Stanislaus River - History

History

The Stanislaus is famous for a political battle over building the dam (which now forms New Melones Lake). The non-profit organization Friends of the River was formed to manage the fight, and has since worked to save rivers throughout California. Prior to the construction of the dam and the flooding of the river, the lower Stanislaus was one of the most rafted whitewater runs in the United States. Rafting is still popular on the north fork of the Stanislaus and on the Goodwin Canyon section of the main Stanislaus. In long periods of drought, the Camp Nine run comes back as the lake level drops. In the early 1990s, this section was runnable for 3 years, with the river reaching the Highway 49 bridge before the rains brought the lake level all the way up above the put-in.

The river is named for Estanislao, a Miwok leader from Mission San José, who led a band of 400 former mission acolytes against the Mexican government in 1828 and 1829. The band made its base along the banks of the river, then known as the Río de los Laquisimes. The word Laquisimes could be a Spanish loanword referring to the "Lakisamni", an Amerindian tribe that lived on the Stanislaus near Knights Ferry.