Chino Canyon, now the home of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, has a history that is rich in local Cahuilla lore.
It is named for Pedro Chino, one of the most revered Cahuilla shamans, who was born in the canyon. He lived near the top of the alluvial fan, amid a tangle of mesquite and wild grapevines near the canyon’s stream. He had irrigated the area and planted fruit trees. A noted cowboy, he also ran cattle and made highly prized saddle blankets.
In 1880, two land speculators, W.E. Van Slyke and M. Byrne, both of San Bernardino, offered Chino $150 for his 10 acres of land. It is believed to be the Palm Springs area’s first real estate transaction—and the fact that Pedro Chino didn’t own the land didn’t deter anyone. (It technically belonged to the railroad.) He’d lived there for years and figured he had the right; he also guessed that sooner or later, the lands would be taken away from the Indigenous residents. Van Slyke and Byrne continued to buy more land from the railroad before selling to other early settlers, including developer Judge John McCallum.
As a youth, Chino became a highly skilled cowpuncher and worked for Pauline Weaver, who ran 4,000 head of cattle on his San Gorgonio Pass ranch. Chino went on to become one of the most revered Cahuilla leaders and reputedly was 126 years old when he died in 1939.
Chino became friends with many white settlers, including a young man, Jim Maynard, who accompanied Chino to help him see as his eyesight deteriorated with age. Jim learned much of the Cahuilla way, and old Pedro Chino learned more about the white man. Maynard recalled that Pedro Chino didn’t say much—but what he said had meaning.
The role of shaman in Cahuilla culture varied, usually covering both practical and religious matters. Pedro Chino was a pavuul, the highest-ranking shaman. Pavuuls were reputed to have extraordinary powers gained from spiritual beings, including the power to heal people, and to transform oneself into a crow, mountain lion, coyote or any other animal. According to legend, a pavuul was also capable of predicting future events, making rain, stopping catastrophes and performing other miracles.
Chino was said to have sometimes traveled under Mount San Jacinto via a waterway that only shamans had ever seen. In 1934, as miners were digging the San Jacinto Tunnel under the mountain for the Colorado River Aqueduct, they hit a subterranean stream, which added fuel to the legends.
Tribe member Alice Lopez said that as a young woman, Lopez treated her twice; she claimed that she was cured of her ills when no other treatment had succeeded. In one instance, she was suffering from head pains, bleeding from the nose, and an inability to retain food, so she went to Chino’s residence for aid. She related that he “sucked” the ills from various places on her body and gave her a potion of herbs to drink. The day after this treatment, Lopez said, she began to improve and quickly fully recovered.
Lopez remarked that Chino was not only a powerful healer, but could perform many other remarkable feats. She said that when he was out hunting deer, he would stay awake all night singing “deer songs” to ensure a successful hunt. The next day, he would don a deerskin disguise, complete with a deer’s head, and mimic a deer’s movements while moving closer to the wary animals. According to Lopez, he was so successful that he would often kill two and sometimes three deer.
Chino was also practical. It was noted that as he grew older, he sometimes took a medical doctor along with him when going to treat a patient, explaining that there are certain things like setting broken bones and performing operations that required the services of a physician.
Chino was also an effective Cahuilla chief, serving from the 1890s well into the 20th century. According to Cahuilla Chief Francisco Patencio in his book Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians, there was a convention of the Society of American Indians in Minneapolis in 1919. Only a couple of California members were slated to go. Chief Patencio, figuring it would just be “more of the same,” did not want to go, but Chino wanted representation. According to Patencio, “But Pedro Chino, he forced me to go.” It turned out to be a beneficial journey, and Patencio ended up making speeches for four days.
It’s quite possible Pedro Chino did not really live to be 126 years old, but there is no doubt he lived a long time. When then-future Palm Springs Mayor Frank Bogert took his photo in 1934, some records indicated that he was around 95 years old. When he died in 1939, five years later, that would have made him about 100. However, other stories indicate he may have been older. He was believed to have married for the first time a year before the California gold rush of 1849. His age was also based on him remembering the “fall of the stars,” the Great Leonid Meteor Shower of November 1833, as an 18-to-20-year-old.
Pedro Chino died in 1939 following a severe attack of pneumonia, which he contracted after going out in the rain to treat a member of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians. At the time of his death, he was both shaman and ceremonial chief of the Cahuilla Indians. A huge gathering of 400-500 Indigenous people from all over Southern California came to Palm Springs for Pedro Chino’s last rites. They chanted over Pedro’s body at the local ceremonial house night and day, from early Saturday evening until after noon on Monday. Funeral services, which included numerous white people, were conducted at Our Lady of Solitude Church in Palm Springs.
Many descendants of Pedro Chino still reside in the Palm Springs area. The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs features a large display highlighting Pedro Chino’s contributions to the culture.
Sources for this story include Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians by Chief Francisco Patencio (Times Mirror Co., 1943); People of Magic Waters by John R. Brumgardt and Larry L. Bowles (ETC Publications, 1981); Palm Springs: First Hundred Years by Frank M. Bogert (Palm Springs Heritage Associates, 1987); The Cahuilla by Lowell John Bean and Lisa Bourgeault (Chelsea House Publications, 1989); Me Yah Whae: The Magazine of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Spring 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023; and The Desert Sun, Dec. 1, 1939.
I’m from Spanish Springs (Sparks) Nv. I read this news paper because it is interesting, independent, and in great need of reading. Thanks for the write up!