Blue Ridge Name ?

[KC]

Since everyone did so well on the Bluecut Name,

How did Blue Ridge get its name ?

[naturalist]

I've always assumed the same thing--the Pelona Schist is kinda blue-ish from a distance.  Probably named from the looks of the landslide, then the whole ridge has that name, even parts that are forested and don't look blue.  But that's just my assumption...

[SkierBob]

I'm following the thread but don't know the answer... Inless the 'good guess' are correct I think we've been stumped.

R

[The_Mtneer]

The Blue Ridge was named by early ranchers due to the haze that the trees give out during the day... a natural phenominem (sp) that some would treat as smog... but early records that I have seen call the ridge Blue Ridge... this long before cars entered the valley. It is a name that was given the Blue Ridge Mountains of the east, much for the same tree effect, hundreds of years ago.
The Mtneer

[Wrightwood]

Mtneer,
do you remember the names of any documents that you may seen that in?

Thanks for your explanation.

[The_Mtneer]

One would be the "Climatological Study of the Sierra Alta Rancho," done about 90 years ago. I had a copy of it but unfortunately, it was handed off to a title company in San Bernardino (by my partner back then - 40 years ago) and they never returned it and couldn't locate it when I found out that it was gone from my library. It referenced the Blue Ridge above the Swarthout Valley and black and white photos of the period showed the haze.
The Mtneer