An interesting NCO billboard, with the Caloreta School in the background, 1920–Lenala Martin
You probably have never heard it, because it was a short lived designation that would later become Wendel. When the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was being constructed to Westwood, when it crossed the NCO railroad’s tracks, north of Amedee it created a dilemma to name its new station at that point, due to the fact the. NCO kept changing their station’s name for that location. While today, many might not think it was a big deal—but it was—so much of the nation’s mail traveled by rail.
The Fernley & Lassen decide to name the crossing Caloreta, it being a combination of names that stands for the California and Oregon Transfer. In 1914, Manuel Jose of Alameda County, California had the Caloreta Townsite laid out at the present site of Wendel. On June 6, 1914, Jose leased a lot that was adjacent to the Fernley & Lassen to Gail H.V. James for $10 a year, which was the site of the Purser Post Office. On February 10, 1915 the post office name was changed to Wendel and Caloreta went out of existence.
Employee entrance at Red River Lumber Company’s mill, Westwood
Since it is Labor Day, it is only fitting to have a topic about the labor movement. With the events leading up to World War I, demand for lumber soared. It was in the Pacific Northwest that two labor organizations—the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL)—gained momentum in union organizing in the lumber industry.
The IWW had an image problem. It was considered radical in its
thinking for the time. Some considered it a communist organization. It gained notoriety for its strikes that were marred with violence. It
was from these and other factors, and with the emergence of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumberman that hindered its movement.
After World War I the lumber market plummeted. This weakened labor’s leverage to organize unions. Yet, by the early 1920s, Fruit Growers Supply Company and the Lassen Lumber & Box Company established sawmills at Susanville. So these operations combined with Red River Lumber Company at Westwood, the IWW saw a lot of potential in Lassen County. IWW members worked very hard to recruit there, but with little success. It could be perilous duty and arrests and convictions of suspected organizers occurred. Case in point is the story of Charles Griswold, alias Thomas B. Miller. A Red River employee, Griswold worked the green chain at the mill. He was arrested and charged with the violation of the Busick Injunction for recruiting members for the IWW—the Busick Injunction deemed the IWW was a part of a communist syndicate. On March 25, 1925 Griswold was taken to Susanville and a short jury trial was held. The jury deliberated for ten minutes before they came back with a guilty verdict. Griswold was sentenced to six months in the Lassen County Jail. He could consider himself fortunate for many who were charged with the same offense never had a trial and were automatically sent to prison.
The biggest problem IWW faced in Lassen County was that all three
lumber companies paid the prevailing wage, if not above, and provided better housing than found in other regions on the west coast. The employees had few grievances, so there was no incentive to be a part of the labor movement. It was because of these conditions that Lassen County sawmills remained union free during the 1920s.
The Fire Gong at the Secret Valley CCC Camp—-C.H. Bennett Collection
There was a fire gong at the Secret Valley CCC camp. This is new territory for me and until I saw this photograph, I did not even know a fire gong existed. Fires, at that time, were not that common in eastern Lassen County, so it probably did not receive that much use. If anyone can shed more light on the fire gong, it would be welcomed.
For those who have hiked to the top of Lassen Peak, it can be a spectacular view. Personally, however, the first time I made the ascent it was disappointing. This was, and showing my age, was in the fall when they used to burn the rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, so when I made that initial ascent there was layer of brown smoke over the Sacramento Valley. Enough of that.
Who the first Anglo to climb Lassen Peak, we may never know. There is a dispute. However, we do know that in the summer of 1851, a prospecting party of ten men headed north from Onion Valley, Plumas County, in search of another fabled gold tale, the “lone cabin mine.” Once they reached Big Meadows (now Lake Almanor), they decided to forge ahead and climb Lassen Peak—-possibly the first to do so. One of those men, Grover K. Godfrey, a twenty-six year old New Yorker, observed from his vantage point at the top, “The sight is unrivaled in beauty and magnificence. It is like the vision of some dream land. I fancied I could see all the kingdoms of this world at one glance.”
The next group to climb the peak did so on official business. In the fall of 1863, as part of the geological reconnaissance survey of Northern California, Josiah D. Whitney of the California State Geological Survey sent four men to conduct field work—William H. Brewer, Clarence King, James T. Gardiner and Richard Cotter. It took the party two attempts to climb the mountain. On September 26, when King reached the summit, the wind was so fierce that he had to retreat. Beside the wind, another problem was encountered in the form of cloudy weather that obscured the view. This condition would not allow the men to make observations of lava flows and other remnants of volcanic activity. The windy weather brought snow, so they had to wait a few extra days to make the second attempt.
On September 29, at 1 a.m. with the aid of moonlight they began their second climb. King was again the first to reach the summit. The four men watched the sun rise from their perch. Brewer, like Godfrey, was in awe of the view. Years later he exclaimed, “Although I have often reached greater altitudes, that days stand out in my memory as one of the most impressive in my life.”
An early promotional brochure of the Red River Lumber Company
The sugar pine was highly sought by lumbermen, and especially for the manufacture of wooden boxes. The pine is noted for its straight grain and another feature was manufacture into lumber has no odor. The latter was desired by fruit and vegetable growers.
