HomeMy WebLinkAboutCan't Eat DirtI put my head up, my shoulders
back, and I went and did it.
Where I got the guts, I'll never
know. I just had to do it.
Simple as that!
Vyola J. Ortner, 2010
In Washington, DC, on Capitol Hill,
with US Congressman D.S . Saund and Mayor of
Palm Springs, Frank Bogert, late i95os .
In Washington, DC, on Capitol Hill,
with US Congressman D.S. Saund and Mayor of
Palm Springs, Frank Bogert, late 1950s .
"We're just dirt rich," admitted Vyola Olinger (later Ortner) in the summer
of 19s8. As the chairman of the first all-women Tribal Council in the United
States, she was in them id st of presiding over"one of the biggest real estate
deals ... in the country" and the most consequential ever on Indian land.1
The property in question was a 640-acre, square-mile parcel centrally
located in downtown Palm Springs, then a fast-growing luxury resort
nestled at the foot of the beautiful San Jacinto Mountains in Southern
California's vast desert (Figs. 1, 2). Known as Section 14, this parcel had
long been the very heart of the reservation for the Agua Caliente Band
of Cahuilla lndians.2 This band of Cahuilla had lived and gathered here
for generations, especially around where the sacred mineral hot springs
flowed abundantly and effortlessly from the earth, later inspiring the
name of the city. Now Section 14 and its natural waters were ground zero
for am u lti mi 11 ion -dollar development opportunity that had at stake both
the future of Palm Springs and the fortunes of the Agua Caliente . As tribal
chairman and head negotiator for this property transaction, Olinger was
noted for her leadership and keen business savvy at a time when women
were not ordinarily found taking charge in either of these arenas. In the
national press, her prowess was characterized as: "The American Indians
have learned a lot about real estate since they sold Manhattan Island for
S24 worth of cos tu me jewelry (see p. 1s6)."3
If successful, in either its full glory or some variant, the Palm Springs
deal would allow the Agua Caliente Cahuilla to seize their own destiny
and bring economic prosperity to the "land rich but cash poor" members
of the tribe . At the same time, it would greatly enhance the economic
prospects of Palm Springs, opening up the city for further development
on Indian land, which represented about half of all the real estate within
its incorporated limits .4 Known as the "checkerboard," reservation land
in Palm Springs formed an alternating pattern of Indian-owned and non-
Indian-owned parcels (Fig .3).s Given that some 7,000 of the nearly 32,000
acres comprising the tribe's total reservation area were located within
the city of Palm Springs, and that most of the town 's development to this
point in the mid-19sos had taken place on non -Indian land, it was Indian
20 YOU CAN 'T EAT DIRT
Figs. 1, 2 Palm Canyon Drive, 1905 (when it was known
as Main Street) and 1960, a comparison showing the
remarkable changes that took place in Palm Springs from
the turn of the twentieth century through World War II,
when the city became internationally recognized as a
world-class spa resort.
land that now had to be developed if the city were to continue to grow
and prosper as a resort. Section 14 was an ideal place to begin ex panding,
since it was within the downtown corridor, just a mere block from Palm
Springs' main street, Palm Canyon Drive, where real estate prices at the
time of this development opportunity in 19s8 were a very dear S2,ooo per
frontage foot.6 Th is precious square mile of di rt epitomized how the fates
of both the city and the Agua Caliente were intertwined .
A CALL TO LEAD
How did Mrs . VyolaJ. Olinger, who, just a few years earlier, was living and
raising a family in Downey, California, a Los Angeles suburb miles from
the inland desert, find herself as the leader of her tribe and at the center
of this unprecedented and historic real estate deal? Actually, Olinger
had grown up on Section 14, having been born in Palm Springs as Viola
Juanita Hatchitt on April 1, 1921 .7 Her mother, Juana Saturnina Hatchitt,
was a member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and a part
of its well-known Saturnina family, considered among the "first families"
of Palm Springs (Fig . 4).8 After having been educated at the Sherman
Institute, a government school for American Indians in Riverside, and
then employed nearby as a private nanny and, later, on the staff of
the famous Desert Inn in Palm Springs, Juana Saturnina married Orion
Garfield Hatchitt. The Desert Inn is where she met her future husband ,
the son of German immigrants who had settled in Missouri (Fig . 5). As
a young man , Orion left the Midwest for new adventures in California,
first working as a barber in Los Angeles before bringing his trade to Palm
Springs . The couple lived on the Indian land in Section 14 that Juana
had selected as an allotment, which they improved and developed in
order to make a good living. They owned and operated rental cottages
called Hatchitt's Court, while also leasing some of their land to a third
party, which managed Hatchitt's Market, both prospering businesses
....
T • ..
t .
I ..
R.4L
FIRST FAMILIES
Up and Coming
Name Clai m to tam•
MISSION INDIAN
RESERVATIONS
CALIFORNIA
1942
DEPARTMENT OF THE IN TERIOR
Ol'FICE OF INDIAN AFfAIRS
SCA.LE
0 1 l J t I I 1 I t IO Mf_H
R.>OW.
JUE.
T
' ..
T . s.
T u •
T
" '
T g •
SUH Hinging In
Tholr Tim• Is Now Cl1l m to fame
Claim to ti me No me ~afllilw.ll; Name Ftink Agricultural land manager a~d fGm*PallllSpilnpltilW*. Paul Ames grower by profession. part-.t1me publle ..................
Inventor . always active m cw1c devllClllW. matters-blue ribbon panels . etc .
Franc:llCrocktr Relillll glllllll lllllllQIC Deselt
Jim Hicks Third-generat ion. desert resident Wallr ..,, IOltg ICllwt In cl¥lc
involved with real 'estate . active '" atfllrS •
civic affairs .
KalhartM F1nCltY Granddaughter of Nellie Cottman Betty Kieley who helped coin Palm Spnngs
th resort ; a founder
mber.
TamKleley
Agua Cahenfe Indian Tribal Ed McCo\1lillJ
Ray Patencio council chairman .
Cutver Nk:ltGIS Plaza Investments president and Zachary Pitts partner in other land I property
owner I management companies .
Frank PUrall owner lluld«'• SUpply/CilY
John Sanborn Building engineer by profession .
particularly active in school board
Lumber . IGllllll' Pllnt SpllnQI
counClllntlR. IClive In cMc alfllrl.
matters.
~Wleflll MoltiClln bf~· IOnnlr
mayor , Oes111 H~ bOll'd
~. per1JllUll
i;Mc llldlr.
Fig. 3 left, Map of Mission Indian Reservations, showing the
unusual checkerboard pattern pe r tinent to the Agua Caliente
Reservation, 1942 .
Fig. 4 top right, Magazine insert outlining the "Movers & Shakers"
of Palm Sp r ings. Along with fellow tribal member Ray Patencio,
Olinger (later Ortner) is categorized as among the "First Families "
of Palm Springs. Palm Springs Life, 1980s.
Fig. s bo ttom right, The Desert Inn Hotel and Sanatorium,
Main Street (now Palm Canyon Dr ive), Palm Springs, 1909 .
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND 2 1
that provided a steady source of income. Concurrently,
Olinger's parents worked the land; Orion harvested figs
from the existing fruit trees, while Juana packed them
for shipment to market via train.
Like other children and tribal members of her
generation, Olinger has fond memories of her childhood on
the reservation , in Section 14, during the 1930S and early 1940S,
enjoying her animals and attending the Frances Stevens School.9
She and old friends and relatives from the neighborhood describe these
environs of early Palm Springs as safe, orderly, and racially mi xed_:_
whites, blacks, Latinos, and Indians-all living together harmoniously.
Each speaks of the area as having been "f un " for a child. The pictures of
Hatchitt's Court and Hatchitt's Market, as well as "Tent City"-rows of
canvas tents the tribe rented out for housing-were modest but well
maintained, confirming that this central district of early Palm Springs
was livable even though it was not luxurious when compared to the
glamorous surroundings of the nearby El Mirador Hotel, for example,
which was frequented by Hollywood movie stars and the international
elite.
When she was around eleven or twelve years old, Olinger began
spending the summer months in Lake Arrowhead, California, with her
family, who wished to escape the intense desert heat. These childhood
trips broadened her horizons, allowing her to see other parts of her vast
and varied home state, fostering a lasting love of travel and exploring
new places. As he grew older, Orion Hatchitt required a milder climate,
and, eventually, he and Juana built a home in Seal Beach, California, an
oceanside community, where they relocated permanently. Meanwhile,
inspired by her father's profession, Olinger attended beauty sc hool and
began working as a hair stylist at the Langham Hotel in Los Angeles . It
wasn't long, though, before she started her own business in Belmont
Shore, near Seal Beach, called Vyola's Hair Salon. Operating her own
business afforded her the independence and ability to care for her aging
mother, who was living alone following her husband 's death in 1942.
After marrying and sta rting a family of her own, Olinger moved to nearby
Long Beach and then to Downey, California.
While living in Downey, the truly une xpec ted happened. In late
1951, faithful to their normal routine, Olinger and her mother traveled
by car to Palm Springs so that Mrs. Hatchitt could personally attend a
Tr ibal Council meeting . Olinger was astonished when, after that fateful
meeting, she received a phone call informing her that she had been
nominated to serve on the Tribal Council. Although she was a member
of the tribe by birth, she had participated infrequently in tribal affairs
due to living a sizable distance from Palm Springs and to the pressing
demands of running a business and maintaining a family. Yet in March
1952, Olinger was officially elected vice chairman. Merely two years later,
she was voted chairman, this time selected to preside over the first all·
22 YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
women Tribal Council in the United States. Like a shooting
star, Olinger rose to the highest office in her tribe. How
did this working mother, who then did not even live in
Palm Springs, become a powerful tribal leader with such ..
extraordinary business acumen? What made this remarkable
transformation possible?
THE MAKINGS OF A LEADER
Defining the nature of successful leadership can be elusive, but a look
at Olinger's family background may yield some compelling _ clues.
Olinger's mother had married outside her tribe, falling in love with a
man of German descent. As a result, Olinger grew up in two worlds, the
American Indian and the Euro-American, moving effortlessly between
them . As a tribal leader, her mixed ancestral heritage provided her with
the circumstances and skills she required to work effectively within as
well as outside the tribe. "I've always been able to work with everyone
as a half-breed ," Olinger once commented. "Being a half-breed has been
good for me."10 She reinforced this personal insight when she remarked ,
"I am very privileged because I am really part of both worlds. I view this as
being positive, constructive .... No one can pull the wool over my eyes ."11
Moreover, having lived away from Palm Springs and the tribe, she had a
broader perspective on the world that afforded her a sense of freedom
and lack of intimidation when confronting the many daunting obstacles
she encountered as a tribal leader. Accordingly, she was neither cowed by
the established tribal hierarchy nor checked by the powerful city fathers .
She has said th at she learned from her father to be enterprising and self·
sufficient, and to value hard work. From her mother, she drew inspiration
to do the very best in whatever situation she found herself. Beyond
parental influence, though, Olinger possessed an innate belief that, as a
woman , she could succeed equally alongside any man. This strong faith
in self and a fierce determination guided her; and these qualities are key
to understanding her success as a tribal leader.
Equally important in shaping her personality is the fact that
Olinger grew up during the Great Depression and matured in the years
of the Second World War. As a result, she shared many of the best
qualities that marked the men and women of the "greatest generation."
She believed in commitment, courage, hard work, and achievement.
She did not seek the high position of tribal chairman , but having been
elected, she took the office and its responsibilities seriously, feeling it
imperative to answer the call to service. Dedicated to duty, she became
part of that spec ial World War II generation that built modern America .
She was an ordinary citizen who rose to meet extraordinary challenges .
If astonished by her election to the Tribal Council, the shock did not
I
AGUA CALIE NTE
TRIBAL BU LD I NG
Fig. 6 Unveiling of the new Agua Caliente
Tribal Building, constructed in the early
1960s near the Indian Canyons, after
the tribe's ceremonial round house, the
kishumna'a, was burned down in 1951. Left
to right: Jeanne Miguel, Flora Patencio,
Joe Patencio, and Eileen Miguel.
linger. Olinger quickly evolved into a leader for
change, shaping a modern tribal government
that was progressive and focused on economic
development. With the willing and able help
of her fellow council members, she led her
tribe through some of its most tumultuous but
momentous years. In the sum mer of 1958, when
at the helm and considering the numerous
complicated options concerning the multi-
million-dollar development of Section 14, she
made the following remark that provides a
telling motivation for this significant turning
point in the tribe's history: "Indians are proud of
their heritage," Olinger said, "they want to stay
Indians. They want to keep their reservations,
but they want them to be modernized ."12
A PROGRESSIVE LEADER
Modernizing the Agua Caliente Band of Cahu i I la Indians became 01 i nger's
raison d 'etre. It was a long and difficult process-involving many different
people and many complex issues-by which she would take control of her
tribe, setting it on a firm foundation and, eventually, bringing economic
prosperity to its members . Fearlessly opposing the tribe 's established
male patriarchy-which was justifiably suspicious of the white male
"fathers" in Palm Springs and Washington, DC-Olinger freely navigated
the Anglo-American world in order to bring benefits to her people. Highly
intelligent and practically oriented, she did not rebuff city and federal
governments, but, rather, willingly and knowingly reached out to the
"system " to help shape the tribe's future . "We respect ... individuals of
good faith and governmental agencies," Olinger once said, "to give us
their opinions and ex pertise in land management and municipal affairs .
However, we have the obligation as tribal members to our own people
and the right under the laws of this nation to d etermine the us e of our
own land and the de stiny of our tribe."1 3 Armed with this belief and
the knowledge that the Agua Caliente Cahuilla possessed valuable but
unrealized resources , Olinger and her all-women Tribal Council struggled
and persevered through "the worst of times," reinventing a tribe and
forever altering a city.
For this tribe, modernity was abruptly and irrevocably ushered in
when Albert Patencio, its supreme spiritual and ceremonial leader, or
net, the equivalent of a chief, died in 1951 .14 Fo r some time, the pressure s
of modern life-including ex tensive marriage outside the tribe-had
jeopardi zed traditional tribal customs and beliefs, and many established
tribal practices were rapidly fading out, as was the Cahuilla language,
which had no written form and had to be passed on orally. Rather than
continue tribal traditions in a compromised form, Flora Patencio and Joe
Patencio-who was in the male hereditary line to be the ne x t ceremonial
leader of the tribe-made a radical decision to formally break with
tradition when the elder Patencio passed away. After his death, they
burned the tribe's sacred kishumna'a, or ceremonial round house,
including all its cultural and religious artifacts, and did away with its
time -honored leadership structure of the net (Fig. 6). They had effectively
relinquished the seat of traditional power and dramatically changed the
course of tribal culture and governance. Only a year later, in 1952, Olinger
was fi r st elected to the Tribal Council. Close together in chronological
time, the installation of the 1952 Tribal Council and the burning of the
round house-along with eliminating the net-mark the beginning of
the tribe's modern period.
Olinger's efforts to modernize the tribe have some of their roots in
national Indian policy. In 1934, following the election of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt and during the period of his New Deal , federal legislators passed
the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). Known as the Wheeler-Howard Act,
this progressive legislation wa s intended, in part, to rejuvenate tribal
self-governance and restore reservation lands . Olinger and the Tribal
Council embraced the act's reformist spirit and its call for independent
self-governance among tri bes .1 s By doing just as the act encouraged , they
strengthened the tribe's governing body by overhauling its practices and
adopting its own constitution and by-laws. Evidence of this modernizing
trend can also be seen in the tribe's conversion of the less formal and
less binding tribal committee into a fully officiating Tribal Council with
more attendant power and correlative independence from the Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA). This tran sformation began solidifying after
Olinger's election to the Tribal Council. While tribal resolutions and
minutes of the late 1940s into the early 1950s are generally signed by a
"Tribal Committee," these documents also begin to use the term "Tribal
Council ."16 Occasional reversions back to the name Tribal Committee in
official papers following Olinger's installation as Tribal Chairman prove
the transition was gradu a l, but this shift in terminology indicated a
d esire to formalize the tribe's governing entity and all its procedures, as
well as to bolster its decisions .11
Independent minded and entrepreneurial by nature, Olinger was
the ideal leader for moving the tribe in this new, progressive direction .
One of her earliest actions as vice chairman of the Tribal Council wa s to
hire a lawyer for the tribe, quickly realizing that there was a critical need
for legal advice in administering, managing, and protecting tribal assets
and rights . Believing th i s so strongly, 01 i nger personally paid for th is legal
ex pertise until the Tribal Council was able to officially engag e a general
counsel. In the mid-195os, a local journalist quipped, "Fifty years ago an
Indian wouldn't have thought about hiring a lawyer. Today, he can hardly
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND 23
PROCUREMENT OF A TRIBAL ATTORNEY
Vyola 01
S
PasL Tribal (Jfulilil~
in« <he lo~•"'" of <he Uni"d 5'"" " • Fed"'' GO'o<nmen<, '"'
°"'"" h" b«n oonremod wi<h <he ,igh" of !ndi•"' '"'' " • "'"'°""'""''
h" P'""' ,,lum" of l•w on <he ,ubjeo<. Unfo"•"'"ly, "" !ndi•"' h"" no<
'''"' been """ of wh" <he rnpre"n"'"" in W,.l<ing<nn h"" done· A• •
rn.uh, m'"Y <igh" grnn<ed <n <hem by 1'w we<' frnq~n<ly '""'"'"'· ''''"""
'"' ,bured by people in.ide ,nd uu<.ide o[ "" g•"'"men<. fo<<ho<m•"'• .inre
' gm•< numb"' of !ndi'"' h• d !in\" f>m i\ ""' y w i< b "" i' \eg•l ,igh "' <hey foh
required to submit. '::') ndi,idu•l \ndi••• ond •m•\\ gwup• would """"'"'\\y ,uemp< <n pool
""" fi "'"''" in n<d"' <n employ '""'' '" "" nre in defonre of <hei< <igh<'-5"• ·
ernl memb"" of <he gu• C,\ien<e B'"d did '"" bu< in 1953 <he T<ib•\ Cnun·
oi \ "'' \i "'' < h" • \\ of "" mem be" n { <he "'" d wnul d ''" < \ y bend i< ii <he T <i be
would employ • uib•l "'°'""Y• o<bo<•i"' <he T<ibe'• 1.,.,1 ,igh" could be m"n·
ingl"' ii no< prnpedy und""""' '"' " ""''· Th" "''"'"'" be<am" """' •
•h•" <ime '"" when <he T<ibe w" oon[<nn<od by "" ''"'" of «~in"ion bilb
in <he Congrn" whioh woul d end <he '" .,,,mp< """' ol <hei< ''°'' prnP""Y· In
"'" woke ol '"" • '"''"'" W" m•d" by nu< T<ib•\ Cnun<il <n "'"'""' <hei< in·
tenti•s"' in<n '"''" by employing , Tdb•l '"''""Y -R.,mnnd C. Simpron.
inre "''' <ime >fr. Simp"'"" pwf,..inn>l reNire• h"" boon u<ilhed on
beh•lf of <he T<ibe in m'"Y w•Y•· "'"" includ" ,.,,,ing negu<i><i•"'· P"""".
