Back Roads Press, 18600 Hinton Street, Hesperia, CA (2026)

A native of Somerville, New Jersey, Nicholas R. Cataldo has made San Bernardino, California, his home since the age of 12 in 1966. A graduate from California State University in San Bernardino with a B.A. in Psychology and Social Science in 1977 and M.A. in Education in 1983, Nick has been a special education teacher in the San Bernardino Unified School District since 1978. Nick is a contributing

western history writer for the Tombstone Epitaph and for Dezert Magazine. He is the author of Images of America: San Bernardino (published by Arcadia Publishing in 2002), co-author of Pioneers of San Bernardino: 1851--1857 (published by the San Bernardino County Museum Association in 2001) and co-author of The Earps of San Bernardino County, (published by the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society in 2002), and currently writes a local history newspaper column for the San Bernardino County Sun. His most recent book, entitled “The Earp Clan: The Southern California Years” (published by Back Roads Press) was released in October of 2006.

04/10/2026

My column for March 24 is about the upcoming 2026 Inland Empire History Festival, which everyone is invited and should be lots of fun!!
2026 Inland Empire History Festival
The third annual event is planned for April 18 at San Bernardino International Airport
San Bernardino County is getting ready for a massive party and everyone is invited.
In case you haven’t heard, San Bernardino International Airport will be hosting the third annual Inland Empire History Festival from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 18.
Located at 1601 East 3rd St., the free event will be great fun as well as an interesting way to learn about the region’s colorful past.
Presented by the efforts of the San Bernardino International Airport, the Highland Area Historical Society, the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society and the Norton Air Force Base Museum.
Activities will take place on the Norton AFB Museum parking lot and inside the museum itself.
Historically, Norton plays a huge role with this event.
From 1942 to 1994, the base was a cornerstone of San Bernardino County’s history, having participated in every conflict and skirmish from World War II to the Persian Gulf War. The base was a major employer in San Bernardino County and served as a vital Cold War logistics hub. It is named after San Bernardino native Capt. Leland Norton, who died during World War II.
When Norton Air Force Base closed its doors on March 31, 1994, after a half century of service, a major impact on the San Bernardino Valley came to an end.
The late Robert M. (Bob) Edwards, the first president of the Norton AFB Museum, shared with me during the time the museum was getting off the ground in 2013, how shutting the base correlated with San Bernardino’s economic situation for many years.
Fortunately, in recent years development surrounding what is now known as San Bernardino International Airport has brought Amazon, Stater Bros., Kohl’s and other companies, along with thousands of jobs.
Norton AFB Museum is playing a huge role in preserving the legacy of the former air base’s past.
Edwards was a 20-year Air Force veteran, who died in 2021 at age 74, and he proudly declared the museum’s motto: “To preserve, honor and promote the history of Norton Air Force Base.” He emphatically said volunteers who staff the museum take this very seriously.
This continues to be so today.
The inaugural 2024 history festival was held at the Santa Fe Depot in San Bernardino. In 2025, the vent was held at the Norton Air Force Base Museum.
This year’s Inland Empire History Festival will feature many historical societies from across the region, including Highland, San Bernardino, Yucaipa, Redlands and Rialto.
There will be a lot to explore that day.
And there are a lot of other venues to explore in the Inland Empire too. The A. K. Smiley Public Library, the Lincoln Memorial Shrine, Palm Springs Air Museum, Ontario Library, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, Cucamonga Service Station and Route 66 Museum, Riverside County Archives commission, Old Riverside Foundation, the Horace Frink Adobe, Cal State San Bernardino’s Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum, Cooper Museum, General Patton Museum and representatives involved Calico Ghost Town and San Bernardino Valley College’s 100th anniversary.
Local authors will be there too, including Charles Hepperle, Kelli Shapiro, Steve L**h, Glenn Wenzel, Paul LaCanfora, John Atwater and Nick Cataldo.
There will be a table commemorating the history of professional baseball in our region.
Attendees will be treated by live music from Redlands 4th of July Band, Highland Pickers and Mountain Music Men.
And for those of us with fond memories growing up listening to local radio, there will be some familiar voices there too. Jim Ness, formerly of KMEN and many other stations, Lacey Kendall with KCAL-FM, Vic Slick from KOLA-FM, Evelyn Erves with KGGI, Daryl Norsell with KCAL, and Cassie MacDuff with KVCR.
For more information visit highlandhistory.org.
Contact Nick Cataldo at [email protected] and read more of his local history articles at Back Roads Press.

