LAKE VAN NORDEN/MEADOW WORK BOOK

A CONTEXTUAL OVERVIEW OF HUMAN LAND USE

AND

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

report prepared by

Susan Lindström, Ph.D. (RPA), Consulting Archaeologist

Truckee, California

report prepared for

BALANCE HYDROLOGICS, INC.

Truckee, California

on behalf of

TRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUST

Truckee, California

January 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

PROJECT BACKGROUND 1

DATA SOURCES AND CONTACTS 1

Published and Unpublished Sources 2

Archaeological Records Review 2

Research Contacts 3

Archives 4

Native American Consultation 5

SETTING 6

Physical Environment 6

Prehistory 7

Ethnography 8

Washoe 8

Nisenan (Southern Maidu) 9

History 9

Transportation 10

Lumbering 15

Ice 16

Grazing 17

Communications 18

Lake Van Norden and Meadow 19

ALTERNATIVES AND RECOMMENDATIONS 23

Potential Impacts with Dam Lowering 23

Notching of Lake Van Norden Dam 24

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 i Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Lowering the Water Surface of Lake Van Norden 24

Incision, Erosion and Deposition 24

Construction of Secondary Weir 25

Recommended Follow-Up Archaeological Work 25

REFERENCES 27

CORRESPONDENCE

Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California April Moore, Nisenan (Southern Maidu) Consultant MAPS 1. Project location map (USGS Quad) 2. Project location map (aerial photo) 3. General Land Office Survey Plat T17N/R14E 1865-1866 (numbered field notes keyed to Map 3) 4. General Land Office Survey Plat T17N/R15E 1865-1866 (numbered field notes keyed to Map 4) 5. Von Leicht & Hoffman Map (1874) 6. USGS Truckee Sheet (1889) 7. USGSs Truckee Quad (1889, 1897 edition) 8. USGS Truckee Quad (1940, 1951 reprint) 9. Map of Nevada County (1880) 10. Map of Placer County (1887) 11. Map of Nevada County (1913) 12. Tahoe National Forest (1915) 13. Tahoe National Forest (1921) 14. Tahoe National Forest (1926) 15. Tahoe National Forest (1930) 16. Tahoe National Forest (1962)

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 ii Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 17. Tahoe National Forest (1983) 18. USGS Donner Pass 15' Quad (1955) 19. USGS Norden and Soda Springs 7.5' Quads (1955) 20. USGS Norden and Soda Springs 7.5' Quads (1955, photo revised 1979) 21. USGS Norden and Soda Springs 7.5' Quads (1986) 22. Map of the Emigrant Trail (Graydon 1986) 23. Map of the Emigrant Trail (State of California 1991) 24. Map of the Emigrant Trail (Wiggins 2001) 25. Plan and Profile of State Highway (1927) 26. Metsker's Map of Nevada County (ca. 1938) 27. Southern Pacific's Norden Ski Hut (1940) 28. Your 1966 Guide to PG&E Recreational Facilities PHOTOGRAPHS (all images are courtesy of Donner Summit Historical Society-

Norm Sayler Collection, unless otherwise noted)

1. Summit Valley ca. late 1860s-1870s; Summit Valley (background); "Wine Rock" (foreground); view east 2. Summit Valley; Lake Van Norden (background); "Wine Rock" (foreground); view east 3. Summit Valley ca. late 1860s-1870s; Summit Valley (background); view west 4. Summit Valley ca. late 1860s-1870s; Summit Station/Soda Springs Station and dam (midground); Castle Peak (background); view northeast 5. Summit Valley ca. 1870; Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road (midground); Castle Peak (back); view north 6. Freight wagon on Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road (likely at the Castle Creek crossing); view north 7. Freight wagons on Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road (likely at the Castle Creek crossing); view north

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 iii Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 8. Sheep grazing in Summit Valley ca. 1942 9. Sheep camp in Summit Valley 10. Sheep grazing in Summit Valley ca. 1930 11. Sheep grazing in Summit Valley; undated postcard; view southeast 12. Lake Van Norden; undated postcard; railroad snowsheds (foreground); view southwest 13. Norden; undated postcard; view southeast 14. Van Norden Dam 1931; view north (photo courtesy Searles Historical Library) 15. Van Norden Dam 1931; view east (photo courtesy Searles Historical Library) 16. Lake Van Norden ca. 1942; railroad (foreground); Crow's Nest Peak (background); view southeast 17. Lake Van Norden ca. 1919-1920; view southeast; (photo possibly taken by T. C. Wohlbruck) 18. Lake Van Norden; undated postcard; railroad snowsheds (foreground); view southwest 19. Lake Van Norden January 1960; view east 20. Lake Van Norden; undated postcard; view northwest 21. "Lake Van Norden near Soda Springs, ca. 1946 Lake is Gone"; view southeast 22. Lake Van Norden; postcard ca. 1954; view southeast 23. Lake Van Norden; postcard ca. 1914; view southeast 24. Lake Van Norden meadow ca. 1963; view southeast 25. Lake Van Norden; view southeast 26. Lake Van Norden; view southwest 27. Lake Van Norden 28. Lake Van Norden; view southwest 29. "Cat Fishing at Lake Van Norden"; undated postcard 30. Fishing at Lake Van Norden

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 iv Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 31. Fishing at Lake Van Norden; view southeast 32. Old U.S. 40 (westbound) ca. late 1930s-1940s; Lake Van Norden/Meadow covered with snow (left mid ground); Beacon Hill Ski Run (background) 33. Lake Van Norden, ice-covered; undated post card; Beacon Hill Ski Run (back right) 34. Lake Van Norden; undated post card; railroad (foreground); Beacon Hill Ski Run (back right) 35. Norden Ski Lodge; undated postcard (ca. 1930s) 36. "Winter Sports at the Sugar Bowl"; undated postcard 37. Lake Van Norden; view southeast

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 v Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Truckee Donner Land Trust (TDLT) has acquired the Royal Gorge Property near Soda Springs, California, including portions of Van Norden Meadow and Lake Van Norden. The study area falls within Township 17 North, Range 14 East, sections 23, 24, 25, and 26 and in Township 17 North, Range 15 East Section 20, MDM (maps 1 and 2). Lake Van Norden is currently under jurisdiction of the State of California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) and the TDLT would now like to lower the reservoir storage capacity below threshold sizes for DSOD jurisdiction in anticipation of transferring the land to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). In order to be non-jurisdictional, a dam can be less than 6-feet high or store less than 50 acre-feet of water. At its current spillway elevation (6754.6 ft, NGVD), Van Norden Dam is over 10 feet high, with a surface area of 87.0 acres and reservoir storage of approximately 208 acre-feet. Based on surveyed bathymetry and calculated stage-storage-area relationships, the spillway will need to be lowered by 2.3 feet to reduce reservoir storage to below 50 acre-feet. The spillway would be notched to elevation 6752.0 feet, and would result in smaller impoundment with an area of approximately 31 acres and storage capacity of 47.8 acre- feet (Correspondence Shaw and Lang to Svahn 2013). To accomplish this goal, project alternatives include modifying the existing dam under one of the following actions: (1) 2.3-foot spillway notch; (2) a greater than four-foot spillway notch (exact depth to be determined); (3) complete breach; and (4) secondary dam and compartmentalized reservoir. Balance Hydrologics, Inc., Dudek and Susan Lindstrom, Consulting Archaeologist are evaluating the hydrology, biological resources and history of Summit Valley (today's Lake Van Norden/Meadow) in an effort to better evaluate potential impacts associated with lowering the dam. As part of this evaluation, a contextual history of human land use and past environmental conditions has been prepared, which can be used as an independent and corroborative tool to link historic conditions and contemporary environmental restoration and protection efforts. With this in mind, readily available archaeological, ethnographic and historic background data were assembled in order to assist project planners in evaluating potential opportunities and constraints attendant to any alteration of existing hydrological conditions in Summit Valley. Data are compiled into a “work book” format, in anticipation that additional archival and field research will follow. Findings presented in this work book are preliminary and a more extensive contextual history of pre-modern conditions in Summit Valley is needed in order to better document human disturbances and set a baseline of reference conditions from which to better assess the contemporary environment. Initial research has confirmed that Summit Valley in its entirety is sensitive to contain heritage resources, with meadow margins being the most likely places to encounter prehistoric and historic archaeological remains. Accordingly, a formal inventory of known heritage resources should be accomplished at an early point in the planning process and field archaeological surveys should be conducted prior to any project ground disturbance activities.

DATA SOURCES AND CONTACTS

Research for the Lake Van Norden/Meadow project was conducted by Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Lindström meets the Secretary of Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards. She has 40 years of professional experience in regional prehistory and history, holds a doctoral degree in Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 1 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist anthropology/archaeology and has maintained certification by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (formerly Society of Professional Archaeologists) since 1982.

Note that he contextual discussion presented in this report draws from the existing literature, supplemented by personal notes and experience. The overview is far from exhaustive and data are uneven. Mostly assembled at an earlier time and for a different purpose, information has been adapted to fit into the Lake Van Norden/Meadow assessment framework.

PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED SOURCES

Research involved a literature survey of pertinent historic and prehistoric themes and a selective review of prior regional archaeological investigations. A number of sources were consulted to include the Donner Summit Historical Society and the Truckee Donner Historical Society, as well as historic documents, photographs and maps on file in the consultant’s personal library. Referenced maps include early surveys (General Land Office 1865-1866, Von Leicht and Hoffman 1874, Wheeler 1876-1877), county maps (Nevada County 1880 and 1913, Placer County 1887), USGS quadrangles (1889, 1889/1897, 1940/1951; Donner Pass 15' 1955; Norden and soda Springs 7.5' 1955, 1979, 1986), U.S. Forest Service maps (1915, 1921, 1926, 1930, 1962, 1983; grazing maps from 1911 and 1944-1945; and various Tahoe National Forest cut plats dating from 1915 to 1970), Metsker’s Map of Nevada County (ca. 1938), and miscellaneous maps showing historic saw mills by Knowles (1942) and Wilson (1992). In addition, general local and state histories, regional inventories, miscellaneous unpublished manuscripts, and newspaper articles were examined. Other resources are listed in the references cited section at the end of this report.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS REVIEW

Cursory research disclosed that portions of the project area have been subject to prior archaeological study, as documented in Claytor (1973), Jones and Stokes (1999), Lindström 2001, Payen (1976), Peak (1976, 1983), and Suter (1995), among others. As noted above, the entire study area is highly sensitive to contain prehistoric and historic heritage resources. Zones of greatest sensitivity fall within the upland forest-valley meadow ecotone, on knolls and elevated points along valley margins and wet meadows, within boulder rock out-croppings, and flats near streams and other water sources. Areas of lower sensitivity comprise the damp meadow of the valley floor and moderate to steep forested slopes. Several prehistoric sites (including CA-Nev-324, CA-Nev-384, CA-Nev-385 and CA-Nev- 387) have been inventoried within and surrounding the meadow. In addition CA-Nev-12, the Truckee Route of the Emigrant Trail (1844-1852), may pass through the meadow and/or near the alignment of the Old County Road. The current county road (FS-05-17-57-589 Segment A) is also the route of the Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road (1864-1913), the Lincoln Highway (1913-1925), the Victory Highway (ca. 1921-1927), U.S. 40 (1927-1956), and the "Old County Road" (1956 to present). The initial archaeological survey of the Lake Van Norden shore line by Payen in 1976 was confined inside PG&E's two-foot proposed inundation zone and within four planned borrow areas at the east end of the reservoir. Sixteen archaeological sites were recorded. Payen's sites include large prehistoric habitation areas (comprising bedrock mortars, milling slicks and cupule petroglyphs,

