First a little background. For those not familiar, Painters Flat is a remote location in northeast Lassen County, not far from the Nevada border. It was so named after Alexander A. Painter who died and is buried there. On June 19, 1860, Painter was part of a posse after a band of renegade Indians who killed Horace Adams in the Honey Lake Valley. 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.
Fast forward to the mid-1990s. Terry Mallery and I made several expeditions there in search of Painter’s grave. We used the Lander’s written account of the event for reference. We struck out. In the spring of 2020, Brent Espil sent me the above photograph, with the question, “Is this Painter’s grave?”. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer.
Coming soon in search of another grave expedition in the Smoke Creek Desert.