Isaac Newton Roop (March 13, 1822 – February 14, 1869) was an American politician, pioneer, and member of the
Whig Party. In 1859, he was the first elected (provisional) governor of the newly-proposed
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 ...
.
Early life
Roop was born in
Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 172,891. Its county seat is Westminster. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Carroll County ...
.
Career
In 1851, the guide William Nobles started taking settlers, including the 29-year-old Isaac Roop and his family, over a route through the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
passing through the
Honey Lake
Honey Lake is an endorheic basin, endorheic sink (geography), sink in the Honey Lake Valley in northeastern California, near the Nevada border. Summer evaporation reduces the lake to a lower level of and creates an alkali flat. Honey Lake dries ...
valley. Roop's first three years in California were spent in Shasta County in farming and trading. During that period, he also held the positions of postmaster and school commissioner. He had accumulated in that time upwards of $15,000 (~$ in ) worth of property but in June 1853 lost it all by fire. It was then that Roop retreated to the Sierra Nevada and to Honey Lake, where he concentrated on his own backcountry holdings and nearly single-handedly erected the burg of Rooptown, which he would later name for his daughter Susan.
In September 1859, Roop was elected the first territorial governor of the proposed
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 ...
. At the time,
Susanville was thought to be in Nevada, instead of California. The new provisional government first convened on December 15, 1859, in the town of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
. Roop lived in the contested
County of Roop. He was elected in 1861 to the new Nevada Territorial Senate.
After the county's dissolution in 1865, Roop returned to Susanville. Roop became
Lassen County
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. ...
's district attorney for two terms.
Personal life
On December 24, 1840, Roop married Nancy Gardner, his tutor. They had children: John, Isaiah, and Susan. On June 20, 1850, Nancy died of typhoid fever.
Isaac Roop died in Susanville on February 14, 1869. His daughter Susan Arnold resided in the town as well until her own death in 1921, and both were buried in the town's cemetery.
There is a mural depicting father and daughter in Uptown Susanville on the outside wall of Johnson's Shoes.
Roop County, Nevada
Roop County, known until 1862 as Lake County, was a county of Nevada Territory 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, Californi ...
, was named after him.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Isaac Roop at WesternStarWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roop, Isaac
1822 births
1869 deaths
California Whigs
19th-century American politicians
Governors of Nevada Territory
Members of the Nevada Territorial Legislature
Nevada Whigs
People from Susanville, California
People from Carroll County, Maryland
American city founders