Katherine Siva Saubel

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe in California, United States. The main tribal groups are Cahuilla and Serrano. Tribal members also include Cupeño, Luiseño, and Chemehuevi Indians. Although many tribes in California are known as Mission Indians, some, such as those at Morongo, were never a part of the Spanish Missions in California. The Morongo Reservation is located in Riverside County, California in the San Gorgonio Pass. Established as the Portrero Reservation by executive order in 1876 under President Ulysses S. Grant, and called Malki by the Native Americans, the Morongo name was adopted by 1908 when the land was patented to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. The tribe has developed a large casino and hotel resort at Cabazon to generate revenues for tribal welfare and economic development.

Banning Municipal Airport (IATA: BNG, ICAO: KBNG, FAA LID: BNG) is a city-owned airport a mile southeast of Banning, in Riverside County, California.

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa is a Native American gaming casino, of the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians, located in Cabazon, California, United States, near San Gorgonio Pass. The casino has 310 rooms and suites. A 44-acre (180,000 m2), 27-story resort, Morongo is one of the largest casinos in California. At 330 feet (101 m) high, the casino tower is the tallest building in both Riverside County and the larger Inland Empire region.

The San Gorgonio Inn was Banning, California's first hotel and was built by George W. Bryant and C. W. Filkins. Originally called the Bryant House, it was built in the Winter of 1884–85. In 1889, the hotel ownership passed to Captain and Mrs. Thomas E. Fraser, and was renamed “The Banning.” The Inn originally served the Railroad trade but as time progressed the focus was on the tourist trade brought by the new Hwy 99. The Original entrance faced south towards the Train Station but was later located on the north side facing the highway. A new owner, John Livacich, bought “The Banning” and named it the “San Gorgonio Inn” in 1923. Livacich added bungalows, used as lodging for tourists. Located at 150 East Ramsey Street, the inn flourished with the construction of U.S. Route 99 (now known as Ramsey Street) and Interstate 10. It remained a popular fine dining restaurant until 1984 when the owners died. The Inn was inherited by the Head Chef, who ran it for a few years before leasing it and it subsequently became a gentlemen's club which failed. A neon Googie-styled sign from the 1950s pointed the way to the parking lot from the Ramsey Street entrance, but on August 31, 2011 it was taken down. In April 2011, the Inn was demolished, more than 100 years after it opened.

The Apollo Masters Corporation fire occurred on February 6, 2020, in Banning, California. Apollo Masters was the only U.S. based manufacturing plant for producing lacquer discs used in pressing vinyl records. The destruction of the plant caused a ripple effect throughout the vinyl record industry, as it left only one operating lacquer plant in the world.

Cabazon Dinosaurs, formerly Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, is a roadside attraction in Cabazon, California, featuring two enormous, steel-and-concrete dinosaurs named Dinny the Dinosaur and Mr. Rex. Located just west of Palm Springs, the 150-foot-long (46 m) Brontosaurus and the 65-foot-tall (20 m) Tyrannosaurus rex are visible from the freeway to travelers passing by on Southern California's Interstate 10. The roadside dinosaurs are best known for their appearance in the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985).Sculptor and theme park artist Claude Bell began construction of the dinosaurs in 1964 with the goal of attracting more customers to his nearby restaurant, the Wheel Inn (open from 1958 to 2013). Dinny and Mr. Rex were completed in 1975 and 1986, respectively. Bell died in 1988 at age 91 and his family sold the property in the mid-1990s. Since then, Cabazon Dinosaurs has been the site of a roadside creationist museum and giftshop.

Banning is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 29,505 as of the 2020 census, down from 29,603 at the 2010 census. It is situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, also known as Banning Pass. It is named for Phineas Banning, stagecoach line owner and the "Father of the Port of Los Angeles." Banning shares geographic and regional features with its western neighbor, the city of Beaumont. Banning and Beaumont have been rapidly growing in size and population since the 1990s. Both cities are about 80 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and 30 miles west of Palm Springs, each connected by freeway and railroad.

KRTM (88.1 FM) is a Christian radio station licensed to Banning, California, and serving the Palm Springs radio market. The station is owned by Penfold Communications, Inc.

Cabazon (Spanish: Cabazón) is a unincorporated community in Riverside County, California, United States. Cabazon is on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 21st century, the area has become a tourist stop, due to the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa and Desert Hills Premium Outlets. The population was 2,535 during the 2010 Census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Cabazon as a census-designated place (CDP).

The Esperanza Fire was a large, wind-driven, arson-caused wildfire that started on October 26, 2006, in a river wash near Cabazon, California, west of Palm Springs, California. By October 29, 2006, it had burned over 41,173 acres (166.62 km2) (or 61 square miles (160 km2)) and was 85% contained. On October 30, 2006, the fire was fully contained. Five firefighters died defending a vacant house locally known as the "Octagon" that was ultimately destroyed by the fire: Jason McKay, Jess McLean, Daniel Kurtis Najera, Mark Loutzenhiser and Pablo Cerda. In June 2009, Raymond Lee Oyler was sentenced to death for starting the fire.

The 1986 North Palm Springs earthquake occurred on July 8 at 02:20:44 local time with a moment magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (Very strong). The shock occurred in a complex setting along the San Andreas Fault Zone where it bisects San Gorgonio Mountain and San Jacinto Peak at the San Gorgonio Pass and was the first in a series of three earthquakes that affected southern California and the northern Owens Valley in July 1986. Numerous strong motion instruments recorded the event, one of which showed relatively high accelerations. Between 29 and 40 people were injured, and financial losses were estimated to be in the range of $4.5–6 million.

Banning General Hospital, later the Naval Convalescent Hospital, Banning, was a military hospital in Banning, California, built in 1943 to support training at the Desert Training Center. Built by the army as a 1,000-bed hospital, it was transferred to the navy in 1944. In 1948 the site was declared surplus, all buildings were removed, and the leased land was returned to the original owners.