San Benito County History

This section is excerpted from A Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California by Henry D. Barrows and Luther A. Ingersoll, and published by The Lewis Publishing Company in 1893.

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Bear Valley,

a pretty and fertile tract in San Benito county, about twenty-five miles south of Hollister, located in the Gabilan mountains, at an altitude of about 1,000 feet, was originally known as Cholame or Chalone valley, it being the source of Cholame creek. It is said to have derived its name from the following incident. One Mr. Innes used to range stock in the then Chalome valley and the adjacent country. When on one of these trips, with his vaqueros, the party encountered a large grizzly bear near the present location of the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon. They lassoed this bear and made him captive. lie is said to have been a fine specimen of his kind, amid created some talk. The valley was from that time known as Bear Valley.

Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon was the first white woman to locate in this valley. It was in November, 1866, and the reader can get some further information on this subject by referring to the biographical mentions of Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon, on another page of this work. Henry Melindy, John T. Prewett and George Butterfield, are all well-known pioneers of the valley. Vasquez, the noted bandit and his lieutenant, Chaves, frequented this section during their reign of terror. It is related by these pioneers that they were evidently kind-hearted, genial fellows, never giving them trouble. Especially is this true of Chaves, who was frequently at the home of Mr. Melindy, and, at times, during his absence, while Mrs. M. was at home alone with her little ones. He was, however, always gentlemanly and courteous, kind and sociable. He said that one, "Indian Joe, who was nearly, if not quite, a full-blooded indian, drew him into evil ways which brought him so much trouble." Chaves was a half-breed Indian.

Bear Valley is about seven miles long, and varies in width. It descends toward the Salinas valley. Cholame creek, which drains Bear valley, flows into the Salinas river, emptying therein at Chalone station, on the Southern Pacific railway.

The first school held in the Bear Valley district, San Benito county, was in September, 1874. The first school teacher was Mr. P. Troy. The Methodist Episcopal Church South of Bear Valley was organized about 1875, and has a membership of fourteen. It is one of a circuit of the following churches: Peach Tree, Bitter Water, Bear Valley, Live Oak and Paicines. A Sunday-school has been organized and well supported for about twelve years past; George N. Butterfield, superintendent.

The soil of Bear Valley is deep and very fertile, producing large crops of wheat of fine quality, barley and vegetables and fruit of all kinds. Frosts are almost unknown, because of the elevation of the valley and of the hills which surround it. As an enthusiastic local writer has said: "This spot is as fair as an ideal of Eden, and is only one of many similar spots in San Benito county." He says the bears "have all disappeared and the name only remains to remind old residents of the exciting hunt of pioneer days."

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This section is excerpted from A Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California by Henry D. Barrows and Luther A. Ingersoll, and published by The Lewis Publishing Company in 1893.