Category: Uncategorized

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Comstock Characters Uncategorized

#283: GEORGE FERRIS JR. & HIS FAMOUS WHEEL

At this point in my career I have created about 25 different hour-long presentation topics to offer clients, but there are many stories in them that I haven’t yet had time to write about in length for my magazine columns. I’ve decided to cherry-pick some of these special vignettes to share with the Tahoe Nuggets crowd. They might not be weather-related, but they will be informative, interesting and related to the region.

George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., inventor of the Ferris Wheel, was raised in this house in Carson City, Nevada. When George was 5 years old his family moved to the Carson Valley from Illinois in the summer of 1864, just a few months before Nevada Territory gained statehood. George’s horticulturist father not only surrounded their stately home with trees imported by rail from Illinois, but he also created much of the landscaping of Carson City in the 1870s, including the spruce on the Nevada State Capitol grounds that has been decorated as the Silver State’s Christmas tree since 1937.

Some have speculated that George Jr.’s inspiration for his Ferris Wheel in the early 1890s came from his childhood fascination with a water wheel used on the Carson River to hoist water from the river up to troughs for thirsty livestock. Additional insight may have come from Lester Allan Pelton’s 1870s improvement of a water turbine driven by flowing water. The spinning wheel created torque and power for the cams to crush ore in stamp mills for the hard-rock mining industry and later for generating electricity. Pelton’s 19th century hydro turbine is still commonly used today in power generation.

In 1881 George Ferris graduated from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, with a degree in civil engineering. He spent the next decade working in New York City designing bridges, tunnels and trestles throughout the industrial northeast and mid-western states. Ferris was the head of a civil engineering firm in Pittsburgh, PA when he heard that the organizers of the upcoming 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago were searching for an American engineering feat to “Out Eiffel the Eiffel Tower.” The world famous 1,063-foot-tall Eiffel Tower had been constructed by Gustave Eiffel’s engineering company for the World’s Fair held in Paris, France, in 1889.

The Chicago Exposition’s organizers wanted something “original, daring and unique” and Ferris didn’t disappoint them with his design for a giant, rotating observation wheel. After submitting his specifications critics blasted the wheel as unfeasible and inherently dangerous. Skeptical engineers said that it would blow over in the slightest breeze or collapse under its own weight. When George finally got approval to construct his wheel, he was told he had 22 weeks during the harsh winter months to build it and no funding would be forthcoming. Gustave Eiffel was given two years to construct his tower and the French government paid for everything.

Ferris was undaunted by the short construction time allotted him and the dearth of financial backing. He spent all of his own money and borrowed more to produce the $250,000 wheel. It was built to withstand wind gusts of 150 mph and several years later easily survived a severe storm that damaged most of structures on the fair grounds.

George’s 264-foot tall Ferris Wheel weighed 4,100 tons and towered over the Chicago Exposition. The massive wheel had 36 large passenger cars that in total could carry 2,160 riders. From its top people could see into in 3 states. The hollow axle of the wheel was 45 feet long, 82 inches in diameter and weighed more than 89,000 pounds. In just the first week of operation Ferris sold 61,395 tickets, but most of the money went to the Exposition Company and ultimately, he was never repaid for his work and investment.

The popularity of George Ferris’ invention in Chicago inspired him to try and sell it commercially, but he was unsuccessful. Broke and unable to convince anyone to buy a Ferris Wheel led to depression and his wife left him in 1896. Severe stress led to failing health and he contracted Typhoid Fever, dying at age 37 that same year. His body was cremated by the state, but no one came to claim his ashes for more than a year. 

It’s a tragic irony of life that the man who invented the most iconic amusement ride in the world, one that has brought pleasure to millions, never found happiness with it himself.

In my presentation “Colorful Characters of the Comstock” I talk about George Ferris, Jr., his invention, and his connection to Carson Valley. Barbara Deichamano was in the audience last August and afterward mailed me the book The Devil in the White City by author Erik Larson. Larson tells the story of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and profiles Dr. Holmes, a sadistic but ingenious serial killer who murdered an unknown number of people during the fair. Definitely a good read!

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Categories
Exotic Terrain Uncategorized

#260 HAWAI'I: BIG ISLAND ADVENTURE

TAHOE NUGGET #260: HAWAI’I: BIG ISLAND ADVENTURE!  

