Jacob McKissick Ranch, Long Valley, 1903. Courtesy of PhilipS. Hall
The early day argonauts of the 1840s and 1850s were a hardy lot. First you had to be tough both mentally and physically to make the overland journey, or you perished along the way, like some did. When gold was discovered in California that was a very appealing lure to many to make the journey west.
For others, it was opportunity to start a new life, because of past actions haunted a person. There were other indidivuals when they came West became very influential residents, even they had left behind them a shady background. Jacob McKissick, fondly referred to as Uncle Jake settled in Long Valley in 1859. Prior to that he had resided in Iowa. McKissick in time would become one of the largest stockmen in Lassen & Washoe Counties. In 1898, he returned to his old stomping grounds in Iowa. When McKissick lived in Iowa, he was in an altercation that led to a man’s death, but was not charged at the time. In 1898, the dead man’s partner recognized McKissick and had murder charges brought against him. McKissick was acquitted. There are countless tales such as this. For instance, John Sutter, the founder of Sacramento, fled his native Switzerland before criminal charges were filed on him.
The Buntingville Breeze was one of those short-lived parody publications. When it made its debut in May 1899 the editor went by the non-deplume Spot Cash Sockettuem. The following issue revealed the editor’s identity as Mike Phillips, the town’s only merchant. It never survived long enough for a third issue as Phillips closed his Buntingville store and opened a new one in Standish.
June 6, 1914 burning of Bunnell’s-Courtesy of Holly Blackburn
In 1867, Luther Wellington “Wells” Bunnell relocated from Butt Valley in Plumas to nearby Big Meadows, known today as Lake Almanor. One of his distant neighbors was Dr. Willard Pratt, who opened the first hotel in Big Meadows which was met with great success. After all, those who could escape ever so briefly in the summer months from the Sacramento Valley, flocked to places like Big Meadows to escape the heat, after all this pre-air conditioner times.
For thirty-eight years Bunnells became a well known resort. Changes were on the horizon, especially with the Great Western Power Company who had entered the picture in 1901 with plans to transform Big Meadows into a massive reservoir as part of its hydroelectric power system. On April 11, 1906, Bunnell entered into an agreement to sell his place for to Great Western Power for $35,000. He moved to Susanville the following year and for a brief time the power company used the resort, now closed to the public as their headquarters. With the dam nearing completion and the flooding of Big Meadows to become a reality, on the evening of June 6, 1914 all the buildings at Bunnells were set ablaze for demolition.
The ‘annex” at Bunnell’s – Courtesy of Holly Blackburn
A view of Pike’s Point, Eagle Lake, circa 1917. Courtesy of Wyn Wachhorst
How and why it was so named, I do not know. The earliest reference to it being referred to as Pikes Point was in 1920. Anyhow, I thought some people would like to see the difference from Eagle Lake’s high and low water levels, though from two different angles. By they way, most people identify the site as the Eagle Lake Marina at the south shore of the lake.
Piked Point and the south shore of Eagle Lake, November 9, 1941 – Courtesy of Hank Martinez
The 1945 forest fire season was a busy one, but acreage was minimal comparison to other years. The McClure Forest Fire was the largest in Lassen County for that year. The fire was spotted at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, September 2, 1945, just south of Big Jacks Lake. It spread quickly, fanned by hot dry winds. As the Fruit Growers Supply Company had two railroad logging camps in the area—Harvey and Stanford—with in no time they had 750 men on the fire line. The Lassen National Forest dispatched a crew of 50. Three days later the fire was contained. In all, 5440 acres was consumed, 4000 of which was virgin timber.
During the reorganization of Red River in the early 1930s, it was only a matter of time that bank issue once again would be scrutinized. On June 6, 1934, Clinton questioned how the bank operated: “As to the Westwood National Bank, I feel that this should be run as a bank and not as a subsidiary financial department of Red River. I think that the Bank board of directors should direct the policy and business of the bank and that the finance committee of the bank should pass on loans and these be on the merits of the loan and not from the standpoints of its convenience of Red River.”
Clinton’s concerns were confirmed when investigations were conducted on the bank’s affairs. It was disclosed that certain family members used the bank to obtain dubious loans, which would not have been approved by a regular bank. For instance, a loan was made to finance a portion of the construction of the Walker-Hovey railroad in Modoc County, which was being bailed out by the same time by the government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
These events allowed Clinton to move forward on his case to dissolve the Westwood National Bank. Clinton cited it was an ill conceived venture as no one in the Walker family had any banking expertise. While it was agreed to dispose of the bank, that was easier said than done. After all bank failures were a common occurrence across the nation, so it was not the best time to put a bank on the market. It was even suggested they could sale it to the residents of Westwood. One of the obstacles to sale the bank was Willis, who also served as the bank’s president. After two years of stalling by Willis, it was decided to put Wellington Henderson (Clinton’s son-in-law) in charge. Wellington, it should be noted had banking experienced as he had worked for Bank of America. On September 18, 1936 Willis made the announcement that the Westwood National Bank reached an agreement with the Bank of America for the sale of the bank. Willis stated “This sale brings an affiliation for our local bank that will enable us to render an even greater service to the local community. Our bank will become a branch of the state-wide institution in the near future. The local officers and staff will remain.” While the bank building has long since been demolished, the concrete vault still remains, a testament to better times.
