Spring is for music

True Cowboy and Indian Tales of the Pass

A few Morongo brands © Pat Murkland Photo

Welcome to the Old West. The real Old West.

San Gorgonio Pass has a rich history of cowboys and Indians.

For starters, the first cowboys WERE Indians.

And when it came to good guys and bad guys, there's a story of how Cahuilla leader Juan Antonio caught a whole gang of bad guys.

He and his men had no guns but the bad guys did.

Want to hear this story? Want to hear more stories?

Did you know Wyatt Earp was in the Pass?

Come to Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s family sidewalk event this Saturday (March 12) for “True Cowboy and Indian Tales of the Pass.”

The event from 1 to 4 p.m. at the corner of San Gorgonio Avenue and Hays Street is part of the Learning Center’s Second Saturday Sidewalk Storytelling series.

Here you'll find free family fun with hands-on activities for children, along with storytelling.

The first two events drew standing-room-only crowds of all ages to our nonprofit that saves and shares Southern California’s Native American cultures, history, languages, and traditional arts.

“True Cowboy and Indian Tales” will feature stories by Richard Hanks of Riverside.

Hanks has a background in journalism, public history, and archival work. We like to tell people he has an ear for listening to voices not usually found in the history books, and an eye for ferreting out telling details amid a library's vast holdings.

He can tell a good story or two or three, and on Saturday, that's just what he'll be doing. The true stories are much more interesting than the Hollywood clichés.

Hands-on activities will help teach children about real Pass cowboys and Indians — including American Indians who were and still are cowboys.

© Carlos Puma for the Center

For example, try a lasso.

Family fun! And it's free!

All are welcome.

Information: (951) 849-7736.