What is the history of Napa, California?
The word Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Wappo Indian Village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and panthers for many centuries. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the population consisted of hundreds of Indians. Padre Jose Altimura, founder of the mission at Sonoma, led the expedition. Spanish and Mexican control remained until the Bear Flag Revolution, and the valley became one of the first in California to be settled by American farmers, who started arriving in the 1830s. When California was granted statehood, Napa Valley was in the Territory of California, District of Sonoma. In 1850 when counties were first organized, Napa became one of the original counties of California, and in 1851 the first courthouse was erected. By 1870 most of the Indians who had inhabited the valley were wiped out by smallpox and other diseases brought by the white man. The few that remained finally were taken into Alexan
