When the NCO Railroad arrived on the Madeline Plains 1899/00, it gathered a great deal of media attention. The area witnessed some prosperous times, which peaked around 1915-16. World War I saw the drafting of the young men of the Madeline Plains, who after the war did not return because there were a lot of opportunities elsewhere than making a hardscrabble existence at their former home.
By the 1920s and into the 1930s, it was not all doom and gloom. Take for instance the Bailey Creek Sawmill to the west of Termo, that was a major boost to the economy. Of course, the Southern Pacific Railroad, which had taken over the former NCO provided jobs as well.
Of course, passer by travelers also was part of the economic fabric. For one Jim Lechuga, his visit to Ravendale was memorable. On April 28, 1930 he was arrested there with a suitcase that contained 360 tobacco tins full of marijuana. He told authorities it was for medicinal purposes. Roy D. Jones, State Narcotics Office, said that was hogwash, that marijuana had no medicinal value. On May 7, 1930, a jury trial was held in the Lassen County Superior Court. Lechuga was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison at San Quentin.