History

Walking Tours

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One of the panels on the LMUD building, part of a forthcoming mural tour. The building depicted was the home of the Telephone Company . December 26, 2016

Note: This was originally scheduled for last August, then moved to September, and now bumped to January. That just the kind of year 2020 was. Anyhow, before you know it, winter will be in the rear view mirror. I thought this would be a good opportunity to solicit as what might work best for everyone, other kinds of tours, etc.

It is my goal, if everything goes accordingly to provide some guided walking tours. While in past posts I have the gave information of the historic “mobile homes” of Susanville, it is not the same as in person, where there is interaction. In addition, I will be able to point out other features of interest. Another one would be a mural tour, which would also highlight information about the buildings they were painted on.

709 Mill Street, October 12, 2017

The brick building above, while it was not mobile, there is an interesting story where the bricks came from.

If any one has preferences such as a weekday evening or a Saturday morning, please let me know.

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History

Lassen County’s First Whiskereno Contest

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William S. Hamilton, a Honey Lake Valley resident from 1864 to 1880, when he became a permanent resident of the Susanville Cemetery—Philip S. Hall

In early August 1924 the Susanville Elks Lodge sponsored a whiskereno contest. This was part of its Western Night festivities in-conjunction with the Lassen County. It was a nod to the pioneer era to days long before. It should be duly noted that prior to 1900, the. majority of the male population in the region had beards.

As one “cheeky” observer noted of the affair and wrote: “If the Lassen County Settlement Board could only persuade some of the whiskerenos that are parading the streets to allow their whiskers to grow and could send them east there would be little difficulty in convincing the easterner that the Lassen County climate was all that was claimed for it. Any climate that will grow a crop of spinach such as some of the local Elk members have grown in the short period of the weeks will surely grow anything and the farmer would be convinced.”

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Lassen County Courthouse Renovation Update

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September 4, 2017

At the January 12, 2021 Lassen County Board of Supervisors meeting, they implemented the next phase of the courthouse renovation project. The Board awarded a contract with Broward Builders of Woodland, California  for the seismic upgrades, along with the installation of a elevator at a cost of $3,056.374. It is projected to have this completed by the end of July.

Now, some might find this 3D tour of the interior of the courthouse of interest. By use of a mouse, or maybe your finger depending on what type of devise one uses, one can navigate all four floors of the building. The only room, which one will note, that was not gutted was the Superior Courtroom.  https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=fCatb7VYydD

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History

It’s Officially Doyle

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Doyle, with the Western Pacific Depot, 1915—Sue Whitten

On January 28, 1908 the Doyle Post Office was established. It should be duly noted the region was served for many years with a post office named Long Valley. In addition, the place  was also known for a number of years as Willow Ranch, a popular stage-stop there, located next to the the Long Valley Cemetery. In 1909, the place would begin a transformation when the Western Pacific Railway was built through there. However, it was not until 1911, that the Doyle townsite came to be.

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Wendel’s Milepost Inn

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In a certain way, this was the region’s best, yet least known, eateries. Located in the railroad community of Wendel the establishment served two purposes. One side of the building provided sleeping accommodations for railroad employees during their down time. The other was the restaurant to feed the railroad workers, since the trains came through all hours of the day.  The Milepost Inn was a twenty-four operation.

The Milepost Inn did welcome locals to stop by and dine. While it had a no frills ambience, the food was first rate and cheap—subsidized by the railroad. Personally, I liked their buttermilk pancakes. There is more to the story, on a personal note. One day, in late January 1997, Ginger Martinez and I escorted Linda Kennedy to the Milepost Inn for her birthday brunch. Little did we know, it was the Milepost Inn’s last day. This was due to the fact the railroad had abandoned the line from Wendel to Likely in December. I asked if I could have a menu, and they kindly obliged. The next time I visited Wendel the building had been demolished.

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History

Toll Roads of Lassen

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Black Rock Road
Stockton’s recorded map of his proposed toll road.

Last week we explored the Red Bluff-Honey Lake Toll Road. For some odd reason, in 1866 saw the creation of two toll road companies—Gold Run Road Toll Road and the Honey Lake-Black Rock Toll Road, depicted in the above illustration. These proposals were doomed from the beginning. Both routes were already existing public roads, so there was no incentive by public to pay a toll.

Big Toll Road
This hand drawn map of the Big Valley Toll Road, was made part of the company’s Articles of Incorporation.

The last toll road proposal was that of the Big Valley Toll Road Company of 1871. The individuals behind it were attempting to capitalize from the traffic going to the Hayden Hill mines. Just like their predecessors it was impossible to enforce a toll on an existing road.

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The 1-0-1 Cemetery

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The 101 Cemetery, 1931—National Park Service

This is a private cemetery located on the former 101 Ranch, near Coppervale. In 1864, David Johnson and his family came to California. While en-route to the Sacramento Valley, his wife Martha, who died on October 12, 1864 at Devil’s Corral. Johnson transported her body to Mountain Meadows and buried her at this location.  On September 26, 1884, Johnson’s  son Ralph was buried there. David Johnson, who was better known as “Peg-leg” and for whom a nearby mountain is named after him was buried in this cemetery in 1904.

Of note, I never know where I locate certain photographs. I was not expecting to find the above photograph in the archives of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

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Herman Brince, Photographer

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Adin 1879
Adin, 1879

Herman Brince was a photographer in Lassen, Modoc and Plumas counties during 1878-79.  I have always been impressed with his photographs, though only dozen or so are known to be existence. Whatever, became of his negatives is unknown, but we do know that he died in New Zealand in 1882.

Cedarville
Cedarville, 1879

Fortunately, the Nevada Historical Society in their collections had these two Brince photographs of Adin and Cedarville. There are newspaper references of photographs that Brince took. In 1878, Brince did a portfolio of 25 scenes of what would become Lassen Volcanic National Park. One of these was Malgin’s Sheep Camp, known today as Drakesbad. However, known of these photographs have  been found.

Lassen Lodge #149 F.&A.M.

This 1879 photograph of the Susanville Masonic Hall is another Brince photograph. This I found on Ebay and which I purchased for a tidy sum. I inquired with the seller how he acquired the photograph, which he informed at a yard sale in San Francisco. One never knows, where something might surface. On a final note, the above photograph is the only known one in existence of Susanville’s original Masonic Lodge.

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In Search of Painter’s Grave

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Is this Painter’s Grave—Brent Espil

First a little background. For those not familiar, Painters Flat is a remote location in northeast Lassen County, not far from the Nevada border. It was so named after Alexander A. Painter who died and is buried there. On June 19, 1860, Painter was part of a posse after a band of renegade Indians who killed Horace Adams in the Honey Lake Valley.  They followed the Indians’ tracks north to the Madeline Plains. From there, they headed east through a canyon. Just before entering a valley there, they were ambushed by the Indians, Alexander A. Painter was mortally wounded. Painter’s body was moved a mile northeast from where he died. He was buried there beneath a cedar tree.

Fast forward to the mid-1990s. Terry Mallery and I made several expeditions there in search of Painter’s grave. We used the Lander’s written account of the event for reference. We struck out. In the spring of 2020, Brent Espil sent me the above photograph, with the question, “Is this Painter’s grave?”. Unfortunately, I do not have an answer.

Coming soon in search of another grave expedition in the Smoke Creek Desert.

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Exploring Lassen County's Past