This is brought to you by Greg Johnson, who made the expedition to Shinn Ranch on January 9, 2021. He was not only kind enough to share the photographs he took, but was gracious to give me permission to share. Thank you, Greg!
Shinn Ranch is located in a remote part of eastern Lassen County—you either know it or never heard of it. Believe me, it is not place where one would make a casual Sunday drive to visit. Shinn Ranch is not far from the Nevada border and upper Smoke Creek. It was so named for fifty-year-old Oliver Shinn who located there with his family in 1870. This is a very remote location and how Shinn found it, and why he settled there remains a mystery. As Johnson, during his visit, pondered while he accessed the ranch on a ATV, the Shinn family had no such luxury. To obtain provisions required a trek to Susanville via horseback and/or wagon.
Shinn Ranch, January 9, 2021—Greg Johnson
In 1884, Oliver Shinn died there and later that year, his widow, Louise sold the ranch to the Winters family, who had extensive ranch properties in western Nevada. In 1889, George Winters planted a grove of Cottonwood trees that has had been a stand out feature of Shinn Ranch.
Portion of the Cottonwood grove at Shinn Ranch, January 9, 2021—Greg Johnson.
Westwood’s aviation history is an obscure topic. A crude landing field was established in the late 1910s on Mountain Meadows, about a mile south of the Goodrich Ranch. Initially, its use was nominal, due to its poor condition. In one instance, Joe Hunter received a call from a pilot in Red Bluff about the current condition who replied that it is a mud bog and unfit for landing.
In the 1920s, Red River’s Resident Manager, Fletcher Walker’s two sons—Fletcher Jr., better known as “Cub” and Kenneth—developed a strong interest in airplanes and became pilots. This interest in flying gained momentum in the area, so that in June 1928 the Westwood Auto Club spent $100 to clear the landing field of brush and fill in holes to make two 2,200 foot runways, thus the formal Westwood Airport was created—a first in Lassen County.
This caught the attention of Ted Campbell of San Francisco manager of Beacon Airway to examine the aviation field. He made an inspection to examine the possibility of establishing regular air service to Reno and other points on the Transcontinental Airway route. Yet, the prospect that Westwood residents would have nearby access to regular air service never materialized.
Yet, the Walker boys, as they were commonly referred to, were an adventurous lot. In 1928, They accompanied Dr. Thomas A Arbuthnot of the Pittsburg Medical College on a 10,000 mile African expedition from Cairo to Tanganyika, which they filmed their experiences. It was made into a film, The Wild Heart of Africa which made its debut in May 1929 in New York City. After that expedition they returned to their other passion, flying. In December 1928 they purchased a Travelair Bi-Plane, equipped with a 225 horsepower Wright Whirlwind motor. Cub spent a lot of time and energy in helping many Northern California communities in establishing airports.
The wrecked Walker plane.
On August 23, 1929, the worst aviation disaster occurred at the Westwood Airport’s brief history. Cub and Kenneth routinely flew over Red River lands to photograph them. In this particular instance they were returning from such an expedition. At approximately 6:00 p.m. they were approaching the landing field when suddenly the plane malfunction and plunged crashing on impact. Frank Stevenson and Mike Pappas witnessed the crash from afar as they were placing duck blinds on the far shore of Walker Lake. The two men rushed to Westwood to inform the family and gather a party to go out to crash site. Cub was instantly killed from a broken neck and the rescue party on their arrival found Kenneth regaining conscious and attempting to get out of the cockpit and later fully recovered.
The airport continued to see use in the early 1930s, but by the end of that decade, it had become a footnote in Westwood’s history.
The abandoned Milford Flour Mill as it appeared in 1901. Courtesy of the A.J. Mathews family
It has been over a century since a flour mill was built in Lassen County. In the preliminary planning phase, we might see local flour on the market again. The proposed flour mill is in one area of the county where there never has been a flour—the Madeline Plains. Once, I receive additional material, I will provide an update, but I find this exciting news.
The region’s first flour mill was located at Milford. It was built in 1861 for J.C. Wemple and Judson Dakin. In 1864, another flour mill was built at Johnstonville. As the population grew, the need for flour increased and in 1882, H.H. Dakin built a flour mill at Janesville. The Johnstonville and Milford flour mills went out of operation in the early 1900s, and by 1915, the Janesville mill struggled and closed by 1920.
This six foot diameter ponderosa pine log entering the Fruit Growers’ Susanville mill, 1943—FGS Co.
Whenever an exceptional logging and/or mill scene Fruit Growers made sure the event was captured on film. In turn, in many instances it would appear in the company’s annual report. In a sense it was part promotional and educational tool at the same time. Fruit Growers’ audience was the citrus growers who owned the co-operative and invested in the mills and timberland to provide them an adequate supply of wooden boxes at a reasonable to price to ship their fruit. The majority of the owners had little knowledge of the sawmill industry that they were heavily invested in.
