Visalia, California

Visalia, California, is located near the physical center of the state in the Kaweah River delta region. In 1852 the new state legislature created Tulare County from Mariposa County, and it named Visalia its county seat the following year. In 1856, 1866, and 1893 sections of Tulare County became parts of Fresno, Kern and Inyo, and Kings Counties, respectively. Today, Visalia covers a land mass of more than 27 square miles, and the city serves as the legal, cultural, commercial, and economic center for Tulare County.

Local Native Americans, the Tachi Yokuts, inhabited the area for many centuries prior to white encroachment. A peaceful tribe, they subsisted on the bountiful supply of acorns supplemented with other native plants, game, and fish. They traded with tribes as far distant as the Chumash in the Santa Barbara region. Today, most live in urban areas, although the nearby Tule Reservation still remains home for some. A museum in the city's largest park, Mooney Grove, displays a large variety of their cultural and social artifacts, implements, and clothing.

In 1772, an early Spanish explorer, Pedro Fages, discovered the area during the Spanish mission era. In his travels he sighted a huge lake with lots of tules growing along its edges, so he named it Los Tules; before it was drained, it was known as Tule Lake. It provided an immense region of extremely fertile land for 19th-century settlers.

Spain claimed military, political, and religious control over the area until 1821 when Mexico received its independence from Spain and acquired control of the immense North American region that included California. Mexico controlled the area until 1848 when the United States established a claim to the region as a [Page 665]result of its victory during the Mexican War (1846–1848) and of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Shortly after John Woods built a cabin in an oak forest near where four creeks flowed in the delta, the area became known as “Four Creeks.” However, that designation did not endure. Nathaniel Vise of Kentucky settled along one creek, a branch of the Kaweah River, in a section of the forest in 1852. He named the new settlement for his hometown, Visalia, and the small village grew to a population of approximately 70 by the end of the year. Half these residents were children. Settlers used waters diverted from the creeks for household use as well as to irrigate their crops and water livestock.

That same year, the Matthews brothers from Iowa constructed the first grist mill on a water course, later named Mill Creek, at a location near the center of the present-day city. To build the mill, they employed local Native Americans as laborers; these workers also helped with other labor-intensive assignments in the process of milling corn, oats, and grains. Fearing raids from the nearby Tachi Yokut tribe, the early pioneers constructed log fortifications—Fort Visalia—for defense but soon discovered it unnecessary.

By the late 1850s several men and families migrated to Visalia from other parts of California as well as from other states, regions, and nations; they established various businesses and, using the bounteous supply of oaks, built log cabins for homes. Most were farmers, growers, or cattle ranchers. Visalia became the center of the valley's growing agricultural production. Later, citrus and nut crops became a mainstay, and assorted agricultural products were developed over time. During this early period Visalia became the largest valley town south of Stockton.

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