In 1881, the Hayden Hill correspondent to Bieber’s Mountain Tribune wrote:  “I think it quite time to write up the early history of Wood Flat and how it came to be thus named.  As the unpretentious Wood Flat locality is growing in value of late by becoming a pleasure resort for promenades and picnics.  Many there be who would not heard or read
about the Flat, not yet minutely mapped out and sent abroad to induce tourists to come hither.  I will briefly relate what I know about it.

A year ago the first cabin was built on the Flat and the owner
thereof makes his living cutting wood; and at the present time he has twenty cords cut, and more engaged.  His wife one day said to him, ‘We will name this place Wood Flat.’  It is less than a mile from town, and has the best spring water on the Hill.  Some have called it Blue Spring, because of a bluish colored clay found there; and the water, when in the spring, has a light, clear blue caste.  But the last and not least name that is been dubbed lately is Mud Springs Flat.  I cannot see where the mud comes in, unless someone riles the fountain.”

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On December 5, 1870 the Hayden Hill Mining District formed.* Gold was accidentally discovered there in the fall of 1869 when a group of prospectors camped on the mountain, after an expedition in search of the fabled Lost Cabin Mine. They returned the following spring and named their discovery, “The Providence.” Once word spread of the new gold strike over 500 miners had flocked there. It was necessary to form a mining district to keep track of the claims. It was decided to name it Hayden Hill, instead of Providence, since Joseph W. Hayden, a veteran miner aged 56, was the oldest miner there, and they honored him with the bestowment. Hayden died there on Christmas Day 1884 and was buried in the town’s cemetery.

*For those not familiar, Hayden Hill is located approximately twenty miles north of Eagle Lake and eleven miles south of Adin.

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In 1855, gold was discovered in what would be known as Hills Creek at the base of Diamond Mountain. However, the prospecting was soon suspended by summer when the stream went dry. This temporary setback allowed the handful of miners to return over the mountain to Indian Valley to prepare for next year.

In 1856, as word of the new gold discovery spread brought an influx of miners to the Honey Lake Valley. Placer mining was abundant in three streams—Gold Run, Hills and Lassen Creeks. By the early 1860s the easy pickings of the placer deposits had been cleaned out. Thus, lode mining of gold bearing quartz was ushered in and continue until 1942 when President Roosevelt’s Executive Order suspended gold mining during World War II.

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If you have not made any plans for the weekend, you might want to head north to Adin for its 150th birthday celebration on June 29 and 30.

For those not familiar, Adin is located just a mile north of the Lassen County line in Modoc County, Adin benefited from Lassen County’s largest mining town of Hayden Hill, located twelves miles to the south.

As a matter of fact in the same year that Adin was founded in 1869, gold was discovered at Hayden Hill. It should be noted that Adin’s founder and its namesake, Adin McDowell, was a member of the prospecting party that discovered the gold at Hayden Hill.

When times were good at Hayden Hill, they were even better at Adin. By 1877, Adin was the largest town in Modoc County. In addition, it was only second to Susanville in the amount of business transactions conducted in Northeastern California.

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In 1944, the County of Lassen contracted Engineer, John D. Hubbard to conduct a study of Iron Ore Deposits in Lassen County as well as other minerals. This was done in conjunction with the Western Mining Council and the California Department of Natural Resources.

As a general rule, such reports tend to be dull reading. On the topic of coal deposits, Hubbard did interject a bit of humor. He wrote: “There is a lignite deposit in Sec. 7, T29N R11E one mile south of Devil’s Corral (handy for the Devil). It is owned by Paul Olsen and associates of Susanville.” Lignite is the lowest grade of coal, with little commercial value.

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This was one of those events that seemed to happen with a blink of eye and then it was gone. In March 1955 the California Mining Journal featured three articles on the uranium discoveries in Lassen County, or more specifically about four miles north of Hallelujah Junction in the neighborhood of Red Rock. The initial discovery was credited to Carlton A. Brown of Reno in the fall of 1953. What caused tremendous speculation was in 1954 a similar discovery had occurred in Inyo County and those initial prospectors sold their claims for $2 million. As word spread, there was the proverbial land rush to file claims, my family included. By the fall of 1955, it was determined the uranium was of low grade and possessed little value. Interest quickly waned.

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