Standish School, 1911. Courtesy of Esther McClelland
Yesterday, we explored how Westwood was slow in building a church. Over the mountain at Standish it had a church early on, but did not have a school. However, there were two nearby schools—Bridgeport on Chappuis Lane and Honey Lake at the intersection of Alexander and Lambert Lanes. On December 30, 1905, eleven Standish residents, who had a combined total of 22 school age children petitioned to form a new school district from territory served by Honey Lake School. It was granted.
Standish School, to the far left, teacher Miss Esther Pierce, 1911—Esther McClelland
On Saturday, June 2, 1906 a school bond election for $1,300 was held. All ten voters approved it. That summer the Wilbur Brothers constructed the school. The brothers also built Honey Lake and Missouri Bend schools, each with a distinctive bell tower. In 1950, Honey Lake School was annexed to Standish, due to a lack of students. On July 1, 1951 the residents of Bridgeport, Soldier Bridge and Standish School Districts approved to consolidate and form the Shaffer Unified School District. The Standish School was subsequently closed and torn down in 1967.
Red River Lumber Company’s town of Westwood was fairly well planned, but all the facilities built between 1912-14, a house of worship was not included. This was extremely odd when factoring in that T.B. Walker, founder of Red River was a devout member of the Methodist Church.
The spiritual needs, however, was not completely ignored. In October 1913, the Rev. Robert G. Green, a Methodist minister at Akeley, Minnesota, where Red River operated mill, was recruited to come to Westwood to oversee the social welfare of the community. Green found it to be challenge as to where to hold non-denominational services. Westwood’s first multi-purpose facility
was the Opera House, and it was there where Green delivered his Sunday sermons. One of the problems holding services in the Opera House was that Green had to compete with other parties who wanted to use the building, since it was the only facility dedicated to public gatherings. Green had been informed a church would be built after the Opera House was completed, but that did not happen.
By early 1917, the pressure was on for a church to be built. A committee had organized to solicit donations. They had plans for a building, not only for its seating capacity but that it should have a full basement to provide for a library, kitchen/dining rooms, and other rooms for sociable functions such as Y.M.C.A. meetings. After considerable debate it was determined that ideally the church should seat 600 churchgoers. Once the committee agreed to the building’s size, they were able to calculate the cost. They estimated a price tag of $8,700—with lumber the most expensive item at $4,000. The committee had secured $3,000 in pledges and pressure was placed on Red River on its “stingy” spending for its employees. Red River was also learning the hard way in a critical labor market, that to retain workers and their families concessions had to be made. Red River finally obliged.
In the summer of 1917 the church project moved forward with Red River donating the lumber and labor. The site selected was at 500 Cedar Street, which Rev. Green described as a rock pile strewn with empty beer and whiskey bottles. By November 1917 the new church was completed. Initially, it was a church with no name. Since it would serve the needs of variety denominations it was named The People’s Church. On Sunday May 19, 1918 dedication ceremonies were held with Dr. John Wilson, District Superintendent of the California-Nevada Methodist Conference officiating.
Someone deserves bonus points for creativity thinking out of the box for this social event—a Waist Social. That is correct, waist as in the human figure and not waste as in rubbish. To attend the function at Susanville’s United Methodist Church, the admission fee was probably the most unique I have ever come across in all my years of research and this was clever. To gain admission, a person’s waist was measured, for every inch cost one cent.
The entertainment was noteworthy, too. One feature was a “colored” wedding, wherein James Crawford was the bride, James Compton, the groom and Maynard Buckles as the minister. All this hi-jinx was done in part to welcome the Rev. D.D. Edwards, the new minister of the Methodist Church in October 1926.
Just over Diamond Mountain from the Richmond/Susanville area, is Indian Valley in neighboring Plumas County. Those residents of that valley played an important part in the early history on this side of the mountain.
After all, one of Indian Valley’s earliest resident was Peter Lassen. In 1855, Lassen and his companions found gold on this side of the mountain. The next spring when news leaked out, many a miner traveled up Lights Creek and then down Diamond Mountain on what became known as Gold Run. A number of Indian Valley residents migrated over the mountain and became permanent residents.
The traffic on the road via Gold Run to Indian Valley, did not diminish after the minor gold rush peaked. In the 1880s, Susanville’s first telephone line paralleled that route. By 1920, with the development of Engel Mine, near Taylorsville the road witnessed a lot of usage, many of the miners were from the Susanville region and would return on weekends. By the late 1920s, the mine was past its glory days, and the subsequent development of Westwood and Highway 36, travel diminished over the route.
It has been ten years to the day when the Lassen County Hall of Justice was dedicated. However, first some background. In 1997, the California Legislature passed the Trial Court Funding Act. In essence, the state would take over the courts, where in the past it was a county function. In Lassen County the transition was slow.
In early 2000s, planning began on a separate facility for the Lassen County courts. There was debate as to where to build it. The site selected was on Riverside Drive. When the $38.9 million building was completed it was the most expensive public works project in Lassen County.
