Chapter IV: Part 4

Although this name, not being of Spanish or Indian origin, is not properly included in these pages, its close relationship to San Francisco, and its position as the gate-way to the entire state, will not permit it to be passed by.

In view of the comparatively recent origin of the name, 1844, and the accessibility of the story, it seems strange indeed that any writer should have advanced the theory that the Golden Gate received its name from Sir Francis Drake, yet this wholly unfounded explanation has found its way into print. In the first place, it has been pretty thoroughly established by historians that Drake never saw the inner harbor, and knew nothing of the narrow strait leading to it. In the report of his voyage, written by one of his companions, we read: “At 38 degrees toward the line, it pleased God to send us into a faire and good harborow, with a good wind to enter the same. Our General called this country _Nova Albion_, and that for two causes;—the one in respect of the white bankes and cliffes, which ly toward the sea; and the other that it might have some affinity with our country in name, which sometime was so-called.” The white cliffs under Point Reyes answer so well to this description that there can be little doubt that Drake’s anchorage was in the small outer bay under that point, now known as Drake’s Bay; to say nothing of the fact that the account of the voyage has no word concerning the great land-locked harbor, with a narrow strait as its only entrance, a circumstance so novel that, as Bancroft justly observes, Drake could not have failed to mention it had he known aught of it.

All discussion of the name _Golden Gate_ is, moreover, brought to an end by the fact that its real author, John Charles Fremont, gives a circumstantial account of it in his _Memoirs_. After an elaborate description of the bay, and its surroundings, he says: “Between these points is the strait,—about one mile broad in its narrowest part, and five miles long from the sea to the bay. To this gate I gave the name of _Chrysopylae_, or Golden Gate; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium (Constantinople afterwards), was called _Chrysoceras_, or Golden Horn. The form of the harbor and its advantages for commerce, and that before it became an _entrepot_ of eastern commerce, suggested the name to the Greek founders of Byzantium. The form of the entrance into the bay of San Francisco, and its advantages for commerce, Asiatic inclusive, suggested to me the name which I gave to this entrance, and which I put upon the map that accompanied a geographical memoir addressed to the senate of the United States, in June, 1848.”

Here we have, told in the somewhat pedantic language of its author, the true story of the first appearance of the famous name _Golden Gate_ upon the map of the world, and instead of its having been “named by Colonel Fremont because of the brilliant effect of the setting sun on the cliffs and hills,” as one writer has fondly imagined, or from any idea connected with the shining metal, which still lay buried deep from the sight of man beneath the mountains of the land, it was born in a sordid dream of commerce. Yet, for so wonderfully apt a name, whatever may have been Fremont’s motive in selecting it, we owe him a debt of gratitude.

There is some disposition to doubt this explanation of the name _Golden Gate_, partly on the ground of a distrust of Fremont’s trustworthiness, and partly because of its far-fetched nature. As to the latter objection it should be remembered that he was that kind of a man. He was possessed of a certain amount of erudition which he was fond of showing off, and this labored method of seeking for a name in the old Greek was quite in keeping with his character. As to his reliability, although it is quite possible that he colored events of a political character to suit his own purposes, in ordinary matters there seems to be no reason to doubt his statements. At all events, the name Golden Gate does in fact appear upon his map of 1848 as he says.

“ ... called by the Indians _Yulupa_, (the place where the sun plunges into the sea.)”]

According to Dr. Vallejo, the Golden Gate was called by the Indians _Yulupa_, pronounced _ee-oo-loo-pa_, which means “near the sea plunge,” that is, the plunge of the sun into the sea, and may be freely translated as the “Sunset Strait.” The suffix _pa_ is said by Dr. Vallejo to signify “near.”—(_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

ALCATRAZ

_Alcatraz_ (pelican), the fortress-like island in the bay, just inside the channel, performs the triple duty of a fortified military post, prison, and light-house. Although but 1650 feet in length, it rises to a height of 130 feet above the water, and in the shadowy light just after sunset, its high, rocky walls, topped by the buildings of the fortifications and prison, make a silhouette against the sky strikingly like a great dreadnaught, standing guard at the harbor’s entrance.

The story of its naming can not be run to earth, but it probably originated in some circumstance connected with the great sea-birds whose ungainly forms may still be seen heavily flapping over the bay, or resting on the island.

ANGEL ISLAND

_Angel Island_, the Americanization of _La Isla de los Ángeles_ (the isle of the angels), belies its name, since it has been devoted to the quite un-angelic business of quarantine station of San Francisco.

Palou, in speaking of the expedition of 1776, says: “They moved to the island which is in front of the mouth, which they called _Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles_ [Our Lady of the Angels], on which they found good anchorage, and going on land, they found plenty of wood and water.”

A story has found its way into print that the island was named “from a miner who once settled there,” the writer probably mixing it up with the name of Angel’s Camp, in the Sierras. What a desecration for our island, with its romantic name of “Our Lady of the Angels,” piously given to it by the Spaniards in honor of the Virgin!

YERBA BUENA ISLAND

_Yerba Buena_ (the good herb), is the name of a dainty little vine native to the California woods, which has an agreeable aromatic odor, and was much in use among the Spanish as a medicinal herb, and to add a pleasant aroma to their tea. Fremont, who, whatever else may be said of him, had enough poetry in his soul to feel an expansive joy over the plant life of this flowery land, describes it as follows: “A vine with a small white flower, called here _la yerba buena_, which, from its abundance, gives its name to an island and town in the bay, was to-day very frequent on our road, sometimes running on the ground, or climbing the trees.” It is said that the Hupa Indians were in the habit of weaving the tendrils of this vine in their hair for the sake of the perfume.

