The Honey Lake Valley is made up of various districts. Take for instance, the area along Highway 395 where The Mark is located as well as the Herlong access roads. This region is known as Bird Flat. In the spring of 1858, John Byrd settled at this location and brought with him 700 to 800 head of horses. That made him one of the largest stock raisers in the Honey Lake Valley.
Well, I think I am experiencing some January doldrums. This got me to thinking about a mid-1970s publication entitled Susanville Strolls published by the Monticola Club. The booklet contains eleven different neighborhood walks. Included is a map for each one, and an interesting narrative of what can be seen along the way. What I am tinkering with is doing an updated version and publish each one on this site, so anyone could do the self-guided tours at their leisure. Let me know, what you think to see if this would be a worthwhile endeavor to undertake.
It should be duly noted, that Thomas Newton Long (1833-1917) is not related to the other Long family of Susanville. It is somewhat similar to the Doyle Doyles and the Milford Doyles, as they are not related, just makes things confusing.
This Alabama native came to Susanville in 1861 and with A.R. Leroy operated a saloon. He would have a colorful career in county politics when in the fall of 1867 he was elected sheriff of Lassen County and re-elected in 1868. In 1871 he ran for county treasurer and lost. In 1874 he was elected Lassen County Supervisor, District 1. In 1877, he was elected county treasurer and served one term. In 1882, he was elected Supervisor District 1 and remained in that capacity until 1900. Outside of county government he operated a livery stable and had a family of fourteen children. On footnote, the location of the livery stable, would later become the Telephone Building, and also the first location of Safeway.
Incorporated in 1890, the Honey Lake Valley Land & Water Company proposed the construction of a dam on Long Valley Creek to reclaim the desert lands of the eastern Honey Lake Valley. The dam and reservoir site was situated on lands adjacent to that of Long Valley pioneer George Greeno (1817-1902). In the summer of 1892, work began on the dam—90 feet high, spanning a 1,000 feet with a 500-foot wide base. It was estimated that the reservoir would have a storage capacity of 1,281 acres, at an average depth of 14 feet. The project had its skeptics, especially with the regional dam failures of 1890—those of Ward Lake and Skedaddle. The Lassen Advocate noted in October 1892: “The great interest centers in the permanency and holding capacity of the storage reservoir. Will it withstand the winter torrents and the rush of spring freshets? Will it successfully defy the incursions of insidious rodents and stand firm against the pressure of the floods? When the location of the dam is taken into consideration, the scientific, practical and thorough nature of its construction gives conclusive evidence that it will prove permanent.” The Advocate concluded “It has been filled little at a time by fine quality of clay, water poured upon it and then puddle by means of horses, which renders it impervious to water.” The region experienced an unusual amount of heavy fall rains that added a considerable amount of water to the nearly completed reservoir—a delight to many. In late November 1892, the area was hit a deluge, an estimated seven and half inches of rain fell at the dam site alone! The floods from Long Valley Creek breached the dam and left a gaping hole 100 feet wide. The damage was estimated at $50,000. The Company had invested over $175,000 in the project and never recovered from that loss. The Company’s manager, president and owner Fred Lake remained committed to the project until his death in 1942.
Any one who has ever been involved in a major water right battle that resulted in state intervention witnessed the production of an adjudication report. In the front of the report is a section called the “Duty of Water.” In certain ways the foregoing is not entirely relevant to the topic at hand. However, state never makes reference to the “Power of Water,” and when it strikes, what to do about it.
This post after all has a focus on Long Valley Creek, per a request of a flood during the early 1940s, though the particular date and/or other information is still being sought. For the most part it is hard to fathom that Long Valley Creek can be transformed into a raging torrent of water, when to the casual observer during the summer months, at time its flow can be a mere trickle. Yet, as one can see from the photographs shown, what kind of havoc this small stream is capable of. Tomorrow, we explore a proposed dam develop that was to harness the stream to provide water for irrigation.
In the early 1930s, Red River Lumber Company was going through a refinancial organization process requiring an inventory of all assets and liabilities. Not an easy undertaking, with so much territory to cover. An item of interest to me was the inventory of rails used in its logging operations. It was duly noted that Red River owned 93.7 miles of rail.
However, when it came to the Piute Line, that went from Hog Flat to Susanville, those rails were leased from the Western Pacific Railroad. This, no doubt, added more fuel to the speculation that this particular railroad was destined to be a feeder line for Western Pacific’s nearby Highline. The report noted that the initial 1917 survey of the Piute was to begin north of Westwood Junction near McCoy Flat. However, those plans had to be scrapped when Fruit Growers logging railroad traversed there.
This siding on the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was located a mile west of Devils Corral. In the fall of 1919, James McNeen relocated his sawmill from Colorado to this site. The steam-powered mill had an average daily output of 30,000 board feet of lumber. The mill served as a major supplier for Susanville’s Lassen Lumber & Box Company. Yet, after a year in operation, McNeen was plagued with financial problems and turned the mill over to Herman Enhorning. In 1922, Enhorning sold the mill to Perry M. Newgard. In 1925, Joseph McAllister purchased the sawmill from Newgard. McAllister had financial problems and the mill did open for the 1927 or 1928 season. The sawmill was destroyed by fire on October 12, 1928, some thought it was rather suspicious.
Early on the federal government made arrangements to provide lands to Native Americans . Originally, these were through treaties, but evolved over time that particularly locally individual allottments, usually 160 acres were granted. Exactly, how these lands were selected, I do not know. It should be noted that locally, a high percentage of these allottments were timberland. It was the Bureau of Indian Affairs who managed the lands for the Indians. Routinely, these lands would be sold at public auctions, the proceeds purportedly to be placed into trust accounts. In December 1912, A.A. Bear became the resident agent to oversee the lands owned by the Indians. On February 18, 1913, an auction of 17 parcels was held, the names was like a who’s who of the local Indian populace—Jackson, DeHaven, Joaquin and Peconum to name a few. These properties were are all timberland, and was it just a coincidence that they were all purchased by the Red River Lumber Company?
On July 24, 1947, the Hotel Mt. Lassen was destroyed by fire. The fire was so intense that it completely gutted the structure. Fred Abbay, the owner of the hotel, estimated the loss of the hotel, its contents and the businesses housed there at $700,000. Initially, it was uncertain what would become of the property. A structual engineer was brought in to ascertain whether the exterior walls were sound. It was determined that they were. In the fall, Abbay announced his intention to rebuild the hotel, utilizing the existing walls. The rebuilt Hotel Mt. Lassen opened its doors to the public on May 21, 1949.
In 2019, the big question, since the place has been closed for nearly a decade, will it ever re-open?
Someone in the Red River Lumber Company was a good spin doctor. When it came time for the seasonal layoffs of the logging crews it was reported as: “Men Leaving Camps Are Good Advertisers. Owing to the closing of several of the camps about 600 men have left Westwood. It is interesting to watch the different directions taken by these men on their departure. Some have gone to the extreme east, many to South America, some to Mexico, some to the north country, Washington state and some to Alaska. Most of the men intend to return and bring more fellow workers. As a rule men in the lumber camps have tried making a living in many parts of the world and these men boost it as good advertising for the company.”