Myron C. Lake
Myron Charles Lake (Feb. 1828 - June 20, 1884), merchant/entrepreneur, was the hot-tempered, miserly founder of Reno, Nevada. Between 1861 and 1873, Lake lorded over the town with something of an iron fist through his vast real estate holdings as well as control of a vitally important toll bridge and road. He quickly assumed the posture of a stereotypically “avaricious” robber baron, and in an unhappy marriage, he often resorted to domestic violence.[1] But he also wielded a keen business acumen and in so doing, ensured that the Central Pacific Railroad, during the building of the great transcontinental project, would run through Reno, thereby securing the future growth and prosperity of northern Nevada.
Early life
Very little is known about Lake’s early years and much of what is known remains unclear. He was born in New York state in either Sterling or Preble, the oldest of 7 children (5 boys, 2 girls) born to Catherine Van Tassell (1803-1874) of Schaghticoke, New York and John Lake (Aug. 24, 1799-Jan. 15, 1877), of Kennebec, Maine.[2]
About 1839, the family moved to Paw Paw, Dekalb County, Illinois, about 70 miles west of Chicago. Lake saw service in the Mexican-American War (1846-48) as an infantry private in Illinois’ volunteer Company D, First Regiment. Following the war, he returned to Illinois and established a farm of 320 acres, comprised of a 160-acre gov’t land grant and his personal acquistion of the rest.[3]
By 1852, he had moved on to Rabbit Creek, Calif. (near Sacramento) to try his hand at mining; after five years, he moved to Honey Lake Valley, Calif. where he built a modest ranch. It was here that he met Charles W. (Bill) Fuller who shortly thereafter, some 25 miles to the southeast, established a bridge over the Truckee River, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. Evidence indicates that, in October 1857, Lake played "prominently" in the vigilante apprehension of the notorious Lowery Gang, and that the thugs had been prepared for a lynching.[4]
Lake’s Crossing
Dark Side
Legacy
Notes
- ↑ Townley, p. 146-47; Rocha, p. 28; Cafferata, pp. 25-32.
- ↑ Likewise, not much is known of Lake’s father and mother. John Lake was a Baptist farmer and is buried next to his son in Reno's Mountain View Cemetery. In 1876, John and wife Catherine relocated to Reno from DeKalb County, Illinois; they moved in with Myron and Jane at their Junction House ranch (now, corner of S. Virginia Street and Peckham Lane). Townley, pp. 148, 166.
- ↑ Illinois State Archives, Illinois Mexican War Veterans Database, http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/mwvd.html. accessed Nov. 30, 2008; Cafferata, p. 28.
- ↑ Townley, p. 53.
References
There is no single biography and much information remains to be collected especially with regard to Lake's life in New York and Illinois, including his first marriage. Something along the lines of a psychobiography might be in order to explain his penchants for physical abuse and unremitting stinginess. A collection of Myron C. Lake Papers can be found at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. The items below were explicitly consulted during the composition of this article.
- Cafferata, Patricia D. Lake Mansion: Home to Reno's Founding Families (Reno: Eastern Slope Publishing, 2006).
- Land, Barbara and Myrick. A Short History of Reno (Reno: Univ. of Nevada Press, 1995).
- Rocha, Guy Louis. “Reno’s First Robber Baron,” Nevada Magazine 40,2(March-April, 1980), pp. 28-29, 62. Rocha is Nevada's State Archivist.
- Rowley, William D. Reno: Hub of the Washoe Country (Woodland Hills, Calif.: Windsor Publications, 1984).
- Townley, John M. Tough Little Town on the Truckee: Reno, 1868-1900 (Reno: Great Basin Studies Center, 1983).