Existing comment:
Permanent Settlers:
In the 1860s, settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) were the first Euro-Americans to establish permanent settlements along the Santa Clara River.
Like the Native peoples before them, the Mormons were farmers, but their use of draft animals made it possible for them to farm on a larger scale. The newcomers were just as dependent on the river as their predecessors, using its waters to irrigate their crops of corn, wheat, fruit trees, and sugar cane. |