Lake Tahoe's Scandinavian Castle: Vikingsholm

 

View of Emerald Bay from Vikingsholm

  Tucked into the tall pines overlooking beautiful Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe is Vikingsholm, a place fit for a king—or at least a Viking jarl.

  Built to resemble a Scandinavian castle, Vikingsholm is, in fact, a three-story home, which was the brainchild of Lora J. Knight, a wealthy Illinois woman who erected the imposing structure as her summer home at the lake.

  Mrs. Knight was born Lora J. Small, the daughter of a successful corporation lawyer, who, in the 1880s married James H. Moore, one of her father’s partners. 

  Her husband and his business partners eventually earned their fortunes by gaining controlling interests in several major companies, including National Biscuit and the Union Pacific Railroad.

  Moore died in 1916, leaving his wife a considerable estate that included property in Illinois, Wisconsin and California.

  In the 1920s, Lora married Harry French Knight, a St. Louis stockbroker but the union was not successful and they were divorced a few years later.

  In 1928, Mrs. Knight purchased 239 acres at the head of Emerald Bay (for $250,000) and began planning her special summer hideaway. She hired Lennart Palme, a noted Swedish architect and her nephew, to design the house with a Scandinavian influence.

  Following a trip to Scandinavia to gather ideas, Mrs. Knight authorized construction to begin in the summer of 1928. Work on the house ceased during the winter months but restarted the next spring. Amazingly, the house was completed by the end of the summer.

  The house was constructed of locally cut wood (pine and fir) and using local granite boulders and rocks that were embedded in mortar. Interior walls were hand planed and accented with delicate, hand carvings.

  The house has a wonderful handmade quality to it, which is not surprising since Mrs. Knight had 200 workers building the house. In fact, the exterior wood sections were hewn by Finnish carpenters who were brought in from New York.

  One unusual feature was the sod roof covering the buildings lining the courtyard. Grass roofs were common on Scandinavian houses so Mrs. Knight incorporated the idea in her castle.

  Mrs. Knight stayed at Vikingsholm for 15 summers, until her death in 1945. The estate was then sold to a Nevada rancher, Lawrence Holland, who later sold it to Harvey West, a lumber magnate from Placerville.

  In 1953, West agreed to donate half the appraised value of the land to the state of California in return for the state paying him the other half. The state was able to acquire most of the land surrounding Emerald Bay, including Vikingsholm for about $125,000 (half the appraised value).

  Today, visitors can park in a lot just off State Route 89 and hike one mile to the former Lora J. Knight home. The walk is peaceful as you stroll through the pines, catching glimpses of breathtaking Emerald Bay below.

  Another of Mrs. Knight’s legacies can be seen on Fannette Island in the middle of Emerald Bay. At the crown of the island, she built a picturesque, stone teahouse.

  Guided tours of Vikingsholm (the only way you can tour the house) are offered daily from June to September. Tours are offered between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (although you can hike to the house to picnic on the grounds or explore the area throughout the year). For tour information, go to: https://sierrastateparks.org/emerald-bay-state-park/vikingsholm-tours/.

  Vikingholm is located at the southwest end of Lake Tahoe, about 35 miles from Carson City via U.S. 50 and Route 89. For more information, go to: http://vikingsholm.com/

Finding Out About the Lost City

 

Lost City Pueblos (Photo courtesy of Ymblanter)

Several years ago when I was working on a book, “Mysteries and Legends of Nevada,” I compiled a list of the most enduring and unexplained stories in the Silver State.

  One of those mysteries was the fascinating tale of the Anasazi, considered among the earliest inhabitants of the place that would become Nevada. About 800 years ago, these prehistoric people just seemingly disappeared from the southeastern part of the state.

  At the peak of their civilization, which is thought to have been 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, thousands of Anasazi—although no one is quite sure what they actually called themselves—lived along the banks of the Virgin and Muddy rivers in Southern Nevada.

  The Anasazi were so sophisticated that they developed permanent settlements, including the Pueblo villages built in cliffs throughout Arizona and Colorado, learned how to cultivate a variety of crops and mined minerals such as salt.

  About eight centuries ago, however, the Anasazi just went away. They departed from their northernmost villages, including those in Nevada.

  Scholar David Roberts has written in National Geographic magazine that the Anasazi abandoned every site northwest of a diagonal line that could be hypothetically drawn between Flagstaff, Arizona, and Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

  Roberts theorizes that a combination of factors contributed to the Anasazi retreat, including the rise of a new religion—perhaps an early version of the Pueblo Indians’ kachina beliefs.

  Roberts believes that the Anasazi of places like Nevada were drawn south from their homeland to the pueblos of New Mexico by practitioners of the kachina religion, which encouraged communal living, which would have been particularly attractive to those living in the harsh Southwest where drought and famine were common.

  Today, their descendents are believed to be the members of the various Pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Colorado.

  In Nevada, a number of petroglyph sites are the primary reminders of the Anasazi period. In several places throughout the state, such as the Valley of Fire and Rainbow Canyon in Southern Nevada, you can find the rock writing that appears to be the Anasazi’s only written language.

  Although the writings, which are carved in stone, have never been translated, some archaeologists speculate that they may have related to either hunting rituals or have had religious significance.

  One of the best places to learn more about the Anasazi is the Lost City Museum, which is located in the small town of Overton, at the north end of Lake Mead.

  The main part of the museum is housed in a sun-dried, adobe brick building that was erected in 1935 by the National Park Service to exhibit artifacts discovered in Nevada. The museum was turned over to the state of Nevada in 1953 and expanded in 1973 and 1981.

