T.B. Walker spent the winter and early spring of 1913 at San Francisco to monitor the progress of the construction of the mill and the future company town of Westwood. Not all was going well. Not only his son Clinton was adamant that Mountain Meadows was not the right place for the mill,  contractor in charge agreed as well.

In the spring T.B. Walker was ready to return home to Minneapolis. He wanted to visit Westwood, but had to decline. He could not travel there via Susanville, since there was a movement on foot to relocate the mill. The other option was take the Western Pacific train via the Feather River Canyon. Walker had a fear of that canyon,  that he could get caught in a rock slide.

It was not until the summer of 1917 that Walker made the trip. He had a special guest, John Andrus. Andrus was a New York investor who help finance T.B.’s acquisition of Northern California timberland. They formed the Waland Lumber Company with the intent to build a sawmill in their holdings.  Andrus had never seen these holdings, thus Walker’s invite. On July 7, the entourage arrived in Westwood. It was a low key affair and most the time was spent touring the Northern California properties.

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Mountain Meadows located in the western section of Lassen County comprises some 12,000 acres.  Prior to the establishment of Westwood in 1912, its hub of activity was at Coppervale. More about that in a minute.

In 1860, Dr. Atlas Fredonyer became the first settler. He remained there for two years and William B. Long briefly settled on his claim. In the early 1860s copper was discovered in the vicinity. When Carlton C. Goodrich petitioned for a post office he suggested the name of Coppervale. It was granted and the Coppervale Post Office opened for business on May 24, 1864 with Goodrich as first postmaster.

In 1885, L.M. McKenney’s Directory of Northern California provided the following description of Coppervale: “A small town with a post office situated midway between Prattville and Susanville. sixteen miles from the latter place. It has a try-weekly stage route each way between these two points. Mountain Meadows, in which the town is located, has an area of 12,000 acres, principally devoted to stock raising and dairying.”

In 1886, Goodrich passed away. He owned 7,650 acres there. He had put up on the market in 1885, but it was not until 1909 his estate sold it to John Crouch. Crouch would later sell it to the Red River Lumber Company where that Company established the town of Westwood.

In 1888, the Mountain Meadows School District was organized. A school house was built in 1892. In 1902 the school was closed for a lack of students.

A primary reason the region did fully develop in the late 1800s was the weather. Mountain Meadows is susceptible to heavy winter snows. A number of the ranchers who located there wintered at Red Bluff.

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Red River Lumber Company’s labor problems in Westwood during the 1930s is a perfect case study on how to do everything wrong. There was, of course the great purge of in which nearly 400 men, women and children were forced out of their homes in Westwood on July 13, 1938 over a labor dispute. By the end of that historic day the California Highway Patrol, with the National Guard on standby placed a blockade on the community, sealing it from the outside world until things could stabilize.

According to historian Gerald Rose about the historical significance of the Red River purge he wrote, “Not until the 1941 deportation of Japanese-Americans was there a larger forced migration of United States citizens.” 

Tim

On March 13, 1922, the organizational meeting of the Westwood Rod & Gun Club was held. The principal players were George Peltier, Fletcher Walker, Ted Walker, Dr. F.J. Davis, Herb Smith, Rev. R.G. Green, R.H. Browne, Charlie Gardner and Bud Morrison, with Peltier serving as first president. Besides working on formalities of by-laws and such, the first objective was to build a clubhouse at Lake Almanor. At that time, Lake Almanor was only half the size that it is now. This, of course, influenced their decision as to the location. The site chosen was Bunnell’s point, close to the proximity presently known as the tip of the Lake Almanor peninsula.  By April construction began on the two-story clubhouse. By September the club boated a membership of 57. In addition, to the clubhouse Dr. Davis, George Peltier and Fletcher Walker had small cabins built next to it. Tents were also provided to the members, along with duck blinds at the lake. The clubhouse which featured an outside dance floor, became a scene of merriment, as numerous social gatherings were held there.

In 1925, the club received word that Great Western Power had plans to heighten the dam at Lake Almanor, doubling its size. A discussion ensued among members about moving the clubhouse. It was finally agreed to move it near Big Springs, thus making is more accessible by being only six miles from Westwood. Of course, before they could do that, they would need permission from the Red River Lumber Company to locate there, since the property in question was company owned. This was not a problem, as Fletcher Walker was Red River’s General Manager of Westwood and active member in the organization and gave his blessing. Equally important, they could use the barge Red River leased from Great Western Power to float over the clubhouse and existing cabins.

By 1940, changes were on the horizon  and the Westwood Rod & Gun Club days would be soon numbered. with the sale of the Red River to the Fruit Growers Supply Company. In1945, the club disbanded, and the clubhouse became the property of Red River. In 1947, Red River began subdividing its lakeshore property at Lake Almanor and one of the first pieces was at Big Springs. There 125 lots that were plotted. In May 1947, W.W. Davis of San Diego purchased the clubhouse. Davis remodeled the building into apartments. It was torn down in October 2010.

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Recently, I have been in receipt of some photographs taken Harold Frodsham (1879-1958). Frodsham came to Westwood in the spring of 1920, while working for General Electric. Red River Lumber Company was retrofitting its powerhouse and building its Hamilton Branch hydro plant. Red River hired Frodsham originally as its efficiency expert, and was later transferred to various management positions,  Frodsham did among other things was a lot of photography work for Red River at Westwood.

In the near future, these will be featured along with stories about the scenes in particular such as the Westwood Rod & Gun Club.

Tim