A BRIEF HISTORY OF EL MONTE

BY

JACK BARTON

 

Perhaps the best place to begin any discussion of the history of this area is with the name itself -- El Monte. Obviously, the word is Hispanic in origin, but what is not obvious is its original meaning and the descriptive nature of that meaning.

Most non-Hispanic persons with some knowledge of Spanish assume that the name El Monte must pertain to a hill or a mountain of some sort. If this were true, it would belie the physical realities of El Monte as a place, for there are no hills or mountains in any evidence with the exception of the distant San Gabriels.

Rather, one must search for a meaning to the name El Monte in the obscure and somewhat archaic definitions which were current in Spanish usage in the late 18th century. For it was in the 1770’s that a group of Spanish soldiers and missionaries first explored this part of southern California and discovered, located between two rivers, an island of rich, low-lying land, covered with dense growths of slender willows, alders, and cattails. The "Island", approximately 7 miles long and 4 miles wide, constituted a veritable oasis unmatched in the midst of what naturally is a rather harsh, semi-arid environment.

Indeed, it was these self-same Spaniards who gave name to the rivers surrounding the island - the river to the east and northeast was named the San Gabriel; the smaller river to the north and west (actually a secondary channel of the San Gabriel) was christened the Rio Hondo. To the south of the "island", the two rivers flowed toward one another to form a "narrows" of ponds, small streams, and marshes. The island itself was also criss-crossed with little streams which fed expansive meadows, while along the river banks succulent watercress proliferated and vines of wild grapes clung to the dense stands of willow which grew there.

It was this prospect of precious water, abundant wood (for fuel) and deep, rich, alluvial topsoil which was presented to the Spaniards, who found respite and replenishment in the cool greenness of this "island paradise". And, one among their number, first used the term in Spanish which, at that time (1770's) would best describe this beautiful "wooded spot". That name was El Monte, variously translated as the "meadow or marsh", or, as the "wooded place". In any translation, the significant characteristics were clear - El Monte meant water, wood (fuel), and soil!

In the time following its Spanish baptismal, El Monte was to become the "watering hole" and campsite for successive groups of travelers and immigrants who made their way into Southern California from its eastern approaches. Indeed, for many thousand of years prior to the advent of the Spanish, small bands of nomadic Indians frequented the "wooded island" to avail themselves of its life-sustaining resources. Indian burial sites and "kitchen middens" from their ancient campsites have told of these aboriginal visitors.

In more recent times, during the era of the "Missions" (1770’s to 1830’s) and the "Land Grant" ranchos (1830’s and 40’s), El Monte continued to serve as a natural resting place for whatever weary journeyer came its way. In 1826, the famous mountain man and explorer, Jedediah Smith, led a small party of Americans into the area. One among his party was a diarist by the name of Harrison Rogers, who referred to the rest and rehabilitation afforded by "Camp Monte" or "Monte Camp".

Jedediah Smith

 

The Gold Rush Days

 

It was the great Gold Rush of 1849-50 that brought the first permanent resident to El Monte. Swept along by the great tide of "gold fever", wave after wave of prospectors and immigrant pioneers inexorably moved toward the wealth promised in golden California. They all came seeking gold and most were denied their dreams, but some were to find riches far beyond those dreams in the form of fertile land and happy homes.

 One such group of pioneer travelers had left their old home in Iowa to come to the gold fields of California. But after 14 months of bone-wearying travel across vast mountains and deserts, and tragic deprivations at the hands of hostile Apaches, the Thompson Party (Family), water-famished and dead-tired, vowed not to search for gold but rather to settle at the first spot which offered a permanent supply of fresh water and a sufficiency of soil to provide farming possibilities.

The Great Desert

 

And so it was that the Thompson’s, in 1851, crossed the San Gabriel River, entered into the "island" and found the opportunities for a home in California. By putting down their roots they began the development of the permanent community of El Monte.

Additional pioneer settlers arrived in El Monte within the year following the Thompsons. Like the Thompsons, these small groups, suffering deeply from their parched passage through the California deserts, had committed to taking residence at the first source of abundant fresh water. Most notable among these next arrivals was the Johnson Party (1852) under the able leadership of one Captain Johnson, late of Lexington, Kentucky.

