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 "Fremont's Flagpole," though it is doubtful whether it was ever used by Fremont 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.



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 cooeperative 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.

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Carnelian Bay and its attractions are fully described in its own chapter.

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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, Amade 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 FREMONT 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, Fremont 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 Fremont 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 Fremont'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 FREMONT 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

THE END