03/02/2026

The 1970’s were exciting times for the city of San Bernardino. While 1977 was the year that this city was acknowledged as an “All- America” City, a year earlier as our country was celebrating its 200 anniversary, San Bernardino was selected as a Bicentennial City. This article, which appeared in the San Bernardino Sun (part of the Southern California News Group on February 24, 2026 is about this honor.

Innovation led San Bernardino to become Bicentenial City1976 was quite a year.
The United States celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a yearlong celebration designed to unite a nation fractured by the Vietnam War.
Our country’s “Bicentennial” fostered widespread patriotism to successfully restore national morale as well as prompting a shift toward a more inclusive narrative, encouraging the inclusion of women, minorities, and working-class people in the story of the American Revolution.

While 1976 marked 200 years of American independence, it also served as a moment for the communities throughout the country to reflect on its own deep, diverse history.

Two years earlier, the city of San Bernardino was honored as one of 370 cities in the United States to become officially designated as a Bicentennial City by the American Bicentennial Administration in Washington, DC.

Many new innovative events were unfolding in this town during the 1970’s, prompting the prestigious designation.

At that time there were two thriving malls. The first one was Inland Center, located at the site of the old Urbita Springs Park west of “E” Street and south of Mill Street. This totally covered retail-shopping complex opened in 1966. The anchor stores were Sears Roebuck, May Co. and the Broadway.

Urban renewal during the Sixties caused the once center of town on Third Street to be gutted and replaced with the city’s second mega-shopping center.

In 1972 San Bernardino’s $2.7 million Central City Mall opened-- a two story-air conditioned mall with 90 stores and shops.

Harris Company, which started out small in 1905 and expanded with a beautiful edifice in 1927, was one anchor. J.C. Penney’s, Montgomery Wards and Woolworth's were the three other anchors.

With its new City Hall and Convention Center, San Bernardino was heralded as one of the most modern up and coming cities in Southern California.

On May 31,1974, there was a celebratory ceremony held at City Hall.

The program opened on the E Street upper plaza with “The Spirit of 76” fife and drum corps, the “Presentation of The Colors” by Explorer Scouts and the Pledge of Allegiance by Jeff Ehleres, the San Gorgonio High School bicentennial commissioner.

Bands from schools in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, choral groups and “The Singing Sixties” participated.

Mayor W.R. “Bob” Holcomb proclaimed that day as Bicentennial Designation day.

Albert Johnson, executive director of the State Bicentennial Commission announced the goals for the state commission. Meanwhile, Dr. William R. Coleman, chairman of San Bernardino’s commission explained how his city would participate.

In 1974, San Bernardino's Bicentennial Commission was actively planning local commemorations for the nation's 200th anniversary, focusing on local and community projects. Led by Executive Director Robert Phinney and later by Thelma Press, the commission coordinated with state and national efforts to organize patriotic events, historical, and cultural activities CSUSB archives.
The Bicentennial Commission--chaired by William R. Coleman and featuring prominent historic-minded civic leaders such as Thelma Press, Christian Harris, John Lowe, Charles Obershaw, Dave Light, George Webster, Warner Hodgdon, Art Nelson, Penny Holcomb, Hazel Olson and Fred Coops--produced a booklet entitled A Tour of Historic San Bernardino.

