Palm Springs; Cahuilla's land once and forever.

The Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians is composed of several small groups of Indians who were living in the modern day Palm Springs area when the Agua Caliente Reservation was established by the United States Government in 1896......The reservation occupies 32,000 acres, of which 6,700 acres lie within the city limits, making the Agua Caliente band the city's largest landowner and they have the final decision of what type or style of building or company a company can build within the city....The reservation land was originally composed of alternating squares of land laid out across the desert in a checkerboard pattern.....The alternating, non-reservation squares, were provided by the United States Government to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the open desert.....It would appear that the Indians at first lost the desert to the white man....But as the reader will realize, the Cahuilla's have gained far more than they ever lost because this small group of Indians dictate what happens on the entire valley floor.

Cahuilla name for the area was "Se-Khi" (boiling water). In the early 1800's, Spanish explorers named the area "Agua Caliente" (hot water).....An alternative use of palm is revealed in the November 1992 issue of Art of California...... At least one Spanish explorer referred to the area as la Palma de la Mano de dios or "The Palm of God's hand,".....The current name for the area is "Palm Springs" which likely came into common usage in the mid-1860's when the land was first surveyed by U.S. Government surveyors who noted that a local mineral spring was located at the base of "two bunches of palms" at the entrance to Palm Canyon, the southern most part of the city, before it heads up the steep road to Oak Pines and the San Jacinto Mountains.

Playground of the Stars

From the 1930s to the 1970s, Palm Springs was home to many of Hollywood's most glamorous stars. Major stars and celebrities such as Al Jolson, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Liberace, Howard Hughes, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Debbie Reynolds, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Sonny Bono, Cher, Kirk Douglas, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin owned houses in Palm Springs during this period, giving the town world-wide fame as the "Playground of the Stars".

In addition to these film and stage personalities, the Palm Springs area has been visited and settled by United States Presidents Dwight David Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. The famed Betty Ford Center is in the area, as is Eisenhower Medical Center.....Publisher Walter Annenberg settled in nearby Rancho Mirage.....Celebrities still retreat to Palm Springs, but today the city's economy centers on tourism, hospitality, conventions, real estate, health care, shopping, and gambling.....If you look carefully at the street names of the cities in the area, you will find names like Bob Hope Drive, Frank Sinatra Drive and Dinah Shore Blvd, right along side, Indain blvd, La Qunita Ridge and Tahaquitz Road....A perfect blend of Indian and Celebrities names....Another of the Cahuilla's influences.

The world's largest rotating tramcars can be found at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the one I made the trip up to the construction site with a mule supply train and lost my brand new cowboy hat....These cars ascend two-and-a-half miles up a steep incline to reveal dramatic, sweeping valley views.....The ascent from desert floor to an altitude in excess of 8,500 feet is accompanied by a drop in temperature of 30 degrees or more, giving riders a cool respite from the heat on a hot summer day.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival presents movie star-filled, red carpet affairs.....The Palm Springs Follies stage-show spectacular brings one of the last of the authentic vaudeville shows still presented in the United States; one of the unique aspects of the show is that all of the performers are over the age of 55. Every Thursday evening downtown Palm Springs is transformed into Village Fest, featuring a diverse display of arts and crafts, a certified farmer's market, food, and live entertainment on beautiful Palm Canyon Drive.....And this entire event was brought about by one Sonny Bono, a well known singer from the 60's and 70's, who wanted something more for the city than the anual spring break follies....The other reason, Sonny decided to create this event was because he was once fined by the city for having a too large of a sign over his restaurant "Sony's"....He decided he couldn't fight city hall, so he became city hall....Mayor as a matter of fact....He made land deals with the Cahuilla's....It seems they too were not happy with the spring break fights, rapes and anual madcap follies either....So every one involved benefited.

The Palm Springs Art Museum is a cultural treasure, presenting traveling art exhibitions and an impressive permanent collection plus a variety of entertainment in its Annenberg Theater. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has added an exciting vibrancy to downtown with the luxurious Spa Resort Hotel and Casino. There are other casinos in the Coachella Valley as well, notably in the cities of Rancho Mirage, Indio, Coachella and Cabazon.

Numerous five-star hotels, restaurants and attractions cater to tourists, while shoppers can find high-end boutiques nearby, which include "The River" in Rancho Mirage and "El Paseo" in Palm Desert, the Coachella Valley's answer to Rodeo Drive. Down below the airport on Bob Hope Drive there is a water park and numerous skateboard parks......Last but not least, there are hundreds of excellent restaurants all along Highway 111, Indian and Palm aves....Remember the Bobs Big Boy that was up at the north end of 111 just before you turned the corner out of the city and headed back to LA.

Palm Springs, because of its beauty and resort style of living, has had special appeal to senior citizens and has fast become the 'Snow Bird' capital of the world.....Those are people who migrate like birds to a warmer climate....In this case instead of south America, it is Palm Springs that the seniors of the Northern Snow States, flock to....On the North side of the 10 freeway and all over the valley, there are numerous RV parks and Condos reserved just for them.....With the peace and spirituality of its desert and mountains surrounding the area on 3 sides, It is no wonder that the Cahullia Indians chose the southern desert for their homes.

Gary Hall the ghostpainter