Editing Mecca, California (section)

===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.