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.)
