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     Though the mountains form the desert and separate the valley from the coast, settlers have been drawn to the region since the Stone Age, when ancient people hunted and gathered food along the western valley -- what is now Palm Springs. Over the past 1,000 years, other bands of native people -- including the Cahuilla, Mission, Hopi, Ute and Pima tribes -- called the rocky hills and flat desert washes their home.

     It wasn't until the 1770s that the Coachella Valley saw its first European settlers. Soldiers explored the area following Spain's conquest of Alta California, but it took another 90 years -- and the U.S.'s western expansion -- for the first American citizens to arrive in 1853.

     It was another 30 years before San Francisco native John McCallum became the first permanent settler, establishing a homestead near what became Palm Springs. He helped pave the way for hoteliers and guest ranches.

     With the early settlers came commerce, and it didn't take long for Palm Springs and the San Gorgonio Pass to become a popular route between Los Angeles and Arizona. After geologist Lt. R.S. William Blake mapped the area -- including Palm Springs' mineral hot springs -- the city and Indian Wells became stops on the Bradshaw Stagecoach Line.

     By 1877, stage coaches gave way to the Southern Pacific railroad, bringing increasing numbers of visitors and making it easier for produce from the emerging farm valley to move to markets. In 1903, date shoots were brought to the east valley, forming groves that today have become the source for 95 percent of all dates grown in the United States.

     The year-round warm temperatures, sunshine and mineral springs soon turned the Coachella Valley into a popular destination for people suffering from respiratory ailments. But it didn't take long for sun-seeking vacationers to replace the ill patients.

     By the 1930s, the valley's close proximity to Los Angeles and the West Coast made Palm Springs a popular destination for Hollywood's elite, including Rudolf Valentino, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant and Bing Crosby. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez liked the area so much they bought a home and a hotel. Bob Hope bought two.

     Actors and actresses weren't the only famous visitors. Physicist Albert Einstein and his wife stayed in Palm Springs. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, lived in the central valley, and President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, retired in Rancho Mirage. Today, there are schools named for Eisenhower, Ford and 15 other presidents, and the area has become a popular retirement area for thousands of not-so-famous people.

     To support the West Valley's growing population and the East Valley's thriving agricultural industry, a complex canal system was built to irrigate the arid land. The water helped establish the valley -- and Southern California -- as a leading farming area.

     Today, that same irrigation has helped provide water for nearly 250,000 Coachella Valley residents and seasonal visitors and more than 90 golf courses, where professional and amateur golfers play. But the area also is home to increasing numbers of young people and families, drawn by the casual life style, the quality of life and 350 days of sun.