Map Source: Tulare County California - Chapman 1867, Maps of the Past
The Purposeful Living Issue
The Mysterious Tulare Lake
Story & Photos by Terry Ommen
For thousands of years on land that was once part of Tulare County,
The huge freshwater inland lake was fed by numerous waterways
there was a large mysterious lake. It’s gone today, but in its prime,
that delivered melting snow from the Sierra Nevada. When the
the west shoreline of Tulare Lake stretched nearly to what is now
winter snowpack was deep, the melted snow came rushing down,
Kettleman City, and the east edge was close to the city of Tulare.
expanding the lake’s shoreline. A lighter snowpack meant less
It spread north almost to Lemoore, and its southern shoreline
water. Therefore, from year to year, Tulare Lake’s size would
approached the current Kern County boundary. It was said to be
fluctuate. Eventually, water from the Sierra Nevada was diverted
larger than the Great Salt Lake—perhaps even the largest freshwater
and the lake disappeared.
lake west of the Great Lakes.
Though it frequently changed in size and shape, the lake was always
The lake was a mystical “shape-shifter,” frequently changing in size
large enough to be an awe-inspiring feature. For at least a millennium,
and shape. Annie R. Mitchell, Tulare County’s premier historian,
native people known as Yokuts lived there, calling the lake Chintache.
called it a “phantom.” Even though it has disappeared, the story
The inviting habitat provided them with fish, game, and tule plants for
of Tulare Lake is worth another look.
making baskets, boats and shelter. When Spanish explorers arrived several hundred years ago, they called the lake La Laguna de los
First, Tulare Lake’s mystery and disappearance should be explained.
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