This mountain, for those not familiar is located a short distance northeast of Westwood. In 1864, David Johnson (1815-1904), who was better known as “Peg leg”, came to California. While en-route to the Sacramento Valley, his wife, Martha, aged 35, died on October 12, 1864, at Devils Corral, Lassen County. Johnson transported her body to Mountain Meadows where he buried her, which is known as the small cemetery at the 101 Ranch.

Peg leg was known as an old time mountain man who spent his summers in this region and wintered with his family at Red Bluff. In March 1903, his son, John W. Johnson was granted guardianship of Peg leg, who had been declared insane by the Court. Peg leg had two daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Howard and Mrs. Mary Heckle. John had filed a request to sell the Mountain Meadows property for $800. The sisters contested the sale, as they cited the land was worth at least $1,400. The court approved John’s petition. Peg leg’s property was sold to W.C. Lucas and J.A. Virden for $800. On April 5, 1904, David “Peg Leg” Johnson died at the Napa Asylum for the Insane. His family brought his remains to Mountain Meadows in June and interred them next to his wife, Martha, and their twenty-nine year old son, Ralph, who died in 1884.

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