THE MANY HIDDEN TRUTHS ABOUT KUPANGA (PLACE OF
SLEEPWATER) AND NOW KNOWN AS WARNER HOT
SPRINGS
The Cupangawichum, today known as the Cupeno, were given a small
piece of land to call their own. It was blessed with a hot spring and a
creek flowing with freshwater. The Cupeno were able to blend the hot
water from the spring with the cool water of the creek so it could be
bathed in without getting burned. On cold winter nights, the Cupeno
would sleep in the water to keep warm. This is how they got their name
“Cupangawichum” or people who sleep in the water. Cupa means sleep
water.
Cupanga was central to trade amongst many tribes of Southern
California. From there, one could travel to Yuma or head south towards
San Diego. More importantly, the trails brought the Luiseno, who
brought salt from the ocean. Everyone needs salt and Cupanga was a hub
of convenience that allowed salt to be distributed to many different
tribes. It is the reason my grandfather spoke 5 Indian languages and
Spanish and English. Corn would be brought up from Yuma and was a
prized trade item.
In latter years, Cupanga would become a major hub for the southerly
route into California. The vast valley, that was part of the Cupeno
territory, proved to be a rich grazing land. Cattle were moved into the
area as well as horses and the Cupeno quickly became true cowboys.
Living under Spanish rule and Mexican rule, life began to change for the
Cupeno. During the Mission Period, many of the Cupeno were forced by
the Luiseno to work for the Mission San Luis Rey. There they were
brutally treated and treated as if they were slaves. After the collapse of
the mission system, many of the Cupeno returned home.
In 1836, their home was declared to be the property of Sylvestre de la
Portilla. It wasn’t long before there were overlapping claims to the land.
Jose Antonio Pico, Juan (John) Warner, and Joaquin Ortega had
established some sort of claim to the lands of the Cupeno. These
overlapping claims would eventually lead to the Cupeno losing their
homeland.
In 1847, General Kearney, who was sent to fight the war between
Mexico and the United States, camped at Cupanga. Along with General
Kearney, was a Lieutenant named Emory. He was part of the
topographical team, and it was his job to record latitude and longitude of
their encampments. He would give a full description of what he saw
from that particular point. He described Cupanga as having three adobes.
One was the Portilla ranch house, which was occupied by Antonio
Garra. One of the other adobes was a granary which would later be
converted into the Catholic chapel. This is important because based on
Emory’s description, the adobe houses that still line main street today
did not exist in 1847. Many claim that the adobes were built in 1830.
General Kearney did manage to recruit several Cupeno to join him in his
excursion. They fought at the Battle of San Pasqual and for their actions
General Kearny provided them with a letter that stated that the Cupeno
people could keep their land forever. More than 50 years later, the letter
still existed, and it was presented to Agent Wright of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs as proof that the village of the Cupeno belonged to them.
He of course ignored the letter and proceeded with the removal of the
Cupeno people.
Between the years 1830 and 1903, many non-Cupeno people began to
move in and settle at the hot spring. Some were Indian, some were not.
The Cupeno referred to them as foreigners. They lived separate from the
Cupeno and began to monetize the hot spring. The Cupeno made no
effort to monetize the spring since it was sacred.
Antonio Garra took charge of the hot spring, but it is not known exactly
when he did this. The name Garra was a nickname given to him by the
Cupeno which means “Grabber.” He was there to grab control of the hot
spring. In order to accomplish this, he and the ranch foreman, William
Marshall, concocted a plan to take over the ranch in total. Garra would
retain control of the hot spring and Marshall would keep the grazing
land for his own purposes. They would attack the store and home of
John Warner and kill him to secure the land. To do this they employed
several members of the Mataguay tribe to carry out the raid. The
Mataguay and the Cupeno were already long-time traditional enemies.
Learning of the raid, the Cupeno people warned Warner of the pending
attack. It was for this reason that Warner survived. Warner had prepared
for the attack and was able to fend off the attackers. The son of Antonio
Garra was killed while his father hid in his adobe. Yes, the infamous
Antonio Garra hid in cowardly fashion while his son along with James
Marshall carried out the attack. Warner managed to escape and fled to
San Diego. There he was able to raise a militia and soon returned to
Cupanga. Warner also attempted to take advantage of the situation and
used the opportunity to rid his ranch of the Cupeno Indians even though
they had warned him of the attack. The militia attacked the Cupeno
village, which was made of traditional brush homes and easily burned.
