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.)
