Banning

Comings and goings in Banning often amounted to coming and going. Located in the San Gorgonio Pass between Mt. San Gorgonio and Mt. San Jacinto, the city was once a way station for stagecoach travelers, as well as a midway rest stop for motorists making the trip between Riverside and Palm Springs. The headquarters crews that built the Colorado River Aqueduct made longer stopovers. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. bivouacked his tanks in the deserts east of Banning to train prior to their deployment in North Africa's Sahara to fight the Second World War. But many stayed in Banning, too, and ranched the badlands; grew almonds, peaches, and other crops; built plants to dry the fruit and manufacture plastic goods; and generally stuck around "the pass," making it much more than just a place in the rearview mirror.