Bishop City Map Poster

About Bishop

The Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community have lived in the Owens Valley for centuries. The City of Bishop was named after Samuel Addison Bishop, a Mormon immigrant from Illinois and one of the first white men to explore this area. He established his ranch in 1858, along with his brothers William and Jim on what later became known as "Bishop Creek." They raised cattle and sheep, which were driven into Los Angeles to trade at market. In 1863 they built a trading post called "Bishop's Ranch". In 1864 when he went back east to bring more settlers out west, most settlers stayed near Bishops' Ranch taking advantage of natural resources such as water along with grasses available for their livestock; however some homesteaders settled further up towards Mammoth Lakes where it is believed that gold had been discovered by miners around 1865 or '66 (see History). In 1870 more people came into the valley including Charles Crocker who made sure that all roads led through San Francisco so he could collect tolls from them (see History).