The
history of Lake Arrowhead goes back to the year 1891
when a group of Cincinnati, Ohio, capitalists conceived
the idea of a great irrigation project that would conserve
the waters of the whole area surrounding Little Bear
Valley (Lake Arrowhead).If the project had been completed
in its entirety, it would have been one of the great
engineering projects of that era. The first step in the stupendous undertaking was to
be the construction of a main reservoir in the Little
Bear Valley, which would impound the natural drainage
of Little Bear Creek, a tributary of Deep Creek. An inlet
tunnel was to be constructed eastward to Deep Creek and
then to Crab and Holcomb Creeks, and all of their waters
were to be diverted from Deep Creek watershed into the
reservoir. Diversion dams and regulating reservoirs were
to be located at Deep, Crab, and Holcomb Creeks. The
phase of the project, alone would have been quite an
undertaking for those horse-and-wagon days, but the grandiose
plans did not end here. Another reservoir was to be constructed
in Grass Valley, west of the main reservoir and on a
tributary of the West Fork of the Mojave River. This
supplemental basin was to be connected with the main
reservoir by tunnel. Two other reservoirs were to be
located on near-by mountain flats to increase the water
supply still further. The plan was then to take this
great supply of water, as needed, through an outlet tunnel
that would pass through the San Bernardino Mountains
and deliver it into the San Bernardino watershed.
The
over-all plan called for the construction of over sixty
miles of water conveyances and tunnels
of which
over six and a half miles of tunnels were actually completed,
the smallest tunnels being five feet in diameter. Negotiations
were started for the purchase of land as far west as
Pomona and as far southwest as Chino. The original surveys
indicated that the creation of this reservoir –now
Lake Arrowhead –would give two and a half million
acres of newly irrigated land to Southern California.
Keep
in mind that in the 1890’s,
California was experiencing one of the greatest building
booms in its
history; subdivisions were springing up everywhere; eastern
capital was pouring in ; irrigation bonds were in high
favor as an investment.
The Little Bear Valley project was really the brain
child of J. E. Mooney and not Procter and Gamble interests,
as so often been stated. Mr. Mooney, a bachelor, and
one of the founders of Squirrel Inn, was a multi-millionaire
who had been most successful in leather and coffin business.
Mr.
Mooney and his group organized the Arrowhead Reservoir
Company in Cincinnati in 1890,
and the election of James
N. Gamble –of Procter and Gamble –as president
added greatly to the prestige of the whole venture.
Under the direction of Colonel Adolph Wood, first vice-president
and general manager, 5,240 acres of land were purchased,
water rights were obtained, and engineers were put to
work. In 1892 work was started on some of the tunnels
on the large masonry dam for Bear Creek. After digging
to bedrock and completing the foundation of the dam,
the engineers suddenly discovered that there was insufficient
rock of suitable quality in the area to build a masonry
dam.
At this time a series of other factors began to delay
the work of the company. The government did not readily
cooperate in granting the rights of way across Federal
lands; there were court decisions that left the status
of irrigation companies in an unsettled state; the exact
amount of water available in the area had been greatly
overestimated; and a new law which permitted supervisors
to fix water rates all tended to complicate matters and
slow down construction almost to a standstill.
Prior to 1895 there had been no consideration given
to the development of electric power. However when new
facilities for the long-distance transmission of electricity
were perfected, the company suddenly realized that the
electricity developed from the project might be of great
value. So in 1905 the property was transferred to a new
corporation, the Arrowhead Reservoir and Power Company,
which was capitalized at six and a half million dollars.
Instead of a masonry dam, the engineers decided on a
semi-hydraulic or earth fill with a concrete core that
was to be twenty feet thick at the base and taper to
a thickness of three feet at the top. The construction
of the cement core was a slow process, as there were
limitations as to the amount of concrete, which could
be poured each year. As late as 1919, concrete was still
being poured, even though the lake was pretty will filled
by this time.
One of the big tasks was to fill the great quantities
of rock and dirt on each side of the cement core as it
was increased in height. Crude steam shovels were used,
and a short railroad was even built to haul the fill.
The locomotive used was a real relic, which some years
before had been brought around Cape Horn on a windjammer.
On its inaugural run from downtown San Francisco to the
Cliff House, it had earned the distinct honor of being
the first locomotive in use on the Pacific Coast.
Transportation
of equipment and supplies up the steep, rough mountain
roads was a major problem,
as you can
well imagine. Most of the roads were still narrow toll
roads with turnouts at infrequent intervals. It was a
good eight-hour trip to the top with the big wagons and
their teams of large horses or mules. One enterprising
individual operated what he called the “Night Express” to
rush supplies to the crews of men.
