, carrying Reed's +two children, Mattie and James Jr., with one of the survivors who +could walk, now struggled down the mountain in the hope that they +could reach help to go back and finish the rescue work. These met +Mr. Woodworth who organized the third relief party, of seven men, who +returned to "Starved Camp," to find the survivors begging piteously +for something to eat. This relief party divided into two parts--one to +go over the summit to give help to the needy there, the other to get +the "Starved Camp" remnant to safety. The first section succeeded in +their mission of mercy and a few days later caught up with the other +section from Starved Camp. + +Mr. C.F. McGlashan, formerly editor of the _Truckee Republican_, +has written a graphic account, with great care and desire for +accuracy, of the complete expedition, which gives the heart-rending +story with completeness, and I expect to publish ere long the personal +story of Virginia Reed Murphy, who is still alive, one of the few +survivors of the ill-fated party. + +[Illustration: The Steamer at the Wharf, Tahoe Tavern, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Donner Lake, on the Automobile Highway from Sacramento +to Truckee and Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: The Canyon of the Truckee River in Winter] + +[Illustration: Automobiling along the Picturesque Truckee River, +on the way to Lake Tahoe] + +Through privations and hardships untold the survivors were ultimately +enabled to reach Sutter's Fort, only to find the most vile and fearful +stories set in circulation about them. Four separate relief parties +were sent from California, and their adventures were almost as tragic +as those of the sufferers they sought to help. Bret Harte, in his +_Gabriel Conroy_, has told much--though in the exaggerated and +unjust form the stories were first circulated--of the Donner tragedy, +and it has been made the subject of much newspaper and other writing +and discussion. + +An unusual trip that can be taken from Tahoe Tavern is down to the +foot of Donner Lake and then, turning to the left, follow the old +emigrant and stage-road. It has not been used for fifty years, but it +is full of interest. There are many objects that remain to tell of its +fascinating history. Over it came many who afterwards became pioneers +in hewing out this new land from the raw material of which lasting +commonwealths are made. Turning south to Cold Stream, it passes by +Summit Valley on to Starved Camp. The stumps of the trees cut down by +the unfortunate pioneers are still standing. + +It was always a difficult road to negotiate, the divide between Mt. +Lincoln and Anderson Peak being over 7500 feet high. But those heroes +of 1848-49 made it, triumphing over every barrier and winning for +themselves what Joaquin Miller so poetically has accorded them, +where he declares that "the snow-clad Sierras are their everlasting +monuments." + +This road is now, in places, almost obliterated. One section for three +miles is grown up. Trees and chaparral cover it and hide it from the +face of any but the most studiously observant. When the road that +takes to the north of Donner Lake was built in 1861-62 and goes +directly and on an easier grade by Emigrant Gap to Dutch Flat, this +road by Cold Stream was totally abandoned. For years the county road +officials have ignored its existence, and now it is as if it never had +been, save for its memories and the fragments of wagons, broken and +abandoned in the fierce conflict with stern Nature, and suggesting +the heart-break and struggle the effort to reach California caused in +those early days. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +LAKE TAHOE AND THE TRUCKEE RIVER + + +As is well known, the Truckee River is the only outlet to Lake Tahoe. +This outlet is on the northwest side of the Lake, between Tahoe City +and Tahoe Tavern, and is now entirely controlled by the concrete dam +and head-gates referred to in the chapter on "Public uses of the Water +of Lake Tahoe." + +When Frémont came down from Oregon in 1844, he named the river +_Salmon Trout River_, from the excellent fish found therein, but +the same year, according to Angel, in his _History of Nevada_, a +party of twenty-three men, enthused by the glowing accounts they had +heard of California, left Council Bluffs, May 20th, crossed the plains +in safety, and reached the Humboldt River. Here an Indian, named +Truckee, presented himself to them and offered to become their +guide. After questioning him closely, they engaged him, and as they +progressed, found that all his statements were verified. He soon +became a great favorite among them, and when they reached the lower +crossing of the river (now Wadsworth), they were so pleased by the +pure water and the abundance of the fish to which he directed them, +that they named the stream "Truckee" in his honor. + +This Capt. Truckee was the chief of the Paiutis, and the father of +Winnemucca (sometimes known as Poito), and the grandfather of Sarah +Winnemucca Hopkins, long known in Boston and other eastern cities, +where she lectured under the patronage of Mrs. Horace Mann, Mrs. Ole +Bull, Miss Longfellow, and other prominent women, as the Princess +Sallie. When I first went to Nevada, over thirty-three years ago, +I soon got to know her and her father, Winnemucca, and met them +constantly. + +Sarah always claimed that Truckee and Frémont were great friends and +that it was the Pathfinder who named the river after her grandfather, +but nowhere in his _Report_ of the 1843-44 Expedition does he +mention Truckee, and he called the river the "Salmon Trout River"; +and this name he retained both in the report and map published in his +_Memoirs of My Life_, Vol. I only of which was issued by Belford, +Clarke and Company, of Chicago, in 1887. + +Hence Sallie is undoubtedly mistaken in this regard. But on several +points she is correct, and too great emphasis cannot be laid upon +these facts. They are, I, that Truckee guided several emigrant +parties, even as far as Sutter's Fort, California (where Sacramento, +the Capital of the State, now stands); II, that he was always +friendly, true and honest in his dealings with the whites; III, that +had the emigrants and settlers in Nevada treated him as honestly as he +did them there would never have been any conflicts between the Paiutis +and the whites; IV, that when the latter first came to the country he +called councils of his people and bade them welcome the newcomers with +open arms. + +He died just as the wrongs inflicted upon the Paiutis were making them +desperate and resolved on war. Though his son, Winnemucca, is well +known never openly to have waged war against the whites, it was +thoroughly understood that secretly he favored it. But had his father +lived and retained his health and power there is little doubt but that +the open conflict would have been averted, and many precious human +lives on both sides saved. + +The Truckee River has its rise in Lake Tahoe, flows northward and +breaks through the Mount Pluto ridge in a narrow canyon, one thousand +to two thousand feet in depth. While the canyon is narrow and its +slopes, especially on the east, are rocky and steep, it is not exactly +gorge-like, except for the space of a mile or so, a short distance +below Tahoe. For twelve miles the river follows a northerly course, +and it is then joined by Donner Creek flowing from Donner Lake. +The united streams then turn eastward and take a course across the +northern end of the gravelly flat of Martis Valley, in a channel two +hundred to two-hundred-fifty feet below the level of the plain. At +Boca it cuts through the eastern range with a canyon one thousand to +three thousand five hundred feet in depth and emerges on the plains +of Nevada between Verdi and Reno. It returns again to the north below +Wadsworth, having run sixty-nine miles from Donner Creek, and then, +flowing sixteen more miles, it discharges into Pyramid Lake. At Tahoe +the river begins at an elevation of 6,225 feet above sea level; at +Pyramid the level is 4,890 feet, thus giving the river a fall of 1,335 +feet in ninety-seven miles. + +The Truckee River receives a number of large tributaries; the +principal ones being Little Truckee River and Prosser Creek, the +former heading in Webber Lake, the latter in the main range of the +Sierras, most of its sources lying in small lakes held in hollows and +basins excavated by glaciers. + +Until it was contaminated by the refuse of civilization its waters +were pure and healthful, but legal enactments have been necessary to +protect the stream from sawdust and other pollutions. + +As elsewhere explained the Truckee River being the only outlet of Lake +Tahoe, and therefore its natural outflow channel, together with the +facts that its origin is in California and it then flows into Nevada, +and that part of Lake Tahoe is in each state, has helped complicate +the solution of the question as to who is entitled to the surplus +waters of the Lake. This is discussed somewhat in a later chapter +devoted to the subject. + +It may be interesting to recall that in 1900 Mr. A.W. Von Schmidt, +President of the _Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Water Works_, +offered to sell to the City of San Francisco certain rights to the +water of Lake Tahoe, the dam at the outlet, contract for a deed to two +and a half acres of land on which the outlet dam was constructed, a +diverting dam in the Truckee River, a patent to the land (forty acres) +on which this land stood, and the maps and surveys for a complete line +conveying the water of Lake Tahoe to the city of the Golden Gate. He +offered to construct this line, including a tunnel through the Sierra +Nevadas, and deliver thirty million gallons of water daily, for +$17,960,000. If a double line, or a hundred millions of gallons daily, +were required, the price was to be correspondingly increased. + +This proposition aroused the people of Nevada, and R.L. Fulton, of +Reno, Manager of the State Board of Trade, wrote to the San Francisco +supervisors, calling attention to the facts that there was no surplus +water from Tahoe during the irrigation season, for the water had +been diverted by the farmers living along the Truckee River to their +fields; that flouring-mills, smelting and reduction works, electric +light plant and water-works at Reno, immense saw-mills, a furniture +factory, box factory, water and electric-light works, railroad +water-tanks, etc., at Truckee, half a dozen ice-ponds, producing over +200,000 tons of ice annually, sawmills and marble-working mills at +Essex; planing-mills at Verdi, paper-mill at Floristan, and other +similar plants, were totally dependent for their water supply upon the +Truckee River. + +He also claimed (what was the well-known fact) that the Von Schmidt +dam was burned out many years ago, and that Nevada would put up a +tremendously stiff fight to prevent any such diversion of Tahoe water +as was contemplated. Needless to say the plan fell through. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +BY RAIL TO LAKE TAHOE + + +Lake Tahoe is fifteen miles from Truckee, which is one of the mountain +stations on the main line of the Southern Pacific Railway (Central +Route), two hundred and eight miles from San Francisco, thirty-five +miles from Reno, Nevada, and five hundred and seventy-four miles +from Ogden, Utah. By the San Joaquin Valley route via Sacramento, the +distance to Los Angeles is five hundred and eighty miles, or by San +Francisco and the Coast Line six hundred and ninety-two miles. + +During the summer season trains run frequently through, making Tahoe +easily accessible. + +From the east the traveler comes over what is practically the long +known and historic overland stage-road, over which so many thousands +of gold-seekers and emigrants came in the days of California's gold +excitement. Every mile has some story of pioneer bravery or heroism, +of hairbreadth escape from hostile Indians or fortuitous deliverance +from storm or disaster. It was over this route the pilgrims came who +sought in Utah a land of freedom where they might follow their +own peculiar conceptions of religion and duty, untrammeled and +uninterfered with by hostile onlookers and disbelievers. Here came the +home-seekers of the earlier day, when California was still a province +of Mexico; those who had been lured by the glowing stories of the Land +of the Sun Down Sea, where orange and lemon, vine and fig flourished +and indicated the semi-tropic luxuriance and fruitfulness of the land. + +[Illustration: Truckee, Calif., Where Travelers Take Trains for +Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Crossing the Truckee River Near Deer Park Station] + +[Illustration: Placerville, El Dorado Co., California] + +[Illustration: Vineyard on the Automotive Highway between Placerville +and Lake Tahoe] + +From the west the railroad traverses, in the main, the continuation +of this old overland road. After leaving the fertile valley of the +Sacramento and rising into the glorious foot-hills of the Sierras, +every roll of the billows of the mountains and canyons wedged in +between is redolent of memories of the argonauts and emigrants. Yonder +are Yuba, Dutch Flat, the North Fork, the South Fork (of the American +River), Colfax, Gold Run, Midas, Blue Canyon, Emigrant Gap, Grass +Valley, Michigan Bluff, Grizzly Gulch, Alpha, Omega, Eagle Bird, Red +Dog, Chips Flat, Quaker Hill and You Bet. Can you not see these camps, +alive with rough-handed, full-bearded, sun-browned, stalwart men, +and hear the clang of hammer upon drill, the shock of the blast, the +wheeling away and crash of waste rock as it is thrown over the dump +pile? + +And then, as we look up and forward into the sea of mountain-waves +into the heart of which we ride, who but Joaquin Miller can describe +the scene? + +Here lifts the land of clouds! Fierce mountain forms, +Made white with everlasting snows, look down +Through mists of many canyons, mighty storms +That stretch from Autumn's purple drench and drown +The yellow hem of Spring. Tall cedars frown +Dark-brow'd, through banner'd clouds that stretch and stream +Above the sea from snowy mountain crown. +The heavens roll, and all things drift or seem +To drift about and drive like some majestic dream. + +And it is in the very bosom of this majestic scenery that Lake Tahoe +lies enshrined. Its entrancing beauty is such that we do not wonder +that these triumphant monarchs of the "upper seas" cluster around it +as if in reverent adoration, and that they wear their vestal virgin +robes of purest white in token of the purity of their worship. + +Thoughts like these flood our hearts and minds as we reach Truckee, +the point where we leave the Southern Pacific cars and change to those +of the narrow-gauge Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company. +After a brief wait, long enough to allow transfer of baggage, we +leave, from the same station, for the fifteen miles' ride to Tahoe +Tavern on the very edge of the Lake. + +This ride is itself romantic and beautiful. On the day trains +observation cars are provided, and the hour is one of delightful, +restful and enchanting scenes. The Truckee River is never out of sight +and again and again it reminds one in its foaming speed of Joaquin +Miller's expressive phrase: + +See where the cool white river runs. + +Before 1900 this ride used to be taken by stage, the railway having +been built in that year. It is interesting here to note that the +rails, the locomotives, the passenger and freight cars were all +transported bodily across the Lake from Glenbrook, on the Nevada side. +There they were in use for many years mainly for hauling logs and +lumber to and from the mills on the summit, whence it was "flumed" to +Carson City. + +In those days logging was carried on in the Truckee River Canyon and +the visitor would often have the pleasure of seeing logs "shoot the +chutes" into the river, by which they were floated to the mills at +Truckee. Here is a picture: + + Tree, bush, and flower grow and blossom upon either side; and + a little bird, with a throat like a thrush, warbles a canticle + of exquisite musical modulations, so to speak. But the most + stirring sight of all is the system of logging carried on by + the mill companies. "Look! Quick!" ejaculates the driver; and + your gaze is directed to a monster log that comes furiously + dashing from the summit down a chute a thousand feet in length + with twice the ordinary speed of a locomotive. So rapid is + its descent that it leaves a trail of smoke behind it, and + sometimes kindles a fire among the slivers along its way. + Ah! it strikes the water! In an instant there is an inverted + Niagara in the air, resplendent with prismatic and transparent + veils of spray[1]. + +[Footnote 1: John Vance Cheney in _Lippincott's_.] + +The main portion of the canyon is walled in by abrupt acclivities, +upon which majestic trees used to grow, but where now only the growth +of the past twenty-five to fifty years is found, doing its best to +hide the scars and wounds of the logging days. + +The river, issuing from the Lake above, dashes down its wild way in +resistless freedom. It is a rapid, all but savage stream, widening +occasionally into sheltered pools exceedingly dark and deep. The +bowlders in its channel, and those crowding down into it from its +farther bank, cause it to eddy and foam with fierce but becoming +pride. + +A few miles from the Tavern we pass the scene of the Squaw Valley +mining excitement where the two towns of Knoxville and Claraville +arose as if by magic, tent cities of thousands of inhabitants, lured +hither by a dream of gold, too soon to fade away, leaving nothing but +distress behind. + +Deer Park station suggests the leaving point for that charmingly +picturesque resort, snuggling in the heart of Bear Canyon. Now we +pass the masses of tuffaceous breccia that "Pap" Church, the old +stage-driver used to call the Devil's Pulpit, and the devil's this and +that or the other, until many a traveler would wish they were all with +the devil. + +This is a remnant of the vast mass of volcanic rock that in long ago +prehistoric times was poured out in molten sheets over the region, +and that formed the range we shall shortly see at the north end of the +Lake--the Mount Pluto range. At some later period either earthquake +convulsion started the break which ultimately eroded and disintegrated +into the great gorge through which the railway has brought us, or +grinding glacier cut the pathway for us. + +Here, on the right, is a tiny swinging foot-bridge over the river. +This is the beginning, the suggestion, for the vast suspension bridges +that have allowed the world to cross the great North River from New +York to Brooklyn, and that span great rivers and gorges elsewhere in +the world. Nay! scarcely the beginning. That you find further up and +deeper down in the High Sierras and their shaded and wooded canyons, +where wild vines throw their clinging tendrils across from one shore +to another of foaming creeks, and gradually grow in girth and strength +until they form bridges, over which chipmunks, squirrels, porcupines, +'coons, coyotes, and finally mountain lions, bears, and even men cross +with safety. There is the _real origin_ of the suspension bridge. +But this is a miniature, a model, a suggestion of the big bridges. +It affords ready access to the house on the other side. In winter, +however, the boards are taken up, as the heavy snows that fall and +accumulate might wreck it. + +It is hard to realize that, a few months from now, when winter begins, +this railroad must perforce cease its operations. Snow falls, here, +where the sun is now smiling so beneficently upon laughing meadows, +dotted here and there with dainty flowers, to a depth of ten and even +twenty feet. The mail--necessarily much reduced in winter--is first of +all carried in sleighs, then, as the snows deepen, on snow-shoes, +so that those who stay to preserve the "summer hotels" from winter's +ravages may not feel entirely shut out from the living world beyond. + +But there is nothing that suggests snow now. We are enjoying the +delights of a summer day or evening, and know that we are near our +journey's end. Suddenly there is a long call of the whistle, a short +curve, and if in the daytime, the Lake suddenly appears, or, if at +night, the lights of the Tavern, and our rail journey is done. We are +deposited in Fairyland, for whether it be day or evening, the Lake +or the Tavern, our senses are thrilled and charmed by everything that +appears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE WISHBONE AUTOMOBILE ROUTE TO AND AROUND LAKE TAHOE + + +This is the name given to the 260-mile automobile route to and from +Lake Tahoe, going in from Sacramento over the world-famed Emigrant +Gap and Donner Lake road, around the western shore of Lake Tahoe, +from Tahoe Tavern to Tallac, and thence back to Sacramento over the +historic and picturesque Placerville road. While both of the two main +arms of the "wishbone" carry the traveler over the Sierras, the roads +are wonderfully different. On the Emigrant Gap arm the road seems to +have been engineered somewhat after the Indian fashion, viz., to allow +the wildest and most expansive outlooks, while the Placerville route +is largely confined to the picturesque and beautiful canyon of the +South Fork of the American River. Both have honored histories and both +are fascinating from the scenic standpoint and the difference in the +two routes merely accentuates the charm of the trip, when compared +with the new portion of the road, the connecting link that binds +them together and now makes possible the ride around the lake shore. +Experience has demonstrated, however, that it is better to make the +circuit as herein outlined. + +A brief sketch of the history of the building of the Emigrant Gap +portion of this road cannot fail to be of interest. + +It was practically followed by a host of the emigrants who sought +California during the great gold excitement of 1848-9. It was also one +of the earliest routes used between Sacramento and the mines of the +High Sierras. In 1849 it was established from Sacramento to Auburn, +Grass Valley and Nevada City and to-day there is practically little +deviation from the original route. In 1850 the mines on the Forest +Hill Divide were discovered and a branch road from Auburn was built to +that section. At Illinoistown (now Colfax) the road branched, one arm +crossing the North Fork of the American River to Iowa Hill and other +camps on that divide, while the main road continued up the Sierras to +Gold Run, Dutch Flat and other points higher up. + +Until the Central Pacific Railway was built in the 'sixties +Illinoistown was the junction for the different Camps in Nevada County +and the Bear River and Iowa Hill Divides. The population of these +regions in those early days was much greater than at the present time, +yet the demands of the modern automobile have so improved the roads +that they are much superior to what the large population of those days +enjoyed. + +In 1862 the California legislature authorized the supervisors of +certain counties to call special elections to vote upon the question +as to whether those counties should subscribe towards the building of +the Central Pacific Railway, and to authorize them to issue bonds for +the amounts they decided to expend. San Francisco county subscribed +$1,000,000, Sacramento county $300,000 and Placer county $250,000. + +In 1863 the Railroad Company began its work of grading the road bed at +Sacramento, and yet, in 1865 it was only completed to Alta, a distance +of 68 miles. At the same time it was making strenuous efforts to +divert passenger and freight traffic for Virginia City and other +Nevada points from the Placerville route. This had become possible +because of the fact that when the railway line was actually built as +far as Newcastle the engineers realized that before they could build +the rest of their railroad they would need to construct a highway of +easy grade, which would enable them to haul the necessary supplies for +constructing the tunnels, cuts and bridges. Accordingly a survey was +made up to Truckee, over the Nevada line into Reno and Virginia City, +securing the best possible grade for a wagon road, and this was rushed +to a hasty completion. + +Naturally, they were anxious to gain all the paying traffic possible, +and especially under the adverse conditions under which they were +laboring. But, needless to say, this caused the fiercest hostility +on the part of their competitors, laid them open to serious charges, +which, later, were made, and that for a time threatened desperate +consequences, as I will now proceed to relate. + +In the late fall of 1864 the Sacramento Valley Railroad (the rival of +the Central Pacific) arranged to make a record trip from Freeport +to Virginia City by the Placerville route. Though the officials +endeavored to keep the matter secret, it leaked out and immediately +the Central Pacific planned to circumvent their aim. They stationed +relays along their own line to compete, and Nature and Fate seemed to +come to their aid. A fierce storm arose the day before the start was +to be made, and it fell heavier on the Placerville than on the other +route. Though the drivers of each line did their utmost, feeling their +own personal honor, as well as that of their company at stake, the +heavy rains at Strawberry arrested the Placerville stage and made +further progress impossible, while the other route was enabled +to complete its trip on record time. Mr. L.L. Robinson, the +Superintendent of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, who himself +accompanied the stage, wired from Strawberry, "Heavy rains, heavy +roads, slow time"--reluctant to own a possible defeat. But the +Sacramento _Union_, the organ of the Central Pacific, came out +the next morning with glowing accounts of the successful run of +the stages over the Emigrant Gap route and ridiculed Mr. Robinson's +telegram, ironically comparing it with Cćsar's classic message to the +Roman Senate: "Veni, Vidi, Vici." + +It was such struggles for local business as this that led the San +Francisco _Alta California_, a paper bitterly opposed to the +Central Pacific, to denounce the railway, in 1866, as the "Dutch Flat +Swindle." It claimed that the railway would never be built further +than Alta and that it was built so far only for the purpose of +controlling passenger and freight traffic over their wagon road to +Virginia City and other Nevada points. Other San Francisco papers +joined in the fight and so energetically was it conducted, and so +powerful became the opposition that they actually prevailed upon the +people of San Francisco to repudiate their contract to purchase a +million dollars' worth of Central Pacific stock and compromise by +practically making the railroad company a present of $600,000 (which +had already been expended) provided they would release the City and +County from their pledge to raise the remaining $400,000. + +The folly of this action is now so apparent that it is hard to +conceive how even political and civic jealousy or hatred could have +been so blinded to self-interest. The Central Pacific engineers had +undertaken one of the most difficult pieces of railway engineering in +the world, and the financiers of the company were having an equally +desperate struggle. During the Civil War the finances of the nation +were at a low ebb and money was exceedingly difficult to secure. Yet +in spite of all obstacles the company had gone ahead in perfect good +faith, and at that very time were hauling rails and track material +from Alta, and soon from Cisco, to Truckee (then called Coburn Station +on the old Emigrant Gap road), and had actually built the +railroad from Truckee down into Nevada and as far east as Wadsworth, +or a little beyond, before the tunnel at Summit was completed. + +[Illustration: Automobiling along the Truckee River] + +[Illustration: On the Automobile Boulevard Around Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Atlantic to Pacific Automobile Party, Premier Tour, +1911, Stopping at Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: Copyright 1910, by Harold A. Parker. Cascade Lake +and Mt. Tallac] + +Thus in storm and stress was this road born, and in the winter time +of our day it is still a road of storm and stress, as are all of the +roads over the High Sierras. It must be remembered that while the +elevation at Sacramento is but thirty feet above sea level, at Summit +it is 7018 feet, and even at Truckee, where the turn is made for +Tahoe, it is 5819 feet. Naturally such high altitudes receive +considerable snow, which render the roads impassable during the winter +season. In 1914 I went from Truckee to the Summit on the 10th of June, +and save for two or three patches of snow which were rapidly melting, +there were no serious obstacles that any good motor could not +overcome. + + +FROM SACRAMENTO TO TAHOE ON THE EMIGRANT GAP AND DONNER LAKE ROUTE, +135 MILES + +From Sacramento the grade is easy and the country fairly open until +Auburn is reached (35-1/2 miles.) The roads are excellent, the +disintegrated granite affording local material close at hand for +perfect road building. The Sierras stretch away to the east in gently +ascending billows, covered over with richest verdure of native trees +of every variety, and of the thousands of orchard trees that are +making this region as famous for its fruits as it used to be for its +mines. For from 1849 until the hydraulic mines were closed down by +the anti-débris decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, this section and +beyond was one of the richest gold mining regions of California, and +historically, one of the greatest importance to the State. Such places +as Auburn, Illinoistown (Colfax), Gold Run and Dutch Flat, were rich +producing camps and branch roads reached to Yankee Jim, Todd's Valley, +Forest Hill, Michigan Bluffs, Bath, and other towns on what is known +as the Forest Hill Divide, a divide being a local term, to signify the +rocky, mountainous mass,--nearly always having a level grade on its +summit,--that separates two forks of the same stream, or two different +streams. From Colfax another road led to Grass Valley, Nevada City, +and North Bloomfield in Nevada County, and Iowa Hill, Wisconsin Hill, +Monona Flat, and Damascus on the Iowa Hill Divide. All these were +centers of rich mining districts which were scenes of the greatest +activity in the days of their productivity. Now, however, most of them +are abandoned, except Auburn, Colfax, and Nevada City which have other +resources, and Grass Valley, which maintains its high standing owing +to its rich quartz mines. Forest Hill, Iowa Hill, and Michigan Bluff +have drift mines which maintain small and meager populations compared +with those of the early and prosperous days. In the 'fifties Yankee +Jim and its tributary mines had a population of 3000, while to-day it +is entirely deserted. Todd's Valley, which was also a flourishing camp +has suffered the same fate. + +_Auburn to Colfax 16 Miles, Colfax to Emigrant Gap, 30-1/2 +Miles_. Leaving Auburn the road ascends more rapidly until Colfax +(16 miles) is reached (elevation 2422 feet). Then ten miles further +one is in the heart of the most extensive hydraulic mining operations +of California. Thousands of acres are passed which yet bear the scars +of the "washing down" for the precious mineral hid away during the +centuries until the Argonauts of '49 and later unearthed it by their +gigantic hydraulic nozzles. Millions of dollars were extracted from +these placers, but now the villages are deserted and all mining +operations have ceased. The time is not far distant when automobile +parties will arrange to stop over in one of these little places, and +with a competent guide, go over the deserted placers. It is hard to +realize that by the mere power of water mountains were washed away, +leaving the denuded country on the one hand, a land of mounds and +hummocks, like the Bad Lands in miniature, and on the other hand of +masses of débris, too heavy to be washed away into the streams. + +The wildest portions of the Sierras are revealed in ascending from +Dutch Flat to the Summit. The snowsheds of the Southern Pacific +Railway come into sight, perched like peculiar long black boxes, with +peep-holes, along an impossible ledge of the massive granite cliffs, +and the Sierran trees tower upright from every possible vantage ground +in the granite beneath. + +At Towle, three miles beyond Dutch Flat, the shipping point is reached +from which much of the material was hauled for the building of Lake +Spaulding dam. Hundreds of teams were employed in this work, and the +road showed an almost unbroken procession for months. This was in +1912-13. A side trip to this remarkable dam, impounding the waters of +the High Sierras for the generation of electric power to be used not +only in the Sacramento Valley but in far away San Francisco, cannot +fail to be of interest. The area of the Lake, with the dam at its +present elevation, is such as to justify the assertion that it is next +to if not the largest artificial lake in the world. + +_Emigrant Gap to Cisco, 14 Miles_.--Fourteen miles from Towle, +after enjoying the rich blue haze of Blue Canyon, the road passes +through the natural Sierran pass at Emigrant Gap which gives its name +to the route. Here one who has not been over the road before must not +fail to note the following: As he passes through the Gap the massive +granite wall towers in dominant power to the right and leads one to +feel that miles of rugged peaks are there. _Yet not more than a +hundred yards farther on_, the wall fades away, and if he stops +here, and turns off the road slightly to the right, he will glimpse +a vision of glory and sublimity that will take away his breath. Here, +from a thousand or two thousand feet almost sheer above it, one gazes +down to where in peaceful repose lies Bear Valley, a rich emerald +green meadow, on the right side of which flows the South Fork of the +Yuba River, and on the left heads Bear Creek, which empties into the +Sacramento at Marysville. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes are alway +spent here by those who know of this delectable surprise, yet many +come over the road unheeding and are never aware of what they have +missed. + +Eight miles beyond Emigrant Gap, at Cisco, one sees a branch road +which leads to the old Meadow Lake Mining District, which in the +'sixties had a population of several thousands. A large town was built +there, which is now totally abandoned. + +_Cisco to Summit, 13 Miles_. At Summit a marvelous view is had in +both directions, east and west. Westward the fall of the Sierras into +the Sacramento Valley is apparently so gentle and easy as to lead one +to wonder that he has risen so high, but eastward the descent is +much more steep and abrupt. The rude granite in many places is almost +barren though Sierran trees abound. The grade is easy, and the new +grade and tunnel under the Southern Pacific tracks makes an added +improvement. Almost immediately on emerging from this tunnel the full +glory of the eastern view is forced upon the attention. At one's feet, +apparently, lies the placid surface of Donner Lake, its pure blue +giving one a premonitory foretaste of the richer blues that await him +at Tahoe, while beyond are the mountains that overlook the Great Basin +of Nevada. + +_Summit to Truckee, 11 Miles_. Rapidly the road descends, well +engineered and easy to negotiate to any responsible driver, and before +one is aware he is bowling along on the level Donner Boulevard, which +is as perfect a piece of country road as can be found anywhere on +earth. The Monument (not yet completed) erected by the Native Sons +to the memory of the Donner Lake pioneers, and the Memorial Cross, +erected on the spot where the unhappy party camped, are passed and +in a few minutes Truckee is reached. This was once the scene of great +lumber activities but now much reduced, although it is the shipping +point for Hobarts Mills, which is one of the largest lumber camps of +the West. + +Here the road to Tahoe turns sharply to the south, and the fifteen +miles run to the Tavern is made in the picturesque canyon of the +Truckee River fully described in another chapter. + +The elevations are Sacramento, 32 feet; Auburn, 1360; Colfax, 2422; +Emigrant Gap, 5225; Cisco, 5940; Summit, 7018; Truckee, 5819; Tahoe +Tavern, 6240. + + +FROM TAHOE TAVERN TO TALLAC + +On Tuesday, June 9, 1914, I had the pleasure of making the first trip +of the season over the new Tahoe Boulevard from Tahoe to Tallac. Let +me here quote the account written at the time: + +It was a fine morning, clear and just cool enough to be pleasant, +no wind, sun shining through the trees, the Lake glistening in its +richest morning glory, the air like wine, birds singing everywhere, +chipmunks chattering as they ran up and down the trees, and we as full +of life as they, when we made the start. Our machine was a Chalmers +20, a first-class chauffeur at the wheel, with instructions to go +slow, let us see all there was, and to run no risks if the winter's +snows and storms had interfered with the safety of the road. We didn't +even wear overcoats, though all the peaks were covered with snow. + +The first mile or two from the Tavern is through avenues of second +growth timber just tall enough to be delightful. In turn we passed +many of the choice residences that are making Tahoe growingly popular +as a summer home, and then crossed Ward Creek and Blackwood Creek. +This latter is one of the principal trout spawning streams of Tahoe, +and to prevent fishermen from catching the fish that seek the stream +at the spawning season the Fish Commissioners have placed a buoy out +in the Lake, some twenty-five hundred feet away, within which bound it +is illegal to catch fish. + +While many trees have been logged from this region there are still +enough to make it forest-like, and as the road winds and turns it +affords glimpses and full views, sometimes for only a moment or two, +and again for a minute or more, of the placid-faced blue Lake on the +left, or the snowy mountain summits straight ahead or on the right. +What rich contrasts of color, what revelations of majesty and +sublimity each new turn affords! + +The first eight miles is fairly level road and close to the Lake, but +eight miles out, just before reaching McKinney's, the new portion of +the State Highway begins, and it has been engineered to give scenic +and romantic effect all along the way. In road building no longer is +it necessary to consider the cheapest and nearest way. "Give us the +most scenic," cry the motorists, "we'll pay the bills and our machines +will speedily eat up any extra distance we may be required to travel +to obtain the best scenery of the country." From now on the whole trip +is one of carefully engineered surprises and revelations. Colwell's +Moana Villa, and Pomin's new and beautiful place are passed and then +we ascend, and suddenly Meek's Bay is revealed to us, a glorious +symphony in blues, deepening and richening into pure amethyst, with +lines, patches and borders of emerald and lapis lazuli. Beyond rise +hill-studded slopes leading the eye higher and higher until, anchored +in a sky as blue as is the Lake below, are the snowy-white crowns of +the Rubicon Peaks, with here and there a craggy mass protruding as +though it were a Franciscan's scalp surrounded by pure white hair. +Up and down we glide, the soft purring of the motor as we run on the +level changing to the chug-chugging of the up-pulls, or the grip +of the brake as we descend. Every few feet new vistas of beauty are +projected before us. The moving pictures are all exquisite. Indeed, +after many studies of this incomparable Lake Tahoe I verily believe +there is no more beautiful spot on it than Meek's Bay seen from this +road. + +To get its full charm we stop the machine for a while. Looking back we +discover that the curve where we rest is a marvelous outlook point. We +have ascended to a good height and look down upon the Lake. There +are light blue, emerald green, deep blue in patches and in long +irregularly shaped points. Here are Como, Maggiore, Lugano and +Windermere all in one, though as yet free from the houses and +artificial gardens on the slopes. But Nature such as this needs none +of man's adornment to make it perfect. + +Starting the engine again we circle around the point and come +immediately into another charming circlet of views. Between Meek's Bay +and Rubicon Point is another little recess in the lakeshore, +Grecian Bay, a good second to the one I have just described. Here we +particularly notice the effect of the many varieties of trees, their +dark trunks, branches and foliage set out almost in silhouette against +the pure color of the Lake below. These elevated stretches of road are +a constant joy and delight. They afford us glad surprises every few +moments in such views of the Lake as we could not otherwise obtain. + +Crossing Lonely Gulch, watched over by the serene pure loveliness of +the snowy peaks above, a good climb up a steep stretch of road brings +us to the shoulder of Rubicon Point. Winding in and out, twining and +twisting around and around, we reach Rubicon Park, from which place we +get a perfect view of the whole Lake from one end to the other. + +To-day there are a score or more of fishermen out in their little +boats, and strange to say, all of them near enough to be seen, are +fishing in a patch of deep blue. The water there must be deeper than +elsewhere, for there is where they invariably get their best catches. + +In marked contrast to the blue is a great finger of emerald thrust out +from a nearby point, as if in warning not to dare pass its mysterious +border. + +Now we come to the wild and rugged scenery. We are hemmed in on the +right by towering crags and walls of massive gray rock. Shattered and +seamed, scarred and disintegrated, they look as though earthquake and +lightning shock and the storms of a thousand years had battled with +them. They give a new touch of grandeur and almost awesome sublimity +to the scene. + +For a mile or two we play at hide and seek with the Lake. It seems +as though we were in the hands of a wizard. "Now you see it, now you +don't." Query: "Where is the Lake?" Mountains, snowbanks, granite +walls, trees galore, creeks flashing their white crests dashing down +their stony courses toward the Lake, but only now and then do we catch +fleeting glimpses of it. All at once it bursts full and clear again +upon our enraptured vision, but only to give us a full taste of its +supernal beauty before we are whirled around a curve where the eye +rests upon nothing but the rugged majesty of the Sierras. Change and +contrast, the picturesque, beautiful, delicate and exquisite in close +touch and harmonious relationship with the majestic and the sublime. +Travel the whole world over and nothing surpassing this can be found. + +Now we curve around high up above Emerald Bay, that small glacial +Lake, the eastern terminal moraine of which was unfortunately torn +through, so that the _lake_ disappeared and became a _bay_ +of the great Lake itself. Every moment of this portion of the ride is +a delight. The senses are kept keenly alert, for not only have we the +Lake, the bay and the mountains, but part of the way we have flowers +and shrubs by the thousands, bees and butterflies flit to and fro, and +singing streams come foaming white from the snowbanks above, eager to +reach the Lake. As our car-wheels dash across these streamlets they +splash up the water on each side into sparkling diamonds and on every +hand come up the sweet scents of growing, living things. Now Mt. +Tallac, in all his serene majesty, looms ahead. Snow a hundred or +more feet deep in places covers his rocky sides. Here we can see where +glaciers were born in the early days when Tallac was several thousand +feet higher than it now is. + +Below us is the emerald-ringed bay, with its romantic little island +at the west end, and nearby the joyously-shouting Eagle Creek as it +plunges over the precipice and makes the foam-flecked Eagle Falls. Our +road here was blasted through some fiercely solid and hostile rock. +One boulder alone that stood in the way weighed (it was estimated by +the engineers) from 800 to 1000 tons. Fifty cases of highly explosive +powder were suitably placed all around it. Excursion steamers took +hundreds of people from all parts of the Lake to see the explosion, +and at the proper moment, while everybody held his breath, the fuses +were fired, the blasts took effect, the rock flew down to the level +beneath, shattered into four great masses. A new El Capitan now rises +above us, though it lacks the smooth unbroken dignity of the great +Yosemite cliff, yet it is sublime in its sudden rise and vast height. +Nestling at its feet is Eagle Lake, and beyond are the Velmas and a +score of other glacial jewels calling for visitors to rhapsodize over +their beauty. Maggie's Peaks are to our right, Eagle Falls to our +left, with Emerald Bay, the Island, the Point and the Lake beyond all +calling upon us to enjoy them to the full. + +We decide to stay here for lunch, and under the shelter of a giant +sugar pine a thousand years old, listening to the eternally buoyant +song of Eagle Falls, we refresh ourselves with the good lunch put up +for us at the Tavern. + +Again we push ahead and soon have our first adventure: The road +gang was at work, and we did not expect to go much farther, but they +assured us that, save for a few rough places here and there, which +they would speedily correct, we need have no fear but that we could +get through with ease. In a score of places, since we left the Tavern, +we had crossed little streams of snow-water that had come tumbling +down from the banks above. Suddenly we came to one with a larger +volume than most of the others, and the road bed a little softer, +so it had cut quite a deep little passage for itself. Easily our +chauffeur dropped the front wheels into the cut, and to his surprise +he found they stuck there. It did not take us long to jack up the +wheels and put rocks underneath them, and we were about ready to get +out when the road gang came along with a wagon and a pair of sturdy +mules. As quickly as it takes me to tell it the mules were attached to +our back axle and we were pulled out. A few more rocks and a couple +of planks placed over the cut and we were honking on our way with +triumph. + +Half a mile farther we came upon the ridge that separates Emerald Bay +from Cascade Lake. Both are in clear View at the same time, while to +the west we can hear the joyous song of Cascade Falls in its grand +leap down from the foot of the snow-banks of Mt. Tallac into the +tree-clad stream-course below. + +Now the road brings us almost directly above the Lake, with a rapid +slope down, covered with dainty trees and shrubs of recent growth. +From here we gain a fine view of the south end of the lakeshore. +Tallac, the Grove, Bijou, Al Tahoe and clear across to Lakeside, with +the deep green of the meadows above, and the snowy crowns of Freel's, +Job's, and Job's sister, with Monument Peak combine to give the proper +setting to the Lake. + +Soon we are racing across the level to the Fish Hatchery, between +avenues of quaking aspens and young tamaracks and pines. Suddenly +we come upon a mired car, the driver of which had just crossed the +Sierras from Placerville, with little or no difficulty, but coming to +a soft piece of road here when going a trifle faster than he should, +and the side of the road having caught a lot of snow-water, he had +bogged and was working like a beaver to extricate himself. We had a +stout rope along and it was the work of two or three minutes to get +him out and we again pushed forward, gratified and smiling at the +warmly expressed thanks of himself and his three happy women-folks +who were enjoying their first trip into the Tahoe country, and already +confessing their complete subjection to its thrall. + +Passing the Hatchery we were only a few more minutes in reaching +Tallac House, the first to complete the auto-trip this season. +Except for a few short stretches of scarcely completed road it is in +excellent condition, and the road gang now at work will have all the +rough portions smoothed down in a few days. + +It should here be noted that side trips may be made in automobiles to +Glen Alpine Springs and Fallen Leaf Lodge. Both resorts use their own +automobile stages daily during the season, hence keep the roads in +good condition. + +We made the return trip from Tallac House to the Tavern in two hours +exactly. The distance is 26 miles. The road gang had already put a +bridge over the place that had delayed us on coming out, and the road +throughout was easy and safe. Naturally it is not as easy to negotiate +as a San Francisco boulevard, but with the wheel in the hands of a +careful chauffeur there is perfect safety and a trip that need give +not a moment's fear to the most timorous. + + +FROM TALLAC TO SACRAMENTO, BY THE PLACERVILLE ROUTE, 108 MILES + +This is practically the first historic route into California, for, as +I have shown in the chapter on Frémont's Explorations, it was the one +the Pathfinder practically followed on his memorable trip that led to +the discovery of Lake Tahoe. + +Hence, when the gold excitement attracted its thousands to California, +many of the argonauts took this road, following the Humboldt River and +turning south at the Humboldt "Sink," crossing to the Carson "Sink" +and then ascending to the headwaters of the Carson River, over into +Hope Valley and thence down to Strawberry Valley and on to the mines. +This was the origin of the road, and it was in steady and continuous +use until the startling news of the discovery of the Comstock Lode in +Virginia City aroused the mining world. From every camp in California +rude and stalwart men eagerly set forth to reach the new Camp. It was +a genuine stampede. The chief question was: "Will the new Camp make +good?" It answered this question by transcending the expectations +of the most sanguine. Silver and gold were taken out in fabulous +quantities. Chunks of almost pure native silver, weighing scores of +pounds, were hewed out of the chambers where they were found, and +men went wild with excitement. Houses sprang up over-night. A vast +population soon clung to the slopes of Mt. Davidson. Mining and +milling machinery was needed, and demanded with tremendous urgency, to +reap the richer harvest. There was no railroad, and the old Emigrant +Road was not in condition to meet the needs. Few people can realize +the wild excitement that reigned and the string of teams, men riding +on horseback, or afoot, stage-coaches, freight wagons, that poured in +endless procession over the road. Nothing like it has been seen since, +except during the Klondike rush. As soon, however, as it was possible +to secure the proper authority newer and easier grades were surveyed +and private individuals undertook to build certain sections of the +road under the condition that they were to be granted the right to +collect toll for so many years. These rights have long since lapsed, +and the road is now a part of the excellent system of El Dorado +County, which, though a mountain county, boasts some of the best roads +in California. + +_Tallac to Echo, 11-1/2 Miles_. Leaving Tallac, an easy and +pleasant eight-mile run on almost level roads through Tallac Meadows +brings one to Celios, once Myers' Station (6500 feet). Now begins the +upgrade, winding its way up the mountain side to the crest from which +Starr King wrote his exquisite description, elsewhere quoted. This +is one of the superb outlook-points where the full sweep of Lake and +encircling mountains is in full and complete view. + +After a few minutes for gazing the journey is resumed, soon crossing +a bridge, near which stand the remnants of the old toll-house. On the +right a foot-trail or bridle-path leads to Glen Alpine. A few miles +of fairly rapid descent and Echo is reached, 49-1/2 miles from +Placerville. + +The stream here, during the snow-melting season must be a dashing, +roaring, sparkling mass of foam, for it is a bowlder-strewn rocky way, +suggesting the wild stream it becomes when the snows melt and spring's +freshets come. + +_Echo to Strawberry, 7 Miles_. The next mile and a half is a +rapid descent, for elevation declines five hundred feet, ere we reach +Phillips, near which, in Audrian Lake, is the chief source of the +South Fork of the American River. + +The Water Company that controls the flow has here tampered with +primitive physiography, in that it has cut a tunnel or channel from +the Echo Lakes, tapping their water supply and conveying it to Audrian +Lake. Hence strictly speaking the Echo Lakes are now the headwaters of +the South Fork. + +Soon we pass Hay Press Meadows, so called from the fact that hay was +cut here in the old stage-coach days, baled with an old-fashioned +press, and sold for $90 to $100 per ton, after being hauled to +Virginia City. + +Down we go into Strawberry Valley, where 42-1/2 miles from +Placerville, we reach Strawberry, at 5700 feet elevation. This used to +be a noted stopping-place in the olden days, sometimes the whole flat +area being covered with loaded wagons bound for the mines. + +There is a rugged majesty about this Valley that has always made its +impression on men. To the right is the southern end of the Crystal +Range, and to the left the Yosemite-like cliff known as Lover's Leap, +6985 feet elevation. As the station at Strawberry is 5700 feet, this +cliff is 1285 feet in sheer ascent. Leading up it are strange columnar +towers and structures of Egyptian appearance that remind us of those +lines of Joaquin Miller's: + +Great massive rocks that near us lay, +Deep nestled in the grass untrod + By aught save wild beasts of the wood-- + Great, massive, squared, and chisel'd stone, +Like columns that had toppled down +From temple dome or tower crown, + Along some drifted, silent way + Of desolate and desert town + Built by the children of the Sun. + +We pass under the great cliff, and past a glacially-polished dome on +the left. The cliff is all cross-hatched and seamed with infiltrations +of quartz. Ahead of us to the right is a canyon that is the southern +extension of Desolation Valley. + +_Strawberry to Kyburgs, 10 Miles_. A few miles below Strawberry +we pass Georgetown Junction (where the road from Georgetown enters the +main road), and ten miles brings us to Kyburgs, 4000 feet elevation, +the canyon narrowing as we descend. On the right we pass Sugar Loaf +(6500 feet). + +At Kyburgs the water is taken out for the domestic and irrigation +water-supply of Placerville--8000 inches of water. The station is +located at a break in the mountains where a cone-shaped rock, covered +with trees, is a striking feature. + +_Kyburgs, Through Riverton, to Pacific House, 14 Miles_. Passing +the South Fork of the American on the left, nine and a half miles +brings us to Riverton, a charming river resort where many visitors +stop during the season for a day or a week, as this is a noted center +for fishing and hunting. Here we cross over an excellent bridge, +surrounded by a mountain amphitheater lined with trees, and our road +follows the course of the bowlder-strewn river-bed. Yonder is the +scene of a noted "hold-up" in the old mining days. + +If we cared to go over the files of the newspapers of the days when +bullion was being shipped daily by stage to Placerville, how many +accounts might we not find of "hold-ups" by daring "road-agents." And +it does not take much imagination to picture in this secluded spot or +that, the sudden appearance of a masked bandit, gun in hand, and to +hear the sharp quick commands, "Halt! and Hands up!" and to hear the +"squeesch" of the brake on the wheel, to see the hands of driver, +express-messenger, and passengers go up in helpless anger and furious +impotence. + +Then the "Stand down here!" or "Come off of that quick, and line up +alongside!" and the immediate obedience of all concerned, and the +sharp "keep _them_ hands up, gentlemen, or somebody'll be gettin' +hurt," or perhaps a fierce imprecation, if the bandit was less of the +"Gentleman George" type than has so often been described. + +And what a scene it would make for an artist--the most indignant +passenger of them all made to hold the hat and collect the "swag," as +the alert-eyed bandit stands by, gun in hand, ready to shoot down the +first person who makes any show of resistance! + +Then the permission given to get aboard, accompanied by the rude +order: "Throw out that express-box, and drive on, and don't look this +way or some one'll have a hole blown through the top of his head!" +and the mixture of dejection and relief shown in the faces of driver, +messenger and passengers as the coach rolled on again. + +What a panorama of quickly acted scenes it must have been, and how +often it occurred on this road! Not even history has recorded a half +of the times it happened. + +Soon, almost hidden in the dense foliage of the tree-lined slopes, we +pass Esmeralda Fall, whose waters dash in foam over 60 feet, to unite +with the river far beneath. + +As we near Pacific House, 4-1/2 miles further on, we come to where the +new road diverges a little from the old one. It used to descend to the +river, but we preserve a fairly even grade, solidly built, wide and +well kept. + +_Pacific House to Placerville, 18-1/2 Miles_. Then for a mile or +so the road hangs over the yawning chasm of the river. It is wide and +in fine condition so we dash along to where, on the up trip, the first +glimpse is gained of the Crystal Range, its two chief peaks, Pyramid +and Agassiz, dominating the landscape from this side as they do from +Desolation Valley on the eastern side of the range. + +[Illustration: Casino at Tahoe Tavern, From Pier] + +[Illustration: Pier, Steamer Tahoe, and Lake Tahoe from Casino] + +In nine more miles Camino is reached, through clusters of pines, +with perfectly level stretches for speeding and--dreaming. One's mind +unconsciously goes back to the old days and he sees as in a +moving-picture film the "days of '49." For this road is a road of +memories. One shuts his eyes and muses, and immediately there troops +before him a rushing, bustling, hurrying throng. These were the modern +argonauts, the seekers for the Golden Fleece: + +Great horny-handed men and tall; +Men blown from many a barren land + Beyond the sea; men red of hand, + And men in love, and men in debt, +Like David's men in battle set-- +And every man somehow a man. + They push'd the mailčd wood aside, + They toss'd the forest like a toy, +That grand forgotten race of men-- +The boldest band that yet has been +Together since the Siege of Troy. + +Some carried packs on their backs, with pick and shovel, drill and +pan. Others rode, leading their burden-bearing burros or mules. Wagon +after wagon creaked along, laden to the full with supplies, food, or +machinery. + +As we push along and come to the river, Joaquin Miller's words make +the memory pictures for us: + +I look along each gaping gorge, +I hear a thousand sounding strokes + Like giants rending giant oaks, + Or brawny Vulcan at his forge; +I see pickaxes flash and shine; +Hear great wheels whirling in a mine. + Here winds a thick and yellow thread, + A moss'd and silver stream instead; +And trout that leap'd its riffled tide +Have turn'd upon their sides and died. + +Below Camino we pass near to Pino Grande, where the great cable +railway carries loaded cars of logs across the deep canyon of the +American River. + +Rapidly we reach Smith's Flat, 4 miles, a famous mining-camp in the +days gone by, but now consisting of a general store, a few houses, and +a gnarled old log fashioned into a glorious water-trough fit for the +Vikings. + +Three more miles and Placerville is reached, the quaint old reminder +of "the days of '49, the days of old, the days of gold," when men +flocked to California from all parts of the earth eager with the lust +for gold. In those memorable days it was called "Hangtown," a name +some of its present-day citizens would fain forget, oblivious, in +their own small-mindedness that they are neither responsible for its +history nor its nomenclature. + +Built primarily in the somewhat shut-in walls of a small canyon, it +winds and curves around in a happy-go-lucky fashion, and when the +canyon widens out, spills over into irregular streets and up and down +hills that were once clad with pines, firs, spruces and junipers. That +wealth and prosperity have smiled upon it in late years is evidenced +by its comfortable lawn-girdled homes, its thriving orchards, its +active business streets, and its truly beautiful, because simple, +chaste and dignified, county court-house. + +_Placerville to Sacramento, 47 Miles_. This is a well-known road, +via Diamond Springs, 2-1/2 miles; El Dorado, 6 miles; Shingle Springs, +11 miles, and Folsom, 25 miles. + +The elevation at Tallac is 6225 feet; at Echo, 7500 feet; Strawberry, +5700 feet; Kyburgs, 4000 feet; Riverton, 3300 feet; Pacific House, +3400 feet; Sportsman's Hall, 3600 feet; Camino, 3000 feet; Smith's +Flat, 2250 feet; Placerville, 1830 feet; El Dorado, 1610 feet; Folsom, +198 feet, and Sacramento, 32 feet. + +A well equipped auto stage is run daily between Tallac House and +Placerville. Experienced and careful drivers and first class cars +only are used. They are owned by the Richardson Garage, of Pasadena, +Calif., long known to the exacting population of that city as a +thoroughly reliable, prompt and efficient house. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +TAHOE TAVERN + + +Swinging around to the south from the course of the Truckee River +on to the Lake, the railway deposits the traveler at Tahoe Tavern, +preeminently the chief resort for those who demand luxurious comfort +in all its varied manifestations. Yet at the outset let it be clearly +understood that it is not a fashionable resort, in the sense that +every one, men and women alike, must dress in fashionable garb to be +welcomed and made at home. It is a place of common sense and rational +freedom. If one comes in from a hunting or fishing trip at dinner +time, he is expected to enter the dining room as he is. If one has +taken a walk in his white flannels he is as welcome to a dance in the +Casino, the dining-room, or the social-hall as if he wore the most +conventional evening dress. Indeed, visitors are urged to bring their +old clothes that they may indulge to the full their _penchants_ +for mountain-climbing, riding, rowing, fishing, horse-back-riding, +botanizing in the woods, or any other out-of-door occupation where old +clothes are the only suitable ones. + +The building itself is completely embowered in pine, cedar, spruce +and firs of differing ages, sizes and qualities of color. Though far +enough from the Lake to allow of a large untrimmed grass-plot where +innumerable swing seats, reclining chairs, "lazy rests," etc., invite +to lounging and loafing, the trees have been so trimmed out as to give +exquisite glimpses of the dazzling blue of the water from every hand. + +The Tavern is especially appropriate to its surroundings. It is three +full stories high, with many gables relieving the regularity of the +roof, which is steep-pitched, to throw off the winter's snows. The +whole structure is covered with shingles, stained or oiled to a dark +brown, and as climbing and clinging vines have wreathed themselves +about every corner, and up many posts of the veranda, and there is a +wealth of cultivated wild flowers banked up in beds around it, nothing +could be more pleasing and harmonious. Roads, walks and trails radiate +from the Tavern in all directions, except directly across the Lake, +and numerous boats and launches make this as accessible as any other +direction. Near enough to be interesting is the wharf, with its daily +bustle of the arrival and departure of trains, launches and steamers. + +For all the indoor sports a Casino has been erected, far enough away +so that the music, dancing, the sharp clangor of bowling, the singing +of extemporized glee-clubs, and the enthusiasm of audiences at amateur +theatricals and the like do not disturb the peaceful slumbers of those +who retire early. While Tahoe Tavern itself is _sui generis_ in +that it is the most wonderful combination of primitive simplicity +with twentieth century luxury, the Casino is even more remarkable. +Its interior finish is the work of a nature artist. Its porches +immediately overlook the Lake, and when one has wearied of dancing +there is a witchery as rare and subtle as it is delightful to sit +in the subdued light overlooking the ripples of the moonlit water, +sipping some liquid refreshment, eating an ice or chatting with a +suitable partner. + +Here a fine orchestra discourses sweet music, moving pictures are +regularly shown, lectures and concerts occasionally provided, besides +all the conveniences for private card-parties and other pleasures that +fashionable visitors expect for their entertainment. + +[Illustration: Ballroom in the Casino, Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: Tahoe Tavern from Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Path in the Woods by Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: Morning Service at the _Chapel of the +Transfiguration_, Tahoe Tavern] + +Ruskin has somewhere brought out the idea in his finest phraseology +that nowhere can man so readily worship God as in the presence of the +most beautiful of His works in Nature. This is readily apparent at +Tahoe, hence the summer visitors and others of religious trend will +delight to learn that churches for both Catholic and Episcopal +worshipers have been erected not far from the Tavern. The Catholic +Church was dedicated Sept. 10, 1911. It has a seating capacity of a +hundred and seventy-five. Its location was chosen with an eye to the +beautiful, being on Tahoe Heights, and is less than fifteen minutes' +walk from the Tavern. + +The Episcopal "Church of the Transfiguration" is unique in that it +is an open air building, the altar only being roofed. Towering pines +stand as aisles and the vaulted ceiling is the clear blue dome of +heaven. Rustic and simple, it harmonizes exquisitely with its +surroundings, and strangely insensible must that worshiper be who, as +he kneels in this Nature shrine, and the organ peals forth its solemn +notes, with a wonderful accompaniment of hundreds of singing birds, +and the ascending incense of a thousand flowers, does not feel his own +soul lifted into a higher and more spiritual mental frame. + +One of the chief troubles about a hotel like Tahoe Tavern is that it +is _too_ tempting, _too_ luxurious, _too_ seductive to the senses. The +cool, delicious breezes from the Lake make the nights heavenly for +sleep. With Sancho Panza we cry aloud: "Blessed be the man that +invented sleep," and we add: "Blessed be the man that invented cool +nights to sleep in." And I have no fault to find with the full +indulgence in sleep. It is good for the weary man or woman. It is well +to make up arrears, to pay oneself the accumulated debts of insomnia +and tossing and restlessness with an abundance of calm, dreamless, +restful sleep. Nay, not only would I have men claim their arrearage, +but lay in a surplus stock against future emergencies, future drafts +upon their bank account of "restorer." + +Nor would I find any fault with the allurements of the Lake, either +for swimming, boating, "launching," canoeing or fishing. Indulge them +all to your heart's desire and you will not only be none the worse, +but immeasurably better for every hour of yielding. A plunge every +morning is stimulating, invigorating and jolly. It clears the brain, +sets the blood racing up and down one's spine, arms, fingers, legs and +toes, and sweeps the cobwebs out of the brain. A row is equally good. +It pulls on the muscles of the lower back, as well as the arms, chest +and shoulders. It drives away Bright's disease and banishes asthma and +lung trouble. It makes one breathe deep and long and strong, and +when inbreathing, one can take in power from Tahoe's waters, forests, +mountains and snow-fields. It means a purifying of the blood, a +clearing of the brain, a sending of a fuller supply of gastric juices +to the stomach, of digestive sauces to the palate, and a corresponding +stimulus to the whole body, which now responds with vim, energy, +buoyancy and exuberance to all calls made upon it by the spirit. + +So with walking through the woods, by the Lake, along the River Trail, +up the mountains. The results are the same until the man who hates and +despises the poets shouts out with glee and exclaims: "_Them's_ +my sentiments!" when you throw out with fervor such lines as: + + Oh! the wild joys of living! the leaping from rock up to rock, +The strong rending of boughs from the fir-tree, the cool silver shock +Of the plunge in a pool's living water... +How good is man's life, the mere living! how fit to employ +All the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy! + +While all the conventional amusements are provided at Tahoe Tavern a +large number of the guests, like myself, find much pleasure in feeding +and making friends with the chipmunks, which have been so fostered +and befriended that there are _scores_ of them, most of them so +fearless as to climb into the laps, eat from the hands, run over the +shoulders, and even explore the pockets of those who bring nuts +and other dainties for their delectation. Children and adults, +even gray-haired grandpas and grandmas, love these tiny morsels +of animation, with their quick, active, nervous movements, their +simulations of fear and their sudden bursts of half-timorous +confidence. With big black eyes, how they squat and watch, or stand, +immovable on their hind legs, their little forepaws held as if in +petition, solemnly, seriously, steadily watch, watch, watching, +until they are satisfied either that you are all right, or are to be +shunned. For, with a whisk of the tail, they either dart towards +you, or run in the other direction and hide in the brush, climb with +amazing speed up a tree, or rush into their holes in the ground. + +Some of them are such babies that they cannot be many months old, and +they feel the friendly atmosphere into which they have been born. And +it is an interesting sight to see a keen, stern, active business man +from "the city" saunter with his wife after lunch or dinner, sit down +on the steps leading down to the water's edge, or on a tree stump, +or squat down on his haunches anywhere on the walk, the lawn, or the +veranda, fish some nuts out of his pocket and begin to squeak with his +lips to attract the chipmunks. Sometimes it is a learned advocate of +the law, or a banker, or a wine-merchant, or the manager of a large +commission-house. It seems to make no difference. The "chips" catch +them all, and every one delights in making friends with them. + +Here is a tiny little chap, watching me as I loll on the stairs. His +black, twinkling eye fixes itself on me. He is making sure. Suddenly +he darts toward my outstretched fingers where a peanut is securely +held. He seizes it with his sharp teeth, but I hold on. Then with his +little paws he presses and pushes, while he hangs on to the nut with a +grip that will not be denied. If he doesn't get it all, he succeeds in +snapping off a piece and then, either darting off, with a quick whisk +of his tail, to enjoy it in his chosen seclusion, or, squatting down +on his hind legs, he holds the delicious morsel between his fore-paws +and chews away with a rapidity as astonishing as it is interesting and +amusing. + +Now a fat old fellow--he looks like a grandpa in age--comes up. He +is equally suspicious at first, takes his preliminary reconnaissance, +darts forward and just about reaches you, when he darts away again. +Only for a moment however. On he comes, seizes the nut, and eats it +then and there, or darts off with inconceivable rapidity, up the tree +trunk to a branch twenty, forty feet up, and then sits in most cunning +and _cute_ posture, but in just as big a hurry and in equally +excitable fashion to eat his lunch as if he were within reach. + +Sometimes half a dozen or more of them, big and little, will surround +you. One leaps upon your knee, another comes into your lap, while +another runs all over your back and shoulders. Now and again two +aim at the same time for the same nut, and then, look out. They are +selfish little beggars and there is an immense amount of human nature +in such tiny creatures. The bigger one wants the morsel and chases +the smaller one away, and he is so mad about it and gets so in earnest +that sometimes he chases the other fellow so far that he forgets +what it was all about. He loses the nut himself, but, anyhow, he has +prevented the other fellow from getting it. How truly human! + +Then the younger one, or the smaller one, or the older one, will whisk +himself up a tree, perch on a branch and begin to scold, or he climbs +to the top of a stump, or a rock, or merely stands upright without +any foreign aid, and how he can "Chip, chip, chip, chip!" His piercing +little shriek makes many a stranger to his voice and ways wonder +what little bird it is that has so harsh a cry, and he keeps at it so +persistently that again you say, How human! and you wonder whether it +is husband scolding wife, or wife husband, or--any of the thousand +and one persons who, because they have the power, use it as a right to +scold the other thousand and one poor creatures who have to submit, or +think they have (which is pretty much the same thing). + +These proceedings at Tahoe Tavern are diversified by the presence of +a friendly bluejay. He is one of the smartest birds in the world. Some +relation, no doubt, to the bird told of by Mark Twain in his _Tramp +Abroad_. This bluejay has watched the visitors and the chipmunks +until he has become extra wise. He has noticed that the latter toil +not neither do they spin and yet neither Solomon Levi nor Kelly feed +more sumptuously or more often than do they, simply because they have +succeeded in beguiling the hearts of the guests who are so bored +with each other that association with the "lower" animals is a great +relief. So he has started the "friendly chipmunk" rôle. He stifles +his raucous cry, he puts on a shy, timid and yet friendly demeanor. +He flies conveniently near, and gives forth a gentle note, asking, +_please_, your kind and favorable attention to the fact that he +is a bluejay. As soon as he sees your eye upon him, he hops a little +nearer; not too near, however, either to mislead you or to put himself +in your hands, but just near enough to tempt you to try to tempt him. +You hold out a nut, and then, with a quick dart and a sharp peck with +a bill trained to certain and sure work, your thumb and finger lose +that which they held, and Mr. Bluejay is eating it in perfect security +well beyond your reach. Oh, he is a fascinating creature is this +bunch of beautiful blue feathers decorating the harshest voice of all +birddom in the region of Lake Tahoe. + +But birds, squirrels, flowers, scenery, sports, worship, fine +music, the best kind of food, "air the angel's breathe," and sleep +recuperative enough to revivify the old and decrepit, fishing, rowing, +swimming and the like are not all that need fill one's days at Tahoe +Tavern. + +_Hike_[1] out, afoot or horseback. Take the trails. Get Bob +Watson, or one of his under-studies, to pilot you to Watson Peak and +lake, go to Ellis, Squaw or a score of other peaks, visit the various +Sierran lakes, or take a camping out or hunting trip to Hell Hole, the +Yosemite, or any one of the scenic spots, one, two, five, or ten days +away. Then, my word for it, you will return home "a new man," life +will put on a new meaning, and sensations long since lost will +come back with unthought-of force, for you will have "regained your +youth"--that dream of the old of all the ages. + +[Footnote 1: This word, slang or not, is finely expressive, and is +already fully established in the accepted nomenclature of mountain +climbers.] + +There are a number of interesting walks, drives and automobile trips +which may be taken from the Tavern, besides the lakeshore walks which +are always interesting. Indian Camp is half a mile away; Tahoe City, +a little further, and here the interesting Frémont howitzer, to whose +history I have devoted a separate chapter, may be seen; Tavern Spring, +a beautiful walk through the woods, one and a quarter miles; the Fish +Hatchery, a mile away, where all the processes of hatching various +kinds of trout before they are distributed to the different lakes and +streams may be witnessed. + +To those who prefer longer walks, or horseback rides, +there are the Logging Camp, three and a third miles; +Idlewyld, four miles; Stanford Rock, five miles; Ward Peak, six miles; +Blackwood Creek Dairy, six miles; Carnelian Bay, six miles; and Twin +Peaks, seven miles. Several of these interesting places can be reached +also by automobile. + +An especially delightful walk or horseback ride is by the Truckee +River Trail to Deer Park Inn, six and a half miles, and thence two +miles farther to Five Lakes, near which the waters divide, one stream +flowing into the Rubicon, thence into the Sacramento and out by the +Golden Gate into the Pacific Ocean; the other by Bear Creek into the +Truckee River, thence into Pyramid Lake in the heart of the Nevada +desert. + +Automobile trips from the Tavern are numerous, depending entirely upon +the length of time one can give to them. Chief of all is the Tahoe +Boulevard trip around the Lake to Tallac, and thence on by Lakeside +and by Cave Rock to Glenbrook, a distance of fifty miles. Hobart +Lumber Mills, twenty-two miles, are well worth a visit to those who +have never seen modern methods of making lumber; Independence Lake, +thirty miles, is easily reached in two hours, and it is one of the +charming spots of the High Sierras; Webber Lake, forty-three miles, +is another exquisite beauty spot, where there is an excellent Country +Club House. Reno is reached by three routes, all of them interesting, +and each well worth traveling over. An excellent trip is to leave the +Tavern after breakfast, ride on the Tahoe Boulevard to Glenbrook for +lunch, then over to Carson City, where a brief visit can be made +at the Capital of the State of Nevada, the Indian School and the +prehistoric foot-prints, that for years have been the wonder of the +scientists of the world. Then on to Reno, where at the Riverside +Hotel, mine host Gosse, one of the noted figures of the hotel world of +the West, will accord a hearty welcome. Next morning Pyramid Lake can +be visited and the return to the Tavern made by way of Truckee. + +For those who enjoy motor-boating on the Lake excellent provision is +made. The Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company own several +steam and gasoline launches, with varied capacities,--from six to two +hundred and fifty passengers--full particulars of which can always be +obtained. + +Fishing boats in large numbers are to be had either with or without +oarsmen, together with full equipment for fishing or hunting trips. + +The Tavern stables are prepared to supply all reasonable demands for +saddle-horses, driving-teams, and pack-animals for hunting trips, and +arrangements can be made for equipment and guides for mountain trips, +of any duration, from a couple of days to three months or more. There +is also a garage with first class cars and experienced chauffeurs for +hire. + +[Illustration: Ladies' Lounging Room, the Casino, Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: The Front of Tahoe Tavern from a Table in the +Dining-Room] + +[Illustration: The Launch _Catalini_, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Bathing in Lake Tahoe, Near Tahoe Tavern] + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TRAIL TRIPS IN THE TAHOE REGION + + +To nature-lovers, more or less active, the trails all around and about +Lake Tahoe are a source of perpetual surprise and delight. I know of +no region in California that possesses such a wealth of trails--not +even the Yosemite or Mt. Shasta regions. The Lake is an ever-present +friend. From ridges, peaks, summits and passes, near at hand or scores +of miles away, it never fails to satisfy the eye. Again and again, +when one is least expecting it, a turn in the trail, or a few steps +forward or backward on a summit ridge brings it into sight, and its +pure blue surface, now seen smooth and glossy as a mirror, again +shining in pearly brilliancy in the sun, or gently rippled by a calm +morning or evening zephyr, or tossed into white caps by a rising +wind-storm, pelted with fierce rain or hail, or glimpsed only through +sudden openings in a snowstorm, at sunrise or sunset, each with its +own dazzling brilliancies--it always gives one a thrill and warming +sensation at the heart. + +Then, too, the number of peaks to the summits of which trails have +been cut, so that the walker, or the horseback rider may have easy +access, are many and varied. In all there are not less than forty +peaks, each of which is well worth a trip, each presenting some +feature of its own that renders its personality worth cultivating. + +In this and other chapters, I present my own experiences as +illustrative to give the general reader an idea of what may be +expected if he (or she) is induced to try one of the chief delights of +a sojourn in this scenic region. + + +WATSON'S PEAK AND LAKE + +Leaving Tahoe Tavern, crossing the bridge to Tahoe City, the trail +leaves the main road on the left about a mile and a half further on, +passing the horse pasture on the right. Near Tahoe City is the Free +Camping Ground owned by the Transportation Company. This has a mile +frontage overlooking the Lake, and scores of people habitually avail +themselves of the privilege, bringing their own outfits with them, as, +at present, there are no arrangements made for renting tents and the +needed furnishings to outsiders. + +The slope up which the trail now ascends with gradual rise is covered +with variegated chaparral, making a beautiful mountain carpet and +cushion _for the eye_. To the foot and body it is entangling +and annoying, placing an effectual barrier before any but the most +strenuous, athletic and determined of men. + +Now the white firs, with their white bark, and the red-barked yellow +pines begin to appear. They accompany us all the rest of the way to +the peak and lake. + +Soon we cross Burton Creek, a mere creek except during the +snow-melting or rain-falling time. It empties into Carnelian Bay. +Burton was one of the old-timers who owned the Island ranch near the +Lake shore, and who came to the Tahoe region at the time of the Squaw +Valley mining excitement. When the "bottom fell out" of that he did +a variety of things to earn a living, one of which was to cut bunch +grass from Lake Valley and bring it on mules over the pass that bears +his name, boat it across to Lakeside at the south end of the Lake, on +the Placerville and Virginia City stage-road, and there sell it to the +stage station. Hay thus gathered was worth in those days from $80 to +$100 per ton. + +About two and a half miles from the Tavern we come to a wood road, +which is followed for half a mile. Years ago all these slopes were +denuded of their valuable timber, which was "chuted" down to the Lake +and then towed across to the sawmills at Glenbrook. The remnants +are now being gathered up and used as fuel for the hotel and the +steamboats. + +Here and there are charming little nurseries of tiny and growing +yellow pines and white fir. How sweet, fresh and beautiful they +look,--the Christmas trees of the fairies. And how glad they make the +heart of the real lover of his country, to whom "conservation" is not +a fad, but an imperative necessity for the future--an obligation felt +towards the generations yet to come. + +Of entirely different associations, and arousing a less agreeable +chain of memories, are the ruined log-cabins of the wood-cutter's and +logger's days. Several of these are passed. + +As we re-enter the trail, Watson's Peak, 8500 feet high, with its +basaltic crown, looms before us. At our feet is a big bed of wild +sunflowers, their flaring yellow and gold richly coloring the more +somber slopes. Here I once saw a band of upwards of 2000 sheep, herded +by a Basque, one of that strange European people who seem especially +adapted by centuries of such life to be natural shepherds. Few of them +speak much American, but they all know enough, when you ask them how +many sheep they have, to answer, "About sixteen hundred." The limit +allowed on any government reserve in any one band is, I think, +1750, and though a passing ranger may be sure there are more, he is +nonplussed when, on his making question, the owner or the shepherd +shrugs his shoulders and says, "If you don't believe me, they're +there. Go and count 'em!" + +Before the officials treated some of the Basque shepherds with what +seemed to be too great severity there were numerous forest fires on +the reserve. These men were generally both self-willed and ignorant, +and we passed by at this spot a clump of finely growing firs, which +had been destroyed by a fire started by a shepherd the year before. + +Watson assures me that he has personally known many cases where a tree +had been blown across a trail, and the shepherd would stop his sheep, +set fire to the "wind-fall" and then leave it to burn--sometimes +allowing it to smolder for months, to the infinite peril of the forest +should an arousing wind blow the fire into life and make it spread. + +Fire notices, however, now are everywhere, and a few severe +punishments have largely put a stop to all carelessness on the part of +shepherds, let alone their culpable neglect. There are still campers +and automobilists and others, of the so-called superior and educated +race, who need as severe lessons as some of these ignorant Basque +shepherds. They knock down the forest-service placards, throw down +matches, cigar and cigarette stumps, and often go off and leave a +campfire burning. The time is rapidly coming when severer and swifter +penalties will be meted out to this class of culprits, for not only +are their actions against the law, but they jeopardize all property +in and near to the forests, as well as the lives, sometimes, of many +innocent men, women and children, besides destroying the value of the +mountain slopes as watersheds. + +As our trail winds and ascends, the rotting stumps of trees cut years +ago meet the eye on every hand, until at length, when at about 7000 +feet altitude we see no more. The indications are clear that, though +the timber is abundant above this elevation, for some reason or other +cutting ceased. Careful observation reveals a possible reason for +this. From this point on up the soil is both thin and poor, and though +the trees seem to have flourished they are, in reality, gnarled, +twisted, stunted and unfit for a good quality of lumber. Many of them +are already showing signs of decay, possibly a proof that they grew +rapidly and are rotting with equal or greater speed. + +[Illustration: Pleasure Party on the 'Wild Goose', Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Looking Toward the Casino, Tahoe Tavern, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: A Trail Party About to Leave Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: On the Trail Returning from the Summit of Mt. Tallac] + +At this elevation, 7000 to 8000 feet, the red fir begins to appear. It +is an attractive and ever-pleasing tree, its dark red bark soon making +it a familar friend. + +How remarkably a woodsman can read what would be an unintelligible +jumble of facts to a city man. Here on one trip we found a tree. Its +top was smitten off and removed a distance of forty to fifty feet. +Parts of the tree were scattered for a distance of two hundred yards. +What caused it? The unobservant man would have passed it by, and the +observant, though untrained and inexperienced, would have wondered +without an answer. And yet a few minutes' observation, with the +interpretation of Bob Watson, made it as clear as the adding of two +to two. The lightning had struck the tree, and shot the top off as if +lifted and carried away bodily, at the same time scattering the pieces +in every direction. Then, it had seemed to jump from this tree to +another, out of the side of which it had torn a large piece, as if, +like a wild beast in angry fury, it had bitten out a giant mouthful of +something it hated. It had then jumped--where? There was no sign. It +simply disappeared. + +Near by we found quite a nursery of graceful, dainty and attractive +young firs; "Noah's ark trees," I always feel like calling them, for +they remind one constantly of the trees found in the Noah's arks of +childhood days, made by the Swiss during the long winter nights in +their mountain chalets, where the trees are of a similar character to +those of the Sierras. + +Near to the point at which we turn to the left for Watson's Peak, and +to the right for Watson's Lake, is a delicious, cool, clear spring, +which I instinctively called, "the Spring of the Angels." When Bob +asked the _why_ of the name, the answer quickly came: "It is up +so high and is so pure and good." The elevation is about 8000 feet. We +take to the left. + +Here also is found the mountain pine, its fine, smooth, black bark +contrasting markedly with that of the firs and pines further down. It +is generally found not lower than this elevation around Lake Tahoe. + +Near by are some scattered hemlocks. This tree is found even higher +than the mountain pine, and is seldom found lower than 8000 feet. In +these higher elevations one sees what a struggle some of the trees +have for mere existence. Again and again a mountain pine will be +found, a tree perhaps fifty feet high, bowed over almost to the +ground. This was done by snow. Given the slightest list from the +perpendicular when the heavy, wet snow falls upon it, it is bound +slowly to be forced over. If it is a tough, strong tree it may sustain +the weight until melting time comes, when it is released. But it never +becomes upright again. On the other hand if a cold snap comes after +the snow has bent it over, it is no uncommon thing for it to snap +right in two, eight, ten or more feet from the ground. + +Now we stand on the summit. This peak and its attendant lake were +named after my incomparable guide, Robert Watson, and it is well +that the name of so admirable a man should be preserved in the +region through which he has intelligently and kindly guided so many +interested visitors. The elevation is 8500 feet. + +What a wonderful panorama is spread out before us. Close by, just +across the valley in which nestles Watson's Lake, 7900 feet elevation, +is Mt. Pluto, 8500 feet, the sides of which are covered with a dense +virgin forest, thus presenting a magnificent and glorious sight. There +is no trail through this forest though sheep are taken there to graze +in the quiet meadows secluded on the heights. + +Further to the east and north is Mt. Rose, 10,800 feet, on which is +perched the Meteorological Observatory of the University of Nevada. +Beyond is the Washoe Range. + +Even before reaching the summit we gain a fine view, through the +trees, of Castle Peak, 9139 feet, while further north is Mt. Lola, +9167 feet. Close at hand is a glorious specimen of red fir, fully four +and a half feet in diameter. Below us to the west is a patch of vivid +green, known as Antone Meadows. It was named after a Switzer who lived +there years ago and whose children now own it. Not far away is Round +Meadow, locally known as Bear-Trap Meadow, for one may still find +there an old bear-trap that hunters were wont to use thirty or forty +years ago. In this meadow is the cabin of the Forest Ranger, which we +shall see on the return trip. + +Looking now over Lake Tahoe to the western horizon we see, over Tahoe +Tavern, and a little west of north, Needle Peak (8920 feet), to the +right of which is Lyon Peak (about 9000 feet). A trifle to the south +of Needle Peak is Granite Chief, followed by Squaw Peak (8960 feet), +Ward Peak (8665 feet), and Twin Peak (8924 feet) the one to the right +having the appearance of a buffalo feeding. + +While these peaks appear in a line, and as if belonging to the same +range, a glimpse at the map will reveal that they are some miles +apart. + +As we look further south, across the head of Ward and Blackwood Creek +Canyons, the mountains do not seem so high, though we discern Barker +Peak (over 8000 feet). + +Still further southward is Ellis Peak (8700 feet) apparently well +timbered. It was named after Jock Ellis, who, on the further side, had +a dairy ranch for a while. But when he found the cream would not rise +in the colder periods of the year, he gave up his dairy, and went to +raising sheep. In the summer months, however, he had no trouble in +disposing of all the butter he could make, or milk and cream he +cared to sell, for he was on the road from Georgetown which passed by +Rubicon Springs to McKinney's on the Lake. + +On the ridge to the left are the Rubicon Peaks (9199 feet) three of +them apparently, all closely overlooking Lake Tahoe, and leading the +eye down to Sugar Pine Point, which is at the south end of McKinney's +Bay. + +To the west of Rubicon Peaks is Phipps Peak (9120 feet), and a little +farther back Mt. Tallac (9185 feet), while farther to the south is +Ralston Peak (about 9500 feet), at this angle and distance appearing +not unlike one of the domes of the Yosemite Valley. Near by, to the +right, is Pyramid Peak (10,020 feet), though from here it presents +a very different appearance from that it holds when viewed from +Mt. Tallac. Still farther to the right is Tell's Peak (9125 feet), +apparently at the end of a richly timbered ridge. Tell was an old +Switzer who used to keep a dairy ranch on the slopes of the mountain +bearing his name. + +At the extreme south of Lake Tahoe stands Round Top (10,130 feet), +to the left of which are the three great peaks of the Tahoe region, +Freel's (10,900 feet), Job's (10,500 feet) and Job's Sister (10,820 +feet). Freel was one of the old timers who used to have a cattle-range +on the slopes. + +Then, allowing the eye to follow along the southeastern curve of +the Lake up to the mountains on the eastern side, the first great +depression is the pass over which the Placerville road goes down the +Kingsbury grade to Genoa. At the foot of the grade, at the entrance +to the Carson Valley is Van Sickle's old place, one of the early day +stage-stations on the Placerville road. + +Van Sickle was a noted character, a fearless, rude pioneer, but well +liked and highly respected. His fame was materially enhanced when he +killed Sam Brown, one of the noted desperadoes of the Tahoe region in +the days of the Virginia City mining excitement. Tradition says that +Brown was a fire-eating southerner, from Texas, a man proud of his bad +record of several murders. He was notorious in Virginia City, and when +the war broke out was one of the outspoken heralds and advocates of +secession. He had trouble with Van Sickle and had threatened to kill +him on sight. Coming to the place for this purpose he himself was +killed, for Van Sickle secured a shot-gun, "laid for him," and shot +him. A great sense of relief was felt by many people at this, what was +then considered not only a justifiable but highly laudable act, for +Brown was seeking to raise a body of men to go South and fight in +the Civil War. This event had much to do with stopping too vigorous +advocacy of the claims of the South from that time on in Virginia City +and the immediate neighborhood. + +The road around the Lake forks at a place originally known as +Edgewood's, the branch to the left continuing along the eastern shore +of Lake Tahoe, past Round Mound and Cave Rock to Glenbrook, where it +swings over the grade to the east and over the summit, divides, one +branch going down Clear Creek Canyon, and the other down King's Canyon +to Carson City. It is thirteen and a half miles from Glenbrook to +Carson by way of King's Canyon, and automobiles use this route, while +stages run regularly over the other route via Clear Creek Canyon which +is only fourteen and a quarter miles to Carson. + +It was during the lumbering days at Glenbrook that the railway ran +from the mills to the summit, nine miles, carrying carloads of lumber +there, which were then unloaded and shot down the water-flume to +Carson City. + +Letting the eye still follow the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe +completing the circuit, northward, Snow Valley Peak and Marietta Peak +are reached. Under the latter, to the southwest, is Marlette Lake, +largely an artificial body over a mile long and half a mile wide, +which is the reservoir for the water supply of Virginia City. The +course of the conveying flume may distinctly be traced, for part of +its twenty-four miles of length. Both peak and lake were named after +S.H. Marlette, once Surveyor-General of Nevada, and a well-known +character of the earlier mining days. + +Just below Marlette Lake, almost directly facing Tahoe Tavern, are +several scarrings, running almost parallel to each other and going in +the most direct fashion to Lake Tahoe. These denote where the flume +broke and the water made its own rude channels to the Lake beneath. + +From this inadequate and imperfect description it can readily be +imagined what a sublime and comprehensive view is afforded from +Watson's Peak. Every visitor to Tahoe should take the trip, especially +those who stay for a few days or longer at Tahoe Tavern. + + * * * * * + +WATSON LAKE + +About half a mile northwest from the summit of Watson Peak is Watson +Lake, 7900 feet. It is about 300 yards long by 250 yards broad, hence +rudely oval in shape. While about fifty feet deep in the center, it +shallows toward the edges, where lilies abound, and then becomes mere +marsh. Practically it is surrounded by trees. Restocked with a variety +of fish (trout) in large numbers each year, it is one of the best +fishing lakes at the northern end of Lake Tahoe, and a most enjoyable +day to the angler is to start early, take his lunch along, and spend +the day there. + +To those who are not anglers this same day can be spent in the quiet +enjoyment of the trees, flowers, lake and sky. + +The outlet from the lake is by Deer Creek, and thence into the Truckee +not far from the site of the old mining-camp of Knoxville. + +The return trip to Tahoe Tavern is made through a virgin forest, on +a ridge between Watson Lake and the Truckee Valley, the trail having +been outlined only about five years ago. Later the Forest Rangers +considerably improved it, until now it is a very easy and comfortable +trail to traverse. One notices here the especial "blaze" on the trees, +of the rangers. It consists of a perpendicular parallelogram with a +square above, thus + +[Illustration: 'Ranger's Blaze'] + +Wherever this blaze is found everybody in the region knows it for a +ranger's blaze, denoting a trail leading to a ranger's cabin. + +On this ride one has a wonderful illustration of the popular fallacy +in woodcraft that moss is always found on the north side of the trees. +Here the moss is mainly on the west. The fact is the moss is generally +found on the side from which the rain-storms come, and here they are +mainly from the south and southwest. A mile or so away on the trail to +Watson's Lake the moss is all on the southwest side of the trees. + +Most of the trees here are red fir and mountain pine, some of them +being of large size, and noble specimens. + +A little further on a fine opening reveals Deer Creek, through which +the waters of Watson Lake flow to the Truckee. It was nearing the hour +of sunset when I reached this point, and the trees were glowing +with flaming gold, reminding one of the pictures John Enneking, the +wonderful Boston artist, so loves to paint, while below the water +gleamed like dazzling diamonds. + +Along here the side of the ridge below the trail seemed as if plowed +into a number of rudely parallel lines. These were sheep-trails made +as the sheep followed each other over the softer soil of the mountain +side. + +A mile and a half from Watson Lake we came to a telephone box. This +was the signal box of the Forest Rangers connecting with Lake Tahoe, +five miles away, Truckee, eight miles, Shaffer's Mills, five miles and +thence to Brockway, six miles. In the direction we were going it was +but one mile to the ranger's log-cabin in Round Meadow. + +In the winter time the ranger often finds it difficult to keep the +line in operation. The damp snow falling upon the wire, clings to it, +freezes and keeps receiving additions until it is bigger than a man's +arm, and the weight breaks it down. + +As we rode along we saw a fat porcupine, weighing full twenty-five +pounds and deliberately walking up the slope near by, as if going to +its den in the rocks, but, though we yelled and shouted, it scorned +to notice us and indifferently went its way. A horned owl now and then +hooted and bade us begone, while a badger came out from his hole, but +hurried back when he saw or smelled who we were. + +Now and again we caught marvelous sunset reflections on Lake Tahoe +through the trees, and on the eastern mountains was a peach glow more +soft and beautiful than the famous Alpen glow. + +Soon the sun was gone, and then, as we rode through the' dark aisles +of the trees the stars came out and shone with dazzling splendor +overhead. Just as we left the ranger's cabin a long dark corridor of +majestic trees framed in a patch of black velvet in the upper sky, and +there, in the very center, shining in resplendent glory, was Venus, +the evening star. + +The wind began to blow a regular cyclone from the north, so the +roaring of the trees told us, but we were largely sheltered, and as we +looked up through the dancing and whirling tree-tops there was not a +cloud in the sky. + +Thus we returned to the Tavern, dramatically and gloriously bringing +our delightful and easy trip to an end. + +I have been rather prolix, and have entered much more fully into +detail than some may deem necessary in the account of this trip, for +two important reasons. It is a trip that none should fail to take, and +I have made it a sort of general account, giving in broad outline what +the visitor may expect of any of the peak trips in the vicinity of +Tahoe Tavern. It goes without saying that, constantly, from a score or +more outlook points, the eye finds its resting place upon Lake Tahoe, +each view being different and more charming than the one that preceded +it. + + * * * * * + +TO SQUAW VALLEY, GRANITE CHIEF PEAK, FIVE LAKES AND DEER PARK SPRINGS + +Leaving Tahoe Tavern we cross the Truckee River and ride down on the +north side. The flowing Truckee is placid and smooth, save where eager +trout jump and splash. The meadows are richly green and the mountain +slope on the further side is radiant with virgin tree-life in joyous +exuberance. Jays are harshly calling, chipmunks are excitedly running, +the pure blue of the sky over-arches all, the wine of the morning is +in the air, and we are glad we are alive. A spring of pure cold water +on the right, about a mile out, tempts us to a delicious morning +draught. + +A little further down is "Pap." Church's "Devil's Playground," +"Devil's Post," and devil's this, that and the other, out of which +he gained considerable satisfaction while driving stage-coach between +Truckee and Tahoe in the days before the railroad. + +It is well carefully to observe these singular lava puddingstone +masses, for, according to the theory of John Le Conte, the eminent +physicist, recounted in another chapter, these were the restraining +masses that made the Lake at one time eighty or a hundred feet higher +than it is to-day. + +Four miles from the Tavern we pass Engineer Von Schmidt's old dam, for +the history of which see the chapter on "The Truckee River." + +Near Deer Park Station is another spring on the right. In the old +stage days "Pap." Church always stopped here and gave his passengers +the opportunity to drink of the water, while he made discourse as to +its remarkable coldness. Five years ago a land slide completely buried +it, and the road had to be cut through again. Ever since the spring +has been partially clogged and does not flow freely, but it is cold +enough to make one's teeth ache. + +In the winter of 1881-2 a land-and-snow-slide occurred a little beyond +Deer Park Station. Watson was carrying the mail on snow-shoes at the +time and saw it. There had been a five foot fall of snow in early +March, and a week or two later came a second fall of seven feet. +Something started the mass, and down it came, rushing completely +across the river and damming it up, high on the other side, and the +course of the slide can clearly be seen to-day. It is now, however, +almost covered with recent growth of chaparral, and thus contributed +to one of the most beautiful effects of light and shade I ever saw. +The mountain slope on one side was completely covered with a growth of +perfect trees. Through these came pencillings of light from the rising +sun, casting alternate rulings of light and shadow in parallel lines +on the glossy surface of the chaparral beyond. The effect was enhanced +by the fleecy and sunshiny clouds floating in the cobalt blue above. + +Near the mouth of Bear Creek the river makes a slight curve and also +a drop at the same time, and the road, making a slight rise, presents +the view of a beautiful stretch of roaring and foaming cascades. +Here the canyon walls are of bare, rocky ridges, of white and red +barrenness, with occasional patches of timber, but very different from +the tree-clad slopes that we have enjoyed hitherto all the way down +from the Tavern. + +Beyond is a little grove of quaking aspens. Their leaves, quivering +in the morning breeze, attract the eye. Crossing the railway, the road +makes a climb up a hill that at one time may have formed a natural dam +across the river. Here is a scarred tree on the left where Handsome +Jack ran his stage off the bank in 1875, breaking his leg and +seriously injuring his passengers. + +Crossing the next bridge to the left at the mouth of Squaw Creek, six +miles from the Tavern, on a small flat by the side of the river is +the site of the town of Claraville, one of the reminders of the Squaw +Valley mining excitement. + +Just below this bridge is an old log chute, and a dam in the river. +This dam backed up the water and made a "cushion" into which the logs +came dashing and splashing, down from the mountain heights above. They +were then floated down the river to the sawmill at Truckee. + +At Knoxville we forded the river at a point where a giant split +bowlder made a tunnel and the water dashed through with roaring speed. +Retracing our steps for a mile or so we came to the Wigwam Inn, a +wayside resort and store just at the entrance to Squaw Valley. To the +right flows Squaw Creek, alongside of which is the bed of the logging +railway belonging to the Truckee Lumber Co. It was abandoned two or +three years ago, when all the available logs of the region had been +cut. Most of the timber-land between Squaw Creek and Truckee, on both +sides of the river, was purchased years ago, from its locators, by the +Truckee Lumber Company. But Scott Bros., purchased a hundred and +sixty acres from the locators and established a dairy in Squaw Valley, +supplying the logging-camps with milk and butter for many years past. + +For forty years or more this region has been the scene of active +logging, the work having begun under the direction of Messrs. +Bricknell and Kinger, of Forest Hill. The present president of the +Truckee Lumber Co. is Mr. Hazlett, who married the daughter of +Kinger. This company, after the railway removed from Glenbrook and was +established between Tahoe and Truckee, lumbered along the west side of +Tahoe as far as Ward Creek. + +Entering the valley we find it free from willows, open and clear. The +upper end is surrounded, amphitheater fashion, by majestic mountains, +rising to a height of upwards of 9000 feet. Clothed with sage-brush at +the lower end and rich grass further up, even to the very base of the +mountains, it is, in some respects, the prettiest valley in the whole +of this part of the Sierra Nevadas. + +The upper meadows are full of milk cows, quietly grazing or lying down +and chewing their cuds, while just beyond the great dairy buildings +is the unpretentious cottage of the Forest Ranger. Remnants of old log +chutes remind one of the logging activities that used to be carried on +here. + +One of the most observable features of Squaw Valley is its level +character. This is discussed in the chapter on glacial action. + +On the right the vein of quartz which out-crops at Knoxville is +visible in several places and the various dump-piles show how many +claimants worked on their locations in the hope of finding profitable +ore. + +Half way up the valley is an Iron Spring, the oxydization from which +has gathered together a large amount of red which the Indians still +prize highly and use for face paint. + +How these suggestions excite the imagination--old logging chutes, +mining-claims and Indians. Once this valley rang with the clang of +chains on driven oxen, the sharp stroke of the ax as it bit into the +heart of the tree, the crash of the giant trees as they fell, the rude +snarl of the saw as it cut them up into logs, the shout of the driver +as he drove his horses alongside the chute and hurried the logs down +to the river, the quick blast of the imprisoned powder, the falling +of shattered rocks, the emptying of the ore or waste-bucket upon the +dump--all these sounds once echoed to and from these hillsides and +mountain slopes. + +Now everything is as quiet and placid as a New England pastoral scene, +and only the towering mountains, snow-clad even as late as this in the +fall, suggest that we are in the far-away wilds of the great West. + +But Squaw Valley had another epoch, which it was hoped would +materially and forever destroy its quiet and pastoral character. In +the earlier days of the California gold excitement the main road +from Truckee and Dormer Lake went into Nevada County and thus on to +Sacramento. In 1862 the supervisors of Placer County, urged on by the +merchants, sent up a gang of men from Placerville to build a road from +Squaw Valley, into the Little American Valley, down the Forest Hill +Divide, thus hoping to bring the emigrant travel to Forest Hill, +Michigan Bluff, and other parts of Placer County. + +It was also argued that emigrants would be glad to take this new road +as all the pasture along the other road was "eaten off." Over this +historic road we are now about to ride. + +As we look up it is a forbidding prospect. Only brave men and sanguine +would ever have dared to contemplate such a plan. The mountain cliffs, +separated and split, arise before us as impassable barriers. Yet one +branch of the old trail used to pass through the divide to the right, +over to Hopkins Springs, while the one that was converted into the +wagon road took the left-hand canyon to the main divide. + +We now begin to ascend this road at the head of Squaw Valley, and in +five minutes, or less, are able to decide _why_ it was never a +success. The grade is frightful, and for an hour or more we go slowly +up it, stopping every few yards to give our horses breath. All the way +along we can trace the blazes on the trees made over sixty years +ago. It is hard enough for horses to go up this grade, but to +pull heavily-ladened wagons--it seems impossible that even those +giant-hearted men, used to seeing so many impossible things +accomplished, could ever have believed that such a road could be +feasible. What wonderful, marvelous, undaunted characters they must +have been, men with wills of inflexible steel, to overcome such +obstacles and dare such hardships. Yet there were compensations. Squaw +Creek's clear, pellucid, snow-fed stream runs purling, babbling or +roaring and foaming by to the right. These pioneers with their women +and children had crossed the sandy, alkali and waterless deserts. +For days and weeks they had not had water enough to keep their faces +clean, to wash the sand from their eyes. Now, though they had come +to a land of apparently unscalable mountains and impassable +rock-barriers, they had grass for the stock, and water,--delicious, +fresh, pure, refreshing water for themselves. I can imagine that when +they reached here they felt it was a new paradise, and that God was +especially smiling upon them, and to such men, with such feelings, +what could daunt, what prevent, what long stay their onward march. + +As we ascend, the mountains on our right assume the form of artificial +parapets of almost white rock, outlined against the bluest of blue +skies. There is one gray peak ahead, tinged with green. The trail is +all washed away and our horses stumble and slide, slip and almost +fall over the barren and rough rocks, and the scattered bowlders, a +devastating cloud-burst could not wash away. + +Here is a spring on the left, hidden in a grove of alders and willows, +and now new and more fantastic spires arise on the right. Higher up we +see where those sturdy road-builders rolled giant rocks out of their +way to make an impassable road look as if it could be traversed. + +Reaching the point at the foot of Squaw Peak at last we look back over +Squaw Valley. In the late summer tints it is beautiful, but what must +it be in the full flush of its summer glory and perfection? Then +it must be a delight to the eye and a refreshment to the soul. How +interesting, too, it is to rehabilitate it as a great glacial lake. +One can see its pellucid waters of clear amethystine blue and imagine +the scenes that transpired when the ancestors of the present Indians +fished, in rude dugouts, or on logs, or extemporized rafts, upon its +surface. Now it is covered with brown, yellowish grass, with tree-clad +slopes rising from the marge. + +Turning to the right we find ourselves in a country of massive +bowlders. They seem to have been broken off from the summits above and +arrested here for future ages and movements to change or pass on. + +The road grows severer than ever, and we cannot help again picturing +those old heroes driving their wagons up, while the women and children +toiled painfully on foot up the steep and rocky slopes. Could anything +ever daunt them after this? any obstacle, however insurmountable, +discourage them? any labor, however severe, compel them to turn back? + +Though there is a deep pathos in all these memories, the heroism of it +makes our blood tingle with pride that such men and women belonged to +us, that we are privileged to live in the land their labors, loves and +lives have sanctified. + +We turn to the right; a tiny waterfall, which in the season must be +quite a sight, trickles down near by; we are now advancing directly +upon the serrated ridge of fantastic spires that have long accompanied +us. We now find those white-seeming pinnacles are of delicate pinks, +creams, blues, slates and grays. In one place, however, it seems for +all the world as if there were a miniature Gothic chapel built of +dark, brownish-black lava. Another small patch of the same color and +material, lower down, presents a gable end, with windows, reminding us +of the popular picture of Melrose Abbey in the moonlight. + +Now we are lined on either side by removed bowlders, but the road! ah +the road! who could ever have traveled over it? Trees twenty feet high +have now grown up in the roadway. To the left Squaw Peak (8960 feet) +towers above us, while we make the last great pull through the rocky +portion ere we come to the easier rise to the shoulders of Granite +Chief. Here the road was graded out from the side of a granite +mountain, blasted out and built up, but it is now sadly washed out. +Further up, a broad porphyritic dyke crosses our path, then more +trees, and we come to the gentle slope of a kind of granitic sand +which composes the open space leading to the pass between Granite +Chief on the right, and a peculiar battlemented rock, locally known +as Fort Sumpter, on the left. This was named by the Squaw Valley +stampeders who came over the trail in the early days of the Civil War, +when all patriots and others were excited to the core at the news that +Fort Sumpter had been fired upon. On one of the highest points stands +a juniper on which a big blaze was cut by the early road-makers, so +that there need be no doubt as to which way the road turned. Other +nearby trees, in their wild ruggedness and sturdy growth, remind us +of a woman whose skirts are blown about by a fierce wind. Their +appearance speaks of storms braved, battles of wind and snow and ice +and cold fought and won, for they have neither branch nor leaf on the +exposed side, and on the other are pitiably scant. + +As we cross the sandy divide, over which a wagon could drive anywhere, +we find white sage in abundance. Expansive vistas loom before us, +ahead and to the right, while Squaw Peak now presents the appearance +of a vast sky-line crater. We seem to be standing on the inside of it, +but on the side where the wall has disappeared. Across, the peak has a +circular, palisaded appearance, and the lower peaks to the right seem +as if they were the continuation of the wall, making a vast crater +several miles in diameter. The plateau upon which we stand seems as +if it might have been a level spot almost near the center of the bowl. +Fort Sumpter is a part of this great crater-like wall and Granite +Chief is the end of the ridge. + +As a rule there is a giant bank of snow on the saddle over which the +trail goes between Ft. Sumpter and Granite Chief, but this year (1913) +it has totally disappeared. It has been the driest season known for +many years. + +Looking back towards the Lake a glorious and expansive view is +presented. Watson Peak, Mt. Rose, Marlette Peak, Glenbrook and the +pass behind it, are all in sight and the Lake glistening in pearly +brilliancy below. + +At the end of the Squaw Peak ridge, on the right, is a mass of +andesite, looking like rude cordwood, and just above is a mass of +breccia very similar to that found in the Truckee Valley a few miles +below Tahoe Tavern. + +Below us, at the head of Squaw Creek is a small blue pond, scarcely +large and important enough to be called a lake, yet a distinctive +feature and one that would be highly prized in a less-favored +landscape. + +On the very summit of the ridge we get fine views of Mounts Ralston, +Richardson, Pyramid Peak and the whole Rock Bound Range, while close +at hand to the north is Needle Peak (8920 feet), and to the south, +Mt. Mildred (8400 feet). To our left is Fort Sumpter, to the right the +Granite Chief, and between the two a stiff breeze is blowing. + +Have you ever stood on a mountain ridge or divide when a fierce gale +was blowing, so that you were unable to walk without staggering, and +where it was hard to get your breath, much less speak, and where it +seemed as if Nature herself had set herself the purpose of cleansing +you through and through with her sweetening pneumatic processes? If +not, you have missed one of the blessed influences of life. + +Rough? harsh? severe? Of course, but what of that, compared with the +blessings that result. It is things like that that teach one to +love Nature. Read John Muir's account--in his _Mountains of +California_--and see how he reveled in wind-storms, and even +climbed into a tree and clung to its top "like a bobolink on a reed" +in order to enjoy a storm to the full. + +Immediately at our feet lie the various mazes of canyons and ravines +that make the diverse forks of the American River. In one place is +a forbidding El Capitan, while in another we can clearly follow for +miles the Royal Gorge of this many branched Sierran river. To the +right is Castle Peak (9139 feet) to the north and west of Donner Lake, +while nearby is Tinker's Knob (9020 feet) leading the eye down to +Hopkins' Soda Springs. Beyond is Donner Peak (8135 feet) pointing +out the location of Summit Valley, just to the left (west) where the +trains of the Southern Pacific send up their smoke-puffs and clouds +into the air. + +At our feet is the Little American Valley, in which is the road, up +the eastern portion of which we have so toilsomely climbed. With a +little pointing out it is possible to follow the route it followed on +the balance of its steep and perilous way. Crossing the valley beneath +it zig-zagged over the bluff to the right, through the timber to the +ridge between the North and Middle Forks, then down, down, by Last +Chance to Michigan Bluff. The reverent man instinctively thanks God +that he is not compelled to drive a wagon, containing his household +goods, as well as his wife and children, over such roads nowadays. + +Just before making the descent we succeed in getting a suggestive +glimpse of what is finely revealed on a clear day. Slightly to the +south of west is Mount Diablo, while northwards the Marysville Buttes, +Lassen's rugged butte, and even stately Mt. Shasta are in distinct +sight. At this time the atmosphere is smoky with forest fires and the +burning of the tules in the Sacramento and other interior valleys, +hence our view is not a clear one. + +It did not take us long to reach the old stage-station in the Little +American Valley. Here Greek George--he was never known by any other +name--had a station, only the charred logs remaining to tell of some +irreverent sheep-herder or Indian who had no regard for historic +landmarks. The pile of rocks which remain denote the presence of +the chimney. When the new stage-road was built and travel over this +road--always very slim and precarious--completely declined, Greek +George removed, but his log hotel and bunk-house remained until a few +years ago. + +We lunch by the side of the old chimney and ruminate over the scenes +that may have transpired here in those early days. + +On our way back we pass the stumps of two large firs which were +undoubtedly cut down to supply George's houses with shakes. At the +base of Ft. Sumpter we leave the trail down which we have come, with +the intention of going--without a trail--down Whisky Creek, over +several interesting meadows to Five Lake Creek, and thence up by the +Five Lakes, over the pass into Bear Creek Canyon, past Deer Park to +the Truckee River and thus to the Tavern. + +With such an excellent guide as Bob Watson we have no hesitation in +striking out in any direction and in a short time Mt. Mildred (8400 +feet) is on our right. + +Great groves of willows and alders cover immense areas of the canyon's +sides, while we pass a giant red fir with a diameter of fully six +feet. + +When about half a mile from Five Lake Creek the largest portion of +the canyon is taken up with irregular masses of granite over which a +glacier, or glaciers, have moved. The striation and markings are down +the valley, and looking up from below the canyon for a mile or more +it has the appearance of a series of irregular giant steps, each step +gradually sloping back to the step above. From above the course of +the glacier seems clear. It must have flowed downwards, polishing and +smoothing each step in turn, then falling over the twenty, thirty +or fifty feet high edge to the next lower level, to ascend the next +slope, reach the next precipice, and so on. + +At the point where we strike Five Lake Creek, in a large expanse of +meadow, we pass a camp, where in the distance we can clearly see three +men and a woman. Deer hunters probably. We give them a cheery Halloo! +and pass on. + +Five Lake Creek here makes a sharp bend into the canyon which is a +continuation of the canyon down which we have been traveling, and +enters the Rubicon River at Hell Hole. We, however, turn _up_ +the Creek to the northeast, here striking the regular Hell Hole trail +built a few years ago by Miss Katherine Chandler, of Deer Park. Just +ahead of us, appearing through a grove of trees near to where the Five +Lakes are nestling, is a perfectly white cloud, absolutely startling +in the vividness of its contrast to the deep blue of the sky and the +equally deep green of the firs and pines. + +A wilderness of bowlders compels the winding about of the trail, but +we hear and see Five Lake Creek, roaring and dashing along, for it +has a large flow of water and its course is steep and rocky. We pass +through groups of willows, wild currants and alders, enter a sparsely +wooded meadow and in a few moments see the first of the Five Lakes. +There is but little difference in their levels, though their sizes +vary considerably. The first one is the largest. Here is a log cabin +and two or three boats. These are owned by the Deer Park Springs +resort, and are for their fishing and hunting patrons. They also own a +hundred and sixty acres here, which include the area of the lake. The +two first or lower lakes are the largest and the deepest. It is their +flow which makes Five Lakes Creek. The three upper lakes are smaller +and shallower. It is said that a divide used to separate the two lower +from the three upper lakes, and the flow from the latter descended +through Bear Creek, past Deer Park, into the Truckee River and thence +into far-away Pyramid Lake in Nevada. + +From this point the trail is clear and well defined, being traveled +constantly during the season by guests of Deer Park Springs. Passing +through a fine nursery of beautiful and exquisite red firs we drop +into the canyon of Bear Creek. To the left are great andesite crowns +on the mountain tops. Here also are more glacially polished masses and +cliffs of granite, clearly indicating great glacial activity in the +upper part of this canyon. The trail is ticklish in a few places, with +steps up and down which our horses take gingerly, but nothing which +need excite an extra heart-beat to one used to mountain trails. + +In less than half an hour we are at Deer Park Springs, drinking its +pleasant waters, and while we still have six and a half miles to go +to the Tavern it is over easy and ordinary road, and therefore our +pleasant trip is practically at an end. + + * * * * * + +TO ELLIS PEAK + +Homewood is the natural starting point for Ellis Peak (8745 feet) as +the trail practically leaves the Lake high-road at that point, and +strikes directly upon the mountain slope. Hundreds make the trip on +foot and it is by no means an arduous task, but many prefer to go +horse-back or burro-back. In its upward beginnings the trail follows +the course of an old