CALIFORNIA,
ROMANTIC AND BEAUTIFUL
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CALIFORNIA
ROMANTIC AND BEAUTIFUL
The History of its Old Missions and of its Indians ;
A Survey of its Climate, Topography, Deserts,
Mountains, Rivers, Valleys, Islands and Coast
Line; A Description of its Recreations and
Festivals ; A Review of its Industries ; An Ac-
count of its Influence upon Prophets, Poets,
Artists and Architects ; and some reference to
what it offers of delight to the Automobilist,
Traveller, Sportsman, Pleasure and Health Seeker
BY
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES
Author of
"Heroes of California," "The Grand Canyon of Arizona; How To
See It," " The Indians of the Painted Desert Region," " The Fran-
ciscan Missions of California," "The Wonders of the Colorado
Desert," "Traveler's Handbook to Southern California," etc.
With a map and seventy-two plates,
of which eight are in colour
THE PAGE COMPANY
BOSTON .^ MDCCCCXIV
Copyright, 1914, by
The Page Company
All rights reserved
First Impression, October, 19 14
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. 8IMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.
BY WAY OF FOREWORD
Romance and Beauty are words inseparably connected
witETCalifornia. It is impossible to dissever them. Many
years ago Mrs. Cyril Flower (nee Lady Constance Roths-
child) told me the following characteristic story of
j Joaquin Miller, the Poet of the Sierras. It was at the
time when Mrs. Langtry was in the height of her fame
and all London was anxious to meet her. The poet also
was very popular in England, and Mrs. Flower planned
a great reception at which these two were to meet as
the guests of honour. Her salon was one of the gath-
ering-places of the most brilliant men and women of
Europe and the taste and fashion of the country assem-
bled there. When Joaquin was personally notified by
Lady Constance that she desired his presence, he coolly
and nonchalantly asked her if he might appear dressed
in a California miner's costume. She freely gave her
gracious consent.
The night of the function the servitor at the door
was almost shocked into paralysis when Joaquin ap-
peared clothed in red shirt, blue overalls, and high-heeled
top-boots with his trousers legs thrust into them. He
also wore his high-crowned, broad-brimmed sombrero.
Haughtily he was bidden go to the back door. With
equanimity he bade the '* flunkey " tell Lady Constance
that " Joaquin Miller was at the door." This added to
the door-keeper's mental disturbance, especially when
2^525:^
vi By Way of Foreword
his lady came to welcome and greet the guest of honour
in person. Joaquin asked if Lady Constance had any
objection to his keeping his hat on, and on being assured
that there was no objection, he walked into the midst
of the gay throng in the most imperturbable fashion,
retired to a recessed window and picked up a book to
signify that he desired to be alone.
By and by Mrs. Langtry came, and, humouring Joa-
j quin's idiosyncrasy, the hostess took her to the poet
and made formal presentation of the one to the other.
When Mrs. Langtry extended her hand in greeting the
poet ignored it, and, raising both hands to his sombrero,
took it from his head with a swift movement, showering
her from head to foot with fragrant and beautiful rose
leaves, while he exclaimed : " The greeting of the miners
( of California, the land of beauty and romance, flowers
and song, to the Jersey Lily."
A poetic greeting and an individual one — character-
istic of California, in the simple, exuberant spontaneity
of the poet's action, disregarding all precedent, and in
its perfect appropriateness in spite of its originality.
Herein lies much of the charm of California itself. It.
is original, startling, very o'ften exuberant, but always
interesting and appropriate because sympathetic to every-
thing natural and human.
The very name California is redolent of romance.
Created, literally, for a romance, it has not only never
lost its original flavour, but has increased it as the years
have passed and it has come to designate a very material
country. When Ordonez de Montalvo, about the year
1 510, wrote his fiction, Sergas de Esplandian, and coined
the name California to designate an imaginary island
" on the right hand of the Indies, very near the Terres-
trial Paradise," which he peopled with black amazons,
By Way of Foreword vii
griffins and other strange creatures of his exuberant
fancy, his most extravagant dreams never conjured forth
such a land as Cahfornia has since become. No one
know^s what he meant by the name. From that day to
this more or less ingenious guesses have been made by
etymologists as to its origin. And what does it mat-
ter, anyhow ? We do know that the name was first used
by Preciado, who wrote the diary of the explorer, Ulloa,
to designate a locality first named Santa Cruz by Cortes,
in May, 1535. This was at the end of the peninsula of
Lower California. Ulloa sailed up the Mexican coast
as far as the flood waters caused by the Colorado River,
crossed over to the other side of the Gulf of California,
and sailed down the coast in 1539. It was in Preciado's
account of this trip that the name was first used geo-
graphically. Slowly it extended to the whole region of
the peninsula; finally to the country above, so that the
term was often used in the plural — Las Californias.
It was fitting that the name should have been born
in a romance, for ever since it has aroused romantic
thoughts in the minds of those who have heard it. To
Cabrillo belongs the honour of having first explored its
'magnificent coast line in 1542-3, though the name was
never used by him. In 1579 Sir Francis Drake, that gal-
lant freebooter of Queen Elizabeth, called it New Albion.
The captain of a Spanish galleon, Francisco Gali, sailing
from the Philippines, was carried by the Japanese current
to the neighbourhood of Cape Mendocino, in 1584, and
sailed southwards to Acapulco, and the pilot, Sebastian
Rodriguez de Cermenon, of another Philippine vessel,
struck the coast above Point Reyes in 1595. Then came
Vizcaino, the man who gave the names to the chief points
along the coast from San Diego up, which bay he en-
tered in November, 1603.
viii By Way of Foreword
From this time on, until the country was settled by
the Franciscan missionaries, one hundred and sixty years
later, the region, though well known, was associated wMth
mystery and romance. The whole world thought the
country an island and that a great strait, which was even
named — the Strait of Anian — existed from the Pa-
cific to the Atlantic. Many a daring explorer dreamed
of passing through this strait, and one mendacious sailor,
Maldonado, actually wrote a full account of his experi-
ences in going through from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
to be followed later by Juan de Fuca, who claimed to
have gone through the other way, while in 1708, some
English " humourist " published in the Monthly Mis-
cellany, London, what purported to be the letter of Ad-
miral Bartholomew de Fonte, describing his experiences
in search of this " strait " which he never found.
It is interesting also to note that Dean Swift, in his
world-famous satire, Gulliver's Travels, located the
strange country in which the adventurous hero had
many of his strangest and most marvellous experiences
in the land now known as California, or a little north
of it.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that the Cali-
fornia liar of to-day has an honoured ancestry. That
is, assuming that all ancestry is honourable so long as
it goes back far enough.
But with the advent of the expedition of Portola and
tlie Franciscans in 1769 Cal ifo rnia's real history of ro-
mance began. Serra and his self-sacrificing band of
Franciscans, Portola and his soldiers, wrested the land
from the imaginative romancers and began to write real
history, though more romantic and fascinating than the
created yarns of the past. In slower or swifter succes-
By Way of Foreword ix
sion came the hunt for the missing Bay of Monterey,
the unexpected and unreahzed discovery of the Bay of
San Francisco, the journey across the wild deserts of
Arizona and CaHfornia of Juan Bautista de Anza, the
building up of mission after mission, the martyrdom of
the good padre Jayme at San Diego, the establishment
of the first pueblos or towns, the coming of Russian,
English and French explorers and traders, the arrival
of trappers from across the plains, and the pastoral life
of the Spanish and Mexican Californians so graphically
described by Gertrude Atherton in her Splendid Idle
'Forties. Then came the sudden shock of American
invasion, the first and abortive raising of the Stars and
Stripes at Monterey, the lowering of them with an apol-
ogy to the Mexican government, the coming of Fremont,
the Bear flag revolution, Sutter, the re-raising of the
flag at Monterey, — this time for good and all, — the
disastrous fight of Kearny with the Californians at San
Pasqual, the signing of the treaty at Cahuenga, the quar-
rel between Kearny and Fremont, the establishment of
civil government, the incoming of the pioneers prior to
the discovery of gold, the horrors of the Donner Party's
experiences, the discovery of gold, the influx of the gold
pioneers, the wild romances of the mining camps, the.
dawning of the morning of California literature, the day
of the cowboy, the development of San Francisco, the
days of the Vigilantes, the discovery of the Comstock
mines in Nevada, the excitement of the Civil War, the
Pony Express, the Overland Stage, the building of the
Central Pacific Railway, the establishment of the Over-
land Monthly, the literary advent of Bret Harte, Mark
Twain, Joaquin Miller, Ambrose Bierce and others of
their school, the agricultural and horticultural develop-
ments, America's awakening to California's scenic and
By Way of Foreword
climatic allurements, the growth of modern irrigation,
the reclamation of the desert, the discovery of oil, the
earthquake of 1906, the building of the Panama-Pacific
and Panama-California Expositions, the phenomenal
growth of the country north and south alike, — who shall
deny the romance of the land?
And its beauty is equally insistent. Sir Francis Drake
thought he was complimenting it to call it New Albion,
because it reminded him of the " tight little island " he •
loved so well, but when French and Russian, English and
American began to describe it, — even though they knew
little or nothing of it except its coast and bay regions,
— the world began to think it must possess a beauty all
its own. But it was not until after Fremont had pub-(
lished his reports, and trappers had returned with glow-
ing accounts of its climate, and gold miners and those
writers who accompanied them, began to tell its Sierran
glories, and finally its own discoverers who found its *
Yosemites, its Sierran peaks, its Islands of Summer, its
foothills, its Big Trees, its redwood forests, its floral
beauties, — in a word its climatic and scenic perfections
in that it was a cosmos within itself, — it was not until
these began to sing its praises that the world really awoke
to what California meant.
There are doubtless other lands as beautiful part of
the time, that contain scenery equally grand, alluring,
strange, mysterious and attractive, that have wonderful
climates, but I know of none that are so diversified in
their beauty and that have so much of it, and where cli-
mate so fully yields of its multiform delights.
For the romance of its climatic cosmos is not one
whit behind that of its topography. Do you want fierce,
scorching, dry heat? Death Valley, the Mohave and
^ Colorado deserts can satisfy you. Do you want it to
By Way of Foreword xi
be moist, foggy, and warm? The summers in the for-
ests and near the ocean in the northwestern counties of
the State have many days Hke this. Is it the bracing
cold of glaciers and snow-fields you long for? In the
high Sierras you may toboggan on glaciers, ride after
horses wearing snow-shoes over ravines two hundred
feet deep in snow, and see railway snow-ploughs pushed
through snow-drifts thirty, forty or more feet deep, by
eight, ten, a dozen or more of the Mogul engines espe-
cially constructed for such powerful strains. Is it vari-
ety you want? You may tumble in the snow, toboggan
and sleigh-ride on Mount Lowe, on New Year's Day,
within an hour stand and see a Carnival of Flowers and j
a Tournament of Roses, where millions of flowers, of in-
finite variety, are used to decorate floats, carriages, tally-
hos, automobiles, etc., pass by in the streets of Pasadena, i
and in another hour be sporting in the not-too-cold waters
of the semi-tropical Pacific, enjoying the surf of Re-
dondo, the roll of Long Beach, or the placid waters of
Santa Monica.
While the people of the San Joaquin Valley are cele-
brating with flowers and song, fruit and wine, those of
the high Sierras are enjoying high carnival with ice
palaces, toboggan chutes with real ice, and snow-shoe
contests. California has more, and more varied, festi-
vals that spring naturally out of her climatic gifts than
any other country in the w^orld, and yet the spirit of
the American people is not naturally a festive and gay
spirit like that of the French, Spanish and Italian.
One of the greatest romances of California is found
in the way the changes have been rung upon her prod-
ucts. In the days " before the gringo came " her vast \
areas were occupied by horses and cattle. The former
were for use and pleasure, the latter kept mainly for
xii By Way of Foreword
their hides and tallow. It will be recalled that the vessel
on which Dana made his memorable Two Years Before
the Mast trip, was a New England trader for hides.
The first Americans to intrude into this land of pas-
toral quietude, of manyana, of poco-tiempo,^ of vast
estates, were the trappers, soon followed by the path-
finder, Fremont. These returned to the United States
with such glowing accounts of the ideal home-land by
the sun-down sea, that there and then began the tide
of travel of home-seekers that has gone on increasing
as the years have rolled by. This is a most important
fact that is too often overlooked — that while it was
still a Mexican province California began to call to the
I home-seekers. The Donner Party were home-seekers,
• for gold was not discovered until long after they had
passed their Garden of Gethsemane on the frozen snow-
clad slopes of the Eastern Sierras.
Then came the Military invasion that followed the
outbreak of the Mexican war, and Polk had his heart's
desire in the seizure of California.
Almost immediately followed the discovery of gold,
when every other object and subject was driven out of
the minds of men, and gold, gold, gold, GOLD, was
their sole cry.
But even this, in time, became an old story, and in
the process a few Americans took a leaf of wisdom from
the books of the Mexicans, though they read into it far
more golden profit than the natives had ever dreamed
of. They filled the rich valleys with herds of cattle,
which they fattened as rapidly as they could and then
drove to the mines to exchange for the dust and nuggets
the del vers into the earth had wrested from the virgin
soil.
^Manyana, to-morrow; poco-tiempo, in a liUle while.
By Way of Foreword xiii
Almost immediately another change came. Wheat ]
became king. The Sacramento and the San Joaquin
Valleys were sowed to wheat and developed into such
vast wheat-fields as the world had never before dreamed
of. Elsewhere I have quoted Frank Norris's vivid pic- /
tures of this great industry.
Then came the spread of irrigation. Wheat was de-
throned, and the new king became Water. Irrigation
speedily grew to be the watchword and oranges, lemons,
grapefruit, grapes, olives, almonds, walnuts, prunes,
peaches, apricots, figs, apples, pears and a score and one
fruits sprang into importance — lOO carloads this year,
500 the next, 1,500 the third, 5,000 the fourth and so
on, until California fruits and vegetables, fresh, dried,
and canned, entered all the markets of the civilized world.
Canneries sprang up everywhere, and it was the Cali-
fornia canneries that tangled up the Englishman. Some
wit said to him, pointing to the thousands of sealed cans
of fruit in one of the factories : " You see, we eat all
we can, and we can all we can't." When he returned
to his hotel he could not refrain from telling his wife
and friends the clever saying of his California guide :
" You know, he's an awfully clevah chap. Pointing to
the tins of fruit he said, ' We eat all we can, and v/e
tin all the rest.' " His friends are still wondering where
the laugh comes in. The Californians, however, know
that it is " canned."
A California governor in the early '6o's introduced
alfalfa, and ever since then it has been growing in im-
portance as a feed crop, and now it is no exaggeration
to say that millions of tons are raised in California and
fed to dairy cows, to stock for the meat market, and
to horses.
Now dates and cotton are springing into importance.
xiv By Way of Foreword
with Berniuda onions, sweet potatoes, celery and aspar-
agus. Cantaloupes, water-melons and catawbas are being
grown by the thousands of acres, and the two former
shipped by the thousands of carloads, and new fruits
and vegetables are being sought for in all parts of the
world, acclimated and made into profitable crops. In
addition Luther Burbank is mastering the natural laws
of plant selection, so that he is improving the quality
of fruits, vegetables and flowers to such an extent that
to the world at large his results savour of wizardry.
Women, too, as Theodosia B. Shepard at Ventura, and
Kate Sessions at San Diego, with others equally apt and
skilled in the north, are doing the same thing with flow-
ers and rare desert plants, and so the good, delightful
and profitable work goes on.
Granted that there is much commercialism in all these
things, is there no romance also? He who sees in De
Lesseps's achievement of the Suez Canal, and our own
Goethals's triumph at Panama, nothing but triumphant
commercialism is to be pitied for, though at the same
time educated out of, his narrow and limited vision.
In its population, also, California is romantic in the
extreme. We hear of cities that are more or less cos-
mopolitan — London, Paris, New York, New Orleans,
San Francisco — but here a whole State is cosmopolitan,
and in a far broader sense than the cities named. For
in California peoples from every quarter of the earth
have come — not as visitors — but to make their homes.
The cold-blooded Yankee, the warm and impulsive South-
erner, the calculating mid-westerner of our own United
States, the Norwegian, Swede, Dane, Finn and Pole
from the North, meet the Italian, Portuguese, Spaniard
and Greek of the South, of Europe, and here are Chinese,
Japanese, Korean and Hindoo, making, with the orig-
By Way of Foreword xv
inal aborigine and the later Spanish and Mexican, a <■
heterogeneous population not found elsewhere in the
world of men.
One singular fact obtrudes itself upon my thoughts
here, viz., that in spite of their keen desire to add to the
desirable populaition of the State — especially in the
agricultural sections — the intelligent business men of
California, the State officials, the railv/ay managers, the
real estate promoters, the colonizers, have never engaged
in any sensible, far-reaching, rational scheme for the
capturing for the State of these desirable elements. Fed-
eral reports show that there went from the United States
into Canada the following immigrants in the years
named, w^ith wealth per capita as indicated :
Year
Number of
Wealth per
Total value in
immigrants
capita
effects and cash
1906
63,782
$ 809
$ 51,599,638
1907
56,687
885
50,167,995
1908
57,124
1,125
65,806,848
1909
90,996
811
73,797,756
1910
124,602
1,061
132,202,722
1911
131,114
1,539
201,784,446
A total for six years of 524,305 immigrants lost to the
United States, taking Avith them a per capita average
wealth of $1,097, totalling in this period the enomious
sum of $575,359,405, or over hcdf a billion dollars.
It is true that California has spent much money in
advertising, but it has not been by the State, nor on a
large and intelligent scale. Surely the time is approach-
ing when a systematized effort will be made to reach
every farming community in the land that may have
families to spare — aye, and then let us reach over for
the same class from Europe.
XVI
By Way of Foreword
For California needs such accessions. Even to equal
the population of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ver-
mont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, whose combined areas
total 149,945 square miles, compared with California's
158,360 square miles, California must multiply her pres-
ent population thirteen times.
The British Isles, with an area of 121,377 square
miles, supports a population of 45,008,421.^ In other
words, with 37,000 acres less of land it supports over
eighteen times the population.
To the blase traveller of Europe and even of our own
Eastern States, one of the striking things about Cali-
fornia — town and country alike — is its newness.
There is nothing ancient. Were it not for the moun-
tains and the beach, the scarred foothills, the islands,
and the ancient trees in the forests of sequoia one might
feel that he must be careful not to touch anything or the
wet varnish — not yet dried - — would stick to his fin-
gers. Even the old Spanish towns — San Diego, Los
Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Santa Barbara —
were founded less than a century and a half ago; and
the earliest of the American towns, Stockton, Marysville,
Oakland, Jamestown, Sonora, date no further back than
1849 ^"d 1850, or thereabouts. But every one of these
older towns of the State is now in an almost feverish
condition of youthful growth. San Diego has sprung
from about 35,000 population less than four years ago
to over 100,000 to-day, and by the time these written
words are in type the statistics will be out of date and
need to be revised. So with Oakland and Los Angeles,
Santa Barbara, San Jose and the rest. " Change," but
certainly not " decay." all around we see, the sun smiles
' OflScial Statistics of igog.
By Way of Foreword xvii
stimulatingly, God's in his heaven, so most Californians
feel '' all's right with the world."
It will be noticed that I have quoted a good deal of
poetry. I would also have it noticed that it is good
poetry. Furthermore that it is all by California poets.
Herein is a marvellous tribute to California. The
world loves to gaze upon the pictures of Beatrice be-
cause she inspired much of Dante's sublimest verse. So
with Elizabeth Barrett, and scores of others that may
be named. Italy and Switzerland have inspired their «
great poets, hence the world flocks to see them. Cali-
fornia, though new, is not one whit behind these in the /
power of her inspiration. Her singers have been more
natural, more exuberant, less restrained and academic
than those of any land yet known to history, and they
have sung a larger truth into the inner consciousness of
the thoughtful world, in that they have set a new stand-
ard, viz., that pure naturalness is to be preferred to
conventional artificiality, that spontaneous expression is
ever superior and more to be desired than laboured and
studied formal periods.
There is one thing that no reader of these verses or
prose poems can ever be in doubt about. That is the deep
and genuine love the writers have borne to the land
of their song^s. Indeed I venture the assertion that
there is one way, and one way only, to know and under-
stand California. That is the way of love. One hour
of love will reveal more, grasp more, comprehend more
than a year of critical study. Hence to those who come
to California for the first time " Yield yourself to love,"
I would say. Then understanding and knowledge will
flow in like a great on-moving river. If you take the
critical attitude — which in nine cases out of ten is the
ignorant attitude — the antagonism set up renders sym-
xviii By Way of Foreword
patlietic understanding impossible. Start out with the
desire to know and love it all. Does it rain? Let it
rain. Are you crossing the desert? So be it, you wel-
come the desert and open your heart and mind fully to
all its impressions, without prejudice or assumption that
you need " see nothing further to know you don't like
it." The mediocre commonplaces that everybody sees
and goes into raptures over — the flowers, the orange
groves, the far-away snow-clad mountains, the revela-
tions of the glass-bottomed boats, the sunrises and sun-
sets, the fine homes — what are these that you should
judge a country by them alone? Every mental baby
accepts their charm, yields to their seductions, acknowl-
edges their power.
Go further! Seek more! Demand more. Get into
the very heart of the country. Understand its genius,
grasp its spirit, comprehend its universality and cosmo-
politanism, survey its all-embracing life, feel its free-
dom, revel in its indifference to precedent, absorb its
individuality, bask in its sturdiness. turn your eyes to
its manifold facets, drink from its endless variety of
life-giving streams, yield yourself to the abandon of
its healthful naturalism, — in other words let the exu-
berant flood of spontaneous life flow through you, and
thus you will speedily know the real California, the nat-
ural home of beauty, rcwnance, and abundant life.
It is this yielding, this living in a lovingly receptive
condition that has brought into existence what every
stranger to the State discovers the day of his arrival.
This is the fact that every Californian is a " booster."
I do not like the v/ord booster, but the idea is indis-
putable. Why is it? Is every man a liar when he
boasts about California? Tliat were indeed a sad low-
ering of manhood's standards.
By Way of Foreword xix
No ! Every man shouts aloud, sounds the loud tim-
brel for the Golden State, because he believes, he feels,
he realizes, he knows that what he says, in the great
broad view of things, is true. California's atmosphere
is balmy, its valleys and foothills arc health-giving, its
fields are marvellously fertile, its climate is incompara-
ble, its opportunities are endless, its successes are won-
derful, its triumphs are great, its possibilities are glori-
ously alluring. There is foothold for ten millions more,
who may come and enjoy all it has to give, and steps
up which they may, each and every one, climb to higher,
bigger, better, grander, nobler things. Then why
shouldn't those who have climbed, or who are climbing,
give encouragement to others? This is so preeminently
the California attitude that it is worthy of note as an-
other of the romantic facts which cannot be ignored.
