1.
River
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A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water, small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the term river as applied to geographic features. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location, examples are run in parts of the United States, burn in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always, Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Potamology is the study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general. Extraterrestrial rivers of liquid hydrocarbons have recently found on Titan. Channels may indicate past rivers on other planets, specifically outflow channels on Mars and rivers are theorised to exist on planets, a river begins at a source, follows a path called a course, and ends at a mouth or mouths. The water in a river is confined to a channel. In larger rivers there is also a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred, especially in areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys or along plains, the term upriver refers to the direction towards the source of the river, i. e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term describes the direction towards the mouth of the river. The term left bank refers to the bank in the direction of flow. The river channel typically contains a stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide and they also occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are quite rare
2.
Petaluma, California
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Petaluma /pɛtəˈluːmə/ is a small city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. Its population was 57,941 according to the 2010 Census, the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, located in Petaluma, is a National Historic Landmark. Its construction started in 1836 by order of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and it was the center of a 66,000 acre ranch stretching from Petaluma River to Sonoma Creek. The adobe is considered one of the best preserved buildings of its era in Northern California, Petaluma is a transliteration of the Coast Miwok phrase péta lúuma which means hill backside and probably refers to Petalumas proximity to Sonoma Mountain. Petaluma has a well-preserved, historic city center includes many buildings that survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Coast Miwok resided in southern Sonoma County, and Péta Lúuma was originally the name of a Miwok village east of the Petaluma River. The Petaluma area was part of a 66,000 acre 1834 Mexican land grant by Governor Jose Figueroa to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo called Rancho Petaluma. In 1836, Vallejo ordered construction of his Rancho Petaluma Adobe a ranch house in Petaluma, Vallejos influence and Mexican control in the region began to decline after Vallejos arrest during the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. Pioneers flocked into Petaluma from the eastern United States after Michael Celiberti found gold in the Sierra Nevadas in 1849, the towns position on the Petaluma River in the heart of productive farmland was critical to its growth during the 19th and early 20th centuries. There were brothels downtown along Petaluma Boulevard, which used to be the main thoroughfare until U. S. Highway 101 was constructed in the 1950s. The Sonoma County Bank Building, now the home of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company, Petaluma soon became known for its grain milling and chicken processing industries, which continue to the present as a smaller fraction of its commerce. At one time, Petaluma was known as the Egg Capital of the World, Petaluma hosted the only known Poultry drugstore and is the place where the egg incubator was invented by Lyman Byce in 1879. Petaluma is also where Randall Smith founded Mesa/Boogie, maker of guitar amplifiers used by such musicians as Carlos Santana. Even though it is no known as the Egg Capital of the World, Petaluma maintains a strong agricultural base today with dairy farms, olive groves, vineyards. As one of the few communities in the left standing after the earthquake, Petaluma was the staging point for most Sonoma County rescue. Petaluma is today the location of many distinguished, well-preserved pre-1906 buildings, the downtown area has suffered many river floods over the years and during the Depression commerce declined. A lack of funds prevented the demolition of the old homes, in the 1960s there was a counter-culture migration out of San Francisco into Marin County and southern Sonoma County, looking for inexpensive housing in a less urban environment. The old Victorian, Queen Anne and Eastlake style houses were restored, Historic iron-front buildings in the downtown commercial district were also rescued
3.
