Editing French Camp, California (section)

==History==
French Camp was the southernmost regular camp site of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] southern fur brigades sent from [[Fort Vancouver]] (now [[Vancouver, Washington]]), established by [[Michel Laframboise]] in 1832. Its Spanish name was preserved in a land grant dated January 13, 1844 as [[Rancho Campo de los Franceses]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Trading beyond the mountains: the British fur trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843 |author=Richard Somerset Mackie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKXgJw6K088C&q=gudde+french+camp&pg=PA116 |access-date=2011-12-30 |page=116 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-0613-8 |year=1997 }}</ref> It is commemorated as California State Historic Landmark 668:
<blockquote>Here was the terminus of the Oregon-California trail used by the French-Canadian trappers employed by the Hudson's Bay Company from about 1832 to 1845. [[Michel Laframboise]], among others, met fur hunters here annually, where they camped with their families. In 1844 [[Charles Maria Weber]] and William Gulnac promoted the first white settlers' colony on "[[Rancho Campo de los Franceses|Rancho del Campo de Los Franceses]]" which included French Camp and the site of Stockton.</blockquote>
French Camp was also known as '''Castoria''', the Latin word for "beaver" being "castor", reflecting its central role in the [[California Fur Rush]].<ref>{{gnis|1658581|French Camp}}</ref>

French Camp was strategically sited at the southern end of the southernmost slough (which became known as French Camp Slough) of the [[Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta]], maximizing the use of the waterway for ease of transportation. A trail led off from the site to the southeast into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was subsequently used as an alternate route for the Mariposa Road, part of the [[Stockton-Los Angeles Road]], especially favored during the rainy season because of its exceptional drainage. The route was eventually paved and exists to this day as "French Camp Road".

During WWII, Japanese Americans that lived in French Camp were relocated to civilian assembly centers and relocation centers overseen by the [[War Relocation Authority]] (WRA) in accordance with [[Executive Order 9066]]. Japanese Americans from French Camp were sent to the Turlock Assembly Center at the [[Stanislaus County Fair]], [[Manzanar War Relocation Center]], and the [[Gila River War Relocation Center]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Student’s work helps honor Japanese-Americans interned during World War II | url = https://www.recordnet.com/article/20100321/a_news/3210313 | website = www.recordnet.com | access-date = February 20, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Yolo at war: Internment changed many lives | url = https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/local/world-war-ii-triggered-japanese-american-internment-changing-the-course-of-many-lives/ | website = www.davisenterprise.com | access-date = February 20, 2021}}</ref> Accounts of the relocation and life in the camps are detailed through letters from former students of the French Camp Grammar School.<ref>{{cite web | title = Claire B. Sprague Collection | url = https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/sprague/ | website = scholarlycommons.pacific.edu | access-date = February 14, 2021}}</ref>