The Cupeno had already fled the village and went into hiding before the
attack occurred. The militia was able to pursue a group of foreigners into
the mountains occupied by the Cahuilla. There they captured four men
and executed them. The claim is that the men were Cupeno. They were
not.
Warner, known for his ability to exaggerate stories, was able to convince
the people of San Diego that the entire State of California, was under
attack by multiple Indian tribes. What is interesting is that the Indians
clearly outnumbered the California settlers and it would have been
possible for the Indians to expel the settlers. Since it was never their
intent, the supposed Garra uprising failed miserably.
After the uprising, the Cupeno and the foreigners, returned to the hot
spring. The Cupenos built new homes with adobe, having learned that
their brush houses could not sustain an attack by militia groups. The
Cupeno houses were scattered about the hills along Agua Caliente
Creek. The foreigners built new adobes to secure their hold on the hot
springs and continued with the monetizing of the hot spring. Surviving
members of the Garra family continued to claim ownership of the hot
spring.
In 1852, the United States negotiated eighteen treaties with the Indians
of California. The two treaties affecting the Cupeno were the San Luis
Rey Treaty and the Santa Ysabel Treaty. Jose Noca signed on behalf of
the Agua Caliente Indians which included the Cupeno and the
Foreigners. Jose Noca was the grandson of Antonio Garra. The name
Noca was also a nickname given to Jose Noca by the Cupeno. Noca
means daughter-in-law in Cupeno. It is not known as to why the Cupeno
would call him Noca. Jose Noca was also called Changalangish which is
a Cupeno word meaning spotted one. It is possible that the Cupeno were
referring to freckles which would be indicative of Spanish descent. It
could be that Antonio Garra was half Spanish and therefore carrying the
gene for freckles.
What was not known to the Cupeno was that John Warner was serving
as a witness to the treaty signing at Temecula and Santa Ysabel. The
Cupeno were not asked to travel to Santa Ysabel to sign the treaty there,
but were instead asked to travel to Temecula. Santa Ysabel is 15 miles
from Cupanga and Temecula is 40 miles from Cupanga. The answer is
simple. John Warner had an addendum added to the Santa Ysabel Treaty
that he did not want the Cupeno to see. The addendum reads:
ADDENDA.-From the above district of country, set apart for the Indians, is
reserved to the present Owner thereof, the Hon. J. J. Warner, one square
league at Aqua Caliente, to be selected by him for the purpose of
improving the warm springs at said place, in case the said ownership be
adjudicated in his, (Warner's) favor by the land commissioners of California.
J. HAMILTON,
Secretary of the Indian agency
Cupanga was not within the ranch owned by John Warner. This was another
attempt by him to take control of the hot spring and exclude the Cupeno. John
Warner went on to be appointed Indian Agent for the Southern California area.
Based on the available record, Warner did absolutely nothing for the Indians of
Southern California.
Interaction between the Indians of California and the United States would come to
a near standstill due to the Civil War. There are very few records regarding Indians
of California during this period. The most significant action was the passing of the
“Four Reservation Act” which allowed for the President to create four reservations
within California.
“ 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be set apart by the
President, and at his discretion, not exceeding four tracts of land, within
the limits of said state, to be retained by the United States for the purposes
of Indian reservations, which shall be of suitable extent for the
accommodation of the Indians of said state, and shall be located as remote
from white settlements as may be found practicable, having due regard to
their adaptation to the purposes for which they are intended:”
In Southern California, the Mission Indian Reservation was one of the reservations
created for this purpose. The reservation was located in the area of Santa Ysabel
and Julian and covered an area of 144 square miles or 92,160 acres of land. Not
one Indian was ever moved to the Mission Indian Reservation. Gold was
discovered in Julian and this led to the quick cancellation of the reservation. The
name Mission Indian stuck and it was applied to every Indian in Southern
California, even if they were not associated with the missions.
One of the guiding principles in dealing with the Indians of California was the
Treaty of Gaudalupe Hidalgo. This treaty with Mexico forced the United States to
recognize the California Indians right to aboriginal title. In addition, it required the
United States to take no action so as to cause the aboriginal inhabitants to become
homeless. From this comes the term Homeless Indians and the Homeless Indian
Act.
