For the Native Americans who lived here for thousands of years, for Spanish conquistadors, for explorers and soldiers such as Kit Carson and General Stephen Kearny, for emigrants in the early part of this century who still traveled by wagon, Vallecito has always been a green refuge in an often harsh land.

Countless generations of Native Americans camped and lived at Vallecito, because of the natural springs along the earthquake fault here. But a single generation of 19th Century Americans left indelible impressions. One example, the stage station, is testimony to the most dynamic decade of this area's history. First used as an army supply depot, then as a rest stop on the "Jackass Mail" between San Antonio and San Diego, the building was busiest during the lifetime of the Butterfield Overland Stage (1858-61). The stage line carried mail and passengers over the 2,800 miles separating Tipton, Missouri and San Francisco in 25 days. It was said to be the longest stage ride in the world. 

Stage stations scattered along the route offered the weary passengers a brief meal and rest as the horses were changed. Then it was on to the next stop on the 24-hour-a-day journey. Vallecito was a favorite such station, since it was the first place with greenery that travelers saw after crossing the hostile desert west of Yuma. But the Civil War ended the southern mail route, and Vallecito went into a slow decline. *For any Spaghetti Western movie fans the runaway stagecoach scene in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"  perfectly depicts the stage route from Yuma to Vallecitos.

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