The Lake Tahoe Basin is believed to have formed thanks to the rise and fall of the land caused by shifting geological faults. The crystalline blue lake is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, with 72 miles of shoreline. About 1,645 at its deepest point, it’s the 10th deepest lake on earth. It is split roughly down its middle between the states of California and Nevada.
The human history of the area dates back some 10,000 years, when the lake was the summer home of Washoe Indians. Westerners discovered the lake in 1844, when explorer/pioneer John C. Fremont first gazed down on the lake from a 10,651-foot peak. Fremont wrote, “...I ascended today the highest peak...from which we had a beautiful view of a mountain lake at our feet, about 15 miles in length, and so nearly surrounded by mountains that we could not discover an outlet.”
Fremont and his exhausted companions finally did discover an outlet. In Fremont’s enthusiasm to traverse that pass, he apparently didn’t think to name the lake. In 1852, the lake was dubbed Lake Bigler, named for a man who was not only California’s third governor, but also the leader of the rescue party that saved a group of now famous emigrants stranded in the area in 1846 – the Donner Party.
But the Bigler name really never caught on, and within a few years the lake was more commonly known by its Indian name, Tahoe, which is believed to mean “big water” or “high water” in the Washoe language.
By the 1890s, Lake Tahoe had become a popular vacation destination for wealthy families from San Francisco, Sacramento, and Virginia City. From the 1920s on, tourism continued to grow as the area became more accessible – with the paving of roads – and the development of lodges and hotels.
In 1960, Lake Tahoe entered the international spotlight when it hosted the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley.
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