Empowered Places & Things > Sanctuaries > The Mountain Of Attention > History

Before It Was The Mountain Of Attention

Chris Tong, Ph.D.


The Mountain Of Attention
Mother's Bed at the Mountain Of Attention

Mother's Bed at the Mountain Of Attention
(click to enlarge)

In The Care of The Pomo People

The land in Lake County, California that is now the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary has always been a compelling place of great trees, nurturing valleys, memorable ridges, peaceful lakes, and healing mineral springs. It was held to be deeply sacred by the ancient and shamanistic Pomo people, who were indigenous to the region, and who may have lived in the area for as long as 12,000 years. (That's 4,000 years before the appearance of the Egyptian civilization!)

Timeless image of a Pomo Indian in a tule boat near Upper Lake,  California (circa 1924).
Timeless image of a Pomo Indian in a tule boat
near Upper Lake, California (circa 1924)

The hot springs at the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary and around the Lake County area had their origin in an eruption of nearby Mt. Konocti (in Kelseyville, California), millions of years ago. This event deposited volcanic ash on the land and created a fissure in the earth, allowing groundwater to reach hot magma at a depth of 4,000 feet, before resurfacing as thermal geysers and springs at 230 degrees Fahrenheit.

The basin at Holy Cat Grotto (2013)
The basin at Holy Cat Grotto (2013)

The basin at Holy Cat Grotto (2013)
(click to enlarge)

In earlier times, the Pomo made use of the hot springs now located at the Sanctuary. They chiselled out a basin in the sulfur-iron-magnesium hot spring now associated with Holy Cat Grotto, and used it as a communal bath, calling it conotok ("white appearance of the ground"). [6, p.65].


The Mountain Of Attention had at one time been a Native American sacred site. Its clear-water creeks come down from the adjacent mountain, rushing into hot springs that spout up from underground, forming a grotto. The Pomo tribes of the region deemed this conjunction of waters from above and below as auspicious, full of “medicine,” since such a grotto has potent energy in it and they are very rare. Indeed, the continuously damp, highly-mineralized volcanic soil of the sanctuary in this area feels very different from the dry surrounding hills, which can go without rain for six months a year.

Toni Vidor


Long before American and European explorers found the hot springs and thought to turn them into "resorts", Native Americans were already doing it:


The exact date the Indians first learned of the desirability of the hot and cold mineral springs cannot be determined, although these springs are mentioned in their legends dating long before the advent of "civilization". Because of their knowledge of these springs, they established a primitive economic base and the first "resort" business for the nomadic tribes traveling between the Pacific Ocean and the Valleys of the "Plain" [California's Central Valley].

They knew the medicinal values of the hundreds of mineral springs found here and used them extensively to provide relief for many of their physical aches and pains. Undoubtedly, because of these advantages, a great deal of commerce was carried on between them and other tribes in California. They came here as the first tourists or vacationers to enjoy the many natural resources of this area and bathe in the springs. They paid for these services with sand dollars, sea urchin, clam or abalone shells, woodpecker or bluejay crests, fur pelts, wampum, or the treasured red magnesite cylinders known as "Indian gold".

The History of Lake County's Mineral Spring Resort Complex [22]


Arrival of the Pioneers

In the late 1840's and early 1850's, the first white men began to explore Lake County. By the mid-1850's, American pioneers and European families were making their homes in Lake County, planting orchards and tending cattle ranches and farms. Mines yielded quicksilver, gold, and borax. Privately owned toll roads were dug into the mountains, bringing more people, who built stores, banks, churches, saloons, and other businesses, forming dozens of communities in the hills and on the shores of Clear Lake.

The California Gold Rush reached its peak between 1848 and 1855. Probably while searching for gold, Thomas Seigler struck "gold" of a different kind. . . He was the first person of European descent to discover the hot springs associated with the Mountain Of Attention in the mid-nineteenth century.[1] In 1855, a claim was made to the area, and in 1868, a hotel was constructed.[2] By the 1870's, a full resort had been established, named "Seigler Springs" (or "Seigler Hot Springs") after Seigler, with new hotel, stone dining room, bath houses, and elegant, landscaped gardens. The geographical area (an "unincorporated area") still bears the name, Seigler Springs, and a Seigler Springs post office operated from 1915 to 1969.