The original superior courtroom in the Lassen County Courthouse remained intact, and used primarily for ceremonial functions. Once the current courthouse renovation project is completed it will become the meeting room for the Lassen County Board of Supervisors.
In August of 1911, fourteen men in the Standish area gathered to form the Standish Promotion Bureau. It was a very short lived organization. Their one and only goal was to convince the Southern Pacific officials to have their Fernely & Lassen Branch line be built through Standish. This was an uphill battle since the railroad line had already been surveyed to the north of Standish. The bureau had a slate of officers towit: E.F. Koken, President; B.F. Gibson, Vice President; E.H. Doyle, Treasurer and J.H. Elledge, Treasurer.
Things did not go well and in the spring of 1912, things unraveled. Instead of convincing railroad officials to change their mind, Gibson suggested to the bureau that they should move Standish to his ranch where the rail line would be built. Needless to say it was not a pleasant meeting. Gibson resigned. Add insult to injury, when word emerged that Gibson was working with Los Angeles promoter, B.E. Jackson on a proposed townsite on the Gibson property, when the bureau organized. There was no reason to continue with their mission, the bureau disbanded.
Version Two is the earliest published account of Papoose. It was composed by E.R. Dodge in 1881, fifteen years after the event. It appeared in Farris & Smiths Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties—1882.
In June 1866, Joseph Hall of Susanville was looking for horses some ten miles west of town. He unexpectedly came across an encampment of Indians from Pit River, Indian and Honey Lake Valleys. It was his opinion that the Pit River Indians were selling ammunition to the latter to engage in conflicts with the settlers. Hall returned to Susanville to report what he saw. William Dow, who had been fishing at Pine Creek, noted, that he too saw an encampment of Indians. The next day, Dow, E.V. Spencer, B.B. Gray, Charles Drum and Joseph Hall left in pursuit of fleeing the Indians. After tracking the Indians for several days they found them at the south end of Eagle Lake in a little valley known today as Papoose. In being late in the day, the five men camp for the night. At daybreak the next morning they stormed the camp with their revolvers killing ten Indians, with one escaping injured. The men rounded up the Indian’s horses along with ammunition they found there and returned to Susanville.
During the summer of 1926 Susanville was full of energy preparing for the upcoming State American Legion Convention. There were lots of fundraising activities to be had. After all, the local post thought the cost for being host would be around $5,000. In June, they had raised $3,000.
One fund raising venue was the construction of an open air dance pavilion. On Saturday night, July 10, 1926 the grand opening dance was held. Glen Tout’s orchestra furnished the music, with its slogan “Pep to Every Step.” There was certainly a lot pep in those steps as the Tout orchestra played its final tune on Sunday morning at 4:45 a.m. The dances continued every Saturday night through the summer.
Finally, it should be noted, the local legion post ended up with a $4,000 debt after the convention. On the bright side, not only was Susanville put on the map, but the attendees spread the word of the royal treatment they received from the community throughout the state.
While in the past I have focused a lot on Leon Bly’s Eagle Lake project. There was an aspect that I have neglected. For the farmers of the Tule Irrigation District a lot of infrastructure was in place for the distribution of water. For those in the Baxter Creek Irrigation District it was a bit more problematic to deliver the water to the other side of the valley. A redwood siphon was constructed to carry the water from Willow Creek over the Susan River. Then a canal was constructed along Bald Mountain to Baxter Creek where a diversion dam was placed to distribute the water.
Susan River, 1935 — Lola L. Tanner
In early April 1935, over one hundred feet of the siphon broke at the Susan River crossing. It was a devastating blow to the Baxter Creek Irrigation District. Cost estimates to repair the siphon was around $50,000, money the district did not have or could not have raised. The district eventually went into bankruptcy and dissolved in 1952. As to the siphon, many of the ranchers slowly dismantled it for the wood for building and fencing.
On January 21, 1885, the Susanville Hose Company No. 1 was organized to become the town’s first official fire department. The officers consisted of C.M. Stoll, foreman, A.E. Blum, secretary and Henry Bereman as Treasurer. Besides the initial officers eighteen men comprised the company. The volunteer firemen met weekly for practice sessions with the hose cart.
They were initially a ambitious lot. In July 1885 they held their first election for commissioners and David Knoch, Noble McKinsey and Hiram Skadan were elected. On June 6, 1887.the commissioners held. special election to levy for an $500 assessment for the purchase of additional equipment. It was approved 71 to 3.
In the fall of 1891, the company sought to acquire a permanent home. On November 19 they purchased a lot from James P. Keener on Lassen County, which is now the current site of Susanville’s City Hall. A fire hall was built with a fifty-foot bell tower, becoming the town’s tallest landmark. It was designed specifically that way so when the bell was rung it could be heard throughout the town.
Like all volunteer organizations they have their peaks and valleys, but the organization continued for several decades when it would reorganized as the Susanville Volunteer Fire Department.
