Mill Creek Zanja

Mill Creek Zanja is a six-mile ditch that carries water from an intake weir box in Mentone southwest through Crafton to Sylvan Park in Redlands. Franciscan fathers from Mission San Gabriel began planning it in 1819 to teach farming to the Gauchama Indians. Pedro Alvarez laid out the route, and Gauchama workers under their chief, Solano, did the digging. It was finished in time for spring planting in 1820. The route follows natural draws and depressions, with excavation where the ground rose. The ditch later served Mexican-era colonists and early American settlers, and for years it was the only water supply in early Redlands. Its water rights prompted twelve major lawsuits, including one in 1876 that held the Zanja to be a man-made stream. The nomination describes it as the oldest civil engineering project in Southern California and a California Historical Landmark. Parts still flow, and many trees planted along its banks survive. A flood-control channel has altered a short stretch near Lincoln Street.