USA > California > Lassen County > Fairfield's pioneer history of Lassen County, California; containing everything that can be learned about it from the beginning of the world to the year of Our Lord 1870 Also much of the pioneer history of the state of Nevada the biographies of Governor Isaac N. Roop and Peter Lassen and many stories of Indian warfare never before published > Part 18
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part of those who suffered while going over the Lassen Trail. Ex- cepting this, there is nothing to show that he had any enemies among the whites. "The Red Bluff Beacon" told that he was allowed to go to his old ranch and help himself to whatever pleased his fancy and Fred Hines told the same thing. During a residence of almost fifty years in this county the writer has never heard an old settler say anything against Lassen, or say that he had trouble with any one. That Weatherlow or his party had anything to do with the murder is not even to be thought of. There seems to be absolutely no reason for the belief that Lassen was killed by white men.
It has often been said that the Indians would not kill Lassen. It is true that he was good friends with many of them. Hines says that in 1856 he and Vary were camped at Deep Hole springs. Some time in the night Lassen came in, turned his horses loose and went to bed. The next morning they could not be found in the neighborhood of the camp. Lassen did not worry much about it and along in the afternoon some Indians brought them in. Hines knew that on several other occasions the Indians brought Lassen's horses to him when they had wandered away. But Las- sen had enemies among the Indians as well as friends. In 1851 the Pit Rivers killed a party of Indian valley Indians and car- ried off some of their squaws. Lassen raised a party of thirteen whites and all the able-bodied Indians in the valley and went in pursuit. Early in the morning of the third day Lassen saw In- dians stealing along among the trees and in a short time he killed three of them. He and his party completely defeated the Pit Rivers and they never gave the Indians of Indian valley any more trouble. The foregoing is told in "Hutchings' California Maga- zine" for June, 1857. Doubtless the Pit Rivers remembered this and would have been only too glad to kill him. Besides that, there were many renegate Indians in the Black Rock country who would have killed him and his party, or any other white men, for a ragged shirt, or for the fun of it.
"The Hesperian Magazine" for August, 1859, says: "The news of his death was received with sorrow throughout the state and many of the Masonic lodges published tributes of respect to his memory."
At a meeting of the F. and A. M. of Honey Lake valley held
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at Susanville May 22nd, 1859, the following were among the reso- lutions adopted ;
"Resolved, That in the death of Peter Lassen the community has suffered the loss of an enterprising citizen, a warm-hearted friend, a true and faithful brother, and one of the most ardent members of the Masonic Fraternity in the State of California.
"Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with the brethren of Western Star Lodge, No. 2, at Shasta, California, of which he was a member."
In November, 1859, Johnson Tutt and perhaps Antone Storff and Joe Kitts went to Black Rock and brought Lassen's body to the valley. On the 27th he was buried with Masonic honors un- der the great tree where he camped the first night he stayed in the valley. It is said he often wished that this might be his final resting place. In 1862 a monument was erected over his grave and during that year an account of it will be given.
Clapper's body was left where it was buried that spring at Black Rock and much dissatisfaction was expressed throughout the valley because it was not brought in, too.
John S. Ward, John H. Neale, and Albert A. Smith were the administrators of Lassen's estate. It has been told how his ranches were disposed of.
A few articles once owned by Lassen are still in existence. Fred F. Kingsbury of Sacramento has a pipe which Lassen brought from Denmark and which was an heirloom. William C. Kingsbury, Fred's Father, who was Lassen's partner, was using it when the latter went on his last prospecting trip. L. M. Fol- som of Susanville has a clock that is said to have been owned by Lassen. Orman Folsom bought this clock from some one a good many years ago and afterwards gave it to his son M. O. Folsom, who, in the course of time, gave it to his son, L. M. Folsom.
LASSEN'S MASONIC CHARTER
Taken from "Fifty Years of Masonry in California"
"Other Masons had arrived from time to time and in 1847 Lassen went back to Missouri with the avowed object of bringing back to California with him a train of emigrants and the charter of a Masonic lodge, if possible.
