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California, land of little rain. Some years are so dry one forgets what moisture
is. Then comes the rain years, and at times it's as if God turned the
faucet on and forgot to turn it off. Yearly rain averages can be hard to
calculate for this reason. Recent January 2005 rains dumped more water
in a few days than all of 2004. Throughout recorded history this is not
uncommon. Unfortunately these dry periods followed by short periods of large
amounts of rainfall make many areas of California
ripe for catastrophic floods. The
San Gabriel Mountains
north of the City of Los Angeles, and the communities that built up in and around the mountain have been
molded and shaped by the great rainfalls and the destruction they
caused.
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Cars detour
around a portion of Big Tujunga Road washed out by the waters of
Big Tujunga Creek in January, 2005. |
Part
I:
Camps & Resorts Rise and
Fall With The Flood Waters
Eldoradoville
"There has been some excitement this past week about the new
gold diggings on the headwaters of the
San Gabriel
. We have met persons who have been out prospecting and although they
found gold of the best quality, differ very much as the regards the
richness of the mines. The Crab Hollow diggings are now considered the
best and will pay from two to five cents to the pan. It is understood
that if the river can be turned from its present bed, some rich leads
may be found and big piles realized." The
Los Angeles
Star,
September 21, 1854
.
The lure of gold brought men to the
San Gabriel
Canyon
, with the big rush coming in 1859. The first mining camp was set up to
supply needs of the miners and a place for them to spend their gold.
Prospect Bar was located four miles up the East Fork, near the
stream and
Cattle
Canyon. The Little Falls Company, and McClure & Company were just two of
many mining operations that sprang up. "The former have constructed
a flume several hundred feet in length, and of sufficient capacity to
carry the waters of the San Gabriel
at a high stage...The later of the parties named above are engaged in
putting up a hydraulic pump for the purpose of washing a hill
claim." The Southern Vineyard,
August 23, 1859
"A dam has been constructed which lays bare a large section
of the river bed, which they have found quite rich…" The
Star,
November 5, 1859
By December 3rd, the Star
was describing devastation caused by heavy rainfall a few weeks after
the construction of the dam: "We
regret to have to record the total demolition of the
mining works in the San Gabriel Canyon...So tremendous was the
force of the torrent rushing down, that it swept away as chaff all the
mining works erected on the river--dams, wheels sluices, everything, in
fact. The amount of damage
sustained by miners cannot be calculated."
Within a month, San Gabriel
Canyon
prospectors had rebuilt their dams, waterwheels and sluices, and gold
was being pulled out once again. The Eldoradoville Mining District was
formed by March of 1860, and the town of Eldoradoville
took Prospect Bar's place. Eldoradoville was a rowdy town with no law,
just the justice of a knife or pistol. Three stores, and
half dozen saloons accommodated the miners needs. By August 1861,
the Wells Fargo & Company reported shipments of gold from their
Los Angeles
office, averaging $15,000 in a six month period, primarily from the San Gabriel
Canyon
mines.
The night of
January 17th-18th, 1862
Eldoradoville was hit by a
torrential cloudburst once again. The East Fork turned into a flood of
churning gray water intent on destroying everything in it came across.
The residents of the town managed to climb the hillsides to safety, but
the town was washed away. Shacks, whiskey barrels, groceries, beds,
roulette wheels, sluices, long toms, wing dams and China
pumps were swept into the floodplain of the
San Gabriel
Valley. Eldoradoville was destroyed by the same forces of nature that had hit
Prospect Bar; only mud and debris remained. The boom mining days on the
East Fork of the San Gabriel
River were gone.
The Great Hiking Era
Stuart O'Melveny gives us this picture of the San Gabriel
Canyon
in the 1890's: "In the old days, before hydroelectric development
and flood control dams, the
San Gabriel
River
flowed even in summer all the way to the mouth of the canyon above Azusa. There was no other trout stream in
Southern California
that could compare with it. The water was clean and clear, alternating
between sparkling riffles and darker pools. Wherever the floods of
winter had not scoured the boulders, alders and sycamores graced the
banks, casting their shadows athwart the stream. The old wagon road
wound its tortuous way in the canyon bottom, crossing and recrossing the
rocks and river, and only seemed to make progress if it reached some
bench or flat a little above the stream level and lined out across the
sandy earth."
