Part 8
The lake receives the waters of fifty-one creeks and brooks, the largest of which is the Upper Truckee, which falls in at the south end. It also receives the aqueous contributions of almost innumerable ravines, gorges, and canyons. It drains an area of over 500 square miles, composed largely of lofty mountains on which the snow falls to a depth of many feet, and by the melting of which the numerous streams are fed. There are also many living springs on the sides of the surrounding mountains, with a great number (both hot and cold) along the shores of the lake, and doubtless a much larger number deep beneath its surface. The only outlet of the lake is the Truckee River, at its northwest corner. This outlet, which forms the head of the Truckee River, is fifty feet in width, has an average depth of five feet, and a velocity of six feet a second, making the discharge 123,120,000 cubic feet in twenty-four hours, in early spring when the snow in the mountains is rapidly melting.
Since it was first seen by white men the lake has been given several different names. Tahoe is popularly supposed to be a Washoe Indian word, that means “big water.” Some say the word means “deep water,” “clear water,” “elevated water,” or “bright water.” The Washoe Indians themselves say they know nothing about the word. Fremont saw it in 1844, and simply called it “Mountain Lake.” It was once mapped as “Lake Bonpland,” and in 1859 was mapped by Dr. Henry De Groot as “Lake De Groot.” It was also once known as “Lake Bigler,” being so named by some in honor of a Democratic Governor of California, and the name is still used by some of the strait-laced among the Democracy. Tahoe, whatever it may mean, is a name now so universally acknowledged and so firmly fixed that it is not likely that it will ever be supplanted by any other.
Lake Tahoe is surrounded on all sides by mountains that have an elevation of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above its surface. Mount Tallac towers to a height of 11,000 feet above the level of the sea; Pyramid Peak, 10,000; Monument Peak, 10,000; Rubicon Peaks, fifteen miles west of the lake, 9,284; Job’s Peak, 10,637; Sand Mountain, back of Rowland’s, 8,747 feet; and Bald Mountain, Mount Pluto, Mount Anderson, Old Hat, Mount Ellis, Barker’s Peak, Table Mountain, the Cliffs, the Needles, and many other peaks, rise to a height of over 8,000 feet. On all sides great old peaks stand about gazing down forever upon their reflected images in the lake below. It is a grand convocation of mountains, a convention of granite peaks, gray and ancient. In a circle about the lake stand pine-clad mountains, snow-clad mountains, and unclad mountains that are merely stupendous piles of granite—granite cathedrals piled up by nature for the delectation of those of her votaries that ever gladly worship at her shrine.
In places towering rocks stand quite near the water, and around the shores are so many bays and inlets, so many jutting points and tongues of land, that there is a constant change of views—an endless succession of either grand or picturesque effects. A single cliff—as Shakespeare Rock—seen from different points and distances, takes a dozen different shapes, and so of all prominent capes and caves. The distance round the shores of the lake is 144 miles, and may be said to represent that many miles of landscape panorama of unrivaled beauty and grandeur. Volumes have already been written descriptive of the wonders and the beauties of Lake Tahoe, and innumerable volumes will still be written as the ages pass, yet to comprehend the place it must be seen and _felt_.
It speaks well for Lake Tahoe that its beauties are appreciated and prized by persons living near by in California and Nevada, and that it is a favorite place of summer resort with the people everywhere on the Pacific Coast. In the Bible it is said: “A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house,” and the same may generally be said of celebrated natural objects, but it is different in the case of Tahoe—the grand and picturesque scenery of the lake is admired and esteemed at home. It is not only looked upon as being a great sanitarium of the Pacific Coast, but also as a grand store-house of all the delights of mountain scenery. In Tahoe the careworn and debilitated find a cure for both mind and body.
