“The Trail Blazer” Robert Montgomery Watson
He was a key figure in establishing the Western States Trail from Lake Tahoe to Auburn.
Photo courtesy of the Western State Trail Guide by Hal Hall.
The video below was created by Keith Lukens andpreserved by his son Reed Lukens for the Western States Trail Museum.
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Robert Montgomery Watson arrived at Lake Tahoe in the 1870s and was appointed Tahoe City’s first constable in 1906. Constable Watson served his community until 1932 when he died of pneumonia at the age of 80.
He was a noted horseman and trail explorer who used these skills to help explore, re-open and mark what was then known as the old Emigrant Road over Squaw Valley, and known today as the Western States Trail and site of the Tevis Cup 100 Miles in One Day Endurance Ride and the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.
Watson’s Monument was established in 1998 to commemorate his efforts. It is located just below the top of Squaw Peak near Squaw Valley, CA with sweeping 360 degree vistas all around.
Watson’s building skills provided Tahoe City with two structures now listed on the National Register of Historic Places: The Watson Cabin and The Gatekeeper’s Cabin. Both are well-worth visiting!
The two-story Watson Cabin is situated on a bluff overlooking Tahoe City’s Commons Beach, and built in 1908, it is the oldest log structure remaining in the North Lake Tahoe area. The two-story cabin was built in 1908 by Robert and his youngest son Robert Howard Watson. They constructed it using local resources including hand-hewn logs chinked with cement, native stone for the fireplace and foundation, and deer horns decorating the exterior. The cabin was presented as a wedding gift to Robert and his new bride Stella Tong in 1909. Their daughter Mildred was born and lived there with roads made Tahoe City a popular location for summer tourists coming in increasing numbers. The quaint cabin was a popular stopping place. The Watsons leased the cabin to “Husky” and Fern Hunt from 1947 through 1976. The Hunt’s shop was well known by collectors of Navajo rugs and other Native American curios. In the 1970s, Robert H. Watson’s daughter, Mildred Collins, offered the property to the North Lake Tahoe Historical Society. They dedicated the cabin as a Living History Museum.
The Gate Keeper’s Cabin (now a museum) is a reconstruction in the same location as the original cabin built in 1910 by Watson. The original cabin was burned down in the early 1980’s in a fire believed to arson-caused. The Gatekeeper’s Cabin was originally built to be the home of the “watermaster” who controlled the water flow out of Lake Tahoe. Now the cabin/museum displays Tahoe history, from the Washoe people through the logging and mining eras and the beginning of the tourism industry at Lake Tahoe. Museum exhibits include Native American baskets, resort memorabilia, historical photographs, clothing, oral histories, maps, archival documents, newspapers, and artifacts.
