USA > California > Contra Costa County > The history of Contra Costa County, California > Part 14
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There is another section of the eastern slope that has not been espe- cially referred to, but which is worthy of mention, as its historical ante- cedents date back æons of time, perhaps to that period when the pil- lared ruins of Karnac lay unchiseled in their quarries and the Pyramids were an undeveloped dream in the minds of the Pharaohs. Reference is made to the sand belt commonly known as the "Sand and Live Oak District." The writer has a theory that this district was once a great sand bar covering many sections. Its western apex near Antioch and its eastern near Brentwood, created by the rotary action of water that cov- ered it to a great depth-in fact, an island lake whose waters washed the foothills of the parallel ranges, and extended for three hundred miles in a northerly and southerly direction. That there was a rotary current in this lake, caused by the prevailing trade winds that sweep southward along the eastern foothills of the Mount Diablo range, cre- ating a current strongly accelerated by the inflow of a thousand streams, from the Sierra watershed, extending from Mount Whitney to Mount Shasta, thus forcing a current to flow northward on the east side and southward on the west side. These currents running in opposite direc- tions on each side by the lake received an increasing momentum from the Sacramento and its tributaries, and in its ceaseless rotary action created a great central eddy that deposited its sand and silt and built up a huge middle ground, or sand-bar, which the receding water left bare after cutting its way through the barrier of hills at Port Costa, admit- ting the ocean tides that in their ebb and flow ultimately wore deep the waterway of the Straits of Carquinez.
We allege that the sand plains of Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Ma- dera, and Fresno counties, are evidence of the existence of the great body of fresh water whose waves rolled over them in slowly shoaling depth as the lake gradually receded, spreading the sandy deposits of the streams that were carried far out into the lake, leaving it to be smoothed into level areas miles and miles in extent by the action of the water. Of course, this valley occupied by the lake was created by the upheaval of the Diablo Range long subsequent to the upheaval of the Sierras, as evidenced by the system of dead rivers that came down from the north- west, cross-cutting the Sierras, the broken and distorted channels of
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
which the miner's pick developed, and sections of which are found thousands of feet above the present sea-level. It was the water-worn, smooth gold found in the ravines and gulches, and covered deep in the gravel beds of the hydraulic claims that was spilled from the old chan- nels of these torrential streams when they were broken up and de- stroyed by the later upheaval. The great sand bar in Contra Costa Coun- ty was finally left exposed by the gradually receding lake, its smooth and drifting surface to be eroded by summer winds into mounds and depressions until kindly Nature stopped the process by covering it with a dense growth of unyielding chamisal brush and a fringe of live-oaks. In this condition it was found by the early settlers-the hiding-place of wild animals.
In 1854 Fred Babbe and a party killed a grizzly bear in the chamisal and secured one of its cubs, which the writer saw chained to the tent- stake of Fulton Sanders; and he himself surprised a couple of half- grown California lions near the edge of the brush, and, being on horseback, drove them into a tree. Having no rifle, he spread his saddle- blanket under the tree, supposing that would hold them, but on his re- turn with his gun they were gone; the mother lion, probably being near by, had called them down. And even at this date there was a band of thirty or forty head of cattle, wilder than deer, that found refuge in the brush, venturing out only at night for food and water, returning to their shelter with the first break of dawn. It was exciting sport for a couple of horsemen to conceal themselves in the edge of the brush near the O'Brien place and await the cattle coming in, and, when sufficiently close, rush out and lasso or shoot down a fat two- or three-year-old.
Sixty-two years have wrought a wonderful change in the old sand- bar. There is little evidence remaining of former primitive conditions. In the spring it is an immense bouquet of particolored bloom of fruit- trees and almonds. It is seamed with thoroughfares. A transcontinental railroad furnishes transportation for its many carloads of products, and its industries support the flourishing village of Oakley-one of the most pretentious of all the growing trade centers of Contra Costa County.
