Many a soul has experienced over time criticism from family or friends over a purchase or taking a new direction in life. This scenario played out at Drake’s Springs.
In June 1900, a Susanville school teacher, Alexander Sifford, at the urging friends, went to Drakes Springs for the health benefits of the hot springs. The experience was more than Sifford ever dreamed of. Before he returned to Susanville, Sifford entered into an agreement to purchase Drakes Springs.
When Tom Sifford, Alex’s brother, heard the news he thought his brother was just plain crazy for buying the remote mountain property for $1,000. Because of Tom’s initial reaction, Alex did not divulge the entire financial transaction. The $1,000 was a down payment. Alexander Sifford paid $6,000 for Drakes Springs, with annual payments of $1,000.
Alex Sifford, along with his wife, Ida, and two children, Pearl and Roy would transform the place into Drakesbad and continue to operate it until the 1950s when it was finally sold to Lassen Volcanic National Park. As for Tom Sifford, it would be a decade later before he made his initial visit to Drakes Springs.