Antelope Grade on Highway on Highway 139 north leaving Susanville has undergone changes over the years. The grade first came into existence in 1867 when a crude wagon road was constructed. Crude was a very appropriate term. With the increased population growth in Big Valley, the traveling public clamored for improvements to the grade. In the fall of 1878, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors sent a survey crew to plot a new road on the mountain. The county estimated the cost of the new grade at $1,000. Of that amount individuals had already contributed $300 to the cause. The county budgeted $300. The county stated the balance would have come from donations. A campaign to raise the funds from Big Valley and Hayden Hill provided the balance. By the summer of 1879, most of the work was completed, with volunteer labor making up the workforce.

While new grade was superior to the original one, it was still a
narrow, treacherous road. Of course, accidents were a rather common occurrence. In November 1890, for instance, Lewis Knudson was returning to his Willow Creek home accompanied by Dave Thomas. Half way up the grade, they encountered William Brockman’s freight team. Knudson pulled his brand new spring wagon over to the edge of road as safely as possible. As Brockman’s team passed by, it spooked one of Knudson’s horses where the animal bolted and jumped off the grade, dragging the other horse and wagon down the mountain. The sudden jolt, threw Knudson out of the wagon, but fortunately he did not sustain any injuries. However, Dave Thomas was not as lucky. It was not until the wagon crashed into a large boulder that it came to an abrupt stop. At the point of impact, Thomas was thrown from the wagon, his left
shoulder struck a rock and was dislocated.

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In 1863, the Tehama County Board of Supervisors decided to construct operate and maintain a toll road from Red Bluff to Susanville. A convenient location for the toll gate was placed along the Susan River, five miles west of Susanville at Devil’s Corral. In August 1864, Aaron Seaman and Jerry Tyler acting as agents for Tehama County as toll collectors, sued John Packard and Archibald Boyd for a total of $41.25 in toll charges. The toll fees were three cents a head for cattle, twenty-five cents per horseman and fifty cents per wagon. However, the resourceful Honey Lake defendants were able to have the case dismissed. The date of their toll fees for use of the road was in August 1864. They cited that Tehama County could not collect toll fees outside their jurisdiction, since Devil’s Corral was in Lassen County, and this toll road soon folded.

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There are three landmarks named for this individual, a native of New Jersey, but in 1857 became a resident of the Honey Lake Valley, before moving elsewhere in Lassen County. He was also one of the first to move to Honey Lake Heaven aka Pacific Grove, California.

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