The State is a large one. Its area is vast. Even the
Britisher will concede that when he realizes that it is ,
much larger than the whole of England, Scotland, Ire-
land and Wales. Our Eastern brothers scarcely realize 4 J/"'
that it is larger than all New England, New York and ;
Pennsylvania combined. Hence it must not be thought
that in this one small volume I have attempted ade-
quately to describe it. My highest expectation is that
in these pages I have given a fuller and more compre-
hensive view than most people, even Californians, have
yet taken. How far I have succeeded, and to what
extent I have interpreted the spirit of California and
its allurements my readers must detennine.
Pasadena, June i, 19 14.
lu....',
i- ' ' ■•
,
."^*
■>
- .'•'.^»'. ^
. -y • '
CONTENTS
By Way of Foreword v
I. Glimpses of the Land i
II. California's Romance and Beauty . . 20
III. Under the Tread of Indian Feet . . 28
IV. Franciscan Missions of California . . 38
V. California, the Land of Prophecy . . 64
VI. On the Heights .76
VII. On Mountain Trails 105
VIII. The California Coast 120
IX. The Channel Islands 145
— ^^ X. California's Climate 163
— • XL In and Around the Golden Gate . . . 171
XII. From the State Capital at Sacramento to
Mt. Shasta i83
XIII. From Sacramento to Kern through the San
Joaquin Valley 204
XIV. The Yosemite Valley 218
XV. The Lake Tahoe Region 235
XVI. Southern California 248
XVII. In and Around Los Angeles . . .261
XVIII. The Southwestern Corner of the United
States 275
XIX. The California Deserts and Their Recla-
mation, WITH Especial Reference to Im-
perial, COACHELLA AND AnTELOPE VaLLEYS 294
XX. In the Smaller Valleys of the North and
V South 315
\.XXI. The Forests of Californla .... 327
XXll
Contents
CHAPTER
- XXII. The Flowers of California
' XXIII. California's Universities, Colleges and
Observatories
xxiv. automobiling in california ....
XXV. The Festival Spirit in California .
XXVI. The Influence of California upon Lit-
erature
XXVII. California's Influence upon Art
XXVIII. California's Domestic Architecture
XXIX. The Journey to California ....
Bibliography
Index
333
349
359
373
380
393
400
406
413
417
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Island
Califor
El Capitan, Yosemite Valley {In full colour). (See
page 226) Frontispiece
MAP OF CALIFORNIA
A Flock of Sheep
A Beautiful Home, Santa Barbara
The Training Ship, " Independence," Mare
The Sacramento River, Red Bluff
The Bay, Monterey
In the Residence Section, Oakland
" Winter's Sunshine Crown in Southern
NiA " {In full colour)
The San Joaquin River ....
The Site of the Junipero Oak Mission
The Chimes, San Gabriel Mission
" Man's hand guiding the driving plough '
An Orange Orchard
Mt. St. Helena
Lake Spaulding
The American River
Along Glacier Trail
Mt. Wilson
MossBRAE Falls, Shasta Springs
Benicia
An Old Adobe House, SOxVoma
Point Concepcion Lighthouse .
Yellow - tail Salmon and Black Sea - bass
Santa Catalina
A Glass - bottomed Boat
I
2
4
8
12
15
18
25
33
SO
60
67
71
^Z
95
103
108
III
IIS
122
128
13s
141
147
149
xxiv List of Illustrations
PAGE
Landing a Swordfish, Catalina 152
Chariot Race, Tournament of Roses, Pasadena {In
full colour) 164
Wine Press Statue, Golden Gate Park . . 179
The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco .... 182
Lake Merritt, Oakland 184
House - boats, Alameda 186
The Capital, Sacramento 188
Sutter's Fort 190
A^'GoLD Dredger 192
The Sacramento River 198
Castle Crags 201
Mt. Shasta, Looking up the Sacil-^mento Canyon . 203
A Harvester 206
Seedless Grapes 209
Entrance to Kearney Park 212
A Wheel Cart Picking up a Load of Logs . . 215
Curry's Camp 227
Lake Tahoe, from the Cave Rock Road (In full colour) 235
Mt. Tallac and Fallen Leaf Lake .... 244
The Court of the Birds, Glenwood Mission Inn
(In full colour) 253
The Chapel, Glenwood Mission Inn .... 258
Mahruos, the Arabian Stallion of the Santa Anita
Ranch {In full colour) 260
Almonds 265
Mt. Lowe Railway 272
A Home in Beautiful Pasadena 274
An Avenue of Palms 276
Aryan Memorial Temple and Raja - Yoga College,
International Theosophical Headquarters, Point
LoMA {In full colour) ....
Egyptian Corn
El Centro
An Irrigating Canal, Imperial Valley
Cutting Alfalfa .
291
296
303
305
309
List of Illustrations xxv
PAGE
A Hop Field 316
Shasta Springs, Shasta County 318
A Vineyard 320
Pebble Beach Lodge, on the " Seventeen Mile
Drive " 328
Cross - cutting a Redwood Tree 330
The Joseph Hooker Oak 332
Yucca Trees 342
Mechanics Building, University of California . 349
The Lick Observatory 355
The Sacramento Canyon 368
The First Theatre in California 370
The Raisin Festival, Fresno 376
A Placer Hydraulic Mine 381
Stevenson's Home, Monterey 398
Artistic Homes, Piedmont 403
The Grand Canyon {In full colour) .... 408
BtOL
CALIFORNIA,
ROMANTIC AND BEAUTIFUL
CHAPTER I
GLIMPSES OF THE LAND
For years I have been in the habit of saying that no
one person knoivs Cahfornia. It is too great, too vast,
too varied for any one man to do more than begin to
know it. Hence the title to this chapter. We may
only " glimpse " it. The traveller coming over its bor-
ders by way of the " Sunset Route " of the Southern
Pacific sees the Colorado River — its boundary-line sep-
arating it from Arizona — at Yuma, and then enters .
a barren land of sand hills, rugged mountains, colour-
ful and dream-like in the early morning and sunset
hours, but otherwise entirely strange, weird, desolate
and foreign to anything the Eastern or European eye
has before gazed upon. When he reaches the Salton
Sea he has a surprise. To find an inland ocean within
such an environment is a physiographic anomaly — he
cannot grasp it. But before he has overcome this as-
tonishment he finds himself passing through the Coa-
chella Valley, where the date-palm flourishes, and — if
he has travelled in the Orient — he looks for tents of
Arabs, camels, caravans and all the picturesque life of
1
CALIFORNIA,
ROMANTIC AND BEAUTIFUL
CHAPTER I
GLIMPSES OF THE LAND
For years I have been in the habit of saying- that no
one person knows Cahfornia. It is too great, too vast,
too varied for any one man to do more than begin to
know it. Hence the title to this chapter. We may
only " glimpse " it. The traveller coming over its bor-
ders by way of the " Sunset Route " of the Southern
Pacific sees the Colorado River — its boundary-line sep-
arating it from Arizona — at Yuma, and then enters ,
a barren land of sand hills, rugged mountains, colour-"
ful and dream-like in the early morning and sunset
hours, but otherwise entirely strange, weird, desolate
and foreign to anything the Eastern or European eye
has before gazed upon. When he reaches the Salton
Sea he has a surprise. To find an inland ocean within
such an environment is a physiographic anomaly — he
cannot grasp it. But before he has overcome this as-
tonishment he finds himself passing through the Coa-
chella Valley, where the date-palm flourishes, and — if
he has travelled in the Orient — he looks for tents of
Arabs, camels, caravans and all the picturesque life of
1
2 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Sahara, Egypt or the Persian Gulf. He sees the trans-
formation of the desert going on, more wonderful and
surprising to the intelligent mind than the marvels
achieved by rubbing the celebrated lamp of Aladdin.
Ere these wonders have fully " seeped in," he crosses
/ the San Gorgonio pass, between two majestic mountain
ranges. An hour ago he was below sea-level. Now, at
about 2,808 feet, the San Jacinto range towers up 10,805
feet to his left, w^hile the San Bernardino range, with
its snow-clad San Gorgonio peak, rises 11,725 feet into
the pure blue of the California sky. In less than an
hour he has descended on the other side of the pass
and is within what Lillian Whiting calls " the Land of
I Enchantment." For here are orange groves in full
bloom, together with green and ripe fruit upon the trees
at the same time. Snow-clad peaks greet the uplifted
eye in every direction, yet the atmosphere is warm and
summery. Everything is richly green and profusely
flowered ; the orchards are charming and redolent of
blossom, — pear, peach, apricot, almond, prune, fig,
nectarine, loquat, guava, lemon, olive, pomegranate and
every ordinary and rare fruit-bearing tree abounding.
'Miles of vineyard stretch their vivid green in the search-
ing sunlight, and thousands of acres of alfalfa account
for the immense herds of cattle that graze in fenced
fields, and the gigantic stacks of hay that abound. His
train dashes through large and prosperous-looking
towns; he reaches the metropolis of the southern por-
tion of the State, Los Angeles ; he sees its wide expanse
on the banks of an almost dry river, and listens with
incredulous amazement to stories of the fierce floods
that dashed through these now dry banks after the
heavy rains of 1889 and 1914. For a few days an
automobile takes him through the business, residence
Glimpses of the Land
and oil sections of Los Angeles, and he finds a mar-
vellous city, grown from a Mexican pueblo of early
California times. Thirty years ago it had a population
of but little more than twelve thousand and without a
single mile of paved street. Now it is a cosmopolitan
city of over half a million, wit)i nearly seven hundred
miles of paved, graded and gravelled streets.
lie is taken down to its beach towns on the shores
of the Sunset Sea. Rapidly, in turn, Santa Monica,
Ocean Park, Venice, Manhattan, Playa del Rey, Her-
mosa, Redondo, Cliffton, San Pedro, Wilmington, Long
Beach, Alamitos, Huntington, Balboa, Newport and
Laguna are revealed to him, with a score of smaller and
newer beach settlements springing up between them.
Then, resuming his ride on the " Road of the Thou-
sand Wonders," he passes through the San Fernando
Valley, catches a glimpse of new towns that have sprung
up over-night by magic at the promise of the water
being brought over the Sierra Nevadas from Owen's
River to Los Angeles, a distance of 226 miles, at a
cost to that city of twenty-four millions of dollars.
Through the Santa Susanna tunnels he is carried out
into the sugar-beet fields of Oxnard and the bean fields
of San Buena Ventura, where millions of pounds of
these useful and nutritious legumes are grown. Cali-
fornia, in this region, does more to foster the famous
Boston baked bean habit than does the City of Culture
itself. Up to the right is pointed out the mountains
that nestle over the world-famed Ojai Valley — pro-
nounced O-hi — where perpetual summer reigns and the
skies are ever of cerulean blue. Tributary to the Ojai
are trout streams, where fishermen love to angle for
their favourite fish, and mineral springs, hot and cold,
of sulphur, iron, magnesia and other chemicals abound,
4 California, Romantic and Beautiful
which add to the fame of the region. The Matilija
Springs ought to be famous for their name if for noth-
ing else, for the tenderfoot invariably calls them " the
Mat-Ehjah," while the sophisticated and resident are
equally emphatic in declaring them to be " Ma-til-a-
haw."
Along the beach fine ocean views may be obtained,
with clear outlines on good days of Santa Catalina, San
Clemente and the other Channel Islands, twenty miles
out at sea.
Nearing Santa Barbara — like San Buena Ventura
an old Franciscan mission town — Carpenteria is passed,
where oil derricks resting on ocean piers are pumping
up their precious liquid from under the surf and the
bounding billow. Montecito, one of the flower-embow-
ered spots of the world, is on the outskirts, and the
Potter Hotel on the left informs us that we are within
the Mission City's limits. The mountains that shelter
this favoured spot on the north and east are the Santa
Ines range, over w^hich Fremont marched one awful
• Christmas Day in a cold rain-storm, " which swept the
rocky face of the precipitous mountain down which
we descended to the plain. All traces of trails were
washed away by the deluge of water, and pack-animals
slid over the rocks and fell down the precipices, blinded
by the driving rain. In the descent over a hundred
horses were lost." Yet the climate of the city itself
is reckoned by experts to be about as equable as that
of any spot on the known earth.
Awakened out of its long sleep by the incoming of
wealthy Americans appreciative of its soothing climatic
influences and its altogether charming environment,
Santa Barbara has become a modern city of rarely beau-
tiful and luxurious homes.
Glimpses of the Land
Racing north again the railroad passes through or
near lemon orchards, bean and beet fields, by rugged
seashore to another mission town, San Luis Obispo.
The two hills on the left are known as " the Bishop's
Peaks," and the old mission itself rests in the heart
of the town below. From here the climb is a rapid one
over the Santa Lucia range, with a descent, after pass-
ing through several tunnels, into the wide expanse of
the Salinas Valley. Then in rapid succession the trav-
eller passes Paso Robles with its celebrated Hot Springs
and j\Iud Baths, where Admiral Evans lost his rheuma-
tism, and the writer had the poison eliminated from his
body which had been injected therein by a vigorous
rattlesnake a year or so previously; the Franciscan mis-
sion of San Miguel; the new E. G. Lewis town and
settlement of Atascadero; one of the vast Miller and
Lux ranches ; the Gabilan Peak on the right, where
Fremont entrenched himself when General Castro, of
the Mexican province of California, bade him depart,
and then entrance is made through the great apple-
growing region of Watsonville, in the Pajaro — pro-
nounced Pah-hah-ro — Valley, to the world- famed Santa
Clara Valley. It was while in the enjoyment of this
valley that the widely-travelled Bayard Taylor gave
'Voice to his prophecy in regard to California. He wrote
as follows in his Nezv Pictures from California:
How shall I describe a landscape so unlike anything else in the world
— with a beauty so new and dazzling that all ordinary comparisons
are worthless? A valley ten miles wide, through the centre of which winds
the dry bed of a winter stream, whose course is marked with groups of giant
sycamores, their trunks gleaming like silver through masses of glossy foli-
age: over the level floor of this valley park-like groves of oaks, whose
mingled grace and majesty can only be given by the pencil. In the dis-
tance, redwoods rising like towers; westward, a mountain-chain, nearly
four thousand feet in height — showing, through the blue haze, dark-
6 California, Rom antic and Beautiful
green forests on a background of blazing gold: eastward, another mountain-
chain, full-lighted by the sun: overhead, finally, a sky whose blue lustre
seemed to fall, mellowed, through an intervening veil of luminous vapour.
No words can describe the fire and force of the colouring — the daring con-
trasts, which the difference of half a tint changed from discord into har-
mony. Here the great artist seems to have taken a new palette, and painted
his creation with hues unknown elsewhere.
Driving along through these enchanting scenes, I indulged in a day-
dream. It will not be long, I thought — I may live to see it before my
prime of life is over — until San Jose is but a five-days' journey from New
York. Cars which shall be, in fact, travelling-hotels, will speed on an
unbroken line from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Then, let me purchase a
few acres on the lowest slope of these mountains, overlooking the valley,
and with a distant gleam of the bay: let me build a cottage, embowered in
acacia and eucalyptus, and the tall spires of the Italian cypress: let me
leave home when the Christmas holidays are over, and enjoy the balmy
Januaries and Februaries, the heavenly Marches and Aprils of my remaining
j'ears here, returning only when May shall have brought beauty to the
Atlantic shore! There shall my roses outbloom those of Passtum: there
shall my nightingales sing, my orange-blossoms sweeten the air, my chil-
dren pla}', and my best poems be written!
f I had another and a grander dream. A hundred years had passed,,
and I saw the valley, not, as now, only partially tamed and revelling in the
wild magnificence of Nature, but from river-bed to mountain-summit
humming with human life. I saw the same oaks and sycamores, but
their shadows fell on mansions which were fair as temples, with their white
fronts and long colonnades: I saw gardens, refreshed by gleaming foun-
tains — statues peeping from the gloom of laurel bowers — palaces, built
to enshrine the new Art which will then have blossomed here — culture,
plenty, peace, happiness everj'where. I saw a more beautiful race in
possession of this paradise — a race in which the lost symmetry and grace
of the Greek was partially restored — the rough, harsh features of the
original type gone — milder manners, better-regulated impulses, and a
keener appreciation of all the arts which enrich and embellish life. Was
it only a dream?
I have lived to see a part of Bayard Taylor's dream
come trtie. The whole valley now is peopled. Every
acre is cultivated, even far up the hillsides. Magnificent
homes of wealthy, cultured and happy people are in evi-
dence everywhere. Express trains propelled by steam
and electricity, with powerful automobiles dashing rap-
/-'^-'.■^- nyji^. '-^i iiA /'-■vvVa-Jl-
8 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" And the love my heart would speak,
I will fold in the lily's rim.
That th' lips of the blossom, more pure and meek,
May ofler it up to Him.
" Then sing in the hedgerow green, O thrush,
O skylark, sing in the blue;
Sing loud, sing clear, that the King may hear,
And my soul shall sing with you! " ^
But such " glimpses " as we have taken of the Santa
Clara Valley occupy too much of our time. We must
hurry up the peninsula where Portola and Crespi walked
with weary feet and discouraged hearts after their fail-
ure to find the Bay of Monterey, and stumbled upon the
discovery of the far greater bay, that of San Francisco.
To the right is Palo Alto, on the left of wdiich is the
Leland Stanford, Jr., University, the most extensive
privately endowed institution for the education of youth
yet given to civilizati(~»n. On, on, the train conveys
us through the tunnels into the heart of San Francisco
itself.
Here, only a few glances at the Palace, St. Francis
and Fairmont Hotels, the Cliff House, the ferry-boats
shuttling to and fro over the^Bay, the Presidio, the Ex-
position Grounds, and the Golden Gate and we are off
— still on the line of the Thousand Wonders — to the
north. Crossing on one of the ferries to the Oakland
Mole we see how the Bay of San Francisco has yielded
to the demands oi trans-oceanic commerce, local home-
making and interior business. Towns, cities, settlements
have sprung up in e\ei-y direction. The harbour is fully
fortified by Uncle Sam near one of the Islands, railways
from the north, soulh. and east here transship their
1 Used by kind permission of Miss Coolbrith from her Songs of the Golden
Gate, Houghton, MifHin & Co., Boston, Mass.
Glimpses of the Land
idly over modern roads, take business men who reside
here to San Francisco to their offices each morning and
back again in the afternoon.
Each year for several years the world has been invited
to a festival held at Saratoga in the foothills, commem-
orative of the glory of the Blossom Time. Upwards
of two million prune and other fruit trees are in bloom
at the same time; myriads of bees hum their happiness,
and butterflies and humming-birds radiate their joy as
they flit and fly, rise and fall, dart and wing back and
forth in a perfect revelry of delight in this paradise of
blossom. Yielding to the same natural impulse for ex-
pression as given voice by Ina Coolbrith, one of Cali- i
fomia's sweetest poets, the Rev. E. S. Williams — com-
monly known as Sunshine Williams — inaugurated this i
Blossom Festival. It would seem an appropriate thing,
if, at each succeeding festival, they would sing this song
of Miss Coolbrith's :
" It's O my heart, my heart,
To be out in the son and sing —
To sing and shout in the fields about,
In the balm and the blossoming!
" Sing loud, O bird in the tree;
O bird, sing loud in the sky,
And honey-bees, blacken the clover -aIs —
There is none of you glad as I.
" The leaves laugh low in the wind,
Laugh low, with the wind at play;
And the odorous call of the flowers all
Entices my soul away!
" For O but the world is fair, is f lir —
And O but the world is sweet!
I will out in the gold of the blossoming mould,
And sit at the Master's feec-
\
A
THE TR.AIXIXG SHIP, " INDEPENDENCE," MARE ISLAND.
Glimpses of the Land 9
freight; toiling thousands cross to their hillside homes
after their day's work in the city; scores of houseboats
line the tiny bays; lively yachts spread their sails in the
morning and afternoon sun and dance on the crests of
the choppy waves, and the visitors to the summit of Mt.
Tamalpais, up the " crookedest railway " (with the
straightest management) in the world, look down upon
it all. while at the same time they can see out on the
Pacific the steamships coming across from China, Japan,
and Honolulu and aiming directly for the Golden Gate
near by.
On our right as we pass are Oakland, soon to be
famous as a seaport, and Berkeley, the seat of the State
University. Racing past powder-making plants, oil
refineries, and various other industrial locations, follow-
ing the windings of the inner bay. we come to the Straits
of Carquinez. Here above us cross the high-voltage
electric wires of the San Francisco Electric Companies,
which bring the power for turning every car-wheel,
every printing-press, every machine of every description,
and supplying the light for every electric bulb or arc
in the city, from the hydro-electric power plants in the
High Sierras two hundred miles or more away.
Our whole train, engine, baggage cars, Pullmans and
observation-car are taken on the ferry-boat Solauo, and
without consciousness of the fact on the part of many
of our fellow-passengers, we are transferred to the other
side. In a few minutes we are dashing ahead over fer-
tile, and in some places marshy land to Sacramento, the
capital of the State. This was the original site of Sut-
ter's Fort, built by that soldier of fortune who came to
California in 1839. Here he succeeded in obtaining a
land grant of eleven leagues in extent, built his fort,
and then, gaining control over Mexicans and Indians
10 California, Romantic and Beautiful
alike, began to live in medieval style almost as a feudal
lord. It was in constructing a race for a lumber-mill
that he was building for Sutter that Marshall discovered
the gold which led to the great rush to California in
1848-49. That rush, which, properly managed, should
have made Sutter rich, became his ruin. His vast herds
of stock and horses were stolen, and his grain and pas-
ture used by the newcomers as freely as they expected
to find the gold. His own army of men joined the gold
hunters and he was left alone. Rapidly the city of
Sacramento grew up on the banks of the river from
which it gained its name, and in an incredibly short
space of time poor Sutter was stranded, high and dry.
His fort is now one of the historic show-places of the
city.
Turning north at Davis, we follow the main course
of the Sacramento Valley, its fertile fields at last being
open for full development. For over half a century the
major portion of this rich country, as large as Massachu-
setts, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware combined,
was held by half a dozen men who refused to divide
their holdings, — and the State had not yet learned how
to compel them to do so, — preferring to keep them
as vast cattle ranches. Now, however, this condition
is ended. A new epoch of development has begun.
Great irrigation plans are under way or in active opera-
tion, and hundreds of thousands of acres are already
under the plough of the settler. Green fields of alfalfa
and grain are springing up, immense areas of orchard
are planted out and already bearing rich harvest, a
thousand homes dot the landscape, — the advance-guard
of ten thousand, and more, which will speedily arise.
The foothills are being converted into lemon and orange
orchards, for a thermal belt exists here, with practically
Glimpses of the Land ll
no frost, so that orange crops are surer, a month or two
earHer in the market, than in the celebrated orange-
growing sections of the southern portion of the State.
