It was the Red RiverLumberCompany that first published a drawing the mythical logger named Paul Bunyan. Red River even trademarked the image and had successful advertising campaign of Pul Bunyan’s Pine, etc.

On May 21,1931 the Feather River Bulletin published an article “Paul Bunyan A Great Guy. ” According to the account it was Paul Bunyan that created the North Fork of the Feather River and Mount Lassen. Herewith is that story.

“If it hadn’t been for Paul Bunyan, Bert Meeks wouldn’t have had to worry about deciding of North Fork of the Feather River canyon as the route for the all-year Feather River Highway. There wouldn’t have a North Fork. But Paul thought it would be nice if Peter Lassen could discover a mountain named after him, so he dug out the North Fork canyon used the dirt and stuff to build Mount Lassen.

“The reason Mt. Lassen is a volcano is that Paul needed a good sized bean pot. He had to cook up a mess beans to feed his seven axe men, so he built Mt. Lassen right over a combination of geysers and boiling mud pots.”

Tim

It was not until 1922 that the Lassen County Fair became an annual event. The first fair was held in 1878 and it was a joint venture with Plumas and Modoc Counties. The fairs were sporadic events. The next fair was held in 1891 and again in 1892. The nation’s financial crisis of 1893 put an abrupt halt to many activities. In 1902, a fair was once again resurrected. Included in the festivities, a bandstand was built at the west end of Main Street.

Tim

It was five years ago today, that we had expedition to Echo Lake in northern Plumas County. All went well with our arrival at Echo, though the sky turned a bit hazy. It was omen. By the time we stopped at Silver Lake, it turned out the haze was smoke and the conditions deteriorated at that place.

When we reached Highway 44 and approached  Highway 36, on the horizon  billowing clouds of smoke loomed. We soon learned that there was a forest fire in the Feather River Canyon later to be named the Dixie. Little did we know the devastation it manifested.

It seemed like an endless fire. In late October after more than 100 days the Dixie Fire was fully contained and it burned 963,309 acres.

Tim

This was a short lived Doyle enterprise. In December 1909, A.J. Hall sold the store to Patrick Flanigan. Flanigan hired A.C. Herring to manage it. Flanigan renamed it the Constantia Store Company. When Flanigan purchased the Constantia Ranch he no longer this store.

Tim

The truth be known the three big sawmills, Fruit Growers, Lassen Lumber and Red River could have never existed without immigrant labor. While it was fairly well known the mills hired Italians, Mexicans and Scandinavians there were also the Filipinos.

In the fall of 1922 Fruit Growers hired 125 Filipino men to work in the box factory. Fruit Growers found to them excellent workers. They were housed in the dormitories like everyone else. It should be noted that Lassen Lumber had a designated housing for the Italians. Red River housed the Italian and Mexican employees and their families in what became known as Old Town.

Tim

Note: At Hilt, Fruit Growers had a Italian section that had been established by the previous owner.

Constantia, located in Long Valley, was the creation Henry A. Butters (1850-1908) a capitalist and the president of the Northern Electric Railway Company. On March 10, 1898 he purchased Albert Ross ranch, that included a 17-room mansion that over the years referred to it as the White House. Butters transformed the ranch into small village complete with a general store, a Wells Fargo Office, dwellings for employees and a Catholic Church christened St. Mary’s Chapel. He named the place Constantia, after a city in South Africa noted for its vineyards. Butters boasted that he had 3,500 head of cattle and had an annual payroll of $10,000. It should be noted that Butters visited the property but did not take up residence there. In 1904, due to his divorce from his wife, Lucille, sold the ranch property for E.A. Jordan for an undisclosed amount.

Tim

A.F. “Frank” Dixon was the tenth person to tackle the tapping of Eagle Lake for irrigation in the Honey Lake Valley. Like those before and after him there were numerous obstacles to overcome. For every new enterprise, they had to become more creative, since the previous ones in many cases still had valid claims. Even so, it was not a deterrent.

One asset that Dixon possessed was during the 1890s  he served as Register of the Government Land Office in Susanville. Thus, he knew the procedures for obtaining rights-of-way across government land. However, what caught Dixon off guard is when he filed for his tunnel right-of-way across government land, the government did something they had never requested any one prior–an environmental analysis.  The government was concerned what damages would occur if the lake should be tapped.

The other situation, was Dixon was not alone in his conquest. It should be noted that Dixon filed for his right-of-way in December 1904. In the summer of 1905, the newly formed Lassen-Willow Creek Water Company, filed for a tunnel right-of-way, that was identical to Dixon’s.  Litigation ensued. In 1906, a gold discovery on the eastern edge of the Black Rock Desert lured Dixon away. Dixon would never learn of the outcome, he died in 1908. While Lassen-Willow Creek won in court, their enthusiasm fizzled and that was the end of their involvement.

Tim