Holcomb Valley History

 

Located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mined in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who discovered gold there in 1860. That year started the largest gold rush in Southern California to the area. The boomtown of Belleville grew up near there and flourished for about ten years before being abandoned.

 

Gold

 

In May 1860, gold was first discovered here by William F. Holcomb and Ben Choteau. They were miners who had been prospecting at Bear Valley. Holcomb found gold while he was tracking a bear in the valley later named after him. After Holcomb and Ben Ware filed mine claims on five sites in May 1860 at the County Recorder's office, word spread quickly and prospectors rushed to the area.

 

Before long, a gold camp sprang up east of where the gold was first discovered. It became a town and, after the first child Belle was born, the new town was named Belleville in her honor. It soon became the largest town in San Bernardino County with a population of 10,000, and was nearly made the county seat. Filled with rough characters competing over gold, it was a place of violence and hanging justice. It was the third and fourth largest town in Southern California during these years

 

Holcomb Valley produced the most wealth from gold of any Southern California mining district. With time, major placer and quartz mining declined, followed by the departure of most of the population of Belleville after 1870. Hard rock mining continued at the Gold Mountain Mine until 1919. Some mining activity continues today, with 2,000 claims by hobbyists. The Prospecting clubs are cheap to join

 

The valley is the site of the Holcomb Valley Scout Ranch (formerly of Old Baldy Council), on the site of the old Hitchcock Ranch. It provides opportunities for youth to have experience in ranching, hiking and related outdoor skills.

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There are several prospecting clubs who own claims in the area and they are cheap to join. It's a beautiful area to look for gold with the family!

 

The Last Chance Placer

 

About 200 feet off the main road.  It looks like a big hole in the ground surrounded by a fence.  The dictionary defines a placer as a superficial gravel deposit containing particles of gold.

 

Miners worked the ground at this site to within a few feet of bedrock. Dirt and gravel was moved by horse or burro to rockers, which were crude gravel washers.   Rockers were built close to man-made snow ponds, which held the runoff from snow, providing water for washing the gravel.  Holcomb and other miners removed an average of 3 pounds of gold daily from this area.  When all of the gold from the Last Chance Placer was taken, they attempted to find the "Mother Lode" by building a shaft.  However, this was abandoned when the shaft was flooded with large amounts of water.  The Mother Lode or source of the gold in the area has never been found.

 

The Hangman's Tree

 

Stands tall and quiet with an air of having seen the serious side of life.  With your imagination you can hear the shouts, the taunts, the snap of the rope.

 

Along with the gold rush and those out for an honest fast buck, came the outlaws and thieves.  There were 50 murders in Holcomb Valley in just two years time from when gold was discovered.  This tree was where Holcomb Valley put an end to its convicted lawbreakers.  The branch holding a hanged man was chopped off when his body was cut down.  Look closely at the large number of truncated branches -- each one a silent marker of a man hanged.

 

Original Gold Diggings

 

Diggings This landmark identifies the area where Bill Holcomb first discovered gold while tracking the bear.  Today there is nothing to see except an expanse of land.

Panning in the intermittent stream here produced some of the purest gold ever found in California. Thousands of claims were staked throughout the Holcomb Valley.

 

Belleville

 

The town of Belleville sprung up east of the original discovery of gold.  There was a store, two butcher shops, two laundries, a bakery, three carpenter shops, two blacksmiths, a stamp mill and a sawmill.   To celebrate the Fourth of July, the blacksmith's wife made a flag out of her petticoats.  To honor her for her patriotism, the town was named after her daughter Belle, the first child to be born in Belleville.   In the election of 1861, Belleville missed taking the county seat from San Bernardino by only two votes.

 

Studying our map, we determine that the next stop is a short walk beyond the cabin.  Even after locating the marker, it is not obvious what or where the arrastres is until we study the ground, then we can make out the remains of a large circle.

 

Arrastres

 

Arrastres was used to grind up gold-bearing quartz. Over 100 were built in the early days of the gold rush. The arrastres consisted of a low circular wall. The ore to be crushed was placed inside the wall.   It was ground up by dragging a heavy "drag stone" around inside the circle.  A bar chained to the drag stone was connected to a vertical post in the center of the circle.  It was some mule's job description to walk in a circle around the outside of the wall, moving the bar like the spoke of a wheel, dragging the stone as he went.  It took about 4 hours to crush the ore.  Then the gold was separated from the crushed ore (now sand) usually with water and sluice boxes.

 

More History Details

 

William Francis Holcomb, and his discovery received the appropriate name Holcomb Valley. Holcomb Valley’s principal town Belleville, during the Civil war years, ranked second or third in population for Southern California. In addition to being a prospector Bill Holcomb was a noted hunter, and because of the accuracy of his rifle Holcomb was chosen to supply meat for the Bear Valley miners. It was on one of these hunting trips that Holcomb crossed over the mountains at the south side of Bear Valley and shot bears in the little valley beyond. After shooting three grizzlies in as many attempts Holcomb was chagrined when his fourth shot only wounded a bear. It ran off leaving a trail of blood. The next day Holcomb and a companion returned to track the wounded grizzly which they found dead a short distance away.

