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57-595: The lake was named by Clarence King during the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel . The name honors Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce de Lahontan, Baron de Lahontan , a French soldier and explorer. At its peak approximately 12,700 years ago (during a period known as the Sehoo Highstand), the lake had a surface area of over 8,500 square miles (22,000 km), with its largest component centered at

114-488: A certain fatherly responsibility over our youth." Brewer eventually gave his permission even though King had no real plan. The duo, however, started to run out of provisions before they even made it to Mount Whitney so, they had to turn back. After reuniting back at camp, they discover that Brewer is suffering from an awful toothache, so King took him to Visalia to get it pulled. During this King got permission to attempt to climb Mount Whitney again but he had to rendezvous with

171-527: A creek named Genesee, Brewer found fossils of the Jurassic or Triassic age. This find would help them pinpoint the age of the Mother Lode gold belt, which was one of their goals on this journey. Near Lassen Peak in northern California, Brewer and King investigated hot springs and other thermal features. At nights around the campfire, geologic concerns such as the young Cascade volcanoes, the age of gold veins, and

228-421: A family firm engaged in trade with China, which kept him away from home a great deal, and he died in 1848, so Clarence was brought up primarily by his mother. By 1848, his two sisters, named Florence King and Grace King, had passed away early in their lives. Clarence developed an early interest in outdoor exploration and natural history, which was encouraged by his mother and by Reverend Dr. Roswell Park, head of

285-674: A family was $ 96,641. Males had a median income of $ 54,042 versus $ 45,526 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 39,712. About 3.8% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line , including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Major firms in Pomfret include: Pomfret residents are zoned to the Pomfret Community School for grades Kindergarten through 8. Pomfret students are eligible to attend Woodstock Academy , which became Pomfret's zoned high school in 1987 Two private schools,

342-552: A few years of straitened circumstances, during part of which Clarence suffered from a serious depression, his mother married George S. Howland in July 1860 and had a daughter with him named Marian Howland. Howland financed Clarence's enrollment in the Sheffield Scientific School affiliated with Yale College in 1860. At Yale, King specialized in "applied chemistry" and also studied physics and geology. One inspiring teacher

399-418: A four-man rowing boat, with King at the stroke oar. King later graduated with a Ph.B. in July 1862. That summer, he and several friends borrowed one of Yale's rowboats for a trip along the shores of Lake Champlain and a series of Canadian rivers, then returned to New Haven for the fall regatta. In October 1862, on a visit to the home of his former professor, George Jarvis Brush , King heard Brush read aloud

456-561: A glacially positioned boulder called the Indian Chair. Camping and cook-out facilities are available for a nominal fee. The Air Line Trail , a former railroad bed, joins the town of Pomfret with its neighbor to the east, Putnam. The Airline Trail runs seven miles (11 km), much of it through an Audubon Society property named the Bafflin Sanctuary, a 700-acre (2.8 km ) nature preserve. Pomfret has no formal town center due to

513-520: A letter he had received from William Henry Brewer telling of an ascent of Mount Shasta in California, then believed to be the tallest mountain in the United States. King began to read more about geology, attended a lecture by Louis Agassiz , and soon wrote to Brush that he had "pretty much made up my mind to be a geologist if I can get work in that direction". He was also fascinated by descriptions of

570-758: A letter he wrote to her while on his deathbed in Arizona. King died on December 24, 1901, of tuberculosis in Phoenix, Arizona . Kings Peak in Utah , Mount Clarence King and Clarence King Lake at Shastina , California, are named in his honor, as is King Peak in Antarctica . The US Geological Survey Headquarters Library in Reston, Virginia , is also known as the Clarence King Library. Pomfret, Connecticut Pomfret

627-533: A location chosen by a committee of Selectmen from neighboring towns when Pomfret citizens could not agree on a location; it is listed on the National Register. Pomfret First Church was established in today's Pomfret Hill area; Pomfret Second Church covered what is largely today's Town of Brooklyn; while Pomfret Third Church was established in today's Abington area. As of the census of 2010, there were 4,247 people, 1,582 households, and 1,123 families residing in

