Every Picture Tells a Story
By Heidi Sproat
So how many times has Truckee-Donner Historical Society been asked the following questions: Do you have photos of … (1) A frozen Donner Lake; (2) The Donner Cross before its present location on Donner Pass Road; (3) the Truckee River completely covered with snow; (4) a “pet” bear in downtown Truckee; (5) a Truckee Chinatown? Where was it?; and lastly, (6) What is skijoring?
Now that we have amassed an incredible number of original photographs that are available for your viewing pleasure online – in your pjs – at this link https://images.truckeehistory.org, we can honestly answer these questions with photos.
We thought we’d share with you several remarkable photos that have been found that we have now made available to you online. We are ever grateful to the donors of these images who so willingly donated them to us so we can garner a breadth of understanding about what life in Truckee was like in the 1880s-1930s. If you want to see a larger image, just click on the picture.
Now that we have amassed an incredible number of original photographs that are available for your viewing pleasure online – in your pjs – at this link https://images.truckeehistory.org, we can honestly answer these questions with photos.
We thought we’d share with you several remarkable photos that have been found that we have now made available to you online. We are ever grateful to the donors of these images who so willingly donated them to us so we can garner a breadth of understanding about what life in Truckee was like in the 1880s-1930s. If you want to see a larger image, just click on the picture.
(1) As for a frozen Donner Lake:
Take a look at LAJ0059c – the January – February 1922 filming of Over the Border; whose male star is standing on a partially frozen Donner Lake – believed to be at the east end of the Lake. This photo is part of an impressive collection of original images taken by Robert "Bob" Lee, Assistant Director for Paramount Pictures, donated by his grandniece (LAJ) who so diligently found just the right home for all 257 +/- of them. Compare this photo with another incredible photo DLK0015 from H.K. Gage taken in 1885 that shows a group of people actually skating on a frozen Donner Lake. The date must be incorrect as we originally thought that it could not possibly be THAT early in 1885. But check out the Truckee Republican newspaper article of January 28, 1885 titled “The Skating Carnival in Full Blast – How Truckeeites Skate.” Sadly the article is not available on the California Digital Newspaper Collection site, cdnc.ucr.edu, but we spotted a copy in a well preserved “scrapbook”. Also check out HKG0003, also a Gage image from the 1890s. How do we know it was 1890s? H.K. (Herman Kimball) Gage was a noted Truckee photographer. He was born in Massachusetts and died in Truckee in July 1915. Gage also managed a saloon in Truckee from 1884 – 1886, but clearly excelled in photography. Gage is well known for some of his stunning photography of Truckee in the early years, especially from the 1870s through the early 1900s. Of particular note are his photographs of the Rocking Stone and bird’s eye views of Truckee. Or check this image out, STC0031 of a horse drawn sled with 7 people on a partially frozen east end of Donner Lake looking west.
Take a look at LAJ0059c – the January – February 1922 filming of Over the Border; whose male star is standing on a partially frozen Donner Lake – believed to be at the east end of the Lake. This photo is part of an impressive collection of original images taken by Robert "Bob" Lee, Assistant Director for Paramount Pictures, donated by his grandniece (LAJ) who so diligently found just the right home for all 257 +/- of them. Compare this photo with another incredible photo DLK0015 from H.K. Gage taken in 1885 that shows a group of people actually skating on a frozen Donner Lake. The date must be incorrect as we originally thought that it could not possibly be THAT early in 1885. But check out the Truckee Republican newspaper article of January 28, 1885 titled “The Skating Carnival in Full Blast – How Truckeeites Skate.” Sadly the article is not available on the California Digital Newspaper Collection site, cdnc.ucr.edu, but we spotted a copy in a well preserved “scrapbook”. Also check out HKG0003, also a Gage image from the 1890s. How do we know it was 1890s? H.K. (Herman Kimball) Gage was a noted Truckee photographer. He was born in Massachusetts and died in Truckee in July 1915. Gage also managed a saloon in Truckee from 1884 – 1886, but clearly excelled in photography. Gage is well known for some of his stunning photography of Truckee in the early years, especially from the 1870s through the early 1900s. Of particular note are his photographs of the Rocking Stone and bird’s eye views of Truckee. Or check this image out, STC0031 of a horse drawn sled with 7 people on a partially frozen east end of Donner Lake looking west.
