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 18
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CEANOTHUS THYRSIFLORUS-California Lilae-Six to eighteen feet high; horders of forest; wood hard, makes good fuel; flowers fragrant and handsome.
C. PAPILLOSUS-Resembles the last; not quite as large; six to ten feet high.
C. INCANUS-Hardly a tree, but a large, straggling shrub along ereeks.
C. CRASSIFOLIC'S-Six to twelve feet high.
STAFF-TREE FAMILY.
EUONYMUS OCCIDENTALIS-Spindle Tree-Eight to fifteen feet high; Dot abundant.
MAPLE FAMILY.
ÆSQUEUS CALIFORNICA-Buckeye, Horse Chestnut-Ten to thirty feet high. A really bandsome and ornamental tree when properly trained.
ACER MACROPHYLLUM-Big Leaved Maple-Fifty to ninety feet high; wood soft hut valuable.
NEGUNDO CALIFORNICUM-Box Elder-Fifty to sixty feet high; ahundant.
SUMAC FAMILY,
RHUS DIVERSILONA-Poison Oak-From a small shrub, three or four feet high, to quite a tree, twenty to thirty feet high, and six inches in diameter. A great pest on account of its poisonous qualities.
PULSE FAMILY.
LUPINUS ARBOREUS-Tree Lupine-Four to ten feet high, with a variety of fragrant flowers. Serves as an excellent wind- break.
ROSE FAMILY.
PRUNUS ILIOIFOLIA-Wild Cherry-An evergreen, fifteen to forty feet high.
NUTTALLIA OERASIFORMIS-Oso Berry-Two to fifteen feet high. HETEROMELES ARBUTIFOLIA-Photinia-Four to twenty feet high, with heantiful red berries, ripening in December.
AMELANENIER ALNIFOLIA-June or Service Berry-Eight to twenty feet; berries edible.
ADENOSTOMA FASCICULATUM-Chaparral, Chemissal-Eight to twenty feet high.
CURRANT FAMILY.
RIBES SPECIOSUM -- Wild Currant-Six to ten feet high; has beau- tiful Fuchsia-like flowers.
R. SANGUINEUM-Growing to be a small tree, twelve feet high; beautiful flowers.
DOGWOOD FAMILY.
CORNUS NUTTALLII-A small tree, twenty feet high ; resembles the " Flowering Dogwood " of the East, but more showy; northern part of county.
C. CALIFORNICA-On stream banks; ten to fifteen feet high.
HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY.
SAMBUCUS GLAUCA-Elder-Grows to he quite a tree, ton to thirty feet high, and often a foot or two in diameter.
COMPOSITE FAMILY.
Of this very large family of plants, so abundantly represent- ed in this county, only one or two assume anything like the proportions of a tree.
BIGELOVIA ARBORESCENS-A shrub fonr to eight feet high, but growing with the babit of a tree, on dry bills, with Pines and Manzanitas.
BACCHARIS PILULARIS-Groundsel Tree-The California Botany says, "two to four feet high," we bave it eight to twelve feet high.
HEATH FAMILY.
ARBUTUS MENZIESSII-A handsome tree, ealled " Madrona " by the Spaniards, because it resembles the Strawberry Tree of the Old World. One of our most attractive trees.
ARCTOSTAPHYLOS TOMENTOSA-Manzanita-Six to twelve feet high; berries abundant, edible.
A. ANDERSONII-A small tree, ten to fifteen feet high. So far only found in vicinity of " Big Tree Grove," near Santa Cruz, by the author of this paper, but probably will be found in Monterey county.
RHODODENDRON CALIFORNIOUM-The California Rhododendron is a beautiful shrub or small tree, six to eight foet high.
R. OCCIDENTALE-Azalea-Ten to fifteen feet bigh, flowering all the year, giving fragrance and beauty to the woods; every- where about springs.
LAUREL FAMILY.
