Indio, CA news and local guide

Indio grew as a halfway point on the railroad between Yuma and Los Angeles, where locomotives were refilled with water. Because other places already used the name Indian Wells, the town took the name Indio, a Spanish form of "Indian." The first permanent building was the Craftsman-style Southern Pacific depot and hotel, where the railroad tried to make life comfortable enough to keep its workers in the harsh desert, and with its fancy dining room and Friday night dances it was the center of desert social life. Indio soon became an agricultural center as well, as farmers grew onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates in the arid climate, using water from artesian wells and later the valley's branch of the All-American Canal. Flooding was also a recurring problem until storm water channels were built throughout the Coachella Valley. Sources Wikipedia: Indio, California