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684-496: A month later, on August 6, the wagon train arrived at Carson City, Nevada which is when King, Gardiner, and Hyde decided to leave the wagon party to head towards Gold Hill a town nearby because Hyde's dad owned a ranch and foundry there. That night the foundry caught on fire burning everything the three guys owned, including King's letter to William Henry Brewer at the California Geologic Survey. As they helped rebuild

741-503: A train. On the train King met the Speers family and being the friendly person, he was known to be, he decided to entertain the Speers children while they traveled to St. Joseph, Missouri. The Speers, grateful for King's help with entertaining their children, invited King, Gardiner, and Hyde to join their wagon party. The three men would be provided food as long as they helped care for the livestock that

798-602: Is a town located in Windham County , Connecticut , United States, with a population of 4,266 according to the 2020 United States Census. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region . The town was incorporated in 1713 and was named after Pontefract in West Yorkshire , England . The land on which Pomfret stands today was purchased from Native Americans in 1686 in a deal known as

855-497: Is evidenced by tufa formations throughout the area. Surprisingly, the watershed feeding Lake Lahontan is not thought to have been significantly wetter during its highstand than it is currently. Rather, its desiccation is thought to be mostly due to increase in the evaporation rate as the climate warmed. Recent computer simulations (using the DSSAM Model and other techniques) indicate, if precipitation and evaporation rates within

912-504: Is the present site of Sequoia Lake, where they stayed for a week studying the Sequoia trees. The party used triangulation as their main method of mapping the areas they traveled through. At one point they reached a spot where the animals could not continue so they made base at an unknown mountain lake. The next day Hoffmann and Brewer climbed the unknown peak nearby (now known as Mount Brewer) and soon they sadly discovered that they were not on

969-700: The American Philosophical Society in 1871. King made a persuasive argument for how his research would help develop the West. He received federal funding and was named U.S. Geologist of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel , commonly known as the Fortieth Parallel Survey, in 1867. He persuaded Gardiner to be his second in command and they assembled a team that included, among others, Samuel Franklin Emmons , Arnold Hague , A. D. Wilson ,

1026-542: The Congregational Church site is Christ Episcopal Church , which contains several windows designed and constructed by Louis Comfort Tiffany . Across from Christ Church on the west side of Route 44 is the Rectory School, founded in 1920. At the divergence point of US 44 and CT 169 is Most Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church . Town House Road is the location of the historic Pomfret Town House , built in 1841 at

1083-548: The Pomfret School and the Rectory School , are also located in Pomfret. A 380-acre (1.5 km ) portion of the town, along Pomfret Street, is listed as a historic district on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . The Pomfret Street Historic District comprises properties along Route 169 , from Bradley Road to Woodstock Road. The district was added to the National Register in 1998. Other properties listed on

1140-605: The geological history of the West as a mixture of uniformitarianism and catastrophism . This book was well received at the time and has been called "one of the great scientific works of the late nineteenth century". In 1879, the US Congress consolidated the number of geological surveys exploring the American West and created the United States Geological Survey. King was chosen as its first director. He took

1197-601: The "Mashmuket Purchase" or "Mashamoquet Purchase". According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 40.6 square miles (105 km ), of which 40.3 square miles (104 km ) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km ) (0.64%) is water. Pomfret is bordered on the north by Woodstock , on the east by Putnam and Killingly , on the west by Eastford , and on the south by Brooklyn and Hampton . Pomfret includes several villages, neighborhoods, or sections : The principal roads through

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1254-409: The 1,582 households: 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.05. In

1311-511: The Alps by John Tyndall and John Ruskin . In late 1862 or early 1863, King moved to New York City to share an apartment with James Terry Gardiner , a close friend from high school and college (who spelled his last name Gardner at the time). They associated with a group of American artists, writers and architects who were admirers of Ruskin. In February 1863, King became one of the founders, along with John William Hill , Clarence Cook and others, of

