| Carson River | |
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West Fork of the Carson River
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| Name origin: Kit Carson | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Nevada |
| Region | central Lahontan region |
| Source tributaries |
West Fork Carson River East Fork Carson River |
| Source confluence | mouths of West & East forks |
| - location | near Minden, Nevada |
| - coordinates | [1] |
| Length | 131 mi (211 km) [2] |
| Discharge | for Carson Sink |
| - average | 389 cu ft/s (11 m3/s) |
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Carson River Basin
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The Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is 131 miles (211 km) long.[2]
It rises in two forks in the Sierra Nevada of northern California. The 68-mile-long (109 km) East Fork[2] rises in southern Alpine County, southeast of Markleeville in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. The 40-mile-long (64 km) West Fork[2] rises in the Sierras near Carson Pass and flows northeast into Nevada, joining the East Fork. The Carson River then flows north, passing through Carson City, then generally northeast past across Lyon County, past Dayton. In eastern Churchill County it is impounded by the Lahontan Dam to form the Lake Lahontan reservoir for irrigation and hydroelectricity. Downstream from the dam the river flows east past Fallon, then northeast into the Carson Sink.
Archaeological finds place the eastern border for the prehistoric Martis people in the Reno/Carson River area.
In the 1850s and 1860s, the river was used as the route of the Carson Trail, a branch of the California Trail that allowed access to the California gold fields, as well as by the Pony Express. The 1868 Virginia and Truckee Railroad transported ore to the quartz reduction mines along the river.[3] In the early 20th century, the Newlands project was formed to bring irrigation water into the region for agriculture. The Lahontan Dam was constructed as part of the ongoing project. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District was formed in 1918 as part of the project to divert water from the Truckee River to the Carson Valley for agricultural use.
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North American beaver (Castor canadensis) were re-introduced to the Carson River watershed around 1940 and populations have thrived since. There are eyewitness accounts of beaver in the upper Carson River through 1892.[4] The Washo people who lived in the eastern Sierra with hunting grounds extending as far west as Calaveras County, have a word for beaver, c'imhélhel.[5][6] Powers reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver, which they called "Su-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh".[7] Given the hydrological connection of the Humboldt River and Sink to the Carson Sink during flood years (as recently as 1998), it is not surprising that beavers were historically extant on eastern Sierra watercourses.[8] Peter Skene Ogden, on a Hudson's Bay Company expedition to the terminus of the Humboldt River, wrote in his diary on May 15, 1829, "In no part have I found beaver so abundant. The total number of American trappers in this region at this time exceeds 80. I have only 28 trappers... The trappers now average 125 beaver a man and are greatly pleased with their success."[9] James "Grizzly" Adams trapped beaver in the Carson River around 1860, "In the evening we caught a fine lot of salmon-trout (Cutthroat trout), using grasshoppers for bait, and in the night killed half a dozen beavers, which were very tame."[10] Adams' account is consistent with a 1906 newspaper article in the Nevada State Journal that the Mason's Valley of the nearby Walker River in Yerington, Nevada was well known to "the early trappers and fur hunters...Kit Carson knew it to the bone...The beavers of course were all trapped long ago, and you never see an elk nowadays..."[11]
The East Fork Carson River is a popular recreation spot for fishing, river rafting, mountain biking, off-roading, hunting, and horse-back riding. Development along the river in Douglas, Carson City, and Lyon counties has limited public access in some areas.