HISTORY

You know you're nearing Almanor country
when you spot Mt Lassen, which used to be the only
active volcano in the US. Its last official tantrum was in
1917 and since then it has become a national park - a
good place to spend a day seeing the sulfur hot springs
or climbing to the top of the 10,448 foot volcano to
look out over Lake Almanor at its base.

Before there was a Lake Almanor, the Maidu
Indians called it "oy-ding-koyo" or Big Meadows - the
lush, bountiful land at the foot of the volcano where evil
spirits dwelled. For a number of centuries the Maidu took
from and repaid the land for their living, surviving the
Sierra winters by migrating to lower elevations.

Spanish explorer Luis Arguillo was the first European
to enter Feather River - named for the feathers floating on
the waters. He was followed by a scattering of trappers, lone
mountain men, until 1848 when Peter Lassen led a party bound
for California via a "short cut" from the Oregon trail that wound
through Big Meadows. These were followed by other seekers:
ranchers, dairymen, farmers and miners, who recognized the
varied riches of the area and saw no need to travel farther.

Mountain streams, abundant hunting and fishing and the cool
summer climate brought vacationers from the Sacramento Valley
long before there was a lake. Since the 1860's travelers
have come to Big Meadows from the hot valleys
and busy cities to spend weeks or months.

Julius Howells, a geology student from Harvard University,
visited the area in the early 1880's. When he returned in 1901,
he envisioned the hydro-electric potential of the Feather River and
convinced Edwin and Guy C. Earl to finance the building of a dam.
In 1914 the first dam was completed and Big Meadows became
the bed of Lake Almanor, named for Guy Earl's three
daughters-Alice, Martha and Eleanor.

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