The Belfast District, 1898. It was to be the center piece of Merrill’s reclamation project.
In the early 1870s, when Captain Charles A. Merrill proposed to tap Eagle Lake, he found it necessary to have Congress pass a homestead act that focused on arid lands, as nothing existed. Thus, on March 3, 1875, Congress approved the Lassen County Desert Land Act. Under the Act, an individual could claim up to 640 acres of government land. They had two years to reclaim the land by irrigation, and then could purchase the land from the government for $1.25 per acre. Residence on the land was not a requirement. It proved so popular that in 1877, Congress approved the Desert Land Act, which covered all arid lands in the western United States. The latter Act has had a lasting impact, and is still one of very few homestead acts in existence. In the 1980s when Franklin Jeans proposed his water export scheme of the groundwater on the Nevada side of the Honey Lake Valley, he used the Desert Land Act to increase his holdings and to put more wells to accomplish that goal.
Antelope Grade first came into existence in 1867 when a crude wagon road was constructed. Crude was a very appropriate term. With the increased population growth in Big Valley, the traveling public clamored for improvements to the grade. In the fall of 1878, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors sent a survey crew to plot a new road on the mountain. The county estimated the cost of the new grade at $1,000. Of that amount individuals had already contributed $300 to the cause. The county budgeted $300. The county stated the balance would have come from donations. A campaign to raise the funds from Big Valley and Hayden Hill provided the balance. By the summer of 1879, most of the work was completed, with volunteer labor making up the workforce.
While new grade was superior to the original one, it was still a narrow, treacherous road. Of course, accidents were a rather common occurrence. In November 1890, for instance, Lewis Knudson was returning to his Willow Creek home accompanied by Dave Thomas. Half way up the grade, they encountered William Brockman’s freight team. Knudson pulled his brand new spring wagon over to the edge of road as safely as possible. As Brockman’s team passed by, it spooked one of Knudson’s horses where the animal bolted and jumped off the grade, dragging the other horse and wagon down the mountain. The sudden jolt, threw Knudson out of the wagon, but fortunately he did not sustain any injuries. However, Dave Thomas was not as lucky. It was not until the wagon crashed into a large boulder that it came to an abrupt stop. At the point of impact, Thomas was thrown from the wagon, his left shoulder struck a rock and was dislocated.
In the mid-1880s, the grade received its first impromptu rest stop. About three-quarters up the grade, after road goes through a narrow canyon passage, dubbed “The Spires” is small level area containing a spring. A water trough was constructed and it provided a nice respite for the traveler and more importantly for their horses.
However, it would not be until the 1940s, when the current grade was built, and stayed tuned for that post.
Seasoned residents of the Susanville region will recall the spring of 1971, when the Bank of America building at Main and North Gay Street was demolished. Many in the community had not recovered from the demolition of another iconic building the original Lassen High School, which was torn down in June 1968 for the current campus buildings.
Lassen County Courthouse and Hall of Records, 1907. Courtesy of Gil Morrill
In 1915, when voters approved a bond measure to build a new county courthouse, no time was wasted to construct the same. The new courthouse would be built on the site of the existing one. However, when James McCaughlin’s bid was accepted to construct the courthouse, that detail was omitted.
George Sellon, the architect was brought in as a mediator. It should be noted that old courthouse would still be used, until the new one was constructed. Sellon drew up the specifics and cost to move the old courthouse to the east along South Lassen Street. The cost $350.00. At the September 1915 meeting of the County Board of Supervisors the matter was approved. With that issue resolved, work began on the new courthouse.
Yesterday was the 120th anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. Word of news spread rapidly. and in the Honey Lake Valley, like so many areas, there were numerous concerns. First, at any given time there were usually a dozen of local residents visiting San Francisco and it came as a great sigh of relief when news reached those individuals were not harmed.
On April 20, 1906 a local relief committee was formed to provide aid to all those in the bay area affected by the devastation. At the initial meeting held in Susanville, $600 was immediately raised. A clothing. drive was held and within three days, wagon loads of clothes were hauled to the Hot Springs Station (Wendel) to be shipped on the NCO Railroad. The residents of Amedee raised $75, which many considered substantial, since the community’s saw sharp decline in population and now only had 16 registered voters. Initially, over a $1,000 was raised for the relief effort.
Doyle one of the many communities along U.S. Highway 395. Courtesy of Marie H. Gould
Town of Doyle was surveyed and subdivided in 1911. However, there was plenty of activity there, since the Western Pacific Railroad had already established a station. So, the new town of Doyle was serviced, not by one, but two railroads, the other being the NCO. Yet, changes were on the horizon and Doyle like so many rural communities suffered from the effects of World War I. Many of its residents, and the regional homesteaders, never returned seeking new opportunities elsewhere.
In the 1940s, Doyle experienced a revival, due in part of the establishment of the nearby Sierra Ordnance Depot. In 1948, the Doyle Civic League proclaimed: “There is a boom on in Doyle.” The League cited among other things that the community boasted three grocery stores, three gas stations and two taverns with cafes.
Hayden Hill’s first mine, was named the Providence. In the early 1870s, Hayden Hill was sometimes referred to as Providence. The following whimsical account is from the Mountain Tribune of Bieber, April 22, 1882 that explains how the name came to be: “While at Hayden Hill this week in search of information, we inquired of Ben Bradshaw which was the first claim located on the Hill and he informed me that the Providence was the oldest claim. Being curious to know why it was so named he said it was located and owned by ‘seven preachers and two white men.’ We record this fact for the benefit of the future historiographer of the Hill.”
Susanville’s Upper Main Street – Courtesy George C. Lindholdt
To the untrained eye, one detects it is an early day photograph of once was the Elks Lodge as the west send of Susanville. As the lodge recently sold, I am not sure as to the current owners has a given this landmark building a name.
This photograph was taken in 1923 or early 1924. In 1922, the highway department constructed the retaining wall in front of the of the Elk’s In the summer of 1924 a fire wiped out the pine trees on the bluff behind the Elk’s.
To the left, 502 Main Street, is still here, but it was a remodeled in to a two-story building. Just above it on the corner, that house was moved to Janesville Grade for the realignment of the highway curve circa 1990.
Exhibit A, early 1970s, Courtesy of the Lassen-Modoc Unit, California Division of Forestry
Recently Mike Cole wrote in the comment section of Susanville Helipad:
“1972 was the first year for Bieber Helitack. I was a firefighter on the crew. The guy in white shirt was our pilot, fresh out of Vietnam Nam, his first name was John ( can’t remember his last name). Next up is FC Jack Waters, FAE Jack Perdue, and FGT (FC) Dave McNamara. We were issued nomex jumpsuits, before firefighters had nomex. I retired from CDF in 2006”
A 1920s advertisement for the Pioneer. It had to change its ways during prohibition.
With passage of the Volstead Act, i.e, prohibition certain businesses had to change to survive. Established in 1863, the Pioneer Saloon was one of them. It no longer dispenses alcohol, but it had its lucrative card games to fall back on.