An
interesting but none-too-successful project to speed
the delivery of supplies was the construction
of the “Incline.” This
consisted of rails almost straight up the side of the
San Bernardino Mountains from Waterman Canyon to Skyland.
An early-day gasoline engine at the summit was the power
used to haul the cable and flat cars to the top. Later
on, the powerhouse at Mill Creek furnished electric power.
This incline, remnants of which may be seen today, was
only partially successful, mainly because it was engineered
with vertical curves and because the hoisting cables
had a habit of tearing out the crossties. After intermittent
use, the builders of the dam went back to freighting
up the old canyon road, but for a generation the old
incline served hikers as a favorite trail to the summit.
To
speed up the transportation of equipment, the Arrowhead
Reservoir Company spent considerable
money in improving
the old Mormon Road and in constructing a zigzag wagon
route –later know as “switch-backs” –that
by-passed the steepest portion of the old road. The company
established a “toll house” in Waterman Canyon
that resulted in some litigation and considerable dissatisfaction
on the part of the local residents. The “toll house” was
burned down in 1897 and nearly cost the lives of Mrs.
Wuestoff, the gatekeeper’s wife, and her four children.
Photographs taken of the lake in 1906 show that very
little water had yet collected behind the dam; by 1911
the lake was one quarter full. No provision was ever
made for the release of water over the dam, as the outlet
was provided to release overflow water into Willow Creek
to the north. One of the biggest tasks of the whole project
was the construction of the 5,102-foot outlet tunnel
which passes through solid rock two hundred and twenty
feet beneath the north rim of the lake. The gate tower
is a reinforced concrete structure one hundred and eighty-five
feet high, and all released water passes out through
two twenty-four-inch pipes that connect the tower with
Willow Creek.
In 1909 some of the owners of riparian lands on the
Mojave River, together with the Hesperia Land and Water
Company, filed suits to prevent the Arrowhead Reservoir
and Power Company from diverting the water from its natural
watershed. Before a court decision was reached, the Arrowhead
Company began buying up riparian lands along the Mojave
to quiet the opposition. When the State Supreme Court
finally ruled that floodwaters of a stream could not
legally be diverted from the natural drainage basin,
a radical change in plan was adopted in a desperate effort
to salvage something from the several-million-dollar
investment.
The decision was made to use water from Little Bear
Lake for the development of power and irrigation on the
north side, instead of the south side of the mountains.
The company already owned the fifty-two hundred acres
of the Burcham ranch, in addition to thousands of acres
along the Mojave River, and most of the irrigation ditches
between Victorville and Barstow.
The farming operations of the company were never overly
successful, and it some became more and more evident
to the officials of the corporation that their eleven-million-dollar
venture was a failure as an irrigation and power project.
In 1914 unsuccessful efforts were made to sell the water
to the city of San Diego, as it was not lawful to divert
water for domestic purposes.
In the fall of 1921 the holdings of the Arrowhead Reservoir
and Power Company passed into the hands of J. B. Van
Nuys and a syndicate of Los Angeles capitalists. Two
of the first things this group did were to change the
name of Little Bear Lake to Lake Arrowhead and to assure
for Southern California the largest artificial lake on
the west coast devoted solely to recreational purposes.
The
new owners, known as the Lake Arrowhead Investment
Corporation, proceeded to spend about five
million dollars
building a village, beautiful hotels and all manner of
facilities. They even built a large fish hatchery with
forty troughs, having the capacity for a million and
a half eggs. Between 1922-1926 several million of the
finest Rainbow and Eastern Brook Trout were planted in
the lake, making it a veritable fisherman’s paradise.
On the opening day of the 1930-fishing season, the first
limit of trout caught in Lake Arrowhead was rushed to
Los Angeles and placed aboard a special TAT Maddox plane,
consigned to President Hoover. This was the first time
any perishable commodity had ever been shipped by the
then new refrigeration process of dry icing.
In
1946 the Los Angeles Turf Club purchased the eight-hundred-acre
lake and most of the surrounding
properties and proceeded
to spend several million dollars in making it one of
the finest resort areas in the nation. Fun of every type
is to be found at Lake Arrowhead. Swimming and fishing
are excellent; and sail, motor, and rowboats are available.
It is the nation’s “water skiing capital.” A
riding stable located near the village offers fine horses
for rides along timber-lined mountain trails, and breakfast
rides and barbecues are frequently the order of the day.
When winter comes to Lake Arrowhead, snow sports put
on their appearance. Tobogganing, skiing, ice-skating,
and dog teams lure the sports enthusiast to join in the
fun.
Today,
Lake Arrowhead –surrounding by beautiful
resorts, palatial homes, and timbered slopes right to
the water’s edge –is California’s answer
to the picturesque lakes of Wisconsin, Maine, and the
Adirondacks. |
