The Big Bear region in Southern California is a popular destination known for its mountain scenery and expansive lake. The name is not a modern marketing invention but a direct reflection of a specific historical event that occurred in the mid-19th century. Uncovering the story of the name requires looking back at the area’s earliest recorded American exploration.
The Historic Bear Hunt and the Original Name
The name’s origin dates back to an 1845 expedition led by Benjamin Wilson, a prominent figure in early California history. Wilson and a posse of men ventured into the San Bernardino Mountains to track cattle rustlers who had been raiding ranches in the Riverside area. The pursuit led the group into a high mountain valley, where they made a startling discovery that shifted their focus from rustlers to wildlife.
Wilson’s party found the valley floor, which was then a marshy meadow and stream, teeming with a massive population of bears. These were not the smaller American black bears common today, but the now-extinct California Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos californicus). The sheer abundance of these animals prompted Wilson to record that the entire area “seemed alive with bear.”
The expedition quickly turned into a legendary bear hunt. Historical accounts detail that twenty-two men went out in pairs and successfully lassoed eleven bears, bringing them back to camp in a single day. This overwhelming presence of the grizzly bear led Wilson to immediately name the location “Bear Valley.” This original name was a direct description of the valley’s most striking feature at the time.
From Bear Valley to Big Bear Lake
The name “Bear Valley” remained for decades, referring to the entire mountain basin. A significant change occurred in 1884 when the first dam was constructed to impound water for the citrus groves in the Redlands area. This engineering project created a large, man-made reservoir, fundamentally altering the landscape and establishing the lake.
The descriptor “Big” was later added to distinguish this newly created, larger reservoir and its surrounding community from a smaller, nearby location. This smaller area, situated to the west, was known as “Little Bear Valley” and is now recognized as Lake Arrowhead. The addition of “Big” served a practical purpose, differentiating the two major mountain communities and their respective bodies of water.
The name evolved from “Bear Valley” to the more specific “Big Bear Lake” as the area developed into a resort destination. Today, the term “Big Bear” is used broadly to refer to the entire mountain community, encompassing the lake, the city, and the surrounding valley. The name serves as a permanent reminder of the 1845 expedition and the dense population of California Grizzly Bears that once dominated the mountain landscape.