Marysville now comes into sight. It is one of the
oldest towns started in mining days, founded because
it was at the head of navigation on the Feather River, -
one of the richest of the gold-bearing streams up
which, via the Sacramento, boats could ply from San
Francisco. It was the natural city resort of the miners
of the Yuba, Feather and Sacramento Rivers region, and \
they flocked hither from every direction for their usual
weekly hilarity. Here the Yuba unites with the Feather,
and just across the latter river is Yuba City, the county
seat of Sutter County, Marysville being the county seat
of Yuba County. The two really form one city with
a combined population of about 15,000. Seven miles
of levees were constructed in 1875, at a cost of a million
dollars, to protect the growing cities from the river's
flood waters, and they have never had a break. To-day
the centre of an active agricultural and horticultural
region, the mines have sunk into secondary importance
and the cargoes now carried by the boats to and from
San Francisco and Sacramento are as largely outgoing
as they used to be ingoing. Few people realize, even
in California, that the Sacramento River with its tribu-
taries ranks fifth among the rivers of the United States
in the amount and value of the traffic it carries.
Sacramento Valley is so wide, varying from seven to
sixty miles, with the Coast Range on the west, and the
Sierras on the east, that it has a railway for each side,
together with several cross branches. Prosperous towns,
such as Wheatland, Oroville, Chico, Woodland, Yolo,
Arbuckle, \\'illiams, Colusa, Maxwell, Willows, Orland
and Corning, line these railways, each of which should
12 California, Romantic and Beautiful
have a page in this hook.. And I have not named them
all.
Red Blnff is further north, and receives its name
from the colour of its earthen banks on the Sacramento.
Live stock, agriculture and mining are all profitable in
Tehama County and in Shasta, which is the next county
we enter to the north. We are still keeping in touch
with the Sacramento River, and now, as we get higher,
we enter the Sacramento Canyon. The tiat country has
disappeared. Tree-clad or rocky slopes take its place
on either side. This is the summer playground for
a large portion of tlie population of the central part
of the State. The Mt. Shasta region is beginning to
come into its own. Fuji San in Japan is not more glori-
ous than this stupendously majestic monarch that guards
the nortlieni gateway of California. It rises supreme
over everything, over 14,000 feet into the upper heavens,
its lower slopes forest-clad, its canyons a deep, rich pur-
ple, and its upper half one mass of purest white.
Even yet we have not reached the northern confines
of the State. For half a day the train Avinds around,
seldom losing sight of Mt. Shasta, gaining new and
superb views at every turn. Castle Crags, Shasta
Springs, Dunsmuir are passed, and then Weed, in the
heart of the Shasta lumbering region, and from which
the railway sends out a branch to Klamath Lake. Then,
entering the canyons of the Siskiyou range, there is
more rugged and picturesque country of an elevated
character before Ashland, Oregon, is attained. Thus
we have made one survey extending from Yuma on the
southeast to the Oregon boundary on the north. A vast
territory, certainly, and one which taxes the imagination
at even a cursory glance.
Li spite of all we have travelled and seen we have
' •".''^ •■■■*.' -
THE SACRAMENTO RIVER, RED BLUFF.
Glimpses of the Land 13
scarcely begun to glimpse California. There is its coast
extending in a mathematically straight line over eight
hundred miles, and, if its winding bays are followed,
stretching out to a good two thousand miles. Beyond,
to the west, twenty or more miles out at sea, are the
Channel Islands, twenty in number, sufficient to make
a commonwealth of their own in a less favoured country.
We have scarcely glanced at its Coast Range, extending
practically from the extreme north to the Mexican line
and beyond, and the majestic Sierra Nevada — the back-
bone of the State — irregularly paralleling the Coast
Range, how they stand :
' Serene and satisfied ! Suprer^ ! As lone
As God, they loom like God's archangels churl'd
They look as cold as kings upon a throne;
A line of battle-tents in everlasting snow.
We have neither dived into its Yosemites and Hetch-
Hetchys, nor ridden on its Lake Tahoes and Donners,
hundreds of which, of smaller size, dot the gray Sierras
with sapphire and emerald. Its Mohave and Colorado
Deserts, and its Death Valley we have not explored,
nor its vast redv/ood forests of Mendocino and Hum-
boldt Counties, where are still enough standing timbers
to rebuild every house in the State of their sweet-smelling
and finely grained wood.
It might be well to take an imaginary aeroplane or
dirigible balloon trip to complete our " glimpse," and
see how naturally the State separates itself into nine
large divisions. These are not as regular as the sections
of an orange, but just as simple and natural.
Ascending over the San Francisco region we see that
the Bay strikes inward — eastward — as far as the
14 California, Romantic and Beautiful
junctiodi of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the
former flowing in from the north, the latter from the
south. Now draw an imaginary Hne over the Sierras
eastward. It will cross Calaveras and Alpine Counties
to the Nevada line. This separates the northern and
central parts of the State.
A similar imaginary line drawn from midway be-
tween the 34th and 35th parallels, just above Santa
Barbara, separates the central and southern parts of
the State.
The Coast Range and the Sierra Nevadas give the
two longitudinal lines, which separate the three divisions
lengthwise, hence we have nine large and distinct sec-
tions. Necessarily they overlap somewhat, and tlie lines
are rudely drawn. The Sacramento Valley forms the
great interior or valley section of the northern division,
and the San Joaquin Valley of the central division.
There is no great central valley in Southern California
to correspond with these, but beloAv Ventura to the east
lies the Santa Clara Valley, then further south the San
Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, over the Tehachipi
range, the Mohave Desert of which Antelope, Kramer
and the Mohave Valleys fonu a part. Then over the
San Gorgonio pass on the south, going to the southeast,
lie the Coachella and Imperial Valleys, both in the heart
of the great Colorado Desert.
All throughout the central and northern divisions of
the State there are smaller ranges of mountains or off-
shoots of the Coast and Sierra Nevada chains. Between
these lie innumerable smaller valleys, each with its own
distinguishing characteristics. On the eastern side of
the Sierras, also, this same condition exists.
On the coast one should not fail to note that at the
extreme south San Diego possesses a fine land-locked
Glimpses of the Land 15
harbour; further north Los Angeles is becoming pos-
sessed of a made harbour upon which the federal gov-
ernment has spent many millions. Monterey possesses
quite a bay in crescent shape, with Pacific Grove at the
southern point and Santa Cruz at the northern. Then,
practically midway of the State is the magnificent har-
bour of San Francisco, with an area of four hundred
and eighty square miles. Further north there is one
bay only of present commercial importance, that of
Humboldt. This is fourteen miles long and from half
a mile to four miles in width.
^Vhile the Coast Range offers no ever-virgin snow-
clad peaks for contemplation, there are several interest-
ing summits that attract attention, such, for instance,
as Mt. Hamilton, on M^iich the Lick Observatory is
located, Mt. Diablo, the meridian point for the central
part of the State, Mt. Tamalpais, up which runs the
crooked railway, and Mt. St. Helena, on the slopes of
which Robert Louis Stevenson spent his honeymoon and
wrote his Silverado Squatters.
In the Sierra Nevadas, on the other hand, there are
over a hundred peaks registering over ten thousand feet
high, while Mt. Shasta on the north, and Mt. Whitney
on the south reach respectively 14,511 and nearly 15,000
feet.
Indeed the highest point in the United States is ]Mt.
Whitney, and not far away are Death Valley and the
Salton Basin, the latter 264 feet below the level of the
■sea.
One more fact should distinctly be understood about
California before seeking to know more of it in detail.
It is that there are a thousand and one places of fasci-
nation, romance and beauty that, as yet, are unknown
except to a limited few. The newcomer to the State,
16 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the season's tourist or the winter resident does not even
dream of tlieir existence. In its wide and varied ex-
panse these places are hidden, lost, inaccessible. But
now, through the good roads movement, and by the
expansion of railway systems, many of these hidden
recesses are becoming accessible. It is to be hoped there
will always be some solitudes of mountain, forest, can-
yon, desert, seashore and island where only the few may
penetrate. But at the same time it is a good thing that
new places are being found which men and women of
the cities can reach to the enlargement of their hitherto
narrow, cribb'd, cabin'd, and confin'd existence.
Of such places the lava beds of Modoc County may
be cited as an example. These occupy what seem to
have been the bed of the western part of Rhett Lake.
Ten miles long and six miles wide, it is a region where
chaos and confusion reign supreme. There are few
spots in America like it. We hear of the Bad Lands of
Dakota and Montana, and there are the marvellously
extensive Lava Fields, on the Santa Fe railway, in the
neighbourhood of Grants, New Mexico, and Flagstaff,
Arizona, but here these lava fields are rude, rugged,
jagged masses of rock, square and angular, of every
conceivable size, and tossed hither and yonder in rudest
confusion. In between them are irregular spaces strewn
with cinders and disintegrated lava. Over all are tur-
rets, tinted with red and brown masses of moss and
lichen. Near by clear, blue Rhett Lake and towering
Mount Shasta give grace and dignity to the landscape,
but when one attempts to negotiate the lava fields he
had better take a guide along. For here and there as
he walks he may hear the rumble of subterranean pas-
sages. — natural caverns made by the confined gases
holding up the plastic lava while it was cooling.
Glimpses of the Land 17
I have explored many of the long tunnel-connected
caverns. In places one must crawl on hands and knees ;
again he comes into an expansive chamber twenty, forty
or more feet high. Some of the walls are rudely sculp-
tured by Nature's forces into the wildest, most fantastic,
bizarre forms, — forms and shapes full of suggestion to
the imaginative mind of artistic creations at the hands
of genius, unfamiliar yet dominating. Sometimes these
passages suddenly terminate wnth a blank wall; again
they lead the tremulous visitor to the edge of a black
abyss, into which a stone cast, " to see haw deep it is,"
echoes and reechoes on its descent wdthout giving any
evidence of its reaching bottom. In some of these
abysses great caves have been found, where, in the heat
of the hottest summer, snow and ice may be found in
large quantities.
Masses of obsidian, also, are found, in rude round,
oval and other shapes, varying in size from a pebble
to a foot-ball, and in one place I found a massive pillar
of this material — volcanic glass — vsath a variety of
colour shades as it glistened in the sun.
Now and again one passes an ordinary-looking mud-
hole, but experience has taught that these are bottom-
leSiS pits which it is well to avoid. In many places the
observant eye will note signs of former beach or shore
lines, and he wonders w'hen the lakes or seas that these
indicate receded, or when the uplift occurred which
raised the land away from these early and now, perhaps,
non-existent bodies of w^ater.
The present-day Modoc Indians tell us that this place
was the birthplace of the human race (the Modocs'
ancestors, of course), and on the nose of lava rocks
thrust into Lake Rhett, excavations w^ere made in 191 1-
1912, and it was asserted that bones of a giant race,
18 California, Romantic and Beautiful
men eight feet tall, were found surrounded by gravel
and cinders, together with monster pipes, made of clay,
and other relics.
This region is but one of many scores of practically
unknown but interesting spots.
In continuing our cursory survey of the State an-
other important thought should not be overlooked.
One is constantly finding himself asking the question, as
he looks over California's sunlit landscapes, sees these
newly planted fields, wa-tches these rapidly growing
towns : What of the future ? Here is a land in the
making. The builders are nozv at work. What kind
of foundations are they laying? What structures actu-
ally building? Europe is already built. We see Lon-
don and wonder — but it is a wonder at its historic
growth. Paris arouses the same feelings, and so with
Berlin, St. Petersburg and Constantinople. Their his-
tory is their greatest romance. But here are cities that
yesterday were not ; towns that have sprung up in a
day. Their romance is but beginning.
Thirty years ago Las Angeles was a slow, sleepy
Mexican town of ten thousand people — to-day it boasts
half a million. San Diego had, say, three thousand;
r'now it has over a hundred thousand. Oakland was a
' half-awake town in 1905. The San Francisco earthquake
and fire came, sending thousands of its homeless across
i the Bay. As if it had received a transfusion of blood
i into its veins Oakland leaped into a newness of life that
I has been startling. The city in less than five years was
I transformed. Everj'thing about it was vivified, quick-
ened, changed. New street-cars, new buildings, new
City Hall, new railway station, new hotels, new thea-
tres, new residence sections, and now they have seized
[ the great roaring waves of the Bay by the throat, com-
Glimpses of the Land 19
manded them " back," as Canute the Great never could
have done, have stolen from their domain thousands of
acres, and are preparing to make of these acres a water-
front, a harbour, that shall make of Oakland a seaport
second only to San Francisco.
Such, then, is California — not onlv the golden, but
the silvery, not only the land of sunshine and flowers
but of deep snows and arctic verdure, not only of fer-
tile valleys but of alkali flats, dry deserts and solemn
mountain peaks ; not only of semi-tropical sea but of
Alpine heights — a land of mighty area, of remarkable
contrasts, of irreconcilable variety, of unequalled diver-
sity, where every kind of scenery and every variety of
climate known elsewhere upon the face of the earth
may be found — in a word, an individual cosmos, a
world withih itself.
CHAPTER II
California's romance and beauty
In deciding upon those portions of California that
should be included in a general description of the State
the necessary limitations of space demanded careful
determination as to the style and kind of material that
should be admitted. It was speedily settled that only
the romantic and beautiful should find place. This
decision still left me to choose whether I should write
of the romantic and of the beautiful, as separate and
distinct qualifications, or only of those natural objects
that were hotli romantic and beautiful.
This distinction naturally led to a consideration of
these two prime elements, romance and beauty. What
constitutes the one and the other? Without entering
into any dictionary definitions, a few thoughts arose
which I desire to share.
Undoubtedly there is such a thing as romance with-
out beauty, but I much doubt whether there is ever
beauty without romance. Beauty in and by itself par-
takes of the essential character of romance — even if
it seems to be unromantic, in that very fact of non-
romance it is made romantic — the exquisite, delicate,
beautiful flower blushing unseen in desert wastes.
But even beauty is many-sided, and as hard to define
as life itself. What is beauty? He who seeks to answer
is doomed to disappointment. Your definition is only
the expression of what pleases, satisfies yon, what meets
20
California's Romance and Beauty 21
your conception of the aesthetic, what possesses those
objective elements that chami, attract, thrill you. Stand-
ards differ. The beauty of one race is the hideous of
another; the standard of excellence of one age is con-
demned as a deformity and abnormality of another;
the Grecian Venus is regarded as " big-waisted and
beefy " by the tight-corseted, hour-g"lass-shaped, fash-
ionable woman of the French salon or American draw-
ing-room of a generation ago.
And so with beauty as expressed in Nature. " Sce-
nery!!" said a woman from Nebraska, as expressed in /
Herbert Bashford's amusing poem:
They brag about their scenery! CalMorny! Humph! O dear!
Scenery! Well, just speaking plainlj^, I don't see no scenery here,
Nothin' but th' mount'in ranges rarin' up so tarnal high
Thet a buddy kint look nowheres 'cept the middle o' th' sky.
Mount'ins, everlastin' mount'ins, hills 'n' woods 'n' rocks 'n' snow,
Where th' scenery is they're braggin' on I'm th' one as wants t' know.
Let 'em stand in Lincoln County just aback our cowyard fence.
An' if they don't say there's scenery they hain't got a mite o' sense;
Why yuh kin look fur miles around yuh an' see nothin' but th' fiat
Level prairie in th' sunshine kivered in its grassy mat.
That is scenery — yuh kin look there jest as fur as yuh kin see
With no hills a interposin' er no rocks, er airy tree.
Oh, I've told my husband, Ephrum, that I'd gallavant no more
When ag'in I'd sot my foot on old Newbrasky's fertile shore.
Cicely's husband in Bret Harte's poem looked out over g
the desert. He saw nought but
Alkali, rock, and sage;
Sage-brush, rock, and alkali; ain't it a pretty page!
Sun in the east at mornin', sun in the west at night.
And the shadow of this yer station the on'y thing moves in sight.
His conception of the desert's beauty is expressed in
his sarcasm
Ain't it a pretty page!
22 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Yet I have stood side by side with poets, world-wide
travellers, and experts in scenery, who, when that same
sage-brush, sand and alkali was flooded with morning"
sunlight in the purple shades, or bathed in the roise-mist
and delicate tinted glories of a sunset, have stood breath-
less, as did the disciples on the Mount of Transfigura-
tion.
In one of my scrap-books of many years' gatherings,
I have a placard pulled down some tliirty years ago
from a tree in the Yosemite Valley, which bears the
following inscription :
WE ARE A BAND OF
DISAPPOINTED
PLEASURE SEEKERS
with over a dozen names signed thereto.
In this chasm of sublime majesty, with individual-
istic walls of towering grandeur, over which dash water-
falls of supernal beauty into a park radiant with the
glory of a thousand varieties of trees and shrubs, and
the floor of which blossoms to a million exquisite, dainty
and eye-satisfying " thoughts of God," these people had
the imbecile temerity to sign themselves fools who " hav-
ing eyes saw not " the glory of the Lord revealed in
Nature, to which the thousands of the earth's hungry
epicures in beauty have flocked for decades.
The eyes of the mind and soul must be attuned, or
certain essential elements of beauty which are too subtle
for the physical eye will be overlooked. Wordsworth's
Peter Bell saw the primrose, and it was nothing more
than a primrose to him, but to the poet it spoke volumes
of the hidden, secret and spiritual forces of the universe,
and the world's greatest artists have come to worship.
California's Romance and Beauty 23
Did you ever hear a soulful reader render poems with
which you deemed yourself perfectly familiar? Shel-
ley's Ode to a Skylark has become classic, because the
critics have dinned it into the ears of the students of
English poetry for many years that it is so. Yet one of
the sweetest poets of California read a prose-poem on the
Skylark by another California poet and failed to realize
there was anything special in it until a friend read it
aloud and dared to affirm that the prose poem fully
equalled, if not surpassed, the poetic fantasy of Shelley
that a world's judgment placed high upon the pinnacle
of classic eloquence.
A hundred thousand people have heard Coluuihus
— Joaquin Miller's great poem — read, and tears have
sprung to their eyes, the praises that voluntarily testi-
fied to the sublimity and heroic grandeur of the verses,
yet the major portion of those hearers have gone to
the reader and declared that they thought they knew
all there was in that poem, as they had been reading
or declaiming it for years.
A horde of tourists and sight-seers will gaze on a
landscape week after week, month after month, year
after year, and see " nothing much " in it. but a great
artist comes along with a penetrating eye for the inner-
ness of the divine in common things and paints a pic-
ture that thrills the world.
A million people had seen the French peasant, with
horny hands, dull and stolid face, bedaubed clothes,
heavy, mud-laden wooden sabots, rise and stand with
folded hands at the ringing of the Angelus, but it took
a Jean Franqois Millet to see the inherent sublimity,
glory, and tender, pathetic beauty of the picture, arul
he thrilled the heart of the world — the irreligious,
money-getting, sordid, sensual, as well as the tender.
24 California, Romantic and Beautiful
religious, aspirational — with his simple and truthful
presentment of what his spiritual eyes discerned.
Beauty is a comparative and personal thing. I see
no beauty in the powdered and rouged, specially mani-
cured, high-heeled, tight-skirted, fashionable female of
the species. All my natural instincts rebel against her
unnaturalness ; but a bunch of flowers, a child at its
mother's breast, a labourer's arm around his rosy-faced
wife, a cluster of fleecy clouds in the sky, a wild horse
in a field, a group of children at play, a frolicking calf,
a pine-tree covered with sun-lit dewdrops, the blue sky
glimpsed through a pepper-tree with lacy leaves and
red berries, an orange-grove in blossom, a sunset on
Mt. San Antonio or Mt. Shasta, or a sunrise on the
desert, — these and a thousand and one varied and sim-
ple things, pure, sweet, natural, bring tears to my eyes
because of their beauty.
Another thing must be considered. Some minds re-
quire time to see the beauty of unfamiliar objects.
Others grasp it immediately. I have heard thoughtful
and appreciative people speak most disparagingly of
the mountains of Southern California, their barrenness
being so unlike the well-loved green hills of Vermont
or the richly-clad mountains of New Hampshire and
Pennsylvania that they were, at first, unpleasing. But
in time the eye became accustomed to the strange, and
then the strange and unfamiliar beauties and glories
began to be apparent — the rich tones and colours, the
purple shadows, the luminous atmosphere that hovers
over them as a benediction.
There are not a few who, on earliest acquaintance,
find fault with the very strength, the ardour, the bril-
liancy of California's beauty. One has described this
as if the pleading cry of Goethe: " Light, more light! "
California's Romance and Beauty 25
had been answered by her in a world sense, and the
whole country flooded with a vivid, clear, intense,
striking light that reveals the sweetness, the glory, the
beauty of Nature such as is seldom seen in a less vividlv
lighted land. I never leave California for the East but
that I know as soon as I reach Eastern Kansas and
Illinois 1 shall lose this brilliant sunshine, the clear,
cloudless, turquoise sky, the pellucid atmosphere, the
illumination that enables one to see vast spaces, that
enlarges one's vision and gives a hold upon scenes a
hundred or more miles away. Instead there comes
veiled light, haze, mist, a grey sky, a circumscribed
landscape, a lusher and more luxurious greenery but
without the radiant and buoyant colouring. Beautiful
it is certainly, but with a softer, gentler beauty, a more
limited gamut and toned to a quieter key, which, at
first, is rather depressing.
Yet, strange to say, California possesses also these
softer and gentler moods. In the rainy season, in the
mists and fogs — high and low — - we have presented
to us often enough to enhance their charm by the force
of contrast, these very elements of quietude and subdued
light and colour that relieve what would otherwise be
likely to become strident, insistent, too dominant and,
indeed, overwhelming. Strangers often ask : But don't
you get tired of this eternal, continuous, monotonous
blue sky and brilliant sunshine? It is because it is not
eternal, monotonous, continuous that we do not get tired
of it. It is our normal atmospheric condition, because
we have more of it than of any other kind of weather,
yet it is not perpetual. It is broken up with mornings
of fog, high or low, moist or dry, and the winter's rains,
which give the greyness, the greenness, the vagueness
of the landscapes that remind us of the East, of Eng-
26 California, Romantic and Beautiful
land, of Germany and all the other softer-toned
lands.
Here, then, is heauty of both kinds, — restrained and
exuberant. It is so throughout all varieties. Nature
has been prodigal with California. And her romances
are as many and varied as her beauties. She has had
Romance enough in her history to generously supply a
dozen ordinary states, and yet leave enough for her-
self, and in Beauty it seems to me that the Almighty
Himself designed her many and varied expressions of
it for many purposes, not the least important of which
was that she should thrill, excite, arouse, stimulate,
quicken the aesthetic sense of the artists, poets, sculptors,
musicians, orators and writers of the world. As a 'grow-
ing maiden, with the proportions and beauty of a bud-
ding Venus, who unconsciously flaunts her physical at-
tractions in the eye of the passer-by, CaHfornia is the
unconscious braggart among the States. She shouts
of her Yosemite, Hetch-Hetchy, Kings and Ivern River
Canyons, her mountain summits, her glacier-made lakes,
her flowers, and all the rest, and she brags of her Big
Things — Big Trees, Big Mountains, Big Lakes, Big
Flowers, Big Fruits, Big Vegetables, Big Gold Discov-
eries, Big Railroads, Big Fish, and Fishermen — also
what most fishermen are — and the remarkable and
astounding fact is that almost every brag is strictly and
literally true. Yesterday a woman made an offer to
a festival committee in Los Angeles that she alone would
supply them with one million roses of one kind for dec-
orations and a hundred private gardens could duplicate
the offer. Miss Gordon-Cummings speaks with surprise
of seeing, in San Francisco, four thousand calla lilies
used in the Easter decorations of one church. I have
seen half a million used for that same purpose. In
California's Romance and Beauty 27
twent}- pages of her book one can find twenty exclama-
tion points about the bigness of things, — the oak-apples,
the flowers — "I had never dreamt of such wealth of
flowers," " California's lavish way of doing things," '' on
a magnified scale as compared with their garden c®us-
ins," " never before have I seen Tennyson's words so
well illustrated, for truly
You scarce could see the grass for flowers.' "
The Big Trees, in one of which the half dozen m-ules
and donkeys were stabled, to her wonder and amusement ;
El Capitan, which she says should " at least rank as
a field-marshal in the rock-world," and so on. And she
is but a type of all the observant travellers who have
recorded their impressions since California was discov-
ered.
