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Jy •. id is 17 By 1865 the American Civil War and a changing economy created a demand for grain. California cattle and sheepmen switched to wheat farming, which in turn required operation of steamboats along the San Joaquin River to bring the grain to market. One of the first feeder services ran from Stockton upriver to Grayson (Durham's Ferry) , thence to Hills Ferry near present-day Newman, and onward to Tuolumne City (Brotherton 1982) . Service began May 1, 1850, and continued until about 1906. After the turn of the century, river waters receded due to increased crop irrigation and steamer service came to an end (MacMullen 1944) . As irrigation developed in the Central Valley most of the former land grant ranchos were broken up into numerous small farms. With the coming of railroads the valley began to take on its present densely settled, highly productive aspect, as F, described by Cabezut-Ortiz (1987) , Davis (1984) , Gooch (1988) , FHillman and Covello (1985) and others. Local Historic Context The early-day history of the Hospital Creek area is not well• • ` known. Latta (1977: 81) states that the name "Hospital" - is derived from "Ospetal, " possibly a Yokuts word, perhaps referring to a village or tribelet of that name. It known that the Native. E` Americans occupied localities upstream on Hospital Creek, west of the proposed project area. Gilbert (1879, Map 4) identifies this stream as "Arroyo del Ospital. " Approximately five miles northeast of the proposed project area is the early-day settlement called "San Joaquin City, " described by Hillman and Covello (1985: 169-170) . They note: i3 Long before the beginning of pioneer settlement, Yokuts: Indians recognized this site as a good place to settle. The high ground here was vital when the San Joaquin was at flood; stage. When pioneer settlers arrived here in the late 1840s, } there was evidence of Indian presence including human skeletons which had been exposed during earth moving or erosion. The first caucasian settler on what became known as the West Side was Captain Charles M. Imus, who arrived in the fall of 1846 and a built a cabin of pine logs cut at the, mouth of Corral Hollow Canyon. San Joaquin City grew to town status by 1862 , when nine streets, eighty feet wide, were surveyed. Development reached its. zenith in the early 1870s, when the settlement boasted twelve !` saloons, six stores, a stage station, three hotels, a blacksmith