Flowing through the heart of the valley is the four
hundred-mile long Sacramento River. The Sacramento River carries
one-third of the annual runoff of all California streams, the largest
flow of any river in the state.
Many Native American cultures flourished in the Sacramento
Valley prior to European exploration in the late eighteenth century.
The valley bears the Spanish name for the "Holy Sacrament," a
name first applied to the Feather River by Gabriel Moraga in 1808.
Johann
Sutter, a German-speaking Swiss immigrant, established the first
European settlement in the valley on a Mexican land grant
at the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers. During the
gold rush hordes of people heading for the mines in the foothills
of the Sierra Nevada crossed the valley. Sacramento, Marysville,
Yuba City, and other towns flourished as supply centers for the miners.
Wheat
farming dominated the valley economy in the 1870s and '80s. Improvements
in irrigation and transportation led to diversification
of crops, including the raising of apples, apricots, pears, walnuts,
rice, barley, alfalfa, safflower, and sorghum. The largest city
in the valley is Sacramento, the state capital.
Many Native American cultures flourished in the Sacramento
Valley prior to European exploration in the late eighteenth century.
The valley bears the Spanish name for the "Holy Sacrament," a
name first applied to the Feather River by Gabriel Moraga in 1808. 
Johann
Sutter, a German-speaking Swiss immigrant, established the first
European settlement in the valley on a Mexican land grant
at the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers. During the
gold rush hordes of people heading for the mines in the foothills
of the Sierra Nevada crossed the valley. Sacramento, Marysville,
Yuba City, and other towns flourished as supply centers for the miners.