By Bill Pumford, Image from the Russ Keller Collection

TITLE: DARK CANYON – A MYSTERY IN CRESTLINE: Have you ever heard of Dark Canyon? No, not Dart Canyon – Dark Canyon. It has always been somewhat of a mystery as to where Dark Canyon actually was – near Lake Arrowhead, where Dart Canyon is now? Some other canyon in Crestline? I think there is enough credible evidence to conclude that Dart Canyon was once referred to as Dark Canyon. In the early 1900s a number of families operated successful orchards in Dark Canyon as reported by newspapers like the San Bernardino Sun, including the John Thompson and George Hackney families. John Bergstrom gave an interesting interview to Ken Howell in 1980 that described his experiences living and working with his Uncle John Thompson and his Aunt Emma. In 1898 John Thompson arrived in the mountains and, due to his service during the Civil War, was able to homestead 180 acres in Dark Canyon. His nephew related that his uncle carried young apple trees strapped on his back up the mountain to his ranch. After doing this a number of times he ended up with 150 trees. This week’s image shows the John Thompson cabin in Dark Canyon in 1911. Sometimes when people referred to Dark Canyon it was said that it was near Thousand Pines which is interesting since it was one of the few well-known places in the Crestline area. The newspapers referred to a Dark Canyon from the late 1890s until about the mid-1940s when it was replaced by references to Dart Canyon. There is speculation that Dart was named after an early homesteader, but a family of that name has not been found and perhaps the name of the canyon was changed to be somewhat less menacing to the growing number of people moving to the Crestline area. Lake Gregory had recently been completed and many people wanted to live in the area around the lake.