USA > California > Monterey County > History of Monterey County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, and mines : with biiographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
6 ........... . .. .
90
1,300
Santa Barbara.
3,540
............
.
.........
3,816
95
1,100
Mendocino.
1
1,691,779
Mono.
4,186
10
80
1
1.963,320
Shasta.
4,500
55
1,800
700
45
200
2,724,449
Amador.
4.691.250
Tulare.
5,500
150
1,900
500
830
4
110
35
320
030
Lake.
ʻ
-
.........
G.Sª1,30G
Nevada,
7,380
40
250
1,239,152
9,916,597 Modoc.
23,628,845
18,678,504
8,000
40
2,000
1.485,997
Keru.
7
1
1
·
2,857,383
600
1,380
15,178,121
Sonoma,
.
300
8
Mariposa.
1.1-10
695,850
1,410
2
80
Del Norte.
10,665,097 San Diego.
370
750
SOS,G10
330 2,331,350
20
1,872
150
310
1,200
1,400
. IT
I,29,950 .
1
600
1,458
6,031,988
1.920
. .
1,350
500
1.150
215
5 - 1
1.336
1,350
1,350
·
.
11
5 308,650
433
VALUATION. Reat null Personal.
801.1.
7.185,185
By way of comparison, on samo scale, to show the vast sizo of California, wo represent the State of Rhode Island. 1,306 square miles.
1,500 5.712,657
2.376
3,774,603
1,026
141
70
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES AND PRODUCTIONS,
SIZE OF CALIFORNIA.
Its extreme length, north-west and south-east, is about seven hundred and seventy miles, and greatest breadth three hundred and thirty miles, embracing every variety of climate in the known world. It has an area of one hundred and sixty-four thousand nine hundred and eighty-one square miles, or one hundred million nine hundred aud forty-seven thousand eight hundred and forty acres, of which eighty-nine million acres are suited to some kind of profitable husbandry.
California is four times greater in area than Cuba. It will make four States as large as New York, which has a population of nearly five million. It will make five States the size of Kentucky, which has a population of one million three hundred and twenty-one thousand. It will make twenty-four States the size of Massachusetts, having a population of one million five hundred thousand. It has an arca one hundred and forty- four times as great as Rhode Island. It is four-fifths the size of Austria, and nearly as large as France, each having a pop- ulation of thirty-six million. It is nearly twice the size of Italy, with twenty-seven million inhabitants, and it is one and one-half times greater than Great Britain and Ireland, having a population of thirty-two million.
California needs population -- she is susceptible of sustaining millions where she now has thousands.
With industry, economy, sobriety, and honesty of purpose, no man in this State, with rare exceptions, will fail of success in the ordinary pursuits of life.
BAYS, HARBORS AND ISLANDS.
California has a sea-coast extending the whole length of the State, amounting, following the indentations, to somewhat over seven hundred miles. The principal bays and harbors, begin- ning on the south, are San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Francisco, Tomales, Bodega, and Hum- boldt.
San Francisco bay, the most capacions and best protected harbor on the western coast of North America, is nearly fifty miles loug (including its extension, San Pablo bay,) and about nine miles wide. The entrance to the bay is through a strait about five miles long and a mile wide, and is named Chryso- pyke, or Golden Gate.
A FEW LAKES.
There are few lakes worthy of mention in California. The largest is Tulare, in the southern part of the State, which is very shoal. It is about thirty-three miles'long by twenty-two wide, though in the wet season it covers a much larger area. Owen's Kern, and Buena Vista are much smaller lakes, in the same vicinity.
Donner Lake and Lake Tahoe are small bodies of water much visited by tourists, lying near the eastern border of the State.
Lake Mono, fourteen miles long from east to west and nine miles wide, lies in Mono county, east of the Sierra Nevada. The water, being saturated with various mineral substances, the chief of which are salt, lime, borax, and carbonate of soda, is intensely hitter and saline, and of such high specific gravity that the human body floats in it very lightly. No living thing except the larva of a sinall tly and a small crustacean, inhabits this lake, which is sometimes called the Dead Sea of California.
The other lakes arc: Clear, in Lake county, in the western part of the State, about ten miles long; and Klamath and Goose lakes, lying partly in Oregon.
