A Collective History of the Early Years of Settlement in Surprise Valley

&* 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 .

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