&* o«-

2fc A COLLECTIVE HISTORY t OF THE O EARLY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT ft IN SURPRISE VALLEY

s*lP»^W'

by TAMI GROVE

Association for Northern California Records and Research P.O. Box 3024 Chico, California 95927 OFFICERS and DIRECTORS: 1976 -1977 ASSOCIATION for NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORDS and RESEARCH (ANCRR)

President Joseph F. McGie, Gridley, CA Vice President Lois Halliday McDonald, Magalia, CA Vice President Andrew J. Osborne, Red Bluff, CA Secretary Lola M. Starr, Paradise, CA Treasurer W.H. Hutchinson, Chico, CA Project Director and Curator Dr. Norris A Bleyhl, Chico, CA A COLLECTIVE HISTORY OF THE EARLY YEARS OF

SETTLEMENT IN SURPRISE VALLEY

by

Tami Grove

Winning Essay in the Fourth Annual

A.N.C.R.R. Contest in Local History

1976

Research Paper No. 4

Association for Northern California Records and Research P.O. Box 3024 Chico, California 95927 1977 ©Tami Grove 1977 11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

I. Introduction 1

II. The Applegate Trail 2

III. "Surprise" (Receives Her Name) 5

IV . A Crossroad to the Mines 6

V . Changing Boundaries 7

VI. Actual Settlement of Surprise Valley 11 Drought and Cattle 11 Civil War Influences 13 Decline of Virginia City Touches Surprise Valley 13 VII. Early Living in the Valley 14

VIII. Mining Causes Traffic Through Surprise Valley. 16

IX . The Valley's Way-Side Stations 17

X . Mention of Early Commodities 18

XI. Indians and Early Troop Protection 19

XII. The Four Permanent Settlements 20 Eagleville 21 Cedarville 24 Lake City 27 Ft. Bidwell 32

XIII. Indians 40

XIV . A Look at Happenings from 1865 to 1869 48 1865 48 1866 50 1867 56 1868 57 1869 60

XV. Conclusion 62

XVI. Bibliography 63 Ill

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Map of Modoc County, California Showing Location of Surprise Valley iv

Early-Day Eagleville 21

Tim Young's Mill at Raider Canyon,

North of Eagleville 23

First Cressler and Bonner Store, Cedarville 25

A.C. andO.P. Kistler, General Merchandise

Store, Cedarville 26

Jerkline Team at Ft. Bidwell Store, About 1885 32

Layout of Camp Bidwell, later Ft. Bidwell 35

Capt. T. McGregor, 1st. U.S. Cavalry, Commandant, Ft. Bidwell, 1876-1877 40 1.V

NEVADA

SURPRISE VAL 1 \ 4? • HCuNNfe WARNER

noAiysis

MODOC COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Showing location of Surprise Valley in the extreme eastern portion of the county A COLLECTIVE HISTORY OF THE EARLY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT IN SURPRISE VALLEY

INTRODUCTION Surprise Valley has been described as one of the most beautiful valleys in the west. Some might question whether it merits this description, but none can deny that its colorful early history adds to the charm of this secluded valley. My being a fourth generation descendant of a pioneer settler has led me to study the early history of Surprise Valley and to retell it for the benefit of the inter­ ested reader.

Surprise Valley is a fertile plain lying in the northeast corner of Cali­ fornia. It is found near the 42° latitude and 120° meridian. On the west, the valley is bordered by the timbered slopes of the Warner Range and on the east by the Hayes Canyon Range of northwest Nevada. The valley is approximately seventy miles long and on an average ten miles wide. Its average elevation has been estimated at 4, 700 feet. Running slightly southeast, the valley over­ laps the Nevada line for about two miles at its southern end. The valley becomes noticeably narrower at both its northern and southern extremities.

Artesian and man-made wells are the main water source found on the floor of the valley. Much of the water supply also comes from the springs and streams that develop largely out of the snow pack and flow down the east slope of the Warner Range . Most of the arable land of the valley is found near the base of these slopes. When precipitation is plentiful, the excess moisture swells the chain of three alkali lakes found toward the east side of the valley's floor.

Long ago, the entire area was submerged under a huge lake or sea. This is evidenced by the gently rising stretches of salt and alkaline-encrusted earth visible at parts of the valley; they formed the original shore line .

Additional proof may be found in the unearthed fossils of the valley and sur­ rounding area. Constant seepage and an overflow across a narrow divide at the south extremity resulted in the formation of the present shallow playa lakes now designated as Upper, Middle, and Lower Alkali Lakes or Surprise Valley

Lakes.

People now living in Surprise Valley are concerned chiefly with agricul­ ture. Most ranchers raise cattle and hay . The fertility of the soil is demon­ strated by the luxuriant clover and grasses that grow . Alfalfa seed that has been brought into the valley produces one of the highest protein hays found in the state. Deep well irrigation has enabled more land to be cultivated than ever before. A combination of these things and others makes Surprise Valley one of the most productive regions in the county.

THE APPLEGATE TRAIL

We will begin our look at the history of Surprise Valley with the Apple- gate-Scott Party of 1846. This party was exploring in July of 1846 for a route that would join Oregon with the California Trail along the Humboldt River.

They seem to have had several purposes in seeking out a trail: one to facilitate

migration into Oregon, another to provide a possible escape route if dispute

arose with the British over the possession of the Oregon Territory, and still

another to find an alternate route to avoid difficult stretches of the Old Oregon

Trail.

Lindsay Applegate and Levi Scott branched off with their party from the

California Trail on the Humboldt River at what later became known as Lassen's

Northern California Writer's Report, History of Modoc County, Chap. I, p.m. Meadow: this meadow is now Rye Patch Reservoir, which is near Imlay, Nevada. They followed a northwestern direction across the Black Rock desert through High Rock and Forty Nine canyons in northwestern Nevada to enter California. They entered the state near its extreme northeastern corner, 29 miles south of the California-Oregon stateline . Their trail crossed Surprise Valley here and went on to cross the Warner Mountains at Fandango Pass . After Fandango they brushed the southern end of Goose Lake and, following a slightly northwestern course, passed north of Clear Lake to reach the Tule Lake Basin, a few miles south of present Malin, Oregon, to dip once more into California and pass south of Lower Klamath River. They followed a westward course across the Cascade Mountains and came out in the Rogue River Valley, a few miles southeast of present Ashland, Oregon. From here, they went on to Eugene, Oregon, near the head, or southern end of Willamette Valley.

Willamette Valley was then the principal settlement in the Oregon territory. 2 Their path may be compared to present day Interstate Highway 5. The trail this party had laid out came to be known as the "South Oregon Emigrant Road," the "Applegate-Scott Trail," the "Old South Road," and the 3 "South Route," or simply the "Applegate Trail." Few records have been found of organized emigrant trains following the Applegate Trail in 1846 or 1847. There is a reference made to one crossing in 1848. From then until the middle 60s, the route was much traveled, including the influx of people during the California gold rush of '49 . Bruff, in his day-by-day account of an emigrant train in the book,

2 Mrs. Givan's English class lectures, April of 1973, based on her unpub­ lished Master's Thesis , "The Nevada-California-Oregon Border Triangle: A study in Sectional History ." "IPease, Robert W., Modoc County: A Geographic Time Continuum, p. 54. The Gold Rush, gives one story of this travel on the Applegate Road . He was 4 with one of the trains that passed through Surprise Valley in 1849 . Their wagons slipped and slid down the canyon of "The Little Mountain Pass" (the name Bruff gave to the summit of present day 49 Pass) and came into what we now know as Surprise Valley. The members of this train were awed by the snow laden mountain peaks ahead which they called "The Sierras" and gave little attention to the valley itself. They were intent upon reaching settlements in California and Oregon before the snow of winter would catch them. After having crossed the valley floor they were faced with the difficult task of crossing Lassen Pass, which we now know as Fandango Pass .

Many trains were to follow this pattern of rolling over Surprise Valley, viewing it merely as one more stepping stone to put behind them, as their des­ tinations were further west in the other valleys of California. Other passersby would have a longer look at the beautiful valley since considerable numbers of livestock were driven with each train and the extensive meadow lands were depended on for feed. The importance of the tall, waving grass of this valley was intensified as most of the wagon trains came here in the late summer and early fall, when bunch grass in dry places had lost most of its nutrient value.

Trains would stop long enough in Surprise Valley and other such meadowed locations to harvest some wild hay to carry over the dry parts of the tr; il.

Emigrants still gave little notice to our valley at this time and, in Mrs . .

Irvine Grove's words, "They often spoke of this unnamed, unknown valley little thinking that in a few years some of them would return to file on land 5 and to make their homes here."

4 Bruff, Joseph Goldsborough . Gold rush; the journals, drawings, and other papers of JL_Goldsborough Bruff, Captain, Washington City and Cali­ fornia Mining Association, April 2, 1849-July 20 , 1851. Ed . by Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gaines, pp. 647-649. 5 Irma Irvine Grove, unpublished notes dated in January of 1964. "SURPRISE"

Local legend has attributed the name "Surprise" to our valley to these early emigrant wagon trains, but apparently the name was not actually applied until 1860. The Humboldt Register, published at Unionville, Nevada Territory, August 22, 1863 says:

In running the boundary line between California and the Nevada Territory, Surveyor General Houghton and party appear to have discovered one of the most inviting valleys to be found in the state . The party named it "Surprise Valley," which is appropriate as the men must have been greatly astonished to find such a valley in that region. It is 50 miles long and from 8-15 miles broad and contains three lakes . It is represented as containing large bodies of fine agricultural land. Grass, clover, and wild rye were found growing luxuriantly . Fine timber in abundance covered the mountains which bounded on the west. It was entirely unoccupied, the survey party being probably the first white men who had ever been through it. From the description given of the Indian movements in that section, it is evident whenever white men settle in Surprise Valley the possession will be disputed by the Indians.

This report from the Humboldt Register was cut from a reprinting made by the Sacramento Union on September 1, 1863, but the report is incorrect as to the discovery. In July, 1860 the same valley had been entered by Captain

Nightingill ("gale") and his company of twenty-three men. The valley is found described in DeGroot's map as "Nightingill Valley," though it was incorrectly named by Nightingill the same as is stated in the Humboldt Register by 7 Houghton's party—"Surprise."

The Nightingill party was probably as "surprised" as other travelers had been when finding such a beautiful spot surrounded by desert and for­ bidding mountains. This party viewed the valley as being deep and thought, from different signs, that little snow fell on it. They interpreted indications

Irma Irvine Grove, unpublished notes dated in January of 1964. 7 Pease, op. cit. , p. 77. of silver in the mountains, but because they had no tools , no extra provisions ,

and there was the threat of Indians about, they did no prospecting. All

twenty-four men did take the time, however, to post claim to 160 acres of land Q each . The naming of the valley in the 1860s, rather than earlier, is substan­ tiated by the fact that no record of travel or Army report concerned with the area has been found to use the name "Surprise" before this time.

In one early account, Surprise Valley is said to have been known by the

Indians as "Kibeningnaredols," meaning "Valley of the Long Mountains."

Isabel Kelly, in her Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiutes, says the

Indians lacked a name for Surprise Valley as a whole, any range of moun­ tains or any other broad area. Most of the names given by the Indians were g descriptive or referred to some animal or plant they found there.

A CROSSROADS TO THE MINES

Soon after the Nightingill expedition passed through Surprise Valley, it became an important crossroads for the Owyhee routes . The Owyhee River is found in northern Nevada and runs north and west into the Snake River.

The Owyhee River and the Owyhee Breaks were named by Peter Skene Ogden.

This early trapper, explorer, and mountain man had two men in his party die

there. They had come from Hawaii and the best he could do in their memory

was to give the name, "Owyhee," his pronunciation of Hawaii, to the surround­

ing landmarks.