 

Ever the prospector, Holcomb paused to chip at a piece of soft rock, which to his surprise contained sizable chunks of gold. He staked out a claim, butchered the bear, and returned to camp jubilant over his discovery.

Files in the office of County Recorder Ted R. Carpenter show that on May 5, 1860, William Francis Holcomb and Ben Ware located five gold claims in Holcomb Valley, five mile north of Bear Valley. That was the start of the

 

Holcomb Valley gold rush.

 

Holcomb, a native of Indiana, had come to California at the height of the gold rush. His party had encountered more than the usual hardships enroute, losing both wagons and oxen. He reached California on foot. After unprofitable attempts at mining in the High Sierra and later in the Kern River field Holcomb and a companion Jack Martin, reached Los Angeles. There they heard of the Bear Valley diggings near San Bernardino. Holcomb and Martin set out determined to make one more try at mining. All the way from Los Angeles they inquired about Bear Valley, but none they asked had heard of the place. At Lytle Creek they stopped at George Lord’s ranch. George told them that there was such a place as Bear Valley and that if they ascended the Santa Ana River Canyon they would find it. Near the mouth of the Santa Ana they encountered F.M. (Mack) Van Luven who had helped outfit several miners for the rough trail. Holcomb and Martin had to force their horses through deep snow to reach the Bear Valley diggings which were at Converse Flats. They found a discouraged group of diggers, and already Bear Valley had been dubbed “Starvation Flats”. Fortunately, soon after Holcomb’s arrival one of the miners panned some earth from under the pine trees a few hundred feet up the slope. The hillside proved for a time a comparative bonanza and probably saved the Bear Valley diggings from abandonment prior to the Holcomb Valley discovery.

 

Word that the Bear Valley diggings had petered out had already reached San Bernardino when one day the miners chipped in and sent Martin to town for flour. Martin bought his flour at the Meyerstein store. His paying for it with gold dust started half the men in San Bernardino for the diggings, which then included the even richer sand and shale’s of Holcomb Valley. In July and August a real gold rush was on in the Holcomb Valley. In September, Sidney Waite, who had been mining in Bear Valley since March moved over to Arrastre Creek and started mining on quartz ledges.

 

Winter reduced the miners to short rations. Spring not only brought the bear out of hibernation but also the biggest gold rush southern California had seen.

 

The Bear Valley diggings were practically deserted as numerous rich strikes were made up and down Holcomb Valley where one had only to scratch the surface to pan out a good day’s wages.  These miners referred to their new claims as being in “The Valley of Holcomb”.  The incomplete surveys of the period did not include this new valley much less give it a name.  As location notices flooded the recorder’s office the place named “Holcomb Valley” was soon written in large letters on San Bernardino county geography.

 

The fame of the new gold region spread far more rapidly than one might expect in the day of slow transportation and just as slow communication.  Not even the steep pack trail up Santa Ana canyon deterred the gold hunters of 1860.  Van Luven’s ranch near canyon mouth was passed by three or four parties of gold seekers daily.  With the miners came the camp followers of all description intent on making a fast dollar.  Soon the sprawling town of Belleville boasted a motley collection of saloons and dance halls as well as stores and a couple of blacksmith shops.  Clustered around were the cabins of miners, the first ones built with no thought of parallel streets.  Most of the cabins were of logs with two bunk beds hung on the wall.  In addition to a considerable number of genuine Confederate sympathizers it is said that the cause of secession drew both lip and gun service from many in Holcomb Valley who were happy to take any stand that gave an excuse to oppose constituted authority.  The miners didn’t welcome this ill-assorted group which their gold attracted. Claim jumping was common, but still the living juniper at Arrastre Flats give mute evidence that the honest miners often succeeded in maintaining their legitimate claims.  A colorful sidelighting on the time was found in a long preserved notice which reads “Joe Brown takes his ground.  Jumpers will be shot.”

 

It was not unusual either for a miner to sight someone nearer his claim than he considered necessary and shoot without asking questions.  If by chance the shot proved fatal the common defense would be that the victim had been mistaken for someone else.  Law and order had no easy path in those days.  No one asked a man’s name and the early records of Belleville township are filled with such nicknames as Greek George, Red River Jake, Hard Rock Hank, Charlie the Chink, and others which successfully hid the identity of the individual.

 

By the fall of 1861 Holcomb Valley had become something of an indefinite term applied to a number of adjoining valleys.  Rich placer diggings were found farther down the creek in what is now known as lower Holcomb Valley.  Upstream, Arrastre Flats was popular with the hard rock or quartz miners.  There was a placer gold in paying quantity along Arrastre creek.  An early recorded sale notes that Sidney Waite disposed of Arrastre creek claims through Dr. David Noble Smith, founder of the first Arrowhead Springs sanitarium, and his partner Horace Rolfe, the latter an early superior court judge.

