About El Monte

El Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County of Southern California, the United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley east of the city of Los Angeles.

El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475, down from 115,965 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, El Monte is the 228th largest city in the United States, and is the 51st largest city in California.

El Monte was literally an oasis or island in the middle of the arid San Gabriel Valley. Situated between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers, residents claimed that anything could be grown in the area. Between 1770 and 1830, Spanish soldiers and missionaries often stopped here for respite. They called the area, 'El Monte,' which in Spanish means 'meadow or marsh' or 'the wooded place. Most people assume the name refers to a mountain, but the word is an archaic Spanish translation of that era, there were no mountains in the valley. The explorers had found this oasis of rich, low altitude land, blanketed with thick growths of wispy willows, alders, and cattails, located between the two rivers. They also found wild grapevines and watercress. The "Island" is approximately 7 miles long and 4 miles wide. When the State Legislature organized California into more manageable designated townships in the 1850s, they called it the El Monte Township. In a short time the name returned to the original El Monte.

In earlier days, El Monte was a stopping place for the people going to the gold fields in the North, near Sacramento. The first settlers with their families were Nicholas Schmidt, Ira W. Thompson, G. and F. Cuddeback, J. Corbin and J. Sheldon. Settlement began in 1849, though Spanish missionaries and soldiers passed through the area as early as the 1770s. The Old Spanish Trail, originating in Santa Fe became a continuation of the well-knownSanta Fe Trail, that began in 1821, when the nation’s first major international commercial highway was established stretching from Kansas City, Missouri to Santa Fe. In the 1850s the village named Lexington by American settlers for a time (it soon returned to being called El Monte or Monte), was the crossroad between Los Angeles, San Bernardinoand San Pedro. In the early days, it had a reputation as a rough town where men often settled disputes with knives and guns in its gambling saloons. Defense against Indian raids and the crimes of bandit gangs like that of Juan Flores and Pancho Daniel led to the formation of a local militia company called theMonte Rangers in February 1854. After the Monte Rangers disbanded, justice for Los Angeles County, in the form of a lynching, was often provided by the local vigilantes called the "El Monte Boys".