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San Francisquito Creek

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The Mission San Francisco de Asís ( Spanish : Misión San Francisco de Asís ), also known as Mission Dolores , is a historic Catholic church complex in San Francisco, California . Operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco , the complex was founded in the 18th century by Spanish Catholic missionaries. The mission contains two historic buildings:

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67-543: San Francisquito Creek (Spanish for "Little San Francisco"—the "little" referring to size of the settlement compared to Mission San Francisco de Asís ) is a creek that flows into southwest San Francisco Bay in California , United States. Historically it was called the Arroyo de San Francisco by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776. San Francisquito Creek courses through the towns of Portola Valley and Woodside , as well as

134-602: A cross near the giant creekside redwood they called " El Palo Alto ", to mark the site of a proposed mission (later changed to Mission Santa Clara ). The colonizing of the Peninsula began after the 1776 expedition of Juan Bautista De Anza left Monterey on the first overland expedition to San Francisco Bay, and passed across the creek on its way to establishing Mission Dolores and the Presidio of San Francisco in 1776. Although de Anza discovered Padre Palou's 1774 wooden cross,

201-585: A highly natural state. There is a steelhead trout specimen in the California Academy of Sciences that was collected by Edward Z. Hughes in the 1890s. The first President of Stanford University, David Starr Jordan , included a rendering of a "sea-run rainbow trout from San Francisquito Creek" in the Pacific Monthly in 1906. Bear Creek and Los Trancos Creek and their respective tributaries support an observable spawning steelhead population that

268-416: A mass at the chapel while it was still under construction. The Mission Dolores adobe church was finished in 1791. The new church had adobe walls that were four feet thick. The roof beams were redwood and the ceiling displayed traditional Ohlone designs painted in vegetable dyes. The mission complex at this time included a convent and facilities for agriculture and manufacturing. The early 19th century saw

335-478: A massively steep staircase. After leasing the lake for recreational use for 50 years, the Stanford Board of Trustees closed public access to Searsville Lake in 1977. The reservoir has lost over 90% of its original water storage capacity as roughly 1.5 × 10 cubic yards (1.1 × 10 m) of sediment has filled it in. Searsville Dam does not provide potable water, flood control, or hydropower. Although removal of

402-577: A member of the expedition, noted in his diary that, "The commander decided that we should stop in this valley while the explorers went out again to acquire certain information...They were given four days to be gone". When the scouts returned, the expedition leaders met and decided to turn around and return to Monterey Bay (the original goal), which they had passed but failed to recognize as the place described by earlier maritime explorers. In 1774 Father Francisco Palou , on Captain Rivera 's expedition, erected

469-711: A new fish screen and ladder as the previous fish ladder was an "Alaska Steep Pass" designed for much higher flows. The upper watershed is wholly protected within the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve just northwest of Page Mill Road and east of Skyline Boulevard. Spawning steelhead in Los Trancos Creek below the Felt Lake diversion dam vary from zero in drought years to several hundreds in wetter years and occurs from February to April. Steelhead spend two years in freshwater before heading to

536-492: A protective reasons. The siding was removed in a later renovation. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed the brick church and damaged the adobe building. To prevent the huge fire sparked by the earthquake from engulfing the two buildings, firefighters blew up the convent and School of Notre Dame building across the street. In 1913, the archdiocese began constructing the Mission Dolores Church to replace

603-632: A renovation in 1910. Part of the mural depicts the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The mural also contains the image of a rooster, a Christian symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. The Junípero Serra statue is located on the grounds of the Mission San Francisco complex. The cast stone sculpture was designed by the American artist Arthur Putnam and completed in 1909. It was cast between 1916 and 1917, and installed in 1918 when

670-623: A systematic study of 1,400 plus dams in California identified Searsville Dam as a high-priority candidate to improve environmental flows for native fish conservation. In 2015, Stanford University announced plans to eliminate the Searsville Dam as a fish passage barrier by either boring a hole through the base of the dam or allowing the Searsville Reservoir to continue filling with silt and re-route Corte Madera Creek around

737-402: Is Los Trancos Creek , which joins from the left (heading downstream) just north of I-280 . The creek runs for a length described by different authorities as from 13 to 22 kilometers (8.1 to 13.7 mi), most recently 12.5 miles (20.1 km), and after exiting the foothills near Junipero Serra Boulevard and Alpine Road, runs in an incised channel in a broad alluvial fan, before draining into