The water of the lake is as cold and pure as that of the best living springs, and it possesses wonderful charms—almost the transparency of the atmosphere. Near the shore, when shallow, it is of an emerald green here; in deep water, in the sunshine, it is of an ultramarine tinge, and in the shade an indigo blue. Tossing, distant, deep water in certain lights assumes tints of purple and violet, with beautiful flashes of ruby. Seated in a boat on the lake in a calm, one may see the stones and pebbles at the bottom, with trout cruising about, where the sounding line shows seventy-five feet of water. The whole dome of the sky, with every fleecy cloud, is there perfectly reflected. We are midway between the heavens above and the heavens below, gently rocking upon the waving veil of blue that separates the two firmaments.
It is difficult to swim in the lake. Some have supposed this to be on account of the great elevation and reduced atmospheric pressure on the water, rendering the lake less buoyant than bodies of fresh water at sea level. This, however, is a mistake. Water is only very slightly compressible. The great purity of the water of course renders it less dense than that of lakes holding minerals in solution, but it is the coldness of the water and the variety of the atmosphere that render swimming difficult and laborious.
The bodies of persons drowned in the lake (unless very near shore) are never again seen. The bodies of no fewer than ten or twelve white men are known to lie at the bottom of the lake; and no doubt among them lie the skeletons of not a few Indians. The lake is in some respects treacherous and dangerous. It is subject to sudden and heavy squalls. Fierce gusts of wind at times rush down the big canyons, and, striking the water, cause it to boil like a pot. These squalls are liable to capsize a sail-boat. Unless an experienced boatman be of the party, it is best to have the sail in hand, that it may be let go in a moment. The squalls generally plunge down the canyons and gorges on the west side of the lake.
The route of the passenger steamers round the lake is near the shores. These are in some places rocky and in others level. In the mountain gorges and on the ridges are pines and various other evergreen trees, but down near the edge of the water are small groves of quaking asp, willow, and other trees of deciduous foliage.
At the Hot Springs is a good hotel, bathing houses, and other accommodations. At Tahoe City will also be found good hotels, boats, fishing tackle, and all such little sporting supplies as the visitor is likely to require. McKinney’s, at Sugar Pine Point, on the west side of the lake, is a popular place of resort and possesses many attractions. At Glenbrook, on the east side of the lake, are good hotel accommodations, and there may also be had boats, fishing tackle, and all ordinary supplies. In many charming nooks and valleys around the shores are hotels and cottages for the accommodation of visitors.
Emerald Bay.
Emerald Bay.—One of the most beautiful spots about Lake Tahoe is Emerald Bay. It is the gem of the place. The bay is situated at the south end of the lake. It is 2½ miles long and 1¼ wide, nearly as large as Donner Lake. The entrance to it is through a channel less than 200 yards in width, but containing a depth of water sufficient to float a man-of-war. Emerald Bay is surrounded by grand and picturesque mountains, the peaks of which are 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, and some of which rise precipitously to a height of 4,000 feet above the surface of the bay. The water is nearly always of a beautiful emerald green. In the bay is a rocky and romantic little island of about three acres, on which is a handsome little cottage. On the island is a tomb excavated in the rock by an old boatman known as “Captain Dick.” Captain Dick fondly hoped that this tomb would be his last resting-place, but his body lies at the bottom of the lake. In October, 1873, his boat was capsized in a furious squall, and Captain Dick was never seen again.
Emerald Bay, with 519 acres of surrounding land, belongs to the estate of the late Dr. P. T. Kirby, of Virginia City, who at the time of his death was about to build a fine and commodious hotel. Before his death, however, he had built over a dozen neat cottages. Heretofore, owing to lack of accommodations there, many tourists have failed to visit this bay, the most beautiful nook about the lake, but it will now at once become a favorite haunt of all lovers of the grand, picturesque, and beautiful. The island is a little gem, and has about it a style that gives it almost the appearance of being a toy constructed by a landscape gardener. It has been very appropriately named “Coquette Island.” It rises to a height of about 200 feet above the surface of the bay. At the south end of the bay are the “Lovers’ Falls.” These falls are high up on the side of a steep and rocky mountain. They are on a small creek which makes many leaps down perpendicular terraces of rock. The falls are supposed to have been the favorite tryst of a Digger chief and his Washoe lady-love.
