While a lot of folks are familiar with the Bly Tunnel, some of the earlier tunnel attempts were north of that one. What was deemed Tunnel Bay was Captain C.A. Merrill’s preferred tunnel location. However, in the early 1880s, Merrill focused on the Willow Creek side of Eagle Lake with his tunnel construction.  In 1891-92, Susanville attorney and promoter, E. R. Dodge, formed the Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company and took over Merrill’s operation. Dodge had worked done at Eagle Lake with the construction of an inlet, and also limited tunnel excavation. Some people now referred to this as Dodge Bay. It was at this location, that a pumping plant was constructed. It was Dodge’s contention that this plant would provide water for irrigation in the Honey Lake Valley and in turn generate revenue until his tunnel was completed. Water was pumped from this location and transported by various ditches, along with Willow Creek being one of the conduits that Eagle Lake water flowed all the way to Amedee in the Honey Lake Valley in the fall of 1892, and a portion of 1893. However, the nation’s financial crisis of 1893, put a halt on everything at Eagle Lake, and eventually the pumping plant was sold off as part of a liquidation process.

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By 1875, Capt. C.A. Merrill began work in earnest to tap Eagle Lake for irrigation in the Honey Lake Valley. He first formed the Lassen County Land & Flume Company, but within four years that endeavor failed. Continue reading Where are we – Merrill Tunnel →

This is certainly a tale of two Gallatins—Albert and Malvena. Last year I wrote about Albert and how he acquired the properties around Eagle Lake primarily for ranching purposes, i.e, summer grazing range. Malvena saw the lake for its aesthetic and recreational attributes. While she could have easily denied public access to the south shore, after all she owned nearly all of it, along with some 40 miles of shoreline, she did not. The south shore that later became known as Gallatin Beach was popular with the locals. This was to her benefit, more lake visitors equaled more complaints about the road conditions to the south shore. In 1913, she did a first at Eagle Lake—she built a summer home. More about the Gallatin House in the future. Yet, it was the increasing water level at Eagle Lake, that she accommodated Leon Bly and his proposed project to tap the lake to provide a water supply for the Honey Lake Valley. Years later she had regrets when the lake level dropped so low, reducing her property values. She sued and lost, to prevent further tapping of the lake. After all she had plans to sale the property, in the 1930s, for over a million dollars to developers for a recreational resort. The reason she lost was that the agreement she signed with Bly, the lake had not reached agreed upon lake level, but then no one thought the lake would ever drop so low.

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