Albert S. Evans

“ Daybreak sees us up and making ready for the ascent of the mountain which looms up right before us with its walls of rugged rock, which look altogether impassable. A good breakfast disposed of and we are all in the saddle—no carriage can ascend the mountain—and away up a little valley, dotted with patches of vineyards and young orchards, into a deep, dark canon which leads right into the depths of the mountain. Larks and robins are singing in the black beech and water-maple trees by the roadside, as we gallop along ”

“ About ten o'clock, a ranchero from San Bernardino, who had been out to the new old mines of Arizona with a drove of beef cattle, came up and joined me. His horse, a noble, fine-haired half-breed, far too good an animal to be brought out into this accursed desert to die of heat, thirst and starvation, was so weak that he could no longer bear the weight of his master, and jogged mechanically on, with his eyes closed and his ears hanging down, like two frost-bitten tobacco-leaves, as his late rider limped before him, packing his blankets on his shoulder, and pulling sadly at the halter. ”

“ The road winds up the mountains gently for some miles, then more abruptly, and we presently find ourselves in the midst of dense redwood and pine forests, and breathing the pure resinous air of the mountain woods, with only the well-graded road, and here and there a rough clearing, to remind us of civilization and our fellow-man. The trees where the lumber-man's axe has not done its infamous work stand thickly as the grain in a field,—almost,—and as tall and straight in proportion. ”

“ Up a steep hillside, past tall pine trees, like those of the Sierra Nevada, along a steep, narrow "hog-back" of crumbling, shelvy stone, running through a waste of the bitter, worthless chemisal, a plant which grows only on land too barren to support anything else; then up another sharper and more stony hill, and we pass through a scrubby thicket, and suddenly emerge on the summit of the mountain.
We stand for a moment in silence, looking down on the world at our feet. Words utterly fail to convey the faintest idea of the grandeur of the scene which bursts on our startled vision. ”

“ Now imagine some four hundred people arriving between twilight and dark, the fine carriages, the omnibuses, two-horse teams, four-horse teams, six-horse teams, ox teams, carts and California go-carts, all filled with persons who have the highest expectation of making a big haul. The high piles of dry drift-wood, set ablaze for the distance of five miles, the moon shining with brightest rays on the silver sand and phosphorescent water. Men, women, and children taking their positions at equal distances, awaiting the coming of the fish, which occurs when the tide is on the point of coming in. ”

“ At the lower end of this valley we pass through the thriving, prosperous-looking, young city of Napa, with its grain warehouses on the banks of a navigable creek, and vessels' masts showing over the housetops, as in Chicago. The streets are wide, and the houses, which have a neat and homelike Eastern air, are surrounded with blooming gardens and orchards, laden with red and golden fruit, and vines borne down to the very earth with luscious white, flame-colored, and purple grapes. Napa looks an attractive place for a quiet home, and such its people consider it. ”

“ Of all that mighty host, not more than one in a hundred remains in California to-day. In neglected graves, in the red earth of the Sierra, in the shadow of the cross of Calvary, under the laurel and willows of Lone Mountain, in the great depths of the sea, in the trenches of innumerable battlefields, in far-off Australia or Southern Africa, in Alaska, in Arizona, in Mexico, in Nicaragua, they sleep their last sleep. ”

“ These woods are always beautiful, and the ride, in summer as in winter, in the flush and bloom of spring-time, or in the golden glory of autumn, along the banks of the swift-running stream, under the low-bending evergreen trees, and among the flowering shrubs, always a delightful one. In the summer the giant mountain honeysuckle—a vine which grows into tree-like proportion, twelve, fifteen, or even twenty feet in height—is one mass of creamy-white and delicate pink-hued, trumpet-shaped blossoms, whose rich delicate odor fills all the air. ”

“ All along the banks of the San Lorenzo, you may see where men sunk wells and money in the vain search for oil.
From the summit of a low hill above the Valley of the San Lorenzo I looked down for the last time on fair Santa Cruz, embowered in shade-trees, and surrounded with broad grain-fields and quiet farmhouses,—on the wide blue Bay of Monterey, and the Taurus Mountains beyond,—on the Pacific flecked with the white sails of ships,—and, turning my face regretfully homewards, galloped away into the mountains northeastwardly, towards San Jose. ”

“ Westward the ranges of Las Trampas and Alameda, and over them, the high peak of Tamalpais to the northward of the Golden Gate. Far away to the northwest, where Napa, Lake, and Sonoma counties meet, is dimly discernible the summit of Mount St. Helens. A white mist is on the western horizon, but, even as we gaze, the curtain unrolls and lifts from the scene, and we see the city of the Pacific, proud San Francisco, the Golden Gate, and the blue ocean beyond, aye, even a steamer far out at sea, heading for the portal of the golden land. ”

“ Wherever gold was to be sought for, wildernesses to be reclaimed, suffering to be endured, blood to be shed, they wandered, and fought, and died by thousands. They were a rough set—ready with the knife and the revolver, free-handed and liberal withal to the last degree—rich to-day, poor to-morrow, hopeful always, and game to the last When the placers of California are exhausted, and the-orchard and vineyard cover every hillside, the stories of their reckless adventures and wild career will be repeated again and again, and listened to with interest by every class in the community. ”

“ The summit reached at last, we stop at a roadside inn to rest and "recruit"—gentle reader, if you ever travel in California you will learn what that means—and look back for a few minutes at the glorious panorama of the Bay of San Francisco and its surroundings: the white-winged ships coming and going from and to the uttermost parts of the earth—the steamers treading the blue waters, and the thousand evidences of life and progress developed in a few short years by the indomitable energy of our people on this outer edge of the continent—this western outpost of the Great Republic. ”

“ Placed by the side of Mount Shasta, or the high peaks of the Sierra, Mount Diablo would sink into insignificance, but standing alone in solitary grandeur, he is monarch of the land. No other mountain peak in America, perhaps in the world, commands a view of such wide extent of country and so wonderful and varied scenery; and he who has not ascended to its summit, certainly has not seen and can form no clear idea of California. ”

“ There is no room for two horses to go abreast, and we wind along in Indian file up, up, up, toward the blue sky above us. The bridle-path becomes at last a mere trail—dim and indistinct; but we press on, passing the first peak, and arrive at a point where our horses must be recinched, to prevent the saddles slipping over their tails and dumping us over the precipice, as they go up an acclivity steeper and more difficult of ascent than any we have as yet encountered. This matter of cinching a California mustang is no trifling feat for a green hand to essay. ”

“ When he ascends the Sierra Nevada, on his way to the Yosemite, or climbs farther up to the line of eternal snow, and looks back toward the Pacific, the dark mountain looms up grander and more beautiful than ever, seeming to have increased in size while he has been climbing heavenward, and looming up apparently thousands of feet higher in the blue, hazy atmosphere than when he stood at its base in the valley miles and miles below. ”

“ It seems hardly possible that one of these is the lordly Sacramento, whose waters are thick with the earth from a thousand hills, being washed down by the miners in their search for gold, and on whose bosom is borne the commerce and treasure of the State, and the lands beyond the Sierra. Coming in from the southwest is another winding stream of somewhat purer water, and the eye follows it up through vast, treeless plains to the southward, until the limit of vision is reached, and it glitters in the sunlight on the edge of the horizon like a broken bit of rainbow on a cloud ”

“ As we ride on up towards the summit of the Coast Range, we look down from time to time into narrow little valleys cleared and planted with vines and fruit-trees, and see neat little homesteads surrounded with happy and healthy-looking children, and all the evidences of modest prosperity and contentment on the part of the owners. Then we give the road to monster ox-teams, ten, fifteen, even twenty yokes in a team, drawing huge wagons hitched one behind another, like the cars in a railroad train, laden with redwood lumber going down to the bay for shipment to San Francisco. ”

“ Southward to the horizon stretched a great plain of snowy salt—the grim and silent ghost of a dead sea of the past, which once covered all this accursed land, but being cut off by volcanic changes in the country below from the Gulf of California, dried up beneath the blazing sun of the south, and passed away forever. Across this vast white plain, as across the waters of a placid lake, the moon threw a track of shimmering light so bright as to almost dazzle the eyes of the beholder. ”

“ At the foot of the hills we halt a moment, to rest and water man and beast, then strike into a winding cañon, which leads us up by an easy grade toward the summit of the hills. A little stream of pure, bright water comes down the canon, and, as we splash through it from time to time, we catch glimpses of hares and rabbits scudding away into the chapparal, and the beautiful tufted quail of California rise in pairs and whirr away to the leafy coverts where their nests are concealed. ”

“ There is a little river, called the Aqua Blancho, issuing out of the San Bernardino Mountain, at the San Gorgonio Pass, at the upper end of the valley, and sinking in the sands of the desert soon after reaching the plain. Its waters are pure and cool, but no tree nor blade of grass grows on its desolate banks. From its source in the barren rock-ribbed mountain to its sink in the desert sands, through all its course, it is an accursed river, flowing ever in silence through a land accursed. But after it sinks and is permanently lost to sight, it contributes something to the comfort of mankind. ”

“ Declining the proffered carriage, we walk down a wide avenue into the hotel grounds, see rows of neat cottages stretching away on either hand, with families and groups lounging on the piazzas, telling stories, singing, and mayhap love-making in the moonlight—enter the hotel, dine sumptuously—washing down our broiled chicken, trout and quail with the rich, fruity red wine of Calistoga; and finally, well pleased with the world, ourselves, and mankind in general, retire to our cottage, disrobe, draw the drapery of our couch around us, and lie down to pleasant dreams. ”

“ Coveys of tufted quail rise and whirr away as we gallop on, and rabbits creep into the bushes at every turn in the road. At the entrance of a cañon stands a cottage, shaded by broad, spreading oaks and fragrant bay-trees; and by the door, book in hand, sits a fair young daughter of California, with great brown eyes, as beautiful as those of a sea-lion,—I can think of no more complimentary simile. She tells us that game is swarming, and that there will be rare sport for the hunters after the 15th of September, when the prohibition on shooting is removed. ”

“ The full, round moon was in the heavens, throwing her mellow light o'er all that fairy landscape, as we descended from the mountain height, and in fancy we were once more wandering in the mountains of Sonora, or in the savage deserts of Arizona, masters only of the good steeds beneath us, and trusting only to the mercy of God and the good weapons in our hands and at our saddle-bows for the safety of our lives. ”

“ Of the two hundred and fifty thousand people who glance up at the peak where we are sitting, every day of their lives, not a thousand ever stood where we are standing, and beheld what we behold. And yet people leave San Francisco by every steamer to travel over Europe, or climb the pigmy heights of Mount Washington or the Catskills in search of the grand and beautiful in nature, and the "Colfax party" crossed the continent in search of wonders, and missed the grandest scene of all. ”

“ The summer winds, the curse of San Francisco, have died out, and one can enjoy life once more in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of the Pacific. Brown, and looking as old as the hills on which she stands, is San Francisco, the wonderful city of a day, in her russet coat of summer dust, as we look back at her from the steamer's deck. ”