Fallen Leaf Lake.
Fallen Leaf Lake.—This lake lies one mile south of Lake Tahoe, and about three miles south of Emerald Bay. It is a beautiful sheet of water two miles in length and a mile in width. It has an outlet into Lake Tahoe.
Silver Lake.
Silver Lake.—Silver Lake is a perfect little beauty in its way, but is seldom visited; as it lies high on the side of a mountain which is covered with chaparral. It is about half as large as Fallen Leaf Lake, from which it is distant two miles in a northwest direction.
Cornelian Bay.
Cornelian Bay.—This bay lies north of Tahoe City, and has a smooth, pebbly beach, where are found agates, cornelians, and jasper of several colors. To sail along the shore the distance from Tahoe City is seven miles.
Agate Bay.
Agate Bay.—Agate Bay is a place similar to that just described. It lies a short distance west of the Hot Springs.
Crystal Bay.
Crystal Bay.—This beautiful cove forms the extreme north end of Lake Tahoe. It lies northeast of Hot Springs.
Shakespeare Rock.
Shakespeare Rock.—In sailing round the lake from Tahoe City to Glenbrook several picturesque rocky points, studded with stately pines, will be seen, also Shakespeare Rock, which is a cliff towering high above the level of the lake. On the face of this cliff are seen ridges, fissures, and patches of color which at a distance resolve themselves into the likeness of the face of the immortal dramatist.
Cave Rock.
Cave Rock is passed before reaching Glenbrook. It is about 300 feet in height and seen from the deck of the steamer, towers upward like the castle of some “Blue Beard” giant of the Sierras. It has in its face a yawning cavern some 80 feet in depth. In this dark cave one might suppose the giant to live.
Glenbrook.
Glenbrook is on the east side of the lake near a large cave. Here are several large saw-mills, owned by Yerington, Bliss & Co., which manufacture an immense quantity of all kinds of lumber. The mills are furnished with electrical lights. The mill company have here a narrow-gauge railroad nine miles in length, which carries their lumber and timber to the flumes at the top of the mountain (Eastern Summit), whence it is floated down to the valley near Carson City.
Cascade Mountain.
Cascade Mountain, at the south end of the lake, is 9,500 feet in height. Near it are beautiful cascades, and from the top are to be seen a number of small lakes, and much wild and grand mountain scenery.
Rubicon Springs.
Rubicon Springs, which lie just over the Western Summit of the Sierras, are easily reached by a good stage road from McKinneys’. Here, on the headwaters of the Rubicon River, is some of the most charming scenery to be found anywhere in the mountains. There are innumerable nooks, in which the disposition and proportions of water, foliage, and rugged granite rocks is such that all would seem to have been arranged for the special delectation of the artist and the lover of nature. The water of the springs at this place possesses wonderful curative powers. No invalid ever left them with a feeling of disappointment, however highly they might have been recommended to him.
Besides the places named there are scores of nooks and corners, cliffs, streams, fountains, canyons, and gorges that are not even honored with a name, which in almost any other part of the world would be lauded to the skies, and which would attract swarms of visitors from great distances. There is not a spot about the lake that would not astound the dweller in the prairies of the West were he placed before it.
Routes to Lake Tahoe.
THE ROUTE FROM TRUCKEE.
Persons in California, or tourists bound East, who wish to visit Tahoe will leave the Central Pacific at Truckee. The distance to the lake is but fourteen miles, over a good stage-road, which passes along up the Truckee River, amid grand and beautiful scenery. High, rocky, and picturesque mountains wall in the gorge through which winds the river and the road, and on all sides are groves of stately pines. In places where the walls recede from the stream are charming little nooks, valleys, and meadows. Indeed, at every turn in road and river new beauties are disclosed.
