ARCHIVED REPORTS_DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT

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The project area is situated just south of the Campo de los Franceses land grant. This grant was made to Guillermo Gulnac in 1843, and consisted of more than 48,000 acres near French Camp (Beck and Haase 1974). Gulnac entered into a partnership with Captain C. M.Weber, a German immigrant. Weber moved to Stockton in 1847, after receiving a half interest in the rancho from Gulnac. Weber later purchased the other half interest in the rancho and encouraged settlement in the region by offering new emigrants plots of land(Cook 1975). C. T.Blanchard and L. Whitman were two of these early settlers. Whitman had a residence in the northwest of Section 7 of Township 2 South,Range 7 East on the Manteca 7.5-minute U.S. Geological Survey(USGS) quadrangles, settling in the area in 1853. Blanchard established a farm of 520 acres with a house in the southeast corner of Section 7 of Township 2 South,Range 7 East on the Manteca 7.5-minute USGS quadrangles in 1855, after arriving in the state from New Hampshire (Thompson and West 1879). Another of the early settlers in the area,Joshua Cowell,became known as the"Father of Manteca,"arriving in 1862. Cowell is credited with having established dairying in the region. Once the Central Pacific Railroad built a line through the area, it became known as Cowell Station. In 1897, Cowell Station was renamed Manteca (Spanish for"lard"). The origin of the city's present name is debatable; one popular explanation lies in the fact that many of California's early dairymen were Portuguese, and their word manteiga(butter), could easily have been corrupted to the present spelling(Hillman and Covello 1985). Development in Manteca followed soon after. The first organized Manteca-area government consisted of a board of trade,which was a cross between a city council and a chamber of commerce. Under its direction, a volunteer fire department was organized in 1912. The early town government was disbanded when the failure of a local septic tank system resulted in a quarantine imposed by the California Department of Health in 1918. To fund a bond issue for the installation of a sewer system,the town was incorporated. The new city council approved several projects for the area, among them a new jail, street signs,purchase of a fire bell, and street curbs for Yosemite Avenue between Main Street and the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks(Hillman and Covello 1985). Agriculture and irrigation played a major role in the growth of Manteca.Alfalfa fields, orchards, and large-scale dairy operations were all instrumental in building the local economy. By 1920, dairy farming was the largest enterprise in south San Joaquin County. Over time,the larger farms were divided into smaller plots,usually 40 acres in size. The increased number of farms resulted in a rapidly expanding population. Further development and expansion resulted from the creation of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District in 1909. Beginning in the late 1940s,Manteca became a popular bedroom community because of its proximity to Stockton,Tracy, and Modesto. Its growth and reputation as a burgeoning location for families led to Manteca becoming known as"The Family City." CULTURAL RESOURCES STUDY METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS Cultural resources investigations for the proposed project consisted of a staged approach that included prefield research, field surveys,resource documentation, and Native American consultation. All aspects of the cultural resources study were conducted in accordance with the federal Secretary of the Interior's Guidelines for Identification of Cultural Resources(Title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 44720-44723) and the California Office of Historic Preservation's Instructions for Recording Historical Resources. Before field surveys were conducted, an information request was submitted by EDAW to the CLIC. The records search included reviews of sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), California Historical Landmarks, and other government-designated cultural resource sites, as well as a review of information center maps and files of the findings of previous cultural resource surveys conducted in the project area. The records search information was supplemented with a field survey performed by an archaeologist on August 29 and 30,2006. The areas surveyed consisted primarily of existing paved roads,with some areas of Manteca WQCF and Collection System Master Plans EIR EDAW City of Manteca 4.12-3 Cultural Resources