Lassen Peak - Human History

Human History

Before the arrival of white settlers, the areas surrounding Lassen Peak, especially to its east, south, and southeast, were the traditional homeland of the northeastern Maidu American Indians.

Lassen Peak was named in honor of the Danish blacksmith Peter Lassen, who guided immigrants past this peak to the Sacramento Valley during the 1830s. The trail that Lassen blazed never found generalized long-term use because it was considered unsafe. This trail was replaced by the Nobles Emigrant Trail, named for the guide, William Nobles, which linked the Applegate Trail in northwestern Nevada to the northern part of the Sacramento Valley.

In 1864, Helen Tanner Brodt became the first woman to reach the summit of Lassen Peak. A tarn lake on Lassen Peak was named "Lake Helen" in her honor.

Beginning in 1914 and lasting until 1921, Lassen Peak emerged from dormancy with a series of phreatic eruptions (steam explosions), dacite lava flows, and lahars (volcanic mud flows). There were 200 to 400 volcanic eruptions during this period of activity. Because of the eruptive activity and the area's stark volcanic beauty, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone and the area surrounding were designated as the Lassen Volcanic National Park on August 9, 1916.