 

Waite then moved to Van Dusen Flats where his location notices served to start another extensive field of placer operation.  Later, Waite became the publisher of a pioneer San Bernardino newspaper.  It remained for a miner named Elias Jackson Baldwin to first stake claims in Van Dusen canyon and to give the region a nationwide reputation.  He was the “Lucky” Baldwin, later of Santa Ana, who developed the Gold Hill mine with it’s 100 stamp mill.  Near Gold Mountain rose the town of Dable.  Also nearby was a town that existed only on paper in an early lot-selling scheme whose recorded maps are spelled both as “Bairsdtown” and “Beardstown”.

Gold Mountain & Elias J. (Lucky) Baldwin

 

This second “gold rush” was sparked by a wealthy man by the name of Elias J. (Lucky) Baldwin. Lucky Baldwin, a multimillionaire who had originally made his fortune in the Ophir Mine in Nevada.

In 1873, Baldwin began quietly investigating the mining possibilities in the Big Bear Lake area. He eventually purchased an existing claim on the mountain slopes at the north/east end of what is now Baldwin Lake for $30,000. He then incorporated the Gold Mountain Mining Company, and began construction of a huge 40 stamp mill at the base of today’s Gold Mountain.

 

Word spread quickly of a new discovery by Lucky Baldwin at Big Bear. Soon exaggerated reports testifying to the quality of his gold claim fueled the excitement. The Guardian reported on September 12, 1874, that Baldwin’s Gold Mountain in Big Bear was a “…. mineralogical miracle” and went on to say “…. we have never heard or read of a similar discovery ….the crown of the mountain is a mass of gold bearing rock….”.

Baldwin’s new company carved out a road from Cactus Flats to Big Bear, and began hauling in machinery and parts for the huge 40-stamp mill. Overnight a town called Bairdstown popped into existence at the base of Gold Mountain.

 

In September of 1874, the new community had a blacksmith shop, a butcher shop, two boarding houses, and two saloons. By spring, Bairdstown had grown to include three general stores, two livery stables, three restaurants, two hotels, several saloons, a black smith shop, a bakery, a meat market, a Chinese wash house, a tailor, a shoemaker, a barber, and even a cemetery. As with most mining towns, fist fights and shootings were regular events, and the cemetery always had an occasional customer. By 1875, the great 40-stamp mill was finished and ready for operation.

 

Lucky Baldwin arrived in Big Bear on March 6, 1875, and fired up the new $250,000 steam powered stamp mill for the first time. The deafening sound of the heavy stamps reverberated throughout every corner of Big Bear valley as he started processing 100 tons of ore a day.

 

After two months of intense operation the results were disappointing. It looked like that the top of that Gold Mountain might not be made of gold after all. In fact the ore being processed was of such low quality that it was barely paying the overhead. An unhappy Baldwin decided to shut down half of the mills 40 stamps, and continue operation on a reduced scale. Finally, on October of 1875, he shut the mill down completely. After only 8 months of operation, Big Bear’s second gold rush was over.

 

Overnight, Bairdstown became a ghost town. The stamp mill would sit dormant for almost two years until August 14, 1878, when a fire mysteriously broke out completely destroying the mill. “Lucky” Baldwin retained ownership of his Gold Mountain claims, but swore that he would never invest another dime of his own money into Gold Mountain.

 

RETURN TO GOLD MOUNTAIN

 

Many years later in 1899, a man by the name of Captain J.R. DeLaMar approached Lucky Baldwin with a plan to build a new stamp mill and reopen the Gold Mountain Mines in Big Bear. To everyone’s surprise, Baldwin agreed.

DeLaMar was under no illusion as to the quality of the ore on Gold Mountain. He was betting on two things for success: 1) He felt that the rich “mother lode” that everyone had been looking for was still there, and 2) he planned to incorporate a new technology for recovering gold, called a “cyanide process”. DeLaMar felt that this cyanide process would allow his operation to turn a profit by greatly increasing the amount of gold recovered from Gold Mountains low grade ore. In the mean time he would continually look for that “mother lode” he thought everyone had missed.

 

DeLaMar’s new 40 stamp mill in Big Bear was located higher up on the side of Gold Mountain just above the ruins of the original burned out mill. Once again, Bairdstown sprang back to life. The new mill began operating at a feverish pace. For over two years, it aggressively processed 130 tons of ore every 24 hours, night and day.

DeLaMar’s efforts actually managed to turn a small profit, but that elusive “mother lode” he so desperately wanted was never found. DeLaMar ceased his operations in 1903, and Bairdstown, which had since been renamed Doble, once again reverted back to a ghost town.

 

From the early 1900’s through the late 1940’s, different companies and individuals would occasionally step forward to invest time and money in reopening Baldwin’s Gold Mountain mines in Big Bear, but always with little success. Today, you can wander through the concrete ruins of DeLaMar’s stamp mill, and the old cemetery still exists to mark the spot where Bairdstown was once located.

G

old Mountain wasn’t the only “big money” mining operation in these mountains. There was the famous Rose Mine and many others