During the year-long celebration, a two hour stage show called The Pageant of the San Bernardino Valley-- a live outdoor play commemorating the period from 1849 to 1856--was held near Shandin Hills in the north end of town. The performances ran from June 29 through July 3.

Juanita Wilkinson of Lake Arrowhead wrote the script, Rowan Taylor composed the music and V. Dennis Wardle, the pageant association president, wrote the lyrics.
Directed by Douglas Merrill, the historical pageant blended music, dance and dialogue to dramatize life in the San Bernardino Valley during the 1840’s and 1850’s.
Three hillside stages were constructed at Blair Park and folding chairs were set up on the ball field below.
The music and dialogue were taped and, despite some occasional glitches during the performances, they were synchronized with the live action on stage.
Each performance started with the local the culture of the Indigenous tribes. Then came the Don Antonio Lugo family, owners of the Rancho San Bernardino, which was recalled through music, song and dance.
The program highlighted Captain Jefferson Hunt and the Mormon settlers arriving by covered wagons and horseback commemorating the settling of San Bernardino in 1851.
After a recreation of a harvest festival and a typical school party of the 1850’s, the pageant concluded with a celebration of the 4th of July.
Local historian, Richard D. Thompson as an informative literary companion for the pageant, produced a booklet featuring biographies of important pioneers entitled Pioneers of San Bernardino.

The 1976 Bicentennial signified a vibrant, pride-filled era for San Bernardino. The following year, the city was recognized with an even more prestigious award as it was recognized as an “All –America City.”

Unfortunately, in the decades following, San Bernardino has suffered significant economic challenges, which included the closure of major, defining employers.

Today, the “spirit of 1976” can be used as a model for San Bernardino as the city strives to capture that same sense of community pride in rebuilding its downtown and strengthen its economy.

You can contact Nick Cataldo at [email protected] and read more of his local history articles at Facebook.com/BackRoadsPress.

02/02/2026

My local history column written for the San Bernardino Sun (part of the Southern California News Group) on January 27, 2016 is about the history of San Bernardino Valley College, which was established in 1926.

San Bernardino Valley College turns 100 this year

When I look back on how a shy 12-year-old kid who preferred daydreaming to academics and dreaded speaking in front of the class became a successful Special Ed. teacher as well as a writer and speaker on local history, I thank my teachers.

The help of the teachers was vital, especially during my years at San Bernardino Valley College, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

San Bernardino Valley College — the first of its kind in the state —wasn’t the first junior college in California. Fresno City College, established in 1907, holds that distinction.

Chaffee College, which was built even earlier, in 1883, also operated under the umbrella of local high school districts while also a college of agriculture affiliated with University of Southern California. It did not become a fully independent college separate from the high school district until 1957.

However, San Bernardino Valley College, or SBVC, was the first in the state of California to operate as a truly independent junior college district, separate from high schools.

On March 26, 1926, voters approved the formation of the San Bernardino Valley Union Junior College District.

Two months later, the board of trustees met at a site on the east side of Mt. Vernon Avenue, about equal distant between the downtown areas of San Bernardino and Colton. The board suggested about 30 acres in that area would provide the ideal location for the new college.

While the campus was still being developed, in fall 1926 the first classes were held at San Bernardino High School and Colton High School. The school started with 140 students and a faculty of 16.

George H. Jantzen, superintendent of the Colton District and principal of Colton High, was appointed dean of SBVC.

When the 1927-28 academic year got under way, the college’s administration building (then called the Classics Building) was completed. Classes took place amid construction, and by the end of the school year, the life science building, the gymnasium, and the library had also been completed.

In 1927-28 the faculty was made up of 11 men and six women. Nearly 300 students enrolled for the fall semester of 1927, with the freshmen outnumbering sophomores nearly 6 to 1.

Howard Jones, a hometown architect and designer of many buildings constructed in San Bernardino in the 1920s and ’30s, drew up the plans for the initial Spanish colonial revival-style campus buildings.

