Spanish Explorer Fr. Jacobo Sedelmayr first visited the area now know as Agua Caliente in 1744. Hot springs flowing through the area were a welcome escape from the travel weary Spaniards. He found a Native American rancheria in the vicinity and noted it would be a fine site for establishment of a Mission. He called the proposed location Santa Maria del Agua Caliente. Years later Francisco Garces, another missionary/explorer also visited the area and called it Agua Caliente. The name stuck and in 1865 Arizona pioneer King S. Woolsey and his partner George Martin began ranching and planning a health resort fueled from the mineral hot springs.
Citation: Will C Barnes, Arizona Place Names (Tucson AZ: University of Arizona Pub.,1960). 175.