THE DOCTOR MARSH STONE HOUSE NEAR BRENTWOOD
CHAPTER XIII DOCTOR JOHN MARSH
BY R. G. DEAN
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY's history would not be complete unless it gave prominence to the man around whose name clusters so much of histori- cal interest-to one of its earlier and most intelligent pioneers-to the man who paved the "way for future empires" and whose acts and ut- terances appear to us to have been inspirational and prophetic. It is to Doctor John Marsh the country, and particularly Contra Costa County, owes a debt of gratitude which it can never repay, even though it in- scribe his name high on the roll of honor and write its acknowledgment in letters of gold into the tomes of history. When the destiny of our Golden State was hanging in the balance, when the question of its re- maining a Mexican province or becoming a part of United States terri- tory was being debated, when Daniel Webster from his seat in the Sen- ate was thundering his stentorian invectives against the confirmation of its purchase, asserting that the "whole country west of the Rocky Mountains was an arid waste that a crow could starve to death to fly over," it was the historical letters of Doctor Marsh addressed to thẻ Honorable Lewis Cass, then Secretary of State, that largely influenced him to close the deal and take over California with its eight hundred miles of coast line. Had he done no more than this, the great service was monumental and deserving of our highest consideration.
Quoting from one of the Doctor's letters, under date of 1846, where- in he referred to the productive capabilities of the wonderful land, he said : "The agricultural resources of California are but imperfectly de- veloped, the whole is remarkably adapted to the cultivation of the vine, olive, and figs, and almonds grow well. It is the finest country for wheat I have ever seen; fifty for one is an average crop with very imperfect cultivation, a hundred-fold is not uncommon, and even one hundred and fifty has been produced." When we reflect that these words were writ- ten nearly seventy years ago, when California was an unbroken wilder-
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
ness ; when these broad plains were the undisturbed stamping-ground of vast herds of elk, antelope, wild cattle, and wilder mustangs; when the only homes were the scattered missions and the haciendas of the cattle barons, and the only commerce a limited traffic in hides and tal- low, we are impressed with the inspirational and prophetic character of the statement, and at once credit the Doctor with being a far-sighted and practical observer.
He had drifted into this summerland of the Pacific imbued, no doubt, with a wanderlust, a love of primitive conditions, and the unrestrained freedom of the frontier, although he had tasted of Boston estheticism and culture, having graduated from Harvard. He knew the country from Yuma to the Oregon line, but, ignoring the opportunity of select- ing a location in other parts of the country, had with excellent judg- ment chosen the eastern portion of Contra Costa for his future home. He had with truly prophetic instinct looked forward to the day when this broad domain would be under the protection of his native flag, when the great watercourses of the State would beat as throbbing ar- teries with life and commerce, when great and growing cities would be planted along their margins, or seated by the Golden Gate, watching the full-freighted argosies of the world riding in imperial splendor upon the bosom of the magnificent bay, represented by every national em- blem. Undoubtedly, he had pictured to himself the incoming tide of humanity, rising higher and higher in the great West, flowing with steady and irresistible sweep across the great plains, until, stopped by the Western ocean, it would eddy and flow back into the valleys, over these "arid wastes," and along the sunny slopes, until California would become a great, populous, and wealthy state.
Hides and tallow, as articles of export, he saw would be relegated to the past and other enterprises and industries engross the attention of the coming multitude. Then the vision of limitless wheat-fields with their "hundred-fold" waving a ripening luxuriance in these fertile val- leys, the vine-clad hills and olive orchards, and caught in the summer wind the fragrance of almond-blossoms. It was no Utopian dream-his prophecy has long since passed to its fulfillment, and its verification jus- tifies the judgment of the Doctor in the selection of his home.
Here, under the shadow of Mount Diablo, in a sequestered spot, shaded by grand old oaks that stand like sentinels, at the very portal of
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DOCTOR JOHN MARSH
one of the most romantic and picturesque cañadas of the State, he lo- cated and builded his home. The building itself is a prototype of the man-grand in its outlines, massive in its manorial proportions, solid as the enduring hills by which it was surrounded. Here he was content to sit down and bide his time when the surging tide of immigration that was eddying around him, turned by natural barriers from its path, re- turned to seek beside himself the advantage that he had considered so fully years before. It came ere he was aware, clamorous for his acres, restricting him to the lines of his original concession.