The college began to really take shape during the Great Depression when the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of other key structures, including the vocational building, an auditorium, and the Greek Theatre.

In 1954, the district launched KVCR-FM, which eventually became the first educational FM station in Southern California and remains a prominent NPR-PBS affiliate.
The post-war era saw significant growth, with enrollment reaching around 18,000 by 1975, fueled by the GI Bill and community demand.

My personal experience at San Bernardino Valley College, from 1972-1975, set the foundation and preparation for Cal State San Bernardino. I have fond memories of my time there.

I really enjoyed a “wild life and conservation” biology class taught by Bob Smith. My speech instructor, Harry Murray, proved that this shy kid could indeed speak in front of the class. My Spanish teachers, Anna Jarvis and future San Bernardino Mayor Judith Valles, were excellent. My favorite instructor was Dorothy gates, who taught Sociology.

I also had an interesting and enjoyable English class taught by John Coble. One of the students I really liked talking to was Julio Cruz, who went on to play Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox.

Social life at SBVC was great too.

I played handball and tennis for hours after classes. On Fridays I would socialize with friends in the Greek Theatre while kicking back and listening to rock concerts during my lunch break.

The campus hosted major figures over the years also, including Cesar Chavez in 1968 and 1972, Jane Fonda in 1973, and President Bill Clinton in 1995.

My friend, John Freitas, who attended SBVC during the mid 1990s, recently shared how his experience there helped prepare him for going on to the University of California, Riverside. He also recalled the evening he shook hands with President Clinton.

In the late 1990s, it was determined that many of the building were to be demolished and rebuilt — since the campus was built directly over the San Jacinto Fault Zone. Between 2001 and 2010, many original buildings were torn down and replaced with modern, seismically safe structures.

Located directly north of the SBVC campus is Middle College High School, an alternative high school designed as a joint project of the San Bernardino City Unified School District and San Bernardino Valley College.

Students who attend Middle College High School are concurrently enrolled at both the school and SBVC. They’re able to earn college credits while completing their high school diploma.

Each year, a number of MCHS graduating seniors also earn the Associates of Arts Degree from SBVC.

Famous figures from San Bernardino Valley College include actress/singer Susan Anton, songwriter and composer Jimmy Webb, former U.S. Congressman George Brown, Jr., California Assembly member Wilmer Carter, Major League Baseball player Rich Dauer and NFL General Manager John Butler.

A San Bernardino native, who became the first African-American teacher in San Bernardino, as well as the first Black administrator in the state of California, was Dorothy Inghram.

Music played an important role in her life. While attending San Bernardino Valley College, from 1928 through 1933, she wrote the hymn that was selected as the school’s alma mater. It’s still used today.

Judith Valles is also local graduate who devoted much of her life to the well being of San Bernardino Valley College.

She attended SBVC from 1952 to 1953 and was later appointed to the faculty in 1965. She taught Spanish until 1984, led the department of foreign languages from 1972 to 1976, was the administrative dean of academic affairs from 1983 to 1987; held the position of chief instructional officer at the college and was executive vice president of academic and student affairs from 1987 to 1988.

Valles eventually made history by becoming the first Latina mayor in the city of San Bernardino, as well as the first Latina mayor of any city in the United States with a population of more than 100,000.

San Bernardino Valley College is celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout the 2025-2026 academic year with “100 Events for 100 Years.” The college has a dedicated centennial website, a documentary, a podcast series, and commemorative merchandise.

Contact Nick Cataldo at [email protected] and read more of his local history articles at Back Roads Press.

12/27/2025

Although the well-documented major battles of the Civil War occurred miles away from California, there were certainly tension and high anxiety in "The Golden State"...especially in Southern California's San Bernardino County. My column written for the San Bernardino Sun (part of the Southern California News Group) on December 23, 2025 focuses on this issue.

San Bernardino residents put fear into would-be
marauders at end of Civil War

The sudden recall of Mormon residents back to Salt Lake by Brigham Young in 1857, coupled with the anticipation of the unfolding Civil War left San Bernardino in a mess.