Settlers were quickly rushing into California and claiming lands occupied by
Indians. This was forcing many Indians to become homeless. President Grant,
through Executive Order, began creating several Indian Reservations and therefore
setting aside these lands for Indians. One such reservation was the Agua Caliente
No. 1 Reservation established at Cupanga for the Cupeno Indians. This was done
in 1875. In 1880, former Governor, John G. Downey, purchased Warner Ranch
and he quickly petitioned President Hayes to cancel the Cupeno reservation. This
was done and the Cupeno were once again homeless in the eyes of the United
States. The United States continued to provide services to the Indians of Agua
Caliente No. 1 even though they were without a reservation. Services included a
doctor, a schoolhouse with a teacher and provisions such as farm equipment and
rations.
The providing of these services by the United States attracted several outsiders to
include other Indians, Mexicans and even Americans to come and settle at
Cupanga. Some of these outsiders included Alexander Barker and his wife
Valeriana, Adolpho Moro and Silverio Nolasquez. Alexander Barker was a white
man even though it has been told that he was Cupeno. He was a registered voter.
Indians were not allowed to vote during that time. The aunt of Valeriana Casero
Barker reported that he was non-Indian as well. What is not known by many is that
Alexander Barker and his wife, Valeriana Barker filed title to the property of the
hot spring area in Cupanga with the County of San Diego. This is what led
Downey to respond almost immediately with a court proceeding to evict the couple
from the hot spring. Later, Downey would amend the complaint to include all of
the inhabitants of Cupanga. If Alexander Barker had not filed title to the property,
the Cupeno would still be residing in their homeland.
Adolpho Moro was a Spanish soldier from the area of Sonoma. He was more than
likely a deserter and moved south to avoid arrest. He settled at Cupanga and soon
began participating in the monetization of the hot spring. He was not a Cupeno
Indian as others would later report. He was in fact a Moor from Southern Spain. A
detailed search of the Spanish Garrison rosters of Northern California would
probably reveal the true identity of Adolpho Moro. Along with his son, Domingo
Moro, they relentlessly took control of the hot spring area. This did not include the
village of the Cupeno. He declared himself as the alcalde or governor of the hot
spring. The Cupeno still refused to participate in any monetization of the hot
spring.
Silverio Nolasquez was from Mexico, and this is well documented. It is not clear
whether or not his wife, Merced, was from Mexico as well. A review of the census
records would indicate that she was in fact from Mexico. The Nolasquez family
was not alone in acclimating themselves to the hot spring area. Many of the stories
surrounding the hot spring area are a hodgepodge of stories told by several of the
tribes in the region that these usurpers converged into their own history. These
families did this to improve their opportunity to claim rights associated with the
hot spring. They too participated in the monetization of the hot spring.
Former Governor Downey was persistent and soon he amended his complaint to
include all the inhabitants of the hot spring area including the Cupeno. Downey did
not own the hot spring but after two failed surveys, he finally had a surveyor move
the property line to include the hot spring. Still, it did not include the Agua
Caliente Village of the Cupeno. The case became known as Barker v. Harvey. The
case made its way to the Supreme Court, who sided with Downey’s claim. Downey
did not live long enough to hear the decision of the Court, but his heirs were quick
in wanting all Indians removed from their ranch.
Hearing of the plight of the Warner Ranch Indians, the Sequoyah League, headed
by Charles Lummis, took immediate action to have the United States take some
sort of action to prevent the Warner Ranch Indians from becoming homeless.
Congress acted quickly and created the Warner Ranch Commission, which was
headed by Charles Lummis. They were empowered by Congress to find lands
suitable for the relocation of the Warner Ranch Indians. Lummis attempted to
employ members of the Cupeno Tribe to accompany him and the other
commissioners in the search for this new land. Every Cupeno Indian refused to
participate. They correctly stated that they did not have to move. The foreigners,
including Salvador Nolasquez, were quick to accept Lummis’s offer. They had
everything to gain, even though they were not really entitled to make any claim
except under false pretenses.
The Warner Ranch Commission considered and visited more than 60 sites as a
possible reservation for the Warner Ranch Indians. The Monserate Ranch received
first consideration, but after a meeting with the Bishop of the San Diego Diocese, it
was decided that Pala would become the new home of the Warner Ranch Indians.
Many of the Cupeno claimed that a deal was struck with the Bishop so that the
Catholic Church would have a labor force to restore the mission at Pala. The
mission was restored and this should answer the question as to whether or not the
Cupeno were right.
Once the land was selected, Congress passed additional legislation providing the
necessary funds to purchase the lands in Pala. The way the lands were acquired by
Lummis came under scrutiny since he employed Frank Salmons to serve as the
agent to purchase and consolidate the land under his name. Many considered this
act to be illegal due to the use of an agent for this purpose. It is believed by many
people that the United States purchased the Salmons Ranch. The Salmon Ranch
never really existed except on paper.
