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A Water History Teachers' Activity Guide
Name origin and history
- How did Steven's Creek get its name?
- Who is Anderson Reservoir named after?
- Which town is named for wildcats?
Find the answers to these questions and others below:
Reservoirs
Almaden (1935):
In 1845, Andres Castillero discovered a quicksilver deposit in the area
now known as the Almaden hills. Castillero was granted mineral rights
on Dec. 30. At first the mine was known as the Santa Clara or Chaboya's
mine. In 1848 the name "New Almaden" was adopted. Almaden
in Spanish means mine or mineral. The mine was named for the famous
mercury-producing mines in Spain. New Almaden was the largest mercury-producing
mine in the Americas. The villages of Spanishtown and Englishtown were
established in the hills. Today Spanishtown overlooks the Almaden Reservoir.
Almaden Dam and Reservoir is one of six original systems approved for
construction by voters in the May, 1934 bond election. Construction
of the dam systems began that same year. (Sanchez, p. 178)
Anderson (1950):
By 1948, when no progress had been made on the relocation of the Los
Gatos-Santa Cruz Highway despite the passage of a bond issue four months
earlier, water district authorities began to search for an alternative
reservoir site. The site chosen would later become Leroy Anderson Dam
and Reservoir, named after the key founder and first president of the
Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District. In 1950, a 500-acre
dairy and cattle ranch along Coyote Creek were purchased from the estate
belonging to John Cochran and his wife, Aphelia Farmington. Construction
of the lake and dam was funded by a $3 million bond act approved by
voters in 1949. Anderson Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in Santa
Clara County. (McArthur, pp.76-77)
Calero (1935):
Calera is the Spanish word for limekiln or limestone quarry. This word
(spelled as calera or calero) was repeatedly used in Spanish times for
place names. In 1935, the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District
obtained land for the proposed Calero Reservoir from the Newman Brothers.
They had operated a ranch since they purchased the land in 1905 from
the Bailey family, who owned 873 acres in what was then known as Calero
Valley and used it to raise stock, grow orchards and farm. Calero Dam
and Reservoir is one of six original systems approved for construction
by voters in the May 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems
began that same year. (Bentel, p.117)
Chesbro (1955):
Elmer J. Chesbro was the president of the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation
District at the time of the construction of Chesbro Dam and Reservoir
in 1955.
Coyote (1936):
Coyote is a western American adaptation of the Aztec name for prairie
wolf and is an extremely popular place name. Many geographic features
in California were named directly or indirectly after the animal. The
oldest name is probably Coyote River, mentioned by the Spanish explorer
Juan Bautista de Anza, as Arroyo del Coyote on March 31, 1776. Most
likely, he named the river Arroyo del Coyote after coyotes seen during
his journey. Coyote, or "coyoteing," also refers to a type
of mining in irregular shafts or burrows, comparable to the holes of
coyotes. The present site of Coyote Reservoir is located on the former
Rancho San Ysidro, a cattle ranch that belonged to Ygnacio Ortega in
the early 1800s. Coyote Dam and Reservoir is one of six original systems
approved for construction by voters in the May 1934 bond election. Construction
of the dam systems began that same year.. (Gudde, p. 82)
Guadalupe (1935):
The name is derived from the patron saint of Catholic Mexico, the Virgin
of Guadalupe, and was an extremely popular place name in early California.
The river was named by the de Anza expedition on March 30, 1776, Rio
de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, in honor of the Mexican saint, who was
also the principal patron saint of the de Anza expedition of 1775. Guadalupe
Dam and Reservoir is one of six original systems approved for construction
by voters in the May 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems
began that same year. (Gudde, p. 137 & Marinacci, pp. 85-86)
Lexington (1952):
In 1848, the first sawmill in Santa Clara County was erected in the
Santa Cruz mountains just south of Los Gatos. As roads were constructed,
John Pennell Henning of Lexington, Missouri, laid out a "city of
Lexington" in 1858. Lexington and its neighboring town, Alma, prospered
commercially. When the Lexington Dam was completed in 1953 thus impounding
the waters of Los Gatos Creek, the historic area of Lexington and Alma
was inundated with water. Lexington Dam was initially referred to as
"Windy Point Dam," due to the fact that the location of the
proposed dam was near an obscure spur known as Windy Point. It was said
that some might think "Windy Point" referred to the long and
bitter verbal battle that took place in Sacramento (i.e. legislation
to re-route the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz Highway and to build a dam and
reservoir). So on Aug. 1, 1947, the directors of the water district
decided to name the dam for Lexington, the small nearby community that
was sacrificed when the reservoir was built. The Lexington project overcame
every possible obstacle that attempted to block its completion. From
the passing of the bond issue on Oct. 7, 1947, to its final completion
in the fall of 1952, five years had passed. In 1996, Lexington Dam was
renamed James J. Lenihan Dam at Lexington Reservoir. (McArthur, pp.
