Fault Gouge at Tejon Pass

"At the time of the great upheaval [of 1857], I was in the yard at the south side of the adobe house of William Wolfskill, the pioneer, near the present site of the Arcade Depot in Los Angeles. I first stumbled toward the west, and was almost thrown down; then, after a brief period, I commenced to stumble in the opposite direction. Other persons near me stumbled in similar fashion. The long wide corridor on the south side of the Wolfskill house was hung with grapes, and I noticed that they swung back and forth clear up to the rafters. Water in tanks was thrown out in numerous instances, clocks were stopt, etc. The movement seemed to be comparatively slow, giving things time to recover after moving in one direction. If the motion had been short and sudden, the damage would have been appalling."