In 1912, witnessed the Red River Lumber Company’s westward expansion from Minnesota to California. The founder, T.B. Walker, turned the enterprise over to his four sons. The site selected at Mountain Meadows, Lassen County initially had no name. Rather peculiar in my thinking that a company is going to spend $3 million to build a mill and company town, and it does not even have name.
Fletcher Walker was in charge of the new town and would be its resident manager. On October 3, 1912 he wrote to the Red River board, i.e., his brother’s soliciting a name. In his letter he wrote:
“I have thought over the name TRRLCO, first letter each word and the abbreviation of company, and talked it over with Clinton and Della [Walker]. They are not very enthusiastic over the name but said it seems like a good business name and sounded pretty good. I have written you on several occasions mentioning the name, but up to present time have not had a very enthusiastic adopting of the name. It seems that unless someone else can come through with a better name that we should officially adopt it.”
There was a sense of urgency as they needed a name to submit an application to the postal authorities. Several names were bounced around including Fletcher’s favorite, “City of Trees.” That, too, was rejected, and the name of Westwood was decided, though it is not known who coined it.
Some times I find it strange to write about the lumber industry that is non-existent in area, with the exception of Collins Pine at Chester. The above photograph are real premium peeler logs. These logs were literally peeled into sheets of plywood. Unlike regular logs that went through the sawmill, these logs were cut into eight foot lengths, unlike the standard thirty-two foot log. In 1924, Red River Lumber Company invested a half-million dollars to add a veneer plant at its Westwood facility. Red River used the trademark Paul Bunyan’s Pine Plywood for its final product. Red River, like so many other lumber companies, did not allow anything to go to waste. The peeler cores were made into railroad ties.
One of the most driest was the winters was that of 1923-24. It also occurred during a twenty year drought from 1917-1937. Susanville received less than five inches of precipitation during 1923-24. It was so dry that winter that in the middle of March, a one-inch snow fall at Susanville caused great excitement. There was even a greater commotion in Westwood when eighteen inches of snow fell. It disappeared in a matter of hours. That was the extent of precipitation for the winter. Continue reading The Dry Winter of 1923-24→
Looking east in the Susan River Canyon with Pigeon Cliffs in the background—David Bricker
In December 1955 major flooding in the Susan River Canyon did considerable damage to the Southern Pacific’s rail line. With the pending closure of Fruit Growers Westwood mill in 1956, railroad officials decided not to make any repairs, since there were be little if any traffic. The line was closed from Mason Station to Susanville, but not abandoned. Theoretically, if someone wanted to ship something by rail from Susanville to Westwood, or vice-versa Southern Pacific was obligated and could only charge the railroad freight rate between the two places. On the other hand it would be costly for the railroad to pay a third party to make the delivery.
In 1976, the Southern Pacific filed for the abandonment of this segment of the line. The foundation was laid for the rails to trails conversion to become what is informally known as the “Bizz.”
Westwood’s Opera House under construction—David Zoller
One of the daunting task when Red River Lumber Company built its company town of Westwood, during 1912-14, was they would need to provide recreational outlets for their employees. One of Red River’s first entertainment venues for its employees was dubbed the Opera House. It was a multi-purpose facility, though it never showcased an opera. The Opera House had a seating capacity of 600 and was the initial hub of social gatherings. It was regularly used as a movie theater and the scene of special events such as boxing matches. It was also the home for church services for several years until the People’s Church was built. In time, the Opera House was just too small as the town’s population continued to increase. In 1925, a new theater was constructed with a seating capacity of 1,100. The Opera House was converted into a store and made part of the adjoining facility known as the Westwood Club.
Hat Creek Powerhouse No. 1, 1921. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner
The Red River Lumber Company operated many enterprises and it still as an influence concerning electricity to many residents of the region. From time to time when the Susanville area has a power outage, many times there will be a reference to the Hat Creek line. So you may ponder how did Hat Creek come to be? Continue reading Hat Creek Power→
The old fashioned iconic symbol of the American West, the stagecoach would soon suddenly disappear during the time Red River constructed its company town of Westwood, that took an initial two year to build from 1912-14. It was truly a remarkable era with the automobile overtaking the horse and buggy era. Westwood evoked the modern era. A new town with electricity, sewer system and a department store, that would take decades for the neighboring communities to implement such “modern day conveniences.”
A year after the above photograph was taken, the horse drawn stagecoach was replaced with the “auto-stage” a large touring car. In 1916, the voters of California passed a $16 million bond measure to begin the construction of a state highway system.
