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Not far from the southern gateway to Yosemite National Park is Bass Lake. A relatively small reservoir, it is dear to the hearts of generations of Californians and a landmark in the story of electrical pioneering.
Situated at the 3,500-foot level in the southern Sierra Nevada, the four-mile-long lake is on the north fork of Willow Creek, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. Its waters, which pour down from the mighty summits of the High Sierra, turn the generators of PG&E power-houses downstream and then go on to help water the rich farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley.
The lake is only about an hour's drive from the valley cities of Fresno and Madera and has long been a mecca for vacationers. Today it is one of the most intensely-used bodies of water in California.
Bass Lake is officially called Crane Valley Reservoir. Its site, a lush meadow enfolded in pine-covered hills, was discovered by a detachment of the Mariposa Battalion during the Indian wars of 1850-51. Members of the battalion, led by Major James D. Savage, had earlier been the first white men to enter and camp in Yosemite Valley. Later, from their base camp in Crane Valley, they had also gone high into the mountains and discovered groves of the giant Sequoia redwoods.
It was Savage's legendary skill as a mountain man and his close friendship with the Indians that led to a quick and relatively bloodless end to the uprising. The signing of treaties in the spring of 1851 restored peace to the Mariposa mines and Crane Valley. Logging timber to supply the growing valley communities soon became a major industry in the area.
Then, in 1894, Willow Creek (then called the North Fork of the San Joaquin) gained new significance. A Fresno civil engineer drew up a plan for using its waters to generate hydroelectric power. The San Joaquin Electric Co. was formed and a small plant was built in 1895-96 in the canyon of the main San Joaquin River. North Fork water was diverted and dropped 1,400 feet to the powerhouse-the highest "head' of any of the few hydro plants then operating in the nation.
Engineers solved many unprecedented problems in handling this tremendous force of water, but they were defeated by a human element. For when the electric company brought the power to Fresno, the owner of the rival gas company secured land and water rights upstream from the hydro plant. He diverted much of the stream onto barren hillside land, forcing the powerhouse to shut down frequently during the summers. As a result, the electric company went into bankruptcy in 1899.
The receivers built a small earthen dam in Crane Valley to help guarantee water and the original lake was created. Operations struggled along until 1902 when the San Joaquin Power Company, formed for that purpose, purchased the electric company and later the electric operations of the rival gas company.
With a sound financial basis to build upon, the new firm launched a series of capital improvements, including a larger reservoir in Crane Valley built in 1905. Work on the present dam commenced in 1909. A concrete core ran the length of the dam with locally-quarried granite placed on the downstream side and earth fill sluiced into place on the upstream side.
Mule-drawn freight wagons carried machinery and supplies up the mountain and went down loaded with timber that had been cleared from the reservoir site. The completion of the reservoir and the replacement of the powerhouse, together with new hydro plants built by the power company, assured the farmers and towns-people of the San Joaquin valley of a reliable source of needed electrical energy.
It was the harnessed waters of the San Joaquin and its tributaries that made possible the great expansion of irrigation in the valley. Power for electric pumping and water that could be released for summer irrigation brought a rich farming empire into being.
At the same time, Bass Lake developed into a popular resort area, ringed by private cabins, commercial resorts and public campgrounds. Many of the last-named are on PG&E property but are maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. (PG&E acquired San Joaquin Light and Power Corp. in the 1930's.)
Despite the later construction of other reservoirs in the area, such as Millerton Lake, Bass Lake has remained a prime recreational attraction. So much so, in fact, that the number of power boats on the lake in the summer has made it necessary for the county to impose a traffic pattern to avoid accidents.
The bass which were planted in the reservoir and which gave the lake its name can still be caught. The mountain slopes around the lake have an abundance of wildflowers in the spring and early summer. Azaleas, ferns and mountain lilac add to the natural beauty of the setting of this unusual lake. |
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| Photo courtesy of www.MountainTownPhotos.com. |
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Mountain
Tradition
July 4th
Fireworks
at Bass Lake
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