Santa Clara County was created February 18, 1850 and is an original California county. Between 1850 and 1853, territory which at one time was located in Santa Clara was incorporated into Alameda County.

Santa Clara was originally inhabited by the Ohlone Indians, who survived by hunting, fishing and gathering. The foundation of their diet was acorns which were ground into cakes, or a stew which sometimes included fish from the bay, quail, rabbits or venison. This peaceful tribe respected the land that fed them with such little effort.^[1][2]

In 1542, Spanish explorers officially claimed alta (upper) California for the King of Spain. They called the Santa Clara Valley La Llanura de los Robles (The Plain of the Oaks). For almost 200 years, the Spanish left the Pacific Coast unattended. But in the late 1700s, when the fur and mine trade drew English, Dutch and Russian traders to the region, it attracted Spain's attention and desire to protect their terratory. Since Spain had trouble enticing settlers to the region, they decided instead to convert the natives and began establishing Missions along El Camino Real (The Royal Road) to help acomplish this task. ^[2][4][5]

Santa Clara valley's first mission and pueblo, Mission Santa Clara de Asis, was established January 12, 1777 along the banks of the river Spanish explorer's named Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). By 1820 the native population of the mission was 1357. In 1827, they had their maximum population of 1464 souls, and claimed to own 5024 livestock, 722 horses, and 12,060 sheep. The mission's old register of marriages records 3222 weddings from January 12, 1778 to August 15, 1863. From 1777 to 1874, the mission reported a total number of baptisms of 8536. Unfortunately, due to diseases also imported into the area, the priests of Santa Clara buried even more than that.^[2][6]

Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 and soon discovered it could not keep the missions running as Spain had done. In 1828 Governor Echeandía formulated a plan for the secularization of all the California missions. In 1834, Mexico divided the Valley into smaller civic pueblos, some were granted to Mexican citizens helpful during their war for independence, others were given to local settlers.^[1][9][10]

Read more about Early Mexican Land Grants in Land Titles in California.

The California Gold Rush, which started in January 1848, brought more American explorers to the Santa Clara valley. California was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, naming San Jose as it's first capital.^[11]

The Valley's fertile soil provided perfect conditions for agriculture. In the 1850s grain crops flourished, followed by orchards of prunes, apricots, peaches and pears. Acres of prized vineyards covered the Valley. It was during this time that local residents referred to the Santa Clara Valley as The Valley of Heart's Delight. Fruit processing developed into a major local industry and remained vital to the economy throughout the 1940's and 1950's.^[7]

Today Santa Clara Valley is known as Silicon Valley, and is the birthplace of the high technology revolution, with a population of nearly 1.7 million within it's 1,312 square miles.^[11]

Read more about early history and settlement in When San Jose Was Young.

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Sources:
^[1] Wikipedia, Ohlone Indians.
^[2] California Missions and Presidios. Randy Leffingwell. Voyageur Press; 2005.
^[3] Santa Clara County: Early History.
^[4] A Virtual Tour of California Missions.
^[5] California Highways: Trails and Roads: El Camino Real.
^[6] The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Franciscan Missions Of California. George Wharton James; 1913.
^[7] History of Santa Clara County.
^[8] Report On The Conditions And Needs Of The Mission Indians.
^[9] San Rafael Arcangel.
^[10] The Struggle Over Secularization of the Missions on the Alta California Frontier.
^[11] California State Library.
^[12] California Historical Society.
^[13] Santa Clara Co. Ranchos. Clyde Arbuckle. Cartography and Illustrations by Ralph Rambo. Rosicrucian Press; 1973.

Images:
^[1] Dance of Indians at Mission in San Jose, New California between 1803 and 1807 courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley BANC PIC 1963.002:1023--FR, obtained from History San Jose.
^[2] Mission Santa Clara, ca. 1854, courtesy Santa Clara University Archives, obtained from Silicon Valley History Online.
^[3] Map of Santa Clara County Ranchos, by Ralph Rambo, 1968, obtained from History San Jose.