On July 15, 1918, Westwood resident Clyde A. McKea died in combat in France, making him the first casualty from Lassen County of World War I. In the fall of 1919 a new national veterans organization was formed—The American Legion. Continue reading Westwood’s American Legion Hall
One of the biggest issues T.B. Walker had against the Red River Lumber Company’s location at Westwood, was it lacked a railroad link directly to California. For a time there was a glimmer hope with the Indian Valley Railroad.
On June 30, 1916, the Indian Valley Railroad (IVR) was incorporated to build a line from Paxton on the Western Pacific Railroad to the Engel Copper Mine near Taylorsville–a distance of 21 miles. Sixteen months later the rail line was completed. It should be noted, that it was originally proposed as a narrow gauge line, but Willis Walker of the Red River Lumber Company objected. After all, Walker was keen enough to see the possibilities for a link to Westwood, and with that would force the Southern Pacific Railroad to be more competitive in their rates.
Early on the IVR had its sights on Westwood. In 1918 a survey to extend the line to Westwood was conducted, There was speculation that the IVR would extend its line to Westwood, and in 1918 the IVR did survey a line to that place. With Red River’s main branch railroad logging extending along the east shore of Lake Almanor to Canyon Dam, there was not much territory separating the two lines. In 1927 a request was sent to the Interstate Commerce Commission to put in this proposed line to be known as the Northern California Railroad. It was rejected. However, in the works was the Western Pacific and Great Northern Railroads to connect their respective lines with a new railroad from Keddie, Plumas County to Klamath Falls, Oregon. This was approved in 1930, and Red River Lumber Company would finally have a second railroad connection it had always sought.
For two years, 1921 and 1922, the big three lumber companies, Fruit Growers Supply Company, Lassen Lumber & Box Company, and the Red River Lumber Company held a competitive swimming meet between their respective employees. Continue reading Eagle Lake’s Water Carnival
In the 1870s, Captain C.A. Merrill began work on tapping Eagle Lake for irrigation in the Honey Lake Valley. Where Willow Creek enters the Honey Lake Valley he envisioned a great city there, he named Belfast. In the 1880s, he declared Belfast was destined to become a great commercial center, a city initially serving 25,000 people. One of his many proposals was the establishment of a lumber mill there. The source of timber was the Eagle Lake basin, which the logs would be floated across the lake and down a flume to Belfast. However, not much ever materialized.
In 1912, the Red River Lumber Company was in a hurry to establish a lumber mill in Lassen County. Fletcher Walker liked the Mountain Meadows location. No one else did.The problem was the winter weather was not conducive for much. Clinton Walker suggested Belfast, it had ample water, far removed from other communities and the future employees could even grow gardens. However, family patriarch, T.B. Walker, nixed that idea, as it was too far removed from the timber, thus added costs to transport logs to the mill. T.B. Walker was not keen on the Mountain Meadows site, but when Fletcher stated he would leave the company if Mountain Meadows was not selected. So much for a Belfast revival, and the town of Westwood was created over a temper tantrum.
One would not normally associate the sport of golf in a community composed mainly of lumberjacks and sawmill workers like Westwood. However by 1920, the golfing phenomenon swept through Northern California and this lumber town was no exception.
The “divot diggers” as they were affectionaly known then took a little longer to take hold at Westwood. By the early 1920s, Susanville could boast three golf courses, albeit crude by modern day standards. Even Chester, then just a mere hamlet, had a golf course.
As early as 1921, Westwood’s golfing enthusiasts began the debate to establish a golf course. Yet, they just could not generate enough momentum to pull it off. This all changed in 1929 when Westwood’s golfing community organized a club. Those original duffers consisted of Ross Morehouse, Gene Huggins, Bob Pullman, F.W. Koerner, F.M. Jayne, Bill Corbett, Dan Taylor and C.C. Baptie. Continue reading The Westwood Golf Course
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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During the late 1940s, the Red River Lumber Company was in the process of dissolution. They came to the conclusion the shoreline property they owned at Lake Almanor would be better for resort development and subdivisions that the expensive task for reforestation. To make the decision was a lot easier than to implement.
It was finally decided that they should sale to a developer than to undertake it themselves. Harriett Walker Henderson and Theodore S. Walker were designated by the family to sell the shoreline property at Lake Almanor, consisting of some 2,500 acres. They succeeded in quick order. On June 9, 1950, the property was sold to Lake Almanor Development Company for $160,000. The company was comprised of Seattle investors Warren Orr, Paul Block and Edward Clifford. In 1953, witnessed the initial development on the peninsula as the Lake Almanor Country Club.
Daily life got crazy in Susanville when the railroad arrived. Numerous discussions were held to make the town “dry.” It was the belief of some that if there was a ban on alcohol, that it would rid the town of certain elements. The City was not so keen on the other hand, as it received most of its operating revenue from liquor licenses. Continue reading Those Rowdy Camp Followers
In 1913, when the Red River Lumber Company was building its company town, the Great Western Power was in the midst constructing its Big Meadows dam to create nearby Lake Almanor. Great Western Power did have a resident physician, namely Dr. Fred J. Davis to provide medical care. Red River routinely sought his services. By the fall of 1913, Dr. Davis accepted employment with Red River and remained with the company until 1939 when he moved to Susanville and opened a private practice. Continue reading Westwood Hospital
The Red River Lumber Company was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With its westward expansion to California and the establishment of its company town there, required extensive communications back and forth. For a historian, it was wonderful due to the paper trail. What is truly amazing is how much has been preserved at the Minnesota Historical Society.
The various members of the Walker family, the owners of Red River, were prolific letter writers. Fletcher Walker, who was the resident manager at Westwood had to write in great detail about the conditions in California, since everything operated so differently than in Minnesota.
The letters, of course, also contained happenings around Westwood. Whether it was the political scene, or what their competitors were doing. With that in mind, I share a letter that Fletcher wrote to his father, T.B. Walker, exactly one hundred years to the date. You will note the letter is addressed to T.B. Walker in New York and not Minnesota. T.B. Walker then was spending a lot of time in New York wheeling and dealing as part of a re-finance bond sale for the Westwood operations.