The hauntings of the Captains Anchorage, Big Bear

 On a recent Saturday, I asked Laureen is she had any specific plans for the day.

She knew what that meant.

“A road trip?” she responded.

And, within forty minutes we were on our way to Big Bear, in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is one of our favorite haunts.

Haunts – I like that, since it is October. That spooky time of year.

 Big Bear – there is Big Bear City and Big Bear Lake, for those who haven’t travelled Highway 18 to either of those locales. Traveling this road is to witness tall glorious pine trees, a blue lake, hiking trails, off-road trails, eating and shopping in the Village, and so much more.

We love the Big Bear area.

“I love the Big Bear area,” I stated.

“I know,” Laureen responded. “Where are we going to lunch?”

I knew the right spot. A place that is internationally known as a very haunted and goose bumpily place. The Captains Anchorage.

“We haven’t been there in a dozen years,” Laureen stated.

“And the spirits are angry about that,” I said. “The tip you left last time was rather vacuous.”

Laureen ignored that.

Driving by the Mitsubishi cement plant, south of the town of Lucerne Valley on Highway 18, always reminds me of a space colony. Huge round storage buildings with conveyer belts going this way and that way has an out of this world appearance.

“Doesn’t it look like space aliens have captured humans and sent them to work in their factory?” I asked Laureen as we drove by the place.

She shook her head. “Looks like a cement factory.”

“Human, we do not enjoy your remarks – to the mines with you.” I stated.

Laureen ignored me again. 

As we swung around Baldwin Lake, we had some time to kill before the restaurant would be open, and decided to take the scenic route through Holcomb Valley. Actually, I had intended on the drive to snap a photograph of the ‘hanging tree’ in the area where the old mining town of Belleville once stood.

I wrote a column on Holcomb Valley for the Daily Press Newspaper, back in June of 2020, but I won’t go into any detail about that trip now. I don’t like repeating myself – unless it is to our children, and I can go on and on and on about the same subject for weeks.

Since Belleville, like many mining camps, could be a violent place – there had to be some place to punish those who thought killing one another was a perfectly fine way in dealing with personal disputes. 

It was the Wild West, after-all.

So, the townsfolk found a nice big and tall Juniper tree to string up the really bad hombres. Is the tree haunted? Don’t know and never asked – but with its outstretched tree limbs and prominent location in the valley, it could be.

The hanging tree in Holcomb Valley

“Almost lunch time,” I said to Laureen.

As we headed out of the valley, we came across a tree that made the hanging tree look downright tame.

Spooky no-name tree Holcomb Valley

There in the middle of a clearing, we were staring at an apparition that film director, Tim Burton would find alluring.

Gnarled leafless branches tweaked in such a way, it appeared as if it was alive and trying to reach and grab any unsuspecting person sauntering by. Not a stich of green on it – only the tall barren trunk hunkered down in the soil. 

“That looks as if it’s haunted?” Laureen asked.

“I’ll come back, and pick you up in the morning – let me know about your research.”

We headed out for lunch at that time.

The Captain’s Anchorage, is located in Big Bear Lake, and has been a landmark for the city since 1947, when the owner, Andy Devine opened it. The famous actor turned restaurateur, wanted something special to entertain his Hollywood friends, and thus the restaurant and bar became the center point not only for the locals, but many other famous actors. Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Jimmy Stewart, and many more made the long drive from Los Angeles to the mountain community of Big Bear Lake to partake in the extensive menu offerings.

Captains Anchorage, Big Bear

The original name of the place was the Sportsman’s Tavern, and remained that way until 1972, when it was renamed The Captains Anchorage by Woodrow and Charlotte Meier, who had purchased the restaurant from Devine in 1966.

It is a beautiful building full of character and grace – and it is haunted.

As we entered the business, I walked over to the dark wood bar, located in the Andy Devine Room, and snapped some photographs. That’s what I do – don’t look at the menu first – just snap some shots. Perhaps there will be an orb floating somewhere in the photograph when I download it later.

Andy Devine, film star and past owner 

“Have you come to see George?” Natalie asked from behind the bar. Natalie has worked at the Captains Anchorage a long time, and knows a bit about the history.

“George is our local ghost,” she stated. “He likes to hang around the bar, causing some mischief now and then, but doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“You’re a believer then?” I asked.

“I don’t belong to a cult, if that’s what you are asking?”

“No, not that kind of a believer,” I replied. “Have you had any interaction with George?”