By the time local officials decided to build a jail and a courthouse, many of the Mormon residents — about 60% of the city’s population — followed the church leader’s urgent orders to sell their property for whatever they could and return to Salt Lake.

George Atwood was 7 years old when his parents, Sanford and Jane Atwood, brought their family to San Bernardino in 1860. He shared some unique childhood memories during a speech given before the area Lion’s Club shortly before he died in 1935. Here is some of what he shared:

San Bernardino was but a little town when we arrived here. I remembered they claimed about 500 people altogether, he said at that time.

The business of the town was little and was mostly done on four corners: Fourth Street and Arrowhead Avenue, which was then known as C Street (Lewis Jacobs’ and Calisher’s general stores); the corner of Third and Arrowhead; the corner of 3rd and D; and the corner of 4th and D. Between these corners were some scattered buildings (which included Lewis Anker’s store, James A. Brazelton’s livery stable, Pine’s Hotel, and a feed store), but very few.

He said the corner of Third and D was known as “Whiskey Point.”

Where San Bernardino’s City Hall building stands today, there was a stage line depot, along with a cluster of saloons — all within easy reach of miners returning on the stage from the desert and mountains.

“Whiskey Point” was a hangout for gangs, drunks and men down on their luck. It was also a place that could get down right rowdy.

During the Civil War years there was a large turnover of county sheriffs.
The first was Anson Van Leuven. He served from Nov. 12, 1860, (when sympathies were reaching a boiling point) until October 1861, shortly after the second battle of Bull Run.
With the escalating tension of the impending war, Van Leuven’s 11 months in office were quite eventful.

The Sacramento Daily Alta acquired a letter from Holcomb Valley complaining of the “Seceshers” in Southern California and ran an announcement in their Sept. 2, 1861, edition. The article read:

The place is getting hot. The Secessionists are holding secret meetings two or three times a week. There is a rendezvous on the Colorado, and runners are continually passing back and forth. Some of the leading men of Los Angeles and San Bernardino are encouraging them. The Union men hold meetings here every Saturday night, and we are well armed, and we think that if they make a break, we can clean them so quick that it will make their heads swim. They are very saucy and some of the Union men expect lively times before long.

Heated arguments between local residents were frequent and sometimes resulted in violence. One such encounter happened in 1861 during the election for U.S. Senator after a heated argument between two assemblymen — Union supporter and former Sheriff Charles W. Piercy of San Bernardino and Confederate supporter Dan Showalter from Mariposa County.

The animosity between the two politicians led to a duel — rifles at 40 paces — that took place on May 23, about three miles west of San Rafael. Showalter shot Piercy through the mouth, killing him outright. Since it was a formal duel, no legal action was taken.
Showalter, however, was determined to go and fight for the Confederacy and recruit as many men as possible.

In November 1861, he left Mariposa with 18 comrades for the San Gabriel Valley, expecting to enlist former Texans living in El Monte. When that plan didn’t pan out, the Showalter party traveled up the Cajon Pass in hopes of enticing miners from Holcomb Valley.

For several weeks the hostile cavalry set up headquarters in Cleghorn Canyon while sending a recruiting detail to Holcomb Valley, according to historian L. Burr Belden. Finding few newcomers, they took off southbound, enroute to Sonora. Before they could get too far the men were captured by the 1st California Volunteers near Warner’s Ranch and taken to Camp Wright near today’s Oak Grove in San Diego County.

After taking the “oath of allegiance” to the North, Showalter was released within six months. He later fought for the South in the Battle of Galveston.
In fall 1861, Eli M. Smith was sheriff of San Bernardino County. Despite proving to be an effective lawman, he was eventually tried and found guilty of embezzling county funds.

Smith’s next two replacements served only a few months each. It wasn’t until 1863 San Bernardino County finally found someone who showed some stability — Benjamin F. Mathews.

He had his hands full.

