Field Guide to the San Gabriel Mountains: Online History

This is a collection of history of the San Gabriel Mountains found in journals, newspapers, and photographs that are online and generally not listed on our other pages.

Narratives
Photographs

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Narratives

From the Forest Service Retirees' History section, scroll down to "MASTERPIECES" FROM THE MT. BALDY DISTRICT RANGER Letters of Anselmo Lewis. Don't miss the proposal to dispose of cow manure from the local dairies through the medium of air drops on the Angeles National Forest!

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This section is from "California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 from American Memories Historical Collections for the National Digital Library

• Up and down California in 1860-1864; the journal of William H. Brewer ... edited by Francis P. Farquhar ... with a preface by Russell H. Chittenden
  • CHAPTER II LOS ANGELES AND ENVIRONS By Steamer to San Pedro--Los Angeles--Benito Wilson's--Santa Monica Mountains--Personnel--San Gabriel, Los Angeles, California, Sunday, December 2, 1860
  • CHAPTER III MORE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Chino Ranch--Santa Ana Mountains--Temescal, Camp No. 6, San Gabriel Canyon, Sunday Evening, January 13, 1861

• Los Angeles in the sunny seventies. A flower from the golden land by Ludwig Louis Salvator, 1878; translated by Marguerite Eyer Wilbur; introduction by Phil Townsend Hanna
  • CHAPTER 17 MINING
  • CHAPTER 25 A DRIVE ALONG THE LOS ANGELES RIVER

• A winter in California by Mary H. Wills, 1889
  • II.--THEN AND NOW. The Climate--Greed for Gain--The Typical Land Agent--John Brown's Sons--Flower and Fruit .......... 22, Pages 29 -30, John Brown's sons

• The round trip from the Hub to the Golden gate by Susie C. Clark, 1890
  • CHAPTER V PASADENA

• A truthful woman in southern California by Kate Sanborn, 1893
  • CHAPTER VI. PASADENA. Pages 68-69, 71 -73
  • CHAPTER VII CAMPING ON MOUNT WILSON

• The mountains of California by John Muir, 1894
  • CHAPTER XVI THE BEE-PASTURES, pages 372-380, Eaton Canyon and Falls
  • See also Steep Trails CHAPTER 11 THE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS (from the Yosemite Web)

• Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California by Charles Augustus Stoddard, 1894
  • XII IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Excursions in the Valley -- Lucky Baldwin and his Ranch -- Sunny Slope Vineyards -- The Old Mission -- A Mountain Railroad -- Easter Sunday at Pasadena

• Letters of travel in California, in the winter and spring of 1896 by Loraine Immen. Published originally in the "Grand Rapids Herald."
  • IN LAND OF FLOWERS, ECHO MOUNTAIN , CAL., March 6, 1896.

• Life in the open; sport with rod, gun, horse, and hound in southern California by Charles Frederick Holder, 1906
  • CHAPTERVI A RAINBOW IN THE SIERRA MADRE
  • CHAPTER IX THE BIGHORN
  • CHAPTER X THE HOME OF THE MOUNTAIN LION
  • CHAPTER XIV LIFE IN THE SIERRA MADRE

• A tenderfoot in southern California by Mina Deane Halsey, 1909
  • CHAPTER VII MT LOWE

• The lure of the past, the present and future; historical and descriptive observations and impressions of the past, present and future by George W. Bryan, 1911
  • Part 12. REDLANDS AND RIVERSIDE

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Photographs

• American Environmental Photographs 1891-1936 documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century.
  • 7 Yucca whipplei near Los Angeles, California
  • 8 Chaparral [on the] San Gabriel Mountains, California
  • 9 Two Pinus coulteri, Mt. Wilson, California
  • 11 [Varied growth of] Chaparral on [some] northern and southern slopes [in the] San Gabriel Mountains, California
  • 12 [Snow-covered] Pseudotsuga, Mt. Lowe, [San Gabriel Mountains], California
  • 13 Pseudotsuga with snow, Mt. Lowe, [San Gabriel Mountains], California
  • 14 [The] influence of snow on Pseudotsuga, Mt. Lowe, [San Gabriel Mountains], California

• Built in America, 1933 to present, The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Collection
  • West Fork Ranger Station, Rincon-Red Box Rd., Los Angeles County, CA, also known as Shortcut Ranger Station, Angeles National Forest
  • Little Rock Creek Dam, Little Rock Creek, Los Angeles County, CA.
  • Big Dalton Dam, 2600 Big Dalton Canyon Road, Los Angeles County, CA.
  • Variable Angle Launcher Complex Morris Dam Test Facility - Angeles Nat'l. Forest, St. Hwy. 39 at the Morris Reservior, Los Angeles County, CA.

• Map Collections, 1544-1999 Be sure to use the excellent zoom function. You can see the names of the peaks and sometimes the trails!
  • View of San Gabriel, Cal., 1893?
  • 7 United States--California--Los Angeles. [1894]
  • Bird's eye view of Pasadena and vicinity, 1903?

• Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991
  • 2 Southern California as seen from Mt. Lowe, 1907
  • Birdeye, Altadena, California, 1908
  • Alhambra, Cal. from high-school, Dec. 24th, 1909.
  • 1 Sierra Madres from Echo Rock, Mt. Wilson and 2 The Sierra Madres from Round Top, Mt. Wilson, 1910
  • 3 Pasadena, Cal., 1910

• Other sources of historical photographs - each of these collections contain a few San Gabriel Mountain photos. Thanks to Paul Ayers for these links.
  • Kenneth Starling's Photos of Historic Pasadena, California ...
  • Pasadena Public Library's Pasadena in Words & Pictures

Go to Field Guide to the San Gabriel Mountains: History

Copyright © 2000 Jane Strong and Tom Chester.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to us at this source:
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/history_online.html
Comments and feedback: Jane Strong | Tom Chester
Updated: January 18, 2000