Between the discovery of gold at Coloma, California in 1848 and the Comstock in 1859 in Nevada, mining prospectors scoured the west looking for the next “El Dorado.” According to Lassen Park naturalist Paul E. Schulz in 1849 Major Pierson B. Reading, the first person to settle in Shasta County, explored what would later become Lassen Volcanic National Park. He was one of many prospectors at Lassen and that is how this peak became known. Schulz noted: “A 2,000 peak of gentle and symmetrical contour. It is a rather good example of a Hawaiian-type volcano, and is composed of countless Prospect Peak Basaltic lava flows.”

Tim