The Story of Lake Tahoe's Fabulous Tallac Historic Site

  Anyone who has been watching HBO’s popular show, The Gilded Age, knows that in the late 19th and early 20th century, America’s richest residents often built sprawling estates in places like Long Island’s Gold Coast in New York, Newport, Rhode Island, and, in the case of some of California’s wealthiest citizens, Lake Tahoe.

  Some of these homes—then simply considered elaborate summer cottages—can still be found at what is now called the Tallac Historic Site on Route 89, north of Camp Richardson. While many of the structures have disappeared over the years—victims of neglect and progress—a few have been preserved and are now managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

  One of the best ways to see and experience these homes is via a scenic two-and-a-half-mile-long bicycle and hiking path winds through the historic area.

  Traveling through the historic grounds is an opportunity to pretend that you’ve gone back to a time before automobiles and airplanes, when only the super-rich could afford to build seasonal homes in such a once remote but spectacularly scenic place like Lake Tahoe.

  The setting is remarkably peaceful and beautiful. The trail is lined with tall pine trees filled with chattering birds and, as you ride along, provides glimpses of the clear, blue waters of the lake.

  While the main path is paved, there are several dirt tributaries that snake through the reserve and lead to small, hidden beaches or particularly scenic tree groves.

  Development of the Tallac area started in the 1870s, when a man named Yank Clement opened the Tallac Point House on the south shore to accommodate visitors. Yank’s Inn also offered steamboat rides, a saloon and dancing.

  In 1880, "Yank's" was sold to Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, a California entrepreneur and professional gambler. Baldwin transformed the sleepy lakeside inn into a 250-room resort that included a casino, ballroom, four bowling alleys, sun parlors and billiards rooms.

  Meanwhile, in 1894, George Tallant, son of one of the founders of California’s Crocker Bank, built a rustic summer lodge adjacent to the Baldwin property.

  Five years later, Tallant’s sold his lodge to millionaire Lloyd Tevis, who expanded and renovated it, making it the largest and most luxurious in the area. Tevis added servants’ quarters, a dairy, stables and a shaded, garden with Japanese tea house and arched bridges.

  In 1923, Tevis sold the compound to George Pope Jr., a San Francisco lumber and shipping magnate. To reflect Pope’s ecumenical name, the estate was nicknamed the "Vatican Lodge."

  Also in 1923, another prominent businessman, Walter Heller purchased the land south of the Pope estate. Heller began construction of what would become perhaps the greatest of the Tallac mansions, an impressive stone and wood lodge named "Valhalla."

  The early 1920s marked the heyday of the magnificent Tallac homes but was also the end of "Lucky" Baldwin’s resort. In 1920, Baldwin's daughter, Anita, closed the casino-hotel and demolished the buildings.

  Later that same year, Dextra Baldwin McGonagle, Baldwin’s granddaughter, constructed a beautiful single-story home on the family property.

  For the next four decades, the three estates were private, lakeside vacation homes for their respective owners. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, the large homes proved to be too expensive to maintain and were turned over to the Forest Service (generally for tax considerations).

  All three are classic examples of the early 20th century "Tahoe" architecture, which utilized native stone and wood in order to blend with the pastoral surrounding.

  The Tallac museum, located on the grounds of the former Baldwin estate, offers original furnishings, a small gift shop as well as changing art exhibits and an informative Washo tribe display (before the homes were built, the area was inhabited by the native Washo Indians).

  The Washo exhibit includes a garden filled with various plants on which the tribe subsisted as well as examples of traditional Washo shelters, including a “galis daigal” or winter lodge made of bark and pine poles, and a “gadu” or summer home, built of sagebrush and branches.

  The Pope estate is the largest of the three areas and includes the greatest number of surviving buildings. Volunteer efforts are ongoing to maintain and restore the historic structures.

  Nearby Valhalla is perhaps the most impressive of the estates with its massive main hall that features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace. The main house is used for special events.

  The 2,000-acre Tallac Historic Site also has picnic tables and several public beaches including Kiva Beach and Baldwin Beach.

  The Tallac Historic Site is open between Memorial Day and the end of September. Tours of many of the buildings are also available during the open season. For more information, go to: https://www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/tallac-historic-site/.

Galena Creek Regional Park is One of Reno's Hidden Gems

 

  One of the lesser known public spaces in Washoe County that should not be overlooked is the beautiful Galena Creek Regional Park, located south of Reno.

  With a picturesque creek, beautiful trees, spectacular views and fascinating history, Galena Creek is a great spot to spend part of a day enjoying nature at its finest. The 440-acre park is located off the Mount Rose Highway (State Route 431), about six miles west of U.S. 395.

  Washoe County acquired the land for the park in 1931. Named for a mining town that once existed a few miles to the east, the area was originally part of the Galena mining district.

  The word, “galena,” derives from the type of lead sulfide rock that was found with the gold mined in the district.

  Later, the town of Galena (off what today is Callahan Ranch Road) became an important lumber center, boasting 11 sawmills by 1863, as well as stores, hotels, a court, school, homes and, of course, saloons.

  Disastrous fires in 1865 and 1867 destroyed the town, which was abandoned after the second conflagration.

  Ironically, floods have had more to do with shaping the face of the Galena area. Over the years, snow melts in late winter and early spring or flash floods in late summer produced “wet mantle” floods—sometimes as high as 10-feet—which are sheets of water pouring down the mountain side.

  The result of such floods can be seen in the mounds of rocks and boulders found scattered around the park.

  With its groves of White Fir and Jeffrey and Ponderosa pines, the park is a wooded sanctuary that rises from a high desert, sagebrush vegetation zone to the more heavily wooded alpine environment.

