ABSTRACT Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) formerly occurred in great abundance within the California Central Valley drainage and were a correspondingly important part of the subsistence economics and cultures of the indigenous peoples of that region. Salmon and other fishery resources on the Central Valley floor were part of a resource base that enabled resident Native American groups to attain some of the highest population densities to occur among the non-agricultural native societies of North America. Indirect estimates of aboriginal harvests prior to Euro-American settlement of the region indicate that the native fishers may have exploited the Central Valley salmon resource on a level comparable to that later attained by the immigrant Euro-American fishers of the late ninteenth century commercial fishery. The salmon resource also figured, to varying degrees, in native interactions— from trade item to causa belli. Among the last intact native groups in California reliant on a salmon-based subsistence economy were the McCloud River Wintu—a people who were instrumental in the successful operation of the U.S. Fish Commission egg-collecting station on the lower McCloud River that supplied salmon eggs for shipments to U.S. Eastern states and overseas countries. Prior to 1850, mention of salmon was made perodically by Spanish chroniclers and by European and (U.S.) American observers who traveled through the region. Sustained harvests of salmon by Euro-Americans did not begin until the California Gold Rush period, starting in 1848. The commercial salmon fishery of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Delta region was one of the earliest major industries of California during the period of (U.S.) American settlement. The fishery frequently attained harvest levels of 4 to 10 million pounds (1.8 to 4.5 million kg) per year during the highly productive early decades of operation (1870s to 1900s), and it contributed substantially to the regional economy. Despite the general decline of Pacific salmon resources in California and the Pacific Northwest region since the early period of commercial exploitation, chinook salmon have continued to contribute significantly to the state and local economies in recent decades. Aside from its importance as a food commodity, other aspects of the value of the salmon resource (viz., biological, recreational, and aesthetic benefits) are being increasingly recognized. The chinook salmon resource of the California Central Valley — having provided material and amenity benefits to both native and immigrant peoples for so long in the past — may yet continue to fulfill the needs of humans in the future if we of the present make it so.