Gen. Henry W. Lawton may be the greatest American military hero you’ve never heard about.
He fought in 37 battles during the Civil War and earned the Medal of Honor; he served in many wars, including leading the expedition that captured Native American leader Geronimo; he directed an infantry unit in the invasion of Cuba in the Spanish American War; and his career came to end when he was killed while leading his troops in what is known as the Philippine Insurrection.
And for the last five years of his life when he wasn’t away in uniform, he and his family lived in a ranch home in Redlands.
“General Lawton was … a primal man, if gigantic size, phenomenal strength, abnormal endurance and utter fearlessness count for anything,” wrote the San Francisco Chronicle on Dec. 20, 1899, a day after his death in the Philippines.
“Like all such men who have lived a strong life, he had a well-developed sense of justice. He required of his subordinates the utmost endeavor; but he asked none of them to perform where he was not able and willing to do himself.”
He received great publicity in 1886 when his expedition tracked down Geronimo. However, he was adamant in later interviews that the credit for the capture was entirely due to Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, who met and talked the chief into surrendering. Shortly after that success, Lawton was appointed assistant inspector general for the Army.
In 1894, he and his wife Mary Craig Lawton and four children came to Redlands and purchased a large house and 15-acre orange ranch on Cypress Avenue just west of Sunnyside Avenue in the Smiley Heights neighborhood. His lifelong friend, Capt. J. M. Preston, loaned him $5,000 to make the purchase.
His largely administrative position during that period allowed Lawton to spend time at home with his family.
But the onset of war against Spain in 1898 inspired Lawton to volunteer for another combat assignment. His troops would later be the first to set foot in Cuba in the successful invasion there against the Spanish Army. After war’s end, he was assigned to oversee the area around Santiago, Cuba, and was praised for his fairness to the conquered populace in contrast to other American military supervisors.
Lawton, whose wife and children briefly joined him in Cuba, “is pursuing a policy of kindness and consideration toward the poor people, who so lately passed through a terrible ordeal of suffering, and the early results appear to be highly satisfactory,” wrote the Los Angeles Herald, Sept. 10, 1898.
In March 1899, Lawton was summoned again when fighting broke out in the Philippines, which Spain had ceded to the United States after the war. American troops were called to battle local forces who were demanding the U.S. grant Philippine independence. He was shipped to Manila, bringing his family with him, and took over American military actions.
Lawton often allowed his son Manley to accompany him as he led successful campaigns in the Philippines. Fortunately, Manley was not with him when near San Mateo, the elder Lawton, at 6-foot-3 and wearing a yellow raincoat and white helmet, became an easy target for Philippine sharpshooters on Dec. 19.
His family brought his remains home, where they were displayed in his native Indiana before being buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Reaction to Lawton’s death was immediate, especially at San Francisco’s Presidio headquarters which directed U.S. troops in the Philippines. A statewide fund was started by the military urging donations of funds for Lawton’s family. “Help the Brave Soldier’s Widow” was an appeal printed in the San Francisco Examiner of Dec. 21.
On March 10, 1900, Army Adjutant-Gen. D.C. Corbin presented Mary Lawton with a check for $98,432, the product of the widespread campaign that would enable Mrs. Lawton to pay off her Redlands mortgage and other debts.
However, it was her desire to return to her parents’ home in northern Kentucky. The sale of the Redlands ranch to hotelier T. J. Richey of San Jacinto was announced in the Los Angeles Times on March 10, 1901.
For a number of years, the property, called the Lawton Villa, was operated as a hotel. But the venture was largely a financial failure, leading to the vacant former Lawton home torn down in July 1917.
Interestingly, the legacy of the Lawton family lived on in a 13-book series of novels by Annie Fellows Johnston. She was a neighbor of Mrs. Lawton, who had a large house built for her and her children in Pewee Valley, Kentucky. Some of the 12 characters in the Johnston novels were said to have been inspired by Gen. Lawton and his children, reported the Redlands Daily Facts, April 4, 1935.
Johnston’s first book of the series, “The Little Colonel,” was later adapted into a 1935 motion picture starring Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore.
Car show
The annual Cucamonga Classic Car Show, which raises funds to restore the historic Cucamonga Service Station on Route 66, will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 29.
It will be at the Sycamore Inn, 8318 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga, despite the nearby highway construction project underway there.
Car show registration is open at . Winning vehicles will be among those featured in the 2025 Cucamonga Service Station Calendar.
The 1915 service station is at 9670 Foothill Blvd. It is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Home tour
Tickets are still available for the Ontario Heritage Historic Homes Tour on Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Information: .
Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@gmail.com or Twitter @JoeBlackstock. Check out some of our columns of the past at Inland Empire Stories on Facebook at .
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the day of the Ontario Heritage Historic Homes Tour.
