Purisima Creek (San Mateo County)
Purisima Creek is an 8.0-mile-long (12.9 km)[1] stream in San Mateo County, California[2] which rises 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of Sierra Morena, a mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and flows westward to the Pacific Ocean 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south-southeast of Miramontes Point.[3] Much of its watershed has been incorporated in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.
History[]
The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition, passed through the area on its way north, camping near the creek on October 27, 1769.[4]
Tributaries[]
- Walker Gulch
- Whittemore Gulch
- Grabtown Gulch
- Soda Gulch
Ecology[]
The California Academy of Sciences has a tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) skull fragment unearthed one mile inland from the mouth of Purisima Creek in 1951.[5] Elk were thought to be extirpated from the entire state by 1873 when elk hunting was ultimately banned by the California Legislature, and current herds are descended from a small number of elk survivors discovered in southern San Joaquin County.[6]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 15, 2011
- ^ USGS, 09-20-07
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Purisima Creek
- ^ Bolton, Herbert E. (1927). Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774. HathiTrust Digital Library. pp. 222–223. Retrieved April 2014.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Cervus elaphus nannodes". Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ Tule Elk State Natural Reserve Brochure (PDF) (Report). California State Parks. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
Coordinates: 37°24′15″N 122°25′39″W / 37.404109°N 122.427475°W
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