The town of Spalding was the predecessor of today’s Spalding Tract. In February 1914, John S. Spalding announced his intention to subdivide his 420-acre ranch on the west shore of Eagle Lake (near Pine Creek) for a summer resort and town.

William D. Minklcer surveyed and plotted the new 200-acrre townsite of Spalding and recored his map with the County of Lassen  on July 6, 1914. Streets and alleys in the town were dedicated to the County of Lassen, with Spalding obtaining a performance bond as required.

The interest generated by Susanville newspapers made it appear as though the lots would be sold out quickly. To the contrary, only one lot was sold in the Town of Spalding. On July 10, 1914 John S. Spalding sold Lot 1, Block Q to Susanville resident Asa M. Fairfield for $10.

For whatever reason, all the hoopla regarding the new Town of Spalding subsided as quickly as it began. It should be noted that there was a lot going on with the new establishment of the mill town of Westwood and the Mt. Lassen eruptions.  In 1917, John Spalding sold his holdings to hid daughter and son-in-law Zella and Ben Yeakey.  In 1920, the Yeakeys transferred the property to Will and Hazel Spalding, brother and sister-in-law of Zella.

In the fall of 1924, Spalding filed a petition in the Lassen County Superior Court to dissolve the townsite. It was granted. Will Spalding had other plans for a much larger subdivision that we known today as Spalding Tract.

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On July 25, 2024, my companions and I went for an exploration expedition to two different sites. By the time we entered the Madeline Plains the visibility of the smoke from the Park Fire that originated from Chico (Butte County) dropped to less than five miles. Since our two intended destinations were a bust, we trekked back home via Termo, Grasshopper and Dry Valley.

Reaching Highway 139 we decided to head south, and make our way around Eagle Lake. Approaching the north shore, the lake’s surface had a gray appearance as if it was dry and it was surreal.  At the top of Eagle Lake summit, overlooking Susanville it was blue skies!

Tim

This facility was not opened to the public. Its name a bit of a misnomer. It was built circa 1918 by the Red River Lumber Company at the south. shore of Eagle Lake near present day Merrill Campground. It was used by those in the company’s management positions. Unfortunately, I do not have that much information on it, due to the nature of how Red River operated. However, It was the location of water carnivals during1921-23.

Tim

Desperate actions, some times involves desperate measures. The Baxter Creek and Tule Irrigation Districts final plea to salvage the fundamental problems that plagued it from the onset of their Bly
tunnel at Eagle Lake. They were at a such low point, nothing ventured, nothing gained looked promising.

The district’s failed with their applications under President Roosevelt’s  New Deal Programs. Exhausted of all avenues. their last plea was for a Civilian Conservation Corp Camp (CCC). In their petition, it was their belief, that such a camp would prove very beneficial, not just the salvation of the endangered farmers on the verge of bankruptcy, but the county at large. Such a camp, they proposed, would employ some 700 men, not including administrative staff, etc.

In a special meeting held on November 1935, the Susanville Chamber of Commerce, endorsed the district’s application. It was not enough, and the application for a CCC speciality camp was denied.

It should be noted, that in the late 1940s and into the 1950s attempts were made to revive the Bly Tunnel project. However, that is another story, for another time.

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Oscar Rankin arrived at Eagle Lake in 1907, and became the first resort owner, laying foundations for the Eagle Lake Resort on the southwest shore. He constructed several boats for patrons to use on the lake. In 1914, he built The Pelican, a twenty-seven foot galvanized metal hull that was powered with a While boiler and Stanley Steamer engine. Leon Bly used the boat to do a sounding of the depths of Eagle Lake.

Eventually the Pelican ended up at Spalding Tract. Sometime around 1953 Glen Seeber found the old hull near Spalding’s and rescued it before deer hunters or someone else might use it for target practice. It was his intent to restore it. In the February 1996 issue of the Thru-Bolt the newsletter of the Eagle Lake Sailing Association, stated that The Pelican would be on display at the Bengard residence in Janesville at their next meeting. The Sailing Association launched an effort to help Glen and recruited the historical society and Lassen College to assist.  How much restoration work was ever completed or the boat’s whereabouts remain a mystery to me.

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The winter of 1923-24 was one of the driest for California since the1860s.  This was one was more profound than the earlier one, as California’s growth had been dramatic in the last six decades.

Like so many the  Golden State, the farmers and ranchers of the Honey Lake Valley were in a state of anxiety—with no snow pact, equalled dry reservoirs and low stream flows. One hand the future did not seem so bleak. The completion of the Baxter Creek and Tule Irrigation Districts Bly Tunnel at Eagle Lake could provide nearly everyone with an ample water supply. That water district agreed to sell 20,000 acre feet to the Lassen Irrigation District for $60,000–enough to irrigate 7,000 acres for that district.

While Eagle Lake had enough water to supply the irrigation needs of the Honey Lake Valley, there was a huge technical problem. The Bly Tunnel original design was the inlet was to tap the lake six feet below the surface—the contractor only did three feet. This forced Baxter and Tule Districts to hire an engineer to examine the situation.. When all as said and done, only a very limited water supply was delivered, leaving many literally high and dry.

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