Efforts renewed to name Lake Tahoe cove after Samuel Clemens
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun
CARSON CITY — The state is considering taking another stab at naming a cove on the east shore at Lake Tahoe after Samuel L. Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. But an ill-fated campfire at Tahoe is slowing the efforts of the state Board on Geographic Names.
The state board initially submitted the proposal to name the cove. But the national geographic names board rejected it on a split vote.
Bob Stewart, a member of the geographic names board, said the board hopes to convince the U.S. Forest Service to withdraw its opposition to the name change.
As a young man, Clemens followed dreams of riches in timber and mining but won fame as the author of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
Clemens and friends hiked from Carson City to Lake Tahoe in September 1861 to stake a claim for cutting trees to sell the timber. While camped at the area of the cove, Clemens started a campfire to cook dinner. Stewart says Clemens left the fire unattended and the flames spread, burning in the forest. Clemens, in later letters to his family, said the flames burned only dead trees and brush.
There is too much uncertainty about where he camped. Is it in California or Nevada? Name the trail he took walking up to the Lake from Carson City.