By Ken Brafman, Image from ROWHS Collection TITLE: Francis Lebaron Talmadge – Pioneer: Early explorers and mountaineers were a special breed of rugged, courageous, adventuresome and determined men. One of these men, Francis Talmadge, would become patriarch to a logging and cattle ranching dynasty that would last some 80 years. In 1853, at age 23, …
MILEPOSTS #1035
By Ken Brafman, Image from Ken Brafman Collection TITLE: EARLY PLANNING OF LAKE ARROWHEAD RESORT: In 1890 the vision for Lake Arrowhead was much different than what became the lake we know today. The early planners sought to have a large reservoir supplying water to irrigate the valley below and to generate hydroelectric power. When …
MILEPOSTS #1037
By Ken Brafman, Image from Walter S. Young Collection TITLE: PART ONE: HELTER SHELTER – A CABIN: There’s a bond that many mountain dwellers share. It’s often a sentimental one, and is a bond that usually stands for family and good times. When development pioneers like Charles S. Mann built cabins close to 100 years …
MILEPOSTS #1038
By Bill Pumford, Image by Bill Pumford TITLE: HI-LOWE FARM AND FERN ROCK RANCH IN TWIN PEAKS: A rather forgotten historical area in Twin Peaks is the Hi-Lowe Farm and the Fern Rock Ranch, both connected by family and location. Thaddeus Lowe,Jr. married Florence Dobbins in 1895 and Florence was the daughter of Richard and …
MILEPOSTS #1036
By Bill Pumford, Image from Russ Keller Collection TITLE: CAMP O-ONGO IN SKYFOREST: With the passing of Running Springs area community leader Tom Preston last week it seems appropriate to have a column on the camp that was started by Tom’s parents and that he eventually ran. In 1940 Albert and Esther Preston purchased about …