Surrounding Stories

What follows is not meant to be the all-encompassing final word on the narrative of Lake Almanor and the region, but a collection of notes and stories of things, people and places that I find interesting. Their "footsteps" and "foundations" can still be seen today if you know where to look.  You can't spell history without "story" and those stories surround us. I hope you enjoy the look back.

Before it was Lake Almanor, it was Big Meadows, and before it was Big Meadows it was Nakam Koyom (the Maidu words meaning "Big Meadows").
The Northern Maidu, native inhabitants of Plumas and surrounding counties, occupied the Feather River region and its many tributaries including Big Meadows. The area was a central hub for the Northern Maidu, featuring numerous villages and serving as a crucial, sacred, and resource-rich landscape. According to the Maidu Cultural and Development Group, there were as many as nine Maidu village sites in and around Big Meadows.

A Maidu village at Big Meadows. 1887

The population of the Northern Maidu before contact with Euro-Americans was estimated at about 4,000.  Their population was greatly reduced by the malaria epidemic of northern California in the years 1830-1833. In the 1880's a smallpox epidemic hit the Maidu population hard leading to a rapid decline in their population. The arrival of miners in 1850 brought diseases and other factors that continued to reduce the Maidu population.  The Maidu of the Feather River region, including those in Big Meadows faced severe consequences from disease, which resulted in their population being estimated at only 300 to 400 by 1962. 

The Northern Maidu offered no organized resistance to the arrival of white settlers. For the most part, the Maidu were quietly compelled to accept the ways of the pioneers, adopting use of their clothing, tools and even their language.  Many were employed as farm hands by ranchers or as laborers in the gold mines and some entered into service of The United States. One such story is that of Thomas Tucker, a Maidu born at Big Meadows in 1895 but moved to Susanville. He first attended the Greenville Indian School and when the U.S. entered World War I, he enlisted. On September 28, 1918, he was killed in action in France, becoming the first casualty from Susanville in the War.  When the local American Legion Chapter was formed in 1920, it was named in his honor, Thomas Tucker Post No. 204. His remains were brought back from France in 1921, and a funeral service was held on September 25, 1921, at the Susanville Cemetery.

Thomas Tucker's grave site in the Susanville Cemetery.

Before it was Lake Almanor, it was a grassy valley with a wealth of fish, waterfowls, tubers and seeds which fed the Maidu at their winter settlements. Traveling here, the Worldmaker encountered a giant frog monster and some fiery little devils who transformed into giant boulders now covered by the lake.

The flooding of the valley in 1914 resulted in the displacement of the Maidu from their traditional, pastoral way of life.

In 2025 the Mountain Maidu received recognition with two gateway signs that acknowledge their presence and their name for these homelands. Two 13-foot metal monuments, at the east and west entrances to Chester on State Route 36, announce to motorists that they are entering Óidim Ḱoýo, the “Maidu name for Chester area.” Or probably more accurately  "Maidu name for the upper part of Big Meadows" since the town of Chester didn't come into existence until 1894. 

Shannon Salem Williams and Harvey Merino of the Mountain Maidu Consortium at Chester's east gateway monument.

Chester’s west gateway monument.

They were erected by Caltrans, in partnership with the Maidu Summit Consortium, as part of a statewide project to beautify and increase awareness of local areas and the people that call them home. Each of the greetings, spelled out in bold yellow block letters, is mounted on nine black spires topped with triangles. The motif is an adaptation of a traditional Maidu basket pattern representing mountains as seen in the picture below.

Traditional Maidu baskets.

Pre-Lake Pioneers

One of the most famous early pioneers of the area was Dr Willard Marion Pratt. Pratt was born on Mar 12, 1826, in Canton, PA and came to Big Meadows in 1867 and established a hotel.  was married to Sarah Hewitt Hart Pratt and had 6 children.

The Pratt Hotel, the town that sprang up around it came to known as Prattville.

