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Volume 030-3 - July 1976 (12 pages)
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Page: of 12
Atop the flagpole on the roof of his tower
McGlashan hung a newfangled electric arc light. It
bathed the building in an eerie glow at night.
Passengers on trains going through Truckee were
startled when they saw it.
McGlashan patented several inventions, the
most important being a method of sending
telegrams to and from moving trains.
Shortly before his death on January 6, 1931
he destroyed all the papers and correspondence he
had compiled for his Donner history. He felt it
would be violating a confidence to leave them for
other eyes.
Industries
The Truckee basin was known as the
“paradise of ice men.” (In December of 1879 the
temperature dropped to 38 degrees below zero.) An
early historian described the area as the coldest
spot in the mountains “as many an old stage driver
on Henness route to Washoe mines will testify.”
Aminimum of cold, plenty of clear mountain
water, facilities for storage and rail transportation
to all points made it an ideal place to harvest and
ship natural ice. In 1880 seven ice companies were
located in the Truckee basin.
The importance of the lumber industry in the
development of Truckee has been mentioned. The
town was surrounded by lush timber lands. Even
today lumber is being processed in Truckee.
Ponds, such as the one created for the Boca
Mill and Ice Company, served a dual purpose.
During the summer it was used to float logs. In
winter it produced marvelous natural ice.
Lumber was transported from forest to mill
by three methods: chutes, V flume or logging
railroads. The chutes were built on mountainsides,
of logs with a groove through which logs shot
downward, hitting the river with a resounding
splash.
The first V flume in the region was the Alder
Creek Flume built by T. Burckhalter in 1873. The
flume was of rough lumber in a V shape. It was five
miles long or more. Logs, finished lumber or blocks
were floated to their destination in the water that
ran through them.
Logging railroads were of two types. One
was of rails over which cars were pulled by an
engine. The other was built of logs with horses
doing the pulling.
The Truckee River was the site of a pioneer
fish hatchery. A _ report of the California
Commissioners of Fisheries for 1870-1871 states,
“On the Truckee River about five miles above the
town of Truckee the Brothers Comer have an
establishment for artificial hatching of trout. They
have engaged in this business for the past three
years and have successfully hatched and have in
their ponds more than a half million of fish.”
Hotels were built at Truckee, Boca, Donner
Lake and other settlements in the basin to
accommodate tourists attracted by Central Pacific
promoters.
Civilizing Influences
Meanwhile the solid citizens of Truckee went
about building schools and churches. The July,
1871 fire destroyed the schoolhouse. The new one
An early Truckee Roundhouse, Circa 1870, rebuilt after an 1869 fire.