Rodeo Drive

Rodeo Drive () of Beverly Hills, California is a shopping district known for designer label and haute couture fashion. The name generally refers to a three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops but the street stretches further north and south.

History

First European contact

Back when California was part of Mexico, on August 3, 1769, Don José Gaspar de Portolà, the first governor of provincial California, and his entourage, the Portola expedition, became the first Europeans known to arrive in the area, having traveled an existing Indian trail (present-day Wilshire Boulevard) to the present-day site of La Cienega Park, named for a large swamp — "ciénega" in Spanish — and namesake of adjacent La Cienega Boulevard. The Tongva people living there considered it to be a holy site because of its precious commodity, water, and the abundant food supply it provided. Their name for the site, "the Gathering of the Waters", translates to Spanish as "El Rodeo de las Aguas."

While Portolà fell somewhat short of reaching Cíbola, the expedition's chaplain, Friar Juan Crespí, wrote in his journal of<blockquote>" large vineyard of wild grapes and an infinity of rose bushes. After traveling about half a league we came to a village of this region. People came into the road, greeted us and offered seeds."</blockquote>

Following the death of her Spanish soldier husband, Afro-Latina and early California feminist icon Doña Maria......
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