There were some hardy souls that were  lured to eastern Honey Lake Valley with the promise that irrigation companies of plentiful water would transform the sagebrush lands into a verdant wonderland. Countless companies formed and later went, but some individuals remained. For those who remained they did not have many options and remained, at least they owned land. One of those was a man by name of Carl Serwotke who arrived in the early 1890s.

Upon his arrival, while the reclamation companies failed deliver water at least Mother Nature was cooperative. It was during this period until1917 the region experienced one its ever recorded wet cycles. While the desert homesteaders met with a lot struggles the above normal precipitation made things some what bearable.

1917 the region’s twenty year drought began. Many a desert homesteader abandoned their homesteads and sought a new life elsewhere. Serwotke was not one them. However, in 1921 he appealed to the Lassen County Board of Supervisors for property tax relief. Serwotke wrote:

“I beg pardon-I see you try to tax the dry land much higher now when their sagebrush land in this for ability is worth to tax 2 and 3 dollars per acre, then that land, where they have water and are able to to grow everything on, ought to be tax from 75 to100 per acre. Last year, I sowed 1 ton of rye for hay for my horses, but didn’t get anything and had buy $150 worth of hay, and paid about 25 dollars taxes. And this year I sowed the same amount of rye and got nothing neither, so have buy hay again. When a person can’t sell anything from the dry land to pay the present taxes with, then how can he be able to pay more. ”

From then on it was exercise in futility. He died in 1929 and is buried in the Honey Lake Cemetery (Stacy). There is no marker for his grave.

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Yesterday, we explored the origins of Honey Lake feed. There were three other flour mills in the Honey Lake Valley. The first one was built in 1861 at Milford. Since the village boasted a sawmill, and a flour mill, it was decided to name place Milford.

The second mill was built in 1864 at Johnstonville near the location of the former Gables. For nearly its entire operation it was owned Hall & Snyder and closed by 1908.

In 1882, H.H. Dakin owner of the Milford Mill wanted to expand and build a new mill. He chose Janesville. That mill was shuttered in 1918.

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For seasoned residents this building may be familiar. It was Bronson & Doyle’s Honey Lake Feed located on  Richmond Road. Susanville. It is now a vacant lot.

By 1912, with the arrival of the railroad and  increased population growth, locally there was a flour drought. The Johnstonville  mill had closed and the in Janesville the mill was operating at half capacity at the harvest season. In February 1917, Fred Begin organized a new company, the Lassen Grain & Milling Company to rectify the situation.  When the news broke, it made the grain growers of the Honey Lake Valley rejoice. 

The site selected was on Richmond Road across from the Susanville Depot. Excavation began in April with the goal of being in operation by June. However, with President Wilson’s declaration of war, changed everything. Building supplies and especially machinery was difficult to come by, and the war effort took priority. It was not until mid-November when it was placed into operation. The company’s brand name was Honey Lake Family Flour.

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Since the 1870s there has been a lot organizations formed to promote California. Some were regional and others statewide. One in the 1890s named Made in California. It was replaced by the California Development Board which came into prominence during the Panama Pacific Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915. It was headquartered in that city’s Ferry Building, a landmark that I have never been to. In other news. the unpacking and sorting the archives from the move is a slow process and I have tortured with most difficult boxes of loose documents and photographs.

Tim