Lady of the Lake: Clear Lake creation story for Cory
Hi Lady of the Lake!
My name is Cory. I am 10. Where did Clear Lake come from? How was Mount Konocti made? How did the lake fill up with so much water? How old is Clear Lake?
Thank you for answering my questions.
-[Clear Lake Creation Story] Cory
Hello Cory,
Thanks for asking those very important - and interesting - questions. I think this is a great time to answer those questions because we are starting a brand new year, it is a great time to think about new beginnings and the beauty of things and their beginnings. Here in Lake County, we are lucky to see a beautiful Lake and mountain view everyday. The lake and surrounding terrain have an interesting beginning.
In today’s column I am going to talk about the two creation stories of Clear Lake and some of the surrounding mountains. The first story will be focused on the geological, or physical, formation of the lake. The second half of the column will attempt to describe the Pomo creation story - which is just as important as the geologic.
The rocks and layers of the land we see today tell us about the landscape's history, how materials moved, shifted, and fell into the places we see now. The oral histories, told down from the first inhabitants of this land, and sometimes, if we are lucky, captured on paper, also tell us a lot about the shape and structure of the physical world, and how they came to be. I would be remiss if I only told one without the other.
The physical and geological history of Clear Lake
A long time ago, at least a million or two years ago, the valley floor running between the Mayacamas mountain ranges probably contained a large meandering river, with connecting streams, pools, wetlands, marshes, and oxbow lakes. The surrounding mountains and hills allowed rain and snow to flow down into the valley and collect into the streams and lakes and along various depressions.
There has been water, in some form, in the valley for at least 2.5 million years, for as long as the valley has existed. Sediment cores collected in the middle of Clear Lake indicate that lake-like water has been on site of the Upper Arm continuously, for about 500,000 years. The area of the Oaks arm was probably a small lake surrounded by creeks and marshes, with the Lower Arms looking much the same except with a larger river that provided drainage through the Cache Creek outflow.
The valley to the south of the Lower Arm drained into the Sacramento River Basin, but some geologists estimate that there was both a northern and southern drainage, until impoundments at the southern outlet constrained the drainage to the south.
This impoundment caused the rivers to broaden and collect, connecting all the depressions, streams, wetlands and lakes. The specific age of Clear Lake will differ depending on who you talk to, but this is the time period when Clear Lake was “born” into the general shape we recognize today, and most typically estimated at 450,000 years old.
The direction of flow has changed several times over the last mega-annum (i.e. a mega year, or 1 million years) with the basin first forming and flow draining into the Sacramento Valley, much like it does today, through Cache Creek. When volcanic activity was highly active about 200,000 or 300,000 years ago, the landscape shifted, lava flows blocking the southern channel and the sedimentary rising of the southern valley floor, causing an upward “tilt” of the body of water.
Know that some geologists debate the exact land formation that first restricted the flow into the southern channel; some determine it’s lava flows, but some argue the evidence suggests sedimentation from deposition, land shifting and landslide activity. (See Simoons 1949).
Eventually, the water rose enough to push out through northern Cold Canyon and drain solely into the Russian River through the Blue Lakes area. This was the natural flow and direction of Clear Lake for a very long time.
About 10,000 years ago there was a landslide (although some native oral traditions describe it as recently as 2,000 years ago) along the western shore of Clear Lake. This landslide, called the Cow Mountain landslide, caused a blockage at the now western edge of Blue Lakes. This caused Clear Lake to rise even more and push out and erode a newer outlet, along the southern channel into Cache Creek like once before, and where it currently flows today.
You can still see the remnants of the Cow Mountain landslide today, as a prominent tree-covered ridge between Scotts Creek and Blue Lakes once you pass Tule Lake on Hwy 20. With Clear Lake being very shallow, the amount of “tilting” needed on the south or northern end to reverse the drainage of Clear Lake is very minor, probably only a degree or two, causing the needed elevation to shift the drainage directions.
If you want to learn more about landslides and see maps with historic and current landslide prone slopes, you can visit the California Department of Conservation site. This site also has a link to the Reported California Landslide Map where you can report landslides or see if one has been reported near you.
The formation of Mount Konocti and the surrounding elevation is also an interesting story, one with millions of years of dramatic geologic and volcanic activity. A really great reference for understanding the complicated volcanic history in the region is “A Field Trip Guidebook to the Clear Lake Volcanic Field Lake County, California '' published by R. Erickson of Sonoma State and the Northern California Geologic Society (2003). That document can be found for free online at https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/mk61rk38s?locale=en.
More on the History of Clear Lake can be found on the Water Resources website.
The Pomo Clear Lake and Mount Konocti Creation Story
For this section I provide alternatives or clarifications to specific terms or descriptions using brackets. Anytime [ ___ ] are used, it’s not to provide a conflicting account, but stories change over time and the information might be interpreted or acknowledged differently depending on the time period, the one doing the telling, and the one doing the remembering. This is my attempt to capture and give voice to those differences and nuances within this single retelling.
