Red Bank Creek
Old Red Bank Creek Bridge at Red Bluff
Red Bank Creek is located in California
Red Bank Creek
Location of Red Bank Creek in California
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CitiesRed Bank, Red Bluff
Physical characteristics
SourceCalifornia Coast Ranges
 • coordinates40°03′44″N 122°44′01″W / 40.06222°N 122.73361°W / 40.06222; -122.73361[1]
 • elevation5,201 ft (1,585 m)
MouthSacramento River
 • coordinates
40°09′10″N 122°12′19″W / 40.15278°N 122.20528°W / 40.15278; -122.20528[1]
 • elevation
256 ft (78 m)
Length39 mi (63 km)[1]
Basin size116.3 sq mi (301 km2)[2]
Discharge 
 • locationnear Red Bluff[3]
 • average49 cu ft/s (1.4 m3/s)[3]
 • minimum0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
 • maximum9,730 cu ft/s (276 m3/s)

Red Bank Creek is a major stream in Tehama County, California, and a tributary of the Sacramento River. About 39 miles (63 km) long,[1] it originates in the foothills of the Coast Ranges, near the boundary of the Mendocino National Forest, and flows east across the Sacramento Valley to join the Sacramento River near Red Bluff. Red Bank Creek, like the other streams draining this part of the western Sacramento Valley, is a highly seasonal stream that flows only during the winter and spring.[4]

Old Red Bank Creek Bridge at Red Bluff was built by the Pacific Bridge Company in 1894.[5] According to a 1983 news article about a hazardous chemical spill into the creek following a 38-car railroad derailment stated "Red Bank Creek curls around the sprawling Diamond International lumber mill before emptying into the Sacramento River just above the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, where water is sent into the Tehama and Colusa canals".[6]

The creek was named for the reddish character of its clay banks.[7] The creek has also been known as Red Bluff Creek, Redbank Creek and Baranca Colorada (Spanish for "red canyon").[1]

History

According to research by C. Hart Merriam (published by UC Berkeley) the Wi-e'-ker'-ril band of the Wintun people lived along Red Bank Creek. Earlier writers described these people as the "Wylacker and Noemuc," or Northern Wintoon.[8]

In 1863 there was a California militia training camp along Red Bank Creek called Camp Ellis.[9][10][11] The camp was disbanded on November 4 and "the Companies marched into Red Bluff and dismissed".[12]

As of 1887, Albert Gallatin owned a 64,000 acre ranch sited between Red Bank Creek and Thomes Creek.[13] As of 1888 he reportedly owned 80,000 acres and was trying to induce his "old friend" Collis P. Huntington to open a railway route from Red Bluff through his land along Red Bank though Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Wilderness area to Humboldt Bay; a competing proposed route was from Red Bluff through the Cottonwood district along Cottonwood Creek.[14]

Ecology

Fish of Red Bank Creek include California roach, rainbow trout, Sacramento perch, Sacramento pikeminnow, Sacramento splittail, Sacramento sucker, speckled dace, and others.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Red Bank Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1981-01-19. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  2. ↑ "Tehama West Watershed Management Plan" (PDF). Resource Conservation District of Tehama County. August 2008. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  3. 1 2 "USGS Gage #11378800 on Red Bank Creek near Red Bluff, CA". National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1959–1982. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  4. ↑ "Tehama West Watershed". Sacramento River Watershed Program. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  5. ↑ Snyder, John W.; Petershagen, George F. (1995). "Red Bank Creek Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Chico News and Review 15 December 1983 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  7. ↑ "Place Names" (PDF). Tehama County Department of Education. p. 45. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "Reports of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY NO. 68, PART I ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES ON CALIFORNIA INDIAN TRIBES C. Hart Merrimack Compiled and Edited by Robert F. Heizer University ofCalifornia Archaeological Research Facility Department of Anthropology Berkeley October 1966" (PDF). p. 18.
  9. ↑ page 1 - Weaverville Weekly Trinity - December 10, 1864 http://newspaperarchive.com/us/california/weaverville/weaverville-weekly-trinity-journal/1864/12-10/
  10. ↑ "CAMP ELLIS, November 1, 1863 - page images 163–164 - A Yankee trader in the gold rush; the letters of Franklin A. Buck". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  11. ↑ Dayton, Dello Grimmett (1951). The California Militia, 1850-1866. University of California.
  12. ↑ "The Encampment". The Shasta Courier. 1863-11-07. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  13. ↑ "Sacramento Daily Record Union Archives, Aug 13, 1887, p. 2". NewspaperArchive.com. 1887-08-13. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  14. ↑ "Railroad Building - Sacramento Daily Record Union Archives, May 11, 1888, p. 4". NewspaperArchive.com. 1888-05-11. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
  15. ↑ VESTRA Resources, Inc. (April 2006). Tehama West Watershed Assessment Executive Summary (PDF) (Report). Redding, California: Tehama County Resource Conservation District. pp. 13–14 (fishies).
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