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and aquatic bird hunting, and the gathering of wild plants (Wallace 1978) . The Yokuts divided themselves into tribelets, each with its own name, dialect, and territory (Kroeber 1976) . They lived in small villages, generally atop mounds and adjacent to water courses. These settlements were composed of rush thatch dwellings constructed on poles to avoid the impact of seasonal flooding (Thompson and West 1879) . In the early nineteenth century, the Spanish sent expeditions to subjugate the Indians of Central California (Cook 1962) . Many Yokuts were conscripted into the mission labor system. Most of those who remained in their native environment lost their lives to disease, in what was likely a malaria epidemic in 1832 or 1833 (Cook 1955) . Survivors were ultimately displaced by the tide of Anglo-American settlers that came with the Gold Rush of 1849. Early settlement by Anglo-Americans began with the founding of French Camp, a small town seven miles west of the project area, established as the southern terminus of the California-Oregon Trail between 1832 and 1845. The three decades following the Gold Rush ushered in profound changes to the land. The planting of cereals in the upper San Joaquin Valley, begun in 1845, became widespread in the 1850's and 60's to supply the burgeoning population brought to Northern California by the Gold Rush. While wheat emerged as the most important crop in this era, settlers also planted orchards, wine grapes and row crops (San Joaquin County 1976) . A record search was performed by the Central California Information Center to discover whether any prehistoric or historic sites were located in or near the project site. From the record search, it was determined that no prehistoric sites were known to be located on the property or inside a two-mile radius. No prior resource survey has been performed within the boundaries of the project area. However, three surveys have been conducted within a two-mile radius (Napton 1984; Seldner 1986; Foster 1987) . No significant prehistoric sites were encountered in the course of these surveys. Two sites were found along the banks of Weber Slough containing sparse remains of surface artifacts including flakes and fire-altered rock. These were about 2.5 miles to the southwest ofl 3-51 101-39.R4 4/10/89