Q 01/05

Palm Springs lies in which California county?

A) San Bernardino

B) San Diego

C) Imperial

D) Riverside

Answer · why

D) Riverside

At roughly 94 square miles it is the largest city in the county by land area.

Q 02/05

Which Native American people settled the Palm Springs area about 2,000 years ago?

A) Chumash

B) Cahuilla

C) Mojave

D) Serrano

Answer · why

B) Cahuilla

They spent summers in the cooler canyons and winters beside the hot springs downtown, and their surnames survive on many city streets.

Q 03/05

What does the tribal name Agua Caliente mean?

A) Palm valley

B) Sweet water

C) Hidden spring

D) Hot water

Answer · why

D) Hot water

The reservation was established in 1876 and the tribe is the city's largest landowner.

Q 04/05

Why is the Agua Caliente Reservation laid out in a checkerboard pattern across the city?

A) Each family received one square

B) Land was split by earthquake faults

C) Alternating sections were granted to a railroad

D) Spanish missions divided it that way

Answer · why

C) Alternating sections were granted to a railroad

The Southern Pacific got the alternating 640-acre sections as an incentive to lay track through the desert.

Q 05/05

The palm in the city's name refers to which native species?

A) Date

B) Fan

C) Coconut

D) Canary Island

Answer · why

B) Fan

Early Spanish explorers may also have called the area La Palma de la Mano de Dios, the palm of God's hand.