SpringBrook Heritage Alliance Brings New Historical Discoveries for Colton, Grand Terrace

COLTON & GRAND TERRACE>> The Springbrook Heritage Alliance held a presentation on Thursday, Jan. 19 that focused on the early history on Agua Mansa and La Placita, which unveiled new historic discoveries for the cities of Riverside, Colton, Highgrove and Grand Terrace. Jim Wood, presenter and History researcher, was the one responsible for finding new information on the history of these cities. Wood had turned his attention to the history of the San Bernardino Valley region after 37 years with the USDA Salinity Lab. His studies on local history began with the landing of Henan Corres in Mexico that took place in 1519. Then, he pursued the accounts of Spanish explorers, American trappers, Californians, Spanish Trail folks, Mormon Trail immigrants, gold miners, adventures and many more through the four centuries of eyewitness records. “For the past five years I had been reading diaries and journals of travelers, dozens of them, to understand what they saw and did,” Wood said. Wood was impressed by the well-known stories of the diverse company of impoverished yet determined New Mexican Genizaros from Abiquiu who made the thousand mile trek along the Old Spanish Trail with their families on foot in 1842 to create new lives for themselves. They were able to establish the first non-native settlement in, what is currently known-as the Inland Empire, the parish of San Salvador de Jurupa with its twin villages of Agua Mansa and La Placita de los Trujillos. SHA is an informal, independent group of individuals and organizations dedicated to saving the natural, cultural and historical treasures of the Springbrook Arroyo Watershed communities of Riverside, Colton, Highgrove and Grand Terrace. SHA was founded in 2014 by Erin Snyder, then president of Northside Improvement Association, and Karen Renfro, founding member of St. Andrew's Terraces Homeowners. The purpose of this organization is to identify historical treasures, educate the public about their contribution to the local heritage and persuade public officials to adopt these goals as public policy. According to Renfro, SHA is not against development but believe that property rights are reciprocal, and that the rights and responsibilities go both ways. “If people do not know where they came from, they do not know where they are going,” Renfro said. “A people without knowledge of their past have no futures, those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.” The presentation presented by Wood was attended by an estimated 30 people who voiced their enjoyment of the presentation after it ended.