One wonders here how they could have avoided seeing the wagon tracks that must have been easily visible from the heavy traffic the Applegate Trail was to have had . However, there is no proof that Nightingill's party went far enough north to spot the tracks . 9 Quoted in Irma Irvine Grove, "Surprise Valley History" in the Modoc County Record, May 7, 1964. There was a sizable amount of travel through Surprise Valley in the early 1860s coming from Honey Lake and bound for the Owyhee mining dis­ trict, as well as travel via Chico and Susanville enroute to the Idaho mines .

The route from Honey Lake was later traveled by settlers from there coming to settle in Surprise Valley .

Honey Lake Valley was then the gateway to the Washoe mines and the

California towns. The road from there to here may be compared to the present

Modoc-Washoe, Lassen-Washoe county lines . The trail out of Surprise was through Duck (Lake) Flat, Buffalo Meadows, and down the Smoke Creek

Desert. It went on to meet Noble's Road which went in from the Desert to

Honey Lake Valley.

Mrs . Pat Olmsted (now Givan) tells us in her "Echoes of the Past," an article in a column published in 1959 in the Modoc County Record newspaper, that:

Most of the traffic into the Owyhee mines in the first years, however, went over the Red Bluff-Ft. Crook-Surprise Valley road, traveling the old Lassen-Applegate trail in reverse. There were two roads eastward out of Surprise Valley . One was through 49 Pass, the old road. Another, which probably was not laid out until after the establishment of the post, led straight eastward from Ft. Bidwell over Big Bally Mountain and into Coleman Valley. There are still remnants of this road visible. It was possibly used by military personnel traveling between Ft. Bidwell and Camp McGarry, and it probably joined the Chico-Ruby City road, the route of which was via Honey Lake, Deep Hole, Granite Creek, Soldier Meadows , Summit Lake, White Horse Creek, Crooked River, Jordan Valley, and Wagontown.

CHANGING BOUNDARIES

In the beginning, Surprise Valley and other areas east of the Sierras were considered part of Utah Territory . California was admitted into the

Pat Olmsted, "Echoes of the Past," in the Modoc County Record and Alturas Plaindealer, Robert Sloss, ed., May 14, 1959. 1]rbid. Union in 1850 and began to form her counties, although both her state and

county lines were to remain partly undefined for many years.

The Centennial Edition of the Modoc County Record says that in March of

1852, Shasta County was divided with Siskiyou County. The government felt it couldn't handle all the area it held within its previously designated borders.

Siskiyou County took in what is now Modoc and placed her county seat at

Yreka. According to the Centennial Edition, "this was a hardship for the

residents of Modoc, especially those living east of the Warners, as they had only one road over the mountain and it took several days to travel to the county seat." The Record must be misinformed as it is doubtful that any white settlers were permanently located in Modoc, including east of the Warners, in 1852.

Cook, in his History of Modoc County, says that either Ely Rice or James Town- send was the first settler in the whole area of Modoc, as both claim to have settled there sometime in 1853. And Mrs. I. Irvine Grove's notes tell that Ely

Rice had settled and proved up on 160 acres in Townships 40 and 41 under the

Act of Congress, March 3, 1853. This statement was dated August 29, 1864 and

witnessed by John A. Ward . (The place homesteaded was the old McClintock 12 Ranch now owned by Lewis Cockrell and Sons.) The Record goes on to contradict itself by saying "the first settler is

believed to have been Ely Rice who took up land there (Surprise Valley) in 1 3 1853."

Where were the settlers in 1852? Could it be the sources that gave Rice's year of settlement as 1853 were using the date of the Act of Congress regarding

12 Centennial Edition, 1974, Modoc County Record, Robert Sloss, ed.; Cook, FredS., History of Modoc County, p. 93; Grove, unpublished notes dated June of 1964. 13 Centennial Edition, op . cit. preemption and that his actual settlement was in 1864? This year for settle­ ment is possible, though not probable, as 1864 was the chief year of settlement in Surprise Valley. Regardless, the point is that Modoc could not have been largely affected by the county seat's location in Yreka until sometime after 1852 due to her low or non-existent population . A few years after '52, the people of the Honey Lake Valley decided to form their own government. On April 26, 1856, they marked out a new territory and Surprise Valley was included in their boundaries. It was named "Nataqua," meaning Indian woman, and included some 50,000 square miles of land from the northeastern corner of California to 25 miles south of Lake Tahoe. The new territory didn't survive, as the Honey Lakers found they had taken in many settlers to the south of them who paid no attention to their government. Nataqua was dissolved in 1857 and the Honey Lakers joined the people of western Utah in their endeavor to persuade the United States to organize the Nevada Territory .

The Nevada Territory was soon formed out of the Utah Territory, but she shortly began to resent the leadership and jurisdiction of the Mormons that were penetrating into her lands . Nevada Territory attempted to establish her lines because of this interference.

Even by 1862 the east line of California had not been drawn by survey and there was still serious doubt as to where California ended and Nevada began, At this time, Lake County (now primarily Lassen County) , Storey County, and Washoe County were all considered a part of the First Judicial District of Nevada Territory. Lake County laid claim to part of Surprise Valley and the

14 Grove, op. cit. , February of 1964. 10

Territory of Nevada administered justice here as well as in the other counties she was responsible for. 15

In 1863, the Territory of Nevada began to prepare herself for statehood and , without success , she tried to have California give up her entire claim to the areas east of the Sierras. To settle the dispute over this land , to accom­ modate the desire of the United States for a surveyed state line for the pro­ posed state of Nevada, and to meet San Francisco's desire for a water supply from Lake Tahoe, a group of surveyors began the difficult task of setting out the California-Nevada lines. This group was under the supervision of Houghton and Vaughn Smith, and it came through Surprise Valley .

On January 12, 1864, the legislature accepted the new state lines and Nevada was then admitted to the Union. Through the years, different attempts have been made—one as late as 1956--to have Surprise Valley secede from California and be placed under Nevada's jurisdiction, although none has succeeded.

Surprise Valley and other parts of what is now Modoc remained a part of Siskiyou County until 1874. Efforts to divide Siskiyou into two different counties were started in 1872, but no important action was taken until William T. Cressler, an independent candidate, was elected to the Assembly in 1874. He offered a bill to make a new county known as Canby County, but opponents to it added an amendment to call it Modoc instead. They felt this name would kill the bill because of the hostile feelings then prevalent toward the tribe of Modoc Indians that had caused so much trouble for the white man. Cressler and others in favor of the bill accepted the name, however, and the bill passed. 1R Governor Booth signed the act ratifying Modoc County on February 17, 1874.

15 Grove, op. cit., February of 1964. 1 fi Coy, Owen C . , California County Boundaries, p . 181. 11

ACTUAL SETTLEMENT OF SURPRISE VALLEY The prime year of settlement in Surprise Valley was 1864. The early pioneer settlers who came here were of hardy stock and strong in spirit. These first men were anxious to own their own home and land and wanted to provide for their families; many came to free themselves from having to work for others. They seem to have been fair minded, asking only for the chance to have some place to settle and become self-supporting citizens. They accepted the challenge of gambling with the odds against them—be it the elements or the hostilities of the Indians—for the chance of a "good life."

Other than this "new chance" that our valley offered, there were three major factors behind the settlement of Surprise Valley . One was the severe drought that occurred in the large valleys of California due to an excessive lack of moisture during the winter of 1863-64; the second factor was the effects the Civil War was having on Nevada, California, and other western states; 17 and the third was the effect of the decline of Virginia City, Nevada.

DROUGHT AND CATTLE The drought that occurred in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in 1864 caused much of the livestock there to die. Many of the owners offered one half of their surviving cattle herds to anyone who would take them into watered, grassy areas in the mountains . Men who saw this as an opportunity to start in the livestock business, including those who had passed through Surprise Valley, recalled such grassy valleys to the north. Throughout the low Cali­ fornia valleys, meetings were held and numbers of men and boys volunteered to be drovers. While the herds were being put together, many of the cattle

17 Mrs. Givan's lectures, loc. cit. 12

drivers began to think of Surprise Valley as one of their main targets . It was a difficult task to drive the poorly conditioned cattle through lands swarming 18 with Indians to our valley. 1864 had been a good year for Surprise Valley and the hundreds of cattle that were brought here did well. Some of the men who came with these cattle were: — The Monroe Brothers. (Audrey Monroe, of this family, lives in Ft. Bidwell.) —The Baty Brothers . (Dave and John; they have many descendants . John married

Laura Mason of New Pine Creek.) --R.F. McConnaughy. (McConnaughy established the locally known MC Ranch.

J . McHugh, of the same family of McHughs in the area, married Shirley McConnaughy.) —Disbell.

(Dismal Swamp, above Ft. Bidwell, was named after him because

that was where his homestead was. It was first called Disbell but was changed somehow through the years.) —Henry Miller. (No more mention.) —Venning. (No more mention.) —P. Peterson. (Many descendants in area.)

18 Grove, op. cit., February of 1964. 19 Mrs. Givan's lectures, loc. cit. 13

Disbell, Miller, and Venning came together and settled where the reser­ vation is today . They disappeared after the U .S . government took over that 20 land for the establishment of Camp Bidwell.

The cattle drovers formed ranches, filed on homesteads, and helped found the infant settlements of Surprise Valley.

CIVIL WAR INFLUENCES

Other men who contributed quite largely to the early settlement were

Civil War deserters. These men had not become deserters out of cowardice; their courage was unquestioned, but they objected to fighting neighbors and relatives. There were also many civilians, including a large number of 21 southern sympathizers, who came here to escape the war.

DECLINE OF VIRGINIA CITY TOUCHES SURPRISE VALLEY

Effects of the Civil War can also be traced through the role Virginia City,

Nevada played in the settlement of Surprise Valley .

In the 1850s, prospecting began on the side of Mt. Davidson, Nevada at what was to be the richest silver ore deposit ever discovered. This discovery of the Comstock Lode began part of the "Rush to Washoe" and resulted in the establishment of Virginia City. Mining there was to produce at least

$306,000,000 . It has often been said that it was money from Virginia City that 22 built San Francisco.

Grove, loc. cit. 2Wd. 22 People, pGraff. 356, . Henry F . and Krout, John A. , The Adventure of the American 14

When the ore mines were spent, however, Virginia City fell into deca­ dence, never to recover. Former residents migrated to surrounding areas and began to build new towns.

Many of the people who fled from Virginia City were also southerners and southern sympathizers ("Copperheads") . They left due to the decline of the city, but more importantly out of fear of what would happen to them when

Nevada became a state of the Union . They settled in the Sierra Valley region, the Truckee Meadows and, when Nevada reached statehood (1864) , they came to Surprise Valley . Some of the remnants still present today in the valley from these sourthern influences are southern cooking recipes, the Baptist Church, and a trace of southern accent can be detected in the valley's vernacular 23 language.

To further illustrate the number of people who came to Surprise in their flight of the war, Mrs .1.1. Grove says in her notes:

The story was often told of the surprising number of horses tied to the army headquarters hitching rack in Ft. Bidwell. Their owners were inside taking advantage of President Grant's mandate to offer back the citizenship rights of Civil War deserters.

Mrs . Givan stated, in her class lectures of 1973, that the largest bulk of early settlement in Surprise Valley should be attributed to the decline of

Virginia City.

EARLY LIVING IN THE VALLEY

The life that the early settlers of the valley had to face was typical of the crude frontier life of western settlement. Many cabins were raised by house raising parties; these usually consisted of six to eight men with two standing

23 Mrs. Givan's lectures, loc. cit. Grove, loc. cit. 24 Grove, loc. cit. 15

guard while the others worked. Because no glass was available, windows were open in the summer and closed by animal skins or boards in the winter.

Doors were often hung on leather straps. Rogers, in his report to the state department, tells us that the cabins were built with loopholes for defense against the Indians.

As the earliest settlers had no stoves, homes were heated and food was cooked by fireplaces. Furniture in the houses was usually homemade. If settlers had arrived early enough, garden spots would be planted near the cabin and stock corrals would be within hearing distance of the house. Men who had few stock would place them in a shed adjoining the cabin and keep an eye on them through a porthole between the house and shed.

