In 1922, John Hamlin, novelist and part time resident of Lassen County wrote an article for Sunset magazine about Asa Fairfield and his Pioneer History of Lassen County. When asked why he devoted so much time and effort to the book, Fairfield replied, “The book just had to be written. I knew I would have no piece of mind until it was done and in print. I had never used a typewriter, but I secured one and went to work, transcribing all my notes for a volume of five hundred pages. Nobody was asked to subscribe. I published at my own expense. It was a labor of love. I could not bear to think that the early history of Lassen County would die with its pioneers. It had been an isolated section, no railroads connecting it with other points. No one else had taken the trouble to compile its history. The responsibility seemed to rest upon me.”

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