[2] He imagined that one of the miners seeking riches in the 1860s, in what was then called "Squaw Valley", now Olympic Valley must have thought it "a hell of a hole to get into or out of", but admitted his source for the place name was more speculative than the anonymous miner's chances for riches in the area.

Watson may have been the source of the story as he sought to entertain and edify his paying clients with tales of local history.

The author reported his pleasure of the canyon was derived from its rugged nature that precluded human exploitation: Logging, mining, water development and road building, evident in other portions of the Lake Tahoe region.

[2] Lower Hell Hole Dam (its official name) is operated by the Placer County Water Agency.

The water agency gained its power from financing approved by Placer County voters in 1961.

[6] Placer County sought drinking water supplies to fuel growth of its communities in the Sacramento Valley.

The agency also sought to generate hydroelectric power to finance its ability to deliver the water to users.

In 1984, the federally protected Granite Chief Wilderness was created by the United States Congress after a long advocacy campaign by the Sierra Club, a conservation organization.

The Truckee and American River (formerly Foresthill) ranger districts of the Tahoe National Forest advise caution at Granite Chief: "Topographic maps and skills to use them are highly recommended in the wilderness because of the minimal level in signing and remoteness of the area."

[7] The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for Hell Hole Reservoir based on levels of mercury found in species of fish caught there.

Water for hydroelectric generation is also shuttled into Hell Hole from French Meadows Reservoir which impounds the Middle Fork of the American River.

The Gold Rush of 1849 on the South Fork of the American River resulted in establishment of the Sierra foothill towns of Auburn, Placerville, Nevada City, and Georgetown.

For an hour or more, we go slowly up it stopping every few yards or so to give our horses breath," James wrote of a ride on the old road a half century after it was built.

The roads then brought timber claimants and homesteaders, called locators, who were able to claim public lands.

Tourists could reach Truckee, California by rail from either San Francisco or Ogden, Utah by the end of the 19th century.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District controls a dam within the Desolation Wilderness: Rubicon Reservoir.

In 1934, the State of California took steps to claim any unclaimed water rights along the American River's three forks.

As the water came up it seeped through the rockfill, and when it crested, the entire mass collapsed in a matter of minutes.