Editing Del Norte County, California (section)

==History==
The area that is now known as Del Norte was (and still is) inhabited by the [[Yurok people|Yurok]] and [[Tolowa]] Nations of indigenous peoples. The first European American to explore this land was pioneer [[Jedediah Smith]] in the early-19th century. He was the first European American to reach the area overland on foot in a time before the European Americans knew anything about such a distant territory. For him it was literally "Land's End" — where the American continent ended at the Pacific Ocean. In 1855 Congress authorized the building of a lighthouse at "the battery point" (a high tide island on the coast of Crescent City) which is still functioning as a historical landmark.

Del Norte County was established in 1857, from part of the territory of [[Klamath County, California|Klamath County]] following the great [[California Gold Rush]]. Klamath County itself ceased to exist in 1874.