238 CALIFORNIA DESERT TRAILS 



The ranch takes Its name from one John or Jona- 

 than Warner, a native of Connecticut, to whom it 

 was granted by the Mexican Government a few 

 years before the cession of CaHfornia to the United 

 States. Of him Httle is remembered beyond the 

 legend that to his intimates he was Juan Largo 

 (Long John) ; to others it was ever Don Juan — a 

 vaguely interesting item. The original adobe ranch- 

 house has wholly vanished : its site was pointed out 

 to me by a Volcan Indian who remembers it well. 

 In Warner's days it formed a halfway house be- 

 tween Yuma and the young "Pueblo de Nuestra 

 Seiiora la Reina de los Angeles," and was the far- 

 thest outpost of civilization, and indeed of human- 

 ity, in this direction, being the first house met after 

 leaving Yuma, well over a hundred miles away. 



Warner's Ranch is to-day a vast cattle range. 

 Leagues of sweet grass, with shade and ample water, 

 make it a stockman's paradise. There are wide 

 stretches of arable land besides, and ere long, no 

 doubt, the real-estate dealer will adjudge it ripe for 

 his little schemes. A town-site will be platted: the 

 truthful "folder" will cast the net: free excursions, 

 perhaps a barbecue, will draw the trustful "sucker" 

 gently in: and Warner's will proudly join the March 

 of Progress. 



I stayed for two days, by which time I had cleared 

 the store of its fruits and vegetables. Then bidding 



Pala, where the dispossessed Indians of Warner's now live, an invi- 

 tation to attend the reopening and dedication of the old church. By 

 the Father's energy, the building has been acquired, repaired, and 

 restored to the use of such few of the Indian parishioners as remain 

 within reach. 



