Totally Mount Rubidoux – A City Comes Together

To understand the history of the historic Serra Cross on Mount Rubidoux one needs to go back to December of 1905 when the Huntington Park Association was formed. At that time the Riverside Enterprise reported: “Through the generosity of H. E. Huntington, the public spirit of the leading citizens of Riverside and the persistent work of Frank A. Miller, Mt. Rubidoux will soon be the beauty spot of the whole Southwest, if not the scenic gem of the whole country.” The driving force was and would be for many years Frank Miller. Miller wanted a road up the mountain to furnish a place for his guests at the Glenwood to tour and see the sights of Riverside.  He obtained the services of Hiram H. Chittenden of the Army Corps of Engineers to design a road up and down the mountain. Chittenden had recently designed the road of the first National Park, Yellowstone. 

By early 1907 the road was completed, and a dedication ceremony was set for February 22.  The guest speaker for this momentous event was Jacob Riis, the famous socialist of the time. In his speech Riis tied together events from California history recounting that “the cross and the flag will tell their story…”  The flag waved briskly at this dedication ceremony, but it would be up to Miller to add the cross.

Just two months later on April 26 Miller arranged another ceremony, this time the erection of a wooden cross in memory of Father Junipero Serra, the founder of many of the California missions. This cross was made of heavy cedar logs measuring twenty-two feet high with a cross piece of ten feet.

Keystone View Company, c1915.

This cross would remain on Mount Rubidoux a little over 50 years. On Christmas Day in 1958 and then again a few weeks later vandals set fire to the cross. A new wooden cross made by the Riverside Public Utilities Department was placed on the mountain in time for the March 24, 1959 Easter service. Four years later the present concrete cross over a metal framework was placed on top of the mountain and dedicated at the April 14, 1963 Easter service.  This cross was a project headed by the Riverside Junior Chamber of Commerce.

Another change had taken place a few years before the events replacing the crosses.  Frank Miller had died in 1935 leaving his estate to his second wife, Marion Clark Miller and daughter, Allis Hutchings. After Allis and her husband died in late 1952 and early 1953 there remained Marion and the three grandchildren.  On June 28, 1955 the Miller family presented the deed to Mount Rubidoux to the city of Riverside as a city park.  In the deed provisions were made that the property would remain as a public monument and include the names Mt. Rubidoux and Frank A. Miller. Also stipulated was that the Peace Tower, Tablets and the Cross would be maintained and protected. 

Jump ahead fifty some years to August of 2012.  At that time the organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter dated August 28, 2012 to the city of Riverside threatening to sue because the cross was on city property.  In their letter they wrote: 

“We have received a complaint that the City of Riverside displays a large cross, standing alone, in Mount Rubidoux park. Because the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits government bodies from promoting religion on public land, we request that the City promptly remove the cross.” 

Unknown to many was the fact that the deed conditions had expired in 1985, thirty years from the date they were filed. The stage was now set for another historic event in the history of Riverside. 

The Riverside City Council placed on the November 13, 2012 council agenda the discussion on the future of the cross on Mt. Rubidoux.  At this meeting the City Attorney’s Office and City Manager’s Office presented a recommendation to the council to sell by sealed bid or public auction 0.43 acres around the cross with a minimum price of $10,000 which represented the city’s cost associated with the sale.  After more than two hours of discussion and comments by many of the 200 people who packed the council chambers, the council voted to postpone until January a decision on the cross. A workshop was scheduled for January 15, 2014 and another council discussion set for January 22.   

Soon after this, groups and individuals assembled and talked about plans to save the cross on Mt. Rubidoux. On December 11 three Riverside groups met together to discuss collaborating to preserve the cross. The three organizations were the Friends of Mount Rubidoux (FMR), the Mission Inn Foundation (MIF) and the Riverside Land Conservancy (RLC).  They decided that they could bring their unique strengths together to carry on this task.  The Friends of Mt. Rubidoux is a volunteer group that fosters the care and preservation of the mountain and in many cases is the face of the mountain before the community.  The Mission Inn Foundation with its museum and historical programs preserves the legacy of Frank Miller and the Mission Inn. As already stated, Frank Miller was the promoter of the mountain and the person who originally erected the cross on its peak. The Riverside Land Conservancy is an organization that works on preserving and managing land for the public’s benefit. Retired Judge Charles Field was asked to draft a Memorandum of Understanding which could then be approved by each organization. At this meeting the groundwork for what would become Totally Mount Rubidoux was laid. 