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804-678: Is a small tributary that enters from the east with origins in Palo Alto Foohills Park, including Boronda Reservoir. Felt Creek is another small ephemeral tributary which begins in the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve , then passes north under Arastradero Road where it was dammed to create Felt Lake. The Felt Lake Diversion ditch begins at the intersection of Arastradero and Alpine Roads and diverts high winter Los Trancos Creek flows to join Felt Creek before

871-525: Is actually a reservoir that lies west of Interstate 280 and bounded by Alpine Road and the Pearson Arastradero Preserve on Arastradero Road. Felt Lake was constructed in 1876 by gold miner and lumber dealer Job Johnston Felt, who bought 700 acres in northern Santa Clara County to farm. It was his dream to build two water companies, San Francisquito and Los Trancos. Felt built the original diversion from Los Trancos Creek to Felt Lake. By

938-621: Is inhibited by seasonal drying and passage impediments. The Jasper Ridge Road Crossing also presented a significant barrier to fish passage. Stanford has removed two of these barriers, the Lagunitas Diversion Dam was removed in 2018 and the Jasper Ridge Road Crossing, which is now a bridge instead of a weir. Stanford installed Los Trancos Creek Diversion Dam in 1929, to divert stream flows to its Felt Lake water storage reservoir. The dam, located just below

1005-683: Is located 1 ⁄ 3 mile (0.54 km) downstream of the mouth of Los Trancos Creek but stopped diverting water to fill the artificial lake when the San Francisquito Creek Pump Station ( 2 ⁄ 3 mile (1.1 km) further downstream) took over this task in 1998. A fish ladder was constructed on the Lake Lagunita Diversion Dam in 1954, however despite re-modification it remained impassable in low rainfall years. In 2014 Our Children's Earth Foundation sued Stanford for allegedly violating

1072-552: Is located upstream of the San Francisquito Creek mainstem (which is formed by the confluence of Bear Creek and Corte Madera Creek) and blocks its largest tributary, Corte Madera Creek. A May 2002 steelhead trout migration study reported Searsville Dam as a complete barrier to salmonid migration, and that elimination of the Searsville dam could restore ten miles (16 km) of anadromous steelhead habitat. In 2014

1139-468: Is threatened by the effects of urbanization. Above the watershed's several dams native resident rainbow trout, a form of landlocked steelhead trout, persist as well. Several lines of evidence support the historical presence of coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch ) in San Francisquito Creek. Archaeological remains of unspecified salmonids ("possibly coho") were reported by Gobalet in the creek. Leidy concluded that coho salmon were likely present and cited that

1206-474: The Franciscan Order . It became commonly known as Mission Dolores, after the nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores ( Our Lady of Sorrows Creek )" On October 9, 1776, the missionaries dedicated a small chapel in present-day San Francisco as the Mission San Francisco. According to some sources, the chapel stood near the present intersection of Camp and Albion Streets . Members of

1273-998: The Guadalupe River watershed in the 1930s and 1940s. He said that the Guadalupe River also had runs of chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) that were very large in wet years." Thirdly, Dennis L. Bark, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution , recalls playing on San Francisquito Creek around 1947: "Salmon swam up it, and in winter it was a dangerous place." The historical range of coho salmon overlapped geographically with San Francisquito Creek. Coho salmon were historically present in other San Francisco Bay streams south of San Francisco, as evidence by museum specimens from San Mateo Creek and photographic evidence of coho runs in Alameda Creek . The southern limit of coho salmon in coastal California streams

1340-586: The Los Trancos Open Space Preserve just northwest of Page Mill Road. Los Trancos Creek has several minor tributaries. Named tributaries are Bovet Creek, Buckeye Creek, and Felt Creek. Bovet Creek begins in Coal Mine Ridge Open Space Preserve of Portola Valley Ranch, and is named after the local prominent ranch owner, Antoine Francis Bovet, who died in 1973. Bovet Creek flows down along Valley Oaks Street in Buckeye Creek

1407-671: The Mexican American War ended in 1848, the Mission San Francisco and the rest of Alta California became part of the United States. With the end of Mexican authority, the rules governing the California missions became defunct. In 1848, the California Gold Rush brought a surge of population and commercial activity to the San Francisco area. In the 1850s, the city constructed two plank roads from

