HISTORY OF TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST: 1840-1940 A Cultural Resources Overview History Prepared by: W. Turrentine Jackson Rand Herbert Stephen Wee Report Number 15 1982 Jackson Research Projects 702 Miller Drive Davis, California 95616 Contract Number 43-9A63-1-1745 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: Introduction Purpose of the Historical Overview Historical Perspectives on the Development of the Tahoe National Forest Region CHAPTER II: The Environmental and Historical Context of the Tahoe National Forest Region Physical Characteristics of the Area Encompassed by the Tahoe National Forest Pre-Gold Rush History of the Northern Sierra Nevada Region Gold Rush California, 1848-1849: A Regional Overview CHAPTER III: The Era of Individual Enterprise: Mining and Settlement on Tahoe National Forest Lands, 1848-1859 Introduction Gold Mining in Tahoe National Forest, 1848-1859 Mining Settlement and Community Development Supplying the Mines, 1848-1859 Logging and Agricultural Development CHAPTER IV: Era of Development and Diversification, 1859-1906 The Mining Industry on the Forest Transportation Within Tahoe National Forest Logging Industry Within the Tahoe National Forest, 1859-1906 Agriculture in the Forest, 1859-1906 Other Pre-National Forest Industries CHAPTER V: Era of National Forest Management, 1906-1940 Establishment of Tahoe Forest Reserve Tahoe National Forest Administration of Tahoe National Forest Lands, 1906-1940 Logging on the Tahoe National Forest, 1906-1940 Mining on the Tahoe National Forest, 1906-1940 Water Development in the Tahoe National Forest, 1906-1940 Grazing on the Tahoe National Forest, 1906-1940 Recreation on the Tahoe National Forest, 1906-1940 Forest Service Recreational Developments Other Forest Service Improvements CHAPTER VI: Concluding Statements CHAPTER VII: Research Problems and Directions CHAPTER VIII: Management Recommendations CHAPTER IX: Research Locations BIBLIOGRAPHY ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS 1. The Miner's Sunday 2. A Sunday's Amusements 3. A Daily Pleasure 4. Occupation for Rainy Days 5. The Mountain Expressman 6. Residence and Farm of A. P. Chapman 7. "The Expressman Has Arrived" 8. Lodgings About 1855 9. Residence and Ranch of H. H. Kennedy, Goodyear's Bar, Sierra County, California 10. Hidden Treasure Mine, Sunny South, Placer County, California 11. Forty-Stamp Gold Mill 12. Cross-Section Forty-Stamp Gold Mill 13. Batea For Gold Mill 14. Battery Frame 15. Schematic View, Malakoff Diggings, Ca. 1880 16. English (Rudyard) Dam 17. Omega Mine, Washington Ridge 18. Truckee Hotel 19. Bear Valley Mill, Towle Brothers, Dutch Flat 20. Kearsarge Mill, Towle Brothers, Dutch Flat 21. M. L. Marsh Ox-Teams and Barns 22. M. L. Marsh Sawmill 23. Gold Lake Ranger Station, Ca. 1922 24. Sierra Valley Ranger Station, 1915 25. Logging Engine 26. Steam Donkey 27. Steam Donkey Yarding, Ca. 1900 28. Railroad Logging Engine, Cars; Loader in Background 29. Auburn Ski Club C.C.C. Camp 30. Sattley C.C.C. Camp 31. Temporary Logging Structure 32. Fir Camp, Forest Hill; 1924. Fire Fighter's Payday MAPS 1. Tahoe National Forest 2. Ancient and Modern River System 3. Main Routes to the Gold Fields 4. Yuba Basin Mining Water Supply, 1850-53 5. Location of Gold Districts 6. Geologic Map of Sierra City and Johnsville Districts, Plumas Counties 7. Meadow Lake Mining District 8. North Bloomfield Area, Ca. 1875 9. Yuba Basin Hydraulic Mining Ditch System 1854-1884 10. Routes Across the Tahoe National Forest 11. Stagecoach Routes, 1902 12. Truckee Basin Logging Railroads (1868-1930) 13. Geologic Map of Alleghany District, Sierra County 14. P.G.& E. Facilities in the Yuba Basin, 1911 15. Tahoe National Forest - Cattle - 1915 16. Tahoe National Forest - Sheep - 1915 17. Tahoe National Forest - Grazing, 1939 TABLES 1. Population by County 2. Ethnicity, Ca. 1852 3. Sierra County Sawmills 4. Cattle, 1860-1900 5. Sheep, 1860-1900 6. Placer Gold Production by Mining Type, T.N.F., 1937 7. Livestock Permitted on the Tahoe National Forest 8. Estimated Population within Tahoe National Forest Boundaries, 1850-1940 CHAPTER I Introduction Purpose of the Historical Overview This historical study is one component of a general cultural resources overview being prepared by the Tahoe National Forest as part of its forest land management plan. The purposes of the overview are threefold. Our primary objective is to provide U. S. Forest Service personnel with an analytical and narrative historical overview to aid in identifying and measuring the potential significance of historic buildings, sites or objects located on forest lands that are representative of major themes, eras, activities or cultural processes in the area. Second, we hope to raise new research questions for future study and interpretation