In 1884, Malvena Robin married the divorced Albert Gallatin. To this union they had one child, Leta. In 1905, Albert Gallatin passed away at age of 69, and the bulk of his estate he left to Malvena. At the time of his death he owned 4,962 acre of land surrounding Eagle Lake. It was purely economical for the land used for livestock grazing.

In 1910, Malvena became a grandmother to Norma Virginia Harvey. Norma had a big impact on Malvena, to say the least. In 1913, Malvena had a summer home constructed at the southeast corner of the lake. Beginning in the summer of 1914, Malvena and her family entourage, with special guest of honor, Norma, spent the summers at Eagle Lake for nearly a  decade.  In this same time, period, Malvena was approached by different parties to subdivide the south shore for summer home sites. She declined the offers. However, she did allow the public to camp on her property, the most popular spot would became known as Gallatin Beach.

Time changes and the Gallatin clan became infrequent visitors to the lake. So much, they hired J. Burt Christie as a caretaker for the summer home.  In 1944, Malvena’s granddaughter, Norma Harvey Wachhorst died.  Deeply saddened by this loss, Malvena returned once more t Eagle Lake, to spend a quiet Christmas at her summer home.

In 1946, Malvena sold all her Eagle Lake holdings except a 1.96 parcel that included her summer home. She wanted that parcel with her home to go to her only great grandchild, Wyn Wachhorst.

Subscribe

First, and foremost I am grateful for a volunteer to scan my collection of negatives. This particular photograph, I do have an original print and negative. I did a light search of this site’s photograph collection, and it did not appear.

Those new subscribers may not be familiar with the Bly Tunnel at Eagle Lake. In a nutshell, Leon Bly, a civil engineer, devised a plan to tap Eagle Lake to reclaim sagebrush lands in the Honey Lake Valley. He succeeded to organize the farmers to form irrigation districts, and they would in turn sell bonds to finance the same.

In 1920, initial construction of the tunnel began on the Willow Creek side. In 1921, a second construction camp was set up on the lake side. One can see the camp, that is the site of the former Chico State Eagle Lake Biological Station. It is my understanding that the property is now owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria. Anyhow, I thought certain individuals would like to see the layout, and, of course, the high water level of the lake.

Tim

It is a rarity to come across early day descriptions of the various ice caves on the west side of Eagle Lake. The following account was a part of Ada Gerking York’s memoirs (1877-1936). She was raised in Willow Creek Valley and spent most of her life in Grasshopper Valley.

”Eagle Lake is surrounded by many wonders, especially on the west side, great lava beds of which little is known.  A great volcanic crack extends for ten miles; some places 10 to 15 feet deep, others bridged and so on. The place where I visited had a bridge upon which I went; I found a small hole in the ground and dropped a rock down. It struck far below then rolled, clattering among other rocks, fell again, and was some moments before all was quiet again. One of the party went into the crack and found an entrance to the cave under the bridge, but cannot be explored on account of its depth. Another time I visited the caves, how many I forgotten, and I think there are many yet unexplored; some of them had monstrous holes as openings, and in entering I found large rooms, some of which were exquisitely shaped. One known as “The Grottos” had many stalactites and stalagmites; some have more than one opening and some several apartments. One contains ice and is known as the Ice Cave and ice may be had any time of the year.”

Donate.

By the end of World War I cigarette smoking gained in popularity. In 1920s, advertisers promoted as stylish among other traits. On the flip side carless cigarette smokers routinely threw their lighted cigarette butts out of the car window. By the early 1920s the California made it a law to prohibit tossing lighted objects from an an automobile, but citizens ignored it. By the mid-1920s it got out of hand and was a major cause of forest fires.

On June 11, 1925 the first forest of season, locally occurred at Eagle Lake’s Gallatin Beach. Luckily, it was quickly contained as group of forty men, composed a campers and day visitors, quickly extinguished the fire. The fire’s origin was a caused by a discarded cigarette.

Menacing problem of cigarettes igniting forest fires continued for decades. Locally, for instance, on July 17, 1951 a 760-acre fire consumed the majority of timber on Gallatin Peak. The cause a careless cigarette smoker.

Tim

In 1914, John Spalding subdivided his brother-in-law’s Jules Hurlbut homestead for summer homes. While many took notice, the sales were dismal. Ten years later, W.J. Spalding, John’s son, revamped the subdivision to what is today.

Spalding enlisted the aid some real estate promoters from Southern California and formed the Eagle Lake Cabin Site Company. They had grandiose plans, at least on paper. There was a  proposed $100,000 resort complex, that the Eagle Lake Lodge was to resemble the Grand Canyon’s El Tovar Inn. In June 1925 the Company informed Spalding that sales were a doing great. Some 2,800 lots had been sold at $50 each “to a very desirable class of people.”. The sales remained brisk for the year.

1926, was a different story, as in buyers remorse. Some of last year’s buyers came to inspect Spaulding Tract. First they had to deal with poor road conditions and upon arrival there was no grand lodge or even a cabin. Needless, to say the lot owners were angry had invested in non-existent resort community. Over the ensuing decades lots at Spaulding could be had at bargain prices via delinquent tax sales. In 1950, Lassen County sold 524 lots during a delinquent tax sale that saw prices range from twenty cents to twenty dollars a lot.

Support

Eagle Lake’s first settler was.a thirty-three old New Yorker by the name of Levi Button, who recorded a claim to 160-acres on the northwestern shore on January 4, 1870. Button had resided in Lassen County since 1863, making living from prospecting and trapping. He built himself a cabin at the lake and resided there periodically until 1875. He then departed for eastern Oregon. Before leaving he remarked that the wildlife had greatly diminished due to the influx of livestock grazing on the surrounding mountains.

A number of individuals had become occupants of Button’s abandoned homestead. In a five years period, Isaac Adams, Frank Day, Samuel C. Dibble, Hiram Sewall and Daniel Cramer claimed possession of the place, but none them remained there for any length of time and failed to gain. title.

In the early 1880s, a German immigrant, Adolph Schuler took up Button’s abandoned claim. He had several improvements and secured 166-acre federal land patent. In 1885, Schuler sold the property to James D. Byers who had an extensive livestock operation in the Honey Lake Valley. Byers incorporated the property for summer grazing. Schuler worked as a ranch hand and. reminded on the property for most of his life. Byers who died in 1902, was a bachelor and he left the bulk of his estate to his nephew’s wife, Sarah McCleland. Since then, has it remained in the McClelland family.

To Support, Please Donate or Subscribe