In autumn 1846, the first known sail launch to ascend the San Joaquin River from San Francisco landed here. It carried 20 Mormon pioneers who founded the New Hope agricultural project on the Stanislaus. A yoke of oxen and a span of mules were driven from Marsh’s Landing (Antioch) by two men who followed a crude map drawn by Merritt the trapper. Two years later, Doak and Bonsell operated here the first ferry on the San Joaquin River.