HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



247 



Coal has been discovered in California, in various 

 places, and is reported to abound in considerable 

 quantities in the neighborhood of San Francisco. 

 Every day developes some new wealth of this land of 



places in the new State. We have elsewhere alluded to the name 

 California, as being derived from calwnte and fornalla, two Spanish 

 words, together signifying hot furnace. 



Pueblo de los Angeles City of the Angels. So named from the fer 

 tility of the soil, the geniality of the climate, &c. 



San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa 

 Cruz, San Francisco, were all originally Catholic missionary stations 

 and were so named by the priests. 



Monterey signifies literally king of forests, and was so called in 

 honor of Count Monterey, as well as from the neighboring forest of 

 massive pines and other trees. 



Contra Costa, the name of a county, signifies opposite coast, from 

 its being opposite San Francisco. Mount Diablo, which is in this 

 county, was named from the following circumstance : 



In 1806 a military expedition from San Francisco inarched against 

 the tribe "Bolgones," who were encamped at the foot of the mount ; 

 the Indians were prepared to receive the expedition, and a hot en 

 gagement ensued in the large hollow fronting the western side of the 

 mount. As the victory was about to be decided in favor of the Indians, 

 an unknown personage, decorated with the most extraordinary plu 

 mage, and making divers movements, suddenly appeared near the 

 combatants. The Indians were victorious, and the incognitio (Puy) 

 departed toward the mount. The defeated soldiers, on ascertaining 

 that the spirit went through the same ceremony daily and at all hours, 

 named the mount "Diablo," in allusion to its mysterious inhabitant, 

 that continued thus to make his strange appearance, until the tribe 

 was subdued by the troops in command of Lieutenant Gabriel Mo- 

 raga, in a second campaign of the same year. In the aboriginal 

 tongue "Puy" signifies "Evil Spirit;" in Spanish it means Diablo, 

 and Devil in the Anglo-American language. 



Calaveras signifies skulls, and the creek thus styled was named from 

 the fact of three thousand skulls having been found lying on its banks 

 by its early discoverers. They were the remnants of a great battle be 

 tween the Indians. 



Tuolumne, which has been spelt so many different ways in the 

 letters from California, is a corruption of the Indian word " talma- 

 lamme," a. cluster of stone wigwams. 



Mariposa means butterfly. The river was so named in 1807, by a 

 hunting party of Califomians, from the fact of their encampment 

 there having been surrounded by myriads of most gorgeous butterflies. 



Solano was so named after a celebrated Catholic missionary. 



Yolo is a corruption of the Indian word " Yoloy,"and means a place 

 abounding witJi rushes. 