1368-602: The Christ Church Hall school in Pomfret, Connecticut , that Clarence attended until he was ten. He then attended schools in Boston and New Haven and, at age thirteen, was accepted to the prestigious Hartford High School . He was a good student and a versatile athlete, of short stature but unusually strong. His mother received an income from the King family business until it met with a series of problems and dissolved in 1857. After

1425-817: The Ruskinian Association for the Advancement of Truth in Art , an American group similar to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood , and was elected its first secretary. But he was anxious to see the mountains of the American West, and his friend Gardiner was miserable in law school. As Gardiner and King started to quickly plan for the journey, their final destination being San Francisco, another friend named William Hyde became interested and decided to join them. So, they all met in April 1863 at Niagara, New York, and boarded

1482-485: The South. He decided that he would help the nation by exploring and mapping the West for his fellow Americans to later live. King was known to be an avid thinker and daydreamer. Because of this, he had many views on art and science. He couldn't ever decide if he was an artist or scientist, because he thought geology had both art and science involved with it. King seemed to embrace that the two were intertwined and learned about

1539-408: The Speers were bringing. On May 1, 1863, with St. Joseph as their starting point the three men officially started to travel west. Five days later just past Troy, Kansas the party succeeded in hunting two buffalo, which was a welcomed treat. Near Fort Kearny , 200 miles into their journey, King tried hunting buffalo, but he did not succeed and ended up with a wounded leg and a dead horse. On May 29,

1596-415: The action of glaciers was discussed. During one of these conversations, Brewer brought up Whitney's plan to propose a geologic study across the continent, and King thought that there may be a chance of funding this because as Whitney noted railroad companies would really benefit from it. As soon as he got back from this first expedition of his, King immediately began preparing to do another one. This time he

1653-426: The art of science and the science of art. In his scientific reflections, he would vividly explain natural things that he encountered in his adventures in an artistic manner, blending the two subjects together. King wanted people to admire the beauty of his findings of the land in the West. He didn't like when the mountains and plains were described as dull or bland. King respected nature very much and thought it to be

1710-593: The director of the survey Josiah Whitney . In 1863, with the permission of Whitney, King was asked by Brewer to accompany him on his exploration of the northern part of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. While King is on this expedition, Gardner would stay in San Francisco. On this trip with Brewer and King was a mule packer named John Hoesch. As the group traveled, they passed through the Sierra gold fields, and at

1767-575: The evening trading stories with Brewer. King during this time expressed his willingness to work for the survey without pay because he liked Brewer and knew it would be a good experience. Little did King know at the time but joining the California Geological Survey was a good choice because it ended up being the first step in King's career. Once Gardner and King arrived at the California Geological Society's office, they met

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1824-527: The first topographic, botanical, and geologic survey of a vast area. In September 1864, upon the designation by President Abraham Lincoln of the Yosemite Valley area as a permanent public reserve, King and Gardiner were appointed to make a boundary survey around the rim of Yosemite Valley. They returned to the East Coast by way of Nicaragua the following winter. King suffered from several bouts of malaria in

1881-437: The foundry King and Gardiner were able to save up enough supplies to continue on while Hyde decided to stay with his father. Planning to walk the rest of the way by foot, Gardiner and King left Gold Hill near the end of August 1863. On September 1, the two friends boarded a steamboat heading towards San Francisco. While on the steamboat King met Brewer and explained to him what happened to the letter which then led to them spending

1938-478: The key to science and art. King spent his last thirteen years leading a double life. In 1887 or 1888, he met and fell in love with Ada Copeland , an African-American nursemaid and former slave from Georgia , who had moved to New York City in the mid-1880s. As interracial marriage was strongly discouraged in the nineteenth century, and illegal in many places, King hid his identity from Copeland. Despite his blue eyes and fair complexion, King convinced Copeland that he

