Mono Lake, first appearing on official maps in 1854, has long been a lake of many uses beyond fishing. Starting in the 1800s and by the 1910s, oil drilling and mineral extraction took place in and around it. By the 1900s it had become a venue for bathing beauty pageants, boat races, swimming competitions, and water skiing contests. During the 1930s, boat tours of the lake and islands were offered and advertised as visits to the "Tahiti of the Sierras" because of hot springs on the islands, and a Tahitian spa was planned but never built. In the late 1950s, a public boat dock and marina was built along the west shoreline and operated for several years, and during the Cold War a secret military test site was located along the south shoreline. Though only remnants of those activities remain today, they contributed to the development of Mono County and the Eastern Sierras. The lake is the predominant geological feature of the region and the source of many myths, legends, and controversies, including unresolved questions over whether Jedediah Smith in 1827, Joseph Walker in 1833, or Lt. Treadwell Moore in 1852 was the first to document it, and debates over whether its name came from the Monache Indians, a Spanish word, or the Greek word "monos," meaning solitary or deserted. In the late 1800s, the lake gained international notoriety through Mark Twain's newspaper articles and his book "Roughing It," and in 1861 it gave its name to Mono County, the 47th county created by act of the California State Legislature. Mono Lake also became a backdrop for Hollywood and television productions, beginning with films such as "Kilowatt, the Conqueror" in 1921 and "The Huntress" in 1923, followed by "White Magic" in 1930, "The Bride Wore Red" in 1937, "Kim" in 1950, "Fair Wind to Java" in 1953, and background scenes for "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" in 1973. Numerous nature films, commercials, and music videos have also been filmed there, and the most recognized and successful movie shot on location was "High Plains Drifter" in 1973, for which remnants of a volcano set built for the 1953 film still remain above the waves.