Petaluma

Petaluma, city, Sonoma county, western California, U.S. It lies at the head of navigation on the Petaluma River, 39 miles (63 km) north of San Francisco. The area was once part of Rancho Petaluma, granted to Mexican General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1834. Founded in 1852, the city (like the rancho) derived its name from the Miwok Indian words pe’ta: “flat” and lu’ma: “back.” Following the California Gold Rush (1849), the city became an important...