In 1849 William Knight , a hunter and trapper , established a ferry and trading post on the Stanislaus River , to serve the thousands of miners headed to the diggings at Sonora and other mining camps . Knight had previously accompanied John C. Frémont on expeditions in the 1840s , and " foresaw that Knights Ferry via the Stanislaus was Nature 's pathway through the mountains . " This was one of many ferries that operated on the Stanislaus River in the following decades , including others at Byrne 's Ferry ( later replaced by a covered bridge ) and Taylor 's Ferry near Oakdale . Although Knight was killed later that year ( reportedly in a gunfight ) , the settlement had already become the principal supply point of the region , with daily stage coach service to Stockton , and was named Knights Ferry in his honor . After Knight 's death , Lewis Dent took over the ferry operations . In 1854 the ferry was replaced by a wooden covered bridge ; within the next few years Knights Ferry also became the site of a hotel , court house , flour mill and the Tuolumne County jail . The settlement was largely destroyed during the Great Flood of 1862 , which washed away the bridge , but it and the rest of the town were soon rebuilt . Knights Ferry became the seat of Stanislaus County that same year , until Modesto took its position in 1872
Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
Stanislaus River