Golden Checkerboard

Golden Checkerboard (1965) is a book by Ed Ainsworth. Its subject matter concerns the mid-20th century economic conditions of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of Palm Springs, California and the history of the 99-year lease law which enabled them to commercially develop tribal owned lands. It focuses on Indio Superior Court Judge Hilton McCabe, who is described as "The Little White Father of the Indians of Palm Springs", and recalls the steps taken by McCabe to set up conservatorships and leases that would give the tribe investment opportunities and economic self-sufficiency. The title of the book refers to the Agua Caliente Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation checkerboard pattern, originating from land grants to the Southern Pacific Railroad as an incentive to build rail lines through the region, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed an Executive Order granting "San Bernardino Base and Meridian, Township 4 South, Range 4 East, Section 14" to the Agua Caliente Indians.