The Lake Cemetery is located four miles southeast of Janesville and is the oldest graveyard in Lassen County. The first burial was that of Charles Crawford who died on May 21, 1858 from wounds inflicted during an Indian skirmish. The second internment was that of the Frenchmen Harry Gordier who was murdered in late April 1858, but his body was not recovered until early June.
In February 1864, Thomas H. Epley and his family settled on 160 acres of land which the cemetery is located. Thomas and Mary Epley buried three of their children there: Guy who died May 3, 1870, Alvan, died January 28, 1872 and Pearl died June 30, 1872. Internments were infrequent and appeared to have discontinued by the 1880s.
In March 1916, Lassen County historian, Asa M. Fairfield appeared before the Lassen County Board of Supervisors who requested the cemetery be fenced. The county obliged. It should be noted the cemetery is on private property.
Secret Valley CCC Camp, 1938—Courtesy Special Collections, UC Davis
It was on this day in 1935 that the Secret Valley Civilian Conservation Corp Camp opened some thirty-five miles northeast of Susanville. One hundred and sixty-one young men arrived on a special 14-car train. The men came from New York and New Jersey. It as reported that it was quite a shock for them seeing this new environment of sagebrush and sand. On the other hand, they quickly adjusted to their new home. The majority of their work consisted of range development.
Minckler came to the Honey Lake Valley from his native Wisconsin and settled near present day Standish in 1872, with his grandmother, Hannah Lax, and his mother, Mary Kelley. It should be noted that he never met his half-brother Elbern Kelley who drowned in Honey Lake in 1863 at the age of 9. Minckler was a civil engineer for nearly thirty-five years. The position of county surveyor in Minckler’s lifetime was an elected one. He was elected twice, first in 1882, and again in 1890. Among the projects Minckler did in the private sector was that of Ward Lake, Hall’s Addition and Lassen Townsite, which is a huge subdivision from Richmond Road extending all the way past present day Plumas Bank to San Francisco Street—that location better known for a farmer’s market during the summer months.
In the Lassen Townsite subdivision a street was named after him, as were many of the investors, such as Alexander, Knoch, and Pardee. Its probably a good thing for Minckler, since there is no marker for his grave in the Susanville Cemetery. Those very seasoned residents of Susanville might remember when the Susanville Branch of the Lassen County Free Library was in a small building next to Susanville’s City Hall on North Lassen Street. That structure was originally Minckler’s office building.
Minckler’s survey crew to enlarge the Buggytown ditch near Johnstonville, 1889. It is better known today as in intake channel for Leavitt Lake. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal
Last summer, in one of those “Where are We” segments was Camp Harvey. While I provided details about the old railroad. logging camp, I neglected to state why the old water is even in existence. When the Fruit Growers Supply Company abruptly shutdown the camp in the spring of 1949, they were in hurry to move the portable buildings to a new location. The days of railroad logging and their counterpart camps were quickly fading on the horizon. Fruit Growers had reached an agreement with Shasta Forest, who managed the property for the heirs of the Red River Lumber Company, that they could take their time in removing the structures. Most all of the logging cabins and related structures were removed in 1952. It was mutually agreed to keep the water tank tower with its 10,000 gallon redwood water tank, along with the pumping house and pipes in place for fire protection.
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A Mastadoln find at the Lassen County Road Department’s Standish Pit—R.F. Davis
The area from Standish-Litchfield fanning out towards Honey Lake and Wendel from time to time has unearthed a number of prehistoric dinosaur bones. In 1923, Fred Williams was examining the newly constructed Eagle Lake ditch for the Bly project spotted a large twenty-two pound bone. It was later determined that it was a prehistoric mastodon bone.
The Lassen County’s Road Department Standish Pit has witnessed over the years a number of of prehistoric bones. The specimens in turn were donated to the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley. J.H. Hutchison of the museum informed the county that finds of mastodons are fairly rare.
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This is a 1985 book by Eric N. Moody (6×9, softcover, 121 pages) I have four used copies at $25. each on a first come, first served basis.