OREODAPHNE CALIFORNIOA-Bay Troe or Mountain Laurel-A valuable tree for cabinet and furniture work, thirty to one hundred feet high, and one to three feet in diameter. Beau- tiful for inside finish of houses,
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LIST OF THE TREES, FLOWERS, AND PLANTS.
PLANE TREE FAMILY.
PLATANUS RACEMOSUS-Sycamore or Buttonwood-In valleys hordering the coast; fifty to one hundred feet high; wood valuable, receives a good polish; durable.
OAK FAMILY.
QUERCUS LONATA-White Oak-On open mountain spaces; tim- ber useful; fifty to seventy feet bigb.
Q. AGRIFOLIA-Live Oak, Evergreen Onk-Abundant; forming groves near the ocean; thirty to ninety feet high.
Q. DENSIFLORA-Chestnut Oak -- Furnishes tan bark of the best quality.
Q. CRYSOLEPIS-Canyon Live Oak-A valuable timber tree, with tough fibred growth; next to the Eastern White Oak.
CASTANOPSIS OHRYSOPHYLLA-California Chestnut-Generally shrnhby, but sometimes fifty feet high. A variety ealled Pumila, shrubhy, on sandy hill-sides; " Cbineapin."
CORYLUS ROSTRATA-Hazelnut-Eigbt to ten feet high, bearing abundance of nuts.
SWEET GALE FAMILY.
MYRIOA CALIFORNIOA-Bayherry or Wax Myrtle-Moist places ; filteen to twenty feet high; evergreen.
BIRCH FAMILY.
ALNUS VIRIDIS-Alder-The charcoal of this tree is used exten- sively in powder manufacture.
WILLOW FAMILY.
SALIX BIGELOVII-Bigelow's Willow-Ten to fifty feet high; common.
S. LASIANDRA-Shining Willow-With preceding; forty to fifty feet high.
S. LÆVIGATA-Smooth Willow-With the preceding; a hand- some tree, especially when in bloom; twenty to forty feet high.
S. SITCHENSIS-Sitka Willow-Has a beautiful silky leaf under- neath; near the running streams; ten to fifteen feet high; generally reclining.
S. BRAOHYSTCHAYS-On hill-sides, where the male plant lights np the borders of openings with white, woolly entkins, early in February; eight to twenty feet high.
POPULUS MONILIFERA-Cottonwood, Poplar-Large trees along the creeks; there are probably two or three species, as yet not fully decided.
PINE FAMILY.
PINUS INSIONIS-Monterey Pine-Well known as the most com- mon cultivated Pine; of rapid growth, reaching sixty feet high in a few years. Only found about the Bay of Monterey.
P. TUDEROULATA-Knotty Pine-A handsome little Pine, forty to sixty feet high, with symmetrical clusters of eones.
P. PONDEROSA-Yellow Pine-High, sandy ridges; a valuable timber, reaching one hundred feet in heigbt.
ABIES DOUGLASII-Douglass Spruce-Next to the Redwood in size and value for lumber.
SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS-Redwood-Sometimes reaching three hundred feet in height.
TORREYA CALIFORNICA-Nutmeg Tree-A valuable timber. The nuts are not like tbe Nutmeg, except in appearance, out- side. The meat is edihle, but tbe squirrels usually get it; grows fifty to eighty feet high, and two or three feet in diameter.
TAXUS BREVIFOLIA-Western Yew-Rare; thirty feet higb. At Laguna Falls.
CUPRESSUS MAOROOARPUS-Monterey Cypress-Very abundant; in cultivation as an ornamental tree; thirty to one hundred feet higb. Nowhere in the world as yet found save ahont this bay, and more fully described elsewhere.
Other trees may be discovered. The recesses of valley and mountain have not all been explored, as yet, by the botanist and it is likely many additions to the flora of this region will be made.
FLOWERING PLANTS.
The herbaceous flowering plants are so numerous that we can only speak briefly of the members of a few families.
