Chico Martinez Creek, formerly Arroyo Chico Martinez is a stream with its source located in the Temblor Range

Temblor Range

The Temblor Range is a mountain range within the California Coast Ranges, at the southwestern extremity of the San Joaquin Valley in California in the United States. It runs in a northwest-southeasterly direction along the borders of Kern County and San Luis Obispo County. The name of the range is...

 in Kern County, California

Kern County, California

Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

 near to the San Luis Obispo County boundry. Its source is located 10.7 miles north of Soda Lake, California

Soda Lake (San Luis Obispo County)

Soda Lake is a shallow, ephemeral, alkali endorheic lake in the Carrizo Plain in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is located on the southwest side of the northern Carrizo Plain, 103 km east of San Luis Obispo. It can be reached by Soda Lake Road, which runs...

 in the middle of the Carrizo Plain

Carrizo Plain

The Carrizo Plain is a large enclosed plain, approximately 50 miles long and up to 15 miles across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, California...

. The creek runs generally east and northeast to terminate just east of the South Belridge Oil Feild. In years of heavy rainfall it may have been a tributary to the slough

Slough (hydrology)

For other uses, see Slough .Slough , is a term in hydrology that refers to:* Slough, a stream distributary or anabranch, or in some cases, a regular stream.More localized meanings of Slough are:...

 between Lake Buena Vista and Tulare Lake

Tulare Lake

Tulare Lake, named Laguna de Tache by the Spanish, is a fresh-water dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in southern San Joaquin Valley, California...

.

History

Arroyo Chico Martinez was a watering place on El Camino Viejo

El Camino Viejo

El Camino Viejo à Los Angeles , also known as the Old Los Angeles Trail, established in 1820's, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Alta California...

 between Temblor Creek and Carneros Creek. The place where the creek emerged from the foothills of the Temblor Range is marked by white chalklike bluffs and hills that may be seen miles across the plains. This stream was named for a 19th century pioneer in the southern San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

 region, Chico Martinez, a mesteñero, famous as the "king of the "mustang runners", for his skill in herding wild horses into the corral

Corral

Corral is a town, commune and sea port in Los Ríos Region, Chile. It is located south of Corral Bay. Corral is best known for the forts of Corral Bay, a system of defensive batteries and forts made to protect Valdivia during colonial times. Corral was the headquarters of the system...

s built for their capture, at Aguaje Mesteño (Mustang Watering Place) and other places.