Some Chinese explorers visited as well during the early times of Chinatown San Francisco and the building of the railroad lines.

Ukiah is located within Rancho Yokaya, one of several Spanish colonial land grants in what their colonists called Alta California.

The first Anglo settler in the Ukiah area was John Parker, a vaquero who worked for pioneer cattleman James Black.

[15] Black had driven his stock up the Russian River valley and took over a block of grazing land at that locale.

A crude blockhouse was constructed for Parker so he could have shelter to protect the herd from the hostile indigenous local people, who resented the squatters on their land.

In 1865, Samuel Lowry built a log cabin approximately on the corner of today's East Perkins and North Main streets.

[8] By 1859, the population of Ukiah had grown to about 100 people, making it a community sufficient in size to serve as the county seat.

A short rail line from San Francisco terminated in Petaluma, nearly 80 miles (130 km) to the south.

Although the stagecoach portion was reduced to 30 miles (48 km), the community was still relatively isolated and slow to develop.

[8] It was not until 1889 that the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad completed its line from Cloverdale to Ukiah, linking the Mendocino County seat to the national rail network.

The beer flavoring agent was first grown there in 1868 when L.F. Long of Largo grew an initial experimental crop.

[17] Mendocino County remained the third-largest producer of hops in the state of California in 1890, with well over 900 acres (3.6 km2) under cultivation.

A refurbished hop kiln can be seen at the north end of Ukiah east of Highway 101, where many of the old fields were located.

Activists have worked to preserve areas of redwood forest, which became endangered due to overlogging.

[citation needed] Young people entered the area from the 1960s, seeking alternative lifestyles and, in some cases, artisan and rural living.

Due to frequent low humidity, summer temperatures normally drop into the fifties at night.

Some very large production wineries, including Brutocao, Fife, Parducci, Frey, and Bonterra, have become established here since the late 20th century.

Alex R. Thomas & Company owned hundreds of acres of Bartlett pear orchards on the east side of the Ukiah Valley.

For nearly 90 years, many local residents and migrant workers have been employed packing the pears for domestic and foreign consumption.

On December 1, 2008, the company announced it would be shutting down major operations at the end of the year due to bankruptcy.

[31] Several acres of orchard have been torn down and replaced with vineyards since the packing shed closed its doors.

[31] Institutions of the arts include: Ukiah uses a council–manager form of government in which policy is set by a five-member city council, elected at-large to four-year terms.

[39] The tribal headquarters of both the Pinoleville Pomo Nation and the Potter Valley Tribe are in Ukiah.