Byles Canyon

Named for Joseph (Joe) Byles, a miner in the area in the late 1800s. This canyon runs northeast out of Hernandez Valley.

Joseph Byles arrived in San Francisco as a sailor aboard a British ship. He jumped ship in in 1861 and began a new life in California. He joined the U.S. Navy and served as a nurse aboard the USS Benicia when that ship carried King Kalakana of Hawaii to San Francisco.

After he was discharged from the Navy, Joe lived in Nicasico, California for a short while. He moved to the little town of San Benito around 1880 and married Emily Jane Prater in 1882. Joe and his wife arrived in Hernandez Valley a short time later where he became a prospector, miner and rancher.