During a journey to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1772, the
explorers Pedro Farges and Father John Cresspi wrote to the
Spanish Crown of their sighting of the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta from Mount Diablo. They described the Delta as a “great
inland lake that stretched farther than the eye could see
abounding with game, fish and fowl of all kinds.” However,
Spanish explorers were certainly not the first to know about the
natural abundance within the region. The Bay-Delta Native
American Population neared 50,000 prior to the arrival of the
Spanish, but dwindled within 100 years of the Delta’s European
“discovery” as a result of the spread of diseases like measles.
It was also within this time that Delta wildlife began
supporting the fur-trade industry. Noted North American
adventurer Jedediah Smith trapped Delta beaver, otter, and mink,
and told tales of the wealth of the animal pelts found within
the Delta during his visits to outposts and forts. Toward the
end of the era of California gold, miners became fa