Tom Baylis & Dave Flogdell

"The following is a student created blog regarding the history of the Petaluma Watershed. This blog is part of a series from students at Casa Grande participating in the Watershed Classroom with educators Paula Biancalana and Jolene Thinnes."

In 1851, Tom Baylis and Dave Flogdell were in the first group of white men to settle in Petaluma. They were in a group of commercial hunters who established a camp on Petaluma Creek. They had an operation to hunt for ducks, antelope, deer, and elk. All of what they hunted was being sold at very high prices upstream to San Francisco. During this they had also built one of the first hotels in Petaluma named “Pioneer Hotel.” But was burned down and is to this day now the Water Street Bistro.

By Baltazar Rodriguez