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Category Archives: History
Eagle & Willow Creek Valley Schools
Just a follow up on some documentation. As noted in the post of the Eagle Lake School, it closed in 1937. It was not until 1940 when the school was annexed to nearby Willow Creek School District. That school closed in 1946, and in 1950 all that territory of the two districts were annexed to Susanville.
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Jensen Barn
Over the course of time the region has seen a wide variety of barn styles. Some had lasted through time and others not, for one reason or another.
In 1864, a German immigrant, Jurgen Jensen located in Susanville, where entered into a partnership with William Brockman, to operate a blacksmith shop. In the ensuing years, the two men, went off on their own, each locating on property along Johnstonville Road.
In 1891, Jensen had a large three-story barn built on his ranch. On September 11, 1923, the barn was destroyed by fire and it was believed to be caused by spontaneous combustion. Stored inside was 200 tons of hay, valued at that time around $3,500. The barn was insured for $1,500, but it was not enough to cover the cost to replace it.
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Camp B – Fruit Growers
When Fruit Growers established their Lassen Operation they purchased two billion board feet of timber to the west of Eagle Lake. In 1921, Fruit Growers established its second logging camp, designated as Camp B. Many of their camps were portable in nature, in that once an area was logged, the cabins and other buildings could be conveniently be put on railroad cars and moved to the next location.
Camp B was unique as it was a mixture of both portable and permanent buildings. It was one of their largest camps that could house over 300 men. While the camp closed by 1926, its concrete foundations for the commissary, along with other remnants can still be seen today. Fruit Growers had a reputation of taking good care of their employees. This was evident at Camp B whereby motion pictures were shown. In addition, the logging camps even had their own baseball teams. This is rather amazing since these men who worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week still had the energy left to play ball.
Highway 36
In 1903, the first automobile traveled through Lassen County. Ten years later the car craze struck the region, as it did the rest of the state. These new car owners were anxious to travel, but the old wagons roads of yore, was not acceptable. In 1916, the voters of California passed an $18 million bond measure that led to the beginning of the state highway movement. Construction slowly began on Highway 36 and one of the momentous occasions occurred in 1923. It was the completion of the $45,000 concrete arch bridge over the Susan River at Devil’s Corral. In the summer of 1929, the last link of the highway between Red Bluff and Susanville was completed with a realignment of the roadway near Coppervale. The process to build the highway took nearly twelve years at a cost of a million dollars. The state initially designated as Highway No. 29 and in 1935 it was changed to Highway No. 36. Another important aspect when the highway was completed that state did snow removal to keep the highway open year around.
Mill Creek Store
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Jackson Pollock
In January 1920, LeRoy Pollock purchased the Diamond Mountain Inn, a 22-room two story hotel, along with 140 acres at Janesville from J.B. and Katherine Rice for $6,000. The Inn, was originally just known as the Janesville Hotel and was built in 1872 by Dennis Tanner. While the transaction was noteworthy, one of residents would later become well-known in the art world, Jackson Pollock. Continue reading Jackson Pollock
Drakesbad & the Sifford Family
In February, I inaugurated a book-of-the-month, that featured Sagebrush Reflections. After all proceeds from book sales not only help support operations, but help finance future publications, in this case the stories behind the brands of the Pioneer.
Sixty Years of Siffords at Drakesbad is Roy Sifford’s memoirs of the six decades the family operated the famed resort inside Lassen Volcanic National Park. How the family acquired it in 1900, happened by accident. Roy’s father, Alexander Sifford was a school teacher by day, and a bank accountant by night In June 1900, he was just worn out. Friends suggested that he should, “Go to Drakes to camp, drink those hot and soda waters and it will help you.” And he did. So impressed by his experience, he convinced the 70-year old E.R. Drake to sale the springs and the rustic lodge. On June 20, 1900 the Siffords took possession and would remain at the helm until 1959 when Lassen Park took over Drakesbad. Of course, a lot things transpired over the years, it was in 1914, it was officially named Drakesbad, and in 1938, the original lodge was destroyed by the heavy snows, and a new one built.
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Drakesbad
For those that have never been there, this is a hidden gem inside Lassen Volcanic National Park. It was Susanville resident, Alexander Sifford (1861-1957) who was key figure into transforming the place into a resort. However, in 1874, Thomas Malgin first settled in the upper end of the Warner Valley, and built a bath house to take advantage of Hot Springs Creek. Malgin focused more on raising sheep, than operating a remote tourist attraction.
Malgin was succeeded by Edward Drake, who in 1890 built the first lodge. His operation was simply known as Drake’s Spring. In June 1900, Susanville school teacher Alex Sifford arrived with his family as friends suggested the springs might help his ailments. Sifford was so taken away, that he negotiated to buy the place from Drake for $6,000. In 1914, for marketing purposes, the name was changed to Drakesbad. The Sifford family continued with operations until the 1950s when the last of their holdings was sold to Lassen Volcanic National Park. You can learn more by reading Roy Sifford’s memoirs Sixty Years of Siffords: Darkesbad directly from this site.