By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Historian
Gus Knight Sr. and Jr. are prominent in mountain history because they were early pioneers who, when they saw a need, did something and were not afraid of a challenge or failure.
Augustus (Gus) Knight Sr. came to the San Bernardino Mountains in 1866 operating the successful Knight and Dickey Sawmill on Seely Flat (now Valley of Enchantment) using a locomotive steam engine purchased in San Francisco. The mill, with 15 employees, cut 6,000 feet of lumber per day using 12-mule teams to transport the lumber down the mountain.
Bear Lake with trees sitting in the water, as the valley was just flooded and not intentionally cleared as has been done with subsequent lakes.
Gus moved to the (Big) Bear Valley area to raise cattle before the lake was even planned, enjoying the isolated area, peacefully raising his kids there. His ranch was on the southwest shore of current day Big Bear Lake.
The rich grasses of Bear and Holcomb Valleys were excellent for summer cattle grazing. Before winter, the cattle were driven down the north slope to the desert for grazing or to be sold.
Lumberman John F. Metcalf, also from Little Bear Valley, also moved his family to the Bear Valley area. Bear Lake Dam was built in 1884-1885, flooding a valley, by Redlands citrus growers to give them a steady year-round supply of water.
Gus Knight Jr. was only 21 years old in 1887 when 10,000 Lake Tahoe trout were planted in Bear Lake, so he decided Bear Valley needed a resort hotel. In February 1888, Gus Jr. formed a partnership with his future brother-in-law, John R. Metcalf, the son of John F. Metcalf, purchasing 80 acres next to the lake’s south shore, building the wooden Bear Valley Hotel to house 30 guests, finishing it by June. The hotel was constantly full, so they expanded it to hold 50.
Bear Valley Wagon Road opened for travel in 1894.
However, getting up to Bear Valley was very difficult, taking three days, going through the Cajon Pass, across the desert and up the Cushenberry Grade, to Holcomb Valley and down the Van Dusen Road to get to Bear Lake. Gus Jr. wanted a shorter, faster and easier access route, asking the county to build a road, which was denied.
Gus Jr. and J.R. Metcalf formed the Bear Valley Toll Road in 1888. Their first road went up Mill Creek from the San Bernardino Valley, but then travelers needed to transfer to a burro to go over the steep ridge, and down into Bear Valley. It took two days each way, requiring overnight camping and cost $9 for the round trip.
Gus Jr. and Metcalf then decided they should create a wagon road to connect with the new City Creek Road that had just been built from Highland to the Danaher Highland Lumber Mill. Plus, the sawmill had extended their road up to Long Point to harvest trees. Building a road for wagon travel from Bear Valley to Long Point would save a day’s travel. They designed a wagon road traveling from Fawnskin to Green Valley, north of Craft and Butler Peaks, calling it the Snowslide Road.
Surveying and building the road began in 1892, connecting with the Highland Lumber Company’s City Creek Road. (Simultaneously, the Arrowhead Reservoir Company Toll Road was being built up Waterman Canyon.) The Bear Valley Wagon Toll Road opened for travel in 1894.
The trip up to Bear Valley on the new road took a day and a half from Redlands, so they decided to build an 11-room hotel/tollhouse in Green Valley at the east end of the beautiful meadow for travelers to spend the night. Business at Knight’s Bear Valley Hotel multiplied and they quickly enlarged it, too.
Road toll charges were reasonable. The first Green Valley toll collector was Ben Pitt, who became well-known for the delicious dinners he served at the hotel with huge potatoes that he grew in the swampy upper-end of Green Valley.
The Knight and Metcalf Bear Valley Resort in 1895; it burned in 1900.
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