The Oasis of Mara and the People of the Palms

Near the town of Twentynine Palms, where the park has its northern visitor center, native California fan palms rise out of the bare desert around a line of springs. This is the Oasis of Mara, and it is why a town and a national park district got their name. The Serrano people were the first known inhabitants, and they called this place Mara, a name often translated as the place of little springs and much grass.

There is a story that a medicine man told the Serrano this would be a good place to live and that they would have many baby boys, and he instructed them to plant one palm tree for every boy born. In that first year they are said to have planted twenty-nine palms, and that number became the name Twentynine Palms. The Serrano grew corn, beans, pumpkins, and squash here and used the palms for food, clothing, tools, and shelter.

Chemehuevi people also lived in the area and near the oasis springs. By the early twentieth century few Native residents remained at the oasis, as miners and homesteaders moved into the region. The palms still grow along the fault line that feeds the springs.