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 2 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist portable milling slabs, stone tool scatters and projectile points, and discolored soil or midden), small prehistoric camp sites (marked by broken stone tools), historic cabin sites (1866 "Henry Witherspoon Cabin" and 1866 "G.W. Lytton House"), a narrow-gauge railroad bed, sheepherders camp and corral, and a possible Chinese cabin and rectangular earthen charcoal kiln. In 2001 Lindström surveyed a narrow corridor along the north side of Summit Valley and encountered 21 sites, to include some of the ones originally recorded by Payen in 1976. The 2001 site inventory further characterized the prehistoric complex along the northern Summit Valley meadow margins (comprising bedrock mortars, milling slicks, portable milling slabs, stone tool scatters and projectile points, and discolored soil or midden), as well as a historic Chinese railroad construction camp, a complex of dirt roads that may represent alignments of one or more historic roadways (the 1844-1852 Emigrant Trail, the 1864-1913 Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road, the 1913-1925 Lincoln Highway, the 1921-1927 Victory Highway, 1927-1956 U.S. 40, and the "Old County Road", 1956 to present), and miscellaneous refuse deposits that may relate to recreational camping along Lake Van Norden and/or roadside dumping along the Old County Road.

RESEARCH CONTACTS

Contact was made with the following organizations and individuals:

 Donner Summit Historical Society, Soda Springs (September 5, 2013)  Doris Foley Historical Research Library, Nevada City (September 6, 2013)  Searles Historical Library, Nevada City (September 6, 2013)  Truckee Donner Historical Society, Truckee (July 12, 2013)  Truckee Donner Land Trust, Truckee (January 7, 2014)  U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest (May 16, September 6, 2013)  Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California (July 24, 2013)  Karl Casperson, Land Surveys, USFS (General Land Office Field Notes), Nevada City (September 6, 2013)  Pat Chesnut, Director, Searles Historical Library, Nevada City (September 6, 2013)  Darrel Cruz, Washoe Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Carson City (July 24, 2013)  Tom Macaulay, Reno, reigning authority on Truckee's ice industry; grandson of the founder of the Summit Valley Ice Company (September 4, 2013)  April Moore (Nisenan/Southern Maidu Native American Consultant), Colfax (July 27, 2013)  Chaun Mortier, Research Historian, Truckee Donner Historical Society (July 12, 2013)  Bill Oudegeest, Avocational Historian, Soda Springs (September 4, 2013)  Norm Sayler, Avocational Historian and resident of Soda Springs since 1954 (September 5, 2013)  Lee Schegg, former President, Lincoln Highway Association, Truckee (2001)  Carrie Smith, Heritage Resource Coordinator, Tahoe National Forest, Truckee (May 16, 2013)  John Svahn, Director, Truckee Donner Land Trust, Truckee (January 7, 2014)  Don Wiggins, former Regional Coordinator, Sierra-Nevada Chapter Oregon California Trails Association (2001)

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 3 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist

ARCHIVES

A number of archival sources were reviewed to include:

Tahoe National Forest, Nevada City:

 "Transcript of the Field Notes of the Survey of the Subdivision Lines of Township 17 North, Range 14 East, Mount Diablo Meridian, California as executed by James E. Freemen, Deputy Surveyor under contract of June 21, 1866"  "Transcript of the Field Notes of the Survey of the Subdivision Lines of Township 17 North, Range 15 East, Mount Diablo Meridian, California as executed by James E. Freemen, Deputy Surveyor, commenced October 15, 1866, completed November 3, 1866"  "Field Notes of the Survey of the Exterior Boundaries of Township 17 North, Range 14 and 15 East, Mount Diablo Meridian, as executed by James E. Freeman, Deputy Surveyor, under his contract of June 21, 1866"  "For Preliminary Oaths See Notes of Subdivision of Tps. 17 North, Range 13 East, commenced September 18, 1866, completed October 19, 1866"

Doris Foley Historical Research Library, Nevada City:

 Summit Valley Ice Co (Hansen, Sierra Heritage Magazine, Winter 1987:40, "Truckee Basin's Ice Age")  Summit Valley and Summit Station (Thompson and West Index 1880:76b, 126a, 127a, 128a, 138a)  Summit Ice Company (Nevada County Mining Review 1895:128, McDonald)  Summit Ice Company (Thompson and West Index 1880:166bc, 167a, 213, Brogan, 224, McDonald)  Donner Summit (Thompson and West Index 1880:77a, 78, 126a, 127a, 128a)

Searles Historical Library, Nevada City:

 miscellaneous files South Yuba Canal Company, precursor to PGE (Fred Searles was the company attorney; Fred Searles' father was the first company attorney)  Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin 23:5 October 1969 "A Saga of the South Yuba Canal Co Part 1" by Doris Foley  Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin 23:6 December 1969 "A Saga of the South Yuba Canal Co Part 2" by Doris Foley  "Diagrammatic Profile Showing Route of the Additional Water to be Developed at Fordyce" May 21, 1923 (Searles Map 197-B)  "William Goforth Eversole (1819-1894) and the California Gold Rush of 1849" by James F. Eversole, August 25, 1980  miscellaneous lawsuits (water rights), deeds, Nevada County Mining Review, South Yuba Canal Abstracts of Title

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 4 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist  card catalog: lakes  photo catalog

Donner Summit Historical Society (DSHS), Soda Springs:

 The Heirloom-DSHS Newsletter (2008-2014)  Norm Sayler Collection (photographs, brochures, newspaper articles, unpublished manuscripts, etc.)

Truckee Donner Historical Society, Truckee:

 photo collection; general files

Photographs:

The DSHS curates a large photo file on Summit Valley. Only a small representative sample was chosen for inclusion in this report. Unless otherwise noted, selected photos are credited to the DSHS, Norm Sayler Collection.

Some of the earlier photos appearing at the end of this report were likely taken by Alfred L. Hart, artist and official photographer for the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR). Hart's photos may have been taken on a relatively small number of expeditions between 1865 and 1869 (Kibbey 1996:63). Hart sold them to the CPRR in January 1866 and the railroad allowed others to print stereographs from them without giving due credit, e.g., Carleton E. Watkins and the optical firm of Lawrence & Houseworth. Hart did not copyright his photographs and never legally pursued people who reprinted them without crediting him (Kibbey 1996:69, 53). Since Hart's photographic work has remained effectively in the public domain from the date of first publication, the DSHS has reproduced a number of the photos used in this report, and photo credit has been given to them.

At least one image included in the photograph section of this report may be by renown local photographer, T.C. Wohlbruck (Oudegeest, personal communication 2013).

NATIVE AMERICAN CONSULTATION

Prior ethnographic studies indicate that both the Washoe and Nisenan (Southern Maidu) are the applicable tribal authorities for lands encompassing the project area. Accordingly, Darrel Cruz, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, and April Moore, Nisenan Native American Consultant, were contacted on July 24th and 27th (respectively) in order to incorporate opinions, knowledge and sentiments regarding traditional Native American lands within the study area. Project background information, location maps and archaeological survey results were mailed on July 24th. While no project-specific concerns were identified, both groups emphasized the traditional importance of Summit Valley and the need to protect and preserve all Native American archaeological sites (see attached correspondence). Note that Mrs. Moore's heritage is part Nisenan, Washoe and Mountain Maidu (Konkow). In the past she

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 5 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist has represented Native American interests on PG&E reservoir/dam relicensing projects, and she has visited Lake Van Norden. Her husband is a retired PG&E officer in the hydrology department, who worked out of the Alta office for 20 years. SETTING

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT The earliest photos of Summit Valley were taken ca. late 1860s-early 1870s (Photos 1, 3, 4). Narrative descriptions of Summit Valley come much earlier, for example Edwin Bryant's commentary in his 1848 book, What I Saw In California (page 232). Descending the rocky ravine a few miles, we emerged from it and entered a beautiful level valley, some four or five miles in length from east to west, and about two miles in breadth. A narrow, sluggish stream runs through this valley, the waters of which are of considerable depth, and the banks steep and miry. A luxuriant growth of grasses, of excellent quality, covered the entire valley with the richest verdure. Flowers were in bloom; and although late in August, the vegetation presented all the tenderness and freshness of May. This valley has been named by emigrants "Uber Valley," and the stream which runs through it,...sometimes pronounced Juba..." [reprinted in Heirloom, June 2013:2] Alonzo Delano first came through Summit Valley in 1849 as an emigrant on horseback. He made his second trip 1868 and observed: ...we reach the pleasant opening of Summit Valley, which lies nestled at the western base of the great wall and the backbone of the Sierra Nevada. A charming glade of a mile in length, by half a mile broad, present in summer an interesting contrast in its green bosom to the great wall of everlasting snow which rises on its eastern border... [reprinted in Heirloom, September 2012:2] A few years later Benjamin Avery of the Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (1874:175) was confronted with a somewhat different landscape. Arrived at the summit of the Sierra Nevada on the line of the railroad, there are many delightful pedestrian and horseback excursions to be made in various directions, and the finest points are fortunately the least hackneyed. At Summit Valley (which is associated with the relief of the tragically fated Donner emigrants, and is only three miles from Donner pass) there is an odious saw-mill, which has thinned out the forests; an ugly group of whitewashed houses; a ruined creek, whose water are like a tan-vat; a big sandy dam across the valley, reared in a vain attempt to make an ice pond; a multitude of dead, blanched trees, a great, staring, repellent blank. And yet this valley is not unlovely. It's upper end, still a green meadow leads to the base of peaks 10,000 or 12,000 feet high, whose light-gray summits of granite, or volcanic breccia, weather into castellated forms, rise in sharp contrast to the green woods margining the level meadow. A little apart from the noisy station, the woods are beautiful, as we have described them, and the bowlder-strewn [sic] earth reminds one of the pasture dotted with sheep [reprinted in the Heirloom, May 2013:2] Summit Valley is situated due west of the main crest of the Sierra Nevada (figures 1 and 2). Birkeland (1963, l964) has described the Quaternary geology of the Donner Pass area. Prior to

