San Miguel de Allende

The May 23, 1967, edition of the Desert Sun reported that Palm Springs and Victoria established a Sister City Relationship by virtue of City Council Action on May 22, 1967. The City Council acted on a recommendation of the board of directors of the Palm Springs convention and Visitors Bureau, which urged the city council officially declare the launching of the sister-city program between the cities of Palm Springs and Victoria, B.C. Canada.

On April 5, 1968, the totem, designed by First Nations carver Henry Hunt, arrived as a gift from the city of Victoria to Palm Springs. Vista Del Monte Park was renamed Victoria Park at the corner of E. Racquet Club Drive and Via Miraleste in honor of the sister-city relationship, and the totem pole was installed there. In 2015, recognizing the cultural and artistic significance of the Henry Hunt total pole, the Palm Springs City Council, upon request of the Public Arts Commission, brought the Hunts from British Columbia to restore the Palm Springs pole to its former glory. The pole was 47 years old and suffered sun and water damage, losing raven’s beak, and many well-intentioned by misguided paint jobs over the years.