River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-07-26
4 Lake that Never Freezes, and Never
Gives Up its Dead.

Truckee is a thriving railroad town.and
the starting point for Lake Tahoe-called
the "Gem of the Sierras." The road from
Truckee winds along Truckee river up q
canon bearing the same name. 1t is four
teen miles long, and succession of fine
views the whole length of the road. The
snow-clad SIerras are on our right, and
beautifully timbered hills on each side of
the river. A few miles up the canon a
successful fish farm is in operation, where
| tens of thousand of trout can be seen in
every stage of trout's existence. As we
reach the head of the canon we find we are
also at the outlet, or head of the Truckee
river, whose waters, like all the other riv-
ers of Nevada, are lost in sinks. None of
them have an outlet into the ocean.
| The view as we emerge from the canon
is beautiful. The broad expailse of the
majestic lake lies before us, encircled on
ell sides by towering mountains. Half
of the lake is in Nevada, the other half in
California. 1t is twenty-eight miles long
and from twelve to sixteen miles wide,
and has been sounded TO depth of 900
| feet. Its waters are beautiful ultralna-
rine, and it may be called the purest water
in the world, containing by analysis only
four per cent of impurities. 1t is so light
aid inobile as to be easily dashed into
| foam, or Gained to a mirror like surface
In the early morning it is like looking
glass, with surrounding objects reflected in
it with surprising accuracy. Several steam
ers of small tonnage are used in naviga-
ting it. It's altitude is about $500 feet;
| it is always cool and pleasant in the hot
| test weather. The lake never freezes, and
never gives up its dead. No person that
was drowned has been known to rise to
| the surface. Wood, as soon as it is satura-
| ted, sinks to the bottom. The water is as
clear as crystal, and huge rocks fifty feet
/ down are plainly discernible. In fact, it
/ is a marvel, and the very contrast of our
/ own Salt Lake; for that is SO dense and
| sluggish as to offer great resistance to the
human body, and everything else that ttill
! float
The finest place ON the lake is Emerald
| bay. Ben Holiday owns a beautiful
place at the head of it--a very neat resi-
dence in a shady nook with the snow-clad
SUBMITS of the Sierras for background,
and a magnificent waterfall for the middle
distance. The fairgrounds everything
/ an artist can desire. Near by is the beau
4 tiful little islet called the Emerald isle,
on which an old salt called Sailor Dick
built home and grave where he intend
/ ed to he buried should he die on land, but
am credidlv informed that he got on a
| drunken spree and sunk, to rise no more
in the lake. The property is now in
/ charge of another seaman called Sailor
Jack. He, may properly BE called tie
! hermit of Emefall bay, for there in the
deep recesses he lives without the society
of any other human being his only COM
panions being three dogs and four cats
He is indeed a curiosity, but the soul OF
good nature. Old Dicks fate seems to
have set him thinking, for he is a total
abstainer now. The story of his CONVEX
| sion is worth being told. He relates that
or one occasion, when crossing the lakc,a
1 squat upset his small boat Down he
went with il, he he says, seven feet He
swan to the surface atid grasped firmly
/ his deniiohn of Hhiskey ii one hand and
the Upset Boat in the other He thought,
''now this might be my last drink, and as
/ it is cold / will take a swallow" He
/ then took look at the favorite bottle and
/ Eesitated to throw away so much good
| liquor, and thinking it was cold thought
he would try yet another, and there on a
cold dark night, with the prospect ofdeath
staring MIN in the face, he vowed to take
his last drink of irewater This resolu-
ton he has firmly kept.
A cascade of surprising beauty is seen
at the head of the bay. 1t is over 100
feet high. The towering masses of rcck
on each side make beautiful setting for
this shower of Deafls;