After a cursory exploration of the gold fields to the north, Captain Johnson returned to El Monte and the more realistic promise of land and agriculture. There, his natural leadership ability exerted its influence on what was a budding village of pioneers. At this point, (early 1850’s) no more than a dozen small families comprised the entire permanent population of the "island" of El Monte. At his suggestion, and because of his popularity with the other settlers, Captain Johnson proposed that the village be named "Lexington". The villagers readily concurred, as the name in their minds, paid honor to the birthplace of their leader and also, echoed the name of one of the legendary places in the Revolutionary War.

 

 

El Monte Township

 

Despite the citizens' enthusiasm for the name of "Lexington", the older, more meaningful name - El Monte - persisted in the background and on the sidelines. Veteran travelers who had frequented the area on many previous occasions persisted in using the name of "Monte Camp". or, sometimes, simply "The Monte". In 1866, the State Legislature, in organizing the State into smaller defined governmental units, established "Townships" in all parts of California. In designating a township in this area, some sense of venerable traditions prevailed in the Capital, for it was named the El Monte Township and the village of Lexington was selected as its seat. In 1868, bowing to long-lasting habit and practice, the village of Lexington set aside its artificial name and returned (and rightly so) to the profoundly descriptive Spanish appellation of El Monte.

The saga of El Monte through the remainder of the 19th century is typical of many growing towns following the thrust of Manifest Destiny into the great reaches of the West. It is the story of increasingly successful farmers and of growing families and growing communities. It is a "Wild West" story with its era of card parlors and dance halls, of robberies and murders, and of its own brand of "Vigilantes" with the famous and notorious "Monte Boys" riding in posse to hasten the hanging (both formal and informal) of some slinking, fleeing wrong-doer.

It is the story of the Civil War and how it divided the community just as it divided the nation. Remembering Captain Johnson’s Kentuckian roots, it is not surprising that El Montean sentiments were largely with the South even though California was a Union State.

It is a story of repeated floods and droughts, where El Monte, as throughout its turbulent geologic past, was subjected to the vagaries of meandering (and sometimes rampaging) rivers.

Rio Hondo River During Flood of 1913

 

 

It is a story which includes: El Monte’s first "motel" - The Willow Grove Inn, established, owned and operated by the self-same first pioneer Thompson Family, and a regular way station on the Butterfield Stage route between Riverside and Los Angeles.

It includes one of the first public schools in the entire state of California (1852), a simple one room mud and willow-wattle structure located on the banks above the Rio Hondo and boasting an enrollment of 15 pupils during its first year of existence.

It includes an early, successful agrarian economy based on thriving wool, honey, grain, fruit, castor oil, hops, and cotton crops. Even El Monte Bacon graced the breakfast tables of Southern California towns.

It includes:

The first railroad through town (Southern Pacific) in 1873.

The first weekly newspaper strictly for El Monte in 1876.

The first drugstore (with a soda fountain?) in 1892.

 

 

The Twentieth Century

 

With the advent of the 20th century, El Monte continued to grow and prosper. Agriculture remained at the core of its economy. Earlier field crops gave way to fruit orchards, walnut groves, truck farms, hay fields, and an increasing dairy industry. One commercial seed company leased large tracts of fertile land in the southern part of the "island" and grew breathtaking plots of flowering plants for seed production. During blooming season, these fields of blossoms - precisely laid out in geometric patterns - were visited by people from all over the San Gabriel Valley. The farm workers employed to tend these magnificent floral gardens affectionately named the area Las Flores - a name which persists today in designating that part of the "island" of El Monte.

 

Corn Crop in 1914

 

Tom Wiggins Baling Hay

 

Hauling Crops

 

  

It was in 1901 that the El Monte Union High School District was organized and its secondary educational services were extended not only to pupils in El Monte, but also to students residing in portions of the surrounding present day communities of Bassett, Whittier, Montebello, Rosemead, Temple City, Arcadia, and Monrovia. In its initial year of operation, in a single, upstairs classroom in the old Lexington Avenue Grammar School, the high school boasted an enrollment of 12-15 students. By 1908, the high school had its own campus at the east end of Main Street and a student body comprised of 65 students.

In 1906, vehicular travel was improved with the first grading and paving of Main Street. The following year (1907) the Pacific Electric intercity railroad service was extended to El Monte. The old "Red Cars" were to be a mainstay in El Monte transportation for the next 45 years.

