History

Tuesday Tidbit—A Railroad Question

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Southern Pacific train, Secret Valley, 1936—C.H. Bennett Collection

Secret Valley CCC Company Clerk, C.H.Bennett provided the following caption of this photograph, “It would happen.”

Now, I am not sure what he meant. There are subscribers, who have a lot more knowledge about train movement, rolling stock, etc., than I will ever possess. It appears, that may be the train is stalled, though I am not sure what the activity is going on. Can anyone enlighten?

By the way, starting next week I will begin a series of articles concerning the varied activities of the Secret Valley CCC camp, which played an interesting role of the region’s history during the 1930s and I can attest there will be some surprising stories, including Lassen County’s first culinary school!

Tim

History

Where Are We—Cramer (Craemer) Reservoir

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Cramer ReservoirJune 3, 2023

Cramer Reservoir, though USGS maps misspell it as Craemer, is located a short distance to the southwest side of Horse Lake. Charles Cramer came to Lassen County in 1864. In time, Cramer would assemble several large ranches in Lassen County. On September 5, 1874 Cramer purchased 160 acres at Horse Lake from Joe Hale, co-owner of Susanville’s Pioneer Saloon, for $600 and would continue to acquire more property there. On May 21, 1900, his son, Daniel F. Cramer obtained the rights to construct the reservoir. On July 18, 1939 the Cramer family transferred the Horse Lake property to California Lands Incorporated.

Tim

History

The Restdale Cemetery Petition

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Honey Lake Cemetery, June 4, 1978

Most people never heard of this cemetery, and even fewer have ever been there. It is a remnant of the homestead era of eastern Honey Lake Valley. Known today as the Honey Lake Cemetery, it was originally named Restdale Cemetery.

In October 1914, Stacy resident Charles Baker died on his homestead and was buried near there on property owned by Mary Caudle. On November 3, 1914, Mary Caudle donated the property (1.1 acres) to Lassen County. At the same time, residents of the area presented a petition to the Lassen County Board of Supervisors to make it a public cemetery. The petitioned was signed by 16 residents of Stacy, 10 from Calneva and two from Amedee.  The petition stated: “We deem the establishment of said cemetery for the best interests of the public well-fare, and absolutely necessary. The nearest public cemetery for the residents of this district is days drive away.”  Later in November, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the cemetery.

Honey Lake, Cemetery, 2018

An item of note included in the deed was the covenant that if the property was no longer used as a burial ground the property would revert back to Caudle.

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History

Susanville Bans Fireworks

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A 4th of July 1907 entry in the parade held in Susanville. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner

Note:  This is a perennial post, because it has merit and in my opinion they should be banned permanently. In Susanville’s early years as an incorporated city, it was remarkable what the council did. One of their actions, I still support today, and that is the prohibition of fireworks. The first time they banned fireworks was in 1906, following the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. It was also a nod to the insurance companies who suffered tremendous loss from that event. It was their belief, as well as many other communities, that this preventive measure would reduce the risk of fires.

In 1912, the City once again banned fireworks. The Lassen Advocate applauded the city and wrote: 21 June 1912 – “No Fireworks on the Fourth. We desire to congratulate our Board of Town Trustees on their action in placing the ban on all kinds of fireworks on July 2, 3, and 4. This action has been taken by large and progressive cities for years past, and we are greatly pleased to note that the smaller places are falling into line. Fireworks do no good and may do a world of harm. Fires may be started that will blot out blocks of cities or towns; little boys and girls all over the United States have lost fingers, hands eyes and in many instances, their lives from the dangerous pinwheel and firecrackers. Let them yell all they will, let them spend their money for ice cream, candy—anything on earth but the fireworks.”

In 1916, the Monticola Club appeared before the Susanville City Council asking for a ban of fireworks for the 4th of July. Their answer was no. The council assured that the utmost care would be done, but they were not going to deprive children of the festivities. In 1926, due to the tinder dry conditions,  the City banned fireworks for fire, health and safety reasons.

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History

The NCO’s Proposed Abandonment

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Wendel Depot. Courtesy of Aldah Riesenman

The Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (NCO) was never a profitable enterprise, but somehow it found away to carry on.  Finally, the Moran family, owners of the beleaguered railroad had enough. On November 21, 1921, the N.CO. petitioned the Interstate Railroad Commission to abandon its entire line, due to substantial operation losses. After several public hearings the Commission denied the request. The Commission cited that the railroad could reduce its cost by operating a tri-weekly service, instead of a daily; eliminate the president’s $10,000 a year salary and close its New York City office.

At the same time, the Western Pacific Railroad had offered to buy the line for $1,100,000 the equivalent of $6,000 a mile. The NCO’s President, Charles Moran, insisted on a higher price of $10,000 a mile, an $800,000 difference. Moran, however, testified that the junk value of the railroad was $300,000.

