In 1872, Adam Jakobs saw the potential for the lumber market and built a sawmill along Willow Creek, two miles upstream from the Neuhaus Ranch. In 1878, Jakobs sold the mill to P.D. Hurlbut and Jakobs returned to his ranching activities in Willow Creek. Continue reading Hurlbut Sawmill
Oxen, it should be duly noted, played a major role in the westward expansion of the United States. Many may have heard or read accounts of people crossing the plains and using ox teams. While oxen are not known for their speed, they can haul heavy loads of freight in difficult terrain. Locally, during the late 1800s oxen were primarily used in logging.
The last major use of ox teams in the Honey Lake Valley occurred in 1907, when the Lassen Mill & Lumber Company had major contracts for lumber for Nevada mines. Ox teams were used to haul the lumber from the sawmills near Janesville to the boat dock on Honey Lake near Buntingville. They were also used at Amedee from the boat dock to the NCO railroad station and shipped to Nevada. Thede French, Bill Wilson and Charles Randrup handled the ox teams. The oxen were needed because the ground near the boat docks was too soft for horses.
A week ago, I challenged reader’s minds with the latest Where are we? Only one person, Jim Chapman came up with the correct answer. However, it should be noted Jim’s first answer was a toss up between Hog or McCoy Flat.
This small man-made lake is located approximately two miles east of the Eagle Lake Summit. In the late 1940s, the Paul Bunyan Lumber Company began logging operations in the region including Gallatin Peak and Round Valley. One of the company’s employees, Jim Coleman constructed a small dam on Piute Creek, near its headwaters. The small lake supplied the water used to wet down the logging roads, controlling the dust. It should be noted some maps have it spelled as Colman Lake.
The Lassen Lumber & Box Company (Lassen Lumber) was the smallest of the big three lumber companies, the other two being Fruit Growers Supply Company and Red River Lumber Company. It was also different than the other two, as their source of supply for timber was the Lassen National Forest.
This time the citizens of Susanville were eager to court this new company, having lost out to the Red River Lumber Company and the smaller Western Timber Treating Company. As an incentive they offered the company 40 acres, with water rights and $8,000 cash. They accepted. Construction began on the sawmill and box factory in the spring of 1918 and on July 27, 1918 the first logs arrived at the mill.
For Susanville the payoff was big, during the summer season Lassen Lumber employed upwards to 450 men with a monthly payroll of $65,000. The mill would operate until 1953 when it was closed. More about the history of the company will appear in future posts.
Lassen County was rather fortunate that it was not hit as hard as other places throughout the nation during the great depression of the 1930s. Yes, times were tough, but then again there were no Hoovervilles either. While the majority of the lumber mills on the West Coast closed, Lassen’s three mills-Fruit Growers Supply Company, Lassen Lumber & Box Company and the Red River Lumber Company remained open, though operations were curtailed. Those company executives understood the value of their employees. Sooner or later the economy would rebound, and they did the best they could under the circumstances to retain their skilled employees, rather than having to start all over again to re-train new ones at a critical time.
In Big Valley it was boom times. They were at the center of one of the last major railroad construction projects in the country. This was the Northern California Extension wherein the the Western Pacific extended its line north from Keddie to Bieber, to meet with the Great Northern who built their line south from Klamath Falls, Oregon. This opened a whole new rail corridor completed in 1931. In the future, I will do a piece on the Golden Spike Ceremony at Bieber.
This is one of the few times during the year in which I ask for you to consider supporting this site either by donation or subscription. I am very grateful for those who do, but the reality is they makes up less than .005% of the readership. I am flattered that readership continues to grow, now with an average of 10,000 a month. So taking a popular saying of the 1930s, “Buddy can you spare a dime?” For as a little as five dollars a month, you can subscribe and support this endeavor to not only assist to preserve the region’s history, but equally important to make it available. It is so easy, click here for the details. Don’t want to do an internet transaction, information is provided do so by mail, etc. Thank you.
