I had to put on my debunking cap for this one. The accepted theory about Bouquet Canyon’s name holds that François “Francisco” Chari, a French sailor, established a ranch hereabouts in the mid-1800s and dubbed it Rancho del Buque – buque meaning “large ship” in Spanish, a nod to Chari’s former vocation. Some Anglo surveyor misinterpreted it as “bouquet”, wrote that on a map, and the rest is history. True? Well, here’s the thing: I’ve found no records of a François or Francisco Chari, no mid-19th century map with Bouquet Canyon labeled on it, no mention whatsoever of Bouquet Canyon before 1894, and not a whiff of this “Buque” story until 1929, when some old-timer related it to a historian. So until a credible document from the era is unearthed, I’m calling hogwash. There definitely was a Dead Man’s Canyon (a.k.a. Deadman Canyon) around these parts – it was first cited in an 1890 newspaper – and I noted that its name faded away just as that of Bouquet Canyon was coming into common use. This suggests that someone simply decided to give the area a more fragrant moniker. Bouquet Canyon Road opened in 1912.
Find it on the map:
