In 1870, Frank Eben Horne settled in the eastern section of the Madeline Plains, and became one of the first settlers of that region. Horne retired from the ranch in 1905, and moved to Auburn, Califoria. He had turned over the ranch to his sons, and due to some poor judgement lost the ranch in 1927.
There is a very small cemetery on the property, and for whatever unknown reason I neglected to transcribe the headstones. I will have to put that on my todo list this summer.
Before there was the town of Doyle, the place was best known as a stage stop named Willow Ranch. The J.M. Stienberger operated Willow Ranch from 1879 to 1898 when they sold and moved to Reno.
The Lassen Advocate newspaper of October 17, 1889 published this description of Willow Ranch: “For the many years that the traveling public were wont to go between Susanville and Reno by stage, the foregoing title was a talisman to them for they knew, by experience or report—that a good meal and entertaining host and hostess, would make their stay there one to be remembered with pleasure. Mr. and Mrs. Stienberger did not, originally, perhaps to expect to combine a wayside inn with their farming enterprise, but as people who know of the pleasure of stopping with them insisted on being entertained whether or not they finally decided to do their best to entertain all who came, and well have they succeeded.
”Of course since the NCO Railroad has been completed northward from their place there has not been so much travel by teams, but still there is some.
”It’s not many years since their house stood by the roadside without foilage or green shrub to cheer and enliven the weary traveler, but now the dwelling lot is a graced by a front line of cork elm, maple and a variety of shade trees to lend an air of neatness and comfort to the whole place. This season, they have with the profits from their house and farm, built and added to their former house on such an extensive and substantial scale that they may now feel that in the years to come they may enjoy as comfortable and convenient a home as anyone in the county.”
On June 18, 1864, the County of Lassen purchased Block 22, in Susanville for $100 from Isaac Roop. It was the only block on the south side of Main Street that was not subdivided into lots. It should be noted that many lots on Main Street sold for more than $100. In many ways it was a fair price. It did contain a stipulation that should the county no longer use it for a courthouse that the property would revert to Roop or his heirs. This was not unusual, as a number of school properties such as Lake and Willow Creek contained such stipulations, but when those properties were no longer used for their original purpose the stipulation was ignored. However, in the late 1970s Lassen County acquired property on North Mesa Street, in Susanville, as a possible new County complex site. When the courthouse stipulation was revealed it brought about some palace intrigue, especially since heirs of Roop still resided in the community. However, the Mesa Street proposal would be abandoned, thus ending that debate. The county could have challenged that stipulation and would have won, because Roop never owned the property in the first place. More about that later.
In March 1926 work began on the construction of a American Legion Memorial Building in Susanville, located across from Lassen Union High School. On Sunday April 18, 1926 a cornerstone ceremony was held. The stone made of native granite was carved with the American Legion emblem and bore the inscription sponsored by the Thomas Tucker Post No. 204. It was a simple ceremony. A time capsule was placed that included copies of both local newspapers, names of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, and of course, a list of members of the local Legion and. Auxiliary posts.
No doubt this winter there are many fire officials having discussions about last year’s horrendous fires. During the winter of 1924-25 Fruit Growers Supply Company officials plotted out a new course of fire prevention after a brutal forest fire season.
In 1925 Fruit Growers adopted a new method, building a series of fire lanes. The fire lanes were 100 feet wide and completely void of vegetation, each encircling 100-acre sections of timber. They were formed by a specialV-drag hooked to a 60-Caterpillar tractor which could clear up to six miles of fire lines a day. The lanes not only served as firebreaks, but provided quick access in an emergency.
During the fire season, two crews of eight to ten men worked as fire prevention team. It was their job to build fire lines, oversee brush and slash piling, remove dead snags and maintain the company’s private telephone lines. Telephone “boxes” were attached throughout the forest, allowing for daily monitoring between the logging camps and the mill. The telephone system was also used to report fire or an accident when medical aid was needed.
By the end of 1932, the 178 miles of fire lanes constructed over 26,000 acres had proved very effective. Even though three of the. seven years it took to build them were critical fire years, only 53 acres burned. From 1925 to1940, prevention cost $40,373.54, fire fighting only $7,546.65. During World War II the construction of fire lanes was abandoned.
