<P> The Eel River (Cahto: Taanchow) is a major river, about 196 miles (315 km) long, of northwestern California . The river and its tributaries form the third largest watershed entirely in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles (9,540 km) in five counties . The river flows generally northward through the Coast Ranges west of the Sacramento Valley, emptying into the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Fortuna and just south of Humboldt Bay . The river provides groundwater recharge, recreation, and industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply . </P> <P> The Eel River system is among the most dynamic in California because of the region's unstable geology and the influence of major Pacific storms . The discharge is highly variable; average flows in January and February are over 100 times greater than in August and September . The river also carries the highest suspended sediment load of any river of its size in the United States, in part due to the frequent landslides in the region . However, the river basin also supports abundant forests--including some of the world's largest trees in Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal redwood) groves--and historically, one of California's major salmon and steelhead trout runs . </P> <P> The river basin was lightly populated by Native Americans before, and for decades after the European settlement of California . The region remained little traveled until 1850, when Josiah Gregg and his exploring party arrived in search of land for settlement . The river was named after they traded a frying pan to a group of Wiyot fishermen in exchange for a large number of Pacific lampreys, which the explorers thought were eels . Explorers' reports of the fertile and heavily timbered region attracted settlers to Humboldt Bay and the Eel River Valley . Starting in the late 19th century the Eel River supported a large salmon canning industry which began to decline by the 1920s due to overfishing . The Eel River basin has also been a significant source of timber since the days of early settlement and continues to support a major logging sector . The river valley was a major rail transport corridor (Northwestern Pacific Railroad) throughout the 20th century and also forms part of the route of Redwood Highway (US Highway 101). </P> <P> Since the early 20th century, the Eel River has been dammed in its headwaters to provide water, via interbasin transfer, to parts of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties . During the 1950s and 1960s, there was great interest in building much larger dams in the Eel River system, in order to provide water for the State Water Project . Although the damming would have relieved pressure on California's overburdened water systems, it stirred up decades of controversy, as some of the proposals made little economic sense and would have been detrimental to an ailing salmon run . The Eel was granted federal Wild and Scenic River status in 1981, formally making it off limits to new dams . Nevertheless, logging, grazing, road - building and other human activities continue to significantly affect the watershed's ecology . </P>

How did the eel river get its name
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