424 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
§ 301. Profane Spanish Names.—Among the Spanish pro- 
fane names are Agua Fria (cold water), Agua Caliente (hot 
water, or warm spring), Vallecito (little valley), Esperanza 
(hope), Campo Seco (dry field), Garote, Hornitos (little ovens), 
Salinas (salt places), Alameda (a place of elms or cottonwood 
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 
digeings), 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 (little 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 
Sin Gabriel (the Mission of San Gabriel), el Rio de las Salinas. 
The Americans drop the common Spanish nouns of rio, bahia, 
and mision, and say Calaveras River, Salinas 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, Aleatraz 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 José M. Amador, who was formerly manager 
of the property of the Mission of San José, about 1835. He 
lived in Amador valley, and in 1848 he went with a number of 
