Eighty years ago today witnessed the failure of the dam at Said Valley. The earthen dam was constructed in 1885, just north of Grasshopper Valley. In 1929, the Department of Water Resources cited the spillway was not in compliance. After the collapse of the dam, the state did an investigation as to why it failed. It turned out that burrowing rodents over the years had weakened the dam.
For me, I find it of a particular interest the number of residences that instead of being demolished, were moved to another location. Take for instance the former home of Dr. J.S. Wren located on the corner of Mill and South Lassen Streets. The property was to be the future home of Western Title Insurance Company. At daylight on October 29, 1976, Jim Music had the task to move the structure to its new location on Cornell Street. All went well until the house reached the intersection of Main and Weatherlow Streets where it took about forty minutes to maneuver the building around the stop lights.
There is really not much left of the former railroad community of Flanigan. It is, however, not void of activity. As you can see from the photograph there are lots of railroad cars parked there. They happen to be full of railroad ties. Near the former intersection of the two railroad lines, is now chipper to grind the old ties.
The Milne store was the heart and soul of Flanigan, a small railroad community located in the eastern portion of the Honey Lake Valley on the Nevada side. In 1934, William and Gertrude Milne took over the Flanigan store for Orlando Gasperoni, who had moved to Wendel. At the same time, William became the town’s postmaster. Four years later, the Milne’s purchased the store from Gasperoni. It should be noted, all during this time, Gertrude was the teacher at Bonham School at Flanigan.
Of course, there would a lot of changes over time at the Milne Store. First was the passing of William in 1945, and Gertrude continued with the store, post office as well as her teaching duties . The 1950s, saw a decline in trade at the store, and in 1957, Gertrude retired from her teaching duties. On March 31, 1961, the Flanigan Post Office. Not discouraged, Gertrude continued to stay at Flanigan. On January 2, 1969, while Gertrude was visiting at Fish Springs Ranch, her combination, store, post office and home was destroyed by fire.
I just never know, when someone has a question for me, what it might be. A Susanville resident was confused why a city street known as Paiute Lane, and Piute Creek has two different spellings. The truth be told there are a lot of regional spellings for this Native American tribe. At the time of Anglo settlement, the references to the local band of Indians was spelled as Piute. Fast forward a hundred years later that correct spelling included the letter “a” hence Paiute Lane. Then you have the situation where on November 1, 1859, James Archy claimed “Pyute Valley” near Susanville.
With little fanfare on May 3, 2004 Sierra Pacific Industries closed its Susanville mill. In a certain way it was a momentous event considering there had always been at least one sawmill in operation since 1857. This particular mill was constructed in 1921 by the Fruit Growers Supply Company to provide wooden boxes for its parent company, best known today as Sunkist. In 1963, Fruit Growers sold the mill to the Eagle Lake Lumber Company which would eventually evolve into Sierra Pacific Industries.
In early March, 1930 a jubilant Jim Fritter of Eagle Lake had proclaimed that Eagle Lake had already risen by two feet. He speculated that the lake level would rise an additional three feet. This was good news for the farmers of the Honey Lake Valley, since there would be Eagle Lake water flowing through Bly Tunnel. Elsewhere it was reported that 13.3 inches of precipitation had been measured so far that winter, with December being very wet.
Fast forward to April 2018, when Eagle Lake saw an increase of 2 inches for that month.
During 1977-78 some progressive Susanville residents banded together to establish an independent community bank. The last time this occurred was in 1912, with the formation of the Lassen Industrial Bank. Anyhow, in 1978, the Sierra Security Bank was formed. The location of the new bank was at 100 Grand Avenue, Susanville, now the home of the Lassen County Times. Sierra Security’s bank building was a portable structure. In November, 1978 the new 4,200 square foot bank arrived in six sections, from Sunnyvale, California where it had been used by De Anza Bank.
In 1891, the Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company became the latest entity to tap Eagle Lake to irrigate the sagebrush lands near Amedee. They had two propositions to do this. The long term was to finish Merrill’s tunnel. The second one involved a pumping plant to deliver the water. Like the predecessors they would utilize the channel of Willow Creek. At Belfast where Willow Creek enters the Honey Lake Valley the company constructed a twenty-one mile ditch to Amedee. In October 1892, with everything in place, water flowed from Eagle Lake to Amedee. Water would briefly flow the following year. However, the company plagued with financial problems filed for bankruptcy. The pumping plant was dismantled in 1903.
In 1908, residents of Lassen County were surprised with the formation of the Hill Lonkey Land & Livestock. Two of the key figures were Nevada residents Thomas Hill and Camille Lonkey. They purchased the San Francisco Ranch (now Five Dot) and the Folsom Ranch (now Fish & Game) in the Willow Creek Valley. The partnership was brief and they dissolved the company two years later. Hill took possession of the Folsom place, and Lonkey the San Francisco Ranch. Continue reading Susanville – 710 Mill Street