William F. Holcomb
Encyclopedia
William Francis "Grizzly Bill" Holcomb (1831–1909), was an American prospector
and the first to discover gold in the region which became known as Holcomb Valley
, near present-day Big Bear Lake, California
. Holcomb Valley had the most gold of any Southern California field. The boomtown
of Belleville
grew up there and for a time was the third or fourth largest in Southern California
. Holcomb was the first justice of the peace in Belleville and later was elected to county offices.
on January 27, 1831. At about age 18, he migrated with many other young men in the California Gold Rush
for a chance of riches. His party had many difficulties. At the Green River
crossing on the Sublette Cutoff in present-day Wyoming
, he lost his wagon and entire outfit; his oxen drowned. He had to reach Placerville, California
on foot. He failed in his attempts at mining in the Sierra Nevada gold fields and later in the Kern River
fields. He went to Oregon
for a while, then went down to Southern California
.
, Holcomb and a companion Jack Martin heard of the Bear Valley
diggings near San Bernardino
. They set out to make another try at mining. They had to force their horses through deep snow to reach the Bear Valley diggings. Already Bear Valley had been dubbed “Starvation Flatts” by its discouraged group of miners, who were finding little. Soon after Holcomb’s arrival, one of the miners panned some gold from under the pine trees a few hundred feet up the hillside and saved the Bear Valley diggings from abandonment.
Like the others, Holcomb suffered from the lack of supplies and minimal gold finds in the rural mountain community. Called "the best sharpshooter west of the Mississippi", Holcomb was asked by the miners to shoot some of the grizzly bears living in the area for their meat. Holcomb was able to bring back dead bears to feed the starving miners. He was nicknamed "Grizzly Bill" because he was known to have killed many bears. He was said to have finished off all the bears in the Bear Valley.
While tracking the bears, Holcomb kept his eye out for gold, and he took chunks of likely rock. About five miles from Bear Valley, he discovered gold. On May 5, 1860, Holcomb and Ben Ware arrived at the office of the County Recorder to record five gold claims located in the Holcomb Valley five miles north of Bear Valley.
That spring, the Bear Valley miners chipped in and sent Martin to San Bernardino for flour. The people there knew Bear Valley was producing little gold, so when Martin paid with gold dust for his flour, the men in San Bernardino followed him back and found out about Holcomb Valley. They rushed to mine its rich sand and shale placers. That was the start of the Holcomb Valley gold rush. By July miners poured into the Holcomb Valley, as the news of gold spread far and wide. The gold rush was on, and miners founded the short-lived boom town
of Belleville
there. For ten years it was the third or fourth largest town in Southern California. Holcomb Valley turned out to be the source of more gold than any other part of Southern California
.
Holcomb's grandson, Grant Holcomb, served as the mayor of San Bernardino from 1925 through 1927. His great-grandson, Bob Holcomb
, was the longest serving mayor of San Bernardino in history, holding the office from 1971 through 1985 and again from 1989 through 1993.
, where he mined and hunted.
Uopn returning to San Bernardino, Holcomb worked in mountain lumber camps for four years until his election as the county assessor in 1871. He was the first member of the Republican Party
to be elected to public office in San Bernardino County. Holcomb held the office of county assessor for three terms. In 1882 he returned to politics, and he was elected the county clerk.
Following his services as county assessor and county clerk, Holcomb became a merchant in San Bernardino.
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
and the first to discover gold in the region which became known as Holcomb Valley
Holcomb Valley
Holcomb Valley, located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mined in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who discovered gold there in 1860. That year started the largest gold rush in Southern California to...
, near present-day Big Bear Lake, California
Big Bear Lake, California
Big Bear Lake is a city in San Bernardino County, California along the south shore of Big Bear Lake, located northeast of the city of San Bernardino. The population was 5,019 at the 2010 census, down from 5,438 at the 2000 census...
. Holcomb Valley had the most gold of any Southern California field. The boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
of Belleville
Belleville, California
Belleville, California was a gold mining boomtown in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. It grew up rapidly following the discovery of gold by William F. Holcomb in Holcomb Valley early in 1860. Belleville was named after Belle, the first child born in the new town...
grew up there and for a time was the third or fourth largest in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Holcomb was the first justice of the peace in Belleville and later was elected to county offices.
