Lambs Treasure

Gypsy Heart · Jan 6, 2009

Edgar Lamb, ran a stagecoach over the steep, rugged road through Lamb Canyon.

Tales about Lamb adventures have been told from generation to generation and may be a lively mixture of fact and creative storytelling. Their homestead site still can be spotted today where trees stand on the east side of Highway 79, a little downhill from the entrance to the Lamb Canyon Landfill.

The homestead, which was sold for the construction of the road through the canyon, is the setting for marvelous stories, particularly about Gardner's colorful great uncle, Frank Lamb. He was said to have lived in caves on the property, abstained from baths and rode a bicycle to Anza to tend sheep.

Legend has it that he was a miserly sort who buried precious coins near the homestead. "Everyone was looking for the coins he got on a merchant's ship when he went around the world," Beverly Lamb said. She said her relatives never found the coins
http://www.pe.com/columns/bobpratte/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hbob10.32ed454.html

pegleglooker · Jan 6, 2009

The REAL question is just exactly where the homestead was, I have been to the area many times and have tried to locate the spot with no avail.It said that is on the " east " side, but there are two canyons and one goes kinda deep.

PLL

Gypsy Heart · Jan 7, 2009

Lamb family, pioneers of San Jacinto, Riverside County, California.

Marilyn McFadden’s family homesteaded Lamb’s Canyon in Riverside County. In the foothills below Idyllwild few motorists who daily drive over State Highway 79 from San Jacinto to Beaumont ever wonder how this canyon got its name. Many believe the name is due to the wild bighorn sheep that once roamed the area. This is not so.

Leaving their home in the Ohio Valley, Elijah and Harriet Lamb traveled west in a covered wagon to Campo in San Diego County. Their first child, Edgar Lamb (Marilyn’s great grandfather), was born there in 1863. By 1866 the Lamb’s had moved north, a timber claim was made, and the family settled into their new home--Lamb’s Canyon. Here the ranching of cattle and sheep began. The Lamb’s filed the first cattle brand in Riverside County in 1893. Marilyn’s mother keeps the brand at her home while Marilyn maintains the brand registry. In their quest to build the aqueduct, the Municipal Water District cut the underground river water that fed the springs in Lamb’s Canyon that provided water for the cattle. The Lamb family was eventually forced to move down the hill into the San Jacinto Valley where water was more abundant. Marilyn’s grandfather was a foreman on a cattle ranch in San Jacinto where Marilyn’s mother, Mary Lamb, was born.

As a depression baby, Mary grew up with the knowledge that the family could raise much of their own food and sell any excess to buy additional necessities such as clothes and shoes for school. The Lambs raised their own chickens, rabbits, pigs, vegetables and fruit. Mary Lamb eventually married David L. Flake, the future California Dept. of Forestry Fire Chief of Riverside County. David, of Choctaw descent, had also been raised in a rural setting growing his own vegetables and maintaining his own livestock. Together they developed Sunnyside Ranch in Menifee, named after another family homestead in Arizona. Here they grew avocados commercially and maintained their own orchard, garden, horses, pigs and livestock for family use. This is the ranch Marilyn grew up on and where she gleaned the value of ranch living and an appreciation for traditional family recipes and fresh handpicked produce.

McFadden Ranch, PO Box 2871, El Cajon CA 92021
619.749.7200, mcfaddenranch@cox.net

stefen · Jan 7, 2009

Peg,

Need to talk to the daughter and maybe drive to the area with the caves...at least that would become a starting point....all other data is so vague.

mountaindigger · Jul 6, 2009

Greetings All

The original road you seek is not the current 79. It is just east of the dump and meets Gilman Springs rd at Laborde Canyon. This road starts around the interstate 10, 60 split at David Mountain rd. This is the Stage Coach Rd.

My coworker as a boy spent many hours there doing whatever boys do. He also helped build Jackrabbit Trail that cuts through the canyon further east. He knows where the remains of structures and caves are. I intend to interview him on a recorder to find out more (he is an encyclopedia of information for this area).
Once that is done I will be glad to share the information pertaining to this story.

MD

stefen · Jul 6, 2009

Are the daughters or any extended family still residing in the area?

Maybe pick up some family history from the families perspective...

pegleglooker · Jul 6, 2009

hey gang,
I have tried to contact some of the family members, but it look as if the " immediate " family is all gone. I also tried to find a map showing the location, but this area was so spars back then that if it does exist, no one knows where it is....

PLL

MikeH92 · Dec 29, 2009

will i just got my metal detector and this is going to be my 1st big hunt is there any more info on this.

stefen · Dec 30, 2009

You have seen the totality of what is known in these posts.

If you are able to shed some additional light on the subject, I would suggest some serious research.

Possibly develop a family tree and then talk with the descendants.

pegleglooker · Dec 30, 2009

mountaindigger said:
Greetings All

The original road you seek is not the current 79. It is just east of the dump and meets Gilman Springs rd at Laborde Canyon. This road starts around the interstate 10, 60 split at David Mountain rd. This is the Stage Coach Rd.