With the three groups all approving the MOU work frantically began. Almost weekly meetings were held to plan and report on progress. The purpose for the group was “a collaborative effort by Friends of Mt. Rubidoux, Mission Inn Foundation & Museum, and the Riverside Land Conservancy to ensure that the peak of Mt. Rubidoux property is substantially preserved in its current state, reasonable maintained, and kept accessible to members of the public for their enjoyment.” At the January 15 workshop a representative from each organization spoke outlining the purpose of the organization and how the group hoped to preserve the peak of the mountain with the cross. 

Meetings before neighborhood groups, organizations and individuals soon began. One of the first such meetings was held in the Monterey Room of the Mission Inn for representatives of faith-based groups in Riverside. A full room of leaders from various religious organizations came and were given time to respond to a presentation by Totally Mt. Rubidoux.  

The Riverside City Council convened for their regular meeting on Tuesday, January 22 with a packed council chambers. On the agenda was a resolution to “sell the Mt. Rubidoux cross property, approving the sale protocols for the property, and proceed with the sale of the property to the highest bidder.” Totally Mount Rubidoux was ready to set up for the community. After the meeting George Flower, President of the Friends of Mt. Rubidoux, told a reporter that while handing out information on the group’s efforts “I got hugs, thumbs up, fists in the air. Everybody seemed to think that we were doing the right thing.”

Press Enterprise c.2013

And the response from the community came quickly. Gale Egenes of the Riverside Land Conservancy stated that she started receiving comments as soon as the council voted. “I wasn’t even home yet when the first response came through. My email is lit up with folks who are interested, who are engaged.”

At this point in a telephone conversation, Alex Luchenitser from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, stated that they had no intention on bidding. He said, “Our goal here is to make sure the city complies with the Constitution and the separation of church and state. Our goal is not necessarily to cause the cross to be removed.”

As soon as the bidding process opened, Totally Mount Rubidoux became the first group to file the required paperwork and place down the required $10,000 deposit. 

Events continued. People opened their homes to host neighborhood rallies. Volunteers set up information tables at the Tyler Galleria Mall on the evening of January 31 for the Chamber of Commerce’s Mega Mixer.  A large parking lot event was held on February 9 in the Pine Center Shopping Center at the base of Mt. Rubidoux from 10 to noon with a walk up the mountain following the event. A table was set up at the Riverside Plaza on February 23 for a Riverside Unified School District event. A presentation was given at the Good Friday Breakfast on March 29.  These are just a few of the many events that members of Totally Mt. Rubidoux attended to promote the purchase of the peak and the cross on Mount Rubidoux. Yard signs, tee shirts, bumper stickers and buttons advertising the Totally Mt. Rubidoux campaign were in high demand and were soon seen all over the city.

Shortly before the 3 p.m. deadline on Wednesday, April 10 another bidder entered the contest. Accuturn, a small Riverside aerospace component company, filed the required papers.  The suspense was now building.  

The big day arrived bright and clear on April 11 with a good crowd of people gathered in the plaza in front of city hall. At the appointed time the auction started. The representative from Accuturn made a bid of $10,000, the minimum amount set by the city.  Brian Jaramillo, representing Totally Mt. Rubidoux, countered with a bid of $10,500.  And less than a minute into the auction it was over, and the crowd cheered. Totally Mount Rubidoux had achieved its goal of raising the funds to secure the winning bid to preserve the peak on top of Mount Rubidoux.

Press Enterprise c.2013

In an editorial the Press Enterprise responded to the win: “Totally kudos to Totally Mt. Rubidoux, the coalition of nonprofit groups that wrote a nice ending to the legal drama over the cross on the mountaintop…. The activist group got what it wanted – the cross will now sit on private land – but it probably didn’t count on how the community would rally to preserve its heritage. Riverside can take pride in its victory.”

