In 1849, Bayard Taylor, a world traveler and one of the most
popular American writers of the time, wrote this from a mountain
top on one of his travels:
”
We looked on a vast and wonderful landscape.
In 1849, Bayard Taylor, a world traveler and one of the most popular American writers of the time, wrote this from a mountain top on one of his travels:
“We looked on a vast and wonderful landscape. The mountain rose like an island in the sea of air, so far removed from all it overlooked that everything was wrapped in a subtle violet haze, through which the features of the scene seemed grander and more distant than the reality.”
Wow, that must have been a special view. Where in the world was he: the Alps, the Himalayas, the Andes? It was a special view indeed. Bayard Taylor was standing on top of El Toro.
In 1849, the California gold rush had captured the imagination of the world. Horace “Go west young man” Greeley was looking for a willing journalist to travel to California to describe the wild excitement there for his New York Tribune readers. Taylor agreed to go, having established the appropriate credentials with his popular travel book, “Views Afoot; or Europe Seen with Knapsack and Staff” that described his journey to Europe.
Leaving New York on June 28, 1849, Taylor sailed to Panama, crossed the isthmus, and then set sail again toward San Francisco Bay arriving 51 days later. During his eight-month stay in California, Taylor took two trips to the gold diggings, described a bustling San Francisco and walked from San Francisco to Monterey to witness California’s Constitutional convention.
Along the way, Taylor stopped at the Santa Clara Mission for a meal of pears and cactus fruit, then to Pueblo San José where he “left the road I had already traveled, and took the broad highway running southward, up the valley of San José.” He described “parklike tracts, studded with oaks and sycamores” and crossing the dry bed of Coyote Creek. He was warned by a passing traveler to look out for bears.
His first night in the south Santa Clara Valley, Taylor stayed at Captain Fisher’s 18,000-acre ranch with its orchards, vineyard and garden. Fisher bragged about the yield of wheat, barley and rye and showed Taylor abundant fields of large-eared corn, melons, pumpkins, squashes and beans. “In regards to climate and situation, the valley of San José is one of the most favored parts of California,” he said.
The next day, Taylor walked further up the valley to the ranch of Martin Murphy. “Beyond the house, and across a little valley, rose the conical peak of El Toro, an isolated mountain which served as a landmark from San José nearly to Monterey.” After dinner, two horses were saddled and Murphy escorted Taylor to the summit.
Taylor’s description of that summit view, a portion of which I quoted above, is somewhat laden with flowery Victorian era hyperbole. But this widely traveled man was clearly impressed with the vista. “The unvarying yellow hue of mountain and plain, except where they were traversed by broad belts of dark-green timber, gave a remarkable effect to the view. … Glimmering through the mist, the mountains seemed to have arrayed themselves in cloth of gold …”
How many of us have made the climb up El Toro? Of those of us who have, did we appreciate it like Bayard Taylor did? The near view to the east has changed a little – more rooftops and roads – but the fresh eye of a visitor can remind us of something special that we take for granted. On a really clear day atop El Toro you can see downtown San Jose, downtown San Francisco and Mt. Tamalpais.
If you want to read Bayard Taylor’s descriptions of gold rush California, read his book “Eldorado” or “Adventures in the Path of Empire” (Heyday Books). You will enjoy the descriptions of a young California and the pristine south Santa Clara Valley, written by a world traveler who regards our mountains and valley as world class.
