When, in the 15th century, Fernão Álvares Evangelho, the first settler and founder of the primitive settlement of Lajes, was left in the island by his companions in Penedo Negro, he traveled northwards along the coast and found a stream, which would come to be called “Ribeira de Fernão Álvares”.
Fernão Álvares' first concern, obviously, was to find water, an essential element to life, and he found it easily, about a kilometer away from the landing site, having built a house in the stream surroundings, the first on the island.
It is curious and, naturally, because the abuses began to take place, the Permit of the 1st Captain Donor of Faial and 2nd of Pico Island, Jos d'Utra, issued on March 24, 1502, in which he prescribes: “so that no one would wash from Fernão Álvares bridge to where the Suro Way passes that leads to Almagreira, under penalty, each time it is found, pay two hundred reis to the Council.” (in Espelho Cristalino).
In the 19th century, Fernão Álvares Stream became known as Ribeira da Burra, due to a macabre circumstance that a donkey died there.