"In Missouri he met Brothers Saschel Woods, L. E. Stewart
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and others, and an application being made to the grand lodge of Missouri for a charter to them it was duly signed, and issued May 10, 1848, as Western Star Lodge, No. 98, duly granted by the grand master and other officers with the seal of the grand lodge of Missouri attached, and granted to Brother Saschel Woods as Worshipful Master, L. E. Stewart as Senior Warden, and Peter Lassen as Junior Warden, to be located at Benton City, Upper California."
"Having attained his objects, Brother Lassen returned with an emigrant train of twelve wagons by the way of Fort Hall, and at the head of Pit river was overtaken by a party of Oregonians on their way to the gold fields, and with their aid reached Las- sen's ranch in safety. Lassen's company had not heard of the discovery of gold in California until meeting this party from Oregon, and he was also ignorant of the fact that a Masonic lodge had been instituted at Oregon City, Oregon, on September 11, 1848, also by a charter from the grand lodge of Missouri, or that Brother Joseph Hull, the master, and several other Brethren of that lodge were in the Oregon party; and neither party knew until long afterward that any of the others were Masons, or that Peter Lassen had in his possession a charter for a lodge which he had brought through with him in his train.
"Brother Woods accordingly opened said lodge in Benton City on October 30, 1849, and proceeded to work.
"When it came to the numbering of the charters by the grand lodge of California at the first Annual Communication in May, 1850, Western Star Lodge, No. 98, was deprived of its seniority. Its charter was in California before the charter of California Lodge left Washington to come by the Isthmus of Panama. The committee on credentials of the convention which formed the grand lodge of California had been misinformed as to the date of the opening of California Lodge and awarded that lodge No. 1.
"The gold mining industry changed the condition of the population at Benton City, and it (Western Star Lodge, No. 2) was moved to Shasta City in 1851, and in November of that year sent in its first returns from that place. In 1853 the hall and records and all the property of this lodge were burned, but they fortunately succeeded in saving the original charter brought from Missouri by Peter Lassen."
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TROUBLE WITH THE PIT RIVER INDIANS
In the Dixie valley country there are traces of two battles with the Indians, but the date at which they took place can not be learned. One of them, at least, occurred after Fort Crook was built, and perhaps both of them took place in 1859, or within a year or two of that time.
Charles F. Hart has this to say about them : "Opposite Muck valley, at the bottom of Pit River Canyon, are old wagons broken to pieces. Old settlers say the Indians attacked some immigrants at Spring Gulch, captured their wagons, and rolled them down the gulch and over the cliff to the bottom of the canyon. What became of the immigrants, I never heard.
"About one-fourth of a mile below the Horse Creek Crossing are more ruins-old tires and decayed pieces of various parts of wagons-where Indians drove off the immigrants, captured their goods, rolled off the wagons over the cliff; and were dividing up and enjoying the spoils when the immigrants returned with re- inforcements of soldiers from Fort Crook and killed or captured nearly all of them. Old Indians have it yet that Horse Creek ran red with their blood into Pit River that time. Fort Crook was in Fall River valley about thirty miles away, near what is Glenburn now."
September 3, 1859, the Pit River Rangers attacked the Indians on Beaver creek and killed about seventy.
Late in the year Gen. Kibbe captured 533 bucks, squaws and pappooses and their chief, "Shavehead," of the Pit River tribe. They were taken to the Indian reservation in Mendocino county. It is said that a great many of these Indians, if not all of them, made their way back home across the mountains.
Thomas Brown says that in the fall of 1859 Company A of the 1st Regiment, United States Dragoons, almost a full com- pany, under the command of Lieutenant Carr, was stationed at Fort Crook. Some time during the fall they came to this valley and camped in the forks of Susan river and Willow creek. They stayed during the time of the emigration and then went back to Fort Crook.
COLONEL LANDER'S ROAD EXPEDITION
In the fall of 1859 Col. Fred W. Lander, Supt. of the U. S. Wagon Road Expedition, came into the valley from the Hum-
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boldt river with quite a large body of men-some say one hun- dred. He was sent out by the United States government to im- prove the emigrant road. He opened up the springs and built reservoirs, changed the road in places, dug out the rocks, cut down the banks of the creeks, etc. He went below for the win- ter, but.came back in the spring and took part in the Indian war of 1860.
