I’m skeptical about the accepted etymology of Hasley Canyon, which goes like this: “Hasley” comes from islay, the Tataviam word for “berry” – specifically the hollyleaf cherry, a native fruit – and locals knew this as Islay Canyon until 1853, when Lt. Robert Stockton Williamson inexplicably changed it to Hasley Canyon while surveying California for potential railroads. There are in fact several Islay-themed place names across the state: Islais Creek in San Francisco, named by 1851; Rancho Pecho y Islai near San Luis Obispo, granted in 1843; and Islay Street in Santa Barbara, named by 1872. Historians maintain that they all stem from this one fruit – even an 1888 article in the Santa Barbara Independent concurred – but if true, the word was surely coined by a Central Coast tribe, not the Tataviam. And the earliest mention of Hasley Canyon that I could find was in 1912, with zero references to any “Islay Canyon” before that. (I even looked through Lt. Williamson’s survey report.) So for all we know, Hasley was just some early rancher or miner.
Find it on the map:
