Heres an excerpt from the Pioche Record, published in March 1876: The fishes are eyeless and are only about three or four inches in length. Depending on who is telling the story, Cousteau either encountered a Loch Ness-type monster that locals have dubbed Tahoe Tessie or came upon a bunch of dead people. This was not the case with Windecker, who was covered head to toe in a wet suit with gloves and boots. About a hundred feet down, the tension on the other end of the line was so great, Meekers flying rod snapped. Tracking Tahoe Tessie Down. He said he suspects such sightings can be attributed to wave movements and light fragmentation. Lake Tahoe has been the perfect vacation spot for families over the years, no matter the season. How to Market Your Business with Webinars? The cold water at once chilled their blood. What he couldnt dispute is the possibility that the lake could be home to a giant sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Its reporters especially De Quille and Twain also had a flair for the imaginative, with a taste for humor and satire, which placed them in a literary movement in Nevada called the Sagebrush School. It is rumored that Jacques Cousteau dove to the bottom of Lake Tahoe, and he saw something so disturbing that he refused to speak about it. The world record goes to Russias Lake Baikal, which is some 5,369 feet deep.) There was just one problem the story wasnt true. He was the first underwater archaeologist. One of the original tall tales about Lake. A friend, Philippe Tailliez, gave Cousteau a pair of swimming goggles, which opened him to the mysteries of the sea and began his quest to understand the underwater world. This means that not only are there hundreds of bodies tied together but that they are all preserved because of the cold temperatures. Think of a box of copier paper. According to the writer, the body unrecognizable came from a hole at the bottom of Lake Tahoe. . He has played baseball since he was eight years old, and currently plays for the A Closer Look at Russias Invasion of Ukraine, The Real Problem Facing Novato High Athletics: A Numbers Game, Time to Place More Value on NHS Athletics, Remembering Legendary Drummer Taylor Hawkins, Discovering the Best Bay Area Sunset Locations, A Guide Through the Cant Miss National Parks, 18 Under 18: Notable Novato High Students, Then and Now: A Nostalgic Journey Through NHS Yearbooks, Understanding and Embracing the Vegan Lifestyle, Buchholz and Seki: A True Novato High Connection, Foreign-Exchange Students Grateful to be at Novato High, Morbid Legends of Lake Tahoe: Bodies at the Bottom, According to the RGJ, independent filmmaker and explorer. The lake was formed about two million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin, and its modern extent was shaped during the ice ages. Tall tales and myths have shaped Lake Tahoe, like they have American history. Into Horror History. Decades passed. This fact has spawned rumors, the most famous of which involves Jacques Cousteau and still makes me shudder, years after I first heard it. Here are two of the most famousmysteries surrounding the famous Lake Tahoe: Weve all heard of the Loch Ness Monster, but did you know there is a similar creature thatsbeen spotted in Lake Tahoe? Thursday, September 27, 2007 Jacques Cousteau And Lake Tahoe Hey, that rhymes! Tales of Lake Tahoes mythical (or at least unidentified) underwater inhabitants span centuries. ", He points out that the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 and "Surviving photographic documentation and (Central Pacific Railroad) Chinese payrolls confirm that large numbers of Chinese were still on the CPRR payrolls as successful track workers well into the 1870s.". The lake is 5 by 6 miles (8.0 by 9.7 km) across, with a caldera rim ranging in elevation from 7,000 to 8,000 feet (2,100 to 2,400 m) and an average lake depth of 1,148 feet (350 m). Since the 1970s, the surface layer of the lake has gotten warmer in the summer, and it retains that heat throughout the winter. Its depth is 1,645 ft (501 m), making it the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon (1,949 ft or 594 m). According to the RGJ, independent filmmaker and explorer Jacques Cousteau, received some deep sea diving equipment and found the location where all these bodies . Sport fishermen who dock at Tahoe Keys Marina and have a combined 52 years experience fishing Tahoe said theyve never seen any fish bigger than the 20-pound range. "In warm water, the bacteria will still work just fine, so gases will build up and bodies will float. Sturgeon are bottom feeders and Tahoe is deep, more than 1,600 feet. Cousteau was hoping to make a documentary about it. When Cousteau returned, he said he would not film it because the world was not ready to see what the U.S. government did to these poor people. Jacques Cousteau reportedly said, "The world is not ready for what is down there!" She's a biology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. At a maximum depth of 1,644 feet, Lake Tahoe is the second-deepest lake in the country (Crater Lake, full of its own mysteries, is the deepest), so it is possible that there is much we dont know about what lurks beneath. The well-preserved body of Donald Christopher Windecker was discovered July 23 on an underwater shelf, 265 feet below the surface. For weekly updates, interviews and profiles from a Tahoe insider, sign up for our Tahoe newsletter here. Cousteau completed his preparatory studies at the Collge Stanislas in Paris. Apparently, years ago, Cousteau went scuba diving in Lake Tahoe. What did Jacques Cousteau discover in Lake Tahoe? You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. He emerged from the water shaken, but not with cold. However it is unlikely that