Tulare Lake

Tulare Lake spread across the southern San Joaquin Valley, fed by the Kern, Tule and Kaweah Rivers and channels of the Kings River. Its waters and surrounding marshes supported abundant fish, birds and plants. Three Yokuts peoples occupied its shores: the Wowol to the south, the Chunut to the east and the Tachi to the north and west. In wet years the lake could overflow north towards the San Joaquin River, linking the great basin with the waterways beyond it.

In 1805 the Spanish missionary Juan Martín reached the lake after traveling inland from the coast through Wowol country. Eleven years later another Spanish expedition destroyed the village of Bubal, burning its houses and breaking its grinding stones. The assault drew criticism from a missionary who accompanied the party, and brought violence to a region already inhabited by the lake's Yokuts communities.