CHAPTER XXXVII

LAKE TAHOE IN WINTER

Lake Tahoe is an ideal winter resort for the red-blooded. For the Viking and the near Viking; for the man and the woman who, for the very exhilaration of it, seek the bracing air and the snow-clad forests, Lake Tahoe is as charming in winter as in summer, and far grander. There is the same water—in morning placid, in afternoon foam-flecked, on days of storm tempestuous. The Lake never freezes; not even a film of ice fringes its edge. Sunny skies and warm noons and the Lake's own restlessness prevent. Emerald Bay alone is sometimes closed with ice, but more often it is as open as the outer Lake. Even the pebbles glisten on the beach as far back as the wash of the waves extends.

But beyond the reach of the waves a deep mantle of white clads the forests and caps the distant peaks. The refuse of the forests, the dusty roads, and the inequalities of the ground are all buried deep. A smooth, gently undulating surface of dazzling white has taken their place.

The forest trees are laden with snow—each frond bears its pyramid and each needle its plume of white. The fresh green of the foliage and the ruddy brown of the bark are accentuated rather than subdued by their white setting. But as the eye travels the long vista of ascending and retreating forest, the green and the brown of the near-by trees fade gradually away until the forest becomes a fluffy mantle of white upon the distant mountain side. Above and beyond the forest's utmost reaches rise the mountain crags and peaks, every angle rounded into gentle contours beneath its burden of snow.

Along the margin of the Lake appear the habitations and works of men deeply buried and snow-hooded until they recall the scenes in Whittier's Snow Bound.

The lover of the Lake and its bird life will miss the gulls but will find compensation in the presence of the wild fowl—the ducks and the geese—that have returned to their winter haunts.

Lake Tahoe is remarkably adapted as a winter resort for three prime reasons: first, it is easily accessible; second, no place in the Sierra Nevada, excepting not even Yosemite, offers so many attractions; third, it is the natural and easy gateway in winter to the remote fastnesses of the northern Sierra.

Among the attractions preeminently associated with Lake Tahoe in winter are boating and cruising, snow-shoeing and exploring, camping for those whose souls are of sterner stuff, hunting, mountain climbing, photography, and the enjoyment of winter landscape. Fishing during the winter months is prohibited by law.

If one asks where to go, a bewildering group of trips and pleasures appears. But there come forth speedily from out the number a few of unsurpassed allurement. These are a ski trip from Tallac to Fallen Leaf Lake to see the breakers and the spray driven by a rising gale against the rock-bound shore, and, when the lake has grown quieter, a boat ride to Fallen Leaf Lodge beneath the frowning parapets of Mount Tallac. Next a ski trip up the Glen to the buried hostelry at Glen Alpine, where one enters by way of a dormer window but is received to a cheerful fire and with royal hospitality.

Then under the skillful guidance of the keeper, a day's climb up the southern face of Mount Tallac for an unrivalled panoramic view from its summit and a speedy but safe glissade back to the hostelry far, far below.

And if the legs be not too stiff from the glissade, a climb over the southern wall of the Glen to Desolation Valley and Pyramid Peak, whence can be seen the long gorge of the Rubicon. The thousand lakes that dot this region present no barrier to one's progress, for they are frozen over and lie buried deep beneath the snow that falls here in an abundance hardly exceeded elsewhere in the Tahoe region.

A close rival of these is the climb from Rubicon Park up the stately range in its rear to visit the mountain hemlock, the graceful queen of the high mountain, and to gaze across the chasm at the twin crags beyond.

And peer of them all, though requiring but little exertion, is a trip to Brockway to enjoy the unrivalled view of the "Land's End" of the Lake and catch the colors of the pansies that are still in bloom in a niche of the old sea wall. If one possess the artist's mood, he will add thereto a boat ride round State Line Point in the lazy swell of the evening sea beneath the silent pine-clad cliffs, while the moon, as beautiful as any summer moon, rides overhead. Only the carpet of snow and the film of ice that gathers from the spray upon the boat keeps one alive to the reality that the season is winter.