"<in"' < n "'" Cong<"' ""',ding equoli" <i • n, re<• dng Oil< 99 · y<>' \ "'" ng
<igh", in • muhi<ude of o<ho< "'°'"°"' in"\,ing T<ib•l we\farn; ond in • ,in·
'"'" elf'" <n d foct i ,.,\ y onnP"'"' 'nd w .,k w i<h ''" Ci< y nl P • \ m Sp d ng• fo• <h<
future development of the entire area. ~' P'" Cb•i<m'" of <h< T•ib•l Cnun<il '"' " <h< Ch•"m'" who """'
<he '"'''''" <n employ ' T•ib•l '""'""" \ fwl ' <"""'"" p<id< in <ho beno<i<i>\
results which have been produced.
Fig. 10 below, Official letterhead of the
Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians,
listing the all-women Tribal Council
elected in 1957 . With that election,
Gloria Gillette became vice chairman
and Elizabeth Pete Monk was replaced
by Dora Joyce Prieto.
cross the street without legal advice and few members of the tribe are
without their regular counsel."18 Much of this need of "regular counsel "
concerned disputed land allotments, and as this flippant remark reveals,
it was individually focused . By contrast, Olinger's concern was broader-
it was for the legal needs of the tribe as a whole . With the gu idance of
attorney Raymond "Ray" C. Simpson, of Long Beach, California, she and
fellow members of the Tribal Council began working on wr iting the tribe's
first-ever constitution and by-laws {Figs. 7, 8). At the time, the Hoo pa was
the only California tribe to have established such a governing document.
Hir ing legal representation and creating a constitution and by-laws
were two significant initial steps that Olinger took with fellow Triba l
Council members in order to modernize and formalize tribal governance,
establish greater tribal authority over reservation land , and reinforce
the tribe as a sovere ign entity. Benefiting from a stronger government-
to-government relationship with the United States (Indian nations to the
US Congress) under the Indian Reorganization Act, the tribe evolved into
a democratic sovereignty with two tiers-the tribal membership and
the Tribal Council, which carried forward the same number of officers
as the former Tribal Committee {Fig. 9.)1 9 There were five elected council
members : the chairman , vice chairman, and secretary/treasurer were
set to be voted on for two-year terms, while the two council member
seats were configured for one -year terms . The Tribal Council developed
into the tribe's main legislative body that set policies, made laws, and
administered tribal affairs as mandated by tribal members through an
e I ecto ral process .
In serving her first term on the Tribal Cou nci I, Olinger worked directly
under tribal chairman Lorene McG\amary, an established elder who
had served on previous Tribal Committees. Descr i bed as "a successful
Agua Ca lie nte Band ' IJIJIJ. • n 01 'f I M:J ton J , Ji·
TRIBAL COUNCIL
MRS. VYOLA OLINGER
CHAlftMA.N
MRS. GLORJA GILLETTE
VICE.CHAIRMAN
MRS, EILEEN MIGUEL
SECRET ARV
MRS. DORA PRIETO
COUNCIL M EMBE:R
MRS. LAVERNE SAUBEL
COUNCIL MEMBER
509 INDUSTRIAL. n tan:J
PALM PLACE
SPRINGS. CAl..IFORNIA
businesswoman " with prior ex perience at the ex ecutive leadership
level , McG\amary, together with Olinger, began systematizing the
governing and management practices of the tribe, sett ing in motion a
profession al i sm that guides theTri bal Cou nci I to th i s day.20 They clarified
that Tribal Council meetings wou ld be held on a regular monthly basis
in order to transact routine tribal business . All major decisions would
require the band to vote as a whole . To keep members well informed
and to encourage their participation in the political process, Olinger
established, for the first time ever, the practice of sending copies of
the complete minutes to every member of the tribe n They also began
documenting the work of the tribe .
To mark the accomplishments of their first year as leaders of the
Tribal Council, McG\amary and Olinger produced and issued the init ial
Annual Progress Report for the tribe in De cember 1952 (see pp. 87 and
89 -94). As they wrote in the foreword, "Th is report is the first in a series
of ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS [emphasis in the original document]
prepared, published, and distributed by the Tribal Council of the Agua
Caliente Band of Mission Indian s at Palm Springs, California, for the
inform ation of the members of the Band and others concerned with the
progress of this Reservation .... It is the hope of the Council that these
Reports will be continued regularly in succeeding years and used as a
guide and milestone in the continuing development of the Tribe and its
Reservation ."22 As a summary of the Tribal Council's work during 1952,
this polished document recorded recent improvements made to and for
the reservation as well as important initiatives undertaken to prepare
for planned development. Discu ss ion s from flood control and zoning
to rights -of-way framed Indian land in an entire ly new way, offering
an analysis that took into consideration the latest ideas in property
management and urban development. Essentially, the Tribal Council
laid the groundwork for a master plan of the reservation , generally,
and for Section 14, specifically, which had never been done before
to this detailed and professional an ex tent. An o utright rejection of
poor, haphazard building practices, this document was a paean to city
planning . It a l so commemorated the growing collaboration between
the tribe and the city of Palm Springs, which was a marked difference
in tone from prior Tribal Committees, whose re lationships with the c ity
fathers had been adversarial. Copies of letters from Mayor Charles D.
Farrell and Chamber of Commerce President Stanley Rosin were placed
at the end of the report in order to reflect this newfound cooperation
(see p . 94).
The 1952 Annual Progress Report also offered inspiration for w hat
was to come . It was intended as a message of hope . "The future looks
bright for the Agua Caliente Band ," noted the Tribal Council in wrapping
up its account of current tribal affairs .2 3 "Members of the Band ," it
continued to say, "realize that to get the most out of their inheritance,
both for them se lves and their children , it is profitable to cooperate
OF TWO WOR LDS , YET OF ONE M I ND 25
26
<J.._A NEWSPAPER Fl!!!Jll!!!VERSIDE COUH'l'.!Jl>
.... NEWS OF RIVERSIDE COUNTY
Daily Enrerprise Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1957 B-
Red Tape Was Always
Factor in Indian Affairs
Editor's note: This Is th e
fourth of a series of articles.
By GEQRGE RINGWALD
PALM SPRINGS. Oct. 22-lr
the economic progress of
merican Indian tribes like the
gua Caliente Band of Mission
ndians at Palm Springs has
ccasionally seemed somewhat
css than speedy. ii mi~ht he
tlributed at lea&l m part lo
he incredible tangle or red
ape in which their affairs are
nmeshcd. '
n·
I
18 Pages-2 Section'
OL. XXXI, NO. 179
ceeds of Labor, Mission Jn·
dians."
The Indians, anticipating no
such reversal, had already pre·
pared their land for planting.
In a masterpiece of under-
statement. Sullivan wrote the
Bureau of Indian Affairs in
Washington. "It will be quite
impossible to make the Indians
understand this disposition of
the lunds and they will feel lh•l
they were unjuslly depri\led of
the benefit of their labor ."
Sullivan w nt on to &a " his
happened to lhc springs rental "sullen, ugly and unmanag~
money and said th e Indians able."
were "becoming very restive," It is interesting to note Sul
since they planned on using the livan's occasional topographical
references to Palm Springs.
money lo construct a new bath· Al one point, he described it
house at Palm Springs. as pure desert," with the ex·
A year later Sullivan was ception of the land around lh
trying to get a governmenl okay hot springs, and "regarded Q
to spend 790 for a new bath· absoluteh• worthless by every
house the had apparently given one familiar with same."
up trying to find out what hap-He \\rote once that lhe lher
pened lo lhe rental moneyl, but mometer •·registers us degree
with little success. for a large part of the year a
Palm rings IP.QSs iblY. the sum
The Desert Empire's Daily Newspaper PHONE FA 5·5005
Palm Springs, California , Friday , April 18, 1958 Single Copy 1 Oc
GermanResigns~ Cites Lack
f Cooperation from Bureau
Fig. 11 top, Journalist George Ringwald
confirmed the bureaucratic trials that
Olinger and the Tribal Council endured
to achieve their progressive agenda in
his article "Red Tape Was Always Factor
in Indian Affairs." The Daily Enterprise,
October 23, 1957 .
Z. German, dire~tor of the
ureau or Indian Affairs in Palm
prings. has resigned that posi-
llon eflectirn .\lay 2, declaring
there is ·a lack or cooperation
et11ecn this Bureau •nd the head
office in Washington, D C
German, \'t'ho has headed the
ureau for the .\gua Caliente In·
ian Band of ~lission lndians for
15 months, has been credited w1lh
e\'eloping better cooperation be·
ween the Indian!'. the local bur.
au and the City or Palm Springs
than erer before in the I o c a J
ribe's history
Indian l•nds which 'ch e ck e r·
board the entire cil\·. and lo at-
tempt lo stop the 'hopscolchin~·
of big-dc\clopments out~ide the
cily limits.
Prior to this limr. such den~J
opmenls were .. suing outside or
Palm Springs."
ACC'ORDl1'G TO THE a~ent ,
during the p;,1st months se\·eral
long term lec1Sl'S ha\·e been ar·
ranj?,ed whlC'h are Vl'ry beneficial
to the Jndwn owners and w i l I
l!'really increase their income,
"but none of these ha\ e yet been
cleared by the Bureau in Wash-Fig. 12 right, Press coverage of
C. Z. German's resignation as the local
director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Palm Springs. German's stepping down
validated the many challenges that
Olinger and the Tribal Council faced
in dealing with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs to affect legislation on behalf of
the tribe . The Desert Sun, April 18, 1958 .
YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
1~ A:\1NOt::\'Cl~G his resigna-ingtf'n. although they ha\ e been
lion, German told The D es er t ~cndi!~g for some six weeks or
Sun !hat "!he lack of cooperation 1 iorc .
from the Washington office made Three examples were riled by
l almost impossible lo obtain re· 1 loc•I de' clopcrs •s lo the "hop·
ulls and lo perform the job scotclung" !hat h•s already tak·
hich 1 was sent here to accom-en place because of bemg unable
plish" to gel long term leases on Indian
At the ti1ne or his appointment
to this office, German was direc-
ted to "derelop the Agua Calienl
Indian lands in Palm Springs: to
increase the income to the In·
dians on the \·ital central Section
14 in Palm Springs and the ke ·
land. One is the new shoppin~
center on Ramon Road outside
the city limits. another. the beau-
tiful Wcslcrn Hills hotel construe
led l.5 miles outside the c i L ~1
limits al Indian \\'ells. and the
other, the fabulous Dese1'l Brae·
mar. These de\·elooments which
ran into a combined multi-million
dollars. would with good. long
tcrrn leases possibly be in Palm
Spring. . it was explained
During his term of office. Ger-
man wao; head or a tremendou
expansion program for the loca
bureau. which increased the num ..
ber 0£ .{?o\·crnment cmployes from
3 lo 9. He was successful in eet·
til''! euardianshin £or more than
h•lf of !he Indian miJ1ors n[ the
Tribe. ancf rendert"d material as·
si!;tanc" in negotiation for the
~2.5 million dollar Palm Springs
Spa.
with others who have the same problems on non-Indian land and work
out their problems for mutual advantage."24 The Tribal Council argued
that the changes they had made or were planning to make were vital
to modernizing life in Palm Springs, for Indians and non-Indians alike.
Beyond increasing the value of Indian land, the
0
rT10st important aspect of
this new way of collegial thinking and operating was the aim of making
the local Indians equal and valued citi zens in Palm Springs. Creating a
place of beauty and source of pride by working with the city, as opposed
to fighting it, was the way of the future, and Olinger blazed that path .
Expressing a fresh sense of optimism characteristic of post-World
War II America, she observed: "As we continue to take our full place in
community affairs and enjoy continued fair treatment as American
citizens, we are confident that this close cooperation will continue ."2 s
Improvements already made, set in motion, or planned for the future
reflected "a steadily increasing standard of living, better homes, better
education, better health care, and all the other things that go to make up
what we like to call 'the American Way of Life ."'26 Yet the hard work for
Olinger and the Tribal Council was just beginning .
THE MODERNISTS VERSUS
THE TRADITIONALISTS
If the reformist agenda of the Indian Reorganization Act helped lay the
groundwork by which the tribe would rejuvenate and modernize, the
regressive aims of the 1953 Termination Act-which superseded the IRA-
presented Olinger and the Tribal Council with a host of new challenges .
What is referred to as the "Era of Termination " coincides directly with
the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Olinger's tenure on the
Tribal Council , providing a telling context for the many struggles she and
her fellow tribal leaders encountered . Believing now that it was better
to simply terminate rather than elevate their special government-to-
government relationship with tribes, congressional lawmakers devised
this legislation in order to dismantle tribal reservations and subject
American Indians-without due preparation-to the same laws that
applied to all American citizens. This new bill was also designed to save
money by abruptly cutting off a tribe's trust relationship and, thus, its
access to federal support services. Lastly, it gave the federal government
a new strategic advantage by which to procure valuable Indian lands and
their natural resources.
As Olinger and the Tribal Council worked hard for cooperative and
progressive change, they confronted this portentous shift in national
policy and its attendant bevy of new laws . At the same time, they had
to address entrenched and outdated rules and regulations, and in the
process, wade through massive bureaucratic red tape (Figs.11, 12). Olinger
Figs. 13, 14
Agua Caliente Cahuilla men
dominated tribal government until
the late 1940s, when women leaders
began making a presence. By 1954,
when Olinger was elected chairman
of the Tribal Council, the leadership
was all female . Olinger led the first
all-women Tribal Council in the
United States.
Above left, Male Agua Caliente Tribal
Leaders, 1937. Seated, left to right:
Francisco Patencio,
Moreno Patencio, William Marcus,
Lee Arenas, and Pico Manuel;
standing, left to right: Clemente
Segun'do, Albert Patencio, Baristo
Sol, and Adam Castillo.
Above right, Second all-women Tribal
Council, elected 1956 . Left to right:
Laverne Saubel, Elizabeth Pete
Monk, Gloria Gillette, Vyola Olinger,
and Eileen Miguel.
took on these immense challenges and more when she was elected
chairman of the Tribal Council in March 1954, presiding now over the
first all -women Tribal Council in the United States . All of her supportive
female colleagues-Eileen Miguel , Elizabeth Pete Monk, Flora Patencio,
and Laverne Saubel-played an important role, each contributing to
the making of a modern tribe-but it was Olinger who emerged ready
and prepared to best vocalize and represent the interests of the council
and the tribe. In Cahuilla culture, tribal leadership had customarily been
hereditary and patriarchal. "Women have traditionally held positions of
importance in the Indian nation," Olinger noted at the time, "but I believe
we are unique in having an all-women government. There are only 11
adult males (over [the age of] 21) in the tribe, 70 % of the minors are girlsl"
The precedent-setting election that named Olinger as tribal chairman
symbolized a new balance of power in the tribe. Within a decade, the
familiar all-male leadership that had controlled the net and dominated
the Tribal Committee structure had evolved into an all -women regime
(Figs.13 , 14). This dramatic change further fueled the fight between tribal
traditionalists and modernists.
During Olinger's term as chairman , she and the all -women Tribal
Council created the tribe 's principal governing document of its modern
era . The original "Constitution and By-Laws of the Agua Caliente Band of
Mission Indian s, California" was officially adopted on June 28 , 1955 . This
written in strument of governance clearly stated the powers possessed
by the tribe regarding Indian land .27 A signature proviso vested the
Tribal Council with the authority "to administer the affairs and manage
the business of the Band ; to regulate the u ses and disposition of tribal
property; to protect and preserve the tribal property, including wildlife
and natural resources ."28
With thi s legal foundation established, Olinger and the Tribal
Council began assuming primary control over the "uses and di sposition"
of the tribe's land . They did so first and foremost by tackling the federal
government's obsolete leasing laws . As first stipulated in 1910, "Federal
Indian Policy " held that Indian land was subject to five-year lease term
limits for commercial and residential property, following the ten-year
lease term limits for agricultural property. By the 1950s , these onerous
restrictions had , for the most part, reduced Indian leaseholds to magnets
for transient le ssees , with no long-term vested interests and little ability
to produce sufficient monthly/y earl y income . The result was property
that yielded nomin a l economic value . With legal input from Simpson ,
01 i nger and her fellow Tribal Cou nci I members went straight to work with
the singular focus of redressing this untenable situation . For Olinger,
it was patently evident that long-term leasing for Indian land must
be implemented if the tribe were to enjoy economic prosperity. It was
crucial for future tribal growth and progress . With Simpson at her side to
guide her through the legal maze and confounding ways of the nation's
capital, she began traveling regularly to Washington , DC , as well as to
Sacramento, proposing new leasing legislation, testifying on its behalf,
and lobbying for its passage . Her per sistence led Californi a congressmen
John J. Phillips and Clair Engle to form a bipartisan effort to introduce, in
May 1955 , "a bi 11 to authorize the Tribal Cou nci I of the Agua Caliente Band
of Mis sion Indians to lease a certain land of the Agua Caliente Reservation
for certain purposes " for a term period of ninety-nine years 29 On August 9,
1955 , not long after being introduced , this legislation was signed into
law by President Eisenhower and enacted as the General Leasing Act, or
Public Law 255 . In its final iteration, it transformed the draconian five-
year lease term for residential and commercial Indian property into a
twenty-five-year lea se term , with a one-time renewal option of another
twenty-five years . If the new aggregate lease term of fifty years was not
the originally proposed ninety-nine-year lease term , it was still a tenfold
advance that forever changed how Indian land would be leased . This was
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND 27
historic; it was the first long-term lease legislation applicable
to Indian land .
