First, I happen to like this photograph taken at the south shore of Eagle Lake. Second, I do not have any knowledge about the picture. Third, in June I had a bought an Epson V39II Scanner. Last week a forced myself to use it. It has been a challenge, but slowly and surely I shall overcome the learning obstacles. Anyhow, to make a long story short, the above was the first scan.
Tim
Mahogany Lake is a small twenty-acre shallow body of water, more or less, that is situated on Mahogany Ridge east of Eagle Lake. Since it has no inlet or outlet it is susceptible of going dry. When that it occurs it appears to be a grassy meadow.
The lake was originally named Walters. after George William Walters (1865-1923). Walters was a one-time employee of Albert Gallatin who used Eagle Lake for summer livestock grazing. In 1887, Walters sold the 40 acre parcel that encompassed the lake to Gallatin for $300. The property remained in the Gallatin family’possession for decades. In 1947, the Lassen National Forest Service acquired the Gallatin property. It is quite possible that forest service changed the lake’s name.
Tim
It was interesting in yesterday’s post that in the. late 1800s and early 1900s Pyramid Lake Paiutes would sale Lahontan Cutthroat trout in Susanville. On the other hand it was common for the Anglo settlers during the spring of catch and haul wagon loads of Eagle Lake trout to sale on the streets of Susanville for twenty-five cents a pound. Yet, the local Native American populace did not harvest the trout like their counterparts of Pyramid Lake. This practice of harvesting Eagle Lake trout came to abrupt halt in 1917 when the State of California adopted. legislation, making it illegal to sell trout (excluding domesticated stock) from lakes and streams.
In the early 1900s bass were planted in Eagle Lake and they thrived. Some ambitious fishermen would from time to time would sale their bounty catches. It should be noted, that the bass population was greatly diminished and finally disappeared the lake in the 1930s. This was due in part of the lake’s water quality, with an increased alkaline content and reduction of marsh areas where the bass thrived caused by the lowering effects of Bly’s tunnel and the drought years.
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.
Depending upon the water level of Eagle Lake, it can be an island. The pelicans at the lake were a popular early day attraction, though others perceived them and the cormorants (sometimes referred to as shags) detrimental to the lake’s fishery. At sundry times the birds were slaughtered, their nests and eggs destroyed. A prime example is found in the columns of the Lassen Weekly Mail of June 11, 1892: “In Eagle Lake there are two islands (Pelican and Shag) on which large numbers of fowl, known as Pelican and Shag, build their nests and rear their young. The consequences are that vast numbers of fish from the lake are destroyed each year for food for the young birds. Recently a party visited these islands and killed the young birds and a good many of the old ones, hoping by means, if continued persistently for a number of years, to prevent the yearly destruction of the fish of the lake.”
Tim
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.
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 sagebrush flat located west of Spalding Tract was an active place back in day for summer grazing of livestock, mainly from Tehama County. In 1873, the Champlin Brothers: George (1827-1903) and Lester (1848-1907), Tehama County stockmen, incorporated this area for summer range for sheep. George Champlin, a ‘49er, was associated with Leland Stanford, aka Stanford University etc. Stanford’s attorney, Ariel Lathrop, who happened to be Stanford’s brother-in-law and partner, with a Vina, Tehama County ranch. In May-June 1899, Champlin and his partner, John Boggs, sold their Lassen County property to Jane Lathrop Stanford for $8,000, who immediately transferred the property to the Stanford University.
In July 1924 the university sold the summer range to J.J. Fleming of the Honey Lake Valley and for whom the state wildlife unit at Honey Lake is named for.
With this current hot spell, I decided on a cool topic. In 1915, the Lucky Land of Lassen was a pamphlet that produced and distributed at the Panama Pacific International Exposition that was held in San Francisco. Of course it extolled all the wonderful virtues that Lassen County had to offer.. Of notable hightlight, it contained one of the earliest accounts concerning the lava beds and ice caves of Eagle Lake. This what the brochure contained:
“To the west of Spalding lies what is known as the ‘Lava Bed country’ 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.”
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