Agua Mansa, California

The Agua Mansa Valley is located on the south side of Slover Mountain.{{cite book|last=Los Angeles County Pioneers of Southern California|title=Southern California quarterly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYzj-HzrbAYC&pg=RA2-PA37|volume=1|year=1884|publisher=Historical Society of Southern California|page=37}} The valley was {{convert|6|mi|km|abbr=on}} in length; its width varied between {{convert|.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} and {{convert|.75|mi|km|abbr=on}}, the variance depending on the river that flowed through the valley. The area was used as farmland, divided into at least one hundred fields, owned by separate ranchers. The valley's lower end included a Frémont's cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) riparian forest owned by Rubidoux, while the upper end was a sandy plain that extended to the borders of present-day San Bernardino.{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Hugh M. |title=Robidoux Chronicles: Ethnohistory Of The French-american Fur Trade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaPDJMKm4oMC&pg=PA301|page=301|publisher=Trafford Publishing|year=2004|isbn=1-4120-2570-2}}

In 1845, Don Juan Bandini donated parts of his land grant Rancho Jurupa to a group of New Mexican colonists led by Santiago Martinez, and Manuel Lorenzo Trujillo from Abiquiú in Santa Fe de Nuevo México — on the condition that they would provide in protection from local Indian raids, in exchange for land, "Civil Militia" Ten of these families moved to {{convert|2000|acre|ha}} on the "Bandini Donation" on the east side of the Santa Ana River, forming the village of La Placita, while a second group colonized the west side of the river, forming the town of Agua Mansa. The group that formed Agua Mansa was led by Santiago Martinez, Manuel Lorenzo Martinez and Hipilito Garcia, and included Cristobal Slover and Louis Rubidoux.

After the adobe church built in La Placita in 1852 collapsed in quicksand, a new church was built in Agua Mansa. Completed in 1853 and dedicated to San Salvador, the church survived through the Great Flood of 1862.{{cite web|url=http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/branches/agua.htm|title=The Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery|publisher=San Bernardino County Museum|access-date=31 January 2014}} The parish, which included Agua Mansa and La Placita, became known as San Salvador de Jurupa, and was the first non-mission parish in Southern California.{{cite web|url=http://www.insidetheie.com/Aqua-Mansa|title=The Lost City of the Inland Empire, Agua Mansa|first=Gary |last=Hall|work=insidetheie.com|publisher=Inside the Inland Empire|access-date=11 December 2010}} The chapel's bell now hangs at the Glenwood Mission Inn.{{cite book|last=Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (U.S.)|title=Locomotive engineers journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cv0RAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA244|volume=53|year=1919|page=244}}

The town prospered for almost 20 years until the 1862 flooding swept away many of the adobe buildings, leaving the area strewn with sand and gravel. Though the town was rebuilt on higher ground, its prosperity did not return.{{cite web|url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21476|title=NO. 121 AGUA MANSA|work=ohp.parks.ca.gov|publisher=Office of Historical Preservation|access-date=11 December 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101117064641/http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21476| archive-date= 17 November 2010 | url-status=live}}

Built in 1870 in Agua Mansa, the Jensen Alvarado Ranch is a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its vineyard produced and sold thousands of gallons of wine each year.{{cite news|url=http://www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels/ci_15854191 |title=Ranch offers rich look at past |last=Summons |first=Trevor |date=21 August 2010 |work=The Sun |publisher=San Bernardino Sun |access-date=9 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204064002/http://www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels/ci_15854191 |archive-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}

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Agua Mansa is designated California Historical Landmark (No. 121).{{cite ohp|121|Agua Mansa|2012-10-12}} The marker is located at Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery, the only site that remains of the once flourishing town.{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Patrick |title=Santa Ana River Guide: From Crest to Coast – 110 Miles Along Southern California's Largest River System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNgnP1Der_sC&pg=PA209|series=209|year=2006|publisher=Santa Ana River Guide: From Crest to Coast – 110 Miles Along Southern California's Largest River System |isbn=0-89997-411-2}} The first burial occurred in 1852, and the last occurred 111 years later in 1963. It has a museum and chapel, and tours are available.

Records of who is buried in the cemetery are incomplete but about 1,400 (as of October 2018) names have been identified out of a total of 2,000 estimated burials.Family remembrance set at historic cemetery. Riverside Press Enterprise, Oct. 25, 2011. Retrieved Oct 4, 2014 Only a few grave markers remain today. The earliest known interment was that of Louis Rubidoux, who came to California in 1844 and bought the Jurupa Rancho near today's City of Riverside. Another burial was that of Cornelius Jensen in 1886; Jensen was a Danish sea captain who established a store at Agua Mansa before moving to part of the Robidoux ranch. Jensen's wife, Mercedes Alvarado, is also buried in the cemetery along with other members of her family. Lorenzo Trujillo, the original patriarch of the community, is also believed to rest somewhere in a grave that long ago lost its marker. Isaac Slover, a mountain man and bear hunter who came to California in his old age (and who was killed in 1854 by a bear), is also buried in the cemetery.San Bernardino Historical Society Newsletter, September, 1980.

• This historic site marks the resting place of the pioneers of the Agua Mansa area which was started about 1840. The preservation of this cemetery began in 1951. Erected 1961 by Jurupa Palor No. 296 Native Daughters of the Golden West. (Marker Number 121.)[https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=127364 marker Database 121]

Agua Mansa is the namesake of a fictional town in Southern California in the contemporary novel Still Water Saints by writer Alex Espinoza.{{Cite web|last=Medina|first=David D.|date=6 May 2007|title=Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza|url=https://www.chron.com/life/books/article/Still-Water-Saints-by-Alex-Espinoza-1617941.php|access-date=2021-03-03|website=Houston Chronicle}}

• California Historical Landmarks in San Bernardino County, California

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Category:Former settlements in San Bernardino County, California

Category:Populated places on the Santa Ana River

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Category:Colton, California

Category:California Historical Landmarks

Category:Ghost towns in California

Category:History of San Bernardino County, California

Category:Populated places established in 1845

Category:1845 establishments in Alta California

Category:Museums in San Bernardino County, California