Needing water for irrigation, Jack and his stepsister Eliza Shepard, his business manager and ranch superintendant, decided to build a dam on the side of the mountain and create a lake large enough for water storage and recreation. He had it stocked with fifteen hundred live catfish. He mentioned to Eliza he would like to have a bathhouse at the lake. The next day she had workmen on the site and a few days later a rustic boathouse with six dressing rooms and a space at each end to store a boat was ready for use.