James Wesley Waters was born on June 20, 1813 in New York. He went west in 1835 and was a mountain man with John Brown, Sr. In 1844 he came on the Santa Fe Trail to California with a pack train. He came to San Bernardino in 1856. Waters was a member of the board of supervisors. He erected an Opera House on D Street at Court Street. Waters died September 20, 1889 and is buried at the San Bernardino Pioneer Cemetery.
Photo courtesy of City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society