Oro Grande Cemetery

Oro Grande Cemetery. . , The Oro Grande Cemetery is one of the oldest in the Victor Valley area and was originally established as the Bennette Memorial Park sometime around 1890. Mr. Bennette was a rancher who raised stock in and around Oro Grande up until 1894. He relocated to Redlands for a period of time before returning to his Oro Grande ranch in 1903 where he lived until his death in 1944. The cemetery had its last internment in the mid 1960's. Ownership of the cemetery was transferred to San Bernardino County by the Oro Grande Foundation in the mid 1970's. On May 9, 1975, the Oro Grande Cemetery was designated by the State of California Office of Historic Preservation as a Point of Historic Interest (P404). , Oro Grande sprouted as a trading post in the mid 1800's as early pioneers passed through the area. One of the earliest travelers was Fr. Francisco Hermenegildo Graces, a missionary priest who found accompaniment with the Mojave Indians as he traced a route to the coast in 1776. Fr. Graces was followed by explorer/trapper Jedediah Smith 1826, frontiersman Kit Carson 1828, and the Mormon Battalion 1846-1847 just as California became a state. As a trading post, Oro Grande had many visitors but few residents. J.H. Lane, an ex-army Captain, founded a store at the narrows of the Mojave River in 1852 to serve travelers and the growing number of settlers. It was the gold boom in 1849 that began to form Oro Grande as a permanent settlement. , Around the 1880's the Oro Grande or "Big Gold" Mine became established and along with it the town. In 1885, the Southern California Railway was laid through Oro Grande and the Cajon Pass to San Bernardino. The railway connected larger populations and industry to the high desert region. Although gold was not found to be abundant in the "Big Gold" Mine there were other minerals discovered that became of interest. Deposits of silica and lime began to be mined in place of gold. These mineral deposits are still mined to this day.