Some talk has arisen of late that this poetic and historic name is to be taken away from our island. Commuters, when you pass it on your daily journey, let your minds carry you back to the day when the delicate tendrils of the little vine waved on the island’s steep slopes, and its sweet scent was wafted on the breeze from the Golden Gate, and do not, I pray you, consent to call it _Goat_!

MARE ISLAND

_Mare Island_, in San Pablo Bay, separated from Vallejo by a strait one-half mile wide, a charming spot with an unpoetic name,—is another example of writers attempting to make difficulties where none exist, and so they would have us believe that the name of this isle arose, like Venus, from _mare_, the sea. Apart from the fact that this labored method of naming places, by seeking in the Latin, was quite foreign to the custom of the Spaniards, it happens that the true story in this case is at hand, and can scarcely be doubted, since it occurred in the immediate family of Dr. Vallejo, who tells it thus: “In early days, the only ferry-boat on the waters near Vallejo and Benicia was a rude one, made chiefly of oil barrels obtained from whaling ships, and propelled by sails. These barrels were secured together by beams and planking, and it was divided into compartments for the accommodation of cattle, to the transportation of which it was chiefly devoted. One day, while this boat was coming from Martínez to Benicia, a sudden squall overtook it, and the craft pitched fearfully; the animals, chiefly horses, became restive, and some of them broke through it. The boat was upset, and the living cargo thrown into the bay. Some of the livestock were drowned, and some managed to reach either shore by swimming. One of the horses, an old white mare, owned and much prized by General Vallejo, succeeded in effecting a landing on the island, and was rescued there a few days after by the General, who thereupon called the place _La Isla de la Yegua_ (the island of the mare).”

An interesting corroboration of this story is found on page 574 of Fremont’s _Memoirs_, where he refers to the island as _La Isla de la Yegua_.

A statue of a white horse would perpetuate the history of this isle in a manner both appropriate and beautiful, in the same way that upon the heights of Angel Island a colossal figure of an angel, or of the Virgin, and upon Alcatraz a great pelican with outspread wings, might be placed to tell their stories. In the old world, many legends of the past are perpetuated in this way, and there is no reason why the equally romantic episodes in California’s history should not be so commemorated, at least in those cases that lend themselves readily to purposes of art.

ALAMEDA

It has been thought that this name may have been derived from the resemblance between Alameda creek, at one time thickly shaded along its banks by willows and silver-barked sycamores, and an _alameda_ (an avenue shaded by trees), but since the primary meaning of the word is “a place where poplar trees grow,” from _álamo_ (poplar or cottonwood), it requires less stretching of the imagination to believe that some such grove of cottonwoods near the creek gave it the name. Fray Dantí, in his diary of the exploration of “the Alameda” in 1795, says: “We came to the river of the Alameda, which has many large boulders, brought down by floods, and is well populated with willows, alders, and here and there a laurel. At a little distance from where the river runs, the tides of the Estuary come.”

“ ... standing like watch-dogs at our outer gate.”]

From the name of an insignificant little stream, _Alameda_ has come to be the designation of one of the most important counties in the state, and of the flourishing city on the east side of San Francisco Bay, nine miles east-southeast of San Francisco. This city was once known as _Encinal_ (place of oaks), on account of the groves of beautiful live-oaks there, nearly all of which have, most unfortunately, been sacrificed to so-called “improvements.” Yet, some fine specimens still remain in the county, perhaps the best being those on the campus of the University of California, at Berkeley, Alameda County. The _encino_ (live-oak), is thus described by Professor Jepsen: “It is a low, broad-headed tree, commonly twenty to forty feet, but sometimes seventy feet high. The trunk is from one to four feet in diameter, usually short, and parting into wide-spread limbs, which often touch or trail along the ground.” This tree has little commercial value, but is highly regarded for its hardy nature, which permits it to flourish in exposed localities along the coast, where no other tree thrives, and for the perennial green with which it adorns an otherwise often bleak landscape.—(Notes taken from _The Trees of California_, by Professor Willis Linn Jepsen, of the University of California.)

LOS FARALLONES

_Los Farallones_, the three small islands standing like watch-dogs at our outer gate, about thirty-two miles due west of the entrance to the bay, derive their name from _farallon_, a word meaning “a small pointed island in the sea.” Although this word is commonly employed by the Spanish to designate such islands, and its use in this case is perfectly obvious, the statement has been made that our isles were named for a certain Ferolla, one of the early navigators, a theory entirely without value.

The Farallones are frequented by multitudes of sea-fowl, which breed there and at one time supplied great quantities of eggs for the San Francisco market. For some twenty years or more the United States Government, owing to the contentions of rival egg companies, has prohibited the gathering and sale of these eggs.

MOUNT TAMALPAIS

“To see the sun set over Tamalpais,
Whose tented peak, suffused with rosy mist,
Blended the colors of the sea and sky
And made the mountain one great amethyst
Hanging against the sunset.”

(_Edward Rowland Sill._)

_Tamalpais_ (bay mountain), is in Marin County, five miles southwest of San Rafael; it rises to a height of 2606 feet above sea level, and dominates San Francisco Bay and the surrounding country, offering one of the most magnificent panoramas of sea and land to be seen anywhere on the earth’s surface. Its name is a compound of two Indian words, _tamal_ (bay), and _pais_ (mountain). The resemblance of the latter word to the Spanish _pais_ (country), is thought by ethnologists to be purely accidental.

