Nestled in the magnificent San Bernardino Range, Southern California's premier mountain resort, Lake Arrowhead, annually plays host to four million visitors. Winter sports enthusiasts, as well as hikers and city folks seeking summer relief, enjoy the alpine atmosphere. Completed in the 1920s, Lake Arrowhead Village was constructed on precipitous lands once trod by Paiute and Serrano tribes and left vacant by a failed 1890s irrigation project. The picturesque community drew Hollywood's cameras, as well as its leisure-seeking stars. When the lake's dam was declared unsafe following a 1971 earthquake, residents rallied to fund the downstream Papoose Lake, preserving the historic reservoir. Author Rhea-Frances Tetley recollects the people and events that made Lake Arrowhead a premier high-country resort.
Rhea-Frances Tetley's family developed the Valley of Enchantment section of Crestline, beginning in 1924, and she has been visiting the area since birth. She has lived there with her family, full time, since 1976. She is a past president and founder of the Crest Forest/Rim of the World Historical Society and is on the board of directors of the Mountain History Museum in Lake Arrowhead. Douglas W. Motley is the senior writer for the Alpernhorn News, based at Crestline, California, and covering the communities of the San Bernardino Mountains. Motley has been married to author Rhea-Frances Tetley for four decades. They live in Crestline.