William F. Holcomb
William Francis "Billy" Holcomb (1831-1912) was a California pioneer, hunter, prospector, and public official whose discovery of gold in 1860 gave Holcomb Valley its name and helped create Southern California's largest gold rush.Holcomb was born January 27, 1831, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. His family later lived in Illinois and Iowa. In May 1850, at nineteen years old, he left Ottumwa, Iowa, for California. His party traveled by way of Fort Laramie, Green River, and Sublette's Cutoff.
The journey was difficult. At Green River, a ferry accident took Holcomb's wagon, supplies, and clothing. He later recalled going without shoes for months. Near the Humboldt Sink, he and a companion reportedly survived for days on rosebuds and little else. He reached Hangtown, now Placerville, on August 28, 1850.
For about ten years, Holcomb worked the northern California mining country with little more than moderate success. In the fall of 1859 he reached Los Angeles with his old companion, Jack Martin. There they heard of bears and possible mining ground in the San Bernardino Mountains. They went east by way of Santa Ana Canyon toward Bear Valley.
Bear Valley and Gold
The Bear Valley miners had little food and little encouragement. Holcomb's later reminiscence tells of snow, poor prospects, and venison as their remaining meat. He and Jack Martin found a small amount of gold in Bear Valley. Martin took gold dust to San Bernardino and Los Angeles to buy provisions, helping spread word that the mountain country was producing gold.Holcomb was known as a capable hunter. His account describes killing grizzly bears for meat, which led to the nickname "Grizzly Bill." These stories are his own recollections, recorded many years later. They should not be used to support unsupported claims that he killed every grizzly in the mountains, or more bears than any other man in California.
While exploring north of Bear Valley, Holcomb crossed the divide between the headwaters of the Santa Ana River and the Mojave River. He saw the small valley that would bear his name. In his own reminiscence, he said Jim Ware joined him in prospecting there. Other later accounts name Ben Choteau. The exact companion is uncertain, but the discovery itself is well established.
On May 5, 1860, Holcomb and his associates located claims in the new diggings. The news brought miners, merchants, teamsters, gamblers, and families into the mountains. Belleville grew near the placer workings, and Holcomb Valley became the leading gold district in Southern California.
The easy placer gold did not last. By the later 1860s, much of the population had moved on. Hard-rock mining continued in the district into the twentieth century, including work at Gold Mountain Mine through 1919.
Miner, Hunter, and Public Official
Holcomb married Nancy Celia Stewart in San Bernardino on November 8, 1860. Her father, John M. Stewart, operated a blacksmith shop in the Bear Valley mining camp. William and Nancy Holcomb raised a large family in San Bernardino.Holcomb spent 1863-64 in Arizona and obtained an interest in the Vulture Mine country. Later accounts link him to the early Vulture Mine discovery, but the exact size of his interest and terms of its sale need stronger documentation before being stated as established fact.
Back in San Bernardino, Holcomb entered public life. He was elected county assessor on the Republican ticket in 1872 and served eight years. In 1882 he won election as county clerk, reportedly becoming the first Republican elected to that office in San Bernardino County. During his first term, the clerk also served as recorder, auditor, clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and clerk of the Board of Equalization.
Holcomb belonged to the Society of California Pioneers of San Bernardino County and the Old Boys' Hunting Club. In 1888 he won a Christmas hunt competition and received an engraved silver cup. In 1900, he presented his reminiscence, "Discovery of Bear and Holcomb Valleys," to the pioneer society.
Legacy
William F. Holcomb died in San Bernardino on January 25, 1912, two days before his eighty-first birthday. Nancy had died in 1890. Both are buried at Pioneer Cemetery in San Bernardino.His legacy is larger than the bear stories. Holcomb was an overland emigrant, miner, hunter, public official, and one of the people whose work and discoveries helped shape early San Bernardino County. Holcomb Valley remains one of the most important historic mining landscapes in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Research Notes
Born January 27, 1831, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.Died January 25, 1912, San Bernardino, California.
Married Nancy Celia Stewart, November 8, 1860.
Gold discovery and claim locations: May 5, 1860.
Holcomb's own account names Jim Ware as his companion in the new valley. Some later accounts name Ben Choteau.
The supplied Brown and Boyd biography says he was elected assessor in 1872. A modern county summary says 1871. Use 1872, with the discrepancy noted in research files.
Do not repeat the Belleville county-seat story as fact. San Bernardino County found no documentary evidence that an official county-seat election was ever held.
Avoid unqualified claims about Belleville's population or rank among California towns. The estimates vary widely.
References
Brown, John Jr., and James Boyd. History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. 1922.Ingersoll, Luther A. Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County, 1769 to 1904. 1904.
City of San Bernardino, "Holcomb Valley"
https://www.sanbernardino.gov/1063/Holcomb-Valley
San Bernardino Public Library, "Holcomb, William Francis and Family"
https://www.sanbernardino.gov/644/Holcomb-William-Francis-Family
San Bernardino County, "San Bernardino County History"
https://main.sbcounty.gov/2024/03/21/san-bernardino-county-history-8/
San Bernardino County, "Belleville, CA"
https://main.sbcounty.gov/2025/12/11/san-bernardino-county-history-belleville-ca/
"On our arrival at Los Angeles in 1859, we found everything quiet, no work to be had, what to do, we, Jack Martin, my old hunting and mining companion, and I did not know."
~ William Holcomb
Bears in Bear Valley
Holcomb Valley Gold
Holcomb Valley
Mojave River
San Bernardino
San Bernardino County
San Bernardino
Holcomb Valley cabin