  At the lower elevations, there are shrubs like Bitterbrush, Manzanita and clumps of twisted Mountain Mahogany. Animal life includes a wide variety of birds, such as jays and hawks, as well as an occasional black bear and mountain lion (although both are rarely seen).

  The park also encompasses several beautiful creeks, including its namesake, Galena Creek. The easiest and most accessible hike is the Bitterbrush Trail, which stretches from the north picnic area (the first turn-off into the park when driving west from Reno or Carson City) to the south picnic area.

  The trail wanders about a quarter of a mile through the pines before reaching the sturdy wooden bridge that spans Galena Creek. This is a particularly beautiful place to observe the rapidly rushing water tumbling over the smooth rocks.

  North of the Galena Creek Bridge is a Nature Trail that winds up the hillside to a variety of local flora and fauna.

  Visitors often wonder about the huge concrete blocks supported rusted metal boxes that can be seen along the trail. These are actually old camping stoves placed there in the 1940s when the girl scouts had a camp there. The campers would put charcoal into the box and heat pots and pans on top.

  More challenging hiking can be found on the Jones Creek-White's Creek Loop Trail (9.2 miles roundtrip) and the Black's Canyon Trail. Both are considerably more challenging than the lower trails but offer some of the best views found in the park.

  The Jones Creek-White Creek Trail, which can take six to eight hours to complete, winds all the way up the side of the mountain and ends at Church’s Pond.

  The Galena Creek Park has 68 individual picnic sites, available on a first-come, first-serve basis, as well as two group picnic areas, which can be reserved in advance. No woodcutting or private campfires are permitted.

  A couple of years ago, the county restored an historic stone building at the park’s south entrance. Known as the Galena Creek Park Stone House, it contains a visitor center filled with historic photos and displays describing the history of the area as well as the geology, plant and animal life.

  For more information go to: https://www.galenacreekvisitorcenter.org/.

Southern Nevada's Arrowhead Trail Was Once a Big Deal

   Tucked away in Southern Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park is a metal sign in the shape of the state of Nevada that commemorates something called the “Arrowhead Trail, 1914-1924.”

   The sign points out that the trail was the first all-weather highway to run between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City via Las Vegas, and that it was the result of a grass roots effort by various chambers of commerce, led by the Las Vegas chamber, to create better access to their communities.

   The sign credits Charles H. Bigelow, a Southern California businessman and former racecar driver for helping create and promote the road and mentions that he drove it several times in a twin-six Packard he named “Cactus Kate.”

   According to Utah historian Edward Leo Lyman, writing in the Summer 1999 issue of the Utah Historical Quarterly, the Las Vegans wanted a highway through their town, which been founded only 9 years earlier, and partnered with Bigelow, who was described as a well known “desert pilot.”

   Bigelow quickly discovered that driving to Salt Lake City via Las Vegas was about 80 miles shorter than the more traveled route, which was to drive to Tonopah and through Ely before reaching Salt Lake City.

   He then met with officials in Salt Lake City and Southern California to gain their support and, in 1914, organized the Arrowhead Trails Association.

   The effort gained steam when it was enthusiastically embraced by the Automobile Club of Southern California, which had a goal of developing better roads to link communities throughout the country.

   Lyman said the club hired drivers in “scout cars” to report conditions on known roads as well as to travel onto uncharted areas in order to recommend where new routes might be located.

   On September 25, 1916, the Arrowhead Trail Association sponsored a convoy of cars to travel from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City via Las Vegas—along with a Los Angeles Times reporter—to prove the route was viable.

   After reaching Las Vegas, the party continued east through spectacular red sandstone valleys and canyons, which they named the “Valley of Fire,” before arriving in the town of St. Thomas (now under Lake Mead most years).

   “At Bunkerville, the group held a road promotion meeting and was treated to a melon and fruit feast across the Virgin River at Mesquite,” Lyman noted.

   Members of the caravan, who conducted rallies of support in various community along the way, reached Salt Lake City in about four days, traveling some 800 miles.

   Following the end of World War I, the road’s promoters shifted into high gear. For example, a January 25, 1917 issue of Motor Age noted, “no one can truly say he knows the West until he has traveled it (Arrowhead Trail).”

   Communities along the way volunteered to improve the road in their area, including filling chuckholes, racking loose rocks out of the road and building crude rock bridges over streams. Some towns began beautification programs to clean up their appearances.

   Bigelow was a tireless promoter of the route, often traveling on it alone while carrying gas, tires, water and other supplies, and stopping to assist any motorist in trouble.

   Part of his pitch was to focus on the beauty of the route as it passed through Valley of Fire as well as by the future Zion, Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks National Parks in Utah.

   In 1923, the Nevada State Legislature approved $50,000 to pave the route through most of Clark County. The new, smoother all-year road was such a hit that Utah and California soon followed in paving their roads that linked to the route.

   By the mid-1920s, however, the federal government had passed legislation creating a federal highway system and the days of the public-private partnership roads, such as the Lincoln Highway and Arrowhead Trail, were over. In 1926, the Arrowhead Trail name was officially changed to U.S. Route 91 and later parts of it were incorporated into Interstate 15.

   A guidebook about the road published in the early 1930s by the Automobile Club of Southern California noted that near Las Vegas the motorist would suddenly be “ushered into the realms of desert environment, of sage-brush and sand, grease-wood and gray-brown stretches of monotonous aspect.”

   The pamphlet, however, continued: “For the most part, all is silence, and the sense of brooding mystery—as a lion will wait behind the bars of a cage, his tawny head sunk between his paws, and his yellow eyes dreaming of African wildernesses.”