Maritime history
The Maritime history of California includes Native American dugouts, tule canoes, and sewn canoes (Tomols); early European explorers; Colonial Spanish and Mexican California maritime history; Russians and Aleut kayaks in the maritime fur trade. U.S. naval activity includes the Pacific Squadron and Mexican–American War. California Gold Rush shipping includes paddle steamers, clippers, sailing ships, passage via Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Cape Horn and the growth of the Port of San Francisco. Also included are sections on California naval installations, California shipbuilding, California shipwrecks, and California lighthouses.