History

Lassen County’s Old Timers Fair Event

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Lassen County Fair, 1922. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner

Since this is Lassen County Fair Week, one of the oldest events was to honor the area’s Old Timers. At the 1924 fair the Nataqua Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West initiated this special feature. Of course, this event has evolved over the years.

On the evening of Sunday, September 14, the last day of the fair,  Native Daughters sponsored a banquet for the hearty pioneers at the Antlers (nee Elks) Club. To be considered an “old timer” the requirement was one you had to resided in the area prior to 1866. Thirty-seven old timers attended. It should be noted that in years past Native Daughters sponsored an old timers dinner on California’s Admission Day, September 9.

Tim

News

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Flanigan—Robert M. Hanft

On a quarterly basis, I ask you the reader, if there is something you would like to learn more about or maybe its something you heard, but question its validity. So here is an opportunity to participate. I will do my best to answer any questions. It should be noted, it may take awhile for the answer to appear as a post. The primary reason, many of the daily posts are done nearly a month in advance. So by the time you read this I am already working on posts for the middle of August, or at least I should be. Whatever the case may be, I look forward to hearing from you. Of course, it should be noted that paid subscribers requests receive priority. In addition, you can always send a request at any time.

Tim

History, News

Another Pricey Auction Item

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The Emerson Hotel located at Main & Lassen Streets, the current site of the Hotel Mt. Lassen. Completed in 1901, destroyed by fire in1915.

If you thought $540 for the Lassen County Farm Bureau cookbook was tad expensive, well I was recently alerted about another much more pricey one. The latest involves Emerson family memorabilia, specifically that of May Spencer Emerson (1867-1955). The package includes a woman’s dress, necklace, purse and two historic invitations. One of those invites is for the 1901 dedication of the Emerson Hotel. Asking price $900.

Other people are involved in hopes to purchase said items for the Lassen Museum. This is one of those instances I go into a retreat mode, it has all the features of a sticky wicket drama–something I avoid.

Tim

History

Red River’s Great Purge

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Purge Nite. Courtesy of Frank W. Davis

Red River Lumber Company’s labor problems in Westwood during the 1930s is a perfect case study on how to do everything wrong. There was, of course the great purge of in which nearly 400 men, women and children were forced out of their homes in Westwood on July 13, 1938 over a labor dispute. By the end of that historic day the California Highway Patrol, with the National Guard on standby placed a blockade on the community, sealing it from the outside world until things could stabilize.

I do not think we will encounter anything like this. Yes, it was a scary time during the strike of 1938 at Westwood.

According to historian Gerald Rose about the historical significance of the Red River purge he wrote, “Not until the 1941 deportation of Japanese-Americans was there a larger forced migration of United States citizens.” 

Tim

History

An Early Ice Cave Description

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An Eagle Lake ice cave, circa 1916. Courtesy of Wyn Wachhorst

With this current hot spell, I decided on a cool topic. In 1915, the Lucky Land of Lassen was a pamphlet that  produced and distributed at the Panama Pacific International Exposition that was held in San Francisco. Of course it extolled all the wonderful virtues that Lassen County had to offer.. Of notable hightlight, it contained one of the earliest accounts concerning the lava beds and ice caves of Eagle Lake. This what the brochure contained:

“To the west of Spalding lies what is known as the ‘Lava Bed country’ about seven miles long and three or four miles wide. This is the wildest region in this section, and excepting the vegetation, it is almost as when the lava first cooled. It is full of caverns, wells and cracks, one of the latter being five miles long and three to twenty feet wide. In one place it has been sounded to a depth of 160 feet and no bottom found. In this crack there is an ice cave where plenty of ice may be obtained any year until August and some years throughout the entire summer.”

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History

A Different Kind of Mobile Home

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The NCO Depot, Alturas, 1921

Earlier this year, I wrote out Lassen County’s so-called Mobile Home Culture. It was about instead of demolishing a structure, it was moved to a new location. You can read the story here.

Our neighbor to north in Alturas, took moving a building to the extreme. First a little background. In December 1908, the NCO Railroad finally made its way to Alturas.  One would think the residents would be thrilled. That was not necessarily the case, since the NCO had increased its freight  rates, it had a chilling effect.

The NCO built a stone passenger depot on 12th Street, far from everything else in town. The residents complained. To appease the situation, the railroad carefully disassembled the stone depot, numbering each stone, and once dismantled the stones were reassembled at the new location on  Fourth Street. The depot closed in 1938, and in 1962, the Alturas Garden Club took over the property and still maintains it.

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History

Ravendale Bar & Cafe Request

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The Ravendale Garage.

Recently, I acquired a photograph of the Ravendale Bar/Cafe. However, I do not have that much information on this former establishment. It was a fun place to stop. My memory is a bit hazy as to when it was destroyed by fire. It had recently changed ownership, and some were of the opinion that the fire’s origin was “suspicious.”

If anyone has information has on this topic, I would like to hear from you.

Tim

History

How The Agriculture Stations Came To Be

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The inspection station at Jacks Valley, ten miles north of Susanville. Many folks know the location as the cement water trough on Highway 139.

California’s Agricultural Inspection Stations along its borders, are often referred  by locals as “bug stations.” The agricultural inspection stations, locally,  originated with an alfalfa weevil infestation in the southern portion of Lassen County in 1921. The county originally conducted the operations, and in 1923, the state took over.

As the infestations spread, more stations were opened. There was one just west of Susanville near the present day intersection of Highway 36 and Eagle Lake Road. Another one ten miles north of Susanville, just before approaching Willow Creek Valley.  These would later be replaced and in 1953, the main station was at Long Valley. In 1976, when the segment of highway 395 was to become a divided highway, the station was in limbo, and the current one was put into place in 1986.

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Exploring Lassen County's Past