It was primarily settled as a farming community at the confluence of two rivers to support nearby gold mines. Prior to that native Americans had a fair amount of canal works to provide irrigation to agriculture in the region. At the time it would have been seen as good fertile land, free from rocks and boulders that was beyond the frost line prime for agriculture if they brought fresh water from the nearby rivers.
It is also just one man. No parents, siblings, children, spouses like the Bushs or Clintons. No one is getting all uppity about politicians like Glitch McConnell having decades in the senate.