For those not familiar Flanigan was a small railroad community in eastern Honey Lake Valley, on the Nevada side. One of the items that made it unique was the crossing of the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroads.
Flanigan
The townsite was plotted in 1913 by real estate promoters from Oakland, California. The Honey Lake Valley was a realtors dream come true in this era with so many promising developments taking place with the construction of two railroads, irrigation reclamation projects and the Red River Lumber Company’s construction of a lumber town to provide a local market for some many items. It would be one of many boom and boost cycles for Flanigan and today not much remains there.
Flanigan, 1976, courtesy of Christopher Moody
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This was an interesting Lassen County measure presented to the voters in the 2002 General Election. Simply put it asked the voters to rezone 2400 acres in the Belfast area of the Honey Lake Valley to “Mountain Resort.” Like so many grandiose plans for Belfast, this envisioned a wide range of recreational amenities. Top on list was a 18 hole golf course along with such outdoor recreational facilities such as a grassed football stadium, soccer field, baseball field, skateboard park, frisbee gold course, paintball park, a year round rifle range, pistol range, Skeet and Trap range, BMX track, fishing ponds and lakes. All this done without taxpayer dollars. The final vote Yes=3910 (52.90%) to NO=3481 (47.10%).
Dan McClane (left) and J.S. Underwood, Juniper Mine superintendent, at Hayden Hill, 1918.
Dan McClane was one of many interesting characters to inhabit the mining community of Hayden Hill. McClane was born in 1815 in Scotland, making him the second oldest miner there—the town’s namesake Joseph W. Hayden was a year older.
McClane’s first career was the open seas traveling much of the world. In early 1850s he came to California and settled in Solano County, where he first developed an interest in ranching, then in time mining.
Reports when he came to Hayden Hill vary, though most place it in 1877 during the town’ second mining boom. At that time, there was a large influx of prospectors from Napa and Solano counties. It should be noted he married Mary Shepherd in Modoc County in 1874. The following year, at the age of 59 he became a father, and from this marriage a total of 11 children were born to them. Some of the children were born at Hayden Hill and others at Round Mountain, Shasta County.
Round Valley Reservoir, and the surrounding terrain that McClane traversed in 1916..
In the late spring of 1916, Dan McClane and Clarence Williams set off on horseback on a prospecting trip. It does not appear on the face that remarkable, until you examine the ages of two men–Williams, 36 and McClane 101. That is correct a hundred year old man prospecting on horseback. The duo left the Williams Ranch in Willow Creek Valley, now owned by Five Dot and first ventured to look at the abandoned mines of adjacent Round Valley. From there they went all the way to the top of Green’s Peak looking for the fabled “Grabel’s hole.” The Grabel was a rich lode, that falls into the category of the lost mine tales. They then ventured down to Rongstock Canyon, back up and over to Papoose Meadows and numerous crooks and crannies along the way. Then back over Gallatin Peak and back to Willow Creek Valley. In all, Williams estimated they traveled nearly forty miles that day.
McClane kept up with his forays and he passed away in 1920 at age of 119 in San Mateo County.
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Tunnel No. 2, Susan River Canyon, 1915—-D.M. Durst Collection.
A few days ago, I wrote about a freak accident during the construction of Tunnel No. 1 of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad in the Susan River Canyon. In September 1913, tragedy struck with the construction of nearby Tunnel No. 2.
On the morning on September 11, 1913 the roof caved in sending a mass of rock debris wherein it claimed the life of J.J. Painter an engineer for the railroad. Two other men, M. Arbuckly and W.H. Robinson sustained major injuries. There were other men in the tunnel at the time of the collapse, but they were able to escape without injury. This was the first of two fatalities to occur during construction of the railroad through the Susan River Canyon.
1927 holiday greeting card from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office. Left to Right, Sheriff Jim Leavitt, Deputy Tom Massey and Deputy A.C. “Cass” Hunsinger.
The summer of 1916 were lively times in the region. However, the region’s newspapers also reported on some mundane items. As the Lassen Weekly Mail reported in August 1916 that were no inmates in the Lassen County Jail and that Deputy Sheriff J.S. Church main duties were reduced to swatting flies in the building.
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