Purisima Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 25, 2011 eastward-flowing

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

originating in

Los Altos Hills Los Altos Hills (; ''Los Altos'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Heights") is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 8,4 ...

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, United States. It is a tributary of Adobe Creek which it joins just after entering Los Altos.

History

Purisima Creek runs through the historic

Rancho La Purísima Concepción Rancho La Purísima Concepción was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Gorgonio and his son José Ramon, Ohlone Indians. The granted extended from Matadero Cree ...

land grant, which was granted by Governor Alvarado in 1840 to Jose Gorgonio, an Indian living at

Mission Santa Clara de Asís Mission Santa Clara de Asís ( es, Misión Santa Clara de Asís) is a Spanish mission in the city of Santa Clara, California. The mission, which was the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777, by the Franciscan order. Named for ...

. In 1844 Gorgonio sold the one square league Rancho La Purísima Concepción to

Juana Briones de Miranda Juana Briones de Miranda (c. 1802 – 1889) was a Californio ranchera, medical practitioner, and merchant, often remembered as the "Founding Mother of San Francisco", for her noted involvement in the early development of the city of San Francisc ...

(1804–1889), the daughter of Marcos Briones, who accompanied

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...

in 1769. Gudde's "California Place Names" incorrectly asserted that there was no namesake for the land grant in Santa Clara County. Juana Briones sold about three quarters of her rancho in 1861 to Martin Murphy Jr. (1807–1884) of

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north ...

, who had come to California with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844. One of the founders of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–6 ...

, lived on the upper watershed of Purisima Creek on a property with a large

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

orchard. The orchard is now preserved by the town and the Packard Foundation.

Watershed and course

Purisima Creek by Packard Pathway at Elena Rd

Purisima Creek consists of two minor forks (a north and west fork) which embrace the apricot orchards now owned by the

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death ...

. The creek's source is at the top of the west fork between Dezahara Way and Altamont Road. The "Packard Pathway" is a public walking and riding path that descends the north fork from its origin below the Packards' Taafe House on Taafe Road. At the base of the property the two forks come together to form the creek mainstem which levels out as it passes through the remains of an old walnut grove, then crosses Elena Road, flowing along Josefa Lane and the northwestern edge of

Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree pr ...

to where it passes under

I-280 Interstate 280 may refer to multiple highways, all of which are or were related to Interstate 80: * Interstate 280 (California), a north–south freeway running from San Jose to San Francisco * Interstate 280 (Iowa–Illinois), part of the beltway ...

, then along O'Keefe Lane and the O'Keefe Open Space Preserve to its confluence with Adobe Creek just inside Los Altos.

Habitat and wildlife

Rosa Californica on Purisima Creek above Elena Road 2011-06-19

There O'Keefe Open Space Preserve protects the riparian habitat along an section of the creek below I-280. It is an nature preserve. This section of the creek has been invaded by non-native species that compete with the native vegetation for its water, including Canary Island palm (''Phoenix canariensis''),

common fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

(''Ficus carica''),

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

(''Prunus''), blue gum eucalyptus (''Eucalyptus globulus''), European olive (''Olea europaea'') and

Siberian elm ''Ulmus pumila'', the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes miscalled the 'Chinese Elm' (''Ulmus parvifolia''). ''U. pumila'' has been widely cultivated throughout Asia, Nor ...

(''Ulmus pumila'').

References

{{reflist

External links

Adobe Creek Watershed maps page at Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks
Rivers of Santa Clara County, California Los Altos, California Santa Cruz Mountains Tributaries of Adobe Creek (Santa Clara County) Rivers of Northern California

History

Watershed and course

Habitat and wildlife

See also

References

External links