Hence, while I do not profess to know what beauty
is to others, and it may be that my selections of subjects
for presentment in these pages may not meet with uni-
versal approval, I do know that California herself can
satisfy every ideal, conception or definition, if one but
visits her in a sincere and receptive condition.
CHAPTER III
UNDER THE TREAD OF INDIAN FEET
A VIRGIN California ! An uncharted land ! A new
land to explore!
What must Cabrillo have felt as, in his caravel, he
' first sighted the Coronado Islands, entered San Diego
Bay, glimpsed the Sierra Madre and snow-crowned San
Jacinto, San Gorgonio and San Bernardino, sailed
around San Clemente and Santa Catalina, rounded Point
Concepcion, and Point Lobos, caught the sweep of Mon-
terey Bay, heard the dash of the surf on the Farallones,
swept into the mists and fogs which hid the Golden
Gate for another two hundred years, and battled with
the down-sweeping northern storms that struck Cape
Mendocino?
What rivers had that fair-looking land? What flow-
ers and shrubs, what trees and fruits, what animals and
birds, what horrors and terrors, what volcanoes and
miasmas, what gorgons and dragons, what Amazons
and Titans, what Polyphemuses and Centaurs? What
was hidden in those mountain ranges whose snowy bat-
tlements reached to highest heaven? What wild and
ferocious animals roamed through those trackless for-
ests, portions of which reached down to the ocean's
shore? What peoples inhabited those fertile valleys and
dwelt around the many lakes that undoubtedly dotted
the mountain valleys?
Oh, to have had the joy of being the first to explore
28
Under the Tread of Indian Feet 29
this God-blessed region, to have been its Columbus, its
Livingstone, its Peary; to have been the first to solve
its mysteries, discover its glories, enjoy its charms, bask
in its delights, revel in its surprises, thrill at its wonders,
flee from its terrors, gaze upon its beauties.
Man was here, certainly. But he was the untouched,
untrained, unspoiled, simple, spontaneous, free, wild
child of Nature. He knew no artificiality, no conven-
tions, no restraints, no bondage, save those imposed by
the blind forces that operated around him, or by the
will of his enemy amongst beasts or other men.
There was not a house in the land, not a boat on one
of its rivers. There was no store, no factory, no mill,
no power-plant, no wagon, no horse, no cow, no sheep,
no harness, no saddle, no plough, no saw, no chisel, no
adze, no plane. No whistle of engine disturbed the mid-
night air, nor clangour of bell the early morning hours,
for there was not a foot of railway track, no engine,
no car, no depot, no round-house in the length and
breadth of the land. There was no city, town or vil-
lage, only the rude ranchcrias, or collections of tule or
arrow-weed huts of the natives, or the solitary kish of
the hunter on the hillside. There was not a church,
meeting-house, temple, or cathedral, a school, college,
university or other institution of learning from North
to South, East to West. There was not even a City
Hall, Justice Court. Hall of Records, Court-House,
Prison, Jail, Penitentiary, or Capitol in the country,
neither was there policeman, judge, lawyer, legislator,
jailer, warden, or governor. Rude physician there was,
certainly, but he trusted in herbs, in baths, in charms
and portents, even as the chief trusted to his physical
prowess to retain the supremacy his strong right arm
had won.
So California, Romantic and Beautiful
There was no newspaper, magiazine, or book, no type-
case, linotype, monotype, or printing-press, not even a
typewriter, a manifolder or a multiplier.
There was no city, therefore no paved street, nor
made road leading from one place to another ; not a
smoke-stack, a tower, a sky-scraper, a spire to be seen.
No whistle or bell called weary men and women to work
in the morning, nor dismissed them more weary still
in the evening.
There was not even a theatre, concert-hall, vaudeville,
opera house, or moving-picture show from the Siskiyous
to the Bay of San Diego, nor from the eastern slopes
of the Sierras to the sandy shores of the Pacific.
One would hunt in vain for a distillery, a brewery,
a saloon, a bar, a road-house, an assignation house, a
house of prostitution, an opium joint, a tobacco store
or a gambling-den. There was not even a stock-ex-
change or a " bucket-shop."
All was simple, primitive, first-hand, natural. There
was not even a hot-house, a garden, an orchard, a
formal-garden, a sunken-garden, a French garden, an
Italian garden, or any other kind of a garden, save the
rude banks whereon the wild th3rme grew, the mesa
heights where the poppy blazed in golden fervour, the
foothills which were bespangled with mountain mahog-
any, laurel, manzanita, holly and a maze of chaparral,
or the desert which was dignified with the solemn yucca
and glorified with the colour of a century of cactus
flowers.
There was no forest ranger, no forest nursery, and
no forestry officials ; not even a conservation policy, for
there was no lumber-camp, saw-mill, logging-skid, in-
cline, chute or boom in the whole of the mountains,
mesas or plains.
Under the Tread of Indian Feet 31
There was not an electric wire, — telegraph, tele-
phone, long transmission, — or any pole for sustaining
it, or any power-plant, water or steam, or impounding
dam or transmission station in the whole area, and not
a dynamo spun and sparkled, not a wheel turned, not
a car moved responsive to this gigantic power harnessed
since the days of Franklin.
There was not even a plough run by hand or horse,
much less operated by steam-power or electricity, not
a harrow, a drill, a harvester, or a flour-mill ; nor was
there an irrigation dam, sluice, head gate, diversion dam,
main canal or lateral from one end of the land to the
other.
There were no poor-houses, no hospitals, no asylums
for blind, deaf, dumb, incurable or insane, for, thank
God, there were none so poor as to be separated from
the rest, and so few sick, blind, dumb, deaf or insane
that hospitals were not needed. The simple, primitive
inhabitants lived too easily, too naturally, too health-
fully to often become seriously sick, and never became
insane.
In a word and again, in fact, the land was native,
untouched, virgin.
Yet how beautiful it must have been. No belching
smoke defiling its pure skies and atmosphere, no befoul-
ing vomitings of mills, factories, gas-works and chem-
ical manufactories and sewers polluting the streams fed
by waters from Sierran lakes, mountain springs and
glacier beds, no rushing train shrieking and smoking
its fearsome way across the landscape, no city with its
reeking slums, defiling brothels, haunts of misery and
concentrated essence of evil saddening the hearts of men
and women.
No ! thank God, in its beginning it was clean, pure.
32 California, Romantic and Beautiful
sweet and attractive. It was a fair land, like a sweet
girl-child blossoming into a glorious and attractive
womanhood, awaiting the coming of the lover of which
she was too ignorant and innocent to dream, save in
the most childlike way.
From North to South the Coast Range of mountains
was waiting for the explorer, the geologist, the bot-
anist, the entoiiTiologist and the rest to come and tell of
its peaks, its ravines, its valleys, lakes, flowers, trees,
insects, birds and beasts.
On the other side of its vast inland valleys towered
skyward another range, snowy and saw-toothed, luring
the adventurous white man to climb its soaring peaks,
its Mts. Whitney, Lyall, Tyndall, Brewer, Hoffman,
Shasta, Starr King, Cloud's Rest, and to discover its
Yosemite, its Hetch-Hetchy, its glacial meadows. Kings
River and Kern River Canyons, catch its rainbow and
speckled trout, hunt its grizzlies and other bears, feast
on its venison, gather its thousands of wild flowers and
stand in awe and wonder before its groups of giant Big
Trees.
For thousands of years, possibly millions, the Colo-
rado River had been pouring into its great empty spaces
the ground-up rock debris • — in sand, silt and sediment
— of the plateaus of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and
Arizona, and making deserts — the Mohave and Colo-
rado — leaving behind that awful and inspiring abyss,
the Grand Canyon of Arizona, a witness to the chiselling,
rasping, eroding, corrasive forces of Nature. It is pos-
sible that in 1542, or thereabouts, Captain Melchior
Diaz, one of the officers of the Viceroy of New Spain,
who aided in the exploring of the Gulf of California
and discovered the Colorado River, sailing and rowing
up it for quite a distance, — I say, it is possible that
Under the Tread of Indian Feet 33
he was the first white man to tread the burning sands
of this trackless desert region, but for two hundred
years after him it was to remain unseen by any eyes but
those of the fearless Indians, the small remnant of whom
still cluster in a few villages on the outskirts of civiliza-
tion and on the high mountain peaks that overlook the
desert- — -desert no longer but speedily rivalling the Nile
country in the fertility and variety of its resources.
Further north the great interior valleys, through
which ran the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, were
untrod save but by moccasined feet, and the Valley of
the Moon — Sonoma Valley — and Napa Valley and
Vaca Valley and Honey Lake Valley and a score of
others echoed to no voices except those of wild animals
and the yells and shouts of dancing or fighting Indians.
Its two thousand miles of indented coast knew no
vessel save the rude bidarkas or bolsas — rude dug-
out and skin boats and tule rafts — > of the Indians.
What a stretch of virgin coast to sail up and investi-
gate. What harbours were there? What rivers flow-
ing into the sea? Wliat rude and rocky shores, what
bold promontories, what sunken reefs, what delights,
what dangers, what surprises?
Beyond were the Channel Islands — Cataliua, Cle-
mente, Santa Rosa and the rest — little dreaming that
a new race was to come and occupy them.
Here, indeed, was a vast romance awaiting the new-
comers in the land they were to see.
Yet, it w^as not an entirely unpeopled land. Stephen
Powers carefully estimated and reported to the United
States Bureau of Ethnology that there must have been,
early in the last century, not less than seven hundred
thousand Indians in California. These were of various
tribes scattered up and down the coast, occupying the
34 California, Romantic and Beautiful
islands, established in the valleys and on the foothills,
in the canyons, in or near the forests, on the edges of
the deserts and on the banks of the various streams.
In the main they were pastoral and hunting- peoples, not
much addicted to w^ar, " probably the most contented
and happy race on the Continent in proportion to their
capacities for enjoyment. . . . They were certainly the
most populous, and dwelt beneath the most genial heav-
ens, and amidst the most abundant natural produc-
tions." ^
Jeremiah Gurtin, C. Hart Merriam, A. L. Kroeber,
and Pliny Goddard have clearly shown they were a
thoughtful, intelligent, kindly disposed people, and, as
far as they knew and understood, they were a religious
people. Gurtin writes of them thus :
" Primitive man in America stood at every step face
to face with divinity as he knew or understood it. He
could never escape from the presence of those powers
which had constituted the first world, and which com-
posed all that there was in the present one. Man's chief
means of sustenance in most parts were on land or in
the water. Game and fish of all sorts were under direct
divine supervision. Invisible powers might send forth
game or withdraw it vei-y quickly. With fish the case
was similar. Connected with fishing and hunting was
an elaborate ceremonial, a variety of observances and
prohibitions. Every man had a great many things to
observe as an individual, a great many also as a mem-
ber of his tribe or society.
" The most important question of all in Indian life
was communication with divinity, intercourse with the
spirits of divine personages. No man could communi-
cate with these unless the man to whom they chose to
' Stephen Powers in Tr-^es of California, Washington, 1877, P- A°°-
Under the Tread of Indian Feet 35
manifest themselves. There were certain things which
a man had to do to obtain communication with divinity
and receive a promise of assistance; but it was only
the elect, the right person, the fit one, who obtained the
desired favour. For instance, twenty men might go
to the mountain place, and observe every rule carefully,
but only one man be favoured with a vision, only one
become a seer. Twenty others might go to the moun-
tain place, and not be accounted worthy to behold a
spirit; a third twenty might go, and two or three of
them be chosen. No man could tell beforehand what
success or failure might await him. The general method
at present is the following, the same as in the old time:
" Soon after puberty, and in eveiy case before mar-
riage or acquaintance with woman, the youth or young
man who hopes to become a doctor goes to a sacred
mountain pond or spring, where he drinks water and
bathes. After he has bathed and dressed, he speaks to
the spirits, he prays them to come to him, to give him
knowledge, to grant their assistance. The young man
takes no food, no nourishment of any sort, fasts, as he
is able, seven days and nights, sometimes longer.
" All this time he is allowed no drink except water.
He sleeps as little as possible. If spirits come to him.
he has visions, he receives power and favour. A number
of spirits may visit a man one after an.other, and prom-
ise him aid and cooperation. The eagle spirit may come,
the spirit of the elk or the salmon, — any spirit that
likes the man. The spirit says in substance, ' Whenever
you call my name I will come, I will give my power to
assist you.' After one spirit has gone, another may
appear, and another. A man is not free to refuse the
offers of spirits, he must receive all those who come to
him. As there are peculiar obsei-vances connected with
36 California, Romantic and Beautiful
each spirit, the doctor who is assisted by many is ham-
pered much in his methods of Hving. There are spirits
which do not hke buckskin ; the man to whom they
come must never wear buckskin. If a man eats food
repugnant to his spirit, the spirit will kill him. As each
spirit has its favourite food, and there are other kinds
which to it are distasteful, we can understand easily
that the doctor who has ten spirits or twenty (and there
are some who have thirty) to aid him is limited in his
manner of living. Greatness has its price at all times,
power must be paid for in every place. Those for whom
the spirits have no regard, and they are the majority,
return home without visions or hope of assistance; the
spirits are able to look through all persons directly, and
straightway they see what a man is. They find most
people unsuited to their purposes, unfit to be assisted." ^
I have given this somewhat lengthy quotation from
Curtin to help eradicate the false and slanderous no-
tions many Americans have gained from reading the
unjust sentences passed upon the Indian by the earlier
of the white concjuerors of California's soil. The padres
unconsciously regarded them as the most l)enighted of
human kind because they had no conception of religion
as taught by their one and only infallible church; the
miner flaunted him as a " digger," because he knew
nothing of, and cared less for, the gold and silver dis-
covered in his mountains and placers; the farmer, who
coveted his land and drove him forth from the home-
steads and hunting-grounds he had possessed for cen-
turies, vilified him. in self-justification, as " a mean,
thieving, revengeful scoundrel, far below the grade of
the most indifferent white."
Suffice it to say these ideas are in the main untruth-
f * Creation Myths of Primitive America, Introduction, p. xxvi.
Under the Tread of Indian Feet 37
ful and unjust. Helen Hunt Jackson, in Raniona, has
given us a far more truthful picture of the real Indian,
and the traveller to California will do well to read that
pathetic and soul-stirring novel ere he fixes his opinions
in regard to the Indians.
CHAPTER IV
FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA
He wears a brown serge garment that clothes him
/ from head to foot. It is girdled with a white cord on
which are the mystic knots of the Trinity. The cowl
is thrown back, revealing the tonsured head. His feet
are bare save for sandals. His lips move as in prayer;
his eyes are uplifted as in reverent adoration, and upon
his face is the smile that comes only to the '* pure in
heart " who *' see God."
He is only a Franciscan monk, a Mallorca friar, one
vowed to poverty, obedience and chastity, a lowly man,
a humble man. Would you call him refined? I know
not. Would you call him cultured? Save in the lit-
erature of his church, and in the culture of a childlike
soul and simple mind, I trow not! Would you deem
him great? Save in the victories he won in the name
of Christ over the pagan hearts of the aborigines of
California he knew no fame.
Whence came he? Whither was he going? What
did he achieve? AVhere lies he buried?
, Only a Mallorca friar of the Franciscan order, com-
manded to establish a chain of missions in Alta Cali-
fornia for the Christianization and civilization of the
thousands of Indians settled there, obeying the rule of
his fraternity that he should walk and not ride, where
possible, trudging patiently, gladly, joyously to his work
along the weary miles of the rock-ribb'd peninsula of
38
Franciscan Missions of California 39
Baja (Lower) California. For he was a true mission-
ary at heart; it was meat and drink to him to thus serve
his Divine Lord in giving of his best, his all, to the
savages he sought to win.
Vessels had gone by sea with provisions for mission-
aries and protecting soldiers, with vestments, bells, or-
naments and needful utensils for the mission churches
to be established; two land expeditions were guiding
colonists and soldiers for the pueblos and presidios that
were to be founded ; herds of oxen, horses, sheep, goats,
mules and burros in long line taxed the patience of
caballeros and peons to keep them in motion and in
order; evenings saw the long lines stop, sup, camp and
sleep, and mornings saw them wake, breakfast, saddle
and tparch. Then the Ahado or morning hymn fell in
greater or lesser sweetness and melody upon the morn-
ing air, as stout-voiced, leather-lunged priest and sol-
dier, or gentle-toned, sweet-spirited wife, mother, maiden
or child took it up, and God was worshipped in His
own blessed out-of-doors.
What romance was here as they marched, slept, and ^
marched again day after day, night after night, until
the new Romance began in the new land. San Diego
was reached — San Diego, blessed by Cabrillo, two hun- ^
dred and twenty years before, and by Vizcaino sixty
years later; San Diego,
" Warmest daughter of the West."
San Diego, of which Joaquin Miller sang:
" Behold this sea, that sapphire sky!
Where Nature does so much for man,
Shall man not set his standard high.
And hold some higher, holier plan? "
40 California, Romantic and Beautiful
It was a hundred years before Miller, yet Junipero
Serra held this high standard, had already formulated
his higher, holier plan.
Posts were erected, a cross-pole placed on their
crotches, and to this a bell was swung. After a night
spent in prayer and intercession, of humble yet faithful
and believing petition to God, robed in his designating
vestments, the devoted priest swung the bell and called,
with loud and fervent voice, upon the Indians standing
on the far-away hills to come and receive the saving
ordinances of the church. An altar was raised, blessed
and dedicated to God and the Mission of San Diego de
Alcala duly founded. How happy was Serra! Maiden
wrapped in the romance of her first affection; lover in
the bliss of his betrothed's presence ; wife clasping her
first-born to her bosom ; prince receiving the crown
of kingship upon his head, — none was more wrapped
in romantic happiness and ecstatic bliss than this som-
bre-robed priest, telling his beads and reciting his office
on that memorable night. Though he knew it not Cali-
fornia's history was beginning; the day of the Golden
State was dawning; the banners of Civilization's last
great stand were being planted there. It was an epochal
day, an eventful hour.
At the same time part of the party, led by Don Gas-
par de Portola, and spiritually ministered to by Fray
Juan de Crespi, marched northward, past where Los
Angeles afterwards was to rise, the peerless queen of
California of the south; where Santa Barbara was to
crown the hills of the Sun-Down Sea with Beauty and
Progress; past the fog-kissed valley v\^here Watson-
ville, proud mistress of a thousand profitable apple-
orchards, reigns supreme, on .to the sands of the Bay
of Monterey.
Franciscan Missions of California 41
Here, romance of romance, though these trained ex-
plorers, hardened soldiers, keen-visioned priests alike
gazed and gazed upon shore-line and forest-clad head-
land, upon rugged forelands and water-swept beach and
searched and searched for clearly described landmarks;
though they conned again and again the drawings and
descriptions of Vizcaino, their " eyes were withholden "
so that they saw not the Bay for which they looked,
named in December, 1603, by Vizcaino after the Conde
de Monte Rey, the Viceroy of New Spain.
Whence had the Bay gone? Was witchcraft at work
here? Tired and weary, footsore and disheartened, the
soldiers were ready to believe anything, and even the
wise Crespi wrote later to his superior that they sus-
pected the port had been filled up, because they found
there some very large sand-dunes or sand-ihills on the
coast.
It must be that the earlier geographers had made a
mistake, and set the Bay down too far to the south.
It might be some degrees further north. So, wearily
they plodded on, past where the City of the Holy Cross
(Santa Cruz) was later to attract its thousands of pleas-
ure-seekers from the City of the Golden Gate which,
as yet, was unknown; over the glorious sequoia-clad
mountains where Bret Harte was to write some of his
inimitable stories; past Half-Moon Bay to the hills
above Montara, where Harr Wagner is now building
a town of restful peace and joyous content by the shores
of Balboa's Sea, and there, on those peaceful hills, which,
as yet had never heard the lowing of kine or the bleating
of sheep, or felt the foot-print of any but the unshod,
semi-naked savage, these sun-browned, weather-beaten,
travel-stained, leather-jacketed soldiers of the King of
Spain, were the first of the white race to gaze upon
42 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the great bay that was afterwards to bear the name of
San Francisco, where a mission was to be estabHshed
in his honour, and to which, in later years, the eager
of the world were to flock in impatient haste, thus un-
consciously adding to its romantic reputation.
Is there Romance here, in the Discovery of this Bay?
Listen to the story!
Serra was a remarkable man in several ways, and
in no way more so than in his childlike adherence to the
teachings of St. Francis. To him God's presence was
real; His help certain; His promises as sure as if al-
ready fulfilled ; His rewards all ready to the hands of
faith. With all his sagacity, knowledge, wisdom and
executive ability he possessed a most childlike mind.
He knew no such thing as failure, for had not God
said that His help should be sufficient for those who
relied upon Him. He not only trusted implicitly in the
God of St. Francis, but he was filled with a childlike
reverence, which amounted almost to an adoration of
St. Francis himself. He was jealous to a high degree
for the seraphic founder of the Franciscan order: it
grieved him to the heart if there were any suspicion
that St. Francis was not properly recognized by every
one, and his zeal on behalf of his beloved order amounted
to a holy obsession, that to any one less zealous and
earnest must have seemed the exaggerated enthusiasm
of a fanatic.
Consequently when the Visitador-General, Galvez,
communicated to him the instructions he had received
from Spain, viz., that he was to establish missions to
San Diego, San Carlos and San Buena Ventura, Serra
immediately cried out : " Sir. is there to be no mission
for our father, St. Francis?" to which Galvez replied,
" If St. Francis wants a Mission, let him cause his port
Franciscan Missions of California 43
to be discovered and a Mission for hini shall be placed
there."
It must here be recalled that as far back as 1595
Cermeiion had entered into a bay, discovered by Drake
sixteen years previously, and had named it the port of
San Francisco. Vizcaino also had anchored in this bay.
This is now known as Drake's Bay, althoug-h until the
discovery by Portola's men of the real Bay of San L^ran-
cisco (the one so called to-day), it was always known
as the Bay of San Francisco. It was this port, there-
fore, that Galvez desired St. Francis to point out to
the explorers, and it was in their search for it and the
Bay of Monterey that they stumbled upon the discovery t
of the larger Bay, whose existence up to that time had
been unknown.
