Incline Village Beach Boat Launch Cam. Elevation 6,224 feet.
Diamond Peak Lake View Cam. Elevation 8,540 feet.
"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."
Mark Twain, Fire and Lake Tahoe
It was in the summer of 1862 that Mark Twain set fire to the Tahoe Basin. According to his own account of the wildfire, it was an accident. But scientists and foresters today know Twain's blaze was intentional.
It all happened like this:
"While Johnny was carrying the main bulk of the provisions up to our 'house' (a lean-to) for future use, I took the loaf of bread, some slices of bacon, and a coffee pot, ashore, set them down by a tree, lit a fire, and went back to the boat to get the frying pan," Twain wrote in his book "Roughing It," which chronicles his adventures as a young man during the "flush times" of the Nevada Territory and California in the 1860s. "While I was at this, I heard a shout from Johnny, and looking up I saw that my fire was galloping all over the premises!
"Johnny was on the other side of it, he had to run through the flames to get to the lake shore, and then we stood helpless and watched the devastation…. We were driven to the boat by the intense heat, and there we remained, spellbound.
"Within half an hour all before us was a tossing, blinding tempest of flame! It went surging up adjacent ridges – surmounted them and disappeared in the canyons beyond – burst into view upon higher and farther ridges, presently – shed a grander illumination abroad, and dove again – flamed out again, directly, higher and still higher up the mountain side – threw out skirmishing parties of fire here and there, and sent them trailing their crimson spirals away among the remote ramparts and ribs and gorges, till as far as the eye could reach the lofty mountain-fronts were webbed as it were with a tangled network of red lava streams. Away across the water the crags and domes were lit with the ruddy glare, and the firmament above was a reflected hell!"
What Twain didn't know at the time of this mishap is that fire is inevitable in the Sierra Nevada. Up until the 19th century, Indians regularly set brush and forest fires, knowing that it improved the forage for deer and cleared out the underbrush and dead wood to make traveling and hunting easier. As one eyewitness described it:
"In the spring…the old squaws began to look for the little dry spots of headland or sunny valley, and as fast as dry spots appeared they would be burned," wrote Joaquin Miller, a Sierra poet and forester who was a member of the Yosemite discovery party of 1851. "In this way the fire was always the servant, never the master…. By this means, the Indians always kept their forest open, pure and fruitful, and conflagrations were unknown."
The plain truth is that the Indians had established a working, symbiotic relationship with the Sierra "fire ecology" which enabled the land to have its regular fires from which the Indians and wildlife benefited.
Only in the past few decades have foresters and wildlife biologists started to realize that the Indians had it right all along. Smokey Bear was wrong. Foresters from the Forest Service and state parks around the Tahoe Basin know that introducing carefully prescribed burning into the area is a big part of maintaining forest health, once the current glut of dead wood is dealt with.
Today a careless camper like Twain could make matters much worse than in 1862. Piles of dead wood from the past few years of bark beetle attacks could fuel a catastrophe, destroying homes, trapping and killing people and burning so hot and furiously that even trees adapted to fire would be roasted to death.
Twain got off easy. He only lost his dinner. The same stunt today would have landed him in the slammer. Don't worry Mr. Twain, your still my friend...
"It’s no use, Hoss. You can’t talk to a man who has nothing to lose."
"They can lose their lives."
"Somehow I have a feeling that doesn’t really matter to them right now."
Elevation is 6420 feet. I'm located on the northern shore of beautiful Lake Tahoe.
History of ME
I am steeped in history dating back to the early and mid 1800’s. Lake Tahoe’s first real residents were the Washoe and Paiute Indian Tribes.
John C. Fremont was the first European explorer to record the sighting of Lake Tahoe, in Feb. 1844. His exploration party was guided by the legendary Kit Carson. As more and more settlers moved west there started to be small communities popping up along it’s shores. During the mid 1800’s Incline Village really started to grow. It was an excellent source of lumber needed in Washoe Valley & Virginia City. Lake Tahoe became a bustling center of commerce in the 1860s during the height of silver mining in Virginia City. The Central Pacific Railroad extended to Truckee.
In the summer of 1873, Walter Scott Hobert had established the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Co. In September 1880 and by October, he had completed a stream-powered sawmill half a mile from the lake in the area known now as Millcreek. I came by my name, Incline Village, from the Nevada mining days. The logs they hauled out were carried vertically nearly 1400 feet to a V flume. In 1884, I received my own official zip code and was finally placed on the map. But by the fall of 1897, the logging was all done and my land was left in a state of immediate disrepair. It wasn’t until the 1930’s when people started building summer homes and traveling the one lane road into my area.
The Ta-Neva-Ho (now the Cal-Neva) Crystal Bay's first casino, was built in 1927 by developer Bob Sherman. In 1946 Joseph Blumenfeld built the Tahoe Biltmore Hotel. In the 1960's, Ray Plunkett, along with Harold Tiller, Arthur Wood and Matt McCoskey, principal owner of the Cal-Neva, took over ownership when current owner Frank Sinatra lost his gaming license because of a mob connection.
In the 1930s, Captain George Whittell saw an opportunity and bought all the land, sum 44,000 acres of Nevada shoreline ensured that Tahoe's north shore would not become a commercial wasteland. Whittell built a stone castle on the shores near Sand Harbor that can still be seen today.
In the 1950’s, the Crystal Bay Development Company approached Captain Whittell offering to purchase the 9,000 acres to build a planned community. In the 1960’s and after the successful 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, construction began in my area. Roads were built, a ski area was designed, beaches were developed, and a golf course was being planned. Construction boomed in the area and custom homes and condominiums were being built along Lakeshore Boulevard. In an effort to keep the history of the early logging days, Crystal Bay Development officially named my new community “Incline Village”. In the late 1960’s, a high school was built and the community was on its way. Around 1976, I became a year-round residential community.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
Thanks for the add. And thank you for your interest in HighSierraArt. net. Look for site updates periodically as we will be adding to our collection of Desolation Wilderness art. Enjoy the site and I hope you check out the poetry as well. Thanks friend :)
Thanks for joining my cause!!! Scott G. LaLonde Part Two Disabled Civil Rights Life Liberty could you put in your top friends list I am extremely in need of this at this time. Join my new group link located below http://groups. myspace. com/pt2disabledcivilrightslifeliberty
My group originally had 17,000 friends and had a government and politics group on page 8 it is still located there but when you click on it and says deleted or invalid account.
To be Moses to all Disabled people and remove the yoke the burden on our disabled backs! And set Disabled people free!
This is Scott Kelley from Reno, NV. How is life up in Incline Village? I haven't been to your community in 1 year and I'm thinking it's time I visited.
Hi Incline Village. Let me know when you are ready to buy or sell your home. I am here to work for you! Thanks again for this beautiful place on Earth. Happy Earth Day!
We believe this one will let you cry & smile;) Our poet friend (Alicia Grace) sent it to me a few daz ago, and just bcoz im sending 2 u as it hits sooo dwn home,whoya!
This is what music is all about! As Guns 'n Roses guitar player Slash famously quipped: "Whenever society gets too stifling and the rules get too complex, there's some sort of musical explosion. "
Looks like winter is over. That was a great year. Bring on some sunshine and we'll be seeing you again very soon when the snow starts to fly. Have a great summer!
Hey guys! The Incline Star Follies show is comin up fast. The show will be the first weekend in April (4th & 5th). That's a Friday and Sat, at the Cal-Neva...Seats are limited and typically a sell-out. Come joint the fun, see the Incline locals and support the Incline schools! Tickets on sale soon at the Potlatch :) Hugs ~ Shuey
