46 | SPRING / SUMMER 2017 SPRING / SUMMER 2017 | 47 MOUL:
The Man, the Tree, the Legend
Of all the trees in all the canyons
of the world, only one has a special meaning for the
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
By Kate anderson
THINKSTOCKPHOTOS.COM
48 | SPRING / SUMMER 2017 SPRING / SUMMER 2017 | 49 One of the men, the leader of the Sungrey
tribe, felt his time on Earth was coming to
an end. Wanting to leave behind something
to benefit his people, he announced he was
going to be a palm tree and stated that his
name would be Moul. As he stood straight
and tall, bark began to grow around him, and
leaves grew from the top of his head until
he had fully transformed into a palm tree.
The same Cahuilla legend states that Moul’s
metamorphosis took place in Indian Wells,
and soon people from different locales came
to see the tree and eat its sweet fruit. They
carried Moul’s seeds back with them, which
explains how the palm came to populate the
rest of the valley. In addition to providing
sustenance for his people and indicating
the presence of water, Moul provided shade
on a hot day.
The Washingtonia filifera can grow as tall
as 90 feet, and its white flowers bloom from
February to June. From June to November, it
produces a black fruit that is sweet like honey
or raisins. Robert James Hepburn writes in
Plants of the Cahuilla Indians that the tree’s
fruit was eaten fresh or made into a drink.
The seeds would be dried and placed inside
gourds to make rattles.
Researcher James W. Cornett, a
consulting ecologist and author of Desert
Palm Oasis: A Comprehensive Guide,
has spent much of his life studying
Washingtonia filifera palm trees, which he
refers to as the desert fan palm. “Many years
ago, I received a research grant to study
the ecology of desert fan palm oases,” he
says. “In the mid-1980s, it was believed that
the desert fan palm should be listed as an
endangered species. I thought we should go
census all the palm trees in the southwest
and Mexico and see how they were doing.”
What Cornett discovered was stunning.
Not only were the Washingtonia filifera
palm oases healthy, they were continuing
to grow and spread. “We had counts from
1936 to 1955 by Randall Henderson,” he
says. “He counted about 15,000 palms, and
lo and behold, our count indicated more
than 30,000.”
Cornett says the rate of increase seemed
to begin after WWII, and his research
found the palm trees in places they had
not previously been, such as Death Valley
H
ave you ever wondered how the myriad palm trees that surround us in the Coachella Valley ended up here? With more than 2,800 species of palm trees in the world, only one — the Washingtonia filifera — is native to California, and it holds a significant place in the history and hearts of the Coachella Valley’s native people.
For the ancient Agua Caliente, the Washingtonia (also known as the California fan palm and the desert fan palm) was essential, as it provided sweet fruit to eat as well as fronds to build shelter and frond stems that could be shaped into utensils for eating and bows for hunting. Recognizable for its “skirt,” or the dried fronds that hang down the trunk, the palm served another important purpose: It alerted native people to water sources, a crucial part of survival in the desert. Even the name is significant: filifera means “thread-bearing,” a reminder of the delicate fronds that line the fan-shaped leaves, while Washingtonia is named for the first U.S. president.
According to Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians by Francisco Patencio and Margaret Boynton, the Cahuilla legend of how the first palm tree came to be in the Coachella Valley involves the leaders of five Native American tribes who made their way over the San Gorgonio Pass and into the Coachella Valley, which at that time had no palm trees.
ABOVE: Century-old palm trees tower above the floor of Palm Canyon in the Indian Canyons. OPPOSITE: One Cahuilla legend that tells the story of the Washingtonia filifera’s origins claims that Moul, a leader of the Sungrey tribe, transformed into the Coachella Valley’s first palm tree to benefit his people.
STUART FUNK /A MONUMENT TO TREASURE (MOUL), JAMES W. CORNETT (PALMS) 50 | SPRING / SUMMER 2017 SPRING / SUMMER 2017 | 51 the same location over a period of time and
compare the number of trees that appear in
each photo.
“On average, these palms probably have
the same life span of a very old person, maybe
80 to 100 years,” Cornett says. “The oldest
palm we could document was 136 years old.”
The growth rate of a palm tree is around
1 foot per year until it reaches about 40
years old, and then the growth rate slows.
The geographical expansion of the
Washingtonia filifera throughout the valley
and the presence of the Cahuilla Indians
are deeply linked.
“Cahuilla Indians played a major
role in the expansion [of the palms] by
transporting seeds to newly discovered
water sources,” Cornett explains, adding
National Park in California and even across
the state border in Nevada.
Cornett’s studies have found that there
are approximately 168 locations where
Washingtonia filifera palms are known
to grow naturally, and these regions span
across California, Arizona, Baja California,
and Nevada.
“It is the largest palm in North America,”
he says. “In biology, we call it the most
massive palm.”
Like all palms, the Washingtonia is not
a tree per se but a monocot, which means
it falls into the grass family along with
wheat and aloe. Thus, researchers can’t
count the rings to determine its age, but
instead must use a technique called repeat
photography, where they take photos from
that natural occurences, such as fire and
flood, also helped spread the palms.
“Palm Canyon is the largest undisturbed
palm oasis [of any kind] on planet Earth,”
he says. “I have visited oases throughout the
world — and I have never found one that is
as large and as undisturbed as Palm Canyon,
which has more than 2,000 adult palm trees.”
There are other large groves of palms
around the world — date palms, for
instance — but they are agricultural palms
that have been planted, watered, and
tended, Cornett says, adding that they have
been “modified by the hands of humans.”
“If you go to Palm Canyon, you see the
palms growing in their natural state,” he
says. “The Tribe is the caretaker of the very
best palm oases in existence.”
OPPOSITE: Palm
Canyon as seen from
Hermit’s Bench, circa
1936. Approximately 41
adult palms are visible.
ABOVE: Taken from
the same location in
Palm Canyon in 2007,
this photo shows that
the number of adult
palms had increased
to 65. Researchers like
James W. Cornett use
this technique of repeat
photography to monitor
palm tree populations.
JAMES W. CORNETT (2007 PALM CANYON)
STEPHEN WILLARD, COURTESY OF JAMES W. CORNETT (1936 PALM CANYON) AND COUNTING …
The Indian Canyons in Palm Springs
are home to some of the largest
undisturbed palm oases in the world.
Here’s how a few of them stack up.
PALM CANYON
2,511
adult trees
ANDREAS CANYON
1,076
adult trees
MURRAY CANYON
688
adult trees
Visit the Indian Canyons at the southern end
of Palm Springs to see the Washingtonia
filifera. Measuring more than 15 miles
long, Palm Canyon boasts a moderately
graded footpath and opportunities
to hike, meditate, or picnic near a
stream. The Trading Post offers maps,
art, books, jewelry, pottery, baskets,
and refreshments. Nearby, the tranquil
and lush Andreas Canyon has more
than 150 species of plants within a half-
mile radius. Hike its scenic trail to spot birds,
palm trees, centuries-old bedrock mortars
and metates used for food preparation, rock
formations, and Andreas Creek.
For more information about visiting the Indian
Canyons, go to www.indian-canyons.com.