WHEAT THE STAPLE PRODUCTION.
Prior to 1864, no very marked results were reached in farm- ing in California, the export of agricultural products with the exception of wool, not having been such as to attract atten- tion abroad. And owing to the drought that prevailed in 1863 andl 1864, California had but little grain or other farm produce to spare, flour having been to some extent imported. Thic large extent, undoubted fertility, and known capabilities of the lands of the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Salinas valleys give assurance that Agriculture will become the predominant inter- est of its people.
The principal staples which the soil and climate of these val- leys favor are the cereal grains. Wild oats are indigenous to the country, and on lands allowed to run wild, will run out other small grains, but are cultivated only as a forage plant, which, cut while greeu, makes au excellent hay. Barley also thrives well, and in a green state, is often cut for hay. But the great staple, from being "the staff of life," and the ease of cultivation over other products iu this climate, is wheat. In a moderately rainy season it is capable of perfecting its growth before the heats of summer have evaporated the moisture from the roots, and a erop is nearly sure of being made. No disease, rust, or insect harms the grain, although smut was in early days very prevalent, but by proper treatment has nearly disap- peared. There has always been a good demand for the surplus crop of this cereal, in the mines and for export, and its cultiva- · tion has been profitable.
Cotton cultivation has been experimented upon in Fresno county, and in the Tulare Basin, where the yichl has averaged five hundred pounds to the acre of a line textile tibre.
Next to the cultivation of cereals, the vine engrosses the minds of California agriculturists more than any other produc- tion, the product of her vineyards finding favor in all parts of the workl.
Many of our subscribers are directly interested in producing wheat, and the following table giving the fluctuations of the market will be found of great value for reference.
71
TABLE SHOWING VARIATIONS IN PRICE OF WHEAT.
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT SHOWING THE
Fluctuation of Prices in the San Francisco Wheat Market, PER CENTAL.
According to the monthly average quotations for Good Shipping Wheat. From June, 1864, to June, 1879. Each column showing the price of each year's crop. (Compiled for the Illustrated History by A. MONTPELLIER, Cashier Granger's Bank.)
1876-1877-1878-
1864-1865-
77
78
79
MONTHS.
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
1872-1873- 73
74
1874-1875 75 76
$ cts.
$ cts.
$ cts.
$ cts.
$ cts.
$ ets
$ cts.
$ cts.
8 cts.
$ cts.
cts.
$ cta.
$ ctg.
$ ets.
$ cts.
1 723 1
65
2 45
1 75
3 05
4 75
1 65
1 90
2 05
1 80
1 973|2 50
Highest. Lowest
2 60
1 90
1 474 1 6731 90
1 55
1 65
2 25
1 60
1 70
1 65
1 65
1
1 682 1
JUNE.
Average.
1 5232 3741 70
3 521 1 90
1 55
1 82/ 2 023 1 82}|1 973 2 35
1 65
1 9231 70
2 15
1 60
JULY.
Highest. Lowest. Average
3 15
1 70
1 9321 4822 261 1 664
1 8832 283 1 582 1 7111 65
1 7741 462 1 912 1 9311 7211 83: 2 361 1 561 2 111 1 581 2 2311 4822 221 1 70
2 3711 77}
( Highest.
3 50
1 85
1 35
2 05
1 85
2 223 1 92}1 70
¿ Average.
1 75
1 721 2 35
1 60
2 05
1 70
2 40
1 573 2 25 1 67}
OCTOBER .. .
- Highest Lowest.
3 85 2 00 1 55 2 3731 90
4 1112 063 1 714 2 45 1 963 1 673 2 011 2 7331 671 2 311 1 562 2 021 1 631 2 313 1 711
1 9321 873 2 30 1 70
NOVEMBER ...
Lowest.
3 931 2 071 1 8312 50
Average.
Highest. Lowest. Average.
4 25
2 25
1 95
2 75
2 10 |1 70
1 323 2 75
2 60
3 50
2 15
1 882 2 611 2 033 1 6612 211 2 671 1 883 2 2711 55 1 9312 1312 3641 70
1 933 2 173 2 224 1 682
JANUARY ...
Highest Lowest. ( Average
4 75
2 40
1 85
2 95
2 123 1 75
5 45
2 421 2 05
25
1 90
4 25
2 10
1 7232 70
1 7822 8232 05
4 50
2 25
4 874
2 30
1 75
12 882 1 862 1 70
5 30 2 00 2 361 2 15
1 8622 0141 60
1 90
2 0322 0331 674
FEBRUARY ..
Highest. Lowest. Average.
5 00
2 40
1 80 1 923 1 55
1 85
1 974 2 15 1 5711 871 2 05
1 632 1 9232 10
1 95
1 65
MARCH
Highest. Lowest ..
5 00
1 95
1 70
2 55
2 074 1 7822 80
5 00
Average.
2 05
1 65
3 00
1 -973 1 874 1 95
1 75
1 923 2 50
1 90
1 57}
5 00 1 95
2 15
1 85
2 00
2 15
APRIL . . ..
( Highest. Lowest. ( Average.
4 882
4 75 1 75 2 05 2 20 4 62111 623 1 871 2 0711 55
1 65
2 524 1 901 1 85
1 80
1 714 2 811 1 924 1 871 1 873 1 732 1 723 2 7231 9111 623
1 821 1 57}
MAY.
( Highest. Lowest. Average.
4 682 1 633|1 961 2 1331 57
1 823 2 073 2 432 1 621|1 6812 773 1 927 1 832 1 90
1 95
1 774 1 778 3 00
2 00
1 67₺
1 60 |1 773 3 10 1 973 1 90
.
5 00
2 20
1 873 3 05
1 75
1 727 2 523 2 10 1 8732 00
1 70
2 00
1 70
1 90
1 60
1 671 1 621 2 373 1 923 1 773 1 90
2 4212 30
1 923 2 10
1 65
1 95
12 10
2 1211 72}
1 823 2 95 1 97} 1 75
1 973 1 95 1 623
4 75
2 20
1 6732 823 1 75
1 65
2 20
2 823 1 773 2 30
1 573 2 00
2 00
2 3711 75
4 3732 15
1 95
2 521 1 95
1 65
1 60
2 021 2 70
1 65
2 224 1 50 1 873 1 75
2 22}|1 65
Highest.
3 50 2 00
1 723 2 4711 80
1 8212 474 1 974 1 623 5 10
DECEMBER. .
3 87% 2 20
1 973 2 25 1 90 2 10
2 10
1 65
1 974 1 70
2 221 2
2 12} 1 65 2 00 1 55
12 35
1 721
13 55
1 85
1 50
2 00 2 05 1 09
1 90
2 4241 623 2 30 1 65
Highest Lowest ..
12 25
1 70
AUGUST. . . .
2 90
1 Average.
. 3 85
2 00
1 55
1 50
2 15 2 00
1 55
1 50
2 25 1 67}
SEPTEMBER . { Lowest.
1 871 2 533 1 581 2 263 1 523 2 073 1 521 2 31 1 723
3 673 1 923 1 45
4 373 2 121 1 8712 521 2 021 1 75
12 1032 80
1 9212 674 1 624 2 27+1 5232 00
Average.
2 321 1 523 2 30 1 75
2 15 1 45 2 15 1 65
1 421 1 823 1 82} 1 65
2 40
2 00
1 7731 922 2 673 1 623 2 3231 55
1 6231 824 2 40 1 55
2 20
1 95
1 87-1 85
521 2 121 1 623
5822 2831 682
561 |1 782 1 9741 674 1 811 2 3711 774 1 7831 75
2 8213 323
[1
3 3321 80
1 51- 1 751 1 9111 75
1 723 1 45 2 15 1 621
1 4741 70 1 80
1 6731 80
2 221 1 524 1 70
1 50 1 92}1 .523
1 7732 30
1 60
1 873 1 6232 1112 764 1 714 2 261 1 533
1 973 2 321 1 571 1 973/2 25
2 528 1 75
2 0212 30 1 65
1 80 2 223 1 5211 90
1 671 1 8212 15
1 574 1 623 2 55
1 871 1 80
4 7711 70
1 724 1 873 2 323 1 973 1 614
1 70 1 672 2 45
2 723 1 673 1 75
1 711 1 673 2 45 2 0111 821 1 95
1 7212 3312 331 1 9732 063 1 60
1866-1867-1868-1869-1870-1871-
72
STREAMS, NATURAL WONDERS AND FORESTS.