Natalie nodded. “Once in a while a light will turn on when no one is here but me, or the glass washer will suddenly light up. Those kinds of things.”

Laureen was standing to the right of the bar, near the kitchen entrance, and I saw a peculiar look on her face.

“You feeling something?”

“Yes, there’s something here between the bar and the fireplace,” she responded. “It’s like someone being anxious. As they are troubled by something – I really can feel the emotions.”

Laureen is so much more sensitive than me, when it comes to practically anything – except those sad mistreated dog commercials – they tear me up. A box of tissues, please.

“Did you feel anything?” she asked me.

I nodded. “Yes, I feel the bar is calling me over for a cold one.”

According to Patti Scriven, the current owner and daughter of the Meier’s, George was Andy Devine’s ‘bookkeeper’. During the time period that Devine was the owner, there was lots and lots of rumors of illegal gambling going on at the Sportsman’s Tavern. In fact, upstairs are small booths which are original to the design of the restaurant, that look like the perfect size for a slot machine placement. Poker games, roulette, and possibly betting on horse races, may have taken place in the establishment.

John R Beyer with owner, Patti Scriven

Was George just a bookkeeper or perhaps a bookie also?

Upstairs dining booth where illegal gambling may have occurred 

“Rumor has it that George may have been embezzling profits from the illegal gambling,” stated Patti. “He may had been afraid of getting caught and committed suicide at his house, not far from here."

“Then why would he haunt this place?” Laureen asked.

“We have had numerous of those paranormal investigators out here, and they all say the same thing, he was the most happy here at the restaurant,” Patti replied.

“It is a very nice place to haunt,” I stated. 

Some research I conducted, showed George may have also been killed by some angry gamblers or those who caught him skimming money off the top of the receipts.

Either suicide or murder makes for a possible haunting.

It seems as though George does truly like haunting the restaurant, its patrons and staff. He, according to Patti, has never caused any harm to anyone personally.

“There’s been some liquor bottles shattering behind the bar when no one was present, some tromping of heavy footsteps up and down the stairs, blowing out some candles, and the like. Pretty harmless – more like pranks.”

The bar where ghosts like to frequent

Shattering an expensive bottle of spirits is not a prank. That would be a felony in any ghostly realm.

“Listen, Mr. Ghost man – I don’t care if it was a prank – that was an expensive bottle of Dalmore sixty-two, there you decided to shatter. Who is going to pay for it?”

Patti entertained us with more tales of the mischievous George, but stated she had never had a true other-worldly experience with the ghost from the Captains Anchorage.

“I wish Rita were here,” Patti stated. “She really has had some recent experiences with George.”

“Please, go on,” I asked.

“Well, recently Rita was near the kitchen when she suddenly saw a dark shadow sweep right beside Hugo, our chef, who was busy cooking. She was scared to death and screamed. When I asked Hugo if he saw or felt anything, he replied just before Rita screamed, he had felt a presence swoosh by him, almost touching him. But, there was nothing there when he glanced around.”

Haunted omelets anyone?

“Yes, Rita won’t even go upstairs to get a bottle of wine,” Patti said. “I tease her that a customer wants a certain vintage and will she go up and get it, she just tells me no.”

“I don’t blame her,” Laureen stated.

“Neither do I,” Pattie stated. “I just like to tease her that way.”

Is the Captains Anchorage haunted? I don’t know, but I do know they have great food and a greater tale for their customers.

Shhhhhhhh......

Holcomb Valley - gold and beauty

The valley is located in the San Bernardino Mountains, in Southern California

When I was a young boy, in the 20th century, my father took me gold panning in the San Bernardino Mountains in the early spring. We spent countless hours on this stream or that stream and finally, after those countless hours, my father stated, “It’s all been played out.”

I didn’t know what that meant, unless he was mentioning how I would tucker-out after playing sports all day with my friends.

“He’s played out.”

My mother would nod her head. “He looks played out.”

Turns out, what he meant was there was no gold to be found where we had been panning.

That wasn’t the case in May of 1860, when gold was found in those same San Bernardino Mountains by William F. Holcomb and Ben Choteau – wonder why it was named Holcomb Valley later on? Perhaps Ben’s last name sounded like somewhere one would spend the weekend in the French winery in the country.

Thar’s gold in them hills!

Anyway, gold was found by these two gentlemen, and like any gold discovery secrecy was not very secret.

“You know, Holcomb found gold right beneath the surface up in the mountains,” a miner stated to another miner – I wasn’t there for this conversation.

