Construction stalled on the gas station when Lassen Park
Superintendent L.W. Collins paid Supan a visit. Collins was under the impression that Supan’s claim was no longer valid as no formal assessment work had been done, thus the property reverted to the park. Supan agreed to suspend construction until the matter was resolved.

It would be a long convoluted affair. The matter dragged on with no decision in favor or against.  On June 5, 1931, park officials took matters into its own hands and filed a condemnation suit in an effort to resolve the matter. As required by law, the park placed $31,000 in escrow, the amount it deemed was the value Yellow Ochre Mine.

With no end in sight, the Supans demanded their day in court. A three day hearing was held in January 1933. In the ruling concessions were made for both sides. The southern portion of the Supan claim of sixty acres was declared non-mineral in character and the property adjudged to the park. The remaining 100 acres was deemed valid and awarded to
the Supans.

There were two major developments in 1941. First, Milton’s son, Adlai built a gas station and “lodge.” The lodge consisted of a store, that sold tourist related items such as camera film, postcards, and souvenirs, along with a lunch counter. That fall, Milton passed away leaving a wife and ten children. This was not a good omen for the park, who would have to deal with more people to negotiate with, and improvements increased the value of the property. The park was powerless with no funds to purchase the Supan property.

After World War II, Adlai expanded his operations to keep up with visitors needs at the park. His two sons, Don and Ed, built a small cabin dubbed the Scenic View Gift Shop. By this time, Adlai’s sister, Ada Herrick made her presence with a bathhouse, cabin rentals and a restaurant known as Sulfur Works Inn. In 1947, Adlai built a crude rope tow for winter skiing.

All of this development alarmed park officials. In 1949, the park sent letters to thirty-five Supan heirs with an offer to purchase Sulfur Works for $20,000. The family was divided, some willing to sell and others opposed. They were in complete agreement the offer was too low. It should be noted Milton Supan’s original offer was $100,000.

Discussions between the park and the heirs continued throughout most of the year. About the only thing that resulted in these talks that the value kept increasing to what the park considered “gold mine proportions”. In December 1949 with no solution on the horizon the park once again resorted to filing condemnation of the Sulfur Works and
deposited $31,00 in escrow, their appraised value. The Supans immediately challenged that figure and placed the value at $525,500.

In 1952, after lengthy litigation, the court awarded the property to the park and Supans $48,950 in compensation. The park was confronted what to do with the improvements there. It was finally decided to demolish the thirteen buildings that consisted of the Sulfur Works Lodge and Inn.

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Lassen Volcanic National Park has many fascinating hydro-thermal features such as Bumpass Hell and the Sulphur Works, originally known as Supan.

On June 16, 1865, Dr. Mathis Supan, a resident of Red Bluff filed a mining claim on Sulfur Creek, two miles from Bumpass Hell. Supan spent the next twenty years during the summer months developing the property.

At the Sulphur Works he built steam bath houses for the public’s use. He also developed his own line of patent medicines that were readily available in Red Bluff—Supan’s Colic Drops, Supan’s Sour Powder, and Supan’s Rheumatic Remedy, to name a few. He even marketed his own line of bottled water from the soda springs on his claim.

A complicated family life caused Supan in 1887 to stop working at the Sulfur works. No one in his family had any interest to carry on with his work. By the turn of the century, his son, Milton became  frequent visitor there during the summer months. He utilized the surrounding property for livestock grazing.

In 1916, witnessed the creation of Lassen Volcanic National Park, though inside the park boundaries were various private properties—the Supans being one. This was a problematic issue for park officials for decades to come. Yet, when the park was created, in reality it was by name only, for funding was almost non-existent. For Milton Supan he was ambivalent about the new park that surrounded his holdings. Supan, however, re-filed the Yellow Ocrhe mining claim there, which was his father’s original claim, just a different name. It would become a contentious issue with the park.

By the mid-1920s, after a strong lobbying effort, a stingy Congress began to fund Lassen Park. One of the priorities was the so-called loop highway. The revelation caught the attention of Supan. In 1927 he began to construct a gas station there, which alarmed park officials. It was just the beginning of a long feud.

Tomorrow: Lassen Park v. Supan

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