During 1930-31 when the Western Pacific Railroad was engaged in the construction of the Northern California Extension, aka the Hi-line from Keddie to Bieber, most everything went smoothly. In early August, 1931 Western Pacific officials gleefully reported that rails had reached Bogard and that they were placed at a rate of 8,000 feet per day! Things suddenly changed on August 20, 1931 60 laborers walked off the job, including the head gang of steel layers. The railroad officials summoned Lassen County Sheriff Leavitt to Camp Lasco to make sure the men did not start any violent confrontations. At dispute was the foreman had been fired on the spot. He was replaced by what the workers deemed a “foreigner” and they would not have an illegal alien as their boss. That evening the men left Camp Lasco and spent the night in Susanville. They returned back to the camp next morning to collect their pay and went their separate ways. It was a temporary setback for the Western Pacific, yet it being the depression there was a large pool of unemployed to recruit from.