Looking west from Escuela Pkwy


Calera Creek


The creek you pass over north of the intersection of Jacklin and N. Milpitas Blvd. is called Calera Creek. Where Calera joins Penitencia Creek was the western boundary of Juan Higera's Rancho de los Tularcitos with Rancho Rincón de los Esteros owned by Ignacio Alviso, who as a child had come to California as a member of the Anza expedition. Penitencia Creek was also the western boundary of José Maria Alviso's Rancho Milpitas land and that of his father, Ignacio.

Near the banks of Calera Creek several early farmers of the American period built their homes. George Masunaga, who grew up nearby, remembered using a pitch fork to catch steelhead trout on their annual spawn in the creek. All of the local creeks in Milpitas were prime fishing spots until pollution killed the fish. Today, very limited runs of steelhead and salmon are again being found in South Bay Area streams.



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