SUSANVILLE, Calif. — It took a petty and very small war to establish Northern California’s Lassen County. The war was called the Sage Brush War and it started on February 15, 1863 when shots rang out from Roop’s trading post.
Tax collectors from Plumas County demanded payment from the settlers in the Honey Lake Valley, but historian Susan Couso says settlers raised their guns instead.
“The local people said, 'No we are not. We are not in Plumas County,' and that started a war,” said Couso.
The dispute was over state boundary lines and taxes. It triggered a quick shootout, which ended with two men wounded. In the end, both parties agreed to hire a surveyor to settle the matter.
“When they did the survey in 1864, they determined we were in California, so we created Lassen County,” said Couso.
If you've never been to Lassen County, it's full of historical oddities and the best place to see and learn about those oddities is by taking a tour of the Lassen Historical Museum.
“We just have some weird things. Through the years people donated things that we have no clue what they are,” said Couso.
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One weird thing in the museum that gets a lot of attention is the monkey fang necklace. Couso loves to tell the backstory of where it came from.
“Percy Fredrickson had a pet monkey that was vicious, so Percy brought the monkey into the dentist and said 'take out these fangs,'” said Couso.
If you’re not impressed by the monkey fangs, you might want to have a gander at the loaded (but non-working) cannon in the back of the museum. If you are skilled enough, you might end up with your picture on the wall next to the cannon.
“We have a little game where if you can reach in and grab the cannon ball you get your picture taken, and we put on the wall,” said Couso.
The odd items come from the odd people and events in Lassen County, like Isaac Roop. He founded Susanville and fought in the Sage Brush War, but the county was the named after Danish/Mexican Peter Lassen, who didn’t really accomplish anything except build a reputation for being very nice.
“People name things 'Lassen,' and they have no idea who Lassen was. He had one business failure after another, but he was nice,” said Couso.
Peter Lassen’s nice yet odd qualities must have rubbed off on Susanville because today the town is full of nice people and it’s a nice historic building.
ANOTHER ODD MUSEUM ON THE BACKROADS: A SoCal man's quest to collect all things banana.