Mustang Creek, originally Arroyo de Mesteño (Mustang Creek), later Mustang Gulch, is a short stream that fails to reach the San Joaquin River

San Joaquin River

The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...

 draining the slopes of part of foothills of the Diablo Range

Diablo Range

The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges. It is located in the eastern San Francisco Bay area south to the Salinas Valley area of northern California, the United States.-Geography:...

 within the Central Valley of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA. The Creek has its source in a canyon at the foot of a 1254 foot mountain about 4.5 miles from its mouth just east of where it emerges from the foothills in Merced County, shortly ending just west of the California Aqueduct

California Aqueduct

The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the...

. The closest populated place was the former settlement and railroad station of Gustine

Gustine, California

Gustine is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Gustine is located west of Merced, at an elevation of 98 feet . As of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 5,520, up from 4,698 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

 that is 6.69 miles northeast of the mouth of Mustang Creek.

History

Arroyo de Mesteño 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...

 in the 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...

 between Arroyo de las Garzas

Garzas Creek

Garzas Creek, originally Arroyo de las Garzas , is a tributary of the San Joaquin River draining the eastern slopes of part of the Diablo Range within the Central Valley of California, USA...

 and Arroyo Quinto

Quinto Creek

Quinto Creek, originally El Arroyo de Quinto, later Kinto Creek, is a tributary stream of the San Joaquin River that now fails to reach the river. Its source drains the slopes of the Diablo Range within the Central Valley of California, USA...

.