6,000 b.c. Yokut Indians settled the area now known as the San Joaquin Valley.

1776. Father Francisco Garces visits Kern County and the Kern River. He names it Rio de San Felipe.

1822. Kern County becomes part of Mexico.

1843-44. John C. Fremont expedition passes through.

1845-46. Second Fremont exedition passes through. Kern River is named after Edward Kern, topographer of the party.

1850. California becomes the 31st state.

1853. Gold rush starts on the upper Kern River.

1857. Huge earthquake, possibly an 8 on the Richter scale, hits the Fort Tejon area. It rings church bells in Los Angeles, snaps off the tops of trees and moves the earth 30 feet in places.

1860. Christain Bohna settles Kern Island, future site of Bakersfield.

1863. Col. Thomas Baker begins reclaiming swampland in Kern River Delta

1866. Kern County is established with the county seat at Havilah.

1867. Col. Thomas Baker builds a toll road from Bakersfield to Havilah.

1874. County seat moved to Bakersfield.

1875. Town of North Side founded in Oildale area.

1883. Borax first hauled by 20-mule team from Death Valley to Mojave.

1889. Great Bakersfield Fire destroys most of downtown.

1899. Kern River oilfield discovered.

1903. Notorious gunman James McKinney killed in Bakersfield.

1926. Great Buena Vista Lake mouse plague.

1942. First U.S. jet flies at Muroc.

1949. Chuck Yeager exceeds speed of sound at Muroc.

1952. Earthquakes hit Bakersfield and Tehachapi. Two died in the 5.8 magnitude Bakersfield quake and 11 died in the 7.7 Tehachapi temblor, one of the largest ever recorded in California.

Tehachapi Loop Connecting the southern San Joaquin Valley with Los Angeles

The Tehachapi Heritage League
"The Long Road to Tehachapi" (early history) is available through the museum. Credit card customers can also purchase the book by telephoning Dawn's Enchanting Book Store, 805/822-7585.

US Highway 66 Old Photos of Los Angeles and Kern Counties