Buena Vista Lake

Tulamniu Indian Site
Tulamniu Indian Site
	A Buena Vista Yokuts - Tulamniu Indian
Location	Marker is at Block House #BV4 North of Buena Vista Pumping Station
California Historical Landmark
Official name	Tulamniu Indian Site
Designated	September 6, 1941
Reference no.	374

Buena Vista Lake
Buena Vista Lake
	Buena Vista Lake Buena Vista Lake
Location	San Joaquin Valley; Kern County, California
Coordinates	35°11′31″N 119°17′40″W / 35.19191°N 119.294557°W
Type	dry lake
Primary inflows	Kern River; Connecting Slough
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	60 to 150 square miles (160 to 390 km2)
Average depth	3.3 m (11 ft)
Surface elevation	88 m (289 ft)
References

Buena Vista Lake was a fresh-water lake in Kern County, California, in the Tulare Lake Basin in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California.

Buena Vista Lake was the second largest of several similar lakes in the Tulare Lake basin, and was fed by the waters of the Kern River. The Kern River's flow went into Buena Vista Lake southwest through the site of Bakersfield via its main distributary channels or south through the Kern River Slough distributary into Kern Lake and then into Buena Vista Lake via Connecting Slough.

In times when Buena Vista Lake overflowed it first backed up into Kern Lake making one large lake. When this larger lake overflowed it flowed out through the Buena Vista Slough and Kern River channel northwest of Buena Vista Lake through tule marshland and Goose Lake, into Tulare Lake.

Today Lake Webb and Lake Evans occupy the lakebed on the northern shore of the former Buena Vista Lake.^[2]

In June 2023, with 300% snow pack in the Southern Sierra Mountains, the Kern river started to fill the top section of Lake Buena Vista to a depth of only a few feet.

Aerial views of Buena Vista Lake.
Aerial views of Buena Vista Lake.

Tulamniu Indian Site

On Buena Vista Lake south shores was the site of the Tulamniu Indians, who spoke Buena Vista Yokuts. The site is a California Historical Landmark number 374.

California Historical Landmark reads:

NO. 374 TULAMNIU INDIAN SITE - The old Yokuts village of Tulamniu was named Buena Vista by Spanish Commander Fages in 1772. Fr. Zalvidea again recorded the site in 1806. This village was occupied for several centuries, and in 1933-34 its site was excavated by the Smithsonian Institution.^[3]^[4]

References

External links

[gnis-1] U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Buena Vista Lake

[2] George Gilbert Lynch, THE LATE, GREAT, BUENA VISTA LAKE, Historic Kern, Quarterly Bulletin, Volume 59, No. 3, Kern County Historical Society, Bakersfield, Fall - 2009

[3] rniahistoricallandmarks.com Landmark chl-374

[4] Cal California parks Historical Landmarks

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v t e Tulare Basin hydrography
Kings River	North Fork Kings River South Fork Kings River Middle Fork Kings River Roaring River Dinkey Creek Kings Canyon Pine Flat Dam Pine Flat Lake Rodgers Crossing Dam (proposed)
Kaweah River	North Fork Kaweah River Middle Fork Kaweah River Marble Fork Kaweah River East Fork Kaweah River South Fork Kaweah River Lime Kiln Creek Paradise Creek Horse Creek St. John's River Kaweah Canyon Mineral King Terminus Dam Lake Kaweah
Tule River	North Fork Tule River Middle Fork Tule River South Fork Tule River North Branch Tule River South Branch Tule River Success Dam Lake Success
Kern River	Buena Vista Lake Buena Vista Slough Canebrake Creek Clear Creek Connecting Slough Golden Trout Creek Isabella Dam Lake Isabella Kern River Canyon Kern River Slough Kern Lake Lake Evans Lake Webb Little Kern River Poso Creek Rock Creek South Fork Kern River
Other	Tulare Lake California Aqueduct Friant-Kern Canal Mill Creek White River

v t e Rivers of California's Central Valley watershed (north-to-south)
Sacramento River watershed	Pit River McCloud River Cow Creek Cottonwood Creek Battle Creek Mill Creek Deer Creek Thomes Creek Big Chico Creek Stony Creek Butte Creek Feather River North Fork East Branch West Branch Middle Fork South Fork Yuba River Bear River American River North Fork Middle Fork South Fork Cache Creek Putah Creek
San Joaquin River watershed	Mokelumne River Cosumnes River Calaveras River Stanislaus River Tuolumne River Clavey River Cherry Creek Merced River Mariposa Creek Chowchilla River Fresno River
Tulare Basin	Kings River Kaweah River Tule River White River Poso Creek Kern River

Tulamniu Indian Site

See also

References

External links