424 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



§ 301. Profane Spa7iish Names. — Among the Spanish pro- 

 fane names are Agua Fria (cold water), Agua Caliente (hot 

 water, or warm spring), Yallecito (little valley), Esperanza 

 (hope), Campo Seco (dry field), Garote, Hornitos (little ovens), 

 Salinas (salt places), Alameda (a place of elms or cotton wood 

 trees), Saucelito (a little clump of willows, more properly 

 spelled Sauzalito), Bodega (a vault), Laguna Seca (dry lagoon), 

 Cienega (puddle), Merced (mercy), Buena Vista (good view), 

 Contra Costa (the opposite coast, the shore opposite the bay 

 of San Francisco), Del Norte (of the north), Plumas (feathers), 

 Tulare (a place of tules). El Dorado (the golden land), Fresno 

 (ash), Nevada (snowy), Sierra (mountain chain). Placer (gold 

 diggings), Calaveras (skulls), Mariposa (butterfly), Alcatraz 

 (pelican), Farallones (points of rock in the sea), Corte Madera 

 (place where wood is cut), Monte (the mountain or forest), 

 Loma Prieta (black hill), Monte Diablo (the devil's mountain), 

 Montecito (httle mountain or little forest), Alamo (elm or Cot- 

 tonwood tree). Alamo Mocho (the cropped cottonwood), Pajaro 

 (bird). Coyote and Tejon (a badger). Some of these names 

 have been changed by the Americans. The Spaniards say, 

 el Rio de las Mariposas (the river of the butterfly), el Rio de las 

 Calaveras, el Rio de los Pajaros, la Isla de las Alcatraces, la Bahia 

 de San Francisco (the bay of San Francisco), La Mision de 

 San Gabriel (the Mission of San Gabriel), el Rio de las Salinas. 

 The Americans drop the common Spanish nouns of no, JaAm, 

 and mision, and say Calaveras River, Sahnas River, the Mission 

 San Gabriel, etc. Though the plural form of Calaveras and 

 Salinas has been preserved, the singular has been adopted for 

 Pajaro River, Alcatraz Island, and Coyote Creek. Pajaro River 

 was so named because of the great number of wild geese 

 and ducks which were formerly seen in its valley. Cape Men- 

 docino was named after a noble patron of an early Spanish 

 navigator on this coast. Amador county and Amador valley 

 were named after Jose M. Amador, who was formerly manager 

 of the property of the Mission of San Jose, about 1835. He 

 lived in Amador valley, and in 1848 he went with a number of 



