Floods of 1938

The flooding problems in the midwest and south right now are pretty mind boggling! It made me think of our own river, running right along of the edge of our fair city. The Santa Ana River looks pretty tame most of the time but when it gets angry it can get REALLY angry. The flood of 1938 was the big one. I have a chapter in my book, Rubidoux, that is devoted to the Santa Ana River. In it I include photos of various floods through the years, including the 1938 monster. Every bridge on the Santa Ana River except the one crossing from Rubidoux to downtown Riverside was damaged or destroyed by that flood. Much of Rubidoux (then called West Riverside) was flooded and the Riverside Airport was put out of business. Why the Riverside Airport was in West Riverside will have to be a story for another day!   

How the Santa Ana River Got its Name

I have a book in my collection called California Place Names by Erwin G. Gudde (4th edition).  According to this book, the Santa Ana River is named for St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. It was named on July 28, 1769 by the Portola expedition when it camped by the river. The soldiers named it Santa Ana and this appears to be the only time on this expedition that the soldiers (as opposed to the padres) gave a place a holy name. Potola did not camp beside the river in our area, but the Santa Ana stretches all the way to the Pacific Ocean, leaving him and his expedition plenty of places to camp!