Dr. Vallejo has an explanation of the meaning of this word which differs somewhat from the one given by ethnologists. He says it was originally called _Temel-pa_ (near the sea), and was corrupted into its present form by the Spaniards. According to Dr. Vallejo, the suffix _pa_ signifies nearness. (_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

A very remarkable circumstance in the history of this mountain is the fact that it underwent a change of position at the time of the great earthquake of 1906, of course in conjunction with the entire sheet of the earth’s surface upon which it stands. On that occasion, the northeast and southwest sides of the rift slipped upon each other, first carrying the sheet of land upon which Tamalpais rests to the north, then the “springback” carried it back toward the south again. According to the report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission, “As a consequence of the movement, it is probable that the latitudes and longitudes of all points in the Coast Ranges have been permanently changed a few feet.”

So the old mountain, sitting in Indian stoicism, indifferent to the storms that sometimes lash its sturdy sides, the fogs that roll in a white, billowy sea around its foot, and earthquakes that shift its latitude and longitude some feet, has very appropriately received its name from the language of the aborigines who once dwelt at its base.

“ ... like one great amethyst hanging against the sunset.”]

MOUNT DIABLO

_Mount Diablo_ (devil mountain), is an isolated, conical peak of the Coast Range, in Contra Costa County, about thirty-eight miles northeast of San Francisco. It rises 3849 feet above the level of the sea, and is the most conspicuous land-mark in the central part of the state. General M. G. Vallejo tells the following story to account for the name: “In 1806, a military expedition from San Francisco marched against a tribe called the Bolgones, who were encamped at the foot of the mountain. There was a hot fight, which was won by the Indians. Near the end of the fight, a person, decorated with remarkable plumage, and making strange movements, suddenly appeared. After the victory, the person, called _Puy_ (evil spirit), in the Indian tongue, departed toward the mountain. The soldiers heard that this spirit often appeared thus, and they named the mountain _Diablo_ (devil). These appearances continued until the tribe was subdued by Lieutenant Moraga, in the same year.”

If this be the true story of the naming of Mount Diablo, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt it, it is quite likely that the _Puy_, or devil, was one of the “medicine men” who played upon the superstitions of the Indians by pretending to be the “spirit of the mountain.”

It is said by Dr. Vallejo that this mountain was regarded by the Indians as the home of the Devil, called in their language _Pui_, and that the medicine men claimed to be his agents. (_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

SAUSALITO

_Sausalito_ (little willow grove), the diminutive of _sausal_ (willow grove), or, as formerly and officially written, _Saucelito_ (little willow, from _sauce_), is on the west shore of the bay, in Marin County, six miles northwest of San Francisco. This is one of the delightful suburban towns around the bay, where business men of San Francisco have their homes.

MARIN COUNTY

Of Marin County, separated from San Francisco by the Golden Gate, and noted for the beauty of its scenery, we get the story from General M. G. Vallejo. It appears that in 1815 or ’16, an exploring party from San Francisco had a fight with the Licatiut tribe, so-called from a certain root used by them as food, especially in the Petaluma Valley. During this fight the chief was captured and carried to San Francisco, but afterwards escaped, and kept up constant hostilities in Petaluma Valley. He was finally converted to Christianity, and did good service for the whites as ferryman on the bay, and on account of his skill in navigating these waters, they called him _El Marinero_ (the sailor); it is thought that the name of Marin County is a corruption of this word. _El Marinero_ died at the mission of San Rafael in 1834.

TIBURÓN

_Tiburón_ (shark), is on the Marin County shore, opposite San Francisco. It has been facetiously suggested that this name may have been derived from “sharks” of the land variety, but it probably came from some story connected with those of the sea.

SAN RAFAEL

Even in this land, so prodigal with its flowers from its northern to its southern borders, San Rafael, the county-seat of Marin County, fifteen miles north of San Francisco, is notable for the exceeding beauty of its gardens, where the lily and the rose bloom from year’s end to year’s end.

“ ... where the lily and the rose bloom from year’s end to year’s end.”]

Its patron, St. Raphael, “is considered the guardian angel of humanity. He was the herald who bore to the shepherds the ‘good tidings of great joy which shall be for all people’, and is especially the protector of the young, the pilgrim and the traveler.” The “herald of great joy” seems peculiarly fitting as the protector of a place where nature has done so much for the “joy of living.”

The mission of _San Rafael Arcángel_ (St. Raphael the Archangel), founded in 1817, has now disappeared, not a vestige remaining of it.

A spur of the Coast Range in Southern California bears the name of the _San Rafael Mountains_.

BENICIA

_Benicia_ (a surname), is the name of a town in Solano County, on the north side of Carquínez Strait, twenty-eight miles northeast of San Francisco. Its story may best be told in the words of General Sherman, in the following quotation from his _Memoirs_: “We found a solitary adobe house, occupied by Mr. Hastings and his family, embracing Dr. Semple, the proprietor of the ferry. The ferry was a ship’s boat, with a lateen sail, which could carry six or eight horses. It took us several days to cross over, and during that time we got well acquainted with the doctor, who was quite a character. He was about seven feet high. Foreseeing, as he thought, a great city on the bay somewhere, he selected Carquínez Straits as its location, and obtained from General Vallejo title to a league of land, on condition of building a city to bear the name of General Vallejo’s wife, Francisca Benicia. Accordingly, the city was first called _Francisca_. At this time, where San Francisco now is was known as _Yerba Buena_; now some of the chief men of that place, knowing the importance of a name, saw their danger, and so changed the name to _San Francisco_. Dr. Semple was so outraged at their changing the name to one so nearly like his town that he, in turn, changed his town’s name to the other name of Mrs. Vallejo, and _Benicia_ it has been to this day.”

