Category Archives: History

History

Honey Lake’s Dragoon Bridge

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Looking north along Willow Creek towards the site of Dragoon Bridge, April 19, 2016.
Looking north along Willow Creek towards the site of Dragoon Bridge, April 19, 2016.

In the fall of 1856, Levi Breed set up a trading post on the Nobles Emigrant Trail where it crosses Willow Creek, just north where the current Lassen County road A-27 crosses Willow Creek.  It was second one for the Honey Lake Valley. The following year he located to Janesville and became that community’s largest merchant for a number of years.

It was the military that came along next to locate on Breed’s abandoned post. In 1859, a military station, under the leadership of First Lt Milton T. Carr, A 1 Dragoons, was established at the Willow Creek crossing. Its main purpose was to protect the travelers on the Nobles Emigrant Road.  “Dragoon” is the name for a mounted soldier or cavalryman.The following year, it was replaced by Soldier’s Bridge which was located further to the east and along the Susan River.

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History

Susanville – Brashear Street

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The Brashear Residence on the corner of South Lassen & Brashear Streets. Taken on June 11, 1979 when the house was being torn down.
The Brashear Residence on the corner of South Lassen & Brashear Streets. Taken on June 11, 1979 when the house was being torn down.

In 1906, Brashear Street became the first new street inside the original town plat. There would be only three other streets inside the original city limits to be created. There is something the reader can contemplate which were the others.

William Brashear owned all of Block 32 and segments of Blocks 24 and 31. These had never subdivided into lots. With the pending arrival of the railroad, that all changed. It was prime residential property, as it provided some of the best views of the area.  In 1911, J.W. Scott, a realtor subdivided the lots on the east side of Gay Street around to Brashear. It became one of the town’s first upscale developments. The initial deed restriction required all houses built cost at least $1,000.

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History

Madeline Plains – Horne Ranch

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Horne Ranch, 2003
Horne Ranch, 2003

In 1870, Frank Eben Horne became one of the first settlers of the Madeline Plains. Horne retired from his ranch in 1905 and turned it over to his sons. On March 28, 1917, Frank L. Horne, William R. Horne, and Arthur T. Horne, along with Raglan Tuttle and Grant M. Lorraine, formed the Horne Development Company. On April 27, 1927, the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Reno, Nevada, foreclosed on the Horne Development Company for $38,791.11 and became the owners of the Horne Ranch. It should be duly the Glade Post Office was located there from 1908 to 1918.

In the 1990s, the ranch had a new lease on life when it was incorporated in R.C. Robert’s Spanish Springs development. This and other properties were made available to guests, whether their interest was equestrian pursuits, hunting, etc.

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History

Horse Lake

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Horse Lake, 1916. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal
Horse Lake, 1916. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal

In 1916, William L. Wales, engineer for the Honey Lake Valley Irrigation District, looked at non-traditional water supply sources to reclaim the desert lands of eastern Honey Lake Valley. After all, other sources of water had been claimed.

Wales examined Horse Lake and wrote: “Horse Lake and it’s watershed of 115.2 square miles, laying just east of Eagle Lake, offer very good opportunities for a portion of the water supply. This lake has an area of 3520 acres at an average depth of six feet. According to a statement of a man living near the lake, it has not been dry but twice in sixty years. A shallow cut has been dug through the east rim connecting with a creek leading into Pete’s Valley. No doubt more than enough water has flowed out through this cut to offset the deficiency of the dry years.”

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History

Susanville’s Sierra Theater

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Sierra Theater. Courtesy of Hank Martinez
Sierra Theater. Courtesy of Hank Martinez

On August 7, 1934 during a special session of the Susanville City Council they condemned the Liberty Theater, after state inspectors stated it was unsafe. Two day’s later the theater would close, and it was only fitting the film shown that day was “The Party’s Over.” It should be noted that the Liberty was built in 1921 and in 1924 it was purchased by T & D Enterprises.

In late September, demolition began on the Liberty Theater and it was announced a new theater would be built on the site of the old one, to be named Sierra Theater. Construction on the concrete re-inforced theater began in October, and the owners noted it was earthquake proof, the first of its kind in Susanville. On Friday, March 8, 1935 a grand opening was held for $75,000 theater. The first showing was appropriately a film named, “The Whole Town’s Talking.”

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History

Lassen High Alumni – 2016

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Lassen High faculty and student skiers, 1917. D.M. Durst Collection
Lassen High faculty and student skiers, 1917. D.M. Durst Collection

Something a little bit different. On the third Saturday of June, the Lassen High Alumni Association holds it all alumni picnic in Susanville. Alumni come far and near to attend this event, some 400+. For me its always been fun, and I can conduct a lot of historical research in one afternoon. For your reading enjoyment, I provide you with the Alumni’s April newsletter, which has a lot of interesting reading material, including a Remember When column penned by yours truly.  Clink on the link below to open the PDF file.

Alumni Newsletter Apr 2016-3

 

History

Ravendale

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Early day Ravendale. Courtesy of Dorothy Capezzoli
Early day Ravendale. Courtesy of Dorothy Capezzoli

It was the last of three towns established on the Madeline Plains.  It was reported that the end of February 1910,  that the new station of Ravendale  was rapidly being built and rumor had it that it was to become a division point for the NCO railroad.  It was also stated that J.H. Williams and G. Horton were surveying a town plat.  Whatever the case may be, it was not until  November 15, 1913, the official town plat of Ravendale, on lands owned by Jim Coe, was surveyed and recorded with the County. According to Madeline Plains historian, Don Garate, the name Coeville had been suggested for the new town, but Laura Coe already chosen a name—Ravendale.

By the way, in Susanville you can purchase Don Garate’s book Red Rock to Ravendale at Margie’s Book Nook.

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History

Paul Bunyan Trademark

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Packaging tape with the Paul Bunyan trademark.
Packaging tape with the Paul Bunyan trademark.Courtesy of John Webb

In the logging camps in Canada and Northeastern United States as folklore would have it, tales of the mythical Paul Bunyan was born. Stories were passed around in the camps, no written account.

In 1900, W. B. “Bill” Laughead, a cousin to T.B. Walker, went to work in Red River Lumber Company’s logging camps at Akeley, Minnesota.  There he undertook many jobs starting as a camp chore-cook and ending as a construction engineer. After eight years of working in the woods, he decided to move to Minneapolis working odd jobs and experimented with free-lance advertising work. It was at this time, Laughead drew the first known character drawing of Paul Bunyan, in part of an advertising campaign for Red River’s new California operation.   Laughead created the company logo, of a circular design, with his Paul Bunyan’s face, accompanied on the outside with the words Paul Bunyan’s Pine and it became Red River’s registered trademark. The logo was placed on many products and even on its logging trucks. For a short time, Red River even bottled their own soda beverage, with the embossed bottles displaying the trademark. When the company expanded into other operations, they changed it to a Paul Bunyan Product.

In the 1940s, during the dissolution process of Red River, Kenneth Walker continued in the lumber business. In doing so, the trademark was transferred to him, since his own enterprise was the Paul Bunyan Lumber Company.

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History

McKissick Ranch – Then and Now

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McKissick Ranch, 1903. Courtesy of PhilipS. Hall
McKissick Ranch, 1903. Courtesy of PhilipS. Hall

In 1859, Jacob “Uncle Jake” McKissick located in Long Valley in a short distance of what would be later the town of Doyle. In the summer of 1877 he had this ranch house constructed, a rather large home for a bachelor.

The house as it appeared on February 24, 2016.
The house as it appeared on February 24, 2016.

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