Mr. Gibbs in the 1920's

  

 

Main Street 1908

In 1912, some 60 years after its founding as the village of Lexington, El Monte was incorporated and with its newly elected City council was officially recognized as a municipality. El Monte had long possessed its own volunteer Fire Department, and now, as a "real" city, it would acquire its own Police Department - a far cry from the dusty riding days of the wild and famous "Monte Boys".

The worldwide influenza epidemic which occurred following World War I, of course, touched the population of El Monte with the expected number of tragic results. One notable loss was that of Mr. Lyman W. Babcock, Principal of El Monte High School, who died of the effects of the disease in 1919.

 

 

Gay’s Lion Farm

The arrival in 1923 of the famous Gay’s Lion Farm brought El Monte an outstanding tourist attraction. For the next 20 years, El Monte was to experience a continuing influx of visitors who came from everywhere to see this "one and only" exhibit. Gay’s Lion Farm has been likened to the Disneyland of the 1920’s and 30’s.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gay, European by birth, were both former circus stars in their youth; he a "lion tamer" and she an aerialist. In the early 20’s, they came to southern California with the idea of raising wild animals for use in the burgeoning southland motion picture industry. Their dream cam to fruition in the Lion Farm which they located in El Monte because of the availability of suitable acreage and the relative proximity to the film centers of Los Angeles.

At its peak, the Farm housed over 200 African lions with the site consisting of a U-shaped compound with separate individual cages for the adult lions, a larger "nursery" cage for the expected population of playful cubs, and, a very large, centrally located arena cage where the trained lions, under the whip and gun of Mr. Gay, performed a spectacular wild animal act for the massed spectators. Many of the lions did, indeed, star in numerous motion pictures during the 20’s and 30’s. Jungle features like the time-honored Tarzan films, from Elmo Lincoln to Johnny Weismuller, utilized the roaring residents of Gay’s Lion Farm. The famous "Lion Logo" which ushers in every MGM motion picture was made with "Jackie", one of Gay’s most famous stars.

A very strong affinity developed between El Monte and its feline citizens. The affection was best represented when the teams from El Monte High School (1925) eagerly took on the nickname of "The Lions". Mr. Gay responded to this gesture by periodically designating one of the young, active male lions as the official mascot of the school. It followed naturally, that this mascot would make its appearance at certain home football games and the full-throated rumbling roar of their patron beast supplemented the crowds of cheering rooters.

 

GILMORE THE LION

World War II saw the demise of the Lion farm. With the strict rationing of (horse) meat and of gasoline, the establishment closed its doors for the "duration" and the lions were farmed out to public zoos throughout the country. It was the sincere ambition of the Gays to reopen the Farm when the war ended, however, by 1945 and the War’s end; Mr. Gay’s health had begun to fail and his hopes to resume the spectacular showplace failed with it. Today, the only trace of this historic El Monte enterprise is the noble statue of a giant African lion, which had guarded the entrance to the Lion Farm from 1923 until 1946. All remainders of the Farm are gone with the exception of the magnificent statue, which has been relocated on the present grounds of El Monte High School. There it stands, gleaming golden in the sunlight in its eternal vigilance at the portals of the Lion campus. In 1979, the lion statue was designated as an official Historical Monument and a bronze plaque, duly inscribed with factual significance, was affixed to the pedestal on which the Lion rests.

 

 

The 1930’s

 

Some very significant occurrences took place in El Monte during the 1930's. Some of these were cataclysmic, initially in their effect, but in the long term proved otherwise. The Great Depression brought doldrums to El Monte just as it did everywhere else. Farming profitability dropped radically causing some landowners to sublet smaller farm tracts to Nisei tenants for the raising of more profitable "cash crops", such as berries, melons, and vegetables. By the late 30’s, some of the large groves and orchards in the area had been subdivided into small homesites of an acre or less. These small lots often sold for a pittance, and consequently, El Monte began to change rapidly from a "little farm town one mile square" to a growing "bedroom community" where people lived but worked and commuted elsewhere - mainly Los Angeles.