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1474-489: The Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 forced the missions in 1834 to start selling their vast commercial properties. In practical terms, this meant that each mission could own its church, its priests residence and small plots of land surrounding the church for gardens. The Mission San Francisco sold most of its property in 1836. By 1842, only eight Native Americans were still residing there. After

1541-544: The Mission Dolores mural painted in 1791 by Ohlone artists. The mural covers the entire rear wall of the building, behind the historic wooden altar. It measures 22 by 20 feet and includes two statuary niches. In 1796, the Franciscans installed a baroque-style relief sculpture called a reredos in front of the mural. In later years, the mural was covered up with wooden boarding. The mural was rediscovered during

1608-805: The Stanford Dish . It is open from sunrise to sunset and no bicycles or dogs are allowed. The Coal Mine Ridge of Portola Valley Ranch has many walking (closed to biking) trails. The headwaters of Los Trancos Creek are easily accessed from Page Mill Road in the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and include the Lost Creek Trail, the San Andreas Fault Trail,

1675-665: The Bay and field studies in the Stanford portion of Los Trancos Creek have found hundreds of young trout ranging from ~140 per mile to nearly 600 per mile. From 2016 through 2020, a pair of bald eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) has nested in a large eucalyptus tree near Felt Lake and the Pearson-Arastradero Preserve . Excellent hiking from the Piers Lane parking area on Alpine Road crosses over San Franciscquito Creek and Los Trancos Creek just above their confluence and proceeds to

1742-541: The Bay south of the Dumbarton Bridge and north of the Palo Alto Flood Basin. Its watershed is about 110 square kilometers (42 sq mi) in extent, including areas of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. In one stretch it forms the boundary between the city of Palo Alto and the cities of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park , and thus between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, reflecting

1809-489: The Endangered Species Act, saying the dams obstruct steelhead trout from swimming upstream to freshwater habitats necessary in the early stages of their life cycle. They also registered concern about the Jasper Ridge Road Crossing as another barrier to fish passage. The Jasper Ridge Road Crossing was a concrete weir (low dam) built along a dirt road that crosses San Francisquito Creek shortly downstream from

1876-906: The JPA are the city councils of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, the Santa Clara Valley Water District , and the San Mateo County Flood Control District . Mission San Francisco de As%C3%ADs Located in the Mission District , the mission complex was founded on October 9, 1776, by Frs Francisco Palóu and Pedro Benito Cambón. The Franciscan Order sent the two priests to the Spanish Province of Alta California to bring in Spanish settlers and evangelize

1943-509: The Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve there are isolated second-generation stands of coast redwood. Other common woody species along the creek banks include the yellow-flowering box elder, big-leaved maple, willows of several species, white alder, California bay and California hazelnut. In normal winters the creek runs sluggishly in a deep arroyo ; in summer it is usually dry. However, it is capable of flooding, and

2010-653: The San Francisquito Creek watershed. Several of these dams were constructed to divert stream flows to Stanford's reservoirs, the Lagunita Diversion Dam diverted flows to Lake Lagunita , Searsville Reservoir Dam which diverts minor flows for the Stanford Golf Course, and the Los Trancos Creek Diversion Dam which diverts water to Felt Reservoir. A genetics study of San Francisquito Creek steelhead in 1996 found that

2077-629: The Spanish "Las Trancas" ) is a creek that flows northerly from Monte Bello Ridge on the northeast slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains to its confluence with San Francisquito Creek at Stanford University in California , United States. The creek forms the boundary between northwestern Santa Clara County and southeastern San Mateo County . High winter flows in Los Trancos Creek are diverted by Stanford 's Lagunitas Diversion Dam just downstream from Rossotti's to Felt Lake . The lake

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2144-573: The Stanford Golf Course) in a small residential island of land belonging to Menlo Park within Stanford's lands. In 1929 Stanford installed a diversion dam on Los Trancos Creek to its Felt Lake water storage reservoir. The dam, located just below the intersection of Arastradero and Alpine Roads, blocked access of anadromous steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) to over 3 miles (4.8 km) of pristine upstream spawning grounds. In 2009, Stanford University completed construction of

2211-541: The cities of Menlo Park , Palo Alto , and East Palo Alto . The creek and its Los Trancos Creek tributary define the boundary between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The original inhabitants of the area were the Ohlone people , called by the Spaniards "Costanoans", or Coast-dwellers (from Spanish costeño meaning 'coast dweller'). These local residents lived off the land, gathering nuts, berries and fish from both