Early life
William Frances Holcomb was born in Tippecanoe County, IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
on January 27, 1831. At about age 18, he migrated with many other young men in the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
for a chance of riches. His party had many difficulties. At the Green River
Green River (Utah)
The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. The watershed of the river, known as the Green River Basin, covers parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The Green River is long, beginning in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and flowing...
crossing on the Sublette Cutoff in present-day Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, he lost his wagon and entire outfit; his oxen drowned. He had to reach Placerville, California
Placerville, California
Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,389 at the 2010 census, up from 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
on foot. He failed in his attempts at mining in the Sierra Nevada gold fields and later in the Kern River
Kern River
The Kern River is a river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for...
fields. He went to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
for a while, then went down to Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
.
Bears and gold
In 1859 while in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Holcomb and a companion Jack Martin heard of the Bear Valley
Big Bear Lake
Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. At a surface elevation of , it has an east-west length of approximately 7 miles and is approximately 2.5 miles at its widest measurement, though the lake's width mostly averages a...
diggings near San Bernardino
San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California is a large city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California.San Bernardino may also refer to:-Landforms:*San Bernardino , a torrent that flows through the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola...
. They set out to make another try at mining. They had to force their horses through deep snow to reach the Bear Valley diggings. Already Bear Valley had been dubbed “Starvation Flatts” by its discouraged group of miners, who were finding little. Soon after Holcomb’s arrival, one of the miners panned some gold from under the pine trees a few hundred feet up the hillside and saved the Bear Valley diggings from abandonment.
Like the others, Holcomb suffered from the lack of supplies and minimal gold finds in the rural mountain community. Called "the best sharpshooter west of the Mississippi", Holcomb was asked by the miners to shoot some of the grizzly bears living in the area for their meat. Holcomb was able to bring back dead bears to feed the starving miners. He was nicknamed "Grizzly Bill" because he was known to have killed many bears. He was said to have finished off all the bears in the Bear Valley.
While tracking the bears, Holcomb kept his eye out for gold, and he took chunks of likely rock. About five miles from Bear Valley, he discovered gold. On May 5, 1860, Holcomb and Ben Ware arrived at the office of the County Recorder to record five gold claims located in the Holcomb Valley five miles north of Bear Valley.
That spring, the Bear Valley miners chipped in and sent Martin to San Bernardino for flour. The people there knew Bear Valley was producing little gold, so when Martin paid with gold dust for his flour, the men in San Bernardino followed him back and found out about Holcomb Valley. They rushed to mine its rich sand and shale placers. That was the start of the Holcomb Valley gold rush. By July miners poured into the Holcomb Valley, as the news of gold spread far and wide. The gold rush was on, and miners founded the short-lived boom town
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
of Belleville
Belleville, California
Belleville, California was a gold mining boomtown in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. It grew up rapidly following the discovery of gold by William F. Holcomb in Holcomb Valley early in 1860. Belleville was named after Belle, the first child born in the new town...
there. For ten years it was the third or fourth largest town in Southern California. Holcomb Valley turned out to be the source of more gold than any other part of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
.
Marriage and family
With some financial future seeming in his grasp, in 1860 Holcomb married Nancy Stewart and built a house in San Bernardino. They had five sons and two daughters. His sons were William Jr, John, Michael, Steven, and Matthew. His daughters were Kathryn Holcomb and Annie "Angel", who died of Scarlet fever in her infancy.Holcomb's grandson, Grant Holcomb, served as the mayor of San Bernardino from 1925 through 1927. His great-grandson, Bob Holcomb
Bob Holcomb
William Robert "Bob" Holcomb was an American politician and attorney. Holcomb was the longest serving Mayor of San Bernardino, California, to date. He held office as San Bernardino's mayor from 1971 until 1985, and returned to office again from 1989 until 1993...
, was the longest serving mayor of San Bernardino in history, holding the office from 1971 through 1985 and again from 1989 through 1993.
Political career and later life
Holcomb was elected the first justice of the peace at Belleville, but he soon resigned to devote more time to his mines. He returned to San Bernardino during the fall of 1861, where his house was destroyed by the flood of 1862. Holcomb returned to mining in the mountains that summer to make up for his losses. In 1863 he moved for more than a year to the vicinity of Prescott, ArizonaPrescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, where he mined and hunted.
Uopn returning to San Bernardino, Holcomb worked in mountain lumber camps for four years until his election as the county assessor in 1871. He was the first member of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to be elected to public office in San Bernardino County. Holcomb held the office of county assessor for three terms. In 1882 he returned to politics, and he was elected the county clerk.
Following his services as county assessor and county clerk, Holcomb became a merchant in San Bernardino.