The buttercups are represented by the Ranunculus Califor- nicus, which, during the whole year, may be seen with its yel- low flowers, in moist, grassy places.
A clematis may be seen climbing over trees and bushes along our crecks. When the white, silky flowers are gone, the fruiting, with its long, white tails (one to two inches), gives the trees over which it twines, a beautiful appearance during the winter months.
We have the little "wind flower," Anemone Nemorosa, so much loved in the East. With us it grows larger, and none the less beautiful.
The columbine, Aquilegia truncata, has a beauty not inferior to any of its relatives, and the larkspurs, of which there are four or five species, all perennial, have great beauty.
Of the barberries, we have three or four shrubby plants, all worthy members of that family. Some are used in medicine, and others have berries not unpleasant to eat.
The poppy family is represented by three or four beautiful species, worthy of cultivation, the Eschscholtzia and two species of Plutystigma being among them.
There are four species of beautiful violets, three in the woods and one in the fields.
Two species of " Spring Benuty," Claytonia, are found in abundance. Also a beautiful mallow flowering early in the spring in fields, quite attractive, and among the first spring flowers.
The lupines are numerous, nnd nearly all haudsome-about ten species of the forty to fifty belonging to California. We have also n large proportion of the clovers-ten out of the twenty-six credited to California. Many of them are showy and singular in shape; besides, they furnish good forage for horses and cattle. We cannot say as much for the lupines. Wild peas abound, and cattle get l'at on them in the mountain ranges.
91
A BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL FLORAL SCENE.
WILD FLOWERS AND VINES,
Two wild roses, one in the woods, and the other on the open lands, are found. They are both very fragrant, both heautiful, but not as showy as cultivated roses,
Evening primroses, two or three members of the family, are well worth cultivation, especially Zauschneria, Clarkia, one or two species of Enothera and Godetia,
Twining over trees and undergrowth, there is a vine some- what like a cucumber. It is Megarrhiza, commonly known as " Big Root." It bears a fruit about the size of a peach, covered with prickles. Often the root is twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, and four or five feet long, whilst the vine may be fifty feet long,
Another vine, often found with the above, is a convolvulus (C. occidentalis). It has white flowers, large and handsome.
Conspicuous along the shaded streams and moist hill-sides, are several species of the " Monkey Flower," Minulus Douglasii, M. lutens, M. moschatus (the musk plant), and on dry grassy hills, the M. glutinosus, With the latter, and about moist cliffs, the Collinsia bicolor grows. This has a beautiful flower, and is often cultivated.
THE SEA MOSSES,
But if we choose a different scene, we may find it in all its strangeness on our beaches at low tide. There we shall, at all seasons, find abundance of sea plants-the algo. The coasts abound in the greatest variety of sea moss, aud other marine plants. First of organic forms, these grew in the sca, when there was no place for the flora of the land. These are the pioneers of the vegetable kingdom, the first-born of creation. They deserve our especial and particular attention, not only for the beauty that many species possess, but as coming more directly from the Creative hand, in that day when the waters were commanded to " bring forth abundantly."
There are sixteen genera and forty-three species of ferns in California. Further discoveries will doubtless increase the number; while it is likely some few species mentioned may not hold good, but come within other specific limits.
RAIN-FALL AT DIFFERENT POINTS,
The rain-fall is more on the coast than in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys in the same latitudes.
The rain-fall in Monterey and Salinas is greater than in Hollister and very much less in the great valley east. Soledad and Tulare have the same latitude. Soledad gets a mean of 8.07 inches and Tulare 4.83, In addition to this, the coast gets fogs and increased cloudy weather, which prevents evap- oration. Ten or twelve inches of rain will produce a erop of cereals on the coast, when the same amount iu the San Joaquin valley, unless very favorably situated, would result in failure.
With the first rain, usually in October, plant life starts anew,
or, rather, the old are refreshed, and flower buds, checked by the dry weather, burst and come into bloom. Grass springs up, aud the hills begin to be green. It is rather the waking up from a long summer sleep, for not until the first of February can we say that spring really begins. Then the new buds begin to swell and open with the warm days and the bountiful rains that have fallen.
