n.
City (pop., 2000: 151,060), western California, U.S. Located in the Salinas valley east of Monterey, it was a crossroads on El Camino Real, the old Spanish trail between San Diego and San Francisco .
It was settled in 1856 and became a cattle centre. The arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868 stimulated agricultural development. Salinas was the birthplace of John Steinbeck , who often referred to it in his books, especially in East of Eden .