Penitencia Creek
| Upper Penitencia Creek (Shistuk) | |
| Arroyo de la Penitencia, Encarnacion Arroyo | |
| stream | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Santa Clara County |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Arroyo Aguague |
| Source | |
| - location | Poverty Ridge, Diablo Range |
| - elevation | 2,955 ft (901 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°25′15″N 121°44′12″W / 37.42083°N 121.73667°W |
| Mouth | Coyote Creek |
| - location | San Jose, California |
| - elevation | 66 ft (20 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°22′03″N 121°52′49″W / 37.36750°N 121.88028°WCoordinates: 37°22′03″N 121°52′49″W / 37.36750°N 121.88028°W |
Upper Penitencia Creek is actually one of two creeks by the name Penitencia Creek in the northeastern Santa Clara Valley of Santa Clara County, California. They are both tributaries of Coyote Creek. The creek was diverted southwestward to Coyote Creek ca. 1850 by a farmer to irrigate his fields, permanently splitting Upper Penitencia Creek from Lower Penitencia Creek. Upper Penitencia Creek drains the western slopes of Mount Hamilton of the Diablo Range, and passes through Alum Rock Park, before ending at its confluence with Coyote Creek at Berryessa Road.
Lower Penitencia Creek flows along the historic Mission Road between Mission Santa Clara and Mission San Jose. It runs through the city of Milpitas before receiving flows from Berryessa Creek, Piedmont Creek, Arroyo de los Coches, Tularcitos Creek and Calera Creek before entering Coyote Creek near Dixon Landing Road at the southern end of San Francisco Bay.
The Ohlone called the creek Shistuk, meaning "place of rabbits". However and alternate point of view disputes this name (the Ohlone in all of the documented Ohlone languages the word for rabbit is weren or some variation thereof and therefore, place of rabbits would be Weren-tak); rather the closest word to Shis-tak would be Čéeyiš = jackrabbit in Chocheño, therefore Place of the Jackrabbits (Hares) would be Čéeyiš-tak.
The creek was known as Arroyo de las Penitencia, named after the Penitencia adobe house which stood at the highway and was used as a house of confession and penitence in mission times. Earlier, when Pedro Fages and Father Crespí left Monterey they crossed the Encarnacion Arroyo on November 24, 1769, their mission being to explore up the east side of San Francisco Bay, come round the top below Point Reyes and reach San Francisco.
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Wikipedia