Bitterwater Creek

Bitterwater Creek, (Arroyo de Matarano [1])
stream
Name origin: Spanish
Country United States
State California
Region San Luis Obispo County, Kern County
Tributaries
 - left Ceder Canyon Creek
Source source
 - coordinates 35°27′32″N 120°00′48″W / 35.45889°N 120.01333°W / 35.45889; -120.01333 [2][3][4]
Source confluence confluence
 - location at the junction of Walnut Creek and Yeguas Creek., San Luis Obispo County
 - elevation 2,231 ft (680 m)
 - coordinates 35°27′32″N 120°00′48″W / 35.45889°N 120.01333°W / 35.45889; -120.01333
Mouth mouth
 - location flows into Antelope Valley 4 miles southeast of Point of Rocks., Kern County
 - elevation 735 ft (224 m) [2]
 - coordinates 35°38′30″N 119°57′03″W / 35.64167°N 119.95083°W / 35.64167; -119.95083Coordinates: 35°38′30″N 119°57′03″W / 35.64167°N 119.95083°W / 35.64167; -119.95083 [2]

Bitterwater Creek, formerly Arroyo de Matarano (Matarano Creek), is a stream with its source located at the junction of Walnut Creek and Yeguas Creek in San Luis Obispo County, west of the Temblor Range and east of the Carrizzo Plain in the San Andreas Rift Zone. It flows northwest in the Rift Zone then northeast through the Temblor Range, passing south of the Shale Hills, into Antelope Valley 4 miles southeast of Point of Rocks.[2]

History

Arroyo de Matarano was a place on El Camino Viejo between Aguaje Del Diablo to the south and Las Tinajas de Los Indios to the north, east of Point of Rocks.[1] This stream was named for Juan Matarano, a well known mid 19th century mesteñero or "mustang runner" of the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley region. The Corral de Matarano named for him,[5] 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 here could usually only be found up stream eight miles to the west, at Ceder Canyon, a mile more distant than the water at Las Tinajas de Los Indios.[6] Later the name of the Creek was officially made Bitterwater Creek for the taste of its waters, in March 1909 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 - Mildred Brooke Hoover, Mildred Brooke Hoover, Historic spots in California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1990, p.123
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bitterwater Creek
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Walnut Creek
  4. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Yeguas Creek
  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
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