Mill Creek Zanja

The mission estancia at the west end of Mission Road lasted only about eleven years because its simple adobe structure stood in the flood plain of San Timoteo Creek, which often flooded. Mission leaders rebuilt on higher ground at the site of today's Asistencia mission on Barton Road in Redlands. The new mission began in 1830 and was abandoned in 1834 as the government of Mexico pursued a policy of secularizing the mission lands. The valley then passed to the Lugo family, who raised cattle across the entire valley. After a disastrous snowstorm in 1848, the Lugos sold the valley to Mormon elders establishing a Latter-day Saints colony. Throughout these changes in ownership and settlement, the Zanja continued to provide water for everyone living near its banks.

Loma Linda, California · United States