LAS PULGAS RANCHO

_Las Pulgas Rancho_ (the fleas ranch), is near Redwood City. The story of this place, with its unpleasantly suggestive name, although of little importance in itself, is told here for the light it throws upon the manners and customs of the original dwellers in the land. Father Engelhardt, in his _History of the California Missions_, describes their way of living thus: “Their habitations were primitive, in summer often but a shady spot, or mere shelter of brush. Their winter quarters consisted of a flimsy structure of poles fixed in the ground, and drawn together at the top, at a height of ten or twelve feet. The poles were interwoven with small twigs, and the structure then covered with tules, or tufts of dried grass. In some places these dwellings were conical in shape, in others oblong, and their size ranged according to the number of people. At a distance they resembled large bee-hives, or small hay-stacks. On one side there was an opening for a door, at the top another for smoke. Here the family, including relatives and friends, huddled around the fire, without privacy, beds or other furniture. A few baskets, a stone mortar or two, weapons, some scanty rags of clothing, food obtained from the hunt, or seeds, were kept here. All refuse food and bones were left where they were dropped, giving the earth floor the appearance of a dog-kennel. Fleas and other vermin abounded in this mass of filth, which soon became too offensive even for savages, and they adopted the very simple method of setting fire to the hut and erecting another.”

After reading this description, we are not surprised when Father Crespi tells us that, having arrived at a deserted Indian village, and some of the soldiers having rashly taken refuge in the huts for the night, they soon rushed out with cries of “_las pulgas! las pulgas!_” (the fleas! the fleas!). He goes on to say, “for this reason, the soldiers called it the _Ranchería de las Pulgas_” (the village of the fleas), a name borne by the ranch to this day.

La Perouse, in his _Voyage Autour du Monde_, says the padres were never able to change this form of architecture common to the two Californias. The Indians said they liked open air, and that it was convenient, when the fleas became too numerous, to burn the house and construct a new one, an argument not without merit.

POINT LOBOS

_Point Lobos_ (seal point, from _lobo marino_, sea-wolf), is just outside of the Golden Gate, on the south side, near the spot where the seals crawling about on the rocks have long been one of the chief attractions of the famous Cliff House.

SUPPLEMENTARY LIST

_Álamo_ (cottonwood tree), is the name of a place in Contra Costa County, twenty-four miles northeast of San Francisco.

_Alvarado_ (a surname), that of one of the first governors of the state. Alvarado is a village in Alameda County, on Alameda Creek, twenty-four miles southeast of San Francisco. Juan Bautista Alvarado was a central figure in California history. He was born at Monterey, February 14, 1809, and from ’27 on occupied various official positions, including that of governor of the state. Bancroft says of his character and appearance: “In physique Don Juan Bautista was of medium stature, stout build, fair complexion, and light hair; of genial temperament, courteous manners, and rare powers of winning friends. There was much in his character to praise, much to condemn. He was a man of dissipated habits, and engaged in intrigues, but in his favor it may be said that he had more brains, energy and executive ability than any three of his contemporaries combined; he was patriotic and with good intentions toward his country, honorable in private dealings, and never enriched himself by his intrigues. He was not personally guilty of having plundered the missions, only responsible through being governor at that time. The accusations made against him of an unjust policy towards foreigners were entirely false.”

_Bolinas_, the name of a town in Marin County, delightfully situated on Bolinas Bay, eighteen miles northwest of San Francisco. Bolinas is probably a corruption of _Baulines_, an Indian word of unknown meaning. A land grant called _Los Baulines_ was located at the same place, and was probably the name of an Indian village.

_Point Bonito_ (pretty point), is the southern extremity of Marin County, on the north side of the Golden Gate.

_Carquínez_ is the name of the strait flowing between the counties of Contra Costa and Solano, and connects San Pablo Bay with Suisún Bay. The strait is eight miles long, and at its narrowest part nearly a mile wide. All the waters flowing through the great central valley of the state from the Sierra Nevada pass through this strait. According to the scientists the name _Carquínez_ is derived from Karkin, the name of an Indian village in that region, but Dr. Vallejo has another story. He says the commandant at Monterey, who was a man with some classical education, named it from the Greek word _karkin_, crab, because of the report made by the Lieutenant Vallejo expedition of having found a great number of little crabs there. (_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

_Contra Costa_ (opposite coast), so-called on account of its original position directly opposite San Francisco. It should be explained that the name Contra Costa, which scarcely seems appropriate in its present application, was originally applied to the whole of the coast opposite San Francisco. Afterwards the part directly facing San Francisco was cut off to form Alameda County, thus destroying the significance of the name Contra Costa.

_Martínez_ (a surname), is the name of the county-seat of Contra Costa County, and is on the south shore of Suisún Bay, thirty-six miles northeast of San Francisco. Ignacio Martínez was a native of the city of Mexico, born in 1771. He was a military officer under the Mexican government in California, and was _commandante_ at San Francisco from 1822 to ’27. Bancroft says of him: “He was not popular as an officer, being haughty and despotic, but as a rancher he is spoken of as a very courteous and hospitable man. The town of Martínez takes its name from him or his family.”

_Montara Point_ and Montara Mountains are in the western part of San Matéo County. Montara is a surname.

_Olema_, said to be an Indian word meaning “coyote,” is the name of a town in Marin County, one mile from the head of Tomales Bay, and thirty-five miles northwest of San Francisco.