Then some careless or designing hand scattered wheat upon the soil, and lo! the scene changed as by the touch of an enchanter's wand. Wheat-fields pressing upon and overspreading the limits of his grant were spoken into existence and their yield was indeed "fifty and an hundred-fold." No vision or prophecy was ever more truthfully ful- filled, and at this writing, if the Doctor were alive, he could see the sunlight reflected from the sheen of emerald fields and glinting cottages through clumps of shade-trees that mark the habitations of prosperous cultivators of the single cereal.
More than this, he could see the thriving town of Brentwood on his ranch, with all its concomitants of hotels, stores, business houses, churches, and schools-a smart, enterprising, and progressive people, who have built in the fullest confidence of the future prosperity of this locality. And, if the Doctor so desired, he could see from his own door the passing trains that haul their unbroken cargoes from ocean to ocean, or bear their passengers in hurrying cars to and fro from all parts of the world, and read his daily paper three hours from the press. Probably his greatest surprise would be to see the elaborate system of canals cre- ated and completed for irrigating the beautiful valley and the hundreds of acres of alfalfa to which it has been seeded, and to note the spirit of change that is weaving its silken web over the destinies of the ranch, of which, notwithstanding his remarkable foresight, he could scarcely have dreamed, or its possibilities, as developed by the modern system of scientific farming by the application of water to the soil, to intensify production and render its happy possessor independent of the variable seasons and the drought, thus yielding in multiples beyond the visionary estimates.
CHAPTER XIV
MOUNT DIABLO
MOUNT DIABLO deserves and shall have a special chapter all to itself. Occupying almost the exact center of Contra Costa County, this moun- tain is one of the most conspicuous landmarks of the State. Its prom- inence arises not from its size-for it is but 3896 feet in height-but from its isolation. It is the only peak of any prominence in Contra Costa County, rearing its head above all the surrounding hills.
Whence arose the name Mount Diablo? The following version was given in a report to the legislature in 1850, by General Vallejo, that ex- cellent authority on Californiana, quoted in a previous chapter :
"In 1806 a military expedition from San Francisco marched against the tribe 'Bolgones,' who were encamped at the foot of the mount; the Indians were prepared to receive the expedition, and a hot engagement ensued in the large hollow fronting the western side of the mount; as the victory was about to be decided in favor of the Indians, an un- known personage, decorated with the most extraordinary plumage, and making divers movements, suddenly appeared near the combatants. The Indians were victorious, and the incognito (puy) departed toward the mount. The defeated soldiers, on ascertaining that the spirit went through the same ceremony daily and at all hours, named the mount 'Diablo,' in allusion to its mysterious inhabitant, that continued thus to make his appearance until the tribe was subdued by the troops in com- mand of Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga, in a second campaign of the same year. In the aboriginal tongue 'puy' signifies 'evil spirit'; in Spanish it means 'diablo,' and doubtless it signifies 'devil' in the Anglo-American language."
Referring to Mount Diablo, in the same report General Vallejo said : "It was intended so to call the county, but both branches of the legisla- ture, after warm debates on the subject (the representatives of the county opposing the said name), resolved on the less profane one of 'Contra Costa'."
James S. yBook
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MOUNT DIABLO
There are at least half a dozen other legends woven around Mount Diablo. A tale which is said to have been culled from the archives of one of the old missions is about as follows : When, in 1769, the Spanish padres came to found missions among the aborigines, the Indians brought them gifts of gold nuggets from a high mountain not far from San Francisco Bay. This peak, according to their traditions, had once belched forth fire and smoke. The padres, fearing that gold might prove "the root of all evil" to these primitive people, determined to forestall further search for the precious metal. Secretly poisoning all the gold in their possession, the padres placed it in a tub of water, from which they bade the Indians make their dogs drink. When all the dogs died the superstitious fear of the Indians was aroused and they were diverted from using gold as a medium of exchange and never again sought it in the mountains. Thenceforth the mountain from which the gold was ob- tained became known as Monte Diablo, or Devil's Mountain.
Still another story comes from the pen of Bret Harte. He relates that the worthy padre from the old mission San Pablo climbed the now his- toric promontory, seeking new converts, or striving in some similar manner to extend the dominion of the church. On reaching the summit he encountered no less a personage than the Evil One himself in the corporeal form of a gigantic bear. Changing from bear to human form in a most disconcerting manner, the demon attacked the padre and all but slew him. When the padre escaped and related his unusual experi- ence, the mountain was named El Monte Diablo.
