One of the articles that I am working on, the Painter’s Creek Irrigation District of 1916. Does any one have a photograph of Painters Crék or Painters Flat  east of the Madeline Plains?

Some little history about the naming  of Painters Flat. After the murder of Peter Lassen in the spring of 1859, tensions between the settlers and the Indians became intense. Within a year the region experienced the Pyramid Lake War. On June 17, 1860, Horace Adams was murdered by the Indians at his ranch near Lathrop’s Station in the Honey Lake Valley. Two days laters, Col. Frederick W. Lander and Captain William Weatherlow gathered a group of men together to locate the Indians responsible for Adams’ death. They followed the Indians’ tracks north to the Madeline Plains. From there, they headed east through a canyon. Just before entering a valley there, they were ambushed by the Indians, Alexander A. Painter was mortally wounded. Painter’s body was moved a mile northeast from where he died. He was buried there beneath a cedar tree.

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As a rule, I I avoid Native American sites due to their sensitivity. However, some sites are well known and are routinely visited by many, and that is the case of Tommy Tucker Cave,

The cave was a significant archaeological site excavated by archaeologists from the University of California from 1949 to 1951. The cave is located 200 feet above the Honey Lake  Valley floor. It was named for Thomas “Tommy” Tucker (1895-1918), a Madiu from Big Meadows (Lake Almanor), and the second person from Lassen County to die in World War I. One can read Francis Riddell’s complete report here.

Of note this somewhat a personal neglected hindsight. Riddell and I were friends, and on his twice annual visits to Susanville, at that time, he stopped by for a visit. Of course, we always had a lot to talk about. As the cave is attributed to the Paiutes, the one question I wanted to ask Riddell, why was it named for a Maidu individual?

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The housing is a struggle.  There have been several peope who have tried to text with leads. However, I have a land line, so I can not receive texts. Tim

Located east of Susanville, by a lot, it was in its day an important stage stop.  Its one attribute is noted for its “smelly spring.”

Tim

P.S. – Still in search of a  home.

Who knew back in 1917, when Father P.J. O’Reilly announced that Susanville’s Sacred Heart Church would celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, that it would be an enduring tradition.

Father O’Reilly’s first event was nearly an all nighter.  As was the custom of the day, entertainment and dancing occupied the first half of the evening. Then at 11 p.m. a supper was served and then the dancing resumed into the “wee hours of the morning.”  At the conclusion, Father O’Reilly commented that it was a very successful affair  socially and financially.

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P.S. – Still in search of a  home.

This is a tale of how many hospitals were established in the 1910s. In 1914 California adopted the Workmen’s Compensation Act. This affected large industrial employers such as lumber mills in our region. Companies had two options for medical insurance to their employees. They could self insured or buy a policy through the State. Fruit Growers and Red River adopted the self-insured approach the employees were charged one dollar a month for health and medical care. This insurance covered every member of an employee’s family. This was how the Riverside Hospital was built in Susanville and the Westwood Hospital.  The Act was amended in 1944 and both Red River and Fruit Growers opted out of the self insured plan, and paid into the State Workmen’s Compensation Fund.

A little bit of trivia is this how Kaiser Permanente was formed. Kaiser initially were ship builders and they too originally opted for the self-insured policy.. They also dropped the self-insured policy, and in 1945 Kaiser Permanente was established.

Tim

Note: This post appeared on November 6, 2020. This post is in memory of Chuck James, a one-time archaeologist on the Plumas National Forest, who passed away on September 8, 2025. He was responsible for me to research this mine. The Plinco Mine was located in the Last Chance area of northeastern Plumas County. Doyle in Lassen County was in part beneficiary of the mining operations due to the access with the Western Pacific Railroad. From the mine to Doyle was approximately thirteen miles. The initial mine was discovered in 1905 by Joseph Novak of Utah and Orlando McNabb of nearby Milford, an avid prospector. Attempts to develop the mine languished. In the fall of 1915, J.F. Cutler, a Midwest capitalist began an ambitious project to develop the Novak Mine. On November 2, 1915 Articles of Incorporation for Plinco Copper Mine were filed in the State of Nebraska. Cutler stated at that time he had ten men working on shafts and buildings investing some $16,000 in the venture. There does not appear to be much documentation about the Plinco mine. In late August 1919 a massive forest fire, to be named the Ferris Fire ravaged the Last Chance country and destroyed the Plinco Mine buildings. The operation then ceased to exist.

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Stacy was a small community in eastern Honey Lake Valley located between Amedee and the Nevada State line. In 1914, a weekly correspondent to the Lassen Advocate provided that newspaper of the activities of that region. From time to time on Tuesdays I will provide excerpts.

30 January 1914 – Ferdinand Zarbock, who has been keeping the Postoffice at Stacy the past month, is very. much gratified over the results since the office has been regular service over the Fernley & Lassen Railroad. The sales and cancellations have more quadrupled from what they we were getting intermittent service from Calneva.

30 January 1914 – Marvin Caudle and Ferdinand Zarbock have just completed the survey of Main Street from the northern limits of Stacy for a distance of one mile north and have moved  and rebuilt the old fence so as to give a 60-foot road. They are now working on the trunk line of the Stacy telephone system.

Tim

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