Palm Springs, California
Histroy:
For thousands of years, the Coachella Valley was home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. During the winter months, they established their village around the natural hot mineral springs (current site of the Spa Resort Casino). In summer, to escape the extreme temperatures of the desert floor, the small band moved to the canyons where it was more comfortable because of the higher elevation. Few had ever seen a white man.
In 1877, the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its line through the desert to the Pacific Ocean. A Congressional policy established that every odd section of land for 10 miles on either side of the track became the property of the railroad (a section was defined as one square mile). The even-numbered sections remained the property of the federal government.
In 1884, Judge John Guthrie McCallum of San Francisco and his family became the first non-Indians to settle here. McCallum, with the assistance of local Indians, built a 19 mile stone-lined ditch from the Whitewater River into Palm Springs bringing in pure, precious water for irrigation.
Throughout the 19th century, various explorers, colonizers, and soldiers came through the desert, but it was not until 1853 that the United States Topographical Engineers mentioned the oasis of palm trees and springs which they called "Palm Springs." The name did not stick at that time, however. After California became a state in 1850, various stage routes crossed the desert, and "Big Bill Bradshaw's" freight line began to stop at what Bradshaw called "Agua Caliente." The place was known by that name or variations of "Palm Valley" until 1890 when Harry McCallum referred in a letter to his post office address in "Palm Springs."
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