The immense joy produced by this dramatic achieve -
ment, however, was short-lived . It was soon replaced by
more dedicated hard work on two fronts . First, the city of
Palm Springs wanted to collect tax revenue from any long-term leasing of
Indian land they deemed within its jurisdiction, even though Indian trust
land was ex empt from tax ation . The city thus made efforts to prevent
the immediate enactment of P.L. 255 , resulting in an order from Secretary
of the Interior Douglas McKay that required all new leases on the Agua
Caliente Reservation to be no longer than a year while a study was made
of the situation. McKay's stipulation effectively stalled the momentum
of P.L. 255. Second, in the end, a total of fifty years under Public Law 255
remained insufficient under the commercial requirements ordinarily
imposed by banks and insurance companies.30 These business entities
required a minimum time period in which to recoup their investment,
and fifty years was just shy of this condition .
Eager to ti nd resolutions to these stumbling blocks, 01 i nger returned
immediately to the drawing board . To ex press her dismay at the turn of
events, she was in touch directly, via telegram , with James E. Murray,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs . She
and the Tribal Council then issued Resolution No . 285, dated October 4,
1955, in which they called attention to the city's efforts to tax Indian
land, stating that Indian landowners must be consulted and must give
their approval to any proposed tax plan. Olinger then sent a copy of this
resolution to Congressman Clair Engle. Concerning the duration of long-
term leases for Indian land , Olinger and the Tribal Council were intent on
taking no chances in their next go-round. With the expert assistance of
their legal counsel, Simpson , they insisted on their initial proposal for a
ninety-nine-year lease term .
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Effecting ninety-nine-year leases on Indian land was an even more
complex process for Olinger and the Tribal Council than what had been
required for the first landmark legislation, P.L . 255. This was because
ninety-nine-year leases were contingent upon some old and very thorny
unfinished business: the settling of land allotments on the Agua Caliente
Reservation . Olinger instinctively understood that, if left unresolved,
this problem would be sure to derail any economic development for the
tribe . Recognizing the value of Indian land in Palm Springs, the federal
government, in turn, dragged its feet in order to prolong whatever control
it had over these valuable assets and to maneuver them to its advantage .
This continuing tactic of delay was effective in leaving things up in the air.
28 YOU CAN'T EAT OIRT
The individual allotment of all Indian land dates back
to 1887, when Congress passed the General Allotment Act
(GAA), also known as the Land in Severalty Act or the Dawes
Act. Designed to promote a federal policy of assimilatior'I;
its drafters hoped Indians would learn-by managing
and working their own tracts of land-the techniques of farming and /
or raising livestock as well as the values of individualism and private
prope r ty ownership. This attempt to absorb Indians into the mainstream
of American society was also an effort to end the crippling poverty on
reservations by making their populations "productive." The act called
for dividing communally held Indian lands into separate parcels, or
allotments. Generally, heads of families received 160 acres and single
persons over eighteen years of age received 80 acres. All other tribal
members received 40 acres. In the case of the Agua Caliente Reservation ,
given its unusual checkerboard configuration, each allotment was 47
acres total : 2 acres located in downtown Palm Springs, 5 acres irrigable
land, and 40 acres non irrigable land. Al I allotments were to be held in trust
by the federal government for twenty-five years, at which time allottees
would acquire title to the land and could manage or di s pose of it freely.
Any surplus reservation land was sold to non -Indian settlers, farmers,
or ranchers. The practice of taking land for settlement by non -Indians
worked very well , while the aim of assimilating Indians failed miserably.
Most Indians strongly objected to abandoning their communal society
for the allotment system , and its implementation only exacerbated their
poverty. The General Allotment Act also weakened traditional tribal
governments while giving increasing power over Indian affairs to the
federal government.
Carrying out the land allotment process on the Agua Caliente
Reservation took over seventy years, numerous lawsuits, and countless
hours of congressional testimony before the Department of the Interior
finally authorized any allotments . This bureaucratic nightmare began in
1891, when Congress passed the Mission Indian Relief Act, specifically
calling for individual allotments to be assigned on the reservation .
This act was intended to redress the hardships suffered by the Agua
Caliente Cahuilla because of the failure of the federal government to
fulfill the terms of the 1887 Dawes Act on their reservation. The measure
gave discretionary authority to the Department of the Interior to allot
re servation lands "whenever any of the Indians residing upon [the]
reservation ... shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, be so
advanced in civilization as to be capable of owning and managing land
in severalty."3 1 Even though they were ordered, these allotments on the
Agua Caliente Reservation were never officially realized, thus setting in
motion a torturous pattern that would repeat itself well into the 195os .3 2
The tactics of delay on the federal government's part grew from the
widely acknowledged value of Indian land in Palm Springs. By keeping
the situation in limbo, the authorities could prolong their control over
Detail of an Agua Caliente Cahuilla basket with whirlwind-creation motif.
these valuable assets and maneuver to their advantage.
The unresolved matter was picked up again in 1916, when Secretary
of the Interior Franklin Knight Lane called Congress's attention to
the neglect over allotments on the Agua Caliente Reservation.33 Still
no action was taken, and as a result, no allotments were made, once
again . In 1917, hoping to move the issue forward, Congress amended
the 1891 Mission Indian Relief Act and directed the Secretary of the
Interior to make allotments on the Agua Caliente Reservation. Allotting
agent Harry E. Wadsworth was sent to Palm Springs in 1921 with
specific instructions to permit Indians on each of the Mission Indian
Reservations, including the Agua Caliente Reservation, to select their
own allotments. Agua Caliente tribal members resisted the allotment
process, however, understanding that it would undermine their long-
held traditions and beliefs about communal landownership. Wadsworth
returned to Palm Springs in 1923 in order to resume the process, and
disregarding the wishes of tribal members, he chose their allotments
for them . Yet because they were made without the input or agreement
of tribal members, the Secretary of the Interior disallowed them and
thus prevented their fulfillment. By 1927, at which time Palm Springs
was rapidly developing into a resort destination for Hollywood stars
and the wealthy elite, Wadsworth returned again to the Agua Caliente
Reservation, seeking to finalize allotments. At this juncture, about half
the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Band, or around twenty-four or so tribal
members, realized that it was in their best interest to select allotments
and did so. Wadsworth then issued those participating tribal members
a certificate called "Selection for Allotment ." On its face, however, in
a strange contradictory twist, the document stated, "Not Valid Unless
Approved by the Secretary of the Interior." In Washington, DC, these
mixed messages prevailed, and politicians did nothing to further the
allotment process.
Meanwhile, the Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribal members who had
selected allotments, including Olinger's mother, began building and
making improvements on their allotted parcels of land. However, with
the shift in national Indian policy under President Roosevelt, John
Collier, the new Commissioner of Indian affairs, argued for ending the
allotment process altogether; ultimately, he succeeded in having the
General Allotment Act of1887 repeal ed. In th is new context, Col Ii er asked
the Secretary of the Interior, Harold L. Ickes, to deny the 1927 allotment
schedule for the Agua Caliente Reservation, once again leaving tribal
members in an unsettled state. Nonetheless, the Agua Caliente Cahuilla
members with allotments, albeit unauthorized, rejected outright any
notion that the allotment process should be "terminated," believing
fervently that the federal government should follow through on
what it had set in motion . These tribal members joined together and
launched the filing of a string of lawsuits-including an action brought
by Olinger's mother, Juana Saturnina Hatchitt-that lasted for decades,
sustained by a commitment to obtain their full rights to allotments.34
While those with allotments battled for their approval, they also
fought fellow tribal members without allotments. During the 1930s,
tensions naturally rose b~.tween the "haves" and "have nots." Those
without allotments, having opted out of the process, gravitated toward
the umbrella support of the radical Mission Indian Federation, while those
with them joined forces in a 1938 class action suit, Genevieve St. Marie,
et al. v. United States, et al. This case argued that St. Marie and eighteen
other tribal members were entitled to their land allotments as scheduled
by allotting agent Wadsworth. After review by trial and district courts,
this case suffered a stunning setback when the Supreme Court refused to
hear it on the grounds that it was filed a day late. In 1940, tribal leader Lee
Arenas took matters into his own hands and reintroduced the allotment
argument in a new filing, Lee Arenas, et al. v. United States . Once again,
the courts ruled against hearing the case. However, the Arenas lawsuit
ultimately reached the Supreme Court, where it was finally heard, and in a
historic landmark decision of 1944, the court ruled that allotments on the
Agua Caliente Reservation must be made and finalized.
Regardless of the Supreme Court's 1944 decision, the drama between
the Agua Caliente Cahuilla and the federal government continued when
the Interior Department and the BIA delayed action on this ruling. Creating
even more chaos was the fact that new allotments were being made anyway
on a first-come first-served basis, even though some parcels of land had
been occupied and improved for more than twenty years, as if their status
had long been finalized . In addition, allotments were of unequal value, as
their relative worth depended on where they were located. Those close to
downtown Palm Springs or in other desirable areas were considered more
valuable than those that were less central or that did not offer some other
strategic advantage, such as certain outlying sections being eyed for a
municipal airport.Given that allotments were appraised at differing dollar
amounts, the federal government began investigating ways to liquidate
parts of the reservation in order to pay cash for equalizing land values, as
it was unwilling to make available a cash appropriation for this specific
purpose . This governmental inquiry led to more fear, anger, and confusion,
and, in turn, even more litigation. In 1950, Clemente Segundo and other
tribal members filed a lawsuit, petitioning the federal government, yet
again, to finalize their allotments, as well as to equalize them and sort out
the myriad problems generated by new allotments.
BAPTISM BY FIRE
Olinger faced this legal fiasco and its attendant emotional turmoil when
she found herself reelected to the Tribal Council in March 1954, this time
as chairman . It was baptism by fire for this small-business owner, wife,
and mother who was called to meet the full measure of her abilities. She
OF TWO WORLOS, YET OF ONE MIND 29
had already displayed a nimble adaptability to the ways of the Tribal
Council and the demands of her official position, but this complicated
allotment situation could have overwhelmed her. Yet , it did not. Instead,
leading the first all-women Tribal Council in the United States, she
worked tirelessly to end, once and for all , the seriously protracted legal
wrangling over allotments and push through longer-term leasing on
Indian land . To effect these momentou s changes, she had to bring to bear
all her personal assets-a strong sense of dedication; empirical , quick-
acting decision making; and a daring per severance that left no stone
unturned.
Since entering tribal politics in 1952, Olinger closely followed ,
readily encouraged, or directly shaped all pertinent tribal litigation,
helped by the able hand of Ray Simpson . In 1956, when a district court
in Southern California refused to allow any further delays where land
allotments on the reservation were concerned and ruled in the Segundo
case that an equalization program must be formulated and carried
out, Olinger and the Tribal Council devoted themselves to devising
just such a program . The judge's dictate reflected Eisenhower's new
national Indian policy of "termination," which sought to take "the
federal government out of the Indian trusteeship business by giving
Indians title to and responsibility for their land s."3s Olinger supported
this irrefutable notion of giving Indians full control over their land-an
essential step in her economic development plans-but she advocated
a gradual fulfillment of termination, knowing that her people would be
disadvantaged without an adequate education and adjustment period
that would support them through the process (Figs . 15, i6). "Termination
for the Indians of California is inevitable," she noted, "but it will be a
disaster unless certain things take place first. No two tribes face the
same problems and no two tribes are the same distance from reasonable
termination. My people are obviously much closer .... We are approaching
the point of financial stability .... But we still have many problems to work
out .... Indians are proud of their heritage just as they are proud of their
land. We're not interested in becoming stereotypes out of a Sears and
Roebuck catalogue ."3 6 Having articulated her position on this matter,
she began an active dialogue about equalization with the Interior
Department, and in April 1956, Rex Lee, the Associate Commissioner of
the Interior, traveled to Palm Springs and met with Olinger, the Tribal
Council , and all tribal members about "tentative proposals." It was
the beginning of a lengthy process-involving many telephone calls,
letters, and in -person meetings among the tribal leaders, politicians, and
ex pert consultants in Palm Springs and Washington , DC. By spring 1957,
this participatory ex change had yielded a proposed equalization plan.
Olinger quickly le a rned , though , that declaring something and ex ecuting
it could be two entirely different things within the public sector. For as
unequivocal as the judge's ruling was in the Segµ_ndo case, the methods
by which equalization would be achieved were confusing and fr~ught
~~.~~~·l
30 YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
Ter1nination of t : .S. Bolt•
California Indians D raft Policy Plan
Between the two meetings, the
Californ ia Indians Congress
c a me to Bishop to hold its sec-
ond annua l convention and gave
their Bishop hosts strong sup-
V y ola Olinger, airman
Palm Spri ·ibe and
president, ob-
s e rves that the Bishop stand
does not necessaril y represent
California Indian sentiment on
terminat ion. What it represen t s ,
Mrs . Olinger sa ys , is Indians '
unwilling ness to be pushe d by
th e bureau on a matter involv-
in g numer ous leg al and tech -
n i cal com lexities.
Fig. 15 above, Press coverage of
Olinger speaking on termination,
the federal government's Indian
policy, instituted by Dwight D.
Eisenhower in 1953. The Christian
Science Monitor, March 24, 1956.
Fig . 16 right, Press coverage of
Olinger addressing the Indian
policy of termination before
the State Senate Committee in
Sacramento, 1955, while members
of the Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla listen. The Washington
Daily News, 1955 .
WOMEN MEM BERS OF 4 AG UA CALIENTE BAND LIST EN W Dolh N•w• Photo
The 26 remaining adults in band own $I 0 000 oodTH l~TERES T TO PROCEEDIN GS Lady !n dian chi el urge~ ' wort of Pa lms rin gs
kindness with li rm hand
<Con l inuecl from Page l J will 1 .
. _ _ , e~\ e the Agua C'"alientes
J enl e !'.ta te bu!"ines in their f irst I'' Ith. h~tle . rnml"!rnn1ty interest,
'E'nture Into the bus iness worl d tJ11 e fady chief said s.he lelt com
and w P ete freedom should not be or
d.ered until the government IuJ. •~HE ~POK E..;;;MA~ was .Mrs Jlls a number o! its promi$es.
V)ola Olinger, 9257 Ott St T " . cl belor o .. w f l JIJ• .. "\h IUC'hHf(' lo ng J>romi\ed
Comm I e e , eaded e ood r~nt1~~J project,:; to protec
Charles D. Brown D ~I ~.e n . ~~e lntd1an.~ land, a l'Jar·ificaUon
Jwarings at Palm Spri~gs ~d i~gl ea~ wa e1~ I ~ghts .. R.ncl granting ot
termine how the Indians fe!i es~!1~l:e~1 r-;; and ~ J~h~~ of way nee
"?out rong1·essiona l proposals to and enjoy,:.~~~ o~~res f~r access
ri1\~ the m comple l e control of But .most or all i:i1:1op~~·ty.J
lf'Jr prope1·ty. gov~rnment shouicl. rst!~~i~h t le
State. ac 1Jon would be necessary con t urning l egal anrl tech~lcal ~~ ~~a 1 an.t~.e t hei_n certain r ights sen•kes coun~cling department
b . late t'llizen~h1p now provided for the large group that l th
.r _federa l aulhority, It was ex· first time wiJI be thinki or e
p J;:uned. · act!n.g for H~el! in 11 high~~ c~~~
•r u E A1r 1u1 ('alf<'nfe ba nd' pe1111~·c lm~ine!'s wo1Jcl. J ~r;:s ba ll ooner! when a cou~·~o~:~ er~"~:1'11; r.r~m throughout South c1~1 011 grt\e them title to \lal uable i ng Oneo 1 1~a ~UPnded th e hear.
R<"rrage in the hrart of the desert told repo ·to. ~ iei:n. ~am Brown
l e~o~t. . ed to d~a~J sth~g1~J =t~on Is need
t -1~J·1i5' Ohn~er c:hairman of the !rerdom for lhe 1nrTI1n f or more
i a ('Ourn·1I, told the se nator .
t haf th~ Palm ~Pl ings J;>and now
num~i,:; 26 adults and .=;(
imrl hold s tit le to 31.28 a.nc.
land valued Rl $10,000,000.
F.:Yen though a parceHl ng out
O( the tr i ba l Jand, a irPa dy begun,
with seemingly intractable problems . "It readily became apparent," she
observed, "that the mechanics of implementing this decision would not
be easy ."37
A significant impediment to making this ultimatum a reality
resided in the fact that the total value of the remaining available land
in the reservation was insufficient to permit final equalization. Associate
Commissioner Lee had assessed that it would take an estimated 549
million in land to equalize allotments up to the highest property value;
yet only about 513 million was available.38 His analysis was based on
available Indian land and the value of ex isting allotments in 1958, which
ranged from 587,500 to 5629,000 .39 To give the process a running chance
at success, the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a financial norm
between those two figures of 5350,000. It would serve as the fiscal target
for equalizing each allotted tribal member.4°
Another major issue was control . Even though the policy of
termination called for allowing Indians to finally manage their own land
and affairs, the letting go of some Indian lands simply proved too difficult
The famous mineral hot springs and Indian Canyons, for example, were
enormously valuable real estate assets, and both the federal government
and the city of Palm Springs were not inclined to relinquish control over
their disposition and management. Accordingly, in crafting the proposed
equalization plan, the two entities argued for terms and conditions that
would operate to their advantage regarding this pivotal real estate. Add
to this compelling factor, the age-old struggle over legal jurisdiction . In
effecting the equalization plan, the record reveals an eagerness on the
part of both the local and national authorities to remain in charge of
equalization, and so as these forces exercised their respective powers,
the process heated up. Tribal documents suggest that Olinger and her
fellow council members were cognizant of the conf1icting agendas and
rightfully wary of the federal government's approach to deal making
with Indian nations . Yet they understood that cooperation rather than
confrontation would be in the best interest of the tribe. By January 1957,
they had in hand the results of that cautious collaboration, which they
presented to the tribe for its review . Even though Olinger and her fellow
council members had legitimate concerns about this first draft of the
equalization bill, they were confident that they would be able to bring up
and redres s their criticisms when discussion of the proposal went public
by way of committee hearings.
