The heart of the fan-palm grove along Palm Canyon Creek — the deep-shaded core of the oasis, and the place to understand how the Cahuilla have lived with these palms for millennia.
You're in the heart of it now — deep in the palm grove, the great trunks all around you, the fronds a green roof overhead, the creek chuckling along beside the trail. Stop a moment and just be in it. It's one of the most peaceful, otherworldly places in all the California desert, and it has been a place of life for a very, very long time.
Because this oasis wasn't just a pretty spot to the Cahuilla — it was home, and larder, and everything. Picture the generations who lived right here along this creek. The fan palms fed them: the little dark fruits, like tiny dates, gathered by the basketful. The fronds gave them thatch for their houses, and sandals for their feet, and material for some of the finest baskets ever woven. From the mesquite nearby they ground flour; agave they roasted in pits; and with all this water, they even grew melons and squash and beans and corn right here in the desert. If you look — but do not touch, and do not go seeking them out — there are places along these creeks where the bedrock is worn with smooth round holes, mortars where Cahuilla families ground their food, generation after generation; they mark where the old villages stood. And here is a thing the Cahuilla themselves say, that I'll pass on with respect: they regard these fan palms as their ancestors. Not "like" ancestors. Ancestors. So walk gently here. This isn't scenery. It's a living cathedral, and a family's ancient home. Boone will tell you more of its story. Walk on.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