The Land of Resort Springs

While Seigler Springs was one of the earliest, many other spa resorts sprang up in the area around the same time. Huge resort complexes were built at a feverish pace. Enjoying wide fame were Seigler Springs, Bartlett Springs, Harbin Springs, Soda Bay Springs, Howard Springs, Bonanza Springs, Anderson Springs, and Adams Springs. By 1880, all the major springs had been developed into resorts. While many of these grand resorts would be destroyed by fire over the years, and most would not be rebuilt[20], a few of these spa resorts are still active as resorts (including Indian Springs in Calistoga, and Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown, in the process of being rebuilt after the 2015 Valley Fire).

Thus Lake County, California, has been a well-known resort area since the nineteenth century, and its hot springs have always been one of its best known attractions. Lake County was reputed to have more mineral springs and of a greater variety than the whole of Europe.[22] In the early twentieth century, the natural mineral springs of Lake County became immensely popular, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe to "take the waters" and indulge in lavish parties at the resorts.


Seigler Springs

By the 1880's, Seigler Springs had become renowned as a resort, having added family-oriented recreational and entertainment attractions to its hot springs — including, among other things, dog team rides for children [6, p. 63], and fishing in the two creeks on the property, which had fish in abundance [6, p. 68]. Seigler Springs gained a reputation as "the leading Mineral Spring and Pleasure Resort in California".

Seigler Hot Springs, circa the 1890's, with the hotel in the center
Seigler Hot Springs, circa the 1890's, with the hotel in the center

Seigler Hot Springs, circa the 1890's, with the hotel in the center
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs: Dog Team Rides for Children
Seigler Hot Springs: Dog Team Rides for Children

Seigler Hot Springs: Dog Team Rides for Children (Aug. 10, 1916) [6, p. 63]
(click to enlarge)

The following description appears in the 1883 edition of Benjamin Truman's Tourist's Illustrated Guide to the Celebrated Summer and Winter Resorts:[3]

Seigler Springs. — Situated in Lake County, about two miles from Adam Springs, in an open, inviting section of country. They consist of hot and cold sulphur, soda, iron, arsenic and other waters, and have long been recognized as possessing great healing properties; and many cases of rheumatism, stiff joints, dropsy, scrofula, skin diseases, gravel, diabetes, dyspepsia, catarrh, chills and fever, lead poisoning, painter's colic, constipation of the bowels, diseases of the stomach and liver, Bright's disease of the kidneys, and impurities of the blood, have either been cured or relieved.

The Geyser: The original "Seigler Springs Resort" sign is still there!
The Geyser: the original "Seigler Springs Resort" sign is still there!

The Geyser: the original "Seigler Springs Resort" sign is still there!
(click to enlarge)

The hotel and cottages will accommodate one hundred people.[7] Analyses were made of these waters some years ago for Alvinza Hayward, but they have been misplaced and cannot be found.

ROUTE OF TRAVEL, ETC. — By rail or ferry of the Central Pacific Railroad to Calistoga; thence by stage to the springs, via either Glenbrook, 33 miles, or Lower Lake, a little further. The Seigler Springs stage will connect with the stage from Calistoga at Lower Lake on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; at Glenbrook on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Time from San Francisco, 12 hours. This place is kept open all the year round, and is owned by John Spaulding, and managed by W. T. Garratt, whose address is Seigler Springs, Lake County. There are hot sulphur and arsenic baths and a hot swimming bath. There is good trout fishing near, and some game.

We still have a young woman’s account (written sometime in the late 19th century) of her journey by stage coach to Seigler Springs.[4] She departed from San Francisco in the early morning, and arrived at Seigler Springs in the evening, after a twelve-hour trip. About her arrival, she writes:


It has grown dark and the oil lights on either side of the stage have been lit. Fortunately the horses know the road for such dim lights could scarcely serve to guide them. We cannot see them at all for the air is cold and the canvas has been fastened over the windows. . . And now at last, we are at Seigler Springs. In the darkness we can see little but the outline of evergreen trees against the sky and a wide veranda lit by hanging lanterns.