FAST MAIL THROUGH HONEY LAKE VALLEY AND NOBLE'S PASS
In the summer of 1858 the first overland stage line was estab- lished and part of their route was down the Humboldt river. At that time there was considerable talk and argument about the ad- vantages of the different roads to California. There was also some talk of building a railroad across the plains and some sur- veying had been done. That fall and winter Hines and Tutt were carrying the mail between this valley and Clear Creek, near old Fort Redding. In January, 1859, the overland stage was to bring the President's message to California as quickly as possi- ble, and the Never Sweats took this opportunity to show people that they had the shortest route across the mountains. Tutt put on relays of horsemen from Clear Creek up to the snow and Hines did the same from the Humboldt river to Susanville. During the previous summer Dave Blanchard and Wiley Cornelison had a trading post on the Humboldt river about twenty miles above Lassen's Meadows, and Cornelison stayed there the following winter. He was to take a copy of the President's message off the stage at his place and the Honey Lakers were to get it to Clear Creek as soon as they could. Mark Haviland on his race horse, Honey Lake Chief, was the last man on this end of the Humboldt line. Hines was to take it from Susanville to Butte creek and turn it over to Tutt.
When the message reached Susanville Hines started out with it and when he got to Hog Flat the snow was up to his chin. He found some limbs sticking up above the snow, and thinking there might be a log below, he broke off some of the dryest of them and started a fire on the snow and kept it going until it reached the log. He then burned the log until the snow was melted away from it. When night came he put the saddle blanket onto his horse and gave him a feed of the grain he had brought along. He then put the machier of his saddle back of him against the snow-
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bank, sat down on his saddle with his feet to the fire, and spent the night the best he could. The next morning he concluded to leave his horse and try to make the rest of the way on foot, as he knew by experience that sometimes the snow was not so deep from Pine creek west. He tied everything he did not need to the saddle, turned his horse loose, and started him for home. He then went on toward Pine creek, but the snow was very soft, and by the time he had traveled a couple of miles he made up his mind that he would give out before he could go much further. Being afraid that he would perish if he persisted in his attempt to reach the place where he was to meet Tutt, he made his way back to where he had spent the night and found that his horse had gone only forty or fifty yards and stopped. He tied the message to the limb of a tree and went back to Susanville.
I. N. Roop raised a crowd of fifteen or twenty men and they broke their way through the snow across the mountains. Some of the crowd came back at once and some stayed all winter. Roop got back the next spring and Amos Conkey stayed until the next fall. Hines never heard anything more about the message, and it is very probable that the Never Sweats never crowed any about the fast time they made across the mountains with it.
DEATH OF JOHN MOTE
Early in the spring of 1859 the remains of John Mote, a half- breed Cherokee who went with several expeditions from this val- ley, were found on the side of the mountain between Susanville and Willow Creek. One of the Shaffer Brothers found his gun, coat, and bones. It was an easy matter to tell whose coat it was, for it was a very large one and had bear's claws for buttons. How he came to his death was never known.
THE KILLING OF VAN HICKEY
Some time during the spring of this year a man named Van Hickey was killed by Thomas J. Harvey. The two men were partners in some cattle, and a dispute having arisen in regard to their business, Harvey shot the other man. Accounts of the af- fair differ, some claiming that there were no witnesses. Van Hickey seems to have been a disreputable sort of a fellow, who had made some trouble for the settlers, and there being very little law in the country, not much attention was paid to the shooting.
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THE YEAR 1859
Smith J. Hill, who seems to have the best remembrance of the matter, says that Harvey, Van Hickey, and George Lathrop were riding between the Big slough and the point of the Bald moun- tain, Lathrop being between the other two. Harvey and Van Hickey got to quarreling and the former dropped behind Lathrop rode up beside Van Hickey, and shot him. The wounded man died shortly afterwards. Word was sent over to Dr. Slater to call a meeting of the citizens. He did so, but only five men were in attendance. Lathrop was not present and the men who testi- fied gave hearsay evidence. Harvey pleaded self-defense and was allowed to go unmolested. Hill says he was the only man who voted for conviction.
A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN EARLY DAYS
In the fall of 1859 J. H. (Jut) Breed and Frank Strong had a trading post at Smoke Creek. When Alvaro and Newt. Evans and R. E. Ross came along with their cattle they camped at this place.
