About
Calvada

   Surprise Valley is approximately 70 miles long, 10 miles wide and located near the Tricorner Region of the United States where California, Nevada and Oregon meet.  At an average of 4,700 feet above sea level, it is characterized as a high altitude desert valley, bordered on the west by the Warner Mountains of California and on the east by the Hays Canyon Range of Nevada.  It is considered part of the Great Basin that stretches all the way to Utah.  Three seasonal alkaline lakes stretch the length of the valley.

   The valley is home to four towns, Fort Bidwell, Lake City, Cedarville and Eagleville and two sovereign tribal governments, the Cedarville Rancheria and the Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of  California.  Both are Paiute communities.

   The history of Surprise Valley is "the old west" writ large. This is the history that CalVada is endeavoring to preserve and share.   We celebrate all the diverse narratives, full of conflict and celebration, tragedy and joy, of the bold men and women who made this valley their home. These are the stories of  Native Americans, homesteaders, ranchers, farmers, cowboys, miners and the intrepid business men and women who shaped life in the valley.