Cantua Creek, formerly in Spanish Arroyo de Cantúa, was named for José de Guadalupe Cantúa, a prominent

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

Ranchero in the 19th-century Mexican era of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

. The creek was formerly a tributary of the

Fresno Slough Fresno Slough is a distributary of the Kings River that connects the North Fork Kings River to the San Joaquin River in San Joaquin Valley, Kings County, California. Until 1879 when irrigation diversions prevented it, Fresno Slough was also an ou ...

, in years of very heavy winter rains.

Course

Its source is on the northern slope of Santa Rita Peak in the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay Area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley a ...

, 5.9 miles southeast of

Idria Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; , ) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. Located in the traditional region of the Slovene Littoral and in the Gorizia Statistical Region, it is notable for it ...

within

San Benito County San Benito County (; ''San Benito'', Spanish for " St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Central Coast region of California. Situated in the California Coast Ranges, the county had a population of 64 ...

. It flows north then east into

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

, emerging from its ''Arroyo de Cantúa''

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

, that divides the

Big Blue Hills The Big Blue Hills are a low mountain range in west Fresno County, in the western San Joaquin Valley of central California. Interstate 5 runs parallel to the hills on the east. Geography The Big Blue Hills are in the Southern Inner California Coa ...

from the

Ciervo Hills The Ciervo Hills are a low mountain range in west Fresno County, in the western San Joaquin Valley of central California. Interstate 5 runs parallel to the hills on the east. Geography The Ciervo Hills are in the Southern Inner California Coast ...

, into the western

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

. Continuing toward the Fresno Slough to the northeast, but no longer reaching it, Cantua Creek ends shortly after passing under

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

, 4 miles south of the

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

of Cantua Creek and just west of the

California Aqueduct The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after California Gov ...

History

The ''Arroyo de Cantúa'' was first explored by a detachment of troops under José de Guadalupe Cantúa (1786–1860) who served in the Spanish army, stationed at San Juan Bautista, and lead the party that first explored the Arroyo Cantúa area while gathering in the Native American people that lived in the area for the Mission San Juan. Arroyo Cantúa was named in his honor. He was later granted the

Rancho San Luisito Rancho San Luisito was a Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José de Guadalupe Cantúa. The grant between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, extended along San Luisito C ...

near

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. The 19th century Spanish and Mexican

El Camino Viejo El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles (), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta California (1822–1848), present d ...

trail crossed the Arroyo Cantúa in the San Joaquin Valley.

Rancho de Cantua

Two of Guadalupe Cantúa's sons, Lupe and Domingo, later established a ranch on the Arroyo Cantúa. They were members of the California bandit

Joaquin Murrieta Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes misspelled Murieta or Murietta) (c. 1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexicans, Mexican figure of disputed historicity. The novel ''The Lif ...

Five Joaquins Gang The Five Joaquins were a mid-19th-century outlaw gang in California which, according to the California State Legislature, state legislature, was led by five men, identified as follows: "... the five Joaquins, whose names are Joaquin Murrieta, Jesu ...

and their ranch in the mountains on the Arroyo Cantúa was the gathering place for the gangs herd of stolen horses and mustangs the gang would organize for the drive down to their ranch in

Sonora, Mexico Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital (and largest) city of which is ...

for later sale.Frank F. Latta, JOAQUIN MURRIETA AND HIS HORSE GANGS, Bear State Books, Santa Cruz, California. 1980.

Historical Landmark

The ''Arroyo de Cantúa'' has

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

#344, commemorating where

California Rangers The California Rangers was a paramilitary state police force in California, United States, established in May 1853 and disestablished in August of the same year. It was the first statewide law enforcement agency in California. It was founded ...

led by Harry Love were said to have killed

and

Three Fingered Jack Three Fingered Jack is a summit of a shield volcano of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch, the mountain consists mainly of basaltic andesite lava and was heavily glaciated in the past. While ot ...

(Tres Dedos) and capturing two others in 1853. The place was at Murrieta Spring a spring flowing from the south bank of the Cantúa forming a pool in the arroyo where it emerged from the foot of the western mountains, a mile above where

California State Route 33 State Route 33 (SR 33) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs north from U.S. Route 101 in Ventura through the Transverse Ranges and the western side of the San Joaquin Valley to Interstate 5 at a ...

now crosses Cantua Creek. The spring was located about 100 yards above where the El Camino Viejo crossed the arroyo. Years later wells drilled to provide water for livestock stopped the flow of water from the spring.{{rp, 520

References

Rivers of Fresno County, California Diablo Range Geography of the San Joaquin Valley Tributaries of the San Joaquin River California Historical Landmarks El Camino Viejo Rivers of Northern California La Vereda del Monte