Ch. 3 Historical Settlement of North America

The settlement of California's Central Valley began like many areas of the United States. Native Americans were the first inhabitants of this location. 

Most recently: 

• Maidu Tribes, Central Sierra Nevada in the drainage area of the Feather and American Rivers
• Interior Miwok Tribes, Sacramento Valley and the Sierra Mountains
• Yokut Tribes, San Joaquin Valley stretching down into Bakersfield

     Location of Maidu                   Location of Miwok                                       

                                                                                                   

                          Location of Yokut

"The second largest concentration of Americans claiming Portuguese ancestry is in central California. Although Spanish and Mexican settlers did establish roots in California, it was mainly along the coast. Rarely did they venture the middle of the state where they would have found fertile soil perfect for settlement. The discovery of gold in the 1850's brought Portuguese settlers from the coastlines and into gold mining camps in the Sacramento Valley. Most of these early immigrants were Azoreans, who had come to California from southeastern New England(loc.gov)."

Portuguese settlement in the Central Valley increased at the end of the eighteenth century. These newcomers engaged primarily in agriculture, including dairying and intensive vegetable and fruit farming. Once they established themselves in the San Joaquin Valley, they developed fruit, vegetable, and dairy farms in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Kings, and Tulare counties.

"Primary sources of population growth are people migrating from the San Francisco Bay Area seeking lower housing costs, as well as immigration from Asia, Central America, Mexico, Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet Union(Wikipedia)." The three major languages spoken now in the Central Valley are English, Spanish, and Hmong.