To this day the devout Catholic regards the discovery
of this larger Bay of San Francisco as a miracle directly
traceable to Serra's prayers and faith, and surely it is
as much a miracle of history as any that is authentically
recorded.
Is it not one of the mysteries of history that when
Cabrillo's ships sailed up the coast of California they
passed by the Golden Gate without observing that noble
break in the Coast Range. The outflowing current of
the Bay with its muddy waters, or the inflowing speed
of its tide escaped their notice, both when going up and
returning.
Drake, — the keen-eyed rover of Queen Elizabeth,
whose vessels harried the Spanish galleons, and who
landed on the shores of California and claimed the fer-
tile land for his Virgin Queen, — had his vision clouded
so that he passed by this wide Golden Gate.
Sixty years after Cabrillo, Vizcaino came, and he and
his topographers likewise passed it by, never dreaming
44 California, Romantic and Beautiful
of its existence. There it lay, prepared by God in the
far-away dim ages of the world's early history for great
events, yet hidden in the hollow of His hand until, in
the fulness of His own good time, He was ready to
reveal it. To Serra, who extorted the half-jocular prom-
ise from Galvez, its discovery could have seemed no
other than a miracle, and Protestant though I am, I
confess to a deep and profound sympathy with his
feeling.
But as yet the time of its discovery had not arrived.
Instead, the whole mission plan came near to being
abandoned.
When the sea and land expeditions from Lower Cali-
fornia met at San Diego, Serra proceeded to the estab-
lishment of the first mission there, while the military
governor Portola, with officers, friars, and soldiers,
marched north to locate the second mission on the Bay
of Monterey, which Vizcaino had so fully described.
Portola had a hard trip and an unsuccessful one. He
and his coadjutors passed by the bay they had gone
to seek, though they gave an account of a bay they saw,
which, however, they did not realize was the one they
sought. In the words of ancient Scripture, " their eyes
were withheld." The result of this withholding was
that they pushed on further north and in due time
reached the peninsula of San Francisco Bay, and one
morning, as the advance guard climbed the nearest
I hill and stood upon its crest, there, spread out at their
feet, lay the hitherto hidden and undiscovered Bay.
When Portola saw it he was as surprised as his soldiers.
I wonder what were the inmost thoughts of Padre Juan
Crespi, Serra' s dear friend and earnest coadjutor, when
his eyes fell upon it. Did he realize that the prayers
and fondest desires of his superior were being realized?
Franciscan Missions of California 45
That this bay he was gazing upon was to be one of the
best known bays in the world; to be honoured by the
name of the revered founder of his order and to have a
city built upon its banks that would in fifty short years
of life compress as much fascinating romance as many
an older city of a thousand years of existence, — a city
that would be the Mecca of hundreds of thousands from
every part of the globe ; a city whose name would
awaken dreams of wealth untold in the hearts of men
as diverse as the world contains ; a city whose misfor-
tunes would arouse as much sympathy as its romance
had evoked of g"lamorous expectation.
These events, however, were all in the dark womb
of the future and Portola had not the eye of prescience.
All that he saw was that his expedition was a failure.
Monterey Bay could not be found, provisions were grow-
ing scant, and hungry soldiers are not pleasant travelling
companions. The weather, too, was not propitious to
good feeling, and discouraged, disheartened, and disap-
pointed, he gave orders to return to San Diego, the idea
growing that the country had better be abandoned.
On his arrival there he found a state of afifairs that
materially added to his discouragement. The scurvy
had made serious inroads upon the soldiers, fifty deaths
already having occurred and many still lying danger-
ously ill. The vessel, the San Antonio, that had been
sent to San Bias for more supplies and sailors, had not
yet arrived. Upon its coming depended the provision-
ing of the expedition. He surely expected that it would
be there at this time with the food for which his hungry
men clamoured. It had not yet come, and there were
no signs of it. Food was as scarce in San Diego as
it had been with him, and he was at his wit's end to
know how to feed his command. Disgusted and dis-
46 California, Romantic and Beautiful
heartened, he informed Serra that he would abandon the
expedition and return to Lower CaHfornia.
Abandon the expedition ! Return to La Paz ! Give
up the missionization of the Indians ! Serra could not
believe his ears. His heart and soul arose in a mighty
protest. How could he give up this great work to which
he had been called? How could he forsake this fair
new land with its thousands of benighted Indians, to
whom he had already begun to ofifer the blessings of
salvation through Mother Church? It was impossible!
It was unthinkable !
But there was no question about it. Practically every
one felt gloomy, despondent and disheartened, save him-
self and the devoted Crespi. What could be done?
Was God's arm shortened that He could not save His
children? His faithful soul leaped to the truth that
" man's extremity is God's opportunity," and after
strengthening his own faith by humble and earnest
prayer he began to encourage the others, from Portola
down. He pleaded, begged and cajoled Portola; he
even went so far as to conspire with Vila, the captain
of the San Carlos, that if Portola did abandon the ex-
pedition, he (Vila) would go in search of Monterey Bay
by sea. For Portola was already assured of what he
afterwards wrote to the Viceroy, viz., that " the illusion
that Monterey exists has been dispelled," and forget-
ful of his pledge to " perform his commission or die,"
we have seen that he was resolved to return.
To Serra this was worse than death. He could not
possibly bear it. He must change Portola's decision;
must be allowed to remain and do his chosen work.
But Portola was a hard-headed, self-willed, autocratic
soldier, who neither knew nor cared what a church-
man's enthusiasms were; one who in the face of per-
Franciscan Missions of California 47
sonal discomforts and hardships cared httle whether the
Indians were saved or not. To him self-preservation
was the first law of nature. Why should he and his
soldiers starve to death, because, forsooth, an enthusi-
astic priest was crazy to convert a race of wild Indians ?
His duty was to his soldiers and himself and he pro-
posed to return. His was a " practical " mind that could
see little beyond the hardship and discomforts of the
present.
Serra and Crespi, however, decided to remain. The
commander of one of the vessels, Don Vicente Vila,
evidently was in such a position of authority as to con-
trol his own ship, regardless of Portola, for Serra went
to him and entered into a secret compact. If Portola
insisted upon abandoning the expedition he and Crespi
would come aboard his vessel and remain until the relief
ship arrived, and then they w^ould go up the coast and
search for the missing Bay of Monterey.
This was agreed to. In the meantime, as the Feast
Day of St. Joseph (San Jose) was at hand, and he was
the patron saint of the expedition, Serra proposed to
Portola that they should make a novena to him. This
was agreed upon and the novena was held with all in
attendance.
But is it to be assumed that Serra was contented with
these public prayers ? Too much was involved, his heart
was too much engaged. He must " pray without ceas-
ing," so it is no stretch of imagination to see him, alone,
or with his beloved brother, Crespi, pleading with God
for his heart's desire.
Now, Serra, pray your hardest; call upon God with
your greatest fervour, for upon you and your prayers
depends the continuance of this mission work in Cali-
fornia, the salvation of the souls of thousands of abo-
48 California, Romantic and Beautiful
riginal savages, and the establishment of a new and
Christian civilization in a gloriously beautiful and fer-
tile land.
Doubtless each morning, he and Crespi, and the others
v^ho felt with him in his earnest desire to continue his
work, eagerly scanned the ocean horizon for the longed-
for vessel. They wore a pathway through the brush
up the hillside to an outlook-point which gave them a
full view of the harbour entrance, and morning, noon and
night visited it to pray and watch, to watch and pray,
for the vessel upon which their hopes were centered.
When the day of San Jose arrived a high mass was
celebrated. Portola and his officers were already pre-
pared for the retreat the following day. Eagerly Serra
went to the usual outlook-point. How earnestly he
scanned the ocean's face, following the horizon around
with anxious care.
Just as the sun was about to disappear, the fog, which
had covered the ocean for days like a funeral pall,
opened, and there, joy of joys, was the long looked-
for vessel. Singing hymns of thanksgiving in their
hearts, and praising God with their lips Serra and Crespi
came down to announce what they had seen. Others
besides them had witnessed the drawing back of the
fog and the revealment of the vessel, but though they
awaited until a late hour of the night there was nothing
further to indicate that the vessel had entered the har-
bour.
When morning dawned there was no sign of the ship.
It had disappeared as completely as if it never had
existed, and all that day Serra was badgered with the
doubts and questionings of those who were assured that
he must have been mistaken.
Was it a mistake?
Franciscan Missions of California 49
How could it be when he and so many others had
so clearly seen the vessel? Its prow was headed for
the bay, its sails were set, its ropes and spars and masts
as clearly discerned as though it were close at hand.
But when a second day came and still no vessel ap-
peared at anchor it was not to be wondered at if Por-
tola's doubts were outspoken, and if some of the more
skeptical of the soldiers openly whispered their belief
that the priests had dreamed that they had seen what
they so longed to see. And it is not inconceivable that
one or two may have gone further and charged that the
report was a pure deception in order to secure a few
days' further delay.
All hearts, however, were set at rest on the fourth
day on witnessing the slow incoming, through the dense
fog, of the Sail Antonio. Almost with ghostly silence
she came into sight, but no sooner had her anchor fallen
into the water wnth resounding S'plash than new life
entered the hearts of all beholders. Captain Perez came
ashore and the mystery of the appearance a few days
before was solved. The vessel, when sighted, was on
her w^ay to Monterey, under the belief that another ves-
sel which Galvez had dispatched ahead had brought the
needed supplies to San Diego. But, landing near Point
Concepcion for water and to regain a lost anchor, Perez
learned that the Monterey land expedition had returned,
hence there was no need for him to proceed further.
New courage came with the arrival of the San An-
tonio, and Portola now awoke to the consciousness that
to have abandoned the expedition would have been dis-
loyalty d Dios, al Rey, a mi onor — to God, the King,
and his own honour. So he plucked up courage and
reorganized, sending Perez with Serra and two other
priests to explore the newly- found harbour, and then
50 California, Romantic and Beautiful
hunt for the Bay of Monterey, while he with a fair force
was to follow by land.
On this trip, after " a month and a half of rather hard
sailing," — ^as Serra pathetically puts it, — they seem
to have had no difficulty in finding Monterey; " the
very same harbour and unchanged in substance and
circumstances from what it was w^hen the expedition of
Don Sebastian Vizcaino left it in the year 1603." The
mission and presidio were duly founded and the news
sent by special courier to the Viceroy in Mexico. It
took this man a month and a half to ride from Mon-
terey to Todos Santos (on the peninsula), allowing for
a four days' stop at San Diego. From thence the letters
were sent by launch to San Bias, and so on to Mexico
City.
It is almost impossible for us to-day to understand
the excitement this news caused both in Mexico and
Spain. Cathedral bells were rung, and Court and peo-
ple all attended solemn high mass in token of thanks-
giving. The Viceroy issued a proclamation reciting the
facts so that all in New Spain might know the glad
tidings. Thus the romance of the missions grew and
hearts beat high in Mexico, and later in Old Spain itself
as the news of the progress of California was spread.
Yet the romance was but begun. There was to be
an uprising of the Indians in San Diego; one of the
padres was to be slain ; Serra was to live to see eight
missions established before his death ; his successors
were to carry on the work until a chain of buildings ex-
tended, a day's journey apart, from San Diego on the
south, to San Francisco on the north, and later even
as high as Sonoma. There were to be struggles with
the Indians, some of the missions were to be seized and
held in rebellion, some were to be set on fire and par-
THE SITE OF JUNIPERO OAK MISSION.
Franciscan Missions of California 51
tially destroyed, and the romance of converting a whole
native population of barbarians into workers at every
then-known industry accomplished. The remarkable
mission buildings themselves were to arise, built by these
Indians under the guidance of the padres.
What is more romantic than to see — even though it
be only in the retrospect — the domination of the infe-
rior mind by the superior." And not one over a few,
but one over a thousand or more. At each of the mis-
sions this domination was soon apparent. The hitherto
free, wild, untamed Indian, roaming where his own sweet
will dictated, free to come or go as he chose, knowing
nothing of concentrated effort except as he doggedly
followed his prey in the hunt until it was his, was soon
subject to the larger mind. By the score, in fifties,
hundreds, thousands, they were gathered around the
mission establishments, which immediately became hives
of industries. At the ringing of the morning bell the
sleeping rancheria — the near-by collection of Indian
kishcs or huts where the married Indians lived — sprang
into life; the smoke of a hundred fires ascended, and
each dusky woman prepared the morning meal for her
family. But during the process the " Call to Prayers "
bell was heard, and instantly all work ceased, all bowed
in reverence, and these aboriginal men and women
prayed with their lips, even if their hearts only vaguely
grasped the significance of the words they uttered.
In the mission buildings themselves the activity was
no less. Many of the boys and girls slept here, the boys
under the control of a reliable and trustworthy Indian
or Mexican, and the others equally under the watchful
eye of a keen and masterful woman. Here, however,
were no modern dormitories fixed up with all the latest
knick-knacks for comfort and luxury. Nor were the
52 California, Romantic and Beautiful
rooms models for future architects and sanitarians to
pattern after. The low upper stories of the squat adobe
buildings that surrounded the patio were the bedrooms.
They were reached by a ladder from the ground floor,
and sheepskins and the rude blankets woven by the
women were all the sleeping gear provided. As soon
as the " To bed " bell was rung, every youngster ap-
peared, climbed the ladder, found his own place — and
the ladder was removed, only to be replaced when the
arising bell resounded in the morning.
Then after the morning meal and first prayers the
buzz, hum, bustle and stir of the real mission life began.
In the weaving-room the dull "bump, bump," of the
loom was heard, alternating with the quieter movement
of the treadles which changed the heaO\l^. Near by the
" swish, swish," of the plane, the harsh up and down
stroke of the saw, the bite of the adze or the sharp
tap, tap of the hammer denoted the carpenter shop, while
from the adjoining blacksmith's shop came the shrill
clangour of hammer on hot iron and the ring of the
anvil. In another room women and girls were sewing
on various garments, new or old — for repairing had
to be done daily; others were knitting or darning stock-
ings — not for themselves, but for the white people, the
gentes de razon. the people of reason, those who had
souls, as the Spanish phrase of the day had it.
A little closer inspection found some of the black-
smiths engaged on fine iron-scroll and other ornamental
work, the carpenters were cabinet-makers, and even sil-
versmiths and jewellers were at work. Quite an ex-
tensive leather-working establishment was carried on,
for saddles were used by everybody, and wristlets and
scores of other useful things were made of leather in
those days. But it was not simple, plain tanned leather.
Franciscan Missions of California 53
With rare skill — at times rising to genius — the leather
was carved by hand into appropriate and striking de-
signs, designs that would delight the heart of the artist
of to-day could he but catch their spirit and power.
Outside the ruder processes of tanning were going
on ; in yonder corral thousands of sheep were being
sheared by Indian shearers; in another a hundred cows
were being milked ; while in the near-by milk-house
butter- and cheese-making were going on in the hands
of well-trained and skilful Indian women and maidens.
From the stable early in the morning came the sound
of the saddling-up of the cow-ponies, for the first cow-
boys of California were the Indians. They followed the
rapidly increasing herds of horses and cattle, rounded
up the stock, branded the additions, killed the beef
needed for the establishment, as well as for the presidios
and the various vessels that came into the near-by ports.
Qiuirts and riatas had to be made, branding-irons
and saddles, and when aiiimals were killed fat was ren-
dered, some portions " jerked " — that is, salted and
sun-dried — or cured and smoked. Outside and inside
bee-hive ovens were made hot, for bread, as well as
meats, had to be baked for the multitude of hungry
mouths, while on open hearth and out-of-door fires sim-
mering pots gave forth mouth-watering odours of cook-
ing meats, stews and the like. Yonder women were
grinding corn on primitive metates, — this was before
water-wheel mills were erected, — others were pounding
acorns in their mortars, while the smaller boys and girls
were shelling the acorns and pine-nuts (piniones) gath-
ered from the near-by mountains.
Then, more important than all else, the men and
youths, under the direction of the padres, were making
adobe bricks, squaring rocks quarried near by and hauled
54 California, Romantic and Beautiful
on wooden " boats " or sleds by patient thick-necked
oxen, so well-described later by Joaquin Miller :
What great yoked brutes with briskets low,
With wrinkled necks like buffalo,
With round, brown, liquid, pleading eyes,
That tum'd so slow and sad to you,
That shone like love's eyes soft with tears.
That seem'd to plead, and make replies.
The while they bow'd their necks and drew
The creaking load; and look'd at you.
Their sable briskets swept the ground,
Their cloven feet kept solemn sound.
Here others were hewing and squaring timbers for
roof beams; cutting strips of buckskin to tie the beams
together, for nails were few and far between, having
to be made by hand on the anvils.
With priests for architects, contractors, builders, gang
lx3sses. — • and there were never more than two priests
to a Mission to have charge of all the spiritual labours
as well as of the varied industries here outlined, — the
Indians dug and laid the foundations, built the walls,
set the forms for the arched corridors, elevated the
heavy roof beams and tied them in place with their raw-
hide strips, securely covered them with tiles — made
and baked by their fellows near by — and then plas-
tered the walls inside and out, whitewashed them, and
finally decorated and adorned altar and sanctuary, sac-
risty and choir loft.
Oh, the romance and wonder of it all. It fairly thrills
the imagination to reconstruct these scenes of a not far
bye-gone day. It was one of the earliest baptisms, how-
ever, of the glorious romance that was designed for
California from the foundation of the world.
Nor must we forget the romance that attended the
Franciscan Missions of California 55
founding and speedy destruction of two Missions on the
Colorado River, near where to-day that marvellous mon-
ument of man's engineering skill — the Laguna Dam —
stands to divert the waters of the raging Colorado
to useful piirposes. The Comandante-General of New
Spain ordered that these two Missions should be estab-
lished on a different system from that which had already
been found to work so admirably. The Indians were
not to be under the personal control of the fathers, or
as Bancroft states it : " The priests were to have noth-
ing to do with the temporal management, and the native
converts were not to be required to live in regular Mis-
sion Communities, but might receive lands and live in
the pueblos with the Spaniards. Each pueblo was to
have ten soldiers, ten settlers, and six labourers." Fur-
thermore there was to be no presidio or garrison to
protect the Mission. " The soldiers were to protect the
settlers, who were to be granted house-lots and fields,
while the friars were to act as pastors to attend to the
spiritual interests of the colonists, but at the same time
to be missionaries " to the Indians.
Two Missions were established, one, La Purisima
Concepcion, near to the junction of the Gila and Colo-
rado Rivers, on the site of the present Fort Yuma, Cali-
fornia, and the other, San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuher,
about eight miles southwest of Concepcion. Twenty
colonists, twelve labourers, and twenty-one soldiers, all
with their families, arrived in 1780. In addition there
were two priests at each Mission.
That the plan was an ill-considered one speedily be-
came evident, and on the 17th of July, 1781, after less
than a year had elapsed, the Yumas massacred soldiers
and settlers and the friars, set fire to the buildings, and
carried away the women and children as captives. Fur-
56 California, Romantic and Beautiful
thermore, Captain Rivera, with eleven or twelve men
from Sonora, and five or six sent to meet him from the
California presidios, were encamped on the eastern side
of the Colorado, opposite Mission Concepcion, and they
too were attacked and all, save one, overpowered and
massacred.
Fortunately nothing so serious as this happened in
the other and more carefully conducted Missions of
California. They continued their work as it was begun.
Then, after about sixty years of useful, blessed activity,
there came the romance of their fall. From their very
inception it had always been the intention of the gov-
ernment to close the paternal work of these institutions
as soon as the Indians were deemed sufficiently civilized
and Christianized to live out their own lives. Under
the Mission system they were under what corresponded
to parental control. Their lands were held by the church
in trust, and the product of their labours was disposed
of by the padres. In due time this system was to came
to an end, their lands were to be allotted to them in
individual families and they were to be given absolute
control, like any other citizen, under the common law,
of their own lives and persons, and the mission " father "
was to give place to the ordinary parish priest. This
was the difference between a " mission " and an ordinary
** parish church," and between a " mission father " and
a " parish priest." And this, in efifect, is what is meant
by the word Secularization.
No one, therefore, could justly have complained if
the order of secularization had been wisely and prop-
erly made at the proper time. When that should have
been done might always have been a matter for discus-
sion. The way in which it was actually accomplished
leaves no room for discussion. It was done by the
Franciscan Missions of California 57
Mexican politicians, after Mexico Avas severed from
Spain and had become a republic, solely to obtain the
revenues of the Missions, and without any real regard
for the welfare or the rights of the Indians.
Well might Charles Warren Stoddard express his
fierce indignation in his Bells of Sail Gabriel:
" Where are they now, O tower!
The locusts and wild honey?
Where is the sacred dower
That the bride of Christ was given?
Gone to the wielders of power,
The raisers and minters of money;
Gone for the greed that is their creed —
And these in the land have thriven."
It was under this so-called secularization that the
Indians were left without their former beloved guides
and pastors, robbed by unscrupulous politicians on every
hand and in every conceivable way, their churches aban-
doned, and in some cases despoiled until they fell into
dilapidation and ruin. The Indians themselves were
deliberately placed upon toboggan slides of perdition
that were greased with all the vices the selfishness, cu-
pidity and heartlessness of the superior race (!) could
devise.
Then came the American with his racial arrogance «
and besotted ignorance (as far as the Indian was con-
cerned), and he aided in hastening the swift slide of
the " digger " to all the hells there are, and complacently
saw the " old mud churches " that the devotion of sixty
years had built crumble into ruins.
The awakening from this indifference and hostility .
is another of the romantic epochs of Mission history.
There were always a few whose hearts were rent at
what was going on, — Spanish, Mexicans, Americans,
58 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Protestants as well as Catholics, — but no concerted
movement was undertaken to arrest the unnecessary and
altogether reprehensible decay of the Mission structures
and the relentless driving out and down of the Indians
until Helen Hunt Jackson, with pen and voice of flaming
eloquence, expressing fiery and blazing- indignation, in
her Ramona and other writings, aroused the people of
California and the United States to what they were
losing. Ramona formed an epoch. Later Miss Tessa
L. Kelso, the librarian of the city of Los Angeles, Miss
Anna E. Pitcher of Pasadena, and finally Charles F.
Lummis, editor of Out West, organized " The Land-
marks Club." His editorial, entitled " A New Crusade,"
which appeared in The Land of Sunshine for December,
1895, makes interesting reading to-day. Among other
things he said : '' Of those who come merely to see Cali-
fornia, a vast proportion are attracted by our Romance.
To argue for the preservation of the Missions from the
point of view of their intellectual and artistic value is
needless here. ... It is enough to recall the material
truth that the Missions are. next to our climate and its
consequences, the best capital California has.