Coast Miwok
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The Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second largest group of Miwok people. The Coast Miwok inhabited the area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Point. The Coast Miwok included the Bodega Bay Miwok from authenticated Miwok villages around Bodega Bay, the Coast Miwok spoke their own Coast Miwok language in the Utian linguistic group. They lived by hunting and gathering, and lived in small bands without centralized political authority, in the springtime they would head to the coasts to hunt salmon and other seafood, including seaweed. When hunting deer, Miwok hunters traditionally used Brewers angelica, Angelica breweri to eliminate their own scent, Miwok did not typically hunt bears. Yerba buena tea leaf were used medicinally, tattooing was a traditional practice among Coast Miwok, and they burned poison-oak for a pigment. Their traditional houses, called kotcha were constructed with slabs of tule grass or redwood bark in a cone-shaped form, Miwok people are skilled at basketry. A recreated Coast Miwok village called Kule Loklo is located at the Point Reyes National Seashore, the Coast Miwok language is no longer natively spoken, but the Bodega dialect is documented in Callaghan. The original Coast Miwok people world view included animism, and one form of this took was the Kuksu religion that was evident in Central and Northern California. Kuksu was shared with other ethnic groups of Central California, such as their neighbors the Pomo, also Maidu, Ohlone, Esselen. However Kroeber observed less specialized cosmogony in the Miwok, which he termed one of the southern Kuksu-dancing groups, in comparison to the Maidu, Coast Miwok mythology and narratives were similar to those of other natives of Central and Northern California. The Coast Miwok believed in animal and human spirits, and saw the animal spirits as their ancestors, coyote was seen as their ancestor and creator god. In their case the earth began with land formed out of the Pacific Ocean, in their myths, legends, tales, and histories, the Coast Miwok participated in the general cultural pattern of Central California. The authenticated Coast Miwok villages are, On Bodega Bay, Helapattai, Hime-takala, Ho-takala, Suwutenne, Tiwut-huya, also in this vicinity, Awachi, Amayelle, Kennekono. On Tomales Bay, Echa-kolum, Shotommo-wi, Sakloki, Utumia At the present-day City of Petaluma, Etem, also in this vicinity, Tuchayelin, Likatiut, Meleya, Susuli, Tulme, Wotoki. At the present-day City of San Rafael, Awani-wi, at the present-day City of Sonoma, Huchi. Also in this vicinity, Temblek, Tuli, Wugilwa, at the present-day City of Cotati, Kotati, Lumen-takala. At the present-day town of Nicasio, Echa-tamal, at the present-day town of Olema, Olema-loke
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
6.
Sonoma County, California
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Sonoma County is a county in the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 483,878 and its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is located to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino County and it is west of Napa County and Lake County. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is the northwestern county in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region. Sonoma is the county and largest producer of California’s Wine Country region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino. It possesses thirteen approved American Viticultural Areas and over 250 wineries, in 2002, Sonoma County ranked as the 32nd county in the United States in agricultural production. More than 7.4 million tourists each year, spending more than $1 billion in 2006. Sonoma County is the home of Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College, Sonoma County is home to several Native American tribes. By the 1830s, European settlement had set a new direction that would prove to radically alter the course of land use, Sonoma County has rich agricultural land, albeit largely divided between two nearly monocultural uses as of 2007, grapes and pasturage. The voters have twice approved open space initiatives that have provided funding for public acquisition of natural areas, preserving forested areas, coastal habitat, and other open space. The Pomo, Coast Miwok and Wappo peoples were the earliest human settlers of Sonoma County, spaniards, Russians, and other Europeans claimed and settled in the county from the late 16th to mid-19th century, seeking timber, fur, and farmland. The Russians were the first newcomers to establish a permanent foothold in Sonoma County and this settlement and its outlying Russian settlements came to include a population of several hundred Russian and Aleut settlers and a stockaded fort with artillery. However, the Russians abandoned it in 1841 and sold the fort to John Sutter, settler and Mexican land grantee of Sacramento. The Mission San Francisco Solano, founded in 1823 as the last and northernmost of 21 California missions, is in the present City of Sonoma, El Presidio de Sonoma, or Sonoma Barracks, was established in 1836 by Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. The City of Sonoma was the site of the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846, Sonoma was one of the original counties formed when California became a state in 1850, with its county seat originally the town of Sonoma. However, by the early 1850s, the town of Sonoma had declined in importance in terms of commerce and population, its county buildings were crumbling, and it was relatively remote. As a result, elements in the newer, rapidly growing towns of Petaluma, Santa Rosa, the dispute ultimately was between the bigger, richer commercial town of Petaluma and the more centrally located, growing agricultural center of Santa Rosa. Allegedly, several Santa Rosans, not caring to wait, decided to take action and, one night, rode down the Sonoma Valley to Sonoma, took the county seals and records, some of the countys land was annexed from Mendocino County between 1850 and 1860
7.