Mrs. I.I. Grove wrote that the July 23, 1864 edition of the Semi-Weekly

Union from Yreka, California told the following: From Mr. Isaac Fry, who has just returned from Surprise Valley , we learn some interesting facts about this much talked of portion of the country . (Mr. Fry tells of the valley in flowery terms and adds:) there are a large number of families and ranchmen already building houses, fences , etc.

A "B .S .B." (by-line name given) in his newspaper feature, "Mainly

Modoc," tells us that during the land boom of 1864, the growth of settlement made it necessary to form a township for judicial purposes . Surprise Valley was still a part of Siskiyou County at the time and its Board of Supervisors, on November 21, 1864, enacted the following:

Ordered by the Board that that portion of Surprise Valley lying and being in Siskiyou County be known as Surprise Valley Township and that the same be declared in Supervisor District Number 3.

25 Cook, op. cit., p. 94. Rogers, Fred B., Fort Bidwell, Modoc County, California, a report to the California State Department of Beaches and Parks . 26Grove, op^ cijL, March of 196 4. 2 Ibid. 16

Also ordered that A . Wise and B .A. Farmer be and thereby are appointed justices of the peace of said Surprise Valley Township to serve as such until the next general elec­ tion upon taking the oath and filing an approved bond of $2,000. Also enter that A.J. Watson and H.H. Dickerson be and they are hereby appointed constables of said Surprise Valley Township until the Qgxt general election and filing an approved bond for $2,000 .

These men didn't qualify and the new township had no officers until a general election held in September, 1865.

The early settlers were still in a turmoil as to their exact location.

Ballots were cast in Surprise Valley in the Spring of 1864 to decide between

Susanville or Janesville for the seat of Lassen County . Ballots had also been cast in Ft. Crook and the Board of Supervisors postponed their first meeting that spring until they found out just where Surprise Valley and Ft. Crook were located. The votes from the precincts of these two places were rejected after much discussion, even though a strip of land at the south end of Surprise

Valley was in Lassen County and her Board of Supervisors set a toll of 25$ to 29 cross a bridge over a creek in that section of the valley.

MINING CAUSES TRAFFIC THROUGH SURPRISE VALLEY

During Surprise's prime year of settlement, 1864, a gold and silver strike occurred in Idaho. When news of this ore discovery reached men in

California, many began a route to Idaho via Reno, Nevada. This was a rever­ sal of previous traffic, as most of it had been westward toward California.

From Reno, the route went by way of Nixon and Gerlach, Nevada and then into

Surprise Valley. Turning east, they left here and went to Pueblo City, Nevada

2fi "B.S.B." (by-line name given), "Mainly Modoc" in the Modoc County Record, n.d. , quoted from Harry L Wells, The History of Siskiyou County, first published in 1881. 29 Fairfield, Asa Merrill, Pioneer History of Lassen County, p . 341. 17

(now called Denio) and through the Oregon border region. There was a trail from Pueblo City that branched from this one to go to the Owyhee district where gold had also been found.

One party en route to this Owyhee district that came through our valley was led by a Colonel Drew . A commanding officer from Ft. Klamath, Drew was looking for a new trail to Owyhee. While in Surprise Valley, he met a wagon train with the same destination and they combined to form one party. Drew followed no trail, for he was intent upon mapping his own, and he led this party to the northern end of the valley and turned eastward. He soon found himself traveling over rugged terrain for many miles.

THE VALLEY'S WAY-SIDE STATIONS

The increasing number of emigrants moving into and through Surprise

Valley during the spring, summer, and early fall of 1864 created a demand for small stations along the way to accommodate travelers. One such station was kept by a Thomas Bare from Honey Lake Valley . Bare's station was located in the southern end of the valley on what was then called Wood Creek. His cabin was the first building constructed in the part of Surprise Valley that is now part of Lassen County. Following Bare's arrival as many as 500 other Honey

Lake settlers came to Surprise Valley . Many stayed because of the tall Great

Basin wild rye grass that grew on the base of the valley, as it provided an 30 abundant and good quality feed for their stock.

The next station north from Bare's was about eight miles away on what we know as Barber Creek. It was run by Pitchfork Brown and has been con­ sidered more of a hotel—the first in the valley. It was a hut about twelve feet

30 Fairfield, Asa Merrill, Pioneer History of Lassen County, p . 341. 18

by 14 feet in size and was made of poles with a roofing of rye grass and sage­ brush . The endgate of a wagon served as a door. Pitchfork charged six bits

for a meal and two bits for a drink. You supplied your own bedding and were 31 able to crowd inside if you were lucky; if not, you slept under the stars .

About ten miles north of Barber Creek the next station was found and

it was known as Cave City. (It must have been very close to present-day

Eagleville.) This station was supposedly another rough, makeshift hut made of sagebrush, with a dirt floor. It was also used as a saloon but the place

soon disappeared.

The next small station account in the Eagleville area tells of an Emerson

City. This city has been described as a separate town, located north of Cave

City, but evidence points to Emerson City as the name of the town soon to be

called Eagle Creek. The town was reportedly south of where Eagleville is 32 today, located near where the abandoned school house stands now .

Travelers could find accommodations further north at the towns that were beginning to develop at that time: Deep Creek (now Cedarville) and

Tri-Lake City (now Lake City) . (The development of these and Ft. Bidwell

will be discussed below .) Settlers along the way were also usually glad to

lend a helping hand to weary travelers .

MENTION OF EARLY COMMODITIES

Mail and supplies during and through 1864 probably came to the valley

from Marysville via Susanville and from Truckee Meadows via Buffalo Meadows

The July 16, 1864 edition of the Daily Union told its readers of the flourishing

31 Centennial Edition, Modoc County Record 32 Grove, op. cit., ca. 1957. 19

growth Surprise Valley was experiencing. It said various kinds of grain and vegetables were being produced and an early settler, a Mr. R. Howard, was 33 engaged in erecting a large sawmill.

INDIANS AND EARLY TROOP PROTECTION

Indians had always posed a threat to white men in the valley and 1864 was no exception. They were very troublesome and settlers were always on guard against attack. There are no stories of them attacking in the daylight at that time, but nightly raids were frequent and the red men would steal away with any stock or supplies they could take.

Army men from surrounding forts would patrol into this area but, because they had to cover such a large circuit, military protection was insuf­ ficient previous to and during 1864. One such post was Ft. Klamath, Oregon and another was Ft. McGarry, Nevada near the shores of what we know today 34 as Summit Lake.

Ft. McGarry soldiers afforded limited protection in miles of unsettled country, including the Applegate and Chicc-Ruby City roads. McGarry troops used the camp at Soldier Meadows for their winter headquarters as it was much warmer and the country surrounding Soldier Meadows was more accessible when snow fell. Although these outside camps were able to offer only limited protection to Surprise Valley, they were good markets for the grain and garden produce raised by pioneers in the valley .

It can be seen that Ft. McGarry played a distinct role in the development of early Surprise Valley . This fort was soon to be influenced by both the

33 Grove, op . cit., ca. 1957. Grove, op . cit., June of 1964 20

Smoke Creek Post and Camp McKee. The Smoke Creek post was abandoned in

1865, except for a token force, and her troops were moved to Granite Creek

Station or Camp McKee, north of the present town of Gerlach , Nevada. Camp

McKee was at the intersection of the Chico-Susanville road and the Humboldt road but was active only until 1866 when all the government property was moved to Ft. McGarry.

Around the late fall of 1864, a small company of soldiers under the direc­ tion of a Captain Dota were stationed on the creek near Tri-Lake City where they were to begin work on an Army post for Surprise Valley. The soldiers laid out a proposed fort site, cleared the ground, and had begun construction for several weeks when they received orders to abandon the project and return to their home base. That was just how close Ft. Bidwell came to being located twenty miles further south than it was. It was told that two pine trees grew close to the bank of "Soldier" Creek and that the soldiers had carved their names 35 in them, but the trees were cut down by settlers in the early days .

THE FOUR PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS

Let us now look at the settling of the four permanent towns the early pioneers of Surprise Valley were to found while protecting themselves and their belongings against the elements and the Indians. These four settlements were:

Eagleville, Cedarville, Lake City, and Ft. Bidwell.

35 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit., May 14, 1964, 21

EAGLEVILLE

The

station and settlement

named Cave

City, Emer­

son City, and then

Eagle Creek T.^?*^-">:> IQD Vmti&VW* was the root of the town of • -w

Eagleville today . In the

beginning, the Eagle Early Day Eagleville—Drug Store, House, and General Store

Creek settle­

ment contained a store whose proprietor was Ben Scheeline. A saloon was next to Scheelin's store and there was a cabin that stood east of where the road is

today on what we know as the old Scott Place; it is now owned by the White Pine

Cattle Company. This cabin was looked after by William Clark and served as

Eagle Creek's first makeshift hotel, meeting house, and post office with Clark

as postmaster. The first school pupils were also taught in the cabin and when­ ever an itinerant minister came to the town, church services were held there. 36 Clark turned the operation of his business over to a couple named Devazer, who ran the cabin until about 1885 when they sold it to Jim Reitz.

36 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit. , ca. 1957, 22

A second hotel was opened in 1866 by Henry Marrifield. It was during this time

Eagleville was experiencing her heyday as she was an important stage and 37 freight stop on the road north from Reno.

The first blacksmith shop in the town was operated by Joe Abrahams on the north si.de of Eagle Creek. Several saloons sprang up in the town and cow- punchers were usually willing to add to their business . A livery stable was run for many years by a Bert Cole and then owned by Doctor Kennedy who sold it to the Eastern Star organization in the early 1900s . The members of the order remodeled the building and turned it into a meeting place. There was a second livery stable owned by William McCormick which was located next to 38 his hotel, The McCormick House.- Fairfield, in The History of Lassen County, says that this same McCormick told him that of the many men who came into the valley in the '64-'65 period, two were John Bordwell and Hill. They settled in the Eagleville Section of the valley and laid claims that went into the Bare Ranch. This ranch was 39 lator bought by the Gerlach Land and Livestock Company.

A Mr. J.E. Jones bought Scheeline's store and, for a while, there was another store opened in the town by Cressler and Bonner of the Deep Creek settlement. They made Henry Cambridge the manager of their business venture.

A steam sawmill near Eagle Creek was almost completed by 1867.

Anderson Pendleton preached alternately in the school and the old Jones store before a church building appeared in Eagleville. Not until about 1888 did a Mr. Vaughn and R .W. Minto go about town to solicit money to pay for a church.

They told contributors that whoever gave the most could name the church.

37 Centennial Edition , op . cit. J8Tbid. 39 Fairfield, loc. cit. 23

Vaughn was the largest donor and simply named the building "The Christian 40 Church; " a Reverend Wood became the first resident pastor.

Oldtimers in Eagleville tell stories of the dairies that were found in their town and in Nevada, just east of Eagleville, in the olden days . Remnants of one old dairy ran by a man called "Lonesome Pine" used to be found along the road that runs east from Hays Canyon. Such dairies in the area produced huge quantities of butter that were kept in large barrels; their main market was in the larger towns of Nevada. Hog raising was also a big business in Eagle­ ville for a period of time. Fattened hogs were driven to market as far away as

Reno, Nevada.

The

Centennial

Edition of the

Modoc

County

Record gives the follow­ ing list of some of

Eagle Creek's pioneer families .

They were the: Tim Young's Mill at Raider Canyon, about one mile north of Eagleville

40Centennia l Edition, op . cit, 24

Hornbacks Parmans Adams

Greens Scotts Cambrons

McCormicks Powers Stevens

Wm. Hudspeths Glosters Warrens Other early settlers included: The Coppersmith Brothers (Fred and Bill)

Hurman and Truman Barber

Robert and William Minto

Doctor Patterson

Ely Rice

CEDARVILLE

The first settlement of what was to become Cedarville, some twelve miles north of Eagle Creek, was called Deep Creek and its buildings were near the creek which still bears this name. Deep Creek had its beginnings in 1864 or

1865 when a cabin was built there by Henry Talbert. James Townsend soon after opened a store in the Talbert cabin and a Mr. Monchamp kept a station in the small settlement. Townsend's prices were high—a spool of thread and a 41 yard of calico both cost 25$.

