Category Archives: History

History

Never Sweats

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Unionville306
Unionville, 1880. Courtesy of Nevada Historical Society

An obscure mining term of the early 1860s. To be a Never Sweat was considered to be a non-conformist. In Nevada, for instance, one could hold an interest in a mining claim and not work it. One could wait for others to prove the claim. Should the prospects be favorable, the Never Sweat could recover his interest by paying an advance on the accumulated costs. In 1865, Nevada passed an “Act for the Encouragement of Mining.” That change in laws abolished the practice of a Never Sweat and the term faded into oblivion, with the exception of the bestowment on the Honey Lakers. Continue reading Never Sweats →

History

Technology

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Telephones
Lassen Advocate, November 28, 1977

I could not resist to scan and post this article that appeared in the Lassen Advocate. In the era of cell/smart phones, this seems so quaint with the introduction of push button phones. And to think, a century ago operators were known as “hello girls.”

P.S. – Some may not be aware, but if you click on the image, you will see a larger one.

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History

Lassen High School

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Lassen High 08
Lassen High School, 1908 courtesy of Phil Hall

Construction of the high school began in the fall of 1905 and was ready the following year. The school was constructed by Granite Rock Company for $25,670.

The photograph depicted above was taken in 1908, when the school grounds was fenced, not to keep the students in, but to keep roaming livestock off the school property.

Don’t forget you can still get the complete DVD collection of the Lassen High Yearbooks from 1904 to 2013. However, I only have about fifteen left.

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History

Susanville School Names

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Schools
McKinley School (left) and Washington School (right) as seen from Richmond Road, 1935.

When the Susanville School District was established in 1864, the town had only one school, located on Cottage Street. This remained the status quo for nearly sixty years.

With the arrival and the lumber mills, the town experienced a huge population surge.  In 1920, a second school was needed and it was also constructed on the Cottage Street property. The growing pains of Susanville continued and a third school was built, this time in the Milwood District in 1922. Another three years went by, and yet another school was constructed, this time on Richmond Road.

With four schools in operation the district, decided to give them names, which they honored past United States Presidents. The first school was named Washington; the second McKinley, the third, Lincoln and the fourth school Roosevelt.

In 1967, when it was decided to build a middle school to replace Roosevelt, a more generic name was given–Diamond View.

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History

Toll Roads

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Devil's Corral
Devil’s Corral Bridge, 1918

The establishment of toll roads in the frontier West was difficult and not usually a feasible business venture—unless you were strategically located at a bridge, mountain pass or narrow canyon where possible toll users could not make a detour and thus not pay the toll fee. On several occasions toll road companies were formed for various routes through Lassen County, but were never successful enterprises. Continue reading Toll Roads →

History

Moon Valley

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Moon Valley
Cover of the Moon Valley brochure

In 1968, the Occidental Petroleum Company purchased a large portion of the lands owned by the Rees T. Jenkins Land & Livestock Company. On the west side of the Madeline Plains, they subdivided thousands of acres into 20-acre parcels they named Moon Valley Ranch. The first unit was recorded on July 12, 1968. The Company’s advertising of the region made it too good to be true. “Now you get it all at Moon Valley Ranch: prime recreation land, within 4 miles of a 2,500 acre lake, in Northern California, the next recreational capital of the West and profitable investment property almost certain to appreciate as California’s recreation-hungry population continues to explode . . .And what a price now you can buy 20-acre parcels for less than $199 an acre–$150 down, $29 monthly.” Their portfolio expands on all the nearby wonderful recreational areas, such as skiing and golfing at Westwood, though they did not mention that Westwood was some seventy miles away. Also they did not disclose the fact that the golf course at Westwood was only proposed. The Company was correct in their advertisement that is was “The magnificent, away-from-it-all Moon Valley Ranch” to “land-that-time-forgot.”  Moon Valley Ranch is a perfect example why there are disclosure laws in the real estate industry today. Numerous folks still invest in that property, purchasing parcels site unseen, only to realize that they bought a lot on a sagebrush plain or a rocky hillside covered with juniper trees.

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History

Lassen College

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

Today marks the 90th anniversary of Lassen Junior College Initially, it was a separate department of Lassen Union High School and classes were held at the high school. In 1941, a separate facility was created. In 1946, with increased enrollment a new college building was built to the west of the high school. In 1965, the college separated from the high school to be known as Lassen Community College. In 1970, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the initial construction of the current campus on Highway 139.

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History, News

Brockman Ranch

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Brockman Ranch
The barn is far to the left, as the Brockman Ranch appeared in 1903.

I realize that the Edsel Dealership was to be today’s topic, but a recent event prompted the change. On Wednesday afternoon, April 29, the old Brockman barn on Johnstonville Road went up on flames. In 1864, William Brockman and Jurgen Jensen were partners in a blacksmith shop in Susanville. A few years later they dissolved it. The two men located on nearby ranches on Johnstonville Road. After a 1947 suicide of a Brockman family member that occurred in the barn, the ranch after three generations of ownership was sold.

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History

Atlas Fredonyer

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Fredonyer Summit
Ira and James Purdy posing at Fredonyer Summit, Christmas Eve, 1930

A lot has been written about Atlas Fredonyer early activities in the region. Among other things he filed a land claim in what would later become Susanville, since that town’s founder neglected to do so.

In 1862, Fredonyer was found guilty and sent to prison of a sexual assault charge involving his fifteen year old step-daughter, Sally. Many were of the opinion that Fredonyer did not commit a crime. A petition was circulated and California Governor Stanford pardoned Fredonyer the following year.

After his pardon, Fredonyer seemed to have disappeared, as he never returned back to this region. A few years ago, I finally found out what became of him. He surfaced in a most unusual way in 1880 in San Francisco. Fredonyer it should be noted used the title of “Doctor” to what extent of medical training he had, is not clear.  At this time he was suffering from bowel blockage. He attempted perform his own colonoscopy, which a bottle, which got lodged in the colon.  The heavy set Fredonyer was finally taken to St. Mary’s hospital. A colostomy was performed to remove the bottle.  He did not recover from the procedure and died in San Francisco on August 10, 1880.

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