Gifts of Rock and Water

Gifts of Rock and Water. The region surrounding Owens Lake yields more than water. , People have long benefitted from the richness of the Owens Lake area. For at least 10,000 years, American Indians have lived here and harvested resources, including glass-sharp obsidian for arrow points and spearheads. , In the mid-1800s, other resources, like silver and grazing land, began attracting prospectors and settlers. Located high above the town of present day Keeler, Cerro Gordo, or "fat hill," yielded the largest silver deposit in California. That deposit also created a freight challenge, moving bars of bullion to the western shore and timber and charcoal to the eastern shore. Eventually steamships were put to work. Travelling across the lake between Cartago and Swansea, the steamships reduced a three-day journey by mule team to a three-hour boat trip. , Steamships in the Desert , Between 1872 and 1882 the steamships Bessie Brady and Molly Stevens operated on Owens Lake. Steamships leaving Cartago and Cottrowood wharfs provided timber and charcoal for the town of Keeler, Swansea, and Cerro Gordo. On the return trip, the steamers were loaded with bars of silver bullion, some destined for Hollywood for use in early films and some for the San Francisco Mint for use in coinage.