In June 1957, however, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton,
in a letter to the Speaker of the House, stated that the court order in
the Segundo case could no longer be postponed . "Early consideration
and action by Congress," wrote Seaton, "a re desirable in order that the
Depa rtment of the Interior may comply most effectively with a final
order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California,
directing that an equalization program be formulated and carried out,
and retaining jurisdiction to equalize allotments if the Department
fails to do so."41 Fearful of losing their authority if they continued to
procrastinate, the Interior Department immediately sent to Congress ,
for its consideration, the proposal for equalization that had been a work
in progress between the t ribe and the Bu re au of Indian Affairs.California
Senators Thomas Kuchel and William Knowland introduced Senate Bill
2396 on June 26, 1957.42
Olinger took action instantly, and the committed and commanding
nature of her leadership shined during this sequence of time-sensitive
events . She called for hearings on S. 2396, understa nding that this review
process was a critical opportunity for the tribe to voice and iron out its
lingering and strenuous objections to principal parts of the bill.43 She
also orchestrated a vigorous outreach operation, writing, calling, and
telegramming the appropriate authorities and asking for their help
and support. Assisted by tribal attorney Simpson, she put pressure on
local congressman D. S. Saund-representative for California's 29th
congressional district-telling him directly and through the press that
there must be hearings on the proposed legislation before Congress
adjourned for the summer.44 "Despite the fact that our tribe does not
whole-heartedly lend its support to the present working of the bill,"
Olinger said in a radio interview, "we nevertheless feel we are entitled
to the courtesy of having ... our views ... presented to Congress ."4 s
In a teleconference with tribal attorney Simpson and Associate
Commis sione r Lee , she was more pointed: "Cut the mustard to get the
bi 11 in . Do everything you can [that is] humanly possible . Get the bi 11 [into
hearing s] and then we can present some amendments."46
Hearings on S. 2396, however, were not held before Congress
adjourned in the summer of 195 7. This ultimately worked to Olinger's
advantage. Now, having time for a careful and thorough review of the
proposed bill, Congressman Saund independently came to the conclusion
that it must be the subject of a hearing-at which time Olinger, the tribe,
and all other interested parties would be able to present their respective
views. Consequently, he arranged for members of the Subcommittee on
Interior and Insul ar Affairs to come to Palm Springs in October of that
year. By this juncture, Saund was completely informed on the issue s
surrounding S. 2396 and was sympathetic to the tribe's position, bluntly
saying of the bill that it was "primarily the work of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs " and "an abominable effort on the part of someone to steal Indian
lands ."47 The primary legal apparatus of S. 2396 called for conveying,
essentially, a ll unallotted lands to a tribal corporation composed of
directors appointed by both the tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
but with the BIA having a majority (voting only) position . This would
dramatically enhance the power of the BIA by elevating the rank of the
agency from a mere trustee to a controlling directorship over the tribe's
principal assets. Each tribal member would be issued an equal number
of shares of stock in the corporation up to the amount of the highest-
priced allotment. Dividends for t ri bal members would come from the
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND 31
~IC'mbers of thr Agua Caliente I
Tribe sat in complete silence last
night as Rex Lee of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Departnierit of I
lnterior. announced a new equal·
1z.ation proccdure·for the local In·
dians. one \\:hich would take away
all tribal lands and allot them to I
indi\ 1dua! members of lhe Tribe.
The proposal will bring to an
rnd thP luture tribal control of I
more than 26,000 acres oC land.
includm~ tht municipal airpart.
the nuneral baths, and the famed
can~on.
LI, THE TR IB AL lands will be j ~~~·
cut up lntn .parcels; ":hich will be I
used to bnng individual Indian
holdlnJ:s up to a value of $350.·
000, and any Indian who now has
this amount or more will not
oencf1t Crom the chan~e.
Thr aclion. which cauj?hl 1110!-il
lribal mrmbl'ro;; by surprise. will
.dfed only !lnnt allottees. some
91'> membt'rs of the trihe, and will
mcrrase 11 allotmenls by SW0,-
000 or mnr
MR: • \'YOL.\ Ohngcir. cha.irn'la
nf thP all·\\Omrrn Tribal Council,
:i;1ud thP plan left her "in a slat
•'THI S P LAN \\'I LL completely dcstro)· the local trihe," said Vyola
Olinger . chairman of the Agua Clilll'nle 'l'nbal Council. and with
the help of olher tribal members !'hl' plans to "light the plan a~
propo~cd by lhe Bureau." ~lrs Olinge-r i!' pictured directing quei;-
tions to Rex Lee at the mcetin~ held at lhe orhi.:c or the Burcttu
f lndian Alfa1r"1 la~r night. lnteresll'd Pl'lrtit-~ seatcid fore,"l:round
Atlorncys Warren Slaughter and Gillar Boyd. {Slln Photo/,
hock." 50 per cent or th!! necessary .\C'CORDlNG TO Ray Simpson,
··11rn; pan \\I completely de-amount to make 1l actually equal. itttorney for the Tribal Counctl.
:!!'ro' the local tribe." . aid ~lrs. The highest of recent individual the court in the Segundo ca~ e
Ohn&er. ··1 don"t reel lhf' Bureau valuations was listed by the bu-said that the ori~inal court order
of Indian Affairs knowi;; wh. at this I reau at $629.000. and lhe. lowe:;t I call<.>d for eq.ualizing all allo tted
''ill do to destroy a lribe and I \'aluation i.~ $87,500. lauds \·alues to lhe highest rnlue
don't beilrve that il'i what its poll-All tribal lands, whicli are al· or any single allotment. and the
cy ha!!. been." lotted under the equalizauon pro-plan, a!t presented last night. pro·
gram. will be under the control , po~cs eq11atizmg up to a "norm"
SHE \St\f~ll REX Lee if the of the indi\'idual Indwn . but, ac· 'of ~37>11.000.
propo!'al had been approved by I cordtng to r .. cc. prel'icnt lrasti's can· 1 Under the authority H~ted in
the SC'CTl."lary or Interior a n d 1 not be nullified rind mo~t be hon· the Bureau of Indian Afr am;, the
Jud~P William C. Mathe!§ or Los I c. ~ • by the ne~· owners. As ::in mttximum number of acres that
Am:eleot "ho had handed down example. Lee pointed out lh1'1 the can be allotted to any Indian i!I
thf' tquahzation order durmg the Palm Sprm:?~ Airrort would be 160 ;tcrcs. and in some ca!'es il
C"lem Se1rnndo ca~e. Lee replied alloltf'd and lhal all thr land hold-\Hll t~ke e\·cry bit or thi~ numhcr
that he did not know iC the judge e1s \\ould ha\C to ahtde by the tn h1in~ the \·alunLion up lo the
had brrn informed of the plan, lea~e the city has until 1960 The S350,000 lop hgure.
but the order to use this plan was de velopmcnl of the spa on the I
ir;::ned for the Oeparlment or In· ~l111cral Baths site will be able LEO. ·,\RO HILL . area director
tenor by Robert Ernst, a!>Sislant Lo continue under its pre:i::cnl 50· for the bureau announcl"d at the
.aecretarv of the Interior. \"Car lea~c and ~ill be honored s:ime time that nn further allot·
'lr" Otint[er said that the ac-by the new own~rs. mf'nlc; \\OUld he m.1d'"° and nn fur·
tion •·w11 the most unfair thing ther land exchange!'i would be ap
that has eu~r been propo. ed." IT Wfll.· BE mid·.Ju\y before prm ed.
the \'ailrntions arc set b~· the bu· lie said th~t t1le lmhddm1l In·
t. EQLALIZL'G the lands, it reau, and then the lnd1<Jns will dwns would lciarn of lhc amnunl
'\\Ill bP oecc sary to ta ke all the draw lots lo detem1111i.> the mun-nf thdr allotml'nts in a ll'tler by
land ht: longing lo the tribe and bt>r in which they \\ 111 be able to Julv U
he1d by tribal control, and allot I d"aw [or land. rru1. Si\·a, long limP acli' e in
it to ;nd1' !dual Indians Excep· Lee ~aid that th• Indians or , lnr1ian Aff~1roi:. ~ummcd up the
tinin to thi11 propo~al are thP In· 1 Congress could !'lop the prc!'>c11l matle1· of JUsl what the lo cal In
dian cemelery and t~r: church plan of eriualiz.atinn. h11t if it 1s diam• lho~.~h~ o~ lhl!' proposal when
pro~rty Ho·.\e\"'r u .. 1n~ "ll the 'l'll 'lnpprd, tho bureau \\lll con· I hf' -tud tht$ l!'i a .,nuuri propusnl
1ar.d '\l.l l onh• ~110 tn about ·1(' t11 rut lhP pl"n lnln eH cl. r • ··c"· n 111. 1a"'
Fig. 17 Press coverage of Olinger speaking before a meeting
in Palm Springs between the tribe and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, contending that the federal government's equalization
plan would "completely destroy the local tribe" and that she
and her fellow Tribal Council members vow to wage an all-
out fight against it. Standing: Olinger; seated,left to right:
attorneys Warren Slaughter and Gillar Boyd .
The Desert Sun, June 25, i958.
32 YOU CAN'T EAT OIRT
VOL. XXXI , NO . 227 12 Pages Palm Springs , California , Wednesday , June 25 , 1958 PHONE FA 5-5 005
leasing, developing, or selling of tribal lands, or from the fees collected
by the corporation for the use of the mineral hot springs and the Indian
Canyons. While the t r ibe's communal lands -its reserve s, including the
sacred mineral hot springs and the hallowed Indian Canyons-were
not specifically designated for allotment or sale in this bill as part of its
proposed equalization procedures, the legislation had no prov i so that
would prevent this horror from happening in the future .4 8
Atthe October 195 7 congressional hearings, to which tribal members
turned out in record numbers, Olinger testified that this plan could
operate to annihilate the tribe .49 "Our tribal lands ... are as meaningful
to our tribe as Mount Vernon and Yellowstone National Park are to the
Un ited States at l arge, and equali zation with land alone would force our
members to lose the tribal identity associated with our reserves," Olinger
proudly stated .so She also relayed that the tribe was equally concerned
that the current proviso for tax immunity vis -a-vis Indian land had not
been made a permanent condition . The fear that it could be changed in
the future, which would have devastating economic consequences for
the tribe, was based again on the fact that the government would have a
dominant seat at the boardroom table. "The [equalization] bill is fraught
with serious danger" to the Agua Caliente Cahu i lla, contended Olinger.
The Ind ians are "ex tremely apprehensive about a corporation the bill
proposed," she con t inued, "which would administer tribal lands and
accomplish equalization ... it resembles a Frankenstein which they are
reluctant to create for the fear it might later destroy them."s 1 In rejecting
outright the idea of a corporation configured and controlled by the BIA,
Olinger argued further that Indian land must be securely ex empt from
ta xation . She also suggested an alternative by wh i ch Congres s would
set aside the sacred reserves , in perpetuity, thu s protecting them from
l i qu i dati on and the equali zation process . Instead o f div i ding the tribal
reserves in order to make up the difference in equali z ing the 104 47 -
acre allotments in question, she recommended that Congress make an
equalizing cash appropriation to tribal members .s 2
Si ng le Copy l Oc
Charging that the equalization
plan initiated by the Bureau of
lndian Affairs and approved by
A sislant Secretary of Interior
Roger Ernst "creates an eco-
nomic and cultural crisis for both
the City of Palm Springs and the
Agua Caliente Band of !\fission
Indians ," the Indians last night
took two steps to stop the action.
They drew up a tribal letter di-
recled to the City Counci l of the
City of Palm Springs , asking for
ils upport of House Resolution
13323. a bill to provide for t h e
equalization of allotments on the
Agua Caliente Reservation and
for other purposes , and in other
correspondence asked Secretary
Erns t to hold ofI the enforcement
of the bureau · s plan.
IN THEIR LETTER to the City
Council the Indians also asked for
supp-0rt in contacting executive-
and legislative representati ves Lo
a k for early bearings on the new
bill. HR 13323 was introduced into
co n gr es s by Congressman D.
S . Saund July 8, and is now refer-
red to the Committee on Interior
and Insular Affairs.
Most important to the City of
Palm Springs is Section 4 of the
bill which will allow the sale of
Section 18 , the airport , to the City
of Palm Springs, by the Indian
Tribe.
I THE MAIN POINTS of the bill
as proposed by the Agua Caliente
Band of Inpians include that any
Indian living at the time of the
enactment of the Act shall be giv-
en an allotment in accordance
with provisions of the existing
law, and that no further allot-
ments of land shall thereafler be
made to any other or future mem-
bers of the Band. their heirs or
devisees , except for the purpose
of equalization.
Fig. 18 Press coverage of Olinger and the
Tribal Council seeking support from
the city of Palm Springs in their fight
against the federal government's plan for
equalization. Olinger asked the city to
endorse the Tribal Council's alternative
proposal, House Resolution 13323.
The Desert Sun, July 29, 1958 .
WEATHER
Dete rt Are. Farec:ul: Variable
cloudinus wllh acc;;i ltered 1ho•rn
and lh~nderstorms t.oda J,
Salurda.y's hlrh Jll, lo w i;::
Sunda,'t hlih 111 , lo r 61; \lon•
day 'J bl&b !09. lnll' i J-.and ~·
corded a trace o( rain.
Council Asked VOL . XXXI , NO . 250 10 Pog cs Po lm Sp ri ngs, California , Tuesday, l ul v 29, 195 8 PH O N E FA 5-5005 Single Copy IOc
THE FIGHT TO PRESERVE
TRIBAL IDENTITY
The congressional hearing on equalization in Palm Springs in the fall of
1957 was followed by congressional inaction . Thus, in March 1958, the
Interior Department notified Olinger that, given the pressing Segundo
court order, it had no other option than to prepare a land equalization
plan based on the district court's "existing author ity," whic h meant
proceeding immediately with equalizing the allotments using the tribal
reserves .53 The Interior Department admitted that this approach stood
to produce a result that would be considerably less advantageous to
the tribe than Senate Bill 2396 , but pointed out that "we do not feel we
can delay further."54 In response, Olinger again launched an aggressive
campaign to overturn this decision. Her first order of business was
to gather together the Tribal Council and issue a resolution, released
in April 1958, that stated that the tribe would "initiate and undertake
whatever action is required to have the Congress of the United States
pass legislation which will set apart from any allotment or equalization
program , the said ex isting Tribal reserves ."55 Its singular objective was for
the reserves "to be held in perpetuity and in memoriam for the benefit
and use of the Agua Caliente Band of Mission ln dians ."56 Olinger then
wrote Congressman Saund, again asking for his support and explaining
her serious concern that equalization under the "statutory authority"
would be worse for the tribe than Senate Bill 2396 .57 She also wrote
Senator Knowland, conveying : "The Bureau of Indian Affairs has made a
decision on equalization of allotments on the Palm Springs reservation
that wi ll destroy tribal identity completely. I am asking you as my senator
to request the Bureau of Indian Affairs give you a fu ll report."58
Regardless of Olinger's fast and furious efforts to block the plan ,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons sent a letter to area
BIA director Leonard Hill , dated June 19, 1958, in structing him to proceed
with the process of allotment under the current "statutory authority,"
specifically noting that this directive wou ld supersede any previous
order, adding, "We regret the necessity for including the reserves in the
equalization program."59 Pushed to the limit, Olinger and fellow Tribal
Council members promised to wage an all-out fight against the federal
government's equalization program , claiming that it wou ld "liquidate"
the local band .60 Strategically speaking to the press in June 1958, days
after hearing the news, Olinger said: "I don 't feel the Bureau of Indian
Affairs actually knows what it wi ll do to destroy a tribe, and I don 't
believe that is what its policy has been. This is completely destroying a
people . It's the most unfair thing that's ever been proposed ."61 Surprised
and "in a state of utter shock," she gathered together tribal members at
a meeting in Palm Springs in late June 1958 to address what she termed
"an economic and cultural crisis."62 Associate Commissioner Lee was in
attendance and Olinger pressed him, asking if the proposal had been
approved by the Secretary of the Interior and if Judge Wi I liam c. Mathes-
who had handed down the court order in t he Segundo case in the first
place-knew of these turns of events {Fig . 17).63 He replied that the
Assistant Commissioner of the Interior Department had authorized the
plan, and that he did not know if Mathes knew the status . Importantly,
though , Lee cracked open the door of possibility, admitting that it could
be stopped by the tribe or Congress, but if no further action was taken, it
wou ld have to go into effect.
For Olinger, this faint glimmer of hope offered her more fuel to
energize her already electrified strugg le to overturn the government's
plan, which one tribal member characterized as "a sound proposal-if we
were in Russia."64 While the government had stalled making a decision
on equalization after S. 2396 had been thwarted at the congressional
hearing in Palm Springs in October 1957, Olinger continued working
on the problem, getting to know Congressn;ian Saund better and
consulting wi th him and tribal attorney Simpson on refining some of the
alternatives for equalization brought up during the fall hearings . She
authorized Simpson to "undertake and initiate on behalf of the Band any
and all acts which might reasonably be deemed necessary and proper
by him to prevent ... the equalization plan presented by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs."65 Olinger also marshaled the support of the city, which
understood that the current incarnation of the equalization proposal no
longer suited their best interests either (Fig. 18). The result was that the
city and tribal attorneys came together and prepared a revised bill that
was introduced on July 8, 1958, by Saund as House Resolution 13323.66
Intended to obviate the negative effects of the bureau 's proposal,
the new bill was a three -point, do-it-yourself equalization plan designed
to empower band members to take all necessary and proper steps to
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MINO 33
equalize themselves. It proposed : (1) setting aside the tribal reserves
(over 2,000 acres), which included the scenic canyon lands, the mineral
hot springs, and two cemeteries, then valued at more than S2 million;
(2) allotting the remaining 24,000 acres of the reservation, valued at
approximately S13 million, to some ninety individual members of the
band; and (3) providing that any difference between the land values
and the amount due each Indian under a 1949 allotment plan be made
up from future income of tribal reserve properties.67 While it called for
saving the tribal reserves , the new bill would give the city of Palm Springs
an opportunity to buy the square mile of Indian land it had been leasing
from the tribe for a municipal airport, providing the Indians ultimately
agreed to sell it.