Finally a rowing trip along the western shore of the Lake with stops at pleasure en route. One can have weather to suit his taste, for the waters on this shore are safe in storm, and the barometer and the sky will give full warning long before the weather attains the danger point. The man who loves the breath of the storm and the glow of excitement will loose his boat from Tallac when the clouds swing down the canyon and speed forth borne, as it were, on the wings of the waves toward the distant foot of the Lake—past the black water wall where the waves of Emerald Bay sweep into Tahoe, through the frothy waters where the wind shifts and whips around Rubicon Point, over the white caps of Meek's Bay until by skillful maneuvering the jutting cape is weathered and quieter water is found in McKinney Bay. Full time there is, with the wind astern, to reach the river's mouth at Tahoe City, but the voyager who loves the woodland will tarry for a night in the dense fir forest of Blackwood, while his boat rides safely moored to the limb of a prostrate tree.

Regarding the eastern side of the Lake, the bald shore and jutting headlands, the fewness of the landing places, and the sweep of the waves make cruising in these waters a matter of supreme skill and farsightedness. Let the Viking learn with broad-beamed boat the mastery of the western shore before he turns his boat's prow to the east.

For the man of milder tastes the motorboat will suffice or the mail steamer, which plies the waters of Lake Tahoe twice a week.

In tobogganing, the hills and open meadows at Tahoe City and at Glenbrook will furnish royal sport for the devotee. Skating and ice-yachting must be sought in regions where the snow is less deep and the cold more intense.

Skiing is the chief method of locomotion in winter at the Lake and the novice soon becomes expert in the milder forms of the sport. Ski trails thread the forests at Tahoe City and radiate from every resort.

The open inns at Tahoe City and Glenbrook, and The Grove near Tallac and the resorts on Fallen Leaf Lake insure the traveler's comfort, while the hospitality of the caretakers at all of the resorts is proverbial. The question of when and how to go is naturally a leading one. During the months of November to April, two sledging services are furnished each thrice a week—one from Carson City to Glenbrook, the other from Truckee to Tahoe City. (The narrow gauge railway has also established a semi-weekly winter schedule.) The mail boat connects with the incoming sledges and train on Tuesday and Saturday. The route from Carson City, which crosses the heights of the Carson Range, affords a superb view of the Lake at sunset. The route from Truckee traverses the wooded canyon of the Truckee River, when scenically at its best.

The traveler who approaches the Lake by way of Glenbrook and leaves by way of the canyon of the Truckee will have an experience in winter travel both unique and replete with beautiful landscapes.

The journey from Truckee to the Lake can also be made on ski in one short day. It is an exhilarating trip, if one travels light. If one desires to tarry en route, he may carry his blankets and food on his back or haul them on a toboggan, and spend the night at the half-way station, known as Uncle Billy's.

The best time to visit the Lake is after the heaviest of the winter snows have fallen. The period of steady and heavy precipitation occurs in January. After this month is past, there are long periods of settled weather broken only occasionally by storms, which add to rather than detract from one's pleasure.

The special equipment requisite for winter trips to Tahoe is slight. The list includes goggles (preferably amber), German socks and rubbers, woolen shirt, sweater, short heavy coat, and mittens. For mountain climbing a pair of Canadian snowshoes should be added to the equipment; for traveling on the level, a pair of ski can be rented at Truckee or the Lake. If one desires to camp instead of stopping at the resorts around the Lake, a tent and waterproof sleeping bag should be procured.

The cost of transportation in winter is scarcely more than in summer. The sledge trip from either Truckee or Carson City to the Lake is $2.50, an amount only $1.00 in excess of the regular fare by rail. Board will cost no more than in summer.

