From time to time, I am asked about the Sagebrush War. While there are various accounts that go into great detail—even one person wrote a thesis about it—I will provide a simple version. The conflict also known as the Boundary War which was the result of John C. Fremont’s selection in 1850 of the 120th Meridian for California’s eastern boundary. The problem was no one knew where that was, and assumed it followed the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the late 1850s, with the settlement of the Honey Lake Valley, officials of both California and the Nevada Territory, saw the uncollected tax dollars waiting to be had. Tensions escalated wherein an armed conflict on February 15, 1863 from the two states took place at Roop’s old trading post, in Susanville, which became dubbed as Roop’s Fort, but also known as Fort Defiance. In the end a truce was called when both sides agreed to conduct a boundary line survey to locate the 120th Meridian, in which it was determined the majority of the Honey Lake Valley was located in California. The outcome for the Honey Lakers was a draw, while they failed to become a part of Nevada, they at least prevailed with the creation of Lassen County.