Throughout the summer and early fall 1958, Olinger and Simpson
lobbied the Department of the Interior, asking them to halt the BIA's
current allotment plan and hold a hearing on the proposed replacement
bill , H.R. 13323. Olinger and a contingent from Palm Springs, including
Vice Mayor Ted McKinney and City Attorney Jerome Bunker, traveled
to Washington, DC, with a mission to engage support for their better
substitute legislation, heating up the debate further by charging that
the government was using equalization as a "weapon " to accomplish
termination (seep. 119).68 Olinger followed up the delegate trip with a
declaration stating: "The undersigned members of the Agua Caliente
Band of Mission Indians do hereby repudiate and reject the equalization
plan heretofore conceived and initiated by the Department of the
Interior through the Bureau of Indian Affairs on June 19, 1958, as unfair,
unjust, and unworkable."69
As a result of these active lobbying efforts, a report on H.R. 13323
was prepared by the Department of the Interior and a hearing including
the proposed bill was scheduled for August 5.1° At that congressional
meeting, Saund's resolution was brought up, but in a cruel twist of fate
or by deliberate design, there was insufficient time to collect testimony.
Whether there was no opportunity to hear witnesses, or-more likely-
there was an eagerness on the part of the government to proceed quickly
with the onerous BIA plan despite serious opposition by the tribe, the
full truth is difficult to ascertain from the record. Regardless, Roger Ernst
of the Department of the Interior informed Olinger of the news, saying,
"We have carefully reviewed ... your alternative proposal embodied in
Congressman Saund 's bill. After reviewing all the factors involved we
have come to the decision that our order of June 19, 1958, is the most
equitable .... While we would have preferred legislation as originally
proposed [meaning Senate Bill 2396], this does not appear possible . The
Bureau of Indian Affairs will therefore proceed along the lines of our June
19, 1958, order."71 Ernst argued, once again, that the Interior Department
was under duress by the court to equalize, and that it could not afford to
wait. Without ex plicitly saying it, he made it clear that he was unwilling
to reschedule a hearing when Congress reconvened.
34 YOU CAN 'T EAT D I RT
0 . S . SAUN O
W U TMOllLAHO, CAu.-oftHIA
air mail
g;nn1ngof hi' kcrn intcrcs1 in the Unhcd
Swcs. Afkr groldu.i.l1<>n, he arnninf pa •
\llglC to America and tnlC'rt'd lhc Unitcr-
M1y o( CahfocniJ. :11 Herkdcy to conunl.lt'
hi~ siudk<c. One of the 1um1n1 poina of
SJ .SO
<ll:ongre.ss of tbe 'mtniteb ~Mates
1f,louse of l\epresentatibes
iUlall!Jh1gton, l9. <.t.
July 20, 1959
Mrs . Vyola Olinger
9257 O tto Street
D owney, California
M y dear V yola:
CO MM ITTEES:
FOREIGN AFFA IRS
....a>MMl'TTl:Ut
l ~TIOf4AL0-IZA'1'10N
AND M OV&MVl"l"I
F AR ~ST .VIO Tllll PACl l'IC
STATll: 0 t;P.V0-"41HT ORGAttlUTIOfl
AJID F ORDGft OPou.TN;»ll
I NTERIOR AND INSULAR
AFFAIRS
I RRIGATION AND A KU.MATICIH
l riDIAN A1'1"AIRI
Pua.IC l..AHOI
It has been really comforting to know of you r continued
support in my fight to secure justice and fair play for the members
of your beloved Agua C aliente I ndian Tribe .
It has been a constant struggle with the Bureau of I ndian
Affairs ever since I came to Washington three years ago. But
I find a great satisfaction in the fact that I have your loyal support
in this matter.
Ple a se be assured that as long as I represent the 29th
Congressional D istrict, the members of the different Indian tribes
in my area will find in me a devoted friend and a real champion
of their rightful heritage.
I am thankful for the personal help which you have given to
me and the informaion which has been made available by your able
and hard-working attorney, Mr . Ray Simpson.
With kindest personal regards from M arian and myself.
;:;,~
D . S . Saund
M ember of C ongress
DSS:bh
Fig . ig Cover of Congressman from
India, the political autobiography
by D. S. Saund, with a signature page
inscribed as follows: "To my beloved
and devoted friend, Vyola, with
sincerest regards. Judge," which was
Saund's nickname.
Fig . 20 Letter from D. S. Saund to
Olinger during the summer of 1959,
when she was testifying on Capitol
Hill on behalf of the tribe in order
to finalize equalization and secure
longer-term leasing for Indian land.
This dry, matter-of-fact response fi xed Olinger's determination
even further. She immediately contacted Ernst, saying, "From both our
personal and telephone conferences, you can appreciate how disturbed
I have been over the equalization plan for Palm Springs ... and again
I wish to request that you do everything in your power to bring the
Bureau 's plan ... to a halt in order to per mit the members of my Tribe to
resolve the equalization problem in their own way."72 Ern st responded
di sm is sively: "Bo th you and I have the same goal in mind," he wrote, "a nd
it is always a pleasure to exchange ideas with you ."73 He proceeded by
acknowledging the declaration that Olinger had sent him, signed by over
twenty adult members of the tribe, and offering his assessment of what
fairness would be for tribal members (seep. 118). "I should like to point
out that by and large it is the minor members who are on the lower end
of the equalization scale. Surely you will agree that the Department must
consider and protect their intere st."74 With the demeanor of a careful,
guiding protector, Ernst concluded his paternalistic commentary by
saying, "W hile I am fully aware that you don't like a plan which utilizes all
tribal properties for equalization, we feel that we have no alternative."75
One can only imagine the anger and frustration that such a ter se and
condescending reply would provoke, but Olinger wasted no time on
negative energy and instead turned her efforts toward pressing her cause
eve n harder. She immediately authorized tribal attorney Simpson to send
a letter in response, suggesting that it was prepo sterous that "they have
no alternative" and , significantly, posing a veiled threat that if this BIA
plan were to go forward, it would only lead to further litigation .7 6 Simpson
argued that the BIA plan would not solve the disparity that had led to all
the previous litigation by tribal members, and that as far as minors were
concerned, "it is the expressed belief of several guardians that their legal
duty to minors would require the filing of additional lawsuits against the
Government if the Bureau's plan becomes a reality."77
The portent of continuing litigation appears to have sobered the
Interior Department. After Simpson raised thi s specter on behalf of
Olinger and the Tribal Council in his September 1958 correspondence,
there is a prolonged period of quiet on the department's part. When
Congress convened again in early 1959, Congressman Saund re introduced
his equalization bill, now identified as House Resolution 555 7.78 In turn,
Olinger kept the political pressure on, noting Saund's introduction of H.R.
5557 and promising that, if Congress did not pass this bill, the tribe would
proceed with its own equalization plan . In May, Congressman Saund
contacted Olinger, notifying her that her insistence had worked and that
"a t long last, congressional hearings have been scheduled on H.R. 555 7,"
and she promptly answered that she would be personally present at the
hearings beginning in early June.
The summer and fall of 1959 was an inten se period when Olinger's
efforts and those who supported her began to pay dividends (Figs.19, 20 ).
With the June and July hearings on H.R . 5557, a positive momentum was
se t in motion. As a witness, Olinger argued for "speedy approval" of the
Equalization Act as well as the Long-Term Leasing Act, which had been
linked to the equalization bill. "My tribe needs vitamin M-money. You
can't do a nything witho~'t that," she contended.79 Olinger linked future
economic development on the reservation to the passage of these two
bills, using it as leverage, saying: "a spa is under construction in the
tribal mineral springs reserve area. This and a proposed 53 1 500,000 hotel
are being built by the Palm Springs Spa, Inc. of which Samuel Banowit,
Beverly Hills, Cal if., is president."80 The press coverage elaborated, saying
that Ban ow it "is ready to go ahead with construction of the hotel as soo n
as Congress passes the equalization bill."81
Olinger's persistent and well-orchestrated st rategy succeeded.
By September 21 of that year, both the Equalization Act {Public Law 86-
339) and the Long-Term Leasing Act (Public Law 86-326) were approved
by the House of Representatives and the Senate.82 Debating the Long-
Term Leasing Act into the wee hours of the morning, and on the eve of
adjournment, weary congressmen ultimately put the bill through.83
Meanwhile, the equalization bi 11-as introduced by Sau nd and supported
by the tribe-was passed relatively seamlessly, considering all the
tenacious fighting over thi s particular piece of controversial legislation .
On October 22 1 President Eisenhower signed both bills into law in what
was described as "two of the most important pieces of legislation ever
affecting Palm Springs" (see p. 125). Press coverage noted : "Combined ,
the two laws will encourage development and integration of all Indian
lands."84
Olinger and the Tribal Council succeeded in revising the outdated
and restrictive leasing laws that had long thwarted the economic
development of Indian lan ds. Thi s exceptional group of female leaders
also won, once and for all, the prolonged legislative battle to finalize
and equalize land allotments. They had successfully marshaled all the
resources at their disposal and tirelessly worked the system to resolve
this extremely complex and contentious issue that had for decades
fractionalized the tribe and hindered its progress. At the same time,
they staved off power grabs for their sacred lands, pre se rving them in
perpetuity for their own, internally determined uses and as essential
symbols of tribal identity. The y effectively dashed any hopes on the
part of the city and the federal government of using large portions of
the reservation for private development or a national park. Both long-
term leasing and equalization were remarkable legi slative victories, and
despite how they were amended and di storted at times, they were critical
legal and business steps in building a strong foundation for the tribe's
future growth and prosperity.85 Yet in the process, Olinger and her all-
women Tribal Council accomplished something even greater than these
individual milestone s-they maintained the tribe as a sovereign nation .
OFTWO WORLDS ,YETOFONEMIND 35
IMAGINING A NEW AND
BETTER TOMORROW
One of the extraordinary aspects of Olinger's leadership is that she
maintained a laserlike focus on the fu tu re while she and the Tribal
Council struggled in the present for long-term leasing and the settling
of land allotments . Undeterred by protracted legal battles, ex cessive
infighting, and personal betrayal in the here and now, she forged ahead,
imagining a new and better tomorrow for her tribe. Well before there was
a positive outcome to the pressing legal issues at hand, Olinger and the
Tribal Council had boldly moved to reinvent the reservation in yet another
significant way. They dreamed of a master plan for all the Indian lands in
Palm Springs. After Olinger became chairman of the Tribal Council in 1954,
this dream eventually became a reality.
For a master plan to ultimately wo r k, though, longer-term leasing
had to be in place and land allotments had to be finalized . Exec uting such
a plan would have been impossible without a clear understanding of
land titles and sufficient lease terms, both of which were required by real
estate investors and developers . Olinger and the Tribal Council addressed
the proverbial causal dilemma of the "c hicken or the egg" by adopting
the risky strategy of working the various legal and planning initiatives on
parallel tracks. Even though longer-term leasing and equalization were
pending,yet were by no means asu re bet, this uncertainty did not dissuade
them from preparing a master plan , even if that plan were dependent on
there being a resolution to these important issues . In other words, they
were simply preparing for this beneficial result, convinced that their
transformative vision for the reservation would, over time, be realized.
Their actions were the very definition of progressive entrepreneurship :
being innovative, seizing opportunity, assuming risk, and building for a
better world that was already real in their mind 's eye.
Propelled by the successful passage of Public Law 255-the first
long-ter m leasing legislation for Indian land and for which they had
lobbied vigorously-Olinger and the Tribal Council began investigating
how best to develop the reservation 's land and natural resources . A
tenfold increase over the five -year lease terms that had debilitated the
reservation for decades, this legal milestone allowed them to envision a
different kind of Indian territory. In the summer of 1956, after reviewing
proposals from two internationally re cognized architectural and
planning firms , Skid more, Owings & Merri II and Victor Gruen & Assoc iates,
01 i nger and the Tribal Cou nci I selected Victor Gruen to prepare a "master
land use and development plan " for the reservation .86 In character
with Olinger's innate sense of style and nose for quality, she hired the
best available talent she could engage on behalf of the tribe . Gruen
was internationally known for having invented the modern shopping
mall-a large, self-contained complex replete with a variety of stores
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and restaurant s and designed as a landscaped promenade . An Austrian
immigrant who had fled the Nazis, Gruen established himself anew in
New York during the late 1930s and 1940s. He proceeded to transform the
shopping experience there and elsewhere in America, soon becoming
branded as the "mall maker."87 He and his team of professionals-
composed from the interrelated fields of architecture, engineering, and
planning-made the "mall " a focal point of u r ban development after
World War II , fashioning a symbol of postwar prosperity and fostering
a sense of shared community. In designing a successful hub of shops
and eateries, Gruen was embraced by the highest echelons of American
architecture . Modernist architect Philip John so n applauded him for
"creating a true civic art and architecture."88 His rapid ascent paralleled
Fig. 21 Letter of hire from Tribal
Council to Victor Gruen & Associates,
June 11, i956.
Fig. 22 top, Press coverage of the
tribe's hiring of its first-ever
planner, Victor Gruen. "Tribal
Council Hires Planner for Section
14 Development." The Desert Sun,
November 28, 1956 .
Fig. 23 right, Press coverage of the
tribe's launch of a comprehensive
planning program, initiated by its
engagement of Victor Gruen.
The Desert Sun, November 14, 1956 .
Agua Caliente Tribe Spearhe ads
Program of Sound Developm ent
cialists to start developmenl plans,
By DO . KL O TZBUECHE~ . and to clarify the status of b.o und-
t B d of M1ss1on l Agua Callen e an il . and water and mmera
Indians through its Tribal Counc a.nes,
. . gram which rights. t ls spearheadmg a P10 I rega r d to this developmen ,
11 expand to other n .
co.uld very ~~ut the state and na-1 the Agua Caliente Tribal Ch::-Uman
tribes thro.ug . h 't developed "d that if an Indian desires to t ion but it still asn sai . . b . her~ beyond an embryo s~age. r etain land ownership, his ~s~c
Palm Springs is in a ?mque po -right, it should be this way as it is
silion having a reservat10~ lolcate~t "h's heritage and his children's
. . ' ·t "t limits-but 1t 1asn . .d 1 · within i s c1 "'! ·t f the h ritage" which could prov1 e nm
d 1 ped w1U1 the res o . e . •ty d eve 0 se of legal diffic ulties wth the sense of secun an to~n bt~c~e complication of feder-pride that "helps all P.eopl~ lead
an W1 t 1 ove r a long extend ed happy and successful lives . al con ro
period of tim~i· Tribal Chair· THE LOCAL TRIBE, through its
Mrs. Vyola infger.' di r ectly to Tr"bal Council is now conducting , ithout re erring 1 ' s · " City man, · made here in re-meetings with Palm pnn.,s th~def~~rt:o~~:;gg the overall prob· Council lo discuss mutual prob·
ga d I ment made use of lems.
lem of eve ~P b 'n made or be· It has held meetings with federal
?regress h~~~n~n ~e speech befo~e officials, headed ~y Emmons and
mg attemp. of all California top members of bis staff. rep~ese~:i~~~s an d representatives It has hired a planning c?nsult·
Indian d federal gove r n· ant to survey the reservation as of the state an . r this month I to its potential. rne~~s ear ier conference ..;,as "The It has made a detailed sludy of
T1tl: ~f t~merican Indians," and I termination legislation a~d has
Futu1 e .or hairman of the 5 e 11 t Tribal representatives to
:Mrs. Ol!-Dgerd_as Cc ongress and re-\\·ashington to present its yiews
. e resentative ·of the ,,a· before Congress. Califorrua In ian ,.., \
gional r P f American In· It has looked ahead to the future
tional Congress o f the featured and has sought several times to
dians, "'.as ~~e ~receded Glenn I secure federal legislation for a 99-
speakers. C ~~issioner of In dian , year lease on its bathhouse ar~a. E~onst ~~e rostrum. It has maintained, and well , its
Affairs, o famed Palm and Andreas Canyon
MRS. OLINGER CA;LL~D ,,for
"committees an d orga01zat1~ns t~
be set up with representatives o
Indians , the federal governm~mt,
areas for tourists , securing revenue
from admissions to ef£ect further
improvements. .
Mrs. Olinger did not oolllt out
the rise of America's consumer society and automobile culture, making
him an ideal match for Palm Springs . Easily accessible by car from Los
Angeles in a mere two hours, this desert oasis naturally appealed to a
new leisure class with mobility that would inspire the city 's ne xt phase
of development. Determined to put her tribe at the center of this u r ban
transformation, Olinger believed that Gruen 's modern, progress ive style
provided the precise symbolism she and the Tribal Council we re seeking
in their campaign for economic development.
In an official engagemen t letter, dated June 11, 1956, Trib al Council
secretary Eileen Miguel informed Gruen: "We have elected to employ
your firm to make a study and submit plans and recommendations
for the most beneficial use and development of the Agua Caliente
Reservation land resources" (Fig . 21).89 Gruen 's mandate encompassed
the entire reservation but focused particularly on the valuable Indian
land comprising Section 14 in downtown Palm Springs. In November 1956,
Olinger and the Tribal Council publicly announced their hiring of Gruen 's
firm . Their notice was covered in ne wspapers and on the radio (Fig . 22).
In a KOES radio interview, Olinger stated: "The project is this-they are
going to give a general plan for all of the [Indian] lands w ithin the city
limits of Palm Springs, which consists of 7,000 acres. A detailed plan will
be made of Section 14, which is the most vital and important piece of
property the Indians hold both in the light of the city and ourselves ."9 °
Olinger pointed out that this major step forward would advantage both
the tribe and the city. "The hiring of the planning consultant, of course, is
with the idea of a master plan to benefit the City, which would naturally
benefit the Indian land owners, w hich would, of course, bring a higher
value because of the potential of the land."9 1 Olinger also noted the
project goal of maintaining Palm Springs ' position as the finest desert
resort . Prescient about development competition to the east and the
south, Olinger stated, "I believe another valuable point is this-the
development of this land will keep the businesses in Palm Springs, which
we are all concerned with-Indian and non-Indian alike-instead of it
drifting down below in the valley."9 2
At the news of Gruen's hiring, Olinger's n'ovel approach of
"integration" and "cooperation" was immediately noted . A journalist
.observed: "One of Palm Springs ' biggest problems-the integration of
the ex tensive and valuable In d ian lands of the resort city-appeared on
its way to a solution."93 Newspaper writers also commented on Olinger's
commitment to consistent standards of quality. "Mrs. Olinger," as The
Desert Sun reported , "said that the Indians no w have a firm wh ich can do
the planning of Section 14 and other Indian lands, and that both the new
company [Victor Gruen &Associates] and the tribal council are ded icated
to having the highest type of development consistent with good zo ning
and site restrictions."94 This "program of sound development" was
highlighted as a possible mo de l that "could very well ex pand to other
tribes throughout the state and nation (Fig . 23)." 9s
OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND 37
CREATING A MASTER PLAN
After fina liz ing their services contract w ith the tribe in the summer of
1956, Gruen & Associates began their work in earnest and delivered to
Olinger and the Tribal Council their first in a series of progress reports in
December 1956 .9 6 Jn April of the following year, Gruen and his colleagues
presented their near-final recommendations .97 During the ensuing
summer, they reviewed and discussed the plan with tribal members
and all other relevant partie s, including the city of Palm Springs and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs . Considering input from these various sources,
the firm prepared its final report and presented it to Olinger and her
fello w council members in November 195 7 {Fig. 24).98
The work represented in this pivotal document, issued simply as
"14: Indian Land s Palm Springs " (see p . 132), was coordinated through
Gruen 's office in Beve r ly Hills, California, where Ben H. Southland served
as the project's chief of planning and associate in charge on the ground .
