afterwards called Stanislaus for the defeated Indian chief. It is from this river that the county derived its name.

Sutter County-Created February 18, 1850. This is one of the original twenty-seven counties of the State of California. Sutter County was named after General John Augustus Sutter, a native of Switzerland, and a soldier of fortune. He first arrived in San Francisco July 2, 1839, obtained a large grant from the Mexican government, and called his first settlement New Helvetia, which is now the city of Sacramento.

Tehama County-Created April 9, 1856. "Tehama" is the name of a tribe of Indians which originally inhabited that part of the State which now bears its name. The meaning of the word has never been determined.

Trinity County-Created February 18, 1850. This is one of the original twenty-seven counties of the State of California. This county derived its name from Trinidad Bay, which was discovered and named by Captain Bruno Ezeta on June 11, 1775, a date that happened to be Trinity Sunday. The Spanish charts of the bay were misleading, and Major Reading and others thought that the river he named Trinity emptied into this bay.

Tulare County-Created April 20, 1852. Comandante Fages, while hunting for deserters in 1773, discovered a great lake surrounded by marshes and filled with rushes, which he named Los Tules (the tules, Scirpus lacrustus). In 1813, Captain Moraga on his exploring expedition, passed through the valley of this lake, and named it "Valle de los Tules" (valley of the tules), from which this county takes its name.

Tuolumne County-Created February 18, 1850. This county is one of the original twenty-seven counties of the State of California. "Tuolumne" is a corruption of the Indian word "Talmalamne," which signifies "stone houses or caves," the same as the word "Shasta," but in another language. This was the name of a large tribe of Indians who lived on both sides of the river now bearing that name, from which the county derived its patronymic.

Ventura County-Created March 22, 1872. On March 30, 1782, Padres Junipero Serra and Cambon dedicated a Mission at San Buenaventura to San Buenaventura, Doctor Serafico (St. Bonaventura, Serafic Doctor), which is the name under which Giovani de Fidanza of Tuscany was canonized. Buenaventura is composed of two Spanish words, "Buena," meaning "good," and "Ventura," meaning "fortune"; hence the name signifies "good fortune." The county took its name from the latter Spanish word "Ventura." San Buenaventura has at all times been the name of the town, but this beautiful and euphonious name has been abbreviated by the United States Post Office Department to "Ventura."

Yolo County-Created February 18, 1850. This is one of the original twenty-seven counties of the State of California. "Yolo" is a corruption of an Indian tribal name "Yo-loy," meaning "a place thick with rushes." This tribe was a branch of the Suisunes, and inhabited the marshes immediately west of Rio de Jesus Maria (now known as the Sacramento River).

Yuba County-Created February 18, 1850. This is one of the original twenty-seven counties of the State of California. "Yuba" is a corruption of the Spanish word signifying "wild grape." A Spanish exploring expedition in 1824 found immense quantities of vines shading the banks of a river, which is the chief tributary of the Feather River. These vines were heavily laden with wild grapes (called Uvas silvestres in Spanish), and the river was therefore called the Uva or Uba, and by a corruption of the word "Uba" the river eventually became known by its present name, "Yuba," from which the county derived its name.

CELEBRATED "PIOUS FUND"

In order to preserve a reliable and readable statement of the celebrated "Pious Fund of California," the history and ultimate disposition of which has been the subject of such widespread discussion, the following narrative, deposited by John T. Doyle in the archives of the California Historical Society, is here reproduced:

From the time of the discovery of California [Lower], in 1534, by the expedition fitted out by Cortes, the colonization of that country and the conversion of its inhabitants to the Catholic faith were cherished objects with the Spanish Monarchs. Many expeditions for the purpose were set on foot, at the expense of the Crown, during the century and a half succeeding the discovery, but though attended with enormous expense, none of them was productive of the slightest result. Down to the year 1697 the Spanish Monarchs had failed to acquire any permanent foothold in the vast territory which they claimed, under the name of California.

