Early Explorers in the Tehachapi Area

Father Francisco Garces was the first non-Indian man known to visit the local Indians in the Tehachapi area in 1776, recording little beyond their friendliness and the food they gave him. In 1826, mountain man Jedediah Strong Smith became the first American to come through the area. In April 1844, John Charles Fremont traveled through with Alexis Godey, Kit Carson, and Edward Kern. In 1853, Lt. Robert Williamson came in search of the best railroad route to the Pacific and recorded the creek name as TAH-EE-CHAY-PAH, which he understood from the spoken Indian word Tehecita, a name also used for one of their villages, the nearby lake, and the creek. William Brewer, working with the California survey team between 1860 and 1864, wrote in his journal, “We crossed the ridge to Tehachapi.” In 1869, pioneer Peter D. Greene was appointed postmaster at the stage station at Oak creek and called it “Tehichipa.” In 1875, Greene became postmaster of Greenwich, a viable population center until it disappeared in 1877 after the present city site was established with the coming of the railroad in 1876. That year the Southern Pacific Railroad officially affixed the spelling Tehachapi to the town. The postal name Tehichipa remained in use until 1893, when the official name became Tehachapi because neither Old Town nor Greenwich still existed. The name Tehachapi has been given several meanings, including “windy place,” “plenty of acorns and water,” and “flat place covered with oaks,” while the Kawaiisu dictionary includes “tiha-cipi-a,” meaning “hard climbing,” which may be the most accurate.

Tehachapi, California · United States