69-76)
Stevens Creek (1935):
Stevens Creek was originally known as Arroyo de San Jose Cupertino.
On March 25, 1776, on the second de Anza expedition, Father Font wrote
in his diary the name that had been bestowed on the stream. The stream
now bears the name of an early settler, Captain Elishia Stephens, a
South Carolinian, who led the first successful passage of wagons over
the Sierra Nevada in 1844. He settled on the banks of the Arroyo de
San Joseph Cupertino in 1859, but by 1864 headed south to the Kern River
area, claiming there were too many people in the region for his liking.
Stevens Creek Dam and Reservoir is one of six original systems approved
for construction by voters in the May 1934 bond election. Construction
of the dam systems began that same year. (Hoover, p. 417)
Uvas (1957):
The Spanish name for grapes is preserved in a number of place names,
all apparently referring to the abundance of native wild grapes. Uvas
Creek got its name from the land grant, Canada de las Uvas (Grape ravine),
dated June 14, 1842. Uvas Dam, along with Chesbro Dam, were a part of
the South Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District. (Sanchez,
p. 163)
Vasona (1935):
The origin of the name "Vasona" has its roots in local folklore.
Frazier O. Reed Jr., great-grandson of the co-leader of the Donner Party,
said his maternal grandfather, Albert August Vollmer, was the man who
named the area before the turn of the century. Vollmer moved to the
Santa Clara Valley in 1887 and settled on a prune ranch. His oldest
daughter, Agnes, commuted from Los Gatos to San Jose every day by train.
Every morning Vollmer took Agnes to Los Gatos in his buggy and every
evening he picked her up. Since the train passed about a mile from his
ranch, he asked the Southern Pacific Railroad if a flag stop could be
established. The Southern Pacific agreed, telling Vollmer he could name
the stop because he had requested it. That stop became the "Vasona,"
named after a pony Vollmer had as a child. Vasona Lake Dam and Reservoir
is one of six original systems approved for construction by voters in
the May, 1934 bond election. Construction of the dam systems began that
same year. (Loomis)
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Creeks
Adobe Creek:
The Spanish-American term for sun-dried brick occurs frequently in California
place names, either because of the composition of the soil or because
of the presence of houses built of adobe. The name and the method of
making sun-dried bricks were introduced into Spain by the Arabs and
became common in the American Southwest, where soil and climate are
well suited to the adobe structure. (Gudde, p. 3)
Alamitos Creek:
Alamitos is the diminutive for the Spanish word for poplars or cottonwoods.
Since ancient times the Indians of the Santa Clara Valley visited the
hill of red earth, which contained cinnabar, a pigment used for adornment,
above the poplar-lined stream the Spaniards later called Arroyo de Los
Alamitos, the Little River of the Poplar Trees. As early as 1824, Antonio
Sun÷ol searched for silver and gold in the deposit. In 1845,
"liquid quicksilver" was found and the New Almaden mine was
developed. Through the years the mine has been worked intermittently.
The upper Alamitos Creek is choked with "tailing," from which
quicksilver is still taken. (Sanchez, p. 76 & Hoover, p. 411)
Berryessa Creek:
Berryessa Creek is named for an old family who came directly from Spain
and settled in the Santa Clara Valley on May 6, 1834. Nicolas Berreyessa
was grantee of the land grant Milpitas, through which the creek flows.