logging chute for a distance of some two miles, +the lake terminus of which is now buried in a nursery of white fir and +masses of white lilac. There are a few cedars and pines left untouched +by the logger's ax, but they are not prime lumber trees, or not one of +them would now be standing. + +To the right is Dick Madden Creek, which, like all the streams on the +eastern slopes of the great western escarpment of Lake Tahoe, comes +dashing and roaring down steep and rocky beds to the Lake. + +When at about 7000 feet we find few other than red firs and mountain +pines. Here is a wonderful nursery of them that have secured a firm +hold upon life. Throughout the whole region the year 1913 seems to +have been a most kindly one for the untended, uncared for baby-trees. +There has been comparatively little snowfall for three successive +years, and this has given the young trees a chance. As soon as their +heads appear above the snow and they are not battered down by storm +they can make their way, but if the heavy snow falls and remains upon +them too long, they are either smothered, or so broken down, that life +becomes a fearful struggle and scores of them succumb. Yet in spite +of this fact hemlocks and red firs seem to prefer the north or shady +slopes of the mountains and invariably thrive much better there than +where there is sunnier exposure. + +When about three miles up from the Lake we reach a richly-grassed +meadow, about five acres in extent, confined in a bowl-shaped rim, +broken down at the east side, through which a rivulet, which flows +across the meadow, finds outlet. This is undoubtedly one of the many +mountain lakes of the region, too shallow and with too sluggish a flow +of water into it to clear itself of the detritus washed down from the +disintegrating slopes above, hence it ultimately filled up and entered +upon a new life as a meadow. + +On the upper side of the meadow the trail passes through a glorious +grove of hemlocks, the clean and clear "floor" of which leads one to +the observation that hemlocks generally seem to be hostile to other +and lesser growth coming in to occupy the ground with them. + +Sierran heather of purple color now appears here and there in patches +and we find quantities of it further along. There are also several +peculiar puff-balls, and close by a remarkable fungus-growth like a +cauliflower, fully a foot in diameter. + +Nearing the summit we come to another meadow followed by another +grove, where scarcely any trees but hemlocks are to be seen. Here +also we see great beds of the California primrose which grows with a +straight upright stem crowned with blood-red or deep scarlet flowers +above a rich duster of leaves. These flowers generally can be found +blooming quite late in the season, following the snowline as the +summer's sun makes it climb higher each day. When the winter's snows +have been extra heavy the plants are covered and no flowers appear, as +the snow melts too late, but when there is a lesser amount they bloom +as freely as ever, apparently none the worse for their dormant period. + +Over the peak billowy white clouds are tossing, like giant cradles +built of the daintiest and most silvery cloud-stuff to be found in the +heavens for the rocking of the cloud-babies to sleep. + +On a sister peak to Ellis Peak, just to the south, is to be seen +a remarkable and strikingly picturesque cluster of hemlocks. It +is almost circular in form, with eight trees in the center, and +twenty-three on the outer rim, which is over a hundred feet in +circumference. Seldom does one see so interesting a group of trees +anywhere, even when planted, and these, of course, are of native +growth. + +The summit itself is of broken and shattered granite, which has +allowed a scraggly mountain pine to take root and grow close to the +U.S. Geological Survey monument. A fierce gale was blowing from the +west, and turning toward the tree-clad slopes of the east, we stood +in the wind, with the everlasting blue above and the glorious and +never-failing green beneath. Unconsciously there sprang to my lips +Joaquin Miller's lines: + +And ever and ever His boundless blue, +And ever and ever His green, green sod, +And ever and ever between the two +Walk the wonderful winds of God. + +Braving the wind and looking over the steep precipice to the west we +see, some four hundred or five hundred feet below us, so that it seems +that we might almost throw a stone into it, a small lake. This is +Bessie Lake, named after Mrs. C.F. Kohl, of Idlewyld. It discharges +its surplus waters into Blackwood Creek, and has several times been +stocked with fish. In the mid-distance is Loon Lake, which is the +head-waters of the California Ditch, which follows over the Georgetown +Divide, carries water some forty to fifty miles, and is distributed +by its owners, the Reno Water and Electric Power Co., for mining, +irrigation and domestic purposes. + +East of Loon Lake are Spider and Pleasant Lakes, all of which we +are told are connected with one another and controlled by the same +company. Another lake, Bixly or Bixby, slightly to the north of +Pleasant, is also connected. + +To the east of Pleasant Lake, Buck Island and Rock Bound Lakes were +dazzlingly brilliant in the mid-day sun. + +One has but to look at the map to realize what a comprehensive survey +is possible in every direction from Ellis Peak. There is no wonder +that it is so popular. The panorama is unobstructed--the outlook +practically complete and perfect. Though the whole of the Lake is not +revealed, there is sufficient of it to make a transcendent picture. +Every peak to the north and on the eastern side is in sight, while the +Tallac range, and the near-by mountains make one long for an aeroplane +that he might step from peak to peak without the effort of journeying +by land to their elevated summits. + +On the left side of Tinker's Knob is a peak, unmarked on the map, to +which the name of Lion Peak has been given, for the following reason: +Some years ago former Governor Stanford's nephew, who has been a +visitor for many years at Hopkins' Spring, was climbing, together with +a companion, over this peak, when they came to a cave. Lighting a rude +torch they thoughtlessly entered it and had barely got well inside +before they saw the two fierce eyes of a mountain lion glaring at +them. Surprised and startled, they were about to turn and run, when +the astonished animal sprang past them and disappeared before they +recollected they had a gun. + +It should not be overlooked that Ellis Peak is the most eastern +mountain of the Sierran divide. East, its drainage empties into Lake +Tahoe and thus eastward into the Big Basin; west, into the Rubicon, +thence to the American, the Sacramento and finally out by the Golden +Gate to the Pacific. + +To the west of the Rubicon Peaks is a chain of lakes in the valley +below known as the Rock Bound Lakes. There are nine of these in all, +though several of them are practically unknown except to the few +guides and the sheepmen who range over the surrounding mountains. + +As far as the eye can see, westward, there are distinct glacial +markings, a wonderful revelation of the widespread and far-reaching +activity of these glaciers borne on the highest crests of the Sierras. +The canyon in which the Rubicon River flows is definitely outlined, as +is also the deep chasm known as Hell Hole. Near by is Bear Lake, about +the same size and appearance as Watson Lake, its overflow emptying +into the Rubicon. + +Close at hand to the north and west are Barker's Peak, Barker's Pass, +and Barker's Creek, and these decide us to go home by way of Barker's +Pass instead of the way we came. Accordingly we drop down, returning +a short distance to the south, over the western slope of Ellis Peak to +Ellis Valley. Both peak and valley receive their name from Jock Ellis, +a Squaw Valley stay-behind, who entered the cattle and sheep business, +and pastured his animals in this rich and well-watered region. + +On our way we pass through the most remarkable white fir nursery we +have yet seen. Not far away were a few hoary monarchs from the still +hanging but burst open cones of which winged seeds were flying before +the breeze. These potential firs were carried in many cases over a +mile before they found lodgement. It was a beautiful and delightful +demonstration of Nature's lavish method of preserving this useful +species of tree alive. + +Sweeping now to the north and east we make a rapid descent of some six +hundred or seven hundred feet to Barker's Pass, the elevation of which +is about 7000 to 7500 feet, the nearby Peak having an elevation of +about 8500 feet. It is a round, bare mountain, and seems as if it +ought to be marked higher (on the map) than it is. + +Rapidly dropping we come to a peculiar mass of stratified rock, +acutely tilted, unlike any found elsewhere in the region except +on Five Lake Creek on the way to Hell Hole. Just before reaching +Blackwood's Creek the trail passes through rude piles of breccia +similar to that of the Devil's Playground near the Truckee River. It +may be perfectly possible that one of the volcanic flows that covered +large portions of the High Sierras, after the Cretaceous degradations +had taken place, came from a vent, or volcano, near by, and slowly +flowed down Blackwood Creek, leaving vast masses behind which have +rapidly disintegrated until these are all that remain. + +These conjectures occupy our brain until we reach the Lake again, +alongside of which the road soon brings us back to our starting point, +after another most enjoyable, instructive, healthful and delightful +day. + +The foregoing are but samples of a hundred similar trail trips that +can be taken from every part of the Lake, and from all the resorts. +Each place has its chosen trips, and though, of course, there are many +points of similarity, there are enough individualities to make each +trip distinctive. + +My friends often ask me what food and drink I take along on such +hiking or riding trips. Generally the hotel provides a luncheon, but +personally, I prefer a few Grant's crackers (a thick, hard cracker +full of sweet nutriment, made at Berkeley, Calif.), a handful of +shelled nuts--walnuts, pecans, or almonds, a small bottle of Horlick's +Malted Milk tablets, a few slabs of Ghirardelli's milk chocolate, and +an apple or an orange. On this food I can ride or walk _days at a +time_, without anything else. Grant's crackers, Horlick's Malted +Milk tablets, and Ghirardelli's chocolate are the best of their kind, +and all are nutritious to the full, as well as delicious to the +taste. For drink I find Horlick's Malted Milk the most comforting and +invigorating, and it has none of the after "letting-down" effects that +accompany coffee drinking. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CAMPING-OUT TRIPS IN THE TAHOE REGION + + +There are many trips in the Tahoe Region which can be made, with +greater or lesser ease, on foot or horseback, in one day, so that one +can sleep in his hotel each night. On the other hand there are some +highly desirable trips that can be taken only by camping-out, and +to these I wish to commend those of my readers of both sexes who +are strong enough to care for such intimate contact with God's +great-out-of-doors. + +To me one of Life's greatest delights, appealing alike to body, mind +and soul, is a camping-out trip. Breathing day and night the pure air +of mountain and forest,--occasionally swept by breezes from desert and +ocean,--exercising one's body into vigorous healthfulness, sweating +in the sun with life-giving labor,--even though it be only tramping +or riding up and down trails,--sauntering over meadows, rambling and +exploring untrailed spaces, under giant sky-piercing trees; lying down +at night on the restful brown Mother Earth; sleeping peacefully and +dreamlessly through delicious star-and-moon-lit nights, cooled and +refreshed by the night winds, awakening in the morning full of new +life and vigor, to feel the fresh tang of the air and the cool +shock of the wash (or even plunge) in the snow-or-spring-fed stream; +companioning with birds and bees, chipmunks and squirrels, grouse and +quail, deer and antelope, trees and plants, shrubs and flowers, lava +and granite, lakes and creeks, rivers and ponds; smelling the sweet +fragrance of the trees, shrubs, plants and vines; bathing in an +atmosphere of calm and quiet that seems almost Divine; covered with +a sky as cloudless and pure blue as the dome of heaven itself, and +which, at night, changes into a rich blue-black velvet, studded with +silvery emblazonments, that dance and dazzle in the pellucid air; +listening to the varied voices of Nature, each eager to give tongue +to its joy; eating healthful, simple food with appetite and relish; +absorbing the assurance that Nature means good and nothing but good to +man, thus coming nearer to the heart of God; losing the fret and +worry of money-getting and all other of Life's lower ambitions and +strivings; feeling the inflow of strength,--physical, mental and +spiritual; gaining calmness, serenity, poise and power;--is there any +wonder that a man so blessed should speak and write with radiant and +exuberant enthusiasm of that which has been so lavish to him. This is +what camping-out (in part) means to me. + +Hence, when I leave home for a mountain trip I always put into my +_Indestructo_[1] an extra blue flannel shirt, riding boots and +breeches (or a pair of overalls), a cap, and a bottle of Vaseline. The +hunter and fisherman, of course, will bring his especial equipment, +as, also, will the geologist or botanist. + +The first essentials of a successful camping-out trip are personal. +One must have the receptive and acceptive spirit. No matter what +comes it is for the best; an experience worth having. Nothing must be +complained of. The "grouch" has no place on a camping-trip, and one +who is a "grouch," a "sissy," a "faultfinder," a "worrier," a +"quitter," or who cannot or will not enter fully into the spirit of +the thing had better stay at home. + +[Footnote 1: _Indestructo_ is the name given to a trunk that has +been such a delight to me for its enduring and useful qualities, that +I cannot refrain from "passing it on." A poor trunk, to a constant +traveler, is a perpetual nuisance and worry. My trunks always gave +me trouble until I got an _Indestructo_. Since then I have had +freedom from all such distress. It is fully insured for five years.] + +If experiences are met with that are disagreeable, meet them as a man +should; a woman always does,--or always has on trips taken with me. +The "self-pitier," the "self-indulgent," the "fearful" also had better +stay at home. + +The next essentials are a good guide--such as is suggested by the +Dedication of this book--and good saddle-and-pack-animals, good +bedding, good food and the proper season. Then if the spot you have +chosen contains anything worth while, you cannot fail to have an +enjoyable, interesting, educative, health-giving and generally +profitable time. + +In outfitting for such a trip always put into your pocket (and in the +pack a reserve supply) a few Grant's crackers, a handful of Horlick's +Malted Milk tablets, and a cake of Ghirardelli's chocolate. With +these you are safe for a whole day or two, or more, if anything should +happen to separate you from your pack animal, or you should desire to +ride on without stopping to prepare a noon, or later, camp meal. + +The Tahoe Region offers scores of just such trips, where for one or +two months each year for a dozen years a visitor may camp-out in some +new region. For instance, every student of God's handiwork should go +up to Deer Park, camp-out at Five Lakes, and study the evidences of +lava flows at the head of Bear Creek. Go to the Lake of the Woods and +spend a week there, tracing the glacial movements that made Desolation +Valley. Take such a trip as I enjoyed to Hell Hole on the Rubicon, +but take more time for it than I could give; cross the range to the +Yosemite, and thus link the two sublimest parts of the Sierras in +your memory; follow the old trails that used to echo to the voices of +pioneers from Michigan Bluff, Last Chance, Hayden Hill, etc.; go out +with one of the Forest Rangers and get a glimpse into his wonderful +life of activity, independence and solitude. Thus you will come in +contact with larger conceptions, fuller ideas, deeper sympathies, +higher aspirations than is possible where you follow the ordinary +routine of the ordinary, mediocre, self-contented man. Thank God for +the spark of discontent, of ambition, of aspiration, of desire to +see beyond, to know more, to climb higher, to solve the mysteries, to +abolish the unknown. + +Then, if you dare the perils and joys of winter, get Bob Watson, +or some other expert on snow-shoes to go with you over Tahoe's wild +wastes of snow. Emulate Snow-shoe Thompson, a short sketch of +whose life and adventures will be found in my book, _Heroes of +California_, and henceforth the days and nights of spring, summer, +fall and winter will never seem quite the same to you. + +Merely as a sample, the balance of this chapter is devoted to the trip +made in the fall of 1913 with Watson from Tahoe Tavern. + + * * * * * + +TO HELLHOLE AND THE RUBICON RIVER + +I certainly think I can conjecture with accuracy the way it received +its name. The trails in and out were first made and used by the wild +animals--bear, deer, antelope, mountain lions, etc., then by the first +Americans--the Indians, and at last, by the white man. Undoubtedly the +first whites to come over the trails were miners from the Georgetown +and Placerville districts, lured by the marvelous discoveries of the +Comstock lode in Virginia City. Then in 1862-3 came the Squaw Valley +stampede and this "strike" being so much nearer than the Comstock +naturally attracted much attention, especially as the California mines +of the Sierra Nevada were becoming less profitable. One of these old +miners, whose language was more luridly picturesque than refined, on +coming into the region or going out of it,--when he struck the rough, +rugged, uncertain, rocky, and exceedingly steep grade, must have +called it a "hell of a hole" to get into or out of, and in future +references the name stuck until, at last, it was passed down to future +ages on the maps of the U.S. Geological Survey as the true and correct +name. + +[Illustration: Angora Lake, near Lake Tahoe, Calif.] + +[Illustration: GLENBROOK ON THE NEVADA SIDE OF LAKE TAHOE] + +[Illustration: THE STEAMER _TAHOE_, AT THE WHARF, JUST BEFORE +STARTING AROUND THE LAKE] + +But if the reader thinks the name in the slightest degree +characteristic of the place itself he never made a greater blunder. +Instead, it is a paradise of delightful surprises. A large, fairly +level area--hundreds of acres at least--through which runs the clear +and pellucid waters of the Rubicon River on their way to join those of +the American, and dotted all over with giant cedars, pines, firs and +live oaks, with tiny secluded meadows, lush with richest grasses, +it is a place to lure the city-dweller for a long and profitable +vacation. Whether he hunts, fishes, botanizes, geologizes or merely +loafs and invites his soul, it is equally fascinating, and he is +a wise man who breaks loose from "Society"--spelled with either a +capital or small letter--the bank, the office, the counting-house, +the store, the warehouse, the mill, or the factory, and, with a genial +companion or two, buries himself away from the outer world in this +restful, peaceful, and God-blessed solitude. + +When I first saw it I exclaimed: "Hell Hole? Then give me more of it," +and instead of hastening on to other places of well-known charm, +I insisted upon one day at least of complete rest to allow its +perfection to "seep in" and become a part of my intimate inner life of +remembrance. + +It was under Bob Watson's efficient guidance I left Tahoe Tavern, for +a five day trip. We took a pack-horse well laden with grub, utensils +for cooking and our sleeping bags. Riding down the Truckee, up Bear +Creek, past Deer Park Springs, I was struck more forcibly than ever +before by the marvelous glacial phenomena in the amphitheater at the +head of the canyon through a portion of which the trail passes, and +also with the volcanic masses that rest upon the granite, mainly on +the right hand side of the pass. Its first appearance shows a cap +of from two hundred to three hundred feet in thickness; later on two +other patches of it appear, the upper one presenting the granite and +superposed granite on the same level, clearly indicating a channel of +early erosion filled up by the later flow of volcanic matter. + +Passing by Five Lakes and down Five Lake Creek to its junction with +the canyon down which we had come from the Little American Valley, we +were soon headed down the creek for the Rubicon. To the right towered +Mt. Mildred (8400 feet), on the other side of which is Shank's Cove. +Shank was a sheep-man who for years ran his sheep here during the +summer, taking them down to the Sacramento Valley in winter. After +passing several grassy meadows, cottonwood groves, and alder thickets +we reached Bear Pen Creek, a rocky, bone-dry crossing, nine miles from +the divide. To the left, Powder Horn Creek comes in, which heads on +the northwestern slope of the ridge, on which, on the southern side, +Barker Creek has its rise. It received this peculiar name from the +fact that General Phipps, from whom Phipps Peak is named, was once +chasing a bear, when suddenly the infuriated animal turned upon him, +made a savage strike at him with his paw and succeeded in knocking the +bottom out of his old-fashioned powder-horn. + +Further down we came suddenly upon a hawk who had just captured a +grouse, and taken off his head. As the bird dropped his prey on our +approach we took it as a gift of the gods, and next morning, with two +or three quail, it made an excellent breakfast for us. + +Nearing the descent into Hell Hole we gained striking glimpses of a +great glacially-formed valley in the mountains on the farther side, +while a ridge to our left revealed a cap of volcanic rock apparently +of columnar structure and extending from the eastern end half way the +length of the ridge. + +Watson assured me that here he has found herds of sixteen and nineteen +deer, on separate occasions. They seem to follow, in the early spring, +the line of the melting snow. At this time they are tame and fearless, +and will stand and look at you with surprise and impatience. They +seldom run away. On one occasion he came upon a doe and two fawns +not far from the brink or ridge of Hell Hole. He was close upon +them before he was aware, but stopped suddenly. The doe saw him, but +instead of turning to flee she stood and impatiently stamped her +foot several times. Then as he seemed to pay no attention and to +be harmless, she and her young began to graze again, and shortly +disappeared. + +Before long we arrived at what may be called the "jumping-off place." +In reality it is a steep descent into the depths of a wide canyon, +but earth has so lodged in the rocky slopes that they are covered with +dense growths of trees and chaparral, so that it is impossible to +see very far ahead. Down, down, down we went, winding and twisting, +curving around and dodging, but getting deeper with every zig-zag +until almost as suddenly as we began the steep descent we found +ourselves on a fairly level platform. Hell Hole was reached. + +The day spent here was a delightful one. While Watson fished I wrote, +loafed, rambled about, studied the rock formations, and wished for a +week or more instead of a day. + +Next morning we struck into the canyon of the Rubicon River, for Soda +Spring, half a mile away, where salt and soda exude in such +quantities as to whiten the rocks. Here the deer, bear, grouse, quail, +ground-hogs, and other creatures come for salt. Indeed, this is a +natural "salt lick," and there are eight or ten piles of rock, behind +which Indian and white hunters used to watch for the coming of the +game they desired to kill. Twenty years ago one could get game here +practically every day. The Washoes used to descend the western slope +as far as this; the men for deer, the women for acorns, though they +had to be on the alert as the Sierra Indians resented their intrusion. + +Right and left as we rode on there were great "islands" of granite, +fifty to one hundred feet high, masses that either had been hurled +from the heights above in some cataclysm, or planed to their present +shape by long-forgotten glaciers. These granite masses alternate with +flower and shrub-bestrewed meadows that once were glacial lakes. +At times we found ourselves in a dense forest where the trees were +ancient monarchs, whose solitudes had never been disturbed by stroke +of ax, or grate of saw. Clumps of dogwood and chaparral of a dozen +kinds confuse the tyro, and he loses all sense of direction. Only the +instinct that makes a real mountain and forest guide could enable +one successfully to navigate these overgrown wilds, for we were now +wandering up a region where trails had been abandoned for years. Here +and there, when we came to the rocky slopes "ducks"[2] in confusing +variety were found but scarce a sign of a trail, and the "blazes" +on the trees were more confusing than if we had been left to our own +devices. + +Yellow jackets' nests hung from many branches, and we were now and +then pestered by the flying creatures themselves. Then we had a good +laugh. Our pack-horse, Shoshone, got between two trees. His head could +pass but his pack couldn't, and there he stood struggling to pull +through. He couldn't do it, but stupidly he would not back up. +Talk about horse-sense! A burro would have backed up in a minute, +but most horses would struggle in such a place until they died. + +[Footnote 2: _Ducks_ are small piles of stone so placed as to +denote the course of the trail.] + +Near here there came into sight a granite ridge between the Rubicon +and Five Lake Creek. This grows higher until it becomes quite a +mountain, between Five Lake Creek and Barker Creek. On the right +McKinstry Peak (7918 feet) towered up, with its double top, leading +the eye along a ridge of red granite rock to Red Peak. + +About three miles up the canyon we found a number of rocky basins in +the course of the Rubicon with water, eight, ten and more feet deep in +them, temptingly suggesting a plunge. I didn't need much tempting, +and as quickly as I could disrobe I had plunged in. What a cold, +invigorating shock it was. There's nothing like such a plunge for +thoroughly arousing one and sending the blood quickly coursing through +his veins. + +Nearby were great beds of brake-ferns, four and five feet high, groves +of immense alders, sugar pines, some of which were fully eight feet +through and the trunks of which were honeycombed with woodpecker +holes. I saw and heard several woodpeckers at work. They had red +top-knots, and the noise they made echoed through the woods more as if +a sledge hammer had struck the tree than the bill of a bird. How they +climb up the trunk of the trees, holding on in a mysterious fashion +and moving head up or down, as they desire, with jerky little pulls, +bobbing their heads as if emphasizing some remarks they were making to +themselves. + +And what ideal spots for camping-out we passed, shady trees, nearby +meadows, to give abundant feed for the horses, the pure waters of the +Rubicon close by, with scenery, trees, flowers, animals, birds--all +the glory of nature--surrounding one with objects of delight, interest +and study. + +One large area was strewn with hundreds of thousands of the big +long cones of the sugar pine. When one wishes to pack and ship home +specimens of these and other cones, it is well to soak them in water. +They then close up and carry safely, opening up as before, as they dry +out. + +Then we passed some giant "wind falls," mainly spruces. The roots of +these monarchs of the forest had twined themselves around rocks of +every size and shape, some of them massive bowlders, but when the +storm came, the purchase, or leverage of the tall trees was so great +that these heavy rock-masses were pulled out of place and lifted up as +the trees crashed over to their fall. + +Now we came to a stretch of perfect virgin forest. No ax, no saw, no +log chutes, no wagons, no dragging of logs, no sign of the hand of +man. Nature was the only woodsman, with her storms and winds, her +snows and rains, to soften the soil and uproot her growing sons and +daughters. There was confusion in places, even rude chaos, but in +and through and above it all a cleanness, a sweetness, a purity, a +grandeur, harmony, glory, beauty and majesty--all of which disappear +when destroying man comes upon the scene. + +About five miles up, we left the Rubicon and struck up toward Barker +Creek. Here was another of the great, tempting granite basins, full of +clear cool water. We also passed patches of belated scarlet larkspur, +shooting stars, and glaring golden-rod. + +Half a mile up we reached Barker Creek, now a bowlder-strewn arroyo +which aroused my covetousness to high degree. How I would love to +build, with my own hands, a cottage, bungalow or house of some kind +with these great bowlders, of varied sizes and colors, shapes and +material. + +Just above the junction of Barker Creek and the Rubicon is "Little +Hell Hole," a camping-place almost as famous as its larger namesake, +and noted for the fact that half a mile away is a small canyon full of +mineral springs--sulphur, iron, soda, magnesia, etc. Naturally it is a +"deer-lick," which makes it a Mecca during the open season to hunters. +The springs bubble up out of the bed of the stream, the water of which +is stained with the coloring matter. When the stream runs low so that +one can get to the springs he finds some of them as pleasant to the +taste as those of Rubicon and Glen Alpine. + +As we got higher we left the spruces behind, and the junipers, covered +with berries, began to appear. Then we came to open spaces where the +wind began to sing in the tops of the pines. + +About a mile up Barker Creek, Watson showed me the course of one of +his trails back to the Tavern. It ascends a formidable ridge and leads +quickly to Idlewyld, but we were bound for Rubicon Springs. The old +trail was inaccessible, but Mr. Colwell of the Springs had lately +marked out a new trail, so we took our chances on finding our way +somehow. Over windfalls, up and down and around rocky promontories, +we came to West Meadow Creek Wash, its rude bowlder-strewn course +striking directly across our path. Here we struck beds of brakes +nestling in the shade of giant trees. On the left side of the creek +where we were, we ran into dense clumps of wild-cherry which prevented +further progress. Scouting found us an outlet on the other side of +Barker Creek. The divide on the left towered up with rugged majesty, +reddish in color, and split into gigantic irregular terraces, the +taluses of which were all crowded with dense chaparral growths. + +On this side the slopes were all more open, nothing but rugged +bowlders clinging on the bare surfaces. + +How enjoyable was this forcing our way along through these solitary +wilderness places, so that I was really sorry when we finally dropped +over a forested slope into the Rubicon Springs and McKinney's Road. A +mile away we found the hotel, with Mr. and Mrs. Colwell. The buildings +are old but all nature is gloriously grand and beautiful. + +Though cordially invited to stay overnight, we pushed on over the +Rubicon River, up the hill on part of the Georgetown road for a +mile and a half,--from which we had a fine view of Buck Island +Lake,--struck the trail for another mile and in the early afternoon +made camp at Rock Bound Lake. Here we rowed and swam, studied the +country from the nearby hills, and then slept the sleep of the +healthfully weary under the blue vault of heaven. + +Though Rubicon Springs was not far away there was such an air of +quietude in this spot that we felt as if we were in one of Nature's +choicest retreats. + +Returning to Rubicon we followed the road back to where we had struck +it the day before. The old trail from McKinney's used to come over the +divide from the east and strike the Rubicon near where we then stood, +pass by the Springs and then follow the river, but to avoid the steep +grades the road had to be constructed around by Buck Island Lake. + +Those who ride into Rubicon Springs from McKinney's, just as they make +the last descent, have a wonderful view of Georgetown Mountain before +them. Its sloping side is glacially planed off at a steep angle, and +it reveals the vast extent the great ice field must have covered in +the days of glacial activity. Many bowlders near the Springs are very +strongly marked by glacial action. + +About a mile from the Springs we came to a tree on which a "cut-off" +sign was placed. When the road was being constructed the builders +started a new grade at this point and after going for a mile or so +found it was so steep that it had to be abandoned and a lesser grade +found by going around. + +From the summit we could clearly follow the course of the Little +Rubicon, and also secured an excellent view of the sharp point of +Rubicon Peak (9193 feet). + +A stiff and cool breeze was blowing from the west so we were not sorry +to find shelter from the wind as we entered a wooded park, where the +song of the pines cheered us on our way. Soon we struck the road and +followed it until we came to the headwaters of Miller's Creek on the +right. Miller used to run sheep up in the meadows, which afford a +smooth grade for the road for some distance. There are many alders +here, which bear mute though powerful testimony, in the shape of their +gnarled and bent over ground-groveling trunks, of the heavy winters' +snows. + +These meadows clearly were once glacial lakes, now filled up, and +Miller's Creek was the instrument of their destruction. Crossing the +last of the meadows we came to Burton's Pass, so called from H.D. +Burton, another Placerville pioneer who used to cut hay here, pack it +on mules to McKinney's, and then ship it across to Lakeside, where he +sold it for $80 to $100 a ton. We then passed McKinney's old cabin, +the place he built and occupied in 1863, before he went to live at the +Lake. Only a few fragments now remain, time and storms having nearly +completed the work of destruction. + +Nearby was a beautiful lily pond, soon to be a meadow, and just beyond +this we stood on the actual divide between the Great Basin and the +Pacific. We were at the head of Phipps Creek, named on the map General +Creek, from General Phipps. At the mouth of the creek this pioneer +located on 160 acres, which, when he died about 1883, was sold to M.H. +de Young, of the _San Francisco Chronicle_. After holding it for +many years he sold it in turn to I. Hellman, the banker, who now uses +it as his summer estate, having built a fine residence upon it. + +Near here we lunched at a sheep-herder's camp and heard an interesting +story of the relocation of an old mine that had helped create the +Squaw Valley excitement forty years before. Owing to new and improved +methods of extracting the precious metal it is now deemed that this +may soon develop into a paying property. + +Returning to the road we passed Jock Ellis's cabin, in a similar state +of ruin to that of McKinney. Ellis Peak (8945 feet) is named after +him. He was a Squaw Valley stampeder. Nearby we saw the largest +tamarack I have yet found in the Sierras. It was fully five feet +through and fluted in an interesting and peculiar fashion. + +From here we made a mile detour to visit Hank Richards Lake, a +beautiful crystal jewel in an incomparable wooded setting. Then +back to Phipps Creek, over a perfect jumble of granite bowlders and +tree-clad slopes until we finally struck the trail and followed it to +the Lake, and thence home to the Tavern. + +The reader should observe that in this, as in the chapter on "Trail +Trips," only a sample is given of a score or more of similar trips. +His host at any of the hotels can suggest others equally interesting. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HISTORIC TAHOE TOWNS + + +There have been only three towns on the immediate banks of Lake Tahoe, +viz., Tahoe City, Glenbrook and Incline, though Knoxville was located +on the Truckee River only six miles away. + +_Tahoe City_. Tahoe City was founded in 1864 at the collapse +of the Squaw Valley mining excitement, the story of which is fully +related in another chapter. Practically all its first inhabitants +were from the deserted town of Knoxville. They saw that the lumbering +industry was active and its permanence fully assured so long as +Virginia City, Gold Hill and other Nevada mining-camps remained +profitable. The forests around the Lake seemed inexhaustible, and +there was no need for them to go back to an uncertainty in the placer +mines of El Dorado County, when they were pretty sure to be able +to make a good living here. They, also, probably exercised a little +imagination and saw the possibilities of Lake Tahoe as a health and +pleasure resort. Its great beauty must have impressed them somewhat, +and the exploitation of these features may have occurred to them. + +Anyhow, in 1864, the Bailey Hotel was erected, and, later, a man +named Hill erected the Grand Central. The Squaw Valley excitement had +attracted a number from the Nevada camps, and when these men returned +they took with them glowing accounts of the beauty of Lake Tahoe, and +of the fishing and hunting to be enjoyed there. Thus the Lake received +some of its earliest resort patronage. During lumbering days it was an +active, bustling place, being the nearest town to which the loggers, +drivers, tree-fellers, millmen and others could flee for their weekly +recreation and periodic carouses. Yet it must not be thought that the +town was wholly given over to roughness. Helen Hunt Jackson, a widely +traveled and observant woman of finest susceptibilities, says of the +Lake Tahoe House, which she visited in stage-coach days, that it was +"one of the very best in all California." It was the stopping-place of +the _élite_ who came to see and enjoy Tahoe, and until later +and more fashionable hotels were built around the Lake enjoyed great +popularity. + +As soon as the logging industry declined Tahoe City began to go down, +and only the fishing and tourist interests kept it alive. + +When the railway was moved over from Glenbrook and the shops and yard +of the Transportation Company were established here it regained some +of its former activity and life, and is now the chief business center +on the Lake. It is the headquarters of the campers who come for +pleasure each year, and its store does a very large and thriving +business. New cottages are being erected and it is destined ere long +to be a stirring pleasure resort town, for, as the delights of Tahoe +become more widely known, every available piece of land will increase +in value and where there is now one summer home there will be a +hundred. + +_Glenbrook_. On the Nevada side of the Lake, Glenbrook used to be +one of the most active, busy, bustling towns in the west. It scarcely +seems credible to one who visits the quiet, placid resort of to-day +that when I first saw it, some thirty years ago, it had three or +four large sawmills in constant operation, day and night. It was then +regarded, and so designated in the _History of Nevada_, published +in 1881, as "the great lumber manufacturing town of the state." + +The town was begun in 1860, the land being squatted upon by G.W. +Warren, N.E. Murdock, and R. Walton. In 1861 Captain A.W. Pray erected +a saw-mill, run by water-power, but as water sometimes failed, when +the demand for lumber increased, he changed to steam-power. He also +secured a thousand acres, much of it the finest timber land, from the +government, using in its purchase Sioux Scrip. + +Up to 1862 the only way to travel from California to Carson and +Virginia City, south of Lake Tahoe, was by the Placerville road which +came by Bijou and Lakeside and then over the Kingsbury Grade, via +Friday's Station, afterward called Small's, by which latter name it +is still known on the maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. In 1862, +however, a new road was projected, branching off to the northwest +(the left) from Small's, and following the eastern shore of the Lake, +passed Zephyr Cove and Cave Rock to Glenbrook, thence by Spooner's +and down King's Canyon to Carson. This was called the Lake Bigler Toll +Road (notice the fact that "Tahoe" was then officially designated in +Nevada as "Bigler"), and was completed in 1863. + +This demanded the opening of a better class of hotel for travelers +and others in Glenbrook, and in the same year the road was finished +Messrs. Winters and Colbath erected the "Glenbrook Hotel," which +finally came into the hands of Messrs. Yerington and Bliss, who, +later, were the builders of the railway, the owners of most of the +surrounding timberlands, and who had practical control of the major +portion of the lumber interests. But prior to this a lumber-mill was +built by J.H.F. Goff and George Morrill in the northern part of the +town. This did a good business, for even in those early days common +lumber was worth $25.00 per thousand feet, and clear lumber, $45.00. +The mill was soon destroyed by fire, but the site was bought by A.H. +Davis and Son, who erected a new mill, which they operated for a +while and then sold to Wells, Fargo & Co. It was not until 1873 that +Yerington & Bliss came to Glenbrook. They revolutionized the lumber +industry. While Captain Pray had long used a steam tug to raft logs +across Lake Tahoe, the lumber itself was hauled down to Carson and +Virginia City. Now, owning large areas of timberland, operating two +and then three saw-mills in Glenbrook, and several others in the +nearby mountains, Messrs. Yerington & Bliss sought easier means of +transportation for their merchandisable product. They constructed +dams and reservoirs, with V flumes in a number of places, making +them converge as near as possible at the Summit, some six miles from +Glenbrook. To this point they built a narrow gauge railway for the +purpose of transporting the millions of feet of lumber sawn at their +mills. + +From Summit a large V flume was constructed down Clear Creek Canyon +into Carson City, and into this flume a constant stream of water was +poured from the reservoirs which carried upon its bosom another stream +of boards, timber, studding, joists and sheathing, the two streams +emptying simultaneously just outside of Carson City at a point on the +Virginia & Truckee railway, where the lumber was loaded and thence +shipped to its place of consumption. + +That tremendous amounts of lumber were being manufactured is shown +by the fact that the official records of Douglas County, Nevada, for +1875, give 21,700,000 feet as the product for that year. + +One department of the lumber business should not be overlooked in this +connection. As the timber disappeared from the mountain slopes nearest +Glenbrook, the operators were compelled to go further afield for their +logs. These were cut on the mountain slopes north, south, east and +west, and sent down the "chutes" into the Lake. Where the ground was +level great wagons, drawn by ten, sixteen, twenty oxen, hauled the +logs to the shore, where they were dumped into the water. Here they +were confined in "booms," consisting of a number of long, thin poles +fastened together at the ends with chains, which completely encircled +a "raft" of logs arranged in the form of a V. The raft was then +attached, by strong cables, to a steamer and towed to Glenbrook, where +the mills were so located that the logs were drawn up from the Lake +directly upon the saw-carriages. The size of some of the rafts may be +imagined when it is known that they yielded from 250,000 to 300,000 +feet of lumber. + +The principal vessel for this purpose at the time I first visited Lake +Tahoe in 1881 was an iron tug, called the _Meteor_. It was built +in 1876 at Wilmington, Delaware, by Harlan, Hollingsworth & Co., then +taken apart, shipped by rail to Carson City and hauled by teams to +Lake Tahoe. It was a propeller, eighty feet long and ten feet beam, +and cost $18,000. + +The first store erected in Glenbrook was placed on piles over the +water. This was built in 1874, by J.A. Rigby and A. Childers. One +morning the latter partner disappeared, and it was surmised that he +had fallen into the water and was drowned. New partners were taken +into the firm, but in January, 1877, the store was burned, and it was +not re-erected on its original site. + +When the lumber interests and the railway were removed Glenbrook +declined, until it was the most deserted looking place possible. Then +the sons of Mr. Bliss, one of whom was born there, cleared away all +the evidences of its former lumbering activities, built a handsome and +commodious modern hotel on the most scenic point, and re-established +the place as a choice resort on the Nevada shore, as described +elsewhere. + +_Incline_. It will be a source of interest, even to many who know +Lake Tahoe well, that there used to be a town named Incline on its +shores. In the curve of Crystal Bay, a few miles from where the scars +show where the water escaped from Marlette Lake flume, this town +was located in 1882. It was the source of supplies for the lumbering +interests of the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company, and received +its name from a sixteen-hundred feet incline up which lumber was +hauled. The incline was operated by an endless cable, somewhat after +the style of Mount Lowe, in Southern California, the car on one side +going up, and on the other coming down one trip, and _vice versa_ +the next. The lumber thus raised was thrown into the flume, carried +therein around to Lake View, on the line of the Virginia and Truckee +railway, there loaded on cars and shipped to Carson and Virginia, +largely for use in the mines. + +When the logging interests were active the place had quite a +population, had its own post-office and was an election precinct. When +the logging interests waned the town declined, and in 1898 the post +office was discontinued. Now nothing remains but the old incline, +grown up with weeds and chaparral. New towns are springing up at Al +Tahoe, Lakeside and Carnelian Bay which will soon demand a revision of +this chapter. + +[Illustration: Lake Tahoe from Tahoe Tavern] + +[Illustration: Steamer Tahoe Rounding Rubicon Point, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: McKinney's and Moana Villa, With Rubicon Peaks +in the Distance, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Steamer Landing, McKinney's, Lake Tahoe] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BY STEAMER AROUND LAKE TAHOE + + +The ride around Lake Tahoe is one of varied delights, as the visitor +sees not only the Lake itself from every possible angle, but gains an +ever shifting panorama of country, and, more remarkable than all, he +rides directly over that wonderful kaleidoscope of changing color that +is a never-ceasing surprise and enchantment. + +Tahoe Tavern is the starting point of the ride, the train conveying +the passenger directly to the wharf from which he takes the steamer. +Capt. Pomin is in control. + +Not far from where this, the most beautiful and charming hotel of the +Lake is erected, there used to be a logging camp, noted as the place +from which the first ties were cut for that portion of the Central +Pacific Railroad lying east of the summit of the Sierras. A number of +beautiful private residences line the Lake for some distance, the area +having been portioned out in acre and half-acre lots. Chief of these +are the summer home of Professor W.T. Reid, for a time President of +the State University of California, and Idlewyld, the residence of Mr. +and Mrs. Frederick Kohl, of San Francisco. + +One of the oldest villas of this portion of the Lake used to be owned +by Thomas McConnell, of Galt, and it was his daughter, Mary, who first +made the ascent of one of the peaks now known as Maggie's Peaks, as a +marble tablet placed there testifies. + +In the mountains beyond are Ward's Peak (8665 feet) to the right, and +Twin Peak (8924) to the left, from the first of which heads Ward's +Creek, and the second Blackwood Creek, both entering the Lake two +miles or so apart. Just beyond Twin Peak are Barker's Peak (8000 +feet), and nearer to the Lake, Ellis Peak (8745 feet), the waters from +the former making the South Fork of Blackwood Creek. Ellis Peak, being +easily reached by a good trail, is the common point of ascent from +Homewood, McKinney's, Tahoe Tavern and other resorts. + +Six miles out from the Tavern, the first stop is made at Homewood, one +of the newer resorts. + +Three and one-half to four miles further along is McKinney's, one of +the oldest, best known and well established resorts on Lake Tahoe. It +was founded by J.W. McKinney, who was first attracted to this region +by the Squaw Valley excitement. (See special chapter.) For a time in +1862-3 he sold lots on the townsite of Knoxville, then when the +bottom dropped out of the "boom" he returned to Georgetown, engaged in +mining, but returned to Tahoe in or about 1867, located on 160 acres +on the present site and in 1891-2, after having erected two or three +cottages, embarked fairly and fully in the resort business. For +several years his chief patronage came from the mining-camps, etc., +of Nevada, Gold Hill, Virginia City, Dayton, Carson City, Genoa, etc. +They came by stage to Glenbrook and thence across the Lake, on the +small steamer that already was doing tourist business in summer and +hauling logs to the lumber mills in winter and spring. Thus this +resort gained its early renown. + +The bottom of the Lake may be seen at a considerable depth near +McKinney's, and looks like a piece of mosaic work. The low conical +peak, back of McKinney's is about 1400 feet above the Lake and used to +be called by McKinney, Napoleon's Hat. + +The next stop of the steamer is quite close to McKinney's, viz., +Moana Villa, and a mile or so further on at Pomin's, the former an old +established resort, and the latter an entirely new one. After passing +Sugar Pine Point, Meek's Bay and Grecian Bay are entered. These two +shallow indentations along the shore line are places where the color +effects are more beautiful than anywhere else in the Lake, and vie +with the attractions of the shore in arresting the keen attention of +the traveler. Meek's Bay is three miles long, and, immediately ahead, +tower the five peaks of the Rubicon Range, some 3000 feet above +the Lake. Beyond, a thousand feet higher, is snow-crowned +Tallac,--_the_ mountain--as the Washoe Indians called it, the +dominating peak of the southwest end of the Lake. + +Rubicon Point is the extension of the Rubicon Range and it falls +off abruptly into the deepest portion of the Lake. The result is a +marvelous shading off of the water from a rich sapphire to a deep +purple, while the shore on either side varies from a bright sparkling +blue to a blue so deep and rich as almost to be sombre. Well, indeed, +might Lake Tahoe be named "the Lake of ineffable blue." Here are +shades and gradations that to reproduce in textile fabrics would have +pricked a king's ambition, and made the dyers of the Tyrian purple of +old turn green with envy. Solomon in his wonderful temple never saw +such blue as God here has spread out as His free gift to all the eyes, +past, present and to come, and he who has not yet seen Tahoe has yet +much to learn of color glories, mysteries, melodies, symphonies and +harmonies. + +Soon, Emerald Bay is entered. This is regarded by many as the rich +jewel of Lake Tahoe. The main body of the Bay is of the deep blue +our eyes have already become accustomed to, but the shore-line is +a wonderful combination of jade and emerald, that dances and +scintillates as the breeze plays with the surface of the waters. A +landing is made at Emerald Bay Camp, one of the most popular resorts +of the Lake, and while at the landing the curious traveler should take +a good look at the steep bank of the opposite shore. This is a lateral +moraine of two glaciers, one of which formed Emerald Bay, as is +explained in Chapter VIII, and the other formed Cascade Lake, which +nestles on the other side of the ridge. + +At the head of Emerald Bay, also, is Eagle Falls, caused by the +outflow of water from Eagle Lake, which is snugly ensconced at the +base of the rugged granite cliffs some three miles inland. + +Four miles beyond Emerald Bay is Tallac, one of the historic resorts +on the Lake. + +Tallac was originally Yanks. Yank was really Ephraim Clement, +originally a Yankee from Maine, a stout, hearty, bluff man, who +homesteaded his land, added to it until he owned about a thousand +acres, and finally sold out to E.J. (Lucky) Baldwin. Baldwin had come +over from Virginia City and seeing the great havoc made in the fine +timber, of which he was very fond, exclaimed with an oath: "Someone +will be cutting this (the timber of Yanks) next," and then and there +he began to bargain for the place. In 1878 he bought, changed the +name, and thenceforward Tallac became known. Little by little, as +Yank had done, so Baldwin bought from sheep-men, squatters, and others +until he had quite a holding. + +The hotel was built and in 1879 Sharp Brothers ran it. In 1880 Capt. +Gordon was manager for a year, and in 1881 Baldwin gave a lease to +Messrs. Lawrence & Comstock who held it until 1914. + +Baldwin was a great lover of trees, and when the present hotel and +cottages were built, not a single tree was cut without his express +permission. Yet he had no foolish sentiment about the matter as is +proven by the fact that all the buildings were constructed from +local lumber produced in his own sawmill, except the redwood used for +finishing. The hotel as it now stands was completed in 1900. + +Gulls, pelicans and mud-hens can generally be seen in large numbers +around the piers at Tallac, and the fleet of fishing boats, each with +its one or more eager anglers, is one of the sights. + +The steamer stops here long enough to allow a few minutes ashore, and +the visitors ramble over to the hotel, chat or chatter with the Washoe +Indian squaws who have their baskets for sale, or enjoy the grassy and +shaded grounds. + +From the wharf at Tallac visitors for Glen Alpine, Fallen Leaf Lodge, +and Cathedral Park take their respective stages. These three resorts +are within a few miles and afford additional opportunities for lovers +of the region to add to their knowledge of its scenic, botanic, +arboreal and geologic features. Indeed such glacial experts as Joseph +LeConte, John Muir, and David Starr Jordan have united in declaring +that the region around Glen Alpine gives a better opportunity for the +study of comparatively recent glacial phenomena than any other known +area. + +Adjoining Tallac on the east is the private residence of W.S. Tevis, +of San Francisco. His beautiful yacht, the _Consuelo_, may +generally be seen anchored here, when not in actual service. + +Half a mile from Tallac is The Grove, close to the Upper Truckee +River, the main feeder of Lake Tahoe, and four miles further +is Al-Tahoe, a new and well-equipped hotel, standing on a bluff +commanding an expansive view of the Lake. It practically occupies the +site of an old resort well-known as "Rowland's." It is near to Freel's +Peak (10,900 feet), which in olden days was known as Sand Mountain, on +account of its summit being composed of sand. + +A mile and a half further along is Bijou, a pleasant and comfortable +stopping place, while three miles further a picturesque rustic +pavilion on the end of the pier denotes Lakeside Park, a well-known +and long-famous resort. Forty-five years ago, or more, Capt. W.W. +Latham built the famous State Line House at this point, and twenty +years ago it came into the hands of its present owners. + +This is the most easterly of all the resorts and settlements at the +south end of Lake Tahoe. It is in California, in El Dorado County, +though its post-office is Stateline, the dividing line between +California and Nevada. The Park is over 2000 acres in extent and has +already become the nucleus for a choice summer residence section. + +Leaving Lakeside Park the steamer now turns northward and follows the +eastern or Nevada shore, until Cave Rock is passed and Glenbrook is +reached. This is the only resort on that side of Lake Tahoe. Once the +scene of an active, busy, lumber town, where great mills daily turned +out hundreds of thousands of feet of timber for the mines of Virginia +City and the building up of the great historic mining-camps of Nevada, +the magic of change and of modern improvements has swept away +every sign of these earlier activities and left Glenbrook a quiet, +delightful, restful resort, nestling in its own wide and expansive +meadows at the foot of towering mountains that give a rich and +contrasting background for the perennial beauty of the Lake. +Practically all that remains to remind one of the old days are the +remnants of the logging piers and cribs, the school-house, the quiet +"City of Those who are Gone," and further up the hills, the old +railroad grade on which the logs were carried to the mill and the +lumber taken through the tunnel, which still remains, to the flume by +which it was further conveyed to the railroad at Carson City. + +Immediately to the right of Glenbrook, as the steamer heads for the +wharf, can be seen the celebrated Shakspeare Rock. John Vance Cheney, +the poet, thus describes it: + + No sooner had the steamer been made fast than a ledge of rocks + was pointed out to us, rising precipitously some distance from + the pier. "Can't you see it?" again and again asked our guide, + renewing his endeavor to dispel our distressing stupidity. + At length "it" appeared to us, and we stood mute with + astonishment. There, on the front of a bold cliff, graven with + all the care of the best copies with which we are familiar, + looked down upon us the face of Shakspeare! As if in + remembrance of her favorite son, here in this far wild region, + nature had caused his features, cut in everlasting rock, to be + hung on high, a fitting symbol of his intellectual + sovereignty over the world. The likeness needs no aid from the + imagination: it is life-like, recognized instantly by the most + careless observer, and, let it be added, never forgotten. The + beard is a trifle longer than we are accustomed to see it, but + this deviation does not detract from the majesty of expression + becoming the illustrious original. The spacious forehead, the + nose, even the eyes, all are admirably represented. A more + astounding surprise it has not been the writer's fortune to + experience. The portrait looks as if it were made by moss + growing upon the smooth flat surface of a huge rock; but we + were informed that the face is all of stone, and has undergone + no perceptible change since its discovery about five years + since. [This was written in 1882.] A lady tourist from + Massachusetts has, it is believed, the honor of first pointing + it out. Nature cannot forget her Shakspeare. So we all mused, + and, musing, would have forgotten our dinners, had we not + been summoned inside the hotel. The repast was not peculiarly + relishable; consequently, we had all the more opportunity + to feed spiritually upon the masterpiece on the cliff,--the + rock-portrait of Avon's, of England's, of the World's immortal + bard. + +As the steamer leaves Glenbrook one may gain clear and distinct views +of the four prominent peaks of the Nevada side. Above Lakeside, at the +southeast end, is Monument Peak, then, about midway between Lakeside +and Glenbrook is a sharp-pointed bare mass of rock known as Genoa +Peak. Immediately behind Glenbrook is Dubliss Mountain (8729 feet), +so named after Duane Bliss, father and son, both of whom have done +so much to make Tahoe known to the world. Marlette Peak is to the +northeast, 8864 feet, with Snow Valley Peak, 9214 feet, a little to +the South. These both overshadow Marlette Lake, a full description of +which is given elsewhere. All these peaks afford excellent views of +Lake Tahoe on the one side and of the valleys and mountains of western +Nevada on the other. + +The steamer now continues along the Nevada shore, past the scars +caused by the breaking of the Marlette Lake flume, by Crystal Bay +and the site of the old town of Incline, around State Line Point to +Brockway. + +This resort has been long and favorably known for its famous hot +mineral springs. The hot water is piped to all rooms and private baths +of the hotels and cottages, and is a great source of pleasure as well +as health-giving comfort to the guests. + +We are now on the home-stretch, and soon after leaving Brockway (1-˝ +miles away) and forty-five minutes (eight miles) from Tahoe Tavern, we +reach Tahoe Vista. Here one is afforded a perfect view of the Lake and +its snowcapped ranges east and south. + +Crossing Agate and Carnelian Bays the steamer's last stop is at +Carnelian Bay. Here there is great building activity going on and many +neat and commodious cottages and bungalows are being erected. + +[Illustration: Snowballing in June, July and August, near the Summit +of "The Crags," Deer Park Springs, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Fishing in Grass Lake, Near Glen Alpine Springs] + +[Illustration: Rubicon Point, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Brockway's Hot Springs Hotel, Lake Tahoe] + +Observatory Point is the last object passed before the Tavern is again +reached. This name was given because of the fact that it was once +the chosen site, by James Lick, for the observatory he contemplated +building. This plan, however, was never carried out, as it was shown +to the philanthropist that the cold weather of winter would work +exceeding hardship upon the astronomers without any compensating +advantages. The result was the Observatory was finally established on +Mt. Hamilton, and it is now a part of the great California University +system. + +Thus the complete circuit of Lake Tahoe is made daily in summer by the +steamer, and no matter how often the trip is taken it never palls +upon the intelligent and careful observer. New glories and wonders are +constantly springing forth as pleasant surprises and one soon learns +to realize that here Nature indeed has been most prodigal in her +scenic gifts to mankind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +DEER PARK SPRINGS + + +While in one sense _all_ the resorts of the Tahoe region are +_mountain_ resorts, a difference should be noted between those +that are located directly on the shores of Lake Tahoe, or some lesser +lake, and those that are away from immediate proximity to a lake. +The latter type is more correctly designated mountain resorts, and of +these are three in the Tahoe region, viz., Deer Park Springs, +Rubicon Springs and Glen Alpine. All these resorts were discovered +by following the trails of animals which were visiting them for "salt +licks" that existed in connection with their mineral waters as related +in the chapter on Glen Alpine. + +Deer Park is a private estate of approximately 469 acres, in two +sections, one the Mineral Springs Section, consisting of nearly +309 acres, and on which the celebrated springs--two of soda, one of +sulphur, and one of iron--are located, and the other, the Five Lakes +Section, of 160 acres. The former begins a mile from the Truckee +River, up Bear Creek Canyon. This was originally taken up from the +Government as timber claims, but the timber has never been cut, and +the great pines, firs and junipers remain as the original settlers +found them. The Five Lakes section is a fascinating and attractive +location two miles away, over the first divide of the mountains, and +therefore 1000 feet higher than the Inn, where five glacial lakes +nestle in their granite basin. Four of these, and a large part of the +fifth, are included in the estate, while all surrounding is government +land of the Tahoe National Forest. If a dam were built to restrain the +flow of water into Five Lake Creek, it would need only to be ten feet +high to convert the five lakes into one, so near are they to the same +level. + +As it is the flow from these lakes forms Five Lakes Creek, which +empties into the Rubicon and thence into the South Fork of the +American. + +Five Lakes afford excellent fishing and a log-cabin, three boats and +fishing tackle are kept here throughout the season for the pleasure of +guests. Those who disdain the ordinary accommodations of a hotel can +here camp out, rough it, and make it their headquarters while climbing +the adjoining peaks or exploring the ravines and canyons at the head +of the American River. + +In 1914 a student from Stanford University was _host_ at the Five +Lakes log-cabin. He cooked for those who desired it, helped gather fir +boughs for camp beds, prepared fishing-tackle for women anglers, rowed +them to and fro over the lakes, and accompanied parties to the nearby +summits. There are full accommodations at the cabin for seven persons, +and the rule of the camp is that guests stay only one night, moving on +to make room for the next comer, unless arrangements for a longer stay +are made beforehand. Thus all the guests at Deer Park Inn may enjoy +this novel experience if they so desire. + +In the region of Five Lakes, Basque and other foreign shepherds may +be found tending their flocks, and prospectors, with queer little +pack-burros, who climb the mountains seeking the elusive gold, as they +did in the days of '49. + +It was from Deer Park that the trail into the famous Hell Hole was +recut by Miss Katherine Chandler, owner of the Inn and estate, in +1908, after having been lost for many years. Arrangements for this +trip, and other famous hunting and fishing trips may be made at the +Inn and many people who have gone over the mountains to the Yosemite +have outfitted and secured their guide here. + +One of the finest trail trips of the Tahoe region is that afforded +over the trail, back of Deer Park Inn, to the rugged pile known as The +Crags, over Inspirational Ridge to Ward's Peak. In the early part +of the season great snow banks are encountered, and when the flowers +begin to bloom there are great fields covered with Sierran primroses, +with many patches of white heather and beautiful cyclamens. This is +but one of many fine trail trips that may be made. + +_Deer Park Inn_ is one of the oldest and best established resorts +of the Tahoe region. The house that I occupied on my short visit was +a solid log cabin, full of romantic interest, for it was quaint, +old-fashioned and appropriate to the surroundings. The key-note of the +place is comfort. Under its present management a large number of wild +New England flowers have been planted to add their beauty to that of +the native California flower, and each year, about the third week in +July, the guests wander over the sun-kissed slopes, climb the snowy +heights and ramble through the shady woods gathering Sierran flowers +of every hue, form and variety for an annual flower show. This is one +of the distinctive features of the life at Deer Park Inn. + +It is an interesting fact here to notice that, when Miss Parsons, +chief author of _Flowers of California_, was preparing that +volume, she found such a wealth of mountain flora in the Deer Park +region that she spent about as many weeks as she had planned for days. +Other botanists have found it equally productive. + +To those who come early in the season tobogganing and snow shoeing are +not unusual experiences. The shady sides of the mountains offer these +winter sports as late as June and early July, and many Californians +who have never enjoyed the frolic of snow-balling come here to gain +their first experience in this common eastern enjoyment. + +Elsewhere I have referred to the many evidences of glacial action +found about a mile above Deer Park Inn. Still further up the canyon, +on the trail going to Five Lakes, are interesting deposits of volcanic +rock--andeside--so that these two geological phenomena may be studied +close at hand. + +Having its own rich meadows on Bear Creek, the Deer Park Spring tables +are always supplied with good milk and cream from its own dairies, +while fresh fruit and vegetables are supplied daily. Fish and game in +season are frequent, and the table being under the direct and personal +supervision of the management has gained an enviable reputation. + +Living water flows in marvelous abundance through Deer Park all +throughout the year. Springs and melting snow send four different +streams, tributary to Bear Creek, coursing across the property. +The domestic water supply of the Inn is gained from springs on the +mountain side, 800 feet above the Inn, and it is piped all over the +place and to every cottage. + +There has been some talk, recently, of converting Deer Park into a +private park. There is no better location for such a purpose in the +whole Tahoe region. Situated as it is in the heart of a canyon it +is readily isolated and thus kept entirely secluded and free from +intrusion. While such a procedure would be a great advantage to +any individual or club who might purchase the estate, it would be a +decided loss to the general public who for so many years have enjoyed +the charms and delights of this earliest of Sierran mountain resorts. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +RUBICON SPRINGS + + +One of the oldest and most famous resorts of the High Sierras is +Rubicon Springs. It is nine miles from Lake Tahoe, at McKinney's, +over a mountain road built many years ago, engineered so as to afford +marvelously entrancing glimpses of the Lake and of the mountain +scenery on either hand. Here are primeval forest, flower-strewn +meadows of emerald, crystal streams and placid-faced glacial lakes +in which snow-clad mountain summits are mirrored in quiet glory. The +Rubicon River is one of the feeders of the American River, and the +springs are located not far from its head waters. + +The Rubicon Springs were originally discovered and located upon by the +Hunsaker brothers, two genuine explorers and adventurers whose names +deserve to be preserved in connection with the Tahoe region. They +were originally from the Hoosier state, coming to California in 1849, +across the plains, by Fort Hall, the sink of the Humboldt, Ragtown, +and by Carson Canyon to old Hangtown (now Placerville). They mined +for several years. Then came the Comstock excitement. They joined the +exodus of miners for the Nevada mountains and were among the earliest +to help to construct the Georgetown trail. Thus it was they discovered +Rubicon. In 1869 they located upon 160 acres, built a log-house and +established a stopping station which they called Hunsaker Springs. In +the winter they rested or returned to Georgetown, making occasional +trapping trips, hunting bear and deer, and the meat of which they +sold. In those days deer used to winter in large numbers almost as far +down as Georgetown (some fifteen miles or so), so that hunting them +for market was a profitable undertaking in the hands of experts. + +They and John McKinney, the founder of McKinney's, were great friends, +having worked together in the Georgetown mines. They soon made their +places famous. Their mining friends came over from Virginia City, +Gold Hill, Carson, etc., by way of Glenbrook, where they were +ferried across Lake Tahoe by the old side-wheel steamer, _Governor +Stanford_, to McKinney's. Then by pack trail over to Hunsakers. + +For many years they used to cut a great deal of hay from the nearby +meadows. A natural timothy grows, sometimes fully four feet high. +A year's yield would often total fully thirty tons, for which the +highest price was paid at the mines. + +There was another spring, beside Hunsakers', about a mile higher up, +owned by a friend of the Hunsakers, named Potter. In time he sold this +spring to a Mrs. Clark, who finally sold it back to him, when it was +bought by Mr. R. Colwell, of Moana Villa. When the Hunsakers grew too +old to run their place they sold it to a man named Abbott, who, in +due time wished to sell out. But, in the meantime the railroad had +surveyed their land, granted by Congress, and found that the springs +and part of the hotel building were on their land, so that while +Abbott sold all his holdings to Mr. Colwell, he could not sell the +main objects of the purchaser's desire. An amicable arrangement, +however, was made between all the parties at interest. + +Mr. Colwell is now the owner of all the property. + +For countless centuries the Indians of both west and east of Tahoe +were used to congregate in the Rubicon country. They came to drink +the medicinal waters, fish, catch deer and game birds, and also gather +acorns and pine nuts. How well I remember my own visit to the Springs +in the fall of 1913. Watson and I had had three delightful days on +the trail and in Hell Hole, and had come, without a trail, from +Little Hell Hole up to Rubicon. The quaking aspens were dropping +their leaves, the tang of coming winter was in the air, mornings and +evenings, yet the middle of the day was so warm that we drank deeply +of the waters of the naturally carbonated springs. No, this statement +is scarcely one of fact. It was warm, but had it been cold, we, or, +at least, I should have drank heartily of the waters because I liked +them. They are really delicious, and thousands have testified to their +healthfulness. + +We saw the station of the water company, where a man remains through +the year to register the river's flow and the snowfall. Then we passed +a large lily lake to the left,--a once bold glacial lake now rapidly +nearing the filled-up stage ere it becomes a mountain meadow--and were +fairly on the Georgetown grade, the sixty mile road that reaches from +McKinney's to Georgetown. It is a stern road, that would make the +"rocky road to Dublin" look like a "flowery bed of ease," though we +followed it only a mile and a half to leave it for the steep trail +that reaches Rock Bound Lake. This is one of the larger of the small +glacial lakes of the Tahoe Region, and is near enough to Rubicon +Springs to be reached easily on foot. + +From a knoll close by one gains an excellent panorama of Dick's, +Jack's and Ralston's Peaks. Tallac and Pyramid are not in sight. The +fishing here is excellent, the water deep and cold and the lake large +enough to give one all the exercise he needs in rowing. + +On the summit of the Georgetown road one looks down upon the nearby +placid bosom of Buck Island Lake. It received this name from Hunsaker. +The lake is very irregular in shape, about a third of a mile long, +and a quarter of a mile wide in its widest part. Near one end is a +small island. Hunsaker found the deer swam over to this island to +rest and sleep during the heat of the day, hence the name. + +[Illustration: Angora Lakes, Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe ] + +[Illustration: White Cloud Falls, Cascade Lake] + +[Illustration: Upper Eagle Falls, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe] + +The Little Rubicon river flows into Buck Island Lake and out again, +and about two miles below Rubicon Springs the Georgetown road crosses +the river at the foot of the lake. + +With these two lakes, and others not far away, fine hunting and +fishing, with several mountains nearby for climbing, the hotsprings, +a fine table and good horses to ride it can well be understood that +Rubicon Springs makes a delightful summer stopping-place. One great +advantage that it possesses, under its present proprietorship is that +guests may alternate between Moana Villa and the Springs and thus +spend part of their time on the Lake and the other part in the heart +of the mountains. The Colwells are hearty and homelike hosts, and are +devoted to giving their many guests the greatest possible enjoyment, +pleasure and health that a summer's vacation can contain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +EMERALD BAY AND CAMP + + +Situated near the southwest corner of Lake Tahoe is Emerald Bay, +by many thousands regarded as the choicest portion of Lake Tahoe. +Surrounded by so many wonderful scenes, as one is at Tahoe, it is +difficult to decide which possesses surpassing power, but few there +are who see Emerald Bay without at once succumbing to its allurement. +Its geological history has already been given in Chapter VIII, in +which it is clearly shown by Dr. Joseph Le Conte that it was once a +glacial lake, and that the entrance to the main lake used to be the +terminal moraine that separated the two bodies of water. As a natural +consequence, therefore, visitors may expect to find evidences of +glacial action on every hand. They are not disappointed. The walls of +the Bay, on both north and south, are composed of glacial detritus, +that of the south being a pure moraine, separating the once glacial +lake of Emerald Bay from Cascade Lake. + +Emerald Bay is about three miles in length, with a southwesterly +trend, and half a mile wide. The entrance is perhaps a quarter of a +mile wide and is formed by a triangular spit of sand, on which grows a +lone pine, on the one side, and a green chaparral-clad slope, known +as Eagle Point, on the other. The Bay opens and widens a little +immediately the entrance is joined. The mountains at the head of the +Bay form a majestic background. To the southwest (the left) is Mount +Tallac, with a rugged, jagged and irregular ridge leading to the west, +disappearing behind two tree-clad sister peaks, which dominate the +southern side of the Bay's head. These are known as Maggie's Peaks +(8540 and 8725 feet respectively, that to the south being the higher), +though originally their name, like that of so many rounded, shapely, +twin peaks in the western world gained by the white man from the +Indian, signified the well-developed breasts of the healthy and +vigorous maiden. Emerging from behind these the further ridge again +appears with a nearer and smoother ridge, leading up to a broken and +jagged crest that pierces the sky in rugged outline. A deep gorge is +clearly suggested in front of this ridge, in which Eagle Lake nestles, +and the granite mass which forms the eastern wall of this gorge towers +up, apparently higher than the nearer of Maggie's peaks, and is known +as Phipps' Peak (9000 feet). This is followed by still another peak, +nearer and equally as high, leading the eye further to the north, +where its pine-clad ridge merges into more ridges striking northward. + +Between Maggie's and Phipps' Peaks the rocky masses are broken down +into irregular, half rolling, half rugged foothills, where pines, +firs, tamaracks and cedars send their pointed spires upwards from +varying levels. In the morning hours, or in the afternoon up to +sunset, when the shadows reveal the differing layers, rows, and levels +of the trees, they stand out with remarkable distinctness, each tree +possessing its own perfectly discernible individuality, yet each +contributing to the richness of the clothing of the mountainside, as a +whole. + +Down across the lower portion of Maggie's Peaks, too to 200 feet above +the level of the Bay, the new automobile road has ruled its sloping +line down to the cut, where a sturdy rustic bridge takes it over the +stream which conveys the surplus waters from Eagle Lake to the Bay. On +the other side it is lost in the rolling foothills and the tree-lined +lower slopes of Cathedral Peak from whence it winds and hugs the Lake +shore, over Rubicon Point to Tahoe Tavern. + +But Emerald Bay has other romantic attractions besides its scenery. +In the early 'sixties Ben Holladay, one of the founders of the great +Overland Stage system that reached from the Pacific Coast to the +Missouri River, built a pretentious house at the head of the Bay. +Naturally it was occupied by the family only part of the time, and in +1879, a tramp, finding it unoccupied, took up his lodgings therein, +and, as a mark of his royal departure, the structure burned down the +next morning. The site was then bought by the well-known capitalist, +Lux, of the great cattle firm of Miller & Lux, and is now owned by +Mrs. Armstrong. + +As the steamer slowly and easily glides down the Bay, it circles +around a rocky islet, on which a number of trees find shelter. This +island was inhabited at one time by an eccentric Englishman, known +as Captain Dick, who, after having completed a cottage to live in, +carried out the serious idea of erecting a morgue, or a mausoleum, as +a means of final earthly deposit upon dissolution. This queer-looking +dog-house might have become a sarcophagus had it not been for one +thing, viz., Captain Dick, one dark and stormy night, having visited +one of the neighboring resorts where he had pressed his cordial +intemperately, determined to return to his solitary home. In vain the +danger was urged upon him. With characteristic obstinacy, enforced by +the false courage and destruction of his ordinarily keen perception by +the damnable liquor that had "stolen away his brains," he refused to +listen, pushed his sail-boat from the wharf and was never seen again. +His overturned boat was afterwards found, blown ashore. + +[Illustration: The marble tablet on one of Maggie's Peaks, bearing +the inscription: "FLEETWOOD PEAK, ASCENDED BY MISS MARY McCONNELL, +SEPT. 12, 1869."] + +[Illustration: The island in Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: 'Whispering Pines', Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe] + + * * * * * + +EMERALD BAY CAMP + +Emerald Bay is made accessible to regular summer guests by Emerald Bay +Camp, one of the choice and highly commendable resorts of the Tahoe +region. The Camp is located snugly among the pines of the north side +of the Bay, and consists of the usual hotel, with nearby cottages and +tents. + +Less than five minutes' walk connects it with the picturesque +Automobile Boulevard, which is now connected with the Camp by an +automobile road. The distance is four-fifths of a mile and hundreds of +people now enjoy the hospitality of Emerald Bay Camp who come directly +to it in their own machines. + +Its location suggests many advantages for the angler, the famous +Indian fishing grounds being located at the mouth of the bay. Cascade, +Eagle, and the unfished Velma Lakes are easily accessible to trampers, +the outlets from these furnishing sporty brook trout fishing. These +streams and lakes are all stocked with Eastern brook, Loch Levin +and cutthroat. The protected waters of the bay make boating safe and +bathing a comfortable delight. + +But not all the beauty of nature and the advantages of excellent +location can make a popular camp. There is much in the individuality +of those who own or "run" it. Emerald Bay Camp is owned by Mr. Nelson +L. Salter, for many years so favorably known in the Yosemite Valley. +Such is its growing popularity that Mr. Salter has recently (1921) +purchased another ten acres of adjoining land, thus enlarging his +frontage on the Bay to about 1000 feet, and giving him many more +cottages for the entertainment of his guests. + + * * * * * + +EAGLE LAKE + +From Emerald Bay Camp there are quite a number of interesting trail +and climbing trips, one of the commonest of which is that to Eagle +Lake. + +Taking the trail west, one zigzags to the north until the Automobile +Boulevard is reached. A half mile's walk brings one to the bridge over +Eagle Creek. Here a few steps lead to the head of the upper portion of +Eagle Falls, which dash down a hundred feet or so to the rocky ledge, +from whence they fall to their basin, ere they flow out to join the +waters of Emerald Bay. + +A few yards beyond the bridge the trail starts. It is a genuine +mountain trail, now over rough jagged blocks of granite, then through +groves of pines, firs, tamaracks and spruces, where flowers, ferns, +mosses and liverworts delight the eyes as they gaze down, and the +spiculae and cones and blue sky thrill one with delight as they look +above, and where the sunlight glitters through the trees as they look +ahead. To the right Eagle Creek comes noisily down, over falls and +cascades, making its own music to the accompaniment of the singing +voices of the trees. Now and again the creek comes to a quiet, +pastoral stretch, where it becomes absolutely "still water". Not that +it is motionless, but noiseless, covered over with trees and vines, +that reflect upon its calm surface and half hide the trout that float +so easily and lazily through its clear, pure, cold stream. + +There is enough of climbing to call into exercise long unused muscles, +the granite blocks are rough, angular and irregular enough to exercise +eyes, hands and feet to keep one from falling, and the lungs are +filled with balsam-ladened mountain-air, fresh from God's own perfect +laboratories, healing, vivifying, rejuvenating, strengthening, while +the heart is helped on and encouraged to pump more and more of its +blood, drawn from long almost quiescent cells into the air-chambers of +the lungs, there to receive the purifying and life-giving oxygen and +other chemical elements that multiply the leucocytes vastly and set +them at work driving out the disease germs that accumulate and linger +in every city-living man's and woman's system. + +Suddenly from a little rise the lake is revealed. Eagle Lake, or Pine +Lake, or Spruce Lake, or Hidden Lake, or Granite Lake, or Sheltered +Lake--any of these names would be appropriate. Almost circular in +form--that is if you are not expected to be too rigidly exact in +geometric terms--it is literally a jewel of lapis lazuli in a setting +of granite cliffs. + +Here one may sit and rest, enjoying the placid waters of the lake, the +rugged grandeur of the immediate cliffs, or the slopes of the towering +mountains that encircle the horizon. + +Eagle Lake is but one of the hundred of glacially made Sierran lakes +of the Tahoe region, but a study of its idiosyncrasies would reveal +distinctive and charming characteristics. + + * * * * * + +CATHEDRAL PEAK + +There are two Cathedral Peaks at Tahoe, one above Cathedral Park on +Fallen Leaf Lake, the other at the rear of Emerald Bay Camp. Early in +the season, 1914, three _girls_ decided to climb this peak from +the camp although there was no trail. One of them wrote the following +account of the trip: + + The most interesting peak of the Rubicon ridge is Cathedral. + The mountain rises directly back of Emerald Bay, some three + thousand feet above the Lake. About six hundred feet above the + camp there is a meadow where larkspur grows four and five + feet high. But from Eagle Creek the aspect is quite different. + There are no soft contours. Huge rocks pile up--one great + perpendicular surface adding five hundred feet to the + height--into spires and domes for all the world like some vast + cathedral which taunts the soul with its aloofness. If, on + some sunshiny afternoon you look up from the camp and see + a ghost-moon hanging, no more than a foot above the highest + spire, you must surely be "citified" if you do not pause to + drink in its weird sublimity and wild beauty. + + Many winters of storm and snow have loosed the rocks + and carried them down the mountain. Those thrown down years + ago are moss-covered and have collected enough soil in their + crevices to nourish underbrush and large trees. But there are + bare rocks along Eagle Creek to-day large enough for a man + to hew a cabin from. Standing in awe of their size one surely + must look curiously up the mountain to find the spaces they + once occupied. Then, taking in the size of the peak it is + equally natural that one should be filled with a desire to + climb it and look down the other side and across the vista + to the neighboring ranges. While we were getting used to the + altitude we stood below admiring. Every evening we went out on + the wharf, gazed up at its grandeur and discussed the best + way to go, for though we knew we should have to break our own + trail, we had decided to attempt the climb. We set a day and + the hour for rising; the night before laid out our tramping + clothes and religiously went to bed at eight. I doubt if any + of us slept, for we were used to later hours and excitement + kept us awake. + + As it was the first trip of the season, we lost some time at + the start, admiring each others' costumes. Two of us adhered + to the regulation short skirt and bloomers, but the third + girl wore trousers, poked into the top of her high boots. This + proved, by far, the most satisfactory dress before the day's + tramping was done. We got started at four-thirty. The first + awakened birds were twittering. The shadows of the moraine lay + reflected in the unruffled surface of the Bay. Gradually rosy + flushes showed in the east. By the time we reached the meadow + the sun rose suddenly above the Nevada mountains and some of + the chill went out of the atmosphere. + + The meadow was flooded with snow-water. Beyond, the mountain + rose by sheer steps of rock with slides of decomposed granite + between. We avoided the under-brush as far as possible, + preferring to take back and forth across the loose granite. + The wind came up as we left the meadow, grew in force as we + climbed. Some one suggested breakfast, and then there began a + search for a sheltered place. A spot sided by three bowlders + away from under-brush was decided upon. By the time the fire + was built the wind was + a gale sending the flames leaping in every direction--up the + rocks and up our arms as we broiled the bacon. Breakfast was a + failure, as far as comfort was concerned. It was a relief when + we finally tramped out the embers and resumed our journey. + + The top of a long snow-drift was a previously chosen + land-mark. It was seven when we reached the top of it. Some + one came out on the Bay in a row-boat--we were too high for + recognition--thought better of it and went back. Towards the + top we left the decomposed granite and underbrush behind, + climbing the rocks in preference to the snow, where the choice + was allowed us. The wind howled and shrieked, and blew with + a force great enough to destroy balance, while its icy touch + brought the blood tingling to our cheeks. + + At last we reached the summit. And oh! the joy of achievement. + + All Rubicon ridge and its neighbors, as far as the eye could + see, were white with snow; the lakes in the valley below + were still frozen--only one showing any blue. Clouds came up + rapidly from the west, rushed by to the Nevada side where + they piled up in great cumulous heaps. The apex of Pyramid was + cloud-capped all day. Shifting gusts drove the waters of + Tahoe scurrying first this way, then that. Where in the early + morning every tree had viewed her image among the reflected + tints of sunrise, at ten-thirty white-caps flashed and + disappeared to flash in a different place among the + everchanging eddies. Cascade and Fallen Leaf Lakes presented + a continuous procession of white-caps to the east, while Eagle + lay black and sinister in the shadow of Maggie's Peaks. + + After lunch, the wind blowing too cold for comfort, we started + home, straight down--over snow, granite and underbrush--till + we hit the State Highway. Here we found a sheltered place by a + creek and talked over the day's happenings. + + Along the roadside we drew up a resolution on the satisfaction + of the trip. The girl who had been cold all day didn't ever + want to see snow again, but already the others were discussing + a possible ascent from the Eagle Creek side--so great is the + lure of the high places. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +AL-TAHOE + + +Al-Tahoe, four miles east of Tallac, is one of the newer, better and +more fashionable and pretentious resorts recently established at the +south end of the Lake. Its projectors saw the increasing demand for +summer residences on the Lake, and realizing to the full the superior +advantages of this location, they divided their large holding into +suitable villa and bungalow sites, and other lots, and readily +disposed of a number of them to those who were ready to build. To +further the colonizing plans of these chosen and selected purchasers +a fine, modern, well-equipped hotel was erected, replete with every +convenience and luxury that progressive Americans now expect and +demand in their chosen resorts. The result is quite a settlement +has grown up, and Al-Tahoe sees ahead an era of rapid growth and +prosperity. Its homes are substantial and beautiful and indicate that +John LeConte's prophecy, elsewhere quoted, is already coming to pass. +Pasadena capitalists are behind the hotel and town project. + +Being advantageously located on the State and National automobile +boulevard, and near to all the choice mountain, lake and other resorts +of the southern end of Tahoe, it appeals to those who wish to combine +equally ready access to civilization with the wild ruggedness and +infinite variety of many-featured Nature. + +It is situated on a high plateau, gently sloping from the bluff, with +a Lake-frontage of about three quarters of a mile. The land rises with +a gentle slope to the edge of the terrace facing the stream, meadow, +and mountains on the south. + +With no stagnant water, there are practically no mosquitoes, and it is +confessedly one of the most healthful spots of all this health giving +region. Being on a lea shore, the cold air from the snowy summits of +the mountains tempered by the warm soil of the foothills and level +area, there is no place on the Lake better adapted for bathing and +boating, especially as the beach is sandy and shallow, sloping off for +some distance from the shore. + +The accompanying photographs give some idea of the hotel and its +cottages, together with some Al-Tahoe homes. The water supply for the +town and hotel is gained from beautiful and pure Star Lake, 3000 feet +higher than Lake Tahoe, and where snow may be seen during the entire +year. The Al-Tahoe Company owns its own electric generating plant and +supplies all the cottages with electric light. + +The hotel itself is conducted on the American plan, and in every +modern way meets the requirements of the most exacting patrons. +Amusements of every kind are provided, and there is a good livery +stable and automobile garage. + +The town itself is being built up with a select class of summer +residents. No saloons are allowed. There are still desirable lots for +sale, and the Al-Tahoe Company, or L.H. Bannister, the Postmaster, +will be glad to correspond with any who contemplate purchasing or +building. Letters may be addressed to either at Al-Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, +Calif. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +GLEN ALPINE SPRINGS + + +The earliest of all the resorts of the Tahoe region away from the +shores of Tahoe itself, Glen Alpine Springs still retains its natural +supremacy. Located seven miles away from Tallac, reached by excellent +roads in automobile stages, sequestered and sheltered, yet absolutely +in the very heart of the most interesting part of the Tahoe region, +scenically and geologically, it continues to attract an increasing +number of the better class of guests that annually visit these +divinely-favored California Sierras. John Muir wrote truthfully when +he said: + + The Glen Alpine Springs tourist resort seems to me one of the + most delightful places in all the famous Tahoe region. From + no other valley, as far as I know, may excursions be made in + a single day to so many peaks, wild gardens, glacier lakes, + glacier meadows, and Alpine groves, cascades, etc. + +The drive from Tallac around Fallen Leaf Lake under trees whose +boles form arch or portal, framing pictures of the sunny lake, is a +memorable experience; then on past Glen Alpine Falls, Lily Lake, and +Modjeska Falls, up the deep mountain glen, where the road ends at the +hospitable cottages, log-houses and spacious tents of Glen Alpine. + +[Illustration: Mount Tallac, Rubicon Peaks, etc., from Long Wharf +at Al Tahoe, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Al Tahoe Inn and Cottages, on Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Murphey Cottage, Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Porterfield Cottage, Al Tahoe, on Lake Tahoe] + +Here is the world-famous spring, discovered in the 'fifties by +Nathan Gilmore (for whom Gilmore Lake is named). Mr. Gilmore +was born in Ohio, but, when a mere youth, instead of attending +college and graduating in law as his parents had arranged for +and expected, he yielded to the lure of the California gold +excitement, came West, and in 1850 found himself in Placerville. +In due time he married, and to the sickness of his daughter +Evelyn, now Mrs. John L. Ramsay, of Freewater, Ore., is owing +his discovery of Glen Alpine. The doctor ordered him to bring the +child up into the mountains. Accompanied by an old friend, Barton +Richardson, of the James Barton Key family of Philadelphia, he came +up to Tallac, with the ailing child and its mother. Being of active +temperament he and Mr. Richardson scaled Mt. Tallac, and in returning +were much entranced by Fallen Leaf Lake. Later Mr. Gilmore came to +Fallen Leaf alone, wandering over its moraines and lingering by its +shores to drink in its impressive and growingly-overpowering beauty. +In those days there was no road at the southern end of Fallen Leaf and +the interested explorer was perforce led to follow the trails of bear, +deer and other wild animals. Rambling through the woods, some two +miles above the lake he came to a willow-surrounded swampy place, +where the logs and fallen trees were clearly worn by the footprints +of many generations of wild animals. Prompted by curiosity he followed +the hidden trail, saw where a small stream of mineral-stained water +was flowing, observed where the deer, etc., had licked the stones, and +finally came to the source in what he afterwards called Glen Alpine +Springs. Scientific observation afterwards showed that the water had +an almost uniform temperature, even in the hottest days of summer, of +39.6 degrees Fahr., and that there was free carbonic acid gas to the +extent of 138.36 cubic inches. The analysis revealed that each U.S. +gallon contained grains as follows: + +Sodium Chloride ............ 21.17 +Sodium Carbonate ........... 32.75 +Potassium Carbonate ........ Trace +Ferrous Carbonate........... 1.8 +Alumnia .................... 1.43 +Borates .................... Trace +Magnesium Carbonate ......... 9.96 +Calcium Carbonate ........... 45.09 +Calcium Sulphate ............ 4.10 +Silica ...................... 2.50 +Organic Matter............... Trace + ------ +Total Solids................ 118.80 + +The water is pleasant to the taste, and, as has been shown, highly +charged with carbonic acid gas; its action is diuretic, laxative and +stimulative to the entire digestive tract. Eminent physicians claim +that it is beneficial in dyspepsia, torpid liver, kidney and bladder +irritation, and is also a tonic. + +Whether this be true or not I cannot say, but I do know that every +time I go to Glen Alpine I drink freely and abundantly of the water, +to my great physical pleasure and satisfaction. It is one of the most +delicious sparkling waters I have ever tasted, as gratifying to the +palate and soothing to the fevered mucous membranes as Apollinaris or +Shasta Water, and I am not alone in the wish I often express, viz., +that I might have such a spring in my backyard at home. + +One result of this discovery was that Mr. Gilmore decided to locate +upon the land. As soon as the first claim was made secure a rude +one-roomed cabin was built and Mr. Richardson was the first guest. +Preparatory to bringing his family, Mr. Gilmore added two more rooms, +and to render ingress easier he built a road to intersect with the +Tallac road at the northern end of Fallen Leaf Lake. As this had to +be blasted out with black powder,--it was before the days of +dynamite,--Mr. Gilmore's devotion to the place can be well understood. + +When his daughters grew up, they and their friends came here to spend +their summers, and by and by, almost unconsciously, but pleasantly and +agreeably, the place became a public resort. Though Mr. Gilmore has +long since passed on, having died in Placerville, Calif., in the year +1898, Glen Alpine Springs is still in the ownership of his family, and +its management and direction is entirely in their hands. + +As in the beginning they have ever sought to preserve its character of +simplicity. It is their aim that everything should be as primitive as +possible, consonant with healthfulness, privacy and comfort. While +no sanitary precautions are neglected, and water, hot and cold, is +extravagantly provided, with free shower baths, there are none of +the frills and furbelows that generally convert these--what should +be--simple nature resorts into bad imitations of the luxurious hotels +of the city. There are positively no dress events. Men and women are +urged to bring their old clothes and wear them out here, or provide +only khaki or corduroy, with short skirts, bloomers and leggings for +the fair sex. Strong shoes are required; hob-nailed if one expects to +do any climbing. Wraps for evening, and heavy underwear for an unusual +day (storms sometimes come in Sierran regions unexpectedly), are +sensible precautions. + +Sleeping out-of-doors is one of the features of the place, an +invigorating, rejuvenating joy, which Mark Twain affirmed was able +to destroy any amount of fatigue that a person's body could gather. +Visitors are given their choice of a comfortable bed in the open, in a +cottage, tent, or one of the main buildings. There are practically no +rules at Glen Alpine save those that would operate in any respectable +home. No liquors are sold, and visitors are frankly told that "If they +must have liquid stimulants they must bring them along." In order that +those who desire to sleep may not be disturbed by the thoughtlessness +of others, music is prohibited after ten o'clock. One of the delights +of the place is the nightly camp-fire. Here is a large open space, +close to the spring, surrounded by commodious and comfortable canvas +seats, that will easily hold eight or ten persons, the blazing fire +is started every evening. Those who have musical instruments--guitars, +banjos, mandolins, flutes, cornets, violins, and even the plebeian +accordion or the modest Jew's-harp--are requested to bring them. +Solos, choruses, hymns and college songs are indulged in to the +heart's content. Now and again dances are given, and when any speaker +arrives who is willing to entertain the guests, a talk, lecture or +sermon is arranged for. + +Three things are never found at Glen Alpine. These are poison-oak, +rattlesnakes and poisonous insects. The rowdy, gambling and carousing +element are equally absent, for should they ever appear, they speedily +discover their lack of harmony and voluntarily retire. + +While the Glen Alpine resort is not situated directly on one of the +lakes, it owns over twenty boats on eight of the nearby lakes, and +the use of these is freely accorded to its guests. That it is in close +proximity to lakes and peaks is evidenced by the following table, +which gives the distance in miles from the hotel: + +_Miles_ +2-1/2 Angora Lake +4 American Lake +6 Avalanche Lake +3-1/4 Alta Morris Lake +7 Azure Lake +5 Center Lake +5-1/2 Crystal Lake +5-3/4 Crater Lake +6 Cup Lake +4-3/4 Cathedral Lake +5-1/2 Echo Lake +2 Fallen Leaf Lake +5-1/4 Floating Island Lake +4-1/4 Forest Lake +6 Fontinalis Lake +1-1/4 Glen Alpine Falls +1-1/4 Grass Lake +4-3/4 Grouse Lake +3-1/2 Glmore Lake +3-1/4 Heather Lake +3-1/4 Half Moon Lake +5 Kalmia Lake +1 Lily Lake +2-1/4 Lucile Lake +3-3/4 LeConte Lake +2-1/2 Margery Lake +1/4 Modjeska Falls +3-1/2 Observation Point +4-1/4 Olney Lake +4-1/4 Pit Lake +6 Pyramid Lake +4-3/4 Rainbow Lake +2-3/4 Susie Lake +3-1/2 Susie Lake Falls +2-3/4 Summit Lake +6 Snow Lake + +[Illustration: Cluster of Tents, Glen Alpine Springs] + +[Illustration: Glen Alpine Falls, Near Glen Alpine Springs] + +[Illustration: In the 'Good Old Days'. Glen Alpine Stage approaching +Office at Glen Alpine Springs] + +_Miles_ +4-1/4 Tamarack Lake +6 Tallac Lake +7 Tahoe Lake +6-1/2 Velma Lakes +3-1/4 Woods, Lake of the +3-1/2 Angora Peak +5-1/4 Dicks Peak +5-1/2 Jacks Peak +2-1/2 Keiths Dome +7 Pyramid Peak +6-1/2 Ralston Peak +3-3/4 Richardsons Peak +5 Upper Truckee River +4-3/4 Mt. Tallac +7 Mt. Agassiz +3 Cracked Crag + +As the proprietors of Glen Alpine ask: "Where else outside of +Switzerland is there a like region of lakes (forty-odd) and world of +Sierran grandeur, such air with the tonic of altitude, mineral-spring +water, trout-fishing, and camaraderie of kindred spirits!" + +While the foregoing list gives a comprehensive suggestion of the wide +reach of Glen Alpine's territory there are several especial peaks and +lakes that are peculiarly its own. These are Pyramid, Agassiz, Dicks, +Jacks, Richardsons, Ralston, and the Angora Peaks, Mount Tallac, +Mosquito Pass, and Lakes Olney, LeConte, Heather, Susie, Grass, +Lucile, Margery, and Summit with Lake of the Woods and others in +Desolation Valley, Gilmore, Half Moon, Alta, Morris, Lily, Tamarack, +Rainbow, Grouse, and the Upper and Lower Echo. Desolation Valley and +all its surroundings is also within close reach. This is some four +miles westward of Glen Alpine Springs, and is reached by way of easy +mountain trails under sweet-scented pines and gnarled old junipers; +besides singing streams; across crystal lakes, through a cliff-guarded +glade where snowbanks linger until midsummer, ever renewing the +carpet of green, decking it with heather and myriad exquisite mountain +blossoms. On, over a granite embankment, and lo! your feet are stayed +and your heart is stilled as your eyes behold marvelous Desolation +Valley. Greeting you on its southern boundary stands majestic Pyramid +Peak, with its eternal snows. Lofty companions circling to your very +feet make the walls forming the granite cradle of Olney, the Lake of +Mazes. The waters are blue as the skies above them, and pure as the +melting snows from Pyramid which form them. He who has not looked +upon this, the most remarkable of all the wonder pictures in the Tahoe +region, has missed that for which there is no substitute. + +The whole Glen Alpine basin,--which practically extends from the +Tallac range on the north, from Heather Lake Pass (the outlet from +Desolation Valley) and Cracked Crag on the west and southwest, Ralston +Peak and range to the south and the Angora Peaks on the east,--is one +mass of glacial scoriations. Within a few stone-throws of the spring, +on a little-used trail to Grass Lake, there are several beautiful +and interesting markings. One of these is a finely defined curve or +groove, extending for 100 feet or more, above which, about 1˝ feet, is +another groove, some two to four feet wide. These run rudely parallel +for some distance, then unite and continue as one. Coming back to the +trail--a hundred or so feet away,--on the left hand side returning to +the spring, is a gigantic sloping granite block, perfectly polished +with glacial action, and black as though its surface had been coated +in the process. Near here the trail _ducks_ or markers are placed +in a deep grooving or trough three or four feet wide, and of equal +depth, while to the right are two other similar troughs working their +winding and tortuous way into the valley beneath. + +In Chapter VIII an idea is given of the movements of the great +glaciers that formed Desolation Valley and all the nearby lakes, +as well as Glen Alpine basin. These gigantic ice-sheets, with their +firmly-wedged carving blocks of granite, moved over the Heather Lake +Pass, gouging out that lake, and Susie Lake, in its onward march, and +then, added to by glacial flows from Cracked Crag, the southern slopes +of the Tallac range, and the Angora Peaks, it passed on and down, +shaping this interestingly rugged, wild and picturesque basin as we +find it to-day. How many centuries of cutting and gouging, beveling +and grooving were required to accomplish this, who can tell? Never +resting, never halting, ever moving, irresistibly cutting, carving, +grinding and demolishing, it carried away its millions of millions +of tons of rocky débris in bowlders, pebbles, sand and mud, and thus +helped make the gigantic moraines of Fallen Leaf Lake. The ice-flow +itself passed along over where the terminal moraine now stands, +cutting out Fallen Leaf Lake basin in its movement, and finally rested +in the vast bowl of Lake Tahoe. + +To the careful student every foot of Glen Alpine basin is worthy of +study, and he who desires to further the cause of science will do +well to make a map of his observations, recording the direction, +appearance, depth, length and width of all the glacial markings he +discovers. On the U.S. Government maps the stream flowing through Glen +Alpine basin is marked as Eau Claire Creek. To the proprietors of Glen +Alpine, and the visitors, the French name is absurd and out of place. +No Frenchman has ever resided here, and if it was desired to call +it Clear Water Creek, why not use good, understandable, common-sense +English. At the request of those most intimately concerned, therefore, +the name has been changed on the map that accompanies this volume, +to Glen Alpine Creek, a name that "belongs" and to which no one can +possibly have any objection. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +FALLEN LEAF LAKE AND ITS RESORTS + + +Fallen Leaf Lake is a noble body of water, three and a half miles +long and about one mile across. Why it is called Fallen Leaf is fully +explained in the chapter on Indian Legends. Some people have thought +it was named from its shape, but this cannot be, for, from the summit +of Mt. Tallac, every one instantly notices its resemblance to the +imprint of a human foot. It is shaped more like a cork-sole, as if cut +out of the solid rock, filled up with a rich indigo-blue fluid, and +then made extra beautiful and secluded with a rich tree and plant +growth on every slope that surrounds it. + +The color of the water is as richly blue as is Tahoe itself, and there +is the same suggestion of an emerald ring around it, as in the larger +Lake, though this ring is neither so wide nor so highly colored. + +In elevation it is some 80 feet above Lake Tahoe, thus giving it an +altitude of 6300 feet. + +At the upper end, near Fallen Leaf Lodge, under the cliffs it has a +depth of over 380 feet, but it becomes much shallower at the northern +or lower end near the outlet. Its surroundings are majestic and +enthralling as well as picturesque and alluring. On the west Mt. +Tallac towers its nearly 10,000 feet into the sea of the upper air, +flanked on the south by the lesser noble and majestic Cathedral Peak. +In the earlier part of the season when these are covered with snow, +the pure white materially enhances the splendor of both mountain and +lake by enriching their varied colorings with the marked contrast. + +[Illustration: Glen Alpine Falls] + +[Illustration: Glimpse of Grass Lake, looking across and up +Glen Alpine Canyon] + +[Illustration: The Triumphant Angler, Lake Tahoe] + +To the southwest rise the Angora Peaks, and these likewise catch, +and hold the winter's snow, often, like Mt. Tallac, retaining beds of +_névé_ from year to year. + +To the geological student, especially one interested in glacial +phenomena, the lateral and terminal moraines of Fallen Leaf Lake are +of marked and unusual interest. The moraine on the east is upwards of +1000 feet high, and is a majestic ridge, clothed from the lake shore +to its summit with a rich growth of pines, firs and hemlocks. Its +great height and bulk will suggest to the thoughtful reader the +questions as to how it was formed, and whence came all the material +of its manufacture. It extends nearly the whole length of the +lake, diminishing somewhat in size at the northern end. There is a +corresponding moraine on the western side not less compelling in its +interest though scarcely as large in size as its eastern counterpart. +The terminal moraine, which is the one that closed up the lake, +separating and raising it above the level of Lake Tahoe, is a less +noble mound, yet geologically it allures the mind and demands study as +much as the others. In Chapter VIII, Dr. Joseph LeConte's theories are +given in full explaining the various glacial phenomena connected with +this lake. + +The fish of Fallen Leaf are practically the same as those of Tahoe, +though rod and fly fishing is more indulged in here. + +Boating, canoeing and the use of the motor boat are daily recreations, +and swimming is regularly indulged in during the summer season. + +FALLEN LEAF LODGE + +The distinguishing characteristics of this resort are simplicity, +home-likeness, unostentation. It makes its appeal especially to the +thoughtful and the studious, the not luxuriously rich, those who love +Nature rather than the elegance of a first-class hotel, and who desire +to climb trails, study trees, hunt, fish, and generally recreate +out-of-doors rather than dress and fare sumptuously. + +It is situated on the southwestern edge of Fallen Leaf Lake, five +miles from Tallac, reached by a road that winds through the trees of +the Baldwin estate, and then skirts the eastern and southern shores +of the Lake. Stages--horse and automobile--run daily during the season +and meet all the steamers at Tallac. + +The "Lodge" consists of a number of detached buildings, conveniently +and picturesquely scattered among the pines on the slopes and at the +edge of the lake. There are dining hall, social hall, post office, +store, electric power-house, boat-house, with stables far enough away +to be sanitary, and cottages and tents located in every suitable nook +that can be found. There are one, two or three-roomed cottages, tents, +single and double, all in genuine camp style. There is no elegance +or luxury, though most of the cottages have modern toilets, porcelain +bath-tubs with running hot and cold water. Electric lights are +everywhere. + +The camp has been in existence now (1915) for seven years and each +year has seen considerable enlargement and improvement, until now +Fallen Leaf Lodge in the heart of the summer season is an active, +busy, happy and home-like community. + +The table is wholesome, substantial and appetizing. There is no +pretense at elaborateness. Home-cooking, well served, of simple and +healthful dishes, in reasonable variety, is all that is offered. + +Needless to say there is no bar or saloon, though there is no attempt +to compel a personal standpoint on the liquor question upon those who +are accustomed to the use of alcoholic liquors at meals. + +In its natural beauties and advantages Fallen Leaf Lodge claims--and +with strong justification--one of the very best of locations. Fallen +Leaf Lake is large enough to give scope to all the motor-boats, +row-boats, canoes and launches that are likely to be brought to it for +the next hundred years, and ten thousand fishermen could successfully +angle upon its bosom or along its shores. For millions of Tahoe trout, +rainbow, Eastern brook, Loch Levin, Mackinac and German brown have +been put into this and nearby lakes in the last few years. While +some jerk-line fishing is indulged in, this lake, unlike Lake Tahoe, +affords constant recreation for the more sportsmanlike fly-fishing. + +Another of the special advantages of Fallen Leaf Lodge is its +possession of a fine log-house and camp on the shore of Lake of the +Woods, five miles away, in Desolation Valley. To those who wish to +fish in greater solitude, to climb the peaks of the Crystal Range, or +boat over the many and various lakes of Desolation Valley this is a +great convenience. + +Nothing can surpass the calm grandeur of the setting of this glorious +beautiful water. Lying at the lower edge of Desolation Valley and +facing stupendous mountains, the picture it presents, with Pyramid +Peak reflected in its gorgeously lit-up sunset waters, is one that +will forever linger in the memory. + +The close proximity of Fallen Leaf Lodge to Mt. Tallac, Cathedral +Peak, the Angora Peaks, Mounts Jack, Dick, and Richardson, Ralston +Peak, Keith's Dome, Maggie's Peaks, Tell's Peak, with the towering +peaks of the Crystal Range--Pyramid and Agassiz--to the west, and +Freel's, Job's and Job's Sister to the southeast, afford an abundance +and variety of mountain-climbing that are seldom found in any region, +however favored. + +But in addition to the peaks there are Sierran lakes galore, rich +in unusual beauty and picturesqueness, and most of them stocked with +trout that compel the exertion of the angler's skill, as much as +tickle the palate of the uncorrupted epicure. Close by are Cascade, +Cathedral, Floating Island, Echo, Heather, Lucile, Margery, Gilmore, +Le Conte, Lily, Susie, Tamarack, Grouse, Lake of the Woods, Avalanche, +Pit, Crystal, Pyramid, Half Moon, with the marvelous and alluring maze +of lakes, bays, straits, channels, inlets and "blind alleys" of the +Lake Olney of the ever-fascinating Desolation Valley. And those I +have named are all within comparatively easy walking distance to the +ordinarily healthful and vigorous man or woman. For those who seek +more strenuous exercise, or desire horse-back or camping-out trips +another twenty, aye fifty lakes, within a radius of fifty miles may +be found, with their connecting creeks, streams and rivers where gamey +trout abound, and where flowers, shrubs and trees in never-ceasing +variety and charm tempt the botanist and nature-lover. + +While to some it may not be an attraction, to others there may be both +pleasure and interest in witnessing the operations of the Fallen Leaf +sawmill. This is situated on the western side of the lake, and is +a scene of activity and bustle when logging and lumbering are in +progress. On the hills about the lake the "fellers" may be found, +chopping their way into the hearts of the forest monarchs of pine, +fir and cedar, and then inserting the saw, whose biting teeth soon +cut from rim to rim and cause the crashing downfall of trees that have +stood for centuries. Denuded of their limbs these are then sawn into +appropriate lengths, "snaked" by chains pulled by powerful horses to +the "chute", down which they are shot into the lake, from whence they +are easily towed to the mill. The chute consists of felled logs, +laid side by side, evenly and regularly, so as to form a continuous +trough. This is greased, so that when the heavy logs are placed therein +they slide of their own weight, where there is a declivity, and are +easily dragged or propelled on the level ground. + +[Illustration: Boating on Fallen Leaf Lake] + +[Illustration: Fallen Leaf Lodge Among the Pines, on Fallen Leaf Lake] + +[Illustration: Camp Agassiz Boys setting out for a Trip, Lake Tahoe, +Cal. Copyright 1910, by Harold A. Parker.] + +[Illustration: Tahoe Meadows, With Mt. Tallac in the Distance] + +I use the word propelled to suggest the interesting method used in +these chutes. Sometimes ten or a dozen logs will be placed, following +each other, a few feet apart, on the trough (the chute). A chain is +fastened to the rear end of the hindermost log. This chain is attached +to a single-tree fastened to a horse's harness. The horse is started. +This makes the hinder log strike the next one, this bumps into the +third and gives it a start, in its turn it bumps the fourth, the +fourth the fifth, and so on, until the whole dozen are in motion. Had +the string of logs been fastened together, the horse would have found +it impossible to move them, but "propelling" them in this fashion they +are all set in motion, and their inertia once overcome there is no +difficulty experienced in keeping them going. + +The views from Fallen Leaf Lodge are varied and beautiful, one in +particular being especially enchanting. Over the Terminal moraine, +across the hidden face of Lake Tahoe, the eye falls upon the mountains +in Nevada, on the far-away eastern side. In the soft light of evening +they look like fairy mountains, not real rocky masses of gigantic, +rugged substance, but something painted upon the horizon with delicate +fingers, and in tints and shades to correspond, for they look tenderer +and sweeter, gentler and lovelier than anything man could conceive or +execute. + +The owner of Fallen Leaf Lodge is Professor William W. Price, a +graduate of Stanford University, who first came into this region +to study and catch special Sierran birds and other fauna for the +Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and +the British Museum. Later, when he founded the Agassiz school for +boys, at Auburn, California, he established Camp Agassiz near Fallen +Leaf Lake, in a grove of pines, firs, and cedars. Assisted by other +university men he made of this an ideal open-air school and camp +for boys. They were taught such practical things as to take care +of themselves in the mountains, find a trail, or go to a given spot +without a trail, fish, hunt, make camp, build fires in a rain-storm, +find proper shelter during a lightning-storm, carry a pack, pack a +mule or burro, even to the throwing of the "diamond hitch," the +"squaw hitch," and the "square" or other packer's especial "knots" and +"ties". They were induced to climb mountains, row, swim, "ski", and +snow-slide, and all were taught to recognize at sight the common +birds, smaller wild animals, trees, and flowers. Frequent camping-out +trips were arranged for, and the youngsters thus gained health, vigor +and permanent strength while doing what they all enjoyed doing. + +In due time the parents wished to share the fun, joy, and out-of-door +experiences of their youngsters; then the friends, and those who heard +about them, and out of the numerous requests for accommodations Fallen +Leaf Lodge was born. For a time Mr. Price tried an ordinary hotel +manager, but the peculiar and individualistic needs of his peculiar +and individualistic camp at length led Mrs. Price and himself to take +the complete control. From that time its success has been continuous. + +Mr. Price is a scientific expert upon the flora (especially the +trees), the birds and the four-footed fauna of the whole region, and +his readiness and willingness to communicate his knowledge to his +guests is a great advantage to the studious and inquiring. + +Owing to the demands made upon his time by the management of Fallen +Leaf Lodge Mr. Price has transferred his school into other hands, and +has given up the Boys' Camp, though the lads are still welcome, with +their parents, as regular guests at the Lodge. + +It should be noted that Fallen Leaf Lodge is but two miles from Glen +Alpine Springs and that all that is said of the close proximity of the +most interesting features of the southern end of the Lake Tahoe region +to Glen Alpine, applies with equal force (plus the two miles) to +Fallen Leaf Lodge. + + +CATHEDRAL PARK ON FALLEN LEAF LAKE + +One of the newest of the Tahoe region resorts is that of Cathedral +Park, located on the western side of Fallen Leaf Lake. It was opened +in the latter part of the season of 1912 by Carl Fluegge. Everything +about it is new, from the flooring of the tents to the fine +dining-room, cottages and stables. A special road has been constructed +on the west side of the lake, over which Cathedral Park stages run +daily the three and a half miles, to meet every steamer during the +season at Tallac. + +Rising directly from the edge of the lake, surrounded by majestic +trees, protected by the gigantic height of Mt. Tallac (9785 feet) +from the western winds, a clear open view of Fallen Leaf Lake and the +thousand-feet high lateral moraine on the eastern side is obtained; +there could be no better location for such a resort. + +The distinctive features of Cathedral Park are simplicity and +home-comforts, with special advantages for hunting, fishing and +camping out. For ten years Mr. Fluegge has taken out some of the most +distinguished patrons of the Tahoe region in his capacity as expert +guide and huntsman. He knows every trail thoroughly and has scaled +every mountain of the surrounding country. He knows the habits and +haunts of bear, deer, and other game, and is a successful hunter of +them, as well as of grouse and quail. His office and social-hall bear +practical evidence of his prowess and skill in the mounted heads of +deer, and the dressed skins of bear that he has shot. He is also an +expert angler, and well acquainted with the best fishing in Granite, +Eagle, the Rock-Bound, Gilmore and other lakes, as well as those +closer at hand. There are twelve such lakes within easy reach of +Cathedral Park. Fishing and hunting are his hobbies and delights, +hence he makes a thoroughly competent, because interested, and +interesting guide. Nothing pleases him more than to get out with his +guests and assist them in their angling and hunting. To aid in this he +has established his own permanent camp at the beautiful Angora Lakes, +four miles from Cathedral Park, which is placed freely at the disposal +of his guests. + +Especial arrangements are made for the perfect and satisfactory +accommodation of guests who desire to sleep out of doors. Tents, +sleeping porches and platforms are arranged with a view to the +strictest privacy, and those who desire this healthful open-air mode +of life can nowhere be better accommodated than here. As Mark Twain +has said, it is the "open air" sleeping in the Lake Tahoe region that +is so beneficial. Again to quote him: "The air up there in the clouds +is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it +be?