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RESOUKCES OF CALIFORXIA.

THE

RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA,

COMPRISING

AGPJCULTURE, MmiXG, GEOGRAPHY,
CLIMATE, COMMERCE, etc. etc.

AND THE

PAST AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE.

BY JOHN S. HITTEL.

SAX FRAXCISCO:
A. ROMAN & COAIPAlSrY.

NEW TORK: W. J. WIDDLETON".
1863. -'/'^.

> If

> > >

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year, 1863, by A. Eoman &
Co., Proprietors, in ihe Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
States, for the Northern District of CaUfornia.

M^ORKA h MILLEK, 8TEEE0TYPKUS.

C. A. ALVORD, PHINTEK.

' "".

PEEFACE

I UNDERTAKE to write the resources of a state, which,
though young in years, small in population, and remote
from the chief centres of civilization, is yet known to the
furthest corners of the earth, and, during the last twelve
years, has had an influence upon the course of human life,
and the prosperity and trade of nations, more powerful than
that exerted during the same period by kingdoms whose
subjects are numbered by millions, whose history dates
back through thousands of years, and whose present stock
of wealth began to accumulate before our continent was
discovered, or our language was formed. I write of a land
of wonders. I write of California, which has astonished
the world by the great migration that suddenly built up
the first large Caucasian community on the shores of the
N-orth Pacific ; by her vast yield of gold, amounting within
thirteen years to $700,000,000, which has sensibly affected
the markets of labor and money in all the leading nations
of Christendom ; by the rapid development and great extent
of her commerce ; by the greatness of her chief port, which
at one time had more large ships at her anchorage than
were ever seen together in the harbor of either Liverpool,
New York, or London ; by the swift settlement of her remote
distncts ; by the prompt organization of her government ;

^,^ rREFACE.

bv the liberality with which the mines were thrown open
and made free to all comers ; by the rush of adventurers
of every color and of every tongue ; by the prices of her
labor, and the rates of her interest for money double those of
the other American states, and quadruple those of Europe ;
by the vast extent of her gold-fields, and the facility with
M they could be worked; by the auriferous rivers m
which fortunes could be made in a week ; by aatediluvian
streams richer than those of the present era; by beds o.
lava, which, after filling up the beds of antediluvian rivers
were left, by the washing away of the banks and adjacent
plains, to stand as mountains, marking the position of great
Treasures beneath; by nuggets each worth a fortune; by
the peculiar nature of her mining industry ; by new and
su-ange inventions ; by the washing down of niounta^n^s ;
bv filling the rivers of the Sacramento basin with thick
mud throughout the year ; by lifting a hundred mountains
from their beds ; by six thousand miles of mmmg ditches ;
by aqueducts less durable, but scarcely less wonderful
than those of ancient Eome ; by silver mines that promise
to rival those of Peru; by quicksilver mines surpassing
those of Spain ; by great deposits of sulphur and asphal-
tum; by lakes of borax; by mud volcanoes, geysers, and
natul-al bridges ; by a valley of romantic and sublime beauty,
shut in by walls neariy perpendicular and more than thiee-
quarters of a mile high, with half a dozen great cascades,
in one of which the water at two leaps falls more than the
third of a mile; by a climate the most conducive to health,
and the most favorable to mental and physical exertion-so
temperate on the middle coast that ice is never seen and
thin summer clothing never worn, and that January differs
in average temperature only eight degrees of Fahrenhe
from July ; by a singular botany, including the most
splendid known group of coniferous trees, of which half a

PREFACE. Vll

dozen species grow to be more than two hundred and fifty
feet high, and one species has reached a height of four hun-
dred and fifty feet, and a diameter of forty feet in the trunk ;
by a peculiar zoology, composed almost of animals found
only on this coast, and including the largest bird north of
the equator, and the largest and most formidable quadiTiped
of the continent ; by the importation in early years of all
articles of food, and then by the speedy development of
agriculture, until her wheat and wine have gone to the
furthest cities in search of buyers, and until her markets
are unrivalled in the variety and magnificence of home-
grown fruits ; by the largest crop of grain, and the largest
specimens of fruits and vegetables on record ; by a society
where for years there was not one woman to a score of men,
and where all the men were in the bloom of manhood ; by
the first large migration of eastern Asiatics from their own
continent; by the first settlement of Chinamen among
white men ; by the entire lack of mendicants, paupers, and
alms-houses ; by the rapid fluctuations of trade ; by the ac-
cumulation of wealth in the hands of men, most of whom
came to the country poor ; by the practice, universal m
early years, of going armed ; by the multitude of deadly
affrays, and by extra-constitutional courts, which sometimes
punished villains with immediate execution, and sometimes
proceeded with a gravity and slow moderation that might
become the most august tribunals. I write of California
while she is still youthful, and full of marvels ; while her
population is still unsettled ; while her business is still
fluctuating, her wages high, her gold abu?ndant, and her
birth still fresh in the memory of men and women who
have scarcely reached their majority ; and I write of her
while she still offers a wide field for the adventurous, the
enterprising, and the young, who have life before them, and
wish to commence it where they may have the freest career,

VIU TRE F A CE.

in full sight of the greatest rewards for success, and with
the fewest chances of failure.

The general public are aware that California is a peculiar
state, and their attention has often been called to certain
j^rominent points of wonder, like those to which I have
just referred ; but hitherto there has been no careful at-
tempt to sum up all that is known of her resources and
natural history. I have undertaken that task, and the re-
suit of my undertaking is in this book placed before the
*'eader. I have been a Californian since 1849, and expect
to be as long as I may live. All the most interesting as-
sociations of mv life are connected with this state. I
arrived in the country while it was still under a territorial
government, and more than a year before it was organized
as a state under act of Congjress. I saw the land in its
original wildness, and saw society, order, trade, industry
and polity developed ; and I now see about me the begin-
nings and promises of science, art, literature, philosophy,
and whatever can enrich or honor humanity. I have seen
the state grow up, and its history is part of my life. The
land-marks of its chorography, and the prominent events of
its political, social, and industrial progress, mark epochs
in my memory. Many of the happiest days of my life
have been spent here, and^ here I hope to enjoy whatever
blessings the future may have in store for me. If then I
fail to do justice in my book to California, the failure will
not be for any lack of love of her. Neither will it be for
any lack of attention or industry. During the last nine
years, I have assiduously collected every thing within my
reach relative to the industry, resources, natural history and
population of the state. I have looked through all the
newspapers published between Crescent City and San Diego,
and have examined all the books written about the country,
Spanish, 1^'rench and German, as well as English. I have

TREFACE. IX

been in the extreme north, and the extreme south ; I have
gone to both extremities by land and sea ; I have travelled
through the centre of her great basin ; I am intimately ac-
quainted with her richest agricultural districts ; I know
something of her mining and agriculture by experience and
practice ; and, finally, I have endeavored to compress into
this book all the important attainable facts. Amidst so
much information, there are undoubtedly some little errors ;
but the fair critic, before condemning and expatiating upon
minor faults, will pass judgment upon thequestion whether
the book is or is not more comprehensive and instiTictive
than any other, or than all others relating to the same
subject.

Of course, when I quote from the writings of others, I
use quotation marks, and give credit according to the rules
of honorable authors ; but I have adopted, without quota-
tion marks, various passages from articles written by my-
self, and published in different newspapers and magazines.
Since the work is intended for popular use, and should be
free from every thing not intelligible and interesting to the
general reader, I have made no references to authorities ;
and, indeed, I have drawn my information from so great a
variety of sources (in many instances newspapers), that it
would have been very inconvenient for me, and cumber-
some to the book, to cite the authority for every statement
In case, however, that the accuracy of any statement in the
work should be called in question, I think that I can pro-
duce in every case credible evidence, and in most cases the
conclusive proof While I have drawn my material from
many different sources, I claim as much originality as is
possible for so comprehensive a collection of facts, in so
many and so distinct branches of knowledge.

J. S. H.

San Francisco, March, 1862.

ijstdex of chapters.

Chapters. Page

I. Chorografhy 1

II. Climate 19

III. GEOLOaT 47

I Y. SCEXERY 72

Y. Botany 91

VI. Zoology 108

Yn. Agriculture 151

Vin. Mrs-LXG 238

IX. Other Branches of Intdustry 30^

X. Commerce , 326

XI. Constitution and La"ws 349

XII. Society 359

XIII. Topographical Xaites 422

XI Y. The Past and Future Development of the State 431

■\

IXDEX OF SECTIO^STS.

Chorography — Chap. I.

Sec Page

1. General Remarks 1

2. Coast Mountains 2

3. Coast, Peaks, and Passes. . 3

4. Coast Rivers 5

5. Coast Lakes 6

6. Capes 7

7. Islands 7

8. Bays and Harbors 7

9. Sacramento Basin 10

iU. Rivers of the Sacramento

Basin 12

11. TuleLand 13

12. Sierra Xevada 13

13. Peaks and Passes of the

Sierra I'l

14. Lakes of the Sierra 15

15. Plateau of the Sierra Ne-

vada 15

16. Klamath Basin 16

17. Utah Basm 16

18. Colorado Desert IT

19. Area of the State 18

Climate — Chap. IL

20. General Remarks 19

21. Temperature of the Middle

Coast 20

22. Clear Days 25

23. The Sirocco 25

24. Temperature of the South-

ern Coast 27

25. Sacramento Basin 27

26. Comparative Tables 28

27. Rain 30

28. Dryness of Chmate 38

29. Length of Days 39

30. Thunderstorms 39

31. HaU 40

32. Earthquakes 40

33. Saud-Storms 45

Geolo&y — Chap. III.

Sec. Page

34. General Geological Charac-

ter 47

35. Diluvium 48

36. Gold 50

37. Auriferous Lodes 51

38. Placers 52

39. Mineralogy of Gold 54

40. Silver 60

41. Platinum 61

42. Quicksilver 61

43. Copper 62

44. Coal 63

45. Asphaltum 63

46. Other Minerals 65

47. Artesian Wells 67

48. Paleontology 69

49. Relics of Early Humanity. 70

50. Mineral Springs 70

51. Cortes Shoal 71

Scenery — Chap. IV.

52. Introductory 72

53. Coast VaUeys 72

54. Tosemite Valley 73

55. Mammoth Tree Groves. ... 78

56. Geysers 84

57. Mud Volcanoes 85

58. Santa Cruz Ruins 86

59. Mirage 86

60. Caves 88

61. WaterfaUs 88

62. Solfataras 89

63. Mount Shasta 89

Botany — Chap. V.

64. Peculiar Fauna and Flora. . 91

65. Distribution of Plants 92

60. Superioritv of Conifers 92

67. Redwood." 92

XiV

INDEX OF SECTIONS.

Sec. Page

68. Pines 9^

69. Firs 96

70. Cedars 96

11. Yew aud Xutmeg 97

72. Laurel 97

73. Madrona 98

74. Manzanita 98

75. Ceanothus 99

76. Oaks 99

77. Buckeye 101

78. Sycamore 101

79. Pitahaya 101

80. Yucca 102

81. Mezquit 102

82. Miscellaneous Trees and

Shrubs 102

83. Poison Oak 103

84. Amole 104

85. Nutritious Herbage 104

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

96.

97.

98.

99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.

111.

112.
113.
114.
115.

116.

Zoology — Chap. VI.

General List 108

Bears 108

Panther and Wild-Cat Ill

Wolves and Foxes 112

Badger, etc H-l

The Squirrel Family 115

The Rat Family 120

The Deer Family. 121

The Hare Family 124

Aquatic Animals 125

Vultures 1^8

The Eagle Family 129

Owls 130

Road-runner 130

Woodpecker 131

Humming-Birds 132

Flycatchers 133

Singers 133

Scratchers 134

Waders 137

Swimmers 137

Fishes 14:0

Salmon 1-10

Halibut 141

Turbot 142

Sole 142

Mackerel 142

Rock-Fish 142

Sturgeon 143

Jew-Fish 143

Sun-Fish 144

Sec.

117.

118.

119.

120.

121.

122.

123.

124.

125.

126.

127.

128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134,
135.

137.

138.

139.

140.

14L

142.

143.

144.

145.

146.

147.

148.

149.

150.

151.

152.

153.

154.

loo.

156.

157.

158,

159.

160,

161.
162.
163.
164.
165

Pago

Green-Fish 144

Sea-Bass 144

Sheepshead 144

Smehs 144

Anchovies 145

Sardine and Herring 145

Viviparous Fishes 145

Fresh- Water Fishes 146

Shell-Fish and Crustaceans . 146

Reptiles 147

Honey-Dew Aphis 149

Agriculture — Chap. VII.

General Remarks 151

Agricultural Districts 153

Agricultural Produce 100

Rotation of Crops 161

Ploughing 162

Advantages, etc 162

Fences 163

Barley 167

Wheat 170

Oats l"??

Maize l'''^

Potatoes 178

Hay 179

Tobacco, Cotton, Rice 181

Hop 181

Kitchen Vegetables 182

Fruit 184

Apples 186

Peaches 188

Pears 189

Apricots and Plums 189

Olives 190

Oranges 191

The Grape 193

Wine-making 201

Berries 207

Ornamental Shrubs 209

Pests of the Farmer 211

NeatCattle 212

Spanish Cattle 212

Rodeos 214

Brands 217

Early Maturity of CaUfornian

Cows 218

Corral and Reata 219

Occasional Starvation 219

Lnported Cattle 220

Dairies 222

Soanish Horses 222

IXDEX OF SECTIONS.

XV

Bea Page

166. Horse-breaking 224

167. Blood-horses 228

168. Mules 229

169. Camels 229

170. Sheep 229

171. Swme 233

172. Poultry 233

173. Bees [[[[ 235

174. Silkworms 237

Mining — Chap. YIII.

175. Chief Industry 238

176. Metals obtained 238

177. Gold Mines 238

178. Placer Mines 241

179. The Sluice .' 243

180. Amalgamation 246

181. Cleaning up 249

182. Riffle-bars *.'.'. 250

183. Double-Sluices 252

184. Eock-Sluices 252

185. Hydrauhc Mining 253

186. Blasting 256

187. TaU-Sluice 256

188. Tunnel-Sluice 257

189. Ground-Sluice 257

190. Long-Tom 257

191. Cradle .' 258

192. Pan 262

193. Dry "Washing 264

194. Dry Digging 264

195. Puddling Box '. . 265

196. Quicksilver Machine 265

197. Tunnel Alining 266

198. Shafts 267

199. River Mining 268

200. Beach Mining 269

201. Mining-Ditches 270

202. Prospecting 271

203. Quartz Mining 272

204. Distribution of Gold in

Quartz 273

205. Prospecting Quartz Rock. . . 275

206. The Divining Rod 277

207. Quarrying Quartz 277

208. Arastra 278

209. Chilean MiU 280

210. Stamps 280

211. Separation 281

212. Sulphurets 284

213. Chief Quartz Mills '..*.' 284

214 Silver Mining 285

Sec. Page

21 o. Quicksilver Mining 286

216. Platinum 287

217. Del Xorte and Klamath .. . 288

218. Siskiyou 289

2 1 9. Trinity and Shasta 289

220. Plumas and Sierra 290

221. Yuba and Butte 294

222. Xevada and Placer 295

223. El Dorado and Amador 296

224. Calaveras and Tuolumne. . . 298

225. Mono and Mariposa 301

226. Fresno, etc 303

Other B ranches of Ixdustey —
Chap. IX.

227. High Wages 304

228. Lumbering 305

229. Fishing 313

230. Hunting ...\ 317

231. House-building 320

232. Furniture, etc 323

Commerce — Chap. X.

233. General Advantages 326

234. Tributary Population 327

235. Imports 330

236. Exports " . ' 330

237. Shipping 332

238. Unsteadiness of Business . , 333

239. Insolvencies 334

240. Interest of Money 335

241. Speculation in Land 337

242. No Paper Money 337

243. Opportunities for Invest-

ment 338

244. Assurance 347

Constitution and Laws — Chap. XL

245. Outlines of Constitution. .. . 349

246. Inferiority of Colored Per-

sons 350

247. Law Favorable to Debtors . . 350

248. Tenure of Land 352

249. Ownership of Minerals. . , . 354

250. Titles of Mining-Claims 354

251. Marriage 353

Society — Chap. XII.

252. Population 359

XVI

INDEX OF SECTIONS,

Sec,

253.

254.

'loo.

256.

257.

258.

259.

260.

261.

262.

263.

264.

265.

266.

267,

268.

269.

270,

271.

272.

273.

274.

275,

276.

277.

278.

279.

280.

281.

282.

283,

284,

Page ]

Nativities 361,

Liberal Tone of Society ^6^ i

Publicity of Life 364 j

Amusements 365

Luxurious Living 366 |

Health 366 |

Proportion of Sexes 368

Education 369

Vigilance Committees 370

Lj-iich Executions 373

Squatter League 374

Anti-Chinese Mobs 3<o

Deeds of Blood 37o

Religion 3(8

Californianisms ^»^

Germans and French 385

Spanish Californians 385

Chinamen 387

Indians 38b

Cities and Tovms ^^ '

San Francisco 398

Sacramento -^JJ

Stockton ^^*

Marvsville ^^^

Nevada fl

Los Angeles 406

Petaluma f^«

San Jose ^09

Santa Clara 409

Columbia 410

Placerville f |-^

Yreka

Sec.

285.

286.

287.

288.

289.

290.

29L

292.

293.

294.

295,

296.

297.

298.

Page

YaUejo 41 1

Yisalia 413

414

[','.]'.... 414

Pacheco 414

415

416

Red Bluff
Martinez

Suisun

Benicia

Napa

Crescent City
Areata

416
416
417

Anaheim f | ,',

Monterey, etc . .
Alining Towns.

419
420

General Remarks 420

Topographical Names— Chap. XHI.

Introductory 422

Sacred Spanish Names 424

Profane Spanish Names. . , 424

Indian Names 425

42b
428
429

410

299.
300,
301,
302.
303.
304.
305.

American Names _. •

Etymology of California.
Pronunciation of Names .

The Past akd Future Development
OF THE State— Chap. XIV,

306, Summary, General,. 431

Sale of Mineral Lands .... 437
Mexican Grants 453

307.
308.

RESOURCES OF CALIFORMA.

CHAPTEE I.

CHOROGRAPHT.

§ 1. General Remarks. — California has a peculiar cho-
rography. Xo other country comprises within so small a
space, such various, so many, and such strongly-marked cho-
rographical divisions. Mountains the most steep, barren, and
rugged; valleys the most fertile and beautiful; deserts the
most sterile ; spacious bays, magnificent rivers, unparalleled
waterfalls, pictm'esque lakes, extensive marshes, broad prairies,
and dense forests — all these are hers.

In general shape, California is a long parallelogram, extend-
ing from latitude 32° 45' to 42° north, seven hundred miles in
length by one hundred and eighty in breadth, the course of
the longitudinal axis being north-northwest by south-southeast.
The first topographical division of the state may be into the
Coast and Interior districts, separated from each other by the
main ridge of the Coast Mountains, which runs the whole
length of the state, nearly parallel with the ocean, and about
fifty miles from it. The Coast district may be subdivided into
the Coast Mountains and the Coast Valleys. The Interior
district may be subdivided into the Sierra N'evada., the Sac-
1

2 R E S O U R C P: S O F C A L I F <) 11 X I A .

ramento JBasin^ the Plateau of the Sierra Kevada^ the Kla-
math JSasin^ the Great J^asin of Utah^ and the Colorado
Desert.

§ 2. Coast 3Ioimtai7is. — The Coast range, though not so
high or so wide as the Sierra Nevada, may be considered
the main orographical feature of California, because it alone
extends through the whole length of the state. The height
of the rancre is from two thousand to six thousand feet :
its width from twenty to forty miles. South of 34° 20' the
spurs are short and run at right angles to the course of the
main divide, which is the easternmost ridge of the chain ;
nearly all the spurs, valleys, and streams, run to the west-
ward. South of 34° 20' a plain from tw^enty-five to forty
miles wide lies between the mountains and the sea ; north of
that the spurs make up the greater part of the Coast line,
and, where they enter the ocean, form the headlands and
capes. The Santa Susanna spur starts from the main ridge in
34° 20' and runs west by south, and is separated by the valley
of the Santa Clara River from the Santa Inez ridge, w^hich
starts in 34° 30' and runs west ; then continuing our course '
northward, across the Santa Inez valley, we come to the Santa
Barbara ridge, which starts from the main ridge in 34° 40' and
runs west-northwest. The Cuyama valley separates the Santa
Barbara from the Santa Lucia ridge, which branches off at
35° in a northwestern direction, and forms the southern bound-
ary of the Salinas valley, whose northern boundary is the Gab-
ilan ridge, starting in 36° 10' and running north-northwest;
which is separated from the Contra Costa ridge, rising in
37° 10' by the Santa Clara valley, and the Contra Costa ridge
is separated from the main divide by the Amador and San
Ramon valleys. The Gabilan ridge forms the back-bone of
Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties, each of
which gives its name to that portion within its borders. The
ridge is cut in two on the southern border of Santa Cruz
county by the Pajaro River, and the Alameda Creek breaks
through the Contra Costa ridge. North of the Golden Gate.

C II GEOGRAPHY. 3

the Gabilan ridge reappears, and is separated by Petaluma
valley from the Sonoma ridge, that by Sonoma valley from the
Carneros ridge, and that by Xapa valley from the main Coast
ridge. Farther north the spurs are so numerous, and con-
nected so closelv tosjether, that thev are scarcely distinoruished
by names ; and a large portion of the coast, from the main
ridge westward, is a mass of mountains. The Coast Moun-
tains are steep, rocky, rugged, and brown: north of 38° they
are covered with timber and brush : south of that the ridges
nearest the ocean have some timber, those farther inland are
nearly bare. The main ridge near the head of the Sacramento
valley is called the Trinity ridge ; near 3Iount Diablo it is
called the Diablo ridge, or the Bolbones ridge ; south of 34°
it is called the San Bernardino ridge, and in one place the
Cuvamaca Mountain.

§ 3. Coast Peaks and Passes. — The principal peaks of the
main ridge are Mount Linn, in 40° 10' ; Mount St. John, in
39° 25' ; Mount Ripley, 7,500 feet high, in 39° 08' ; Mount St.
Helena, 3,700 feet high, in 38° 40'; Mount Diablo, 3,857 feet
high, in 37° 50'; Pacheco's Peak, 2,700 feet high, in 36° 57';
Mount San Bernardino, 8,500 feet high, in 34° 20' ; and Mount
San Gorgonio, 7,000 feet high, in 33° 48'. In the Gabilan
ridge are the following peaks: the Chupadero, in 36° 35'; the
Gabilan, in 36° 50'; the Loma Prieta, 4,040 feet high, in 37°
08' ; and Table Mountain, or Tamulpais, in 37° 53'. The prin-
cipal passes in the main ridge are south of the outlet of the
Sacramento basin, and are — Livermore's Pass, 686 feet high,
in 37° 42'; Pacheco Pass, in 37° ; the Pass de los Robles, in
35° 20' ; the Cajon de Tenoco, in 34° 40' ; the Pass of San
Fraucisquito, 3,437 feet high, in 34° 35'; Williamson's Pass,
3,164 feet high, in 34° 30' ; the Cajon Pass, 4,676 feet high, in
34° 10'; the San Gorgonio Pass, 2,808 feet high, in 33° 55';
and Warner's Pass, 3,780 feet high, in 33° 10'. The Santa Mar-
garita Pass, with an altitude of 1,350 feet, leads across the
Santa Lucia ridge, in 35° 20' ; and the San Fernando Pass,
1,956 feet high, crosses the Santa Susanna ridge, in 34° 20'.

4 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Having thus considered the mountains, let us look into the
valleys of the coast. The flat land west of the San Bernardino
3Iountams, south of 34°, is rather composed of plains than of
valleys, though watered by the San Gabriel, Los Angeles,
Santa Ana, and other rivers. There are two of these plains :
the lower one about two hundred and fifty feet above the sea,
and skirting the coast ; the other one thousand or twelve hun-
dred feet high, nearer the mountains. On the lower plain are
Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Pedro ; on the upper are San
Fernando, San Bernardino, Cocomongo, Jurupa, Temescal,
and Temecula. Korthward of 34° we find long, flat, narrow,
fertile valleys, shut in by steep, rugged hills. We have already
mentioned the names of many of these valleys, as dividing cer-
tain ridges of the Coast Mountains from each other. South
of the Salmas all these valleys open upon the ocean, save the
Cuyama valley, the river of which runs in a canon through
mountains as it approaches its mouth. The Pajaro River
breaks through the Gabilan Mountains, and makes a small but
rich valley. ^The average width of these coast valleys is five
miles at the mouth, with a length of from ten to forty miles,
narrowing to a point near the head in the mountains. The
Salmas valley, the largest of all the coast valleys, is ninety
miles long, and from eight to fourteen wide. Three terraces
are distinctly traceable on each side of the river. The first
and lowest is about four miles wide, with a sort of a rich,
sandy loam; the second rises with an abrupt edge, is eleven
feet higher, has about two miles of width on each side, and
has a coarser, poorer soil ; the third terrace is less regular in
height and width, and has a coarse, gravelly soil, scarcely fit
for ''cultivation. This terraced formation, with its variations
in richness of soil, is a strongly-marked feature of many valleys
in the state. Ordinarily, the coast valleys are separated from
each other by steep, rugged mountain-ridges, but there are
occasional exceptions. Thus, there is a low plain between
Russian River and Santa Rosa valley, which opens into Sono-
ma and Petulama valleys; and again, the Santa Clara and

CHOEOGKAPHT.

Pajaro valleys are separated from each other by hills not more

than two hundred and fifty feet high ; and the valleys of the

Pajaro and the Salinas open into each other. So' also the

divide between San Ramon and Amador valleys is so low as

to be scarcely noticed by the traveller ; and Amador valley is

connected, by a level road through a canon, with Suilol valley,

and that by another canon with the plain at San Jose Mission!

N'orth of San Francisco Bay, the valleys of Suisan, Yaca, Pu-

tah, and Cache Creek, he eastward from Xapa valley. The

vaHey at the head of Putah Creek is sometimes called Berre-

yesa vaUey ; and that at the head of Cache Creek, Clear Lake

valley. Xorth of Ptussian Pdver there is little level land, and

that httle is found in Eel River valley, about the shores of

Humboldt Bay, and about Crescent City.

§ 4. Coast Hivers.— The rivers of the Coast Mountains have
necessarily but a short course. Those south of the bay of San
Francisco are the San Lorenzo, Pajaro, SaHnas, Cuyama, Santa
Inez, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, Santa
Margarita, San Luis Rey, San Diegnito, and San Diego. Some
of these are large streams m wet winters ; but, in the drought
of autumn, all those south of the Salinas are swallowed up in
the sands before reaching the ocean. Most of them are con-
stant streams to within ten or fifteen miles of their mouths.
The Santa Ana, the largest river on the southern coast, rises
in Mo ant San Bernardino, and is in its meanderiugs nearly one
hundred miles long, yet only in very wet seasons, once in six
or eight years, succeeds in getting to, the sea. The San Gabriel
River sinks before reaching Monte, in Los Angeles county,
and, after passing three miles under ground, rises again. The
intervening space, where there is no river, is very moist, sandy
ground, through which the water spreads and soaks.

W. H. Emory, in his report as member of the Mexican
Boundary Commission, writes thus :

"The point at which water ceases to flow is quite variable ;
Its more usual upward limit being marked at or near the pas-
sage of the stream from the first rocky ranges into the tertiary

6 KESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

formation. The point, however, as before stated, is by no
means a fixed one : thus, during the night it extends farther
downward than in daytime ; in cloudy weather, for the same
reason, its course is more prolonged than under a clear sky.
In the stream-beds themselves, however dry, water is gener-
ally found a short distance below the surflice.

"The descent of these streams in the rainy season may be
either a gradual process in the jDrogressive saturation of their
sandy beds, or, the saturation being accomplished by previous
showers, the irruption may be sudden. A fine example of this
sudden appearance was observed in the San Diego River, in
December, 1849 ; when, after a rainy night, by which its sandy
bed was completely saturated, the upper stream suddenly ap-
peared in the form of a foaming body of water, moving onward
at the rate of a fast walk, curling round the river-bends, ab-
sorbing the pools, and soon filling its bed with a brimming,
swift current. An instance of the more gradual descent was
seen in the following season (December, 1850), when, from
the absence of local rain, its downward progress was slow and
interrupted."

The only navigable stream south of San Francisco Bay is
the Salinas, and that but for small vessels, and near its mouth.

Korth of San Francisco the main streams rising in the Coast
Mountains are the Russian, Eel, Elk, Mad, and Smith Rivers,
all permanent, but none navigable.

§ 5. Coast Lakes. — The only large lake in the Coast district
is Clear Lake, which lies about eighty miles northward from
San Francisco. It is twenty miles long, and varies in breadth
from two to ten miles. Surrounded by a small valley of fer-
tile land, it lies in a deep basin bounded by high mountains,
with an outlet to the eastward, where its surplus waters are
carried ofi" by Cache Creek to the Sacramento. The water of
Clear Lake is limpid ; the vegetation on its banks abundant
and vigorous ; the scenery beautiful and romantic. In Ama-
dor valley, twenty-five miles eastward from San Francisco,
there is a small lake, covering a conple of hundred acres. It

CHOROGEAPHY. 7

lies in the course of tlie Alameda Creek. In the San Francis
quito Pass, forty-five miles northward from Los Angeles, there
was a lake called Lake Elizabeth, covering several hundred
acres, but it has dried up of late.

These are the only lakes of note in the Coast district. Pre-
vious to 1860, there was a lake called the "Laguna Sal," six
miles long and three wide, near Alamo, San Diego county;
but it entirely dried up in that year. The water had a strong
taste of alkali and sulphur. According to report, the lake was
formed about the year 1820.

§ 6. Capes. — CaUfornia has two capes: Cape Mendocino,
in 40° 25'; and Point Conception, in 34° 25'. The former is
reputed to be the stormiest place on our coast ; the latter is
the southern limit of the cold fogs and cool summers.

§ 7. Islands. — About forty miles westward from San Fran-
cisco are the Farallones, seven little islands of bare rocks, the
largest with an extent of a couple of acres, and of no signifi-
cance save as a danger to shipping, and as a point where a
large lighthouse is maintained. All the other islands of Cah-
fornia lie between 32° 50' and 34° 10', the farthest one being
about sixty miles from the mainland. They are named Santa
Cruz, Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Rosa, San Nicolas,
Anacapa, and Santa Barbara. They are all hilly, rocky, bar-
ren, and of little value. Santa Cruz, the largest and best of
them, has good water and a few trees. It is twenty-one miles
long:, with an average width of about three miles. All these
islands appear to be peaks of submerged mountain-ridges. Be-
tween them and the mainland lies the Santa Barbara channel.

§ 8. Bays and Harbors. — California has four land-locked
bays — Humboldt, Tomales, San Francisco, and San Diego.
All of them are comparatively long and narrow, and separated
from the ocean by narrow peninsulas, their general course
being parallel with the coast.

Humboldt Bay is twelve miles long, from two to five miles
wide, and is separated from the ocean by two tongues of land,
which are covered by high and dense timber, and offer an

8 RESOURCES OF CxiLIFORNIA.

excellent protection against the strong winds of the coast.
The mouth of the bay, in latitude 40° 44', is a mile across, but
has breakers on each side ; and between them is a channel, a
quarter of a mile wide, with about eighteen feet of water at
low tide. The greater part of the bay is shallow, but there is
an abundance of deep water, with good anchorage and perfect
safety for shipping. The entrance is considered dangerous,
and a steam-tug escorts nearly all sailing-vessels in and out.

Tomales Bay is fourteen miles long and two miles wide,
separated from the ocean by a strip of land a mile and a half
wide. Its mouth is in 38° 15'. Its course is southeastward,
and it is open to the northwest winds. The water is about
twelve feet deep. Tomales Bay is surrounded by hills, and is
of little value for commerce.

San Francisco Bay, one of the finest bays in the world for
the purposes of commerce, is about eight miles wide and fifty
long, reaching from 37° 10' to 38°. Its entrance, called the
Golden Gate, or Chrysopylis, is a mile wide, between 37°
48' and 37° 49'. The peninsulas which separate the bay from
the ocean are from six to fifteen miles wide. The water on
the bar is thirty feet deep at low water ; inside much deeper,
with excellent holding-ground, and room for all the shipping
of the world.

Connected with this bay are those of San Pablo and Suisun,
lying farther inland, on the course of the outlet of the waters
of the Sacramento basin. San Pablo Bav is nearlv round,
about ten miles in diameter, and lies north of San Francisco
Bay, with which it is connected by an unnamed strait, about
three miles wide. Suisun Bav, about four miles ^vide bv eio^ht
Ions:, lies eastward of San Pablo Bav, with which it is con-
nected by the strait of Carquinez, which is a mile wide. Both
bays are deep, but the water in the strait is only sixteen feet
deep at low tide, and large vessels cannot ascend beyond it.
Benicia, on the bank of the strait, is the head of navigation,
and aspires to be the main port of the coast, but in vain. Val-
lejo, seven miles from Benicia, still has hopes of that kind.

CHOROGRAPHT. 9

The harbor of Vallejo is excellent, lying between Mare Island
and the mainland. It is half a mile wide, by three miles longf,
with four fathoms of water at low tide, excellent holding-
ground, and perfect protection against all winds.

The bay of San Diego is twelve miles long, from one to two
miles wide, and crescent-shapecl, running from the entrance,
and then turning to the southeastward. A channel, thirty
feet deep and half a mile wide, extends more than half the
length of the bay from the entrance. The holding-ground is
good; the protection from the winds perfect. There is no
difficulty in entering at any time, but it is not safe for sailing-
vessels to 2:0 out durinsf srales from the southeast.

In latitude 34° 38', thirty-five miles southeastward from Los
Angeles, is a laud-locked estuary about eight miles long and
from half a mile to a mile wide. It has not been surveyed, and
its value for commerce is not known, but there has been some
talk lately of using it as a port for some of the adjacent towns.
The entrance is not more than ten feet deep, and probably not
so deep as that.

Of the open harbors, that of Crescent City is the most
northern, in latitude 41° 44'. It lies on the southern side of a
rocky point that juts out about half a mile in a westward
direction, at risrht angjles to the oreneral line of the coast. The
harbor is small and shallow, with a bottom of sand and rocks.
Vessels drawing: twelve feet of water lie nearlv half a mile
from the shore. The harbor is safe while the wind blows
from the north and northwest, but very dangerous when it
blows from the southward. The harbor might be made much
more safe by a breakwater, at a cost of one or two millions
of dollars, but the trade of the place would never justify such
an expenditure.

Trinidad, in 41° 03', is a very small harbor, open to the
south, with deep water and excellent holding-ground.

Bodega Bay, in 38° 18', has nine feet of water, and opens
to the southward, so that the anchorage is secure only while
the wind blows from the north. Tomales Bay, just opposite,
1*

10 EESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

opens into the southern part of Bodega Bay, and is only five
miles distant from the Bodega anchorage ; and, as one is secure
against northern and the other against southern winds, vessels
are safe in all weathers, because they can easily run across to
whichever may prove the sheltered side.

The bay of Sir Francis Drake, in latitude 38°, is small, open
to the south, and of no value to commerce.

Half-Moon Bay is a small roadstead, eighteen miles south of
the Golden Gate.

Santa Cruz Harbor, on the northern side of Monterey Bay,
in 36° 57', is small, has four fathoms of water, a sandy bottom,
and is open to the south.

Twelve miles farther south is the mouth of the Salinas River,
which is about two hundred yards wide, and has seven feet of
water. It is entered by small schooners, with the help of a
steam-tuo^.

Eight miles farther to the southward is the harbor of Mon-
terey, which is large and deep, and has good holding-ground.
It is open to the north.

San Simeon Harbor, in 35° 38', has a good anchorage, and
'is safe while the wind blows from the north, but it offers no
protection against storms from the southward. The bottom
is sandy.

San Luis Obispo Harbor, in 35° 10', has a good anchorage,
safe at all times, except during storms from the southward.

Santa Barbara, in 34° 24', has an open harbor, exposed to
the south winds. The water is deep, and the bottom hard.

San Pedro, in 33° 43', is open to the south, but probably
might be made secure by a breakwater, to cost one million of
dollars. The bottom is hard.

The difference between extreme high tide and extreme low
tide is about nine feet at Crescent Citv, and seven feet at San
Diego. At San Francisco, the establishment of the port is
ten hours.

§ 9. Sacrame7ito Basin. — The low land of the Sacramento
basin, bounded on the west by the Coast Mountains and on

CHOKOGKAPnY. 11

the east by the Sierra Nevada, which ranges meet both at the
north and the south, is the heart of the state, four hundred
miles long by fifty wide, reaching from latitude 35° to 40° 30'.
It is drained by two rivers : the Sacramento, running from the
north ; and the San Joaquin, from the south. They meet and
unite in the centre of the basin, at 38°, and break through the
Coast range to the Pacific, forming the bays of Suisun, San
Pablo, and San Francisco, on their way. The mountains rise
steeply from the edge of the valley, which is nearly level, about
thirty feet above the level of the sea at the junction of the
rivers, and two hundred feet higher where they issue from the
mountains. Part of the Sacramento valley shows terraces, the
farthest from the river being a coarse gravel. The richest soil
is on the immediate bank. The great body of the valley is
bare of trees. Its even surface is broken in only one place,
by the " Buttes," a range of volcanic hills, six miles wide by
twelve long, with three peaks, about two thousand feet high,
which rise in lonely abruptness from the middle of the plain,
in 39° 20'. The general course of the two main rivers of the
basin lies nearly midway between the two mountain-chains,
but almost all their tributaries come from the Sierra Nevada,
which, like the Coast range, has most of its wealth on its western
slope. In the four hundred miles from Tejon to Shasta there
are a dozen creeks marked on the map as flowing eastward
from the Coast range to the San Joaquin and Sacramento ; but
during the summer, three-fourths of them are swallowed up
in the sands before reaching their mouths. Not one south of
38° is a permanent stream. From the Sierra Nevada a num-
ber of rivers run westward. Beginning at the north, we have
the Pit, Feather, Yuba, American, Cosumnes, Mokelumne,
Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, San Joaquin, King's,
^ "White, and Kern Rivers — all of them considerable streams,
though some of those in the southern part of the Sacramento
basin are swallowed up in the sands, in the dry seasons, before
reaching their mouths. The San Joaquin River does not rise
at the extreme southern end of the basin, but one hundred

12 RESOURCES OF C A L I F O RNI A.

miles north^vard from it, in the Sierra ISTevada. After niiming
westward to the middle of the valley, it turns northward.
From its bend southward, the valley discharges no water to
the ocean during the summer; but in wet winters there are
continuous sloughs, or pieces of marsh-like ground, from the
Tejon to the San Joaquin. In the dry season, no channel is
visible for the escape of the waters of Tulare and Kern Lakes.

§ 10. Bivers of the Sacramento Basin. — The rivers flow-
insr down from the Sierra Nevada are about one hundred and
twenty miles long on an average, following their courses. The
upper half of their length is in the mountains, where they are
torrents, falling five thousand feet in fifty miles. Their beds
are in deep canons ; after reaching the plain their currents are
gentle, and they meander between low banks, fringed with
oaks, sycamores, cotton wood, and willows. In the south-
ern part of the Sacramento basin there are several large
streams, which, soon after issuing from the mountains, divide
into a number of channels, as do some large rivers which have
deltas near their entrance to the sea. King's River, which is
about eighty yards wide where it leaves the mountains, divides
into seven or eight channels, which all unite again. The Ca-
huilia or Pipiyuma River, also a large stream, divides into a
number of channels, which irrigate "the Four-Creek country,"
and render it one of the most fruitful parts of the state.

The Sacramento River is navio^able for steamers drawino^
three feet of water, to Sacramento City, and to Red Blufis for
boats drawinoj fifteen inches. The Feather River is navisrated
by steamers drawing fifteen inches, to Marysville, seventy-five
miles from Sacramento; and boats have ascended to Oroville,
twenty-five miles farther. Steamers drawing five feet can run
regularly to Stockton, on the San Joaquin, a distance of one
hundred and thirtv miles from San Francisco : and in times of
high water, a boat drawing about fifteen inches ascends to
Fresno City, one hundred and fifty miles farther. A number
of sloughs or tide-water creeks, navigable for small vessels,
open into the bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun.

CHOROGR A PHY. 13

The most notable of these are the Alviso or Guadalupe slough,
at the head of San Francisco Bay ; the San Antonio slough,
opposite San Francisco city ; the Petaluma, Sonoma, and Napa
sloughs, opening into San Pablo Bay; and Suisun and Pacheco
sloughs, opening into Suisun Bay.

§ 11. Tule-Lcmd. — Along the borders of these bays, and of
the Tulare and Kern Lakes, and of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Rivers, there are extensive tracts of swamp-lands, usu-
ally called " tule-lands," from the tuU^ a species of rush which
grows on them. Nearly all the tule-land west of Sacramento
and Stockton, to which points the tides extend, are salt marsh-
es ; but north of Sacramento, and soiith of Stockton, the tule-
lands are fresh-water swamps. The extent of this marshy land
varies in diiferent seasons ; but at my estimate, there are eighty
square miles on the borders of San Francisco Bay, eighty on
San Pablo Bay, sixty on Suisun Bay, two hundred on the Sac-
ramento River, one hundred on the San Joaquin, two hundred
on the Tulare Lake, and the slough leading from it, and one
hundred and twenty south of Tulare Lake — making eight
hundred and forty square miles in all.

§ 12. Sierra Nevada. — The Sierra Nevada is four hundred
and fifty miles long (in California) and seventy wide, with a
height varying from five thousand to eight thousand feet above
the sea-level. Nearly its whole width is occupied with its
western slope, which descends to a level of three hundred feet
above the ocean ; whereas the slope on the eastern side is only
five or six miles wide, and terminates in the Great Basin, which
is itself from four thousand to five thousand feet above the sea.
Nearly all the snows and rains that visit the Sierra Nevada fall
on its western slope, which has all the large rivers. These
rivers run westward, at right angles to the course of the chain,
and cut it into steep hills and deep ravines, canons, and chasms.
The valleys are all small, and it is rare to see a hundred acres
of level, tillable land, even on the banks of the largest moun-
tain-streams. The greater part of the Sierra Nevada is cov-
ered with timber. The oak, manzanita, and nut-pine, grow to

14 EESOURCES OF C.\I. IFOENIA.

about twenty-five liundrcd feet above the sea ; and then the
coniferous trees appear, and are found in dense forests to a
height of six thousand feet.

§ 13. Peaks and Passes of the Sierra. — Mount Shasta,
which rises, in 41° 30', high, into the region of perpetual snow,
the loftiest peak in the state, may be treated as belonging to
the Sierra Nevada, though in fact it stands midway between
that range and the Coast Mountains, and is connected by high
mountain-ridges with both of them. Its height is given by
"Wilkes (Exploring Expedition, vol. v., p. 240) at 14,390 feet.
Kearly a perpendicular mile of it is always covered with snow,
and it is visible in every direction for more than a hundred
miles, presenting to the traveller the most prominent landmark
of the state. It is of volcanic origin, and still emits sulphure-
ous vapors from its summit. Several parties have ascended to
its top. The other most notable peaks in the Sierra Nevada
are — Lassen's Peak, 9,000 feet high, in 40° 22', also of vol-
canic origin ; the Donnieville Buttes, 8,500 feet high ; Pilot
Peak, 7,300 feet high, in 39° 50; Castle Peak, 11,000 feet
high, in 38° 10' ; and Mount Breckenridge, 7,500 feet high, in
35° 20'. Mount Shasta is the only mountain which has snow
on its southern and southw^estern slopes throughout the year ;
the other-mentioned peaks lose all their snow in September
and October, excej^t in deep, shady ravines on their northern
slopes.

The most notable passes in the Sierra Nevada are the fol-
lowing: Lassen's, 7,000 feet high, in latitude 41° 50'; Fredo-
nyer's, 5,667 feet high, in 40° 47'; Beckworth's, in 39° 50';
Kenness's, in 39° 30'; Truckey, 5,636 feet high, in 39° 25';
Johnson's, 6,752 feet high, in 38° 50'; Carson's, 7,972 feet
high, in 38° 43'; Sonora, 10,132 feet high, in 38° 15'; Walk-
er's, 5,302 feet high, in 35° 40' ; Hum-pa-ya-mup, 5,356 feet
high, in 35° 35' ; Tehachepa, 4,020 feet high, in 35° 10' ; Tejon,
5,285 feet high, in 35° ; and Cajon de las Uvas, 4,256 feet high,
in 34° 50'. The last five passes are in the Sierra Nevada, south
of its bend, where it turns westward to meet the Coa:-t range.

CHOEOGEAPHT. 15

The Johnson Pass is used by most of the travel and traffic
between Sacramento and Utah ; the Kenness Pass lies east of
Marysville, and is used by the people of that neighborhood ;
and the Cajon de las Uvas is used by travellers between the
San Joaquin valley and the Los Angeles district.

§ 14. Lakes of the Sierra. — The Sierra Xevada has few
lakes. The most notable one is Lake Bigler, about twenty
miles long and ten wide, and six thousand feet above the level
of the sea, in latitude 39°, and on the eastern border of the
state. Part of the lake is in Utah. Its waters flow eastward
into Truckey River. In the eastern part of Xevada county
there is a group of two dozen lakes, called the Eureka Lakes ^
the largest are three miles long and a mile wide.

§ 15. Plateau of the Sierra Kevada. — About latitude 40°,
the Sierra Xevada seems to divide or to fork — one branch run-
ning northward, in the line of the main chain ; the other north-
westward, to Mount Shasta. Between these two branches,
and between 40° and 42°, is a high table-land or plateau, about
one hundred and twenty miles long, and five thousand feet
above the ocean-level. This plateau is an independent basin,
and its waters never leave it, but flow into a few lakes, where
they are swallowed up in the sands. The district bears a
strong resemblance in many of its features to the Great Basin
of Utah, with which it should perhaps be classed. The main
stream is Susan River, which, after a course of forty miles in
an eastward direction, empties into Honey Lake, which is
twelve miles long by five wide — or was, for in 1859 the Inke
dried up, and again dried up in 1860. The lake, wlien full,
was shallow, with thick, yellowish water, of a saline taste.
Northwestward from Honey Lake, and distant thirty miles
from it, is Eagle Lake, about half the size of the other. The
land is barren, and the veojetation scantv. Pit River starts in
the northeastern corner of the state, and breaks through tlie
plateau. North of the river are Wright Lake and Rhett Laki',
^vithin five miles of the Oregon line ; and Goose Lake and Low-
er Klamath Lake, partly in Oregon and partly in Cahfornia.

16 PwESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The largest is Goose Lake, ten miles long and five wide. All
are destitute of large tributaries, sweet water, and valuable
adjacent land.

§ 16. Klamath Basin. — ISTorth of latitude 41° lies the basin
of the Klamath River, which rises in Oregon, crosses the Cali-
fornian line about eighty miles from the sea, then turns south-
westward, and, after a course of about one hundred and fifty
miles, empties into the Pacific in 41° 33\ The basin of the
Klamath is very rugged, i^articularly that part of it within
forty miles of the ocean. Along the main river there is no
valley, or bottom-land ; its whole length is between steep hills
and mountains, and through rocky canons. Its largest tribu-
taries, the Trinity and Salmon, run through a country almost
as rugged as that bordering the main stream. Scott and Shasta
Rivers, which are the only other notable tributaries of the Kla-
math— they all flow from the southward — have valleys of
bottom-land, about five miles wide and forty long.

§ 17. Utah JBasin. — A prominent feature of the North
American continent is the Great Basin of Utah, a triangular
district of country, bounded on the north by the basin of the
Columbia, on the southeast bv the basin of the Colorado, and
on the southwest by the Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino
Mountains. This Great Basin — an elevated tract of land, most
of which is four thousand or five thousand feet above the sea-
level, mountainous, barren, and cheerless, with no outlet for
its waters — extends into California, including a district about
two hundred miles long and one hundred wide, in the south-
eastern portion of the state. The Californian portion of the
Great Basin is one of the driest and most sterile parts of the
earth's surface, cut up by numerous irregular ridges of bare,
rocky mountains, with intervening valleys of sand and volcanic
scoriae, and occasional springs and little streams which termi-
nate in lakes, presenting a wide extent of muddy salt water
after heavy rains, and, in the dry season, wide beds of dried
and cracked mud, covered with a white alkaline efflorescence.
The chief stream in the Californian portion of the Great Basin

CH OROGRAPHY. 17

is the Mojave, which rises on the northern slope of Mount San
Bernardino, and, after running about one hundred miles in a
northeastward direction, sinks in the sand. The Mojave re-
ceives no tributaries after it leaves the side of Mount San Ber-
nardino. After sinking, it rises again ; or rather pools of water
are found in the low places of its bed, the water evidently
soaking through the sand and following the bed of the stream.
The next stream in importance is Owen's River, which runs
southward seventy-five miles along the foot of the Sierra Ne-
vada, and terminates in Owen Lake, which lies in latitude 36°
25', and is fifteen miles long by nine wide. Northward, one
hundred miles from Owen Lake, is Mono Lake, eight miles
long and six wide, sometimes called " the Dead Sea of Califor-
nia." No fish can live in the water, which is so heavy with
saline substances, that the human body floats in it very lightly ;
though it is so strongly alkaline, that it scalds the skin. In
the midst of the lake is an island, several miles long. While
the greater part of the Utah Basin is high above the level of
the sea, there is a portion of it, called " Death Valley," three
hundred and seventy-seven feet below the sea-level; and, not-
withstanding its great depth, it is one of the driest and most
desolate parts of that basin of deserts.

§ 18. Colorado Desert. — A district, about seventy miles
wide by one hundred and forty long, on the southeastern bor-
der of the state, belongs to the basin of the Colorado River.
It is usually called the " Colorado Desert," because of its bar-
ren, sandy soil, and scanty vegetation. In some places the
soil is composed of sand, packed together firmly, with a hard
and smooth surface, which reflects light like a mirror ; in other
places are mountains of loose sand, which are continually shift-
ing. In latitude 33° 20', and longitude 115° 50', is a district,
thirty miles square or more, which is seventy feet below the
level of the sea. It is supposed that at one time the Gulf of
California extended several hundred miles farther north than
it now does ; and that the Colorado River, in long ages, depos-
ited so much alluvium as to make banks down to the present

18 RESOURCES OF CALIFOEXIA.

head of the gulf, thus cutting off from its connection with the
ocean that part of the gulf now dry. The evaporation in this
desert far exceeds the fall of rain ; so it was not long before
this lake was dried up. When the Colorado River is very-
high, it breaks over its banks about forty miles southward
from Fort Yuma, and sends a large stream, called New River,
northwestward a distance of a hundred miles or more, to the
lowest portion of the desert. A proposition has been made
to cut a canal from the river to the low ground ; so that the
land, which is said to be of excellent quality, might be irri-
gated and cultivated : but no accurate survey has yet been
made of a route for the canal, or of the district to be irrigated.
The Colorado River is navigable to Fort Yuma, a distance of
seventy-five miles from its mouth. The average depth is ten
feet, but there are shoals which have not more than tw^o feet
at low water ; the tide rises ten feet. The channel is crooked,
and the bottom is of sand, which is constantly changing posi-
tion. The banks of the river are low and muddy. The aver-
age current runs at the rate of two and a half miles per hour.
The river is high in July, when the snows of the Rocky Moun-
tains (in latitude 38°-44°) melt, and then the flood covers the
low bottom-land along the river-banks.

§ 19. Area of the State. — The total area of the state amounts
to about 155,000 square miles, of which there are, at my esti-
mate, 42,000 in the mountains and valleys of the coast, 40,000
in the Sierra Nevada and its plateau, 20,000 in the low land
of the Sacramento Basin, 30,000 in the Great Basin of Utah,
15,000 in the Colorado Desert, and 8,000 in the Klamath Basin.
In the 42,000 square miles of the coast slope, 16,000 may be
put down as valley and 26,000 as mountain.

CLIMATE. 19

CHAPTER II.
CLIMATE.

§ 20. General JRemarTcs. — The climate of California is un-
like that of every other country, and particularly dissimilar to
that of the American states east of the Rocky Mountains. In
general character it resembles the climate of western Europe.
Its chief peculiarities, as distinguished from the Eastern states,
are, that the \yinters are warmer ; the summers — especially at
night — cooler ; the changes from heat to cold not so great nor
so frequent ; the quantity of rain less, and confined principally
to the winter and spring months ; the atmosphere drier ; the
cloudy days fewer ; thunder, lightning, hail, snow and ice, and
the aurora borealis, rarer; the winds more regular — blowing
from the north for fair weather, and from the south for storms ;
and earthquakes more frequent.

The state reaches through nine and a quarter degrees of lati-
tude, from 32° 45' to 42°, San Diego being as far south as
Charleston, and Crescent Citv as far north as Providence.
Much of the Golden state has the ^vinter of South Carolina,
and the summer of Rhode Island. The orange, the lemon, the
ohve, the fig, the pomegranate, the vine, the peach, the apple,
wheat, and barley, all find most congenial chmes in Califor-
nia.

The state, indeed, has many climates : one for the western
slope of the Coast range betAveen Point Conception and Cape
Mendocino ; another for the low land of the Sacramento Basin ;

20 KESOURCES OF CA.LIFORN'IA.

another for the Sierra Nevada and Klamatli Basin ; another for
the Great Basin of Utah; another for the coast south of Point
Conception ; and still another for the Colorado Desert.

The causes of these peculiarities of climate are chiefly to be
found in the position of the country — a narrow strip on the
western side of the continent, bounded on the east by a high
rano:e of mountains that shuts the coast off fiom all the infiu-
ences of the interior; bordering on the wide Pacific Ocean,
washed by a warm current flow^ing across from the China Sea ;
with a shore line that runs nearly north and south, and is ex-
posed in all its length to the strong winds constantly blowing
southeastward over the ocean.

§ 21. Temperature of the Middle Coast. — On the coast,
betAveen latitudes 35° and 40°, there is little difference in the
temperatures of winter and summer. San Francisco is in the
same latitude with Washington and St. Louis, but know^s nei-
ther the cold winters nor the hot summers which afflict those
places. Ice is rarely formed in the Californian metropolis, and
never more than an inch in thickness ; and the thermometer
never stays at the freezing point twenty-four consecutive hours.
The lowest point which the thermometer has ever reached in
San Francisco, since observations have been taken, was 22°
Fahrenheit in January, 1862 ; and previous to that time it had
never fallen below 25° ; while in St. Louis it goes down to 12°
every winter, and remains near that figure for many consecu-
tive days. The lowest figures which the mercury reached in
the daytime at San Francisco, in January of the years 1851,
'52, '53, '^4, and '55, were respectively 30°, 35°, 41°, 25°, and
33°, showing that in three Januaries out of five no ice at all
was formed in the daytime; and when the thermometer fell to
25° in 1854, the weather was declared to be colder than it had
ever been before, " within the memory of the oldest inhabit-
ant." During nine years' residence in the city, I never have
seen ice formed here half an inch thick, and never saw the
slightest film of it formed on water in a house. Snow some-
times falls, but I have never seen the streets dressed in white.

CLIM/^TE. 21

In St. Louis, the winter months rarely have a day which is
really comfortable in the open air ; while at least half the sea-
son is so in San Francisco, the sky being clear, the sun w^arm,
and the breezes gentle, so that the weather bears a strong re-
semblance in temperature to the Indirin summer in the upper
Mississippi basin. Our coldest winter days, at noon, are as
warm as the warmest in Philadelphia.

On the other hand, the summers are cool or cold. In No-
vember, 1854, the lowest figure reached by the thermometer
in San Francisco, was 47°, while in July of the same year it
was at 46° — showino- that at no time in the former month was it
so cold as at one time in the latter. The mean temperature of
July is 57°, twenty-one degrees lower than in Washington
city. There are not more than a dozen days in the year when
the thermometer rises above 80° — at which figure heat first
begins to be oppressive — while in St. Louis and at Washing-
ton there are in every year from sixty to ninety days that see
that heio-ht. No matter how warm the dav at noon, the even-
ings and mornings are always cool, and blankets are necessary
— at least a pair of them — as a bed-covering, every night.

Although the mean temperature of summer difi*er3 little from
that of winter, yet there are sometimes very warm days, which
may be succeeded immediately by very cool nights. San Fran-
cisco never sees more than three hot days in succession. When
the sun has had an opportimity to rage for so long a period,
the air in the interior of the state becomes so hot, that it rises
rapidly ; and the ocean- winds, which must rush to supply the
place, never fail to bring cool weather to the vicinity of the
Golden Gate. Thus the mercury has risen (and that was its
highest) to 97°, and it often falls in July to 46° ; and such a
change of fifty degrees might occur within twelve hours. The
average range of the thermometer in July and August is about
twenty degrees — from 50° to 70°. Yet, as the mornings and
evenings are invariably cool, and the noons are not always
warm, " summer clothing" is seldom worn by men, and never
for twelve consecutive hours. The common custom is, to wear

22 EESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

woollen coats and trousers of the same thickness in summer
and winter. The persons wlio visit San Francisco during the
summer, from the interior of the state, where the climate from
May to October is much warmer, and where summer clothes
are worn, are much bothered at having to bring their winter
clothes with them. The editor of a Stockton paper, disgusted
with the climate of the metropolis in July, expressed himself
somewhat after this manner: "You go out in the morning
shivering, notwithstanding the fact that you are dressed in
heavy woollen clothing and under-clothing, and have a thick
overcoat buttoned up to your throat. At 8.30 you unbutton
two of the upper buttons; at 9 you unbutton the coat all the
way down; at 9.30 you take it off; at 10 you take off your
woollen coat, and put on a summer coat; at 11 you take off all
your woollen and put on hght summer clothing ; at 4 it begins
to grow cool, and you to put on your woollen again ; and by
V o'clock your overcoat is buttoned to the chin, and you shiver
until bedtime."

The coolness of the summer is caused by the winds and
fogs which blow in from the ocean, whose temperature at the
Farallones ncA^er varies more than a degree or two from 42°.
A stronfy wind blows along; the coast from the north and north-
Avest during almost the whole year ; and it blows strongly upon
the land for several hours after eleven o'clock in the morning
and after five in the evening, and not unfrequently it continues
the whole twenty-four hours. The common prevalence of this
wind during the afternoon renders the mornings the pleasaut-
est part of the summer weather in San Francisco ; and the more
delicate and fashionable ladies habitually make their calls and
allow their children to go into the street only before mid-day. In
June, July, and August, heavy, wet, cold mists come up from
the sea at six in the evening:, and continue until eig;ht or nine
in the morning. In the winter, fogs are rarer, and do not
commence so early in the evenings, and the winds are not so
strong ; so that, in these respects, the winter is the pleasanter
season of the year.

CLIMATE. 23

Dr. H. Gibbons, speaking of the mists and fogs at San Fran-
cisco, says :

" It is carious to observe the conflict between the absorbing
power of the air and the supplying power of the ocean, in re-
gard to moisture. Toward noon, when the wind rises, huge
columns of mist may be seen piled along the coast, three or
four miles west of the city, and pouring in hke a deluge upon
the land. But the air of the land, which is always thirsty,
drinks it up with astonishing avidity ; so that the impending
wave, though in a current moving from thirty to fifty miles an
liour, makes slow progress. By the middle of the afternoon
it is within a mile or two of the city; and there it stands, like
a solid mass of water several hundred feet in depth, rolling and
tumbling toward you (not without grandeur and majesty), and
threatening to overwhelm you in a few seconds. You await
its coming, but it comes not ; it even recedes, to return and
recede again. Xot until the sun has lost his calorific power
does the atmosphere reach the point of saturation ; and then,
tow^ard sunset or later, every thing is submerged by the va-
pory flood. In the course of the evening the wind falls. Dur-
ing the night the mist is gradually dissolved and disappears
from the lower stratum of air, while it forms a heavy cloud
above. About the middle of the forenoon the cloud is dis-
persed by the rays of the sun. The dispersion is rapid, the
sky often becoming entirely clear in less than half an hour.

"If it be possible to distinguish between fog and mist — re-
garding the former as impalpable, and the latter as composed
of palpable particles of moisture — I may remark that mist be-
loni^s onlvto the summer and foo; to the winter climate of San
Francisco. There is no mist in winter, and no fog in summer.
At all seasons the drying tendency of the atmosphere is ob-
servable. You notice none of those phenomena which in other
climates depend on an excess of water in the air, and on sud-
den changes of temperature. The moisture does not condense
on your window^s, nor on the plastered w^alls ; salt does not
liquify, nor even exhibit the shghtest dampness ; and the house-

24 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

wife has no trouble in drying her clothes, provided it should
not rain. In fact, the atmosphere of San Francisco, in spite of
sea winds and mists, is a dry atmosphere."

The mean temperatures of spring, summer, autumn, and wiii-
ter, are 54°, 57°, 5G°, and 50° respectively, showing a difference
of only seven degrees between the average of winter and sum-
mer ; whereas a similar comparison in the climate of New York
city shows a difference of thirty-nine degrees. There is a range
of two degrees more in San Francisco by taking the months
separately — January, the coldest month, having a mean tem-
perature of 49°, and September, the warmest, a mean of 58°.
October is as warm as July, and in some years it has been
warmer. The mean of the whole year is 54°, a temperature
that requires heavy woollen clothing for comfort. For vigor-
ous, industrious men, the climate of San Francisco is the health-
iest and most agreeable in the world. I prefer it to all others.
But, to enjoy it, a man should have warm blood, ftill veins,
and active habits ; if he is weak or idle, he will find it too cool
for him. It is a climate that allows a person to be out in the
open air all the time ; no hour is lost because of either exces-
sive heat or excessive cold. Women do not like the climate
so well as men ; it is too cool for their less vigorous constitu-
tions and sedentary habits. *

San Francisco does not lie immediately on the ocean, but
only six miles from it, and where there is a great gap to let in
the winds and fogs. The nearer the Pacific, the denser and
more frequent the fogs, the stronger the winds, the warmer
the winters, and the cooler the summers. The great ocean is
a powerful equalizer of climate : as you advance into the inte-
rior, the range of heat and cold becomes greater. In the coast
valleys you can choose your distance. San Rafael is ten miles
from the Pacific, Petaluma twenty, Sonoma thirty, ISTapa thir-
ty-five, Suisun forty-five, and Vaca valley fifty. Sonoma valley
has a delightful climate, free from fogs and cold winds, and
yet blessed with a sea-breeze which tempers the heat of every
summer day to the precise degree necessary to the peifect

CLIMATE. 25

happiness of a man who wishes to take life easy, and do noth-
ing. Indeed, all the valleys embosomed in the Coast Moun-
tains, from Humboldt Bay to Santa Barbara, haye beautiful
climes, which will compare favorably, I think, with the best
of Italy. The summer days are always warm, rarely hot ; the
mornings and evenings are clear and pleasant ; in winter, ice
never forms over two inches in thickness, and if snow falls, it
never lies twenty-four hours.

§ 22. Clear Days. — On an average, there are two hundred
and twenty perfectly clear days in a year, without a cloud ;
eighty five days wherein clouds are seen, though in many of
them the sun is visible ; and sixty rainy. Italy cannot surpass
that. Xew York has scarcely half so many perfectly clear
days. From the first of April till the first of JSTovember, there
are in ordinary seasons fifteen cloudy days ; and from the first
of November till the first of April, half the days are clear. It
often happens that weeks upon weeks in winter, and months
upon months in summer, pass without a cloud ; that is, at a
distance of thirty miles from the ocean. Near the shore, coast-
clouds are frequently blown up from the sea, but they disap-
pear after ten o'clock in the morning.

§ 23. The Sirocco. — One case, and only one, is on record,
of a sirocco, or buniing-hot wind, visiting the coast. This one
was felt at the town of Santa Barbara, in latitude 34° 20', on
the ocean-shore, on the 17th of June, 1859. The Gazette news-
paper of that place, published six days afterward, said :

"Friday, 17th June, will be long remembered by the inhab-
itants of Santa Barbara, from the burning, blasting heat expe-
rienced that day, and the efiJects thereof Indeed, it is said
that, for the space of thirty years, nothing in comparison has
been felt in this county, and, we doubt, in any other. The
sun rose like a ball of fire on that day ; but though quite warm,
no inconvenience was caused thereby until two o'clock, p. m.,
w^hen suddenly a blast of heated air swept through our streets,
followed quickly by others ; and shortly afterward the atmo-
sphere became so intensely heated, that no human being could
2

26 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

withstand its force : all sought their dwellings, and had to shut
doors and windows, and remain for hours confined to their
houses. The effect of such intense and unparalleled heat was
demonstrated by the death of calves, rabbits, birds, etc. The
trees were all blasted ; and the fruit, such as pears and apples,
literally roasted on the trees ere they fell to the ground, and
the same as if they had been cast on live coals. But, strange to
say, they were only burned on one side — the direction whence
came the wind. All kinds of metal became so heated, that for
hours nothing of the kind could be touched with the naked
hands. The thermometer rose to nearly fever-heat — in the
shade. Xear an open door, and during the prevalence of this
properly-called sirocco, the streets were filled with impene-
trable clouds of fine dust, or pulverized clay. Speculation has
been rife since to ascertain the cause of such a terrible phe-
nomenon ; but, though we have heard of many plausible theo-
ries thereon, we have not been fully convinced yet : however
that might be, we see its terrible effects all around us, in
blighted trees, ruined gardens, blasted fruit, and almost a gen-
eral destruction of the vegetable kingdom here. We hope we
will never see the like again."

A correspondent of a San Francisco paper wrote thus : "At
one o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th instant, a burning wind
came upon us from the northwest, and smote us with terror.
At two o'clock, the thermometer exposed to this wind rose to
133° of Fahrenheit; at five o'clock, it had fallen to 122° ; and
at seven o'clock, it stood at 77°, where it had been in the
morning. During the whole time of this visitation, every one
stayed in the house, taking good care to keep doors and win-
dows closed. A fisherman who was out at sea came back with
his arms all blistered. Many calves, rabbits, and birds, died
of suffocation. The greatest losses are among the vegetables.
The fruit-trees are all burned ; the pears and apples have been
literally cooked."

No similar case is mentioned in history or tradition, nor is
there an} explanation of this.

CLIMATE. 27

§ 24. Temperature of the Southern Coast. — The high moun-
tain-spur which projects into the ocean at Point Conception
seems to protect the coast south of it from the fogs, which are
much rarer and warmer at Los Angeles than at San Francisco.
But though the former is in latitude 34°, it is at times as cold in
winter as the latter (in 37° 48'), because it is farther from the
ocean, and is in sio'ht of Mount San Bernardino and other hio-h
mountains, some of which wear snow-caps during a large part
of the year. In summer, however, it is much warmer, even
oppressively hot. The nights are sometimes so warm, that a
sheet is as much covering as is necessary for comfort; but
blankets are usually required.

The coast north of latitude 40° is much colder and cloudier
in summer, and has more rain than any other part of the state.

§ 25. Sacramento JBasin. — The climate of the Sacramento
Basin differs from that of San Francisco in having no fogs, faint
sea-breezes, winters four degrees colder,- and summers from six-

*

teen to twenty degrees warmer. The greater heat of summer is
owing to the want of ocean winds and fogs ; the greater cold of
winter is caused by the distance from the Pacific, and the prox-
imity of the snow^-covered Sierra Xevada. While at San Fran-
Cisco the thermometer usually stands at 70° at mid-day, it is
at 86° in Sacramento city at the same moment ; and these six-
teen degrees make a vast difference, for they change comfort
into oppression. And Sacramento city, lying near the great
gap in the Coast Mountains, is cooler in summer than either
end of the basin ; for the upper portions of both the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin valleys, nearly every summer, see days
when the thermometer stands at over 100° in the shade. The
county assessor of Fresno county stated, in his annual report
for 1857, that the mean temperature at Millerton during the
three summer months was 106°. The Stockton Argus spoke
thus of a great heat that was felt in Stanislaus county on the
23d of June, 1859:

"The thermometer was 113° in the shade. The wmd was
avoided, as it was heated so, that it felt as if actually burning

28 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the flesh — as if rushing from a hot oven. In one team of ten
horses, tliree fell in the road, from heat ; two died, but the
other recovered by pouring sweet oil in its throat. The ani-
mal's throat was closed so that it could not drink, when the
oil was used so as to soften the throat and open it, that it
could swallow water, when it recovered. The two that died
expired before such aid could be used with them. At Burton's
public house, at Loving's Ferry, birds flew into the bar-room
to the pitcher to get water, so tame were they made by the
thirst caused by extreme heat. Birds were seen to fall dead
ofi" the limbs of trees in the middle of the day, from the heat,
as if they were shot. The Avind was of that burning heat never
before witnessed by the settlers there since their arrival in the
state."

In the Sierra Nevada, the heat of the summer at mid-day
is about the same as in the Sacramento valley ; but the winter
is cold, and the amount of rain greater in proportion to the
altitude above the sea. In places three thousand feet above
the ocean-level, ice forms five and six inches thick, and snow
deef) enough for sleighing lies several weeks nearly every win-
ter. In towns six thousand feet above the sea, the snow falls
from five to ten feet deep, and covers the ground four or five
months in the year.

In the Great Basin, the winters are cold and the summer
days very hot ; but there too the nights are always cool.

The Colorado Desert has exceedingly hot summer days and
warm winters, but occasional frosts in the spring and fall as
well as in the winter.

§ 26. Comparative Tables. — The following table shows the
mean temperature of every month, and the average of the
whole year, at San Francisco, Benicia, Sacramento, Fort Mil-
ler, Fort Reading, Fort Yuma, and also at various places in
other parts of the world, some of them (such as Funchal, Na-
ples, Honolulu, and Mexico) being famed for the beauty and
equability of their climates. In addition to the temperature,
the latitude of each place is given :

CLIMATE.

29

PLACES.

49

0"
cr

51

1
0

52

>

•

55

55

0

•

56

C

57

>
57

a.

■— >

58

57

54

0
0
p

51

AVER-
AGE.

LATITUDE.

Sau Francisco . . .

54

37°48'

Benicia

•47

52

53

57

59

67

67

66

64

62

54

47

58

58 03

Sacramento

45

48

51

59

67

71

73

73

66

64

52

45;

59

38 34

Fori; Miller

4T

53

56

62

68

83

90

83

76

67

55

48 1

66

37

Fort Reading . . .

44

49

54

59

65

77

82

79

71

62

52

44!

62

40 28

Fort Yuma

56

58

66

73

76 87

92

90

86

76

64 55

73

32 43

New York

31

30

38

47

57 67

73

72

66

55

45

34

51

40 37

New Orleans ....

55

58

64

70

75 81

82

82

78

70

62

55!

69

29 57

Steilacoom

'-{8

40

40

42
42

48
46

5560
53:58

64
62

63
62

57
57

52
50

45
44

39,
40'

50
49

47 10
51 29

London

37

Citv of Mexico . . .

52

54

61

63

66

65

65

64

64

60

55

52

60

19 26

Naples

46

47

51

56

64

70

76

76

69

61

53

49)

60

40 52

Funtiial

60

60

62

63

64

67

70

72

72

67

64

6O1

65

32 38

Honolulu

71

72

72

74

76

77

78

79

78

76

74

73

75

21 16

Jerusalem

47

53

60

54

66

71

77

72

72

60

58

47

62

31 47

Canton . .

52

00

62

70

77

81

83

82

80

73

65

57j

69

23 08

Nagasaki

43

44

50

61

69

77

80

83

78

66

53

41'

62

32 45

By the study of this table, we can form an excellent idea of
the temperature of the different portions of the state, as com-
pared with each other, and as compared with those of some
other countries. So far as we know^, San Francisco has the
most equable and the mildest climate in the world. "Within
the tropics there are, no doubt, many places which have a
more equable temperature, but it is the equability of intense
heat.

Funchal, on the island of Madeira, has probably the mildest
climate in the Avorld, but in equability it is inferior to San
Francisco. Benicia is thirty miles from the ocean, and has a
warmer summer and a colder winter than the immediate coast.
Sacramento has the climate of Xaples and Jerusalem through-
out the year : its summer being the same as that of Xew York,
but its winter fourteen degrees warmer. Fort Reading and
ISTagasaki have nearly the same figures. Fort Yuma, in the
Colorado Desert, in latitude 32° 45', is w^armer than New Or-
leans, in 29° 57'.

A railroad, one hundred and eighty miles long, running
eastward from Oakland, a suburb of San Francisco, passing

30 R K S O U R C E S OF CALIFORNIA.

through Stockton and Sonora, near the Mammoth Grove of
Mariposa and the Yosemite valley, to the summit of the Sierra
Nevada, would ennble the people near the line to place them-
selves, every summer's day, in any tolerable degree of heat
or cold.

Fourteen miles west of Oaldand is the ocean-beach, where
a chilling wind blows without ceasing. Going from the coast,
the traveller would gradually get into a warmer clime, until,
in Stockton, he would find the thermometer indicating 100°,
most of the summer noons ; and proceeding up the sides of the
Sierra, he would gradually rise into greater cold, to the eter-
nal frost on the summit. A branch road running south to Fort
Yuma would enable the traveller to enjoy almost as great a
variety of temperature in the winter.

§ 27. Ram. — Nearly all the rain in California falls between
the first of November and the first of June — the period called
the " rainy season," as contradistinguished from the " dry sea-
son," which occupies the remainder of the year. Those names,
however, when applied to any special season, do not signify
an unchangeable number of months, but rather the term dur-
ing which the rain falls or the dry weather lasts. Thus, we
say that the rainy season of 1858-59 began in October, be-
cause in that month the first heavy rains fell ; the rainy season
of 1855-56 did not begin until December; the dry season of
1857 began in March; and so forth. The rainy season is so
called, not because the rain falls then continuously, but because
it does not fall at any other time. There are occasional show-
ers in June, July, August, and September, but they are rare
and light.

The following table gives the average amount of rain, in
inches, which falls during the four seasons of spring, summer,
autumn, and winter, at various places in California, as com-
pared with the amount which falls in other places in the
United States

CLIMATE.

31

PLACES.

San Francisco . .
Sacramento . . . .
Fort R<iacling. . .
Fort Humboldt .

Fort Miller

Fort Yuma

San Diego

Astoria

Portland, Maine.
New York city.
New Orleans. . .

St. Louis

Rome

Paris

Liverpool

6PEIXG.

SL'MMEE.

ATTTUMX.

'WIN-TER.

TEAE.

6.G4

0.13

3.31

11.33

21.41

7.01

0.00

2.61

12.11

21.73

11.30

0.39

4.89

12.44

29.02

13.51

1.18

4.87

15.03

34.56

9.57

0.02

2.80

9.79

22.18

0.27

1.30

0.86

0.72

3.15

2.74

0.55

1.24

5.90

10.43

16.43

4.00

21.77

44.15

86.35

12.11

10.28

11.93

10.93

45.25

11.69

11.64

9.93

10.39

43.65

11.29

17.28

9.62

12.71

50.90

12.86

14.09

8.71

6.29

41.95

7.27

3.39

10.89

9.31

30.86

5.53

5.92

6.51

4.68

22.64

6.19

9.78

10.81

7.32

34.10

From this table it appears that the. amount of rain is about
one-half as great in San Francisco as in any of the American
states east of the Mississippi. Here, all the rain falls in the
winter and spring; there, the amounts are nearly the same in
the four seasons. They have as much rain in their summer
and autumn as we in our winter and spring. \\e have less
rain than Liverpool and Rome, and about the same amount
with Paris. San Diego has only one-half and Fort Yuma one-
seventh the rain-fail of San Francisco, which latter place is
surpassed nearly seventy-five per cent, by Humboldt Bay. At
Fort Yuma, and all through the Colorado Desert, the rain
comes not in the rainy season of Cahfomia, but chiefly in the
summer and fall, synchronous with the wet season of North-
western Mexico. Unfortunately, we have no statistics of the
rain-fall in the Sierra Xevada, or in the Great Basin, within
the limits of this state.

The least rain in San Francisco, during any rainy season
since 1852, has been 19 inches; the largest amount, 24 inches.
I obtain the followmg figures from statistics kejDt in this city
by Mr. Thomas Tennant, from 1850 to the present time :

The average rain-fall in January is 3.52 inches. The most
notable departures from that average were in 1858, when there

32 II p: s o u R c E s of (California.

were 9.40; in '59, only 1.28; in '60, 1.64; and in '62, 24.36
inches.

The average of February is 3.67 inches ; but in 1853, the fall
was 1.42; in '54, 8.04; m '56, 0.50; in '57, 8.59; in '58, 1.83;
in '59, 6.32 ; in '60, 1.60 ; in '61, 3.72 ; and in '62, 7.53 inches.
This shows a remarkable alternation. In only one year did
the amount approach the average; in the others (excluding
the last), the rains were very heavy and very light by turns.
A dry February, after a wet December and January, is one of
the pleasantest months of the year in California.

The average rain-fall of March is 3.38 : in 1857, the amount
was 1.62; in '58, 5.55.

The average of April is 2.63: in 1855, the amount was 5
inches; in '57, nothing; in '58, 1.35 ; and in '59, 0.27.

The average of May is 0.63 : in 1857, the amount was 0.05 ;
and in '60, 2.86.

The average of June is 0.08 ; of July, 0.02 ; of August, 0.03 ;
and of September, 0.15. There are no large rains recorded in
any of these months.

The average of October is 0.66 : but in 1854, the amount was
2.41 ; and in '58, 2.74; in '55, nothing.

The average of ISTovember is 2.50 : in 1854, the amount was
0.34; in '59, 7.28; and in '60, 0.58.

The average of December is 4.49 : in 1854, the amount was
0.81 ; in '57, 8.08 ; in '59, 1.57 ; in '60, 6.16 ; and in '62, 9.54.

The rainy season of 1854-55 did not commence, it may be
said, until January; for although there were 2.41 inches of
rain in October, yet the amount was only 0.34 in November,
and 0.81 in December: so that the moisture from the October
rain did no good to either the farmer or the miner, having
been completely dried out from the earth before the rains of
January came.

Let us now examine the rainy seasons since 1850, and see
in what months more than three inches of rain fell. In 1851-
'52, these months were December and March ; in '52-.'53, De-
cember, January, and March ; in '53-54, January, February,

CLIMATE. 33

March, and April ; in 'o4-'55, January, February, March, and
April; in '55-56, December and January; in '56-57, De-
cember and February; in '57-'58, December, January, and
March; in '58-59, December, February, and March; in '59-
'60, !N"overaber, March, and April; in '60-'61, December and
February; and in '61-62, from Xovember to February, in-
clusive.

The rain of California usually comes with srentleness, and
falls perpendicularly. The coast, above Humboldt Bay, re-
ceives a greater amount of rain than any other part of the
immediate shore ; and in this respect it resembles the humid
clime of Western Oregon. At Fort Yuma the amount of rain
is from one-fifth to one-seventh that at San Francisco, and it
all falls during the spring and summer ; for the rainy season
of the Colorado Desert does not come at the same time M'ith
that of the remainder of the state, but is synchronous with the
rainy season of Xorthwestern Mexico.

The rain along the middle coast of California usually comes
slowly, and falls gently and perpendicularly. Here it is very
seldom that two inches of rain fall in a day, and three inches
have not fallen within twentv-four hours in ten years ; while
in the Eastern states the former figure is reached frequently,
and the latter every year — where also the rain is generally
accompanied with violent and long-continued storms of wind.
The rains of the Sierra Xevada are far more abundant in quan-
tity, and fiercer in the manner of their coming, than thosj
about the bay of San Francisco. It is established that the
amount of rain, and its equivalent snow, increases on the west-
ern slope of the Sierra Xevada with the elevation ; but our
statistics are not sufficiently extensive to enable us to deter-
mine w^hether the increase is in regular ratio to the altitude, or
what the proportions are between the snow and rain at difier-
ent heights. It is, however, an unquestioned fact that, in or-
dinary seasons, the amount of rain at Sonora, tv>o thousand
five hundred feet above the sea, is from twice to thrice as great
as in Stockton, onlv seventy miles distant, at the sea-level ;

9*

34 RESOURCES o'f CALIFORNIA.

and the same difference is observed between Nevada and Mar
rysville, which bear similar relations of distance and elevation
to each other.

The statistics given in the preceding part of this section
relative to the amount of rain-fall at San Francisco, are intend-
ed to represent ordinary years, such as all those between 1847
and 1860. But the winter of 1861-62 proved to be an ex-

1

traordinary season, the amount of rain being double that whic
has fallen in any other winter since the American conquest.
The average rain-fall during the winter months at San Fran-
cisco is about 12 inches; whereas, between the 1st of Novem-
ber, 1861, and the 1st of February, 1862, 37 inches fell in San
Francisco, and during the same period 101 inches fell in So-
nera, Tuolumne county. During the four months from the 1st
of November, 1861, to the 28th of February, 1862, inclusive,
45.53 inches of rain fell in San Francisco, viz. : 4.10 in Novem-
ber; 9.54 in December; 24.36 in January; and 7.53 in Feb-
ruary. This rain caused a great flood, which did much damage
along most of the rivers, and especially in the Sacramento
Basin, where Sacramento City, Stockton, Marysville, and nu-
merous minor towns, w^ere completely inundated, and the
whole central part of the basin, including an area one hundred
and fifty miles long and twenty miles wide, was converted
into a great lake, which covered the land to a depth varying
from two to ten feet for more than a month. The long dura-
tion of the flood, its great height, and the vast damage which
it did, Avill render it an epoch in the history of the state, and
make it well worthy of study, especially so far as relates to
the Sacramento Basin, where the most serious injury was done
— that basin extending north and south from Mount Shasta to
the Tejon Pass, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles ; and
east and west from the summit of the Coast Ranofe to that of
the Sierra Nevada, a distance of one hundred miles. These
two ranges unite at the two ends of the basin, which has its
outlet in the middle, where the Sacramento from the north and
the San Joaquin from the south, having united their waters in

CLIMATE. 35

latitude 39°, break through the Coast Moimtahis to reach the
Pacific. It may be said that the watei-s of these streams, aftei
their union, pass through three straits; one at the Golden
Gate, one hundred feet deep and a mile wide ; one at the
straits of Carquinez, fifteen feet deep and three-quarters of a
mile wide, thirty-five miles from the ocean ; and one near the
head of Suisun Bay, half a mile wide and ten feet deep. The
Golden Gate and the straits of Carquinez aiford an abundant
outlet for all the water from the interior, but not so with the
pass at the head of Suisun Bay. The land at this place is low
— not more than six or eight feet above low-water mark — for
a width of three miles, beyond which there are hills, which
prevent the spreading of the water to a greater distance. The
river is shallow and crooked ; the banks lined with bushes and
covered ^vith tules, which obstruct the passage of the water in
time of flood.

During the flood of January, 1862, there was very little
perceptible increase in the height of the water in San Fran-
cisco and Suisun Bays above the level of ordinary high tide.
But there was no flow of the tide ; a continual ebb of thick,
muddy water, poured out at the Golden Gate for weeks to-
gether, discoloring the sea to a distance of forty miles from
laud. In the bays the water became almost fresh, and the
planted oysters were killed by it in tbeir beds near Oak-
land.

"We may presume, since thirty-six inches of water fell at
San Francisco from November to January inclusive, of 1861-
'62, that the same amount fell in all the low lands of the Sac-
ramento Basin, nearly one-half of its area. We may presume
further that the amount which fell at Sonora is a fair repre-
sentation of the amount which fell on the Sierra Xevada, one-
half of the area of the basin. But possibly snow, which has not
yet melted, formed one-third of the snow and rain which fell
on the Sierra Xevada. It is not, therefore, necessary to take
any account of that third, in this consideration of the flood of
1862 — v\'ritten, as it is, before the waters have g:oue down.

B6 R E S O U B C E S OF CALIFORNIA.

There was, then, a fall of three feet of water over an area of
about twenty-two thousand five hundred square miles, and a
fall of eight and a half feet over an area of fifteen thousand
square miles. This would give us an average of five and one-
fourth feet over an area of thirty-seven thousand five hundred
square miles. The first foot was absorbed by the sand and
earth, dried during a very arid summer and fall; and then
there were four feet of Avater to escape through an outlet half
a mile wide, from an area nearly as large as England, or the
state of Ohio.

The outlet proved insufticient: the waters heaped them-
selves up in the lowest part of the Sacramento Basin, the size
of which low portion I have already given as one hundred and
fifty miles long and twenty wide, or an area of three thousand
square miles. Now, four feet of water over an area of thirty-
seven thousand five hundred square miles, will, if collected
within three thousand square miles, form a body forty-eight
feet deep ; and that figure represents the amount of water that
had to escape through the Sacramento River, below the mouth
of the San Joaquhi. It is to be observed that, as the outlet of
the Sacramento Basin is in its centre, so the freshets come
simultaneously from the north and from the south. The rains
fall along the whole length of the Sierra Nevada at the same
time ; and as the mountain-streams are short and swift, they
pour down their floods immediately and all together. Such
are the circumstances which contributed to the great flood of
1862, and may contribute to other floods in the future.

During January, 1862, 24.36 inches of rain fell in San Fran-'
Cisco, according to records kept by Thomas Tennant, Esq. ;
8.66 inches fell in Sacramento, according to Dr. T. M. Logan ;
37.79 inches fell at Downieville, according to Dr. T. R. Kibbe ;
and 33.79 inches fell in Grass Valley, according to Mr. Atwbod.
I presume that all these figures are correct save those for San
Francisco ; and while I admit the care and accuracy of Mr.
Tennant, I must suspect that somebody played tricks with his
gauge, upon which he could not keep a constant watch.

CLIM ATE. 37

Between the 1st of November, 1861, and the 1st of Febru-
ary, 1862, 37 inches of ram fell in San Francisco; 75.69 in
Grass Yalley; 79.28 in Downieville ; 101 in Sonora; 42 inches
of rain and 50 feet of snow (the siiow probably equalling 60
inches of water) on the summit of the Sierra N^evada at Hen-
ness Pass ; and 34 feet of snow and a great amount of rain
(not measured) on the summit of the same range at the Big-
Tree Road. The observations at the Henness Pass were kept
by Mr. S. K. Dunham; those at the Big-Tree Road by Mr.
Richey.

There have been " rainy seasons" in California which passed
without rain ; and the grass, receiving no moisture in winter,
spring, or summer, has remained brown for a period of eigh-
teen months. • But no drouo-ht — more fearful than the worst
of floods — has visited the country during the last twenty years,
nor have we any accurate information about those that are re-
ported to have happened before that time.

So long as the wind blows from the north, we expect fair
weather ; when it veers to the south, rain may be expected,
usually within forty-eight hours. Sometimes, after a rain, the
clouds near the earth move toward the south, while those
higher up are going in the contrary direction : in such case,
more rain may be expected. In no part of Europe or the
Atlantic states can the state of the weather be predicted or
guessed with so much reasonable confidence as in California.
Here it is almost a certainty that nineteen days out of twenty
in summer and fall, and that ten out of twenty on an average
in winter and spring, will be clear and warm. Many circum-
stances of value, in furnishing grounds for predicting the state
of the weather in other regions, are of no use here. In the
Mississippi valley, for instance, three consecutive frosty morn-
ings are considered as an almost certain indication of rain ; but
in California, frosts have no such significance : for a dozen
may occur successively in the coast valleys or foot-hills of the
Sierra N^evada, and nobody expects rain the more on that
account.

38 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 28. Dryness of Climate. — The small amount of rain dur-
ing the winter, the entire want of it during the summer, the
warmth of the sun, and the great number of cloudless days,
render the climate a very dry one. As one conseqence or ac-
companiment of our dry climate and clear sky, it may be worth
while to observe that near the ocean the clouds are rarely pic-
turesque or sublimely beautiful. The magnificent sunsets,
where the god of light goes down amid curtains of gold and
crimson— those high-piled banks of clouds which adorn the
heavens before and after thunder-showers, in the Mississippi
valley — are never seen near the coast.

Dew is very rare or slight over a great part of the state.
During the summer and autumn, many of the rivers sink in
the sand soon after leaving the mountains in which they rise ;
the earth is dry and baked hard to a depth of many inches or
even feet ; the grass and herbage, except near springs, or on
swampy land, are dried up, and as brown as the soil on which
they grew.

It has been said that very hot days are less oppressive in
Califoi-nia than equal heat in the Eastern states, because the
cool nights serve to invigorate the system, and the extreme
dryness of the climate favors the evaporation of sweat, and
thus keeps the body cooler than in districts where the earth is
ahvays moist. Evaporation is so rapid, that a beefsteak hung
up in the air vrill dry before it can commence to putrefy. A
dead rat thrown into the street, where its body is crushed by
wagon-wheels so that its viscera are exposed to the air, Avill
"dry up," and its stiff hide and meat will lie during a whole
summer in a mummy-like condition. In many places, steel
may be exposed to the night air for weeks without getting a
touch of rust.

It is common to ascribe the effects of the dryness of the
atmosphere to the "purity" of the air; but it is rather the
absence of moisture. I know no reason for supposing that,
apart from its dryness, the air in California is purer than in
any other pai't of the continent. It may be, however, that tl^e

CLIMATE. 39

constant decomposition of animal and vegetable manner, lying
on wet ground, under a hot sun, causes the air in other states
to be filled with such gases as are not set free to an equal
'extent here.

In May and June, all California " dries up" — the rivers, the
brooks, the springs, the ditches, the vegetation — and, with
them, manv of the resources of the countrv.

§ 29. Length of Days. — The shortest day in the year, the
20th of December, measures nine hours and four minutes be-
tween sunrise and sunset at Crescent City, and ten hours at
San Diego ; Avhile the longest day, the 20th of June, measures
fifteen hours and seventeen minutes on the southern border,
and fourteen hours and nineteen minutes on the northern bor-
der of the state — or, measuring from the beginning of twilight
in the morning to the end of twilight at night, the day meas-
ures nineteen hours and fortv-seven minutes on the Siskivon
Mountains, and seventeen hours and forty-three minutes at
Fort Yuma.

§ 30. Thunder- Storms. — Thunder-storms are very rare in
California. Lightning is not seen more than three or four
times a year at San Francisco, and then it is never near, but
far off, playing about the peak of Mount Diablo. Thunder is
still more rare. Indeed, many persons have been here for
years, and cannot say that they have ever seen the one or
heard the other. During eleven years' residence in the state,
I have never seen a brilliant flash of lightning or heard a loud
clap of thunder. Thunder-storms are sometimes witnessed
high up in the mountains, and in the Great Basin ; vei-y rarely
in any of the low land of the state. In May, 1860, a house in
Sonora was struck by lightning; and in February, 1861, three
vessels in Humboldt Bav were struck in the same manner:
and, though there were persons in the house and on all the
vessels, no serious injury was done to either person or prop-
erty in any case. On the 2oth of May, 1860, a Chinaman was

40 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

killed by lightning near the Lexington House, on the Coloma
road, in Sacramento county.

The weather never has that peculiar condition which isolates
everybody electrically, and then fills them with electricity. In
New York, on a dry winter evening, a man dressed in wool-
len and shod in w^oollen slippers, after sliding along on the
carpet a few steps, will accumulate so much electricity, that
when he thrusts his finger at another person, a visible spark
will fly off, and he can light gas with it ! But this amusing
experiment, common as it is in the Eastern states, never has
been successful, and probably never will be often practised,
here.

§ 31. Hail. — Hail is a rarity; and instead of falling in July
and August, as is usual in the Eastern states and Europe, it is
seen in California only between February and May. On the
10th of May, 1856, a storm of hail-stone.«, some of them weigh-
ing twelve pounds each, visited a small district at Butte Creek,
in Shasta county. It has several times happened that hail-
stones more than an inch in diameter have fallen in the Sacra-
mento valley.

The Aurora Borealis is seldom seen in California, perhaps
not more than half a dozen times within the last ten years.
The aurora of the 28th of August, 1859, seen over a great part
of the world, was plainly visible in this state.

§ 32. Earthquakes. — Earthquakes are common in some
parts of California, and especially at San Francisco, Los An-
geles, and near the Tejon Pass, at the southern junction of the
Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountains. They are rare at Sacra-
mento, Marys ville, Vallejo, and Xapa. As a general rule, they
are less frequent and less severe in the northe'-n than in the
southern part- of the state. The vicinity ot Humboldt is more
often shaken than any other place north of the bay of San
Francisco. About a dozen earthquakes are felt in a year at
different places in the state ; not so mnny at one place. Most

CLIMATE. 41

of the shocks are so slight as to pass unnoticed by a great
majority of the people; and there are persons who have re-
sided six or eight years in San Francisco, and many who have
resided ten years in other parts of the state, and say they have
never felt an earthquake. Xo person has been hurt, nor has
any strongly-built house been injured, by an earthquake in
Cahfornia, north of latitude 35°, since the American conquest.
Several brick walls have been cracked in San Fi'ancisco, but
they were weak structures, built on "made ground," and
would perhaps have cracked by settling, of their own weight.
On three or four occasions, large four-story houses have been
so much shaken, that the mmates have run out in great alarm ;
but on examination it was found that the buildino^s were unin-
jured, even in the slightest perceptible manner.

On one such occasion, a friend of mine, who thought his life
in great danger, and ran to save it, observed before he left his
room that the water was splashed out of his basin by the
movement of the house. The basin was of earthen ware, about
fifteen inches in diameter at the top, six inches deep, half full
of water, and it stood on an ordinary wash-stand. He sup-
posed that, with another such a shock or two, the building
must be in ruins ; and he was verv much astonished the next
morninoj to find that there was not the slio-htest crack in the
plastering. His room was in the fourth story of a brick hotel.
It seems that the whole building: had moved to^rether.

The fear of earthquakes prevents the erection of high struc-
tures for show ; and, for this reason, there is not a tall steeple
in San Francisco. The largest churches have been commenced
on such a plan that they might be crowned with lofty spires,
but it was thought more prudent to leave them with low tow-
ers. The same motive induces manv wealthv families to reside
in wooden houses, which are considered better fitted to resist
the shocks of earthquakes. These wooden houses, it must be
kept in mind, are not "framed" with mortices and tenons, as
large wooden houses are usually erected in the Atlantic states,
but are " Chicago frames," held together with nails. This

42 KESOUKCES OF CALIFOKNIA.

Style of building, though introduced solely because of its
ch'eapness and simplicity, is considered by far the most secure
against earthquakes.

No earthquake felt at San Francisco since 1846 has been
more severe than one which visited Buffalo, New York, in
1857, as described in the American Journal of Science and
Art for September, 1858. On the 10th of July, 1855, an
earthquake cracked the walls of twenty-six houses m Los An-
geles; but no wall was thrown down, nor was any person
injured.

Most of the earthquakes of California are confined to very
small districts. Thus, not more than one in ten of those felt
in San Francisco is perceived in Sacramento. The most ex-
tensive Californian earthquake of which we have any record
was that of January 9th, 1857. It shook the earth from Fort
Yuma to Sacramento, a distance of five hundred miles, being
most severe at Fort Tejon, about half way between these two
points. Loud noises, either rumbling or like explosions, were
heard to accompany the shock at Tejon, San Bernardino, Visa-
lia, and in the Mojave valley. The waters of the Mokelumne
River were thrown upon the banks so as almost to leave the
bed bare in one place. The current of Kern River was turned
up-stream, and the water ran four feet deep over the bank.
The water of Tulare Lake was thrown upon its shores ; and
the Los Angeles River was flung out of its bed. Li Santa
Clara valley the artesian wells were much affected: some
ceased to run, and others had an increased supply of water.
Near San Fernando a large stream of water was found run-
ning from the mountains, where there was no water before.
In San Diego, and at San Fernando, several houses were
thrown down ; and at San Bueueventura the roof of the Mis-
sion Church fell in. Several new springs were formed near
Santa Barbara by the shock. In the San Gabriel valley the
earth opened in a gap several miles long ; and in one place
the river deserted its ancient bed, and followed this new open-
in o-. In the valley of the Santa Clara River there were large

CLIMATE. 43

cracks in the earth. A larGje fissure was made in the western
part of the town of San Bernardino. At Fort Tejon the shock
threw down nearly all the buildings ; snapped off large trees
close to the ground, and overthrew others, tearing them up by
the roots ; and tore the earth apart in a fissure twenty feet
wide and forty miles long, the sides of which rent then came
together w4th so much violence, that the earth was forced up
in a ridge ten feet w^de and several feet high. At Reed's
ranch, not far from Fort Tejon, a house w^as thrown down,
and a woman in it killed.

In September, 1812, on a Sunday, an earthquake threw
down the Mission Church at San Juan Capistrano, in latitude
33° 20', and thirty persons w^ere killed. The church at Santa
Inez, in Santa Barbara county, was thrown down on the same
day; but the shock, according to report, was an hour later
than that at San Juan Capistrano, and there was nobody in the
church when it fell. At the same time the sea receded a long
distance from the ordinary place of the water's edge on the
beach of Santa Barbara ; and the people there, knowing that
it would soon rush upon the shore, fled to the higher ground,
and by that means alone saved their lives. These reports
made about this earthquake of 1812, to Dr. J. B. Trask, by
old residents, have never been contradicted, though published
six or eight years ago.

The old Mission Church at Santa Clara was thrown down
by an earthquake in 1818. On the 15th of May, 1851, a severe
shock was felt in San Francisco. Windows w^ere broken ; mer-
chandise was thrown down from shelves in stores ; and vessels
in the harbor rolled heavily. On the 26th of ISTovember, 1858,
nearly every brick building in San Jose was injured by an
earthquake. On the 3d of July, 1861, Amador valley, in Ala-
meda county, was severely shaken. Adobe houses were seri-
ously injured, chimneys toppled down, furniture was flung
from side to side of the houses and much broken, and men in
the fields were thrown dov/n.

A severe shock of an earthquake was felt at Fort Yuma and

44 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

vicinity on the 29th of November, 1852. The low grounds
near the Colorado cracked open with long, wide fissures, from
which water, sand, and mud, spouted up. The fissures were
in some places so large, that they turned the river from its
course ; and the change was so sudden, that great multitudes
of fish were left to die in the mud. At the same time, the
mud-volcanoes of Lower California, distant forty-five miles
southwestward from Fort Yuma, resumed their activity ; for,
although tliere is no record of their previous action, yet they
probably existed before. A pool of hot, sulj^hurous water had
been observed at the place by Americans since 1849. Imme-
diately after the shock of 1852, the officers at Fort Yuma saw
a great body of steam shoot up at least one thousand feet in
the desert to the southwest ; and when, soon afterward, some
of them went out to examine into the cause of it, they found
the mud-volcanoes on the site of the old pool, throwing up
steam, boiling water, and mud, very much like the salses far-
ther north.

Earthquakes, according to the common theory of Califor-
nians, are electrical in their origin, or closely connected with
electrical influences. Many of the strongest shocks have been
preceded by a condition of the atmosphere veiy similar to that
which precedes thunder-storms in other lands. When the
weather is sultry and oppressive in San Francisco, people say,
" Look out for an earthquake !" And it usually comes — per-
haps so faint as to be barely perceptible, and sometimes not
until several hours after a change in the weather.

The frequency of earthquakes in California has caused a
number of persons, perhaps a hundred or more, to leave the
state, and return to their former homes on the Atlantic side
of the continent. And yet there they are in more danger from
lightning than here from earthquakes, for there are fifty killed
by lightning in the Mississippi valley for one killed by an
earthquake in California. A year rarely passes that a dozen
persons are not struck by thunderbolts within three hundred
miles of St. Louis. [See Appendix, p. 464.]

CLIMATE. 45

§ 33. Sa?id-Storms, — In the Colorado Desert, and in some
other districts in the southern part of the state, sand-storms,
similar to the simooms of Africa, but not so dangerous, occa-
sionally occur. The sand, which forms the greater portion of
the soil, unprotected by sod, vegetation, or moisture, is swept
away in dense clouds by every high wind, and carried many
miles, a terror to man and beast. The storm stops the trav-
eller, because he dare not open his eyes to the little flinty par-
tides ; nor can he eat, for the dust covers his food and fills his
mouth: and even in the most tightly-built houses the sand
penetrates and fills the air.

A newspaper correspondent speaks thus of a Colorado sand-
storm :

"Should the traveller happen to encounter a sand-storm,
however, he may not get along so smoothly. A huge, black
cloud, rising from the western horizon, warns him of its ap-
proach. Rapidly it spreads over the sky, darkens the sun,
and the fine particles of sand are swept before the gale in a
dense and sufibcating cloud ; even the larger gravel and peb-
bles are sometimes lifted from the plain and carried like hail
before the force of the blast. The horses are blinded, para-
lyzed with fear, and no urging can induce them to go forward.
Were it otherwise, to go on would be folly ; the road and sun
are hid from view ; no landmarks by which to be guided —
safety bids you remain. The traces are unhitched, and the
horses tethered to the wagon ; the only course is to securely
fasten down the sides to the wagon-top, and wait with what
patience one can command until the storm has passed, which
will be, doubtless, in from six to ten hours.

"Once the sta^e encountered a sand-storm while within
three hundred yards of a station ; the horses could not be in-
duced to move, and there was no remedy but to stay by them
till the gale had spent its force, though the station was even

in sight.

" I have found such a storm sufficiently disagreeable while
housed by the river-side, the fine sand penetrating everywhere,

46 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

and have no ambition to encounter one upon the central des-
ert. Luckily, they are not very common in the severest aspect;
in summer, quite rare."

Note. — The chief writers upon the Meteorology of California have been,
Dr. Henry Gibbons, of Alameda, and Dr. T. M. Logan, of Sacramento, whose
writings have been published in the books of the Smithsonian Institute, and
in the newspapers of San Francisco and Sacramento.

GEOLOGY. 47

CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGY.

§ 34. General Geological Character. — California, geologi-
cally considered, belongs chiefly to the paleozoic and tertiary
epochs. The carboniferous rocks are wanting, or their exist-
ence in the state is confined to a very small district, and has
not been demonstrated even there. A tertiary sandstone, some
of which is metamorphic, having lost its original stratification
under the influence of intense heat, underlies the valleys of the
Sacramento, the San Joaquin, and the coast, and is seen in the
Coast Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Desert.
Granite occupies the higher portions of all the mountainous
districts, and considerable portions of the Great Basin and the
borders of the Colorado Desert, The scarcity of stratified
rocks is plainly discoverable by the traveller in the number
and ruggedness of the mountains; only primary, eruptive, and
metamorphic rocks make such steep hill-sides. The thinly-
stratified rocks, with intervening layers of clay, are soon worn
down by the water into gentle slopes, and covered with fertile
soil, every foot of which may be turned over by the plough,
and with profit. Such is not the character of California, nearly
all of which is primary or metamorphic.

Many rocks besides granite and tertiary sandstone appear
in irregularly-distributed patches. About Mounts Shasta and
Lassen, Castle Peak, the Marysville Buttes, in the plateau of
the Sierra Xevada, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Desert,
there are considerable tracts of basalt, lava, trap, and trachyte ;
and in other places there are small tracts. Some very remark-
able hills of basalt, called "Table Mountains," are found in the

48. RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Sierra Nevada. Tlie largest of these is in Tuolumne county,
about three thousand feet above the sea, and one hundred
miles eastward from San Francisco. It is thirty miles long,
tliree hundred to eight hundred feet high above the surround-
ing country, and about a quarter of a mile wide, in many places
less. The basaltic formation is evident at a distance, from the
perpendicularity of the sides near the top, and the flatness of
its summit, gently descending toward the west. Along the
sides of the Sierra Nevada, near the line of separation between
the sandstone of the valley and the granite of the higher parts
of the Sierra, are found various other rocks, among which
slate, quartz, and limestone, are prominent. The slates are
usually soft, their cleavage often perpendicular to the horizon.
Limestone is abundant about two thousand feet above the sea,
between latitudes 37° 30' and 39°. It is all metamorphic, and
some of it is a fine marble, which may prove of value for stat-
uary. Most of it is gray in color. Metamorphic limestone is
also found near Santa Cruz, near New Almaden, at Monte
Diablo, and in Shasta and Siskiyou counties. It is said that
some stratified secondary limestone has been found in Shasta
county, but this is a matter of doubt. No secondary coal has
been found in the state. Tertiary coal, much of it a lignite,
has been found at various places in San Diego, Santa Clara,
Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and So-
noma counties, and much money has been spent in opening
veins.

