Outlet Gates and Gatekeeper's Cabin

This two-acre wooded site sits at the only outlet of Lake Tahoe, where the Truckee River begins in Tahoe City. It includes a turn-of-the-century log house built of logs from a local sawmill, dated 1909. The gatekeeper used it as an office to record the lake's height and control water released downstream toward Nevada. Beside it are the outlet gates, first built in 1870. Control of those gates sparked the 'Tahoe Water War' between lakeshore owners and downstream river users, a dispute that lasted two decades and ended in 1910-11 when methods for measuring water content in snow allowed better prediction of lake and river levels. The site is also tied to Dat-So-La-Lee, a renowned basket weaver who worked in front of the cabin's location. Supporters hoped to keep the grounds as public open space and create a museum. The log house was later destroyed by fire, while the dam and gates remained the significant surviving elements.