Norm Carpenter , April 15, 1999; 04:48 P.M.
Our company used to have their annual sales meeting in Palm Springs. Nice place and I did enjoy the golf courses (as a participant not a spectator). Each year we would be escorted to a course by bus. One year the driver was full of local history and was more than willing to share with us. One of his stories still remains in my brain. It seems that Palm Springs was the invention of the railroad, or at least the part where buildings have been erected. The railroad wanted to create a playground for the new rich of L.A. One problem stood in their way, Palm Springs was deeded to an Indian tribe. The tribe agreed to allow the railroad to exchange alternating square miles of property on their reservation thinking that they would be able to cash in on the railroad development. The tribe signed half their land away on a new treaty and then found that the agreement forbade them from selling or developing any of their property. The railroad gained Palm Springs and did not dilute their share with the indians. Every other square mile of Palm Springs remained desolute until many decades later, when the indian tribe learned about land lease. Several of the tribe members became millionaires overnight.