Big Bear California

Archive for February, 2007

Question: Can anyone please tell me the history of the China Islands on Big Bear Lake, CA?

I went to Big Bear Lake yesterday for the 4th of July and we took our boat over to these rocks with houses on them. I was so intrigued by what I saw. When I got home, I Googled the island and all I could really find was that it is called China Island. If anyone can give me more info on these houses, that would be great. Also, are these houses still occupied??? Thanks!

Answer: Brae82,
great question by the way. Last time I spent the 4th of July in Big Bear it was 1996 or 1997. Great place to cool off and some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Southern California. A once great hideaway too for the big named stars of 1930s and 1940s.

One Benjamin Davis (Don Benito) Wilson is who you have to thank and the (then) Mexican Governor Pio Pico provided a challenge to Benjamin Wilson to uphold the law in the (then) Inland Territory (today’s Inland Empire). Benjamin Wilson was held up with logistical matters in California while en-route to China and low and behold an opportunity presents itself. You can Google Benjamin Wilson’s name and you will find some storied history. One of the most interesting to me is that after Wilson’s first wife passed away of natural causes (Ramona Yorba) – he would marry Margaret Hereford – together they would have a daughter Ruth. Ruth – would become the mother of one famed General George S. Patton – and Patton was a cousin 3 times removed to the most famous and decorated U.S. Marine in the history of the United States – one Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller.

To the question of Big Bear Valley California – formerly populated by the Serrano Indian tribe for 2,500 years before Spanish or American Colonists showed up:

Wilson was one of the first American settlers in Southern California. The Native Americans loved Wilson and dubbed him “Don Benito”. A former fur trapper and Indian trader, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen and then began his extensive land holdings with the purchase of Rancho Jurupa (now Riverside). He then married Ramona Yorba whose family owned property including the 78,941 acre Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. After Ramona’s death, he married Margaret Hereford of Los Angeles. He became a prosperous rancher and one of the first sub-dividers at one time he owned lands that became Westwood, Pasadena, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Riverside and San Bernardino.

In 1851 he was elected mayor of LITTLE Los Angeles and was instrumental in coaxing the Southern Pacific Railroad to pass through Los Angeles rather than around it. Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains bears his name. He was a special friend to the Indians and in 1852 was appointed their subagent. He was instrumental in creating the reservation system and establishing policies to ensure the future welfare of Indians suffering from the breakdown of the old mission program. (Google California Missions – built between 1769 – 1823; San Juan Capistrano Mission and the San Gabriel Mission were built at the time of the American Revolution).

In 1845 a group of renegade horse thieves and rustlers led by a fierce, young, Ute Indian Chief named Walkara stole a large herd of Lugo owned cattle, driving them off into the desert. Benjamin Wilson, leading a group of New Mexicans and Californians, set out in pursuit of Walkara. Wilson sent half of the men through the Cajon Pass and the other half he led into San Bernardino’s Santa Ana canyon. Climbing higher and higher over rough terrain and steep granite ridges, his party came across an alkali lake and a small Indian settlement surrounded by forests of tall Ponderosa, Jeffrey and Lodgepole pine. Although they did not find Walkara, what they did discover was an ancient and mysterious forest alive with Grizzly Bears. It is reported that Wilson and his men took 11 huge pelts with them that day. Word of their adventure spread and the area now known as Big Bear and Big Bear Lake was originally named “Bear Valley”. This is where it begins.

I am providing a link below for you to consider the boat tour – this will get you up close and personal to the homes on Garstin Island (aka China Island). The homes are owned and the owners prefer anonymity from the hustle and bustle of the regular Southern California crowds – some famous people own those homes by the way.

Hope this helps and best of luck,
Gerry (on the East Coast of the USA now……) :’(

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