Historic Timeline

Hot Springs Integral to Community Throughout History

The Native village surrounding the hot springs was Yaga, the largest of 20-25 villages from the Panamints to the Kingston range. In the Nopah mountains, petroglyphs show a bent man with a stick entering the springs and then emerging erect, his stick abandoned.

1775- The first recorded white visitor for a stopover and rest was Father Garces.

1830- New Mexican horse traders opened up the Old Spanish Trail, formerly a major Native trade route. They stopped at Yaga for water, home to 70 people at the time.

1845- General John C. Fremont recorded an April stop at nearby Resting Springs.

1851-52- California Natives signed 18 treaties with the federal government. They were never ratified but placed under a Congressional order of secrecy until 1905, the year Chief Tecopa died. It is unknown whether the Tecopa Treaty was one. However, oral tradition kept the ‘traditional use’ agreement firmly alive for well over 100 years.

1863- The Ruby Valley Treaty of Peace and Friendship, between the U.S. and representatives of tribes of the Western Shoshone Nation, is ratified by Congress and signed by President Grant. It gives right of way across lands but does not cede territory. Tecopa lies within its described boundaries.

1860’s on- Gold, silver, lead and later talc, gypsum, iron and more brought a population that has fluctuated from the thousands to the hundreds and in between.

1872- By then, the mining camp had been named Tecopa by J.B. Osbourne for the Paiute leader, Tecopet or Tecopa. He is the Pakwinavi, or spokesman, for Paiute villages in the region, an extraordinary man who helped keep the peace even when his own son was killed. These were dangerous years of intense immigration by miners, and led to wholesale slaughter elsewhere in California and Nevada. One story states that his famous top hat (see photo above) was given in lieu of the $200 he asked for the use of his name.

1881- A surveyor establishing Inyo County (when it split off from Kern County) surprised everyone by finding the town of Tecopa to be inside the line by a matter of feet, and it was reassigned from San Bernardino County.

1907- the Tonapah and Tidewater (T&T) Railroad finally made it through the Amargosa Canyon, and somehow attained the rights to the springs for water supply.

Late 1920’s- For $10, Jim Francis, owner of the Snake Room Bar, and Harry Rosenberg obtained the right from J.B. Johnson, T&T President, to build the first public bathhouse for community use at the hot springs.

1930- On June 4^th,President Herbert Hoover signed an Executive Order withdrawing Tecopa Hot Springs from private use for all time to protect access to the hot spring.

1961- Inyo County signed a 20 year lease, renewed in 1981, “for a campground, community center, and public bath houses and related facilities”.

1974- Hurlbut-Rook Community Center was built, with much labor and materials donated by local people. Earl Hurlbut was the first County Director of Tecopa Hot Springs, and County Supervisor from 1928 to 1952. Carl Rook was a long-time Road Department supervisor.

Throughout this entire time, the Tecopa Hot Springs have been used in accordance to the agreement made with Tecopa:

Baths are free for healing purposes to all people.
Baths are available at all times.
Men and women bathe separately to maintain spiritual nature.
Nude bathing keeps waters free of pollutants at all times.

Back to TecopaCA.com Website by Blue Heronworks Revised: January 31, 2008.