There are fresh surprises on every furlong of the road from Truckee to Tahoe City, which town is situated at the outlet of the lake which forms the Truckee River. At Tahoe City will be found good hotels and accommodations of all kinds. Here, too, will be found in waiting a steamer to carry the visitor round the lake to Glenbrook, passing near the principal points of interest on the way, or to make the circuit of the lake. While to follow every projection and indentation of the shore-line would require a sail of 144 miles, a circuit of about 75 miles carries the visitor sufficiently near for a satisfactory view of the more charming and picturesque points.
Below are given the distances from Tahoe City to the principal points around the lake on the route usually taken by the steamers:—
Distances from Tahoe City.
Miles.
Tahoe City to McKinney’s 7 Sugar-Pine Point 9 Emerald Bay 16 Tallac Mountain and Hotel 20 Rowlands 24 Glenbrook _via_ Rowlands 34 Glenbrook, direct 14 Cornelian Bay 7½ Observatory 2½ Hot Springs 10 Round the lake 75
On his arrival at Glenbrook, the tourist that came _via_ Truckee will find stages in waiting to carry him to Carson City, where he will take the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to the Central Pacific at Reno.
The Route from Reno.
The traveler from the East who wishes to view the wonders of Tahoe in passing across the continent, or to see the Comstock Silver Mines, will leave the Central Pacific at Reno, allowing his baggage to go on to his point of destination in California. The Virginia and Truckee will then take him to Carson City, a distance of thirty-one miles to the southward, passing through an interesting region all the way.
At Carson stages for Lake Tahoe will be found in waiting. The distance from Carson to Tahoe is fourteen miles. The road is fine, and the mountain scenery wild and beautiful. In passing up Clear Creek Canyon, the tourist will travel for a considerable distance alongside the big lumber flume of the Carson and Tahoe Lumber Company. This flume is in the shape of the letter V. It has a length of twenty-one miles. Through it runs a small stream of water, and a stick of timber, billet of wood, or piece of lumber dropped into the V-shaped trough at the summit at once darts away at race-horse speed, and very shortly thereafter is dumped at the wood and lumber yard at Carson. In one day may thus be sent down the flume 700 cords of wood, or 500,000 feet of mining timbers. Hank Monk, the famous stage-driver who for a long time drove over this piece of road, and who once “hurled” Horace Greeley from the summit of the Sierras down into Placerville, is now dead, and lies buried at Carson City.
On arriving at Glenbrook, the traveler will find ready a steamer which will take him round Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City, whence he will take a stagecoach fourteen miles down the Truckee River to the Central Pacific, at the town of Truckee.
The Town of Truckee.
Truckee is situated in a heavily-timbered basin, lying between the two ridges, or summits, of the Sierras. In this basin is contained an area of over 250 square miles of as fine pine forest as is to be found in the mountains. The town is the center of a great and flourishing lumbering industry, and immense quantities of ice are each winter harvested and stored in the immediate vicinity. In 1883 it was estimated that the forests of Truckee Basin contained 5,000,000,000 feet of lumber, and that 50,000,000 feet might be cut every year for 100 years. The town has an elevation of 5,866 feet, or over a mile above the level of the sea, yet for eight months of the year the climate is pleasant. Where the town now stands was formerly “Coburn’s Station,” on the old Dutch Flat wagon-road. The place was named Truckee, and began to build up in 1865, with the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad at that point. It is a brisk and thriving place, and, besides its lumber and ice industries, has a good trade with an extensive farming and grazing region. It is wonderful that so large a town exists as is now seen, in view of the fact that since 1868 it has seven times been swept by terrible fires, and by two or three of these it was, in different years, almost wiped out of existence.
Donner Lake.