41,Grove , loc. cit, 25

In 1867 two men from Red Bluff, John H. Bonner and William T . Cressler, came into the valley with a wagon of dry goods and set up store in the back of the First Cressler and Bonner Store, Cedarville wagon at Deep Creek. This project proved profitable and they bought the Talbert cabin from Mrs . Townsend; her husband, James , had been killed by Indians. They afterwards moved the cabin to a new location north of Deep Creek where the actual town of Cedarville sprang up . Cressler and Bonner built a new and larger building from the cabin as business grew and lumber became more accessible,, . 42

42Grove , op. cit., August of 1964. 26

Cressler and Bonner played impor­ tant roles in V ™ia*™°*™ |g|: C,& 0.P. K !S v L NN. laying out HJH;M^.Tl<;iH:ri^iti the town of " 8 " H n PI n•!, Cedarville and they named one • o ill' 1 l.i „\1 \ street

"Townsend" in memory of the man A.C. and O.P. Kistler General Merchandise Store, Cedarville slain by

Indians. These two men came to establish reputations as prominent citizens of even the state. Cressler, known as the "father of Modoc County," was the county's first representative in the California legislature. Bonner linked Cedar­ ville with the Pit River Valley and Alturas by constructing the first road over 43 the Warner Mountains with an end terminus in Cedarville.

The following articles were taken from the Yreka Journal of July 31, 1868 by Mrs. I.I. Grove. Sent in by a Surprise Valley correspondent, they said:

The next settlement some ten miles from here (Lake City) is Deep Creek. Bonner and Cressler keep the only store south of Lake City. They located here July, 1867. They complain not of selling goods but of getting them over the rough roads to the valley. Not a store in the valley had an assortment of goods last spring but one firm, Powley and Company, have received any goods since last fall to July 1868. There is a very good school

43Brown , William S . , California Northeast, the Bloody Ground, p . 124. 27

in this settlement in which religious exercises are held every Sunday. A prosperous Sunday School is connected with it. The valley is about seven miles wide here and thickly settled. Milk Ranch is in this settlement and about four miles from Bonner and Cressler's store. South of Milk Ranch some twelve-sixteen miles is Eagle Creek; between the two places there are few settlers . A railroad company has a grant through the valley and no doubt land prices will be influenced by it." Near Eagle Creek travelers will find good eating accommodations at Mr. George Warren's, an old resident of Scott Valley.45

By 1880 Cedarville had a population of 219 residents and boasted her- 46 self as being the largest urban center in Surprise Valley.

Mrs . Pat Olmsted, in her newspaper column, said that the early resi- 47 dents in the Cedarville vicinity included:

Wm. Dodson Henry Schalke Z. Street Lorenz Fritz Christopher Sharp Charles Rice John Stephens

Mrs. Laird, in her The Modoc County book, gives the same names but has some different spellings: "Stevens" instead of "Stephens" and "Schilke" instead of "Schalke." She also has a "T," instead of a "Z," for Mr. Street's - , 48 first name.

LAKE CITY

Located on Mill Creek, Lake City is some ten miles north of Cedarville and was probably the first attempt of a town settlement in the valley. The town was first laid out the summer of 1863 by a development group from a Sierra

44 Western Pacific Railroad Company did propose a line through Surprise Valley , but the proposal did not materialize. A picture of part of the line is displayed in the Modoc County Museum scrapbook of Surprise Valley . 45 Grove, op . cit., November of 1964. 46 Robert Wickenden, "Cedarville Water District Feasibility Report," unpublished data, pp . 8-9 . 47 Olmsted, op. cit. , April 9, 1959. 28

Company in Yreka. It is believed this party came through Susanville, the

desert, and into the south end of the valley; they proceeded north to the site of what is now Lake City. The company surveyed town lots and water systems, and christened the new born town Tri-Lake City after the three lakes found 49 in the valley.

William B. Swearinger tried in 1864 to plot the lots in Tri-Lake City but had a great deal of difficulty as there had been no accurate surveys made of lines of townships in this part of the country. Not until after several inaccur­

ate surveys had been made did the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors

appoint Mr. William Minto as surveyor for Surprise Valley Township in 1866.

His surveys were accepted and are still used as a deciding factor today when 50 questions of the accuracy of survey lines and corners arise.

Credit for the building of Tri-Lake City has been given to William

Swearinger and a P.W. Hayes. The town spurted in growth in 1864 and was

for some time the largest and busiest settlement in the county. It maintained its

prestige as the metropolis of Surprise Valley for some time but the firm estab­

lishment of Deep Creek's businesses and the presence of Ft. Bidwell, to its

north, did detract from the importance of Tri-Lake City.

In a letter written by Mrs. Ina Stiner, she gave the following information:

In 1864 a school was opened at (Tri) Lake City, first at the Powley house where a private teacher taught for a few weeks, two Powley children, twp.of Abner Boyd's , and two of William Brown's. Mrs . Brown notes that the Bissells had six children and the Ford and Wilson fami­ lies had children also. As Parson J.R. Cook began preach­ ing, the Bissells asked him to use their home for services

49 Interview with Mrs. Givan, October 14, 1974. 50 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. 51 The wife of Wm. Brown; she and her husband-to-be passed through Surprise Valley in wagon trains in 1859. Her name had been Elizabeth Thomas and she met Brown near Oroville, California. They were married there and years later came to Surprise Valley. In 1864 they kept the first hotel in Tri- Lake City. 29

in (Tri) Lake City until a school house was built to be used as a church too.

The Centennial Edition tells us the old Tri-Lake City school house was

erected in 1865, made of logs and poles, and is believed to be the first school

in Modoc County. Mrs. Emma Shartel was the first school marm and she was 53 paid $30 a month and was expected to provide the textbooks.

Among the happenings of Tri-Lake City settlement was its first election.

It was the presidential election held in the fall of 1864, but there is some dis­

pute as to which candidate received the majority of votes here in the valley.

Mrs. 1.1. Grove says in her notes that the majority holder was Abraham Lincoln

but Mrs . I .W. Laird stated in her book and Brown in his that McClellan won 54 over Lincoln.

Social life in the town also began to bustle in 1864. Again from the

Centennial Edition, we learn that, according to one old newspaper report, Tri-

Lake City saw the first dance held in Modoc County. An Ab Winter and I .N.

Jacobs were to have hosted the affair in the winter of 1864-1865. There was just enough room in the cabin to have one dance set at a time and they were

danced to the music of a fiddle; by morning the air was dusty from the dirt

floor. Chris Rachford, early Bidwell area settler and one of Modoc's first

sheriffs, was at the dance and was the envy of the other men there because of

his pair of fancy pump shoes; they were accustomed to the cumbersome cowhide

boots men of those days wore . Because of the Indian threat the dance didn't 55 break up until after sunrise.

5T Correspondence from Miss Ina Stiner to Mrs. I.I. Grove, December, 1957. 53 Centennial Edition, op . cit. 54 Brown, loc. cit. Grove, op. cit., May of 1964. Laird, op . cit., p . 50 . 55 Centennial Edition, op . cit. 30

The next mention we will make of Tri-Lake City is in 1867. That year a sawmill was in operation on Mill Creek; the mill had been started in 1866 by Mr. P. Hickerson. Tri-Lake City was to finally have a flour mill, too, for con­ struction began on it in 1867. A Mr. Winn from Scott Valley reportedly was that mill's proprietor. Instrumental in building the mill were Mr. John Bucher and Mr. Wymer. For its source of power, the grist mill used an over-shot water wheel.

The Yreka Journal of July 31, 1868 was to have printed the following information that had been sent in by a correspondant from Surprise Valley:

.. .the town of Mill creek or Lake City (is) situated at the mouth of the canyon of Mill Creek. This has one store owned by Powley, King, and Company. Another store will be opened this fall by Bucher and Company, who own the only grist mill in the valley, which is located here. Cigars and liquors are being served by Land and Graves in a crudely constructed building with a dirt floor. A good house for room and board is kept by Mr. and Mrs. Brown. They are rather cramped for elbow room at present but intend on erecting a good house as soon as lumber and carpenters can be obtained. There is one blacksmith shop. An excel­ lent school with about forty pupils is being taught by azMr. Coulter. On Mill Creek, about aardle above town, is a saw mill owned by Mr. McDevit. The mill was poorly constructed at first and it is his intention to build a new one next fall. The demand for lumber greatly exceeds the supplies. Lake City is in the vicinity of a rich farming country and is the contemplated terminus of a wagon road from Yreka to Surprise Valley.

The Centennial Edition says that among the first families to move to Tri-

Lake City were the:

Mrs. I.I. Grove says in her notes that this is the earliest year she has found any record of the town losing its "tri" and being simply called Lake City. 57 Quoted in Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. Centennial Edition, op . cit. , (sic) 31

Boyds Fords P. Quirk Brockskins Nickersons Rachfords Browns I.N. Jacobs Jimmy Wilkerson Buchers Kings Grover Weimers Jake Clark Matneys Barber Wilson Coopers Millers It has always been a peculiar fact that Lake City did not become the county seat of Modoc. When the election for the county seat was held on May 5, 1874, Lake City still ranked at the top of the county's list of important towns . It was a hub of commercial business , a strategic point of roads running in almost every direction, and it was the home of a surprisingly large popula­ tion in comparison with the other towns of the county. The results of the elec­ tion reflected Lake City's importance as the votes were: Lake City-274, Parker Creek-128, Adin-117, Centerville-87, Dorris Bridge-65, Joseph Creek-57, Cedarville-2, and Frank tin-2 .

Lake City held the highest number of votes but not the majority . Instead of holding another county election, the county fathers left the seat where it had previously been only temporarily named--Dorris Bridge (today's Alturas) . It was unusual that the other towns didn't take action when this happened because in those days the county seat meant a sure and steady flow of business to the town and security for the future. The Centennial Edition says, "For some reason the citizens of the opposing towns did not care. This is demonstrated even more clearly when Cedarville, then one of the county's larger towns, cast only two votes in its claim for honor.

59 Centennial Edition, op . cit., (sic) Laird, op . cit., p. 21. Centennial edition, op . cit. 32

FORT BIDWELL

We come now to the fourth and last perma­ nent settle­ ment of

Surprise

Valley, located at its northern end—

Fort Bidwell.

As the population of the valley Jerkline Team at Ft. Bidwell Store c. 1885, hauled freight from Reno etc. to Ft. Bidwell (major supply center for northeast had begun California and southern Oregon) to swell in 1864, so had Indian turbulence begun to increase. At that time the only protection offered to settlers came from faraway forts. The valley's need for military protection became more evident with the increase of travel through

Surprise Valley to the Idaho and Owyhee mining districts. There is no doubt that the traffic to these mines accelerated early growth . It not only accentuated the need for the military establishment of Ft. Bidwell but put Cedarville on the

R1 through mail route between Susanville and Boise, Idaho.

The people in Surprise Valley were suffering from the Indian upheaval and recognized their need for government protection. Among other things,

61Wickenden , loc. cit. 33

much valuable stock was being driven off and daylight raids were becoming more and more frequent. However, there was one circumstance that made things difficult in get­ ting Federal aid . As has been mentioned, many Civil War deserters, including a substantial number of southerners and southern sympathizers, had come to live in Surprise Valley . It seems that these people at first resisted any action to bring in the Union's troops; but, as the Indian troubles intensified, the oppo­ nents came to see it as easier to tolerate a Federal garrison than to fight their own Indian fights . Following appeals made by General John Bidwell and Major Charles McDermitt, then commanding Ft. Churchill, Surprise Valley citizens joined with people in Shasta County and petitioned to the Department of the Pacific for the establishment of a permanent military post in Surprise Valley.

