This summer we spent even more time in the car, with drives to the Farm in Clarendon, Texas (about 40 hours), and to the Cabin near Lassen Peak (about 20 more).
On this trip, Cassius's third and Camille's first, I learned more than I had ever known about the land, the summer tract of recreation homes in the community called Mill Creek, and about how it all finally settled into the hands of the residences. We took two nice long hikes in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and even named a new constellation.
The Gillan contingent had to bail because of exposure to the virus, which left Cass without his cousins but made for quieter evenings.
Discovered Backstory
Someone gathered as much information about the current residents of the Mill Creek community, took excerpts of the Land Swap documents, and bound everything into a handy book to make available to the participating cabin owners. This is the book that helped me understand the area to which I've been visiting since I was a child.
A nearly nine mile road was carved into the wilderness in Lassen National Forest connecting CA route 36 halfway between Red Bluff and Susanville back in the 1920s. Land on this road was surveyed for recreational cabins to be used during the summer months as primarily second homes in three different waves: first in 1925, again in 1932, and lastly in 1947. By the last round of surveying, there were 122 cabin properties spread over nearly a square mile of pine forest. It takes its name, Mill Creek, by its proximity to the eponymous creek, on its way south from a spectacular water fall in Lassen Volcanic park.
People could sign up for a spot as long as they promised to build a permanent summer structure within two years and put down some money. My mother's grandfather, after flooding ruined a different summer cabin refuge in the Siskiyou mountains, swooped in in 1961 and bought the rights to the lot from a struggling pair of couples looking to divest themselves of the property.
My great grandfather and his family finished building the Cabin itself, and by 1962, a forest destination became a fixture of my mom's childhood. Later she brought her kids, myself and my brother, and occasionally we'd stay with my grandmother after my folks would leave. Now we bring our kids, and my mom is the grandmother.
In 1997 it was decided that a reasonable Land Swap could happen. The petition in the 1980s had been denied, but by '97 it seemed like a good plan. The deal didn't finish until 2005, but that's because this kind of thing is complicated.
First, residences petition for a Land Swap. The idea is that the lots, and the community of Mill Creek itself, were all on National Forest land, the lots being leased from the feds, and if residents wanted to change that, to actually own the land, they would need to: 1) get it appraised to determine its value; 2) and then 2) find a similarly priced piece of land that held value that the Forestry Service may want.
This turned into a win-win-win for everyone in the end, because the land that was found available was a part of the Ishi's homeland. Ishi was a native, the last of the Yahi, who discovered the modern world rather late in the game, eventually moving to San Francisco and living in a museum. Anyway, it seemed like the owners of the Ishi land were excited to see it transformed into a lasting heritage site, the Forestry Service was keen to do this same thing, and the residents of Mill Creek had an opportunity to get the deeds to the land itself.
By 2005, the final cost to each resident was around ten-thousand bucks, and the deal was done. Crazy.
On the edge of the wilderness, we get to return each year. How lucky are my kids? As a birthright, they have access to The Farm and The Cabin...
...hey, I think that's my privilege showing...
Your Great Grandfather Thomas Schumacher Senior met Ishi when they brought Ishi to San Fransisco to check Ishi out medically. Grandpa Schumacher delivered newspapers.
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