The fishermen and the hunters came after the miners. Great
lodges, and camps soon dotted not only the
San Gabriel
Canyon
but others in the mountain range of the same name. These places tucked
away in barely accessible nooks and crannies, became popular vacation
spots for any and everyone during the Great Hiking Era that began in the
late 1880's and went through the mid 1930's. Floods brought on by
extremely heavy 1938 rains, roared down the mountainsides and canyons
washing away many of the resorts. This combined with the popularity of
the automobile and easy access provided by the construction of the
Angeles Crest Highway
contributed to the demise of the
Great Hiking Era.
Switzer's Camp & Oak Wilde
The trail we know today as Commodore Switzer Trail Camp was
originally discovered by Bob Waterman of
Pasadena
in 1883 when he ventured into the canyon labeled Arroyo Seco by the
Spaniards. Waterman took his bride and a single pack horse for month
long camping adventure, and came back and told Commodore Perry Switzer
about it. Switzer was so excited by the tale he heard that he decided to
go up there himself in 1934 and build a rough trail that lead to the
original Waterman campsite above beautiful waterfalls. He packed in
tents, kitchen equipment and food, thus creating the first tourist
resort in the
San Gabriel Mountains. The Waterman's were happy to fund his venture, and eventually joined
in management of the hostelry. Relaxation,
stream fishing and hiking awaited tourists who arrived on either mare or
burro after enduring eight miles of zigzags and sixty stream crossings.
Switzer's Camp was quite popular for an entire decade. It proved
not to be a big money maker, however. The Commodore, in failing health left his wilderness camp to his
nephew. A forest fire in 1896 damaged the Arroyo Seco watershed and
several of the Switzer cabins. In 1905, Clarence Martin and a man named
Brainard brought the old resort back to life, keeping it going until
Martin's death in 1911. That same year Lloyd B. Austin wandered up the
failing trail camp and managed to turn it into the number one resort in
the mountains. For the next 24 years, Switzer's was the place to be,
until
Angeles Crest Highway
and the automobile enabled tourists to travel to greater places in the
high elevations of the
San Gabriel
mountain range.
Progress couldn't completely kill Switzer's, but the flood waters
of March 1938 nearly did. The
Arroyo Seco trail was demolished and trees littered the canyon floor. A
road leading to the camp called Oak Wilde, that had been built by J.R.
Phillips at the confluence of the Arroyo Seco and Dark
Canyon, was also damaged, as were its cabins and sections of the Arroyo Seco
trail. Switzer-land struggled on for another 20 years to the 1950's, but
the road to Oak Wilde was barricaded right after the flood by the City
of
Pasadena
and permanently closed in 1941.
Valley
Forge
- "The
Gate
Way
to the Wild"
In 1913 Ernest and Cherie De Vore leased ten acres of Forest
Service acres in the
San Gabriel's West Fork. Camp West Fork
followed the alder, live oak, and spruce tree lined creek. The main
lodge sat on a flat area above water. One could enjoy a good meal there,
or buy groceries to make their own. Card games went on regularly for one
to join in on, and Saturday nights were for dancing. Books were provided
by a branch of the LA County Library, for those who wanted to read.
Crouquet and horseshoe courts were available outside. In 1920 a swimming pool, probably the first in the mountains, was
added on for enjoyment, as well. Four
cabins, and several small tent houses were available for overnight
guests. Vegetables and fruit grew in a large garden and orchard. A
sawmill, also built in 1920, cut lumber for building materials.
A dispute over ownership in 1923, caused the death of Camp West
Fork, forcing the DeVore's to concentrate on another Forest Service
lease they had. This one was at the junction of
Valley Forge
and the West fork, three miles upstream from their original camp. They
called it Valley Forge Lodge. In 1924, when it looked as if the Devore's
were losing Camp West Fork to the legal dispute, they hurried to move
most of the equipment and buildings to the new site. Although they
eventually won their case, there was now so little at Camp West Fork,
the Forest Service decided to cancel their lease.
Valley Forge Lodge became "The Gateway to the Wild".
The secluded spot alongside three bubbling streams and small
waterfalls, was well shaded by touring spruce trees. The spacious rock
lodge was build with two great fireplaces constructed from creek bed
boulders. The lodge was surrounded by small housekeeping cabins. Guests
enjoyed trout fishing, horseback riding, dancing, badminton, hiking and
good food once again. Ernest Devore left
Valley Forge
sometime in the 1920's, but his wife Cherie continued to operate the
lodge by herself for a couple of years. In 1935, Cherie married Bert
Rice and the two continued to manage Valley Forge Lodge together.
