Category Archives: History

History

Standish Water Company – Part II

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Foundation remains, 1984.
Foundation remains, 1984.

In 1913 the United States Government Land Office (GLO) intervened. California was on a major verge to overhaul water rights, yet that was of little concern to the GLO. At issue, at least with the GLO, was the State’s law was vague and failed to state whether water from a lake with no outlet could be appropriated. Until that issue was resolved, the GLO had no choice but to revoke Standish Water Company’s rights-of-way of its canals across federal lands. In essence the Company was forced to cease and desist, thereby forfieting revenue from water sales to recover its initial investment. This issue with the State was not to be resolved in a timely manner. In November 1914, the voters of California were presented with an initiative to overhaul the State’s water right system. It was approved and the Department of Water Resources was created. This new agency had complete control over the issuance of water appropriations, which previously was done at the county level. It was necessary reform, since the counties recorded water right claims but had no authority to determine concerning multiple applicants over a single water source. Continue reading Standish Water Company – Part II →

History

Isaac N. Roop’s Grave

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Susanville Cemetery, circa 1966.
Susanville Cemetery, circa 1966.

On this date, in 1869, Susanville’s founder, Isaac N. Roop passed away at the age of 47 from pneumonia. He was buried at the Susanville Cemetery. His daughter, Susan Arnold had made arrangements for the placement of a headstone, but it was destroyed in a fire at Marysville and that was the extent.

There are, of course, numerous unmarked graves in the Susanville Cemetery due to a variety reasons. However, nearly five decades later it bothered Lassen County historian, Asa M. Fairfield, that Roop’s grave remained unmarked. Fairfield recruited the Masonic lodges of Janesville and Susanville and the Lassen Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West to rectify the situation. A large granite monument was placed at Roop’s grave.  On California’s Admission Day, 1914 witnessed the unveiling of the Roop Monument. Fairfield was disappointed that only about 70 people attended the ceremony.

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History

Lassen College Gunsmithing Program

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Lassen College
Lassen College on the Lassen Union High School campus.

Lassen Community College’s Gunsmithing Program will observe its 70th anniversary this year. It is the oldest program of its kind in the nation. Currently, I am seeking additional historical material. If you happen to possess and/or know someone who can assist, please let me know.

The following is from the Lassen Advocate of 5 September 1946 providing a glimpse of the humble origins of the program.

The only gunsmithing course being offered in a college or trade school in the United States is being given this year at Lassen Junior College. Continue reading Lassen College Gunsmithing Program →

History, News

Adin Revisited

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Adin 1879
Adin, 1879

After two months of online tutorials from Lynda.com on this date a year ago, was my first posting.  So it was only fitting to take a gander, and update it.

The above photograph was taken by Herman Brince  a professional photographer in Lassen, Modoc and Plumas counties during 1878-79.  I have always been impressed with his work, though only dozen or so are known to be existence. Whatever, became of his negatives is unknown, but we do know that he died in New Zealand in 1882. However, in 2003, one of his photographs, an 1879 picture of Susanville’s Masonic Lodge surfaced on Ebay, which I purchased, but that is another story.

Adin’s humble beginning date back to 1869, when its namesake Adin Gainey McDowell, settled there.   Adin flourished during the 1870s because of its close proximity to the mining town of Hayden Hill. As a matter of fact, it was Modoc County’s largest town for awhile.

Beginning this year, I now have a column in the Northern California Traveller. In a forthcoming issue will be a lively account of Adin’s history.

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History

Wendel Then and Now

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Wendel Store, circa 1925. Courtesy of Alda Riesenman
Wendel Store, circa 1925. Courtesy of Alda Riesenman

Occasionally, for fun, I thought I would do some now and then photograph studies.  The railroad community of Wendel went through some epic boom times, especially when the Southern Pacific took over the NCO Railroad and broad gauged the tracks, from the previous narrow gauge. The Wendel Store and Station burned down in 1936.

This is how it appeared on November 19, 2015.
This is how it appeared on November 19, 2015.

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History

Gerlach, Nevada

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Gerlach, 1914
Gerlach, 1914

 Gerlach is Becoming a Metropolis. The town of Gerlach on the end of the Western Pacific is already the metropolis of northern Washoe County and is growing so rapidly that it will have a voting precinct of its own this fall.

