Yesterday’s post concerned the abundance of wildlife, a sportsman’s dream of the conditions in 1915. Of course, that was promotional literature aimed at enticing visitors to the region. There was one creature hated by the fishermen—the pelicans. Many believe that pelicans and their appetite for fish are harmful to fisheries. By the 1880s, fishermen at Eagle Lake waged war with the pelicans, to slaughter as many as possible. In 1927, after the enlargement of Lake Almanor, pelicans gathered at that of body of water, too, and endured same hatred that occurred at Eagle Lake.

This is a continuation of excerpts from spring the pamphlet entitled Lucky Land of Lassen that was produced and distributed at the Panama Pacific International Exposition that was held in San Francisco during 1915.

“It is well known fact that Lassen County offers the sportsman the greatest hunting and fishing in the West today. In the mountains are to be found the mule-tail and black-tail deer, grouse, quail and an occasional black or brown bear. In the valleys are to be found the sage hen, quail, doves, ducks, geese, rabbits, etc., and in the mountain streams and lakes one may find ideal fishing, varying from brook trout to black bass, weighing as much as ten pounds.”

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This spring I wrote about the pamphlet entitled Lucky Land of Lassen that was produced and distributed at the Panama Pacific International Exposition that was held in San Francisco during 1915. At that time, I mentioned that we examine the material, and with that in mind, here is the first of two installments concerning Eagle Lake. The following is the earliest account concerning the lava beds and ice caves.
“To the west of Spalding lies what is known as the ‘Lava Bed county,” about seven miles long and three or four miles wide. This is the wildest region in this section, and excepting the vegetation, it is almost as when the lava first cooled. It is full of caverns, wells and cracks, one of the latter being five miles long and three to twenty feet wide. In one place it has been sounded to a depth of 160 feet and no bottom found. In this crack there is an ice cave where plenty of ice may be obtained any year until August and some years throughout the entire summer.”

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The responses were rather interesting with a near split between Pine and Willow Creek. Yes, it is Pine Creek, taken on June 9, 2017 at the bridge on County Road A-1. Prior to the Brockman Flat Law flow of some 125,000 years, Pine and Willow Creeks were one. A portion of this lava flow extends to the east side of the lake near Bly Tunnel. It created a natural dam, and thus Pine Creek began to flood the area known today as Eagle Lake.

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