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Barona HistoryThe history of Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino begins with the story of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. Just a few hundred years ago, Tribal ancestors lived in concert with nature, following the cycle of resources and waterways as the seasons changed. As hunters, gatherers, and sometimes farmers, the Tribe traded for what they needed, traveling to the sea to barter handmade clay pots and reed baskets with the other tribes living by the water's edge.
In 1891, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs placed the Tribe on the Capitan Grande Reservation. A migratory people, accustomed to heeding nature's cues and moving to where game and grasses were more plentiful, the loss of mobility effected significant changes in lifestyle.
When the city of San Diego decided to construct a reservoir on the reservation, the Tribe was again forced to move, this time by the United States Congress. Chief Ramon Ames and Tribal members conducted an exhaustive search of the area looking for a new home, eventually deciding upon the Barona Ranch, which included the traditional lands of the Tribe's forefathers. With the 1932 purchase of this working cattle ranch, the Barona Indian Reservation was established, and a new chapter in the lives of the Barona people began.
The succeeding decades were neither prosperous nor easy. The founding families, each supplied with a wagon, two horses, and five cows in exchange for their El Capitan Grande home, worked hard to make a new life for themselves as ranchers. A sovereign nation, their hard-won independence did not shield them from the inequities of life outside the reservation. Fighting not only to survive but also to overcome social, racial, and economic adversity, the Tribe forged ahead, searching always for a way of life that would ensure success and self-reliance.
Half a century later, the Barona Tribal Council began a new effort in the hopes of improving their situation. In 1982, Barona won a United States Supreme Court decision in Barona vs Duffy, which opened the door for high-stakes bingo on Indian reservations. On April 15, 1983, the Barona Band of Mission Indians opened the first Indian bingo hall in California, marking the Tribe's first foray into the exciting and promising world of gaming. The fortunes of the bingo hall, and its many incarnations, waxed and waned as the years progressed, but the seeds of hope were sown.
In 1988, Clifford LaChappa was elected Tribal Chairman, ushering in an era of unequaled growth, development, and prosperity for Barona Tribal members. In 1991, they embarked on a new venture, opening a card room. A year later, they reopened the bingo hall, accompanied by an off-track betting parlor, and soon added paper pull-tab machines and the first of many innovative and progressive games, Joker's Wild 21.
By 1994, the fledgling casino had begun to realize the Tribe's long-held dreams. With Kenny Rogers as a spokesperson, the Tribe opened the Barona Big Top, the first Native American gaming operation to incorporate a theme. It was to be one of a string of firsts for the casino. When California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1A, it amended the state constitution and gave Indian tribes the right to operate Las Vegas slot machines and card games on California reservations. Shortly afterward, Barona Casino became the first California casino to receive shipments of Las Vegas slot machines, and to feature cashless slot machines and handheld wireless ticket scanners for the convenience of their customers. The development of the Barona Creek Golf Club also introduced the first golf course in San Diego to be built on Native American land.
By 2001, just seven short years after opening the Barona Big Top, Barona Casino had been described as the 7th largest Native American casino in the country by Gaming and Wagering Magazine. Las Vegas Investment Advisor called it one of the most progressive and technologically advanced casinos in America. The Barona Creek Golf Club, a $12 million championship golf course and the beginning of a project that would eventually become Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, debuted in 2001 and was named the best resort golf course in Southern California by Golfweek, and a top 10 new course by Golf Magazine. The casino's 2,000 slots were certified by Strictly Slots as the loosest in San Diego, and in 2002 the magazine's readers voted the video slots and video poker as the best in California. Blackjack Forum declared the casino as having the best high stakes blackjack in the state.
In January of 2003, the Barona Band of Mission Indians realized the culmination of a dream that began in 1932: The Tribe officially opened the $260-million Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino. Viewed by industry experts as a leading destination resort in Southern California, Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino offers a 397-room luxury hotel, including 33 magnificent suites. Its 300,000-square-foot casino features 2,000 slot machines, 59 gaming tables, a poker room, off-track betting parlor, bingo hall, and superior dining establishments - including the 850-seat Ranch House Buffet, which overlooks the Barona Creek Golf Club and boasts eight individually themed buffet stations. Tied together architecturally with the theme of a 1930s ranch, intended to honor the founders of the Barona Indian Reservation, the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino attests to the vision, conviction, and determination of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, who were able to create California's best casino in less than a decade.
After decades, even centuries of struggle, their dream was realized at long last.
For more information on the history of the Barona Band of Mission Indians and their culture .