It will be the old Salt Marsh precinct, but a change will be made of the polling place to that point. The Buffalo Meadows farmers are kicking about the additional twenty mile drive to the polls, but as they previously had to go thirty-five miles, it is thought that the extra distance will not hurt them.

There is a strong attraction possessed by Gerlach, which now boasts four saloons and more coming.

Long Valley, some forty miles to the north, is also settlig up rapidly. There is a reclamation scheme in progress there and it is forecasted that the valley will be thickly settled and prosperous before many years pass.

Gerlach is now the freight division point for the Western Pacific and is the shipping place for the southern end of Surprise Valley, California, to which place a county road was recently constructed.

Source: Lassen Advocate,  2 September 1910

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History

The Meadows

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The Meadows. Courtesy of Darryl Hattenhauer
The Meadows. Courtesy of Darryl Hattenhauer

For those who have have been enjoying skiing at Coppervale this season, you need to thank Bert and Mary Bain who established it.

First a little background. Back in the 1930s several road houses were established along highway 36 between Susanville and Westwood. They initially started out simple first with a gas station and restaurant, and later expanding. You can find a complete account of these in Red River: End of an Era.

At the same time, skiing, and more particularly ski jumping was all the rage throughout Northern California, where numerous professional events were staged. In 1934, the Paul Bunyan Ski Club even sponsored one which they built a ski jump on Fredonyer.  In the spring of 1935, Bert and Mary Bain purchased The Meadows. First they expanded operations with an enlarged restaurant, but added a bar and dance floor. To attract amateur skiers, Bain had a ski jump constructed across the highway from The Meadows. Bain recruited noted skiers Sid Knudson and Phil Brown to design and build a small jump for his guests, and thus the Coppervale Ski Hill was born.

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History

Roop vs. Worley Mountain

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FGS barn
The old Fruit Growers barn, June 2, 2015, with the mountain in question. in the background.

Asa M. Fairfield lamented that the only item named after Susanville’s founder, Isaac Roop, was a street. Incidentally, Roop himself named that street when the town was plotted. Fairfield idolized  Roop. If Fairfield and Roop had been Roman Catholic, he would had petitioned the Vatican to make Roop a saint. Continue reading Roop vs. Worley Mountain →

History

Charles Gardner, Timber Cruiser

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The grave of Charles Gardner, Westwood Cemetery, 2013.
The grave of Charles Gardner, Westwood Cemetery, 2013.

In August 2013, I conducted a Westwood Cemetery Tour. Since Westwood began as a company town of the Red River Lumber everyone worked together in a common goal.

With that in mind,  in every operation, everyone plays an important role, as one cannot exist without the other. But before you can build a mill, you first need timber. That is where Charles Gardner, along with brother Irvine, better known as “Ippy.” The Gardner brothers, along with E.G. Scammon were part of the early California timber cruisers working under T.B. and Clinton Walker to not only examine timberlands, but also had the tedious jobs of going to a variety of county courthouses to examine land titles, so see who owned what parcel, values, taxes, etc. In a relatively short time frame of just over a decade Red River owned nearly 800,000 acres timberland in California making it the third largest landowner in California, only behind the railroads, who received their land for free from the government. Even after the Red River assembled its timberland, there was still plenty of work for the timber cruisers to do. Chief among them, was to plot out every year which sections of land that would be logged. As it was in the past, timber is still part of Red River’s heritage, now operating under Red River Forests, which is managed by Beaty & Associates.

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History, News

St. Patrick’s Cemetery Tour

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Cahlan Family Plot.

As spring is around the corner, many are probably antsy to get out and  about. With that in mind, the Lassen Ale Works and I are proposing a special Susanville Cemetery Tour to visit those hardy pioneers who hailed from Ireland and played a role in our region’s history.

Among the graves to be visited is that of John Cahlan, president of the Bank of Lassen County.  Richard and Margaret Thompson that involves a forbidden marriage, murder and a governor’s pardon. Jeremiah Wood the patriarch of the Wood family that has ranched for many generations in the region. Of course, there is the strange tale which Patrick Bagin who went for a final swim in Leavitt Lake with a sixty pound rock round tied around his neck.

Everything currently is in the preliminary planning stages. However, we would like to take an informal poll to see if the interest is there. Please either leave a comment or send me an email. Please take note this is a paid subscriber event. It only cost $5.00 a month to subscribe.

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