Isolated settlements in their earliest days had many obstacles to overcome and one item that was hard to come by was cash. This problem was only excabberated during the Civil War years of the 1860s in this region.
The Honey Lakers were a resourceful lot. One crop that grew well was rutabagas. In April 1860 when Honey Lake Valley’s first newspaper, Richmond Times, made its debut they offered a subscription price of 200 pounds of rutabagas. There is one recorded court case in which the lowly rutabaga was accepted as legal tender. In 1866, A. Dillon sued Antone Storff over the payment of labor and sundry supplies. Dillon accepted Storff’s partial payment in the form of rutabagas.
Devil’s Corral Bridge, 1918. Courtesy of Margaret A. Purdy
In 1944, the County of Lassen contracted Engineer, John D. Hubbard to conduct a study of Iron Ore Deposits in Lassen County as well as other minerals. This was done in conjunction with the Western Mining Council and the California Department of Natural Resources.
As a general rule, such reports tend to be dull reading. On the topic of coal deposits, Hubbard did interject a bit of humor. He wrote: “There is a lignite deposit in Sec. 7, T29N R11E one mile south of Devil’s Corral (handy for the Devil). It is owned by Paul Olsen and associates of Susanville.” Lignite is the lowest grade of coal, with little commercial value.
J.E. Lane’s depiction of Main Street, Susanville, 1864
Awhile back I wrote about the B&B a former Susanville business. One of the feature’s in the banquet room was oil canvas mural of the eruption of Lassen Peak. Lane’s main income was as a commercial painter of homes and businesses. Seasoned residents may remember Frank Maurino (1920-2001) who was also a commercial painter, but was also known for his artistic talent.
Lane was commissioned by the County of Lassen to do two paintings for the Lassen County Courthouse that was dedicated in 1917. One painting was Susanville in 1864, which is not only the county seat, but it was the same year the county was created. The second painting is that of Warner Valley, looking at Lassen Peak during an eruption. What is peculiar about this, is that Warner Valley is in Plumas County and Lassen Peak is in Shasta County.
James Stokes holding “Old Lady of the Lake, a 8 pound Eagle Lake Trout caught in 1961.
Since this is opening weekend of fishing at Eagle Lake, it is only fitting that I pass along an article from the Lassen Advocate of September 23, 1927, in regards to a big fish caught there.
“Wright Spalding and Tom Wilson brought one of the nicest fish that has been caught in this section of the county for the season to town yesterday, after having pulled it out of Eagle Lake.
“The fish is thought to be one of the old original Eagle Lake trout, commonly called land-locked salmon and weighs nine and fourth pounds. It is about twenty-six inches in length and is a splendid fish.”
Outlet of the Bly Tunnel, 1924. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner
Bly was confident of the project, and Gallatin gave him her blessing, in addition she provided him with the necessary funds to launch the enterprise. Bly’s approach was different from the previous attempts. It was a two-prong approach. One was the technical aspect to design the system, obtain permits, etc. The other had to deal with financing. Bly went directly to those who would benefit the most, farmers and ranchers of the Honey Lake Valley. He persuaded one group to form the Tule Irrigation District. Adjoining Tule was a pre-existing district Baxter Creek that was at a standstill as it did not have a sufficient water supply. In a co-operative effort Bly convinced the two districts to pass a 1.25 million dollar bond measure to finance the project. His top selling point was, once the bonds were redeemed, they would own the system.
As soon as Bly had everything assembled and approved, no time was wasted to begin the actual implementation. In 1921, Bly contracted with the Grant Smith Company of Seattle to construct the entire system for $950,000. That fall work began on the 7,300 foot long tunnel. In the spring of 1923, the tunnel was completed, a few months behind schedule. It was a daunting task, to say the least, as 180,000 cubic feet of soil and rock was excavated to construct the tunnel.
On May 19, 1923, a grand celebration was held. The joyful times of Bly Tunnel were short lived. In a nutshell, there were two factors that caused the Bly Tunnel project to implode. Grant Smith Company’s contract stipulated the inlet would be eight feet below the lake’s surface, but they only did three feet due to volcanic rock encountered. Litigation ensued. To compound matters, a drought that began in 1917 and one that would last for twenty years, drastically lowered the level of the lake.
