On October 1, 1850, J. Goldsborough Bruff and his companions traveled the region as part of their journey in search of the fabled Gold Lake. Bruff was impressed by the petroglyphs in the canyon and he named the creek Heiogliphic Creek. Bruff was captivated by a large triangle shaped boulder with unique drawings and sketched it in his journal.
One year, I spent a lot of time hiking this canyon looking for the fabled Triangle Rock. There is a two-mile or more stretch where the canyon walls are adorned with glyphs. It was later included in one of the numerous BLM tours that I was involved with and later Trails West offered an expedition there.
It should be noted that on this same expedition Bruff came across Honey Lake, which Lassen gave it that name, but Bruff named it Derby Lake after his friend Captain George Derby, a United States topographical engineer.