The Lodge
1
930-1938
(Photograph courtesy of Susan Watson)
In the photographs above taken in 1926 and 1927 the rear of the lodge lacks a covered porch. However
the photographs taken in 1931 show that a covered porch has been added to the
west side (rear) of the lodge. Also, the
covered porch at the south end of the building appears to have been
rebuilt at this time with its roof enlarged to connect with the porch roof on the
east (front) side of the building, and with the new porch addition on the
west (rear) side. Also, the small building adjacent to the southwest corner
of the lodge and
visible in several photographs dating from 1902 to 1927 disappears in
photographs after 1931. It is likely that this building was removed to make
room for the new porches. The lodge now had a covered porch extending around
three sides of the building, the new sections constructed sometime between
1927 and 1931.
The Collapse of the Lodge in the Winter of 1937-38
Roy Sifford
returned to Drakesbad on May 10, 1938, to find that the lodge "had been
smashed sideways" by the winter snows (Sifford 1994: 95). The damage to the lodge
is visible in the two photographs above. The
photo on the left shows the covered porch on the west and south sides of the
building and the photograph on the right shows
the north side (fireplace) of the lodge. Damage to the building was such that
Roy
Sifford considered the structure beyond repair. In addition to the damage to
the lodge, Sifford reports that a store house and four cottages were
"wrecked" (Roy Sifford interviewed by Dorothy Hill, June 8 1973).
Why was the lodge, which had survived 46 previous winters intact, so severely
damaged in the winter of 1937-38? Roy Sifford reports that the winter
of 1937-38 was "the most severe that we had ever experienced". In December
the Lassen area experienced a heavy snowfall of three to four feet, followed
by what he describes as a "warm rain storm" which caused extensive flooding. January was another period of heavy snowfall, "more than 20 feet in
depth in some places" (Sifford 1994: 93-94).
Snowfall and snowpack
data for the Northern Sierra confirm that the winter of 1937-38 was indeed
as severe as Sifford reported. Data from Donner Summit shows that total
snowfall in the northern Sierras that winter exceeded 700 inches, more snow than any winter since
1890 and far above the 415 inches in an average year. However, the recorded
maximum snowpack depth for the year 1937-38 was only slightly more than 200 inches,
likely due to melting during the period of warmer temperature mentioned by
Sifford. The maximum snowpack depth for the year 1937-38, while deeper than
the average of 137 inches, was equal to or less in depth than the snowpacks
recorded for the years 1890, 1893, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1907, and 1911.
If snowpack depth is a more accurate measure
of the maximum weight of snow carried on the roof of the lodge at any
particular time
during the winter, then the winter of 1937-38 was severe, but not
extraordinary. The lodge had withstood similar snow loads during
six previous winters. This suggests that the addition of the new covered porch
on the rear of the lodge and the enlargement of the covered porch on the
south end may have contributed in some degree to the structural failure of the
building. A rough analysis of the roof profile
in the photographs indicates that the addition of the covered porch roof on
the west (rear) side of the building increased the
total snow-bearing roof area of the lodge by approximately 25 percent. Also, the
photos of the rear of the lodge taken in 1927 and 1931 suggest that snow sloughing off
the west porch roof at the rear of the lodge would not fall clear of the building but would
build up in the narrow "valley" between the lodge and an earthen bank a few
feet to the west. As the snow trapped in the narrow space between the
lodge and earthen bank increased in depth it is probable that a considerable
side force vector would press against the building.
In addition to the factors discussed above, Roy
Sifford was to discover that the construction methods employed by Edward
Drake in 1890 were fundamentally flawed. When Sifford tore down the
lodge in 1938 he discovered under the interior wallpaper what he considered
to be inadequate sway bracing. The bracing for the hand hewn logs standing
on end consisted "only of rough 1 x 12 boards nailed to the up right logs
using No. 10 and 13 square nails, which allowed the building to be pushed
sideways by the snow" (Sifford 1994: 98-100).
During the process of removing the damaged building
Roy Sifford discovered a note left by Edward Drake tucked away in the eaves
of the building.
1931--Clearer view of earthen bank at the rear of the lodge
(Photograph courtesy of Susan Watson)
1935-Lodge with 1935 Packard automobile. Note the
addition of rear porch visible behind sign
(EASTMAN'S ORIGINALS COLLECTION, D-51, Department of Special
Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis)
1937--The covered porch addition on the west side
(rear) of the lodge and the improved south porch
Another view of the improved south
porch and west porch addition on the left
1938--Damage to the Lodge
Left-- the southwest corner of the lodge Right--the north
fireplace end