[4] The Russian River canyon has long been a transportation corridor between the agricultural Ukiah Valley and seaports around San Francisco Bay.

[5] Early wagon roads up the east side of the canyon were improved to form United States Highway 101.

Early travelers through the canyon noted the upper portion of Frog Woman Rock resembles the profile of a head and face, with imaginatively humanoid or frog-like features.

[citation needed] The European name Squaw Rock may have derived from the story of Lover's Leap cited in the History of Mendocino County, California, published in 1880.

The 6 December 1891 Sunday Morning Star newspaper published a legend written by Dr. J.C. Tucker from the recollections of an elderly native American woman.

This legend of Squaw Rock may have metamorphosed in retelling: A native American woman who died in the 1850s was said to have lived with a daughter, known as Pancha, fathered by one of the Russians stationed at Fort Ross.

When people observed rocks falling from the cliffs through the following years, some said Pancha's spirit was casting stones down at some passing person she thought to be Concho.

Her faithless lover, Chief Cachow, married another; all three were killed when Sotuka, holding a great stone, jumped from the precipice upon the sleeping pair below.

"[8] Archival research at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah revealed specific ethnographic information relevant to the California Landmark.

She is generally portrayed as the clever and powerful wife of Coyote, the principal trickster character in many Pomo stories.

In 1985, as part of her doctoral dissertation, research linguist Victoria Patterson conducted ethnographic interviews with Frances Jack, one of the last fluent speakers of the Central Pomo language.

The current usage of the term squaw equates with widely derogatory meanings, and therefore is offensive to modern Native Americans.

In addition, the term squaw is an eastern Algonquian word, unknown to the local Pomo speakers of the Hokan language stock.

Access usually requires wading through waist-deep water, and is generally limited to low-flow periods from summer until the first major autumn rainfall.