Highland Springs Resort

History The area around Highland Springs Resort, known as San Gorgonio Pass, has played an important role in the settling of California. The steep peaks of San Jacinto and San Gorgonio drop 9,000 feet to expose between them smooth, rolling hills that the present day Interstate 10 travels on. To the settlers traveling west to the Pacific Ocean, this smooth pass was a rare find; even today it is one of the easiest east to west routes in California. But these settlers were not the first to discover the San Gorgonio Pass.
Kish	Long before the white man arrived, the Cahuilla Indians inhabited San Gorgonio pass. They were skilled hunters and artists who took advantage of the warm climate and the resources of the nearby mountains. The Cahuilla lived in scattered thatch houses called Kish, and had well constructed basket granaries. As the gold rush drew people out to California, white people started to inhabit the area, drawn here for the same reasons the Cahuillas were. Though made rugged by the land, the Cahuilla were a peaceful people. They signed the Treaty of Temecula with the United States Government in 1852, which was intended to provide a reservation for the Indians that was 30 miles wide and 40 miles long. Congress, though, never ratified this treaty, and the Cahuilla were left scattered in small villages over wide areas, with no legal rights under California Law. The land they had lived on for centuries was gone, appropriated by white settlers. Finally, in the late 1800's, rights were firmly established and the Morongo Reservation was formed. Today it is inhabited by a mixture of Cahuilla, Serrano, and Cuperno, all from the Shoshonean linguistic group.
The first Caucasian to settle permanently in the San Gorgonio Pass area was Dr. Isaac Smith. He followed some of his stray cattle here in 1853, and was impressed enough with what he saw to build a new ranch here. The original Smith residence stood just about where the swimming pool does today at Highland Springs Resort. Smith, born in Maine, raised cattle, sheep, vegetables, and planted a fruit orchard with a small vineyard. He also raised 11 children who would help him develop his property and the surrounding lands. His children grew up playing with the Native American children from the surrounding areas, and were accustomed to the sight of grizzly bears and antelopes. Once, young Carl Smith tracked and roped a cattle killing grizzly bear, just barely making off with his life.
Dr. Isaac Smith	Smith's ranch was dubbed Smith's Station in 1862, and was made a stage coach stop. The Butterfield Overland Stage Line ran coaches from San Bernardino, stopped here, and then continued on up Bradshaw Trail on their way to Yuma, Arizona. From 1864 to 1866, the route through Highland Springs and up Bradshaw Trail was the single connecting link for passenger, mail, and express travel between Southern California and the rest of the nation. Smith's Station slowly developed into a hotel for people of all sorts passing through the area. The famous Wyatt Earp even stayed at Highland Springs many times, stopping as he drove a stagecoach between California and Arizona.
Being on the frontier meant dealing with excitement of all kinds. One Lost Treasure story explains how David Alexander, founder of the Colorado Stage and Express Line and sometime partner of Phineas Banning, had his stage line transporting money through the pass area. On one trip there was $1200 locked away in an express box, and the stagecoach stopped at Highland Springs Resort for the night. When everyone awoke the next morning, the box and money were gone. The two stagecoach hands looked around for someone suspicious, and came up with a man named Gordon, who was in charge of the resort at the time. They grabbed Gordon and took him up Smith Creek Canyon, and tried to force a confession by hanging him by the neck just off the ground. Try as they might, Gordon would not confess. After a while, one of the men headed back down to the resort to get more help. Gordon, taking advantage of this opportunity, drew a concealed knife, cut himself free, stabbed the stagecoach hand watching him, and ran down the canyon. He ran into the other stagecoach hand, and in a scuffle, stabbed him as well and fled the area. Gordon eventually showed up in San Bernardino, where he turned himself in and was acquitted on any wrongdoing on the grounds of self defense. The money was never found.
In 1884 the Smith property was purchased by a Los Angeles company that built a three story hotel on the property called the Highland Home. Traffic through the area increased, with a passenger railroad coming through in 1876. The railroad, after having taken 23 years to become a reality, brought a new era to the pass region. Gradually, the land was taken up by ranchers and farmers. Stores, schools, and churches were built, and the present day towns of Beaumont and Banning began to take shape.
Howard Rosin	At Highland Springs, the first Cherry trees in the area were planted, later making it easy to name the small area Cherry Valley. The property saw new owners again in 1927, when Fred and William Hirsch bought the old Smith place and renamed it Highland Springs Resort. Renovating many of the buildings, the Hirsches developed Highland Springs as a family vacation getaway, with a myriad of activities for everyone during the day and prime entertainment in the evening. The resort was sold to the Rosin brothers in 1948, and they continued developing Highland Springs as a family and health resort. For a time no meat was served on the property, and the resort, with no advertising and only word of mouth to spur it on, continued to prosper.
As the years went on and the demand for traditional family vacations declined, the emphasis of Highland Springs shifted to take on the growing needs of business and conference groups. Old barns and carriage houses kept their historic exterior, but were transformed into warm and modern conference rooms on the inside. The original Highland Home Hotel, built in 1884, tragically burned to the ground in 1970, killing two people and causing over $500,000 in damages. Rather than rebuild it on the same site, a modern banquet hall and luxurious suites were built nearby, with intricate rose gardens planted on the site of the old hotel. Today the banquet hall is the centerpiece of the resort, with the sprawling Olive groves, lush green lawns, and rustic history all nearby to serve as a reminder of the tremendous history that Highland Springs Resort has seen.