USA > California > San Benito County > History of San Benito County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, and mines : with biographical sketches of prominent citizens > Part 25
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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 cast. 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 inereasedl eloudy weather, which prevents evap- oration. Ten or twelve inches of rain will produce a erop of cereals on the coast, when the same amount in the San Joaquin valley, uuless very favorably situated, would result in failure.
With the first rain, usnally in October, plant life starts anew.
or, rather, the old are refreshed, aml flower buds, checked by the dry weather, burst and come into bloom. Grass springs up. and the hills begiu 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 hils begin to swell and open with the warm days and the bountiful ruins 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 coll, but by the drouth; and in those mouths when the prairies of Indiana and Illinois are covered with show, the valleys of California are dressed in the brilliant green of young grass; and every now and then you come upon great traets 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 Sven 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 couut them. The lupine, the orthocarpus, grindelia, wyethia, erithichium, breria 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 heauty. Botanical names and terins 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 hegin 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 secue with no less fervor. Here are the ferns, a numerous family, the wood miossse and the licliens. Here are lihes, saxifrages, equisetae, orchids, sedges, holy grass and liverworts. The birds serenade us from the tree-tops, and 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.
122
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS IN THE COUNTY.
Geological Formations Around Monte- rey Bay.
THE Santa Lucia range of mountains inay 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 point- inay reach even four thousand fect. The central axis is probably formed of granitic rock similar to that at Point l'inos.
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 nses. 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, leep enough to hold and support groves of immense trees.
2. Conglomerate .- This is a deposit of boulders, shale, clay, sand, and fragments of all tbe 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 sca. The fossils are fragments of wood, bones, mostly of marine animals, shells of mussels and other inollusks, turtles, such as we find now in our creeks, with occasional impressions of sea-weeds. It has no regular thick- ness. Sometimes found piled upagainst 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- urc, 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 hones of marine animals, such as whales and seals. Occasionally there are beds of lignite, an impure kind of coal, three or four feet thick. Some of this coal is of good quality, and may prove valuable some day. We find small smooth pebbles, beds of shells and other remains of animals and plants, all marine as far as our discoveries extend. In the white and gray chalky beds we find microscopic remains of diatoms, sponges, and other organic structures. In fact, most of tbis 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 Lucia 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 seeins 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 some dlay 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 semiplastic state, by the upheaval of the underlying 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, cropping out and occupying a large portion of the area. It contains iron, 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 mount- ains is but 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 eenturies. It is prob- able that tbe 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 forins of silex crystals became very small and uniform in size.
123
REMARKS ON THE VARIOUS FORMATIONS.
GENERAL. REMARKS ON GEOLOGY.
The age of these stratified rocks belongs to the Pliocene and Miocene Tertiary, as indicated by 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 roeks which join the granite of Point Pinos are of tertiary age, and 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 roeks 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 microscopic remains show that some of them could only have grown in shallow water.
Conglomerate roeks are to be seen on both the northern and southern shores of Carmel bay. At Pebbly Beach, three or four miles east of Cypress Point, the conglomerate are nearly on n
STHAT OF COREA DEL TIERRA
In the neighborhood of the "Corn 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 alove is very soft sandstone, and many mivalve shells, of the type of barnacles, in strata three feet in thicknew
The third above this is strata in some places sixty feet thick. almost entirely made up of ensts of unios aml pectens in "dog- tooth spar."
In the fourth described stratmin there exists a layer of red- dish sandstone, one and a half feet in thickness, containing remains of two of the nlove bivalves.
The fifth and last is what is called " chalk rock " by the farmers. It is, however, simply hardened clay. The roek is white, with a conehordal fracture, of light specific gravity. In the tertiary epoel, when this clay rock was soft clay grow- ing in thickness from the overlaying sea, many shells of turre- tilla beenme imbedded in it. Afterwards it was subjeet to many upheavals and disturbances, which produced many fract-
1. Soil and Alluvium.
4. Sandstone.
6000 ft.
5. Limestone.
2. Conglomerate.
6. Metamorphic,
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINE. 8.500 FT.
1
4000 ft.
PACHECO PEAK -- 3,800 FT-
3000 It
.1
Diablo
HOLLISTER
284 FT
44 Fr.
PADRO OCEAN
sovO ft.
Range of
Gabilsn Range of Yountains.
7
Mountsint.
IDEAL SECTION OF MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS EXPLAINING GEOLOGICAL FOISIATIONS.
level with the sea, resting on the granitic. At Point Lobos, on the south side of Carmel bay, these rocks are firmly eemented, 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 peeu- liar mass of conglomerate of quartz, pebbles and other minerals, cemented together by igneous aetion. 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 nquariums of light green pellueid water, left by the retreating tide. nre full of sea-urchins, shells, delicate anemones, and small fish of various kinds, The castle-like roeky hill on the point will repay the trouble of climbing it. Nowhere on the coast can such magnificent seenery be found as at this point. Here, too, is the home of the Monterey cypress.
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 and cement, in various parts of the county, together with other minerals, kuown and unknown, whieb abound in 50 diversified and fruitful a region, must serve as an indncement 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 and seenery, must be unusually attaetive. And whether a person is siek 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.
3. Shale.
7. Granite.
FREMONT PEAK-3,400 FT.
SALINAS CITY.
100(4 14.
124
A WONDERFUL VARIETY OF CLIMATE.
Temperature and Comfort.
TEMPERATURE has much to do with our comfort and health. It 'is true that man may live in almost any elimate on our globe by 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.