_Pacheco_ (a surname), that of a pioneer family of California. The town of Pacheco is in Contra Costa County, thirty miles northeast of San Francisco. Although Governor Romualdo Pacheco, of whom Bancroft says that “his record as a citizen, in respect of character, attainments and social standing was a good one,” was the most prominent member of the family, the town was not named in his honor, but for Salvio Pacheco, a man who served in many military and civil offices. “He spent his life on Mount Diablo Rancho, on which is the town bearing his name.”

_Pescadero_ (fishing place), is in a fertile valley of San Matéo County, on the coast about forty-four miles south of San Francisco. There are a number of _Pescaderos_ in the state.

_Pinole_ is said to be an Aztec word, applied to any kind of grain or seeds, parched and ground. Of this flour a very appetizing sort of gruel was made. The town of Pinole is in Contra Costa County, twelve miles west of Martínez. It is the site of extensive powder works. See page 239.

_Portolá_ (a surname), is the name of a town in San Matéo County, and was named in honor of the celebrated discoverer of San Francisco Bay.

_Potrero_ (pasture ground), is one of the districts of San Francisco. This is only one of the many _Potreros_ in the state.

_Presidio_ is a word used by the Spaniards in the double meaning of prison or military post. It may be that the custom of using convicts as soldiers, prevalent with the Spanish, had something to do with this double usage of the word. The Presidio of San Francisco, now a regular military post of the United States, although still retaining its Castilian name, is picturesquely and delightfully situated on the north end of the peninsula. There is also a government presidio at Monterey.

_Point Reyes_ (kings point), was named by Vizcaíno in honor of the “three wise men,” or “holy kings,” because it was discovered on the day of their devotion. This point is in Marin County and is the outer point of Drake’s Bay, where the noted adventurer is supposed to have made his anchorage, and where Cermeñón was wrecked.

_Rodéo_ (round-up of cattle). Rodéos were held, and in some parts of the state still take place, for the purpose of separating and branding the cattle belonging to individual owners, an operation decidedly necessary when pastures were unfenced, and in early days one of the most picturesque features of California life. The village of Rodéo is in Contra Costa County.

_San Anselmo_ (St. Anselm), is in Marin County.

_San Bruno_, a village near San Francisco, was named for St. Bruno, the founder and first abbot of the Carthusian Order. This order of monks is among the most severe in its rules, requiring almost perpetual silence of its members. Its devotees are only permitted to speak together once a week. They never eat flesh, and are compelled to labor constantly.

_San Gerónimo_ (St. Jerome), is the saint usually pictured as accompanied by a lion, in commemoration of the well-known story of the removal of a thorn from the foot of one of those beasts by Jerome, and the devotion of the lion to him afterwards. San Gerónimo is the name of a small stream in Marin County, noted for its salmon fisheries.

_San Gregorio_ (St. Gregory), is in San Matéo County, twenty-four miles southwest of Redwood City. St. Gregory was a noble Roman who devoted his wealth to charity, and turned his home into a hospital and monastery. He was elected to the high office of Pope, and became the composer of what is called from him the “Gregorian Chant.”

_San Leandro_ (St. Leander), is in Alameda County, on San Leandro Creek, sixteen miles southeast of San Francisco. St. Leander was at one time Bishop of Seville, and is one of the patron saints of that city.

_San Lorenzo_ (St. Lawrence), was a saint who suffered martyrdom by being roasted on a gridiron. The legend relates that he said to his tormentors, “I am now sufficiently cooked on this side, turn me over and roast me on the other.” San Lorenzo is in Alameda County, twenty miles southeast of San Francisco.

_San Matéo_ (St. Matthew), is the name of a county bordering on San Francisco Bay, and of a town on the west shore of the bay, twenty-one miles south of San Francisco. St. Matthew was a Hebrew by birth, and the author of the book of the Scriptures that bears his name.

_San Pablo_ (St. Paul), is in Contra Costa County, on San Pablo Bay, fifteen miles northeast of San Francisco. One of the legends concerning St. Paul is that “the church called ‘San Paolo delle Tre Fontane,’ near Rome, is built over three fountains which are said to have sprung up at the three places where the head of St. Paul fell and bounded, after being cut off by the executioner. It is said that the fountains vary in the warmth of the water,—the first, or the one where the head fell, being the hottest; the next, or that of the first bound, cooler; and the third still cooler.”

_San Quentin_ (properly San Quintín) is a village in Marin County, on the west shore of San Francisco Bay, eleven miles north of San Francisco. This place, where the forbidding walls of the State’s Prison shut out the light of California’s glorious sun from the unfortunates enclosed there, very fittingly bears the name of a saint whose gloomy story runs thus: “San Quintín was the son of Zeno. He became converted and gave up a high command which he held in the Roman army, in order to preach. He labored especially in Belgium, and suffered death by being impaled on an iron spit.”—(_Stories of the Saints._) It is probable, however, that the town was not directly named for this saint, but received the name indirectly from Point Quintín, on the Marin coast, which was so-called from an Indian chief of that region who had been thus christened by the Spaniards.

_San Ramón_ (St. Raymond), is in Contra Costa County, nine miles east of Haywood. “St. Raymond belonged to the Order of Mercy, and labored for the captives among the Moors. By the Mahometans, among whom he was long a captive, for the ransom of his Christian brethren, his lips were bored through with a red-hot iron, and fastened with a padlock,” an effective, if cruel method of preventing him from preaching the Christian faith.