Jose Reyes Berreyessa received the land grant San Vicente, Aug. 1, 1842.
The family name is variously spelled. (Gudde, p. 29)
Calabazas Creek:
The Spanish word for pumpkins, squash or gourds was quite important
in the cultural history of the Southwest because the gourd was an essential
fruit for the Indians. They used it for food as well as for making drinking
vessels and other utensils. The word appears in several place names
in California and seems to have been especially popular south of San
Francisco Bay. (Sanchez, p. 79)
Campbell Creek:
The creek was named for William Campbell, an immigrant of 1846, who
established a sawmill here in 1848 and a stage station in 1852. The
stream was also known as Arroyo Quito, Big Moody Creek, and Saratoga
Creek. By decision of the Geographic Board (May 1954) the stream now
officially bears the name Saratoga Creek. (Gudde, p. 53)
Coyote Creek:
The name is a western American adaptation of the Aztec name for the
prairie wolf, coyote, and is an extremely popular place name. Many geographical
features in California were named directly or indirectly after the animal.
The pronunciation of the name varies, even in the same locality, between
ki-o-te and ki-ot. The oldest name is probably Santa Clara County's
Coyote River, which de Anza named Arroyo del Coyote, March 31, 1776.
It appears as Arollo de Collote on Joseph Moraga's 1781 map of San Jose.
(Gudde, p. 82)
Guadalupe River:
The name is derived from the patron saint of Catholic Mexico, the Virgin
of Guadalupe, and was an extremely popular place name in early California.
The river was named Rio de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe by the de Anza
expedition on March 30, 1776, in honor of the expedition's principal
patron saint. The name is frequently mentioned in documents. It appears
on Font's map of the Bay region (1777), and again on Eld's sketch of
1841, and on Duflot de Mofras's map of 1844. (Marinacci, pp. 85-86)
Llagas Creek:
On Nov. 25, 1774, Padre Palou named a place near this creek Las Llagas
de Nuestro Padre San Francisco (the wounds of Our Father Saint Francis).
De Anza refers to it as Las Llagas in 1776, and Josef Moraga calls the
creek Arroyo de las Llagas de Nuestro Padre San Francisco.(Sanchez,
p. 179)
Los Coches Creek:
Coches, the Mexican word for hogs, was repeatedly used for geographical
terms and was applied to a number of land grants and claims. Arroyo
de los Coches in Milpitas (or Arroyo del monte de los coches), however,
has no connection with the two grants in Santa Clara County. (Marinacci,
p. 124)
Los Gatos Creek:
Gatos is the Spanish word for cats or wildcats. The town of Los Gatos
preserved the name of the land grant, Rinconada de los Gatos (the corner
of the wildcats), which was dated May 21, 1840, and the creek took this
name as well. (Marinacci, p. 125)
Matadero Creek:
Matadero comes from the Spanish word for "slaughterhouse."
Matadero Creek was originally part of the Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito
land grant deeded in 1841 to Jose« Pen÷a. Clarke of San
Francisco purchased part of the land grant on June 8, 1859. Clarke had
a boat landing on Mayfield Slough and built a two-story house on Matadero
Creek.
Pacheco Creek:
The pass in Merced (shown on the Fremont-Preuss map of 1848) and the
creek in Santa Clara were named for Francisco and Juan Pacheco, rancho
owners who came to California in 1819. Land grants were given to Juan
in 1843 and to Francisco in 1833 and 1836. (Gudde, p. 248)
Pajaro River:
The river was named by the soldiers of the Portola expedition on Oct.
8, 1769. "We saw in this place a bird which the heathen had killed
and stuffed with straw; to some of our party it looked like a royal
eagle. ... For this reason the soldiers called the stream Rio del Pajaro,
and I added the name of La Senora Santa Ana." (Bolton, p. 210).