In March, 1933, the devastating Long Beach earthquake rumbled through the southland with widespread effect in many areas including El Monte. The local high school suffered structural damage to the extent that 40% of the classrooms were rendered unsafe for use. Temporary wood and canvas bungalows were mustered into use to house the displaced students. Rather than rebuild on the damaged site, a wise decision was made to locate an entirely new school on vacant land approximately 1/2 mile south of the damaged school. The new school would not only provide more modern facilities but would allow for the increased enrollment anticipated in the ensuing years. Construction on the new high school began in 1938 and the building opened for full attendance in the fall of 1939.

An additional new civic facility was constructed and opened in 1936. The El Monte Community and Civic Center, built in the graceful style of mission architecture, was cause for a citywide celebration when it was inaugurated in June of that year. A community event of several days duration was planned in conjunction with the advent of the new facility. This initiated the traditional Pioneer Days celebration which was to be repeated annually for over 10 years with a brief hiatus during World War II. The theme of the annual event was to recognize and celebrate the proud pioneer past of El Monte. Old fashioned games and events were scheduled and citizens were expected to dress in "old western frontier" style. The climax of the yearly festivities was a "pioneer pageant" staged in the local high school auditorium and featuring leading citizens of the town cast in the roles of the "Thompson Party", or as Captain Johnson. The Pioneer Days programs and activities provided some with an excuse for over-imbibing during its duration, and also seemed to invite the "rowdy element" from the surrounding communities. At any rate, the better part of good judgment dictated the end of these annual "bashes" and Pioneer Days, as a community-wide celebration, is now also a part of the history of El Monte.

The good spirit, however, which motivated the celebration of Pioneer Days in conjunction with the opening of the Community Center in 1936, lives on. Recently a beautiful annex was constructed just north of the Center. That annex, today, houses the El Monte Museum of History, considered to be one of the best community museums in the State. The pride in the pioneer past of El Monte lives on.

 

 

The 1940’s and 1950’s

 

Prior to World War II, El Monte, with the exception of its "Wild West" era, had been a small, prosperous farm town. The eruption of the conflict in 1941 signaled the commencement of dramatic changes for El Monte - changes which would forever alter its image of a "sleepy little town just one mile square".

Very early in the war, industry in the form of small aircraft parts factories sprang up on the Westside of town. Truck farms and diaries began to diminish in number as young men’s lives were caught up in the war.

With the building boom of the late 40’s and early 50’s, El Mount's population literally exploded. An example of this growth can be illustrated by the remarkable increase, which occurred in the high school enrollment during the years immediately following the war. In 1943, the El Monte High School student body consisted of 1500 pupils. By 1948, the enrollment had rocketed to 3700, an increase of almost 250% which necessitated five different beginning/ending times in order to accommodate all the students’ class schedules during the school day. During the first 48 years of its existence, the El Monte Union High School district (founded 1901) housed its entire student population in one school (El Monte High). From 1949 to the present, four additional high schools have been required to accommodate enrollment and A sixth School is expected in 1991.

In 1958, a second community was incorporated and the City of South El Monte was born. This municipality, comprising the southwest quadrant of the "wooded island" is home today to much of the small industry in the area. From a population of about 10,000 in 1940, the combined citizenry of the cities of El Monte and South El Monte today numbers approximately 110,000.

Gone is the "sleepy little town one mile square"! Gone are the orchards and the fields of flowers! Gone are the farms and the dairies! Here today is an urban community of homes and schools, supported by a strong industrial/commercial base. A community still growing and looking ahead with optimism toward the solution of whatever problems may chart its path.

El Monte, as it has down through its 137 years of history, continues to offer a home for those who are seeking to put down roots. As with the immigrants of the early days, El Monte is still a haven for modern immigrants seeking new opportunities and respite from old oppressions. New immigrants bring fresh needs to the community. Needs, which in final analysis, still mean homes, jobs, schools, and churches. El Monte has met such needs, over and over again, through the course of its past. Whether those needs stemmed from displaced Spanish grandees, or from disillusioned miners retreating from false dreams, or from "Okie" migrants seeking land to replace their dust-blown farms - whatever these needs, and from whatever quarter they came - El Monte has been the wooded place of shelter and security, the meadowland of opportunity and promise.

 

 

Jack Barton April, 1988

 

 Return to Barton Homepage

Return to El Monte Historical Society Museum Page

E-Mail your questions or comments.