Arlie Bergman's 1919 Patent

By the end of 1917, Arlie had met all the legal requirements to “prove up” his homestead and receive a patent. Various factors (including the death of registrar in Los Angeles) delayed the process until 1918, when Arlie officially presented his claim. The law required four witnesses to certify that the applicant had occupied and improved the property. Appearing for Arlie were his father, Henry, Aguanga storekeeper Dave Ellsworth, and two Chihuahua Valley homesteaders, James Jeffries and Albert Otto.

Arlie testified that he had built a house with two rooms, a barn, corral, and outhouse, and had strung nearly three miles of barb wire fence. The value of these improvements was estimated at $1,000. In 1915, he said, he cleared five acres and grew maize and fodder for his livestock. In 1916 he cleared an additional seven acres and planted “potatoes, [a] garden, maize, corn, [and] soudan grass”, harvesting 1,000 pounds of potatoes and a ton of hay. He also set out “13 assorted fruit trees” that year. In 1917 he cleared a final 17 acres and planted potatoes, barley, beans and soudan grass; harvesting two tons of potatoes, 225 pounds of beans and another ton of hay. Henry Bergman and the other witnesses backed all of Arlie’s claims, Henry noting that he had been in and out of the valley for 20 years, and still came up regularly.

With all the legal formalities out of the way, Arlie Bergman was issued his patent on October 25, 1919, giving the Bergmans a total of 280 acres in Lost Valley. In addition, Arlie sometimes leased some adjoining grazing land from the Forest Service.

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