Originally called the
Arroyo San Francisquito, San Francisquito Creek and its canyon was for many years the major route of wagon and stage roads northward from
Los Angeles into the
San Joaquin Valley. The first was
El Camino Viejo, later there was the
Stockton–Los Angeles Road and the
Butterfield Overland Mail stage route. The wagon road followed the course of the stream in the bottom of the canyon. Two stage stations for the Overland Mail were along the Creek.
Widow Smith's Station was located about down the canyon from Green Valley. and
King's Station, located south of Widow Smith's Station in lower San Francisquito Canyon.
St. Francis Dam The
St. Francis Dam was built on San Francisquito Creek in San Francisquito Canyon, and completed in 1926. It was part of the
Los Angeles Aqueduct system, creating a storage reservoir for the imported
Owens Valley water. The dam failed in 1928, due to a then undetectable geological weakness in the bedrock. The resulting flood sent a massive wave of water and debris down the canyon and the
Santa Clara River Valley and to the sea, killing up to 600 people. Some of these debris can still be found today littering the creek bed.
Recent development In 1999, the city of
Santa Clarita established the creek as an ecological conservation zone and has since built a pair of long bike and pedestrian paths along the eastern and western banks of the river as it flows into the city. ==See also==