106 years later, Lassen Peak eruptions recalled as most recent to strike California
While other, more recent volcanic eruptions – such as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history – have garnered more attention, the May 1915 eruptions at Lassen Peak, commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, remain the most recent volcanic action seen in California.
The eruptions, which occurred over four days beginning May 19th and culminated with the largest blast on the afternoon of the 22nd, sent waves of lava and pulverized streams of volcanic debris spilling from its peak, obliterating everything in their path.
The final eruption shot plumes of rock, ash, melted snow, and steam as high as five miles into the sky, before volcanic debris rained down on communities as far as twenty-five miles away. The event destroyed an eight-mile long, quarter-mile wide area covering 4,700 acres of land.
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A lava dome, Lassen Peak is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States, rising roughly 10,400 feet, just east of Redding. With a reported volume of 0.6 cu mi, it is the highest point in Shasta County and possibly the largest, single-plug lava dome in the world and rose from the former northern flank of now-eroded Mount Tehama about 27,000 years ago.
With several eruptions reported beginning on the 19th, the most powerful explosion happened on the afternoon of May 22, when a volcanic plume shot from a vent and rose five miles into the sky. The plume could be seen from as far as Sacramento and ash rained down as far away as Nevada, area news organizations reported at the time.
The May 22, 1915, eruption of Mount Lassen as seen 40 miles away from Red Bluff’s Walnut Street looking toward Main Street. The old Cone-Kimball building can be seen on the right. (R.E. Stinson/California State University, Chico)
Newspapers gave accounts of bridges, barns, trees, and a handful of homes being swallowed up in the cattle-ranching valley below the peak, with thousands of heads of livestock reportedly lost, Mike McPhate of the California Sun wrote in a 2018 article about the volcano’s 1915 eruptions.
Although some citizen injuries were reported, remarkably, the eruptions did not result in any citizens being killed.
According to local historian Dottie Smith, Lassen Peak has erupted more than 300 times, completely devastating and altering the surrounding area after each significant eruption.
The first eruption was reported on May 22, 1914, with consistent and frequently eruptions continuing until 1921, according to Smith; who said the area was set aside as Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1916.
About that day 106 years ago today, Josie Reifschneider-Smith, of the Association for Northern California Historical Research – a non-profit group supporting historical research in Northern California by publishing books about the region’s rich history, wrote, “On that day, Red Bluff was celebrating the paving of Hwy 99 thru town. They celebrated all day with festivities such as dances, daytime fireworks, and a motorcycle race. Lassen upstaged all that with this major eruption just before 5 p.m.”
A work crew at the edge of a tree-filled mudflow that was triggered during the 1915 eruptions of Mount Lassen, which can be seen still steaming in the background. (Benjamin Franklin Loomis/California State University, Chico)
Now, 106 years after the Lassen eruptions, the area known as the Lassen Volcanic Center may appear quiet, but it is by no means dormant, according to McPhate.
“Geologists rate the region — along with Mount Shasta, also part of the Cascade Range, and the Long Valley volcanic area in Mono County — as a ‘very high threat.’ Other volcanic areas including those near the Salton Sea and just north of Santa Rosa are considered ‘high’ threats,” McPhate explained.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), at least seven California volcanoes—Medicine Lake Volcano, Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic Center, Clear Lake Volcanic Field, Long Valley Volcanic Region, Coso Volcanic Field, and Salton Buttes – have partially molten rock (magma) deep within their roots, and research on past eruptions indicates they will erupt again in the future.
“Scientists can’t make specific predictions about the timing of California’s next eruption. But major volcanic events tend to operate on massive time scales, arriving at intervals lasting hundreds if not many thousands of years,” said McPhate.
The May 22 eruption of Mount Lassen Peak seen from Mineral, about 10 miles away. (E.N. Hampton/California State University, Chico)
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.