Charles Lummis had Frank Salmons purchase various tract of lands located within
Pala Valley. Once the lands were acquired, they were placed under the name of
Frank Salmons. The United States then purchased the land from Frank Salmons.
There are still problems with the title to the land to this day.
Charles Lummis personal role was that he wanted the exclusive rights to the story
of the last tribe in the Untied States to be forcibly removed from their homeland.
News of the removal of the Indians from Warner Ranch got out and it soon became
national news and Lummis lost his story. Lummis really did think of himself as the
savior of Indian people. He once wrote a letter describing Indians as having an
inferior mind to that of the non-Indian and in need of much help.
Even though the land had been purchased and the stage was set to remove the
Warner Ranch Indians to Pala, the Cupeno became an obstacle to Lummis’s plans.
Lummis threatened the Cupeno’s with military intervention and told the Cupeno
people that he had the cavalry standing by in the ready if needed. The foreigners
were very ready for the removal. Some of them had already left in advance of the
others in hopes of claiming the best land in Pala for themselves.
Lummis arranged for Agent L.A. Wright of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to
conduct a meeting in hopes of convincing the Cupeno to leave peacefully. Wright
had arranged for, Mr. Conser, Special Agent from Washington, William Collier,
Special Attorney for the Indians, to attend the meeting, In addition, the meeting
was attended by Charles Lummis, Father Hahn from Banning or St. Boniface, and
Mrs. Matthews, the Agency Clerk and Stenographer. The Cupeno and the Warner
Ranch Indians attended the meeting. The Cupeno were represented by Captain,
Juan Owlinguish and the foreigners were represented by Domingo Moro. The
report of Agent Wright caused many people to be confused into thinking that
Domingo Moro was the Captain of the Cupeno. He was not. The report shows that
Domingo Moro served as the translator for the “Captain” of the Cupeno people. It
was not saying that he was the Captain of the Cupeno people.
The meeting was often heated, with many of the other Indians such as those from
Mataguay, threatening to move to the mountains to avoid being moved to Pala.
Agent Wright said some words that infuriated Captain Owlinguish causing him to
respond in this manner. Domingo Moro interpreting:
“The Captain says we do not want a place to be removed to. If I am a wild
man or a savage man or a thief or a murderer and I had not other habits, I
can do all the same as they do and I have always asked for my place and I am
still begging for it. First when General Kearney was here and talked to us and
gave us an oath that no one should disturb us and they traveled with him. I
am called to old age and I have never known of any man being arrested for
stealing on Warner’s Ranch. We have heard other rumors and papers have
been published for the Warner’s Ranch; if we are thieves why do they not
have a man to watch us?”
Agent Wright was obviously taken aback by these words and offered that he never
accused the Indians of being liars and thieves. He went on to promise the Cupeno
that they would receive a patent for the land at Pala and that no one could take it
from them. He held up a copy of the patent for Mesa Grande and referred to other
reservation patents as an example of his sincerity and promise.
Captain Owlinguish later responded:
“We have asked for our place and it is failed. Now, just to have to remove to
that place, we do not want it. And so, he says, the representatives ought to let
us alone. No matter what they will do to us. No matter if they kill us with the
big cannon or tear our houses, we will be well and is and somebody will
publish about these Indians will be killed. They will say that for being thieves
and murderers, they have killed these people, everybody. And you will see it is
broken all to pieces and their houses will be burned down.”
Upon a signal from the Captain, the Cupeno Indians left the meeting.
After the meeting, Agent Wright reported in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs the results of the meeting with the Warner Ranch Indians. He states;
“The Indians at Agua Caliente, -- the hotbed of disturbance and the point at
which all our observations are taken, -- have for several months avoided my
office; they have not visited Mr. Lummis and Mr. Collier for advice, as they
formerly did, but have maintained a dogged silence, only communicating with
individuals who told them what they wished to hear and who have held out
the forlorn hope that something would yet happen by which they could keep
their old houses at Warner’s Ranch.”
Agent Wright further added:
“We had hoped to persuade the Indians to move peaceably but after our visit
and conference with them on the 16th, I am firmly convinced that a superior
show of force will be positively necessary to make the transfer to Pala.
This opinion is concurred in by Mr. Conser, Mr. Collier and Mr. Lummis. We
believe that it will require at least twenty soldiers to assist in removing; to
escort and assist in getting all the Indians from Warner’s ranch and also San
Felipe, settled at Pala.”
