A hand-tinted photo of Susanville in 1885

I like little articles that give you a brief glimpse into the real daily lives of the people who called our town home at various times in the last 150 years.

Such is the case with the following story, from the May 11th, 1888 Napa Valley Register newspaper.

We Present “A Funny Monkey Story” or “He Is Still Up A Tree”

“The animals of Forepaugh’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ which had such a hard time at Grass Valley and this city, are scattered throughout the land,” the story ominously begins.

Adam Forepaugh was a promoter of traveling ‘shows’ which could include everything from a clown circus with animal acts to a wild west show to a staged reenactment of the American Revolution.

The Forepaugh shows were legendary across the country during this era, traveling from small town to small town, providing entertainment in a pre-mass-media world.

Forepaugh’s troupe had just played Napa, then Grass Valley, before coming to Susanville.

According to the newspaper, “A monkey was left in one place, a baboon in another and a humpbacked heifer at a third point.”

The baboon referred to was Forepaugh’s ‘Famous Equestrian Baboon’ who jumped on the high wire, committed ‘feats of equestrianism’ and other curious acts. It must have been quite a loss for the show when the star baboon made a break for it in Grass Valley.

Here in Susanville it was the show’s monkey who made good his escape, heading for the forest west of town.

“Hunger finally forced him back to the settlements,” the newspaper reported. “He was discovered up an apple tree, and all Susanville turned out to capture him.”

Oh, can you imagine? I went back and checked, Susanville’s population in 1888 was about 1,642 people. I bet half of them showed up that morning to help capture the monkey!

“There was a high old time greatly enjoyed by the monkey, who threw apples and made faces at the crowd.”

So now I am picturing a big crowd of Susanville folks around an apple tree in uptown Susanville, discussing how they would go about getting that darned monkey down.

“The women did not try to climb, but yelled all the time in the most enthusiastic manner and shook their aprons at the monkey as he went from tree to tree.”

For those of you that don’t know, uptown in the late 1880’s had a lot of fruit trees. There are still apple and apricot trees around uptown that are left over from this period, when it was hoped that Susanville’s climate would support fruit cultivation.

“The monkey made use of the trees to stay above and ahead of the crowd.”

It wasn’t all fun and games though. This was a serious monkey escape, and there were injuries among the monkey wranglers.

“One man took a flying leap out of the top of an apple tree on Roop Street,” the newspaper story continues, “landing in such a way as to break his wrist and badly cut and bruise himself. That kept him out of the chase, but others kept it up.”

“Everybody wanted the monkey, but the ‘amusin little cuss’ made his escape into the forest at the edge of town.”

“At last accounts he was seated in the top of the tallest pine in the neighborhood, with all of Susanville camped about the root of the tree.”

And now I really want to know whatever happened to that monkey.

SWIMS will be SWIMS even if you turn it upside down.

Have a great weekend everybody and we’ll see you again right here next Friday!

“We will open up the dance floor, and play continuous hits like Moon River, Chatanooga Choo Choo and Come Fly with Me,” says Conductor and Artistic Director Benjamin Wade, who invites everyone to come join the conga line on Copacabana.

And the talent in the room is amazing – watch as local musicians like Kayla Millar, Craig Harris, Derrick Noah, Tim Pass and Manny LaPorte join world famous musicians like Tony Savage on drums and Danny Sandoval, who Wade calls, ‘everyone’s new favorite sax player.’

The concert is also a little bittersweet as Manny LaPorte, after 4 years of faithful service, will be graduating and moving on to university. This will be his last concert.

Jon France, who has sung with the symphony for more than a decade and a half, will be moving out of the area after this performance.

The LHS Choir will perform ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’ and the Drumline will perform on ‘Chameleon.’.

Tickets are already sold out, with just a few available at the door tomorrow night.

The musical memories start at 7:00. General seating is $30 per ticket. For more information call the Symphony hotline at 530-310-8111 or logon to www.susanvillesymphony.com to find out more.

“While checking the area, Banner Lassen Medical Center contacted the dispatch center, reporting that a male had come into the Emergency Room with a possible gunshot wound.”

An officer responded to the ER, where he contacted the 36-year-old victim and a possible witness. The victim was subsequently transported to an out-of-area hospital for emergency treatment.

“The witness reported that they did not observe the shooting and provided limited information.”

According to Cochran no suspect description or other evidentiary information has been provided for the investigation at this time.

If anyone has information about the incident, please contact the Susanville Police Department, Detective Richard Warner at 1.530.257.5603.

“CHP units initially attempted to intercept the Audi south of Red Rock, with speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour,” details CHP Public Information Officer Bruce Thuelchassaigne.

“A responding CHP unit intercepted the Audi near Cowboy Joe Road, now traveling at approximately 124 miles per hour. A pursuit was initiated with the Audi failing to yield.”

At this point in the pursuit, according to the CHP report, the driver of the Audi slowed and made a u-turn just north of County Road A-25.

CHP units to the south were positioned with spike strips at the ready, successfully deployed on 395 just south of Rachel Drive in Doyle.

“The Audi, which now had three flat tires, yielded at 395 and Doyle Grade. The driver, Daryl Rienhold of Lake Tahoe California, was taken into custody without incident and booked at the Lassen County Jail.”

“The research conducted as part of these grants continues to be an important component helping to advance the health of our state’s forests while also addressing the effects of climate change on California’s landscape,” said Chris Keithley, Assistant Deputy Director of Fire and Resource Assessment for Cal-FIRE.

Cal-FIRE will award research grants in five categories: Wildfire and Forest Research grants for original research and may occur on or focus on any land ownership in California; State Forests Research grants for original research and at least one study site on a Demonstration State Forest or other CAL FIRE-managed land; Graduate Student grants for original research led by the student; Scientific Synthesis and Tool Development grants for synthesis of current scientific information and literature, distribution of current scientific data and information, and/or decision support tools for landowners, managers, and the public; and, lastly, Special Topic Research grants to address a particular need identified by the Cal-FIRE’s Fire and Resource Assessment Program to focus this year on leveraging U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data to inform forest management.

The Forest Health Research Grant Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.

This program is designed to complement the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force Action Plan, the 2018 Strategic Fire Plan for California, and the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy, which propose to protect lives, property, and resources of California and increase the ability of our natural and working lands to survive and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Official Call for Applications:

Forest Health Research Grants Program: The call for concept proposals opened March 23, 2023. Concept proposals are due no later than 3:00 PM on April 27, 2023.

Public virtual workshops will be held during the open application period. Please check the Forest Health Research Grants web pages for dates, times, and locations. These workshops will be recorded and made available on the program web page.

For more information and to sign up for grant email announcements, visit www.fire.ca.gov/grants

Susanville in the 1930s from an Eastman Studios Postcard

Seven Are Held in Susanville Raid

March 24, 1929

Seven Susanville alleged bootleggers were haled into justice court today on warrants sworn out by federal officers. Fines amounting to $1,400 were assessed against four and three asked time for pleading.

C. Sanchez, proprietor of the Rio Vista Hotel, paid $300 for possessing wine and whiskey. William Walters paid $225 of a $400 fine on a possession charge.

Billy Gomey and Frank Rodger could not pay fines of $350 each. P. Manfredini, Mario Larrea and the Commercial Hotel are to plead later today.

The arrest were made through undercover men. Miss Helen Knight of the Rio Vista Hotel was bound over to superior court for possession of narcotics.