pre-1760s – The Ohlone coastal Indians make their home in the area living off a rich pantry from the water and using fire to manage land for seeds and bulbs.

1769 – Father Crespi and seven other members of the Don Gaspar de Portola party follow the sand peninsula to the mouth of the Salinas River. The river is too deep to ford, so the expedition works its way around the slough via San Miguel Canyon to the Pajaro Valley. The first Spanish name given to Elkhorn Slough is “El Estero Grande.”

1775-1822 - Lands granted by the Spanish Crown.
1822-1846 - Lands granted by the Mexican Government.
1846-? - Mexican grants reviewed by U.S. government.

A painting from the 1870s shows the ferry across the mouth of the slough, the Salinas River flowing along the coast, early Moss Landing with its pier and warehouses, and the beginnings of Castroville (center). This painting now hangs in the rectory of a Catholic church in Castroville. (Click here for a larger view.)