History

The Gold Rush

The discovery of gold brought the first significant numbers of people to Big Bear.

In February of 1860, two prospectors, Bill Holcomb and Jack Martin arrived in Big Bear during the dead of winter. They found the valley covered in snow and set up camp in an area called Starvation Flats, located where the intersection of Stanfield and Big Bear Boulevard is today.

That winter was unusually cold and harsh. Food was in short supply for the miners at Starvation Flats. Jack Martin decided to return to Los Angeles for more supplies and Bill Holcomb went hunting for food. Bill headed north across the valley and climbed up the mountain just west of Bertha Peak. From the top of the ridge he gazed upon a new lush green valley that would eventually bear his name. Bill killed two bear, packed his kill on burros and returned to Starvation Flats.

With a fresh supply of meat at camp, Bill decided to return to the new valley for a couple of days and do a little prospecting. On the May 5th, he set up camp in the main gulch located between the upper and lower parts of Holcomb Valley. To his amazement, he immediately started pulling out gold in significant amounts.

News of Holcomb's find spread quickly, and by July, there were more than 1, 000 men feverishly working their gold claims. Almost overnight, a town called Belleville sprang into existence almost overnight with a collection of stores, saloons, dance halls, and blacksmith shops. About the same time, two other towns, Clapboard Town and Uniontown, also appeared in Holcomb Valley. Holcomb Valley even had a brewery!

1860 was also an election year, and the population of Holcomb Valley was growing so fast that the voters there would soon outnumber the rest of the county. One of the matters that needed to be decided in the election of 1860 was where the San Bernardino county seat would be located. Belleville residents felt strongly that the location should be right there in Holcomb Valley even though it was isolated at the eastern end of the San Bernardino Mountains. When the ballots were rounded up to be counted, the returns from one entire Belleville precinct were missing. Even so, the city of San Bernardino barely won the contest by only two votes. If not for those missing votes, Holcomb Valley would probably look like San Bernardino does today.

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