MILEPOSTS #1054

By Ken Brafman, Image from ROWHS

TITLE: THE ARROWHEAD: BEAUTY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER – PART III: This week we’ll finish talking about the legends of the Arrowhead and end with a couple ‘real’ stories. One popular legend has an Indian brave playing a card game. Following a particularly bad hand he threw the ace of spades at the mountain and it’s that emblazoned image that we see today. Dr. David Noble Smith is a well-known figure in mountain history and is considered a pioneer. Many in his ancestry had died from tuberculosis, and as his father lay on his death bed from the same disease Dr. Smith fell asleep. An angel appeared before him in a dream along with a vision of the base of a mountainside displaying a strange marking. The angel told him that this place may offer a cure for his father’s illness. It wasn’t until some years later, following his father’s death, that he found the mountain with the arrowhead. When he explored the sulfurous waters of the hot springs, he instantly knew that his calling was to build a sanitorium to help and possibly cure those who had the dreaded affliction that had killed so many of his family. Of course, this discovery and revelation led to the founding of Arrowhead Springs. Aside from the legends, the Arrowhead has figured very prominently over the years and is evident all around us, including a lake. San Bernardino streamlined the county logo in 2014 which had been in place for many decades. They retained the arrowhead feature in the emblem. Before the citrus industry started the National Orange Show, the Festival of the Arrowhead showcased the citizens and products of San Bernardino County. This week’s image is a graphic of the San Bernardino Festival in May 1908. It honored the old legends of the Arrowhead and the products of modern industry that grew in the valley and mountain range – protected by that legendary wonder, the Arrowhead.

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