Beyond the Rockies; a Spring Journey in California. by Charles Augustus Stoddard

Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard AN AVENUE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEYOND THE ROCKIES A SPRING JOURNEY IN CALIFORNIA BY CHARLES AUGUSTUS STODDARD EDITOR OF “THE NEW YORK OBSERVER,” AUTHOR OF “ACROSS RUSSIA,” “SPANISH CITIES,” ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER's SONS 1894 COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER's SONS To MARY PRIME STODDARD WHOSE COMPANY IN THIS JOURNEY AS IN LIFE's LONGER PILGRIMAGE HAS DOUBLED ITS PLEASURES AND LIGHTENED ITS CARES THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR vii CONTENTS I. SOUTH AND WEST PAGE From Winter to Spring— Plans for Mexico nipped in the Bud— A Raymond Excursion — Virginia and Tennessee —Lookout Mountain — Its Scenes and Memories 1 II. FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE GULF Birmingham and its Activities — Spring in New Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.016 Orleans —Beauty and Business — The Louisiana Lottery — Growth, Enterprise, and Prosperity — Dr. Palmer and his Church 7 III. ALONG THE SUNSET ROAD Louisiana and its Fertile Acres — Bayous and Rice-fields —Galveston and its Beach — Houston and its Boom — Literary Curiosities 14 IV. SAN ANTONIO DE BEXAR The Border Fortress — A Thrilling History — The Alamo and its Defenders — Scenes in the Town — The Jesuit Missions— A Government Post and Evening Parade 19 V. ALONG THE RIO GRANDE Wild and Picturesque Scenery — The Town of Langtry — A One-Man Government — Desert Views — Marathon and its Greeks — Time at El Paso 24 VI. NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA The Town of Juares — Over the Border — Climate and Health — Indian Villages — Sunday at Tucson — Its Schools and University 30 viii VII. ONE OF OUR INDIAN SCHOOLS A Presbyterian Contract — Good Teachers — The Correct Idea of Indian Education — Reports from the Government Superintendent 35 VIII. THROUGH THE DESERT TO PARADISE Cacti — The Colorado River — Yuma and the Indians — Below the Ocean — A California Riddle 44 IX. IN CALIFORNIA Climate and Weather — Varied Productions — Inhabitants — Riverside and its Oranges — Horticulture and its Results 50 X. CORONADO BEACH A Narrow Escape — Fine Weather — A Luxury to live — Acres of Wild Flowers — Beauty on Sea and Shore — Comfort and Good Company — Excursions — Blue Presbyterianism 57 XI. PASADENA Signing Tickets — Breaking a Train in Two — Ocean Views — Meeting Dr. Ormiston — His Good Work — Friends in Pasadena — A Big Rose-Bush — The Crown of the Valley — A Model Town 64 XII. IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY Excursions in the Valley — Lucky Baldwin and his Ranch — Sunny Slope Vineyards — The Old Mission — A Mountain Railroad — Easter Sunday at Pasadena 70 XIII. THRIVING TOWNS Los Angeles — A Flourishing City — Hills and Homes — Redlands and the Smileys — The Boy who wanted to be a Civil Engineer 77 ix XIV. SANTA BARBARA Beautiful for Situation — An Earthquake — The Tale of a Patron Saint — First Impressions — A Placid Town — Natural Beauties — A Winter View 82 XV. ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS The Padres and their Work — The Presidio and the Church — How the Missions grew — A Short, Sad History — The Lessons of the Past 89 XVI. FLOWER FESTIVAL AT SANTA BARBARA Multitudes of Flowers — Ten Thousand Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.016 Roses on a Carriage — A Flower Dance — The Floral Procession — The Mayor's Proclamation 96 XVII. PLEASURE-DAYS AT SANTA BARBARA The Mission Cañon — A Picnic at Ellwood — Monte Cito and its Gardens — The Hot Springs — The Ojai Valley and San Marcos Pass 104 XVIII. ANCIENT SPANISH HOUSES Carrillo Arguello and de la Guerra — Old Days in Santa Barbara — Feasts and Weddings — The Chinese Colony — Friends and their Work 111 XIX. HOW WE WENT TO YOSEMITE The Crown of California Scenery — A Wily Agent — Ruts and Bogs — Fine Air and Hard Fare — An American Jolting Car — Mules and their Drivers — The Public and its Servants 117 XX. THE YOSEMITE VALLEY Our Entrance — Wonderful Views — Manifold and Beautiful Waterfalls — Precipices Thousands of Feet High — Mirror Lake and Merced River — Did the Bottom drop out — Grandeur and Triviality 123 x XXI. CALIFORNIA BIG TREES Mariposa and Santa Clue Groves — Comparisons and Measurements 130 XXII. HETCH-HETCHY VALLEY An Interesting Letter — The Canon of the Tuolumne — An Indian Hiding Place — Fish and Game 137 XXIII. EL MONTE Rough Travelling — Monterey — Its Foundation and History — The Hotel del Monte — An Artificial Paradise — Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees — A Priest's Monument — The Old Oak — Pacific Grove — The Seventeen-Mile Drive — Seals, Shells, Buffaloes, and Bears — Strange Cypresses 143 XXIV. IN THE SANTA CLARA VALLEY Incidents at Santa Cruz — San José — Churches, Public Buildings, and Schools — Lick Observatory — Leland Stanford Junior University — Palo Alto Stables — Training School for Fast Trotters 155 