The success of the Jesuit Fathers in their Missions on the northwestern frontier of Mexico, and elsewhere, induced the Spanish Government as early as 1643 (when fitting out an expedition for California under Admiral Pedro Portal de Casanate), to invite that religious order to take charge of the spiritual administration of it, and the country for which it was destined; and they accepted the charge; but that expedition, like all its predecessors, failed.

The last expedition undertaken by the Crown was equipped in pursuance of a royal cedula of December 29, 1679. It was confided to the command of Admiral Isidro Otondo, and the spiritual administration of the country was again entrusted to the Jesuits, the celebrated Father Kino being appointed Cosmografo Mayor of the expedition.

Various circumstances conspired to delay its departure, and it only sailed on the 18th of March, 1683. Many precautions had been taken to ensure its success, but after three years of ineffectual effort and an expenditure of over $225,000, it was also abandoned as a failure, and at a junta general, assembled in the City of Mexico, under the auspices of the Viceroy, wherein the whole subject was carefully reviewed, it was determined that "the reduction of California, by the means heretofore relied on, was a simple impossibility," and that the only mode of accomplishing it was to invite the Jesuits to undertake its whole charge, at the expense of the Crown. This proposition was made; but it would seem that the conduct of the royal officers, civil and military, must have contributed to the previous failures, and probably for that reason it was declined by the society; although the services of its members as missionaries were always freely placed at the disposal of the Government. Individual members of the society, however, animated by a zeal for the spread of the Christian faith in California, proposed to undertake the whole charge of the conversion of the country and its reduction to Christianity and civilization, and without expense to the Crown, on condition that they might themselves select the civil and military officers to be employed. This plan was finally agreed to, and on the 5th of February, 1697, the necessary authority was conferred on Fathers Juan Maria Salvatierra and Francisco Eusebio Kino, to undertake the reduction of California, on the express conditions: 1st, that possession of the country was to be taken in the name of the Spanish Crown, and 2d, that the royal treasury was not to be called on for any of the expenses of the enterprise.

In anticipation of this result, Fathers Kino and Salvatierra had already solicited and received from various individuals and religious bodies, voluntary donations, contributed in aid of the enterprise. The funds thus collected were placed in their hands, in trust, to be applied to the propagation of the Catholic faith in California, by preaching, the administration of the sacraments of the church, erection of church edifices, the founding of religious schools, and the like; in a word, by the institu

tion of Catholic missions there, under the system so successfully pursued by the Jesuits in Paraguay, Northern Mexico, Canada, India, and elsewhere.

At a time when California is coming into the enjoyment of the benefactions of more modern philanthropists, and we are paying honor to the still living and recently deceased benefactors of our State, it is not unfitting to give the names of the earliest and most important contributors to the fund on which the conquest of California and its reclamation from the dominion of the savage were founded. They were Don Alonzo Davalos, Conde de Miravalles and Don Mateo Fernandez de la Cruz, Marquez de Buena Vista, who gave $1000 each. By their example others were induced to subscribe, and, in a short time, $15,000 more were made up, $5000 in cash and $10,000 in promises. Don Pedro Gil de la Sierpe, treasurer of Acapulco, offered the use of a galiot to transport the missionaries to their destination, and the gift of a small boat or launch. Considering the remoteness and isolation of the field, it was determined to establish a separate special fund or capital, the income from which should form a permanent endowment for the missionary church. Towards this latter object the first recorded contributions seem to have been by the congregation of N. S. de los Dolores, of the City of Mexico, which contributed $10,000, and Don Juan Caballero y Ozio, who donated $20,000 more, besides giving Father Salvatierra the comforting assurance, that in any unforeseen emergency, he might draw on him for whatever money he needed, and he would honor his drafts, large or small.

This endowment fund, commenced by the pious liberality of the society and the individuals just named, was increased by subsequent donations. The capital was invested as securely as possible, and as an income of $500 per annum was deemed necessary for each Mission, and five per cent. was the then current rate on safe investments, a capital of $10,000 was made the basis of each new Mission founded.

I suppose it soon became the correct thing for a wealthy Mexican to found a Mission in California; and as the founder was allowed the privilege of having it called by a name of his