CHAPTER VII. 
MOJAVE RIVER, BY WILLIAMSON’S PASS, TO SAN FERNANDO AND LOS 
ANGELES-LOS ANGELES TO SAN BERNARDINO-CAJON PASS. 
Mojaye to Williamson’s pass.—Granite.—Johnson’s river.—Copper ore.—Inclined strata op sandstone.—Cotton¬ 
wood creek. Erupted rocks and agate.— Cow camp.—Rounded hills.—Breccia of volcanic rocks.—Erupted dyke 
op porphyry.—Granite at the summit of Williamson’s pass.—Trap dyke.—Vein of copper ore.—White granite.— 
Sandstones and conglomerate upraised.—Bluff of sandstone.—Graphic syenite.— Iron ore.— Metamorphic 
rocks.— Low hills of sandstone.—San francisquito rancho.—Alluvium of the santa clara.—Sandstone.—San 
FERNANDO PASS. TERTIARY FOSSILS. FlG TREES AND PRICKLY PEAR. SaN FERNANDO VALLEY AND MISSION. SANDSTONE 
HILLS, BETWEEN SAN FERNANDO AND LOS ANGELES. Los ANGELES. BlTUMEN SPRINGS. VlNEYARDS AND WINE. SAN 
Gabriel.—Road to san bernardino.—San Bernardino.—Mormons.—Soil and climate of the valley —Produc¬ 
tions. -Hot springs.—Analysis of the deposit from the springs.—Brook of hot water.—Spring at the mojave 
camp.—Soil containing salt.—Cajon pass.—Upraised strata of sandstone, probably tertiary.—Granite.—Lime¬ 
stone.—Vegetation. 
After having remained in camp for two days to recruit the fatigued animals, a party was 
organized by Lieutenant Williamson to survey the new pass that had been found by him ; and 
after traversing it and reaching the valleys of the coast, to proceed along the base of the moun¬ 
tains (Bernardino Sierra) to the Pueblo de los Angeles, thence to the valley of San Bernardino, 
and through the Cajon Pass hack to the Great Basin and the Mojave camp. 
The party thus organized consisted of Mr. Isaac W. Smith, C. E., Dr. Heerman, Mr. Koppel, 
and the writer, together with several men. We took a single wagon to carry the instruments 
and odometer. 
We left the Mojave on the morning of the 21st October, and passed over the slope of the 
Great Basin towards the mountains, reaching the little stream east of Johnson’s river in the 
afternoon, where we encamped for the night. Distance, 27 miles. 
October 22. — Left camp for Johnson’s river. Instead of following the party over the slope, 
by the trail we had before made, I went up to the base of the mountains and skirted them west¬ 
ward. Outcrops of granite were abundant. It was fine-grained, white or light gray, and 
contained little hornblende. Lines of structure were very distinct, and yet the rock was exceed¬ 
ingly compact and massive. The trend was found at one point to he about N. 10° E., the dip 
being 90° vertical. The canons leading from the chain were found to he very steep and rocky. 
Some large masses of granite were observed that had evidently been transported down the 
canons, hut they did not extend far from the mouth of the ravines. 
We reached the hanks of Johnson’s river in the afternoon, and camped lower down the 
stream than the site of our previous camp, hut between high hanks of the strata of the slope ot 
the Basin, consisting probably partly of drift or detritus overlying Tertiary. The stream at this 
place was bordered with “'sycamore,” or the plane tree, and other deciduous trees in great variety, 
some of them being different from any with which I was familiar ; and the water was clear and 
cold, running rapidly over a bed filled with well rounded pebbles and boulders of syenite and 
granite, as before observed. A short distance below the point at which we encamped, the river 
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