Asa M. Fairfield lamented that the only item named after Susanville’s founder, Isaac Roop, was a street. Incidentally, Roop himself named that street when the town was plotted. Fairfield idolized  Roop. If Fairfield and Roop had been Roman Catholic, he would had petitioned the Vatican to make Roop a saint.

Fairfield, however, was on a mission to have something named after Roop. His original proposal was to rename Diamond Mountain to Roop, and needless to say that crusade was shot down before it even got started. Fairfield then focused his energy to have a monument placed on Roop’s unmarked grave in Susanville. This was accomplished in 1914.

Fairfield was still persistent that a mountain be named after Roop. With Diamond out of the question, he spotted a feature that was not officially recognized by the United States Board of Geographic Names. The mountain to the west of Susanville, in question, did have a name, Worley. It had been named after Adam Worley’s family, a Tehama County rancher who had a summer stock range on the western base of the mountain. In addition, Worley’s son, Jesse became a well known merchant in Susanville among other things. In 1921, Fairfield petitioned the Board to change the name officially to Mount Roop after Isaac Roop, for his contributions to the early development to the County. Fairfield considered Roop to be the Father of the County. It was granted in 1922, though designation was Roop Mountain.  What annoyed Fairfield, is the local populace ignored the decree and still referred to it as Worley Mountain. Ninety years later, many a seasoned resident still refer to it as Worley.

Personally, why Fairfield chose that mountain, makes no sense. The mountain cannot be seen from Susanville proper in that era. Remember, the city’s eastern city limit was Weatherlow  Street. A more appropriate feature would have been Susanville Peak, due north of Susanville and overlooks the community Roop founded.

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