My wife Nora and I recently returned from a “honeymoon” trip to the Gold Coast of Kona, Hawaii — 7 years after our wedding. We had a wonderful time and Nora finally got to swim in a warm ocean and experience the joys of snorkeling. We’re definitely going back to the Big Island next year.

Nearly 3,000 miles of ocean separate California and Hawaii, but by the 1830s, hundreds of contract laborers from Hawaii were a common sight in California, where they worked as able-bodied seamen, fur trappers, agricultural labor, and domestics. Hawaiian chiefs supposedly had divine origins, but commoners known as Kanakas did all the contract work and the royalty took a cut of their wages.

We were able to catch every sunset but one while in Hawaii. The west side of the Big Island is Kona’s sunny Gold Coast. The word Kona means leeward and the region is always warm and receives less than 12 inches of rain a year. It lies in the rain shadow of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, two volcanoes that exceed 13,000 feet. 

In September 1838, a California-bound, German-born immigrant named John Sutter had reached the fertile Willamette Valley (Oregon), but was intent on traveling to California. Locals told him to wait until spring before he attempted the rugged journey south to Monterey, the Mexican capital of Alta California. Hostile natives and deep snow in the Siskiyou Mountains were deadly obstacles. Instead, Sutter boarded a ship for the Kingdom of Hawaii, where he met King Kamehameha III.

Nora doesn’t like to camp so we stayed in this local village named Hilton Waikoloa. The hotel and restaurant complex sits on a 10-acre landscape that includes swimming pools and slides, waterfalls, golf course, snorkeling with turtles, swimming with dolphins, boat rides and more. It’s oriented to families with children, but occupancy was low when we were there.

Sutter spent months waiting for a California-bound ship to arrive. He left Hawaii with 8 Kanakas in his employ. It was these Hawaiian natives that helped John Sutter establish a large fort and settlement in the southern Sacramento Valley, which later became the city of Sacramento and eventual capital of the Golden State.

Best known for its cattle ranching and Hawaiian cowboys, there are many wild goats on the Big Island along with wandering mules. Much of the landmass is covered with recent lava flows (since 1850) and the surface texture is tortuously rough. It’s amazing how these animals travel so quickly over the cracked and brittle rock.

The Honu or Green Sea Turtle is one of the oldest animals on earth, the species dating back 200 million years to the age of dinosaurs. Their population is threatened and they are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The turtles are a common aquatic presence in the snorkeling areas and off shore waters.

Samuel Clemens became the correspondent “Mark Twain” in Virginia City, Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. He later moved to San Francisco to continue his writing career away from the Comstock.

Akaka Falls State Park is located north of Hilo on the wet side of the Big Island where tropical jungles flourish and plunging waterfalls thrill visitors. These falls drop 442 feet.

In 1866, Twain took a steamer to the Sandwich Islands and the letters he wrote during his 4 month stay there are terrific, often funny observations of the local culture and lifestyle. Twain’s 25 letters were published in the Sacramento Union newspaper and were a big hit. They were later published under the title: “Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawaii.”

In this swale of land at 9,000 feet above sea level and just below Mauna Kea’s 13,000 foot summit, dry air meets an atmosphere saturated with moisture pumping up from  the Hilo side of the Big Island. On this day, however, the wall of clouds gorged with water vapor could not make its way west due to the strong, desiccating wind that dissipated the surging wall of moisture.

Twain tried surfing and swimming with naked native maidens. Regarding the maidens, he wrote, “At noon today I observed a bevy of nude young native women bathing in the sea, and I went and sat down on their clothes to keep them from being stolen.”

Twain rode a horse to the top of Mauna Kea, the Big Island volcano 13,796 feet above sea level. He also wrote, “The native language is soft and liquid and flexible and in every way efficient and satisfactory–till you get mad; then there you are; there isn’t anything in it to swear with.”

Mark Twain said the coconut palm trees “looked like a feather duster struck by lightning.”

By the time Mark Twain returned to San Francisco he was famous. At the time he wrote, “I returned to California to find myself about the best-known honest man on the Pacific Coast. Thomas Maguire, proprietor of several theaters, said that now was the time to make my fortune—strike while the iron was hot—break into the lecture field!”

I would estimate that I had the pleasure of seeing most of these fish during my snorkeling escapades. Striking colors with an iridescence glow among some species. Courtesy Snorkel Bob’s who rented us our fins and boogie boards.

One of the biggest disappointments of Mark Twain’s life was that he was never able to return to Hawaii, a quest he longed for his whole life. His newfound success and future travels worldwide conspired to deny his dream to revisit. The closest he came was a view while onboard a passing steamer.

 

 Nora playing with fire.

 

“Hawai’i is the loveliest fleet of islands that lies at anchor in any ocean.” — Mark Twain

Aloha!

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Categories
Tahoe Sightseeing Uncategorized

#243 SQUAW VALLEY TRAM: A RIDE INTO HISTORY

TAHOE NUGGET #243: SQUAW VALLEY TRAM: A RIDE INTO HISTORY

The aerial tram at Squaw Valley will lift you effortlessly up into the Sierra high country, where ice-carved cirques, extruded thrusts of volcanic rock, and stellar views of Big Blue will take your breath away.

Squaw Valley’s aerial tram whisks passengers up to elevation 8,200 feet, where an array of fun activities await summer guests. A bonus this year is that the rides are free for anyone holding an active 2012-13 season ski pass at Squaw-Alpine.

Yes, there are lots of summer activities on this legendary skiers’ mountain, including hiking, swimming, roller skating, and poolside eating and drinking, but a trip to Squaw Valley is also an historic gateway to days gone by when pioneer emigrants traveled through its lush valley and over its craggy peaks on their way to California.

Squaw’s tram offers family explorers of all ages access to big mountain scenery; a perfect outdoor classroom to observe wildflowers, geology, and climate-driven vegetation. Hiking boots aren’t necessary, but people I saw wearing flip-flops had made the wrong choice. Sneakers or comfortable walking shoes should do the trick if you intend to stick to the maintained trails.

For thousands of years, American Indians from the ancient Washoe tribe summered at Squaw Valley, which they considered a sacred place. There the men could hunt game in the upper elevations, while the women wove intricate baskets, dug out roots of medicinal plants, fished, and watched their children play.

Noted basket weaver Washoe Mary at her craft, circa 1913.

After the long winter in the high desert of today’s western Nevada, the Indians looked forward to foraging in Squaw Valley’s verdant marshes for wild onions, berries, and other tasty edibles. The women also used the large granite boulders nearby to grind their harvest of seeds. The first Euro-Americans to pass through the valley observed that there were only women and children in the meadow (braves were away hunting), so they named it Squaw Valley.

 

A fine display of Washoe Indian baskets, tools, and weapons at Donner Memorial State Park.

The valley itself was scoured out by glaciers that advanced and retreated in successive waves. The terminal moraine deposited at the eastern end of the valley by advancing ice acted as a dam and created a lake filled by melting ice. Over time the lakebed was filled with eroded sediments, the moraine breached and a valley-meadow created.

At one point, the Squaw Valley glacier dammed up the Truckee River draining Lake Tahoe, forcing the lake’s water level hundreds of feet higher than today. These powerful geologic and climatic forces left behind, “The most beautiful valley the eye of man has ever beheld,” as Placer County surveyor Thomas A. Young described it in 1856.

Before Squaw Valley’s Olympic-driven development during the 1950s, the valley was primarily used for cattle and sheep grazing. The meadow provided lots of nutritious grass and Squaw Creek supplied plenty of fresh water.

During the California gold rush, 49ers began using Squaw Valley as a short-cut to the Mother Lode in the western Sierra foothills. First known as Scott’s Route, the trail climbed from the meadow up the mountain and followed the ridge line towards Auburn, California. In 1852, $13,000 was appropriated to improve the trail, renamed the Placer County Emigrant Route, but it never gained the hoped-for traffic.

Historic plaque on the Emigrant Pass monument tells the story.

In his 1915 book, The Lake of the Sky, author George Wharton James explained why the trail was abandoned: “…a forbidding prospect. Only brave men would ever have dared to contemplate such a plan. The mountain cliffs, separated and split, arise before us as impossible barriers…We now begin to ascend this road at the head of Squaw Valley and in five minutes, or less, we are able to decide why it was never a success. The grade is frightful, and for an hour or more we go slowly up it, stopping every few yards to give our horses breath…It is hard enough for horses to go up this grade, but to pull heavily-ladened wagons—it seems impossible.”

At nearly 9,000 feet elevation, this granite monument at Emigrant Pass marks the highest point on both the original Placer County Emigrant Road and the current Western States Trail.

