Uncle Sam and the Mountain Woman

Beside the largest natural freshwater lake in California stands a towering ancient volcano, Mount Konocti. This mountain has long been revered by the native Pomo population surrounding Clear Lake.

The name Konocti is credited to a Pomo myth about a woman, who after a disagreement with her husband, stormed off towards the mountain claiming he would never see her alive again. According to the legend, her body was found days later on the mountain. Roughly translated as “mountain woman,” the name is an homage to the myth and to the mountain’s resemblance to the silhouette of a woman lying horizontally.

Above is our Record of the Week, which depicts the mountain and surrounding lake. Approved July 22, 1885, this survey plat illustrates Township 13 North, Range 8 West, of the Mount Diablo Principal Meridian in California. You may notice that the mountain on the plat is given two names; Konocti and Uncle Sam. American settlers from the East started referring to this landmark as Uncle Sam Mountain in 1854, but the original name was so significant to the existing culture that Uncle Sam couldn't stick.

Uncle Sam is best known by modern-day Americans for his appearance on a famous enlistment poster from the First World War, but the character long predates that.

The official origin story adopted by Congress involves a well-liked man from Troy, New York. This man, named Sam Wilson, delivered meat packed in barrels to soldiers during the War of 1812. A cherished and trusted member of the community, Wilson was lovingly referred to as Uncle Sam. When people around town saw his supply barrels marked "U.S." they assumed the letters meant Uncle Sam, and the soldiers adopted the same thinking. Wilson had labeled the barrels "U.S." for "United States," and so the two ideas merged: Uncle Sam became a symbol for the United States of America.

Uncle Sam has been present in various forms of media ever since.

In 1854, the mountain beside Clear Lake became a battleground of sorts between two symbolic figures: Konocti, the mountain woman, and our own Uncle Sam. This story also serves as an interesting microcosm of the struggle between native peoples and American settlers that had raged across the continent.

Below is a web scene of Clear Lake and Mount Konocti. You can explore the landscape and check the plat image box in the layer list to view our record in 3D.

Thank you for tuning in to our Record of the Week story map! To explore more records from the GLO Record of the Week please visit our archive  here .