Los Osos Valley

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Flower fields in Los Osos Valley Flower fields on Los Osos Valley road.jpg
Flower fields in Los Osos Valley

The Los Osos Valley is a valley within San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast of California region. [1]

Contents

Geography

Los Osos Valley lies between southern San Luis Obispo and Baywood-Los Osos. The town of Los Osos is in the valley.

The Irish Hills are along the south side, and five of the Nine Sisters volcanic mountains are along the north.

Los Osos Creek flows through the valley to its mouth on southern Morro Bay.

History

A prehistoric human habitation site was found at Los Osos Back Bay in the Los Osos Valley, of ancient Chumash tribe. [2]

The Portolá expedition passed through the valley in 1769, as recorded by padre Juan Crespí. The valley became part of the lands of the Mission San Luis Obispo in 1772.

Victor Linares was granted mission lands in the valley that became the Rancho Cañada de los Osos on December 1, 1842, by Governor Juan B. Alvarado. The rancho lay west of San Luis Obispo to Morro Bay in the Los Osos Valley, between the Irish Hills to the south and the Nine Sisters to the north. [3] :Appx,31 [4] :655–656,714 In 1844, Victor Linares sold his rancho to James Scott and John Wilson who also bought the adjacent Rancho Pecho y Islay a strip of Pacific coastal terrace and the Irish Hills bordering the terrace from Pecho Creek to the east and Islay Creek to the north. Scott and Wilson added it to their Los Osos rancho and combined them in a new 32,431 acre grant, Rancho Cañada de los Osos y Pecho y Islay from Governor Pio Pico in 1845. [3] :Appx,31

Parks

The Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve preserves centuries-old Coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) growing atop relict sand dunes in the valley, just outside Los Osos. [5]

The Elfin Forest Natural Area is on the south side of Los Osos Creek's mouth on Morro Bay.

A bear population is centered in the Los Padres National Forest some 10 miles (16 km) away with bears occasionally wandering into the valley. [6]

See also

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Rancho San Bernardo was a 4,379-acre (17.72 km2) Mexican land grant, in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California, given in 1840 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Vicente Canet.

Rancho El Chorro was a 3,167-acre (12.82 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to business partners James (Diego) Scott and John (Juan) Wilson. The grant between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo extended along the north bank of Chorro Creek.

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Rancho San Luisito was a 4,389-acre (17.76 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José de Guadalupe Cantúa. The grant between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, extended along San Luisito Creek and Chorro Creek and encompassed Hollister Peak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Cañada de los Osos y Pecho y Islay</span> Historic Mexican land grant in present-day California, United States

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Víctor Pantaleón Linares (1807-1853), Californio, soldier, ranchero, majordomo of Mission San Luis Obispo, vecino and Juez of San Luis Obispo. Grandson of some of the earliest Spanish settlers of California, his second son Pio Linares was an infamous leader,, of a bandit gang in San Luis Obispo County in the 1850s.

Rancho Pecho y Islay was an 8,856.8-acre (35.842 km2) Mexican land grant in the Irish Hills, Montaña de Oro State Park and Diablo Canyon Power Plant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California.

Rancho Cañada de los Osos was a 23,574.2-acre (95.401 km2) Mexican land grant in Los Osos Valley in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Laguna (Alemany)</span> Land grant in California

Rancho Laguna part of the grazing lands granted to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1844, surrounding Laguna Lake at the head of the Los Osos Valley in the city of San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County, California. With Rancho Cañada de los Pinos Rancho Laguna was one of the two ranchos returned to the Catholic Church. It was returned in 1859, after its confiscation in 1845.

Pecho Creek, originally known as Arroyo Del Pecho or Cañada del Pecho, is a stream in San Luis Obispo County, California.

References

  1. California, 2008
  2. C. Michael Hogan (2008) Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008)
  3. 1 2 Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco.
  4. Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of California Vol. 4 (1840-1845), A. L. Bancroft & Company, San Francisco, 1886
  5. California State Parks: Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Wilson, Nick (October 23, 2020). "Black bear spotted swimming, napping in Los Osos neighborhood". The Tribune.

35°15′00″N120°41′00″W / 35.2500°N 120.6833°W / 35.2500; -120.6833