On July 4th, 1909, while the town people and visitors of Prattville were a mile from town enjoying a picnic and playing baseball with the rival team from Greenville, a plume of smoke was spotted rising from the town. With no fire equipment, the town was a complete loss. Despite the total devastation two business were rebuilt following the fire. The Sorsoli Saloon and the general merchandise store belonging to Timothy Lucy which was also home to the Prattville Post office. On December 23, 1911, Sorsoli sold his saloon and five town lots to the Great Western Power Company. Timothy Lucy continued to conduct business but with the flooding of Big Meadows to create Lake Almanor in early 1914, he closed his store on March 31, 1914. This also marked the end of the Prattville Post Office. The common consensus of the time was that the Great Western Power Company had set the town on fire to make way for the lake. No direct evidence was ever found however, later a schoolteacher's bell was discovered, labeled with a tag that read "Taken from the Prattville School on the day GWP burned the town about 1910." The author of the tag was the Great Western Power Company physician Dr. Fred Davis.  

Prattville Pioneer Cemetery in its current location.

The first burial in what would become the Prattville Cemetery occurred on June 17, 1864 with the internment of James Lee.  In 1925, Great Western Power Company announced its intention to enlarge Lake Almanor, and thus the cemetery would have to be moved. In October 1926 Kenneth Murray of Greenville was hired to exhume 101 bodies and relocate them 300 yards to the west to what is now the current Prattville Pioneer Cemetery. The Maidu Cemetery was not moved and remained undisturbed under the water out in front of Prattville that is until the 1930's. PG&E has stated that this whole area was dredged, possibly disturbing graves and scattering remains widely over the lake bottom.

The Becraft-Hamilton-Holmes Ranch, located on what is now called Lake Almanor East Shore.

The summer kitchen at the Becraft-Hamilton-Holmes Ranch along Hamilton Branch.

​ John Hamilton and Sara Jane Holmes were married on August 12,1856. The Hamiltons were the first settlers on the east side of the valley known as Big Meadows and lived there the remainder of their lives. The Hamilton Branch of the Feather River which flows into Lake Almanor along with two mountain peaks near Mt. Dyer bear their name to this day. They first homesteaded some land then acquired 400 acres of valley and timberland. John went into the dairy business and The Hamilton Dairy opened in Big Meadows in 1860. The Hamilton and Holmes families used the milk to produce butter that would be hauled in wagons over the Humbug Pass to Chico where it was sold. Hamilton had a shop where he built his own butter kegs and was also known to produce split rails for fencing, shingles for cabins and for barns where he would store wild grass hay, put up in summer, to carry the livestock through the winters.

ECV Hamilton Dairy marker located on the east shore.

The Hamilton Milkhouse located on the east shore of Lake Almanor.

The Hamilton Milkhouse, built over a year-round spring along the eastern side of Big Meadows in 1860. The structure, used to store fresh milk and cream, took advantage of the cool spring water as a sort of early refrigeration. The building was disassembled, log by log, and moved up hill out path of the rising waters of what would become Lake Almanor. The building was reassembled next to the spring whose waters cooled its contents all those years ago and still stands today as the oldest structure on the shore of the lake.

Bunnell Hotel 1899

New Bunnell Hotel 1901

​In 1901 the Bunnell Hotel, located at the tip of a "mountain ridge", known today as the peninsula of Lake Almanor, opened. Luther Wellington Bunnell’s popular first hotel had burned to the ground in 1899 at a total loss and this replacement would become known as "the most elaborate structure ever to adorn Big Meadows." On April 11, 1906, Bunnell sold his properties to the Great Western Power Company while he continued to operate the resort for the remainder of the 1906 season. In subsequent years, the company continued to use the resort as their local headquarters, on the evening of June 6, 1914, all the buildings at Bunnell's were set ablaze for demolition. Despite the burning then flooding of the meadow, two pieces of the Bunnell legacy live on today. The first is the name for the end of the peninsula known as Bunnell Point, the second is a 1200 pound safe ordered by Bunnell and shipped from San Francisco to his mountain resort. It was removed from the resort by the Great Western Power Company sometime prior to the resort's burning then stored, unused. The safe was then used as a "trade in" to purchase a new modern safe for one of the PGE facilities from a Chico area locksmith. The safe remained in his business in Chico until December 2021 when long time Chester residents, Sharon and Will Henry spotted it. The Henrys realized the connection to the Chester/Almanor area and as luck would have it, the locksmith was closing his shop and hoped the safe would go to a museum. The
 Henrys said, “We know just the place.” The Bunnell Hotel safe now resides in the Chester Museum on First Avenue, having come nearly full circle after being "lost" for more than 100 years. 

