Tag Archives: Fruit Growers Supply Company

History

The Road to Camp 10, 1938

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Camp 10 cabins, January 10, 1952.

Okay, so it is kind out of whack to write about opening a railroad logging camp, while the calendar indicates we are heading into winter. However, the material is fresh at hand, and spring is not.

For those not aware, Camp 10, was a railroad logging camp of the Fruit Growers Supply Company, located west of Eagle Lake in Pine Creek Valley. One of the items that make Camp 10 unique was its longevity—most logging camps existed less than five years, and the logging company moved to a new a location. Camp 10 was established in 1928 and did not close down until 1952.

George Moore digging out a speeder at Camp 10, January 10, 1952.

On May 6, 1938, Lassen National Forest Ranger P.D. Hook boarded Fruit Growers logging train to plow the road open to Camp 10. Not only was there plenty of snow to be encountered in early May, but as expected downed trees across the railroad tracks. Hook noted in the Feather Lake area, north and east of McCoy Flat Reservoir there was still four feet on the ground. Also impressive was that Pine Creek Valley was still covered with a foot of snow.

Pine Creek Valley, June 27, 2015

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History

Halls Flat Continued

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Camp Harvey
Camp Harvey, 1947

Halls Flat came to life in a big way starting in August 1941 when the Red River Lumber Company established Camp Bunyan. This camp was unique from other Red River logging camps. Not only did it have a name and not a number, it was their largest camp that consisted of both temporary and permanent buildings. At its peak, it was the home to some 350 loggers, making it one of the largest seasonal communities in Lassen County. From Camp Bunyan a railroad logging line was constructed to the east in the company’s Blacks and Harvey Mountain timber tracts. In 1943, a second logging camp named Camp Harvey was established. At the end of the following of year, a major change happened when Red River sold to the Fruit Growers Supply Company. At the end of the 1946 logging season Camp Bunyan had served its intended purpose and was shut down. Its location remained a hub of activity since the log trains from Camp Harvey, plus the additional Camp Stanford, went to the Camp Bunyan site to connect with the Western Pacific Railroad that relayed the loaded log cars to the Westwood mill.

In the spring of 1949,the hustle and bustle of the connections of the Harvey line connecting with the Western Pacific at Halls Flat came to a sudden halt. The cookhouse employees at Camps Harvey and Stanford went on strike over wages. With no end in sight with negotiations, Fruit Growers permanently closed down those logging camps and the railroad logging line. Thus, Halls Flat returned to its quiet existence.

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History

Riverside Apartments, 1965

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Fruit Growers Apartments, 1920s

In the summer of 1964, Robin McVickers and Fred Toler formed the Northlands Holding Company for their newest endeavor. The two men purchased four of the old Fruit Growers Supply Company’s apartments on Alexander Avenue in Susanville from the Eagle Lake Lumber Company. The buildings were completely renovated, became known as the Riverside Apartments when they were opened in September 1965. One building, in particular, was dubbed “The Chateau.” This building was specifically set aside as a dormitory for Lassen College students and could accommodate fifty-six students. This apartment complex still exists and is known as the Parkview Garden Apartments.

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History

McClure Forest Fire

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July 11, 2019

The 1945 forest fire season was a busy one, but acreage was minimal comparison to other years. The McClure Forest Fire was the largest in Lassen County for that year. The fire was spotted at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, September 2, 1945, just south of Big Jacks Lake. It spread quickly, fanned by hot dry winds. As the Fruit Growers Supply Company had two railroad logging camps in the area—Harvey and Stanford—with in no time they had 750 men on the fire line. The Lassen National Forest dispatched a crew of 50. Three days later the fire was contained. In all, 5440 acres was consumed, 4000 of which was virgin timber.

Map of the fire location.

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History

Big Logs

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log train Camp B
Train load of logs leaving Camp B, 1923–Courtesy of Dick & Helen Harrison

Yesterday’s topic was big timber before the arrival of the big mills. Well, that big timber became big logs. Camp B of the Fruit Growers Supply Company was located just north of McCoy Flat Reservoir. It was their second railroad logging and one of its largest. The camp operated from 1922 to 1925. Similar to Camp Harvey there are still remnants such as the concrete foundation of the commissary and service pits used to work on the locomotives.

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History

It was just a matter of time

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Westwood, 1955

In the late summer, and some times in the fall the Board of Directors of the Fruit Growers Supply Company would make an annual tour of their mill operations and timber holdings in Northern California, which they still do, minus the mills. It should be duly noted that Fruit Growers is the co-operative purchasing agent for the citrus growers marketing co-op known as Sunkist. The reason for these holdings, was to provide wooden boxes for the shipment of citrus, prior to the advent of the cardboard box.

In mid-August 1955, the Board made their annual tour, and no one thought much about it. This was about to change with a sudden announcement. On August 25, 1955, H.A. Lynn, President of Fruit Growers made the following announcement: “A diminishing supply of company timber and the reduce requirement for box shook, the company will permanently close the Westwood Operation.”

It came as a shock, but then it was not. After all, it was a widely held belief, just how long could the lumber industry survive. In another announcement that year, Sunkist would no longer use wooden boxes for shipping, and made the conversion to cardboard.

The logging and mill operations at Westwood would continue as normal for the remainder of the 1955 season. In 1956, the process would begin to phase out and close the Westwood mill.