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 6 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 40,000 years ago, Pleistocene trunk glaciers flowed down Donner Pass into the Truckee River Basin on the east and the South Yuba River drainage on the west, sculpting the terrain into its present form. Holocene glaciation within the past l0,000 years was limited to the advance of small cirque glaciers along the Sierran crest. Moraines and glacial outwash are remnants of these events. Large granitic erratics occur along the valley margin and were targeted as prehistoric bedrock mills. The Pleistocene geology of the area also has important implications for the distribution of lithic raw materials, which were fashioned into prehistoric basalt and cryptocrystoline stone tools. The study area is characterized by a fairly homogenous topography, with elevations ranging around 6700 feet. It lies within Storer and Usinger's (l97l) Lodgepole Pine-Red Fir Belt or Canadian Zone. Dominant tree species include lodgepole pine (Pinus murrayana), Jeffrey pines (P. jeffreyi), white fir (Abies concolor), and willow (Salix spp.). Open areas are covered by sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata) and bitterbrush (Pursia tridentata), with wetter areas colonized by elderberry, serviceberry, alder, gooseberry, etc. Wet meadow grasses include brome, fescue, bluegrass, and sedge. Forbes include dwarf lupine, potentilla, pussy paws, yarrow, sorrel, pennyroyal, mallow, and buckwheat. There are 115 species of butterflies, 16 species of amphibians, 500 species of plants, and dozens of species of mammals (Heirloom, February 2013:1). Human modifications of Summit Valley are associated with transportation, logging, ice, stock grazing, and recreation and the valley has been inundated by PG&E's Lake Van Norden reservoir. Accordingly, the extent to which modern plant and animal communities resemble their pristine composition after these historic activities have taken place is uncertain. Photos 1 shows Summit Valley ca. late 1860s-early 1870s. Photo 2 captures the same view of the valley ca. mid 1950s, now inundated by a reservoir. In pristine times the area is thought to have supported a luxuriant growth of native bunch grasses that allowed an abundant large game population and provided a nutritious source of seeds for use by prehistoric peoples. The headwaters of the South Yuba River was a minor fishery. Notations made on General Land Office Survey Plats of 1865- 1866 (and corresponding transcripts of James E. Freeman's field notes of the survey of subdivision lines of Township 17 North and Ranges 14 and 15 East completed in the fall of 1866) indicate a change in hydrological and botanical conditions over the last 150 years (figures 3 and 4). PREHISTORY

A large view divides the prehistory of the Sierra Nevada and adjoining regions into intervals marked by changes in adaptive strategies that represent major stages of cultural evolution (Elston 1982, 1986). In broadest terms, the archaeological signature of the Truckee-Donner area marks a trend from hunting-based societies in earlier times to populations that were increasingly reliant upon diverse resources by the time of historic contact (Elston 1982). The shift in lifeways may be attributed partially to factors involving paleoclimate, a shifting subsistence base, and demographic change. The archaeology of the region was first outlined by Heizer and Elsasser (l953) in their study of sites located in the Truckee Basin Martis Valley area. They identified two distinct prehistoric lifeways which are believed to have once characterized the area's early occupants. Subsequent studies have further refined the culture history of the region in general (Elston 1971; Elston et al 1977, 1994, 1995). Some of the oldest archaeological remains reported for the region have been found in the Truckee River Canyon near Squaw Valley. These Pre-Archaic remains date from the Early Holocene and suggest occupation by about 9,000 years ago (Tahoe Reach Phase). Other Pre-

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 7 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Archaic to Early Archaic occupation, dating from about 7,000 years before present (BP) during the Middle Holocene (~8,000-5,500 BP), are documented at Spooner Lake (Spooner Phase) near Spooner Summit overlooking Lake Tahoe. A heightened period of occupation in the region began during the Early-Late Holocene (~5,500-2,000 BP) through the Middle-Late Holocene (~2,000- 1,000 BP) and may have occurred most intensively at varying intervals between 4,000 and 500 years ago (Martis Phases during the Early and Middle Archaic, and Early Kings Beach Phase during the Late Archaic). The protohistoric ancestors of the Washoe (Late Kings Beach Phase), also of Late Archaic times, may date roughly from about 500 years ago to historic contact during the "Latest" Holocene (post 1,000 BP). ETHNOGRAPHY Although Donner Pass is consistently reported in ethnographies as inside Washoe trading routes and territory, use by neighboring Maidu, Miwok, and Northern Paiute groups is not ruled out. d'Azevedo (1984:23) pointed out that much of the Washoe range, including the core territory, was used jointly by adjacent non-Washoe peoples and constituted a ventilated corridor of trade and travel. He further noted that, in terms of clear-cut tribal boundaries, the overall picture is one of extensive interaction among Washoes and their neighbors, an arrangement that engaged in cooperative practices of trade, inter-visiting and intermarriage between Washoe subgroups and the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute, the Miwok, and the Maidu (Beals 1933:366; d'Azevedo 1984:32, 1986:471; Downs 1966:51; Riddell 1960:75; Stewart 1966). The Southern Maidu (or Hill Nisenan) held the foothill and mountainous portions of the drainages of the Yuba, Bear and American Rivers and the lower drainages of the Feather River (Kroeber l925; Wilson and Towne l978). Nisenan occupation of the high country was most probably by small groups during hunting, fishing and plant collecting forays in the uplands above their more permanent villages along the sierran west slope. The Soda Springs vicinity has been variously described as totally within Nisenan territory (Wilson and Towne l978), as a "no man's land" between the Nisenan and the Washoe (Littlejohn l928), or as Washoe peripheral territory (Price 1962). In consideration of the above, the area around Donner Pass seems most firmly within Washoe territory, with primary use by the northern Washoe or Wel mel ti Wa She Shu (Downs 1966; Nevers l976). Numerous Washoe settlements are known to have existed in the Truckee and Donner Lake basins and the Washoe themselves regard all "prehistoric" remains in this general region as associated with their own past. Washoe The Washoe are part of an ancient Hokan-speaking population that was subsequently surrounded by Numic-speaking in-comers, such as the Northern Paiute (Jacobsen 1966). Even into the 21st Century, the Washoe have not been completely displaced from their traditional lands. The contemporary Washoe have developed a Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Washoe Tribal Council 1994) that includes goals of reestablishing a presence within the Truckee-Tahoe Sierra and re- vitalizing Washoe heritage and cultural knowledge, including the harvest and care of traditional plant resources and the protection of traditional properties within the cultural landscape (Rucks 1996:3).

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 8 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist The Washoe once embodied a blend of Great Basin and California in their geographical position and cultural attributes. Washoe ethnography hints at a level of technological specialization and social complexity for Washoe groups, which is non-characteristic of their neighbors in the Great Basin. Semi-sedentism and higher population densities, concepts of private property, and communal labor and ownership are reported and may have developed in conjunction with Washoe residential stability stemming from a rich and reliable subsistence resource base (Lindström 1992, 1996). The ethnographic record suggests that during the mild season, small groups traveled through high mountain valleys fishing and collecting edible and medicinal roots, seeds and marsh plants. In the higher elevations men hunted large game (mountain sheep and deer) and trapped smaller mammals. The Washoe have a tradition of making long treks across the Sierran passes for the purpose of hunting, trading and gathering acorns. These aboriginal trek routes, patterned after game trails, are often the precursors of our historic and modern road systems. Archaeological evidence of these ancient subsistence activities are found along the mountain flanks as temporary small hunting camps containing flakes of stone and broken tools. In the high valleys more permanent base camps are represented by stone flakes, tools, grinding implements, and house depressions. Hill Nisenan

For the Hill Nisenan, like most hunters and gatherers, vegetable food resources formed the subsistence baseline. They utilized a wide range of floral and faunal species although they apparently made extensive use of only a small percentage of these. The least productive time of the year was late winter-early spring. The salmon run began in late spring. Throughout the summer, nuts and seeds were gathered. Acorns became available in massive quantities in the autumn, which was also the time of deer hunting. Groups went on hunting and gathering expeditions within the mountains in the fall. Temporary camps were located along creeks where temporary lean-to structures with some mud covering at the base were constructed (Beals 1933; Wilson and Towne 1978). Nisenan villages consisted of from four to l2 separate dwellings, housing a nuclear or polygamous family with the main cooperative or corporate unit being an informal bilateral "family" (Beals l933:344). Larger social organizations, called tribelets (Kroeber l925), were formed by several villages uniting under a single chief. Boundaries of such tribelets were formed by using natural ridges between streams. However, the higher elevation areas were apparently not included in any one tribelet’s territory.

HISTORY

Summit Valley is witness to the first emigrant party to reach California with wagons, the first transcontinental railroad, the first transcontinental highway, the first transcontinental telephone line, and the first transcontinental air route. The first crossing of the Sierra in a motorized vehicle (besides a train), was also through Summit Valley (Heirloom, May 2013:1).

The first Euroamerican occupation in Summit Valley is documented in an 1861 railroad survey that shows a single cabin located near the confluence of Castle Creek and the Yuba River (Heirloom, March 2013:3, May 2013:5). The completion of the Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road in 1864 through Summit Valley brought other settlers with their cattle, sheep, dairies, lumber

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 9 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist mills, orchards, and ice houses. The railroad prompted further development marked by rooming houses, stores, bars, hotels, liveries, telegraph and post offices, and a train station. The "Williams' House and farm", "Witherspoon's Cabin", "G. W. Lytton's House", and a sparse network of fence lines, trails and roads are depicted on the 1865-1866 GLO survey plats (maps 3 and 4). The location of modern-day Soda Springs is indicated by "Tinker's Hotel" on the 1865-1866 map (Map 3) and as "Summit Station" on an 1874 map (Map 5). Maps dating from the 1880s (maps 6, 7, 10) referred to the locale as "Soda Springs Station." According to the Sacramento Daily Union (4/23/ 1875), "the Station on the Central Pacific heretofore known as the Summit Valley Station will be known as the Soda Springs Station hereafter, to prevent confusion of names between Summit and Summit Valley stations." The old hotel at Soda Springs Station appears on maps dating from 1889 (Map 6) and 1897 (Map 7) and on a photograph dating ca. 1870 (Photo 4). This old photo shows a dam to the east of the hotel. It does not appear to be impounding a reservoir and its associations with water supply engineering, ice, lumbering, railroading, the old wagon road, and/or some other activity are uncertain.