The sugar pine was so named for its surgary pitch. Noted naturalist, John Muir wrote: “The sugar, from which the common name is derived, is to my taste the best of sweets, better than maple sugar. It exudes from the heartwood, where wounds have been made, either by forest fires or the ax, in the shape. of irregular, crisp, candy-like kernels, which are crowded together in masses of considerable size, like cluster of resin beads . . . Indians are fond of it, but on account of its laxative properties only small quantities may be eaten.”
In the fall of 1915, Robert Strahorn brought new life to the project. Strahorn had a reputation for developing these type of projects. One of the biggest changes was the line would start at Flanigan, Nevada, on the eastern edge of the Honey Lake Valley and its terminus at Cedarville, California. By the spring of 1916, it appeared real progress had been made with right-of-ways secured from the Department of Interior and many of the landowners. In addition, it was announced that Lakeview, Oregon would be the new terminus. For those familiar with the country the railroad now had the daunting task to to cross the Warner Mountains at Fandango Pass. First a grandiose three-mile tunnel was proposed, but was reduced to a 4,820-foot tunnel, which still alleviated 700 difference from the top of the summit. Continue reading Surprise Valley Railway, Part II→
Sand Pass, Washoe County, Nevada, looking north at the Smoke Creek Desert, 2008.
In 1903, the Western Pacific Railway was incorporated with its main goal to build a 810 mile line from the San Francisco Bay Area to Salt Lake City. They were successful in one aspect. On November 1, 1909, the last spike was driven on Western Pacific’s line at Spanish Creek Bridge near Quincy, California. When the railroad was incorporated, it proposed to build twelve branch lines. These “feeder” lines were extremely important to generate rail traffic, which would provide necessary revenue for the fledging railroad. One of these proposed lines called for a Surprise Valley Railway
In April 1912, the Western Pacific did a reconnaissance survey for the initial line. The starting point was at its Reynard Station on the east side of the Smoke Creek Desert. The record is not clear if the line would traverse across the Smoke Creek Desert to the west side. From the Buffalo Salt Works on Smoke Creek’s west side, the line went in a northerly direction through Buffalo Meadows, onward to Duck Lake Valley and into Surprise Valley. It is interesting to note this was the same route from Buffalo Salt Works to Surprise Valley, that the military used inthe late 1800s as a supply route to Fort Bidwell, at the far north end of Surprise Valley.
In the summer of 1913, there was a lot speculation when it was announced that the Surprise Valley Railway incorporated in the state of Oregon. It was duly noted that the intended goal was raise $800,000 through the sell of stock. In March 1914, it was revealed that J.E. Sexton of the Eureka and Nevada Railroad was ready to construct the a narrow gauge railroad line for the Western Pacific from Smoke Creek to Surprise Valley. As the months passed by, all was quiet with the project.
Train load of logs leaving Camp B, FGS Company,1923—Dick & Helen Harrison
For lumber companies back in the day, taking photographic scenes to show case premium logs and/of forest scenes served an unusual purpose that the casual observer would not be aware of. The photographs were used in portfolios to show bondholders, investors and other stakeholders what they were getting for their money.
This particular photograph is very revealing. These are Fruit Growers logs on Red River flat cars. When both Fruit Growers and Red River established their mills, they made agreement with the Southern Pacific Railroad to provide them with rail cars to transport the logs to the mill, saving the companies an expense. Red River found out the hard way that Southern Pacific was not always reliable and eventually purchased their own cars to care of those situation. In this particular instance, Red River was being a good neighbor to Fruit Growers and came to their aid to lend them some cars.
Susanville’s Owl Saloon circa 1907. Ironically, this establishment burned down only six weeks after Prohibition took effect in 1919. Courtesy of Del & Diane Poole
When Susanville was incorporated as a city in 1900, it had one glaring problem—it had no funding mechanism in place. During the debate whether to incorporate, proponents made it clear there would be no property tax. It was their belief that the City could operate on revenues generated from business license fees, especially the lucrative fees set by the state on saloons. Lassen County still collected the liquor license fees on the five saloons in Susanville. The County fathers were not going to give up this money without a fight, and they did.
It was a messy legal battle. It would force the City to impose a property tax assessment until the liquor license issue was resolved. In August 1903, the City imposed a tax levy of 40 cents per $100 assessed value.Of course, there were critics and even talks of disincorporation.
Relief would soon arrive. On August 25, 1904, the California Supreme Court ruled in Susanville v Zimmerman, et al that the town’s saloon owners had to pay the license fees to the City.
Today, I am suffering from some kind of mental block, as I am unable to pick a topic to write about. It happens from time to time. After all, this month, has witnessed a milestone of 3,000 posts since this website originated back in 2015. That is a lot material covered. So, I am taking a brief break today.
P.J. Thompson who was a professional photographer in Susanville from 1912-1920 did exceptional work. This postcard, today’s featured photograph, of an nine-foot sugar pine butt was not his best. We all have our moments. Hopefully, Labor Day Weekend will give me some inspiration.
