There are two distinct eras of the dairy industry. The first is more or less prior to the lumber mills entering the region. A great many Honey Lake farmers manufactured large quantities of butter, in which Virginia City was a lucrative market. Willow Creek Valley resident, A.L. Tunison, in his diaries of the 1870s provides a glimpse, as he also made his own wooden butter kegs to transport the butter.
With the arrival of the large lumber mills, swelled the local population, thus providing a ready local market. There was a proliferation of dairies. Unfortunately, very little has been done to document them, though material exists. In my archives are the regular Milk Producers Reports.
Today, I will attempt to highlight one particular dairy—Lassen. When Fruit Growers came to Susanville they purchased the John T. Long north Susanville. The main reason for this was the water rights to Bagwell Springs located on that property. Long story short, they did not need it. From their Hilt operations, they brought Frank O’Kelly to operate a dairy for their Susanville Operation. Within two years, they leased the whole affair to O’Kelly who formed Lassen Dairy. The O’Kelly’s operated it for decades, when it finally morphed into Morning Glory Dairy. It has only been in the last couple of years that the O’Kelly family sold Morning Glory.
One final note, I have an extensive collection of local milk bottles. One of my Mother’s favorite pastimes was going to yard sales, where she did quite well.