Indelible print left by Tahoe matriarch

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE -- Marjorie Springmeyer rested up at her Carson Valley home for her birthday Wednesday, but today she may sling a little mud.

The Lake Tahoe pioneer plans to celebrate her 81st birthday at Steamboat Hot Springs outside of Reno. The Gardnerville native's first stop will be the mud baths with her friend Michelle Gabler of Minden. Gabler's mother, Alice, went to school with Springmeyer's husband, Melvin "Buzz" Springmeyer.

The outing represents a big departure from another birthday celebration for Springmeyer that Gabler helped organize.

Springmeyer, who now has about 80 acres here, knows the obstacles too well.

Her father Knox William Johnson -- who settled in Carson Valley from Ohio in the 1920s -- died in 1931, leaving his wife, Stella Van Dyke Johnson, her two sons, Bill and Knox Jr., and Marjorie, age 10.

"Here she was in a man's world. Women had the right to vote, but there was a lot of that old (chauvinistic) attitude," said Jon Springmeyer, Marjorie's 53-year-old son.

Other aspects of life in the 1940s have contributed to Springmeyer's approach to life. She lived through a 30-plus-year family feud that led to an irreparable dispute over the land trust with other family members.

Springmeyer said her mother encouraged her to get an education -- perhaps even going into law. She drives around with law journals in her vehicle while her son, Jon, a lawyer, uses the publications every day.

In her teenage years, she met her husband who worked at a nearby ranch.

Ranchers at heart, Marjorie and Buzz Springmeyer have learned to pull up on their bootstraps as life presents its ongoing obstacles.

His mother instilled a dedicated work ethic that's stayed with him over the years.

"You go to law school so you can protect yourself from 30 years of litigation," he said.

Although Springmeyer admits his mother has waged fights on several fronts over use of her land, he thinks of her as generous. Her tough-talking exterior is overcome by a mushy interior.

"She reminds me of Old Town Tahoe," said Brooke Laine, the former mayor who used to keep her Shetland pony on Springmeyer's Carson Valley ranch.

Laine recalled herding cattle with Springmeyer when she was 8 years old.

At the thought of kind birthday wishes, Springmeyer was moved to tears.

"When you get older and someone is kind to you, you never forget it," the crusader said.