In 1935, after a decade to deepen the intake channel, the tunnel was abandoned. Many farmers in the irrigation districts went bankrupt, unable to make their bond payments. In 1961, the State revoked Bly’s original water right permit, thus a final blow. The tunnel has since been sealed and no water flows through it. The odd thing, many still cast the blame on the lake’s fluctuating levels on a sealed tunnel.
Bly tunnel inlet, July 1924. Courtesy of Wyn Wachhorst
This falls under the category, “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” This was the consensus many had about the issue to tap Eagle Lake by means of a tunnel to irrigate the arid sagebrush lands of the Honey Lake Valley. After all, there was a mile distance between the lake and the headwaters of Willow Creek and that creek would provide a natural channel to convey the water to the Honey Lake Valley. After all, it should be noted that Eagle Lake is California’s second largest natural lake, and back in the 1870s, the reservoirs that we have today were non-existent.
The scheme had its humble origins with Augustine W. Blair. In the summer of 1872, Blair secured three investors to finance a mile and a half long tunnel to tap the lake. He estimated the cost at one million dollars. The project went no where. However, word of this enterprise spread and the following year, Captain C.A. Merrill paid the region a visit to inspect the scheme. Merrill was so consumed with the Eagle Lake project that he would spend the rest of his life in pursuing his quest, until his death in 1901.
Merrill was not the only one who saw the lake’s potential. Nine other entities were created over the next four decades with the same intent that originated with Blair, all without success. In 1914, enter Leon Bly, a civil engineer, who was recruited by Eagle Lake property owner, Malvena Gallatin, as to whether the tapping of the lake was feasible. Gallatin’s concern had nothing to do with irrigation. The constant rising level of the lake wreaked havoc to her shoreline property. Bly agreed and was methodical in his approach. It should be noted that prior to Bly, his predecessors were under the impression that the lake had an abundant supply of water, some who went so far to proclaim the lake’s depth at 1,000 feet! In 1915, the first thing Bly did was a sounding of the depth of the lake. His revelation surprised many, when the deepest point in the lake was 105 feet.
At the July 18, 1927 Susanville City Council meeting, plans were finalized to transform Main Street into a boulevard. The major impact was that all cars entering Main Street from Roop, Lassen, Gay, Union and Weatherlow Streets would be required to make a full stop before proceeding. The matter was thoroughly discussed, it being the only item on the agenda. The ordinance went into effect on August 19.
1971 Advertisement in the Lassen Cougar Yearbook. Courtesy of Jim Chapman
Seasoned residents will remember this establishment located at the bend in Main Street. It opened for business on May 22, 1961. It was established by John Gilliam and Leonard Porritt who invested $40,000 in this new enterprise. Decades later it shut down. It was first reincarnated as Chinese Kitchen and today it is the home of the Courthouse Cafe.
This was one of those events that seemed to happen with a blink of eye and then it was gone. In March 1955 the California Mining Journal featured three articles on the uranium discoveries in Lassen County, or more specifically about four miles north of Hallelujah Junction in the neighborhood of Red Rock. The initial discovery was credited to Carlton A. Brown of Reno in the fall of 1953. What caused tremendous speculation was in 1954 a similar discovery had occurred in Inyo County and those initial prospectors sold their claims for $2 million. As word spread, there was the proverbial land rush to file claims, my family included. By the fall of 1955, it was determined the uranium was of low grade and possessed little value. Interest quickly waned.
There was a time when the DeWitt family was well known throughout the Honey Lake Valley. However, with time comes many changes and many old time families slowly fade away. DeWitt is one such family.
Franklin and Mary DeWitt settled in the Tule District of the Honey Lake Valley. A portion of their ranch is now known as the Fleming State Wildife Refuge Unit. Their son, Walter B. DeWitt (1863-1948) was a life-long resident of the Tule District. His 1906 biography stated: “The farm which he now occupies is situated on the Spoonville and Hot Springs stage line, about four miles west of the last named place. On his homestead, July 1, 1903, through his earnest and energetic efforts, a post office was established named in his honor, and he was chosen the first postmaster, a position which he still occupies, with his wife as assistant.” The post office closed on November 30, 1927 as part of implementation of the Rural Free Delivery system.
