who developed the Comstock mines, was made of the pine
wood which grew upon the shores of Lake Tahoe, without
which that wonderful output of $700,000,000 of gold from the
Comstock lode would have been impossible.

Supplementing the timber supply the water from Marlette
Lake, a tributary to Lake Tahoe, was diverted by a remarkable
engineering achievement for supplying Virginia City and the
deep mines. Marlette Lake lies several hundred feet above Lake
Tahoe on the Nevada side, and half a century ago its waters
were taken through flume, tunnel and pipe line across the
dividing mountain range and out into the desert valley of the
Carson River for sustaining
the gold seekers of Virginia City. This work of the pioneer
engineers was scarcely less bold in its conception and
wonderful in its execution than the famous Sutro tunnel which
drains the underground waters from the Comstock mines.

About 1870 the first use of Lake Tahoe for other than
navigation purposes was made by building a log crib dam at the
outlet for the purpose of storing flood-waters to be used in
log-driving in the Truckee River below the Lake.

The outlet of the Lake was in a land grant section belonging
to the Central Pacific Railway Company, and one of the
earlier lumber companies procured a charter from the State
of California and proceeded to build a dam and operate it for
log-driving purposes.

In the course of time the development of water-power in
the Truckee River below the Lake became of considerable
importance, both for saw-mill and other manufacturing
purposes. The dam at the Lake's outlet was passed from the
possession of the Donner Boom & Lumber Company into the hands
of other interests who were making a larger use of power.

Eventually, in the last decade of the century, the water-power
plants were converted into hydro-electric plants and began to
furnish electric current for power and lighting in the city of
Reno and as far south as Virginia City.

About the year 1908 the ownership of the several hydroelectric
plants was passed to the Truckee River General Electric
Company, under the management of the Stone & Webster
Engineering Corporation, of Boston, one of the very large
public utilities corporations of the country.

This company has enlarged and improved the plants and is