280 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
The old San Gabriel Mission is a few rods south of the tracks at 
San Gabriel station. It was the fourth of the many missions estab- 
: lished by the Franciscan friars between San Diego 
San Gabriel. : aii ts 
sae ha nip and San Francisco and is in an excellent state of 
Population 7,224. preservation. It was started by Padres Cambén and 
gone » img 1,992 Somera, under the direction of Fray Junfpero Serra, 
; September 8, 1771, and the building is typical of the 
architecture introduced by the friars. Early in its history a ditch was 
built to bring water for irrigation and for horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and 
chickens. The region was then inhabited by Indians, who were 
stolid, mild mannered, and rather ugly in features. They were not 
forcibly Christianized but were treated so well that many desired to 
live at the missions and be instructed. As the community prospered 
and settlers came in, the poor little hovels of adobe and reeds were 
replaced by finer buildings. The present village is in the midst of 
groves of oranges, avocados,* and walnuts, with many fine gardens. 
In 1850 Roy Bean, later famous as ‘‘the dispenser of the law west of 
the Pecos” at Langtry, Tex. (see p. 83), ran a dance hall and gambling 
saloon at San Gabriel, at that time a typical frontier town. The his- 
tory of the beginnings of California is pictured yearly in the Mission 
Play by the poet John Steven McGroarty, done in the beautiful 
playhouse adjoining the San Gabriel mission. 
Alhambra is an extensive settlement largely devoted to the growing 
of fruits, vegetables, and walnuts. There is a branch railroad from 
eae Alhambra to Pasadena, a city of 76,086 inhabitants 
Elevation 456 feet,  & ££W miles to the north. This large and beautiful 
Population 29,472. City is a most interesting business, residential, and 
495 educational center. In the eastern part is the Cali- 
fornia Institute of Technology, founded in 1891, which 
now includes among other buildings or departments the Bridge 
Laboratory of Physics, the High Potential Research Laboratory, the 
Gates Chemical Laboratory, the Guggenheim Aeronautical Labora- 
tory, the Seismological Research Laboratory, the Dabney Hall of 
Humanities, and the Kerckhoff Biological Laboratories. Near by is 
the great Huntington Library and Art Gallery. The observatory on 
Mount Wilson, one of the units of the Carnegie Institution of Washing- 
ton, is equipped with the world’s largest reflecting telescope 
Pasadena lies in a “‘rincén,” or corner, between hills and mountains, 
so that it has protection from winds and a slightly greater rainfall 
than some of the regions farther east and south. The name is an 
“The fruit called aguacate by the | “alligator pear,” which was a decided 
Mexicans and other Spanish-speaking | misnomer, as the fruit is not a pear and 
people now has the commercial name is in no way associated with alligators. 
“avocado” to replace the former 
