One of Banning’s pioneers was Bud Mattewson, who came to the pass in 1951 at the age of 21 to open Mattewson’s Department store located next to the Fox Theater built in the 20s.

As time went on the business grew and he moved the business down the street to where it has been for over 50 years now. Bud, as he likes to be called, is a Banning pass historian with much knowledge of the area.
Bud talked about how the Cahuilla Indians in 1880s would venture from the Coachella Valley to get out of the blistering heat of the summer season to keep cool.  This was way before the white man even was through the pass.

As time went on the stagecoach began to arrive through the township where the San Gorgonio Inn was built in 1881. This is where the soldiers from 29 Palms ate when they began to pass through during the war. The stagecoach would stop there as they ventured into San Bernardino, and the railroad would pick up supplies while the workers frequented the restaurant owned by Jack and Ria Bonvelle that closed in the 50’s.

There was no sheriff back in those days and that’s when Willy Boy was taking charge of the pass for a while until things changed in the late 1800s. Bud then goes on to speak about how he ran the only general store for many years and sold anything you ever could need. He also started the first pawn shop in the whole district, and had many friends in the pass that he came to know  including General Patton who built the first air strip in Banning in the early 1950s.

He spoke about how they used to charge a dollar to walk up San Jacinto mountain to Idllywild, or one dollar and fifty cents on horseback, as they had a toll bridge you had to go across to get up the mountain. As the town grew he says it got its name Banning after it was called Moore City on one end and Hall City on the east end. A gentleman named Phinnas Banning came to the town from the eastas he wasa business owner promising to build the first church for the Baptists if they would name the town Banning. They agreed and Banning became the official town name around the early 1900s.

Bud has so much to talk about and has written a book on his lifestory, it has many of his memories that are touching to the heart. As he spoke to me I watched his eyes light up as if he were living it all over. This book can be purchased at his store, and wow, talk about history, when you walk into his store all you see is the past! Stop in and check it out - you’ll never forget what you see and may hear.

Once a resort for the Cahuilla Indians to keep cool, it is now  a town  that sits Between Riverside and Coachella Valley. Highlight events are the Cherry Festival and Lavender Festival in June, fireworks in July, and  Stagecoach Days, plus a new streetfair they started this year . Thanks to Bud Mattewson the past is never forgotten.