Visited on 5/21/2018, on
my way back home to Sacramento from a business trip to give Drinking Water
examinations in the Central Valley of California, I took the back roads over to
Hensley Lake. Hensley Lake is surrounded
by the oak woodlands of the Sierra Nevada foothills. At an elevation of 541
feet above sea level, this 1,500-acre lake was created by the construction of
Hidden Dam on the Fresno River. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for
flood control, irrigation, resource management, and recreation, the lake
attracts a growing number of park visitors each year.
Located less than an
hour drive northeast of Fresno in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada enroute to
Yosemite National Park, the lake offers water skiing, fishing, swimming,
horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking and camping.
The
former Fresno River basin which is now Hensley Lake used to be home to the
Miwok and Yokuts people. Their presence in the area is still evident, mostly in
the form of milling areas, where they prepared food. Also of historical
interest is a monument in the Buck Ridge Recreation Area erected to the memory
of Major James D. Savage. Highly successful as a miner, trader and leader,
Major Savage is credited with the discovery of Yosemite Valley on March 25,
1851, during the Mariposa Indian War. As a trader, Savage established a store
on the Fresno River where he made a small fortune trading goods for gold with
local miners.
No comments:
Post a Comment