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History

Fruit Growers Fire Breaks

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Fire trail V-drag plow, 1929. Courtesy of Fruit Growers Supply Company

After the 1924 fire on Antelope Mountain, west of Eagle Lake, Fruit Growers Supply Company (FGS) revaluated thier standard method of fire prevention. At that time they piled brush and slash (tree limbs and tops left behind once the logs were removed). They adopted a new method, building a series of fire lanes. The fire lanes were 100 feet wide and completely void of vegetation, each encircling 100-acre sections of timber. They were formed by a special V-drag plow hooked to a Caterpillar tractor which could clear up to six miles of fire lanes a day. The lanes not only served as firebreaks, but also provided quick access in case of a emergency.

After each 100-acre area was logged, all the dead trees, or snags were felled, because left standing, they deemed them a fire hazard. Once the snags were felled, however, they again became potential fuel, this time on the forest floor. After the first substantial snowfall, the fire crew burned the snags and slash.

During the fire season, two crews of eight to ten men work as a fire prevention team. It was their job to build fire lines, oversee brush and slash piling, remove dead snags and maintain the telephone lines. The telephone “boxes” were attached throughout the forest, to allow for daily monitoring between the logging camps and the mill. The telephone system was also used to report a fire or an accident when medical aid was required.

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History

Where are we—Camp Harvey

Camp Harvey, July 11, 2019

In 1943, the Red River Lumber Company established this logging camp, nineteen miles east of Camp Bunyan on the north slope of Harvey Mountain. In 1944, the Red River sold it to the Fruit Growers Supply Company.  

The cookhouse operations at logging camps operated at a substantial loss for the company.  However, the food served in the logging camps played a pivotal role.  Poorly fed loggers would move to a different logging company, and thereby impact the former company’s production.  In 1948, Fruit Growers experimented at Camp Harvey by raising the price of a meal to one dollar.  Complaints were loud and long.  But now, instead of losing thirty-six cents per meal, they now lost only eight cents.  The result was substantial and at the end of the year, Fruit Growers’ operating losses for the cookhouses at Camps Harvey and Stanford was $63,500.

On May 2, 1949, Camps Harvey and Stanford opened for another season.  In an effort to further reduce the cookhouse expenses, Fruit Growers leased them along with the commissaries, to H.S. Anderson Company for one dollar.  Fruit Growers thought perhaps an outside company could handle the meals more efficiently.  They would never find out the answer.

 Just three weeks into the logging season all operations on the Harvey line shut down.  The cookhouse crews, represented by Local 768 of the Bartenders and Culinary Workers Union, walked off the job in a wage and hour dispute with H.S. Anderson Company.  As the weeks passed with no end of the strike in sight, Fruit Growers closed down Camp Harvey and Stanford permanently, as well as its Harvey railroad logging line.

Harvey Cookhouse
Camp Harvey Cookhouse, 1947

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History

Big Wheels Demonstration

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Lassen Lumber & Box Company’s entry.

When the Lassen County Fair was revived, in 1922, it would go through an evolving process. One of the dramatic changes was the establishment of three large sawmill operations—Fruit Growers Supply Company, Lassen Lumber & Box Company and the Red River Lumber Company.

The following year, the first logging exhibition at the Lassen County Fair was held. It was certainly a noteworthy event. For many attendees it was the first time they were able to witness the current logging methods of the “big wheels.”  A competition was held between the big three companies. The Fruit Growers Supply Company won top honors in this category. It should be noted by 1927, the lumber companies began phasing out the “big wheels” for the motorized Caterpillar traction engines.


Red River’s team.

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History

Camp Bunyan & Halls Flat

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Camp Bunyan
Camp Bunyan, courtesy of Bill Welder

In a very belated follow up on the history of Halls Flat. For a refresher for those new to the area, Halls Flat is located in western Lassen County, north of Poison Lake, which some times is a lake that Highway 44 skirts around the south shore.

Anyhow, Halls Flat came to life in a big way starting in August 1941 when the Red River Lumber Company established Camp Bunyan. This was a new experience for company. Its timber was no longer tributary to its Westwood mill—as a fact the camp alone was thirty-five miles to the north. The bottom line, this is where the timber was. Camp Bunyan was unique from other Red River logging camps. Not only did this camp have a name and not a number, it was their largest camp that consisted of both temporary and permanent buildings. At its peak time, it was the home to some 350 loggers, making it one of the largest seasonal communities in Lassen County. However, it got off to a rough start when not long after the loggers went on strike over wages and poor living conditions. Once those issues were resolved everything went smoothly. From Camp Bunyan a railroad logging line was constructed to the east in the company’s Blacks and Harvey Mountains tracts. In 1943, a second logging camp named Camp Harvey was established. At the end of the following of year, a major change happened when Red River sold to the Fruit Growers Supply Company. At the end of the 1946 logging season Camp Bunyan had served its intended purpose and was shut down. Its location remained a hub of activity since the log trains from Camp Harvey went to the Camp Bunyan site to connect with the Western Pacific Railroad that relayed the loaded log cars to the Westwood mill.

In the spring of 1948, though the hustle and bustle of the connections of the Harvey railroad line connecting with the Western Pacific at Halls Flat came to a sudden halt. In essence, it was similar to the opening of Camp Bunyan. This time, however, it was the cookhouse employees at Camps Harvey and Stanford that went on strike over wages. With no end in sight Fruit Growers permanently closed down those logging camps and the railroad logging line.

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