The Bunnell Resort Safe now resting in the Plumas County Museum in Chester Ca.

Trails West historical marker near present day Rec 2 Boat Ramp referencing a "ridge" now known as the peninsula of Lake Almanor.

Robins Nest early 1900's.

The Bidwell House present day.

Bidwell House. Named for General John Bidwell, famous founder of the city of Chico, CA, this unique and antique bed and breakfast was built in 1901, on the edge of the meadow and the banks of the Feather River, as a summer home for the General and his wife Annie. Named "Robins Nest" it was completed in 1904 and sat on 800 acres the couple owned in Big Meadows. Earl McKenzie acquired the Robins Nest in 1926 when Great Western Power Company was enlarging the dam, which would have flooded the house. McKenzie skidded the structure overland through the Stover and Olsen ranches to its present site using “Cats” borrowed from Red River Lumber Company. The house served for thirty years as summer headquarters for the McKenzie-Stover Cattle Company.​

Meadow View Hotel around 1890.

John and Annie were not the only Bidwells in the region. At the south end of Big Meadows, Agustus R. Bidwell, a nephew of John Bidwell, and his wife Clara, of Greenville, established the Meadow View Hotel in 1882. It was an investment for Bidwell, and the hotel was leased. In 1902, it was acquired by Great Western Power Company who subsequently closed the hotel. For a brief time in came back to life, and in 1909, Great Western made improvements to the building, and it became their local headquarters. In the fall of 1913, Great Western closed it down. Due to an unusually heavy precipitation in January 1914, the new reservoir, later to be named Lake Almanor, began filling up unexpectedly, surrounding the hotel on what was known as Nevis Island. The high spot the hotel was built on is still easily detectable by sonar along present day Lake Almanor's east shore.

The Meadowlark on the waters of Big Meadows.

In 1889 A.R. Bidwell commissioned the building of a vessel from a foundry in Greenville. The Meadowlark had a 23-foot, steel hull and was propelled by  a rear paddlewheel that was powered by a small centrally located steam boiler. The now disassembled Meadowlark rests at the Chester Museum.​

Building of a Reservoir 

The original dam design at Big Meadows as envisioned by the Great Western Power Company involved a series of concrete arches.

Early on in the construction of the original dam design. Three of the concrete arches can be seen in the upper left.

Five of the finished concrete arches from the original design can be seen here.

"The Dinky" early in the Canyon Dam construction that formed Lake Almanor.

The Great Western Power Company was formed on September,18, 1906 with all the lands, rights and titles being transferred to it, and work began on the dam at Big Meadows in 1912. The Great Western Power Company encountered numerous problems with the construction of their dam that would create Lake Almanor including a temporary halt due to technical difficulties in foundation preparation and a regional shortage of concrete materials.   Following the breach of a concrete dam, with a similar design, that killed 800 people in Pennsylvania, in 1911, flaws were found with the original dam design, and it had to be abandoned. A new dam site was selected, upstream of the original, within the canyon to gain access to more stable bedrock. The move made it necessary to completely re-engineer the structure, shifting from a masonry arch to a hydraulic-fill design, but by the summer of 1913 work was fully underway. However, due to financial constraints, the dam’s height was reduced by about half, resulting in a smaller reservoir.