Dan Branigan assisted Gruen and Sou t hland, serving as the project
coordinator. The basic working philosophy of Gruen and his team was
that the planning process should be open . As reported in the following
press account, "Both the City and Tribal planning consultant believe [that
a] joint effort furnishes the opportunity fo r the two governing bodies to
bring about the highest and most profitable type of development for the
people of Palm Spring s."99 Equally important w as the concept that all
tribal members must benefit from the master plan , and that through the
process, all their legal rights must be honored . Inspired by Olinger and
the Tribal Council 's goal to ex ercise the interests of tribal members as
landowners, Gruen wrote, "We believe that by the adoption of a master
plan, the land can be developed to its highest and best use without any
loss whatsoever of the rights now held ."1 00 He added, "The fact that these
ownership rights pertain to land which , in its present form , is not capable
of producing an income commensurate with its value is the root of [the]
problem .'"0 1
Gruen 's architectural practice w as driven by economics as much
as by aesthetics. A convert to American-style capitalism , Gruen was
dedicated to generating profit with his increasingly large-scale and fully
integrated projects. In setting forth his ambitious plan s for Section 14,
he argued that "if it is not to be profitably developed, then whatsoever
is to be gained by its development.'"0 2 Shaped by the idea of "supply and
demand ," he and his associates noted i n their proposed master plan:
"If the Palm Springs area does not have the demand to use the land
suppl y that Section 14 can furni sh, then Section 14 w ill not be profitably
developed ."103 They di Ii gently analyzed whether or not Palm Springs had a
sufficient "demand," now and in the future, to warrant developing Indian
lands . They al so studied the economics, population, and ex isting and
planned development in and around the city, ultimately determining that
"all [conditions] point to a strong, continuing and increasing demand for
38 YOU CAN'T EAT DI RT
.d No ember 29 . 1957 Palm Springs , Colifornia. fn oy , v
Single Copy I Oc
d hamuan \'!r·ola Olinger. The
Pr1clo, Eileen ~hgucl. an clan has brt.·n undt n" :i.y b!t'
prepara.L1on ol the ma~le'., p t c1nhcrs lur H\mO"'\ l\\O
the Tribal Council and ll _tbal i l ·nr intru·<;t to r<'sidl'n ~. H~r!'. and 1t< cumplchnn io; 11f~n~JPhuLo b~ frcd Wei.eel• indlan~. and lhe city. ilJe~etL un
Fig. 24 The all-women Tribal Council, gathered together on the occasion of unveiling the Gruen
master plan for Section 14 . Left to right: Gloria Gillette; Laverne Saubel; Dora Joyce Prieto;
Eileen Miguel; and Vyola Olinger. The Desert Sun, November 29, 1957.
Palm Springs ' facilities ."1 04 Gruen and his colleagues also concluded that
the resort and retail infrastructures in Palm Springs were underdeveloped,
and that for this famous city to maintain its preeminent position as the
desert oasis in Southern California, it must ex cel in these amenities. "Palm
Spring s doe s not yet have the shopping center competition, bu t in the
foreseeable future it will have, unless provisions are made for a facility
that can meet and beat any suburban development," Gruen noted .105
Gruen continued laying the philosophical framework for his
proposed master plan by ex amining the special relation ship between
"land and time," arguing that the timing of land development is critical
to its success . Of all the Indian land within the city of Palm Springs, he
said , Section 14 was the most desirable place to begin {Figs . 2s , 26 ). It w as
the most prized Indian parcel-located near the central busines s district,
capable of producing a high return on investment, and now, at long last,
poised to reap the fruits of the new federal leasing law, P.L. 255 . Given
these unique characteristic s, Section 14 would bring the most good to the
local Cahuilla and would revitalize Palm Springs . The city had n ow here
else to grow. The San Jacinto Mountains blocked ex pansion to the west
and most all of the non-Indian-owned land in Palm Springs had already
been developed . By contrast, most of the nearly 7,000 acres o w ned by
Indians in the city's incorporated area were undeveloped, including
Fig. 25 Above left, R. B. Sanders and his
son, Keith Sanders, along with the
amily's pet dog, residents of Section 14,
1938-39. The Sanders had moved from
Oklahoma to Palm Springs in the l930S,
seeking work in the aftermath of the
)ust Bowl that devastated the Midwest.
They settled in what was known as
Palm Springs' "Tent City." The tribe's
. ot mineral springs and its surrounding
grove of palm trees can be seen in the
near distance.
Fig. 26 Above right, Tent home of the
mders family, Section 14, Palm Springs,
1938-39.
Section 14. To ex plain this oddity, Gruen referred to the checkerboard
pattern that defined the reservation . "Until 1957," he wrote, "it had been a
typical checkerboard game. Everybody was playing on the black squares
[non-Indian land] of the checkerboard-no one was playing on the red
[Indian land]."1 06 Cultivating Section 14 was viewed as "vital to the logical
gro w th of the city."1 0 1 Its development would solve the "bottleneck," as
this ob stacle to expansion had become known .108
While Gruen understood that the Indians would gain "no matter
how the ball bounces," as he said , he was convinced that "in Section 14.
they have downtown real estate and they stand to gain the most if it,
rather than a suburban section , is developed."1 0 9 Acknowledging that the
Indians derived income from land rents on Section 14, he pointed outthat
their y ield was "nowhere near commensurate with the potential value
of the property .'"1 0 He argued that thi s was another compelling reason
to focus on Section 14, but maintained that the driving incentive should
be competition. He warned that all of Palm Springs-its Indian and non-
Indian portions-w ould be subject to pressures from development to
the south and east, and in order to ex cel as a resort destination, they
had to act, and act now.rn Yet action was not the only ingredient . The
tribe had to devise a plan like no other-a fully in t egrated proposal of
quality, distinction, and progressiveness that would offer developers
the economic rewards and end user s the pleasant amenities capable of
eclipsing any other area alternative . Given that Section 14 was ancestra l
land , though , Gruen understood that the tribe's stake was much more
comple x than profit motive alone . Of tribal members, he wrote, "They
belong to the area . Their forebears helped found it and, by their actions
as culminated in their wish to have a 'plan,' they have demonstrated a
desire ... to not let it flounder during their time or any time later.'"12
With their design principles i n place, Gruen and his team initiated
the planning process by gathering copious amounts of information, on
the tribe and its reservation , on the city and its history, as well as general
background data on the tourist and resort industries. The team made
use of surveys and questionnaires and conducted countles s interviews .
Determined to coordinate their efforts with the city, teammates held
meetings with authorities from the zoning and planning departments .
They also met with the city's planning consultant, Simon Eisner, who
was working in parallel, preparing a master plan for the city, the first
of its kind .113 Equally key to Gruen 's proces s was direct input from the
Bureau of Indian Affair s and from Olinger and the Tribal Council as w ell
as members of the tribe.
Beyond gathering information and meeting with individuals and
groups, Gruen & Associates made an ex haustive analysis of the physical
characteristics of the reservation . They catalogued the ex isting uses of
Indian land as well as the tribe's current infrastructure and sources of
income . In their initial report, they further identified critical gateway
issues that required resolution first if the Indian lands in Palm Springs
were to be developed : flooding; lack of dedicated streets; inaccessibility by
a major area highway; the restrictive nature of the ex isting land allotment
grid; and most noteworthy of all , the limbo status of land allotments and
the then existing substandard living conditions on Section 14u4
OF TWO WORLDS , YET OF ONE MIND 39
REINVENTING SECTION 14
The resulting master plan proposed a comp l ete reinvention of Section
14, foreseei ng the use of nearly the entire 640 -acre parce l. What l ittl e
development the r e was on Sect i on 14 had bee n l ocated on the per i meter,
due in large part to the absence of an in ter i or street system . To counter
this, Gr u en an'd his team planned to ope n up Sect i o n 14 by placing a n
"isl an d" in t h e cente r of the sq uare-mi le b l ock, accessib l e by a new main
arter ial road that bisected the parce l and led up to the is land , wrapping
around it and connecting to ex isting ma i n streets (seep . 142). Th e island
was to be the heart of a commercia l center, where resort hote l s and a
major shopping center w it h off-street park in g wou Id be gro u ped , drawing
users to the area's inner sec t ions . At the same t ime, Grue n e nvis ioned t he
first major integrated golf course in Pa l m Sp r i ngs , aro u nd an d through
w h ic h commercial and re sidentia l properties wo ul d harmonious ly
weave ns Like the is land concept, t h e golf course was in tended t o make
effective use of t h e ins i de spaces , which wo ul d na t u ra l ly make t h em
more va l uable, espec ially those tracts placed direct ly on o r immediately
adjac e nt to t h e greens .116
In addition to the g olf course, spa, major resort h ote l s, retai I shopping
outlets, and res idential spaces, Grue n's plan in c l uded a centra l ized
gatheri ng p l ace called the Jacin t o . Co nceived as a multip u rpose facility,
thi s poi nt of rendezvous would have three primary uses : comm u nity
center, health and recreatio n ce nter, a nd convention center. Discuss i ons
about a co nve ntion center in Pal m Springs ha d l o n g been u n derway, but
had y i el ded nothing due to t h e absence o f an economic feasibility st u dy.
Gruen 's model p roposed viab il ity on t h e bas i s t hat t h e comp l ex wou l d
have one convention center t hat wo ul d be joi ntly shared by the vario u s
resort hotels . Hi s p lan even took into account space for an el ementary
school and c h urc h es . The ex tant tribal ceme t ery was to remai n witho ut
alteration, whi l e a new tribal headquarters was proposed , calling for
a main bui ld in g ded icated to tr i bal adm in istration and a secondary
structu r e set as i de for manag i ng the tribe 's leas in g a nd othe r commerc ial
affa i rs . Nearby, a thir d and separat e l oca l e wou l d serve as a space for US
go v ernment offices.
In his final master p lan , Gruen ide ntified th r ee of the most difficul t
challenges : the ex ist i ng a ll otment g r id , t h e still-li mi t ed lease periods
for I ndian land (fifty years instead of ninety-nin e years), a n d the curre nt
inhabitants of and "b l ighted " cond it i ons o n Sectio n 14 n 7 The h istor i c
manner in w h ich th is I nd ia n land had been divided created a ll otme nts
that formed a rigid geo m etr i c pattern, w hi ch was u nsu itab l e, in parts,
for Gruen 's more organic master p lan. I n orde r to gain greater fle x ib il ity,
Gruen and h is team ex p l ored options for adjust i ng t h is framework
w ithout jeopardizing in d ividual ownersh i p r i g hts . "The premise on wh i ch
our master p l a n is based ," he wrote, "is that the In dia n allottees reta in fu ll
legal rights to their ho l dings but that the p l an of development need not
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allotment grid on Section 14,
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f o l lo w the a llotment grid ."118 Gruen suggested pract ica l so lutions in those
in stance s where departing from the grid was recommend ed or nece ssary,
and, particularly, w here enforcing the plan would have resulted in any
lo ss to a given property, such as where a ne w right-of-way or easement
might decrease an allotment's footprint. He advised combining
allotments in cases where two or more allottees owned contiguous
properties. "The larger this grouping is , the more effective it will be ," he
argued , bec a use "a joint enterprise of thi s type is in a po sition to offer a
developer a consolidated and therefore more valuable parcel of land ."119
This option wo uld allo w participating tribal members to negotiate from
a position of stre ngth, preventing a developer from playing one allottee
against the other.120 Sensitive to individual preference, however, Gruen
understood that some al lottees might not wish to join together. Under
these circumstances, he suggested that the "combination of properties is
still altogether feasible: a developer simply negotiates individual leases
to the extent required for a 'unit' of development ."121
Gruen 's master plan also recommended deviating from the strict
allotment grid in order to accommodate the new system of roads
proposed for Section 14 . Essentially land locked , th i s square-mi le tract
lacked basic dedicated streets, and Gruen pointed out that this deficiency
would prevent the land from being developed "to its highest and best
use ."122 He and his team plotted new transportation routes that required
a method of trade. In exchange for rights-of-way, they proposed swapping
land ; tribal members with allotments that were deemed necessary for
streets would be given, in substitution, equally valuable land elsewhere
in Section 14 .123
If the allotment grid posed problems for Gruen 's master plan , so did
the lease terms for Indian land . When Public Law 255 passed in August
1955 , it was a legal triumph, authorizing long-term leasing on Indian land
for the fi rst time and opening up entirely new bu sine ss opportunities for
the tribe. Nonetheless, Gruen devoted part of his master plan to detailing
his concerns with the newly installed fifty-year lease term. "First, most
lending institutions," warned Gruen , "a re required by their charters to
accept not le ss than 99-year leases as security for mortgages. There are
some, however, that can accept a term of over so years ."124 He cautioned ,
"The present term severely limits the financing potential and, in our
opinion, every effort should be made tow ar d ex t ens ion of the term to
99years ."12 s 1n addition to suggesting an even longer lease period, Gruen
strongly believed that the conditions for renegotiation of the second
twenty-five years-allowable under P.L. 255-must be established at
the outset. He argued that in a land development deal, there must be
some solid understanding from the beginning that the secon d twenty-
five -yea r lease term would be granted; otherwise, there would be serious
objections by the developer as well as by the banker. "W ithout previous
assurance as to what the terms for renegotiation will be , the developer
faces the ri sk of what could amount to confiscation."126
Gruen so on found that explaining the problematic allotment grid
and constricting lease term s was not nearly as difficult as broaching
how best to address the current occupants of Section 14 a nd their
substandard living condi!!ons. He instinctively understood that this
would be a highly sensitive and emotional issue . "The problem is not at
all a s imple one," he sa id.127 By the late 1950s, Section 14 still remained
undeveloped-due to serious neglect by both the local and federal
governments-and many original tribal members had long since moved
from the area, leaving it populated predominantly by African Am erica ns
and Latinos .128 Having deteriorated over the years as a result, in part, of
the di st ractions and uncertainties resulting from legal battle s over the
allotments on the reservation and the outdated leasing laws, it was now
generally characterized as a slum inhabited mostly by domestic help and
workers employed by local hotel s and restaurants throughout the city. It
was also pointed out that "some are on the land as renters but many are
squatters illegally housed ."129 Gruen understood that developing Section
14 would, unfortunatel y, require removing these existing inhabitants,
which would be a "major dislocation" affecting several thousand
people.13° He informed Olinger and the Tribal Council that this was not
"technically, an Indian problem ."131 He also noted that the structures
currently on Section 14 had been deemed "nonconforming" by the city,
which, to him, meant that the trib e was within its legal rights to evict
the pre se nt occupants without regard to their relocation .132 What Gruen
had learned through the planning process, though , was that Olinger and
the Tribal Council did not support any form of abandonment. "Such ...
is not their intent," he wrote. "The y w ish to work with others toward
a solution."133 Sources of the period verify this intention, saying of
Olinger and the Tribal Council , they "fully realize that the Palm Springs
economy depends a great deal on the people w ho are currently living on
the reservation, and though they believe it is a problem that faces the
entire city, they have promised complete cooperation to help the city
and the people all they can ."134 Acknowledging the central role that these
working citizens played in the daily life and functioning of Palm Springs,
Gruen maintained that "it must be remembered that the inhabitants of
Section 14 are not charity cases." However, he reminded hi s clients that,
in its present form , this population on Section 14 was a hindrance to the
growth of Palm Springs and to the eco nomic developm e nt of the trib e.13s
Operating from these premises, Gruen offered a variety of local solutions,
from requiring establishments that use domestic help to provide living
quarters, to encouraging developers to build low-income housing. He
abhorred government housing projects and strongly advised the tribe
against seeking federal funding for such complexes .
Gruen 's assessment of the meager conditions on Section 14
reiterated what city and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, area re sidents,
neighboring busine ss men , an d local journalists had been saying for some
time . Herman Ranes , Palm Springs' planning director, spoke of Section
OF TWO WOR LDS, YET OF ONE MIND 41
14 as a "blighted area ."136 Charles German, local director of the BIA who
succeeded Ned Mitchell, described parts of the square -mile tract as "one
of the worst slums I've ever seen . A lot of development has bypassed the
city because of the legal technicalities which have delayed subdivision
of the tract."137 At the same time, a local realtor was quoted as saying it
was a "cancerous growth ."138 Newspaper writer George Ringwald painted
a vivid pictur~ of the city sector in a pivotal article titled "Section 14 Big
Bottleneck in Palm Springs Growth ."139 "It is an area without recognized
public streets," he wrote, "where, indeed, street name s have been applied
to what are no more than rutted dirt lanes, leading nowhere. Homes are
de athtraps of tinder-dry wood w here families crowd in on one another in
unsanitary profusion . Garbage and trash litter backyards and vacant lots.
