6 



WIED- LfFE IN CALIFORNIA 



land seemed to be *fn*dei»a h'igh« stato of"- euRi-* ' 

 ration or "intensified farming." Beyond to 

 Banning orchards, grain and hayfields pre- 

 dominated in the use of the land adjacent to 

 the railroad, about all of which appeared to 

 be in a fairly prosperous condition. 



Leaving Banning we passed into the desert. 

 The desert is not without vegetation. In 

 fact it is covered with shrubs, plants and 

 cactus, with here and there growths of Palo 

 Verde and smoke trees and palms. Probably 

 seventy-five per cent of all is a shrub that 

 grows from two to possibly ten feet in height, 

 called the Creosote Bush or L»arrea Mexicana. 

 It is an evergreen and at that time was 

 covered with small yellow flowers. It is a 

 resinous shrub and emits something of a 

 creosote, or carbolic acid smell, which we 

 noted while tramping through it, for some- 

 time before we learned from what it 

 emanated. It is said that in certain localities 

 on the desert the branches of the shrub be- 

 come incrusted with a gum-like substance 

 identical with the shellac imported from the 

 Orient, and that it is used by the Indians for 

 cementing purposes. The leaves and young 

 branches are said to possess medicinal virtues. 



The next most common plant is a per- 

 renial ordinarily with leaves of the dusty 

 miller gray shade. The plant rarely grows 

 more than eighteen inches high and generally 

 covers a space of from two to three feet in 

 circumference. From this area hundreds of 

 naked green stems are sent up, surmounted 

 with yellow composite flowers of about an 

 inch or more in diameter. The disk or cen- 

 ter, as well as the rays, are bright yellow. 

 We saw a few plants where the centers of the 

 flower were dark brown, and in Chino Canyon, 

 2000 feet above the desert, we found many 

 of these plants where the leaves instead of 

 being gray were green. 



There are a few other gray plants, among 

 which is a species of Yerba Santa, with a 

 violet flower. These plants, however, are 

 not as common as the first mentioned. 



Next to the yellow flowered gray plant in 

 importance as to quantity is the cactus family. 

 We noted five varieties, all of which were 

 in bloom, giving by far the most beautiful of 

 all the blossoms we saw on the desert. Some 

 of the cactus bore red flowers, some showy 

 pink blossoms, and others yellow. 



At Whitewater an auto stage meets pas- 

 sengers, bound for Palm Springs, so at this 

 point we left the train and were soon on the 

 way to the springs. The road in sections 

 was in fine condition. Being State highway 

 it had been paved, but flood waters had 

 damaged and washed it out in places. 



Palm Springs is an oasis of the desert, but 

 not naturally so. Thirty years or more ago 

 somebody conceived the idea of creating a 

 town or city on the spot. The land was ac- 

 quired and surveyed into blocks and streets, 

 with lots of 27% feet frontage. Water from 

 a neighboring canyon was brought to the 

 site and improvements in the way of build- 

 ings and the planting of trees was begun. We 

 were told that the lots were sold rapidly and 

 that one day's sales amounted to over one 



hundred and seventy thousand dollars. Prob- 

 ably the reason for locating the proposed city 

 at the spot was due to the presence there of 

 an immense hot spring. Another enthusiastic 

 person located a place about three miles 

 further south where there now is a small 

 grove of palm trees growing, at which he 

 erected a hotel, beautified the grounds and 

 called it the Garden of Eden. He constructed 

 a narrow gauge railroad to connect the Gar- 

 den of Eden with the Southern Pacific rail- 

 road, running the tracks to Palm Springs 

 station on the latter road. Nothing is left of 

 the enterprise now but the grove of palm 

 trees. It failed for the lack of patronage, but 

 that was before the day of automobiles and 

 great increase of population in the southern 

 part of the State. 



The immense hot spring just mentioned 

 was curbed and made to supply water for 

 the bathhouse that was erected, and a small 

 hotel was built. Some of the adjoining lands 

 were planted out in vineyard and to fruit, 

 principally citrus, but in a small way. All 

 grew most luxuriantly. For many years there 

 was not sufficient patronage to justify keep- 

 ing the hotel open. It fell into other hands 

 and now with the beautiful grounds is a pri- 

 vate home. 



The advent of the touring autos and the 

 greater population in neighboring cities 

 brought about a change. The charm of this 

 beauty spot on the desert with its salubrious 

 winter climate became known to the people 

 of Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego and 

 other cities of the south, and now the trouble 

 is to take care of all who wish to visit the 

 place. 



The area of land that was reclaimed from 

 the conditions of the desert probably would 

 not greatly exceed fifty acres. The trees 

 that were planted upon the land have reached 

 maturity. . The fresh bright green of the 

 citrus trees, the great spread of the thrifty 

 fig trees, the shade of the great cottonwoods, 

 acres of green meadows and green lawns 

 about the hotel and private grounds, would be 

 features of attraction almost anywhere, but 

 here the contrast with the desert is so great 

 that the springs not only appear as a place 

 of beauty, but a delightful haven of rest and 

 retreat. 



Excepting the territory just described and 

 some railroad grant possessions, the desert 

 land thereabouts has been made an Indian 

 reservation. A number of Indians have 

 large holdings under cultivation. Within re- 

 cent years the government has been en- 

 couraging them to plant orchards on quite 

 an extensive scale, aiding them in the pur- 

 chase of trees and bringing water from the 

 adjacent mountain through the establishment 

 of a system of irrigating ditches. 



These ditches are rock lined and cemented 

 so as to insure as little loss of water as 

 possible. Several of the Indians are graduates 

 of the well-known school near Riverside. All 

 the Indians we saw appeared to have 

 abandoned the habits and customs of their 

 forefathers. There were no loafers wrapped 

 in blankets or shawls hanging around the 



