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.

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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.

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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