these bodies remain in the lake. For decades, people thought the lake was thousands of miles deep or that the bottom didnt exist at all. 10 Things You Need to Know About Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Another aspect of the rumor speculates that, not only are they floating, gathered and preserved, but are shrunk in on themselves as well, due to the pressure. Dead bodies, holes to the ocean, sea monsters. Fusion had a rare opportunity to travel 63 feet below the surface of the ocean to visit Jacques Cousteau's grandson, Fabien Cousteau, who is living and worki. According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Chinese railroad workers were brought into Truckee to build the railroads and instead of paying them and giving promised citizenship like they were supposed to receive at the end of the job, many of them were tied together, brought out to the middle of the lake and dumped with weights attached to their bodies. But some of his stories never faded. He had one brother, Pierre-Antoine. But I do recall hearing my father repeat that in like 1979. His body was protected from marine life and subject only to the slow work of cold bacteria. For $69.75, that floating video presentation should have included footage of Tahoe Tessie. The mob would also give punishments in the mid 1900s. It had to do with a mythical, subterranean tunnel that linked the mines at Virginia City to the very bottom of Lake Tahoe. "All of our bodies have bacteria that live in them," she said. He dismissed speculation that Windecker had gone undiscovered for so long because his body had been caught in underwater tunnels that legend says connects Lake Tahoe with Pyramid Lake northeast of Reno. the mid 1970's renowned french oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau, supposedly lead an expedition to explore the depths of Lake Tahoe. The lake level is controlled by Lake Tahoe Dam built in 1913 at the lakes only outlet, the Truckee River, at Tahoe City. During the more than 30 years Goldman has studied the lake, people have told him repeatedly theyve spotted something large and hard to identify in the lake. Some say his grandson, Philippe Cousteau Jr., visited there, but only for a 2002 speaking engagement. Unfortunately, he lost his life in the accident. Hopefully well determine what happened.. Both are repeated in numerous places, but both also appear in one message at Snopes.com, the urban myth checking website. This logical explanation is about as satisfying as that Dixie cruise. Lake Tahoe is cold. The deepest point is at the north end of the lake at 1,645 feet from the surface, exactly 92 feet below Carson City, Nevada in the valley to the east. When such stories happen, myths about bodies at Lake Tahoe also resurface. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the French oceanographer who opened more of the Earths surface to human endeavor than any other explorer, died yesterday at his home in Paris. He emerged from the water shaken, but not with cold. But McLaughlin has another reason for dismissing the rumor. Enter a Melbet promo code and get a generous bonus, An Insight into Coupons and a Secret Bonus, Organic Hacks to Tweak Audio Recording for Videos Production, Bring Back Life to Your Graphic Images- Used Best Graphic Design Software, New Google Update and Future of Interstitial Ads. In Davis tale, a San Francisco stock investor named William Meeker was boating on Lake Tahoe, near Carnelian Bay, when he noticed circular movement in the water, like a whirlpool. Where are the deepest places in Lake Tahoe? Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Dixie II Emerald Bay Sightseeing Cruise that promises to share the "fascinating history" of Lake Tahoe. Philippe Cousteau, 37, the younger son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the oceanographer and producer of films about the sea, was killed Thursday when the seaplane he was piloting crashed on landing in the Tagus River here. Col. Dennis Mitchell, owner of Eagle Point Fishing Charters, has been fishing Tahoe since 1973. Jacques Cousteau never, as rumor has it, investigated the waters of Lake Tahoe. It is not known exactly how many bodies are at the bottom or where they are specifically located, but it is widely believed that this vacation spot has had a past that many were not aware of and could be spooked by. Just beyond the ledge where Windeckers body was found, the lake plunges to a depth of 1,645 feet. Or it could just be people talking, said Chris Ziegler, owner of First Strike Sportfishing. Others contend the watery grave contains card cheats and mobsters killed by the Mafia and anchored to the lake bottom by concrete-filled casino ice buckets, wearing pinstriped suits, with sneers on their faces and bullet holes in their foreheads, as the San Francisco Chronicle put it in 2004. (Lawrence I. Berkove, a professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan in Dearborn, republished much of the Sagebrush Schools work in a 2006 anthology.). At no point on this overpriced, boring tour is there mention of the massive prehistoric creature said by some to lurk the depths of the lake. His family said his death was due to a heart attack following a respiratory infection. What did Jacque Cousteau discover in Lake Tahoe? News reports at the time of Windeckers disappearance described him as a 44-year-old former city planner from Reno who set out for a dive on July 10, 1994. TIM: People our parents' age grew up watching his award-winning documentaries. Clair lowered the plug.. link. His family said his death was due to a heart attack following a respiratory infection. we all know Jimmy Hoffa is somewhere on the bottom in his cement diving boots! Images of Jacques Cousteau appear on the television set. Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference. Mining on the Comstock Lode, lithograph drawn by T.L. In the 1950s, two divers reported finding an underwater cave, and a creature shot out, leaving the silt stirred. Jacques Cousteau, who brought the wonders of the oceans depths to hundreds of millions of readers, filmgoers and television viewers, died at his home here today at 87. Rumor has it that Jacques Cousteau brought a special high altitude submarine to Lake Tahoe to explore the lake in the 1970s. McCormicks 1985 childrens book, The Story of Tahoe Tessie: The Original Lake Tahoe Monster, continues to sell at local gift shops. It's deep, it's cold, it's hard to recover a body from.". he asked. Then there's the story of Chinese laborers. The Cousteau story may be a myth, but it is no less chilling, because the physical conditions of the lake are such that bodies could still be drifting beneath the surface. Apparently, years ago, Cousteau went scuba diving in Lake Tahoe. The scuba gear bore a certification from 1994, officials with the El Dorado County Sheriffs Department said. He described a species that looked like goldfish but could only survive in almost boiling water. The lake has become cloudier because nutrients enter the lake via 63 rivers and streams, and those nutrients fuel the growth of algae. The clarity of the lake, and its invasive species, will be on the agenda today at the Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit. They often relate to the facts that dead bodies tend not to float there and, because of the cold temperatures, they stay preserved longer. "When we die, our bodies stop breathing and the bacteria kick into gear breaking down our bodies. Where the creature had been, there were two large fin-prints. 1 What did Jacque Cousteau discover in Lake Tahoe? The rock underneath the lake sank down to form a flat-bottomed basin called a graben. The surprising condition of the body is attributable to the 35-degree water and the increased pressure at the 265-foot depth, Byers said. Junior Matt Decker, an avid visitor of Lake Tahoe, talked about the conspiracy at the bottom. At this temperature, it prevents gasses that lead to decomposition from being released into the body. The stored heat in the Lakes massive amount of water compared to its relative surface area prevents the Lake from reaching freezing temperature under the prevailing climatic conditions. Heard a lot of stories. Lets get one thing clear at the top: There is no hole at the bottom of Lake Tahoe. Like this one: As the story goes, a fisherman snagged something in the deep water offshore and it released quickly. Is that where the rumor comes from? I am pretty sure that Besides, McLaughlin says, the mob was more focused in Southern Nevada and "it's easier to bury a body out in the desert, which precludes the risk of the body washing up on the shore.". Some said there were holes leading to nearby lakes and that the reason that the mysterious sea monster, Tahoe Tessie, has never been found because she travels using this underwater transportation system. Bodies. |. With history comes mysteries. Due to the near-freezingtemperatures at the bottom of the lake, the bodies would be highly preserved. When all was said and done, they didn't want to have to deal with paying them and giving them promised citizenship so they took the immigrants out to the middle of the lake and tied them together in big groups and weighed them down and dumped them in. But, as UC Daviss recently released Tahoe: State of the Lake Report explains, the lake is not as clear as it used to be. In other words, if the railroad companies were killing off Chinese workers by the hundreds to avoid paying them, it's unlikely so many would still be working for them after construction was finished. Some drowning victims, though recovery efforts are made, are never found, said Sergeant Helen Thomson, a Placer County Sheriff. C. Grant Loomis, a former professor at UC Berkeley, wrote in a 1946 paper for the California Folklore Quarterly that an important segment of the American tall-tale tradition has remained buried in comparatively rare newspapers and magazines.. A hell of a lot! Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. According to the RGJ, independent filmmaker and explorer Jacques Cousteau,received some deep sea diving equipment and found the location where all these bodies supposedly were. In the end, he served his country militarily. As we pile coolers and beach balls into trunks and tote bags, those of us headed to stunning Sierra might want a refresher course in one of Californias lesser-known legends. Thankfully, this legend is false. His companion tried to help but began running out of air and was forced to surface. Cousteau "ran into" something so paralyzing that he would not tell the public about what he saw. When asked about his exploration he reportedly said, 'The world is not ready to know what is in Lake Tahoe.' But, according to sources, he never visited Lake Tahoe. UFO Over Lake Tahoe - Proof of Aliens or Elaborate Hoax? Maybe the bodies of unlucky gamblers who crossed the Mafia in 1950s Reno. Jacques Cousteau/Cause of death Jacques Cousteau, in full Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (born June 11, 1910, Saint-Andr-de-Cubzac, Francedied June 25, 1997, Paris), French naval officer, ocean explorer, and coinventor of the Aqua-Lung, known for his extensive underseas investigations. Meeker used a makeshift fishing rod to lower a stone into the water. I Remember reading about Jacque Cousteau in the Montery Hearld in the early 70 s exploring Lake Tahoe ,but he could not find the bottom and rumors at the time were that he did see gold along the way down in rock strata. 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