§ 35. Diluvium. — The Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys
are covered with a diluvium from four hundred to fifteen hun-
dred feet deep. It is composed of alternate layers of sand,
gravel, and clay. The most complete information which we
have as to the nature of this diluvium is given in the report
of the boring of an artesian well, one thousand feet deep, at
Stockton. This is, I believe, the only artesian well in the Sac-
ramento Basin ; at least, it is the most notable one. An at-
tempt was made to bore an artesian well in Sacramento, but
the auger struck a stratum of boulders about four hundred feet

GEOLOGY. 49

from the surface, and was unable to pass through it. The fol-
io wingr is a statement of the different strata encountered in the
Stockton well, and the thickness of each in feet, beginning at
the surface :

Black loam, 6 ; red clay, 6 ; dark-red clay and sand, 18 ; blue
clay, mica, and sand, 10; blue clay, hard, highly stratified, 4;
blue clay, mica, and sand, 3 ; blue clay, hard, and highly strati-
fied, 4 ; green sandstone and clay, very hard, 29 ; blue clay,
sand, and gravel, slightly impregnated with gold, 2 ; blue clay,
sand, and gravel, 18 (100) ; green sandstone, clay, and mica,
hard, 15; fine gravel, 5; gray quicksand, 15; blue clay, 8;
gray sand and clay, 27 ; dark-blue clay and sand, 33 (203) ;
coarse gravel and pebble-stone, 27; blue clay, 7; gray sand,
13 ; blue clay and sand conglomerated, 12 ; light-gray sand, 3 ;
blue clay, 6 ; light sand, 9 ; bhie clay, 1 ; fine gray sand, 12 ;
dark clay, 2 ; fine gray sand, 7 (302) ; clay and sand, 10 ; coarse
gray sand, 1; light clay, 19; coarse sand, 14. (Xote. — At
340 feet, in this stratum of sand, a red-wood stump was found,
and a stream of water ascended to within three feet of the
surface.) Light clay, 8; fine gray sand, 1^; light clay, 20i;
coarse gray sand, 20 ; clay, very hard, 4 (400) ; gray sand and
clay, 5; clay, 20; coarse gray sand, 3; light clay, 15; fine
gray sand, 4 ; light clay and sand, 1 ; coarse gray sand and
clay, 1 ; light-blue clay, 11 ; gray sand and clay, 7 ; light-blue
clay, 15; fine gravel, 1; light-blue clay and gravel, 13 (496);
fine gravel, 25; clay and sand, 2; sand and clay, 5; coarse
gray sand, 7 ; fine blue clay, 8 ; fine gray sand, 42. (Xote. —
At 560 feet, in this stratum of sand, obtained a stream of water,
rising five feet above the surface.) Gray sand and clay, 15
(600) ; light clay and sand, 6 ; fine gray sand, 24 ; clay and
sand, 3 ; fine sand, 9 ; fine graA^el, 3 ; fine gray sand, 5 ; coarse
sand, 2 ; blue clay and sand, 8 ; gray sand and clay, 8 ; clay
and sand, 5 ; fine gray sand, 10 ; clay, 5 ; coarse gray sand, 2 ;
fine light-blue clay, 4 ; hard, chocolate-colored clay, 2 ; blue
clay, 2 (698) ; fine gray sand, 30 ; clay and sand, 8 ; gray sand,
4 ; light clay, 10 ; coarse sand, 6 ; blue clay, 4 ; dark clay, very
3

50 RESOURCES OF CALIFOK XI A.

hard, 2 ; gray sand, 4 ; blue clay, 14 ; liglit-drab clay, 3 ; very
fine gray sand, 24 (80V) ; light-drab clay, 1 ; light-gray sand,
very fine, 27 ; dark-gray clay, IV ; light-blue clay, very hard,
22 ; light clay, 11 ; dark, chocolate-colored clay, very hard, 10 ;
light clay, very hard, 15 (910) ; fine gray sand— a good stream
of vi^ater, 2 ; clay and sand, 11. (Note.— A large stream of
water was obtained in this stratum, rising seven feet above
the surface.) Fine sand and gravel, 10; blue clay, 20; sand
and gravel, 6 ; blue clay, 27 ; clay, gravel, and mica, 14 (1,000) ;
in sand, 2.

The depth of the well is 1,002 feet. The temperature of the
water, as it issues from the well-surface, is 77°, the atmosphere
being 60° Fahrenheit. The water rises eleven feet above the
surface of the plain, and nine feet above the established grade
of the city. The quantity of water discharged is about sixty
thousand o-allons in twentv-four hours.

The diluvium in the coast valleys bears a strong general re-
semblance, in its material and stratification, to that of the San
Joaquin valley. In many places where artesian wells have
been sunk, fossil wood and bone have been found three hun-
dred and four hundred feet below the surface of the ground,
and two hundred feet or more below the present level of the
sea. In the mountains there are also large bodies of diluvium,
but the material is coarser than in the valleys, being usually a
gravelly clay, deposited in distinctly-marked layers, with inter-
vening strata of sand and boulders.

§ 36. Gold. — Gold is found in nearly all parts of California,
but is most abundant on the western slope of the Sierra Ne-
vada, between two thousand and six thousand feet above the
sea, -from latitude 37° to 40° — a district two hundred and
twenty miles long by forty wide. This may be called the Sac-
ramento district. It is drained by the Feather, Yuba, Ameri-
can, Cosumnes, Calaveras, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne rivers.
The next district in importance is in the northwestern corner
of the state, including that part of the Sacramento Basin west
of Shasta, and the lower portion of the Klamath vaUey. Next

GEOLOGy. 51

is the Kern River district, including White River between
35° and 36° on the western slope of the Sierra Xevada. There
are gold diggings on the San Gabriel and Santa Anita Rivers,
and in the San Francisquito canon in Los Angeles county. In
the Colorado vallev, fiftv miles above Fort Yuma, o-old has
been found. Xearly every one of the coast counties has more
or less gold : it has been foimd in the valleys of Russian River,
Putah Creek, Soquel Creek, Coyote Creek, the Salinas River,
and in the earth in which the city of San Francisco is built.

§ 37. Auriferous Lodes. — Gold is found fastened in stony
veins, and loose in earthy matter : the latter called placer dig-
gings, the former auriferous quartz lodes.

It is the accepted theory among geologists that all gold was
once enclosed in quartz lodes, and that the gold in the placers
was obtained from the disintegration or breaking up of the
lodes. The surface of the earth was once all rock'^ the earthy
matter was formed bv the action of air and water on this
rock. The earthy matter was then deposited in diluvium,
among which was the gold that had existed in the rock pre-
vious to its disinteg^ratiou.

Gold is sometimes found in granite, syenite, limestone, slate,
and other rocks ; but the auriferous lodes, regularly worked,
are all of quartz. Most of the quartz veins run parallel with
the main divide of the Sierra — that is, north-northwest and
bouth-southeast — are from a line to thirty feet thick, and are
nearly perpendicular, dipping to the eastward. They are be-
tween two thousand and six thousand feet above the sea. The
general color of the rock is white, occasionally bluish, fre-
quently reddish-brown, the color of iron-rust, derived from the
decomposition of iron pyrites. In some veins the rock is com-
pact, and then it is usually very white ; in others it is full of
cracks and crevices, and ready to break into small pieces with
a little pounding. Most of the veins have gold in them; only
a few have enough to pay for working. The gold is in par-
ticles of irregular shape, but with some regularity of size, scat-
tered through the rock. The particles are seldom larger than

52 RESOURCES OF CxVLIFORNIA.

a pea, never weigh more tlirni an ounce, and often are so fine
as to be invisible to the naked eye.

A lode has usually a peculiar kind of particles, either large
or small. Most of the gold in a lode is usually in a rich streak,
near the " foot wall" or lower side, as if the metal had settled
down by its gravity. The rock near the " hanging wall" or
upper side of the lode is poorest. Occasionally several rich
streaks will be found in a lode — one streak with coarse par-
ticles of gold, another with fine. All parts of a lode are not
equally rich ; but the gold is found in spots. A lode which is
very rich in one place may be very poor in another not far
off; indeed, there is no auriferous vein in the state known to
be regularly rich for a long distance on the surface. The gold
is found in streaks or pockets ; the rich streak i-uns downward,
and has a regular dip in the lode. It is a matter of very great
importance to the miner to ascertain the direction of this dip,
and here is the rule : Take out some of the vein stone, and
examine the wall rock carefully. In most veins it will be
found that the wall has little furrows, as though the lode had
been pushed upward. These furrows indicate the direction
of the dip of the rich streaks. Pockets may be considered as
interrupted streaks ; and when one rich pocket is discovered,
others may usually be found by going down into the vein in
the proper direction, and that is ascertained in the same man-
ner as for continuous streaks. This is an important rule, and
it is now published for the first time. I am indebted for it to
J. E. Clayton, Esq., mining engineer.

§ 38. Placers. — The placers are of two kinds — diluvial., or
those deposited under large bodies of water, as if in a deluge ;
and alluvial., or those deposited under the influence of streams
of water, such as the present rivers and brooks of the country.
It is evident, from an examination of the mining districts, that
large tracts of auriferous ground have been deposited under
diluvial influences. The same strata are found extending over
wide areas, and the deposition is different from that made by
a river. The gold, being nineteen times heavier than water,

GEOLOGY. 53

and from six to eight times heavier than the clay and stones
with which it is found, has sunk to the bottom of the diluvium.
The best diQr2:ino:s are therefore near the "bed-rock." The
dirt in which the gold is found is usually a stiff clay, with
gravel and large stones intermixed. The common phrase
"golden sands" may mislead. Pure, fine sand rarely has any
gold in it ; and the richest deposits of the precious metal are
in a clay so tough as to give the miner much trouble to dis-
solve it, with stones in it weighing from a pound to several
hundred weight. The character of the pay-dirt varies greatly.
A hill of diluvium may be three hundred feet deep, with a
dozen strata of different material, and all of them auriferous in
different degrees. In some places the pay-dirt is full of boul-
ders, weighing several hundred pounds or more; in other
places the stones are all about as large as a man's head ; in
others, as large as a hen's egg. In one stratum the dirt is
red, in another blue, in another brown. In some places the
dirt was deposited in basins of rock, four or five miles across,
and from ten to fifty feet deeper at the centre than at the rim.

The placer-diggings are all found in a very rough, mountain-
ous country. The gold has not been carried far ; its weight
has anchored it near its mother-vein. There may be much
gold in the Sacramento valley ; but if so, it is deposited be-
neath one thousand feet of diluvium, and nine hundred feet
below the level of the sea, where it will never be disturbed.

The diluvial placers are in what are called hill and flat dig-
gings ; the alluvial, made by streams running through the
diluvium, are in river-beds, bars, ravines, and gullies. The
alluvial placers, as a general rule, are richer than the diluvial.
The streams have carried away much of the dirt, and left
nearly all the metal. Most of the gold of the rivers comes
from gulhes. There is a gully on a mountain : it is dry, ex-
cept during heavy rains ; it has steep sides. The rain comes ;
the water pours down its sides, fiercely sweeping clay, gravel,
and gold along. The bed of the ravine is not so steep as the
Bides ; most of the gold stops there ; the dirt is carried away

54 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

into the river, with a little gold. A thousand such gullies,
contributing each a little gold, make a river rich. The heav-
ier particles are deposited in the middle of the river-bed ; many
of the smaller particles are deposited at the sides. The richest
spots in gullies are usually where the bed-rock is full of crev-
ices, as where slate, with perpendicular strata, crosses the
gully. In those parts of a gully where the bed is very steep,
there is usually less gold than in spots nearly level. In rivers,
the richest spots are usually just below canons, where bars are
formed. Wherever there are eddies at times of high water,
there the gravel, clay, and gold will be deposited ; and when
the river falls, a bar is exposed. The richest bars of California
have been found at the mouths of caiions.

§ 39. Mineralogy of Gold. — The particles of gold in quartz
are usually very rough in shape, but sometimes they are in
octahedral crystals, and at others in smooth, leaflike sheets.
Very rarely specimens of crystals are found, clustered together
so as to resemble pieces of coral.

Placer-gold, called " gold dust," is fine and coarse.

The fine is in scales^ grains^ flour^ shot, and wire.

Flour-gold is very fine dust.

Grain-gold is in particles about as large as the end of a pin.

Scale-gold is in scales from a sixteenth to an eighth of an
inch across, and as thick as heavy wrapping-paper.

Shot-gold is in roundish particles, the size of a pin-head.

Wire-gold is in small wires, from an eighth of an inch to an
inch long, and as thick as a pin. Sometimes the wires are
fluted, or hollow on one side ; and sometimes they are knotted
together.

Coarse gold is coarse-shot, pea, bean, moccasin, cucumber-
seed, pumpkin-seed, large wire, and miscellaneous coarse.

The pea, bean, cucumber-seed, and pumpkin-seed varieties
of gold, have particles resembling in shape the seeds whence
they derive their names. The coarse-shot is in particles re-
sembling coarse shot in shape and size. Moccasin-gold is in
pieces resembling a low shoe or moccasin in shape, and about

GEOLOGY. 55

half an inch long. Large wire-gold is in wirehke pieces, about
a sixteenth of an inch thick, and from a quarter of an inch to
an inch long. Miscellaneous coarse gold is in pieces of very
irregular shape and size.

Fine gold is often found without any admixture of coarse ;
coarse is rarely found without some admixture of fine.

The different varieties of gold are often found separate from
each other. One gully will have scale gold, another fine wire-
gold, another moccasin-gold, another pumpkin-seed gold, and
80 on. These different varieties of gold are frequently found
very near to each other : a cucumber-seed gully will not be
more than a hundred yards from a pea gully. There is a small
hill in El Dorado county ; all the gold on one side is fine, all
on the other coarse. The gold as it originally comes from the
quartz is rough, but by friction among the gravel and sand it
becomes smooth. Where all the pieces of gold are rough, it
has not moved far from its maternal lode ; where all the par-
ticles are small and smooth, the presumption is that it has
moved a considerable distance. The larger the stream, the
finer and smoother its gold, as a general rule.

Most of the gold now obtained is miscellaneous coarse ; the
little gullies which yielded the delicate varieties are now nearly
all exhausted.

Most of the placer-gold is coarse, in pieces worth half a dol-
lar or more. Pieces worth five dollars are very common, and
numberless nuggets worth one hundred dollars or more have
been found in California. The largest nugget of gold on rec-
ord was found at Ballaarat, Australia, on the 9th of June,
1858 ; it weighed two hundred and twenty-four pounds Troy,
of nearly pure gold, and was called " The Welcome Nugget."
The next, weighing one hundred and ninety-five pounds Ti'oy,
was found in Calaveras county, California, in November, 1854.
The third, called " The Blanche Barkly Xugget," weighed one
hundred and forty-five pounds Troy, and was also found iu
Australia. Smaller lumps are too numerous to mention. All
placer-gold is called " dust," but the particles of the dust are

5(5 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

sometimes pretty large. No satisfactory explanation has been
given of the fact that placer-gold is usually in particles so much
larger than that found in quartz.

Gold is fine and coarse mechanically — that is, in the size of
its particles — and chemically in its composition. Most metals
are found in ores, combined chemicallv with non-metallic sub-
Stances which hide them. The ores have usually neither the
.color, the specific gravity, the strength, nor the other peculiar
features of the metals. Native gold is never found as an ore ;
it is always in a metallic form. The reason of this is, that it
does not rust on exposure to the air, nor is it dissolved by any
of the simple acids. And yet it is never found pure, but always
mixed with silver, in nearly all possible proportions. Fre-
quently copper and lead are also found in native gold. The
amount of other metal in gold is designated by figures of fine-
ness, estimated according to thousandths. Perfectly pure gold
is 1,000 fine; gold containing one-tenth of its weight in silver .
is 900 fine; that is, 900 parts in 1,000 are gold, and 100 are
silver. In gold 600 fine, 400 parts in 1,000 are of other
metal.

The native gold in California varies in fineness from 500 to
990, averaging about 880. One large piece, found at Downie-
ville, was 992 fine. In Mariposa, Fresno, and Buena Yista
counties, and at Mono Lake and Walker's River, east of the
Sierra Nevada, the fineness is very low. The gold of the Col-
orado is very fine. In other districts there are great variations
in the fineness within small distances. One has gold 900 fine ;
another, one hundred yards distant, has gold only 800 fine.
Ordinarily, all the gold in a gully or in a river-bar is of the
same fineness ; so also all the gold in a quartz-lode is of the
same fineness. But there are the same differences of fineness
between the gold taken from different quartz-lodes as in that
taken from different gullies. For these differences there is no
satisfactory explanation.

Let us now run through the list of the principal mining dis-
tricts of the state, giving the fineness of the placer-gold of each ;

GEOLOGY. 67

The gold found in the bars and beds of the Klamath and
Salmon Rivers is in coarse particles, averaging 868 fine, and
mixed with iridium.

The gold of Scott River is coarser and poorer. That of the
South Fork of Scott River is about 875 fine, and coarse.

The gold on Trinity River, near Weaverville, is in small
particles, from 885 to 940 fine.

Twenty miles below Weaverville, on the same river, the
gold is poorer — from 865 to 870.

Still farther down, iridium becomes so abundant, that the
gold is worth a dollar or a dollar and a half per ounce less
than it would be if clear of that metal.

In the gullies and hills near Weaverville there are rich dig-
gings of coarse gold, from 890 to 960 fine.

At Gold Blufi"the gold is 950 fine.

The gold found at Yuba is coarse, in rough, flat particles, from
^20 to 830 fine. In some lumps from Yuba little pebbles have
been found hidden in their centre.

The gold of most of the creeks near Yuba is from 845 to
850 fine.

McAdam's Creek, near Shasta, yields gold from 875 to 885
fine.

Cottonwood Creek, near the Oregon line, yields gold of the
same fineness.

At Oro Fino, near Yuba, the gold is in wires, and, like all
wiry gold, is of poor quality, from 760 to 780 fine.

The Shasta gold is generally coarse, ranging from 865 to
925 fine, except at French Gulch, where it is only 830 fine.

The Pit River gold is coarse and poor, 830 fine.

The Feather River gold is all good, from 890 to 920 fine.

At Oroville it is from 920 to 940 fine.

At La Porte, Gibsonville, and Pine Grove, in Sierra county,
the diggings are deep, and the gold coarse, and from 915 to
970 fine. At Poor Man's Creek, the gold is coated with some-
thing like an enamel, the color of iron-rust. When the gold
is pounded, this enamel breaks ofi*.
3*

58 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The Downieville gold is coatse, and from 895 to 925 fine.

At Goodyear's Bar the fineness varies from 880 to 885.

At Foster's Bar, and farther down, from 890 to 900.

At Slate Creek and Canon Creek, from 900 to 910.

At Forbestown, in Yuba county, the gold is 890 fine.

At Camptonville, the fineness is from 920 to 970, except in
one hil], which has wiry gold, 870 fine.

The gold of the Middle Fork of the Yuba River is fine, from
885 to 890.

That of the creeks and ravines tributarv to that stream is
Still finer— from 900 to 920.

At Xorth San Juan the fineness is from 960 to 965.

At French Corral it is 920 fine.

The gold of the Southern Fork of the Yuba River is from
890 to 900 fine.

Every hill about the town of N^evada has a quality of gold
differing from that of other places in the vicinity. Some of it.
is very good, but the general character is j^oor, from 800 to
850. Most of it is rough.

The Grass Valley gold is jDOor, from 800 to 840.

At Rough and Ready the gold varies as at ISTevada.

The gold of Yuba county is good, from 940 to 970.

The Timbuctoo gold in Yuba county is 950 fine.

The gold of Park's Bar is 910 fine.

The Xorth Fork of the American River has gold from 915
to 920 fine; the Middle Fork from 865 to 900; the South
Fork from 915 to 920.

At Iowa Hill, the gold is 900 fine ; at Michigan Bluff*, 930 ;
at Forest Hill, 900; at Yankee Jim's, from 890 to 910; at
Auburn, 860 ; below Auburn, and near Ophir, 820 ; and at
Secret Ravine, 780. All these placers are in Placer county.
At Gold Hill, in Placer county, iridium is found fastened in
with the gold; the only j^lace on the coast where the two
metals are found fastened together.

Next we come to El Dorado comity. The Coloma gold is
good, about 915 fine; and ^ome of the hill gold in the vicinity

GEOLOGY. 59

of the town is from 920 to 930 fine. The Georgetown gold is
coarse, and from 890 to 920 fine. At Kelsey's Diggings the
fineness is 860, At Placerville the range is from 870 to 970.
Coon Hollow, near Placerville, produces gold 970 fine. At
Diamond Springs the fineness varies from 870 to 900. The
El Dorado or Mud Springs gold is 860 fine. The gold of the
Cosumnes River varies from 865 to 875.

The gold along the American River, in Sacramento county,
is from 915 to 920 fine.

Most of the gold in Amador county is poor, from 865 to
920. The gold about Vf/cano averages 870; Jackson, 865 to
868 ; the Buttes, near Jackson, 920.

The gold of the Mokelumne River, above Mokelumne Hill,
varies from 850 to 910. At the hHl, some of the gold has been
980 fine. At Campo Seco the fineness is 900. Along the Mo-
kelumne River are many placers where the gold is in coarse,
wiry pieces, and poor in quaHty. At Vallecito, the fineness is
915 ; at San Andres, 920 ; at Murphy's, 885 ; at Douglas Flat,
890; at AngeFs, 890; at Jesus Maria, from 858 to 860; and
at Carson, from 890 to 920.

The gold found along the Stanislaus River is from 875 to
880 fine.

Columbia, in Tuolumne county, is the best place for good
gold in the state ; it ranges from 930 to 970. There are many
other places where gold equally fine is obtained, but none
which produces so much gold of a high fineness, with so small
a proportion of poor gold. The average of the Sonora gold is
900 ; Jamestowm, 870 ; Montezuma Flat, 900 ; ravines at Chi-
' nese Camp, 950 ; the river and creek claims at Chinese Camp,
860; Don Pedro's Bar, 880; Big-Oak Flat, 800; and Garote'
810.

La Grange, in Stanislaus county, has gold 885 fine ; that of
the Merced River is from 845 to 860 fine.

The gold of Mariposa county is poor, and much of it wiry,
ranging from- 700 to 820 fine, averaging about 760. Some of
the gold of Mariposa county is coarse, and resembles that of

60 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

high fineness from other districts, but, on assaying, it proves

to be poor.

The gold from the San Joaquin River is in smaU scales, and

about 800 fine.

The Kern River gold is 630 fine.
The Colorado gold is 930.

The Walker's River gold is 560 ; the Mono gold 600.
The above figures of the fineness of gold from various dis-
tricts refer only to the placer-gold. The gold from diflferent
quartz-lodes also varies. As a general rule, the quartz-gold is
not so rich as the placer-gold ; but some of the gold taken
from quartz is nearly as rich as any from the placers.

§ 40. Silver.— A large amount of silver is found in Califor-
nia. One-tenth in weight of the gold-dust is silver. But it
was not until I860 that valuable veins of argentiferous ore
were discovered in the state. As gold predominates on the
western side of the main divide of the Sierra Nevada, so does
silver on the eastern side. The Washoe mines are not in Cali-
fornia ; but the Esmeralda and Coso districts are.

Esmeralda is in latitude 38° 15', about two hundred and fifty
miles in a direct line from San Francisco in an eastward direc-
tion, and just within the limits of the state, as is generaUy sup-
posed, though some persons assert that it is in Utah. The
country is mountainous ; the rock is porphyry and trap. The
argentiferous veins are of a bluish-white quartz, containing sul-
phuret of silver. The principal vein of the district runs north
and south, and this has very little gold ; many other veins,
containing considerable quantities of gold mixed with the sil-
ver, run east and west. The main vein is about twenty feet
Avide. The ores assay from thirty to fifteen hundred dollars
per ton, but the hitter figure was only obtained from picked
specimens. Timber suitable for firewood is abundant, and
there is sufticient water to supply the wants of a small town.

The Coso silver district is about one hundred and fifty miles
northward from Los Angeles, one hundred miles eastward from
Yisalia, and twenty miles southeastward from Owen's Lake.

GEOLOGY. 61

Wood and water are very scarce. Little is known about the
district as vet. The Coso and the Esmerelda districts are both
in the Great Basin of Utah, and about five thousand feet above
the level of the sea.

It is said that rich silver-mines have been discovered in the
valley of the Mojave River.

In the Coast Mountains, in Monterey county, a silver-inine
called Allisal has long been known to exist, but it is not rich
enough to pay. Similar veins are found in the Coast Moun-
tains, in Santa Cruz county.

Veins of silver ore are also found in Xevada county.

§ 41. Plati7iurn. — Platinum, iridium, and osmium, are three
white metals resembling steel, often found in the placer mines
of Cahfornia. Thev usuallv occur toirether : and are found
more abundantly in the lower part of the Klamath valley than
in any other part of the state. In many districts they are
entirely lacking. Platinum is found in lumps by itself; iridi-
um and osmium are found united, and are then called irid-
osmium. These metals are found in small particles, usually
fine scales ; the largest piece was of irid-osmium, found on the
Lower Elamath, and weighed an ounce and a quarter. They
are not found separate from the gold, nor are they ever the
main object of search ; they are obtained in small quantities
only, and are rarely bought and sold in the state ; they have
no fixed market price. When mixed with gold-dust, they
injure its value, and prevent its reception at the mint on de-
posit.

§ 42. Quicksilver. — There is probably no country in the
world so rich in quicksilver as California. That metal is ob-
tained only from its sulphuret or cinnabar, of which extensive
deposits are found in Santa Clara county, about sixty miles
southward from San Francisco, and fifteen miles from San
Jose. There are three mines here — the Xew Almaden, the
Euriqueta, and the Guadalupe. The ore is found between trap
on one side, and metamorphic limestone on the other. The
mines are about one thousand feet above the level of the sea.

62 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The gangue or vein-slone is quartz. The ore varies in rich-
ness from 5 to TO per cent. : the ore of the Ahnaden mine
averages 18 per cent. ; that of the Enriqueta mine is about the
same; that of the Xew Idria mine is about 8 per cent. The
lodes are extremely irregular ; sometimes there will be a mere
thread, which will widen out into a mass foi'ty feet in breadth,
twenty high, and seventy long, of rich ore, and then diminish
aeain to a thread. The total annual production of the state
will probably amount to three miUion seven hundred thousand
pounds, of which two million four hundred thousand at least
will come from Xew Almaden. The Kew Idria mines, in the
Coast Mountains, about seventy-five miles southeastward from
San Jose, furnish about three hundred and fifty thousand
pounds per annum. In Xapa county, on the slopes of Mount St.
Helena, and in Sonoma coimty, in the Geyser Mountains, west
of Clear Lake, cinnabar has been found, and companies are
now at work opening the mines. Whether they will prove to
be of value is as yet a matter of doubt. It is a singular fea-
ture of the cinnabar veins in these two last-mentioned places,
that they are accompanied by a porous hmestone which is full
of pure quicksilver ; and when the stone is shaken or struck,
the liquid metal flies out in minute globules. There have been
rumors of discoveries of cinnabar in other parts of the state,
but they are not well authenticated.

§ 43. Goxjper. — Copper ore has been found near Crescent
City ; at Copper Caiion, in the southwestern corner of Calave-
ras county ; in San Diego county ; in Xapa county ; six miles
below Grizzly Flat, in El Dorado county; near Sweetland, in
Nevada county ; and in Shasta county. Sulphuret of copper,
or copper pyrites, is found in auriferous quartz-lodes in nearly
all the minmg counties. Near Sweetland, Nevada county,
there is a claim in which so much copper is found with the
gold, that the dust is worth only eleven dollars per ounce.
No copper has been smelted in the state ; the only attempts
to mine for the ore have been at Copper Canon, and on the
bank of the Cosumnes River, below Grizzlv Flat. Some of

GEOLOGY. 63

the Copper Cailon ore has been exported. There are rich
veins of copper-ore near Crescent City, in Del Norte county ;
but, with the present high prices of labor and coal, they cannot
be profitably wrought. Vitreous copper is found at WiUiam-
son's Pass, sixty miles from Los Ansreles.

§ 44. Coal. — The old red sandstone and the " true carbon-
iferous" rocks, as they are called, are wanting in California ;
and it was long supposed that no valuable coal would ever be
discovered in the state ; but within the last year some veins
of a very good quality have been found near Mount Diablo.
The mineral belongs to the tertiary epoch, but contains far
more sohd combustible matter and less incombustible material
than most tertiary coal. In the strict geological meaning of
the terms, it is not " coal," but " lignite," belonging to a later
date than the true coal, and lying in a different formation.
The rocks are sandstone and shale, of the upper tertiary or
pliocene age, and were formed by alternating depositions in
salt and fresh water. The coal-veins are situated on the north-
eastern slope of Mount Diablo, are from two to nine feet in
thickness, dip to the north at an average of 30°, and open on
the southern declivities of the hills. A chemical analysis of
some of the best specimens showed 50 per cent, of carbon, 46
per cent, of volatile bituminous substances, and 4 per cent, of
ashes. The coal is bituminous in character, breaks readily,
shows a bright surface where fractured, and burns with a
brilliant flame. The quantity is large, and it can be profitably
supplied in San Francisco at eight dollars per ton, whereas
imported coal has hitherto cost twice as much.

§ 45. Asphalturii. — Bituminous springs are numerous near
the coast, from the northern line of Monterey county to San
Diego. They throw up a dark, pitch-like fluid, of a strong
odor, which on exposure to the air grows thick, and finally
solid. It collects in great masses about the springs, and in
some places covers several acres of ground. After being ex-
posed to the air for some time, it is called " asphaltura," which
i.> very hard in cold weather, but grows soft at about 75°, and

64 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

becomes liquid at 85°. Some springs of it rise in the sea, near
San Diego, and others near Santa Barbara ; and masses of the
asphaltum are seen floating many miles from shore. The air
at sea is even scented with it, and on several occasions frights
on shipboard have been caused by its odor, which Avas sup-
posed to come from some hidden fire.

The principal places in which these springs of asphaltum are
found are the following :

1. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the southeastern part of
Santa Clara county. A tract of twenty-five acres is here cov-
ered by the hardened asphaltum.

2. In San Luis Obispo valley. The asphaltum covers thirty
acres.

3. The Napoma ranch, in San Luis Obispo county. The
springs are small, and yield but little.

4. On the ranch of La Purissima, in Santa Barbara coun-
ty-

5. A place six miles west of the town of Santa Barbara.

The deposit of asphaltum covers three hundred acres from two
to eight feet thick.

6. Rincon of San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara county.

7. A place near the San Buenaventura River, twelve miles
from its mouth, in Santa Barbara county.

8. A place near the Santa Clara River, eighteen miles from
its mouth, in Santa Barbara county.

9. A place in the Sierra Santa Susanna, in Los Angeles
countv.

10. In Los Angeles valley, Los Angeles county.

11. The San Pedro Hills, in Los Angeles county.

12. San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles county.

One of the deposits in Santa Barbara is so near the sea, that
the mineral might be thrown with a shovel into a shute which
-^ ould carry it into the hold of a vessel at anchor.

A spring of mineral oil has been found in Mattole valley,
Humboldt county. This is probably the same material with
that of the asphaltum springs Of the southern coast.

GEOLOGY. 65

The asphaltum generally comes up through sandstone. The
springs of Santa Barbara seem to have ceased to flow, while
those in Los Angeles county are still active. It is supposed
that the amount lying on the surface at the various deposits is
not less than five thousand tons.

§ 46. Other Minerals. — Iron pyrites, or the sulphuret of
iron, is found with gold in many of the quartz-veins. Iron is
found also in a number of chalybeate springs. Iron-ore con-
taining, it is said, 83 per cent, of metal, has been found near
Auburn, in Placer county ; and the assessor of Shasta county,
in his report for 1857, said "rich iron-ore" had been found in
that county. Magnetic iron ore is found in the Canada de las
XJvas, and at Williamson's Pass.

Tin-ore, of the kind called "tin-stone," of a rich quality, has
been found in a large vein at Temascal, in San Bernardino
county ; and it is reported that another lode of similar charac-
ter has been found in the valley of White River, Buena Vista
county.

Galena has been found in Humbug valley, Siskiyou county ;
in Tuolumne county ; and on the banks of the Cosumnes River,
in El Dorado county. Plumbago has been discovered near
Columbia, Tuolumne county.

Cobalt is found, in various ores, in many counties in the
state.

At San Emidio, about twenty miles westward from Tejon
Pass, is a rich and large lode of sulphuret of antimony ; the
vein is from four to twelve feet thick, and is about six thou-
sand feet above the level of the sea.

Arsenic exists in many of the lodes of auriferous quartz, in
the argentiferous lodes at Esmeralda and Coso, and in the an-
timonial ore of San Emidio.

Sulphur is abundant in California. It exists in large beds
near the Geysers, in Sonoma county ; near Clear Lake, in
Napa county; in San Diego county, thirty miles northward
from the town of that name, and twelve miles from the sea ;
near the sea- shore, fifteen miles eastward from Santa Barbara;

66 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

in the valley of Santa Clara River, near its head ; and near
San Juan Bautista, Monterey county. The most abundant and
most accessible suj)ply is that near Clear Lake.

Alum is found in Santa Clara county, eastward of San Jose ;
near Lancha Plana and Carapo Seco, in Calaveras county ; at
the Geysers, and at Owen's Lake. At the two last-named
places there are hot alum-springs.

Three miles above the forks of Clear Creek, in Shasta coun-
ty, there are twenty salt-springs.

Springs strong with sulphate of magnesia, or Epsom salts,
are found at the Geysers.

Chalk is found in Amador county and in Sonoma county.

Suisun marble, the most beautiful form of sulphate of lime,
is found in Solano county. Gypsum is found in Santa Cruz
and Amador counties. Fine specimens of alabaster have been
obtained in El Dorado and Monterev counties.

Fine varieties of porcelain clay exist in many of the mining
counties, particularly in Tuolumne. Clay, suitable for making
fire-brick, may be obtained near Richmond, in Honey Lake
valley.

Chromium is found on the bank of Feather River, near the
mouth of Nelson Creek ; near the town of Xevada ; on the
bank of Bear River, above Anson's Ferry ; and on the ridge
between the N^orth and Middle Forks of the American River.
Chrome iron is found in Monterey county.

During the summer and fall, in many parts of the state, a
saline efflorescence covers the earth, or those low^ parts of it
w^here w^ater collects during the rains of winter. This efflo-
rescence is composed chiefly of carbonate and borate of soda,
mixed wdth various other salts. The largest deposit of this
kind is probably found at Soda Lake, at the sink of the Mojave
River.

California is very rich in borax, and the day is probably not
far distant when w^e shall supply a large amount of it to com-
merce. It is found in springs in Tehama county, and in springs
and lakes in Napa county. One of these lakes covers a hun-

GEOLOGY, 67

dred and fifty acres of ground, and is strong with the solut^n.
In the mud at the bottom of this lake, the borax is found crys-
tallized in large quantities. Boracic acid has been discovered
in the sea-water near the coast.

§ 47. Artesian Wells. — There are a great number of arte-
sian wells in California. In Santa Clara county, within a dis-
trict six miles wide by fifteen long, there are three hundred
and eighteen — more than are to be found in any other district
of equal size in the world. Their water is nearly all used to
irrigate land ; some for manufacturing purposes. They supply
about two million gallons in twenty-four hours. The wells
are from fifty to four hundred feet deep ; the bore varies from
six to nine inches. Only a small portion of Santa Clara valley
yields artesian water ; the artesian district lies north of a line
commencing at Mountain View; thence rimning nine miles
with the road through the 'town of Santa Clara to San Jose;
and thence southeast to the mountains. South of this line no
artesian water is found.

It is supposed that the water comes from certain subterra-
nean streams. One well has abundant water at one hundred
feet ; another, not more than one hundred yards distant, has
no water short of three hundred feet. The wells throw up
living fish and shell-fish, wliich are of different species in dif-
ferent wells. Some wells throw up soft-shell clams good to
eat, and of a kind not found in the superterrene waters of the
state, before the opening of these artesian supplies. One well
throws up a snail, with a long spiral shell ; another has snails
with flat shells ; and others have blind fish, evidently of a spe-
cies that has lived longr in stibterrene waters, and lost its eves
because it had no use for them. Like the fish of the Mammoth
Cave, in Kentucky, these artesian fish have the eye-socket and
a blind eye in it. The wells that produce these fish and shell-
fish are mostly shallow, not more than one hundred and fifty
feet deep. If put into water fresh from wells two hundred
and fifty or three hundred feet deep, they soon die, as do su-
perterrene fish ; either, it is supposed, because the water is

68 EESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

to<4warra, or because it has not enough air in it. The deeper
the well, the warmer the water.

Many of the wells have gone dry — " been drained by other
wells," as people say ; but yet how can one well " drain" an-
other, the mouths of both being on a level with each other ?
The wells whose mouths are at a lower level may take water
from those farther up the valley ; but the theory that the
water deserts one well, to flow out of another of equal or
higher elevation, is not sound. There is very little difi'erence
of elevation, perhaj^s ten feet, between San Jose and Alviso ;
and the wells near the latter place throw their water about
five feet higher above the surface than do those of the former.
One cause of the failure of the wells may be the filling up of
the pipes. From many of them great quantities of sand,
gravel, and stones half a foot in diameter, have been thrown
up ; and if a large stone should happen to lodge crosswise in
the pipe, other smaller stones and gravel might soon stop it
up entirely, or break the force of the current so that the water
could not rise to the top. In many cases the pipe has not
been driven down to the foundation ; and the water, whirling
round at the bottom of the pipe, has torn away the earth and
made an excavation, thus preparing the way for a caving in
of the ground, and filling up of the well.

It is the general oj^inion in Santa Clara valley that the arte-
sian wells have drained away the surface-water, and the soil is
much drier than it was before the wells were bored. In 1849,
Dr. Bascom found water w^est of Santa Clara by digging three
feet ; and since then he has been going deeper every year, un-
til now his surface-well is fifty feet deep. In Pellier's garden,
at San Jose, the surface-water was six feet below the surface
in 1849 ; now it is fourteen. Ten years ago, there was a con-
stant stream of water along the Alameda, between Santa Clara
and San Jose ; but that ditch has been entirely dry for several
years. A multitude of such observations are mentioned ; yet
there is no conclusive proof that the artesian wells have taken
away the surface-water. It seems that the soil began to get

GEOLOGY. P,9

dry before these wells were bored. The Artesian wells cannot
draw the water from the soil immediately around them, for
they throw their waters above the earth ; it may be, however,
that their supplies are derived from the soil in the upper part
of the valley — supplies which, if the wells were not there,
would not be drained avray into subterranean channels, but
would go to moisterf the whole valley. It is to be observed
that, at the very time when the soil of the Santa Clara valley
was becoming so dry, a similar disappearance of the surface-
water was noticed far beyond the influence of the artesian wells
— Honey Lake, on the plateau of the Sierra Xevada, and Lake
Ehzabeth, in the Great Basin, both disappearing about the
same time, in 1859 ; and several other little lakes and ponds
in other parts of the country following their example, soon
after.

There are artesian wells at various places in the state besides
Santa Clara valley, but they offer nothing new in a geological
point of view.

§ 48. Paleontology. — It is a general rule, that the animals
of former geological eras, in any given district, appear to have
been the gigantic ancestors of those of the present time. Thus
the kangaroo and emu of Australia, found in no other part of
the world, were preceded by gigantic kangaroos and emus,
whose fossil remains are found in New Holland only. So, too,
South America, in antediluvian times, had gigantic sloths and
tapirs, akin to the animals now found within her limits. Each
continent has a fauna of its own, to which its antediluvian ani-
mals were nearly akin. Every continent has several zoological
districts ; and the ancient and modern fauna of these districts
are sometimes as clearly related to each other, and as distinctly
separate from those of other parts of the continent, as are the
fauna of different continents from each other. But the ante-
diluvian animals of California possessed no peculiar relation-
ship to the animals now indigenous in the state : the former
fauna was totally distinct from that of the present age ; the
fossil bones found are not numerous, and no large and valuable

70 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

s-keletons have been brought to light — only fragments here and
there. Of quadrupeds, we have the remains of a mastodon, an
elephant, and a new species of horse. Of birds and reptiles,
nothing noteworthy has been found. We have no entire fossil
fishes, but a few teeth. Dr. W. O. Ayres found near Pit River
the teeth of a shark, of the genus Lamna — a genus now extinct
on this coast. There are numerous beds of marine shells, the
most remarkable being on the shores of San Pablo Bay, on the
sides of Mount Diablo, and on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
In the blufls of the coast, near the Lake Hou'se, are shells iden-
tical with those now found alive in the vicinity. All our fossils
are of the tertiary period, save a few ammonites of the second-
ary era, found in tlie northern part of the state.

§ 49. Belies of Early Humanity. — In May, 1859, an Indian
arrow-head was found, eighty feet below the surface of the
earth, at Buckeye Hill, IS'evada county. About the same time,
another aiTow-head was found three feet deep, in undisturbed
alluvium, near Freeman's Crossing, in the same county.

In April, 1859, the skeleton of a man was found sixteen feet
deep, at Tehaehepe, in Los Angeles county.

In October, 1855, two stone mortars, such as were used by
the Indians for grinding acorns and grass-seeds, were found
near Diamond Springs, El Dorado county, at a depth of one
hundred feet below the surface.

In October, 1854, the skeletons of two men were found at
Rattlesnake Bar, fourteen feet below the surface, and under
ancient strata, which had apparently not been disturbed from
the time of their deposition.

These are a few only of the fossil evidences that California
has been inhabited by men many thousands of years.

§ 50. Mineral Springs. — Mineral springs are very numer-
ous in California. The greatest number are found in the coast
valleys, from latitude 40° southward to 32°. Nearly every
little vale has one or more ; many of them warm or hot. The
most common temperatures range from 60° to 120°. Some of
these springs yield a lai-ge quantity of water, and are in ro-

GEOLOGY. 71

mantic sites, destined to become places of fashionable resort
when our population grows dense. There are so many of
these springs in the state that there is not room here to men-
tion them all.

In San Bernardino valley there are a number of warm
springs. Their temperatures are thus reported: 108*^, 128°,
130°, 166^ 169°, and 172°. The heat of the springs at Aguas
Calientes, in San Diego county, is thus given: 58°, 74°, 130°,
136°, and 140°.

Near Warner's ranch, in San Diego, is a spring with a tem-
perature of 135°, rising from a cleft in the granite rock.

§ 51. Cortes Shoal. — About one hundred miles west of San
Diego is Cortes Shoal, twenty miles long and three miles
wide, with a depth of only fifteen feet in one place. This
shoal is evidently the summit of a submarine ridge of moun-
tains, parallel with the other ridges of the coast. The shoal
was discovered in December, 1852, by Captain Cropper, of the
steamship Cortes, who asserted that there was evidently a sub-
marine volcano in operation there. The water was in violent
commotion, and at intervals was thrown up into the air in col-
umns ; there was an escape of steam, and he suddenly found
the depth of water change from forty-five to nine fathoms.
He saw also light and smoke, and at one time the place looked
as though it were a ship on fire. The general opinion is, that
he saw only the waves breaking upon the Bishop Rocks, as the
rocks at the shallowest place are called ; but some persons ad-
here to his opinion of a submarine volcano.

Note. — The chief ^Titers upon the Geology of California are W. P, Blake,
J. S. Xewberry, an 1 Jules Marcon, in the United States Pacific Railroad Sur-
vey reports, and Dr. J. B. Trask's reports to the state legislature, and Jules
Marcon's book on the Geology of North America. For the chemical fineness
of the gold in the various mining districts, I am indebted to Henry Yan Yalk-
enburg.

72 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER IV.
SCENERY.

§ 52. Introductory. — California has much beautiful scenery.
The atmosphere is remarkably clear, giving the eye a wide
range. The raoimtainous character of the state not only pre-
vents monotony and secures a rich variety of landscapes, but
gives them extent and grandeur. The large rivers, the high
snow-peaks and ridges, wide bays, forests of the largest and
most graceful evergreens, parks of majestic oaks, natural mead-
ows covered in the spring with brilliant grasses and flowers,
are all magnificent in their kind. The valleys are mostly bare
of timber, with here and there a grove of oaks, and lines
of trees and bushes along the water courses. The coast val-
leys are very beautiful, and in the course of ten or fifteen
years, when ornamented with thorough cultivation, will be as
pretty as any places in the world. Sonoma, Napa, Amador,
San Ramon, and Suiiol \^lleys inay be made as beautiful as
any part of the world. -^■..^„^^

§ 53. Coast Valleys. — Napa vaUey, which is now the most
beautiful of these valleys, because most thickly settled and
most thoroughly cultivated, is thirty miles long, five miles wide
at its mouth, gradually growing narrower toward the head.
Napa River, a small stream, runs through the whole length
of the valley, which is of level land, bounded on both sides by
steep mountains, about two thousand feet high. These moun-
tains, brown near the foreground and blue in the distance, oak
groves, bi'illiant laurel and madrona, fields of wheat and bar-
ley, ploughed fields, good fences, elegant farm-houses, and nu-
merous gardens and orchards, go to make up the landscape.

• SCENERY. 73

The valley should be seen from the mountain-top, whence it
appears spread out as level as a floor. The fields, differing in
color accordinGT to the season and their condition of cultiva-
tion, lie like a great checker-hoard, over which are scattered
numerous farm-houses, and irregular streaks of timber mark-
ing the position of the river and its tributaries. The oak-trees
form a most important part of the scene. They are wide in
proportion to their height, thick in the trunk, heavy in the
main boughs, many of which have a horizontal or downward
course. The top of the tree has the semicircular shape, and the
smaller branches have the pendant grace seen in the Eastern
states only in the elm. The large upper boughs of the Cali-
fornian white-oak have at their extremities some branches or
twigs that hang perpendicularly down from three to twenty
feet, and many of the trees for this reason look in the summer
as though they were covered with vines. Add to these pecu-
liarities the abundant gray Spanish moss, hanging like long
and venerable beards from all the twigs and boughs, and
the dark druidical mistletoe, and we have one of the most
important and characteristic features of the Californian land-
scape.

Sunol valley, a little dale about three miles in diameter,
nearly circular in shape, and shut in on all sides by mountains,
is destined to become famous at some future day for its beauty.
Now it is in a state of nature, but art will give it new charms.

The places in the state most visited on account of their nat-
ural scenery are the Yosemite valley, the big-tree groves, and
the Geysers.

§ 54. Yosemite Yalley. — Yosemite valley is a dell of match-
less chffs and cascades, with more scenes of grandeur and
beauty than can be found within an equal space in any other
part of the world. Shut in closely by walls of rock almost
perpendiculai', from two thousand to four thousand five hun-
dred feet high, it has within a radius of five miles five cas-
cades, one of which is two thousand feet high, another nine
hundred and forty, another seven hundred, another six hun-
4

74 JJESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

dred, and another three hundred and fifty, and tlieir waters
flow through a natural meadow ornamented by beautiful trees
and brilliant verdure.

The valley is a chasm in the Sierra Nevada, four thousand
feet above the level of the sea, and distant about one hundred
and twenty miles in a direct line from San Francisco, and in a
nearly due eastAvard direction. It is watered by the main
branch of the Merced River, which above and below makes
its way through the mountains in deep and dark gorges, the
bottom of which is rarely seen by the sunlight. The valley is
ten miles long and nearly three wide in the middle, from which
it decreases each way. It is bounded on all sides by walls of
yellowish granite, from two thousand to four thousand feet
high, in some places perpendicular, and everywhere precipit-
ous. It is only at the ends of the valley that it is possible for
travellers to get in or out of it, and even there the entrance
and exit are difficult for horses and impassable for wagons.

The general course of the valley is east and west. The main
entrance is at the western end, where a steep path leads down
a descent of two thousand five hundred feet. The view from
the ridge overlooking the valley is splendid. The chasm is
seen winding away amidst the cliffs ; a cascade is in sight, and
numerous mountain-peaks rise in various directions. At the
bottom of the dell are seen the meandering river, the green
grass, and lofty trees diminished to the appearance of shrubs.
The waterfall seen on the right several miles distant, is a mere
white streak on the face of the rock, and does not appear grand
in the least, but it is nine hundred and forty feet high, and be-
comes imposing as the traveller approaches it. The body of
water is about seventy feet wide on the first of June. The fall
is called the Cascade of the Rainbow, from the beautiful colors
which always, in sunlight, adorn the mist floating about it.

Nearly opposite this cascade, on the northern . side of the
valley, and about three-quarters of a mile distant, but apparently
much nearer when the tourist looks up at it, is the Capitan (or
Captain), a rock which projects into the valley and rises up

SCEXEP. T. 75

perpendicularly from the level green-sward three thousand and
ninety feet. Continuing our course up the valley, we come
soon to another high peak on the same side of the valley,
known as the Signal Rock, two thousand nine hundred and
twenty-eight feet high. Four miles above the Rainbow cas-
cade we come to the great falls of the Yosemite, where the
stream of that name, eighty feet wide, leaps down two thou-
sand and sixty-three feet in three falls, of which the first is
one thousand three hundred feet high, the next two hundred
and fifty, and the third four hundred and fifty. About three
hundred feet from the top of the upper fall there is a project-
ing ledge on which the stream breaks when the water is low,
but up to the middle of June, while the current is large and
swift with melted snow, the great body of the water leaps
clear of the ledge, and pitches sheer down into the hill of rocks
below. The Yosemite fall, sometimes calh d by the Indian
name of "Cholook," is, in so fir as height is concerned, the
greatest cataract in the world; but it does not impress the
observer like Niagara. The body of water, never large, is
almost lost in spray before reaching the bottom ; and in the
late summer, the stream dries up entirely. Niagara is sublime,
overwhelming the soul ^yhh the idea of power ; Yosemite is
beautiful and romantic— that is all. The tremendous precipices
here, as throughout the valley, are greater and more impres-
sive than the cascades, which have not enough water to con-
found. Besides, the falls cannot be approached from those
points whence they might be seen to the greatest advantage
and looking from a distance, the Yosemite somewhat resem
bles a great sheet qf white satin hanging over the cliff. But
inferior as this one cascade is to Niagara, the valley, taking
all its scenery together, is far superior in variety and romantic
beauty, and equal in grandeur. A day or two at Niagara is
enough ; while a lover of nature may stay at Yosemite for
months and continually find new delights in the study of the
scenery. I have given the total height of the three falls of
the Yosemite, all of which are very near together, at two thou-

>

76 R E S O U C E S OF CALIFORNIA.

sand and sixty-three feet, which is the figure given by the offi-
cial surveyor*^ of that county; but others have estimated the
lieicrht at two thousand three hundred and two thousand five

hundred feet.

Across from the Yosemite Falls, on the southern side of the
valley, is the Pyramid Rock, so named from the shape which
it bears when seen from some points of view. It is three
thousand two hundred feet high. Three miles further up and
at the head of the valley is "Mirror or Tocoya Lake," a beau-
tiful body of water covering about eight acres. The northern
side of this lake washes the foot of the North Dome, a huge
mountain of rock crowned with a dome-like knob, three thou-
sand six hundred and thirty feet high ; and near the southern
edge of the lake is the perpendicular face of the South Dome,
a still higher mountain, which rises up four thousand four hun-
dred and eighty-one feet, towering above all the peaks in the
vicinity. This*^peak is a sublime sight, with its perpendicular
wall, which, as you look up at it, seems as if it would keep
going up forever.

Winding back now along the southern side of the valley, we
soon come to tlie southern fork of the Merced River, which
rushes down through a gorge. We ascend this gorge on foot,
climbing with great labor over rocks and through the brush-
wood, and at the distance of a mile and a half come to the
Vernal or Canopah Falls, where the stream, about one hun-
dred feet wide, falls three hundred and fifty feet into a basin
surmounted by large evergreen trees. This cascade possesses
one great advantage over all the others of the Yosemite val-
ley, and that is, it can be approached from above, where we
look down upon it from the top of the granite cliflT, leaning
over a natural parapet of rock, as convenient as though made
expressly for the accommodation of picturesque tourists.

About half a mile above the Vernal Fall the river takes a
another leap, called the Nevada or Awanee Falls, but it costs
a mile and a half of roundabout clambering to get to it. The
fall is seven hundred feet high, half of which the water shoots

SCENEIIY. T7

plumb dowu through the air, and strikes the projecting rock,
breaking mto spray.

About two miles west of Nevada Falls is the cascade of Tu-
sayac, about six hundred feet high, but it is very difficult of
access.

A few hundred yards above Lake Tocoya is Lake Tesahae,
which has an area of about six acres, and is forty feet deep.

Xo description can convey a clear idea of the great variety
of scenery in the valley. There are a thousand nooks and cor-
ners and woody dells, full of enchanting picturesqueness.
The rocky cliifs take all manner of queer forms, resembling
pyramids, castles, and domes, chimneys and spires. Li one
place there is a narrow cleft one hundred feet deep in one of
the rocks, as though some giant had commenced to split off
part of the mountain and had left his work unfinished.

The river, as it meanders through the valley, is a great ad-
dition to its beauty ; and its waters, as well as those of the
lakes, are clear as crystal in the summer, though turbid in the
spring. Mountain trout are found in all these streams.

The climate of the valley is cool. The numerous cascades
agitate the air, and near the fall there are often gusty winds.

There is much difference between the vegetation and tem-
perature of the two sides of the valley; the northern side,
where the sunshine is felt throughout the day, being much
warmer than the shadows of the southern cliffs. Shrubs and
flowers are in the full glory of foliage, and flower along the
northern wall in May and June, while the same species are
still bare or budding a mile or two to the southward ; but the
more delicate annual shrubs are usually more healthy on the
southern than on the northern side of the stream, because
those in the warmer spots are stimulated to come out so early
as to be badly nipped by the frosts, which prevail here all
through the spring and into the summer. Tiie valley is almost
inaccessible, on account of snow, before the middle of May,
and the best time for a visit is in June. In the late summer
and fall the quantity of water in these streams decreases

78 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

greatly, and the Yosemite cascade becomes a mere trickling
brooklet.

There are a couple of houses for the accommodation of trav-
ellers, but the fashionable way with those who visit the valley
is to go in parties on horseback, provided with pack animals,
carrying tent, bedding, provisions, and cooking utensils along.
Ladies dress in the Bloomer style. Wagons do not come
within forty miles of the valley. There are some quail and
hare, but no larger game. The dell was inhabited by a war-
like tribe of red men eight years ago, but they undertook to
fight with the Avhites and have all been cut off, and scarcely a
sign of their existence remains, save here and there the dim
vestio-e of a trail.

The valley was first entered by white men in 1848, if rumor
be true, and afterward in 1850 and 1852, but its wonders at-
tracted no notice from the press, and were unknown to the
public until 1854, and did not attract many visitors until 1856.

§ 55. 3Iainmoth Tree G-roves. — The next great natural
wonder of California is the big-tree grove in Mariposa
county. It is a grove of four hundred and twenty-seven
mammoth trees, the largest of which are thirty feet in diame-
ter and three hundred feet in height. This is the largest spe-
cies of tree in the world, and this is the largest grove of them.
The grove is about twenty miles from the Yosemite valley,
and thirty miles southeast of the town of Mariposa, and about
four thousand five hundred feet high on the western slope of
the Sierra Nevada. When the traveller enters the grove he
sees on all sides of him numerous giants of the forest, varying
from twenty to thirty-four feet in diameter, and from two him-
dred and seventy-five to three hundred and twenty-five feet
in heio-ht. Sublime sight ! Each tree fills him with wonder
as he looks at it. A glance at one of these immense trunks
conveys a new idea of the magnificence of nature ; '' glorious
as the universe on creation's morn" is this grove. The Titans
and the gods fought with such tree-trunks as these for clubs,
when the attempt was made to carry heaven by storm, as re-

SCENERY. 79

corded iii Grecian mythology. The trees are so high that you
must look twice before you can see their tops, and then you
must keep on looking before you can comprehend their height.
The best way to see them is to lie down and look up, and re-
member that the spire of the Xew York Trinity Church, which
is the highest artificial structure in the United States, tower-
ing far above all the rest of the American metropolis, though
two hundred and eighty-four feet high, would be entirely lost
to distant view if set down among these trees.

The grove covers a space half a mile wide and three-quar-
ters of a mile long. Classifying its trees according to their
size, w^e find that there is one tree thirty-four feet in diameter;
two trees of thirty-three feet ; thirteen between twenty-five
and thirty-three ; thirty-six between twenty and twenty-five ;
eighty-two between fifteen and twenty ; making a total of one
hundred and thirty-four trees between fifteen and thirty-four
feet in diameter ; and then there are two hundred and ninety-
three between one and fifteen feet through.

One very large tree has fallen, and a considerable portion
of it has been burned ; but appearances indicate that it was
nearly forty feet in diameter, and four hundred feet high.

The Mammoth Tree is a cone-bearing evergreen, belonging
to the botanical genus named Ciqyressus (cypress) by Linnasus.
After the time of that naturalist, his genus of the Gupressus
was divided ; so that the Mammoth Tree would have come
under the head of the Taxodium^ w^hich, about the year 1850,
Avas again divided by Endlicher, the German botanist, and the
redwood-tree was declared to belong to a new genus, called
Sequoia.

In 1853, the mammoth trees first came to the notice of the
public. The botanists in San Francisco, engaged in the tur-
moil of business, looked at the specimens, but had not time to
examine them, and supposed them to be of the same species
with the redwood, to which the mammoth tree certainly does
bear a very close resemblance. Thinking the tree, however,
to be very remarkable on account of its great size, they sent

so RESOURCES OF CALIEOKNIA.

some of its cones, leaves, and wood, to botanists in New York,
bnt they were unfortunately lost on the way. A few months
later, an English collector sent some specimens to Professor
Lindley, Avho not only found the tree to be of a new species,
but determined to make a new genus of it, and he aihxed to it
the name Wellingtonia gigantea. When the news of the se-
lection of this name arrived in California, a foolish and preten-
tious fellow, who meddled with matters of science of which he
knew nothing, wrote a ranting article against Lindley, for try-
inc to confer the honor of the great tree of America upon a
BHton like Wellington, and declaring that the only proper
title for the tree would be Washingtonia gigantea. If there
had been any bad taste in conferring the name of a Tory and
a man of blood upon such a magnificent tree, still the rules ol
botanical nomenclature are well estabUshed, and the matter of
the name is left entirely to the discretion of the man who first
<rives a technical description of the plant and determmes its
o-enus. American botanists, therefore, never recognized the
name Washi?igto7iia, because Lindley's name was of undoubt-
ed priority ; and to acknowledge the priority, and yet recognize
the WasMngt07iia, would be equivalent to proving their own
stupidity. And yet English botanists have, in scientific rec-
ords, accused American botanists and "Americans" of makmg
an ao-itation to establish the name as Washingto7iia. These
facts^'are part of the history of botany, and facts of interest

relating to the big trees.

The general opinion among botanists is, that Lindley was
wrong in declaring the mammoth tree to be of a new genus:
it is a Sequoia, related in the closest manner to the redwood.
When the redwood and the mammoth tree come to be held
as of a distinct genera, then nearly every difference heretofore
considered merely specific may be made the basis for estabhsh-
ino- new genera. Dr. Seeman called the mammoth tree the
Sequoia gigantea, and it bears that name with botanists gen-

erallv.

The Sequoias are found only in California; the Sequoia

SCENERY 81

qigantea only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, be-
tween latitudes 34° and 41°. The tree has the great pecu-
liarity that it bears two kinds of leaves : those on the young
trees, and on the lower branches of larger ones, are about five-
eio-hths of an inch long and an eighth wide, and are set m pairs
op°posite each other, on little stems ; the other kinds of leaves,
growino- on the branches which have borne flowers, are trian-
gular, about an eighth of an inch long, and they lie close down
to the stem. The cones are not much larger than a hen's Qg^,
whereas the cones of many smaller conifers of the coast are
larger than pine-apples. The seeds of the Sequoia gigantea
are not more than a quarter of an inch long, a sixth wide, and
almost as thin as writing-paper. The bark is reddish-brown
in color, of a coarse, dry, stringy, elastic substance, and very
thick— on the largest trees not less than eighteen inches. The
wood is soft, elastic, straight-grained, free-splitting, light when
drv and red in color. It bears a close resemblance to red cedar,
but'the grain is not quite so even. The wood is very durable.
The mammoth tree grows in a deep, fertile soil, and is al-
wavs surrounded by a dense growth of other evergreens, such
as various species of pine, fir, spruce, and Californian cedar.
The scenery in these forests is beautiful. The trees grow very
close too-ether ; and the trunks, usually from afoot to two feet
in diameter, rise in perfect perpendicularity, and with little or
no diminution of size, more than a hundred feet without a
limb • and while all is perfect stillness and rest and shadow on
the ground, the traveller, looking to where the sunbeams are
perceptible here and there on the thick foliage, can see the
flexible tops swinging from side to side in the roaring rnou.
tain-breeze. The soU, being never visited by the sun is alwa)^
moist, and produces a luxuriant and beautiful little undergTowth
of mosses, flowers, and berries. When in such forests, I have
at times compared myself to a merman, who, while at the bot-
tom of the ocean, amid a large growth of queer sea-weed and
surrounded by beautiful shells and the treasures of a thou-
sand wrecks, should look from his abode of peace, and see

82 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the surface of the water, far above him, raging in a terrific
storm.

Many young trees of the Sequoia gigantea, produced from
the seed, are growing in gardens in California, in the Eastern
states, and in Eiii'ope.

The mammoth tree is found only in a few small groves, of
which six or seven are known, though probably there are
many in unexplored parts of the Sierra Nevada. Three of
these groves are in Mariposa county, one in Calaveras, one in
Tuolumne, and one in Tulare.

The three Mariposa groves are within two miles of each
other. The second one in size contains eighty-six trees ; the
third thirty-five. The Tuolumne grove contains ten trees, one
or two of which are said to be thirty-five feet in diameter.

The Calaveras mammoth grove was the first discovered, and
attracts the greatest number of visitors. There are in this
grove ten trees thirty feet in diameter, and eighty-two between
fifteen and thirty, making ninety-two over fifteen feet through.
One of the trees, which is down, must have been four hundred
and fifty feet high and forty feet in diameter. The " Horse-
back ride," one of the notabilities of the place, is a hollow
trunk, which a man can ride uj^right through on horseback,
seventv-five feet.

ft/

In 1854, one of the largest trees, nmety-two feet in circum-
ference and three hundred feet high, Avas cut down. Five men
worked twenty-two days in cutting through it with large au-
gers. On the stump, which has been smoothed ofi", there have
been dancing-parties and theatrical performances; and for a
time a newspaper, called the JBig Tree Bulletin^ was printed
there.

At the same time that this tree was cut down, another was
stripped of its bark for a distance of one hundred and sixteen
feet from the ground. This tree continued green and flourish-
ing two and a half years after being thus denuded, and did not
begin to show signs of dying until a very hard frost came in
the winter of 1856-57. Although seven years have passed

SCENEKY. 83

since its bark was stripped off, some of its branches are yet
green.

A section of bark and part of the wood of the felled tree
are now in the English Crystal Palace. The rings of this tree
were counted; and its age was variously estimated, according
to the different methods of counting, at from nineteen hundred
to three thousand years. Probably its age was about two
thousand years. It sprouted while Rome was in her glory.
It is older than any kingdom, language, or creed, of Europe
or America. It was a large tree before the foundation of the
Christian Church, and was fifteen hundred years old before
the period of modern civilization began. Twenty centuries
look down upon the tourist from the tops of the larger trees ;
and some of the little ones will still flourish for a thousand
years from now, when all our present kingdoms and republics
shall have disappeared, and our political and social systems
shall have been swept away as full of evil, and replaced by
other and better systems, under which men will live in civilized
society without each being forced to rob his brother by means
more or less legal and respectable.

In many of the trees in all the gro^'es, hollows are burned
at the foot, and some of them have been burned so as to stand
on three legs. One of these, in the Calaveras grove, called
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," has an open space under it of more
than a dozen feet square. The largest trees seem to end ab-
ruptly at the top, having been broken off by the snow, which
often falls to a great depth so high up on the Sierra Nevada.
The trees, in some places, grow very near together ; in others,
they are comparatively far apart ; and occasionally two or three
win be seen which are united at the ground, although they
may have been twenty or thirty feet apart Avhen they sprouted.

It is said that the big-tree grove of Tulare county is eight
miles long, and contains larger trees than either Calaveras or
Mariposa, the largest measuring one hundred and twenty-three
feet in circumference twelve feet above the ground. We have,
however, no detailed description of this grove.

fl RESO LUCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 56. Geysers. — The Geysers, in the nortliern part of Sono-
ma county, are among the wonders of the state. They are in
:i deep and steep ravine, amid a district filled with the marks
of violent volcanic action. Down the western slope of the
mountains which separate Clear Lake from the basin of Rus-
sian River, runs a stream called the Pluton River; and near
this are the Geysers, a multitude of spiings, boiling with heat,
and emitting large quantities of steam, with a hissing, roaring,
and sputtering noise. Near them are many tepid and cold
springs, which add to the wonderful character of the place.
Hot and cold springs, quiet and boiling springs, are found
within a few feet of each other. And then the waters differ
as much in taste, odor, and color, as in temperature and action.
One is almost as fetid at times as rotten eggs ; another has
black water, resembling ink ; a third is called the " Eye-water
Spring," and its w^aters are reputed to be excellent for curing
sore eyes and cutaneous diseases ; and the waters of others
are strongly purgative. The ground in the ravine is in places
deeply covered with the minerals deposited by the springs :
among these, sulphur, sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), sul-
phate of aluminum (alum), and various salts of iron, predomi-
nate.

The chief feature of the Geysers is called "The Steampipe,"
an orifice about eight inches in diameter, in the hill-side, from
which rises a lai-ge volume of steam to a height varying from
fitty to two hundred feet. The steam roars continuously,
sometimes burstmg out in puffs louder than that made by the
general-escape pipe. It deposits flowers of sulphur on the
objects which come within its range.

" The Devil's Punch-Bowl," called also " The Witches' Caul-
dron," is in a large hole, six feet across, in the hill-side. The
liquid in the bowl is black and thick, and is always in commo-
tion with the heat, and the vapor from it deposits black flow-
ers of sulphur on the rocks around.

The sides of the canon are bare, and smoking with heat.
The Geysers are a favorite place of resort for pleasure-seekers

S C E X E K T . 85

in the state. They are seventeen hundred feet above the level
of the sea.

§ 57. 3Iud- Volcanoes. — In the Colorado Desert, about lati-
tude 33° 25', and longitude 115° 45', are some remarkable
mud-volcanoes. They are in that part of the desert below the
level of the sea ; and if the water of the ocean were turned in
upon that low land, they would be lost to sight. As it is now,
they are very rarely visited, because they are in a region so
desolate, that an excursion to them is accompanied by serious
hardships. The volcanoes cover a space a C[uarter of a mile
long: and an eighth of a mile wide ; this area is of soft mud,
through which hot water and steam are constantly escaping.
The noise can be heard at a distance of ten miles, and the
steam is visible at a greater distance. The quantity of water
thrown up is small ; that of the steam great. The vapor rises
steadily in some places, with a hissing noise ; in other places
it bursts out with the noise and action of an explosion, throw-
ino- the mud a hundred feet into the air, with a loud report.

There are places where the mud is in constant movement?
and rises in great bubbles, and bursts as if boiling with intense
heat ; while in other places regular cones, apparently hardened
into permanency, and with shapes varying from low hillocks
to sharp points, have been formed. There are boiling springs
which throw up their water twenty or thirty feet ; and there
are lartre basins, one hundred feet across, and five or six feet
below the general surface, in which a bluish paste is continu-
ally boiling. Some of the springs are surrounded by incrusta-
tions and arborescent concretions of carbonate of lime ; others
are encircled by deposits of sulphur. The air blown from the
salses is fetid with sulphur. It is very dangerous to approach
the springs and cauldrons, because the whole earth is soft in
the vicinity of them, and frequently the crust is broken and
thrown up with great force, to establish new springs, steam-
vents, and mud-cauldrons ; and the boiUng slime or water
thrown up on these occasions would suffice to kill a man in a
few seconds.

86 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 58. Santa Ci^z Hulns. — Fifteen miles nortlieastward from
the town of Santa Cruz are "The Ruins," as they are called —
forty and odd perpendicular cylinders of sandstone, from a foot
to two feet in diameter, with holes from six to fourteen inches
wide running through them. These cylinders were discovered
in 1855, in a bed of sand, on the side of a sandstone mountain,
and were at first supposed to be the remains of some work of
human hands: whence their name of "The Ruins." Much
curiosity was excited by their discovery, and a number of men
were employed to dig away the sand, so as to expose the foun-
dation on which the cylinders stood. The excavation was car-
ried down in one place to the depth of forty feet, and the base
of the column was found to rest on the bed-rock sandstone.
The surface of the rock was sloping and rough, and there was
notliing to indicate the work of man. It is now supposed that
the cylinders were deposited by mineral springs, although it is
Ijelieved that no similar columns have been formed elsewhere,
the elevations made by mineral springs being, with this excep-
tion alone, shaped like hillocks or cones — never like cylinders.
The theory of deposition by springs may be the best mode of
explaining their existence, but it is not satisfactory : the cyl-
inders rise perjDendicularly, or nearly so, and are very little
thicker at the base than at the top ; some of them preserve the
same thickness from bottom to top. The material of the shafts
differs from that of the bed-rock by being coarser and darker.
And besides, the texture appears in places to have a spiral
form, as though it had been made of a thick paste, rolled up
spirally into a cylinder, and tlien hardened into a solid ; leav-
ing, however, a plain trace of the manner in which it was
made. And some pieces, which have been broken off, suggest
such a mode of formation.

§ 59. Mirage, — Among the most remarkable scenes wit-
nessed in California are the illusions of the mirage in the des-
erts of the Colorado and the Great Basin. "All the phenomena
of mirage," says Professor W. P. Blake, " are exhibited on a
grand scale upon the Colorado Desert. Mountain-ranges, so

SCEXEEY. 87

far distant as to be below the horizon, are made to rise into
view in distorted and chan2:inof outlines. Inverted imao-es of
smaller objects, and apparent lakes of clear water, are often
seen, and iu\dte the traveller to tm-n aside for refreshment.
The first exhibition of mirage that was seen [by Blake's party]
was from the margin of the plain at Carriso Creek, looking
toward the Gila, about ninety miles distant. It was early m
the morning, and the eastern sky had that golden hue which
precedes the rising sun. Tall blue columns, and the spires of
churches, and overhanging precipices, seemed to stand upon
the verge of the plain. Their outlines were changing gradu-
ally, and, as the sun rose higher, they were slowly dissipated.
After reaching Fort Yuma, and witnessing the strangely pre-
cipitous and pinnacled outline of the mountains beyond, it was
at once apparent that the mirage consisted of their distorted
images. When we were upon the northern part of the desert,
the i3eak of Sio-nal Mountain was often distorted and raised
.above the horizon. The points of distant ranges also seemed
at times to be elevated above the surface, precisely as the
headlands of a coast sometimes appear to rise above the water
at sea.

" Many of the phenomena called mirage are not due to re-
fraction, but are believed to be the result of reflection from
the sand, or smooth surface of clay, or the polished pebbles.
The smooth clay forms an excellent reflector for all the rays
which are incident at a slight angle, and is most frequently
the cause of the appearance of water. The beautiful surface
of the pebbly plain may be regarded as a combination of myr-
iads of reflectors ; for each pebble is so highly polished, that it
reflects lio-ht almost like a mirror. The reflection from such a
brilliant surface, w^hen seen at a favorable angle, looks like a
sheet of water, the similarity being heightened by the motion
of the stratum of heated air in contact with the surface."

The phenomena of mirage are frequently witnessed in the
• Sacramento Basin, and also in the coast valleys, on warm, dry
davs.

88 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 60. Caves. — There are a numbv^r of caves in California.
Of these the most noted are the Ahibaster Cave, seven miles
from Auburn, in Placer county ; the Bower Cave, twelve miles
from Coulterville, in Mariposa county ; the Cave of Skulls, in
Calaveras county; and the Santa Cruz Cave, two miles from
the town of Santa Cruz. The Alabaster Cave has two cham-
bers : one about one hundred feet long by twenty-five wide ;
the other two hundred feet long by one hundred wide. It
contains a large number of brilliant stalactites and stalagmites.
The Bower Cave has a chamber one hundred feet long by
ninety wide; it is reached by an entrance seventy feet long,
and in one place only four feet wide. The Santa Cruz Cave
has no beauty to render it attractive. The Cave of Skulls is
remarkable for having contained, when first discovered, a num-
ber of human skulls and bones, all covered with layers of car-
bonate or sulphate of lime, from the thickness of a leaf to an
inch. These bones are now in the cabinet of the Smithsonian
Institute. At Cave City, and seven miles from Murphy's, in-
Calaveras county, is a cave in which a Know-Nothing lodge
was accustomed to meet in 1855. In the bluff bank of the
Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River, eighty feet above the
stream, is a cavern, called Limestone Cave, with many intri-
cate passages and some fine stalactites.

§ 61. Waterfalls. — Besides the cascades of the Yosemite
valley, there are a number of others in the state. There is a
cataract, about five hundred feet high, on Fall River, which
empties into the Middle Fork of Feather River ; one of three
hundred and eighty feet, where the South Fork of the Ameri-
■^an River slides down over a convex rock, looking like a streak
of snow when seen from a distance ; one of sixty feet, in the
San Antonio River, in Calaveras county ; another of seventy-
five, on the same stream, which fiiUs fourteen hundred feet
within a mile ; and one of three hundred feet, called the " Riffle-
box Falls," in Deer Creek, ISTevada county.

California has five natural bridges. The largest of these is
on a small creek emptying into the Hay Fork of the Trinity

SCENERY. 89

River, where a ledge of rock three hundred feet wide crosses
the valley. Under this rock runs the creek, through an arcli
twenty feet high by eighty feet across. The rock above tlie
arch is one hundred and fifty feet deep. On Lost River, in
Siskiyou county, there are two natural bridges, about thirty
feet apart. The rock is a conglomerate sandstone, and each is
from ten to fifteen feet wide, and the distance across the stream
is about eighty feet. One of these bridges is used regularly
by travellers. On Coyote Creek, in Tuolumne county, ten
miles uortliward from Sonora, are two natural bridges, half a
mile apart. The upper bridge is two hundred and eighty-five
feet long with the course of the w^ater, and thirty-six feet high,
with the rock thirty feet deep over the water. The lower
bridge is similar in size and height to the other.

§ 62. Solfataras. — In the northeastern part of Plumas coun-
ty are many hot springs — perhaps numbering one thousand —
covering an area of ten acres. They roar and hiss so as to be
heard at a distance of a mile, and their steam can be seen from
a greater distance. The whole place smells strongly of sul-
phur, which mineral, as well as alum and various earthy salts,
abound in the soil about the springs.

In four or five places in California the earth is constantly
hot, and sulphureous gases and vapors are always escaping.
There is such a solfatara about fifteen miles eastward from
Santa Barbara; another near Owen's Lake; another near the
Geysers, in Sonoma ; and another near the hot springs in Plu-
mas county. It was rumored in 1858 that there was an active
volcano in Plumas county, near Lassen's Peak, but there is no
satisfactory proof of its existence, though there is a portion of
country in that vicinity of which very little is known.

§ 63. Mount Shasta. — One of the best opportunities for ro-
mantic adv^enture in the state is in the ascent of Mount Shasta.
Several parties have gone to its summit — no trifling underta-
king. The ascent is very difficult ; the sides of the peak are
steep and rugged. The distance from the southern foot of the
mountain to the summit is estimated at fifteen miles. Four

90 K E S O U R C E S OF C A L I F O li X 1 A .

miles from the summit there is a bench of trap-rock; seven
miles Ikrther is a second bench, of red cement or lava ; three
miles farther is a third bencli, of black lava and obsidian.
Near the second bench there are several lakes in cavities which
were once probably craters. One of them certainly was once
the vent of volcanic action. On the extreme summit of the
mountain are a number of basaltic columns, looking like chim-
neys. The scenery is very grand ; for, as the peak is fourteen
thousand four hundred feet high, and towers far above all the
mountains around it, the view has no limit in any direction
save a very remote horizon. The Klamath, Trinity, Scott,
Rogue, Pit, and Sacramento valleys are all visible, besides
Lassen's Peak, the Downieville Buttes, the Marysville Buttes,
the Three Sisters in Oregon, and so on. About a hundred
yards west of the summit there are a dozen steaniing-hot sul-
phur springs, and the earth about them is so hot as to be un-
pleasant. The air is so rare at the summit of Mount Shasta,
that some persons ascending it have been troubled while there
with dizziness, headache, spitting of blood, and difficulty of
breathing.

BOTANY. 91

CHAPTER Y.
BOTANY.

§ 64. Peculiar Fauna and Flora, — California has a botany
and zoology of her own. Her indigenous plants and animals
are peculiar to her soil. Her plants, her quadrupeds, her birds,
and her fishes, are different from those of other countries. The
Californian vulture is, next to the condor of South America,
the largest bird that flies ; and he might easily migrate to other
parts of the continent, but he makes his home only in this
state, and is certainly never seen east of the Rockv Mountains.
The grizzly bear might travel almost as well, but he is found
only in California and Oregon. The Cahfornian deer is differ-
ent from that of Virginia in horns, teeth, feet, color, and size.
The bird known as the roadrunner or paisano might fly to all
parts of the continent, but is found only west of the Sierra
Nevada. There is a blue-jay here, but it difiers from the bird
known to the New-Englanders as the blue-jay. The robin of
New England difiers from the robin of Old England, and the
Californian robin difiers from both. The sturgeon of the San
Francisco market are not the same with those eaten in New
York ; and one species found in California is not found in a
state so near as Oregon. Our trees are like, and yet are un-
like, those of the Atlantic states and Europe. We have oak
and pine, spruce, sycamore, and horse-chestnut trees, and yet
any observant man sees at a glance that they difier in many
important particulars from the trees known by those names
elsewhere. California, with a little of the country adjacent, is
a distinct botanical district. Her vegetation was first pro-

92 RESOUKCES OF CALIF O UN I A.

duced on her own soil, and has not been derived from or com-
municated to any other district by the course of nature.

§ 65. Distribution of Plants. — Most of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin valleys, the Colorado Desert, the eastern slopes
of the Coast Mountains, and the Coast Range south of latitude
35°, are treeless ; the Sierra Nevada and the western slopes of
the Coast Range north of 35°, have line forests ; and in the
foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, and in the coast valleys, there
are beautiful open groves of oak-trees. The timber of the
Sierra is mainly spruce, pine, and fir ; that of the coast, north
of 37°, redwood; and spruce and pine south of that latitude.

§ 66. Superiority of Conifers. — The botany of California is
remarkable for containing a number of the largest and most
beautiful coniferous trees in the world, growing to a height of
three hundred feet and a thickness of eisfht and ten feet in the
trunk, and some of them still larger. Among these gigantic
glories of the vegetable kingdom are the mammoth tree, the
redwood, the sugar-pine, the red fir, the yellow fir, and the
arbor-vitse, or Thuja gigantea. Other large conifers contrib-
ute to the magnificence of our forests. We have the laurel,
the madroiia, the evergreen-oak, and the nut-pine {Piiius sa-
hiniana^^ evergreen trees with a growth resembling that of
deciduous trees. Our deciduous trees are few, and of little
value to the mechanic.

The mammoth tree [Sequoia gigantea) wa5 described in the
preceding chapter.

§ 67. Redwood. — The redwood [Sequoia seinpervirens) is
the second in size and the first in commercial value of all the
trees in California, though not much superior to the sugar-pine
in either respects. It grows only within thirty miles of the
ocean from Monterey to Crescent City, and is never found out
of the state. It bears a remarkable resemblance in color and
texture of wood and bark, and color, form and distribution of
foliage to the mammoth tree, to which it is not much inferior in
size. A redwood-tree called " Fremont's tree," in Santa Cruz
county, is two hundred and seventy-five feet high, and nineteen

BOTAXY. 93

feet in diameter six feet above the ground ; and others equally
large are found in the northwestern part of the state. Trees
two hundred and fifty feet high and eight feet through are
not rare. The wood is very straight-grained, free-splitting,
durable, soft, and Ught. So freely does it split, that boards
twenty feet long, eight inches wide, and an inch thick, are
sometimes made from it with the frow^ Xo wood in the world
splits so beautifully and regularly. There is no better wood for
the general use of the farmer, and it is the chief building ma-
terial of the coast. No timber is more durable either above or
below ground. The color is a rich dark-red, which, when var-
nished, makes a fine appearance in furniture. The tree grows
in dense forests, which contain an immense amount of timber.
Thus, on the plain southeast of Crescent City, there are hun-
dreds of acres of land of which every fifteen feet square, on an
average, supports a tree three feet through and two hundred
and twenty-five feet high — a statement that may appear in-
credible to those who have seen only the forests east of the
Mississippi River. These trees will often furnish twenty saw-
logs, each ten feet long, and every acre will supply material to
make one million feet of sawn lumber, which, at the low rate
of fifteen dollars per one thousand feet, is worth fifteen thou-
sand dollars. The redwood stump, after the tree has been
cut dmvn, throws out a number of shoots, one or two of which
choke down the weaker ones and become large trees. A red-
wood forest is almost inexterminable.

§ 68. Pines. — The sugar-pine (Pinus lamhertiana) is the
most magnificent tree of all the pine kind, and indeed it has no
superior in the AXgetable creation, save the mammoth and the
redwood, the confessed monarchs of the plant kingdom. It is
closely related to the white pine {Pinus strohus) of the East-
em states; "though," as Dr. Newberry says, "like all the
conifers on the Pacific coast, it exhibits a symmetry and perfec-
tion of figure, a healthfulness and vigor of growth not attained
by the trees of any other part of the world." The mature tree
sometimes reaches a height of three hundred feet and a diam-

94 KESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

eter of twenty, but it rarely exceeds two hundred and ten.
The young trees of the sugar-j^ine give early promise of the
majesty to which they subsequently attain. They are unmis-
takably young giants; even when having a trunk a foot in
diameter, their remote and regularly-whirled branches, like the
stem covered with a smooth, grayish-green bark, showing
that, although so large, the plant is still " in the milk," and
has only begun its life of many centuries. The sugar-pine
conspicuously exhibits one of the most general and striking
characteristics of the conifers — the great development of the
trunk at the expense of the branches. Nearly the whole
growth is thrown into the trunk, which generally stands with-
out a flaw or flexure, a perpendicrilar cone, all its transverse
sections accurately circular, sparsely set with branches, Avhich,
in their insignificance, seem like the festoons of ivy wreathing
about the columns of some ancient ruin. The leaves .are three
inches long, dark bluish-green in color, and they grow in
groups of five. The foliage is not dense. The cones are large,
sometimes eighteen inches long by four thick. The wood is
similar to that of the white pine — white, soft, homogeneous,
straight-grained, clear, and free-splitting. It furnishes the
best lumber in the state for the "inside work" of houses, and
is the chief building material used in the Sierra Nevada, where
it grows. The tree derives its name from a sweet resin which
exudes from the duramen or hard wood of the tree. This
resin is sugar-like in appearance, granulation, and taste, and
could not be distino-uished from the manna of the drug-stores
except })y a slight terebinthine flavor. The pine sugar is ca-
thartic. It is found in small quantities only, though it is said
one hundred and fifty pounds of it were collected by a man
who devoted himself for a few weeks to the business of gath-
ering it.

The Western yellow pine [Pi7ms po7iclerosd) is a noble tree,
next in size among the pines of California to the sugar-pine.
It sometimes reaches a diameter of seven feet. Its leaves
grow in threes at the ends of the branches, giving the foli-

I

BOTANY. 95

age a peculiarly tufted appeai'ance. The color of the leaves is
a dark yellowish-green. The bark is of a light yellowish-brown
or cork color, and is divided into large, smooth plates from
four to eight inches wide and from twelve to twenty inches
long, whereby the tree may be recognized at a distance. The
tree is found near the snow-line in the Sierra Xevada, and
east of the summit, and northward to Washington Territory.

The nut-pine {Pinus siihiniana) is remarkable as a conifer
for its spreading top, and for its large cones full of edible
seeds. It branches out somewhat after the manner of a ma-
ple ; rarely more than sixty feet high, though often with a
trunk four feet through — a thickness of trunk that with most
other conifers would give more than double the height.
About half way from the ground to the top, the trunk divides
into a number of branches, which grow upward. The nut-
pine is found in the lower part of the Sierra Nevada, and in
the coast mountains near the head of the Sacramento valley.
The seeds are larger than the common white bean, and are
very palatable, with a slight terebinthine taste. The leaves
are from four to ten inches long, and grow in threes. The
foHage of the tree when seen from a distance, resembles that
of the willow, both in color and distribution. In places where
the nut-pine is found, the woodpeckers select them as store-
houses for their winter food, cutting holes in their bark and
putting an acorn in each. The Indians formerly relied upon
the nuts for a considerable portion of their food. They climbed
the tree by catching hold of the rough, strong bark with their
hands, then putting their feet against the tree, without touch-
ing it with their body or knees, they walked up till they reached
the limbs.

The twisted pine {Pinus contorta) is found in the northern
part of the state. The leaves are yellowish green in color,
about two inches long; and they grow in pairs. The tree
does not exceed sixty feet in height.

Coulter's pine [Pinus coulterii) grows in the Santa Lucia
mountains. It reaches a height of one hundred feet, and has

96 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

fi trunk three feet through. Its branches are large and spread-
ing, the leaves a foot long and pale sea-green in color ; the
cones seventeen inches long, seven inches through, and like a
sugar-loaf in shape.

§ 69. Firs. — The red fir, or Douglas spruce {Abies douglasii\
is a tree of very large size, growing to be three hundred feet
high and ten feet thick in the trunk. It is, as Dr. Newberry
says, " one of the grandest of the group of giants Avhich com-
bine to form the forests of the West." The wood is strong,
but coarse and uneven in grain ; the layers of each ycai^'s
srrowth being: soft on one side and verv hard on the other.
The timber is much used for rough work in houses, and for
ship-building. The tree grows in dense forests on the Sierra
Nevada and Cascade Mountains, from 85° to 49°, and near the
coast north of 39°.

The yellow-fir or Williamson's spruce {Abies williamsonii)
bears a close resemblance to the red fir, and the two trees are
usually found in company with each other.

The black fir {Abies menziesii) is smaller and of little value.

The Abies bracheata (Santa Lu'jia fir) grows in the Santa
Lucia mountains. The height is about one hundred feet, the
shape a perfect cone, the lowest branches resting on the ground.
The tree produces a resin used by the Catholic priests for in-
cense.

The Western balsam-fir {Picea grandis)^ or white fir, attains
a height of one hundred and fifty feet, and a diameter of seven
feet in the trunk. The bark on the trunks of the yoimg trees
contains numerous cysts full of the resinous fluid called the
balsam of fir.

§ 70. Cedars. — The Western juniper, or cedar {Juniperus
occidentalis)^ bears a strong resemblance to the juniper {Ju-
niperus virginianus) of the Eastern states. Its wood, however,
is white in color. It grows to be about thirty feet high. The
wood of a juniper-tree found near the quicksilver mines of New
Idria is so hard and fine in texture, that it would probably be
valuable to engravers.

BOTANY. 97

The Californian white cedar [Lihocedfus decurrens) grows
one hundred feet high, and seven feet thick in the trunk. It
is found from Mount Shasta to the Tejon Pass. The trunk is
usually angular. Many of the trees are affected with a dry-rot
which destroys their vahie as timber.

The fragrant-cedar ( Cupressus fragrans) is found along the
northern coast of the state. It is a large tree, and produces a
white, clear lumber, valuable for furniture and the inside work
of houses. The wood has a strong, lasting, and not unpleas-
ant odor, half way between turpentine and ottar of roses.

Lawson's cedar [Cupressus lawsonianci) is a tree of little
value.

The arbor-vitce, also called cedar {Thuja giganted)^\?> a most
symmetrical and graceful conifer, growing to be nearly three
hundred feet high.

§ 71. Yew and Nutmeg. — The Western yew is an upright
tree, from fifty to seventy-five high, with thin and fight fofi-
age, the leaves being about an inch long. Its growth is
straighter, its branches fewer, and its foliage thinner, more
feathery, and lighter in color, than the European yew. It
grows on the Sierra Nevada from 34° northward to British
Columbia.

The coast cypress ( Cupressus macro-carpus) is found only
on Cedar Point, at Monterey, and there are not more than one
hundred trees of it there. The foliage is very dense.

The Californian n iriiie-r {Torre >j a calif or nica) is a graceful
and beautiful evergreen found in the Coast Mountains near the
bay of San Francisco. It grows from fifty to seventy-five feet
high, and resembles the Western yew in foHage and general
form. The fruit is like a nutmeg in size and shape, but it has
a disagreeable terebinthine taste, and is never used as a condi-
ment.

§ 72. Laurel. — The Californian laurel, or bay {Oreodaphne

callfornica)^ is one of the most common and beautiful trees of

the coast valleys. It is an evergreen, which grows to a height

of fifty feet, with a trunk sometimes thirty inches in diameter.

5

98

KESOUKCES OF CALIKORXIA.

Tlie leaves are dark green, lustrous, four inches long, one mch
wi.le, sharp at both ends, with smooth edges. The iohage >s
dense. The wood is grayish in color, very hard, durable, and
difficult to split. Both leaves and wood have an aromatm
odor, whicli is stronger in the former ; and becomes s .11
stronoer when the leaves are bruised. The odor resembles
that of bay-rum. It gives the headache to some sensitive

persons. . ....

8 73 3£adrona.—ThG madrona {Arbutus 7nenziesii) is one
of the most striking trees of the Californian forest. It is an
evergreen, with an open growth, somewhat hke that ot a
maple, bright-green and lustrous leaves, and a bright-red bark.
Its height is sometimes fifty feet; its diameter in the trunk
two feet. The leaves are oval in shape, three inches long,
pea-green underneath, and dark and shining above. The bai-k
is smooth, and it peels off at regular seasons ; the new bark is
a pea-green, which changes to a bright red. The wood is very
hard, and is used to some extent in the arts, especially for ma-
king the wooden stirrups commonly used m the state, ihe
tree bears a bright-red berry in clusters, of which the birds

are fond. . 7 7 7 \

8 Y4 Manzanita.—ThQ manzanita {Arctostaphijlos glauca),

another prominent feature in the Californian forest, is a dense
clump-like shrub, which grows as high as twelve feet, and
nearly as broad as it is high. The trunk divides near the
ground into several or many branches, and these terimnate m
a great multitude of twigs, so that the shrub is a dense mass
of branches and branchlets, all of which are very crooked.
The wood is dense, hard, and dark-red in color. The bark is
red and smooth, occasionally peeling off and exposing a new
light-green bark, which soon turns red. The leaves are regu-
larly oval in form, about an inch and a half long, thick and
shining, and pea-green in color ; they set vertically upon then-
stems. The manzanita bears a pinkish-white blossom m clus-
ters, and these are replaced by round red berries about half an
inch in diameter ; they have a pleasant, acidulous taste, and

i

BOTANY. 99

are often eaten by the Indians and grizzly bears, but there is
too Httle meat on them to pay white men for the trouble of
gathering them. The shrub grows in the coast valleys, and
in the Sierra Nevada, up near to the limit of perpetual snow.
The name means " little apple," manzcma being the Spanish
for apple.

§ 75. Ceanothus. — The ceanothus, sometimes called the Cali-
fornian lilac, of which there are many species, is a beautiful
evergreen shrub, growing about ten feet high, with clusters
of hlac-like flowers, of various shades of blue, violet, and red,
according to the species. The tree produces a multitude of
little twigs, and a dense foliage, and may be trimmed into
almost any shape.

§ 76. Oaks. — The Californian white oak ( Quercus hindsii).,
or long-acorned oak, is a very large tree, and the characteristic
oak of California. It resembles the white oak of the Atlantic
slope in the color of its bark and. the shape of its leaves ; but
its growth is very different. It seldom reaches a greater
height than sixty feet, and is often wider than high. Some-
times it measures one hundred and twenty-five feet from side
to side. The trunk, which occasionally grows to be eight feet
through, throws out large horizontal boughs within ten feet
of the ground, and above that point the trunk is soon lost
amomr the lar^e branches. The tree fiirnishes no straio-ht
timber, and the wood is so soft and brittle as to be of no use
in the arts ; whereas the white oak of the Mississippi valley is
a most valuable tree, with a trunk so tall and straight, flmt
sills and beatns of it sixty feet long are common, and with a
wood so tough, that it supplies all the axles and plough-beams
of the countrv. The Cahfornian white oak is not even tit for
fence-rails. The tree, however, is very beautiful and majestic,
and the open groves of it in the valleys and foot-hills form, as
Dr. Newberry says, "the most important element in those
scenes of quiet beauty which so often excite the admiration of
the traveller in California." The tree bears much resemblance
in form and size to the oak of England, the groves of it appear-

100

RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

in- like the English parks. At the ends of the large boughs
are branches which hang down like vines-giving the tree,
when seen from a distance, something of the appearance ot an
elm. The acorns are large, sometimes two and a half inches
long. They once formed the chief article of food of the Cah-

fornian Indians.

The evergreen oak ( Quercus agrifoUa) is a low, spreadmg
tree, much like an apple-tree in size and shape. The foliage,
however, is darker and denser. The acorns are small, thm,
and sharp-pointed. The wood is hard, crooked in gram, and
valuable for knees in ship-building.

The Californian chestnut oak {Quercus densiflora) is a low,
handsome evergreen tree, with a leaf very much like that of
the chestnut. The bark is very rich in tannin, and is exten-
sively used for the tanning of hides. The tree is rare north of
latitude 39°, and is most abundant in the mountains about

Santa Cruz.

The Western chinquapin ( Castanea chfysophylla), or golden-
leaved chestnut, is an evergreen shrub that grows in the Sierra
Nevada. At the height of three feet it bears an edible and
palatable fruit, something like the beechnut in shape, but larger.
The flowers and ripe fruit are often found on the same bush.
The leaves are dark-green above, and covered with a yellowish
powder beneath. THe Western chinquapin grows to be a tree
thirty feet high in some parts of Oregon.

The fulvous oak {querms fulvescens) is a deciduous tree,
that grows about thirty feet high, with leaves somewhat like
those of the Western chinquapin. The acorn, when young, is
concealed in the cup, the two together resembling a little
wheel ; but the acorn, when mature, is an inch and a half long,
and projects considerably beyond the cup. The wood is tough-
er than that of most of the oaks of California.

Kellogg's oak ( Quercus kelloggii) is a large deciduous tree,
found onfv in California. Its leaves are deeply smuate, with
three principal lobes on each side, terminating in several acute
points. It bears fruit only in alternate years, or at least most

EOTAXY. 101

abundantly every other year. An idea prevails that the acorns
give to swine a disease of the kidneys.

The huckleberry -leafed oak ( Quercus vaccinifolia) is a shrub,
from four to six feet hio-h, which ^rows on the mountains in
the northern part of the state. Its leaves, in size and form,
resemble the huckleberry ; the acorn is of the size and shape
of a small hazel-nut.

§ 77. JjiicJceye. — The Californian horse-chestnut, or buck-
eye {.j^culus californica)^ is a shrub, or low, spreading tree,
abundant in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and coast valleys.
It likes to grow about rocky ledges, in ravines, and on the
banks of streams. Sometimes it throws up a dozen stems,
which grow to a thickness of three or four inches each; but
usually it has one trunk, six or eight inches through. The
tree rarely exceeds fifteen feet in height, and it has a hemi-
spherical shape, very dense foliage, rising from the ground in
a globular form. It continues to put forth large clusters of
fragrant blossoms from early spring till late summer. The
leaves are among the first to open of the deciduous trees of
the state. Five leaves grow together on one stem. The fruit
has a close resemblance to that of the buckeye-tree of the Mis-
sissippi valley, but is larger and more abundant. It is a staple
article of food with those few Californian Indians who stiU
depend upon wild fruits and game for their subsistence.

§ 78. Sycamore. — ^The Mexican sycamore {Plataiiics race-
mosa) exhibits a striking resemblance to the Western syca-
more of the Atlantic slope. It has the same straggling, irreg-
ular growth; the same smooth, white, scaly bark; the same
large, yellowish leaf : but instead of having only one ball on a
stem, like the Atlantic sycamore, it has several, the stem run-
ning through one or two, and terminating in the last one.

§ 79. Pltahaya. — The pitahaya {Cereus giganteus)^ a gigan-
tic cactus, is one of the most prominent features of the botany
of the deserts in the southern part of California. It grows to
a height of fifty feet, with a trunk thirty inches in diameter.
Sometimes the trunk has no boughs, but usually it throws out

102 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

from two to six, which are about half the thickness of the
trunk ; they run out horizontally for a foot or tw^o, and then
turn upward and rise parallel with the trunk. There are no
twigs or leaves, but flowers and fruit grow on the tops of the
trunk and branches. The whole plant resembles a huge can-
delabrum. The flowers are three inches long, as wide, with
stifi; curling, and cream-coloi-ed petals. The fruit is as large
as a hon's egg, and the meat is a red pulp, full of little seeds.
The taste is insipid ; but when the fruit is dried, according to
the Indian custom, it acquires a flavor somewhat like that of

a fig.

§ 80. Yucca.— The yucca, or bayonet-tree, is a kind of palm,

an endogenous tree that lives in the southern deserts. It

sometimes grows to be thirty-five feet in height, with a trunk
two feet through ; but usually it is about ten feet high, with a
trunk eight inches in diameter. It has no twigs or branches,
but sometimes it divides into two trunks. The foliage, con-
sisting of leaves eighteen inches long, and shaped like the
blade of a bayonet, hangs down from the tops of the trunks.

§ 81. 3Iezquit.—The mezquit {Algarohia glandulosa) is a
low tree of the Colorado Desert. It sometimes reaches a
height of twenty feet, with a trunk fifteen inches m diameter.
The lower branches are very near the ground, and the whole
tree has a very regular, semispherical form. The leaves are
like those of the black locust, and the foliage thin. The tree
bears numerous pods, from three to five inches long, full of
sweet, nourishing beans, about the size of the common white
bean. The mezquit-bean is often eaten by men, and horses
and mules are very fond of it.

The curly mezquit {Stromhocarpus 2ntb€scens) is a similar
shrub, and bears a crooked bean, called the " screw-bean." It
also grows only on the desert.

§ 82. Miscellaneous Trees and Shnths.—A few walnut-trees
grow along the SacramCiito River, and it is said that some
chestnuts have been found in Mendocino county, but they are
unknown in the greater part of the state. We have no indi-

BOTANY. 103

geriOiis beech, elm, hickory, locust, acacia, or sassafras. Our
wild cherry and wild plum are bushes, but their fruits resem-
ble the wild plums and cherries of the East. We have willows
and Cottonwood, which differ little in appearance from those
of the Mississippi valley. There are wild grapes, blackberries,
gooseberries, huckleberries, raspberries, salmon-berries, and
strawberries. A truffle, or a root resembling it, is found in
the valleys of the coast and the Sierra Xevada. The grizzly
bear considers it a delicacy, and frequently digs it up. A
shrub called the "joint-fir" (a species oi Ephedra)^ sometimes
used for making tea, is found in Calaveras and Tuolumne coun-
ties. In the valleys of the Coast Mountains is found the yerba
huena (Spanish for "good herb"), a creeping vine, bearing
some resemblance in its leaf and vine to the wild strawberry.
It has a strong perfume, half-way between peppermint and
camphor. The yerba de la vibora (Spanish for " rattlesnake-
herb," known to botanists as the Daucus pusillus) is a carrot-
like vegetable, the leaves of which are said to be a specific for
the bite of the rattlesnake.

§ 83. Poison OaJc. — The poison oak, or poison ivy {Ithus
toxicodendron)^ grows abundantly in the Sacramento Basin,
and along the coast. It thrives be'st on a moist soil, and in
the shade. In a thicket with other bushes it sends up many
thin stalks eight or ten feet high, with large, luxuriant leaves
at the top ; in the shade, the leaves are green. In the open,
dry ground, exposed to the sun, and without support from oth-
er bushes, the poison oak is a low, poverty-stricken little shrub,
with a few red leaves. If it can attach itself to an oak-tree,
it becomes a parasitic vine, and attains a thickness, though very
rarelv, of four inches in the trunk, and climbs to a height of
forty feet. The touch of the leaf is poisonous, and causes a
very irritating eruption of the skin. It rapidly communicates
by the touch from one part of the body to another, causing
severe inflammations and swellings. The most delicate parts
of the body are most affected by the poison. The eyes are
Bometimes closed up entirely by the swelling round them ; and

104 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

many cases are recorded of faces so swollen, that they could
not be recognized by intimate friends. Some persons are not
aftected by the tc ach of the Rhus ; but instances have occurred
wherein persons supposing themselves, after long experience,
to be free from danger, have at last been poisoned : and when
the poison has once taken hold, the system is always very
easily affected from that time forward. Even passing to the
leeward of the bush on a windy day, or going through the
smoke of a fire in which it is burning, will bring the poison to
the surface ao-ain.

§ 84, Amole. — The amole [Chlorogalumpoineridlanmn)^ or
soap-j^lant, has an onion-like, bulbous root, which, when rubbed
in water, makes a lather like soap, and is good for removing
dirt. It was extensively used for washing, by the Indians and
Spanish Californians, previous to the American conquest. The
amole has a stalk four or five feet high, from which branches
about eighteen inches long spring out. The branches are cov-
ered with buds, which open in the night, beginning at the root
of the boughs, about four inches of a branch opening at a time.
The next night, the buds of another four inches open, and so
on.

§ 85. Nutritious Herbage. — Of indigenous nutritious grasses
there are a number in the state. The wild oat, though not a
grass, may be mentioned under this head. It resembles the cul-
tivated oat so nearly, that there has been some doubt whether
they are not identical, but the opinion among botanists is that
they are a distinct species. The wnld oat, in the year 1835,
was found only south of the bay of San Francisco ; but about
that time, when the white men crossed frequently from the
southern to the northern side of the bay, the oat was sown in
a natural way by horses and cattle, and it spread rapidly over
the Sacramento valley and the coast region. It grew very
luxuriantly, and in some places surj)assed in the height, size,
and abundance of stalks, any field of cultivated oats which I
have ever seen. It is said that in some localities the oat-stalks
were so high, that men sitting erect on horseback could not

BOTANY. 105

see each other at a distance of ten feet. The soil and climate
were evidently very favorable to it. During the last six or
eight years, the wild oats have been eaten down so closely by
cattle, that in many places they have been killed out. They
are propagated from year to year, not by the roots, but by the
seeds, many of which fall into cracks in the earth, where they
lie in safety until the rains come, when the ground closes up
and the grain sprouts. The earth cracks in the summer, in
many parts of the state ; and in places where the wild oats
grow, the position of the cracks of one year may be traced the
next season by the position of the stalks of the grain.

The wild oat grows on hill and plain, and furnishes a large
part of the wild pasture of the state. It is wholesome, nutri-
tious, and palatable for cattle. Much of it is cut for hay. The
amount of grain which it furnishes is small in proportion to
the quantity of straw, and it is never threshed.

After the wild oats, in importance to the herdsman, comes
the "burr-clover," so named from a spherical burr, about a
quarter of an inch in diameter, which it bears in clusters of
three. Tliis burr-clover is found in all the settled parts of the
state. Cattle do not like it when greeil ; but after it dries,
the burrs fall upon the ground, and are picked up by the cat-
tle, while the strans^er is astonished at seeino- them eatino* and
keeping fat on what appears to him to be bare earth. On ex-
amining the surface of the ground, he will find that it is cov-
ered with the dry stalks and burrs of the burr-clover. The
bloom consists of three very small yellow flowers. It is said
that the stalks of this clover take root whenever the joints
touch the ground.

The alfilerilla {Erodlwn ciciUarium) is another indigenous
nutritious herb of much importance to the herdsman. It is
succulent, sweet, hardy, bearing clusters of spikes or pins an
inch and a half long. These spikes have given it the name of
pin-grass ; and the resemblance of its leaves to the geranium
has sugrgrested the name of " wild oferanium," bv which title it
is also known to some persons. It has a large root, which it
5*

106 RESOUllCES OF CAT. IFOR NIA.

sends deep into the ground, thus enabhng it to resist the
drought, while above the surface it puts forth a dense mass
of stalks and leaves, spreading out sometimes several feet in
every direction. Cattle prefer it to every other indigenous
herb of the state. The seeds seem to abound throughout the
soil, for wherever the earth is ploughed up for the first time,
there the alfilerilla appears, though it may never have been
seen there before. It is common in gardens, cultivated fields,
and fallow lands.

The white Californian clover has a large yellowish-white
bloom, from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, a beau-
tiful plant, well suited as an ornament for yards and gardens.
It grows very large, and two feet high in moist, favorable sit-
uations ; while in dry places it will also mature its seed with-
out rising more than two or three inches above the ground.
It is very sweet, and it is often eaten by the Indians, who like
it both raw and boiled. Cattle are also extremely fond of it.

Another species of clover has a round bloom about a third
of an inch in diameter, composed of violet-tinged flowers.

Another clover has a bloom from a sixth to a quarter of an
inch in diameter, the flowers of which are subdued green,
tipped with pink at the end.

The Melilotes officinalis, another herb, commonly called a
clover, though not strictly entitled to that name, likes a very
moist soil, and then grows luxuriantly, crowding out nearly
every thing else. Its bloom consists of a drooping head about
an inch long and a sixth of an inch thick, hung with little yel-
low flowers. Cattle are not fond of this herb in any shape, but
they like it better in hay than when green.

Of nutritious grasses there are a number, but they do not
form a sod. The drought of summer and fall seems to kill the

roots.

Of wild flowers there are a great variety and abundance in
California, and they have their diflerent seasons for blooming ;
and in canons where the soil is always moist, flowers may be
seen in every month of the year. In the spring-time the hill-

BOTANY. 107

sides are frequently covered with them, and their red, blue, or
yellow petals hide every thing else. Each month has its floAv-
ers : in March the grass of a valley may be hidden under red,
in April under blue, and in May under yellow blossoms. There
is such a variety that within an hour I have counted twenty
species on a spot not more than twenty feet square. This was
on dry, sandy soil, in Sonoma valley, in the montli of May.
Kone of the flowers are large, brilliant in color, or rich in
sweet, strong perfume.

The tule is a reed which covers all the large tracts of swamp
lands in the state. It has no leaf, but a plain, round stalk, va-
rying from half an inch to an inch and a half at the butt, and
tapering gradually to a point. It is usually not more than
ei2:ht or ten feet his^h, but at the Tulare Lake it grows to
fifteen or twenty feet.

The grass and herbage begin to grow and clothe the land-
scape in green after the first heavy rains of the rainy season.
These rains may come in December, January, or February;
and until they do come, the earth, in the districts not covered
with timber, is brown. The grass continues green until June,
when it begins to dry up and turn yellow and brown, which
colors then predominate in the landscape until the rains come
again. The death of the grass, except at high elevations, is
caused not bv the cold but bv the drouo-ht : and in those months
when the prairies of Indiana and Illmois are covered with
snow, the vallevs of California are dressed in the brilliant
green of young grass.

The mistletoe grrows abundantly on the oak-trees of Califor-
nia. The Spanish moss, which hangs in long lace-Hke gray
beards from the branches, also serves to give beauty to the
groves in the valleys.

Note — Most of my information about the botany of the state has been
derived from the reports of Dr. J. S. Xeu'berry, in the United States Pacific
Railroad Survey, and from the conversation of Dr. A. Kellogg, Dr. EL iBehr,
and Mr. 11. G. Bloomer, of San Francisco.

108 UESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER YI.

ZOOLOGY.

§ 86. General List. — Among the indigenous animals of Cal-
ifornia are the grizzly bear ; the black bear ; the panther , the
wild-cat; the gray wolf; the coyote; three foxes; the badger;
the raccoon; the opossum; the mountain-cat ; the weasel; two
skunks ; one porcupine ; three squirrels ; two spermophiles ;
two ground-squirrels ; three rats ; three jumping-rats ; one
jumping-mouse ; nine mice ; one mole ; the elk ; one deer ;
one antelope ; the mountain-sheep ; three hares ; two rabbits ;
the seal ; the sea-otter ; the sea-lion ; the beaver ; two vul-
tures ; the golden eagle ; the bald eagle ; the fishhawk ;
eighteen other hawks ; nme owls ; the road-runner ; twelve
woodpeckers ; four humming-birds ; eleven flycatchers ; one
hundred and nine singers; one pigeon; two doves; three
grouse; three quails; one sandhUl crane; forty-one waders;
sixty-six swimmers, including two swans and five geese ; about
two dozen snakes, including the rattlesnake ; half a dozen sal-
mon ; two codfish ; and one mackerel.

§87. Bears.— "Ti\Q grizzly bear {Ursus horrihilis) is the
largest and most formidable of the quadrupeds of California.
He grows to be foiir feet high and seven feet long, with a
Aveight, when very large and fiit, of two thousand pounds, be-
ing the largest of the carnivorous animals, and much heavier
than the hon or tiger ever get to be. The grizzly bear, how-
over, as ordinarily seen, does not exceed eight hundred oi
nine himdred pounds in weight. In color the body is a light
grayish-brown, dark brown about the ears and along the ridge-
of the back, and nearly black on the legs. The hair is long.

ZOOLOGY, 109

coarse, and wiry, and stiff on the top of the neck and between
the shoulders. The "grizzly," as he is usually called, is more
common in California than any other kind of bear, and was
at one time exceedingly numerous for so large an animal ; but
he offered so much meat for the hunters, and did so much
damage to the farmers, that he has been industriously hunted,
and his numbers have been greatly reduced. He ranges
throughout the state, but prefers to make his home in the
chaparral or bushes, whereas the black bear likes the heavy
timber. The grizzly is very tenacious of life, and he is sel-
dom immediately killed by a single bullet. His thick, wiry
hair, tough skin, heavy coats of fat when in good condition,
and large bones, go far to protect his vital organs ; but he
often seems to preserve all his strength and acti^dty for an
hour or more after having been shot through the lungs and
liver with laro^e rifle balls. He is one of the most dangerous
animals to attack. There is much probability that when shot
he will not be killed outright. TThen merely wounded he is
ferocious ; his weight and strength are so great that he bears
down all opposition before him; and he is very quick, his
speed in running being nearly equal to that of the horse. In
attacking a man, he usually rises on his hind-legs, strikes his
enemy with one of his powerful fore-paws, and then commences
to bite him. If the man lies still, with his face down, the bear
will usually content himself xAth. biting him for a while about
the arms and legs, and will then go off a few steps and watch
him. If the man lies still, the bear will believe him dead, and
will soon get tired and go away. But let the man move, and
the bear is upon him again ; let him fight, and he will be in im-
minent danger of being torn to pieces. About half a dozen
men, on an average, are killed yearly in California by grizzly
bears, and as many more are cruelly mutilated.

Fortimately, the grizzly bear is not disposed to attack man,
and never makes the first assault unless driven by hunger or
maternal anxiety. The dam will attack any man who comes
near her cubs, and on this accoimt it is dangerous to go in the

110 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

early summer afoot through chaparral where bears make their
home. Usually a grizzly will get out of the way when he sees
or liears a man, and sometimes, but rarely, will run when
wounded. It is said that grizzlies in seasons of scarcity, used
to break into the huts of the Indians and eat them. No in-
stance of this kind, however, has been rej^orted for some years
past.

The greater portion of the food of the grizzly is vegetable,
such as grass, clover, berries, acorns, and roots. The manza-
nita, service, salmon, and whortleberries, are all favorites with
him. The roots which he eats are of many different species,
and it was from him that we learned the existence of a Cali-
fornian truffle, very similar to the European tuber of the same
name. The grizzly is very fond of fresh pork, at least after he
knows its taste, and if swine come within his reach, he soon
learns the taste. The farmers in those districts where the
bears are abundant, shut up their hogs every night in corrols
or pens, surrounded by very strong and high fences, which the
bears frequently tear down. After having killed a hog, if any
jDart of the carcass is left, the grizzly will return the next night
and feast upon the remains, and go until it becomes putrid.
He prefers, however, the fresh pork if it can be had. Not un-
frequently the grizzly discovers the carcasses of deer, elk, and
antelope, killed by hunters, Vv^ho have gone off for horses to
carry their game home. In such case, the hunter usually finds
little left for him when he gets back. They do not like climb-
ing, and rarely attempt to ascend trees. The grizzly, though
he often moves about and feeds in the day, prefers the night,
and almost invariably selects it as the time for approaching
houses, as he often does, in search of food. The cub is one of
the most playful, good-humored, and amusing of animals. He
will tumble somersets, sit up on his haunches and box, and in
some of his pranks will show a humor and intelligence scarcely
inferior to that of very young children. The grizzly may easily
be tamed, and it becomes very fond of its master. Adams, the
Californian mountaineer and bear-hunter, trained several griz-

ZOOLOGY. Ill

zlies so that tbey accompanied him in his hunting excursions,
defended him against wild animals, and carried burdens for
him. The meat of the young grizzly resembles pork in tex-
ture and taste, exceeding it in juiciness and greasiness ; but
the meat of the old he-bear is extremely strong, and to delicate
stomachs it is nauseating.

The black bear ( Ursus americanus) is found in the timbered
portions of California, but is not abundant. It is more often
seen near the coast north of Bodega than in any other portion
of the state. Dr. Newberry, speaking of the food of the black
bear on this coast, says: "The subsistence of the black bears
in the northern portion of California is evidently, for the most
part, vegetable. The manzanita, wild plum, and wild cherry,
which fruit profusely, and are very low, assist in making up
his bill of fare. Rarely, too, we saw trees of yellow-pine bear-
ing marks of bears' teeth, where they had torn off the outer
bark to get at the succulent inner layer, which is capable of
sustaining life, and to which the Indians very generally have
recourse when pressed with hunger." It is believed that nei-
ther the grizzly nor the black bear hybernates in California.

§ 88. Panther and Wild- Cat. — The panther of California,
supposed by Dr. Newberry to be the Felis concolor — the same
with the panther found on the Atlantic slope of the continent
— ^has a body larger than that of the common sheep, and a tail
more than half the leng^th of the bodv. Its color is dirtv-white
on the belly, and elsewhere a brownish-yellow, mottled with
dark tips on all the hairs. The panther is a cowardly animal,
and, except when driven by some extraordinary motive, never
attacks man. A friend of mine, who was out hunting, dressed
in a buflf coat, was creeping through some brush to get near a
deer, when he felt a heavy animal strike his back. He sprang
up very suddenly, and saw a panther, which had jumped down
upon him from a tree, probably mistaking him for a calf or a
deer. The brute seemed very much astonished and frightened
at seeing a man there, and immediately fled at full speed. The
panther is nocturnal in his habits, and always prefers the night

112 EESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

as a time for attacking colts, wliich are a favorite prey with
him. He is found in all parts of the state where there is tim-
ber, but he never stops long in any place, unless he can find
bushes to hide in.

The American wild- cat {Lynx rufus) is common in Califor-
nia, particularly in the vicinity of the bays of San Francisco
and San Pablo, where he often catches fish and water-fowl as
well as land-animals. His color is a light brown, with dim,
dark spots on the sides, and longitudinal lines along the middle
of the back.

§ 89. Wolves and Foxes. — The gray wolf ( Canis occidenta-
lism is found in all the inhabited parts of California, but is not
abundant.

The coyote is very common in the state, and occupies the
same place here with that occupied in the Mississippi valley
by the prairie-wolf. Dr. Newberry thinks the two belong to
the same species (^Cayiis latra7is\ but I am inclined to believe
that they are specifically difierent. The color of the coyote
has more of a reddish tinge, he howls more, does not bark so
much, and is more cunning. His food consists chiefly of rab-
bits, grouse, small birds, mice, lizards, and frogs ; and in time
of scarcity he will eat carrion, grasshoppers, and bugs. He is
very fond of poultry, pigs, and lambs, and will destroy almost
as many of them as would a fox. He is one of the worst ene-
mies and most troublesome pests of the farmer. His method
of catching chickens is to hide near the hen-roost about day-
light, and, as the hens come down, he pounces upon them from
his hiding-place ; and his motions are often so quick, that the
victim has not even time to squall before she dies. In the
spring and autumn, when wild geese and ducks are abundant,
many co^^otes make their homes in the tules, where they catch
the birds which have been wounded by the hunters.

The coyote loves nothing better than a young pig. When
he sees an old sow with her young ones, he will hide, and wait
a long time, in hopes that a little one will come within his
reach ; but if there be no hiding-place, he goes up boldly. The

ZOOLOGY. 113

SOW will at once face the assailant, and start to attack liim.
He allows her to come up within a few feet of him, and then
moves Oil slowly ; and she, like a fool, thinking she will catch
him, continues the chase. While running, he keeps his head
turned to orie side, partly to watch her, and partly to watch
the pigs ; and when he has seduced her far enough away, he
suddenly makes a dash at the pigs, and, getting one of them,
runs off with it, leavino; the a^^onized and furious sow far be-
hind. If the coyote does not succeed in getting a pig at the
first attempt — that is, if he does not lead the sow far enough
away — ^he tries it again and again, till he succeeds, the sow
being so stupid as to follow him, after having repeated oppor-
tunities to see his purpose.

The coyotes frequently go in packs, and sometimes will un-
dertake to attack a cow. On such occasions, they have a con-
certed plan of operations : they surround their intended victim,
and while those in front rush at her as a feint, those behind
attempt to cut her hamstrings. As their teeth are very sharp,
they often succeed. The cow's hamstrings once cut, she falls,
and is completely at their mercy ; and they quickly pick her
bones.

The coyote is a great thief, and will steal the pillow from
under a sleeping man's head ; for it happens in California that
bags of provisions are often used as pillows. When the coyote
is hungry, he will gnaw any thing that is greasy, and for that
reason he frequently cuts off the hemp and raw-hide ropes
with which horses are tied out at night ; but he never bites
into hair-ropes, which for that reason were formerly used ex-
clusively for staking out horses. .

The coyote is nocturnal in his habits, and is very fond ^^
howling or yelping. lie begins with a shrill, quick bark, ana
follows up with a succession of yelps, ending in a long-drawn,
quavering, melancholy howl. When one begins, all others
within hearing take up the cry. Ten years ago, the traveller
in the Sacramento valley rarely passed a night without hearing
their music. They are not so numerous now, but still they

114 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

are frequently seen in the most densely-settled parts of the

country.

The red fox ( Vuljjes fulvus macrourus) is found north of
latitude 37° ; the gray fox {Vul]yes viigi?iianus) in all the tim-
bered parts of the state. The coast fox ( Vuljyes Uttoralis) is
found only on the island of San Miguel, off the coast of Santa
Barbara. In its color it bears a great resemblance to the gray
fox, but it is not more than half as large, is less cunning, and
is slower in its motions. Its tail is only one-third the length
of its body. The specimens observed were very bold and
stupid, allowing themselves to be caught, over and over again,
in the same manner.

The desert fox ( Vul^yes macrourus), which is found in the
central deserts of the continent, crosses the Sierra Xevada, and
is often killed in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.

§ 90. Badger, e^c— The American badger {Taxidea aineri-
caiia) is abundant in the plateau of the Sierra Xevada, and is
occasionally found in other parts of the state. It is very shy,
and is rarely seen by the traveller.

The black-footed raccoon [Procyon hernandozii) is found in
the timbered portions of the Pacific slope of our continent from
Santa Barbara to British Columbia. It is longer than the At-
lantic raccoon [Procyon lotor\ but resembles it very closely in
its mental character and capacity, habits and appearance. The
raccoon is fond of grapes, and when he enters a vineyard selects
those of the finest flavor.

An opossum {Bidelphys calif ornica) is found in the wooded
portions of the state, but is not abundant.

The vellow-haired porcupine {Erethizon epixantlius), a na-
tive of California, is the largest of its genus. The spines are
a couple of inches long, yeilowish in color, with brown tips.
On the lower part of the sides the spines are replaced by long,

stiff bristles.

The mountain-cat, or striped bassaris {Bassaris astuta), is
abundant along the western base of the Sierra Nevada, be-
tween latitudes 36° and 39°. The body is about the size of

ZOOLOGY. 115

that of the domestic cat, but the nose is very long and sharp,
and the tail very long and large. The color of the animal is
dark orrav, with rinsrs of black on the tail. The miners call it
the " mountain-cat," and frequently tame it. It is a favorite
pet with them, becomes very playful and familiar, and is far
more affectionate than the common cat, which it might replace,
for it is very good at catching mice.

The pine-marten (3Iustela americajia) is found in California,
but is rare.

The yellow-cheeked weasel (Putorlus xanthogenys) is found
along the coast, in the vicinity of the bay of San Francisco.

The common mink [Putorius vison) has a skin as valuable
as that of the beaver ; the fur is of a dark, brownish, chestnut
color, with a white spot on the end of the chin.

California has two skunks (Jlej^hitis occidentalis and Me-
phitis bicolor), very common animals. The JMephitis bicolor,
or little striped skunk, is chiefly found south of latitude 39° ;
the other in the northern and central parts of the state. The
colors of both are black and white.

§ 91. The Squirrel Phmily. — The Californian gray squirrel
(Sciurtfs fossor), the most beautiful and one of the largest ot
the squirrel genus, inhabits all the pine-forests of the state. Its
color on the back is a finely-grizzled bluish gray, and white
beneath. At the base of the ear is a little woollv tuft, of a
chestnut color. The sides of the feet are covered with hair in
the winter, but are bare in the summer ; the body is more slender
and delicate in shape than that of the Atlantic gray squirrel.
It sometimes grows to be twelve inches long in the head and
body, and fifteen inches long in the tail, making the entire
length twenty-seven mches. Dr. Xewberry says: "The Cali-
fornian gray squirrel is eminently a tree-squirrel, scarcely de-
scending to the ground but for food and water, and it subsists
almost exclusively on the seeds of the largest and loftiest pine
known {Pinus larahertiana)^ the ' sugar-pine' of the Western
coast. The cones of this magnificent tree are from twelve to
sixteen inches m length, and contain each one hundred or more

116 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

seeds of the size and shape of the small white bean of com-
merce. Tliese cones would be unmanageable by the squirrel
in the tree, and he has the habit, so common in the family, of
dropping them to the ground, where he can dissect them at
leisure. This he usually does early in the morning, climbing
to the extremities of the topmost branches, where the cones
hang, and cutting off a sufficient number to supply his wants
for the day. He then descends, and, commencing at the base
of the cone, tears off the scales in rapid succession, and skil-
fully possesses himself of the seeds which they conceal. He
is compelled, however, to supply other wants than his own, for
the smaller pine-squirrel [Sciurus douglasii) and the ground-
squirrel ( Tamias townsendii) appropriate a large share of his
booty. When oak-trees are near, and acorns are ripe, he has
recourse to them for subsistence ; as often as opportunity offers,
robbing the woodpeckers of their stores, in which also he has
the active co-operation of his more diminutive congeners.
From the fact that he feeds upon the ground, it has been sup-
posed that he was less active and less fitted for climbing than
most tree-squirrels. This, I think, is not true. He is exceed-
ingly quick and graceful in his movements ; and if less fre-
quently seen to spring from tree to tree than the black and
gray squirrels of the eastern states, it is because he inhabits
coniferous trees, which are remarkable for the insignificance
of their branches compared Avith the size of the trunk, the
limbs never stretching out and interlocking, as those of the oak _
and maple and other trees, in which our com.mon species live."
The Californian pine-squirrel [Sciuriis douglasii) inhabits the
pine and redwood forests of the state. He is gray above and
red beneath, with a black stripe separating the two colors.
He lives in a burrow or hollow log, but climbs well, and ob-
tains his food chiefly from the pine-cones, which he cuts off
in numbers at a time, and tears to pieces at his leisure, after
they have fallen to the ground. He lays up a store of the
seed in his burrow, for his winter supply. He is quick in his
motions, graceful in his attitudes, and shy in his habits.

. ZO OLO G Y. 117

The Missouri striped ground-squirrel has five dark-brown
stripes on the back, separated by four gray stripes ; the sides
are reddish-brown, the belly grayish-white, and the tail rusty-
black above and rusty-brown beneath. The animal is four or
five inches long. It is found in the northern parts of the state.
It eats acorns and the seeds of the pine, manzanita, and ceaiio-
thus, in the thickets of which last-named bush it prefers to hide
its stores.

The Spermophile has two species in California, which resem-
ble each other so closely, that they are usually supposed to be
the same ; they are popularly known as the Californian ground-
squirrels, the little pests which are so destructive to the grain-
crops. Their bodies are ten or eleven inches long in the largest
specimens ; the tail is eight inches long, and bushy ; the ears
large ; the cheeks pouched, and herein consists the chief differ-
ence between them and squirrels ; the color above black, yel-
lowish-brown, and brown, in indistinct mottlings, hoary-yel-
lov>"ish on the sides of the head and neck, and pale yellowish-
brown on the under side of the body and legs. They dwell in
burrows, and usually live in communities in the open, fertile
valleys, preferring to mate tJieir buiTOws under the shade of
an oak-tree. Sometimes, however, single spermophiles will be
found living in a solitary manner, remote from their fellows.
Their burrows, like those of the prairie-dog, are often used by
the rattlesnake and the little owl. Dr. Newberry says: "They
are very timid, starting at every noise, and on CA^ery intrusion
into their privacy dropping from the trees, or hurrying in from
their wanderings, and scudding to their holes with all possible
celerity ; arriving at the entrance, however, they stop to recon-
noitre, standing erect, as squirrels rarely and spermophiles
habitually do, and looking about to satisfy themselves of the
nature and designs of the intruder. Should this second view
justify their flight, or a motion or step forward still further
alarm them, with a peculiar movement, like that of a diving
duck, they plunge into their burrows, not to venture out till
all cause of fear is past. Should you in the mean time have

118 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

seated yourself with your back against a tree, and have re-
mained for a time as immovable as the trunk agahist which
you lean, you will soon see sundry little heads protruding from
the burrows, with as many pairs of eyes and ears skilled to
detect the least sign of danger from their equally-feared ene-
mies, the coyote, the Californian vulture, the red-shouldered
and red-tailed hawk, and man himself. If, however, your si-
lence and quietness persuade them that you are none of these,
they will swarm forth from their holes, and at first timidly,
but, gaining confidence, more fearlessly, engage in all the
sports and antics for which the schiridcB are noted, and in
which none excel the species under consideration. It is a
pretty sight, and one to which I have often treated myself, to
sit down quietly under these old oaks, and watch the squirrels
running about over the grass and trees, gambolling and play-
ing together. As far as the eye could reach through the vista,
the sprightly movements of these innocent animals could be
discerned."

The two species are called Beechey's sj^ermophile (Spenjio-
philus beechei/i) and Douglas's spermophile {S2)er7no2?hilus
douglasii). The size, habits, and general a^Dpearance of the
two species are the same, but they differ in the color of a stripe
along the spine from the base of the head to the middle of the
back: in Beechey's spermophile it is yellownsh-hoary, in Doug-
las's it is dark-brown. The former species is found very abun-
dantly south of the straits of Carquinez; the latter north of it,
and fewer in number.

Beechey's sperm ophiles are among the most formidable ene-
mies of the farmer in those districts where they make their
homes. They increase very rapidly in the vicinity of farms,
and do great damage in grain-fields and gardens ; they eat
grain and garden vegetables in all stages of their growth ;
. they peel young fruit-trees and vines ; they are, in short, dan-
gerous to nearly every thing that is cultivated. They are very
industrious, and lay up large stores for the winter, spending
several hours every pleasant summer's day in gathering food.

ZOOLOGY. 119

They go considerable distances to fields; and the traveller,
wliose approach scares them, sees them in hundreds running
across the road before him, with their tails erect, hurrying
from the field to hide tliemselves in their burrows. Many a
large wheat-field, which would have yielded forty bushels to
the acre if there had been no spermophiles to trouble it, is so
despoiled by them, that the crop will not pay for harvesting.
They are particularly abundant in the Santa Clara, Amador,
and Pajaro valleys ; and their number is an important consid-
eration in the estimate of the price of land. They will not
live in moist land, nor very near the ocean, wiiere the fogs
prevail. They are poisoned with strychnine and phosphorus,
drowned by irrigation, and shut out by tight board-fences.
In wet winters many of them are drowned ; after a dry winter
they are' always numerous. Away from cultivated fields they
depend for food chiefly upon grass-seeds, grass-roots, and
acorns.

The Californian gopher {Thomomys hulUvorus) is, next to
Beechey's spermophile, the most abundant and most trouble-
some rodent of the state. W^hen full grown, it has a body six
or eight inches long, with a tail of two inches. The back and
sides are of a chestnut-brown color, paler on the under parts
of the body and legs ; the tail and feet are grayish-white ; the
ears are very short. In the cheeks are large pouches, covered
Avith fur inside, white to their margin, which is dark-brown.

The gopher inhabits the fertile valleys of the coast from lati-
tude 34° to 39°. He spends nearly all his time under ground,
and does most of his mischief there, gnawing off the roots of
fruit-trees and garden vegetables, eating newdy-sowm grain
and seeds, and nibbhng at flowers and sw^eet bulbs. He is not
a climber, nor is he very agile : if he gets into a trench eight
inches wide and a foot deep, with perpendicular sides, he will
run a long distance in it rather than clamber out; and one of
the best methods of catchinsr him is to make such a trench
round a field, and place square tin boxes, fifteen inches deep,
eight inches square, and open at the top, in the bottom of the

120 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

trend], at regular intervals of about fifty yards. The gopher
frequently travels at night, and when he comes to this trench
iie falls in. He then runs along in it, looking for a convenient
place to get out, and, coming to a tin box, falls into that. He
can neither jump out nor gnaw through ; so he remains a pris-
oner till he starves to death, or the farmer comes along and
kills him.

The Colorado gopher {Thomomys fidvus) is found in that
portion of the state south of latitude 34°, but is not abundant.
It is smaller than the Californian gopher, and has more of a
reddish tinge in its colors. Its habits and appearance other-
wise are very similar to those of its northern congener.

The broad-headed gopher {Tiiom.oniys laticeps)^ found in
the vicinity of Humboldt Bay, is about five inches long. Its
color on the back, sides, and belly, is yellowish-brown, with a
reddish tinge between the fore legs.

§ 92. The Mat Family. — California has a number of indi-
genous jumping-rats, jumping-mice, and other rats and mice,
too many and not sufficiently singular, or interesting to the
general reader, to deserve a complete description here. I
shall content myself, therefore, with giving a simple list of
them, with the districts they inhabit, their entire length from
the point of the nose to the end of the tail, and the main color
of the back :

Philip's jerboa, or jumping-rat {Dqyodomys pMlipi) ; Sac-
ramento Basin and the southern valleys ; twelve inches ; yel-
lowish-brown.

The dun jumping-rat {Dipodomys aglUs) ; coast valleys
south of San Francisco ; twelve inches ; lead-color.

The Colorado jumping-rat {^Perognathus peniGillatus) ; Col-
orado Desert ; nine inches ; tawny.

The King's River jumping-rat {^Perognathus parvus) ; King's
River vallev ; four inches.

Hudson's jumping-mouse {Jacidus hudsonii) ; valley of Ca-
noe Creek; eight inches; yellowish-brown.

Black rat (JSlus rattus) ; coast from Humboldt Bay to San

ZOOLOGY. 121

Diego ; fourteen inches. There is much doubt whether it is
indigenous.

The long-tailed mouse {Reithrodon longicauda) ; coast near
San Francisco ; five inches ; dark-brown.

Gambel's mouse {^He'^peromys gamhelii) ; from Tomales
Biy to Kern River ; five inches ; glossy-brown.

Boyle's mouse (Hesj^eromys boylii) ; valley of the American
River ; eight inches ; glossy-brown.

Cahfornian mouse iyHesperorays ccdlfornicus) ; Santa Clara
valley ; six inches ; sooty-brown.

Desert-mouse {Hesperomys eremieus) ; Colorado Desert ;
five inches ; grayish-yellow.

The bush rat {N'eotoma raexicanci) ; near San Diego and in
the Colorado desert ; thirteen inches ; yellowish brown.

The Neotoma fuscipes^ a rat ; coast valleys, from 38° to
40° ; fifteen inches ; reddish above.

The Armcola montana^ a mouse ; near Petaluma, Monte-
rey, and Lost River ; six inches ; yellowish brown.

The long-faced mouse (Arvicola loiigirostris) ; Pit River
valley ; six inches ; yellowish brown.

The Californian ground-mouse {Arvicola edax) ; coast val-
leys soutli of San Francisco ; six inches ; yellowish brown.

The Arvicola californica^ a mouse much like the species
last named.

The Oregon mouse {Arvicola oregona) ; near Tanales Bay ;
four inches ; vellowish brown.

The Oregon mole {Scalo2)s tounsendii) is found near the
bay of San Francisco, and perhaps in other parts of the state.
It is six or seven inches long, nearly black in color, with faint-
purplish or sooty-black reflections in the hair.

§ 93. The Deer Family. — The American elk {Cervus cana^
densis) is found in California as well as in many other parts
of the continent. The animal is nearly as large as a horse,
and has some resemblance to it in general shape, though
smaller, and slimmer in the head, neck, and legs. Its length
from the nose to the tail is seven feet ; its height five feet ; its

122 RESOURCES OF CALIFORXIA.

greatest weight one thousand pounds. The color is a chest-
nut brown, dark on the head, neck, and legs, lighter and yel-
lowish on the back and sides. The horns are very large, some-
times more than four feet long, three feet across from tip to
tip, measuring three inches in diameter above the burr, and
weighing, with the skull, exclusive of the lower jaw, forty
pounds. The horns of the old bucks have from seven to nine,
perhaps more, prongs, all growing forward, the main stem
running u]:)jrard and backward. The elk were very abundant
in California previous to 1849, and they were frequently seen
in large herds ; but within the last ten years they have become
rare, and before the close of another decade they will be ex-
tinct in our state. A few are found in the San Joaquin valley,
but the best place for hunting them is in Mendocino county.
Several hundred carcasses find their way every year to the
San Francisco market. The young fat elk furnishes a very
juicy and sweet venison.

The white-tailed Virginian deer, once common in the states
east of the Mississippi, is not found in California, but in its
place we have the black-tailed deer {Cervus colwnhianus)^
which is a little larger and has brighter colors, but does not
furnish as good venison, the meat lacking the juiciness and
savory taste of the venison in the Mississippi valley. The av-
erage weight of the buck is about one hundred and twenty-
pounds, and of the doe one hundred pounds, but bucks have
been found to weigh two hundred and seventy-five pounds.
The summer-coat of the black-tailed deer is composed of rather
long and coarse hair, of a tawny brown, approaching chestnut
on the back. In September this hair begins to come off, expo-
sing what the hunters call the " blue coat," which is at first
fine and silky, and of a bluish-gray color, afterward becoming
chestnut brown, inclining to gray on the sides, and to black
along the back. Occasionally deer purely white are found.
The horn, when long, is about two feet long, and forks near
mid-length, and each prong forks again, making four points, to
which a little spur, issuing from near the base of the horn, may

ZOOLOGY. 123

be added, making five in all. This is the general form of the
horn ; sometimes, however, old bucks are found with but two
points. The deer likes the hills and the timber ; the prong-
horned antelope [AjifAlocapra americcma) loves the valley and
the open land. Before the Americans took California, the Sac-
ramento and San Joaquin valleys abounded T\'ith herds of an-
telope ; but now they are rare in the northern part of the state,
and not abundant in the southern part. The traveller in the
Tulare valley and in the Great Basin near the Coast Moun-
tains, sees herds of them everv dav. Thousands are killed
yearly for the market. In size the antelope is not quite so
large as the Califoraian deer, which it resembles closely in form
and general appearance. They are distinguished at a distance
by their motion : the antelope canters, while the deer runs ;
the antelope go in herds, and more in a line following the lead
of an old buck, like sheep, to which they are related, while deer
more frequently are alone, and if in a herd they are more inde-
pendent, and move each in the way that suits him best. In color,
the back, upper part of the sides and outside of the thighs and
forelegs are yellowish brown ; the under parts, lower part of
the sides, and the buttocks as seen from behind, are white.
The hair is very coarse, thick, spongy, tubular, slightly crimped,
or waved, and like short lengths of coarse threads cut ofi'
bluntly. The horns are very irregular in size and form, but
usually they are about eight inches long, rise almost perpen-
dicularly, have a short, blunt prong in front, several inches
from the base, and make a short backward crook at the top.
The female has horns as well as the male. The hoof is heart-
shaped, and its print upon the ground may be readily distin-
from the long, narrow track of the deer. The antelope is
about two feet and a half high, and four feet long from the
nose to the end of the tail.

The mountain sheep ( Ovis rnontana) is found on the Sierra
Nevada, from the Tejon Pass to the Oregon line, but it is a
rare and very shy animal, and is seldom killed. Its length is
about five feet, and its weisrht sometimes three hundred and

124 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

fifty pounds, considerably greater tlian that of the deer or do-
mesticated sheep. The color is white beneath, grayish brown
elsewhere. The horns of the ram are very large, sometimes
five inches through at the base and three feet long. Tlie
horns, after starting upward, turn backward, then downward,
and so round with a circular or spiral shape, the tip inclining
outward. Mountaineers assert that these horns are used by
the sheep in getting down from the high cliffs which he is fond
of frequenting. Instead of clambering down toilsomely over
the rugged and broken rocks, he makes an easy job of it by
leaping headlong, confidently down, over precipices fifty, yes,
one hundred feet high, and alights head first on his horns,
which are strong enough to be unbroken by the shock, and
elastic enough to throw him ten or fifteen feet into the air —
and the next time he alights on his feet all right.

§ 94. The Hare Family. — The Californian hare, or "jackass
rabbit," as it is commonly called [Lepus calif omicus)^ is one
of the largest of its class, growing sometimes to be two feet
long from the nose to the end of the tail. Its ears are very
large, and have suggested the vulgar name. It was once
abundant in all the valleys from the Klamath to the Colorado ;
it is more rare now. The color beneath is a pale cinnamon ;
above it is mixed black and light cinnamon, the longest hairs
being of a light smoky-ash color for about half the length,
then dark sooty-brown, then pale cinnamon-red, and finally
black at the tip.

The prairie hare [Lejncs campestris) also, one of the largest
hares, inhabits the plateau of the Sierra Nevada, Pit River
valley, and the country about the Klamath lakes. It is all
white in winter; in summer yellowish gray, with brownish
tinges above and white beneath. The length, from the tip of
the nose to the root of the tail, is from seventeen to twenty-
three inches ; and the tail and ear each measure about four
inches.

Audubon's hare {Lepus aicduhonii) inhabits the coast val-
leys from Petaluma to San Diego. It is fifteen inches long.

I

ZOOLOGY. 125

with a tail measuring to the end of the hairs on it three inches.
The color is mixed yellowish-brown and black above, white
beneath, thighs and rump grayish.

Trowbridge's hare {Lepus troichridgii) is found along the
coast southward from 39°. The length is from eleven to
fifteen inches ; the tail, with hair and all, less than an inch.
The back is yellowish brown mixed with dark brown, paler on
the sides, and ash-colored beneath.

The sage rabbit {Lepus artemisia) is found in all the open
parts of California north of the Straits of Carquinez. It is
from eleven to sixteen inches in length ; in color, brown above
and white beneath, with a yellowish tinge, the under part of
the neck a yellowish brown. The fur on aU parts of the body
is lead-colored at the base.

§ 95. Aquatic Mammals. — The American beavers {Castor
canadensis) were once very abundant in all the large streams of
California, and it was chiefly for their sake that the first Ameri-
can trappers entered the country some thirty-five or forty years
ago. They are still found in nearly all parts of the state, and
even numerous, it may be said, in some of the sloughs near the
junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. They
rarely build dams in California, but Hve in burrows in the
banks. When they dive they slap the water with their tails,
makinsr a noise that can be heard at a considerable distance in
a still night. Their skins, which once commanded very high
prices, have lost much of their value since the adoj^tion of silk
for making hats.

The common mink {Patorlus viso?i) is found in California,
but is not abundant. The general color of the animal is dark
brownish-chestnut, with a white spot on the end of the chin.
The skin of the mink is as valuable as that of the beaver.

The Californian otter {Liitra californica) is found all along
this coast, and was formerly abundant on all the large streams.
It is carnivorous, living entirely on fish and shell-fish. It pre-
fers large streams and lakes for its home, while the plant-eating
beaver prefers small streams. The Californian otter is some-

126 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

times five feet long from the point of the nose to the tip of
the tail. When in the water, its hair is at times beautifully
iridescent.

The sea-otter {Enliydra niarina) is larger than the Califor-
niau otter, and is also carnivorous. It generally makes its
home near islands, and roams about in the water within ten
or twenty miles of land. The sea-otter was at one time very
abundant along the coast of California, and it was one of the
attractions Avhich induced the Russian Fur Company to estab-
lish a post at Fort Ross, in latitude 38° 30', where a number
of Aleutian Indians were employed from 1812 to 1840 in the
otter fishery. They w^ould start out in their little single ca-
noes, made water-proof with a covering of fish-bladders, so
that there was no danger of their sinking if the sea should
sweep over them, and thus they w^ould go out fifty miles to
sea and travel up and down the coast, usually coming home
well laden with sea-otter skins worth sixty or eighty dollars
each. The sea-otter is still abundant on the southern coast,
and there are men in Santa Barbara county who make it a
business to hunt them.

" The otter," says Mr. W. A. Wallace, " is very harmless,
and always seeks to escape from human observation. When
attacked they make no resistance, but endeavor to escape by
sinking in the sea. If closely pursued and there is no escape,
they scold and grin like an angry cat. If they escape the ene-
my, as soon as they are safe they turn and deride him with
various diverting tricks, such as standing on end in the water,
jumping over the waves, holding the paws over the eyes, as
if to shade them from the sun while looking at the enemy —
then lying flat upon the back and stroking the belly. In their
escape they carry their sucklings in their mouths, and drive
before them those not fully grown. They were formerly taken,
by the Russians and Indians, by means of nets, clubs, and
spears. The young are said to be delicate eating, the flesh
resembling lamb. The flesh of the old ones is insipid and
tough.

ZOOLOGY. 127

" The otter is never seen upon land. He is purely an aquatic
animal. AViien he swims he turns upon his back and propels
himself with great rapidity. The fore-paws are rounded like
a cat's, but the claws of the older ones are generally worn ofl".
The hind-legs, or propellers, are broad and flat, like paddles,
and are used very dexterously. The seal much resembles the
otter, seen at a distance, but he swims upon his belly, and the
hunter seldom mistakes the one for the other. The otter
sleeps in the water, lying upon his back, and anchors himself
from the motions of wmds and waves by drawinor a strino; of
kelj) across his breast, just below his fore-legs. \Yhen discov-
ered in this j^osition, they are often approached very near by
the hunters. They are very buoyant in the water, but when
the chase has been long continued, and the blood of the otter
becomes heated by the exercise, on being shot the body sinks
rapidly to the bottom, and never rises. More than half the
otters shot are lost in this way.

" Once a day the otter comes near the shore for food. He
eats every thing that grows in salt water, and is particularly
fond of abelones (haliotus), mussels, and sea-eggs. At high
water the abelone loosens its shell from the rock, to receive
the nourishment which the overflowing waters bring to it, and
it is then easily taken from the rock and removed from its
shell. The otter is well acquainted with all the peculiarities
of this fish, and this opportunity to capture it for food."

The common seal, a species of phoca, is abundant along the
coast.

The sea-lions, of the Otaria genus, fi-equent the coast from
May to Xovember, making their homes during the winter in
Bome other cUme, but where is not known. They deUght to
collect on clear summer days on rocks near the water's edge,
and bask in the sun. They may often be seen on the rocks
near the Golden Gate, and heard too, for they keep up a kind
of barking or growling in chorus, which grows louder as they
see any one approaching. They do not wait, however, to let
a man come near, but pitch off" into the sea before he is within

128 KESOXJKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

two hundred yards of them. Their color varies from light
yellowish-brown to dark brown.

§ 96. Vultures. — The Californian vulture ( Cathartes calif or-
nicmus)^ sometimes improjDerly called " condor," the largest bird
on the continent, and next to the condor the largest flying bird in
the world, inhabits all parts of the state, though it is not abun-
dant in any place. It is as prominent and peculiar a feature of
the birds of California as the grizzly bear among the quadru-
peds. It is very shy, and is rarely killed. The total length of
the Californian vulture is about four feet, and its width from tip
to tip of the outstretched wings, ten feet or more. Its color
is brownish black, with a white stripe across the wings. The
head and neck are bare, and red and yellow in color. The bill
is yellowish white, and the iris carmine. Dr. Xewberry says :
" A portion of every day's experience in our march through
the Sacramento valley, was a pleasure m watching the graceful
evolutions of this splendid bird. Its flight is easy and eftbrt-
less, almost beyond that of any other bird. As I sometimes
recall the characteristic scenery of California, those intermina-
ble stretches of waving grain, with here and there, between
the rounded hills, orchard-like clumps of oak, a scene so solitary
and yet so home-uke, over these oat-covered plains and slopes,
golden yellow in the sunshine, always floats the shadow of the
vulture."

Dr. Heermann, of the United States Pacific Railroad Sur-
vey, wrote thus : "Whilst unsuccessfully hunting in the Tejon
valley, we have often passed several hours without a single
one of this species being in sight, but on bringing down
any large game, ere the body had grown cold these birds
midst be seen rising above the horizon and slowly sweeping
toward us, intent upon their share of the prey. Xor in the
absence of the hunter will his game be exempt from their rav-
enous appetite, though it be carefully hidden and covered by
shrubbery and heavy branches ; as I have known these marau-
ders to drag forth from its concealment and devour a deer
within an hour. Any article of clothing thrown over a carcass

ZOOLOGY. 129

will shield it from a vulture, though not from the grizzly hear,
who little respects such flimsy protection. My coat, used on
one occasion to cover a deer, was found on our return torn by
bruin to shreds, and the game destroyed. The Californian
vulture joins to his rapacity an immense muscular power, as a
sample of which it will suffice to state that I have known our
of them, jointlv, to drag off, over a space of two hundred
yards, the body of a young grizzly bear weighing upward ot

one hundred pounds."

The turkey-buzzard, or turkey-vulture {Cathartes aura),
specifically the same with the bird known by that name m
the Atlantic states, is found in all parts of Califorma. From
the tip of the bill to the end of the tail it is about thh'ty mches
loner, and six feet from tip to tip of the outstretched wmgs.
The head and neck are bare, covered with a bright-red wrm-
kled ^kin The pluma^re commences below that, with a circu-
lar ruff of projecting feathers. The color of the plumage is
black, with a purplish lustre, many of the feathers having a
pale border. The bill is yellowish in color.

8 97 The Eagle Family.-The golden eagle {Aquila can-
adensis) inhabits Cahfornia, and indeed all parts of Xorth
America. Its len-th is thirty or forty inches ; its color on the
head and neck is^yellowish brown, white at the base of the
of the tail, and brown, varying to purplish brown, and black

elsewhere. i i <. •

The bald eao-le {Halmtus lexicocephalos) was abundant m
Cahfornia ten years ago, and is still often seen along the Sac
ramento, San Joaquin, and Klamath Rivers. It frequents rap-
ids for the purpose of catching fish, which seem to iurnish
the larger part of its food. It is from thirty to forty mches
long, white on the head and at the base of the taU, and brown-
ish black on the breast, wings, and back.

The fish-hawk {Payidion carolinensis) is found along all our
lar-e rivers. It is from twenty to twenty-five inches long. The
head and under parts are white, with pale yellowish-brown spots
on the breast. The back, wings, and tail are dark brown.
6*

130 RESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

The goshawk {Astitr atriccqyUlus) is of the same size with
the lish-hawk, and in color is dark — a bluish-slate above, and
mottled-white and light ashy-brown beneath.

There are seventeen other hawks in the state, most of them
small and rare.

§ 98. Olds. — California has nine species of owls, namely:
the barn, great-horned, screech, long-eared, short-eared, great
gray, saw-whet, burrowing, and pigmy owls. All of them are
found extensively on the continent, beyond the limits of our
state, and all save the last two are common east of the Mis-
sissippi.

The burrowing owl [Athene cunicularia) is ten inches long,
ashy-brown above and whitish-brown beneath, variegated by
spots and bauds of w^hite and dark-brown. Dr. Xewberry
says : " The burrowing owl is found in many parts of Califor-
nia, where it shares the burrows of Beechey's and Douglas's
spermophiles. We usually saw them standing at the entrance
of their burrows. They often allowed us to approach within
shot, and, before taking flight, tw^isting their heads about,
bowed with many ludicrous gestui-es, thus apparently aiding
their imperfect sight, and getting a better view of the intruder.
When shot at and not killed, or when otherwise alarmed, they
fly with an irregular, jerking motion, dropping down much
like a woodcock at some other hole."

The pigmy owl ( Glaucidium gnoma) is seven inches long,
and inhabits the wooded districts. It flies about actively in the
daytime, and appears to subsist chiefly on sparrows, which it
catches in dayhght. The general color is brownish-olive above
and brownish- white beneath.

§ 99. Road-runner. — ^The paisano, or road-runner ( Geococcyx
californiam(s), is one of the most remarkable birds of the state.
It lives almost entirely upon the ground, very rarely flies, and
frequents the highways, along which it will run from any one
approaching. Its speed is nearly equal to that of a common
horse, and it often furnishes an exciting chase to the sohtary
i-ider. It is abundant in the valleys and low hills, and makes

ZOOLOGY. 131

its home among the bushes. The bird is akin to the cuckoo,
and its generic name signifies " ground-cuckoo."' Its length is
from twenty to twenty^three inches, of which twelve are taken
up by the tail. The general color is olive-green above and
white beneath ; the central tail-feathers are olive-brown, the
others dark-green — all edged and (except the central two)
tipped with white. Dr. Heerman says : " I have not witnessed
the following feat, but am assured by many old Califoruians
that tliis bird, on perceiving the rattlesnake coiled up asleep,
basking in the sun, will collect the cactus and hedge liim
around with a circle, out of wiiich the reptile, unable to es-
cape, and enraged by the prickly points opposing him on every
side, strikes himself, and dies from the eflects of his self-inocu-
lated venom."

§ 100. Woodpeckers. — There are eleven species of wood-
pecker in the state ; of which two, the Californian (Jlelanerpes
formicivorus) and Lewis's [Ifela^ieipes torquatus), are w^orthy
of special mention. ,

The Californian woodpecker is called by the Spanish Cali-
foruians the carpi/itero, or carpenter, because he is in the habit
of boring holes with his beak in the bark of the nut-pine, red-
wood, Californian white oak, and Western yellow pine, and
then storins: acorns in them for his winter use. The holes are
just large and deep enough to hold each an acorn, which is
hammered in so that there is no danger of its falling out. The
acorns on the northern side of the trees, where they are pro-
tected from the rains, which come from the southward, often
keep good for years. The bark of the nut-pine is preferred,
probably being softer and more regular in grain than other
bark. The holes are bored to within two or three feet of the
ground, and to a height of fifty feet — sometimes, but rarely, in
the hmbs as well as the trunk. From thirty to fifty holes are
often found in a square foot. In seasons when or places where
acorns are rare, the woodpecker will put away hazel-nuts in the
same manner. The squirrels often plunder the stores, and then
the birds attack the thieves, darting down upon them and peck-

132 KESOUECES OF CALIFOEXIA.

ing them with their beaks. When the squirrel sees the prop-
erty-owner coming, he hurries to a hole, or gets under a limb,
where the woodpecker cannot conveniently strike him. Some-
times Indians and even white men are glad to avail themselves
of the woodpecker's stores as a protection against starvation.

The length of the bird is nine inches ; the anterior part of
the body above and the tail are black ; the belly, rump, a patch
on the forehead, and a collar on the neck, white; and the
crown, and a short occipital crest, red. Dr. Newberry says :
" This beautiful bird, the rival and representative of the red-
headed woodpecker [of the Atlantic slope of the continent], is
an inseparable element of the scenery of the Sacramento val-
ley. While we were encamped under the wide-spreading oaks
of that region, I had a very good opportunity to study their
habits, as they would come into the trees in the shade of which
I was lying. They are not shy, and frequently came round in
considerable numbers. Their manners are the very counter-
part of the Eastern ' red-head,' and their rattling cry is not
unhke his. Like the ' red-head,' I have seen two or three of
them amuse themselves by playing 'hide and seek' around
some trunk or branch ; and like the ' red-head,' too, they de-
light to sit on the end of a dry limb, and fly off in circles for
the insects which come near them."

Lewis's woodpecker is in color dark glossy green above and
gray beneath, with dark-crimson patches on the sides of the head
and belly. The feathers on the under part are bristle-like. It
prefers an elevated home, and is found ten and twelve thou-
sand feet above the sea.

§ 101. Himvining -Birds. — There are four humming-birds in
California, all different from those found in the Atlantic states.
The white-throated swift, a bird resembling the swallow, but
smaller, is common ii; the Colorado Basin. We have a whip-
])Oor-will different from the one known in the Eastern states.
Two night-hawks are found in our state, one of them appear-
ing on this slope of the continent only in the vicinity of the
Colorado, and on the other slope not extending for beyond the

ZO OLOGY.

133

Rio Grande. The belted king-fis]ier {Ceryle alcyon) is at
home in California as well as in all other j^arts of the conti
nent.

§ 102. Fly-catGher.~^\i^ family of %-catchers {Colopteri-
d(B\ which connects the non-melodious with the true singing
birds, is represented in CaUfornia bj eleven species, most of
which are not seen in the Atlantic states. They are small
birds, from five to nine inches in length, and their colors are
usually dull. Most of them have their upper mandible bent
down abruptly at the tip ; and they always have twelve feath-
ers in the tail. One of the most common and the best-known
of the fly-catchers is the bird called the "pewee."

§ 103. Si7igers.—The zoological sub-order called Oscines, or
smgers, has one hundred and nine species in our state, inclu-
ding two mocking-birds, three thrushes, two blue-birds, three
robins, three larks, five black- birds, eleven finches, six wrens,
six swallows, six warblers, one martin, one buntinir, six tit-
mouses, one snow-bird, two grosbeaks, one cow-bird, one ori-
ole, one crow, three ravens, three jays, one water-ouzel, two
magpies, and so on. Some of these birds are not called " sing-
ers" in common language, but they all belong to the Oscines
sub-order, which is marked by a peculiar muscular apparatus
for smgmg, composed of five pairs of muscles in the throat.
Though there are many species of Oscines in the state, yet the
bn-ds are not so numerous, so melodious, nor are they heard so
often, as the feathered songsters in the Eastern states. The
traveller may proceed for days in the Sacramento Basm, durin-
the summer season, without hearing more than a few chirps''
Our singing-birds have been multiplying very rapidly of late'
because of the settlement and cultivation of the land, Avhereby
then- supply of wholesome and palatable food is much increased,
and their enemies the hawks are driven away. Most of our
swallows, one mocking-bird, one black-bird, and one raven,
found in California, are also seen east of the Mississippi ; but
aU our jays, robms, blue-birds, and magpies, and our oriole,
are of species not found in the Atlantic states. The majority

134 BESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

of the Oscines indifrenous on this coast are unknown in the
older states. Our inocking-birds are never domesticated, and
are not to be compared to the mocking-bird of Virginia.

§ 104. Scratchers. — The ornithological order oi Rasoi'es, or
scratchers, is represented in California by eleven sjDecies, name-
ly: one pigeon, two doves, three grouse, two quails, one par-
tridge, and one sand-hill crane. The pigeon, partridge, grouse,
quails, and one of the doves, are specifically different from the
birds known by the same name east of the Mississippi. The
wild-turkey is not found in our state.

The most abundant and prominent of our scratchers, the
Californian quail {Lophortyx californicus)^ is found in all the
valleys of California and Oregon. Its breast and upper parts
are lead-colored, with an olive-brown gloss on the back and
wings ; the chin and throat are black, with a white line run-
ning backward from the eye ; the forehead is brownish-yellow ;
the belly is pale-buff, with an orange-brown round spot in the
middle, changing to white at the sides ; the feathers on the
back and sides have a central streak of white, and those on
the top and sides of the neck have black edgings. The head
bears a crest numbering from thi*ee to six feathers, usually
five, about an inch and a half long. The shafts are bare, very
slender, and, though all are in a straight line on the longitu-
dinal medial line of the head, they are so near together as to
look like but one shaft, more especially as the fine, fur-hke
bushes at their tops all combine to form a compact little plume.
These feathers are usually erect, the plume leaning forward
when the bird is trying to look its best in the presence of com-
pany ; but when running about in the grass, and not thinking
of its appearance, the crest is lowered, falling forward over the
bill.

The Californiau quail has two notes — the song and the call.
The song of the Atlantic quail is in two notes — the well-known
whistle, sounding like "Bob-White." The song of the Cali-
fornian quail has but one note, beginning like the " Bob" and
(.nding like the " White" of its Eastern relative. The calls of

ZOOLOGY. 235

the Atldutic and Pacific quails are nearly alike, and may be
represented by the syllables " hi-re-he."— » As a game-bird"
says Dr. Newberry, "the Californian quail is inferior to the
Eastern one, though perhaps of equal exceUence for the table.
It does not lie as weU to the dog, and does not afford a ^ood
sport. It also takes a tree more readily than the Atlantic
quail. Like its Eastern relative, the cock-bird is very fond of
sitting on some stump or log projecting above the grass and
weeds which conceal his mate and nest or brood, and espe-
cially in the early morning, uttering his peculiar cry."

The plumed quail {Oreortyx pictus), likewise called the
- mountam quail," while the Lophortyx calif amicus is often
styled the " valley quail," is peculiar to this coast, and is one of
the most beautiful features of its ornithologv. It is a partrido-e
ten inches long, very plump in shape, handsome in color, ma-
jestic in its bearing, and graceful in motion. Its head is sur-
mounted by a crest of two straight feathers, three and a half
inches long, which hang backward, one immediately over the
other. The breast and neck are lead-colored, the upper parts
generally olive-brown ; the throat, and head beneath the eyes,
orange-chestnut; the abdomen white. There are numerous
variegations of white, black, and minor shades, on the plumage,
all contributing to heighten its beauty.

The mountain partridge lives in 'the hills and mountains,
from the Tejon Pass to the Columbia River. Its song sug-
gests the sound represented by the word " whoit," whistle^cl
fuller and louder than the song of the Californian quail. It
roosts upon the ground ; and if bushes be near, in which to
hide, it wm rather run than fly from its enemies. It seldom
flies more than two hundred yards at a time. The cock is
equaUy attentive with the hen to the young brood, which usu-
ally varies from eight to twelve in number. The families seem
to be much attached to each other, and if they are scattered,
they are very uneasy until all are collected again. In such
cases, the hunter can entice them to come to him by imitating
the call of either old or young. They are easily domesticated

136 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

— more readily than their brethren of the valley. The moun-
tain i^artridge hates the quail, and when brought into its pres-
ence always attacks it; the smaller bird makes no resistance.

Gambel's quail {Lorphortyx gamhclli) is a bird differing from
the Californian quail only in having duller colors, and is per-
haps specifically the same, the difference in color being a mere
accident of climate. Occasionally, white quails, very similar
in form and size to the Lophortyx calif ornicus^ are found near
Humboldt Bav.

The sage-cock, or cock of the plains ( Centrocercus urophasi-
anv.s)^ the largest of the American grouse, often weighing five
or six pounds, inhabits the dry plains in the vicinity of Pit
Kiver. It is sometimes twenty-nine inches long, and forty-two
inches across from tip to tip of outstretched wings. Its color
above is variegated with black, brown, brownish-yellow, and
vv-hitish-yellow ; its breast is white, its belly black. The male
has bare, flame-colored patches of skin on the neck, which are
ordinarily hidden by the feathers, but which are plainly visible
when he struts about before the hen, with his neck puffed out
like a pouter pigeon's.

The sharp-tailed grouse {Pedioccetes pliasianeTlas) is also
found in the northeastern corner of the state. It is eighteen
inches long, light brownish-yellow above, varied with black,
a;nd white beneath, the feathers on the breast and sides having
brown marks shaped like a V. The tail is long and sharp, the
central feathers and the others growing gradually shorter as
they approach the sides ; there are eighteen feathers in the
tail.

The dusky grouse {Tttrao ohscurus) inhabits the coniferous
forests of the Sierra Nevada, in the northeastern part of the
state. The cock, according to common report, is the hand-
somest of all the American grouse. It is twenty inches long,
dark-brown above, mottled with lead-color, and lead-color be-
neath. There are twenty feathers in the tail, which is broadly
tipped with a light slate-color.

T!ie band-tailed pigeon ( Columha fasciata), the only wild

ZOOLOGY. 137

pigeon found on the Pacific coast, bears a strong resemblance
in form, size, and color, to its' congener in the Atlantic states,
and has similar habits, but is not numerous. Small flocks mi-
grate through the state every spring and autumn, and some
of them spend the summer here.

The white-winged dove {2Idop1ieUa leucoptera) has been
seen in the southern part of the state, but is very rare. It has
white spots on its wings, whence its common and technical
names are derived.

The common dove [Zenaidura caroliyiensis) of the Atlantic
slope is found on the Pacific slope as w^ell.

The sand-hill crane (Grus canadensis) are found from the
meridian of Cincinnati to the Pacific, and are not rare in Cali-
fornia. They spend the winters in our valleys, and in the
spring migrate to the Klamath Lakes and farther north, where
they spend their summers and breed. Subsisting upon vege-
table food exclusively, they are themselves good to eat, and
are frequently seen in the San Francisco market.

§ 105. Waders. — The order of waders (^Grallatores) is rep-
resented in California by forty-one species of birds, namely :
one crane, two herons, two bitterns, one fly-up-the-creek, one
ibis, six plovers, one oyster-catcher, tv/o turnstones, one avoi-
set, three phalaropes, one stilt, one willet, one godwit, one
curlew, five snipes, five sand-pipers, one sanderling, three rails,
and one coot. The oyster-catcher, one turnstoue, one plover,
and one heron, are the only species in the list not found east
of -the ^Mississippi, and none of them have such value or pecu-
liarities as would give interest to a particular descrijjtion of
til em.

§ 106. Swimmers. — California has sixty-six species of the
order of swimmers {Natatores) : of these there are two swans,
six geese, twenty-two ducks, four albatross, two petrels, seven
gulls, four terns, three pehcaus, three cormorants, four guille-
mots, one loon, and various miscellaneous species. One swan,
all the albatrosses, five gulls, the two petrels, the loon, and one
guillemot, are found onlv on this coast.

138 r. E S 0 U Pw C K S O F C A L I F O R N I A .

The trumpeter-swaii [Cygnus huccinator) is a very large
bird, measuring five feet from the point of the bill to the end of
the tail, and six feet across from tip to tip of the outstretched
Avings. The plumage is snowy- white in color, its legs and bill
black. The name of "trumpeter" is given to it because of its
clarion-like scream, which is heard as it flies. It frequents the
lakes in the northern and northeastern parts of the state, and
is sometimes seen in the rivers. It is a shy bird, and is rarely
killed.

The American swan, found also on the Atlantic slope of the
continent, is similar in appearance and size to the trumpeter,
but lacks its loud voice, and is otherwise distinguishable from
it chiefly by having an orange-colored spot on its bill in front
of the eye, whereas the bill of the Cygnus huccinator is en-
tirelv black.

Wild geese are very abundant in California during the
spring and fall, when they pass through on their migrations.
Among them are the Canada goose {Bernicla canadensis)^ the
snow-goose {Atiser hy2:)erhoreiis)^ the white-footed goose, or
" speckled belly" [Anser erythropus)^ Hutchins's goose {^Ber-
nicla Iiutchinsii), and the black brandt {Bernicla nigricans).
Hutchins's goose is more abundant than any of the others.
Some of them, while in the state, get all their food in the tules ;
others in the spring resort to the fields of young grain, where
they pasture. Dr. Xewberry says : " I was much interested in
noticing the perfect harmony of intercourse which seemed to ex-
ist among the smaller species. They intermingled freely while
feeding, and when alarmed arose without separation ; and I
have seen a triangle flying steadily high over my head, com-
posed of individuals of three species, each plainly distinguish-
able by its plumage, but each holding its place in the geomet-
rical figure, as though it was composed of entirely homogene-
ous material ; perhaps unequal members of the darker species,
with three, four, or more pure snow-white geese flying togeth-
er somewhere in the converging lines."

Among the ducks of California are the mallard and canvas-

ZOOLOGY. 139

back. The meat of the latter has not so fine a flavor as in the
Eastern states, probably because it does not here find the wild
celery uj^on which it feeds along the streams of the middle
states.

Many of the geese and ducks pass the winter in Califoruia,
where they find an abundance of food in the grain-fields and
tules.

The murre, or foolish guillemot ( Zfria ringvin), is similar to
the gulls, seventeen inches long, dark-brown above and white
beneath, with transverse stripes of ashy-brown on its sides. Its
throat is brown in sunmier and white in winter. It frequents
the islands along the coast, and lays its eggs there on the bare
ground or rocks. These eggs are wonderfully irregular in
form, size, and color, but are generally about three and a half
inches long, sea-green in color, with dark-brown spots of angu-
lar shapes on them. Quantities of these eggs are obtained ev-
ery year at the Farallones, and are sold in the San Francisco
market at about half the price of hen's eggs per dozen, or, if
taken by weight, at one-fourth. Their taste, however, is rank,
and they are not used by those who can afibrd to buy the
hen's eggs.

Dr. Heermanu says : " At one o'clock every day during the
iigg season, Sundays and Thursdays excepted (this is to give
the birds some little respite), the egg-hunters meet on the
south side of the island. The roll is called, to see that all are
present, that each one may have an equal chance in gathering
the spoil. The signal is given, every man starting off at a full
run for the most productive egging-grounds. The gulls [Larus
occide7itaUs, Western gull), understanding, apparently, what is
about to occur, are on the alert, hovering overhead, and await-
ing only the advance of the party. The men rush eagerly into
the rookeries ; the aff'righted murres have scarcely risen from
their nests, before the gull, with remarkable instinct, not to
say almost reason, flying but a few paces ahead of the hunter,
alights on the ground, tapping such eggs as the short time
will allow, before the egger comes up with him. The broken

140 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

eggs are passed by the men, Avho remove only those which are
sound. The gull, then returning to the field of its exploits,
procures a plentiful supply of its favorite food."

§ 107. Fishes. — The fishes of the coast and rivers of Califor-
nia are all different from those of the Atlantic side of the conti-
nent, with the exception, perhaps, of one sj^ecies of the halibut.
The cod and shad, two of the most important fishes of the sea
of the Eastern shore, and the lobster among crustaceans, are
here wanting, as also the cat-fish kind in the rivers. Otherwise
our waters are probably as rich in game for the fisherman as
those of any country.

§ 108. Salmon. — The most important fish of California is the
quinnat salmon [Salmo quinnat\ a species found from Point
Conception to the Columbia River. Its color aboA^e is oliva-
ceous brown, changing to salmon-color beneath. The largest
one ever caught weighed sixtj-two pounds ; the common size
is from ten to thirty pounds. The salmon are born in the rivers,
but go down to the sea, where they spend part of every year.
They commence to enter the bay of San Francisco in N'ovem-
ber, and continue to come in for three or four months. They
ascend the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and some of
their smaller tributaries, deposit their spawn, and in .June go
out to sea again. They come in lean and go out lean, but in the
late winter and early spring they are fat. There are two com-
mon popular errors, that the salmon do not eat after leaving
the sea, and that they never get back alive. The former error
is owins^ to the fact that no laro-e articles of food are found in
its stomach, and the latter to the fact that when going out all
are lean, and that many are found dead along the banks of
salmon-streams. But the salmon find their chief food in mi-
nute animalculce, and not in fish, for catching which they seem
to be so well fitted, with their large mouths and sharp teeth.
It is well known that the salmon bite like trout, and furnish
excellent sport in clear vv ater to the skilfid fisherman with the
fly. They dislike the mud with which the streams emptying
into San Francisco Bay are filled by the miners, and therefore

ZOOLOGY. 141

do not go far from the sea or ascend the small tributaries ; but
elsewhere the}- ascend every little brook, up to points where
there is scarcely enough water for them to swim ; and in these
expeditions they are so much exhausted and bruised that they
soon die ; but the number thus killed is as nothing compared
with those which go out to sea again. The female salmon
having found a suitable place, uses her nose to dig a trench in
the sand about six feet long, a foot wide, and three inches
deep, and having deposited her spawn in it, throws a Uttle sand
over it wdth her tail, and departs, leaving her eggs to be
hatched and the offspring to be fed as best they can. In the
month of May the young salmon are found on their way to the
sea, from three to six inches long. It is supposed that the
salmon always return to the river in which they were born ;
so that the salmon born in the lOamath River never enter San
Francisco Bay, nor do those born in the Sacramento and San
Joaquin Rivers ever enter Humboldt Bay. Although the sea-
son in which salmon are abimdant in the rivers extends from
November to June, yet some of them are found in the streams
of California at all seasons, and they can be had fresh in the
San Francisco market every day in the year.

The quinnat is the chief salmon of all the streams and bays
of California, but Gairdner's salmon {Fario gairdneri) is found
in the Klamath River, and the stellatus salmon in Humboldt
Bay and its tributaries. Gairdner's salmon has a silvery-gray
back, sil\rery sides, and a yellowish-white belly. The body has
numerous indistinct, blackish spots. The stellatus salmon is
light-olive in the back, yellowish- white on the belly, and rarely
exceeds two or three pounds in weight.

§ 109. Halibut. — There are two species of halibut on the
coast of California, the Californian [Hijypoglossus californicus)
and the common {Hippoglossus vulgaris). There is some
doubt whether the latter species is properly named ; if it be,
then we have one species of fish found on the Atlantic coast.
The Cahfornian halibut is a slender fish, weighing at the
largest twenty-five pounds, in color grayish-brown above and

142 RESOTTRCES OF CALIFORNIA.

white below. The halibut prefer a colder climnte, and are not
sufficiently abundant in this latitude to sustain a special fish-
ery ; but a few are in our market throughout the year. They
live in deep water, and in places where the bottom is rocky.
They eat little fish and shell-fish, and bite readily at the hook.
Their meat is very delicate.

. §110. Tarhot. — The turbot [Pleiironychthys rugosus) is
the only large flat-fish, excej)t the halibut, found along our
shore. It sometimes grows to weigh twenty pounds, but the
common size is from three to ten pounds. The turbot inhabits
deep waters and rocky bottoms, eats fish, and bites readily at
the hook. It is one of the best fish in our market.

§ 111. Sole. — We have four species of small flat-fish, com-
monly called soles {Psettlchthys sordidus., Psettichthys inela-
nostictus., Parophrys vetulus, and Platessa hilineata). They
are so much alike, that they are not distinguished from one
another by fishermen generally. The Platessa hilineata is the
largest, sometimes weighing two pounds ; the others rarely
exceed one pound. They frequent the shallow waters of the
bay of San Francisco, and are caught abundantly in nets at all
seasons of the year. The flat-fishes do not bury themselves in
the mud here through the winter, as they do in the North At-
lantic. The soles feed on Crustacea, little fishes, and marine
animalculse.

§ 112. Mackerel. — The mackerel [Scotnher diego) is found
north of Point Conception. It is good, but not more than
half as large as the Atlantic mackerel. The Californian mack-
erel rarely exceeds ten inches in length. It lies near the sur-
face of the water at sea, and is not fond of entering bays or
going very near the shore. Like its Eastern congener, it bites
readily at any white rag or shining white substance jerked
through the water.

§ 113. Rock-Fish. — The rock-fish furnish the main supply
of fish in the San Francisco market. All belong to the genus
iSebastes, of which there are eight species, the most important
being the red {I'osacens)^ black {pielanops)., and wharf rock-

ZOOLOGY. 14.'^

fish {auriculatus). The red rock-fish grows to weigh twenty
pounds; the other species rarely exceed fi)iir or five. The
wharf rock-fish is the only one caught in the bay ; the others
lire out at sea, in deep Avater and on rocky bottoms : they eat
crabs and shell-fish, and bite freely at hooks. They are always
in market, and their meat is excellent at all seasons.

§ 114. Sturgeon. — We have three species of sturgeon, of
w^hich the only important one is the Californian' sturgeon {Aci-
peiiser hrachyrinthus), which sometimes grows to be seven
feet long and to weigh two hundred pounds. The sturgeon
is a sea-fish, which enters fresh water to spawn, but it is
caught in the bay of San Francisco and tributaries at all sea-
sons of the year ; whereas in the Eastern states there are sea-
sons for sturgeon in the market, as there are for beans and
peas.

The sturgeon eats the slimy matter, both animal and vege-
table, at the bottom of the sea. It never bites, its mouth
being circular in form, and fitted only for sucking. It has a
habit of shooting up from the bottom and springing out of
water, and then falling flat upon its belly, making a loud
splash — very diflerent from the porpoise, wiiich also darts out
of the water, but always strikes head first, making little noise.
Some ichthyologists suppose that the object of the sturgeon in
thus falling on the water is to free itself from parasites ; others
that it is merely a kind of pLay. The spawning-season is not
known precisely, but it is probably from December to May.
The meat of the sturgeon is coarse, and in the market is worth
only about one-fourth or one-sixth of that of the better table
fishes ; but the sturgeon-fishery is profitable, because of the
abundance and large size of the fish.

§ 115. Jeia-Fish. — The Jew-fish {^Stereolepis gigas)^ one of
the largest scale-fishes — weighing sometimes five hundred
pounds — is abundant south of Point Conception, and rarely
straggles as fiir north as San Francisco Bay. Only two have
been caught near the Golden Gate, and one of them filled the
city with wonder. It is a bottom-fish, living in deep and shoal

144 KESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

water, and frequenting lagoons and kelp. It often comes to
the surface, and, according to report, goes to sleep there. It
bites readily at the hook, and may be taken with harpoons.
The meat is very good.

§116. Sim-Fish — The sun-fish (Orthagoriscus analis) is
found occasionally south of Point Conception, where it is seen
fl(jating on the surface, in accordance with the habits of the
genus everywlrere. It weighs from one to a hundred pounds.
Its form suggests the idea that the body has been cut off near
the broadest part, and the tail sewed on.

§ 117. Green- Fish. — The green-fish i^Opploraona pantheri-
na)^ generally called cod in the San Francisco market, but
having no relationship to the true cod, is abundant along the
coast. It grows to be about two feet in length. The meat is
coarse, and green in color; and the fish has little commercial
value.

§ 118. SeaSass. — The sea-bass (Johnius nohilis) is a plaiu,
oval fish, bluish-gray in color above, silvery below, weighing
from fifteen to forty pounds. It is closely related to the weak-
fish of the New York market. The meat is white and deli-
cate, and always commands a high price in the market. It is
a surface-fish, and sometimes enters the bays, but is not abun-
dant anvwhere. It is caus-ht from March to November.

§ 119. Sheepshead. — The Californian sheepshead (Lahrus
pulcher) is a black fish, with a broad, bright-red band sur-
rounding the body, and weighs from one to twelve pounds.
It has white, broad, projecting teeth, like those of a sheep. It
has no relationship to the Atlantic sheepshead, but is a conge-
ner of the black-fish of the New York market. The meat has
a very fine flavor when fresh, but loses its delicacy after being
dead a day or two. It is found south of Point Conception,
on rocky and kelpy bottoms, from April to October. Its food
is chiefly shell-fish.

§ 120. Smelts. — We have four species of fish called smelts
[Atherinopsis californiensis., Atherinopsis affi?iis^ Osmerus
2Jreciosi(s, and Osmerus si7nilis). The Atherinoi^ses are not

ZOOLOGY. 145

true smelts, but belong to the same genus with the sander-
liiigs of the Atlantic, Avhich last are thrown away, or used only
as bait ; whereas our Atlierinopses are valuable fishes. The
Atherinopsis californiensis forms the great bulk of the smelts
in our market. It is the largest of the Pacific smelts, some-
times reaching a length of fifteen inches, and a pound in weight.
The Osmerus species are small. All of them have bright silver
bands along their sides. The smelts are more abundant here
tlian on the Eastern coast, and are the best of our small fishes.
They are caught at all seasons of the year ; in the bays mth
nets — never at sea, or with hooks.

§ 121. Anchovies. — There are two anchovies [JEngraidis
inordax and JEngrauUs nanus) on the coast of California.
They are so nearly alike, that they are undistinguishable ex-
cept by ichthyologists. Both are small, from four to six inches
long, very delicate in flavor, but very bony. They are fully
equal to the European anchovy for the table. They feed on
minute animalculse, go in shoals, and are caught with nets in
the bays at all seasons of the year.

§ 122. Sardine and Herring. — The sardine {3Ieletta cervr
lea) is abundant from Humboldt Bay to San Diego. It grows
to a length of eight or nine inches, and is therefore much larger
than the Mediterranean sardine, to which it is fully equal in
flavor. It is found along the coast from April to October, and
is caught in the bays with nets.

The herring ( Clupea rairabilis) is not so abundant as the
Atlantic species, nor so large, but is equal in flavor. It comes
in the spring, and goes in the autumn.

§ 123. Yiviparoiis Fishes. — The viviparous or embiotocoid
fishes of this coast are a peculiar feature of its ichthyology.
They constitute, perhaps, the most remarkable natural group
of fishes in the world, and their discovery caused a marked
sensation among zoologists. Other viviparous fishes had been
previously known, but their young are brought forth in a very
immature condition ; Avhereas the little embiotocoid fishes are
born with a fulness of development similar to that of warm-
7

146 RESOURCES or CALIFORNIA.

blooded animals, and the moment after they leave the mother
they are seen swimming and taking care of themselves. There
are seventeen or eighteen specids belonging to the several
genera, amonir which the embiotoca and holconotis are promi-
nent. All are marine fishes save one, which is found in fresh
water. They weigh from half a pound to three pounds, and
most of them are grayish brown above and silvery beneath.
They are abundant in the market at all seasons of the year,
and are called " perch" by the fishermen, though they have no
relationship to the true perch. The meat is not good. The
young are born from April to August.

§ 124. Fresh -Water Fishes. — Among the fresh-water fishes
the most important is the brook-trout (Salar iridea), which is
fomid in all the mountain- streams of the state, and offers fine
sport for fly-fishing. It not unfrequently growls to weigh two
pounds, and, if report is to be believed, sometimes reaches ten
and twelve pounds. In appearance and flavor it is similar to
the trout of other countries.

A fish called the salmon-trout {Ptychocheilus grandis)^ but
not related to the salmon, the trout, or the salmon-trout, is
found in all the large rivers and lakes of California. It grows
to weigh thirty pounds. Its teeth are not in the mouth, but
in the throat, where it crushes such shell-fish as it feeds upon.
It bites voraciously, and is caught with the hook and with
nets. The meat is poor, bony, and insipid. It is brought to
the market in winter. The small ones are called pikes.

A chub {Tygoma crassicauda), and two suckers (Catosto-
onus lahicitus and Catostomiis occidenfalis), never weighing
more than three pounds, are also found in our rivers. They
are not valuable.

§ 125. Shell-Fish and Crustaceans. — We have five species
of shell-fish valuable for the table : one oyster, two muscles,
one cockle, and a soft-shelled clam. The oysters are small,
not finely-flavored, nor abundant. We have no lobster, but a
prawn [PaUnuris), very similar to the lobster in size, color,
flavor, habits, and general appearance, except that it lacks the

ZOOLOGY. 147

large claws. Crabs are abundant. The abelone or aulone
(Kaliotis) is found as far north as Point Reyes, and abounds
south of Point Conception. It is a mollusk with one shell,
from five to seven inches across ; the shells are beautifully
iridescent, and are much used in the arts for buttons, knife-
handles, inlaying, &c. Many vessels are engaged in fishing
for them. The abelones stick to the rocks and to each other,
collecting in some places in masses two feet thick ; the fisher-
men break them ofi" from the rocks with a spade. When the
abelones do not suspect danger, they loosen their hold and
raise their shells from the rock, and then the fisherman may
easily thrust his spade down along the surface of the stone ;
but if he alarms the abelone beforehand, he finds the shells
fastened down to the rock with great power, and all the
strength of a man is scarcely sufficient to pry one of them off".
The meat of the abelone is eaten by the Chinese, who dig
them; the dried meat resembles horn in its color and hard-
ness, and in shape looks as though it might be the hoof of a
calf.

The shrimp ( Crangon francisconim) is found in the bays
of California, and was very abundant a few years ago, but
lately is getting scarce, at least in San Francisco Bay.

§ 126. Rexjtiles. — The snakes of California are not large,
numerous, nor remarkable. Only one of them, the rattlesnake,
is poisonous.

The scorpion is found in the warmer portions of the state,
but is not abundant.

Tarantulas are common in Calaveras, Mariposa, Fresno, and
Tulare counties. They belong to the same genus with the
spiders, but the body grows to be three inches long and an
inch wide, and the entire length from end to end of out-
stretched legs is five inches. The body and legs are covered
with silky, brown hair. • The tarantula eats little insects of
various kinds, but, unlike most other spiders, has no net. It
lives in a hole in the ground not much larger than itself when
pressed into the smallest compass, and the hole is covered by

[

148 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

a little door on a binge, which closes by its own weight or by
a spring. In the top of the door are several little holes, into
which the tarantula can insert its claws when it w^ishes to en-
ter ; and so quick are its motions when terrified, that it often
disappears suddenly under the eyes of men pursuing it, and
they have great difficulty in finding its hiding-place-. The
door fits tightly, and is larger on the X)utside, so that it never

sticks fast.

The bite of the tarantula is poisonous, but not fatal— or at
least has never, so far as I know, proved fatal in California. It
rarely bites men, and generally flees when it discovers their
approach. The tarantulas have dangerous enemies in several
species of wasps, the females of which kill them by thrusting
eggs into their bodies. When the larvae of the wasp are
hatched, they make food of the carcass. So soon as the taran-
tula dies, the wasp drags it to her hole, usually the deserted
burrow of a spermophile, where she may collect twenty or
thirty dead tarantulas in one season. There are three differ-
ent species of these w^asps; one kind is blue, another yellow.
Sometimes the wasp darts dowm repeatedly upon the taran-
tula, and does not touch him except wath her egg-planter, de-
positing an egg at every thrust. On other occasions the two
grapple, and the wasp continues to insert her eggs until the
tarantula dies. The editor of a newspaper of Mariposa thus
describes the killing of a tarantula : " Some of our readers may
have heard of the tenacity with which the venomous tarantula
is pursued by an inveterate enemy, in the form of a huge wasp
—invariably resulting in the defeat and death of the former.
We were an eye-witness to one of these conflicts last week,
Avhile on a ramble among the adjacent hills. This is the se.i-
Bon when the poisonous tarantula leaves his well-fashioned
abode to perambulate the dusty roads and smooth paths so
often trod by the industrious miners, and about their haunts a
dozen or so may be seen any day, of this hideous enlargement
of the spider-race, within a circuit of a few yards, leisurely
wending their way along the roads and by-ways. Often have

ZOOLOGY. 149

we marked, with attentive curiosity, his awkward gait while
lifting his long, unwieldy legs above the short blades of grass,
and wondered for what uses and purposes this ugly little mon-
ster was placed upon this beautiful globe. Vriiile attentively
watchinjT the motions of one of these insects durinof our walk,
we were much surprised to see the object of our attraction
suddenly stop short in his wanderings and raise itself up to its
full hei^^ht, as thouc^h watchinsr the cominsf of some unwelcome
visitor. We at first supposed that it had just espied us, and
was expecting danger at our hands ; but upon our retreating a
few steps, he quickly crouched behind a tuft of dried grass, and
remaining very quiet, seemed to make himself as small as pos-
sible. A slight buzzing was heard in the air, and in a moment
a wasp passed near, hovering on the wing over his trembling
victim, the much-dreaded tarantula. Like some bird of prey,
the was^) remained thus poised a moment, and then, quick as
thought, darted down upon the enemy, and stung him many
times with great rapidity. The tarantula, smarting under the
pain, began a retreat, with all the speed of which he was ca-
pable ; but the wasp hung over him with wonderful tenacity,
and again and ao^ain struck him with his venomous stinsr.
Gradually the flight of the tarantula became slower and more
irregular, and at length, under the repeated thrusts of his con-
queror, he died, biting the grass with his terrible fangs."

Locusts and grasshoppers are abundant in the valleys ; mus-
quitoes in the tules, and along the streams in the Sacramento
Basin ; and fleas everywhere.

§ 127. Honey -Dew Aphis. — Among the noteworthy insects
of the state is one which secretes a sweet liquid called " honey-
dew," and deposits it on trees. It is transparent, thick like
honey, and sweet, sometimes with a bitter after-taste, but more
frequently having a flavor like parched corn. The leaves and
twigs are covered with it, the deposit usually being nearly
even, occasionally in spots or drops. The honey-dew is more
frequently found on oak-trees than on any other tree or bush ;
and oftener in dry seasons, and remote from the coast, than in

150 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

wet weather or within the reach of the sea-fogs. A kinrl of
molasses may be made by breaking off the twigs covered with
the secretion, and boiling them in water.

Honey-dew is found in most countries where the soil is bar-
ren or the climate dry, and may be the same with the manna
of the Hebrews. It is known, too, that various insects secrete
jsweet liquids ; and some of the Aphis genus are kept as milch-
cows by the ants, which stroke them down or tickle them witli
their antennae, when they want some of the sweet milk, and
the captive Aphis obligingly squeezes out the secretion tlirongh
her sides, which is industriously gathered by the milk-ants.

Note. — Nearly all the information about the quadrupeds and birds of Cali-
fornia, heretofore printed, may be found in the papers of Dr. J. S. Newberry
and Professor S. F. Baird, in the United States Pacific Railroad Survey Ee-
ports. Most of my information about the fishes and fisheries, and much even
of the language, is derived from the conversation of Dr. W. 0. Ayres, of San
Francisco ; and I hope that, as he is the most competent man, he will some
day treat the subject in a special work.

AGRICULTFEE. 151

CHAPTER YII.

AGRICULTURE.

§ 128. General Remarks. — Of the 160,000 square miles in
the area of California, about 60,000 may be tillable; of which
16,000 are in the coast valleys, 30,000 in the low lands of the
Sacramento Basin, 12,000 in the Sierra Nevada, and 2,000 in
the Klamath Basin : while the 25,000 square miles of the Great
Bivsin, the 15,000 of the Colorado Desei*t within the limits of
this state, 30,000 of the Sierra Nevada, 26,000 of the Coast
Mountains, and 6,000 of the Klamath Basin, may be put do^vn
as unfit for the plough. The 60,000 square miles of tillable
land contain nearly 40,000,000 acres, but only 1,000,000 are
cultivated in the state : of the remaining 39,000,000, one-fourth
have a soil very thin, or not fertile because of the presence of
alkaline substances ; one-half are too remote from market, even
where the soil is good ; and a considerable portion is tied up
in lawsuits, so that the ownership is doubtful, and the claim-
ants dare not improve it for fear of losing the improvements.
Only a small portion of the state is, therefore, fit for the plough.
Not more than one acre in ten could now be tilled profitably,
and I suppose that not more than one acre in four wiU be tilled
during this century.

As compared with the great agricultural states of the Mis-
sissippi valley, in so far as relates to the proportion of rich land
fit for the plough, California is at a great disadvantage, and is
probably inferior in this respect to every state on the Atlantic
slope of the continent. In Illinois and Indiana, nearly every
foot of land has a rich soil and a level position. Again. Cali-

152 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

fornia is at a great disadvantage as compared with her sister-
states east of the Rocky Mountains, in the proportion of land
fitted for growing a variety of crops. In the northern part of
the Mississippi valley, nearly every acre will produce all the
main articles of cultivation — fruits, maize, potatoes, and gar-
den vegetables, as well as wheat and oats. In this state, how-
ever, of the 40,000,000 tillable acres, at least 30,000,000 are so
dry, that they cannot, because of the want of moisture, and
the impossibihty of irrigation, be made to produce any crop
save small grain ; and of the remaining 10,000,000 acres, three-
fourths w^ill not yield fruits, maize, potatoes, pumpkim?, or gar-
den vegetables, without irrigation.

These are undoubtedly very serious drawbacks to the agri-
culture of the state, but we have great advantages in many
other points. The climate in the valleys, for instance, is so
warm and the sky so clear through the Avinter, that vegetable
life upon moist ground is almost as active in January as in
July ; and our trees and shrubs have nearly tmce as much
time to grow and mature as in the free states of the East,
where frost reigns from October to May. It is a well-known
fact that California has produced larger specimens of garden
vegetables, more thrifty growth and rapid development of
fruit-trees, and larger crops of small grain to the acre, than
any state in the Union, and many persons have supposed our
soil to be richer. This supposition is erroneous, as I am satis-
fied ; the superiority of the Californian productions is owing to
the more favorable climate. I am not aware that any com-
parison of our soils has been made by chemical analysis with
those of Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio ; but the proba-
bility is, that the latter are more fertile. The loam is deeper ;
the vegetation has been gi*eater, and it has enriched the soil
by the accumulation of its decomposed remains through thou-
sands of years ; whereas in the valleys of California, the vege-
tation is comparatively scanty, and the air is too dry to permit
a decomposition of wood or grass to enrich the soil. The bot-
tom-lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin are far inferior

AGRICULTUKE. 153

in depth, blackness, and fertility of loam, to tlie valleys of the
Miami, Wabash, and Illinois Rivers.

§ 129. Agricultural Districts. — Let us now consider the dif-
ferent districts in the state suitable for agriculture. These dis-
tricts, as I have said before, compose only a small part of Califor-
nia, and have strongly-marked boundaries. They are nearly
all valley-land, shut in by mountains. The Great Utah Basin
has very little tillable land in the state ; there are small patches
of fertile soil, but too slight to deserve special mention. The
Colorado Basin is in about the same condition. It is possible
that a considerable tract of land will be rendered fit for tillage
by turning the Colorado into the low part of the desert ; but
this is a remote contingency, and we have no accurate infor-
mation about the character of the soil vvhich it is proposed to
irrigate in this manner. In a few little valleys, however, just
at the eastern foot of the Coast Range, the soil is fertile, and
the climate so warm, that fruits ripen six weeks earlier than
on the western side.

The laro-est tracts of tillable land in the Klamath Basin are
the Scott and Shasta valleys, each about thirty miles long and
four w^de. They are elevated from three to four thousand
feet above the sea ; the winters are severe, and frosts common
in spring and autumn, and not rare in summer. Most of the
soil is a gravelly clay, with a rich, sandy loam, along the im-
mediate borders of the streams. Wheat, oats, apples, and
potatoes, do Avell ; but maize, peaches, melons, tomatoes, and
sweet-potatoes, require a warmer climate. There is some level
land in the eastern part of the Klamath Basin, near the Kla-
math Lakes, but the soil is barren, and the vegetation like
that of a desert. Del Xorte county, which may be said to
belong to the Klamath Basin, has 44,117 acres of land, of
which 15,240 are covered with redwood, 7,277 with spruce,
19,204 are prairie, 2,400 are sand-ridges, and 4,712 are in la-
goons. Most of the redwood land is level and fertile, but the
timber is dense almost beyond example, and could not be
cleared profitably, because all the redwood stumps thi-ow out

154 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

sprouts, which grow up to trees. Much of the prairie-laud is
tfeitile and suitable for cultivation, but it is remote from the
market. Klamath and Trinity counties are almost destitute
of valley-land. Both, however, have numerous small spots of
rich soil in their mountains, and both have a mining popula-
tion who must be fed, and have the means and disposition to
pay well for the necessaries and delicacies of life. The farms
mu«t be small, but the farmers are protected by the rugged
mountains from the competition of those in the large valleys.
Hay -Fork valley, one of the best little tracts of tillable land in
Trinity county, is three thousand six hundred feet above the
sea-level.

The largest tract of level land in the plateau of the Sierra
Nevada is the valley of Suisun River and Honey Lake, about
sixty miles long and ten wide. The elevation is about four
thousand five hundred feet above the sea; much of the soil is
sandy and alkaline, with no indigenous vegetation save the
worthless wild sage. Portions of the soil, however, are fertile,
and there are a number of farms under cultivation. Honey
Lake valley has the advantage of proximity to Washoe, and
good roads for communication. There are 115,000 acres in
the valley, of which 20,000 are swampy, at least in w^et sea-
sons. Eagle Lake valley is about one-third the size of Honey
Lake vallev, and of similar soil.

All along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada there are
little spots of fertile soil, well suited for cultivation ; but with
the exception of a few, they are too small to deserve special
mention. The soil is usually a red clay or a black loam. The
largest tillable spots on the western descent of the Sierra Ne-
vada are in Plumas county. Sierra valley is forty-five miles
long by six wide, and is drained by a tributary of Feather
River. Much of the land is barren sand ; much is tule-swamp,
and only a small portion is fit for tillage. No water flows from
the valley after July. The Big Meadows contain 100,000
acres ; Beckworth's valley, 90,000 ; Indian valley, 20,000 ;
Mountain Meadows, Red Clover valley, and Mohawk valley,

AGKICULTURE. 155

10,000 acres each ; and American valley, 5,000. In all of tliera
the soil is very sandy, but not barren. They are from three to
five thousand feet above the sea ; all shut in by high moun-
tains; and all containing a considerable portion of swampy
land.

The low land of the Sacramento Basin comprises 20,000
square miles — about 3,000,000 acres. The Sacramento valley
has several benches. The lowest bench is about twenty feet
above the low-water mark of the river, and has a soil of sandy
loam, richer immediately along the stream than farther off.
The next bench, very irregular in height and width, has a soil
of red, gravelly clay, which extends back to the mountains.
In some places this clay becomes very soft in wet seasons — so
soft, that weak cattle may mire down in it and be unable to
extricate themselves. I knew a case where a team of weak
oxen, exhausted by hard driving and scanty food, sank down
in a wet gravel-ridge, so that only their heads and a little of
their necks and shoulders appeared above-ground ; and passing
the place some months later, when the ground had become as
hard as clay and gravel ever are, I saw the six bare skulls of
the oxen resting with their chins on the earth where they had
sunk down, and behind them were the projecting spines of the
back-bone, with the yokes still on the necks of each pair of
oxen. This gravel is seldom cultivated at present, but in many
places it will produce good crops of barley. It forms at least
one-half of the Sacramento valley. Yery little of it can be irri-
gated ; and the general belief is, that no corn, potatoes, garden
vegetables, fruit, or grapes, can be grown on it without irriga-
tion. The sandy loam produces large crops of wheat, barley,
and oats, without irrigation. Fruit-trees and grape-vines thrive
without it after they grow to be tt.ree or four years old, but
in most places require it till they have taken a good start.
Garden vegetables cannot be grown witliout irrigation, unless
planted very early, and of such kinds a,s ripen before July. In
the level valley there are no springs, nor are there any artesian
wells ; so the onlv method of gettino: water is by pumping it

156 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

up from common wells, for which purpose windmills are ex-
tensively used, and thus most of the water used for irrigation
is obtained. A large part of the valley, especially of that near
the rivers, is subject to overflow; and about once in five years
a flood comes, sweeping away houses, fences, and cattle, de-
stroying gardens, and covering the earth with a thick clay,
which, instead of enriching the soil, is far poorer than the an-
cient deposits of sandy loam, made before the miners had com-
menced to tear down the mountains for their golden treasures.
In these times of flood, so much of the valley is covered with
water, that it looks like a great lake, and the pilots of the river
steamers know the channel only by the rows of trees along the
banks, for the banks themselves are completely hidden from
sight. The flood rarely comes earlier than January or later
than March.

The bottom-lands along the Feather River are considered
richer than those near the banks of the Sacramento. Tribu-
tary to Sacramento valley on the western side is Cache Creek
valley, about twenty miles long by five wide ; and connected
with it is Clear Lake valley, a basin nearly circular in shape,
and twenty miles across, surrounded by mountains. The lake
is about one thousand feet above the sea. South of Cache
Creek, and also tributary to the Sacramento valley, is Putah
Creek, which drains Berreyesa valley, twenty miles long by
two wide. These little valleys have very rich land ; and being
shut in by near mountains, the soil is much moister than out
in the open plain. The nearer to the coast and the farther
north, the greater the moisture as a general rule ; and it may
almost be said that the value of the land depends upon the
moisture.

In the northwestern corner of the Sacramento Basin, alonir
the banks of Cottonwood Creek, there are some beautiful,
moist, and fertile little vales. The Sacramento valley has very
few trees, save along the banks of the streams and stream-
beds, where oaks, sycamores, laurels, willows, buckeyes, birch,
and Avild grape, are the principal growth, marking in summer

AGEICULTTJEE. I5l

the places where the Avater rnns in winter. The only trees
growing away from the watercourses are oaks, which are
usually found in groves, and almost invariably without under-
growth.

. In the Sacramento valley there are about two hundred
square miles, or one hundred and twenty-eight thousand acres,
of tule-land, most of it above high tide, and covered by water
only in times of flood. Very httle of it has been drained or
cultivated, and therefore we do not know its value. All the
tule-land is covered five or six feet deep with water in times
of flood.

The northern part of the San Joaquin valley is much like
the southern part of the Sacramento valley. When the San
Joaquin River approaches within fifty miles of Suisun Bay, it
divides into three channels, which are separated from one an-
other by islands of low tule-land. In times of high flood, the
river spreads out and covers a space fifteen or twenty miles
wide. There is less gravel and clay but more sand in the San
Joaquin valley than in the Sacramento valley ; the soil is drier,
and contains more of alkaline substances, and the vegetation
is more scanty. From Pachecos Pass across to Firebaugh's
Ferry, a distance of about fifty miles, there is not a tree, and
in the autumn the country looks like a desert. At Fresno
City the soil is nearly a pure sand, and the river at low water
is not more than six or eischt feet below the surface of the
plain. From the bend of the San Joaquin River, southward,
a district sixty miles wide by one hundred and fifty long, most
of the soil is a barren sand, in many places covered with an
alkaline efflorescence.

The country about Kern River is very desolate, and be-
tween that river and the Tejon Pass is a desert plain, covered
with a scanty and useless vegetation. East of Tulare Lake,
however, there is some rich soil, particularly in the " Four-
Creek country," where the Cahuilhi River, issuing from the
mountains, divides into half a dozen streams, which spread out
over a space twelve miles wide, and then unite again, filling a

158 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

large tract of fertile land with abundant moisture. Tulare
Lake is fifty-seven feet above Fresno City, and might be
drained, and its land converted into cultivated fields, but
whether with a profit is a question now unanswerable. This
country is so remote from the main centres of population, that
probably the chief occupation for residents here must be the
breeding of sheep and cattle.

Turning our attention now to the valleys in the Coast Moun-
tains, we find that in all the low land between latitudes 39° 30'
and 40° 40', the soil is a rich and moist loam, very favorable
for j^asture and for maize, but not so well suited for small
grain. In some valleys the season is six Aveeks later than it is
across the mountain in the Sacramento valley. Russian, River
valley produces more maize than all the remainder of the state.
Lying between the bend of Russian River and the head of
Petaluma valley is Santa Rosa plain, which has a soil of rich
sandy loam, excellent for grain, and probably favorable for
the grape. Near the mouth of Russian River is the plain of
Bodega, the best place in the state for potatoes. The soil is a
light, sandy loam, which is kept moist by the sea-fogs. Peta-
luma valley is the chief dairy district of the state. The soil is
a rich, moist loam. Sonoma valley has a soil of red gravelly
clay near the mountains, and a warm, sandy loam near the
creek. This is the chief gi'aj^e district in the northern half of
the state. Much of the soil is too thin to produce good crops
of wheat. The grape is grown without irrigation, the distance
from the ocean (about twenty-five miles) not being so great as
entirely to cut ofi:' the fogs. The bed-rock is in some places
trap, in othei'S sandstone, and in others magnesian limestone.
The latter is supposed to be particularly favorable to the
growth of the grape.

Next to Sonoma valley is Napa, which has a deep, clayey
soil, the strongest in the state, and therefore the best for
wheat. In proportion to its size, it produces more wheat than
any other part of the state. The upper part of the valley has
a great deal of gravel, and may be good for grapes. A larger

AGRICULTURE. 159

proportion of the land is cultivated in ISTapa valley than in any
other part of the state, and the cultivation is more thorough.
Suisun valley has a rich, sandy loam, good both for barley and
wheat. Yaca valley, a small vale near Suisun, has a very warm,
fertile soil, and is shut in by the hills from the wind. It will
be an excellent place for fruit, and every thing will ripen early
there.

South of the straits of Carquiuez is Diablo valley, which
has an excellent soil for w^heat and barley. So also has San
Ramon valley, but the fruit has been badly nipped by frost
during tlie last three or four years. Amador valley has a soil
of rich sand at the sides and strong loam in the centre, all of
it moist and fertile. Livermore valley, which may be consid-
ered as the eastern half of Amador, is a bed of gravel, of little
value for tillage. Suiiol valley has a rich, sandy loam. The
Alameda plain, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, from
San Pablo to San Jose, is one of the richest agricultural dis-
tricts in the state ; the soil is fertile — in some places clay, in
others sand. The soil on the western side of the bay is similar
in character, but there is not so much of it. The lower part of
Santa Clara valley has a fertile, black, sandless loam, changing
to sand and then to gravel, which last is abundant toward the
head of the valley, where very little of the land is tilled. The
principal fruit district in the state is in the vicinity of San Jose.
The plain east of Monterey Bay, in Santa Cruz county, has a
fertile soil, and a climate peculiarly favorable to beans ; excel-
lent crops of wheat and barley are also grown here. The soil
of Pajaro valley is one of the richest and strongest in the state,
and its crops of wheat and potatoes are unsurpassed. The Sa-
linas has a rich, sandy loam in the lower part of its valley and
near the river, but the sides and head of the vale contain much
oravel ; the climate and soil are very dry, and only a small por-
tion of the land is cultivated. The Cuyama, Santa Inez, and
Santa Clara River valleys, are sandy and dry, and have but
little tillage ; the last-named valley has a soil that is in places
almost pure sand, too thin to secure a covering of grass in a

160 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

wet winter. Most of the level land in Los Angeles, San Blt-
nardino, and San Diego connties, is sandy and dry, and very
little of it is cultivated. Irrigation is necessary for fruit, vines,
and vegetables. Wheat and barley do not produce well. Los
Angeles is the principal graj^e district in the state ; the largest
vineyards are planted in the bottom-lands of the Los Angeles,
S.in Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers, where the soil is almost
pure sand : and yet vineyards which have been in bearing
twenty-five years, and have never been manured, are now as
productive as ever. Allow a stream of water to run twenty-
four hours through a field, and at the end of that time the bot-
tom of the ditch will contain nothing but white sand, all the
earthy particles in the soil having been dissolved and carried
away. At the Monte the San Gabriel River sinks, and, after
flowing two or three miles under-ground, reappears. The
place where it sinks is very moist, covered with abundant
vegetation, and, after Russian River vaUey, is the best district
in the state for maize.

§ 130. Agricultural Produce. — California has 1,000,000 acres
of land in cultivation, about six-tenths of which are used for
growing grains and roots employed as food for men and do-
mestic animals. Of these grains and roots in 1860 (the agri-
cultural statistics for which year were more fully reported than
those of 1861) the following amounts vrere grown, namely:
5,700,000 bushels of barley; 5,000,000 of wheat; 1,500,000
of oats; 1,500,000 of potatoes; 500,000 of maize; 65,000 of
beans; 55,000 of peas; 55,000 of sweet potatoes; 50,000 of
buckwheat, and 40,000 of rye, making an aggregate of 14,-
470,000 bushels — an average of twenty-four bushels to the
acre, and, estimating the population of the state at 400,000,
an average of thirty-eight bushels to the person. I purposely
omit the consideration of all articles not enumerated in the
list, either because we have no statistics, or because the inser-
tion would serve rather to confuse than to instruct. We grow
very few roots of the turnip kind as food for cattle.

Examining, then, the amounts of the crops above mentioned

AGRICULTURE. 161

in their proportion to the total 14,470,000 bushels, we find that
arley forms 39 per cent., wheat 34 per cent., oats 10 per cent.,
potatoes 10 per cent., maize 3 per cent., and peas, beans, sweet
potatoes, buckwheat, and rye, about one-half of one per cent,
each. This proportion will be found to differ greatly from
that of any other country. Compare our state with Ohio,
which may fairly be considered as a representative of the free
agricultural states of the Union. Ohio has 10,000,000 acres
under cultivation — that is, ten times as much as California —
and, according to the census of 1850, in the previous year pro-
duced 92,644,000 bushels of the above-mentioned articles, six
times as much as California. The population of Ohio was then
1,980,000 ; so the yield was an average of forty-six bushels to
the person. Coming down to particulars, we find that in 1849
Ohio produced 59,000,000 bushels (or 63 per cent.) of maize;
14,000,000 bushels (15 percent.) of u'heat ; 13,000,000 bushels
(14 per cent.) of oats; 5,000,000 bushels (5 per cent.) of pota-
toes; 638,000 bushels (one-half of 1 per cent.) of buckwheat;
425,000 bushels of rye, 354,000 of barley, 187,000 of sweet
potatoes, and 60,000 of peas and beans. Comparing the pro-
portion of the several items to the total of the crops, we find
that California grows eighty times as much barley as Ohio,
twice as much wheat and potatoes, tw^elve times as much peas
and beans, and only one-twentieth as much maize. The pro-
portion of oats, buckwheat, and rye, is about the same in the
two states.

§ 131. Rotation of Crops. — Rotation of crops, as the phrase
is understood in the Atlantic states and Europe, receives very
little attention from the farmers of California, and indeed is im-
possible on the greater part of the land, because its dryness
will not permit the growth of roots or common grasses. The
soil is too dry for corn, potatoes, turnips, clover, and timothy
or herd's grass. Peas and beans yield well in only a few lo-
calities. Alfalfa or lucerne will thrive, but it needs several
years to get deep root and make a thick sod. Horses and
cattle find food in the open plains and hills throughout the

162 n K S O U R C E S OF CALIFORNIA.

year; and the wild oat is cut for hay. The formers generally
are anxious to make as much money as possible, and as soon
as possible, without regard to the future value of the land.
Some of them are not permanent residents of the state, and
intend to leave it so soon as they can get a certain number of
dollars together ; others are farming land the title of which is
in dispute, and, as they feel uncertain about its ownership, they
are indifferent to its exhaustion. Many of them come from
the Western states, where the land had not, previous to their
migration, become poor ; and as rotation of crops had never
been a necessity within their experience, they have never
adopted it.

The soil of California is not exhausted ; much of it will con-
tinue tc produce large crops of small grain without interrup-
tion and without manure for a score of vears to come. Pre-
vious to 1853, the valleys w^ere filled Avith cattle, and their
manure had contributed for a long time — along the southern
coast for half a century — to enrich the soil.

The prominence of barley in Californian farming is owing to
the facts that it is an almost certain crop, j^roduces largely,
can be grown on all the cultivated land in the state, yields
good volunteer crops, is excellent food for horses, can be kept
for years, and always commands a market abroad.

§ 132. Ploughing. — Ploughing commences with the first
heavy rain. The heat and drought of summer and autumn
bake the ground, and render it too hard for the plough ; so
the farmer must wait for the rains. The sooner they come,
after the first of October, the more convenient for him, and the
more work he can do. The rain must be sufiicient to wet the
earth down six or eight inches deep ; a little shower will not
suffice. The soils of loam and clay are so hard, that no ordi-
nary plough is strong enough to break through them ; and
ploughing would do no good, because the earth would be iu
large clods, which would furnish little nutriment to the grain.

§ 133. Adva?2tages, etc. — The Californian firmer has a great
advantage over those of the ISTorthern Atlantic states, in the

AGRICULTURE. 163

mildness of the winters. Here we have no snow or ice, and
no time is lost because of cold. Neither are our frosts so se-
vere as those east of the Mississippi. But, on the other hand,
firmers in other parts of the Union have a great advantage
over us in the security of title and the equal division of the
land among the tillers of the soil. Here most of the titles are
in dispute, and much of the land held under undoubted title is
owned in large tracts by a few persons.

Barns are not used in California. The grain, after cutting,
is put into a stack, or thrown into a heap, until a threshing-
machine can be obtained, and the grain is then placed in the
granary. Between harvest and threshing-time there is little
danger of rain; and to such slight danger as there is, every
farmer exposes himself. Barns in other countries are necessi-
ties ; here thev could not be used if we had them. Not unfre-
quently the grain, within two weeks after cutting, is stored in
a warehouse in San Francisco ; often it is left lying in sacks
ujDon the field until it is sold — a period of months. In August
and September, the square piles of white sacks in the stubble-
fields are a common and prominent feature of the Californian
landscape in the farming districts.

The straw, elsewhere saved, is usually burned here; and a
most improvident practice it is. Not more than a dozen or
two of farmers save the straw. The others burn it after the
first rain, when there is no danger of the fire spreading ; and
the columns of smoke rising all over the country make a sin-
gular aj^pearance.

Farms in California are usually larger than those in the East-
ern states, and manv of the ranches — containing; from ten to
fifty thousand acres — are large enough for principalities.

As our valleys are not covered with sod, so the first plough-
ing is nearly as easy as any of the subsequent ones ; and the
severe task of breaking prairie, so common in the states of the
upper Mississippi valley, is unknown here.

§ 134. Fences. — In the matter of fences, the Californian
farmer is at a disadvantage, as compared with his Eastern

164 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

brethren. Throiigliout tlie United States, the system has pre-
vailed of permitting horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, to run at
large, with no right of indemnity for any damage which they
might do in cultivated fields, unless surrounded by a " lawful
fence." This may be a good system for the pioneer, who tills
little land, and wishes his horses and cattle to have a wide
range ; and it was well suited to the pastoral life of the Span-
ish Californians previous to the American conquest : but it is
of doubtful policy as applied to the present condition of affairs,
at least in the principal agricultural valleys, where all the land
is under plough. For instance, in the Alameda plain, along
the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay — a district fifty miles
long by three wide, and containing one hundred and fifty
square miles, of which one hundred and twenty-five are culti-
vated— there are five hundred farms, and probably two hun-
dred miles of fencing, made at a cost of one hundred thousand-
dollars. This is a severe tax upon farming, and it is levied
chiefly to protect the grain and fruit-trees from the depreda-
tions of horses and cattle belonoins^ to neio^hbors and strano^ers.
A farmer would rarely go to the expense of fencing his own
cattle and horses out : it would be much cheaper for him to
keep them in a yard or stable.

The legislature has prescribed what kind of a fence is "law-
ful ;" and if any domesticated animal breaks through a lawful
fence, its owner is liable for the damage done in the enclosure ;
and if the trespass be repeated by any neglect of the owner of
the animal, he is liable for double damages. The farmer may
take up the trespassing animal as an estray ; but if he injure
or kill it, he becomes responsible to the owner. The require-
ments of lawful fence are not the same in all parts of the state.
In the counties of Butte, Amador, Tuolumne, Calaveras, San
Diego, Nevada, San Bernardino, Colusi, Placer, Santa Barbara,
Yuba, Shasta, Klamath, Trinity, and Siskiyou, " every enclo-
sure" (I quote the words of the statute) " shall be deemed a
lawful fence vrhich is four and a half feet high, if made of
stoiie ; and if made of rails, five and a half feet high ; if made

AGRICULTURE. 1G5

upon the enibarikinent of a ditch, three feet high from the bot-
tom of the ditch, the fence shall be two feet high ; said fence
to be substantial and reasonably strons;, and made so strong:
that stock cannot get their heads through it, and if made to
turn small stock [sheep, goats, hogs, &c.], sufficiently tight to
keep such stock out. A hedge-fence shall be considered a law-
ful fence, if five feet high and sufficiently close to turn stock."
In other counties the requirements are so complex and lengthy,
that I shall not try to describe them all. In Marin, Alameda,
Sacramento, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Yuba, Santa Clara, Yolo,
San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, San Bernardino, Sutter,
Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Tuolumne, Te-
hama, Colusi, Butte, Xapa, Humboldt, Merced, Trinity, Mon-
terey, and Solano, hogs are not permitted to run at large ; or
at least any person finding them trespassing upon his " prem-
ises"— which means land, whether enclosed or not — may take
them up, keep them at the expense of the owner, and treat
them as est rays.

Board-fences are the best. They are usually made fiye feet
high, with redwood posts set eight feet apart, and fiye spruce
boards six inches wide and an inch thick in each panel. Such
a fence, well made, costs fiye hundred dollars a mile. Worm
and post-and-rail fences are common near the redwood districts
— for instance, in Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Marin, Xapa,
San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties. The farmers
generally make their own fences of these kinds, and the cost is
of time, not money. When the work is done by the job, it
costs from three to six hundred dollars a mile, according to
the distance and position of the timber, and the quality of the
wood ; the price increasing in proportion as the trees are far
off, or situated in deep canons, and as the wood is tough an<l
cross-grained. Ditches are common in the tule-lands. Hedges
are made with willows and cactus in Los Angeles, San Ber-
nardino, and San Diego counties. There are a few hedges of
osage-orange and gorse, for ornament, in the counties about
San Francisco Bay, but few or none for use. The osage-orange

166 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

grows thriftily about San Jose, where it can be irrigated, but
hedges are liable to much damage from gophers, which are
fond of the roots; and if a hole is made, it is difficult to get
young plants to grow, the older ones choking them down.
After the third year irrigation is not necessary. In dry land,
where water is not abundant for irrigation, the hedges do not
grow up regularly. In the general opinion of farmers, osage-
orange hedges will not pay, even in the land best suited for
them : the labor of planting the seed, transplanting the sprouti^,
irrigating, replanting, and trimming for three years, costs more
than a board-fence, which is useful from the first day, and is in
no danger from gophers, whereas the hedge is useless for three
years, and is in constant danger.

The willow-hedo;e is the most common fence in Los Anoreles
county, and is a prominent feature of the scenery near the
towns. The fence is made with cuttings, the larger the better ;
the largest are three inches in diameter and eight feet long.
These are planted perpendicularly three feet deej) and nine
inches apart, and then irrigated freely, when nearly all will
grow. If larger cuttings cannot be had, small ones, half an
inch thick and two feet long, are taken, and only an inch or
two is left above-ground. If the cuttings are of the largest
size, the fence is good in the second year ; if small, four or
five years may be required to make a tight fence. Twigs and
poles are woven horizontally through the hedge. In the course
of eight or ten years, the willows grow to be trees, with trunks
five or six inches in diameter, and with dense tops from fifteen
to thirty feet high. They thus not only shut out trespassing
animals, but furnish a large amount of firewood, an item of no
small importance in the woodless plains of the south, and throw
a pleasant shade over the roads which they line. The willow-
fonce requires frequent irrigation, for its growth will usually
depend upon the amount of water supplied to it.

The cactus was used extensively for fences at the old mis-
i^ions, and some fields are still enclosed with it. The plant is
merely thrown upon the ground, where it takes root, no matter

AGKICULTURE. 167

how dry or barren the soil, and grows up in a dense mass of
thick leaves, six feet high and from five to ten feet wide. It
is covered with thorns, and is feared by all large animals, but
spermophiles and gophers are fond of burrowing under it,
for it protects them against their enemies, and its leaves fur-
nish them with food.

Several machines have been made to cut ditches through the
tules, and throw the dirt up as an embankment on one side,
but none of them have been very successful ; and the spade is
still considered the best instrument for making fences in the
tules.

§ 135. Jiarley. — The soil and climate of California appear to
be particularly favorable to the growth of barley, which forms
a larger proportion of agricultural produce here than in any
other part of the world. It is a hardy grain, preferring a sandy
or gravelly soil, and dry weather. Three kinds are grown in
California — the common, the Nepaul, and the chevalier. Only
a few acres of the Xepaul have been raised, as an experiment ;
the chevaUer is cultivated to a small extent, and chiefly for
pearl-barley, of which a little is made in the country. The
^deld of the chevalier is from ten to twenty per cent, less than
that of the common barlev.

The sowing commences with the first heavy rain, which
comes in some years as early as the first of November, and
continues to the first of April. The ground used for small
grain bakes hard during the heat and drought of summer and
autumn ; and ploughing is not possible until the rain comes,
and rain enough to wet the earth thoroughly, at least six
inches deep. The ploughs are then set to work immediately,
running from four to eight inches deep. One ploughing is
usually considered sufficient. The grain is sown according to
convenience, soon after the ploughing, or after the lapse of
weeks, and is immediately harrowed in. The amount of seed
sown to the acre varies from a bushel and a half to two bush-
els. The sowing is usually done broadcast, but some farmers
prefer the drill. Early sowing gives the best yield, if the winter

168 KESOUKCKS OF CALIFORNIA.

rains be light ; but when the rains are abundant, the late-sown
fields are the best. There is always danger that small grain
in California, if sown early, will get more rain than it wants.
The same barley is sown early and late ; our farmers do not
know any thing of " winter barley" as distinct from " spring
barley" — a division familiar in the Atlantic states.

The harvest precedes that of wheat ; commencing in the Sac-
ramento Basin early in June, and in the coast valleys late in
the same month. The grain is all cut with reaping-machines,
and is never housed, but is threshed on the field, with or with-
out stacking. Sometimes it is bound ; fi-equently it is gath-
ered in a tight wagon-bed, and hauled mto a pile in the centre
of the field, where it remains until the threshing-machine can
come. The rarity of rain from Jmie to October renders this
course pretty safe; though it has happened, on one or two
occasions during the last ten years, that grain in the field has
been injured by September rains. The same land is cultivated
year after year in barley ; and there has been very little, if
any, decrease in crops during the last ten years.

When men are hired to plough and sow by the job, they
charge three dollars per acre ; reaping and binding cost two
dollars per acre ; threshing costs from one-twelfth to one-tenth
of the grain, and sacks holding one hundred pounds cost fif-
teen cents apiece. The common yield is from thirty to thirty-
five bushels per acre, and fifty per cent, more than the average
barley -crop in the Eastern states. In 1856, according to the
reports of the county assessors, the average yield of barley in
Alameda county was 45 bushels ; in Sonoma, 39 ; in Marin, 39 ;
in Sacramento, 26 ; in Amador, 34 ; in Santa Cruz, 30. In 1857,
according to the same authorities, the average yield in Alame-
da was 40 bushels ; Sonoma, 25 ; Marin, 39 ; Sacramento, 24 ;
Amador, 25 ; and Santa Cruz, 30. In 1859, Alameda reported
an average of 29 bushels ; Contra Costa, 30 ; Napa, 25 ; Snn
Joaquin, 17; Sonoma, 40; Santa Cruz, 30; Yolo, 10; Sacra-
mento, 25. In 1860, the assessors' reports show an average
of 30 bushels for Alameda, 40 for Butte, 40 for Amador, 35

AGEICULTUEE. 169

for Calaveras, 40 for Fresno, 45 for Marin, 40 for Los Angeles,
20 for Mendocino, 31 for Merced, 33 for Monterey, 28 for Ne-
vada, 17 for Sacramento, 20 for San Joaquin, 21 for Santa Clara,
30 for Santa Cruz, 16 for Shasta, 60 for Sonoma, 60 for Yolo,
and 40 for Yuba.

Many of these figures are merely guessed at by the asses-
sors, who, however, are compelled to travel all over their re-
spective counties, and converse with all the farmers. Their
conjectures, therefore, are worthy of respectful consideration.
But an average of sixty bushels per acre for a whole county
looks almost too large to be believed unless supported by some
special authentication more than we have. Nevertheless, crops
of sixty bushels to the acre are not rare. In 1853, a field of
one hundred acres in the valley of the Pajaro produced ninety
thousand bushels, and one acre of it ^^elded one hundred and
forty-nine bushels! It was grown by J. B. Hill; was men-
tioned as undoubtedly true by the assessor of Monterey coun-
ty in his ofiScial report ; and a prize was granted by an agri-
cultural society for the crop. The field which took the prize
of the State Agricultural Society, in 1859, yielded sixty-seven
bushels to the acre. The field was a large one, and ten acres
(a fair sample of the whole) were measured. The crop which
takes that prize is not necessarily the largest crop in the state,
but only the largest among those ofiered for competition. No
doubt, many larger crops were harvested in 1857. In 1859,
ninety bushels of Nepaul barley were grown to the acre by
Mr. Burrell, in Santa Cruz county, but in a small field.

There is probably no part of the world wh:re volunteer
crops do so well as in California, and barley seems to produce
better on the volunteer system than any other grain. Volun-
teer crops are those grown from the seed which falls out in
harvesting ; there is, therefore, no sowing or planting. Some-
times the land is ploughed and harrowed ; sometimes it is left
untouched. Large amounts of volunteer barley are grown
every year, and sometimes the yield is excellent. One case is
reported of a field in Yolo county which produced five succes-
8

170 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

sive volunteer crops of barley, the last and least crop amount-
ing to thirty bushels per acre !

In 1860, the largest barley counties of the state were — Yolo,
which produced 1,541,640 bushels; San Joaquin, 912,500; Al-
ameda, 630,750 ; Contra Costa, 350,000 ; Sacramento, 300,683 ;
Santa Clara, 300,000; Yuba, 243,761 ; Butte, 241, 340; Santa
Cruz, 212,000; and Nevada, 207,000.

§ 136. IVheat. — Many kinds of wheat are cultivated here,
of which the main are Chili, Australian, Odessa or Old Cali-
fornian. Red Mediterranean, Sonora, Oregon White, Bald, and
Egyptian. The general diA^sion of wheat into " winter" and
"spring," common in the wheat-growing districts of the East-
ern states, is unknown. All our wheat may be set down as
spring wheat. When winter wheat is brought here from
abroad, it does not thrive the first year ; but in the second
year, having been converted into spring wheat and acclimated,
it yields well. The Chili gives general satisfaction, and is
more cultivated than any of the others. The Australian has a
tendency to smut, but this is corrected with blue vitriol.
These two form three-fourths of the crop ; the other fourth is
made up chiefly of Mediterranean and Sonora. The Egyptian
yields largely, but has little gluten, and is fit only for coarse
bread or maccaroni. All the acclimated wheat of the state is
white ; though imported red seed shows its color the first year,
but in the second year it loses its redness.

The qualities in which the best wheat excels are glutinous-
ness or strength, flintiness or dryness, whiteness of color, thin-
ness of skin, cleanness, plumpness and size of berry, and
weight.

The value of wheat depends, to a great extent, upon its
strength. In this point lies its chief difference from potatoes,
which always do and must occupy an inferior place upon our
tables. Much gluten in flour renders the dough tough, makes
handsome bread, with the air-bubbles in it small and uniform
in size, and retains moisture, so that the bread will weigh
much in proportion to the flour used ; while if the amount of

AGEICULTUEE. 17X

gluteo be small, the grain of the bread will be uneven, the
dough will give way in places, allowing the formation of large
ca^dties, and less moisture wnll be retained. The wheat of dif-
ferent countries varies greatly in glutinousness, and California
occupies a very high position. Our wheat is far more glutin-
ous than that of any other North American state, and, although
I have no precise information, I am inclined to believe that we
have a like superiority in this respect over European countries.
The consequence is, that our wheat is now in demand in Xew
York to mix with their weak grain, so that a tolerably strong
flour mav be made.

But the wheat of California is not all equally glutinous ; some
of it is much weaker than other. The most glutmous is that
grown in Santa Clara valley ; the southeastern part of San Ma-
teo county; the southern part of Alameda county; and Diablo,
San Ramon, and Suisun valleys. That of Santa Rosa, Pajaro,
Sahnas, Petaluma, and Sonoma, is considerably inferior in glu-
tinousness, but is better than that of the Sacramento, San Joa-
quin, and Xapa valleys, the vicinity of Half-Moon Bay, and
Alameda opposite the Golden Gate. The strongly glutinous
is about one-third of the crop of the state. It is not known
why the wheat in one district is more glutinous than in another.
iSTone of that grown very near the coast is strongly glutinous;
so the moisture seems to be injurious. Xapa wheat is inferior
in glutinousness to that of Sonoma, though farther from the
coast, and more free from ocean-fogs, but the soil of N'apa is
much moister.

In Oregon and Washington, w^here the climate is very moist,
the wheat is as weak as ai Half-Moon Bay. In the Mississippi
valley, where a great amount of rain falls, the wheat is also
weak ; and just in the Gallego and Haxull district, if report be
true, the rain-fall is less than in any wheat-district east of the
AUeghanies. And yet in the Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys, w^hich are among the driest parts of California, the
wheat is very weak. This is accounted for — by those adopting
the theory that glutinousness depends entirely upon the cli-

172 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

mate — by saying that those valleys are visited, while the grain
is in the milk, by weather so hot that the berries are biirnecl,
and are prevented from attaining their perfect development.
It would be well if this matter were thoroughly studied, for it
is one of much importance to the merchant and ship-owner, as
well as to the farmer, the baker, and the consumer.

The wheat grown on the clayey loam about Alviso is not
so glutinous as that produced on the sandy loam about Santa
Clara and the gravelly clay in other parts of the valley. It is
worthy of remark that the soil of the Putah and Cache valleys,
tributary to the Sacramento, differs in no noteworthy particu-
lar from the soil in Suisun, Diablo, and San Ramon, which lat-
ter yield strong while the former produce weak wheat. It has
been observed that during the last three years the wheat of a
large farm in San Mateo county, said to be the best cultivated
in the state, has been gradually decreasing in strength. It is
not kno\vn whether the change is caused by a difference in the
seasons, or by a progressive exhaustion of the soil. So far as
observations have been made in California, the amount of glu-
ten is not affected by early or late sowing, thorough or careless
cultivation, largeness or smallness of the yield, or cleanness of
the crop.

In flintiness or dryness, Califoniian wheat has no superior,
and no equal save in the Chilian. It may be stored in bulk,
or it may be thrown into the hold of a ship within two weeks
after harvest, and then sent twice through the tropics, and
there is no danger that it will heat or sweat. The same may
be said of its flour. No wheat or flour from the Atlantic
states is near it in this respect. In August, 1860, J. B. Fris-
bie loaded a vessel at Vallejo with wheat taken from the har-
vest-field— it had never been inside of a house, but had lain
upon the ground for several weeks after threshing — and that
cargo of wheat, when discharged at Liverpool, was as sweet
and clear from mustiness, iiLOuld, sprouting, or fermentation,
as it was when harvested. The Atlantic flour, when kiln-dried
and pressed, does not keep like ours as it comes from the mill,

I

AGRICULTURE. 1V3

after having gone there fresh from the threshing-machine and
the harvest-field.

The flour made from flinty wheat is peculiarly suited for
shipment to tropical countries, where the moister flour soon
ferments and sours. These are excellent markets, for they are
certain, they pay well, and there is little competition. Most
of the flour now exported to the West Indian islands and the
Malaysian archipelago is of the Gallego and Haxall brands,
which, because of their dryness and strength, are worth from
twenty to fifty per cent, more in the market than other flour.
California may not be able to suj^ply the West Indian islands,
but she certainly has peculiar advantages for supplying the
tropical islands and shores of the Pacific. The flintiness of
our wheat is undoubtedly owing to the dryness of the climate,
and it is about the same in all the wheat-growing districts of
the state. There is no noteworthy difierence in this respect
between that of the Sacramento valley and that grown on the
immediate coast. It is all so dry as to keep well in any cli-
mate. Millers in New York and Liverpool make some objec-
tion to our wheat, that it is too hard for their millstones ; but
this is their misfortune, not our fault. The difficulty is reme-
died by moistening the wheat before grinding.

Most of the wheat of this state is white, but it is not equal
in whiteness to that of the Genesee valley, Oregon, Washing-
ton, and some other districts of the United States ; yet is supe-
rior to the wheat of England and of most European countries.
The fogs give a dark color to the wheat grown at Half-Moon
Bay, in the Pajaro and Petaluma valleys, and on the Santa
Rosa plain ; but in the other districts a uniform whiteness pre-
vails.

Our wheat generally has a thin skin, and does not make
much bran ; but in the same districts where the skin is dark-
ened by the fogs, there also it is thick.

Most of the Californian wheat is not well cleaned. It is
sent to the market containing oats, barley, chess, alfalfa-seed,
and dirt ; and when shipped to New York, must usually be

174 EESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

cleaned there before it can be ground. Our farmers, however,
are gradually becoming more careful in cleaning their wheat.

In the plumpness and size of the berry, our wheat compares
well with that of Europe and the Atlantic states, but can per-
haps claim no decided superiority. Comparing the different
districts of the state with one another on this point, Suscol
probably deserves the first place, and Napa the next. In the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the wheat is often shriv-
elled by hot winds, which blow for three or four successive days
Avhile the grain is in the milk, and seem to blast it. Great
differences are observed, however, according to the season.

The weight of CaUfornian wheat is usually sixty pounds ^er
bushel, seldom less — frequently sixty-two, and sometimes sixty-
five ; thus entitling our state to a high position in that respect.

The average yield of Californian wheat-fields is from twenty
to twenty-five bushels per acre, which is about thirty-three per
cent, more than in the states on the Atlantic slope. An old
Spanish book of records, of the mission of San Diego, states
that, in 1778, twelve fanegas (a fanega is about two bushels)
of wheat were sown, and three hundred and fifty fanegas were
harvested — an increase of thirty-fold. The next year, sixteen
fanegas were sown, and the yield was one hundred and sixty
fanegas. In 1780, twenty-four fanegas were sown, and eight
hundred harvested — an increase of thirty-three-fold. San Die-
go is far inferior for wheat-growing to the coast valleys about
San Francisco Bay; and previous to the coming of the Ameri-
cans the ground was not ploughed, but only scratched, and the
limb of a tree was used for a harrow.

Colton, in his " Three Years in California" (page 442), states
that while the priests still had sole control of the missions and
mission-lands, previous to 1833, the mayordomo or steward of
the Mission of San Jose harvested 4,300 fanegas of wheat from
40 fanegas of seed ; and at the next harvest he had a volunteer
crop of 2,600 fanegas on the same land. The first year, ac-
cording to this report, the increase was 107-fold, and the' next
year 65-fold. At the Mission of Soledad, according to the

AGRICULTURE. 1/5

same author (page 445), 1,700 fanegas were harvested from 19
go^vn— an increase of 89-folcl ; and in 1827, an increase of 58-
fold was obtained at San Luis Obispo by scratching the seed
in with a harrow upon land unploughed, and not even touched
by the thing called a plough in those days. Not less than half
a fanega is sown to the acre ; so we may suppose that the fig-
ures which indicate the increase of the crop over the seed also
indicate the number of bushels to the acre. Now, a tenfold
increase is considered a fair crop. Crops of 80 bushels to the
acre have often been grown in California. Mr. Hill harvested
82^ bushels from an acre in Pajaro valley in 1853, and obtained
660 bushels from 10 acres. In 1851, Mr. P. M. Scoofty har-
vested 88 bushels; and Mr. N. Carriger 80 bushels in Sonoma
valley. In 1853, J. M. Horner harvested 1,000 acres of wheat
near the :\Iission of San Jose, with an average of 40 bushels,
some of it producing 60 bushels to the acre. The next year
he had 2,000 acres, with an average of 40 bushels. Large
fields of wheat in Eel River valley, according to the report of
the assessor of Humboldt county, averaged 73 bushels to the

acre in 1857.

In the best wheat districts of the Mississippi valley, the
farmers generally believe, or did believe a few years ago, that
not more than 45 bushels of wheat ever had been or ever could
be grown upon an acre ; and when, on a visit from California,
I spoke to experienced and intelhgent men among them of 60
bushels, I w-as told that not more than 50 bushels could possi-
bly stand upon the ground. In 1856, the average wheat-crop
per acre in California, according to the county assessors' reports,
^as— 25 bushels in Amador and Santa Cruz counties, 30 in
Marin, 28 in San Francisco, 19 in Sacramento, 20 in San Joa-
quin, 15 m Sonoma, and 28 m Tuolumne. The next year it
was 35 in Amador, 40 in Del Xorte, 20 in Alameda, Santa
Cruz, San Joaquin, and Tuolumne, 19 in Sacramento, and 30
in Sonoma. In 1859, the average Avas 30 bushels in San Ma-
teo, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, and Yuba, 32 in Butte, 25
in Kapa and Santa Clara, 20 in Contra Costa and Solano, 15 in

176 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

San Joaquin, and 14 in Sacramento. In 1860, the reported
average was 45 bushels in San Luis Obispo, 35 in Yolo and
Calaveras, 34 in Placer, 30 in Sonoma, Stanislaus, Yuba, and
Amador, 27 in Santa Cruz, 26 in Fresno and Tulare, 25 in Te-
hama, Butte, Humboldt, and Xapa, 24 in Kevada, 20 in San
Diego, Santa Clara, and Shasta, 18 in San Joaquin, and 15 in
Sacramento.

In 1855, the worst year for wheat w^e have ever known in
. California, when both smut and rust raged from Siskiyou to
San Diego, the average crop of the state was put down as 15
bushels per acre. Of 12,233 acres sown in Sonoma county,
only 3,500 were harvested; and of 2,490 sown in Marin, all
but 462 went untouched by the reaper.

In Ohio, the average wheat-crop is about sixteen bushels per
acre ; and in England, with all their manuring and careful
ploughing, twenty-oue bushels. In California, no manure is
applied ; the soil is ploughed but once in most fields, and there
is little rest for the land by rotation of crops.

It is a singular fact that where wheat is sown under oak-
trees, the stalks are usually thicker and taller, and the grain
more abundant, than in other places. This may be owing to
the facts that the trees protect the ground under them from
the frost, and also retain the moisture; and that while the
country v\'as in the hands of the Mexicans, the cattle had pos-
session of the valleys, and, collecting under the trees in the
summer-time, their manure enriched the soil there. The roots
of the oak-trees in the valleys do not run along the surface of
the ground, but go deeper for moisture, and thus the plough
can run up to the trunk, and put all the land in order for grain.

The principal wheat-growing counties in the state are San
Joaquin, which in 1860 produced 895,000 bushels ; Xapa, with
652,000 ; Yolo, with 459,000 ; Alameda, wath 440,000 ; Santa
Clara, with 400,000 ; Yuba, with 223,000 ; Santa Cruz, with
243,000 ; Sonoma, wdth 275,000 ; and Contra Costa, with
450,000.

It is almost impossible that there should ever be an entire

1

AGRICULTURE. 177

failure of the wheat-crop in California, unless the rain should
completely fail. After wet winters, the dry lands and hills
will produce the best crops ; in seasons of light rain-fall, the
low, moist lands will take the lead. There are so many soils
and so many climates in the state, that some must be favor-
able. There is no danger that the grain, when nearly ripe,
w^ill be beaten down by the hail, as has happened in Europe
and the Atlantic states. On only one occasion, within my
knowledge or reading, has it happened that the grain has been
"lodged" or beaten down by rain, and that w^as at Suscol and
Xapa in 1860; and the damage then was slight, for most of
the grain recovered, and all of it, if I remember rightly, was
reaped by machines.

Wheat is sown from the first of November to the first of
April. The most certain crops are those sown early ; the
largest are those sown late in favorable years. If the amount
of rain is small or moderate, the earliest-sown fields are the
best ; but if the spring be w^et, the early-sown fields are sur-
passed by those sown about the first of February. Wheat is
usually sown after barley and oats. The best farmers prefer
to sow between Xew-Y ear's Day and the middle of February.
Most of the sowing is done broadcast, but drills are used to a
considerable .extent. One ploughing is, by most farmers, con-
sidered sufficient. The harvest comes from the middle of June
to the middle of July. The expenses of sowing, harvesting,
and threshing, are the same as with barley.

§ 137. Oats. — The principal varieties of oats cultivated in
California are the Australian, English, Bare, Feather, and Tuck-
er. The Bare and Tucker oats thrive best on a heavy soil ;
the Feather oat prefers a sandy loam. The indigenous wild
oat of California is never cultivated ; for, although it produces
large and tall stalks, they do not contain so much weight or
bear so much grain as the domesticated oat. The average
crop is from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre, 80 per cent, greater
than in the Atlantic states. The Crescent City Herald re-
ported in October, 1857, that Rigg and Reid, in Del Norte
8*

178 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

county, had grown 125 bushels of oats to the acre; and that
John A. Brown, of Crescent City, had a crop of 157^ bushels
to the acre. According to the assessors' returns, the average
crop per acre of 1860 was — 50 bushels m Alameda and Yuta
counties; 40 in Butte, Placer, and Santa Cruz; 35 in Napa;
30 in Amador, Sacramento, and Yolo ; 28 in Humboldt ; 25 in
San Joaquin ; and 20 in Klamath, Santa Clara, and Sonoma.
The largest oat-growing counties in the state are — Alame-
da, which in 1861 produced 449,000 bushels; Contra Costa,
300,000; Santa Cruz, 262,000 ; Sonoma, 187,000 , and Marin,
174,000.

§ 138. Maize. — Maize can be grown to advantage in only a
few places in California. Most of the land is too dry and the
summer nights too cool for it. The principal maize districts
are in the valleys of the upper coast, fi'om Russian River to
Humboldt Bay ; in Yuba county, upon the moist bottom-lands
of the Sacramento River ; and at the Monte, in Los Angeles
county, w^here the San Gabriel River sinks and fiUs the plain
with moisture. Sixty bushels to the acre is considered a large
crop ; the average is not over thirty. Corn can be grown
w^herever the land can be irrigated, but this is a troublesome
and expensive mode of cultivation, though it is not uncommon
in gardens near San Fransisco. Green maize, grown in the
open air, is in the market from June to September.

The cultivation of rye and buckwheat differs little from that
of the same grains in the Eastern states.

§ 139. Potatoes, — The potato thrives wonderfully in a few
places in California, particularly at Bodega, Tomales, and in
Pajaro valley. The average produce per acre is perhaps not
larger than in Ohio or England, but the tubers are larger in
size and smoother in skin. The average size of those sold in
the San Francisco market is probably fifty if not one hundred
per cent larger than of those sold in New York. Potatoes
six inches long by three inches through, and weighing a pound,
are not uncommon ; many have been seen to weigh four
pounds ; and one grew to w^eigh seven pounds. I sa^v a clus-

AGEICULTURE. 179

ter that had grown together, eight inches long, six wide, and
four deep, that weighed eight pounds.

The soil at Bodega and Tomales, the chief potato district,
is a light, sandy loam, and the mists from the ocean supply the
abundant moisture which the plant loves. In 1860, Sonoma
produced 314,000 bushels, Sacramento 263,000, Marin 240,000,
and Alameda 73,000. The potato district of Sacramento coun-
ty is on the banks of the sloughs of the Sacramento River, near
its junction with the San Joaquin. The soil is a very light,
warm, rich loam, and the vegetables grown there are among
the earliest in the market. According to the assessors' reports,
the average crop of Sacramento county in 1860 was 390 bushels
per acre; of Sonoma county, 100 bushels; and of Marin, 80.
The Californian potatoes are mealy, sound, and palatable. The
potato-disease has never made its appearance in this state.

The immediate coast, at least north of Point Conception, is
too cold for the sweet potato, which thrives, however, in the
Sacramento valley, especially m the low land about the head
of Suisun Bay. The true sweet potato has grown here to
weigh fifteen pounds — much larger than any I have ever seen
in the states east of the Mississippi. The flavor is not equal
to those grown at the East. They lack the mealiness and deli-
cate taste which make the Eastern sweet potato so palatable in
its season.

§ 140. Hay. — In 1860, California had 150,000 head of horses
and 1,100,000 head of neat cattle, and cut 200,000 tons of hay,
or one ton for six head of large stock. In 1849, Ohio had
463,000 horses and 1,350,000 cattle, and cut 1,500,000 tons of
hay, or five tons for six head of stock. Ohio, therefore, cuts
five times as much hay, in proportion to the number of her
horses and cattle, as does California ; and if we suppose that
she exports one-fourth of her hay to the slave states, she still
makes three times as much in proportion for home use as this
state. The cause is, that there every horse and cow must have
hay throughout the winter, and many of them through the
summer : while here verv few cattle are fed ^vith hay at any

180 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

season of the year, and horses not employed are usually turned
out mto the open plain. The hay of Ohio is cut in cultivated
fields, from tame grasses ; that of California is made of wild
oats and indigenous grasses, which are grown in the open
valleys.

The haying season comes about the first of May. The old
adage, that " you must make hay while the sun shines," does
not apply in California, for here the sun shines all the time,
and the haymaker has ordinarily no fear of rain. It happened,
however, in 1860, that a considerable amount of hay was spoilt
by the late rains in June. The whole process of haymaking in
California is managed by machinery. It is cut with the ma-
chine-mower, raked together with horse-rakes into cocks or
windrows, and finally the cocks are hauled together on hay-
sleds which load themselves by slipping under the cocks. The
hay is not turned by hand, nor is the field raked by hand.
The hand must be used, however, when wagons are to be
loaded or stacks built. Hay is usually cured in the cock or
windrow. It is not necessary to turn it by hand, as is cus-
tomary in the Eastern states. One turning and one day in the
sun are enough, when it is raked together and is ready for the
stack or the mow.

In Ohio, a good field of timothy will yield four tons of hay
to the acre ; in Cahfornia, the wild oat stands so thick in a few
places as to yield as much, but the average crop is not over a
ton to the acre. The principal hay counties of the state are —
San Joaquin, which in 1860 made 37,000 tons; Santa Clara
and Yolo, 18,000 each; Sonoma, 17,000; Yuba, 14, COO; Sac-
ramento, 13,000 ; and Contra Costa, 11,000. Very little maize-
fodder is used in the state.

Tame grasses occupy, at the present time, a very small place
in the agriculture of California. Xot one-tenth of the farms
in the state have an acre of cultivated pasture ; and even in
the largest farms, containing from three hundred to a thou-
sand acres under plough, it is rare to find a field of timothy,
clover, or alfalfa. The last-mentioned will probably become

AGRICULTURE. 181

tLe principal grass grown in the state, since it is peculiarly
fitted to thrive in a climate and soil so dry as ours.

§ 141. Tobacco^ Cotton^ Face. — CaUfornia produces tobac-
co of a fine quality, but the amount grown is small ; and the
experience of its cultivation is too brief to furnish much infor-
mation. It requires a moist soil, and most of the attempts to
cultivate it in dry places in the Sacramento valley and in the
vicinity of Los Angeles have failed. The best crops have been
grown near the coast, north of San Pablo Bay and about the
head of Suisun Bay. The tobacco-plant has been converted
into a perennial at San Francisco ; one specimen of it growing
up eight or ten feet high, like a tree.

A little cotton of a good quality has been grown, but I think
its cultivation can never be extensive. The cotton states have
three times as much rain as CaUfornia, and I presume that
only our moistest lands cotild produce a good crop of it —
such, for instance, as the tule-lands in the valley of the San
Joaquin.

The question whether rice can be cultivated in the tule-lands
has been much discussed, but is not yet decided, though it is
the general opinion that some of the tule-lands will produce
large and profitable crops.

§ 142. Hop. — The hop grows luxuriantly and produces abun-
dantly in California ; and indeed there is good reason to doubt
whether any country has a climate and soil more favorable to
it than ours. We have no heavy dews or showers in summer
to wash ofi" the dust which contains the strength of the flow-
ers, or to cover the plant with blight. The failures of crops,
from these causes, so frequent in England and the Atlantic
states, would never occur here. Not only is the crop certain,
but it can be cured here with more ease and in better condi-
tion than in other countries. The moisture of the air in Eng-
land compels the hop-growers to dry the flowers in the sun or
in kilns ; and if a rain fall upon them w^hile drying, they are
ruined: and they are injured by both the sun and kiln-drying.
In California, they may be dried in the open air, under sheds;

182 .RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

and thus i^repared, they will be superior to any of the Euro-
pean hops.

The Chinese sugar-cane grows luxuriantly in this state, but
it is not extensively cultivated.

Flax, hemp, and the basket-willow, are not cultivated, or in
patches so small as to be unworthy of notice.

§ 143. Kitchen Vegetables. — The vegetables for the kitchen
— such as cabbage, cauliflower, beets, parsnips, carrots, rad-
ishes, onions, melons, squashes, pumpkins, green peas, string-
beans, tomatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, okra, cucumbers, lettuce,
garden-egg, and so forth — thrive in California, many of them
beyond example elsewhere. Cabbages weighing fifteen j^ounds
are wonders in the Xevr York market ; in San Francisco they
are common. Whole fields of cabbage-heads, weighing twenty
pounds each, have been grown ; and hard, sohd heads, with no
loose leaves, weighing forty-five and fifty-three pounds each,
are on record. One cabbage, which did not make a head,
grew to be seven feet wide, throwing out leaves three and a
half feet long on each side. In many cases the cabbage has
been converted into a perennial, evergreen, tree-like plant, by
preventing it from going to seed. Several of these are now
growing in the state, with stalks from two to six feet high,
and a foliage that grows through vrinter and summer.

The largest squash or soft-skin pumpkin produced in Cali-
fornia weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, and the vine
which bore it had several others weighing over one hundred
pounds each; the total weight of its fruit being more than
eight hundred pounds ! Elsewhere, sixty pounds is a very large
pumpkin or squash ; and th^re is scarcely a record in the At-
lantic states of a greater weight than one hundred pounds,
which has been frequently surpassed here. In 1857, one
squash-vine on the ranch of James Simmons, in Yuba county,
produced one hundred and thirty squashes, weighing in all
twenty-six hundred and four pounds ! In the same year, J. Q.
A. Ballon, at San Jose, grew two squashes, weighing two hun-
dred and ten and two hundred and four pounds respectively.

AGRICULTUEE. 183

The largest Californian onion weighed forty-seven ounces
avoirdupois, and measured twenty-two inches in circumference.
Our onions generally excel those of the Eastern states in size
and weight.

Our laro^est red beet weio^hed one hundred and eio^hteen
pounds — was five feet long, and a foot in diameter. It was
three years old. The first year it grew to weigh forty-eight
pounds, and because of its large size was reserved for seed ;
but it disappointed its owner, and, instead of producing seed
the next year, merely kept on growing, and reached the size
of eighty-six pounds; and the following year got to a hundred
and eighteen. Such beets can be grown in abundance. A beet
of twenty pounds is a wonder in Xew York or London ; here
it is too common to attract more than a glance. Beets fre-
quently are three feet long, so that it requires no little trouble
to diof them out.

Our largest common white turnip weighed, I believe, twenty-
six pounds ; our largest carrot, ten pounds ; our largest water-
melon, sixty-five pounds.

Our largest tomato measured twenty-six inches in circum-
ference.

Our kitchen vegetables, grown in the open air, are in the
market during a greater part of the year than in any state
east of the Mississippi. We have cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce,
turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, horseradish, celery,
green onions, leeks, salsify, and parsley, throughout the year ;
green peas, string-beans, water-melons, cantaloupes, and nut-
meg-melons, from June to Xovember inclusive ; tomatoes from
May to October; garden-eggs, green okra, Lima-beans, and
Californian sweet potatoes, from July to September ; aspara-
gus from March to June ; and rhubarb from April to July —
the months being meant inclusively in every instance. These
seasons for the difierent species of vegetables are, on an aver-
age, twice as long as the seasons on the Atlantic slope of the
continent in the same latitude. Our tables are thus supphed
with a great variety of fresh and wholesome vegetables

184 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

throughout the year. Another advantage of our climate is,
that garden vegetables may be left in the ground all winter.
Potatoes are sometimes not dug until the first of January, and
turnips and beets are usually left in their beds until they are
to be sent to market ; there is never enough cold to freeze
them. Potatoes are never buried, but after they are dug are
piled up in bags under a shed, or are placed in a storehouse,

The cabbage likes a moist air and soil, and thrives best along
the coast, from Bodega to Santa Cruz. The melons and toma-
toes like a warm climate, and thrive best in the Sacramento
valley — and Putah valley, which is tributary to it — where
many of the early vegetables for the San Francisco market are
grown.

§ 144. Fruit. — As a fruit-growing state, California takes a
high position. In this particular, as in so many others, her
.climate gives her great advantages. In no part of the world
do fruit-trees grow so rapidly, bear so early, so regularly, and
so abundantly, and produce fruit of such large size. Nor is
there any other country where so great a variety of fruit can
be produced in high excellence. In the matter of flavor, our
apples, peaches, and strawberries, or most of them, are infe-
rior to Eastern fruit ; in the flavor of other species we are at
least equal to other countries. The pear, the plum, the apri-
cot, the grape, and the olive, are peculiarly thrifty, healthy,
and productive, as compared with the same kinds of fruit else-
where.

The Californian orchards are trained low, the lower limbs
being within a foot or at most two feet of the ground. All
kinds of fruit-trees are trained on the same principle. Men,
therefore, do not walk under the trees in an orchard, or climb
after the fruit. It would be as absurd to try to walk under or
to climb a bearing apple-tree in California as to w^alk under or
climb a gooseberry-bush. One fruit-tree in a hundred may be
trained high, not more. The advantages of low training are,
that the trees bear fruit earlier — a matter of the greatest im-
portance in California, where the interest of money is so high,

AGEICULTURE. 185

and the price of fruit rapidly falling from year to year ; the
trunk is shaded, and protected against the disease called the
sun-scald ; the earth about the roots is kept moist ; and the
trees are protected against the wind.

The trees are planted from one-sixth to one-half nearer to-
gether in the orchards than in the Eastern states. This is an
additional protection agamst sun and wind. The ground is
ploughed several tunes every summer, and kept clean ; whereas
in the Eastern orchards it is common to sow grass or cultivate
veo-etables. Our apple-trees are free from the borers after the
first year, and our plum and cherry trees from the curcuho,
though the plum suffers from the aphis or louse.

Fruit-trees in California are generally as large at two years
old as they are in New York at three and four years. The in-
stances of unusually rapid growth here are without parallel
elsewhere. Cherry-trees have grown to be fourteen feet high
in one year; pear-trees ten feet high; peach-trees to have
trunks from two to three inches in diameter. These were all
from buds on yearling stocks, and were well provided with
branches— not trimmed to gain height. These specimens of
rapid growth were observed on an island near the junction of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. At Petaluma, a
cherry-tree two years old from the graft, and three from the
seed, had a trunk seven inches and three-quarters round ; a
plum-tree, three years from the seed, was eleven feet high, and
had a trunk seven inches in circumference ; and a peach-tree,
one year from the bud, was eight feet high and eight and a
half inches round.

Mr. E. B. Crocker, of Sacramento, wrote thus in December,
1858: "In January, 1855, I planted a small almond-tree, with
a stem little larger than a goosequill, and which I cut dowm
within a few inches of the ground. It is now a tree twenty
feet high, sixteen feet through the top, with branches starting
from the surface of the earth. The body below the branches

is twenty-four inches in circumference A Glout Morceau

dwarf pear-tree, planted in 1855, when it had grown one year

]S6 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA,

from the bud, is now ten feet high, four feet through the top,
and measures ten inches round the body at the ground, brandl-
ing about one foot from the surface. A Beurre Diel dwarf,
pUxnted in January, 1856, is now seven feet high, three feet
through the top, and ten inches in circumference at the ground.
A dwarf May Duke cherry, planted in 1856, is now thirteen
feet high, and thirteen and a half inches in circumference at
the ground. An Old Mixon peach, planted in 1855, and cut
down within a few inches of the ground, is now twenty feet
high, twenty-two feet through the top, and the trunk twenty-
eight inches in circiunference. A seedling peach, seed planted
in January, 1858, is now eight feet high and well branched, and
the trunk four and a half inches in circumference at the ground.
The growth of trees, vines, and shrubs, is about double that of
similar kinds on the rich prairie-soils of Northern Indiana."

In 1858, a sprig of a peach-tree, a foot long, was stuck into
the ground on the Bay-state ranch ; the next year it bore fruit.
It may be set down as a general rule that, previous to the time
of bearing fruit, trees in California make twice as much wood
in a year as they do in the middle states.

In Alameda county, plum-trees have grown twelve feet in
one vear from the bud.

The trees commence to bear fruit at about half the age at
which they bear in the Atlantic states. An apple-orchard in
New York begins to bear in its fifth or sixth year ; in Califor-
nia, in its second or third.

The variety of climates, and the freedom from frosts, severe
cold, and furious storms, protect us against a failure of the
fruit-crop.

Our apples, pears, apricots, and plums, are larger than the
same varieties usually are elsewhere; other fruits are about
the same in size.

§ 145. Apples. — The Spanish Californians had a few apple-
trees, but they were seedlings of a poor class. The first good
apples were imported from Oregon in 1849 ; but the varieties
were few, and the trees did not thrive. Either the stock was

AGRICULTURE. 187

not the best, or the change of climate had an iujurious influ-
ence on them. In 1852, a few trees were imported by way
of the isthmus of Panama ; other importations followed very
rapidly ; and now the state has millions of trees in nursery, and
about eight hundred thousand bearing trees in orchard, inclu-
ding two hundred varieties, the best of Europe and the Atlan-
tic states, both standard and dwarf trees.

Apple-trees are usually planted from twelve to thirty feet
apart, fourteen or sixteen being the more common distances.
This is much closer together than is customary in the Atlantic
states ; the reasons for the denser planting here being to pre-
vent injury by the wind, and to keep the earth moist by sha-
ding it against the sun. The apple-tree comes into bearing in
the third year in California, about two years earlier than in
the Eastern states. It also grows more rapidly, a yearling tree
here being as large as a two-year-old tree in Ohio. Grafts on
yearling stocks have been known to grow six and eight feet in
a season — twice as long as similar grafts will grow in the mid-
dle states. The fruit usually grows larger here than elsewhere.
The Gloria Mundi apple, which elsewhere seldom exceeds
fourteen ounces in weight, in California frequently reaches
twenty ounces, and some have attained the great size of two
and even two and a half pounds.

The climate seems to have a tendency to ripen apples more
thoroughly here than in other states. Those varieties which
are grown for winter use elsewhere, are here generally con-
verted into autumn apples, and only a few will keep to New-
Year's Day. A fruit-grower in Alameda has succeeded in
keeping several kinds until June. Our list of winter apples is
very short, and some years will pass before we can in this re-
spect equal the middle states. Some varieties have been intro-
duced here from Georgia and other Southern states, but we
do not yet know how they will succeed.

The flavor of our apples is not equal, as a general rule, to
that of the apples grown on the Atlantic slope. They are less
juicy, and more mealy. Some varieties, however, are better

188 RESOURCES OF C A L I F O K N I A .

here than in the Eastern states. Great variations are observed
in different parts of the state ; an apple may be excellent when
the tree grows in the hot summer and cold winter high up on
the Sierra Nevada ; and be of poor quality if grown in the
equable temperature of the coast.

The best varieties, so far as ascertained, about the bay of
San Francisco, are the Summer Pearmain, Red Astrakhan, Red
June, and Early Harvest, for early apples ; the Porter, Graven-
stein, and Summer Queen, for late summer apples ; the Bald-
win, Roxbiiry Russet, and Rhode Island Greening, for fall
apples ; the Golden Russet, the Northern Spy, the Yellow
Newtown Pipj^in, the White Winter Pearmain, and the Spitz-
enberg, for winter apples. The best cider apple is the Smith's
Cider.

The leading counties in the production of apples are Santa
Clara, Sacramento, Alameda, Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Yola, Yuba,
and El Dorado.

The trees grow so rapidly and bear so abundantly, that some
persons suppose our orchards must be short-lived ; and the old-
est American orchard in the state — at the Mission of San Jose
— is cited as proof of this theory. That orchard is evidently
dying, though only eleven years old ; but its unhealthiness is
owing to some influences peculiar to that spot. It has been
gradually dying for four or five years, while other orchards six
and eight years old are in perfect health. Besides, the fruit-
trees of the old missions, many of them thirty years old, are
still in excellent health and full bearing, and have not failed at
any season during the last score of years to produce a good
crop. The indigenous trees in our valleys have a thriftiness
of growth and a precocity of development similar to our cul-
tivated fruit-trees, and yet have a longevity equal to that of
the similar species east of the Mississippi, where the summers
are shorter, the winters colder, the annual growth less, and
the development of the reproductive power later.

§ 146. Peaches. — The peach-tree grows very rapidly, comes
into bearing very early, and produces abundantly, in California ;

AGRICULTURE 1 «9

but nearly all varieties suffer with " the curl," which has given
so much trouble durinof the last two years, that many of the or-
chards have been cut down. The varieties most free from the
curl are the Late and Early Crawford, the Late Admirable, and
the Smock. In the valleys and near the ocean, the peaches are
not equal, either in size or flavor, to the same varieties on the
Atlantic slope ; but in the Sierra Nevada they are fully equal
to the Eastern fruit. The peach does not thrive in the high
winds which prevail about San Francisco Bay. The trees are
usually set out in orchard when one year old from the graft or
bud ; in the second year after that, they begin to bear.

§ 147. Pears. — The pear is the most productive and healthy
of the fruit-trees of California. It thrives in all parts of the
state, and everywhere its fruit is delicate in flavor and large in
size. There are pear-trees at San Jose which produce twenty-
five hundred pounds or forty bushels each of fruit annually.
The pear was more cultivated by the Spanish Califoraians than
any other fruit ; but their varieties were not good, and most of
the old trees have been grafted with varieties brought from
the Atlantic states during the last eight years. The varieties
most prized are the Madeline, Bloodgood, Diane d'ete. Dear-
born's SeedUng, and Bartlett, for summer pears ; and the Win-
ter NeHs, Glout Morceau, Easter Beurre, and Pear d' Albert,
for winter.

Xeither tree nor fruit is troubled by any bug, fire-blight,
sun, or rain. .

§ 148. Apricots and Plums. — The apricot thrives well and
bears abundantly, especially in the warmer parts of the state.
The fruit, however, in some places is much eaten by bugs and
bees. The bugs — some of them of the kind commonly called
" Lady-bug," and others similar in appearance and size — eat
holes in the apricots before they are ripe ; and th^ bees, which
never break the skin, eat at the hohis which the bugs have
commenced. The apricot-tree is more healthy than the peach,
and produces more abundantly ; and its fruit supplies the place
of the peach in many districts.

190 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The nectarine is affected by the cnrl, and is not much culti-
vated.

If the curculio should not be introduced, the plum will oc
cupy a very prominent place in the horticulture of the state.
The tree is healthy ; and the fruit is large, finely-flavored, and
abundant. The climate is very favorable to drying fruit, and
prunes might be made here with a profit.

The cherry and the soft-shell almond thrive in all the valleys
of the state.

The fig-tree is cultivated from Shasta to San Diego, but
does not produce abundantly north of latitude 35°. In the
vicinity of Los Angeles it is a very thrifty and productive tree.
It produces two crops of fruit annually. North of 37° the sec-
ond crop is usually killed by the frost or stunted by the cold.

The almond and the English walnut both grow well and
produce abundantly about Los Angeles, but do not thrive so
well north of Santa Barbara. The almond suffers, and loses
its fruit, with a slight touch of frost.

The pomegranate is a healthy and productive bush in Cali-
fornia, but its fruit is not profitable. It is cultivated to a
small extent in all the large fruit-gardens.

§ 149. Olives. — For the cultivation of the olive, California
has great advantages. The tree is very healthy, and always
bears abundantly ; whereas in Italy and Greece, whence most
of our olive-oil comes, the crop is frequently destroyed by sum-
mer i-ains, blight, and insects, all of which causes of trouble are
unknown here. There it is expected that the crop will fail
one year in three, whereas here no failure has ever been known.
The number of our olive-trees is small, most of those in bear-
ing having been planted half a century ago. Nor is it likely
that there will be a rapid increase. The tree does not come
into bearingmntil ten years of age, at least not in Europe ; and
although it may live and continue in bearing for five or six
centuries, the possibility of a steady income to our remote
posterity will not pay Californians for investing their money
in a business that will vield no income for a decade of vears.

AGRICULTURE. 191

Most of the bearing olive-trees are in the town of Los An-
geles, and at the Missions of San Fernando, San Gabriel, and
San Juan Sapistrano.

The olive-tree resembles a willow in the form and color of
its bark, the shape and proportions of its trunk and branches,
and the size, color, and distribution of its leaves. The trees
are grown from cuttmgs or shoots, which latter frequently
sprout from the large trees near the surface of the ground. A
large olive-orchard in full bearing would prove an excellent
income, for the fruit and the oil are in demand.

§ 150. Oranges. — The orange is cultivated in Los Angeles;
and, although the trees now there are covered with insects to
such an extent, that most of them bear no fruit, yet I think
there is reason to hope that the fruit will, at no distant day, be
cultivated extensively and profitably.

A warmer clime than that of this state is undoubtedly more
congenial to the orange than ours ; but in those lands where
the climate is warmer, the men are less industrious and intelli-
gent. Cultivation, which is the first element in the develop-
ment of every species of fruit, is wanting there, while here
there is no lack. Not that our climate is so cold as to make
it doubtful whether we can cultivate the orange in the open
air : long experience has settled the fact that the orange-tree
will thrive and produce well from Santa Barbara southward.

We have no exact information as to the time when the or-
ange was introduced into California, nor from what stock the
old orange-trees came. Probably the first missionaries brought
orange-seeds with them from Lower California, that stock hav-
ing come from the indigenous trees along the western coast of
Mexico. The seeds were planted at various old missions, such
as San Diego, San Fernando, San Juan Capistrano, and so forth.
The trees grew, were planted out, bore well, received Httle at-
tention or cultivation, and some of them are still standing as
monuments to the industry and enterprise of the old priests.

There are now, so far as I can learn, about twenty-five hun-
dred orange-trees set out in orchard in the state, more than

192 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

two-thirds of them being in the orchard of William Wolfskill,
in the town of Los Angeles. About four hundred of the
orange-trees in the state are old— from ten to fifty years of
age ; the remainder are joxmg, from six to eight years old, at
which age they begin to come into bearing.

The proper way to raise orange-trees is to make a bed about
three feet wide and twenty long, with the earth in it well pul-
verized ; and in January or February plant this bed with seeds,
in rows a foot apart, and the seeds six inches apart in the rows,
and about six inches deep. The bed should be weeded care-
fully, and kept constantly moist. If in the dry sand of Los
Angeles county, the bed should be irrigated once a week. At
the end of three years the trees will be four feet high and an
inch and a half thick in the trunk. They should then be set
out in the orchard where they are to stand, and be planted
twenty-five or thirty feet apart each way. The transplanting
should be done in any of the spring months, the earher the
better, and should be immediately followed by irrigation. The
transplanting should not take place when the young trees are
growing, and therefore the trees should not be irrigated be-
fore transplanting, especially if the weather be warm; for
warmth and irrigation would have a tendency to start the

shoots.

The trees begin to bear in their seventh year, when they are
about ten feet high, and the trunks from three to five inches
thick. At fourteen years they are in full bearing, and they
continue to bear till they are at least fifty years of age, proba-
bly much longer. In full bearing, every tree will produce at
least one thousand oranges a j^ear, and some trees will regu-
larly produce two or three thousand. The tree grows to be
thirty feet high, the top spreading out- thirty feet wide. It
blossoms early in the spring, and the fruit is ripe in the follow-
ing February, although it looks ripe in December. The or-
anges will keep well until May, if left on the tree. The fruit
is always in demand, and always commands a high price; and
previous to 1857, Mr. Wolfskill made more than one hundred

AGRICULTUEE. 193

dollars apiece annually from his bearing trees; but since that
time the bugs have injured the crop seriously.

The^ tree is very beautiful, and grows continuously. The
wood is hard and valuable. The tops grow very bushy, and
frequently branches have to be cut out to allow the air to have
access to the fruit and leaves ; and sometimes the trees have
to be supported, to save them from breaking down under the
weight of their fruit. The trees, after setting out in the or-
chard, should be irrigated thi-ice every summer, and, unless
the land is rich, should be fhanured.

The bug, a species of Aphis, has fixed itself in most of the
bearing trees in the state ; and unless some remedy not now
in use be applied, it will probably kill all the trees. Many
devices to drive away the pest have been tried in vam. But
there must be a bane for this bug : when that bane is once
found, the cultivation of the orange will take an important
place in the horticulture of the southern part of the state, and
therefore every good citizen is interested in finding it.

§ 151. The Grape. — California is a favorite land of the
grape ; and indeed many of our vine-growers suppose it to be
the best grape country in the world.

The grape region of California extends from the southern
boundary, at latitude 32° 30', to 41°, a distance of five hundred
and ninety-five miles from north to south, with an average
breadth from east to west of about one hundred miles. The
Los Angeles grape district is in an open plain about seventy
miles long, and reaching back thirty miles from the ocean —
bounded on the east by barren, rugged mountains. The So-
noma, Xapa, and Santa Clara grape districts, are in flat, nar-
row valleys, shut in by steep, rugged ridges of the Coast
Mountains, between latitude 37° 30' and 39°. The Sacramento
grape district is in a flat valley, about half way between moun-
tain-ranges fifty miles apart. The grape disti-icts of the Sierra
Nevada are situated on the western slopes of those high m(,un-
tains, usually in very small dales.

The soil of the vineyards at Los Angeles and Anaheim is a
9

194 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

deep, light, warm sand, wliicli, to the inuxperieneed eye, looks
as though it were too poor to produce any valuable A'egetable
growth. In those places where water runs through it for a
few days, all the mould is dissolved and carried off, leaving a
white and almost pure sand. The soil is so dry, that cultiva-
tion is possible only with the assistance of irrigation. In So-
nora and Napa valleys the vineyards are planted in a red,
gravelly clay near the foot of the mountains, or in a liglit, sandy
loam in the centre of the valley. Of late, the vine-growers of
these valleys have done without irrigation. In Santa Clara
valley most of the vines have been placed in a rich, black
loam, but their vineyards are unhealthy. The Sacramento
vineyards are planted in sandy loam ; those of the Sierra Xe-
vada in sandy loam or in gravelly clay.

The vine was brought to California by the Spanish mission-
aries about the year 1770. So far as is known, only one vari-
ety— that now known as the Los Angeles grape — was brought
by them in the last century. It is the vine found in all the old
vineyards and in most of the new ones south of the bay of San
Francisco. It fills three-fourths of the vineyards in the state.
The berry is round, reddish-brown while ripening, and nearly
black when fully ripe, about five-eighths of an inch in diame-
tar at its largest size, covered by a strong skin, possessing an
abundance of thick and very sweet juice, with little meat, but
with no fruitiness of flavor. It has been asserted that this grape
is of the Malaga variety ; but if so, it has changed so much —
perhaps while under cultivation in Mexico, whence the first
cuttings that came to California were probably obtained — that
it no longer resembles its parent stock.

About 1820, when the missions were established north of
the bay of San Francisco, a new variety, now called the So-
noma grape, and said by General Vallejo to be of the 'Madeira
stock, was introduced. It is now extensively cultivated in
Sonoma and Napa counties and in the Sacramento valley, and
is also found in a few vineyards south of the bay of San Fran-
cisco. The berry is bluish-black in color; is covered, when

A G n I C U L T U R E . 195

ripe, with .1 grayish clust, which brushes off, leaving a glossv,
smooth skin ; is about half an inch in diameter at its largest
size ; has a thin, sweet juice, with more meat and a little fruiti-
ness of a flavor.

The Sonoma grape makes a light wine, resembling claret ;
the Los Angeles grape makes a strong wine, resembling port
and sherry. The two grapes are classed together as the " Mis-
sion," " Native," or " Cahfornian" grapes, and were the only
varieties cultivated here previous to 1853. In that year the
importation of foreign grapes commenced, and now about two
hundred varieties are cultivated. The Mission grapes are
hardy, healthy, long-lived, productive, and early in coming into
bearing ; but they are surpassed in flavor, hardiness, produc-
tiveness, earliness of ripening, and earliness of bearing, by
many foreign varieties, which, so far as is known, are not infe-
rior in any respect. The latter have been tried, however, only
three or four years, and therefore we cannot speak positively
whether they will prove so long-lived, or whether they will be
equal in some other points to the Mission grapes.

Still, the superiority of the foreign grapes is so great, that
no reasonable man, acquainted with the subject, doubts that
they will drive the Mission grapes out of the market. Flavor
is a matter of vast importance in fresh fruit, and the want of it
is the great defect of the Mission grape, which will not com-
mand more than six or eight cents per pound in the San Fran-
cisco market, at the very time that fine foreign varieties bi-ing
twenty-five and thirty-seven cents. Cuttings of the Mission
grapes can now be had for ten dollars per thousand, a price
that will not more than pay for preparing them for market ;
while those of the foreign cost from forty to one hundred and
fifty dollars per thousand. For wine, the foreign grape has an
equal or still greater advantage. Flavor and fruitiness are not
less needed there than in fruit to be eaten fresh at the table.
The lack of fruitiness is the great misfortune of the wine made
from the Cahfornian grape, and the evil can only be remedied
by the use of the foreign grape.

19G KESaUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

For raisins the Mission grape is unsuitecl, because it is all
juice and lacks meat. Again, we want various kinds of grapes
to make different kinds of wine, and to give variety to our
tables ; and w^e wish also to have early and late grapes, so that
our wine-making may extend through a long season, and that
our tables may have grapes upon them from August to Decem-
ber. The foreign grapes, it has been observed, are stronger to
resist the frost than the Mission grape. The latter is there-
fore doomed, if not to destruction, at least to a subordinate
position.

About two hundred varieties of grape are cultivated in Cali-
fornia, including the most noted stocks of Spain, France, Ger-
many, Hungary, and the Eastern states. Nearly all of them
thrive, and it can scarcely be said authoritatively that any one
of them has proved a failure. The Catawba and Isabella do
well; the latter furnishing our finest table-grape for some
tastes, while others prefer some of the Muscatels.

The total number of grape-vines planted in vineyard in the
state is about three and a half millions, or four thousand five
hundred acres, of which more than one-third are in Los An-
geles county. One-fifteenth of these may be foreign vines, of
which one-half are in Sonoma county. There were probably
two hundred thousand bearing vines in the state in 1848, and
they still continue productive. Very little was done to increar^^e
their number until 1856, and then the business of grape-grow-
" ing and making wine for the market was commenced. The
new vineyards then set out were planted with Mission grapes,
the only variety of which cuttings in large quantities could be
obtained. A few foreign vines had been imported in 1853,
'54, and '55, by nurseiymen, but there was little demand for
them. When it became clear that California would produce
wine largely, the foreign varieties came into demand. It was
not until 1859 that the superiority of the foreign grapes as a
class over the ]\Iission grape was established by trial.

The advantages of California for the cultivation of the grape
are the following :

AGKICULTUrvE. 197

1. Californian vmeyards produce ordinarily twice as much as
the vineyards of any other grape district, if general report be
true. Here, twelve thousand pounds of grapes' per acre is a crop
as common as six thousand in Fi-ance, Germany, or Ohio, Why
our vineyai'ds should produce so much more than those else-
where I know not, but the fact is indubitable. Crops of twenty
thousand pounds per acre have been seen here, but never else-
where, if witnesses, generally considered credible, are to be
believed.

2. The graj)e-crop never fails, as it does in every other coun-
try. This is owing partly to the fact that we have no severe
frosts, no hail, and no storms of rain and electricity from the
time the vine buds until the grape is gathered, each of which
often causes a total loss of the crops in Europe. There is abun-
dant time for gathering the grape, while in other vine coun-
tries the rain and frost destroy the fruit after it is ripe. The
oidium — the disease which has done such ccreat damao;e in
France — appeared in 1859, but has done no injury as yet save
in a few small, young vineyards. I have heard of it only in
Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Alameda counties, where the vines
are planted in a wet, black loam, or stiff clay. Bugs and in-
sects, which do much harm in European vineyards, have as
yet done no injury w^orthy of note in California.

3. Vineyards in other countries require more labor than in
California. In Europe, the vine is trained with a stalk four
feet high, and supported by a pole, which has to be set down
every year, and to which the vine is tied. Here the stalk
stands alone.

4. The equability and warmth of the climate render it easy
to make wine by fermentation without artificial heat during
the winter ; whereas in other grape countries fires must be
kept up in the cellars through the winter.

5. The great variety of grapes which thrive here as com-
pared with every other grape country.

The disadvantages of California consist in the high price of
labor (three times as liigh as in Ohio, and four times as high

198 KE .SOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

as in Europe), the ignorance of the people of the arts of vine-
growing and wine-making, the dearness of casks (costing fr<jm
five to twenty cents per gallon), and the necessity of irriga-
tion.

Land suitable for vineyards costs from twenty to one hun-
dred dollars per acre, whereas it is worth several times as much
in France ; but there is a counterbalancing difference in the
interest of money, so that the French vine-land at four hundred
dollars per acre, bought with money borrow^ed at six per cent,
a year, costs little more than a Californian vineyard bought for
one hundred dollars, with money at twenty-seven per cent.

The vine Hkes a sandy or gravelly (not very moist) soil, and
never thrives in wet, loamy, or stiff clay soil. In California,
nearly all the vineyards are planted on flat land ; in Europe,
hills are preferred, and in Germany the name for a vineyard is
" Weinberg" — a vine-hill.

Vineyards are planted with cuttings or with rooted vines.
The cuttings are obtained at the annual pruning in January or
February, are about thirty inches long, and are all of wood
less than a year old. They should be taken from vines not
less than four years old. The rooted vines are cuttings which
are planted in the nursery and allowed to grow there through
one season. These latter may be planted out from November
to March, inclusive ; cuttings from January to March. It is
not usual to plough more than once before planting, but sev-
eral plougliings would be better. The vines are planted either
six and a half or eight feet apart each w^ay : the former distance
giving one thousand vines to the acre, is customary at Los An-
geles ; the latter, giving six hundred and eighty vines to the
acre, is preferred in Sonoma and Napa. The vines are planted
about two feet deep, perpendicularly, leaving about three or
four inches with two buds above the surface. The holes are
usually made with a crow-bar, and after the vine is thrust dowm
into it, a httle loose sand or pulverized dirt is poured in to fill
up the hole. Sometimes holes are dug with the spade. Unless
the ground is very moist, the newly-planted vineyard is irri-

AGRICULTURE. 199

gated ; fur the vine, when taking root, likes water. Durino"
the first year after planting, the vine-grower has nothing to do
save to irrigate twice, to plough several times, and to hoe
down such weeds as cannot be reached with the plough.

There is very little growth of wood the first year, but it fre-
quently happens that cuttings bear grapes— one bunch, it may
be, to a dozen vines. Rooted vines do not bear the first year.
The next year the ground should be kept loose and clean by
l^loughing and hoeing twice or thrice. Any suckers springing
out from buds beneath the surface must be broken ofl:', aftd a
little pruning is done. In pruning, regard is had to the form
which the stalk is to have.

The vine bears fruit on new wood ; that is, on twigs pro-
duced in the same season with the grape. All the twigs are
cut off every year, leaving a bare stalk. In the old vineyards
of California the stalks are from three to five feet high. Of
late, the more general custom is to make the stalks about fif-
teen inches high. It is observed that the nearer the grapes to
the ground, the earlier they ripen, and the less liable they are
to injury from frost and wind. The strongest shoot is selected
to make the stalk, and it is tied to a little stake stuck into the
ground at its side, and the other shoots are cut off. It is a
matter of importance to use the stake so that the vines may
grow straight up. Vineyards planted with cuttings bear no
grapes the second year ; those planted with rooted vines may
bear a few. In the southern part of the state the vineyard
must be irrigated at least twice every summer ; in many locali-
ties in the northern and middle districts, irrigation is consid-
ered unnecessary, though it would undoubtedly be beneficial
during the first year.

The third year, the ploughing and hoeing is the same as the
second. More attention must be given to the pruning. All
the twigs are cut off save two or three, which sprout from the
fop of the stalk, and these are pruned so as to leave but tAVO
buds on each, which are to produce all the wood and fruit of
the season. This year the vines should produce thro:; or four

200 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

pounds of grapes each ; some vineyards have averaged twelve
pounds to the stalk the third year.

The fourth year, the five or six twigs all starting from the
top of the stalk are left with two eyes each; and this year the
yield should be six or eight pounds per vine. The fifth year,
there should be seven or eight twigs, with two eyes each, and
the gra^e-yield should be ten pounds per vine. The sixth year,
the vine is in full growth, and there should be eight or ten
twigs, and from ten to fifteen pounds of fruit per vine. About
the fortieth year the vine begins to decay. After the third or
fourth year, if the vine has been well trained, it needs no stake
for support, but stands alone.

The towns most notable for the cultivation of the vine in
California are Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Sonoma — all grape-
towns, and the only towns which depend chiefly on the grape
for their revenue. Los Angeles has about 900,000 vines, Ana-
heim 400,000, and Sonoma 500,000. Many of the vmes of So-
noma are not yet old enough to bear ; those of Anaheim are
all now (1862) in their fourth year; Avhile more than one-half
of those of Los Angeles have been in full bearing for several
years. The Cocomongo ranch, in San Bernardino county,
owned by J. Rains, has a vineyard of 1 65,000 vines, most of
them very young yet. This ranch is one thousand feet above
the sea-level, and has the reputation of producing the best wine
in the state. Hock fiirm, in Sutter county, has a large vine-
yard, owned by Emil Sutter, a son of Captain J. A. Sutter,
and the wine produced there has an excellent reputation.

Among the largest vineyards in the state are the following:

A. Haraszthj, Sonoma 290,000 vines.

John Rains, Cocomongo 165,000 vines.

B. D. Wilson, San Gabriel 100,000 vines.

William Wolfskill, Los Angeles 85,000 vines.

C. H. S. Williams, Sonoma 68,000 vines.

Matthew Keller, Los Angeles 61,000 vines.

Corbett and Dibblee, Santa Anita 60,000 vines.

T. J. White, Los Angeles 50,000 vines.

J. R. Scott, Los Angeles 50,000 vines.

A G E I C U L T r K E . 201

There are many vineyards in the mining counties, but they
are-small and young. In 1858, an acre of bearing vineyard was
worth a thousand dollars ; but since then the supply of grapes
and native wines has increased to such an extent, that the vine-
yards have depreciated fifty per cent. The profits of wine-
making several years ago, induced the vine-growers to make
their wine hastily and carelessly, and much of it is poor stufi",
that has brouo-ht all native wines into discredit. The wine-
business, just now^ depressed, will in a year or two become
better, and then vine-planting will take a new start, and vine-
yards will rise in value.

§ 152. Wine-makmg. — The making of wine is considered a
a branch of agriculture. In 1861, California probably made
about a million gallons of wine, and the amount will increase
Avithin five years to three million gallons. The best wines are
made from foreign grapes, of which, however, not many are as
yet produced in the state ; so that the Mission grapes yield
the chief supply. The principal classifications of wme are into
red and white, light and heavy, still and sparkling.

Wine making commences with the ripening of the grapes,
about the middle of September. The berry is considered to
be fully ripe when the heart has taken a tinge resembling the
darkness of the skin ; when the berry is perfectly sweet, and
comes ofi" easily from the stem, leaving no juice upon it; and
when, on holding a bunch up to the sun, the fibres running
from the stem into the berry are nearly or quite invisible.

The branches are cut off with a knife, after the dew or fog
(if any) has been dispelled, put into a basket, and carried to
the press. Here the rotten and unripe berries are carefully
picked out, and the bunches are then thro^vTi upon a coarse
wire sieve. A man presses the bunches upon this sieve,
through which the grapes fall, some broken and others un-
broken, while the large stems and leaves will not pass, and are
thrown away. Below the sieve is the masher, composed of
two rollers, ten inches in diameter and three feet long, made
of iron or w^ood. These rollers, turning toward each other,
9*

202 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

crush the berries, but do not bruise the seeds, which, if crushed,
would give a bitter taste to the wine. If the wine is to be
white, the pulp is pressed as it comes from the masher ; if it
is to be red, the pulp is left to stand for six or eight days, so
that the red color of the skins may be communicated to the
juice. This is the only mode in which wines are colored.
The juice as it comes from the fresh berry is never red, but
some varieties of grape make a yellowish juice.

After the pressing, the red and white wines are treated in
the same manner. The juice is put into large casks, usually
those of one hundred and forty gallons each, and about one
hundred and fifteen gallons are put in each. The casks are
thus not filled entirely, but a considerable surface of the wme
is left exposed to the air. This is to favor fermentation, to
which the atmosphere is necessary. The cask lies uj^on its
side, the bunghole is left open, and in three or four days the fer-
mentation begins ; in three or four more its period of greatest
activity has passed. The temperature is a matter of the ut-
most importance to fermentation, the proper degree being
about 65° Fahrenheit ; and if the liquid be kept either warmer
or colder than that figure, it will be in great danger of spoil-
ing. The fermentation is accompanied by a rising of little air-
bubbles to the surface, where they burst, making a noise that
may be heard by applying the ear to the bunghole, and w^iich
is sometimes so loud as to be heard in the cellar at a distance
often or twenty feet from the barrel.

After the fermentation has been in progress three or four
days, the wine-maker pours in six or eight gallons of fresh
juice every day, until the cask is full; and for several days
after that he leaves the bunghole still open, and throws out
all scum that rises to the surface there. When the scum has
ceased to rise, the barrel is closed, and not disturbed for a pe-
riod which should not be less than three weeks nor more than
three months. After this, comes the " racking off." All the
liquor, except about four mches at the bottom, containing sedi-
ment, is drawn off through a siphon, or a cock placed above

I

AGRICULTURE. 203

the level of the sediment. The remainder is filtered througrh
a doubled cotton cloth, and is then poured in with the clear
liquor, or used in making brandy. The sediment deposited in
the bottom of the cask within the first three months is about
one-twentieth in weight of the juice as it comes from the press.
After the first racking, the new cask is filled up, the bung is
put in, and the wine is not disturbed till March or April, when
it begins to feel a more lively fermentation, for that process
never ceases entirely.

It is said that the wine sympathizes with the vine, and that
whenever the latter is in active development, the former feels
a peculiar impulse also. Thus, the periods when the vine
sprouts in March or Aj^ril, when it blossoms in June, and when
the grape ripens in September, are also the times when the fer-
mentation is the most active. At those seasons the buuo-s must
be taken off", or at least loosened, and the barrels must not bo
moved.

It is an important point with wine-makers to avoid disturb-
ing the process of fermentation. Between times, when the
wine is at rest, it should be racked ofi", and placed in a clean
cask. At the end of a year and a half the wine has become
clear, but it continues to grow better with age for about a
score of years, about the expiration of which period it has ac-
quired a mellowness and delicacy of flavor and an oiliness of
consistency which neither gain nor lose by longer preserva-
tion.

Many kinds of wine are made in California. The light ^ines
come in this state, as in other parts of the world, from the
northern, and the strono- wines from the southern districts.
The wines of Los Angelica have a body like those of Spain,
and the wines of Sonoma and the upper Sacramento valley re-
semble claret and hock. A wine similar to port is made in
the southern part of the state, by leaving the grapes on the
vines until they are " dead ripe," and somewhat shrivelled by
the sun. The juice is then very strong, and, being left with
the pulp ten days or two weeks, takes a strong, dark red color.

204 RESOURCES OF CAJ.IFORNIA.

Wine is defined to be "the fermented juice of the grape,"
and therefore "Angelica" is not properly a wine, though it is
usually classed under that title. It is made by mixing brandy,
in proportions varying from one-fourth to one-half, with the
grape-juice fresh from the press, and then adding some sugar.
The brandy prevents fermentation. Angelica is a sweet liquor,
and is usually considered a proper drink for w^omen ; but it is
reallv stron2:er than the fermented wines.

The wine made of the juice that drips from the masher, or
of the first drainings from the press, is considered superior to
that obtained by severe pressure from the pulp. After the
pulp has been pressed, it is sometimes covered with water,
ailow^ed to stand a few days, and pressed again ; and the wine
made of this liquor is called " Piquet," a very light wine, and
generally sourish in taste.

Some sparkling wine has been made in California, but thus
far without o;reat success. The onlv house which has eno-agred
extensively in the business is that of Sainsevain Brothers, who
brought an experienced workman from the champagne district
of France. They own a large vineyard at Los Angeles, and
another at San Jose, and have a large capital invested in the
wine-business. Their failure in making the " sparkling Cali-
fornia," as they call their effervescent wine, was owing to the
strength of the Los Angeles grape, and the " earthiness" of its
taste, which earthiness is stronger in the sparkling than in the
still liquid. Effervescent wines should not be strong ; and the
grapes grown at Los Angeles, or at least the Mission grapes
growm there, are too strong. I speak of the experiment as a
" failure," meaning thereby that the Sainsevains have not made
an article equal to the best brands of imported champagnes ;
but, for all that, it is a passably good wine. Attempts are to
be made this year, and for several years to come, with the
lighter wines made in the middle and northern parts of the
state, and there is good reason to believe that the experiment
will prove entirely successful.

Sparkling wine is treated like still wine until after the first

I

AGRICULTURE. 205

fermentatiou, excej^t that it receives much more attention, and
is made from a more careful selection of berries, than any other
kind of wine. After the first fermentation, the wine is put in
bottles, and these are placed in racks with their necks down,
the racks bein<? made so that the bottles can be raised and
lowered ; and the position of the bottles is changed from time
to time, to assist fermentation, which continues, though in a
suppressed form — the carbonic acid gas being retained in the
wine, instead of escaping as it does during the fermentation
of still wines in the open barrel. The management of spark-
ling wines is very complicated. It varies greatly in different
places, and is usually kept as secret as possible. Thus, the
Sainsevains keep their process to themselves.

White grapes will not make a red wine ; but the skins, if
left to ferment with the juice, will give it a dirty-yellow or
light-brown color.

The general custom, in making wine, is to use the pure juice
of the grape, but wine-makers consider it not unwholesome or
disreputable to put sugar, water, or brandy, into certain kinds
of wines ; all of which, however, are unnecessary and injurious
to the finer kinds of still wines. Sugar and water endanger
the keeping qualities of the wine, and brandy spoils the flavor.
In France, it is common to put sugar or rock-candy into w^ine
intended for the sweet tastes of the Americans ; and in bad
years, when the grapes are sourish, they sweeten a little for
home consumption. Brandy is sometimes used to prevent
wine from turning into vinegar ; but the mixture, if strong
enouixh to have the desired eifect, deserves rather the name
of adulterated brandy than of wine. Different kinds of pure
wines may be mixed without impropriety, but the label should
not misrepresent the nature of the mixture. It is a fraud to
mix a bad wine with a fine article, and then sell it by the name
of the latter. If a wine-maker sends his wine into the market
under his own name, no other person can honestly mix any
thing else with it, and still preserve the name of the original
maker.

206 KESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

Most of the wines hitherto made in California have been
pure, but not fine in flavor. The Mission grape lacks delicacy
and fruitiuess of taste, and gives an earthiness or harshness to
the wine. These defects will probably be remedied by the
use of the foreign grapes, and their mixture with the native
Mission grape. Still wines, equal to the best still wines of
France, have been made from foreign grapes in California;
and we presume that we can make equally as good wine, in
very large quantities, so soon as we have the grapes. Only
about one-tenth of the foreign vines planted in the state are
now in bearing^.

The skin of the grape probably contains tannin, for the red
wines have an astringent taste not common to the white.

The cellar is a matter of great importance to the wine-
maker. From the moment when the grape-juice comes from
. the press mitil the wine is brought upon the table to be drunk,
it should be kept in a cellar ; and it is only in a cellar that the
equability and coolness of temperature proper to favor fermen-
tation can be obtained. In France and Germany, it is often
necessary to have fires in the cellars; and it would be well to
have them occasionally in California. Indeed, wine-makers
generally have no cellars, but only houses. In Los Angeles
county, most of the wine is kept in adobe houses. The sandi-
ness of the land, the frequent irrigation, and the proximity of
the vines to the places where the wine is stored, would lead to
the filling of deep cellars with water ; so the cellars are dug
only three or four feet into the ground; and an adobe wall
three feet thick, and a thick covering, render the cellars pretty
cool. In Sonoma, Colonel Haraszthy has dug a wine-cellar in
the side of a hill of maguesian limestone. The wine-cellar
should be used for wine alone, because the j^resence of other
things — especially salt meat, leather, and putrefying vegetables
— may spoil the flavor of the wine.

It is probable that, in many of the vineyards, the soil will
not produce a first-rate wine. In Europe, the wines from the
flat lands are generally of an inferior quality. To what extent

AGEICULTURE. 207

this rule prevails here, cannot be ascertained until we have
given the finer foreign grapes a fair trial. Certainly the Mis-
sion grape takes up in most of the vineyards an earthiness of
taste which must never be found in wines of the best quality.
We cannot yet tell what are our best grape-soils, or how they
differ from one another in their influences on the wine. It is
certainly no easy matter to make fine wine out of the Mission
grape, and most of our wine-makers have little experience in
the business. Again, they send their wine to the market too
soon after it is made. They often use old barrels and bottles,
which may give a taste to the wine. They have also been too
careless in pressing graj^es before they were fully ripe, and
without picking out the green and rotten fruit.

§ 153. Berries. — Alameda county cultivates, chiefly for the
San Francisco market, four hundred and fifty acres of straw-
berries, one hundred of raspberries, and thirty of blackberries
— more than all the remainder of the state. The varieties of
strawberries most prized a]"e the British Queen and Long-
worth's Prolific. They are planted in rows, thirty inches
apart, and the plants are a foot apart in the rows. The straw-
berry comes into the market in April, and continues abundant
till July, but it may be obtained in any month in the year ;
and the only reason why large quantities are not grown from
August to October inclusive, is, that they are not in demand,
because of the abundance of cheaper fruits. It must always
be costly as compared with the tree-fruits, because it is more
perishable, requires greater cultivation, costs more for pick-
ing, and produces less to the acre, The picking alone costs
about two cents a pound, being done by Chinamen, who pick
forty pounds in a day, and are paid seventy-five cents a day,
they providing their own food. The average yield per acre is
about one thousand pounds, and the average wholesale price
in 1861, during the season of their abundance, nine cents per
pound, making a gross yield of one hundred and twenty dol-
lars to the acre. The largest field of strawberries contains
eighty acres, the second seventy, and the third sixteen. Very

208 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

few strawberries are preserved, or used in any way save to be
eaten fresh on the table.

Most of the raspberry-fields of California are in Oakland and
its immediate vicinity. The land about a mile northward from
the Oakland wharf is said to be peculiarly favorable to the
raspberry. The average yield is about fifteen hundred pounds
per acre, and the wholesale price in 1861 was ten cents per
})ound. The picking is done by Chinamen, and costs from
three to four cents a pound. The bushes are planted in rows
five feet apart, and one foot apart in the row. The berries are
produced on wood a year old, and at the end of every season
all the wood that has borne is cut away. It is not known how
long the raspberry-bush will continue to bear, but probably
ten years at the least. The largest raspberry field in the state
contains twenty acres.

An excellent wine is made of raspberries, and some of the
Oakland people have gone into the business, hoping to derive
a large profit from it. The berries are bruised, a gallon of
w\ater is poured on for three pounds of berries, and after three
days the berries are pressed ; three pounds of sugar are added
for every gallon of the liquid, which is then put into barrels,
and allowed to stand, with the bung open, until active fermen-
tation has ceased — a period varying from five weeks to two
months — and the wine is ready for use, though the longer it
stands the better it becomes. Soft water is better than hard
for putting on the berries, and hard water should not be used
without boiling. An acre of raspberries will yield six hundred
gallons of wine, which, if well made, is worth a dollar or a dol-
lar and a half a gallon at wholesale. The raspberry cultivated
at Oakland is the Fastolf variety. The fruit ripens during June
and July.

The Lawton blackberry is also cultivated about Oakland.
The rows are from six to eight feet apart, and the plants from
four to six feet apart in the row. The yield of the blackberry
and the cost of picking are about the same with the raspberry,
but the price is much higher, the blackberry selling at whol?-

AGRICULTUEE. 209

sale ill 1861 at twenty -five cents per pound. It is in the mar-
ket from the first of July to the middle of September. Wine
is made from the blackberry in the same manner as from the
raspberry, and sometimes the two berries are combined to-
gether.

§ 154. Ornamental Shrubs. — Professional gardeners say that
California is better fitted by Nature than any j^art of Europe
or the Atlantic slopes to have beautiful ornamental gardens.
Our shrubs are more numerous, grow larger, remain green
longer, and have a longer blooming season, than those of other
states. The mayo and malva trees, the rose, the daisy, the
pansy, the oelyssum, the clyanthus punceus, the flowering ver-
bena, the hollyhock, and the calla or Ethiopian lily, bloom here
in the open air every month in the year. The honeysuckle,
metrosideros, and myrtle, bloom from March to December ;
the geranium and snow-ball from April to October ; the violet
fi'oni October to May ; the pittosporum from November to
March ; the spireas and flowering almond from March to June ;
and the camelia japonica from January to May, all in the open
air. Persons at all familiar with the cultivation of these flow-
ers in New York will observe that the blooming season here
is, on an average, fully double its length there. Xot only do
they bloom in the open air, but they retain their leaves through
most of the winter months, so that our gardens are never bare
and cheerless as they are in the Atlantic winters. I have seen
a rosebush bearing twenty full-blown roses in January, and
that in the open air, with no assistance from artificial lieat, and
no protection save that of clambering up a brick wall on the
southern side of an unoccupied house. Our roses are larger as
well as more abundant than in the Eastern states, but their
perfume is not so strong.

A marked feature of our ornamental gardening is our ability
1'/ cultivate in the open air many plants which can only be pre-
served in this latitude east of the Rocky Mountains under glass
and Avith the aid of artificial heat. These plants are too nu-
merous to be all specially named here ; but some of the more

210 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

important are the orange, camelia japoiiica, laurastiniis, myo-
porum, ericas, casuaiina, daphne, eucalyptus, luetrosideros, and
thirty varieties of acacia, twenty of them from Australia. It
might be almost said that we have no hot-houses in the state,
but only green-houses, for it is scarcely ever necessary to make
a fire, even to protect the most delicate of tropical plants.

Our climate is very favorable to the growth of evergreens,
especially to those strange and beautiful ones from Austraha,
with the graceful growth and the brilliant, feathery foliage.
Two of the most striking features of our ornamental horticul-
ture are the malva and mayo trees. The former, a native of
the southern part of this state, gTows to be about fifteen feet
high, continues green throughout the year, and is always cov-
ered with abundant foliage and a wreath of large crimson flow-
ers, resembling the flowers of the crimson hollyhock in size,
shape, and color. The mayo-tree is an evergreen, originally
from Chili, always brilliant with abundant yellow flowers.

Among the most common and beautiful creeping vines
grown in California is the Australian bean, which has a dense,
bright, evergreen foliage, and abundant flowers throughout the
year. It climbs strings, and is therefore well suited to shade
verandas and to grow in the front of porticoes.

The rose, the honeysuckle, the veronica, the oleander, the
laurastinus, the euonimus japonica, and the verbenas — espe-
cially the lemon verbena — may safely be said to make twice as
much wood in a year as they do on the Atlantic coast. The
geraniums in San Francisco are almost trees. Rose-sprouts
often grow twenty feet in a season, and other plants in propor-
tion. There is scarcely any tree or shrub cultivated in the At-
lantic states which does not thrive equally as w^ell here, except
the weeping willow.

California has thus far furnished very little for our gardens.
There are many singular jjlants in our mountains, but few
have found favor with our gardeners. The malva and the ce-
anothus are the chief ornamental shrubs, indigenous in Califor-
nia, adopted for cultivation.

AGRICULTURE. 211

TVe have not yet had thne to produce many ornamental
gardens ; but I think the tnne is not far distant when no place
in the world wiU, within so small a district, have so many fine
gardens as the valleys round San Francisco Bay.

§ 155. Pests of the Farmer. — Certain "pests" of the farmer
must be mentioned here, among which are the spermophile,
gopher, grasshopper, locust, graj^e-bug, orange-bug, army-
worm, Canada thistle, mullen, dock, fern, and so forth. Of
the spermophiles and their habit« I have spoken in the chapter
on the zoology of the state. The amount of mischief which
they do is very great. The most effective means of driving
them ofl" are poisons, chiefly strychnine and phosphorus. About
a drachm of strychnine is dissolved in a quart of whiskey, and
then the solution is poured over dry wheat in such quantity,
that the surface of the liquid is just on a level with the top of
the grain. In the course of twelve hours the wheat absorbs
all the liquor, and a few grains may then be thrown in front
of every squirrel-hole. When phosphorus is to be used, the
wheat is soaked in boiling water until it is soft, when the wa-
ter is drawn off, and the wheat in a pan is put in or over boil-
ing water to keep it near the boiling heat. A stick of phos-
phorus three inches long is put into the hot wheat, melts in ten
minutes, and the wheat is stirred about well, so that the melted
l)hosphorus will touch every grain. The wheat is then poured
upon some bran in which it is rolled so that every kernel may
be covered, and the grain is ready for its purposes of destruc-
tion. A couple of kernels will kill a scpiirrel; and if a cat eats
tlie squirrel, it will kill him ; and if a raven picks out the eyes
of the cat, he will die too : and such a progressive destruction
has been observed more than once in California.

The gopher is more readily caught with traps than the sper-
mophile. In the chapter on zoology I have described the
trench used for keeping gophers out of orchards and gardens,
and for catching them. Several traps are in common use, but
it is not easy to describe them ; so I will not attempt it.

The grasshoppers are the greatest pests of the farmer in

212 RESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

California, and I fear that we have not yet seen the worst of
them, though several times during the last fifteen years tliey
liave eaten every green thing within large districts. They
come in millions upon millions, and darken the air, moving for-
ward at the rate of a mile or two a day, and leaving no grass
or leaf behind them. Grains, grass, weeds, kitchen vegetables,
and fruit-trees, are alike eaten bare of every green particle.
Grasshoppers are abundant in countries where the summers are
dry, the winters warm, and the vegetation vigorous ; and if a
large extent of land be uncultivated, they w^ill occasionally be
so numerous as to destroy every green thing. They are bred
in the hills of California, and after dry winters descend into
the valleys, usually content to eat the wild grasses, but some-
times attack the cultivated fields. There is no known method
of killing them after they have entered a field, or of driving
them away from it ; but they may be kept out by digging a
trench, putting straw in it, with some moist straw on tojo, and
then setting fire to it. The grasshoppers do not like the fii'e
and smoke, and will try to avoid them.

Under the head of the grape and the orange, I have spoken
of the bugs which infest them. The army-worm has been seen
in California, but has done little damage as yet. The curculio
and w^eevil are not known in the state. The Canada thistle,
the muUen, and the dock, have been introduced, but have not
yet given much trouble.

§ 156. Neat Cattle. — California has 1,100,000 neat cattle,
900,000 sheep, and 150,000 horses, nearly all bred in the open
air and open plains, and fed only on wild grasses. The system
of breeding live-stock differs much in California from that
which prevails in the Atlantic states, where cattle are kept in
fields and stables all the time, and fed with cultivated food.
Here domestic animals grow more rapidly, and reach their full
development earlier, than east of the Sierra Nevada.

§ 157. Spanish Cattle. — Most of our neat cattle are of the
old Californian breed, brought hither by the Spanish mission-
aries from Mexico, about 1770. At what time their stock

AGRICULTUEE. 213

came originally to Mexico is not precisely known, but without
doubt it was in the seventeenth century, soon after the con-
quest by Cortes, and they must have been imported from
Spain. They are called " Spanish cattle." In Mexico, as sub-
sequently in California, they were allowed to run almost wild,
and they took something of the appearance of wild animals.
They have nearly the same range of colors as the neat cattle
of Europe ; but mouse, dun, and brindle colors — almost infal-
lible signs of " scrub" blood — are more frequent ; and the deep
red, fine cream-color, and delicate mottling of deep red and
white, found only in animals of high blood, are entirely want-
ing. Their legs are long and thin, their noses sharp, their
forms graceful, their heads high, their horns long, slender, and
Avide-spread ; and they have a duskiness about the eyes and
nostrils similar to that of the deer, between which animal and
a voung Spanish cow there i*'re many points of resemblance.
The general carriage of the Spanish cow is like that of a wild
animal : she is quick, uneasy, restless, frequently on the look-
out for danger, snuffing the air, moving with a high and elastic
trot, and excited at the sight of a man, particularly if afoot,
when she will often attack him. In some counties it is, for this
reason, imsafe to go about on foot. The native Californians
are always mounted, and to these the cattle are accustomed ;
but a man afoot is considered to be a dangerous animal, de-
serving of the same treatment with wolves and coyotes. The
Spanish cow is small, does not fatten readily, produces little
milk, and her meat is not so tender and juicy as that of Amer-
ican cattle.

The breeding of neat cattle was almost the only business of
the country previous to the American conquest, and they were
killed for their hides and tallow, which were the chief exports.
The meat went to enrich the land ; there was too much of it
to be eaten. The breeding of cattle, being the chief occupa-
tion of the CaHfornians, determined tlieir mode of life, the
structure of their society, and the size of theii- ranches. Xo-
body wanted to own less than a square league (foiu- thousand

214 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

four huiulrcd and thirty-eight acres) of hind; and the govern-
ment granted it away witliout charge, in tracts varying from
one to eleven leagues, to anybody wlio would undertake to
erect a house and put a hundred head of cattle on the place.
It was common for one man to own five thousand head of cat-
tle. The cows were kept for breeding, and the steers were
regularly killed as they reached the age of three or four years.
All had the freedom of the country, and ranged where they
pleased, except that several times a year every man collected
his own upon his ranch. There was about one bull to fifty
cows. No attempt was made to improve the breed, nor was
any profit to be obtained from an improvement. Most of the
calves were born about the beginning of the year, and in March
the first rodeo was held.

§ 158. Rodeos. — The word rodeo comes from the same root
with " rotate," and means a surrounding, a gathering of all
the cattle on a ranch, and the separation and removal of those
belonging to other ranches. There are general and special
rodeos. A rodeo may be for one ranch, or for several ; but
every ranchero owning a large ranch and many cattle has his
own rodeo. Every large ranchero must have at least one
rodeo in the spring, and another in the fall. The general rodeo
is held for the benefit of all the cattle-owners in the neighbor-
hood ; the special rodeo is held for the benefit of some partic-
ular person or persons who desire an opportunity to remove
their cattle from a ranch. Every owner of a rancho is required
by law to give a general rodeo every spring.

When a general rodeo is to be held, the ranchero sends no-
tice several days or weeks in advance to the cattle-owners in
the vicinity ; and in the cattle-districts the neighborhood ex-
tends forty or fifty miles, for cattle will stray that distance.
On the day appointed, the ranchero having selected some
place where the cattle are to be collected, sends out his mount-
ed vaqueros or herdsmen at daylight to drive the cattle to the
appointed place, where they are gathered at ten o'clock. By
that time, the interested rancheros with their vaqueros have

AGRICULTTJKE. 215

m.ide their appearance, and are on the grourid, all mounted,
and prepared for the day's work.

The ranchero who gives the rodeo is present to entertain his
visitors, and his men are instructed to keep the cattle together.
The herd may be very large. I have seen eight thousand head
of cattle in a rodeo, forming a solid body about a quarter of a
mile in diameter in every direction. The visiting rancheros
who have come from the greatest distance are permitted to
enter the mass first, select their cattle, and drive them out.
Each man has a position chosen at a distance of half a mile or
a mile, whither he drives his cattle ; and there are several men
there mounted, to prevent them from returning to the main
herd. When a ranchero sees one of his cows in the herd, he
calls to a friend, and the two chase her out. She does not
wish to go, and tries to hide herself among the other cattle.
The horses, accustomed to the rodeo, soon recognize the cow
that is to be parted out, and enjoy the work. They turn
with every turn of hers, and she is soon tired and compelled
to go out. If the cow be accompanied by a large unmarked
calf, the latter is often caught with the lasso, thrown down,
and then marked with the knife. ^Yhile these rancheros are
riding about among the herd and seeking their own, the cattle
are driven by a few vaqueros belonging to the ranch so as to
move about in a circular manner. As the cattle are thus
moving round in one direction, the rancheros of the immediate
neiirhborhood, whose time has not vet come for enterinsr the
centre of the rodeo, ride round in a direction contrary to the
course of the herd, and thus are enabled to see them to more
advantasre than if thev were standhio; still. After the ranche-
ros from a distance have parted out all their cattle, those of the
vicinity ride in, and the whole day is thus spent in racing and
chasing after cattle.

The man who gives the rodeo does not attempt to examine
the cattle which are taken away. He takes it for granted that
every one will drive off only his own animals. Sometimes sev-
eral days are necessary to complete the general rodeo of a

216 KESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

rancli, and the work is continued from day to day until fin-
ished. All the rodeos of a neighborhood are usually lield in a
regular and close connection. The rancheros from a distance,
therefore, stay until they have attended all the rodeos in a
district to which they suppose that any of their cattle have
strayed ; and they are usually the guests of the man upon
whose ranch the rodeo is given.

When a cow is driven out, her calf follows. Every ran-
chero knows his cattle by the brand, which law find custom re-
quire him to use. Of course, when a man has four or five thou-
sand head of cattle, he cannot recognize them all by sight; he
can only distinguish them by marks. He knows his cows by
their brands, and his calves by their following the cows.

The spring rodeos are the busiest seasons of the rancheros,
and are for them the chief occasions of general meeting, exci-
ting adventure, conversation, and festivity, in the course of the
year. Frequently three or four hundred men will meet at these
places, mounted on their best horses, and ready for fun. All
the work of the rodeo is exciting. Lively scenes are enacting
at every moment, and in every direction. Calves will try to
get away from the herd, and escape to the hills. Cows which
have been driven out will endeavor to get back. These must
be chased by the horsemen. Frequently the lasso must be
used. Many of the vaqueros are fond of showing their skill
before so many spectators, and astonishing feats of horseman-
ship are performed.

When a ranchero returns from a rodeo, with his cattle which
had strayed away, he drives them into his corral, and brands and
marks his calves ; so that if they should return to their former
range, he will know them the next year. If those that have been
on other ranches are too numerous to he branded and marked
in one day, some of his vaqueros stay with them on horseback,
and herd them until all can be marked. When a cow has be-
come accustomed to a ranch, she likes to return to it. After all
the calves are marked, the owner does not care much whither
they go, provided that they do not stray beyond the Hmits of

AGRICULTURE. 217

the ranches, the rodeos of which he attends. It is only in
times of extraordinary scarcity of grass, that the rancheros are
particular to drive the cattle of other owners off their lands.

The rodeo season being over — that is, when the ranchero
has all his cattle on his own ranch, and his alone — he com-
mences the work of branding. His vaqueros drive about two
hundred cows with their calves into the corral every morning,
and two or three good vaqueros will brand these calves in a
day. The vaqueros enter the corral with their horses, which
they need when the calves are large and strong, for many of
them are three and four months old. If the calf be small, the
vaquero may be afoot to lasso him. One vaquero throws a reata
over the calf's head, and another catches him by the leg ; they
throw him down, and one holds him, while the other gets a
hot branding-iron and burns the owner's mark upon its hip.
Thus the work goes on from day to day, and from week to
week, until eveiy calf on the ranch is marked.

§ 159. Brands. — The law requires that every horse and cow
shall be branded, with a brand belonging to their owner. The
brand is made of iron, sometimes representing one or two let-
ters, sometimes other arbitrary signs, such as a cross, a circle,
a triangle, or any other design. The brand may be six inches
long by four wide, and the thickness of the iron is about a
third of an inch. There is an iron handle, with a wooden
cross-piece at the end, so that the brand can be handled when
hot, and held down firmly upon the prostrate calf, until the
figure is indelibly burned into the skin. A copy of every brand
must be burned upon leather, and deposited in the county re-
corder's ofiice. Every minor and servant on a ranch must use
the bi-and of the owner of the ranch. The brand must be
burned, under penalty, upon all horses and neat cattle, before
the age of eighteen months. The brand is burned upon the
hip, and indicates ownership; when the animal is sold, the
brand is burned upon the shoulder, and indicates sale. The
purchaser then puts his brand upon the hip ; and thus the skin
of a Californian horse or cow contains the history of its owner-
10

218 RESOURCES OF CALIFOKXIA.

ship. Many of the brands are well known to the rancheros
over a hirge portion of the state ; and by looking at the ani-
mal, they will tell where it was born, and who liave OAvned it
at dili'erent times. The hips and shoulders on both sides are
often covered with brands. Sometimes the brands grow with
the animals ; in other cases they remain nearly of their original
size. A brand well burned into the skin is perceptible as long
as the animal lives, though it grows less and less dij>tlnct witn
the advance of years.

Tn the fall there is another season of rodeos, to brand such
calves as may have escaped notice at the spring rodeos, or may
have been too small to be branded.

The rancheros sometimes have a mark in addition to their
brand, such as slitting the ear or cutting a notch in the dew-
lap. A drawing of the mark must be deposited in the county
recorder's office. It is contrary to law to cut off the end of
the ear, or to cut it on both sides so as to bring it to a point ;
for those modes of marking would give opportunities to cut
away the marks of other people. The bull-calves are usually
altered at the rodeos, as well as branded and marked. The
cattle on many ranches are touched only twice in their lives
by the hand of man — first, when they are branded ; and next,
when they are slaughtered.

§ 160. Early Maturity of CaUfornian Cows. — The cows
calve almost invariably before they are two years old, frequent-
ly before they are eighteen months, and sometimes before four-
teen months. They generally arrive at maternity a year sooner
than in the Atlantic states. It is said that sucklins; heifers
have been seen to take the bull. The Spanish rancheros have
eight or ten bulls to a hundred cow^s ; the Americans usually
four or five. The calves suckle from six to ten months ; that
is, from January or February, when they are born, until No-
vember, when the pasturage is very scanty. The Spanish cows
have small udders, and yield little milk ; and notwithstanding
their great number in the country, butter, milk, and cheese
were very rarely seen on the table previous to the coming of

I

AGRICULTUPwE. 219

the Americans. American cows are the only ones nsed for the
dairy, but many of them are now kept also for breeding alone,
and, like the Spanish cows, they are never milked.

§ 161. Corral and Reata. — The corral is an important part
of all cattle-ranchos, and on many of them it is the only enclo-
sure. It is a pen, from thirty to fifty yards square, surrounded
by a high, strong fence. It is used whenever horses or cattle
are to be branded.

The reata^ used for lassoing, is a rawhide rope, about five-
eighths of an inch in diameter and thirty yards long. It is
made of four strips of cowhide, from which the hair has been
scraped ; and after plaiting, it is greased and dragged along
on the ground after a saddle, to render it pliable. Rawhide
is better than any other material, because it has just the proper
weight and stiffness for the purpose. A running noose, which
slips very easily, is arranged at one end. When the reata is
to be used, the noose is made from four to six feet long ; one
side of the noose and the reata just outside are taken in the
right hand, so that while in the hand the noose will not slip ;
the remainder of the reata is held coiled up in the left hand,
ready to be let go. The vaquero swings the noose round his
head, in such a way as to keep it open ; and when he has a
good swing, he lets go, and away it will fly, its whole length.
If it catches the object aimed at, the noose draws tight. It is
not an uncommon thing for a vaquero to catch a cow at a dis-
tance of thirty feet, while she and his horse are both running
rapidly; but usually he will get within fifteen or twenty feet,
if he can, before throwing his reata. A good vaquero, stand-
ing in front of another man, can push the latter back, and the
moment his foot leaves the ground, throw a reata under it,
and thus lasso him by the leg. When cattle or horses are to
be branded, they must be thrown down ; and this is generally
accomplished by catching the head with one reata, and a hind-
leg with another.

§ 162. Occasional Starvation. — Nineteen out of twenty of
the cattle of California never get any food, save such as grows

220 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

indigenously in the open country, and they always suffer for
it. From IMarch to July the pasture is abundant and ex-
cellent, and the cattle are fat ; from July to October, in ordi-
nary years, the grasses and clovers, though dry and brown, are
nutritious, and the cattle still remain in good condition ; but
from October to January they grow lean rapidly, and almost
every year a considerable number of them die by starvation.
Either the grass may be all consumed, or it may be deprived
of its nutriment. The first case happens when the grass is
very scanty, because of a small fall of rain during the winter ;
the second occurs when a heavy rain, lasting a day or two,
comes before New Year's day, and is followed by cold dry
weather. The rain takes away the palatable and nutritious
qualities of the old grass, and the cold and dry weather pre-
vents the starting of the new grass, and between the two the
cattle suffer. In 1856, seventy thousand head of cattle died in
Los Angeles county alone by starvation, one-third of the entire
uumber in the county. The state has not one large cattle-ranch
surrounded by fence, and therefore, if a man owns good pas-
ture land, the cattle of other people come and eat the grass,
and later in the season his own must suffer. It is impossible
for the vaqueros to drive away the strange cattle, because they
enter the ranch on every side eveiy day, and if the grass be
much better than on adjoining ranches, they will, if driven
away one day, return the next. The proper and profitable
method of managing an extensive cattle-ranch, is to have it all
fenced in and divided off into a few large fields, in which the
cattle could be pastured at different seasons. It would also be
a source of profit to have hay for them or green alfalfa in the
early winter, so that there would be no danger of a reduction
to skin and bone : for it costs thrice as much to replace as to
preserve a pound of flesh. Spanish cattle, when slaughtered
between September and February, are usually very thin, and
in the Atlantic States it would be grossly impolitic to send
such animals to the market.

§ 163. Imported Cattle. — The great majority of the cattle

AGEIOITLTURE. 221

in the state are of pure Spanish blood, but there is a consider-
able number of American cows and half-bloods, which are
constantly increasing in number, while the Spanish cattle are
decreasing. Most of the American cattle are in the Sacra-
mento basin and the coast valleys north of Monterey, while
along the southern coast they are very few in number.

During the last four or five years about seventy-five pure-
blood Durhams, twenty-five Devons, and four Ayrshire bulls and
cows, have been imported across the Isthmus of Panama. The
freight on the steamer and railroad, from Xew York to San
Francisco, for a bull or cow, is two hundred and seventy-five
dollars. The food is carried free of charge, but the owner must
find a person to feed and take care of the animal during the
voyage. Some of these imported animals are of the best English
stock. The better the blood the larger the beeves grow, and
the more readily and rapidly they fatten. The Spanish cattle are
too uneasy ; they run about so much that they lose flesh. The
half breed American cattle are more quiet, the full-blood Ameri-
can still more quiet, and the Durham the best of all. But as our
beef cattle get no food save such as they pick up in the open
country, I doubt whether it will pay to import these pure-blood
Durhams to improve the breed. The excellence of the Durham
is caused by care in breeding, protection against the weather, and
an abundance of good food ; and the excellence cannot be main-
tained without a continuance of the same system of manage-
ment. The Durham will, in a few generations, cease to be a
Durham, if he gets no food save such as he can pick np in the
valleys and hills ; but if carefully fed, he will, of course, do as
well here as elsewhere. It is said that the Durham needs suc-
culent food ; if so, the blood will soon degenerate on the dry
grasses of California. The Devon stock, which has been praised
by the importers of it as peculiarly fitted to thrive on our in-
digenous grasses, has not found much favor. Our dairy cows
are the only ones which are well taken care of; and therefore
the Ayrshire blood is really more needed, and likely to be
better preserved, than either the Durham or Devon. Roots

222 EESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

are seldom cultivated for cattle ; hay, barley, and wheat-bran,
are used for feeding them when kept in the yard. Beeves are
never stall-fed in California.

§ 164. Dairies. — The chief dairy districts of the state are
the valleys in the vicinity of the bay of San Francisco. The
business is very profitable, but requires a considerable capital.

The climate near the coast is very favorable for making
butter and cheese.

In 1860, according to the assessors' reports, Santa Clara
county produced 220,000 lbs. of butter and 300,000 lbs. of
cheese; Marhi, 226,000 lbs. of butter and 170,000 lbs. of
cheese; Sonoma, 220,000 lbs. of butter and 103,000 lbs. of
cheese; Sacramento, 148,000 lbs. of butter and 122,000 lbs. of
cheese ; Yuba, 92,000 lbs. of butter and 5,745 lbs. of cheese ;
and Alameda, 79,000 lbs. of butter and 103,000 lbs. of cheese.

§ 165. Sjxmish Horses. — California has about one hundred
and fifty thousand horses, of which about one-third are Ameri-
can ; one-third wild Sj^anish ; and one-third tame Spanish.
The Spanish horses are of the old stock imported, sent early in
the sixteenth century from Spain to Mexico, and thence brought
to California about eighty years ago. Like the neat cattle, the
Spanish horses run wild, and partake, to some extent, of the
wild nature. They show their base blood by their colors —
mouse color, dull duns of various shades, and calico color, or
mixtures of white vvdth red or black, in numerous large spots
or blotches, are common ; w^hile chestnut, bright sorrel, blood-
bay, and dappled gray, are very rare among them. They are
quick, tough, healthy, and unsurpassable for the uses of the
rider and the vaquero; but small, lacking in weight, strength,
and beauty, and unfitted for the heavy, steady work of the
plough, cart, or wagon. They are w^anting in the docility,
kindly disposition and steadiness of the well-bred horse ; and
they have little of that kind of sense w^iich leads an American
horse to be quiet and gentle, even in circumstances strange to
him. For California, as it was in 1845, there were no better
horses than the Spanish-Mexican. They have a wonderful tough-

A a r. I c u L T u K E . 223

nest;, and some of their exploits in ths way of travelling are un-
surpassed in the annals of the turf. A number of instances are
on record where Californian horses have carried a rider one
hundred miles in a day, and that with no food save grass.
Sixty miles a day is not an uncommon ride, nor is it considered
a severe one Fremont, on one occasion, rode four hundred
miles in four days, riding different horses, but driving them
-before him from the beginning to the end of the journey.

More than half of the brood-mares of the state are wild
Spanish ; that is, they live entirely in the open plain, are un-
broken, and manv of them have never been touched save when
they were to be branded. They are in bands called manadas^
numbering from thirty to sixty mares, which are under the
guidance of one stallion or garaiion. He knows every one of
his baud, keeps them together, conducts them to what he
considers the best pastures, and drives away geldings, stallions,
mules, and whatever animals he may dislike. When a vaquero
tries to drive the manada into a corral for the purpose of catch-
ing some of the band, the garanon will frequently divide them
and scatter them about, and render it impossible for the vaquero
to get them together ; for while he drives in one place, the
stallion is equally busy at another, and the mares fear his teeth
and heels as much as the swineing^ reata of the horseman. The
garaiion is usually from five to nine years of age. He guards
his manada with the most jealous care. It sometimes hap-
pens that one garanon tries to take away a mare from tlie
band of another, and then a fight ensues, in which the weaker
has to suffer a severe bitins: and kicking^, and then lose the ob-
ject of the battle too. The manada keeps together for year
after year, but when it gets too large, the vaquero will divide
it and give a portion to the charge of another garaiion. All the
mares foal before they are three years old, whereas in the
Atlantic States they seldom foal until a year later. They also
breed more regularly than elsewhere, for when mares are kept
in stables, they frequently pass seasons without breeding.
The foals are branded at the age of three or four months, and

224 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

are weaned at the asre of ei^rht or ten months. The fillies con-
tinue to run with the manada, and become part of it. The
colts are altered when branded, and continue to run with the
manada until they are three or four years of age, when they
are broken and put into the caballada^ or herd of broken horses.
The Mexicans never broke their mares, and considered it dis-
creditable and a mark of great poverty to ride one.

§ 166. Horse-breaking. — The ]SIexican system of breaking
horses is peculiar. They are broken only to the saddle ; for
horses were never used before wagons by the Spanish-Califor-
nians. The horse having run free all his life, is too wild to be
caught Avithout a lasso, or to be approached at first while he is
on his feet. He is therefore caught by the neck with one reata,
by a hind-foot with another, and then thrown down by pulling
the reatas in different directions. A vaquero goes to the horse
as he lies down and puts a jdquiraa^ or a kind of halter, on his
head. The jaquima is provided with a piece of leather, which
can be pulled over the eyes so as to blind the horse, but it is
first lifted to let him see. The reatas are taken from the
neck and leg of the prostrate horse, and a long rope having
been fastened to the jaquima, he is allowed to rise. This is
the first time he has been haltered and he dislikes the restraint,
but he exerts himself in vain to get loose. After he has tired
himself in vain efforts, the vaquero goes up for the purpose of
pulling down the blind. The horse is terrified at so near an
approach of a man, and trembles with excitement. If he pulls
back hard the vaquero sees there is little danger, and slowly
advancing and putting his hand to the blind pulls it down over
the horse's eyes. But if the horse stand up, it is probable that
he w^ill rear up when the vaquero comes near, or strike at him
with a fore-foot. Such animals are very dangerous, and are
usually allowed to tire themselves by standing without food,
or else they are drawn up to a fence or tree, behind which the
vaquero can protect himself. So soon as the bhnd is down,
the horse is perfectly quiet. He can be rubbed, and saddled,
and mounted without a motion. The first thins: after blind-

AGRICULTUEE. 225

ing is to put a saddle on him. It is fastened well, the blind is
raised, and the full length of the rope given to him. He does
not understand the saddle. It may be a carnivorous beast for
all he knows. He is terrified at it. He jumps, and snorts, and
kicks, rears and pitches, throws himself down, worries himself
out, and falls into an agony of despair. After an hour or so
of such work, the vaquero advances again, puts down the
blind, and the horse stands trembling with fear and exhaus-
tion. He is now to be ridden. The rope is fastened under the
chin, so that it can be used for a bridle-rein ; the horse's ears
are pushed down under the upper part of the jaquima, so that
he shall be deaf as well as blind; the saddle-girth is tightened,
and the rider mounts. Over the saddle he has a second girth,
which is loose enough to allow him to get the point of his knee,
bent at right angles, under it. This girth ties him upon the horse.
The more he presses the knee outward, the tighter the girth
holds him ; whereas by turning his knees inward and straight-
ening his legs, he can be free in an instant. Having put his
knees under the girth (he does not care for the stirrups and
cannot use them) he reaches forward, takes the ears out from
under the jaquima, and raises the blind. The horse, as soon as
he sees the man on his back, is stricken with a new terror. He
immediately commences to jump stitf-legged. He springs up
into the air and comes down on his fore-feet with his legs stiff.
This is the way in which horses try to shake off panthers, and
they resort to the same method with men. The shock would
be severe»if the man were not tied down to the saddle, but he
moves with the horse and is not hurt with the shock. Some-
times a horse will jump thus for hour after hour, and the rider
is very well satisfied, for there is no danger in the jumping, and
it is very tiresome to the animal. Some horses, after jumping
for a few minutes, will commence to run. To this the rider
makes no opposition, but practises the horse with the reins to
accustom him to guidance. The most dangerous horses are
those which rear up and fall backward. In such case the
vaquero must be ready to throw off the girth from his knees,
10*

226 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

and aliglit upon his feet as tlie horse falls. After riding for a
couple of hours, the vaquero reaches forward, pushes the blind
down over the horse's eyes and dismounts. To dismount with-
out first putting down the blind would be very dangerous, for
the horse would |)robably kick him. He takes oif the saddle,
hoists the blind, ties him to a fence or a tree with his head up,
and gives him neither food nor water. The next morning he
is very stiflf and hungry. The vaquero does not feed him, but
pulls down the blind, puts on the saddle, mounts him again,
and the scenes of the previous day are re-enacted, though the
jumping is less furious. After a couple of hours of exercise,
the horse is tied where he can get water and grass. Every day
he is ridden. In five or six days he quits jumj^ing. In three
months the blind is laid aside. In four months a bit is put in
his mouth. This is strange to him, and he jumps stiflF-legged.
If the first bit used is American, he will jump again when the
liarsher Spanish bit is used. When any thing is wrong he jumps
stifi*-legged. During the first month or two his nose will be
very sore where the jaquima or halter crosses it, caused by the
pulling of the halter in holding and guiding the animal. At the
end of a couple of months he learns to follow the guidance of
the jaquima almost as readily as afterward the bit. After he
has been ridden daily for six months, he has become tame and
quiet, and he commences to fatten up again ; for during the
first three or four weeks he worries himself so much, with his
vain plungings, that he loses flesh rapidly. The Californian
horse, when once broken, is kindly in disposition. JHe rarely
bites or kicks, no matter how roughly he may be used.

After having been broken to the saddle, he must be taught
the uses of the reata. The vaquero always carries his reata
with him, and the horse soon learns to see it swinging about
the rider's head. The reata is first thrown at small calves and
then at larger ones, and the horse gradually learns that he can
best hold a lassoed animal by presenting his head toward it,
and bracing himself back with his fore-feet. The reata is fast-
ened to the horn of a saddle, strong enough to hold a bull.

AGllICULTUEE. 227

Tlie horse learns to watch the reata ; if it catches, he slackens
his pace, or stops suddenly ; if it does not catch, he continues
at full speed, while the vaquero pulls up the reata and prepares
to throw it again. Tlie saddle and bridle are both peculiar,
and necessary to the trade of the vaquero. The saddle-tree, or
fuste^ is made of four pieces of wood, two of which are longi-
tudinal and rest on the sides of the horse : one forms a hio-h
back ; aud the fourth is a fork, which rises in a laro^e strongr
horn. The pieces are strongly fastened together, and the
whole framework is covered with wet rawhide, which shrinks
when dry, and contributes much to its strength. A good fuste
is stout enough to hold the strongest bull. The girth is four
inches wide, and is made of a number of little ropes of horse-
hair, connecting two iron rings four inches in diameter. One
of these rings is fastened on the right side of the saddle, by
straps running over the front and back of the fuste ; and a
similar rino- is fastened in like manner on the left side of the
fuste. In this latter ring is a rawhide strap three feet long.
When the saddle is to be fastened, this stra^^ runs through the
ring at the loose end of the girth, then through the upper ring,
then down to the girth ring again ; and the vaquero pulls, and
usually draws so tightly that the wide girth cuts into the
horse's belly and evidently displaces its contents. When a
vaquero is preparing for a day of lassoing, there is no danger
that the saddle will slip. The girth has no buckle ab'^ut it,
and is made wide to give it strength and to prevent it from
hurting the horse. It is placed farther back than in American
saddles, and rarely cuts the skin, just behind the fore-legs.
Sometimes in lassoing, the animal caught will get oif sideways
from the horse, and the saddle must be so firmly in its place,
that it cannot move ; and sometimes the vaquero will drop his
reata after having caught his cow or horse, and then while his
horse is going at full speed he must reach down, supporting
himself with one hand on the horn of the saddle and with the
other seize the reata. For such feats, the girth must not be
loose. The stirrups are of vrood, about three inches wide, and

228 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

are covered in front with pieces of thick leather, called tapa^
deras, which prevent the feet from slip])ing through. The
fuste is usually covered by large flaps of leather called mochilas^
and along the stirrup-straps are pieces of leather called suda-
dcras, to protect the legs of the rider from the sweat of the
horse's side. Cruppers and martingales are never used by the
Spanish-Californians. The bridle is so made that a hard pull
on the rein hurts the horse, and a severe jerk will throw him
back on his haunches. The bit has an arm projecting about
two inches up in the mouth. On ordinary occasions this arm
lies flat on the tongue, but when the rein is pulled it rises and
presses against the roof of the mouth. The slightest pull,
therefore, on a Spanish bridle is felt by the horse, and he will
stop instantaneously, though at full speed, if the reins be jerked
severely. It may be cruel to the horse, but it is very conve-
nient to the rider, and necessary to the vaquero.

The common gait of the Californian horse under the saddle
is the gallop. He never paces or racks, and rarely tries a
sharp trot, but rests himself with a walk or a slow trot. His
gallop has an easy motion which does not tire the rider in fifty
miles. He has an excellent speed for a race of a quarter a mile,
but he cannot run two-mile heats with the thoroughbred, though
for a gallop of a hundred miles he has probably no superior.

Many of the Californian horses have of late years been bro-
ken to the wagon and the plough, and they do very well for
farm work, though not equal to American horses.

§ 167. JBlood-horses. — The American horses, that is the com-
mon stock of horses brought from the Atlantic States within
the last twelve years, and their oftspring, are large, fine animals,
not so healthy and tough as the Californian horses, but lai-ger,
more active, stronger and more handsome in shape and color.

A large number of stallions and mares of fine blood have
been imported, including about fifty thoroughbreds or English
racers, two dozen Morgans or American trottei's, and a dozen
Clydesdale and Flemish, or heavy cart and truck horses. Some
of these horses are valued as hicrh as ten thousand dollars

AGRICULTUEE. 229

apiece. The Clydesdale and Flemish are considered the most
valuable for crossing with the Californian mares, the offspring
being large, strong farm-horses, worth twice as much in the
market as the pure Californian. The thoroughbred horses in
California are of the purest blood, and some of them have few
superiors in speed in any country.

§ 168. 3Iides. — Xearly all the farm work of California,
where drauijht animals are necessary, is done with horses.
Mules are too dear and oxen are too slow. A great number
of mules and horses are used in packing merchandise in those
districts where there are no good wagon-roads. For the or-
dinary uses of the farm the mule is preferable to the horse,
being longer-lived, more healthy, not so much injured physi-
cally or morally by ill-treatment, and contented with much
cheaper and simpler food. But the mule is not considered
handsome, and the small farmer wants a horse which he can
ride, and with which he can take his family out, so he never
gets a mule. Mules are now used on very few farms, but I
think they will oTadually srain in favor. Few mules are bred
in the state at present, but there are some excellent jacks in
Contra Costa county and in the San Joaquin valley.

§ 169. Camels. — Some camels have been introduced into
CaHfornia, but they are as yet few in number, and have been
here but a short time. Our experience with them is therefore
small, and we do not know what value they are to have in the
future. They are healthy, increase, thrive on our wild pas-
tures, are strong^ and active, olimb our rusfojed mountains as
well as horses or mules, carry loads of one thousand pounds
each, go three or four days at a time without water, and are
readily manas-ed ; but thev have not been tried in a resrular
business way, and such trial is necessary before we can tell
what they are to be.

§ 170. Sheep. — The climate of California is peculiarly favor-
able to the growth, increase, and health of the sheep. Our
mild winters permit them to grow throughout the year ; and
it is an accepted principle mong those familiar with the sub-

230 EESOUiiCES OF CALIFOIINIA.

ject, tliat a slieep, born and bred in California, is, at two years
of age, usually as large and heavy as one of three years, born
and bred in tlie Atlantic States. The ewes produce twins and
triplets more frequently here than east of the Rocky Moun-
tains. The health of the herds is better. No fatal disease has
ever prevailed to any serious extent. The " scab" exists in
many herds, but in a mild i'orm, and few have died of it. It is
the general opinion of sheep-breeders that the sheep bred in
California will produce more wool than those of other states.
The heaviest unwashed fleece on record, is that of " Grizzly,"
a French Merino buck. It was fourteen months old, Aveighed
forty-two pounds, and was sheared by Flhit, Bixby & Co., in
Monterey county, in 1859.

Sheej) in California are never kept imder shelter, and except
a few of line blood, seldom get any food save such as they
can pick up on the open hills and plains. Sometimes lambs
are lost with cold, but this is very rare when they are well
managed. At night the herds are driven into corrals or pens,
to protect them against the coyotes, and to keep them from
being lost. On the large sheep ranches, one herdsman is em-
ployed for a thousand sheep. There are a few shepherd-dogs
in the state, some brought from Australia, others from Scot-
land. The word " corral" is understood by these dogs, and
when they hear it, they immediately drive the herd to the
corral. At the sight of a wolf, they hastily collect the sheep
into a dense body, with their tails out and the lambs in the
centre. If a sheep turns his head out, the dog bites his knees
and makes him turn about. The dog seems to understand
that the wolf cannot do much harm by biting the rump of a
sheep, but w^ould soon kill it after catching its throat.

In most other sheep countries, the sheep-breeder is at great
disadvantages as compared with California ; the land is dear ;
it must be cultivated ; the sheep must be fed by hand every
day during a considerable part of the year ; the herds must be
under shelter in the winter ; four or five men are required, on
an average, to attend to a thousand sheej) ; the herds are not

AGRICULTUEE. 231

SO healthy, do not increase so rapidly, do not grow so large
within the first two years, and do not produce so much wool.
The land of the sheep ranches in California is not worth more
than five dollars per acre, on an average probably not more
than three dollars. It follows that sheep-breeding should be
very profitable here, and so it is. The ewes, when properly
taken cai-e of, have lambs before they are a year old — increase
one hundred per cent, every year. The cost of keeping large
herds is variously estimated from thirty-seven to fifty cents
per head annually, exclusive of the interest of the land used
for pasturage. The wool of a good sheep will pay twice the
cost of keeping it ; and the wool and lamb together, of a fine-
blood ewe, are worth eight or ten times the cost. It is the
present custom to sell the wethers for mutton when a year old,
but this is bad policy, save with the poorest sheep.

The old missions had large herds of sheep, but after the
manasrement of those larg^e establishments was taken from
the priests and given to civil ofticers, in 1833, the sheep were
neglected and most of them were killed. Twenty years
later very few were left in the state, but there was a demand
for mutton, so lar<]:e herds were driven from New Mexico.
These were a very poor stock, but they were for a long time
the only sheep that could be had, and they now form the great
majority of the sheep in the state. The first attempt to breed
sheep as an exclusive business in California, since the Ameri-
can conquest, was commenced in 1853, by a poor man who
had nothing save nine hundred ewes ; and they increased so
rapidly and proved so pi'ofitable, that now, if rei)ort be true,
he has ten thousand sheep, sixteen thousand acres of land, and
other property to the value of one hundred thousand dollars.
Within the last three years many sheep of fine Vjlood have bean
imported, and these will gradually swallow up the Mexican
stock. The imported kinds are American, Southdown, Aus-
tralian Merino, French Merino, and Spanish Merino. Of the
two latter varieties there are few save bucks. The prices of
sheep fluctuate, but the relative prices of the different breeds

232 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

remain a1)oiit the same. Thus when a Mexican ewe is worth
about three dollars, an American is Avorth five dollars, a half-
Merino six dollars, a Southdown six dollars, and an Australian
Merino twelve dollars. The Mexican sheep produces on an
average two pounds of wool per year, worth from five to
seven cents per pound ; the American four pounds, worth from
fifteen to twenty cents ; the half-Merino six pounds, worth
from eighteen to twenty-four cents; the Southdown five pounds,
worth twenty or twenty-one cents ; the Australian Merino
'seven pounds, worth twenty or twenty-one cents. These
weights indicate the weights of the unwashed fleeces, and the
prices paid in this market for unwashed wool. The Californian
wool, especially that grown in the southern part of the state,
is filled with grease, dust, and sand. In one case, a fleece
vreighing sixteen pounds was reduced by washing to six
pounds. The finer the wool, and the farther south it is grown,
the greater the proportion of dirt. The wool grown in the
northern part of the Sacramento valley, is cleaner than that
of Alameda county, and that of the latter place is superior to
the wool of San Luis Obispo. There are a few Chinese sheep in
the state, and much value was for a time attached to them,
because the ewes very frequently produce triplets, but it re-
quires a good ewe to suckle two lambs well, and twins are
sufliciently abundant among American sheep. Sheep-growers
are divided in opinion as to w^h ether the French or Spanish
Merino be the best sheep for the state. The French Merino
grows large, and averages more wool to the sheep than any
other kind, but it is said that the Spanish Merino, though
smaller, will produce more wool to the acre. About a thou-
sand sheep are kept in a herd. One sheep-owner in Monterey
county has 30,000 head ; and others have 15,000 and 20,000
head each. The largest sheep county is Monterey, which has
about 150,000 ; Solano has nearly as many, and after these
come Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Luis Obispo.
There are about 900,000 sheep in the state, and their number
is rapidly increasing. One of the drawbacks of wool-growing

AGRICULTURE. 233

in California is, that in the summer the wool gets full of the
little burs of the bur-clover, which gives much trouble in wash-
inof and cardinG:. Bv sheerius: earlv this trouble is to some
extent avoided. Of course the sheep grow lean in the late
fall, as do the horses and neat cattle, and some of them die of
starvation. The same remarks may apply to high-blood sheep
as to other high-blood animals — they must degenerate if they
get no cultivated food ; but the stock may be kept up by cross-
ing with high-fed bucks of pure blood.

§ l7l. Sicine. — Swine are not favorite animals in Califor-
nia. They increase rapidly and are healthy, and their meat
commands a high price, but they do not thrive upon the dry
pastures ; they are not permitted to run at large in many coun-
ties ; the mast is scanty in the agricultural counties, and grain
suitable for feed is dear. It is probable that in a few years
great numbers of swine will be bred in the tules, the roots of
which they like to eat ; but the tule-lands at present are in
wide undivided tracts, and the swine which have access to
them soon get lost. The present number of swine in the state
is about six hundred thousand.

§ 172. Poultry. — Poultry command very high prices in this
state, but all attempts to breed them on a large scale, have
proved unprofitable. Hens are worth from fifty to seventy-
five cents each, and esrsrs from twentv-five to fiftv cents per
dozen. Chickens are healthv and increase rapidlv in small
poultry-yards or farms ; but when more than five hundred are
collected a fatal epidemic appears, and they die ofi". The dis-
ease seems to be a kind of apoplexy, for it attacks the fattest
chickens, and they die suddenly. One large hennery, on the
French plan, has been established about eight miles from Oak-
land, and it contains one thousand five hundred hens, with
accommodations for five thousand. The poultry-yard covers
four acres of ground, and one acre of it is separated from the
remainder. The hens lay in the lower story of a frame house,
which is open on one side. The nests are in a long trough, a
foot square, open on top, and separated into nests by partitions.

234 rESOX'P. CES OF califoexia.

Each nest has soiiil; hay in it and a mock egg of i^orcelam.
Several times in the course of a day, the eggs are taken out
and placed in a covered box near at hand. Four or five hens
may use the same nest in the course of a day, and if the eggs
were left in the nest the warmth might start the development
of the chick, and injure the egg for either hatching or eating.
It is considered bad policy to let a hen sit on eggs while lay-
ing, even if she is to hatch them herself, for some will be far-
ther advanced in incubation than others, and then the propor-
tion of loss will be great. Over the laying department is the
roosting place, which is eighteen feet high, and has the perches
so fixed that the droppings of one hen do not fiill on another
A stairway leads up from the ground to the roosting chamber
In the lower story of another house is the hatching depart-
ment, with nests for six hundred hens. The nests are about a
foot square, with a door in front, opening on a level with the
floor. They are numbered and divided into sections, each of
Avhicli has one door, and has hens which commenced sitting at
the same date. The hens are fed by sections ; ten, twenty or
thirty being let out at a time, and called to eat. When first
called they do not understand it, and after they have eaten,
they have difficulty in finding their places ; but in three or four
days they come out immediately as soon as the door is opened,
and when the signal for closing is given, they go to their places
without the least confu-ion. About a dozen eggs, usually not
more than four, and never more than ten days old, are given to
each sitting hen, and of this dozen, nine or ten are hatched on
an average. Every nest has snuff in the bottom of it to keep out
the lice. When the hen has hatched out her brood, she and
they are transferred to the "young-chick room," over the
hatching room, where every hen is put in a pen. During the
first twenty-four hours the little chicks get nothing to eat ;
then they are fed twice on fine bread, after that on boiled rice
and corn-meal. They are fed four times a day. When five
days old, the chicks, with their motlier, are placed in the
Bmaller enclosure of the poultry yard, which has several

AGPvICULTUEE. 235

Streams of clear water running througli it, bushes and mustard-
plants for shade, and boxes into which the hens can retire for
protection against the cold and rain. When the young brood
enters the yard, the older occupants, or some of them, make war
on it, and one chick in a dozen is slain in these hostilities. After
the hen has proved by fighting her right to be there, peace is
restored, and she and her little ones are ready to make war on
any subsequent intruders. After the chickens are three months
old, they are turned into the large yard, where tbey have to
struggle for their food and lives, with all the old hens and
cocks on the place. In the large yard the chickens are fed
twice a day, and four ounces to each chicken per day. The
food is wheat, rice, oats, barley, raw meat, cabbage-leaves,
sorrel, chalk, oyster-shells, and green mustard. Regularity in
the time of feeding is considered a matter of much import-
ance. There should be one cock to a dozen hens. The hens
commence laying when about eight months old and lay most
in their second year. They will continue laying till their fifth
or sixth year, but thev are usuallv killed about the end of the
fourth vear. Hens that eat esfcrs and that crow are killed.
Hens which want to sit when their services are not needed in
tliat way, are shut up in the callaboose, kept there one or two
days, with no food save green vegetables, ducked several times
in cold water and then let out cured. In eio;ht or ten da^s
they are ready to commence laying again. A hen will lay
fifteen or eisfhteen e<r2:s before wantino; to sit.

One man near Oakland, devotes himself entirelv to the busi-
ness of breeding rabbits, and according to rumor, finds it very
profitable.

Goats, pigeons, and pheasants are bred in California, but on
only a small scale.

§ 173. JBees.—^T\\QVQ, were no bees in California until within
the last seven years, and it was supposed they could not live
here, because of the drvness of the vegetation durinfr the last
half of the year ; but for these insects, as for larger animals,
it was found on trial, that our climate is peculiarly favorable,

236 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

and that they thrive better here than east of the mountains.
A good hive here will make two hundred pounds of honey, or
may be made to produce twenty swarms in a season, an in-
crease ten times as great, and a production of honey five times
as large as that in the Eastern States. Mr. H. Hamilton, a
bee-keeper of Stockton, reports that he had thirty-five swarms
of bees on the first of February, 1860 ; and by the first of
October, they had increased to five hundred hives, and pro-
duced twenty thousand and seventy-five pounds of honey ; a
production said to be without parallel. Bees are not idle during
six months of the year, as in New York, but busy during nine
or ten months. They find their food in wild and cultivated
flowers, in the blossoms of manzanita bushes, fruit-trees, grasses,
clovers, and grains, in grapes, fruits, and honey-dew. They
seem to thrive in the driest portions of the state, where there
are no cultivated fields and no flowers or green herbage. They
are very fond of apricots, which they eat in places where the
skin has been previously cut through by bugs. When the
latter have made a hole, the bees come and eat side by side
with the bugs, which are of the "lady-bug" kind, and other
similar species. Many of the bees lose their lives in conse-
quence of their fondness for the apricot. Either they eat too
much, or they eat the meat after it has passed into the alco-
holic fermentation ; but whether intoxicated or surfeited, they
are unable to get home, and they perish during the night. In
places where the honey-dew is abundant, especially in the
mountains on the eastern border of the Tulare valley, the
bees make honey very rapidly. When the food for bees was
becoming scarce in the midsummer of 1860, in the Santa Clara
valley, a man owning seventy hives sent them to the vicinity
of Visalia, so thnt thev could o-et honev-dew. Indeed it is the
custom of several bee-keepers in California, to move their bees
about from place to place, according to the pasturfe and the
season. Hitherto little honey has been sold in the market, the
chief object of bee-keepers being to produce swarms, which
for a time were worth one hundred dollars each. This busi-

AGRICULTURE. 237

ness yielded so large a profit that a dozen men devoted them-
selves to it exclusively, and some of them, who commenced
five years ago with only three or four hives, now have com-
fortable fortunes. The hives have increased so rapidly, how-
ever, that they have fallen greatly in value, and are now worth
from ten to thirty dollars each ; and honey, which is worth one
dollar per pound, will come into the market. The honey made
in the mountains is very similar in qualitv to that of the East-

» J. V

ern states ; that made in the valleys is not so good. Many
Bwarms have gone off and found homes for themselves in the
woods, so it is not rare to find "bee-trees." Most of the bees
in the Sacramento basin during 1861, were destroyed by the
flood of 1862.

§ 174. Sllkiconns. — A few silkworms have been hatched m
California, and have been found to thrive extremely well, but
the high price of labor has prevented any extensive experi-
ment in the production of silk. Oar climate is very favorable
to them in three respects, equability of temperature, exemption
from electrical convulsions, and dryness in summer. The silk-
worms should be kept at a temperature of about 75° Fahren-
heit, and this is very near the summer temperature of some of
the valleys near the coast. Extreme heat and extreme cold
are both very prejudicial to them. A considerable pi'oportion of
them will die if the thermometer falls to 45° or rises to 100° ;
thunderstorms kill a large portion of the worms every year
in France, Italy, and China ; in California such storms are un-
known. In all the countries where silk is now produced ex-
tensively, there are showers which wet the mulberry leaves,
and this moisture gives a diarrhoea to the worms whereby
many are killed. These are important advantages, and may
enable us to compete soon with Europe and China in the pro-
duction of silk.

Note. — I owe acknowledgments for information about grain to J. TV. Os-
bom, of Napa ; about fruit to A. A. Cohen, of Alameda ; about the grape to
Charles Kohler ; about the orange to John Frohling ; and about the quantity
of wheat from different districts to Isaac Friedlander, of San Francisco.

238 IIESOXJIICES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER yill.

MINING.

§ 175. Chief Industry. — Mining is the chief industry of
Cahfornia. It employs more men and pays larger average
wages, than any other branch of physical labor. Although it
has been gradually decreasing in the amount of its production,
in the profits to the individuals engaged in it, and in its rela-
tive importance in the business of the state, it is yet and will
lono; continue to be the laro;est source of our wealth, and the
basis to support the other kinds of occupation.

§ 176. Metals obtained. — Our mines now wrought are of
gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, and coal. Ores of tin, lead,
and antimony in large veins, beds of sulphur, alum, and as-
phaltum ; lakes of borax and springs of sulphate of magnesia,
are also found in the state, but they are not wrought at the
present time, though they will probably all become valuable
in a few years. Platinum, iridium, and osmium are obtained
with the gold in some of the placer mines, but are never found
alone, nor are they ever the main object sought by the miner.
The annual yield of our gold mines is about forty millions of
dollars, of our quicksilver two millions of dollars. Our silver,
copper, and coal mines have been opened within a year, and
their value is yet unknown. All our other mining is of little
importance as compared with the gold.

§ 177. Gold Mines. — Our gold mines are divided into pla-
cer and quartz. In the former, the metal is found imbedded in
layers of earthy matter, such as clay, sand, and gravel ; in the
latter it is incased in veins of i-ock. The methods of mining
must be adapted to the size of the particles of gold, and the

ifixiXG. 239

nature of tlie matorial in which 'they are found. In placer
mining, the earthy matter containing the gold, called the " pay-
dirt," is washed in water, which dissolves the clay and carries
it off in solution, and the current sweeps away the sand, gravel,
and stones, while the gold, by reason of the higher specific
gravity, remains in the channel or is caught with quicksilver.
In quartz raining the auriferous rock is ground to a very fine
powder, the gold in which is caught in quicksilver, or on the
rough surface of a blanket, over which the fine material is
borne by a stream of water. About two-tliirds of our gold is
obtained from the placers, and one-third from the quartz.

A mine is defined and generally understood to mean " a
subterraneous work or excavation for obtaining metals, metallic
ores or mineral substances ;" but this definition does not apply
to our placer mines, which are places where gold is taken from
diluvial or alluvial deposits. ]Most of the work is not subter-
raneous ; it is done in the full light of day. In some of the
claims the pay-dirt lies within two feet of the surface ; in
others it lies much deeper, but all the superincumbent matter
is swept away.

Water is the great agent of the placer miner; it is the ele-
ment of his power ; its amount is the measure of his work,
and its cost is the measure of his profit. With an abundance
of water he can w^ash every thing ; without water he can do
little or nothing. Placer mining is almost entirely mechanical,
and of such a kind that no accuracy of workmanship or scien-
tific or literarv education is necessary to mastery in it. Amal-
gamation is a chemical process it is true, but it is so simple
that after a few days' experience, the rudest laborer will man-
aije it as well as the most thorouGi;h chemist.

It is impossible to ascertain the amount of gold which
has been taken from the mines of Cahfornia. Records have
been kept of the suras manifested at the San Francisco Custom
House, for exportation, and deposited for coinage in the mints
of the United States ; and there is also some knowledge of
the amoimts sent in bars and dust to England ; but we have

240 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

no account of the sums carried by passengers to foreign conn-
tries and coined elsewhere than at London, or used as jewehy,
or of the amount now in circulation in this state. According
to the books of the custom-house of San Francisco, the sums
manifested for export w^ere as follow^s :

In 1849, $4,921,250; in 1850, $27,676,846; in 1851, $42,-
682,695; in 1852, $46,586,134 ; in 1853, $57,331,034 ; in 1854,
$51,328,653; in 1855, $45,182,631 ; in 1856, $48,887,543 ; in
1857, $48,976,697 ; in 1858, $47,548,025 ; in 1859, $47,640,462 ;
in 1 860, $42,303,345 ; in 1 861, $40,639,089 ; a total of $551,603,-

904 in twelve years.

The exportation of gold commenced in 1848, but we have
no record of the sums sent away in that year. Previous to
1854 very large sums were carried aw^ay by passengers, who
gave no statement at the custom-house ; since that year, the
manifests show the exportation correctly within a few millions.
I am entirely satisfied that the total gold yield of California
has been not less than seven hundred milUons of dollars ; but
I have not room here to state the reasons for this opinion. My
estimate is considerably less than that of most business men
of the state, and less than that made by Hunt's Merchants'
Magazi7ie. There was undoubtedly a regular increase in the
annual yield of the mines from 1848 to the end of 1853 ; and
there has been a gradual decrease since the beginning of 1854
—a decrease perhaps not very regular but still certain. Since
1854 considerable sums exported from San Francisco and in-
cluded in our tables, came from mines beyond the limits of
Cahfornia, such as the mines in Southern Oregon, in the east-
ern part of Washington Territory, in British Columbia, and
in Nevada Territory ; and wliile the Californian gold yield has
been decreasing, these extraneous supphes have been increns-
ing. Several millions must be deducted from the annual
shipments since 1858, for foreign gold. The gold yield will
undoubtedly continue to fall, but to what point and at what
rate no one can know. I believe that in 1870, the yield will
not exceed thirty millions of dollars.

MIXING. 241

§ 178. Placer Mines. — Placer mines are divided into many
classifications. The first and most important is into deep and
shallow. In the former the pay-dirt is found deep, twenty
feet or more beneath the surface ; in the latter, near the sur-
face. The shallow or surfiice diggings are chiefly found in the
beds of ravines and gullies, in the bars of rivers, and in shal-
low flats ; the deep diggings are in hills and deep flats. The
pay-dirt is usually covered by layers of barren dirt, which is
sometimes washed, and sometimes left undisturbed, while the
pay-dirt is taken out from beneath it through tunnels or shafts.
So far as our present information goes, we have reason to be-
lieve that no gold country ever possessed so large an extent
of paying placer mines, with the pay-dirt so near the surface,
and with so manv fiicilities for workino- them as California.
In Australia the diggings are very deep and spotted, that is,
the gold is unevenly distributed, and the supply of water for
mining is scanty. In Siberia the winter is terribly cold during
six months of the year. In Brazil the diggings were not so
extensive nor so rich as in this state. Here we have numerous
large streams coming down through the mining districts, very
large bodies of pay-dirt, and a mild climate.

After dividing placers into deep and shallow, the next clas-
sification will be according to their topographical position, as
into hill, flat, bench, bar, river-bed, ancient river-bed, and
gulch mines. Hill diggings are those where the pay-dirt is
in or under a hill. Flat disfcrino^s are in a flat. Bench dig;-
gings are in a " bench" or narrow table on the side of a hill
above a river. Benches of this kind are not uncommon in
California, and they often indicate the place where the stream
ran in some very remote age. Bars are low collections of
sand and gravel at the side of a river and above its surface at
low water. River-bed claims are those beneath the surface of
the river at low water, and access is obtained to them only by
removing the water from the bed by flumes or ditches. An-
cient river-bed claims are those of which the gold was deposited
by streams in places where no streams now exist. Gulch claims
11

242 R E S O U 11 C E S OF C A L I F O K N I A .

are those in gullies which have no water, save during a small
part of the year. A '' claim" is the mining land owned or
held by one mnn or a company.

The placer mines are again classified according to the man-
ner in which, or the instruments with which they are wrought.
There are sluice claims, hydraulic claims, tunnel claims, dry
washing, dry digging, and knife claims. In 1849 and 1850,
the main classification of the placers was into wet diggings
and dry diggings, the former meaning mines in the bars and
beds of rivers, and dry diggings were those in gullies and flats
where water could be obtained only part of the year or not at
all. That classification was made while nearly all the mining
was done near the surface, before the great deposits of pay-
dirt in the hills had been discovered, and before ditches, sluices,
and the hydraulic process had been introduced. The class of
mines then known as the " dry diggings," and which for
several years furnished nearly half of the gold yield of the
state, are now, wdth a few unimportant exceptions, exhausted,
or left to the attention of the Chinamen.

The purpose of all placer miners is not to catch all the gold
in the dirt which they wash, but to catch the greatest possible
quantity within a given time. It is not supposed that any
process used in gold mining catches all the metal. Part of it is
lost ; in some processes a considerable proportion. The general
estimate in California is, that one-twentieth of the gold in the
dirt which is washed is lost. Many of the particles are so
very small as to be invisible to the naked eye, and so light
that their specific gravity does not avail to prevent them fi-om
being carried away by the water like sand. The larger pieces
will sink to the bottom and resist the force of the water; the
smaller the particles, the greater the danger that it wdll be
borne away. Many devi(;es have been tried to catch all the
gold, but none have succeeded perfectly, and some which have
caught a portion of what escaped from the ordinary modes of
mining, have been found to cost more than their yield. The
miner does not grieve about that which he cannot catch. He

MINING. 243

is not careful to catch ail that he coiihh His purpose is to
draw the largest possible revenue per day from his claim. He
does not intend to spend many years in mining, or if he does
he has become thriftless and improvident. In either case, he
wishes to derive the utmost immediate profit from his mine.
If his claim contain a dollar to the ton, and he can save five
dollars by slowly washing only six tons in a day, while he
might make ten dollars by rapidly washing fifteen tons in a
day, he will prefer the latter result, though he will lose twice
as much of the precious metal by the fast as by the slow mode
of working. The object of the miner is the practical dispatch
of work, and his success will depend to a great extent upon
the amount of dirt which he can wash within a given space of
time. He regrets that any of the gold should be wasted, but
his regret is because it escapes from his sluice and his pocket,
rather than because it is lost to industry and commerce.

S 179. Tiie Sluice. — The board-sluice is a Ions; wooden
trough, through which a constant stream of water runs, and
into which the auriferous dirt is thrown. The water carries
away the clay, sand, gravel, and stones, and leaves the gold in
the bottom of the sluice, where it is caught by its gravity and
by quicksilver. The board-sluice is the great washing ma-
chine, and the most important instrument used in the placer
mining of California. It washes nearly all the dirt and catches
nearly all the placer gold of the country. It was invented
here, although it had previously been used elsewhere ; it lias
been more extensively employed here than in any other country,
and it can be used here to more advantage than elsewhere. It
is not less than fifty feet long, nor less than a foot wide, made
of boards. The width is usually sixteen or eighteen inches ;
and never exceeds five feet. The leno-th is ordinarily several
hundred and sometimes several thousand feet. It is made
in sections or "boxes" twelve or fourteen feet long. The
boards are an inch and a half thick, and are sawn for that
special purpose, the bottom boards being four inches wider at
one end than the other. The narrow end of one box therefore

244 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

fits in the wide end of another, and in that way the sluice is
put together, a long succession of boxes, the lower end of
each resting in the upper end of another, and not fastened
together otherwise. These boxes stand upon trestles, with a
descent varying from eight to eighteen inches in twelve feet.
It is therefore an. easy matter to put up or take down a sluice
after the boxes are made, and it is not uncommon for the
miners to haul their boxes from one claim to another. The
descent of a sluice is usually the same throughout its length,
and is called its " grade." If there be a fall of eight inches
in twelve feet, the sluice has an " eight-inch grade," and if the
fall be twice as great, it is a " sixteen-inch grade." The grade
depends upon the character of the pay-dirt, the length of the
sluice, and its position. The steeper the descent, the more
rapidly the dirt is dissolved, but the greater the danger also
that the fine particles of gold will be carried away by the
water. The tougher the dirt, that is, the greater its resistance
to the dissolving power of the water, the steeper, other things
being equal, should be the sluice. A slow current does not
dissolve tough clay, and that is the greater part of the pay-
dirt, so rapidly as a swift one. The shorter the sluice, other
things being equal, the smaller the grade should be. There is
more danger that the fine particles of gold will be lost by a
short sluice than by a longer one, and to diminish this danger,
the rapidity of the current must be reduced by a small grade.
The greater the amount of dirt to be washed, other things
being equal, the steeper should be the grade ; for a swift cur-
rent will wash more dirt than a slow one. In many claims
the pay-dirt is full of large stones and boulders, weighing from
one hundred to five hundred pounds each, all of which must be
carried away through the sluice. Some are sent down whole,
and others are broken into pieces with sledge-hammers before
they are thrown into the box. These require a swift current
and a large body of water. The larger the supply of water,
the steeper the sluice is made, other things being equal. Of
course economy and convenience of working require that the

MIXING. 245

sluice should be near the level of the ground, and as that may
be steep or level below the claim, the grade of the sluice must
to some extent conform to it. There are thus a multitude of
points to be taken into consideration in fixing the grade of a
sluice ; but a fall of less than eight or more than twenty inches,
in a box of twelve feet, would be considered as unsuitable for
the board-sluice. Sometimes the upper part of the sluice is
made steeper so as to dissolve the dirt, and the lower part has
a small grade to catch the gold. The clayey matter of ordi-
nary pay-dirt is fully dissolved in a sluice two hundred feet
lono- with a low g-rade, so the use of the boxes bevond that
length is merely to catch the gold. There are claims however
in which the clay is so extremely tough that it will roll in
large balls more than a quarter of a mile through a steep sluice
with a large head of water, and come out at the lower end
scarcely diminished in size.

The gold is caught in the sluice-boxes by false bottoms of
various kinds. It would not do to leave the smooth boards,
for the water would sweep all the gold away, and the boards
themselves would soon be worn throu2"h. The most common
false bottom is the longitudinal riffle-bar, which is from two to
four inches thick, from three to seven inches wide, and six feet
long. Two sets of these riffle-bars go into each sluice-box, the
box being twice as long as the bar. A set of riffle-bars is as
many as fill one-half of a box. They are wedged in, from an inch
to two mches apart ; the wedging being used, because the bars
can more readily be fastened in their places, and more easily
taken up, than if nails were used. Before the work of sluicing
commences, all the boxes are fitted with riffle-bars, and the
bottom of the sluice is therefore full of holes from one to two
inches wide, from three to seven inches deep, and six feet long.
These are the places in which the gold, quicksilver, and amal-
gam are caught. Quicksilver is used now in nearly all the sluices,
and is the more necessary the smaller the particles of gold.
The large pieces of the metal would all be caught by their
specific gravity without the aid of amalgamation.

246 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The sluice-boxes having been made, and set up with the
proper ji^rade, the water is turned in. The boxes are made of
the rough boards as they come from the saw, and the joints are
not waterproof, but the leaks are soon stopped by the swelling
of the wood, or by the dirt. The stream of water in the sluice
is at least two inches deep over the bottom. The height of
the sides of the boxes is from eight inches to two feet. The
sluice usuallv runs tlirou2:h the claim, and the auriferous dirt
is thrown in with shovels, of which from four to twenty are
constantly at work. A man will throw in from two to five
cubic yards of dirt in one day. The water rushing over the
dirt as it lies in the box, rapidly dissolves the clay and loam,
and then sweeps the sand, gravel, and stones down. The first
dirt in the box goes to fill the spaces between the riffle-bars.
After the sluicing has been in progress a couple of hours, some
quicksilver is put in at the head of the sluice, and it gradually
finds its way downward, most of it stopping, however, near
where it is put in.

§ 180. Amalgamation. — There are a few metals, including
gold, silver, copper, and tin, which, with quicksilver, form a
peculiar chemical union called amalgamation, a process of great
importance to the gold miner. When a piece of gold or silver
is placed in mercury, the latter metal gradually penetrates
through it, destroys the coherence of its particles, and forms
with it a mass like dough. A lump of gold as large as a bean
will be soaked through in three or four days ; with silver and
copper the process is slower, but they are affected in the same
manner. Amalgamation, though a union of a solid with a
liquid, differs much from a solution. In the latter the union is
mechanical ; in the former it its chemical. In the latter the
solid is reduced to particles of impalpable fineness ; in the
former it is not. An ounce of salt will be dissolved in, and
nearly equally diffused through, a pint of water ; but if an ounce
of gold be thrown into a pint of quicksilver, it will, after forming
an amalgam with the quicksilver, remain at the bottom. We
have no texture so fine that it will strain salt out of water ; but

MINIXG. 247

the particles of gold are so coarse in amalgam that they can
easily be strained out by means of buckskin or tight cloths.
However a little gold will remain in the quicksilver — about
the fiftieth part of an ounce of gold in every pound of quick-
silver ; and the only method of obtaining this gold is by re-
torting.

Quicksilver is used in gold mining for catching the small
particles of metal ; the large ones are caught by their weight.
But many of the particles are so small that they are almost in-
visible to the naked eye, and when in moving water they
float. Miners fi-equently show visitors the fineness of their gold
by putting some of the dust in a vial with water ; and upon
shaking, the particles of metal can be seen floating about in
the clear water. RijEfles, and all the devices to get the benefit
of specific gravity, are of little use to arrest this " float-gold,"
so amalgamation is employed. If a bit of quicksilver is put in
the way of the fine gold, the two metals unite at once and
make a larger bulk, which can be caught.

There is no such attraction between gold and quicksilver as
there is between the magnet and iron ; but when the two for-
mer metals once touch, an amalgam is immediately formed, and
if the proportions of the metals be about even, they in time
make a hard mass. Some gold does not amalgamate readily;
in various dio^Qrino-s of Siskiyou county, the s^old has a red-
dish coating, which prevents amalgamation. Grease or resin
in the water used for washing, is also unfavorable. So is cold.
Heat is favorable, and therefore less gold is lost in summer
than in winter. Quicksilver that has been once used is consid-
ered better than that fresh from the flask.

No tinned iron or copper vessel should be used for holding
or jianning out amalgam, or dirt containing amalgam ; since
quicksilver forms an amalgam with tin and copper, and will
stick to the sides of a tinned or copper pan.

In most sluices, the quicksilver is put in above the riffle-
bars at various places along in the boxes, with a confidence
that the great specific gravity of the metal will prevent it from

248 BESOUECES OF CALIFORiNIA.

being lost. The greater the quantity and proportion of fine
gold, the greater the importance of the quicksilver. '

The best method of catching very fine gold by amalgama-
tion is to cover a large copper plate with mercury, and let the
dirt and water, in a thickness of not more than a quarter of an
inch, pass over it slowly. There are various methods of cover-
ing copper plates with quicksilver. The first thing, in every
case, is to wash the copper with diluted nitric acid, so as to
remove all dirt and grease. The quicksilver may then be
rubbed on with a rag ; or, still better, it may be dissolved in
nitric acid, and the liquid nitrate of quicksilver may be applied
with a rag. The nitric acid will attack the copper, and leave the
quicksilver as an amalgam on the surface of the copper. This
is the most common process, but the nitrate of copper con-
tinues for a long time to come up through the quicksilver and
interfere with the catching of the gold. When the nitrate of
copper appears — it is a green slime — it should be scraped oflT
and the place rubbed over with quicksilver. When a plate is
once covered with mercury, the operation need never be re-
peated ; but more mercury must be sprinkled on as the gold
collects and forms a solid amalgam. The plate is usually three
feet wide and six feet long, and is set nearly level. In very
large sluices the stream should be divided so as to run over
different plates. The slowness of the current and the shallow-
ness of the water are important, for with a swift current or
deep water many of the particles of float-gold may escape
without touching the quicksilver. Wherever a speck of gold
has fixed itself on the plate, there others will collect about it,
evidently preferring to fix themselves in a neighborhood rather
than in a waste place. The more gold there is on a plate, the
better it is considered to be. The seasons for cleaning up are
usually determined by the danger of theft. Miners do not like
to leave their gold out in quantities so large as to attract
thieves. The amalgam is sometimes half an inch thick, and
is usually, at cleaning-up time, a hard mass, which must be
loosened by heat. The plate is put on a fire, and when it gets

MIXING. 249

80 warm that the hand can scarcely bear it, the amalgam is
softened and loosened, so that it can be scraped off readily.
The plate is then sprinkled anew with quicksilver, and is ready
for use again. Mercmy does not amalgamate with copper so
readily as with gold or silver. A copper plate, the sixteenth
of an inch thick, may be used for at least five years, and per-
haps for ten ; whereas a gold plate of equal thickness would,
if exposed to the action of quicksilver in the same manner, fall
to pieces in a few weeks. After a time the quicksilver per-
vades the copper, and gives it a silvery whiteness all through
on the under side. It is said that a solution of cyanuret or
prussiate of potash, is used instead of nitric acid m applying
mercury to copper plates, and that it is still better, there being
then no trouble with the green spots of nitrate of copper.

A good amalgamated copper plate is considered as service-
able as a bed of quicksilver of equal size, and it is very much
cheaper and more convenient to manage.

The dirt and water should be admitted to the copper plate,
by falling first through a sheet-iron plate, pierced with holes
half an inch long^ and a sixteenth of an inch wide. Some
miners place this sheet-iron plate immediately over the copper.

Very soon after the water and dirt commence to run in the
sluice, all the sj^aces between the riffle-bars are filled with
sand, gravel, and dirt ; which, however, present many little
inequalities of surface, sufiicient to catch all the particles of
gold larger than a pin-head. The largest gold is caught near
the head of the sluice; and the farther down the sluice, the
finer the gold. In some sluices, where the pay-du't contains
much coarse gold, the quicksilver is introduced from thirty to
sixty yards below the head, so as to catch only the fine par-
ticles of metal.

§ 181. Cleaning iij). — The separation of the gold, amalgam,
and quicksilver, from the dirt in the bottom of the sluice, is
called " cleaning up ;" and the period between one " clean-
ing" up and another is called a "run." A run in a common
board-sluice usually lasts from six to ten days. Ordinarily the
11*

250 RESOURCES OF CALIFORN^IA.

slnice runs only during daylight, but in some claims the work
continues night and day. Cleaning up occupies from half a
day to a day, and therefore must not be repeated too often,
because it consumes too much time. In some sluices the clean-
ing up does not occur until the riffle-bars have been worn out
or much bruised by the wear of the stones and gravel. Clean-
ing up is considered light and pleasant work as compared with
other sluicing, and is often reserved for Smiday. At the time
fixed, the throwing in of dirt ceases, and the water runs until
it becomes clear. Five or six sets of riffle-bars, a distance of
thirty or thirty-five feet, are taken up at the head of the sluice,
and the dirt between the bars is washed down, while the gold,
and amalgam lodge above the first remaining set of riffle-bars,
whence it is taken out with a scoop or large spoon, and put
into a pan. Five or six more sets of bars are taken up, and
so on down. Sometimes all the riffle-bars are taken up at
once, save one set in every thirty-six feet, and then the work
of cleaning up is dispatched much more rapidly.

The quicksilver and amalgam taken from the sluice are put
into a buckskin or cloth, and pressed, so that the liquid metal
passes through, and the amalgam is retained. The amalgam
is then heated, to drive off the mercury. This may be done
either in an open pan or in a close retort. In the former, the
quicksilver is lost ; in the latter, it is saved. The pan is gen-
erally preferred. Often a shovel or plate of iron is used.
Three pounds of amalgam, from which the liquid metal has
been carefully pressed out, will yield one pound of gold. The
gold remaining after the quicksilver has been driven off by
heat from the amalgam, is a porous mass, somewhat resem-
bling sponge-cake in appearance.

§ 182. Riffle- Bars. — The riffle-bars are usually sawn longi-
tudinally with the grain of the wood, but "block riffle-bars"
are considered preferable ; the latter are cut across the tree,
and the grain stands upright in the sluice-box. The block
riffle-bars are three times moi'e durable than the longitudinal ;
and as the latter kind are worn out in a week in some large

MINING. 251

sluices, there is a considerable savin o; in nsinsf the former.
The block riffle-bars are onlv two or three feet lonsf.

In some small sluices the riffle-bars are not placed in the
boxes longitudinally, nor in sets; but one bar near the head
runs downward at an angle of forty-five degrees to the course
of the box, not touching its lower end to the side of the box,
but leaving an open space of an inch there. Just below this
open space another bar starts from the side of the box and
runs downward at right angles to the course of the first bar,
and an open space is again left at the end of this bar ; and so
on down to near the lower end of the sluice, where there are
longitudinal riffle-bars in sets as described in the preceding
paragraphs. The consequence of using this kind of riffle-bar
is, that though much of the water and light dirt runs straight
over the bars, the heavier material runs down from side to side
in a zi2fza«" course. Near the head of the sluice is a vessel,
from which quicksilver falls by drops into the box ; and it fol-
lows the course of riffle-bars, overtaking the gold which takes
the same route. These zis^zag: riffle- bars are nailed down. In
all sluices, men must keep watch to see that the boxes do not
choke ; that is, that the dirt and stones do not collect in one
place, so as to make a dam, and cause the water to run over
the sides, and thus waste the gold.

There are small sluices, from which all stones as large as a
doubled fist are thrown out. For this purpose the miner uses
a sluice-fork, which is like a large manure-fork or garden-fork,
but has tines which are blunt and of equal width all the way
down ; the bluntness being intended to prevent the tines from
catching in the wood, and the equality of width to prevent the
stones from grettino; fast in the fork.

In some sluices, the "block riffle-bars" — that is, bars cut
across the grain of the tree — are set transversely in the boxes,
and about two inches apart.

Another device is, to fill the pores of such riffle-bars with
quicksilver. This is done by drivnng an iron cylinder with
a sharp edge into the surface of the bar, then putting mercury

252 EESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

into tlie cylinder, and pressing it into tlie wood. The quick-
silver, thus fastened in the wood, catches particles of gold,
which must be scraped off when the time for "cleaning up"
comes.

§ 183. Double Sluices. — Sluices are sometimes made double
— that is, with a longitudinal division through the middle, so
that there are two distinct sluice-boxes side by side. Two
companies may be working side by side, so that it will be
cheaper for them to build their sluices jointly. In some places
the amount of w^ater varies greatly ; so that in the winter there
is enough to run two sluices, and in the summer only one. And
there are companies which wish to continue washing without
interruption; so they wash first on one side and then on the
other, and clean up without any interruption to the process of
washing.

Another device for saving gold in sluices is the " under-cur-
rent box." There is a grating of iron bars in the bottom of a
box, near the lower end of a sluice ; and under this grating is
another sluice, wdth an additional supply of clean w^ater, and
with a lower grade. The grating allows only the fine mate-
rial to fall through ; and the current of water being moderate,
many particles of gold, that w^ould otherwise be lost, are saved.
Sometimes the matter from the under-current box is led back
to the main sluice.

§ 184. Rock- Sluices. — Large sluices are frequently paved
with stone, w^hich makes a more durable false bottom than
wood, and catches fine gold better than riffle-bars. The stone
bottoms have another advantage — that it is not so easy for
thieves to come and clean up at night, as is ^ften done in riffle-
bar sluices. But, on the other hand, cleaning up is more diffi-
cult and tedious in a rock-sluice, and so is the putting down of
ihe false bottom after cleaning up. The stones used are cob-
bles, six or eight inches through at the greatest diameter, and
usually flattish. A good workman will pave eight hundred
square feet of sluice-box with them in a day ; and after the wa-
ter and dirt have run over them for an hour, they are fastened

MINIXG. 253

verv tiir^itlv by the sand collected between tbem. In laro-e
sluices, wooden riffle-bars are worn away very rapidly — the
expense amounting sometimes, in very large and long sluices,
to twenty or thirty dollars a day ; and in this point there is an
important saving by using the stone bottoms. They are used
only in large sluices, and they generally have a grade of twelve
or fourteen inches to the box of twelve feet.

§ 185. Hydraulic Mining. — After the board-sluice, with its
various adjuncts of riffle-bars, stone bottoms, copper plates,
and so forth, the next instrument of importance in the gold-
miuinsr of California is the hydraulic hose, used to let water
down from a considerable height, and throw it under the press-
ure of its owTi weight against the pay-dirt, which is thus torn
down, broken up, dissolved, and carried into the sluice below.
The sluice is a necessary part of hydraulic mining. The hose
is used, not to wash the dirt, but to save digging with shovels,
and to carry it to the sluice.

The hydraulic process is applied only in claims where the
dirt is deep and where the water is abundant. If the dirt
were shallow in the claim and its vicinity, the necessary head
of water could not be obtained. Hydraulic claims are usually
in hills. The water is led along on the hill at a height varying
from fifty to two hundred feet above the bed-rock, to the claim
at the end or side of the hill, where the water, playing against
the dirt, soon cuts a large hole, with perpendicular or at least
steep banks. At the top of the bank is a httle reservoir, con-
taining perhaps not more than a hundred gallons, into which
the water runs constantly, and from which the hose extends
down to the bottom of the claim. The hose is of heavy duck,
sometimes double, sewn by machine. This hose when full is
from four to ten inches in diameter, and wiU bear a perpendic-
ular column of water fifty feet high ; but a greater height will
burst it. Now, as the force of the stream increases with the
height of the water, it is a matter of great importance to have
the hose as strong as possible ; and for this purpose, in some
claims, it is surrounded by iron bauds, which are about two

254 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

inches wide, and are connected by four ropes which run per-
pendicularly down. The rings are about three inches apart.
The " crinohne hose," thus made, is very flexible, and will sup-
port a column of water one hundred, and fifty or two hundred
feet high. The pipe at the end of the hose is like the pipe of
a fire-engine hose, though usually larger. Sometimes the pipe
will be eiofht inches in diameter where it connects with the
hose, and not more than two inches at the mouth ; and the
force with which the stream rushes fi'om it is so great, that it
w41l kill a man instantaneously, and tear down a hill more rap-
idly than could a hundred men with shovels.

One or two men are required to hold the pipe. They usu-
ally turn the stream upon the bank near its bottom until a
large mass of dirt tumbles down, and then they wash this all
away into the sluice ; when they commence at the bottom of
the bank again, and so on. If the bank is one hundred and
fifty feet high, the mass of earth that tumbles down is of
course immense, and the pipemen must stand far off, for fear
that they Avill be caught in the avalanche Such accidents are
of daily occurrence, and the deaths from this cause probably
are not less than threescore every year in the state. Often
legs are broken ; still more frequently the pipemen have warn-
ing, and escape in time. When men are buried in the falling
dirt, the water is used to wash them out. In some claims, the
pipe will tear down more dirt than the sluice can wash ; in
other claims, the sluice always demands more dirt than the
pipe can bring dowm. In the latter case, blasting may be used
to loosen the dirt, or the miners may undermine the bank,
leaving a few columns of dirt for support ; and then these be-
ing washed away by the pipe, the whole bank comes tumbhng
down.

In hydraulic claims, all the dirt is washed ; in all other
kinds of claims, such dirt as contains no gold is thrown to one"
side, or "stripped off." — "Hydraulic mining" is the highest
branch of placer mining ; it washes more dirt, and requires
more water, and a larger sluice, than any other kind of mining.

MIXING. 255

The number of men employed in a hydraulic claim, however,
is usually small, from three to six, the water doing nearly all
the work. In some claims a man is constantly employed with
a heavy sledge-hammer in breaking up large stones, so that
the pieces may be sent down the sluice. One man attends to
the sluice, and sees that the dirt does not choke up in the
sluice, or in the claim above it.

The quantity of dirt that can be washed with a hydraulic
pipe depends upon various circumstances — such as the sup-
ply of water, the height of its fall, the toughness of the dirt,
and the amount of moisture in it. More can be washed in win-
ter than in summer, because the dirt is then moister, and re-
quires less water to loosen and dissolve it. The quantity of
water used in a hydraulic claim is from forty to two hundred
inches. With one hundred inches, at least thirty cubic yards
can be washed in ten hours, on an average ; and three men
can do all the work. If there were a cent's worth of gold in
each cubic foot, the thirty cubic yards would yield eight dol-
lars and ten cents per day, or two dollars and seventy cents to
the man, exclusive of the cost of water. But, as a matter of
fact, nearly all the hydraulic claims pay more than that, and
they will averaofe at least three cents to the cubic foot, and
many of them yield five cents. The water usually costs twen-
ty cents an inch per day, so that one hundred inches would
cost twenty dollars. Allowing for the water at that rate, a
claim in which thirty cubic yards could be waslied in a day
with one hundred inches of water, and in which the dirt con-
tained five cents to the cubic foot, would leave a net pay of six
dollars and sixty-six cents to each man per day.

One hydraulic company, of whose labors I have a note,
washed two hundred and twentv-four thousand cubic feet of
dirt in six days, using two hundred inches of water, and em-
ploying ten men. The wages of the men amounted, at four
dollars per day each, to two hundred and forty dollars ; the
water cost three hundred dollars ; and the waste of quicksilver,
and wear of sluice, perhaps one hundred dollars more, making

256 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

a total expenditure of six hundred and forty dollars : and the
gold obtained was three thousand dollars, leaving a clear profit
of twenty-three hundred and fifty dollars. The dirt contained
one cent and a fifth of gold in a cubic foot. The greater the
fimount of water used, the greater the proportionate amount
of dirt that can be washed, and the greater the proportionate
profits. It is far more profitable to have a large sluice than a
little one, if the water and dirt can be obtained in abundance.

Usuallv, in a hvdraulic claim, the dirt is washed down to
the bed-rock ; but in some places the washing stops far above
the bed-rock, because there is no outlet for the water.

§ 186. Blasting. — In some hydraulic claims, the dirt, in dry
seasons, is blasted, so as to loosen it, A drift or hole is cut
into the bottom of a hill one or two hundred feet high, and a
number of kegs of powder (from twenty to two hundred) are
introduced, and they are fired with a slow match. The explo-
sion makes an earthquake in the vicinity; and the gi*ound is
loosened to such an extent that there is a sreat savino^ of labor.
The breaking up of the dirt and the exposure to the air are
supposed to facilitate the washing greatly.

More water is required for piping down banks than for
washing the dirt ; and often the sluice is almost idle for want
of dirt, while the water, after being: thrown against the hill-
side, runs awav without doing: anv service at washins:. Blast-
ing, therefore, by loosening the earth, enables the hydraulic
miner to have an abundant and regular supply of dirt in his
sluice, at an expense much less than the cost of manual labor
to dig the bank down with pick and shovel.

§ 187. Tail-Sluice. — Tlie tail-sluice is a large sluice made
for rewashing the tailmgs or dirt which has previously passed
through other sluices. It is placed ordinarily in the bed of a
ravine or creek throus^h which tailings run, and it receives no
attention for weeks or months at a time, save to keep it from
choking. The sluices emptying into it furnish both dirt and
water, and in the dirt there is alwavs a lar2:e amount of fine
gold, as is plainly proved by the fact that some of the tail-

MINIXG. 257

sluices have paid large profits to their owners. Tail-sluices
are always large, long, and paved with stones ; and sometimes
they are double, so that one side may be cleaned up while the
other continues washing. In a branch of the Yuba there is,
or was not lonsr since, a tail-sluice twentv feet wide.

§ IS 8. Tunnel- Sluice. — A tunnel-sluice is a sluice in a tun-
nel. It sometimes happens that a considerable body of water
runs out throusfh a tunnel : and in such case, a sluice at the
bottom of the tunnel offers the easiest method of getting out
and washing the dirt. The tunnels are never cut level, but
with a slightly-ascending grade, so that the water will always
run out. The grade is so low, that transverse riffle-bars must
be used ; for with lonoritudinal riffle-bars or stones, there would
be too much dansfer of chokinsr. These tunnel-sluices, because
of their low grades, require much more attention than any
other kind of sluices.

§ 189. Ground- Sluice. —X\\ the sluices hitherto mentioned
and described have wooden boxes, but the ground-sluice has no
box : the water runs on the ground. The place selected for the
ground-sluice is some spot where there is a considerable supply
of water, a steep descent for it, and much poor dirt. The stream
is turned through a httle ditch, which the miners labor to deepen
and enlarge, and when it is deep they prize off the high banks
so that the dirt may fall down into the ditch. This is a very
cheap and expeditious way of washing, but it is not applied
extensivelv. It is used to the most advantage for washing
where the water is abundant for only a few weeks after heavy
rains, and where it would not pay to erect large sluices. A
few cobble-stones should be left or thrown at intervals in the
bed of the ground-sluice to arrest the gold, for if the bed were
smooth clay, the j>recious metal might all be carried off.
Quicksilver is not used in the ground-sluice. After the dirt
has all been put through the ground-sluice, it is cleaned up in a
short board-sluice, or a tom.

190. Long Tom. — The tom or long torn, an instrument ex-
tensively used in the Caiifornian mines in 1851 and 1852, but

258 EESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

now rarely seen, is a wooden trough about twelve feet long,
eighteen inches wide at the upper end, and widening at the
lower to thirty inches, with sides eight inches high. It is used
like a board-sluice, but has no riffie-bars, and at the lower end
its bottom is of sheet-iron, perforated with holes half an inch
in diameter. This sheet-iron is turned up at the lower end, so
that the water never runs over there, but always drops down
through the perforated sheet-iron or riddle, into a little riffle-
box, containing transverse riffle-bars. A stream of water of
about ten inches makes a " tom-head" — or the amount con-
sidered necessarv for a tom — throug^h the tom, which has a
grade similar to that of a board-sluice. The dirt is thrown in
at the head of the tom, and a man is constantly employed in
moving the dirt with a shovel, throwing back such pieces of
clay as are not dissolved, to the head of the tom, and throw-
ing out stones. From two to four m.en can work with a tom ;
but the amount of dirt that can be washed is not half that of
a sluice. The tom may be used to advantage in diggings
where the amount of pay-dirt is small and the gold coarse.
The riffle-box contains quicksilver, and as the dirt in it is kept
loose by the water falling down on it from the riddle above, a
large part of the gold is caught ; but where the j)articles are
iine, much must be lost.

§ 191. Cradle. — The rocker or cradle is still less than the
tom and inferior in capacity. It bears some resemblance in
shape and size to a child's cradle, and rests upon similar rockers.
The cradle-box is about forty inches long, twenty wide, and
four high, and it stands with the upper end about two feet
higher than the lower end, which is open so that the tailings
can run out. On the upper end of the cradle-box stands a
hopper or riddle box twenty inches square with sides four
inches high. The bottom of this riddle-box is of sheet-iron,
perforated with holes half an inch in diameter. The riddle-
box is not nailed to the cradle-box, but can be lifted off with-
out difficulty. Under the riddle is an "apron" of wood or
cloth, fastened to the sides of the cradle-box and sloping down

MINING. 259

to the upper end of it. Across the bottom of the cradle-box
are two riffle-bars about an inch square, one in the middle, the
other at the end of the box. The dirt is shovelled into the
hopper, the " cradler" sits down beside his machine, and while
with one hand with a ladle he pours water from a pool at liis
side upon the dirt, with the other he rocks the cradle. With
the water and the motion the dirt is dissolved, and carried
down through the riddle, falling upon the apron which cari-ies
it to the head of the cradle-box, whence it runs downward
and out, leaving its gold, black sand, and heavier particles of
sand and gravel behind the riffle-bars. The man who rocks a
cradle learns to appreciate the fact, that the " golden sands"
of California are not pure sand, but are often extremely tough
clay, a hopperful of which must be shaken about for ten
minutes before it will dissolve under a constant pouring of
water. Many large stones are found in the pay-dirt. Such
as give an unpleasant shock to the cradle, as they roll from
side to side of the riddle-box are pitched out by hand, and
after a glance to see that no gold sticks to their sides, are
thrown away ; but the smaller ones are left until the hopper-
ful has been washed, so that nothing but clean stones remain
in the riddle, and then the cradler rises from his seat, lifts up
his hopper, and with a jerk throw^s all the stones out. The
w^ater and the rocking are both necessary. Without the
w^ater, the dirt coidd not be washed ; and without the rocking,
the dirt would dissolve very slowly, and the gold w^ould
most of it be lost. The rocking keeps the dirt in the bottom
of the cradle more or less loose, so that the particles of
gold can sink down in it, whereas if the cradle stood still
the sand there would almost immediately pack dowm into a
hard floor, over which the gold would run almost as readi-
ly as over a board. The w^hole business of washing with a
cradle is a repetition of the process already described — some
dirt, about one third or one-fourth of what the hopper w^ould
hold, if full, is put into the hopper, and while the cradle is
rocked with one hand, the other pours in the water. The

260 E E S O U R C E S O F C A L I F O E X I A .

cradle is cleaned up two or four times in a day. The clean-
ing up is done by lifting the hopper, taking out the apron,
scraping up all the dirt in the bottom of the cradle with an
iron spoon, putting it into a pan and washing out the dirt, so
that only the gold will be left. This last process is called
panning out, and will be described in the next section. Most
of the gold collects above the upper riffle-bar, including all the
larger lumps. If the apron be of rough woollen cloth, some of
the fine gold will be caught there. In diggings where the
gold is very fine, the hopper is sometime? placed over the
lower end of the cradle, and the apron is made twice as long,
and with a lower inclination than in the more common form
of the rocker. The water for the cradle should be supplied by
a little ditch, with a reservoir at the head of the cradle, to
contain five or six gallons. The dipper should be of tin,
shaped Hke a basin, hold about a gallon when full, and have a
handle an inch and a half in diameter, and eight inches long.
The difference of height betw^een the upper and lower ends of
the cradle should not be more than two inches : a steeper in-
clination will make the current runnmg through it too strong,
and the gold will be carried off"; and, on the other hand, if
the cradle be nearer a level it will be hard to rock, and the
dirt in the bottom will pack more rapidly. The amount of dirt
that can be washed in a day w^ith a cradle, varies from one to
three cubic yards. The dirt is usually shovelled into a pan or
bucket, from which it is throw^n into the hopper. The miners
usually measure the amount of dirt washed by the number of
"pans." One man working alone with a cradle ought to
wash from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty pans in a day,
and two men will wash twice as much. A pan may contain
one-third or one-half of a cubic foot. Two men can work more
conveniently with the rocker than one. There is enough work
to give constant employment to a cradler and a shoveller. The
latter has a couple of buckets or pans, which he fills alter-
nately, always keeping one full and near the cradler, so that
without moving his feet he can pick it up and empty it into

MINING. 261

the riddle-box. If the rocker have only one man, he must
stop rocking after washing every pan and get more dirt. This
delay is injurious to the process of washing, because it allows
the dirt in the bottom of the cradle to harden and pack, and
some gold is always lost as a consequence. If the dirt and
water be convenient not more than two men can work to a
profit with a rocker. But sometimes it liappens that water
cannot be led to the claim, and in such case the dirt must be
carried to the water, a greater weight of which is used than
of dirt. At least three times as much water as dirt is required
for washing. If the distance from the hole to the water be
not over ten or twenty feet, the miners will usually carry the
dirt in buckets ; if farther they will use wheelbarrows ; and
sometimes for greater distances pack-mules or wagons. The
greater the distance, the more the men required for carrying
the dirt. Sometimes, too, it happens that the claim is troubled
by water, and then one man may be constantly employed in

balino;.

It is of great importance in mining with the cradle, to have
the cradle j)laced within four or five feet of the hole from
which the pay-dirt is obtained, and to have a good supply of
water at the head of the cradle, and then to have a good de-
scent below the cradle, so that the tailings may all be carried
awav bv the water, so as not to accumulate. The rockei-
washes about one-half the amount of dirt that can be washed
by an equal number of men with the tom, one-fourth of what
can be washed with the sluice, and one-hundredth of the
amount that can be washed with the hydraulic process; but it
is pecuharly fitted for some kinds of diggings. Many little
gullies, containing coarse gold in their beds, cannot obtain
water for washing except during rains, and then only for a few
days at a time. In these guUies the cradle can be used to the
best advantage, for it can easily be transported, and it is very
good for saving coarse gold. While dirt that would pay
from ten to twenty-five cents, was abundant at the surface of
the earth in the California n mines, the cradle was extensively

262 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

used, l)Ut now it has been abandoned by the whites, and is left
to the Ciiinamen, who think themselves doing well if they make
seventy-five cents or one dollar per day.

The great difficulty in raining with the cradle, is that the
sand will " pack," or make a hard mass on a level with the
top of the ritfle-bars, and tlie gold then is lost. So long as the
cradle is in motion the dirt does not pack, but when the rock-
ing ceases, the mass hardens in a few minutes. If the miner
leaves his cradle standing for fifteen minutes, he stirs up the
dirt with his sj^oon before commencing again to wash. One
device to prevent packing is to put a little block under each
end of the rockers, so that at the end of every motion the cradle
receives a shock. Quicksilver is sometimes used in cradles,
but not usually.

§ 192. Pan. — The pan is used in all branches of gold min-
ing, either as an instrument for washing, or as a receptacle for
gold, amalgam, or rich dirt. It is made of stiflT tin or sheet-
iron, with a flat bottom about a foot across, and with sides six
inches high, rising at an angle of forty-five degrees. A little
variation in the size or shape of the pan will not injure its
value for washing. Sheet- iron is preferable to tin, because it
is usually stronger and does not amalgamate with mercury.
The pan is the simplest of all instruments used for washing
auriferous dirt. Some dirt, not enough to fill it full, is put in,
and the pan is then put under water. The water ought to be
not more than a foot deep, so that the pan may rest on the
bottom, while the miner inserts his fingers in and under the
dirt and lifts it up a little, so that the whole mass is wet. If
the water be deep, the pan may be held in one hand while the
other is used to stir up the dirt, but it is more convenient to
take both. The dirt having been filled with water, the miner
catches the pan at the sides, raises that part toward his body, and
lowers the outer edge a little, and commences to shake the pan
from side to side, holding it so that all the dirt is under water,
and so that a little of the dirt can escape over the outer edge.
The earthy part of the dirt is rapidly dissolved by the w^ater,

MIXING. 263

assisted by the shaking of the pan and the rolUng of the
gravel from side to side, and*forms a mud wliicli runs out while
clean water runs in. The light sand flows out with the thin
mud, while the lumps of tough clay and the large stones remain.
The stones collect on the top of the clay, and they are scraped
together with the fingers and thrown out. This process con-
tinues, the pan being gradually raised in the water, and its
outer edge depressed, until all the earthy matter has been dis-
solved, and that as well as the stones swept away by the
water, while the gold remains at the bottom. Panning is not
difficult, but it requires practice to learn the degree of shaking
which dissolves the dirt and throws out the stones most rapidly
without losing the gold. If the shaking be too mild and slow,
the process consumes too much time ; whereas if it be too
rajdd and violent, the gold is carried off with the stones.
Sometimes the pan is shaken so that the dirt receives a rotary
motion. This is the most rapid method of ^v ashing dirt, but
also the most dangerous. The pan must always be used in
cleaning up the dirt which collects in the cradle, in prospect-
ing, and frequently in washing small quantities of dirt col-
lected in other kinds of placer milling. Amalgam can be sepa-
rated from dirt by washing, almost as well as gold. In panning
out, it frequently happens that considerable amounts of black
sand containing fine particles of gold are obtained, and this
sand is so heavy that it cannot be separated from the gold by
washing, wliile it is easily separated by that process from
gravel, stones, and common dirt. The black sand is dried,
and a small quantity of it is placed in a " blower," a shallow^ tin
dish open at one end. The miner then holding the pan with
the open end from him, blows out the sand, leaving the par-
ticles of gold. lie must blow gently, just strong enough to
blow out the sand, and no stronger. From time to time he
must shake the blov.er so as to change the position of the
particles, and bring all the sand in the range of his breath.
The gold cannot be cleansed perfectly in this manner, but the
Band contains iron, and the Uttle of it remaining is easily re-

264 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

moTed by a mao^iet. The blower should be very smooth, and
made of either tin, brass, or copper.

§ 193. Dry Washing. — Dry washing is a method of win-
nowing gold from dirt. In many parts of the mining districts
of California, water cannot be obtained during: the summer for
mining purposes. The miner therefore manages to wash his
dirt without water. He takes only rich dirt, and putting it on
a rawhide, he pulverizes all the lumps and picks out the large
stones. He then with a large flat basin throws the dirt up
into the air, catches it as it comes down, throws it up again,
and repeats this operation until nothing but the gold remains.
Of course a pleasant breeze, that will carry away the dust, is
a great assistance to the oi^eration. Sometimes two men have
a hide or a blanket, with which they throw up the dirt. The
process is very similar to the ancient method of separating
grain from chaff. The miner who devotes himself to dry
washing must be very particular to take only rich dirt, so he
scrapes the bed-rock carefully. He never digs very deej) — not
more then twenty feet ; and when he goes beyond seven or
eight feet he " coyotes," or burrows after the pay-dirt. He
may coyote into the side of a hill, or sink a shaft and coyote
in all directions from it. This style of mining is named from
the resemblance of the holes to the burrows of the coyote, or
Californian wolf Coyoting is not confined to the dry wash-
ing, but is used also by miners washing with the pan and
cradle. One of the Congressmen elected some years ago to
represent California at Washington, was a miner at the time
of his nomination, and was so fond of coyoting, that he was
a'enerallv known as " Covote Joe."

§ 194. Dry Digging. — Dry digging is that mining where
the miner, after using the shovel to strip off the barren dirt,
scrapes the pay-dirt over with a knife, picking out the particles
of gold as he comes to them, and throwing away the earthy
matter. This is a slow process, but in rich^ placers may be
profitable. The miner is, of course, particular to examine all
the crevices in the bed-rock ; and if the mateiial be slate, he

MIXING. 265

digs up part of it, to see whether the gold has not found its
way into cracks scarcely perceptible on the surface. "Dry
digging," as a mode of mining, must not be confounded with
" dry diggings," a kind of mining-ground which has been de-
scribed near the beginning of this chapter.

Knife-mining differs a little from dry digging. In the latter,
a shovel is used to strip off the barren dirt ; whereas the knife-
mining is practised in those places where the gold is deposited
in crevices in rocks along the banks of streams, without any
covering of barren dirt, so that the knife alone is used in sera-
ping out the dirt; and afterward the dirt, being placed in a
pan, may be washed in water, which is never used in dry dio--
ging.

§ 195. Puddling-Box.—The puddhng-box is a rough wood-
en box, about a foot deep and six feet square, and is^used for
dissolving very tough clay. The clay is thrown into the box,
with water, and a miner stirs the stuff with a hoe until the
clay is all thoroughly dissolved, when he takes a plug from an
auger-hole about four inches from the bottom, and lets the thin
solution of the clay run off, while the heavier material, inclu-
ding the gold, remains at the bottom. He then puts in the
plug again, fills up the box with water, throws in more clay,
and repeats the process again and again untU night, when he
cleans up with a cradle or pan. The puddhng-box is used
only in small mining operations, and never with the sluice, or
in hydraulic claims.

§ 196. QuicJcsilver-Machine,—ThQ quicksilver-machme, or
Burke rocker, is a cradle about seven feet long, two feet wide,
and two feet high. In the bottom are a number of compart-
ments, aU contaming quicksilver. One man rocks the machine
without cessation. A constant stream of water pours into the
machine at its head. The riddle extends the whole length of
the machine ; and the stones, after being washed clean, fall off
the riddle at the lower end. One man is employed constantly
working with a shovel to keep the dirt on the riddle under the
stream of water, and in throwing off the big stones. K the
12

266 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

pay-dirt is very convenient, two men can shovel enough to
keep the machine in operation. The Burke rocker was exten-
sively used in California eight and ten years ago, but now it is
a great rarity.

§ ]97. Tunnd-Mining. — A tunnel, in Californian mining, is
an adit or drift entering a hill-side, or running out from a shaft.
IMining-tunnels are usually nearly horizontal — those entering
hill-sides having a slight ascent, for the double purpose of
draining the mine, and to facilitate the removal of the pay-
dirt. In a few hills the tunnels run downward at an angle of
twenty degrees or more, to avoid veins or ledges of rock,
which would have to be blasted through if the tunnel were
cut horizontally ; but this can only be done with safety in hills
which are drained by older horizontal tunnels.

The mining-tumiel does not run through a hill, but only into
it. The length of tunnels varies greatly ; the longest are about
a mile. The usual height is seven feet, the width five feet.
Ordinarily the top must be supported by timbers, to prevent
it from falling in, and not unfrequently the sides must also be
protected by boards. The cost of cutting a tunnel varies from
two to forty dollars a longitudinal foot, according to the nature
of the ground, the cost of getting timbers, &c. Tunnels are
usually made by companies of eight or ten men, of whom one-
half may be merchants, lawyers, physicians, or ofiice-holders,
and the remainder laborino: miners. The latter class do the
work ; the former furnish provisions and tools, and a certain
amount of cash weekly until the pay-dirt is reached. Two or
three men work at a time cutting a tunnel ; one or two to dig
the dirt ; and one or two to haul it out. The dirt of the first
fifty yards is hauled out in a wheelbarrow ; beyond that dis-
tance a little tram-way or railroad is laid down, and the dirt is
hauled out in cars, pushed by the miners. It is not customary
to use horses. It is common to have tw^o relays of laborers —
one set working from noon to midnight, the other from mid-
night to noon. Work in a tunnel is as pleasant at night as in
the daytime. When a company is rich, or has many laborers, it

MINING. 267

may have three relays, each to work eight hours in the twenty-
four.

It is not uncommon for two companies, owning adjacent
claims in a hill, to unite and cut a tunnel on joint account along
the dividing line. They go in until they reach the pay-dirt,
and then a surveyor is employed to run the line between their
claims, and the tunnel is contiimed through the pay-dirt. The
dirt from the tunnel is washed for the joint account of the two
companies. After the di\dding line has been established, each
company keeps on its own side, and each has its time to use
the tram-way. They may also have a joint-stock sluice at the
mouth of the tunnel — one company having the privilege of
using the sluice one week, and the other the next. All tho
dirt brought out in a week can readily be washed in a day.
The work of taking out the pay-dirt after the main tunnel has
been cut, is called " drifting ;" and the holes made by the men
engaged in it are termed " drifts." The drifts are usually not
so high as the tunnels. The large stones and barren dirt ob-
tained in the drifts are piled up here and there to sustain the
earth overhead. Sometimes wooden posts are likewise neces-
sary. *

§ 198. Shafts. — Shafts are used in prospecting, and also in
mining, where the claims are deep and cannot be reached by
either the hydraulic process or the tunnel. The prospecting
shaft is sometimes sunk into hills supposed to be auriferous,
where the shaft is far less expensive than the tunnel. After
the shaft demonstrates that the dirt is rich, and precisely the
altitude at which it lies, a tunnel is cut to strike it. The shaft
may be the cheaper for prospecting, but the tunnel is usually
the cheaper if any large amount of dirt is to be taken out.

The shaft is dug by one man in the hole, and one or two are
employed at a windlass in hauling up the dirt. Mining-shafts
in placer diggings are rarely over one hundred feet deep; but
one was dug in Trinity county to the depth of six hundred feet,
for the purpose of prospecting, but it found neither pay-dirt
nor the bed-rock.

268 RESOUIiCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 199. River-Mining. — River-mining is mining for gold in
the beds of rivers, below low-water mark. The only practi-
cable method of doing this is by damming the stream, and
taking the water out of its bed in a ditch or flume. It has
been proposed by persons who never saw the mines, to get the
gold by dredging, or with a diving-bell ; but such schemes are
absurd in the eyes of miners. The rivers in which the gold is
found are mountain-torrents, in which a canoe can scarcely
float in suinmer, much less a dredgiug-machine ; and any large
scoop working under water would miss the crevices and cor-
ners in the rocks, where most of the gold is found. As the
water is very seldom more than a couple of feet deep, a diving-
bell would be of little service. The flume, the ditch, and the
wing-dam, are the chief tasks of the river- miner. The ditch is
rarely used, because the banks of the mining-streams are usu-
ally so steep, high, rocky, and crooked, that a flume is cheaper.
The wing- dam is not often used, because the river-beds are in
most places too narrow. The flume is almost universally em-
ployed.

The work of river-mining can be done only during the sum-
mer and fall, while the water is low, and while the miner can
have confidence that it will not rise. It may be as low in Jan-
uary as in August, but the winter is the season of rains ; and
when the flood comes, it sweeps dams, flumes, and every thing
before it. If the dam and flume be commenced too earlv in
the season, they may be carried off" before they are finished ;
and it frequently happens that they are destroyed in the fall
just when the miners are commencing to reap the reward of
their summer's labor.

Kiver-mining has many disadvantages, as compared with
other branches of mining. The miner cannot work at it more
than half the year; he cannot j^i'ospect the dirt which is hid-
den under water ; he must erect expensive dams and flumes,
which can be used for only a few months ; and then he is ex-
posed to floods which may come and destroy all his work
before he has commenced to wash. These disadvantages, and

MIXING. 269

the exhaustion of most of the river-diggings in the state, have
almost put an end to river-mining in California. In a few
cases, extensive fluniing enterprises have proved profitable;
but, as a general rule, river-mining in this state has cost more
than it has produced. A river is seldom flumed for less than
three hundred yards, and sometimes for a mile ; and the lum-
ber and labor required to make so long a flume, and one large
enough to hold all the water of a river, are very expensive.
The dam will alwavs leak, and water will run into the bed
from the adjacent hills and mountains, and this water must be
lifted out by pumps driven by wheels placed in the flume.
The river-beds are full of large rocks, weighing from one to
ten tons, and these must be moved by machinery, to allow the
dirt to be taken out.

River-mining is now never undertaken by an individual, but
always by large associations, generally called " fluming com-
panies," sometimes composed of miners exclusively, sometimes
of miners and all the principal business-men living near the
place where the work is to be done. The lawyers, doctors,
and ofiice-holders, pay their assessments in cash; the mer-
chants furnish provisions, the lumbermen supply lumber, and
the miners make the dam, and help the carjDenters build the
flume.

§ 200. Jjeach-Minmg. — Beach-mining is the business of
washinor the sands of the ocean-beach. Between Point Men-
docino, in California, and the mouth of the Umpqua River, in
Oregon, the beach-sand contains gold, and in some places it is
very rich. The beach is narrow, and lies at the foot of a bluff*
bank of auriferous 'sand. In times of storm, the waves wash
against this bank, undermine it, sweep away the pieces which
tumble down, leaving the gold on the beach. The gold is in
very fine particles, and it moves with the heavier sand, which
alters its position frequently under the influence of the waves
and surf One day, the beach will have six feet depth of sand ;
the next, there will be nothing save bare rocks. The sand
diff'ers greatly in richness at various times : one day, it will be

270 RESOURCES OF CALIFOliNIA.

full of golden specks ; a few days later, at the same place it
■will be barren. The sand in the mean time has been moved
by the waves, and replaced by other sand.

It is a very difficult matter to know where the sand is rich
and where it is not. The companies employed in mining on
the beach number about ten men ; and there is a foreman who
rides out early every morning, following the beach about two
miles to the northward and two miles to the southward of the
camp, for the purpose of finding where the sand is the best.
So changeable is the sand, that a new examination is made
every day ; and only three or four men are supposed to be
good judges of the quaUty of sand, from its appearance.

When the foreman has selected a place, he orders all the
men to it, and they go with twenty pack-mules, which carry
the sand in alforjas^ or rawhide sacks, to the place of washing,
which is up on the bluff, probably a mile or more distant from
the spot where the sand is obtained. It happens occasionally
that the foreman rides long distances on the beach, and some-
times he will order the sand to be obtained ten miles from the
w^ashing-place. The sand must, of com*se, be very rich, to pay
for such transportation, but the beach-sand at times in the sun-
light is said to be actually dazzling yellow with gold. The
purpose of going upon the bluff to wash it is to get fresh water
for washing ; foi the sea-water is not so good, nor can it be
obtained conveniently. The richest dirt is that the farthest
down on the beach, so still weather and low tide are the best
times for getting it. When a rich place is discovered low
down on the beach, great exertions are made to get as much
of the sand as possible before the tide rises. When high tide
and storm come together, little can be done. The sand, hav-
ing been separated from all clay and soluble matter by the
action of the sea, is very easily washed, and all collected in a
month can be washed in two days in a sluice.

§ 201. Mining-Ditches. — The placer-mines of California
would yield very little gold, were it not for the numerous
ditches which supply them with water for washhig. The au-

MIXING. 271

riferous districts are very dry in summer, <and in some places
there is not a spring nor a brook within many miles. The
artificial ditch supplies the want. The ditches are made by
large companies, which sell tlie water by the "inch." An
inch of water is as much as will run out of an orifice an inch
square, with the water standing six or seven inches deep in
the flume over the orifice. The depth of water over the orifice
is called the " head." The orifice is usually two inches high,
and as long as necessary to give the amount of water desired.
IsTobody wants less than ten or twelve inches for mining : a
" shiice-head" is about eighteen inches; a "hydraulic head" is
from fortv to two hundred inches. The water, however, is
not measured accurately. Of course, the amount which runs
through the orifice will depend to a considerable extent upon
the " head," which is usually greater in the morning than at
night. At sunrise there may be fifteen inches head, and at
sunset only three. The water collects during the night, and
is exhausted during the day. The price of water is in no
place less than ten cents an inch per day ; in some places it is
forty cents ; the average is about twenty cents.

Many of these ditches are extensive enterprises, and have
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. When they cross ra-
vines and valleys, large flumes — wonders of carpentry — must
be built. Some of these are two hundred feet high and a mile
long, and so large that a horse and wagon can be driven
through them. In all, save length and durability, they are as
wonderful as the great Roman aqueducts, whose tall ruins still
stand in the Campagna, near the Eternal City. In some cases
iron tubes have been used, and, although they are very expen-
sive, yet they may pay for themselves, by preventing evapora-
tion, leaking, and soaking, which take away much of the water
from flumes and ditches.

§ 202. Prospecting. — "Prospecting" is the search for gold.
The instruments used by the prospector for placer-mines are
usually the pan, pick, and shovel. He should be familiar with
the general laws of the disstribntion of gold, and then try the

2*72 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

dirt in the most favorable places. If there is any gold in a
district, he can scarcely fail to find specks of it by washing dirt
from the bed-rock in the ravines, and in bars. The existence
of gold in a district having been established, close observation
will suggest to the prospector where he may reasonably expect
to find the best diggings. It is usually found that placer-gold
is collected in those places where, if he had been familiar with
the ancient topography of the country, he should have had
reason to suppose that it would be.

§ 203. Quartz Mining. — Quartz mining differs much from
placer mining. For the former, more capital, more experience,
more complicated machinery and richer material are required
than for the latter. The placer miner throws the dirt into the
water, which then does the work ; whereas the pulverizing of
rock is a nice operation, requiring constant attention. Quartz
requires a mill and water poAver ; placer dirt is washed in a
simple sluice. Dirt containing ten cents in the cubic yard may
pay the hydraulic miner, but the quartz miner must have a
hundred times as much in a cubic yard of vein-stone, or he
cannot work. The placer gold, when freed from the baser
material surrounding it, is much of it in coarse particles, v/hich
are easily caught by their specific gravity ; the quartz gold
must be reduced to a fine powder before it can be set free from
its gangue, and with the fineness of the particles increases
the difiiculty of catching them.

Auriferous quartz lodes are often found by accident. Not
unfrequently it happens that a rich streak of pay-dirt in a placer
claim is followed up to the quartz vein from which it came.
While miners are out walking or hunting, they occasionally
will come upon lodes in which the gold is seen sparkling.
Some good leads have been found by men employed in making
roads and cutting ditches. The quartz might be covered with
soil, but the pick and shovel revealed its position and wealth.
In Tuolumne county in 1858, a hunter shot a grizzly bear on
the side of a steep caiion, and the animal tumbling down, was
caught by a projecting point of rock. The hunter followed

MIXING. 213

his game, and while skinning the animal, discovered that the
point of rock was auriferous quartz. In Mariposa county in
1855, a robber attacked a miner, and the latter saw the rock
behind his assailant sparkle in the sunlight, at a spot where a
bullet struck a wall of rock. He killed the robber, and found
that the rock was gold-bearing quartz. In Xevada county
several years ago, a couple of unfortunate miners who had
prepared to leave California, and were out on a drunken frolic,
started a large boulder down a steep hill. On its way down,
it struck a brown rock and broke a portion of it off — exposing
a vein of white quartz which proved to be auriferous, induced
the disappointed miners to remain some months longer in the
state, and paid them well for remaining. Science and experi-
ence do not appear to give much assistance in prospecting for
quartz lodes. Chemists, geologists, mineralogists, and old
miners, have not done better than ignorant men and new-
comers. Most of the best veins have been discovered by poor
and ignorant men. Not one has been found by a man of high
education as a miner, or geologist. No doubt geological
knowledge is valuable to a miner, and it should assist him in
prospecting ; but it has never yet enabled any body to find a
valuable claim.

§ 204. Distribution of Gold in Quartz. — The rich quartz-
veins of California extend from Kern River to the Siskiyou,
are found on hills, in canons and in vales. They are at least
two thousand feet above the level of the sea, and not more
than ten thousand feet above it. Their course is generally
from north-northwest to south-southeast, and they dip steeply
to the eastward, sometimes being nearly perpendicular. They
differ in thickness from a line to sixty feet. Quartz veins are
very numerous in most of the mining districts, so the task is
not to find the veins, but rather to find those which are gold-
bearing. It is supposed that nearly all large veins come to
the surface of the bed rock or " country ;" but many of them
are covered with soil and thus are hidden. Hidden veins are
called " blind ;" those plainly visible on the surfiice are called
12*

274 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

"croppings veins," because their position is shown by the out-
croppings. Experience has not ascertained whether Jarge or
small veins are more likely to contain gold. It is found in
both. The porous quartz, or that containing many cavities, is
more frequently found auriferous and richly auriferous, than
the very compact quartz. The best gold-bearing veins are
usually yellowish or brownish in tinge, near the surface at
least ; but very rich specimens are found in white and bluish-
white rock. Most quartz veins in California contain a little
gold ; the metal seems to have been distributed most lavishly,
but unfortunately in nine-tenths of the veins, the proportion
of metal is too small to pay. Most of the large veins are sup-
posed to run for miles upon miles, though they can rarely be
traced clearly on the surface for more than a furlong. The
auriferous veins vary much in richness. No vein is wrought
for more than a few hundred feet. Beyond that, it is either
too poor to pay, or the vein is hidden. Some persons have
supposed that there is one great gold-bearing quartz vein run-
ning along the side of the Sierra Nevada, from Mariposa to
Plumas county, and that many of the richest claims are really
in this one vein ; but this is a supposition which cannot be
proved now. Sometimes a vein seems to spread out and di-
vide into a number of smaller veins, all of which afterward
unite again. These points of junction, and the narrower places
in the vein, are usually richer than other parts of it. When
two veins cross each other, one may be auriferous on one side
of the intersection and not on the other ; but in this case the
other vein will be auriferous on both sides. It is as though
they were streams, one rich, the other barren, and that after
meeting, the wealth of the one was divided between them.
It is a general rule that metalliferous veins running parallel
with the strata of the bed-rock or country are not extensive.
In fact they are rather deposits than veins, and though often
extremely rich are soon exhausted, while the lodes which run
across the stratification run far and deep, and have a regular
and straight course and dip. Lodes lying between two difierent

MIXING. 275

kinds of rock, are usually richer than those which have the
same kind of rock on both sides. Thus it is said that the richest
veins of auriferous quartz in California, have been discovered
at the intersection of trap and serpentine, and the richest places
in veins are where they cross from one kind of bed-rock
into another. The richest part of a lode of auriferous quartz
is almost invariably on the lower side of the vein, near the
foot-wall. All these are facts to be remembered by the pro-
spector as a guide, and an assistance to him in his search for
a rich gold-bearing vein. If the lode is covered with earthy
matter, he may sometimes trace its course by the difference in
the color of the dirt and stones over it from that elsewhere.
When the prosj^ector finds dirt and stones on a vein, evidently
disintegrated portions of it, be should wash some of the dirt
in a pan, and if he finds no gold, there is a strong presumption
that the vein is barren.

§ 205. Prospecting Quartz Rock. — After finding a gold-
bearing vein, the question arises whether it will pay. Great
sums are lost in gold-mining countries by injudicious invest-
ments in mills and machinery to work the auriferous rock, and
persons going into the business should be particularly careful
not to commit this great error. The business of quartz min-
ing has great profits but also great pecuniary dangers con-
nected with it. It is rarely that all the rock of a vein will
pay for working. In some lodes, the vein-stone will average
one hundred dollars to the ton, for all the stone found in a cer-
tain part of the lode, but beyond that the rock may be poor
or worthless. Picked specimens may be worth several thou-
sand dollars to the ton, but perhaps not more than a ton of
such specimens has been obtained in the best lode ever opened
in the state. The most profitable lodes are those which have
a large supply of rock, easily to be obtained, and all of it yielding
something above the cost of working. The common method
of ascertaining whether rock will pay, is to pulverize a little of
it and wash it in a horn spoon. In taking out the quartz rock
in large lodes, it is important to take out only that which will

276 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

pay, and to determine this, the superintendent of the quarry-men
must occasionally test the vein-stone. He takes several little
pieces of it, average specimens, places them on a hard, smooth,
flat stone about a foot square, on which he crushes them with a
stone muller four inches square, and then by rubbing with the
muller he reduces them to a fine powder. He has a horn
spoon, made of a large ox-horn, with a bowl about three inches
wide and eight inches long, being merely one-half of the horn
in its natural shape. With this spoon he washes out the pow-
der in water, and if he does not find a speck of gold or a
" color," as it is called, in a pound of the rock, he infers that
it will not pay. The three principal quartz mines in the state
are those of Fremont in Mariposa county, of the Allison com-
pany in Nevada county, and of the Sierra Butte company in
Sierra county. The first has produced $75,000 in a month, the
second $60,000, and the third $20,000, but the average is prob-
ably thirty per cent, less, and the expenses about thirty per
cent, of the total product. The average yield of the Fremont
rock is fourteen dollars to the ton, of the Sierra Butte rock
eighteen dollars, and that of the Allison company, according
to report, has for more than a year at a time been one hundred
dollars per ton. The cost of working quartz rock, including
quarrying, crushing, and amalgamating, is in the best mills
from five to ten dollars per ton. The width of the vein, the
softness of the rock, the amount of work done, and the skill
and industry of the workmen, all are items of great importance
in estimating the cost of quartz-mining. It is a business which
the owner of the mill ought to understand. The cost of
quarrying common quartz rock is about two dollars per ton,
that is, for mill-owners that understand the business and super-
intend the labor themselves. When given out by the job, it
usually costs iQore. When quartz is crushed in a custom mill,
that is, a mill built to crush for all applicants, the cost is rarely
less than five dollars per ton, and in Washoe, the price was at
one time thirty dollars per ton ; but in the large mills, where
many tons are crushed every day, is about two dollars per ton.

MixixG. 277

§ 206. The Divinmg Rod. — In prospecting for riuriferous
quartz, use is sometimes made of the divining rod, a practice
not without credit with some good miners. The rod is a fork
of a green hazel-bush, shaped like a Y, with the arms about a
foot long. The prospector holds the end of an arm in each
hand, with the point of the V directed forward horizontally,
and as he walks along, the point turns down whenever hs
comes over a metalliferous vein, metallic body or water. It is
supposed that very few persons can use the divining rod effec-
tuallv ; for most men it refuses to turn. It is used in nearly
every ciA^lized country, especially by miners, and is generally
considered superstitious, because it is employed by ignorant
people, and because there has been no generally accepted
scientific explanation of the manner in which a stick could be
influenced by a metal hidden under ground, A scientific ex-
planation of the principle of the divining rod has been offered
to the world, by Baron Reichenbach (see page sixty of his
0dic-3fagnetic Letters^ translated by John S. Hittell).

§ 207. Quarrying Quartz. — The quarrying of quartz rock
differs little from the quarrying of other metalliferous vein-
stones. The lode descends steeply, and the excavation must
follow its course. Sometimes the quartz is so soft that it may
easily be loosened with the pick. The harder rock is blasted.
Soft quartz is that which is penetrated by numerous cavities,
though the lumps between the cavities may be very hard.
Some quartz on exposure to the air crumbles into sand, though
hard when first taken from the vein. In narrow lodes, some
of the wall-rock must be cut away to get room for the work-
men. In wide lodes, that part of the vein-stone which does
not pay is left. Sometimes the gold from the lode penetrates
a little way into the foot-wall, and in that case the quarrying
must extend beyond the vein-stone. The quartz loosened in
the vein, must either be hoisted perpendicularly in a bucket
with a windlass, or be hauled out thi-ough a tunnel. The com-
mon method is to hoist the rock with a windlass. Most of the
veins are in such places that shafts are more easily dug thnn

278 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

tunnels. After the excavation has extended twenty or tliirty
feet below the surface, it is usual to dig a perpendicular shaft,
so as to strike the vein sixty or seventy feet below the surface,
and from this point the miner or " drifter" works upward, and
as he loosens the rock it falls to the bottom of the shaft, M'here
it is put in the bucket to be hoisted to the surface. Our quartz
mines are generally in dry hills, so that they are not troubled
much by water ; but there are a few shafts where steam-pumps
are constantly at work to carry off the water.

Occasionally the miners find small quantities of auriferous
quartz which are so easily broken up, and the pieces of gold in
which are so coarse, that after the rock has been pounded a
little in a mortar, the metal can easily be picked out with the
fingers.

§ 208. Arastra. — Quartz is pulverized either in an arastra,
or Chilean mill, or by stamps.

The arastra is the simplest instrument for grinding aurifer-
ous quartz. It is a circular bed of stone, from eight to twenty
feet in diameter, on which the quartz is ground by a large
stone dragged round and round by horse or mule power.
There are two kinds of arastras, the rude or improved. The
rude arastra is made with a pavement of unhewn flat stones,
which are usually laid down in clay. The pavement of the
improved arastra is made of hewn stone, cut very accurately
and laid down in cement. In the centre of the bed of the
arastra is an upright post which turns on a pivot, and running
through the post is a horizontal bar, projecting on each side to
the outer edge of the pavement. On each arm of this bar is
attached by a chain a large flat stone or muller, weighing from
three hundred to five hundred pounds. It is so hiing that the
forward end is about an inch above the bed, and the hind end
drags on the bed. A mule hitched to one arm will drag two
such mullers. In some arastras there are four mullers and two
mules. Outside of the pavement is a wall of stone a foot high
to keep the quartz within reach of the mullers. About four
hundred pounds of quartz, previously broken into pieces about

yii XING. 279

the J^ize of a pigeon's egg^ are called a " charge" for an arastra
ten feet in diameter, and are put in at a time. The mule is
started and in four or five hours the quartz is pulverized.
Water is now poured in until the powder is thoroughly mixed
with it, and the mass has the consistence of thick cream. Care
is taken that the mixture be not too thin, for the thickness
of it is important to the amalgamation. The paste being all
right, some quicksilver (an ounce and a quarter of it for every
ounce of gold in the quartz, and the amount of gold is guessed
at from the appearance of the rock) is scattered over the aras-
tra. The grinding continues for about two hours more, dur-
ing which time it is supposed the quicksilver is divided up into
very fine globules and mixed all through the paste (which is so
stiff that the metal does not sink in it to the bottom), and that
all the particles of gold are caught and amalgamated. The
amalgamation having been completed, some water is let in
three or four inches deep over the paste, and the mule is made
to move slowly. The paste is thus dissolved in the water, and
the gold, quicksilver, and amalgam have an opportunity to fall
to the bottom. At the end of half an hour, or sooner, the
thin mud of the arastra is allowed to run ofl:', leaving the pre-
cious material at the bottom. Another charge of broken
quartz is now put in and the process is repeated, and so on.
The length of a " run," or the period from one cleaning up to
another, varies much in different places. In the rude arastra
a run is seldom less than a week, and sometimes three or four.
The amalgam having settled down between the paving stones,
the bed must be dug up and all the dirt between them carefully
washed. In the improved arastra the paving fits so closely
together, that the quicksilver and amalgam do not get down
between them, but remain on the surface, and can readily be
brushed up into a httle pan, and therefore cleaning up is much
less troublesome and is more frequently repeated than in the
rude arastras; besides there is a greater need of frequent
cleaning up in the improved arastras, because the amount of
work done Avithin a given time is usually greater.

280 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The arastra is a slow instrument, but in some important re-
spects it is superior to any other method of working auriferous
quartz. It grinds the quartz well, is unsurpassable as an amal-
gamator, is very cheap and simple, requires no chemical knowl-
edge or peculiar mechanical skill in the work, requires but little
power, and very little water — all of them important consider-
ations. In many places, the scarcity of water alone is enough
to enable the arastra to pay a larger profit than any other
method. Again, if a miner finds a rich spot in a lode, he may
be doubtful as to the amount of paying rock Avhich he can ob-
tain. Such cases very frequently happen in California, and
the arastra is just the thing for the case ; for then if the
amount of paying rock is small, nothing is lost, whereas the
erection of a stamping-mill would cost much time and money,
and before it could get into smooth operation the rich ro(;k
would be exhausted, and the mill perhaps become worthless.
1^0 other simple process of amalgamation is equal to that of
the arastra ; and it has on various occasions happened in
California, that Mexicans making from fifty to sixty dollars
per ton from quartz, have sold out to Americans who have
erected large mills at great expense, with patent amalgama-
tors, and have not been able to get more than ten or fifteen
dollars from a ton. The arastra is sometimes used for amalga-
mating tailings which have passed through stamping-mills.

§ 209. Chilean Jlill. — The Chilean mill has a circular bed
like the arastra, but much smaller, and the quartz is crushed
by two large stone 'wheels which roll round on their edges.
In the centre of the bed is an upright post, the top of
which serves as a pivot for the axle on which both of the
stones revolve. A mule is usually hitched to the end of one
of the axles. The methods of managing the rock and amalga-
mating vvith the Chilean mill, are very similar to those of the
arastra. The Chilean mill, however, is rarely used in Califor-
nia ; the arastra being considered far preferable.

§ 210. Sta?n2)s. — Nine-tenths of the quartz crushed in Cali-
fornia is pulverized by stamps, of which there are two kinds,

I

MINING. 281

the square and rotary. The square stamp has a perpendicular
wooden shaft, six or eight feet long, and six or eight inches
square, with an iron shoe, weighing from a hundred to a
thousand pounds. The wooden shaft has a mortice in front
near the top, and a cam on a revolving horizontal shaft enters
this mortice at every revolution. When the cam slips out of
the mortice, the stamp falls with all its weight upon the
quartz in the " battery" or " stamping-box." The rotary
stamp has a shaft of wrought iron about two inches in diam-
eter, and just before falling this shaft receives a whirling mo-
tion, which is continued by the shoe as it strikes the quartz.
The rotary stamp is considered superior to the square, its ad-
vantage being that it crushes more rock with the same power,
that it crushes more within the same space, and that it wears
away less of the shoe in proportion to the amount of rock
crushed. There are usually half a dozen square stamps or
more, standing side by side in a square-stamp mill, and these
do not all fall at the same moment, but successively, running
from the head to the foot of the " battery." The quartz is put
in at the head of the battery and is gradually driven to the
foot. The rotary stamps sometimes stand side by side, and
sometimes in a circle. The battery of both rotary and square
stamps is surrounded by wire gauze, or a perforated iron
plate, allowing the finely pulverized quartz to escape, and re-
taining the coarser particles. Quartz is crushed wet and dry.
In wet crushino' a little stream of water runs into the battery
on one side and escapes on the other, carrying all the fine
quartz with it.

§ 211. Separation. — ^After pulverization comes the separa-
tion of the gold from the rocky portion of the powder. The
means of separation are mechanical or chemical. The chemical
process is amalgamation ; the mechanical are those wherein the
gold is caught on a rough surface with the aid of its specific
gravity. The chief reliance is upon amalgamation, and in some
large quartz-mills mechanical appliances are not used at all for
catching the particles of gold, but only for catching amalgam.

282 RESOURCES OF C ALITOR XI A.

The meclianical aj^pliances used in quartz-mills in separating
the gold from the pulverized rock, are the blanket, the sluice,
and the rawhide.

The blanket is a coarse, rough, gray blanket, which is laid
down in a trough sixteen inches wide and six feet long. The
pulverized quartz is carried over this by a stream of water,
and the particles of gold are caught in the wool. The blanket
is taken up and washed, at intervals depending upon the
amount of gold deposited. In some mills where a large
amount of rock is crushed, and where the powder is taken
over the blanket before trying any other process of separation,
the washing takes place every half-hour. In mills where the
pulverized quartz is exposed to amalgamation first, the blanket
may be washed three or four times a day. The washing is
done in a vat, kept for that especial purpose.

The sluice used in quartz-mills is similar to the placer board-
sluice, but the amount of matter to be washed is less, and there
is no dirt to be dissolved, and there are no large stones, and
therefore the sluice is not so large, so strong, or so steep in
grade, as the placer-sluice, and the riffle-bars are not so deep.
In some quartz-mill sluices there are transverse riffle-bars. If
the quartz has much iron or copper pyrites, the sluice is used
to collect this material and save it for sej^aration at some future
time. The pyrites ordinarily contains, or is accompanied by
much gold, which it protects from amalgamation. This separa-
tion of the pyrites from the pulverized rock is called " concen-
trating the tailings," and the material collected is called " con-
centrated tailings." In the sluices of some quartz-mills cast-iron
riffle-bars are used ; cast in sections about fifteen inches square,
and about an inch deep. Much study has been devoted to the
subject of making these riffle-bars in such a manner that the
dirt will not pack in them, but will always remain loose, and
keep in constant motion under the influence of the water run-
ning over them; but the object has never been fully attained.
Quicksilver is used in nearly all quartz-mill sluices.

The rawhide used in separating gold from the pulverized

MiN^iNG. 283

quartz is a common cowhide, laid down in a trough with the
hairy side up, and the grain of the hair against the course of
the water. The gold is then caught in the hair. Sheep-hides
have been used in the same manner, recalling to mind the
Golden Fleece. The hides, however, are inferior to the
blankets for this purpose, and are never used in the best mills.

The methods of amalo^amating^ are numerous. Amono- them
are amalgamation in the battery, amalgamation with the cop-
per plate, amalgamating bowls, and patent amalgamation of
manv kinds.

Tn many mills quicksilver is placed in the battery, two
ounces of quicksilver for one of gold ; and about two-thirds of
the gold is caught thus. The copper plate in quartz-mills is
made in the same manner as in placer-sluices, under which
head a description of the plate may be found. Some amalga-
mating bowls or basins are little Chilean mills and arastras,
made of cast-iron. One plan of amalgamation is to use a cast-
iron bowl about four feet in diameter and a foot deep. Kear
the bottom are horizontal iron arms, which revolve and stir
the quicksilver and pulverized quartz together. Four or five
of these bowls sit in a row but at different levels : the bottom
of the first bowl being level with the top of the second, and so
on. The pulverized quartz passes through them all. Under
each bowl a fire is kept up, because heat forms the action of
amalgamation. If there be any pyrites in the quartz, some
common salt is thrown in to assist in releasing the gold from
the embraces of the sulphurets, and preparing it to be seized
by the mercury. Another amalgamating bowl revolves on an
axis that stands at an angle of about seventy-five degrees to
the horizon, so that the material in the bowl is continually
moving ; and the bottom is divided by little compartments,
which make a constant riffle. In other bowls the pulverized
quartz is forced with water through the mercury. The methods
of amalgamation differ very much, and a book might be filled
with a description and discussion of the processes used at
different quartz-mills i i California.

284 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 212. SuljoJiurets. — Many auriferous quartz veins contain
considerable quantities of sulphurets or pyrites of iron, cop-
per and lead, and their presence prevents amalgamation, and
thus causes a great loss of gold. It is said that on some occa-
sions in good mills, not more than twenty or thirty dollars
have been obtained from a ton of vein-stone which had seven
or eight hundred dollars of gold in every ton. The best
method of treating the quartz containing pyrites, is to roast it,
and thus drive ofl* the sulphur, but this j^rocess is so expensive
that it is seldom used ; and the common practice is to crush
and amalgamate the rock, and save the concentrated tailings for
some future time, when there may be a sale for them, or when
it will be cheaper to reduce them. The pulverized sulphurets
are decomposed by exposure to the air, and after the tailings
have been preserved for a time, they may pay better at the
second amalgamation than at the first. A mixture of common
salt assists the decomposition of the pyrites.

§ 213. Chief Quartz-Mills. — The most productive quartz-
mill in the state is the Benton mill, on Fremont's Ranch, in
Mariposa county. It is also the largest, having fortj^-eight
stamps. There are four mills on the estate, with ninety-one
stamps in all, and their average yield per month is sixty thou-
sand dollars. A railroad four miles long conveys the quartz
from the lode to the mills. The Allison quartz mine in ]N'evada
county produces forty thousand dollars per month. The Sierra
Buttes quartz-mill, twelve miles from Downieville, yields about
fifteen thousand dollars per month. These last mills run
night and day, and crush and amalgamate ten thousand tons
of rock a year or twenty-eight tons per day. Forty men are
employed, twenty-five to quarry the rock, five in the mill to
attend to the stamps and amalgamation, one to do carpentry,
one for blacksmithing, and eight for getting out timber, trans-
porting quartz, and so forth. The cost of quarrying, crush-
ing, and amalgamating a ton of rock is six dollars. The wages
of the men are from fifty to seventy dollars per month with
boarding. The average wages is sixty dollars. About ten

MIXING. 285

miles eastward of Sonora, in Tuolumne county, are some rich
veins of auriferous quartz, the most prominent of which are
the Soulsby and Blakeslee lodes. The Soulsby mill produced
forty thousand dollars in three weeks, when it commenced
work in 1858, but it has not been so profitable of late.

§ 214. Silver Mining. — Silver mining has not yet been
established fairly as a business in California. The silver ores
of AYashoe were discovered in 1859, and mining has been
fairly commenced there, but the mines of Esmeralda and Coso,
within the limits of this state, were not found until the sum-
mer of 1860, and up the present time no mills have been
established there.

Silver mining differs much from gold mining. Gold is always
found as a metal, never as an ore, and the separation from the
accompanying vein-stone with which it is mixed mechanically, is
much more simple and easy than the reduction of the argentif-
erous ores in which the silver is chemically combined with
base substances, for which it has a strong afBnity. Chemical
knowledge and chemical processes are more necessary in min-
ing for silver than for gold ; and while all auriferous quartz is of
the same kind, and may be treated in the same manner, there
are many different kinds of silver ores, each of which requires
a peculiar treatment. The reduction of silver ore costs on an
average, from three to five times as much as the reduction of
auriferous quartz.

The silver ore of Esmeralda and Coso is a sulphuret of
silver, nearly all the veins having the same material, though the
amount of it scattered through the vein-stone differs greatly
in different lodes. In some veins there is much free gold, that
is, little specks of metalHc gold which can be separated from
the other material in the same manner that gold is separated
from auriferous quartz. The methods of reducing silver ore
are so numerous and complex, and vary so much in different
districts and under different circumstances, that it is impossi-
ble to know now what process will be used in Esmeralda and
Coso, the resources of which places have been so little studied.

286 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Besides it is said that new processes for reducing silver ore
have been invented, far superior to all the old methods ; and
these processes are kept secret. It is therefore unnecessary
that I should go into a long description of the various pro-
cesses practised elsewhere. Silver ore after pulverization is
smelted by mixing with it fifty per cent, of lead in metal or
ore, and ten per cent, of iron, and exposing the whole to a
heat sufiicient to melt the silver which runs off. The metal
thus obtained is not pure but contains much lead, which is
driven off by heat while the silver is kept in a molten condition
for a period of four or six hours. The cost of smelting in
California at present, is about one hundred and twenty-five
dollars per ton. In most of the other methods of reducing
silver ore, the ore is roasted to drive oflT the sulphur. In the
barrel amalgamation, which has been used at Washoe, and will
probably be used at Esmeralda also, half a ton of ore, after
being pulverized and roasted, three hundred j)ounds of water,
and one hundred pounds of wrought iron, in little fragments,
are put into a barrel, which revolves on a perpendicular axis.
At the end of two hours the mass has taken the consistence of
thick cream, when five hundred pounds of quicksilver are put
in, and after the barrel has revolved four hours more, the
amalgamation is complete. More water is now poured in ;
the barrel revolves very slowly to let the amalgam all settle to
the bottom, the mud runs ofi* through a cock four inches above
the bottom, and the mercury and amalgam are then drawn off
through a little hole in the bottom of the barrel.

§ 215. Quicksilver Mining. — The ore from which quick-
silver is obtained is a sulphuret. The sulphur is driven off by
heat, and the metal, which rises in fumes from the ore, is col-
lected by condensation. The miners are Cornishmen and
Mexicans. The ore is in large masses underground, not in a
connected vein of regular thickness ; and after one mass is ex-
hausted, much labor is often vainly spent in search of another.
There are, however, usually little seams of ore running from
one large deposit to another, and it is the business of the

MIXING. 28Y

mining captains to observe these veins closely, and trace them
up when a "faullf' occurs. There are no scientific rules for
finding the ore ; and the business of searching for the large
deposits is never intrusted to educated mining engineers, but
always to mining captains, who have themselves been laborers,
and have learned by experience where to seek. The Xew
Almaden mine produces two hundred and twenty thousand
pounds of metal in a month. The hacienda^ or reducing estab-
lishment of the mining company, has fourteen brick furnaces,
each fifty feet long, twelve feet high, and twelve feet wide. At
one end of each furnace is the fire chamber, which may be nine
cubic feet inside ; next that is the ore chamber of about the
same size ; and beyond that is the condensing chamber in
which there are a number of partitions alternately running up
from the bottom and down from the top, with a space for the
fumes to pass, their course being up and down, and up and
down again, and so on, for a distance of thirty feet to the
chimney, which is forty feet high. In the bottom of the con-
densing chamber is water. The walls between the fire cham-
ber and the ore chamber, and between the latter and the con-
densing chamber, are built with open spaces, so that the heat,
smoke, and fumes can pass through. The ore is placed in the
ore chamber in such a manner as to leave many open spaces.
The heat drives ofi" the sulphur and mercury of the ore in
fumes, which in passing through the condensing chambers, de-
posit the mercury, and the smoke and sulphur escape through
the chimney. In the Enriqueta and Guadalupe mines the
quicksilver is condensed in a close iron retort, and the sulphur
is absorbed by quicklime.

Copper ore is dug from several mines in California, but it is
all exported to be smelted elsewhere.

§ 216. Platinum. — Platinum, iridium, and osmium, three
white metals of about the same specific gravity with gold, are
found with the latter metal in the placers in the basin of
the Klamath and Trinity Rivers. Their particles are usually
fine scales, very rarely reaching a quarter of an ounce in weight.

288 KESOUECES OF C A L I F O K N I A .

and the largest piece of either ever found was^ less than an
ounce and a half. They cannot be separated from the gold by
washing, but they do not unite with quicksilver, and therefore
they are separated from the more precious metal by amalga-
mation. They have no regular market in the state ; miners
never make them the chief object of search, and they have
not been studied, so it is not known to what extent they might
be obtained.

§ 217. Del Korte and Klamath. — Del Norte county in the
northwestern corner of the state, is about forty miles long
from east to west by thirty from north to south. The mining
population in it is small. Most of the mining is done along the
banks of the Klamath River, which runs about twenty miles
through the southeastern portion of the county. There are
some miners on the head-waters of Althouse Creek, which runs
northward into Oregon. The county assessor, in his report for
1860, does not mention the existence of any quartz-mill or
minmg-ditch in the county. The mining districts are very
mountainous and difficult of access. They obtain most of their
supi^lies from Crescent City. The mining is chiefly in shallow
placers, in deej) and narrow ravines, and on bars of the Kla-
math River.

Klamath county lies immediately south of Del Norte, and is
about the same size. It is almost exclusively a mining county,
and has a population of about eighteen hundred. The diggings
are placers in the bars and banks of the Klamath River and
its tributaries, the Trinity and Salmon Rivers, and many small
creeks. The principal mining places are Orleans Bar, bullion's
Bar, Negro Flat, Cecilville, Weitspeck, and Red Cap. The
whole county is very rugged and mountainous, and much of it
is covered with heavy timber. The diggings are so difficult
of access, and are so protected by mountains against ditches,
that they will last for many years. There is probably no part
of the state where the single miner, without capital, has a
better chance to dig gold with a profit- Nearly the whole
beach of the county is auriferous.

MIXING. 289

§ 218. Siskiyou. — Siskiyou county lies east of Del Xorte
and Klamath, is forty miles wide from north to south, one
hundred miles long from east to west, and reaches to the
eastern boundary of the state. It has a population of 7,629,
the ^ large majority of whom are engaged in mining. The
mining district is all in the western end of the county, alono-
the banks of the Klamath River and its tributaries the Scott
and Shasta Rivers. The Klamath runs through a deep canon ;
the Scott and Shasta Rivers have pleasant open valleys, but the
diggings along their banks are chiefly among the caiions near
the Klamath. Hydraulic and tunnel claims are rare. There
are six qiiartz-mills in the county and fifteen mining-ditches,
of which last the principal is the Yreka canal, forty miles long,
bringing water from the head of Shasta River to the town of
Yreka. In 1859 there were four quartz-mills in the county,
one of Avhich was at Mugginsville, one in Scott's valley and
two in Quartz valley. I have no information about the situa-
tion of the two built since that time. The principal mining
towns are Yreka, Scott's Bar, Hawkinsville, Johnson's Bai°
Deadwood, and Cottonwood.

§ 219. Trinity and Shasta. ~'^o\\Xh of the western part of
Siskiyou and the eastern pait of Klamath, lies Trinity county,
ninety miles long from north to south, and about twenty miles
wide on an a\'erage. The northern part of the county is the
basin of the Trinity River, and is auriferous. From the county
Assessor's repoit for 1860, it is to be inferred that there is not
a quartz-mill or a mining-ditch in the state. The county is
very mountainous, and most of the mining is done in rugged
canons along the Trinity River. The chief mining towns are
Weaveiville, Cox's Bar, Big- Bar, Arkansas Flat, Mooney's
Flat, and Trinity Centre.

South of Siskiyou and east of Trinity Hes Shasta county,
which is on an average forty miles wide from north to south,
and one hundred miles long, reaching to the eastern border of
the state. There is a rich auriferous district about twenty
miles square, in the ^ icinity of the town of Shasta, in the
13

200 KESOURCES OF CALlFORi^IA.

southwestern part of the county. The diggings are mostly in
the basins of Clear Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Rock Creek,
and Salt Creek, all of which enter into the Sacramento. There
are four quartz-mills in the county, one at French Gulch, one
at Middle Creek, one at Muletown, and one at Old Diggings.
The county has twenty-seven raining ditches, with a joint length
of one hundred and forty-one miles, an average of five miles
each. The chief mining towns are Shasta, Horsetown, French
Gulch, Muletown, Briggsville, Whiskey, and Middletown.

§ 220. Plumas and Sierra. — South of the eastern part of
Shasta county lies Plumas, which is about seventy miles square.
About one-third of the county, in the southwestern part of it,
comprising that portion drained by the head-waters of Feather
River, is auriferous. It Kes high above the level of the sea,
and the work of mining is interrupted during a considerable
portion of the winter, by cold, snow, and ice. Hydraulic and
tunnel claims in deep hills, furnish a large portion of the gold
yield of the county. There are five quartz-mills, one at Eiiza-
bethtown, one at Eureka Lake, and three at Jamison Creek.
The principal mining towns are Quincy, Jamison City, Indian
Bar, Xelson's Point, and Poorman's Creek.

South of Plumas is Sierra county, which is fifty miles long
from east to west and twenty miles wide from north to south.
The North Fork of the Yuba* River runs through its cen-
tre, and the Middle Fork is its southern boundary. Though
small, it is one of the richest mining counties of the state, and
in proportion to the extent of its mining ground, is much
richer than any other county. All its territory is four thou-
sand feet above the sea-level, at the lowest. Most of the min-
ing is done in hydraulic and tunnel claims in deep hills. Near
the centre of the county is a mountain called the Downieville
Butte, or the Yuba Butte, eight thousand eight hundred and
forty-six feet high, on the sides of whicli are found some rich
quartz leads. In 1859 there were eleven quartz-mills in Sierra
county, of which seven are at the Butte, two at Downieville,
one at the Mountain House, and one at Sierra City. The

MINING. 291

principal mining towns are Downieville, Monte Cristo, Pine
Grove, St. Louis, La Porte, Poker Flat, Eureka City, Forest
City, Alleghany Town, and Cox's Bar. One of the most re-
markable features of the placers of the state is the blue lead,
which was first discovered in Sierra county, and has been more
thoroughly examined there than elsewhere. The "blue lead"
is a stratum of blue clay very rich in gold. It is found deep
under other strata. The general opinion is, that the blue lead
occupies the bed of a large antediluvian river, which ran parallel
with the Sacramento and about sixty miles eastward of it. It
has been traced twenty miles or more, passing near Monte
Cristo, Alleghany Town, Forest City, Chip's Flat, and Zion Hill.
Mr. C. S. Capp wrote thus to the San Francisco Bulletin :

" This is not one of the many petty leads, an inch or two in
breadth and thickness, which, after being traced a few hundred
feet, end as suddenly and mysteriously as they commence ; but
it is, evidently, the bed of some ancient river. It is often hun-
dreds of feet in width, and extends for miles and miles, a thou-
sand feet below the summits of high mountains, and entirely
through them. Now it crops out where the deep channels of
some of the rivers and ravines of the present day have cut it
asunder ; and then, hidden beneath the rocks and strata above
it, it only emerges again miles and miles away. Wherever its
continuity has been destroyed, the river or gulch waiich has
washed a portion of it away, was found to be immensely rich
for some distance below, and the materials of which the lead is
composed are found with the gold in the bed of the stream.
It is evidently the bed of some ancient stream, because it is
Walled in by steep banks of hard bed-rock, precisely like the
banks of rivers and ravines in which water now runs, and be-
cause it is composed of clay which is evidently a sedimentary
deposit, and of pebbles of black and white quartz, which
could only be rounded and polished as they are by the long-
continued action of swiftly running water. The bed-rock in
the bottom of this lead is worn into long smooth channels, and
also has its rouo-hnesses and crevices like other river-beds.

202 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The ligliter and poorer qualities of gold are found nearest to
its edges, while the heavier and finer portions have found their
way to the deeper places, near the centre. Trees and pieces
of wood, more or less petrified and changed in their nature,
which once floated in its waters, are also everywhere encoun-
tered throughout this stratum.

" The clay and fine gravel in which these pebbles and boul-
ders are found to be tightly packed, is of a light-blue color,
Avhich Gjives the name to the lead. Much of this clav is re-
markably fine and free from coarse particles, and is smooth and
unctuous to the touch. It is said to be strongly impregnated
with arsenic, as was shown by chemical analysis, and contains
large quantities of iron and sulphur in solution, for pyrites and
sulphurets of iron are deposited in shining metallic crystals in
every vacant crevice. Fine gold is found among this clay, and
the heavier particles beneath it, upon the bed-rock. This stra-
tum varies in thickness from eighteen inches to eight or ten
feet, vv^hile the whole lead varies in width from a hundred and
fifty to five hundred feet.

" The same lead has been found at Sebastopol, four miles
above Monte Cristo, and also higher up among the mountains.
It appears at M(;nte Cristo, which is four miles above the high-
lying Downieville, and over three thousand feet above it, and
at Chapparal Hill on the side of a deep ravine ; then at the
City of Six, which is also on very high land, about four miles
from Downieville, across the North Yuba. It is next found
at Forest City, on both sides of a creek, and is there traced
directly through the mountain to Alleghany Town and Smith's
Flat, on the opposite side. There it is again cut in twain by
a deep ravine. It crops out on the other side at Chip's Flat,
where it has been followed by tunnels passing completely
through the mountain to Centreville and Minnesota on the
other side. Here it is obliterated by the Middle Fork of the
Yuba, but it is believed to be again found at Snow Point, on
the opposite side of the river ; and again at Zion Hill, several
miles beyond. There is no reason for doubting that after thus

I

MIXING. 293

reaching over twenty miles, it still extends further. Hundreds
of tunnels have been run in search of it. Where the line it
follows was adhered to, they have always found it, and have
been well rewarded for their labor. Millions of dollars have
been taken from this lead, and its richness, even in portions
longest worked, is yet undiminished. These tunnels have cost
from $20,000 to 8100,000 each, and interests in the claims
they enter sell readily at from $1,000 to $20,000, in proportion
to the amount of ground within them remaining untouched,
and the facilities which exist for working it. Many of these
claims will yet afford from five to ten or more years' profitable
labor to their owners, before the lead itself within them is
exhausted. As in some of them quartz veins and poorer pay-
ing gravel have been found, many of them may be valuable to
work from the top down as hydraulic claims."

This idea that the blue lead occupies the bed of an an-
tediluvian river is however not uuiversally accepted. Mr.
B. P. Avery, who has written numerous newspaper articles
upon the mineral deposits, asserts that the "blue lead," as
it is called, is not a " lead" but an extensive stratum which
is many miles wide, and is found all the way from the foot hills
to the summit of the Sierra Nevada. In reply to this, it is
said that while a bluish stratum of clay similar to that of the
blue lead is found over a wide district, that it is evidently
different in origin from the blue lead itself, which is confined
to a narrow bed, and marked by the signs found in all the other
ancient river-beds of the state.

The Sierra Butte Quartz Mining Company has some of the
best auriferous quartz lodes in the state. One lode called the
Cliff Ledge, is twenty-five feet wide ; and another called the
Aerial Ledge, is about three feet wide. In the Cliff Ledge, the
paying rock averages about six feet in thickness next the foot-
wall. The average yield is eighteen dollars per ton. The
quartz is bluish-white in color, and very hard when first taken
from the lode, but on exposure to the air it slowly crumbles
into sand.

294 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 221 . Yiiha and Butte. — West of Sierra county, and drained
by the same streams, is Yuba, which reaches to the Sacramento
River, lyino: half in the mountains and half in the plain, the
mining district being in the former half. The principal min-
ing tovv^ns are Camptonville, Timbuctoo, Foster's Bar, Texas
Bar, and Long's Bar. In 1859 there were nine quartz-mills in
the county, three at Brown's valley, and one each at Camp-
tonville, Dobbin's Ranch, Dry Creek, Honcut, Indiana Creek,
and Robbin's Creek. The assessor in 18G0 reported only two
quartz-mills in the county. There are twenty-two ditches
in the county, with an aggregate length of nine hundred and
fifty-two miles, an average of forty-three miles each. The most
important ditch, called "Bovyer's," supplies Timbuctoo with
five thousand inches of water in the winter, less in the summer.
The diggings at Timbuctoo are in a deep hill, which is washed
aM'ay by the hydraulic process.

West of Yuba and Plumas counties lies Butte, which is
drained by the Feather River. The principal mining towns
are Oroville, BidweU's Bar, Forbestown, Natchez, and White-
rock. In 1859 there were seventeen quartz-mills in the county,
of which four were at Oregon Gulch, at Columbiaville and
Hansonville three each, two at Yankee Hill, and at Evansville,
Gold Run, Long Bar, Xesbitt's Flat, and Spring valley, one
each. The assessor reports for 1860, twenty-nine quartz-
mills, worth fifty thousand dollars, and crushing in the aggre-
gate one hundred and sixty-two and a half tons per day.
There are sixty-four mining-ditches, with an aggregate length
of five hundred and eighty-three miles. The bars and beds of
Feather River were once very rich, and some of the most ex-
tensive enterprises of river mining in the state have beeri
undertaken within the limits of Butte county. The greatest
flume ever built in California was that of the Cape Claim
Company, near Oroville, in 1857. It was three-quarters of a
mile long and twenty feet wide, and furnished employment for
two hundred and fifty men from May till November. The
expenditures during that period were $176,985, and the re-

MIXING. 295

ceipts $251,426, showing a clear profit of $74,441. The next
year, after the water had fallen, the company commenced its
labors again ; spent 8160,000 and received 8115,000, and thus
lost 845,000. North of Oroville is a "table-mountain" with
a top of basalt, covering a rich deposit of auriferous clay.

§ 222. Nevada and Placer. — South of Yuba and Butte is
Nevada, the richest mining county of the state. Within its
limits the torn, sluice, under-current sluice, and crinoline hose
'^were invented, and the ditch and hydraulic power were first
applied to placer-mining ; and quartz-mining was first under-
taken extensively. In 1859 there were thirty-two quartz-mills
in the county, and twenty-eight mining-ditches, with an aggre-
gate length of three hundred and ninety-four miles. No part
of the mineral region of the state is better supplied with water
than Nevada county. The richest quartz district is in the
vicinity of Nevada City, which has fifteen mills, and Grass
Valley, five miles distant, has seventeen. The great AUison
mine, which has the richest lode in the state, is in Grass
Yaliev.

The quartz mines here are much troubled with water,
and during the winter of 1860-^61 many of the mills were
compelled to stop for weeks until the shafts could be drained
by steam-engines, after having been filled by a long and heavy
rain. The annual gold yield of Grass Valley has been estimated
at four milhons of dollars. North San Juan has the finest hy-
draulic claims, and Sweetland the largest tail-sluices. The
Eureka Lake Ditch Company has more ditching and water
than any other company in the state. Their main ditch is
seventy-five miles long, and there are one hundred and ninety
miles of branches, making a total of two hundred and sixty-
five miles, which have cost nine hundred thousand dollars.
The daily sale of water is six thousand inches, with a weekly
income of six thousand dollars. The principal mining towns
are Nevada, Grass Valley, North San Juan, Kough and Ready,
Orleans Flat, Moore's Flat, and Humbug City.

Placer count/ lies next to Nevada going southward. The

296 KESOUllCES OF CALIFORNIA.

North Fork of the American River runs through the middle of
the comity, and the Middle Fork forms its southern boundary.
The piincipal mining towns are Auburn, Yankee Jim's, Gold
Hill, Dutch Flat, Todd's valley, Michigan City, Iowa Hill,
Batli and Wisconsin Hill. Two-thirds of the present gold yield
of the county is derived from hydraulic claims.

Some of the placer diggings near Bath are found in a peculiar
formation. The principal deposit is in a deep hill, at the bot-
tom of which is a stratum of pay-dirt, consisting of a fine sand}-*
sediment, Avith pebbles and pieces of quartz. The gold is
round and coarse. Above that is a stratum of blue gravel,
which varies from twenty to one hundred and fifty feet in
thickness. This blue gravel is "spoted ;" that is, in places it
pays well ; in other places it does not pay at all. Above this
stratum is another layer of pay-dirt composed of a reddish
gravel, which is about three feet thick on an average, and con-
tains little scales of gold. The top of the ridge is composed
of a whitish cement or tough clay, which, where exposed to
the air, is reddish in color, and resembles the red gravelly clay
found in most of the hills in the rich mining districts.

§ 223. El Dorado and Ainador. — El Dorado county ad-
joins Placer on the south, and is drained by the South Fork
of the American River, which runs through its centre, the
Middle Fork, which is its northern boundary, and the Cosum-
nes its southern boundary. It is the oldest pJacer-niining
county of the Sacramento basin, Marshall having made his
discovery within its limits ; and ten years ago it was called
the " Empire County," because it cast the largest vote in the
state, but it has now lost much of its population and fallen be-
hind several" others. The principal mining towns are Placer-
ville, Coloma, Georgetown, Diamond Springs, El Dorado,
SjDanish Bar, and Indian Diggings. In 1859 there were forty
quartz-mills in the county, of which six are at El Dorado,
three at Steeley's Fork, at Placerville, Nashville, Grizzly
Flat, Loafer Hollow, and Logtown two each, and the others
are scattered about. The county has fifty-one ditches, twelve

MINIXG. 297

hundred and fifty miles in aggregate length, the average
length being twenty-four miles.

"Indian Diggings," says Mr. Capp, "is a mining village
twenty-five miles southeastward from Placerville, on the bank
of Indian Creek. In this district, a belt of limestone, or blue
and white marble, rises in ridges through the slate bed-rock,
and is in places cut by the Avater into long and deep channels,
some of which serve as natural tail-races for the miners, but it
oftener renders large amounts of blasting necessary. The
claims in the bed of the creek formerly paid well, as the tail-
ings washed dowm from the hydrauhc clahiis above continually
enriched them. In some of the creek claims, in the middle of
the channel, deep holes were found, filled with a kind of dirt
diff*erent from that above it. This w^as sometimes extremely
rich, and in one claim a single panful paid three dollars. An-
other singular feature connected with these deep places, is that
they seem to have subterranean outlets, for in one instance a
hundred inches of w^ater poured in for three days, with all the
dirt it washed down, failed to have any perceptible efiect in
filling it up. It was finally stopped with bushes and gravel,
and the water turned ofi*. A mUe or more above this, in an-
other claim, a similar hole was discovered, and forty inches of
water poured in for several hours produced no visible progress
toward filling it. Here the miner was in doubt w^iether there
was a rich deposit of gold aw^aiting him down there, or w^hether
the bottom of his claim had fallen out altogether."

Amador county adjoins El Dorado, with the Cosumnes for
its northern boundary and the Mokelumne for the southern.
The principal mining towns are Jackson, Volcano, Butte City,
Dry ton, Fiddletown, Sutter Creek, and Lancha Plana. Much
of the bed-rock is marble. The county is rich in auriferous
quartz, and has thirty-two mills, of which six are at Sutter
Creek, five at Amador City, four at Dry Creek, at Volcano,
Clinton, Contreras, and North Fork of the Mokelumne, two
each, and at Big Bar Bridge, Butte City, Drytown, Grass
Valley, Gales' Ranch, Herbertsville, Oneida, and Rancheria

298 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Creek one eacli. Tlie county has eight mining-ditches, with an
aggregate length of one hundred and sixty-seven miles.

§ 224. Calaveras and Tuolumne. — Next to Amador is Cala-
veras county, bounded on the north by the Mokelumne River,
on the south by the Stanislaus River, with the Calaveras Rivei-
running between them. The principal mining towns are Moke-
lumne Ilill, San Andreas, Murphy's, Angel's, Yallecito, West
Pomt, Campo Secho, Douglass' Flat, Carson, Jesus Maria, and
Esperanza. The county has thirty- three quartz-mills, of which
twelve are at Angel's, at Carson and the South Fork of the Mok-
elumne River four each, three at the North Fork of the Mok-
elumne, at "West Point, Rich Gulch, Murray's Creek and the
Middle Fork of the Mokelumne, two each, and at Bear Creek
and McKinney's Humbug one each. Mr. Capp says, " The main
wealth of the district about West Point consists in its quartz
leads, which are so numerous that several of the residents in-
formed me, that starting three miles north of West Point, and
proceeding south for a distance of nine miles to the junction
of the forks of the Mokelumne, a j^erson would cross a quartz
vein in every hundred yards. About one hundred of these veins
have been prospected upon the surface, and scarcely any have
been found that did not prove to contain gold. As a proof of
the richness of the veins of this district, it would be sufficient to
state that large numbers of Mexicans and other Spaniards are
now working them successfully, although they pay fi-om one
dollar to one dollar and fifty cents per cargo of three hundred
pounds, to have the rock ground in arastras, to which freight
from the leads to the mills along the river has also to be added.
Mexicans who do their own work, cannot possibly afford to
work rock that does not at least pay three dollars per cargo,
or tw^enty dollars per ton, and in fact they seldom do work
rock that pays less than six dollars per cargo and forty dollars
per ton.

" There is very little slate in this district, and nearly all the
quartz veins are encased in granite, which is usually much de-
composed. Occasionally, the granite appears to 'pinch' the

MixixG. 299

quartz leads until they become very thin, but by tracing them
on further, or downwards, they again swell out to their origi-
nal size, and sometimes bulge out beyond it. In such places,
and at the intersection of small veins, very rich deposits of
gold are frequently found, wdiich, from their narrowness and
the depth to which they extend, the Spaniards call clavos or
nails. The principal portion of the rock about Angel's is of a
greenish and gray color, and contains large quantities of the
sulphuret of iron. Mixed with this are streaks and veins of
white quartz or limestone. The sulphurets are found, either in
irresrular bright crystalline masses, or small threads and veins.
Some of these veins are as much as eight inches in thickness.
In other portions of the green rock, the sulphurets are scat-
tered all through it, as separate and minute square crystals.
The whole formation v»'ill probably become one solid vein when
any considerable depth is reached ; but near the surface it is
cut up into separate veins by streaks and wedges of slate,
which do not appear to contain any gold. These streaks of
slate are from a fev\^ inches to several feet in thickness. The
poorer portions of the rock contain from twelve to sixteen per
cent, of the sulphurets, while the richest are nearly pure
crystals, among which the gold is seen shining in small par-
ticles and scales."

In the southeastern corner of Calaveras county, thirty-five
miles from Stockton, are mines of carbonate and sulphuret of
copper. During the first three months of 1861, four hundred
tons of ore, containing about thirty-three per cent, of metal,
were taken out, and one-half the amount was shipped to the
Eastern states. The cost of getting the ore out and hauling
it to Stockton has been eight dollars per ton.

Tuolumne adjoins Calaveras county, and is bounded by the
Stanislaus River on the north, and the divide between the
Tuolumne and Merced Rivers on the south, the former stream
being within the limits of the county. The principal mining
towns are Sonora, Columbia, Springfield, Shaw's Flat, James-
town, Chinese Camp, Big Oak Flat, Garrote, Don Pedro's

300 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Bar, and Pine Log. The first four are within a circle with a
radius of five miles, a district which has been extremely rich
in placer diggings, and especially in large nuggets. In 1850
two lumps of twenty-three pounds, one each of eighteen, thir-
teen, ten, five, four, and three pounds, were found; in 1851
one each of twenty-eight, twenty-four, twenty-three, and five
pounds; in 1852 one each of nine and five pounds ; in 1853
one each of tAventy, ten, nine, eight, seven, and six pounds ; in
1854 one each of seventy-two, twenty-seven, sixteen, and seven-
teen pounds; in 1855 one of thirty pounds ; and in 1858 one
of thirty-three pounds. Two of the largest mining ditches in
the state supply water to the miners in the vicinity of Sonora
and Columbia. The number of mining ditches in the county
is twenty-one, and their aggregate length two hundred and
seventy miles. There are thirty quartz-mills, of which four are
at Quartz Hill, four at Tuttletown, three on the banks of the
Tuolumne River, and as many on Turnback Creek, at Colum-
bia, Soulsby's Ranch, and Wood's Creek two each, and at Bald
mountain. Big Oak Flat, Italian Camj), Jackson Flat, Moc-
casin Creek, Rawhide Ranch, Sonora, Whiskey Hill, Wood's
Crossing, and Yankee Hill, one each. The table-mountain in
Tuolumne county is the most remarkable elevation of its kind
in the state. It has an average height of five hundred feet, an
average width of four hundred yards, a length of thirty miles,
and a surface almost perfectly flat, slightly descending toward
the west. It was evidently formed by an immense stream of
lava, which was once confined between banks higher than its
own surface, which banks have since been washed away, leav-
ing the stream of lava standing like a mountain above the level
of the adjacent country. The sides near the top are perpen-
dicular and of solid basalt ; fiirther down they are sloping, and
composed of dirt and fragments of basalt that have fallen from
above. Under the basalt lie the gravel and sand of the ancient
river-bed, enclosed at the sides by ridges of rock, which rise
above the level of the adjacent plain. When therefore the min-
ers first wished to reach the auriferous deposits under the moun-

iii:xixG. 301

tain, it was necessary for them to cut tunnels through a rim of
rock ; but now that many of the tunnels have dramed away all
the water, they are started up on the hill-side above the rock, and
cut in sloping downward, so that the hard bed-rock is avoided,
and in many places the tunnels made on this pUm may run all
the way through soft dirt. It is established beyond all reason-
able doubt, that the auriferous deposit under the basalt was
once the bed of an ancient river. Every mark indicates it.
The wide water-worn bed, the bends, the bars, the deposits of
gravel in eddies, the collection of coarse gold in the centre,
the position of the large flat stones, all pointing dovvm stream,
the remains of fresh-water mollusks, and the beds of little
tributary streams — all these are conclusive proof that a large
river once ran where this mountain now stands. The pay-dirt
is a tough clay filled with large stones, and is from a foot to
six feet deep. In one place a claim one hundred superficial
feet square yielded seventy-five thousand dollars. The dis-
tance from the outside of the mountain to the pay-dirt, varies
from six to twelve hundred feet. About ten miles east of
Sonora is the Soulsby quartz lead, one of the richest in the
state.

§ 225. Mono and 2Iarlposa. — Eastward of Tuolumne, east
of the summit of the Sierra Xevada, and within the limits of
the Great Basin, lies the county of Mono, which contains the
gold placers of Mono Lake and Walker River, and the silver
lodes of Esmeralda. The placers of Walker and Mono are
neither extensive nor rich ; water is scarce ; and the winters
are so cold that mining is necessarily interrupted. The Walker
diggings are seventy-five miles southward from Carson City,
and the Mono placers are twenty-five miles further in the same
direction. Tlie Esmeralda mines are in a nest of mountains of
the same name, most of the ridges of which run north and
south, and are composed of eruptive rocks, such as trap and
basalt, with occasional greenstone and porphyry. The argen-
tiferous region lies in a rugged part of the mountains, about
five thousand feet above the level of the sea. The ore is all a

302 EESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

sulphuret of silver, in a gangiie of gray quartz, running through
trap and porpliyritic greenstone. The lode called the Esmer-
alda, the most prominent and apparently the mother lode of
the district, runs with the meridian, and contains very little
or no gold, while other leads, running at right-angles to it, con-
tain nmch free gold ; that is, j^articles of metallic gold which
liave formed no chemical union with the silver ore. The Esmer-
alda mines were discovered in August, 1860, by J. M. Cory;
not much of the ore has been taken out, no mills have been
erected, little of the ore has been reduced, and therefore not
much is known of the real wealth of the district, although little
doubt is entci'tained that it will in time produce much silver.
There are several small ditches at the Mono placers, but the
county has no quartz-mills, and thus far no auriferous quartz
has been discovered.

South of Tuolumne lies Mariposa county, which is drained
by the Mariposa and Merced Rivers. The mines are shallow
placers and quartz. There is, I believe, not a hydraulic or
tunnel claim in the county, and the mining-ditches are few.
The towns are small ; the population in the placers misteady
and irregular in their mode of life ; and the county, taken as a
Avhole, is considered one of the most unpleasant parts of the
state for the home of a family. In consequence of the scarcity
of ditches there is no watei* in summer, and the placer miners
therefore lie idle during a great part of the year, and either go
to other counties or spend their time in dissipation. The
county assessor reports five mining-ditches w^ith a total length
of forty-two miles.' The quartz lodes are numerous and rich.
There are thirty-four quartz-mills, of which four are on Fre-
mont's ranch ; four at Coulterville ; at Gentry's Gulch anil
Whitlock Creek three each; at AguaFria, Bean's Creek, Bear
valley. Burns' Creek, Mariposa Town, Mariposa Creek and
Stockton Creek two each ; and at Bull Creek, Corbett's Creek,
Guadalupe, Mount Ophir, North Fork, Quartzburg, and Sax-
ton's Creek one each. The Fremont ranch, which contains
forty-eight thousand acres, is the most valuable mineral estate

MINING. 303

in California, and includes Bear yallej-, one of the richest
quartz districts in the world. There are two principal lodes,
called the Pine-Tree and Josephine, which unite and form a
vein thirty feet wide. The rock crushed at the mills of the
estate averages fourteen dollars to the ton.

§ 226. Fresno^ etc. — Fresno county, south of Mariposa, has
the Chowcliilla River for its northern boundary, and the Fresno
and head-waters of the San Joac[uin witliin its limits. These
streams are all auriferous, but the diggings are not rich, and
the gold is not fine in quality. There are no mining towns of
note in this county.

Between the San Joaquin River and White River, a distance
of one hundred miles, the Sierra Xevada is barren of gold.
White River is in Biiena Yista county, and is not rich, but has
some small districts of placer nunes and a little quartz.

Kern River in the same county has a small extent of placer
ground and a good deal of auriferous quartz, most of which is
crushed and amalgamated with the arastra.

In latitude 36^ 20', east of the Sierra Nevada and Owen's
Mountains, lies the Coso argentiferous district, a region of
which very little is known as yet.

Gold placers are found in the San Francisquito Pass, forty-
live miles northward from Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel
vanon, twenty miles northeastward from the Mission of San
Gabriel in Bear vallev, fifteen miles eastward of San Bernar-
dino, on the banks of the Colorado, twenty miles north of Fort
Yuma, and in the Sierra of Santa Lucia, near the Mi:;s:on of
San Antonio. It is said that veins of auriferous and argen-
tiferous quartz are also found in Bear valley, and in Holcomb
valley in the slopes of Mount San Bernardino, and that there
is rich auriferous quartz at Amargosa in the valley of the
Mohave, north of the sink of that river.

Note. — The statement of the number of quartz-mills and mming canals in
the several counties, is taken from H. Gr. Langley's State liegister.

304 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER IX.

OTHER BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY.

§ 227. High Wages. — There are two great difficulties in the
way of the productive industry of California, the high prices
of labor and the high rates of interest. These may be bless-
ings to certain classes of individuals, and perhaps even to the
population generally, but they render it impossible for Califor-
nia to compete with foreign manufacturers in many branches
of employment. The great distance of our state from Europe
and Atlantic ports — San Fi'ancisco is about nineteen thousand
miles from New York, by the route followed by the sailing
vessels ordinarilv — and the hio^h freio:ht on merchandise, is a
great protection to our home industry, and the Federal tariff
gives us a further protection on many articles ; but neverthe-
less, a large proportion of the manufactured goods consumed
heie are imported from abroad, and probably will be for many
years to come. We have no secondary coal in the state, and
cannot expect to smelt iron ore, or to make cutlery or fine
articles of hardware. Some cotton is produced on the shores
of China and is now ship2;)ed to England ; perhaps we may at
some future day be able to import it raw and manufiicture it
here, but of this there is no certainty. We cannot hope to
obtain much cotton from this side of the Pacific, for the west-
ern slope of the Xorth American continent is not suited to
cotton growing. Xow^ coal, iron, and cotton are the raw ma-
terial for a large share of the most profitable manufactures of
our age. We shall produce a large quantity of fine m'ooI, and
it will in time be spun and woven here with a profit. Lum-
ber is so bulky tliat it cannot well be imported from abroad,

OTHEK BRANCHES OF INDUSTEY. 305

and our forests are so extensive and convenient to the market,
that Ave can make our lumber as cheap as that made elsewhere.
We have extensive fisheries and they must be developed. We
must build our own houses, and construct our own roads, rail-
ways, mining-ditches, and flumes. We now import all our
hardware, glassware, porcelain, stationery, silks, cottons, fine
w^oollen goods, and nearly all our clothing, boots, shoes, and
fine furniture, and many of our agricultural implements, me-
chanical tools, wagons, and carriages.

There has been a gradual fall in the wages of labor since
1849. For instance, in that year the wages of good carpen-
ters were sixteen dollars per day; in 1851, ten dollars; in
1853, seven dollars; in 1856, five dollars; and now four dol-
lars; and there* has been a similar decrease of w^ages in all
those branches of labor much in demand. Tailors, shoemakers,
and cabinet-makers have never received high wages, because
httle is done in their trades. ]Millers, calkers, and sLip-wrights
now get from four to six dollars per day ; bricklayers, stone
masons and plasterers from four to five dollars ; boiler-makers,
machinists, and pattern-makers four dollars ; carpenters, black-
smiths, and carriage-makers from three to four dollars ; house-
painters, papei^hangers, and stevedores three dollars; hod-
men and washerwomen two dollars ; common laborers one dol-
lar and seventy-five cents. Of such persons as are hired by
the month and boarded, ^•ardeners i^ret thirtv-five dollars : farm-
ers, teamsters, w^aiters, sailors, chambermaids, and seamstresses
twenty-five dollars. Clerks in stores get from thirty to sixty
dollars with boarding ; from fifty to one hundred dollars with-
out boarding. The best miners, of the class called " drifters,"
who cut and blast tunnels and dig shafts, get four dollars per
day ; common miners get fifty dollars a month and boarding.
The w^ages of labor in California are now higher than in any
other pait of the w^orld.

§ 228. Z/imibering. — Lumbering, or the preparation of forest
timber for industrial purposes, is an important branch of the
industry, and the sale of lumber is an important branch of the

306 KESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

trade of the state. Our houses are built ofhimljer, our streets
are phxnked Avitli himber, our fields are fenced with lumber,
and our flumes and sluices are made of lumber. And some
parts of the state are very rich in timber and can leadily
supply the whole demand. Lumber is of three kmds, sawii,
hewn, and split ; the last two kinds being very small in im-
portance as compared with the first. About one hundred and
seventy millions of feet of lumber are sawn annually in Cali-
fornia, and at the average price of twenty dollars per one
thousand feet at the mill, the total amount of the lumber trade
mav be estimated at three millions of dollars. The chief lum-
bering districts are in the Sierra Nevada, and very near the
coast. Mendocino is the largest lumbering county of the state,
and according to the assessor's report for 1860,*produced thirty-
five millions of feet in that year. The mills are at Timber
Cove and the mouths of the Noyo, Albion, and Big Rivers ;
and the timber is nearly all redwood. Humboldt occupies
the next place, sawing thirty million feet per annum ; and
Santa Cruz county next, with ten million feet annually. All
the timber cut in Santa Cruz is redwood ; in Humboldt there
are about equal amounts of redwood, spruce, and fir, and a
little fragrant cedar. Santa Cruz ships much luuiber to the
southern part of the state, and Mendocino and Humboldt
supply most of the redwood lumber for the San Francisco
m trket. The lumber cut in the mining counties is mostly used
near home, large amounts being consumed for sluices, flumes,
and in other mining enterprises.

The method of getting the logs to the mills in Humboldt
county is peculiar. The mills are all on the shores of Hum-
boldt Bay, which is surrounded by flat land six or eight
miles wide. Through this flat land run tide-water sloughs or
channels, into which brooks run from ravines in the hills. The
land in this county has all been Federal property, and has been
open to pre-emption ; and most of the lumbermen have laid
claim to the tracts where they work, or have bought them
with state-school warrants, under which anv of tlic Federal

OTHEE BKAXCHES OF IXDUSTRY. 307

land in the state open to pre-emption, may be purchased. The
himbermen owning claims along the sloughs, drag their logs
to the water and tumble them in. Those owning claims along
the ravines, at the heads of the sloughs, have a wooden tram-
way made by laying down long poles, about six inches in
diameter and four feet apart. On this tramway runs a wagon
with four wheels, each wheel of solid vrood eight inches wide,
and from two to three feet in diameter, made of a transverse
section of a tree. On this wagon one or two logs are placed
at a time, and two mules easily haul the load down hill to the
slough, and then haul the empty wagon back again. The
slope in these little ravines is very gradual, so there is no diffi-
culty either in hauling the load down, or the wagon up. The
thickness of the logs varies from sixteen inches (nothing
smaller is sawn) to nine feet. The average thickness is four
feet and a half; seven feet is a common thickness in redwood.
Of pine and spruce logs the largest are five feet through ; the
average thickness is three feet. The greater the thickness of
a log, the shorter it is cut. The ordinary lengths of saw-logs
are fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-four, and thirty-
two feet. Redwood is rarely sawn more than twenty feet
long ; spruce and pine usually of that length or longer. A
good lumberman Avill cut down a redwood tree three feet in
diameter in an hour ; a tree five feet in diameter in three
hours and a half ; a tree seven feet in diameter in six hours.
Ordinarily two choppers work together, one on each side of
the tree, and then, of course, they fell it in half the time that
would be required for one man alone. They use the Ameri-
can axe and American axe-handle ; the handle being about a
foot longer than is used in common chopping. After the tree
is down, it is cut into saw-logs with a cross-cut saw, managed
by one man. It has been found that one man can make a
lonf^er stroke than two, and the lens^th of the stroke is a mat-
ter of much importance to " clear the saw," or throw out the
saw-dust ; so the handle at one end of the common cross-cut
saw is knocked ofi", and it is then held like the ordinary hand-

308 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA.

saw. The logs in the ravines are all cut withm a hundred
yards of the tram-way, to which they are dragged by oxen.
The logs once thrown into the slough, are made into rafts
from fifty to one hundred yards long, and from ten to forty feet
wide. The outer logs of the rafts are fastened to each other
at the ends, by a little chain with a tooth or dog at each end,
and one dog is driven into each log. There are then ropes
running across in several places to keep it from spreading out
in the middle. This is a very easy and simple method of mak-
ing a raft and the logs are not injured in the least. When the
raft is all complete, the lumbeimen get on it, and float with
the tide down to the mills, which are on the shore of the bay
near the mouth of the slough. The distance from the point
where the rafts are made to the mills, varies from three to
eight miles. When the tide turns, the raft is made fast to a
tree or stump on the shore, and the loggers wait until the ebb
commences again. Two tides will usually carry a raft to the
mill. Every mill has a boom or enclosure for logs. This en-
closure consists merely of large and long logs chained together
and floating on the surface of the water, of a small slough or
cove. When the raft arrives the boom is opened, the raft
pulled in and surveyed. The logs are generally cut by com-
panies of " loggers" who devote themselves to that business,
and sell their logs to the mills. The survey is made by a
surveyor, a public ofticer of the county, who is under bonds.
He receives ten cents per one thousand feet of lumber, board
measure, one-half to be paid by the loggers and one-half by
the mill. The thickness of the log is taken at the small end,
and one-fourth is throw^n off for waste. The large logs will
usually produce more lumber, and the small ones less than the
amount indicated by this mode of measurement. In some places
along the streams it is not convenient to make tram-ways, so the
logs are cut in the summer and are piled up on the bank until
the heavy rains of winter come, when there is enough water
to carry the logs down, and then they are thrown in. The
current carries them down to the slough, where the channel is

OTHER BKA>:CHES OF INDUSTRY. 309

■wide and the current more moderate, and there they are
cauf>:ht by a boom, v, hich is made bv drivmo; a heavy pile into
the bank on each side, and chaining a large and long log to it.
These two logs are chained together at their lower ends, and
thus hold all the logs coming down from aboye. The bcom
logs may be three or four feet in diameter, and seventy-five feet
in length. A Httle stream, a foot deep and three feet wide in
•tlie summer, will increase its volume of water a hundred-fold
in winter, and carry down logs ten feet in diameter. Such a
brook often supplies five milhon feet (board measure) of logs
in a season.

There is no place in the world where the average thickness
of the logs sawn in the saw-mills, is so large as in Humboldt
county, and the mills are built with special reference to the
size of the logs. The frames are made A'ery large and strong,
and the saws are of proportionate length. The saAwe used in
the mills are of four kinds : the single-gate saw, the gang-saws
in a gate, the muley-saw, and the circular saw. The single-
gate saw is fastened in a frame or gate, which plays up and
down. This saw is used for sawing small logs, and is not
found in very large mills. The gang-saws are a set of saws
fastened in a frame parallel to each other. In some gangs
there are tAventy four saws side by side, and they cut a log
into boards at one movement. The gang-saws move slowly and
make smooth lumber. All the board<, plank, joists, rafters,
and studding, are cut with gang-saws. Thi largest legs cut
with gang-saws are not more than three feet and a half through.
The muley-saw is an upright saw, which is lastened at the
lower end to a shaft connecting with the steam-engine or
water-power, and the upper end is loose, thoigh it plays in a
groove to keep it straight. The muley is used for cutting the
largrpst losrs into bolts, and takins^ oif slabs, so as to reduce
the logs to a size suitable for other saws to work upon. The
muley-saw makes three hundred strokes in a minute, whereas
the gate-saw makes only about one hundred. The gate of
a gate-saw large enough to saw logs nine feet in diameter,

o

10 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

would be too heavy for convenience or quick work. Tlie cir-
cular saws are used for cutting all the thin siding, pickets, and
laths. The largest circular saws are fifty-two inches in diam-
eter, leavinjx ahout twentv-four inches on each side of the axle.
"When larore lojrs are to be sawn with circular saws, one saw
is put above the other, and one cuts into the log from above,
and the other from below, so that they can saw a log four feet
in diameter. The frame-work for the circular-saw mills is
lighter than that necessary for the upright saws ; and circular-
saw inills are not unfrequently moved about on wagons from
one place to another. The circular saw is used almost exclu-
sively in the Sierra ^N'evada. In Mendocino county and. at
Santa Cruz, the muley and circular saws are used without the
gang-saws. The cost of sawing lumber is about the same
w^ith the circular saw as with the upright saw. The circular
saw is moi-e dnngerons to the sawyer, and requires more skill
in mechanics, so the wages of a man to manage a circular saw
are one hundred and fifty dollars per month, while the wages
of a man for an upright saw are only sixty dollars. The bark
of the redwood is always taken off before the log is put into
the mill. A tree seven feet in diameter will make four thou-
sand feet of lumber, on an average. In Mendocino county
the logs are cut in the summer along the little streams, and in
the winter they are carried down by the high water to the
mills, where they are caught by large booms, but as the rivers
are large with fierce currents, these booms are sometimes
broken, when millions of feet of logs are swept out to sea and
jost. The lumber after being sawn, is shipped to San Fran-
cisco in schooners, varying from one hundred and "fifty to
three hundred tons burden. The freight is eight or nine dol-
lars per one thousand feet. Most of the trees convenient for
the lumbermen near the mills in Mendocino county, have been
cut away ; but about Kumboldt Bay the supply will last many
years. In the Sierra Nevada, the circular-saw mills ordinarily
move from place to place, so as to have the timber near at
] and. In the valleys of Eel River there are hundreds of red-

OTHER r, P. A X C il E S OF I N D U S T K Y . 311

Avood trees twenty feet in diameter, and one measuring twenty-
eio-bt feet. On the trail from Humboldt Bay to Trinidad, there
are very large trees, and indeed all along the coast, from Eel
River to the Klamath, there are numerous trees of mammoth
size.

The spruce cut at Humboldt Bay is light and is used for
packing-boxes. The redvrood is used for siding, furniture,
railroad-sleepers, telegraph-poles, fence-posts, and all kinds of
house-work, inside and out. The fragrant cedar has an odor
suggestive of a mixture of turpentine and ottar of roses, and is
used for cupboards, clothes-presses, and inside-work of houses.
Fir is used for fence-boards, studding, rafters, joists, and
plank, but the grain is too coarse for inside-work of houses.
Most of the lumber cut in the Sierra Kevada is sugar-pine, a
clear, good wood, which is the chief material for inside work
and furniture in the mining districts.

The principal khids of split lumber produced in California,
are fence-posts, rails, pickets, and shingles. The redwood-tree
splits very freely, smoothly, and straight ; and furnishes nearly
all the split lumber of the coast. It is a favorite tree for fence-
posts, telegraph-poles, and railroad-sleepers, because of its
great durability under ground, lasting three or four times as
long as any other wood in common use. For split lumber, the
tree is cut down and divided with a cross-out saw, in the same
manner as for saw-logs. The choice of the trees for splitting
is important, as they differ greatly in the straightness of the
grain, and tlie facility of splitting. Those trees which grow
in places exposed to the wind are often twisted, and the wood
is full of curls, and will not open without splintering. Where
the wood twists, indications of the course of the grain will
usually be found in the course of the seams in the bark. The

%■'

best trees are those with a straight, perpendicular growtli,
preserving nearly the same thickness one hundred feet up, as
at the surface of the ground, with no limbs for one hundred
and fifty feet, with thin, smooth bark, seamed with perpendic-
ular lines. It is a pleasure to strike an axe into such a tree.

312 Ei: SOURCES OF CALIFOEXIA.

The length of tlic log depends upon the kind of lumber wanted.
Posts are seven feet long ; fence-rails ten or twelve feet ;
P'ickets from five to seven feet ; rafters, joists, and boards from
twelve to twenty feet. The work of splitting usually com-
mences at the end nearest the root of the tree. The lumber-
man draws a straight line with a pencil across the end of the
log, and through the centre, avoiding any knot or curl appa-
rent in the wood. He then sets his axe in this line and drives
it with a stroke or two of the maul half an inch into the wood,
takes it out, and moves a little further along till he has opened
the line across the loi?. Then he sets the axe in the I02: near
the centre, and drives it in with the maul several inches deep ;
then takes another axe and drives it in on the other side of
the centre, and when the second axe has entered two inches,
the log, if a good one, will split across the end. He introduces
iron wedges in the end and drives them in, and takes out the
axes ; and then uses wooden wedges or gluts, first at the end,
and then at the side of the log. In subdividing the log, he
always ti-ies to have as much wood on one side of the wedge
as on the other ; for if there be more than an equal share of
wood on one side of the wedge, the s})ht will not run straight
with the grain, but will gradually approach the weaker side,
so that the piece split off will be smaller at one end than at
the other. The redwood when well managed splits so beauti-
fully, that boards are frequently made twelve feet long, a foot
wide and an inch thick, and almost as smooth as if sawn. One
of the most important places in the state for the manufacture
of split lumber is Lexington, on the Santa Cruz mountain, fif-
teen miles south west ward from San Jose. Fence-posts made
four inches thick, six inches wide, and seven feet long; fence-
rails ten or twelve feet long, two or three inches thick, and
six inches wide ; pickets six and a half feet long, three inches
square ; and shingles eighteen inches long. The posts and
rails are sold at eight cents apiece ; the pickets at twenty-five
dollars per thousand ; and the shingles at four dollars and fifty
cents per thousand.

OTHER BRAXCHES OF INDUSTRY. 313

§ 229. Fishing. — The rivers of California and the waters of
the ocean near its coast abound with fish. Trout are caught
in the little streams, salmon in the Sacramento, and San Joa-
quin, and the rivers emptying into the ocean north of San Fran-
cisco Bay, and a great variety of fish are caught in the ocean.

Our fisheries are as vet so limited in extent that few fish
are salted, nearly aU going while fresh to supply the market
of the towns on the coast. Salmon is the only fish salted
for export. The species of salmon caught in our waters is
called the Quinnat salmon. They are born in the rivers, go
out to sea when three or four months old, stay out at sea
some months, probably not less than fifteen months, and then
return to the river in which they were born, there to spawn.
The Quinnat salmon, as found in our waters, averages ten
pounds in weight and sometimes grows to sixty pounds. It
enters our rivers in November and remains about four months.
Before our rivers were kept in a continual state of muddiness
by the gold miners, the salmon ascended every brook in the
Sierra Xevada, large enough for a fish to swim in, but now
they do not leave the large rivers nor ascend them far. The
salmon in clear water offer fine sport to the fisherman with the
fly, but in California they are caught only as a matter of busi-
ness, and always in the gill-net, which has meshes just large
enough to let the fish get his head in, and then the twine
catches him behind the gills and holds him. The net is not
dragged, but is stretched across or partly across the river and
is allowed to drift with the current down stream, a distance
of some hundreds of yards, perhaps a quarter or even half a
mile, the fishermen accompanying it in a boat. The net has
lead sinkers at the bottom and cork floats at the top, so as to
keep it upright, and it is not so deep as to catch on the bottom.
The fish are swimming up the river, so they of course run into
the net. A large number of salmon are taken in Eel River,
Humboldt county, and great quantities might be caught in the
Klamath and other streams along the northern coast. A few
young salmon varying from three to six inches in length, are
14

314 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

caught while ou their way out to sea, with fine nets in the shal-
low waters of San Francisco Bay. The Quhinat salmon is fat
when it enters the fresh waters from the ocean, but gradually
grows lean, and the color, which is light yellowish-red, changes
to a deeper shade as it ascends the rivers. The meat becomes
leaner, poorer in flavor, and redder in color in proportion to
the length of time that it remains in fresh water; but the
little ones, which have never seen the salt water, have a more
delicate meat than the larger ones fresh from the ocean. No
attempt has yet been made to breed fish for our rivers, though
it might evidently be done to a profit in many of the streams ;
but whether in the Sierra Nevada, where the mud abounds, is
doubtful. Yet the probabilities of success are sufiicient to
justify the trial. Fifteen years ago the salmon regularly as-
cended all, or nearly all, the mountain streams to points above
any of the present mining camps, where the waters are as clear
now as thev were in 1847. The rule is known to be sreneral
and sujoposed to be universal, that the salmon leave the ocean
in the stream from which they entered it; and it is supposed
further that they go to the very branch or brook in which they
were born. It is well known that there is a salmon in the Kla-
math River never seen in Humboldt Bay, and various species
in the Columbia never found in the waters of California, and
salmon in the Quiniault River, Washington territory, not found
yet in any other stream ; and the Indians of Oregon say that
certain tributaries of the Columbia have species never caught
in any other place. If then a million of eggs were hatched at
the head-waters of the Sacramento River, there would be reason
to hope that they would return to spawn there.

The legislature has passed an act in regard to the salmon
fishery. It provides that the run of salmon shall not be ob-
structed by any dam, weir, fence, or fixed stop-net ; and that
no person shall catch with a net in the San Joaquin River, or
any tributary, in August, September, and the first half of Oc-
tober ; or in any other salmon stream of the state in August,
October, December, and January ; nor shall any person, save

OTHER BRAXCHES OF INDUSTRY. 315

Indians, sell fresh salmon during the season when fishinsr with

■* CD <D

the net is prohibited. There is no legal prohibition against
taking other jSsh, or shell-fish at any season of the year.

The haUbut are not sutficientlv abundant on the coast to
make the fishery for them a distinct branch of business. They
are caught with a hook at sea in water varying from thirty to
fifty fathoms deep, on rocky bottoms. The line called a " trawl-
line" is about six hundred yards along, w^ith numerous short
lines and hooks, and is left six or eight hours in a place, and
when drawn up has halibut, flounders, rock-fish, turbot, cod,
and nearly all the large biting fish that come to the market.
The bait used is chiefly sardines and herrings.

The mackerel {Scomber diego)^ a good fish, but smaller than
the Atlantic mackerel, is caught with a hook ofiT the coast
south of Point Conception. It is a surface fish, and bites
greedily at a bit of white rag or shining fish-skin jerked
through the water. It does not frequent bays, but is caught
in the harbors of Catalina Island. A number of vessels are
now emploved in the mackerel fisherv of California.

The little brown rock-fish [Sebastes auriculatiis\ is caught
in San Francisco Bay about the wharves ; but the other
species are only found out in the open sea. They stay
where the bottom is rocky, eat crabs and shell-fish, and bite
freely at hooks. Most of them are caught near Punta Reyes
and the Farallone Islands. The rock-fish are in the market
and of equally good quality throughout the year.

The turbot is cansrht with the trawl-line throng^hout the

C? kD

vear. Soles are cauorht with small mesh-nets in the shallow
waters of the bay of San Francisco at all seasons of the year.
There is no separate fishery for them ; they are caught with
numerous other species of small fishes, amon^^ which the
smelts have an important place. The smelts are much more
abundant than on the Atlantic coast, go in large shoals, and
are caught at all seasons. A large business might be done in
salting them, but they are caught only for the fresh market.
The anchovies are very numerous in San Francisco Bay, where

31G RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

they try to keep in shoals by themselves, but do not succeed,
and are caught with other small fishes in nets. They are
fully equal to the European anchovy, and will soon become an
important article of commerce. At present most of those
taken are eaten fresh, and only a few are potted. They are
caught at all seasons of the year. Sardines are also abundant,
and of a flavor equal to those on the coast of France, but
larger. They are found in all the bays along the coast from
May to October. An attempt was made several years ago to
pickle sardines for the market, but it failed. The herring is not
abundant on the coast of California, or at least is not found
here in such dense shoals as in the Atlantic, and our species is
smaller. It is caug^ht with a net in the shallow waters of the
bays. There are no shad in the waters of California. Shrimps
are caught in the shallow waters of the bay of San Francisco
with small mesh-nets, but are becoming very scarce The
sturgeon visits the rivers of the Atlantic states for only a
couple of months in a year, but it is abundant in the Califor-
nian rivers at all seasons. It never bites, the mouth being a
round hole, always open, surrounded with gristle. In the
Eastern states the sturgeon is often harpooned, but here it is
caught only with nets. The meat is coarse, and is sold at one-
fourth or one-sixth the price demanded for the meat of other
fishes. The sturgeon might be salted, but nothing has been
done in that business yet. An attempt was made several
years ago in San Francisco to establish the business of prepar-
ing caviare from the roe of the sturgeon, but it did not prove
profitable and it was abandoned. Sea-bass, a fish of fine, deli-
cate flavor, and highly prized by epicures, is caught with hand-
lines outside the heads of San Francisco Bay, and in the bay
near Saucelito with nets during the spring and summer. It is
not abundant. The sheepshead, an excellent fish, is caught off
Santa Barbara with hand-lines during the summer. It should
be brought to the market alive in smacks, for it loses its deli-
cacy of flavor soon after death. The jewfish is abundant
south of Point Conception, and may easily be taken with a

OTHER BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY. 31 Y

hook or harpoon. It spends most of its time at the bottom in
both deep and shoal water, but frequently comes to the surface,
and according to report sleeps there. It also goes into lagoons,
and likes to be near the kelp. They grow very large, some-
times to weigh live hundred pounds, and as their flesh is very
good, a profitable business might be made of fishing for them.

Sharks are taken by Chinamen for food and by Americans
for their oil. The common sharks caught by the Chinamen,
perhaps more ^^I'operly called " dog-fish"" [Acanthea sucldeyi
and Triakis fasciatus)^ are taken in nets during the summer
months and are dried in the sun. They are from three to five
feet long, and contain a large amount of meat, which is never
eaten by white men, but seems to have favor among the
Mongols. The fish is cut open by a dexterous and quick
stroke of a large knife along the back-bone, and is then dried
without the use of salt. The fins are considered a delicacy.
In Humboldt Bay the true shark [Notorhynchus maciilatus)^
from five to twelve feet in length, is taken with spears. Three
men have a flat-bottomed boat twenty feet long and four feet
wide, with which they go into the shallow waters of the bay,
whither the sharks resort in pursuit of the sardines. The
liver is taken from the shark and the remainder thrown away.
Each liver yields from one to eight pounds of oil. The spears
have a handle eight feet long, which is loose and comes out
of the spear-head after the shark is struck. If the handle were
fastened in the spear-head, it Avould be broken by the struggles
of the fish. A rope attached to the spear-head suffices to hold
the shark, and by its means he is drawn up to the side of the
boat, where he is struck by an axe on the head, and thus
dispatched. The shark season lasts only about two months,
during July and August. The oil is used for lubricating the
machinery of the saw-mills about the bay, and sells for one
dollar per gallon ; and so long as the season lasts the fisher-
men make from five to ten dollars per day.

§ 230. Hunting. — The principal game quadrupeds and birds
of California are grizzly bear, elk, deer, antelope, hare, rabbit ;

318 EESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the gray Canada brant, the white goose ; tlie canvas-back,
maUard, sprigtail, spoonbill, and summer ducks; the widgeon,
the teal, the English black-breasted, sand, and dowiches snipe;
the curlew, the mountain partridge, the valley quail, and vari-
ous kinds of grouse. Nobody makes a business of hunting
the grizzly bear ; to attack him is so dangerous and to kill him
so difficult, that many hunters will not shoot at him even when
he comes in their wav. A larg-e number of them, however,
are killed every year, and their carcasses are seen in the meat
markets of San Francisco at all seasons of the year. The meat
resembles pork in its greasiness, but it is coarser in texture
and rank in flavor. It nauseates some delicate stomachs.
The Spanish-Californians sometimes lasso the bear. When
four or five of them, well mounted and provided with good
saddles and reatas, surprise a bear in an open plain, they all
beset him at once, and while one throws the lasso over his
head, another catches him by a hind-leg, and a third by a fore-
leg, and then two horses in front, but at a little distance from
each other, drag him along, and the third and perhaps a fourth
horse follows him, each one keeping his lasso stretched, so that
even if the bear should succeed in breaking one reata or slip-
ping it oiF, he w^ill still be held fast by several others. He is
thus dragged to a pen, where he is kept for a bull-fight or
some other amusement.

It is only a few years since the elk were abundant on the
Sacramento and San Joaquin, but they have now disappeared
in those places, and are found in small numbers along the
northern coast, w'here they will soon be exterminated. The
meat resembles that of the deer, but is a little coarser in grain.
The elk are shy animals, have a very quick ear, and are more
difficult to approach than any other game animal in the state,
unless the mountain sheep be excepted. The}^ ordinarily lie
hidden in thickets during the middle of the day, and feed
about sunrise and. sunset, at which times the hunters seek
them.

The black-tailed deer are good game for the hunter. They

OTHEE BEANCHES OF IXDUSTET. 319

may be approached with more ease than the Virginia deer, run
with a steady gait, and when disturbed do not run so far.
The deer east of the Mississippi go with a run and a jump;
the Pacific deer move with a steady run. Their meat is not
so sweet as that of their eastern congeners. The deer live
near the timber, and are found along the coast and in the
Sierra Nevada. They were at one time very abundant but
are now rapidly decreasing. The best place for hunting them
is in Mendocino countv. There is no deer-huntinar on horse-
back, nor by large parties. The hunters go out alone or in
small parties. Occasionally a deer is caught with the lasso,
but tliis requires an excellent horse, a first-rate vaquero^ and
a good piece of open ground where the horse can have a fair
chase and the vaquero can swing his reata.

The antelope hves in the open plain and in the desert. The
valley of the San Joaquin was once full of great herds of them,
but they, like other large game, have become rare now. They
are shy, but inquisitive also, and are easily enticed to approach
the hunter, who hides himself behind a rock, and fastening a
whit3 handkerchief to his ramrod, waves it back and forth.
The antelope, like the deer, is occasionally caught with the
reata, but these occasions do not occur once in the year, and,
when they do occur, they establish the fame of the horse and
rider engaged in the exploit.

There is one pack of hounds in the state, and they are some-
times, but rarely, used for hunting coyotes and foxes, as well
as deer.

The wild geese and ducks are very abundant in California
from September to March. They spend the winter in the tules
of San Francisco Bay and tributary waters, and in the spring
they migrate to the north. While here, they afford profitable
employment to a number of hunters, who are of two classes —
the " boat-shooters" and the " ox-shooters." The boat-shooters
go in parties of two or three, each party having a sloop of its
own. The sloop goes to the slough where the game abounds,
and there every man starts in his skiff, with three double-bar-

320 EESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

relied shot-guns. He usually shoots first at the ducks or geese
while they are in the water, and afterward again and again as
they rise and fly. Sometimes he goes ashore, to shoot them
while feeding. The geese sjDend the night in the water — gen-
erally in a slough or pond — and rise about daybreak, to feed
in the fields of grain, grass, or wild oats. They remain there
during a considerable part of the morning, return to spend the
middle of the day in the water, go back to the fields in the
afternoon, and at sunset take to the water again for the night.
The ducks get most of their food in the tules, and are not
often shot on the land.

The ox-shooter stalks his game. He has a trained ox, which
walks before him and hides him from the geese or ducks until
within good shooting-distance. The boat-shooters average
thirty ducks a day during the season ; and a good ox-shooter
will sometimes kill one hundred and fifty geese in a day.

Snipe, curlew, and quail, are the game for sportsmen who
hunt for their amusement, and the modes of hunting them are
the same as those in the Eastern states.

Hunting is an unimportant interest in California as com-
pared with fishing, and must continually decrease in impor-
tance, while the fisheries will increase.

A game-law prohibits the killing of quail, partridge, mallard
and summer duck, from the 1st of March to the 15th of Sep-
tember; and elk, deer, and antelope, during the first half of
the year ; and prohibits the selling of the game slain during
the forbidden season.

§ 231. Honse-huilding. — In the building of houses, the Cali-
fornians, like Americans generally, are expert and quick. It
is not uncommon to see a wooden dwelling-house commenced
and finished within a month. Brick houses are built so fast,
that the mortar has scarcely time, to dry and harden as the
walls go up. Most of the houses are of wood, aud of the kind
called " Balloon" or " Chicago" frames, fastened together with
nails, without tenons and mortices, and with no upright posts
thicker than two by four inches. This kind of a frame, called

OTHER BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY. 321

*' Balloon" from its lightness, and " Chicago" because they first
came extensively into use in that plice about fifteen years ago,
appears very strange to a carpenter familiar only with the old-
fashioned frames held together by tenons and mortices ; but
weak as the balloon-frame appears, it is really the strongest
kind of a wooden building ; and it is not unfrequently made
four or five stories high, whereas the heavier frame very rarely
reaches three stories.

In the balloon-frame, the sills, instead of being eight, ten, or
twelve inches square, are only two or three inches by six or
eight ; and they rest on numerous studs, which again rest on
the ground. The sills are nailed together at the corners. The
studs are not morticed into the sills, but nailed upon them.
The lower joists stand upon the sills, and the upper ones rest
upon an inch board "let into" the studs to which they are
nailed. On the top of the studs is no heavy plate, but only a
board. At the corners two studs are put side by side. Each
stud is hoisted to its place separately, so there is no " raising."
Wooden houses are all covered with shingles. White pine,
imported from the Eastern states, is used to a considerable
extent for the frames and casings of doors and windows, and
for other inside-work ; and nearly all the doors and window-
sashes are imported ready made.

Three-fourths of the houses in the state are of wood ; the
other fourth are of brick and adobes. Stone houses are very
rare. Brick buildinscs are numerous in the business-streets of
the cities and tow^ns. Every town of note has its fire-proof
brick stores, w^ith iron doors and window-shutters, and its
roof of brick laid in mortar. The bricks are made in this
state, and the lime is burned here. Brick buildings not con-
structed to be fire-proof, have shingled roofs. There are a
few buildings with fronts of granite, which for one house was
brouQ^ht from China, and that for others from the Eastern states.

Stone houses are very rare in California ; it would almost be
possible to count all of them on the fingers. Nearly all the
dwelfings in the counties bordering on the coast, from Monte-

14*

322 REsouECES or California.

rey southward, are made of adobes, or sun-dried bricks ; but
most of the houses built of late, and all the elegant structures,
are of wood or brick.

When an adobe house is to be built, the adobes are made
very near the place, for they are too heavy to be hauled far.
The earth to make adobes should be a sandy or gravelly clay,
which will not crack in drying. A pure loam or pure clay
will not do. The material having been found, it is dug up,
and mixed with water and some straw, until it makes a thick
mud. Not far from the pit the earth is levelled off, as a yard
where the adobes are to be dried. The adobe is from three
to six inches thick, from ten to twenty inches wide, and from
a foot to two feet long. The mould is made of the size which
the adobes are to have, without top or bottom. It is placed
on the ground ; the mud is thrown in, until the mould is filled ;
the top is scraped off level with a board ; and the mould is
lifted UJ3, and moved to another place. The mud must be so
thick, that it will retain its shape after the mould is removed.
In twenty-four hours the adobe is so hard, that it will stand
on one side, and in three or four days it is dry enough to be
used for building. Its sides are rough and its corners broken,
but it serves to make a house. Adobe walls are often made
three feet thick, rarely less than a foot and a half. The mortar
used is of the same mud of which the adobes were made. The
walls are usually protected by wide eaves, and sometimes the
roof projects six or eight feet, so as to make a corridor running
entirely round the house. If the adobes be exposed to the
rain, they are soon washed down. The walls have a founda-
tion of stone laid about eight inches high on the surface of the
ground.

In many of the adobe houses there is no floor save the bare
earth. These dwellino-s are verv cool in summer and warm in
winter ; and in old times, when the work was all done by In-
dians, they were cheap, but now it costs more to build a neat
house of adobes than of w^ood. Many of the old adobe houses
are still covered with the tiles baked bv the Mexicans : those

I

OTHEE BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY. 323

built of late have nearly all shingle roofs. In Los Ansreles
county, the roofs are generally made of asphaltum, obtained
from the bituminous springs, of which there are a number
along the southern coast. The rafters are covered with boards
or cane, upon which earth is thrown, and upon that the asphal-
tum is placed. Sometimes the asphaltum is poured upon the
earth in a melted condition ; sometimes it is thrown on in
hard lumps during the summer, and the melting is left to the
heat of the sun. The asphaltum cracks in the cold and melts
in the sun; so the eaves are dripping in July and August, and
in the winter, if a rain comes immediately after a severe cold,
the roofs are certain to leak. The cracks are always filled up
again when a hot sun shines on the roof and melts the asphal-
tum. ]iIost of the dwellings are surrounded by verandas or
corridors, which are the most pleasant parts of the houses in
the summer-time. Some of the dwellings are built in the form
of a hollow square, with a paved court inside, planted with
trees, and with a corridor running round. This corridor is the
favorite place for spending the day, and here visitors are gen-
erally received.

§ 232. Furniture^ etc. — Nearly all the fine furniture of the
state is imported. The cabinet-makers' shops are few and
small. The costly articles of fine wood- work, made on a large
scale in California, are the billiard-tables ; and these are made
of unsurpassable excellence and with unsurpassed elegance.
Our agricultural implements, wagons, carriages, omnibuses,
and coaches, are mostly imported ; and when they are made
here, imported wood is used. Xo hubs, spokes, or felloes, are
made in the state. It may be that all our agricultural imple-
ments will soon be manufactured at home, for a contract has
lately been made to employ one hundred of the state-prison
convicts in this labor ; but we shall probably continue to im-
port our wagon-lumber, for very little of the Californiau tim-
ber is strong enough for such uses. Our tubs are mostly made
lipre, and are of good quiillty. We have many well-built
wooden brido-es in the state.

324 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

California lias built many schooners, and one war-vessel of
fifteen hundred tons, but will never construct many ships. Her
evergreen-oak, laurel, and madroiia, are good for ships' knees
and frames ; but the trees are rare and costly, and far from
the shipyards : while Puget Sound is so near, and has such
very great advantages over us, that we cannot compete with
Washington territory.

There are a great many excellent roads in the mountainous
districts of the state, but the general character of our high-
ways is poor — muddy in winter and dusty in summer. Mac-
adamized roads are few. Slowly we are getting railroads.
There is one, twenty miles long, between Sacramento and
Folsom ; another, forty-five miles long, is being made from
Folsom to JMarysville ; one has been commenced between Val-
lejo and Marysville ; and another is to be soon begun between
San Francisco and San Jose.

All our cotton and cotton goods are imported. There is
not a cotton-carding machine, spinning-jenny, or loom, in the
state. No linen is grown or manufactured here. All our fine
woollen goods are imported. We have only two woollen-mills
in the state, and they make only blankets and coarse cloths.

Large quantities of leather are tanned in California, but it is
all heavy. We tan no fine calfskin, morocco, or kid. Nearly
all our boots and shoes for men's wear, and all for women, are
imported. There are small shops where men's boots and shoes
are made by the single pair to order after measure taken, and
the customers in most cases are desirous of having a very ele-
gant fit ; but there are no large factories to make boots by the
thousand.

We make no gunpowder, fire-works, fire-crackers, pitch, tar,
or turpentine. It is said that our pine-trees do not contain the
resinous sap to make turpentine, pitch, and rosin, and therefore
we shall always have to import these articles.

There are two paper-mills in California, one of which makes
printing-paper and the other straw wrapping-paper. We still
import much of our printing and wrapping paper, and all o^

OTHER BRANCHES OF IXDUSTRY. 325

our writing-paper. Much of our coarse soap is made here , all
fine soaps are imported. Nearly all our caudles are imported.
We have no furnaces for smelting iron-ore, and no forges to
make wrought iron or steel. All our cutlery, stoves, cast iron,
firearms, cooking-utensils, nails, screws, locks, hinges, tin-ware,
copper, and copper-ware, are imported. So also are all our
lead and shot, wire, tin, zinc, solder, and sheathing-metal. All
our bottles are imported. A bottle-factory was established in
San Francisco, to make bottles out of broken glass, of which
much could be obtained in the large towns. This factory,
however, was shortly abandoned ; but there is a report that
it will soon be established again.

326 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER X.

COMMERCE.

§ 233. General Adva7itages. — California is now the most
important commercial state on the shores of the North Pacific,
and it will continue to hold its present relative position. Near-
ly all the foreign commerce will be done by San Francisco,
which has advantages superior to those of any other place on
the coast between the Isthmus of Panama and Puget Sound,
or on the coast of Asia. Her only equal, m the waters of the
Pacific, is Melbourne. Several ports of China and Japan may
have as much shipping ; but the people of those countries are
only semi-civilized, and we shall take their trade, and make
them tributarv to us.

In estimating the commercial advantages of California, we
must consider the yield of our gold, silver, and quicksilver
mines ; the produce of our grain-fields, vineyards, orchards,
and saw-mills ; the mineral resources of Western Mexico ; the
lumber and fisheries of Washington territory and Oregon ; the
gold of British Columbia ; the whale-oil and whale-bone of the
North Pacific ; and the industrial products of China and Japan.
California is in the position to be the common carrier for all
the countries bordering on the North Pacific. Between Puget
Sound and Valparaiso there is on this coast no port that can
prove a dangerous rival to San Francisco. As the population,
wealth, and industry of this coast increase, and as the foreign
commerce of China and Japan becomes more extended, the
trade of San Francisco must continue to grow in at least an
equal ratio. The increase, in every event, is certain.

COMMERCE. 327

Our chief commercial city is forty days' sail from China, and
fifteen from Honolulu. It has been proposed to establish a
hne of steamers between San Francisco and Shanghae, but I
doubt the necessity of such a line. Whenever the trade will
justify it, there will be a line of swift-saibng packets, which
can make almost as good time as steamers. There is no sea
where sailing-vessels can make such regular and swift passages
throughout the year as on the North Pacific, particularly if
they sail across it from east to west or from west to east. The
trade-winds, w^hich blow over it toward the south, are constant,
and equally favorable for vessels bound in either direction.
Side-wheel steamers would be entirely unsuited for the route,
because the wind is alv>'avs from the north, and one wheel
would be out of water nearly all the time ; but propellers, to
be used when the wind is low, might be of service; though
there is reason to doubt whether they would be of sufiicient
service to justify the additional expense. Six or seven years
ago, a steam-propeller was employed between San Francisco
and Honolulu, but it was soon driven ofi" by the sailing-vessels,
which made the trip ordinarily in about the same time, and on
several occasions beat the steamer.

We cannot foresee clearly the manner and rapidity of the
development of the foreign commerce of China and Japan, but
that it will reach a high development is certain. Three hun-
dred and fifty millions of industrious people are not to be shut
out from intercourse with Christendom. They have wants
which must be supplied, and which white men alone can sup-
ply ; and as California is the nearest state containing a large
white population, and having a large commerce, we must have
much to do with the business of supplying them.

§ 234. Tributary Population. — The present population of
Xevada territorv is about six thousand men, and the vield of
silver and o^old is estimated to amount to about one million
dollars per year. It is now the general and confident opinion
of Californians that the population and silver production of that
territory will rapidly increase, and of course the increase must

328 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

have a relatively fixvorable influence upon the commerce of
California, from which Nevada will obtain all her supplies.

Oregon has a coast line of two hundred and seventy-five
miles, from latitude 42° to 46°, and extends nearly four hun-
dred miles from east to west. AD that portion lying east of
the Cascade Mountains (which are a continuation of the Sierra
Nevada), comprising about two-thirds of the state, is barren,
or nearly so. It may contain good pasture-lands and valuable
minerals ; but, with the exception of a few fertile valleys and
bottom-lands near the Columbia River, these have not as yet
been discovered, or at least not occupied by white men. The
western part of the state contains some rich placers, fine for-
ests, and valuable land for farming, but the country is difficult
of access. The only entrance to it from the sea is by the Co-
lumbia River, the mouth of which is dangerous to shipping.
There is a land entrance to Oreg^on from California on the
south, and from Washington territory on the north. Oregon
has a population of some fifty thousand, and produces about
one million dollars in gold-dust annually.

Washington territory has a sea-coast of two hundred miles,
and extends six hundred miles eastward to the Rocky Moun-
tains. The fertile strip of the territory is only about one hun-
dred and twenty miles wide, along the Pacific ; the eastern
portion is for the most part barren, but it contains extensive
placers of gold, which yield about three hundred thousand dol-
lars annually, and, if reports be true, will soon yield much
more. The population numbers about ten thousand. The fer-
tile district west of the Cascade Mountains is penetrated to a
depth of one hundred miles by Puget Sound and Hood's Canal,
the finest bodies of land-locked tide-water, for the purposes of
internal navigation, in the world. The timber of the territory
is very valuable, abundant, and accessible, and is now shipped
to all quarters of the globe. No country can furnish large
spars in such great abundance, or at so cheap a rate ; and this
resource, if there were no other, would secure wealth to Wash-
ington. Yet, in addition to these, she has extensive fisheries,

COMMEllCE. 329

fine farraing-lands, and great facilities for commerce. For these
reasons, Washington will occupy an important place on the
Pacific, will have a dense population, and will contribute much
to build up the commerce and increase tJie wealth of Califor-
nia. The cHmate of the western district of Washington is very-
moist throughout the year — cool in summer, and not cold in
whiter. Ice seldom forms more than two inches in thick-
ness, or remains more than two or three days ; but the sun is
hidden nearly every winter by fogs and clouds, for weeks at a
time. The climate of Washington bears as close a resemblance
to that of England as does the climate of California to that of
Italy.

British Columbia has a population of six thousand, yields
about one million dollars in gold-dust annually, and has fine
forests of ship-timber along the shores of the Gulf of Georgia.
The soil is not rich, either on the mainland or on Vancouver
Island, and the land will not be extensively cultivated there
until after the richer land of Washington territory has been
occupied.

The western part of 'New Mexico and Arizona is a barren
country, unfit for tillage, but rich in minerals, which may at
some day attract a large population. At present, its white
inhabitants, west of the Rocky Mountains, do not number more
than one thousand. The present silver production of Arizona
may amount to ten thousand dollars per month. Western Ari-
zona and New Mexico obtain most of their imported goods
from San Francisco.

The population of Utah is about forty-five thousand, and
they do much of their trading with Placerville and Los An-
geles.

The western coast of Mexico, from San Bias northward, has
a population of about a million and a half, and these obtain
many of their imported goods from San Francisco.

The Hawaiian Islands have a population of seventy thou-
sand, including two thousand whites, and they obtain most of
their imported goods from Sau Francisco.

330 EESOUllCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Adding together the inhabitants of Nevada, Oregon, Wash-
ington, the western parts of New Mexico and Arizona, the
northwestern part of Mexico, British Cohimbia, Vancouver
Island, and the Hawaiian Islands, we have a total of about one
million seven hundred thousand people ; and mineral, commer-
cial, and industrial resources and advantages that must attract
many more inhabitants at no distant day.

§ 235. Imports. — The imports of California are about |55,-
000,000 per year; that is, we import about as much as we
export ; and our exports amount, with gold, silver, grain, wool,
wine, and sundries, to $55,000,000 annually. We have, how-
ever, no exact table of our imports, for most of them come
from New York, and, if of foreign production, have paid duty
there, and no report of their class and value is made at the
custom-house in San Francisco. Therefore, we cannot obtain
such tables of the imports into our chief port as are made at
New York, wiiere all the foreign goods are received direct.
In the absence of accurate statistics, I must make an estimate
of the values of the several classes of imported articles, which,
while confessedly inexact, may yet serve to convey informa-
tion to those who know^ nothing of the subject :

The clothing and material for clothing imported in a year
may cost us $15,000,000; provisions (among which butter is
perhaps the most important), coffee, tea, and spices, $3,000,000 ;
tobacco, $3,000,000; cutlery, hardware, and metallic articles,
$4,000,000 ; articles of wood, such as wagons, agricultural im-
plements, &c., $1,000,000 ; drugs, $1,000,000 ; boots and shoes,
83,000,000 ; jewelry, $1,000,000 ; coal, $1,000,000 ; liquors,
$2,000,000; and sundries, $2,000,000 : total, $36,000,000. For
freight on imported goods we pay $4,000,000 ; for insurance to
foreign companies, $1,000,000 ; for interest-money on foreign
capital, $1,000,000 ; for passenger-fares, $2,000,000— making a
total sum of $44,000,000, which is less by several millions than
the amount of annual exports.

§ 236. Exports. — Gold has the first place, but the exact
amount exported is not known, for considerable quantities not

COMMEECE. 331

reported at the custom-house, are taken away by passengers ;
and in the amount of treasure reported by manifest for exporta-
tion, the gold is not distinguished from the silver. The amount
of treasure exported in 1861 was $40,639,089 57 ; and proba-
bly not more than $1,000,000 of silver is included in the sum.
Of this treasure, $32,628,010 were sent to ISTew York, $4,054,-
436 to England, $3,525,325 to China, $338,536 to Panama,
158,220 to Japan, |1 2,459 to Honolulu, 89,000 to Manilla, $6,000
to Singapore, and $7,100 to Mexico. As compared with pre-
vious years, the export of treasure in 1861 shows a falling off
from 1860 of $1,664,256; of $7,025,908 from 1859 ; $6,908,936
from 1858; $8,337,608 from 1857; $8,247,454 from 1856;
$4,543,542 from 1855; $10,689,564 from 1854; $16,691,935
from 1853; $5,947,055 from 1852; and $1,943,606 as com-
pared with 1851. The total treasure export in 1850 was $27,-
676,346, and $4,921,250 in 1849, as manifested at the custom-
house. From 1848 to 1854, large sums were carried away by
passengers.

After the gold, in importance as an export, we may place
silver ; which, however, is not all produced within the borders
of California, and which is surpassed in value by wheat. But
as one of the permanent exports of San Francisco, silver will
undoubtedly have the next place to gold. The silver contained
in the gold of California amounts to about $200,000 annually ;
and that produced by Washoe may have amounted in 1861 to
$2,500,000. Hitherto very little silver has been exported ; but
it is accumulating so rapidly, and it is so inconvenient, in a
countrv where so little small coin is used, that it must be sent
awav hereafter. It is alreadv at a discount of two per cent.

For several years past, California has exported large quan-
tities of wheat and flour. In 1861, we exported 1,350,783
sacks of wheat and 170,562 barrels of flour, worth together
$3,500,000. In 1860, the value w^as about $2,500,000 ; in 1859,
about $1,100,000; in 1858, about $120,000; in 1857, about
$70,000. However, we cannot expect that this ratio of in-
crease can be maintained ; we have now reached the summit,

332 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

and the statistics of 1 862 Avill show a large decrease as com-
pared Avith the previous year, and perhaps an entire stoppage
of exportation.

The quicksilver exported in 1861 amounted to 35,995 flasks,
containing 2,699,625 pounds of metal, worth $1,079,850. The
export was 9,348 flasks in 1860, 3,399 in 1859, 24,132 in 1858,
27,262 in 1857, 23,740 in 1856, and 27,165 in 1855. The great
falling ofi" in 1859 and 1860 was caused by the closing of the
New Almaden mine, under an injunction issued at the instance
of the federal government.

Among the other exports of 1861 were 181,166 hides, worth
$554,951 ; 3,721,998 pounds of wool, worth $507,297 ; 373,852
sacks of barley, valued at $355,224 ; silver-ore, valued at $188,-
815; copper-ore, worth $122,580; lumber, valued at $76,748 ;
tallow, worth $65,982; and wine, worth $12,399.

The total value of the exports in 1861, other than treasure,
was $6,988,375; of Avhich we sent $2,744,537 to Ncav York,
$1,283,391 to England, $1,078,118 to Australia, $566,860 to
China, and $453,953 to Mexico.

§ 237. Shipping. — In 1861, there were 1,981 arrivals of
vessels, Avith an aggregate of 599,233 tons, at San Francisco.
Of these, 1,538 vessels, A\dth an aggregate measurement of
267,698 tons, were from ports of California, Oregon, and
Washington (domestic Pacific ports) ; 106 vessels, with 121,342
tons, were from domestic Atlantic ports; 42 A^'essels (25 from
Great Britain, 11 from France, 4 from Hamburg, and 2 from
Malaga), AAdth 30,573 tons, from Europe; 31 vessels, with 12,-
334 tons, from Australia; 27 A'essels, with 28,286 tons, from
China; 54 vessels, with 15,704 tons, from Mexico; 41 A'essels
from Vancouver Island, 17 from the HaAvaiian Islands, 13 from
the Society Islands, 7 from Japan, 17 from Chili, 11 from the
Russian possessions in America, and 15 from AA'haling-voyages.
The average size of the vessels Avhich arrived from domestic
Atlantic ports A\^as 1,144 tons ; of those from China, 1,047 tons ;
of those from Europe, 745 tons ; and of those from domestic
Pacific ports, 174 tons, most of the latter being little schooners,

COMMERCE. 333

while those from New York, Boston, and China, are chiefly
American clipper-ships, the finest class of sailing-vessels in the
world.

§ 238. Unsteadiness of Business. — The mercantile business
is very lively and fluctuating in California. There is no peo-
ple in the world who, in proportion to their numbers, import
so largely of foreign goods, or who pay such high prices for
them. The amount consumed is not very great, the supplies
are irregular, and the time required to obtain shipments round
Cape Horn about four months, and therefore it is not a very
difficult matter to forestall the market ; and it is a frequent
occurrence that a few wealthy men combine together and try
to buy up all of a certain kind of merchandise, and then con-
trol the market and raise the price. In other countries it is
impossible to get any accurate information about the supply
of an article, w^hich is stored in large quantities in fifty cities
and owned by hundreds of merchants and producers; but in
California the main stock of all imported goods is stored in
San Francisco and is held by a few men. Our business of
dealing in merchandising is therefore full of speculations,
which, though dangerous, particularly to the stupid, are agree-
able to the bold and enterprising, and contribute to render
our trade peculiar and diflferent from that of other states.

The business of California is conducted boldlv. Men make
money rapidly, spend it freely and hastily. Changes in occu-
pation are frequent, and in wealth rapid. Hazardous specula-
tion is the bodv of our commercial svstem. Most of our busi-
ness men are young, and they still are under the influence of
the feverish times of '49. Our business is unsteady. Heredi-
tary wealth is unknoAvn. Our rich men all came to California
poor, and they are prominent advertisements of the victories
that may be achieved by enterprise and bold speculation. We
are speculators by our very position. The people who come
to California are bold adventurers naturally. We were dis-
satisfied with life in Europe and the Eastern states, because it
was too slow. We came here to enjoy an exciting life and to

3^4 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

make money rapidly. Slow and sure plans are nnsuited. to us,
and besides, from the unsettled nature of our trade, there is not
the same sureness about slow modes of doing business as in
older states. In any little random gathering of a dozen men in
San Francisco, you will probably find some among them who
have worked in the mines, and this amongst the wealthiest and
most intelligent, as well as among the poorest. It is no im-
common thing to see men who have been wealthy on three or
four different occasions and then poor again. " A fire," " an
unfortunate speculation in merchandise," " a revulsion in real
estate," " a crash among the banks," " an unlucky investment
in a flume," these are phrases used every day to explain the
fact, that this or that man of your familiar acquaintance, though
once rich, is now poor. When men fail they do not despair —
and least of all those who have been rich and have failed by
some sudden turn in business — they hope to be rich again. A
number of the prominent business men in San Francisco have
been insolvent within the last five years.

§ 239. Insolvencies. — Insolvencies, legally declared and can-
celled by the courts, are more frequent in San Francisco, in pro-
portion to its population, than in any other part of the world.
Our laws provide that any man who declares himself unable
to pay his debts, and petitions to be released from them, may
obtain a judicial discharge, unless he has been guilty of fraud;
and as the fraud must be distinctly proved upon him before the
discharge will be denied, the release is almost invariably ob-
tained. The number of suits brought (with their debts and
assets) in 1860, as compared with each of the five preceding
years, has been as follows :

Teak. No. Suits. Debts. Assets. Deficit.

18^5 197 $8,377,827 $1,519,175 $6,858,652

1S56 146 3,401,042 657,908 2,743,134

1S57 125 2.375,899 812,417 1.563,482

l«yS 96 1.940,662 658,782 1,281,880

1859 GO 700,219 208,044 498,175

I860 ^-i 1,019,416 76,787 942,629

Total 6 years, 692 $17,821,065 $3,93.3,113 $13,887,952

COMMERCE. 335

The clisplay looks very serious. There was a regular de-
crease from 1855, when the great failures began, clown to
1859, and then the increase began again. The amount of
assets is proportionably smaller for 1860 than at any previous
time, but in fact the assets are almost invariably nominal, con-
sisting of bad debts that never can be collected, and property
estimated at cost, but worthless in the market. It is rarely
that a man declares himself insolvent so long as he has prop-
erty which he can turn into money. Our insolvent law is
very liberal to debtors, and no doubt that contributes, with
the very speculative temper of our population, the facility for
getting credit, and the unsteady course of our trade, to make
our insolvent lists so large.

§ 240. Interest of Money. — Again, in the matter of the in-
terest of money, California occupies a peculiar position. The
current rates are higher here than in any other Christian land.
The common rate on lone; terms and the best security is one
and a half per cent, per month, for interest is always calcu-
lated by the month. On short loans, or with security in the
least doubtful, the interest is from two to two and a half per
cent, per month. The laws place no more I'estriction upon con-
tracts for interest than for any other commercial contracts.
The man who promises to pay interest must do so at his
own risk ; for the law will not assist in any plans to violate
his bargain. The high interest of money is owing in part to
the unsettled character of the people, many of whom have no
permanent abode, and wish to have their money so that they
can get it at any time. The fluctuations of the market present
numerous speculations to merchants. The titles to real estate
are, in many cases, questionable, and the capitalist may not
like to buv, and will demand a hi^h rate of interest if he must
take a mortgage on a doubtful title. Capital always makes an
extra charge for running a risk. It is a general rule that in-
terest will be hiffh where waores are hiirh. There are then
many people who can afford to pay interest, and many people
who will wish to obtain those comforts and luxuries only to

3?6 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORNIA.

be purchased by the investment of considerable sums of money.
The wages of common laborers and mechanics are very high
in California, and a large portion of the people are in hopes to
attain vrealth, and many of them make a practice of engaging
in speculations, to do which they must borrow money. The
liigh rate of wages, the unsettled habits of the people, the
questionable character of land-titles generally, and the fluctu-
ating nature of our commerce, all contribute to keep the rate
of interest at a high figure. In San Francisco a peculiar
custom prevails of loaning money from " steamer-day" to
"steamer-day." Steamer-day is the business-day which pre-
cedes the sailincr of the steamer for Panama, which steamer
always carries away a shipment of about a million dollars. As
the steamer starts early in the morning, all the business in
arranging the shipments must be done on the previous day,
and then importers must send their money to the Eastern
houses from which they obtain their supplies, and they must
then dun their customers, the jobbers ; and the jobbers must
dun their customers, the retailers ; and the retailers must dun
every body. So steamer-day is a great day for the payment of
money, and as every body expects to get his money on steamer-
day, so he borrows promising to pay then. There are men
who make it a business to lend money from steamer-day to
steamer-day, a period of ten or fourteen days, the rate for that
period being from one to two per cent., almost invariably with
'•'collateral security" of merchandise, which is on deposit in a
warehouse, and is transferred by warehouse receipt to the
money lender. Nearly every body borrows and lends money
in California. It is no disgrace to lend money for high inter-
est, nor is it ever considered bad management for a mer-
chant to borrow and pay high rates ; that is, if the amount be
small or the term brief. But as a general rule, the merchants
of California borrow altogether too much money. There are
not less than fiftv mercantile houses in San Francisco, that have
paid more than ten thousand dollars each of interest on money
borrowed during the last ten years, and of one house which

COMMERCE. 337

lately failed it was asserted that they had paid one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars of interest. It is a general prac-
tice among farmers to borrow money, and, if before harvest,
give a mortgage on the crops ; if after harvest, store the grain
in the lender's warehouse as security. One of the most profit-
able branches of business in the state is " grain commission."
The commission merchant has a quantity of ready money
which he loans to the needy farmer, who stores his grain with
the lender, and the latter charges about two per cent, a month
for the money, a dollar a ton per month for storage, and two
per cent, commission for selling.

§ 241. Spect.dati07i in Land. — Speculation in land is one of
the most important branches of business in the United States,
and the increase in the value of land has been one of the main
sources of the wealth of the country. The American farmer
going into a new district, expects to purchase his land at a low
j^rice and see it gradually rise in value, until it makes him, if
not wealthy, at least comfortable. Lands in Illinois which,
twelve years ago, were to be obtained from the government
at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, are now worth
thirty and forty dollars per acre ; and a similar remark will
apply to most of the land in the Western states, though the
average increase has not been so great. This increase has been
one of the greatest inducements to the rapid settlement of the
^Mississippi Valley. Unfortunately, California has not been per-
mitted to derive much benefit from this source of wealth. The
fertile valleys near the coast had been granted away in large
ranches by the Mexican government, and the American gov-
ernment refuses to sell the land in the mineral districts.

It appears to me a matter of the utmost importance to the
welfare of California, that the land in the mineral districts
should be sold. Xot more than one acre in forty within
the limits of the mineral region is now occupied for mining
purposes, and not more than one acre in ten will ever be
worked.

§ 242. iVb Paper 3fop.ey. — There is no paper money in Cali-
15

338 RESOURCES OF CALIFORXIA.

fornia. The Constitution of the state prohibits " banking,"
and "the creation of paper to circulate as money." No bank-
notes have ever been current in this state or on this coast ; nor
are bank-notes used on any part of the coast between Aca-
pulco and Sitka, and we are so far from the countries in which
paper money is current, that no attempt is made to introduce
it here. In our banks there are great piles of double eagles,
but no bank-notes are visible. Wherever you go, or whatever
you buy, you see only gold and silver ; people do not think of
paper. All large sums are paid in double eagles, and three-
fourths, if not nine-tenthSj of our coin is of that size, which is far
more convenient than the smaller coins common in other coun-
tries. A large proportion of our shipment of treasure abroad
is in double eagles, and nine-tenths of the gold coined at the San
Francisco Mint is in pieces of that size. In 1860, $11,178,000
of gold were coined, and $10,899,000 were in double eagles.
The general character of our coin is large. No copper money
is current, nor can any thing be bought with a cent. The
smallest coin commonly used is a dime ; half-dimes are rarely
seen, and when used two of them are ordinarily put together
to make a dime. The general sentiment among the people is
opposed to the use of any coin less than a ten-cent piece ; they
like high wages and high prices, and think that the introduc-
tion of half-dimes and cents would have a tendency to make
us feel poor and to introduce low Avages. Many retail dealers,
even in the sale of candies and fruits, will therefore not take
a half-dime, and not a few persons would be ashamed to offer
to purchase half a dime's worth of any thing. A half-dime is
looked upon with more contempt and is far more rare in Cali-
fornia than a cent in New York. During the last three months,
for instance, though I purchase little articles every day, I have
not seen a half-dime. That coin is not made in our mint, nor
is there any demand for it. Three-cent pieces, coppers, and
nickels are never seen here except as curiosities, and are of no
value to make purchases.

§ 243. Opportunities for Investment. — The opportunities

COMMERCE. 339

for investing money securely in California are few compared
with other countries, and the chief causes of the difference are
to be found in the defects of our land-titles, and the unsteadi-
ness of business. There is no place where capital needs the
constant attention of a prudent manager more than in this
state. There are so many revolutions in business, that a brief
neglect may cause the loss of a fortune. It is a very unsafe
country for money left in the charge of agents. Their com-
mission is high, and they will usually give much less atten-
tion to a bailor's property than to their own. The interest of
money is too high for investment in state stocks. The bonds
of the state of California are all sold in New York, and the
interest is made payable there, and nearly all are held there or
in Europe. Most of these bonds bear only seven per cent, in-
terest annuallv, not half the current rates here. So of the
bonds of our towns and counties, for nearly every town and
county has its debt, the bonds are mostly held abroad, and the
interest is too low for the demands of caj^ital in California.
There are then no state stocks that can be owned here, and
thus we are cut off from one of the best and most extensive
fields of investment. Labor is so high that we have few fac-
tories. The titles of farming-laud are as a general thing inse-
cure. Farming, as a business conducted on a large scale, is
extremely uncertain. Our population is so small that the
market is easily overstocked, and freight to Europe and the
Atlantic states is so expensive, that a surplus can only be sent
away with difficulty ; and we are so remote that any shipment
is accompanied by many risks, for between the time when the
vessel sails from San Francisco and the time when she arrives
at Liverpool, there is an interval of three or four months, dur-
ing which period a ruinous depreciation may occur. The fluc-
tuations which occur in the grain market, have their parallels
in all other kinds of agricultural products : cattle, sheep, and
wine. There is no title to mmeral land save occupation ; and
mining on a large scale is more dangerous than farming.
Whenever any branch of business becomes so established as

340 RESOURCES OF CALIFORN^IA.

to be permanent and to yield a certain profit, capitalists abroad
will wish to take possession of it, and they can afford to pay
more for it than we can, because our money is dearer than
theirs. A man in ISTew York can afford to pay more for stocks
than we can in San Francisco. He gets his money for six per
cent, per annum while we pay eighteen. Whenever therefore
any large railroad or any extensive improvement, that will
certainly be permanently profitable, is established in California,
foreign capitalists will buy it up. We cannot compete with
them until our money becomes cheaper. Our ocean steam-
ships are owned in New York. Our river steamboats are
mostly owned by a large association, called the California
Steam Navigation Company, but the stock is very fluctuating
and dangerous as an investment. There is no purchasable
bank-stock in California. Most of the capitalists of San Fran-
cisco either invest their money in houses and lots, or let it out
at interest under bond and mortgage. The taxes are very
high in California, in no county less than one per cent, a year,
and in some places four per cent. Indeed, when streets are
repaired in the large towns, the taxes sometimes amount to
ten per cent, on the value of the property. There is a consid-
erable amount of French and Swiss capital invested in San
Francisco, most of it loaned on mortgage, and under the charge
of French and Swiss bankers.

In no part of the United States is there so small an invest-
ment of capital, and so small an amount of real and personal
property held in fee simple, by individuals and local corpora-
tions, in proportion to the area, population and amount of busi-
ness done, as in the gold mining districts of California. The
custom-house manifests show, that during the last fourteen
years, we have exported $550,000,000 of gold, and no person
at aU familiar with the business and history of the state, will
estimate the amount of exportation, not manifested, at less
than $150,000,000 ; and yet what is there to show in the min-
ing districts for all that immense wealth ? There are many
fine mountain roads, and yet they are few, and bad, as com-

COMMERCE. 341

pared with the number that there should be ; and even those
which we have, are mostly private property, and are made the
means of levying severe taxes upon all travellers and merchan-
dise passing over them. The counties have no fine roads, no
large or durable bridges. There are great ditches — with a
total length of six thousand miles — and wonderful flumes, but
they are made as cheaply as possible for use, during a few
years — not more than five or ten — and in too many cases,
cheapness has not been found to agree with durability. Im-
mense labors of many kinds have been undertaken, but simply
with a view to present profit, and without conferring any per-
manent benefit, or beautifying the country. There is scarcely
an elegant county building in the state. The mining towns
contain many fire-proof brick buildings and elegant residences,
and yet any mining town set down in Xew York or Ohio,
would be considered a very shabby village. Wherever we
turn, in the mining districts, we see no investment of capital
at all commensurate to the wants of the state.

The whole policy of the federal and state governments, in
regard to the mineral districts of California, has been not to
enrich the state, but to benefit individuals who did not and do
not intend to be permanent residents, whose interests are ad-
verse to those of the state, and to whom no inducements are
ofi'ered to become permanent residents. Rather the induce-
ments are on the other side, and obstructions are thrown in
the way of establishing homes. The improvements which
should have been made in previous years are wanted, but the
capital is not so abundant now. The main body of wealth
has been transferred to the agricultural counties and commer-
cial towns. The mining districts, instead of growing richer,
from their immense treasures, are growing poorer every year,
all of them comparatively — many of them absolutely.

Miners come to capitalists residing out of the mineral dis-
tricts, and invite them to invest money in gold-mining enter-
prises. The investments would furnish employment to labor-
ers, increase the production of gold, and benefit the state in

342 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

many ways, but the capitalists refuse because of alleged inse-
curity. The miners must abandon their schemes, and leave
the wealth of the mines undeveloped, or obtain money in their
own neighborhood, at rates of interest two or three times
higher than those prevalent in larger cities, where undoubted
security is given. Hence, serious obstacles to the develop-
ment of all branches of industry, and to the establishment of
that well-ordered society, made up of permanent residents,
dwelling in homesteads fixed for life, with a proper proportion
of women and children. The least of all the evils is, that the
mining counties contribute far less than they should to the
treasury of the state.

The main object of a government should always be to build
up a permanent, dense, intelligent, industrious and moral pop-
ulation, skilled in the mechanic arts, and so employed that
their capital increases rapidly and regularly. Such is the con-
dition of all the most prosperous countries, and such would
have been the condition of California now, if she had been
properly governed.

If application be made to a San Francisco capitalist to buy
a gold mine, or loan money on the security of a gold mine, or
invest money in any gold mining operation, an offer of sale
will be received with the same refusal. A promise of ten per
cent, a month will not induce him to examine the proposition.
He will reply, that all gold mining is insecure. He treats
quartz-mining, ditching, hydraulic claims and sluice, alike ;
different as they are from one another, he makes no distinction
between them ; they are alike, and equally dangerous. If he
be asked how he knows that they are insecure, he will say
that he lost an investment some years ago, or, that this and
that friend of his lost investments in gold mines, and every-
body says they are insecure, and that is enough for him. He
cannot afford to travel through the mines and investigate the
matter. He can find what he considers safe investments in
San Francisco, in agricultural lands, from Sonoma to San
Diego, and in Washoe silver mines. There is now more San

COMMERCE. 343

Francisco capital invested in Santa Clara county alone than in
all the gold mines of the state. There is scarcely a county
near the coast, between latitude 40° and 33°, in which there is
not a large amount of capital invested by non-residents, to
the evident benefit of the county. Although gold mining has
been the chief industry of the state for fourteen years, and
although Washoe is of late discovery, and has less population
than single counties of California, yet more San Francisco
capital is invested in Washoe silver leads than in all the gold
mines of the state.

There is a great diiOference of opinion among business men in
regard to the causes of this alleged insecurity. One will say
that the cause is in the want of fee-simple titles ; that the
ownership of mining claims depends upon possession, and is a
kind of personal property with a still weaker title, for a man
may lay his purse down, or let his horse go, and both will
belong to him in law for years ; but when he shoulders his
pick and blankets, and leaves his claim for three days in the
working season, he has not the least interest in it. Another
consideration, however, will show that this cause alone, al-
though it may contribute much to the general result, is not
sufficient in itself to render gold-mining investments insecure,
even in any one case of note. Most of the valuable mines in
the world are held by mere possession, and abandonment or
cessation of work would lead to a forfeiture of title. This
is the rule throughout the rich mineral districts of Spanish
America, in most of the countries of Europe, and even in
Washoe; and yet the value of these mines, whose title depends
only on undisputed possession, is almost as good as if held in
fee simple, for it is plain that so long as the mine is profitable
there will be no cessation of work.

Another theory to explain the aversion entertained by capi-
tal for gold-mining enterprises is, that the business is too un-
certain as to its profits ; that prudent business men avoid great
risks, and will not venture their principal ; and that they cannot
invest in gold mi^es without the greatest perils, because it is

344 11 E S O U K C E S OF C A L I F O K X I A .

impossible for them to know beforehand whether a mine con-
tains much rich ore or dirt. But if we look a little further at
this explanation, we shall find that it has no good foundation.
It is not true that the prudent business man always avoids great
risks ; in other words, prudent business men often make in-
vestments with a probability that the entire investment will
be lost, but in clear view of a j^ossibility that an immense
profit may be made.

It is a mark of sound judgment and prudence in a business
man to avoid risks that may much endanger the loss of his
Avhole fortune, but he w^ill not necessarily refuse to venture a
tenth part of his fortune, if he see a possibility — as of one
chance in five — of making a profit of a hundred-fold. It is
imder the guidance of j^rinciples like these — stating the risk
in its least favorable aspect — that mining for gold and silver
is conducted throughout the world, to the great general profit
of those engaged in the business, and it is in view of princi-
ples like these that mines of all kinds have a certain market
value. They may be hidden hundreds of feet under the earth,
but there is a probability that a metalliferous vein, if tolerably
rich, and similar to other veins not far distant, and found to
be rich through a considerable extent, will also be rich in like
manner in other parts out of reach. There is such a chance
for profit that a high value attaches to mines where there is
not even a regular vein or layer of mineral to guide the miner.
For instance, cinnabar is not found in veins, but in masses,
usually connected with each other by little seams. At New '
Almaden, sometimes a mass of ore is found ten feet cubic, and
when it is worked out, only a little seam indicates where other
masses may he. Whether they do lie there is a matter no
way certain. The Enriqueta mine, which promised about two
years since to rival the Almaden, has fallen to the level of the
Guadalupe. Some rich masses were found ; and more may be
found, but nobody knows whether they will be, and so with
the New Almaden ; and though these facts are perfectly
understood, the latter mine is worth millions in the market.

COMMERCE. 345

There is such a presumption of the richness of its unexplored
portions, that a man worth one hundred thousand dollars can
be justified in venturing an investment of fifty thousand dol-
lars of it in Xew Almaden stock at the market price. Any
piece of property having a steady market price, promises se-
curity to justify the investment of money. This theory, there-
fore, is not satisfactory ; it explains nothing.

A third theory adduced in explanation is the natural dis-
honesty of men, and the peculiar facilities with which dishon-
esty may be practised in gold mining. It is said that if a
mine is found to be valuable, the resident shareholders keep
the knowledge to themselves, levy heavy assessments upon
remote partners or stockholders, and take care that no divi-
dends shall be declared, by which policy all who do not know
the mine are at last driven to sell, and usually at a sacrifice.
The managers of the mine are, of course, either directly or
indirectly the purchasers. This system of management is
neither imaginary nor rare; it is familiarly known as "freez-
ing out," and is not confined to gold mining, but extends to
silver mines, and commercial corporations. In mining for gold,
however, there are greater opportunities and more speedy re-
wards for this kind of fraud than in any other kind of busi-
ness ; but whether the frauds are more numerous or greater
may well be doubted. Theft is another form in which dis-
honesty is dangerous to the owners of valuable mines. In all
those mining enterprises where considerable amounts of capi-
tal are invested, numerous laborers must be hired ; and in
California most of these men are strangers to their employers,
Avithout family, permanent home, or any tie that can give se-
curity for their good conduct. The great value of gold as
compared with the space it occupies, gives the thief fine op-
portunities for seizing and hiding it. Neither placer nor quartz
mines are exempt from this danger. The laborer employed
in deep hydraulic claims, or far from the daylight in shafts or
drifts, cannot fail to see the large lumps or the rich portions
of the auriferous rock. He has abujidant means of hiding

346 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

enough every day to equal his wages, and as no one else saw
the piece previous to the time when he took it, it is almost
impossible to prove theft, even if found upon him. But it is
not customary to search laborers when they leave their work,
for the honest men would probably not submit to the humilia-
tion. In quartz mines the term " knocking down" is given to
the system of theft of rich bits of the rocks by the laborers,
and it is said that some mines where the rock is very rich, are
plundered so extensively that they are far less profitable than
those wherein the metal is equally diffused through a wide
vein, so that the workmen can find no small pieces worth
stealing. To what extent the influence of such dishonesty —
the existence of which, as we have said, is recognized in the
popular speech — may go, we have no information or estimate ;
but we are satisfied that though they may be serious, they are
in themselves far from suflncieut to account for the utter dis-
trust with which cajDitalists look upon enterprises for the de-
veloping of our auriferous wealth.

I have thus mentioned three theories which, in my view,
whether considered each separately or all jointly, are unsatis-
factory and insufficient to account for the evil. If there be
any other theory I have not heard of it, or it does not occur
to me now. I have already si^oken of the greatness of the
evil ; it strikes at the very basis of our prosperity as a state,
destroys the field of labor, drives our capital away, renders
trade unsteady, and contributes to deter immigration and to
make our mining population a set of wanderers.

There is something radically wrong in the financial and in-
dustrial condition of that country where the capital is not
invested in the main branch of industry. So it is in Cali-
fornia. Many important improvements are needed in the
mineral regions, but the money cannot be obtained to make
them. We send away $40,000,000 annually, because people
abroad are not satisfied with the security which we offer,
though we would, and could with advantage, pay three times
as much interest as it can earn in the Atlantic states or Europe.

COMMERCE. 347

Great numbers of poor men seek employment, but the capital
is not here to pay them. The invested capital does not bear a
proper proportion to the population and labor. The lack of
regular employment makes business unsteady, population un-
settled, exposes the state to desertion at every cry of rich dig-
gings at Cariboo or Salmon River, and prevents immigration,
which we should by this time understand, is one of the great-
est sources of wealth and prosperity. It is, or at least, previ-
ous to the great rebellion, was a common assertion, that Cali-
i fornia was no place for a poor man ; that it was far inferior to
the younger states east of the Rocky Mountains, in the proba-
bihties of steady employment, and the opportunities of grad-
ually acquiring a capital of five or ten thousand dollars, such
as a large proportion of those who were poor men in the states
in the Mississippi Basin, a score of years ago, have in that in-
terval collected together.

Is this complaint about the insecurity of the gold mines, as
a sphere for the investment of capital, true ? If so, why and
how ? Is it equally true about the quartz-mining, the placer-
mining and ditching ? Certainly it cannot be true in the
same manner, for the three branches of industry are very dif-
ferent from one another. If it be true, is there a remedy ?
These are questions which private enterprise has not solved,
and for the solution of which a good government should make
some provision. If we can but show how capital can be invested
securely here, it will be invested, and population, industry,
and the prosperity of residents and the state will swiftly follow.

§ 244. Assurance. — The assurance of property against fire
I on land and against wreck at sea, has come to be an extensive
branch of modern business. It is one of the chief channels
through which capital runs to the great centres of trade. It
is a legitimate, safe, and profitable investment. It is managed
on careful principles. All its operations are based on statistics,
collected in the course of many years. The premiums are
always set at such a figure that according to the ordinary
course of human events, the company must realize a profit in

348 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the lono: nin. Tlie occasional losses are more than covered by
the rcoular collection of the i)remiums. The amount of the
premium is determined by the risk, and the risk is known from
long observation to within a very small percentage.

We have only two small assurance companies in California,
and nearly all our assurance business is done by companies of
the Eastern states and Europe, represented by agents here.
These agents do a very large and profitable business, a busi-
ness which ought to be done by companies organized in our
own state. Not less than $600,000 are annually sent from
this state for assurance premiums, and the total losses do not
exceed $200,000, leaving a clear profit of $400,000, or sixty-
six per cent, to the assurers. These figures are not extrava-
gant estimates, made without a know^ledge of the subject ; if
there be any error, they represent the profits less than they
really are, Nearly all the policies, for which these $600,000
of premium are obtained, are issued on property in San Fran-
cisco, and the losses by fire in 1860 were $162,000, an unusually
large amount, the average during the j^reyious five years hav-
ing been $105,000, or thereabouts.

The average premium paid is about one and one-half per
cent., the lowest being three-quarters of one per cent., and the
highest three, or even four per cent., whereas one-quarter of
one per cent, on an average would pay the losses.

CONSTITUTION AND LAWS. 349

CHAPTER XI.

CONSTITUTIO:Nr AND LAWS.

§ 245. Outlines of Constitution. — California is a state, and
a member of the United States of America, witli rights equal
to those of the other states. The sovereignty of government
is divided between the federation and the state, the former
taking precedence. Every officer of the state, before entering
upon the duties of his position, must take an oath to " support
the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of
the state of California." A double allegiance is thus imposed,
that due to the state authorities being secondary to that due
to the authorities of the nation at larg-e. The Union has ex-
elusive power to regulate commerce, naturalize foreigners,
coin money, make treaties, declare war, make peace, and main-
tain an army and navy. Beyond these powers, the state is
sovereign. The state government is republican. All the offi-
cers of the government are chosen by the people. The legis-
lature is composed of two houses, which sit separately, and
the consent of both is necessary to the passage of any bill.
The longest term of office for any important executive or
legislative position is two years ; the members of the assembly
and many of the county officers being elected annually. The
voters thus have an immediate control over the government.
The judges of the Supreme Court and of the District Courts
are elected by the people, and the term of office is six years.
Suffrage is universal; that is, every sane, adult, white male
citizen, not a felon, may vote at every election. No owner-
ship of property or payment of taxes is required as a qualiti-
cation for voting or holding office.

350 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 246. Inferiority of Colored Persons. — All white male
citizens are equal before the law of California ; but negroes,
Indians, and Chinamen are not permitted to vote or to testify-
in the courts against white men. In a criminal case, one-
eiffhth neo:ro blood and one-half of Indian blood, in civil cases
one-half of either, disqualifies a witness for testifying against a
white man. Slavery is forbidden by the constitution.

§ 247. Laics Favorable to Debtors. — The laws of California
rebtino- to the collection of debts are verv favorable to the
debtor. His homestead, the property owned by his wife pre-
vious to marriage, that given to her afterward, his household
furniture to the value of two hundred dollars, his tools, if a
mechanic, his horse and wagon, if a mechanic, and his library,
if a lawyer, are exempt from execution. A married man, a
widow, or widower with children, or any head of a family, is
entitled to a homestead worth five thousand dollars, secure
against creditors. An unmarried person may have a home-
stead worth one thousand dollars. Such laws may prevent
much oppression of poor people, but they also protect and en-
courage much rascality. A man may own a homestead worth
five thousand dollars, and that may include a very elegant
dwelling. His household furniture, worth as much more, may
have been presented by some friend to his wife after marriage.
She may have a separate estate of one hundred thousand
dollars, and may derive an annual income of ten or twenty
thousand dollars from it, and both may live in an extravagant
style, and yet creditors have no hold upon him whatever.
There is no imprisonment for debt except in cases of fraud, and
that the laws are so drawn that it is almost impossible to prove-
One important class of testimony, admissible to prove a man a
thief or murderer, is not admissible if he be accused of fraud
in contracting a debt. In trials for obtaining money by false
pretenses — the most common kind of fraud in contracting
debts — the oral testimony of witnesses, as to the representa-
tions made by the accused, is not sufiicient to convict ; there
must be some writino; or token furnished bv the defendant.

COXSTITUTION AND LAWS. 351

In many ways the debtor is fenced about, so that the laws seem
to have been devised by men who had had experience in swind-
ling creditors, and wished to secure themselves against trouble
in the future. Every precaution is taken against the creditor,
a^ though he were a public enemy ; while the men who do
not pay their debts are treated as though they Avere the soul
of the state, and as though their mode of doing business should
be encouraged at all costs. When a man gets in debt, he can
get out again without difficulty. Our insolvent law provides
that he has only to petition a court for release, set forth his
debts and assets, swear that he cannot pay his debts and give
up his assets. Unless the creditors can then prove that he
has committed fraud, either in contracting the debts or in con-
cealing his property from his creditors, he is entitled to be
released. He may go through this process repeatedly ; and
many cases have occurred of two discharges in insolvency
granted to one person wdthin two years. The favor shown by
our laws to debtors, is, I think, a grave error, and contributes
much to establish a dishonest tone in general society, and to
encourage dishonest actions. On every side can be seen men
who have swindled creditors out of large amounts of money,
and are themselves now living in extravagant, or at least
luxurious style. Such laws encourage habits of rash specula-
tion, with the expectation that riches will come with success,
and no discredit or loss to any one save creditors, with failure.
Honest and prudent men suffer, business is thrown into disor-
der, and reckless adventurers and knaves get positions and in-
fluence which they never should have.

The property owned by either the husband or wife before
marriage, and by gift, bequest, or inheritance after marriage,
belongs to each separately ; and the property acquired after
marriage, by other means than gift, bequest, or inheritance, is
common property belonging in equal shares to both. The
husband, however, has sole control of it. The wife has no
right of dower, and the husband has sole control of the com-
mon property, and may sell, without the consent of the wife,

352 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

any of it except the homestead ; a deed or mortgage for which
without her signatuVe and seal, is absolutely void. The hus-
band cannot convey his interest unless she conveys her in-
terest at the same time. The husband has the management
of the separate property of the wife too, but, if she desire it,
she may apply to a court and have the property placed in the
charge of any trustee whom she may select. For a valid sale
of the wife's separate property, husband and wife must join.

The laws of California, like the customs and trade, do not
favor the perpetuation of wealth in families. There is no right
of primogeniture. All children inherit equally. The eldest
son gets no more than the youngest. Public opinion runs
with the law. The rich man who should express an intention
to give all his property to his eldest son, merely because of
his seniority, would be hated. Entails are forbidden. A man
canuot tie up lands in the county for more than ten years, or
town lots for more than twenty. How different is all this
from the state of affairs in Europe ! There, at least in some
parts of the continent, all the property goes to the eldest son ;
property is entailed in the family for many generations ; the
debtor is subject to imprisonment ; there is no release for in-
solvents ; the property of the woman is by marriage vested
absolutely in the husband, and does not revert by inheritance
to her blood relatives by her death ; the limitations for com-
mencing law-suits are very long, and sales, if not made at the
market price, or contracts, if made so that one party appears
to have obtained an advantage of the other, maybe rescinded.
The habits and opinions of the people give strength to their
laws ; and wealth once in a family is almost as certain to be
transmitted through many generations by inheritance in Eu-
rope, as its loss in the second or third generation is certain in
the new states of America.

§ 248. Tenure of Land. — Four-lifths of the land in Califor-
nia is owned by the federal government, which acquired it
from Mexico by treaty. This federal land lies in the mineral
regions, and in all the unsettled districts of the state. Most of

CO NTS TIT UT I ON AND LAWS. 353

it has been surveyed, and, with the exception of the land in the
mineral districts, is offered for sale at one dollar and twenty-
five cents cash per acre, in lots of forty acres, or tracts of any
size of which forty is a multiple. There is no limit to the
amount which one man may buy. Any man may occupy any
of the federal land. It is open to the use of the public. The
tule land, of which there are about eight hundred square
miles, belongs to the state, and that is offered for sale at one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, but the payment may be
made in instalments at long intervals. One-eighteenth of the
land has been given to the state for school purposes, and this
is also for sale at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre
in instalments.

Most of the land held in private ownership in the state, is under
grams made by Mexico previous to 1 846. Of these grants there
are eight hundred and thirteen, covering a total of 9,828,181
acres. Of these claims about one hundred and fifty, covering
about 3,000,000 acres, have been finally rejected, and a number
are as yet undecided. The grants were for large tracts called
ranchos, intended to be used chiefly or exclusively for pastur-
age, and the average size was about 12,000 acres, or three
square leagues. The grants were made, not by the acre or by
the mile, but by the square league, containing 4,438 acres and
a fraction, or, to be precise, 4,438.683 acres. Every ranch had
its name, for it was a kind of principality, and these names
have in many cases been transferred to towns and townships
under the American dominion.

The common tenure of land in California is fee-simple. Such
conditional tenures as are common in Europe are very rare
here, and many of them are prohibited by our laws. We
have no life estates, nor is any lease or limited conveyance of
land good for a longer period than ten years, unless it be a
town lot, and then the limit is twenty years. All conveyances
of real estate are placed upon record in a government ofiice,
and without such record they are not valid as against persons
not parties to the conveyance.

354 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 249. Ownershij) of Minerals. — It has been a much dis-
puted question whether the owner of land, under a Mexican
title, owns the minerals in the soil. Under the Mexican law
he did not; but the latest decision of the highest court of
California is, that the owner of the land owns all the minerals
in it. The Mexican and Spanish law is unsuited to the Ameri-
can system. By law the mines are open to everybody. Any
man or woman, citizen or alien, white, black, or yellow, may
lay claim to an unoccupied tract of auriferous quartz or dirt,
and if his claim be not larger than is customary, he has a good
legal title so long as he may work it, provided that, if an alien,
he shall pay a license Of four dollars per month. How^ever,
although he may have a good legal title, the white miners in
some districts will not pemiit Chinamen to come among them,
and their legal right is of no value against the omnipotent
mob. There is no express law throwing the mines open to all
the world ; but the intent of the government is plainly to be
inferred from the debates of Congress, and the fact that no re-
straint has been placed upon mining. All the federal land iu
the state, save that in the mining districts, is thrown oj^en to
pre-emption for agricultural purposes ; but the mines are re-
served, and evidently for the miners, from whom the federal
government has never demanded any tax or share of the gold
obtained. The state legislature has imposed a tax of four
dollars per month on all alien miners, and has promised that
all who pay that tax shall be permitted to mine as freely as
citizens ; but that promise is not kept.

§ 250. Titles of Mining Claims. — The miners do not own
the land on which they w^ork; they only have a right of pos-
session so long as they occupy it ; and their right is called a
" claim." The size of the claims varies in different districts,
and depends entirely upon the regulations or custom of the
district. Every district has a written code of regulations,
determining, among other points, the size of mining claims ;
and these regulations are recognized by the state as valid, so
far as they are not in conflict with the statutes or constitution.

CONSTITUTION AND LAWS. 355

Quartz claims are usually two hundred feet long, following the
course of the lode. In some districts the miner holds one
hundred feet of ground on each side of his lode, so that he can-
not be disturbed by other persons in his vicinity ; in others he
holds only the width of his lode, and if another lode, or placer
diggings, be found within a few feet of his place of working,
other claimants may come so near as to interfere greatly with
his convenience. Placer claims vary in size, according to the
nature of the ground. On bars, a claim usually has a front of
fifty, a hundred, or two hundred feet on the river, and runs
back across the whole width of the bar. Tunnel claims have
a front of fifty, a hundred, or two hundred feet on a hill-side,
and run transversely to the middle of the hill, or entirely
across it, parallel with the direction in which the tunnel is
commenced. Ravine claims include the bed of a ravine for a
distance of not more than three himdred feet. Placer claims
not on bars or ravines, or in hills that must be tunnelled, are
usually rectangular, containing as much as one hundred or two
hundred feet square. Persons who discover new placers or
auriferous quartz veins are entitled to two claims.

The method of getting a claim is very simple. The miner
finds a piece of unoccupied ground that suits him ; drives stakes
at the corners ; fastens on one of these stakes a piece of paper,
containing a written notice similar to the following :

"I hereby lay claim, for mining purposes, to a piece of
ground a hundred feet square, of which this is the northeast-
ern corner, the other corners being marked by stakes.

"John Smith."

He then goes to the mining recorder of the district, requests
him to record the claim in his book, and pays a fee of half a
dollar. In some districts the recorder must go out and look
at the claim, to see that it is not on ground previously claimed.
In other districts one of the stakes must have a piece of tin on
it, marked with the number which the claim has on the record-
er's books. In other districts it is necessary to mark the

356 RESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

limits of claims with a trench. But the common custom is to
require only a notice of the simplest intelligible form and a
record ; and by these the miner acquires a perfect title as
against all other persons, so long as he continues to work the
claim. But if he does not work the claim, he forfeits his title.
The time within which work must be done to preserve the title
good, varies greatly in diiferent districts — from three days to
a month. The period is usually brief in proportion to the shal-
lowness of the diggings and the ease of y^^orking them. In
most districts no amount of work will secure a claim against
forfeiture. A miner may work his claim every day for years,
and then, if he deserts it for a day beyond the period allowed
in the mining regulations of the district, it is legally forfeited,
and may be taken by the first comer. There are certain classes
of diggings which can only be Avorked during half of the year,
and in these, claims are subject to forfeiture only during the
workable season. It is not expected that a miner will work
a dry ravine claim in the summer, or a bar claim in the winter ;
and the mining regulations, being based on reason, and well
designed for the convenience of the miners and the develop-
ment of the mining interest, impose no penalty upon such
actions as would be approved by industrious, prudent men.
There are deep diggings where all the claims cannot be worked
at once : those in front, or nearest the place where there is an
outlet for the water, must be worked out before the miner can
begin on those behind. In such cases, the claims in the " back-
ground" will not be forfeited until there is a possibility of
working them, even though years elapse. The mining regula-
tions impose no penalty for a neglect to do impossible things.
Among the claims which may be left unworked for a long
time without danger of forfeiture, are claims for mining pur-
poses to land occupied by other parties for tailings. A miner
may hold a tailing claim merely for the purpose of preserving his
tailings, and with no intention to wash the natural dirt; and
another miner may lay claim to the same place for mining pur-
poses, but he must wait until the prior occupant has removed

COXSTITITTIOX AND LAWS. 357

his tailings, and until such removal the title is not subject to
forfeiture. And the prior occupant is under no obligation to
be in haste : he can take the same time to remove the tailino-s
that he would have taken if no claim for mining purposes had
been made to the land. It is not necessary that the owner of
a claim should work upon it in person ; the labor of a hired
man is as good to maintain occupation and secure title as any
other labor. In the Esmeralda silver district, work to the
value of seventy-five dollars secures the title forever, according
to the mining regulations.

A company of miners may take up as much ground as the
aggregate amount which they could take up separately ; and
when a company takes a claim, every member has an equal
and undivided interest in every part of it. When a claim is
to be taken for a company, it is sufficient that one member of
the company should appear at the recorder's office, demand
that the claim be recorded, and offer to pay the fees. The re-
corder has no right to make any preliminary inquiries as to
who the people are, or where they live, or whether they live
at all. One man, finding a good tract of rich ground, may
write down the names of a dozen persons living at a distance,
and, without consulting them, have their names recorded as
members of a company owning a large and valuable claim,
and by such record their title becomes good.

In most districts a miner may hold only one claim by his
own original location, but an unlimited number by purchase.
In districts where there are both dry ravine and bar-claims, he
may at the same time hold one bar-claim and one ravine-claim
by original location, the former being workable in summer and
the latter in the winter. After having exhausted or abandoned
one claim, the miner may always take up another.

The manner of taking up claims in the argentiferous and
quicksilver districts, is the same as in the gold districts.

The water in the mineral districts is also subject to claim.
The streams may be diverted from their courses and used for
washing dirt, driving saw-mills, grist-mills, and quartz-mills, or

358 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

irrigating tilled fields. The first claimant has the prior right,
no matter for what industrial purpose he wishes to use the
water. Miners have no monopoly of the water in the mineral
regions, nor even a prior right. There is no limit to the
amount which a man may claim. He may take the largest
river in the mountains ; he may take a dozen of them and
hold them all. He may not only take all their water, but he
may take all the land necessary to use it. He may make res-
ervoirs covering hundreds of acres. He may make ditches a
hundred miles long. All that is necessary to give him a pos-
sessory title to the water and land, is that he should drive
stakes along the route of the ditch, post up notices of his inten-
tion, and commence work in building the dam and cutting the
ditch. However, while the custom of the country would per-
mit a man to become the owner of such extensive 'works, the
practical result is, that the large ditches are almost invariably
made by companies.

§ 251. Marriage. — Marriage, by the law of California, is
a civil contract, which is complete with the consent of the
man over twenty-one years of age, and of the woman over
eighteen. Xo ceremonial form, license, publication of bans,
consent of j^arents, blessing of priest, seal of magistrate, or
l^resence of witness, is necessary to give validity to the con-
tract. If either party be under the age mentioned, then the
consent of the parent or guardian is necessary. Although the
law does not require a ceremony, yet custom does, and the
priests and preachers are usually called in to j^erform it.
Divorce may be granted for adultery, habitual intemperance,
extreme cruelty, desertion for two years, conviction of a felony,
and imjDotence. There has been much complaint that the law
renders divorce too easy, but the general opinion of CaUfornia
is favorable to the law as it is.

SOCIETY. 359

CHAPTER XII.

SOCIETY.

§ 252. Population. — The total population of California is
reported by the census of 1860 to be 380,015; of whom
333,530 are white, and 46,485 are colored. This census, how-
ever, was not taken with proper care, and I am confident that
the total population is not less than 400,000, of whom about
340,000 are white, and 60,000 colored. Of the colored, 50,000
are Chinamen, 3,000 are negroes and mulattoes, and 7,000 are
Indians. Most of the Indians live far from white men, and in
a state of complete savageness ; the negroes are mostly in the
large towns ; the Chinamen are mostly in the mines and in
San Francisco. The details of the census have not yet been
published, so I must guess at them. I siippose that the white
population is made up of 155,000 men, 95,000 women, and
90,000 children or minors. Of the men, there may be 130,000
citizens and 25,000 aliens. The aliens may be composed of
12,000 Frenchmen, 3,000 Englishmen and Scotchmen, 2,000
Irishmen, 3,000 Itahans, 2,000 Spanish Americans and 3,000
Germans, &c. Putting white and colored adults together,
there are about 110,000 women and 200,000 men in the state.
The men are about equally divided between the mining and
farming districts of the state, but the proportion of women is
much laro^er in the latter than in the former. The minors are
about equally divided between boys and girls ; and the chil-
dren, under ten years of age, have a large majority over those
between ten and twenty-one. Of the nativity of voters I
make the following estimate : 50,000 Americans from the free
states, 30,000 Americans from the slave states, 20,000 Irish-

360

RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA,

men, 15,000 Germans, and 15,000 miscellaneous, including
Canadians, Britons, Hungarians, Spaniards, Danes, &c. The
most populous counties, according to the census report, have
the numbers of inhabitants, and, at the presidential election of
1860, cast the number of votes, indicated in the following
table :

Coti/nties. Population.

San Francisco 56,805

Sacramento 24,145

El Dorado 20,562

Nevada 16,447

Tuolumne 16,229

Calaveras 16,302

Yuba 13,671

Placer 13,270

Butte 12,107

173.538

Votes,
14,415
7,542
7,049
6,965
5,547
4,815
5,058
5,824
4,438

61,653

The following is a statement of the population of the state
by counties, as reported in the census of 1860 : —

Counties.

Alameda. . . .
Amador* . . .

Butte*

Calaveras* .
Contra Costa

Colusa

Del Norte...
El Dorado*. .
Eresno* ....
Humboldt.. .
Klamath * . .
Los Angeles.

Marin

Mariposa* . .
Mendocino . .
Merced. .
Monterey
Napa . . .
Nevada*
Placer* .
Plumas*
Sacramento .
S. Bernardino.

White. 1

CoVd. 1

Total.

8,581

346

8,927

8,392

2,541

10,933

9,718

2^89

12,107

12,579

3,723

16,302

5,186

142

5,328

2.157

117

2,274

1.374

618

1,992

14,695

5,867

20,562

4,-025

580

4,605

2,502

192

2,694

1,315

588

1,803

9.919

1,417

11,336:

3,042

292

3.334!

4.215

2,028

6,243i

2,881

1,086

3,967j

1,114

27

l,141i

4,147

592

4,739

5,454

61

5,515

14,236

2,211

16,447

11,104

2,166

13,270

3.730

633

4.363

22,761

1,384

24,145

4,860

694

5,554

i

Counties.

San Diego. . . .
San Francisco
San Joaquin . .
S. Luis Obispo.
San Mateo . . .
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara. . .
Santa Cruz . . .

Shasta*

Sierra*

Siskiyou*'. . . .

Solane

Sonoma

Stanislaus.. . .

Sutter

Tehama

Tulare and
Buena Yista . .

Trinity*

Tuolumne*. . .

Yolo

Yuba

White.

Cold.

3,785

541

52,955

3,850

9,171

263

1,560

222

3,138

76

3,100

443

11,683

229

4,327

618

3,922

438

9,574

1,815

7,056

573

7,132

38

11,672

195

2,022

203

3,358

42

3,288

756

4,059

579

3,318

1,807

14,277

1,952

4,679

37

11,557

2,114

333,530

46,485

Total.

4,326

56,805
9,434
1,782
3,214
3,543

11,912
4,945
4,360

11,389
7,629
7,170

11,867
2,245
3,390
4,044

5,125
16,229

4,716
13,671

380,015

SOCIETY. 361

In the counties marked with asterisks the population is chiefly
occupied with mining ; and there is some mining in Sacra-
mento, Yuba, Del Xorte, Los Angeles, Buena Vista, and San
Bernardino counties. Since the census was taken, the eastern
part of Calaveras has been organized into Mono county, and
the northern part of Napa into Lake county.

§ 253. Nativities. — In January, 1848, thirteen years ago,
the total white population of California did not exceed 15,000
in number, of whom two-thirds were Spanish American. Of
the 340,000 present white inhabitants, therefore, 325,000 are
immigrants or miners. Of the adult population not more than
one in twenty is a native of the state. The migration has
not been for a short distance. It was from one side of the
world to the other — a long and for most an eventful journey.
Of the children, about half were born in California. The aver-
age time that the immigrants have spent in California may be
six years. During the last twelve years not less than 250,000
persons who had made their homes in California for a year or
more, have left the state, and they are now scattered all over
the civilized world. The Americans in Cahfornia represent
every state in the Union, and representatives from every state
may be found in many of the counties taken separately. In
the public schools of San Francisco during 1860, there were
1,454 children born in the state of New York, 1,176 born in
California, 667 from Massachusetts, 245 from Louisiana, 194
from Pennsylvania, 149 from Maine, 72 from Missouri, 70 from
Ohio, 61 from Maryland, 49 from Illinois, 47 from Xew Jer-
sey, 46 from Rhode Island, 44 from Connecticut, 41 from
New Hampshire, 36 from Kentucky, and a few from Vermont,
Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississipi^i, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon, the District of
Columbia, New Mexico, and Utah. Of foreign countries there
were 214 from Germany, 150 from Australia, 121 from Eng-
land, 77 from China, 54 from France, 51 from Ireland, 29 from
Canada, 27 from Scotland, 25 from Chili, 16 from New Zea-
16

362 RESOURCES OF CALIFOKNIA.

land, 13 born at sea, and others from Poland, Tahiti, Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Cuba, Spain, West Indies, Russia,
Holland, Hawaiian Islands, Norway, Italy, Tasmania, Belgium,
Panama, SAveden, Switzerland, and Peru. The children from
Ireland, France, and Spanish America are few, because most
of them are sent to the Catholic schools. Otherwise the table
presents a pretty fair indication of the mixed character of the
population, and the brief period of its residence in this state.
The proportions are, however, not the same in all the counties.
The proportion of people from the maritime states of New
York and New England is larger in San Francisco than in any
other county ; whereas Missouri is the leading state in Sonoma,
Napa, Yolo and Santa Clara counties, which are agricultural.
Texas has probably furnished more citizens to Tulare county
than any other state of the Union ; and Illinois and Iowa have
furnished a considerable proportion of the residents of Siskiyou
and Shasta counties.

§ 254. Liberal Tone of Society. — As a body, the people of
California are intelligent. It is very rare to find a white man
who cannot read. They have travelled far to reach this coast,
and the journey required from most of them a considerable ex-
penditure of money and an enterprising spirit. Many of them
had seen much of the w^orld before coming to California, and
have travelled considerably since their arrival. They are in-
dustrious, energetic, brave, quick in speaking, ready to avenge
an insult, accustomed to carry pistols and knives, quick to use
them in quarrel, aifable, unceremonious, and unreserved in their
intercourse with acquaintances or strangers. These remarks
will not apply to all individuals, but to the people generally,
as compared with the people of other states and countries.
The state has not yet had time to build up a national character
among natives, but the people are different from all other
people. They have much of the general traits of Americanism,
but the traits are more striking because so many of the popu-
lation are men, and men in the most vigorous period of man-
hood, and bold, adventurous men, who have seen strange ups

SOCIETY. 363

and clowns of life, and seen much of foreigcn lands and strancre
peoples. In their own state they meet and are thrown into
familiar intercourse with intelligent representatives of all climes
and continents. The consequence is, that there is no popula-
tion more cosmopolitan than the Californians. They have no
provincial stiffiiess ; there is nothing of the little village about
them.

In no place is society more free and cordial, and ready to
give a friendly reception to a stranger than in California. The
new-comer is looked upon with favor ; nobody cares whether
he belongs to a distinguished family, has moved in a fashion-
able circle, or possesses wealthy or influential friends or rela-
tives. The great question is, "Is he or she well educated,
polished, and entertaining ?" Of course Californians are not
entirely above such considerations as govern society elsewhere,
but they are influenced by them far less than people in other
states. The course of business is such that no profession has
all the wealth. There are rich men of all occupations, and
some of the mechanical trades are now as profitable, on the
average to those engaged in them, as are the learned profes-
sions. Those who were rich in the older states, and received
a thorough education and a pohshed training, may here be
poor, while those who came hither poor and ignorant may now
be rich. Besides, the changes are so rapid that our neighbor
who is poor to-day may be rich to-morrow, and the neighbor
who is rich to-day may be poor to-morrow. Again, California
is pre-eminently a country of business. People came here to
make money, and everybody tries to make it ; and in a state
where wages are high, and profits large, a man's business de-
pends to a considerable extent on the multitude of his friends,
so everybody wishes to make a friend of everybody else. The
millionaire in Europe may treat his tenant as an inferior ; in
California the wealthiest land-owner is expected to treat his
tenant as an equal. All these things have their influence in
preventing the separation of our society into those classes
which prevail elsewhere.

364 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

In no part of the world is the individual more free from re-
straint. Men, women, and cliildren are permitted to do near-
ly as they please. High Avages, migratory habits, and bache-
lor life, are not favorable to the maintenance of stiff social
rules among men, and the tone of society among w^omen must
partake, to a considerable extent, of that among men, especi-
ally in a country where the women are in a small minority,
and therefore are much courted. Public opinion, w^hich as a
guardian of public morals is more powerful than the forms of
law, loses much of its power in a community where the inhab-
itants are not permanent residents. A large portion of the
men in California live alone, either in cabins or in hotels, re-
mote from women relatives, and therefore uninfluenced by the
powers of a " home." It is not uncommon for married women
to go to parties and balls in company with young bachelor
friends. The girls commence going into " society " about fif-
teen, and then receive company alone, and go out alone with
young men to dances and other places of amusement. In this
there is a great error ; too much liberty is allowed to the girls
in the states on the Atlantic slope, and still greater liberty is
given here, where, as they ripen earlier, they should be more
guarded.

The absence of restraint in society, the exciting character of
business, the mildness of the climate, the interesting associa-
tions of life, in a state where a man lives more and sees more
in a year than he would see in a lustrum in older countries,
have given the people who have resided here an attachment
for Cahfornia. It has been observed that a large proportion
of those who have left the state, intending to spend the remain-
der of their lives in their native places, have returned, declar-
ing that they could not accommodate themselves to the slow,
quiet, dull ways of more antiquated states.

§255. Publicity of Life. — Life in California isverypubhc.
Many of the people live in hotels and at large boarding-houses.
Travellers are numerous ; theatres and balls are abundant and
well attended ; celebrations and festivals are frequent ; the

SOCIETY. 365

population is excitable; all take the newspapers, and all are
interested in the events of the day ; and the history of the
country is full of eventful incidents, which always present
fruitful topics for discussion. Money is abundant, and is easily
earned, and of course it is spent freely; and the favorite
method of spending is in public festivities and attending places
of amusement. In tio part of the United States is so much of
life public, and so little of it private.

§ 256. Aniusetnents. — San Francisco is a city of public shows
and processions. Dancing is almost universal. The children
of every public school in our chief city must have picnics and
dances in May and at Christmas. Some of the Sunday schools
do without the dance ; others have as many as the common
schools. One has four dances every year. The regular dances,
picnics, and festivals of various schools and associations in San
Francisco, will average several for every week in the year.
Theatres and operas are most liberally patronized, in propor-
tion to the population. But perhaps the amusement which has
found the most favor in California is billiard-playing. Billiard-
tables are found everywhere. Li many little villages where
there is but one inn a fine billiard-table will be found. In San
Francisco there are numerous large billiard-saloons, containing
each from eight to twelve of the largest and most elegant bil-
liard-tables, at which men are constantly playing. The climate
along the coast is peculiarly favorable to dancing, for, as the
evenings and nights are always cold, it is as pleasant to dance
in the surumer as in the winter. Among the other regular
amusements of Californians is that of "o-oins^ east." About
ten thousand of them go to the Eastern states every year, to
make visits and see their relatives. Amongr the fashionable
places of resort in the state are the Yosemite Falls, the Mam-
moth Groves of Calaveras and Mariposa counties, the Alabas-
ter Cave in El Dorado county, the Geysers in Sonoma couiity,
the Sulphur Springs in Napa county, the Warui Springs in
Alameda county; and in September and October, when the
grapes are ripe, the towns of Sonoma and Los Angeles. Gam-

366 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

bling was in 1854 commonly and openly practised in all the
towns of the state ; now it is prohibited as a crime, and is
practised only in secret, and is a rare offence save in the
milling towns. Horse-racing is common, and the state has
some of the best thorouo-h-bred horses in the world. Gam-
bling was from 1849 to 1854 a common public amusement in
all the towns and mining camps. In San Francisco a dozen of
the largest and finest halls on the first floor, with doors always
open to the street, and in several cases extending across whole
blocks and opening upon two opposite streets, were occupied
by gamblers, and were filled by crowds of people every day —
no exception for Sunday — from dark until long after midnight.
Fine bands of music and voluptuous pictures w^ere among the
common attractions of these places, and some of the tables had
handsome women to deal the cards or orather in the monev.

CD y

Gambling is now prohibited by law, but is practised openly in
the little mining towns.

Some years ago bull-fights and fights of bears against bulls
were not uncommon, but they have gone out of favor, and
nothino; is heard of such exhibitions now.

§ 257. Luxurious Living. — The mode of living among Cali
fornians is luxurious. They all try to make the most of life.
Everybody wants a neat house, elegant tableware, fine ma-
hogany furniture, Brussels carpets, and a good table. In the
towns especially, the people live well, even the poorer me-
chanics and common laborers. Every man dresses in broad-
cloth, and nearly every woman in silk. The exceptions are so
few as scarcely to be worthy of notice. Gold watches are
worn by draymen and washerwomen. In every occupation
men get rich, and stingy men and misers are rare.

§ 258. Health. — Of the Americans in California, it may be
remarked that they generally have the same marks as the
Americans in the Eastern states. Their eyes are deep set,
their foreheads high, their features regular and finely cut, their
faces expressive and free from gi'imace, their lips thin, their
mouths grim, their bodies tall, slim, and slightly bent in the

SOCIETY. 367

shoulders, thin m the chest, the voice loud, the enunciation
slow and clear, with little modulation. These general charac-
teristics of the nation, as compared with Europeans, are not
wanting in CaHfornia. However, the Califomians of the third
or fourth generation will be different from those of the present
day ; they will be a heavier, and healthier, and probably a taller
race. The tendencies in this direction are, I think, already
evident, in the forms and growth of the children ; and such
influences might be inferred from the vigorous development,
in this state, of the forms of animal and vegetable life generally.
Most parts of the state, especially those near the coast, are
very healthy. Indeed I do not think that in any part of the
world is nature more favorable to lonor life than in California
from Sonoma to Santa Barbara, within thirty miles of the ocean.
The regularity of the temperature, and the entire absence of
both extreme heat and extreme cold, with a clear sky, a dry
atmosphere, and a constant breeze, are the conditions most
favorable to health, and they are nowhere more happily united
than here. In the low land of the Sacramento and Colorado
basins, where the summers are very hot, and in the high land
of the Sierra Nevada, where the winters are very cold, the
health of the inhabitants is not so good. In many of the
mining towns, where much water escapes from the ditches,
and keeps the earth constantly moist, and where new ground
is thrown up every day, fever and ague are common. That
disease prevails also in the moist lands along the Sacramento
and San Joaquin Rivers, and about the Four Creeks, in Tulare
county. Rheumatism is very common in the mines, and neu-
ralgia throughout the state. Whether this latter disease is
more common here than in the Eastern states, is a matter of
dispute, but certainly I never heard so much of it elsewhere as
I have heard in California. Diseases of the eyes are common
here, caused probably by the dust, the dryness of the atmos-
phere, the glare of the sun, and the evaporation of mercury
in open pans, by miners. The dense fogs which visit the coast
reader the climate unfavorable to persons afflicted with con-

.368 KESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

sum2:)tion ; while I presume a residence in the mountains, high
above the sea, would be very likely to cure that disease, at
least in its early stages.

The American women of California are not healthy, as a
class. They are trained up in the dark and in idleness, as
though sunshine and work Avould ruin them. Pastry, pickles,
and sweetmeats form a considerable portion of their food,
and they are taught to abhor coarse strength and robustness
as worse than sins. Of course they cannot, as women, be
healthy. The girls are beautiful — beautiful as angels, but at
twenty-five the women begin to wither, and at thirty-five they
lose nearly every trace of physical beauty. The diseases pe-
culiar to women are very common, and whether from this
reason or some other cause, it is very frequent to see women
of thirty or thirty-five, who have one or two children ten or
twelve years old, and none younger. The native Californian
and Irish women have large families ; the American women
have but few, and yet there is no country where children are,
on an average, so large at birth (if the opinion of some experi-
enced physicians of my acquaintance be sufficient authority to
establish the fact), or where so many twins are born. It has
been remarked that a multitude of instances have occurred of
couples who, after having lived together for ten, fifteen, or
twenty years in other countries, before coming to California,
in a year after their arrival here have had children. Travel-
ling and a change of climate will no doubt always have a favor-
able influence in this respect, but perhaps the extraordinary
productiveness of California may be perceptible here too.

§ 259. Proportion of the Sexes. — There are not enough
women for the men in California. The relation between the
sexes is unsound. Unfortunate women are numerous, and
separations and divorces between married couples fi'equent.
No civilized country can equal us in the proportionate number
of divorces. Our laws are not so lax as those of several of
the states east of the Mississippi, but the circumstances of life
are more favorable to separation. The small proportion of

SOCIETY. 369

women makes a demand for the sex, and so when a woman is
oppressed by her husband, she can generally find somebody
else who will not oppress her, and she will apply for a divorce;
whereas, in another state she would submit to much harsher
treatment and not demand a separation. The abundance of
money is here felt also. To prosecute a divorce suit costs
money, and many cannot pay the expense in poorer countries.
During 1860 eighty-five divorce suits were commenced in San
Francisco, and in sixty-one of these, or three-fourths of the
cases, the wives were the plaintiff's. During the six years from
1855 to 1860, inclusive, the number of divorce suits commenced
in San Francisco was four hundred and forty-seven, and in
more than three-fourths of the suits divorces were granted,
and divorces were denied in very few. Some of the suits were
discontinued or abandoned. The proportion is probably about
the same in other parts of the state.

§ 260. Education. — The state has made a liberal provision
for education. Common schools, free to all white children, are
maintained by the public treasury, and the large fund provided
for their support is declared in the constitution to be inviolable.
The common schools in San Francisco are as good as any com-
mon schools in the world. Those in the country districts are
not so good, and yet will compare favorably with most counti y
schools. Boys and girls are taught together in these scliools —
an arrangement which is thought, by many parents, to be bad
for girls over twelve ; and therefore private schools for girls
have many pupils. The Catholics in San Francisco have their
own schools, and support them with their own money. They
dislike the common schools, because pupils are not required
to study the Catholic catechism there. The state constitution
provides that there shall be a state university, but it has not
yet been organized, nor is it likely to be for some years to come.
There are a number of liigh schools called "colleges" and " uni-
versities," mostly maintained by religious sects, but they have
not yet become so.large or strong as to deserve special mention.

§ 261. Vigilance Committees. — In the last chapter I spoke of
16-

370 resourcp:s of California.

the constitution and laws of the state, here I must speak of the
assumption of unconstitutional and illegal powers by the Cali-
fornians, in a manner unexampled in other parts of the Union.
The vigilance committees of San Francisco are famous the world
over. There were two of these organizations, one in 1851, the
other in 1856, the latter being a revival of the former. The
laws for the punishment of crime in California are so loose and
so favorable to criminals, and the officers of justice have been so
corrupt, that the people have at several periods felt that the
only safe method of having justice executed, was to take the
matter into their own hands. The vigilance committee of
1851 was in existence but a short time, and did nothing save
execute a few thieves. That of 1856 was the more important
organization by far, and a brief statement of its actions may
be necessary to a proper understanding of the character of the
people. Under the American system of universal suffrage, the
control of the government must fall into the hands of a polit-
ical party, which again must be managed by a few individ-
uals, and these, especially in large cities, are often base men
who make a business of politics. It is so in New York city ;
and it was so in San Francisco in 1855 and the early part of
1856. The party then in power did not hesitate to elect to
high office men entirely unfit to be seen in decent society —
men of notoriously bad character, guilty of numerous crimes.
Many of the officers of elections were scoundrels, who, after
the polls were closed, threw away the genuine ballots and sub-
stituted others in their place, and thus declared their own men
elected to office. Such conduct was not the exception but the
rule ; it was practised in many districts and for year after year,
and the men guilty of it were patronized and protected by men
high in office. Among the ballot-box stuffers, one of the bas-
est and most prominent was James Casey, a man who had
been convicted in New York of grand larceny, and had been
punished by a term of imprisonment in the state prison. He
had a little education, some experience in the management of
political meetings, much tact, and a ready tongue. In San

SOCIETT. 371

Francisco he became a politician, and obtained the position of
inspector of elections in one of the wards ; and there he had
complete control of the ballot-box, and used it to keep himself
in office and elect his friends or those who paid him. In the
fall of 1855 Casey managed to be elected member of the board
of supervisors (which board has the same powers in San Fran-
cisco as the common council has in most cities), and this election
was conducted in such a manner that there was no doubt in the
mind of any reasonable man that the whole affair was fraudu-
lent. This man Casey shot a San Francisco editor who had de-
nounced him as a convict, a ballot-box stuffer, and a scoundrel.
The shooting took place in the street in open day, and the
wound was mortal. The editor had made himself prominent
and joopular by exposing various abuses, and no sooner was it
announced that he was shot, than a great excitement arose,
men collected by thousands in the street, and acted with a
passion little short of raving. The vigilance committee, whicli
had been dissolved for six years, was reorganized. Out of
twelve thousand white male citizens nine thousand enrolled
themselves as members of the committee. They formed them-
selves into military companies, obtained arms, chose officers,
and established an armory and a fort. The governor ordered
them to disband, and threatened to use the military power of
the state against them, but they set him at defiance, invested
the jail, took from it Casey and another man, who had com-
mitted homicide*, imprisoned them in their fort, and subse-
quently hanged them, after trying them secretly. The com-
mittee arrested a large number of persons on charges of vari-
ous crimes, executed two others for murder, banished about
a dozen, and maintained their fort and their military organiza-
tion for eight months, during which time they were really
masters of the city. They inflicted no punishment with-
out trial, held all their trials with much deliberation, and
were in no haste to execute their sentences. The governor
tried to call out the militia of the state, but the people gener-
ally sympathized with the movement, so neither the militia nor

372 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the legislature would do any thing. A few troops were col-
lected in San Francisco, but the vigilance committee took them
prisoners and deprived them of their arms. The governor
applied to the federal government for assistance, but the au-
thorities at Washington decided that they would not interfere,
except at the joint request of the governor and legislature.
The governor was thus left powerless, and the committee
maintained their fort and their military organization, and really
had control of the city for eight months. No judicial pro-
cess was of any service to release a man whom they had im-
prisoned. They hanged a few scoundrels, drove others from
the country, frightened still more, destroyed the influence of
bad men, rendered life and property secure, gave good men an
influence in the city government, purified the elections, gave a
better tone to society, commenced a new era of decent man-
agement of the municipal finances, and gave respectability to
the city. It is perhaps not more than proper that I should add
here, that I personally was neither a member of the vigilance
committee nor an advocate of its j)olicy of setting the laws at
defiance. This vigilance committee transacted all its business
secretly, and no record of its transactions has yet been pub-
lished. It is universally understood that the whole control
of the committee was vested in a secret executive commit-
tee of thirty-three, who had been chosen at one of the first
meetings after the reorganization began, when there were
but few members present. After the time Avhen they were
chosen, their names were never submitted for approval to
the great majority of the vigilance committee, who joined sub-
sequently, nor were their names ever announced to the citi-
zens by authority, nor did they ever appear in such a manner
that either the general public or the members of the vigilance
committee could know the names of this executive committee,
which was thus vested with an irresponsible and absolute
power. The meetings of the executive committee were secret,
and the greater part of their proceedings was never reported
even to their constituents. When any military or other action

SOCIETY. 373

was to be taken, nothing of the main purpose was communi-
cated, save to a few oflScers. The executive committee had
really an absolute power. Their orders were implicitly
obeyed. Whom they ordered into arrest, was arrested ; whom
they ordered into banishment, was banished. Their trials were
secret ; a counsellor was granted to the accused, but a coun-
sellor who was himself a member of the executive committee,
and of course bound to sustain his associates. The executive
committee exercised these great powers -svith great modera-
tion and wisdom, and without pay ; and all the men whom
they executed or banished, undoubtedly deserved all the
punishment inflicted on them. After the vigilance committee
was disbanded, the executive committee lost all its powers,
and returned to the position of simple citizens. Such is a brief
statement of the character of the vigilance committee of San
Francisco, an organization without its like in American his-
tory ; a secret society, ruled by a secret executive committee,
whose names were unknown to the public, and even to the men
pledged to obey them, whose meetings were secret, and of
whose proceedings no report was published either at that
time or since. The maintenance of the organization in defi-
ance of the law, was expensive and troublesome, and it is not
expected that it will ever be revived ; yet the temper of the
people is such that, rather than submit to the sway of ruffians,
who had power in San Francisco in 1855, they would certainly
re-establish the vio^ilance committee.

§ 262. Lynch Executions. — Xo association similar to the
vigilance committee has ever been formed in California out-
side of San Francisco. There have been many executions by
lynch law, but there was no permanent organization, delib-
erate trial of the accused, and delay in the execution of the
sentence, which marked the proceedings at San Francisco. In
the interior, the lynching is always done by a mob ; they may
act without much noise, and give the accused several hours'
respite before swinging him up, but it is only a mob after all.
The people come together in a state of excitement, and dis-

374 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

patch the offender while their blood is still hot. These scenes
have been comparatively rare of hxte, but they happen at least
several times in the course of a year. In the year 1855, no
less than forty-seven men were executed by mobs in Califor-
nia, twenty-four for theft, nineteen for murder, one for arson,
one for rape, and two Indians, for being spies to watch the
movements of some white men who were making war on their
tribe in Northern California. In nearly every instance when
a man is executed by mob law in California, he gets his deserts.
There may be exceptions, of course, but all the probabilities
are against the victim. Though the mob are excited, they are
by no means unreasonable ; they frequently give a man a for-
mal trial, hear the testimony against him, and do not execute
him until a jury has rendered a verdict against him. Some-
times the execution is hasty, but in such cases either the crime
is great and indubitable or there is danger that the offender
will be rescued by the officers of the law. The method of
procedure at a lynching is simple. The people collect about
the place where the prisoner is kept ; if he is in jail and the
jailor refuses to give him up, they break the door open with
crowbars, and take the prisoner out to a tree. If they have
leisure, a jury is organized and 2:)ut under oath or promise to
give the accused a fair trial. Some one, no matter whether a
lawyer or not, is ap})ointed to examine the witnesses for the
prosecution, and another for the defence ; and after a brief
hearing of the testimony a verdict is rendered, and in nineteen
cases out of twenty, the accused must swing. Hanging is
always used as the mode of execution. The main excuse for
these lynchings is, that the lavv^ is so badly administered that
there is no security that a criminal will be punished ; but as the
population becomes more 2>ermanent, there is less foundation
for this plea, and the lynch executions become less frequent.
They are confined altogether to the remote places in the state,
and in a few years they will entirely cease.

§ 263. Squatter League. — There is now, and has for years
been, a squatter league secret society, witli hundreds of mem-

SOCIETY,. 375

bers, organized for the purpose of defeating Spanish land
claims on which squatters have settled, and for the purpose of
resisting the ejectment of squatters when possible. This se-
cret society has the support of thousands of squatters who
are not members. In May, 1861, these squatters refused to
allow some trespassers to be ejected under legal process from
the Chaboya rancho near San Jose. Fifteen hundred armed
men collected to set the law at defiance, and when the gov-
ernor proposed to send troops, the squatters of Sacramento,
Sonoma and Marin counties promised to send two armed men
for every soldier. At one time there was serious danger of
bloodshed, but the affair was settled by granting some squat-
ter demands not at all consistent with the dignity of the gov-
ernment. This secret organization, and the seditious feeling
among a multitude of persons not members, still exist, and
may yet cause serious trouble.

§ 264. Anti- Chinese JSIoh. — The white miners have a great
dislike to Chinamen, who are frequently driven away from
their claims, and expelled from districts by mobs. In such
cases the officers of the law do not ordinarily interfere, and no
matter how much the unfortunate yellow men may be beaten
or despoiled, the law does not attempt to restore them to their
rig^hts or aveno-e their wronas.

§ 265. Deeds of 3lood. — California has obtained a sad no-
toriety for its deeds of blood, and although the number of
these has very much decreased, still fatal affrays are common.
During 1855 a list was kept of all the homicides in the state,
and no list has been kept since that year, and therefore I refer
to a time so remote for statistics. It appears, then, from the
records of that year, that five hundred and thirty-eight persons
died by violence. Of these three hundred and fifty-seven were
whites, one hundred and thirty-three Indians, thirty-two Chi-
namen, and three negroes. The number of Indians killed bv
the whites was no doubt much greater, for the two races were
at war in various parts of the state, and the skirmishes, which
almost invariably proved disastrous to the red men, were in

376 RESOURCES OF OALIFORXIA.

many cases not reported in the papers. Exclusive of the In-
dians slain there were four hundred and five homicides. In
many instances no particulars of the killing were given, but of
those cases where the mode of death was well ascertained,
there were forty-seven executed by mobs, nine were executed
according to law, ten were criminals killed by sheriffs or police-
men in attempting to arrest or detain them, six were foreign-
ers killed by the collectors of the foreign miners' license,
thirty-two were killed by Indians, seventeen were killed in jus-
tifiable homicide by men who were compelled to defend them-
selves, twelve were killed in fights about mining claims, eight
were killed in fights at gambling tables, sixteen were mur-
dered for purposes of robbery, and forty-six were found mur-
dered under circumstances that did not indicate whether the
motive was deliberate murder, sudden anger, robbery, or self-
defence. These homicides occurred in neaily equal propor-
tions in the four seasons of the year, and in the different popu-
lated districts of the state. The homicides of each year
between 1850 and 1855 were at least as numerous as those of
the last-named year, but since then there has been a great fall-
ing off, and now I think the number does not exceed seventy-
five in a year, exclusive of the Indians, of whom the yearly
average slain since 1856 has not been less than one hundred.
It may aj^pear a very singular and rapid change, that the an-
nual number of homicides in a state should decrease eighty per
cent, within a period of six years, but it must be remembered
that California is in a condition of swift transition, and that
our society is far more stable now than it was in 1855.

Why is it that there are so many bloody affrays in Cali-
fornia ? The first and great cause is the high temper of the
people. The Americans are an arrogant race. Every man
thinks himself as good as his neighbor, if not better. They
are a people who will not be insulted. They consider harsh
words insulting. They are fond of using harsh words to one
another. Custom authorizes them to apply the word "liar"
frequently, and custom justifies a man called " liar" in repay-

SOCIETY. 377

ing the epithet with a blow; and the same custom justifies a
man who is attacked with the fist, in defending himself with a
pistol or knife. In the mining districts, many of the men are
constantly armed, so that the weapons of death are rarely out
of reach. The Califoruians are reckless of life ; and the men,
living alone, free from the influence of family and relatives,
are dissipated, and when heated with liquor and excited by
gambling, are easily provoked to settle every little quarrel
with blood. The wild condition of affairs in the early times
has been impressed upon our society, and we have not yet
been able to reform it altogether. The multitude of people
from the cotton states have introduced amous; us their views
and practices in regard to the use of deadly weapons, and the
leaven has attached itself to the mass. The majority may
have different opinions, but one quarrelsome man can compel a
dozen to carry arms for self-defence. Adultery is held by pub-
lic opinion to be a justification of homicide, and this is a fruit-
ful source of deadly quarrels. And then it is to be remem-
bered, too, that many of the residents of California are men
who have committed crimes in the Eastern states, in Australia
and Europe, and have fled hither to escape punishment. Such
persons, although they may form a small proportion of the
population, contribute to give trouble. As compared with the
total number of homicides, the assassinations for revenge, and
the murders for money, are few. Previous to 1856, street
fights were among the institutions of San Francisco. It would
frequently be announced by conversation, or even by the news-
papers in the morning, that a street fight might be expected that
day between two men whose names were mentioned ; and the
curious would collect on Montgomery street, the main business
street, to see the fun. The belligerents, armed each with a
concealed revolver and a bowie-knife, would walk along the
street, and on coming near each other would draw their re-
volvers, and, with or without speaking, would commence firing.
The fight would be strictly one of self-defence on both sides.
In the use of deadly weapons, California resembles the Gulf

3V8 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

states far more than the North. The wild condition of af-
fairs in tlie early times has been impressed upon our society,
and we have not yet been able to reform it altogether ; and
in the matter of carrying deadly M'capons and in street fights,
we have imitated the example of the cotton states. So, too,
in the matter of duels, of which there have been many in
California, and some of them of a character so remarkable as
to attract attention all over the civilized world. Duelling is
forbidden by the law of the state, and is made punishable as a
felony by imprisonment for not more than two years, and if
either party be killed the survivor may be imprisoned not less
than one nor more than seven years in the state prison ; and
the constitution of the state provides that no person who has
been a principal or a second in a duel shall be allowed to vote
or hold office in the state; but a hundred duels have been
fought in the state, and about one-tliird of them have proved
fatal to one of the principals, and yet no man has been legally
punished for duelling, nor has any one been prevented from
voting or holding office for that reason ; on the contrary, many
of the duellists have until within a late date held offices among
the most honorable and profitable in the state.

§ 266. Religion. — We have no accurate statistics of the
churches and church memberships in California. Of the
155,000 white men in the state, I presume that 10,000 are
communicants of some Protestant church ; 10,000 of the
Catholic church ; '2,000 are Jews, and 1,000 are Mormons,
making 23,000 in all, or 14 per cent. Of the other 86 per
cent., two-thirds never go near a church, and scarcely claim to
be Christians ; while the remaining third go to church occa-
sionally, some of them regularly. The principal Protestant
churches are the Methodist Church (North), which has about
3,000 communicants, 60 churches, and 65 preachers ; the Meth-
odist Church (South) has about 1,000 communicants, 20 church-
es, and 40 preachers ; the Old School Presbyterian Church has
1,000 communicants, 15 churches, and 17 clergymen ; the New
School Presbyterian Church has 500 communicants, 11 churcl»-

SOCIETY. 379

es, and 13 clergymen; the Congregationalists have 600 com-
municants, 11 churches, and 12 preachers; the Cumberland
Presbyterians have 800 communicants and 28 preachers; the
Baptists have 1,000 communicants, 42 churches, and 30
preachers ; the Episcopalians have 600 communicants, 20
churches, and 18 clergymen; the Unitarians have 100 com-
municants, with one church, and one preacher. The total
number of communicants, as mentioned in this list, including
women, who are a majority, is less than 10,000 ; but there are
many persons staying temporarily in the state, and claiming
membership in congregations in the Eastern states.

Tiie Catholic priests claim to have 80,000 communicants in
their church ; and they have 70 churches, and 75 priests.
The Catholics are more attentive to the forms of their faith
than are the Protestants.

There are many Mormons in California, but they are scat-
tered about, and have no meetings or church organization.
Almost the entire population of the town of San Bernardino
was once made up of them, but they abandoned the place, at
the order of Brigham Young, and went to Salt Lake. Such
Mormons as there may be in the state, are generally consid-
ered to be industrious and sfood citizens.

There are 10,000 Jews in the state, and they have three
svnao-oo-ues, and two rabbles. The Jews of California are di-
vided into two main class -s, the German Jews and the Polish
Jews ; and in San Francisco each class has its own synagogue,
cemetery, and benevolent society. The German Jews are in-
fected by the progressive spirit of the age, and have adopted
a reformed ritual ; whereas the Polish Jews adhere to the old
forms and ceremonies. The Chinamen are, with the exception
of three or four score Christians, all Buddhists. Buddhism,
which has been called "the Christianity of the east," and in its
purer forms is not unworthy of the name, is with them a gross
superstition, accompanied by idol worship and meaningless
ceremonies, with no accompanying conception of high spiritual
truths. The Chi :amen have several places of worship in Cali-

380 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

fornia, where, at least once a year, public ceremonies are held.
One of these places in San Francisco, a chapel about eighteen
feet wide, by thirty long, and twelve high, has at one end an
idol of life-size in a squatting position, painted with Venetian
red. Around this idol are placed banners and curtains of silk,
and boards with inscriptions painted and carved in Chinese
characters. In front of the idol is a table, on which are lighted
candles, sticks of incense burning without a blaze, and filUng
the place with smoke, and various fantastically shaped dishes
of Avhite metal and brass. On another table are placed flow-
ers, vegetables, and various articles of food, such as pieces of
roast pig and chicken, fish, and other articles, the names of
which are unknown to Americans. The ceremonies are per-
formed by men dressed in long robes and acting as priests,
who march round the room, make genuflexions and bows be-
fore the idol, and occasionally kneel and recite forms of prayer.
Many of the Chinamen have in their dwellings little images of
Buddha, before which they keep tapers burning. Once a year
they go out in procession with music to the public cemetery,
where their dead are buried, and set a table there as a feast for
the spirits of the deceased.

The wild Indians have no clearly defined religious ideas ; and
the tame ones, or those who live among the whites, are so igno-
rant that their faith is little better than a gross superstition.

§ 267. Calif or niatiisms. — The Californians have introduced
certain words into the Englisli language, or at least have adopt-
ed them in common use in the state, and a list of them, with
their pronunciation and definition, may not be out of place here :

Aparejo (a par ay' ho), a Mexican pack-saddle.

Adobe (a do' ba), a large sun-dried, unburned brick, some-
times two feet long, a foot wide, and four inches thick.

Arroyo (ar ro' yo), a brook, or the dry bed of a brook or
small river.

Arastra (a ras' tra), a primitive mill for crushing quartz.

Alforja (al for' hah), a bag, usually made of raw cowhide,
used for holding the articles to be carried by a pack-horse.

SOCIETY. 381

Bar. — A low bank of sand or gravel, at the side of a river,
deposited by the stream.

Bummer. — An idle, worthless fellow, who does no work
and has no visible means of support. The word " loafer," like
*' lounger," does not designate the general conduct or perma-
nent character of a man, but only a temporary idleness. A re-
spectable, industrious man may become a " loafer" by making
idle, impertinent visits in business places during business hours ;
but the word " bummer" implies a low, lazy character. It is
l^robably derived from the vulgar German words Bummeln
and Biunmeler., which are about equivalent to " loafer " and
" loaf." Its origin has been attributed to Boehmen., the Ger-
man name of Bohemia, a nation celebrated for the number of
its sharpers and adventurers. The Gipsies are called Bohemi-
ens in France, because of their roving lives and worthless char-
acter. " Bummer" is generally suj^posed here to be a Califor-
nianism.

Bumming., acting the bummer, used in such phrases as " he
is bumming around."

Cahallada (ca bal yah' da), a herd of broken horses.

Canada (can yah' da), a small caiion, a deep ravine, a nar-
row valley with steep sides.

Canon (can' yon), originally a tube, and hence applied to
mean a deep gorge with high, steep walls. Comparatively few
caiions and caiiadas are to be found in that portion of the Unit-
ed States east of the Mississippi, but they are abundant in Cal-
ifornia. The Spaniards place the accent on the last syllable of
caiion (can yone'), but in ordinary American usage the accent
is on the first syllable. It is frequently spelt " canyon," and
" kanyon."

Corral (cor ral') a pen into which a herd of cattle or horses
is driven, when one is to be caught.

To coi^al^ to drive into a corral ; to drive a person into a
position from which he cannot escape.

To coyote., a mining term, to dig a hole resembling the bur-
row of the coyote^ or small California wolf.

382 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Claim, the tract of land claimed for mining purposes by a
man or party. There are various kinds of claims, such as
bank, bar, hill, tunnel, flat, &g.

Oolor^ a visible quantity of gold found m prospecting. If
the prospector finds one or more particles of gold in his search,
he says he has found the colo?\

To dry up, a slang phrase, meaning to stop, fail, disappear,
become silent. It is very expressive to Californians accus-
tomed to see the whole face of the country dry up in the sum-
mer season.

Diggings, a general name for placer gold mines. Wet dig-
gings are in the banks and bars of creeks or rivers ; dry
diggings are in flats or the beds of gullies, which are dry the
greater portion of the year.

JEspediente, the original papers relating to some government
business, filed in a public ofiice.

Embarcadero (em bar ca day' ro), a landing-place.

To freeze out, a miner's phrase, used to express the policy
whereby stockholders or partners in mines are driven to sell
out. For instance, if some rich men, owning part of a mine,
discover that it is very valuable, they may conceal that fact,
and at the same time levy heavy assessments for works which
can bring no speedy return ; and thus the poorer shareholders
will be burdened and discouraged, and induced to sell out at a
low price.

Fuste (foos' te), a strong saddle-tree, made of wood and cov-
ered with raw cowhide, used for lassoing.

Gulch, a gully.

Hahilitation, from the Spanish habilitacion, a certificate, or
stamp on paper, which authorized it to be used for certain pur-
poses. To habilitate paper, to place the mark of hahilitation
upon it.

To hydraulic, a mining term, to wash dirt by throwing a
stream of water upon it through a hose and pipe.

Jaquima (hack' ee ma), a head- stall used in breaking wild
horses.

SOCIETY. 383

To knock down^ a miner's phrase, meaning to steal rich
pieces of auriferous quartz from the lode.

Manada (ma nah' da), a herd of breeding mares under the
lead of a stallion.

Mecate (may cah' te), a rope of hair, used for tying horses.

Mochilas (mo chee' las), large leathern flaps for covering a
fuste.

Plaza,, a public square in a town.

Playa,, a beach.

Pozo, a spring or well.

Pueblo,, a town.

To pipe,, to wash dirt by the hydraulic process.

Pay-Dirt^ auriferous dirt rich enough to pay the miner.

Placer,, from the Spanish, a place where gold is found in
dirt near the surface of the ground.

To prospect,, to hunt for gold diggings ; to examine ground
or rock for the purpose of finding whether it contains gold,
and how much.

Prospect,, the discovery made by prospecting.

Rodeo (ro day' o), a collection of wild or half-wild cattle,
made for the purpose of separating or marking them.

Pecojida (ray co hee' da), a similar collection of horses,

Pancho (ran' tsho), before the Americans took California,
meant a tract of land used almost entirely for pasturage, rare-
ly less than four square miles in extent, sometimes as much as
ninety-nine square miles, and in most cases not less than thirty
square miles. Since the conquest, rancho,, and its American
derivation " ranch," are often applied to small farms, and
sometimes, in the way of slang, to single houses, tents, and
liquor shops. " Ranch" is sometimes used as a verb ; thus a
man who opens a farm, according to common parlance, "has
gorie to ranching."

Panchero (ran tsha' ro), a man who owns and lives upon a
rancho. It is usually understood to mean a Spanish Califor-
nian,

Rancheria^ an Indian hut or a village.

384 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

JRcata (ray ah' ta), a rawliide rope, used for lassoing.

Rubric^ a flourish, which Mexicans and native Cahforni.ins
api^end to their signatures, and which, in fact, they consider
as an important part of their signatures, and the most difficult
to imitate or counterfeit. They often use their " rubrics" alone
as signatures. To rubricate^ to sign with a rubric.

Sluice^ a wooden trough about fourteen inches wide, and
ten deep, and not less than thirty feet long, used for washing
pay-dirt.

Ground- Sluice^ a trough cut in the ground for washing pay-
dirt.

Tail-Sluice^ a sluice put m below a number of other sluices,
and depending on them for its supply of dirt and water.

Sluice-Fork., a fork similar to a manure fork, but with blunt
prongs, as wide at the point as at the heel. The fork is used
for throwing stones out of the sluices.

Sluice-Head., the quantity of water used in a sluice ; a
constant stream of water running through an aperture, usually
two inches high, and from five to fifteen mches long, under a
pressure of seven inches.

Slum., slimy mud.

To stri2)i to throw off" worthless dirt from the top of pay-
dirt.

Sierra (see er' ra), originally a saw, a chain of mountains.

Square Meal., a good meal at a table, as distinguished from
such meals as men make when they are short of provisions, a
condition not uncommon among men who make adventurous
trips into the mountains.

Tailings, the waste of a sluice, tom, rocker, or quartz-mill.

Tom, a wooden trough, from ten to fifteen feet long, for
washing pay-dirt.

Tom-Stream., or Tom-Head., the amount of water used in a
tom.

MocJcer, or Cradle., a machine resembling a domestic cradle,
for washing pay-dirt.

Wing-Dam^ a dam in a creek or river, running partly across

SOCIETY. 885

its bed and then down stream so as to shut out the water from
part of the bed. ^-

Vaquero (va kay' ro — vulgarly pronounced buc ca' ry), a
herdsman.

Zanja (zan' ha), a ditch for irrigating agricultural land.

Zanjero (zan hay' ro) a person whose duty it is to keep irri-
gating ditches in order. ""Among the officers of the city of Los
Angeles is a Zanjero.

§ 268. Germans and Ft'ench. — The Germans of California
have generally become citizens and permanent residents of the
state, and most of them have learned the English language.
They have gymnastic clubs and singing societies in all the
larger towns. Most of the brewers and professional musicians
in the state are Germans ; and the Germans occupy a large
place among the cultivators of the ^"ine. The town of Ana-
heim, in Los Angeles county, was laid out by Germans, and
is almost exclusively populated by them.

The French in Cahfornia, as a body, are not citizens, or per-
manent residents, and have not learned English. Some of the
largest bankers in San Francisco are Frenchmen, and the city
owes to Mr. Pioche, a French capitalist, some of its most val-
uable public enterprises, such as the Mission Railroad, the
Spring Valley Water "Works, and the pleasure resorts of
Hayes' Park and the Willows.

§ 269. SjKuiish Califor?iians. — The people of Spanish blood
in the state are mostly natives of California, Mexico, and Chili.
As a class, they are poor and ignorant. The Mexicans and
Spaniards who came to California while Spain held dominion
of the country, brought few women with them, but took Li-
dian women for wives ; and the descendants of these women
form a large majority of the Spanish Californians. Among
the wealthier families, the Indian cast of countenance has al-
most disappeared. Although the features are thick, the expres-
sion of the face is mild and pleasant. The complexion rs dark,
and grows darker with age ; the hair is black and straight, the
eyes black, the cheeks ruddy. Many of the men are hand-
17

386 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

some, tall, broad-shouldered, large-boned, big-bellied, strong,
healthy, and long-lived. They grow fleshy as they grow old ;
and the same remark applies to the women. They are a good-
natured race, very kind and obliging to their friends, but out
of place among Americans, who are too sharp for them in
trading. Instead of increasing in wealth with the develop-
ment of the country, the Spanish Californians have been rap-
idly growing poorer, and now they own scarcely one-tenth of
the landed property which they had in 1848. Then they owned
nearly every thing ; now there is not a leading merchant or
millionaire among them. They regret the conquest of their
country. They lived in a very simple manner mider the
Mexican dominion, but they were secure in their property, and
were the political masters. Xow they form a small and pow-
erless minority, among a people far superior to them in agri-
cultural and mechanical skill and business knowledge — a peo-
ple who are absorbing all their wealth, and who look upon
them and treat them as inferiors. Although some of the Span-
ish Californians are content with the change of dominion, yet
many hate the Americans, and hate them so bitterly that they
would resort to civil war if there were any hope of success.
Indeed, the condition of afiairs, in some of the counties where
the Spanish population is most numerous, Avas near civil war
at various periods between 1851 and 1854. Most of the Span-
ish Californians live in the country ; their chief wealth is in
land and cattle, and the chief occupation of the jDOorer classes
is herding cattle. Their dwellings are adobe houses, usually
of one story, often with no floor save the bare earth, and with-
out chairs.

§ 270. Chinamen. — The Chinamen in California are nearly
all very ignorant and very poor. Their number is about fifty
thousand, of whom more than half have been six or seven
years in the state. Most of them are engaged in mining ; and
the remainder are merchants, fishermen, washermen, and a few
are employed as cooks in hotels, and as farm laborers on farms
owned by white men. Most of them come from Southern

SOCIETY.

387

China, and nearly all of them are members of five great com-
panies, called the Yung-Wo, the Sze-yap, the Sam-yap, the
1 an-wo, and Xmg-yemig companies. These companies have
each a large buUding in San Francisco, where they lodge and
feed all the members of their company when they arrive from
China, or when they come on a visit from the interior The
companies are benevolent associations, and take care of their
indigent and sick. There are no Chinese beggars in the
streets, and no Chinese patients in the pubhc hospitals. The
common laborers are brought to the state under contract to
work for several years at a low rate of wages (from four to
eight dollars) per month ; and they usually keep these con-
tracts faithfully. The employers in these cases are either the
compames or associations of Chinese capitahsts. The China-
men generally are very industrious ; indeed they are the most
mdustrious class of our population, and also the most humble
quiet, and peaceful. The merchants are considered to be very
faithful to their promises, and in San Francisco they can get
credit among their acquaintances quite as readily as other men
m similar branches of business. In the mines, the Chinamen
Tvork in the poorest class of diggings. They own no ditches,
large flumes, hydraulic claims, or tunnel claims. The white
miners have a violent antipathy to them, will not permit them
to work in many districts, and will often drive them from their
best claims in the districts where they are permitted to work.
Sometimes the celestials venture to dam a stream, but not often,
They use the rocker more than any other class of miners.

In San Francisco, the merchants are usually in partner-
ships, with not less than three nor more than ten partners; all
of whom live in the store, and deal chiefly in Chinese silks,
teas, rice, and dried fish. The two latter articles form a large
portion of the food of the Chinamen in the state. They have
not learned to use bread instead of rice. Those who can af-
ford it, eat pork, chickens, and ducks. Beef, and most of our
garden vegetables, do not find much favor with them, even
among the Avealthiest. The washermen are usually in c'ompa-

388 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

11) es of two or three, and they have numerous little shops in
the streets of San Francisco, and in the smaller towns. They
sprinkle their clothes previous to ironing, by filling the mouth
with water and then blowing it over them. For ironing, in-
stead of a flat-iron, they use an iron pan with a smooth bottom,
and kept full of burning charcoal. There are not more than
one thousand Chinese women in the state, and nine-tenths of
them are prostitutes of the lowest class. The Chinese children
are few.

The Chinese men, women, and children learn English very
slowly ; most of those who have been five or six years in the
state cannot understand the most common English words. All
the Chinamen in California adhere to their national costume,
with some slight variations. They wear their hair long, use
no white muslin or linen next the skin, and never put on a
dress coat or stove-pipe hat. In the cities, they ordinarily use
wooden-soled shoes, with thin cotton uppers. Instead of a
coat, they have a short blouse, generally of dark-blue cotton,
fitting close up to the neck. The wealthy have this blouse
made of silk or fur. In cold weather, if of silk or cotton, it is
Avadded. The legs and lower part of the body are enclosed in
breeches of cotton or silk, tight from the thigh down, and loose
above. Some of the poorer men find trousers of the European
pattern more convenient, and wear them. The miners gener-
ally wear coarse boots or shoes.

§ 271. Indians. — The Indians are a miserable race, destined
to speedy extinction. Fifteen years ago they numbered fifty
thousand or more ; now there may be seven thousand of them.
They were driven from their hunting-grounds and fishing-
places by the whites, and they stole cattle for food; and to
punish and prevent their stealing, the whites made war on
them and slew them. Such has been the origin of most of the
Indian wars which have raged in various parts of the state
almost continuously during the last twelve years. Scarcely a
month has passed since 1849, without some hostile encounters
between the red men and the whites in some parts of the state.

SOCIETY. 389

At tliis time the American residents of Humboldt county are at
war with the Indians there. The poor Indian, afoot, and armed
only with the bow and arrow, is no match for the rich Ameri-
can, armed with rifle and revolver, and mounted on a horse,
which saves him from fatio-ue, takes him swiftly to the best
point of attack, or carries him still more swiftly from danger.
For every white man that has been killed, fifty Indians have
fallen.

In 1848, nearly every little valley had its tribe, and there
were dozens of tribes in the Sacramento basin, but now most
of these tribes have been entirely destroyed. Syphilitic dis-
eases and brandy have co-operated with the bullet and the
knife to make room for the white men. The Indians are fond
of strong liquor, and when they can get it, frequently become
habitual drunkards. The squaws drink as much as the
" bucks." Among a tribe of drunken men and women, matri-
monial constancy is not to be expected ; nor is it found among
the Indian women in Cahfornia. The infectious disease Avhich
threatens to utterly destroy all barbarous and semi-barbarous
nations, has slain many of the red men in this state, as weU as
in other parts of the continent.

The Indians of California, with the exception of the Mojaves,
are supposed to belong to the general division of the Shosho-
nees, which includes also the Indians of Nevada Territory, and
a majority of those in Utah. They are physically and intel-
lectually inferior to their relatives in ISTevada Territory, and
far inferior to the Indians who dwelt during the last century
east of the Mississippi River. The red men of this state have
but a small share of the courage, military spirit, and intellect-
ual activity of the Shawnees, Miamis, Delawares, and the other
tribes who contended so stoutly for the possession of the valley
of the Ohio. The majority of the Californian Indians never
learned to use fire-arms, and never dared to meet the white
men in battle. A few in the northern part of the state have
obtained fire-arms, use them well, and fight stubbornly, but
they are a small proportion.

390 ESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

The Califoriiian Indian men are about five feet and a half
hiirh on an averaoje. and the women four feet and ten incheis.
They are very tliickinthe chest, and have voices of wonderful
strength. The children are clumsy, and heavy set. The women
are very wide in the shoulders and hij^s, and strongly built.
Men and women are large in the body, and slim in the legs
and arms, as compared with Caucasians. When not affected
by hereditary diseases, caught from the white men, the Cali-
fornian Indians have healthy constitutions, and formerly they
lived to a great age. During the last ten years, a number
have died with the reputation of being more than one hundred
and twenty years old. It is a common assertion, and one that
I have never heard, contradicted, though I have conversed on
the subject with men who have seen much of them, that the
wild Indians never take cold. During the winter of 1849-'50,
I lived near a tribe in the mines, in what is now Shasta coun-
ty, and I saw that the men never wore any clothing save a
deerskin thrown over the shoulders ; that men, women, and
children went barefooted through a winter when snow lay on
the ground for a week at a time, and that their huts were only
about six feet wide, were open on all sides, and on two sides
had holes large enough for men to get in and out ; and I never
saw one troubled with a cold or cough. In the tribes living
far from the whites, the men usually go naked, and the women
wear a petticoat made by fastening flags or strips of bark,
about eighteen inches long, to a girdle. They are very filthy
in their habits, and their houses are always filled with lice.
Their form of government is very simple. They have heredi-
tary chiefs who have very little power. The tribes are small,
and have no wealth, and no laws. Occasionally a member of
a tribe gives offence, and some of the leading ones of a tribe
agree to kill him, and the sentence is carried into effect by way-
laying him and shooting him with arrows. Their rule is blood
for blood. They rarely keep men- prisoners, but kill them im-
mediately after capturing them. Women and children are
held frequently as prisoners ; and one of the most common

SOCIETY. 391

causes of war is the capture of women. They have no heredi-
tary slavery. They have no marriage ceremony, and the
duration of the marriage relation depends entirely upon the
pleasure of the husband. Polygamy is permitted by many of
the tribes. The women are not prolific, or at least the children
are few, and mostly boys. The girls are neglected, or inten-
tionally killed soon after birth, and this policy will, of course,
if continued, soon cause an extinction of the race in California.
In certain tribes on the northern coast, if a mother, having an
infant child, dies, the child is buried with her. Most of the
tribes burn their dead, commencing the cremation in the even-
ing, and keeping up the fire all night, while the friends watch,
and the women relatives utter plaintive cries until daylight.
They have no religious ceremonies ; or no ceremonies to which
they attach ideas clearly religious. Every year, usually in the
spring, they hav^e a dance, as it is called. They assemble,
build a large fire, and the men surround it, and keeping their
knees, elbows, and backs bent, they beat time with their feet to
a monotonous song, which they sing with the assistance of
the squaws, who sit off on one side. In some tribes, several
of the men have pipes, from which they elicit a few notes as
an accompaniment for the song.

The squaws are treated like slaves. They are required to
do all the work, and to attend to every want of their husbands.
They must collect vegetable food, prepare it, and carry all the
movable property in times of migration. They are beaten on
the slightest provocation. The men never consult them
about the management of public or private afiairs. They are
bought as merchandise from the parent, and treated as slaves
after the purchase.

Most of the wild Indians have no permanent place of resi-
dence. Each tribe has a territory wiiich it considers its own,
and within w^hich its members move about. Each family has
a hut, and a cluster of these huts is called a rancher ia. The
ranc'herias are usually established on the banks of streams, in
the vicinity of oak-trees, horsechestnut bushes, and patches

392 KESOURCER OF CALIFORXIA.

of wild clover. Such places are generally on fertile soil with
picturesque scenery. The huts are made differently in differ-
ent places. In the Sacramento valley, the most common plan
was to dig a hole three or four feet deep and ten feet across ;
erect an upright post in the centre about six feet high ; lay poles
from the edge of the hole to rest on this post ; and cover the
poles with grass and then with dirt. In some districts the
hut is made by taking lai-ge pieces of pine bark and laying
them against a frame-work of poles fastened together in a
conical sliape. In the San Joaquin valley it was more con-
venient to make a fi-ame-work of poles and cover it with rushes
or tules. These huts may be deserted for a time, but are con-
sidered the property of the builders, who move, according to
the seasons, to those places where they can obtain food most
conveniently. In one month they go to the thickets ; in an-
other to the open plain ; in another to the streams.

Their food is composed chiefly of acorns, clover-grass, grass-
seeds, grasshoppers, horsechestnuts, fish, game, pine-nuts,
edible roots, and berries. The acorns of California are large,
abundant, and some of them are not unpleasant to the taste,
but they do not contain much nutriment as compared with an
equal bulk of those articles commonly used for food by the
Caucasian race. The acorns are gathered by the squaws, and
are preserved in various methods. The most common plan is
to build a basket with twigs and rushes in an oak-tree, and
keep the acorns there. The acorns are prepared for eating by
grinding them and boiling them with water into a thick paste,
or by baking them in bread. The oven is a hole in the ground
about eighteen inches cubic. Redhot stones are placed at
the bottom of the hole, a little dry sand or loam is thrown
over them, and next comes a layer of dry leaves. The dough
or paste is poured into the hole until it is two inches or three
inches deep. Then comes another layer of leaves, more sand,
redhot stones, and finally dirt. At the end of five or six hours
the oven has cooled down, and the bread is taken out, an ir-
regular mass nearly black in color, not at all handsome to the

SOCIETY. 393

eye or agreeable to the palate, and mixed through with leaves
and dirt. For grinding the acorns a stone mortar is used.
This mortar is sometimes nearly flat, with a hollow not more
than two inches deep ; and occasionally one will be seen fifteen
inches deep, and not more than three inches thick in any part
of it. The pestle is of stone, round, ten inches long and
three thick.

Horsechestnuts are usually made into a gruel or soup.
After being ground in the mortar, they are mixed with water
in a waterproof basket, into which redhot stones are thrown,
and thus the soup is cooked. As the stones when taken from
the fire have dirt and ashes adhering to them, the soup is not
clean, and it often sets the teeth on edge.

Grass-seeds are ground in the mortar and roasted or made
into soup.

Grasshoppers are roasted, and eaten without further prepara-
tion, or mashed up with berries.

Fish and meat are broiled on the coals. The intestines and
blood are eaten as well as the muscle. "^

Clover and grass are eaten raw. The Indians go out into
the clover patches, pull up the clover with their hands, and eat
stalks, leaves, and flowers. They consider clover a great
blessing, and get fat on it.

The Indians rarely have salt and never spices, and most of
their food is such as a white man could not eat, unless reduced
to near starvation. In eating they use no plates, cups, knives,
or forks, nor do they use any utensils in preparing their food,
save the mortar and waterproof basket. The pine-nuts, edible
roots, and berries are eaten raw. Bugs, lizards, and snakes
are all considered good for food. In those places where the
tules grow, the roots of those rushes are eaten. Except one
or two tules in the Colorado Desert, the wild Indians of Cali-
fornia never tilled the soil.

They use very few tools. The bow was the only weapon
for killing quadrupeds. It is made of a reddish wood said to
be the western yew, and on the back the bow is strengthened
17*

394 R E S O U Jl C K S OF C A L I F O 11 N I A .

with a covering of deer's sinews. The arrows are of reed, and
have a head made of obsidian, which is a transparent, vitreous
substance of volcanic origin, in appearance very similar to a
coarse quality of glass. The arrow-heads are made two inches
long, half an inch wide, an eighth of an inch thick, with a very
sharp point and sharp edges. The head is fastened in a split
of the shaft of the arrow by tying with deer sinews. Such an
arrow-head can be used but once, for the obsidian is as brittle
as glass and breaks at the first shock. Some tribes in the
northern part of the state, poison their arrows by irritating a
rattlesnake and then thrusting forward a fresh deer's liver,
which it will bite. After it has bitten repeatedly, and thrown
some of its poison at every bite into the liver, the latter is
buried and allowed to putrefy. It is then dug up, the arrow-
head is dipped in it and allowed to dry. An arrow thus
poisoned will kill a man, a horse, or an ox in twenty-four
hours, or less time ; and it is said that the meat of an animal
thus killed maybe eaten with safety. I know that the Indians
do eat the meat of animals killed with poisoned arrows, but I
am not positive that the poison was prepared in this manner.
The poison of the rattlesnake is not injurious when taken into
a sound stomach ; it is only when injected into the blood that
its injurious influences are felt. The arrows, even when not
poisoned, make very dangerous wounds, for the sinew used to
fasten the head soon softens, and allows the head to remain
when the shaft is pulled out.

The Indians are very familiar with the habits of wild ani-
mals. They know precisely the character of the brushwood
and ravines in which the deer and bear hide during the day,
and the places to which they go to feed in the morning and
evening. In hunting deer and antelope, in places where there
is grass eighteen inches or tw^o feet high, the Indian will often
hold the skull and horns of a buck deer before him, and thus
crawl within bow-shot. The Pit River Indians dig pits about
five feet cubic and cover them with brush and grass, and thus
catch deer, hares, and so forth. For catching wild geese, vari-

SOCIETY. 305

ous small and siiiii^Ie kinds of nets are used, and they are
knocked down with clubs. Salmon are killed with stones and
clubs in shallow water, and are caught with spears. Their
most ingenious spear has a head of bone about one inch and a
half long and sharp at both ends. To the middle is fastened a
string, which is attached to the spear-shaft. One end of the
head fits in a socket at the end of the spear-shaft. When the
spear is thrown the head comes out of the socket and turns
cross-ways in the fish, and then there is no danger that it will
tear out. The Indians rarely hunt the grizzly bear. Along
the ocean beach they get barnacles. Their method of catching
grasshoppers is to dig a hole several feet deep, in a valley
where this species of game abounds. A large number of the
Indians then arm themselves with bushes, and commence at a
distance to drive the grasshoppers from all sides toward the
hole, into which the insects finally fall, and from which they
cannot escape. The pine-nuts are sought at the tops of the
pine-trees, which the " backs" ascend by holding to the rough
bark with their hands, and pressing out with their legs, so
that they do not touch the body to the trunk of the tree in
going up. It is more like walking then climbing.

The bow and arrow, the spear, the net, the obsidian knife,
the mortar, and the basket, are the only tools made by the
Indian. The obsidian knife is merely a piece of obsidian as
large as a hand and sharp on one side. The baskets are all
made of wire-grass, a grass with a round jointless stem, about
a sixteenth of an inch thick and a foot long. The basket-
work made with this wire-srrass resembles the texture of a
coarse Panama hat, and is waterproof. All the basket-work
of the Californian Indians is made of this material. The most
common shape for the basket is a perpendicular half of a cone,
three feet long and eighteen inches wide, open at the top.
The basket, carried on the back of the squaws, is used for
carrying food, miscellaneous articles, and children. Neither
the Californian Indians of the present, nor of any preceding
centurv, made such mounds, circumvallations, arrow-heads, or

306 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

spear-heads of flint, or pij^es and battle-axes of stone, as are
found in the state of Ohio. There is nothing to indicate that
any of the inhabitants of the country, previous to the ariival
of the Spaniards, were above a very Ioav degree of savagism.
They have no domestic animals save the dog, and that of a
very low kind. They have so little skill in the preservation
of food, that, like wild beasts, they grow grossly fat in the
spring and poor in the winter. The Mojave Indians in the
Colorado Desert, dej^end for their subsistence chiefly on culti-
vated food. They plant wheat, grass, pumpkins, and musk-
melons. After the annual ovei'flow of the bottom land, a small
patch of ground is cleared off" with the help of knives and fire;
then small holes are made, the seeds are deposited, and the
field is left to orrow up as well as it mav. The musk-melons
are eaten fresh ; the pumpkins are eaten fresh, or sliced and
dried ; the wheat and grass-seeds are ground, made into a yjaste
with water and dried in cakes. The mezquit bean, next to
the cultivated grains, pumpkins, and squashes, is the most
important article of food with the Indians in the Colorado
Desert. These beans are prepared for eating in the same
manner with the wheat and grass-seed.

The preceding remarks relate to the wild Indians only, and
are intended to illustrate the natural habits, character, and
capacity of the race. During the last fifteen years, however,
they have all been influenced so much by intercourse with the
whites, that they have lost many of their wild habits and ac-
quired new ones. In some districts they have fire-arms ; in
others they obtain much of their food and clothing from their
Caucasian neighbors. In the counties along the southern coast,
there are many civilized Indians, who live in adobe-houses,
and support themselves by herding cattle, breaking horses,
and working in the grain-fields, orchards and vineyards. They
have lost much of the savage expression of countenance, and
some of them have become very industrious and trustworthy
laborers; but the majority are idle and dissipated in their
habits. They have all learned a vulgar dialect of the Spanish,

SOCIETY. 39T

and a few speak a little English. The vonnger ones tnow
nothing of any tongue save English and Spanish, but the elder
Indians, when talking with one another, prefer to use the lan-
guage of their fathers.

§ 272. Cities and Towns. — Below I have prepared a list of
the principal towns of California, with the number of voters
and inhabitants in each. The number of voters is ascertained
from newspaper reports of the votes cast at the presidential
election of 1860; and the taking the vote as a basis, I guess
at the number of inhabitants. The proportion of voters to in-
habitants is larger in the mineral than in the ao^ricultiiral
districts :

Towns. Voters. Population.

San Francisco 14,415 70,000

Sacramento 8,833 15,000

Marysville 1,871 7,000

Stockton 1,445 5,500

Nevada 1,423 4,500

San Jose 1,000 4,000

Grass Yalley 1,292 3,500

Petaluma 822 3,500

Columbia 1,008 3,000

Placerville 964 3,500

Treka 888 2,500

Los Angeles 795 3,500

Oroville 716 2,200

Folsom 629 2,400

Dow-nieville 628 2,000

Sonora 598 1,800

■Weaver\'ille 571 1,600

Santa Clara 539 2,500

Dutch Mat 500 1,500

Big Oak Flat 491 1,450

La Porte 479 1,420

Mokelumne Hill 470 1.400

Yallejo 464 1,600

Forest Hill 457 1,300

Michigan Bluff 451 1,300

Georgetown 448 1,300

398 11 E S O U R C E S OF C A L I F O R N I A.

Towns. Voters. Population.

Santa Cruz 443 1,800

North San Juan 437 1,500

Shasta 374 1,100

Napa 379 1,500

Oakland 352 1,450

Diamond Springs 347 1,000

Murphy's 344 1,000

San Andres 328 LOOO

Alleghany Town 319 960

Timbuctoo 309 1,000

Auburn 307 1,000

Shaw's Flat 301 950

Mariposa 230 700

This table is not offered as precisely accurate, but as a rea-
sonable approximation, based upon the best materials within
reach. The vote cast does not represent the number of voters
in the town, but in the precinct, and this may extend four or
five miles beyond the town limits. The total number of peo-
ple residing in the towns is about 100,000, or one-fourth of the
whole population.

§ 273. Scui Francisco. — San Francisco, according to the
census of 1860, has a population of 56,805, of whom 52,955
are white and 3,850 colored; but according to the estimate of
intelligent residents, the population is not less than 70,000 ;
and I shall adopt the latter figure as correct. There may be
40,000 Americans, 12,000 Irishmen, 5,000 Germans, 4,000
Britons, 3,000 Frenchmen, 2,000 Chinamen, and 3,000 miscel-
laneous. The Federal census classifies the j)eople according to
their ages and color, as follows :

White Males. — Under 1 year, 1,730 ; 2 years, 777 ; 3 years,
730 ; 4 years, 627 ; 5 years, 645. Total under 5 years, 4,509 ;
between 5 and 10 years, 1,842; 10 and 20 years, 2,915; 20
and 30 years, 10,184 ; 30 and 40 years, 9,390 ; 40 and 50 years,
2,581 ; 50 and 60 years, 842 ; 60 and 70 years, 162 ; 70 and 80
years, 36 ; 80 and 90 years, 2. Total white males, 32,463.

White Females. — Under 1 year, 1,563; 2 years, 739 ; 3 years,
677 ; 4 years, 600 ; 5 years, 551. Total under 5 vear«, 4,130;

sociJZTY. 399

between 5 and 10 years, 1,831 ; 10 and 20 years, 3,198; 20
and 30 years, 6,226 ; 30 and 40 years, 3,441 ; 40 and 50 years,
1,119; 50 and 60 years, 484 ; 60 and 70 years, 122 ; 70 and
80 years, 52 ; 80 and 90 years, 7. Totnl white females, 20,610.

Chinese. — Males of all ages, 2,168 ; females do., 448. Total
Chinese, 2,616.

Colored. — Males of all ages, 711 ; females do., 435. Total
colored, 1,146.

Recapitulation. — \Yhite males of all ages, 32,463 ; females
do., 20,610. Total whites, 53,073 ; Chinese, male and female,
2,616 ; colored, 1,146.

San Francisco is the chief commercial and manufacturing
city of this coast. The vessels which entered the port in 1860
numbered 1,686, and had an aggregate measurement of 500,000
tons. Of the 1,686 vessels, 325 were from foreign ports, 115
from American ports on the Atlantic, 1,231 from American
ports on the Pacific, and 15 w^ere from w^haling voyages.

The first house was built in 1835, and the place was then
called Yerba Buena, Spanish for " good herb," applied to a
species of mint growing in the vicinity. In 1847 the name
was changed to San Francisco. In 1846 the population was
six hundred, and had grown to about one thousand in the
spring of 1848, when the gold fever broke out. During July,
August, and September, the town was deserted by many of its
residents ; but as the people became impressed with the rich-
ness and extent of the mines, and as adventurers began to
arrive from abroad, the population of the town increased, and
then suddenly it sprang from an obscure village to a world-
famous city. In May and June, 1850, and in the same months
the next year, great conflagrations swept away the wooden
shanties with which the main part of the city w^as built up ;
and it was not until the latter half of 1851, that the citizens
commenced to erect the numerous fine brick stores which
now ornament the principal business streets. The sand ridges,
on the site of the city were cut down, and the hollows were
filled in ; and the shallow cove in front of the mainland was

400 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

also filled in, and made the foundation for the busiest part of
the town.

In 1861, accordmg to statistics published in the City Di-
rectory^ there were 11,265 buildings in the city : 9,308 of wood,
1,898 of brick, 47 of iron, 6 of stone, and 6 of adobe. These
buildings are thus classified according to their height :

Wood — one story, 4,034 ; two stories, 5,090 ; three stories,
180; four stories, 4 — 9,308.

Brick — one story, 272 ; two stories, 1,125 ; three stories,
438 ; four stories, 59 ; five stories, 3 — 1,898.

Iro7i — one story, 8 ; two stories, 30 ; three stories, 6 ; four
stories, 3 — 47.

Adobe — one story, 1 ; two stories, 3 ; three stories, 1 ; four
stories, 1 — 6.

Stone — one story, 1 ; two stories, 3 ; three stories, 1 ; four
stories, 1 — 6.

According to the same authority there were, in 1860, 800
grog-shops, 373 groceries, 288 lawyers, 276 tailor-shops and
clothing-stores, 248 boarding-houses, 189 physicians, 179
brokers, 150 cabinet-makers, 150 butchers, 136 cigar-shops,
121 dry-goods stores, 120 carpenters, 95 barbers and hair-
dressers, 85 dealers in coal and fircAVOod, 84 restaurants, 84
watchmakers and jewellers, 78 fruit-stores, 66 bakeries, Qb
house and sign painters, 64 stove and tinware stores, 33 lum-
ber yards, 24 breweries, 20 auction-stores, 17 banks, and 8
assay-ofiices.

There are thirteen daily and twelve weekly newspapers, and
five monthly magazines, published in San Francisco. Of the
dailies, seven appear in the morning and six in the afternoon ;
seven are jDublished in the English language, two in French,
two in German, and two in Spanish. Of the weekly papers,
one is an organ of the Methodists, another of the Methodist
Church South, another of the Congregationalists, one of the
Catholics, two of the Jews ; one is commercial, one is filled
with miscellaneous reading matter, another is agricultural,
another devotes itself to topics interesting to firemen and sol-

SOCIETY. 401

diers, another to mining, and the last fills its columns with
police reports. Of the monthly magazines, three devote them-
selves to general reading matter, one is medical, and the last
Presbyterian. There have been Italian and Chinese newspa-
pers in San Francisco, but there are none here now.

The Germans, French, Italians, Swiss, Scandinavians, Chi-
nese, Illyrians, German Jews, Polish Jews, and Irish, have
each a benevolent society, organized mainly for the purpose
of renderings mutual assistance in case of illness. There is a
Protestant and a CathoUc Orphan Asylum, a House of Refuge,
and an Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. The Masons,
Odd Fellows, and Independent Order of Knights, are other
benevolent associations established in our city.

§ 274. Sacramento. — Sacramento City, the political capital
and second town of California, is situated near the centre of the
Sacramento basin and of the state — is one hundred and twenty-
five miles by the course of navigation, and seventy-five miles in
a direct fine, distant from the ocean, on the southeastern corner
of land formed by the junction of the Sacramento and Ameri-
can Rivers, at an elevation of thirty feet above the sea, and in
latitude 38° 33' and longitude 121° 20'. The business part of
the city is about twenty feet above low-water mark in the
Sacramento River, which, in front of the town, during the dry
season, rises and falls about a foot with the tide. (The figures
in the preceding sentence were correct pre\'ious to the flood
of 1861-62 ; whether they will be after it has passed away is
questionable. I write this while it still prevails ; and it is said
that, during the flood, gravel to the depth of twelve feet has
been deposited in the river-bed in front of Sacramento.) The
site is level, and in the midst of a wide plain, most of which is
bare of trees, and much of which is not cultivated. The
streets are wide and straight, run with the cardinal points of
the compass, and are designated only by numbers and letters.
Those parallel with the Sacramento are first, second, third,
and so forth ; those parallel with the American are A, B, C,
and so on. The main business part of the city is near the

402 RESOURCES OF C A L I F O R X I A .

Sacramento, extending from first to sixth, and from II to L
streets. The houses and stores here are mostly built of brick,
one or two stories high. The streets are gravelled or planked ;
the side-walks are planked or paved with brick, and covered
with awnings to give protection against tlie sun. In those
parts of the town used for dwellings, the houses are chiefly of
wood, neatly painted, and surrounded by gardens, and the
streets are lined with shade-trees, such as cottonwood, willow,
sycamore, elm, and locust. There are water-works and gas-
w^orks. The water is pumped up from the Sacramento River,
Avhich is so turbid, even at its lowest stage, that six inches of
jnud are deposited monthly in the reservoir. The gas is made
from imjjorted coal. A railroad twenty miles long connects
Sacramento with Folsom, which is connected with Lincoln by
another road of about the same lenoth. A steamboat leaves
Sacramento daily at two p. m. for San Francisco ; thrice a
week, starting in the morning, for Marysville ; and at least
thrice a week for Red Bluff". Stages run daily to Marysville,
Auburn, Placerville, Coloma, Jackson, Stockton, and Fairfield.
The first settlement by white men in the city of Sacramento
-was made in 1839, by John A. Sutter, a Swiss by birth, who,
after having served as a captain in the body-guard of Charles
X. of France, came to the United States, where he was Ameri-
canized. He afterwards came to California and was admitted
to Mexican citizenship. He obtained a grant of eleven square
leagues of land on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River,
and under that grant the title to the site of Sacramento City is
now held. In 1841 he built some adobe buildings, Avhich he
dignified with the title of Xew Helvetia, while to the Ameri-
cans it w^as generally known as " Sutter's Fort." It was, for
a long time, the only place where white men had a permanent
foothold in the Sacramento basin ; and it was a place of im-
portance, as the first point where the American trappers,
travellers, and immigrants, entering the territory from the
eastward, could obtain provisions, ammunition, and horses,
and rest secure ag^ainst Lidians. Sutter treated all comers

SOCI£TY. 403

^Yith the utmost generosity aud liberality ; no white mau was
turned away because of inabiUty to pay for food or lodging.
The first gold diggings were discovered about twenty-five
miles eastward from the fort, which became the chief tradincc
point between San Francisco and the mines. The adventurers
ascended the Sacramento River to the mouth of the Ameri-
can, where they landed, and their goods were taken by ox-
wagons to the fort, two miles distant, where they prepared
themselves for the land journey. Before the first year of
gold mining had come to an end, it was evident there must be
a town on the bank of the Sacramento at the mouth of the
American, so the present town site was laid off in October,
1848, and the New Year's day following the building of the
first house (of logs), near the Sacramento River, was com-
menced. On the 8th January the lots were sold by auction,
and were described as lying in the towm of " Sacramento."
The ford and its vicinity continued to be the chief place of
business until April, '49, when the bank of the Sacramento
was found to be much more convenient for purposes of busi-
ness, and the merchants and traders moved. The town very
soon became the most important centre of trade and popula-
tion in the state, next to San Francisco, and it has continued
to hold the same relative position, growing with the growth
of the state, notwithstanding many severe disasters to which
it has been exposed. In 1851 there was a serious riot about
land-titles; on the 3d of Xovember, 1852, the greater part
of the tow'n, including six hundred houses, was destroyed by
fire, with a pecuniary loss estimated at the time at $5,000,000 ;
and the city was flooded in January, 1850, in March, 1852, in
January, 1853, and in December, 1861, and in January and
February, 1862. In 1853 the business part of the town was
raised about five feet, the streets being filled in with gravel to
that depth, and a levee or embankment was built round the
city, extending about a mile along the bank of the Sacramento
and three or four miles alonf^ the bank of the American. The
flood of 1861 an I '62 proved extremely disastrous. It filled

404 R E S O U Tv C E S OP r A L I F O H X I A .

every part of the city, was three feet deep in every street ; in
some places fifteen feet deep. Gardens were destroyed, fences
carried away, domestic animals drowned, furniture ruined,
and many of the people driven to take refuge in San Fran-
cisco and other towns not afflicted by the general scourge.
A long time will pass before the city will recover from the in-
juries inflicted upon it by the flood of 1861-'62.

The assessed value of the taxable property of the city is
about $7,000,000 ; the public debt of the city is $1,800,000.

§ 275. Stockt07i. — Stockton is situated three miles eastward
from the San Joaquin River, on the bank of a navigable tide-
water slough, or creek (using the word in its British meaning),
which is eighty feet wide and eight feet deep. The town site
is in the midst of low, flat, tule land, which is intersected by
numerous sloughs. The population is about six thousand. The
town has a pleasant appearance. Many of the dwellings are
neatly built and are surrounded by elegant gardens. Shade-trees
are abundant. Fresh water is supplied to the city, for domestic
purposes and for irrigating the gardens, by one hundred and
fifty windmills, which pump it up through lead pipes, thrust
down twenty feet deep into auger holes two inches wide. So
abundant is the water in the soil at that depth, that there is no
difficulty in obtaining it in this manner. Stockton is nicknamed
" The City of Windmills," and indeed the name appears very ap-
propriate to the traveller who approaches the town on a windy
day, and at a distance sees little save a multitude of great arms
revolving furiously above and among the trees and house-tops.

Stockton is the debarking point for the travellers and mer-
chandise on their way from San Francisco to all parts of the
basin of the San Joaquin River, including the important
mining counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, and Calaveras. The
entire population of the eight counties in the basin of the San
Joaquin River is, according to the census of 1860, 60,837,
scattered over an area of about 16,000 square miles. During
the winter, at least in wet times, the roads leading out of
Stockton are very muddy, but when the ground is dry, im-

SOCIETY. 405

inense wagons are used in great numbers, hauling goods out
to the mining camps and to Visalia. Some of these wagons
have bodies sixteen feet long and six feet high, and are drawn
by teams of eight or ten mules. Occasionally a smaller wagon
will be fastened on behind the larger one, and then at any
steep hill one Avagon is hauled up at a time. During high
water, a steamer runs up the San Joaquin River from Stockton
to Fresno City, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles
by the river. A steamer runs every day from San Francisco
to Stockton, and stages leave the latter place every morning
for the principal towns of the southern mines.

The first settlement on the place was made in 1844 by
Charles M. Weber and Mr. Gulnac, the latter of whom ob-
tained a grant of the land from the Mexican government in
that year. They had some trouble with the Indians, and Gul-
nac sold out to his partner, who would not give the rancho
up, and afterwards, when the place became important for its
commercial advantages, he became the founder and father of
the town, where he still resides. The name was selected in
honor of Commodore Stockton, who commanded the Ameri-
can naval forces on this coast during the war with Mexico, and
contributed much to the conquest of California. The town,
like Sacramento and Marysville, was overflowed during the
great flood of 1862, the water having covered all the streets on
the lUh of January, and stood for days more than a foot deep,
in the highest of them.

§ 276. Marysville. — Marysville, the third town in the state,
containing a population of seven thousand, is situated between
the Feather and Yuba Rivers at their junction. The site,
like that of Sacramento, is flat, and in the midst of the large
valley, and has been raised artificially above its natural level,
to protect the houses against floods. Marysville resembles
Sacramento, though smaller, and its residents claim that it is
the handsomest town in the state. The first settlement was
made in 1841 by Theodore Cordua, a German, who built a
couple of adobe houses and called the place New Mecklen-

406 RESOTTRCES OF CALIFOKNIA.

burg. In 1849 a number of persons went there, and the place
was called Yubaville. In January, 1850, the town was laid
off and named after Mrs. Mary Covilland, the wife of the chief
propiietor. On the 31st of August and the 10th of Septem-
ber, 1851, two large fires occurred, destroying almost the
whole town. In the spring of 1852 the business part of the
town was covered with water, and the next year it Avas raised
twelve feet. The town was again flooded in December, 1861,
and January, 1862. Marysville is at the head of navigation on
the Feather River. The distance by water is about seventy
miles from Sacramento ; by the stage road it is forty-five miles.
From Marysville the counties of Nevada, Sierra, Butte, Plu-
mas, and Yuba, which contain an aggregate population of
67,977, obtain all their supplies of imported goods. Stages
run to the main towns of these counties every day.

§ 277. A^e?;af?a.— Nevada, the fourth town of the state, cast
1,423 votes at the last Presidential election, and has a popula-
tion of about 4,500. It is the largest town in the raining dis-
tricts, but owes much of its importance to its trade. It is on
an important route of travel across the Sierra, and does an ex-
tensive trade with the adjacent mining counties of Sierra and
Plumas. The immediate vicinity of Nevada is the most pro-
ductive quartz district in the state. The town of Nevada was
founded in 1849. Grass Valley, which lies only five miles dis-
tant, is nearly as large as Nevada. The latter place is sixty-
nine miles distant from Sacramento.

§ 278. Los Angeles. — The town of Los Angeles, formerly
called Puehlo de los Angeles, or the Pueblo de la Reina de los
Angeles — the town of the Queen of the Angels — is the largest
town in the southern part of the state, and has a population of
about 3,500. It was founded about 1780, and was built up to
nearly its present size previous to the American conquest.
The population was probably nearly as large under the Mexi-
can dominion as at present, but the finest buildings in the
place have been erected within the last twelve years. The
town is situated on the western bank of the Los Angeles

SOCIETY. 407

River, where that stream breaks thi-ouo^h the range of low
hills, twenty-five miles north of the bay of San Pedro. The
streets are mostly of good width, but they are not straight ;
they do not cross each other at right angles ; they are not
graded, nor are they paved. All the old houses are built of
adobes, and most of them are of one story, with flat roofs of
asphaltum. The new houses are of wood and brick. On the
northwestern side of the town, and very near to the most busy
part of it, is a hill about sixty feet high, whence an excellent
view of the whole place may be obtained. The vineyards and
gardens are beautiful. There are 2,500 or 3,000 acres of bril-
liant green — the largest body of land in vineyard, garden, and
orchard within so small a space in the state. The fences fix
the attention of the stranger. They are made of willow-trees,
planted from nine inches to two feet apart, the spaces between
the trunks being filled with poles and brush. After the fences,
the stranger's notice is attracted by the zanjas^ or irrigating
ditches, which run through the town in every direction. These
zarijas vary in size, but most of them have a body of water
three feet wide, and a foot deep, running at a speed of five
miles an hour. They carry the water from the river to the
gardens, and are absolutely necessary to secure the growth of
the fences, vines, and many of the fruit-trees, at least when
young. One of the ofiicers of the town is the zaiijero^ Avhose
duty it is to take charge of the zanjas^ see that they are kept
in order, and that the water is equally distributed among those
entitled to it. Entering the enclosures, we are among the
vines, orange, lemon, lime, citron, pear, apple, peach, olive,
fig, and walnut trees. Many of the vines are from ten to
thirty years of age. The population of the place may be de-
scribed as of nearly four equal classes, Americans, Europeans,
Spanish Californians and Indians. The Americans own most
of the houses and land in the town, the Europeans probably
do most of its trade. The town is the seat of the county
government, and the chief business place in this part of the
state. Its merchants trade largely to Salt Lake. Los Angeles

408 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

has mail communication with San Francisco twice a month
by steamer, and twice a week by stage. It is also con-
nected with the main towns of the state by a line of telegraph.
The general imjDression upon my mind, after spending the last
Aveek in September in the place, is that it is one of the moJ>t
pleasant places in the world, known to me, to visit, The lux-
uriant vegetation, with its semi-tropical character, is peculiarly
agreeable to the sons of the ISTorth. The " clime of the sun,"
" the land of the cypress and myrtle," " where the citron
blooms and the golden oranges glow amidst the dark-green
leaves, have ever been with the poets of the colder lands the
symbols of a terrestrial paradise, and some of the most bril-
Hant verses of Goethe and Byron have been inspired by ad-
miration of them. The song of Mignon came vividly before
me as I walked through the gardens of the City of the Angels.
Luscious fruits, of many species and unnumbered varieties,
loaded the trees. Gentle breezes came through the bowers.
The water rip2:)led musically through the zanjas. Delicious
odors came from all the most fragrant flowers of the temper-
ate zone. Julius Froebel speaks thus of Los Angeles in his
book Aus America : " I could wish no better home for my-
self and my friends than such a one as noble, sensible men
could here make for themselves. Nature has preserved here,
in its workings and phenomena, that medium between too
much and too little, which was one of the great conditions of
high civilization in the classic regions of ancient tmies. Lideed,
when we seek in other lands for places like Los Angeles and
Southern California generally, we must turn our eyes to the
Levant. In the United States there are no kindred spots."
The town is situated on the banks of the Los Am^eles
River, twenty-five miles from the ocean. The population
numbers about 3,500. The port of Los Angeles is San Pedro,
twenty-five miles southward, where there are only a couple of
houses.

§ 279. JPetaluma. — Petaluma, situated on the flat bank of
the navigable creek of the same name, ten miles from San

sociETr. 409

Pablo Bay, has a population of about 3,500, and owes its pros-
perity to the trade of the valleys of Petaluma, Santa Kosa, and
Russian River, and the plain of Bodega, which communicate
through this place with San Francisco. It is on the land mail
route which connects Mendocino and Humboldt counties with
the centre of the state. The houses are mostly of frame, and
none are more than ten years old, the town having been laid
off in 1851. Petaluma sends more butter and cheese to the
market than any other town in the state.

§ 280. San Jose. — San Jose may have about 3,500 inhabit-
ants. It is situated in the Santa Clara vallev, ten miles south-
eastward from the bay, and fifty miles, by the stage road, from
the city of San Francisco. The town was laid out about the
beginning of the century, and many of the houses are of adobe,
and were built before the American conquest. The streets
are lined wdth shade-trees, and gardens filled with beautiful
fruit-trees and flowers are abundant. The place is dusty
during the summer, but otherwise is very pleasant. There
are eleven hundred acres of orchard in the ^^cinity of San
Jose, more than in any other equally small district in the state.
One of the boasts of San Jose is the "alameda," which prop-
erly means " a place of elms," but is here applied to a road
three miles long, lined with willow and cottonwood trees.
The trees stand close together, and are of large size, so that
they form a dense shade. Unfortunately, the road under them
is extremely dusty in summer, and muddy in winter. The
port of San Jose is Alviso, seven miles to the north, on the
banks of the Guadalupe, or Alviso slough.

§ 281. Santa Clara. — Santa Clara, three miles westward of
San Jose, and connected with it by the alameda, has a popula-
tion of about 2,000. It is a new town, and nearly all the houses
are of wood. The principal building is the old mission church,
erected in 1822. It is now used as part of a Jesuit college.
The mission of Santa Clara w\as founded in 1777, and a church
was built on the bank of the Guadalupe Creek, at a place called
" Socoistika," the Indian name of the laurel-trees which grew
18

410 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

there. Two years later this building was swept away by a
flood, and in 1781 a new church was commenced, half a league
distant from the river, in a grove of oak-trees, the Indian
name of which, "Gerguensen," was given to the vicinity. This
church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1818. The present
church was consecrated in 1822.

§ 282. Columbia. — Columbia, the largest town of the south-
ern mines, is sixty-five miles from Stockton. The place has a
population of about three thousand, and includes many good
brick buildings. The town was laid oft' in 1850.

§ 283. Placerville. — Placerville, though it cast only nine
hundred and thirty-four votes in 1861, is really, after Stockton,
the most important town in the state, and its pojDulation will
soon be proportionate to its business. It is on the main road
from Sacramento to Washoe and Esmeralda, and is the point
w^here travellers going eastward prepare for their trip over the
rugged portion of the mountain, and those coming westward
rest from their toils. It is also on the route of the great over-
land mail and telegraph. It may be that there is less snow
and an easier natural grade on the other roads across the Sierra
Nevada, but the Placerville road has been more improved than
any other. It is more convenient to the great body of trade
and travel from San Francisco and Sacramento. It has more
houses to accommodate and protect travellers, and, during the
winter, has more travel, and receives more attention, and there-
fore it is, for general use, the best road.

§ 284. Yreka. — Yreka, the county seat of Siskiyou county,
the largest town north of Marysville, has a population of about
twenty-five hundred. It is situated at an elevation of fifteen
hundred feet above the sea, in the valley of Shasta River,
about twenty miles northwest from Mount Shasta. It is a
mining town, being situated in a rich mining district, and
founded on pay-dirt. The place is shut in by high mountains,
the Siskiyou ridge on the north, the Sierra Nevada on the east,
the Scott and Trinity ridges on the south, and the coast range
on the west. The town is shut in by snows during part of

S 0 C 1 E 1 Y . 411

every winter, and there is frost in every month of the year.
Most of the merchandise sent out from this point, to mining
camps in the vicinity, goes on pack-mules. The goods im-
ported by Yreka are hauled one hundred miles, from Red Bluff,
vrhich is one hundred and seventy-five miles from Sacramento
by the river. The town is on the main road between the Sac-
ramento and Willamette valleys, and occupies a central position
in the basin of the Klamath River, and will therefore probably
maintain its importance.

§ 285. Vallejo. — Yallejo, a town of about eight hundred
inhabitants, is situated at the mouth of Xapa River, on the
northwestern side of San Pablo Bay, from which it is separated
by Mare Island. The town was laid out in 1850 by M. G.
Yallejo, for the capital of the state. He supposed at the time,
and so did the public, that he was a millionaire. He owned
laro-e tracts of land, then estimated to be worth several mil-
lions of dollars at least. Among his possessions was the Suscol
rancho, and he was induced to believe that if he would lay off
a town and make a liberal offer of land and money to the state,
the capital would be established there, and increase the value
of his land- so much that he would profit largely by the affair.
The suggestion appeared reasonable, and he adopted it, offer-
ing much land and three hundred and seventy thousand dollars
in cash for the establishment of the capital at Yallejo — the three
hundred and seventy thousand dollars to be spent in erecting
public buildings. The offer was accepted, and the capital was
located at Yallejo, but the legislature went thither at a time
when there were no houses there, and they immediately went
away. Seiior Yallejo did not pay the money which he had
offered, and finally the capital was established at Sacramento,
where it is likely to remain. The business of Yallejo now de-
pends chiefly upon the United States navy-yard and dry-dock,
on Mare Island. The place is one which may have much im-
portance in the future of CaUfornia. It has the following
resources :

Mrst. — It is at the head of navigation of the waters tribu-

412 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

tary to Saii Francisco Bay for large sea-going vessels. It has
a fine harbor, perfectly protected against all winds, with good
holdinjr-ofround, and extent enousrh to accommodate all the
commerce which will ever visit it. That portion sufficiently
deep at low water for vessels drawing four fathoms, is three
miles long by a quarter of a mile wide, and for smaller vessels
the harbor is much larger. The best chart of the harbor is
N'o. 61 in the U. S. Coast Survey Report for 1857, which re-
port can be found in all public and many private libraries.
The navigation to the harbor from the Golden Gate, a distance
of twenty-six miles, is excellent, the channel being wide and
deep, and the winds strong and regular.

Secondly. — The town is in the midst of a fertile district.
The country north of San Pablo and Suisun Bays is the richest
agricultural district of the state. The valleys of Petaluma,
Santa Rosa, Russian River, Sonoma, Napa, Suscol, Suisun,
and Vaca, form a collection which, for extent of fertile soil,
abundance of water, and mildness of climate, have no equal of
like extent in California. These lie to the northwest, north,
and northeast of Vallejo, while south and southeast lie the San
Pablo, San Ramon, Amador, and Diablo valleys.

Thirdly. — Vallejo has a magnificent site for a town. The pres-
ent village is built on the slopes of hills about a hundred or a hun-
dred and fifty feet high, which rise from the harbor so gently,
that a heavily laden wagon can be drawn over without an extra
team. There are no deep gullies, and no sand. About half a
mile back from the landing- lies a beautiful and verv fertile
plain, called "Vallejo Valley," several miles wide and extend-
ing from the lower part of the harbor, upon which it opens,
northward to Suscol. I have never seen a city provided with
such a magnificent place for country residences as this.

Fourthly. — The town must be the main trading point of a
large agricultural population. Suscol is now one of the best-
tilled parts of the state.

^//'M/y.— Vallejo has peculiar railroad facilities. She can
have railroads running almost the entire distance on level

SOCIETY. 413

plains to Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Ilealdsburg, Sonoma, Xapa,
Fairfield, Marysville, Sacramento, Stockton, Amador Valley,
Oakland, San Jose, etc.

Sixthly. — She has a climate similar to that of San Francisco,
where ice never forms and smnmer clothes are never worn —
precisely that degree of constant coolness most favorable to
continuous labor, both mental and physical.

Seve7ithly. — She has the U. S. Navy- Yard on Mare Island
at her doors, and must supply the laborers to do the work
there. This navy-yard, must always be of great importance,
and. the government works alone will build up a considerable
town. Puget Sound is the only other point on the American
coast of the Pacific where a navy-yard can be established, and
a long time may pass before one will be required there.

Eightldy. — There is a possibility that the difiiculties in the
navigation of the Sacramento River, below Sacramento City,
will make it necessary to connect that place and the valley
north of it with the deep water, by a railroad to Yallejo.

It is estimated that forty thousand, tons of dirt are carried
down into the Sacramento River every day from the mines,
and the efiect to fill up the bed of the river is proved by past
experience. The time must come when goods must be carried
from the bay to the central and northern mines by land, and
the sooner the preparations are made for this approaching
change, the better. That land shij^ment, when commenced,
must go through Yallejo.

Ninthly. — In San Francisco great damage is done to the
wharves by the ship worm ; in Yallejo the water is so fresli
that wharves and boats are secure ag^ainst that scouro-e,

§286. yisalia. — Yisalia is situated in the "Four Creek
country," about fifteen miles northeastward from Tulare Lake.
The " Four Creek country" is formed by Cahuilla Creek, which,
after leaving the Sierra Nevada, spreads out into a number of
channels, and these again subdivide, and moistening a consider-
able district of rich soil, render it very pi-oductive. Yisalia
has a population of one thousand five hundred, and is the

414 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

largest town in the San Joaquin basin southward of Stockton.
It has now the trade of a radius of nearly a hundred miles,
and having a central situation will no doubt maintain its rela-
tive importance. The town was overflowed Avith water sev-
eral feet deep by the great freshet of January, 1862.

§ 287. Red Bluff. — Red Bluff, at the head of navigation
on the Sacramento River, one hundred and seventy-five miles
above Sacramento City, is a place of about one thousand in-
habitants. It is the point at which the merchandise is landed
from the Sacramento steamers for Shasta, Siskiyou and Trinity
counties, with an aggregate population of 17,114. Sometimes
the river is so low that the boats cannot reach Red Bluff, but
this is a rare event. There have been attempts to remove ob-
structions above Red Bluff so that the head of navigation
should be at Cottonwood, but these attempts have hitherto
been vain.

§ 288. Martinez. — Martinez is situated on the southern side
of the Straits of Carquinez, in a little valley. The population
is about six hundred. It is a quiet, pleasant village, where
trade is dull and life slow. It is connected with the world by
a steam ferry-boat, running to Benicia. It would probably be
a much more pros23erous place if the title to the land on which
it is situated Avere clear, but it is claimed under three grants,
all of which have been confirmed, and nobody knows which
one will take it. The town has a peculiar climate, with the
same cool temperature as at Benicia, very much like that of
San Francisco, but fogs are rare, and the winds arc broken by
hills. It is a climate similar to that of Oakland, without the
wind, and is therefore very favorable to fruit. The sea-breeze
pouring through the Straits of Carquinez, keeps off the frost,
and some unexplained cause throws all the fog over to the
northern side of the strait, thus giving the fruit on the south-
ern shore an abundance of sunshine. The town was founded
about the time the gold was discovered.

§ 289. Pacheco. — The town of Pacheco, or Pachecoville, is
one of the newest in the state, having been founded late in

SOCIETY. 415

1858. It is built at the head of navigation of the Pacheco
Slough, and is the shipping port of Pacheco, San Ramon, Di-
ablo and Taylor valleys. The distance to Martinez is four
miles, further than farmers like to haul their grain, when they
can avoid it. To bring the shipping point nearer to them,
Pacheco was built. The distance from Pacheco to the bay, in
a straight line through the tule land, is about four miles; the
distance by the slough is six miles. The slough is bare at low
water ; at high water it is navigable for sloops and schooners
drawing six feet. In 1859 Pacheco shipped 180,000 sacks of
grain. The population is about six hundred.

§ 290. Suisun. — Suisun, a village of about sixty houses, is
on the western bank of the Suisun Slough in Solano county,
about ten miles in a direct line from Suisun Bay and sixteen
miles by the slough. The place was commenced on a little
island, a couple of hundred yards in diameter, and no part of
it more than a foot above the highest tide. It is surrounded
by tules, or salt-water rushes, growing on land overflowed at
every high tide and bare at low tide. Two roads lead from
the dry land of the valley to the city — one of them a plank-
road, now in a very dilapidated condition. Most of the streets
are subject to overflow by spring tides, and the marks of the
water can be seen upon them even when dry. A few lots have
been raised above high tide by bringing earth from other
places, and enclosures are made by digging ditches, in which
the water is never more than two feet below the surface. The
island, being in the tule, was not included in the Suisun grant,
and it was claimed, in 1853, by tw^o men w^ho laid off" the town,
and who are now in litigation with each other about the un-
sold land. The place owes its importance to its advantages
as the shipping point of the valley. The Suisun Slough is
said to be the best slough in the state ; that means, that it is
wider and deeper than the sloughs through which vessels
reach Stockton, Sonoma, Napa, San Antonio, Petaluma, Pa-
checo, and Alviso. Vessels drawing nine feet of water can
enter the slough. The town is sixty-five miles from San Fran-

416 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA

cisco, with wliicli city there is regular steamboat communica-
tion. The town is one mile from dry laud, on the edge
"whereof, immediately north of Suisun, lies Fairfield, which
is the county seat, and has about five hundred inhabitants.
Fairfield is on the route of the projected Benicia and Marys-
ville railway.

§ 291. JSenicia. — Benicia is situated on the northern side
of the Straits of Carquinez. It was laid out in 1847, and for
a time it aspired to be the great commercial city of the coast,
wiiich aspiration it did not abandon until as late as 1853. It
was twice made the state capital, and twice deserted by the
legislature. It has about one thousand inhabitants. The
houses are scattered about so far from each other that the
town is called, in sport, " The City of Magnificent Distances."
A ferry-boat crosses the strait to Carquinez about six or eight
times every day. The town site is composed of low bare hills.
The climate is very windy.

§ 292. JSFapa. — l^apa was laid off" in 1848 by Xathan
Coombs at the ford of N'apa River, on the road from Benicia
to Sonoma. In those days there were no bridges or ferries,
and the position of the ford determined the location of the
town. Xow the ford is never used, but the investment of
capital has made the town permanent. K mere natural ad-
vantages were to be taken into account, the town would be
at Suscol, which is six miles nearer to the bay, and always ac-
cessible by small steamers, while at low tide the boats must
stop several miles below Napa. The p02)ulation of the place
is about one thousand. The houses are of wood and brick,
and neatlv built.

§ 293. Crescent City. — Crescent City is a seaport of six
hundred inhabitants, fifteen miles south of the Oregon line.
The place was founded in 1853, with the expectation that be-
cause of its proximity to the mines of the Klamath and Rogue
River basins, it would become an important commercial jjoint
for the imports of Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Its founders, however, were disappointed in this expectation.

SOCIETY. 417

The people at the head of the Sacramento valley, knowing
that an attempt was naaking to cut off a large part of their
trade, went to work industriously and made a good wagon
road to Yreka, and thus reduced the freights to that place
very much. The country westward of Yreka is verv ruorcred,
and as the people of Crescent City had not the capital to make
a wagon road, their goods had to be transported at much ex-
pense on mules; and Yreka and vicinity continue to make
their imports and exports by way of the Sacramento River.
Crescent City, therefore, remains a small place, but it supplies
a district within a range of forty or fifty miles to the east and
northeast. Trinidad is a small seaport which is the chief
trading point of the miners in Klamath county.

§ 294. Areata. — Areata is a town of eight hundred inhab-
itants, at the northern end of Humboldt Bay. It was founded
in 1850 with the expectation that the miners in the basin of
the Trinity River would obtain all their imports through it ;
but the only means of conveying goods from Humboldt Bay
was a bad mule trail through a rugged country infested by
hostile Indians, so the trade continued to go by the way of the
Sacramento River. It is probable, however, that the current
of this trade will be changed within a year or two. A wagon
road is being made to Weaverville, a distance of eighty miles,
and the Indians have been driven away. At the present time
fifteen hundred pack-mules are used in conveying goods from
Areata to the various parts of Humboldt, Klamath, and Trinity
counties. The name of Areata was adopted in 1860; previ-
ous to that time the town was called Union.

§ 295. Anaheim. — Anaheim is the only German town in
the state. It was laid out by Germans, built up by Germans,
and is populated and owned by Germans. But it will never
have the foreisrn character which marks manv German villao^es
in the vaUey states of the Mississippi, where the English
language is not known to any of the people. ]S"one of the
Anaheimers have come direct from Germany; all of them
have lived for some time among the Americans, and most of
18*

418 RESOURCES OF CAT, IFORNIA.

them speak English fluently. The English language will be
the predominant tongue, although German will long be cher-
ished. The number of residents is now three hundred, with
a certainty that they must rapidly increase. Anaheim is a
tract of land a mile wide by a mile and a half long, in the
valley of the Santa Anna River, Los Angeles county. It was
unoccupied, and supposed to be of little value in 1857, when
it was bought for two dollars an acre by a German company
of fifty members, mostly residing in San Francisco. They
were incorporated as a joint-stock association. The land, con-
taining one thousand one hundred and sixty-eight acres, was
divided into fifty lots of twenty acres each, with a little town-
plat in the middle, and convenient streets. The place was given
in charge of a superintendent, who held his position two years,
in which time he planted and cultivated eight acres of every
lot with vines, and put willow hedges (nearly all the fences in
Los Angeles county are of willow) all around the outer boun-
dary of the tract, and along the principal streets inside. Dur-
ing a large part of the time he hired fifty laborers. The total
expense for the two years was seventy thousand dollars, or
one thousand four hundred dollars per lot of twenty acres,
including eight acres of vine. The owner of a vineyard lot
had a little town-lot of half an acre besides. In December,
1859, the property was divided by lot among the members,
many of whom have now removed to the place and made their
home there. There are nearly six hundred acres lying vacant,
and the welfare of the vineyards requires that this land should
be cultivated, for now it is covered with weeds and brush, and
is the home of innumerable hares, squirrels, and gophers, which
eat the vines, young trees, and grapes. When cultivated and
irrigated, these pests will be drowned out and driven oif, and
the labor of the vine-grower will be much reduced upon the
land now under tillage. When the whole tract shall be filled
with bearing vines, it will produce twice as much wine as the
town of Los Angeles does now, and nearly as much as that
town will be able to produce when all its present vines shall

SOCIETY. 419

be in full bearing — for about half of its million vines are still
less than four years of age. Anaheim has some advantages
over Los Angeles, in the regularity of its plan, and perhaps,
also, in location (for it is nearer the ocean, and farther from
the snoTvy mountains) and in the extent of rich land in its
neighborhood, and in its location near the direct line of travel
between San Pedro and San Bernardino, the latter being not
only an important place for its own trade, but still more for
its trade with Salt Lake. On the other hand, Los Angeles
has the start, the capital, the houses, the merchants, and all
those advantages which an old and prosperous town has over
a little upstart of a village, and Anaheim must long, if not
always, be a place of inferior importance, as compared with it.

§ 296. Monterey^ etc. — Monterey, which previous to 1849,
was the political capital and commercial centre of the terri-
tory, is now one of the least important towns of the state.
.Most of the houses are of adobes. The population is about
one thousand.

Sonoma, which was founded in 1823, and was, up to 1850,
the most important town north of the bay of San Pablo,
has been gradually losing its trade and population ; but the
extensive production of wine in which its citizens are now
engaged, may bring it up again. The houses are mostly of
adobes. The tallest adobe house in the state, containing three
high stories, is in Sonoma. It was commenced in 1835, and
was never finished. After the walls had been erected, thev
were covered by a roof which projected three feet on all sides,
and thus the buildinc: has remained. The walls are about
three feet thick. The old buildings of the Mission of San
Francisco Solano are in a very dilapidated condition. Sonoma
is ten miles distant from San Pablo Bay, but the Sonoma
Slough is navigable to the Embarcadero, which is only three
miles from the town.

San Diego has a population of about eight hundred. The
town once aspired to be the tei minus of a railroad, which was
to cross the continent about latitude 32°, but such aspirations

420 HE SOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

are now pretty nearly abandoned. The harbor is good, but
the land in San Diego county is not rich, and it may be said
that the town has no brilliant destiny before it, at least not in
the near future. The Mission of San Diego was the earliest
in California and was founded in 1769.

In Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, nearly all the inhab-
itants are Spanish Californians, and nearly all the houses are
of adobes. Both are small, dull places, founded in the last
century, and the sites of old missions. The San Taus Obispo
Mission was founded in 1772, that of Santa Barbara in 1782.

§ 277. Mining Towns. — Weaverville, Shasta, Oroville,
Quincy, Auburn, Downieville, Mokelumne Hill, Jackson, and
Mariposa, are large mining towns, and are the county-seats of
various mining counties, but they possess no features of suf-
ficient importance to entitle them to separate notice here.
The mining towns of California, as a general rule, are built in
caSons, with irregular crooked streets. The main business
street runs through the middle of the caiion and is densely
lined with stores, billiard rooms, liquor shops, restaurants, and
inns. Many of those houses are of brick and fire-proof. The
dwellings are scattered about irregularly ; some are neatly
built and are surrounded with pleasant gardens ; the majority
are miserable little shanties or log-cabins, with no yard, flowers
or fruit-trees to give an appearance of home. The population
of these towns is not permanent. One year they are here,
next they are elsewhere. In 1854 Oroville was laid out ; in
1857 it cast one thousand votes, and. was the third town in the
state; in 1860 its glory had departed, and at least a dozen
towns have now a larger population and a larger trade.

§ 298. Ge7ieral Remarks. — ^In taking a general view of the
towns of Cahfornia, we perceive that all those of the most
note are exclusively American. San Francisco, Sacramento,
Marysville, Stockton, Nevada, Grass Valley, Placerville, Co-
lumbia, Petaluma, Yreka, Shasta, Sonora, Oakland, Vallejo,
Santa Clara, Downieville, Weaverville, Mokelumne Hill, Au-
burn, Oroville, Jackson, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg,

SOCIETY. 421

Oscata, aud Crescent City, are American in their origin and
population. Not one of the old Spanish towns, save San Jose,
has gained any thing in population since 1846. Los Angeles,
Sonoma, Monterey, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and San
Diego have just about the same number of inhabitants now as.
previous to the American conquest.

422 BESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER XIII.
TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES.

§ 299. Introductory. — The topographical names of Califor-
nia differ much from those of other states in the Union, where
there is a disagreeable repetition of familiar names. Our peo-
ple have not attempted to immortalize Franklin, Jefferson,
Madison, Adams, Henry, Randolph, Clay, Cass, Benton, Web-
ster, Taylor, Fillmore, Polk, Pierce, or Buchanan, by affixing
their tiresome patronymics to counties or towns. All our
prominent places are designated by titles comparatively new
to the Enghsh language, and strange to Americans.

The topographical names of the state are derived from three
languages — Spanish, English, and Indian. Most of the names
along the southern coast and about the bay of San Francisco —
districts which were populated by the Spaniards long before
the Americans came to the country — are Spanish. The larger
rivers in the Sacramento basin were known to the Spaniard^,
and were named by them previous to 1846. The mining dis-
tricts of the Sierra Nevada and the Klamath basin, and the
coast north of 40°, were first explored and settled by the
Americans, and therefore the names are of English origin.
The Indian names are numerous.

§ 300. Sacred Spanish Karnes. — The Spanish names may be
divided into the sacred and profane. The first Spanish set-
tlers were Catholic missionaries, in whose almanac every day
is named after some saint, and in whose faith the saints were
but little below divinity. It was customary for them to keep the
saints constantly in mind, and when they came to a strange
place, to name it after the saint upon whose day they had

TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 423

reached it. Thus it is that nearly all the settlements made by
or under the missionaries are sanctified.

The male saints have " San," the females " Santa" to pre-
cede their Christian names, as in English we have " St."
Some uneducated Americans corrupt the " San" or " Santa"
before certain Spanish names into " St.," and say " St. Fran-
cisco," " St. Lucas ;" but the more mtelligent Americans ad-
here strictly to the Spanish spelling and pronunciation of
topographical names.

The Missions were all named from saints or sacred dogmas.
There are San Miguel, San Gabriel, and San Rafael (from the
three highest angels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael), San Juan
Bautista and San Juan Capisteano (St. John the Baptist and
St. John of Capisteano), San Francisco de Assisi and San
Francisco de Solano, San Luis Rey and San Luis Obispo (St.
Louis the king and St. Louis the bishop), San Carlos, Santa
Clara, Santa Barbara, San Jose (St. Joseph), Santa Inez Vir-
gen y Martyr (St. Inez the virgin and martyr), San Antonio
de Padua (St. Anthony), San Fernando Rey (St. Ferdinand
the king), San Buenaventura (St. Good Fortune), La Purisi-
ma Concepcion (the Most Pure Conception), Nuestra Senora
de Soledad (our Lady of Solitude), and Santa Cruz (the Holy
Cross).

Among the saints whose names are applied to places not
missions, are San Pedro (Peter), San Pablo (Paul), San Mateo
(Matthew), San Andres (Andrew), San Marcos (Mark), San
Simeon, San Joaquin (Joachim), San Nicolas, San Clemente,
San Lorenzo (Lawrence), San Leandro (Leander), San Pascual,
San Ramon, San Felipe (Philip), San Cayetano (Cayetan), San-
ta Marta (Martha), Santa Maria, Santa Paula (Pauline), Santa
Rosa, Santa Isabel, Santa Margarita, Santa Catahna, Santa Su-
sana, Santa Lucia, and Santa Gertrudis. Other Spanish sa-
cred names, not derived from saints, are Trinidad (Trinity),
Sacramento (Sacrament), Jesus Maria (Jesus the Son of Ma-
ry), and Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles (Our Lady
the Queen of the Argels).

424 KESO URGES OF CALIFORNIA.

§ 301. Profane Spanish Names. — Among the Spanish pro-
fane names are Agua Fria (cold water), Agua Caliente (hot
water, or warm sprmg), Yallecito (little valley), Esperanza
(hope), Campo Seco (dry field), Garote, Ilornitos (little ovens),
Salinas (salt places), Alameda (a place of elms or cottonwood
trees), Saucelito (a little clump of willows, more properly
spelled Sauzalito), Bodega (a vault), Laguna Seca (dry lagoon),
Cienaga (puddle), Merced (mercy), Buena Vista (good view).
Contra Costa (the opposite coast, the shore opposite the bay
of Siin Francisco), Del Norte (of the north), Plumas (feathers),
Tulare (a place of tules), El Dorado (the golden land), Fresno
(ash), Xevada (snowy), Sierra (mountain chain). Placer (gold
diggings), Calaveras (skulls), Mariposa (butterfly), Alcatraz
(pelican), Farallones (points of rock in the sea), Corte Madera
(place where wood is cut), Monte (the mountain or forest),
Loma Piieta (black liill), Monte Diablo (the devifs mountain),
Montecito (little mountain or little forest), Alamo (elm or cot-
tonwood tree). Alamo Mocho (the cropped cottonwood), Pajaro
(bird). Coyote and Tejon (a badger). Some of these names
have been changed by the Americans. The Spaniards say,
el Rio de las Mariposas (the river of the butterfliy), el Rio de las
Calaveras, el Rio de los Pajaros, la Isla de las Alcatraces, la Bahia
de San Francisco (the bay of San Francisco), La Mision de
San Gabriel (the Mission of San Gabriel), el Rio de las Salinas.
The Americans drop the common Spanish nouns of r^o, hahia^
and mision., and say Calaveras River, Salinas River, the Mission
San Gabriel, etc. Though the plural form of Calaveras and
Salinas has been preserved, the singular has been adopted for
Pajaro River, Alcatraz Island, and Coyote Creek. Pajaro River
was so named because of the great number of wild geese
and ducks which were formerly seen in its valley. Cape Men-
docino was named after the patronymic of an early Spanish
navigator on this coast. Amador county and Amador valley
were named after Jose M. Amador, who was formerly manager
of the property of the Mission of San Jose, about 1835. He
lived in Amador vaUey, and in 1848 he went with a number of

TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 425

Indians to mine in what is now Amador county. Vallejo, Pa-
cbeco, Martinez, and Alvarado, are the names of prominent
men among the Spanish CaUfornians. Some Spanish names
have been chano-ed into Eno-lish. The American River was
formerly called el Bio de los Americatios, because the Ameri-
cans entering California usually came down the banks of that
stream. The Feather River was called el Bio de las Plumas,
the river of feathers. The "Plumas," after having been aban-
doned as a designation for the river, was given to the county
in which the liver takes its rise. The Yuba River was called
by the Spaniards, el Bio de las Z/vas (the river of the grapes).
The ignorant Spaniards wrote the main word TJhas^ the h and
V being often confounded in the Castilian tongue. The Ameri-
cans gave the English pronunciation to the initial w, then wrote
it " Yubas," as they pronoimced it, and finally changed it to
the singular. Angel Island was formerly called la Isla de los
Angeles^ and Mare Island was called la Isla de las Yeguas, The
town of Benicia was laid off in 1846, and was first called
" Francesca," one of the Christian names of the wife of M. G.
Yallejo, on whose land the town was to be built ; but in March,
1847, the name of the town of Yerba Buena was changed to San
Francisco, and the projector of Benicia, Mr. Charles D. Semple,
thought it necessary, for the purpose of avoiding confusion, to
change the name of his city on paper, so he adopted "Benicia,"
another name of Mrs. Yallejo. The town of Sonora was so
named because the majority of the first miners there were from
Sonora. The Xew Almaden quicksilver mine, for some months
after the nature of the ore was discovered, was called la Mina
de Saiita Clara. Its present name was derived from the great
quicksilver mine of Almaden, in old Spain. The Enriqueta
quicksilver mine was named after Enriqueta (Henrietta) Law-
rence, the daughter of the managing owner of the rancho at
the time the mine was discovered.

§ 302. Indian Names. — The Indian names in California are
numerous. Among them are Siskiyou, Klamath, Shasta, Te-
hama, Colusi, Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Mokelimine, Tuolumne,

426 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Chowcliilla, Cahuilla, Suscol, Siiisun, Cosuinnes, Tem6cula,
Temascal, Juvupa, Petaluma, Tomales, Yreka, Ukiah, Cuyama,
Cocomongo, Mayacmas, Bolbones, Guilicos, Huichica, and
Hoopah. Most of these are the names of tribes of Indians.
The Mokehimne, Tuolumne, Chowchilla, Cahuilla, and Cosum-
nes Rivers were called by the Spaniards el Rio de los Moque-
lumnes, el Rio de los Tuolumnes, etc. The second syllable of
Moquelumne was changed by the Americans, to be spelled
with a h^ which has the same sound as qu before e in Spanish.
Cahuilla is sometimes vulgarly spelled "Kaweah" by Ameri-
cans, who thus represent the Spanish pronunciation as nearly
as possible. Klamath and Shasta were formerly written " Tla-
math" and " Tshastl." Sonoma, by some persons written " Zo-
noma" in early times, is an Indian word meaning "valley
of the moon." Temascal means an Indian sweat-house. So-
lano is a Spanish word meaning the south wind, but Solano
county was so called after the chief of the Suisun tribe of In-
dians. I have not been able to learn whether his name was
given to him by the Spaniards, or was of Indian origin. Marin
county was also named after an Indian chief. Yreka is a cor-
ruption of Wi-e-kah, which means whiteness, and is the Indian
name of Mount Shasta, at the foot of which the town is situated.
§ 303. America?! Names. — Now we come to the American
names. Towns are named after Jackson, Washington, Lafay-
ette, and Stockton (the last was in command of the American
navy on this coast during the Mexican war). Bigler, one of
the governors of the state, has been immortalized by having
his name affixed to a lake. The patronymics of Alexander
Humboldt and J. A. Sutter are affixed to counties. Trinity
River was so named because the white men who discovered it
in the mountains, supposed it emptied into the bay of Trinidad,
which had been discovered by the Spaniards several centuries
ago. Marysville was first called Yubaville, and then named
after Mrs. Mary Covilland, one of the founders of the place.
Among the pioneer miners of Calaveras county were Murphy,
Angel, and Carson, and they became the eponyms (to use a

TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 427

word coined by Mr, Grote) of the places where they stopped,
first called Murphy's Camp, ADgel's Camp, and Carson's Camp,
now become permanent towns, which have discarded the
"camp," and assumed the titles, "Murphy's," "Angel's," etc.
It is better to drop the s and the apostrophe, as is sometimes
done. "Yankee Jim's Camp" — the surname of "Jim" was
never known to the general public — is now simply Yankee
Jim. Messrs. Downie, Weaver, and Heald were the respective
eponyms of Downieville, Weaverville, and Healdsburg ; and
Folsom was named after the owners of the rancho on which it
was laid out. The knowledge or supposition of rich diggings is
indicated by some of the names of towns. For instance, Ophir,
Gold Hill, Quartzburg, Placerville, Oroville, Rich Bar, and Tin
Cup. Placerville was, in 1849, called Hangtown, because it was
the first place where any person was hanged by Lynch law.
Oroville is a compound of oro, the Spanish word for gold, and
ville, the French word for city. Tin Cup was so named because
the first miners there found the placers so rich that they measur-
ed their gold in pint tin cups. Many of the bars and camps in
the mining districts are named after the discoverers or first set-
tlers. There are Scott's Bar, Long's Bar, Kelly's Bar, Kanaka
Bar, Negro Bar, Chinese Camp, etc. Other places are named
from the native places of the first settlers, as Mississippi Bar,
Ohio Bar, Iowa Hill, Michigan Blufi*s, IlHnoistown, AUeghany-
town, etc. Pine Log is so named because there was, in early
times, at that place a pine log across the South Fork of the
Stanislaus River, in such a position as to ofier a very convenient
crossing to miners. Some of the mining camps are named
from tragic events which occurred there : thus there is a Mur-
derer's Bar, a Dead Man's Bar, and a Dead Shot Flat. The
following is a list of some curious names of mining localities :

Jim Crow Canon, Happy Yalley, Ground- Hog's G-lory,

Red Dog, Hell's Delight, Bogus Thunder,

Jackass Gulch, Devil's Basin, Last Chance,

Ladies' Canon, Dead "Wood, Greenhorn Canon,

Miller's Defeat Gouge Eye, Shanghai Hill,

Loafer Hill, Puke Ravine, Shirttail Canon,

428

RESOURCES OF CAI.IFORNIA.

Guano llill,
Rattlesnake Bar,
"VVhiskej Bar,
Poverty Hill,
Greasers' Camp,
Christian Flat,
Rough and Ready,
Ragtown,
Sugar-Loaf Hill,
Poker Flat,
Wild-Cat Bar,
Dead Mule Cailon,
Wild Goose Flat,
Brandy Flat,
Gridiron Bar,
Hen-roost Camp,
Lousy Ravine,
Lazy Man's Cailon,
Logtown,
Git-up-and-git,
Gopher Flat,
Stud-horse Caiion,
Bob Ridley Flat,
One Eye,
Push-coach Hill,
Puppytown,
Mad Canon,

Slap-Jack Bar,
Quack Hill,
Pepperbox Flat,
Nigger Hill,
Seventy-six,
Piety Hill,
Hog's Digghigs,
Brandy Gulch,
Liberty Hill,
Love-Letter Camp,
Paradise,

Blue Belly Ravine,
Sluice Fork,
Shinbone Peak,
Seven-up Ravine,
Loafer's Retreat,
Humpback Slide,
Swellhead Diggings,
Cayote Hill,
Poodletown,
Yankee Doodle,
Horsetown,

Skunk Gulcli,
Coon Hollow,
Poor Man's Creek, "
Humbug Cafion,
Bloomer Hill,
Grizzly Flat,
Rat-Trap Slide,
Pike Hill,
Port Wine,
Snow Point,
Nary Red,
Gas Hill,
Ladies' Yalley,
Graveyard Canon,
Gospel Gulch,
Chicken-Thief Flat,
Hungry Camp,
Mud Springs,
Skinflint,

American Hollow,
Gold Hfll,
Pancake Ravine,
Centipede Hollow,

Petticoat Slide,

Chucklehead Diggings, Nutcake Camp,
Mount Zion, Seven-by-nine Valley,

Barefoot Diggings, Paint-Pot Hill.

Plug-Head Gulch,

Butte county was named from the huttes or high hills on its
border. Cache Creek was probably so called because some
trappers buried or cached something on its banks many years
ago. JButte and Cache are words of French origin, introduced
into the English language by trappers.

Anaheim is derived from Ana, the Spanish for Ann, and the
German word heim^ meaning home — and the compound means
Anna's home. The Ana was suggested by the Santa Ana
valley, in which Anaheim is built.

§ 304. Etymology of " Calif orniaP — There is much doubt
about the etymology of the word California. Some authors
contend that it is a compound, derived from the Latin words
calida (hot) and fornax (furnace). The name was first be-

TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 429

stowed in the sixteenth century, by Spanish navigators, npon
Lower California, the southern point of which reaches into the
tropics ; and being a dry, treeless, bare, and desolate country,
it may well have appeared to them to be hot as a furnace.
Some persons, however, suppose the word to be of Indian
origin. The Spaniards and Mexicans called the peninsula Boja
California^ or Low California ; also, Antigua California^ or
Old California; and the coast further north, Alta California^
or High California; also, JSFueva California, or Xew Califor-
nia. The two were called Las Calif ornias^ or the Californias.
The state constitution was framed in 1849, and commences,
" We, the people of California," etc. This, therefore, is the
California, and the peninsula south of us is not meant or thought
of, unless we use the adjective prefix, and say Lov> ji- Cali-
fornia.

§ 305. Pronunciation of N^ames. — In the pronunciation
of the names of Spanish and Indian origin, the letters have
usually the Spanish sounds. A is like "a" in far ; e like " a" in
fare ; i like " ee" in meet ; o like " o" in go ; u like " oo" in
fool, ^is silent ; j and g^ before e and ^, have a sound similar
to that of the English " h ;" s never has the sound of 2, but
is always like " ss" in hiss. Qu^ before e and *, is like " k."
X^, is "Hi" in William; li is like " ni" in union. There are
no diphthongs in Spanish. Every vowel is sounded separately.
Words ending in a vowel in the singular, have the accent on
the syllable next the last ; those ending in a consonant, on the
last. In case any vowel has an accent marked over it, then
that vowel has the accent. The Spaniards of old Spain pro-
nounce the z before all vowels, and the c before e and ^, like
" th" in thick ; but the Mexicans give them the sound of s.

The errors w4iich Americans most frequently commit in
pronouncing Spanish words are, in giving to a the English
sounds of " a" in fat and fate ; giving to s the sound of " z ;"
to j and g^ before e and 2, the same sounds as in English ; to
gu the sound of the English " w ;" and in putting the accent
on the first syllable — English fashion. The following may

430

RESOURCJi:S OF CALIFORNIA.

serve as a further guide to the proper pronunciation of some
of the names :

Spanish Names and Pronunciation.
Diego — dee ay go.
Suisun — soo ee soon.
Alameda — ah lah may da.
Sierra — see er ra,
Nevada — nay vah dah.
Mateo — mah tay o.
Monterey — mon ta ray ee.
Luis Obispo — loo eess o bees po.
Los Angeles — Iocs an gel es.
Vallejo — val yay ho.
Vallecito — val yay thee to.
Joaquin — ho ah keen.
Juan Bautistar— hwan bah oo teestah.

Spanish Names and Pronunciation.
Jose — ho say.

Jesus Maria — hay soos mah ree ah-
Puta — poo tah.
Tejon — tay hone.
Farallones — fah rahl yo nes.
Gabriel — gah bree ale.
Rafael — rah fah ale.
Miguel — mee gale.
Pajaro — pah hah ro.
Coyote — CO yo tay.
Pacheco — pah chay co.
Cahuilla — cah oo eel ya.
Queretaro — kay ray tah ro.

This table is not a perfect guide to pronunciation, but only
an approximation.

Placer has been anglicized so much that it is commonly
spoken with the accent on the first syllable. Mokelumne and
Tuolumne have the accent on the antepenultimate and the
vowel short. Siskiyou has the accent on the first syllable.
Sutter is pronounced with the u like " oo" in foot. Mokel-
umne is often mispronounced Mac al a my, and the Cosum-
nes River is not unfrequently called the Macosme. Folsom
is pronounced like the adjective fulsome. Yosemite has four
syllables with the accent on the antepenultimate (Yo sem i te).

GENE KAL SUMMARY. 431

CHAPTER XIY.

PRESENT AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE

STATE.

§ 306. General Summary. — Twelve chapters of this book
have been filled with a detailed statement of the nature and
characteristics of the resources, industry, and society of Cali-
^OR^^A. In this chapter, I shall present a summary of theh*
main features.

We have, then, before us a state, lying in the midst of the
temperate zone, on the western coast of North America;
bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean, and on the other
by a high range of mountains ; reaching through nine degrees
of longitude and three of latitude ; with a coast-line eight hun-
dred miles long, and a total area of about one hundred and
sixty thousand square miles. The heart of the state is drained
by two large rivers, which run from north and south, unite
midway, and in their course to the sea form three large and
deep bays, with secure and spacious harbors. On these bays
and their tributaries, there are nearly one thousand miles of
navigable streams now used by steamboats and sailing-vessels.

The climate near the ocean is the most equable in the world.
At San Francisco, there is a difference of only seven degrees
between the mean temperatures of summer and winter — the
averao-e of the latter season beins: 50° and of the former 57°
Fahrenheit. Ice and snow are never seen in winter ; and in
summer the weather is so cool, that heavy woollen clothing is
worn every day. There are not more than a dozen days in
the year too warm for comfort at mid-day, and the oldest in-
habitant cannot remember a night when blankets were not

432 RESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA.

necessary for a comfortable sleep. The climate is just of that
cliaracter most favorable to the constant mental and physical
activity of men, and to the unvarying health and continuous
groTvth of animals and plants. In the interior, the summers
are much warmer than near the ocean ; while in the mountains
tlie winters are much colder. By travelling a few hundred
miles, the Californian can jBnd almost any temperature that
he may desire — great warmth in winter, and icy coldness in
summer.

The rocks of the state are chiefly granite and tertiary sand-
stone ; the former occupying the high mountains, the latter
the valleys. In former eras there were several, or perhaps
many volcanoes in the range of the Sierra Nevada. Mount
Shasta was one of them, and it now has hot springs on its
summit, and sends up sulphurous vapors. On the western
slope of the Sierra Xevada, about half way between the sum-
mit and the foot, are numerous bods of slate and veins of
quartz. The same formations are found in the Klamath basin
and in other parts of the state ; and in nearly every case they
are auriferous. There is scarcely a county which does not
contain gold. The districts which contain enough gold to sup-
port a mining population, have an area of about ten thousand
square miles. The gold-yield of the state is about forty-three
million dollars annually — more than that of any other country,
save the colony of Victoria, in Australia.

The number of men eno-a.o-ed in minins; may be estimated at
eighty thousand. Our placers and auriferous quartz veins are
almost inexhaustible ; there are great mountains of gold-bear-
ing gravel which cannot be washed away for a century to
come ; and the quartz-lodes will last still longer.

The gold-mining of Califoi-nia is conducted in the most
thorough and enterprising manner. Although the main prin-
ciples of the sluice and the hydraulic washing were known and
used, on a small scale, long before the discovery of gold in
California, it was here that those modes of working were first
perfected, applied on an extensive scale, and brought into uni-

GENERAL SUMMARY. 433

versal use. Large rivers are turned out of their beds ; moun-
tains are pierced by tunnels ; hills are washed away ; and the
rivers roll thick with mud to the sea through summer and
winter.

The silver-mines of the state were discovered onlv a short

»

time ago, and their value is not yet fully known ; but that
some of the ore is wonderfully rich, is established beyond a
doubt. The silver districts are in the basin of Utah, at an
elevation of five thousand feet or more above the level of the
sea, in the midst of a desert country.

In quicksilver, Cahfornia is the richest country in the world.
There are extensive beds of sulphur, asphaltum, and plumbago,
and large lakes and springs impregnated with borax.

The natural scenery of California is varied and grand. The
Yosemite valley is a chasm ten miles long, two miles wide, and
three thousand feet deep, in the heart of the Sierra Nevada,
without its equal in the world for sublime and picturesque
scenery. It has a dozen great cascades, the highest of which
has a fall of thirteen hundred feet. The Mammoth Trees are
the largest known growths of the vegetable kingdom. There
are likewise in the state mud-volcanoes, natural bridges, many-
caves, and numerous hot and mineral springs, some of which
throw out great columns of steam.

The animals and plants of California are peculiar to this
coast. The finest group of coniferous trees in the world is
that of this state. The mammoth tree, the redwood, the
Bugar-pine, the red fir, the yellow fir, and the Thuja gigantea^
all reach the wonderful height of three hundred feet; the
mammoth tree s^rows to be thirtv feet in diameter, the red-
wood twenty, and the others from eight to twelve.

The grizzly bear is the largest and strongest indigenous
animal of the continent ; and the Californian vulture is, next
to the condor, the largest bird that flies. The sea near our
coast teems with halibut, turbot, mackerel, herring, sardines,
anchovies, and smelts.; while sturgeon and salmon are abun-
dant in our rivers.
19

434 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

There are 40,000,000 acres of tillable land in the state, but
not more than 1,000,000 acres are now cultivated. In 1860,
the aggregate product of grains and roots of annual growth
amounted to 14,4*70,000 bushels, being an average of twenty-
four bushels to the acre cultivated, and of thirty-eight bushels
to each inhabitant of the state. The crojD of barley was the
largest, measuring 5,700,000 bushels; that of wheat, 5,000,000
bushels ; oats and potatoes, each, 1,500,000 bushels ; and maize,
500,000 bushels. The barley forms thirty-nine per cent, of the
14,470,000 bushels; wheat, thirty-four per cent.; oats and po-
tatoes, each ten per cent. ; maize, three per cent. ; and beans,
peas, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, and rye, one-half of one per
cent. each.

Farmers in California have many advantages over men of
the same occupation in other parts of the United States. The
winter is never so cold as to interrupt their work, and there
are no storms of rain and hail to destroy their grain and hay.
They need no barns. Barley thrives better than in any other
part of the world. The soil and climate are also particularly
favorable to the growth of wheat, which unites the valuable
qualities of whiteness, dryness, and glutinousness, to a greater
degree than any other wheat in the world. Our average crops
are also larger than in any other place where manure is not
used extensively. The yield of hops is large, and the facilities
for drying them, so as to preserve their strength, are better
than in any other land where they are cultivated. Our kitchen
vegetables grow to an unparalleled size. Nowhere else have
pumpkins been seen to reach two hundred and fifty pounds in
weight each, beets one hundred and twenty pounds, white
turnips twenty-six pounds, solid-headed cabbages seventy-five
pounds, carrots ten pounds, water-melons sixty-five pounds,
onions forty-seven ounces, Irish potatoes seven pounds, sweet
potatoes fifteen pounds, and so forth. Some cabbages and
beets have spontaneously become perennials here, continuing
to grow from year to year, and remaining green throughout
winter and summer ; and many of our kitchen vegetables

GENERAL SUMMART. 435

might be converted into perennials by preventing them from
going to seed.

The abundance, excellence, and variety of our fruit aston
ish the stranorer, thousrh he may have come from the markets
of London or New York, which draw tribute from whole hem-
ispheres. Xo market on the globe surpasses ours in variety,
and yet it is not ten years since we began to import fruit-trees
direct from the Eastern states and Europe. Our mild winters
permit the trees to grow during nine or ten months in the
year, and they grow more rapidly, and reach maturity more
speedily, than in any other eountry where they are so healthy,
and bear so abundantly. The pear and apple trees which were
planted by the missionaries thirty or forty years ago, are still
in perfect health, and some of them produce as much as a ton
of fruit to the tree every year. The apple and pear seem to
have found here their most cons^enial clime. There are no
worms in our apples ; no curculios in our plums or cherries ;
no Hessian flv or weevil in our wheat. The olive and the fiar
grow luxuriantly beside the apple and the pear. We can pro-
duce olives better than any of the olive-producing regions of
the Mediterranean, because we have none of those storms of
thunder and hail and rain, which frequently destroy the crops
in southern Europe and Asia Minor. The vine produces more
abundantly than in any part of Europe, and the crop has never
failed or been destroyed here, as often happens there. A yield
of one thousand gallons of wine to the acre is as frequent, pro-
portionately, in California, as of four hundred in France or Ger-
many. Our gardens are, in time, to be the most beautiful in
the world, resplendent with conifers and deciduous trees, with
the flowers of the temperate zone, and the luxuriant plants of
the tropics. The shrubs which in Xew York remain small,
and live only under shelter, as delicate exotics, are natu-
ralized in San Francisco, grow almost to tree-like size, remain
green throughout the year, and bloom during most of the
months. The rosebush is covered with flowers from January
to December.

436 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

Domestic herbiveroiis animals live and increase without
shelter, and without cultivated food. They reach their full
growth a year earlier than in the Eastern states. The absence
of extreme cold gives them a more rapid growth, and exemp-
tion from many diseases. Sheep produce more wool, are
healthier, increase more rapidly, and are kept at far less cost
in California than in any American state east of the Rocky
Mountains. Bees increase more rapidly, and make more
honey than there is any record of their doing elsewhere.
Thunder and rain storms kill a large proportion of the silk-
worms in Italy, France, Turkey, and China every year ; in the
valleys of -California we never have any lightning, and no rain
during the season when the silk-worms feed.

The wages of labor in California are higher than in any
other part of the world. Mechanics' wages are generally from
two dollars and fifty cents to four dollars per day ; common
laborers, from one dollar and seventy-five cents to two dollars
and fifty cents per day; farm laborers, and men and maid ser-
vants, from twenty dollars to thirty dollars per month. Our
imports and exports of treasure are larger in proportion to our
population than those of any other state. Our chief city is
favorably situated for commerce, and its harbor always con-
tains vessels of the largest size from every sea. It has an un-
doubted supremacy in the commerce of the north Pacific. We
have no paper money, and no current coin less than a dime.

The inhabitants of the state, numbering nearly four hundred
thousand, represent in their nativities every American state,
and every continent, and every country of Europe, and many
of the countries of Asia and Africa. Our population is unsur-
passed in intelligence, experience in travelhng, and skill in the
arts. Our society is liberal in tone, and free in intercourse.

With many drawbacks, which have been set forth clearly
and unreservedly, California is still the richest part of the civ-
ilized world. It possesses most of the luxuries of Europe, and
many of the advantages which the valley of the Ohio had forty
years ago. It offers an oj^en career to talents. In the few

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 437

years of its history it has astonished the work1, and its chief
glories are still to come. The arts, the sciences, the refine-
ments of life, are to find a favored home in California.

Why is it then that the permanent population of the state
has not increased more rapidly ? Why have so many of the
early immigrants left her shores, never to return, by their de-
parture depriving her of the greatest element of wealth ? The
great cause is the mismanagement of land-titles by the federal
government, and the consequence is, that the people have been
unable to obtain secure homes, and therefore have gone to the
Eastern states, where they could find permanent residences.
This mismanagement has prevailed both in the mineral and
agricultural districts, and has produced incalculable evils.

§ 307. Sale of Mineral Lands. — The welfare of every civ-
ilized state requires a permanent population, a well-regulated
society, a steady business, and a secure investment of capital
propor^tionate to the industrial ability and production of the
people. These requisites are indispensable to all national pros-
perity. Their want, if long continued, must inevitably be fol-
lowed by national ruin. They are wanting in a large portion
of California.

In the moral and social, as well as in the physical world,
cause and eflfect are inseparably connected ; adequate means
never fail in leading to correspondent ends ; prosperity or ruin
comes not by mere chance, but is the necessary result of the
adoption of good or evil counsel. The ill-regulated society
and unsound condition of business in our state, are traceable
mainly to the insecure tenure of our lands ; and as a necessary
means to attain social, commercial, and individual health, we
must have perfect land-titles. I shall speak first of the min-
eral counties.

It is a necessary consequence of the want of secure land-
titles in the mining districts, that the inhabitants should be
unsettled. There is nothing to fix them in any one place, while
many motives impel them to frequent removals ; and the result
is, that a considerable portion of the mining population is truly

438 RESOuncES or califokxia.

nomadic in character. Most of them have poor claims, or
none at all; and they enact laws, or establish customs having
the force of laws, that all claims shall be small, usually not
more than one hundred feet square. These small claims are
worked out in a month or two, or at most in a year or two,
and then the miner must go. Perhaps he will find his next
claim within ten miles, perhaps not within fifty. When he
gets a claim he may not be able to work it out ; he must not
only occupy his claim, but he must work it. If he absent him-
self from it more than three days, during the season in which
it can be worked, for other cause than sickness, it becomes for-
feit to whomsoever will seize it. In no case can he who mines
in the river-beds, banks, flats, or gulches consider his claim a
home for life ; in one case out of a thousand it may employ
him for ten years. Quartz and tunnel claims are more lasting,
and many of them will not be exhausted in a lifetime ; but the
miners employed in these are a small portion of th^ total
number.

The miner is not only not tied to his claim by ownership, or
the hope of long employment and lasting profit, but he is con-
stantly tempted by other tracts which are open to him with-
out price. He may consider himself owner of all the unoccu-
pied land in the country. He can take and use any of it. No
one has a better title than he. Every unoccupied gully, flat,
hill-side, river-bar, river-bank, and quartz-vein is persistently
trying to seduce him. He can scarcely take a pleasure-walk
on a Sunday morning without seeing some place which invites
him to come there and settle, to desert his old home and make
a new one. And when there is nothing to protect him against
such temptations, save his belief in the superior mineral wealth
of his first location, that belief may often be changed by a
very brief examination of the new place. He has no title to
the spot where he dwells, no substantial improvements, no
property of any kind save such as he can carry on his back at
one load.

The world never saw such a people of travellers as the Cali-

SALE OF MIXEEAL LANDS. 439

fornians. There are now about 350,000 white inhabitants in
the state, and more than 250,000 others have gone "home"
during the last twelve years, four-fifths of them never to re-
turn. Not one-fifth — probably not one-tenth — of the miners
of 1849 are now in the state, and it would be a diflicult, and
perhaps an impossible task, to find a Californian mining town,
one-tw^entieth of w^hose population has been permanent there
since 1850.

In regard to the men leaving California, it must in fairness
be stated that many of them are actuated by a desire to be
with their families, and they see that it is much cheaper for
them to go to New York than to have their families come to
S m Francisco ; and there are cases where the families would
make very great objection, even overlooking the cost of pas-
saore, aofainst movinor to a land so far from all their relatives.
But, on the other hand, it must be considered also that all the
men who leave the state, do so seeing and acknowledging, be-
fore they go, that in climate, mineral resources, the profits of
labor and trade, the enterprise, intelligence, and generosity of
the people, the independent spirit of the poor, the democratic
spirit of the rich, and the frank friendliness of all, California
is far superior to any other part of the American Union, while
it has many advantages in other respects. Such an acknowl-
edgment, coming from men leaving a state w4th which many
of the most interesting associations of their lives are connected,
implies a great evil somewhere. Although some of them go
" home" because they cannot bring their families to Califor-
nia, yet this is not the fact in one-fourth of the cases ; they go
because they do not wish to live here, because they will not
live here.

Another evil efiect of the want of secure land-titles, and
the consequent unsettled character of the population, is the
want of good houses and substantial improvements of all kinds.
The dwellings throughout the mines are, as a class, mere hovels,
even in the oldest and most thickly -settled districts. In the
towns it is necessary to have some substantial stores, as a pro-

440 RESOURCES OP CALIFORXIA.

tection to the valuable goods kept in them ; but with these ex-
ceptions, and a few fine residences, even nominal "cities" are
collections of shanties, scattered about with little regard to
order, and fitted up with little provision for comfort.

The wandering character of the population, and the want of
permanent and comfortable homes, render the mines an unsuit-
able place of residence for families. There are a few women
in the mines, and of these few a considerable share are neither
maids, wives, nor widows. The general j^roportion of adult
men to adult women, throughout the mining districts, is prob-
ably not less than three to one, and to married women, four
to one.

It sometimes happens that miners having wives in the east-
ern states have them come to live in the mines ; but in a con-
siderable proportion of cases this arrangement is not a per-
manent one. Anxious as the inexperienced wife may have
been to live with her husband, and willing as she might be to
share his privations, the result has often been that she found
life in the mines unsuited for herself and her children. There
are many good, virtuous, and intelligent women living in the
mines, and perhaps as well contented there as they would be
in any other part of the world ; but there are not enough of
them. ^

If there were no other evil than this scarcity of women
traceable to the present tenure of the mineral lands, that one
fact would be enough to settle the question that the mines
must be sold. The family is no less essential to the good order
of society and the prosperity of the state than it is to the hap-
piness of the individual. A community of American families
must have permanent homes ; they must own the land in fee-
simple ; and there cannot be a large community of families in
the mining districts of California unless the land there be sold.

The scarcity of women is again the first link in a great
chain of evils. Some men in the mining counties would like
to marry, but cannot find wives to their choice. They must
either travel thousands of miles to get a wife abroad, or take

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 441

some awkward girl just entering her teens, without education
or experience in society, and entirely incompetent to take
charge of kitchen or nursery. The scarcity of wives and mar-
ried women converts many men into temj)ters, and they must
cause much misery. And women, knowing that they are
scarce, and therefore in demand, are incited to calculate the
chances and the profits of fidelity and chastity as compared
with infidelity and infamy. Family quarrels often ensue, and
the state has a sad notoriety for the frequency of its separa-
tions and divorces. A trustworthy gentleman informs me
that, during a visit to a mining town in a remote part of the
state, about seven years ago, he was informed that there were
in the town one hundred and twenty-seven women, forty-nine
of whom, though married, were living with men not their hus-
bands. The case is certainly without a parallel, in the state or
elsewhere ; but the condition of afiairs in this respect has
changed very much for the better since 1855.

The want of families, and the comparative scarcity of intel-
ligent and good women, deprive the community of many of the
most wholesome pleasures and ennobling influences which are
found in other states. The man who has no wife or sweet-
heart to work for is improvident ; and, unchecked by such
public opinion as can reign only Avhere well-regulated families
are numerous and society permanent, he gives himself up to
dissipation, feeling confident that none of his neighbors will
cut his acquaintance on that account.

As the people are among strangers, and do not expect to re-
main among them long, reputation loses its value, and public
opinion its power ; and thus forces of great influence in pre-
serving the good order of society elsewhere have compara-
tively little influence in the mines.

The scarcity of families and the consequent unstable state
of society make servant-girls shy of the country, and the few
here demand enormous wages — five and six times greater than
in New York. This may at first sight appear to be a fact
of little importance, but it has really driven thousands of fam-
]9*

442 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

ilies from the state, and prevented thousands of others from
coming.

These various social evils chafe and foment one another, and
the consequence is, that the miners who have come to the state
intending only to remain a few years are not likely to change
their intention. It is of course the ambition of most men in
the country to have homes of their own ; to have wives and
families, to be with them and to enjoy their society. Since they
do not propose to become permanent citizens here, if married,
they do not bring their families with them ; if unmarried, they
do not marry while here. The necessary effect of this state of
affairs is, that there is an exceeding anxiety to get away from
the country as soon as possible. A feverish excitement pre-
vails through the whole people. Speculation has risen to an
unexampled height. The game is, to make a fortune in a few
months or to be bankrupt ; and there are tens of thousands to
play at it. Men complain that they cannot enjoy life in the
mines ; that life there is a mere brutal existence ; and they be-
come desperate in their anxiety to leave it, to go elsewhere,
where peace and comfort, permanent homes and social order
prevail ; where numerous well-regulated families furnish agree-
able company for the married, and where numerous accom-
plished young ladies furnish not less agreeable company to the
unmarried. Most men in California do not live here to enjoy
life, but to make money, so that they may enjoy life in some
other country. Not that the people are parsimonious — far
from it ; but they are puffed up with extravagant expecta-
tions, or rather determinations. Unless they can earn very
large wages, they will not work at all. The merchant will
not be content with a regular business, paying ten times as
much profit as he could make with a like capital in the East-
ern states ; he must go into wild speculations, and risk every
thing upon a remote chance of making a sudden fortune. The
frequency of insolvencies, particularly in the towns, is inex:pli-
cable, at first, to a man who comes here without understanding
the peculiar condition of our society ; and the same man, going

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 443

through the mines, will be astonished to see that the much-
abused Chinese are the only class who are always industrious.
The miner will often do nothing for weeks and months, run-
ning up long bills for " boarding," while he waits for rain, or
the completion of a ditch, or for something else to turn up.
He is too high-minded to accept small pay, and would rather
be idle — at the risk of the boarding-house keeper and store-
keeper. His idleness is frequently called " prospecting ;" he
travels about hunting for a place to work ; and this prospect-
ing may be said to employ nearly a fourth part of the mining
population. The consequence is, that a large portion of the
miners are always moneyless, or provided with an exceedingly
small amount of money. At other times they fall upon rich
deposits, and then try to make up in dissipation for past pri-
vations. And so the mining population comes to be an im-
provident one — unsteady, fond of gambhng and other wild
amusements. The fact is that there is not in the whole world
such another reckless, thriftless, extravagant, improvident pop-
ulation as in the mining districts of California.

Another evil effect of our present system of land tenure in
the mineral districts, is to be found in the gradual lowering of
the general character of the population in the mining counties.
Most of the steady, prudent, economical men leave the state
with more or less money, while the dissipated, thriftless fel-
lows remain ; the latter class increasing in numbers, the for-
mer decreasing every year. The only means of fixing and in-
creasing the former class, and giving them the proper influ-
ence in our society, is to give them permanent homes ; and
this policy will at the same time drive away the wrecked spe-
cimens of humanity among us, and compel them to seek homes
in the Cimmerian darkness beyond our borders.

It is one of the great evils of the tenant-at-will system, that
there is little security for the investment of capital. Land
should be the main stock of wealth and the main basis of
credit, and the increase of its value with increasing popula-
tion should be one of the main sources of riches in every new

444 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

country ; but of this kind of property the mining districts are
deprived by unwise policy. As it is now, it is almost im})Os-
sible to induce the capitalists of San Francisco to invest money
in, or loan money on, mining enterprises ; they have learned
by bitter experience that there is little safety for money in-
vested in canals and quartz-mills, where there is no title to the
lands save possession, which might be lost by abandonment or
forfeiture at any moment. The consequence is, that the per-
manent improvements in the mines are rare, in comparison with
the number which there would be if the mineral lands were
sold ; and where money is borrowed to make such improve-
ments, extravagant rates of interest are paid. As a result of the
comparatively small amount of capital invested, and the lack
of security for large investments of money in mining enter-
prises, there is little demand for labor, and the state is full of
poor men anxious to get work, but unable to find anybody to
employ them. The immigrants to a new country are gener-
ally poor men ; and, unless the state of business is such that
they can confidently expect to obtain profitable employment
on their first arrival, there is little encouragement for them to
come. In regard to the certainty of success upon first arrival,
California offers less encouragement to the immigrant than
many of the states in the Mississippi Valley, and will not offer
more until the tenure of lands in the mines shall be changed.

The present policy drives away the money produced in the
state. Why do we send $40,000,000 of gold away every year ?
Simply because we cannot give good security for it. We have
nothing to give as security. We offer to pay twice as much
interest as anybody else, and our offer would be gladly ac-
cepted, if there were a certainty that we Avould pay as we prom-
ise ; but there is no certainty, no security. The $50,000,000
shipped by California to New York last year, would have
drawn $6,000,000 yearly interest here, while it will draw only
$3,000,000 there ; and the $8,000,000 shipped to London would
have drawn $1,600,000 here, while it will draw only $450,000
in England ; but the owners of the $40,000,000 prefer the

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 445

83,450,000, with the New York and London security for cap-
ital and interest, rather than the promise of $7,600,000, with
the danger of losing both capital and interest in California. It
is true, there is a natural drain of specie from countries where
labor is high, to those where labor is low, because the latter
import little and export much ; and of course, in this respect,
California must necessarily become tributary to China, the At-
lantic states, and Europe ; but, on the other hand, our relations
with the great centres of capital are so intimate, that we can
get all the money we want at California rates of interest if we
will but give perfect security for it, and pay the interest with-
out fail. It would be no lio-ht matter for us to owe -a hundred
millions, and pay California interest on it, to European capital-
ists ; but it would still be better than to do without the money,
without the improyements which it would build up, without
the population it would attract, and without the fixed wealth
it Avould create.

Again, the present system exercises a most prejudicial effect
upon the finances of the state, and bears yery unequally upon
the citizens. The farming districts, where the inhabitants own
the land, pay heavy land taxes ; whereas mining claims pay no
taxes at all. The result is, that the taxation upon the men in
the yalleys is about three times as heayy as upon those in the
mountains. The miners generally haye no homes, and no fixed
property, and cannot be forced to pay taxes. Most of the
mining counties are deeply in debt, and many are going deeper
every year. The only way to equalize the taxation is to
sell the mineral lands, and compel the miner to pay a tax upon
his mine, as weU as the farmer on his farm.

The proposed sale of the mineral lands is opposed by two
arguments : first, that it will lead to monopoly; and, secondly,
that gold mining in this state is so precarious, that miners
could not afford to have permanent residences and support
families.

These two arguments are antagonistic to each other ; both
cannot be sound ; at least one of them must be fallacious. The

446 li E S O U K C E S OF C A L I F O II N I A .

" monopoly" argument presupposes not only that the persons
employed for wages to work the mines will earn enough to
support themselves and families, but also that the monopolists
will make a large profit, otherwise their monopoly would not
last long. The " precarious" argument presupposes that only
a small portion of the mining land will continue for any con-
siderable time to pay a living profit ; and that therefore there
is little encouragement for capitalists to invest their money in
mining land. The " monopoly" argument presupposes the in-
vestment of large amounts of capital — the very thing which
the mines most need ; the " precarious" argument presupposes
that mining will be more profitable for a man who runs about
than for one who stays at or near one place.

All the great social evils which I have mentioned as pre-
vailing in California, are traceable directly to the roving char-
acter of the people ; render the population permanent and you
necessarily cure the evils. It is admitted that our mines will
not be exhausted, and that the number of miners in the whole
state will not decrease much, if at all, during the next fifty years.
It is entirely safe to predict that Siskiyou, Xevada, Shasta,
Placer, El Dorado, Plumas, Sierra, Tuolumne, and Calaveras,
will be mininor counties in 1950. Now if the minino: is to be
continuous, why should not the miner be permanent ? There
is no necessity that he should be a nomad ; on the contrary,
his own pecuniary profit and the welfare of society require that
he should have a fixed residence, and not until he gets that,
can he be a valuable citizen.

But it is said the mining population cannot be permanent, be-
cause mining is a " precarious " business. Well, I should like
to know what business would not be " precarious," if conduct-
ed as mining has been in this state during the last ten years.
Here are one hundred thousand men, mostly without homes ;
not staying in any one place more than four months at a time,
on an average ; spending one day out of three in prospecting ;
refusing to work unless they can make big wages ; running suc-
cessively to Gold Lake, Gold Bluflf, Kern River, Fraser River,

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 447

Mono Lake, and Cariboo ; — how could any occupation be other
than precarious, managed in such a manner ? Of course min-
ing can be made precarious, and these fellows who are always
running about are the very ones to make it so. It will not be
made more precarious by permanence. If the five thousand
miners of El Dorado, and the four thousand miners of Tuo-
lumne, will just stay where they are, instead of changing places
with each other three times every year, they will not lose any
thing on the score of the precariousness of their business. I
venture to assert that gold mining in California, conducted
prudently, is not an uncertain business at all. A careful man
can, with a certainty, earn more than he could as a farmer on
the prairies of Illinois, where farming is one of the least pre-
carious occupations in the world. The permanent citizen can
afibrd to mine prudently ; the nomad comes here to make his
" pile " in a few years ; he has no wife vv'ith whom to live joy-
ously, and, as a matter of course, his mode of mining is pre-
carious.

But it is said the capitalists will monopolize the mineral
lands ; and yet there is not a week that the honest miners do
not come to San Francisco to solicit capitalists to invest their
capital in mining enterprises ; and when such an investment is
made to assist a canal or quartz-mill, all the miners in the vi-
cinity are glad, and property rises in value. Why is there
more danger of monopoly in mineral lands than in the agricul-
tural lands ? Are the former more sacred than the latter ?
Is it to be supposed that capitahsts will buy up the mineral
lands and then not work them, but let their money lie idle?
Certainly not ; capitalists would be in no hurry to invest large-
ly at first in the mineral lands : and if they should they would
employ large numbers of laborers, to the great benefit of the
Avhole country. And the same honest miners who have such
an abhorrence of " monopoly," — are not three-fourths of them
determined to leave this land of unmonopolized freedom to re-
turn to the Eastern states, where capital is king, and where
there are no laws to prevent the rich men from monopolizing

448 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the whole country ? The assertion that the sale of the min-
eral lands would offer dangerous advantages to capital, is
as much as to say that the sale would be followed by the in-
vestment of capital, and a general rise in the value of prop-
erty in the mines, and an increase in the amount of their pro-
duction.

This "monopoly" argument has been used for years, and
the miners have come to believe it without ever examining it
or seeing its absurdity. Instead of capital driving poor men
out of the mines, it would bring them in ; it would create a
demand for labor ; and the ten thousand men who are now in
the mines, anxious to obtain permanent employment, would
then get what they have been seeking in vain during the last
four years. If capitalists buy up mining lands, of course they
will do it with the intention of digging for the gold, and to do
that they must employ laborers. This kind of labor is not dis-
honorable ; it is such labor as most of the mechanics in Cali-
fornia, as well as elsewhere, are engaged in all their lives : that
is, labor for a fixed salary. It is just such labor as is done
now by a large portion of the quartz, and hydraulic, and tun-
nel miners, who consider themselves quite as independent, and
their occupation as honorable, as if they were cabinless and
claimless surface diggers. The labor for fixed wages will not
be unprofitable ; on the contrary, it will remove all precarious-
ness from the workman's mode of life, and will give him a
good and certain income, with which he Avill always be able to
live comfortably. It is not improbable that wages would rise
after a sale of the mineral lands. Of course, every purchaser
would wish to open his claims at once, and workers would be
in demand. The great danger, if the mineral land were offered
for sale, would be, not that too much capital, but that not
enough would come into the mines. Just in proportion to the
amount of land sold would be the amount of benefit done to
the state. If none were sold, the present state of afiairs would
continue, and the greatest enemies of the sale could not say
that any harm had been done ; if a little were sold, the change

SALE OP MINERAL LAXDS. 449

would be but small ; if much were sold, there w^ould be a
great increase in the value of mining property and in the de-
mand for labor. The result of a well-managed sale, or dona-
tion system, would be that the present miners, and not distant
capitalists, would come into possession of the richest places,
and that every man in the state could, at a trifling cost, obtain
a claim that would furnish him with profitable employment for
many years. There are certain places in the mines where the
claims are mostly in quartz-veins or deep banks, which will
require many years to work them out, and there the popula-
tion is comparatively stable. Of these places. Grass Yalley
and Xorth San Juan may be taken as examples. The traveller
sees at once, on approaching them, that there are more com-
fortable homes, more famihes, and more peace and sobriety
among the inhabitants, than in the majority of the mining
towns. The difl:erence is a very great and important one, and
if it can be removed by elevating the other towns to the level
of those two, the sooner the better.

The " monopoly" argument was used in Illinois, against the
sale of the mineral lands there, and prevailed for a time; the
consequence was, the population w^as made up of vagrants, and
the dwellings were all shanties, and society was no society at
all. Finally the lands were sold, and the result was a great
benefit to the people and the mining districts, in every social
and industrial respect.

It may be objected to the sale of the mineral lands, that
"the wisdom of our ancestors" has detennined that mines
should always belong to the government, and be open to all
persons willing to work them. The objection may be recog-
nized as a good one when that policy is proved to be wise by
evidence and argument — not till then. The reason of the an-
cient policy was, that most of the land was owned by ignorant
and unenterprising people, chiefly nobles, who, if they had
owned the minerals, would have allowed the natural wealth of
the land to remain undeveloped. But that state of aff"airs does
not and never can exist in California. On the contrary, no-

450 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

body can so safely be trusted to get all the gold out of a tract
of land as the fee-simple owner of it.

The federal government has refused to sell the mineral
lands to the state, and the surveyor-general has instructed
his deputies not to " sectionize" the land in the mineral dis-
tricts, or within several miles of where any miners are at w^ork.
The truth is, that a large part of the land in the mining re-
gion contains so little gold that it never can pay the miner, but
is well suited for agricultural and horticultural purposes. Cali-
fornians confidently expect that some of the finest fruits and
wines of our state — and that is as much as to say of the whole
world — will be produced in the mining counties, within five
years from the present time ; and the government should pur-
sue such a policy as will encourage the occupation and cultiva-
tion of all the land suitable for such purposes.

If the sale were once determined upon, undoubtedly difii-
culties would arise as to the manner of carr^-ing it into execu-
tion ; but these w-ould be of little import, as compared with
the evils caused by the present system. The whole mineral
district should be surveyed at once, and sold in lots to persons
w^ho will live on, or w^ork them, varying in size, according
to location and supposed mineral wealth, from one hundred
and sixty to eighty, forty, twenty, ten, five, two and a half,
and one and a quarter acres. Perhaps it would be advisable
to grant at first no lots where many miners may be at work
within a small space. Large lots of ten, twenty, and forty
acres, now unoccupied, and which w^ould long remain unoccu-
pied under the present system, would find abundant buyers
should the government propose to grant the fee-simple.

The offer of the mineral lands of the state, comprising about
10,000,000 acres, for sale, would present one of the greatest op-
portunities in the world for large numbers to secure great and
certain wealth at a small immediate outlay ; and not only every
man now in the country, but every one who has been here,
w^ould exert himself to the utmost to b.ecome the owner of a
tract of land, the mines of which would probably clothe him

SALE OF MINERAL LANDS. 451

and his sons, and his sons' sons, in wealth, and which, if it were
barren in gold, would still keep him in comfort with its agri-
cultural products. From the moment it is known that the
mineral lands will be sold, California's regeneration will begin.
Californians will then determine to make this their permanent
home; money will be saved ; and at the tirae of sale, every
man will seek to become owner of a tract of minmg land,
which shall enrich himself and his children. After the sale,
titles being secure, comfortable houses will be built, vdves
will be sent for, mining will be conducted economically and
steadily, claims will be worked which now will not pay, our
population will mcrease, and so will the yield of our mines ;
the capital produced here will be retained ; other capital will
come from abroad, to obtain secure investment on safe titles ;
poor men, coming from abroad, will always obtain employ-
ment, and thus can get a start ; railroads and turnpikes will
be made ; land will rise in value ; the state will obtain its rev-
enue honorably by the taxation of capital ; society will be-
come permanent, and public opinion powerful ; dissipation will
diminish ; and California, instead of being socially the worst,
will become the best state in the Union.

The question of the sale of the mineral lands is then the ques-
tion of the future of the state. The advocates of the measure
may not succeed this year, or the next ; but they will, they
must, succeed finally. The fight is between the permanent
interest of California on one side, and, on the other, the tem-
porary interests of some roving miners, who care nothing for
the state, save to get its gold and then leave it. As for all the
unmarried Americans (whatever their occupation) who may
come hither to spend a few years — to carry away our gold if
thev are successful, or to remain with us as human wrecks if
they fail — all these are no better for Cahfornia than so many
Chinamen ; I call them " white Chinamen." They will not be-
come permanent citizens ; the yellow Chinamen cannot ; so
there is not much diflerence between them. If there is any
legal, constitutional, and just measure by which we can drive

452 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the white and the yellow Chinamen out of the country to-
gether, and obtain white, permanent Califqrnians in their stead,
I, for one, shall be heartily in favor of it. "California for per-
manent Californians," is the proper motto for every faithful
citizen of this state. We must have a political war ; the per-
manent Californians must conquer the rovers, and compel them
to settle down or leave. The great question is not whether
we shall produce much gold or little ; it is whether we shall
have social and industrial order or disorder, which is equiva-
lent to the question of ilie permanency or A-agrancy of the
population. I am confident in the belief that the sale of the
mineral lands would cause a considerable increase of our gold
yield ; but no matter how great a decrease might ensue, state
^policy requires that the sale should be made, in any case. The
gold now dug does little benefit to California ; it slips through,
like water through a sieve ; and serves only to attract the
vagrants who visit the state merely to despoil it. All the
money under heaven will not pay for maintaining a system
under which three-fourths of the people of a large district
are vagrants, that is, rovers, and where six-sevenths are men.

It is not unreasonable to assume, that if the present system
of mining titles be maintained, there will be very slow change
for the better in the vagrancy of the miners and the inequality
of the sexes during the next ten years ; and I do not hesitate
to say that, rather than the present state of afiairs should con-
tinue, the state government should take efifective measures to
put a sudden end to all gold mining in the state, by declaring
it a felony, and making it punishable by severe penalties, so
that thereafter the people of California would turn their atten-
tion to such pursuits as farming, horticulture, and stock-raising,
which contribute to the lasting profit of the state as well as
the temporary profit of individuals.

California may be compared to a maiden who has been reared
to love the paths of purity and peace, but who has been intro-
duced of late into a corrupt society, and is now surrounded by
men who wish to dishonor her — enjoy her for a short time.

MEXICAN GRANTS. 453

and after gratifying the base impulses of the moment, to have
no further thought about her welfare, but to desert her for-
ever, careless whether their desertion prove her ruin or not.
From these men her virtuous soul turns with indignation and
abhorrence. She welcomes no suitor save him who comes
offering his whole heart in a life-long union, imder solemn
promise that she alone shall be loved and cherished by him.

Xow let us turn to the manner in which the land-titles in
the agricultural districts have been managed.

§ 308. Mexican Grants. — Upper California, when con-
quered by the Americans in 1846, contained about five thou-
sand Mexican inhabitants, who, with their fathers and grand-
fathers, had lived here sixty or seventy years. Their chief
occupation and the main source of their wealth were furnished
by their herds of kine, horses, and sheep. Most of them dwelt
in the country, upon ranches which had been granted to them
for purposes of pasturage by the Mexican government. They
held their lands under written titles, supposed to be, in most
cases, legally perfect under the laws of Mexico. The govern-
ment of that country never questioned or denied the validity
of such grants as those held by the CaUfornians. The grants
were made to suit the habits and wants of the people. The
Californians owned large herds, which were never fed on cul-
tivated food, never kept in fields, nor placed under shelter.
In a country where an almost unbroken drought reigns from
May to November, and where cattle get no food, save wild
and indigenous grasses, much more land is required to sustain
a cow, than in those lands where careful cultivation and fre-
quent rains provide a regular and certain abundance of food
through the year. A fertile soil, like that of a large portion
of the Mississippi valley, will sustain five or six head of cattle
to the acre,: but here three acres of uncultivated fertile land
are necessary for the support of one cow. Herds of thou-
sands of kine were not uncommon in California under the
Mexican dominion. To accommodate these cattle, great tracts
of land were necessary. The public land was granted not by

454 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

the acre, as in the American states, but by the square league
(containing four thousand four hundred and thirty-eight acres),
which was " the unit of measurement" in granting public lands
outside of the towns. The government granted away its lands
willingly, and without compensation ; no pay was required ;
the only condition of the grant was, that the grantee should
occupy the land, build a house on it, and put several hundred
head of cattle on it. Whenever he promised to comply with
these conditions, he could get a grant of any piece of public
land, of eleven square leagues or less, for which he might pe-
tition. It was a grand Mexican homestead law ; and the
chief complaint made about it was by the government, that
the number of applicants for grants was not greater. The
grants were not made according to the American land sys-
tem, which would have been entirely unsuited to the wants
and habits of the Mexican j^eople. The public lands in Cali-
fornia were never surveyed. I do not know whether a Mexi-
can surveyor was ever seen in California; I feel confident
that no ranch was ever surveyed, and its boundaries described,
with bearings and distances, previous to 1846. The descrip-
' tions of the land granted were very vague. In most cases a
certain number of leagues were given, Avithin well known
natural land-marks, which might include a district of fifty or a
hundred miles square. In such case, the grantee could locate
his ranch at any place within the limits. Sometimes a grant
of so many leagues was made, at a place to which a name had
been affixed by the Indians or Californians, and then the
ranch included that spot; sometimes a ranch was described
as bounded on one side by a range of mountains, on another
by a river, and on other sides by ranches of older date. The
Californians did not quarrel about their boundaries. If A's
cattle crossed to B's ranch, for better pasture in the summer,
B's would probably go to A's at another season. The herds
were not closely kept. The cattle roamed about almost in a
wild state, often unseen of man for months. So wild were
they, that though they knew very well that a man on horse-

MEXICAN GEAXTS. 455

back was a superior animal and their master, yet they consid-
ered a man on foot as a base and ferocious beast, and attacked
him as they would attack a wolf. Their owner knew his
property only by the brand placed on them when they were
calves. From the time when the redhot iron burned into
their flesh, they roamed untouched by the hands of man, until
fate decreed that they should be slaughtered to furnish fresh
meat for their master's household, or hide and tallow for for-
eign commerce. Evidently this people, with such habits and
-such occupations, did not need to have their lands precisely
described. Most of the titles were legally valid under the
Mexican law. There was no motive to commit fraud, because
land was of little value, and great tracts of rich soil were, up
to the time of the American conquest, open to CA^ery pe-
titioner. In most cases the actual occupation took place pre-
vious to 1840, and had never been interrupted. This occupa-
tion, the most conclusi\% proof of good faith, and an equitable
title in itself, was notorious, and susceptible of proof by hun-
dreds of witnesses. The paper titles were mostly of indu-
bitable genuineness, written by the hands of well-known of-
ficials, bearing regular numbers, referred to in public lists of
land-titles, and mentioned in government documents of various
kinds. The proof of the genuineness of the title-papers, the
good faith of the claimants, and the equitable validity of the
claims, in nine cases out of ten, was abundant, and, to any man
at all acquainted with the subject, indubitable. It was then
evidently the duty of the government of the United States to
provide for the summary examination of the documents, and
in every case, where genuine title-papers were found with
ancient occupation, to order a survey for the establishment of
boundaries, giving to the claimant at least a prima faHe rec-
ognition of title, subject, perhaps, to investigation in the courts,
if any person should see fit to assail the validity of the grant.
But the federal government pursued a policy very difierent
from this plain duty. It delayed action through 1848, 1849,
and 1850 ; and first, in 1851, passed an act nominally to " set-

456 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

tie" private land claims in California, but really to unsettle
them and the whole country, and keep them unsettled. That
act provided for the organization of a court, or land commis-
sion, to try these claims ; declared every grant of land in Cali-
fornia to be legally void, though it might be equitably good ;
and provided that every equitably good claim should be lost
to the owner, unless he should sue the United States in that
court, and gain the suit there or on appeal ; and that there
should be an appeal to the United States District Court, and
thence to the United States Supreme Court. In all these
courts the claimant was to be opposed — that is, persecuted —
by a law agent appointed by the United States, with instruc-
tions to contest every claim to the utmost. The land com-
mission organized in San Francisco, on the first of January,
1852, and continued its sessions until the third of March, 1855,
when it expired by limitation. It had received eight hundred
and thirteen petitions. The owner of fand, under grant from
Mexico, was compelled to petition the government of the
United States for the privilege of keeping it. Of these eight
hundred and thirteen petitions, some were for lands which
had never been occupied ; in some cases there were two or
three petitions from different persons, claiming the same piece
of land under the same original grant. In some cases the
original grantee had sold out a large ranch to a number of
Americans, each of whom presented a petition for his piece ;
and, in perhaps twenty-five or thirty cases, the title papers
were forged ; leaving about six hundred original ranches, which
had been held under indubitably genuine written title* and no-
torious occupation.

Thus there were eight hundred and thirteen important law-
suits, involving the titles to ten million acres, — nearly all the
private lands in the state, — to be tried in one court. This tri-
bunal had three judges, — good lawyers, and industrious, honest
men. No serious complaint has ever been made against any
of them. They did what they could. When, at the end ol"
three years, the time came for them to close their court, they

MEXICAN GRANTS. 457

had dispatched all the cases. The trials had been fair, the
hearings deliberate and public, the opposition on the part of
the United States law agents stubborn. All the law agents
were competent men, and no one can justly complain that the
interests of the United States were neglected by any one of
them. The claimants had been kept in litigation three years ;
they had been compelled to bring numerous witnesses from
remote parts of the state, to pay for interpreters, to fee law-
yers, at rates unheard of before in the world, to dance atten-
dance upon the court, and to leave their homes and their busi-
ness for months at a time ; but this was not enough. In eveiy
case where the land commission confirmed a claim, the United
States government ordered an appeal to be taken to the
United States District Court. This was nominally an appeal,
but really an order for a new trial. Every question of fact
and law was opened anew. Witnesses were again examined ;
the whole case was tried as in the original proceeding. There
are two United States District Courts ; one for the northern
and another for the southern part of the state ; each being the
appellate court for all the lauds within its own jurisdiction.
Each of these two courts had other business besides land
suits ; and in the northern district, where the most important
cases lay, the court had almost as much admiralty business
alone as the judges of federal districts in the Atlantic states
ha\*e to manage. Both these Californian district judges were
good men. In these courts, too, the " interests of the United
States" were protected by able and industrious lawyers, in-
structed to oppose the Mexican land claims to the utmost.
Seven years have elapsed since the fii"st case was appeale.
from the land commission, and there are now a number of
cases still undecided in the District Courts : but in most of
the cases decided, the claims of the Mexican grant-holders
were confirmed a second time. The federal government, still
not satisfied to let the claimants enter their lands, ordered ap-
peals to the United States Supreme Court at Washington.
This order was not accompanied by any proper provision to
20

458 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA.

pay the clerks for making out the transcripts ; and as the ap-
peal could never be decided, and the claimant never get a per-
fect title, until the transcript should be ^ent up, and as the
transcript never could go up until the clerk had received his
fees, so the claimant was often compelled to j^ay the expenses
of the transcript, amounting in some cases to several hundred
dollars. This was an expense which custom and law impose
upon the appellant, but in these cases the United States made
no provision for re^^aying the respondent, although he was
compelled to advance the money. After the appeals had been
taken to the court of the last resort, the United States Attor-
ney-General ordered the appeals to be dismissed in about four
hundred cases, and in about forty cases the United States
Supreme Court have given judgment in favor of the claim-
ants, making four hundred and forty claims finally confirmed.
About one hundred and forty claims have been abandoned
by the claimants or finally rejected by the courts, and this
estimate would leave two hundred and thirty cases still be-
fore the courts for adjudication upon their merits.

I have said that four hundred and forty cases have been finally
confirmed, but final confirmation is not equivalent to final settle-
ment. Up to 1859, it was supposed that when judgment
on appeal had been rendered in private land claim, by the
United States Supreme Court, in favor of the claimant, the liti-
gation between him and the federal government, so far as
that title was concerned, was at an end. But a new law was
passed, requiring the surveys of the Californian ranches to be
subject to review by the United States DistrictCourts. The
exact boundaries of the claim could only be determined by a
survey ; and in large ranches, where the boundaries were not
clearlv defined, the location of the ranch became a matter of
very great importance, often involving values of tens and even
hundreds' of thousands of dollars.

The consequence of the new law was, that four hundred
and twenty out of the four hundred and forty finally con-
firmed claims, are thrown into the courts again ; their settle-

MEXIC AX GR A NTS. 459

ment is postponed for an indefinite time ; the owners are
burdened with new litigation, with indefinite deferment of
their hopes, with increased costs ; and the country is again
cheated out of quiet titles, permanent settlers, permanent im-
provements, and all those blessings of inestimable value which
come only w^ith numerous fixed and haj^py homes, and the
best regulated social order.

While the government has thus, during twelve years, not
simply refused to confirm the land-titles granted by Mexico,
but made bitter and unceasing war upon them, and compelled
the claimants to bear the expense of the warfare, these claim-
ants have had to sufter from the assaults of other and still
more dangerous and vexatious enemies — the squatters ; who,
while ostensibly left without countenance by the law, Avere
really often engaged in an offensive and defensive alliance
with the ofiicers of the government. The squatters took the
land* occupied it, drove away the owner's cattle, cut down
his -trees, fenced in his springs, paid him no rent, paid no
taxes, by their influence forced him to pay the taxes on the
land they were occupying, and assessed the taxes at most ex-
orbitant rates. This system was not rare, but frequent — it
was practised on not one, but a hundred ranches. And then,
with the monev derived from the land thus obtained, thev
paid lawyers to appear in the name of the United States,
contest the owner's title, and delay a decision ; and, after
decision, to get up a contest about the survey and delay a
settlement of the boundaries. I do not mean to say that every
Mexican claim is good, or every squatter wrong ; my purpose
in this article is only to fcomplain of the vast injustice done
to the owners of honest and legally valid claims, which are the
great majority of all presented to the c )u ts.

It is fourteen years since Americans became the rulers of
California, and land-titles are no nearer a settlement than they
should have been twelve years ago, if a proper system had been
adopted. The great question about the boundaries, which
should have been the main subject of action, is now just where

4C0 KESOUECES OF CALIFOTwXIA.

it was then. The claimants have sold two-fifths of their land
to pay the expenses of litigation — that is said to be a modest
estimate by those familiar with the subject — and they are not
yet done. They have been despoiled of two-fifths of their
land, deprived of the possession of a large portion of the re-
mainder, and prevented from selling it while they saw its
value, in many cases, decreasing steadily with the decay of
business consequent on the exhaustion of the richest placer
mines.

The injury done to the country by the delay in the settle-
ment of the land-titles is, to a considerable extent, irreparable.
That delay has caused us to lose, or has prevented our gain-
ing, a population of a million citizens, of the most valuable
class. Two hundred thousand men have left our state forever
— half of them because they could not get permanent homes
here — and they prevented as many more from coming, who
would have come if they could have had certain land-titles.
Not less than fiftv thousand men have left us because of the
unsteadiness of business and the lack of employment, caused
by want of unquestioned ownership of the soil. Thus I esti-
mate that the delay in settling our land-titles has cost us two
hundred and fifty thousand men, representing a total popula-
tion of one million persons. The golden flood, the grand
rush^of business, the unexampled prosperity which passed
over the state from 1849 to 1853, has passed away forever ; it
is too late to repair the damage ; fifty years of peace and
justice cannot place California where she now would have
been, had justice and sound policy been adopted twelve years
ago.

Thus I have explained the reasons which caused the deser-
tion of Cahfornia by many of the best men who have ever
visited her shore. Fortunately, every thing in California is
gradually becoming more stable ; titles in the agricultural dis-
tricts are gradually being settled ; and it is now almost estab-
lished beyond a doubt, that within a few years the federal
government must seU a considerable portion of the land in

ilEXICAN Gil ANTS. 461

the mining counties, at least those counties not occupied by
miners. The mining, the agriculture, the commerce, the
popuUition, and the wealth must continue to increase, and her
name shall be glorious in the records of industry and on the
pages of universal history.

APPENDIX.

THE PROPORTIOKS OF THE SEXES IN CALIFORKIA.

W IIITES.

COUNTIES.

Male. Female.

Alameda

Amador ....

Butte

Calaveras. . .

Colusa

Contra Costa,
Del Xorte. . . .
El Dorado . . .

Fresno

Humboldt. . . .
Ellamath . . . .
Los Angeles..

Mtiriposa

Marin

Mendoaino . . ,

Merced

Monterey. . . .
Kapa

Xevada

Placer

Plumas

Sacramento . . . .
Santa Barbara . .
San Bernardino.
Santa Clara. . . .

Santa Cruz

San Die2:o

San Francisco. . .
San Joaquin. . . .
San Luis Oljispo.

San Mateo

Shasta

Sierra

Siskiyou

Solano

Sonoma

Stanislaus

Sutter . . . .

Tehama

Trinity

Tulare

Tuolumne

Yolo

Yuba

5,4S9!
6.15l|
7^770;'

lO.OSS'
1^543 1
3.395
1^050

11,844
774
1.721
1,077|
5,712'
3,385 1
2,339
2,037
800
2.708
3,445

11,457
8.507
3,284

14,738
1,816
1,482
7,426
3,148
850

33,990
6,131
1,098
2,211
3,295
9,793
0,252
4,681
7,425
1,606
2,390
2,997
4,469
3,456

•12,575
3,196

10,255

Total 239,856

3,059
2.1011
1,907 j
2,458j
622
1,790

Total.

8.548
8.252
9,737
12,546
2,165
5.185

.Apjrrc-

gate pop-

lation.

8.927

10,930

12,106

16,299

2,274

5,328

291

I 1,341

1,993

3,671

1 15,515

20,562

225

999

4.605

777

2,498

2,694

143

1,220

1,803

3,509

9.221

11,333

918

• 4,303

6,243

758

3,097

3,3.34

868

2,905

3,967

314

1,114

1,141

1,597

4,305

4,739

2,003

5,448

5,521

2,681

14,138

16,446

2.312

10,819

13,270

567

" 3,851

4,363

6.954

21,692

24,142

1.362

3,178

3.543

1,022

2,504

5,551

4.399

11.825

11,912

1,764

4,912

4,914

399

1,249

4,324

21,636

55,626

56,802

3,178

9,309

9,435

672

1,770

1,782

935

3,146

3,214

1,023

4,318

4,360

1,537

11,330

11,387

1,306

7,558

7,629

2,446

7,127

7,169

4,357

11,782

11,867

594

2,200

2,245

970

3,360

3,390

1,005

4,002

4,044

639

5.108

5,125

1,159

4,615

4,638

3,488'

16,063

16,229

1,493

4,689

4,716

3,180

13,435

13,66«

98,149

338,005

379,994

APPENDIX. 463

Tlie preceding table showsthenuiuber of white males, white
females, white persons, and persons of all colors, in each county
of California, as reported by the United States census for 1860.

From this table, it appears that only 28 per cent., or about
one-fourth of the white inhabitants, are females. There may
be 100,000 white minors, 50,000 boys and 50,000 girls, in the
state. Subtract these figures from the totals of males and fe-
males, and w^e ascertain that there are 183,856 white men, and
48,149 white women, or 238,005 white adults of both sexes in
California. The white women number, then, only 20 per cent,
of the adult white population. There are four white men to
one white woman. If we subtract 48,149 from 183,856, we
ascertain that the white men have an excess of 135,707, as
compared with the white women. There are so many bache-
lors in the state — three white men out of four are unmarried.
These figures are full of significance. They tell much of the
social condition of California. They should serve as an adver-
tisement throughout the world, of the scarcity of, and demand
for women in California. All through the rich gold-producing
counties, four men out of five have no wives, and at least two
o!it of five would like to have wives, if they could get them.
These disconsolate bachelors are many of them poor, and un-
able to support famihes in luxury, but they might be good
husbands, and provide their wives with all the necessaries of
life. Let the old and young maids of Christendom take note
of this great fact; three-fifths of the adult white population
of California are men without wives.

This disproportion between the sexes is greatest in the min-
ing counties, and least in the agricultural districts. Santa
Barbara has 42 per cent, of females; San Bernardino 40 per
cent.; Los Angeles and San Francisco, each 38 per cent.; So-
noma and Santa Clara, each 36 per cent. ; Alameda and Santa
Cruz, each 35 per cent. ; Contra Costa and Solano, each 34 ;
Sacramento, 32 ; San Mateo, 29 ; Yuba, El Dorado, and Shasta,
each 23 ; Tuolumne and Mariposa, each 21 ; Butte, 19 ; Xevada
and Calaveras, eafh 18; Siskiyou, 17; Sierra, 13; Plumas

464 A P P E N D I X .

and Trinity, each 12, and Klamath 11. Only eleven white
females in Klamath county to eighty-nine white males ! If
we exclude the children, and count only the adults, the dispro-
portion between the sexes, in all these counties, is still greater.

EARTHQUAKES.

In the chapter on Climate, I have given a list of some of the
most notable earthquakes which have been felt in California
since the establishment of the missions. The following, how-
ev^er, were omitted inadvertently.

On the 11th Oct., 1800, six severe shocks were felt at San
Juan Bautista, and every house was shattered and rendered un-
inhabitable. The same earthquake w^as felt wdth much severity
at San Jose.

On the 21st June, 1808, twenty-one shocks were felt at San
Fi-ancisco, and the few houses then existing were seriously
injured.

THE END.

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