2278-528: The confluence of Bear Creek and Corte Madera Creek just below Searsville Lake in the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve on lands purchased by Stanford University in 1892. The lake is formed by Searsville Dam , which was built in 1892, one year after the founding of the university itself. The 65-foot-tall (20 m) and 275-foot-wide (84 m) Searsville Dam consists of a series of interlocking concrete boulders that resemble

2345-509: The confluence of Corte Madera and Bear Creeks. The Jasper Ridge Road Crossing blocked the passage of steelhead upstream and downstream during lower flow conditions that begin in the spring and prevent smolt outmigration in late spring, as well as immigration of spawning adults in dry winters. In 2015 Stanford denied that the court had ordered them to remove the Lagunitas Diversion Dam and maintained that it had been planning to remove that dam since its 2010 Habitat Conservation Plan and had initiated

2412-463: The creek eastwards away from the residential area. In addition, Stanford replaced the Jasper Ridge Road Crossing weir with a bridge, opening 6.6 miles (10.6 km) of unimpeded access to the Bear Creek mainstem, and its tributaries such as West Union Creek , to salmonid spawning runs. The one remaining complete barrier to salmonid spawning runs on Stanford lands is Searsville Dam. Searsville Dam

2479-478: The creek's summer flow was deemed too low to support a mission. The headwaters of the San Francisquito watershed are in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Menlo Park , around 667 meters (2,188 ft) above the Bay. The upper watershed consists of at least 22 named creeks. Including the upper reaches, the total watershed drains an area of 45 square miles (120 km). The creek mainstem originates at

2546-520: The dam would double available spawning habitat on this important steelhead trout stream, Stanford's Jasper Ridge Advisory Committee in 2007 recommended that the dam not be removed and the lake dredged to maintain open water. Stanford University uses water from the lake to irrigate its golf course and other athletic facilities on its campus. Anti-dam proponents point to a growing trend in habitat restoration nationally with over 500 dams removed in recent years. The first major tributary to San Francisquito Creek

2613-568: The dam. Partial barriers to salmonid spawning runs on the San Francisquito Creek mainstem include the USGS stream gage weir and the Stanford's San Francisquito Creek Pump Station two weirs, all located between Junipero Boulevard and Stowe Lane along Alpine Road. Other threatened species include two riparian fauna: the threatened California red-legged frog ( Rana draytonii ) and the western pond turtle ( Actinemys marmorata ). Recently, gray foxes ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) have been documented near

2680-655: The destroyed brick church. The architect Willis Polk restored the Adobe building in 1917. Construction of the new Mission Dolores Church experienced delays due to the American entry into World War I in 1917. It was finally completed in 1918. The church was remodeled in 1926, with the archdiocese adding churrigueresque ornamentation. These were inspired by exhibits at the 1915 Panama–California Exposition in San Diego, California. In 1952, Archbishop John J. Mitty announced that Pope Pius XII had elevated Mission Dolores to

2747-529: The downtown area to the Mission District. The area soon became a popular resort and entertainment center. The Franciscans sold or leased some of the remaining mission land to developers who built saloons and gambling halls. By 1857, the Franciscans had turned control of the Mission San Francisco to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. During the late 19th century, the archdiocese converted part of

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2814-676: The end of the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the newly independent Mexico took control of Alta California. Relations were strained between the new Mexican Government and the Franciscan overseers of the California missions. Supplies were scarce and over 5,000 Native Americans died from disease and other causes at the Mission San Francisco. The Mexican Government decided to free the Native Americans under mission guardianship and give them mission lands. New regulations under

2881-540: The engineering and hydrology work to prepare for removal. In December 2017 Stanford received a $ 1.2 million ecosystem and watershed restoration grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife which covered 30% of the costs of dam removal and riparian restoration. By late 2018 Stanford removed the 119-year-old Lagunita Diversion Dam and restored 480 feet (150 m) of the creek, improving fish passage with pools, shallows and native plants, and moved

2948-597: The fact that it was originally used as the boundary between the lands of the Spanish Missions at San Francisco and Santa Clara . The tree from which Palo Alto takes its name, El Palo Alto , stands on the banks of the creek. In 1857, the United States Coast Survey (USCS) identified 1,142 acres (462 ha) of tidal marsh at the mouth of the creek. There were also two large [63-and-118-acre (25 and 48 ha)] willow groves adjacent to