Coming together many people from all over and of many ages gave to preserve the cross which towers over the city of Riverside.  In the end the coalition raised over $300,000. The gifts ranged from 50 cents sent in by a young schoolgirl to a family’s gift of $50,000.  Shortly after the auction Gail Egenes, Director of the Riverside Land Conservancy, reported that “the group had raised about $250,000 from more than 500 unique donors. Donations came from 17 states and money is still coming in.”

On May 19, 2013 the coalition making up Totally Mount Rubidoux together with the Riverside Downtown Partnership sponsored a Thank You Event at White Park.  The flyer advertising the event stated: “Together, we saved our history, and we made history.”  The goal for Totally Mount Rubidoux was always to involve the whole community in this historical and new way of preserving the cross, a landmark that had stood over Riverside for over 100 years.  The crowds that came to help celebrate received free food: hot dogs and hamburgers, popcorn, soft drinks and water. The Riverside Concert Band performed from the Gazebo in the middle of the park. A fun day was had by many, especially the members of Totally Mount Rubidoux and the many supporters. 

Shortly after the auction the Mission Inn Foundation set in motion plans to create an exhibit telling the history of Mt. Rubidoux culminating in the events which brought the community together to save cross on the peak of the mountain.  Running from July through September of 2013 A Community’s Love Affair with a Mountain was guest curated by local historian and historian of Mt. Rubidoux, Glenn Wenzel. As the flyer promoting the exhibit stated: “The recent auction, which has placed the peak of the mountain in the hands of the community group, Totally Mount Rubidoux, represents a current example of Riverside’s love of their mountain.”  A Banner was hung above the entrance doors to the Mission Inn Museum proclaiming “Thank You Riverside For Your Support.” 

All Trails c.2018

A year later on the anniversary of the auction, Totally Mt. Rubidoux, held a celebration and dedication event on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Activities and displays lined Glenwood Drive just below the back entrance to the park.  As people that day walked the trails, they were met by actors portraying notable people from the history of Mt. Rubidoux: Frank A. Miller, Charles Loring, Marcella Craft, John Muir, Booker T. Washington, Lt. Col Shunzo Kido and Henry Huntington. At 11 am a plaque was unveiled and dedicated honoring the supporters who gave to Totally Mt. Rubidoux. In random order all the names of those who gave to preserve the cross on the peak of the mountain are listed. 

Countless people worked hard and gave many hours to carry out this tremendous campaign on behalf of the people of Riverside.  Some of the key ones were:

From the Friends of Mt. Rubidoux: George Flower, Chuck Beaty, Glenn Wenzel and Katie Wider.

From the Mission Inn Foundation: John Worden, Brian Jaramillo, Chris Manning, Stan Morrison, Heidi Rainey, David St. Pierre.

From the Riverside Land Conservancy: Gail Egenes and Jeff Beehler. 

Riverside and its citizens set aa example for others to follow. They showed how a community unite to save an endangered landmark. A small group of dedicated organizers brought together a diverse element of Riverside’s community to achieve a common goal. Once again the citizens of Riverside showed how a city could come together.  And in doing so the historic cross on the peak of Mount Rubidoux has been saved for future generations.

Wikimedia Commons c.2015

1.  Riverside Enterprise, December 15, 1905.

2.  Wenzel, Glenn. Anecdotes on Mount Rubidoux and Frank A. Miller, Her Promoter. Riverside, 2010, pages 28-30.

3.  Wenzel, op cit., pages 55-56.

4.  Wenzel, op. cit., pages 57-58.

5.  Wenzel, op. cit., page 60.

6.  Wenzel, op. cit., pages 253-254.

7.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, November 110, 2012.

8.  Letter form Americans United for Separation of Church and State dated August 28, 2012.

9.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, November 10, 14, and 18, 2013.

10.  Totally Mt. Rubidoux Stationary, Website and Facebook page.

11.  City Council Agenda Tuesday, January 22, 2013.

12.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, January 23, 2013.

13.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, January 24, 2013.

14.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, January 23, 2013.

15.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, April 12, 2013.

16.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, April 13, 2013.

17.  Riverside Press-Enterprise, April 21, 2013.

18.  Mission Inn Foundation & Museum Flyer of Programing Schedule.