Construction of the intake tower showing one of the seven gates being lowered into place during the building of the dam at Big Meadows.

This picture taken from on top of the original intake tower at the dam looking north across Big Meadows.

The original intake tower in 1914 as the waters began to rise.

​On December 24th, 1913, a heavy amount of snow fell, blanketing the area of Big Meadows, followed by a warm rainstorm that struck the region in early January,1914, melting the snow and filling the reservoir, albeit prematurely, catching some by surprise. Great Western Power’s headquarters, then called Nevis, which was the former Meadow View Hotel built by Agustus Bidwell, was surrounded by the rising waters, creating an island.

Meadow View Hotel in 1914 surrounded by the waters of the newly formed reservoir. Today's Rocky Point is seen in the background.

An early view of the newly formed Lake Almanor. The peninsula can be seen at center.

Early view of the newly formed Lake Almanor. The peninsula is center left while Dakasu Island is center right.

The drought of 1924 proved to be tough on Great Western Power’s hydro-electric operations. Channels were dredged out into the lake to direct water to the outtake and help maximize the water flow out of Lake Almanor.  The drought, in combination with a desire to increase down-stream hydro-electric production, prompted Great Western Power Company to announce it would raise the dam at Lake Almanor by forty-five feet. This would nearly double the size of the lake making it one of the largest reservoirs in North America at that time. The water storage would allow for additional powerhouses to be built as well as protect the systems from future droughts. Construction occurred from 1925 to 1927, which replaced the initial hydraulic-fill dam with a larger version of the same type. The new dam would be longer, taller and wider that the original, with an updated intake tower. The new gated intake tower would be built directly on top of the original that dated back to 1912 and would accommodate the increased water levels. The enlargement significantly increased Lake Almanor's storage, with total capacity reaching approximately 1,300,000 acre-feet near completion, and usable storage approaching 1,000,000 acre-feet at the normal maximum water level of 4,494 feet. The expansion was completed by 1927 and PG&E acquired Great Western Power Company along with all of its infrastructure, including Lake Almanor in 1930.

Carp Plant Story
​Fox Farm Story

​Baccala family story/ selling to GWP
​This caught the Baccala family, whose ranch was located along Bailey Creek, off guard. Their place flooded, stranding nearly a hundred head of cattle, and an automobile, among other personal effects. Further down, towards present Prattville, was  Relief came somewhat in the form of snow. Did it ever snow! Some areas of Big Meadows reported nearly twenty-feet by mid-February.
​​In the fall of 1961, PG&E disclosed that it intended to raise the dam by sixteen feet and increase the storage capacity by sixty percent. The $6.7 million project began in the spring of 1962—Work on the new improved Lake Almanor dam was completed in the fall of 1963.



Seasoned residents and visitors to Lake Almanor will recall that body of water was plagued with snags—dead standing trees submerged by the lake. The trees were mostly lodgepole pine that had no commercial value to the Red River Lumber Company when it initially logged the basin. Another issue, especially along the shoreline was  the remnants of tree stumps left over from harvesting trees.
In 1954 the California Department of Fish & Game estimated it would cost $1.6 million to remove the snags and stumps. California Assemblywoman Pauline Davis, who liked the idea of the snag removal, would not seek state funds to do it, as the lake was privately owned.
As the development of the subdivisions on the peninsula and east shore continued so did the issue of snag removal. In the fall of 1959, PG&E did a pilot test to remove the snags and stumps. After it was completed, it would assess the results, and should it appear feasible from a cost standpoint, it would move forward with the program to include additional segments of the lake.
To the delight of many, PG&E continued with the snag removal program, and in 1961 work was accelerated. Cattermole and Tretheway Construction Company were awarded the contract for removal snags, stumps and driftwood. At its peak the company had five barges, employing over fifty men. One of the more problematic regions of the lake was the one known as Gould Swamp to the east of Chester. A huge pile of snags was created on the Chester boat landing road. Farrell Hamilton, foreman for the company, reported that the pile consisted of nearly six million board feet of timber. It measured some 1,100 feet long, by 60 feet wide and 20 feet high. To dispose of this mammoth wodpile, the company intended to have one large bonfire and it did in late October 1963. As one forest service employee noted, it “really made quite a blaze.”

