The deciduous forests and wetland areas of the southern San Joaquin Valley had seen few white settlers until the early 1850s, when Nathaniel Vise of Kentucky and a handful of other hearty pioneers settled in what was then called the Four Creeks Area. By 1858, Visalia had begun to establish itself as a strong agricultural community, was named the seat of Tulare County, and served as a stopping point on the storied St. Louis-to-San Francisco stagecoach route. Jumping ahead some 100 years,...