Elisha Stephens led the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada, in 1844; not one of its members died on the way. He settled on the creek in 1848, planted grapes and blackberries at Blackberry Farm, and became known for serving rattlesnake to his guests.
In 1862 he moved to Bakersfield, complaining the valley had become too civilized. He died there in 1887; his grave was found in 2009.