This beautiful little sheet of water is but three miles from the town of Truckee, and is reached by a delightful drive over a smooth and level road. Donner Lake is about three miles long and from a mile to a mile and a half wide. It is about 200 feet in depth in the deepest place, and lies at an elevation of 5,938 feet above the level of the sea. It has for feeders several sparkling trout-brooks, and has an outlet called Donner Creek, which is an affluent of the Truckee River. The lake is full of trout of the same species as are found in Lake Tahoe, with minnows of several kinds, known as “chubs” and “white fish.” It is a safe and beautiful lake on which to row or sail. As regards the matter of safety it may be set down as the “family lake” of the mountains—is as reliable and devoid of tantrums as the old “family mare.” The lake is surrounded with grand old mountains. Lake Ridge, to the southward, rises to the height of 8,234 feet, and its lower part is covered with pine and other evergreen trees. To the west rise huge, bare granite mountains. The track of the Central Pacific Railroad runs along the side of the ridge to the southward, and presently disappears in a tunnel under the bald mountains in the west. Owing to the track being covered with snow-sheds, passengers get only occasional glimpses of the lake.
At the upper and lower ends of the lake are patches of meadow land, groves of pine and tamarack, and handsome clumps of willow and quaking asp. Donner is a favorite place of resort for camping parties from Nevada and California. There are grand views in all directions. Artists here find constant use for their sketching tools. A fine picture of the lake was painted by Bierstadt in 1872. He chose the month of August for his picture.
The Donner Disaster.
At the foot of the lake is the scene of the sufferings of the Donner party. The spot is marked by a tall wooden cross. At this little mountain-begirt lake, in October, 1846, arrived a party of emigrants (mostly from Illinois), under the leadership of George Donner. There were with the train seventy-six men, women, and children. That winter the snow fell a month earlier than usual, and in a single night the party found themselves overwhelmed, caught in a _cul-de-sac_. It was impossible to attempt the mountains when the snow in the lower ground about the lake was so deep that the wagons could not be moved; besides, it snowed without ceasing. In one night, when their cattle were scattered about, snow fell to such a depth as to completely cover and hide them from sight. It was then decided to build cabins and winter on the spot. Being short of provisions, they at once killed all the cattle they could find, using the hides to roof the cabins. In December all provisions were exhausted, and parties were sent out one after another to reach California and there make known the condition of those left in the camp. Most of those thus sent out perished, but finally one or two persons reached Sutter’s Fort, at Sacramento. The first relief parties failed, and it was not until February that a party reached the starving people of the camp. These, meantime, had been reduced to such extremity as to cook and eat the raw hides covering their cabins and the bones thrown away earlier in the season. Toward the last there was at least one instance of cannibalism. Of the seventy-six persons but forty survived, some perishing in the mountains (where the snow was thirty feet deep) in trying to get through to California, and others dying in the cabins. Those found in the cabins were mere skeletons. A thick volume would be required to give a full account of all the sufferings and trials of the ill-fated Donner party. It was a disaster that shocked all California for years, and which created a profound sensation of horror and pity throughout the whole United States. The history of what occurred at Donner Lake that winter has never been fully written, and never will be, as there were happenings that the survivors were never willing to talk about.
Surrounding Points of Interest.
Donner Peak, to the west of the lake, a towering pile of granite, rises to a height of 8,154 feet above the level of the sea, and Glacial Point, in the same direction, is 7,708 feet in height. Fremont’s Peak—sometimes called Castle Peak, or Mount Stanford—towers in the northwest to the height of 9,237 feet above sea level. It is seen about four miles north of Summit Station. At this peak heads Pioneer Creek. From its granite pinnacle, on a clear day may be seen the Downieville Buttes, Marysville Buttes, the Coast Range, and many mountains and valleys in California; and looking eastward, Mount Davidson, the sinks of the Carson and Humboldt, are seen, with many other mountains and deserts. Near Summit are about a dozen small lakes, some of them charming both in themselves and in their surroundings of rocks and trees.
Independence Lake.