As A Glass Darkly

From Alternative History

The POD here is that both sons of George Wittell, Sr., Alex and Junior, survive. When George Jr. runs off with the circus, Senior is more willing to disinherit him because he is not an only child. Therefore George Wittell, Jr., remains with the circus and does not return home to San Francisco in 1906.

Junior remains with Barnum & Bailey. He does not return to San Francisco. Alex does not volunteer his fleet of cars to the 1906 Earthquake relief effort. Without the aid in the relief effort, Junior does not become the darling of San Francisco society and does not reconcile with Senior. Therefore he never meets his third wife, and the couple do not become the model for George and his love interest in Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises'.

Without Junior's participation in the land purchase of the eastern side of Lake Tahoe, the back-East financier's withdrawal from the land purchase is fatal to the two partners who recieved an offer from Wittell in OTL. These two men then sell the land to other developers, rather than Wittell preventing development prior to environmental consciousness. The ecology of Lake Tahoe suffers far great damage than in OTL, particularly in its clarity and light pollution.