NAVIOABLE STREAMS.
The Sacramento is about three hundred and seventy miles long, and is navigable for large steamboats at all seasons to Sacramento, ninety miles from its month, or one hundred and twenty miles from San Francisco, and for smaller craft to Red Bluff, one hundred an fifty or two hundred miles above Sae- ramento.
The San Joaquin, about three hundred and fifty miles long, is navigable for ordinary steamers to Stockton, and for small eraft during the rainy season to the month of the Tulare slough, about one hundred and fifty miles. The Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced empty into the San Joaquin. Tule and swamp lands line the banks of the river. The soil is rich and needs only to be protected against high waters, to equal any in the State for production. The tules are a sort of tall rush, and in early times, fires swept over them as on a prairie. The effect is faintly indicated in our engraving.
NATURAL WONDERS.
Among the many remarkable natural curiosities of California is the valley of the Yo Semite, fully described in a separate article.
The Geysers are also remarkable natural phenomena. There is a collection of hot sulphur springs, more than three hundred in number, covering about two hundred aeres, in a deep gorge, in the north-east part of Sonoma county. They are about seventeen hundred feet above the sea, and are surrounded by mountains from three thousand to four thousand feet high. Hot and cold, quiet and boiling springs are found within a few feet of each other.
There are five natural bridges in California. The largest is on a small creek emptying into the Hay fork of Trinity river. It is eighty feet long, with its top one hundred and seventy feet above the water. In Siskiyon eouuty there are two, about thirty feet apart, ninety feet long; and there are two more on Coyote creek, in Tuolumne county, the larger two hundred and eighty-five feet long.
The most noted caves are the Alabaster eave in Placer county, containing two chambers, the larger two hundred feet long by one hundred wide; and thic Bower cave in Mariposa county, having a chamber about one hundred feet square, reached by an entrance seventy feet long.
The most recently discovered of the great natural wonders of the State is the petrified forest, about seventy-five miles north of San Francisco, the existence of which was first made public in 1870.
Portions of nearly one hundred distinet trees of grent size, prostrate and scattered over a tract three or four miles in extent, were found, some on the surface and others projecting from the mountain side.
TIMBER FORESTS.
California is noted for its large forests of excellent timber, and for trees of mammoth size. The sides of the Sierra Nevada, to the height of two thousand five hundred feet, are covered with oaks, manzanita and uut pine; and above this, to a height of eight thousand feet, with dense forests of pine, fir, eypress, hemlock, and other coniferous trees.
Deuse forests of redwood exist on the coast north of latitude thirty-seven degrees. This timber is used for fence posts, rail- road ties, and furnishes lumber for all building purposes. It answers the same for house material in California as Wisconsin and Michigan pine docs in the Mississippi valley. There is a large amount of timber of the various species named in the mountains and valleys in the northern part of the State, from the Sierra Nevada range to the ocean.
White and live oak abound in large quantities on the west slope of the Coast Range, and in the intervening valleys south of latitude 37°, in the counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. This wood is chiefly used for fuel, and is of little value for building or feneing purposes.
A great part of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the Colorado basin, the enst slope of the Coast mountains, and the Coast Range south of Point Conception, are treeless.
THE REDWOOD TREES.
The redwood, bearing a strong resemblance to the mammoth frequently grows to a height of three hundred feet, and a diatn- eter of fifteen feet.
The sugar pine is a large tree, and one of the most graceful of the evergreens. It grows abont two hundred feet high andl twelve feet in dinmeter. This wood grows in the Sierra Nevada, is free-splitting, and valuable for timber. The yellow pine and white cedor are all large trees, growing more than two hundred feet high and six or eight feet in diameter.
The story is toll of two men who were engaged in the cut- ting of one of these immense trees into logs, with a cross-cut saw. After they bad sawed themselves out of sight of each other, one of them became impressed with the belief that the saw was not running as easily as it ought, when he crawled on the top of the tree to remonstrate with his partner, whom he discovered to be fast asleep.
