Horse Lake for the uninitiated, is a shallow high desert lake northeast of Eagle Lake and west of Ravendale. On the average in good years covers some 3,200 acres. Water is everything in this section and Horse Lake did not escape those seeking that precious resource.

The lake is an enclosed basin but prior to settlement and in wet winters it had a natural outflow that drained into Petes Creek.. Settlement around the lake began in 1868 and water was diverted from the lake to irrigate surrounding land, thus the outflow was intermittent. In 1893, William Harrison deepened a cut to allow water to flow into Petes Creek. In 1899, the Horse Lake Canal Company was formed and claimed 200,000 inches from the lake to irrigate the lands in the Tule District of the Honey Lake Valley. The next entity to propose a similar measure was the Tanner Slough Irrigation Association. In 1938, the Association actually diverted overflow from Horse Lake due to an exceptional wet winter. Then came along the lawsuit known as Fleming vs. Bennett which resulted in the adjudication of the Susan River and its tributaries thus putting an end to enterprises such as the Horse Lake Canal Company.

Tim