BIG BEAR HISTORY
A one sentence history of Big Bear Lake, California.
Native American "Serrano" Indians were the exclusive human inhabitants of the Big Bear area for thousands of years until 1845 when BenjaminWilson led a group of armed men into the mountain to pursue the cattle rustling indians who successfully evaded the posse which by this time was so enamered with hunting plentiful grizzly bears that their chase gave way to awe and they returned to Redlands to tell tales of a mountain paradise which led more explorers to the area and in 1859 Bill HOlcomb found a nugget of Gold which led brought an infestation of settlers hell bent on striking it rich in Southern California's Big Bear Gold Rush but there was no motherlode to be found and by the early 1900's almost none of the 2000+ people searching for gold at the height of the rush remained in the area which transitioned into a logging and cattle grazing industry to supply bustling Los Angeles with constuction lumber and food that would create more wealth and affluence for the Angelinos who would soon need a place to recreate and Big Bear was the natural place to become southern California's premier resort destination for southern California's newly affluent who were primed for adventure in their new automobiles which they challenged the limits of by packing them full of gear and driving them up the newly created dirt roads and up to Big Bear for what were some of the first weekend getaways ever experienced and this led the locals to wonder how they could fill their lodges and camps all year long and luckily an answer came about in a new form of recreation called skiing which quickly became popular and powered lifts sprang up all over the valley. Big Bear Lake today is a snowboard, ski, mountain bike mecca, with year round recreation, water sports and much more!
- this is true
A one sentence history of Big Bear Lake, California.
Native American "Serrano" Indians were the exclusive human inhabitants of the Big Bear area for thousands of years until 1845 when BenjaminWilson led a group of armed men into the mountain to pursue the cattle rustling indians who successfully evaded the posse which by this time was so enamered with hunting plentiful grizzly bears that their chase gave way to awe and they returned to Redlands to tell tales of a mountain paradise which led more explorers to the area and in 1859 Bill HOlcomb found a nugget of Gold which led brought an infestation of settlers hell bent on striking it rich in Southern California's Big Bear Gold Rush but there was no motherlode to be found and by the early 1900's almost none of the 2000+ people searching for gold at the height of the rush remained in the area which transitioned into a logging and cattle grazing industry to supply bustling Los Angeles with constuction lumber and food that would create more wealth and affluence for the Angelinos who would soon need a place to recreate and Big Bear was the natural place to become southern California's premier resort destination for southern California's newly affluent who were primed for adventure in their new automobiles which they challenged the limits of by packing them full of gear and driving them up the newly created dirt roads and up to Big Bear for what were some of the first weekend getaways ever experienced and this led the locals to wonder how they could fill their lodges and camps all year long and luckily an answer came about in a new form of recreation called skiing which quickly became popular and powered lifts sprang up all over the valley. Big Bear Lake today is a snowboard, ski, mountain bike mecca, with year round recreation, water sports and much more!
- this is true
The Big Bear Hostel has a long history too.
From its early beginnings in 1905 my great grand-pappy thought it would be
a good place to host vacationing Angelinos. With nothing more than
a pitchfork in summer and igloo in winter the Big Bear Hostel was borne.
a good place to host vacationing Angelinos. With nothing more than
a pitchfork in summer and igloo in winter the Big Bear Hostel was borne.
First they tried making the hostel out of blocks of ice from the lake.
But while the guests did come up to play in the snow. Oddly, they wanted to
be toasty warm at night.
But while the guests did come up to play in the snow. Oddly, they wanted to
be toasty warm at night.
Then he made a deal with some local indians and installed a fleet of teepees!
This was working great until the great fire of 1926 swept through the valley.
Always ahead of his time. He decided to go tree hugger and found the biggest oldest tree in the mountains probably dating back to prehistoric times. He carved out the stump with his pocketknife and got a few good years of lodging out of this PaleoPine hotel before the Hooded Wood Beetle infestation of 1938 turned the place to sawdust!
- that was not