[3] The creek was the site of the battle of Te-Rangi-hinganga-tahi, fought circa 1741 between the Te Taoū hapū of Ngāti Whātua, and Waiohua, then the major power on the Tāmaki isthmus.

[4] After paramount chief Kiwi Tāmaki murdered guests at a funeral feast in Kaipara (modern-day Helensville), Te Taoū took revenge by attacking Waiohua-allied settlements on the Manukau Harbour.

[4] The Te Taoū taua (war party) of 240 men, led by the chiefs Tuperiri, Wahaakiaki and Waitaheke, regrouped at Big Muddy Creek.

[4] The name of the battle, Te-Rangi-hinganga-tahi ("The Day When All Fell Together"), referred to the large number of corpses which polluted the Big Muddy Creek shellfish beds.

[7] The land at Big Muddy Creek was sold to Europeans in the early colonial era of New Zealand without the knowledge of Te Kawerau ā Maki leaders.