_Portolá_ (a surname), is the name of a town in San Matéo County, and was named in honor of the celebrated discoverer of San Francisco Bay.
_Potrero_ (pasture ground), is one of the districts of San Francisco. This is only one of the many _Potreros_ in the state.
_Presidio_ is a word used by the Spaniards in the double meaning of prison or military post. It may be that the custom of using convicts as soldiers, prevalent with the Spanish, had something to do with this double usage of the word. The Presidio of San Francisco, now a regular military post of the United States, although still retaining its Castilian name, is picturesquely and delightfully situated on the north end of the peninsula. There is also a government presidio at Monterey.
_Point Reyes_ (kings point), was named by Vizcaíno in honor of the “three wise men,” or “holy kings,” because it was discovered on the day of their devotion. This point is in Marin County and is the outer point of Drake’s Bay, where the noted adventurer is supposed to have made his anchorage, and where Cermeñón was wrecked.
_Rodéo_ (round-up of cattle). Rodéos were held, and in some parts of the state still take place, for the purpose of separating and branding the cattle belonging to individual owners, an operation decidedly necessary when pastures were unfenced, and in early days one of the most picturesque features of California life. The village of Rodéo is in Contra Costa County.
_San Anselmo_ (St. Anselm), is in Marin County.
_San Bruno_, a village near San Francisco, was named for St. Bruno, the founder and first abbot of the Carthusian Order. This order of monks is among the most severe in its rules, requiring almost perpetual silence of its members. Its devotees are only permitted to speak together once a week. They never eat flesh, and are compelled to labor constantly.
_San Gerónimo_ (St. Jerome), is the saint usually pictured as accompanied by a lion, in commemoration of the well-known story of the removal of a thorn from the foot of one of those beasts by Jerome, and the devotion of the lion to him afterwards. San Gerónimo is the name of a small stream in Marin County, noted for its salmon fisheries.
_San Gregorio_ (St. Gregory), is in San Matéo County, twenty-four miles southwest of Redwood City. St. Gregory was a noble Roman who devoted his wealth to charity, and turned his home into a hospital and monastery. He was elected to the high office of Pope, and became the composer of what is called from him the “Gregorian Chant.”