Closely associated with Lake Tahoe as a center for winter sports is Truckee, the natural point of departure for the Lake. Here a winter carnival is held annually for the entertainment of outsiders. Among the chief sports are ski-racing and jumping and tobogganing. The toboggan course is two thousand feet long and has a fall of one-hundred fifty feet. A device is employed for drawing the toboggans back to the starting point. The hotel facilities are ample. Toboggans and ski can be rented for use here or at the Lake. Clothing and other winter outfits can be procured. Canadian snow-shoes, however, must be obtained in San Francisco.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

LAKE TAHOE AS A SUMMER RESIDENCE

One of the most marked differences that the traveler observes between the noted lakes of Europe and Lake Tahoe is the comparative dearth of homes, summer villas, bungalows, residences, on the latter. This is natural. California and Nevada are new countries. They have scarcely had time to "find themselves" fully as yet. It took a thousand years to people the shores of the European lakes as we find them to-day, and in due time Tahoe will assuredly come to its own in this regard. Indeed as John LeConte well wrote a number of years ago:

The shores of Lake Tahoe afford the most beautiful sites for summer residences. When the states of California and Nevada become more populous, the delicious summer climate of this elevated region, the exquisite beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the admirable facilities afforded for fishing and other aquatic sports, will dot the shores of this mountain Lake with the cottages of those who are able to combine health with pleasure. But it must be remembered that the prolonged severity of the winter climate, and especially the great depth of snowfall, render these elevated situations unfit for permanent residences. According to the observations of Dr. G.M. Bourne, during the winter of 1873-74, the aggregate snowfall near the shores of the Lake amounted to more than thirty-four feet. In fact, frequently there are not more than four months in the year in which the ground of the margin of the Lake is entirely free from snow. And the vast gorges which furrow the sides of the surrounding amphitheater of lofty mountain peaks are perpetually snow-clad. Hence, it is unreasonable to assume that many persons besides the wealthy will be able to enjoy the luxury of private residences here, which can be occupied only during the summer months of the year. Nevertheless, when the refinement and taste incident to the development of an older civilization shall have permeated the minds of the wealthy classes of citizens, this charming lake region will not only continue to be the favorite resort of tourists and artists, but will become, during the summer season, the abode of families whose abundant means enable them to enjoy the healthful climate, the gorgeous scenery, and the invigorating sports which lend an inexpressive charm to the sojourn on its shores.

Amidst the magnificent nature that surrounds this region, there should be an inspiration corresponding more or less with the grandeur of the aspect of the material world. The modifications impressed upon the moral and intellectual character of man by the physical aspects of nature, is a theme more properly belonging to those who have cultivated the æsthetic side of humanity. The poet and the artist can alone appreciate, in the fullness of their humanizing influence, the potent effects of these æsthetic inspirations. The lake districts in all Alpine countries seem to impress peculiar characteristics upon their inhabitants.

When quietly floating upon the placid surface of Lake Tahoe, the largest of the "Gems of the Sierra"—nestled, as it is, amidst a huge amphitheater of mountain peaks—it is difficult to say whether we are more powerfully impressed with the genuine childlike awe and wonder inspired by the contemplation of the noble grandeur of nature, or with the calmer and more gentle sense of the beautiful produced by the less imposing aspects of the surrounding scenery. On the one hand crag and beetling cliff sweeping in rugged and colossal massiveness above dark waves of pine and fir, far into the keen and clear blue air; the huge mantle of snow, so cumulus-like in its brightness, thrown in many a solid fold over ice-sculptured crest and shoulders; the dark cathedral-like spires and splintered pinnacles, half snow, half stone, rising into the sky like the very pillars of heaven. On the other hand the waving verdure of the valleys below, the dash of waterfalls, the plenteous gush of springs, the laugh and dance of brook and rivulet as they hurry down the plains. Add to this picture the deep repose of the azure water, in which are mirrored snow-clad peaks, as well as marginal fringes of waving forests and green meadows, and it is difficult to decide whether the sense of grandeur or of beauty has obtained the mastery of the soul.

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST

The Tahoe National Forest was first set apart by proclamation, September 17, 1906. Previous to this there had been the Tahoe and Yuba Forest Reserves which were established by proclamation under the acts of March 3, 1891, and June 4, 1897. The original Tahoe Forest Reserve consisted of six townships along the west side of Lake Tahoe. Part of this territory is now in the Tahoe and part in the El Dorado National Forest. Changes and additions were later made by proclamations of March 2, 1909, and July 28, 1910.

Although Lake Tahoe does not lie within any National Forest it is almost surrounded by the Tahoe and El Dorado Forests. There are a few miles of shore-line on the Nevada side in the vicinity of Glenbrook which are not within the National Forest Boundary.

The gross area of the Tahoe National Forest is 1,272,470 acres. Of this amount, however, 692,677 acres are privately owned. The El Dorado National Forest has a gross area of 836,200 acres with 284,798 of them in private hands. These privately owned lands are technically spoken of as "alienated lands."

The towns of Truckee, Emigrant Gap, Cisco, Donner, Fulda, Downieville, Sierra City, Alleghany, Forest, Graniteville, Goodyear's Bar, and Last Chance, as well as Tahoe City, are all within the Tahoe National Forest.

It is estimated that there are probably 350 people living on the Forest outside of the towns. These are principally miners or small ranch-owners living along the rivers in the lower altitudes.

Slowly but surely the people are awakening to the great value of the natural resources that are being conserved in the National Forests. In the Tahoe Reserve the preservation of the forest cover is essential to the holding of snow and rain-fall, preventing rapid run-off, thereby conserving much of what would be waste and destructive flood-water, until it can be used for irrigation and other beneficial purposes.

Many streams of great power possibilities rise and flow through the Tahoe Forest Reserve, such as the Truckee, Little Truckee, Yuba and American rivers. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Reclamation Service the Truckee General Electric Company uses the water that flows out of Lake Tahoe down the Truckee River for the development of power. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company, of San Francisco, controls the waters of the South Yuba river, and its Colgate plant is on the main Yuba, though it obtains some of its water supply from the North Yuba. Lake Spaulding, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, is a creation of this same company. It is situated near Emigrant Gap and is used for the development of power.

The Northern Water and Power Company controls the Bowman reservoir and a string of lakes on the headwaters of Canyon Creek, a branch of the South Yuba river. As yet its power possibilities are not developed.

Through the activities of these companies electricity and water for irrigation are supplied to towns and country regions contiguous to their lines, and they have materially aided in the development of the Sacramento Valley.

Only about five per cent. of the Reserve is barren land, and this is mostly situated at a high elevation above timber line. The tree growth is excellent, and under proper direction reproduction could be made all that any one could desire. Fully twenty per cent., however, of the present Reserve is covered with chaparral. Practically all of this originally was timbered. The chaparral has grown up because nothing was done at the proper time to foster reproduction over acres that had been cut. Systematic and scientific efforts are now being made to remedy this condition, the rangers being encouraged to study the trees, gather seeds from the best of their type, plant and cultivate them. Tree cutting is now so regular as to obtain by natural reproduction a second crop on the logged-over areas. Where natural reproduction fails planting is resorted to. Thus it is hoped, in time, to replant all the logged-over areas now owned by the government, serving the double purpose of conserving the water-supply and providing timber for the needs of the future. Much of the timber-land, however, of the Tahoe region, is patented to private owners. Little, if anything, is being done towards reforestation on these private tracts. Legal enactments, ultimately, may produce effective action along this needed line.

As has elsewhere been shown the world owes a debt of gratitude to the Tahoe region. Had it not been for the timber secured so readily from the Tahoe slopes the mining operations of Virginia City, Gold Hill and Dayton would have been seriously retarded and crippled. As it was the Tahoe trees were transferred as mining-timbers for propping up the immense and continuous excavations of that vast series of honey-combings underground, the products of which revivified the gold supply of the world.