With one more tale we will leave the domain of legend and take up the later aspects of Mount Diablo. The following account is quoted in full from an early historical work: "The mountain is also said to take its name from a marvelous phenomenon witnessed amongst its wild and precipitous gorges, at a time when, in the language of an old trapper, 'Injuns war plenty and white women war not.' It is related that once, in an expedition against the horse-thief tribes who inhabited the valley of the San Joaquin, as far down as the base of the mountain, the native Californians came up with a party of the freebooters, laden with the spoils of a hunt, and immediately gave chase, driving them up the steep defiles which form the ascent of the mountain on one side. Elated with the prospect of securing and meting out punishment to the robbers, they were pressing hard after them, when lo! from a cavernous opening in
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
their path there issued forth such fierce flames, accompanied by so ter- rible a roaring that, thinking themselves within a riata's throw of the principal entrance to his Infernal Majesty's summer palace, the aston- ished rancheros, with many 'Carajos !' and 'Carambas!' and like pro- fane ejaculations, forgot their hostile errand and, turning tail, scam- pered down the mountain faster than they had gone up. Reciting the ad- venture to their fellow-rancheros on their return, it was unanimously agreed that the Devil and his chief steward had fixed their abode in the mountain and, in compliment to the great original dealer in hoof and horns, they gave the present name of Mount Diablo to the scene of their late terrific exploit and discomfiture. As for the Indians, who, as they declared, all mysteriously disappeared as the flames rose in view, of course the Dons afterwards insisted that they were the favored children of the Devil !"
Mount Diablo was once a volcano. The outline of part of the crater can still be traced, and bits of lava and igneous rock can be found in the cañons from the top of this picturesque peak to the bottom.
The central mass of Mount Diablo is composed of metamorphic sand- stone, and is about six miles long and one and a half miles wide. Large quantities of jasper rock filled with fine quartz are found near the sum- mit. Throughout are found a considerable amount of other minerals, including serpentine and siliceous slate.
In reality Mount Diablo comprises two peaks, which can be viewed to best advantage from the northwest or southeast. The two peaks are about three miles apart, the southwestern peak comprising Mount Di- ablo proper. The other mount is known as the North Peak, and is about two hundred and sixty feet lower than Mount Diablo.
Innumerable oyster-shells and petrified shell-fish, resembling those now found on the shores of the Atlantic, are scattered about its sum- mit, all of which indicate that long ago Mount Diablo occupied the floor of the ocean instead of its present eminence.
The summit of Mount Diablo was selected in 1876 as the initial point for a continental triangulation survey. A station was established by Professor Davidson, of the Coast Survey party, after taking careful measurements to establish a base-line of eleven miles on the plains of Yolo County. The transcontinental survey established an absolutely ac- curate basis for future surveys by the United States.
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MOUNT DIABLO
The view from the top of the mountain is awe-inspiring. A grand panorama, covering not less than forty thousand square miles, or an area nearly equal to the State of New York, is spread out before the beholder. A scope of country four hundred miles from north to south is plainly visible on a clear day. Away to the west is the broad Pacific. To the east the view extends to the very crest of the Sierras. It is an ex- cellent point from which to study the topography of a large portion of California, from twelve to fifteen counties often being visible. The vast interior valley of the State appears like a relief map. The most northern point visible is Lassen's Buttes, two hundred miles distant, and Mount Hamilton, upon which is located the Lick observatory, is discernible in the south. Each time the eye encircles the horizon new scenes and ad- ded grandeur are discovered. Turning again to the east, one beholds the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, with their magnificent rivers. On the south the broad expanse of San Francisco Bay comes into view. Across the bay to the west lies San Francisco, enthroned, like Rome, among her hills, her streets plainly visible. A nearer view discloses Yerba Buena Island, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate. Close at hand is San Pablo Bay and all its inlets. Out upon the Pacific the eye rests upon the Farallones de las Grayles, twenty miles beyond the Golden Gate. Reverting to the north, Martinez, the Straits of Carquinez, Benicia, Vallejo, and Mare Island swing into view. One might multiply this de- scription indefinitely, but the foregoing will suffice as a partial deline- ation of the magnitude of the view from this summit. Those who care to gain first-hand information will find a journey to the top of Mount Diablo distinctly worth while.
