Dat So La Lee House

The DAT SO LA LEE house is historically significant under criterian B of the National Register criteria for its association with Louisa Keyser, a Washoe Indian basket Weaver of world renown. Louisa Keyser, was also known as Dat So La Lee, her Indian name, which means, "big around the middle or big hips".

The Washoe Indians are one of the primary inhabitants of the Great Basin, with aboriginal territory extending from Honey Lake, California in the north, south to Antelope Valley, and from the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the west to the Pine Nut Mountains on the east. This is an area approximately 150 miles long and 50 miles wide. The early Washoes were primarily hunters, fishers, and gatherers who favored camps within proximity of an abundant water supply.

During the winter months, the Washoes gathered into small groups along the springs, streams, and rivers of the lower valleys. In the early spring, they moved their camps to the shores of Lake Tahoe until the fish runs were over then moved into the high country for the duration of the summer where large amounts of plant foods could be gathered by the women, and the men could fish. By late summer, the Washoe worked their way down to the eastern valleys and mountain ranges to gather pine nuts and organize hunting trips. Once these trips were over, the Washoe again returned to their winter camps where the women could spend many hours weaving baskets and the men repaired and manufactured new hunting equipment and tools. The elders told stories to the children which is the traditional Washoe way of teaching children how to behave in the proper way.

Louisa Keyser, was tárlelti, a Washoe term used when referring to Washoes from the Woodfords - Markleeville, California, area. She was born around 1861 in this same area. Unfortunately, very little is known about her early life. Her mother died when she was quite young, possibly an infant, as Louisa could not remember her mother. Louisa was probably raised by a sigter of her mother or a grandmother, as was the practice of t.aditional Washoe when a child lost a mother. This is more than likely the same woman that taught her how to weave the baskets she eventually became famous for. Her father was Da-da-u-ongala, the only name Louisa ever knew her father to go by was his Indian name, and she had one brother, Jim Bryant. Louisa married several times and had children, but they all died in childhood. She married Charley Keyser in her later years, and was married to him when she died on December 6, 1925, in Carson City, Nevada.

Louisa is recognized for her outstanding contribution of the perfection she achieved in Washoe basket weaving. She was largely responsible for the development of Washoe basketry as an art form, and her artistry in basketry has never been transcended by any other Washoe basket weaver. During her lifetime, Louisa was the only Native American weaver who had ever attempted or gained perspective in her productions, which is evidenced in all her masterpieces. She also had the distinction of being the only American Indian basket-maker to achieve even a semblance of international fame for her work.

In 1945, a Nevada State Law was passed in regards to the preservation and display of her world-renown basketry. Nevada Revised Statue No. 381.180 states the following:

Any Indian baskets received by the Nevada state museum from the Dat-So-La-Lee basket collection purchased by the State of Nevada, in compliance with the provisions of chapter 235, Statues of Nevada 1945, in order to preserve the last outstanding examples of the ancient art of the Nevada Indians, shall be placed upon display by the Nevada state museum.

There is also a historic land marker designating the location of Louisa's burial site. Nevada Historic Marker No. 77 is dedicated to "DAT SO LA LEE". It is located in front of the original Stewart Indian Cemetery, adjacent to the original wagon-route from Genoa, in Carson Valley, over the Great Basin, to Camp Floyd, Utah, which originated in about 1855.

Through the efforts of her primary promoter, Clarrise Amy Cohn, Louisa's baskets were, and still are, recognized as true works of art and are sold throughout the world for very large sums of money. Louisa was a very intelligent woman and made the best of the Whites' presence in the Washoes' world.

Because of the recognition she has received, Louisa Keyser is very culturally significant to the Washoes of today. She served as an inspiration not only to other Washoe women, but to all Native American basket-weavers, many of whom became very fine weavers themselves. She is also an inspiration to the Washoe women and girls of today who wish to learn the fine art of basket weaving. This is of the utmost importance as basket-weaving is fast becoming a dying art of the Washoe Indians.