Historic Colton cemetery now open more daysJuliane Ngan, Staff Writer Nestled in a industrial area of Colton between the Angelus Block Co. and the Agua Mansa Landfill lies the Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery - the last remaining symbol of one of the first settlements in Colton.
The cemetery was taken over by the San Bernardino County Museum in the 1970s and preserved as State Historical Landmark No. 121.
For several years, the cemetery was only open to the public and descendants of those buried at the cemetery for three hours on the first Sunday each month.
After receiving a grant from the County Board of Supervisors, the museum has hired a docent to work at the cemetery on a part-time basis and open the cemetery to the public three days a week.
According to Michele Nielsen, the museum's curator of history, the museum hopes the accessibility will allow families to visit their ancestors and give the museum further information about those who were buried there.
Several pepper and palm trees have grown on the small plot of land along Agua Mansa Road, among scattered gravestones, each unique in their own way.
An estimated 2,000 graves are expected to be on the small plot of land, said Nielsen. Less than 1,000 markers still stand today to identify those buried beneath the ground.
Nielsen says the graves are plotted out in a map coordinate system which recorded every fragment of a gravestone which was discovered at the cemetery.
Though the museum knows where many of the bodies are buried, it does not plan on placing any markers to identify where the other more than 1,000 bodies lie or to fix any of headstones that have been damaged over the years.
``We leave them that way and don't repair the damage, because it is part of the history of the site,'' said Nielsen.
Other than general maintenance, the museum has left the cemetery site as it was before they took it over. The only exception is a new building constructed by the museum to replace the original chapel.
The cemetery is what is left of the communities of Agua Mansa and La Placita, two communities from Abiquiu, New Mexico set up on each side of the Santa Ana River to serve as a buffer against raiders and outlaws along the trading route from Santa Fe to Los Angeles.
According to museum literature, the group split into two communities. The community on the west side of the river was named Agua Mansa which means ``peaceful waters'' and the village on the east side of the river was called ``La Placita de Los Trujillos'' after the Trujillo family.
Later the name was shortened to La Placita.
``They came and settled in that area as part of land offering that they were given and their job was to colonize that area and live there,'' said Nielsen.
Nielsen says the two communities settled there to protect the San Bernardino and Jurupa ranchos which were built on the former Mission San Gabriel property in the 1830s.
They laid out extensive irrigation systems, planted fruits and vegetables, raised livestock and their own chapel and cemetery along the Santa Ana River.
In 1862, a flood rushed through the area and destroyed everything the Agua Mansans had created in the area. Built on a hill, the cemetery, the chapel and Cornelius Jensen's adjoining store were the only structures left virtually untouched. ``The large part of what was destroyed were people's homes,'' said Nielsen. ``That was really hard on those communities. It did a lot of damage to the soil and changed the dynamic there. Most of the families left the area entirely.''
The families spread out throughout Colton and Riverside County, which is why many of the descendants of those pioneer families still live in the Colton area today, Nielsen said.
``Many came back,'' said Dr. Bruce Harley, a historian who has written several published works on Agua Mansa. ``There are still descendants that live there, not necessarily on same land, but in that area.''
For several years, the cemetery was neglected. It wasn't until the museum took over the site that a fence was built to protect landmark from vandals and even animals that often roamed the area.
``The cemetery and burials themselves are all still there,'' Nielsen said.
``You almost feel how beautiful that area was and you can see why the communities would choose to put their cemetery there.''
Harley gained an interest in Agua Mansa when he read a newspaper article more than 20 years ago.
``They wrote the thing off as if it was washed out and everyone fled to Los Angeles and nothing was left,'' said Harley. ``I found it to be just so incomprehensible that they said the everyone left after the flood. Many came back and rebuilt. Those who didn't come back, moved down the road a mile or two and set up another village and of course they continued to utilize the cemetery.''
Nielsen says the museum has compiled information from several marker surveys conducted over the years, piecing together the information to create the records they now have. They hope families will step forward to help the museum fill in any gaps.
``We're actively seeking people who are descendants who have stories or information they want to share,'' Nielsen said.
The docent will be able to conduct tours of the cemetery site and visitors will be able to use the on site museum database.
``It is never too late to find out more information about a site like this,'' said Nielsen.
As far as the rumors that the site is haunted by spirits, Nielsen says the museum will not to qualify those myths out of respect for the descendants.
``This site is very personal to many people and their families,'' said Nielsen. ``We encourage people to respect those buried here and their families.''
For Harley, he believes that the cemetery is integral in preserving the history of Colton.
``Colton was not something that was just settled in the 1870s by people coming into completely blank piece of land,'' said Harley.

``That's why once Colton began to spread out as it has done, it just absorbed all that property that originally had been part of Agua Mansa and that's why the name in some respects stays on and was not tossed out.''
At the center of the Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery is the gravestone of Juana Maria Avila de Alvarado, whose family was one of the original Rancho families to settle throughout the San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
At the bottom of the gravestone is a small inscription.
``Beneath this stone my body lies,'' it says. ``And with the angels my spirit flies.'' FYI:
WHAT: Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery, California State Historical Landmark No. 121
WHEN: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. the first Sunday of every month and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
WHERE: 2001 W. Agua Mansa Road in Colton
INFORMATION: Michele Nielsen (909) 307-2669, ext. 240, or by e-mail at mnielsen@sbcm.sbcounty.gov or visit the San Bernardino County Museum Web site at www.sbcountymuseum.org