Lassen Mail, April 30, 1926 – Newly-Weds Elececikicked. Andrew H. Stahl, a saw filer at the Fruit Growers plant and Miss Daisy Fitzgerald of Sonora were married in Reno last Saturday morning and at once came to Susanville where they will make their home. Their “friends” had skillfully wired the furniture in their apartment in such a way that when they sat down they immediately arose again. A big Klaxon horn announced the fact that they had retired to their apartment and it was not until they had bribed the gang that the wires cut and the disturbance ceased.
The Thomas Newton Long family plot, September 16, 2017.
One of things I do enjoy about doing tours, which I have been lapsed in doing, is the interesting interaction among attendees. During the St. Patrick’s Cemetery Tour something was relayed to me that I was unaware of and never had given any thought. In many instances, the graves face to the east. That is certainly the case in most Lassen County cemeteries. Traditionally, the husband is usually buried to the left. In addition, some churches make it a point for the altar to face to the east. I just never know what I will learn next.
Soldier’s graves at Smoke Creek, March 15, 1964. Left to Right: Frances Amesbury, Mary Morrill and Gil Morrill. Courtesy of Gil Morrill
One of the interesting endeavors undertaken by the then newly formed Lassen County Historical Society was to locate the soldier graves at the military encampment known as Smoke Creek, just across the Nevada stateline. In 1964, on their first excursion they located it. Over time they decided that something needed to be done as a memorial. In June 1968, they ventured again, this time erecting a large cross on the hillside.
Phil Lord and Bob Amesbury at work putting up the cross, June 1968. Courtesy of Gil Morrill
The small cemetery was established on the hillside across the creek from the camp for the four soldiers who died there while in service. On January 18, 1863, Pvt. John Smith Co C2 Calif Cav died from gunshots at Deep Hole, Nevada, over an argument with his commanding officer Second Lt Henry W. Williams. On November 9, 1863, Pvt. Gustavus W. Platt Co. C2 Calif Cav died of typhoid fever at Smoke Creek. On July 3, 1864, Sergeant William McCoy, age 28, died from an unknown illness. On November 17, 1865, Pvt. David O’Connell Co. B2 Calif. Cav was killed in action at the Pine Forest battle near Black Rock.
The camp was located near the cottonwood trees seen in the distance. It is located on private property and is now fenced off.
During the 1860s, the United States Military had a major presence in the region, with numerous military camps scattered around the Honey Lake Valley and Northwestern Nevada—one of which was Camp Smoke Creek just over the stateline in Nevada.
Its origins began on November 9, 1862, when Nevada Territorial Governor James W. Nye wrote to Brigadier General George Wright, Commander of the Department of the Pacific, and requested a Company of troops to protects the emigrants from the Indians along the Honey Lake-Humboldt Road. On November 14, 1862, the troops were dispatched. On December 15, 1862, Second Lt. Henry W. Williams arrived at Smoke Creek with twenty-five men and forty days of rations. On March 28, 1864, First Lt. Oscar Jewett, then in command, received orders from Fort Churchill to abandon the camp and to remove all valuable property from the camp as was possible. Continue reading Camp Smoke Creek→
Smith Hotel, circa 1880. Courtesy of Verna M. Wood
During the late 1800s, Susanville had anywhere between one to four breweries at any given time. In the fall of 1864, German immigrant Jacob “Jake” Smith* opened his first of many breweries in Susanville. When he opened a particular brewery on May 27, 1879, he was met with some resistance. At that time, a group of women formed a “temperance society” to educate the young people of the area the “evils of alcohol.” At this same time, Smith along with his wife Sophia, operated a hotel on Main Street, that was destroyed by fire in 1882.
This a view of Eagle Lake from Dow Butte that is located northwest of Spalding Tract. A forest service lookout was constructed there in 1939. It was removed in 1994, and can viewed at the Eagle Lake Marina.
The relocated Dow Lookout at the Eagle Lake Marina—December 11, 2021
William Dow first settled near present day Spalding Tract in 1875. Shortly, thereafter his nephew, John Spalding also located there. Dow sold out to Albert Gallatin 1886.
There are a handful of subscribers who will recognize this instantly. On the other spectrum there will be others proverbially “scratching their noggin.”
The region, like most of California is earthquake prone. Actually, on any given week there are small quakes in the region, registering under 3 on the Richter Scale. The tremors are so faint, no one feels them.
However, that was not the case on May 23, 2006, when an earthquake struck the east shore of Lake Almanor at 8:47 p.m. It got everyones attention as it measured 5.7. It was widely felt throughout the region.
In the spring of 1914, a swarm of earthquakes hit the region, a prelude to Lassen Peak’s eruption that May. At the same time, Big Meadows was being flooded to be transformed into Lake Almanor. Many locals believed that was cause of the Lassen Peak eruption.
Notice the information Brown provided for his daughter’s birth.
Back in 1997, I was hired to research a parcel near Pittville on the Lassen-Shasta County line. It became a very convulated affair, and not a pleasant one on my part. However, the early history of the property has an unusual tale.
Delbert Lester Brown (1890-1966) gave this most unusual address of the “Right Hand of God Earthly Father” when his daughter was born in 1924. Brown’s homestead was situated on the bench above Pittville. He located there in 1914, after moving from Lakeview, Oregon. When Brown was digging a well by hand, he reached a point when it was necessary to blast out the rocks with dynamite. Brown set his charges into the well hole and tried to detonate them. Nothing happened, so he crawled into the hole to locate the problem. Brown discovered the charges had become damp. Since there was little light, Brown, with the claw end of a hammer, accidentally struck one of the blasting caps. Luckily, it did not go off. At that moment, Brown decided that the hand of the Lord was on his side and that he must change his ways. After that incident Brown began spreading the gospel and he became widely known as Preacher Brown.
Note: For those interested my broken wrist is improving. Progress is slow but sure, but this year I will not able to do as much cemetery work prior to Memorial Day.
Lake Helen at an elevation of 8,164’ is a popular stopping spot on the loop highway through the park. It was so named for Helen Brodt, the first woman to climb Lassen Peak.
Long before there was any thought given of making Lassen a national park, the area lured summer tourists from the Sacramento Valley to escape that region’s heat. In late August 1864, a camping party consisting of Pierson B. Reading, Kendall Bumpass, S.S. Thomas, and Aurelius and Helen Brodt arrived at Morgan Meadows, to the south of Lassen Peak. On August 28, they made the ascent to the top of the peak. Two weeks later, the Brodts journeyed to Susanville, where Aurelius Brodt wrote to his mother about his journey in the mountains. “Last week Helen and myself climbed and stood upon the very top of Lassen Peak, 11,000 feet above the level of the ocean. It was a thrilling adventure—we walked over ice and snow that had probably been there for centuries—we found a crater in active operation, sending up vast clouds of sulphurous steam making a deafening roar similar to an immense steam engine [Bumpass Hell]. We found a beautiful little lake near the top of the mountain which was named Lake Helen after my wife, she being the first woman that had ever seen it, also her name and date Aug. 28, 1864 is inscribed on the side of a large rock on the very peak, she being the first woman that ever ascended the peak.”
