Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1874-07-02
Womack'S Letter.
From California to Arizona.
A Little Trip Across the Great
American Desert-SceneS and
Incidents from Los Angeles
to Prescott.

The time was August lO,
1873; the place Los Angeles,
California, and the persons five
passengers, including the wri-
ter Of this letter. The stage
being in readiness, we tumbled
inside; the driver cracked his
whip and with whoop we bade
a1ieu to the great orange mart
of the Pacific coast. The
weather was excessively warm,
and profuse perspiration was
the order of the day, Ten miles
from Los Angeles we arrived at
San Gabriel, one of the prettiest
towns, perhaps, in America. The
Sierra Nevada mountains. here,
run nearly north and south, while
their sides and SUBMITS are heavily
timtered with pine, oak and man
zanita. San Gabriel is situated
on the western side of the Sier'
ras on a beautiful prairie. facing
the ocean. The scenery is mag
nificent on the east the high
mountains, to the north and south
the prairie valley of Los Angeles,
while to the west. distant about
eighteen miles, rolls the grand old
Pacific. White farm houses are
seen scattered, here and there, sur
rounded by groves of orange trees
and smiling vineyards. The deep
green of the olive groves, too, is
seen. "a thing of beauty and
Joy forever
THE OLDEST INHABITANT.
The chief attraction at San
Gabriel is the Mission, a grand
old relic of Spanish rule. The
church was built by Indian la
Dor, under the supervision of
the Mexican padres. 1t is a
commodious building composed
Of adobes, the walls are plas-
tered white, and as they are
high, the traveller is at once
ready to call it vast cathedral
Of snow. In front of the Mis-
sion is an orange orchard, the
finest in the State. The orch
ard is fenced by a species of
cactus, and is, on that account,
one of the best fences | ever
saw. San Gabriel is also noted
as being the residence of the
Oldest lnhabitant in the United
States, a MEXICAN lady who has
attained the. age of 123 years.
Three miles farther on we ar
rived at Lexington, a small town
situated on the San Gabriel riv-
er; the adjacent county is called
El Monte, and is noted as be-
ing one of the best productive
regions on the Pacific slope
One hundred bushels of corn
per acre have been frequently
gathered; while the Monte ba-
con commands a good price ev-
erywhere. Los Angeles honey
has become a synonym for all
that is delicious. Still farther
down the river there is another
settlement called Los Nietos
where a great amount of corn
and bacon is shipped to San
Francisco.
Fifty miles south of Los An
geles brought us to San Bernar-
dino, the chief town of the
same name. San Bernardino
stands on the north bank of the
Santa Anna river; it is noted
for its salubriOus climate and
ugly women. Changing horses
at this place, we sped onward
and soon saw the Mission of old
San BernardinO. Its white
farm houses, live fences Of cot
tOnwood, and the clear, bright
streams that go dancing and
shimmering away to the Santa
Anna, make it appear like pic
ture of fairy land. As we left
the Mission behind us, we
gazed long and lovingly at the
last, semi-tropical Eden of Cal
ifornia. Only fifteen miles south
of us the dreaded Desert" that
eye-sore Of America, made its
We looked back
once more as we entered the
vast ocean of yellow sand, and
saw the green valley of San Ja-
cinto away to the westward,
with its numerous fiocks of
sheep, its large bands of hors-
cs, and its peaceful herders
watching the Spanish cattle as
they cropped the filaree.
THE AMERICAN SAHARA.
On the Desert with nothing
TO obstruct the view as far as
the eye can ken-the far hori-
lon belts the sandy world in a