3015-461: The fish are native and not of hatchery stock. In 2006, an Aquatic Habitat Assessment and Limiting Factors Analysis commissioned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District concluded that the key factor limiting smolt production within the study area (San Francisquito Creek mainstem and Los Trancos Creek ) and potentially throughout the watershed, is a lack of suitable winter refuge in deep pools and large woody debris. Secondly, outgoing salmonid migration

3082-456: The greatest period of activity at Mission San Francisco: At its peak in 1810–1820, the average Indian population at Pueblo Dolores was about 1,100 people. In 1810 the Mission owned 11,000 sheep, 11,000 cows, and thousands of horses, goats, pigs, and mules. Its ranching and farming operations extended as far south as San Mateo and east to Alameda . Horses were corralled on Potrero Hill , and

3149-638: The indigenous Ohlone people . The Mission Dolores Basilica replaced a brick church built in 1876 that was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 . The site of the future Mission San Francisco was scouted by the Spanish missionary Pedro Font in March 1776 during a visit to the Bay Area by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza . The Spanish missionaries named the new mission San Francisco de Asís, in honor of Francis of Assisi , founder of

3216-482: The intersection of Arastradero and Alpine Roads, blocks access of upmigrating steelhead trout to over 3 miles (4.8 km) of pristine upstream spawning grounds. In 2009, Stanford University completed construction of a new fish screen and ladder as the previous fish ladder was an "Alaska Steep Pass" designed for much higher flows. Anadromous steelhead trout now access the upper Los Trancos Creek watershed above Rossotti's Alpine Inn Beer Garden. The Lagunita Diversion dam

3283-508: The latter enters Felt Lake. Below the reservoir, Felt Creek rejoins Los Trancos Creek just north of Interstate 280. Of interest, Felt Creek may have historically joined Los Trancos Creek just north of Arastradero Road on the 1876 Thompson & West map of Santa Clara County. The next watershed to the west is Corte Madera Creek , another tributary of San Francisquito Creek. The confluence of Los Trancos Creek with San Francisquito Creek occurs just below Piers Lane Road (between Interstate 280 and

3350-532: The local Ramaytush Ohlone tribe are recorded as entering the mission in 1785. They would later provide the labor to build the new mission church. The construction of adobe walls for the Mission Dolores church began in 1788, with the Ohlone laborers manufacturing 36,000 bricks. By 1790, the walls were completed, plastered, and whitewashed . The missionary Junípero Serra is recorded as having celebrated

3417-444: The mid-1880s, and facing opposition to his plans, the elderly Felt abandoned the water company idea and sold the farm to Timothy Paige, who quickly sold it to Leland Stanford Sr. in 1887. The university later added a larger dam to hold irrigation water for the growing campus.? Los Trancos Creek drains an area of about 7 square miles (18 km ) and consists of about 6.6 miles (10.6 km) of channel. Its headwaters are protected by

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3484-598: The milking sheds for the cows were located along Dolores Creek at what is today Mission High School. Twenty looms were kept in operation to process wool into cloth. The circumference of the Mission's holdings was said to have been about 125 miles. In 1817, the Franciscans established the Mission San Rafael Arcángel in San Rafael, California as an a sistencia to act as a hospital for the mission. It became an independent mission in 1822. With

3551-455: The mission was remodeled. Funding for the sculpture came from D.J. McQuarry and it cost $ 500 to cast. It is approximately 6 ft 6 in tall. The sculpture depicts Serra wearing a Franciscan friar's robe belted at the waist with a knotted rope and a rosary around his neck. The sculpture is on a concrete base. It is one of a series of allegorical figures commissioned by the estate of E. W. Scripps to depict California history. In 1993 it

3618-491: The most suitable habitat for coho salmon was in perennial, well shaded reaches of mainstem San Francisquito Creek, and several small, perennial tributaries including Los Trancos , Corte Madera , Bear , and West Union creeks. In addition, three independent oral history sources indicate that coho salmon were abundant in the creek through the first half of the twentieth century. According to local historian Dorothy Regnery's notes from her 1966 interview with Edgar H. Batchelder, who

3685-413: The most viable remaining anadromous steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus ) population in southern San Francisco Bay streams. Because the San Francisquito Creek mainstem (and its Los Trancos Creek tributary) forms the boundary of Santa Clara County and San Mateo County, the respective county water districts were unable to agree historically on paying to channelize and concretize the creek, leaving it in