Brochure of the Mt. Lassen Transit Company, Red Bluff, circa 1920. Courtesy of Margaret A. Purdy
This map was recorded in official records of Lassen County indicating where Red River would log in 1917.
The 1917 logging season for the Red River Lumber Company was somewhat different than previous years. After all, it should be duly noted the majority of its logging was focused on its contract with the Great Western Power Company to log and clear Big Meadows of timber to make way for its new reservoir Lake Almanor.
Now with that obligation out of the way, Red River began logging its timber just adjacent to Westwood. Red River planned to increase its output by logging 150 million board feet in 1917 versus that of 137 million the previous year. This, of course, reflected the demand for lumber with wars ravaging Europe and elsewhere. This undertaking required operating five logging camps and building some twenty-five miles of railroad spur lines.
Westwood’s aviation history is an obscure topic. A crude landing field was established in the late 1910s on Mountain Meadows, about a mile south of the Goodrich Ranch. Initially, its use was nominal, due to its poor condition. In one instance, Joe Hunter received a call from a pilot in Red Bluff about the current condition who replied that it is a mud bog and unfit for landing.
In the 1920s, Red River’s Resident Manager, Fletcher Walker’s two sons—Fletcher Jr., better known as “Cub” and Kenneth—developed a strong interest in airplanes and became pilots. This interest in flying gained momentum in the area, so that in June 1928 the Westwood Auto Club spent $100 to clear the landing field of brush and fill in holes to make two 2,200 foot runways, thus the formal Westwood Airport was created—a first in Lassen County.
This caught the attention of Ted Campbell of San Francisco manager of Beacon Airway to examine the aviation field. He made an inspection to examine the possibility of establishing regular air service to Reno and other points on the Transcontinental Airway route. Yet, the prospect that Westwood residents would have nearby access to regular air service never materialized.
Yet, the Walker boys, as they were commonly referred to, were an adventurous lot. In 1928, They accompanied Dr. Thomas A Arbuthnot of the Pittsburg Medical College on a 10,000 mile African expedition from Cairo to Tanganyika, which they filmed their experiences. It was made into a film, The Wild Heart of Africa which made its debut in May 1929 in New York City. After that expedition they returned to their other passion, flying. In December 1928 they purchased a Travelair Bi-Plane, equipped with a 225 horsepower Wright Whirlwind motor. Cub spent a lot of time and energy in helping many Northern California communities in establishing airports.
The wrecked Walker plane.
On August 23, 1929, the worst aviation disaster occurred at the Westwood Airport’s brief history. Cub and Kenneth routinely flew over Red River lands to photograph them. In this particular instance they were returning from such an expedition. At approximately 6:00 p.m. they were approaching the landing field when suddenly the plane malfunction and plunged crashing on impact. Frank Stevenson and Mike Pappas witnessed the crash from afar as they were placing duck blinds on the far shore of Walker Lake. The two men rushed to Westwood to inform the family and gather a party to go out to crash site. Cub was instantly killed from a broken neck and the rescue party on their arrival found Kenneth regaining conscious and attempting to get out of the cockpit and later fully recovered.
The airport continued to see use in the early 1930s, but by the end of that decade, it had become a footnote in Westwood’s history.
Craveneer moving through the lamination process—-Hank Martinez
When it was announced that Fruit Grower’s Westwood facility would become its Craveneer plant it came as a great relief to the employees there that the operations would continue. It was after all a $200,000 investment.
Machinery installation was expected to take four to six months and production to start by July 1954. Unexpected problems caused delays, however, and it was not until November that the first shipments of Craveneer were sent. It is interesting Fruit Growers box factories at Hilt and Westwood continued to operate . In addition, Fruit Growers even contracted for a supply of cardboard cartons. The growers now had their choice—wood, cardboard or Craveneer.
Cutting machine clipping the finished Craveneer into sheets—-Hank Martinez
In the meantime, Fruit Growers had not ruled out a Burney plant. In early 1955 they began to budget a new plant there that would cost $9,450,000. To make the Burney plant flexible besides a Craveneer plant, it would also have a plywood plant.
Changes on the horizon were swift. In the summer of 1955, it was announced by Sunkist that the cardboard box, was the container of choice. Thus, no longer a need for wooden boxes or Craveneer. On June 18, 1955 the Westwood box factory closed. On August 25, 1955 the Craveneer plant was closed and liquidated, which the California Barrel Company of Arcata purchased the Craveneer machinery. It should be noted that the box factory at Hilt remained in operation to manufacture picking boxes.