  The most recent expansion, called the Faye Perkins Wing, was built atop an actual Pueblo foundation that was excavated in 1935. This archaeological site has been reconstructed in such as way as to depict the way archaeologists work at a historic location.

  The name, Lost City, was coined in the 1930s by the media, which was fascinated by the discovery of a forgotten prehistoric Indian community. Archaeologist M.R. Harrington, who supervised the initial excavation in 1924, however, named the site “Pueblo Grande de Nevada,” because of its great size.

  Many of the artifacts in the museum were collected during excavations of the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Since then, additional excavations on the banks of the lake have yielded additional information and materials.

  The Lost City site has provided valuable information about the Anasazi's transition from a nomadic desert tribe, before the time of Christ, to a more sophisticated society that built permanent settlements and planted crops.

  Displays in the museum illustrate the history of the Anasazi. For instance, the earliest residents, called the "Basketmakers," generally lived in open areas or natural shelters and created fine woven baskets from the local willows and yucca plants. Their diet consisted of plants and hunted game, like deer and rabbits, brought down with the use of an atlatl.

  Later, during the Late Basketmaker period, the people began using a bow and arrow, planting crops and building pit houses in the valley.

  That was followed by the Pueblo period, during which the people began living in above ground buildings with underground storage units. It was during this time, that the Indians began producing painted pottery and developed a social structure, religious practices, trade and crude writing.

  On the museum grounds, you can find several Pueblo-type structures, made of wattle and daub, which have been reconstructed on the original foundations. There is also a replica of a pit house, which was a covered underground dwelling.

  Exhibits display hundreds of arrowheads, baskets, atlatl (or throwing spears), skins and pottery. Additionally, one wing of the museum includes a re-creation of an ancient Anasazi village site.

  In addition to displays about the Anasazi, the museum also contains exhibits detailing the earliest white settlers in the area, starting with Mormon farmers, who began cultivating the area in the 1860s.

  The Lost City Museum is located on State Route 169 in Overton, about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, go to: https://lostcitymuseum.org/.

Napa Valley's Old Bale Mill Survives the Ages

 

  Dr. Edward Turner Bale’s grist mill has seen a lot of changes in its more than 175 years of existence.

  Originally constructed in 1846, the mill, which boasts a 36-foot waterwheel (it was originally 20-feet in size but was enlarged a few years after it was built), was designed to grind the wheat, corn, oats and barley crops of local Napa Valley farmers. They would bring their grains to the mill to be ground and bagged.

  Today, visitors to the upper Napa Valley can still explore the mill, which has defied neglect, wildfires and other threats over the years, and was restored in the 1980s. The Bale Grist Mill is located about six miles northwest of the town of St. Helena on California Highway 29.

  The story of the mill is closely aligned with the settling of the Napa Valley region. Home to a thriving Native American population, the valley was first visited by non-native explorers in the early 1820s. In 1836, former mountain man George C. Yount became the area’s first white settler (in present-day Yountville), receiving a land grant from the Mexican government.

  At that time, nearly all of California was under the control of Mexico, which had gained its independence from Spain in 1810.

  Much of the area now known as the Napa Valley was divided into large rancheros owned by a handful of Mexican landowners, led by General Mariano Vallejo, who was the Commandante General of Alta California (which encompassed nearly all of the state of California).

  In 1839, Dr. Edward Bale, an English physician who had arrived in California two years earlier, married Maria Ygnacia Soberanes, niece of General Vallejo. Within a few years, Dr. Bale had become a citizen of Mexico and was granted the land between present-day Rutherford and Calistoga (some 17,962 acres), which he named Rancho Carne Humana.

  To support such a large ranch, Dr. Bale decided to establish the grist mill as well as a saw-mill.

  In 1848, Dr. Bale caught gold fever and left his wife, two sons and four daughters, so that he could seek his fortune in the gold fields of eastern California. Unfortunately, he became sick and died on October 9, 1849.

  Dr. Bale’s widow, Maria, who was only 27-years-old, took it upon herself to support her family. By 1850, she had either sold or lost to squatters the majority of the 17,000-acre land grant, and is listed as the owner of 1,500 acres of unimproved land and 50 improved acres.

  She was able to retain the grist mill and the saw mill, which she had expanded and enlarged in the early 1850s. The two enterprises allowed her to pay off her late husband’s debts, eventually remarry, and provide for her children.

  In 1860, one of Maria Bale’s daughters, Isadora Bruck, sold the saw mill and the grist mill. The latter, under a succession of owners, continued to operate until 1905. Over the years, a later owner, Reverend Theodore Lyman, made additional improvements so that the mill could operate when there wasn’t enough water running in the creek that powered the waterwheel.

  Lyman’s family donated the mill to the Native Sons of the Golden West in 1923, which, in 1941, deeded it to the Napa County Historical Society to maintain and preserve. In 1974, the facility and surrounding property became a California State Historic Park.

  A major renovation in the mid-80s got the grist mill up and running again, and, in 1988, it milled its first grain in more than seven decades.

  Today, the restored mill is one of the most iconic places in the Napa Valley, drawing thousands of visitors who are enchanted by the picturesque setting and the enormous wooden waterwheel

   Adjacent to the mill site is the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (linked via trails), where visitors can picnic, hike, bike, and enjoy a public swimming pool. Additionally, the park offers private cabins for rent, yurts, tent camping sites, and RV campsites. Both facilities are operated by the Napa Open Space District in partnership with the Napa Valley State Parks Association.

  For more information about the Bale Grist Mill, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bale-grist-mill-state-historic-park/

  For more information about Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bothe-napa-valley-state-park/.