The
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (with its own stage coach)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (with its own stage coach) [6]
(click to enlarge)

The proprietor comes out to greet us and we enter a spacious lobby. There is a stone fire-place at one side with a small fire burning. We register at the desk and then follow a maid carrying an oil lamp up the stairs. There is a long narrow hall with many doors leading off into all directions.

The rooms are nicely furnished with heavy velvet drapes, solid wood furniture beautifully carved and thick rugs. The maid puts our dusty outer garments on a dustsheet and carries them away to the back of the building where they will be shaken. She returns with pitchers of warm water. Each room has its own commode, so it is possible to wash up in privacy. Some of the gentlemen have gone downstairs for a night-cap, but the ladies find it enough to remove their high-button shoes and corsets and get into bed.

After the night air the rooms seem rather warm and close, but, of course, no-one opens the windows. It is a well established scientific fact that night air is harmful to the lungs. We turn over and go to sleep.


Around 1890, stone mason Tom Henry Smith made significant stonework contributions to the resort. He built the stone dining room (now Darshan Adytum) and the bath houses, and made other stone improvements. The rock he used came from a hill between what is now the Paul Hoberg Airport[19] and the Seigler Springs resort, and also from a quarry just north of the resort.[10] Much of Smith's elegant stonework is still very visible in the central part of the Mountain Of Attention Sanctuary.

Smith's 
elegant stonework is very visible in Darshan Adytum
Smith's elegant stonework is very visible in Darshan Adytum

Smith's elegant stonework is very visible in Darshan Adytum
(click to enlarge)

Smith's elegant stonework again, in the front of Huge  Helper (formerly the resort hotel)
Smith's stonework again, in the front of Huge Helper (formerly the resort hotel). In this 1982 photo, Adi Da is sitting with devotees.

Smith's 
elegant stoneworkSmith's 
elegant stonework

Here, Smith's stonework gracefully lines some of the walks. In this photo from the mid 1990's, Adi Da is walking along some of those paths, from The Manner of Flowers to Ordeal Bath Lodge.

Here, Smith's stonework gracefully lines some of the walks. In this photo from the mid 1990's, Adi Da is walking along some of those paths, from The Manner of Flowers to Ordeal Bath Lodge.
(click to enlarge)

Newspaper ad: 1899
Newspaper ad: 1899

Newspaper ad: 1899
(click to enlarge)

Around the turn of the century, visiting a resort like Seigler Springs was considered such a significant social event that the names of resort visitors would appear in the society columns of the major newspapers.

The San Francisco Call, June 22, 1902
The San Francisco Call, June 22, 1902

The San Francisco Call, June 22, 1902 [8]
(click to enlarge)

Celebrities, royalty, politicians, the wealthy, and often the ill, braved the inconvenience and discomfort of the arduous trip over winding, narrow mountain roads that were hardly more than trails, riding in horse-drawn stage coaches that pitched and jolted every foot of the way. After undergoing a day or two of this inconvenience to arrive at their destination, the travelers were happy to remain at the resort for weeks on end. They often returned year after year for a season at their favorite resort.[22]

Newspaper ad: 1905
Newspaper ad: 1905

Newspaper ad: 1905
(click to enlarge)

The Great Earthquake of 1906

Around 1906, most of the hot springs in Northern California underwent major geothermal changes. It is believed that the great earthquake of 1906 (which resulted in the destruction of much of San Francisco) caused many of the hot springs (but not Seigler Springs) to stop, slow down, or go underground, diminishing their ability to continue serving as the core of a hot springs resort. As a result, tourism in Lake County declined.


Rehabilitation

By 1930, even though its hot springs were still geothermally active, Seigler Springs had gotten somewhat run down as an establishment, and attracted fewer guests. Noting this, the Hoberg brothers (George, Paul and Frank) — who ran the nearby Hoberg's Resort in Cobb — together with Norwegian sea captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen (who had just retired from a storied career on the Pacific coastal waters), and Olsen's son and daughter-in-law Ernest and Dorothy Olsen, purchased Seigler Springs [6, p.79].

Captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen
Captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen "at the wheel", with his family, in 1912, a couple of decades before he retired from the sea and helped save Seigler Springs. His son Ernest is in the back seat.

Captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen "at the wheel", with his family, in 1912, a couple of decades before he retired from the sea and helped save Seigler Springs. His son Ernest is in the back seat.
(click to enlarge)

The combined efforts of the Hobergs and the Olsens (and, from 1948, the Olsens alone, after the Olsens bought the Hobergs' share of the ownership) rehabilitated and modernized the old mineral springs resort, adding new bath houses and cabins, a sewer system, and new foundations to replace old ones, along with other renovations.[9] The resort could now accommodate up to 400 people. As a result of all these renovations, the resort became successful again, to the point where it was oversubscribed and turning away guests annually.[5] It re-attained its early day fame as "the leading Mineral Spring and Pleasure Resort in California".

Seigler Hot Springs Store / Post Office
The above cabin (now the corner cabin on "the Circle") was named "S.S. Acme" (see the sign above the door), in honor of Captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen, co-owner of the resort. (The "Acme" was one of the lumber steam schooners Olsen had skippered.) Olsen and his wife spent their summer months at the resort.

The above cabin (now the corner cabin on "the Circle") was named "S.S. Acme" (see the sign above the door), in honor of Captain Gudmund "Midnight" Olsen, co-owner of the resort. (The "Acme" was one of the lumber steam schooners Olsen had skippered.) Olsen and his wife spent their summer months at the resort.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Store / Post Office
Seigler Hot Springs Store / Post Office (now Darshan Adytum, formerly Great Food Dish) with a coffee shop and soda fountain. The room also included a pool table and a jukebox. In the basement was the unique "Stone Cellar Lounge", created by stone mason Tom Henry Smith, who crafted so much of the stonework on the property.

Seigler Hot Springs Store / Post Office
(now Darshan Adytum, formerly Great Food Dish)
with a coffee shop and soda fountain.
The room also included a pool table and a jukebox.
In the basement was the unique "Stone Cellar Lounge",
created by stone mason Tom Henry Smith, who crafted
so much of the stonework on the property.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs, 1947
Seigler Hot Springs Dining Hall, 1947 (now Temple Adi Da)


Over the years, Seigler Springs was enlarged from the original hotel, to additionally include a dining room, twenty-five cottages, a barber shop, a post office, a "solarium" (for the ladies), a "bachelor hall" (for the men), a dance hall (for the ladies and the men to get together), tennis, badminton, and shuffleboard courts, elaborate Roman Baths, an all tile hot indoor plunge, a tile swimming pool, a children's pool, and a native stone cocktail lounge and bar. By the 1950's, a professional chef and a group of cooks were providing three gourmet meals a day [6, p.78]. Sunbathers on the lawns were serenaded by a strolling accordion player,[6] and the resort had live dance music nightly. Seigler Springs also had a "party boat" available for excursions on Clear Lake on the weekends, as well as occasional "swimming suit beauty contests".

Seigler Springs Barber Shop
barber shop at Seigler Springs
photo copyright Lake County Historical Society

barber shop at Seigler Springs
photo copyright Lake County Historical Society
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs indoor pool
Seigler Hot Springs indoor pool (1952)

Seigler Hot Springs indoor pool (1952) [6, p.74]
[now the "plunge" in Ordeal Bath Lodge]
The water was naturally heated spring water
(click to enlarge)

Past the Peak

Seigler Springs remained a popular resort until about 1967.[2] But by that time, the heyday of the Lake County hot springs resorts had passed. Several reasons have been suggested. Less trust in the health claims of mineral waters; new highways halving the driving time from the Bay area to Lake Tahoe; the advent of RV's; commercial flights to Hawaii; a changing concept of "vacation" — all of these had an impact. Many other resorts had either been destroyed by fire,[20] or were not able to financially survive. By 1967, Seigler Springs was struggling as well.