_Suñol_ (a surname). Suñol is a town in Alameda County, thirty-six miles southeast of San Francisco. In Fremont’s _Memoirs_ he refers to Don Antonio Suñol, probably a member of the same family for whom this town is named.

_Tocaloma_ is a delightful secluded glen and creek in Marin County, not far north of San Francisco, where a hunting and fishing preserve is maintained. The word is Indian, but its meaning has not been ascertained.

_Tomales Bay_ is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, extending southeastward into Marin County. It is fourteen miles long. The village of Tomales is on the bay of the same name, fifty-five miles northwest of San Francisco. The name _Tomales_ is a Spanish corruption of the Indian _tamal_ (bay), a word which came to be applied to the natives in the neighborhood of San Francisco Bay.

_Vallejo_ (a surname), is the name of a place in Solano County. The Vallejos were among the most prominent of the California pioneer families. “The founder of the family was Ignacio Vicente Ferrer Vallejo, born at Jalisco, Mexico, in 1748. He came of a family of pure Spanish blood, and of superior education. The most distinguished of his large family was Mariano Guadalupe, born at Monterey in 1808. Don Mariano served with great ability in various capacities under the Mexican government, and was at one time _Commandante General_ of California. He was the founder of Sonoma, and it was to his untiring efforts that the development of the north was largely due. He foresaw the fate of his country, and finally cast in his lot with the United States, for which he seems to have been but ill-repaid. I have found none among the Californians whose public record in respect of honorable conduct, patriotic zeal, executive ability, and freedom from petty prejudices of race or religion or sectional politics is more evenly favorable than his.”—(Bancroft.)

X

NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO

SONOMA

_Sonoma_, the name of the northern county, and of the town in the beautiful Sonoma Valley, forty-five miles north of San Francisco, is of doubtful origin. It is probable that it comes from Indian, rather than Spanish sources. In the native dialect of that region there is the constantly recurring ending _tso-noma_, from _tso_ (the earth), and _noma_ (village), hence, _tsonoma_ (earth village or earth place). The name was given by missionaries to a chief of the Indians there, and later applied to all the Indians at the mission. From Indian sources it seems there was a captain among them who was commonly called _Sonoma_, but who was known by a different name among his own people.—(University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Technology.)

The name Sonoma is explained in a different way by Dr. Vallejo, who says it was named for an Indian chief called _Sono_, a word signifying “nose,” given to the chief as his appellation because of the very large development of that feature of his face. The suffix _ma_ is said by Dr. Vallejo to mean “valley” or “land,” and thus Sonoma would bear the meaning of “nose valley,” or “nose land,”—(_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

It has been said that Sonoma means “valley of the moon,” in reference to the shape of the valley, but there is probably more of poetry than of truth in this story.

At this place, _San Francisco de Solano_, the last of the great chain of missions, was founded July 4, 1823. The mission buildings have been put in a fair state of preservation and the church has been restored by the state.

“ ... said to have been the cradle of the Suisún race.”]

NAPA

_Napa_ is the name of a county, river and city, the county adjacent to San Pablo Bay, into which the river falls. The town is the county-seat of Napa County, and is on the river of the same name, about thirty-nine miles northeast of San Francisco. The Napa Soda Springs are an interesting natural feature of this place.

_Napa_, accented in some of the old documents as _Napá_, was the name of an Indian tribe who occupied that valley, said to have been one of the bravest of the California tribes, and who constantly harassed the frontier posts. The entire tribe was practically wiped out by smallpox in 1838.

According to S. A. Barrett, in the University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Technology, there is a Pomo Indian word, _napa_, meaning “harpoon point,” between which and the name of the town of Napa there may be some connection.

Dr. Vallejo says the suffix _pa_ signifies proximity, and that Napa means “near mother,” or “near home,” or “mother-land,” and that according to tradition Napa Valley was the cradle of the Suysun race.—(_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

CARNE HUMANA

Among the names of the old Spanish land grants are many that hold a suggestion of interesting and sometimes tragic tales, now lost in the dim shadows of the past. Of such is _Carne Humana_ (human flesh), the name of a grant in Napa County, near St. Helena. This spot may have been the scene of one of those horrible acts of cannibalism to which the Indians of the entire Southwest were quite generally addicted. Captain Fages, in his diary of one of the expeditions to San Francisco Bay, mentions that this practice prevailed among the Indians of that region to a certain extent, but seems to have been confined to the eating of the bodies of enemies slain in battle, and only the relatives of the slayer were permitted to take part in the abhorrent feast.

SANTA ROSA

_Santa Rosa_ (St. Rose), the county-seat of Sonoma County, is fifty-seven miles northwest of San Francisco.

An interesting story is told of Santa Rosa de Lima, said to be the only canonized female saint of the New World. She was born at Lima, in Peru, and was distinguished for her hatred of vanity, and her great austerity, carrying these characteristics to such an extreme that she destroyed her beautiful complexion with a compound of pepper and quicklime. When her mother commanded her to wear a wreath of roses, she so arranged it that it was in truth a crown of thorns. Her food consisted principally of bitter herbs, and she maintained her parents by her labor, working all day in her garden and all night with her needle. The legend relates that when Pope Clement X was asked to canonize her, he refused, exclaiming: “_India y Santa! Asi como llueven rosas!_” (An Indian woman a saint! That may happen when it rains roses!) Instantly a shower of roses began to fall in the Vatican, and did not cease until the Pope was convinced of his error. This saint is the patroness of America, and is represented as wearing a thorny crown, and holding in her hand the figure of the infant Jesus, which rests on full-blown roses.—(_Stories of the Saints._)