These rains may come in December, January, or February; and until they do come, the earth, in the districts not covered with timber, is brown, The grass continues green until June, when it begins to dry up and turn yellow and brown, which colors then predominate in the landscape until the rains come again. The death of the grass, except at high elevations, is not caused by the cold, but by the drouth; and in those months when the prairies of Indiana and Illinois are covered with snow, the valleys of California are dressed in the brilliant green of young grass; and every now and then you come upon great tracts resplendent with the most royally gorgeous of wild flowers.
Of wild flowers there are a great variety and abundance in California, and they have their different seasons for blooming; and in canons where the soil is always moist, flowers may be seen in every month of the year, In the spring-time the hills are frequently covered with them, and their red, blue, or yellow petals hide everything else. Each month has its flowers, In March the grass of a valley may be hidden under red, in April under blue, and in May under yellow blossoms.
A BEAUTIFUL SCENE.
In March or April, in May or June, whenever we choose to look, there is a glow of bright colors on fields and hill-sides, The air is perfumed with a pleasant fragrance, There is such a profusion of flowers, we cannot count them. The lupine, the orthocarpus, grindelia, wyethia, erithichium, bæria and malva- strum, and others too numerous, but not unworthy to mention, mingle their colors and fragrance, and we stand enchanted in a field of beauty, Botanical names and terms are but luggage to worry and perplex. We forget it all, and only feel and know the charm that surrounds us.
Or if we go to the woods in the summer time, after the fields begin to brown with age and ripeness, and find some shady brook passing under the alders, the bay trees, the pines and the oaks, we shall enjoy the scene with no less fervor. Here are the ferns, a numerous family, the wood mosses and the licliens. Here are lilies, saxifrages, equisetae, orchids, sedges, holy grass and liverworts. The birds serenade us from the tree-tops, aud the brook sings a song of content as it goes joyfully towards the sea. We will not try to entice the trout from their native element, because they are more beautiful there than in our fish basket. Let us fill the latter with treasures of the floral king- dom for our home decorations,
92
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS IN THE COUNTY.
Geological Formations Around Monte- rey Bay.
THE Santa Lneia range of mountains may be said to have its northern terminus at Point Pinos. There are many places in this range with an elevation of fifteen hundred feet. Some points may reach even four thousand feet. The central axis is probably formed of granitic rock similar to that at Point Pinos.
The chart to be found on the next page shows a section of all the ranges, as they would appear if all the groups of form- ations were present at one place in their natural order. But this seldom occurs. These formations are very much broken and disturbed, presenting a great variety of structures.
EXPLANATION OF GEOLOGICAL MAP.
1. Soil and Alluvium .- As might be predicted from the rocks and vegetation of which this is the debris, this formation is exceedingly rich for agricultural uses. It is present, and covers a large portion of this region. The higher hills and valleys are not deficient, as a general rule, in depth of soil, and in some of the many little basins it reaches a depth of fifteen to thirty feet, deep enough to hold and support groves of immense trees.
2. Conglomerate .- This is a deposit of boulders, shale, clay, sand, and fragments of all the lower strata, worn and loosely cemented with calcareous matter. It was deposited when most of these mountains were under water. We find in it evidence of floods and washings of the sea. The fossils are fragments of wood, bones, mostly of marine animals, shells of mussels and other mollusks, turtles, such as we find now in our creeks, with occasional impressions of sea-weeds. It has no regular thick- ness. Sometimes found piled up against other rocks in deposits thirty to forty feet thick.