The Naming of the Reservoir at Big Meadows

In 1902, Julius M. Howells official recording was for the creation of a new reservoir at Big Meadows to be named Lake Earl after Edwin and Guy Earl, founders of Great Western Power Company. Twelve years later, in 1914 following the completion of the dam, the newly formed reservoir would be It would be christened Lake Almanor for Guy Earl’s three daughters. Alice, Martha and Elinore ​(Almanor)

Alice, Martha and Elinore Earl, daughters of Guy C. Earl, Vice President of Great Western Power Company.

Alice, Martha and Elinore later years sitting in front of the Belden Powerhouse

Large springs issue at the northeast edge of Big Meadows, about 5 miles by road northeast of Prattville. The water issues from ba- saltic lava, a few feet above the meadow level, in an area of willows and quaking aspens about 100 yards in diameter. After flowing down over rimes of coarse lava gravel it forms a sluggish stream 100 yards or more in width in the meadow. A very rough float measurement LARGE COLD SPRINGS. 331 at the riffles indicates that the discharge is about 56 second feet (29,000 gallons a minute). The water is cold (46°) and of very good quality. It has been used to some extent for irrigating the meadow and forms a tributary of North Fork of Feather River. 
​Springs of California by Gerald A. Waring

Big Springs around 1897

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Trails West historical marker near Big Springs.

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The Westwood Rod & Gun Club clubhouse originally built near the current day tip of the peninsula.

Hunting and fishing have always been part of the Lake Almanor story. Just a few years after the original dam was constructed, the first organizational meeting of the Westwood Rod & Gun Club was held on March 13, 1922. A site for the original clubhouse was selected on Bunnell’s point, close to what is now known as the tip of the Lake Almanor peninsula.  By April of that year, construction began on the two-story clubhouse. Three years after the clubhouse was built the organization received word that Great Western Power had plans to heighten the dam at Lake Almanor, doubling its size. The main clubhouse, along with several adjacent cabins were floated on a barge, leased from the Great Western Power, and relocated to the Big Springs area on the eastern shore of the lake. The Rod and Gun Club remained active until 1945 when it was disbanded. In 1947 the building was purchased by a company out of San Diego and was remodeled into apartments until it was finally torn down in 2010.​

Chester AKA "Little Reno"

Chester rodeo story

Chester California

​Chester received its name from Burwell Johnson, raised near Chester Illinois, and Oscar Martin, whose family was from the Chester Vermont area, in 1894 when they established a post office on the Johnson Ranch near what is the North Shore Campground today. The post office would be moved several times over the years, first to the Olsen Ranch in 1908, then to the newly built Corner Store at the intersection of the Red Bluff-Susanville Wagon Road (future Main Street) and the Prattville Road (future First Avenue) in 1912. Then it moved across the river to a business front built by Guard Young in 1950. During Prohibition in the 1920's and early 30's, Chester developed quite a reputation, known for bootlegging and gambling, among other vices, earning it the nickname “Little Reno". Establishments such as the Bear Club, The Blue Fox, The Red Feather Saloon and the Lassen Club serving up liquor, some featuring craps and poker tables as well as slot machines. Even Stover's Meat Market was said to have slot machines inside for patrons. Chester also became a vital hub for travelers on their way to the newly created Lassen National Park in 1916 and later to visitors of the newly formed Lake Almanor, providing meals, lodging and supplies. One such supplier was Dinty Moore (no relation to the stew that I could find), known as the "Queen of local sporting goods". Her sporting goods store boasted "the newest lures, freshest bait and latest updates on the hot spots for Rainbow and German Brown Trout".

Chester's original Bear Club "Famous for Dancing, Cocktails, Steaks and Entertainment"

Dinty Moore's Sporting Goods next to the barber shop.