It does turn out that the Cupeno really did not have to move to Pala. In 1901, the
Secretary of the Interior had restored their reservation, and it was open for their
occupation. What is not known is who actually knew about the Secretarial Order.
Why didn’t Agent Wright know about it? Why didn’t Charles Lummis know about
it? Why didn’t the Commissioner of Indian Affairs know about it. What we do
know is that Domingo Moro knew about it.
Domingo Moro did not move to Pala with the rest of the Warner Ranch Indians.
Instead, he stayed behind and filed a claim on the property that was reserved for
the Cupeno Indians. He filed his Indian Homestead entry as a Copa Indian from the
Copeno tribe. The land records today list the Copeno tribe as a separate tribe from
the Cupeno tribe. He did build an adobe house on the property. He later sold the
property for $20,000 to a company out of San Diego. His actions should have
caused his family and descendants to be known as Copeno Indians and therefore
not entitled to any services at Pala.
So, it began. Teamsters were hired to remove the people at Cupanga to Pala and it
wasn’t long before the wagons were loaded and ready for the first group to be
moved. The first wagon train to leave Warner Ranch was well documented. Many
photographs were taken and stories were written about the last tribe to be removed
from their homeland by the United States. There is only one problem with the story
about the removal of the Cupeno Indians from their village. There was no Cupeno
on the first wagon train to leave Warner Ranch. They were actually the third group
to be removed from Warner Ranch and there is no account, story or photographs of
the true removal of the Cupeno Indians. Because the Cupeno tribe was the third
group to reach Pala, most of the good land at Pala had already been claimed by the
foreigners.
The Cupeno houses at Cupanga were almost immediately demolished by the
Warner Ranch owners. The houses along Main Street are still standing today.
Other matters of interest include that the people of Mataguay did flee to the
mountains and eventually resettled in Vulcan. The villagers of San Jose moved to
Mesa Grande. The Indians of Puerta La Cruz were removed to Pala. Sadly, all of
their burial grounds were abandoned. The cemetery at San Jose is now underwater
in Lake Henshaw. The cemetery at Puerta La Cruz was damaged by flooding and
many of the burials were washed out. The bones were collected and some of the
graves were excavated by curiosity types and the whereabouts of these ancestors is
unknown. The cemetery at Warner Spring is that of the foreigners. The Cupeno
cremated their dead and the cremation ground is located near the foreigners
cemetery. Unfortunately, the Cupeno cremation ground was ordered destroyed by
the leader of the foreigners and the dirt was used as road fill. The Bureau of Indian
Affairs began erasing the Agua Caliente Cupeno from the records of Pala. The
Agua Caliente Day School name was changed to the Pala Day School. The group
at Pala became known as Pala or the Pala Band of Mission Indians. The census
records no longer reflected the Cupeno people.
What Captain Owlinguish was referring to when he spoke of thieves and
murderers, is the fact that the Cupeno are still being blamed for the raid on the
house and store of John Warner. John Warner knew better but he still allowed the
false scenario to prevail and the Cupeno are still being punished by the actions of
Antonio Garra. Antonio Garra was forced to dig his own grave and was executed
on the spot. His grave is located in the middle of the street in Old Town San Diego.
Some fervent Garra worshipers have erected a false grave and placed his name
upon it in order to gain attention to the Garra Uprising and of course themselves.
Legend has it that Cupanga is now cursed because the Cupeno were removed from
there. There are stories after stories of how the curse has affected people. Bing
Crosby once owned Warner Ranch and he was unable to develop it. Cal Rossi
thought that he could overcome the curse by partitioning out the Cupeno village.
That failed too. Harvey, who was one of the movers in the case to remove the
Indians from Warner Ranch, died bankrupt. Henshaw, Vail, Gates and Fletcher
were the ones that took over the ranch after Harvey. Henshaw was the main force
in trying to develop the hot spring resort and he had his first debilitating stroke
while visiting the ranch. Vail and Gates died early deaths. Mr. Vail was thrown
from a horse at the Springs and badly injured; later bitten by a Gila monster in
Arizona and ultimately killed when he was struck down by an electric car in Los
Angeles. Mr. Gates had a heart attack and died instantly while at the Springs.
(Source Linda Roth)
Still one has to wonder, what was it that the Cupeno did that was so bad that they
have been deprived of their homeland. Some day we will return. Some day our
ancestors will be able to rest knowing that we are finally home.