The name of the river is repeatedly recorded in mission and state papers,
and appears later in the title of several land grants. Beechey was apparently
unaware of the circumstance of the naming, as he states that the river
was, "appropriately named Rio de los Paxaros, from the number of
wild ducks which occasionally resort thither." (Gudde, p. 249)
Penitencia Creek:
This tributary of Coyote Creek was named Arroyo de la Penitencia (Creek
of Penitence) during mission times. The name was recorded in the early
1840s. Along the creek were gardens where pueblo residents grew corn,
peppers, and squashes. The creek was named Penitencia because according
to folklore, a house of penitence stood where the creek curves. Mission
priests visited the small adobe building to hear confession. It was
demolished about 1900. (Rambo, p. 108)
Permanente Creek:
Permanente is the Spanish word for permanent or constant. The creek
is shown as Arroyo Permanente on a design of Rancho San Antonio (1839).
Permanente Post Office, established in 1938, and Henry Kaiser's Permanente
Cement Company were named after the stream. "Permanente" is
often found on Spanish maps to designate a surface water which does
not dry up in summer. (Rambo, p. 108)
San Francisquito Creek:
Padre Francisco Palou camped on the bank of the creek near the site
of Palo Alto on Nov. 28, 1774, and selected the spot as a suitable place
for a mission to be dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. The stream
was mentioned as the Arroyo de San Francisco by de Anza in March, 1776.
However, when the San Francisco mission was established farther north
(now Mission Dolores) the creek became known (Gudde, pp. 303-304)as
Arroyo de San Francisquito.
San Tomas Aquino Creek:
In the 1850s the stream is shown on the plans of several land grants
as Arroyo de San Tomas Aquinas. It seems ironic that the great philosopher
of scholasticism in the 13th century should be honored by the name of
a small and intermittently flowing creek. (Rambo, p. 110)
Saratoga Creek:
(See the Saratoga entry under Towns and Cities.) Arroyo Quito came to
be known as Campbell's Creek. Campbell's Creek was renamed Saratoga
Creek in the early 1950s to avoid confusion with Los Gatos Creek, which
flows through the city of Campbell.
Stevens Creek:
Stevens Creek was originally known as Arroyo de San Jose Cupertino.
On March 25, 1776, on the second de Anza expedition, Father Font wrote
in his diary the name that had been bestowed on the stream. The stream
now bears the name of an early settler in the area, Captain Elishia
Stephens, a South Carolinian who led the first successful passage of
wagons over the Sierra Nevada in 1844. He settled on the banks of the
Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino in 1859, but by 1864 headed south to
the Kern River area, claiming there were too many people in the region
for his liking. Stephens was the original spelling of his name. (Rambo,
p. 111))
Upper Silver Creek:
The word "silver" is found in the names of more than 75 physical
features in California. A number of these were named for the occurrence
of silver ore. Most of them, however, especially many creeks and lakes,
were given the name because of their silvery appearance. (Gudde, p.
332)
Uvas-Carnadero Creek:
Uvas, the Spanish word for grapes, is preserved in a number of place
names, all apparently referring to the abundance of native wild grapes.
Uvas was the name given to the tract of land bordering Uvas Creek and
adjoining the rancho of Martin Murphy Sr. Today a road winds along the
edge of the stream where the colorful vines grow. These grapes were
descended from the vines that gave the rancho its name, Canada de las
Uvas (grape ravine) land grant, dated June 14, 1842 and deeded to Lorenzo
Pineda. The word carnadero, probably meaning "butchering place,"
is recorded as a creek in Santa Clara County as early as January 23,
1784. (Gudde, pp. 375-377)
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Towns and cities
Alviso:
Alviso is named for Ignacio Alviso (1772-1848),
who came to San Francisco from Mexico with the de Anza expedition in
1776. On Feb. 10, 1838, he received the grant, Rincon de los Esteros
(once called Embarcadero de Santa Clara de Asis), which was the landing
place for Santa Clara and San Jose settlers and a very important port.
