CHAPTER VI. 



POINT MNOS RANGE AND SIERRA SAN JOSE. 



Great extent of the range. — Different names. — Hei«ht. — Mineral structore at point pinos. — Relation of the serpentine to 

 the granite. — gold washing at san antonio. — sandstones at san mionel mission. — position of stratified beds in salinas 



VALLEY SLOPE OP THIS RANGE. — StRDCTURE OF THE THAIN FROM WEST TO EAST. — .STRATA ALONG THE SLOPE IN SANTA MARGARITA 



TALLEV. — Height and direction of the san jose range. — Geological structure of. — Mineral character op the 

 GRANITES. — Sedimentary beds of. — Diagram of geological sections. — Thickness of the strata. — Position and character 



OF THE green CONGLOMERATES. — RELATION OP TUE.SE TO THE F0SS1LIFER0U3 BEDS, ROTH OP THIS RANGE AND ELSEWHERE IN THE 

 SOUTH OF THE STATE. 



Tnis important chain of the Coast Eange was first encountered in the centre of San Luis 

 Obispo county, where it forms the eastern boundary of the Salinas valley, separating the upper 

 course of that river from its tributary, the Estrella. The junction of these streams is near the 

 Mission San Miguel ; the low hills which form the eastern boundary of the Salinas valley at 

 this point are made up of the soft, brownish sandstones which, further north, have been also 

 found lying at the slopes of Gavilan, whose upper strata contain the dosinia species, of which four 

 varieties have been enumerated by Mr. Conrad. In this place these strata slope at an 

 unusual angle to the west ; and although no primary rock is observed in passing eastward 

 across these hills, yet both north and south of the point the granitic rock is considerably 

 upraised. If from the Mission a line be drawn in direction southeast, it will accurately cover 

 the range until it is merged in the immense primary upheave called San Emilio mountain. 

 Projecting a line in a northwest direction, also from the Mission, it traverses the trend of a 

 mountain chain which, in its course gives rise to the waters of San 7\ntonio river, and 

 forms a prominent feature of the Coast Eange of Monterey county, and finally terminates in the 

 southwest extremity of Monterey bay at Point Pinos. With the short break alluded to as 

 lying in the Salinas valley, it is a continuous chain, and might, perhaps, receive a common 

 name. By the title of San Jose mountains, that portion between the upper waters of the 

 Salinas river and the valley of Panzaand Cariso are known. There, it is a chain approximating 

 3,000 feet above the sea, and from 12 to 16 miles in breadth. While we restrict the name of 

 San Jose to this southern portion, we shall, both topographically and geographically, look upon 

 the whole line from Point Pinos to the head- waters of the Santa Clara and Santa Maria rivers 

 as one mountain system extending 250 miles from north to south, throughout the whole of 

 which extent it preserves a character remarkably similar. The northern termination at Mon- 

 terey bay displays the usual character of the axial rock, a felsphatic granite, containing only 

 scattered crystals of mica with adularia and epidote, which communicate a greenish tinge to the 

 mass. The superficial portions of the rock are soft, the felspar crystals standing out distinctly 

 from the paste ; it is of a flesh brown color externally, with a bluish shade on fracture, well 

 seen on the south side of the harbor of Monterey, near the steam landing, and thence to Point 

 Pinos, upon the low bosses forming which the light-house is built ; it is probable that it is due 

 to the alkaline nature of the soil, produced by the disintegration of the rock, that the cedar and 



