Second in a two-part series. Read part one here. A caravan formed in Salt Lake City in August 1849 and set out with the intention of going to the gold fields of California by way of the southern route. Capt. Jefferson Hunt led the outfit — that would reach more than 100 wagons. They encountered rocky terrain and found ways to navigate the challenges. The group included 19-year-old Sheldon Stoddard and, accompanying his father, 10-year-old Sydney Waite. The pair would build a friendship that would last a lifetime. While most of the party — including Stoddard — headed north to Mariposa where they broke up to mine, the Waite family went to Los Angeles where James Waite, Sydney’s father, became owner of the Los Angeles Star newspaper as well as city postmaster. Meanwhile, Sydney learned the publishing trade and transported mail by horseback to desert locations. Sheldon Stoddard (Courtesy of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society) In March 1851, Stoddard married Jane Hunt, a daughter of Jefferson Hunt, and the following month the newlyweds joined the first group of Mormon colonizers in the San Bernardino Valley. The 150-wagon caravan arrived at Sycamore Grove, near what is Glen Helen Park today, in June, where the exhausted party set up a temporary camp. After the Mormons purchased Rancho San Bernardino from the Lugo family that September and moved into the valley, Sheldon built the first log cabin in the settlement on First Street, now Rialto Avenue, west of Far West Street, which is today’s I Street. The cabin was later moved to the west side of the stockade constructed on the present courthouse site as protection against a rumored Native American uprising. Stoddard engaged in freighting and carrying mail between San Bernardino and Salt Lake City for years. The hard-working adventurer delivered mail across the Mojave Desert 24 times, his last in 1858. Leaving their home near San Gabriel Mission in 1858, the Waites moved to San Bernardino. It was there they purchased property from the city’s Mormon founders ordered by Brigham Young to return to Utah. Waite’s life moving forward would be filled with a variety of occupations and adventures. In 1859, a political battle between San Bernardino’s two physicians — Union supporter Alonzo Ainsworth and Southern sympathizer Franklin “Frank” Gentry — had become more heated. After the two doctors failed to hit their targets during a gun dual, Gentry got together some of his friends from El Monte with intentions of wiping out his adversary. Friends of Ainsworth took their scared comrade to Bethel Coopwood’s adobe home at the corner of E and Church streets where he was guarded from Gentry’s mob. During the night the Ainsworth group lined up in the cornfield surrounding the house, whereupon the notorious “El Monte Boys” hauled out an old Spanish cannon, loaded it, and threatened to blow up the house. RELATED: This old cannon in San Bernardino is a blast from the past  Fortunately, Waite, who was one of Ainsworth’s guards, managed to reach the cannon unnoticed and spiked it by using a rat tail file before the antiquated arsenal could cause some real damage. Although, Waite had supported Ainsworth — a “Union man” — during an interview for a March 1914 article in Santa Fe Magazine, in 1861 he volunteered for the war effort but joined the Confederate cavalry forces stationed in Cucamonga. During the battle of Shiloh, he was wounded and sent to La Paz, Arizona mines, where he worked as a clerk. Shortly after returning from the Civil War, Waite purchased the upper tollhouse in the Cajon Pass from the road’s proprietor, and his father-in-law, John Brown, Sr. This turned out to be a headache, to say the least. Fellow San Bernardino pioneer George Miller recounted a story to the Pioneer Society of the time when Waite noticed a blue jay darting down on something concealed in the bushes on a nearby bluff. Always on alert for intruders, Waite was suspicious and fired a shot into the area where the bird was flitting about. Nothing moved, nor was there any sound, but after thinking about it, overnight, he investigated the spot the next day and found a body. Sydney Waite (Courtesy of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society) A year later, Waite was operating the city’s newspaper, the San Bernardino Guardian. He would later serve as water master, overseeing the area’s water supplies, was elected to two terms as county clerk and also was president of the city’s board of education. Meanwhile, Stoddard continued hauling freight in Southern California until 1882. Lafayette Mecham, who operated a station at “Fish Pond,” near today’s Daggett, built a shortcut wagon road to help freighters crossing the desert and Sheldon dug — some sources say he deepened — a well to provide water for travelers.  This road is now known as Stoddard Wells Road. He began working for the California Southern, now BNSF, Railway, taking charge of their teaming and quarry work. Still hard at work until well into his 60’s, “Uncle Shell,” as he was affectionately called, retired from the rail company in 1899. The tireless pioneer devoted much of his last years indulging with Waite and other friends at the San Bernardino Pioneer Society. Related Articles Local News | How San Bernardino County pioneers Sheldon Stoddard and Sydney Waite arrived in the area Local News | Repairs to Riverside’s De Anza statue to be explored Local News | Bowling’s 1950s boom in suburbs gets fresh spin in new book Local News | How the city of Calimesa got its name Local News | Three wives and you’re out: Ontario pitcher puts on San Quentin uniform  Stoddard died in April 1919 at age 89 and a year later on Nov. 27, 1920, his longtime friend, Waite, died at age 81. Both men are buried at San Bernardino’s Pioneer Memorial Cemetery. In the Cajon Pass there is a white obelisk shaft near the truck scales along the southbound 15 Freeway, south of Highway 138, built to honor the two comrades. On one side of the monument is the inscription “Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trail, erected by the Pioneer Society of San Bernardino, 1912.” On another side, etched on a brass plate, is the inscription “Sheldon Stoddard and Sydney P. Waite came over this trail in 1849 and helped erect this monument in 1912.” PART ONE: How San Bernardino County pioneers Sheldon Stoddard and Sydney Waite arrived in the area Contact Nick Cataldo at [email protected] and read more of his local history articles at Facebook.com/BackRoadsPress.