Category Archives: History

History

Placer Mining, Honey Lake Valley

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Honey Lake Valley, 1898–Betty B. Deal

Placer mining in the Honey Lake Valley was short-lived and mainly confined to the 1850s. It should be noted that the gold discoveries of the 1850s were of placer nature—gold nuggets found in streams and ravines. When Peter Lassen and Company discovered gold in Hills Creek in 1855, they constructed a ditch to assist in their efforts. By the end of June they had to abandon their work when the creek went dry. By 1856 with a major influx of miners in the region, they would experience the same, and placer mining was a spring time occupation.

In August 1858, Quincy’s Plumas Argus reported on this condition. “We are informed that everything is quiet at Honey Lake. A silver mine is being opened there.  Several companies are at work on the vein, which has been known to exist for several years, although nothing definite is yet known as to the extent or richness. Placer diggings have been discovered near the lake that are known to be good. If they had water on them they would pay from ten to twenty dollars per day to the hand, but there is no capital there to invest in ditch property.”

By 1859, placer mining in the area had ended as quickly as it began., since the easy pickings had been done. The focus would turn to lode operations, i.e., hard rock extraction.

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History

Granite Creek Station, Nevada

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Andrew Litch—Erma Haley

This was a short-lived station on the Nobles Emigrant Trail. It was located a few miles east of present day Gerlach, Nevada. During the 1850s, stations/trading post along Nobles were few and far between. This was particularly the case through the Smoke Creek and Black Rock Deserts. A lot of this was attributed to hostilities between the Indians and Anglos, which culminated into the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.

This changed in the early 1860s with the discovery of the Humboldt mines that created such towns as Star City and Unionville. With the increased traffic on the route, Lucius Arcularius and Andrew Litch saw a lucrative opportunity to establish an outpost at Granite Creek in 1862.

In early March 1865, Arcularius left Granite Creek for a trip to Susanville.  He did not make it very far, being ambushed by Indians only several miles to west of Granite Creek. When he was a no show in Susanville, a posse went in search and found his body covered by brush, his clothing removed. Arcularius’ body was brought back to Susanville for burial.

A few weeks later, Litch needed to leave the Granite Creek Station to handle some of his late partner’s affairs. Litch recruited A.J. Curry, Cyrus Creele and Al Simmons. Some time around April 1, 1865 witnessed what was referred to as the “Granite Creek Butchery”.  All three men stationed at Granite Creek were slain by the Indians and the station burned down.  A complete account can be found in Asa Fairfield’s Pioneer History of Lassen County.  Litch would relocate in the Honey Lake Valley, where he remained until 1883, when he moved to Reno, though he retained his ranch, where his daughter and son-in-law Clara and B.F. Gibson would reside.

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History

Hat Creek Power

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Hat Creek No. 1
Hat Creek Powerhouse No. 1, 1921. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner

The Red River Lumber Company operated many enterprises and it still as an influence concerning electricity to many residents of the region. From time to time when the Susanville area has a power outage, many times there will be a reference to the Hat Creek line. So you may ponder how did Hat Creek come to be? Continue reading Hat Creek Power →

History

End of an Era

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Westwood Stage, 1914—Roy Rea

The old fashioned iconic symbol of the American West, the stagecoach would soon suddenly disappear during the time Red River constructed its company town of Westwood, that took an initial two year to build from  1912-14. It was truly a remarkable era with the automobile overtaking the horse and buggy era. Westwood evoked the modern era. A new town with electricity, sewer system and a department store, that would take decades for the neighboring communities to implement such “modern day conveniences.”

A year after the above photograph was taken, the horse drawn stagecoach was replaced with the “auto-stage” a large touring car. In 1916, the voters of California passed a $16 million bond measure to begin the construction of a state highway system.

Brochure of the Mt. Lassen Transit Company, Red Bluff, circa 1920. Courtesy of Margaret A. Purdy

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History

The Sagebrush War Simplified

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Roop's Fort
Roop’s Fort, 1940s

From time to time, I am asked about the Sagebrush War. While there are various accounts that go into great detail—even one person wrote a thesis about it—I will provide a simple version.  The conflict also known as the Boundary War which was the result of John C. Fremont’s selection in 1850 of the 120th Meridian for California’s eastern boundary. The problem was no one knew where that was, and assumed it followed the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the late 1850s, with the settlement of the Honey Lake Valley, officials of both California and the Nevada Territory, saw the uncollected tax dollars waiting to be had. Tensions escalated wherein an armed conflict on February 15, 1863 from the two states took place at Roop’s old trading post, in Susanville, which became dubbed as Roop’s Fort, but also known as Fort Defiance. In the end a truce was called when both sides agreed to conduct a boundary line survey to locate the 120th Meridian, in which it was determined the majority of the Honey Lake Valley was located in California. The outcome for the Honey Lakers was a draw, while they failed to become a part of Nevada, they at least prevailed with  the creation of Lassen County.