1995-634: The location of the present Carson Sink . Near present day Pyramid Lake the depth of the lake was then about 900 feet (270 m) and 500 feet (150 m) at what is present day Black Rock Desert . Lake Lahontan, during this most recent glacial period , would have been one of the largest lakes in North America . Climate change around the end of the Pleistocene epoch led to a gradual desiccation of ancient Lake Lahontan. The lake had largely disappeared in its extended form by about 9,000 years ago. As

2052-496: The main Sierra Nevada Crest like they thought they were. Brewer and Hoffmann also named Mount Tyndall , Mount Goddard , and Mount Whitney while they were up there. King upon hearing what Hoffmann and Brewer saw begged to be allowed to backpack up Mount Whitney with Cotter. In King's own words, "It was a trying moment for Brewer when we found him and volunteered to attempt a campaign for the top of California, because he felt

2109-482: The main group in two weeks at Clark's Station. King did not end up making it to the top on this expedition, which greatly disappointed him. On his way to the meeting point, King ran into some trouble with bandits but his new horse was able to outrun them saving his life. He made it to the rendezvous point on time, but the rest of the group ran into trouble and was three weeks late. Both Gardner and King were unpaid volunteers for this expedition, but they had helped create

2166-628: The mining ventures he was involved in were not successful enough to support his expensive tastes in art collecting, travel and elegant living, and he went heavily into debt. He had a busy social life, with close friendships including Henry Brooks Adams and John Hay , who admired him tremendously. But he suffered from physical ailments and depression. King grew up in the North and his grandmother, Sophia Little, influenced his views on slavery . She would not eat fruits and other Southern grown products because they were grown with slave labor. Because of this, King

2223-482: The photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan and guest artist Gilbert Munger . Over the next six years, King and his team explored areas from eastern California to Wyoming. During that time he also published his famous Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (1872). While King was finishing the Fortieth Parallel Survey, the western U.S. was abuzz with news of a secret diamond deposit. King and some of his crew tracked down

2280-401: The position with the understanding that it would be temporary and he resigned after twenty months, having overseen the organization of the new agency with an emphasis on mining geology. James Garfield named John Wesley Powell as his successor. During the remaining years of his life, King withdrew from the scientific community and attempted to profit from his knowledge of mining geology, but

2337-496: The rest of the job. King's next big job would be a scientific exploration into the southern Sierra mountains. Leaving in May 1864, the party consisted of Brewer, Hoffmann, Gardner, King and a man named Dick Cotter . During the early stages of this journey, in Visalia, King was able to acquire a new horse, a decision that would later save his life. Leaving Visalia, the team ended up at what

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2394-522: The secret location in northwest Colorado and exposed it as a fraud, now known as the diamond hoax of 1872 . He became an international celebrity through exposing the hoax. In 1878, King published Systematic Geology , numbered Volume 1 of the Report of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, although it appeared later than all but one of the other seven volumes. In this work he narrated

2451-508: The spring and summer of 1865 while Whitney, also in the East, worked on securing funding for further survey projects. King, Gardiner, Whitney, and Whitney's wife sailed back to San Francisco in the fall, where Whitney lined up a survey project for King and Gardiner in the Mojave Desert and Arizona under U.S. Army auspices. They returned to San Francisco in the spring. King returned to Yosemite in

2508-503: The summer of 1866 to make more field notes for Whitney. When King heard of the death of his stepfather, he and Gardiner resigned from the Whitney survey and once again sailed to New York. They had been developing a plan for an independent survey of the Great Basin region for some time and, in late 1866, King went to Washington to secure funding from Congress for such a survey. He was elected to

2565-590: The surface elevation dropped, the lake broke up into series of smaller lakes, most of which rapidly dried up, leaving only a playa . These playas include the Black Rock Desert , the Carson Sink , and the Humboldt Sink . The only modern remnants existing as true lakes are Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake . Winnemucca Lake has been dry since the 1930s and Honey Lake periodically desiccates. The ancient shoreline