Transportation Emigrant Travel Beginning in l84l, overland emigrant travelers entered California on foot or with wagons and mounting the Sierra Nevada was their last major obstacle of the journey. A portion of the Truckee River Route of the Overland Emigrant Trail crossed Donner Pass and traversed Summit Valley. A section of the "old emigrant road" is shown on the 1865-1866 GLO survey plat at the north end of Summit Valley (Map 4). The Truckee River route was most heavily traveled prior to l849. After that time, the more southerly route over Carson Pass was preferred. Travel over Donner Pass dropped in l852 when travelers favored Henness Pass and Beckwourth Pass to the north. The route up the Truckee River, over Donner Pass and down into the Central Valley was first opened by the Stevens-Murphy-Townsend Party. The emigrant party ascended the Truckee River and arrived at its confluence with Donner Creek in mid-November of l844. The group split here. A pack train traveled on to Lake Tahoe and crossed the divide at the headwaters of McKinney Creek and into the American River Canyon. The remaining wagon train party, guided by mountain man "Old Greenwood", deserves recognition for being the first to use the Truckee River Canyon/Donner Pass route and the first to take wagons over the crest of the Sierra Nevada. After their western descent down the divide, the emigrant party passed through Summit Valley. As later events proved, this was one of the best-led and organized parties to make the crossing into California (Graydon l986:6). It is a tribute to the trail judgment of Elisha Stevens and other members of the Stevens-Murphy-Townsend Party that the subsequent Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road, the Central Pacific Railroad, the Lincoln/Victory/Old 40 Highway, and finally U.S. Interstate 80 all cross the Sierra close to the route they pioneered. It is ironic that the name Stevens soon went down into oblivion while the pass that he opened is known only as Donner Pass, named after a party that never successfully crossed it (Graydon l986:l4). After reaching the Summit Valley floor, researchers have not been able to locate any physical traces that can be absolutely identified as the original emigrant road. Although the exact trail route through the valley is not known, Sayler (1989) notes: "Each year you could see the Emigrant Wagon Road as the water went down..." Hypothesized routes are shown on maps 22, 23 and 24. The known facts are summarized by Wiggins (2001:1). Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 10 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist To reach Summit Valley, until about the middle of September, 1846, the emigrants crossed over a pass near old Highway 40, after that they crossed over a pass between Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Judah, later called Roller Pass. After descending down to the valley floor, most emigrants would then camp somewhere in Summit Valley, and near a branch of the Yuba River that flowed through the valley...To exit the valley, they crossed and left the river they had followed a short distance, and entered a ravine on the west side of the valley. This is the ravine that leads to Twin or Ice Lakes. The lakes are mentioned in some diaries. With little or no physical evidence to support the alternate routes proposed by Grayson (1986; Map 22) or the State of California (1991; Map 23), Wiggins attempted to approximate the emigrant route through Summit Valley by reviewing over 60 emigrant diaries, most dating from 1849. Of those, only about 15 indicated camping in a beautiful valley from about three to five miles west of Roller Pass (i.e., Summit Valley). A few narratives not only give clues on the location of the emigrant trail, but they also provide commentary on Summit Valley's physical setting during a mid-19th century early autumn. Wakeman Bryarly, Aug. 22, 1849...We rolled down the mountain 4 miles, the road being rough & steep half way & then striking a valley, where it was good. We passed through a grove of woods & then emerged into a beautiful valley & camped. Joseph Hackney, Sept. 4, 1849...from the summit we descended four miles to a small valley and found good grass and camped for the night. T.J. Van Dorn, Sept 4, 1849 [with Hackney]...By 4 o'clock P.M. we were all safely up when we arranged our teams and made a descent into the opposite valley 5 miles from the summit and encamped for the night on a beautiful bottom of rich grass and in a plenty, and clover... J. Buffum, Aug. 10, 1849...Five miles down the other side brought us to a fine vally [sic] of good grass with a small stream of water said to be the head waters of the Yuba river... Zimri Garwood, Sept. 18, 1849...We immediately took the decent on the other side which was much more graduel [sic] and easy of descent, though rocky. We drove five miles through heavy pine and fir timber crossing a number of spring branches and came to an open grass valley and a small deep stream which Bryant calls the Uber. Here we camped. Burbank, September 11, 1849...We kept on across the valley & Cross the Yuba (The bottom is gravel but East bank is Steep) in Consequence of one of our Comrades oxen a being lame & found to be disabled for journeying, we Concluded to Encamp & lay by for the day. We Camped on the right of the road, where the road leaves the valley & Enters the forest in the mountain pass...Dist. 1 Mile. Emigrants generally camped in the open part of the valley on the north side of the river (sections 26 and 23) where they found good grass . However, Burbank's company went across the valley before fording the river and then setting up camp. Here, they noted the "East" bank of the river. This puts the trail crossing along the reach of the South Yuba River where it turns north, somewhere in the northwest quarter of Section 26 or southwest quarter of Section 23 (as shown on the 1865-1866 GLO plat, Map 3), not in Section 25 according to Graydon (1986). After crossing the river, the road turned left, or south to enter the ravine:

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 11 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Wakeman Bryarly, August 23, 1859...We rolled at 2 P.M. & one mile left the valley, the road taking a more southern direction. Here we entered again into a mountain gorge. Elisha Lewis, Sept. 19, 1849...This morning was cold and frosty we left camp at 8 oclock traveled down the valey [sic] 1 mile turned to the left entering a pine and spruce forest country rocky and mountanious [sic] Contrary to conventional wisdom (Graydon 1986; State of California 1991), Wiggins (2001) concludes that after descending from Roller Pass, the emigrants stayed on the north side of the South Yuba River and entered the open and grassy meadow part of Summit Valley about three miles after descending from the Summit. From there, they stayed on the north side of the river until crossing it somewhere in the southwest quarter of Section 23, probably near Tinker's Hotel at Soda Springs Station. From here, the road turned south, leaving the valley and entering a mountain ravine (Map 24). The Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road

The toll road over Donner Pass, known as the Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road (DF&DLWR) partly followed the l844 route of the Emigrant Trail. The DF&DLWR formed the final link in a continuous freight and passenger road from Dutch Flat to the Comstock mines near Virginia City. The wagon road is shown on Photo 3 as the white line on the right (north) side of Summit Valley. The "Old County Road", which forms the north boundary of the study area, largely assumes the alignment of the old wagon road (maps 3-8, 11-12, 15-26; photos 5-7). The wagon road was purposely situated near the proposed alignment of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR), as it was designed to aid in transporting supplies to points along the line. The DF&DLWR also served as a toll road to control freight shipments. S. G. Elliott surveyed the DF&DLWR from Dutch Flat eastward in l860, a survey that was financed by Dutch Flat residents (Daily Alta California 11/16/1860/1:7). In June of l864 the DF&DLWR was opened for traffic. By July the California Stage Company was operating its stages on the turnpike. It traversed the road between Dutch Flat and Virginia City in a record time of l3 hours (Sacramento Daily Union l/2/l865/3:6), nine hours less than the stage route via Placerville. The Union also reported that within six months time the DF&DLWR had been used by 3,280 wagons, l69 buggies, l,278 horsemen, and 3,280 head of loose livestock. The DF&DLWR became increasingly popular and by 1866, more of the freight traffic was diverted away from the Placerville route as the CPRR railhead progressed closer to Donner Pass. In September of 1866, Wells, Fargo and Company introduced a "Fast Freight and Passenger" service over the DF&DLWR. The 22 hour trip between Alta (then the terminus of the CPRR) and Virginia City cost $5 and travelers were accommodated with a box to sit on and a blanket. Winter travel was accomplished by sleigh. An estimated 200 freight wagons traversed the road daily during 1867. Train service to Cisco, combined with the wagon and stage service over the DF&DLWR, boasted the fastest stage and freight time between Sacramento and Virginia and the route over Donner Pass generated a million dollars annual revenue. During the construction of the CPRR, locomotives, rails, cars, and parts were hauled over the DF&DLWR to Coburn's Station (Truckee). Completed in 1869, the CPRR superseded road travel across California and throughout the Truckee-Donner area. The DF&DLWR fell into disrepair shortly thereafter and its usefulness as a primary transmontane thoroughfare ended.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 12 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist However, it was still used as an artery of local transportation. The respective counties controlled and maintained the DF&DLWR until it was taken into the State Highway system in l909, when it was rebuilt as an auto and truck road. In 1913 the DF&DLWR was designated as part of the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental highway. Lincoln Highway/Victory Highway/U.S. 40

The route of the DF&DLWR along the northern margin of Summit Valley was later to be designated as part of the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental auto road (maps 8, 11- 12, 15-26). The Lincoln Highway concept was conceived in the fall of 1913 by the Lincoln Highway Association, in concert with the fledgling auto industry and its support industries. Packard, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and General Motors (among others) who contributed to their support (Protteau 1988). Highway plans entailed the development of a continuous, connecting, improved road from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which joined New York and San Francisco, a distance of 3,331 miles. Contiguous segments within the existing regional road systems were designated as interconnecting links in the new transcontinental road. The Lincoln Highway that officially opened in 1913 was a "highway" in name only. By modern standards, it began as a two-track road formed from disconnected township and county roads, fence lines and trails. Nearly all of it was unpaved. At this time there was no federal highway program and no coordination among states and counties for the building of roads, and so the Lincoln Highway Association had to use innovative methods as incentive to complete the road from coast to coast. The construction of so-called "seedling miles" was arranged to encourage communities to build stretches of the road from donated concrete. Some of the best sections of roads developed were in California (Byrd 1992:51-52). Road construction in the 1920s consisted principally of grading and gravel surfacing and providing some drainage. Road widths were typically 24 feet wide, with right-of-way widths of 66 to 80 feet. Road profiles were slightly crowned to facilitate moisture run-off. Major improvements up the east flank of Donner Pass were made in 1923. Here, the original route of the earliest emigrants and the DF&DLWR west of Donner Lake was mostly abandoned and the new road was modified and improved to become the road known today as Old U.S. Highway 40 or Donner Pass Road. The route through Summit Valley remained the same. During the 1930s-1940s roads began to approach modern engineering standards in order to accommodate higher traffic speeds and increased truck traffic. Traveling surfaces remained around 24 feet wide but rights-of-way were up to 200 feet wide. Subgrades were constructed of gravel fill to support heavier autos and trucks. The typical late 1940s and 1950s highway consisted of a paved (asphalt), two-lane road, 24 feet wide, with relatively gentle gravel shoulders, and a moderately steep embankment leading down to a borrow ditch (Francis 1994:n.p.). Upon reaching Reno, motorists traveling west along the Lincoln Highway had a choice of two routes over the Sierra Nevada. The southern branch of the Lincoln Highway headed south to Carson City and then west via South Lake Tahoe and Placerville and on into Sacramento. The northern portion of the Lincoln Highway crossed the Sierra by way of Truckee and Donner Pass and then on to Auburn and Sacramento on California State Route 37. Prior to improvements in the early 1920s the road shared the right of way with the Southern Pacific Railroad down from Donner Summit. An early map of the route warned motorists to "note whether trains are approaching before entering snowsheds" (Byrd 1992:52).