Attempting to salvage the resort, Ernest and Dorothy Olsen turned it into a Boys Athletic Camp in 1967, under the direction of their son-in-law, Bill Hecomovich.[21] Each summer, hundreds of high school athletes would come to attend sessions at the "Sports Camp", which included a football camp and a wrestling camp (among others). The football camp became known for its disciplining of its athletes. It was described as "a cross between a Marine Boot Camp and a Pro-Football Camp". The daily discipline included uphill runs (called "run to gut rock") and nearly four mile morning runs up and down the hilly countryside.
Bill Hecomovich

Seigler Springs Sports Camp
The "Seigler Springs Sports Camp" (1967-1972)
photo copyright Lake County Historical Society

The "Seigler Springs Sports Camp" (1967-1972)
photo copyright Lake County Historical Society
(click to enlarge)

But the "Seigler Springs Sports Camp" would only last for five years.


A Spiritual Destiny

Seigler Springs had a different destiny. . . albeit one that would resonate with and build upon all three of its earlier purposes: the sacred use made by the Pomo Indians (which included the development of "holy sites" like the current Holy Cat Grotto); the "resort" focus on sanctuary and wellness; and the discipline and self-transcendence of the "sports camp".

The 1960's had introduced Eastern spirituality into the West on a massive scale. One consequence of this new and growing interest among Westerners was that, in the early 1970's, many new spiritual groups were looking for a secluded place where they could start a spiritual community comprised of Westerners. In some sense, the hot springs resorts of Northern California and these new spiritual communities were a natural match — not only because of the remoteness of their locale, but because the facilities on the premises (from communal dining rooms, to lodgings, to meeting centers) were already oriented toward "community life" (of a sort), and were time-tested (by thousands of visitors) and well-developed. One of the best known transformations of this kind was the sale of Hoberg's Resort. A celebrity resort in its time, Hoberg's sported entertainment by big band notables like Tommy Dorsey and Harry James, and attracted celebrity guests from Lillie Langtry early in the twentieth century, to Clark Gable and Jackie Gleason decades later. In 1974, Hoberg's would be transformed into Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's "Maharishi International University". A new sign posted on the main road read, "The Capital of the Age of Enlightenment of Northern California".[17] (The Maharishi's organization continued to own the property through July, 2010.[16])

In a similar manner, the Heart Consciousness Church purchased Harbin Hot Springs (about 20 miles from the Mountain Of Attention), and adapted it into a "New Age" retreat and workshop center that also met its own communal needs.

Down on its own fortunes, the "Seigler Springs Sports Camp" followed suit in 1972, and was sold to the organization of Swami Satchidananda (founder of Integral Yoga). For a brief time, it became what Swami Satchidananda called "Yogaville West". Swami Satchidananda's intention was to create a "Yoga village" where "seekers would live together practicing the Yogic teachings, a large community where they could grow their food, educate their children and create an economy based on yogic values and high ideals."[13]
Swami Satchidananda
Swami
Satchidananda

Acclaimed guitarist John Fahey included a pamphlet about Yogaville West in an album he released at the time. The pamphlet included the following invitation: "I would like to introduce you to this healthy, spiritually based concept of living. The 46 people living here follow the ideals of Integral Yoga as taught by Swami Satchidananda. To the extent that I have practised these techniques, they really seem to work."

As it turned out, this particular experiment would only last a couple of years. In considering later why it didn't work out, the Yogaville Journal included this exchange:[11]


GM: . . . I feel it greatly increases the stability of an organization to be integrated with the community in which it is located. The more integrated the better. Other ashrams — where all the people came in from other places — well, those ashrams no longer exist!

VV: You’re right. In fact, that is one of the reasons the original Yogaville West at Seigler Springs failed. The community around saw us as outsiders — a bunch of hippies — and made it difficult for us to make a go of it there.[15]


It was also difficult to survive financially at the time, according to Swami Karunananda:[12]


At the time, I was living at Yogaville West in Lake County, California. Those were the “pioneer days” of the IYI [Integral Yoga Institute]. We had little in the way of financial resources and lived very frugally. The room I occupied was in a solitary location; I rarely had visitors.


And so, for a variety of reasons, Yogaville West did not work out, and Seigler Springs was placed on the market again.


