When pioneers traveled in wagon trains from...

When pioneers traveled in wagon trains from Kentucky looking for gold in 1851, El Monte, then called Lexington, was their oasis. When the caravan moved on, many of the fortune-seekers stayed behind, unhitched their teams on the banks of the Rio Hondo River at the end of the Santa Fe Trail, “knelt in prayer and kiss’d this blessed land,” according to one historian.

And blessedly fertile it proved to be. For more than a century, the area would be known as “the Garden of Los Angeles County,” with thriving fields of walnuts, corn, strawberries and dairy farms.

The Spanish called the undeveloped swampland the monte , meaning wooded spot, a name that re-emerged and took hold for good after the Civil War.

A rough-and-tumble town, El Monte became a hotbed for secessionists, trail-hardened Southerners who settled disputes with knives and guns. But the seeds of a population shift were sown after a farm workers’ revolt during the Depression, when Mexican Americans, prohibited from moving to other parts of town, were forced to live clustered in the old El Monte barrios of Los Flores, Media Camp and Hicks Camp. All three were razed years ago.

By 1974, as the city grappled with gangs, graffiti and a plague of abandoned cars, a newly formed Image Committee came up with the slogan “Welcome to Friendly El Monte.” The effort eventually paid dividends: In 1987, El Monte--the oldest city in the county after Los Angeles--was designated a state landmark.

But the friendly city’s reputation was soon clouded: In 1988, immigration officials discovered that workers from Mexico were being smuggled into town and sold as slaves to employers for $200 to $400 each.

And this year, authorities rescued 72 Thai garment workers from years of virtual slavery behind the barbed-wire fence of an apartment complex.

El Monte Inside Out

HALL OF JUSTICE: A relic from the city’s rip-roaring past, the Old El Monte Jail held some of the most unsavory characters to ride in the dying days of the Old West. Built in 1880, it confined desperadoes and delinquents for 42 years. The jail now stands at Santa Fe Trail Historical Park.

EASE UP: In 1970, El Monte’s City Council briefly considered changing the name of Easy Street after a newspaper disclosed that the corner of Easy Street and Valley Boulevard had just become the location of a county welfare office.

MEMORY LANE: When rock ‘n’ roll came to life in the 1950s, crowds were drawn to El Monte Legion Stadium by entertainers such as Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Ike and Tina Turner and Little Stevie Wonder. The concerts caused a few headaches for the El Monte police; fights broke out almost every Saturday night. To restore decorum, a dress code was implemented: Ties for the guys, and no blue jeans or capris, please. The colorful pink building was torn down in 1974 to make way for a post office.

LIONIZED: For almost 20 years until it closed in 1942, Gay’s Lion Farm served as home for some famous felines--most notably Leo, MGM’s renowned movie lion. The statue of a male lion that once guarded the farm now stands at El Monte High School.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS: El Monte claims Tim Wallach of the Dodgers, Richard Rodriguez of the St. Louis Cardinals, Rene Gonzales of the Cleveland Indians and entertainers Barbara Mandrell and Country Joe McDonald as past residents.

By the Numbers

City Business

Date Founded: Nov. 18, 1912

Area in square miles: 9.8

Number of parks: 8

Number of city employees: 500

1995- 96 budget: $34.8 million.

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People

Population: 106,209

Households: 26,218

Average household size: 3.99

Median age: 25.7

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Money and Work

Median household income: $28,034

Median household income / L.A. County: $34,965

Median home value: $172,000

Employed workers (16 and older): 42,987

Women in labor force: 49.4%

Men in labor force: 78.7%

Self- employed: 1,953

Car- poolers: 10,451

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Retail Stores

Total number of stores: 866

Number of employees:6,056

Annual sales: $836 million

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Ethnic Breakdown

Latino: 73%

Black: 1%

Asian: 11%

White: 15%

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Number of Cars per Household

One: 35%

Two: 34%

Three or more: 20%

None: 11%

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Ages

65 and older: 6%

50- 64: 8%

34- 49: 17%

18- 34: 35%

17 and younger: 34%

Source: Claritas Inc. household expenses are averages for1994. All other figures are for 1990. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.