Long before the Spalding or Stones Subdivisions, the lake’s population center was on the northeast side, though no one resides there today. In the 1880s saw an influx of Butte County residents making this their new home—Cartwright, Eddy, Fritter, Sorensen and last but not least the Troxels. The Troxels, of course, purchased the W.S. Davis ranch, which place had become a well established stage stop, the property many know today as the former Stone Ranch. Jim Fritter, the family patriarch left an indelible footprint in the area’s history as a Lassen County Supervisor. It is interesting to note the Troxel name lives on two jettison points on the lake, a member of the Fritter family still retains ownership of the original family homestead.
The so-called Butte Colony was short-lived. Within a ten year span it had dwindled down to Fritter and Troxel. Cartwright’s whose homestead located between Fritter and Troxel became a contentious issue with Udell’s proposed scheme to tap Eagle Lake, but that is a whole different story.
Thank you Tim for posting the photo of Aunt Frances. I do not remember ever seeing this portrait in the family albums. As you know she was my great grandfather, John Cartwright’s sister from Dayton in Butte county. The Cartwright brothers John, and Edward, established the Cartwright Family Farm in Dayton in 1863. The original Dayton property is still held by John’s descendents. I inherited one of the home lots in Dayton from my mother Ila Francis Cartwright Kesterson, thru her dad JesseJackson, originating from his uncle Edward “Uncle Cass” Cartwright. The property at Eagle Lake, and another property on the north side of Honey Lake, were primarily used as summer range for the family livestock brought up from the valley on the Humboldt road.