BUILDING STONES-GRANITE. 
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be procured from tbe outlying ridges of the Peninsula Mountains on the west side of the 
Desert. 
Warner’s Pass .—On the summit of Warner’s Pass and in the vicinity of the thermal springs, 
Agua Caliente, there is an abundance of a beautiful granite in large, solid, gray blocks, many feet 
in diameter. It extends along the crest of the mountains for many miles, and,can be obtained 
near Santa Isabel. Beyond this, to San Diego, granite and gneiss are abundant, and are suc¬ 
ceeded by sandstone near the coast. 
Cajon Pass. —Granite, gneiss, and white limestone are abundant and accessible in this Pass. 
Beyond, along the slope of the Great Basin, or along the southern base of the Bernardino 
Mountains, stone can be obtained from the lower ridges. 
Tejon Pass and the Canada de las Uvas. —Good granite is abundant near Lake Elizabeth on 
the route to the Canada de las Uvas, hut in the Pass, there are no convenient outcrops until the 
summit is reached. Sandstone can, however, he obtained on either side. From the summit to 
the Tulare Plains, granite, gneiss, and limestone are found on each side. The granitic rocks 
are found throughout the extent of the Tejon Pass, and again between the valley or Tejon and the 
slope of the Tulare Yalley. Limestone and quartz rock are abundant on the east side near the 
surface of the Basin, and limestone is also found in the ridges of the west side of the Pass near 
the entrance to Tejon Ravine. 
From the Tejon to Moore’s Creek, or its vicinity, granite is not found on the line of the Expe¬ 
dition, and the Tertiary sandstones are too friable and unconsolidated to be relied on for building 
purposes. From Moore’s Creek to Fort Miller, the lower ridges of the mountains are chiefly 
metamorphic and magnesian slates, not well adapted to purposes of construction. 
Fort Miller , on the San Joaquin river. —Excellent granite is found, in unlimited quantities, 
near this post. It occurs not only in place, hut in large, loose blocks along the stream. At one 
of the outcrops, a large quantity of stone has been removed in constructing a road, and its quality 
is thus well exhibited. The locality is tso near the plain of the San Joaquin, that in the event 
of the construction of a railroad over it the granite could be conveniently obtained for abutments 
and bridges. 
Beyond Fort Miller to Livermore’s Pass, the foot-hills or ridges of the Sierra must be resorted 
to for granite. It occurs on the Fresno River, near to the plain, but beyond that place the rocks of 
the lower ridges are believed to he principally slates, and not suited to purposes of construction. 
Granite has not yet been found in the Coast Mountains between the lower end of the San J oa- 
quin River and San Francisco. 
San Francisco. —The city of San Francisco has been chiefly supplied with granite from the 
Chinese quarries at Macao and Hong Kong. In 1854, however, it was found that an unlimited 
supply, of a good quality, could be obtained from Point Pinos, Monterey, and from Point Reyes, 
on the coast, about twenty miles north of the city. Quarries were opened at both places, and 
it was found that large blocks could he most readily obtained at Monterey. A large quantity of 
stone (“dimension stone”) was quarried there and shipped to San Francisco, to be used in the 
construction of the fortifications at Fort Point. 
The granite does not contain much hornblende, hut small crystals of black mica are dissemi¬ 
nated through it, and give it a pleasing gray color. It is also porphyritic, containing large 
isolated crystals of feldspar. In texture it is well adapted to building purposes, being fine¬ 
grained, and breaking into blocks of any desired size. The outer portions of the rock were 
slightly rusty, or made yellow by weathering, but on breaking out blooks below the surface, 
36 F 