(2) As to the location of the Donner Cross before it was on Donner Pass Road just west of Truckee Elementary School on a postage-stamp property easement, would you believe that the Donner Cross has been “relocated” at least five times since its original installation back in the 1890s? Nope. Neither could we believe it until we did some very serious deep researching. It's like the Cross was on wheels and moved to accommodate whatever. If you want to read all about it, here is a link to the entire Donner Cross application that TDHS submitted to the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission (NCHLC) which was unanimously approved by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in April 2024. To see these images individually, you'll have to browse through the formal NCHLC submitted Application.
(3) As to the Truckee River completely covered with snow: take a look at this image looking downriver. The image is from the January – February 1922 movie filming which shows that the Truckee River indeed was completely snow covered. See LAJ0072b looking east, and same image RVR0057.
(4) As for a “pet” bear in downtown Truckee
BKT0011 bear climbing telephone pole downtown (also EGH0023). [Not the "fake" costumed bear dressed at the 1960 Olympics at then Squaw Valley, JHC0033.] Images LAJ0028b & LAJ0063b, taken from the same January – February 1922 movie filming in Truckee of Over the Border. The handwritten notation on one of the 1922 images says that – apparently - the bear ate from the hands of the starring actress and a Shriner present. Other "bear" images are LAJ0069 and LAJ0078 – a bear cub in a sleigh sitting next to the movie’s starlet – warning, please do not try this at home.
BKT0011 bear climbing telephone pole downtown (also EGH0023). [Not the "fake" costumed bear dressed at the 1960 Olympics at then Squaw Valley, JHC0033.] Images LAJ0028b & LAJ0063b, taken from the same January – February 1922 movie filming in Truckee of Over the Border. The handwritten notation on one of the 1922 images says that – apparently - the bear ate from the hands of the starring actress and a Shriner present. Other "bear" images are LAJ0069 and LAJ0078 – a bear cub in a sleigh sitting next to the movie’s starlet – warning, please do not try this at home.
(5) As for the location of Truckee’s Chinatowns. You’ll need to sit down to read through this lengthy application that TDHS also submitted to the NCHLC. This Application was also unanimously approved by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in 2023. In case you missed it, TDHS and the NCHLC held a dedication ceremony of the installation of the plaque recognizing and celebrating Truckee’s two Chinatowns. Stop by the Old Truckee Jail Museum and out in front of the Old Jail is the plaque mounted on a granite boulder. You can’t miss it. To read the formal application, see this link. If you missed the dedication ceremony on May 10, 2024, see our Truckee Chinatowns page. We do NOT have any "images" of either Chinatown location, only maps.
(Below) Appendix B - Recreated 1901 Waggoner map by Town of Truckee Engineering Department showing area of Truckee’s first Chinatown. Note that the red arrows on the right side of the image indicate street width measurements only. The red arrows on the left indicate Chinatown’s development after the 1875 fire, particularly in the triangular area so indicated by arrows.
(Below) A close up of the same image above, 1901 Waggoner map with area in red indicating the development of Chinatown after the May 1875 fire.
(Below) Truckee's SECOND Chinatown. Notice it was south of the Truckee River.
(6) Okay, what is “skijoring”? Until we saw an actual photo in downtown Truckee, it was hard to imagine what it was. If you look it up on google which of course we did, this is what you see. Check out DPT0028 which is clearly downtown Truckee adjacent to the Truckee Train Depot. Or this photo – which isn’t exactly “skijoring” - but being pulled by a dog on skis BKT0007 or with a group of skaters being pulled by a motorcycle, HTP0082. Just wait until you see another image we recently found about kite sail skiing or paragliding on skis or whatever the sport is known as – see Trebilcock STC0011, and HTP0080.
So in a nutshell, if you haven’t explored the images in our Truckee-Donner Historical Society’s online Image Collection, https://images.truckeehistory.org , you really should take a look and browse through the remarkable images we have so far processed and made available on our website. Who says "Truckeeites" don't have winter snow fun! Sure, the images have watermarks and image numbers on them – basically so we can find the image again in the thousands that we have amassed – but if you want to obtain an image for your home, business, or other personal use, just send us an email to [email protected] and we’ll see what we can do for you based on the intended use. Also we strongly encourage you to please let us know if you know more about an image than what we have provided, and we’ll be happy to incorporate reasonable explanations.
Have fun exploring. Like I said – Every Picture Tells a Story.
HCS 1/12/2025
HCS 1/12/2025