Marin County, California
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Marin County /məˈrɪn/ is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 252,409 and its county seat is San Rafael. Marin County is included in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, Marin County is one of the wealthiest localities in the United States, known for its affluence. In May 2009, Marin County had the fifth highest income per capita in the United States at about $91,480, the county is governed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. The county is well known for its natural beauty and liberal politics. San Quentin Prison is located in the county, as is George Lucas Skywalker Ranch, autodesk, the publisher of AutoCAD, is also located there, as well as numerous other high-tech companies. The Marin County Civic Center was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and draws thousands of visitors a year to guided tours of its arch, in 1994, a new county jail facility was embedded into the hillside nearby. Marin Countys natural sites include the Muir Woods redwood forest, the Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, the Point Reyes National Seashore, the United States oldest cross country running event, the Dipsea Race, takes place annually in Marin County, attracting thousands of athletes. Mountain biking was invented on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin, According to General Mariano Vallejo, who headed an 1850 committee to name Californias counties, the county was named for Marin, great chief of the tribe Licatiut. Marin had been named Huicmuse until he was baptized as Marino at about age 20, Marin / Marino was born into the Huimen people, a Coast Miwok tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the San Rafael area. Vallejo believed that Chief Marin had waged several fierce battles against the Spanish, starting in 1817, he served as an alcalde at the San Rafael Mission, where he lived from 1817 off and on until his death. The Coast Miwok Indians were hunters and gatherers whose ancestors had occupied the area for thousands of years, about 600 village sites have been identified in the county. The Coast Miwok numbered in the thousands, today, there are few left and even fewer with any knowledge of their Coast Miwok lineage. Efforts are being made so that they are not forgotten, francis Drake and the crew of the Golden Hind was thought to have landed on the Marin coast in 1579 claiming the land as Nova Albion. A bronze plaque inscribed with Drakes claim to the new lands and this so-called Drakes Plate of Brass was revealed as a hoax in 2003. In 1595, Sebastian Cermeno lost his ship, the San Agustin, the Spanish explorer Vizcaíno landed about twenty years after Drake in what is now called Drakes Bay. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 828 square miles. It is the fourth-smallest county in California by land area
8.
Lichau Creek
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Lichau Creek is an 8. 9-mile-long southwest-flowing stream in Sonoma County, California, United States which flows through the town of Penngrove and discharges into the Petaluma River. The original name of the creek is OHara Creek and is named after the settler, John OHara, OHara was born in 1833 in County Sligo, Ireland and settled in Penngrove sometime between 1852 and 1857 and died in 1911 at the age of 78 years. The October 26th,1904 Santa Rosa Republican refers to this creek as OHara Creek, the creek springs from the western side of Sonoma Mountain between Copeland Creek and Lynch Creek. Descending initially to the west, it crosses under Sonoma Mountain Road, after crossing East Railroad Avenue and Petaluma Hill Road, it flows under the Northwestern Pacific Railroad tracks. It immediately bends southward and parallels the tracks through Penngrove, crossing Adobe Road, a 1968 survey of Lichau Creek found algae, duckweed, cattails, dragonflies, dipterous insects, caddisflies, frogs, steelhead trout, and sticklebacks living in the creek. At least three bridges span the creek, Petaluma Hill Road crosses 0.1 miles north of Old Redwood Highway on a 49-foot concrete continuous tee beam built in 1920 and reconstructed in 1976. East Railroad Avenue crosses 0.1 miles east of Petaluma Hill Road on a 42-foot concrete culvert built in 1970, Adobe Road crosses 0.08 miles east of Old Redwood Highway on a 24-foot concrete tee beam built in 1929. List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area
9.
Lynch Creek
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Lynch Creek is a 7. 1-mile-long stream in Sonoma County, California, United States which discharges into the Petaluma River. Lynch Creek rises on the west flank of Sonoma Mountain and descends initially to the west and it flows under Sonoma Mountain Road, then turns southward and roughly parallels Lynch Road for about a mile. Just north of Adobe Road, it crosses under Sonoma Mountain Road again, after crossing Adobe Road, it flows through Rooster Run Golf Club and enters suburban Petaluma, where it flows southwestward. It crosses Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Maria Drive and follows the edge of Lucchesi Park to North McDowell Boulevard. From the south side of the Boulevard, it continues southward, list of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area
10.
Washington Creek
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Washington Creek is a southward-flowing stream in Sonoma County, California, United States which enters the city of Petaluma and discharges to the Petaluma River. Washington Creek rises on the west flank of Sonoma Mountain and descends to the southwest, after East Washington Creek enters from the east the creek continues southwestward, passing under North McDowell Parkway and U. S.101. Emerging from the U. S.101 interchange, the creek flows westward, crossing under Madison Street and Holly Lane to enter the Petaluma River just north of the Payran Street bridge. On March 7,2000, a Sonoma Mountain dairy rancher pleaded no contest to charges that in 1999 he dumped 732,000 US gal of manure and urine into Washington Creek. This was reportedly the first time a Sonoma County dairy farmer had faced fines stemming from criminal charges in a creek pollution case, list of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area Lynch Creek bicycle routes
