It was not all bleak during my brief Reno residency. Just down street on Baring Blvd, in Sparks, where I had physical therapy, there is the last sole remaining A&W in the region. I splurged last Friday evening, had take out from A&W as my farewell dinner.

Susanville seasoned residents will remember it was located at the bend in Main Street. It opened for business on May 22, 1961. It was established by John Gilliam and Leonard Porritt who invested $40,000 in this new enterprise. My memory fails me when it was closed. It was first reincarnated as Chinese Kitchen and today it is the home of the Courthouse Cafe.

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On May 2, 1961, California Department of Fish and Game personnel located an unusual female Eagle Lake trout, that they dubbed Our Lady of the Lake. One reason that it was unique was its age–eleven years! The fish had been trapped twice and taken to Crystal Lake Hatchery to be spawned. Another interesting antidote was Fish and Game reported that this fish had been reared and fed in captivity for seven years, and then it was able to adapt itself to the natural environment of the lake. When it was first caught the fish weighed one and one-half pounds and was 18 inches in length and when they released finally released the fish back into the lake, the fish measured 26 inches and weighed eight pounds.

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The winter of 1923-24 was extremely dry. By the spring of 1924, Westwood’s water supply was in peril. In May, Duck Lake, the main water source for Goodrich Creek, which was Westwood’s water supply went dry. On May 10, Fletcher Walker the resident manager of the company town wrote “The water supply for the Town is failing us quite rapidly and it is now a race to get water from Clint’s Camping Ground Spring [Clear Creek] before the Goodrich Ditch water fails us. We are running the Town on meal hours so every one can get water for their meals and then closing it off. To do this requires water taken from the millpond. We are sure up against a real dry season as indicated by the Buck Brush and Manzanita leaves curling up and turning black. Springs that have heretofore been dependable are failing.”*

*As Walter Luff Jr., recalled during the 1924 drought they used the millpond water to bathe with and he stated the water tasted like turpentine. Relief came in the summer, when a pipeline was placed to bring water from Clear Creek to Westwood.

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The Stone Ranch at Eagle Lake is one of the best known ranches in the basin. However, in a different era, it was better known as the Troxel Ranch. In the mid-1880s on the northeast side of  the lake, featured a lot of new residents and area was dubbed the Butte Colony, as these folks came from Butte County, California. The Troxel family was a part of this enclave. On December 12, 1888, William H. Troxel purchased William S. Davis’ 430-acre ranch on the northeast shore of Eagle Lake for $3,000. In 1918, William and Rosanna Troxel, who where in their mid-sixties, opted for retirement and moved to San Diego. They subsequently leased the ranch and on February 15, 1926, they sold the ranch to Coit and Laura Stone.

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