Rio Vista is a city in Solano County, California. The area around Rio Vista was first settled in 1844 by European settlers who wanted to farm the land. However, harsh winters and a lack of food supplies caused both European and Native American settlers to abandon their camps. They named the settlement “Hale-che-muck”, a Native American word which means “nothing to eat”. By 1857, a new settlement near Hale-che-muck had sprung up, named “Brazos del Rio” (Arms of the River), established by Colonel NH Davis. Salmon fishing had become the primary industry in the area, making a wharf necessary to ship the fish to other markets. A wharf was constructed but the captain of a steamer delivering mail refused to land at the wharf, citing that it was too small. Davis responded by petitioning the construction of a post office, which would force the steamer to stop there. The postal system refused, stating that there were other post offices with the same or a similar name; Davis suggested renaming the town “Vista del Rio”, which was later shortened to Rio Vista.