Ignacio Alviso settled at the Embarcadero in 1840. The development of
quicksilver mines at New Almaden in 1845, and for many years after,
played a large role in Alviso's shipping industry. Then came the discovery
of gold at Coloma in 1848. The town of Alviso is locted in Santa Clara
County, eight miles northwest of San Jose. It was laid out in 1849 by
Chester S. Lyman for three well-known businessmen, Peter H. Burnett,
J.D. Hoppe and Charles B. Marvin. From 1850 to 1861, Alviso enjoyed
its greatest period of development. Alviso is also the heart of the
artesian well section, as well as the first place in the Santa Clara
Valley to be planted with pear orchards. The post office was first listed
in 1862. In 1865 the railroads began to divert trade from the embarcaderos
on the bay. Alviso, like many similar pioneer ports, became practically
deserted. (Sanchez, p. 178)
Campbell:
Benjamin Campbell founded the town of Campbell in 1885. He was the son
of William Campbell, the 1846 immigrant after whom the creek was named.
William Campbell saw potential for a lumber industry near what is now
Saratoga. He and his two sons built a water-powered sawmill on the banks
of "Arroyo Quito" (Saratoga Creek) in 1848. The area around
the mill was known as Campbell's Redwoods, and before long Arroyo Quito
was known as Campbell's Creek. (Rambo, p. 100 & Hoover, p. 414)
Cupertino:
Arroyo de San Jose Cupertino, named in honor of an Italian saint of
the 17th century, was mentioned by de Anza and Font when their expedition
camped at the creek, March 25, 1776. When Elishia Stephens settled there
in the late 1840s, the arroyo became known as Stevens Creek. Hoffmann's
1873 map of the bay region has "Stephen's or Cupertino Creek."
The Geological Survey in 1899 decided on Stevens Creek, but the old
name was preserved in the name of the post office, established in 1882.
After this post office was discontinued, residents signed a petition
in 1895 to transfer the name to the post office at West Side. (Rambo,
p. 101)
Gilroy:
John Gilroy, a Scotch sailor and the first permanent non-Spanish settler
in California, was left ashore in Monterey in 1814 by the Hudson Bay
vessel Isaac Todd because he was sick with scurvy. His real name was
Cameron, but he changed it to his mother's family name because he had
left home as a minor and was in danger of being sent back. He settled
in the Santa Clara Valley, where he married Maria Clara Ortega, the
grantee of part of the San Ysidro Land Grant. The settlement that developed
on the rancho became known as San Isidro, and later as Gilroy. Bowen's
"Post-Office Guide of 1851" lists Gilroy. After the arrival
of the railroad in 1869, the name Gilroy appears on the map for the
station, and Old Gilroy for the older settlement. The springs were discovered
in 1865 by a Mexican sheepherder while he was hunting for some of his
flock, and were named after the town years later. (Rambo, p. 103)
Los Altos:
The post office was established in 1908 and took the Spanish name for
"the heights," which the developer had chosen for the site
in 1907. (Rambo, p. 104)
Los Gatos:
The town of Los Gatos preserved the name of the land grant, Rinconada
de los Gatos (Corner of the Wildcats, May 21, 1840). The Santa Cruz
mountains are called Cuesta de los Gatos by Fremont (1848) and are so
designated on the German edition of Eddy's map. Eddy's original map
(1856), however, has the modern name Santa Cruz mountains. The town
was laid out in 1850 by J.A. Forbes. The post office is listed in 1867,
and the station was named when the railroad from San Jose reached the
town on June 1, 1878.(Sanchez, pp. 77-78 & Hoover, p. 415)
Milpitas:
The word is a diminutive of milpas, meaning cornfields, and apparently
is used to designate vegetable gardens. Milpa is of Aztec origin, from
the noun "mill," which means "land sown with seed,"
and preposition "pa," which means "in." The name
was preserved through the Milpitas grant, dated Sept. 28 and Oct. 2,
1835. Maximo Martinez testified in the U.S. District Court on Oct. 13,
1861, that the place was so called because his father "sowed, cultivated
and lived there, and after raising the crop, left for the pueblo (San
Jose)." The town was founded in the 1850s. Milpitas Village is
shown on a plat of the Rincon de los Esteros grant in 1858, and the
post office was established May 31, 1856. (Sanchez, p. 391)
Morgan Hill:
The settlement that developed on the Morgan Hill Ranch was named about
1892, for Morgan Hill, who had acquired the ranch when he married Diana
Murphy, daughter of Daniel Murphy, a wealthy landholder and stock raiser.