Like most Native American sacred stories, the majority of local tribes’ histories, stories, and legends, are passed down through oral tradition, descending upon generation and generation. Some accounts have been captured on paper, for which a researcher as myself is most grateful. However, as I am not tribal myself, I did reach out to several sources and confirm this particular creation story for accuracy and cultural competency, so that it best serves and pays homage to the intent of the oral traditional spirit of the local indigenous Native people of Lake County.
A note on the general use of “Pomo” as describing the native peoples within Lake County. While the Federal Government recognizes Pomo as the descriptor for the local native indigenous Native peoples, local tribes refer to themselves as “Hinthil” or “Gowk Xabatin."
Today I will highlight the story of Lupyoma [or sometimes referred to as Lupiyomi], the creation story of Mount Konocti and Clear Lake. Clear Lake is known as Ka-ba-tin [Xa’Batin] or Hok-has-ha, meaning “Big Water'' in native Pomo. You should be aware that there is always more than one story, much like geology relays layers of depth and time’s influence on the landscape, so do histories and legends, including the written words and pronunciations.
A note on the meaning and pronunciation of Kabatin vs Xa’Batin: Ka means spider, but the sound for Xa is more of a sound for “H,” think of the sound when you say the name “Howard.” Some people associate the sound with a “K,” which in many instances wrote the name as Kabatin which would actually mean big spider. A good way to sum it up is as follows: Xa = Water, Ka=Spider, Batin=Big, Giant or Tall. (Thanks to EJ Crandell for the helpful clarification and pronunciation guidance.)
Some stories and meanings vary by region, dialect and differ depending on what side or region of Clear Lake they are being told. I relay this specific version of the story based on several in-person sources, mostly casual conversations, and mostly supported by the version from the book Pomo Indians: Myths and Some of their Sacred Meanings by Clark and Williams (Vantage Press Inc., New York, 1954). The story specifics are credited to this reference. This book is available online and from several local sources like Watershed Books in Lakeport.
The Sun Man, Kabel [sometimes Kahbel or Kah-bel], of the Bartlett Mountain tribe, saw a beautiful maiden walking along the shores of the lake. She was Princess Lupyoma, and her father was the Chief named Konocti. Konocti refused to let Kabel marry Lupyoma but she was in love with Kabel and they decided to elope.
In the evening dusk, Kabel and Lupyoma stole away in Kabel’s canoe, attempting to return to Kabel’s people. Konocti saw them escaping when he came out of his longhouse [Tule Hut] and in a rage he started throwing mighty boulders at Kabel. Kabel retaliated by shooting arrows from his strong bow.
Kabel was struck with a boulder and fell dead, but he was able to shoot off one more arrow which flew and struck Konocti in the heart. The rocky shores along the Buckingham Peninsula and Anderson Island are remnants from that great boulder and arrow battle.
Konocti’s body fell and created the great Mount Konocti that shapes the southern edge of Clear Lake. Kabel’s body fell into the land on the north side of the Narrows and his blood creates the color of the red rocks within the hills of the Eastern North shore.
Lupyoma was stricken with grief and threw herself into the water, being swept away in the current, her tears pooling and bubbling and creating the springs and vents in the vicinity of today’s Soda Bay. Her tears are still bubbling and filling the lake to this day.
Another version of this story puts Kabel’s hometown or tribe located somewhere in the Lower Lake area, so his blood creates the Red Hills in the southern shore. The salty tears of Lupyoma created Little Borax Lake situated at the base of Mount Konocti on the Buckingham Peninsula.
There are probably other versions and variations yet still, but the sentiment is the same, and just as important to consider and acknowledge as Clear Lake’s geological past and history.
Sincerely,
Lady of the Lake
Angela De Palma-Dow is a limnologist (limnology = study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in Northern California, she has a Master of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society, or NALMS, and she is the current president/chair of the California chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
I want to extend a very special thank you to those who helped me in the development of this column. Firstly, I thank Eddie “EJ” Crandell (and an anonymous elder) for the review and comments to improve the telling and interpretation of Lupyoma history. Secondly, thanks to Harry Lyons for providing geological context and resources, some of which I have cited and linked within the column. Thank you to my native indigenous friends and colleagues, from Lake County and elsewhere, who let me pick their brains and ask questions about their traditions and pronunciations, not just for this column, but always.
A very useful resource for this article was a Master's Thesis submitted by F. J. Simoons in the Department of Geography at UC Davis in 1949. “The Settlement of the Clear Lake Upland of California”. Available as hardcopy in the County of Lake Water Resources Library (707-263-2344) and Google Books.
Another Useful geology reference is “Clear Lake Geology: Field Trip Guide for Teachers” by Dean A. Enderline (2007) prepared under the direction of the LAKE Science Collaborative of Lake County, CA. Available from Dean’s website and the County of Lake Water Resources Library (707-263-2344).