Editing Mecca, California (section)

==History==
===Indigenous Cahuilla===
For many eras, the Desert [[Cahuilla]]'s native home was the Coachella Valley. The Cahuillas would travel from their village in [[Martinez, Riverside County, California|Martinez]] to [[Dos Palmas Spring]] via an ancient Native American trail known as the [[Bradshaw Trail|Cocomaricopa/Halchidoma Trail]]. This trail traversed just south of the town of Mecca.

===Spanish Explorers===
Spanish Explorer [[Melchior Diaz]] is the first non-indigenous person to set foot and explore inland California in December 1540 near the [[Yuma Crossing]] and [[Imperial Valley]] (95 miles southeast from Mecca).

Legend of [[Lost Ship of the Desert|Juan de Iturbe's Lost Pearl Ship in the Desert]] is a local legend that after the [[Great Flood of 1862|1862 Great flood]] locals reported seeing an ancient Spanish [[galleon]] that had beached during a voyage at New Spain's northernmost frontier of water the ancient [[Lake Cahuilla]] in 1615. In reported cases, the ship was allegedly seen near [[Salt Creek (Salton Sea)|Salt Creek]] (South of Mecca).

[[Juan Bautista de Anza]] led a colonizing expedition in 1774, from [[Mission San Xavier del Bac]] (Tucson) to [[San Gabriel Mission]] (Los Angeles). Anza traveled through the Imperial Valley just south of Mecca and encountered the native Cahuillas becoming the first Spanish to make contact with the Cahuillas.

Spanish missionaries from the [[San Gabriel Mission]] in Los Angeles would make the long journey to collect salt from [[brine pool]]s near the northern Salton sink (South of Mecca) known as the evaporating ancient [[Lake Cahuilla]] in 1810.

===Mexican 1823 Expedition===
In 1823 under orders from the Mexican Emperor [[Agustín de Iturbide]] to reopen a land route (closed by an Indian Revolt In 1871) from [[Alta California]] to Sonora, Captain José Romero and [[José María Estudillo]] documented the first recorded expedition into the Coachella Valley. They traversed the Halchidoma Trail and were escorted by the Cahuilla to [[Dos Palmas Spring]](Near Mecca) reaching it on December 31, 1823. They camped for four days before advancing East. Romero's party returned to the Eastern Coachella Valley after getting lost near [[Chuckwalla Valley|Palen Lake]].

===Bradshaw Trail===
in 1862 [[William D. Bradshaw]] connected [[La Paz, Arizona|La Paz Gold mines]] to Los Angeles using the prehistoric Indian [[Bradshaw Trail|Halchidoma Trail]] and renaming it the '''Bradshaw Trail'''. This trail was used by many travelers traversing from Arizona to California. The railroad would eventually replace the stagecoach trail in the late 1870s. The Stagecoach stop of ''Lone Palm'' was located South of Mecca near the town of [[North Shore, California|North Shore]].

===Southern Pacific Rail Road / Walters Station===
[[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] constructed a railroad connecting Yuma to Los Angeles. The railroad was completed in 1869. A Railroad Station named Walters was erected and soon the town of Mecca began to populate in the 1870's.

===Date Palms===
[[File:Botanical characters of the leaves of the date palm used in distinguishing cultivated varieties (1915) (20212741508).jpg|180px|left|thumb|''20 year old Date Palm in Mecca. picture taken in  1915'']]
In the late 1890s, the [[Date Palm]] was introduced to the Coachella Valley. The plant was farmed in Mecca to a success after the Climate in the town was similar to the plant's native climate in the [[Middle East]].

===Salton Sea===
[[File:Salton Sea Creation.gif|300px|right|thumb|''Salton Sea creation 1905-1907'']]
From 1905 to February 1907, the Colorado River overflowed into the [[Salton Sink]] which had an ancient [[Lake Cahuilla|history of previous lake iterations]]. This time, the engineering disaster led to the creation of the modern Salton Sea. The flood waters never made it to Mecca although it came close to the Town.

===Hurricane Kathleen===
[[File:Mecca, California (15036234813).jpg|300px|right|thumb|''Photograph taken from Space of Mecca in October 2014'']]
On September 7, 1976, a hurricane had a destructive impact on the entire Coachella Valley. This event and further floods in the 1980s stalled progress in the eastern Coachella Valley. In recent history, Mecca has been solidified as an agricultural center for the [[Eastern Coachella Valley]].