Neither is a tropical climate thic best, as it fosters indo- lenec by an excess of heat, and need of an occasional cold and stimulating air. The tropical climates in addition are usually prolific in diseases, and the atmosphere is rare and humid, pro- dueing and favoring debility.
One would therefore prefer a climate medium in these respects, It should be warm enough and only enough to require but little confinement in doors. There should be range enough in temperature to give variety, and Hot enough to shock the human system by sudden changes of heat or cold, humidity or dryness,
A STEADY TEMPERATURE.
Out-door life here is practicable at all scasons and almost every day in the year. Oppressive heat is seldom felt, and nothing eolder than a slight frost during the coldest mornings of winter. During all the summer months, from April to November, there is steady temperaturc.
To a person who has spent all his life in one place, it is diffi- eult to convey a clear idca of the differonces of climate, and of the advantages of a climate like that of California. One accustomed only to the clouds and showers of Ireland, or to the hot summers and severe wiuters of New York, has no proper conception of the influence of the clear sky and dry atmosphere of the San Joaquin valley, or the cven temperature of San Francisco upon the general comfort. The differences of cleva- tion and latitude give, within a comparatively short distance, all varieties of climate, from sub-tropical to polar.
There are within the boundaries of our State many different climates. At San Francisco, in summer, it is absolutely cold, whilst within three hours' travel by rail, in the interior, towards the San Joaquin, you reach a region where it is, in the daytime, absolutely hot.
Snow is very rare on the coast and in the valleys, and never remains on the ground in the valleys, except in the extreme northern part of the State. The Sierra Nevada mountains above an elevation of 8,000 or 9,000 feet, are generally covered with snow the entire year, and in many mining towns there are several months when snow remains on the ground. Hail rarely occurs in California.
A marked phenomchon of the climato is the comparative absence of thunder and lightning, which rarely occurs, except in tho Sierra Nevada mountains, where thunderstorms arc often as severe as in the Atlantie States. A residence of fifteen years has not witnessed thunder loud enough to disturh one from a noon-day nap. The coast and valleys of California are remarkably and wonderfully free from all violent storms of any nature which occur so frequently east of the Rocky Mountains. Wind, hail and thunder-storins, so frequent in the Atlantic States, never occur herc. Sand-storms sometimes oceur in the southern part of the interior basin, but of less violenec than in Colorado.
THE THERMAL BELT.
There is a warm strata of air in the hills, a few hundred fect above the valleys. This semi-tropical helt varies; in some locations it is very marked, and in others it is much less so. At night, during the frosty scasons, the cold air settles in the valleys and the warm air rises. At daylight a severe frost may he seen in the valleys, heaviest along the water courses, while in the warm belt, a few hundred fect above-in some cases not more than sixty-the most delicate flowers and shrubs are untouched. The soil on the hills has often great depth, and is admirably adapted to fruit culture. Like tho valleys, the lands are eov- ered only by scattered groves of trees, little of it too stecp for easy cultivation. It is exactly suited for semi-tropical fruit culture; here oranges, lemons, limes, Euglish walnuts, almonds and pomegranates grow well, and yield a certain crop. There are thousands of acres of this kind of land in the foot-hill valleys unoccupied.
The temperature of some of the leading places on this coast, will he found in the following :-
TEMPERATURE TABLE
PLACES.
sca -- in feet.
Hright ahove the
ture for the year
Mean of Tempera-
ture for the cold-l
Mean of Tempera-
Lowest Temperature shown by thermometer in any year.
Sacramento.
301
60.48|
46.21|28-December,
1849
Auburn
1363
60.71
45.88 27-January,
1871
Colfax .. .
2421
60.05
45.4926-January,
1874
Marysville
67
63.62
48.70,27-Decem her,
1876
Chico .
193
62.46
45.1923-December,
1872
Tchama
222
65.20
47.01 23-December,
1871
Red Bluff.
307
66.22
48.29,26-December,
1873
Redding ..
558
64.14
46.7227-January,
1876
Merced
171
63.16
48.1428-January,
1876
Modesto.
91
63.68
47.69 22-December,
1874
Stockton
23
61.99
47.43 21-Deeemher,
1872
San Diego
150
G2.49
53.30 26-Deeeinher,
1854
Los Angeles
457
67.69
58.95 39-December,
1876
Soledad ..
182
59.08
45.2324-January,
1877
Salinas .
44
57.95
48.2524-December,
1874
Holllister
284
61.46
46.53|27-December, 1874
est menth.
RESIDENCE OF
SENATOR
W. J. HILL , SALINAS
CITY, CAL.
HISTORY
OF
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 Salinas 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- erey 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 iniles of the rangeare a system of low mountains, covered athinost 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 southerly boundary of the county, these mount- 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 Governinent land, and at present is used chiefly in the stock business. The Gabilan mountains, in their climate and adaptability, closely resemble the Santa Lucia, and contain immense deposits of limestone, as well as some quick- silver.
The Gabilan range separates the county of Monterry from that of San Benito; the latter having been taken froin the for- mer in March, 1874.
125
126
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 mergel 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 abont one hundred and ten miles to the San Luis Obispo pass. For most all this distance it is rugged mountains aud 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 praks 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 hundreil 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.
Ju 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 iuhabitants in these little valleys is inereasing every year. Higher up the mountains are stoek ranches, and along the sea-coast are mauy fine dairies.
The San Antonio hills are of an entirely bituminous slate, On the Monterey road, the highest point where the road erosses, 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 old 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.
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