XXV. SAN FRANCISCO Dana's Prophecy — California Optimism — The Chinese Problem — A Curious and Composite City — Beautiful Suburbs — A Visit to Chinatown — The Theatre and Opium Dens — Chinese Men, Women, and Children — Sausalito, Ross Valley, and San Rafael — A Sudden Squall — The Presbyterian Seminary — Friends and Festivities — Sacramento 172 XXVI. ACROSS THE SIERRA TO SALT LAKE Sacramento to Cape Horn — Silver Mining — Among the Snow-Sheds — Deserts and Indians — Great Salt Lake — The Sacred Inclosure — Tabernacle and Temple — The Lion House and the Beehive — A Thriving City — A Résumé of Mormon History — The Creed and Government of the Church — Fort Douglas 181 Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.016 xi XXVII. CROSSING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS Wild and Grand Scenery — New and Wonderful Hot Springs — Six Hundred Miles for Twenty-five Cents — Two Miles up in the Air — Leadville, Colorado — The Collegiate Mountains — Climbing Marshall Pass — Railroads as High as Mount Blanc — Engines play Hide and Seek — The Royal Gorge — An Engineering Feat — The Pittsburgh of the West 192 XXVIII. COLORADO SPRINGS, MANITOU, AND DENVER The Invalids' Home — The Mineral Springs of Manitou — “Garden of the Gods” — Helen Hunt Jackson's Grave — Pike's Peak— Its Difficulties, Wonders, and Glories — The Central City of the Union — Mines and Industries — Enterprising People — Daniel Webster no Prophet — The View from City Park — Hospitality and Home Feeling — On to the Exposition — Home Again 204 xiii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. AN AVENUE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Frontispiece FACING PAGE THE LEVEE, NEW ORLEANS 8 THE ALAMO, SAN ANTONIO 20 INDIAN GROUP, ARIZONA 30 CALIFORNIA ROSE GARDEN 50 RAMONA's MARRIAGE PLACE, SAN DIEGO 58 PASADENA AND MOUNT WILSON 66 ROSE COTTAGE, LOS ANGELES 78 SANTA BARBARA 82 CASTLE ROCK, SANTA BARBARA BAY 86 BELFRY OF SAN GABRIEL MISSION 90 FLOWER FESTIVAL, SANTA BARBARA 96 OLIVE GROVE, COOPER's RANCH 104 OAK GROVE, NEAR GAVIOTA 108 OLD ADOBE, SANTA BARBARA 112 YOSEMITE VALLEY FROM UNION POINT 118 BRIDAL VEIL FALL, YOSEMITE 126 BIG TREES, SANTA CRUZ 132 CYPRESS GROUP, MONTEREY 154 LICK OBSERVATORY, MOUNT HAMILTON 164 ROUNDING CAPE HORN, SIERRA NEVADA 182 CASTLE GATE, ROCKY MOUNTAINS 192 PIKE's PEAK FROM COLORADO SPRINGS 204 * The thanks of the Publishers are due Messrs. W. H. Jackson Co. of Denver, Taber of San Francisco, and Watkins of San Francisco for the use of photographs from which the illustrations in this book are made . 1 Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.016 BEYOND THE ROCKIES I SOUTH AND WEST FROM WINTER TO SPRING — PLANS FOR MEXICO NIPPED IN THE BUD — A RAYMOND EXCURSION — VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE — LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN — ITS SCENES AND MEMORIES THE streets of New York were piled high with snow, and a bitter winter wind, which had been blowing for the greater part of three months, made our bones ache and our throats sore. The memories of the Riviera, and Tangier, and Malaga began to assert themselves, and the temptation to go by the new Mediterranean route to a land of sun and warmth was very strong. Yet we remembered the oft-repeated question when in Spain: “You have been in Mexico?” and the assertion made by an enthusiastic traveller, that Mexico was better worth seeing than Spain, and that California as far surpassed the Riviera as the garden of Eden excelled the Central Park. Let us go to Mexico, and come home by California and the Chicago Fair. So plans were made, and tickets were engaged, and March was 2 to come in like a lion, and drive us out to pastures new and green. When all was ready, the trunks packed, and the key in the door, that friend and foe of travellers, the electric telegraph, brought word that there was an epidemic of typhus fever in Mexico, and that it would be risky to make the tour. We sadly laid aside Prescott's “Conquest of Mexico” and the other interesting volumes with which we had been refreshing our minds, and had nearly laid aside the carefully planned route through California, and determined to see the winter out, if it took all summer to do it. But wiser counsels prevailed, and we turned the key in the lock, spent two hours in driving over frozen billows of mud and snow to the Central Railroad station at the foot of Liberty Street, and took places in a Pullman car, which was to be our bed by night and boudoir by day, for a pull across the continent. All experienced travellers had advised us not to travel in Mexico without having a dining-car in the train, and to secure that needful comfort we had joined what is known as a “Raymond” party. Beyond the Rockies; a spring journey in California. By Charles Augustus Stoddard http://www.loc.gov/resource/calbk.016 This is a conducted party of tourists who travel in a more elegant and comfortable manner than the ordinary parties with which the travelling public is familiar.

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