(Gudde, p. 224)
Mountain View:
The settlement that developed in the early 1850s around the stagecoach
station was named Mountain View because the Santa Cruz mountains, Mount
Diablo and Mount Hamilton could be seen from the place. In 1864 the
name also was given to the railroad station about one mile north and
to the new town which grew up there and eventually merged with the old
one. (Gudde, p. 227)
Palo Alto:
The word "palo" means stick, log, timber, or mast; however
it was used in Spanish California for "tree." Tradition connects
the origin of the name with the tall tree still standing near the railroad
station in the city of Palo Alto. However, since this redwood had a
twin, which fell in 1885 or 1886, it can hardly be the "palo alto"
described by the de Anza expedition, as is generally assumed by historians.
On Nov. 28, 1774, Palou records in his diary: "Near
the crossing there is a grove of very tall redwood trees, and a hundred
steps farther down another very large one of the same redwood, which
is visible more than a league before reaching the arroyo, and appears
from a distance like a tower."
Palou, from a distance, might have mistaken "twin
redwoods" for one large tree, but de Anza and Font in their diary
entries of March 30, 1776, leave no doubt that the palo alto was a single
tree.
Font's map of the bay region shows only a single tree.
Whether this tree was the redwood a mile downstream, carried away by
high water in March 1911, or whether it was another tree that has left
no trace, probably will remain unanswered.
In a geographical sense the name was used when the San
Francisquito rancho was sold in 1857 as "a certain tract of land
known as the Rancho of Palo Alto." This name was doubtless used
to avoid confusion with the two adjoining ranchos which included the
name San Francisquito in their full names. Various surveyors' plats
of these ranchos after 1858 clearly show that the name "Palo Alto"
was at that time associated with "Twin Redwoods."
Leland Stanford established his country estate in 1876
on the rancho. Gradually he acquired a total of 8,000 acres which he
called Palo Alto Farm. After the founding of Stanford University, Timothy
Hopkins laid out the present town in 1888, naming it University Park.
At the same time a real estate company developed a new subdivision adjoining
Mayfield and named it Palo Alto. Stanford brought an injunction against
the company for using "his" name. Through an amicable settlement,
Palo Alto became College Terrace, and University Park was rechristened
Palo Alto on Jan. 30, 1892. (Sanchez, pp. 172-173)
San Jose:
Of all saints' names, San Jose or Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin
Mary, is probably the most popular for place names in Spanish-speaking
countries. In California, from the beginnings of colonization, the name
has been intimately connected with geographical nomenclature. A village
was founded by Jose Joaquin Moraga on Nov. 29, 1777, under instructions
from Gov. Felipe de Neve, who named it Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe,
for Saint Joseph and for the river on which the town was situated. It
was the first Spanish pueblo in what is now the State of California;
thus the modern city has the distinction of being the oldest civic municipality
of the state. In 1849 San Jose became the State of California's first
capital when the legislature convened there on Dec. 15. (Sanchez, p.
168)
San Martin:
Irish native Martin Murphy and his large family came to California in
1844 and settled on the San Francisco de las Llagas grant, which was
later patented to James Murphy, one of Murphy's sons. A devout Roman
Catholic, Martin Murphy followed the Spanish custom and named his settlement
in honor of his patron saint. (Sanchez, p. 181)
Santa Clara:
The mission was founded by Padre Tomas de la Pena on Jan. 12, 1777,
and named Mission de Santa Clara de Asis, according to instructions
from Mexico. Saint Clare of Assisi was the co-founder of the Franciscan
Order of Poor Clares. Her feast day is Aug. 12. On the Plano Topografico
de la Mission de San Jose (drawn about 1824) the lower part of San Francisco
Bay is called Estero de Santa Clara. The highest peak of Montara Mountain
is designated as Mont Santa Clara on Dulfot De Mofras's Plan 16. On
Feb. 29, 1844, the name is used for a land grant, Potrero de Santa Clara.
The county, one of the original 27, was named on Feb. 18, 1850. The
name Santa Clara Valley seems to have come into general use in the 1850s
and is repeatedly found in the Pacific Railroad Reports. (Sanchez, p.
