WELCOME TO
MORONGO VALLEY

Morongo Valley was originally founded in the early 1900’s. For year rumors have circulated that previous to being founded, the Indians of the era had actually losted it. However, the recent recovery of previously lost documents has proven that any rumors of the area having been losted are in fact unfounded.

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Morongo is an ancient Indian word that has been variously translated as “Valley of Many Waters” “Beautiful Valley”, or “The Idiot left”. Morongo Valley lies at an elevation of 2650 feet, and would, of course, be much taller if it stood up. The valley is approximately 3 miles wide by 8 miles long, with an average temperature of 75 degrees. It achieves that average, however, by being over 100 degrees all summer and under 50 degrees all Winter.

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Early settlers in the valley took advantage of the plentiful water here to plant orchards and alfalfa fields. Some settlers also ran cattle and did some occasional mining. In more recent times the people who call this area home make money from Cafes, and use the plentiful water their dishes. The cattle have, of course; become the hamburger patties.

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The most famous incident to occur in the area involved a local Indian by the name of Willie Boy. In 1909, Willie killed a man and kidnapped his daughter. For a number of days Willie outran and outsmarted a posse that pursued him, but in the end Willie killed both the girl and himself. The incident was widely reported in the newspapers of the time, and was later made into a Hollywood movie starring Robert Redford and a horse named “Chuck”. It remains an oft-told story to this day, and each year a group of local history buffs commemorates the Willie Boy Incident by riding their horses through town and shooting at newspaper reporters and movie producers.

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Otherwise, the history of those early days is much similar to that of any other sleepy little town of the era. The first telephone arrived in 1931, the first phone bill a month later. The year of 1945 brought electricity, in 1948 the Post office arrived, postage due, The main highway had been paved in 1935, but the big change came when the highway was widened to four lanes in 1963. Suddenly Morongo Valley was no longer a sleepy little town, but was instead a sleepy little town with a big road down the middle!

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And so it remained to this day, standing strong throughout the Flash Flood of ‘38, the Big Snow of ‘49 and the Big Snow of ‘57, the Flash Flood of ‘78, the Big Flood of ‘92, the Almost Bad Fire of ‘96, the Big Earthquakes of ‘91, the Big Freeze of ‘89, the Annoying Spring of ‘58, That Year When the Snake were Everywhere and The Year Things Went Badly. Yes, standing strong and sleepy through the years, providing beyond a doubt that people will live anywhere! All Hail Morongo Valley!

The World Famous Morongo Valley Café & Museum
49780 29 Palms Highway, Morongo Valley, CA 92256
Phone: 760-363-6939