Shortly after the surrender of Lee’s army at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, it was rumored that a band of secessionists left Visalia and was on its way to plunder San Bernardino. The townspeople were rightly concerned as there had been reports of attacks by gangs of marauding secessionists throughout the country.

The Mason-Henry Gang led this group — a notorious band of outlaws operating in Central and Southern California.
Posing as Confederate Partisan Rangers, their original mission was to rid the area of anti-slavery Republicans. However, when it became clear the Confederate cause was losing, they turned to outlawry.

The two leaders were John Mason, an alleged murderer and Tom McCauley, a California Gold Rush criminal using the alias Jim Henry. The gang had grown to 16 at its peak.
Sheriff Mathews and the citizens of San Bernardino were on edge.

Eliza Crafts, recalled in her 1906 book “Pioneer Days in the San Bernardino Valley,” about the unnerving affair.

“It was considered unsafe for Mr. Crafts to return home from the post office unarmed, he having been with the other Federals in San Bernardino on picket guard all night, in the unfinished Catholic Church, which was used as a fort. A company of Confederates had been organized in Visalia to go to Texas by way of San Bernardino, intending to make raid on the Union men in the latter place to obtain their outfit. Dr. Ben Barton, a Southern gentleman, being informed of the plot, advised the citizens to defend themselves.
“The town was picketed and watch was kept day and night. The half-completed shoulder-high brick walls of the Catholic church were selected as a makeshift fort, and ammunition and supplies were gathered. This continued every day until an infantry of U.S. soldiers, who had been contacted, arrived on the scene.”

As it turned out, there was no bloodshed. When word reached the would-be raiders about these preparations by the determined residents, the rebels wisely changed their plans.
Mathews’ posse caught up with the gang and McCauley was shot and killed in September 1865. Mason was killed in April the following, by miner Ben Mayfield, whom he tried to kidnap.

The partially completed Catholic Church, poised as the fort to be used in defense of the futilely attempted Confederate attack, was completed in 1871. It was replaced in 1910 by the red brick St. Bernardine Catholic Church, which stands today on the northeast corner of Fifth and and F streets.

11/28/2025

Here is my local history column written for the San Bernardino Sun (part of the Southern California News Group) that appeared on November 25, 2025.

Summit Valley in the Cajon Pass has rich land — and history
Before settlement by Europeans, Indigenous village was there

Summit Valley is a beautiful area. Located east of the 15 Freeway and along highways 138 and 173, this region offers a mix of rugged mountain scenery, panoramic views and a fascinating history.

The valley’s fertile land and water sources, including the West Fork of the Mojave River, have historically made it a significant passageway for myriad travelers.

Long before European settlement, there was a large Indigenous village near today’s Silverwood Lake in Summit Valley belonging to the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, called Wáꞌpeat (Hispanicize: Guapiabit). This was near the intersection of two ancient Indian trails. One was the Mohave Trail, which extended from the San Bernardino Mountains along the Mojave River and continued on across the desert to the Colorado River. The other trail followed the creek bed paralleling the 138 toward the 15.

The village name was derived from waꞌat, the tribe’s word for juniper, which grew abundantly in the area. Wáꞌpeat had deep ties with other villages along the Mojave River and the southern Antelope Valley and was the site of community gatherings.
·
The first documented European contact occurred in 1806 with the arrival of the Father Jose Maria de Zalvidea while traveling to the San Gabriel Mission from Santa Barbara. In the trip’s diary it was noted that four leagues to the south from a cienaga, a marsh or swamp, above today’s Victorville Narrows was the rancheria of Guapiabit, where 44 people lived.

The Rev. Joaquin Pasqual Nuez, minister of San Gabriel and chaplain of a punitive expedition against the Mohave Indians for their raids on local Indigenous populations stopped at the village in 1819. Although not given any information about the inhabitants, he recorded the following:

“November 25, At about seven in the morning the expedition set out in a cold north wind, and passing the Cajon, in spite of a large rough hill, we arrived at about 12 n in the day at the village of Guapiabit, distant from the Cajon about nine and a half leagues without anything unusual having occurred. After the Rosary I named the place Our Lady of Guadalupe of Guapiabit.”

