SANTA CRUZ COUNTY.

Santa Cruz county is situated on the northern side of the bay of Monterey. It is one of the smallest counties in the State, but second in the importance of its manufactures, only to San Francisco. In outline, it is long and narrow, being about fifty miles in length, by from eight to thirteen miles wide. Its coast-line measures about fifty miles. The whole of the county lies between the summits of the Santa Cruz or Gavilan mountains and the sea. It is one of the most mountainous of the coast counties. Within an area of about 500 square miles, or 320,000 acres, it contains 40,000 acres of the richest bottom lands along the valleys of the various streams that pass through it, and 50,000 acres of fine agricultural land, which form the terraced plateaus, caused by the repeated uprisings of the land. These plateaus extend along the coast, the entire length of the county, and reach inland to the limits of the timber. This raised land varies in fertility, but is generally productive. The greater portion of the county-230,000 acres-consists of mountain ranges, much of which is adapted to grazing, and a large proportion is densely timbered with magnificent forests of redwood, oak, and pine.

This county is bounded on the north by San Mateo county; on the south, by the bay and county of Monterey; on the east, by Santa Clara county; and on the west, by the Pacific ocean. Its population, nearly all of whom are Americans, chiefly from the New England States, numbers about 11,000. In 1860, there were less than 5,000. Most of the best land in the county was originally covered by Spanish and Mexican grants, but these have been purchased by men of means, and subdivided into farms, which is the main cause of the rapid development of its resources.

The county is watered by several never-failing streams, which run from the mountains to the ocean. They are all short, with considerable fall, creating power sufficient for an almost unlimited number of water-wheels, to drive machinery. The chief of these rivers are the San Lorenzo, which passes through the county nearly in its center and empties into the bay of Monterey, near the town of Santa Cruz; the Soquel, which enters the bay three miles further south; the Aptos; the Sulsipuedes; and, still further south, the Pajaro, (bird,) passing between this and Monterey counties; and the Pescadero. The climate of this county is remarkably varied-places but a few miles apart differ as much in temperature and productions, as does the north from the south of France. Where sheltered from the sea-breeze, the rose

and many other flowers are perpetually in bloom. All the grain and fruits which grow in other parts of the State, except the orange, olive, fig, etc., flourish here. The vine, however, does not thrive at points below an elevation of seven hundred feet above the sea.

The town of Santa Cruz, the county seat, is situated on the north side of Monterey bay, in a pleasant little nook or bend, formed by a spur of the coast range which projects about two miles into the bay. It is surrounded with high mountains on all sides except the southeast; on this side it is open to the bay, along which there is a stretch of beautiful, pearly white sea-beach. The view from the upper portion of the town, looking south, is magnificent: the waters of the capacious bay, nearly thirty miles wide, are pale blue where deepest, and shade into snowy whiteness as they approach the smooth sand. The town of Monterey, nestled in a similar nook on the opposite shore, looks like a huge flower-garden, the green foliage contrasting finely with the grey granite of the hills that enclose it, while the brown mountains, crested with a dark forest-ridge, form a bold, beautiful border. To the right is the wide expanse of the Pacific ocean stretching to the limits of the horizon, its surface smooth and bright as a mirror, or ruffled into billows by the winds-still grand, under either aspect.

The town is built on lands formerly owned by the old mission of Santa Cruz, (Holy Cross,) founded in 1791, which gives name to the county. Near the ruins of this old building, a handsome Catholic church has been erected. It is Mexican in origin, but has been reconstructed by its American possessors. Only a few of the old adobe buildings remain, and, until quite recently, a double row of beautiful willows, which once formed the fence of the old mission garden, was growing in the center of the main street, but the march of improvement, and the expansion of the town, have caused the destruction of nearly all of them. There are good wharf accommodations, but the harbor is exposed to all winds except the north, which renders it dangerous for vessels during the winter; it is, however, the best harbor in the county.

The site of the town furnishes a notable illustration of the several elevations to which this portion of the coast has been subjected, during a comparatively recent period. It consists of three benches, which are from a mile to two miles wide, and extend through the valley. The first is thirty feet above the level of high water, the second is thirty-four feet higher, and the third is one hundred and ninety-nine feet still higher, showing a total rise of two hundred and sixty-three

feet. The business portion of the town, and most of the gardens and orchards, are on the lowest of these terraces. The old mission, and the tanneries, which form an important interest here, are located on the middle bench. The lime-kilns and several dwellings are on the upper one, from which a railroad to connect with the wharf from this point, is projected. The entire bones of a whale were found, about two years since, on the upper level, near the banks of the Soquel.

Opposite Santa Cruz, on the southern side of the San Lorenzo river, are the ruins of the old Mexican pueblo of Branciforte, which was originated as a substitute for the pueblo of San Francisco. During the past year, nearly one hundred new buildings, chiefly private residences, have been erected in the town, and gas-works have also been constructed.

The San Lorenzo valley, in which this town is located, is about twenty miles in length, running north-west and south-east, in several places narrowing to a mere channel for the river, between high hills; at others, opening into wide plateaus, which are very valuable for agricultural purposes. In this county, the chain of mountains which divides it from Santa Clara is called the Santa Cruz mountains, while that extending to the westward, and forming the blunt peninsula that projects on the south into the bay of Monterey, and on the north into Half-Moon bay, is called the Coast mountains. The head of this valley is only seven miles from the beautiful Santa Clara valley, but the whole of this distance is very mountainous and densely timbered with redwood. Shielded from the unpleasant winds which occasionally blow from the ocean, with a soil almost to the top of the mountains of exceeding richness, and a stream of pure water running through its entire length, capable of turning a large number of mill-wheels, it is not wonderful that it has become the seat of a busy agricultural and manufacturing population.

