The B&H Ranch and the Descanso area were originally inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians.  Our valley was most likely the site of their seasonal campsites during the hot summer months as they would travel from the eastern desert to collect acorns and avoid raiding parties from the Yuma area Indians.

Most sources say that the Kumeyaay territory extended south to Baja California and east to the Imperial Valley.  We have found chipping waste from their efforts to make arrow heads and occasionally we find pot shards (potsherds).

Acorns were a staple food and we can still find mortaros  in the area.  They would crush the acorns and wash the mash to leach out the tannic acid.

Archeologists and anthropologists have largely overlooked the Indians of Southern California, preferring to focus on the "more romantic" tribes like the Apache and Comanche. Books and detailed studies of our local tribes are hard to find.

According to the book, Descanso "Place of Rest",  "The Indians whose presence here has been traced back 11,000 years, were of the Hokan family who came out of the deserts in Arizona and Colorado to settle here.   They were a peaceful, pastoral people, gatherers of nuts and hunters of small animals. "  From: Descanso "Place of Rest",  A Publication of the Descanso Library Historical Committee

Two Excellent Websites about the Kumeyaay Indians
www.kumeyaay.org & www.kumeyaay.com