The Benton Paiute Reservation, established in 1915, is the home of the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe which translates into “Hot Water Place People”, a name derived from the “Numic” language, originating from their location next to their ancestral hot springs, a natural flowing spring discharging at 140°F. Today, it is called the Benton Hot Springs and it is not owned by the Tribe. Also adjacent to the Reservation is the historic silver mining town known as “Old Benton”.

The Reservation is located in Mono County, California, near the town of Benton which is at the intersection of Highway 120 and Highway 6, approximately 10 miles west of the Nevada border and 45 miles east of Mammoth Lakes, California. Federal trust land held in ownership by the United States government for the benefit of the Tribe consist of 400 acres, the original 160 acres identified in the 1915 Executive Order and 240 acres obtained by Act of Congress in 2006. The Tribe’s Administrative Center lies within the high desert ecosystem of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain range at 5,700 feet above mean sea level.