Lieutenant R. S Williamson was assigned by the U. S. government to conduct a reconnaissance survey of the west in search for a railroad route to California. On August 17, they ascended Cache Creek to Tehachapi Valley, and found the pass they were looking for. There was another rancheria close to the place selected for our camp, and from the Indians we learned that their name for the creek was Tah-ee-chay-pah. Williamson, however did not record the meaning of Tah-ee-chay-pah. Some likely possibilities come the from Indian words for snow, or to freeze, a hard climb, a flat place, or People from Oak Flat. Today Tehachapi is known as the "land of four seasons."