Category Archives: History

History

Secret Valley School

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Secret Valley, as seen from the lower end of Secret Valley.

For some reason I have been stuck in a Secret Valley mode of thought, with Biscar Reservoir and Petroglyph Humor.  For those not familiar, Secret Valley is a long straight stretch along Highway 395 North, approximately thirty miles from Susanville.

Like so many places throughout the region, in a bygone era, lively times were had there. In addition, like so many rural outposts it had its own school district, that was established in 1890. Rural schools then, were not confined to a strict schedule that occurs today. The Secret Valley School during the 1920s and 1930s operated during the summer months and was closed from November to February. The school closed in 1938. The last graduating class consisted of Emelia Diaz and Ida Nye. In 1940, the school was annexed to Soldier Bridge, known today as Shaffer.

On a footnote, this is one of handful of Lassen County schools that I do not possess a photograph of. The late Faye Laver, thought she possessed one, but could never find it.

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History

Pennies from heaven?

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Bank of America, Main & Gay Streets, Susanville

In 1933, Lassen County residents and their counterparts throughout the Golden State witnessed something in their shopping routine. California had instituted a sales tax. This, of course, saw an increase of pennies in circulation.  As matter of fact, Charlie Bridges, then assistant manager of the local Bank of America, that in August 1933, 1,000 pennies every day were put in circulation in Susanville for a period of ten days. Bridges speculated that some of these pennies were going into piggy banks of local children.

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History

Headwaters of Willow Creek

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It is amazing by doing these daily posts, I am always learning something new. New discoveries sometimes arrive in mysterious ways. In a discussion about future walks and hikes I was provided the latest map of the region distributed by the Lassen County Chamber of Commerce. It should be noted I am map affeciando, so no GPS stuff for me. Anyhow, back to the story at hand. According to this, which you can see from the above illustration, that Willow Creek’s origins is Eagle Lake, and not from the springs at Murrer’s Upper Ranch.

In a discussion with USGS in 2017, that prior to some 125,000 years ago, Pine Creek and Willow Creek were probably just the same stream. Once the Brockman Flat Lava Beds occured it blocked the flow of Pine Creek to Willow Creek. In doing so, it helped create the Eagle Lake that we know today.

Upper Willow Creek, 2013. It was this creek that the various promoters of the  Eagle Lake project that  used the natural channel to deliver water to the Honey Lake Valley.

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History

Petroglyph Humor?

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Sunrise Chamber, 2015, at Belfast

While sifting through papers in search of something, I came across this interesting tid bit from the Lassen Mail of March 13, 1936.

”CCC workers in the Secret Valley camp are wondering this week if they have discovered ancient Indian inscriptions or merely run across the work of some amateur cartoonist who was whiling away his time with little stone hatchet.

”An aged Indian revealed several inscriptions to camp workers, carved in rocks in the vicinity of the CCC camp claiming that said marks are relics of the dim and distant past. Photographs were taken of the inscriptions and are now in the possession of the foreman of the camp.

”If the negatives turn out to be replicas of Mickey Mouse, it is generally believed that the ancient Indian’s stock will drop several points.”

P.S. – Those interested in petroglyphs will not want to miss out the annual Summer Solstice Sunrise Tour.

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History

Camp Lasco Train Wreck

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The Camp Lasco commute train. Courtesy of Ron Linebarger

In July 1925, one of the more unusual railroad logging accidents occurred near Lassen Lumber & Box Company’s Camp Lasco (located on the north side of Peg Leg Mountain). A railroad tracklaying machine had just departed camp when it jumped the tracks, turning over and spreading rails in its path. Eight men were injured, all of whom were transported to Susanville’s Riverside Hospital for treatment.

Another shot of the No. 25. Courtesy of Ron Linebarger

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History

Butt Lake Donkey

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Not sure what kind of water craft this was on Butt Lake in the 1920s, when Roy Rea, a Red River employee, who took the picture.

Cheers to those creative types who who think outside of the proverbial box. In 1925-26, the Great Western Power Company, forerunner to PG&E constructed a reservoir at Butt Valley to the west of Lake Almanor, expanding its hydroelectric system. When Great Western constructed Lake Almanor in 1914, it had entered into a contract with the Red River Lumber Company to log and remove trees from the reservoir site. A similar arrangement was done for Butt Valley.

Red River abandoned its traditional logging methods for this project. By January 1926 Red River had felled 16 million board feet of timber in Butt Valley, and now waited for the spring run off to fill the newly created reservoir. To retrieve the logs, Red River built a huge raft to float a steam donkey engine to do the job. As an observer remarked of the “ocean liner,”  that contained 61,000 board feet of logs bound together by cables, that after it served its usefulness, it was dismantled and the logs milled.

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History

The Maryland Hotel

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Maryland Hotel, July 10, 1983

This topic falls along the same line as that of the Gables.  Unlike the Gables, the Maryland Hotel is a thing of the past. The Maryland was located at 135 South Lassen Street. Its name rather misleading, not quite a hotel, but not quite a boarding house either. However, during its tenure it served the community well. When the lumber mills were the predominate industry in Susanville, a large number of single men, either worked in the mills or in the woods. It should be noted the lumber companies sought to hire married men with families, as it was deemed they were more stable, unlike single men who went from one operation to another seeking the proverbial greener pastures. Of note, the Maryland had a maximum double occupancy of 60. In 1983, the property was acquired by the nearby mortuary who tore down structure to make additional parking.

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History

Lassen Boulevard

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Highway 395 south of Doyle

While you may have never heard of it, many has traveled it. Created in 1919, it was the forerunner of Highway 395 from Susanville to the Nevada Stateline. Sometimes it was referred to as the Purdy Highway, named for little outpost, known today as Bordertown.* Lassen County estimated it would cost $360,000 and sent their report to the California Highway Commission.  The County agreed to pay for the survey, in return the State issued a $40,000 bond for the construction of this route, to be a State Highway. In the 1920s, its official designation was Route 29. Just as Highway 36 between Red Bluff and Susanville was constructed in segments, this too would be subjected to the same.

*Named for Solomon Purdy an early day resident of eastern Sierra County, and no relation of mine.

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History

Camp Johns

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Gay Street, Susanville, looking north, 1864. Courtesy of Gilbert Morrill

While of late, I have had made references to logging camps, there were numerous military camps throughout the region in the 1860s. One of these was Camp Johns established near Susanville in June 1864, by Company D, 1st Nevada Territorial Cavalry from Fort Churchill, Nevada. In command was Captain Almond D. Wells. This was a mobile military unit that traveled the territory of Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada in search of hostile Indians. On August 28, 1864, the camp closed, and the troops returned to Fort Churchill. The camp was named for Thomas Denton Johns, a Pennsylvanian who attended West Point. Johns served as commanding Captain of the Utah Brigade at Virginia City, Nevada in 1860. Camp Johns would be replaced with Camp Susan.

History

Deer Hunting, 1959

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A typical deer hunting postcard of the era

While outdoor recreation of this region has been promoted from nearly time immemorial, the kinds of activities has evolved over the years.  One of those aspects highlighted was hunting—especially deer. This was after all prior to the late 1970s when the California Department of Fish & Game overhauled the hunting seasons, limits and zones. In a 1961, Lassen County pamphlet with the lead in “Lassen County – Where your vacation begins, but never ends.” One of the first sentences: “Hunting is a paradise in Lassen County, where a total of 5,348 deer were taken in 1959, more than any other county in the state.”

In a sign of changing times, while several decades ago it was a rarity to see deer inside the Susanville City Limits. Today, one sees more deer inside the City of Susanville, than to be found in the country side.

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