grove of
mammoth trees, six feet or more in diameter, with tops reaching two
hundred or three hundred feet toward the blue sky. They seemed to me to
be a kind of cedar, and were far larger and taller than any trees I had
ever seen in the forests of Vermont, Michigan or Wisconsin, and in my
long journey from the East the route had been principally through a
country devoid of good timber. A stranger in a strange land, everything
was new and wonderful. After satisfying my inquiring mind I returned to
camp again, and soon learned that my newly discovered trees were the
famous redwoods, so greatly prized for their valuable qualities.

Taking the most direct course to camp I came, when within two or three
miles of San Jose, to a large extent of willows so thick, and so thickly
woven together with wild blackberry vines, wild roses and other thorny
plants, that it appeared at first as if I never could get through. But I
found a winding trail made by the cattle through the bushes and mustard,
and this I followed, being nearly scared occasionally by some wild
steers as they rushed off through the thickets. I got through safely,
though it would have been difficult to escape a wild, enraged steer, or
a grizzly had I met him face to face even with a rifle in hand. I could
see nowhere but by looking straight up, for the willows were in places
fifty feet high and a foot in diameter. The willows where I came from
were mere bushes, and these astonished me. This bit of brush is still
locally known as "The Willows," but the trees are all gone, and the
ground thickly covered with orchards and fine residences, the land
selling at from one thousand to two thousand dollars per acre.

The sun rose without a cloud, and a little later the sea breeze from the
bay blew gently over the valley, making the climate perfectly delightful
in its temperate coolness, a true paradise on earth it seemed to me, if
I was able to judge or set a value upon so beautiful a spot; and surely
I had seen all sorts, good and poor, desert and valley, mountain and
plain.

But I was poor in purse, and resolved I would seek first the gold mines
and secure gold enough to buy a piece of this valley afterward.

When I had seen what was to be seen about San Jose I had a talk with my
friends and found that Mr. Bennett favored going on to the mines at once
and that Moody and Skinner thought they would remain a little while at
least.

I went along in company with Bennett, an