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The
river was discovered and named Río de los Santos Reyes
(river of the Holy Kings) by a party of Spanish explorers
in 1805, according to Padre Munoz’s diary
of the Moraga expedition of 1806. The first party probably
reached the river on January 6, the festival of the three
Magi; hence the name. Padre Cabot used the name Río
de Reyes in 1814 a form, which appears on Estudillo’s
map of 1819 and on later maps. Jedediah Smith in 1827, ignorant
of the Spanish name, called it the Wim-mel-che, for the Indians
living on the river. Fremont reached the river on April 8,
1844, at a time
of the year when most of the flood flow passes southward to
Tulare Lake. Hence he called it “River of the Lake”.
After he learned of the Spanish name, he spoke of “Río
Reyes of Tulare Lake” Prcuss labeled the stream on both
of his maps “Lake Fork”,
a name also used by Fremont. Derby’s map and Williamson’s
report have the translation King’s River, but the statutes
of 1852 as well as Bibbes’, Blake’s and Eddy’s
maps have the modern version.
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