The visitor to California has not seen it all until he has spent a week in the deep recesses of a redwood forest. It is then, standing beside the towering monarch of the forest, that a man will realize his utter insignificance, und how inestimably ephem- eral he is compared with many other of God's handiworks. He looks upon n tree that stood when Christ was yet in his youth, the eireles of whose growth but mark the eveles of time almost since the first mun was, and on whose tablets might have been written the records of the mighty men of oldl.
RESIDENCE OF JUOCE JOHN. K. ALEXANDER, SALINAS CITY, MONTEREY CO. C4-
0
00
HISTORY
MONTEREY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA,
FROM THE EARLY DAYS DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME.
MONTEREY county lies south from San Francisco about one hundred miles. The length of the county is seventy-eight miles, and it is bounded west by the Pacific ocean, from which it extends back to the mountains east of Salinas valley some forty miles. A mountain range intervenes between the Saliuas valley and the ocean, that breaks off the ruder winds and gives a refreshing breeze
Owing to the peculiar topographical character of the county, it has a great diversity of soil, climate and productions, making it, for purposes of settlement, one of the most desirable regions in the State.
HOW THE COUNTY IS DIVIDED.
The county is divided into three sections: the mountains and hills on the east, the mountains and hills on the west, and the great Salinas valley situated between these mountains, and opening upon Monterey bay at the north. The valley extends south from Monterey bay over one hundred miles, and has a width of from six to fifteen miles.
It is one of the largest counties in California, having an area of three thousand six hundred square miles, or over two and a quarter million acres of land. The boundaries of the county are as follows: on the north by Santa Cruz county and Mont- ercy bay; on the east by the counties of San Benito, Fresno and Tulare; on the south by San Luis Obispo county, and on the west by the Pacific ocean.
THE GABILAN MOUNTAINS.
The Gabilan range has a length of seventy-five miles and a breadth of twenty, and forms a barrier between Monterey and San Benito counties, which was one cause of the division of the
territory into two counties. The peak at the north end of the chain called Gabilan Peak is three thousand three hundred and eighty-one feet above the sea. About thirty-five miles south- east is Mount Cholame, estimated at three thousand eight hun- 'dred feet. The whole range is worn into deep and precipitous cañons, covered with low chemissal.
This range extends from the Pajaro river, at the northern boundary of the county, through the entire length of the county. "From the Pajaro river, going south, the first eighteen miles of the range are a system of low mountains, covered almost every- where with grass and an abundance of timber. This part of the mountains is now nearly entirely occupied. The next thirty miles of the range is composed of high, rough mountains, which extend as far south as the San Lorenzo. From the San Lorenzo to the sontherly boundary of the county, these monut- ains are low, rolling hills, forming the foot-hills of the Coast. Range, and are about twenty or thirty miles in width.
FERTILE VALLEYS IN THIS RANGE.
In this section are several beautiful little valleys, among which are Peach Tree valley, Cholame valley, Indian valley, Long val- ley, Priest valley, and several others. nearly all of which possess a rich soil. These valleys have a delightful climate, peculiarly adapted to the growth of semi-tropical fruits. The land is nearly all unsurveyed Government land, and at present is used chiefly in the stoek business. The Gabilan mountains, in their climato and adaptability, elosely resemble the Santa Lucia, and contain immense deposits of limestone, as well as some quick- silver.
The Gabilan range separates the county of Monterey from that of San Benito; the latter having been taken from the for- mer in March, 1874.
74
THE MOUNTAINS, RIVERS AND STREAMS.
THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS.
The Santa Lucia mountains extend from Carmel bay, in an unbroken line, south-east, bordering the coast as far as San Luis Obispo, then trending toward the east, are merged into the main Monte Diablo range. They are a rugged and unexplored mass, over five thousand feet in elevation at the highest point. The western portion of the range is particularly abrupt and inaccessible. The average breadth of the Santa Lucia range is eighteen miles.
