The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-02-27
SINGULAR RIVERS,
DECEPTIVE LAKES

Lakes" by Augustus w. D~ougherty;
"Battle-Born State" SILVER State
"Sagebrush State" and the state
Whose Rivers Stay at Home are ia
milliar appellations commonly applied
TO Nevada; yet the soubriquet more
appropriate to the commonwealth. in
the opinion of many, is THE State OF
Singular Rivers and Deceptive Lakes.
For it appears that all of Nevada's
thirty or more small rivers send their
waters into some one or other of her
own lakes, or so-called sinks while
most of her lakes have no outlets at
all.
Many people imagine Nevada to be
one vast, wide plateau region Of sage
brush plains and equally barren
mountains, but in reality Ii is literally
a land of fertile valleys. And while
there are no large rivers within her
borders, the tillable land Of the State
is watered by a multitude of streams.
which serve to furnish moisture to the
numerous rich valley ranches.
The queerest feature about the
streams of Nevada is that, after wind
ing their crooked way for great dis
tances, they eventually spread out
somewhere and sink. and never get
outside the State. Many of the creeks
are quite singular, in that they sud
denly appear on the surface, coming
apparently from nowhere, and after
ripping and rolling along for miles
down the valley, will equally as sud
denly disappear from sight, and are
gone forever. Often for a great dis
lance the bed of a creek will be found
entirely dry; then, Unexpectedly, the
water will come oozing from the sandy
bottom and flow serenely on, until it
takes a notion to again disappear.
Nearly all Nevada rivers are formed
from springs, or from melted snow on
the mountains. Very few have a
continuous course When the water
which forms the smallest rivers and
creeks first leaves the base of the
Mountains 1t moves very rapidly and
in large volume; but not for long, for
the stream will gradually dwindle
until all at once it may be completely
lost from sight.
The Humboldt, the largest river in
the State, has it's source in a u
tain range 1000 feet above sea level,
in the northeastern part Of Nevada,
not far from the Utah line, and fol-
lows a southwesternly zig-zag course
OF 1000 miles to Humboldt lake, or
the Sink Of the Humboldt" lei the
California line. where it ends. From
the source of this river to the sink"
where its waters axe lost by evapora-
ton, in its tortuous course the crooked
stream manages to round out 1000
miles! Nevada's extreme width from
east to west is only about 1926 miles.
yet the Humboldt manages to travel
the distance of 1000 miles, making ii
notable as being the longest river in
the United States that has its source.
its outlet, and it's entire sinuous
wholly within the boundaries
Of a single state. Some of the richest
farming districts of Nevada lie along
this river. It's drainage area covers
$4,000 square miles. and about 200.0 900
rich acres of land along its valley and
tributaries are under cultivation. The
entire course Of the serpentine stream
Is along a plateau, even the lake into
which it at last loses itself being over
400 feet above the ocean.
The Humboldt basin is one Of the
few east-and-west passes through the
many mountain chains Of Nevada, it
being the only river flowing from east
to west. It's entire sandy, treeless
route is through what was in early
days the dim trail followed by emf
grants who focked to the gold dig
gings in California. Humboldt lake,
into which this river empties. has no
visible outlet, and in the winter sea-
son has a length of some fifteen miles
and a width of ten; as summe adj
it grows shallow, and recedes
into a mud marsh.
Truckee river, the second in size.
takes its rise in California. 1t is the
only outlet of Lake Tahoe, and after
the contents Of numerous
streams added to it's volume,
continues its elevated and angular
course northward. where it flows into
Pyramid lake, which body of water
lies 1900 feet above the sea. The
Truckee has a fall of twenty-five feet
the mile and a velocity of six feet
second, and for the whole 100 miles
OF its length furnishes unlimited
water power. The stream was named