Cave Rock: Climbers, Courts, and a Washoe Indian Sacred Place

Preface

xi In฀the฀late฀s฀my฀son,฀Matthew,฀and฀I฀became฀aware฀of฀a฀dispute฀ ฀ over฀ one฀ of฀ Lake฀ Tahoe’s฀ best-known฀ landmarks:฀ Cave฀ Rock.฀ The฀ clash฀between฀Washoe฀Indians,฀who฀held฀the฀property฀sacred,฀and฀rock฀ climbers,฀who฀used฀its฀world-class฀climbing฀routes,฀simmered฀and฀periodically ฀boiled฀until฀it฀was฀resolved฀by฀the฀federal฀court฀system฀in฀.฀ Throughout฀the฀process฀my฀interest฀in฀documentary฀filmmaking฀motivated ฀me฀to฀tape฀interviews฀with฀climbers฀and฀tribal฀members.฀I฀also฀ recorded฀four฀public฀meetings฀the฀U.S.฀Forest฀Service฀called฀to฀discuss฀ the฀use฀of฀the฀site.฀From฀the฀recorded฀material฀I฀produced฀a฀thirty-minute ฀video,฀Cave฀Rock:฀The฀Issue,฀which฀was฀subsequently฀used฀as฀a฀source฀ document฀in฀the฀court฀cases.฀When฀the฀Ninth฀Circuit฀Court฀of฀Appeals฀ issued฀the฀final verdict฀in฀,฀Matthew฀and฀I฀decided฀to฀chronicle฀the฀ dispute฀in฀book฀form. Our฀connection฀to฀this฀topic฀is฀personal฀as฀well฀as฀academic.฀I฀lived฀ in฀South฀Lake฀Tahoe,฀a฀few฀miles฀from฀Cave฀Rock,฀for฀more฀than฀thirty฀ years.฀I฀worked฀seven฀summer฀seasons฀for฀the฀Forest฀Service฀at฀Tahoe฀ and฀maintain฀friendships฀with฀Washoes฀and฀Tahoe฀Basin฀climbers฀alike.฀ Matthew฀grew฀up฀in฀the฀area฀and฀also฀has฀friends฀among฀both฀groups.฀ He฀ wrote฀ a฀ Washoe฀ tribal฀ history฀ for฀ his฀ Ph.D.฀ dissertation฀ and฀ now฀ teaches฀American฀Indian฀history฀at฀Metro฀State฀College฀in฀Denver.฀In฀the฀ work฀that฀follows,฀he฀wrote฀the฀Washoe฀parts,฀and฀I฀dealt฀with฀the฀climbing ฀history฀and฀court฀cases. Writing฀this฀book฀proved฀to฀be฀a฀fulfilling enterprise,฀shepherded฀to฀ its฀conclusion฀by฀Matt฀“Becks”฀Becker฀at฀the฀University฀of฀Nevada฀Press.฀ His฀editorial฀guidance฀and฀suggestions฀greatly฀enhanced฀the฀work;฀he฀ has฀earned฀our฀appreciation฀and฀gratitude.฀Others฀at฀the฀press฀to฀whom฀ we฀owe฀thanks฀include฀Director฀Joanne฀O’Hare,฀Managing฀Editor฀Sara฀ Vélez฀Mallea,฀Design฀Manager฀Kathleen฀Szawiola,฀and฀Marketing฀Manp r e f a c e xii cave rock ager฀Barbara฀Berlin.฀Marcia฀Yablon’s฀Yale฀Law฀Journal฀paper,฀cited฀in฀the฀ endnotes,฀provided฀a฀significant overview฀of฀the฀complex฀problems฀and฀ possible฀ solutions฀ involved฀ in฀ settling฀ Native฀ sacred฀ site฀ claims.฀ Heidi฀ Englund฀of฀the฀Nevada฀Historical฀Society฀helped฀us฀to฀acquire฀materials ฀on฀early฀roads฀and฀the฀tunnels฀accessing฀Cave฀Rock;฀she฀also฀helped฀ us฀reference฀historical฀photographs฀of฀the฀site.฀Joel฀Guldner฀assisted฀our฀ acquisitions฀of฀photos฀from฀the฀University฀of฀Nevada,฀Reno,฀Special฀Collections ฀Department.฀Melinda฀Conner’s฀workmanship฀in฀editing฀the฀text฀ was฀superior.฀She฀was฀exacting฀and฀thorough,฀improving฀its฀clarity,฀readability ,฀and฀continuity.฀Matthew฀wishes฀to฀thank฀Peter฀Iverson,฀Donald฀ Fixico,฀ Sherry฀ Smith,฀ Waziyatawin฀ Angela฀ Wilson,฀ Susan฀ Miller,฀ Lisa฀ Emmerich,฀ Michael฀ Magliari,฀ John฀ Yarnevich,฀ Steve฀ Leonard,฀ and฀ Jim฀ Drake.฀Most฀of฀all฀we฀express฀thanks฀to฀Alea฀and฀Randi฀for฀their฀constant฀ support. c a v e r o c k NEVADA CALIFORNIA Nuclear area Peripheral area Winnemucca Lake Carson Lake Washoe Lake Walker Lake Mono Lake Pyramid Lake Eagle Lake Honey Lake Carson Sink Feather River Yuba Rive r Bear River American River Lake Tahoe Consumnes River Mokelumne River S t a n i s l a u s R i v e r W alker R i v e r Carson River Truckee Riv e r Carson City Gardnerville Reno Woodfords N 0 30 20 10 40 mi Traditional฀Washoe฀homelands.฀The฀white฀“nuclear”฀area฀represents฀lands฀ used฀on฀a฀regular฀basis฀where฀communities฀kept฀permanent฀village฀sites.฀Gray฀ “peripheral”฀areas฀include฀extended฀hunting,฀gathering,฀and฀trading฀lands.฀ Notice฀Lake฀Tahoe฀in฀the฀center.฀Versions฀of฀this฀map฀have฀been฀used฀since฀฀ the฀boundaries฀were officially฀set฀during฀the฀Indian฀Claims฀Commission฀case฀฀ in฀. ...