While there are no longer grizzly bears in Lassen County, locally the name was a applied to a World War I infantry unit, and the Lassen High School adopted the grizzly as its mascot in 1929.

On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and marked its entry into World War I. It was something that President Woodrow Wilson had attempted to avoid for two years. An all effort began seeking volunteers to fight in the war. On August 10, 1917, sixty-five men from Lassen, Modoc and Plumas Counties gathered at Susanville’s Methodist Church for roll call as members of Battery F, Second Light Artillery Division. Afterwards, Susanville’s businesses closed in observance, and the volunteers marched down Main Street, and onwards to the railroad depot on Richmond Road. It was in many ways a solemn occasion. This initial group were dubbed the “grizzlies,” who originated the monicker is not known.

Tim