Due largely to the energy of one man, R. N. Burgess, a Contra Costa product, the Mount Diablo Scenic Boulevard, now winds to the top by easy stages, and it is not a difficult matter to climb this historic peak. Mr. Burgess saw the wonderful possibilities for home-building in the picturesque vales that nestle about Mount Diablo. He interested New York capitalists, and they invested $1,095,000, founding the Mount Diablo Villa Homes Association, which controls the Mount Diablo es- tate of ten thousand acres. These men say that the next few years will see ten thousand people living in magnificent villas among the shelter- ing crags of old Mount Diablo. Their plans also include an appropriate- ly designed tavern, in which cloisters and stairways will be the domi-
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HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
nant note, clinging to the very top of the mountain. Closely following the contour of the peak, from a distance the buildings will appear to be a part of the mountain itself. Towering over all will be an observatory with a large telescope. To those who gaze through the giant lens the beautiful surrounding country will seem to be close at hand.
And now we will leave Mount Diablo with an observation that pos- sibly should have been made earlier in the chapter-that the grizzled old sentinel was first seen by white men in the remote days of 1772. Father Juan Crespi, friend and associate of Father Junipero Serra, the mission builder, first glimpsed its peak while exploring San Francisco Bay, after that great harbor was discovered from the land side by Don Gaspar de Portola. Father Crespi was accompanied by Captain Don Pedro Fagis, of the Presidio of Monterey.
The late S. J. Bennett, of Martinez, in the late '70s drove the first stage that ever reached the top of this mountain. The road at that time was kept in good condition, the expenses of its up-keep being defrayed with the toll exacted from passengers and teams. Up the mountain slopes on either side were groves of oak and pine, and at times they were green with chaparral. As one continued to ascend, the declivities became more bold and broken. Making up the sides were many wild glens, dark with vines and shrubbery. At an elevation of twenty-five hundred feet was a neat, well-kept hotel, open the year around, with good accommodations for travelers. Parties could leave their teams here, and, if they desired to do so, could make the remainder of the way to the top on foot. However, in the early days there was no difficulty in reaching the summit with a good team. At about five hundred feet from the top was a never-failing spring of pure soft water.
Besides grand old Mount Diablo, there are other peaks of considerable elevation : Rocky Mound, 1921 feet, and Redwood Peak, 1635 feet high, both in the range of Contra Costa Hills; Bushy Knob, 1742 feet, and Gray's Peak, 1921 feet.
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CHAPTER XV
SUMMARY OF THE COUNTY'S RESOURCES
As THE tourist or globe-trotter stands on the deck of the ocean liner passing through the famous portals of the Golden Gate from the broad and trackless Pacific and enters the harbor of San Francisco, his gaze rests upon a high range of hills on the eastern shore of the bay-hills at whose feet cities teeming with the life of commerce and trade have been built. Huge oil-tanks give notice of the location near by of the greatest oil refineries in the West; and the smoke boiling upward from hundreds of tall chimneys tells its own story of the prosperity and commercial advantages which this region possesses.
The eye of the traveler has fallen on Contra Costa County, bordered along its entire seventy miles of water-front with busy factories almost surrounding a prosperous interior region of fertile valleys, vine-clad hills, and well-kept orchards. Dotted here and there are the thriving interior towns, connected by rapid-transit steam and electric railway lines. Along the northern and eastern boundary tranquilly flow the waters of the mighty San Joaquin. Standing guard over all, and towering high above the plain, is historic, romantic Mount Diablo.
Second in industrial wealth and importance in the State, foremost in the production of structural materials, and supplying the finest wines and fruits on the market, Contra Costa County stands pre- eminent among her fifty-seven sister counties. Rapidly overhauling San Francisco, her only rival for manufacturing supremacy, it is only a question of time until Contra Costa shall occupy first place in this field. The manufacturing interests of Richmond alone exceed those of most of the big cities of the coast; Martinez will soon be in the same position, and Pittsburg leads many of the other cities of the State.
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