A survey of mission records transcribed in 1982 indicated that over a period of 30 years (1785-1815) more than 70 individuals were noted as naming “Guapiabit” as their village.
Although he didn’t specifically mention the Indigenous village, fur trapper Jedediah Smith and his group of mountain men passed through Summit Valley in 1826 and again in 1827.

Two years later in 1829, Summit Valley became part of the mule caravan passage for travelers on the Old Spanish Trail … a significant trade route connecting the Spanish/Mexican settlements of Santa Fe with Los Angeles. The course facilitated the movement of goods and people, contributing to Southern California’s development.

Sadly, with the influx of European presence in the region, the Indigenous village of Wá’peat was soon abandoned.

As the demand for horses grew greater in the southwest during the 1830s and 1840s, horse rustling became prevalent in Southern California. Chaguanosos, thieves and rustlers eager to profit from the economic situation, stole horses from ranchos and drove herds to Utah and New Mexico for sale. One of the favored routes was through the Summit Valley.

Horsethief Canyon, just south and west of Guapiabit, supposedly received its name because herds of stolen horses were grazed there before starting the long trip across the Mojave Desert.

The area continued to be used as a pack trail for prospectors until 1848 when a group of honorably discharged soldiers from the Mormon Battalion became the first to bring a wagon through the Cajon Pass — a pivotal event that opened the way for future wheeled traffic.

The following year, Capt. Jefferson Hunt led a large gold-seeking wagon train through along the Old Spanish Trail, further cementing the route’s importance for westward expansion. The men eventually found out how arduous it would be to take wheeled vehicles along a pack trail.

John Brown Sr., a San Bernardino pioneer, established the first graded road through the Summit Valley in 1861. Known as the Brown Toll Road, much of its course followed the creek bed and was subject to numerous washouts.

The rich, grassy slopes of Summit Valley made it ideal for cattle ranching and soon the region became home to several large ranches.

Originally owned by E.K. Dunlap and Ed Parrish, the ranch was established around 1860, was one of the earliest stock ranches along the Mojave River and occupied most of Summit Valley along the lower end of West Fork. This well-watered fertile valley was also approximately where the former Indian village had flourished for centuries.

The ranch played a role in an episode in Southern California’s past when so many innocent bystanders met horrific deaths.

Fear of annihilation between the Indian and White man escalated over the years and was getting even worse. In March 1866, three young men working on the ranch were found brutally slain in Grass Valley. The consensus was that they were killed by an Indigenous tribe from the Mojave Desert in retaliation to the gruesome murders of their tribe by settlers shortly before.

Dunlap and Parish eventually sold their ranch to James and Amos Houghton in 1870. Ranch manager John Burcham and his sons leased the property in 1881. After Burcham’s death in 1890, the ranch was returned to Houghton, who sold it to John Cole in 1897. It was during this time that the ranch adopted the name Las Flores.
•
Meanwhile, the California Southern Railroad. later to be called Santa Fe and now known as BNSF, built a line through the pass in the 1880s, and a station called “Summit” was established there.

In 1882, the Brown Toll Road became a county-owned free road. Eventually automobiles followed the road and in 1913 the route became known as the Santa Fe-Grand Canyon-Needles Highway, which soon became part of the National Old Trails Road.

Sometime before World War I, Summit Valley became home to Cedar Springs, a community near the San Bernardino Mountains that was settled by families who farmed and raised strawberries. The one-time community was flooded in 1972 to create Silverwood Lake and was ultimately displaced by the construction of the Cedar Springs Dam as part of the California State Water Project to provide water for Southern California.

In 2020, the Indigenous village of Wá’peat was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Guapiabit–Serrano Homeland Archaeological District.

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