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History

Old Lucy

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Old Lucy
Old Lucy

On September 29, 1929 Old Lucy a colorful character on the streets of Susanville passed away, purportedly at the age of 125. While she best known as Old Lucy, she also had another Anglo name, Sally Norman. Dubbed a “picturesque” Native American of the era, she was a familiar sight as she ambled about Susanville, bundled up in numerous clothes, walking with the aid of a stick. People who knew her back in the 1870s considered her old back then. While her age was exaggerated when she died, documents placed her age at around 100.

She had a son Billy. Billy Norman who died in 1948 and there is a spring on the Susanville Indian Rancheria known as Billy Norman Spring.

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History

Lassen County Pioneer Society

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Seated Left to Right: Robert Johnston, Loyal Woodstock, Frank S. Strong, William H. Jenison, Frank Thomas, Alexander T. Arnold and Eber G. Bangham.

Standing Left to Right: John Garrett, Wright P. Hall, John Davis, Abraham L. Tunison, Ephraim V. Spencer, William B. Long, Thomas Montgomery and Dr. R.F. Moody.  Photograph circa 1892.

This was a very short lived organization. In 1882 brought an awareness of the area’s early history with the publication of History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, California. On February 14, 1882 a group of gentlemen gathered at the Johnston & Wood Hall in Susanville. The purpose of the gathering was the formation of a pioneer society. Twenty-four of the earliest settlers of the Honey Lake Valley attended. Dr. H.S. Borrette who gave the opening statement stated the purpose of a pioneer society was to perpetuate and cement the friendships of the long-ago.

At the conclusion of the meeting, E.V.  Spencer, W.H. Crane and Marcus Chamberlain were selected to organize the society. On March 4, 1882, the first meeting of the Lassen County Pioneer Society was held. Membership was open to any male citizen who was born or settled within the territory now comprising Lassen County prior to July 1, 1860. Annual dues were set at $2.50. The Society had a total of forty-five charter members. It was the intent to hold an annual meeting on the first day of June at Susanville.  That never happened.

It is not known why the above photograph was taken. All but two featured would have been eligible to join the Society. Those two were John Garrett who came in 1862 and Dr. R.F. Moody who arrived in 1861.

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History

The Sage Brush Press

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The Sage Brush
The June 2, 1866 issue of The Sage Brush measured only 6 inches by 12 inches and was printed only on one side.

In my opinion, which does not seem hold much weight, I was rather impressed by the fact that in 1892 four newspapers were published in Lassen County. Lassen County only had a population of 4,400, so there were more jack rabbits than people. Those four newspapers were: Amedee Geyser at Amedee, Mountain Tribune in Bieber and the Lassen Advocate and Lassen Weekly Mail both published in Susanville. However, it was short-lived as the Amedee Geyser went bankrupt in 1893.

This would occur a second time after the establishment of Westwood. The four newspapers co-existed until 1939, when the Lassen Advocate purchased the Lassen Mail. The general populace was well informed then. Sadly, today there are no newspapers.

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History

Red River’s 1917 Logging Season

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This map was recorded in official records of Lassen County indicating where Red River would log in 1917.

The 1917 logging season for the Red River Lumber Company was somewhat different than previous years. After all, it should be duly noted the majority of its logging was focused on its contract with the Great Western Power Company to log and clear Big Meadows of timber to make way for its new reservoir Lake Almanor.

Now with that obligation out of the way, Red River began logging its timber just adjacent to Westwood. Red River planned to increase its output by logging 150 million board feet in 1917 versus that of 137 million the previous year. This, of course, reflected the demand for lumber with wars ravaging Europe and elsewhere. This undertaking required operating five logging camps and building some twenty-five miles of railroad spur lines.

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History

Postcards of the Past

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Susanville, 1916—Hazel Moller

A century ago, sending a postcard was a quick, convenient way to send someone a note, whether to let know relatives they made it to their destination safely, etc. Something akin to today’s email.  What made a lot of postcards of the past were the image could be quite unique. When one had their film developed, they could have their images printed on postcard size stock, ready to send. The above photograph is a perfect example. It was not a professional postcard, just a picture someone took to send to their friend.

Reno Rodeo, 1926

The above professional postcard of the Reno Rodeo, is a family treasure of sorts. It was sent in April 1926 by my grandfather, Ira Purdy, to his wife, Margaret in Sacramento. Ira wrote, “leaving Reno for Susanville to look for work.” When Ira arrived in Susanville, he found employment as a mechanic for Doyle-Hunsinger Ford dealership and where they spent the rest of their lives. It was one of the few paper trails they left.

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