Fifty-three years ago, the beating of tribal drums could be heard in South Pasadena as Chief Tahachwee of the Kawie Indian Tribe "relinquished the rights of his people in the Arroyo Seco and formally transferred the property to the State".

For years before white settlers were even aware of the area, the Arroyo had been the homesite of local Indians and a direct route for the Indians to the ocean.

On the night before the formal opening of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, now known as the Pasadena Freeway, more than 200 Indians camped in the Arroyo, "lighting their council fires and feasting".

This ceremony made way for the December 30, 1940 formal dedication the following day. With the cutting of the rose chain, a caravan of 400 automobiles, headed by Grand Marshal E. Raymond Cato, Chief of the Highway Patrol, and Sally Stanton, the 1941 Rose Queen, entered the freeway for the first time.

Governor Culbert Olson gave the dedication address, lauding the freeway as "the first freeway in the West". He continued with "It is only the first. And that is its great promise of many more freeways to come."

While the city councils of Pasadena and South Pasadena passed resolutions approving a Grevelia route through South Pasadena in 1934, Governor Frank Merriam signed legislation in 1935 approving the freeway but not signifying the route. The newspaper accused the Pasadena city engineer of not allowing South Pasadena to view their plans.

When the plans were finally shown, valuable property and several homes in South Pasadena were on the route and were to be destroyed, and a meeting was held to oppose the "speedway" and "eyesore".

Against vocal opposition, the Arroyo Seco Parkway was approved.

Being the "first freeway in the West", it has been the first in the West to be outdated as well. The narrowness of its lanes, with curves too sharp and on- and off-ramps much too short in length made it a hazard for trucks with the current 55 mph speed limit.

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, which absorbed city, park, land and several homes, did not have quite the disruptive factor that the proposed city-dividing 710 Freeway extension would impose.

The state-of-the-art Arroyo Seco Parkway, which was prided for allowing cars the ability to go "over 45 miles an hour", now appears to be a dinosaur.

What is the life span of a freeway? With the oncoming light rail innovations, the metrolink and the futuristic new train systems, are freeways already obsolete? Certainly the 710 extension would be out of date before the cutting of the opening ribbon.