After getting the cattle out to feed Alvaro went down to the station to get some supplies and inquire about the road ahead of them. He talked a while and had a few drinks, for in those days every trader sold whiskey, and then Breed asked him if any one in his crowd could play poker. Evans, who was an old Califor- nian, though Breed didn't know it, told him that he thought he could play a pretty good game himself. They sat down on what- ever came handy, with a box between them, and began to play, and before long Evans had all of the other man's money. Breed, however, was not satisfied and asked Evans to lend him a few dol- lars so he could keep on playing and he would pay it back when the game was done. Evans accommodated him and the game went on in about the same way as before, and Breed soon "went broke" again and quit. Evans loafed around a while waiting for Breed to pay the money he had borrowed, but there was "nothing doing." Finally he asked Breed for it and the latter replied that he was not going to pay anything to a man who cheated, and at the same time applied a vile name to him. Evans started for him and the other turned around and reached for his pistol, which was hanging on the wall. Evans grabbed up a gun from among a pile of them near by and covered him with it. Just then Strong, who was not far away, came running toward them,
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shouting, "Don't shoot, don't shoot! I'll pay it!" Evans got his money and went back to camp. The next time the two men met nothing was said about this affair and they were on good terms as long as they both lived in the country. Strong after- wards told Hines that Evans happened to get hold of his (Strong's) rifle-a good one-and he also said he believed that he saved Breed's life.
ROW AT A DANCE AT RICHMOND
Among the men who came into the valley with Colonel Lander there were many "tough citizens." Three or four of them had a row at the Powers store in Toadtown and stabbed a Honey Laker named Adams several times, though none of his wounds were serious, and kicked another man in the face. The same day the Lander men who had taken part in this row were badly whipped by some other Honey Lakers, and this evened up the score to some extent.
A dance was given at Richmond on the night of the 14th of October and about fifteen of the Lander crowd went there to have some fun and break it up. They found what they were looking for. As luck would have it, there happened to be present at the dance a bunch of Never Sweats who were always willing to help anybody look for trouble-Ed., Steve., and John Bass, Sam. Stin- son, Ned Mulroney, who didn't strike a man with impunity but with his fist; Alec. Chapman, "Big" John Chapman, Bill Corse and perhaps some others, and Jake Brown, Jesse Woodward, and Jim Conant from over the hill-all mighty men with the fist and all of them ready to fight at any time.
Thomas Mulroney says that during one of the dances a Lander man kept bumping into John Bass, and when the dance was fin- ished Bass took him by the nose and threw him down stairs. The fun then commenced and they began to fight all over the house and on the outside, too. One of the strangers drew a pistol in the hall, which greatly frightened the women. Some one grabbed him and shook him until he dropped it and then threw him down stairs. Another outsider was knocked down stairs. When he got up some one else knocked him out onto the porch, and another blow sent him from there to the ground. The Never Sweats "lit on that bunch like a hawk on a June bug" and hammered them until they were satisfied and willing to go home.
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The next day the bully of the Lander crowd, a big Dutchman, went over to Richmond to get revenge. "Big" John Chapman was there and it didn't take long for the two men to get to fight- ing. Orlando Streshly says he never saw a man so promptly and thoroughly whipped as the Dutchman was. Whenever he went down he struck the ground so hard that he fairly bounced off it, and after he had been knocked down six or eight times he begged the crowd to take Chapman off before he killed him. It is not on record that the Lander aggregation made any more trouble in the valley after this.
HONEY LAKE VALLEY'S REPUTATION IN 1859
You and I, kind reader, know that very few people excepting good ones lived in the land of the Never Sweats at that time. But the best of people are sometimes slandered, and evil tongues must have been spreading false reports about those good folks.
