The colorful history of the area has traveled through the Santa Maria Valley. Miners heading for the gold mines in Julian; cowboys and vaqueros driving herds of cattle to the ranchos of Alto California; the stagecoach arriving from Julian on its way to San Diego; The Jackass Mail on its route from San Diego to Yuma, Arizona; General Kearney, Kit Carson and 151 dragoons on their way to San Pasqual where they encountered a small Mexican army in the only major battle of the Mexican War fought in California; Jose Joaquin Ortega and Edward Stokes, joint owners of Rancho Santa Maria, a 35,000 acre land grant, hauling provisions from San Diego for their holiday fiesta; a raiding party of Diegueno Indians on its way to attack the Spaniards at the Presido in San Diego; and Major Edward Rigg, Commanding Officer of nearby Camp Wright, moving his soldiers into position to intercept a group of Confederate sympathizers who were attempting to leave California to join the South in the Civil War.

These historic times and events have been preserved through the efforts of the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society.