In June 1986, I received a letter from Thomas Mawer of the Eagle Lake Ranger District of the Lasen National Forest.. The topic Gallatin House, and included with the letter a report. It confirmed what many had known, the forest service wanted to demolish the building, After all, some speculated that during the 1984 Aspen fire, the forest service had opportunity to let it go up in flames. No matter what, for me a battle was born.

First, I would need assistance to tackle this. My initial contact was with Valerie “Val” Campbell who was a. historical archaeologist for Caltrans. I had met her a year earlier when she was evaluating Highway 139. We plotted out a course of action and began a letter campaign. She recruited colleagues and pointed out that Gallatin House met the criteria to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. I recruited the Friends of Eagle Lake. This group had organized several years earlier when Lassen County was putting together its Eagle Lake Area Plan. Some of the key figures of “Friends” were located in Santa Cruz. This group was very well organized and a major letter campaign had begun, the old fashioned way before email, etc.

Time was of the essence in my opinion. When I had a discussion with Richard Henry, Lassen National Forest Supervisor, he was adamant about the building’s demolition. What may have been decision day of the fate of the building came at the September 1986 meeting of the Eagle Lake Interagency Board meeting. The topic was addressed. There was plenty of public supporters there to address their concern, but the board had the letters of support. While the board had no authority, it gave the preservationists approval in the court of public opinion. The forest service remained silent, for a long time and gave no indication what their next move might be.

In 1988, the forest service announced that they had approved a special use permit for thirty-five acres on the southeast side of Eagle Lake to the McDonald’s Corporation—the well known fast food chain. The property was transformed into a Camp Ronald McDonald for disabled and disadvantaged children. The Gallatin House is part of the complex. It houses some of the staff and administrative office space. However, it should be noted that front portion of the Gallatin House is still in its original state. An interesting piece of trivia, the last time I was able to inspect the house, with Gallatin descendants in tow, there was an oak table  the Gallatin family left behind in 1944, and it is still there.

Donate

It was 100 years ago today, with no fan fare, that 50 cubic feet per second of water was released through the Bly Tunnel at Eagle Lake.  The $1.25 million project conclusion was bittersweet.  Earlier, in May, some 5,000 people gathered at Litchfield for a grand barbecue to celebrate the completion of the tunnel.  What the public was not aware was Grant Smith Company, the contractor to build the tunnel, only built three foot below the lake level at the inlet, versus the eight feet agreed upon with the irrigation districts. The company refused to allow water through the tunnel,, until an agreement was reached. The legal wrangling went on all summer until a settlement was made.  In the short and long term the Baxter Creek and Tule Irrigation District were big losers. First, they lost the 1923 irrigation season. They would spend a decade trying to correct the inlet problem, and finally gave up.

Tim

Albert Gallatin is one of the many intriguing figures in California history. This native New Yorker arrived in California in 1860, and the following year located at Sacramento. It was fortunate timing on his part to land a job in hardware store owned by Huntington and Hopkins. At the same time, Huntington and Hopkins would join forces with Crocker and Stanford, to become the “Big Four” and establish the Central Pacific Railroad. Gallatin, as a junior partner in the hardware business, became quite lucrative providing materials for the railroad. In 1877, he built the Gallatin House and in 1903 it became the California Governor’s Mansion.

The prosperous Gallatin began branching out into numerous endeavors including the sheep business. Gallatin needed summer range for the sheep, and discovered Eagle Lake. In a two year period in the late 1880s he purchased nearly 5,000 acres of Eagle Lake properties for $9,000. The bulk of the purchases were timberlands, with the exception of Hall’s Papoose Meadows and William Dow’s ranch near present day Spaulding Tract.

With the exception of Gallatin being Eagle Lake’s largest property owner, his influence otherwise was minor. In 1905, he passed away and his second wife, Malvena, had the lasting impact on Eagle Lake. After all she introduced Leon Bly to Eagle Lake.

Support by subscribing.

A Tuesday tidbit for today. Unknown parties, at least to me, built an informal wooden platform at the south shore of Eagle Lake. This was in the mid-1930s when lake was about to reach its initial historic low. The dock, if you could call it such, was ideal for small boats, i.e. canoes.

Tim

This being Memorial Day Weekend, it only seemed fitting for an Eagle Lake topic, since there is a lot of activity around the lake that weekend.

Leon Bly spent five years to put together a project to tap Eagle Lake to irrigate land in Honey Lake Valley. He had a lot of obstacles to contend with. First there was the initial study of lake to see if it was feasible. Then he had to convince the farmers of the Honey Lake Valley that it was indeed worthy. This was not an easy task since there had been attempts to tap the lake since 1875. Then public irrigation districts had to be formed to be able to put together a $1.25 million bond measure to finance it. Then there was all the detail work to obtain rights-of-way for the necessary canals and ditches, that would also have to be surveyed. One would of thought when the initial work began in the fall of 1921, there would be some kind of celebration, but it started off quietly with no fanfare.

Tim