The Santa Lucia chain rises suddenly and extends along the coast in a range unbroken and not crossed by any road for about one hundred and ten miles to the San Luis Obispo pass. For most all this distance it is rugged mountains and entirely unexplored. A few small ranches exist along the coast for thirty miles south of Monterey. and are reached by traveling along the shore. Several trails cross the range but are little known. It is generally sharp ridges and peaks, furrowed by deep cañons, and all the slopes covered with dense chaparral. Many peaks are estimated at from four thousand to four thous- and five hundred feet. The greatest width of the range is twenty-five miles, and there must be an area of fifteen hundred square miles (almost as large as the State of Rhode Island), unexplored, with a prospect of remaining so for a long time. Granite exists in large masses in the interior of this range. It is the home of the grizzly and other wild animals.
In these mountains are many places where water is plentiful, and the surface of the country such as to furnish a good home. The number of inhabitants in these little valleys is increasing every year. Higher up the mountains are stock ranches, and along the sea-coast are many fine dairies.
The San Antonio hills are of au entirely bituminous slate, On the Monterey road, the highest point where the road crosses, is one thousand feet above the Salinas, and the most elevated portions from fifteen to eighteen hundred feet.
Rivers, Streams and Valleys.
THE Salinas river, after flowing through San Luis Obispo county, enters Monterey a few miles south of the okl mission of San Miguel, nearly in the center of the southern border of the county. This river is the only one in the whole southern Coast Range, connecting with the ocean, which is navigable.
The wharves at the mouth of the river are substantially built, and are kept in good repair. The dimensions of the river increase so much during the winter season as to render the builling of expensive wharves a matter attended with consid- erable risk. Its usual width at the entrance to the bay is about four hundred and fifty feet. In the wet season, it has been known to exceed a mile.
The Salinas flows in many shallow channels at the upper end of the valley, over beds of sand from a half mile to one and a half miles wide, which is more or less fringed with trees.
The Salinas river is the third in length in the State of Cali- fornia, flowing into the Pacific ocean, It comes down from the south-east nearly straight in its general course one hun- dred aud sixty miles, with a bend higher up to the north-east, round again to the south-east, adding another fifty miles or more to its length. The principal tributaries of the Salinas are the San Lorenzo and Estrella from the east, and the Arroyo Seco, San Antonio and Nacimiento from the west.
NUMEROUS SMALL STREAMS.
Gabilan creek is a beautiful running stream, clear and cold aud abouuding in tront. The cañon through which it runs is densely wooded with oak, syeamore and willow trees. Deer, quail and other gaine are to be found on its head waters.
San Jose creek rises in the Santa Lucia range, and running north empties into the Carmelo. It is a noted stream for trout fishing, and easily reached from Monterey.
Elk Horn Slough, as its name implies, is a crooked stream running westerly, in the northeru part of the county, and emptying into the estuary of the Salinas river. It is naviga- ble for a short listance as far as the tide reaches.
The San Antonio and Nacimiento rivers run throughout the upper part of their course, in a direction opposite to that of the Saliuas, or nearly in a south-east direction. For more than thirty miles they are nearly parallel, aud five or six miles apart. The regiou between them is occupied by high ridges, of which the culminating points are of the bituminons slates, underlaid by sandstone.
ARROYO SECO AND CARMELO.
The Arroyo Seco empties into the Salinas south of Soledad. At a distance of fifteen to eighteen miles up the stream, the valley assumes the character of a canon, aud leads back into the mountain in a southerly direction. The stream heads far back in the Santa Lucia range, and is a living stream, but the creek proper sinks into the sand as it approaches the valley.
The Carmel river is an inconsiderable stream, which draius the hilly country north and cast of the northeru termination of the Santa Lucin mountains. Its outlet is Carmel bay. These are the ouly rivers of importance in the county.
THE PAJARO VALLEY.
Pajaro valley extends from the shore of Monterey bay to the foot of the Gabilan mountains, a distance of about ten miles, ranging from six to eight miles in width.
This land is exceedingly fertile and alnost level. On either sidle of the valley for several iniles is a range of low, smoothly-
75
CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT VALLEYS.
rounded hills, well-watered by numerous ereeks, and but little less fertile than the bottom-land. This chain of hills produees fine erops of wild oats, bunch grass, and a variety of elover and native grasses, where not under cultivation.
Fruit, grain and vegetables of all kinds and descriptions thrive well in this soil; the black soil of the valley having beeome especially famous for the wheat and potatoes it pro- duees.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.