Tahoe timber also has contributed much to the upbuilding of the towns and country farms on the whole upper Pacific Coast and interior regions of Northern California, and today much of its timber finds its way to San Francisco and other Pacific Coast markets.

At Floriston, on the Truckee River, a mill is in successful operation, using Tahoe fir for the making of paper. Red and white fir, which are practically useless for lumber, are found to make excellent wrapping and tissue papers, and thus, from being unremunerative products of our forests, become sources of income. After planing off the bark, the wood is made into small chips, about a half inch square, and an eighth of an inch thick. These chips are then "digested" by a process of mixing with acids and cooking, through which it becomes "wood pulp." Different processes produce different pulps, two of which are mixed together, allowed to flow out on a very fine wire screen nine feet wide, revolving at a rate of 300 feet a minute, with a "jigging" movement from side to side. This makes all the fibers lie flat. They are then sent through steel rollers, the water squeezed out, and finally carried over and around twenty-five revolving steam-heated cylinders which completely dry the paper and put the needed gloss or finish on it.

The rainfall on the Tahoe Reserve averages about fifty inches annually, the most frequent rains occurring between October and May. Necessarily there is much snow-fall on the higher regions. Further down the snow disappears in the early spring, say March, but in the upper altitudes it remains until late June, with perpetual snow in the sheltered portions of the topmost peaks.

Agriculture, owing to the average high altitude, is a negligible industry in the Reserve, little more being done than to raise a little fruit, grain and vegetables, mainly for home consumption. Naturally there is a fair amount of grazing, almost the whole area of the Reserve being used for this purpose during the summer months. Many portions of meadow-land are used for dairy-herds, most of the hotels and resorts on and near Lake Tahoe having their own herds and meadows. Bands of beef-cattle are also pastured, together with large bands of sheep, the two kinds of stock often grazing in common, the cattle using the meadows and the sheep the ridges and timber-lands. In taking the trail-rides described in other chapters I invariably came across both cattle and sheep, and all the near-by meadows are occupied by the dairy-herds belonging to the hotels. Patented lands of private ownership within the bounds of the Forest are often also leased to cattle- and sheep-men. Last year it was estimated that there were 47,000 head of sheep, and about 6000 head of cattle on the Reserve. Under the protection of the rangers grazing conditions are rapidly improving, the cattle- and sheep-men being held strictly to certain rules laid down by the Supervisor. Systematic efforts are made to rid the Forest, as far as possible, of predatory animals that kill the sheep, also of poisonous plants which render grazing dangerous.

There are far less cattle on the Sierra ranges in the Tahoe region than there are sheep. During the summer most of the mountain valleys have their great sheep-bands. Many are brought over from Nevada, and far more from the Sacramento Valley and other regions near the Pacific. The feed, as a rule, is good and abundant from the time the snow leaves until the end of September or even later. Though the year 1913 was the third dry season (comparatively speaking) the region had suffered, I found a score or more of meadows in my rambles around Tahoe, where thousands of sheep might have had rich and abundant pasture.

But well may John Muir dislike sheep in his beloved Sierras, and term them in his near-to-hatred "the locusts of the mountains." When the most fertile valley has been "fed off" by sheep, or they have "bedded down" night after night upon it, it takes some time before the young growth comes up again.

It is the custom when the lambing season is over, and the lambs are strong enough to travel and old enough to ship, to move to some convenient point on the railway, where there is an abundance of feed and water on the way, and there ship either to Reno, Carson and Virginia City, or to some market on the Pacific Coast. Hence overland travelers on the Southern Pacific trains are often surprised to see vast flocks of sheep and hear the bleating of the lambs at unlooked for stations at the highest points of the Sierra Nevada, as at Soda Springs, Cisco, Emigrant Gap, Blue Canyon, or sidings on the way.

There is a large mining industry within the Reserve. Since 1849 the western part of the Forest has been most active, one county, Sierra, having produced since then upwards of $200,000,000. The present output is much smaller than formerly, still it is large enough to render mining an important factor in the productive wealth of the state. In 1853 hydraulic mining was inaugurated near Nevada City. This gave renewed interest to placer-mining.

