Pioneer Cemetery
U
ptown Susanville is rich with local history from the murals to the Pioneer Saloon. If you’re in the area, walk over to the Pioneer Cemetery — nestled on a hill above the Susan River — the final resting place for many of the county’s founding fathers. Located on Pine and Court streets, the cemetery is located in a beautiful area of Susanville, where it overlooks the town and valley, the mountains creating a barrier on the west side and the historic courthouse almost right across the street. The cemetery was established when Perry Craig drowned in the Susan River in November 1860, but there is no marker for his grave. People will find however, headstones for Isaac Roop, town founder, his daughter, Susan Roop Arnold, after whom Susanville is named, William Weatherlow and Native American veterans Tommy Tucker and Leonard Lowry. Roop was born in 1822 in Maryland and his family moved to Ohio when he was 16. At the age of 18, he married his wife, Nancy, and they had a daughter, Susan, and two sons. Nancy died of typhoid when Susan was just 8 years old. Leaving his children with their grandparents, Roop set out for California in 1850. When he arrived, Roop lived in several different places before settling in the Honey Lake Valley. He plotted the town of Susanville, established a post office and served as postmaster, built a mill, planted
The Pioneer Cemetery, set in Historic Uptown Susanville, is the final resting place for many local historical figures. Photos by Ruth Ellis
orchards and constructed a ditch to bring water to town. He also helped form the Territory of Nevada and was elected the first provincial governor. Roop practiced law in Susanville. He died in 1869 after a short illness at the young age of 47. Susan followed her father to California when she was 21 years old. She married Alexander Arnold and had eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood. After her father died, Susan and her husband ordered a monument for his grave from Marysville, Calif. However, something happened to the monument before it was delivered. A monument was finally erected in 1914 when the Masons and the Native Sons of the Golden West placed a native granite marker in the cemetery. Weatherlow had accompanied Roop to the Honey Lake Valley and helped him build the first cabin in Susanville, which is known as Roop’s Fort. As an early settler, Weatherlow attended most meetings pertaining to organizations and governance of the territory and served on several general committees. He died of pneumonia in Roop’s home in 1864 at the age of 51. Tommy Tucker, a Native American, died in France in 1918, the first Lassen County soldier to die in action in World War I. The Pioneer Cemetery is the burial place of Harry and Gladys The local Burroughs, who served as Lassen County Superior Court judges. American Legion Gladys was reportedly the second woman judge in the state, sworn in only 30 minutes after another woman in Los Angeles in 1936. post is named in Gladys was appointed to the position after her husband died. his honor.
Lassen County Visitors Guide 2014-15
Lowry was also a Native American who served in the U.S. military, becoming the highest decorated Native American in World War II. Lowry and his brother were the subjects of the book, “Home to Medicine Mountain,” illustrated by Lowry’s daughter, Judith. The book recounts the boys’ return to Lassen County from an Indian boarding school in Riverside, Calif. During the 1930s, it was practice for the government to send Indian children to residential boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language and forced to forget their traditions. The boys ran away from the school and returned home by riding on top of a freight train. Lowry retired from the U.S. Army in 1967 as a Lt. Colonel. In addition to fighting during World War II, he served during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He also served at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Lowry was proud of his Native American heritage, but he always said he fought for “all the people in the Honey Lake Valley. This is my home.” When he died, Lowry wanted to be buried next to Tucker, but someone was already buried in the spot he requested. It was believed the grave belonged to a veteran, so an unknown marker was placed there and Lowry was buried on the other side. In 1918, the cemetery was closed, plots were no longer available and the Lassen Cemetery opened on Chestnut Street. Even though the Pioneer Cemetery was deemed closed, interments continued with 99 burials between 1978 and 2001. ❖
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