<P> The Truckee River is a river in the U.S. states of California and Nevada . The river flows northeasterly and is 121 miles (195 km) long . The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great Basin . Its waters are an important source of irrigation along its valley and adjacent valleys . </P> <P> When John C. Frémont and Kit Carson ascended the Truckee River on January 16, 1844 they called it the Salmon Trout River, after the huge Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) that ran up the river from Pyramid Lake to spawn . However, the river was ultimately named after a Paiute chief known as Truckee who in 1844 guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of the Humboldt River to California via the Truckee River, Donner Lake, and Donner Pass . Appreciative of their Indian guide's services the party named the river after him . The chief's real name might not have been Truckee, but perhaps Tru - ki - zo, which could have become distorted as "Truckee". There are numerous other theories about Chief Truckee and his name . </P> <P> The Truckee River's source is the outlet of Lake Tahoe, at the dam on the northwest side of the lake near Tahoe City, California . It flows generally northeast through the mountains to Truckee, California, then turns sharply to the east and flows into Nevada, through Reno and Sparks and along the northern end of the Carson Range . At Fernley it turns north, flowing along the east side of the Pah Rah Range . It empties into the southern end of Pyramid Lake, a remnant of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, in northern Washoe County in the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation . </P> <P> The Truckee River's endorheic drainage basin is about 3,060 square miles (7,900 km), of which about 2,300 square miles (6,000 km) are in Nevada . The Middle Watershed is regarded as the 15 miles (24 km) of river and its tributaries from Tahoe City in Placer County, through the Town of Truckee in Nevada County, to the state line between Sierra and Washoe counties . The major tributaries to the Truckee River in California from the Lake Tahoe outlet and heading downstream include: Bear Creek, Squaw Creek, Cabin Creek, Pole Creek, Donner Creek, Trout Creek, Martis Creek, Prosser Creek, the Little Truckee River, Gray Creek, and Bronco Creek . Major lakes and reservoirs in the California part of the watershed include Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, Independence Lake, Webber Lake, Boca Reservoir, Stampede Reservoir, Prosser Creek Reservoir, and Martis Creek Reservoir . In the Lower Watershed, Steamboat Creek, which drains Washoe Lake, is the major tributary to the Truckee River . </P>

Where does the truckee river begin and end
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