In 1876, the United States government established the Agua Caliente Reservation over 31,128 acres in a checkerboard format of alternating sections of 640 acres. Anza assumed there was an overland route because the Native Americans in Tubac, Arizona were continuously well informed about the huge ships sailing along the California coast from word-of-mouth passed from tribe-to-tribe. Garces accompanied Anza on both his 1774 expedition from Tubac to Mission San Gabriel (near present-day Los Angeles) and 1775-76 expedition from Tubac to San Francisco Bay. Shortly thereafter, Don Juan Bautista de Anza made a solo journey across the desert from present-day Tubac, Arizona to an area just south of Palm Springs. In the early 1770’s, the Wandering Franciscan, Fray Francisco Garces, explored the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains. It is highly probable that the Cahuilla made contact with them or, at the very least, were aware of their presence. However, Spanish explorers were in the vicinity much earlier and called the Palm Springs area, La Palma de la Mano de Dios (The Palm of God’s Hand).

On their expedition they first recorded the existence of Agua Caliente (hot water). It is generally accepted that the first white men to visit Palm Springs were José María Estudillo and Brevet Captain José Romero who were sent by the newly formed Mexican government in December 1823 to find an overland route from Sonora to Alta California. The mortar holes were used to grind acorns into flour. Petroglyphs, pictographs and mortar holes can also be seen in Andreas Canyon. Native American petroglyphs, irrigation ditches, dams and house pits can be seen in Tahquitz, Chino and Indian Canyons.

The Cahuilla name for Palm Springs was Se-Khi (boiling water). Streets and areas in Palm Springs using common Cahuilla surnames include Andreas, Arenas, Amado, Belardo, Lugu, Patencio, Saturnino and Chino. While Palm Canyon was occupied during winter months (the current site of the Spa Resort Casino was often used due to its natural hot springs), the Cahuilla trekked to much higher elevation in cooler Chino Canyon during the summer months, today easily accessible by the Palm Springs Aerial TRAM. In a 1990 census there were only 35 people who could still speak the language and tribal enrollment as of 2010 was 410 people. They lived here in virtual isolation and spoke Ivilyuat, a dialect of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The historic journey that transformed Palm Springs from a Native American oasis to Hollywood’s Playground of the Stars began over two thousand years ago with the arrival of the Cahuilla people.

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