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 13 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist In the 1920s portions of the Lincoln Highway were redesignated as the "Victory Highway", a redundant road system that ran between Denver and San Francisco. Conceived as a memorial to veterans of World War I, the "Route of Triumph" extended for 3,205 miles (Bryd 1992:52). In 1921 the Federal Aid Road Act named the route of the Victory Highway as a "primary" road, thus assuring over $2 million for the improvement of the highway (Bryd 1992:53). The Victory Highway Association incorporated in 1923 as a proponent of the road to San Francisco through the Humboldt Basin in northern Nevada, rather than an alternative route through southern Utah to Los Angeles. While the Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental motorway to be developed and promoted, the Victory Highway was the first cross country road to be completed as a through route (Bryd 1992:52). Construction and aggressive promotion in the West was carried out in large part by the California State Automobile Association. The highway over Donner Pass and down the Truckee River Canyon was completed in 1926. The southern route (U.S. 50) ultimately retained the designation as the Lincoln Highway, with the northern route (U.S. 40) being referenced as the Victory Highway. However, many continued to call the northern route the Lincoln Highway, hence causing some confusion in later years (Bryd 1992:53-54). In 1925 the federal government began adopting a numbering system for its highways; as a result, named highways gradually fell out of fashion (Bryd 1992:54). In 1928 the northern Lincoln/Victory Highway was incorporated into the Federal Highway system and designated as U.S. Route 40 (Photo 32). In 1927 the Lincoln Highway Association disbanded as a business association (Schegg, personal communication 2000 in Lindström 2001). U.S. 40 underwent several re-routings. In 1963 portions of the two-lane U.S. 40 were incorporated into the new interstate highway system and became the four-lane Interstate 80, completed in 1964. Maintenance of the U.S. 40 roadway and its bridges were assumed by Nevada County, with some segments now under the jurisdiction of the Town of Truckee. A continuous segment of "old" U.S. 40, stretching from the Glenshire Bridge (five miles east of Truckee), westward over Donner Summit and down to Cisco Grove (an additional 20 to 25 miles), escaped impact by the new interstate freeway. Prior to the Interstate 80 bypass, U.S. 40 was the main trans-sierran route and Soda Springs was a bustling community of hotels, gas stations, bars, restaurants, and lodges. Now the community assumes a quieter profile comprising second and primary homes and a few businesses (Heirloom, March 2013:5). Transcontinental Railroad

The right-of-way for the nation's first transcontinental railroad parallels above the northern boundary of the study area (maps 1-2, 5-23, 25-27; photos 12-13). The railroad is designated State Historic Landmark No. 780 and has been assigned an archaeological trinomial number for Nevada County (CA-Nev-555-H). As early as May l, l852 the California legislature called upon the federal government to build a railroad to the Pacific (Kraus l969:7). By l853 Congress had instructed the U.S. Army to survey feasible routes for a railroad. Theodore D. Judah (in whose honor Mount Judah is named) made his first examination of a potential route for the railroad via Donner Pass in the fall of l860. After some limited financial backing was secured, Judah began more serious engineering studies on the route. By l862 the Pacific Railroad Bill was passed, specifying that the CPRR Company (comprised of Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington) be chosen to build the rails east. Apparently the land and subsidies attracted the "Big Four" more than

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 14 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist the railroad itself. This led to differences between Judah and his partners that eventually resulted in Judah's expulsion from the company. The first rail was laid at Sacramento on October 27, l863. Construction moved ahead in l864-1866. Up to l5,000 Chinese were employed to meet the inadequate labor supply. Heavy snow and tunneling through granite rock near Donner Pass presented major obstacles. By the summer of l867 the railroad was still not completed between Cisco and Truckee. A second phase of construction, east of the summit, was worked simultaneously with that at the summit. In 1864 the DF&DLWR was opened over Donner Pass to aid in transporting supplies to points along the line. As noted above, locomotives, rails, cars, and parts were hauled over the DF&DLWR. By May of l868 the railroad was completed between Truckee and Reno but the line between Cisco and Truckee was not completed until June l5, l868. The entire transcontinental route was finished on May l0, l869, with the last rail joining the CPRR and the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah (Kraus l969:9). The building of the railroad had an immense impact on the region immediately adjacent to it, as well as on the areas that were served by it. In Truckee, economic activities such as logging, commercial fishing, the ice industry, agriculture, and recreation were all stimulated or expanded by the market provided by the railroad. Its completion ended California's effective isolation from eastern markets and eastern goods and brought California into the U.S. economy in a way it had never been before. Transcontinental Air Route

As noted above, the first transcontinental air route, which had beacons and a weather station overlooking the valley, passed above Summit Valley. An airway beacon was once located near the top terminal of the existing long lift at the Soda Springs Ski Hill (Norm Sayler, personal communication 2010 in Lindström 2010). Another was above the north end of Summit Valley (maps 8 and 18). Airway beacons were built during the mid 1930s in order to guide and orient postal planes that flew from beacon to beacon. Beacons were constructed from snow shed timbers and had latticed metal towers and concrete foundations. Electrical lines were run up to the beacons to supply power. Airway beacons were taken out of service during the 1960s. Vestiges of these beacons remain at Soda Springs Ski Hill, Blue Canyon, Cisco, Donner Ski Ranch Ski Area, and above the old USFS ranger station in Truckee. Lumbering

Logging was first initiated in the Truckee area after the discovery of the Comstock Lode in l859. When production began to fall in the mines in l867, the lumbering business also began to suffer. A new market for lumber was found in the CPRR. It had been building toward Donner Pass since l864 and as the rails reached the summit in l866-1867, a number of mills established operations in the Truckee Basin to supply the railroad with cordwood for fuel, lumber for construction and ties for the road bed. Truckee soon became one of the major lumbering centers. After the completion of the railroad in l868-1869, lumber companies diversified and grew as new markets were opened to them (Knowles 1942). According to Powell (2003:42), there were two sawmills in or near Summit Valley. The Heirloom (May 2013:5) puts the number of sawmills at three. One of these, owned by William

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 15 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Jones, was located on the south side of the railroad tracks about two miles west of Tinker's Station. Another sawmill was owned by the Richardson Brothers and was located at the lower end of Summit Valley. According to the May 4, 1872 Truckee Republican, "This mill with a 60- horsepower steam engine could saw forty thousand board feet of lumber daily." The sawmill had a boarding house for the workers, eight horses, seven oxen, and one set of trucks for a total valuation of $4,250." Ice

The Sierra Nevada ice industry developed greatly after the completion of the transcontinental railroad across the Sierra. Californians no longer had to import ice from Alaska or around Cape Horn from the east coast. From 1868 through the 1920s, the main center of the industry was located on tributaries of the Truckee River and around Donner Pass (Hansen 1987; Itogawa 1974). Sierra ice was noted for its crystal purity and it was proudly served in large hotels throughout the nation. Ice cooled the 140-degree temperatures deep in the shafts of the Comstock mines. In addition ice was essential to refrigerate California produce for rail shipment to the eastern markets. During the short harvest season, with freezing weather beginning about Christmas and continuing through January or February, only two or three ice crops were anticipated. Increasing competition from artificial ice gradually forced the closing of many of the ice ponds in the Truckee Basin. By the time the ice business died out in 1927, more than 26 companies had worked the Sierra's ice harvests (Macauley research notes and personal communication 2013). Between 1868 and 1869 the Summit Ice Company operated out of Ice Lakes, formerly three separate lakes now known as Serene Lakes (Macaulay, personal communication 2013). Ice harvested at Ice Lakes was hauled by horse and wagon to an ice house located about a quarter of a mile east of Tinker's Station. From there it was either stored until summer or used as needed by the railroad (Powell 2003:43). Ice operations were short-lived, however, due to the copious amounts of snow on the summit and the ice works were moved to Prosser Creek under the ownership of McDonald. E. W. Hopkins got eventual control of the Summit Ice Company and along with his acquisition of ice works at Boca, he formed the Sierra Lakes Ice Company, which later became the Union Ice Company (Macaulay, personal communication 2013). Between ca. 1868 and 1872, the Summit Valley Ice Company located their ice works about 1/4 mile east of Soda springs on property leased from the railroad. Operations were owned by Tom McAuley (grandfather of ice historian, Tom Macaulay), in partnership with Robert S. Egbert. As of 1870, Summit Valley Ice Company was based out of Folsom (Heirloom, May 2013:5). Ice works were located near where Castle Creek crosses the railroad. Heavy snowfall prompted Egbert to patent a new system for ice making. Ice was not formed in ponds in the conventional manner. Instead, water was diverted through a pipe from Castle Creek into a large ice house capable of holding 800 to 900 tons of ice. Holes in the pipe allowed water to trickle down strings hung from inside the building to form 200-pound icicles, which were harvested and shipped by rail. Although Summit Valley Ice Company produced about 500 to 600 tons per year, it could not compete with companies down the Truckee River that produced thousands of tons per year, so operations were relocated down the Truckee River (Daily Alta California, 12/28/1868; Heriloom, May 2013:5-7; Macaulay, personal communication 2013; Sacramento Daily Union, 8/26/1872).

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 16 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist The Nevada and Mountain Lakes Ice Company harvested ice from nearby Lake Mary and Lake Angela. They, too, were driven off the summit by the heavy snows and moved their operations down the Truckee River Canyon to Camp 16 (Macaulay, personal communication 2013). A dam appearing on a ca. 1870 photograph of Soda Springs Station and Summit Valley (Photo 4) is described by a passerby in 1874 as: "...a big sandy dam across the valley, reared in a vain attempt to make an ice pond..." (Heirloom, March 2013:6; Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine 1874:175). Associations with one or none of the above mentioned ice companies is uncertain. Grazing

A livestock business developed around the high-elevation meadows and the growth of vegetation in recently logged areas provided temporary sources of stock feed. Sheepmen grazed their flocks in surrounding mountain meadows and brought them to Soda Springs for shipping in the fall. By the time they reached the summit in the fall, water had been released from Lake Van Norden and the former lake bottom was dry ground covered by a lush growth of grass and sheep were turned-out to graze (Sayler, personal communication 2013). Further incentive for sheepmen to bring their flocks into the high country was the fact that sheep bred better in cooler air, they remained cleaner, healthier and there were fewer worm problems, and there were more multiple births (Heirloom, August 2013:2-3). Sheep were shipped on the railroad and later they were transported by truck. Into the 1970s, Soda Springs was one of the top sheep shipping centers in the U.S. (Chickering 1977:7; Heirloom, September 2012:5, August 2013:1). There are still the remnants of some shipping facilities in the meadow (Heirloom, September 2012:5) and ruins of a Basque sheepherder's cabin and outbuildings are located on its southeast side (Heirloom, September 2013:6). An underpass remains beneath Interstate 80 that once accommodated sheep drives between Summit Valley and the meadowlands around Castle Peak (Heirloom, October 2013:5). Sayler (1989) recalls: "...In the fall of every year the sheep flocks of the old-time sheep people like Blackfort, Jones, etc. would gather their flocks at the east end of the meadow for shipment to market..." Bob Blackford's Sheep Corrals were located out of Soda Springs. The family shipped sheep out of Soda Springs for generations, shipping 100,000 lambs a year during the 1940s. By 1977 the number had dropped to 2,500 lambs (Heirloom, August 2013:1; Sierra Sun, 9/2/1977). A 1942 photo shows Bob Blackford's sheep in the corrals at Soda Springs (Photo 9). Photo 8 shows sheep grazing south of Soda Springs Station in ca. 1928-1942. Photo 10 was taken in ca. 1924-1930 and depicts sheep grazing in Summit Valley on ground usually covered by Lake Van Norden. Both sheep and dairy stock were grazed on Donner Summit (Heirloom, September 2012:5), as shown in a 1956 overview of Summit Valley (Photo 11) with sheep grazing on the right and cattle grazing on the left. Sheep herders on Donner Summit were mostly Basque and long-term residents of Soda Springs recall Basque wagons scattered around Summit Valley each summer (Heirloom, September 2013:6). Mutually profitable contractual arrangements were made between ranchers and Basque shepherds and the incentive afforded a margin of special care between a sheepman and his herd, giving rise to a Basque reputation for excelling at sheepherding. This combined with the fact that sheep herding was often unappealing to non-Basques (due to the risks involving physical safety, mental stability and sexual frustration within the context of social isolation), rendered Basque herders indispensable to the sheep industry of the American West. Aspects of Basque

