Spooner Summit near Carson City in Douglas County, Nevada — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Life at the Summit

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado, May 17, 2023

1. Life at the Summit

Panel One

Inscription.

Life at the Summit. . Panel One: the lifestyle was rustic here at the summit. In 1860, French-Canadian entrepreneur Michele E. Spooner acquired about 640 acres of land with the idea of starting up a sawmill, a shingle mill and a hotel. He named the area Spooner Station. Ten years and several business partners later, Spooner had acquired interests in flumes, a toll road, and other businesses, and controlled a total of 1,840 acres surrounding the summit that now bears his name. , He married in 1869, bringing his new wife Clara to live at Spooner Station. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy., A Slower Pace Life on the mountain was rustic. Winter snows often exceeded ten feet, and food-typically arriving as huge sacks of flour and sugar-was resupplied only periodically. Communication was by telegram, and travel by wagon. Imagine what life here would be like without telephones, e-mail, or the convenience of our cars!, Panel Two: Extensive Holdings the making of a giant. In 1872, Michele Spooner sold his flume system and toll road to up-and-coming lumber barons Duane Bliss and H.M. Yerington, founders of the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company (CTLFC). By buying up smaller mills and fluming systems, their company grew to become the largest business supplying the Comstock. , At its peak, the CTLFC owned 50,000 acres of timber at Lake Tahoe, three mills at Glenbrook, two steamers, two logging railroads, various logging camps, and a narrow-gauge railroad. CTLFC also operated several logging flumes to transport lumber to their railroad depots in the Carson Valley., Spooner Summit was a key part of the operation, acting as a large receiving yard for not only the milled lumber that came up from the lake, but also for fuelwood that came down on feeder flumes off nearby peaks., Panel Three: A Melting Pot of industrious workers as the industry boomed, more help was needed. As business boomed, more help was needed. Mill crews were brought in from Maine, and loggers from Canada. The lumber industry opened opportunities for cultural groups from far and near; Blacks, Washoe Indians, immigrant Chinese, French-Canadians, and Italians-all were welcome., The job descriptions were equally colorful: . Fallers (cut down the trees) . Buckers (cut the logs into shorter lengths) . Sawyers (cut the logs into lumber at the sawmill) . Teamsters (in charge of the oxen teams) . River Hogs (freed jammed logs along the riverbanks) . Grease Monkeys (greased the waterless flumes leading to the lake) . Donkey Punchers (managed donkey engines to haul logs) . Whistle Punks (worked on the narrow-gauge railroad) . Pond Men (rafted the logs),

Panel One: the lifestyle was rustic here at the summit In 1860, French-Canadian entrepreneur Michele E. Spooner acquired about 640 acres of land with the idea of starting up a sawmill, a shingle mill and a hotel. He named the area Spooner Station. Ten years and several business partners later, Spooner had acquired interests in flumes, a toll road, and other businesses, and controlled a total of 1,840 acres surrounding the summit that now bears his name.

He married in 1869, bringing his new wife Clara to live at Spooner Station. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy.

A Slower Pace Life on the mountain was rustic. Winter snows often exceeded ten feet, and food-typically arriving as huge sacks of flour and sugar-was resupplied only periodically. Communication was by telegram, and travel by wagon. Imagine what life here would be like without telephones, e-mail, or the convenience of our cars!

Panel Two: Extensive Holdings
the making of a giant
In 1872, Michele Spooner sold his flume system and toll road to up-and-coming lumber barons Duane Bliss and H.M. Yerington, founders of the Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Company (CTLFC). By buying up smaller mills and fluming systems, their company grew to become the largest business

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supplying the Comstock.

At its peak, the CTLFC owned 50,000 acres of timber at Lake Tahoe, three mills at Glenbrook, two steamers, two logging railroads, various logging camps, and a narrow-gauge railroad. CTLFC also operated several logging flumes to transport lumber to their railroad depots in the Carson Valley.

Spooner Summit was a key part of the operation, acting as a large receiving yard for not only the milled lumber that came up from the lake, but also for fuelwood that came down on feeder flumes off nearby peaks.

Panel Three: A Melting Pot of industrious workers
as the industry boomed, more help was needed
As business boomed, more help was needed. Mill crews were brought in from Maine, and loggers from Canada. The lumber industry opened opportunities for cultural groups from far and near; Blacks, Washoe Indians, immigrant Chinese, French-Canadians, and Italians-all were welcome.

The job descriptions were equally colorful:
• Fallers (cut down the trees)
• Buckers (cut the logs into shorter lengths)
• Sawyers (cut the logs into lumber at the sawmill)
• Teamsters (in charge of the oxen teams)
• River Hogs (freed jammed logs along the riverbanks)
• Grease Monkeys (greased the waterless flumes leading to the lake)
• Donkey Punchers (managed donkey engines to haul

Extensive Holdings image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado, May 17, 2023

2. Extensive Holdings

Panel Two

logs)
• Whistle Punks (worked on the narrow-gauge railroad)
• Pond Men (rafted the logs)

Erected by US Forest Service.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1860.

Location. 39° 6.218′ N, 119° 53.71′ W. Marker is near Carson City, Nevada, in Douglas County. It is in Spooner Summit. Marker can be reached from Lincoln Highway (U.S. 50 at milepost 13) west of Kings Canyon Road, on the right when traveling east. The resin markers are mounted as pillars at the Spooner Summit Trailhead. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Carson City NV 89705, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Riding the Flume (here, next to this marker); Green Gold (here, next to this marker); Tomb of the Sierras (here, next to this marker); Spooner Summit (within shouting distance of this marker); The Flume Trail (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Tahoe Rim Trail (about 600 feet away); Marlette Lake Trail (about 600 feet away); Hiking the Tahoe Rim Dream (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Carson City.

More about this marker.
Panel One Inset Images:

A Melting Pot image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado, May 17, 2023

3. A Melting Pot

Panel Three

An 1897 telegram attests to the pace of life at the Summit. Photo courtesy Special Collections, University of Nevada-Reno Library.
Michele E. Spooner Photo courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
Clara Spooner Photo courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
A stagecoach in the Sierra Nevada forest. Photo courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
Panel Two Inset Images:
Lumber baron Duane L. Bliss (at right) and family. Photo courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
The Carson & Tahoe Lumber & Fluming Co.'s holdings included sawmills and lumber yards. like those shown here. Photos courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
Cowhands, mule handlers and carriage drivers at Spooner Station, circa 1889 Photo courtesy Nevada State Museum.
Panel Three Inset Images:
Men at work at the summit. Photo courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
At left, payroll records for Chinese laborers, 1885. Photo courtesy Special Collections, University of Nevada Reno Library.
Above, the Dolbeer donkey steam engine moved felled trees during lumber operations. At left, the lumberjacks of Glenbrook, Nevada. Photos courtesy Nevada Historical Society.
Cowhands mule handlers and carriage drivers at Spooner Station, circa 1889. Pisto conrtesy Nevada State Museum.

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker.

Life at the Summit Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado, May 17, 2023

4. Life at the Summit Marker

Front Pillar

Spooner Summit

Also see . . . Then and now: Spooner Summit a logging mecca. Lake Tahoe News

"With beasts and steam power, Lake Tahoe was raided for wood from the 1850s to the 1890s to build booming Virginia City and its mines."

(Submitted on July 5, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California.)

Spooner Trailhead and Picnic Area image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Joseph Alvarado, May 17, 2023

5. Spooner Trailhead and Picnic Area

The marker is in the background behind the left telephone pole.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 5, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 5, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California. This page has been viewed 85 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on July 5, 2023, by Joseph Alvarado of Livermore, California.