Beer cans are strewn along roadways. It is a breeding place for crime and
vice .... In any community, the area would be a disgrace ."14°
A keen observer of the Section 14 dilemma, Ringwald , like Gruen ,
felt that a solution was not the re sponsibility of the tribe alone . "The
problem of what to do with Section 14-and at times it must seem
insurmountable to even the most ardent optimists-is not that of
the Indians alone," he wrote .141 Because of Section 14 's critical role
in the future growth of Palm Springs, and because , after having been
incorporated in 1938, the city had assumed certain limited jurisdiction
over the Indian lands within its borders, Ringwald believed that the local
government should take the lead .142 Olinger, too, was vocal in her effort
to encourage the city to take action for the interests of the Section 14
residents . Ringwald reported that, in an official meeting before the city
fathers, she "told the City Council here today that it is going to have to
face up to the dual problem of relocating the resort city 's low-income
minority groups and providing some low-income housing for them ."143
Olinger asked the mayor and city council members: "What are we going
to do about low-income housing?"l44 "It's a problem that has to be
faced ."14 5 Since the tribe did not have the financial resources to relocate
residents and build them new housing-one of the many reasons it
was seeking economic development through longer-term leasing-it
presented an alternative. Olinger told rnembers of the city council that
the tribe could supply a site if the city could finance the construction .146
As Ringwald noted , however, this generous offer received little
acknowledgment, and even worse, no action . City Manager Robert
Peterson replied , saying that he had tried to interest three developers
in building low-income housing in the area, but the discussions went
no w here since these businessmen felt that the land in the resort city
w as too valuable to use for low-income housing . To that, Ray Jackson,
acting director of the local Bureau of Indian Affair s, added : "We can see
the day rapidly approaching when we're going to have to clear off this
land to make it available for long-term leasing . We would like to see
something done now in planning for housing for these people before
they 're faced with a crisis . We don't want to just move these people out
42 YOU CAN'T EAT DIR T
in the street, but if it comes to a choice, the Indians are just going to
have to be cold -hearted and take their property for better use."147
The record shows that Olinger made every effort to find a workable
option for the residents of Section 14, most notably in offering the city a
piece of Indian land for the construction of low-income housing . For her,
the clearing of Section 14 was not about race or class . After all , she had
lived on Section 14 during her child hood , among the diverse population of
working-class blacks, Latinos, whites, and Indians, and understood from
where she came . She also understood that, even though many Indians had
moved away from the area by this time, some remained and she realized
that they would be subject to the same trauma of displacement and
relocation . Shed idn 't want them or anyone else to suffer as a resu It of the
tribe's development plans for Section 14 . Over the years, she had watched
her ancestral homeland degrade due to onerou s laws and government
neglect. As a tribal leader, her aim was to turn thi s around. She addressed
the current inhabitants and subpar living standards on Sec t ion 14 from
the subjective perspective of Indians as minorities seeking t he freedom
to ex ercise their rights and create economic opportunities for themselves
and their children by preparing for a development project on Indian
land that was conceived and executed by Indians . For her, that was the
only racial dimension . She has said , "It didn 't matter what color skin the
residents had ; they could have all been purple! The issue was , this was our
land and we had a right to develop it."148 Olinger believed in the principle
of being able to upgrade Section 14, but was perfectly in sync with Gruen
in searching for constructive solutions to this complicated issue .149
In concluding his master plan , Gruen emphasized to Olinger, the
Trib a l Council , and a// tribal members that its implementation depended
on tribal members working together. "We believe this cooperation
need only consist of adoption of the master plan by all members ."15°
Going forward , this unified purpose would still mean that all further
aspects of the development would be subject to the personal choice of
individual allottees, regardless if they cho se to negotiate their leases
with a single developer or a group of developers, or to combine their
allotments with those of other tribal members in order to form a single
group of allottees, or a "unit." In other words, all members of the tribe
had to agree to the principle of developing Section 14 according to the
improvements suggested by Gruen & Associate s, but, beyond that, all
other aspects of the development would remain an individual concern,
guided by personal preference .151 In this way, Gruen and Olinger were
intent on maintaining the discrete property rights of tribal members.
"The allottees have the freedom of choice," wrote Gruen .1s2 Within the
conceptual and practical framework of the plan, tribal members would
be able to negotiate the sale or lease of their property as they saw fit . The
result would be an integrated, planned development created through
sale or lease agreements made by each tribal member.
In addition to urging cooperation , Gruen made a special effort to
inform tribal members of their option s for development, even though he
acknowledged that these recommendations fell outside the purview of
planning. He did so given the unique challenges presented by developing
this Indian land. He also encouraged the tribe to obtain legal and economic
advice . With that caveat, he proceeded to discuss how tribal members
could involve either a single developer or multiple developers working
together to execute the various parts of the plan as devised , two different
method s by which, he said , "the developer must take the initiative."1 53 He
clearly pointed out, however, that there was an alternative by which "the
Indian may take the initiative ."154 In this scenario, Gruen ex plained that
the tribe as a whole cou Id , having first adopted the master plan , put it out
to bid. The bid structure would have a minimum and would require that
the tribe accept the highest offer. Gruen noted that this was a "technique
now standard among cities involved in redevelopment or urban renewal
work."1 55 In the end , he frankly admitted, "We do not believe it to be the
ideal method for this particular case (actually, we do not believe it to be
entirely satisfactory in urban renewal work either)."156 His primary reason
for warning the tribe about this "accepted and more-or-less standard
method " is that it would result in a loss of landownership rights for
tribal members because it would require each allotted Indian to agree to
abide by an overall tribal agreement .157 "No longer would the individual
Indian have any control over who developed his property or how much
[emphasis in the original document] that person w ould pay, providing it
was the highest amount offered that was above the minimum."158
Given its various, comple x development options, Gruen ex horted
that the single greatest arena for di scussion about the master plan
should be within the tribe itself. By the time he had submitted his
final versi o n, he was aware that some tribal members had already
rejected the concept and that there were differing perspectives within
the tribe on how best to manage and develop the Indian land in Palm
Springs .1 59 Coupled with the obstacles inherent to developing Section
14, these difference s made the process particularly difficult. Gr uen 's last
paragraph of his ma ster plan acknowledges these divergent viewpoints:
"We recognize that probably the most important single phase-and one
which cannot be di scussed here-is the resolution of aims and goals of
the Indian owners on an individual and personal basis. Varying economic
circumstan ces and varying political and social views tend to cause great
variation in not only the end but also the means ."160 Gruen al so stressed
his point that timing is all important in land development, presenting the
tribe with an agenda to consider for negotiating with potential le ss ees.
"We would estimate," he wrote, "that it could not be less than go days
and , because of the urgency of the situation, we would urge that it not
exceed si x months . In order to meet this time schedule, an intensive
public relat ions program will be required."161
Olinger and the Tribal Council worked diligently to effect the timely
and frank discussions for which Gruen called . They made multiple copies
of the Gruen master plan and sent a sample by certified mail to each
adult tribal member and then scheduled special meetings to review it.162
Olinger and the Tribal Council also launched a major media campaign .
They prepared a press release and distributed it to all the leading
newspapers and radio station s. In February 1958 , they strategically
held a press conference, not in Palm Springs but in Los Angeles, at the
Hilton Hotel, thinking that th i s central location would make the news
accessible to more journalists . Their effort paid off in that their plans
received significant press coverage (seep . 157). During that same period,
Olinger and the Tribal Council also held a daylong informational event on
the reservation in order to stimulate interest in Section 14 and its master
plan . They invited nationally prominent real estate developers, bankers,
and businessmen for a detailed presentation of the plan , a bus tour of
Section 14, and a panel discussion. Officiating at the conference were
Olinger; Ben Southland of Gruen & Associates; the area director of the
BIA , Leonard Hill; the local officer of the BIA , Charles German ; and tribal
attorney Ray Simpson .
If an outside team of planning professionals envisioned Section
14 in a way never before imagined and the atte ndant media attention
brought national awareness to the extraordinary development
opportunities on Indian land in Palm Springs, these fast-moving and
forever-changing forces may have intimidated some tribal members. By
the time of the special tribal meeting in January 19581 the master plan
had already encountered opposition, and as a result, the assembled tribe
was unable to reach common agreement. The reasons for resistance
ranged from ignorance, confusion, and apprehension about the master
plan to concerns that an allotted tribal member might do better
financially by holding out and trying to develop, lease, or sell his or her
property independently. A revie w of the minutes for that meeting shows
that no specific determination was made either way, revealing instead
an interesting hesitancy about the Gruen master plan . "Although the
proposed plan is in no way mandatory or binding upon the allottees,"
states the record , "all interested investors are invited to contact the
Palm Springs Office of the BIA , thereby allowing considei-ation of bids
and alternative proposals ."163 This willingness on the part of the tribe to
contemplate other planning desig ns, since the Gruen master plan was
not "mandatory," suggests a lack of commitment to the Gruen plan . This
uncertainty carried forward in the tribal minutes for February 1958 when
a decision was again not forthcoming, and , instead , a recommendation
was made suggesting further meetings between the tribe and the city's
planning department in order to discuss the Gruen plan.164
The tribe's delay in making a decision about th~ master plan
prompted Gruen and his colleagues to ignore their own advice about
refraining from offering specific development strategies, as these were
outside the purview of a tribal planner. On March 101 19581 Dan Branigan
wrote Olinger and the Tribal Council one of the firm 's last substantive
O F TWO WO RLDS , YET OF ON E MIND 43
letters on the subject, saying "because of our earnest desire to see the
proposed development on Section 14 become a reality ... we have taken it
upon ourselves to outline the various courses of action we believe may be
taken at this time."165 Hoping to assuage the concerns of tribal members,
he included a list of approaches by which the tribal members could
consider moving forward with the Gruen master plan. His suggestions
augmented those tactics already touched on in the master plan, while
they also offe"red new possibilities, all itemized in a pro-versus-con
format. Fresh options included forming a land development company
in which each allottee would become a shareholder, approximate to the
appraised value of his or her lands, or engaging a tribal business manager
who would work out the lease terms with each individual allottee and
then negotiate for the tribe as a whole in accordance with the plan.
With this determined effort, Gruen & Associates encouraged Olinger
and the Tribal Council by saying that "there are always holdouts in any
development of this magnitude and Section 14 will be no exception," and
"that the plan could be adjusted to address the 'holdouts' as long as their
land was not in critical locations or their holdings were not extensive."166
A week later, Branigan followed up these specifics with a letter
that advised Olinger and the Tribal Council against meeting with the city
planning officials, arguing "that unti l the tribe comes to an agreement
among themselves as to what their course of action will be, any meeting
with the city would be disastrous to the tribe." He was concerned that
the city could take advantage of the tribe's hesitancy by seeking "certain
concessions" based on an impression government officials might get
that tribal members were not in full agreement.16 7 Beyond that, Gruen
and his team felt the clock ticking. Fully aware of the dynamic of timing
in land development, they could sense that the opportunity for the tribe
to develop Section 14 under a unifying plan might be slipping away.
In retrospect, early 1958 was a critical turning point in the Gruen
master plan story. From that moment forward, doubts about a unified
scheme began to solidify among some tribal members . Tribal minutes of
the period show that consideration of the plan started to taper off as its
comple x ities began to overwhelm . At the same time, suspicion became
an equal partner with comple x ity. Even though the Gruen plan was Indian
driven-conceived and promoted by Olinger and the Tribal Council with
input from the tribe-there were tribal members who distrusted it. Given
the tribe 's history with land dispossession and disputes over rights and
jurisdiction, there were those who justifiably harbored lingering fears
about if and how a plan of this magnitude would materialize. There were
others who evidently did not trust their fellow tribal members. Perhaps
the single greatest reason that the Gruen master plan was rejected in its
fullest form was human nature. Fear-of change , of the unknown, and
of one another-was, once again, a powerful countervailing force in the
fight to modernize the tribe. Olinger has referred to the Gruen master
plan as "Vyola's Flop," feeling that she failed in ex plaining its intricacies .
44 YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
Yet as Gruen himself observed, development on Indian land presented
"specialized problems ."168 No matter the amount of explanation, the
various development options were simply too difficult to comprehend
and too dependent on past historical events and enemies to assuage
anxiety. Gruen's urging for "cooperation" among tribal members seems
like foreshadowing. This plea appears throughout his master plan but is
most forcefully reiterated in the final paragraph: "While we have sincerely
attempted to devise a plan for the highest and best use of the land and
still maintain a maximum of flexibility and independence of individual
action, there remain nevertheless, many areas of cooperation."16 9 Gruen
concluded this passage and thus the master plan with this sentence:
"Without this cooperation through resolution of differences, no plan-
the one we propose or any other-can ever become a reality."11°
Other important factors shifted the tides, creating a perf ect storm .
During early 1958, the tribe's fight for equalization and longer-term
leasing intensified, particularly as the federal government attempted to
seize sacred tribal reserves for equalizing land allotments . Naturally, this
turn of events drew attention away from the Gruen master plan. Tribal
minutes and resolutions from this time evince a waning focus . By July
1958, news reports confirmed that the plan of "sticking together and
leasing [Section 14] on a section-wide basis" had failed .1 11 "In Sacramento
this week," said reporter John Beckler of the Associated Press, "Bureau
Area Director Leonard Hill admitted that plans for developing the section
as a single package had fallen through."1 1 2 Beckler added, "Real estate
people now are faced with the problems of dealing with the Indians on
an individual basis and developing in a piecemeal fashion."173
CREATING THE PALM SPRINGS SPA
Olinger and her all-women Tribal Council had wisely prepared for
this possible outcome. Long before the tribe became engrossed in the
comple x ities of equalization and before fears of the Gruen master plan
took root, they had been managing several interrelated development
initiatives in order to ensure success in some form or another. While
working on the Gruen master plan, they had been cultivating the
inaugural long-term lease of Indian land : the lease for what became the
Palm Springs Spa. Understanding that the Gruen master plan may not go
forward in its fully conceived form, but rather in parts over time, they
deliberately concentrated their energies first on its spa component,
promoting it as a related but independent project {Fig . 27) This was
a logical course of action, given that the mineral hot springs was the
tribe's single most important and valuable natural asset. For Olinge1·,
creating a brand new upscale spa on Palm Springs' Section 14 would be a
cultural and business triumph for the tribe. Regardless if it were part of
ily Enterprise Fr iday, Feb . 7, l 95 8 B-l j
I
An Effort to Improve
The site, part of a 640-acre
plot owned by the tribe· and
its member s , is located at In-
dian ave. and Tahquitz dr. It
was sec.ured on a 50-year
lease by the aNtional Proper-
Chairman Vyola Olinger of tl P~m pr· w T "b 1 C mg~ _A~ua Ca liente Indian
. 11 a ounc11 is in Washington seek-
rng F7der~l ap.proval for the tribe to
lease its Justonc hot water springs i
downtown Palm Springs for a ma. n
resort development. JOr
Los Angeles lle11Td I 'lllpress
Thursday, Feb. 13, 1958
----------------' ties Inc. and the Indians will
So. California News
get a rental of $36,000 a year
plus 5 per cent of the gross .
The deal was announced
jointly at a press confer-
ence in the tSatler Hotel
by Samuel W. Banowit of
Los Angeles, president of
the corporation, and Mrs.
Viola Olinger, chairman of
the Aqua Caliente and Mis·
sion Indian Council.
T~e tribal council says it cannot
1;scnbe the proposed development to
e press yet but we hope the Federal
govern.ment finds grounds to prove it. ap-
Mission Tribe Signs Pact
b The hot water springs which buh-
le up from an earthquake fault in th~ ~enter of the resort city were the
ongrnal attraction to Palm S . · Th h pnngs. cy s ould be developed alon 'th
Lease Indian Spring
For Swanky Spa Other representatives <>f
the tribe attended and their
attorney, Ray Simpson, an-
nounced that the federal and
stat,e governments had ap-
proved . Work is beginning im-
mediately and the new hotel
is expected to open next Jan-
uary.
~h~ later ~ttractions which haveg1~:~e
a m Sprrngs wor ld famous
As thfa newspaper's Palm. S rin s
news bureau reports, s uch a de~e l ogn~ent, ~'Ould not on ly increase t he I ~
d1ans rn.come an d he an asset to the
co~m u ru ty, i t cou l d well be th e
spnng b.oa r d for the development of
Mission Indians of Palm Springs today leased an
eight-acre plot in the heart of the resort town, where
a 200-room $1 , 700,000 hotel will be built around the
·original hot springs.
the. entire square mile of Ind' 1 "'h 1ch ian and ~u rro un ds the s pr in gs and ha s
g lci in fa ll ow i n the midst of 1 h
>01'1 g<O\\'ih. US
Fig . 27 Above left, Press coverage of Olinger
lobbying for the first long-term lease of
Indian land. The lease pertained to the
eight acres on Section 14, in the heart
of Palm Springs, where Samuel Banowit
eventually built the Palm Springs Spa.
The Daily Enterprise, February 7, 1958 .
Fig. 28 Above right, Press announcement of
the first long-term lease of Indian land.
In a historic agreement, the tribal hot
springs and the surrounding eight acres
were leased by the Agua Caliente Cahuilla
to developer Samuel Banowit for the
purpose of an upscale spa and adjoining
hotel. Los Angeles Herald & Express,
February 13, 1958.
a grand scheme to start, she and the Tribal Council were convinced that
a modern health resort would surely encourage further development
in other areas of this prized parcel , and thus would lead to fulfilling the
dream of the Gruen master plan, if only in stages . More importantly, they
believed that creating the Palm Springs Spa as the signature property in
the reinvention of Section 14 would lead to economic growth and well-
being for the tribe . In his "hypothetical tour" of Section 14-written as
the prologue to his master plan-Gruen had imagined the spa as it would
be ten years i n the future, after carrying out the plan. He wrote that the
tribal hot springs, "originally a clear, sandy pool into which mineral
water bubbled from a rock fault deep below," were "now contained in
an elaborate establishment, combining pools, gardens, screens and
buildings."174 Keeping this grand vision foremost in their minds, Olinger
and the Tribal Council were as determined as ever to max imize the
benefits of this individual development opportunity.