and to develop some research hypotheses to be tested by future work. Third, we will suggest management recommendations for enhancing identification and evaluation of historic site types and material remains likely to be discovered on Tahoe National Forest lands. Cultural resources management is a relatively new and vital field that has developed largely in the last fifteen years as a result of intensified federal efforts to identify, evaluate and manage cultural resources as an element of the environment. Federal policies are based upon and implemented by a series of laws, regulations and presidential directives dating from the Antiquities Act of 1906 (16 USC 431). A positive national policy for the preservation of the cultural environment was provided in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 USC 470). The act mandated protection of properties on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and established processes designed to ensure that avoidance or mitigation of damage to such properties be considered in the planning process of Federal agencies. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 USC 4321) further declared it the policy of the federal government to preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage. Compliance with NEPA requires consideration of adverse impacts on cultural resources during project planning and execution. Executive Order 11593 (1971) went further than either of these acts by requiring federal agencies to assume a leadership role "in preserving, restoring and maintaining the historic and cultural environment of the nation." The Order charged agencies with the task of locating, inventorying and nominating to the Secretary of the Interior all historic properties under their jurisdiction that appear to qualify for listing on the National Register. Until such inventories are completed, the presidential order directs agencies to "execute caution" to ensure that such resources are not transferred, sold, demolished or substantially altered. Traditionally the term "cultural resources" has been used rather narrowly to refer to archeological remains and to historical structures. Archeologists, anthropologists, historians, architects, sociologists, folklorists, geographers, planners, and others have in recent years increasingly pooled their resources and talents to respond to the new federal requirements for protection and enhancement of our cultural environment. Archeologists led the way for other disciplines in bringing about public awareness of the irreplaceable and non-renewable quality of our national heritage. They were largely responsible for forcing passage of the current legislation requiring an assessment of resources to be impacted by federal projects. The preservation of significant historical properties has long been a concern of historians and historical architects as evidenced by passage of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 which authorized establishment of the National Landmarks Program. Recently historians have followed archeologists in taking a more activist role in inventorying historic resources and in working with private and public agencies to preserve structures and sites of local and regional historical significance. Landscape architects have exhibited a keen interest in utilizing their expertise in land use planning to conserve historical and cultural rural landscapes (Zube 1977). Sociologists and folklorists have also demonstrated a concern for the impact of programs on all forms of traditional cultural expression (verbal, artifactual and behavioral) among all social classes (Bartis 1979). Each of these disciplines has its separate spheres of interest and methodological approaches. We also share many concerns and goals. Historical resources management, as a profession and a movement, has broadened its interests considerably in recent years. The American historic preservation movement has strong roots in the eastern states; its philosophy and approach has traditionally been molded by an urban, elitists bias demonstrated by its orientation toward prestigious architectural monuments and grand homes. The National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the nation's cultural resources worthy of preservation, reflects this orientation. Critics of its policies have pointed out that rural America and a distinct anti-urban tradition have also played an important role in forming our national values. In dealing with the cultural resources of remote, mountainous settlements significant historical remains can be expected of a type significantly different than those in urban areas. Any meaningful program of rural or mountain community preservation would require placing great importance on preserving the best remaining examples of vernacular architecture.