The Mormon Pioneers of San Bernardino Valley

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

“The Mormon Pioneers” from Pioneer Days in the San Bernardino Valley by Eliza Crafts, 1906.

I have given very briefly the pioneer mission works of San Bernardino Valley; now I shall try to narrate what led to its present state of civilization and tell of the Mormon immigration to the valley.

Towards the close of the war between Mexico and the United States, a Morman regiment was recruited for service which became known as the "Mormon battalion." Captain Jefferson Hunt had been instrumental in forming this regiment and was made First Captain of five companies of Mormons. He was accompanied by his two sons, Gilbert, as corporal, and Marshall, as private.

On returning from the war, Capt. Hunt camped with his soldiers in San Diego three months, there hoisting the United States flag; they then went to the Mission San Luis Rey, thence to San Juan Capistrano, taking some six weeks for the trip. Their next move was to Los Angeles, where they had an altercation with the Spanish. Governor Pico called out his men, but finally matters were amicably settled.

On July 15, 1847, the battalion was mustered out and the disbanded soldiers went north to the mines.

During his stay in this section, Capt. Hunt made the acquaintance of the leading men of the country, viz: Workman, Rowland, Williams, Cucamonga, Rubidoux, Lugo, Slover and Pico, also the Bannings, who were wealthy, leading people. From the mines

Capt. Hunt went to Utah to meet his family, Brigham Young having arrived there with a colony while Capt. Hunt was in the south. Finding his family in a destitute condition in this new country, where provisions could not be obtained, Capt. Hunt, in the fall of '47, decided to return to California to obtain supplies for his family and the other colonists.

The Captain, with a small company of fifteen or six- teen men, concluded to return to California by the southern route, which at this time was only an Indian trail through a region whose dangers and difficulties would have appalled men of less courage. This party came successfully through the Mojave Desert, entered the Cajon Pass, and on into the valley, Capt. Hunt having the honor of being the first white man to enter California by this southern route.

After a brief rest, Capt. Hunt purchased 300 head of cattle and 150 horses of the Lugos, packing the horses with provisions he had secured from the government officers. Taking twenty Indian vaqueros to care for his stock, in the spring of '48 he returned over the "Mormon trail," as it was called, to Utah, where he disposed of his goods and cattle. He had also carried seeds for planting in that new region. He remained in Utah with his family a year. In the fall of '49 he undertook to pilot a party of gold seekers across the southern desert, over the trail that he had broken with the stock he had driven to Utah. The Captain had agreed to bring the party through within a certain time, but they had so encumbered themselves that their progress was necessarily much slower than they anticipated. Some of them became greatly dissatisfied and finally determined to leave his company and take what they thought would prove a shorter way. Their tragic fate is well known, as it is one of the saddest of that land of tragedies, Death Valley.

An incident of their wanderings may be of interest to my readers:

"It was February 4, 1850, when the sixteen-year-old scout sent ahead by the despairing and perishing immigrants of the "Historic Death Valley" party, who had wandered on the desert, lost for months, found at last a human habitation and brought them to the noble hospitality of the San Francisquito Rancho, the home of Senor Del Valle, where they were tenderly nursed back to life."

The ruins of the adobe ranch house which sheltered this party, can still be traced in the little village of Newhall. The boy scout is now a gaunt and grizzled veteran, Capt. J. B. Colton, of Kansas City.

Rev. J. H. Brier, who with his wife and three little boys endured the indescribable horrors of that wandering, preached the first Protestant sermon in Southern California, at Los Angeles, June, 1850, at the residence of John G. Nichols, in an adobe where the Los Angeles old court house once stood, and where the Bullard block now stands. Rev. J. H. Brier was, for years, a famous Methodist pioneer missionary in California. Mrs. Brier is living in Lodi, having reached the venerable age of 92. A daughter, Mrs. Mary Caroline Watkins, lives at Mesa Grande, where she is well known as the friend of the Indians. They call her "the mother of the Indians"—and it is beautiful to note the respect these dusky children pay to their loving friend. They bring to her all their perplexities for solution and come to draw consolation from her kind heart for the troubles and sorrows that are their portion.

Those who had remained with Capt. Hunt arrived safely in San Bernardino Valley and went on their way to the mines. Capt. Hunt also went to the mines in the north and while there he cultivated the acquaintance of the most influential, men in the northern valleys.

During Capt. Hunt's sojourn in Southern California he was so delighted with the climate and the agricultural possibilities of the country, that on his return to Utah he gave such a glowing account of San Bernardino Valley that many of the Mormons became desirous to see for themselves this El Dorado of the south.

Brigham Young, ever willing to enlarge his boundaries, encouraged emigration to the Pacific Coast, and two of his church officials, Elders Amasa Lyman and Charles C. Rich, were among the number of five hundred who left Utah in the spring of 1851 to try their fortunes in this new country.

The party was too large to travel as one body, so they divided into three sections; the first being under the command of Charles C. Rich, piloted by Capt. Hunt; the second, under Amasa Lyman, piloted by Capt. David Seely; the third was commanded by Capt, Andrew Lytle. The 10th of June, 1851. saw the first section, led by the intrepid Capt. Hunt, safely encamped at Sycamore Grove at the mouth of Cajon Pass. Another section camped some Utile distance

southwest, on the bank of the creek now known as Lytle creek, receiving its name from Andrew Lytle. These parties remained in the canyon and on the banks of Lytle creek some months, secure from the troublesome Indians. While the company was encamped at Sycamore Grove life went on as it does in other places; there was "marrying and giving in marriage.'' for the young were in that company, with their hopes for the future, and many decided to join their fortunes.

The first weddings to be celebrated were those of Nathan Swarthout and Emma Tanner, and James J. Davidson and Lydia Shepherd. These young people plighted their vows under the spreading branches of a venerable sycamore, and their bridal chorus was sung by the wild birds in the leaves above them. Other couples followed, and the course of true love ran here in this woodland camp as it does in old and populous cities.

In the meantime, the officials investigated the country, selecting the San Bernardino Valley as the most desirable location for their homes. Negotiations were entered into for the purchase of the Rancho de San Bernardino of the Lugos, who owned 37,000 acres of land in the valley. Before the summer ended the sale was effected and the colonists in possession, the purchase price being $75,000.

Here Capt. Hunt's acquaintance with men of means in the north was of great service, for it was necessary to borrow the money to pay for the land. Elders Lyman and Rich, with Capt. Hant, went to San Francisco and secured the necessary amount of Messrs. Haywood and Morley, agreeing to pay in three installments.

The possessions of the colonists consisted chiefly of cattle and horses, and to meet the first demand for payment they unhesitatingly gathered their stock together and, as one lady said, "her father sold every hoof," and put the money in the common purse to meet the exigency.

Crafts, Eliza P. R. Pioneer Days in the San Bernardino Valley. Kingsley, Moles & Collins Co, 1906.

Eliza Crafts

Pioneer Stories

A collection of firsthand accounts from the settlers, pioneers, and indigenous peoples of the modern United States. Please feel free to follow and contribute!

View Group