In 1876, William S. Davis purchased the Hazzard Webster place at the north end of Eagle Lake—known to many as the old Stone Ranch. Davis made numerous improvements to the property, including the construction of a two-story house, as the place served as stage stop for travelers along this route.
In 1878, his thirteen-year-old nephew, Frank Davis spent the summer at Eagle Lake. In his memoirs he wrote: “I like to remember my first look at Eagle Lake when I went by stage to visit Uncle Will. As we came up out of the valley, the stage coach crossed a little ridge and started downgrade to the lake. There is suddenly was, all spread out before us! The lake was covered with whitecaps because it was in the afternoon, and there was a great white cloud covering the hillside from the top and drifting down to the edge of the lake. ‘See the goats are coming in for the night,’ said Uncle Will with a sweeping gesture.
“I looked again and discovered the great white cloud that blended the scene from the clouds in the sky above to the margin of the lake and seemed to blend with the white-capped surface of the water was actually about 2700 head of white Angora goats. Uncle was raising them for their silky hair, which was in much demand for the fine fur felt used in quality hats, and woven fabrics.”
”The ranch house had originally been a log cabin when Uncle Will first bought it. He made it a complete two-story building, adding more rooms, plastering the interior rooms and covering the outside with bevelled siding. Made quite a pretty place by the time he finished it.”
After Davis sold he moved to Susanville. A for a time he was in charge of the bar and office of the Steward House. He remained in Susanville and died in 1908.
On a quarterly basis, I ask you the reader, if there is something you would like to learn more about or maybe its something you heard, but question its validity. So here is an opportunity to participate. I will do my best to answer any questions. It should be noted, it may take awhile for the answer to appear as a post. The primary reason, many of the daily posts are done nearly a month in advance. So by the time you read this I am already working on posts for the middle of May, or at least I should be. Whatever the case may be, I look forward to hearing from you. Of course, it should be noted that paid subscribers requests receive priority. In addition, you can always send a request at any time.
P.S. – I am working on the Jeremiah Wood family request, some how unfortunately, it got misplaced in the shuffle, so to speak.
On April 13, 2021, it was announced that the State of California intends to shut down the California Correctional Center at Susanville by June 30, 2022. Will the community fight again, like when the State announced the closure of the prison, only nine years after it opened?
Shortly after the state made the announcement to close the CCC in 1972, the community fought back. On December 13, 1972 the Save Our Center campaign was launched. State Director of Corrections Ray Procunier stated that the California Conservation Center (name later changed to Correctional) near Susanville was to be closed effective April 1, 1973. Procunier cited a decline of the inmate population by 4,000. In doing so it would eliminate 270 jobs. Procunier stated, “The cutting off of that payroll is to have an impact of the economy of that community, but Susanville is not the best location in the world for a correctional institution because of its remoteness.”
The campaign was successful. Will another movement form again? Time will tell what will happen next.
Prior to the construction of Highway 36 which changed the west entrance into Susanville, civic leaders complained about the street appearance first entering the town and/or leaving. The problem spot was the 500 block between Pine and Roop Streets. There was an unsightly berm in the middle of the street. In 1922, the west entrance was changed to South Pine Street, and with the paving of Main Street, the problem fixed.
This is a topic while I have addressed it in the past, its appropriate to bring it back to life for new readers and refresher for those seasoned ones. As we explore Lassen’s lumber industry’s past, there are references to the volume of a million board feet (mbf). During the 1920s, the lumber mills of Lassen County had an average annual output of 250 million board feet of lumber. That is a lot of lumber.
George Cone, who worked in the Lumber Division of Fruit Growers provided this definition using that mill’s output for the 1922 season at 62 million board feet. If it was placed on a single freight train, that train would extend eighteen miles. And since it took 6,000 board feet of lumber to build an ordinary house in those days, Cone figured that the 1922 output could build 60,000 houses. According to Cone, with an average household consisting of five persons, this production could provide the housing needs of 300,000 people!