Petes Creek is a small desert stream that originates near Horse Lake and then flows into a southerly direction where it empties into Willow Creek, at a site referred to as the “The Crossing.”
The who, when and what of naming the creek is not known. In 1944, Phil Lord attributed the naming after Peter Lassen during his 1850 expedition of the region. Lassen accompanied by J. Goldsborough Bruff among others. Bruff kept a diary of the travels, and upon close examination its apparent they never came across this stream.
The area, even by today’s standard is somewhat remote. It was not until the 1890s that Petes Valley came into prominence. In 1897, tjhe Associated Colonies purchased the Petes Valley Ranch as part of their Standish Colony scheme. They provided the following information about that place and their intended operations: “In order to give Standish colonists an opportunity to engage in the cattle industry on the most profitable terms, the Associated Colonies purchased one of the best stock ranches in northern California. By herding their cattle together the small farmers of Standish wil have the advantages enjoyed by large cattle owners. Under this systems the man who owns ten head of stock will have precisely the same facilities as the man who owns a thousand head. The Standish Colony stock ranch and ranges is in Petes Valley, only about ten miles distant from the village of Standish. It is commonly spoken among stock men as a ‘little principality.’ It controls the water of a creek along which the titled land extends for a distance of six miles. The range surrounding the ranch proper includes 20,000 acres and furnishes good summer pasturage for at least 5,000 head of stock.”
The Associated Colonies Standish utopia floundered and so with it their vision Petes Valley—best known today for opening day of pigeon season on September 1.