In 1931, Robert Montgomery Watson, Tahoe City’s first constable and a pioneer horseman, marked the trail from Lake Tahoe to Auburn. Today it is known as the Western States Trail, where each summer a world-class, 100-mile endurance footrace is held, along with the Tevis Cup, the toughest horse race in the West.

Dedication of the Emigrant Road monument at Emigrant Pass along the Sierra divide, circa September 21, 1931. The volcanic feature in the background (located between Squaw Peak and Granite Chief) was named “Fort Sumter” by Squaw Valley miners during the Civil War. The patriotic men torched a huge bonfire on top of the rock on July 4, 1863. 

In 1862, Squaw Valley was designated Federal land and opened for settlement. Four enterprising men, Fish, Ferguson, Smith and Coggins, set up a small ranching operation in the meadows. They named their spread Squaw Valley Ranch.

That same year, prospectors John Keiser and Shannon Knox, decided to leave the exhausted gold diggings in California, to head east for the bustling Comstock mines at Virginia City, Nevada Territory. They coaxed their well-packed mules along the Placer County Emigrant Route to Squaw Valley. When the two men reached a flat near the Truckee River, just northwest of the mouth of Squaw Creek, they noticed some outcroppings of rich-looking reddish ore. Squaw Valley had never been known for gold, but prospectors are nothing if not optimists.

The news of potential veins of gold at Squaw Valley started a stampede of Placer County merchants, miners, and saloon owners. Early assays from supposedly gold-bearing quartz veins reported up to $440 worth of gold per ton with “strong potential for great profit.”

By 1863, there were four mining districts established, with at least 1,000 claims staked out along the Truckee River and in Martis Valley. But there was trouble in paradise. Late that fall, word came back on ore specimens sent to Sacramento that the rock was worthless, with no gold content at all. The strike was a bust. The bonanza was over and within a few days the region deserted —all except for Tahoe City that is. The fledgling settlement eventually became the gateway to the Tahoe Basin, first by stage, then by narrow gauge railroad and steamer.

In 1912, Marian and Pauline Chamberlain explored the remains of the Knoxville Tavern, a relic of the Squaw Valley gold rush.

A few frustrated miners gave up the search for gold and settled along Lake Tahoe. Each lent their name to the geography of the region — Ward Creek is named for Ward Rush; Blackwood Creek for Hampton Craig Blackwood; McKinney Creek for John McKinney; and Burton Creek for Homer D. Burton.

When I hiked up to Emigrant Pass on July 10, 2012, there was still a large patch of snow in the deposition zone below the ridge. I suspect that this snow was deposited during the 2011 winter, not last year.

In 1931, Wayne Poulsen and Marti Arrougé took an extended camping and fishing trip into the mountains above Squaw Valley. Marti had often camped in the valley with his father, a Basque sheepherder who grazed flocks in the lush meadow there. It was then that Poulsen, an avid skier who was still in high school, fell in love with the place and began to dream that he could develop it into an excellent winter resort.

After further exploration, Wayne decided his life goal would be to acquire and develop Squaw Valley as “a mountain community dedicated to skiing as a way of life.” During World War II, Poulsen bought Squaw Valley. He and his wife Sandy built their home there and raised a family.

Founder of Squaw Valley, Wayne Poulsen (far right), with his family celebrating Christmas in the valley.

In 1948, Poulsen went into a partnership with an investor named Alex Cushing. Due to sharp business and philosophical differences between them, the partnership broke up and Cushing took control of the company.

By 1955, the ski resort was financially broke, but Cushing pulled off a miracle and coaxed the International Olympic Committee to award the 1960 Winter Games to Squaw Valley.

Against all odds, Alex Cushing convinced a slight majority of International Olympic Committee delegates to vote yes for holding the 1960 Winter Games at his “glorified cow pasture” in California. It’s a remarkable story that I included in my award-winning book, Longboards to Olympics: A Century of Tahoe Winter Sports.

The 1960 Winter Olympics were a spectacular success that changed Squaw Valley forever and catapulted the Lake Tahoe region into an internationally recognized sports destination. Learn more at the free Olympic Museum at Squaw Valley’s High Camp!

Despite some environmental concerns, the Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee has set its sights on the 2026 Winter Olympics, with events to be hosted at Tahoe, Reno, and Sacramento.

                                              SQUAW VALLEY HIKING MAP

 

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