As a result of this petition, a military establishment was granted and construc- R? tion of the Army post began . This post was named Camp Bidwell in General Bidwell's honor, although it is very doubtful that Bidwell was ever near Surprise Valley . He was pri­ marily interested in developing commerce between California and the Idaho mining settlements . Nevertheless, the establishment of the fort was largely due to his influence . The post was built through 1865 and was occupied in August of that year. Upon its completion it was renamed Ft. Bidwell. A Major Mellen commanded Camp Bidwell during its construction and with him was a Captain Starr. Starr had the reputation of being a brave, able man, experienced at settling troubles with both white and red men. He, with 203 men, stayed in the field most of the time. They moved from one fort to another, taking breaks in between for Indian attacks .

6201msted, op^ cit^, May 14, 1959 34

The camp site was first below the present cemetery of Ft. Bidwell on a plateau overlooking the valley and its roads , the land having been taken from Disbell, Venning, and Miller. The military authorities' final choice in putting the fort in that part of the Valley is admirable. Ft. Bidwell, in its CO heyday, was one of the finest frontier posts in the entire Pacific Region. In Ft. Bidwell there is abundant fertile land for trees and good pastures. In the mountains there is plenty of timber for fuel and other uses, and even hot water wells are found there capable of domestic use. These factors favored the site of Ft. Bidwell. Camp Bidwell began as a city of tents but these were replaced when logs could be cut and hauled for construction. Buildings that were first built on iu * 64 the post were: —A hospital (it had a twelve bed ward on one side and, on the other, a kitchen, dining room, office and dispensary) —A guard house —Quarters for two companies —Four cabins for officers The logs were also used in making corrals. Some stables were to have been underground to protect the stock from Indian attack. As was true of many forts on the frontier, Ft. Bidwell was garrisoned by a large number of cavalrymen. These men had many fine horses which were products of selec­ tive breeding. Many remounts were kept for use when fresh horses were needed.65 R % Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit. , May 14, 1964 64 Grove, op. cit. , (notes) , May of 1964. ft R Laird, unpublished "Early History of Ft. Bidwell," written for the Modoc County Chamber of Commerce. 35

The camp site was moved further south at a CAMP BJDWELJ. * * ' * ( \ later date and buildings ^•..DDD \j JXar'KUT ~_~\ \ \' of stone and newly sawed ':^':5^D -o '*•-/"'•''• \p lumber were constructed;

...^TrJ Ai , *H*_ n L # -r-t a few of the original log •>. '-• y i_n 1 I ""Ir* 1 ' ji, - II a * cabins were still used by &*" T*J ^3n ' l'4*V/ 1 -.,.-..-- hr.A |* /' if t *** a****** the new camp . Some of .1' , : >r£.- -^3| r=--~------;—:^ M '_ :ife

**•- ...J: i 1 : cja the newer buildings , in •; *.. .'". .:.: i j H ;:|XM - i-^-Z , j»\ >A whole and in part, are still standing. is. -..•-.> » £*£-•••'& *. ."3--.*f-V»; • l **»i" Many of the men - N'~N^ .J if "n " • /si i •» HKjdSt' ?\ *••«»**"'"*»* -s=*/rl* •i i—• J- who were initially sta­ i ii tioned at Ft. Bidwell .'**'•?•;- - f.T.r r* e^^^a r* came from the older Ft.

Crook in the Fall River Layout of Camp Bidwell, later Ft. Bidwell

Valley in 1866. From

Mrs. Grove's notes we learn that The Weekly Courant of Chico, California, on May 6, 1866 had this to say: The department, we are informed through Lt. Williamson, has abandoned Ft. Crook in Shasta County, 80 miles from Red Bluff, and have sent the stores to Ft. Bidwell. Also, that the post at Smoke Creek has been re-established. The government will make the Chico route the military road and route of com­ munication over which will be transported the suppliesufor the whole military districts on our northeastern borders .

Mrs . Grove's notes say the Courant article mentioned later that "?t. Crook was kept somewhat active by a squad of men from Ft. Bidwell until the early

66,Grove , loc. cit. 67 Quoted in Grove, op. cit., June of 1964 36

part of 1869. The post had been manned for twelve years but was abandoned at this time because the Indians in that region had diminished in number and hostility. The Adjutant General's office restored Ft. Crook to the public domain in 1881.

Various accounts offer ideas as to what the soldier's life at Ft. Bidwell might have been like. Mrs. Grove's research found one of these accounts written by a man who signed his name merely as "Seleh" in December of 1866.

She quotes him as saying:

Christmas Day was spent at Ft. Bidwell. A party was given by the soldiers. I was astonished to find so many improvements and the fort kept so neat, after learning it was all constructed by the soldiers, for I have always heard that soldiers will not work. I found the members of the companies to be quite soci­ able and accommodating. The dance in the early evening was a complete success and I must say I never enjoyed myself better. Captain Muson is in command at this point; he is very well liked by his men and very lenient. Still several among them returned bad for good favors, for I saw several of them with the blacksmith's garters . As I entered the barracks it presented quite a picture, some were asleep on the bunks, some sewing, some reading, others sitting near the fire smoking, singing or whistling and all seemed tojDe full of merriment. The barracks are kept quite neat.

The presence of the fort in the valley came to be appreciated by citizens of Surprise Valley not only because of the protection it offered but because it offered a commercial outlet for their produce. It was only a short distance for them to bring in such things as hay, grain, beef, chickens, eggs, and dry- goods. This market and protection from Indian attack attracted many settlers to what was to become the town of Ft. Bidwell.

Having built his house while the fort was being erected,

R.F. McConnaughy was the first settler to construct a dwelling in the

fi A Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. 37

soon-to-be-town. The first hotel in Ft. Bidwell was kept by two discharged ... 69 soldiers.

Every town has to have a cemetery and of course Ft. Bidwell had hers.

Story has it that the first person to be buried there was a soldier from the fort. He had bought some liquor, gotten drunk, fallen off his horse, and frozen to death . When his body was found, it was being dragged up Shartel

Canyon by two wolves .

By 1867, a grist mill run by an overshot water wheel was being built near Ft. Bidwell. During that same year a Mr. Irwin Ayers opened a sut- 71 ler's store at the military post and also put a stock of goods into C.J. 72 Sharps's home at Deep Creek. 73 Captain Muson was still in command of the post at Ft. Bidwell in 1868.

He was highly thought of not only by his soldiers, but had gained the settlers' respect for his soldierly and gentlemanly qualities. He was strongly against his men indulging in drinking and discouraged it as much as possible.

Under Munson's (Muson's) direction, the soldiers cultivated a garden of eight to ten acres in the summer of 1868. The garden produced enough vegetables for the garrison and about $700 worth were sold. Money that was made in this way was kept in what was known as a "post fund" and was used only by the soldiers to buy articles they wanted that were not supplied by the government. They set up a worthy library with this money and also bought

69 Olmsted, op. cit., April 9, 1959 Grove, op. cit., May of 1964. 70 Centennial Edition, op . cit. 71 Sutler—a person following an army to sell food, liquor, etc. , to its soldiers. 72 Grove, op . cit., August of 1964. 73 This must be the same commanding officer we spoke of ir this report on page 33. One of the spellings given is incorrect but the writer does not know which one. 38

county and state newspapers as well as the best eastern magazines and papers 74 from the large cities in the Atlantic and Mississippi states.

To partially understand how the military acquired products from the settlers, read the following notice that was posted from the Office ACS Ft.

Bidwell and signed by Lt. Fitzgerald on April 1, 1868:

Sealed proposals will be received at Ft. Bidwell, California, until 12 noon, May 13, 1868, for supplies of fresh beef for the troops at the above named post. The beef to be furnished must be of good marketable quality, in equal proportions of fore and hind quarters (necks, shanks, and kidney tallow excluded) to be delivered in such quantities as may be required for consump­ tion at the post. A bond with two sufficient sureties for the faithful performance of the contract. The right is reserved to reject any or all bids . One copy of this proposal must accompany each proposal. M.J. Fitzgerald, IstLt. 9th Cavalry. Sealed proposals for the furnishings of the following supplies of quartermaster's stores at Ft. Bidwell would also be received: barley for the public animals stationed at Ft. Bidwell - from July 1, 1868 to June 30, 1869. Hay same as above. Straw--for the troops stationed at Ft. Bidwell. Same period of time . The articles must be of the best quality. Bids will be received for parts of or the whole of each article. Bids must be in U.S . gold coin. The oath of allegiance must accom­ pany the proposals, unless already filed at the office. Bonds must be posted and proposals could be rejected.

By the summer of 1868, Ft. Bidwell was really coming into being as a town settlement. The following newspaper bits tell of some of her early activi­ ties as a town. In the Yreka Journal of July 31, 1868 a correspondent from

Surprise Valley wrote:

Irwin Ayers Esq. keeps a sutler's store at the post within the reservation. A few hundred yards east of the camp is a. . .settle­ ment containing a blacksmith's shop, a store kept by C .C. Clough, and a boarding house kept by Mr. and Mrs. Whittlemore, who were very hospitable. Two miles from Ft. Bidwell on a large creek is a saw mill owned by Messrs. Brown and Jopp. It has a 30 foot overshot water wheel and two circular saws, one above the other. The capacity per day is 10,000 feet of lumber.

74 Grove, op. cit. , November of 1964 75 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op . cit., October 8, 1965. 39

There is a good wagon road leading south from the camp, to the left of which are cultivated farms gently sloping to the northern lake. Sqrne are fenced on three sides, the lake forming the fourth .

From different newspapers, we learn of earthquakes and tremors that occurred in Ft. Bidwell late in 1868. Mrs. Grove noted that the Yreka Union of December 12, 1868 said: We learn from Dr. Moores and B.F. Harper who are just in from Surprise Valley that earthquakes are of almost weekly occurrences at Ft. Bidwell. A few days before they left the valley there was one of great violence. The shaking was so severe that a pumpkin laying on the floor of the sut­ ler's store was caused to roll from one side of the room to the other. Persons who have been in San Francisco at the time of the severest shocks there are of the opinion that those at Ft. Bidwell equal them in severity. As you proceed south from the fort, the shocks become less severe and at a distance of 15 miles they are not felt. Theyjaeem to extend in a belt running east and west from the fort.

Early editions of the short-lived Ft. Bidwell newspaper also mentioned several times of the earthquakes that were felt in the area.

76 Quoted in Grove, "Surprise Valley History." 77 1965. Quoted in Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit. , January 28, 40

The post of Ft. Bidwell thrived during the end of the

1860s, the 1870s, 1880s, ***•> and into the first two years of the

1890s. But by 1893 the military was not needed and the fort Capt. T. McGregor, 1st U.S. Cavalry, Commandant, Ft. Bidwell, 1876-1877. was deacti­ vated that year. It was the longest lasting fort in our area and the economy of Surprise Valley suffered when the troops were pulled out. At nearly the same time, the mining booms had also come to an end and the valley lost the benefits they had afforded. For some time after 1893 Surprise Valley turned to supplying surrounding regions. Many of these areas, such as Big Valley,

Goose Lake, etc. , had to rely on Surprise Valley as one of their few sources 78 of supply for goods which could not be produced locally.

INDIANS

We have spoken often of the Indian hostility present in early Surprise

Valley and I would like to add a few words here about this subject. I don't

78Grove , op. cit. , ca. 1957. 41

think we can look at the Indians as a people who were born vengeful, blood­ thirsty, or hateful—for they were not. They actually possessed qualities which the white man has always venerated: pride, courage, and the willing­ ness to fight for life. It was the total difference of the white and red man's life style, and the refusal to try to understand the other that put them into such conflict most of the time .

Much of the animosity of the Indian toward white settlers should be attributed to the tremendous drain the white man's settlement put on his food supply. This was especially true in the case of Surprise Valley as the Indians had just managed to survive two terrible winters that occurred in 1859-1860 and 1861-1862, when the great influx of whites began. These two winters had caused a great deal of suffering among the different tribes in the area and they 79 had even fought each other for food.

