Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1849-03-09

: great bay, and is the only water communica
b ton from the coast to the interior country.-
: Approaching from the sea the coast present
bold outline. On the SOUTH the borderint
mountains come down In a narrow ridge O
2 broken hills, terminating in a precipitous poin
2 against which the sea breaks heavily. O,
+ the northern side, the mountain presents a bolt
Promontory, rising in a few miles to a heigh
OF two or three thousand feet. Between these
points Is the stralt-about one mile broad, II
the narrowest part, and FIVE miles long from
the sea to the bay. Passing through this
gate, the bay opens to the right and left, ex-
tending IN each direction about 35 miles, hav-
ing total length of more than 20, and a Goa ST
OF about 275 miles. 1t is divided, by straits
and projecting points, into three separate BAYS.
OF which the northern two are called San Pa
bio and Suisoon bays. Within the view pre-
scented Is OF a mountainous country, the bay
resembling an interior lake of deep water, "
ing between parallel ranges of mountains
Islands, which have the bold character of the
shores-some mere masses of rock and others
grass covered, rising to the height of three
and eight hundred feet-break its surface and
add to It's picturesque appearance. Directly
fronting the entrance mountains a few miles
| from the shore rise about 1000 feet above the
water, crowned by forest of the lofty cypress,
| which Is visible from the sea, and makes a
6ntGrInU
bay. Behind, the rugged peak of Mount Di-
avolo, nearly 1900 feet high, (3,77O,) over
looks the surrounding country of the bav and
San joaquin. The immediate shore of the
pay derives, from Its proXimate and opposite
relation to the sea, the name of contra costa,
/ (counter-coast, or opposite coast.) 1t presents
avared character of rugged and broken hills.
rolling and undulating land, and rich alluvial
shores backed by fertile and wooded ranges,
suitable for towns, villages, and farms, with
/ which 1t IS beginning to be dotted A low.
alluvial bottom land, several miles in breadth,
with occasional open woods of oak, borders
the foot of the mountains around the southern
arm OF the bay, terminating on breadth of
twenty miles in the fertile valley of St. To-
seph, narrow plain of rich soil, lying be-
tween ranges from two tc three thousand feet
| high. The valley is openly wooded, with
groves Of oak, free from underbrush, and after
the spring rains covered with grass. Taken
In conneXion with the valley of San Juan,
with which it forms continuous plain, it is
ffty-fiye miles long and one to twenty broad,
opening into smaller valleys among the hills. /
AT the head OF the bay 1t is twenty miles broad /
and about the same at the southern end. where 1
the soil is beautifully fertile, covered irf sum /
ner with four or five varieties of wild clover /
several feet high. In many places it is over
grown with wild mustard, growing ten or
through which roads are made like lanes
On both sides the mountains are fertile, wood
ed, or covered with grasses and scattered trees
On the west it is protected from the chilling
influence of the northwest winds by the Gu
esta de los Gatos, (wild-cat ridge, which sep
aTates it from the coast. This is a grassy and
timbered mountain, watered with small streams
and wooded on both sides with many varieties
Of trees and shrubbery, and heavier forests of
pine and cypress occupying the western slope.
ms nna Hagnd one q o eo h dcenfv f ds
covered quicksilver mines is on the eastern
side of the mountain. near the Pueblo of San
Jose. This range terminates on the south In
the Ammo Nuevo point of Monterey bay, and
on the north declines into a ridge of broken
hills about five miles wide. between the bay
and the sea, and having the town of San Fran
cisco on the bay shore, near its northern ex-
tremity.
Sheltered from the cold winds and fogs of
sea, and having soil Of remarkable fertility,
the valley of St. Jose (San JOSEF is capable of
producing in great perfection many fruits and
grains which do not thrive on the coast in its
Immediate vicinity. Without taking into con-
sderation the extraordinary yields which have
sometimes occurred, the fair average product
of wheat is estimated at fifty fold, or fifty for
one sown. The Mission establishments of
Sana Clara and San Jose, IN the north end of
the valley, where formerly in the prosperous
days of the missions, distinguished for the
superiority Of their wheat crops.
The slope of alluvial land continues entire
" around the eastern shore of the bay, inter
sected by small streams, and Offering some
points with good landing and deep water,
with advantageous positions between the sea
and interior country, indicate for furture set
element.
The strait of Carquines, about one mile |
wide and eight or ten fathoms deep, connects
the San Pablo and Suisoon bays. Around /
these bays smaller valleys open into the bor-
derng country, and some of the streams have
short launch navigation, which serves to I
convey produce to the bay. Missions and
large farms were established at the head of
navigation on these streams, which are favor
able sites for towns or villages. The country /
around the Suisoon bay presents smooth low
ridges and rounded hills, clothed with wild /
oats, and more or less openly wooded on their
SUBMITS. Approaching it's northern shores
from Sonoma 1t assumes, though In state OF
nature, cultivated and beautiful appearance. !
Wild oats cover IT In continuous fields, and
herds of cattle and bands of wild horses are
scattered over low hills and partly insulated
ridges, where blue mists and openings among
the abruptly terminating hills indicate the
neighborhood of the bay.
The Suisoon is connected with an expans
ion of the river formed by the junction of the
Sacramento and San joaquin, which enter the
Francisco bay in the same latitude, nearly, az
the mouth of the Tagus at Lisbon. A delta
of twenty-five miles in length, divided into
deep channels, connects the bay with the val
ley Of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, into
the mouths of which the tide flows, and which
enter the bay together as one river.
Such is the bay, and the proxymate coun-
/ try and shores of the bay of San Francisco
/ 1t is not mere indentation of the coast, but a
/ little sea to itself, connected with the ocean
I by defensible gate, opening out to the right
] and lofr sivtr- or Seventy miles. deeD enough