Page 17 - 2001 DT 4 issues

W h at’ s Ins i d e!

Featured Articles
Legacy................................................1
Master Gardeners..............................7
Special
Quiz...................................................7

August 2001 Departments
News & Notes.....................................2
Programs & Hikes..............................4
Desk Schedule....................................6
Bulletin Board....................................8

The Legacy of ○ ○ Fremont soon found the pull of ad- ○ ○ one of Nevada’s premier sights, just north
venture in the West. Exploring into the ○ ○ of Reno. Twenty-seven miles long and
○
○
John C. Fremont ○ ○ ○ area of the Great Basin, he attempted to ○ ○ ○ covering 170 square miles, it is one of
America’s largest fresh water lakes.
explain the Great Salt Lake. In a report,
by Chuck Kleber ○ ○ ○ he noted “It was generally supposed that ○ ○ ○ Fremont’s party also explored a river
it had no visible outlet, but among the trap- ○ to the south that flowed into Pyramid
○
○
pers. . .many believed that somewhere ○ ○ Lake. Friendly Indians treated the explor-
○
ohn C. Fremont is best remembered ○ ○ was a terrible whirlpool through which its ○ ○ ers to a feast that centered on huge
as a resolute explorer and mapmaker ○ ○ waters found their way to the ocean by ○ ○ cutthroat trout. Their name for the river
Jin the American West, but he was ○ ○ some subterranean communication.” ○ ○ was Ku-yui-Pah, a broad description for
also on the national scene—candidate for ○ ○ Pushing west, Fremont wrote in his ○ ○ “spawning place of the trout.” Fremont
president in 1856, a commander of North- ○ ○ diary on January 3, 1844, “Our situation ○ called the river “Salmon Trout,” but that
ern troops in the Civil War and finally, ○ ○ has now become a serious one. We had didn’t take hold. It’s known today as the
Governor of the Arizona Territory. His ○ ○ reached the position where . . . we should Truckee, probably named for a chief of
legacy lies particularly in California and ○ ○ have found Mary’s Lake. This was, how- the Northern Paiute. Up the winding
Nevada where his name is linked with ○ ○ ever, a mythical body of Truckee Canyon
Western legends like Kit Carson, Jedediah water. Three days later, lies Donner Sum-
Smith and Joseph “Walkin’ Joe” Walker. Fremont and Kit Carson mit, where that
Born in Savannah, Georgia in 1813, ○ decided to explore tragic party of pio-
Fremont pursued a career in mapmaking ○ ○ ahead. They began to neers became
and surveying. When just 25 years old, ○ ○ see large expanses of snowbound. Still, it
he was engaged to assist the French sci- ○ ○ grass and timber and remained a favorite
entist, Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, in a survey ○ ○ then, suddenly, they route into Califor-
of the upper Missouri and Mississippi ○ ○ came upon a vast body nia. Fremont used it
Rivers. It was during this period that ○ ○ of water. “It broke upon on the recommen-
Fremont began a love affair with the wil- ○ ○ our eyes like the ocean. dation of the
derness. Nicollet was impressed enough ○ ○ The neighboring peaks Paiute, observing
with the ambitious young man to let him ○ ○ rose high above us. . .the that this tribe en-
lead an expedition in 1841 to survey the ○ ○ waves curling in the gaged in trade with
Des Moines River. He also schooled Fre- ○ ○ breeze and their dark California’s foothill
mont in aspects of geology, astronomy and ○ ○ green color showed it to Indians. In return
topography—all of these to prove highly ○ ○ be a body of deep wa- for obsidian salt,
valuable in coming days. By this time, Fre- ○ ○ ter.” They also saw much wildlife, but ○ rabbit skins and pine nuts, the Paiute re-
mont had a powerful backer in Missouri’s ○ ○ they were particularly struck by an enor- ○ ○ ceived clamshell beads, acorns, blankets
expansionist senator, Thomas Hart ○ ○ mous rock, rising from the middle of the ○ and arrows.
Benton. And it didn’t hurt when he mar- ○ lake. It was shaped somewhat like a pyra- ○ ○
ried the Senator’s daughter, Jessie, who mid. Fremont gave it the name “Pyramid ○
shared Fremont’s ambitions. Lake.” The name remains today, and it is ○ ○ Fremont, continued on page 6