Saahatpa, California

Last updated
Saahatpa, California
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Saahatpa, California in California
LocationSaahatpa, California
Coordinates 33°57′29″N117°01′10″W / 33.958027°N 117.019522°W / 33.958027; -117.019522
Built1845
DesignatedAugust 17, 1960
Reference no.749
Hut of Mission Cahuilla Indian PSM V37 D487 Modern hut of mission indians in coahuila valley.jpg
Hut of Mission Cahuilla Indian
Desert Cahuilla woman by Edward S. Curtis, 1926 Edward S. Curtis Collection People 056.jpg
Desert Cahuilla woman by Edward S. Curtis, 1926

Saahatpa was a former Cahuilla settlement in Riverside County. It was a settlement of Juan Antonio's Mountain Cahuilla from 1851 to 1863. It was located in a valley that branched to the northeast from San Timoteo Canyon. The site is marked by California Historical Landmark #749, and is located at the abandoned Brookside Rest Area on westbound Interstate 10 in modern-day Calimesa, California, nearly 3 miles northwest of the I-10/SR 60 junction. [1]

Contents

History

Juan Antonio's Mountain Cahuilla were settled in Politana in 1845, to protect the herds of horses and cattle of the Rancho San Bernardino from the raids of bandits and the native tribes from the nearby mountains, the Mojave Desert and Utah. They remained there until 1851 when the Rancho was attacked by the Irving Gang, a band of Americans, claiming to avenge the killing of three Americans in the Cajon Pass, by two men of the Lugo family. As they had done many times before against other bandits, under the authority of the local justice of the peace, Juan Antonio and his men chased all but one of the gang into San Timoteo Canyon, cornered them in a box canyon, surrounded and killed them with arrows.

Word of the incident was mistakenly seen by many of the local Americans as an Indian uprising against them. A militia force from San Diego County was sent to quell this supposed uprising, led by Joshua Bean. Judge Hayes held a hearing and subsequently found their actions had legal justification. However the resentment of local Americans at the killing of fellow Americans led Juan Antonio to move his people away from white settlements in the valley to Saahatpa.

There Juan Antonio and his people remained until the winter of 1862–1863, when a smallpox epidemic swept through Southern California killing many, especially the Native American population who had little immunity to the disease. The victims included Juan Antonio and many of his Cahuilla people, reducing their numbers so they were reduced from a majority to a minority in their own land. [2] After this disaster, Juan Antonio was buried there and Saahatpa was abandoned.

In 1956 an archeological expedition discovered Juan Antonio's body at Saahatpa, identified by his epaulets. He was reburied with military honors. [3]

Marker

Marker on the site reads:

The marker has been inaccessible since about 2005. The Brookside Rest Area, where the marker is located, was closed because the well that had provided a water source ran dry and the water table became inadequate due to a long-running drought. Budget problems several years later contributed to the problem of finding a new water source; in addition, the area has become urbanized since the rest area was built, making its necessity questionable. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cahuilla</span> Native American people, living in the inland areas of southern California

The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. Their original territory included an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2). The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California. It was bounded to the north by the San Bernardino Mountains, to the south by Borrego Springs and the Chocolate Mountains, to the east by the Colorado Desert, and to the west by the San Jacinto Plain and the eastern slopes of the Palomar Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Bernardino de Sena Estancia</span> 19th-century Catholic estancia in California

The San Bernardino de Sena Estancia was a ranch outpost of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in what is now Redlands, California, United States. It was built to graze cattle, and for Indian reductions of the Serrano people and Cahuilla people into Mission Indians. Over time, it fell into disrepair, until the early 20th century, when a new, larger structure was built as a museum. The new structure shares the same architectural style, but is not otherwise similar to the original buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Spanish Trail (trade route)</span> United States historic place

The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately 700 mi (1,100 km) long, the trail ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes ever established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as the late 16th century, the trail was extensively used by traders with pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s. The area was part of Mexico from Mexican independence in 1821 to the Mexican Cession to the United States in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Bernardino Valley</span> Valley in California, United States

The Temecula massacre took place in December 1846 east of present-day Temecula, California, United States. It was part of a series of related events in the Mexican–American War. A combined force of Californio militia and Cahuilla Indians attacked and killed an estimated 33 to 40 Luiseño Indians. The Mexican authorities in California took the military action in retaliation for the Indians' killing 11 Californio lancers, in what was called the Pauma Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lugo family of California</span> Californio politicians and land owners

The Lugo family of California were prominent during the periods of Spanish and Mexican rule. They were among the early colonists who became known as Californios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of San Bernardino, California</span> Aspect of history

San Bernardino, California, was named in 1810.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Inland Empire Council</span> Boy Scout council in California

The California Inland Empire Council (CIEC) of the Boy Scouts of America serves the Inland Empire of California. The service area comprises San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. People interested in joining scouting can go to BeaScout.org. The CIEC is headquartered in Redlands California where it has office and a Scout Shop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Timoteo Canyon</span> Landform in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, California

San Timoteo Canyon is a river valley canyon southeast of Redlands, in the far northwestern foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.

