LAKE TAHOE: SNOW BOARDING
Lake Tahoe is a unique and beautiful national treasure that also boasts a rich and colorful historical past. The Washo Indians had been gathering at its shores for centuries when American explorers Kit Carson and John Fremont came upon it in 1844. The Lake Tahoe Basin was a summer gathering place for three tribes of these peaceful Indians, who considered the Lake to be a spiritual site and conducted sacred ceremonies on the South Shore.

Even today, the ancient name for the Lake lives on in a modern form. The Washoes named the area "Da-ow-a-ga," or "edge of the Lake." The explorers, however, unaccustomed to the native tongue, interpreted the phrase as "Tahoe." The name had staying power even though the Lake was christened "Bonpland" after a French botanist, "Mountain Lake" for obvious reasons and "Bigler Lake" after California's third governor before finally receiving Lake Tahoe as its official name in 1945. (less info)