Mesa Mesa Mesa (Spanish and Portuguese for "table") is the American English term for tableland, an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape. It may also be called a table hill, table-topped hill or table mountain. It is larger than a butte, which it otherwise resembles closely. It is a characteristic landform of arid environments, particularly the Western and Southwestern United States in badlands and mountainous regions ranging from Washington and California to the Dakotas, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas. Examples are also found
Upland, California The present-day city of Upland was the originally northern part of Chaffee's Ontario Model Colony, and was known as "North Upland" or "Magnolia" after a local hotel. The name Upland was first used as the name of the "Upland Citrus Association." Long-time resident Charles D. Adams, organizer and first elected president of the Association, was credited with choosing the name. However, by 1902, the name "Upland" was used to refer to the entire area of North Ontario. The railway came to North Ontario in 1887. When the Ontario Colony was founded, downtown was located next to the Southern Pacific tracks.