Anza Valley, formerly known as the Hamilton Plains, is a
basin in
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
. It lies at an elevation of , west of the
San Jacinto and
Santa Rosa Mountains. Anza Valley trends southwest from
Bautista Canyon, west of
Thomas Mountain to
Terwilliger Valley, 2.8 miles west-southwest of
Table Mountain
Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa.
It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...
and 12 miles south of
Idyllwild. It is drained by
Cahuilla Creek
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.[tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...]
of the
Santa Margarita River
The Santa Margarita River which with the addition of what is now Temecula Creek, was formerly known as the Temecula River, is a short intermittent river on the Pacific coast of Southern California in the United States, approximately U.S. Geolog ...
.
History
Anza Valley is named after the Spanish soldier explorer
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as on ...
who first passed through the valley on March 16, 1774, and again on December 27, 1775. De Anza originally named the valley "San Carlos"; it was renamed in his honor from Cahuilla Valley to Anza Valley on September 16, 1926.
In the later 19th century, Anza Valley was named after its early pioneer settler, Jim Hamilton, an African American man who settled there after he lost his land in
Butterfield Valley in a lawsuit over ownership of the
Rancho Pauba in the early 1880s.
[ Robert L. Carlton, Blacks in San Diego County: A Social Profile, 1850–1880, The Journal of San Diego History, San Diego Historical Society Quarterly, Volume 21, Number 4, Fall 1975]
/ref> Hamilton moved out to the lands of the Cahuilla
The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.[ ...]
, where he and two of his sons continued to raise cattle at their ranch in what is now the Anza Valley, which was first known as the ''Hamilton Plain''. Hamilton Creek, originating east of Anza still bears his name. Hamilton School in Anza was also named after him. The school has been divided into a K–8 school and Hamilton High School Hamilton High School may refer to:
United States Alabama
* Hamilton High School (Alabama) in Hamilton
Arizona
* Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona) in Chandler
Arkansas
* Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy
California
* Hamilton High Sc ...
since 2006–2007.
Hamilton was married to a Native American woman and had three sons. Two became U. S. Marshals, and one was killed in the line of duty at San Jacinto, California
San Jacinto ( , ; ) is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. It is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet, California, Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, Beaumont to its north. The mountains ...
. The two surviving sons also married native women.[Edgar F. Hastings, "An Interview with Harry P. Jones" (March 10, 1960), Seth Mallios, Sarah Stroud, Lauren Lingley, Jaime Lennox, Hillary Sweeney, Olivia Smith, and David Caterino, Archaeological Excavations at the Nate Harrison Site in San Diego County, California: An Interim Technical Report for the 2005 Field Season, © 2006 by San Diego State University, Department of Anthropology]
References
{{coord, 33, 34, 30, N, 116, 42, 03, W, display=title
Valleys of Riverside County, California