What
I am about to share is not a Hollywood movie script but a true story. If you
remember my post from last week, you will know that John Rains married Maria
Merced in 1856. The marriage led to five children, three murders, and
reportedly the juiciest scandal of the time (Maria married Rains only a day
after her father’s death). Was the marriage a
love-filled haze? It is reported that
his relationship with Maria was stormy but was a love match! The couple lived
in a beautiful fired-brick home (the house is still standing today on Vineyard
Ave. north of Foothill Boulevard). But was he a cowpoke? Maybe. But he was also
described as gallant and impulsive. This love story reminds me of one of the
most memorable lines from the classic movie Casablanca,
when Rick tells his former lover; “We’ll always have Paris.” In this case,
maybe John and Maria will always have Rancho.
After all, he purchased Rancho Cucamonga for $16,500.
Rains
was ambushed, lassoed, shot, dismembered, and tossed into the bushes along
today’s Arrow Highway. Thus, Arrow Highway is the silent witness of the
unsolved mystery of John Rains’ final moments! May he and Maria have a happy Valentine’s
Day wherever they may be.
Citations:
Murder in Mud Springs by Paul McClure http://www.lawesterners.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014-06-14-Murder-Mystery-Story.pdf
San
Bernardino County Museum http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/branches/rains.htm
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