学文网Now you’re probably wondering， “What’s this old guy， in a 1）letterman’s jacket， doing here standing near the corner of Alpine and Sunset？”Well I’m here because the story of Beverly Hills begins right about here.
This land was an 2）arid treeless desert， but right here the waters flow down from Benedict， Coldwater and Franklin canyons. So this was the richest and most fertile land in this entire area.
The native Tongva Indians called it “the gathering of the waters.” When the Spanish 3）conquistadors came their translation gave us “El Rodeo de las Aguas，”and this is the spot where our very first settler built the very first house in what is now Beverly Hills.
Now most people don’t know this， but Beverly Hills’ first landowner was a woman， and a California-born African-Latina at that. Her name was Maria Rita Valdez de Villa， and she was married to a Spanish soldier. They had eight children， seven of them girls. After the defeat of the Spanish， the Governor of Mexico thought “What perfect settlers with all those daughters，” and 4）deeded them a 4，000 acre plot of Alta， California， and the land we now call Beverly Hills.
For two brief decades life in this area was as colourful as the 5）senoritas’ dresses. Songs and laughter and the sounds of the guitar mingled with the rippling of the springs. When Maria Rita’s husband died she became the sole 6）proprietor of this whole 7）rancho. She employed a few remaining native Tongvas to help her raise crops and let her cattle 8）graze freely. Ironically， in the days before refrigerators， cattle weren’t raised for their meat. It was the 9）hides that had value， and even became known as California currency. Each hide was valued at $2.00， which might not sound like much except if you consider that， when Maria had to buy her cousin out of his half of Beverly Hills， she paid just $17.00.
The Villa’s family ran this place from 1831 to 1854， and Maria might have stayed on longer， but in 1852 the Rancho was attacked by Indians. Legend says it may have only been three or four Indians， and they were 10）renegades and 11）poachers， but they laid siege on the adobe with deadly intentions. Finally the Villa’s only son snuck out through a dry river bed and gathered a 12）posse near present-day West Hollywood， then known as the Township of Sherman. The cowboys rode up to Sunset and Alpine and chased the Indians back into Benedict Canyon.
So the posse chases the Indians up into Benedict Canyon to a spot right about here， and a furious battle13）ensues and the Indians are defeated. Now how do...how do we know this？ How do we know that 14）Chevy Chase in Benedict Canyon is such a historic spot？ Well that’s because， when they were digging the foundation for the 15）Women’s Club， they found the Indian skeletons， and they found the arrowheads， and they put up a plaque that says， “This tablet marks the site of the battle between the Indians and the early Californians，” right here in Beverly Hills.
Maria Rita is being honored October 13th， 2013， when the Rodeo Drive Committee and the City of Beverly Hills will host “Rodeo de los Caballos，” an 16）equestrian and antique auto parade down the old 17）Rodeo Drive Bridle Path.
现在你大概在想：“这个穿着运动夹克的老家伙站在阿尔卑斯大道和日落大道的交叉路口这儿干什么呢？”我站在这里，是因为贝弗利山的故事正是从这附近开始的。
这块土地曾经是一片干旱且没有树木的荒漠，但就在这个地方，有水源从本尼迪克特峡谷、冷水峡谷和富兰克林峡谷流下来，因此这一带是整个贝弗利山最富饶、最肥沃的土地。
这里的原住民唐瓦印第安人称这个地方为“水源的聚集地”。当西班牙征服者来到这里时，他们把这个地名用西班牙语翻译过来，称为“El Rodeo de las Aguas”。就在此处，贝弗利山的第一位定居者建起了第一座房子。
在今天，很多人都不知道贝弗利山的首位土地拥有者是一位女性，她出生在加州，是一名非裔和拉美裔混血儿。她叫玛丽亚・丽塔・瓦尔德斯・德・维拉，丈夫是一名西班牙士兵。他们有八个孩子，其中七个是女儿。西班牙人被打败后，墨西哥的统治者想：“他们有这么多女儿，会是绝好的定居者。”于是就把加州阿尔塔镇的4000英亩土地立契转让给了他们，这块土地就是我们今天所说的贝弗利山。
在接下来短短的二十年里，这个地方的生活就如小姐们的衣裙一般绚丽多彩。欢歌笑语、吉他和鸣伴着泉水潺潺。玛丽亚・丽塔的丈夫去世后，她成了整个牧场的惟一所有人。她雇佣了几个留下来的唐瓦人帮她种庄稼，而牛群则自由放牧。不过，有点讽刺的是，在那个没有冰箱的年代，养牛可不是为了吃肉，有价值的是牛皮，牛皮甚至成为了有名的“加州货币”。每张牛皮可值2美元，这个数目现在听上去可能不算什么，但你要知道，玛丽亚从她堂兄手中买下贝弗利山的一半土地时，总共才花了17美元。
从1831年到1854年，这个地方由维拉家族经营。玛丽亚本可以在这里经营更久的，但1852年，印第安人入侵了这个牧场。根据传闻，这些印第安人可能只有三四个，是些部族叛徒和偷猎者，但他们包围了住宅，欲置牧场的人们于死地。最后，维拉惟一的儿子通过干涸的河床潜出包围，在今天的西好莱坞附近（当时称为谢尔曼镇）集结了一队人马。牛仔们策马赶到如今的日落大道和阿尔卑斯大道这里，把入侵的印第安人赶回了本尼迪克特峡谷。
这队牛仔把印第安人赶入本尼迪克特峡谷，追赶到我身处的这附近时，双方展开了一场激战，印第安人被击败。那么，我们是怎么知道这些的呢？我们怎么知道本尼迪克特峡谷的切维切斯大道是这么一个富有历史意义的地点呢？这是因为社交俱乐部在挖地基的时候发现了印第安人的骸骨，还有一些箭头，于是就在贝弗利山这里立了一块碑，上面写着：“此处为印第安人与早期加州人交战之地，特立此碑。”
2013年10月13日，罗德奥街委员会和贝弗利山市将会举行活动来纪念玛丽亚・丽塔，这项活动名为“Rodeo de los Caballos”（译者注：意为“马的聚会”），届时将有骑马者及老式汽车沿着旧时的罗德奥街骑马专用道行进。