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 17 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist culture and language were maintained, even in remote sheep camps. Aspen art (known as arborglyphs) proliferated given the availability of aspen trees (the materials), ample leisure time, the inherent loneliness of the job (the inspiration), and the privacy afforded by the remote locations (freedom of expression). Aspen carvings are made by fine knife incisions into the bark of the trees that barely reach into the cambium layer. Over time the incision scars over, turning a rich black or whitish-gray and producing a clear impression. The messages of over 13,000 carvings have been entered into a computer database in the Basque Studies Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Categories of content include: (1) names and dates; (2) anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms that typically center upon females, sex, and courtship; (3) ethnicity and Old World themes usually involving topics of ethnic pride and linguistic divisions; (4) statements of interpersonal relationships among herders; and (5) fantasy forms. Communications

The first transcontinental telegraph paralleled the railroad along the northern side of Lake Van Norden/Meadow and a major transmission line passes along its southern edge (maps 18-21, 26). The west coast began developing telegraph systems in the 1850s, modeled after Samuel F. B. Morse’s invention in the 1830s. Western Union dominated the industry from the 1860s onward and the company used the railroads to establish their lines. A mutual relationship developed, as railroad companies provided a “protected” route for telegraph lines and offices while Western Union provided free messaging to promote safe travel and avoid collisions. Telegraphs were used as early as 1864 in the Truckee area and more lines were strung as the CPRR was built. After completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Western Union relocated many of its telegraph lines to follow the rail route (Johnson 2006:3-6). With the patent of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone in 1876, telephones soon replaced telegraph systems, as information could be conveyed more privately and without knowledge of a special code system. Although telegraph wire was recycled into the construction of telephone lines (Johnson 2006: 26, 24), in order to make long-distance telephone service feasible, certain technological advances were needed. By incorporating these new technologies, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) completed the first transcontinental telephone line in 1914 (Johnson 2006:5-8). By the mid 1870s electricity was being used for lighting, sparked by Thomas Edison’s invention of the incandescent lamp in 1879. Problems of sending electricity over long distances were soon solved with the use of alternating current with transformers. During the 1890s the era of large-scale electric power distribution was introduced with the construction of hydroelectric plants, especially in conjunction with reclamation dams to promote irrigation projects in the west. In the early 20th century, small individually owned power companies began to consolidate into larger systems and the accompanying need for government regulation afforded power companies valuable rights such as eminent domain and the option to obtain property on public lands (Johnson 2006:9-29). Harsh weather conditions, such as those present in the Sierra Nevada, caused lines to snap and poles to break, utility elements along an overhead line were subject to multiple replacements. The remains of these utilities systems include: standing, cut, or fallen poles, wire,

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 18 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist insulators, brackets or cross-arms, hardware, power generation plants, substations, repeaters, relay stations, telegraph offices, switchboards, and miscellaneous equipment, in addition to temporary construction and maintenance camps and utility access roads (Johnson 2006:62). Donner Pass and adjoining Summit Valley fall squarely within the major trans-sierran communications corridor. A 1923 map of the "Summit-Washoe Transmission Line" shows a transmission line trending through east Truckee to join a larger line that crossed over Donner Summit (Lindström et al. 2007). This may be the same line operated by the Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPC) and its precursors, Truckee River General Electric Company (TRGEC) and Truckee River Power Company (TRPC). The TRGEC formed in 1899 out of a combine of seven small California and Nevada electric and gas companies and constructed a series of power generating plants along the Truckee River. The TRGEC reincorporated as the TRPC in 1923, the year when increased demand and prolonged drought conditions in Nevada prompted the company to construct a 60-kilovolt transmission line westward over Donner Summit to obtain electricity from Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California. In 1928 the TRPC changed its name to the SPPC (Johnson 2006:109-110). The SPPC constructed a second 60kv line over Donner Pass in 1937 and a third was built in 1949 (Johnson 2006:33, 109, 110). A wildfire at Donner Pass in the early 1960s burned the 60kv line and the 120kv line and both lines were replaced. SPPC now operates two 120kv lines and one 60kv line over Donner Summit (Siegle, personal communication 2006 in Lindström et al. 2007). It is possible that the transmission line south of Lake Van Norden may be the second or third generation of the initial line that was constructed in 1923. Lake Van Norden and Meadow South Yuba Canal Company

Primary settlements in western Placer and Nevada counties were founded on the mining of gold, which required an abundance of water to process. The network of canals that comprised the first water systems was constructed by individual miners who found it essential to transmit water to the source of their operations (Fonseca 1977:3). Soon companies were formed, whose policy it was to distribute water to all mining ditches along the main canal (Foley 1969b:4). The South Yuba Canal Company constructed the South Yuba Canal in 1865 to provide water to the mines. Over time, the company bought out smaller water enterprises and it eventually became one of the larger water supply engineering firms in the region. Although the end of the South Yuba Canal Company came with its sale in 1880, storage and dispensing of water continued under various subsidiary names: the South Yuba Water and Mining Company, South Yuba Water Company, California Gas and Electric Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (Foley 1969a:7). With the demise of hydraulic mining in the 1890s, the company, redirected its network of canals and waterways to agricultural development (Fonseca 1977:5) and later to hydroelectric power (Foley 1969a:7). Land owned by the South Yuba Canal Company in the vicinity of Summit Valley is shown on Map 9. Lake Van Norden was named for members of the Van Norden family who were instrumental in the development of the company and enthusiastic proponents of hydroelectric power. Warner Van Norden, a New York financier, his brother Dr. Charles Van Norden, and Charles' son, Rudolph W. Van Norden, were key company representatives in California in the latter

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 19 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist part of the 19th century and earlier part of the 20th century. Charles Van Norden was the superintendent of construction and he is the namesake of the Lake Van Norden reservoir (Heirloom, May 2013:4; Powell 2003:49). The Little Rock Ditch Company (formed in 1850) was the parent company of the South Yuba Canal Company. The company had grown largely through the efforts of Dutch Flat mine owner, Alvina Hayward, who had gained control through a series of complicated financial transactions. Hayward traveled eastward in search of financial backing. He was able to interest Warner Van Norden in the system and with eastern money, Hayward was able to expand and improve the South Yuba Canal Company (Eversole 1980:5). In 1878 the company pioneered the installation of the first long distance telephone line in the U.S. It was strung along the water system so that ditch tenders could communicate with headquarters (Fonseca 1977:6). Charles Van Norden moved to California for reasons of health in 1893 and he was charged with managing the family's investments in the South Yuba Canal Company. With the cessation of hydraulic mining, he is credited with shifting the company focus into agriculture (Fonseca 1977:5; Heirloom, May 2013:4). Seeing electricity as another possible revenue producer, the company later redirected a portion of its huge water supply into building and operating a powerhouse in Newcastle in 1896, which supplied Sacramento with electricity. By 1903 the company had 450 miles of canals, flumes and pipelines, 20 reservoirs of 14.5 billion-gallon capacity, 15 smaller reservoirs, and 150 square miles in its watershed supplying 200 billion gallons annually, all located along the route of the transcontinental railroad between the Central Valley and the sierran crest in Placer and Nevada counties (Fonseca 1977:6; Heirloom, May 2013:3). In 1905 the company sold its water system for two million dollars to the California Gas and Electric Corporation, a forerunner of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E; Fonseca 1977:6). Formed out of a vast consolidation of numerous small companies (Foley 1969a:7), PG&E incorporated in 1905. It built its first powerhouse at Deer Creek above Nevada City in 1907 (Cougher 1995:50). A history of PG&E is reviewed in Coleman (1952). Land owned by PG&E in the vicinity of Summit Valley is shown on Map 11. The Dam

Summit Valley was transformed into PG&E's Lake Van Norden reservoir with the construction of a dam at its lower end. Waters impounded in Lake Van Norden became part of the Drum-Spaulding Reservoir complex and were used to supplement the far-reaching South Yuba network of canals and reservoirs that ultimately flowed into Spaulding Reservoir and supplied huge hydroelectric generators below the dam (Powell 2003:49). Dates on the construction of the first dam in Summit Valley are conflicting. PG&E documents note dam construction in 1916; however, the California Department of Water Resources state that the dam was built in 1900 (Heirloom, May 2013:2). Rudolph Warner Van Norden of the South Yuba Canal Company noted in a publication dated 1903 that the dam was built in 1890 as part of company expansion on behalf of agricultural interests (Heirloom, March 2013:5, May 2013:3; Van Norden 1903:60). An Alfred A. Hart photo ca. 1870 shows a dam located due east of old Soda Springs and in 1874 quoted a passerby as saying: ...a big sandy dam across the valley, reared in a vain attempt to make an ice pond..." (Heirloom, May 2013:2; Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine 1874:175). A reservoir does not appear on available maps dating from 1865-1866

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 20 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist to 1897 (maps 3-7, 9-10) and 1915 (Map 12). The lake is shown on available maps dating from 1913 (Map 11) and 1951 and later (maps 8, 13-21, 26). The dam appears on the 1986 USGS quads, but no reservoir is shown (Map 21). Various images of Lake Van Norden dating from ca. 1920 through ca. 1960 (photos 16-31, 37) appear at the end of this report. The Van Norden dam was 32 feet high, with a timber inner core of 3 x 8 redwood planks nailed together to form what looked like laminated beams. These were then covered on all sides by earth, with rip-rapping on the inner slope (Powell 2003:49). Rudolph Van Norden (son of Charles Van Norden) incorrectly stated in his 1903 article that the dam had a concrete core (Heirloom, June 2013:6). According to documents in the files of the Division of Dam Safety, the outlet is a 22-inch pipe of riveted steal through the base of the dam. A wooden spillway is located at its west end. The dam is 27 feet high (not 32 feet as noted above), 1,637 feet long, with a storage capacity of 5,874 acre feet (Heirloom, June 2013:6). The dam is constructed on up to 30 feet of glacial gravel. It is a "sprinkle construction" dam, where wagon loads of water were sprinkled on each layer of dirt as the dam was raised. The dam as it appeared in 1931 is shown on photos 14-15. In 1976 PG&E planned to repair leaks caused from rodent holes and enlarge the height of the dam. However, the state declared the dam unsafe due to the substandard foundation and the potential for destabilization in case of earthquake. At its season's height, Lake Van Norden impounded about 5,800 acre feet of water and there was threat of subsequent flooding. Complete reconstruction of the dam was too costly so in order to comply with state mandates, PG&E opted to remove the dam and reservoir. PG&E had difficulty in tearing down the dam, given the solid construction of its redwood-timbered core (Sayler 1989), and so it was left partially demolished (i.e., "notched") to let out most of the water. Lake Van Norden was quickly transformed from a fishing, camping, water skiing, and boating destination back to a meadow, this time with a much smaller reservoir pool. The land was subsequently sold to private developers. In 2011 the dam was again reported to be out of safety compliance in relation to the size of its reservoir pool. The state mandated that private developers fix the problem. Meanwhile, the TDLT had consummated an offer to purchase 3,000 acres of meadowland that included the dam and remnant reservoir (Heirloom, June 2013:6-7). Because the private developers were not financially able to make the necessary repairs on the dam, the problem was transferred to the TDLT. Resolution of the problem prompted the TDLT to commission an environmental study, which is the subject of this report. Summer Recreation

