On May 23, 1910, Goldfield Nevada millionaire, George Wingfield purchased the 320-acre Clint DeForest ranch about eight miles south of Susanville. Besides an elaborate summer home, he created a wildlife preserve. During the fall of 1910, Wingfield had eighty acres fenced off for a elk and deer park, where he imported the elk from is not known. In 1914, he purchased four buffalo to add to his preserve. This was a popular local attraction to see the buffalo and elk. To round out the “exotic” species were numerous peacocks that roamed the grounds.
In July 1923, Wingfield sold the property to Lassen Lumber & Box Company. The buffalo were shipped to Wingfield Park in Reno, that were on display there for many years. Subsequent owners did not maintain the fenced enclosure, allowing the elk to escape the preserve. In the winter months the elk could be found foraging on nearby Bald Mountain and sightings of the elk were reported in Willow Creek Valley, north of Susanville. Of course, hunters delighted in this new game to pursue. It was sometime in the late 1930s or 1940s, when the last elk was killed.
Hey Tim,
Jake Martin archaeologist at the ELRD. Hope you are doing well. This afternoon I have been trying to track down a rumor that there was actually a wild roaming buffalo spotted in the Honey Lake Valley around this time period. Have you heard anything about an actual wild buffalo, likely lost, meandering into our area? There are Native American ethnographic accounts which state that buffalo occasionally wondered into our area as well.