Piru Creek - History

History

Thousands of years ago, Native Americans of the Chumash group lived in the area, but by 500 AD their former territory along Piru Creek had been occupied by the Tataviam. It is believed that there were once up to 25 Native American villages on the river, of which eight have been thoroughly studied. Spanish explorer Don Gaspar first traveled up the creek in 1769. In 1839, the government of Mexico which then held control over Alta California granted the 48,612-acre (19,673 ha) Rancho San Francisco to Antonio del Valle. The Rancho Camulos was created out of Rancho San Francisco land by Ygnacio del Valle in 1853, and included much of the Santa Clara River and Piru Creek Valleys.

In 1842, traces of gold were found on a tributary of the Santa Clara River, Placerita Creek, which joins the main stem about 10 miles (16 km) upstream of Piru. Bn the late 19th century, prospectors discovered traces of calcite on Piru Creek in Lockwood Valley near Frazier Mountain, north of present-day Pyramid Lake. A town called Lexington was platted near the site in 1887 but never actually materialized. Ironically, the real mineral of value in the region turned out to be borax, which was mined in the 1880s by the Frazier Borate Company.

The company town, Stauffer, was established on the Piru in time, and by 1905 had grown to such a size that a post office was set up in the town, which finally was abandoned in 1942 because of dwindling profits from borax mining. The Russell Borate Mining Company also acquired land in the region in 1907 between a pair of earlier excavations. By 1912, the Russell mine was the only one left in operation. Ultimately, all the mines were abandoned because of competitions from borax operations in Death Valley.