The Lincoln Highway/Victory Highway/U.S. 40/Old County Road that passes along the north side of former Lake Van Norden, brought automobile parties for summer camping on its shores. Until 1976 there were eight campgrounds and seven picnic areas along the shores of the lake used by campers, fishermen, equestrians, and picnickers (Map 28; photos 17, 27-31). Water to the campgrounds was supplied by a tin water pipe that tapped water from Lake Mary (Sayler, personal communication 2013). Recollections regarding summer recreation at the lake by long-term Soda Springs resident, Norm Sayler, are excerpted below. I remember moving to Soda springs in 1954 and seeing Lake Van Norden with all its water and approximately three miles of shoreline. At that time many people traveling Old Highway 40 believed it to be Donner Lake. Because of the storage capacity the level at its

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 21 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist deepest point was at least 40 feet deep. The lake was about 1 1/4 miles long and 1/2 mile wide...The lake I knew had campgrounds on the north side that were maintained by PG&E. They were full all summer with families, fishermen, etc...catching some excellent-eating brook and brown trout. There were also great-eating mountain catfish caught off of the dam...[photos 29-31]...Because the PG&E released water all summer long, the Yuba River also provided great vacation opportunities and recreation enjoyment to fishermen and campers adding to the local economy...on Tuesdays the California Department of Fish and Game would come and release catchable trout in the Yuba River just below the dam....Sugar Bowl Lodge, rented it to the Audobon Society. They had many outings with people from Clair Tappan Lodge and the Nature Friends all walking along the shores of Lake Van Norden looking at the many species of birds...many sightings of deer, coyotes, fox, sometimes even a bear...a number of other people used Lake Van Norden as a water-skiing lake...Those of us who water-skied there also removed most of the old stumps out of the lake bottom...The tree stumps were numerous, some as large as 4 feet in diameter...[Sayler 1989] As summer progressed, PG&E periodically released water from Lake Van Norden down the South Yuba River to the Drum Forebay Power Plant. Downstream residents recall the river running all summer and fishing was good before PG&E modified the dam (Shane 2007:5). Water was collected during the spring run-off and was released throughout the summer and fall so as to provide an even flow for downstream power generators. Trout could survive year round and the fishing was good... [Shane 2007:18]...Kingvale summers were packed with swimming or floating on air mattresses in the river (it flowed all year long in those days)...[Shane 2007:88] However, since 1976 when the dam was notched, the lake largely disappeared and the meadow returned. Some Kingvale property owners petitioned to then Governor Jerry Brown over the notching of the Van Norden Dam, and were quoted as saying: "What have you done to my river?" (Shane 2007:37). Because of changes in river flows, residents and river-front property owners downstream petitioned to have annual fish plantings, claiming that river levels don't allow natural fish to survive (Shane 2007:6). Winter Sports

By the 1920s the Truckee/Donner Pass region began to develop into a recreation-based economy. Soda Springs is unique among turn-of-the-century mountain communities, in that winter-sports enthusiasts could easily reach the area in winter via the first transcontinental railroad or the first transcontinental highway. By the mid-1890s nearby Truckee was host to ice carnivals, drawing people from both east and west of the Sierra in order to enjoy the mountain winters. Sleighing, tobogganing, dog races, two large ice palaces, and Hilltop’s ski area and ski jump were some of the attractions offered to tourists. “Snow-Ball” special excursion trains accessed developing ski areas around Soda Springs. The first known ski lift in America was reportedly built in Truckee in 1913. The development of Truckee’s Hilltop ski hill and ski jump during the 1910s-1930s and the 1960 Winter Olympics at nearby Squaw Valley secured Truckee's position as a center point for year-round recreation.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 22 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist West of Donner Summit, skiing was being promoted by Wendell Robie who founded the Auburn Ski Club in 1928 (Powell 2003:77; Norm Sayler, personal communication in Lindström 2010). Like Truckee, the railroad played a key role in the development of the ski industry at Norden-Soda Springs. The first ski lodge was built at Norden in 1925 (Photo 35). In 1937 Charles Van Evera leased Beacon Hill (now Soda Springs Ski Hill) and put up the first commercial rope tow. In 1938 Van Evera added three more rope tows and a J-bar and built the Sitzmark day lodge at the Soda Springs ski area (Powell 2003:81). In 1941 construction was started on Beacon Hill Lodge; the war delayed its completion until 1945. The Beacon Hill Ski Run extended all the way down to the southwestern edge of the Lake Van Norden (Sayler, personal communications 2013; photos 32-34). In 1931 the Truckee Glider Club made its first flight, finding an ideal location at Soda Springs, California. The glider plane took off on a snow covered slope and landed on frozen Lake Van Norden. Sugar Bowl Ski area was developed ca. 1939 (Photo 36) and Donner Ski Ranch followed ca. 1950s. Map 27 shows the ski areas around Donner Summit as of 1940. ALTERNATIVES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

As discussed in the introductory section, Lake Van Norden is currently under jurisdiction of the State of California DSOD and the TDLT would now like to lower the reservoir storage capacity below threshold sizes for DSOD jurisdiction (i.e., below 50 acre feet) in anticipation of transferring the land to the USFS. Based on surveyed bathymetry and calculated stage-storage- area relationships, the dam spillway will need to be lowered by 2.3 feet to reduce reservoir storage to below 50 acre-feet. Project alternatives to achieve this goal include the following actions: (1) 2.3-foot spillway notch; (2) greater than four-foot spillway notch (exact depth to be determined); (3) complete spillway breach; (4) construction of secondary dam and compartmentalized reservoir; and (5) no action (Shaw and Lang 2013).

POTENTIAL IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH DAM LOWERING

Based on initial and ongoing work, potential direct and indirect impacts that could affect heritage resources located within the Lake Van Norden footprint are identified below. If lake levels are maintained as part of the "no action" alternative (Alternative 5), there should be no change in potential project-related direct impacts to extant heritage resources in Lake Van Norden/Meadow and the potential for indirect impacts due to vandalism remain unchanged.

Again, note that this cultural impact assessment is based on a very limited project scope that precludes any field work or in depth search of archives or review of archaeological inventories; therefore, impact assessment should be considered perfunctory. Nonetheless, this preliminary heritage resources assessment has positively confirmed that there is a moderate to high potential for important heritage resources to occur within the study area. Impacts to potentially important heritage resources could be a significant impact associated with the project alternatives under consideration (alternatives 1 through 4) and the completion of additional archaeological tasks are required prior to any project action (see below).

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 23 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Notching of Lake Van Norden Dam

Alternatives resulting in a 2.3-foot spillway notch, a greater than four-foot spillway notch or a complete spillway breach would each result in progressively greater physical impacts to historic Van Norden Dam. Prior to implementation of alternatives 1 or 4, a formal inventory and evaluation of the dam should be accomplished.

Lowering the Water Surface of Lake Van Norden

Perhaps the most significant and unpredictable potential impact on heritage resources associated with the dam modification alternatives being considered involves lowering the water surface of Lake Van Norden. Declines would result in new islands and landforms that are anticipated to become exposed. For example, an archaeological study conducted prior to lowering of Lake Van Norden in 1976 (Payen 1976) disclosed a number of archaeological sites that were partially inundated. The sites were revisited during subsequent work (Lindström 2001) and were found entirely exposed, and their site boundaries were expanded into areas once covered by water. In addition, new sites previously inundated and undetected in 1976 were discovered.

On the other hand, lowered lake levels may have positive effects on heritage resources due to reductions in wind-wave erosion at the meadow margin—a zone where many archaeological sites are concentrated.

Alternatives resulting in a 2.3-foot spillway notch, a greater than four-foot spillway notch or a complete spillway breach result in progressively greater exposure of archaeological sites due to progressively lowered lake level, and the potential for increased vandalism of exposed archaeological deposits could occur. That said, it is acknowledged that vandalism of archaeological sites is not a new impact prompted by the project, but it has occurred for some time, as Sayler (1989) recalled: "As the lake would recede each fall [locals]...would hunt arrowheads...a great collection on display at the [Norden] store." Incision, Erosion and Deposition

With the increased lowering of lake levels, former drainage channels will become exposed and occupied and headward incision and erosion are possible. Similarly, as erosion is induced upstream, deposition of fine sediment occurs downstream. Potential headward incision and erosion has the potential to expose and cut-away archaeological deposits. Concomitant downstream deposition has the potential to bury and obscure archaeological deposits that are likely present at the margin of the meadow and in upland areas. To control these hydrological effects, channel stabilization and/or flow dispersion approaches may be used as mitigation strategies to reduce the erosional/depositional risk. While such proactive management and restoration strategies may address hydrological problems, these ground-disturbing mechanical approaches may introduce further physical impacts to heritage resources.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 24 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Construction of Secondary Weir

Ground disturbance activities involved in the proposed construction of a secondary dam (or weir) near the center of the Van Norden meadow could physically impact heritage resources located inside the construction zone. In addition wind-wave erosion occurring in the secondary impoundment (although relatively minor) and the potential for inundation, erosion and/or deposition of archaeological deposits due to seasonal changes in the level of the secondary pool could result in further adverse effects to heritage resources.

RECOMMENDED FOLLOW-UP ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK

Recommended archaeological tasks pertaining to alternatives 1 through 4 are summarized below. No recommendations are proposed for Alternative 5 (the "no action" alternative). These tasks outline the proper protocol for heritage resource management and are listed in a sequence (1 through 6) in the order of their proposed completion. The appropriate level of effort and timing for completion of each of these archaeological tasks is currently unknown, and would likely be determined at a later date in consultation with Tahoe National Forest heritage staff.

(1) On-going Consultation

 contact with tribal representatives (Washoe and Nisenan)  oral history interviews with individuals knowledgeable in local history (Donner Summit Historical Society and Truckee Donner Historical Society)  consultation with Tahoe National Forest Heritage Resource Specialist

(2) Archival Research

 records search at the North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento  records search of U.S. Forest Service files

(3) Archaeological Field Research

 field verification of known archaeological sites to assess their current content and integrity (e.g., erosion, deposition, wind-wave damage and artifact displacement, vandalism, etc.)  archaeological field reconnaissance along the margins of the Lake Van Norden footprint and other exposed land surfaces in order to detect any newly uncovered archaeological resources; the field reconnaissance should be conducted by a qualified archaeologist and involve a local Native American representative  architectural inventory and evaluation of the historic Van Norden Dam to be conducted by a qualified architectural historian; tasks involve archival research in PG&E files, field recordation, and dam evaluation in accordance with criteria established by the National Register of Historic Places and/or the California Register of Historical Resources

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 25 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist

(4) Preparation of Final Report

 final report must be in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended 16 USC§ 470 et seq.) and guidelines established by Placer and Nevada counties under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA Section 5024, Public Resource Code)  review and concurrence by agency personnel (in this case the USFS), in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and other interested parties (including Washoe and Nisenan tribal representatives) completes the process

(5) Archaeological Monitoring

 transfer from private to public ownership is likely to increase public access into the area and the potential for increased archaeological site vandalism should be monitored on a periodic basis

(6) Public Interpretation

 Selected archaeological sites (that have been studied/stabilized and where vandalism is not likely to occur) should be developed as part of a program to further educate the public regarding the prehistory and history of Summit Valley

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 26 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist REFERENCES CITED

Anonymous 1931 Article (1/5/1931) on file Donner Summit Historical Society, Soda Springs. Avery, Benjamin 1874 "Summering in the Sierra". Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine (Page 175). February, 1874. Beals, R. L.

l933 The Ethnology of the Nisenan. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 3l(6). Berkeley.