Rancho El Rincón was a 4,431-acre (17.93 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California given in 1839 to Juan Bandini by Governor Juan Alvarado. El rincón means "the corner" in Spanish. The grant, located south of present-day Chino, was bounded on the east by Rancho Jurupa, on the south by the Santa Ana River, on the west by Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana, and extending northerly from the river one league. The rancho lands include Prado Regional Park.

Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio was a 4,440-acre (18.0 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to James (Santiago) Johnson. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio was a part of San Bernardino County. The County of Riverside was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The grant encompassed San Timoteo Canyon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside County, California</span> County in California, United States

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Temescal (Serrano)</span>

Rancho Temescal was a farming outpost of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, one of the 21 Franciscan missions established in California by Spain during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Mission was located on the coast where Oceanside, California is today. The Rancho was settled in 1819 by Leandro Serrano, and became the first non-native settlement within the boundaries of what would become Riverside County, California.

Juan Antonio (1783–1863), Cahuilla name: Cooswootna, Yampoochee,, was a major chief of the Mountain Band of the Cahuilla from the 1840s to 1863.

Politana or Apolitana was the first Spanish settlement in the San Bernardino Valley of California. It was established as a mission chapel and supply station by the Mission San Gabriel in the a rancheria of the Guachama Indians that lived on the bluff that is now known as Bunker Hill, near Lytle Creek. Besides the Guachama, it was also at various times the home for colonists from New Mexico and Cahuilla people. Its most prominent landmark today is the St. Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church on Colton Avenue, just southwest of the Inland Center Mall, in San Bernardino, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Timoteo Creek</span> River in the southern California, US

San Timoteo Creek is a stream in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southern California, United States. A tributary of the Santa Ana River, it flows through San Timoteo Canyon. San Timoteo Creek has a drainage basin of about 125 square miles (320 km2). The creek receives most of its water from headwater tributaries flowing from the San Bernardino Mountains near Cherry Valley, as well as Yucaipa Creek, which flows from Live Oak Canyon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Helen Regional Park</span> County park in San Bernardino County, California

Glen Helen Regional Park is a county park located in San Bernardino, California, United States adjacent to the Cajon Pass. It was the site of both US Festivals of the early 1980s. It is also home to the Glen Helen Amphitheater, the largest outdoor amphitheater in the United States. The park also hosts several off-road races since 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guachama Rancheria</span> Historic site in Loma Linda, California

Kaawchama, alternatively referred to as Wa’aachnga, was a significant Tongva village in the San Bernardino Valley located in what is now west Redlands, California. The village became referred to by the Spanish as the Guachama Rancheria in 1810 after a supply station was constructed at the village for Mission San Gabriel, which then became part of Rancho San Bernardino following the secularization of the missions in 1833.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tapia Adobe</span> California Historic Landmark

Tapia Adobe was the home of Tiburcio Tapia (1789–1845). Tiburcio Tapia was a Mexican soldier, politician, then became a merchant, winery owner and ranch owner, in what is now Cucamonga, California. The place of Tapia Adobe (home) was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.360) on October 9, 1939. Tiburcio Tapía received the land to build his Adobe and Rancho Cucamonga from a 1839 13,045-acre (52.79 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California The land grant was from Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant formed parts of present-day Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It extended easterly from San Antonio Creek to what is now Hermosa Avenue, and from today's Eighth Street to the mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mormon Trail Monument</span> California Historic Landmark

The Mormon Trail Monument was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.577). The Monument is to remember the 500 Mormon pioneers came to the San Bernardino Valley in June 1851. The Monument is near Phelan, California in San Bernardino County, California. The Monument was built in 1937 and is on California State Route 138, 3.6 Miles West of Interstate 15. In 1857 about half the Mormons were told to return to Utah during the Mormon War, also call the Utah War. the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion

References

  1. California Historic Landmarks, Riverside, NO. 749 SAAHATPA, www.parks.ca.gov accessed, 2/1/2011
  2. According to California registered landmark #749, Cahuilla tradition asserts that the U.S. government sent army blankets that were contaminated with smallpox.
  3. Carole A. Barrett and Harvey Markowitz, Editors, American Indian Biographies, Revised Edition, Salem Press, Pasadena, 2005, ISBN   978-1-58765-233-2, p. 13, OCLC   57211122
  4. californiahistoricallandmarks.com 749
  5. "ON THE ROAD: Why have I-10 rest stops been closed so long?".