The Vortex Made Me Do It: The History & Mystery of Desert Hot Springs, California

This is a true story of a city and its people, seemingly making a wrong turn on the road to a better life, and having to live it while hoping for change. The story reads like a B-Movie with high crime, political corruption, illicit sex and bank robberies, mixed with violence, mystery, myth and Indian lore. While laughable at times, the story profiles many of the people and the experiences associated with them, as abject lessons in perseverance, faith and determination in overcoming adversities in their city.

Desert Hot Springs is a historical place in the Imperial Desert of California high above the Desert floor identified today as Coachella Valley. The area, once roamed by the Cahuilla and Agua Caliente Indians, became home to Cabot Yerxa, one of the Valley's earliest known settlers in 1913, whose adobe house still stands as a museum and monument to the pioneering spirit of America.

According to public records, the local Chamber of Commerce and Mission Springs Water District, the area boasts some of the finest drinking water in the United States, and an abundance of underground mineral spring water rushing to the surface from 105 degrees to 125 degrees in 44 Boutique spas. It is also a place where local lore and some enthusiasts believe there is an "Energy Vortex" in the center of the city creating mystic powers for residents and visitors.

Most early settlers of the area were homesteaders, who qualified and secured their 160-acre parcel ownership by constructing the required one-hundred square foot "home" as established by the Homestead Act of the U.S. Government and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The law took effect on January 1, 1863.

Now, the city within its boundaries is financially, and infrastructure challenged. There is a small but very active constituency of citizens working as volunteers on civic projects throughout the city, many of whom believe the "natural wonders" of the medicinal quality of "miracle hot spring waters"; the pure drinking water and the "Energy Vortex" will bring prosperity to the city. So far, this hasn't happened.