Editing Eureka, California (section)

===Gold Rush era===

After the primary [[California Gold Rush]] in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierras]], Humboldt Bay was settled with the intent of providing a convenient alternative to the long overland route from [[Sacramento]] to supply miners on the [[Trinity River (California)|Trinity]], [[Klamath River|Klamath]] and [[Salmon River (California)|Salmon]] Rivers where gold had been discovered. Though the ideal location on Humboldt Bay adjacent to naturally deeper shipping channels ultimately guaranteed Eureka's development as the primary city on the bay, [[Arcata, California|Arcata]]'s proximity to developing supply lines to inland gold mines ensured supremacy over Eureka through 1856.<ref name="EkaArch"/>

[[Eureka (word)|"Eureka"]] received its name from a [[Greek language|Greek]] word meaning "I have found it!"<ref name="Gudde">{{cite book  | last =Gudde  | first =Erwin Gustav |author2=William Bright  | title =California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names  | publisher =University of California Press  | date = April 1, 2004 | page =467  | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Kqwt5RlMVBoC| id =  0-520-01574-6|isbn=978-0-520-24217-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ| title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n121 122]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33PuGq_a8rEC&q=eureka,+california|title=Eureka and Humboldt County, California|last1=Service|first1=Pamela F.|last2=Hillman|first2=Raymond W.|date=2001|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738518725|location=Great Britain|page=7|language=en}}</ref> This exuberant statement of successful (or hopeful) gold rush miners is also the official [[motto]] of the State of California. Eureka is the only U.S. location to use the same seal as the state for its seal.<ref name="NSGW66">[http://nsgw66.org/calseal.html Seal of California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615075636/http://nsgw66.org/calseal.html |date=June 15, 2013 }}, Native Sons of the Golden West, Redwood Parlor No. 66. Retrieved February 14, 2013</ref>