MENDOCINO COUNTY

_Mendocino County_, in the northwestern part of the state, is distinguished for its extensive forests of redwoods. The main belt of these trees extends through this county, and they may here be seen in their highest development. They vary in height from 100 to 340 feet, and reach a diameter of from two to sixteen feet, having a red, fibrous bark sometimes a foot in thickness. Notwithstanding their great size, the delicacy of their foliage, which takes the form of flat sprays, gives them a graceful, fern-like appearance. The age of mature redwoods is said to range from 500 to 1300 years. The special characteristics of the wood of these trees are, its durability when buried in the soil, and its resistance to fire. Commercially it is valuable for many purposes, being preferred to steel for water supply conduits, and, in the form of saw-dust, found to be better than cork for packing fresh grapes.—(Notes from _The Trees of California_, by Professor Willis Linn Jepsen, of the University of California.)

Probably the first written mention of these trees occurs in the diary of Gaspar de Portolá, the discoverer of San Francisco Bay, whose attention was attracted to them while on his way up the coast, and from whom they received the name of _palo colorado_ (redwood). Altogether, the credit of their discovery seems to belong to Portolá, although it has been given by some persons to Archibald Menzies, who wrote a description of the trees in 1795.

The village of Mendocino is on the coast, about 130 miles northwest of San Francisco. The name was first applied to the cape, which was discovered by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542, and named by him for Don Antonio de Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain.

KLAMATH

_Klamath_ is the name of a village in Humboldt County, but is particularly known as applied to the Klamath River, which flows in a deep and narrow canyon through the counties of Siskiyou and Humboldt.

The word, in its different forms of _Klamath_, _Tlametl_, and _Clamet_, is the name by which these Indians were known to the Chinooks, and through them to the whites, their proper designation in their own language being _Lutuami_.—(Bancroft’s _Native Races_, Vol. 1, page 444.)

The meaning of the word has not been positively ascertained, although it is thought by ethnologists to be a possible corruption of _Maklaks_ (people, community,—literally, the encamped). The Klamaths were a hardy people, who had many slaves captured from other tribes. The slave trade seems to have been carried on quite extensively among the California Indians.

MODOC COUNTY

_Modoc_, the county in the northeastern corner of the state, is notable as having been the home of the only California tribe that ever caused serious trouble to the United States Government. The Modoc wars are a matter of history.

The Modocs were a fierce tribe of Indians who lived at the head-waters of Pit River, and the name is thought by some persons to mean “head of the river,” or “people, community,” but ethnologists are of the opinion that it means “south people,” probably used by tribes living north of the Modocs. Bancroft, quoting from Steele, in Indian Affairs Report of 1864, page 121, says: “The word _Modoc_ is a Shasta Indian word, and means all distant, stranger, or hostile Indians, and became applied to this tribe by white men in early days from hearing the Shastas refer to them by this term.” It does not appear that Bancroft had any genuine scientific authority for this statement.

Powers, in his _Tribes of California_, states that some persons derive this name from _Mo-dok-us_, the name of a former chief of the tribe under whose leadership they seceded from the Klamath Lake Indians and became an independent tribe. As it was common for seceding bands to assume the name of their leader, Powers is inclined to accept this explanation of the name.

SHASTA

To account for the name _Shasta_, a number of theories have been advanced, no one of which seems to be positively established. According to the Bureau of Ethnology, “Shasta may be a corruption of _Sus-tí-ka_, apparently the name of a well-known Indian living about 1840 near the site of Yreka. The name was applied to a group of small tribes in Northern California, extending into Oregon, who were soon extinguished by the development of mining operations.”

“ ... its summit glistening with snow and visible at a distance of 140 miles down the valley.”]

Bancroft, in his _Native Races_, says, “Shasta was apparently the name of a tribe living about 1840 near Yreka, a tribe made up of several groups. They were a sedentary people, living in small houses, similar to those in use by the Indians on the coast immediately to the west. Their food was made up of acorns, seeds, roots, and fish, particularly salmon. The salmon was caught by net, weir, trap, and spear. Their arts were few. They had dug-out canoes of a rather broad, clumsy type. The bow was their chief weapon, and their carving was limited to rude spoons of wood and bone. Painting was little used, and basketry was limited to basket caps for the women, and small food baskets of simple form. The tribe soon succumbed to the unfavorable environment of the mining camp, and is now almost extinct.... The Shasta Indians were known in their own language as _Weohow_, a word meaning ‘stone house,’ from the large cave in their country.”

“_Shas-ti-ka_ was probably the tribal name of the Shasta Indians. _Wai-re-ka_ (mountain) was their name for Mt. Shasta.”—(Powers’ _Tribes of California_.)

Another theory advanced is that Shasta is a corruption of the Russian word _tchastal_, (white, or pure mountain), and still another that it comes from the French _chaste_, (pure), but it is likely that its resemblance to these words is purely accidental, and that its origin is Indian.

Whatever may be the derivation of its name, there is no question that Mount Shasta, with its snow-capped summit, has but few rivals for scenic beauty among its mountain sisterhood. It is an extinct volcano, with a double peak, and rises to a height of 14380 feet. There are minor glaciers on the northern slope. Fremont says of it: “The Shastl peak stands at the head of the lower valley, rising from a base of about one thousand feet, out of a forest of heavy timber. It ascends like an immense column upwards of 14000 feet (nearly the height of Mont Blanc), the summit glistening with snow, and visible, from favorable points of view, at a distance of 140 miles down the valley.”

On a United States map of date of 1848, drawn by Charles Preuss from surveys made by Fremont and other persons, the name appears spelled as _Tshastl_.

