Tehama - The Magazine

Spring 2015

Tehama - The Magazine - Red Bluff Daily News

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The following stories appeared in the Daily News in May 1915 concern- ing the eruption of Las- sen Peak. For more stories from that period, includ- ing reports of the erup- tion May 22, 1915, look for a special commemora- tive edition of Tehama the Magazine inserted in Sat- urday's Daily News. MAY22,1915 HatCreekresidents suffer immense loss in mysterious flood The biggest flood in the history of Hat Creek val- ley, Shasta County, started at the head waters of the creek Thursday night shortly before midnight and by yesterday after- noon it had passed far be- yond Hat Creek Post Office and had destroyed practi- cally every building in the path south of the post of- fice. The creek starts at the base of Mt. Lassen and runs north into Pitt River. The flood was in the na- ture of a thin flow of mud and after it had passed the entire valley covered with a layer of mud and debris varying in depth from three to seven inches. All the fences, dams, head- gates, etc. were washed away and wagon travel up and down the valley will be impossible for several days. Local stockmen are much worried over the re- port of the flood as Hat Creek valley is on the di- rect line followed by them in sending their stock to and from the summer ranges in the mountains. Several bands of sheep have been started from here already, the largest of which is the Gallatin ranch band. The stock- men are waiting eagerly for news that will tell them the exact extent of the di- saster so that they may know how long they will be delayed enroute. The first report of the flood came from For- est Ranger Sorahan at Twin Bridges who tele- phoned to Ranger Sea- born at Hat Creek Post Of- fice and then started out to warn all people below him. The flood caught So- rahan at the Hall ranch and he and the Hall fam- ily narrowly escaped with their lives. Hall lost every head of stock on his ranch with the exception of one horse. The family reached a piece of high land and were taken to safety one at a time. The Hawkins ranch was buried under a layer of mud from six inches to four feet deep. Charles Heryford's place was ru- ined, the buildings being totally wrecked. He and his wife barely got out in time and had to leave all their personal belongings in the house. At Henry Rieger's place the water was three feet deep. There the immense volume of water separated and the main current went down over the lava fields. But for this fact ev- ery building in Hat Creek valley clear to its mouth would undoubtedly have been destroyed. The origin of the flood is a mystery. The most widely accepted version is that a terrific cloudburst occurred along the base of Mr. Lassen, extending possibly a short distance up the north slope of the peak. The torrent of rain washed the accumulated dust that has fallen over that section during the past year from the fre- quent eruptions of the mountain into the creek, carrying with it a large amount of snow water, and the great volume of water thus was forced down the Hat Creek Valley. Another explanation which has many adherents is that Mr. Lassen Mt. Las- sen threw out a large quan- tity of hot mud and lava and melted all the snow off the north side of the peak. Many persons claim to have seen mud and lava coming from the crater but those who are best acquainted with the mountain say there has been no indication of such activity and that the moun- tain shows no sign of hav- ing lost any great amount of snow. Forest Supervisor Rush- ing is inclined to the first explanation. He states that there has been an epidemic of small cloud bursts in that section this spring and he is of the opinion that the flood was caused by one larger than has ever occurred before in the history of that sec- tion. Forest Ranger Fred Sea- born will leave Hat Creek Post Office this morning and ride up the creek to its headwaters or until he reaches the place of the or- igin of the flood and dis- cover, if possible, its cause. He will report to the For- est Service headquarters here as soon as he returns. MAY 25, 1915 Reports from danger zone confirm fact of hot mud and lava flow Since the mammoth eruption of Mt. Lassen which occurred Satur- day afternoon and eve- ning no authentic report of any additional activ- ity has been received in this city. The mountain has been obscured from the view of Red Bluff res- idents practically the en- tire time since Saturday evening. The peak was vis- ible at Manton practically all day yesterday and no one there reported having seen any sign of an erup- tion. Bert Hampton at Mineral reported having heard rumblings from the mountain all day yester- day and Ranger Fred Sea- born at Big Springs, Las- sen County also reported hearing rumblings from the vicinity of Lassen. Ranger Seaborn, being at the scene of the two floods on Hat Creek and near the base of the moun- tain, and acting under in- structions from Forest Su- pervisor W. J. Rushing in this city, has been mak- ing observations and re- ports to Rushing covering all phases of the eruptions and floods. These reports have come in telegrams and following are some of the most interesting fea- tures of the messages re- ceived: Authentic reports Arrangements are made to have at least one person watching the mountain at all times and they are now ready to warn the inhabit- ants of the lower Hat Creek valley of any impending danger. Seaborn and Huf- ford have established their camp at Big Springs un- til the mountain becomes quiet or they are forced to move out. Practically ev- ery person living above the Hat Creek Post Office has left the valley. Acting un- der instructions received from Supervisor Rushing all livestock has been re- moved from the valley un- til the mountain is again quiet and the water in Hat Creek becomes fit for stock to drink. The Anklin and Lost Camp meadows are covered with from two to three feet of mud and all the forage on them is to- tally destroyed. A strip of timber one-fourth mile wide and eight miles long was mowed down by the flow of mud, rocks and wa- ter. Trees four and five feet in diameter were snapped off and broken into pieces. The timber loss is esti- mated