▁fo oth ills ▁of ▁the ▁Sierra . ▁R ough ▁ways ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Mill erton ▁Road ▁which ▁later ▁became ▁the ▁Stock ton ▁- ▁Los ▁Angeles ▁Road ▁quickly ▁extended ▁the ▁length ▁of ▁the ▁valley , ▁some ▁following ▁old ▁cattle ▁routes ▁and ▁Native ▁American ▁tra ils , ▁and ▁were ▁served ▁by ▁m ule ▁teams ▁and ▁covered ▁w ag ons . ▁River bo at ▁navigation ▁quickly ▁became ▁an ▁important ▁transport ation ▁link ▁on ▁the ▁San ▁Jo aqu in ▁River , ▁and ▁during ▁the ▁" J une ▁R ise ", ▁as ▁boat ▁operators ▁called ▁the ▁San ▁Jo aqu in ' s ▁annual ▁high ▁water ▁levels ▁during ▁snow m elt , ▁large ▁craft ▁could ▁make ▁it ▁as ▁far ▁up stream ▁as ▁F res no . ▁During ▁the ▁peak ▁years ▁of ▁the ▁gold ▁r ush , ▁the ▁river ▁in ▁the ▁Stock ton ▁area ▁was ▁reported ly ▁crow ded ▁with ▁hundreds ▁of ▁abandoned ▁o ce ango ing ▁craft , ▁whose ▁crew ▁had ▁desert ed ▁for ▁the ▁gold ▁fields . ▁The ▁mult itude ▁of ▁idle ▁ships ▁was ▁such ▁a ▁block ade ▁that ▁at ▁several ▁occasions ▁they ▁were ▁burn ed ▁just ▁to ▁clear ▁a ▁way ▁for ▁river bo at ▁traffic . ▁ ▁Ir rig ation ▁era ▁Although ▁the ▁gold ▁r ush ▁attract ed ▁tens ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁new com ers ▁to ▁the ▁San ▁Jo aqu in ▁River ▁area , ▁depos its ▁of ▁the ▁pre cious ▁min eral ▁p eter ed ▁out ▁within ▁a ▁few ▁years , ▁especially ▁on ▁the ▁upper ▁reaches ▁of ▁the ▁San ▁Jo aqu in ▁and ▁its ▁trib ut aries