The Commission did make one concession—it allowed for the abandonment of sixteen miles of the line between Wendel and Rayl (the latter to be known as Herlong). On October 31, 1922, the last NCO train left Rayl, passed through Amedee, and now Wendel was the terminus

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History

CCC Discovery of Petroglyphs

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One of many glyphs to be seen along Upper Smoke Creek.

In the Happy Days CCC newspaper of September 11, 1937 carried a brief article of the Secret Valley CCC’s discovery of nearby petroglyphs. The following was a brief description: “What looks like childish scrawls are the latest known discoveries in petroglyphs, ancient rock drawings, found by the men of Co. 740, Litchfield, Calif., and now attracting the attention of scientists in this and other countries.”

This was not the first reported discovery of petroglyphs by the Secret Valley CCC’s. The Lassen Mail of March 13, 1936 reported:

”CCC workers in the Secret Valley camp are wondering this week if they have discovered ancient Indian inscriptions or merely run across the work of some amateur cartoonist who was whiling away his time with little stone hatchet.

Sunrise Chamber, 2015, Belfast

”An aged Indian revealed several inscriptions to camp workers, carved in rocks in the vicinity of the CCC camp claiming that said marks are relics of the dim and distant past. Photographs were taken of the inscriptions and are now in the possession of the foreman of the camp.“

On a final note, neither article gave the location, however, it should be noted that there two petroglyph sites near the Secret Valley CCC that being Petes Creek and Stoney Creek.

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News

Tuesday Tidbit—“Spelling Is Important”

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Jean Bilodeaux, Modoc County Record, June 8, 2023

Readers of the Modoc County Record may recall a recent article by Jean Bilodeaux. The following ia a brief excerpt and a related story.

”A few days ago, a man from Peru was driving in Cedarville when he noticed the sign in this photo. It did not look right to him. Later he looked in a dictionary and could not find ‘cemetary’ listed. He knew something was off, after all it was pointed to a graveyard. Upon further searching he learned that ‘cemetery’ was from Latin and it meant to put to sleep or a place where the dead were buried.”

A long time ago, when I was learning to be a scribe, I made the same mistake of misspelling cemetery with an “a.” I received a long lecture from my editor about this error, and I never made that mistake again.

Tim

History

Honey Lake Conservation Team

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A view of Honey Lake from the east side, June 14, 2023

In the late 1970s, the Sierra Army Depot attempted to dispose of its ownership of Honey Lake. They went so far to put a for sale on it. Of course, this caught the attention of the State of California, who had ceded over the lake to the Army back in 1933. The State wanted it back if the Army had no use for it. The State was interested in possible geothermal development. Before taking back the lake, they wanted to be assured that there were no unexploded devices in the lake bed. The Depot could not guarantee that, so the fate of the lake’s ownership was put on hold.

Enter the Base Relaignment Closure for the Sierra Army Depot beginning, in 1997, but I maybe wrong on the year, so someone correct me if I am wrong. BRAC as it was referred to, was to down size the military base. It was a slow process, especially what to do with the surplus property known as Honey Lake.

On October 20, 2003, the Sierra Army Depot decided to unload its ownership of the lake when they deeded over 57,632 acres to a consortium named the Honey Lake Conservation Team. This  non-profit alliance comprised  the Center for Urban Watershed Renewal, Trust for Public Land, Michael Baker, Jr. Inc, and The Bioengineering Group. To conduct various studies and future uses they were paid $8.6 million. Who knew Honey Lake was so valuable?  The Honey Lake Conservation Team quickly prepared a study as a guide for future use. On November 8, 2006, they considered their work complete and deeded the ownership over of the lake to the State of California. It should be noted that the Depot retained 4,486 acres on the southeastern corner of the lake.

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History

Who Was Baron Lahontan?

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Baron-Louis-Armand de Lum Lahontan

The name is widely applied in the territory of the western Great Basin. Baron Lahontan (1666-1715) was part of the French military and early explorer who in 1668 arrived in New France (Canada) to defeat the Great Lakes Iroquois. Lahontan later deserted the military and returned to Europe. As an exile, he could not return to France to claim his inheritance. Lahontan settled in Holland and began work on his memoirs. The first of three volumes published in 1703, New Travels of Monsieur le baron de Lahontan in North America,  was an immediate success. One of Lahontan’s claims was the discovery of the Longue River that would provide passage to the Pacific Ocean. Lahontan’s book were quite popular and were published in English, French, Dutch and German. Lahontan had his critics, and they questioned his so-called discoveries. Whatever the case may be, Lahontan’s work influenced cartographers of North America for the next 100 years. Lahontan’s theory of the Longue River was finally laid to rest by the expeditions of Lewis & Clark.

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Exploring Lassen County's Past