1820s and 30s. Ranchos around the Salinas river included Rancho Las Salinas, Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo American rule The Rancho period ended with the 1848 American seizure of California from Mexico. The City of Monterey, about 10 miles south of the mouth of the Salinas (at that time), was the capital city of Alta California, and the site of the 7 July 1846 invasion by American warships, commanded by Admiral J.D. Sloat. 20th century As a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the river mouth at Monterey Bay was diverted south from an area between Moss Landing and Watsonville to a new channel just north of Marina. The historic increase in agriculture and settlement in the area, and the related increased water consumption demands have had a significant impact on the Salinas River. The river now typically remains dry or without flow for the majority of the year, and downstream (north) of King City remained fully dry or with zero flow during the years 2013–2016. Name During the Spanish / Mexican / Mission period, the river was named El Rio de Monterey. When first encountered by the Spanish Portola Expedition on 27 September 1769, the members of the expedition at first suspected that they had found the Carmel River, that had been discovered earlier by Vizcaíno. One of the party members, Father Crespi, then proposed that the [Salinas] river might be a different river, and that it should therefore be given a new name, however he appears to have been over-ruled by the other members of his party at the time. The first agreed upon name for the river, as it subsequently appeared on many Spanish and Mexican maps, was Rio de Monterey, presumably being named after the newly founded nearby town of Monterey, the capital of Alta California. The earliest recorded use of this name for the river was a reference made by Fr. Pedro Font on 4 March 1776. This name continued in use as late as 1850. After the American annexation of the area, it was renamed the Salinas River. The river was apparently renamed as the "Salinas" river by an American cartographer in 1858, ten years after the 1848 American seizure of Alta California from Mexico. In 1858 the newer name "Salinas" first appeared on an American-made map as the Rio Salinas, most probably so renamed after the nearby American-founded town of Salinas,