Birkeland, Peter W. l963 Pleistocene Volcanism and Deformation of the Truckee Area, North of Lake Tahoe, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 74:l452-l464. l964 Pleistocene Glaciation of the Northern Sierra Nevada, North of Lake Tahoe, California. Journal of Geology 72:8l0-825. Bryant, Edwin 1848 What I Saw in California. (page 232). Boston: IndyPublish.com. Bryd, Davis S. 1992 Roads and Trails in the Tahoe National Forest: A Contextual History, 1840- 1940. Tahoe National Forest Cultural Resources Report Number 39. Nevada City. Chickering, Nicholas R. 1977 The History of Summit Soda Springs. Manuscript on file Susan Lindström Library, Truckee. Claytor, M. 1973 An Archaeological Survey of the Bear Valley Locality, Placer and Nevada Counties. Master's Thesis. California State University. Sacramento. Coleman, C.M. 1952 P.G. and E. of California: The Centennial Story of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 1852-1952. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. Cougher, Dale

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 27 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 1995 Maintaining Power: Memories of Working for PG&E. Sierra Heritage Fall 1995, pp. 50-56. Daily Alta California

various Dutch Flat, California. Dames & Moore 1997 Archaeological Survey of the Union Pacific Railroad Norden Response Action. Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento. d'Azevedo, W. L. 1984 The Washoe. Unpublished manuscript in possession of the author. Reno. 1986 Washoe. In Great Basin, edited by W. L. d'Azevedo. Handbook of North American Indians Volume 11. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 466-498. Downs, James F. 1966 The Two Worlds of Washoe. An Indian Tribe of California. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York. Elston, R. G. 1971 A Contribution to Washo Archaeology. Nevada Archaeological Survey Research Papers 2. Reno.

1982 Good Times, Hard Times: Prehistoric Culture Change in the Western Great Basin. In Man and the Environment in the Great Basin, edited by D. B. Madison and J. F. O'Connell, pp. 186-206. SAA Papers No. 2. Society for American Archaeology, Washington D.C. 1986 Prehistory of the Western Area. In Great Basin, edited by W. L. d'Azevedo, pp. 135-148. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol 11, W. G. Sturtevant, general editor, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Elston, R. G., K. A. Ataman, and D. P. Dugas 1995 A Research Design for the Southern Truckee Meadows Prehistoric Archaeological District. Report on file Toiyabe National Forest. Sparks. Elston, R., J. Davis, A. Leventhal, and C. Covington 1977 The Archaeology of the Tahoe Reach of the Truckee River. Prepared for the Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency by the Northern Division of the Nevada Archaeological Survey, University of Nevada, Reno. Elston, R. G., S. Stornetta, D. P. Dugas, and P. Mires

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 28 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 1994 Beyond the Blue Roof: Archaeological Survey of the Mt. Rose Fan and Northern Steamboat Hills. Ms. on file, Intermountain Research, Silver City. Eversole, James F. 1980 William Goforth Eversol (1819-1894) and the California Gold Rush of 1849. Manuscript on file Searles Historic Library. Nevada City, California Foley, Doris 1969a A Saga of the South Yuba Canal Company Part 1. Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 23, No. 5, October 1969. Nevada City, California. 1969b A Saga of the South Yuba Canal Company Part 2. Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 23, No. 6, December 1969. Nevada City, California. Fonseca, Janet Dunbar 1977 A Heritage of Water: The Placer County Water Agency Story. Placer County Water Agency. Pamphlet on file Donner Summit Historical Society. Soda Springs, California. Francis, Julie 1994 Historic Context and Evaluation of Automobile Roads in Wyoming. Wyoming Department of Transportation. Draft. Graydon, C. 1986 Trail of the First Wagons over the Sierra Nevada. Gerald, Missouri: Patrice Press. Hansen, Richard 1987 Truckee Basin's Ice Age. Sierra Heritage. December. Auburn. Heirloom

various Donner Summit Historical Society Newsletter, Bill Oudegeest, editor. Soda Springs, California. Heizer, R. and A. Elsasser 1953 Some archaeological Sites and Cultures of the Central Sierra Nevada. University of California Archaeological Survey Report, No. 21, Berkeley and Los Angeles. (Cited in The Martis Complex Revisited by Elsasser and Gortner 1991) Itogawa, Eugene M. 1974 The Natural Ice Industry in California. M.A. Thesis. Thesis on file, California State University, Sacramento.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 29 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Jacobsen, W. 1966 Washo Linguistic Studies. In The Current Status of Anthropological Research in the Great Basin, 1964, edited by W. d'Azevedo, pp. 113-136. Desert Research Institute Publications in the Social Sciences. 1:113-136. Johnson, Erika 2006 Along the Smooth and Slender Wires: A Historic Context for Overhead Communication and Electrical Lines in Nevada. Report prepared for Sierra Pacific Power Company by Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. Carson City. Jones & Stokes 1999 Heritage Resources Report for the Pacific Fiber Line/William Fiber Optics Cable System Installation Project, Tahoe National Forest Report #05-17-1350. Report on file Tahoe National Forest, Nevada City. Kibbey, Mead B. 1996 The Railroad Photographs of Alfred A. Hart, Artist. Sacramento: The California State Library Foundation. Knowles, C. D. 1942 A History of Lumbering in the Truckee Basin from 1855 to 1936. Report on file U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, South Lake Tahoe. (Index and annotations by R. M. Trespel and D. L. Drake, 1991.) Kraus, George 1966 High Road to Promontory. Palo Alto: American West Publishing Co. Kroeber, A. L.

l925 Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 78. Washington D. C.

Lindström, S.G. 1992 Great Basin Fisherfolk: Optimal Diet Breadth Modeling of the Truckee River Prehistoric Subsistence Fishery. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of California, Davis. 1996 Great Basin Fisherfolk: Optimal Diet Breadth Modeling of the Truckee River Prehistoric Subsistence Fishery. In Prehistoric Hunter-Gathering Fishing Strategies, edited by M. Plew. Boise State University Press. Boise, Idaho. 2001 Royal Gorge Lodge and Home Sites at Summit Valley Heritage Resource Inventory, Soda Springs, California. Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 30 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 2010 Heritage Resource Inventory Donner Summit Public Utility District Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades and Expansion (U.S. Forest Service Report TNF02375/R2010051700137). Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento.

Lindström, Susan, Sharon Waechter, Penny Rucks, Ron Reno, Charles Zeier 2007 From Ice Age to Ice Works: Archaeological, Ethnohistorical and Historical Studies for the Truckee River Legacy Trail Project (Phase 3). Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. and Susan Lindström, Consulting Archaeologist. Report on file North Central Information Center (#8960), California State University, Sacramento. Littlejohn, Hugh W.

1928 Nisenan Geography. Manuscript in Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin

various Nevada City, California. Nevada County Mining Review

1895 Nevada City, California. Nevers, J. l976 Wa She Shu: A Tribal History. University of Utah Printing Service. Salt Lake City. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine

1874 Payen, Louis A. 1976 Archaeological Reconnaissance Report of Van Norden Reservoir Shore and Borrow Area. Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento. Peak and Associates 1976 Cultural Resource Assessment of the Donner Summit Public Utilities District Wastewater Project. Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento. 1983 Cultural Resource Assessment of the Donner Summit-Norden Wastewater Treatment Project. Report (#1856) on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 31 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist Powell, Margie 2003 Donner Summit: A Brief History. Grass Valley, California: Cottage Hill Publishing. Price, J. A. l962 Washo Economy. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Paper 6. Carson City. Washington. Protteau, Lynn 1988 The Dutch Flat and Donner Lake Wagon Road: Its History and Location. Typescript. October 13, 1988. (Caltrans, "Lincoln Highway" folder). Riddell, F.A.

1960 Honey Lake Paiute Ethnography. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers No. 4. Carson City.

Rucks, M. 1996 Ethnographic Report for North Shore Ecosystems Heritage Resource Report (HRR#05-19-297). Ms. on file, USFS - Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, South Lake Tahoe. Sacramento Daily Union

various Sacramento, California. Sayler, Norm 1989 "Lake Van Norden Remembered"; letter to the editor on file Donner Summit Historical Society, Soda Springs, California. Shane, Lois Bales 2007 A Kingvale History. Unpublished manuscript on file Donner Summit Historical Society. Soda Springs, California. Shaw, David and Markus Lang 2013 Correspondence from David Shaw, Balance Hydrologics, Inc. and Markus Lang, Dudek, to John Svahn, Truckee Donner Land Trust. November 20, 2013. Sierra Sun

various Truckee, California. State of California

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 32 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist 1991 Department of Parks and Recreation (map of the Truckee Route of the Emigrant Trail). Sacramento. Stewart, O. C. l966 Tribal distributions and boundaries in the Great Basin. In W. L. d'Azevedo (ed.), the Current Status of Anthropological Research in the Great Basin: l964. Desert Research Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities Publication No. 1. Reno. Storer, T. and R. Usinger l97l Sierra Nevada Natural History. Berkeley: University of California Press. Suter, R. 1995 Van Norden Timber Harvest Plan. Report on file North Central Information Center, California State University, Sacramento. Thompson and West 1880 History of Nevada County. San Diego: Howell-North Books. Truckee Republican various Truckee, California. Van Norden, Rudolph Warner 1903 Journal of Electricity, Power and Gas. January 1903, page 60. Washoe Tribal Council 1994 Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Ms. on file, Tribal Government Headquarters, Gardnerville. Weston, Charis Wilson and Edward Weston 1940 California and the West. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. Excerpts on file Donner Summit Historical Society. Soda Springs, California. Wilson, N. and A. Towne

l978 Nisenan. In: Handbook of North American Indians California, Vol. 8. R. F. Heizer (ed.). William G. Sturtevant, general editor. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 387-397.

Wilson, R. C.

1992 Sawdust Trails in the Truckee Basin. Nevada County Historical Society. Nevada City.

Lake Van Norden/Meadow Work Book January 2014 33 Susan Lindström, Ph.D. Consulting Archaeologist LAKE VAN NORDEN/MEADOW WORK BOOK

PHOTOGRAPHS

(all images are courtesy of Donner Summit Historical Society unless noted otherwise)

LAKE VAN NORDEN/MEADOW WORK BOOK

MAPS