A Brief History of Bakersfield, CA

The Yokuts Indians were the first people to settle in the San Joaquin Valley, roughly 8,000 years ago. In 1776, the Spanish missionary Father Francisco Garcés became the first European to discover the area. In 1851, gold was discovered in the Kern River, and in 1865, oil was discovered in the valley.

In 1863, former Iowa militia member and former California state senator, Colonel Thomas Baker, moved into the Kern Island area. He planted a field of alfalfa, for travelers to feed their tired and hungry horses. Newspapers as far away as San Francisco wrote about this field, and urged travelers to visit Baker's field to feed their horses and pay a visit.

As more families moved to the area, Baker funded development out of his own pocket. He constructed sawmills, helped other settlers drain their land, and surveyed the land. Baker was asked to plot out a new town after a flood of the Kern River rerouted the river channel to the north. At the founding ceremony in 1869, residents surprised Baker by naming the town Bakersfield, in his honor.