Chester was also known for its floods, which would inundate the town destroying property and infrastructure. Historically the area around lake Almanor including Chester would experience flooding every 3-4 years with a major event happening once every 10 years. 1936 saw massive road projects with a realignment of the new Hwy 36, a new bridge over the Feather River and the road surface change from dirt to asphalt. The new improvements didn't last long as the massive flood of 1937 washed the new paving "downstream towards the causeway. Again in 1956 the town suffered, ravaged by another huge flooding event that sparked interest in a canal that could divert water and spare Chester in times of flooding. ​

Main Street Chester 1937.

Main Street Chester 1956.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came in and improved the Feather River channel, followed by a deep flood control ditch built from the river through the west side of Chester in what might be considered the first "Chester Flood Control Channel" That channel failed in the December 1964 flood which took out the Main Street Bridge over the Feather River and was the catalyst for the current flood control channel that carries high water from the river into the lake before it reaches town. ​

The Main Street Bridge over the Feather River, December 1964.

Groundbreaking was planned for late June 1975, and the Chester Flood Control Channel also known as "The Super Ditch" was completed by mid-August 1976. The project included a 40-foot high, 970-foot-long earthen dam and a 2-mile-long channel that diverts water away from Chester and into Lake Almanor.

The dam on the Feather River is the start of the Chester Flood Control Channel. The control house and "V" weir can be seen here.

The first step in the 2-mile-long Chester Flood Control Channel.

Collins pine Unabomber connection story

Lake Resorts

Wilson's Camp Prattville in the early days.

Wilson's Camp Prattville present day.

Wilson's is the oldest, continued operating business on the Lake Almanor. Wilson's Camp Prattville Resort was established in 1928 by Frank and Nettie Wilson, both Plumas County residents.  They leased and later purchased 33 acres along the shores of Lake Almanor and established the resort.  When Nettie retired at age 83 in 1972, her son Kenneth D. Wilson and wife Carol began their management.  Then, in 1999, Kenneth A. Wilson Jr., his wife Debbie, and their three sons Kenny, Cody, and Calvin began operations, continuing a tradition of family ownership for nearly 100 years.

Lake Almanor Inn

1950's advertising brochure for The Almanor Inn.

Once located on the west shore The Almanor Inn was a bustling place touting all forms of recreation at the resort, and in the area including day trips to Lassen Park, swimming, boating, tennis and of course hunting and fishing. One of their advertising flyers proclaimed, "Deer Hunters Note: The deer you kill are our guests in our large walk-in refrigerators FREE OF CHARGE UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO LEAVE FOR HOME." While another line stated the only thing missing from the resort were "RATTLESNAKES and POISION OAK".

In 1932 Adelaide and Fred Smith established the Plumas Pines Resort on the west shore of Lake Almanor, located between the Lake Almanor and the relocated Prattville Cemetery. On July 15, 1932, Adelaide became the postmaster of the new Almanor Post Office, which was seasonal, only open during the summer months.  In the spring of 1950, Fred having passed away several years prior, she sold the Plumas Pines Resort to V.Y. Briggs. Adelaide Smith retired as the Almanor Postmaster on September 30. 1951. The Sperbeck family operated the resort for 12 years prior to selling it to Glenn Geer in 1999. The Geer's maintain it as a family operation to this day.

The Davis Lake Resort near Big Springs. The cabin at left still stands today.

"The Fort" in the background with these couples standing on the Davis Lake Resort boat ramp. The concrete ramp can still be seen during low water periods.

The Davis Lake Resort on Lake Almanor located near Big Springs was known for, what was called, "The Fort", a large wooden sea wall that protected their boats and docks from the harsh prevailing wind driven waves that would crash against the shoreline.

The docks and "The Fort" at Davis Lake Resort, Lake Almanor.

Near the Davis Lake Resort this private lot owner built his own canal and harbor to protect boats from the waves. this shot is looking south towards Canyon Dam.

