Cooper harvested timber and was also granted a license to hunt southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), then prevalent at the mouth of Corte Madera Creek.

[11] A Tasmanian immigrant, James Ross, who had made a fortune selling liquor to gold panners in San Francisco, bought much of the Rancho Punta de Quentin in 1840 for $50,000.

[15] The creek hosts many protected species in addition to steelhead trout, including at least 17 plants, northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), San Pablo song sparrow (Melospiza melodia samuelis), Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus) and black (Laterallus jamaicensis) rails, and the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris).

[16] The Corte Madera (aka Ross Valley) Watershed ranges in elevation from sea level to 2,571 feet (784 m) at the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais.

The watershed covers 28 square miles (73 km2) in the southeastern quarter of Marin County and encompasses the towns of Larkspur, Corte Madera, Kentfield, Ross, San Anselmo, and Fairfax.

The watershed includes Corte Madera, Ross, San Anselmo, Tamalpais, Sleepy Hollow, Fairfax, and Cascade creeks and Phoenix Lake.