The “Discovery” of Lake Tahoe –Part 1

By Mark McLaughlin

The men in Lieutenant John Charles Frémont’s command were a bit confused. They had spent the spring and summer of 1843 trekking west into the Oregon Territory (Pacific Northwest), exploring and mapping as they went. Their orders seemed clear enough. Survey the Oregon Trail by carrying a line of astronomical and barometric observations through to the Columbia River (for a possible transcontinental railroad route), and then retrace their steps back to Missouri. Why then had Frémont ordered his scruffy band of mountain men to head south, down along the eastern side of the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada on their return from the Pacific?

Although Frémont’s motives will probably always remain a bit of a mystery, he was most likely following orders from his father-in-law, Senator Thomas H. Benton. Senator Benton, one of the most politically powerful men in Washington, was an ardent expansionist and strong proponent of Manifest Destiny. Two years before, in 1841, Frémont had fallen in love with Senator Benton’s 16-year-old daughter Jessie, and despite heated objections by her parents, John and Jessie were soon married. Later, the senator chose his new son-in-law, a topographical engineer, as point man for the U.S. government’s ongoing strategy of westward expansion, which included military aggression against, and forced land acquisition from, Mexico. California would be the greatest prize of all, but to get it Senator Benton wanted Frémont to gather detailed knowledge of the western landscape, and if possible, Mexican troop strength.

In his report, Frémont mentioned that he was searching for the Buenaventura River, a mythical ribbon of water that purportedly drained west from the Rocky Mountains and flowed all the way to the San Francisco Bay. The erroneous belief in the nonexistent Buenaventura River, as well as other crucial misconceptions of the region, would be corrected by Frémont’s expedition. As the men explored what today is western Nevada, it quickly became obvious that the Sierra Nevada range blocked the possibility of any westbound river from reaching the Pacific Ocean. There were an assortment of maps of the region available before 1843, but ultimately it was Frémont’s explorations that produced the first reliable maps of the West and placed Western cartography on a scientific foundation. Frémont was also the first to comprehend that all the rivers in this region of the country fail to reach the sea and evaporate in desert sinks, inspiring him to name it the “Great Basin.”

Pyramid Lake, a desert lake of unusual beauty and the terminus of the Truckee River, was discovered and named by John C. Fremont in January 1844. Fremont wrote: “The sheet of green water broke upon our eyes like the ocean.” The pyramid-shaped rock is a quarter of a mile around the base and an estimated 200 gallons of boiling water gush from its crevices each minute.

Considered the preeminent explorer of the uncharted American West, Lieutenant John Charles Fremont was known nationally as the “Pathfinder” although one biographer more correctly called him the “Pathmarker.”

Photo Courtesy Library of Congress.

Frémont’s abilities at mapping the wilderness left a legacy of noted topographic landmarks in the far West. Frémont and his band of hardy men, which included the famous scouts Christopher “Kit” Carson and Thomas “Broken Hand” Fitzpatrick, spent December 1843 wandering south through present-day northwestern Nevada. Frémont’s mission was ostensibly scientific, but it had taken on a decidedly militaristic character due to an imposing wheelmounted, 12-pound mountain howitzer they hauled along with them. Frémont had requisitioned the cannon as protection against Indian attack. The weapon proved to be more of a burden than an asset. It was only fired to celebrate holidays. Frémont wrote, “We were roused, on Christmas morning, by a discharge from the small arms and howitzer. Always, on days of religious or national commemoration, our voyageurs expect some unusual allowance; and, having nothing else, I gave to them each a little brandy, which with some coffee and sugar was sufficient to make them a feast.”

When the expedition reached the body of water at the terminus of the Truckee River, Frémont named it Pyramid Lake in honor of the triangle-shaped rock island located on the lake’s eastern side. When he observed monstrous 40 pound Lahontan cutthroat trout swimming in Pyramid Lake’s feeder stream, he called it the “Salmon Trout River,” later re-named the Truckee by the Stephens Party in 1844. Near Pyramid Lake Frémont met the friendly Paiute Indian, Chief Truckee, who explained that if they followed this river they would come to a lake. Cross the mountains (Sierra Nevada) and the men would reach two rivers flowing west. Chief Truckee was describing the Truckee River, Donner Lake or Lake Tahoe, and the American and Yuba rivers. But unlike the Stephens Party, which took Chief Truckee’s advice and successfully followed these river systems west into the Sacramento Valley, Lt. Frémont ordered his men south, along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada range.

New Year’s Day 1844 came and went with Frémont and his twenty-three men struggling through the bleak and frigid landscape, with the gloom of a persistent pogonip (frozen fog) obliterating the horizon. Frémont wrote, “The result of our journey began to be very uncertain; the country was singularly unfavorable to travel; the grasses being frequently of a very unwholesome character, and the hoofs of our animals were so worn and cut by the rocks, that many of them were lame, and could scarcely be got along.” At that point, Frémont realized that there was no way the animals could make it back to the Rocky Mountains so he decided to cross the Sierra Nevada into California.

Outerwear and snowshoes of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

In his search for a pass over the Sierra, Frémont led his men as far south as Bridgeport Valley, crossing the Carson and Walker rivers. (Frémont named the Carson for his guide Kit.) Despite the dangerous weather conditions in the mountains, Lt. Frémont was determined to cross the mountains. One old Indian warned them that, “Even if you get over the snow, you will not be able to get down from the mountain.” Another Native who had been hired as a guide deserted. Undeterred, Frémont directed his men to fabricate snowshoes modeled after the design used by the local Indians; a simple hoop, about a foot in diameter and the interior space filled with an open network of bark. Their first attempt into the mountains followed the Walker River, but the rugged and broken country made the trip impossible. On January 29, the heavy cannon was abandoned on the west fork of the Walker. Due to the extreme difficulty of this route, Frémont consulted with a few Indians who then led the expedition to the east fork of the Carson River where they camped for the night. While there, other Indians approached the camp to inform Frémont that it was “six sleeps to the place where the whites lived,” but that the journey could only be made in summer.