Moraga in 1806. The word Stanislaus is derived from Estanislao, the baptismal name of a mission-educated renegade Indian chief who led a band of Indians in a series of battles against Mexican troops. After he was defeated by General Mariano G. Vallejo in 1826 the river was renamed Rio Estanislao for the Indian chief.

County Seat-Modesto

Population-419,500

Distance-99 miles

Travel Time-1.5 Hours

 

San Joaquin County

Founded on February 18, 1850, San Joaquin County takes its name from the San Joaquin River. In the early 1800's Lieutenant Moraga, commanding an expedition in the lower great Central Valley of California, gave the name of San Joaquin (meaning Saint Joachim) to a rivulet that springs from the Sierra Nevada mountains and empties into Buena Vista Lake.

County Seat-Stockton

Population-535,400

Distance-130 miles

Travel Time-2 Hours

 

San Luis Obispo County

Founded on February 18, 1850 and named after the mission established in 1772 by Padre

Junipero Serra. Mission San Luis Obispo was established named for Saint Luis, the Bishop of

Toulouse.

County Seat-San Luis Obispo

Population-234,100

Distance-134 miles

Travel Time-2.5 Hours

 

Mono County

Mono County was established April 24, 1861. The county is named after Mono Lake which, in 1852, was named for an Indian tribe that inhabited the Sierra Nevada from north of Mono Lake to Owens Lake. Mono was not the named the people called themselves but rather was given to them by the tribe's western neighbors. The Yokuts called them monachie meaning "fly people" because the pupae of a fly was their chief food staple and trading article.

County Seat-Bridgeport

Population-10,400

Distance-178 miles

Travel Time-3.5 Hours

 

Tuolumne County

Tuolumne County was founded on February 18, 1850. The name Tuolumne is of Indian origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions and Straight Up Steep was a later interpretation of a native Indian Chief. Vallejo, in his report to the first Legislature, said that the word is "a corruption of the Indian word talmalamne” which signifies "cluster of stone wigwams."

County Seat-Sonora

Population-52,100

Distance-122 miles

Travel Time-1.8 Hours

 

Inyo County

Inyo began as part of Mariposa County and then became part of Tulare County. In 1866 it was designated as the county of Inyo. It is the home of the Mt. Whitney, the highest point on the continental U. S. at 14,491 feet and the lowest point located at Badwater, in Death Valley.

County Seat-Independence

Population-18,484

Distance-264 Miles

Travel Time-4 Hours