Book Description

Several books have been written about the history of the Coachella Valley, most of which focus on the efforts of white settlers to develop the valley's agriculture and tourism industries.But while some scholars have written extensively about the history of the Cahuilla Indians and ancient Lake Cahuilla, relatively little has been written about the immigrants from Mexico, Japan and other countries who have fueled the Coachella Valley's economic growth since the early 1900s, let alone the people who have come to this valley from other states.The Palm Springs Historical Society published a book in 2005 titled, We Were Here Too: The History and Contributions of the Original Mexican Families to the Palm Springs Village. But aside from a self-published book titled Coachella Valley Mexican American Pioneer Roots, which was produced by the Mexican American Pioneers in December 2009, and a commemorative yearbook, Coachella Valley Union High School: The First 50 Years 1910-1960, relatively little has been written about the immigrant history of Coachella and the eastern Coachella Valley.This book is an attempt to fill the void by highlighting some of the more interesting aspects of the eastern Coachella Valley's immigrant history, as told by several of the valley's pioneering immigrants and their descendants, in an effort to better inform our youth and everyone else, for that matter, about the significant economic and social contributions of immigrants in our community.This book includes many direct quotes from heretofore unpublished accounts of Mexican American pioneers who were interviewed in 2007 by Dr. Sarah McCormick-Seekatz as part of an oral history project organized by the Coachella Valley History Museum and Cultural Center in Indio. Dr. McCormick-Seekatz is one of a handful of historians who have taken an interest in researching various aspects of the Coachella Valley's immigrant history.