| Fredonyer Pass | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Elevation | 5,752 feet (1,753 m)[1] |
| Traversed by |  SR 36 |
| Location | Lassen County, California,United States |
| Range | Sierra Nevada/Cascades |
| Coordinates | 40°21′35″N120°52′03″W / 40.35972°N 120.86750°W /40.35972; -120.86750[1] |
Fredonyer Pass, elevation 5,752 feet (1,753 m), is a highmountain pass inLassen County, California,[1] southwest ofSusanville and southeast ofMount Lassen. It lies on theGreat Basin Divide between theFeather River to the west and theSusan River andHoney Lake to the east.
The pass is traversed byState Route 36 and has virtually the same elevation asMorgan Summit to the west (sources vary). It is subject to snowfall during the winter.
Fredonyer Pass received its name from Dr. Atlas Fredonyer, who discovered the pass in 1850.[2]
Fredonyer was born in Switzerland in about 1832.[3]In 1850, he traveled through theHumboldt River,Black Rock Desert andHigh Rock Canyon. He and his companions decided not to take theLassen Trail and instead headed southwest from High Rock and discovered what is now known as Fredonyer Pass.[4][5]
In 1862, Fredonyer was convicted of incest and eventually pardoned by California GovernorLeland Stanford.[6][7][8]
In 1880, Dr. Fredonyer died in San Francisco after colon surgery to remove a 16-ounce bottle that he had inadvertently lost inside his rectum after an attempt to alleviate a severe case of diarrhea.[3]
In the early 1900s, Fredonyer pass was known as Fredonia Pass.[1][9][10]
In 1995, there was an unsuccessful move to rename Fredonyer Pass to honor of Deputy Sheriff Larry David Griffith, who was slain in the line of duty.[6][7]
Fredonyer Pass is part of the approximate boundary between theSierra Nevada and theCascade Range. This irregular boundary is sometimes defined as the southern extent ofCenozoicigneous surface rock from the Cascade Range.[11] This boundary roughly follows the drainage of theNorth Fork Feather River southeast to Fredonyer Pass. Note that there are other Cenozoic igneous rocks in the Sierra (e.g., nearLake Tahoe), but there is a clear geological division near Fredonyer Pass, and points westward as far as theSacramento Valley.
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