Many of the San Bernardino Pioneers depicted here were the daring folks that in the 1850's traveled by wagon train on the Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trails that brought them to San Bernardino. They formed a pioneer society in our town. They had their portraits hanging on display at the Pioneer Cabin on F Street in San Bernardino. The portraits were tagged with a number that corresponded with an index of their names. These numbers are still visible on our digitized photos. A fire destroyed the cabin, pictures, and the index. Firemen saved a box of negatives.
Years after the fire, the negatives were located at the fire station. They were presented to the San Bernardino Public Library. We had prints made of the portraits. Mary L. Lewis compiled binders containing the portraits and brief description. The Arda Haenszel California Room has a copy of the binder as does the City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society. A 2006 California State Library grant, funded under the Library Services and Technology Act provided our library with the chance to digitize these local history photographs.
For more information concerning these pioneers or if you have information about any of the photos, please visit the Arda Haenszel California Room or email the Library webmaster.