The Land of The Olive and Vine

The Land of The Olive and Vine. Ocean View, Santa Cruz county, December 26th, 1876 : On the 1st of December we left San Jose for a short sojourn on the Santa Cruz mountains at Hotel de Redwood, some twentyfive mile distant. I secured an outside passage on the stage for myself and wife. We mounted up by the side of the driver, and had the grandest, most exciting ride of our lives. Our coach was drawn by six fine horses. Our driver, Mr. George Colgrove, was one of the owners of the line. We found him an intelligent, courteous gentleman, and admirably did he handle his coach and six. Ten miles of our ride was among the mountains. After passing Los Gatos, at the foothills, we commenced the ascent of the mountain. Upward towards the clouds for ten miles our steeds continued to climb. When near the backbone or divide of the range, the scenery was unusually grand. As we wound along the mountain crest we made arcs, halfcircles and ovals in our serpentine course. We looked down upon the tall tree-tops, upon huge boulders torn from the mountain side, upon splintered rocks, deep gorges and wild chasms; and below all, the laughing, dancing, mountain stream sparkled in merriment. At Patchen we were met by Judge Miller. He insisted we should become bis guests; hence, with his kind family we share the joys, pleasures and grand scenery of this beautiful mountain home. My almanac tells me it is Winter. The beautiful scene that greets my vision tells me it is Spring. A carpet of green clothes the hillside. The flowers are in bloom. The bees and butterflies are vieing with each other for the sweets of the blossoms. The meadow larks and other birds are singing. No fire in our house. The windows are up and the doors open Thermometer stands at eighty degrees. We were awakened this morning by the musical wings of the humming birds, sipping nectar from the roses and fuschias beneath our bedroom window. Truly, this is wonderful! Judge Miller came here last year for the health of bis wife, and by an advantageous purchase secured for himself and sons a splendid mountain ranch or farm of 500 or 600 acres of rich land, well wooded and admirably located between the cities of San Jose and Santa Crux, fifty miles from San Francisco, on the Santa Crux mountains, overlooking the Pacific. From our mountain home we have the finest view I ever witnessed, east, north and west, the mountains lift their head in sublime grandeur. Peak towers above peak , but old Loma Prieta looks down in majesty opon the rest. Thls mountain in form is a truncated cone. It is the third in height of this range. In a southwest direction we look out upon old Pacific. For miles and miles away we gaze upon its broad bosom shimmering in the sun, its furthest limit melting into the blue of the sky. South we look upon the Bay of Monterey, which resembles a great, placid lake. Beyond the bay we see the mountain range that borders it. Below us, seemingly almost at our feet, we look upon the city of Santa Cruz, beautiful town of 6,000 inhabitants, the Newport of the Pacific Slope A few miles to the left of Santa Cruz the town of Soquel is plainly visible. Between Santa Cruz and our home we look down upon the tops of giant redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). The trees are mammoths next in size to the Mariposa big trees (Sequoia gigantea). They grow from 200 to 300 feet in height, and from 10 to 20 feet in diameter. Oh! what a grand view of unsurpasslng magnificence a fine combination of the beauty and sublimity of mountain and ocean scenery! The Judge’s home is appropriately called “Ocean View,” from which steamers, sail vessels, light houses, and railway trains on the coast can be seen. The farm abounds in valuable improvements, dwelling houses, out- buildings, stock -yards and sheds, plowlands for wheat, corn, barley, and other grains which yield well, an orchard of many kinds of choice fruitage, semi-tropical and otherwise, and a vineyard of twelve or fifteen acres in full bearing of the best European varieties of table and raisin grapes, yielding many tons annually.

These mountain ranches far surpass those of the valley for fruit. Here

fruit is a surer crop, and more luscious to the taste. The mountain fruit always commands a better price in the market than that of the valley. The climate of these mountains in Winter is warmer, and the air more balmy than in the valley. No frost has yet appeared, while in the valley it has withered the tomato vines and the more tender of the flowers. Here our tomato vines are fresh and green and are growing finely. They are full of blossoms and ripe fruit, a strange sight to us. The valley is subject to more or less of fog that rolls in from San Francisco bay. here a fog very seldom appears. It is a grand sight in the morning to look down upon the clouds that bang above the valley. As the sun rises they look like great sunlit billows or a mighty ocean lashed into foam by some furious storm. The mountain peaks that appear above the clouds look like islands; but as the sun rises higher these clouds gradually float away and leaves us the grand old ocean instead to gaze upon. Why the climate should be milder at this high elevation has puzzled scientists. It is generally believed that this range lies in the course of a warm current of air from the ocean, and that this causes the mildness of the climate. NO IRRIGATION is required For grain or fruit, except strawberries, which to procure a crop every month, requires irrigation. Game is here abundant. Deer frequently visit the Judge’s ranch. Foxes are numerous and trouble the fowls. The Judge, a few weeks since, saw a mountain lion (puma) walking leisurley through the vineyard. Last fall a grizzly bear killed a man about ten miles distant. A fortnight since a man in the same neighborhood was severely wounded by one. The quails are very abundant. Whole bevies of them come flocking about the bouse. They appropriate the Judge’s vineyard and get very fat on his large”, luscious grapes. They are a most beautiful bird. In a flock together upon the ground they look like little troopers. Their uniform is between a blue and a brown in color. A beautiful plume nods on their heads as soldierly they march along. Pigeons are plentiful. They are larger than ours, darker in plumage, with a white ring about the neck. Geese and ducks are numerous. Eagles at any time during the day may be seen soaring majestically in circles above the valleys. The mountain streams are full of trout. The followers of Nimrod and Izaak Walton may here pursue their avocations with wonderful success. The dry, oxygenized air of the mountains is soothing to the sore lungs of the consumptive. Many of these mountaineers fled from death in the Eastern States, and here are buoyant with health. No consumptive should leave home for a change of climate without the advice of some skilled physician. Land upon these mountain ranges in value from $15 to $30 per acre; and in the Santa Clara valley from $30 to $300 per acre, according to quality, location and improvements. A. W. in the Chicago Tribune. 

Santa Cruz Sentinel (Weekly), Volume 22, Number 38, page 1, 24 February 1877