Pescadero is a flourishing town, about thirty-five miles north-west from Santa Cruz, and only fifty miles from San Francisco. It is located on both sides of Pescadero creek, near its confluence with the Butano, about a mile from the sea-beach. The New San Francisco Water Company will take their supply from the head of the former creek. The valley in which this charming place is situated, contains about 4,500 acres of extremely fertile land, surrounded by high hills on all sides except the west, to which it opens to the broad expanse of the Pacific ocean. An idea of the quality of the soil in this valley may be formed when it is stated that a large crop of potatoes has been raised on some portions of it, for twelve consecutive years, without manuring.

The famous pebble beach is near this town, where agates, opals, jaspers, carnelians, and other silicious stones, of almost every conceivable variety of color, are found in great abundance, polished with a fine lustre by the smooth sea sand, and the ceaseless motion of the surf. These pebbles are of all sizes, the most beautiful ranging from the size of a pea to a marble, and are of every imaginable shape. Some are as transparent as glass, others only partially so, but marked with variegated bands of red, white, green, and blue. The most abundant are of the various tints of red peculiar to carnelians; occasionally opals are found, as round and nearly as lustrous as pearls-some few are black as jet, others clear amber colored, or pink, like amethysts. Some stones of commercial value are found here; probably as many as twenty tons are collected annually for ornamenting walks, and many are cut, and set in jewelry. The source from whence they are derived is a stratum of coarse, friable sandstone, which skirts the coast for about two miles. along the beach. It is only in this vicinity that they are found. Innumerable pebbles are imbedded in this sandstone, in as highly polished a condition as those found on the beach, having doubtless been washed on a similar beach for ages before the present one was formed by the uplifting of the land.

Pescadero contains one of the most enterprising communities in this progressive county. Its residents have built handsome churches, school houses, public buildings, hotels, bridges, wharves and private residences, equal to any town in the State of the same size. The lower hills around the valley afford excellent grazing for large herds of cows, from the milk of which this little town annually makes and exports to San Francisco one hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds of cheese, and fifty thousand pounds of butter, both of good quality. The immense "Sanitary cheese," weighing four thousand pounds, five feet six inches in diameter, and twenty-two inches thick, made for the benefit of the "Sanitary Fund," in 1863, which realized several thousand dollars by its exhibition and sale, was made in this little valley. The exports of oak bark, collected from the forests in the higher ranges, furnish another important source of revenue to the place. The lumber business, fairly commenced only a year or two since, has expanded into large proportions, the mountains and cañons. being covered with forests of redwood and pine. Pescadero is a favorite resort of pleasure seekers from San Francisco, from which it is only six hours drive over good roads. The scenery and climate in the vicinity are among the finest on the coast. Barley and potatoes are the Principal crops raised-from sixty to eighty bushels of the former, and

two hundred and fifty 100-Hb sacks of the latter to the acre being not an unusual yield.

For several miles south of Pescadero the coast line presents a bold outline of cliffs, formed of sand, gravel and clay, nearly two hundred feet high, the remains of the old terraces so often referred to, worn by the beating of the waves into little coves and gulches, fringed in many places with a luxuriant growth of shrubs and flowers. There are also several valleys in this vicinity, in which villages have been located, saw mills erected, and the soil cultivated to a considerable extent.

Five miles south from Pescadero is Pigeon Point, so named from having been the scene of the disastrous wreck of the ship Carrier Pigeon, several years since. This is both a whaling station and a flourishing agricultural district, but labors under great disadvantages for lack of a landing place-this part of the coast being very dangerous, and almost inaccessible. Yankee ingenuity, however, surmounts these difficulties, and the place thrives. During 1867 it exported 6,200 sacks of oats; 3,000 sacks of potatoes; 120,000 pounds of butter; 10,500 of cheese; 12,500,000 shingles and nine hundred barrels of whale oil; besides large quantities of other produce-the whole of which was shipped in the following manner: The surf breaking nearly six hundred feet from the line of cliffs which skirts the shore, no boats can land, or wharf be built; a hawser is therefore made fast to the rocks beyond the breakers, and to stout posts in the cliff above, at an angle of about thirty degrees. On this hawser are large blocks and tackles, to which the articles for shipment are attached and lowered into boats ready to receive them. These boats convey them to the vessels, which are compelled to anchor nearly a mile off the shore. Of course, this work cannot be carried on except in fair weather.

Franklin Point, three miles south of Pigeon Point, is another dangerous projection from the coast line. This place is named from the wreck of the Sir John Franklin. The Cora, from Australia, was also wrecked here in 1866. The graves of the crews, and some of the passengers of both vessels, are near the beach.

Four miles south from Point Franklin, is New Years Point, where there is a break in the coast line, and a small indentation affords a harbor for quite a fleet of vessels engaged in the lumber trade. Here, a wharf, seven hundred feet in length, has been constructed on piles, sufficiently high to be above the surf, which occasionally breaks with great fury. Upwards of two million feet of lumber are annually shipped from this wharf. Waddell's mills, an extensive lumbering