Morning journal and courier., 1892-09-09
No. PIG

lively recent times. Where the waters
have receded grove of stumps and brok-
en- trees has been brought to view, partly
buried in the mud They evidently grew
where they now are found. Some of the
trees tie PROSTATE on the bottom of the
lake, while fragments of others stiIl stand
as stumps and snAgs. Bui the roots of all
are yet fast in the soil where in some past
age they fourished- Those that are now
PROSTATE were evidently torn up by the
roots, and the waters of the lake have
never moved them from where they fell,
sithough they have been under water cen
| turies, perhaps. Others are still standing
| upright, although their branches have dis
appeared and only the broken trunks re-
main like snags in the water
Lake Tulare has been undergoing q
steady change since the waters of the riy-
ers that feed it have been led away for ir-
Tigat1n purposes; As Is generally known,
| the lake lies in the southern end of the
San Joaquin valley and has no outlet 1t
is fed by Kings river, Tulare river, Tule
| river, Ksweah river and other smaller
streams that come In from the Sierra Ne
| vsds mountains on the east. When this
lake first became known to Americans IL
was more than thirty miles long and near
tained no less than one thousand eouare
miles. In seasons of drought it was prob
ably somewhat smaller, while in seasons
of much rain its size was very much
greater The waters were diminished by
evaporation, except, perhaps, in times of
very great floods, when a portion of the
surplus might have overdowed the plains
into the San joaquin river, fifty miles dis
tant.
When irrigation of the plains of Fresno
and Tulsre counties was commenced the
water was led away frcn the rivers and
was taken ont upon the plains By this
means the quantity which the lake annu-
ally received grew less, and since evapora-
ton went on as usual the natural conse-
quence was that the lake began to recede.
1t never was deep, not over forty feet,
perhaps. AT the present time 1t is only a
fraction of its former depth. 1t has
shrunken away on account of the cutting
off of its supply of water from the rivers
until Lake Tulsre exists now practically
in name. 1t occupies the shallow depres-
sion in the lowest part of the valley,
while what formerly was the bottom of
the lake is now wheat land and orchard.
Just on the edge of the water the rem
nsnt of the grove of trees is found. Here
is where the great geographical change is
suggested. The trees evidently grew on
QTg SrOuuu 1neE cOulu not nave grown
under water. When they were growing
Lake Tulsre could not have been in exis-
tence. The trees are older than the lake
They are willow. and some Of them are
two feet or more in diameter, such as now
grow in the bottom lands along Kings riv-
er. They grew where they are now found,
and then the waters OF the lake over
whelmed them, and being under water,
they have been preserved from decay, and
M 70 ysa fx- he
of the waters.
There seems to be but one theory by
which the existence of the submerged
grove may be accounted for The time
may not have been very long ego when
Lake TulsrA did not exist. There Is no
dispute to its origin by those who have
the subject The causes are
visible. There was a time when the wa
t@rs of Kings, Tulare, Tule and Ksweah
rivers all flowed northward unobstructed,
and reached the ocean through the chan
mel of the San joaquin. The rivers that
now discharge their waters into Lake Tu-
lare then probably emptied into one river
in the vicinity of the present
lake. and from there flowed northward
along the lowest part of the valley and
reached the San aquin near the present
town of Mendoza formerly Whites Bridss.
The channel or Isnnels Of this old river
still exist, and in times of very great food
some of the waters of Kings river, and
perhaps also a portion Of the surplus wa
ters of the lake, still finds its way to the
San joaquin through this old channel,
which is called Fresno slough.
From the Coast mountains on the west
flows Los Gatos creek. Opposite, on the
east, from the Sierrss, flows Kings river.
IL was the sediment brought down by these
two streams that made the lake possible
Each of these two streams deposited i'm
nense quantities Of gravel and soil where
hey emerged from the mountains upon
The plains. Every food brought down an
quantity. The sediment from
Kings river approached The center of the
valley from the east, forming a ridge.
Los GstOs did likewise from the west.
The two eDbankmenis gradually ap-
preached each other till they met in the
center of the valley, and the embankment
was cOmplets from the foot of the Sierras
30 the base of the Coast mountains, and
the waters of the southern end of the val
ley were thus shut in.
Undoubtedly this was the origin of Lake
rulare. The waters eould no longer es-
cape and collected in the southern end of
the valley. The high ridge crossing the
valley from side to side is there TO sppak
for itself. As stated, in times of great
food the water still rises Ia height sufi-
cient to flow over the lowest part of the
ridge anu by THIS exit reaches the San Joa-
luin. The ridge is not a narrow one, but
s many miles wide, sloping gradually off
10 the south and north.
1t is not now difficult to account for the
submerged grove of trees in the bottom of
the lake. Before the two embankments of
approaching from the east snd
west, met in the center, there WAS nothing
TO hinder the waters from the rivers far
ther south from flowing cut 10 the San Jo-
aquin.
But suddenly, we may suppose, a food
probably larger than usual came down Los
iatos and Kings rivers, bearing drift and
sand, and the last gap in the embsnkment
was filed and the channel for the escape
Of the waters from the southern part of
the valley was closed. The lake would be
formed Immediately. The trees would be
covered with water as they stood. The
water would preserve them from decay,
and here row, with the receding of the
water of the lake, they are found.
Thus, per hsps. an important chapter in
the past history of California geology and
geography may be learned. 1t is probable
that Lake Tulsre did not exist two hun
ared years ago.
miscellaneous.