During the summer of 1958, w hen Olinger was in the national
spotlight as a woman tribal leader, hailed as the "Lady Chief " in charge
of making "one of the biggest real estate deals " ever on Indian land , the
economic potential of the tribe's mineral hot spring s was grasped by the
media.1 1s Associated Press columnist John Beckler acknowledged that
the Gruen master plan had been turned down in its largest ex pression,
but noted that the spa element had "received a tremendous boost" when
the respected Chicago developer Samuel W. Banowit had leased eight
acres of tribal land , including the mineral hot springs, in order to build
The m ineral water s at 104
natural temperature will be
a featm:e of the new spa and
will be used in several pools,
but the spring itself will be
bridged and glass-covered and
maintained as a monument
for the Indian tribe.
a S2 million spa and 51 .7 million hotel (Fig . 28).176 Beckler understood
that even without the full y realized Gruen plan , the tribe stood to do
well , referencing a recent financial analysis of its land . He reported that
"things are looking up. A 1956 appraisal of the [Agua Caliente Cahuilla]
property fi x ed the average per capita assets at 5339 ,577 or 5764,049 per
family."1 n He went on to point out that the city, "squeezed in between a
lO,ooo foot mountain and the surrounding Indian lands," had nowhere
else to ex pand but on Indian land, so the spa project-alone or tied to the
Gruen master plan-w as key to the tribe seizing its economic future .178
Called se-khi (boiling water) in Cahuilla, the mineral hot springs
originate deep below the Coachella Valley from an intricate web of fault
lines, most notably the San Andreas, with their h'eat and mineralization
being the result of ongoing seismic activity.179 For the Agua Caliente
Cahuilla, this natural wonder-surrounded by abundant groves of palm
trees-was magical, and it served as the tribe 's physical and spiritual
center-a sacred place .18 0 The hot spr i ngs soon became the essential
point of attraction for the first white settlers who clearly recogn ized their
i nherent value . Brevet Captain Jose Romero off ered the earliest w ritten
account of these bubbling waters, recording them in his diary and calling
them "agua caliente," when he and his team of Me x ican military ex plorers
were looking for an overland route from Sonora, Me x ico, to California
during 1823-26. Ever after, these rejuvenating waters fascinated future
pioneers of the Palm Springs area . From the 1850s, when the Bradshaw
Stage Coach Line located a stop at the springs, to the 188os, when Judge
OF TWO WORLDS , YET OF ONE MIND 45
John Guthrie Mccallum moved from the foggy climes of San Francisco
to the warm , dry desert, primarily to help his ailing tubercular son, the
mineral hot springs gained increasingly as a draw. In 1886, interested
in capitalizing on this wellness tren d, Dr. Wellwood Murray created the
region's first lodging establishment-the Palm Springs Hotel-across
from the mineral springs so that he could offer his guests the water's
health benefit,5, and, by ex tension , advertise the healing powers of his
new resort . Jn the early twentieth century, the burgeoning Southern
California film industry, just two hours away by car and an easy skip by
plane, came to see Palm Springs as a delu x e getaway for health, fitness,
and beauty. In 1928 , the lu x ury hotel El Mirador opened its doors and
Hollywood celebrities, including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and
Lillian Gish , were seen on its elaborate grounds, establishing early ties
between the desert resort and movie stars and others of the international
elite. By the 1950s , the now well -known "movie colony " of Palm Springs
was firmly in place, with such A-list luminaries as Frank Sinatra and Bob
Hope maintaining second homes in the area .
In this ex travagant milieu, Olinger found herself appropriately
focused on creating the first lu x ury spa in Palm Springs . Upgrading and
enlarging the tribal hot springs had been a priority for Olinger
and the Tribal Council since 1952 . In the Tribal Council's first Annual
Progress Report, is sued that year under Lorene McGlamary and Olinger's
leadership, they singled out this wonder of nature as the focus of their
attention for a future development project, stating, "The Council is
planning to improve and ex pand the present facilities in order to realize
the full potential of the s prings as a community asset" (see p. 93).181
Their commitment to renovating the tribal hot springs provided a major
catalyst for modernizing the outdated federal leasing laws that had long
controlled the reservation.
The historic General Leasing Act, or Public Law 255 , which was
enacted in August 1955, was developed by Olinger and the Tribal Council
initially to accommodate the creation of the Palm Springs Spa . Without
tenable lease terms, they knew the tribe would be unable to attract
quality developers and investors . Despite the ex traordinary achievement
of P.L . 255 1 Olinger and the Tribal Council began immediately mobilizing
for revised legislation, arguing that the fifty-year total lease term under
P.L. 255 was inadequate and that, as Gruen recommended in his plan, it
should be upgraded to the originally proposed lease term of ninety-nine
years. In January 1956, they prepared a tribal resolution stating, "Public
Law 255 does not permit sufficient lease tenure to obtain the investment
capital needed for the full and highest economical development of the
eight acres of Tribal land including the Mineral Springs ... we do hereby
restate that we favor and urgently recommend the passage of ... a 99 year
lease term ."182 Olinger and the Tribal Council members then gathered
testimonials from local businesses and financial institutions, presenting
them to the federal government and pointing out their common belief
46 YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
Al·r . . area dir ctor from Sacramento . Leonard
tl Po~sibilil u of an ' · I · k I acl its al Lor-~ ·p co VERSATIO .' U\'l!l' 1C w J • ll'll The local counc:11. t 11. \ICC . _1 • .
IN u1_·.E . .,· . le,·: l.c.· on local Indian Jc;1ids, • . I . t " to \\a h111<>ton <I king
11111 g \on c1 , " 11 .. ,. drnw a requc:;t o ,.o · ,... 1 sc1.:t ·t "'1 IL tk\ l'lo11er of the PalJ11 ::-i111·111gs ~. 1 . lat ion !or 55 Yc>ar ea.<' • w Banow1 . t.' • 1 ' ri ·rn the go\ ernnwnt lor C'gi~ ' · .,, ll is
• " I "·I \I ill 111<;'111 tlw n•nn' at10n nt l ie in 1,. \11111· tl1c> hoJlt' thal it '·ould pa ~ ongt. s 1.
Sp,1 '' 11 ik ·11 \"t '1 t'·1Jwnte Tnh<1I Louncil ) I tl 1·11· \I l ~" ' · year •De ert Sun Photo. ~C~~~1a~~~;1~1a~·1~1 ~·,~~~o~h~1 ~0~l~in~g~c>~r _a~1~1d~B~t~1r~ea~1~1 ~o~f ~Jn_d_1a_n~---
Fig. 29 Olinger conversing with Samuel Banowit, developer of the Palm
Springs Spa, and Leonard Hill, Bureau of Indian Affairs area director
from Sacramento, about securing longer-term leasing for Indian land
in Palm Springs. The Desert Sun, April 26, 1958 .
that "a lease period as near permanency as possible [is needed] to
ensure the highest and most economical development of this potentially
valuable resou rce ."183
Meanwhile, Olinger had been speaking with investors about the
spa project. In fall 1956, after a year of talks with various businessmen
and bankers that led nowhere, she opened discussions with the
Chicago-based financier and developer Samuel Banowit, who had been
described as "A Man Who Makes Dreams Come True" (Fig . 29).184 Trained
as a lawyer, Banowit "stumbled into real estate," as he liked to say, after
the Great Depression, eventually enjoying professional success in his
new and unex pected career. As president of National Properties, Inc.,
headquartered in Chicago , he had real estate holdings spanning from
New York to Los Angeles . At the time Olinger and the Tribal Council
were seeking investors and builders for their spa resort, Banowit was
in charge of a modern, state-of-the-art construction project in Beverly
Hills, and its prox imity brought him to Olinger's attention.18s Jn several
important ways, Banowit was an ideal match for Olinger. His proclivity
Fig. 30 William F. Cody, chief architect
for the Palm Springs Spa, i964.
for modernism suited her, as did his taste for modern architecture, for
its simplified lines, minimal decoration, and exquisite use of industrial
materials . He also had ample financial resources at his disposal and an
impeccable track record on upscale developments . Equally significant,
he was willing to ride the uncertain waves that would be inevitable when
working with the federal government on Indian land . With the advantage
of hindsight, one can further appreciate Banowit's trust and patience
as he forged ahead with the spa project, on the promise that he had a
binding fifty-year lease term but in the face of no guarantee of the longer,
better-suited, ninety-nine-year lease term .186
In early February 1958, Banowit and the Tribal Council came to an
understanding about the spa project and by May had signed the premier
long-term lease of Indian land (seep . 158). Banowit did so knowing the
contract clearly stated that "presently lessor does not have the authority
to lease beyond fifty (50) years ."187 Banowit was a vocal advocate for
longer-term leasing on Indian land and supported Olinger's campaign
for ninety-nine years . Like her, he could envision the many possibilities,
and so his taking on the spa project with only the hope of ninety-nine
years was an act of faith intended to assist in pushing this legislation
through . In announcing this historic lease agreement, the press noted
that upgrading the bathhouse and improving its surroundings "had
been a major goal of the Tribal Council for the past
three years and has been Mrs. Olinger's particular
pet project."188 Approved by the Department of
the Interior, which still had supervisory rights, this
momentous contract between the tribe and Ban ow it's
company represented an extremely complicated
process. The negotiations lasted nearly three years
and involved the preparation of some eleven drafts
before the government authorized a final version.
Olinger spoke to these comple x ities when she said :
"We work under 4,000 laws and 9,000 rules a nd
regulations, and believe me, everybody has a reason
why it can't be done . Some people at the BIA in Palm
Springs told us we could never get it through . A year
ago we spent three weeks in Washington and came
away with 16 objections from the Secretary of the Interior. We got those
cleared up and then had 15 objections from the local office. Then we had
11 objections from the area office at Sacramento ."18 9
Having scaled this mountain of bureaucratic red tape, Olinger
enthusiastically claimed that "the so -year lease of the mineral hot
springs site is the first step toward developing an entire square mile
of undeveloped Indian land surrounding the eight-acre site," in other
words, a critical launching point in effecting the Gruen master plan.19°
When specifically asked if she thought this lease of the spa and its
immediate environs would encourage the tribe to support the Gruen
master plan, she replied, "I would certainly think so ."1 91 At the same
time, she pointed out that the Tribal Council was continuing to lobby
for congressional approval of ninety-nine-year lease terms for Indian
land .1 92 For his part, Banowit said he "envisioned a development that
would make the Palm Springs Spa as famous as such hot springs as
Saratoga ... Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Warm Springs, Georgia ."193 He had
already conducted extensive studies of the area and of the mineral hot
springs, in particular, including hydraulic and geology testing . Banowit
said that his group intended to transform the rustic bathhouse and its
four primitive water holes into some thirty separate antique-styled tubs
capable of handling over five hundred people a day. In addition to the
bathhouse transformation, he planned for a two-hundred-room hotel on
the designated eight acres, along with retail shops .1 94
With the spa lease signed , Olinger and the Tribal Council
assembled a high-quality design team . They didn't have to look too far
afield , quickly deciding upon the internationally known architect and
planner William F. Cody, whose principal office was in Palm Springs,
with branches in Phoeni x and San Francisco (Fig . 30). Educated at the
University of Southern California during World War 11 , Cody established
his practice in Palm Springs in 1946, proceeding to become well known
there and beyond as the progenitor of what was later labeled "desert
modernism."1 9s For the clubhouse of the Eldorado Country Club, the local
project he completed just before taking on the Palm Springs Spa, Cody
effectively adapted ideas from modern architecture-from the Bauhaus
and the International Style-to the warm climate and dry terrain of the
desert, creating an elegant, simplified aesthetic that emphasized open
floor plans, outdoor living spaces, and an exquisite blend of natural and
industrial materials .
Patterned after the marble baths of ancient Rome , the Palm Springs
Spa was one of the most innovative comple xes Cody designed for the
desert in the early 1960s (Figs . 31, 32). It referenced the past but was
utterly contemporary, epitomizing his extraordinary ability to adapt
European modern ism to the sandy, monochromatic ex panse.s of Southern
California. Like Banowit, Cody held views that were sympathetic with
Olinger's. His modernist approach to architecture and his philosophical
identification with American individualism made the two a natural match .
Of his profession, Cody once said , "Architecture must guide the future
of our culture, a three-dimensional sculptured concept conditioned
by proportion, [is] the secret of great building ."1 96 Of American -style
government, he noted, "We are fortunate to live under a democrati c way
of life wherein the indiv i dual can express his own ideas."1 97 Considered
the consummate professional, with a commensurate price tag to match,
Cody also fit the high level of ex pertise that Olinger characteristically
sought out. For the spa project, he put together an effective team of
fellow professionals, including Ph i lip Koenig, who served as an associate
architect, and Richard A. Harrison and Don We x ler, who both contributed
OF TW O WOR LOS , YET OF ON E MI NO 47
Fig . 31 Roman Baths, Bath, England, 60-360 CE. With its colonnades lined by shallow pools, antique
complexes like this inspired William F. Cody, the chief architect responsible for the Palm Springs Spa.
the working drawings . John Vogley was responsible for creating the
modern landscape design, which strategically incorporated pieces of
contemporary sculpture.198
Construction of the Palm Springs Spa began in June 1959.1 99 With the
goal of being open for the winter 1960 season, it was a "crash program"
requiring skilled, fast-track performances from a "regiment" of engineers,
technicians, and building ex perts who were all orchestrated by the Hight
Con struction Company, which served as the general contractor. Many
local and regional companies participated in the massive enterprise,
from Dill Lumber and Lido Terrazzo of Palm Springs to King Electric of
Los Angeles and Advance Tank and Manufacturing Company of Gardena,
California, which was in charge of designing and installing the twenty-
m i le network of piping and massive tanks needed to collect and direct
the mineral hot springs' w aters .
The "nucleus " of this state-of-the-art health resort was the ultra-
modern bathhouse, which raised the spa ex perience in Palm Springs to
a high art. To begin, the ex isting bathhouse-the third iteration of the
original structure, first built in the late 188os-had to be razed, and
48 YOU CAN'T EAT DIRT
further surveys of the hot springs had to be performed by geologists and
engineers . This scientific analysis was undertaken in order to ex amine
the best and safest ways to gather and tunnel the natural waters through
a new, extensive piping system to about thirty Roman-styled tubs lined in
terrazzo. In addition to the lu x urious, individualized hot tubs, Cody 's plan
cal led for the most advanced physical therapy faci I ities : peaceful , private
spaces to accommodate a small army of massage therapists, rock steam
rooms, dry heat rooms, inhalation chambers with vaporized medicated
fumes, cooling areas, ex ercise salons, two outdoor therapeu t ic pools,
and an ex terior Olympic-sized swimming pool .
After a whirlwind of design decisions, engineering puzzles, and
building challenges, the Palm Springs Spa opened to great reviews in
January 1960, just in time for that year's winter season . After gathering
together the finest creative talent and the best construction know-
how possible, Banowit and Olinger had realized their shared dream of
creating one of the world 's most beautiful health resorts . Photographs
of the gala opening clearly convey their sense of elation at achieving th is
extraordinary feat. At the ribbon cutting, Olinger is shown with Eileen
Fig. 32 Palm Springs Spa, 1960.
Fig. 33 Far right, Celebrating at the Gala
Opening for the Palm Springs Spa, igGo .
Left to right: Barbara Gonzales, the
youngest allotted tribal member at that
time; Eileen Miguel, who succeeded
Olinger as chairman of the Tribal
Council; and Lee Arenas, the oldest
allotted tribal member at that time .
Miguel, her loyal friend and dedicated right hand on the Tribal Council.
Between them stands Mayor Frank Bogert and at their sides, Banowit
and his associate from the Palm Springs Spa Corporation, Scotty Rubin.
All is laughs and smiles as Miguel and Olinger hold the bouquet of ribbon
that Bogert cuts through, inaugurating the Palm Springs Spa (see p.
164). Fellow tribal members and leading citizens of Palm Springs look on
and share in the happiness of the moment. One of the most remarkable
documents of this momentous occasion shows the youngest allotted
member of the tribe, Barbara Gonzales, with the oldest allotted member,
Lee Arenas (see p.165). It is an image about the different generations and
in a single "decisive moment" suggests the remarkable changes that had
taken place among the Agua Caliente Cahuilla and in Palm Springs during
Olinger's tenure as tribal chairman. In the 1930s and '40s, it was Arenas
who helped pave the way for individual land allotment and ownership
on the reservation with his precedent-setting Supreme Court case. It
was Olinger who, with the all-women Tribal Council , brought the issue of
finalizing and equalizing allotments to a close in the 1950s . By effecting
equalization and introducing long-term leasing on Indian lands, Olinger
and her fellow tribal leaders dedicated themselves to building a solid
economic foundation for the younger members of the tribe, like Barbara
Gonzales . In a related photograph, Eileen Miguel stands between Arenas
and Gonzales, speaking to them at this memorable event and serving as
an actual link between these two generations, not only by virtue of her
age but because she is now tribal chairman, having assumed the mantle
from Olinger in early 1959 (Fig . 33).
Before the Palm Springs Spa opened in January 1960, Olinger had
made the agonizing decision to resign as tribal chairman . By late 1958
she was struggling with one of the classic dilemmas of the modern
professional woman-finding balance between work and family. During
her early years of service on the Tribal Cou-ncil , she had two toddlers
in tow, but by 1958 , her girls were ages eight and five, respectively,
and she was increasingly torn between her leadership and motherly
responsibilities. She had taken a brief leave of absence in the summer
of 1958 to spend time with her family, after having been assured that
Congressman Saund would introduce the legislation for finalizing the
land allotments and saving the tribal reserves . But, as she ex plained ,
"I took the leave hoping it would ease the situation but it didn't." As a
result, in a surprise announcement at the January 1959 Tribal Council
meeting, she presented her letter of resignation, saying: "It is with regret
that I must tender my resignat ion as Chairman of the Agua Caliente
Tribal Council. Personal affairs make it necessary for me to take this
step ." When questioned by the press about her une x pected decision, she
spoke of the position and her intentions by saying, "This is something
I have seriously given thought to for the last si x month s ... [i t is a] big
job ... [and] although I am resigning my elected position, I do plan to
be active in Tribal affairs ." When asked about the remarkable progress of
the Agua Caliente Cahuill a during the seven years of her leadership, she
credited her fellow Tribal Council members and their effective working
relationship with the tribe .200
News of Olinger's res ignation triggered phone calls , telegrams, and
letters that spoke to her remarkable contributions to the tribe and to the
cause of American Indians generally. The press w rote tributes and the city
of Palm Springs prepared a special resolut i on acknowledging her "long
and meritorious service, which has been of distinct benefit to the City
in addition to providing the Indian Tribe with intelligent and competent
leadership" (Fig . 34).201 A letter from the area di rec.tor of the BIA , Leonard
Hill, however, strongly urged her to reconsider her decision, at least for
a few months, knowing that she was pivotal to the negotiations and
legislation regarding equalization and longer-term leasing.202
Olinger did not reconsider her decision but kept her word about
remaining engaged in the tribe 's legal and busines s activities. She fulfilled
her early commitment to ma x imize the tribe's mineral hot springs by
building the Palm Springs Spa and remained centra l to the tribe's pending
affairs in Congress . With the opening of the Palm Springs Spa in January
1960, she witnessed her good friend Eileen Miguel coming into her own
as a tribal leader. She had been Miguel's mentor, and , in turn, Miguel had
been her trusted aide throughout her productive years of service . Now,
the two tribal leaders are seen side by side at the inaugural festivities,
rejoicing in having given birth to this sensation and , in the process,
having modernized the tribe .
OF TWO WORLOS, YET OF ONE MINO 49