Then came the white man and his livestock, taking over the land the

Indian had held domain over for years; they not only appropriated his land but depleted his limited natural food supply as well. Travel routes and settle­ ments were established amid Indian hunting grounds , driving the game off to the mountains; or the white man killed it for his own use. The white man's stock also trampled and consumed the cereal grasses that made up so much of the Indian's diet. Indians knew they had to protect their livelihood for survival and as a result they took revenge upon innocent people and useless blood was shed out of distrust from both sides .

Because the livestock was such a threat to their food and because they knew how much the settlers depended on their animals, the Indians made horses and cattle their prime target. After making a raid and stealing away with the

79 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957, 42

animals, the Indians either killed them or drove them off and this stolen stock was seldom recovered. If the Indians were pursued, they would head for their strongholds where they could control the fighting. If they felt they might be caught in the open, they would kill the animals there so they could move faster and escape. Settlers scon learned how fruitless it usually was to follow the attackers; they also learned what an unnecessary danger it was to undertake pursuit.

When the Indians did drive the captured stock from Surprise Valley, they many times took them to the Steens Mountain area in Oregon. This region suited them well for it had plenty of water and native grass as well as numerous hiding places for the Indian tribes. The mountain had once been called Snow

Mountain but was re-christened "Steen" in honor of Major Steen, a commanding officer of Camp Union, located around thirty miles north of Honey Lake during the early 1860s.80

We'll now take a brief look at a few of the Indian attacks that involved, among others, early settlers of Surprise Valley.

One of the first battles that occurred after settlement was recorded by the

Daily Union of Virginia City, Nevada, August 28, 1864. Mrs. Brown's diary and Ms . Ina Stiner's account of 1907 also made reference to this attack. Some twenty-five Indians, on August 6, 1864, attacked a cabin that stood near the upper end of Middle Lake, which belonged to a Mr . Straw . They confiscated his valuables and slaughtered his dog that had been left to guard the place.

When Straw found what had happened, he passed the word and soon a party of thirteen men was formed to take up pursuit of the Indians . They tracked the band west into the mountains and found their campsite near Drennan Spring

80 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," loc. cit, 43

at the east end of Fandango Valley. Counter-attacking the Indians just before

sunup, the men killed ten braves, sent the survivors in retreat, and gathered

up all of Straw's valuables that they could carry. (A few gold-headed arrow

points were among the articles recovered.) The only white man injured in

this battle was Chris Rachford, who was shot in the arm. The men thought 81 the Indian attackers had been Pit River and not Piutes. Note here that the spelling is "Piute," not "Paiute," as the use of these

two names is disputed. Some authorities say the first spelling refers to the

desert tribe and the latter spelling to those who lived near water. This rule has not been followed, however, as we see Isabel Kelly, author of

Ethnography of the Surprise Valley Paiute, Bancroft, and Fairfield all spelled it differently, including "Piute," "Piaute," "Paiute," and "Pah-Ute." The

author of Handbook of the Indians of California, A.L. Kroeber, spelled the

name both "Piute" and "Paiute" and sometimes used "Pahute." His book said: The band of Northern Paiute of Surprise Valley on Upper, Middle and Lower Alkali Lakes, south of Fort Bid- well, were the Kaivanungavidukw . To the north, around Warner Lake in Oregon, but ranging southward toward Fort Bidwell were the Tuziyammo, also known as the Ochoho's Band. The Honey Lake group were the Waratika or Wadatika the "wada-seed eaters".

The Pyramid Lake group were Winnemucca's band and Kroeber referred to them as Piutes.

The next Indian battle we'll take a look at occurred in 1865. The story

is taken from Mrs . Grove's notes. She found the account of the killing in the

Grove, op^ciL, March of 1964. 82 Kroeber, Alfred L. , Handbook of the Indians of California, p. 584. 83 Letter to the Editor in the Modoc County Record , March 18, 1965, written by Mrs. I.I. Grove. 44

State Line Herald of Lakeview, Oregon published April 5, 1879. Observed

Mrs. Grove, the newspaper said: Earlier this spring (1865) a party traveled through the northern end of the valley to look for a practical route to Idaho, intending at a later date to drive some of their stock there in search of new feed. The party consisted of Daniel Hoag, M. Ruble, Bill Price, and a Mr. Norton. They were attacked by Indians at what was known as Old Camp Warner in the state of Oregon. Norton was killed and the remaining three, finding themselves hopelessly outnumbered, abandoned their supplies and horses, and slipped away in the night. Hiding by day and traveling by night, they reached the valley, foot sore, discouraged, and nearly famished. About this time the "Surprise Valley Rangers" had just organized with Ad. J. Wimer as their Captain and Jacob Clark as 1st Lt. and as their first act searched for the body of their friend, Norton, which they found and buried. While thus engaged. . .on the opposite side of Warner Lake, about a half mile away, (were) some 200 Indians, who opened fire on the Rangers. The distance prevented any shots from taking effect. The party of Rangers, though few in number, was not found wanting in courage, attempted to cross over and give the Indians a real battle. They could not get near enough to make their shots count either, which was a good thing as they were far outnumbered and would probably have had many casualties . The Rangers turned away in „4 disgust and returned home without any further opposition.

By the summer of 1865, Indian raids had become so fierce and frequent that many settlers left Surprise Valley before the completion of Ft. Bidwell.

They left homes here and many went to the Susanville area to re-settle.

According to Mrs. Grove, mention of this exodus is given in Trailing Sheep from California to Idaho in 1865: The Journal of Gorham G. Kimball, annotated by Edward N. Wentworth . Wentworth attempted to cover the trail described by

Kimball in 1952 in a jeep driven by Elmer Cook, now living in Red Bluff, and the late Lyle Cook of Cedarville. It was quite a round-about way as we know it today.

84 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. 45

The particular referral about the exodus that Kimball made was, "Today passed about 20 men with their families moving out of Surprise Valley in fear of the Indians. They say the Indians killed two men seven days ago right where we go into the valley." And his journal went on to say: Drove 12 miles into the south end of Surprise Valley, took dinner, and lay over one hour at the house where the Indians had killed the two men. House deserted and things looked like they had a grand "pow-wow" here. We gathered up a sack of flour the Indians had poured upon the ground to get the sacks for clothing. Stood guard all the time here. Dare not stop here tonight so shall drive in about 5 miles. Sheep looking better, lost none today. This is a fine valley about 65 miles long. . .Good soil and the best watered valley I have ever seen. Drove up the valley 6 miles to Mr. Brown's ranch (Pitchfork Brown's place or what we know as Barber Creek) where we camped for the night. Road runs close to the base of the mountains on the west side, where there are numberless hot, cold, and warm springs running from the hillside. Families are all leaving the valley.

Fairfield, in his book, told of an Indian skirmish that happened in Sur­ prise Valley during the winter of 1865-1866. After some Indians had wounded a settler and driven his stock from the valley, an expedition was formed under

Major S.P. Smith. Smith was an officer stationed at Smoke Creek who had built Rfi up a reputation as a proficient Indian hunter. Mrs . Grove noted that the Humboldt Register of May 17, 1866 said Smith and his thirty-six men of Company D, 2nd Cavalry, California Volunteers left Smoke Creek February 2 with Lt. Robinson . They were met at Ft. Bidwell by thirty-two men of the same company and regiment and nine men of Company F of the same regiment. Major Mellen and Captain Starr joined them the following day with ten men also from Company F of the same regiment. There were nineteen civilians from Surprise Valley who joined the expedition.

Quoted in Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit. , April 9, 1965. Rfi Fairfield, op_^ cit^, pp. 391-393. 46

They tracked down the marauding Indians on February 15th in Guano

Valley, situated in the northern part of Washoe County, Nevada. The Indians were located on the east side of the valley at the mouth of Rock Canyon. The white men charged and gunned down every red man they could hit. At first, the Indians asked for no quarter but finally had to take cover under a bluff of rocks. Any Indian that could be seen became a target and eighty warriors and twenty-five squaws were killed. Squaws and warriors had been dressed the same and both were fighting. Sixty horses were retrieved, including one valuable animal owned by a lady in Surprise Valley.

W.H. McCormick and C.T. Sharp, reported Fairfield, said that the

Indians were Smoke Creek Sam and his band, who were joined by a few other

Indians. Sam was fatally wounded in the battle and was said to have had both his legs broken; however, he had pulled himself up with his gun to shout encouragements to his men during the fighting. He died soon after the battle from fourteen severe wounds.

Sharp was said to have told W.T. Cressler in 1912 that he had been amonj the Surprise Valley settlers who went with Major Smith and was the only one still living at the time. Others who were said to have been in the expedition included Joseph Marks, Samuel Matney and C.C. Rachford. Matney, better known as "Tuledad," was supposed to have scalped Smoke Creek Sam. This chief and his band were accused of most Indian attacks, in small raids, in the region. Many felt the death of these Indians spared numerous white men and 87 their property from Indian harm in the future.

The presence of the troops, including those at Ft. Bidwell, did improve the situation in the north state, but the bolder Indians still did their share of

87Fairfield, op_^ cit^, pp. 391-393. 47

destruction. One account of these later Indian raids that occurred during the 88 summer of 1869 is again given by Fairfield.

The station at Deep Hole Springs, sixty miles east of Honey Lake Valley on the emigrant road to Humboldt, was tended by Hiram L. Partridge and

Vesper Coburn, who worked for him, during the spring and early summer of

1869. There were still some Indians left then who had belonged to old maraud­ ing tribes and who were roaming through northwest Nevada and into California.

Friends of Partridge and Coburn had cautioned them concerning the chance they were taking living by themselves with such Indians loose and about.

The men heeded no such warnings and near the end of July, Chris C.

Rachford arrived at Deep Hole on his way from Star City. He found the door of the station open, but no one was to be found. He inspected the place and found the oxen and wagon missing. He went on to Squaw Creek where he found the wagon and the bodies of the two missing men. He was sure they had been dead for quite a while. (They were said to have been murdered on July 27.)

Rachford took the news to Surprise Valley and found that a band of Paiute

Indians had been camped there before and at the time of the murder. As far as the settlers knew, they had also made two trips to Deep Hole Springs. The citizens hadn't suspected the Indians of any wrongdoing but had noted signal fires on the hillsides every night. These Indians disappeared the same night

Rachford came to the valley and were not found, although the soldiers from

Ft. Bidwell sought their whereabouts for a period of time.

These are but a few of the tales of Indian troubles surrounding the early days of Surprise Valley. Many other accounts can be found. One of particular interest is the last Indian massacre in our west that occurred in 1911 at Little

88 Fairfield, op. cit., p. 475. 48

High Rock Canyon in the northwest part of Nevada. Those interested should 89 look further into this story .

A LOOK AT HAPPENINGS FROM 1865 TO 1869

In this section, we will take a brief, general look at a few of the things that Surprise Valley saw in her early years of settlement. We have already discussed some of the happenings but shall look at others, beginning with the winter 1864 turned to 1865.

Scattered reports have been found as to the severity of the winter of

1864-1865. The snow problem wasn't actually in the valley itself but in the surrounding mountains . Little snow fell in the valley and it would lie on the grass for only a few days, but there was such a snow pack in the mountain canyons that everyone was prevented from coming into or going out of the valley for quite some time . Because of this, no one could obtain necessary provisions except a very few promised supplies that were able to reach the valley, before the biggest snows, from Susanville and Marysville. Among other things , prac­ tically no flour or bacon were brought in as Susanville was also suffering from a lack of these commodities. The settlers' diet came to be almost entirely boiled beef and potatoes. Barley tea was substituted for coffee and tea and soon it even came to be a luxury .

The cattle in the valley had plenty of grass available to survive and remained in fair condition. In March of 1865 two cattle buyers, one from Vir­ ginia City and the other from Downieville, California, came and bought several hundred head. They bought the animals that were in the best condition and 90 left those that were poor, and would be tough, for the settlers.

