A selection of names from the area in and around Mountain View, California.

Elijah Stephens (18??-1887) – captain of the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1844 – the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party (10 families in all). Stephens settled in the San Jose / Cupertino area and today a creek (Stevens Creek [sic]) and major thoroughfare (Stevens Creek Boulevard) bear his name (although somehow misspelled).

Murphy – Martin Murphy Sr. had the largest family (23 members) in the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy party, arrived in California in 1844 and purchased Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche in Santa Clara County. His son Martin Murphy Jr. (1807-1884) was the founder of the city of Sunnyvale – hence Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale. Murphy Jr. purchased half of the Mexican land grant Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas from Mariano Castro in 1849 (fortuitous timing!), where he established his Bay View Ranch. Murphy Jr. is credited with building the first framed wood house in California (cut in Maine and shipped around South America) and with establishing the first fruit orchards in the valley (later a major industry).

Lope Yñigo was an Ohlone Indian who lived in the area before the Spanish government colonized this area (“Alta California” to them). He survived through the Spanish, Mexican and US government eras and received a land grant, known as Rancho Posolmi for his extended service to Mission Santa Clara. More detailed write up TBD. (1)

De Anza, as in De Anza College and De Anza Boulevard in Cupertino and De Anza Park in Sunnyvale, are named after Juan Bautista de Anza (1736-1788). De Anza led two overland colonizing expeditions for the Spanish, from the Sonoran desert (south of present-day Tucson, Arizona) into southern California and up to present-day San Francisco. The 1774 journey had 35 people (priests, soldiers and servants) and 200+ animals. A larger expedition, including civilian settlers (with women and children), started in October of 1775. Today you can see road signs at various points in California and Arizona which mark the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.

Briones – Juana Briones de Miranda (1802-1889) was a successful farmer, cattle rancher, and businesswoman in Yerba Buena (the area that later became San Francisco). Her parents came to California on early Spanish expeditions with Portola and De Anza. In 1844 she purchased Rancho La Purísima Concepción, which covered areas in today’s Palo Alto and Los Altos hills. (1)

Castro – TBD

Calderon – TBD

Rengstorff – TBD

References:

1. It is difficult to sum up the lives of such interesting, complex and tough people in a short paragraph. I recommend a small book called Historic Bay Area Visionaries by Robin Chapman (2018). In this book Chapman does a good job of weaving the narrative of the lives of Lope Yñigo, Juana Briones and others, from primary sources with a modern perspective on their lasting influence.