CHARACTER OF THE COAST RANGE. 



Section 2. COAST RANGE. 



By referring to the map of southern Ccalifornia, it will be perceived that there are two main moun- 

 tain masses, the Sierra Nevada and Coast Eange, separated by an extensive jilain, the San Joaquin 

 and Tulare. The crests of their serpentine watersheds gradually converge towards the Tejon, 

 where there is an impinging of the two masses to such a degree as to completely envelope the 

 plain, throwing around it formidable barriers to egress toward the desert on one side and the 

 ocean slope on the other. Beyond, and to the south of the Tejon^but one mass or chain will be 

 observed trending off to the peninsula of Lower California, dividing the waters flowing directly 

 to the coast from those of the Colorado Basin. The ranges are marked and decided in their 

 several features and characteristics, the former being made up of a solid and dense mass of 

 ridges and spurs, presenting but few depressions or openings to the desert or Great Basin ; while 

 the Coast Range is composed of a series of distinct ridges, with intervening valleys and plains, 

 rendering the whole district very inviting to the agriculturist, and affording the artist every 

 variety of study, from the smooth plain with its lowing herds, to the rugged mountain with its 

 walled canons. 



No little confusion has of late arisen in regard to the application of the term Coast Bange, 

 but this may, in my opinion, be greatly corrected by giving the term its widest', acceptation, 

 and applying it to the whole system of ridges lying west of the San Joaquin and Tulare valleys. 

 Each ridge has been, in turn, called the Coast Range, depending on the position of the observer, 

 whether in the interior or on the ocean ; but by using it as a general term to include the 

 whole, and giving to each ridge its local name, no difficulty will be experienced in studying 

 the topography and geology of that very interesting region. 



The ridges are five, and, proceeding from the eastward, they will be distinguished in what 

 follows as — 1st, the Monte Diablo mountains ; 2d, the Santa Cruz and Gavilan mountains ; 

 3d, the Salinas mountains and San Jose mountains ; 4th, the Santa Lucia mountains; and 5th, 

 the Santa Inez. The axes of the several ridges are parallel, with the apparent exception of 

 the Santa Inez, and this has been found, after a close geological investigation, to follow the 

 same law, although from the mass there appears to be a fan-like order about the ranges, which 

 is really the case when the crests of the several watersheds are considered in connexion with the 

 form and slope of the intervening valleys. Following the coast line from the south, this fan- 

 like arrangement of the ridges resembles more an echelon order, where each ridge, in turn, presents 

 its full front to the ocean for some distance, and then gives way to the one immediately behind 

 it, each becoming thus, in fact, a coast ridge ; and this feature no doubt has contributed much 

 to the confusion before noted. The Monte Diablo mountains form the western boundary of the 

 San Joaquin valley, and extend from near the head of the Bay of San Francisco to opposite 

 the Tulare lake. The most prominent feature of this ridge is the Monte Diablo, a heavy and 

 massive peak with rounded profile, and a summit elevation of about four thousand feet, giving 

 it great prominence as a landmark. Further to the south there are other peaks, Pachecho and 

 Santa Ana ; and in the vicinity of the peaks are found passes leading through from the Bay of 

 San Francisco, San Jose plain, and Santa Clara valley, to the great interior basin of the San 

 Joaquin. Tothe west of this ridge lies that of the Santa Cruz and Gavilan mountains, forming 

 in their extent the western boundary of the San Jose plain and Santa Clara valley, and separating 

 the southern arm of the Bay of San Francisco from the ocean, becoming, in its prolongation to 

 the north, tlie barrier through which the waters of this bay find egress by tlie Golden Gate. 