In 1940, Fruit Growers purchased its first fleet of logging trucks for the Lassen Operation (Susanville). Initially, the trucks hauled logs where it was impractical to construct a railroad logging spur. With improvements with trucks and a system of private logging roads, it was just a matter of time, when the logging trucks would make railroad logging obsolete. In 1952, the event happened, and saw the last year of railroad logging of Fruit Growers and Lassen County.
This being Lassen County Fair week, it is only fitting to have an article about the fair. The first fair was held in 1878, a regional one that comprised the residents of Lassen, Modoc and Plumas Counties. While it was desirous to make it an annual event it was fraught with financial problems.
What we consider the current Lassen County Fair was established in 1922, with five men who organized it. At that time major changes had taken place in the county with the establishment of three large lumber mills–Fruit Growers Supply Company, Lassen Lumber & Box Company and the Red River Lumber Company. Lumber was now king in Lassen County. Besides the traditional horse racing and such, a new feature was added to reflect the community at large, the logging shows. This was a big attraction for the Lassen County Fair for over seventy years, though with the dwindling decline of the lumber industry, this feature was eventually cancelled.
However, in 1923, the first logging exhibition at the Lassen County Fair was certainly noteworthy. For many attendees it was the first time they were able to witness the current logging methods of the “big wheels.” 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.
A full story how the Lassen County Fair has evolved since 1878 can be found in the latest issue of the California Traveler.
On Tuesday afternoon, July 17, 1951 residents of Susanville were alarmed with smoke billowing over the town. It was soon reported the smoke’s origin was from a forest fire on Gallatin Peak at Eagle Lake.
The fire started along the lake shore just past the Gallatin House. Over 400 men fought the fire, many from the logging crews of Fruit Growers and Paul Bunyan Lumber Company. It was believed the fire’s origin was that of a careless cigarette smoker. The fire was contained the next day and was stopped just 300 feet before it would have spread into virgin timber. Of the 760 acres burnt, most of it was owned by the former Red River Lumber Company, which the Shasta Forest managed those lands. The peak had been logged over two years earlier by the Paul Bunyan Lumber Company.
Gallatin Beach has been one of the lake’s popular spots. Visitors were fortunate in the aspect that Malvena Gallatin not only allowed public access, but there were no fees or any other restrictions. Another property owner, especially if it was a timber company, would not have been so gracious. After all, others would have been concerned about fire danger. Fortunately, no problems were encountered.
It should be noted that Malvena Gallatin owned over forty miles of Eagle Lake’s 100-mile shoreline. In 1944, Malvena’s only grandchild passed away and Eagle Lake lost its special appeal as a family summer retreat. In 1946, she sold all of her Eagle Lake property to the Lassen Lumber & Box Company for $100,000, though she retained a small parcel that contained the summer home. The future of public access looked bleak. Lassen Lumber was only interested in the timber. Later in 1946, the Lassen National Forest reached a deal with Lassen Lumber to exchange timberlands elsewhere in exchange for the Gallatin property. The two agreed, and that is how Gallatin Beach became a public beach on public property.
In February, I inaugurated a book-of-the-month, that featured Sagebrush Reflections. After all proceeds from book sales not only help support operations, but help finance future publications, in this case the stories behind the brands of the Pioneer.
It was not that long ago when one of the main components of the lumber industry was the manufacturing of wooden boxes to ship the nation’s vegetables and fruits. The Fruit Growers Supply Company was not your ordinary lumber company. Established in 1907, it is the co-operative purchasing arm of Sunkist. To protect the citrus grower’s interest in securing a supply of woodden boxes at a reasonable price, they went into the lumber business by accident at Hilt, Siskiyou County. With increased citrus production, in 1920 the company expanded and built a mill at Susanville. The demand continued and in 1944 Fruit Growers purchased Red River Lumber Company’s mill at Westwood along with the Burney Tract. Ten years later, the wooden box went by the wayside and the grower’s converted to cardboard.
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