Putah Creek

California

The Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Green River" is about this creek.

culturenaturalhistorical

Late in the summer, algae and water plants build up in Putah Creek until the water turns green. That gave it a second name. People called it the Green River. John Fogerty spent childhood vacations here, and the creek became the subject of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song of the same name. The lower stretches picked up another nickname too. Warm, sluggish water and thick stands of California black walnut along the banks earned it Walnut Bayou. Before any of that, a French naturalist published a map in Paris in eighteen forty-four that labeled it Young's River, after a fur trapper named Ewing Young. Young had gone up the creek hunting beaver in March of eighteen thirty-three, working his way to Clear Lake and on to the Mendocino coast. The creek runs eighty-five miles from springs on the east side of Cobb Mountain, and finishes in the Sacramento River.

This is the first of 3 parts. The rest runs about 3 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
Putah Creek is the subject of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Green River" and served as a childhood vacation spot for John Fogerty.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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