3752-538: The mouth of San Francisquito Creek (see photo) and on the Palo Alto Golf Course. Populations of gray fox have increased in the South Bay since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has culled non-native red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) because the latter prey on the endangered California clapper rail ( Rallus longirostris obsoletus ). Genetically, gray fox are the most basal of all canids . The flora of

3819-566: The ocean and the bay. Because of the abundance of food there was no need for them to practice agriculture. Evidences of their civilization are still being unearthed on the Filoli estate in Woodside, and along San Francisquito Creek. In 1769, the Spanish exploration party led by Don Gaspar de Portolà camped by the creek for five nights, November 6–11, after their momentous discovery of San Francisco Bay . The Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí ,

3886-544: The old convent into a two-story wooden wing for use as a seminary and priests' residence. The rest of the convent building became the Mansion House, a tavern. By 1876, the archdiocese had razed the Mansion House, replacing it with a large Gothic Revival brick church to accommodate more congregants than the adobe church The archdiocese also covered the adobe church with clapboard siding for both cosmetic and

3953-465: The risk has become more severe as increased urbanisation along its course has increased the area of impermeable surfaces. In the 1998 El Niño storms, the creek burst its banks. The creek's levees were also damaged. The body responsible for the conservation and management of the Mid-Peninsula watersheds, of which the creek is one, is the Santa Clara Valley Water District . However, because of

4020-428: The significance of the creek in a densely populated area where environmental concerns and recent flooding are both salient in the public mind, a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) has been formed to address community concerns about the management of the creek. The JPA is currently undertaking or scoping various projects for the improvement of the creek, for example the stabilisation and revegetation of its banks. The members of

4087-538: The status of a minor Basilica . This was the first designation of a basilica west of the Mississippi and the fifth basilica named in the United States. Today, the church constructed in 1918 is referred to as the Mission Dolores Basilica while the 1791 adobe chapel is called the Mission Dolores. The mission complex also includes a historic cemetery. The Mission Dolores adobe chapel contains

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4154-590: The tidal marsh associated with high groundwater tables and seasonal flooding. In the late 1920s levees were constructed to re-route the creek through a new engineered channel from its former mouth, to a sharp north turn for about half a mile, then to the northeast, before exiting to the Bay. By 2004, filled areas such as the Palo Alto golf course and the Palo Alto Airport have reduced the tidal marsh to 352 acres (1.42 km). San Francisquito Creek hosts

4221-571: The upper watershed consists of scattered oak and madrone woodlands that are intermingled with grassland habitat, in some areas forming a savanna. A grove of upland coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) forest occurs along San Francisquito Creek just below Searsville Lake. Native tree species that occur in the riparian corridor include valley oak, coast live oak, willows and California buckeyes. Common native riparian shrubs include coffeeberry ( Rhamnus californicus ), ocean spray ( Holodiscus discolor ), and creeping snowberry ( Symphoricarpos mollis ). Within

4288-451: Was 2 years old when his father became caretaker of Searsville Dam in 1897, "When the dam was 'wasting', or overflowing in the winter, salmon would swim upstream as far as the base of the dam. Using a pitchfork Mr. Batchelder would spear them to supplement the family's menu." His "favorite place to fish for trout was in the Dennis Martin Creek ". A second source described catching "steelhead" and silver (coho) salmon in San Francisquito Creek and

4355-418: Was examined by the Smithsonian Institution 's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program. The program determined that the sculpture was well maintained. The Mission Dolores Basilica contains a stained glass window of Francis of Assisi, created by the German artist Franz Xaver Zettler at the time of the church's construction. Los Trancos Creek Los Trancos Creek (meaning "barriers" or "cattle guards" from

4422-486: Was recently confirmed to extend through Santa Cruz County based on both archaeological evidence and historically collected specimens. Recent physical evidence utilizing ancient DNA sequencing of salmonid remains proved that the southern limit of coastal Chinook salmon included the southernmost tributaries of South San Francisco Bay. Historically, several dams operated by Stanford presented impassable to nearly impassable barriers to trout, and possibly, salmon spawning runs in

4489-486: Was the most significant barrier to fish passage, because it was located on the mainstem San Francisquito Creek, blocking upstream salmonid migration to all San Francisquito Creek tributaries in lower rainfall years. It was located just north of the east end of Happy Hollow Lane near Alpine Road and near the Stanford Weekend Acres neighborhood in unincorporated Menlo Park. This dam was originally constructed in 1899–1900 to divert winter flows to fill Stanford's Lake Lagunita . It

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