89 See Mack, Effie M. , The Indian Massacre of 1911 at Little High Rock Canyon, Nevada. Sparks, Nevada, Western Printing and Publishing Company, 1968. 90 Grove, op. cit., ca. 1957. 49

In April of 1865 Mr. A. LeRoy, a mail and expressman who made part of his rounds between Susanville and Surprise Valley, met Indian attack near

Smoke Creek and came very close to losing his life. Returning to Susanville he was able to round up two men, Knapp and Burt, as reinforcements to go with him to the valley. No other reports were made and it is assumed they 91 reached their destination.

Fairfield tells us that another expressman that year, a George Thayer, was not quite so lucky. He was murdered, presumably by Indians, north of

Smoke Creek while enroute to Surprise Valley from Honey Lake. The poor set­ tlers in Surprise that year found that if it wasn't the weather, it was the Indians 92 who would stop the flow of supplies they were so anxious to receive.

During the spring of 1865 many farms and ranches in the valley changed hands. This was done at fairly handsome prices, with anything from two to 93 three thousand being the commong going rate.

Because of the need of supplies, Ezra Bissell and George Shortridge, both of Lake City, borrowed a wagon from Lawrence Fritz of Deep Creek and, in June of 1865, started off for Susanville. The two men did not return as time went on, and Mr. Fritz gathered some volunteers and went in search of them. At the south end of the valley, traveling along the road that came to be known later as

Bare Grade, the group found the two men near Thomas Bare's cabin. They were dead, having been killed by Indian arrows. Flour had been strewn about by the Indians in order to take the sacks. They had also taken all the supplies they could, pieces of harness, and six horses.

91 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. 92 93 Fairfield, op^cit^, p. 368. 93 Grove, loc. cit. 50

One account said that Bissell's body had been badly mutilated and, according to Fairfield (who obtained his information from the Lassen newspaper,

The Grizzly Bear) , Shortridge had been scalped. The newspaper was also to have said claims were afterwards made that the robbery and murder had been done by white men disguised as Indians.

Shortridge was buried at Deep Creek and Bissell in the Lake City

Cemetery.

According to Mrs. Grove the account that Miss Ina Stiner wrote in 1907 said the following:

The first children born (in Surprise Valley) were Ella Bissell, born in 1865, after her father had been killed by the Indians, and Ella Monchamp, born the same night asJSlla Bissell. This information comes from family Bibles.

The information found in Mrs. Brown's diary says that George Ruble was the first white child born in Ft. Bidwell. His birth date was in December of

1866.96

Mrs . Grove noted one observance of Surprise Valley that was made in

1865 by G.G. Kimball. He wrote in his journal:

Camp No. 30, July 6th. Drove 6 miles to Mr. Clark's ranch. (The Scott place just south of the town of Eagleville.) (One of the men who came with us had an ox, team) where we camped for the day—good grass and water. Mr. C. has a beautiful Ranch for this valley. Mr. Clarke ^s_a Maine man and we were well treated while at his house.

In The Modoc Country the following list is given of people who were said 98 to have arrived in Surprise Valley in either 1865 or 1866.

94 Grove, op_^ cit^, May of 1964. 95 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. 96Ibid. 97 98 Quoted in Grove, notes, n.d. Laird, The Modoc Country, op. cit. , p. 55 51

Dick Whittaker Mr. Walkup Wm. Taylor George Weilmunster Newt Jacobs Abner Boyd Max Fulchner Wm.King Geo. Freemen Mr. Monchamp Bill Powley Joe Ewing W.B. Whittemore Wm. Brown Oathe Miller Charley Border Mr. Dry Wm. Shartel Squire Salisbury Tom Garrett Joe Marks Henry Lish Wm . and Joel Dickenson Mr. Neasham Robert and Martin McConnaughy

John Stephens Ford and Bissell Families The Black Rock Mines and Hardin City merit mention in our look at Sur­ prise Valley in the 1866s as they opened new territory and the influx of people to them provided, for a time, a ready market for Surprise Valley produce. It was the government's desire to protect that influx of people that helped bring U.S. troops into our area also. The mines and city were located in the northern region of the Black Rock Desert and east of Double Hot. They were found on the old '49 trail from Rabbit Hole to Mud Meadows. The mines and city are an interesting story in history. The ore of the Black Rock mines was first found by a J. Allen Harding. He was traveling on a wagon train through the area and, while hunting 'or game one day, ran across the mineral at the bottom of a ravine. He thought it was lead and since they were low on ammunition, made bullets out of it. Hardin kept a piece of the mineral and took it with him to Petaluma where he settled and became a carpenter. Years later the ore piece was found to be rich silver car­ bonate by an assayer.

Hardin told two men he had met—A.B. Jenison and Fred Albering—the story of his ore in July of 1858. Interested in the possibilities, the men formed 52

a party of around fifteen people to go in search of the remainder of the mineral

deposit. Hardin became the leader but his memory failed as to just where the

ravine had lain. They covered the area but returned without success. Another

party was headed by Hardin the next spring, but they fared no better and were

forced to leave when the cold of winter came. Even the year following this,

Hardin returned again, probably late in the autumn, for there were 70-80 men in the Black Rock area when the Paiute War erupted in 186 0.

Honey Lake Valley men took part in many of these Black Rock excursions.

When rumors of tons of silver in the Black Rock came to them in 1858, many rushed to the scene; some may have even gone with the first expedition. Many groups had started for the district by 1859; among these were Captain Weather-

low's and Peter Lassen's.

Few people came from the lower country to prospect at Black Rock between

1860 and 1866 . There was a flare of excitement in 1862 but it quickly died down

and for the following three to four years, there were few men searching for the lost lode.

A man who was to have come from Honey Lake discovered a ledge in 1866 that he thought was part of the lost Hardin Ravine. When assayed, ore from the ledge was valued from $130-$200 a ton in silver. Prospectors, and people who wanted their market, flooded into the district and scon Hardin City was estab­

lished and named in memory of the man who had started the silver search.

Many a story sprang from the silver strike at the Black Rock Mines.

The settlers in Surprise had hoped that the opening of the mines and

the establishment of a large mill to process the silver by the Isenbeck method

would provide a ready market for their produce for an indefinite period of time. 99 This proved to be a fallacy, however, as the ore in the mines was soon depleted.

99 Grove, op. cit. , ca. 1957. Fairfield, op. cit., p. 145, pp. 419-440, passim, 53

The same month that the Hardin Ravine was rediscovered, January, the

Surprise Valley Township was given her first justice of the peace. He was

William A. Saulsbury, who assumed office on January 10, 1866. Other men to

hold this position have included:

—James H. Whipple, February 4, 1868; May 9, 1870

—J.C. Bowmer, January 13, 1868; January 19, 1870; December 19, 1871

—John B. Runyon, January 15, 1872

—A.K. Long, November 24, 1873

—Joseph W. Johnson, December 31, 1873

Surprise Valley Township had a constable as early as 1865. He was

A. Eddy and was given the responsibility on October 30 of that year. Constables to follow him included:

—George Wimer, March 27, 1868

—James Christy, February 4, 1868

—J.W. Crally, January 28, 1870

—Wm. Hudspeth, January 13, 1870

--Jacob Clarke, November 22, 1871

--Joel A. Dickinson, October 6, 1873

—Wm. F. Gaby, October 6, 1873

As a part of his duties as the first justice of the peace in Surprise Valley,

Saulsbury performed numerous marriages. The first was the Bissell-Wood

wedding on March 31, 1866. Miss Ina Stiner was told this was the first wedding

in the valley by Newt Jacobs, whose marriage to Miss Julia Wimer took place on

April 2, 1866. Other accounts have given a date of February, 1866, as

100.-, , Grove, loc. cit. 10 hbid. 54

Chris Rachford's marriage to Augusta Snider, and that would make their wed­

ding the first if that date is correct. Some couples traveled to Honey Lake or 102 Yreka to be married.

As early as the spring of 1866 a J.D. Carr ran a stage line from Susan­

ville to Surprise Valley. His trips were quite irregular during the first couple

of years due to Indian attacks and the fact that he would risk the trip only when

someone would go with him. The road became safer later on and his trips were

most regular. He advertised in February, 1869 to make a trip from Susanville

to Ft. Bidwell and back once a week. This line may have been run by Carr

until 1871.103

Mrs. Grove was able to find an account of a man who passed through

Surprise Valley in December of 1866. He signed his name only as "Selah" and no reference is made by Mrs. Grove as to who he was or where he was going.

Selah was of the opinion that the settlers were upright men and he found that they were ready to give help and advice to each other and strangers.

Their opposition to speculators and land sharks was quite definite and they

did all they could to keep them out of the valley. He wrote that by the end of

1866 there were about eighty families in Surprise and some 150 voters through the valley. He said that, at that time, Deep Creek was the largest for the four

settlements; and surveyors waited for the moderate weather of that year before

they would begin to survey and lay out a townsite for Deep Creek.

The terrain of the eastern side of the valley was then the same as it is

now—alkali, sand dunes, sagebrush, rabbit brush, and numerous hot springs.

To the early settlers, said Selah, it seemed Indian raids almost invariably came

102 Correspondence from Miss Stiner, loc. cit. Ibid. Fairfield, op. cit. , p. 389. Grove, notes, n.d. 55

from that side of the lakes . Indians made a raid near Eagle Creek in the first of December, 1866, succeeding in driving off forty head of cattle and some ten head of mules, as well as a number of horses . Soldiers pursued the attackers and repossessed around twenty head of livestock.

Selah reported approximately 120 soldiers, sixty-five infantry, and fifty-five cavalry stationed in the valley at the time he was here. These could be found in three camps, one at the lower end of the valley, one at the center, and the largest part at the upper end at Ft. Bidwell. He didn't think white men would be able to live in the valley without the assistance of the troops against Indian attackers . He wrote:

These are mostly Snakes, Bannocks, and Piautes combined in the stealing of stock and taking them to Steins Mountain, about 120 miles from here. It is a very rough wild country and is almost impossible for a white man to ..„_ get there without battling Indians both coming and going.

In December of 1866 there were many well improved ranches under culti­ vation according to Selah. There was a scarcity of timber near the center of the valley and most of it of practical size for building or fencing had to be hauled five or six miles. At the northern end, near Ft. Bidwell, no hard wood was found nearby but soft woods were available such as pine, cedar, and fir.

Selah felt the business the valley needed most of all was a flour mill.

A good site for one could be found on Mill Creek, Deep Creek, and several other places, and settlers would have probably donated their land to have one built. Nearly every homestead with cleared land grew grain from 35-40 bushels to the acre. Barley was scarce and sold for 5$, while wheat sold for 3£$ per pound. It was estimated that in the year 1866 enough wheat was harvested to keep a mill running for eight months.

Grove, notes, n.d. 56

Flour was very expensive in the valley then, bringing from $12 to $14 per hundredweight as it had to be shipped from Chico to Ft. Bidwell, Summit

Lake, Black Rock, and much of the rest of the northern country in most instances. Ft. McGarry, at Summit Lake, Nevada, was the distribution post for the subordinate posts in this part of the country .

In the winter hay was valued at ten dollars and in the summer at four to six dollars a ton. This was accounted for as practically any amount of meadow land could be found in the summer and all a person had to do was cut it. Fine quality timothy and blue joint hay was produced at one and a half to two tons per acre.

The last mention of Selah's account we'll give is his comment on the weather. As re-copied by Mrs. Grove, he wrote:

The weather has been very rough for the last four or five days, snowing and raining; nothing uncommon for here, as it usually freezes this time of year. The settlers anticipate a moderate winter. The snow fell in the valley December 23, to the depth of 18 inches but it never stays on over three or four days. On the mountains it fell to six or eight feet and lays on all winter.

By 1867 even the school districts in our area had begun to be organized.

That year the Superintendent of Schools , Thomas H . Stone, requested the Board of Supervisors to divide the Surprise Valley district into four school districts.

