Bolton Canyon

Greek George Caralambo’s share of the $6,000 reward was $600, roughly equivalent to $17,000 today. He used that money to purchase 142 acres in Bolton Canyon, a tract in the Hollywood Hills east of the 160 acres he owned in No Man’s Canyon, which included today’s Runyon Canyon Park. George and his wife, Cornelia, farmed a prime section of Bolton Canyon called Daisy Dell, the site of today’s world-famous Hollywood Bowl.

While George and Cornelia worked at Daisy Dell, a newcomer named Marsovich moved onto their No Man’s Canyon property, set up camp, and filed a mineral claim. George and Cornelia sued him, relying on the 1866 federal deed that had awarded the land to George. The lawsuit dragged on for years, and even after they won, Marsovich refused to comply with the sheriff’s eviction order. Frustrated, George took matters into his own hands, attacking Marsovich and biting off part of his ear. That finally sent Marsovich packing—or so the legend goes.

Greek George’s wife, Cornelia Lopez, passed away in 1899 when George was about 70 years old. He sold his No Man’s Canyon property for $500 and moved to El Monte, where he reapplied for a government pension based on his seven years of service tending Army camels. To help his case, he reached out to Charles Lummis, former city editor of the Los Angeles Times and one of the most influential men in the city. Greek George visited Lummis at El Alisal, the rock house Lummis built by a large sycamore and a grove of alder trees (El Alisal means “alder grove”).

Lummis wrote about his encounter with Greek George 20 years later:

“In 1903, a picturesque character was brought to me in Los Angeles [because he saw me] as a sort of ‘Defender of the Poor,’ to see if I could help him get a pension. He was a modest, well-mannered, sturdy man, with a Homeric beard and a thatch of hair so dense as to seem almost bulletproof. As a matter of fact, an Indian’s arrow, in a fight near Camp Mojave, had struck him square in the jaw and barely scratched the flesh through the matted beard!”

Lummis noted that Greek George had forgotten his native language and never learned English. “In 50 years, he had forgotten all his Greek but had learned no English,” Lummis wrote. “He spoke only Spanish.”

A few days later, George returned to El Alisal with a load of fresh vegetables from his ranch in El Monte. He realized after their first meeting that he had camped at the same spot with his camels in 1858, long before Lummis built his rock house.

“Why,” George said, respectfully placing a hand on Lummis’ shoulder and looking up at the sycamore tree, “Leguro, this is the very one! … [This] big stone house and the fountain make it look different, but there’s the very hollow where I tucked my alforja [saddlebag]; and I slept there in the very lap of the great tree. For when I came here with the camels in 1858, in October, going to Ft. Tejon, I camped under this aliso with my 18 camels.”

Lummis tried to help George get his pension, even contacting President Theodore Roosevelt, but the application was denied.

Death of Greek George

Greek George died in 1913, following the death of his second wife. He had no money and was living in a shack near La Mission Vieja, close to Montebello. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Whittier’s Settlers Cemetery.
In the 1930s, the Native Daughters of the Golden West launched a search to find Greek George’s unmarked grave. After an exhaustive search of documents and based on an eyewitness account from someone present at his burial 30 years earlier, they located the unmarked grave. The Native Daughters raised money to commission a granite marker for the grave. The inscription read: