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CALII-ORMIA
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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CALIFOENIA
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TARR AND McMURRY GEOGRAPHIES
SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME
CALIFORNIA
BY
HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Ph.D.
AUTHOR OF "stories OF OUR MOTHER EARTH," "HOME GEOGRAPHY " STORIES OF ROCKS AND MINERALS," ETC.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON; MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1903
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1903, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped January, 1903.
NorfajootJ ^r£2g
J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mau. U.S.A.
PREFACE
The preparation of a supplementary geography of Cali- fornia involves serious difficulties. No other state in the Union has such a diversity of climate, of physical fea- tures, and of products. To furnish in one hundred pages of text a description of the state, its life, and resources which shall be sufficiently broad in scope, and not a mere enumeration of facts, is no easy task. How well the author has succeeded must be left to the teachers and pupils to decide.
In accordance with the plan worked out in the other volumes of the series, the geographic facts are treated in a manner to bring out as fully as possible their causal relations. Facts which under the older methods were grouped together as a mere series to be memorized, are in the supplement discussed as far as possible in their natural relations. Through the interest thus aroused the facts are not only more easily acquired, but also more apt to be retained.
Owing to the marked differences in climate and physi- ography within short distances, the control which these factors exert over products and industries offers most excellent opportunity for practical study. To the Cali- fornia child geography should naturally become a study of the real world, not of a shadowy book- world.
221^36
VI PREFACE
It has been thought best not to insert review questions at the end of each chapter, partly because of lack of space and partly because they are of doubtful value. In their place there are given at the close of the book both a topical summary and a series of general questions, in- tended to develop independent thought and to determine whether or not the statements of the text have been understood.
Acknowledgments are due Dr. McMurry, one of the authors of this series, and Dr. F. B. Dressier of the Uni- versity of California, for helpful criticisms.
For photographs, acknowledgments are due to Professor Branner for the relief map, H. L. Jones for Fig. 49, Spreckels Sugar Company for Fig. 45, Professor Holway for Fig. 27, Sunset Photo, and Engraving Company for Fig. 57, Mr. Ralph Arnold for Fig. 40, Mr. McAdie, forecast official, S.F., for Fig. 7.
H. W. FAIRBANKS. Bbbkelet, California.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGB
Introduction xi
Physiography of the Cordilleran Region .... xiii
Physiography of California 1
Relief 1
Physiographic Provinces 3
Origin of the Mountains and Valleys of California . . 5
Drainage 7
Movements of the Land . 10
The Islands and Submarine Plateau 13
Climate 15
Vegetation and Animal Life 19
Natural Resources . 24
History and Industrial Development 26
Discovery 26
Spanish Settlement ....... o .. 27
Indians 29
American Exploration and Conquest 30
Discovery of Gold 32
Mining 34
Stock-raising and Agriculture 35
Means of Communication 36
Development of Fruit Industries 37
The Sierra Nevada Province 38
Extent and History 38
vii
vm TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Gold Mining 40
Forests and Lumbering 43
Other Occupations 45
The Great Cafions 47
The Former Glaciers 49
Water Supply, Water Power, Recreation 60
The Great Valley Province 61
Physiography and Climate 61
Resources 54
Chief Cities 65
Province of the Coast Ranges 58
Physiography and Climate 58
Resources 60
The City of San Francisco 62
Suburban Cities and Towns 66
Tributary Valleys and Cities . . . . . . .67
The Straits of Carquinez 68
The Northern Coast 69
The Clear Lake Region 71
Monterey and Surroundings 71
The Valleys of the Southern Coast Ranges .... 72
Southern California 74
Physiography and Climate 74
Resources 79
Irrigation 81
Santa Barbara and Vicinity 83
The Valley of the Santa Clara River 83
Los Angeles and Vicinity 84
San Diego 86
The Province of the Klamath Mountains .... 87
Physiography 87
Natural Resources 88
TABLE OF CONTENTS IX
PAGE
Volcanic Plateau Region 89
Physiography 89
Resources 91
The Great Basin Peovince 92
Physiography and Climate 92
Mining for the Metals 96
Borax and Salt 97
Agricultural Resources, Stock-raising 98
Character of the Population 98
Government and Education 99
Topical Summary 101
Suggestions 109
Maps, Pictures, and Books 110
General Questions Ill
Statistics . . . . . . • • • • .114
Geographicai< Names 118
INTRODUCTION
We study geography that we may better understand the earth and our relation to it.
The earth has a varied surface. The distribution and character of its features have much to do with the climate of different portions. The climate of any particular place determines what plants and animals shall live there. As members of the animal kingdom we are also affected by these things, although to a less degree.
When we know the physiography of a region, that is, what sort of climate it has, whether its surface is made up of fertile valleys or rugged mountains, the nature of its rivers, seacoasts, etc., we can tell pretty certainly what the people of that region are doing.
To make our study of geography of most value we shall try to discover the relation existing between the various facts concerning the earth and the development of the people who live upon its surface. The facts of geography taken by themselves have little value for us. It is only when we discover the connection between these facts that they take on a meaning.
The portion of the earth to which we shall devote our attention in the following chapters is California. We shall take up the physiographic features of the state, learn something about their history and the changes
XU INTRODUCTION
which they are going through, their effect upon the climate, and how they have influenced the settlement and early history of the region, as well as its later indus- trial development.
What California is to-day is the result partly of the position and nature of its mountains, valleys, and the character of its coast line, and partly of the energy and intelligence of the people who have settled it.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE CORDILLERAN REGION
The western half of the United States is largely a region of mountains and plateaus. To this whole area the term Cordilleras is often applied.
The Rfljck/ Mountains lie upon the eastern border of this region. They consist of partly detached and gener- ally rugged mountain ranges, extending from Mexico north across the United States into British Columbia.
Near the western border of the Cordilleran region there is another and parallel system of mountains fully as rugged and elevated as the Rocky Mountains. These mountains extend through the states of California, Ore- gon, and Washington. In California they are known as the Sierra Nevada range, in Oregon and Washington as the Cascade range.
Between the Rocky Mountain system and the Sierra Nevada-Cascade systems there is an elevated region of . great extent. The northern portion is called the Columbia plateau. It is drained by the Columbia River, which, after traversing the plateau in a series of deep caiions, breaks through the Cascade range and enters the ocean. The southern portion of this interior region is drained by the Colorado River and is called the Colorado Plateau . The river pursues a general southwesterly course and
XIV PHYSIOGRAPHY
empties into the Gulf of California. It has eroded in the plateau one of the most remarkable canons of the world.
Between the plateaus traversed by these two rivers there is an elevated region which receives so little rain- fall that no drainage leading from it has been established. This area embraces nearly the whole of Nevada and large portions of California and Utah. Owing to the absence of an outlet it is called the Grfiat Basin. It is traversed by many north and south mountain ranges, which divide its surface into smaller basins.
West of the Sierra Nevada- Cascade system there is a line of large and well- watered valleys. In California there are the Sacramento and San.Jjoaq3iinjv;alleys, known altogether as the Great Valley. West of the Cascades in Oregon is the Willamette Valley, and in Washington the valley which is partly drowned by the waters of Puget Sound.
Separating these valleys from the ocean there is another system of mountains known in general terms as the Coast Ranges, but having many local names. '
CALIFORNIA
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PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
California is the second largest state in the Union. It reaches from north to south across nearly ten degrees of latitude and has a coast line fully one thousand miles in length. Within California there are regions of extreme moisture and of great aridity, of almost arctic cold and tropic heat. A portion of its surface is below the level of the ocean, while its mountain peaks are among the loftiest in the Cordilleras. Consequently in studying California we shall discover the most marked contrasts in physiog- raphy, climate, and productions.
In order to understand, as we ought, the social and industrial development of the state, we must first study its physical features, for these have exerted a marked control upon the direction and wealth of this development.
Relief. — If we examine a relief map of California (Fig. 1), our first impression is that, save for one large valley, it is almost wholly a region of mountains. If, however, we should travel over the state, we would find these mountains separated by countless valleys, some of which are many miles in extent. The large valley so prominent upon the map would be found to be hundreds of miles long, and so broad and level that we would not be far wrong in calling it a plain.
Another fact of importance shown by the relief map is, that the mountain ranges and larger intervening valleys B ^- ; > > :i\ ; .% ^-
2 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
extend nearly parallel with the coast, that is, in a north- westerly and southeasterly direction.
The plain-like valley reaching fully half the length of the state is the Great Valley of California. It is enclosed by two systems of mountains ; the Sierra Nevada upon the east, and the Coast Ranges upon the west. The lowest point in the rim of mountains is across the Coast Ranges, where the drainage of the valley passes out to the ocean.
The northwestern portion of the state appears as a mass of rugged mountains, which are really a continuation of the Coast Ranges, but are known as the Klamath Moun- tains. The relief map shows that the northeast corner of the state is mountainous, but not so rough. This is the volcanic plateau region.
East of the Sierra Nevada there appears a series of high parallel ranges belonging in the Great Basin. To the southeast of the Sierra Nevada is spread out the vast extent of the Moliave Desert, which is dotted with low mountain ranges.
Upon the coast opposite the southern end of the Great Valley,. there is a prominent cape known as Point Concep- tion. This marks a change in direction of both mountains and coast. From Point Conception a continuous moun- tain range extends easterly far into the deserts of Southern California. East of the junction of the Coast Ranges with the Sierra Nevada, this range becomes much higher and more rugged. It is known under the general term Sierra Madre.
Near the Mexican boundary the coast turns again toward the south. The name Peninsula Range is given to the chain of mountains lying ^ between the Colorado
:\r,
Fig. 1.
Relief Map of California, by N. F. Drake (Copyrighted).
Fig. 2.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 3
desert and the ocean and extending south through the Peninsula of Lower California.
Physiographic Provinces. — The topography, climate, and industries vary so greatly in different portions of California that we can best acquire a knowledge of them by studying a portion of the state at a time. Fortunately the physiography is such that we can divide the state into a number of well-defined districts or provinces (Fig. 2).
Sierra Nevada Province. — This elevated tract comprises one great range of mountains 400 miles long and more than 70 miles wide. The mountains rise gradually from the Great Valley upon the west to a jagged crest 10,000 to 14,000 feet high, and then drop down quite precipi- tously to the desert valleys of the Great Basin. These mountains are noted for their scenery, and their extensive coniferous forests, but more particularly for their valuable deposits of gold, the discovery of which led to the rapid settlement of the state.
The Great Valley Province. — This includes the largest and most important valley west of the Rocky Mountains. It is practically a vast plain 400 miles long and 50 miles wide. The northern arm is known as the Sacramento Valley, the southern arm is called the San Joaquin Valley. The Sacramento River coming from the north and the San Joaquin from the south unite in a region of lowlands and marshes, and, turning west, break through the Coast Ranges and enter the ocean by way of San Francisco Bay.
The Great Valley is the granary of the state. It is also noted for its large production of fruits of all kinds.
The Province of the Coast Ranges. — The Coast Range system includes all those mountains lying between the Great Valley and the ocean. In northwestern California
4 CALIFOBNIA SUPPLEMENT
they blend into the Klamath Mountains, while upon the south they terminate in the San Emedio Mountains, which lie at the extreme southern end of the Great Valley.
Many large and fertile valleys lie among the Coast Ranges. They were formerly noted for their productions of stock and grain, but are now largely given over to fruit raising. Upon San Francisco Bay, most admirably situated for domestic and foreign trade, is the metropolis of the state.
Southern California. — The term Southern California is applied to all that portion of the state lying south of Tehachapi Pass. The deserts of the Great Basin include much of this area, so that for discussion in the supple- ment only the coastal slope — that lying between the Santa Ynez, the Sierra Madre, and the Peninsula ranges and the ocean — will be regarded as belonging in the Soutliern California province.
Much of this region receives but a scanty rainfall, and thirty years ago had a semi-arid appearance. The mountains are high, and much more rain falls upon them. The water of the streams, which are supplied from the mountains, has been led out in ditches over these dry valleys and has transformed them into veritable gardens where subtropical fruits are grown in abundance.
Los Angeles, situated in the midst of this region, has become its metropolis and is the second city of the state.
The Province of the Klamath Mountains, — This group of rugged mountains is formed of rocks similar to those of the Sierra Nevada. The highest peaks reach an eleva- tion of over nine thousand feet, and the whole region is cut by deep canons. Physiographically these mountains form a continuation of the Coast Ranges. Upon the
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNTA 5
northeast they are partially connected with the Cascade Range.
The chief products of the Klamath Mountains are gold, copper, and lumber.
The Volcanic Plateau Province. — This province em- braces the volcanic region of northeastern California. It has an elevation of three thousand to five thousand feet and is traversed by several ranges of mountains. The province contains the greatest volcanic peaks of the state. Its products are chiefly lumber and stock.
The Great Basin Province. — Fully one-third of the area of California has no drainage to the ocean and is, consequently, included in the Great Basin. The western boundary of the Great Basin is determined by the crest of the Sierra Nevada, the Sierra Madre, and Peninsula ranges. While a portion of this region is plateau-like, having an elevation of four thousand or more feet, another portion is beneath the level of the ocean. Most of the Great Basin is extremely arid, but its mountains and deserts contain minerals of many kinds.
Origin of the Mountains and Valleys of California
The physiographic features of California have more meaning if one knows something of their history.
You have learned from previous work in geography that the rocks exposed upon the surface of the earth are slowly crumbling, and that the streams are carrying the fragments away in the form of sand and clay, finally to drop them in lake or ocean. Mountains whose slopes are steep are undergoing destruction more rapidly, other
6 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
things being equal, than those with gentle slopes. There will not always be mountains where we see them to-day, and where we now find rolling hills there once may have been high and rugged mountains.
New mountains have steep slopes and narrow caiions (Fig. 25) through which the streams dash rapidly. After a long time broad valleys will replace the caiions, and gentle slopes the precipitous walls of rock (Fig. 55^.
The mountains of California are due to the combined work of many agents. There are examples here of all the different kinds of mountains which one would see if he travelled over the whole world.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains, as well as the ranges to the east and the high mountains of Southern California, are portions of the surface which were elevated as a result of the breaking of the earth's crust. Upon one side of each fracture the land was raised into a range of moun- tains, upon the other side it was dropped and formed a valley. Such a sudden movement of the earth we call an earthquake. The direction of a mountain range shows the direction of the .break, and the steeper face of each range is the one along which the break took place.
The Coast Ranges were formed partly by the method described, and partly by a folding of the crust. The surface of the earth behaves much as does the skin of an apple that is drying. The shrinking of the apple wrinkles its skin, and the contracting of the interior of the earth as it cools causes the crust to form great wrinkles. The mountains and valleys produced by the two methods men- tioned are slowly changed by erosion. The water removes the softest rock first. The hard rocks may remain for a long time as mountain peaks and ridges (Fig. 46).
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 7
Other mountains, like those in the northeastern part of the state, were formed by volcanic action. The plateaus and the great peaks resulted from the piling up of melted rock, which was forced up from the interior of the earth through openings in the crust (Fig. 58).
The Great Valley, the larger valleys of the Coast Ranges, and those of Southern California were formed by a bending or folding downward of the crust of the earth. The caiions and narrow valleys, throughout all the moun- tains of the state, were eroded out of solid rock largely through the action of running water.
The great mountain ranges of California are much younger than the mountains in the eastern portion of the United States. To this fact is due the grand and rugged scenery for which the state is noted.
Drainage
The most important watershed of the state is that dividing the drainage of the Pacific Ocean from that of the Great Basin. The dividing line is an irregular one, but most of it is formed by the crests of the Sierra Nevada, the Sierra Madre, and Peninsula ranges (Fig. 1).
The Sierra Nevada Range forms a great barrier upon the east throughout half the length of the state. It is interest- ing to know that before the geography of the Cordilleran region had been fully explored, it was supposed that there was a large river rising in the Rocky Mountains and flow- ing westerly into San Francisco Bay. This river was^ actually located upon the maps of that time, although it would liave had to flow across the Sierra Nevada Range.
The volcanic plateau might be thought, from its posi- tion, to be a part of the Great Basin, but it is not. The
8 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
portion of the Cascade Range extending into California is very low, and two rivers cross it from the interior. The northern one, the Klamath, crosses both the Cas- cade Range and the Klamath Mountains, passing through the latter in a deep canon. Pitt River rises in the broad valleys of the plateau region in almost the extreme north- eastern corner of the state and flows southwest to join the Sacramento.
Nearly all the valleys of the volcanic plateau formerly contained lakes, but the most of them have dried up or have been drained. Klamath Lake in southern Oregon, and Rhett and Goose lakes in California, are the largest ones remaining.
A study of the drainage of California shows that nearly all the large streams are found upon the coastal sides of the mountains. The reason for this is, that the crest of each of the main mountain systems is near its eastern edge, and the long westerly slopes, facing the direction from which the storms come, receive most of the precipitation.
The streams entering the Great Valley from the Sierra Nevada Mountains have eroded rugged caiions. The most important ones in the southern arm are the Kern, Kaweah, Kings, San Joaquin, Merced, and Tuolumne. Those uniting in the Sacramento are the American, Feather, and Pitt rivers. The united volume of all these streams passes through the strait of Carquinez to San Francisco Bay.
Four streams of considerable size flow easterly from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and are finally lost in the sinks of the Great Basin. The Truckee River, which is the most northern of these streams, has its source in Lake Tahoe and empties into Pyramid Lake, Nevada. The
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 9
Carson River, next south, disappears in the shallow waters of Carson Lake, and the Walker River ends its course in Walker Lake. The fourth of these streams is Owens River, supplying Owens Lake.
During the glacial period, there was a greater rainfall in this region, so that Pyramid, Carson, and Walker lakes in Nevada, and Honey Lake in California, though now separated by miles of desert sands, were then united in one great lake covering more than eight thousand square miles. This ancient body of water is called Lake Lahontan.
Honey Lake, shallow and salt, is situated close under the northern Sierra Nevada. Mono Lake, intensely salt, is situated farther south, close to the teastern base of the mountains. Owens Lake, the largest of the three, is also salt.
The streams of the Coast Ranges generally follow the northwest and southeast valleys, although Russian River and the Santa Maria are exceptions to the rule. Owing to the much heavier rainfall upon the northern coast, the streams there carry much more water through the summer than those farther south, whose channels are often com- pletely dry.
The important rivers of the northern coast mountains, in addition to the Klamath, are Trinity, Eel, and Russian rivers. The Salinas River, emptying into Monterey Bay, has the largest watershed of any stream in the Coast Ranges, but the volume of water flowing in it, except immediately after heavy storms, is insignificant. The San Benito, the Santa Maria, and Santa Ynez are the other important streams of the southern Coast Ranges.
10 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The largest streams of Southern California are the Santa Clara, the Los Angeles-Tujunga, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, San Luis Rey, and San Diego. Owing to the long, dry summers and the sandy floor of the valleys through which they pass, the lower portions of these streams are nearly dry much of the year. However, water can be found by digging down in the sand of the stream beds.
No stream of any consequence enters the Colorado Desert except that known as New River, which, during a portion of the year, is formed by the overflow of the Colo- rado River.
The Mohave Desert is dotted with many sinks, each of which receives some water from the adjoining mountains during the wet season. The Mohave River is the most important of the streams. It rises upon the northern slope of the San Bernardino Range, and flows fully one hundred miles into the Mohave Desert before disappear- ing in the sands.
Movements of the Land
Two things have determined the character of the coast line of California. One of these is the direction of the adjoining mountain ranges ; the other is the recent move- ment of the land.
The surface of the earth is never wholly at rest, al- though it seems to us to be so. That it is constantly rising or sinking is learned from a study of the ocean shore. The floor of the ocean is much more even than the surface of the land, because no erosion goes on there. For this rea- son a coast that has recently risen will be apt to show a more regular line than one which has sunken, for in the
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 11
latter case the water would enter the adjoining valleys and form bays, while the mountains bordering the valleys would form headlands.
The Coast Ranges extend nearly parallel with the shores of the Pacific. One who had never seen California would suppose from this fact that there were no bays extending far into the land. This might be so, but for the fact that the land has recently sunken several hundred feet and has flooded the mouths of the rivers.
Fk;. :;. Looking across the Golden Gate from Fort Point.
Only one large river enters the Pacific from California. At the mouth of this stream, the San Joaquin-Sacramento, there is the only large and well-protected harbor for a distance of more than one thousand miles. As the land sank, the ocean flowed in through the Golden Gate (Fig. 3), which was then, probably, the mouth of the river, flooded the adjoining valleys of the Coast Ranges, and even reached across the mountains into the Great Valley. No great harbor in the world is more finely
12
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
situated for foreign and domestic trade than that of San Francisco.
The next most important harbor of California is that of San Diego, in the extreme southern part of the state. This excellent and safe harbor is also the result of the sinking of the land. Somewhat similar to the San Diego harbor is Humboldt Bay, upon the northern coast. San Diego and Eureka will doubtless both increase in impor- tance because of their harbors.
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Ocean terraces near Port Harford. Lowest one, ten feet; middle one, sixty feet ; upper one, one hundred feet above the water.
It can be readily understood that if the mountains ex- tended at right angles to the coast, there would be many more bays, and the interior of the state would have a somewhat different climate. It is interesting to think how much of the state would be flooded if the land should sink five hundred feet more. Many large islands and peninsulas with intervening channels would appear where the Coast Ranges are, and the greater portion of the
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 13
fertile fruit and agricultural valleys of the state would be flooded. If such had been the case, California would have been noted chiefly for its mineral products. It is really true that a much greater flooding of the land than this took place not very many thousand years ago, when the ocean rose one thousand to fifteen hundred feet higher than it is at present. This is shown by the old sea cliffs upon the mountain sides facing the ocean. At each level at which the ocean stood, the waves cut back into the land as they are doing to-day. The terraces (Fig. 4), which are so prominent along the coast, have been portions of the old ocean floor at different times. The mesa upon the coast of San Diego County, the broad plain of Los Angeles, the plain of Santa Barbara, and the level lands, of varying width, between the mountains and the ocean nearly the whole length of the state, are due to the action of the ocean waves at some past time.
The Islands and Submarine Plateau
The floor of the ocean does not slope down directly from the shore to the great depths of the Pacific. Nearly the whole length of California there is a submarine plateau over which the water is comparatively shallow. Off northern California the plateau is only ten miles wide, but toward the southern part of the state it extends out two hundred miles. Outside of this plateau the ocean deepens rapidly.
This plateau belongs to the continent of North America and not to the bed of the Pacific. In past times much of it was dry land, and it may sometime be elevated again.
14
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The islands along the coast rise from the surface of the plateau. They are exposed portions of submerged moun- tains. The most northern group of islands lies twenty miles off shore nearly opposite the Golden Gate. These islands are small and rocky.
Fig. 5.
Avalon — Sauta Catalina Island. The harbor was formed by the sinking of
the land.
The islands situated off the coast of Santa Barbara are known as the Channel Islands. The most important ones are San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz. They belong to a submerged mountain range once connected with the mainland.
San Clemente and Santa Catalina lie to the south, and rise from deeper portions of the plateau. Santa Catalina has become noted as a resort for tourists and pleasure seekers (Fig. 5).
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 15
Climate
California extends so far from north to south that we would expect it to show a great variation in climate. When compared with the Atlantic coast, its northern boundary is seen to be nearly in the latitude of Boston, while its southern boundary is about that of Savannah, Georgia.
However, the variations in the climate of California are due not so much to its great extent in latitude as to other and secondary causes. Chief of these is its nearness to the Pacific Ocean, from whose vast expanse come the evenly tempered westerly winds. Other modifying causes of importance are the direction of the mountain ranges and elevation above sea level.
It would be hard to find another country of equal size with such contrasts in climate as California. Subtropical fruits grow here in proximity to those of the colder, temperate latitudes. While the annual rainfall in the northwestern part of the state may reach eighty inches, in the desert regions of the southeast it rarely exceeds three inches. (Fig. 6.)
The temperature of the Pacific Ocean varies but little throughout the year, and as the prevailing winds are from the ocean, the portion of the state immediately adjacent has a remarkably even climate. Frosts are not frequent in winter, and in summer the winds are always cool. During the summer season warm currents of air descend- ing upon the cool surface of the ocean produce heavy banks of fog, which sweep inland (Fig. 7) through the valleys sometimes for a distance of thirty miles.
As one leaves the coast and goes inland, the effect of the
16
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
ocean winds is felt less, and the extremes in temperature become much greater. The mountains lie across the path of the ocean winds, so that the cooling effect of the latter is lost much quicker than it otherwise would be.
In the Great Valley the summers are dry and hot, but even there, nearly one hundred miles from the ocean, the winters are so tempered that oranges can be grown as far north as Red Bluff. The Great Valley has no summer fog, but during the winter it is sometimes covered with fog many days at a time.
Fjg. 7. Ocean fog pouring over the hills into San Francisco bay.
Altitude has a marked effect upon the summer climate of the coast region ; this effect is opposite to that experi- enced in most places. For instance, on Mt. Tamalpais, near San Francisco, at an elevation of twenty-five hundred feet, a warm summer climate exists, while the valleys below are buried in the cool fog.
As the higher mountains are ascended, a climate similar to that of the cooler temperate regions is experienced. The summers are very pleasant ; the winters, cold and
MAP SHOWING DISXRinuXION
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RAINFALL
IN
CALIFORXIA
I I 0-10 Inches
Fig. 6.
Explanation. — It will be seen from the above map that the annual pre- cipitation is influenced by three things : latitude, elevation, and distance from the coast. Map compiled by Prof. E. W. Hilgard.
PHTSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 17
snowy. Near the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains arctic conditions prevail.
In the southern portion of the Great Basin region, es- pecially in Death Valley, the Mohave and Colorado deserts (Fig. 59), the summer heat is intense. These deserts are so enclosed by mountains that the ocean winds do not reach them, and during the long summer days the air becomes heated as in an oven.
Winter is the wet season, summer the dry season. In the higher mountains the precipitation is mostly in the form of snow, which often falls to a depth of fifteen to twenty feet. In the valleys it is generally rain.
The wet season increases in length as we go from south to north, until in western Washington rain falls every month in the year. Most of the storms originate as cyclonic disturbances in the north Pacific. They pass southerly and easterly, encountering the land. As winter approaches, these storms, often hundreds of miles in di- ameter, extend farther and farther south, until the coast region as far as Mexico receives rain. Many of these storms do not extend farther south than Oregon or Wash- ington. They pass easterly over the Rocky Mountains, and across the northern states. Consequently the fre- quence and intensity of these storms decrease as we go south along the coast.
The storms are areas of low pressure, and they move in the direc- tion of least resistance. If there is a stationary area of high pressure over central California, a storm coming in from the Pacific will probably move east through Oregon and Washington. If the area of high pressure remains long enough, California will have a dry winter. If the pressure is low over California, more of the storms will move south, and a wet winter will be experienced. During the
18 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
summer none of the cyclonic disturbances reach California, and only a few of them come in upon western Washington. Hence little or no rain in summer.
Since the storms come from the ocean, it is fortunate for the productiveness of California that the higher mountains lie near its eastern border, and the lower ones near the coast. The western slope of the Coast Ranges receives more rain than their eastern slope. The western side of the Great Valley, because of the presence of the Coast Ranges, is deficient in rainfall, and the southern end is practically arid. The western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains has a heavy precipitation, which in- creases as we ascend. The crest of these mountains marks a fairly abrupt change. To the east the rainfall is very light, and the Great Basin is relieved from utter barren- ness by the small precipitation upon the summits of moun- tain ranges which traverse it.
Thunderstorms are not common in California, except in the mountains in the summer. In the desert portions the sudden heavy rainfall which sometimes breaks upon the barren mountains is called a cloudburst. The destruc- tiveness of these storms is due to the fact that there is little soil or vegetation to retain the water, so that it quickly gathers in the gulches and sweeps down them with great force, bearing enormous quantities of sand, gravel, and boulders out into the desert valleys. In this way are built up the long even waste slopes characteristic of the desert region.
During the winter southerly winds with a falling ba- rometer indicate the approach of a storm, while north- erly winds follow the passage of a storm toward the east.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
19
Vegetation and Animal Life,
The vegetation of a region is more directly dependent upon climatic conditions than is the animal life, for plants cannot move from one place to another. The chief factors affecting it are the amount and distribution of the rainfall, the temperature, and the character of the soil.
Except for the growths along the streams much of the Great Valley, the desert regions, and the valleys of Southern California are treeless. Following the winter rains the foot- hills and valleys become covered with a variety of grasses and a profusion of brightly tinted flowers. Even the vast sandy tracts of the Mohave Des- ert for a short time during favor- able years are a veritable garden of flowers.
The most of the desert regions con- tain such shrubs as the mesquite and greasewood. In the Colorado Desert there are several species of cactus. This plant is also found in the more moist portions of Southern California.
The Mohave Desert is remarkable for the groves of yucca (Fig. 9), which in places cover its slopes as far as the eye can reach. In a caiion upon the eastern slope of the San Jacinto Moun- tains occurs the native California date-palm (Fig. 10). Seeds of this palm were planted in the mission gardens, and
Fig. 8. Spanish bayonet in bloom. A characteristic plant of semi-arid slopes.
20
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
now it is common as an ornamental tree. The valleys and plains of the Great Basin and plateau region, where more rain falls, are covered with sage-brush and some grasses.
The steep mountain slopes of central and southern California, below the coniferous belt, are generally over- grown with shrubs or chaparral. These consist chiefly of the chamiso, California lilac, manzanita, sage, and scrub-oak.
Portions of the Sacramento Valley, the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, and the valleys and hills of the Coast
Fig. 9. Yucca forest in the Mohave Desert.
Ranges are covered with groves of different species of oak. The white oak is the most characteristic species. The live- oak (Fig. 39) is also widely distributed. Other common trees are the sycamore, cotton wood, laurel, and madrone.
The forests of California contain the largest and greatest variety of coniferous trees found anywhere upon the earth. For these trees to flourish a fairly abundant rainfall is necessary, but over most of the state the precipitation in the valleys is insufficient. In the southern portion
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
21
the coniferous forests do not reach below five thousand feet, but as we go toward the north the rainfall increases, and the forests extend lower and lower, until in the northwest coast counties they occupy the lowlands along the ocean.
The yellow pine, sugar pine, fir, spruce, cedar, and sequoia are the most important of the conifer- ous trees. The most im- portant forest belt extends along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Range, and is often thirty miles in width. The for- est belt may be divided into four parts. Upon the lower mountains and foot-hills are oaks. Above them is the yellow-pine belt, and then, most im- portant of all, the belt of sugar pine, fir, spruce, cedar, and sequoia reach- ing up to nine thousand feet. Above that are the alpine pines and junipers to eleven thousand feet.
In the Coast Ranges no large bodies of coniferous trees are found south of Santa Cruz County. The redwood (^sequoia sempervirens) is found from the Santa Lucia Range north to the Oregon line. This tree reaches its greatest development in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, where
Fig. 10.
The home of the Washington Palm, San Jacinto Mountains.
22 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
it forms magnificent forests (Fig. 43). These forests furnish a large proportion of the lumber produced in the state.
The sequoias are the most wonderful conifers in the world and are confined to California. There are two spe- cies — the redwood and the Big Trees. The latter (^sequoia gigantea) (Fig. 22) occurs in groves scattered along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of six to eight thousand feet.
At Monterey there is a grove of a species of cypress which occurs only in California. It is quite commonly used as an ornamental tree and for hedges.
The forests have suffered greatly from fires and the careless work of the lumbermen and stockmen. In order to preserve the trees from further reckless waste, and to lessen the danger of a decreased summer water supply by the removal of the vegetation at the sources of the streams, certain large tracts in the mountains have been set aside by the government as forest reserves. These reserves now cover nearly eleven thousand square miles. They are located in different portions of the Sierra Nevada Moun- tains^ Coast Ranges, Sierra Madre, and Peninsula ranges.
In addition to these forest reserves there are, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains,^ three national parks : the Yosemite, General Grant, and Sequoia. In these parks not only the vegetation, but the wild animals, are pro- tected. Here they will have a chance to live unmolested and recover from the inroads which have been made upon them.
In the Coast Ranges it is proposed to reserve an area of redwood forest in Big Basin, Santa Cruz County, where these great trees may remain unharmed.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 23
Climate has an important influence upon the distribu- tion of animals. In ascending the high mountains we find that their cold summits are not inhabited by the same animals which live in the valleys. The animals of the desert regions are not like those of the cool and moist coastal regions. Each species is adapted to the place in which it lives.
Many animals not existing in California at the time of its settlement inhabited its mountains and valleys at a not very remote time. Their bones have been found buried in the soil and gravels. There were the elephant, mastodon, camel, llama, tapir, horse, hog, buffalo, lion, and a rhinoceros-like animal.
Many other animals were abundant when the Spaniards came. Most important among these were the grizzly and black bear, the cougar or mountain lion, wild cat, coyote, elk, deer, antelope, and other smaller animals.
Bear are now found only in the wildest parts of the state. The cougar is still seen in rocky and brushy places. The wildcat is more common, while the coyote is found almost everywhere through the lower mountains and open rolling country. The coyote is one of the worst enemies of the stockmen, but nevertheless it does much good in destroying other animal pests, such as the jack- rabbit and ground squirrel.
Deer are still found in the mountains,, but the antelope and elk, which were formerly abundant, have disappeared. The most characteristic squirrel of the mountains is the gray squirrel, which inhabits the coniferous forests. At higher altitudes are found the badger, the marmot, and the mischievous little chipmunk.
The birds native of the state that are the most hunted
24 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
for food are the quail of the foothills and valleys, and the grouse of the timbered mountains and plateau regions.
There are many species of birds found in California that are not known in the Eastern states. The California vulture is quite rare. It is, next to the condor, the larg- est of the birds of prey. The road-runner, related to the cuckoo, is found in the southern portion of the state and is remarkable for the speed with which it runs over the ground.
Eagles, owls, woodpeckers, humming-birds, and many species of song birds inhabit the state. Numerous species of water-birds pass across the state in their migrations, and some of them winter here. The most important are the ducks and geese.
Many species of fish are caught in the streams and along the coast. The most important of these is the salmon, which spends a part of its life in the ocean but ascends the streams to spawn. One of the most interest- ing water animals which frequent the coast of California is the sea-lion, a species of seal. It can often be seen upon the rocky islands close to the shore.
To preserve the animal and bird life, laws have been enacted limiting the time in which they may be killed. The wanton destruction of game is wrong, for if persisted in we shall lose many animals and birds which are of great value and whose presence affords us much pleasure.
Natural Resources
The resources of a country which possesses little diver- sity in its climate and physical features cannot be as varied as those of one which has a surface of mountains and val- leys exhibiting marked contrasts in climate.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 25
Those portions of the earth's surface where large val- leys or plains predominate are noted for their agricul- tural products, while those occupied by mountains furnish minerals of various kinds.
California is a region both of mountains rich in min- erals and of fertile, well-watered valleys. Almost every kind of climate in the United States, from the extreme south to the extreme north, can be found in California. As a result of all these facts it has the greatest variety of products of any state in the Union.
In the valleys of the central and southern parts sub- tropical fruits, such as oranges, lemons, figs, olives, and raisin grapes, flourish. In valleys somewhat cooler can be grown the apricot, peach, prune, cherry, pear, and grape, wliile the mountains produce excellent apples. The large valleys of the state have been devoted mostly to grain, while upon those portions too rough for agriculture, large numbers of cattle and sheep are pastured.
The coniferous forests, if properly cared for, can furnish an almost limitless amount of lumber.
The mountain regions supply minerals, especially gold, the discovery of which first attracted the attention of the world to California. Gold-bearing quartz veins are found in nearly all the mountainous portions of the state, the main exceptions being the volcanic plateau region and portions of the Coast Ranges. Copper, silver, quicksilver, lead, and other minerals are mined in many places.
In recent years important deposits of petroleum have been discovered. This will aid in the development of manufacturing, for coal, which is found so abundantly in many of the Eastern states, occurs only in limited quantities in California.
26 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Even the deserts have been found to be valuable, for in the basins of the ancient lakes are extensive deposits of borax, soda, and salt.
Both hot and cold mineral springs are abundant, espe- cially in the Coast Ranges north of San Francisco, and are valuable because of their medicinal qualities.
For its mineral products, sub-tropical fruits, and agree- able climate, California has become noted over the whole world.
History and Industrial Development
Discovery. — We cannot get a good understanding of the history of California unless we know how it has been influenced by physiography. Ever since men have spread from old settled regions into new, or have carried on explorations, the paths along which they have travelled have been largely determined by the features of the land and water.
Knowing something of the geography of North America, of the chains of rugged mountains and almost impassable deserts which shut off the Pacific coast from the Missis- sippi Valley, we would naturally expect that California would be discovered and first settled by the pathway of the ocean.
It was a Spaniard who first sailed along its shores, for Spain was, in the sixteenth century, one of the most enter- prising nations of Europe. Shortly after the conquest of Mexico, Cortez extended his explorations along the shores of the Pacific. In 1535 what is now known as Lower California was discovered. The name California was probably first applied to this land. The name is supposed to have been derived from a Spanish romance, in which it
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 27
was used for a fabulous island in the Pacific. Later the designation California was extended to all the Spanish pos- sessions between Mexico and what we now know as Oregon.
After the discovery of Lower California, stories came to Cortez of great and rich cities far to the northwest. An expedition by sea proceeded some distance up the Colorado River, but owing to the desert character of the country the explorers dared not leave the river. In 1542-1543 the coast of Upper California was visited by Cabrillo, who sailed as far north as Cape Mendocino and landed at several points.
In 1579 the famous navigator Drake, in search of a northern route to the Atlantic Ocean, visited the coast of California and spent several weeks in a little bay which is supposed to be the one now known as Drake's Bay, a few miles north of the Golden Gate. Although so near the great bay, Drake evidently knew nothing of it. In 1602-1603 Sebastian Vizcaino sailed along the coast and discovered San Diego and Monterey bays. He also sailed past San Francisco Bay without seeing it and anchored in Drake's Bay.
Spanish Settlement. — Then for more than 150 years nothing more was heard of California. It seems to have been almost forgotten. At last the Spaniards of Mexico, aroused to the importance of the northern coast, sent out several expeditions. San Diego Bay was entered in 1769, and the mission was founded shortly after. From San Diego an expedition started northward overland to redis- cover Monterey Bay, but owing to the peculiar physiog- raphy of the region they passed it unawares, and reached and discovered the bay which shortly afterward was named San Francisco.
28
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The purpose of Spain in her explorations was twofold : (1) to found missions for the purpose of converting and civilizing the Indians, and (2) gradually to establish colonies in the fertile valleys. After the founding of the San Diego mission, others were located at favorable points
along the coast and in the val- leys adjacent as far north as Sonoma. Be- tween 1769 and 1823 twenty-one missions were founded, that at Sonoma being the last.
As we go over the state to-day and view the crumbling ruins of the picturesque churches which they erected, we can- not help admiring the sagacity of those pioneer mission fathers. Nearly all the missions have beautiful surround- ings. They were located where the soil was rich and the streams could be led out in ditches to irrigate their orchards and vineyards. Later, towns grew up about many oj these missions and are thriving places to-day. Many Indians were gathered about the missions, and the latter soon grew rich and prosperous. The mission fathers gave comparatively little attention to agriculture, but the thousands of cattle and horses which roamed the hills constituted their chief wealth.
Fig. 11. San Carlos Mission, Carmelo Valley.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
29
In 1792 Vancouver visited the coast, and four years later the first American ship touched at Monterey. In 1812 the Russians established a base of supplies upon the coast north of San Francisco Bay. This post they held for nearly a third of a century. The place is known as Fort Ross,
Old Russian church and blockhouse at Fort Ross.
and the Russian church and old blockhouses are still standing.
Indians. — The physiographic features exerted a strong influence upon the distribution of the Indians. They were largely restrained by natural barriers, such as moun- tain ranges and deserts, so that in almost every valley a different language developed. Thus many tribes of Indians arose in California differing in language but having many characteristics in common. They appear to be intellectually inferior to the Indians who were
30
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
found occupying the eastern portion of the United States.
Near the coast the Indians lived largely upon fish and mollusks. Scattered along the shore are many shell
heaps where they gathered for their feasts. They used implements of stone and made beautiful baskets which were woven so tightly that they would hold water. Away from the coast the Indians lived largely upon acorns, nuts, and roots, and have for this reason been called Diggers. They were not able to stand contact with civilization and now are nearly gone.
American Exploration and Conquest. — During the most of the Spanish occupation life went on quietly in California. The climate was agreeable, and little work was done, the people depending for their support chiefly upon the increase of their herds. They were free and hospitable. The population increased slowly and at the time of the con- quest was less than twelve thousand. In 1837 the missions were secularized and soon began to fall into decay.
Owing to the fact that California is shut off by des- erts and mountains from. the settlements in Mexico and the eastern United States, its trade was for a long time
Fig. 13. A Klamath River Indian.
p. ir . 3wPc i . ..■^ , .':t
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 31
entirely by water. In the early part of the last century American trading-ships touched at various points, bring- ing goods, and taking hides and tallow in exchange. Cattle formed the wealth of the early Spaniard. He raised no more grain or fruit than was used at home.
The first party to cross the Cordilleran barrier was the exploring expedition under Captains Lewis and Clark. This was in 1805. They did not go farther south than the Columbia River. Then the daring and hardy trappers with their headquarters at St. Louis penetrated the Rocky Mountains, and in 1828 one party crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains into California. The present eastern boundary of California was not determined until after it became a part of the Union. Mexico claimed the whole of the Cordilleran region as far north as the forty-second degree of latitude.
The first emigrants from the East came in 1841, and settled in the vicinity of Sutter's Fort, an establishment on the Sacramento River near the mouth of the American River. In 1844 Fremont reached California upon the first of his exploring expeditions. He crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the heart of winter and endured great hardship. Fremont, because of his important geo- graphical explorations, has been called the Pathfinder. His work added much to our knowledge of the Cordilleran region.
In 1846 Commodore Sloat hauled down the Mexican flag at Monterey, the old capital of the province, and after several skirmishes in the southern part of the state, in which General Kearney, Commodore Stockton, and Lieu- tenant Fremont took part, Mexican rule ceased. Cali- fornia was formally ceded in 1848.
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CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
In 1846 many parties of emigrants started across the continent. They suffered greatly ; nearly all the members of the Donner party perished in the snow, near the lake now called Donner (Fig. 14).
Prior to the conquest of California, a little settlement called Yerba Buena had grown up close to the water upon the present site of San Francisco, and in 1847 its
Fig. 14. Donner Lake from Donner Pass.
name was changed to that of the present city. The peninsula was then desolate and forbidding, covered with brush and drifting sand.
Discovery of Gold. — In 1848 came the discovery which was to revolutionize the history of the great territory of California. A man by the name of Marshall, while erect- ing a mill for Sutter, near the site of the present town of Coloma, El Dorado County, discovered particles of gold in the sand of the mill race. The news reached the East
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
33
in a few months, and then, in 1849, began the great migra- tions which continued for a number of years. There were two ways by which people could reach California : the water route around Cape Horn or by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and the land route by means of wagon trains. We can now hardly imagine the dangers and difficulties that lay in the way of the early emigrants who crossed the plains. Usually in the settlement of a new country the easiest natural routes are followed. These are the waterways. In the rush to reach California, however, men tried to overcome the great obstacles which Nature
Fig. 15. Travelling to California in the Pioneer Days.
had placed in the way. Much of the region to be trav- ersed was occupied by the most desolate of deserts, water- ways were few, and mountain ranges stretched unbroken across their path.
In 1849 more than twenty thousand gold-seekers started west from the Missouri River. The caravans crept slowly along, drawn mostly by oxen (Fig. 15). There was constant danger from the Indians, and of perishing from thirst in the deserts. The desert sinks of the Humboldt and Carson rivers in Nevada, and the steep rugged crest and canons of the Sierra Nevada Mountains were the worst obstacles. Central California could not be reached without crossing
34 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
the great mountain wall of the Sierra. One of the routes was by the way of Truckee River and Donner Pass (Fig. 14). Others led up the Carson River and across the crest to the streams flowing westward. As we trace the paths of the emigrants we can hardly believe that they took wagons through these rugged caiions. Some of the emi- grants entered California by skirting the southern Sierra Nevada, but often suffered greatly in the deserts. The experiences of one party gave rise to the name of the great sink called Death Valley. Other emigrants came into northeastern California over what has been called the Lassen trail. Peter Lassen was the pioneer on this route, and Lassen Peak was named after him.
The population of California increased at a rapid rate, and at the close of 1849 there were nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants. It is estimated that forty millions in gold were taken out in that year. In 1850 California was admitted as a state of the Union.
Mining. — For a long time every one who could went to the mines. Visions of gold were in all minds. Provisions of every kind became very high. At first very simple methods were used in mining : a pick and shovel, and pan in which to wash the gold were the only tools. Then the rocker was invented (Fig. 16). After a time, as the shallow stream gravels were worked over, men began to explore the deep gravels of the ancient streams, and hunt for the source of the gold in the numerous quartz veins which dotted the mountain sides. This led to the discovery of the Mother Lode, one of the most important series of gold- bearing quartz veins known in the world.
The mining of the old river channels required much water, and companies were formed to work them. These
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
35
gravels proved to be very rich, but so much debris was washed into the streams that the bottom lands along ,many of them were flooded and ruined. As a result of this, hydraulic mining is now carried on in the drainage
Vie. Iti. Chinaman washing out gold with a rocker.
basin of the Sacramento much less extensively. Quartz mining has gone on increasing, and throughout many of the mountainous regions of the state there can now be heard the stamp of the mills pounding out the gold. Some of the mines are more than two thousand feet deep. Stock Raising and Agriculture. — Agricultural pursuits were neglected for a long time after the discovery of gold. It was supposed that much of the central and southern portion of the state was too dry to grow crops, and conse- quently stock-raising continued to be the leading industry. Sheep were added to the stock of the native Californians and soon were grazing in countless numbers upon the public lands. After a time it was realized that the sheep
36 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
were killing out the grasses and other vegetation which retain the soil and moisture upon the mountain slopes. By the establishment of the forest reserves and the in-, crease of settlers the ranges for stock have been limited, and now this industry has greatly declined.
It gradually became known that grain could be grown, in years of average rainfall, in many of the valleys where it had been thought that the land was useful only for pasturage ; and so California took its place as one of the important grain-producing states.
Wool and hides and grain could be shipped to market by water, so that there was no limit to the amount of these things which might be profitably produced, but large fruit orchards would not pay without quicker means of transportation.
Means of Communication. — The overland stage made the distance from the Missouri River in twenty-one days, but as population and business increased, better mail facili- ties became a necessity, and the pony express was started. The route followed the main emigrant trail from Sacra- mento, across the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the deserts, to Salt Lake City, and thence to St. Louis. Under incredible dangers and hardships the mail was carried this distance in eleven days.
The state continued to grow so rapidly that these prim- itive means of communication with the East would not suffice. Railways must be built. The first one was con- structed in 1854, between Sacramento and Folsom. In the decade beginning with 1850, the government organ- ized the Pacific Railroad survey for the purpose of de- termining the most practicable route for a railroad. The difficulties in the way were great, but at last the Central
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 37
Pacific company was organized, and in 1867, in connection with the Union Pacific, a transcontinental line was opened. Later other railroads entered the southern part of the state by way of Arizona and New Mexico.
Development of Fruit Industries. — The mission gardens, where oranges, lemons, figs, grapes, olives, and other fruits had long been grown, showed what the land would produce when properly cared for. The era of great ranches, where only cattle and grain are produced, is slowly passing away, and, with the understanding of what may be done by irri- gation, there has come the era of small ranches and fruit growing. The supposedly desert valleys of Southern California have been found to be very productive when irrigated, and the climate is particularly adapted to sub- tropical fruits. Its orange groves have made Southern California celebrated the world over. Oranges have also been found to do well nearly the whole length of the Great Valley. In the valleys which are rather too cool for oranges, there are now thousands of acres given over to growing prunes, apricots, peaches, pears, and apples.
In addition to its subtropical fruits Southern California has become noted for its mild and healthful climate, and thousands have been drawn there for this reason. The ancient pueblo of Los Angeles, whose location was so wisely chosen, has become a large city in the centre of the garden spot of Southern California.
The exceptionally favorable conditions for the develop- ment of a great commercial centre upon San Francisco Bay have resulted in the present city, which has a popula- tion of more than a third of a million. Through the opening of trade with the nations of the Pacific, it is des- tined to become one of the largest cities of the world.
38 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Manufacturing has been of slow growth upon the Pacific coast, because of the high price of fuel and labor. The discovery of extensive deposits of petroleum must make up in great part for the lack of coal, and rapidly lead to the development of manufacturing.
The conditions under which California was settled drew here an exceptional population, and it was not long before an excellent school system was established. With schools scattered everywhere through the state, and two great universities, the culture of California should keep pace with its material prosperity.
The Siekra Nevada Province
Extent and History. — The Sierra Nevada is the most important mountain range of California. It excels every other in the Union in the extent, regularity, and rugged- ness of its features.
From Tehachapi, at the southern end of the Great Valley, the Sierra Nevada Mountains extend 400 miles in a northerly direction nearly to Lassen Peak, with an average width of 70 miles. The highest portion of the range lies very near its eastern edge, and for 200 miles this crest is seldom lower than 11,000 feet. Scores of peaks reach an elevation of about 14,000 feet, and Mount Whit- ney rises to 14^522 feet. This is the highest peak in the United States outside of Alaska, with the possible excep- tion of Mount Rainier (original Indian name Tacoma).
The important physiographic features of the Sierra Nevada can be easily understood if we picture this range as a great block of the earth's crust, which has been pushed up along its eastern edge. This is why the
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 39
eastern slope is short and very steep, and the western one nearly seventy miles long and quite gentle.
The region now occupied by these mountains formed a part of the bed of an ancient ocean long after land appeared in the northeastern part of the United States, and even after there were mountains in the region of the Coast Ranges. There were many long periods of volcanic action in the Sierra region, but at last it was lifted to form permanent dry land. Then, after a time, through the many fissures in the rocks streams of mineral waters began to flow. These waters came from far down in the earth where it was very warm and brought, in solution, the silica which was to form the thousands of quartz veins. These waters also carried little particles of gold and other minerals, which were deposited with the quartz.
Long ago streams flowed down the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as they do now, carrying away the fragments of waste as the rocks slowly crumbled. The quartz veins, as they were exposed upon the surface, also crumbled, and the particles of gold contained in them, being so much heavier than the fragments of rock, were not carried far, but were gathered at the bottom of the gravel along the bed-rock.
Finally, after thousands of feet of rock had been carried away, these ancient mountains were so nearly worn down that the streams flowed slowly in broad channels, filled often hundreds of feet deep with gravel. Then volcanic action commenced again along the summit of these old mountains, and streams of lava flowed down the river beds and deeply buried the gold-bearing gravels (Fig. 18). After this the mountains were elevated again along their eastern edge and tilted toward the west. This made the
4(X CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
streams run swiftly, and they began to work, excavating new channels. In this manner were formed the great canons, two to three thousand feet deep, which trav- erse Jfie slopes of the mountains at the present time. These canons were eroded in many places across the channels of the old streams, and their gold-bearing gravels were left exposed.
Now the scenery of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is very grand. The streams which rise in beautiful lakes, whose basins were formed by the glaciers, dash and tumble through the caiions, and finally issue quietly upon the slopes of the Great Valley, where they are gladly utilized in irrigation.
Gold Mining. — The discovery of gold first led to the settlement of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. From the lower foot-hills up to an elevation of five thousand feet there are many little towns which depend chiefly upon mining. While gold is the most important mineral, there are also found copper, silver, and iron. Quarries of granite have been opened, and at some points beautiful marble is found.
The first mining was in the gold-bearing gravels of the present streams. This is called placer mining. The pan was the first implement used to separate the gold. Then the rocker was invented, and after that the sluice. The latter is a long, narrow box, made of boards, through which a stream of water is allowed to run. The gravel is shovelled into the sluice, and the gold, being heavy, settles to the bottom and is caught by little crosspieces. The largest nugget was found at Carson Hill. It weighed 195 pounds and was worth $48,534.
The mining of the deep gravels of the ancient rivers
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MAP SBOWIMO
DISTRIBCmON
OF THK
CHIEF MINERALS
OF
CALIFORNIA
Petroleum & Bituminous Rock + Quicksilver • Gold
Fig. 18.
Sketch showing the relation of the present canons of the Sierra Nevada Moun- tains to the lava-capped heds of the ancient streams.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
41
is called hydraulic mining, and the methods employed are different from those of placer mining. The gravels were sometimes reached by tunnels, but more often water was brought in long ditches and stored in reservoirs above the mines. From these it was conducted down in iron pipes, so that it acquired a great force. When the water issued from the nozzle of the monitor, it could tear down banks of gravel one hundred feet high, and wash great boulders around as though they were little pebbles. The gravels were washed through sluices, and the gold was collected as in placer mining. Quicksilver is often placed in the sluices because it has an attraction for gold and will catch the fine particles. Quartz mining has to do with getting gold from its original home in veins of quartz. Long, narrow veins of quartz are very abundant throughout the mountains. Some of them reach a thickness of ten to twenty feet, and extend down thousands of feet througli the rocks. Shafts are sunk upon such veins as con- tain enough gold to pay for min- ing, and from the shafts tun- nels are extended
along the vein to take out the quartz (Fig. 19). The ore, after being hoisted up the shaft (Fig. 20), is taken to the mill and fed under heavy iron stamps. The stamps crush
Fig. 19. Miners at work underground.
42
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Fig. 20.
At the mouth of a shaft, showing a skip for
bringing up the ore.
ore is crushed the pyrite is called a concentrator. It is and, after being roasted and treated to several other pro- cesses, the gold is recovered bright and pure.
The Mother Lode em- braces the most important series of gold-bearing quartz veins (Fig. 21) known in the world. An almost continu- ous series of mining claims is located upon it for more than one hundred miles. The towns of Mariposa, Coulter- ville, Jamestown, Angels Camp, San Andreas, Jack- son, Sutter Creek, Plymouth,
the quartz and set the gold free. The little particles of yel- low metal are washed on to copper plates covered with quick- silver and are there caught.
Often the gold oc- curs in iron pyrite, which is a pale yel- low mineral scat- tered through the quartz. After the collected upon a machine then taken to a furnace.
Fig. 21.
Quartz vein near Coulterville. portion of the Mother Lode.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
43
and Placerville grew up near the Mother Lode in the early- days of placer mining, but now they are mainly supported by quartz mining. But the gold belt is not confined to what is usually termed the Mother Lode. A group of important mines is located in the vicinity of Grass Valley. Farther north are the old mining towns of Downieville, Oroville, and Quincy.
The most important hy- draulic mines of the Sierra province are found in Cala- veras, Eldorado, Stanislaus, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, and Plumas counties. In the pioneer days the population of the gold belt was much greater than now. As the placer mines became worked out the population drifted away, but at the present time it is again increasing.
Forests and Lumbering. — The forests are divided into different belts (p. 21). The one in which the sugar pine, fir, spruce, and Sequoia pre- dominate is the most remark- able. No other coniferous forests in the world are equal to those covering the western slope of the Sierra Nevada
Fig. 22.
The Grizzly Giant. Mariposa grove of Big Trees.
44
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
and Cascade ranges. Many of the trees attain a height of 250 feet, with smooth trunks for more than 100 feet. The " Big Trees " and the redwood of the Coast Ranges represent the only surviving species of a once widely dis- tributed genus. The Big Trees are scattered in groves along the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of 6000-8000 feet, for a distance of 250 miles. This tree reaches a height of over 300 feet, with a thickness at the base of 30
Fig. 23. The timbering in a mine.
feet. Some of these trees are thought to be over 4000 years old (Fig. 22).
For years these noble forests have been wasted through the careless methods of the lumbermen. A portion of the area covered by the Big Trees is now included within the national and state parks.
The lumber interests of the state are important, but our Big Trees, the last of an ancient race, and the wonder of all who see them, should be preserved. Where the lum- bering of other forest trees is carried on, it should be
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFOBNIA 45
under intelligent supervision. The forests of California were originally extensive, but care is needed, or between the fires and the lumbermen, it will be only a few years till they are exhausted.
The lumber of the Sierra forests is in demand, not only for building purposes, but for use in the mines, where thousands of logs are used annually (Fig. 23). Lumber- ing in the Sierra is carried on in an interesting manner. The logs cannot be sent down the streams in most places, nor is it profitable to haul the lumber to market upon wagons. Consequently V-shaped flumes of plank are constructed, which wind around the mountains, upon a uniform grade, until they reach the Great Valley. The mills are located in the forests at the head of the flume, and the lumber, as fast as it is sawed, is thrown into the flume and borne by the water down to the valley.
Other Occupations. — Ever since stock-raising became an important industry in the state, cattle and sheep have been pastured in the mountain valleys. The cattle are driven up to their ranges in the larger valleys and left until fall, when they are taken back to the Great Valley. In the elevated valleys of the northern Sierra Nevada, dairying has long been an important industry. The meadows are green all summer and, with the cool air and pure water, afford conditions for making the best butter. The only difficulty lies in the fact that these valleys are a long dis- tance from market. Because of this, much of the butter is pickled, that is, placed in brine, so that it will keep until fall and winter.
Sheep, in immense numbers, have been pastured upon the public domain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The herder starts out in the spring from one of the lower
46
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
valleys with his flock of one to two thousand sheep, sev- eral dogs, and pack-animals, and works his way slowly up the mountains as summer comes on. With the melting of the snows in the upper valleys he reaches, in late sum- mer, the most remote and rugged portions of the moun- tains, where, under the almost perpetual snowbanks, the sheep find nutritious grasses. As fall approaches, he leaves these high mountain valleys and returns to the stub- ble fields of the Great Valley.
Fig. 24. A herder and his flock.
Owing to the settling up of the public lands and the setting aside of large tracts as forest reserves, the ranges for cattle and sheep have been largely restricted. The wool industry in particular has greatly declined. The profits of sheep-raising, as carried on, were generally large, but the threatened decrease of the forest area, especially in the central and southern portions of the state, through the destructive effect of the sheep upon the young trees, resulted in the formation of the forest re-
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 47
serves. The destruction of the grasses, shrubs, and trees, which do much to retain the soil and moisture upon the mountains, would result in greater winter floods and less flow of water during the summer, when it is so much needed for irrigation.
The foot-hills, up to an elevation of four thousand feet, are well adapted to general agriculture and fruit-raising.
Fig, 25. A scene in the high Sierra Nevada, Mt. Brewer in the middle background.
Apples in particular reach perfection of quality and flavor only in the cooler climate of the mountains.
No more pleasant and agreeable climate is found any- where than that of the foot-hills at an elevation of three to four thousand feet.
The Great Canons. — Many deep caiions have been cut out by the streams flowing down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but the most wonderful of all is the
48
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Yosemite Valley. The scenery of this valley is so remark- able that it is renowned over all the world, and each year it is visited by thousands of people.
The Merced River, aided somewhat by the glacier that once descended its valley, has eroded a channel through
the granite more than three thousand feet deep. Where the Yosemite lies, the canon has widened out to three- fourths of a mile. The bottom is nearly level, and dotted with meadows and forests through which the river winds. Bounding the valley are vertical walls over which tumble several mountain streams from such a height that the water is sometimes turned to spray before it reaches the bot- tom. The Merced River enters the valley by two noble falls, and higher in the mountains are many beautiful lakes which feed the streams.
Twenty-five miles north- west of the Yosemite is Hetch Hetchy Valley, formed in a similar manner by the Tuolumne River. Its cliffs are not so high nor its waterfalls so picturesque as the Yosemite.
Nearly as grand as the Yosemite, but lacking its mag- nificent waterfalls, are the canons of Kings River. They
Fig. m. Tehipite Dome rising 3300 feet above Tehipite Valley. Middle fork of Kings River.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 49
are reached only by steep and rugged trails. Kings River canon is the term applied to the south fork of Kings River, where it is enclosed in magnificent granite walls. The caiion of the middle fork of Kings River is, if anything, more grand than the south fork. It is known as Tehi- pite, from the great granite dome which rises so precipi- tously from its northern side (Fig. 26).
The Former Glaciers. — Perpetual snow is found along the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and upon the north sides of some of the highest peaks small glaciers
Fig. 27. Granite grooved and polished by a former glacier. Glen Alpine, near Lake
Tahoe.
still exist. A few thousand years ago the higher portions of these mountains were covered with a thick mantle of snow and ice. Great glaciers gathered in the basins at the heads of the streams and moved slowly down their
50 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
canons. • The ice was, in many places, nearly half a mile deep, but melted before reaching the Great Valley. The ice ground and polished the granite ridges (Fig. 27) over which it passed, tearing away many pieces of the rock, which were carried along and dropped upon the sides or at the end of the glaciers, thus forming the ridges which are called moraines. The loose rock and soil having been scraped off the high Sierra, it was left a region of barren granite surfaces over which only a scanty forest has obtained a foothold.
Lakes. — • Many hundreds of beautiful lakes dot those portions of the Sierra Nevada which were formerly occu- pied by the glaciers, and nearly all are present there be- cause of the work of the glaciers. Some of these lakes occupy solid rock basins dug out by the glaciers, while others were formed by the morainal dams which they left across the valleys.
Lake Eleanor, north of Hetch Hetchy Valley ; Tenaya, above the Yosemite ; East and Bullfrog lakes, at the head of branches of the south fork of Kings River; are among the most beautiful lakes upon the western slopes.
The largest and most widely known lake is Tahoe, at the head of the Truckee River, upon the eastern slope. This lake has a length of twenty three miles and an ele- vation of more than six thousand feet above the sea. Tahoe is not a glacial lake, but was formed long ago as the result of a lava dam across an ancient valley.
Water Supply, Water Power, Recreation. — The streams of the Sierra Nevada, rising in a region of great precipita- tion and almost perpetual snow, maintain a considerable flow of water through the summer. This water, par-
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 51
ticularly toward the southern end of the Gr-eat Valley is largely used in irrigation.
The rapid descent of the streams through the caiions makes them valuable as sources of power for manu- facturing, mining, and electric lighting. Owing to the inaccessibility of these canons manufacturing cannot be conveniently carried on near the source of power ; but with the system of electric transmission coming into use, the power can be conducted a great distance. Already plants for the transformation of the water power into electrical energy have been established upon many of the streams, and the electricity is being conducted to the adjoining cities in the Great Valley, and even as far as the San Francisco Bay region.
The elevated Sierran province, valuable as it is from an economic standpoint, is destined to become more and more important as a healthful and pleasant place for summer recreation. These mountains are already the resort of thousands while the valleys below are passing through the hot season.
The Great Valley Province
Physiography and Climate. — The Great Valley lies in the very heart of the state, completely surrounded by moun- tains save for the narrow outlet at the strait of Carquinez (Fig. 41). The valley forms the largest tract of level land in the state, and is really a plain four hundred miles long and fifty miles wide. It is a very old valley and was formed by a bending downwards of the earth's crust. It has been, at different times in its history, an arm of the ocean, a brackish or fresh water lake, and dry land.
The surface of the valley is made up partly of delta
62 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
deposits left by the streams, and partly of sediments deposited in a lake or arm of the ocean. The central part of the valley is filled with material of this kind to a depth of more than two thousand feet.
The last sinking of the land caused the ocean to enter the valley, flooding the lower portion. The surface rises slowly from this area of lowlands and marshes through the opposite arms, the Sacramento and San Joaquin val- leys. The Sacramento Valley for many miles has such a gentle grade that the river has built up its channel so that the immediate banks are higher than the land lying back. Whether a stream erodes a channel or de- posits material depends upon the slope of the land, the amount of water, and the quantity of sand and clay which it is carrying along.
Many of the streams have built extensive debris fans or deltas. This is particularly the case with those in the San Joaquin Valley. A study of the map shows that the Kern, Kaweah, and Kings rivers upon leaving the moun- tains split up into a number of branches. The grade of the streams is slight, and they are loaded with debris so that they are continually filling up their channels and making new ones. The Kings Kiver has thus built a debris fan which has been extended completely across the valley to the Coast Ranges. This made a shallow basin to the south, in which a large body of water known as Lake Tulare formerly existed. The lake has now disappeared, owing to the use of the water for irrigation. Buena Vista Lake, near the southern end of the valley, was formed in a similar manner by the delta of the Kern River.
Only one elevation of note breaks the surface of the Great Valley. This is a group of ancient and much
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 53
eroded volcanic peaks, in the Sacramento Valley, known as the Marysville Buttes.
The climate of the Great Valley is very warm in the summer, and in winter the average temperature is but slightly below that of Southern California, so that oranges can be grown in many portions without any trouble. In winter there is a good deal of fog, this being the exact opposite of the coast region, where fog is more prevalent in summer.
Fic. L'S. IrrigaUng canal, Kern Co.
The rainfall decreases from the north toward the south, and is less along the western side, owing to the cutting off of the ocean winds by the Coast Ranges, than it is toward the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada. The annual rainfall at Red Bluff averages twenty-five inches, while at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley it is six inches or less. In the southern portion of the valley irrigation is necessary for the successful growing of crops. In the Sacramento Valley most crops can generally be depended on without irrigation, but for the growing of citrus fruits
54
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
it is necessary at all points. The effect of elevation upon rainfall is strikingly shown in the contrast between the arid valley south of Bakersfield and the fertile and pic- turesque surroundings of old Fort Tejon, upon the moun- tains adjoining, at an elevation of twenty-five hundred feet.
sources. — The oldest settlements are in the Sacra- nto Valley. For many years the chief industry was 'tock-raising, although on the Bidwell ranch, near the present town of Chico, orchards were set out shortly after the discovery of gold. Later, sheep were introduced, and afterward came the period of grain-growing. For hun- dreds of miles the valley is one almost continuous grain field. The greater portion of the valley is still given over to grain, but orchards and vineyards have replaced it over large areas where the climatic conditions are suitable and water is convenient for irrigation.
By the use of water the light soil of the deltas of
the Kern (Fig. 29), Kaweah, and Kings rivers have been made very produc- tive. Dairying has also become an im- portant industry. Cattle now, instead of wandering over miles of half -barren country, are sup- ported by the great fields of alfalfa. It has been found that the climate and soil of a part
'm^
fe#*r^ir.
Fig. 29. The fertile delta of the Kern River.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 55
of the Great Valley are adapted to the growing of the fruits which have made Southern California so noted. Oranges do particularly well along the eastern side of the valley, and in the edge of the foot-hills as far north as Red Bluff. Oranges ripen several weeks earlier than they do in Southern California. Lemons, figs, almonds, and grapes do equally well and are raised in large quanti- ties. The foot-hills are particularly adapted to olives, apricots, peaches, and pears. The bottom lands are de- voted to alfalfa, and the broad stretch through the centre of the valley mainly to grain. The overflow lands at the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers were originally covered with tules. Large portions of these lands are now protected by levees, and produce luxuriant crops of grain and vegetables.
Coal is found at lone, and at Lincoln there are valuable deposits of clay suitable for pottery.
Chief Cities. — The locations of the cities of the Great Valley have been determined largely by physiographic conditions. Sacramento was founded in the early days. It is situated upon the Sacramento River, just below the mouth of the American River. It was located at this point because of the easy water communication with San Francisco and its convenience as a point of distribution of supplies to the mines. The city was the starting-point of the overland travel, and for a time the terminus of the Pacific Railroad.
Sacramento is in the heart of the early fruit belt, and a large proportion of the deciduous fruits of the state are grown in the surrounding districts. Thousands of car- loads of fruits, berries, and vegetables are shipped east from this point. Sacramento is one of the chief manu-
56
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
W^'
M
oirmi. J ...i.i.L
r
facturing cities of the state and contains the extensive car shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Owing to its loca- tion at what is practically the head of navigation for large boats, its rich adjoining country, and its convenience as a shipping point, Sacramento must continue to be one of the chief cities of the state.
Marysville is situated at the junction of the Yuba and Feather rivers. It early assumed importance as a dis- tributing point for the mines. Then it could be easily reached by steamer, but now navigation is more difficult because of the shoaling of the streams.
Chico is sur- rounded by fruit ranches, the most important of which is the Bidwell ranch. A little farther up the valley is the famous Stanford vineyard, the largest in the world.
Red Bluff is situated at the extreme head of steamboat navigation on the Sacramento River.
Redding, at the upper end of the valley, is the centre of an important fruit and mining region. It is growing rapidly, owing to the development of both gold and copper mines. "
Oroville, the county seat of Butte County, is the centre
.jffi
Fig. 30. The capitol building at Sacramento.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 57
of the orange industry in the Great Valley. Near this place were some of the richest of the early placer mines.
Stockton, at the lower end of the San Joaquin Valley, owes its importance to the fact that it is situated at the head of tide-water navigation, in the heart of a rich and highly cultivated district. It is an important shipping- point for grain, fruit, and vegetables. Stockton is noted for its flour mills. Grain is brought in upon the cars, is made into flour, and shipped by river steamer to San Francisco, where it is transferred to ocean-going boats. The lowlands along the water courses below Stockton
V\r.. :;!. Flour mills at Stoektou.
are especially noted for their production of potatoes and asparagus.
Fresno is the largest city of the central San Joaquin Valley. It owes its location to the Kings River, which, issuing from the mountains, spreads out in many branches over its great delta, and affords excellent opportunities for irrigation. Grain was formerly the main product, but now there are extensive vineyards and orchards. Fresno is noted for its raisins, and is the centre of this industry in California.
58 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Bakersfield is near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The climate of this portion of the valley is very dry, but with irrigation the lands produce abundantly. The city is located near the Kern River a little below where it issues from the mountains. The river supplies the water for irrigation in this district. Bakersfield was formerly the centre of the cattle and sheep industry of this part of the state. The region about is now noted for its oil wells, the product of oil from this field being larger than that from any other in the state. The petroleum is used largely in steam engines, for like most of that found in California, it is thick and not so good for illuminating purposes as the eastern oil. When refined it is the source of many by-products, such as gasolene, benzine, paraffin, and lubricating oils.
Province of the Coast Ranges
Physiography and Climate. — The relief map shows that the state is bordered upon the coastal side by an almost continuous series of mountains. These are depressed in the San Francisco Bay region where the Great Valley finds outlet, and retreat somewhat from the ocean in Southern California, leaving room for the plain of Los Angeles.
The term " Coast Ranges " is usually applied to that por- tion of the coast mountains lying south of the south fork of Trinity River, and north of the Santa Clara River. The relief map (Fig. 1) clearly shows also that this system of mountains is made up of a number of parallel ranges with valleys between them. The valleys generally open in a northwesterly direction, and as they approach the ocean become very broad.
The direction of the mountains and the recent sinking
J
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
59
of the land are important facts governing the physiography of the Coast Ranges. The ocean entered the valleys of all the streams. Most of the bays thus formed have been filled with silt, giving the broad and rich bottom lands ; the waves have thrown sandbars across the mouths of some, while in the case of San Francisco Bay, the large area flooded has given us a magnificent harbor with easy entrance.
The Coast Ranges rise generally from two thousand to four thousand feet, reaching their greatest height near their northern and southern limits. The Santa Lucia is the most rugged range in the central portion of these moun- tains. It rises very abruptly from the ocean to a height of four thousand feet, one peak San Lucia reaching nearly six thousand feet.
The Gavilan and Santa Cruz mountains belong to another important range which is depressed in the middle where the Pajaro River crosses it.
A broad group of elevated mountains lies between the Santa Clara and San Joaquin valleys. The eastern por- tion, forming the main divide of the Coast Ranges, is the Mt. Diablo Range. Mt. Ham- ilton on the west overlooks the San- ta Clara Valley. It rises more than four thousand feet, and is noted as the location of the Fig. 32.
Lick observatory. Lick observatory, Mt. Hamilton.
60 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Mt. Diablo lies south of the strait of Carquinez and is the most striking landmark seen in the Coast Ranges as one journeys toward San Francisco across the Great Valley.
North of San Francisco there are three important valleys separated by volcanic mountains. The highest peaks are Mt. St. Helena and Mt. Konocti, both rising over four thousand feet.
The summit of Mt. Tamalpais, which rises twenty- six hundred feet, offers the best opportunity for the study of the physiography of the San Francisco Bay region.
The rainfall decreases from fifty-two inches at Eureka to thirteen inches in the valley of the Santa Maria in the southern Coast Ranges. Upon the mountains it is greater. In the eastern portion of the southern Coast Ranges the rainfall is very light, and one large valley, the Carrisa Plain, is without outlet. It has in its centre a salt marsh, and is the only valley of any size without external drainage west of the Great Basin.
The beds of the larger streams of the southern Coast Ranges — the Salinas, the Santa Maria, and Santa Ynez — are nearly dry in the summer, although water can be found beneath the surface.
The summer climate of the immediate coast is cool, owing to the fog which sweeps in from the ocean. The fog is one thousand to fifteen hundred feet thick, and the mountains which rise above it have a normal summer climate.
Resources. — The resources of the Coast Ranges are exceedingly varied, and the climate for the most part is so agreeable that this portion of the state is quite thickly settled. Stock-raising was the earlier occupation upon the old Spanish grants, which embraced nearly all the valuable lands. Large numbers of cattle and much grain are still
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
61
produced, but many of the great ranches have been cut up into smaller ones, where diversified farming and fruit- raising are carried on.
The country immediately adjacent to the coast, because of the cool climate and the luxuriance of the grasses, is particularly adapted to dairying. From Eureka to San Luis Obispo, a distance of four hundred miles, dairying is, for this reason, an im- portant industry. The cheese and butter pro- duced are shipped to San Francisco upon the little coasting steamers.
Through the most of the valleys and foot-hills of the Coast Ranges fruit-raising is now the leading industry. Or- anges are not grown extensively north of Point Conception, al- though they do well in some places as far north as the Sonoma Valley. The chief fruits raised are prunes, apricots, peaches, pears, apples,
and grapes. The growing of wine grapes is an important industry, especially north of San Francisco. Santa Cruz and Humboldt counties are noted for their apples. A por- tion of the fruit is shipped fresh to San Francisco and the East. Another portion is dried. The drying is done
Fig. 33.
Scene in the museum of the Academy of Sciences.
62
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
either in the open air, or in a building supplied with hot air.
Nearly all the valleys and foot-hills are dotted with oaks, but the forests available for lumber are chiefly confined to a belt near the coast from Santa Cruz northward. In
Mendocino and Hum- boldt counties the red- wood belt reaches a width of twenty miles. Little gold is found in the Coast Ranges. The most important mineral products are quicksilver, petroleum, and bituminous rock. A small amount of coal is mined. The quick- silver deposits extend from Clear Lake to central Santa Barbara County. Here is pro- duced nearly all the mercury obtained in the United States. The New Almaden mine near San Jose is the deepest, while the New Idria in San Benito County is one of the largest producers in the world.
In recent years the growing of beets for the manufacture of sugar has become an important industry, the moist low- lands of the larger valleys being well adapted to their cul- ture. The largest beet-sugar factory is near Salinas (Fig. 45). The City of San Francisco. — Since the discovery of gold
Fig. 34. Looking down Market St.
San Francisco.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
63
Fig. 35. Shipbuilding, San Francisco.
San Francisco has been the metropolis and chief com- mercial city of California. From the conditions of its location this could not have been otherwise. Within a radius of fifty miles is located more than one-third of the popula- tion of the state, and the concen- tration of trade and commerce about the shores of San Francisco Bay must become even more marked in
the future.
(xreat cities cannot be made at any point. Their location and future growth depend upon physio- graphic causes. Those which have led to the supremacy of San Francisco Fio. 36. are the posses-
City Hall, San Francisco. gj^n of the finest
harbor upon the Pacific coast, its excellent means of com-
64
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
munication, both by land and water, with extensive valleys rich in agricultural resources, and mountains filled with minerals.
The southern arm of the bay reaches into the Santa Clara Valley, which is one of the most highly cultivated portions of the state. The northern arm, known as
San Pablo Bay, gives access to both Sonoma and Napa valleys, while through the strait of Carquinez (Fig. 41) there is water communication with Sacramento and Stockton.
^w^m
i«rK
r
'^w^
Fig. 37. The Ferry Building, San Francisco.
San Francisco is situated upon the eastern side of the peninsula of the same name. The lower part of the city lies partly upon made land, but behind rise rolling and picturesque hills. Between the city and the Golden Gate is the military reservation known as the Presidio, where have been erected the main defences of the city.
North of the city, in the middle of the channel, is Alcatraz Island, a military prison, while near the northern
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 65
shore is Angel Island, used for a military post and quar- antine station. Goat Island, between the city and Oak- land, has a naval school located upon it.
San Francisco has grown mainly because of its commer- cial position. It is also a manufacturing city of impor- tance, although the high price of fuel has been a drawback. The discovery of rich oil fields and the transmission of electric power from the Sierra Nevada Mountains must make up for the lack of cheap coal, and manufacturing will soon become a much more important factor in the development of the city.
Fig. .S8. The U. S. battleship Oregon. Built by the Uniou Iron Works.
Among the most extensive manufacturing institutions are the Union Iron Works, noted on account of their con- struction of cruisers and battleships for the government. As a centre for the manufacture of mining machinery San Francisco is noted. It has also extensive manufactures of shoes, clothing, flour, and canned goods.
The city has beautiful parks, several museums, includ- ing that of the Academy of Sciences (Fig. 33), Mining Bureau, and Park Museum. It has a fine art gallery and
66
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
important industrial and professional schools. The popu- lation (census of 1900) is 342,700, and although little more than fifty years old, the city is one of the leading commercial centres of the United States.
Suburban Cities. — Upon the eastern side of the bay are situated the cities of Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley. They are easily reached by ferries and local cars. These are essentially cities of homes, for here dwell thousands of men whose work takes them to San Francisco every day. Oakland is the largest, having a population of 67,000
(census of 1900). It is the third city in size in the state. It has a commodious harbor and extensive manufactures. Other manufactures are growing up along the bay as far north as Point Richmond, the land ter- minus of the Santa Fe Railroad.
Berkeley lies north of Oakland at the foot of the Contra Costa Hills. The state University, one of the largest schools for higher education in the United States, is situated there. The University grounds, on the slope of the hills facing the Golden Gate, have great natural beauty. The first of the new buildings in the Hearst architectural plans has been commenced.
North of San Francisco are the pleasantly situated towns of Sauselito and San Rafael.
Fig. bU.
The Le Conte Oak (live-oak) on the grounds of the University of California.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
67
Tributary Valleys and Cities. — Santa Clara Valley, penetrated by the southern arm of San Francisco Bay, is dotted with orchards of prunes, peaches, apricots, and other fruits, while in the foot-hills are vineyards and apple orchards. This valley is the centre of the prune industry. There are also grown in the valley great quantities of small fruits and seeds.
San Jose is located in the centre of the valley a few miles from the bay. It is the chief city and contains one of the state Normal Schools, while a little to the northwest is the University of the Pacific.
Between San Jose and San Francisco is sit- uated the Ice- land Stanford Jr. University. This univer- sity has fine
grounds, and is erecting a series of large and expensive buildings. It is the most richly endowed university in America.
Sonoma Valley does not drain into San PVancisco Bay as might be expected from its position, for Russian River, some distance before reaching the bay, turns westward and passes through the mountains to the ocean. Santa Rosa, the largest city, is situated in the midst of a rich fruit section. The fruit products are diversified, for not
Fig. 40. A fa9ade, Stanford University.
68
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
only are there raised those characteristic of the other valleys of the Coast Ranges, but lemons and oranges also have been found to do well in certain localities. The valley is noted particularly for its olives and grapes, and in the upper portion many hops are grown. Petaluma is most noted for its poultry farms.
Napa Valley is not excelled for beauty and richness by any in the state. All the common fruits do well there.
Fig. 41. Looking down the Strait of Carquinez.
Growing grapes for wine was formerly the leading in- dustry, but now prunes, olives, almonds, apples, and cherries are more important.
The Strait of Carquinez. — The streams of the Great Valley meeting in the marshes a little above Suisun Bay pour their waters through the Strait of Carquinez into San Pablo and San Francisco bays. The Strait marks the inner line of the Coast Ranges, and is practically at the meeting-point of the interior with the ocean traffic, and for this reason is destined to become of great importance
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 69
in the development of the state. The hills rise steeply, with deep water at their base, giving excellent opportu- nities for the loading and unloading of ocean vessels (Fig. 41). Already many manufactures and other in- dustries have grown up along the Strait.
Near Port Costa are extensive grain warehouses, flour mills, lumber yards, and sugar refineries. The Selby smelting works, a little farther down the Strait, is the
Fig. 42. Sugar refinery, South Vallejo.
largest establishment of its kind in the state. On the north shore of the Strait are the towns of Benecia and Val- lejo, with many manufacturing establishments (Fig. .42), and near by is the Mare Island navy yard.
The Northern Coast. — This is a region of forested mountains and narrow valleys. Between the mountains and the ocean there is generally a plain of varying width upon which are situated a number of towns supported by dairying and lumbering. The coastal plain and the valleys adjacent are almost wholly given up to dairying. The long wet season and cool air are particularly favorable.
The industry of greatest importance upon the northern coast is lumbering. The most of the towns have grown up about the sawmills. These have been placed at points on the coast where the logs may be easily gathered, usually
70
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
at the mouth of some valley, and where the lumber may be shipped away by boat.
Eureka, situated upon Humboldt Bay near the mouth of Eel River, is the most important city upon the coast north of San Francisco. Here are many sawmills for cutting up the great redwood logs brought by the rail- roads which branch out into the various logging districts.
Fig. 43. Logging in the redwoods.
Here also are extensive shipbuilding plants. The forests of redwood extend back more than twenty miles from the coast, being more dense in the valleys. ( ^.^^
Between Eureka and the mountains there is a rich plain, largely given up to dairying. Many orchards, where fruit of an excellent quality is raised, are found in the valleys, back a little from the coast. As a result of its favorable situation. Eureka must become a city of im-
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PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 71
portance. It is connected by steamer and stage with San Francisco, but ultimately will have railroad communication.
The Clear Lake Region. — Clear Lake lies in the heart of the northern Coast Ranges. It is the largest lake in the state west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lake empties through Cache Creek into the Sacramento River, but in quite recent times its outlet was westward, through the canon in which the Blue Lakes lie, into Russian River.
The Clear Lake region is widely known for its beauty and its many mineral springs. The mountains about the southern side of the lake, of which Mt. Konocti is the highest, are of volcanic origin. The mineral springs and quicksilver deposits in this portion of the Coast Ranges are the result of the last volcanic outbreaks. Sulphur Bank, at the eastern end of Clear Lake, is interesting on account of its deposits of both quicksilver and sulphur. Here can be seen the way in Avhich Nature formed the deposits of these minerals, which are found so extensively in California. In fact. Nature is still forming them here. Through the fissures in the rocks issue gases and hot waters carrying various minerals in solution.
Fruit-growing, especially grapes, and the raising of stock are the most important industries.
Monterey and Surroundings. — Great historic interest centres about the town of Monterey, the old Mexican capital of California. The custom-house, from which Commodore Sloat hauled down the Mexican flag, is still standing. There are also other adobe buildings of his- toric interest.
Here we see plainly the influence of physiography upon the growth of cities. Monterey, though founded before
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CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
San Francisco, and for a time the capital and second city in importance, owing to its rather isolated position and lack of easy communication with the interior has felt but little the influences of those causes which made San Francisco a great city.
To the west of Monterey is the Point of Pines, near which are the noted groves of cypress. Between the Point and Monterey is Pacific Grove, the most picturesque and delightful of all the summer or winter resorts along the
Fig. 44. Old Mexican custom-house, Monterey.
coast. South of Monterey, upon the shores of Carmelo Bay, is the second oldest mission in the state (Fig. 44).
The Valleys of the Southern Coast Ranges. — The Sa- linas Valley forms the main highway into the southern Coast Ranges, From Watsonville, with its apple orchards, one enters the Salinas Valley, where there are great stretches of lowland devoted to sugar beets, and the largest beet-sugar factory in California (Fig. 45). The valley narrows farther up and becomes very dry. Then it widens out in a broad and extensive region devoted
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 73
largely to grain. Still farther, toward the head of the valley, are many orchards.
From the beautiful Santa Margarita Valley one goes by the Cuesta Pass across the Santa Lucia Range to the broad, rich valley in which the town of San Luis Obispo lies. This is one of the most attractive regions of the Coast Ranges on account of its climate, scenery, and variety of productions. A series of high peaks, known as
tUi. 45.
Spreckels' beet-sugar factory, Salinas Valley.
the San Luis Buttes, extend northwest from the town to the ocean, where it terminates in Morro rock, a bare, rocky island rising almost precipitously to an elevation of nearly six hundred feet (Fig. 46).
Farther south is Arroyo Grande, a valley of orchards, and beyond that the valley of the Santa Maria, covered with grain fields and orchards. The most important stream of Santa Barbara County is the Santa Ynez River.
74
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Beans are extensively raised in the lower part of the valley, near the town of Lompoc.
Toward the upper portions of the basins of all the streams of the southern Coast Ranges the mountains are rugged and partly wooded. They are therefore largely devoted to the raising of cattle.
The southern Coast Ranges, particularly in San Luis Obispo County, are noted for their extensive deposits of bituminous rock. This substance is formed by a thick,
Fig. 4G. Morro Rock.
dark petroleum, which looks much like tar, slowly oozing up from deep in the rocks and soaking into beds of soft sandstone. The dark, sticky substance thus formed is of great value in giving a smooth, hard surface to roads. It is used more or less in the pavements of all the cities of the state.
Southern California Province
Physiography and Climate. — Under the term " South- ern California " is included all that portion of the state lying south of the watershed extending from Tehachapi
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 75
Range west through the Santa Ynez Range to Point Con- ception. This province contains about one-third of the population of the state.
Southern California has two slopes : one southwest to the ocean, and the other east and northeast into the Great Basin. With the exception of Antelope Valley, at the west end of the Mohave Desert, and portions of the Colorado Desert, the cultivated lands of Southern Cali- fornia lie upon the seaward slope.
Point Conception, near the western end of the Santa Ynez Range, marks an abrupt change in the direction of the coast. This range belongs in the coast system, but the mountains farther inland, extending in the same direction, but lying between the Mohave Desert and the cultivated portions of Southern California, are known in general terms as the Sierra Madre. The middle portion of this great mountain block is called the San Gabriel, and the eastern portion the San Bernardino Range. Grizzly Peak, in the latter range, which rises over 11,500 feet, is the greatest elevation of Southern California.
South of the San Bernardino Range, across the San Gor- gonio Pass, rises the steep slopes of Mt. San Jacinto. This mountain stands at the northern end of the Peninsula Range, which extends south across San Diego County into Lower California.
The Santa Ana Range separates the broad valleys at the western base of Mt. San Jacinto from the ocean. Its steep eastern slope, like the southern face of the Sierra Madre and the slopes of San Jacinto, is the result of fis- sures in the earth's crust, the crust upon one side having been raised and upon the other dropped. Lake Elsinore lies in a basin caused by the sinking of the land.
76 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The Santa Ana Mountain axis extends northerly, form- ing the Puente Hills, and rises again in the Verdugo Mountains, north of Los Angeles. Reaching westward from Los Angeles is the Santa Monica Range, which appears to be a continuation of the submerged range represented by the Channel Islands.
Southern California is completely shut off from the rest of the state by mountains. Upon the east there is but one low pass, the San Gorgonio, through which the Southern Pacific Railroad has been built. The Cajon pass, by means of which the Santa Fe gains access to Southern California, marks a noted depression in the Sierra Madre. The old Salt Lake trail went through this pass.
Farther west there are two passes leading north into the Mohave Desert. One of these, tlie Soledad Pass, is utilized by the Southern Pacific, which, after crossing the desert, reaches the Great Valley by the Tehachapi Pass. West of the Soledad Pass is the Francisquito Pass, once used by the old stage line from Los Angeles to Bakersfield. The only wagon road leading north, which does not take one into the deserts, is by Ventura and Santa Barbara.
The broad coastal plain upon which Santa Barbara stands is shut in by mountains. The Santa Clara Valley of Ventura County is also hemmed in by mountains. San Fernando is an important valley separated from the plain of Los Angeles by the Santa Monica Range.
The Los Angeles plain is the largest area of nearly level land in Southern California. It is separated by low hills from other valleys to the east along the foot of the Sierra Madre. The extensive region of low relief, of which Riverside is the centre, is one of very ancient mountains nearly worn away.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
7T
Southern California has the typical physiographic fea- tures of the arid region. It is important to distinguish the three main types. There is (l)-the mountains with more or less precipitous rocky sides, (2) the long, gently inclined slopes about the bases of the mountains made up of the waste which the water has carried into the valleys, and (3) the river bottoms of sand and alluvium. Each of
Orange groves in Southern California, snowy mountains in tlie distance.
tliese divisions has its economic value. The mountains condense the moisture which furnishes the water supply through the long summers. The waste slopes (Fig. 47) are easily irrigated and possess the proper climate for raising subtropical fruits, while the bottom lands, cooler and more moist, are adapted to alfalfa, berries, and vege- tables. If it were not for the high mountains, there would be little water for irrigation, and Southern California would be a semi-desert.
78
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
Much of the pUiin of Los Angeles and also the mesa lying between the mountains and the ocean, in the vicinity of San Diego, were formed under the ocean when the land was submerged. The streams of South- ern California present curious features. They appear larger near their heads than at their mouths. This is because of the long distance which they have to flow over sandy beds exposed to the hot sun. The sand takes up
Fig. 48. Drying English walnuts in Orange County.
much of the surface water, but it can always be obtained in wells.
The climate near the coast is remarkably mild and uni- form. Fogs occur in summer, but they are not as cold a§ farther north. As one goes inland the changes between winter and summer, and day and night, become much greater. Snow covers the mountains in winter, while a short distance below orange trees are in blossom (Fig. 47).
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 79
The rainfall increases with elevation. The rainfall of any locality is less if mountains lie between it and the ocean. Resources. — Southern California is most noted for its orange groves and pleasant climate. A few years ago the orchards were mostly confined to the gardens about the old Spanish towns and missions. Oranges were first grown upon an extensive scale at Riverside. It is now known that there is a large area suitable for the raising of
Fig. 49. Threshing beans in Ventura County.
fruit ; the amount produced need be limited only by the amount of water available for irrigation.
In addition to the citrus fruits, figs, olives, grapes, and walnuts are extensively grown. Alfalfa does well upon the lowlands, and near the ocean, in Orange County, these lands are largely given over to growing celery (Fig. 50). Fully a thousand car-loads are shipped East yearly.
Beans form the most important crop near the ocean, especially in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Much grain is grown in the larger valleys, where water is not
80
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
available for ir- rigation ; and upon the lands of those old Spanish grants which have not been cut up, many cattle and sheep are kept. Southern Cal- ifornia is noted for its large production of honey. Bee
ranches (Fig. 51) are scattered through the caiions, where the white sage abounds, for the flowers of this bush make excellent honey.
Fig. 50. Celery fields in Orange County.
Fig. 51. A bee ranch in Southeiii California.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
81
Gold is found in the mountains, especially in San Diego and northern Los Angeles counties. There are valuable deposits of pottery clay and some coal near Elsinore.
The most important mineral product is petroleum. The oil fields are found in the Puente hills, in the city of Los Angeles (Fig. 52), and through nearly the whole of the mountains bordering the Santa Clara River, in Ventura County. In Santa Barbara the Summerland field, in the
Oil wells in the city of Los Angeles.
edge of the ocean, is an interesting one. There are also near Santa Barbara extensive deposits of asphaltum and bituminous rock. '
Irrigation. — A large portion of California has so little rainfall that it cannot be thickly settled and developed without irrigation. The central and southern parts in particular require the artificial application of water to the
82
CALIFOBNIA SUPPLEMENT
soil. Lands which originally supported only a few half- starved cattle have, with the turning of the mountain streams upon them, become veritable gardens and capable of supporting a large population.
The streams carry more water in the winter than is needed for irrigation, and to preserve this surplus reser- voirs have been constructed at favorable points near their headwaters. These hold back much of the water until sum- mer, when it is used as needed. Where the streams issue from the mountain caiions the water is taken out in ditches or pipes and conducted around the hillsides at a uniform
grade until the area to be irrigated is reached (Fig. 53). The gently inclined waste slopes about the mountains have the best climate and soil for fruit grow- ing and are easily watered.
The large ditch is divided into smaller ones, which lead to the different or- chards. Furrows are made between the rows of trees, and the water is allowed to flow through these until the ground is thoroughly soaked. Each orchard has the use of a certain amount of water, after which it is turned off and taken to the next one. This process has to be repeated several times during the summer to keep the trees in good condition.
Fig, 53.
Water for irrigation is often conducted around the mountain sides in a flume.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 83
Santa Barbara and Vicinity. — Santa Barbara is pleas- antly situated near the eastern end of a broad coastal plain lying between the Santa Inez Mountains and the ocean. The region is protected by high mountains upon the north, while seaward rises the picturesque Channel Islands. For this reason the climate is mild and pleasant. Oranges are grown here, but the main fruits are olives and walnuts. West of the city is one of the largest olive orchards in the world. Santa Barbara has become noted as a tourist resort.
Valley of the Santa Clara River. — Ventura is the chief city of this section. It lies near the ocean upon the borders of a large and rich valley. In the lower portion of the valley large quantities of beans are grown, while farther up are orchards of oranges and ot^er fruits. Near Peru is one of the largest fig orchards in the state.
The oil fields adjacent to the valley are the oldest in the state. The oil is carried to Ventura in pipes and from there shipped by boat. Some of tlie oil wells are more than half a mile deep. In places oil is obtained by running tunnels into the sides of the mountains. There are also large springs of thick, tarlike oil accompanied by disagreeable-tasting mineral waters. In the Eastern states petroleum generally flows from the wells, but here it has to be pumped.
The oil comes from shales, which were formed long ago in the bed of the ocean. The shales consist largely of the remains of microscopic organisms whose bodies, as they sank to the bottom, gathered in beds, and at last, buried deeply under other beds, gave up a part of their organic matter in the form of the dark, thick oil which we call petroleum. This oil soaked into sandstones, which are
84
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
more porous than other rocks, and there the well-driller finds it. Petroleum has no relation to coal, which is formed from the remains of the vegetation of swampy or marshy places.
Los Angeles and Vicinity. — No other city in California, except San Francisco at the time of the discovery of gold, has had so rapid a growth as Los Angeles has had since 1880. The pueblo of Los Angeles was founded about 1780. Its location is upon the west bank of the Los Angeles River, a little below where it issues from the hills on to the extensive plain which stretches south and west to the ocean.
In 1880 Los Angeles had a population of only one thousand. It had hardly broken away from the easy life
of Spanish Califor- nia. Then came a pe riod of awakening, with an influx of people into South- ern California. Los Angeles had always been tlie most im- portant centre of this portion of the state, and when the advantages of Southern California became understood, the city, because of its central location and convenience as a railroad centre and distributing point, began to grow rapidly. In 1900 it had gained a population of over one hundred thousand. Los Angeles has a pleasant climate, blending the cool- ness of the ocean and the heat of the interior. For miles
Fk;. 54. A home in Los Angeles.
^ PL Vincents
Railroads thus : Electric Lines thus :-• - —
0 1 ?? * 5 6 7 a 9 10
6;2 MILES TO 1 INCH.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA
85
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Fig. 55. City of Riverside.
in every direction there are rich lands adapted to a great variety of products. The location of the ancient pueblo was determined by the abundance of water for irrigation and not for its commercial advantages, for it is twenty-five miles from the small har- bor of San Pedro. An extensive breakwater is being constructed at that place, which will make a roadstead for large ves- sels. Santa Monica lies upon the ocean, fifteen miles west of Los Ange- les ; Redondo is south- west, San Pedro and
Long Beach south. These are all important summer resorts.
A few miles northeast of Los Angeles, at the foot of the San Gabriel Range, is the beautiful city of Pasadena,
Fig. 50. An artesian well, Orange County.
86 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
which is widely known for its healthful and pleasant climate. The development of the fruit industry has pro- duced other cities to the south and east. Among the most important of these are San Bernardino, Riverside, and Santa Ana. About Riverside can be seen most clearly the transformation which water has accomplished in a dry and semi-arid region. Lands originally covered with scattered bushes, and of scarcely any value even for graz- ing purposes, are now dotted with orange and lemon orchards and pretty homes.
Santa Ana lies south of Los Angeles. The region about is very fertile and abundantly supplied with water, much of which comes from artesian wells. Upon the lowlands of the Santa Ana River large quantities of sugar beets, celery, and alfalfa are grown.
San Diego. — The oldest settlement in the state is upon San Diego Bay. It is now known as Old San Diego. The present city is situated upon the bay four miles to the south. San Diego Bay is, next to San Fran- cisco, the most commodious and safe harbor upon ther coast of California. For this reason the city of San Diego is destined to become one of the most important commer- cial centres of the state.
In the valleys back of San Diego there are many orange and lemon orchards, and vineyards where the raisin grape is grown. At Chula Vista, near San Diego, is the largest lemon orchard in the world. The apples pro- duced in the mountains of San Diego Count}^ are the best in Southern California.
Upon the Coronado Peninsula is one of the most attrac- tive winter resorts upon the coast of California. San Diego has a particularly mild and uniform climate.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 87
Appropriate to Southern California are the lines from the song of Mignon : —
" Know'st thou the land where the lemon trees bloom, Where the gold orange glows in the green thicket's gloom, Where the wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, And groves are of myrtle, and olive, and rose ? "
V
The Province of the Klamath Mountains
Physiography. — Under the title of Klamath Moun- tains is included a group of irregular mountain ranges in northwestern California and southern Oregon. These mountains are continuous with the Coast Ranges to the south but are higher and more rugged. In places they reach an elevation of over nine thousand feet. They are mostly composed of very old rocks, like the Sierra Nevada, and resemble it also in their physiographic features and mineral resources.
The most lofty of the ranges included in the Klamath Mountains are the Salmon, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Scotts mountains. The whole area is traversed by deep and narrow canons with few valleys of any size. Upon the eastern side of the Klamath Mountains, and partly sepa- rating them from the volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range, is Shasta Valley, while within the mountains are Scotts, Trinity, and Hayfork valleys.
The most important river is the Klamath. It rises in the Klamath lakes of southern Oregon and flows south- westerly in a deep cafion directly across the Klamath Mountains. Its main tributary is the Trinity River. The Sacramento River rises near Mount Shasta and flows across the eastern part of the Klamath Mountains in a
88
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
picturesque canon, which gives a direct and convenient pass for the railroad as far as Shasta Valley. The Siski- you Mountains join a spur of the Cascades upon the northern boundary of California, so that entrance to Ore- gon is made difficult, both for railroad and wagon road.
Mineral springs abound in the caiion of the Sacramento, and it is occupied by many camping parties during the
summer months. The Mc- Cloud, farther east, is another picturesque river, which is fed by underground streams from Mount Shasta.
Natural Resources. — Gold- bearing quartz veins are found throughout nearly all portions of the Klamath Mountains. Mining is therefore the chief industry. Extensive deposits of gravels left by the ancient streams are found along the sides of the valleys and canons. These contain so much gold that hydraulic mining has been more important than quartz mining. Copper is an impor- tant mineral product of the Klamath Mountains. At Iron Mountain, a few miles northwest of Redding, is the largest copper mine in California. Smelters for reducing the ore and recovering the metallic copper have been erected at Keswick upon the Sacramento River. Other large copper deposits occur at Copper City, north of Redding. The water flowing from these mines contains copper in solution.
Fig. 57. Sugar pine forest.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 89
and if pieces of scrap iron are left in it for a time, they become covered with bright metallic copper.
Lumbering stands next to mining in importance. The mountains are usually forested, but the most of the mills are located near the head of the Sacramento.
With the exception of the three or four valleys of the Klamath Mountains already mentioned, there is but little land suitable for agricultural purposes or fruit-raising. The fruits of the temperate climate raised here are excel- lent, especially the apples. The chief towns are Yreka, Weaverville, and Dunsmuir.
Volcanic Plateau Region. — The volcanic plateau region of northeastern California embraces Lassen, Modoc, and a large part of Shasta and Siskiyou counties. It is drained mainly by the Pitt River.
The extensive plains and valleys of this region have an elevation of from three to five thousand feet, and conse- quently a climate quite different from that of the other settled portions of California. The winters are cold and snowy, and the thermometer often falls many degrees below zero.
The Sierra Nevada Range terminates on the north in Plumas County, where the old rocks, of which it is com- posed, disappear under the lavas of the volcanic plateau. The range of mountains which extends northerly, and apparently continuous with it, is a part of the Cascade Range, so prominent in Oregon and Washington. The southern peak of the Cascade Range, then, is Lassen Peak. It is, next to Mount Shasta, the highest volcanic peak in California. Near by is the most interesting place in the state to study volcanic action. At Cinder Cone the last volcanic eruption took place. The remains of
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CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
trees killed by the falling volcanic ashes are still to be seen. Other extinct volcanoes rise from the high ridge extending from^ Lassen Peak toward Mount Shasta. The latter mountain, with its dark fringe of forest and its snow-capped summit, presents the grandest sight of any mountain in California. It is^ with the exception of Mount Rainier, the highest of the great volcanoes of the Cascade Range, towering 14,380 feet above the sea.
Fig. 58. Mount Shasta in winter.
Many mountains, some of which are small volcanic cones, dot the surface of the volcanic plateau province. It is bordered upon the east by the Warner Range, which, like the Sierra Nevada, was uplifted as a result of a frac- ture in the earth's crust. East of this high range lies the fertile Surprise Valley, without drainage to the ocean.
Pitt River traverses the broad plain-like valleys, cutting canons where mountain ranges lie in the way, and finally joins the Sacramento.
PHYSIOGBAPHT OF CALIFORNIA 91
Flows of lava, so recent that the soil has not yet gathered upon l:heir surfaces, are to be seen in many places. One of the most rugged of these lava flows is known as the Modoc Lava Beds, lying close to Rhett" Lake. It wiis in the caverns and crevices of this lava bed that the Modoc Indians, under Captain Jack, so long resisted the soldiers.
Over portions of this lava region, although the precipi- tation is considerable, there are no surface streams. The water sinking through the fissures of the lava forms underground streams. Sometimes in canons, or at the edge of lava fields, these burst forth in large springs. The most remarkable stream of this kind is Fall River, in eastern Shasta County.
Valleys or basins without outlets occur over the plateau region. All were formerly occupied by lakes, but now the most of them have either dried up or have been drained by Pitt River. Goose Lake and Rhett Lake are the largest remaining lakes without outlet. The climatic conditions toward the east are like those of the Great Basin, into which the plateau region blends.
Resources. — The volcanic rocks of the plateau region are almost free from mineral deposits, and consequently there is little mining.
Tlie western portion, between Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, lies within the great forest belt of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Range. Very little of this great body of timber has as yet been cut, although sawmills are at work in a number- of places. Eastward the rainfall becomes less and the elevated plain-like valleys are treeless, but covered with sage-brush and grasses. In this section agriculture and stock-raising are the chief industries. Owing to the
92 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
distance from market no more grain or other agricul- tural products are raised than are needed for home use. However, cattle and horses, which can be driven to market at little expense, are raised in large numbers. The open valleys and low mountains afford good pasturage.
The Great Basin Province
Physiography and Climate. — The Great Basin includes (p. 5) a vast extent of country with no external drainage. The Sierra Nevada and Sierra Madre ranges separate it from the ocean on the west. The Wasatch Range of Utah bounds it upon the east, while upon the north and south it is separated by only a slight rise of land from the basins of the Columbia and Colorado rivers respectively.
This area must not be thought of as one simple basin, but as being broken up into smaller basins by many detached mountains and mountain ranges. The lowest portion of each of these smaller basins or valleys is known as a sink, for here if the rainfall upon the surrounding mountains is sufficient, the waters gather and form shal- low lakes, which may last from year to year or dry up every summer. If there is little rain upon the mountains, there are no streams at all entering the sink.
A few thousand years ago the lakes were larger and more numerous, for the rainfall was then greater. Now the precipitation in the Great Basin is small and irregular. Occasionally heavy rains, called cloudbursts, occur in the mountains. The water, because there is little soil and vegetation to retain it, runs rapidly into the canons, and then out on to the sands of the desert. These torrents carry along sand, gravel, and even huge boulders.
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 93
About one-third of the area of California lies within the Great Basin. It is an area of much interest, for it includes the highest mountains and the lowest sinks of the Great Basin. It is an area also of great mineral wealth. The precious metals are found in the mountains, and salt, soda, and borax upon the great desert valleys.
Trace" out the boundaries of the Great Basin upon the relief map. Note that in the Mohave Desert the moun-
Fm. 59. Upou the borders of the Colorado Desert.
tains are low and irregular, but that east of the Sierra Nevada there are other high ranges extending north and south parallel with the Sierra.
The first mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada is the Inyo-White Mountain Range, some peaks of which rise almost as high as the Sierra Nevada. Then comes the Panamint Range, and east of that. Death Valley, one hundred and ten feet below the level of the ocean. It is one of the hottest and most arid regions of the United
94
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
States. It is many miles broad, and people trying to cross it during the heat of summer often perish.
The (Colorado Deseri lies in the extreme southeastern portion of the state. It was formerly occupied by the waters of the Gulf of California, but the Colorado River built its delta southward and cut off the northern portion of this ancient gulf, thus leaving a lake. The water of the Colorado River occasionally flows into this sink, but usually it is dry and covered with a layer of salt.
Surprise Valley, in northeastern California, is occupied by two shallow lakes, which frequently dry up. South
of this valley, and close under the Sierra Ne- vada Mountains, is Honey Lake, which has an extensive and highly cultivated valley about it. Contrasting strongly with the * shallow al- kaline waters of this lake are ^ the pure, deep waters of Lake Tahoe. It is situated at an elevation of over six thousand feet, near the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The mountains on the western shore are much resorted to in summer.
Mono Lake and the region about it are full of interest. Although five hundred feet higher than Lake Tahoe it
Fig. 00. Earthquake fissures near Mono Lake.
PHYSIOGRAPHT OF CALIFORNIA 95
has no outlet, and is strongly alkaline. There has been quite recent volcanic activity there. Upon the northern shore of the lake are open earthquake fissures, while to the south there is a group of mountains known as the Mono Craters. These were formed by eruptions of lava and volcanic ashes, and exhibit remarkably perfect craters.
Owens Lake is the southernmost of the large lakes of the Great Basin. It is supplied by Owens River, which rises in the high Sierra and flows south between that range and
Fig. 61. Getting soda by the evaporation of the water of Owens Lake.
the Inyo- White Mountain Range. The water of Owens Lake is so alkaline that soda in commercial quantities is obtained from it. The lake was once fresh, for during the glacial period, when the precipitation was greater, it had an outlet to the south into other great sinks, which are now dry. The bed of the old outlet is easily followed for many miles. It is used as a wagon road, and will undoubtedly sometime be occupied by a railroad.
The only stream of any size entering the Mohave Desert is the Mohave River, which after flowing one hundred
96 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
miles disappears in the sands. Occasionally, when the spring rains fall at just the right intervals, the desert is covered for a short time with a carpet of brilliant flowers, which quickly fruit, dry up, and are obliterated by the drifting sands. The vegetation of the desert has already been described (p. 19).
Mining for the Metals. — Gold is the most important mineral found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but in the ranges of the Great Basin silver and lead occur in abun- dance. The great Comstock Lode, at Virginia City, in
Fig. 62. Bed of an ancient river. Former outlet of Owens Lake.
western Nevada, was for many years the most noted mining camp in all the west. Hundreds of millions in gold and silver were obtained there.
Bodie, near Lake Mono, is the most important mining town in eastern California. Many millions in gold have been produced there. At Randsburg, in the Mohave Desert, and near the Colorado River, are other important mines. Mineral deposits, often of great value, are found in all the mountains of the Great Basin. Mining is car- ried on with difficulty, because of the lack of water and
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA 97
fuel. The discovery of abundance of petroleum is of great importance in the working of these mines.
Borax and Salt. — Although so desolate and apparently useless, many of the desert valleys, or sinks, contain impor- tant deposits of such minerals as borax, soda, and salt. Salt has been obtained chiefly from the Salton Basin, in the Colorado Desert. It occurs on the surface and also as a strong brine mixed with the clay underlying the sink. The salt is scraped from the surface and is taken to the drying house. The salt is so pure that it does not need further treatment, and is sacked for shipping. As fast as it is gathered, the salt keeps coming to the surface through the process called efflorescence. Evaporation causes the moisture to move upward through the clays, bringing with it the salt in solution.
In the eastern portion of the Mohave Desert are large deposits of rock salt. The valleys in which these lie were formerly connected with the water of the ocean through the Gulf of California.
One of the most important products of the deserts of California is borax. It is a valuable substance used for many purposes, but before the deposits in these deserts were discovered it was much more expensive than now. The desert basins in which the borax occurs were formerly occupied by lakes. The streams flowing into these lakes, and also springs in their bottoms, brought different salts dissolved from the rocks over or through which they flowed. In one place the predominant mineral thus brought was common salt, in another soda, in another borax. When these lakes dried up, the substances dis- solved in their waters were left mixed with the clay upon the bottom. As the mud dried upon the surface,
98 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
efflorescence took place, as described in the case of the salt.
The borax, after being scraped from the desert, is dis- solved in hot water and is recovered comparatively pure by evaporation. It is then transported to the nearest railroad station in great wagons, which are drawn by many spans of mules.
Agricultural Resources, Stock-raising. — Though little rain falls upon the desert and its soil is apparently of slight value, yet wherever water can be obtained it pro- duces abundantly.
Numerous streams flow down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and from Honey Lak^ Valley upon the north to Owens Valley upon the south, they fur- nish the water for irrigating many thousands of acres.
The Truckee, Carson, and Walker rivers supply the water which makes fertile many of the valleys of western Nevada. Carson Valley in particular is known as the garden spot of Nevada.
The streams entering Owens Valley furnish water for large tracts of land, which are partly devoted to orchards and partly to the raising of horses and cattle.
Character of the Population. — The population of Cali- fornia embraces people of many nationalities. Its attrac- tions have appealed, not only to people in all parts of the United States, but to those of almost every foreign country.
Among the immigrants are many thousands of Chinese, who engage as laborers in nearly all the occupations. They form the least desirable class, and their further entrance has been restricted.
The early Spanish population has left a lasting impress
PHFSIOGRAPUY OF CALIFORNIA 99
upon the state. We are indebted to it for many words which have come into use, and for the attractive architec- ture of the old mission buildings.
The Italians are mostly vineyardists and the Portuguese fishermen, although both also engage in market gardening. The Swiss are mostly dairymen.
Government and Education. — The government of Cali- fornia is much like that of the other states. The laws are made by the legislature, which meets everyrtwo years. There are two branches, the Senate and Assembly, and their enactments, unless passed by a two-thirds vote, must be signed by the Governor in order to become valid.
The highest tribunal for the settlement of disputes is the Supreme Court. There are also County Superior Courts, Justices' Courts, and Police Courts.
There are fifty-seven counties, each of which has its own local laws enacted by a Board of Supervisors. The large cities also have their own laws in addition to the state laws.
California has an excellent public-school system. The common schools are divided into primary and grammar grades. They are scattered throughout all portions of the state, so that almost every child is within reach of a school.
In the cities and the more thickly settled districts high schools have been established. These schools receive those who wish to go beyond the grammar school.
The next step above the high school is the State Uni- versity, which completes the school system. Of equal rank also is Leland Stanford Jr. University. All these schools are free. In addition to the schools mentioned,
100 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
there are colleges and private schools in various parts of the state.
There are the five State Normal Schools, situated at San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Chico, and San Diego. The standard of the schools is continually becoming higher, and an increasing number of the teachers have had normal school or university training.
TOPICAL SUMMARY
Physiography of the Cordilleran Region
The Cordilleran region includes several great mountain systems. The Rocky Mountains lie upon the east, and the Sierra Nevada-Cas- cade Range upon the west. They are separated by an extended plateau region, a large part of which has no outlet to the ocean. West of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade system is a series of large valleys, separated from the Pacific Ocean by another system of mountains known as the Coast Ranges.
The Physiography op California
The three most important mountain ranges of California are the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges, and the Sierra Madre, the two former enclosing the Great Valley. The mountains and valleys extend nearly parallel with the coast in a southeasterly and north- westerly direction. The Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Madre form the watershed between the Pacific slope and the Great Basin.
The surface of California is divided by nature into a number of districts or provinces, each of which has its peculiar physiography and resources.
Origin of the Mountains and Valleys of California
Two agents are changing the surface of the earth. One makes mountains by folding or fracturing the crust or through volcanic action. The other tears mountains down. It accomplishes this through disintegration of the rocks, and their erosion by running water. New mountains are steep, and have narrow valleys or canons. Old mountains have gentle slopes and broad valleys in which streams flow slowly. California contains all these types of mountains and valleys.
102 CLALIFORXIA SCPPLEMEyT
Dkaixage
Hw incsnlv iiiie» fiotmed bj the cxesi of the Siena Nevada, the SiHia Ibdie, and Ffemnnla lai^es, fonuB the divide between the !Kcific and the interior. The main stieams are iqion the Facifie lor the rains eome from the ocean. The most impoartant river is the San JoaqoiiFSacrainento^ draining the Great Talley ammding moomlains. It reacheB the ocean Idiroi^ a depres- I the Coast Bangea. Hie inamath is the largest river of ■lifania. TIk streams oeeogpjing the valleys <tf the Coast Ranges in most eases flow notUiweateriy to the ocean.
MOTEMKSTS OF THK LaKD
The chaiaeter of the coast of California has been determined by the positipn of the moonlains and a recent snbsidenee of the land. Only one large river breaks through the Coast Ranges, and at the wakiiig of the land tiie ocean entoed its month, fraroiii^ the bay of San FranrJanou SmallRr bs^ were fanned at the mooflis of streams. That the land was once depraesed more than now i by the wave-cot ternees along the coast.
ISI.AXD5 AXD SlTBMA&IXS PlATEAU
The coast of Califotnia is bordered by a submarine plateaa, which is nnmwi at tiie north but widens sonUiward. From its surface rise the coast iidand«, which are the e^osed portions of partaally sub- Bountains. The ocean deepens rafidfy ontside of the
ClXMATE
Tlie remaifcable di%ersily in the climate al diUKrent portions of Califamia is the result more of its rdation to the ocean, the position and dirrctinn of the moimtains, and devatlon abore sea levd, than of its great extent of latitude
The tempoatnre of the coastal region is eompaiativdy unifoim, but with added distance from the coast the ertremes beeiMne greater. The stonns whiA pass over tiie stste, comisg in from tiie ocean, decrease in nnnber and intensity from north to sooth, so that while iht northwest is very wet tlie sootteast is a desert.
TOPICAL SUItMABT 103
YmesMXJLTiois asd Ajtimai, Life Clmiate alieetB the life erf both plaats an
climale will offien destroj tlioae wludi eamioi mignfte, and pennik othera to take their plaeea The most of the hwger wild ^niiw*!* of the state hare iiearfy disappeaxed before the hunter, but laws mm exist for their profteetaaa.
The eoniferaos forests are remarkable for tiie Tariefef the trees. The forests oeeopj a belt i^on the their position bong detennined primanlf bj the lainfidL Thijare less dense and extensiTe toward the sooth, bstt thewcsfem dope <tf the SioTS XevadsrCaacade Bange, and the Coast Banges Santa Cmz northvaid, are heaTily foveated. Forest national paiks have been estmbiiriied for the proteclian of the and the preservation of the water si^plj;
Natuilll RssouBCBi
The diTeratj of its climate and the nature of its phg^sieal features hare made California noted for the vaiielj of its products. The mountains are filled with minoals. Their akpes are coveied with forests and adapted to grazing. The TaDeys are valuable for agii- cuhnre^ and prodoee eveiy vaxietf of tempente and subtropical fraitB.
HisTORT AXD IxDusnuAL. Detelopmkst
California, although discoTered before the middle of the eentnxj, loi^ remained mini IIIimI bccanae of its iwniation. The settfers were the CathoKe miasionaiies feom llerim^ who missions in the ridi valleys near the coast. Other wiUfiw came and devoted themsdves to stock-iaisii^. Life went on quietfy untfl 18161, when the province feU into the poaseasion of the United States. In 1S18 came the discovery of gold, and people mailed in from all parts of the worid. CaUfomia was soon admitted as a states Gold-mini^ was, for a number of yeaxs, the chief occnpatinn. Then the cl cattle and sheep increased in importance^ and the laxge began to be devoted to grain. Last fA all the adaptability of the countiy to a huge variety of firnits led to firuit-growii^ vdiieh now tiie
104 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The Sierra Nevada Province
The Sierra Nevada is the highest and most important range. The eastern slope is abrupt, the western long and gentle. Deep canons have been eroded down these slopes, producing grand and rugged scenery. The most remarkable of these canons is the Yosemite Valley.
The discovery of gold led to the rush of miners into these moun- tains, and in a few years they took out many hundred millions in gold. Placer, hydraulic, and quartz mining have been followed. The forest belt constitutes an important source of wealth, while the foot-hills are adapted to fruits and stock. The perennial streams are used for irrigation and as a source of electrical power. In the sum- mer these mountains are much resorted to by pleasure and health seekers.
The Great Valley Province
The Great Valley includes the Sacramento and San Joaquin val- leys. It is remarkable for its extent and productiveness. Stock- raising was the earliest occupation. Then the valley became a great grain field. Later it was discovered that a large variety of fruits, including . oranges, could be grown to perfection. Oranges ripen earlier than in Southern California.
-' Settlements sprang up oil the sites of Marysville, S^amento, and Stockton, because of the advantage of these locations as distributing points for the mines. Sacramento became the state capital and chief shipping point. Redding is the centre of copper-mining, Fresno of the raisin industry, and Baker sfield of an important oil-producing district.
The Province of the Coast Eanges
The Coast Ranges lie between the Great Valley and the ocean. The valleys are noted for their agreeable climate and the variety of their products. Large numbers of cattle are raised in the foot-hills, and grain is grown in the larger valleys. Dairying is an important industry near the coast, but the one to which most attention is given is fruit-growing. The Coast Ranges are also noted for their redwood forests and their production of quicksilver.
TOPICAL SUMMARY 105
San Francisco is the foremost city of the state and coast. It is ad- mirably situated for commerce. About the bay are many manufac- turing establishments. In the adjacent valleys are important cities and the leading institutions for higher learning.
Southern California Province
Southern California includes that part of the state south of Tehachapi. It is shut off from the other portions by mountains, but several good passes lead across them. The Sierra Madre and Penin- sula ranges separate the highly cultivated valleys upon the ocean slope from the deserts. There are many fertile tracts, of which the plain of Los Angeles is the largest. The chief products are fruits, grain, honey, beans, live stock, and petroleum. The most of the citrus fruits are produced here, the centre of the industry being at Riverside. Southern California has become noted as a pleasure and health resort.
Province of the Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, although continuous with the Coast Ranges, yet, in their physiographic character and their mineral resources, resemble the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mining and lumbering are the chief industries. The most important minerals are gold and copper.
Volcanic Plateau Province
The plateau province includes the great volcanic peaks, Shasta and Lassen. A broad forest belt stretches along the western portion, so that lumbering is the chief industry. Agriculture and stock-raising are carried on in the extensive valleys which, toward the east, blend into the Great Basin,
The Great Basin Province
This province includes one-third of the area of California. It has no outlet to the ocean, and is traversed by many mountain ranges, between which are desert valleys or sinks. Some of these are occu- pied by alkaline lakes. The lowest land in the United States is in the Colorado desert. The deposits of precious metals in the mountains are
106 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
of great value, while borax, salt, and soda are found in the beds of the ancient lakes. Agriculture and stock-raising are carried on where there is water for irrigation.
Mining
Mining must always be one of the leading industries of California. Gold is obtained chiefly from the older rocks of the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Mountains, and various ranges of the Great Basin. The Mother Lode is the most important mineral zone. Copper is mined most extensively in the Klamath Mountains, although there are other deposits throughout the gold belt. Petroleum and its products, such as asphaltum and bituminous rock, are found throughout the Coast Ranges, the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, and in Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties. California is the only state producing asphaltum and bituminous rock in any great quantity.
Stock-raising
Through the increase of population and the establishment of the forest reserves the stock ranges have been much reduced in area. Stock-raising was almost the only industry of Spanish California, but reached its greatest development previous to the introduction of fruit- growing on an extensive scale. Sheep were pastured throughout all the mountains, while the cattle were raised more particularly in the Coast Ranges. Although California still produces a large amount of wool and mutton, much of the beef consumed is raised outside of the state. Tehama and Mendocino counties rank first in the production of wool.
Agriculture
Agriculture in California has been characterized by the holding of land in large tracts called ranches. These are often devoted to a single product, such as grain, for the sowing and harvesting of which the most improved machinery is used. The grains grown are chiefly wheat, barley, and oats. These are produced in all parts, but the Great Valley is the most important source. Wheat and barley are often cut for hay. Alfalfa, raised upon the moist lowlands or those that can be irrigated, is much used for hay. Grain is not usually irrigated, and in dry years the production, in many places, is light.
TOPICAL SUMMARY 107
Irrigation is necessary for growing most vegetables and berries except upon some bottom lands. The most of these products which are shipped out of the state come from the central portion. Beans are an important crop in the southern coast counties. California is the second greatest honey-producing state. Hops are mainly grown north of San Francisco.
Irrigation
Irrigation is the artificial watering of the land. Portions of the state have a very uncertain rainfall and a semi-arid climate. These produce certain and abundant crops when irrigated. The use of water has caused a complete transformation in the appearance of Southern California, making possible the thousands of acres of orange groves. Irrigation has not been employed as much in central and northern California because of greater rainfall, but wherever it has been tried, the lands have been found to bring forth much more abundantly. Note upon the rainfall map the areas where the pre- cipitation is twenty inches or less. These in particular need irri- gation.
FRtJIT-RAISING
Fruit-raising has become the leading industry. Nearly all parts of the state are adapted to fruit of one kind or another. The greatest number of acres are planted to grapes. In the Coast Ranges the grapes are either sold fresh or made into wine. In the dry, hot valleys of the interior the raisin grape is grown. California produces practi- cally all the raisins made in the United States.
Prunes are more widely cultivated than any other fruit. The centre of this industry is in the valleys about San Francisco Bay, particularly the Santa Clara Valley.
Peaches come next in importance. They do well in the foot-hills and higher portions of the warm valleys.
The orange is the standard fruit of Southern California. Thou- sands of car-loads are shipped from the state every year. The indus- try developed first about Riverside, but recently oranges have been found to do well along the eastern side of the Great Valley as far north as Tehama County and in Sonoma County. The number of lemon trees is much less than of orange. The lemon does not need as hot a climate.
108 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
The most of the apricots grown in the United States are produced in California.
The almond and walnut do well in nearly all the valleys of the state. The fig and olive require a warm climate to come to perfection. The olive is not found much in the United States outside of Cali- fornia. Apples do best in the mountains and cool valleys near the coast.
Dairying
Dairying is carried on throughout all portions of the state. The coast is, however, the leading dairy section. The conditions are especially favorable from San Luis Obispo to Humboldt Bay. The climate is cool, the grasses remain green longer than in the interior, and the coast steamers offer a convenient means of getting the prod- ucts to market.
Lumbering
The forests most important for lumbering occupy a belt many miles wide along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Cascade Range, and the northern Coast Ranges. The trees of impor- tance are the Sequoia, yellow pine, sugar pine, cedar, spruce, and fir. Much of the forest area has been injured by fires and careless lumbering. Steps have been taken to secure the preservation of portions of the remaining forest.
Fisheries
The most of the streams of California are stocked with fish. Those in the Sacramento River are commercially the most valuable. The coast fisheries are important but not greatly developed.
Manufacturing
As a result of the high price of fuel and labor, manufacturing has not developed in proportion to other occupations. The transmission of electric power from the streams of the mountains and the abundance of petroleum will aid this industry. The most important manu- facturing plants are located about the shores of San Francisco Bay and the Strait of Carquinez. In shipbuilding and the making of mining machinery California particularly excels.
TOPICAL SUMMARY 109
Commerce
California, with the fine harbor of San Francisco almost in the middle of its coast line, and with valleys and waterways branching away inland from this harbor, must remain the greatest commercial centre upon the Pacific coast of the United States. Los Angeles ranks next to San Francisco as a trade centre. San Diego has a harbor which must bring to it an important foreign trade.
Winter and Health Resorts
California has become noted for its mild and healthful climate and grand scenery. Many thousands of visitors spend the winters at its chief resorts, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, and San Diego. Through the Coast Ranges there are many medicinal springs of wide reputation. The valleys and canons of the high Sierra Nevada offer ideal conditions for summer rest and recreation.
Suggestions
You will find in the neighborhood of your home, or within walking distance of the schoolhouse, illustrations of many geographic facts, and if you can understand them, the geography of your state and of the world will mean much more to you.
Study the action of water in shaping the physical features. Ex- amine some stream during dry weather, and make a written descrip- tion of how its bed appears. Then during or just after a rain examine it again and note the work the water is doing. You will find that it is removing particles of soil, digging little cuts and carrying the material somewhere else. What does it finally do with this material ? This will lead to an understanding of how the canons and valleys are made, as well as the alluvial bottom lands.
Find a bank and study the soil, and be able to tell what difference it shows between the top and bottom. Find a piece of crumbling rock which will sometime make soil. How does it differ from a piece of fresh rock? What made the change?
Find from observation if there is any difference in temperature between the mountain and the valley, and if elevation, amount of sunshine and rainfall affects the distribution of the plants. Study the weather before a storm and after a storm.
110 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
If your home is in a town or city, find out when people first settled there, and the reasons for their coming, -what is making the place grow now, what the productions of the surrounding country are, whether trade or manufacturing is the leading occupation, and why.
If you live in the country, tell what the people are engaged in. Is the region adapted to mining or stock-raising, or agriculture or fruit- growing? Describe the location of the nearest country store and tell why it was placed where it is. What goods are imported and what raw products exported ? How are they carried ?
Maps and Pictures and Books
Excellent topographic maps have been prepared by the United States Geological Survey which cover a large portion of the state. These show all the features of the land and water, and location of roads and. houses. On many of them the rock formations have been indicated.
There ought to be a collection of these maps in every school, and the pupils should be instructed in using them. They can be bought Af for five cents each at Washington. Schools near the coast should have a copy of one of the coast charts covering the region.
Photographs illustrating the physiography and the leading indus- tries can be easily obtained. These are of the greatest importance in bringing distinctly before the pupil scenes and places which he has not visited.
Books dealing with early explorations, and life in the mines, should be at hand so that the pupils may become intelligent upon those interesting and remarkable events of the pioneer days. Stories about the origin and meaning of the striking scenery of the state would be of great value.
The following are some of the books which should be read or used for reference in connection with the study of the state : — Two Years before the Mast, Dana. Stories of Rocks and Minerals, Life of Fremont. * Fairbanks.
History of California, Royce. Mount Shasta, A Typical Volcano,
The Desert, Van Dyke. Diller.
Ramona, Helen Hunt Jackson. Mountains ot California, Muir. Stories of Our Mother Earth. Our National Parks, Muir.
Stories of California, Sexton. Pacific History Stories, Wagner.
The Great Salt Lake Trail. Oregon and California, Thornton.
California and the Missions. What I saw in California, Bryant.
TOPICAL SUMMARY 111
General Questions
1. Describe the main features of the Cordilleran region. 2. AVhat is meant by the Great Basin? 3. What would liappen in the Great Basin if the rainfall should be greatly increased? 4. Describe the leading features of relief of California as they are shown upon the relief map. 5. Why do we study the state by provinces ? 6. What are the important river systems ? 7. What is the most important water- shed? Describe the drainage from it. 8. California contains types of all kinds of mountains found upon the earth. What are they ? 9. In what ways are valleys formed ? Give examples. 10. What would be the nature of the coast line if the mountains extended at right angles to it? 11. If California should sink one thousand feet, what changes do you think would take place in its geography ? Would your home be submerged by the ocean ? 12. If the land should rise, how would it affect San Francisco harbor? 13. Tell something about the islands. How were they formed? 14. What are the chief things which affect the climate of California? 15. On which side of the mountain ranges does it rain the most, and why? 16. Where is the climate most uni- form? 17. What part of the state receives the least rain? Why? 18. Tell about the climates which you would pass through in going in the summer from the Great Valley to the summit of the Sierra Nevada. 19. How would the vegetation change? What trees of value for lumber would you see ? 20. Are the animals that we meet to-day like those living a long time ago ? 21. What do you suppose caused the animals whose fossil bones we find in the gravel or soil to disappear? 22. Why do people destroy animals? What means have been taken for their preservation? 23. What is the object of establishing forest reserves? 24. Why does California have such a variety of natural resources ? Mention the important ones. 25. Was California entered first from the land or from the water? W^hy do you suppose San Francisco Bay remained so long undiscovered ? 26. What natural barriers exist betw^een California and the other portions of America? Were these as easy to cross in the early days as now? Why? 27. Tell about the life and occupations of Cali- fornians under Mexican rule. 28. Mention the leading missions. If you have seen one, describe it. 29. When did California come under the control of the Americans? What were then the two lead- ing towns? 30. Why did not Monterey become a city after the
112 CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
American occupation ? 31. How much of a town was San Francisco in 1846 ? 32. What led to the rapid increase of the population of Cali- fornia after its conquest from Mexico? 33. What led San Francisco to become the most important city of the state ? 34. In what por- tions of the state is the most of the gold obtained ? 35. Describe any kind of mining that you have seen carried on. 36. Explain the difference between placer, hydraulic, and quartz mining. 37. How did the pioneer gold seekers reach the state ? What difficulties did they encounter ? Mention the different trails by which they entered the state. 38. What portion of the state was occupied by the Spanish at the time of the gold discovery? Why? 39. Who introduced fruit- growing into the state? 40. What conditions made it profitable to grow fruit upon a large scale? How is it shipped away to market? 41. Why was stock-raising so profitable? 42. Tell what you know about the raising and pasturing of sheep. 43. What grains are grown in California ? In what way are they mostly exported? Why? 44. In what way are people enabled to grow fruit and other products where little rain falls ? 45. Tell what is meant by citrus fruits, by deciduous fruit, by viticulture. 46. If there were no high moun- tains how would the water supply be affected ? 47. What helps to hold the water upon the slopes where it falls ? Why ? 48. Describe the process of irrigation. What advantage have irrigated crops over those dependent upon the rainfall? 49. What are the important fruits shipped out of the state? Where do they mostly go? 50. Why were supplies of all kinds so high priced following the discovery of gold? 51. Can you illustrate how the Sierra Nevada Mountains were formed ? 52. Tell how mountains are being torn down. 53. What agency formed the most of the lakes in California? 54. Tell some- thing about the origin of the canons in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 55. Watch the work of water upon a slope during a rain, and tell what it does. 56. What governs the distribution of the forests? For what are the coniferous forests of California remarkable ? What is meant by coniferous ? 57. What is the most important occupation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains ? Mention others. Why do people go into the mountains in the summer? 58. Mention the national parks in California. Why were they established? 59. What were the causes which determined the locations of the chief cities of the Great Valley? 60. How is the water power in the mountains utilized? Why are not
TOPICAL SUMMARY 113
manufacturing establishments located in the mountains? 61. How does the climate of the Great Valley differ from that of the coast ? Why? What part of the valley is adapted to oranges? 62. How are raisins made ? What kind of climate is needed ? 63. Where are most of the vegetables of the Great Valley grown ? Why? 64. Where are the conditions most advantageous for dairying? Why? 65. What mineral abundant in the Coast Kanges is hardly found elsewhere in the United States ? 66. Where are the great copper mines ? Mention some of the uses of copper. 67. Describe the most important uses of redwood. Tell something about this tree. 68. In what manner are the logs taken to mill, and the lumber from the mills to market? 69. Why is stock-raising the most important industry of the volcanic plateau ? Where is the climate of California the coldest ? The hottest ? Why? 70. How are volcanoes formed? What are the most impor- tant ones in California? If you have ever seen lava, describe its appearance. 71. What is pumice? Obsidian? For what was the latter used by the Indians ? 72. By what mountains is Southern Cali- fornia shut off from the rest of the state ? 73. How did the railroads cross these mountains? 74. Tell what you can about the contrast between Southern California and the Great Basin. 75. Mention some of the products and climatic conditions which have made Southern California so noted. 76. Tell what you can find out about petroleum. What products are obtained in refining it ? 77. Describe the value of mountains, of waste slopes around the mountains, and of the river bottoms. 78. What is bituminous rock, and for what is it used?
79. Describe the best harbor upon the coast of Southern California.
80. What has made Los Angeles the largest city in Southern Cali- fornia? 81. Describe the conditions of the streams in summer in Southern California. 82. What is the difference between an ordinary well and an artesian well? 83. How were the important mountains of Southern California formed? 84. Describe the kind of climate and location best for oranges, for apples, for alfalfa, for beans.
85. In what part of California is the most honey produced ? Why ?
86. Why do you suppose there are so few lakes in the mountains of Southern California ? 87. W^hat is a cloudburst ? What is its effect upon the mountains? Where are the lowest valleys in California? Tell about their climate. 88. What is the nature of the water of lakes without outlet? Why? 89. How are salt and soda obtained from
114
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
the waters of the lakes or sinks in California ? 90. In what portions of the desert are borax and salt found? 91. What is rock salt? 92. What other minerals are found in the desert? 93. Tell what you can about the vegetation of the desert. Mention some of the impor- tant plants found there.
VALUE OF THE LEADING MINERAL PRODUCTS OF CALIFORNIA, 1900
Clay products, $966,166.
Quicksilver, $1,182,785. Silver, $1,510,344.
Petroleum, $4,152,928. Copper, $4,748,242.
Gold, $15,863,355.
APPROXIMATE VALUE OF THE LEADING PRODUCTS OF CALIFORNIA, 1900
Beans, $1,890,000. Beet sugar, $1,920,000. Potatoes, $2,788,000. Wool, $3,600,000.
Lumber, $6,520,000.
Dairy products, $12,430,000.
Barley, $14,856,110.
Wheat, $16,555,000.
Hay, $22,071,594.
Total mineral products, $32,523,000.
Total fruit products, $35,000,000.
TOPICAL SUMMARY
115
POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA, 1850 TO 1900
|
Increase |
|||
|
Population |
|||
|
Number |
Per cent |
||
|
1900 |
1,485,053 |
276,923 |
22.9 |
|
1890 |
1,208,130 |
343,436 |
39.7 |
|
1880 |
864,694 |
304,447 |
54.3 |
|
1870 |
560,247 |
180,253 |
47.4 |
|
1860 |
379,994 |
287,397 |
310.3 |
|
1850 |
92,597 |
— |
— |
CITIES AND TOWNS OF 2000 OR MORE PEOPLE CENSUS OF 1900
Alameda city 16,464
Auburn city 1,456
Bakersfield city .... 4,836
Benicia city 2,751
Berkeley towu 13,214
Chico city 2,640
Eureka city 7,327
Fresno city 12,470
Grass Valley city .... 4,719
Ilanfordcity 2,929
Long Beach city .... 2,252
Los Angeles city .... 102,479
Marysville city 3,497
Modesto city 2,024
Napa city 4,036
Nevada city town .... 3,250
Oakland city 66,960
Pasadena city 9,117
Petaluma city 3,871
Pomona city 5,526
Red Bluff city 2,750
Redding city 2,946
Redlandscity 4,797
|
Riverside city . . |
7,973 |
||
|
Sacramento city . |
29,282 |
||
|
Salinas city . . . |
3,304 |
||
|
San Bernardino city |
6,150 |
||
|
San Diego city . . |
17,700 |
||
|
San Francisco city |
342,782 |
||
|
San Jos6 city . . |
21,500 |
||
|
San Leandro town |
2,253 |
||
|
San Luis Obispo city |
3,021 |
||
|
San Rafael city |
3,879 |
||
|
Santa Ana city . . |
4,933 |
||
|
Santa Barbara city |
6,587 |
||
|
Santa Clara town . |
3,650 |
||
|
Santa Craz city . |
5,659 |
||
|
Santa Monica city . |
3,057 |
||
|
Santa Rosa city . |
6,673 |
||
|
Stockton city . . |
17,506 |
||
|
Tulare city . . . |
2,216 |
||
|
Vallejo city . . . |
7,965 |
||
|
Ventura city . . |
2,470 |
||
|
Visaliacity . . . |
3,085 |
||
|
Watsonville city . |
3,528 |
||
|
Woodland city . . |
2,886 |
116
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
HEIGHTS OF SOME OF THE IMPORTANT MOUNTAIN PEAKS
SIERRA NEVADA AND CASCADE RANGE
Mount Whitney .... 14,522
" Williamson . . . 14,448
" Jordan 14,275
Kaweah Peak 14,140
Mount Tyndall 14,101
" Darwin 14,100
" Brewer 13,886
Mount Goddard " Ritter " Lyell . " Dana . Pyramid Peak Mount Shasta Lassen Peak
13,550 13,070 13,042 12,992 10,020 14,380 10,437
Haeckel 13,850 White Mt. Peak (Great Basin) 14,200
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Grizzly Peak . . . Mount San Jacinto .
" San Bernardino San Antonio Peak Mount Pinos ....
11,723
10,805
10,100
9,935
9,214
Cucamonga Peak . . Cuyamaca Peak . . San Gabriel Peak . . Santiago Peak . . . Santa Catalina Island
8,529 6,500 6,152 5,682 2,109
COAST RANGES
Mount Linn 8,604
Tally Bally 7,485
San Lucia Peak, about . . 6,600
Mount St. Helena .... 4,343
" Konocti 4,246
Mount Hamilton . .
" Diablo . . .
" Bielowski . . Santa Ynez Mountains Mount Tamalpais . .
4,209 3,849 '3,269 3,358 2,604
KLAMATH MOUNTAINS
Thompson's Peak .... 9,345
Mount Eddy 9,131
" Scott 7,856
Bully Choop Mount Bally
7,073 6,246
THE LARGER LAKES OF CALIFORNIA
Tahoe, Clear Lake, Rhett Lake, Goose Lake,
Owens Lake, Honey Lake, Lake Elsinore, Donner Lake.
TOPICAL SUMMARY
117
THE COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA
|
County |
Area in Sq. Miles |
Population in 1900 |
County Seat |
|||
|
Alameda .... |
737 |
130,197 |
Oakland |
|||
|
Alpine . . |
835 |
509 |
Markleeville |
|||
|
Amador . |
650 |
11,116 |
Jackson |
|||
|
Butte . . |
1,777 |
17,117 |
Oroville |
|||
|
Calaveras . |
1,043 |
11,200 |
San Andreas |
|||
|
Colusa . . |
1,150 |
7,364 |
Colusa |
|||
|
Contra Costa |
765 |
18,046 |
Martinez |
|||
|
Del Norte^ |
1,545 |
2,408 |
Crescent City |
|||
|
Eldorado . |
1,797 |
8,986 |
Placerville |
|||
|
Fresno |
5,940 |
37,862 |
Fresno |
|||
|
Glenn . . |
1,248 |
5,150 |
Willows |
|||
|
Humboldt |
3,507 |
27,104 |
Eureka |
|||
|
Inyo . . |
10,224 |
4,377 |
Independence |
|||
|
Kern . . |
8,159 |
16,480 |
Bakersfield |
|||
|
Kings . . |
1,267 |
9,871 |
Hanford |
|||
|
Lake . . |
1,100 |
6,017 |
Lakeport |
|||
|
Lassen . . |
4,750 |
4,511 |
Susanville |
|||
|
Los Angeles |
4,000 |
170,298 |
Los Angeles |
|||
|
Madera . |
2,100 |
6,364 |
Madera |
|||
|
Marin . . |
509 |
15,702 |
San Rafael |
|||
|
Mariposa . |
1,543 |
4,720 |
Mariposa |
|||
|
Mendocino |
3,815 |
20,416 |
Ukiah |
|||
|
Merced . |
1,967 |
9,215 |
Merced |
|||
|
Modoc . . |
4,297 |
5,076 |
Alturas |
|||
|
Mono . . |
2,796 |
2,167 |
Bridgeport |
|||
|
Monterey . |
3,452 |
19,380 |
Salinas |
|||
|
Napa . . |
789 |
16,451 |
Napa City |
|||
|
Nevada . |
958 |
17,789 |
Nevada City |
|||
|
Orange . |
780 |
19,696 |
Santa Ana |
|||
|
Placer . . |
1,386 |
15,786 |
Auburn |
|||
|
Plumas . |
2,671 |
4,657 |
Quincy |
|||
|
Riverside . |
7,008 |
17,897 |
Riverside |
|||
|
Sacramento |
968 |
45,915 |
Sacramento |
|||
|
San Benito |
1,056 |
6,633 |
HoUister |
|||
|
San Bernardino |
21,555 |
27,929 |
San Bernardino |
118
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
THE COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA {continued)
|
County |
Area in Sq. Miles |
Population in 1900 |
County Seat |
||
|
San Diego . . . |
8,400 |
35,090 |
San Diego |
||
|
San Francisco |
42 |
342,782 |
San Francisco |
||
|
San Joaquin . |
1,364 |
35,452 |
Stockton |
||
|
San Luis Obispc |
3,500 |
16,637 |
San Luis Obispo |
||
|
San Mateo . |
467 |
12,094 |
Redwood City |
||
|
Santa Barbara |
2,450 |
18,934 |
Santa Barbara |
||
|
Santa Clara . |
1,750 |
60,216 |
San Jose |
||
|
Santa Cruz . |
437 |
21,512 |
Santa Cruz |
||
|
Shasta . . . |
3,906 |
17,318 |
Redding |
||
|
Sierra . . . |
781 |
4,017 |
Downieville |
||
|
Siskiyou . . |
6,078 |
16,962 |
Yreka |
||
|
Solano . . |
911 |
24,143 |
Fairfield |
||
|
Sonoma . . |
1,562 |
38,480 |
Santa Rosa |
||
|
Stanislaus . |
1,138 |
9,550 |
Modesto |
||
|
Sutter . . . |
611 |
5,886 |
Yuba City |
||
|
Tehama . . . |
3,125 |
10,996 |
Red Bluff |
||
|
Trinity . . . |
2,625 |
4,383 |
Weaverville |
||
|
Tulare. . . . |
4,935 |
18,375 |
Visalia |
||
|
Tuolumne |
2,211 |
11,166 |
Sonora |
||
|
Ventura . . . |
1,850 |
14,367 |
Ventura |
||
|
Yolo .... |
1,017 |
13,618 |
Woodland |
||
|
Yuba .... |
625 |
8,620 |
Marysville |
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Geographical names in California are derived mainly from three sources : Spanish, Indian, and English. In the calendar of the early missionaries each day was sacred to one of the saints, and so they named new places according to the name of the saint on wbose day the places were reached or discovered.
The names of the male saints begin with san, of the female with santa. Thus we have the following names.
Key to Pronunciation: — fate, far, final, me, met, her, pine, pin, firm, note, not, food.
TOPICAL SUMMARY
119
|
San Benito san ba-nee'to |
St. Benedict |
|
|
San Bernardino " |
b6r-nar-dee'no |
St. Bernard |
|
San Bruno " |
broo'no |
St. Bruno |
|
San Buenaventura " |
bwa-na-v6n-t6o'ra |
St. Bonaventure |
|
San Carlos " |
kar'loce |
St. Charles |
|
San Diego " |
de-a'go |
St. James |
|
San Francisco " |
fran-sis'ko |
St. Francis |
|
San Gabriel " |
ga-bre-el' |
St. Gabriel |
|
San Joaquin " |
wah-keen' |
St. Joachim |
|
San Jose " |
ho-sa' |
St. Joseph |
|
San Juan " |
hoo-an^ |
St. John |
|
San Leandro " |
la-an'dro |
St. Leander |
|
San Lucas " |
loo'kas |
St. Luke |
|
San Luis Obispo " |
loo'ees o-bees'po |
St. Louis Bishop |
|
San Luis Key " |
Iw'ees ra |
St. Louis King |
|
San Mateo " |
nia-ta'o |
St. Matthew |
|
San Miguel " |
me-gh61' |
St. Michael |
|
San Rafael " |
ra-fa'el |
St. Raphael |
|
Santa Ana sSn'ta &'n& |
St. Ann |
|
|
Santa Barbara ' |
' bar'ba-ra |
St. Barbara |
|
Santa Catalina ' |
' ka-ta-lee'na |
St. Catherine |
|
Santa Clara ' |
kla'ra |
St. Clara |
|
Santa Cruz ' |
kroos |
Holy Cross |
|
Santa Inez ' |
' e-n6s' |
St. Agnes |
|
Santa Isabel ' |
e-sa-bel' |
St. Elizabeth |
|
Santa Lucia ' |
' loo-che'a |
St. Lucy |
|
Santa Margarita ' |
mar-ga-ree'ta |
St. Margaret |
|
Santa Maria ' |
ma-ree'a |
St. Mary |
|
Santa Paula ' |
' pow'la |
St. Pauline |
|
Santa Rosa ' |
ro'za |
St. Rose |
Many places were named from some characteristic feature or in- cident : —
Agua Fria Alameda Alcatraz Almadan Arroyo Seco Arroyo Grande
a'gwa free 'a a-la-ma'da al'ka-tras al-ma-d6n' ar-ro'yo sa'ko ar-ro'yo gran'da
Cold water
Poplar grove, public walk
Pelican
The mine
Dry creek
Large creek
120
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
|
Benicia |
be-nish'i-a |
Venice |
|
Buena Vista |
bwa'na ves'ta |
Good view |
|
Calaveras |
kal-a-va'ras |
Skulls |
|
Caliente |
ka.l6-an'te |
Hot |
|
Carquinez |
kar-kee'nez |
|
|
Carpenteria |
kar-pen-ta-ree'a |
Carpenter shop |
|
Cazadero |
caz-a-da'ro |
Place for pursuing game |
|
Cerritos |
cer-ree'toce |
Little hills |
|
Cienega |
se-a'na-ga |
Marsh |
|
Colorado |
kol-o-rah'do |
Red |
|
Contra Costa |
con'tra cos'ta |
Opposite coast |
|
Coyote |
ko-yo'ta |
A species of wolf |
|
Del Norte |
d61 nor'ta |
Of the north |
|
El Dorado |
el do-rah'do |
Golden land |
|
El Toro |
el to'ro |
The bull |
|
Escondido |
es-kon-dee'do |
. Hidden |
|
Earralones |
far-ra-lon'es |
Points of rock in the sea |
|
Fresno |
fres'no |
Ash tree |
|
Gabilan |
ga-ve-lan' |
Sparrow hawk |
|
Guadalupe |
gwa-da-loo'pa |
Wolf river |
|
La Jolla |
la ho 'yah |
The jewel |
|
Lobos |
lo'boce |
Wolves |
|
Los Angeles |
loce an'jg-16s |
The angels |
|
Los Gatos |
loce ga'tos |
The cats |
|
Los Olivos |
loce ol-e'voce |
The olive trees |
|
Manzanita |
man-sa-nee'tah |
Little apple |
|
Mariposa |
mar-e-po'sah |
Butterfly |
|
Merced |
mer-sad' |
Mercy |
|
Milpitas |
mil-pee'tas |
Meadow |
|
Monte Diablo |
mon'ta de-a'blo |
Devil mountain |
|
Monterey |
mon-ta-ra' |
King's mountain or King |
|
Pajaro |
pa'ha-ro |
Bird |
|
Palo Alto |
pa'lo al'to |
Tall tree |
|
Paraiso |
pa-ra-ee'so |
Paradise |
|
Paso Robles |
pa'so ro'bl6s |
Oak pass |
|
Pescadero |
pes-ka^da'ro |
Fishmonger |
|
Pinole |
pe-no'la |
A fermented drink |
|
Placer |
plas'er |
Gold-bearing gravel |
|
Plaza |
pla'za |
Public square |
|
Plumas |
plu'mas |
Feathers |
TOPICAL SUMMARY
121
|
Presidio |
pra-see'de-o |
Garrison |
|
Punta Arenas |
pun'ta a-ra'nas |
Sandy point |
|
Puente |
poo-€n'ta |
Bridge |
|
Sacramento |
sa-kra-men'to |
The Sacrament |
|
Salinas |
sa-lee'nas |
Salt Places |
|
Sierra Nevada |
se-6r'ra na-va'da |
Snowy range |
|
Solano |
so-la'no |
East wind |
|
Soledad |
sol-a-dad' |
A desert |
|
Sonora |
so-no'rah |
Zither |
|
Tejon |
ta-hon' |
Badger |
|
Tres Pinos |
tres pee'noce |
Three pines |
|
Tulare |
too-la'ra |
Place covered with tules |
|
Ventura |
ven-too'ra |
Venture, risk |
|
The following names were derived from the old Spanish families : — |
||
|
Alvarado |
al-va-rah'do |
|
|
Alviso |
al-ve'zo |
|
|
Arguello |
ar-gwa'lo |
|
|
Amador |
a-ma-dor' |
|
|
Bodega |
bo-da'ga |
|
|
Castroville |
kas'tro-vil |
|
|
Chico |
chee'ko |
|
|
Coronado |
cor-o-nah'do |
|
|
Martinez |
mar-tee 'n6z |
|
|
Mendocino |
men-do-see'no |
|
|
Pacheco |
pa-cha'ko |
|
|
Sunol |
soon-yol' |
|
|
Vacaville |
va'ka-vil |
|
|
Vallejo The following an |
e some of the manj |
val-la'ho r Indian names. The most of |
them are names of tribes.
Colusa co-loo'sah
Cuyama ki-a'ma
Klamath kla'math
Inyo in'yo
Marin ma-reen'
Mohave mo-ha'va
Mokelumne mo-k61'oum-ne
Mono mo'no
An Indian chief
122
CALIFORNIA SUPPLEMENT
|
Petaluma |
p6t-al6o'md |
|
|
Sequoia |
se-quoi'ah |
Name of a Cherokee chief |
|
Shasta |
shas'ta |
Stone house, cave |
|
Siskiyou |
sis'ke-you |
|
|
Sonoma |
so-no'mah |
Valley of the moon |
|
Soquel |
so-kel' |
|
|
Stanislaus |
sta-nis-16w' |
An Indian chief |
|
Suisun |
soo-e'soon |
|
|
Tahoe |
ta-ho' |
|
|
Tehachapi |
te-hach'e-pa |
Valley of the oaks |
|
Temescal |
tem'es-kal |
A sweatbox |
|
Tomales |
to-ma'les |
|
|
Tuolumne |
twol'um-ne |
|
|
Yolo |
yo'lo |
Rush-covered marsh |
|
Yosemite |
yo-sem'i-te |
|
|
Yreka |
wi-re'ka |
White, Indian name of |
|
Yuba |
yu'ba |
Mt. Shasta |
The name Tamalpais is a compound of Indian and Spanish. Tamal was the name of a tribe of Indians and pais is the Spanish for country ; hence — the country of the Tamal Indians.
The Spanish names are chiefly confined to the Coast Ranges and the southern part of the state. The names in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains and the Great Valley were mostly given after the Americans came.
Among the places named for Americans are : Stockton, Sutter, Kern, Lassen, Murphy, Angel, Carson, Downie, Weaver, Heald, Folsom, Gilroy, Hollister, Humboldt, Fremont, and others. These men were either early residents of the state or explorers.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY
Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
JAN 6 194P
APRS 0 1956 LU
LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476
I3Jan'5SMfff REC'D LD
DEC 28 1957
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