Mount Shasta is in Siskiyou County, and is the most conspicuous natural feature in that part of the state.

SISKIYOU COUNTY

Except that it is of Indian origin, nothing authentic has been obtained concerning _Siskiyou_, the name of the county in the extreme north of the state. Several popular theories have been advanced, one to the effect that Siskiyou means “lame horse.” If that be true the word must have been introduced into the Indian language after the coming of the Spaniards, since horses were unknown to the Indians before that period. Another story, perhaps more pleasing than true, runs as follows: “On the summit of a mountain in Oregon, just over the divide, there is a beautiful, level spot, watered by cool springs, which overlooks the country for miles around. Here the powerful Shasta, Rogue River, and Klamath tribes used to meet to smoke and indulge in dancing and games. They called the place _Sis-ki-you_, the ‘council ground’.”

Siskiyou County is notable for its mountain scenery, and includes within its borders the famous Mount Shasta.

TRINITY COUNTY

_Trinity County_ received its name from Trinidad Bay, which was discovered and named by Captain Bruno Ezeta, on Trinity Sunday, in the year 1775. Trinidad is the Spanish word meaning Trinity.

Trinity River was so-named through the mistaken belief that it emptied into Trinidad Bay.

Trinidad is also the name of a village in Humboldt County, on the ocean shore, twenty miles north of Eureka.

YREKA

_Yreka_, the name of the county-seat of Siskiyou County, is an Indian word, of which the spelling has probably been corrupted, perhaps in a spirit of facetiousness, from the original _Wai-ri-ka_ to its present eccentric form. Various theories have been offered in explanation of the word, but the only one apparently based on scientific data seems to be that it means “north place.” One writer advances the whimsical explanation that the word was formed by the transposition of the letters in “bakery,” but fails to explain what becomes of the letter “b.” This is, of course, but an idle invention.

_Yreka_ is said by Powers, in his _Tribes of California_, to be the Indian word for “mountain,” especially applied to Mt. Shasta. Its former spelling was _Wai-ri-ka_. Here is a contradiction between scientists.

SUPPLEMENTARY LIST

_Agua Caliente_ (hot water, hot springs), a village in Sonoma County, forty-five miles north of San Francisco.

_Altúras_ (heights), the county-seat of Modoc County, 110 miles north of Reno.

_Point Arena_ (sandy point), is the name of the cape on the Mendocino coast, and of the village in that county, 110 miles northwest of San Francisco.

_Bodega_ (a surname), that of its discoverer, Don Juan de la Bodega y Quadra, Captain of the schooner Sonora, who sailed into Bodega Bay October 3, 1775. This bay, and the town of Bodega Roads are in Sonoma County, about sixty-four miles northwest of San Francisco.

_Point Cabrillo_ (a surname), that of the celebrated Spanish explorer, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo.

_Calistoga_, one of those hybrid words of which California has too many. This word was the invention of Samuel Brannan, an early settler, and is compounded of the first syllable of California and the last of Saratoga. It is given here lest it be mistaken for Indian or Spanish.

_Cazadero_ (hunting-place).

_Chileno_ (Chilean, native of Chile).

_Punta Delgada_ (thin or narrow point). See _Punta Gorda_.

_Cape Fortunas_ (cape fortunes). Fortuna is a village in Humboldt County, twelve miles south of Eureka.

_Del Norte_ (of the north), is the name of the county in the extreme northwestern corner of the state.

_García_ (a surname), the name of a creek in Mendocino County.

_Punta Gorda_ (thick or broad point). Punta Gorda and Punta Delgada are adjacent points on the northern coast whose contrast in shape is indicated by their names. See _Punta Delgada_.

_Gualala_, a village in Mendocino County, forty miles west of Cloverdale. This is an Indian word, “probably from _walali_, a generic term of the Pomo language, signifying the meeting-place of the waters of any in-flowing stream with those of the stream into which it flows, or with the ocean. The present spelling is probably influenced by the Spanish.”—(S. A. Barrett, in California Publications of Archaeology and Ethnology.)

_Hoopa_, a village in Humboldt County, on the Trinity River, was named for the Hupa Indians, a tribe on the lower Trinity River. Hoopa Mountain was named in the same way.

_Point Laguna_ (lagoon point).

_Oro Fino_ (fine gold), is the name of a village in Siskiyou County, twenty-five miles southwest of Yreka. This name is in contrast to the place called _Oro Grande_ (coarse gold), in the southern part of the state.

_Petaluma_, the name of a town in Sonoma County, forty-two miles northwest of San Francisco. Petaluma was the name of an Indian village situated near the site of the present town on a low hill, and according to S. A. Barrett the word is compounded of _peta_ (flat), and _luma_ (back), making _Petaluma_ (flat back), but Dr. Vallejo has another explanation of its meaning. He holds that the suffix _ma_ means “valley” or “land,” and that Petaluma is a combination of three Suysun words, _Pe-talu-ma_, signifying “Oh! fair valley,” or “Oh! fair land.”—(_Memoirs of the Vallejos_, edited by James H. Wilkins, San Francisco Bulletin, January, 1914.)

_Pomo_ is northeast of Ukiah. “Pomo was an Indian village on the east bank of the Russian River, in the southern end of Potter Valley, a short distance south of the post-office at Pomo. The word is an ending, meaning ‘people of, village of’.”—(S. A. Barrett.)

_Tomales Bay_ is just north of Drake’s Bay, in Marin County. The word is a Spanish corruption of the Indian _tamal_ (bay).