2622-476: The town are U.S. Route 44 (running east–west) and Routes 169 (running north–south), and 101 (running east–west). Mashamoquet State Park and Wolf Den State Park are both located in Pomfret, near the intersection of US 44 and CT 101. Wolf Den State Park is the alleged site of General Israel Putnam 's slaying of the last wolf in Connecticut. Rocky paths connect the small cave, which is the actual wolf den with

2679-419: The town's significant southward expansion after its establishment, first around Mortlake , later absorbing that town. The town office is located on US Route 44. The Congregational Church, until its destruction by fire on December 7, 2013, stood on the eastern edge of the old town green on Pomfret Hill, across from the Pomfret School , a college preparatory school founded in 1894. Approximately one mile north of

2736-405: The town, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 32.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 82,661, and the median income for

2793-413: The town. The population density was 105.4 inhabitants per square mile (40.7/km ). There were 1,684 housing units at an average density of 41.8 per square mile (16.1/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 95.7% White , 0.6% African American , 0.1% Native American , 1.6% Asian , 0.3% from other races , and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population. Of

2850-563: The traveling party passed the very large 325-foot landmark called Chimney Rock in northwest Nebraska and a few days after that they arrived at Fort Laramie in what is now Wyoming. On June 29 the party crested the ridge of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah to see the Great Salt Lake below them, a place of refuge before they began to travel across the desert to the west of the lake. More than

2907-505: The waters of Lake Lahontan, feeding on native chub and sucker . This subspecies of cutthroat trout survives today in tributary rivers of the Great Basin , and has been reintroduced to Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake after being extirpated during the 20th century. 39°48′N 118°30′W  /  39.8°N 118.5°W  / 39.8; -118.5 Clarence King Clarence Rivers King (January 6, 1842 – December 24, 1901)

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2964-513: The watershed were maintained at their historical yearly maximum and minimum, respectively, and if diversions of the Truckee River ceased, the Ice Age extent of Lake Lahontan might return. Archaeological evidence along the shore indicates the existence of the lake coincided roughly with the first appearance of humans in the region. The Lahontan cutthroat trout evolved as a predator species within

3021-567: Was James Dwight Dana , a highly regarded geologist who had participated in the United States Exploring Expedition , a scientific expedition to the South Atlantic, South Pacific and the west coasts of South and North America. At Yale, King enjoyed many sports, as he was a skilled athlete, but rowing was his main passion. He joined the rowing team at the university, and eventually became its captain. The Undine team competed on

3078-472: Was against slavery and African American injustice. While at Yale, he was known as an enthusiastic abolitionist and had lots of rage against the Confederates . He aligned with the militant anti-slavery advocate Wendell Phillips . King even considered joining the war efforts to fight for his beliefs. But by the time King was graduating, he decided to go back to his pacifist ways, and renounced his anger against

3135-548: Was an African-American Pullman porter named James Todd. The two entered into a common law marriage in 1888. Throughout the marriage, King never revealed his true identity to Ada, pretending to be Todd, a black railroad worker, when at home, and continuing to work as King, a white geologist, when in the field. Their union produced five children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Their two daughters married white men. Their two sons served, classified as black during World War I. King finally revealed his true identity to Copeland in

3192-530: Was an American geologist , mountaineer , and author. He was the first director of the United States Geological Survey from 1879 to 1881. Nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes , King was noted for his exploration of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Clarence King was born on January 6, 1842, the son of James Rivers King and Florence Little King. Clarence's father was part of

3249-532: Was traveling with a mining engineer named William Ashburner , and a topographer named Charles Hoffmann . The trio's job was to survey the Mariposa Estate, a place that was one of the most important gold-vein regions in the area. During this job, King had a habit of staring at views as opposed to working like he was supposed to which irritated his fellow team members. Eventually, after his coworkers brought their concerns to him, he refocused on his assigned work for

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