“What about Choteau?”

“I think he’s introducing a new vintage of Chardonnay soon.”

An arrastre, where the miners ground the quartz into manageable pieces

With the news of the gold, literally being dug out of the ground in the valley just north of present day Big Bear Lake, prospectors flooded the area looking for their own dreams of riches.
It should be noted, that gold was considered a precious metal during those days, not like today. No one would desire a gold necklace, earrings or bracelet during these enlightened times we now live. That would be just a waste of sparkly minerals and be so personally shallow.

Laureen, are you reading this?

Within months, the area boasted a population of 1,500 people. That doesn’t sound like a lot of folks, but it was. Considering the hardship these pioneers had to endure just to reach the mountain top from the San Bernardino valleys far below this was a lot of people.

Holcomb valley is rich in beauty, not just gold

Seems there is a theme when I write many of these articles, the fortitude and strength these adventurers showed is truly awe inspiring.

To get to Holcomb Valley today, we simply drive up in our comfy vehicles, turn on to a dirt road and within a short time are motoring around a beautiful serene mountain valley. Lush, with green grasses, willowy bushes, and tall proud pines.

This gold discovery occurred just a short decade after California had become a state. This new and very large piece of real estate was a titch over 2,600 miles from the capital of the United States in Washington D.C.  This was really new land for exploring – all of these pioneers were a tough breed to venture so far from ‘civilized’ civilization on the east coast.

But even prior to Holcomb and Choteau, this valley, as well as the Big Bear Valley – before it was known as such, was the part-time residence of the Serrano Native American’s. They would migrate to the mountains during the late spring and summer months to get out of the heat of the below deserts or lands near modern day San Bernardino. Here they would hunt, gather food stuffs and fish in the mountain creeks. With the coming of the cold winter, they would travel off the mountain and back to the deserts below.

Then, around 1845 a posse of about twenty men, led by Benjamin Wilson – who would be the grandfather of General George S. Patton - rode into Big Bear Valley chasing a couple of outlaws, who had been raiding ranches in what would later become the city of Riverside. Not sure if they caught the desperadoes, but what they did find was the land crawling with Grizzly Bears – thus how Big Bear obtained its current name.

Yes, I wrote – Grizzly Bears, as in grizzles!

The hunt for bear skins was on and, unfortunately, research indicates that around 1906 the last Grizzly Bear was killed in the mountains. In October of 1916, supposedly, the last Grizzly Bear was killed in California by a farmer by the name of Cornelius B. Johnson in Los Angeles County.
Strange that the Grizzly Bear was named California’s official State Animal in 1953. Humans wiped them out – perhaps it was a way of saying, Hey, we’re sorry.

We're sorry for wiping you out - forgive us?

Back to Holcomb Valley.

With that discovery of gold, and the secret out, the valley was soon swarming with miners, shop owners, gamblers, whiskey suppliers, and all kinds of other folks who saw there were other ways of making a fortune without getting their fingernails dirty.

The town of Belleville, was born in the booming Holcomb Valley. Literally, the name was delivered by the birth of the first child in the valley named Belle. The citizens thought, in honor of this brave little girl coming into such a rough and tumble world, they would name the town after her.

Laureen looking out of the window of an early settler cabin

Belleville soon was the fourth largest town in Southern California, but with many of the unsavory characters who found their way up the mountain, it also became a rather desperate place to live. True frontier justice – that’d be vigilante justice, was the norm for the day to try to corral these bad hombres.

Hang in there Belle!

The gold kept coming and the miners kept digging. Soon, this area was producing the most gold and wealth of any other mining area in Southern California.

But with all things golden, the time for Belleville started to decline and by 1870 most of the population had moved on for other golden opportunities. Soon, nothing was left but a valley scarred by the remnants of past mining activities amidst one or two reminders that humans once resided here.
A drive through the valley is well worth the time. There is an interpretative guide that can be picked up at the Big Bear Discovery Center in Fawnskin, which will point out some pretty interesting places in Holcomb Valley – a miner’s cabin, a slag pile from past gold diggings, an arrastre, and so many other sites to view.

John standing in the same settler cabin, looking oh so cool

So, get out of the heat of the desert and take a historical drive through Holcomb Valley or a mountain valley near you - if there is one. When Laureen and I went, it was twenty-one degrees cooler. That alone is worth the drive, when the summer sizzles and the thermometer is reaching a hundred and seventy degrees.

Stay cool, our friends.