3. Bituminous Shale .- This is the " chalk rock." It varies from a white to a dark color, from a very fine to a coarse text- ure, and from a softness that crumbles between the fingers, to a flinty hardness that withstands the hardest steel. In it are concretions of very hard sandstone, in which we find bones of marine animals, such as whales and seals. Occasionally there :are bede of lignite, an impure kind of coal, three or four feet thick. Some of this coal is of good quality, and may prove waluable some day. We find small smooth pebbles, beds of sbells and other remains of animals and plants, all marine as far as our discoveries exteud. In the white and gray chalky beds we find microscopic remains of diatoms, sponges, and other organic structures. In fact, most of this formation is the debris of these microscopic beings. Also, we find asphaltum oozing
from minute crevices, especially in the flinty shale. This form- ation took place under the water at the time when the Santa Lneia range was near the level of the sea. In some places it is metamorphosed.
4. Sandstone .- This differs but little from the shale, except in the quantity of sand contained therein. It is not very firmly cemented, and mixes more or less with the shale in alternating layers. The fossils are pretty much the same as those in the shale. In places it is saturated with petroleum, which seems to enter by capillary attraction from springs, the source of which remains a mystery. These deposits have been worked for petroleum without much success, but will doubtless somne day become available for some useful purpose.
5. Limestone .- This formation, quite limited, is more or less metamorphic, and the rock is crystalline. For economical pur- poses, the lime is of the very best quality, and when properly selected serves as an excellent building material, and is easily worked. In quantity it is amply sufficient for all the demands of future ages. No fossils, as far as I know, have been found in it, yet it is possible that some exist in places, and may be discovered. It is not in distinct horizontal strata, but generally in masses, as though it had been thrown into heaps when in a semiplastie state, by the upheaval of the nnderlying forma- tions. It gradually runs into the metamorphic, on which it is superimposed.
6. Metamorphic .- This formation is of varied composition. Originally stratified, it is now broken and thrown into endless confusion. There are alternations of granite, quartz, slates, limestone, gneiss, etc. It is the most prevalent rock of these mountains, eropping out and occupying a large portion of the area. It contains irou, gold, copper, quicksilver, and probably in places serves as basins for holding petroleum. I apprehend that the real economic value of this formation in these mouut- ains is hut little appreciated or known as yet, not having received that study and investigation it seems to require.
7. Granite .- Only in a few places have we discovered a strictly granite formation, or what might be termed a formation distinctly igneous in its origin. Even the granite that we find in these mountains has probably at some period been stratified, although nearly all traces of stratification have been lost. Where it is exposed it crumbles readily, being disintegrated by exposure to water and winds for many centuries. It is prob- able that the exceedingly pure white sand found so abundantly between Point Pinos and Cypress Point, and which is now exported for the manufacture of glass, is derived from some portions of this rock section. In the process of crystallization the forms of silex crystals beeame very small and uniform in size.
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ALMOND ORCHARD" RESIDENCE OF M. SAN PEDRO, 3 MILES NORTH OF HOLLISTER SAN BENITO CO. CAL.
RESIDENCE OF H.W. COTHRAN, 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF HOLLISTER, SAN BENITO CO. CAL.
93
REMARKS ON THE VARIOUS FORMATIONS.
GENERAL REMARKS ON OEOLOGY.
The age of these stratified rocks belongs to the Pliocene and Miocene Tertiary, as indicated hy the fossils, some forty or fifty per cent of which belong to species now living in the adjacent waters. On the ocean side the formation is more recent than on the eastern slope. There the age gradually approaches the Cretaceous period, which is well marked in the Mount Diablo range further eastward.
The stratified rocks which join the granite of Point Pinos are of tertiary age, aud are composed of fine materials, such as elay and minute grains of sand, closely impacted together, resem- bling half-burned crockery-ware, showing that the granite rocks have been heated since this tertiary deposit. The rock is suffi- ciently tough to use for building purposes. The old Mission church is constructed of it, and has withstood decomposition remarkably well. The microscopie remains show that some of them could only have grown in shallow water.
Conglomerate rocks are to be seen on both the northeru and southern shores of Carmel bay. At Pebbly Beach, three or four miles east of Cypress Point, the conglomerate are nearly on a
STRATA OF CORRA DEL TIERRA.
In the neighborhood of the "Corra del Tierra," the rocks contain fine fossil-bearing strata.
The lowermost being an average thickness of five feet, and containing remains of at least five mollusks.
Next above is very soft sandstone, and many univalve shells, of the type of barnacles, in strata three feet in thickness.
The third above this is strata in some places sixty feet thick, almost entirely made up of easts of unios and pectens in " dog- tooth spar."
In the fourth described stratum there exists a layer of red- dish sandstone, one and a half feet in thickness, containing remains of two of the above bivalves.
The fifth aud last is what is called "chalk rock " by the farmers. It is, however, simply hardened elay. The rock is white, with a conchordal fracture, of light specific gravity. In the tertiary epoch, when this elay rock was soft elay grow- ing in thickness from the overlaying sea, many shells of turre- tilla hecame imbedded in it. Afterwards it was subject to many upheavals and disturbances, which produced many fraet-
1000 ft.
4. Sandstone.
6000 ft.
1. Soil and Alluvium.
5. Limestone.
2. Conglomerate,
6. Metamorphic.
3. Shale.
1
2
4000 ft.
PACHECO PEAK .- 3.600 FT.
3000 ft.
4
2000 ft.
5
Diable
284 Fr.
Range of
Gabilan Range of Y'ountains.
SALINAS CITY.
44 FT-
G
1000 ft.
7
Mount ains.
IDEAL SECTION OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS EXPLAININO GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
level with the sea, resting on the granitic. At Point Lobos, on the south side of Carmel bay, these rocks are firmly cemented, so as to withstand the beatings of the ocean. It is difficult to detach a single rock from the mass. Several small islets of this rock rise from the water a short distance from the point, and are frequented by vast numbers of sea-lions.
FORMATION OF POINT LOBOS.
One side of the point is composed of granite; on the other, sandstone and amygdaloid predominate. The latter is a pecu- liar mass of conglomerate of quartz, pebbles and other minerals, cemented together by igneous action. The strange and gro- tesque forms into which it has been worn by the action of the elements are in themselves a great curiosity. The natural aquariums of light green pellucid water, left by the retreating tide. are full of sea-urchins, shells, delicate anemones, and small fish of various kinds. The castle-like rocky hill on the point will repay the trouble of climbing it. Nowhere on the coast ean such magnificent scenery be found as at this point. Here, too, is the home of the Monterey eypress.
ures, and a variable dip in the stratum of from twelve to forty degrees.
There are, as one might suppose from the geological charac- ter of these mountains, a large number of mineral springs, all possessing more or less good medicinal qualities, according to proper judgment in their use.
The remarkably pure and white sand must prove a valuable resource some day in the manufacture of glass. The deposits of lime, clay aud cement, in various parts of the county, together with other minerals, known and unknowu, which abound in so diversified and fruitful a region, must serve as an inducement to settlers, in addition to the many rich agricultural valleys and plains, to seek homes, health and fortunes, in a county so favored.
Thus I have enumerated some of the resources of this region, south of Monterey bay, and tried to incidentally hint at their employment and development. A country so richly endowed with plants, soils, minerals, waters, elimate aud scenery, must he unusually attactive. And whether a person is sick or well, rich or poor, there are strong inducements to seek a spot here, suitable to taste and conditions, and make that place a home.
.
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS. 5,500 FT.
6000 ft.
7. Granite.
FREMONT PEAK-3,400 FT.
PACIFIC OCEAN
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A WONDERFUL VARIETY OF CLIMATE.
Temperature and Comfort.
TEMPERATURE bas much to do with our comfort and health. It 'is true that man may live in almost any climate on our globe hy the aid of clothing, shelter, food, and other artificial heats. But it is certainly more pleasant and conducive to lon- gevity to live in a climate where the minimum of such aids are necessary; where it is not required to spend one-half the year in preparations to keep from freezing and starving the other half.
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