Partnership with "Uncle Billy" Rubottom

Lane continued to file claims in the Ord Mountain District, according to the records that have been found, at least until February of 1873. On one of these, the Little Giant, he joined with well-known Southland resident William Rubottom, which was an interesting pairing, bringing together two of the area's pluckiest veteran pioneers.

William, known affectionately to everyone as "Uncle Billy," emigrated from Arkansas in 1853 and resettled in Southern California in the vicinity of El Monte. In the early 1860s he moved to the Cucamonga Rancho and established a tavern on the road from Los Angeles to San Bernardino.

Rancho San Jose owner Louis Phillips convinced Uncle Billy to purchase 100 acres of his ranch, and to build another house and tavern that would bear Uncle Billy's name. Phillips had been surrounded by Mexicans, whose language and customs were unfamiliar to him, and he was quite pleased to have as his neighbor someone with whom he could talk, plus who had a reputation as "a good gun man." Other families followed, and the area came to be known as Rubottoms, but when a post office was secured, Uncle Billy successfully petitioned to have the community called Spadra, after his hometown of Spadra Bluffs, Arkansas.

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