" There are in this State twenty-one of the old Span-
ish Missions, besides their several branch chapels. Seven
Missions and a few chapels are in Southern California,
and these are not only the oldest but historically and
architecturally the most interesting. A few are reoc-
cupied and utilized for places of worship. The others
have been of necessity practically abandoned since the
secularization. They are not vital to the Catholic
Church, now; but they are everything to us, whether
we have souls — or pockets. They are all falling to
decay: partly by age, partly through vandalism and
neglect. When the roof goes, our swift winter rains
Franciscan Missions of California 59
do the rest. In ten years from now — unless our intel-
ligence shall awaken at once — there will remain of
these noble piles nothing but a few indeterminable heaps
of adobe.
" Now there is not in the civilized world another
country so barbarous that this would be permitted. In
poor old Spain the very stables of these deserted
churches would be scrupulously preserved. In despised
Italy they would be guarded as we guard our — for-
tunes. In hateful England, Heaven pity the vandal that
should move one stone from another in them. In im-
moral France, there is at least morality enough to hold
sacred tlie artistic and the venerable. It is only in the
Only Country in the World that such precious things
are despised and neglected and left to be looted by the
storm and the tourist.
" This is a new community, and many things are
thus far forgiven its youth ; but there will never be
pardon if we let this sin go further. We shall deserve
and shall have the contempt of all thoughtful people
if we suffer our noble Missions to fall."
As the result of this and similar rousing pleas and
constant activities in this direction Mr. Lummis, and
those who banded themselves with him, were able to
do incalculable good in the work of preserving what
Time's ruthless hand had left to us of these historic and
romantic structures. Hence to them we owe many
thanks that the beauty of the Missions is still apparent
enough for us to enjoy. This can be done only by a
personal visit to each one.
The location of every one of these Missions is deserv-
ing especial mention and attention. Seldom did the
builders make any mistake In their choice of site.
San Diego, the first founded, as originally established
60 California, Romantic and Beautiful
at Old Town, had an outlook over Bay and Point,
islands, sea-shore and near and far-away mountains.
Expert travellers and observers tell us this is one of
the rare and perfect views of the world. In its more
secluded location, the transferred Mission, in the valley
six miles away, overlooking the San Diego River, the
olive-orchard and the wide stretch of fields beyond, gave
charm to the eye and satisfaction to the senses.
San Luis Rey, in its dignified position on the rising
ground of its own valley, like Milan Cathedral, attracts
the eye from every spot from which it can be seen.
San Juan Capistrano, less elevated, was still charm-
ingly located near smiling foothills adown which laugh-
ing and babbling brooks wended their merry way to the
near-by sea, whose headlands towered up as guardians
to the friars who gazed upon the rugged face of the
Pacific when lashed into turbulence by the winds of
the North.
San Gabriel reposed in the lap of a mountain-begirt
valley, where Alpine glow smiled with every sunset and
every sunrise saw one of the fairest regions of earth.
Here flower-spangled Pasadena now reigns as the Queen
of Rose-Tournament cities, and the Mount Lowe Rail-
way scales those sun-kissed mountains with careless
ease, giving to thousands of visitors from all parts of
the world views of transcendent glory and beauty in
the valley named after heaven's Archangel.
San Fernando, Rey. was not the less blessed in its
glorious valley, foothill and mountain outlook, while
San Buenaventura added the sea-beach, the rocky shores,
the far-away Channel Islands, and the pearly-faced Pa-
cific Ocean.
Santa Barbara, like Jerusalem to the psalmist, was
"beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth."
THE CHIMES, SAK GABRIEL MISSION.
Franciscan Missions of California 61
for all who see it even to-day, hemmed in by tree-growths
and modern homes, stand transfixed with the beauty
and charm of its superb location.
Santa Ines, Mission of the Virgin and Martyr Agnes,
more like San Luis Rey and San Gabriel, stands in a
quiet valley where one looks instinctively for sheep and
shepherds, and on the mountain slopes of which beau-
tiful trees lure the eyes to the peaceful quiet of the star-
lit skies.
La Purisima Concepcion, too, nestles in such a se-
cluded valley as the Holy Maiden might have sought
when the angels had informed her that she was about
to bear a son.
San Luis, Obispo — proud Saint and Bishop — had
a more lordly location. Near to two commanding peaks,
bearing his official name, with surroundings of valley
and snow-clad mountains, named after Santa Lucia, his
Mission was far more wonderful and striking in loca-
tion when it stood alone than when, as now, surrounded
with the varied houses of men of high and low degree.
San Miguel, Arcangel, companion to San Gabriel, had
a no less noble valley for the location of his Mission,
while that dedicated to Our Lady of Solitude was near
to the Salinas River, with sequoia-clad hills behind and
far-away Sierras before :
" A swaying line of snowy white,
A fringe of heaven hung in sight
Against the blue base of the sky,"
while beds and beds, acre after acre, of golden glowing
poppies lay between.
Then who that has stood before dignified San Antonio
de Padua has not felt that some heavenly visitant to
earth selected this spot for the well-beloved of his Lord?
62 California, Romantic and Beautiful
With an oak-dotted valley, a quietly-flowing stream
before, and a glorious tree- and chaparral-clad moun-
tain behind it seemed like a building planted of God.
And so also with San Juan Bautista, Mission San
Jose, Santa Clara, San Rafael, and San Francisco So-
lano. All are in fertile valleys with mountains surround-
ing and looking down in blessing upon them. San
Francisco de Assisi was especially favoured, as was also
San Carlos Borromeo in the valley of the Rio Carmelo.
The former site was chosen by that brave, energetic and
public-spirited officer, Don Juan Bautista de Anza, who
marched from Northern Sonora over the wastes of
Arizona, across the Colorado River and the desolate
desert of the same name, by San Gabriel, Santa Barbara
and Santa Clara to the newly-discovered harbour. His
keen eye saw the charm of location, overlooking the
Bay, Mt. Tamalpais, and the Contra Costa — the coast
across — in Marin County and over the Berkeley, Oak-
land and Piedmont Hills. It was a famous location
known now to every boy and girl in the educated world,
and early became the city of their dreams, desire and
ambition.
The site on the Rio Carmelo was chosen by the mas-
ter-eye of Serra. He saw the pastoral beauty of the
valley and its richly-clad hills, its towering peaks, and
its far-reaching ocean Point, where a lighthouse now
guides the vessels that grope through the fogs that often
linger off-shore. Sunrises and sunsets alike bathed the
Mission in a sea of glory, enhanced by the quiet Bay
beyond. Santa Cruz also had a beautiful and sightly
location, overlooking the Bay of Monterey, and the site
of one of the prosperous resort towns of the Pacific
Coast.
For varied beauty and scenic splendour it is question-
Franciscan Missions of California 63
able whether any twenty-one churches in any country
on earth can vie with the location of these twenty-one
Mission structures. They are saturated with Romance,
and bathe for ever in an atmosphere of Beauty, glory
and ineffable charm.
Of the architectural beauty of the Missions a whole
volume might be written. Each has its own charm,
some less, some more. From the standpoint of pure
mission style that of San Luis Rey is the most perfect.
Santa Barbara is much admired, but the introduction
of the Greek pillars in the fachada destroys its purity.
San Diego is interesting as showing the first evidence
of what the " Mission Style " was to be. and San An-
tonio de Padua, Santa Ines, San Gabriel, San Francisco
de Assisi all have their individual attractions. On this
subject I have written more fully in other volumes.^
1 In and Out of the Old Missions, with 142 illustrations, 392 pages, and
The Old Franciscan Missions of California, over 100 illustrations, 287 pages,
and two other volumes now in preparation.
CHAPTER V
CALIFORNIA, THE LAND OF PROPHECY
" Dared I but say a prophecy,
As sang the holy men of old,
Of rock-built cities yet to be
Along these shining shores of gold,
Crowding athirst into the sea,
What wondrous marvels might be told!
Enough, to know that Empire here
Shall burn her loftiest, brightest star;
Here art and eloquence shall reign,
As o'er the wolf -rear 'd realm of old;
Here learn'd and famous from afar,
To pay their noble court, shall come,
And shall not seek or see in vain,
But look and look with wonder dumb."
Thus sang the inspired Poet of the Sierras, he who
forsook the crowded cities of men to dwell in the soli-
tude of his Hights, overlooking Oakland and the Bay
and City of San Francisco, in order that there, unin-
terrupted or undisturbed by man, he might " listen to
the voice of God " and tell the world of the messages
he had received.
And again, in even loftier strain, he lifted up his
voice and sang:
" A land from out whose depths shall rise
The new-time prophets. Yea, the land
From out whose awful depths shall come,
A lowly man, with dusty feet,
A man fresh from his Maker's hand,
A singer singing oversweet,
A charmer charming very wise;
And then all men shall not be dumb,
64
California, the Land of Prophecy 65
Nay, not be dumb; for he shall say,
' Take heed, for I prepare the way
For weary feet.' Lo! from this land
Of Jordan streams and dead sea sand,
The Christ shall come when next the race
Of man shall look upon His face."
The Ship in the Desert.
Still once again, after he had planted with his own
hands ten thousand trees upon his Hights in the form
of a cross, and tenderly cared for and watered them
in summer time with the precious fluid which he per-
sonally carried from the spring below, replacing those
that died with new ones, he again sang in forceful
prophecy :
" Behold my Sierras! there singers shall throng;
Their white brows shall break through the wings of the night
As the fierce condor breaks through the clouds in his flight;
And I here plant the Cross and possess them with song."
What a truthful, forceful and yet poetic and symbolic
line is that last line. How it sets before the imaginative
eye the old Spanish explorers, Cabrillo, Vizcaino and the
rest, who, when they first reached this California land,
left their vessels, clad in their most gorgeous and stately
robes, led by chanting priests carrying aloft the Cross,
the emblem of the Christian religion. Then, amid
salvos of musketry, the Cross was planted erect, ine
Te Deum was sung, prayers were uttered and with
pomp and ceremony, eloquence and enthusiasm the new
land was taken possession of for God and the King of
Spain.
Joaquin planted his cross of living trees, as he told
his sweet daughter, Juanita : " I planted my first trees
[on the Hights] in the shape of a cross, to teach us all
to look up to the cross, to never fret under the cross we
66 California, Romantic and Beautiful
bear, nor to forget Him, for sorrow has its place," and
then he possessed the Sierras not for any king, but pos-
sessed them with song for the singers that his prophetic
vision saw were to come. And even in his hfetime his
vision began to be true. There came to him. attracted
by the same natural power that had so influenced his
own soul, Edwin Markham. the poet whose Man ivith
the Hoc aroused the thought of the world; Yone
Noguchi, now Professor of English Literature in the
University of Japan; Adelaide Knapp, whose Upland
Pastures is sweetest breath of pure poesy in prose form ;
Takeshi Kanno, another Japanese, whose poetic crea-
tions abound in strong conceptions and fine lines, as,
" Now, invisible hand of mighty Creator forges human
souls on the anvil of passion," and " Her life was music.
She dove into the ocean of Death like a white sea-bird."
Gertrude Boyle Kanno, the wife of Takeshi, for years
has also made here in clay some imperishable jXDr-
traits of poets, artists and human benefactors. Not far
away came George Sterling, of whose imaginative poetry-
Ambrose Bierce wrote that it had never been equalled
in the world's literature since Dante ; Mary Austin,
whose Land of Little Rain is one of the classics of Amer-
ican literature ; Herman Whitaker, Frank Norris, Jack
London, Gertrude Atherton, and a host of others whose
literary work is compelling- the attention of the world.
But prophecy came from the lips and pens of others
in this California land who were contemporaneous with
Joaquin. Ina Coolbrith in her California thus sang:
Lo! I have waited long!
How longer yet must my strung harp be dumb,
Ere its great master come?
Till the fair singer comes to wake the strong,
Rapt chords of it unto the new, glad song!
k
California, the Land of Prophecy 67
Him a diviner speech
My song-birds wait to teach:
The secrets of the field
My blossoms will not jneld
To other hands than his;
And, lingering for this,
My laurels lend the glory of their boughs
To crown no narrower brows.
For on his lips must wisdom sit with youth,
And in his eyes, and on the lids thereof,
The light of a great love —
And on his forehead, Truth! ...
In another chapter are quoted those vivid and preg-
nant prose prophecies of Bayard Taylor, world-trav-
eller, observer and philosopher. But not content with
this, he put them into ringing verse. After speaking
of man's hand guiding the driving plough and the miner
rifling the placers he continues :
Yet in thy lap, thus rudely rent and torn,
A nobler seed shall be;
Mother of mighty men, thou shalt not mourn
Thy lost virginity!
Thy human children shall restore the grace
Gone with thy fallen pines;
The wild, barbaric beauty of thy face
Shall round to classic Hnes.
And Order, Justice, Social Law shall curb
Thy untamed energies;
And Art and Science, with their dreams superb.
Replace thine ancient ease.
The marble, sleeping in thy mountains now,
Shall live in sculptures rare;
Thy native oak shall crown the sage's brow, —
Thy bay, the poet's hair.
Thy tawny hills shall bleed their purple wine,
Thy valleys yield their oil;
And Music, with her eloquence divine,
Persuade thy sons to toil.
68 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Till Hesper, as he trims his silver beam,
No happier land shall see,
And Earth shall find her old Arcadian dream
Restored again in thee!
Even De Mofras, the French visitor to Los Angeles
in 1842, recorded a Spanish woman's prophecy in re-
gard to CaHfornia : " When the Frenchmen come the
women will surrender; when the Americans come,
good-bye to California!"
Charles Warren Stoddard, one of her earliest and
sweetest singers thus described and prophesied for the
land he loved so well :
Oh, thou, my best beloved! My pride, my boast,
Stretching thy glorious length along the West;
Within the girdle of thy sunlit coast.
From pine to palm, from palm to every crest,
All fruits, all flowers, all cereals are blest.
. . . Dowered with the clime of climes,
At thy fair feet the alien heapeth spoil;
The poet chanteth thee in praiseful rhymes;
He sees the banner of thy fate uncoil —
A thousand cities springing from thy soil.
Bom of young hopes, but nurtured in the brawn.
Wrought by the brave and tireless hands of toil,
To house a nobler race when we are gone —
A race prophetical, that bides the coming dawn.
A later voice was found in Charles Keeler, who in his
Songs of El Dorado thus sang his vision:
There is an earnest in this westward slope
Of high achievements, glorious enterprise, —
A mighty stirring of expectant hope;
Still on beyond the El Dorado lies!
Beauty shall here hold court upon the heights
And men shall fashion temples for her shrine,
With chantings high of praise and starward flights
Of silver chords and organ's throb divine.
California, the Land of Prophecy 69
The sculptor here shall hew the formless stone
To shapes of beauty dreamed on cloud-throned crest;
The painter shall reveal what he alone
Saw as he brooded on th' earth-mother's breast.
Another wonderful nature awakened to vocal expres-
sion by the glories of this western land is Miss Sharlot
M. Hall. At times almost imprisoned by physical dis-
abilities, silie has yet felt the lure so strongly that she
has wandered where many a strong man might hesitate
to follow. And she has written mightily and gloriously
of her loved land. Read this, and feel how California
and the Great West it stands for has aroused her in-
most being:
When the world of waters was parted by the stroke of a mighty rod,
Her eyes were first of the lands of earth to look on the face of God;
The white mists robed and throned her, and the sun in his orbit wide
Bent down from his ultimate pathway and claimed her his chosen bride;
And He that had formed and dowered her with the dower of a royal queen,
Decreed her the strength of mighty hills, the peace of the plains between;
The silence of utmost desert, and canyons rifted and riven,
And the music of wide-flung forests where strong winds shout to heaven.
Then high and apart He set her, and bade the grey seas guard,
And the lean sands clutching her garment's hem keep stern and solemn ward.
What dreams she knew as she waited! What strange keels touched her
shore!
And feet went into the stillness, and returned to the sea no more.
They passed through her dreams like shadows — till she woke one preg-
nant morn,
And watched Magellan's white-winged ships swing round the ice-bound
Horn;
She thrilled to their masterful presage, those dauntless sails from afar,
And laughed as she leaned to the ocean till her face shone out like a star.
And men who toiled in the drudging hives of a world as flat as a floor
Thrilled in their souls to her laughter, and turned with hand to the door;
And creeds as hoary as Adam, and feuds as old as Cain,
Fell deaf on the ear that barkened and caught that far refrain:
70 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Into dungeons by light forgotten, and prisons of grim despair,
Hope came with the pale reflection of her star on the swooning air;
And the old hedged, human whirlpool, with its seething misery,
Burst through — as a pent-up river breaks through to the healing sea.
Calling — calling — calling — resistless, imperative, strong —
Soldier, and priest, and dreamer — she drew them, a mighty throng.
The unmapped seas took tribute of many a dauntless band,
And many a brave hope measured but bleaching bones in the sand;
Yet for one that fell, a hundred sprang out to fill his place,
For death at her call was sweeter than life in a tamer race.
Sinew and bone she drew them; steel-thewed — r and the weaklings shrank —
Grim-wrought of granite and iron were the men of her foremost rank.
The wanderers of earth turned to her — outcast of the older lands —
With a promise and hope in their pleading, and she reached them pitying
hands;
And she cried to the Old- World cities that drowse by the Eastern main;
" Send me your weary, house-worn broods and I'll send you Men againi
Lo, here in my wind-swept reaches, by my marshalled peaks of snow,
Is room for a larger reaping than your o'er-tilled fields can grow;
Seed of the Man-Seed springing to stature and strength in my sun,
Free with a limitless freedom no battles of men have won."
Undoubtedly the first great California prophet was
that glorious and now glorified Franciscan, Father Juni-
pero Serra. When he was commanded to go forth to
the spiritual conquest of Alta California, I doubt not
he threw himself prostrate before the Lord, and with
fasting and prayer pleaded to be made worthy his high
calling. As soon as he gazed upon the extensive ran-
chcrias of San Diego, of Gauchama, — the Vale of
Plenty near San Bernardino, — of the Santa Barbara
region, of the valley now San Luis Obispo, of the Sali-
nas and the mountains near by, of the Bays of Monterey
and San Francisco, how his heart yearned towards these
heathen, and how his vivid and confident vision saw
the grace of God at work in its divine and illimitable
fashion. Serra thought not of worldly prosperity, he
California, the Land of Prophecy 71
cared nothing for " material progress," for accumulated
fortunes, for great cities. His was a limited vision, but
a grand and blessed one. He saw these tens of thou-
sands of Gentiles redeemed by the salvation of Christ
and the saving ordinances of the church.
And then, practical idealist, he worked day and night
to bring his vision to reality. Up and down the land
he trod in tireless ardour; in sunshine and rain he
prayed with and for his dusky charges; like an eagle
mother caring for her eaglets he watched over his flock
and fought, with teeth and talons, fist and tongue, even
to principalities and powers, governors and viceroys who
stood in the way of his vision's realization, and when
at last he laid down his precious burden and his dying-
eyes closed upon the things of earth, he could still see
the nine Missions he had been allowed to establish, he
could hear the voices of the nearly six thousand con-
verted Indians (almost every one of whom his hands
had blessed in the sacred rite of Confirmation) chant-
ing the holy songs of Zion, he could hear the looms
and machines, the busy hum of thousands at labour, at
recitation, at even-song or matins, he could see the Mis-
sion flocks and herds, the scores of acres of vineyard,
orchard and garden, and the thousands of acres of grain,
and above all he could see the New Jerusalem, where
had gone the immortal souls that he felt were saved
through the faithful preaching and teaching /of tlie
Word by himself and his well-beloved co-labourers.
Blessed vision ! blessed Serra I Prophet and worker,
visionary and realist in one. God was good to thee and
our hearts rejoice in thy satisfaction.
The Missions a failure? The work of the padres
brought to naught? Their labours vain?
Nay, say not so! That man who so speaks or writes
72 California, Romantic and Beautiful
never had his heart fired with prophet's vision, or flamed
with a spark from the Divine altar. The Missions must
never be judged by standards of material success. The
flocks and herds of the Missions might disappear, the
orchards and gardens be allowed to become unkempt
and overgrown with weeds, even the sacred buildings of
the Missions allowed to fall into ruin and hopeless decay,
and the Indians themselves dispersed and destroyed,
yet the efforts of the padres were not in vain. Souls
and souls alone were the merchandise for which they
bargained, toiled and slaved. Their ever present watch-
word was the cry of ONE who spake as never man
spake, as one having authority : " What shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul ? " The souls of countless thousands were saved,
— according to the belief of Serra and his fellow-work-
ers. The Missions were but means to this end, and
though in the latter years of the dark times of seculari-
zation and of the hell-sweeping influence of the morally
corrupt, drink-cursed portion of the white race, it seemed
as if they were erected for naught, we know, whatever
may be our religious faith or no faith, the influences of
the padres, even though only in memories, were always
of good, were always God-wards, and thus, so long as
an Indian's life persisted, even though it was debauched
and defiled with the filth and mire of the " civilized "
race's vices, it retained glimpses of the Divine which
we firmly believe resulted in its ultimate reception into
the land of the blest.
Then, too, shall we forget in this connection, the
glorious example of Serra and his devoted brothers of
the Order of Friars Minor, their unselfish devotion to
a spiritual end, their tireless labours, their abnegation,
their total renunciation of all most men hold dear. Is
California, the Land of Prophecy 73
such an example as this nothing, in an age when most
men deem material success of highest importance? And
is the architecture they becjueathed to us, and which is
now stimulating to highest endeavour some of our great-
est creative minds, an evidence of failure? Every Mis-
sion-influenced church, hospital, railway-depot, school-
house, library, private home is a tribute, unconscious it
may be, to the triumphant labours of the padres. Their
vision extended far. It saw the Christianization and
civilization of a whole people. But we realize that it
has extended far beyond the highest conception and
imagination of its original seer and in lines not contem-
plated by him. but which mean comfort, happiness, in-
spiration and blessing to a new race which inherits the
land.
Joaquin Miller sang not only his songs of prophecy
of this fair land, but he also sang sweetly and surely of
his faith in it. Sang a faith that itself was a prophecy
of what man should here find. And in this I believe he
sang better than he knew :
Nay, turn not to the past for light;
Nay, teach not Pagan tale forsooth
Behind lie heathen gods and night,
Before lift high, white light and truth.
Sweet Orpheus looked back, and lo,
Hell met his eyes and endless woe!
Lot's wife looked back, and for this fell
To something even worse than hell.
Let us have faith, sail, seek and find
The new world and the new world's ways:
Blind Homer led the blind!
Come, let us kindle faith in light!
Yon eagle climbing to the sun
Keeps not the straightest course in sight,
But room and reach of wing and run
74 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Of rounding circle all are his,
Till he at last bathes in the light
Of worlds that look far down on this
Arena's battle for the right.
The stoutest sail that braves the breeze,
The bravest battle-ship that rides.
Rides rounding up the seas.
Come, let us kindle faith in man!
What though yon eagle, where he swings,
May moult a feather in God's plan
Of broader, stronger, better wings!
Why, let the moulted feathers lie
As thick as leaves upon the lawn :
These be but proof we cleave the sky
And still round on and on and on.
Fear not for moulting feathers; nay,
But rather fear when all seems fair.
And care is far away.
Come, let us kindle faith in God!
He made, He kept. He still can keep.
The storm obeys His burning rod.
The storm brought Christ to walk the deep.
Trust God to round His own at will;
Trust God to keep His own for aye —
Or strife or strike, or well or ill;
An eagle climbing up the sky —
A meteor down from heaven hurled —
Trust God to round, reform, or rock
His new-bom baby world.
Of certain of its cities the prophet's voice has spoken
in no uncertain terms. Who of Saxon blood could
gaze upon San Francisco and not fully understand
[ Bayard Taylor's vision : " The view of San Francisco,
from either Rincon or Telegraph Hill, surpasses — I
say it boldly — that of any other American city. It has
the noblest natural surroundings, and will, in the course
of time, become the rival of Genoa, or Naples, or even
Constantinople." This prophecy has become ti-ue.
California, the Land of Prophecy 75
f Bret Harte's
Thou drawcst all things, small or great,
To thee, beside the western gate.
Ina Coolbrith's forceful words, written while her heart
was torn at the sight of the city of her love and her
desire in the ashes of the lire of 1906, have already be-
come realized :
Thou wilt arise invincible, supreme!
The earth to voice thy glory never tire.
And song, unborn, shall chant no nobler theme,
Proud city of my love and my desire.
Howard V. Sutherland felt the same prophetic impulse
when he said of San Francisco :
One whose voice shall sound
In days to come life's truth the world around
And wake earth's leaders from their gold-drugged rest.
But I am compelled to pause here. The theme is but
presented in suggestive skeleton. Variations upon it by
a score, a hundred poets could be reproduced, but these
must suffice. The best prophecies for the future are
the unrivalled achievements of the past. They speak
of what a few generations hence shall see.
CHAPTER VI
ON THE HEIGHTS
When Gertrude Atherton, easily the most famous of
» America's living women writers of fiction, was asked
what book she was fondest of and read oftenest, she
immediately replied to the effect that she knew of but
one book that was good enough to demand of her a
rereading every year, and that was Clarence King's
f Mountaineering in California. Every one who really
knows the book ranks it as a classic. In the same cate-
gory must be placed John Muir's Mountains of Cali-
fornia, My First Summer in the Sierras, and The Yo-
seniite Valley; and J. Smeaton Chase's Yoscmite Trails
runs these very closely. Thousands — literally thou-
sands — of magazine and newspaper articles of supe-
rior merit have been inspired by these mountains, and
David Starr Jordan in his Alps of the King-Kern Di-
vide partially explains why. He says: "The High
f Sierras, the huge crests at the head of the King's, Kern,
Kaweah, and San Joaquin Rivers, are Alps indeed, not
lower than the grandest of those in Europe, and scarcelv
inferior in magnificence. The number of peaks in this
region which pass the limit of 13,000 feet is not less
than in all Switzerland." He then continues to expa-
tiate on the points of difference between the Alps and
the Sierras in such fashion as the following : " We find
in the mountains of Switzerland greater variety of form,
and of rock formation, and with greater picturesqueness
76
On the Heights 77
in colour, the white of the snow being sharply contrasted
with the green of the flower-carpeted pastures. . . . The
Sierras are richer in colour, and they throb with life.
The dry air that flows over them is stimulating, balsam-
laden, and always transparent to the vision. The Alps
are almost always bathed or sw^athed in clouds. Their
air is clear only when it has been newly washed by some
wild storm. . . .
" The glacial basins of the High Sierras, huge tracts
of polished granite, furrowed by streams and fringed
with mountain vegetation are far more impressive than
similar regions in the Alps. In the Alps the glaciers
are still alive and at work. In the Sierras, a few little
ones are left here and there, high on the flanks of preci-
pices, but the valleys below them, once filled with ice,
are now bare, slickened and sharp-backed or clogged with
moraines, just as the glaciers left them. The wreck
of the vanished glacier, as in Ouzel Basin of Mt. Brewer,
and Desolation Valley of Pyramid Peak, may tell us
more of what a glacier does than a living glacier it-
self. . . .
" The forests of the Sierras are beyond comparison
nobler than those of the Alps. The pine, fir, and la-rch
woods of Switzerland are only second growth, mere
brush, by the side of the huge pines of the flanks of the
Sierras. Giant firs and spruces, too, rival the largest
trees of earth, while above all, supremely preeminent
over all other vegetation, towers the giant Sequoia,
mightiest of trees."
Two other points of superiority Dr. Jordan thus
states : " So far as man is concerned, there are great
differences between the Sierras and the Alps. The Alps
have good roads, trails, hotels everywhere. They are
thoroughly civilized, provided with guides, guide-posts.
78 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ropes and railings, and the traveller, whatever else he
may do, cannot go astray. If he gets lost he has plenty
of company. The Sierras are uninhabited. In their
high reaches there is no hotel, and not often a shed or
a roof of any kind. The trails are rough, and when
one climbs out from the canyons he has only to go as
he pleases. But wherever he goes he cannot fail to be
pleased. The Sierras are far more hospitable than the
Alps, and the danger of accident is far less. Every day
in the Alps may be a day of storm, and no one can
safely sleep in the open air. In the Sierras there are
but two or three rainy days in the summer, and these
are thunder-showers in August afternoons. The weather
is scarcely a factor to be considered; every day is a
good day, one or two perhaps a little better.
" The traveller is sure of dry, clear air, a little brisk
and frosty in the morning, making a blanket welcome,
but all he needs is a blanket. For luxury he will make
a bonfire of dry branches — pine, cedar, cottonwood, all
burn alike — and there is always a dead tree ready to
his hand. He will build his fire near the brook that
he may put out its smouldering embers in the morning.
No matter how high his flame may rise in the evening,
with morning only embers are left. . . .
" In the High Sierras, the form of the mountains
favours the climber. Each peak is part of a great anti-
clinal fold, broken and precipitous on the east side,
retaining the original slope on the west. Most of the
mountains about Mt. Whitney share the form of that
mountain. A gentle slope on the west side, covered
by broken, frost-bitten rocks ; on the east side a per-
pendicular descent to an abyss. On the east and north
almost every peak is vertical and inaccessible, while the
west side offers no difficulty. Only time and patience
On the Heights 79
are demanded to creep upward over the broken stones
and climb the highest of them. All of them require
endurance, for they are very high, but few of them
demand any special skill or any nervous strain, and the
views the summits yield are most repaying."
Here, then, is the dictum of an experienced European
mountain climber, one who has scaled Mt. Blanc, the
Matterhorn and other Alpine summits. Yet he speaks
with enthusiasm of the superiority, in many respects,
of the Sierras. They are richer in colour, they throb
with life, their atmosphere is clearer, freer from storms,
their glacial basins are more impressive, more educative,
the forests are beyond comparison, the Sierras are less
civilized but more hospitable, and the form of the moun-
tains favours the climber. All these assertions every
one who has climbed both the Alps and the Sierras can
positively confirm. Hence no American mountain
climber need wander over to Europe, — or elsewhere for
that matter, — until he has first tested his mettle in
triumphing over the peaks of the Sierras. He will find
here more than a hundred peaks over ten thousand feet
high, and possibly one-fifth of these are over fourteen
thousand feet in the blue.
That there is romance in climbing them, as well as
beauty, is easily to be discovered in reading the books
mentioned, but he who can climb personally and is con-
tent with the reading of books about climbing is a poor
apology for a man. From end to end California bristles
with peaks, calling upon men to strenuous and trium-
phant exertion. At Hotel del Coronado, Mt. San Mi-
guel, the Cuyamaca peaks, Lyon, Volcan, Palomar, all
invite to the delightful effort of scaling their heights.
Cuyamaca is about 6.500 feet above the sea and affords
one of the most varied outlooks offered by any moun-
80 California, Romantic and Beautiful
tain of the region. The pearly faced Pacific hes like
a smooth sea of glass, a divine mirror for the heavenly
beings to gaze in, on the west, while close at one's feet
yawn vast chasms thousands of feet deep, broken up
by ridge after ridge, all clothed wuth chaparral, pre-
paring the eye for the more triumphant note of the
forests that surround the mountain in every direction.
To the east is another sea, — a gray sea, a tawny sea
of desert sand, glimmering and shimmering in the sun,
but now relieved by a great eye of pale green water, —
the wonderful Salton Sea, that has invaded and held
for over a decade, the basin of the desert. Between us
and the desert lie ridge after ridge of green, blue and
gray mountains, — green with rich verdure, blue with
atmospheric haze, gray with naked rocks, while to the
north, some eighty to a hundred miles away, tower up
gigantic San Gorgonio, San Bernardino, and the lengthy
ridge of San Jacinto, all with snowy crowns glittering
in the morning sun.
Nearer to us are the Palomar Mountains, almost as
high as Cuyamaca, forest clad on their heights, grassy
and brown on the lower slopes, and with timber-filled
gulches and ravines between them. Away off in the
south, stretching into Mexico, are more mountains, with
miles and miles of broad plains and valleys between,
where golden grain, deep green lemon, orange, olive
and almond orchards speak of peace and prosperity.
I spoke of exertion in climbing these mountains.
Time was when there was no other way. One made
the ascent partially on horseback, perhaps, but gener-
ally over rugged trails on foot. But Time is a great
civilizer and produces wonderful changes, and the in-
coming of the automobile has made such tremendous
inroads into our former wilds as almost to destroy
On the Heights 81
preexistent conditions. For instance, in my diary for a
certain day in February, 1914, I find the following entry :
" This morning started out from San Diego with the
Preacher's Chib of the city. We motored out about
sixty or seventy miles, most of us riding without over-
coats. After kmch and an address under the trees, some
of us desired to go further, so we rolled on up hill and
down dale, securing a joyous experience in the varied
scenery presented — fertile, cultivated valleys, smiling
in the richness of their new verdure; rugged mountain
slopes equally smiling in their wild and beautiful chap-
arral; frowning mountain heights, where rude and
jagged rocks forbade any but the most hardy of arboreal
life to find place, everything radiating tints and tones
of colour that ravished the eye. We climbed up the
Cuyamaca grade to within a few hundred feet of the
summit, passing through groves of trees, and, on the
north and shady sides of the mountain, finding patches
of snow. Several of my companions cried out in de-
light at this, and wished the machine to stop that they
might dabble their hands in it — as one had not touched
snow for five years, since he left Minnesota, another
seven, since he was in New England, another, four, in
Wisconsin, etc. Then, remarkable and thrilling con-
trast, within ten minutes, on the eastern side of the
grade, we gazed into the heart of the Colorado Desert,
saw the gorgeously glowing Chuckawalla Mountains,
and nestling at their feet and filling up the Salton Basin
was the pale greenish-blue expanse of the mysterious
Salton Sea."
Redlands, Riverside. San Bernardino and Colton have
a galaxy of glorious mountains surrounding them all
calling for climbers. And these are not mere foothills,
as many so-called mountains are. San Gorgonio, San
82 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Bernardino and San Jacinto are respectively 11,725,
11.025, and 10,805 feet above sea-level, and not far away
are the Cucamonga peaks and San Antonio, very little
inferior. All may be reached now on horseback, and
San Antonio is so near to Los Angeles and Pasadena,
and there are so many " camps " in the canyons beneath,
that scores of men and women annually make the ascent,
leaving their homes in the morning on the electric cars,
and after lunching on the summit return before night-
fall.
Another lesser peak, Mt. Santiago, looms up over the
Santa Ana region. This is the Banner Mountain of
the Sierra Santa Ana, for it is so near to the ocean that
the fog often becomes entangled in its rocky masses
and trails off into streamers and banners that exquisitely
reflect the morning or evening sun.
San Buenaventura has its Topatopa, a rocky summit
reached after a steep and genuine climb up the Sespe, or
the Ojai, and Santa Barbara, its several peaks up the
rugged Santa Ines (generally, but incorrectly spelled
Santa Ynez). It was over this range that Fremont came
in December, 1846, on the way to Los Angeles, near
which, at Cahuenga, the capitulation of the Californians
was signed January 13, 1847. He thus describes his
experiences : " On Christmas Eve we encamped on the
ridge of Santa Ines behind Santa Barbara. The morning
of Christmas broke in the darkness of a southeasterly
storm with torrents of cold rain, which swept the rocky
face of the precipitous mountain down which we de-
scended to the plain. All traces of trails were washed
away by the deluge of water, and pack-animals slid over
the rocks and fell down the precipices, blinded by the
driving rain. In the descent over a hundred horses were
lost. At night we halted in the timber at the foot of
On the Heights 83
the mountain, the artillery and baggage strewed along
our track, as on the trail of a defeated army."
Beyond Santa Barbara, near San Luis Obispo, are
the peaks and ridges of the Santa Lucia Mountains,
Santa Lucia Peak, 5,967 feet, being the highest in the
Coast Range. In the Salinas Valley is Gabilan Peak,
about 3,000 feet high, upon which Fremont and his men
camped and defied General Castro of the Mexican forces,
when the latter bid him leave the country.
San Jose has its Mt. Llamilton — reached, however,
by well built automobile road, though I climbed to its
summit many years ago over cow trails or worse ; and
all around the Santa Clara Valley there are interesting
climbs of a few thousand feet.
Mt. Tamalpais, north of San Francisco, has its own
railway, and Mt. Diablo, from which the base line of
this meridian is run, is an easy climb on foot or horse-
back.
Mt. St. Helena, made famous by Robert Louis Ste-
venson as the place of his honeymoon, and the scene of
The Silverado Squatters, overlooks the exquisitely cul-
tured vineyard-valley of Napa, and the wild and tum-
bled region to the north leading into Lake County.
There is a good horse trail to the summit, and scores go
up to see the Stevenson Monument.
All the way to the Oregon line there are peaks and
ridges well worth climbing, though in actual altitude
they are so insignificant compared with the peaks of
the Sierras that they are not regarded generally in the
mountain category.
Crossing over eastwards the Siskiyous afford several
good climbs, and then Mt. Shasta looms up, white and
serene, the dominating mountain of all northern Cali-
fornia. This is so sublime a peak and so wonderfully
84 California, Romantic and Beautiful
romantic in its history and associations that a special
chapter is devoted to it.
All the way down the Sacramento Valley the Sierras
call to the intrepid climber. A score of trails, more or
less rough and rugged, lead to as many salient peaks, and
one can spend ten summer vacations and not exhaust
all that this portion of the Sierras afford. The same
ma)^ be said of the peaks reached from the San Joaquin
Valley.
Almost midway between the two lies Lake Tahoe
with its mountain environment, the chief resort region
of the Sierras, — after the Yosemite Valley, — and each
of these is of such interest and importance as to demand
a separate chapter.
The Kings and Kern River Divide of the Sierras and
the Mt. Whitney region are growingly accessible, and
each is a paradise for the mountain climber. There is
no more thrilling and fascinating story of American
mountain climbing than Clarence King's account of his
ascent and descent of Mt. Tyndall. He and his com-
panion, Cotter, had five glorious days — days that
quicken one's pulse and stimulate one's brain merely to
read about, so what must they have been to experience ?
Take the last long paragraph :
" The wall of our mountain sank abruptly to the left,
opening for the first time an outlook to the eastward.
Deep — it seemed almost vertical — beneath us we
could see the blue water of Owen's Lake, ten thousand
feet down. The summit peaks to the north were piled
in titanic confusion, their ridges overhanging the eastern
slope with terrible abruptness. Clustered upon the
shelves and plateaus below were several frozen lakes,
and in all directions swept magnificent fields of snow.
The summit was nov/ not over five hundred feet distant,
On the Heights 85
and we started on again with the exhilarating hope of
success. But if Nature had intended to secure the sum-
mit from assailants, she could not have planned her
defences better ; for the smooth granite wall which rose
above the snow-slope continued, apparently, quite round
the peak, and we looked in great anxiety to see if there
was not one place where it might be climbed. It was
all blank except in one place; quite near us the snow
bridged across the crevice, and rose in a long point to
the simimit of the wall, — a great icicle-column frozen
in a niche of the blufif, — its base about ten feet wide,
narrowing to two feet at the top. We climbed to the
base of this spire of ice, and, with the utmost care, began
to cut our stairwa3^ The material was an exceedingly
compacted snow, passing into clear ice as it neared the
rock. We climbed the first half of it with comparative
ease; after that it was almost vertical, and so thin that
we did not dare to cut the footsteps deep enough to
make them absolutely safe. There was a constant dread
lest our ladder should break ofif, and we be thrown either
down the snow-slope or into the bottom of the crevasse.
At last, in order to prevent myself from falling over
backwards, I was obliged to thrust my hand into the
crack between the ice and the wall, and the spire became
so narrow that I could do this on both sides ; so that
the climb was made as upon a tree, cutting mere toe-
holes and embracing the whole column of ice in my
arms. At last I reached the top, and, with the greatest
caution, wormed my body over the brink, and rolling-
out upon the smooth surface of the granite, looked over
and watched Cotter make his climb. He came steadily
up, with no sense of nervousness, until he got to the
narrow part of the ice, and here he stopped and looked
up with a forlorn face to me; but as he climbed up.
86 California, Romantic and Beautiful
over the edge, tlie broad smile came back to his face,
and he asked me if it had occurred to me that we had,
by and by, to go down again.
" We had now an easy slope to the summit, and hur-
ried up over rocks and ice, reaching the crest at exactly
twelve o'clock. I rang my hammer upon the topmost
rock; we grasped hands, and I reverently named the
grand peak Mount Tyndall."
Equally graphic and vivid is John Muir's account of
his own ascent of Mt. Ritter. Of this mountain he
says : " It is king of the mountains of the middle por-
tion of the High Sierra, as Shasta of the north and
Whitney of the south sections. Moreover, as far as I
know, it had never been climbed. I had explored the
adjacent wilderness summer after summer, but my stud-
ies thus far had never drawn me to the top of it. Its
height above sea-level is about 13,300 feet, and it is
fenced round by steeply inclined glaciers, and canyons
of tremendous depths and ruggedness, which render it
almost inaccessible. But difficulties of this kind only
exhilarate the mountaineer. . . ." It is a regret to cut
out one word of the preliminary experiences, especially
those of sleeping in the nook of a pine-thicket in the
close company of five or six birds nestling among the
tassels; of the coming up of the night gale; of the sun's
morning greeting; of the climbing over a slope of hard
granular snow with a surface ipitted into ovals which,
as it got steeper, was likely to shed him off like ava-
lanching snow, until at last the divide was reached
between the headwaters of Rush Creek and the north-
ernmost tributaries of the San Joaquin. Now John
ATuir himself:
" Arriving on the summit of this dividing crest, one
of the most exciting pieces of pure wilderness was dis-
On the Heights 87
closed that I ever discovered in all my mountaineering.
There, immediately in front, loomed the majestic mass
of Mount Ritter, witli a glacier swooping down its face
nearly to my feet, then curving westward and pouring
its frozen flood into a dark blue lake, whose shores were
bound with precipices of crystalline snow ; while a deep
chasm drawn between the divide and the glacier sep-
arated the massive picture from everything else. I could
see only the one sublime mountain, the one glacier, the
one lake ; the whole veiled with one blue shadow — rock,
ice, and water close together without a single leaf or
sign of life. After gazing spellbound, I began instinc-
tively to scrutinize every notch and gorge and weathered
buttress of the mountain, with reference to making the
ascent. The entire front above the glacier appeared as
one tremendous precipice, slightly receding at the top,
and bristling with spires and pinnacles set above one
another in formidable array. Massive lichen-stained
battlements stood forward here and there, hacked at the
top with angular notches, and separated by frosty gul-
lies and recesses that have been veiled in shadow ever
since their creation ; while to right and left, as far as
I could see, were huge, crumbling buttresses, offering
no hope to the climber. The head of the glacier sends
up a few finger-like branches through narrow couloirs;
but these seemed too steep and short to be available,
especially as I had no ax with which to cut steps, and
the numerous narrow-throated gullies down which
stones and snow are avalanched seemed hopelessly steep,
besides being interrupted by vertical cliffs ; while the
whole front was rendered still more terribly forbidding
by the chill shadow and the gloomy blackness of the
rocks.
" Descending the divide in a hesitating mood, I picked
88 California, Romantic and Beautiful
my way across the yawning chasm at the foot, and
climbed out upon the glacier. ... I succeeded in gain-
ing the foot of the cliff on the eastern extremity of the
glacier, and there discovered the mouth of a narrow
avalanche gully, through which I began to climb, intend-
ing to follow it as far as possible, and at least obtain
some fine wild views for my pains. Its general course
is oblique to the plane of the mountain-face, and the
metamorphic slates of which the mountain is built are
cut by cleavage planes in such a way that they weather
off in angular blocks, giving rise to irregular steps that
greatly facilitate climbing on the sheer places. I thus
made my way into a wilderness of crumbling spires and
battlements, built together in bewildering combinations,
and glazed in many places with a thin coating of ice,
which I had to hammer off with stones. The situation
was becoming gradually more perilous ; but, having
passed several dangerous spots, I dared not think of
descending; for, so steep was the entire ascent, one
would inevitably fall to the glacier in case a single mis-
step was made. Knowing, therefore, the tried danger
beneath, I became all the more anxious concerning the
developments to be made above, and began to be con-
scious of a vague foreboding of what actually befell ;
not that I was given to fear, but rather because my
instincts, usually so positive and true, seemed vitiated
in some way, and were leading me astray. At length,
after attaining an elevation of about 12,800 feet, I
found myself at the foot of a sheer drop in the bed of
the avalanche cliannel I was tracing, which seemed abso-
lutely to bar further progress. It was only about forty-
five or fifty feet high, and somewhat roughened by fis-
sures and projections; but these seemed so slight and
insecure, as footholds, that I tried hard to avoid the
On the Heights 89
precipice altogether, by scaling the wall of the channel
on either side. But, though less steep, the walls were
smoother than the obstructing rock, and repeated efforts
only showed that I must either go ahead or turn back.
The tried dangers beneath seemed even greater than that
of the cliff in front; therefore, after scanning its face
again and again, I began to scale it, picking my holds
with intense caution. After gaining a point about half-
w^ay to the top, I was suddenly brought to a dead stop,
with arms outspread, clinging close to the face of the
rock, unable to move hand or foot either up or down.
My doom appeared fixed. I viiist fall. There would be
a moment of bewilderment, and then a lifeless rumble
down the one general precipice to the glacier below.
" When this final danger flashed upon me, I became
nerve-shaken for the first time since setting foot on the
mountains, and my mind seemed to fill with a stifling
smoke. But this terrible eclipse lasted only a moment,
when life blazed forth again with preternatural clear-
ness. I seemed suddenly to become possessed with a
new sense. The other self, bygone experiences. Instinct,
or Guardian Angel, — call it what you will, — came
forward and assumed control. Then my trembling mus-
cles became firm again, every rift and flaw in the rock-
was seen as through a microscope, and my limbs moved
with a positiveness and precision with w^hich I seemed
to have nothing at all to do. Had I been borne aloft
upon wnngs, my deliverance could not have been more
complete.