Where Was Bratton's Resort​
Macnama's/Larson's Eastshore Motel Resort , now The Dorado Inn.
Hallets Chester Boat Landing

Early docks at Lassen View Resort

Docks at Lassen View Resort looking up Hamilton Branch

In 1923, J.N. Boshoff contacted Red River officials about converting a portion of their abandoned Camp 32 at Hamilton Branch into a small resort. Boshoff then converted some of the cabins at Camp 32 into bath houses for changing and others into overnight sleeping accommodations. He dubbed his new enterprise Hamilton Park. Boshoff leased the property from Red River for the next fourteen years. Hamilton Park eventually became known as Lassen View Resort. The resort was purchased in ???? by the Pleau and Chavez families who continued its operation until their retirement in ????. The property was sold and is now a private residence.  Jim and Toni Pleau, Reuben and Julie Chavez along with Paul and Wanda Garrido are the original founders of The Lake Almanor Enhancement Committee in the early 1980 which became The Almanor Fishing Association. 

Sign at Lassen View Resort

Jim and Toni Pleau and Julie and Reuben Chavez.

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Big Spring Resort

Modern Developments

The original Lake Almanor Country Club Gate on Peninsula Drive.

Ed Clifford was a Seattle lawyer who also did some real estate development.  In 1953, he filed incorporation papers for the Lake Almanor Country Club and filed a plat for Unit 1. Prior to that time, however, he had developed some land along the East shore purchased from the Walker family in 1948 and 1949. Ed’s idea for the Lake Almanor Country Club was a private country club in a common‑consent subdivision where owner‑members would need to be approved by a member committee before purchasing a lot. Golf course construction began in the summer of 1962.

The entrance sign greeting visitors to Almanor West. Replaced following the Dixie fire in 2001.

Originally purchased in the 50's by Ed Clifford and other developers from the Walker family, the 615 acres that make up Almanor west would sit idle until the early 70's. The initial lot sales began in 1974 with 650 lots but has since increased to 695 lots. Originally the golf course was basically a greenbelt. In 1977 the preparation for a 9 hole course began and took several years to complete. The Clubhouse was added in 1980 and the course officially opened in 1981.

The Almanor Golf Experience story
Bailey Creek History

The Mystery of The Flag in The Lake

"Flag Island" Picture and print by Almanor Girl.

June 24, 2021, marked the first changing of the flag by the Almanor Fishing Association.

​Flag Island, which is officially Goose Island, located in the western basin of Lake Almanor in front of Prattville. This rocky outcropping once rose from the meadow along the Feather River channel and only became an island as it was surrounded by the rising waters of Lake Almanor. When the present-day lake is full or near full it isn't even an island at all, but just a shallow spot marked by a ring of white buoys.  Sometime in the early 1990's, someone placed a galvanized pipe flagpole on the highest point of Goose Island and hung an American Flag on it. The flag would fly day in and day out throughout the year enduring all mother nature had to throw at it. Coming out of winter into spring each year the flag would be tattered and torn then, as if by magic, a new flag would replace the old one. This cycle carried on year after year until 2021, that spring the flag didn't get changed. As the island and the flag had become the backdrop for the Almanor Fishing Association's annual Veteran's Fishing Day boat parade, volunteers from AFA assembled at the island the afternoon before the event and changed out the flag for the first time, a tradition that continues to this day. Who originally placed the flag and why remains a mystery. I have heard many stories but always second and third hand accounts that didn't proof out. Over the years, the island has, most likely had several "flag keepers", for instance, in 2013 the task was undertaken by seasonal guests of Wilson's Camp Prattville.

Research Credits and Contributions:
Marilyn Quadrio, Director of the Chester Museum
Plumas County Museum
Tim I Purdy
​Plumas Sun
​Photo Credit:
UC Davis Special Collections
​CSU Chico Digital Collections
​Plumas County Museum
​National Park Service
​Cathy Altenburg
Bryan Roccucci