Brothers,
Ralph and Jack Follows arrived in
Azusa
in 1891 from
England, hoping the therapeutic powers of the San Gabriel
Canyon
would cure Ralph's tuberculosis. They rented a cabin on the old
Ferguson
property in the lower East Fork. As Ralph's health improved, he turned
the little cabin into a short-order restaurant for canyon travelers and
miners. In 1896, the Henry
Roberts property upstream from the
Ferguson
place was in his name, and he began
work on what was to become the largest most famous camp in the San Gabriel
Canyon.
Ralph married Jennie Heaton, the daughter of one of the miners,
the following year. Together
they turned Follows Camp into a place noted for "Good home cooking,
a genial friendliness and welcome, good fishing and glorious scenery
were the attractions." An
early brochure touted that camp life was "spent in real comfort.
The tents are all good size, well floored, cozily furnished and
are kept spotlessly clean. Where
guests may prefer, homelike rooms may be reserved. The camp is provided
with bath tubs, shower baths and plunge bath - and every modern
arrangement has been incorporated to insure perfect sanitation and
health throughout the camp. Pure mountain water is pumped by a private
water plant which Mr. Follows has installed at enormous expense.
Mountain fruits and vegetables, rich milk and fresh eggs are
produced on the premises. The table is always supplied with fresh meats
and seasonable delicacies, and ice is brought up daily on the
stage."
In spite of his own battle with
tuberculosis, Follows was unsympathetic to others suffering from the
disease. Brochures for Camp
Follows
sternly announced "NO CONSUMPTIVES ADMIITED. This rule is absolute and no deviation from it will be
made!"
The four-horse Follows Stage was
famous for hauling guests up the grueling twelve mile canyon road. Upon arrival in camp there was accommodations for over 200
guests...Thousands of people came from all over the west to stay in the
camp over the years. If
one was lucky during
their stay, early-day film stars such as Mabel Normand and Fatty
Arbuckle would be filming silent movies. Guests sometimes found
themselves being used as extras in the old Westerns, as did Follows
himself, his stage and 4
horses, and the hired hands.
Follows Camp was as troubled by
canyon road maintenance as any of the canyon resorts and camps. In later
years, Mrs. Jennie Follows related that her husband's life story
"was one of trying to keep that road open so he could pack people
and things through, and out again. It meant appearing before the county
board of supervisors and asking the Azusa
merchants for help. Now it is possible to go in half an hour the
distance it took a four-horse stage 3 1/2 hours to travel. It was
necessary then, though to ford the stream some forty times, and even in
the best weather that was not an easy trip. In times of high water it
was impossible." Nearly every winter the road would wash out. When
it was impassable, the only route from
Azusa
was the old Woods trail over the mountain, which meant traveling all day
on narrow and steep passage via shank's mare.
The first automobile arrived at
Follows Camp in 1904. The trip was quite a harrowing experience. In 1925
the
road was rebuilt and paved, and cars were a common site in the resort.
Ironically, as Sedley Peck lamented, "The coming of the automobile
made the trip to Follows Camp too easy, the romance was gone and soon
the camp languished and died."
In an even crueler twist of fate, Ralph Follows himself was
killed in an automobile accident near Redlands. Jennie ran the resort for a few years, but it was more trouble than it
was worth. No one wanted to stay overnight when they could drive back
and forth themselves in a short period of time.
Follows
Camp in Present Day History
While so many of the great resorts and camps were ruined by the
great floods of 1938, it was the depression that killed the
reign of Follows Camp as a renowned
tourists camp. In 1975 and 1976 the old Ferlguson property where
the Ralph Follow's original dream began with a short order restaurant,
was combined with Follows Camp. The
Ferguson
property had been a religious retreat known as
Beaulah
Land
after World War II and became Shady Oaks in the 1950's, with a store and
picnic area. Together, the combined properties are the Follows Camp of
today, land it is known as a place where one can relax and "start
the day by looking for the mother lode and ending the day at The Fort
with delicious dinners and a game of pool...great trout fishing during
the season the river is stocked every two weeks and …great places to
swim."
The forces of nature still wreak
havoc on Follows Camp. January 2005 record rainfalls wiped out three
bridges, stranding 135 residents. The storm also washed away the grassy
riverbank as the
San Gabriel
River
rose 20 feet above normal. The
resident's home wine cellar was washed away, spilling dozens of bottles
of wine into the raging waters. For two and a half weeks people were cut
off from the outside world, relying on Sheriff Department airlifts, and
neighbors who loaded a crude steel supply filled compartment with
supplies then dragged it by pulley over the river.
Eight residents, hardy as any original camp pioneer, finally
took matters into their own hands to build a dirt ramp over the
main bridge using bulldozers and dump trucks. For now the artists,
retirees and others who live in the private camp community for the
solitude it provides, have
an umbilical cord to supplies and surrounding communities.
The days of mining camps and
flamboyant resorts are gone, but many people still choose to enjoy these
areas today in one venue or the other.
Time will only tell when another deluge will cause the great
flood waters to rise and fall once again.
Bibliography
Books:
The
San Gabriels:
The
Mountain Country from
Soledad
Canyon
to Lytle Creek
by
John W. Robinson
Big
Santa Anita Historical Society
The
San Gabriels:
Southern
California
Mountain
Country
by
John W. Robinson
Golden
West Books\San
Marino
CA
Internet Sources:
History
of Follows Camp
http://www.followscamp.net/History.htm
Los Angeles
Times
Stranded,
but Not Helpless
by
David Peterson, staff writer
January 29, 2005
www.latimes.com
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