“The Palm of God’s Hand” - A Map of the Coachella Valley

An attractive and privately published map of the Coachella Valley, known as “The Palm of God’s Hand”, and in Spanish as “La Palma de la Mano de Dios”. D’Ambly was a resident artist of Indio, California, specializing in oil-paintings, and we can find no record of any other printed pictorial map work by her.

This fine chromolithographed privately published map of the Coachella Valley, extends from San Bernardino in the northwest to Ramona in the southwest, and Sheep Hole Mountains in the northeast to Westmoreland in the southeast, including Palm Springs and the Salton Sea, and decorated with a border on either side of local wildlife, and throughout with vignettes of places of interest.

A signed copy is held by the  Historical Society of Palm Desert. The Society's archivist advises that the map was commissioned by Palm Desert founder Clifford Henderson as a gift to the first graduating class of Palm Desert School, which totaled 15 students.