Roop County, known until 1862 as Lake County, was a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Neva ...

in the United States from 1861 until 1864. It was created in 1861 as one of the original nine counties of Nevada. In 1864 it was succeeded by Lassen County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Washoe County, Nevada Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Sta ...

History

In March 1861, Congress created the official

, with the Honey Lake Valley and the area to its north included within its provisional bounds. When this occurred, the border between Nevada and

was poorly defined in Nevada's

Organic Act In United States law, an organic act is an act of the United States Congress that establishes an administrative agency or local government, for example, the laws that established territory of the United States and specified how they are to ...

. Later in 1861, Lake County was established in northwestern Nevada, creating a boundary dispute with California. Its name was chosen due to the many lakes in the area, including Honey Lake, Pyramid Lake, and Winnemucca Lake. In 1862 it was renamed Roop County after Isaac Roop, governor of the unofficial "Provisional Territorial Government of Nevada Territory," which had previously existed in the same area. Much of Roop County, including Susanville (named after Roop's daughter), was claimed by California as part of Plumas County. This led to an armed conflict known as the Sagebrush War, the War of Injunctions or the Roop County War. This resulted in the appointment of a joint California–Nevada boundary survey, with Surveyor-General J. F. Houghton acting for the State of California and

Butler Ives Butler Ives (January 31, 1830, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts – December 1872 near Vallejo, California), son of Butler Ives Sr. and Olive Hall Morse Sheffield, was the youngest of ten children and was educated at the University of Michigan. ...

, for the Territory of Nevada. The final surveyors report, accepted by California on April 4, 1864, and by Nevada on February 7, 1865, proved that the Honey Lake area and virtually all the population of Roop County was in California. The California portion of Roop County became part of the newly created

Lassen County, California Lassen County ( ) is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,730, and was estimated to be 28,340 in 2024, Its county seat and the largest city is Susanville ...

, in 1864. The remainder was ceded to

References

External links

The Nevada Observer: History of Roop County

Nevada Association of Counties: Creation of Nevada's Counties
{{Nevada Former counties of Nevada 1861 establishments in Nevada Territory Populated places established in 1861 1864 disestablishments in the United States Populated places disestablished in 1864

History

See also

References

External links