Borrego Springs is located 85 miles
north east of San Diego in the Borrego Valley. The community
is surrounded by the Anza Borrego Desert State Park
which encompasses 650,000 acres making it the largest
state park in the contiguous United States. The geological
features seen today are the results of a half billion
years of activity. The area was once the floor of an
ancient seabed. Volcanic activity was also prevalent
in the region and helped define the present landscape.
For thousands of years man has existed in the Borrego
Desert - the native Cahuilla, Cupeño, Diegueño,
and Kumeyaay have called the valley home. These ancient
civilizations have left behind evidence of their existence
- petroglyphs and pictographs, along with evidence of
their everyday lives. The remains of their camps and
their art is extremely fragile and is still being examined
by archeologists today, in an effort to better understand
their culture.
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The first record of a European in the
Borrego Valley was 1772, when Lieutenant Pedro Fago
of the San Diego Presidio came in search of deserters.
He traveled northwest through the present town of
Borrego Springs and up Coyote Canyon. This event was
related by Kumeyaay Indians to members of the first
Anza Expedition, who camped at their village in March,
1774. Juan Batista de Anza was seeking an overland
route from Sonora, Mexico to Monterrey, California.
He and his party of 25 followed Coyote Creek, ascending
Coyote Canyon. They camped the following night at
the Cahuilla village of Lower Willows, now known as
Santa Catarina.
A century following the Anza
expedition cattlemen would enter the valley and begin
homesteading. In the years before the 1930's the Borrego
Valley was one of the most isolated areas of San Diego
County. The first drilled well was established in
1926 marking the beginning of modern irrigation in
the Valley. The discovery of Borrego's underground
aquifer would be the catalyst for the agriculture
industry and later its development as a resort community.
Valley farms provided early crops to San Diego, and
the country. Borrego Valley grapes were often first
to
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markets in the East and commanded
top prices. The remains of the DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation's
table grape vineyards can be seen in the valley today.
Grapefruit and other citrus is the main crop in Borrego
today.
During World War II the Army and
Navy used the desert in and around the Borrego Valley
for training. Electricity came to the Valley in 1945.
Telephone service began in 1947. Following the war,
local developers led by A.A. Burnand, began to market
Borrego Springs as a desert resort community in an
effort to capitalize on the tourism generated by the
Park and the climate.It was Burnand and his partners
who founded the modern community of Borrego Springs
with the first lots going on sale in 1947.
The mid 1950's would see a critical
mass of development (much of it rooted in the mid-century
desert esthetic) that would
shift the valley from agriculture to resort community.
Borrego Springs of the 1950's was also a favorite
hideaway for Hollywood stars who wanted to escape
and
relax, including Marilyn Monroe,
Bing Crosby, Leo Carrillo, Burgess Meredith, Gale
Gordan (Borrego's Honorary Mayor for many years),
Will Rogers, John Wayne, James Arness and Frank Morgan
(the Wizard from the "Wizard of Oz" who
laid out the Morgan Manor development).
For more information on the history
of Borrego Springs, see the excellent book by Phil
Brigandi Borrego Beginnings - Early Days in the
Borrego Valley 1910-1960, published by the Anza-Borrego
Desert Natural History Association: http://www.california-desert.org/
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