at 5,000,000 board feet. Numerous fires were started in piles of drift- wood and thick patches of brush by red hot rocks thrown from the crater in Saturday's eruption. These fires were probably extin- guished by the rain of yes- terday. Huge rocks, thrown out in Saturday's eruption were still smoking hot yes- terday. Hat Creek has re- turned to normal flow but water is very muddy. In the flood of Saturday afternoon the stream of thin mud, rocks and wa- ter came down Lost Creek but with such force that it was carried clear over the divide and into Hat Creek. Eruption of Saturday night followed by rush of thin mud at Lost Camp bear- ing small particles of pum- ice stone. Pasture and Big Springs is ruined. Build- ings at Lost Camp gone. Snowing at Mineral At Mineral heavy storms occurring both Sun- day and yesterday pre- vented any observation of the mountain or any attempt to ascend to a point where close obser- vation would be possible. It rained .83 inches there Sunday afternoon. Yester- day morning it rained and in the afternoon it started snowing hard. Geo. Hoke was enroute to Mineral with a load of supplies for the Forest Service. He was compelled to take off about half his load at Paynes Creek in order to proceed the remaining dis- tance to Mineral. Loomis was too close According to reports received from Viola B. F. Loomis, merchant, post master, lumberman and almost everything else in that place, had one of the best views of the eruption Saturday. Following the report of the flood in the Hat Creek valley on Fri- day, Loomis took his wife and daughter in their au- tomobile and went to Man- zanita Lake, expecting to go from there to the head waters of Hat Creek where he would take some photo- graphs of the damage done by the flood. They had reached Manzanita Lake on the return trip when the big eruption started Saturday afternoon. Loo- mis took one look at the eruption, grabbed his cam- era, took another look at the eruption, slammed the camera into the au- tomobile, cranked up the car and waiting barely long enough for his fam- ily to get aboard, made a record breaking run to the bottom of Manzanita Chutes. There he stopped long enough to get some splendid photographs of the eruption and then lost no time in putting a few additional miles between himself and the mountain. Lava flow verified Seaborn's report of the finding of pumice stone floating on the flood of Saturday evening is the most authentic proof of the presence of lava in the eruption that has yet been given. Although a few per- sons claimed to have seen lava flowing from the cra- ter during the eruption that phenomenon was not generally observed nor generally credited but the pumice stone is considered absolute proof of the pres- ence of molten rock. Effects of eruption far reaching The effect of Satur- day's eruption and flood can scarcely be compre- hended or even surmised at this time. Thousands of head of sheep that are en route to summer ranges around the base of Mt. Lassen are now being held back by their owners at different points along the road between here and Hat Creek valley. All own- ers are afraid to let their stock get into the danger zone and it is nearly im- possible and very imprac- tical to reach the summer ranges by any other route. Even should the moun- tain cease all dangerous activity which is not con- sidered at all probable, it would be several weeks be- fore the road through that section could be opened up for travel. Forest Service suffers heavy loss The destruction of the various meadows named will have a serious effect on the forage of that sec- tion during the coming season. The Forest Ser- vice has lost several miles of telephone line, cutting connections between sev- eral stations. This will be rebuilt as soon as possi- ble. Should Mt. Lassen be- come violently active it is the opinion of the for- est service men that many miles of line now circling the base of the moun- tain would be totally de- stroyed. The line to suffer first would be that con- necting Mineral with Hat Creek stations. The Mount Lassen auto stage made a trip to Viola Sunday with newspaper men en route to the scene of the Hat Creek disaster. There were four other ma- chines at Viola when the Red Bluff stage reached there and many other par- ties arrived there yester- day. The parties were com- posed of newspaper men, photographers, "movie" men and curious tourists. LASSEN ERUPTION Lookingbackatthenewsfrom100yearsago PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHENATIONALPARKSERVICE The eruption of Lassen Peak as photographed by B. F. Loomis. Growney Motors 1160 Main St. (530) 527-1034 We buy late model used vehicles paid for or not! Locallyowned business offering high value, low cost energy for decades. Call Liam at 526-1551 or visit www.sacriversolar.com Lic# 996900 TheDailyNewswill feature a special section of photos and write-ups on over 90 "StudentsofDistinction" from middle and high schools across the county. This project has been created in cooperation with the Tehama County Department of Education. Selections of students featured will be made by schools and Teachers. Thesupplementwillbe published as a special section of the newspaper and as a digital page-turn online edition on www.redbluffdailynews.com through May of 2016! To sponsor a student's photo and accomplishments is just $59 for 1 sponsorship and $55 each for multiples. Local businesses, professionals, educators, local citizens: All are welcome to support Tehama County's most accomplished students, and demonstrate support of local education in the process. SponsorDeadline: Friday, May 22 Sponsors will be identified in a 3" tall by 1 column wide space at the bottom of each student salute. This special will appear in the full run of the Daily News on Thursday, May 28, 2015 Daily News advertising representatatives can help you decide what to say. Limited opportunity to support students from individual schools. For further information, contact your Daily News advertising representative or Nadine Souza at Honoring Outstanding Tehama County Students (530) 527-2151 advertise@ redbluffdailynews.com | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015 8 A

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