Bitterwater Creek

Last updated
Bitterwater Creek
Relief map of California.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of Bitterwater Creek in California
Etymology Spanish
Native nameArroyo de Matarano (Spanish)
Location
Country United States
State California
Region San Luis Obispo County, Kern County
Physical characteristics
Source source
  coordinates 35°27′32″N120°00′48″W / 35.45889°N 120.01333°W / 35.45889; -120.01333 [1] [2] [3]
Source confluenceconfluence
  locationWalnut Creek and Yeguas Creek confluence., San Luis Obispo County
  coordinates 35°27′32″N120°00′48″W / 35.45889°N 120.01333°W / 35.45889; -120.01333
  elevation2,231 ft (680 m)
Mouth mouth
  location
Antelope Valley (Kern County), Kern County
  coordinates
35°38′30″N119°57′03″W / 35.64167°N 119.95083°W / 35.64167; -119.95083 Coordinates: 35°38′30″N119°57′03″W / 35.64167°N 119.95083°W / 35.64167; -119.95083 [1]
  elevation
735 ft (224 m) [1]
Basin features
Tributaries 
  leftCeder Canyon Creek

Bitterwater Creek, originally named Arroyo de Matarano ("Matarano Creek" in Spanish), [4] is a stream in eastern San Luis Obispo County and northwestern Kern County, central California.

Contents

Geography

The creek's source located at the confluence of Walnut Creek and Yeguas Creek in San Luis Obispo County, west of the Temblor Range and east of the Carrizo Plain in the San Andreas Fault rift zone. It flows northwest in the rift zone, then northeast through the Temblor Range and passing south of the Shale Hills, into Antelope Valley 4 miles southeast of Point of Rocks. [1]

History

Arroyo de Matarano was a water stop on the 19th century El Camino Viejo in Alta California, between the stops of Aguaje Del Diablo to the south and Las Tinajas de Los Indios to the north, and east of Point of Rocks. [4]

This stream was named for Juan Matarano, a well known mid 19th century Mexican Californio mesteñero or "mustang runner" of the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley region.

The Corral de Matarano was named after him, [5] and lay below the mouth of the Arroyo. It was in a sandstone formation that made a natural stone corral. Openings in the enclosure were blocked by man made low stone walls, and was used to corral horses, cattle and sheep. Water at the corral could usually only be found upstream 8 miles to the west at Ceder Canyon, a mile more distant than the water at Las Tinajas de Los Indios. [6]

The name Arroyo de Matarano was officially changed to Bitterwater Creek, for the taste of its waters, in March 1909 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Emigdio Creek</span> River in California, United States

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Media Aqua Creek, originally Aguaje de en Media, is a creek in northwestern Kern County and eastern San Luis Obispo County, central California.

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La Vereda del Monte was a backcountry route through remote regions of the Diablo Range, one of the California Coast Ranges. La Vereda del Monte was the upper part of La Vereda Caballo,, used by mesteñeros from the early 1840s to drive Alta California horses to Sonora for sale.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bitterwater Creek
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Walnut Creek
  3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Yeguas Creek
  4. 1 2 - Mildred Brooke Hoover, Mildred Brooke Hoover, Historic spots in California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1990, p.123
  5. Frank Forrest Latta, Joaquín Murrieta And His Horse Gangs, Bear State Books, Santa Cruz, 1980, pp. 84, 454
  6. Frank F. Latta, "EL CAMINO VIEJO á LOS ANGELES" - The Oldest Road of the San Joaquin Valley; Bear State Books, Exeter, 2006, p.10