Gabriel Moraga
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Spanish army officer Gabriel Moraga was one of the first Europeans to explore California's Great Central Valley (1806 -1808). As the first explorer, he became the source of many of the place names in the region, including San Joaquin, Modesto, Sacramento, the Merced River (which he named El Rio Nuestra Senora de la Merced (The River of Our Lady of Mercy)) and Merced, Kings, Mariposa, and Calaveras. He named the Calaveras River after skulls found there. Mariposa was named from the swarms of butterflies.
Moraga led armies of Spanish soldiers through the valley and displaced local Native American groups.
