History of Marin County Agriculture

Agriculture has thrived in the western part of Marin County since the mid-19th century when the Californios, the first Mexican land grantees, settled here. Point Reyes became known as the birthplace of the California dairy industry, and during the Gold Rush it was famous for another kind of gold: butter! The butter was produced here and shipped by train or schooner to cities and towns throughout the west. Soon, immigrants from Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, and other countries established family farms that are still a vital part of the local economy, both on the Point Reyes peninsula and along the eastern shore of Tomales Bay.

But the story really begins with the Coast Miwok, probably the first people to live here. West Marin is unique-geographically, geologically, and historically. With its fog-shrouded, windswept beauty, it can seem a world away from nearby San Francisco. To the Coast Miwok, the mild climate, the sheltering forests, and the plentiful food sources must have made it an ideal home. For thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, they fished, hunted, and gathered wild foods, harvesting salmon and steelhead from creeks and streams, shellfish from Tomales Bay, and abalone from the Pacific Ocean.

The Miwoks lived in isolation until 1579 when the English explorer Francis Drake landed his ship the Golden Hind on the shores of what we now call Drake's Bay. He was followed by Spanish explorers who stayed briefly, then traveled on. It was more than 150 years before the Spanish again made their presence felt, but this time they ended the Miwoks' isolation forever. As the conquistadors expanded Spain's empire into California from Mexico, Roman Catholic missionaries followed, forcibly converting and relocating the native people to missions in San Francisco and San Rafael.

The San Rafael missionaries raised longhorn cattle for hides and tallow. The animals ranged as far west as Point Reyes, almost 40 miles from the mission itself. Though wild herds of deer and tule elk had long grazed on the plentiful grasses of the peninsula, this was the first ranching activity in the area.

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