--it is the same the angels breathe. I think that hardly any amount +of fatigue can be gathered together that a man cannot sleep off in +one night here. _Not under a roof, but under the sky_." Therefore +Cathedral Park says to those who wish to breathe the same air as the +angels while they are yet on the earth: Come to us and we will meet +your reasonable wishes in every possible way. + +[Illustration: Picturesque Palo Alto Lodge, at Lakeside Park, Lake +Tahoe] + +[Illustration: The Long Wharf at Lakeside Park, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Automobile Road Around Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe] + +The presence of Mrs. Fluegge, who is associated with her husband +in the management, guarantees to ladies, whether unaccompanied, or +with their families, the best of care, and the former are especially +invited to come and test the homelike qualities of the place. + +The water supply of Cathedral Park is gained from its own springs, on +the mountain side above the resort. It is piped down to every tent or +cottage and the supply is superabundant. Fish are caught almost daily +on the landing in front of the hotel. Fallen Leaf is an ideal spot for +rowing, canoeing, and launch rides, and the hotel owns its own launch +in which parties are regularly taken around the lake. During the +summer season bathing is as delightful here as in any of the seaside +resorts of the Atlantic and Pacific, and almost every one takes a +plunge daily. + +A camp-fire is built every night, where singing, storytelling, and +open air amusements of an impromptu nature are indulged in to one's +heart's content, though visitors are all expected to remember the +rights of others and not keep too late hours. + +Informal dances are indulged in occasionally and everything is done to +promote the comfort, pleasure and enjoyment of the guests that earnest +desire, constant watchfulness and long experience can suggest. + +The table is simple and homelike, but abundant, well-served and +satisfactory. This department is entirely under the control of Mrs. +Fluegge, who never employs any other than white help in the kitchen. +Fresh fruit and vegetables, lake trout and game in season, fresh milk +and cream, with everything of the best that the markets afford, are +none too good for the guests at Cathedral Park. + +Unlike most of the Lake Tahoe resorts, it keeps open throughout the +whole year, and is managed with but one idea, viz., to give absolute +and complete satisfaction to all its guests. + +Its rates are reasonable, and especial prices are given to children +under ten years of age and to families who wish to stay for any length +of time. + +The short trail to Mount Tallac rises directly from Cathedral Park, +and all that has been said of the close proximity of Glen Alpine and +Fallen Leaf Lodge to the most interesting peaks, lakes, etc., of the +Tahoe region applies with equal force to Cathedral Park, plus the +short additional distance, which is something less than a mile. + +Mr. Fluegge will be glad to correspond with those contemplating a +visit to Cathedral Park, especially should they desire his services +for hunting, fishing, or camping-out trips of a few days or a month's +duration. The address is Cathedral Park, Tallac P.O., Lake Tahoe, +California. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +LAKESIDE PARK + + +Situated on the shore of Lake Tahoe and at the same time on the +great Lincoln Highway stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific,--a +division of the State Automobile Highway reaching from Sacramento, +California, to Carson City, Nevada, via Placerville, Lakeside Park is +readily reached by travelers from every direction, whether they +come by steamer, buggy, or automobile. The Lakeside Park hotel was +established in 1892 and has an enviable reputation. It consists of +hotel, with adjacent cottages and tents, comfortably furnished and +equipped with every healthful necessity. Here surrounded by beautiful +trees, that sing sweet songs to the touch of the winds, drinking in +health and vigor from their balsamic odors, enjoying the invigorating +sunshine and the purifying breezes coming from mountain, forest +and Lake, swimming in the Lake, rowing, canoeing, climbing mountain +trails, exploring rocky and wooded canyons, fishing, hunting, +botanizing, studying geology in one of the most wonderful volumes +Nature has ever written, sleeping out-of-doors under the trees and the +glowing stars after being lulled to rest by the soothing lappings +of the gentle waves upon the beach--who can conceive a more ideal +vacation-time than this. + +Unlike many parts of Lake Tahoe, Lakeside Park possesses a fine +stretch of beautiful, clean, sandy beach. There are no rocks, deep +holes, tide or undertow. Children can wade, bathe or swim in perfect +safety as the shore gradually slopes into deeper water. + +The whole settlement is abundantly supplied with purest spring water +which is piped down from its source high on the mountain slopes to the +south. The hotel is fully equipped with hot and cold water for baths +and all other needed purposes, and there is a good store, well stocked +livery stable, row-boats, steam laundry and home dairy. + +The store carries a very complete line of provisions and supplies, +fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy-produce, ice, hay, grain, +lumber, shingles, stove-wood, paints, gasoline--in fact, everything +that is likely to be in demand in such a community. Camp-fire wood is +abundant and free to patrons. This is particularly advantageous for +those who wish to tent and "board themselves." Housekeeping tents +are provided, on platforms in the grove, at reasonable rates, and the +hotel owns its pasture in which the horses of patrons are cared for +free of charge. + +The location of Lakeside Park in relation to Lake Tahoe is peculiarly +advantageous in that it affords daily opportunity for driving, +horseback-riding or walking directly along the shore for miles. Indeed +the twelve mile drive to Glenbrook is one of the noted drives of +the world, taking in the celebrated Cave Rock, and giving the widest +possible outlooks of the whole expanse of the Lake. + +Patrons of the hotel or camps are assured that there are no +rattlesnakes, fleas, malaria, fogs, or poison oak. The character +and tone of the place will also be recognized when it is known +that saloons and gambling resorts are absolutely prohibited in the +residential tract. + +The most majestic of all the mountains of Lake Tahoe are closely +adjacent to Lakeside Park. Mt. Sinclair, 9500 feet, rises immediately +from the eastern boundary, whilst Monument Peak, Mounts Freel, Job, +and Job's Sister, ranging from 10,000 to 11,200 feet above sea level +are close by. Such near proximity to these mountains gives unequalled +opportunities for tramping, riding and driving through and over +marvelous diversity of hill, valley, woodland, canyon and mountain. +Scores of miles of mountain trails remain to be thoroughly explored +and to the hunter these highest mountains are the most alluring spots +of the whole Tahoe Region. + +Yet while these mountains are close by Lakeside Park is near enough +to Fallen Leaf Lake, Glen Alpine Springs and Desolation Valley to give +fullest opportunity for trips to these noted spots and their adjacent +attractions. + +In addition it allows ready incursions into Nevada, where the +prehistoric footprints at Carson City, the marvelous Steamboat +Springs, and the world-famed mines and Sutro Tunnel of Virginia City +have been a lure for many thousands during the past decades. It is +also near to Hope Valley and the peak on which Frémont climbed when, +in 1844, he discovered and first described Lake Tahoe, and is the +natural stopping-place for those who wish to go over the road the +Pathfinder made, accompanied by Kit Carson, his guide and scout, whose +name is retained in Carson City, Carson Tree, Carson Valley and Carson +Canyon, all of which are within a day's easy ride. + + +PRIVATE RESIDENCES AT LAKESIDE PARK + +To meet the ever-increasing demand for lots on which to build summer +homes on Lake Tahoe the Lakeside Park Company has set aside a limited +and desirable portion of its large property on the southeasterly shore +of Lake Tahoe for cottages and log cabins, bungalows and lodges, +or acre tracts for chalets and villas. Already quite a number have +availed themselves of this privilege and a colony of beautiful homes +is being established. Mr. and Mrs. Hill, with a keen eye for the +appropriate, and at the same time wishful to show how a most perfect +bungalow can be constructed at a remarkably low price, have planned +and erected several most attractive "specimens" or "models," at prices +ranging from $450 to $1000 and over. The fact that the tract is so +located in an _actual_, not merely a nominal, wooded park, where +pines, firs, tamaracks and other Sierran trees abound, allow the +proprietors to offer fine logs for cabins and rustic-work in almost +unlimited quantities, and in the granite-ribbed mountains close by is +a quarry from which rock for foundations, chimneys and open fireplaces +may be taken without stint. These are great advantages not to be +ignored by those who desire to build, and those who are first on the +scene naturally will be accorded the first choice both of lots and +material. + +There is but one Lake Tahoe in America, and as the men of California +and Nevada cities find more time for leisure it will not be many years +before every available spot will be purchased and summer residences +abound, just as is the case in the noted eastern lakes, or those near +to such cities as Minneapolis, etc., in the middle west. + +In setting aside this residential section at Lakeside Park the owners +have planned with far-sighted and generous liberality. The Lake +frontage is reserved for general use of the hotel guests and cottage +community, so there will be no conflict regarding privileges of +boating, bathing, fishing, and "rest cure" on the beach. Another wise +provision is that a generous portion of the amounts received from +early sales of lots is being devoted to general improvements that are +for mutual benefit; such as the extension of roads, paths, trails +and water-pipes, a substantial breakwater for better protection of +launches and boats, larger dancing-pavilion or platform, automobile +garage, more dressing rooms for bathers, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +GLENBROOK AND MARLETTE LAKE + + +In Chapter XVI the history of Glenbrook is given in some detail. It is +now, however, converted into a pleasure resort especially popular +with residents of Nevada, and largely used by automobiles crossing the +Sierras and passing around Lake Tahoe. + +The Inn, and its veranda overlooking the Lake, is built with an eye +to comfort and convenience. Every need for pleasure and recreation is +arranged for. For those who enjoy privacy, cozy cottages are provided, +around which beautiful wild flowers grow in wonderful profusion. The +guests here are especially favored in that the Inn has its own ranch, +dairy, poultry farm, fruit orchard and vegetable garden. The table, +therefore, is abundantly provided, and everything is of known quality +and brought in fresh daily. + +Glenbrook Inn makes no pretense to be a fashionable resort. It +especially invites those individuals and families who wish to be free +from the exhausting "frivolities of fashion," to come and enjoy to the +full Nature's simple charms, regardless of the city's conventions as +to dress and fashion. Rest and recreation, amusement and recuperation +are the key-notes. Simplicity of life, abundance of sleep, sufficiency +of good food, tastefully served, the chief hours of the day spent +in the open air, fishing, boating, swimming, trail-climbing, +horseback-riding, driving or automobiling,--these bring health, +renewed energy and the joy of life. + +The specific pleasures provided at Glenbrook are varied. It is +confessedly the best place for fishing on the Lake. During the season +the fishermen from all the resorts at the south end of the Lake bring +their patrons over in this direction. The Inn has its own fleet of +gasoline launches and row boats, with experienced men to handle them, +and it supplies fishing-tackle free, but those who wish to use the rod +must bring that with them. As is explained in the chapter on fishing +the trout of Lake Tahoe are taken both by rod and "jerk-line" +trolling. Near Glenbrook, however, the rod can be used to greater +advantage than anywhere else, and catches of from one-half to thirty +pounds are of daily occurrence. + +While promiscuous fishing is not allowed now in the famous Marlette +Lake, eight miles away, the patrons of Glenbrook Inn can always secure +permits, without any vexatious inquiries or delays, and there an +abundance of gamey trout of various species are caught. + +The bathing facilities here are exceptionally good. There is a long +stretch of sandy beach, which extends far out into the water, thus +ensuring both warmth and safety to children as well as adults. + +In mountain and trail climbing Glenbrook has a field all its own. The +ride or drive to Marlette Lake is a beautiful one, and the climb to +Marlette Peak not arduous. The chief mountain peaks easily reached +from Glenbrook are Dubliss, Edith, and Genoa Peaks, which not only +afford the same wonderful and entrancing views of Lake Tahoe that +one gains from Freel's, Mt. Tallac, Ellis and Watson's Peaks, but in +addition lay before the entranced vision the wonderful Carson Valley, +with Mt. Davidson and other historic peaks on the eastern horizon. + +The drive along the shore by the famous Cave Rock to Lakeside Park +or Tallac is one that can be enjoyed daily, and for those who like +driving through and over tree-clad hills, surrounded by majestic +mountains, the drive over the Carson road is enchanting. + +[Illustration: Glennbrook Inn, on Nevada side Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Sunset at Glenbrook, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: by Harold A. Parker. Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Cottage overlooking Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe] + +It is at Glenbrook that the famous Shakspeare head is to be seen +graphically described by John Vance Cheney, and quoted elsewhere +(Chap. XVI). + + +TO MARLETTE LAKE FROM GLENBROOK + +Marlette Lake and Peak are two of the attractive features to visitors +at Glenbrook Inn. The trip can be made in a little over two hours, and +as on the return it is down hill nearly all the way, the return trip +takes a little less. + +Leaving Glenbrook on the excellently kept macadamized road over +which Hank Monk used to drive stage from Carson City, the eyes of the +traveler are constantly observing new and charming features in the +mountain landscape. The Lake with its peculiar attractions is left +entirely behind, with not another glimpse of it until we stand on the +flume at Lake Marlette. Hence it is a complete change of scenery, for +now we are looking ahead to tree-clad summits where eagles soar and +the sky shines blue. + +About two and a half miles out we come to Spooner's, once an active, +bustling, roadside hotel, where in the lumbering and mining days teams +lined the road four, six and eight deep. Now, nothing but a ramshackle +old building remains to tell of its former greatness. Here we made a +sharp turn to the left, leaving the main road and taking the special +Marlette Lake road. We cross the grade of the abandoned railway--the +rails, engines and equipment of which are now operating between +Truckee and Tahoe--see in the distance the tunnel through which the +trains used to take the lumber, and notice on the hill-sides the lines +of the old flumes which used to convey the water to the reservoir on +the other side of the tunnel, or bring water and lumber ready to be +sent on the further journey down to Carson City. + +My driver was in a reflective mood, and as he pointed these things +out to me, made some sage and pertinent remarks about the peculiar +features of some industries which required large expenditures to +operate, all of which were useless in a comparatively short time. +Mainly uphill the road continues through groves of cottonwood, by +logged-over mountain slopes and sheep-inhabited meadows until the +divide is reached. Here a very rapid down hill speedily brings us to +the south edge of Marlette Lake. Skirting the southern end we follow +the road to the caretaker's house, tie our horses, and walk down to +the dam, and then on the flume or by its side to a point overlooking +Lake Tahoe, from which a marvelously expansive view is to be obtained. +We return now to Marlette and while drinking a cup of coffee prepared +for us by the hospitable caretaker, glean the following facts in +regard to the history and uses of Marlette Lake. + +Marlette is an artificial lake, fifteen hundred feet above the level +of Lake Tahoe, and about three miles from its easterly shore. Its +waters are conveyed by tunnel, flume, etc., over the mountains, the +Washoe Valley and up the mountain again to Virginia City. Originally +the only supply of water available for Virginia City was from a few +springs and mining tunnels. This supply soon became insufficient and +many tunnels were run into hills both north and south from Virginia +for the express purpose of tapping water. These soon failed and it +became necessary to look for a permanent supply to the main range +of the Sierra Nevada twenty-five or more miles away. Accordingly +the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company called upon Mr. Hermann +Schussler, the engineer under whose supervision the Spring Valley +Water Works of San Francisco were constructed. After a careful survey +of the ground he found water at Hobart Creek, in the mountains on the +east side of Lake Tahoe, and in the spring of 1872, received orders to +go ahead and install a water system. He ordered pipe made to fit every +portion of the route. It had to pass across the deep depression of +Washoe Valley with water at a perpendicular pressure of 1720 feet, +equivalent to 800 pounds to the square inch. + +The first operations were so successful that as needs grew the supply +flume was extended eight and a half miles to Marlette Lake, thus +making the total distance to Virginia City thirty-one and a half +miles. This Lake was named after S.H. Marlette, formerly Surveyor +General of Nevada, who was associated with W.S. Hobart, of San +Francisco, the owner of the land and one of the original projectors of +the Water Company. The site was a natural basin, the dam of which had +been broken down or eroded centuries ago. A dam was built in 1875, and +later raised eleven feet higher so as to afford more storage capacity. +The area of the lake is now about 600 acres (before the heightening +of the dam it was 300 acres), and its storage capacity is about two +billion gallons. + +When the supply was enlarged a second pipe was laid alongside the +first with an equal capacity, each being able to convey 2,200,000 +gallons every twenty-four hours. A third pipe was installed later. The +second and third pipes were laid by the late Captain J.B. Overton, who +was Superintendent of the Company for over thirty-two years. Captain +Overton also extended the flume lines, constructed the tunnel through +the mountain ridge, built the Marlette Lake dam and made many other +improvements and extensions. + +On leaving Marlette Lake through an opening at the lower portion +of the dam the water is conducted five miles in a covered flume and +thence through a tunnel four thousand feet long through the summit +of the dividing ridge or rim of the Tahoe basin to its easterly side. +From this point it is again conducted through covered flumes, together +with water from Hobart Creek and other streams, to the intake of +the pipes across Washoe Valley. These pipes are three in number, two +twelve inch and one ten inch. The difference in elevation between +the inlet and discharge from No. 1 and No. 2 pipes is 465 feet. The +difference in elevation between the inlet and discharge of No. 3 pipe +is 565 feet. The pipes are laid across Washoe Valley in the form of +inverted syphons. At the lowest point in the valley, the perpendicular +pressure is 1720 feet on No. 1 and No. 2 pipes and 1820 feet on No. +3 pipe. The pipe lines go up and down nine canyons in their course +across the Valley. Each line is something over seven miles in length. +The pressure gauges at Lake View, the point of heaviest pressure, +register 820 lbs. on No. 1 and No. 2 pipes when filled, and 910 lbs. +on No. 3 pipe when filled. + +When this work was first contemplated many hydraulic engineers +condemned the project as impossible, as never before had water been +carried so far under such pressure. But the fact that the first pipes +laid by Engineer Schussler are still in active use demonstrates the +scientific and practical knowledge and skill with which he attacked +the problem. + +It is an interesting fact to note that, prior to the building of the +dam, part of the water was used for "fluming" lumber and wood to +Lake View, and also for a short period of time after the dam was +constructed. But for the past twenty years this practice has been +discontinued, the water being solely for the supply of Virginia City. +The total cost of the work was about $3,500,000. The Company is now +under the immediate and personal supervision of James M. Leonard. The +flumes and pipe-lines have recently been rebuilt and repaired where +necessary so that the entire system is in excellent condition and a +high state of efficiency. + + +DUBLISS, EDITH AND GENOA PEAKS + +The ride to these three peaks can easily be made in a day, and though +they are all in reasonably close proximity, there are differences +enough in their respective outlooks to make a visit to each of them +enjoyable and profitable. With a good saddle-horse from the Glenbrook +stables, a guide, and a lunch tied to the saddle, one may start out +confident that a most delightful scenic trip is before him. The first +hour's riding is over the rocky and tree-clad slopes, far wilder +and more rugged than one would imagine, rudely bordering the Lake +southwards. Then turning east, hills and vales, flowery meads and +dainty native nurseries of pines, firs and hemlocks enchant the eye. +Reaching the summit of any one of the peaks, a wide expanse of Lake is +offered, extending to the surrounding mountains north, south and west, +but on Genoa Peak an additional charm is found in the close proximity +of the Nevada Valley, and mountains to the eastward. The contrast +between the richly clad Sierras and the apparently unclothed, volcanic +Nevada mountains is remarkable. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +CARNELIAN BAY AND TAHOE COUNTRY CLUB + + +On making the circuit of the Lake the last stopping-place on the +trip starting south, or the first when starting north and east, is +Carnelian Bay. This is a new settlement rapidly coming into prominence +because of the number of cottages and bungalows erected by their +owners on their own lots. From early until late in the seasons of +1913 and 1914 the sounds of the saw and hammer were seldom still. The +result is the growth of quite a summer settlement. Easy of access, +either by train and steamer from Truckee, or by direct wagon or auto +road via Truckee or the new boulevard from the south end of the Lake, +Carnelian Bay attracts the real home-seeker. It has been the first +section to fully realize what John LeConte has so ably set forth in +another chapter on Tahoe as a Summer Residence. With the completion of +the state highway around Lake Tahoe and the projected automobile route +from Reno and Carson City, Carnelian Bay will be adjacent to the main +arteries of travel. The proposed link of the Lincoln Highway around +the north shore of the Lake will put Carnelian Bay directly on the +great international auto road. + +The beauties of Lake Tahoe can hardly be magnified to the people of +the West. Those who have once viewed its wonders and its magnificence, +who have for a season breathed its invigorating and stimulating +atmosphere, who have caught the wily trout which abound in its waters, +who have sailed, or rowed, or motor-boated over its indigo-blue +surface, carry in memory pictures in comparison with which any +word-picture would be inadequate and incomplete. + +Hence the projectors of Carnelian Bay struck a popular note when, out +of their 81-acre tract, they put on sale convenient-sized lots. Of +these 75 were purchased almost immediately, and by 1914 there were +over 45 homes, large and small, already erected. Every lot was sold to +a purchaser who expressed his definite intention of speedily erecting +a house, cottage or bungalow for his own use. Hence the community +is of a selected class into which one may come with confidence and +assurance of congenial associations. + +While there is no hotel at present there are several cottages and +bungalows especially erected for rent to transient guests, and a +good store, together with its close proximity to Tahoe City and Tahoe +Tavern, render a summer vacation here one of comfort, pleasure and +perfect enjoyment. + + +PROJECTED TAHOE COUNTRY CLUB AT CARNELIAN + +The increasing need exists among those who are familiar with the +beauties and advantages of Lake Tahoe as a summer residence resort for +accommodations for families or transients where the usual comforts +of home may be obtained at a cost not prohibitive to the family of +ordinary means. Last year no less than 80,000 persons visited Lake +Tahoe. It is safe to say that this number will increase annually, +particularly with added accommodations at the Lake and with better +facilities for automobile travel. The proximity of Lake Tahoe to the +coast cities and the cities of the Sierras and the Middle West makes +it at once attractive to the business man who desires to spend his +summer vacation where the family is located for the summer months. + +The Tahoe Country Club is designed to meet the need. The incorporators +have taken over in fee simple a beautiful tract embracing about 1500 +feet of the beach at Carnelian Bay, California, perhaps the most +attractive site on Lake Tahoe. It commands a view of the entire length +of the Lake, looking toward the south, and embracing a magnificent +panoramic view of the mountains beyond. This site contains +approximately nine acres, and includes a natural inland harbor, making +off from a protected bay. The beach is shallow, of clean sand, sloping +down from easy terraces beautified by shade trees and lawns. + +The plan of organization of the Tahoe Country Club is cooperative. Its +benefits are to be shared by its members, their families, and such +of their friends as they may invite to be guests of the club. The +properties taken over by the incorporation, including the 1500 feet +of beach front, harbor, wharf, and a system of water works already +installed, together with the perpetual title to the water rights, is +conservatively appraised at $30,000. This is held in fee, free from +incumbrance. + +The charter--or organizing--members of the club will be the investors +in the bonds issued and secured on the real estate taken over by +the incorporation. This bond issue, the redemption of which will be +guaranteed by first mortgage on the properties, will be for $20,000. +These will be in denominations of $100 each, bearing six per cent. +interest after two years from June 1, 1914, and will be redeemable, at +the option of the mortgagor, at any regular annual interest period on +or after five years from the date of issue. They will be payable in +fifteen years. + +Each original bond purchaser becomes a charter life member of +the club, entitled, without the payment of annual dues or other +assessments, to the privileges and benefits offered. These, briefly, +aside from the natural advantages of location, scenery, etc., are +an assured congenial environment, known associations (not always a +possibility in a public summer hotel), the absence of every possible +unpleasant influence, opportunities for fishing, boating, tennis, +golf and other outdoor sports, and first-class accommodations at a +cost far below that charged at regular high-class summer hotels. + +[Illustration: Proposed Family Club House, Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Launch towing boats out to the fishing grounds, +Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: An Early Morning Catch, Tahoe Trout, Lake Tahoe] + +The proceeds of the bond issue are to be devoted to the erection of +the first unit of the club's buildings, consisting of the club house +proper, and probably six four-room cottages adjacent. Thus the +value of the real estate securing the bonds will at once be enhanced +virtually to the full extent of the investment made by the charter +members. + +With the initial buildings assured and in process of erection, the +membership and patronage of the club will be augmented by extending +the privileges of the organization to non-investors, who will be +enrolled upon payment of a fixed membership charge. These associate +members, like the charter members, will enjoy the privileges offered +for themselves and their families and for such of their friends as +they may desire to recommend, and for whom limited-period guest-cards +are requested. + +With a membership so broadly scattered as will be the membership of +this club, community control of its affairs would be impracticable, +if not impossible. It has been decided, therefore, to vest the +supervisory control of the club in a self-perpetuating advisory +board, composed of many of the most prominent citizens of Nevada and +California. + +The plan proposed is a feasible and practicable one, and one that +ought to appeal to nature lovers who desire just such opportunities +as it will afford on Lake Tahoe. The president of the company and the +directing genius who has made Carnelian Bay possible is L.P. Delano, +of Reno, Nevada, to whom all requests for further particulars +regarding the Tahoe Country Club, or of Carnelian Bay should be +addressed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +FISHING IN THE LAKES OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +Fishing in Lake Tahoe, and the other lakes of the region is a pleasure +and a recreation as well as an art and a science. There are laymen, +tyros, neophytes, proficients and artists. The real fraternity has +passes, catchwords, grips and signals to which outsiders seek to +"catch on" in vain. + +The chief native trout of Lake Tahoe is locally known as the +"cut-throat," because of a brilliant dash of red on either side of the +throat. The name, however, gives no hint of the exquisite beauty of +the markings of the fish, the skill required and excitement developed +in catching it, and the dainty deliciousness of its flesh when +properly cooked. + +Owing to the wonderful adaptability of Lake Tahoe, and the lakes +and brooks of the surrounding region, to fish life, several other +well-known varieties have been introduced, all of which have thrived +abundantly and now afford opportunity for the skill of the fisherman +and delight the palate of the connoisseur. These are the Mackinac, +rainbow, eastern brook, and Loch Levin. There is also found a +beautiful and dainty silver trout, along the shore where the cold +waters of the various brooks or creeks flow into Lake Tahoe (and also +in some of the smaller lakes), that is much prized. Some fishermen +claim that it is the "prettiest, gamiest, sweetest and choicest" fish +of the Lake, and it has been caught weighing as high as twelve pounds. + +Another fish, native to Lake Tahoe, is found in vast numbers by the +Indians in the fall. The ordinary summer visitor to Tahoe seldom sees +or hears of these, as they rarely bite until the summer season is +over, say in October. This is a white fish, varying in size from half +a pound to four pounds in weight, with finely flavored flesh. It is +found in shallow water and near the mouths of the creeks, and the +Indians have a way of "snagging" them in. Building a kind of half +platform and half stone screen over the pools where they abound, the +Indians take a long wire, the end of which they have sharpened and +bent to form a rude hook. Then, without bait, or any attempt at sport, +they lower the hook and as rapidly as the fish appear, "snag" them +out, literally by the hundreds. Most of these are salted down for +winter use. This is supposed to be a native, and the traditions of the +Indians confirm the supposition. + +The largest native Tahoe trout caught, of which there is any authentic +record, was captured not far from Glenbrook and weighed 35 pounds, +and, strange to say, its capturer was an amateur. This, the boatmen +tell me, is generally the case--the amateurs almost invariably +bringing in the largest fish. Although there are rumors of fish having +been caught weighing as high as 45 pounds it is impossible to trace +these down to any accurate and reliable source, hence, until there is +positive assurance to the contrary it may be regarded that this catch +is the largest on record. + +The common Tahoe method of "trolling" for trout is different from +the eastern method. It is the result of years of experience and is +practically as follows: A copper line, 100 to 200 feet long, which +sinks of its own weight, on which a large copper spoon is placed +above the hook, which is baited with a minnow and angle-worm, is used. +Thrown into the water the line is gently pulled forward by the angler, +then allowed to sink back. He takes care, however, always to keep it +taut. This makes the spoon revolve and attracts the fish. The moment +the angler feels a strike he gives his line a quick jerk and proceeds +to pull in, landing the fish with the net. The local term for this +method of fishing is "jerk-line." + +The copper line used is generally a 6 oz. for 100 feet, and the length +is adjusted to the places in which the fisherman wishes to operate. + +Let us, for a short time, watch the would-be angler. Women are +often far more eager than men. The hotels of Tahoe keep their own +fishing-boats. The larger ones have a fleet of twenty or more, and in +the season this is found insufficient for the number who wish to try +their hand and prove their luck. Often great rivalry exists not only +in securing the boatmen who have had extra good luck or displayed +extraordinary skill, but also between the guests as to the extent +of their various "catches." When a boatman has taken his "fare" into +regions that have proven successful, and does this with frequency, it +is natural that those who wish to run up a large score should try hard +to secure him. This adds to the fun--especially to the onlookers. + +The boat is all ready; the angler takes his (or her) seat in the +cushioned stern, feet resting upon a double carpet--this is fishing +_de luxe_. The oarsman pushes off and quietly rows away from the +pier out into deep water, which, at Tahoe varies from 75 feet to the +unknown depths of 1500 feet or more. The color of the water suggests +even to the tyro the depth, and as soon as the "Tahoe blue" is reached +the boatman takes his large hand-reel, unfastens the hook, baits +it with minnow and worm and then hands it to the angler, with +instructions to allow it to unreel when thrown out on the port side at +the stern. + +At the same time he prepares a second hook from a second reel which he +throws out at the starboard side. At the end of each copper line a few +yards of fish-cord are attached in which a loop is adjusted for the +fingers. This holds the line secure while the backward and forward +pulls are being made, and affords a good hold for the hook-impaling +"jerk" when a strike is felt. While the "angler" pulls on his line the +boatman slowly rows along, and holding his line on the fingers of his +"starboard" hand, he secures the proper motion as he rows. + +Then, pulling over the ledges or ridges between shallow and deeper, +or deeper and deep water, he exercises all his skill and acquired +knowledge and experience to enable his "fare" to make a good catch. +As soon as a strike is felt and duly hooked he sees that the line is +drawn in steadily so as not to afford the fish a chance to rid itself +of the hook, and, as soon as it appears, he drops his oar, seizes the +net, and lands the catch to the great delight of his less-experienced +fare. + +Many are the tales that a privileged listener may hear around the +fisherman's night-haunts, telling of the antics of their many and +various fares, when a strike has been made. Some become so excited +that they tangle up their lines, and one boatman assures me that, on +one occasion a lady was so "rattled" that she finally wrapped her line +in such a fashion around both elbows that she sat helpless and he had +to come to her rescue and release her. + +On another occasion a pair of "newly-weds" went out angling. +When "hubby" caught a fish, the pair celebrated the catch by +enthusiastically kissing, totally regardless of the surprise or envy +that might be excited in the bosom of the poor boatman, and when +"wifie" caught a fish the same procedure was repeated. "Of course," +said the boatman, in telling me the story, "that pair caught more +fish than any one I had had for a month, simply to taunt me with their +carryings on." + +In the height of the season the guests become the most enthusiastic +fishermen of all. They take a growing pride in their increasing scores +and the fishing then resolves itself into an earnest, almost deadly, +tournament in which each determines to outscore the others. This is +what the boatmen enjoy--though it often means longer hours and more +severe rowing--for it is far easier to work (so they say) for a +"fare" who is really interested than for one who is halfhearted and +indifferent. + +As these rivals' boats pass each other they call out in triumph their +rising luck, or listen gloweringly to the recital of others' good +fortune, when they are compelled to silence because of their own +failure. + +Sometimes the boatmen find these rivalries rather embarrassing, for +the excitement and nervousness of their "fares" become communicated to +them. Then, perhaps, they lose a promising strike, or, in their hurry, +fail to land the fish when it appears. Scolding and recriminations +are not uncommon on such occasions, and thus is the gayety of nations +added to. + +What is it that really constitutes "fisherman's luck"? Who can tell? +The theories of Tahoe fishermen are as many as there are men. Some +think one thing, some another. One will talk learnedly of the phases +of the moon, another of the effect of warmer or colder weather upon +the "bugs" upon which the fish feed. + +Sometimes one will "jerk" half a day and never get a strike; other +days the boat will scarcely have left the wharf before one pulls the +fish in almost as fast as hooks can be baited and thrown out. When +fishing is slow an amateur soon becomes tired out. The monotonous pull +on the line soon makes the arm weary, and destroys all enthusiasm. +But let the strikes begin and weariness disappears. Some days the fish +will bite for an hour, say from eleven to twelve, and then quit and +not give another strike all day. The very next day, in the same spot, +one cannot get a bite until afternoon. + +One of my fishermen friends once related the following: "Again and +again I have heard old and experienced fishermen say that no fish can +be caught in a thunder-storm. Yet in July 1913 four boats were towed +by a launch out to the Nevada side, near to Glenbrook. It appeared +stormy before the party left, but they refused to be daunted or +discouraged by the doleful prognostications of the "know-it-alls." +Before long the lightning began, the clouds hung heavy, and while they +fished they were treated to alternate doses of thunder, lightning, +cloud, sunshine, rain and hail. In less than an hour every member of +the party--and there were several ladies--were soaked and drenched to +the skin, but all were happy. For, contrary to the assertions of the +experts, every angler was having glorious success. Each boat secured +its full quota, 40 fish to each, and the catch averaged 70 pounds to +a boat, scarcely a fish being pulled out that did not weigh over a +pound. Talk about luck; these people surely had it." + +Once again; I was out one day with Boat No. 14 (each boat has its own +number), and the boatman told me the following story. I know him +well and his truthfulness is beyond question. He had with him two +well-known San Francisco gentlemen, whom I will name respectively, +Rosenbaum and Rosenblatt. They were out for the day. For hours they +"jerked" without success. At last one turned to the other and said: +"Rosie, I've got a hunch that our luck's going to change. I'm going to +count twenty and before I'm through we'll each have a fish." Slowly he +began to count, one,--two,--three. Just as he counted fourteen, both +men felt a strike, gave the fateful jerk, and pulled in a large fish, +and from that moment their luck changed. + +This is not the whole of the story, however. Some days later the same +boatman was out on the Nevada side with two gentlemen, who could +not get a bite. Merely to while away the time the boatman told the +foregoing facts. To his surprise and somewhat to his disgust at his +own indiscretion in telling the story, one of the gentlemen began +to count, and, believe it or not, he assures me that at the fateful +fourteen, he gained a first-class strike, and continued to have +success throughout the afternoon. + +As he left the boat he turned to his companion and said: "Well, that +fourteen's proved a lucky number. I'm going right over to the roulette +wheel to see what luck it will give me over there." + +My boatman friend added that as he heard nothing of any great winnings +at the wheel that night, and Mr. N. looked rather quiet and sober the +next day, he is afraid the luck did not last. Needless to say that +except to me, and then only in my capacity as a writer, the story has +never been told. + +Now, while the jerk-line method brings much joy to the heart of the +successful and lucky amateur, the genuine disciple of Izaak Walton +scorns this unsportsman-like method. He comes earlier in the season, +April, May, or June, or later, in September, and brings his rod and +line, when the fish keep nearer to the shore in the pot-holes and +rocky formations, and then angles with the fly. It is only at these +times, however, that he is at all likely to have any success, as the +Tahoe trout does not generally rise to the fly. + +Yet, strange to say, in all the smaller trout-stocked lakes of the +region, Fallen Leaf, Cascade, Heather, Lily, Susie, Lucile, Grass, +LeConte, Rock Bound, the Velmas, Angora, Echo, Tamarack, Lake of the +Woods, Rainbow, Pit, Gilmore, Kalmia, Fontinalis, Eagle, Granite, and +as many more, the trout are invariably caught with the fly, though +the species most sought after is not the native Tahoe trout, but the +eastern brook. This is essentially fish for the genuine angler, and +many are the tales--true and otherwise--told of the sport the capture +of this fish has afforded in the region. + +There are several interesting peculiarities about the fish of Lake +Tahoe and its region that it is well to note. In the large lake +(Tahoe) the native cutthroat grows to much the largest size--the +35-lb. one referred to elsewhere being proof of its great growth. + +The next in size is the Mackinac which is often caught as large as 10 +lb., and now and again up to 15 lb. + +In Fallen Leaf Lake, which was stocked with Mackinac some years ago, +the native trout has become comparatively scarce, the former seemingly +having driven it out, though in Lake Tahoe there is no such result. In +Fallen Leaf not more than one or two in ten will be cutthroats, while +Mackinacs abound, up to 6 lbs. and 7 lbs. in weight. Occasionally much +larger fish are seen, though they are seldom brought to net. Not long +ago a Loch Levin, weighing 12 lbs., was caught here. + +While the catch of fish in the smaller lakes of the region is +exceedingly large the fish themselves are smaller, the opportunities +for hiding and fattening and growing older being comparatively greater +in the larger body of water. + +During the height of the season when there are a great many boats +out it is common to hire a launch which will tow from four to a dozen +boats over towards Emerald Bay on the California side, or towards +Glenbrook on the Nevada side, where the fishing grounds are known to +be of the best. The boatmen especially enjoy these days out--although +the "fares" may not always suspect it--as it gives them a change from +their ordinary routine and table fare. They enjoy trout as well as +do the visitors, and of course, they are all expert cooks as well as +boatmen. When noon-time comes, if there has been any luck, a camp-fire +is built and the fish are fried, or broiled on the coals, or by +experts, made into an excellent chowder. And never does one enjoy a +fish dinner so much as under these circumstances. The exercise, the +fresh air, the motion over the water, the deliciousness and delicate +flavor of the fish, all conspire to tempt the most capricious +appetite. + +Once in a while a black bass will be caught, though it is not believed +that this is a native fish. It does not seem to thrive in Tahoe though +the boatmen tell me they occasionally see a few, especially off the +docks at Tallac and other points at the south end of the Lake. + +Now and again small bull-heads will be seen, and a very small +rock-bass. But these never bite on hook and line, and are seldom found +more than two or three inches long. + +On the other hand big schools of suckers and chubs are seen. The +former naturally are scorned by all true fishermen as they are +regarded as hogs, or scavengers, and are thrown back whenever caught, +or are taken and fed to the gulls or pelicans. The chubs occasionally +are hooked and are from half a pound to a pound and a half in size. +As a rule these are thrown back, though they make good eating to those +who do not object to their excess of bones. + +One of the most interesting of sights is to see one of the schools of +minnows that fairly abound in Lake Tahoe. In the clear and pellucid +water one can clearly see them swim along. As they pass a rocky place +a trout will dart out and catch his prey. A flutter at once passes +through the whole school. Yet, strange to say, the trout will +sometimes swim around such a body and either stupify them with fear, +or hypnotize them into forgetfulness of their presence, for they will +float quietly in the center of the mass, catching the minnows one by +one as they need them without exciting the least fear or attention. +The minnows generally remain in fairly shallow water, and keep so +closely together that a line of demarcation is made between where they +are and outside, as if it had been cut with a knife along a straight +edge, and in some mysterious way the fish dare not cross it, though it +constantly moves along with their movements. + +It will be obvious that necessarily there is much market-fishing in +Lake Tahoe and its surrounding lakes. Indeed there are large numbers +of fishermen--Indians and whites--who supply the various hotels both +of the Lake region and in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and +adjacent cities, and even as far as Denver and Salt Lake City, +eastwards, and Los Angeles to the south. These fishermen are very +persistent in their work, keeping at it from early morning until +late at night, though their catches are supposed to be officially +regulated. + +The amount of fish caught and shipped by these market-fishermen is +remarkable. In 1911 the report shows that over 22,000 pounds were sent +out by express, over half of which were sent from Tallac alone. And +this does not take any account of the amount caught and eaten by +private residents around the Lake, by the visitors or by the hotels. + +The fish that are to be shipped are not, as one might naturally +suppose, packed in ice. Experience has demonstrated a better way which +is now universally followed. At Tallac the hotel has a large place +devoted to this process, which is practically as follows: Each boatman +has a fish-box, numbered to correspond with his boat. These are kept +in the water during the season, and if the catch of his "fare" for one +day is not sufficient for a shipment it is placed in the box. When +a sufficient number is on hand, they are taken out by the boatman, +carefully cleaned and hung up to dry in fly-proof, open-air cages. +When perfectly dry inside and out they are packed in sweet-smelling +Tallac Meadow hay, and shipped by express. + +Many visitors cannot understand why there are no fish in some of +the lakes that, to their eyes, seem just as well adapted for fish as +others that possess an abundance. Even old timers do not all know the +reason. If a lake is shallow, when the deep snow falls it soon sinks +below the surface in a heavy mushy mass that presses down upon the +fish and prevents their breathing. Then, if a severe frost follows and +the mass freezes the ice squeezes the fish to the bottom. Over three +years ago Watson took fish to Bessie Lake, putting in as many as 6000 +fry of Lake Tahoe and other species. The next year, and the following +years they were all right, having grown to eight or nine inches in +length. Then came a severe winter and in the spring there was not a +living fish left. The bottom was strewn with them, many of them with +broken backs. + +[Illustration: A gnarled monarch of the High Sierras, an aged Juniper, +near Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Mountain Heather, in Desolation Valley, Near Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: The Successful Deer Hunter at Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Chris Nelson, With His Catch, a 23 Lb. Tahoe Trout] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +HUNTING AT LAKE TAHOE + + +In the chapter on the Birds and Animals of the Tahoe Region I have +written of the game to be found. There are few places left in the +Sierras where such good deer- and bear-hunting can be found as near +Tahoe. During the dense snow-falls the deer descend the western +slopes, approaching nearer and nearer to the settlements of the upper +foothills, and there they do fairly well until the snow begins to +recede in the spring. They keep as near to the snow line as possible, +and are then as tame and gentle almost as sheep. When the season +opens, however, they soon flee to certain secret recesses and hidden +lairs known to none but the old and experienced guides of the region. +There are so many of these wooded retreats, however, and the Tahoe +area is so vast, that it is seldom an expert goes out for deer +(or bear) that he fails. Hence the sportsman is always assured of +"something worth while." + +As for bear I have told elsewhere of recent hunts on Mt. Freel from +Tallac, and the two bears killed there in 1913, and of Carl Flugge's +experiences. With Tallac hunters, Flugge, Bob Watson or any other +experienced man, one can scarcely fail to have exciting and successful +times. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE FLOWERS OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +It would be impossible in the space of a brief chapter to present +even a list of all the flowers found and recorded in the Tahoe Region. +Suffice it to say that 1300 different species already have been +listed. This chapter will merely call attention to the most prominent, +or, on the other hand, the rarer and special flowering plants that the +visitor should eagerly search for. + +As fast as the snow retires from the sun-kissed slopes the flowers +begin to come out. Indeed in April, were one at Tahoe, he could make +a daily pilgrimage to the receding snow-line and there enjoy new +revelations of dainty beauty each morning. For the flowers, as the +snow-coating becomes thinner, respond to the "call of the sun", and +thrust up their spears out of the softened and moistened earth, so +that when the last touch of snow is gone they are often already in bud +ready to burst forth into flower at the first kiss of sunshine. + +In May they come trooping along in all their pristine glory, God's +thoughts cast upon the mold of earth, so that even the men and women +of downcast eyes and souls may know the ever-fresh, ever-present love +of God. + +Most interesting of all is the snow-plant (_sarcodes san-guinea +Torrey_). The name is unfortunate. The plant doesn't look like +snow, nor does it grow on or in the snow. It simply follows the snow +line, as so many of the Sierran plants do, and as the snow melts and +leaves the valley, one must climb to find it. It is of a rich red +color, which glows in the sunlight like a living thing. It has no +leaves but is supplied with over-lapping scale-like bracts of a +warm flesh-tint. At the lower part of the flower these are rigid and +closely adherent to the stem, but higher up they become looser and +curl gracefully about among the vivid red bells. In the spring of 1914 +they were wonderfully plentiful at the Tavern and all around the Lake. +I literally saw hundreds of them. + +Next in interest comes the heather, both red and white. In Desolation +Valley, as well as around most of the Sierran lakes of the Tahoe +Region, beds of heather are found that have won enthusiastic Scotchmen +to declare that Tahoe heather beats that of Scotland. The red heather +is the more abundant, and its rich deep green leaves and crown of +glowing red makes it to be desired, but the white heather is a flower +fit for the delicate corsage bouquet of a queen, or the lapel of the +noblest of men. Dainty and exquisite, perfect in shape and color its +tiny white bell is _par-excellence_ the emblem of passionate +purity. + +Blue gentians (_Gentina calycosa, Griseb_) abound, their deep +blue blossoms rivaling the pure blue of our Sierran skies. These often +come late in the season and cheer the hearts of those who come upon +them with "a glad sweet surprise". There are also white gentians found +aplenty. + +The water lilies of the Tahoe Region are strikingly beautiful. In many +of the Sierran lakes conditions seem to exist which make them flourish +and they are found in plentiful quantities. + +Wild marigolds abound in large patches, even on the mountain heights, +where there is plenty of moisture and sunshine, and a species of +marguerite, or mountain daisy, is not uncommon. The Indian paint-brush +is found everywhere and is in full bloom in deepest red in September. +Wild sunflowers also abound except where the sheep have been. Then not +a sign of once vast patches can be found. They are eaten clear to the +ground. + +The mullein attains especial dignity in this mountain region. Stately +and proud it rises above the lesser though more beautiful flowers of +the wild. It generally dies down in September, though an occasional +flowering stalk may be seen as late as October. + +Another very common but ever-welcome plant, for its pungent and +pleasing odor, is the pennyroyal. It abounds throughout the whole +region and its hardiness keeps it flowering until late in the fall. + +Beautiful and delicate at all times wherever seen, the wild snowdrop +is especially welcome in the Tahoe Region, where, amid soaring pines +and firs, it timidly though faithfully blooms and cheers the eye with +its rare purity. + +Now and again one will find the beautiful California fuchsia +(_zauschneria Californica_, Presl.) its delicate beauty +delighting the eye and suggesting some of the rare orchids of a pale +yellow tint. + +The Sierra primrose (_Primula Suffrutescens_) is often found near +to the snow-line. Its tufts of evergreen leaves seem to revel in the +cold water of the melting snow and the exquisite rose-tints of the +flowers are enhanced by the pure white of what snow is left to help +bring them into being. + +It is natural that, in a region so abounding in water, ferns of many +kinds should also abound. The common brake flourishes on the eastern +slopes, but I have never found the maiden hair. On the western slopes +it is abundant, but rarely if ever found on the easterly exposures. + +Most striking and attractive among the shrubs are the mountain ash, +the mountain mahogany (_cereocarpus parvifolius_, Nutt.) the +California laurel (_umbellularia Californica_, Nutt.) and the +California holly, or _toyon_. The rich berries, the green leaves, +the exquisite and dainty flowers, the delicious and stimulating odors +all combine to make these most welcome in every Sierran landscape, no +matter at what season they appear. + +While in the foregoing notes on the flowers of the Tahoe region I have +hastily gone over the ground, one particular mountain to the north of +Tahoe has been so thoroughly and scientifically studied that it seems +appropriate to call more particular attention to it in order that +botanists may realize how rich the region is in rare treasures. For +what follows I am indebted to the various writings of Professor P. +Beveridge Kennedy, long time professor at the University of Nevada, +but recently elected to the faculty of the University of California. + +One could almost write a "Botany" of Mt. Rose alone, so interesting +are the floral specimens found there. This mountain stands unique in +the Lake Tahoe region in that it is an intermediate between the high +mountains of the Sierra Nevada and those of the interior of the Great +Basin. Its flora are undoubtedly influenced by the dry atmospheric +conditions that exist on the eastern side. A mere suggestion only can +be given here of the full enjoyment afforded by a careful study of +what it offers. + +At from 10,000 feet up the following new species have been found. +_Eriogonum rhodanthum_, a perennial which forms dense mats on +hard rocky ground. The caudex is made up of many strands twisted +together like rope, its numerous branches terminated by clusters of +very small, new and old leaves, with flower clusters. Another similar +species is the _E. rosensis_. + +An interesting rock-cress is found in the _Arabis Depauperata_, +which here shows the results of its fierce struggles for existence. It +bears minute purple flowers. + +Flowering in the middle of August, but past flowering at the end of +September the _Gilia montana_ is found, with its numerous white +and pink leaves. + +Nearby is the _Phlox dejecta_ in large quantities, resembling a +desert moss, and covering the rocks with its tinted carpet. + +An Indian paint-brush with a flower in an oblong cream-colored spike, +with purple blotches, was named _Castilleia inconspicua_, possibly +because it is so much less conspicuous and alluring to the eye than +its well-known and striking brother of the California fields, _C. +parviflora_. This species has been of great interest to botanists, +as when first observed it was placed in the genus _Orthocarpus_. +Professor Kennedy thinks it is undoubtedly a connecting link between +the two genera. It has been found only on Mount Rose, where it is +common at between 9000 and 10,000 feet elevation. It reaches, however, +to the summit, though it is more sparingly found there. + +Professor Kennedy also describes _Hulsea Caespitosa_, or Alpine +dandelion, a densely pubescent plant, emitting a disagreeable odor, +whose large yellow flowers surprise one when seen glowing apparently +out of the masses of loose volcanic rock. It is soon found, however, +that they have roots deep down in good soil beneath. Another new +species, _Chrysothamnus Monocephala_, or Alpine rabbit-brush, is +a very low, shrubby plant, with insignificant pale yellow flowers. + +A beautiful little plant, well adapted to rockeries and suited for +cultivation, is _Polemonium Montrosense_. Under good conditions +it grows excellently. It was found on the summit of Mt. Rose, and at +lower elevations. + +Clusters of the Alpine Monkey-flower (_Mimulus Implexus_, Greene), are +also found on Mt. Rose, as well as on other Tahoe mountain summits. +The rich yellow flowers bloom profusely, though their bed is often a +moraine of wet rocks over which a turbulent cold stream has recently +subsided. + +Slightly below the summit the little elephant's-head have been found +(_Elephantella attolens_(Gray) Heller). Rydberg in his _Flora of +Montana_ showed that these were not properly the true _pendicularis_, +as they had hitherto been regarded, hence the new name. The corolla +strikingly resembles the head of an elephant, the beak of the galea +forming the trunk, the lateral lobes of the lips the ears, and the +stigma the finger-like appendage of the trunk. + +In August, growing below the perpetual snow banks at about 10,000 feet +elevation that supply an abundance of moisture, one will often find +clumps of _Rhodiola Integrifolia_, which attract the eye with +their deep reddish-purple flowers and fruits. The leaves also have a +purple tinge. + +Nearby clambering over the granite bowlders the Alpine heath, +_Cassiope Mertensianae_, with its multitude of rose-tinted flower +bells, sometimes is found, though not in the profusion it displays in +Desolation Valley. + +Another very interesting plant is the Alpine currant (_Ribes +Inebrians_, Lindl.) which between the years 1832 and 1907 has +received no less than eight different names accorded by European and +American botanists. It is a remarkable shrub, in that it occurs higher +on the mountain than any other form of vegetation except lichens. The +roots penetrate deeply into the crevices of the lava rocks, enabling +it to withstand the fierce winds. The flowers, which appear in +August, are white, shading to pink, and the red berries, which are not +especially palatable on account of their insipid taste and numerous +seeds, are abundant in September. Another new Mt. Rose _ribes_ +has been named _Churchii_ in honor of Professor J.E. Church, Jr., +whose original work at the Mt. Rose Observatory is described in the +chapter devoted to that purpose. + +Growing at elevations of from 6000 to 10,000 feet, displaying a +profusion of white flowers sometimes delicately tinged with light +purple is the _Phlox Douglasii_, Hook. It is low but with loose, +much-branched prostrate stems and remarkably stout, almost woody +roots. + +A new Alpine willow (_Salix Caespitosa_) has also been +discovered. Professor Kennedy thus writes of it: + + The melting snow, as it comes through and over the rocks in + the nature of a spring, brings with it particles of sand and + vegetation, which form a very shallow layer of soil on a flat + area to one side of the main branch of the stream. On this the + willow branches adhere like ivy, rooting at every joint and + interlaced so as to form a dense mat. From these, erect leafy + shoots, one or two inches high, appear, with the many flowered + catkins extending above the foliage. The pistillate plants + occupy separate but adjacent areas to the staminate ones. + +[Illustration: Professor Fergusson at the Fergusson Meteorograph +at Mt. Rose Observatory. 