Mariposa Creek

Mariposa Creek
Mariposa River^[1]
Mariposa Creek; Mariposa River
	Mariposa Creek in the town of Mariposa
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Merced County
Cities	Mariposa, Le Grand
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Western Sierra Nevada foothills
• coordinates	37°32′10″N 120°00′40″W / 37.53611°N 120.01111°W
• elevation	3,092 ft (942 m)
Mouth
• location	Duck Slough
• coordinates	37°14′55″N 120°18′34″W / 37.24861°N 120.30944°WCoordinates: 37°14′55″N 120°18′34″W / 37.24861°N 120.30944°W
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Stockton Creek, , Brushy Canyon Creek, Ganns Creek
• right	Agua Fria Creek, , Bull Run Creek

Mariposa Creek, originally called the Mariposa River,^[1] is a creek that has its source in Mariposa County, California. It flows through the town of Mariposa then southwest through the Sierra foothills, into and across the San Joaquin Valley in Merced County, and empties the sloughs of the San Joaquin River south of the city of Merced.

History[]

Gabriel Moraga named the Mariposa Creek in 1806. The name was later expanded to the City of Mariposa and Mariposa County.

Mariposa Creek was named by the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga on September 27, 1806, when his expedition discovered a great cluster of butterflies ("mariposas" in Spanish and Portuguese):

"We named this place Mariposas [butterflies] because these abounded, especially at night and during the morning. These butterflies became quite a nuisance. Their eagerness to escape the sun's rays was so pronounced that they pursued us closely everywhere and one of them got inside the ear of one of the privates, causing him great discomfort and us much trouble in extracting it."^[3]^[4]

Each year on the first weekend in May, Mariposa residents mark the annual arrival of migrating monarch butterflies with a "Butterfly Days" festival and parade.

During the California Gold Rush, the Mariposa River was a rich gold-bearing creek and the site of several mining camps, including Logtown, Mariposa and Mariposita.

Watershed[]

Mariposa County contains three major drainage basins: the Merced River, Chowchilla River/Fresno River, and a localized cluster of streams of the east valley known as the Lower Mariposa group of streams. These three basins and their component watersheds are part of the much larger San Joaquin River system that drains the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. At the lower end of the watershed, Mariposa Creek is dammed by the Mariposa Creek Dam (88 feet (27 m) high). The Mariposa Public Utilities District (MPUD) operates the Stockton Creek Dam (95 feet (29 m) tall) on Stockton Creek, a tributary of Mariposa Creek.^[5]

Mariposa Creek Parkway[]

Mariposa County maintains a park along the creek in downtown Mariposa. It features an Art Park with an amphitheatre, and a demonstration garden of California native plants sponsored by the local chapter of the Master Gardeners.

Images[]

Mariposa Creek Parkway
Mariposa Creek Parkway, Demonstration Garden
Mariposa Creek Parkway, combined stone art and map

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez (1914). Spanish and Indian Place Names of California: Their Meaning and Their Romance. California: A. M. Robertson. p. 291. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Mariposa Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
^ Fray Pedro Muñoz, Robert Glass Cleland and Haydée Noya (May 1946). "The Gabriel Moraga Expedition of 1806: The Diary of Fray Pedro Muñoz". Huntington Library Quarterly. University of Pennsylvania Press. 9 (3): 223–248. doi:10.2307/3816007. JSTOR 3816007.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
^ Phil Townsend Hanna (1946). The Dictionary of California Land Names. Los Angeles: The Automobile Club of Southern California. p. 167.
^ County of Mariposa General Plan – Volume III. Technical Background Report (Report). Retrieved May 31, 2016.

[Sanchez1914-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez (1914). Spanish and Indian Place Names of California: Their Meaning and Their Romance. California: A. M. Robertson. p. 291. Retrieved May 31, 2016.

[gnis-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c "Mariposa Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.

[3] Fray Pedro Muñoz, Robert Glass Cleland and Haydée Noya (May 1946). "The Gabriel Moraga Expedition of 1806: The Diary of Fray Pedro Muñoz". Huntington Library Quarterly. University of Pennsylvania Press. 9 (3): 223–248. doi:10.2307/3816007. JSTOR 3816007.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

[4] Phil Townsend Hanna (1946). The Dictionary of California Land Names. Los Angeles: The Automobile Club of Southern California. p. 167.

[5] County of Mariposa General Plan – Volume III. Technical Background Report (Report). Retrieved May 31, 2016.

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hide v t Rivers of California's Central Valley watershed (north-to-south)
Sacramento River watershed	Pit River McCloud River Cow Creek Cottonwood Creek Battle Creek Mill Creek Deer Creek Thomes Creek Big Chico Creek Stony Creek Butte Creek Feather River North Fork East Branch West Branch Middle Fork South Fork Yuba River Bear River American River North Fork Middle Fork South Fork Cache Creek Putah Creek
San Joaquin River watershed	Mokelumne River Cosumnes River Calaveras River Stanislaus River Tuolumne River Clavey River Cherry Creek Merced River Mariposa Creek Chowchilla River Fresno River
Tulare Basin	Kings River Kaweah River Tule River White River Poso Creek Kern River