San Emigdio Creek
San Emigdio Creek, formerly Arroyo de San Emigdio (Spanish for Saint Emygdius Creek), is a 33 kilometres (21 mi)[2] northward-flowing stream in western Kern County, central California.
| San Emigdio Creek San Emidio Creek[1] | |
|---|---|
 San Emigdio Creek Canyon in the San Emigdio Mountains, looking north | |
| Etymology | Spanish |
| Native name | Arroyo de San Emigdio (Spanish) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Kern County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | source |
| • location | Mount Pinos (northeast slopes), San Emigdio Mountains |
| • coordinates | 34°49′42″N 119°06′03″W[1] |
| • elevation | 7,000 ft (2,100 m) |
| Mouth | mouth |
• location | 4 miles southwest of Lake View (Kern County), San Joaquin Valley |
• coordinates | 35°03′31″N 119°10′49″W[1] |
• elevation | 597 ft (182 m)[1] |
Geography
The San Emigdio Creek headwaters are on the northeast slope of Mount Pinos, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Tecuya Ridge in the San Emigdio Mountains. The creek flows north through San Emigdio Canyon to terminate 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Lakeview in the western San Joaquin Valley.
In years of heavy rainfall it would be a tributary to the Connecting Slough, the slough between Kern Lake and Buena Vista Lake which has been dry for decades due to agricultural diversion, pumping, and a lowering groundwater table.
Animals
At the San Emigdio Creek, many animals thrive. If you were to walk there, you would notice the butterflies, flies, birds, and squirrels. However, there is much more than what just meets the eye. There are hawks, eagles, bobcats, and last but not least, the herps. (Reptiles & Amphibians). There are the lizards of course, but don't forget about the snakes! There are Gopher Snakes, Western Rattlesnakes, Long-Nosed Snakes, Coast/California Night Snakes, California Kingsnakes are confirmed to be in the area. However, as shown on the map in this website: https://californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/coachwhips.id.html, coachwhips are likely to be in the area as well. As for the amphibians, Baja California Treefrogs, the highly invasive American Bullfrog, and the Western/California Toad. And, for any herp enthusiasts, (like me) there are rumors of the California Newt or Taricha Torosa. While there is no photographic evidence I could find, and while the range map in the link does not show Taricha to be in Kern County, the habitat that Taricha can be found in Tulare and Los Angeles counties is quite similar. So while unlikely, there could be newts wandering the rugged terrain of high San Emigdio Creek.
History
Arroyo San Emigdio was a stream whose canyon provided the route followed by the 18th-19th century El Camino Viejo, through the San Emigdio Mountains between the Cuddy Valley and San Joaquin Valley. Its mouth provided a watering place between Cuddy Valley in the south and Arroyo de Amargosa (Bitterwater Creek) to the northwest near Buena Vista Lake.
The place where the creek emerged from the foothills of the San Emigdio Mountains was the location of Mexican land grant Rancho San Emidio of Alta California, granted in 1842 to José Antonio Dominguez.[3] The location was a rancho and station of Mission Santa Barbara as early as 1824, and the 1842 land grant continued the rancho.[4][5]
References
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Emigdio Creek
- U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed September 7, 2011
- Mildred Brooke Hoover, Historic spots in California, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1990, p.123
- Frank Forrest Latta, José Jesús López (1976). Saga of Rancho El Tejón. Exeter, California: Bear State Books.
- Erwin Gustav Gudde (1969). 1000 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 71. ISBN 9780520014329. Retrieved 2014-09-07.