10,090 Feet] + +[Illustration: An Alpine White Pine, Defying the Storms, on the +North Slope of Mt. Rose, 9,500 Ft.] + +[Illustration: Tallac, Lake Tahoe] + +[Illustration: Looking North from Cave Rock, Lake Tahoe] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE CHAPARRAL OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +The word _chaparral_ is a Spanish word, transferred bodily into +our language, without, however, retaining its strict and original +significance. In Spanish it means a plantation of evergreen oaks, or, +thick bramble-bushes entangled with thorny shrubs in clumps. Hence, +in the west, it has come to mean any low or scrub brush that thickly +covers a hill or mountain-side. As there is a varied chaparral in the +Tahoe region, it is well for the visitor to know of what it is mainly +composed. + +Experience has demonstrated that where the larger lumber is cut +off close on the Sierran slopes of the Tahoe region the low bushy +chaparral at once takes full possession. It seems to prevent the +tree seeds from growing and thus is an effectual preventive to +reforestation. This, however, is generally not so apparent east of the +main range as it is on the western slopes. One of its chief elements +is the manzanita (_Arctostaphylos patula_) easily distinguishable +by the red wood of its stem and larger branches, glossy leaves, +waxen blossoms (when in flower) and green or red berries in the early +autumn. + +The snow-bush abounds. It is a low sage-green bush, very thorny, hence +is locally called "bide-a-wee" from the name given by the English +soldiers to a very thorny bush they had to encounter during the Boer +War. In the late days of spring and even as late as July it is covered +with a white blossom that makes it glorious and attractive. + +Then there is the thimble-berry with its big, light yellow, sprawling +leaves, and its attractively red, thimble-shaped, but rather tasteless +berries. The Indians, however, are very fond of them, and so are some +of the birds and animals, likewise of the service berries, which look +much like the blueberry, though their flavor is not so choice. + +Here and there patches of the wild gooseberry add to the tangle of +the chaparral. The gooseberries when ripe are very red, as are the +currants, but they are armored with a tough skin completely covered +with sharp, hairy thorns. In Southern California all the fruit of +the wild _ribes_ have the thorns, but they do not compare in +penetrating power and strength with those of the Tahoe gooseberries. + +One of the most charming features of the chaparral is the mountain +ash, especially when the berries are ripe and red. The Scotch name +_rowan_ seems peculiarly appropriate. Even while the berries are +yellow they are attractive to the eye, and alluring to the birds, but +when they become red they give a splendid dash of rich color that sets +off the whole mountain side. + +The mountain mahogany is not uncommon (_Cereocarpus parvifolius_, +Nutt.) and though its green flowers are inconspicuous, its long, +solitary plumes at fruiting time attract the eye. + +While the California laurel (_Umbellularia Californica_, Nutt.) +often grows to great height, it is found in chaparral clumps on the +mountain sides. It is commonly known as the bay tree, on account of +the bay-like shape and odor of its leaves when crushed. It gives a +spicy fragrance to the air and is always welcome to those who know it. + +In many places throughout the mountains of the Tahoe region there are +clumps or groves of wild cherry (_Prunus Demissa_, Walpers), the +cherries generally ripening in September. But if one expects the ripe +red _wild_ cherries to have any of the delicious richness and +sweetness of the ripe Queen Anne or other good variety he is doomed +to sad disappointment. For they are sour and bitter--bitter as +quinine,--and that is perhaps the reason their juice has been +extracted and made into medicine supposed to have extraordinary tonic +and healing virtue. + +The elder is often found (_Sambucus Glauca_, Nutt.), sometimes +quite tall and at other times broken down by the snow, but bravely +covering its bent and gnarled trunks and branches with dense foliage +and cream-white blossom-clusters. The berries are always attractive to +the eye in their purple tint, with the creamy blush on them, and happy +is that traveler who has an expert make for him an elderberry pie, or +distill the rich cordial the berries make. + +Another feature of the chaparral often occupies the field entirely +to itself, viz., the chamisal or greasewood (_Adenostoma +fasciculatum_, Hook, and Arn.). Its small clustered and needle-like +leaves, richly covered with large, feathery panicles of tiny +blossoms, give it an appearance not unlike Scotch heather, and make a +mountainside dainty and beautiful. + +The California buckeye (_Aesculus Californica_, Nutt.) is also +found, especially upon stream banks or on the moist slopes of +the canyons. Its light gray limbs, broad leaves, and long, white +flower-spikes make it an attractive shrub or tree (for it often +reaches forty feet in height), and when the leaves drop, as they do +early, the skeleton presents a beautiful and delicate network against +the deep azure of the sky. + +Another feature of the chaparral is the scrub oak. In 1913 the bushes +were almost free from acorns. They generally appear only every other +year, and when they do bear the crop is a wonderfully numerous one. + +A vast amount of wild lilac (_Ceanothus Velutinus_) is found on +all the slopes. It generally blooms in June and then the hillsides are +one fragrant and glowing mass of vivid white tinged with the creamy +hue that adds so much charm to the flowers. + +The year 1913, however, was a peculiar year, throughout, for plant +life. In the middle of September in Page's Meadows a large patch +of ceanothus was in full bloom, either revealing a remarkably late +flowering, or a second effort at beautification. + +Another ceanothus, commonly called mountain birch, is often found. +When in abundance and in full flower it makes a mountain side appear +as if covered with drifted snow. + +Willows abound in the canyons and on the mountains of the Tahoe +region, and they are an invariable sign of the near presence of water. + +There is scarcely a canyon where alders, cottonwoods and quaking +aspens may not be found. In 1913 either the lack of water, some +adverse climatic condition, or some fungus blight caused the aspen +leaves to blotch and fall from the trees as early as the beginning of +September. As a rule they remain until late in October, changing to +autumnal tints of every richness and hue and reminding one of the +glorious hues of the eastern maples when touched by the first frosts +of winter. + +No one used to exploring dry and desert regions, such as the Colorado +and Mohave Deserts of Southern California, the Grand Canyon region, +the Navajo Reservation, etc., in Arizona and New Mexico, the constant +presence of water in the Tahoe region is a perpetual delight. Daily +in my trips here I have wondered at the absence of my canteen and +sometimes in moments of forgetfulness I would reach for it, and be +almost paralyzed with horror not to find it in its accustomed place. +But the never-ending joy of feeling that one could start out for a +day's trip, or a camping-out expedition of a week or a month and never +give the subject of water a moment's thought, can only be appreciated +by those who are direfully familiar with the dependence placed upon +the canteen in less favored regions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE TREES OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +By "trees" in this chapter I mean only the evergreen trees--the pines, +firs, spruces, hemlocks, cedars, junipers and tamaracks. Many visitors +like to know at least enough when they are looking at a tree, to tell +which of the above species it belongs to. All I aim to do here is to +seek to make clear the distinguishing features of the various +trees, and to give some of the more readily discernible signs of the +different varieties of the same species found in the region. + +It must not be forgotten that tree growth is largely dependent upon +soil conditions. The soil of the Tahoe region is chiefly glacial +detritus. + + On the slopes and summits of the ridges it is sandy, gravelly, + and liberally strewn with masses of drift bowlders. The flats + largely formed of silting while they still constituted beds + of lakes, have a deep soil of fine sand and mold resting on + coarse gravel and bowlder drift. Ridges composed of brecciated + lavas, which crumble easily under the influence of atmospheric + agencies, are covered with soil two or three feet, or even + more, in depth, where gentle slopes or broad saddles have + favored deposition and prevented washing. The granite areas of + the main range and elsewhere have a very thin soil. The flats + at the entrance of small streams into Lake Tahoe are covered + with deep soil, owing to deposition of vegetable matter + brought from the slopes adjacent to their channels. As a + whole, the soil of the region is of sufficient fertility to + support a heavy forest growth, its depth depends wholly on + local circumstances + favoring washing and removal of the soil elements as fast + as formed, or holding them in place and compelling + accumulations.[1] + +Coniferous species of trees constitute fully ninety-five per cent. +of the arborescent growth in the region. The remaining five per +cent. consists mostly of different species of oak, ash, maple, +mountain-mahogany, aspen, cottonwood, California buckeye, western +red-bud, arborescent willows, alders, etc. + +Of the conifers the species are as follows: yellow pine, _pinus +ponderosa_; Jeffrey pine, _pinus jeffreyi_; sugar pine, _pinus +lambertiana_; lodge-pole pine, _pinus murrayana_; white pine, _pinus +monticola_; digger pine, _pinus sabiniana_; white-bark pine, _pinus +albicaulis_; red fir, _pseudotsuga taxifolia_; white fir, _abies +concolor_; Shasta fir, _abies magnifica_; patton hemlock or alpine +spruce, _tsuga pattoniana_; incense cedar, _libocedrus decurrens_; +western juniper, _juniperus occidentalis_; yew, _taxus brevifolia_. + +[Footnote 1: John B. Leiberg, in _Forest Conditions in the Northern +Sierra Nevada_.] + +The range and chief characteristic of these trees, generally speaking, +are as follows: + +_Digger Pine_. This is seldom found in the Tahoe region, except +in the lower reaches of the canyons on the west side of the range. It +is sometimes known as the Nut Pine, for it bears a nut of which the +natives are very fond. It has two cone forms, one in which the spurs +point straight down, the other in which they are more or less curved +at the tip. They grow to a height of forty to fifty and occasionally +ninety feet high; with open crown and thin gray foliage. + +_Western Juniper_. This is a typical tree of the arid regions +east of the Sierra, yet it is to be found scattered throughout the +Tahoe country, generally at an elevation between five thousand and +eight thousand feet. It ranges in height from ten to twenty-five or +even sixty-five feet. Its dull red bark, which shreds or flakes +easily, its berries, which begin a green color, shade through to +gray, and when ripe are a rich purple, make it readily discernible. +It is a characteristic feature of the scenery at timber line in many +Tahoe landscapes. + + With the crowns beaten by storms into irregular shapes, + often dead on one side but flourishing on the other, the tops + usually dismantled and the trunks excessively thickened at + base, such figures, whether erect, half overthrown or wholly + crouching, are the most picturesque of mountain trees and are + frequently of very great age.--_Jepson_. + +_Yew_. This is not often found and then only in the west canyons +above the main range. It is a small and insignificant tree, rarely +exceeding forty feet in height. It has a thin red-brown smooth bark +which becomes shreddy as it flakes off in thin and rather small +pieces. The seeds are borne on the under side of the sprays and +when mature set in a fleshy scarlet cup, the whole looking like a +brilliantly colored berry five or six inches long. They ripen in July +or August. + +_Incense Cedar_. This is commonly found all over the region at +elevations below 7500 feet, though its chief habitat is at elevations +of 3500 to 6000 feet. It grows to a height of fifty to one hundred and +fifty feet, with a strongly conical trunk, very thick at the base, and +gradually diminishing in size upward. The bark is thick, red-brown, +loose and fibrous, and when the tree is old, broken into prominent +heavy longitudinal furrows. The cones are red-brown, oblong-ovate when +closed, three-fourths to an inch long. + +_Shasta Fir_. This is found on the summits, slopes and shores +of Lake Tahoe, and to levels 6200 feet in elevation on the slopes and +summits directly connected with the main range. It is found along the +Mount Pluto ridge. It is essentially a tree of the mountains, where +the annual precipitation ranges from fifty inches upward. In the Tahoe +region it is locally known as the red fir. Sometimes it is called the +red bark fir and golden fir. It grows from sixty to even one hundred +and seventy-five feet high with trunk one to five feet in diameter and +a narrowly cone-shaped crown composed of numerous horizontal strata of +fan-shaped sprays. The bark on young trees is whitish or silvery, on +old trunks dark red, very deeply and roughly fissured. The cones when +young are of a beautiful dull purple, when mature becoming brown. + +_White Pine_. This is found on northern slopes as low down as +6500 feet, though it generally ranges above 7000 feet, and is quite +common. It sometimes is called the silver pine, and generally in the +Tahoe region, the mountain pine. It grows to a height of from fifty to +one hundred and seventy-five feet, the branches slender and spreading +or somewhat drooping, and mostly confined to the upper portion of the +shaft. The trunk is from one to six feet in diameter and clothed with +a very smooth though slightly checked whitish or reddish bark. The +needles are five (rarely four) in a place, very slender, one to three +and three-fourths inches long, sheathed at the base by thinnish narrow +deciduous scales, some of which are one inch long. The cones come in +clusters of one to seven, from six to eight or rarely ten inches +long, very slender when closed and usually curved towards the tip, +black-purple or green when young, buff-brown when ripe. It is best +recognized by its light-gray smooth bark, broken into squarish +plates, its pale-blue-green foliage composed of short needles, and its +pendulous cones so slender as to give rise to the name "Finger-Cone +Pine." + +_Sugar Pine_. This is found on the lower terraces of Tahoe, +fringing the region with a sparse and scattering growth, but it is +not found on the higher slopes of the Sierra. On the western side +its range is nearly identical with that of the red fir. It grows from +eighty to one hundred and fifty feet high, the young and adult trees +symmetrical, but the aged trees commonly with broken summits or +characteristically flat-topped with one or two long arm-like branches +exceeding shorter ones. The trunk is from two to eight feet in +diameter, and the bark brown or reddish, closely fissured into rough +ridges. The needles are slender, five in a bundle, two to three and a +half inches long. The cones are pendulous, borne on stalks at the +end of the branches, mostly in the very summit of the tree, very +long-oblong, thirteen to eighteen inches long, four to six inches in +diameter when opened. + + This pine gains its name from its sugary exudation, sought by + the native tribes, which forms hard white crystallized nodules + on the upper side of fire or ax wounds in the wood. This flow + contains resin, is manna-like, has cathartic properties, and + is as sweet as cane-sugar. The seeds are edible. Although very + small they are more valued by the native tribes than the large + seeds of the Digger Pine on account of their better flavor. + In former days, when it came October, the Indians went to the + high mountains about their valleys to gather the cones. They + camped on the ridges where the sugar pines grow and celebrated + their sylvan journey by tree-climbing contests among the men. + In these latter days, being possessed of the white man's + ax, they find it more convenient to cut the tree down. It is + undoubtedly the most remarkable of all pines, viewed either + from the standpoint of its economic value or sylvan interest. + It is the largest of pine trees, considered whether as to + weight or girth, and more than any other tree gives beauty and + distinction to the Sierran forest.--_Jepson_. + +The long cones found in abundance about Tahoe Tavern are those of the +sugar pine. + +_Yellow Pine and Jeffrey Pine_. These are practically one and +the same, though the latter is generally regarded as a variety and the +former the type. Mr. Leiberg says: + + The two forms differ chiefly in the size of the cones, in the + tint and odor of the foliage, and in the color and thickness + of the bark, differences which are insufficient to constitute + specific characters. The most conspicuous of the above + differences is that in the size of the cones, which may + seemingly hold good if only a few hundred trees are examined. + But when one comes to deal with thousands of individuals + the distinction vanishes. It is common to find trees of the + Jeffrey type as to foliage and bark that bear the big cones, + and the characteristic smaller cones of the typical yellow + pine, both at the same time and on the same individual, while + old cones strewn about on the ground indicate that in some + seasons trees of the Jeffrey type produce only small-sized + cones. The odor and the color of leaves and bark are more or + less dependent on soil conditions and the inherent vitality + of the individual tree, and the same characters are found + in specimens belonging to the yellow and Jeffrey pine. It + is noticeable that the big-cone variety preferably grows at + considerable elevation and on rocky sterile ground, while the + typical form of the yellow pine prevails throughout the lower + regions and on tracts with a more generous soil. + + The yellow pine has a wider range than any other of the Tahoe + conifers, though on the high, rocky areas, south and west of + Rubicon Springs it is lacking. It crosses from the western + slopes to the eastern sides of the Sierras and down into the + Tahoe basin over the heads of Miller and McKinney Creeks, + in both places as a thin line, or rather as scattering trees + mixed with Shasta fir and white pine. + +It grows from sixty to two hundred and twenty-five feet high with +trunk two to nine feet in diameter. The limbs in mature trees are +horizontal or even drooping. The bark of typical trees is tawny +yellow or yellow-brown, divided by fissures into large smoothish +or scaly-surfaced plates which are often one to four feet long and +one-half to one and a quarter feet wide. The needles are in threes, +five to ten inches long; the cones reddish brown. + + It must be noted, too, that "the bark is exceedingly variable, + black-barked or brown-barked trees, roughly or narrowly + fissured, are very common and in their extreme forms + very different in trunk appearance from the typical or + most-abundant 'turtle-back' form with broad, yellow or light + brown plates."--_Jepson_. + +_Lodge Pole Pine_. The range of this tree is almost identical +with that of the Shasta fir, though here and there it is found at as +low an altitude as 4500 feet. It loves the margins of creeks, glades +and lakes situated at altitudes of 6000 feet and upward, where it +usually forms a fringe of nearly pure growth in the wet and swampy +portions of the ground. In the Tahoe region it is invariably called a +tamarack or tamarack pine. It is a symmetrical tree commonly reaching +as high as fifty to eighty feet, but occasionally one hundred and +twenty-five feet. When stunted, however, it is only a few feet. The +bark is remarkably thin, rarely more than one quarter inch thick, +light gray in color, very smooth but flaking into small thin scales. +There are only two needles to a bunch, in a sheath, one and a half to +two and three quarters inches long. The cones are chestnut brown, one +to one and three quarters inches long. + +It is when sleeping under the lodge pole pines that you begin to +appreciate their perfect charm and beauty. You unroll your blankets +at the foot of a stately tree at night, unconscious and careless as to +what tree it is. During the night, when the moon is at the full, you +awaken and look up into a glory of shimmering light. The fine tapering +shape, the delicate fairy-like beauty, instantly appeal to the +sensitive soul and he feels he is in a veritable temple of beauty. + +They are very sensitive trees. In many places a mere grass fire, quick +and very fierce for a short time, has destroyed quite a number. + +_White Fir_. This follows closely the range of the incense cedar, +though in some places it is found as high as 8700 feet. It is one +of the most perfect trees in the Sierras. Ranging from sixty to one +hundred and fifty and even two hundred feet high, with a narrow crown +composed of flat sprays and a trunk naked for one-third to one-half +its height and from one to six feet in diameter, with a smooth bark, +silvery or whitish in young trees, becoming thick and heavily fissured +into rounded ridges on old trunks, and gray or drab-brown in color, +it is readily distinguishable, with its companion, the red fir, by the +regularity of construction of trunk, branch and branchlet. As Smeaton +Chase expresses it, "The fine smooth arms, set in regular formation, +divide and redivide again and again _ad infinitum_, weaving at +last into a maze of exquisitely symmetrical twigs and branchlets." + +_Red Fir_. The range of the red fir is irregular. It occurs +on the Rubicon River and some of the headwaters of the west-flowing +streams, reaching a general height of 6000 feet, though it is +occasionally found as high as 7000 feet. In some parts of California +this is known as Douglas Spruce, and Jepson, in his _Silva of +California_ definitely states: + + The name "fir" as applied to the species is so well + established among woodsmen that for the sake of + intelligibility the combination Douglas Fir, which prevents + confusion with the true firs and has been adopted by the + Pacific Coast Lumberman's Association, is here accepted, + notwithstanding that the name used by botanists, "Douglas + Spruce" is actually more fitting on account of the greater + number of spruce-like characteristics. It is neither true + spruce, fir, nor hemlock, but a marked type of a distinct + genus, namely, _pseudotsuga_. + +It must not be confounded with the red silver fir (_Abies +Magnifica_) so eloquently described as the chief delight of the +Yosemite region by Smeaton Chase. It grows from seventy to two hundred +and fifty or possibly three hundred and fifty feet high, and is the +most important lumber tree of the country, considering the quality of +its timber, the size and length of its logs, and the great amount of +heavy wood and freedom from knots, shakes or defects. On young trees +the bark is smooth, gray or mottled, sometimes alder-like; on old +trunks one to six and a half inches thick, soft or putty-like, dark +brown, fissured into broad heavy furrows. The young rapid growth in +the open woods produces "red fir", the older slower growth in denser +woods is "yellow fir". Every tree to a greater or lesser extent +exhibits successively these two phases, which are dependent upon +situation and exposure. + +The chief difference between the white and red fir is in the +_spiculae_ or leaves. Those of the red fir are shorter, stubbier +and stiffer than those of the white. The bark, however, is pretty +nearly alike in young trees and shows a marked difference when they +get to be forty to fifty years old. + +_The Alpine Spruce_ (_Hesperopeuce Pattoniana_ Lemmon) is +found only in the highest elevations. Common in Alaska it is limited +in the Tahoe region to the upper points of forests that creep up +along glacier beds and volcanic ravines, close to perpetual ice. It +disappears at 10,000 feet altitude on Mt. Whitney and is found nowhere +south of this point. On Tallac, Mt. Rose and all the higher peaks +of the Tahoe region it is common, giving constant delight with its +slender shaft, eighty to a hundred feet high, and with a diameter at +its base of from six to twelve feet. It is only in the lower portions +of the belt where it occurs. Higher it is reduced to low conical +masses of foliage or prostrate creeping shrubs. + +By many it is regarded as a hemlock, but it is not strictly so. It was +first discovered in 1852 by John Jeffrey, who followed David Douglas +in his explorations of the forests of the American Northwest. + + In favorable situations, the lower limbs are retained and + become long, out-reaching, and spreading over the mountain + slope for many feet; the upper limbs are irregularly disposed, + not whorled; they strike downward from the start (so that it + is almost impossible to climb one of the trees for want of + foothold), then curving outward to the outline of the tree, + they are terminated by short, hairy branchlets that decline + gracefully, and are decorated with pendant cones which are + glaucous purple until maturity, then leather brown, with + reflexed scales. + + The main stem sends out strong ascending shoots, the leading + one terminating so slenderly as to bend from side to side with + its many purple pendants before the wind, and shimmering in + the sunlight with rare beauty.--_Lemmon_. + +On the slopes of Mt. Rose near timber line, which ranges from 9700 to +10,000 feet according to exposures, while still a tree of considerable +size, it loses its symmetrical appearance. Professor Kennedy says: + + Buffeted by the fierce winter winds and snows, the branches on + the west side of the tree are either entirely wanting or very + short and gnarled, and the bark is commonly denuded. Unlike + its associate, _Pinus Albicaulis_, which is abundant as + a prostrate shrub far above timber line, the spruce is rarely + encountered above timber line at this place, but here and + there a hardy individual may be found lurking among the pines. + The greatest elevation at which it was noticed is 10,500 feet. + +To me this is one of the most beautiful of Sierran trees. Its delicate +silvery hue, and the rarely exquisite shading from the old growth to +the new, its gracefulness, the quaint and fascinating tilt of its +tip which waveringly bends over in obedience to whichever breeze is +blowing makes it the most alluringly feminine of all the trees of the +Sierra Nevada. + +It is interesting to note the differences in the cones, and in the way +they grow; singly, in clusters, at the end of branches, on the stems, +large, medium-sized, small, short and stubby, long and slender, +conical, etc. Then, too, while the pines generally have cones every +year, the firs seem to miss a year, and to bear only alternate years. + +The gray squirrels are often great reapers of the cones, before they +are ripe. They cut them down and then eat off the tips of the scales +so that they present a pathetically stripped appearance. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS OF THE TAHOE REGION + + +_Birds_. The bird life of the Tahoe region does not seem +particularly interesting or impressive to the casual observer. At +first sight there are not many birds, and those that do appear have +neither so vivid plumage nor sweet song as their feathered relatives +of the east, south and west. Nevertheless there are several +interesting species, and while this chapter makes no pretense to +completeness it suggests what one untrained observer without birds +particularly on his mind has witnessed in the course of his several +trips to the Tahoe region. + +It soon becomes evident that altitude has much to do with bird life, +some, as the meadow-lark and blackbird never being found higher than +the Lake shore, others at the intermediate elevations where the Alpine +hemlock thrives, while still others, such as the rosy finch and the +rock-wren, are found only on the highest and most craggy peaks. + +While water birds are not numerous in the summer, observant visitors +at Lake Tahoe for the first time are generally surprised to find +numbers of sea gulls. They fly back and forth, however, to and from +their native haunts by the sea. They never raise their young here, +generally making their return flight to the shores of the Pacific in +September, October and at latest November, to come back in March and +April. While out on the mountain in these months, fifty or more miles +west of Lake Tahoe I have seen them, high in the air, flying straight +to the place they desired. + +The blue heron in its solitary and stately watchfulness is +occasionally seen, and again etches itself like a Japanese picture +against the pure blue of the sky. The American bittern is also seen +rarely. + +Kingfishers are found, both on the lakes and streams. It is +fascinating to watch them unobserved, perched on a twig, as motionless +as if petrified, until, suddenly, their prey is within grasp, and with +a sudden splash is seized. + +On several of the lakes, occasionally on bays of Tahoe itself, and +often in the marshy lands and sloughs of the Upper Truckee, near +Tallac, ducks, mallard and teal are found. Mud chickens in abundance +are also found pretty nearly everywhere all through the year. + +The weird cry of the loon is not infrequently heard on some of the +lakes, and one of these latter is named Loon Lake from the fact that +several were found there for a number of years. + +Flocks of white pelicans are sometimes seen. Blackbirds of two or +three kinds are found in the marshes, also killdeer, jacksnipe and the +ever active and interesting spotted sandpipers. A few meadow-larks +now and again are heard singing their exquisite song, reminding one +of Browning's wise thrush which "sings each song twice over, lest you +should think he cannot recapture that first fine careless rapture." + +Doves are not common, but now and again one may hear their sweet +melancholy song, telling us in Joaquin Miller's poetic and exquisite +interpretation: + +There are many to-morrows, my love, my love, + But only one to-day. + +In the summer robins are frequently seen. Especially do they revel +on the lawns at Tahoe Tavern, their red-breasts and their peculiar +"smithing" or "cokeing" just as alluring and interesting as the +plumage and voices of the richer feathered and finer songsters of the +bird family. + +Mountain quails are quite common, and one sometimes sees a dozen +flocks in a day. Grouse are fairly plentiful. One day just on the +other side of Granite Chief Peak a fine specimen sailed up and out +from the trail at our very feet, soared for quite a distance, as +straight as a bullet to its billet for a cluster of pine trees, and +there hid in the branches. My guide walked down, gun in hand, ready +to shoot, and as he came nearer, two others dashed up in disconcerting +suddenness and flew, one to the right, the other to the left. We never +got a sight of any of them again. + +At another time I was coming over by Split Crag from the Lake of the +Woods, with Mr. Price, of Fallen Leaf Lodge, when two beautiful grouse +arose from the trail and soared away in their characteristic style. + +At one time sage-hens were not infrequent on the Nevada side of the +Lake, and as far west as Brockways. Indeed it used to be a common +thing for hunters, in the early days, to come from Truckee, through +Martis Valley, to the Hot Springs (as Brockways was then named) and +shoot sage-hens all along the way. A few miles north of Truckee, Sage +Hen Creek still preserves, in the name, the fact that the sage-hen was +well known there. + +Bald-headed and golden eagles are often seen in easy and circular +flight above the highest peaks. In the fall and winter they pass over +into the wild country near the almost inaccessible peaks above +the American River and there raise their young. One year Mr. Price +observed a pair of golden eagles which nested on Mt. Tallac. He and I +were seated at lunch one day in September, 1913, on the very summit of +Pyramid Peak, when, suddenly, as a bolt out of a clear sky, startling +us with its wild rush, an eagle shot obliquely at us from the upper +air. The speed with which it fell made a noise as of a "rushing mighty +wind." Down! down, it fell, and then with the utmost grace imaginable, +swept up, still going at terrific speed, circled about, and was soon +lost to sight. + +Almost as fond of the wind-tossed pines high up on the slopes of the +mountain as is the eagle of the most rugged peaks, is Clark's crow, +a grayish white bird, with black wings, and a harsh, rasping call, +somewhat between that of a crow and the jay. + +Of an entirely different nature, seldom seen except on the topmost +peaks, is the rosy-headed finch. While on the summit of Pyramid Peak, +we saw two of them, and one of them favored us with his (or her) +sweet, gentle song. + +Hawks are quite common; among those generally seen are the long tailed +grouse-hawk, the sparrow hawk, and the sharp-shinned hawk. Night-hawks +are quite conspicuous, if one walks about after sunset. They are dusky +with a white throat and band on the wing. They sail through the air +without any effort, wings outspread and beak wide open, and thus glean +their harvest of winged insects as they skim along. Oftentimes their +sudden swoop will startle you as they rush by. + +Woodpeckers are numerous, and two or three species may be seen almost +anywhere in a day's walk through one of the wooded sections. Many are +the trees which bear evidence of their industry, skill and providence. +The huge crow-like pileolated woodpecker with its scarlet crest, the +red-shafted flicker, the Sierra creeper, the red-breasted sap-sucker, +Williamson's sap-sucker, the white-headed woodpecker, Cabanis's +woodpecker with spotted wings and gray breast, the most common of +woodpeckers, and Lewis's woodpecker, a large heavy bird, glossy black +above, with a white collar and a rich red underpart, have all been +seen for many years in succession. + +The red-breasted sap-sucker and Williamson's sap-sucker are found most +frequently among the aspens and willows along the lake shore, while +the red-shafted flicker, Cabanis's woodpecker, and the white-head +favor the woods. One observer says the slender-billed nut-hatch is +much more common than the red-breasted, and that his nasal laugh +resounded at all times through the pines. + +High up in the hemlock forests is the interesting Alpine three-toed +woodpecker. It looks very much like Cabanis's, only it has three toes +in place of four, and a yellow crown instead of a black and red one. + +In importance after the woodpeckers come the members of the sparrow +family that inhabit the Tahoe region. The little black-headed +snowbird, Thurber's junco, is the most common of all the Tahoe birds. +The thick-billed sparrow, a grayish bird with spotted breast and +enormous bill is found on all the brushy hillsides and is noted for +its glorious bursts of rich song. + +Now and again one will see a flock of English sparrows, and the +sweet-voiced song-sparrow endeavors to make up for the vulgarity of +its English cousin by the delicate softness of its peculiar song. + +Others of the family are the two purple finches (reddish birds), the +pine-finch, very plain and streaked, the green-tailed towhee, with its +cat-like call, and the white-crowned sparrow,--its sweetly melancholy +song, "Oh, dear me," in falling cadence, is heard in every Sierran +meadow. + +The mountain song-sparrow, western lark, western chipping-fox, +gold-finch, and house- and cassin-finches are seen. The fly-catchers +are omnipresent in August, though their shy disposition makes them +hard to identify. Hammond, olive-sided and western pewee are often +seen, and at times the tall tree-tops are alive with kinglets. + +Some visitors complain that they do not often see or hear the +warblers, but in 1905, one bird-lover reported seven common +representatives. She says: + + The yellow bird was often heard and seen in the willows along + the Lake. Late in August the shrubs on the shore were alive + with the Audubon group, which is so abundant in the vicinity + of Los Angeles all winter. Pileolated warblers, with rich + yellow suits and black caps, hovered like hummers among the + low shrubs in the woods. Now and then a Pacific yellow-throat + sang his bewitching "wichity wichity, wichity, wee." Hermit + and black-throated gray warblers were also recorded. The + third week in August there was an extensive immigration of + Macgillivray warblers. Their delicate gray heads, + yellow underparts, and the bobbing movement of the tail, + distinguished them from the others. + +The water ouzel finds congenial habitat in the canyons of the Tahoe +region, and the careful observer may see scores of them as he walks +along the streams and by the cascades and waterfalls during a summer's +season. At one place they are so numerous as to have led to the naming +of a beautiful waterfall, Ouzel Falls, after them. Another bird is +much sought after and can be seen and heard here, perhaps as often +as any other place in the country. That is the hermit thrush, small, +delicate, grayish, with spotted breast. The shyness of the bird is +proverbial, and it frequents the deepest willow and aspen thickets. +Once heard, its sweet song can never be forgotten, and happy is he who +can get near enough to hear it undisturbed. Far off, it is flute-like, +pure and penetrating, though not loud. Gradually it softens until it +sounds but as the faintest of tinkling bell-like notes, which die away +leaving one with the assurance that he has been hearing the song +of the chief bird of the fairies, or of birds which accompany the +heavenly lullabies of the mother angels putting their baby angels to +sleep. + +Cliff-swallows often nest on the high banks at Tahoe City, and a few +have been seen nesting under the eaves of the store on the wharf. The +nests of barn swallows also have been found under the eaves of the +ice-house. + +Nor must the exquisite hummers be overlooked. In Truckee Canyon, and +near Tahoe Tavern they are quite numerous. They sit on the telephone +wires and try to make you listen to their pathetic and scarcely +discernible song, and as you sit on the seats at the Tavern, if you +happen to have some bright colored object about you, especially red, +they will flit to and fro eagerly seeking for the honey-laden flower +that red ought to betoken. + +Several times down Truckee Canyon I have seen wild canaries. They are +rather rare, as are also the Louisiana tanager, most gorgeous of all +the Tahoe birds, and the black-headed grosbeak. + +Of the wrens, both the rock wren and the canyon wren are occasionally +seen, the peculiar song of the latter bringing a thrill of cheer to +those who are familiar with its falling chromatic scale. + +Then there is the merry chick-a-dee-dee, the busy creepers, and the +nut-hatches hunting for insects on the tree trunks. + +The harsh note of the blue jay is heard from Tahoe Tavern, all around +the Lake and in almost every wooded slope in the Sierras. He is a +noisy, generally unlovable creature, and the terror of the small birds +in the nesting season, because of his well-known habit of stealing +eggs and young. At Tahoe Tavern, however, I found several of them that +were shamed into friendliness of behavior, and astonishing tameness, +by the chipmunks. They would come and eat nuts from my fingers, and +one of them several times came and perched upon my shoulder. There is +also the grayish solitaire which looks very much like the mockingbird +of less variable climes. + +The foregoing account of the birds, which I submitted for revision to +Professor Peter Frandsen, of the University of Nevada, called forth +from him the following: + + I have very little to add to this admirable bird account. + Besides the gulls, their black relatives, the swallow-like + terns, are occasionally seen. The black-crowned night-heron is + less common than the great blue heron. Clarke's crow is more + properly called Clarke's nutcracker--a different genus. The + road robin or chewink is fairly common in the thickets above + the Lake. Nuttal's poor will, with its call of two syllables, + is not infrequently heard at night. The silent mountain + blue-bird, _sialia arctica_, is sometimes seen. So is the + western warbling vireo. The solitary white-rumped shrike is + occasionally met with in late summer. Owls are common but what + species other than the western horned owl I do not know. Other + rather rare birds are the beautiful lazuli bunting and the + western warbling vireo. Among the wood-peckers I have also + noted the bristle-bellied wood-pecker, or Lewis's wood-pecker, + Harris's wood-pecker, and the downy wood-pecker. + +_ANIMALS_. These are even more numerous than the birds, though +except to the experienced observer many of them are seldom noticed. + +While raccoons are not found on the eastern slopes of the High +Sierras, or in the near neighborhood of the Lake, they are not +uncommon on the western slopes, near the Rubicon and the headwaters of +the various forks of the American and other near-by rivers. + +Watson assured me that every fall he sees tracks on the Rubicon and +in the Hell Hole region of very large mountain lions. They hide, among +other places, under and on the limbs of the wild grapevines, which +here grow to unusual size. In the fall of 1912 he saw some strange +markings, and following them was led to a cluster of wild raspberry +vines, among which was a dead deer covered over with fir boughs. In +telling me the story he said: + + I can generally read most of the things I see in the woods, + but this completely puzzled me. I determined to find out all + there was to be found. Close by I discovered the fir from + which the boughs had been stripped. It was as if some one of + giant strength had reached up to a height of seven or eight + feet and completely stripped the tree of all its lower limbs. + Then I asked myself the question: "Who's camping here?" I + thought he had used these limbs to make a bed of. But there + was no water nearby, and no signs of camping, so I saw that + was a wrong lead. Then I noticed that the limbs were too big + to be torn off by a man's hands, and there were blood stains + all about. Then I found the fragments of a deer. "Now," I said + to myself, "I've got it. A bear has killed this deer and has + eaten part of it and will come back for the rest." You know + a bear does this sometimes. But when I hunted for bear tracks + there wasn't a sign of a bear. Then I assumed that some hunter + had been along, killed a doe (contrary to law), had eaten what + he could and hidden the rest, covering the hide with leaves + and these branches. But then I knew a hunter would cut off + those branches with a knife, and these were torn off. The + blood spattered about, the torn-off boughs and the fact + that there were no tracks puzzled me, and I felt there was a + mystery and, probably, a tragedy. + + But a day or two later I met a woodsman friend of mine, and I + took him to the spot. He explained the whole thing clearly. + As soon as he saw it he said, "That's a mountain-lion." + "But," said I, "Where's his tracks?" "He didn't make any," he + replied, "he surprised the doe by crawling along the vines. + I've found calves and deer hidden like this before, and I've + seen clear traces of the panthers, and once I watched one as + he killed, ate and then hid his prey. But as you know he won't + touch it after it begins to decompose, but a bear will. And + that's the reason we generally think it is a bear that does + the killing, when in reality it is a mountain lion who has + had his fill and left the remains for other predatory animals, + while he has gone off to hunt for a fresh kill." + +Occasionally sheep-herders report considerable devastations from +mountain-lions and bear to the Forest Rangers. James Bryden, who +grazes his sheep on the Tahoe reserve near Downieville, lost sixteen +sheep in one night in July, 1911. + +There are three kinds each of chipmunks and ground-squirrels. All of +the former have striped backs and do more or less climbing of trees. +Of their friendliness, greediness, and even sociability--where nuts +are in evidence or anticipated--I have written fully in the chapter on +Tahoe Tavern. Of the three ground-squirrels the largest is the common +ground-squirrel of the valleys of California. It is gray, somewhat +spotted on the back, and has a whitish collar and a bushy tail. The +next in size is the "picket-pin", so called from his habit of sitting +bolt upright on his haunches and remaining steadfast there, without +the slightest movement, until danger threatens, when he whisks away so +rapidly that it is quite impossible to follow his movements. In color +he is of a grayish brown, with thick-set body, and short, slim tail. +He has an exceeding sharp call, and makes his home in grassy meadows +from the level of the Lake nearly to the summits of the highest peaks. +The "copper-head" is the other ground-squirrel, though by some he may +be regarded as a chipmunk, for he has a striped back. + +The flying squirrel is also found here. It comes out only at night and +lives in holes in trees. On each side between the fore and hind legs +it has a hairy flap, which when stretched out makes the body very +broad, and together with its hairy tail it is enabled to sail from +one tree to another, though always alighting at a lower level. A more +correct name would be a "sailing" squirrel. The fur is very soft, of +a mouse color and the animal makes a most beautiful pet. It has great +lustrous eyes and is about a foot in length. + +The tree squirrel about the Lake is the pine squirrel or "chickeree." +The large tree squirrel is abundant on the west slope of the Sierra +from about six thousand feet downward, but it is not in the Lake +basin, so far as I am aware. The pine squirrel is everywhere, from +the Lake side to the summits of the highest wooded peaks. It is dark +above, whitish to yellow below, usually with a black line along the +side. The tail is full, bushy, the hairs tipped with white forming a +broad fringe. It feeds on the seeds of the pine cones. + +The woodchuck or marmot is a huge, lumbering, squirrel-like animal in +the rocky regions, wholly terrestrial and feeding chiefly on roots and +grass. The young are fairly good eating and to shoot them with a rifle +is some sport. + +Of the fur bearing and carnivorous animals the otter, fisher, etc., +all are uncommon, though some are trapped every year by residents of +the Lake. The otter and mink live along the larger streams and on the +Lake shore where they feed chiefly on fish. They may sometimes catch a +wild fowl asleep. The martin and fisher live in pine trees usually +in the deepest forests, and they probably prey on squirrels, mice and +birds. They are usually nocturnal in their habits. The martin is the +size of a large tree squirrel; the fisher is about twice that size. +The foxes are not often seen, but the coyote is everywhere, a scourge +to the few bands of sheep. Often at night his long-drawn, doleful howl +may be heard, a fitting sound in some of the wild granite canyons. + +One day while passing Eagle Crag, opposite Idlewild, the summer +residence of C.F. Kohl, of San Francisco, with Bob Watson, he informed +me that, in 1877, he was following the tracks of a deer and they led +him to a cave or grotto in the upper portion of the Crag. While he +stood looking in at the entrance a snarling coyote dashed out, far +more afraid of him than he was surprised at the sudden appearance of +the creature. + +A few bears are still found in the farther away recesses of the +Sierras, and on one mountain range close to the Lake, viz., the one on +which Freel's, Job's and Job's Sister are the chief peaks. These are +brown or cinnamon, and black. There are no grizzlies found on the +eastern slopes of the Sierras, nowadays, and it is possible they never +crossed the divide from the richer-clad western slopes. In September, +1913, a hunting party, led by Mr. Comstock, of Tallac, and Lloyd +Tevis, killed two black bears, one of them weighing fully four hundred +pounds, on Freel's Mountain, and in the same season Mr. Carl Flugge, +of Cathedral Park, brought home a good-sized cinnamon from the Rubicon +country, the skin of which now adorns my office floor. + +The grizzly has long since been driven from the mountains, though +there may be a few in southern Alpine County, but the evidence is +not conclusive. The panther is migratory, preying on young colts and +calves. They are not at all common, though some are heard of every +year. The "ermine" is pure white in winter, except the tip of the +tail, which is black. It is yellowish brown in summer. + +There are two rabbits, one a huge jackrabbit of the great plains +region, the other the "snowshoe" rabbit, so called because of his +broad furry feet which keep it from sinking into the soft snow in +winter. Both rabbits are very rare, and probably both turn white in +winter. I have seen specimens of the snowshoe rabbit taken in winter +that are pure white. + +On the wildest and most desolate peaks and rock piles is found the +cony or pika or "rock rabbit" as it is variously called. It is small, +only six inches or so in length, tailless but with large round ears +and soft grayish fur like a rabbit's. + +The jumping mouse is interesting. It may be seen sometimes at evening +in swampy areas and meadows. It is yellowish above, whitish below, +with an extremely long tail. It travels by long leaps, takes readily +to the water and is an expert swimmer. The meadow mice are bluish grey +and are found in swampy places. The wood mice are pure white below, +brown above and are found everywhere. + +Quite a number of badgers are to be found in the Tahoe region, and +they must find abundance of good food, for the specimens I have seen +were rolling in fat, and as broad backed as a fourteen inch board. + +Several times, also, have I seen porcupines, one of them, weighing +fully twenty-five pounds, on the slopes of Mt. Watson, waddling +along as if he were a small bear. They live on the tender bark of the +mountain and tamarack pines, sometimes girdling the trees and causing +them to die. They are slow-gaited creatures, easily caught by dogs, +but with their needle spines, and the sharp, quick-slapping action of +their tails, by means of which they can thrust, insert, inject--which +is the better word?--a score or more of these spines into a dog's +face, they are antagonists whose prowess cannot be ignored. + +Very few people would think of the porcupine as an animal destructive +to forest trees, yet one of the Tahoe Forest rangers reports that in +the spring of 1913 fifty young trees, averaging thirty feet high, were +killed or ruined by porcupines stripping them of their bark. +Sometimes as many as ninety per cent. of the young trees growing on +a burned-over area are thus destroyed. They travel and feed at night, +hence the ordinary observer would never know their habits. + +The bushy-tailed woodrat proves itself a nuisance about the houses +where it is as omnivorous an eater as is its far-removed cousin, the +house rat. The gopher is one of the mammals whose mark is more often +seen than the creature itself. It lives like the mole in underground +burrows, coming to the surface only to push up the dirt that it has +been digging. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE SQUAW VALLEY MINING EXCITEMENT + + +The Tahoe region was once thrilled through and through by a real +mining excitement that belonged to itself alone. It had felt the +wonderful activity that resulted from the discovery of the Comstock +lode in Virginia City. It had seen its southern border crowded with +miners and prospectors hurrying to the new field, and later had heard +the blasting and picking, the shoveling and dumping of rocks while the +road from Placerville was being constructed. + +It had seen another road built up from Carson over the King's Canyon +grade, and lumber mills established at Glenbrook in order to supply +the mines with timbers for their tunnels and excavations, as the +valuable ore and its attendant waste-rocks were hauled to the surface. + +But now it was to have an excitement and a stampede all its own. An +energetic prospector from Georgetown, El Dorado County, named Knox, +discovered a big ledge of quartz in Squaw Valley. It was similar rock +to that in which the Comstock silver was found in large quantities. +Though the assays of the floating-rock did not yield a large amount of +the precious metals, they showed a little--as high as $3.50 per ton. +This was enough. There were bound to be higher grade ores deeper down. +The finder filed his necessary "locations," and doubtless aided by +copious draughts of "red-eye" saw, in swift imagination, his claim +develop into a mine as rich as those that had made the millionaires +of Virginia City. Anyhow the rumor spread like a prairie fire, and men +came rushing in from Georgetown, Placerville, Last Chance, Kentucky +Flat, Michigan Bluff, Hayden Hill, Dutch Flat, Baker Divide, Yankee +Jim, Mayflower, Paradise, Yuba, Deadwood, Jackass Gulch and all the +other camps whose locators and residents had not been as fortunate +financially as they were linguistically. + +Knox started a "city" which he named Knoxville, the remains of +which are still to be seen in the shape of ruined log-cabins, stone +chimneys, foundations of hewed logs, a graveyard, etc., on the left +hand side of the railway coming from Truckee, and about six miles from +Tahoe. + +One has but to let his imagination run riot for a few moments to see +this now deserted camp a scene of the greatest activity. The many +shafts and tunnels, dump-piles and prospect-holes show how busy a spot +it must have been. The hills about teemed with men. At night the +log store--still standing--and the saloons--tents, shacks and log +houses--were crowded with those who sought in the flowing bowl some +surcease from the burden of their arduous labors. + +Now and again a shooting took place, a man actually "died with his +boots on," as in the case of one King, a bad man from Texas who had a +record, and whose sudden end was little, if any, lamented. He had had +a falling out with the store-keeper, Tracey, and had threatened to +kill him on sight. The former bade him keep away from his store, but +King laughed at the prohibition, and with the blind daring that often +counts as courage with such men--for he assumed that the store-keeper +would not dare to shoot--he came down the following day, intending +himself to do all the shooting there was to be done. But he reckoned +mistakenly. Tracey saw him coming, came to the door, bade him Halt! +and on his sneering refusal, shot the bad man dead. + +In September, 1913, I paid a visit to Knoxville. Just above the town, +on the eastern slope of the mountain, were several tunnels and great +dump-piles, clearly showing the vast amount of work that had been +done. The quartz ledge that caused the excitement was distinctly in +evidence, indeed, when the Tahoe Railway roadbed was being graded, +this quartz ledge was blasted into, and the director of operations +sent a number of specimens for assay, the rock looked so favorable. + +Here and there were the remains of old log-cabins, with their outside +stone chimneys. In some cases young tamaracks, fifteen and twenty feet +high, had grown up within the areas once confined by the walls. These +ruins extended all the way down to Deer Creek, showing the large +number of inhabitants the town once possessed. + +I saw the graveyard by the side of the river, where King's body was +the first to be buried, and I stood in the doorway of the store from +which the shot that killed him was fired. + +In imagination, I saw the whole life of the camp, as I have seen +mining-camps after a stampede in Nevada. The shacks, rows of tents, +and the rudely scattered and varied dwellings that the ingenuity and +skill of men hastily extemporized. Most of the log-houses are now +gone, their charred remnants telling of the indifferent carelessness +of campers, prospectors or Indians. + +The main street was in a pretty little meadowed vale, lined on either +side with trees, and close to the Truckee, which here rushes and +dashes and roars and sparkles among the bowlders and rocks that +bestrew its bed. + +When it was found the ore did not "pan out," the excitement died +down even more rapidly than it arose, and in 1863-4 the camp was +practically dead. + +It has been charged that the Squaw Valley claims were "salted" with +ore brought from Virginia City. I am inclined to doubt this, and many +of the old timers deny it. They assert that Knox was "on the square" +and that he firmly believed he had paying ore. It is possible there +may have been the salting of an individual claim or so after the camp +started, but the originators of the camp started it in good faith, +as they themselves were the greatest losers when the "bottom" of the +excitement dropped out. + +About a mile further up the river is still to be seen the site of the +rival town of Claraville, founded at the same time as Knoxville. +There is little left here, though the assay office, built up against +a massive square rock still stands. It is of hewed timbers rudely +dovetailed together at the corners. + +It would scarcely be worth while to recount even this short history +of the long dead,--almost stillborn--Squaw Valley camp were it not for +the many men it brought to Lake Tahoe who have left their impress and +their names upon its most salient canyons, streams, peaks and other +landmarks. Many of these have been referred to elsewhere. + +One of the first to arrive was William Pomin, the brother of the +present captain of the steamer _Tahoe_. His wife gave birth to +the first white child born on Lake Tahoe, and she was named after the +Lake. She now lives in San Francisco. When she was no more than two or +three months old, her mother took her on mule-back, sixty miles over +the trail to Forest Hill, _in one day_. Pomin removed to the +north shore of the Lake when Squaw Valley "busted," and was one of +the founders of Tahoe City, building and conducting one of the first +hotels there. + +Another of these old timers was J.W. McKinney, from whom McKinney's +was named. He came from the mining-camp of Georgetown over the trail, +and engaged himself in selling town lots at Knoxville. He and Knox had +worked together in the El Dorado excitement. + +He originally came over the plains in the gold-alluring days of '49. +When his party reached the land of the Indians, these aborigines were +too wise to make open attacks. They hit upon the dastardly method of +shooting arrows into the bellies of the oxen, so that the pioneers +would be compelled to abandon them. One night McKinney was on guard +duty. He was required to patrol back and forth and meet another +sentinel at a certain tree. There they would stop and chat for a few +moments before resuming their solitary march. Just before day-break, +after a few words, they separated. On answering the breakfast call +McKinney found he was alone, and on going back to investigate, found +his companion lying dead with an arrow through his heart. The moccasin +tracks of an Indian clearly revealed who was the murderer, and a +little study showed that the Indian had swam the river, waited until +the sentinel passed close by him, and had then sent the arrow true to +its fatal mark. + +The next night the Indians shot an arrow into an ox. In the morning it +was unable to travel, but McKinney and his friends had determined +to do something to put a stop to these attacks. Taking the ox in the +shadow of a knoll, they shot it, and eight men then hid in the shelter +of some brush where the carcass was clearly in view. + +When the train pulled out it seemed as if they had abandoned the ox. +It was scarcely out of sight when the watchers saw eight Indians come +sneaking up. Each man took the Indian allotted to him, but by some +error two men shot at the same Indian, so that when the guns were +fired and seven men fell dead the other escaped. On one of them was +found seven twenty-dollar gold pieces wrapped up in a dirty rag, which +had doubtless cost some poor emigrant or miner his life. Some of the +party wished to leave this gold with the dead Indian, but McKinney +said his scruples would not allow him to do any such thing, and the +gold found its way into his pocket. + +Though a man of practically no education--it is even said by those who +claim to have known him well that he could neither read nor write, +but this seems improbable--he was a man of such keen powers of +observation, retentive memory, ability in conversation and strong +personality, that he was able to associate on an equality with men +of most superior attainments. John Muir was a frequent visitor to +his home, especially in the winter time when all tourists and resort +guests had gone away. John McGee, another well-known lover of the +winter mountains, was also a welcome guest, who fully appreciated the +manly vigor and sterling character of the transplanted Missourian. + +John Ward, from whom Ward Creek and Ward Peak (8,665 feet) are named, +was another Squaw Valley mining excitement stampeder. He came in the +early days of the rush, and as soon as the camp died down, located on +the mouth of the creek that now bears his name. + +The next creek to the south--Blackwood's,--is named after still +another Squaw Valley stampeder. For years he lived at the mouth of +this creek and gained his livelihood as a fisherman. + +The same explanation accounts for Dick Madden Creek. + +Barker who has peak, pass and valley named after him, came from +Georgetown to Knoxville, and like so many other of his unfortunate +mining brethren from over the divide, started a dairy on the west side +of the pass which bears his name. The valley, however, was so high and +cold that more than half the year the cream would not rise, so he gave +up dairying and went elsewhere. + +These are but a few of many who might be mentioned, whose names +are linked with the Tahoe region, and who came to it in the hope of +"making their everlasting fortunes" when Squaw Valley "started up." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE FRÉMONT HOWITZER AND LAKE TAHOE + + +Hundreds of thousands of Americans doubtless have read "How a Woman's +Wit Saved California to the Union," yet few indeed know how intimately +that fascinating piece of history is linked with Lake Tahoe. + +Here is the story of the link: + +When Frémont started out on his Second Exploration (fairly well dealt +with in another chapter), he stopped at the Kansas frontier to equip. +When he finally started, the party (108) was armed generally with +Hall's carbines, which, says Frémont: + + with a brass twelve-pound howitzer, had been furnished to me + from the United States arsenal at St. Louis, agreeably to the + command of Colonel S.W. Kearny, commanding the third + military division. Three men were especially detailed for the + management of this, under the charge of Louis Zindel, a native + of Germany, who had been nineteen years a non-commissioned + officer of the artillery in the Prussian army, and regularly + instructed in the duties of his profession. + +As soon as the news that he had added a cannon to his equipment +reached Washington, the Secretary of War, James M. Porter, sent a +message after him, post haste, countermanding the expedition on the +ground that he had prepared himself with a military equipment, which +the pacific nature of his journey did not require. It was specially +charged as a heinous offense that he had procured a small mountain +howitzer from the arsenal at St. Louis, in addition to his other +firearms. + +But Frémont had already started. He was not far on his way, and the +message could have reached him easily. It was not destined to do so, +however, until after his return. The message came to the hands of his +girl-wife, Jessie Benton Frémont, the daughter of Missouri's great +senator, Thomas H. Benton, and she knew, as Charles A. Moody has well +written, that + + this order, obeyed, would indefinitely postpone the + expedition--probably wreck it entirely. She did not forward + it. Consulting no one, since there was no one at hand to + consult, she sent a swift messenger to her husband with word + to break camp and move forward at once--"he could not have + the reason for haste, but there was reason enough." And he, + knowing well and well trusting the sanity and breadth of + that girl-brain, hastened forward, unquestioning, while she + promptly informed the officer whose order she had vetoed, + what she had done, and why. So far as human wit may penetrate, + obedience to that backward summons would have meant, three + years later, the winning of California by another nation--and + what _that_ loss would have signified to the United + States none can know fully, but any may partly guess who + realizes a part of what California has meant for us. + +In commenting later upon this countermand of the Expedition Frémont +remarks: + + It is not probable that I would have been recalled from the + Missouri frontier to Washington to explain why I had taken an + arm that simply served to increase the means of defense for + a small party very certain to encounter Indian hostility, and + which involved very trifling expense. The administration in + Washington was apparently afraid of the English situation in + Oregon. + +Unconscious, therefore, of his wife's action,--which might easily have +ruined his career--Frémont pushed on. The howitzer accompanied him +into Oregon, back through into Nevada, and is clearly seen in the +picture of Pyramid Lake drawn by Mr. Preuss (which appears in the +original report), showing it after it had traveled in the neighborhood +of four thousand miles. + +The last time it was fired as far as the Frémont Expedition is +concerned was on Christmas Eve, in 1843. The party was camped on +Christmas Lake, now known as Warner Lake, Oregon, and the following +morning the gun crew wakened Frémont with a salute, fired in honor of +the day. A month later, two hundred and fifty miles south, it was to +be abandoned in the mountains near West Walker River, on account of +the deep snow which made it impossible for the weary horses to drag it +further. + +On the 28th of January Frémont thus writes: + + To-night we did not succeed in getting the howitzer into camp. + This was the most laborious day we had yet passed through, the + steep ascents and deep snows exhausting both men and animals. + +Possibly now the thought began to take possession of him that the +weapon must be left behind. For long weary days it had been a constant +companion. It had been dragged over the plains, mountains and canyons. +It was made to ford rivers, plunge through quicksands and wallow +through bog, mire, mud, marsh and snow. Again and again it delayed +them when coming over sandy roads, but tenaciously Frémont held on to +it. Now deep snow forbade its being dragged further. Haste over the +high mountains of the Sierra Nevada was imperative, for such peaks +and passes are no lady's playground when the forces of winter begin to +linger there, yet one can well imagine the regret and distress felt by +the Pathfinder at being compelled to abandon this cannon, to which he +had so desperately clung on all the wearisome miles his company had +hitherto marched. + +On the 29th he writes: + + The principal stream still running through an impracticable + canyon, we ascended a very steep hill, which proved afterwards + the last and fatal obstacle to our little howitzer, which was + finally abandoned at this place. [This place appears to be + about eight or ten miles up the river from Coleville, and + on the right or east side of the river.] We passed through + a small meadow a few miles below, crossing the river, which + depth, swift current, and rock, made it difficult to ford + [this brings him to the west bank for the first time, but the + cannon did not get this far, and therefore was left on the + east side of the river. This is to be noted on account of + the fact that it was found on the other side of the river in + another canyon], and after a few more miles of very difficult + trail, issued into a larger prairie bottom, at the farther end + of which we camped, in a position rendered strong by rocks and + trees. + +The reader must not forget that the notes in brackets [ ] are +interjections in Frémont's narrative by Mr. Smith, (see the chapter on +Frémont's discovery of Lake Tahoe). + +Frémont continues: + + The other division of the party did not come in to-night, but + camped in the upper meadow, and arrived the next morning. They + had not succeeded in getting the howitzer beyond the place + mentioned, and where it had been left by Mr. Preuss, in + obedience to my orders; and, in anticipation of the snow-banks + and snow-fields ahead, foreseeing the inevitable detention to + which it would subject us, I reluctantly determined to leave + it there for a time. It was of the kind invented by the + French for the mountain part of their war in Algiers; and the + distance it had come with us proved how well it was adapted + to its purpose. We left it, to the great sorrow of the whole + party, who were grieved to part with a companion which had + made the whole + distance from St. Louis, and commanded respect for us on some + critical occasions, and which might be needed for the same + purpose again. + + [It is the impression of those of the old settlers on Walker + River, of whom we have inquired regarding the subject, that + the cannon was found early in the 60's near the head of Lost + Canyon. This canyon comes into Little Antelope Valley--a + branch of Antelope Valley--from the south. This impression + evidently was accepted by the government geological surveyors, + for they twisted the name of the creek coming down this canyon + to "Lost Cannon Creek", and called a peak, which looks down + into this canyon, Lost Cannon Peak. The origin of the name of + this canyon lies in the fact that an emigrant party, on its + way to the Sonora Pass, and in an endeavor probably to avoid + the rough river canyon down which Frémont came, essayed this + pass instead of the meadows above. It is a canyon which, + at first, promises an easy pass but finally becomes almost + impassable. The party in question found it necessary to + abandon several of their wagons before they could get over. + They, or another party, buried one of their men there, also + some blacksmith tools. My endeavors to ascertain what party + this was have thus far not been successful. Mr. Timothy B. + Smith, who went to Walker River in 1859, says that the wagons + were there at that time. The cannon is supposed to have been + found with or near these wagons. Mr. Richard Watkins, of + Coleville, who went into that section in 1861, or soon after, + informs me that wagons were also found in one of the canyons + leading to the Sonora Pass from Pickle Meadow. The cannon, + according to Mr. Watkins, was found with these wagons. At any + rate, it seems likely that the cannon was not found at the + place where Frémont left it, but had been picked up by some + emigrant party, who, in turn, were compelled to abandon it + with several of their wagons.] + +For several years the cannon remained where its emigrant finders +removed it, then at the breaking out of the Civil War, "Dan de +Quille," William Wright, the author of _The Big Bonanza_, the +fellow reporter of Mark Twain on one of the Virginia City newspapers, +called the attention of certain belligerent adherents of the south to +it, and they determined to secure it. But the loyal sons of the Union +were also alert and Captain A.W. Pray, who was then in the Nevada +mining metropolis, succeeded in getting and maintaining possession of +it. As he moved to Glenbrook, on Lake Tahoe, that year, he took the +cannon with him. Being mounted on a carriage with fairly high wheels, +these latter were taken and converted into a hay-wagon, with which, +for several years, he hauled hay from the Glenbrook meadows to his +barn in town. The cannon itself was mounted on a heavy wooden block to +which it was affixed with iron bands, securely held in place by bolts +and nuts. For years it was used at Glenbrook on all patriotic and +special occasions. Frémont never came back to claim it. The government +made no claim upon it. So while Captain Pray regarded it as his own +it was commonly understood and generally accepted that it was town +property, to be used by all alike on occasions of public rejoicing. + +After Captain Fray's death, however, the cannon was sold by his widow +to the Native Sons of Nevada, and the news of the sale soon spread +abroad and caused no little commotion. To say that the people were +astonished is to put it mildly. They were in a state of consternation. +Frémont's cannon sold and going to be removed? Impossible! No! it was +so! The purchasers were coming to remove it the next day. + +Were they? That remained to be seen! + +That night in the darkness, three or four determined men quietly and +stealthily removed the nuts from the bolts, and, leaving the block +of wood, quietly carried the cannon and hid it in a car of scrap-iron +that was to be transported the next day from Glenbrook to Tahoe City. + +When the day dawned and the purchasers arrived, the cannon was not +to be found, and no one, apparently, knew what had become of it. +Solicitations, arguments, threats had no effect. The cannon was gone. +That was all there was to it, and Mrs. Pray and the Nevada purchasers +had to accept that--to them--disagreeable fact. + +But the cannon was not lost. It was only gone on before. For several +years it remained hidden under the blacksmith shop at Tahoe City, +its presence known only to the few conspirators--one of whom was my +informant. About five years ago it was resurrected and ever since then +its brazen throat has bellowed the salutation of the Fourth of July +to the loyal inhabitants of Tahoe. It now stands on the slight hill +overlooking the Lake at Tahoe City, a short distance east of the +hotel. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE MOUNT ROSE OBSERVATORY + + +While Californians rightly and justly claim Tahoe as their own, it +must not be forgotten that Nevadans have an equal claim. In the Nevada +State University, situated at Reno, there is a magnificent band +of young men, working and teaching as professors, who regard +all opportunities as sacred trusts, and who are making for their +university a wonderful record of scientific achievement for universal +benefit. + +Located on the Nevada side of the Tahoe region line, at the northeast +end of the Lake, is Mount Rose. It is one of the most salient and +important of the peaks that surround Tahoe, its elevation being +10,800 feet. The professor of Latin in the Nevada University, James E. +Church, Jr., a strenuous nature-lover, a mountain-climber, gifted with +robust physical and mental health, making the ascent of Mt. Whitney in +March, 1905, was suddenly seized with the idea that a meteorological +observatory could be established on Mt. Rose, and records of +temperature, wind, snow or rain-fall taken throughout the winter +months. The summit of Mt. Rose by road is approximately twenty miles +in a southwesterly direction from Reno, and Professor Church and his +associates deemed it near enough for week-end visits. The courage, +energy and robust manliness required to carry the work along can be +appreciated only by those who have gone over the ground in winter, and +forms another chapter of quiet and unknown heroism in the interest of +science written by so many of our younger western professors who are +not content with mere academic attainment and distinction. + +The idea of obtaining winter temperatures on the mountains of the +Pacific Coast was first suggested by Professor McAdie, head of the +Weather Bureau in San Francisco.[1] He responded to the request for +instruments, and through his recommendation, thermometers, rain-gauge, +etc., were speedily forthcoming from the Weather Bureau. On June 24, +1905, with "Billy" and "Randy," family ponies, loaded with a newly +designed thermometer-shelter, constructed so as to withstand winter +gales and yet allow the easy exit of snow, the first advance on Mt. +Rose was made. + +From that day the work has been carried on with a vigor and enthusiasm +that are thrilling in their inspiration. An improved instrument was +added that recorded temperatures on a self-registering roll, all +fluctuations, and the highest and lowest temperatures, wind-pressures, +all variations in humidity, temperature, and air pressure as well as +the directions and the velocity of the wind for periods of seventy +days and more. This instrument was the achievement of Professor S.P. +Fergusson, for many years a pioneer worker in mountain meteorology +at Blue Hill Observatory and an associate of Professor Church at the +Mount Rose Observatory, which has now become a part of the University +of Nevada. + +After two winters' work it was discovered, on making comparisons with +the records at the Central Weather Station at Reno, 6268 feet +below, that frost forecast could probably be made on Mt. Rose from +twenty-four to forty-eight hours in advance of the appearance of the +frost in the lower levels, provided the weather current was traveling +in its normal course eastward from the coast. + +[Footnote 1: Since this was written Professor McAdie has been +appointed to the chair of Meteorology at Harvard University.] + +Second only in importance was the discovery and photographic +recording of evidence of the value of timber high up on mountains, and +especially on the lips of canyons, for holding the snow until late in +the season. + +This latter phase of the Observatory's work has developed into a most +novel and valuable contribution to practical forestry and conservation +of water, under Dr. Church's clear and logical direction. At +Contact Pass, 9000 feet elevation, and at the base of the mountain, +supplementary stations have been established, where measurements of +snow depth and density, the evaporation of snow, and temperatures +within the snow have been taken. Lake Tahoe, with its seventy miles of +coast line also affords ready access throughout the winter, by means +of motor boat, snow-shoes and explorer's camp, to forests of various +types and densities where snow measurements of the highest importance +have been made. + +Delicate instruments of measurement and weight, etc., have been +invented by Dr. Church and his associates to meet the needs as they +have arisen, and continuous observations for several years seem to +justify the following general conclusions. These are quoted from +a bulletin by Dr. Church, issued by the International Irrigation +Congress. + + The conservation of snow is dependent on mountains and forests + and is most complete where these two factors are combined. The + mountain range is not only the recipient of more snow than + the plain or the valley at its base, but in consequence of + the lower temperature prevailing on its slopes the snow there + melts more slowly. + + However, mountains, because of their elevation, are exposed + to the sweep of violent winds which not only blow the snow in + considerable quantities to lower levels, where the temperature + is higher, but also dissipate and evaporate the snow to a + wasteful degree. The southern slopes, also, are so tilted as + to be more completely exposed to the direct rays of the sun, + and in the Sierra Nevada and probably elsewhere are subjected + to the persistent action of the prevailing southwest wind. + + On the other hand, the mountain mass, by breaking the force of + the wind, causes much of the drifting snow to pile up on + its lee slope and at the base of its cliffs, where it finds + comparative shelter from the wind and sun. + + Forests, also, conserve the snow. In wind-swept regions, they + break the force of the wind, catching the snow and holding it + in position even on the windward slopes of the mountains. On + the lower slopes, where the wind is less violent, the forests + catch the falling snow directly in proportion to their + openness, but conserve it after it has fallen directly in + proportion to their density. This phenomenon is due to the + crowns of the trees, which catch the falling snow and expose + it to rapid evaporation in the open air but likewise shut out + the sun and wind from the snow that has succeeded in passing + through the forest crowns to the ground. Both mountains + and forests, therefore, are to a certain extent wasters of + snow--the mountains because they are partially exposed to + sun and wind; the trees, because they catch a portion of + the falling snow on their branches and expose it to rapid + disintegration. However, the mountains by their mass and + elevation conserve immeasurably more snow than they waste, and + forested areas conserve far more snow than unforested. If the + unforested mountain slopes can be covered with timber, much + of the waste now occurring on them can be prevented, and by + thinning the denser forests the source of waste in them also + can be checked. + +The experiences met with by the voluntary band of observers to secure +the data needed in their work are romantic in the extreme. An average +winter trip requires from a day and a half to two days and a half +from Reno. From the base of the mountain the ascent must be made on +snow-shoes. When work first began there was no building on the summit, +and no shelter station on the way. Imagine these brave fellows, daring +the storms and blizzards and fierce temperatures of winter calmly +ascending these rugged and steep slopes, in the face of every kind of +winter threat, merely to make scientific observations. In March, 1906, +Professor Johnson and Dr. Rudolph spent the night at timber-line in +a pit dug in the snow to obtain protection from a gale, at the +temperature of 5° Fahr. _below_ zero, and fought their way to +the summit. But so withering was the gale at that altitude even at +mid-day, that a precipitate retreat was made to avoid freezing. The +faces of the climbers showed plainly the punishment received. Three +days later Dr. Church attempted to rescue the record just as the storm +was passing. He made his way in an impenetrable fog to 10,000 feet, +when the snow and ice-crystals deposited by the storm in a state of +unstable equilibrium on crust and trees were hurled by a sudden +gale high into the air in a blinding blizzard. During his retreat he +wandered into the wildest part of the mountain before he escaped from +the skirts of the storm. + +Other experiences read like chapters from Peary's or Nansen's records +in the Frozen North, and they are just as heroic and thrilling. Yet +in face of all these physical difficulties, which only the most superb +courage and enthusiasm could overcome, Dr. Church writes that, to +the spirit, the mountain reveals itself, at midnight and at noon, +at twilight and at dawn, in storm and in calm, in frost-plume and in +verdure, as a wonderland so remote from the ordinary experiences of +life that the traveler unconsciously deems that he is entering another +world. + +In the last days of October, 1913, I was privileged to make the trip +from Reno in the company of Dr. Church, and two others. We were just +ahead of winter's storms, however, though Old Boreas raved somewhat +wildly on the summit and covered it with snow a few hours after +our descent. The experience was one long to be remembered, and the +personal touch of the heroic spirit afforded by the trip will be a +permanent inspiration. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +LAKE TAHOE IN WINTER[1] + +BY DR. J.E. CHURCH, JR., OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA + +[Footnote 1: By courtesy of _Sunset_ magazine.] + + +Lake Tahoe is an ideal winter resort for the red-blooded. For the +Viking and the near Viking; for the man and the woman who, for the +very exhilaration of it, seek the bracing air and the snow-clad +forests, Lake Tahoe is as charming in winter as in summer, and far +grander. There is the same water--in morning placid, in afternoon +foam-flecked, on days of storm tempestuous. The Lake never freezes; +not even a film of ice fringes its edge. Sunny skies and warm +noons and the Lake's own restlessness prevent. Emerald Bay alone is +sometimes closed with ice, but more often it is as open as the outer +Lake. Even the pebbles glisten on the beach as far back as the wash of +the waves extends. + +But beyond the reach of the waves a deep mantle of white clads the +forests and caps the distant peaks. The refuse of the forests, the +dusty roads, and the inequalities of the ground are all buried deep. +A smooth, gently undulating surface of dazzling white has taken their +place. + +The forest trees are laden with snow--each frond bears its pyramid and +each needle its plume of white. The fresh green of the foliage and the +ruddy brown of the bark are accentuated rather than subdued by their +white setting. But as the eye travels the long vista of ascending and +retreating forest, the green and the brown of the near-by trees fade +gradually away until the forest becomes a fluffy mantle of white +upon the distant mountain side. Above and beyond the forest's utmost +reaches rise the mountain crags and peaks, every angle rounded into +gentle contours beneath its burden of snow. + +[Illustration: The Fergusson Metrograph on the summit of Mt. Rose, +wrecked by snow "feathers," some of which were six feet long.] + +[Illustration: Refuge Hut and Headquarters for Snow Studies on +Mt. Rose, 9000 Feet] + +[Illustration: Skiing from Tallac to Fallen Leaf Lodge] + +[Illustration: Snow Surveyor on the Mountains Above Glen Alpine +in Winter] + +Along the margin of the Lake appear the habitations and works of +men deeply buried and snow-hooded until they recall the scenes in +Whittier's _Snow Bound_. + +The lover of the Lake and its bird life will miss the gulls but will +find compensation in the presence of the wild fowl--the ducks and the +geese--that have returned to their winter haunts. + +Lake Tahoe is remarkably adapted as a winter resort for three prime +reasons: first, it is easily accessible; second, no place in +the Sierra Nevada, excepting not even Yosemite, offers so many +attractions; third, it is the natural and easy gateway in winter to +the remote fastnesses of the northern Sierra. + +Among the attractions preeminently associated with Lake Tahoe in +winter are boating and cruising, snow-shoeing and exploring, camping +for those whose souls are of sterner stuff, hunting, mountain +climbing, photography, and the enjoyment of winter landscape. Fishing +during the winter months is prohibited by law. + +If one asks where to go, a bewildering group of trips and pleasures +appears. But there come forth speedily from out the number a few of +unsurpassed allurement. These are a _ski_ trip from Tallac to +Fallen Leaf Lake to see the breakers and the spray driven by a rising +gale against the rock-bound shore, and, when the lake has grown +quieter, a boat ride to Fallen Leaf Lodge beneath the frowning +parapets of Mount Tallac. Next a _ski_ trip up the Glen to the +buried hostelry at Glen Alpine, where one enters by way of a dormer +window but is received to a cheerful fire and with royal hospitality. + +Then under the skillful guidance of the keeper, a day's climb up the +southern face of Mount Tallac for an unrivalled panoramic view from +its summit and a speedy but safe glissade back to the hostelry far, +far below. + +And if the legs be not too stiff from the glissade, a climb over +the southern wall of the Glen to Desolation Valley and Pyramid Peak, +whence can be seen the long gorge of the Rubicon. The thousand lakes +that dot this region present no barrier to one's progress, for they +are frozen over and lie buried deep beneath the snow that falls here +in an abundance hardly exceeded elsewhere in the Tahoe region. + +A close rival of these is the climb from Rubicon Park up the stately +range in its rear to visit the mountain hemlock, the graceful queen +of the high mountain, and to gaze across the chasm at the twin crags +beyond. + +And peer of them all, though requiring but little exertion, is a trip +to Brockway to enjoy the unrivalled view of the "Land's End" of the +Lake and catch the colors of the pansies that are still in bloom in a +niche of the old sea wall. If one possess the artist's mood, he will +add thereto a boat ride round State Line Point in the lazy swell of +the evening sea beneath the silent pine-clad cliffs, while the moon, +as beautiful as any summer moon, rides overhead. Only the carpet of +snow and the film of ice that gathers from the spray upon the boat +keeps one alive to the reality that the season is winter. + +Finally a rowing trip along the western shore of the Lake with stops +at pleasure _en route_. One can have weather to suit his taste, +for the waters on this shore are safe in storm, and the barometer and +the sky will give full warning long before the weather attains the +danger point. The man who loves the breath of the storm and the glow +of excitement will loose his boat from Tallac when the clouds swing +down the canyon and speed forth borne, as it were, on the wings of the +waves toward the distant foot of the Lake--past the black water wall +where the waves of Emerald Bay sweep into Tahoe, through the frothy +waters where the wind shifts and whips around Rubicon Point, over the +white caps of Meek's Bay until by skillful maneuvering the jutting +cape is weathered and quieter water is found in McKinney Bay. Full +time there is, with the wind astern, to reach the river's mouth at +Tahoe City, but the voyager who loves the woodland will tarry for +a night in the dense fir forest of Blackwood, while his boat rides +safely moored to the limb of a prostrate tree. + +Regarding the eastern side of the Lake, the bald shore and jutting +headlands, the fewness of the landing places, and the sweep of the +waves make cruising in these waters a matter of supreme skill and +farsightedness. Let the Viking learn with broad-beamed boat the +mastery of the western shore before he turns his boat's prow to the +east. + +For the man of milder tastes the motorboat will suffice or the mail +steamer, which plies the waters of Lake Tahoe twice a week. + +In tobogganing, the hills and open meadows at Tahoe City and at +Glenbrook will furnish royal sport for the devotee. Skating and +ice-yachting must be sought in regions where the snow is less deep and +the cold more intense. + +_Skiing_ is the chief method of locomotion in winter at the Lake +and the novice soon becomes expert in the milder forms of the sport. +_Ski_ trails thread the forests at Tahoe City and radiate from +every resort. + +The open inns at Tahoe City and Glenbrook, and The Grove near Tallac +and the resorts on Fallen Leaf Lake insure the traveler's comfort, +while the hospitality of the caretakers at all of the resorts is +proverbial. The question of when and how to go is naturally a leading +one. During the months of November to April, two sledging services are +furnished each thrice a week--one from Carson City to Glenbrook, the +other from Truckee to Tahoe City. (The narrow gauge railway has also +established a semi-weekly winter schedule.) The mail boat connects +with the incoming sledges and train on Tuesday and Saturday. The +route from Carson City, which crosses the heights of the Carson Range, +affords a superb view of the Lake at sunset. The route from Truckee +traverses the wooded canyon of the Truckee River, when scenically at +its best. + +The traveler who approaches the Lake by way of Glenbrook and leaves +by way of the canyon of the Truckee will have an experience in winter +travel both unique and replete with beautiful landscapes. + +The journey from Truckee to the Lake can also be made on _ski_ +in one short day. It is an exhilarating trip, if one travels light. +If one desires to tarry _en route_, he may carry his blankets and +food on his back or haul them on a toboggan, and spend the night at +the half-way station, known as Uncle Billy's. + +The best time to visit the Lake is after the heaviest of the winter +snows have fallen. The period of steady and heavy precipitation +occurs in January. After this month is past, there are long periods +of settled weather broken only occasionally by storms, which add to +rather than detract from one's pleasure. + +The special equipment requisite for winter trips to Tahoe is slight. +The list includes goggles (preferably amber), German socks and +rubbers, woolen shirt, sweater, short heavy coat, and mittens. For +mountain climbing a pair of Canadian snowshoes should be added to the +equipment; for traveling on the level, a pair of _ski_ can be +rented at Truckee or the Lake. If one desires to camp instead of +stopping at the resorts around the Lake, a tent and waterproof +sleeping bag should be procured. + +The cost of transportation in winter is scarcely more than in summer. +The sledge trip from either Truckee or Carson City to the Lake is +$2.50, an amount only $1.00 in excess of the regular fare by rail. +Board will cost no more than in summer. + +TRUCKEE + +Closely associated with Lake Tahoe as a center for winter sports is +Truckee, the natural point of departure for the Lake. Here a winter +carnival is held annually for the entertainment of outsiders. Among +the chief sports are _ski-racing_ and jumping and tobogganing. +The toboggan course is two thousand feet long and has a fall of +one-hundred fifty feet. A device is employed for drawing the toboggans +back to the starting point. The hotel facilities are ample. Toboggans +and _ski_ can be rented for use here or at the Lake. Clothing and +other winter outfits can be procured. Canadian snow-shoes, however, +must be obtained in San Francisco. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +LAKE TAHOE AS A SUMMER RESIDENCE + + +One of the most marked differences that the traveler observes between +the noted lakes of Europe and Lake Tahoe is the comparative dearth of +homes, summer villas, bungalows, residences, on the latter. This is +natural. California and Nevada are new countries. They have scarcely +had time to "find themselves" fully as yet. It took a thousand years +to people the shores of the European lakes as we find them to-day, +and in due time Tahoe will assuredly come to its own in this regard. +Indeed as John LeConte well wrote a number of years ago: + + The shores of Lake Tahoe afford the most beautiful sites for + summer residences. When the states of California and Nevada + become more populous, the delicious summer climate of this + elevated region, the exquisite beauty of the surrounding + scenery, and the admirable facilities afforded for fishing + and other aquatic sports, will dot the shores of this mountain + Lake with the cottages of those who are able to combine health + with pleasure. But it must be remembered that the prolonged + severity of the winter climate, and especially the great + depth of snowfall, render these elevated situations unfit for + permanent residences. According to the observations of Dr. + G.M. Bourne, during the winter of 1873-74, the aggregate + snowfall near the shores of the Lake amounted to more than + thirty-four feet. In fact, frequently there are not more than + four months in the year in which the ground of the margin of + the Lake is entirely free from snow. And the vast gorges which + furrow the sides of the surrounding amphitheater of lofty + mountain + peaks are perpetually snow-clad. Hence, it is unreasonable to + assume that many persons besides the wealthy will be able + to enjoy the luxury of private residences here, which can + be occupied only during the summer months of the year. + Nevertheless, when the refinement and taste incident to the + development of an older civilization shall have permeated the + minds of the wealthy classes of citizens, this charming lake + region will not only continue to be the favorite resort of + tourists and artists, but will become, during the summer + season, the abode of families whose abundant means enable them + to enjoy the healthful climate, the gorgeous scenery, and the + invigorating sports which lend an inexpressive charm to the + sojourn on its shores. + + Amidst the magnificent nature that surrounds this region, + there should be an inspiration corresponding more or less + with the grandeur of the aspect of the material world. The + modifications impressed upon the moral and intellectual + character of man by the physical aspects of nature, is a + theme more properly belonging to those who have cultivated the + ćsthetic side of humanity. The poet and the artist can alone + appreciate, in the fullness of their humanizing influence, + the potent effects of these ćsthetic inspirations. The lake + districts in all Alpine countries seem to impress peculiar + characteristics upon their inhabitants. + + When quietly floating upon the placid surface of Lake Tahoe, + the largest of the "Gems of the Sierra"--nestled, as it is, + amidst a huge amphitheater of mountain peaks--it is difficult + to say whether we are more powerfully impressed with the + genuine childlike awe and wonder inspired by the contemplation + of the noble grandeur of nature, or with the calmer and more + gentle sense of the beautiful produced by the less imposing + aspects of the surrounding scenery. On the one hand crag and + beetling cliff sweeping in rugged and colossal massiveness + above dark waves of pine and fir, far into the keen and clear + blue air; the huge mantle of snow, so cumulus-like in its + brightness, thrown in many a solid fold over ice-sculptured + crest and shoulders; the dark cathedral-like spires and + splintered pinnacles, half snow, half stone, rising into the + sky like the very pillars of heaven. On the other hand the + waving verdure of the valleys below, the dash of waterfalls, + the plenteous gush of springs, + the laugh and dance of brook and rivulet as they hurry down + the plains. Add to this picture the deep repose of the azure + water, in which are mirrored snow-clad peaks, as well as + marginal fringes of waving forests and green meadows, and it + is difficult to decide whether the sense of grandeur or of + beauty has obtained the mastery of the soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST + + +The Tahoe National Forest was first set apart by proclamation, +September 17, 1906. Previous to this there had been the Tahoe and Yuba +Forest Reserves which were established by proclamation under the acts +of March 3, 1891, and June 4, 1897. The original Tahoe Forest Reserve +consisted of six townships along the west side of Lake Tahoe. Part of +this territory is now in the Tahoe and part in the El Dorado National +Forest. Changes and additions were later made by proclamations of +March 2, 1909, and July 28, 1910. + +Although Lake Tahoe does not lie within any National Forest it is +almost surrounded by the Tahoe and El Dorado Forests. There are a few +miles of shore-line on the Nevada side in the vicinity of Glenbrook +which are not within the National Forest Boundary. + +The gross area of the Tahoe National Forest is 1,272,470 acres. Of +this amount, however, 692,677 acres are privately owned. The El Dorado +National Forest has a gross area of 836,200 acres with 284,798 of them +in private hands. These privately owned lands are technically spoken +of as "alienated lands." + +The towns of Truckee, Emigrant Gap, Cisco, Donner, Fulda, Downieville, +Sierra City, Alleghany, Forest, Graniteville, Goodyear's Bar, and +Last Chance, as well as Tahoe City, are all within the Tahoe National +Forest. + +It is estimated that there are probably 350 people living on the +Forest outside of the towns. These are principally miners or small +ranch-owners living along the rivers in the lower altitudes. + +Slowly but surely the people are awakening to the great value of the +natural resources that are being conserved in the National Forests. In +the Tahoe Reserve the preservation of the forest cover is essential to +the holding of snow and rain-fall, preventing rapid run-off, +thereby conserving much of what would be waste and destructive +_flood-water_, until it can be used for irrigation and other +beneficial purposes. + +Many streams of great power possibilities rise and flow through the +Tahoe Forest Reserve, such as the Truckee, Little Truckee, Yuba and +American rivers. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Reclamation +Service the Truckee General Electric Company uses the water that flows +out of Lake Tahoe down the Truckee River for the development of power. +The Pacific Gas and Electric Company, of San Francisco, controls the +waters of the South Yuba river, and its Colgate plant is on the main +Yuba, though it obtains some of its water supply from the North Yuba. +Lake Spaulding, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, is a +creation of this same company. It is situated near Emigrant Gap and is +used for the development of power. + +The Northern Water and Power Company controls the Bowman reservoir and +a string of lakes on the headwaters of Canyon Creek, a branch of the +South Yuba river. As yet its power possibilities are not developed. + +Through the activities of these companies electricity and water for +irrigation are supplied to towns and country regions contiguous to +their lines, and they have materially aided in the development of the +Sacramento Valley. + +Only about five per cent. of the Reserve is barren land, and this is +mostly situated at a high elevation above timber line. The tree growth +is excellent, and under proper direction reproduction _could_ be +made all that any one could desire. Fully twenty per cent., however, +of the present Reserve is covered with chaparral. Practically all +of this originally was timbered. The chaparral has grown up because +nothing was done at the proper time to foster reproduction over acres +that had been cut. Systematic and scientific efforts are now being +made to remedy this condition, the rangers being encouraged to +study the trees, gather seeds from the best of their type, plant and +cultivate them. Tree cutting is now so regular as to obtain by natural +reproduction a second crop on the logged-over areas. Where natural +reproduction fails planting is resorted to. Thus it is hoped, in time, +to replant all the logged-over areas now owned by the government, +serving the double purpose of conserving the water-supply and +providing timber for the needs of the future. Much of the timber-land, +however, of the Tahoe region, is patented to private owners. Little, +if anything, is being done towards reforestation on these private +tracts. Legal enactments, ultimately, may produce effective action +along this needed line. + +As has elsewhere been shown the world owes a debt of gratitude to the +Tahoe region. Had it not been for the timber secured so readily from +the Tahoe slopes the mining operations of Virginia City, Gold Hill and +Dayton would have been seriously retarded and crippled. As it was the +Tahoe trees were transferred as mining-timbers for propping up +the immense and continuous excavations of that vast series of +honey-combings underground, the products of which revivified the gold +supply of the world. + +Tahoe timber also has contributed much to the upbuilding of the +towns and country farms on the whole upper Pacific Coast and interior +regions of Northern California, and today much of its timber finds its +way to San Francisco and other Pacific Coast markets. + +At Floriston, on the Truckee River, a mill is in successful operation, +using Tahoe fir for the making of paper. Red and white fir, which are +practically useless for lumber, are found to make excellent wrapping +and tissue papers, and thus, from being unremunerative products of +our forests, become sources of income. After planing off the bark, the +wood is made into small chips, about a half inch square, and an eighth +of an inch thick. These chips are then "digested" by a process of +mixing with acids and cooking, through which it becomes "wood pulp." +Different processes produce different pulps, two of which are mixed +together, allowed to flow out on a very fine wire screen nine feet +wide, revolving at a rate of 300 feet a minute, with a "jigging" +movement from side to side. This makes all the fibers lie flat. They +are then sent through steel rollers, the water squeezed out, and +finally carried over and around twenty-five revolving steam-heated +cylinders which completely dry the paper and put the needed gloss or +finish on it. + +The rainfall on the Tahoe Reserve averages about fifty inches +annually, the most frequent rains occurring between October and May. +Necessarily there is much snow-fall on the higher regions. Further +down the snow disappears in the early spring, say March, but in the +upper altitudes it remains until late June, with perpetual snow in the +sheltered portions of the topmost peaks. + +Agriculture, owing to the average high altitude, is a negligible +industry in the Reserve, little more being done than to raise a little +fruit, grain and vegetables, mainly for home consumption. Naturally +there is a fair amount of grazing, almost the whole area of the +Reserve being used for this purpose during the summer months. Many +portions of meadow-land are used for dairy-herds, most of the hotels +and resorts on and near Lake Tahoe having their own herds and meadows. +Bands of beef-cattle are also pastured, together with large bands +of sheep, the two kinds of stock often grazing in common, the cattle +using the meadows and the sheep the ridges and timber-lands. In taking +the trail-rides described in other chapters I invariably came across +both cattle and sheep, and all the near-by meadows are occupied by +the dairy-herds belonging to the hotels. Patented lands of private +ownership within the bounds of the Forest are often also leased to +cattle- and sheep-men. Last year it was estimated that there were +47,000 head of sheep, and about 6000 head of cattle on the Reserve. +Under the protection of the rangers grazing conditions are rapidly +improving, the cattle- and sheep-men being held strictly to certain +rules laid down by the Supervisor. Systematic efforts are made to rid +the Forest, as far as possible, of predatory animals that kill the +sheep, also of poisonous plants which render grazing dangerous. + +There are far less cattle on the Sierra ranges in the Tahoe region +than there are sheep. During the summer most of the mountain valleys +have their great sheep-bands. Many are brought over from Nevada, +and far more from the Sacramento Valley and other regions near the +Pacific. The feed, as a rule, is good and abundant from the time the +snow leaves until the end of September or even later. Though the year +1913 was the third dry season (comparatively speaking) the region +had suffered, I found a score or more of meadows in my rambles around +Tahoe, where thousands of sheep might have had rich and abundant +pasture. + +But well may John Muir dislike sheep in his beloved Sierras, and term +them in his near-to-hatred "the locusts of the mountains." When the +most fertile valley has been "fed off" by sheep, or they have "bedded +down" night after night upon it, it takes some time before the young +growth comes up again. + +It is the custom when the lambing season is over, and the lambs +are strong enough to travel and old enough to ship, to move to some +convenient point on the railway, where there is an abundance of +feed and water on the way, and there ship either to Reno, Carson and +Virginia City, or to some market on the Pacific Coast. Hence overland +travelers on the Southern Pacific trains are often surprised to see +vast flocks of sheep and hear the bleating of the lambs at unlooked +for stations at the highest points of the Sierra Nevada, as at Soda +Springs, Cisco, Emigrant Gap, Blue Canyon, or sidings on the way. + +There is a large mining industry within the Reserve. Since 1849 the +western part of the Forest has been most active, one county, Sierra, +having produced since then upwards of $200,000,000. The present output +is much smaller than formerly, still it is large enough to render +mining an important factor in the productive wealth of the state. +In 1853 hydraulic mining was inaugurated near Nevada City. This gave +renewed interest to placer-mining. + +Four of the old emigrant roads cross the Tahoe and El Dorado Reserves. +The most famous of these is the one across Donner Pass and through +Emigrant Gap. This was the general course taken by the unfortunate +Donner Party, as recorded in another chapter. + +Another road was the Heuness Pass road, on a branch of which was +Nigger Tent, a rendezvous of robbers and cutthroats in the early days. +Prospectors and miners were often robbed and murdered at this place. +The Heuness Pass Road and the Donner Road branch in Sardine Valley, +the former going through by Webber Lake, and the latter through the +present site of Truckee. On the latter road, in the vicinity of You +Bet, is a large tree which bears the name "Frémont's Flagpole," though +it is doubtful whether it was ever used by Frémont for this purpose. + +The third important road is the present Placerville Road,--a portion +of the State Highway and the great trans-continental Lincoln Highway, +elsewhere described. + +The fourth is the Amador Grade Road, on which stood the tree whereupon +Kit Carson carved his name. + +The Georgetown Road is an important and historic feature of the Tahoe +Region, for it connects Georgetown with Virginia City, and it was from +the former place so many Tahoe pioneers came. I have already referred +to the trail built in the early 60's. Then when the Georgetown miners +constructed a ditch to convey water for mining purposes from Loon +Lake, they soon thereafter, about '72 or '73, built a road about forty +miles long, to enable them to reach the Lake, which was their main +reservoir. Loon, Pleasant and Bixby's Lakes were all dammed and +located upon for the water company. + +When the Hunsakers built the road from McKinney's to their Springs in +1883 there was a stretch of only about seven miles from Loon Lake to +the Springs to complete a road between Lake Tahoe and Georgetown. +The matter was laid before the Supervisors of Placer and El Dorado +Counties, and they jointly built the road in 1884, following as +nearly as possible the old Georgetown trail, which was practically the +boundary between the two counties. + +While automobiles have gone over it, it is scarcely good enough for +that form of travel, but cattle, sheep and horses are driven over it +constantly, campers make good use of it in the summer, and though it +has not the activity of the days when it was first built, it has fully +justified its existence by the comfort and convenience it gives to the +sparsely settled population of the region for which the waters of +the Reserve were flumed in every direction. When legal enactment +practically abolished placer mining, owing to its ruining the +agricultural lands lower down by the carrying of the mud and silt +upon them, the water systems were utilized for domestic and irrigation +purposes, thus laying the foundation of the great systems now being +used for power purposes. + +One of the greatest excitements known in the Tahoe region occurred +when the first notice of the discovery of the Comstock lode in +Virginia City appeared in the _Nevada City Journal_, July 1, +1859. Immediately the whole country was aroused, fully one-third of +all the male population setting forth for the mines. This was also one +of the great urgents in the building of a railway which soon ultimated +in the Central Pacific. + +There are several mineral springs of note on the Forest, chief of +which are Deer Park Springs, Glen Alpine Springs and Brockway's. + +The most northern grove of Big Trees, _Sequoia Gigantea_, in +existence, is found in the Tahoe Forest, on the Forest Hill Divide, +near the southern boundary of Placer County, on a tributary of the +Middle Fork of the American River. There are six of these trees as +well as several which have fallen. + +Dotted over the Reserve are cabins of the rangers. These men live a +most interesting, and sometimes adventurous and daring life. Primarily +their days and nights are largely those of solitude, and it is +interesting to throw a little light upon the way they spend their +time. + +Necessarily their chief thought and care is that of protecting the +Forest from fire. To accomplish this end fire-brakes--wide passages, +trails, or roads--are cut through the trees and brush, so that it is +possible to halt a fire when it reaches one of the constant patrols +and watches that are maintained. Lookout stations are placed on +elevated points. In the fall of 1911 a Lookout Tower was erected +on Banner Mountain, four miles southeast of Nevada City, in which a +watchman with a revolving telescope is on duty day and night. This +mountain is at 3900 feet elevation and affords an unobstructed view +of about one-third of the whole area of the Tahoe Forest. + +[Illustration: Outlet of Lake Tahoe, Truckee River] + +[Illustration: Flock of Sheep Being Driven from the Tahoe National +Forest] + +[Illustration: Island Park, Lake Tahoe] + +By a system of maps, sights and signals the location of fires can +be determined with reasonable accuracy, and the telephone enables +warnings to be sent to all concerned. + +Telephone lines bisect the Reserve in several directions, and +fire-fighting appliances are _cached_ in accessible places +ready for immediate use. When a Forest officer is notified of the +approximate location of a fire he goes immediately with what help +he thinks he needs. If he finds that the fire is larger than he +can handle with the available force at his command, he notifies +the Supervisor, who secures men from the most practical point and +dispatches them to the fire as soon as possible, by automobile or +train. + +To give further fire protection a gasoline launch--the +_Ranger_--twenty-six feet long and with a carrying capacity of +fifteen men, and a speed of about nine miles an hour, was placed on +Lake Tahoe in 1910, at the Kent Ranger Station, located a mile below +the Tavern. The guard who is in charge of this boat is on the Lake +about eight hours each day, going up the Lake in the morning towards +Tallac and taking the northern end of the Lake in the afternoon. The +launch is put in service each year about the 15th of June and kept +there until the fire-danger is over in the fall. Normal years this is +about the 15th of September, but in 1913 the launch remained and the +patrolman was on duty much later. + +If the guard sights a fire anywhere within the watershed of Lake +Tahoe, he immediately obtains men at the nearest point and proceeds +to the fire. Since the launch has been on the Lake there have been no +serious fires. Every fire has been caught in its infancy and put out +before any damage has been done. There has been only one fire of any +size on the Lake since the launch was installed. This burned about 20 +acres just east of Brockway. Numerous small fires of an acre or less +have been put out each year. + +The Forest Guard in charge of the launch for the years 1912-13 was +Mark W. Edmonds. Mr. Edmonds is the son of Dr. H.W. Edmonds, who is +now in the Arctic doing scientific work for the Carnegie Institute. + +The force of men at work on the Reserve varies in number according to +the season of the year. When the fire-season is on many more men are +on duty than in the winter-season. The year-long force consists of the +Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, Forest Clerk, Stenographer, thirteen +Rangers and two Forest Examiners who are Forest School men engaged +chiefly on timber sale and investigative work. The force in 1913 +during the season of greatest danger was fifty-six. Some of the +temporary employees are engaged for six months, some for three months +and others for shorter periods. The longer termed men are generally +Assistant Rangers who cannot be employed the year around, but who are +considered first for permanent jobs that occur on the statutory roll +on account of their Civil Service standing. + +Forest fires are caused in a variety of ways, but chiefly through +inexcusable carelessness. Now and then lightning produces fire, but +the throwing down of lighted matches by smokers, the butt ends of +cigars and cigarettes that are still alight, leaving camp-fires +unextinguished, or building them too large, allowing fires for burning +waste land or brush to get from under control--these are the chief +sources of forest fires. Accordingly the local and federal authorities +constantly keep posted on Forest Reserves notices calling attention +to the dangers and urging care upon all who use the forests for any +purpose whatever. + +In addition to fire-fighting the rangers are required to give constant +oversight to the sheep- and cattle-ranges, and to the animals that +are brought there, so that the feed is not eaten out, or too many head +pastured upon a given area. Seeds of forest trees must be gathered at +the proper season and experiments in reforestation conducted, besides +a certain amount of actual planting-out performed. The habits of +seed-eating birds and animals are studied, especially in relation to +reforestation. A very small number of squirrels or mice can get away +with a vast number of seeds in a season. Methods of protecting the +seeds without destroying too many of the wild animals must be devised. + +Available areas of timber are sought for and offered for sale. Certain +men are detailed to measure the trees and determine the value of the +timber; they must mark the trees included in the sale, leaving out +enough seed-trees for satisfactory reproduction. If it be a second +sale over a cut-over area the problems are somewhat altered. Will the +trees that are left suffer from wind-fall? If partially suppressed +trees are left can they be depended upon to recover and make a good +growth? + +Then, too, the questions of natural _versus_ artificial +reforestation have to be scientifically studied and exhaustive tests +made. Shall seeds be sown, or shall young trees be planted? Which +trees are best suited for certain localities, and which are the more +profitable when grown? + +To many people it is not known that dwellers in or near National +Forests can obtain free of charge timber for their domestic needs. +The rangers determine where this "free area" shall be located, exactly +what trees, whether dead or alive, shall be taken, and endeavor to lay +down rules that shall give equal chances for all comers. + +As one of the mottos of the Forest Service is "the greatest good to +the greatest number," small sales are encouraged to those who wish +to make their own lumber or shakes. Settlers in remote localities are +often helped in this manner. + +Cases of trespass have to be guarded against, and now and again +suits have had to be brought against loggers for encroaching upon +the territory of the Reserve, and removing timber which they had not +purchased. + +In 1911 every District Ranger was appointed a Deputy Fish and Game +Commissioner and thus was duly authorized to enforce the law in regard +to fish and game. + +Another subject of interest and importance to the ranger is the study +of insect infestation. Many trees are killed annually by certain +insects, and these must be discovered and their devastation prevented. + +Then, too, there are diseases and parasites that affect the trees, and +this branch of study demands constant attention. + +Hence it will be seen that the office of the Forest Ranger is by no +means a sinecure. He works hard and he works long and alone and our +kindly thoughts should go out to him in his solitary patrols and +vigils. + +The present Supervisor of the Tahoe Forest is Richard L.P. Bigelow, to +whose kindness I am indebted for much of the information contained in +this chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +PUBLIC USE OF THE WATERS OF LAKE TAHOE + + +There has always been considerable discussion and dissension among +conflicting interests as to the use of the waters of Lake Tahoe +for private or semi-public uses, and, finally, in 1903 the U.S. +Reclamation Service entered into the field. At my request Mr. D.W. +Cole, engineer-in-charge of the Truckee-Carson project, kindly +furnishes the following data: + + Along in the 60's of the last century the region around the + Lake acquired great importance on account of the fine growth + of timber on the surrounding mountain slopes. It is said that + a great many million feet of lumber were harvested in this + region. For many years the entire lumber supply for the old + Comstock mines was derived from this source. Virginia City, + Carson City and the neighboring mining communities were built + from the timber of the Lake Tahoe basin, and it might be said + that the foundation of the fortunes of the California gold + kings, who developed the Comstock mines, was made of the pine + wood which grew upon the shores of Lake Tahoe, without + which that wonderful output of $700,000,000 of gold from the + Comstock lode would have been impossible. + + Supplementing the timber supply the water from Marlette + Lake, a tributary to Lake Tahoe, was diverted by a remarkable + engineering achievement for supplying Virginia City and the + deep mines. Marlette Lake lies several hundred feet above Lake + Tahoe on the Nevada side, and half a century ago its waters + were taken through flume, tunnel and pipe line across the + dividing mountain range and out into the desert valley of the + Carson River for sustaining + the gold seekers of Virginia City. This work of the pioneer + engineers was scarcely less bold in its conception and + wonderful in its execution than the famous Sutro tunnel which + drains the underground waters from the Comstock mines. + + About 1870 the first use of Lake Tahoe for other than + navigation purposes was made by building a log crib dam at the + outlet for the purpose of storing flood-waters to be used in + log-driving in the Truckee River below the Lake. + + The outlet of the Lake was in a land grant section belonging + to the Central Pacific Railway Company, and one of the + earlier lumber companies procured a charter from the State + of California and proceeded to build a dam and operate it for + log-driving purposes. + + In the course of time the development of water-power in + the Truckee River below the Lake became of considerable + importance, both for saw-mill and other manufacturing + purposes. The dam at the Lake's outlet was passed from the + possession of the Donner Boom & Lumber Company into the hands + of other interests who were making a larger use of power. + + Eventually, in the last decade of the century, the water-power + plants were converted into hydro-electric plants and began to + furnish electric current for power and lighting in the city of + Reno and as far south as Virginia City. + + About the year 1908 the ownership of the several hydroelectric + plants was passed to the Truckee River General Electric + Company, under the management of the Stone & Webster + Engineering Corporation, of Boston, one of the very large + public utilities corporations of the country. + + This company has enlarged and improved the plants and is now + furnishing a large amount of electric current for all purposes + in Reno, Virginia City, Carson City, Yerington, Thompson, + Minden and various other towns and mining camps in the State + of Nevada, forming a group of communities which are wholly + dependent upon this power for their various purposes. + + In 1903 the United States Reclamation Service filed an + appropriation of all surplus waters which had theretofore gone + to waste from Lake Tahoe, and under this appropriation, with + others covering waters in the Carson River, the + Truckee-Carson Reclamation Project in Nevada was commenced. + + By this irrigation project it is proposed to cover an area + of about 206,000 acres, of which 35,000 acres are now being + irrigated and about 500 families have their homes upon + productive lands, which were formerly a part of the great + desert which was traversed with much suffering by the pioneer + gold seekers. + + In 1908 the Reclamation Service entered into negotiations for + the purchase of the real estate and dam controlling the outlet + of Lake Tahoe, but before the purchase was concluded the + reorganized power company secured possession of the property. + A condemnation suit was then brought by the United States + to acquire possession and control of the Lake's outlet. A + contract was entered into with the power company for the joint + building of a new dam with gates for controlling the outlet + from the Lake. This dam was partly built in 1909, replacing + a portion of the old timber structure. Owing to various + complications this new cement dam has stood in an uncomplete + condition until the fall of 1913 when arrangements were made + for its completion, and now the structure is entirely done and + is well adapted to control the outlet from the Lake so as + to hold the waters at satisfactory levels according to the + various uses for which the water is required. + + There have been confusing statements made in the public press + and otherwise concerning the intentions and actions of the + Reclamation Service and of the power company. The gist of + the whole matter is that both the Reclamation Service and + the power company have proposed by means of the new dam to + regulate the Lake within a range of six feet vertically, + this being well within the limits of fluctuations which have + occurred during the past 40 years when the Lake has been + partially controlled by means of the old logging dam, and + during which period the navigation and resort interests have + taken the place of the lumber business in the commercial + aspects of the Lake. + + The records show that during these 40 years the Lake has + fluctuated to the extent of a little more than eight feet + between low and high water marks. + The landowners around the Lake are principally interested in + its esthetic qualities as a basis for the commercial interests + involved in the tourist traffic and summer resort business. + These interests would naturally desire the Lake to be held at + a fixed level. + + Likewise the navigation interests which operate a large + number of boats of various sizes would be best pleased with a + stationary level of the Lake, in order that their wharves and + boat routes might be built and maintained for a single level + of the water. + + On the other hand the natural conditions and the use of water + for power and irrigation, which are among the older vested + rights, require the Lake to be used to some extent as a + storage reservoir, which implies a fluctuating level. + + The whole problem is to reconcile these various interests so + as to derive the greatest possible economic advantages while + maintaining the great beauties of the Lake for those whose + interests lie mainly in that direction. + + There has been suspicion on the part of some of the riparian + owners that either the power company or the Government, or + both, have been entertaining ulterior motives with the purpose + of drawing down the Lake to unprecedented levels and of + extracting from the Lake an amount of water greater than the + average annual inflow. It may be stated once for all that + there has never been such a purpose and that all calculations + of the available water in the Lake have been based upon a long + record of seasonable fluctuations which prove that the average + annual outflow from the Lake is about 300,000 acre feet. + + All plans have contemplated the use of _only_ this average + amount of water annually. + + The Lake has an area of 193 square miles. The elevation of its + high-water mark has been at 6231.3, whereas its low-water mark + is recorded at elevation 6223.1 above sea level. + + Should the Government be successful in acquiring the outlet + property from the power company by the condemnation suit now + in court, it is proposed to operate the gates of the dam at + all times so as to maintain the Lake at the highest level + consistent with the maintenance of a desirable shore-line and the + conservation of water for the public utilities. It is proposed + never to draw the Lake below the previous low-water mark or to + allow it to rise as high as the previous high-water mark, at + which low and high limits damage in some degree was done to one + or another's interests at the Lake. + + The regulation proposed by the Government provides for + recognition and protection of all rights in and to the waters + and shores of Lake Tahoe, including the rights of the general + public and of the lovers of natural beauty everywhere, and it + is believed that the charms, as well as the utilities, of this + paragon of lakes can more safely be entrusted to a permanent + government agency than to any single private interest. + +A few additions to Mr. Cole's lucid statement will help the general +reader to a fuller comprehension of the difficulty as between the +States of Nevada and California. It will be recalled that Lake Tahoe +has an area of about 193 square miles, of which 78 square miles are in +the counties of Washoe, Ormsby and Douglas, Nevada, the remaining 115 +square miles being in Placer and El Dorado Counties, California. + +Because of this fact, that nearly two-thirds of the superficial area +of the Lake is in California, the people of California claim that they +have the natural and inherent right to control, even to determining of +its disposal at least nearly two-thirds of the water of the Lake. + +The situation, however, is further complicated by the fact that the +only outlet to the Lake is in California near Tahoe City, in Placer +County, into the Truckee River, which meanders for some miles in a +northeasterly course until it leaves California, enters Nevada, passes +through the important city of Reno, and finally empties into Pyramid +Lake, which practically has no outlet. + +In response to the claim of California, the people of Nevada, in which +it appears they are backed up by the U.S. Reclamation Service, contend +that Nature has already determined whither the overflow waters of +Lake Tahoe shall go. That, while they do not wish in the slightest +to restrict the proper use of the waters of the Truckee River by the +dwellers upon that river, they insist that no one else is entitled +to their use, and that every drop of superfluous water, legally and +morally, belongs to them, to be used as they deem proper. + +In accordance with this conception of their rights the Nevada +legislature passed the following act, which was approved, March 6, +1913: + + That for the purpose of aiding the Truckee-Carson reclamation + project now being carried out by the Reclamation Service + of the United States of America, under the Act of Congress + approved June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. p. 384), known as the + Reclamation Act, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary + thereto, consent is hereby given to the use by the United + States of America of Lake Tahoe, situated partly in the State + of California and partly in the State of Nevada, and the + waters, bed, shores and capability of use for reservoir + purposes thereof, in such manner and to such extent as the + United States of America through its lawful agencies shall + think proper for such purpose, and as fully as the State of + Nevada could use the same, provided, however, that the consent + hereby given is without prejudice to any existing rights that + persons or corporations may have in Lake Tahoe or the Truckee + River. + +At the present time (winter of 1914-15) the matter is in the +courts awaiting adjudication, which it is to be hoped, while being +satisfactory to all parties to the suit, will fully conserve for the +scenic enjoyment of the world all the charms for which Tahoe has been +so long and so justly famous. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +CHAPTER A + +MARK TWAIN AT LAKE TAHOE + + +Early in the 'sixties the immortal Mark made his mark at Lake Tahoe. +In his _Roughing It_, he devotes Chapters XXII and XXIII to the +subject. With the kind consent of his publishers, Harper Bros, of New +York, the following extracts are presented. + +Later, when in Italy, he described Lake Como and compared it with +Tahoe in _Innocents Abroad_, and while his prejudices against the +Indians led him to belittle the Indian name--Tahoe--and in so doing to +make several errors of statement, the descriptions are excellent and +the interested reader is referred to them as being well worthy his +attention. + + Chapter XXII, _Roughing It_.--We had heard a world of + talk about the marvelous beauty of Lake Tahoe, and finally + curiosity drove us thither to see it. Three or four members of + the Brigade[1] had been there and located some timber lands + on its shores and stored up a quantity of provisions in their + camp. We strapped a couple of blankets on our shoulders + and took an ax apiece and started--for we intended to + take up a wood ranch or so ourselves and become wealthy. We + were on foot. The reader will find it advantageous to go on + horseback. We were told that the distance was eleven miles. + We tramped a long time on level ground, and then toiled + laboriously up a mountain about a thousand miles high and + looked over. No lake there. We descended on the other side, + crossed the valley and toiled up another mountain three or + four thousand miles high, apparently, and looked over again. + No lake yet. We sat down tired and perspiring, and hired a + couple of Chinamen to curse those people who had beguiled us. + Thus refreshed, we presently resumed the march with renewed + vigor and determination. We plodded on, two or three hours + longer, and at last the Lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of + blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the + level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snowclad mountain + peaks that towered aloft full three thousand feet higher + still! It was a vast oval, and one would have to use up eighty + or a hundred good miles in traveling around it. As it + lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly + photographed upon its still surface I thought it must surely + be the fairest picture the whole earth affords. + +[Footnote 1: The "Brigade" to which the distinguished humorist here +refers was a company of fourteen camp-followers of the Governor +of Nevada, who boarded at the same house as Mark, that of Mrs. +O'Flannigan. They had joined the Governor's retinue "by their own +election at New York and San Francisco, and came along, feeling that +in the scuffle for little territorial crumbs and offices they could +not make their condition more precarious than it was, and might +reasonably expect to make it better. They were popularly known as the +'Irish Brigade,' though there were only four or five Irishmen among +them."] + + ... After supper as the darkness closed down and the stars + came out and spangled the great mirror with jewels, we smoked + meditatively in the solemn hush and forgot our troubles and + our pains. In due time we spread our blankets in the warm sand + between two large bowlders and soon fell asleep.... The wind + rose just as we were losing consciousness, and we were lulled + to sleep by the beating of the surf upon the shore. + + It is always very cold on that Lake shore in the night, but we + had plenty of blankets and were warm enough. We never moved + a muscle all night, but waked at early dawn in the original + positions, and got up at once thoroughly refreshed, free from + soreness, and brim full of friskiness. There is no end of + wholesome medicine in such an experience. That morning + we could have whipped ten such people as we were the day + before--sick ones at any rate. But the world is slow, and + people will go to "water cures" and "movement cures" and to + foreign lands for health. + to Three months of camp life on Lake Tahoe would restore an + Egyptian mummy to his pristine vigor, and give him an appetite + like an alligator. I do not mean the oldest and driest + mummies, of course, but the fresher ones. The air up there in + the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And + why shouldn't it be?--It is the same the angels breathe. + I think that hardly any amount of fatigue can be gathered + together that a man cannot sleep off in one night on the sand + by its side. Not under a roof, but under the sky; it seldom or + never rains there in the summer time. + + ... Next morning while smoking the pipe of peace after + breakfast we watched the sentinel peaks put on the glory of + the sun, and followed the conquering light as it swept down + among the shadows, and set the captive crags and forests free. + We watched the tinted pictures grow and brighten upon the + water till every little detail of forest, precipice, and + pinnacle was wrought in and finished, and the miracle of the + enchanter complete. Then to "business." + + That is, drifting around in the boat. We were on the north + shore. There, the rocks on the bottom are sometimes gray, + sometimes white. This gives the marvelous transparency of the + water a fuller advantage than it has elsewhere on the Lake. We + usually pushed out a hundred yards or so from the shore, and + then lay down on the thwarts in the sun, and let the boat + drift by the hour whither it would. We seldom talked. It + interrupted the Sabbath stillness, and marred the dreams the + luxurious rest and indolence brought. The shore all along was + indented with deep, curved bays and coves, bordered by + narrow sand-beaches; and where the sand ended, the steep + mountain-sides rose right up aloft into space--rose up like + a vast wall a little out of the perpendicular, and thickly + wooded with tall pines. + + So singularly clear was the water, that where it was only + twenty or thirty feet deep the bottom was so perfectly + distinct that the boat seemed floating in the air! Yes, where + it was even _eighty_ feet deep. Every little pebble was + distinct, every speckled trout, every hand's-breadth of sand. + Often, as we lay on our faces, a granite bowlder, as large as + a village church, would start out of the bottom apparently, + and seem climbing up rapidly to the surface, till presently + it threatened to touch our faces, and we could not resist the + impulse to seize an oar and avert the danger. But the boat + would float on, and the bowlder descend again, and then we + could see that when we had been exactly above it, it must have + been twenty or thirty feet below the surface. Down through + the transparency of these great depths, the water was not + _merely_ transparent, but dazzlingly, brilliantly so. All + objects seen through it had a bright, strong vividness, not + only of outline, but of every minute detail, which they + would not have had when seen simply through the same depth of + atmosphere. So empty and airy did all spaces seem below + us, and so strong was the sense of floating high aloft + in mid-nothingness, that we called these boat-excursions + "balloon-voyages." + + We fished a good deal, but we did not average one fish a + week. We could see trout by the thousand winging about in the + emptiness under us, or sleeping in shoals on the bottom, but + they would not bite--they could see the line too plainly, + perhaps. We frequently selected the trout we wanted, and + rested the bait patiently and persistently on the end of his + nose at a depth of eighty feet, but he would only shake it off + with an annoyed manner, and shift his position.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These extracts are made from Mark Twain's copyrighted +works by especial arrangement with his publishers, Harper & Bros., +New York.] + + + + +CHAPTER B + +MARK TWAIN AND THE FOREST RANGERS + + +In a quarterly magazine published solely for the Rangers of the Tahoe +Reserve, one of the Rangers thus "newspaperizes" Mark's experiences +in two different sketches, one as it was in 1861 "before" the +establishment of the Reserve, and the other as it would be "now." + + +AS IT WAS IN 1861 + + _Extract from January Harper's_.--Mark Twain heard that + the timber around Lake Bigler (Tahoe) promised vast wealth + which could be had for the asking. He decided to locate a + timber claim on its shores. He went to the Lake with a young + Ohio lad, staked out a timber claim, and made a semblance of + fencing it and of building a habitation, to comply with the + law. They did not sleep in the house, of which Mark Twain + says: "It never occurred to us for one thing, and besides, it + was built to hold the ground, and that was enough. We did not + wish to strain it." + + They lived by their camp-fire on the borders of the Lake and + one day--it was just at nightfall--it got away from them, + fired the Forest, and destroyed their fence and habitation. + His picture of the superb night spectacle--the mighty mountain + conflagration--is splendidly vivid. + + "The level ranks of flame were relieved at intervals by the + standard-bearers, as we called the tall dead trees, wrapped in + fire, and waving their blazing banners a hundred feet in the + air. Then we could turn from the scene to the Lake and see + every branch and leaf, and cataract of flame upon its banks + perfectly reflected, as in a gleaming, fiery mirror. The + mighty roaring of the conflagration, together with our + solitary and somewhat unsafe position (for there was no one + within six miles of us), rendered the scene very impressive." + +AS IT WOULD BE NOW + + _Press Dispatch_,--_August_ 15, 1912. + + MARK TWAIN FIRES FOREST! ! ! + + NOTED HUMORIST CHARGED BY FOREST OFFICERS WITH CRIMINAL + CARELESSNESS + + Mark Twain and a friend from Ohio, who have been camping on + Lake Tahoe, are responsible for a Forest fire which burned + over about 200 acres before it was checked by Forest + officers. The fire was sighted at 6 o'clock P.M. by one of the + coöperative patrolmen of the Crown Columbia Paper Company, who + at once telephoned to the tender of the Launch 'Ranger' for + help. Within an hour the launch was on the scene with a dozen + men picked up at Tahoe City, and by 10 o'clock the fire was + practically under control. + + Twain and his friend were found spell-bound by the Rangers, at + the impressiveness of the fire. After fighting it for several + hours, however, its grandeur palled upon them, and at the + present time they are considerably exercised inasmuch as + it was ascertained that the fire was a result of their + carelessness in leaving a camp-fire to burn unattended. It is + extremely likely that the well-known humorist will find the + penalty attendant to his carelessness, no "joking" matter. + +To which I take the liberty of adding the following: + +SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS + + From the _Nevada City Bulletin_, Sept. 6, 1912. + + Samuel L. Clemens (popularly known as Mark Twain), together with + Silas Snozzlebottom, of Columbus, Ohio, was to-day arraigned + before Justice Brown, of the Superior Court, charged with having + caused a destructive fire by leaving his campfire unattended. The + eminent humorist and author was evidently unaware of the + seriousness of his offense for he positively refused to engage an + attorney to defend him. When called upon to plead he began to + explain that while he confessed to lighting the fire, and leaving + it unattended, he wished the Judge to realize that it was the act + of God in sending the wind that spread the flames that caused the + destructive fire which ensued. The Judge agreed with him, and + then grimly said it was a similar act of God which impelled him + to levy a fine of $500.00 and one month in jail for leaving his + campfire subject to the influence of the wind. The humorist began + to smile "on the left," and expressed an earnest desire to argue + the matter out with the Judge, but with a curt "Next Case!" Mark + was dismissed in charge of an officer and retired "smiling a + sickly smile," and though he did not "curl up on the floor," it + is evident that the subsequent proceedings interested him no + more. + + + + +CHAPTER C + +THOMAS STARR KING AT LAKE TAHOE + + +In 1863 Thomas Starr King, perhaps the most noted and broadly honored +divine ever known on the Pacific Coast, visited Lake Tahoe, and on +his return to San Francisco preached a sermon, entitled: "Living +Water from Lake Tahoe." Its descriptions are so felicitous that I am +gratified to be able to quote them from Dr. King's volume of Sermons +_Christianity and Humanity_, with the kind permission of the +publishers, Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston, Mass. + + LIVING WATER FROM LAKE TAHOE + + When one is climbing from the west, by the smooth and + excellent road, the last slope of the Sierra ridge, he + expects, from the summit of the pass, which is more than seven + thousand feet above the sea, higher than the famous pass of + the Splugen, or the little St. Bernard, to look off and down + upon an immense expanse. He expects, or, if he had not learned + beforehand, he would anticipate with eagerness, that he should + be able to see mountain summits beneath him, and beyond these, + valleys and ridges alternating till the hills subside into + the eastern plains. How different the facts that await the + eye from the western summit, and what a surprise! We find, on + gaining what seems to be the ridge, that the Sierra range + for more than a hundred miles has a double line of jagged + pinnacles, twelve or fifteen miles apart, with a trench or + trough between, along a portion of the way, that is nearly + fifteen hundred feet deep if we measure from the pass which + the stages traverse, which is nearly three thousand feet deep + if the plummet is dropped from the highest points of the snowy + spires. + Down into this trench we look, and opposite upon the eastern + wall and crests, as we ride out to the eastern edge of the + western summit. In a stretch of forty miles the chasm of it + bursts into view at once, half of which is a plain sprinkled + with groves of pine, and the other half an expanse of level + blue that mocks the azure into which its guardian towers + soar. This is Lake Tahoe, an Indian name which signifies "High + Water." We descend steadily by the winding mountain-road, more + than three miles to the plain, by which we drive to the shore + of the Lake; but it is truly Tahoe, "High Water." For we stand + more than a mile, I believe more than six thousand feet above + the sea, when we have gone down from the pass to its sparkling + beach. It has about the same altitude as the Lake of Mount + Cenis (6280 feet) in Switzerland, and there is only one sheet + of water in Europe that can claim a greater elevation (Lake + Po de Vanasque, 7271 feet). There are several, however, that + surpass it in the great mountain-chains of the Andes and of + Hindustan. The Andes support a lake at 12,000 feet above + the sea, and one of the slopes of the Himalaya, in Thibet, + encloses and upholds a cup of crystal water 15,600 feet above + the level of the Indian Ocean, covering an area, too, of 250 + square miles. I had supposed, however, that within the + immense limits of the American Republic, or north of us on the + continent, there is no sheet of water that competes with Tahoe + in altitude and interest. But in Mariposa County of our State + there are two lakes, both small,--one 8300 feet, and the other + 11,000 feet,--on the Sierra above the line of the sea. + + To a wearied frame and tired mind what refreshment there is in + the neighborhood of this lake! The air is singularly searching + and strengthening. The noble pines, not obstructed by + underbrush, enrich the slightest breeze with aroma and music. + Grand peaks rise around, on which the eye can admire the + sternness of everlasting crags and the equal permanence + of delicate and feathery snow. Then there is the sense of + seclusion from the haunts and cares of men, of being upheld + on the immense billow of the Sierra, at an elevation near the + line of perpetual snow, yet finding the air genial, and the + loneliness clothed with the charm of feeling the sense of the + mystery of the mountain heights, + the part of a chain that link the two polar seas, and of the + mystery of the water poured into the granite bowl, whose rim + is chased with the splendor of perpetual frost, and whose + bounty, flowing into the Truckee stream, finds no outlet into + the ocean, but sinks again into the land. + + Everything is charming in the surroundings of the mountain + Lake; but as soon as one walks to the beach of it, and surveys + its expanse, it is the color, or rather the colors, spread out + before the eye, which holds it with greatest fascination. + I was able to stay eight days in all, amidst that calm + and cheer, yet the hues of the water seemed to become more + surprising with each hour. The Lake, according to recent + measurement, is about twenty-one miles in length, by twelve or + thirteen in breadth. There is no island visible to break + its sweep, which seems to be much larger than the figures + indicate. And the whole of the vast surface, the boundaries of + which are taken in easily at once by the range of the eye, is + a mass of pure splendor. When the day is calm, there is a ring + of the Lake, extending more than a mile from shore, which is + brilliantly green. Within this ring the vast center of the + expanse is of a deep, yet soft and singularly tinted blue. + Hues cannot be more sharply contrasted than are these + permanent colors. They do not shade into each other; they lie + as clearly defined as the course of glowing gems in the wall + of the New Jerusalem. It is precisely as if we were looking + upon an immense floor of lapis lazuli set within a ring of + flaming emerald. + + The cause of this contrast is the sudden change in the depth + of the water at a certain distance from shore. For a mile or + so the basin shelves gradually, and then suddenly plunges + off into unknown depths. The center of the Lake must be a + tremendous pit. A very short distance from where the water is + green and so transparent that the clean stones can be seen on + the bottom a hundred feet below, the blue water has been + found to be fourteen hundred feet deep; and in other portions + soundings cannot be obtained with a greater extent of line. + + What a savage chasm the lake-bed must be! Empty the water from + it and it is pure and unrelieved desolation. And the sovereign + loveliness of the water that fills it is its color. The very + savageness of the rent and fissure is made the condition + of the purest charm. The Lake does not feed a permanent river. + We cannot trace any issue of it to the ocean. It is not, that + we know, a well-spring to supply any large district with + water for ordinary use. It seems to exist for beauty. And its + peculiar beauty has its root in the peculiar harshness and + wildness of the deeps it hides. + + Brethren, this question of color in nature, broadly studied, + leads us quickly to contemplate and adore the love of God. If + God were the Almighty chiefly,--if he desired to impress us + most with his omnipotence and infinitude, and make us bow with + dread before him, how easily the world could have been made + more somber, how easily our senses could have been created to + receive impressions of the bleak vastness of space, how easily + the mountains might have been made to breathe terror from + their cliffs and walls, how easily the general effect of + extended landscapes might have been monotonous and gloomy! If + religion is, as it has so often been conceived to be, + hostile to the natural good and joy which the heart seeks + instinctively,--if sadness, if melancholy, be the soul of + its inspiration, and misery for myriads the burden of its + prophecy,--I do not believe that the vast deeps of space above + us would have been tinted with tender azure, hiding their + awfulness; I do not believe that storms would break away into + rainbows, and that the clouds of sunset would display the + whole gamut of sensuous splendor; I do not believe that the + ocean would wear such joy for the eye over its awful abysses; + I do not believe that the mountains would crown the complete, + the general loveliness of the globe. + +The eloquent preacher then continues to draw other lessons from the +Lake, but, unfortunately, our space is too limited to allow quotation +in full. The following, however, are short excerpts which suggest the +richness of the fuller expression: + + The color of the Lake is a word from this natural Gospel. It + covers the chasms and wounds of the earth with splendor. It is + what the name of the lovely New Hampshire lake, Winnepesaukee + indicates, "The Smile of the Great Spirit." + + And this color is connected with purity. The green ring + of the Lake is so brilliant, the blue enclosed by it is so + deep and tender, because there is no foulness in the water. + The edge of the waves along all the beach is clean. The + granite sand, too, often dotted with smooth-washed jaspers and + garnets and opaline quartz, is especially bright and spotless. + In fact, the Lake seems to be conscious, and to have an + instinct against contamination. Several streams pour their + burden from the mountains into it; but the impurities which + they bring down seem to be thrown back from the lip of the + larger bowl, and form bars of sediment just before they can + reach its sacred hem. Dip from its white-edged ripples, or + from its calm heart, or from the foam that breaks over its + blue when the wind rouses it to frolic, and you dip what is + fit for a baptismal font,--you dip purity itself. + + * * * * * + + The purity of nature is the expression of joy, and it is a + revelation to us that the Creator's holiness is not repellent + and severe. God tries to win you by his Spirit, which clothes + the world with beauty, to trust him, to give up your evil that + you may find deeper communion with him, and to recognize the + charm of goodness which alone is harmony with the cheer and + the purity of the outward world. + + I must speak of another lesson, connected with religion, + that was suggested to me on the borders of Lake Tahoe. It is + bordered by groves of noble pines. Two of the days that I was + permitted to enjoy there were Sundays. On one of them I passed + several hours of the afternoon in listening, alone, to the + murmur of the pines, while the waves were gently beating the + shore with their restlessness. If the beauty and purity of the + Lake were in harmony with the deepest religion of the Bible, + certainly the voice of the pines was also in chord with it. + + * * * * * + + I read under the pines of Lake Tahoe, on that Sunday + afternoon, some pages from a recent English work that raises + the question of inspiration. Is the Bible the word of God, + or the words of men? It is neither. It is the word of God + breathed through the words of men, inextricably intertwined + with them as the tone of the wind with the quality of the + tree. We must go to the Bible as to a grove of evergreens, not + asking for cold, clear truth, but for sacred influence, for + revival to the devout sentiment, for the + breath of the Holy Ghost, not as it wanders in pure space, but + as it sweeps through cedars and pines. + + * * * * * + + In my Sunday musing by the shore of our Lake, I raised the + question,--Who were looking upon the waters of Tahoe when + Jesus walked by the beach of Gennesareth? Did men look upon + it then? And if so were they above the savage level, and could + they appreciate its beauty? And before the time of Christ, + before the date of Adam, however far back we may be obliged + to place our ancestor, for what purpose was this luxuriance + of color, this pomp of garniture? How few human eyes have yet + rested upon it in calmness, to drink in its loveliness! There + are spots near the point of the shore where the hotel stands, + to which not more than a few score intelligent visitors + have yet been introduced. Such a nook I was taken to by a + cultivated friend. We sailed ten miles on the water to the + mouth of a mountain stream that pours foaming into its + green expanse. We left the boat, followed this stream by its + downward leaps through uninvaded nature for more than a mile, + and found that it flows from a smaller lake, not more than + three miles in circuit, which lies directly at the base of + two tremendous peaks of the Sierra, white with immense and + perpetual snow-fields. The same ring of vivid green, the same + center of soft deep blue, was visible in this smaller mountain + bowl, and it is fed by a glorious cataract, supported by + those snow-fields, which pours down in thundering foam, at one + point, in a leap of a hundred feet to die in that brilliant + color, guarded by those cold, dumb crags. + + Never since the creation has a particle of that water turned a + wheel, or fed a fountain for human thirst, or served any form + of mortal use. Perhaps the eyes of not a hundred intelligent + spirits on the earth have yet looked upon that scene. Has + there been any waste of its wild and lonely beauty? Has Tahoe + been wasted because so few appreciative souls have studied + and enjoyed it? If not a human glance had yet fallen upon it, + would its charms of color and surroundings be wasted charms? + + * * * * * + + Where we discern beauty and yet seclusion, loveliness and yet + no human use, we can follow up the created charm to + yet the mind of the Creator, and think of it as realizing a + conception or a dream by him. He delights in his works. To the + bounds of space their glory is present as one vision to his + eye. And it is our sovereign privilege that we are called to + the possibility of sympathy with his joy. The universe is + the home of God. He has lined its walls with beauty. He has + invited us into his palace. He offers to us the glory of + sympathy with his mind. By love of nature, by joy in the + communion with its beauty, by growing insight into the wonders + of color, form, and purpose, we enter into fellowship with the + Creative art. We go into harmony with God. By dullness of eye + and deadness of heart to natural beauty, we keep away from + sympathy with God, who is the fountain of loveliness as well + as the fountain of love. But the inmost harmony with the + Infinite we find only through love, and the reception of his + love. Then we are prepared to see the world aright, to find + the deepest joy in its pure beauty, and to wait for the hour + of translation to the glories of the interior and deeper + world. + + + + +CHAPTER D + +JOSEPH LECONTE AT LAKE TAHOE + + +Joseph LeConte, from whom LeConte Lake is named, the best-beloved +professor of the University of California, and its most noted +geologist, in the year 1870 started out with a group of students of +his geology classes, and made a series of _Ramblings in the High +Sierras_. These were privately printed in 1875, and from a copy +given to me many years ago by the distinguished author, I make the +following extracts on Lake Tahoe: + + _August_ 20, (1870). I am cook to-day. I therefore got + up at daybreak and prepared breakfast while the rest enjoyed + their morning snooze. After breakfast we hired a sail-boat, + partly to fish, but mainly to enjoy a sail on this beautiful + Lake. + + Oh! the exquisite beauty of this Lake--its clear waters, + emerald-green, and the deepest ultramarine blue; its pure + shores, rocky or cleanest gravel, so clean that the chafing of + the waves does not stain in the least the bright clearness of + the waters; the high granite mountains, with serried peaks, + which stand close around its very shore to guard its crystal + purity,--this Lake, not _among_, but _on_, the + mountains, lifted six thousand feet towards the deep-blue + overarching sky, whose image it reflects! We tried to fish for + trout, but partly because the speed of the sail-boat could + not be controlled, and partly because we enjoyed the scene far + more than the fishing, we were unsuccessful, and soon gave + it up. We sailed some six or eight miles, and landed in a + beautiful cove on the Nevada side. Shall we go in swimming? + Newspapers in San Francisco say there is something peculiar + in the waters of this high mountain Lake. It is so light, they + say, that logs of timber sink immediately, and bodies + of drowned animals never rise; that it is impossible to swim + in it; that, essaying to do so, many good swimmers have + been drowned. These facts are well attested by newspaper + scientists, and therefore not doubted by newspaper readers. + Since leaving Oakland, I have been often asked by the young + men the scientific explanation of so singular a fact. I have + uniformly answered, "We will try scientific experiments when + we arrive there." That time had come. "Now then, boys," I + cried, "for the scientific experiment I promised you!" I + immediately plunged in head-foremost and struck out boldly. I + then threw myself on my back, and lay on the surface with + ray limbs extended and motionless for ten minutes, breathing + quietly the while. All the good swimmers quickly followed. It + is as easy to swim and float in this as in any other water. + Lightness from diminished atmospheric pressure? Nonsense! In + an almost incompressible liquid like water, the diminished + density produced by diminished pressure would be more than + counterbalanced by increased density produced by cold. + + After our swim, we again launched our boat, and sailed out + into the very middle of the Lake. The wind had become very + high, and the waves quite formidable. We shipped wave after + wave, so that those of us who were sitting in the bows got + drenched. It was very exciting. The wind became still + higher; several of the party got very sick, and two of them + _cascaded_. I was not in the least affected, but, on + the contrary, enjoyed the sail very much. About 2 P.M. we + concluded it was time to return, and therefore tacked about + for camp. + + The wind was now dead ahead, and blowing very hard. The boat + was a very bad sailer, and so were _we_. We beat up + against the wind a long time, and made but little headway. + Finally, having concluded we would save time and patience by + doing so, we ran ashore on the beach about a mile from camp + and towed the boat home. The owner of the boat told us that + _he_ would not have risked the boat or his life in the + middle of the Lake on such a day. "Where ignorance is bliss," + etc. + + After a hearty supper we gathered around the fire, and the + young men sang in chorus until bedtime. "Now then, boys," + cried I, "for a huge camp-fire, for it will be cold tonight!" + We all scattered in the woods, and every man returned with a + log, and soon the leaping blaze seemed to overtop the pines. + We all lay around, with our feet to the fire, and soon sank + into deep sleep. + + _August 21_. Sunday at Tahoe! I wish I could spend it + in perfect quiet. But my underclothes must be changed. + Cleanliness is a Sunday duty. Some washing is necessary. Some + of the party went fishing to-day. The rest of us remained in + camp and mended or washed clothes. + + At 12 M. I went out alone, and sat on the shore of the Lake, + with the waves breaking at my feet. How brightly emerald-green + the waters near the shore, and how deeply and purely blue + in the distance! The line of demarcation is very distinct, + showing that the bottom drops off suddenly. How distinct the + mountains and cliffs all around the Lake; only lightly tinged + with blue on the farther side, though more than twenty miles + distant! + + How greatly is one's sense of beauty affected by association! + Lake Mono is surrounded by much grander and more varied + mountain scenery than this; its waters are also very clear, + and it has the advantage of several very picturesque islands; + but the dead volcanoes, the wastes of volcanic sand and ashes + covered only by interminable sagebrush, the bitter, alkaline, + dead, slimy waters, in which nothing but worms live; the + insects and flies which swarm on its surface, and which are + thrown upon its shore in such quantities as to infect the + air,--all these produce a sense of desolation and death + which is painful; it destroys entirely the beauty of the lake + itself; it unconsciously mingles with and alloys the pure + enjoyment of the incomparable mountain scenery in its + vicinity. On the contrary, the deep-blue, pure waters of Lake + Tahoe, rivaling in purity and blueness the sky itself; its + clear, bright emerald shore-waters, breaking snow-white on its + clean rock and gravel shores; the Lake basin, not on a plain, + with mountain scenery in the distance, but counter-sunk in + the mountain's top itself,--these produce a never-ceasing and + ever-increasing sense of joy, which naturally grows into love. + There would seem to be no beauty except as associated with + human life and connected with a sense of fitness for human + happiness. Natural beauty is but the type of spiritual beauty. + Enjoyed a very refreshing swim in the Lake this afternoon. + The water is much less cold than that of Lake Tenaya or the + Tuolumne River, or even the Nevada River. + + The party which went out fishing returned with a very large + trout. It was delicious. + + I observe on the Lake ducks, gulls, terns, etc., and about it + many sandhill cranes--the white species, the clanging cry of + these sounds pleasant to me by early association. + + _August 22_. Nothing to do to-day. Would be glad to sail + on the Lake or fish, but too expensive hiring boats. Our funds + are nearly exhausted. Would be glad to start for home, but + one of our party--Pomroy--has gone to Carson City, and we must + wait for him. + + I went down alone to the Lake, sat down on the shore and + enjoyed the scene. Nothing to do, my thoughts to-day naturally + went to the dear ones at home. Oh! how I wish they could be + here and enjoy with me this lovely Lake! I could dream away my + life here with those I love. How delicious a dream! Of all the + places I have yet seen, this is the one I could longest enjoy + and love the most. Reclining thus in the shade, on the clean + white sand, the waves rippling at my feet, with thoughts of + Lake Tahoe and of my loved ones mingling in my mind, I fell + into a delicious doze. After my doze I returned to camp, to + dinner. + + About 5 P.M. took another and last swim in the Lake. + + Pomroy, who went to Carson, returned 7 P.M. After supper, + again singing in chorus, and then the glorious campfire. + + + + +CHAPTER E + +JOHN VANCE CHENEY AT LAKE TAHOE + + +One of America's poets who long lived in California, and then, after +an honorable and useful sojourn as Director of one of the important +libraries of the East, returned to spend the remainder of his +days--John Vance Cheney--in 1882, made the trip to Lake Tahoe by stage +from Truckee, and, among other fine pieces of description, wrote the +following which appeared in _Lippincott's_ for August, 1883: + + One more ascent has been made, one more turn rounded, and + behold, from an open elevation, close upon its shore, Lake + Tahoe in all its calm beauty bursts suddenly upon the sight. + Nestled among the snowy summit-peaks of the Sierra Nevada, + more than six thousand feet above sea-level, it lies in + placid transparency. The surrounding heights are all the more + pleasing to the eye because of their lingering winter-cover; + and as we gaze upon the Lake, unruffled by the + gentlest breeze, we marvel at the quiet,--almost + supernatural,--radiancy of the scene. Lakes in other lands + may present greater beauty of artificial setting,--beauty + dependent largely upon picturesqueness, where vineyards and + ivied ruins heighten the effect of natural environment,--but + for nature pure and simple, for chaste beauty and native + grandeur, one will hesitate before naming the rival of Lake + Tahoe. This singularly impressive sheet of water, one of + the highest in the world, gains an indescribable but + easily-perceived charm by its remoteness, its high, serene, + crystal isolation. Its lights and shades, its moods and + passions, are changing, rapid, and free as the way of the + wind. + + A true child of nature, it varies ever, from hour to hour + enchanting with new and strange fascination. The thousand + voices of the lofty Sierra call to it, and it answers; all the + colors of the rainbow gather upon it, receiving in their turn + affectionate recognition. Man has meddled with it little more + than with the sky; the primeval spell is upon it, the hush, + the solitude of the old gods. The breath of powers invisible, + awful, rouse it to the sublimity of untamable energy; again, + hush it into deepest slumber. Night and day it is guarded, + seemingly, by wonder-working forces known to man only through + the uncertain medium of the imagination. The traveler who + looks upon Lake Tahoe for a few hours only learns little of + its rich variety. Like all things wild and shy, it must be + approached slowly and with patience. + + But our sketch must not include more than the hasty glimpses + of a day. The stage conveyed us directly to the wharf, which + we reached at ten o'clock, having accomplished our fourteen + mile ride up the valley in about two and a half hours. As we + boarded the little steamer awaiting us and looked over its + side into the water below, the immediate shock of surprise + cannot be well described. Every pebble at the bottom showed as + distinctly as if held in the open hand. We had all seen clear + water before, but, as a severe but unscholarly sufferer once + said of his rheumatism, "never such as _these_." The + day being perfect, no breeze stirring, and the Lake without + a ripple, the gravelly bottom continued visible when we had + steamed out to a point where the water reached a depth of + eighty feet. Two gentlemen on board who had made a leisurely + trip round the world and were now on their way home to + England, remarked that they had seen but one sheet of water + (a lake in Japan) of anything like equal transparency. It is + presumed that they had not visited Green Lake, Colorado. + + Our course lay along the California shore, toward its southern + extremity, the steamer stopping at several points for exchange + of mail. These stopping places are all summer-resorts, where + the guests, snugly housed at the base of the mountain-range, + divide the time between lounging or rambling under the shadow + of the tall pines and angling for the famous Tahoe trout in + the brightness of the open Lake. All looked inviting, but we + were not wholly enchanted until, + gliding past many a snowy peak, we suddenly changed course + and put into Emerald Bay. This little bay, or rather lake in + itself, about three miles in length, is the gem of the Tahoe + scenery. Through its narrow entrance, formed by perpendicular + cliffs some two thousand feet high, we moved on toward an + island of rock and a succession of flashing waterfalls beyond. + + * * * * * + + For a time the dazzling mountain-crests and glistening gorges + absorbed attention. So high, white, silent! We longed to + be upon the loftiest one, from the top of which can be seen + thirteen charming little mountain-lakes, midair jewels, + varying in feature according to the situation. Two of these + lakes, widely dissimilar in character, are but two miles + distant from Tallac House, a comfortable resort at the base of + the noble peak from which it takes its name. + + But not even the crystal summit ridges delighted us as did + the changing waters in the path of the steamer. Following + immediately upon the transparency preserved to a depth of some + eighty feet, a blur passed over the surface. This changed + by imperceptible degrees to a light green. The green, again, + speedily deepened, shading into a light blue; and finally, + in deepest water (where the Lake is all but fathomless), the + color becomes so densely blue that we could not believe our + eyes. Indigo itself was outdone. Description fails; the blue + deep of Tahoe must be seen to be appreciated. + + * * * * * + + The ride from Glenwood back to Tahoe City was not so calm. The + Lake was considerably agitated; less so, however, than on + the following day, when, as we learned afterward, our little + steamer lost its rudder. Owing to the gorges in the mountains + upon either side, through which winds rush unexpectedly, Tahoe + has her dangers. She is a wild, wayward child, but thoroughly + lovable throughout all her frowns as well as smiles, equally + captivating in her moments of unconquerable willfulness as in + her seasons of perfect submission. Reaching Tahoe City at four + o'clock, we found the stage standing in readiness, and, with + a last, hasty look at the Lake, we were soon on our way by the + banks of the Truckee, back to town. + + + + +CHAPTER F + +THE RESORTS OF LAKE TAHOE + + +In the body of this book I have given full account of some of the +resorts of the Tahoe region, including Deer Park Springs, Tahoe +Tavern, Fallen Leaf Lodge, Cathedral Park, Glen Alpine Springs, +Al-Tahoe, Lakeside, Glenbrook and Carnelian Bay. + +But these are by no means all the resorts of the Bay, and each year +sees additions and changes. Hence I have deemed it well briefly to +describe those resorts that are in operation at the time this volume +is issued. + +It should be remembered that each resort issues its own descriptive +folder, copies of which may be obtained from the ticket offices of the +Southern Pacific Railway, the Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation +Company, or the Peck-Judah Information Bureau, as well as from its +own office. All the resorts not already described in their respective +chapters are reached by steamer on its circuit around the Lake, as +follows: + +HOMEWOOD + +The first place for the steamer after leaving the Tavern is Homewood, +a comparatively new resort, but already popular and successful, +conducted by Mr. and Mrs. A.W. Jost. This is six miles from Tahoe +City. The hotel was built in 1913 and has hot and cold water piped to +all rooms. + +In addition there are cottages of two and three rooms, which, together +with single and double tents, provide for every taste and purse. The +tents are protected by flies, have solid boarded floors, are well +carpeted, and afford the fullest opportunity for out-door sleeping. +Homewood possesses a gently sloping and perfectly safe bathing +beach for adults and children. It also boasts a unique feature in +an open-air dancing platform, with old-fashioned music. It owns +its power-boat for excursions on the Lake, and its fleet of row-and +fishing-boats. A campfire is lighted nightly during the season, and +song and story cheer the merry hours along. + +For circulars address A.W. Jost, Homewood, Lake Tahoe, Calif. + +MCKINNEY'S + +Three and a half to four miles beyond Homewood is McKinney's. This +is one of the oldest and best-established resorts on the Lake, having +been founded and long conducted by that pioneer of Lake Tahoe, J.W. +McKinney, as fully related elsewhere. It is now under the management +of Murphy Brothers and Morgan, and is essentially a place that is +popular with the crowd. The resort was built, as are all the +older places, to meet ever-increasing needs, the main hotel being +supplemented by numerous cottages and tents. McKinney's has a fine new +dancing-hall, dark-room for amateur photographers, iron and magnesia +springs, fleet of fishing- and motor-boats, free fishing-tackle, etc., +and during the season its accommodation for two hundred guests is more +than taxed to the limit. + +For circular address Murphy Brothers and Morgan, McKinney's, Lake +Tahoe, Calif. + +MOANA VILLA + +The next steamer stopping-place, about two hundred yards from +McKinney's is Moana Villa, the comfortable, unpretentious and homelike +resort conducted by Mr. and Mrs. R. Colwell, who are also the owners +of Rubicon Springs, reached by daily stage during the summer season, +nine miles from McKinney's. + +Owning its own ranch in the mountains where milk, cream, butter, eggs, +poultry and game are plentiful, the table at Moana Villa is provided +with all the substantials and luxuries, cooked and served in home +style. + +One great advantage is offered to guests at Moana Villa, viz.: they +may divide their time between it and Rubicon Springs, as both are +under the same ownership and management. + +The new Scenic Automobile Boulevard passes through the 700 acres of +delightful surroundings which belong to the place. The best fishing +grounds on Lake Tahoe are close by and numerous smaller mountain lakes +and streams afford excellent fly fishing. Deer, bear, grouse, quail, +ducks, geese and other game abound in the locality. + +Hunting, fishing, bathing, boating, dancing, launch trips, beautiful +walks and drives and numerous games give ample opportunity for +amusement and recreation. The assembly hall and office is of logs. +Sleeping accommodations in cottages and tents or out of doors if +desired. Water is piped from a clear mountain spring, and an equipment +of up-to-date sanitary plumbing, bath and toilet appliances has been +lately installed. + +For circular address R. Colwell, Moana Villa, Lake Tahoe, Calif. + + * * * * * + +POMIN'S + +A little beyond Moana Villa is Pomin's, the latest acquisition to +the resorts of the Lake, having been opened in 1914. The hotel is an +attractive, well-equipped, up-to-date structure, located on a knoll +150 feet from the Lake, and is surrounded by pines. Enclosed verandas, +open fires in lobby and dining-rooms, electric lights, hot and +cold water in all the rooms, tents and cottages are some of the +conveniences and luxuries. + +There is an attractive club-house on the Lake Shore. For circular +address Frank J. Pomin, Pomin's, Lake Tahoe, Calif. + +Emerald Bay Camp and Al-Tahoe have both been described in their +respective chapters. + + * * * * * + +TALLAC + +As explained in Chapter XVIII, Tallac House was built by E.J. (Lucky) +Baldwin. For many years it was the principal hotel on the Lake, but +what was a fine and superior hotel 25 years ago did not satisfy the +demands of modern patrons. Hence some years ago Mr. Baldwin planned to +erect a new hotel near the site of the old one. Unfortunately the work +was not much more than begun when he died and nothing has been done to +it since. + +The hotel is now under the management of a San Francisco firm. + + * * * * * + +PINE FOREST INN + +Built, as its name implies, in a pine grove of trees, this is one +of the older resorts of the Lake. It is unique in that it keeps open +throughout the year. Like the rest of the resorts of its class it +has hotel and dining-room with cottages and tents. Under its new +management a new casino has been built, and every room and cottage, +etc., equipped with electric lights. Especial attention is given to +camping-, fishing-, and hunting-parties. It is on the State Highway +between Placerville and Carson City, Nevada, and therefore makes all +provision for automobilists. + +For circular address Lawrence & Comstock, Pine Forest Inn, Tallac +P.O., Calif. + + * * * * * + +CAMP BELL + +Located between Al Tahoe and Bijou is Camp Bell, conducted by Russell +W. Bell. The camp consists of tents and an open-air dining-room. + +For circular address Russell W. Bell, 128 Edgewood Ave., San +Francisco, Calif. + + * * * * * + +BIJOU INN + +This is another well-known Inn and Camp at the southeastern end of +the Lake. It is on the Lake Shore Drive near to the State Highway and +close to Freel's and the other mountain peaks of this group. The +beach in front of Bijou is of clean white sand, with a gentle slope, +offering excellent facilities for bathing. + +For circular address W.F. Conolley, Bijou, Lake Tahoe, Calif. + + * * * * * + +Lakeside Park and Glenwood have each been described in their +respective chapters. + + * * * * * + +BROCKWAYS + +This old-established and popular hot-springs resort is on the north +end of the Lake, beautifully situated on State-Line Point between +Crystal and Agate Bays. The hot springs and mineral swimming-pool here +have a tested quality which thousands of guests can testify to, and +they are annually patronized by a large number. The resort and springs +are under the management of the owner. + +For circular, address F.B. Alverson, Brockways, Lake Tahoe, Calif. + + * * * * * + +TAHOE VISTA + +On the shores of Agate Bay a new resort was started two years ago, +known as Tahoe Vista. It has a modern hotel, equipped for convenience +and comfort. + +Bathing, boating and fishing in Agate Bay at Tahoe Vista is at its +best. The white sanded beach is broad and is safe to the smallest +child, the bay being shallow for a distance of five hundred feet +from its edge and affording a temperature to the water that is more +pleasant than to be found at any other part of the Lake. + +The fame of Lake Tahoe's trout fishing is world renowned, and in +Agate Bay that sport is superior. One of the public fish hatcheries +is located near Tahoe Vista, insuring a constant supply of the most +favored varieties of game fish. Twenty-five thousand Eastern brook +trout were recently placed in Griff Creek, a lively little stream that +dances through the glens of Tahoe Vista. + +To those who wish to own their own homes on the Lake Tahoe Vista +affords excellent opportunities in that lots are for sale at moderate +rates. A direct automobile road connects with Truckee, and also with +Tahoe Tavern. + +For circular address Manager Hotel, Tahoe Vista, Calif. + + * * * * * + +Carnelian Bay and its attractions are fully described in its own +chapter. + + * * * * * + +TAHOE CITY + +This is the starting and the ending point of the steamer trip around +the Lake. It is a historic place, the first town founded on Lake +Tahoe, and destined ultimately to come into large importance. There is +a small hotel, together with housekeeping cottages, and free camping +facilities. + +For full particulars address Tahoe Development Co., Tahoe, Calif. + + + + +INDEX + +Titles of Books are in _Italics_. + +Book chapters are in SMALL CAPITALS. + +(q)=quoted. + +Agassiz Peak +Agate Bay +Alleghany +Alpha +Alpine Spruce +Alta +AL TAHOE +Alverson, F.B. +_American Journal of Science and Art_ + River (see N. & S. Forks) +Anderson Peak +Angel, Myron +Angora Range + Lakes +ANIMALS AND BIRDS OF T. REGION +Antelope Valley +Armstrong, Mrs. +Auburn +Audrian Lake +AUTOMOBILE ROUTE, THE WISHBONE + +Baldwin, E.J. +Bannister, L.H. +Barker's Peak, Pass., etc. +Basketry Indian +Bath +Bear +Bear Creek + Lake + River Divide + Valley +Bell, Camp +Bigelow, R.L.P. +Bigler, Lake Tahoe Named +Bijou +BIRDS AND ANIMALS OF T. REGION +Bixby Lake +Blackwood Creek +Bliss and Yerington +Bloody Canyon Glacier +Bloomfield, North +Blue Canyon +Blue Jays +Boating +Boca +Bonpland, Amadé +Bricknell & Kinger +Brockways +Brown, Sam +Browning, R. (q) +Buck Island Lake +Burton + Creek + +California Ditch +Camino +Camping, Free + CAMPING OUT TRIPS IN T. REGION +Campoodie, Indians +CARNELIAN BAY AND T. COUNTRY CLUB +Carson City + Falls + Kit + Pass + River + Sink +Cascade Lake + Glacier +Castle Peak +Cathedral Peak + Park +Cave Rock +Cedar, Incense +Celios +Central Pacific Ry. +Chandler, Miss Katherine +CHAPARRAL OF T. REGION +Chase, Smeaton (q) +Cheney, John Vance (q) +Chipmunk +Chips Flat +Church, J.E., Jr., (q) + "Pap" +Cisco +Claraville +Clement, Ephraim +Coburn Station (see Truckee) +Cohn, A. +Cold Stream +Cole, D.W. +Coleman Valley +Colfax +Colgate +Columbia River +Colwell, R. +Comstock Lode +Conolley, W.F. +_Conroy, Gabriel_ +Country Club, Tahoe +Crags, The +Creeks of Lake T. +Crystal Bay + Range + +Dalles of Columbia River +Damascus +Dat-so-la-le +Deer Creek + PARK SPRINGS +Delano, L.P. +Desolation Valley +Devil's Playground + Pulpit +De Young, M.H. +Diamond Springs +Dick, Capt. +Digger Pine +Donner + Creek + George + Jacob + LAKE + Glacier + Road. +Downieville +Dubliss, Mt. + Dutch Flat + Swindle + +Eagle Bird + Creek + Falls + Lake + Point +Echo + Lakes +Edgewoods +Edith Peak +Edmonds, Mark W. +El Dorado + Forest +Elevations +Ellis, Jock + Peak +Emerald Bay + AND CAMP + Freezes + Glacier + How Formed + Island + Legend of +Emigrant Gap + Road +Erosion, Glacial +Esmeralda Falls +Essex + +Fallen Leaf Glacier + LAKE + Lodge +Fir, Red + Shasta + White +Fire, How Indians Got +Fish, Hatchery +FISHING IN TAHOE LAKES +Five Lakes + Creek +Floriston +Flower Display +FLOWERS OF TAHOE REGION +Folsom +Forest + _Conditions in Sierra Nevada_ (q) + Hill Divide + Rangers + TAHOE NATIONAL +Freel's Peak +Freeport +Freezing of Lake Tahoe +FRÉMONT AND THE DISCOVERY OF TAHOE + Discovers Pyramid Lake + Truckee River + Explorations + HOWITZER AND LAKE T. +Fulda +Fulton, R.L. + +Gardnerville, Legend of +General Creek + Electric Co. +Genoa Peak +GEOLOGY OF LAKE TAHOE +Georgetown Deltas + Divide + Junction +Ghirardelli's Chocolate + Gilmore Lake + Nathan +GLACIAL HISTORY OF T. REGION + Lake Valley +Glen Alpine Canyon + Falls + SPRINGS +GLENBROOK +Gold Run +Goodyear's Bar +Granite Chief Peak +Graniteville +Grant's Crackers +Grass Valley +Grecian Bay +Greek George +Grizzly Gulch + Peak +Grove, The + +Hale, Fort +Hangtown +Harte, Bret +Hastings, Lansford W. +Hay Press Meadows +Hazlett, Mr. +Heather Lake +Hell Hole + Little +Hellman, I. +_Heroes of California_ +Hickey, Frances A. +Highland Peak +HISTORIC TAHOE TOWNS +Hobart Mills +Holladay, Ben +Homewood +Honey Lake +Hope Valley +Hopkins, Sarah W. +Horlich's Tablets, &c. +HOWITZER, Frémont AND TAHOE +Humboldt River +Hunsaker Bros. +Hydraulic Mines + +Illinoistown (see Colfax) +Incense Cedar +Incline +Independence +Indestructo Trunk +INDIANS OF LAKE TAHOE + How originated + LEGENDS OF T. REGION +_Innocents Abroad_ (q) +Iowa Hill + +Jackson, An Indian +Jepson, W.L. (q) +Job's Peak + Sister Peak +Jost, A.W. +Juniper, Western + +Kent Ranger Station +King, Killed + THOS. STARR AT L. TAHOE +Kingsbury Grade +King's Canyon +Klaraet Lake +Knight, Wm. H. (q) +Knox +Knoxville +Kohl, C.F. +Kyburgs + +Lake, Hank Richards' + of the Sky, Why the + of the Woods + Pyramid (see Pyramid) + Spaulding + Tahoe (see Tahoe) + Origin of + Valley + Glacier +LAKES, LESSER OF T. REGION +LAKESIDE PARK +Lassen, Mt. +Last Chance +Latham, Capt. W.W. +Lavas +Lawrence & Comstock +LECONTE, JOHN, PHYSICAL STUDIES + JOSEPH AND GLACIAL STUDIES + AT TAHOE + Lake +LEGENDS, INDIAN, OF T. REGION +Leiberg, John B. (q) +Lemmon, J.G. (q) +Level of Tahoe, Variations in +Lewis River +Lick, James +Lily Lake +Lincoln, Mt. +Lindgren (q) +Lion Peak +_Lippincott's_ (q) +Logging +Lola, Mt. +Lonely Gulch +Loon Lake +Los Angeles +Lover's Leap +Lucile Lake +Lumbering +Lyell, Mt. + +McConnell, Mary +McGlashan, C.F. + Nonette V. +McKinney +McKinstry Peak +Madden, Dick, Creek +Maggie's Peaks +Markleeville +Marlette, Lake + Peak + S.H. +Martis Valley +Mary's Lake +Marysville + Buttes +Meadow Lake Mines +Meek's Bay +Mer de Glace +Meteor +Michigan Bluff +Mildred, Mt. +Miller Creek + Joaquin (q) +Mineral Springs +MINING EXCITEMENT, SQUAW VALLEY +Moana Villa +Modjeska Falls +Mono Indians + Lake +Monona Flat +Monument Peak +Moody, Chas. A. (q) + Moraines +Mountains of Calif, (q) + of T. Region +Muir, John +Murphy Bros, and Morgan +Murphy, Virginia Reed +Myers' Station + +NAMES, VARIOUS OF L. TAHOE +Napoleon's Hat +Nevada City + History of +Neve +Newcastle +North Bloomfield + Fork Am. River + +OBSERVATORY, MT. ROSE + Point +Ogden +Omega +Overland Monthly (q) + +Pacific Gas & Electric Co. + House +Painti Indians +Parsons, Miss +Phillips +Phipps Creek +Peak +PHYSICAL STUDIES OF L. TAHOE +Pine, Digger + Finger Cove + Forest Inn + Jeffrey + Sugar + White + Yellow +Pino Grande (see The Grove) +Placerville + Road +Pleasant Lake +Pluto, Mt. +Pomin, Capt. + Wm. +Pomin's +Pray, Capt. A.W. +Preuss, Companion of Frémont +Price, W.W. +Mrs. W.W. +Prosser Creek +Puberty Dance +PUBLIC USE OF WATERS OF L. TAHOE +Pyramid Lake + Discovered + Named + Peak + +Quaker Hill + +RAIL, TO LAKE TAHOE +Ramsay, Mrs. John. L. +Rangers Forest + Station, Kent +Raymond Peak +Reclamation Service, U.S. +Red Peak +Reed, James T. +Reid, W.T. +Reno + Water & Electric Co. +Richards', Hank, Lake +Richardson's Auto Stage + Richardson, Barton + Peak +Rivers of Tahoe +Riverton +Roads in Tahoe Forest +Robinson, L.L. +Rock Bound Lakes +Rose, Mt., Flowers of + OBSERVATORY +_Roughing It_ (q) +Round Mound + Top +Rowlands +Rubicon Park + Peaks + Point + River + SPRINGS + Road + +Sacramento + River + Valley + Railroad +Salmon Trout River +Sallie, Princess +Salter, Nelson I. +San Buenaventura River +Sand Mtn. +San Francisco + Joaquin Valley +Scott Bros. +_Seiches_ on Lake Tahoe +Sequoia Gigantea +Shaffer's Mills +Shakspeare Rock, +Shank's Cove +Shasta Fir +Shasta Mtn. +Shingle Springs +Shooting the Chutes +Sierra Valley +_Silva of Calif_. +Silver Mtn. +Smith, J.W., on Frémont's Diary + Flat +Snow Shoe Thompson + Valley Peak +Snyder killed +Soda Spring +Southern Pacific Ry. +South Fork, American R. +Spaulding, Lake +Spider Lake +Sportsman's Hall +Spruce, Alpine +Squaw Peak + Valley + MINING EXCITEMENT +Stanford, Gov. (Steamer) +Starved Camp +State Line House +STEAMER AROUND L. TAHOE +Strawberry +Sugar Loaf + Pine Point +SUMMER RESIDENCE, L. TAHOE FOR +Summit + Valley +Sumpter, Fort +_Sunset Mag_. +Susan (Indian) +Susie Lake +Sutter's Fort +Swimming at Tahoe +Swinging Bridges + +Tahoe City + Country Club + and S.F. Waterworks +TAHOE, LAKE, AND TRUCKEE RIVER + AUTOMOBILE ROUTE, WISHBONE + AS A SUMMER RESIDENCE + BIRDS AND ANIMALS OF + Boating at + Boulevard + BY STEAMER AROUND + CAMPING OUT TRIPS + CHAPARRAL OF T. REGION + CHENEY, J.V., AT + Climate of + Colors of + Depth of + Discovery of + Drowned do not rise at + Feeders of + FISHING AT + FLOWERS OF + FRÉMONT AND THE DISCOVERY OF + GEOLOGY OF + GLACIAL HISTORY OF + How FORMED + HUNTING AT + INDIANS OF + INDIAN LEGENDS OF + KING, THOS. STARR, AT + LECONTE, JOSEPH, AT + LECONTE'S PHYSICAL STUDIES OF + Levels, Variations of + MARK TWAIN AT + Mountains of + Names + NATIONAL FOREST + Never freezes + Origin of + Peculiarities of + Physical Culture at + PUBLIC USE OF WATERS OF + RAIL TO + Railway and Transp. Co. + Restfulness of + Rivers of + Significance of name + Size of + Swimming in + Temperature of + Transparency of + Trees of + TRUCKEE RIVER AND + Variations of Level + VARIOUS NAMES OF + WHY "LAKE OF THE SKY" + WINTER AT + TAVERN + TOWNS, HISTORIC + Vista +Tallac + House + Mt. +Tevis, W.S. +Thompson Peak + Snow Shoe +Tinker Knob +Tlamath Lake (see Klamat) +Tobogganing +Todd's Valley +Towle +TOWNS, HISTORIC TAHOE +TRAIL TRIPS IN T. REGION + Hell Hole + Rubicon River +TREES OF T. REGION +Trolling +Trout, Varieties of +Truckee (Indian) + (Town) + Canyon Glacier + Little River +Twain, Mark +Twelve Mile Creek + +Van Sickle +Velma Lakes +Verdi +Virginia City +Von Schmidt, A.W. + +Wadsworth +Ward Creek + Peak + Valley +Washoe Indians +WATER, PUBLIC USES OF TAHOE +Watson Canyo + Lake + Mtn. + Robt., Dedication +Webber Lake +Whisky Creek +White Pine +Wigwam Inn +Winnemucca + Sarah +Wisconsin Hill +Woods, Lake of the +Wright, Wm. + +Yankee Jim +Yanks +Yerington & Bliss +Yew +You Bet +Yuba + Forest Reserve + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lake of the Sky, by George Wharton James + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAKE OF THE SKY *** + +***** This file should be named 13170-8.txt or 13170-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/7/13170/ + +Produced by Ronald Holder and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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