Pine Gulch Creek

Pine Gulch Creek
stream
Country United States
State California
Region Marin County
District West Marin
Tributaries
 - right Copper Mine Gulch, McCormick Creek
City Bolinas, California
Source
 - coordinates 37°58′46″N 122°45′41″W / 37.97944°N 122.76139°W / 37.97944; -122.76139 [1]
Mouth Bolinas Lagoon
 - location Bolinas, California
 - elevation 0 ft (0 m)
 - coordinates 37°55′19″N 122°41′15″W / 37.92194°N 122.68750°W / 37.92194; -122.68750Coordinates: 37°55′19″N 122°41′15″W / 37.92194°N 122.68750°W / 37.92194; -122.68750 [1]

Pine Gulch Creek is a 7.6-mile-long (12.2 km)[2] south-flowing stream in western Marin County, California, United States which empties into Bolinas Lagoon.

Course

The creek parallels State Route 1. Copper Mine Gulch enters from the east, then McCormick Creek enters from the west at Pablo Point. After crossing under Olema-Bolinas Road, it feeds into the west side of Bolinas Lagoon just north of the town of Bolinas.

History

In 1849, a man named "Slim" Johnson opened the first bank. He had been sought out by local businessmen to guard their gold dust before they were able to get it exchanged for cash. He began giving out loans and creating "receipts" that functioned as paper cash. His first loan was to the owner of the local saloon, Gus Maher. He wrote his receipts in purple and green to ensure they could not be copied. A man nicknamed "Big Bart" eventually challenged the bank in 1869 and shot Slim in the knee. He took the remaining gold dust and fled with his dog, Daisy. The story is used in social studies curriculum across the United States and the best known version is through Recollections of Pine Gulch, in the section written by Gus Maher, as he was the sole person to whom Slim explained his actions after he fled.

Habitat and human influences

Pine Gulch Creek once supported both steelhead trout and Coho salmon. The salmon run, made vulnerable by overfishing, disappeared after 1968, but briefly reappeared in 2001.[3]

Due to legal restrictions on water storage, several farms in the area pump water from the creek during the dry season, exacerbating the seasonality of its flows.[3]

Bridges

The only notable crossing of Pine Gulch Creek is the 42-foot (13 m) concrete slab at the Olema-Bolinas Road crossing, located 1.3 miles south of State Route 1. It was built in 1986.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pine Gulch Creek
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 9, 2011
  3. 1 2 Charles, Jacoba (November 29, 2007). "Bolinas farms cede steam rights to coho" (PDF). Point Reyes Light.
  4. ↑ "National Bridge Inventory Database". Retrieved 2008-01-17.
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