The Cahuilla also used palm leaves for basketry of many shapes, sizes, and purposes; sandals; and roofing thatch for dwellings.

The Cahuilla's first encounter with Europeans was in 1774, when Juan Bautista de Anza was looking for a trade route between Sonora and Monterey in Alta California.

The Cahuilla provided security against the raids of the tribes from the desert and mountains on its herds for the vaqueros who worked for the owners of the Rancho San Bernardino.

Chief Juan Antonio, leader of the Cahuilla Mountain Band, gave traveler Daniel Sexton access to areas near the San Gorgonio Pass in 1842.

(Historians disagree on the exact number of deaths; Luiseno oral tradition holds that more than 100 warriors were killed.)

In 1851, Juan Antonio led his warriors in the destruction of the Irving Gang, a group of bandits that had been looting the San Bernardino Valley.

In addition to the influx of Anglo-American miners, ranchers and outlaws, and groups of Mormon colonists, the Cahuilla came into conflict with the neighboring Cupeño tribe to the west.

When the California Senate refused to ratify an 1852 treaty granting the Cahuilla control of their land, some tribal leaders resorted to attacks on approaching settlers and soldiers.

A high proportion of today's Cahuilla tribal members have mixed ancestry, especially Spanish and African American.

The Torres-Martinez tribe has offices throughout Southern California, offering TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) benefits for members.

This was before land developers and US Armed Forces purchased what was tribal land from the Montoya family—part of the "Desert Cahuilla" in present-day Indian Wells, and from the San Cayetano band—part of "Desert Cahuilla" in Rancho San Cayetano during the Spanish-Mexican-1850s California period (now the city of Rancho Mirage).

The Montoya family, who claim partial Cahuilla descent, are influential in local economics and city politics.

[citation needed] The ethnic composition of the Cahuilla descendants is like that of many other Americans: mixed with European (especially Anglo/Irish-American and Spanish), African American, Asian-American (from historic interaction with Chinese railroad workers and Filipino farm laborers), and other tribal groups, mainly Apache migrant workers from Arizona.