History: How Southern Pacific saved Lake Tahoe
In the early 1900s, few people would have accused the Southern Pacific Corporation of acting in the public interest, much less of working to preserve the natural environment. The much more popular view was that of “The Octopus,” a 1901 novel by Frank Norris that presented a thinly disguised Southern Pacific as a giant, greedy, self-serving enterprise with its tentacles into everything. But in 1925, Southern Pacific’s self-interest coincided with that of protecting our natural treasures...
Source: tahoedailytribune.com