Maybe you are aware of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board that has a lot of influence on water issues in Lassen County. If you are more Nevada oriented, you might be familiar with Lake Lahontan, a reservoir near Fallon, Nevada.
First lets go with the origin of the name. The name stems from Baron Louis-Armand de Lum Lahontan (1666-1715). In 1688, Lahontan, a member of the French military, arrived in New France (Canada) to defeat the Great Lakes Iroqouis. Lahontan later deserted the military and returned to Europe. As an exile, he could not return to France to claim his inheritance. Lahontan settled in Holland and began work on his memoirs. The first of three volumes published in 1703, New Travels of Monsieur le baron de Lahontan in North America, was an immediate success. One of Lahontan’s claims was the discovery of the Longue River that would provide passage to the Pacific Ocean. Lahontan’s books were quite popular and were published in English, French, Dutch and German. Lahontan had his critics, and they questioned his so-called discoveries. Whatever the case may be, Lahontan’s work influenced cartographers of North America for the next 100 years. Lahontan’s theory of the Longue River was finally laid to rest by the explorations of Lewis & Clark.
Lahontan’s name was applied to a Pleistocene lake that covered a large portion of Northwestern Nevada and extended into parts of Northeastern California. Approximately 10,000 years ago, the lake began to recede, leaving behind remnants such as Pyramid and Honey Lakes. Lake Lahontan’s greatest depth was estimated at 920 feet at Pyramid Lake. To give a better perspective, locally, Susanville’s Elk’s Lodge, if it existed at the height of Lake Lahontan, would have been a beach front house.