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The Zanja

The Zanja is a California Historical Landmark in San Bernardino County.

San Bernardino County · Bryn Mawr · location approximate

Directions to the area ↗Start a road tripHistorical trails

Spanish missionaries introduced the principle of irrigation in San Bernardino Valley, thus opening the way to settlement. Franciscan fathers engineered, and Indians dug, this first ditch, or "zanja," in 1819–20. In historical sequence the zanja supported the San Bernardino Asistencia, Rancho San Bernardino, pioneer ranches, orchards, and Redlands' domestic water supply.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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