It was not long after Sacramento surpassed a population of 10,000 , then the Great Flood of 1862 swept away much of it ( and almost everything else along the Sacramento River ) and put the rest under water . The flood waters were exacerbated by the sediments washed down by the millions of tons by hydraulic mining , which filled the beds of the Sacramento , Feather and American rivers up to in Sacramento and also covered thousands of acres of Central Valley lands . A flood in 1875 covered the city of Marysville and when it subsided the town 's streets were filled with debris and rocks washed down from the " hydraulicking " going on upstream
Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
Sacramento River