The partially collapsed Grand Cafe. Courtesy of Helen Sargent
The restaurant business is a tough one that requires shear amount of work and dedication. When the Grand Cafe was first established in 1909, it would go through several owners during the next twelve years until it found some stability with the duo of Sam Vucanovich and Steve Sargent, former operators of the New Brunswick Cafe. In 1928, saw the addition of Helen Zalac, Steve’s new bride, and who became an iconic fixture of the Grand for over a half century. Continue reading The Grand Cafe & The Sargents→
Personally, this east side Honey Lake Valley resident, is a fascinating figure and I relate to him in on many levels. He began his career first working for U.S.G.S. He did extensive travel in the western United States with that agency. In 1905, he was part of the survey team to survey the boundaries of Crater Lake National Park. He put together four albums of his work there, with detailed notes.* During this same time, his brother, Marvin, was lured to the sagebrush plain of eastern Honey Lake Valley, and took up a homestead that would later become the nucleus of the town of Stacy.
In time, Marvin convinced Carl to join him the reclamation enterprise there. Their first endeavor was a well-drilling business, since the new homesteaders arriving in the region would need wells for domestic purposes. Carl kept well logs, that information nearly a century is an important resource. In addition, he monitored the flow of High Rock Springs to see how the wells affected its flows.
The big project in the region was the establishment of the Standish Water Company and their intent to build a pumping plant to use the water of Honey Lake to reclaim the sagebrush lands. The company recruited Carl, as its engineer. Not only, did Carl oblige, he and his brother invested $20,000 towards the project. The project went bust, see Standish Water Company posts for details.
The one bright side, during these bleak times, was they had a great well, that not only provided their domestic needs, but irrigation, too. The family carried on. During the height of the homestead era, Carl was busy as a surveyor to plot out each land claim. By 1920, the area was deserted and services as a engineer or surveyor were no longer needed. Nevertheless, Carl persevered. In the 1930s, the United States Army contacted Caudle for information on this portion of the Honey Lake Valley. Caudle’s knowledge not only paid off for him, but for the region as a whole. It was with his information and lobbying efforts that the government established the Sierra Army Depot in 1942. He never saw its complete development, or that of the community of Herlong for he died in his sleep at his Stacy home on August 4, 1942. He is buried in the nearby Honey Lake Cemetery, with other family members.
*The albums have been donated to Crater Lake National Park.
Yesterday’s photograph featured the dynamiting of the Westwood millpond and the freeze of 1949. There was a side affect of that freeze. The freeze reduced California’s citrus crop, and in turn reduced the need of wooden boxes and Fruit Growers box factories in Susanville and Westwood were temporarily closed. In May when the Westwood box factory re-opened, it was only with one shift. Continue reading Westwood’s Rumor Mill→
Dynamiting the Westwood millpond, January 27, 1949. Courtesy of Fruit Growers Supply Company
In January 1949, the temperatures plummeted to nearly thirty degrees below zero. The millpond froze. When Red River designed the facility, they placed piping from the powerhouse that forced steam air directly into the millpond near the sawmill. This system was no match for Mother Nature. To keep the mill operating it was necessary to use dynamite to blast loose the logs in the millpond. Continue reading Westwood’s Frozen Millpond→
During the 1860s, a state of uneasiness existed between the Indians and the new settlers. Because of the hostilities, the settlers were suspicious of unusual Indian activities. In June 1866, Joe Hale, who had been hunting in the mountains, returned to Susanville and stated that he had seen some Indians who might be selling ammunition to another group of renegade Indians. The latter group, purportedly, were planning a possible attack in the Summit Lake country of Nevada. The following day, a party of men from Susanville consisting of Joe Hale, Byron B. Gray, Charlie Drum and E.V. Spencer went to investigate Hale’s observation. On the return trip from the rendezvous they stopped at Papoose Meadows where they found a group of Indians camped. Continue reading Papoose Meadows Conflict→
A lot has happened since I initially began work on the history of the brands featured on the wall in the Pioneer. Of course, a lot of work became derailed when I broke my hip in August. During nearly the six weeks when I was a Nevada resident recuperating, I did have a lot of time for thinking. Continue reading Pioneer Brands→
It was an ice skating accident which resulted in the last drowning in Honey Lake. On January 24, 1915, a skating party was held on the northwest shore with approximately 175 people in attendance. Continue reading A Honey Lake Drowning→
This large mountain valley encompasses some 200,000 acres at an elevation of 5,200’. According to Gudde’s California Place Names, Gudde attributed the name to an emigrant girl, named Madeline, who was murdered by the Indians in the 1850s. Gudde’s source was that of H.T. Risdon who established a sawmill on Bayley Creek in 1912. What is rather peculiar is that the thoroughly researched historical works of Davis and Fairfield have no references to this murder. What is also interesting is that the name does not appear until 1854. In that year, Lt. E.G. Beckwith traversed the plains while exploring for a transcontinental railroad route. Beckwith entered the Madeline Plains via Smoke Creek Canyon and the east side of Observation Mountain. He named this the Madeline Pass. In all probability, Beckwith named the place for his daughter, Madeline Julia Beckwith, born January 25, 1853 at New London, Connecticut.
For further information on this historic account see the latest issue of the Northern California Traveler.
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Abraham Farris in front of his store, 1937. Courtesy of Calvin Farris
While many may have fond memories of Borghi’s store on Richmond Road, there was another store near there and before Borghi’s. The store I am referring to was operated by Lassen County’s best-known Syrian, Abraham Farris.
In September 1912, Farris, who was operating a store in Clio, Plumas County, paid Susanville a visit to relocate. He liked what he saw and made arrangements to move. The Lassen Advocate duly noted, “Mr. Farris impresses us as a man of enterprise and business ability, and as one who will do his share in the up building of Susanville.”
Farris, set up shop on the southeast corner of Main and Roop Streets. All went well in the beginning until the owner of the property, O.M. Doyle evicted him. Doyle made arrangements to have a two-story brick building on the lot, that seasoned Susanville residents will know as the Del Mar.
The business district was booming with the advent of the railroad, and Farris could not find a suitable location. He opted to purchase property in the Lassen Townsite on Richmond Road. Yet, this was problematic. Lassen Townsite was owned by several influential Susanville businessmen. They limited commercial development near the depot and it would be kept to a minimum, mainly for businesses affiliated with rail services. To get around this predicament, Farris hired contractor Louis Dimon to build him a house large enough for his family, but with enough space to carry a large stock of merchandise. The store operated until his death in April 1940. In 1942, the store front was remodeled. The building it should be noted burned down in 2013.
When Dr. John A. Slater died on July 24, 1863 at Janesville, there was no cemetery. He was buried at the foot of pine tree on the Sloss Ranch, known in later years as the Jim Peterson place.
In 1865, Slater’s two sons, Henry Hunt, age 11 and John Allen age 7, died a day apart from each, respectively on May 5 and May 6. They were buried next to their father.
There was a lot of speculation as to the cause of their deaths, some attributed to it spotted fever and others said it was poison from eating wild parsnips. What was later revealed the boys had played around the house all day and never ventured away from home. Henry was taken ill with a pain in his heal in the afternoon, and died that night. On the same evening, John was reported to have a pain in his next week and died the following morning.
In the summer of 1915, John S. Partridge, a grandson of Dr. Slater, contacted local historian Granville Pullen to move the graves to the Janesville Cemetery, which Pullen obliged.