This was no ordinary bank, but then the Red River Lumber Company was not an ordinary operation either. Red River wanted to capture as much of its employee payroll at Westwood, as possible. This was no small sum, with an average monthly payroll of $350,000. Red River was able to retain a majority of the payroll being returned in the form of rent payments, the costs of necessities of life such groceries and other amenities purchased from its company stores.
The Big Store, noted for have everything under one roof, served as a de-facto bank. It was one of few places were employees could cash their payroll checks. In one instance this seemed like a good business maneuver, with an employee having plenty of cash in his pocket might splurge on something in the Big Store after cashing his check. With 2,000 employees cashing their checks, the Big Store was insufficient to handle the volume. A number of employees found that method disagreeable and began doing their banking by mail. It was the latter that concerned Red River watching their money going into someone else hands.
Fletcher Walker, the resident manager, came up with a solution. Why not go into the banking business, after all except for the mortuary, they controlled every aspect of Westwood. Of course, this met with opposition from T.B. and Gilbert Walker, as it was nothing related to the lumber business.
In the spring of 1920, Red River moved forward with its announcement that it was going into the banking business. This was foreign territory with a lot to learn. Much to their chagrin was the amount of compliance of government regulations they had to contend with. While Red River had to deal government inspections, mainly for health and safety issues, for the most part they could do as they saw fit, but operating a financial institution was on entirely different level, since the government placed a series of requirements on the latter.
On October 1, 1920, with little fanfare the Westwood National Bank opened its doors for business. The bank was located in the Red River’s office building across the street from the Big Store and the mill entrance. To greet the new customers, the first manager and cashier was A.G. Graham. The Board of Directors consisted of Willis Walker, president; Fletcher Walker, vice-president, R.F. Pray, C.E. Hunter and Fred L. Cleaves.[
After a year in operation the bank reported having $265,905 in deposits on hand. In comparison, Lassen County’s oldest financial institution the Bank of Lassen County reported $1,208,810.59 in deposits. In time the Westwood National Bank began to flourish and in 1925 saw its deposits soar to $914,384.
The Westwood National Bank was a unique institution. Banks in this era, were very progressive to provide loans for building businesses and homes in an effort the communities they serve would prosper. However, this was not the case with Westwood, as Red River owned all the businesses, and all the houses. The bank did provide loans of a personal nature for its customers to purchase big ticket items such as automobiles. However, in one instant, the bank did assist in financing the ill-conceived Red Rock Irrigation District in northeastern Lassen County.
On September 19, 1935 a Technical Institute course in forestry was offered at Lassen College. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the new course, not just from the college, but the timber industry who would benefit by its graduates. However, there were critics who thought the initial cost to implement it was expensive compared to other traditional vocational courses.
By the time the second semester began word had spread and there was tremendous interest from outside the region. When the fall semester of 1936 began the enrollment at the college had nearly doubled which was attributed to the forestry program. It was a turning point for the college. For the school to thrive it would need to seek out students from other areas, as the local tributary schools was not sufficient enough for the college to expand.
It was my original intention to include a photograph of Maud Tomb’s grave, when I wrote about her. When I went to visit the grave, the headstone needed so much cleaning, that I had to correct the situation. So with a pumice stone and plenty of elbow grease I set out to take care of it. After all, it has been my goal to do about a dozen graves a year, sometimes I do and sometimes I do not. It just depends on other obligations that I have to tend to.
In 2017 when I conducted the Lassen County Courthouse Centennial Cemetery Tour I wanted to include the grave of Lassen County Clerk Maud Tombs. I was prudent in the grave selection, because I had no idea what the attendance would be. If it was large, which it was, I wanted the selected graves easily accessible and eliminate as much possible potential hazardous features such as grave copings. Maud’s unfortunately did not fit into the easy accessible category.
Maud Edna Long was born on May 2, 1875, in Susanville, the eldest of ten children of John and Margaret Long. By the time she was born, her family already had an influence in the region’s history. The town of Longville in Humbug Valley, Plumas County, was named for her grandfather, William B. Long back in 1861.
On August 3, 1897, Maud married George L. Tomb. He was a native of New York and came to Susanville in 1890, no doubt influenced by the Pardee family, relatives of his. In 1898, George entered the politcal arena and ran for Lassen County Clerk and won. In 1902, he ran for a second term and was elected. Going for a third term, the voters rejected him and he was replaced by George Bassett. For whatever reasons, in early 1907, George sold his furniture/undertaking business and moved his wife Maud, and two daughters, Nadene and Gladys to Red Bluff. It did not take long for Maud to discover her husband’s dark side, a gambling problem. Before 1907 concluded Maud left him and returned to Susanville with their two daughters. Upon her return there was a distinct little name change in her last name, an “s” was added and she was now Maud Tombs.
In 1918, Maud decided to run for Lassen County Clerk against the incumbent George Bassett who had defeated her husband. Joining her on the ballot was Robert Kyle of Westwood and Elmer Winchell of Standish. The primary held on August 27 showed it was a race between Bassett with 73 votes and Maud with 66, the other two candidates combined only garnered 25 votes. The general election was a close race, and a problematic one on reaching out to the voters due to the outbreak of the Spanish influenza. Maud won the election with 991 votes with Bassett trailing at 976. Maud would go on to be elected seven more times. In 1951, she was succeeded by her daughter Nadene Wemple who would serve four terms as Lassen County Clerk.
Two final notes. Maud was the first woman elected to a county wide office. Secondly, for over a century a woman has always been elected county clerk.