Rain drenched the
San Gabriel mountains
the entire night of
March 1-2, 1938, swelling creeks until they overflowed and raged through the canyons.
Every camp or cabin was either destroyed or heavily damaged.
Valley Forge
might have weathered the West Fork as it flooded, but it could not
survive the torrents of debris that came down
Valley Forge
Canyon
thanks to the ridge a thousand feet above where the
Angeles Crest Highway
was being constructed. Only the great stone lodge survived. The giant
spruce trees that had provided shade for the lodge
were carried down the canyon. The two waterfalls in the center of
the camp, and the stone arch bridge crossing West Fork were buried under
the mass of debris.
Valley Forge Lodge was so destroyed that Cherie Devore decided to
sell it to the Long Beach YMCA who operated Kamp Kole as a summer camp
for boys down stream from where the original lodge was. In 1949 a fire
destroyed Kamp Kole. Today
the Forest Service runs a public campground where the old lodge once
stood.
Camp
Rincon
- "The Gem of the
San
Gabriel
Canyon
"
Charlie Smith of
Azusa
leased 160 acres of land from William Potter in the 1867 and soon turned
it into
"The Gem of the San Gabriel
Canyon". "There is
nothing in all nature so beautiful as the moonlight evenings under the
live-oaks" bragged the 1911 Camp
Rincon
brochure. "The campers
gather for dancing at the big open-sided dance hall and there are masque
balls, candy pulls, popping corn in the coals of a dying campfire and
pool and billiard playing. In
the afternoon there is the big concrete plunge to swim in, mountain
walks over the trails, a few sets on the splendid cement tennis court,
and trips to Painted Rock, Fern
Falls, Cold Brook, and through the long mountain tunnel. If you prefer the simple life, the day can be spent in hammocks
and swings."
By 1905 the popular resort included not only hotel, cabins,
tents, swimming pool, dance floor, and tennis court, but the largest
general store in the canyon. Everything from food and spirits, to
clothing and fishing gear was available for miner and vacationer alike.
In the spring and summer months, Camp Rincon's four horse stage carried
visitors from the Santa Fe train in Azusa over the "picturesque
mountain road" and returned "in time for the 4:45 Santa Fe
Local" for a price of $2 per day, or $10 per week, according to an
advertisement in the Azusa Pomotropic of August 24, 1905.
In 1907, William Potter sold the prosperous hostelry to four
businessmen, but Charlie Smith remained as manager for the next two
years, until Raymond Briggs took his place. Camp
Rincon
continued to be a popular spot through the 1920's, when the automobile
caused it's decline. In the early 1930's, Burt Lackey tried his hand at
reviving the camp by attracting attention to it with the first neon
lights in the canyon. From 1933-1935, the camp was also used by the
Civilian Conservation Corp. The floodwaters and debris of March 1-2,
1938, wreaked havoc over the once tranquil sanctuary, washing out all
but a few of the camp buildings. What
little remained of it was leased from the Los Angeles County who owned
it at that time, to Clara Schmidtd who once again tried to turn Camp
Rincon into "The Gem of the San Gabriel Canyon", but failed at
her attempt.
Sadly, after WWII, Camp
Rincon
was nothing more than a beer joint with a few rental cabins that were
occupied by canyon residents. In 1969 mother nature's continuous tears
created floods another time, destroying not only the main building, but
most of the cabins. Half of the land disappeared in the river's
floodplain. What remains today is a occupied by a USFS fire station.
Next
Month -
Part II:
Sunland/Tujunga,
& La
Crescenta
Valleys
Nearly Washed Away
Bibliography
Books:
The
San Gabriels:
The
Mountain Country from
Soledad
Canyon
to Lytle Creek
by
John W. Robinson
Big
Santa Anita Historical Society
The
San Gabriels:
Southern
California
Mountain
Country
by
John W. Robinson
Golden
West Books\San
Marino
CA
Internet Sources:
History
of Follows Camp
http://www.followscamp.net/History.htm
Los Angeles
Times
Stranded,
but Not Helpless
by
David Peterson, staff writer
January 29, 2005
www.latimes.com
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