167)
Saratoga:
The town of Saratoga was founded in 1851 and called McCarthysville,
for the miller, Martin McCarthy. When the post office was established
in 1867, the town received its present name, chosen because the waters
of nearby Pacific Congress Spring resembled those of Congress Spring
at Saratoga, New York. The town was known by both names until the 1870s.
(Rambo, p. 110 & Hoover, p. 416)
Sunnyvale:
The Martin Murphy family history is a good example of an epic of the
western movement. Martin Murphy, native of Ireland, and his family came
to California in 1844 in the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada.
At a point on the Missouri River, the Murphy and Stephens (see Stevens
Creek) parties joined forces for mutual protection and aid. They settled
on the San Francisco de las Llagas grant. Mary Murphy, who gave birth
to the first child born to California immigrants from the United States,
is known as the Mother of California. She was pregnant on the wagon
journey over the Sierra and gave birth to her daughter, Elizabeth, only
three days after the party came out of the mountains. Martin Murphy
settled in Santa Clara County and established a farm in 1849. Murphy
was the model of industry, intelligence and piety for his children.
Over the years, the land was passed down to one of the Murphy sons,
Gen. Patrick Murphy. In 1898, Patrick Murphy sold 200 acres to a real
estate agent named W.E. Crossman. By this time, the area had several
different names: Murphy Station, Borregas, Encina and Encinal. Because
an area near Oakland had a name similar to Encinal, Crossman wanted
to avoid confusion and decided to rename the area. While looking across
the bright, clear valley Crossman said, "Let's call it Sunnyvale!"
In December 1912, the city of Sunnyvale, population 1,200, was incorporated.
(Rambo, p. 112)
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Other names
Capitancillos, Canada de los
As early as 1824 the Spanish settlers of the Santa Clara Valley knew
about the red hill (see Alamaden Reservoir) and its strange pigments.
There were several attempts to find silver or gold in their deposits.
In 1842, Gov. Alvarado gave the land grant Rancho Canada de los Capitancillos
(valley of the little captains), site of the New Almaden mine , to Justo
Larios, who was 34 at the time. (Capitancillo is the diminuitive of
capitan, captain or chief.) Three years later, interest rose when mineral
deposits were found. Larios was an artillery man and a soapmaker, and
was one of the unfortunate ranchers whose horses were appropriated by
Fremont's men. A part of his land (3,360 acres) was deeded to Charles
Fossat on Feb. 3, 1865. A smaller part containing 1,110 acres was patented
to the Guadalupe Mining Co. on Sept. 20, 1871. (Gudde, p. 56)
Hetch Hetchy:
The valley has been known by this name since the early 1860s. The Indian
words (Central Miwok) apparently mean either edible seeds or acorns.
The reservoir was constructed by the city of San Francisco from 1914
to 1923. (Sanchez, p. 330)
Mount Hamilton:
The Reverend Laurentine Hamilton joined a mountain surveying expedition
in 1861. He was the first to reach the summit. The altitude of the highest
peak in Santa Clara County is 4,209 feet. James Lick Observatory, constructed
in 1887, is on its peak. (Rambo, Pioneer Blue Book, p. 15)
Mount Umunhum:
The name is doubtless of Costanoan origin but the meaning is not known.
The peak is shown as Picacho de Umenhum and Umerhum on C.S. Lyman's
maps of the New Almaden Mine (1848). Hoffmann in his notes spells the
name Unuhum on Aug. 10, 1861, corrects it to Umunhum on Aug. 20, and
records the pronunciation Aug. 26 as oomoonoom. Since u'mun, umanu and
umuni are recorded as meaning "hummingbird" in southern Costanoan,
Beeler suggests that the name may mean "resting place of the hummingbird."
In Santa Clara Indian mythology, the hummingbird, the coyote and the
eagle are the creators of the world. (Gudde, p. 374)
Madrone:
The common designation for one of our most beautiful native trees (Arbutus
menziesii) is derived from its Spanish name, madrono, and is found in
numerous place names. Chiefly, the name is used in the mountains, foothills
and gravelly valleys of the coast ranges, which are the principal habitats
of the tree. Madrona is a common variant of the name. (Sanchez, p. 179)
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