Adobes, Grapevines, and Arrowheads in San Bernardino County - 9/26/15

Since we didn't visit any sites in August-- gasp!-- we decided that we needed to get a move on.  Therefore, after a lovely night at the Disneyland Halloween Party we took off for San Bernardino sites.

Our first site was the Yorba-Slaughter Adobe (CHL 191).

This adobe was built in the early 1850s by Raimundo Yorba and was purchased by Fenton Mercer Slaughter in 1868.

The adobe was sometimes called "Buena Vista" and the road below it was well traveled, since it was party of the road from Fort Yuma to Los Angles.  This was also an optional stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage Route.  Fenton M. Slaughter was an interesting fellow who gained wealth sheep ranching and eventually served in the California State Assembly.

The sign said that it was open for touring on Saturdays, but the gate was firmly locked when we visited-- there was a great deal of construction on the adjacent road, so perhaps it is closed for now.

A short drive away (and nowhere near where the address says it should be) we came to the Site of the Rancho Chino Adobe of Isaac Williams (CHL 942).

From the state:  "Near this site, Isaac Williams in 1841 built a large adobe home, located on the 22,000-acre Rancho Chino which he acquired from his father-in-law Antonio Lugo. The 'Battle of Chino' occurred at the adobe on September 26-27, 1846, during which 24 Americans were captured by a group of about 50 Californios. Located on the Southern Immigrant Trail to California, the adobe later became an inn and stage stop famous for its hospitality."

I did a little more research on the Battle of Chino, since it was only briefly mentioned by the state-- here is what I found:  This "battle" of the Mexican-American War was fought September 26-27, 1846 and involved about 50 Californios coming to arrest 24 Americans who were barricaded inside the adobe.  On the morning of September 27th gunfire was exchanged and one Californio was killed.  In order to get the Americans to surrender, the Californios threatened to set the adobe on fire.  It worked and the Americans were arrested and held in prison briefly before they were released.

Moving from Chino to San Bernardino we came to the Site of Mormon Stockade (CHL 44).

It is said that the first house in San Bernardino was built near this spot in 1839.

However, it is much more famous for this being the site of the Mormon Stockade.

I found on this site a really great description of what the stockade looked like (which you can read below).  I can only imagine living in such a restricted place with 1000 people!

"In June of 1851, the Mormon newcomers in San Bernardino were alerted of Indian skirmishes and raiding dangers in the area. In the center of their new mile-square town of San Bernardino, the leaders set aside eight acres and fenced in a parallelogram. 300 feet wide by 720 feet. Twelve foot high walls protected three of the sides. The fourth side was a series of log buildings jammed close together. All exterior walls were loop-holed and the gateways were indented to allow for crossfire. 

Ranger Horace Bell, In his book Reminisces of a Ranger, described the structure as "a stockade about a quarter of a mile square with two great gates leading into it. Inside they placed their dwellings, shops and stores. Every night the gates were barred and a sentry kept vigilant watch from the walls against surprise." The Mormons stayed in the stockade for approximately nine months, the anticipated war with the Mojave Indians never occurred. It was in October of 1857, when Brigham Young called the "saints" to "Zion."

On December 27, 1958, when United States Colonel William Hoffman's "Mojave Expedition" camped near the original Cajon, they learned that approximately 1,000 had stayed in the area of San Bernardino." 

Next up was one of the coolest sites we've been to in a while... the Arrowhead (CHL 977).

This supposedly natural phenomenon of an arrowhead on the hillside has been a landmark in this area for centuries.

Native Americans looked to it to find the mineral springs below.

The arrow "consists of light quartz, supporting a growth of short white sage" according to the state.

We took this chance to take a family photo with the famous arrowhead!

We continued north up to Glen Helen Regional Park to find the Sycamore Grove (CHL 573).

The Mormons who stockaded themselves in our site earlier today camped here in June of 1851-- it was their first campsite.  Captain Jefferson Hunt (a captain of the Mormon battalion and later a California State Assemblyman), Amasa Lyman (one of the first right-hand men to Joseph Smith), Charles C. Rich (an apostle of the LDS church), David Seely (a Mormon pioneer), and Andrew Lytle (was the captain of the wagon train that brought them out to California) were among those who camped here.  You can read a fascinating account of this group here.  

Next up was one of the strangest landmarks we have ever visited-- the United States Rabbit Experimental Station (CHL 950).

This is the first and only experimental station in the country that is devoted to rabbit research.

  Over the years of research here they increased the amount of litters a female have each year and increased the average weight of the rabbits while cutting food costs.  You can watch a video about the facility here or read an interesting news article here.

Our next site was a two-fer-- and boy do we love hitting two sites at once.  The first was the site of the Tapia Adobe (CHL 360).

Near this site in 1839 Tiburcio Tapia, a soldier, merchant and alcalde in Los Angeles built an adobe on land granted to him by Governor Juan Alvarado.

The adobe was abandoned in 1858 and completely disintegrated-- so sadly there is no site left.

Tiburcio also established the Cucamonga Rancho Winery (CHL 490)-- which is advertised to be the state's oldest winery.

It seems that we have visited the state's oldest winery in a few different counties-- so just take that with a grain of salt... It is an old winery and one of the first in the great state of California!

There is a sad looking vine on the property-- which looks like it has been here since 1839 :(

It was fun to travel along Route 66 for a bit!

Our final site for the day--- and one of the most interesting we've ever seen is the Madonna of the Trail (CHL 1028).

There are actually 12 of these statues across the country-- each sculpted by August Leimbach and financed by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Two of the sides are identical on each of the pedestals-- the one above and the one below.

The other two sides are specific to the location of the statue.

The statues are meant to commemorate the westward movement of the American people and the role of pioneer women during that challenging time.  

The statue we saw in Upland represents four historic trails:  the Mojave Trail, the de Anza Trail, the Emigrant Train and the Canyon Road.

The rifle on this statue was modeled after Daniel Boone's-- which was very difficult to see the details.

The sculptor also hid a snake in the grass at the base of the statue-- we were able to find it, can you?

After we complete California we want to see all of the other statues.

You can see a list of the cities where all of the statues are here.

It was so fun to get back into the swing of things with our California Adventures.