Adi Da's Empowered Sanctuary

By 1973, Avatar Adi Da Samraj also was looking for a more secluded place where He could continue His already ongoing work with devotees, which was rapidly outstripping what the La Brea Avenue Ashram could provide. Having the Ashram in the middle of Los Angeles simply was no longer sufficient, and the urban environment (and its associated psyche) was not a good match with Adi Da's intentions for the Ashram. So Adi Da asked His devotees to look for a more appropriate, rural place — and they found that Seigler Springs was available. They showed Adi Da pictures of the Seigler Springs property. He made the decision (on October 25, 1973) to acquire the property based solely on looking at the pictures, without having travelled to visit the place.

Adidam purchased the property, with the help of a generous donation from devotee Dennis Duff (story here), and prepared the place for use by Adi Da as His Ashram. Adi Da took up residence there on January 23, 1974. He gave His first talk at the new Sanctuary — "Better To Be Happy Than Concerned" — on January 26, 1974, in Temple Eleutherios.


The resort buildings had been abandoned for that purpose decades before our arrival. All the old wooden buildings had fallen into disrepair, and that is how we found them. It was a real fixer-upper, a ghost town to boot.

Toni Vidor


a real fixer-upper, a ghost town to boot
When devotees arrived, they found "a real fixer-upper, a ghost town to boot."

When devotees arrived, they found "a real fixer-upper, a ghost town to boot."
(click to enlarge)

To anyone who has visited the Mountain Of Attention, the primary thing one will notice (in comparing it to the historical photographs of Seigler Hot Springs on this page) is how utterly Adi Da has transformed the energy, the feeling, and even the look of the place — not only through many new buildings and holy sites, but through re-architecting the landscape of the property — completely conforming it to His Divine purposes.[18]

the Mountain Of Attention, 1974
The Mountain Of Attention, 1974
the Mountain Of Attention, 2010
The Mountain Of Attention, 2010
1974 vs. 2010: About the only thing still recognizable is the 1974 structure of stone walls and an opening between them, that would later be replaced by Seventh Gate. (A bit of Darshan Adytum can also be seen off to the left in the 1974 photo.)
(click pictures to enlarge)

Vestiges of the original hot springs still do remain, in places like Ordeal Bath Lodge, Lithia Springs, and Holy Cat Grotto. The property remains a place of healing — not because of the medicinal qualities of its waters, but because of its Divine Transmission. (For just one healing story out of many, read A Touch of the Divine: A Miraculous Healing at Ordeal Bath Lodge.) It continues to be a place where people leave conventional life behind. . . now not as vacationers, but as practitioners of a profound, self-transcending spiritual practice, the Way of Adidam.


Seigler Hot Springs: More Historical Photos

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1910)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1910)
On the left is the dining hall, which is now Temple Adi Da.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1910)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1910)
with its own stage coach (which connected with travellers at Lower Lake).
On the left is the dining hall, which is now Temple Adi Da.

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel

Guests relaxing off one end of
the front porch of Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1910)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (prior to 1920).
The resort guests are posing for a photograph in front of the hotel.

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (prior to 1920).
The resort guests are posing for a photograph in front of the hotel.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (around 1920)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (around 1920)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (the car makes suggest it was the 1920's)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (the car makes suggest it was the 1920's)
Business is booming, and the front area has been converted from grass to parking lot.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel, with a carload of ladies out front.

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel, with a carload of ladies out front.
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1937)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1937)
covered in snow
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1930's or 1940's?)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1930's or 1940's?)
side view, in the spring
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 940
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 1940

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 1940
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 940
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 1940

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel: circa 1940
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)

Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)
with a tourist charter bus out front
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1940's)
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel  and Cottages: 1942
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel and Cottages: 1942

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel and Cottages: 1942
(click to enlarge)

resort  pamphlet (1950's)
resort pamphlet (1950's)

resort pamphlet (1950's)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Springs matchbook
Seigler Springs matchbook
Seigler Springs matchbook
(click to enlarge)
Seigler Springs matchbook
Seigler Springs matchbook

Seigler Springs matchbook
(click to enlarge)

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel
The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1962) with cars of the 1910's and 1920's alongside the latest 1962 models

The Seigler Hot Springs Hotel (1962)
with cars of the 1910's and 1920's
alongside the latest 1962 models
(click to enlarge)

Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs
Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs (1915 - 1920)
[The large cottage now known as "The Oaks" is to the left;
Huge Helper ("the hotel") is straight ahead.]

Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs (1915 - 1920)
[The large cottage now known as "The Oaks" is to the left;
Huge Helper ("the hotel") is straight ahead.]
(click to enlarge)

Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs
Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs

Cottages at Seigler Hot Springs

Bathers leaving the building now known as Darshan Adytum: 1964
Bathers leaving the building now known as Darshan Adytum: 1964

Bathers leaving the building now known as Darshan Adytum: 1964
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs lodgings
Seigler Hot Springs lodgings (now known as "Goat's Wool")

Seigler Hot Springs lodgings (now known as "Goat's Wool")
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1913)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1913)
[The swimming pool is located next to Holy Cat Grotto]
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1915)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1915)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1917)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1917)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (year?)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (year?)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (year?)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (year?)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool
Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1920's)

Seigler Hot Springs Swimming Pool (1920's)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs summer cottage
Seigler Hot Springs summer cottage (1916)

Seigler Hot Springs summer cottage (1916)
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs "Roman Baths"
Seigler Hot Springs "Roman Baths" (1930's)
now known as Ordeal Bath Lodge
[The sign reads: "Roman Baths - Hot Iron"
because the water was heated and was rich in iron]

Seigler Hot Springs "Roman Baths" (1930's)
now known as Ordeal Bath Lodge
[The sign reads: "Roman Baths - Hot Iron"
because the water was heated and was rich in iron]
(click to enlarge)

Seigler Hot Springs Bath Lodge
Seigler Hot Springs "Roman Baths" (1930's)
now known as Ordeal Bath Lodge

Seigler Hot Springs "Roman Baths" (1930's)
now known as Ordeal Bath Lodge
(click to enlarge)

 

RETURN TO "THE MOUNTAIN OF ATTENTION"


FOOTNOTES
[1]
 

Wikipedia article: Seigler Springs.

   
[2]
 

The Towns and Post Offices of Lake County: Seigler Springs.

   
[3]
 

Benjamin Truman, Tourist's Illustrated Guide to the Celebrated Summer and Winter Resorts, 1883.

   
[4]
 

"The Journey" — A young woman's account of her journey to Seigler Springs.

   
[5]
 

History: Hoberg's Resort, Cobb, California.

   
[6]
 

Donna Hoberg, Resorts of Lake County, Arcadia Publishing, October 1, 2007. This is the single best book for exploring the history of Seigler Hot Springs.

   
[7]
 

By 1915, this would increase to accommodations capable of housing 250 people, according to the 1915 book, Mines and mineral resources of the counties of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo, put out by the California State Mining Bureau.

   
[8]
 

See "At the Resorts" in the "Society's Outing" column of the June 22, 1902 issue of the San Francisco Call, for listings of current guests at Seigler Springs. (Press the "Zoom" button to make the newspaper print readable.)

   
[9]
 

Celia Hoberg, "The Hoberg Saga", in Lake County Magazine, Number 7, 2009.

   
[10]
 

Ancestry of Mabel Anna Dean. (See the references to Tom Henry Smith.)

   
[11]
 

The Yogaville Journal, April, 2007.

   
[12]
  Swami Karunananda, "Forgiveness", Integral Yoga Magazine, Spring 2006.
   
[13]
  Chandra/Jo Sgammato, The History of Integral Yoga.
   
[14]
  John Fahey, Fare Forward Voyagers, Takoma, 1973.
   
[15]
  Each time Adidam has established a new Sanctuary, Adi Da has made it a very strong point that we also establish good relationships with the surrounding community this practice flows directly from His Teaching about relationship (and egoity as the avoidance of relationship), and serves devotees as well (preventing them from turning living on the Sanctuary into dissociation from the world). This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in Lake County, where many children of devotees were raised in the local public schools, many community businesses have been created, and the Sanctuary regularly draws on the services and advice of many people in the surrounding community. Consequently many people in Lake County have a positive view of the community, and many count devotees among their friends.
   
