Temecula Adventure By Ourselves! May 2012

Did You Know? - Since its early beginning, the Temecula Valley has always been a place where the combination of mild climate and beautiful rolling hills have attracted human settlement.

The name Temecula comes from the Luiseño Indian word "Temecunga" - "temet" meaning "sun" and "-ngna" which means "place of". The Spanish interpreted and spelled the word as "Temecula". Over the years, the meaning of "Temecula" has been translated into several different versions of this interpretation, including the most popular, which is "Where the sun breaks through the mist".

The hillsides were the home of the Temecula Indians, the first residents of the area. Ancestors of the Temecula Indians were in this area as early as 900 A.D. The native people from here to the coast who shared the same language and culture became commonly known as the Luiseños, because many of their villages were once under the influence of Mission San Luis Rey.

Did You Know? - In January 1847 the Mormon Battalion was the first large group of people using this old trail to pass through Temecula. They began their historic march in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1846 and crossed California from Yuma via Warner Springs into Temecula. The 335 Battalion members spent the night in Temecula before marching on to the San Diego. The 1848 discovery of gold in California brought a huge influx of travelers across the same trails and through Temecula on their way to the goldfields. Some of these travelers documented their travels in diaries or journals.

Did You Know? - The first stage, eastbound from San Francisco, stopped for a change of horses at Temecula probably during the night of September 18, 1858. On board, in addition to the drivers, was G. Bailey, special agent for the Post Office Department. During the next three weeks two stages each week from San Francisco paused at the Magee Store long enough for horses to be changed and drivers, with an occasional passenger, to refresh themselves and satisfy their hunger. The food may have been served by Magee or his helpers, or it may have been served at the nearby Apis home.

The Butterfield stages followed the old Southern Emigrant Trail with stops at Carrizo, Vallecito, San Felipe, Warner Springs, Oak Grove, Aguanga, Temecula and Lake Elsinore. The Butterfield stages lasted for less than three years.