Boating, Flowers, Trash & History

At 8:10 AM, on Thursday morning, I received a text from Jenny which read, "Do you guys want to boat to Emerald Bay for a Flower Quest?" Thirty-eight minutes later we were on their boat, giddy with anticipation.

Bob is our botanist while Jenny is our ornithologist (terms that I apply to them). To hunt for flowers, or birds, with them is a true Tahoe treat.

And if we get to that hunt via a pontoon boat, well life just doesn't get much better than that!

We parked near Boat Camp, and began our exploration and discoveries. Wow. Mother Nature rewarded us beautifully.

When flowering with Bob, this is a very common sight.

And yes, he found what he was looking for, this spectacular orchid.

What surprised me the most was the evidence of those who came before us.

I am very intrigued by 'historic trash'. It inspires my imagination and makes me have to know more. Jenny was equally intrigued.

What got us both was this bottle, still almost perfectly intact. The bottom of the bottle is labeled name Penick & Ford, Ltd. (1921). P&F produced many private labels. Under F.T. Bedford's (new) leadership, they acquired other grocery lines, including Vermont Maid Syrup in 1928. Thanks to Jenny's sleuthing, this bottle held the syrup. It was a blend of maple syrup and cane sugar, produced as a breakfast syrup. The double loop style bottle was first produced in 1933. It went on hiatus during the war (1943 to 1947) when they used a standard bottle, then back to double loop after the war.

Production ceased in 1965. So just how old is this found historical artifact? The answer is revealed in the next history lesson.

So why was this cool trash here? In 1907, Russell and Margaret Graves began construction of the new Emerald Bay Resort/Camp on the northwest shore (the previous one is where Vikingsholm is now). During this period, the camp became quite popular. In 1914, Nelson Salter bought 30 acres from the Graves to expand the Emerald Bay Resort Camp, which is located at the present-day site of the boat camp. In 1920, he acquired 9.37 more acres and another 10 acres a year later. This gave him a total of 1,000ft of property on the Emerald Bay banks.

In the next four years, Salter expanded his resort by building 2-3 room cottages, additional tents, and a butcher shop. He also supplied advanced technological comforts, such as long-distance phone service, telegraph, daily mail, and express service. There were also rowboats for visitors and electrical lighting all around the lake. Under his ownership, the Emerald Bay Resort/Camp prospered and brought in people from all over the country.

In 1947, Salter sold the resort to Joseph Watson, who sold it to the State of California in 1953 and 1954. Watson leased some of it back and continued to operate it for a few more years. In 1957, the State of California removed the furniture and auctioned it off in Sacramento. The resort was officially marked closed in 1959 and all buildings were removed.