Four of the old emigrant roads cross the Tahoe and El Dorado Reserves. The most famous of these is the one across Donner Pass and through Emigrant Gap. This was the general course taken by the unfortunate Donner Party, as recorded in another chapter.

Another road was the Heuness Pass road, on a branch of which was Nigger Tent, a rendezvous of robbers and cutthroats in the early days. Prospectors and miners were often robbed and murdered at this place. The Heuness Pass Road and the Donner Road branch in Sardine Valley, the former going through by Webber Lake, and the latter through the present site of Truckee. On the latter road, in the vicinity of You Bet, is a large tree which bears the name "Frémont's Flagpole," though it is doubtful whether it was ever used by Frémont for this purpose.

The third important road is the present Placerville Road,—a portion of the State Highway and the great trans-continental Lincoln Highway, elsewhere described.

The fourth is the Amador Grade Road, on which stood the tree whereupon Kit Carson carved his name.

The Georgetown Road is an important and historic feature of the Tahoe Region, for it connects Georgetown with Virginia City, and it was from the former place so many Tahoe pioneers came. I have already referred to the trail built in the early 60's. Then when the Georgetown miners constructed a ditch to convey water for mining purposes from Loon Lake, they soon thereafter, about '72 or '73, built a road about forty miles long, to enable them to reach the Lake, which was their main reservoir. Loon, Pleasant and Bixby's Lakes were all dammed and located upon for the water company.

When the Hunsakers built the road from McKinney's to their Springs in 1883 there was a stretch of only about seven miles from Loon Lake to the Springs to complete a road between Lake Tahoe and Georgetown. The matter was laid before the Supervisors of Placer and El Dorado Counties, and they jointly built the road in 1884, following as nearly as possible the old Georgetown trail, which was practically the boundary between the two counties.

While automobiles have gone over it, it is scarcely good enough for that form of travel, but cattle, sheep and horses are driven over it constantly, campers make good use of it in the summer, and though it has not the activity of the days when it was first built, it has fully justified its existence by the comfort and convenience it gives to the sparsely settled population of the region for which the waters of the Reserve were flumed in every direction. When legal enactment practically abolished placer mining, owing to its ruining the agricultural lands lower down by the carrying of the mud and silt upon them, the water systems were utilized for domestic and irrigation purposes, thus laying the foundation of the great systems now being used for power purposes.

One of the greatest excitements known in the Tahoe region occurred when the first notice of the discovery of the Comstock lode in Virginia City appeared in the Nevada City Journal, July 1, 1859. Immediately the whole country was aroused, fully one-third of all the male population setting forth for the mines. This was also one of the great urgents in the building of a railway which soon ultimated in the Central Pacific.

There are several mineral springs of note on the Forest, chief of which are Deer Park Springs, Glen Alpine Springs and Brockway's.

The most northern grove of Big Trees, Sequoia Gigantea, in existence, is found in the Tahoe Forest, on the Forest Hill Divide, near the southern boundary of Placer County, on a tributary of the Middle Fork of the American River. There are six of these trees as well as several which have fallen.

Dotted over the Reserve are cabins of the rangers. These men live a most interesting, and sometimes adventurous and daring life. Primarily their days and nights are largely those of solitude, and it is interesting to throw a little light upon the way they spend their time.

Necessarily their chief thought and care is that of protecting the Forest from fire. To accomplish this end fire-brakes—wide passages, trails, or roads—are cut through the trees and brush, so that it is possible to halt a fire when it reaches one of the constant patrols and watches that are maintained. Lookout stations are placed on elevated points. In the fall of 1911 a Lookout Tower was erected on Banner Mountain, four miles southeast of Nevada City, in which a watchman with a revolving telescope is on duty day and night. This mountain is at 3900 feet elevation and affords an unobstructed view of about one-third of the whole area of the Tahoe Forest.

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.