My coworker as a boy spent many hours there doing whatever boys do. He also helped build Jackrabbit Trail that cuts through the canyon further east. He knows where the remains of structures and caves are. I intend to interview him on a recorder to find out more (he is an encyclopedia of information for this area).
Once that is done I will be glad to share the information pertaining to this story.

MD

I wonder if Mountaindigger has anything to ad to this

?

PLL

racefanrob · Mar 23, 2011

I think am posting a little late on this thread, but found the post late and hoping someone is still watching this one. I went to the place where pll mentioned on a different post and had pics right next to the sign for the landfill. I could find no caves in this area. I am thinking maybe it was covered though... I got a signal when I was swinging in that canyon. I started digging and digging and digging. Dang I didn't know mxt's could detect that deep. Anyway I finally get about 3 feet down and I hit something solid. I got excited thinking it was a box or something, but it ended up being a barbeque grill.

I could not get it all the way out due to the fact it was long and buried under alot more dirt. I checked under it and found an old can filled with dirt. It was a Delaware Punch can and I found out it was sold in Ca in the 50's and 60's. So thinking about it way too much I figured after 50 or 60 years the canyon was covered with that much dirt with runoff from the mountains around it. Going back to the early 1900's when the Elijah's son was living there it may be covered by 4 to 6 feet of dirt... I wonder if anyone would say anything if I took a small backho into that canyon

lol This was on the first trip. The second trip I started trying to uncover a cave...way too much work for a folding shovel. The 3rd trip was kind of strange though. I was trying the canyon floor again, but on the opposite side where the grill was found. I am finding a lot of bullets and casings. So I am digging another deep hole when I could hear a voice that sounded like it was coming from around a bend close to where I was digging. I looked up thinking someone was hiking and was going to walk by soon. Hmm nobody was there

I dug about 2 and a half feet and another bullet then covered it back up. I went across to get up to higher ground and see if I could see the hiker I just heard. It was strange that I didn't see anyone or hear anymore voices... The next day I went to a job and was talking to a guy that worked there. I mentioned that I had been there the day before swinging and digging and come to find out he had a brother inlaw that had committed suicide in that same canyon. I didn't mention the voice or voices I heard, but started thinking about it after I left the job. Kind of freaky to me though. Now on this post I saw pll's pics and location and I was in a different place... I guess I got some splorin to do...UGH It sure doesn't look like there are any caves around there. Anyone else find caves?

stefen · Mar 23, 2011

You need to obtain a USGS map and locate Lambs Canyon which is south along Highway 79 and west of Beaumont between Idyllwild and Beaumont. A portion of the canyon is now a sanitary landfill and am not sure if it overlaid over the original homestead...

If it is, the caves may be covered and your screwed.

However, the whole region is pocked with caves.

Might want to use Google Earth for a tentative look-see...then go in by 4 wheeler, or on foot or horseback...

There is a shorter canyon on the south side of Hwy 79 that would favor some attention...

By the way, San Jacinto is on the other side of the mountain...

pegleglooker · Apr 12, 2011

Hey Gang,
Here are the routes as discussed, Mtdigger's route. the 79 and what I think " may " be an alternative route. I don't have any copy of the original stage route but it MtDigger has one I would surely like to see it ( hint hint ).....

PLL

stefen · Apr 12, 2011

Hwy 79 was created originally as a haul road for horse drawn logging wagons in the late 1890 and in the early 1900's the alignment was used by the Model T crowd.

This info is available in Idyllwild both with maps and historic photos.

Most likely was used as a stage route as well.

A similar route drops off of the mountain on the Hemet -San Jacinto side.

Some more in-depth research resourses are available on the mountain...

treasurechest · May 11, 2011

If any of you guys want to check out the old mine in Hemet, there's one off of state street, before Domenigoni Pkwy. If you're heading south, look to the left. There's two new water towers they just installed, look above that, you'll see another water tower, and above that you'll see the tailings pile. There's not much there, but it's cool to see. There's a shaft and a tunnel up there. Maybe you could MD the area. you might find something.

Quilbillyred · Feb 22, 2012

No one may read this...but I have a photo of the Lamb homestead in Lamb Canyon, Ca. I am a descendant of Elijah and Harietta Lamb. I would be interested in any photos of the area or any other information that can be passed along. Thanks. Nicki Fuller

stefen · Feb 22, 2012

Quilbillyred said:
No one may read this...but I have a photo of the Lamb homestead in Lamb Canyon, Ca. I am a descendant of Elijah and Harietta Lamb. I would be interested in any photos of the area or any other information that can be passed along. Thanks. Nicki Fuller

Nick,

Please post what pics you have...

Are there any older relatives still in the area (above ground) that can provide some light on the subject?

pegleglooker · Feb 25, 2012

Hi Gang,
I for one would like to see what you have.... If you want to keep it private, please send me a private message. Otherwise I'm sure all of us here would truly appreciate anything you are willing to share. And we would be VERY grateful as well!!!!

Thx
PLL