Lunch time at Dow Butte, August 21, 1953. Courtesy of Hank Martinez
What Fruit Growers did was not unique. Many lumber companies did the same to provide illustration to their investors where their money was being spent.
Recently, I came across two snippets of local citizens who experienced the Spanish Flu first hand. The first is from Mary Eloise Sifford Thomas who was born near Susanville in 1892. She stated that the flu was very bad and that several people in Susanville had died from it. She, as well as her four sisters contracted it and that old fashioned vegetable soup seemed to help. Her father, Tom Sifford, never did come down with the flu. She wrote, “I think chewing tobacco and taking a little whiskey made him immune.”
George McDow, Jr., who was born in Susanville in 1910 wrote, “Our town was not spared from the devastating effects of the nation-wide influenza epidemic. One of the prominent people to succumb to the illness was Lassen County Surveyor, Thad McKay, a good friend of my father. As a precautionary measure the Town Trustees had closed the theater and all the saloons and barred any public gatherings, but only for a short while.”
Craveneer moving through the lamination process—-Hank Martinez
When it was announced that Fruit Grower’s Westwood facility would become its Craveneer plant it came as a great relief to the employees there that the operations would continue. It was after all a $200,000 investment.
Machinery installation was expected to take four to six months and production to start by July 1954. Unexpected problems caused delays, however, and it was not until November that the first shipments of Craveneer were sent. It is interesting Fruit Growers box factories at Hilt and Westwood continued to operate . In addition, Fruit Growers even contracted for a supply of cardboard cartons. The growers now had their choice—wood, cardboard or Craveneer.
Cutting machine clipping the finished Craveneer into sheets—-Hank Martinez
In the meantime, Fruit Growers had not ruled out a Burney plant. In early 1955 they began to budget a new plant there that would cost $9,450,000. To make the Burney plant flexible besides a Craveneer plant, it would also have a plywood plant.
Changes on the horizon were swift. In the summer of 1955, it was announced by Sunkist that the cardboard box, was the container of choice. Thus, no longer a need for wooden boxes or Craveneer. On June 18, 1955 the Westwood box factory closed. On August 25, 1955 the Craveneer plant was closed and liquidated, which the California Barrel Company of Arcata purchased the Craveneer machinery. It should be noted that the box factory at Hilt remained in operation to manufacture picking boxes.
In the early 1930s, professional ski jumping events were all the rage. Westwood’s Paul Bunyan Ski Club built a ski jump on Fredonyer and held several contests. In November 1937, Bert Bain operator of the popular road house The Meadows built an amateur ski jump across the highway from his establishment. In time it evolved into today’s Coppervale Ski Area operated by Lassen Community College.
Steaming logs in preparation for peeling into Craveneer—-Hank Martinez
The Chicago Mill & Lumber Company developed the Craveneer process during World War II in their Tallulah, Louisiana laboratory. Experimenting with Mississippi delta oaks, which had no commercial value, Chicago Mill & Lumber Company discovered an adhesive that would glue 42 pound Kraft paper to the green veneer wood with a continuous roller process. One advantage of the process was the small amount of shrinkage when it dried. Conventional rotary cut veneer shrank up to 10 percent; Craveneer shrank only 1 1/2 percent. The Kraft paper also hid defects such as knots. And the exterior could be treated with a wax emulsion that acted as a mold inhibitor, a real plus in a citrus packinghouse.
The Globe DeBarker preparing logs for peeling into Craveneer—-Hank Martinez
In 1953, Fruit Growers Supply Company purchased the necessary machinery from Chicago Mill & Lumber Company and became the sole licensed manufacturer of Craveneer for the West Coast.
The big question facing Fruit Growers was where to install the plant—convert the box factory at Hilt or build a new sawmill and Craveneer plant at Burney? On November 9, 1953 it was decided to convert the veneer plant at Westwood into a Craveneer plant, yet Burney was still a future option.
A craveneer box, which resembles the standard wooden box—-FGSCo.
For whatever reasons the California citrus growers did embrace the cardboard of the late 1940s, like vegetable produce growers did. Fruit Growers were in quandary with diminishing pine reserves to manufacture the citrus grower’s demand for wooden boxes.
Fruit Growers came across a patented material known as Craveneer. It was a variation of veneer—wherein a log is peeled to make a thin slice of wood, instead of being sawn into a board. On the surface Craveneer appeared to make the ideal container. It utilized white fir, of which Fruit Growers had an abundant supply. It cost less to manufacture than the wooden box, yet it was more durable than the cardboard carton.
In 1952, Fruit Growers decided to experiment with the Craveneer and more about in the future.
The town of Termo certainly has seen better days. The town came to life when the NCO Railroad extended its line north from Amedee to the Madeline Plains. In June 1900 the railroad named its new terminus Termo, meaning the end and it certainly looks like that now.
The landmark Termo Store.
One of the fatal blows to Termo came in January 1989 when postal officials from Reno inspected the premises of the Termo Post Office, which they felt was a hazard to the postmaster and the patrons. On February 2, 1989 the Termo Post Office ceased to exist.
