Native Stonework

The impact of Nevada’s Native American stonemasons reaches far beyond Nevada’s borders. We daresay it might be international! 

Look to the Thunderbird Lodge (the Lodge) on the east shore of Lake Tahoe  That is where we see the true scope of the Native American stonemasons’ creativity and workmanship.  George Whittel, jr., began construction  on the Lodge, his dream, in 1936.  The “Captain” as he was known, used only the finest craftsmen on the project, including the area’s Native American stonemasons.

The Stewart Indian School (SIS) was contracted to provide stonemasons for the project and sent all of its stonemasons (from apprentice to master) to work on the Lodge.  Other Native American stonemasons  in the area were also employed on the project.

The students working at the Lodge came from many tribes, including the Washoe, Paiute, Hopi, Apache, Pima, Mohave, Walapai, Ute, Pipage, Coropah, and Tewa tribes.  

Frederick Snyder, who served as the school superintendent from 1919 to 1934, established the stone masonry apprenticeship program at the school. Snyder began the practice of using colored native stones for both on- and off-campus buildings. He encouraged the trade students to ply their trades (masonry, plumbing, electrical and carpentry) for off-campus projects.   The students were paid for their work off-campus and the Lodge is one example of an off-campus project.

All of the stonemasons stayed onsite during the work week – they camped along the shores of the Lake and, generally, went home on the weekends.  Remember, in the 1930s, both the roads and vehicles would have made a daily commute long and tiresome.  

The masons were not closely supervised and had a great deal of latitude in their work. A story is told that when the masons began working in the morning, Whittell – a night owl – was often up when the masons began their day’s work. He would meet up with the stonemasons as he headed to bed. In these encounters, Whittell would tell the masons what he wanted done that day. Those mornings when the stonemasons did not see Whittell, they decided for themselves what project to work on for the day. Many of the 12 buildings and features at the Lodge are a result of their creativity. 

A brief mention of the Native American stonemasons and their contributions to the Thunderbird Lodge can be found in Masonry Magazine (see https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/thunderbird-tycoon-lake-tahoe-george-whittell-16585263.php).

The article mentions the contributions of the architect, Frederick DeLongshamps, the Italian metalworkers and the Cornish miners, yet only lightly references the creativeness of the stonemasons. We thought that a magazine with the “masonry” in the title would focus more on the stone working and quarrying than the other construction aspects associated with this massive project.

Local stone, including Rhyolite, was used in the building of the Lodge.  We believe that the majority of the Rhyolite was provided by the Wungnemas as the family owned (still owns) four Rhyolite quarries in Carson City and the stones from those quarries  were used in their many projects throughout Northern Nevada and California.

For more information on the Lodge and the Captain, see https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/thunderbird-tycoon-lake-tahoe-george-whittell-16585263.php

The Thunderbird Lodge is now an international, must-see vacation destination with visitors from all over the world admiring the work, the craftsmanship that went into the Lodge some 80-plus years ago. 

And, whether or not these visitors know it, they are admiring the workmanship of Nevada’s Native American stonemasons.