Isaac N. Jones, long a supervisor of this county, crossed the plains this year. When he reached Lassen's Meadows the train in which he was traveling consisted of ten or twelve wagons and perhaps fifty people. They were going to Yreka and the nearest route to that place lay through Honey Lake valley. People who claimed to know the country said that if they went through there they were likely to be robbed or killed, or at least have their horses stolen. One man in the train, who had been in California before, said he didn't believe the Honey Lakers were any worse than the Indians and he took the road leading to this valley. The rest of the train went on to Ragtown and up the Carson river. When they reached Honey Lake Smith's station the name was enough- they kept away from him. They went on to Placerville and Marysville and up the Sacramento river to Fort Redding. Then they turned back to the northeast and went over the mountains to Fall River valley and from there north to Yreka. A glance at the map will show how much they went out of their way. When they reached their destination they found that the man who went through Honey Lake valley had been there three weeks.
In 1862 Jones came to live in the wilds of Honey Lake among those barbarians, and either because they were good people, or because he was like them himself he has lived here ever since.
THE WINTER OF 1859-60
From the time when the settlement of the valley began until this winter the seasons must have been dry. This is evident from
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the fact that in the fall of 1859 the lake was entirley dry. They went with teams from the mouth of the river across the lake in every direction.
This winter was always remembered by those who were living here at the time. The snow was not extremely deep, but it came on early and stayed until late in the spring and the cold was steady and severe. Eber G. Bangham says that the first snow fell on the 21st of November. It was twelve or fourteen inches deep and kept about that depth until February, when another storm added a little to it. On the 5th of April, 1860, another storm left two feet of snow on the ground. It began to go off the next day and the new snow ran off rapidly, but there were snowdrifts be- low Rooptown long after that. About the first of December a heavy cold fog came on, and it was always told by the old settlers that they didn't see the sun for six weeks. It was just in the val- ley. Uncle Tim Darcey told the writer that he spent the winter at the Lewers sawmill and that it was sunshine there all the time during the six weeks. The valley below looked like a sea of clouds.
The fog made so much frost on the grass that the cattle could not eat it, and at that time the range was so good that very little hay was put up. There were a good many "emigrant" cattle that were not used to rustling for themselves in the valley that winter and the most of them starved to death.
CONDITIONS AT THE CLOSE OF 1859
In some respects conditions were better than at the close of the previous year. The large emigration that came into the valley this year increased the population considerably, but the country was still very sparsely settled. Some improvements were made all the time on the roads and the ranches and probably the build- ings put up were of a little better quality. But a large majority of the people were poor and had to get along with the least they could. The first settlers in a country. are generally poor people who come in there to better their condition.
Store goods were more plentiful, though perhaps not much cheaper. More grain and vegetables were raised, but the grain was still thrashed with a flail. Not much hay was put up because there were no mowers and there was such good feed on the range that stock did not require much feed during an ordinary winter. Prices were high enough, but there was no market excepting home
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consumption and what they could sell to emigrants. Potatoes and ruta-bagas were five cents a pound and butter seventy-five cents. Oxen were worth from $175 to $250 a yoke and extra good ones were worth $300 a yoke. Dairy cows were worth from $35 to $75 a head. Probably a band of cattle sold for $12 or $14 a head. But the market for stock was no better than it was for farm produce.
Pack trains still ran into the valley, but more freighting was done with teams than during the preceding year. J. P. Sharp, Richard Owens, and Edward Bass hauled freight with ox teams from Marysville for Drake and Streshly and received seven cents a pound freight. Fast traveling was done on horseback, but this year Smith J. Hill brought the first buggy and sulky into the val- ley. Hines said he used to take the girls out riding on the run- ning-gears of an ox wagon, but after Hill got his buggy he would come along and take them away from him, much to his disgust.
The mail was brought in more regularly than before. Hines and Tutt brought it in from Shasta county during the winter of 1858-9 and the following spring. Williams brought it in from Quincy the same winter and the summer of 1859 and the follow- ing winter. H. L. Spargur brought the mail and express from Oroville and Quincy, coming in on showshoes during the winter months. His prices were the same as those charged by others, fifty cents for a letter or a paper, or perhaps more if the weather was bad. Grant Tilford was the expressman from Carson City to Susanville in December, 1859. There was no postoffice at Su- sanville and Governor Roop took charge of the mail that was left there and distributed it.
It has been told that Dr. James W. H. Stettinius taught school in Susanville during the winter of 1859-60 and it is probable that there was some kind of a school at Bankhead's, but it is impossible to tell where or by whom it was taught.
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