The Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians is composed of several small groups of Indians who were living in the modern day Palm Springs area when the Agua Caliente Reservation was established by the United States Government in 1896. Archaeological research has shown that the Cahuilla have lived in the area for the past 350-500 years. The reservation occupies 32,000 acres, of which 6,700 acres lie within the city limits, making the Agua Caliente band the city's largest landowner. The reservation land was originally composed of alternating squares of land laid out across the desert in a checkerboard pattern. The alternating, non-reservation squares, were provided by the United States Government to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to bring rail lines through the open desert. Tribal enrollment is currently estimated at between 296 and 365 people. The Cahuilla name for the area was "Se-Khi" (boiling water). In the early 1800s, Spanish explorers named the area "Agua Caliente" (hot water). An alternative use of palm is revealed in the November 1992 issue of Art of California. At least one Spanish explorer referred to the area as la Palma de la Mano de dios or "The Palm of God's hand,". The current name for the area is "Palm Springs" which likely came into common usage in the mid-1860s when the land was first surveyed by U.S. Government surveyors who noted that a local mineral spring was located at the base of “two bunches of palms". By 1884 when San Francisco attorney John Guthrie McCallum settled in Palm Springs, the name was already in wide acceptance. McCallum, with the assistance of local Indians, built a 19 mile stone-lined ditch from the Whitewater River into Palm Springs bringing in pure, precious water for irrigation. Throughout the 19th century, various explorers, colonizers, and soldiers came through the desert, but it was not until 1853 that the United States Topographical Engineers mentioned the oasis of palm trees and springs which they called "Palm Springs." The name did not stick at that time, however. After California became a state in 1850, various stage routes crossed the desert, and "Big Bill Bradshaw's" freight line began to stop at what Bradshaw called "Agua Caliente." The place was known by that name or variations of "Palm Valley" until 1890 when Harry McCallum referred in a letter to his post office address in "Palm Springs."
          Following closely behind McCallum was Dr. Welwood Murray, who purchased a site from McCallum and erected the first Palm Springs Hotel in 1886, a 26 guest establishment.
          By the turn of the century, Palm Springs was becoming a thriving resort with more than ten building, a post office and many seasonal visitors.
          In 1913 Zaddie Bunker arrived with her husband Ed to open the first garage in Palm Springs. The 25 white settlers and 50 friendly Indians might have been a little more impressed with Zaddie had they known she was to become world-famous as the great grandmother licensed to fly multiple engine aircraft and would crack the sound barrier in 1959 flying in a F-100 Super Sabre.
          A school house was raised in 1914, and by 1927 the community had its first newspaper; the Desert Sun, and Palm Springs appeared on the Southern Pacific schedule.
          World War II brought increased activity to the desert with General George S. Patton Jr. directing swiftly moving tank corps, training for what was to be a rehearsal for the invasion of North African deserts.
          An air field was established with two mile long runways, which would later become Palm Springs International Airport.