Category Archives: History

History

The Dynamic Duo Not on Tour

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An artist sketch of the lynching.
There were two men while not county employees and/or officials did reside for a time in the original courthouse. The two men, Holden Dick and Vincente Olivas aka Mexican Ben were both being held on separate murder charges and the jail was located in the courthouse. Sometime in the middle of the night on January 24, 1886, a vigilante mob broke into the jail and removed Dick and Ben to a nearby woodshed and they were lynched. They were buried in the Susanville Cemetery, their graves unmarked and Spalding Arnold was probably the last person to know the location of the graves.
Yet, unmarked graves are not the domain of paupers and such. We will visit the grave of William Minckler, County Surveyor, and while there are Susanville street signs that bear his name, his grave has no marker—and he is related to Spalding Arnold!

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History

Gallatin’s Boat

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Gallatin’s Boat at the south shore.
With the upcoming Labor Day Weekend soon upon us, and after its conclusion the amount of boaters on area lakes starts to wane with the forthcoming changing of the seasons. In the past I have wrote about Oscar Rankin’s boat The Pelican. Among the larger boats to ply the surface of Eagle Lake was one belonging to the Gallatin family. It was substantial in size and weighed some 3,500 pounds, with a gas engine for motor power and shipped by rail to Susanville in May 1914. It was then hauled to the north end of Eagle Lake for launching. Once placed in the lake, the boat made its journey to the south shore at Gallatin’s new summer home, where a boathouse was waiting its first occupant.

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History

David Knoch’s Pioneer Spirit

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An invoice from Knoch’s Store.
This German immigrant went from a tailor, to miner, to peddler and then a regular store merchant in a short period of time. At the age of 19, he arrived in San Francisco and set off for the mines of Oroville. After three years he figured out there must be better way to make a living than mining. The one item he learned from that experience, was that miner’s liked having their supplies delivered. The resourceful Knoch then became a peddler of goods visiting the mines of Northeastern California.

Seeking stability in May 1865 Knoch purchased a lot in Susanville at 722 Main Street for $100. There he opened his general mercantile business and within a decade became one of the leading merchants of Lassen County. Once again in expanding his horizons, like other successful merchants in a frontier town with no banks, he began lending money. In 1893, he turned the store over to his son, Ike Knoch and son-in-law, Jules Alexander. Knoch focused his energy on his investments and continued to do quite well. In 1908, he built a modest home at 100 North Roop Street where he resided until his death in 1911.

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History

Halls Flat CCC Camp

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Halls Flat CCC Camp
Halls Flat CCC Camp, 1937 courtesy of Hank Martinez

A Civilian Conservation Corp Camp operated at Halls Flat, near Poison Lake, in western Lassen County,  from 1933-1942. The camp provided the manpower for the Lassen National Forest’s nearby Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest. This CCC camp did everything from the actual logging of pine beetle infested trees (1.6 million board feet in 1938) to grazing studies and range habitat improvements.

History

1918 Solar Eclipse

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Main Street, Susanville, 1918.
While Monday’s eclipse is still fresh in most people’s memory, the 1918 eclipse was very similar across the United States. Locally, the Lassen Advocate newspaper of June 14, 1918 reported: The eclipse came on time last Saturday and smoked glasses—and noses—were in evidence. The Advocate force was too busy to take more than a squint at the phenomenon and consequently you know as much about it as they do.

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History

Centennial Tour – T.N. Long

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Thomas Newton Long. Courtesy of Jack Howard Long
Thomas Long (1833-1917) ended up in my “honorable mention” list, though depending on time, he may squeak by. It should be duly noted, that he is not related to the other Long family of Susanville. It is somewhat similar to the Doyle Doyles and the Milford Doyles, as they are not related, just makes things confusing.

This Alabama native came to Susanville in 1861 and with A.R. Leroy operated a saloon. In the fall of 1867 he was elected sheriff of Lassen County and re-elected in 1869. In 1871 he ran for county treasurer and lost. In 1874 he was elected Lassen County Supervisor, District 1. In 1877, he was elected county treasurer and served one term. He would serve four terms as county supervisor from 1882-1900. For the most of his life, he operated a general store and raised a family of fourteen children.

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History

Where was it?

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This was taken in 1940, prior to improvements to the property.
It is situated on one of the more unusual lots in Susanville, though I doubt the city would allow a lot like that to be created today. There is a conflict of opinion. There are those in camp this building was torn and the other that it was modified into the current structure. Whatever the case may be, a lot of girls in the region created many a memory there.

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History

The 1889 Solar Eclipse

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My apologies for a newspaper clipping, but I was never able to obtain my print of the photograph back for the above press release, done way before scanners, etc.
You would nearly have to be hermit living off the grid to escape all the coverage about today’s eclipse. One of the best places to view the solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 was the Honey Lake Valley. On that date, the NCO Railroad (then the N&C) ran a special excursion train from Reno to its new terminus of Liegan (near present day Herlong) to view the eclipse. Forty people took advantage of the offer.

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History

School Buses

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Soldier Bridge School Bus at Litchfield.
Now, it is that time of year with schools back in session, here is an interesting tidbit I came across while doing some research for the cemetery tour. On July 15, 1933 the California Department of Education adopted that all school buses be painted a “distinctive chrome yellow.” This was done as a request by the California Highway Patrol.

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