Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic prehistoric lake during the Pleistocene that occupied modern northwestern Nevada and extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon. The area of the former lake is a large portion of the Great Basin that borders the Sacramento River watershed to the west.
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.[1][2]
- ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 11.
- ^ King, Clarence (1870). Report of the geological exploration of the fortieth parallel (Report). p. 13. Retrieved April 21, 2022.