Exploring Agua Mansa Cemetery, Colton, CA: The Whispers of Gentle Water

in 1848 a Danish merchant ship captained by Cornelius Jensen came to port in San Francisco the city was buzzing with rumors of gold having been discovered at Sutter's Mill on the banks of the American River lured by the promise of instant wealth captain Jensen's crew jumped ship and disappeared into the gold fields abandoned and unable to muster a new crew for the return voyage Jensen traded a life on the high seas for one on dry land but rather than pan for gold he opened a general store in Sacramento that catered to new miners flooding into the Sierra Nevada mountains making a good living he might have been content to spend the rest of his days there until he heard of the opportunities to be had in Southern California so in 1854 Jensen and his young wife Mercedes settled in a thriving community that was the largest settlement between Santa Fe New Mexico and Los Angeles California the place sat on the western bank of the Santa Ana River and was named agua Monza the Spanish phrase for gentle waters today almost nothing remains of the settlement except this little cemetery sitting on a parched hilltop in the industrial center of Colton California come walk with me and explore agua Monza Pioneer Cemetery as you pass through the gates of the cemetery you are greeted by an iron sculpture that seems to be waiting to give each visitor a welcoming embrace it was dedicated in 2011 to lorenzo Trujillo who came here from Abuk we owe New Mexico he led the first settlers along the old Spanish Trail to agua Monza in the 1840s Trujillo and his sons also served as guardians of the community by keeping out Marauders and poachers Trujillo died in 1855 and was buried here in the cemetery however the exact location of his grave is unknown but it is believed to be near his sculpture perhaps the most significant memorial to his memory is his family who flourished in the area right up to the present day many of Trujillo's descendants who have passed on can be found here as well in 1841 another man with his eye set to the Future started out along the old Spanish Trail to Agua Monza during a stop in Utah he took the time to carve his name into one of the rocks after his arrival Luis Rubidoux held several occupations from vintner to politician in 1846 he took part in the battle of Chino the only fighting of the mexican-american war to take place in California and was briefly held as a prisoner after the war he went on to become a prosperous rancher today his former holdings make up the community that bears his name and mount Rubidoux is a prominent feature in the area after his death in 1868 he was laid to rest here at agua Monsun like Trujillo many of his descendants rest close by agua Monza attracted many colorful characters in its early years one such character was Isaac Slover a mountain man trapper and teller of tall tales he specialized in bear hides and lived in the area until his death in 1854 he was buried in the cemetery but his headstone is now covered up but if we could see it it would tell us that his occupation got the best of him one day in the cajon pass something to think about the next time you drive from LA to Las Vegas on the 15 freeway life was pretty good for the first two decades of agua Monza's history in 1852 the community came together and built a small chapel at the cemetery in honor of San Salvador today a recreation stands in its place there seemed to be no limit to the community's prosperity until the winter of 1861 and 1862 when the rains came in California's current drought ridden climate it's almost impossible to imagine what 15 days of unrelenting torrential rain is like flooding ravage the entire state and agua Monza was hit especially hard the once gentle waters of the Santa Ana River washed away homes and farms miraculously the lives of the agua Monson's were spared they had all taken refuge in the small chapel when the flood water receded it left behind sandy deposits that made planting almost impossible many in the community moved to the neighboring community of LA Placita or to Riverside and beyond not everyone left after the flood a few like former sea captain Cornelius Jensen stayed on he purchased farmland and built a large home there that also served as a general store and a community center it survives to this day and is operated by the Riverside County Museum as the Jensen Alvarado historic ranch and Museum it is only a few miles from agua Monza cemetery where Jensen was buried after his death in 1886 he rests beside his beloved wife Mercedes his mother and father-in-law Juana and Francisco another family member is buried here whose headstone has been stolen sadly Jensen's grave like so many here was desecrated by vandals Jensen had 12 children and if you look you can find a few of them buried in Agua Monza even though a hardy few remained the area continued to decline in the decades after the flood the old chapel at agua Monza had closed its doors by 1880 and was left to crumble into ruin the old church Bell said to have been made with bits of metal donated by the first agua monsen's hung from a tree in the cemetery until Frank Miller bought it in 1918 and put it on display at his mission in resort in Riverside the once peaceful and prosperous community began to earn a reputation for harboring criminals and illegal activities newspaper accounts of the date elavil illicit horse races held on the banks of the Santa Ana River that often erupted into violence other stories tell of murderers and rapists being chased into the hills were some were captured alive and some were not even though most of the old residents had moved miles away from the little cemetery they could still hear the call of their ancestors burials continued at agua Monza until 1963 however the years that followed were not so good the flood waters of a century earlier did not reach the high ground of the cemetery but vandals did what the water could not throughout the 1960s the cemetery sat virtually abandoned despite the fact that it was declared a historical landmark back in 1933 with the efforts of family members and local conservationists the desecration of the cemetery continued unabated it's hard to find a grave that hasn't been harmed in some way it's estimated that around 2000 people were buried here but only about half that many can be identified over the years headstones were broken or stolen and some made out of wood were burned in grass fires making it nearly impossible to locate and identify grave sites things finally began to change for the better in 1967 when the San Bernardino County Museum took charge of the property through their efforts and those of the community a much-needed gate was built around the cemetery in 1978 a recreation of the original chapel was constructed today an on-site caretaker and security protects the grounds and its history from further damage about the only thing they can't stop is the Gophers some of the stolen headstones have even managed to make their way back to the cemetery Tanny Pena was a beloved husband father grandfather and veteran of World War one who passed away in 1942 sadly his headstone went missing in the 1970s and miraculously turned up in an estate sale decades later in 2012 thankfully a conscientious citizen facilitated its return to its rightful place in Agua matzah over time the cemetery gave rise to urban legends and ghost stories that have crept their way into the culture of the Inland Empire for years the cemetery sat alone on a dark treacherous road that has claimed lives and traffic accidents and you can imagine how local kids out with their dates on a Friday or Saturday night would venture out to that mysterious place in search of a thrill one of the tales that's told most often comes straight out of Mexican folklore it's about La Llorona or the weeping woman she is said to be the ghost of a woman who walks along the water's edge and search of her lost children depending on which version you hear her children were either swept away in a flood or more gruesomely were said to have been drowned by their mother who is now dammed to seek them out for all eternity another tale concerns an old man seen walking his dog along our guam Anza Road late at night passing motorists claimed to have seen him in the glow of their headlights only as they approached the man and his dog vanish without a trace undoubtedly more stories such as these exist having been fueled by at least two murders and one suicide that have occurred on the property I can tell you that on the three separate explorations I made there the only visitations I encountered were from lizards and one coyote probably the biggest dangers out there are the gopher holes and the goat head thorns so if you should visit watch your step and we're good hiking shoes and bring lots of water if it's hot you don't want to get dehydrated agua Monza has become a very special place to me one that I wouldn't hesitate to visit again the more that I read about the long lost community the more I realize just how important to roll it and it's people played in the development of Southern California through the noise of trucks passing by on the road and the sound of Industry all around you can still hear the voices of the past calling out to the future there are no ghosts at agua Monza the souls there are at peace knowing that they laid down a good path for us the living to follow thank you for watching and please like and subscribe to my channel for more grave explorations

Channel: Grave Explorations

Views: 39,976

Rating: 4.94555 out of 5

Keywords: ghost, haunted, pioneer graveyard, abandoned

Id: hmOspeFsiGo

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 23 2016