[16]
  Elizabeth Larson, "Hoberg's Resort purchased by group of investors", Lake County News, August 10, 2010. The new owners sought to revive the heyday of the resort. Unfortunately, the resort burnt to the ground in the Valley Fire of 2015, and there are currently no plans to restore it.
   
[17]
  Wikipedia article: Cobb, California.
   
[18]
  It was also the case that, even as Adi Da completely transformed each of the properties that would become His Empowered Sanctuaries, He would also make use of the still existing earlier facilities to serve His purposes as well. For a wonderful example of how He used the "bath lodge" for the purpose of teaching devotees, read Toni Vidor's story.
   
[19]
  The Paul Hoberg Airport is just two miles (as the crow flies) from Seigler Springs. Originally, the land had been developed in the early 1870's as a racetrack. But, to accommodate the very large number of guests at Hoberg's Resort (which regularly hosted big name swing bands like Benny Goodman's and Tommy Dorsey's), the land was converted into an airport. The airport opening (in August of 1946) was a gala event, with a DC-3 operated by Western Airlines flying in for the barbecue, attended by a dozen waitresses from Seigler Springs.
   
[20]
  A sad footnote: To the list of Lake County hot spring resorts destroyed by fire over the years, we must add Hoberg's Resort and Harbin Hot Springs, both of which were destroyed in the devastating Valley Fire of 2015. (Harbin Hot Springs is currently being rebuilt. It is not clear whether Hoberg's Resort will be rebuilt.) It was truly miraculous that the Mountain Of Attention survived that fire — for more, read our article, The Valley Fire at the Mountain Of Attention.
   
[21]
  More about Bill Hecomovich here.
   
[22]
  One of the best (but also least accessible) resources on the hot spring resorts in Lake County is a document created by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce around 1970 entitled The History of Lake County's Mineral Spring Resort Complex.


RETURN TO "THE MOUNTAIN OF ATTENTION"


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Really great background… never knew this …thx, Chris.
That’s me at Holy Cat Grotto with Bella and Naamleela.
Love this - great article and research! Those old photos are really amazing - what a history.
I read all of it and loved it. Thanks,🤩 Chris!
Very cool. Thanks for posting.
Delightful, early history of the Mt. Of Attention Sanctuary, from the shamanistic Pomo Indians who held the land sacred, through the hot springs resort time and Swami Satchidananda's Yogaville West era (now centered here in Virginia at Yogaville East) in Buckingham. . .
The Adidam community bought the land from the Integral Yoga Institute who tried to make yogaville west there. The septic system failed and we were forced to sell. I know this because I lived there when it was yogaville west, and later became a student of Adi Da.
Thanks — very interesting to read.
Have you heard of a similar rendition to the history of the Mountain Of Attention with the European Danda at Maria Hoop?
weird. i just went to a spiritualist church, and i got a message. the medium said you are going to see some old photos. old photos, black and white photos — and he wants you to look carefully at them and read the detail carefully. i thought, "well, that means nothing to me - i don't have any black and white photos." i just literally arrived home from that church, and saw this! just gave it a brief scan. it really reminds me of the Mountain Of Attention. i haven't been there since 2000. I had forgotten little details: the cabins, the places (Darshan Adytum, etc.), the conch blowing, etc. will read this properly later. very strange!
Thanks Chris. Doug and I were just talking about the history of the Mountain of Attention a few days ago, and I was wishing I knew more. Really appreciate reading this today.
Thanks for this history. As a child growing up in San Francisco, we occasionally stayed at Seigler Springs in the 50's. I remember the smells of the dining hall, the pancake breakfasts, the dances, and swimming.
Excellent research and historical photos.
Wonderful history. Thank you.
Much appreciated, Thank you!
Thank you so much for the old pictures and a throwback to Seigler Springs. As a child of the 60's and 70's, my grandmother used to take my brother, sister, and myself to Seigler every summer for a long vacation. Great to see the place again, and happy to hear that the majority of the facility escaped the fire.
Thank you, nice read -- and I love the old pictures.
Thank you, Chris. I so enjoyed the photos, the history -- everything about this was terrific!!!
Very cool. . . great research! Thank you, Chris!
Thanks Chris. . . hot springs are potent!
Chris, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
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