His proposal was approved and the districts formed were the Ft. Bidwell School

District, Mill Creek School District, Deep Creek School District, and Eagle Creek

School District. The school trustees that were appointed in 1867 were G.W . 107 Raines, A. Roack, and Ely Rice, with Raines acting as clerk.

In her notes Mrs. Grove tells us that there was a rather peculiar interest shown by the "valleyites" in the summer of 1867 in regard to the coming election.

Grove, notes, n.d. (sic) Ibid 57

William Minto, a resident of the Eagle Creek area, had been appointed County Surveyor by a Democratic Board of Supervisors, but he was now running for the same office on the Union ticket. Irrespective of party though, all persons in the valley endorsed him for the office. Minto had proved to be a very effic- lent surveyor and he was well liked. 10R

One of the most interesting events to have happened in 1867 is the cricket invasion into the valley that summer. There had been previous trouble with crickets and grasshoppers but nothing like it was in 1867. The crickets swarmed in by the thousands at the south end of the valley. One man timed it at fifteen minutes for them to completely strip William Minto's place (located at the foot of what we know as School House Hill in Eagleville) .

Homesteaders farther down the valley were warned and they put boards with shakes nailed across them in the path of the crickets. They also rounded up all the hogs available in the area and drove them in to eat the invaders, but to no avail. The crickets continued their march northward and other attempts were made at stopping them.

One farmer and his neighbors drove them through his place by ringing bells, shooting pistols, and beating on tins. Deep pits had been dug on the other side of his land and the crickets fell into them. They filled the pits to the top and began to devour each other; but still they continued their northward trek. Although most of the damage occurred in the southern portion of the valley, the crickets did cause trouble at Lake City. They so polluted Mill Creek that underground wells had to be dug for drinking water. As the winter of 1867 turned to 1868, snow in the valley lay from one to two feet deep and it was as cold as 18 degrees below zero some of the time. This weather froze ice on the lakes sixteen inches deep.

1 OR Grove, op . cit. , August of 1964, 58

The Siskiyou County Tax Collector who collected taxes in Surprise Valley in 1868 was Dr. Ream of Yreka. At his return he reported a flour mill, three

sawmills, and six stores thriving well in the valley, as he said, "business is good., ",,10 9

J.D. Carr was still making his stage route to and from Susanville and Ft. Bidwell in 1868. That year the government made a contract with Carr for the weekly hauling of mail for $4,300 per annum. The "Surprise Express" soon began making regular trips with mail and passengers. It left Susanville every Monday at 7: 00 in the morning and arrived at Bidwell Thursday after­ noon. The stage returned and reached Susanville by 6: 00 p.m. Sunday. The trip was first made by light express wagons when only mail was hauled, then light coaches were substituted so that passengers could easily make the journey. More and more people began entering the valley via this mode of transportation. The stage fares were $20 for a trip from Susanville to Ft. Bidwell, $12 for Susanville to Reno, and $15 for Susanville to Oroville.

Jess Carr did well with his coaches and, in 1868, offered $500 in coin toward the construction of a road from Susanville to Surprise Valley via Willow Creek. He estimated this road would be a distance of about sixty-five miles while the one he was using was close to 140 miles.

The editor and proprietor of the Sage Brush newspaper, John C . Partridge, began writing editorials urging the adoption of this proposed new route but little action was taken. Partridge felt Surprise Valley was beginning to become a place of importance and the transportation of supplies to it and points above, such as Camp Warner and the Owyhee Mines, should be good

109Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op_^ cit^, December 3, 1964, 110Ibid., October 8, 1964, 59

reason enough for the building of such a road. Interest toward the road flared in Yreka when her residents read of Susanville proposing to endorse a road from there to Surprise.

The spring of 1868 saw a variation in the routes of travel into our northern country, and many early settlers who kept stations for the traveling public upon the roads from Honey Lake Valley to the Humboldt and Owyhee were closing their doors because of this . Not following this pattern was Smoke

Creek Station, as it was upon the route leading to Surprise Valley and was benefitting from the number of people moving into the valley. Due to the increase of people, considerable travel and heavy freighting were passing over

112 «.• A this road.

In April 1868 the Susanville Sage Brush jumped the gun and announced that the bill to transfer Surprise Valley to Lassen County had passed and become law. Such was not the case as it was killed in the Senate by the influence of the northern Senator, the Honorable E. Wadsworth . The people of the valley were decidedly opposed to this bill and held a meeting of indignation denounc­ ing the action of the Democratic Assembly . They felt they had grown large enough to have a county of their own, neither to be Lassen nor Siskiyou.

The people of Surprise Valley had begun work on a route that would cross the Warners at Mill Creek in 1868. This was several miles south of where the old Lassen emigrant route crossed the mountains and the summit at Mill

Creek was lower and the grade easier than the older road had been. The dis­ tance over the mountain at Mill Creek from valley to valley was five to six miles and wagons had already crossed there so not much grading would be necessary.

Citizens of Surprise Valley tried to raise money by subscription in order to be

Grove, notes, n.d. 112Ib id. 60

able to extend their new road to Goose Lake. There they hoped they could

connect with the road that was to enter Klamath Lake Basin from Yreka.113

Visiting Susanville from his home in Surprise Valley, Justice Bowmer

reported to the local newspaper a very prosperous season for the people of the valley. Hired hands were in great demand as an unusually large amount of grain had been raised and would soon be ready for harvesting.

The valley people hit some bad luck that fall when a fatal disease struck their horses. They had no remedy for the sickness and lost many animals.

The sick horses would become stupid and rapidly decline in flesh and strength until they became too weak to get up. This was probably what we know of as 115 "sleeping sickness" today.

Moving on to 1869, Mrs. Grove wrote in her newspaper article, "Surprise

Valley History," that the Yreka Journal of March 10, 1869 said, "The mails via

Susanville to Surprise Valley are very irregular of late, in fact, there seems to be none at all according to the residents there, except by way of the Central 11 fi Pacific Railroad and thence by stage to Surprise Valley."

Lack of easy access to mail didn't seem to put a damper on the activities in the valley, however, as it bustled with happenings. Working men had begun to find more time for entertainments, one of which was the formation of a jockey

club . The members of this organization met at Lake City and named it simply the "Surprise Valley Jockey Club." They unanimously elected their officers

and they were: W.B. Swearinger—president; I. Ayers, P.W. Hays, I.N.

Jacobs, Z.S. Hamilton, S.J. Gee, E. Monroe, and C.T. Sharp—vice presidents;

E.E. Dodge and George Wimer--stewards; W.B. King—treasurer; and

113 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," loc. cit. Grove, op. cit., November of 1964. 115Ib id. 1 1 fi Grove, op. cit., January, 1965, feic) 61

Oliver Wimer—secretary. The California horse racing rules were adopted by the club to govern the races held on the Lake City course. Purses won there ranged from $25 to $100.

Mention of another cricket invasion is given in Mrs. Grove's notes; it was said to have occurred in the summer of 1869. She said they seemed to attack only certain areas as some ranches were stripped and others were not touched. Mill Creek was polluted with crickets, as it had been two years before, and a company was formed for the purpose of drilling a well at the corner of Water and Main Street. The operation found pure cold water at a depth of twenty feet. Justice Bowmer was one individual to have his own well dug. 118 County Superintendent of Schools, Professor Godfrey, took a trip through eastern Siskiyou County on the first of August, 1869 and reported that crops in Surprise were in excellent condition except those that had been hit by the crickets. Two men, Nofsinger and Holcomb, suffered this predicament but they liked the country so well they decided to stay. Lake City was prospering as a town and growing rapidly. She had thirty-one houses, three stores, three saloons, three blacksmith shops, a grist mill and a wagon shop . Numerous frame houses were in the process of being built throughout the valley. The three saw mills in the valley were able to provide only about one half of the lumber that was in demand for the building of barns, fences, and other structures.

11 7 Grove, "Surprise Valley History," op. cit., March 25, 1965. 118Ibid. 119Ibid. 62

CONCLUSION

Thus ends my brief history of the early days of Surprise Valley. The area continued to be sporadically prosperous after 1869 and grew and changed into what we know it as today.

Some of the old names have been replaced by new ones while others remain. Few of the buildings of the early settlements of the valley are now to be found. While cattle raising has remained the primary business, many of the businesses of prior days have become obsolete because of the progress our nation has experienced. People and living, however, basically have not changed in that span of time. We still fight our own battles of survival, we are still interdependent in our remote, rural area, and we are still striving for self- satisfaction and happiness in our lifetimes.

It has been rewarding to delve into the past of the place where I was born. My purpose will be complete if the reader, upon closing the pages of this paper, feels he has gained insight into the roots of Surprise Valley.

Segments of the history of Surprise Valley have been lost and left only to the past, while other segments have survived the passing of time and events.

I wish to express gratitude to those who took it upon themselves to write down the history that they were a part of, as well as to those who have gathered together that information. We are certainly indebted to people who left records and opinions so that we might reconstruct in our minds today what happened in the yesterdays of our valley. 63

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, William S., California Northeast, the Bloody Ground, Oakland, California, Brobooks, 1951. On Cover: Annals of Modoc.

Bruff, Joseph Goldsborough, Gold rush; the journals, drawings, and other papers of J. Goldsborough Bruff, Captain, Washington City and California Mining Association, April 2, 1849-July 20, 1851. Edited by Georgia Willis Read and Ruth Gaines. California Centennial Edition, Columbia University Press, 1949.

Cook, Fred S. , History of Modoc County, n .p ., n.d.

Coy, Owen C. , California County Boundaries, Berkeley, California Historical Survey Commission 1923.

Fairfield, Asa Merrill, Fairfield's Pioneer History of Lassen County, California to 1870, San Francisco, H.S. Crocker Company, 1916.

Graff, Henry F. and Krout, John A. , The Adventure of the American People, Chicago, Illinois, Rand McNally and Company, 1970.

Kroeber, Alfred L., Handbook of the Indians of California, Berkeley, California Book Company, Ltd., 1973.

Laird, Irma Williams, The Modoc Country, Alturas, California, designed and printed by Lawton and Alfred Kennedy, c. 1971.

Pease, Robert W. , Modoc County, A Geographical Time Continuum on the California Volcanic Tableland, Berkeley and Los Angeles, issued December 22, 1965.

Rogers, Fred B ., Fort Bidwell, Modoc County, California, San Francisco, State of California Department of Natural Resources Division of Beaches and Parks, May 19, 1959.

Wickenden, Robert W. , Cedarville Water District Feasibility Report, Alturas, California, unpublished work, 1967.

Other Materials Used That Should Be Noted:

Selected historical materials written by Mrs. Irma Irvine Grove, a noted historian of the area. These materials include otherwise unpublished notes and articles that appeared in the Modoc County Record newspaper.

Modoc County Record, Centennial Edition, Robert L. Sloss, editor and publisher, Alturas, California, 1974.

Northern California Writer's Project from the book: History of Modoc County. Copy found in the Modoc Union High School, dated October, 1945. ASSOCIATION for NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORDS and RESEARCH (ANCRR)

ANCRR was founded in 1971 by the conjoining of mutual interests shared by California State University. Chico and residents of the northern California counties that comprise its primary service area. These interests were the preservation of basic public records; the collection and preservation of business records and personal papers, and the encouragement of research in local and regional history. The University provides facilities for the permanent housing and maintenance of ANCRR's collections and provides essential support services. This University support ensures that what ANCRR collects will be preserved in perpetuity for the use of students, faculty, and interested citizens. Collecting and other field research, as well as the vital financial support of ANCRR. are functions of its members.

Since its inception. ANCRR has published five research and archival papers; it has established and is continuing a program of Oral History Interviews in the counties of its primary concerns, and conducts a continuing program of sponsoring original research in local and regional history on both the adult and high school levels. In furtherance of these activties. ANCRR would welcome inquiries as to membership classifications and the dues applicable thereto. Address:

A.N.C.R.R P.O.Box 3024 Chico. CA 95927 Grove, Tumi. A collective history of the early years of settlement in Surprise Valley. 1977, 63pp. ISBN 1-931944-06-4