In the 20th century, many levees and dams were built on the San Joaquin and all of its major tributaries. Franciscan missionaries from Spain came with the expeditions to evangelize the natives by teaching them about the Catholic faith.īecause of the uniform topography of the San Joaquin Valley, floods once transformed much of the lower river into a huge inland sea. When Spain colonized the area, they sent soldiers from Mexico, who were usually of mixed native Mexican and Spanish birth, led by Spanish officers. Starting in the late 18th century, successive waves of explorers then settlers, mainly Spanish and American, emigrated to the San Joaquin basin. People have inhabited the San Joaquin Valley for more than 8,000 years, and it was long one of the major population centers of pre-Columbian California. An important source of irrigation water as well as a wildlife corridor, the San Joaquin is among the most heavily dammed and diverted of California's rivers. The 366-mile (589 km) long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. The San Joaquin River ( / ˌ s æ n hw ɑː ˈ k iː n/ Spanish: Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. Merced River, Tuolumne River, Stanislaus River, Mokelumne River
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |