Exploring the Coast Range in 1850 [pp. 320-326]

Exploring the Coast Ranige in Ad5o.
EXPLORING THE COAST RANGE IN I850.
THE adventurous miners of'49 had roamed
the gold region from Mariposa to Shasta,
and had crossed the mountains to the west
of Shasta and discovered placers on the Trinity. That much the miners knew of the
extent of the gold fields before the winter of
'49 and'5o had closed. The precious metal
then abounded in the streams of the Coast
Range. What were the possibilities of the
unexplored mountain region lying between
the Bay of San Francisco and the Trinity?
Presumably in the long distance of two hundred miles there were a dozen rivers like the
Trinity flowing over golden sands to the
Pacific. That was the way we miners reasoned. Here was an untrodden wilderness
for exploration. The world should know
what it was, and what it contained.
Two days after the fire of the 4th of May,
i85o, which consumed the three principal
blocks of San Francisco, two mule-bestriding
persons might have been seen appareled in
mining style, making their way southward
out of the city, driving six other animals for
packing purposes. We -for I confess to
having been one of the two - could not take
our animals across the bay to Sonoma, on
account of the small size of the vessels plying between the two points of trade, and the
high rates charged for so inconvenient a cargo
as mules. Accordingly we shipped a goodly
quantity of provisions to Sonoma ourselves,
and made the circuit of the bay on muleback.
The Californian of today sees the same
mountains, valleys, slopes, and expanse of
water that we saw on that most exquisite May
morning, on which we set out for a long journev of more than three hundred miles; but
knows little of the freedom from fences, the
universal green on hill-top, slope, and plain,
varied with a wealth of flowers of brilliant
hues spreading out on every side, which
wooed us on and gave delight at every step
of our way.
The air was a joy to breathe. All was life,
liberty, and love.
Was it Sanchez's ranch we passed somewhere in San Mateo County? Was it at
Callahan's we stopped the first night; and
was it near the entrance to the Santa Clara
Valley? Memory, after a lapse of thirtyseven and a half years, may be deceitful.
And yet I must rely upon it wholly, for all my
notes of travel went up in flame and smoke
iwhen an interior city was laid in ashes thirty
years ago.
The second day brought us surprises. We
passed through a forest of mustard near
Alviso, and found a lost Englishman in it!
I had seen a diminutive species of the minstard family in the Eastern States, and had
repeatedly heard the' farmers sarcastically
bless its appearance in their moist meadows;
but here was the kind we had read of, in the
branches whereof the fowls of the air do rest.
We let the Englishman into our quest. The
spirit of it was catching. He joined his fortunes with ours, and added fifty per cent to
our number.
Passing the Mission San Jose we filed
through the cafion and headed for Martinez,
through the valley of San Ramon. The
whole country was covered with verdure,
enchantingly beautiful. A ferry-boat landed
us in Benicia from Martinez, and we urged
on our cavalcade to Sonoma. Those were
days of security and comparative hone'sty.
Going down the creek from Sonomia we
found our provisions nicely packed upon the
bank, where they had been several days. We
camped and prepared for the unsolved mysteries of the unexplored region before us.
In San Ramon Valley we had explained
to a group of Chilenos around an evening
camp-fire on what errand we were bent.
The latent spirit of his ancestors, who came
near overrunning and colonizing the whole
continent, blazed up in one of the party.
He begged to add his amna y cuervo to the
[Afar.
320