El Monte lies in Los Angeles County in California, USA. It is situated east of Los Angeles within the San Gabriel Valley. It is a commercial, industrial and residential city with a population that, during the year 2000, totaled 115,965. In 2002, it was ranked the 44th biggest city within the state of California and the 191st largest city in the U.S. Historically, it is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail."
Originally, El Monte was only an island in the center of the San Gabriel Valley. The island itself is about 7 miles long and 4 miles wide. El Monte was not named after a mountain like numerous people might assume. In archaic Spanish, the name El Monte means 'the wooded place' or 'meadow or marsh'. The city was named by Spanish soldiers and missionaries that stopped here in between 1770 and 1830. The island was situated between two rivers and was totally abundant in alders, wispy willows, cattails, as well as watercress and wild grapefruit. In the 1850's, when the state was organized into more organized townships, the State Legislature named it the El Monte Township. The name didn't last and fast reverted to just El Monte.
The top employers in the city, as of the 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, are: Wells Fargo, that employs 1,800 individuals, El Monte Union High School District, which employs 1,742 people, Mountain View Elementary School District, that employs 1,007 people, Vons, which hires 736 individuals, Longo Toyota-Lexus, that hires 600 individuals, City of El Monte, that employs 526 people, M.C. Gill Corporation, Driftwood Dairy, and the Cathay Bank, all of who each hires 250 individuals.