Tule River

The Yaudanchi, also called Nutaa, of the Yokuts peoples held Tule River in the foothills, especially the North and Middle Forks. The Tule River is named for a common bulrush or cattail known as "tule". The present Tule River was named Rio de San Pedro by Moraga's expedition in 1806. On Derby's map of 1850 it appears as Tule River or Rio San Pedro. ==Course==

North Fork The North Fork, long, begins at on the western side of Slate Mountain's peak. The "Painted Rock" is a cavern under a large boulder with a remarkable set of pictographs along the South Fork Tule River, at on the Tule Indian Reservation, just above the Pigeon Creek confluence. Pigeon Creek, Blue Creek, Rocky Creek, and Bond Creek all join the South Fork Tule River mainstem near Soda Springs, then the river winds west-southwest through a narrow canyon. It then bends northwest, receiving Long Branch Creek from the left and Crew Creek from the right. It then forms an arm of Lake Success, which is crossed by State Route 190. Mainstem From the confluence, the Tule River flows about south and west, still following State Route 190, to Lake Success. Before emptying into the lake, it is joined by Campbell Creek from the north, and Graham Creek from the east. The South Fork of the Tule River joins the river in Lake Success. The river then exits the Success Dam and flows west into Porterville, and winds west to the former bed of Tulare Lake. It passes the cities of Tipton and Corcoran, and splits into many channels, eventually disappearing into multiple agricultural irrigation and drainage channels. The river terminates about east-northeast of Kettleman City in Kings County at a junction with a canal carrying water from the Kings River. ==Ecology==

North American beaver (Castor canadensis) were returned to the river for the first time in over 100 years by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Tule River tribe in June, 2024. Kenneth McDarment, a Tule River Tribe member and past tribal councilman, led the effort with CDFW to return beaver for their potential to improve habitat conditions for endangered amphibians and birds that live in the area, including foothill and southern mountain yellow-legged frogs, western pond turtles, least Bell’s vireo and southwestern willow flycatchers. These initial releases were to two tributaries of the South Fork Tule River, Eagle Creek and Miner Creek. ==References==