" Above this memorable spot, the face of the moun-
tain is still more savagely hacked and torn. It is a
maze of yawning chasms and gullies, in the angles of
which rise beetling crags and piles of detached boulders
that seem to have been gotten ready to be launched
90 California, Romantic and Beautiful
below. But the strange influx of strength I had re-
ceived seemed inexhaustible. I found a way without
effort, and soon stood upon the topmost crag in the
blessed light.
" How truly glorious the landscape circled around
this noble summit ! — giant mountains, valleys innumer-
able, glaciers and meadows, rivers and lakes, with the
wide blue sky bent tenderly over them all. But in my
first hour of freedom from that terrible shadow, the
sunlight in which I was laving seemed all in all." ^
Then there are the Santa Cruz Mountains, — moun-
tains only by courtesy in California, for their average
altitude is not higher than 2,500 feet, and the highest
peak, Loma Prieta — Black Mountain — reaches only
4,287 feet. Another interesting peak is Ben Lomond,
overlooking the winding course of the San Lorenzo
River. Good trails reach all the salient points on these
mountains, although there are still many wild and almost
inaccessible places not far from the California Redwood
Park. This park comprises some four thousand acres
and was purchased by the State with the avowed object
of preserving for posterity, in all their native wildness
and grandeur, a group large enough to be called a forest,
of these kings of arboreal growth. It is never to be
cultivated; it is to remain wild; only roads and trails
sufficient to allow, its deepest recesses to be reached are
to be constructed, and such work done as is essential
to its safety from fire.
Every reader of Bret Harte will recall how he revelled
in the scenery of these mountains when they were far
less civilized than they are to-day. Flip opens with a
description that could have been written only by one
familiar with the facts : " The heated air was filled and
^Mountains of California, pp. 61, 62, 64, 65, The Centurj- Co.
On the Heights 91
stifling with resinous exhalations. The dehrious spices
of bahii, bay, spruce, juniper, yerba buena, wild syringa,
and strange aromatic herbs as yet unclassified, distilled
and evaporated in that mighty heat, seemed to fire with
a midsummer madness all who breathed their fumes.
. . . Nevertheless, instead of enervating man and beast,
it was said to have induced the wildest exaltation."
Later he tells of the fogs that float in from the bay,
tlien the w^onderful clouds, finally the winds and the rain.
The rainfall here is five times, or more, what it is in
Southern California. The result is seen in the rich
verdure that clothes all the mountain slopes. Nothing
in the Berkshire Hills, the Connecticut River Valley, the
Green Mountains of Vermont, surpasses the rich green
of the spring, summer, fall and winter here, and this is
one of the delights, to Easterners, to find so much that
is usual and familiar with so much that is peculiar and
strange.
It is one of the romances connected wnth the moun-
tains and deserts that they are great " climate breeders."
One looks up to, and over, them with new wonder and
respect when he realizes that they have much to do with
making the climate he so much appreciates. No one
has written more effectively and interestingly upon this
subject than Theodore S. Van Dyke, in his Southern
California. He clearly shows, when on the summit of
Mt. Cuyamaca, where the cool summer breeze of South-
ern California comes from. Half a mile or more deep
it flows in from the ocean, caused by the suction of the
heated air, rapidly ascending from the face of the Colo-
rado Desert, whose basin, six thousand feet deep, lies
just beyond to the east. At night the current is re-
versed, owing to the more rapid radiation of the heat
through drier air on the desert, than on the verdure-
92 California, Romantic and Beautiful
covered western slopes. Hence there is a constant alter-
nation of cool breezes, both purified in God's own lab-
oratories of desert and ocean and sweetened by contact
with myriads of balsam-laden trees which crown the
moimtain-tops and line the slopes over which the cur-
rents flow.
It is the peculiar juxtaposition of desert, mountain,
plain and ocean that creates the peculiar diversities of
climate that exist in Southern California. In the Colo-
rado Desert — on the eastern side of the mountains —
the summers are the hottest known in the United States,
while over the range, fifty, sixty miles away, on the
coast from Santa Monica down, they are the coolest,
and between the two is every combination that moun-
tains and valleys can produce.
More than most mountains those of California are
romantic in the marvellous way in which they supply
far-away cities with their needful water. A few years
ago the civilized world was astounded that a city of
some 350,000 inhabitants had bonded itself in the great
sum of twenty-four and a half million dollars to secure
an adequate water-supply. For years Los Angeles had
been growing so rapidly that the water problem began
to engage the serious attention of those whose duty it
was to provide for the enlarging wants of the commu-
nity. Though there is water under the whole plain upon
which the city stands the supply is limited and to draw
upon it for the needs of the city would have prevented
country development and thus have reacted unfavourably
upon the city. Hence a bold plan was suggested by a
former mayor, dul}^ considered, deemed feasible, pre-
sented to the people, voted upon, adopted and carried out.
It was no less than the capturing of the flood waters of
Owens River, on the eastern slope of the Sierras, 250
On the Heights 93
miles away, impounding them in reservoirs and then
tunnelling, piping, siphoning, and canalling them through
and over the apparently impassable mountains, foothills,
plains, deserts, canyons and ravines to Los Angeles. By
votes of ten to one the people approved of the plans and
of the bonds. This was in 1907.
Before work could be begun on the aqueduct 215
miles of road, 230 miles of pipe-line, 218 miles of power
transmission line, and ^^yj miles of telegraph and tele-
phone line had to be constructed.
Tunnels had to be driven, — the Elizabeth Lake tun-
nel of 26,870 feet, and the Red Rock, about two miles.
The " Jawbone " division is a series of tunnels of vary-
ing length, connected by short stretches of conduit, and
crossing the deeper and wider canyons in inverted steel
siphons. There are 12.07 niiles of tunnel, 7.47 miles of
conduit, .04 of a mile of flume, and 2.2 miles of steel
siphon. This siphon is the most imposing piece of
work on the aqueduct. Its total length is 8,136 feet
and it varies from 7 feet 6 inches to 10 feet in diam-
eter. The maximum head on the pipe is 850 feet, and
its total weight is 3,243 tons.
The city also decided to vote three and a half million
additional bonds for the establishment of electric power
plants on the system. The engineers showed that they
could develop about 72,000 horse-power electric energy,
the sale of which would materially help in paying the
interest on the bonds. The private electric corporations
fought this bond issue in the courts, but the law was
finally decided in the interests of the people and the
project is being carried out.
In San Francisco the same call has been made upon
the mountains for its water-supply. Unfortunately the
site selected for its main reservoir is the famous Hetch
M California, Romantic and Beautiful
Hetchy Valley. Those who love the natural scenic fea-
tures of the Sierras and hate to see them destroyed
protested against this desecration of this beauty spot.
They argue that Hetch Hetchy was not the only avail-
able site, therefore this destruction of one of the world's
scenic wonders was unnecessary. But the so-called
practical men of the city won in the conflict and Con-
gress finally passed the bill. By the time this book is in
type there is no doubt that work will be well under way
and in a few years San Francisco will receive its water-
supply from tlie High Sierras in close proximity to the
Yosemite Valley.
In intimate connection with the water of the moun-
tains is the electric power that is now being generated
therefrom.
Romance never imagined anything more wonderful,
astonishing, or startling. Think of all the electric cars
in the city of San Francisco, in Oakland, Berkeley, Ala-
meda, Piedmont, Fruitvale, and all the towns, cities, and
villages of the Sacramento Valley, — for even villages
and country ranches are reached now by speeding inter-
urban electric car systems. Think of the electric light
plants, — the millions upon millions of candle-power
used nightly in these cities, towns and villages, of elec-
tric fans, of electric heaters, of electric power used in
a thousand and one factories, of electricity supplied to
automobile storage batteries, of the power used for elec-
tric welding of iron and steel, of the saws run by elec-
tricity, the printing-presses, the lathes, grindstones, drill-
ing and planing machines — aye, the myriads of meth-
ods by which men make this subtle power of the universe
accomplish their purposes and do their work, — and all
this latent power is stored and generated in these far-
away mountain summits. It seems incredible — it is ro-
On the Heights 95
mantic in the extreme, and romantic because it is of so
recent development, and even yet, so few of those who
are its beneficiaries have the remotest idea of the how
and whence of the electric power they so readily and
complacently use. Here is my lady, piloting her electric
limousine through the crowded city streets. Does she
dream that the power that she releases by the mere press-
ing of her tiny foot upon a lever was created in the
High Sierras, two, three hundred miles away, in the
solitude of wide spaces, of snow-clad peaks, of dense
forests, of deep-walled canyons?
The sufferer from toothache sits in the dentist's chair.
The operator fixes a tiny wheel into the socket of an
instrument, touches a spring, and the next moment the
suffering tooth is being ground or bored, and, by and
by, the relief comes — brought on a wire from the far-
away summits of the Sierras.
For there, nestling between towering peaks and
rugged canyon walls, are a score or more of artificial
lakes. Lakes made by the power of man, where, per-
haps, in the dim centuries agone prior to the glacial
epoch, natural lakes existed. Nature originally made
them, and then unmade them, and now man has stepped
in, dammed up the broken ramparts and restored them
to their original and pristine beauty.
One of the most picturesque and romantic of these
made lakes is Lake Spaulding, which lies some five miles
north of Emigrant Gap, near the snowsheds of the
Southern Pacific Railway. This is but one of a chain
of storage reservoirs which fonned a part of the old
South Yuba Water Company's system. In the early days
of placer mining the engineers exercised their ingenuity
and skill to store water and then convey it in canals,
pipes, flumes and siphons to the far-away, or near-by,
96 California, Romantic and Beautiful
placers, where with its tremendous energy it tore down
banks and walls of gravel and sand in which the precious
metal had been hidden for countless centuries.
In course of time this industry received its death-blow
through the courts. The sand and silt — locally called
slickens — washed down into the creeks, and thence into
the smaller rivers and finall}^ into the Sacramento, so
filled up the river-beds and flooded the fields and pas-
tures as to be a serious menace to agriculture. The
farmers took the matter into the courts, where, after
long and expensive litigation, decisions were rendered
afiinning that as farming and horticulture were of
greater l^enefit to the State than placer mining, and as
the continuance of the latter meant the death of the
former in the affected areas, the mining must cease.
But water was needed for irrigation of hitherto unde-
veloped lands, and there was also a growing demand for
water for the farmhouses, villages and towns that grew
up and flourished as agricultural areas increased. The
water companies, therefore, turned their placer-mining
water facilities into the new directions.
Then, later, as the need for electric energy increased
by leaps and bounds, hydraulic and electrical engineers
put their heads together and the stored water of the
Sierras came into new use for the generation of power.
In 1895 the first charge of electric energy in California
was shot along high-tension wnres from a little plant
on the American River near Folsom to the city of Sac-
ramento, twenty-two miles distant. To-day the region
of hydro-electric development in the Golden State
stretches from the Oregon line to the southernmost bor-
der. Yet the aggregate of water-power developed to-
day is in the neighbourhood of but 450,000 horse-power,
while according to the estimates of the United States
On the Heights 97
Department of Agriculture the potential development
reaches up into the millions.
The original dam that made the first Lake Spaulding
was erected in 1892. In 1905 the Pacific Gas and Elec-
tric Company purchased the rights of the old company.
In 19 1 2 they began the work of enlarging the lake and
everything connected with it. An army of men worked
day and night, for the season for work is short, and
before winter snows began to fall the foundation of the
new dam had been placed and the structure stood thirty-
eisrht feet above bed-rock. At the same time work on
a mile-long tunnel to be bored through the solid rock
leading from the dam site was proceeded with. It took
all winter to complete it, the two gangs, working from
opposite ends, meeting in the centre in May, 19 13.
Canals were enlarged, power-houses with all necessary
plants erected and provided, siphons put into place, steel
skeleton towers erected all the way down to San Fran-
cisco, aluminum wires strung, transforming stations
built. Then, as soon as spring came, and allowed the
recontinuance of dam building, the army of concrete
pourers rushed back to their posts and the dam was
raised from thirty-eight feet to three hundred. and five
feet, — the highest dam above river-bed in the world.
Even to bring the dam up to the 225 foot level required
the placing of 155,000 yards of concrete, and the vast-
ness of this work will be understood when it is told that
it takes a very large city building to require one thousand
yards.
But inert water cannot generate power. The Lake
Spaulding water had to be conveyed to a suitable spot
where a drop could be had to give force to the inert
liquid. The place was found and millions of pounds
of steel pipe, made by Californians by a method discov-
98 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ered by a Californian, were put into place. The water
M'as made to drop — plunge — fall down a 1,375 foot
precipice into the wheels at the Drum power-house, and
there the miracle of conversion to electric power began,
and will continue so long as the plant exists. The hith-
erto useless water generates 33,000 horse-power of elec-
tricity, and when the plant is complete it will be capable
of sending over the wires 150,000 horse-power.
Is it not romance of the highest order that when a
passenger steps from his transcontinental train on the
Oakland pier at night-time, and the ferryboat begins to
plough across the Bay to San Francisco, all the brilliant
electric lights that illuminate the city of the western
hills and the Golden Gate gain their shine and glisten
from transformed glaciers and snow-banks in the Sierras
upwards of two hundred miles away. Thus modern
commercialism transcends the days of chivali*y, of the
Crusades, of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, of tourneys
and tournaments, in its marvellous romance of scientific
achievement.
And it is not one city alone that is thus fortunate.
This romantic power is felt from one end of the State
to the other.
Take the city of Los Angele?"^r instance. Twenty-
five years ago electricity was practically unknown. Yet
all the latent powers of Nature, the storms that brought
the snow, the winds that blew the rain-clouds from the
Pacific ON'cr the Sierras, the brooklets that concentrated
the rainfall, and the tricklings from innumerable springs
into the mountain basins scooped out centuries ago by
the glaciers — all these were in existence, simply wait-
ing for the brain and hands of man to develop them.
See what a quarter of a century has brought forth !
Stand with me in the High Sierras, about seventy miles
On the Heights 99
east of the city of Fresno. Here we are in the absolute
wilds of the mountains and yet we soon observe that
man has been at work. In the narrow pass down which
flows Big Creek, one of the sources of the San Joaquin
River, a dam has been erected. At another point, still
another dam has built up the Valley Basin, thus making
it a gigantic reservoir or lake, several miles long.
In the olden days this water used to dash down the
mountain-side in roaring cascades, dashing waterfalls,
and tiny creeks lashed into foam by obstructing boulders.
Now the flow is concentrated and compelled to make one
gigantic leap of over two thousand feet, confined in a
pipe. It drops into the maw of electric generators, which
hum a new tune of man's creating different in theme and
motive from the wild songs of the past. The power thus
generated is then sent over aluminum wires, over moun-
tains, hills, canyons, ravines, rivers, plains and deserts
to the city of Los Angeles, nearly three hundred miles
away.
How many people are there living in Los Angeles
who have the remotest conception of the link that con-
nects this wild scene of the Sierras with their pleasure
and comfort? Yet, it is true that every car-wheel oper-
ated in this City of the Queen of the Angels, and all
electric power of every kind is developed in the High
Sierras, and brought hither over the wires.
It took the work of over 3,500 men and twelve mil-
lions of dollars to accomplish this, and they had to bore
a tunnel through the solid granite twelve feet in diameter
and six miles long, and string up on poles eight million
pounds of aluminum wires before one ounce of electric
energy could be transmitted.
The streams of the eastern slopes of the Sierras, also,
have felt this harnessing power of man. When the
100 California, Romant ic and Beautiful
mining camps of Goldfield and Tonopah, in Nevada,
sprang so suddenly into existence in 1904, there was
a great demand for concentrated power, and a company-
undertook the development of hydro-electric energy from
Bishop Creek, a tributary of the Owens River. This
creek, is about fourteen miles long and in this distance
it falls 5,500 feet, or nearly 400 feet to the mile. It
flows between canyon walls which have an average height
of 1,000 feet. The particular romantic interest attaching
to the plants established here, arises from the fact that
the water is used seven different times, and that the
electric generating stations are at different elevations, so
that the same water is used for driving them " tandem."
Two reservoirs were created, nestling at the heads of
canyons, surrounded by almost vertical cliffs reaching
far above to the jagged minarets and glaciered crevices
of the granite peaks of the Sierras. From the time the
water leaves the reservoir until it is discharged from the
generator at the seventh station it is carried in pipes.
This not only conserves the water and allows perfect
regulation of its flow, but it prevents ice or snow from
entering and clogging or injuring the machinery. For
it must be remembered that the highest of these plants
is over 8,000 feet elevation, nearly 1,500 feet higher than
the summit of Mt. Washington, the dominating mountain
monarch of the whole of the Eastern States. After
doing service in the generation of power at 8,000 feet,
the water drops to 7,112 feet, then to 6,276, 5,156, 4,730
and 4,460, turning the electric generators at each sta-
tion and forcing out tremendous energy upon the alumi-
num wires. These are stretched on tow^ers for nearly
250 miles southward — not counting the mileage from
Bishop Creek into Nevada — over hills and plains to
the Mohave Desert and thence to San Bernardino, Riv-
On the Heights 101
erside and the Ferris Valley. The wires are now being
extended through the Coachella Valley, over the Colo-
rado Desert into the Imperial Valley, there to aid in
the further development of that wonderful region whose
rapid rise into note has been and is the greatest agricul-
tural romance of the century.
Surely, with such facts as these before us, the words
of the Hebrew Scriptures take on a new and wonderful
meaning : " I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help." The forces of God are many
and varied, and slowly man is beginning to know them
and avail himself of their help.
Before leaving the subject of the mountains a brief
reference must be made to what they offer in winter.
Too long have Calif oniians, as well as strangers, re-
garded them as inaccessible and impossible wlien clothed
in their winter robes. Writers and travellers have told
us of the depth to which the snow falls, rendering the
passes and roads inaccessible, so that those who are com-
pelled to stay for the winter in their heights are inevi-
tably shut in and solitary until the spring comes to re-
lease them from their icy bondage. Miss Gordon-Cum-
ming, in her interesting Granite Crags, thus refers to'
the dangers : " Thanks to huge snow-shoes, ten or twelve
feet long, turned up in front like the runner of a skate,
and with a leather strap in the middle, which is lightly
laced over the instep, a good deal of travelling can be
done on tolerably level ground; but of course these are
utterly useless in traversing diffjcult mountain-ridges
[the italics are mine], where the rocky paths are no
child's playground at any time, being merely trails wind-
ing along almost precipitous crags, or crumbling slopes
of disintegrated rock, which at any moment may give
way to the constant action of wind and weather and
102 California, Romantic and Beautiful
natural drainage, and glide down with headlong crash,
to find rest in the valley some thousand feet below.
''Of course in the deep snow every familiar landmark
is so utterly changed, that the oldest hunter could
scarcely guess where, beneath the smooth expanse of
beautiful, treacherous white, lies the hidden path ; and
rash indeed must be the man who attempts to force his
way in defiance of the snow-king."
I have quoted thus extensively and emphasized one
■of the " of courses," because the opinions herein ex-
pressed are common. Never were " of courses " more
absurd and irrelevant. They seem to be clear and in-
controvertible, but that is because both writer and reader
take for granted what appears reasonable to their inex-
perience. How I would that all to whom these " of
courses '" appeal could have seen the Snow Carnival at
Truckee in the winter of 19 13-14, when men and women
used the snow-shoes — the Scandinavian skis, pronounced
skees — as ordinary people wear shoes. How I would
like them to read the account of Snow-Shoe Thomp-
son's skimming over the High Sierras, even when fierce
storms and blizzards were raging, carrying mail-sacks
weighing from sixty to as high as one hundred pounds.
Yes, " of course, in the deep snow every familiar land-
mark is utterly changed," but no one cares a rap, and
as for the " hidden path beneath the smooth expanse of
beautiful, treacherous white," who wants the hidden
path ? How utterly short-sighted and blind we are when
dealing with unfamiliar things. I have gone miles and
miles on snow-shoes where there was no other path than
the glorious and perfect one made by the freshly-fallen
snow, and even though the landmarks were changed, the
general courses were easily determined, and the joy of
snow-shoeing is that one can go over ravines (a hun-
^^^^B
^^^^^^^^^^^^B^' '
" '■-7. ^r^j-
On the Heights 103
dred, two hundred feet deep in snow), over precipices,
over chaparral, over bad-lands, over rivers, creeks and
the ordinary obstructions that compel deviations from a
straight course during good weather, and pay little or
no attention to them. There is a freedom, a delight, an
exhilaration in thus riding or walking — no, gliding —
straight ahead, on the snowy surface, over places where
one must cautiously and laboriously climb in summer
weather, that words fail to express. Dr. J. E. Church,
Jr., of Reno, Nevada, the founder and conductor of the
Mt. Rose Observatory, connected with the University of
Nevada, revels in the joy of scaling the nearly eleven
thousand foot altitude of Mt. Rose to his observatory
v^'hen the winter's snow is at its deepest.
How Dick Michaelis, the rare guide of Glen /Vlpine,
in the Tahoe region, would laugh at the statement that
snow-shoes are utterly useless in traversing difficult
mountain-ridges. So would Bob Watson, the best posted
guide of the Tahoe region, wdio, year after year, has
accompanied a few enthusiastic California snow-shoers
from Lake Tahoe, over the wild ridges, canyons, slopes
and mountain shoulders of the Rubicon, American and
other rivers, at their headwaters in the Sierra Nevada.
A new delight awaits Americans of real athletic heart
— women as well as men. That is of scaling the moun-
tains of California in the snow. The chief hotels of the
Tahoe region should keep open all the year, and would
do so, if Americans and others who visit California in
winter were awake to the joys of which they now know
nothing. To skim up Glen Alpine, under the trees near
Fallen Leaf Lake, over the pass into Desolation Valley,
— where the snow falls and drifts to a depth of ten,
twenty, thirty, fifty feet, and where neither rugged
boulders, rocky slopes or glacial lakes interfere with
104 California, Romantic and Beautiful
one's progress, — through Mosquito Pass, down the
Rubicon, and so on, and up and down, and back again,
is a joy comparable only to flying through the air in
a modern biplane, riding in one's dreams on the giant
auk with Sinbad the sailor, or on the Magic Carpet of
the Oriental wizard. Of course it is strenuous, and of
course, one takes some chances of upsets, of storms, of
accidents. So does the cross-country rider, the aero-
planist, the desert and mountain automobilist, the ordi-
nary mountain climber, but such strenuous adventurers
gain a thrill, a bite into life's apple that more than com-
pensates for all the risks.
x'
CHAPTER VII
ON MOUNTAIN TRAILS
In the East there are " bridle paths." Here there
are only " trails." There the paths are largely found
in city parks, where there is as much formality and con-
vention in riding as there is in the observance of eticjuette
in the dining-room. Here the trails are over mountains,
through almost virgin forests, down nearly inaccessible
canyons, over rugged ridges, many of them scarce used
except by the deer, lynx, coyote and mountain lion,
mere aids to men in the rough-hewing out of a new
world, where convention is little heeded, and etiquette
an unknown word, and where a man's riding is as the
wind.
The first trail makers were the wild animals. Going
to and from water, seeking food, they pushed their way
through brush and around rocks, over streams and
through bogs and marshes; they forded streams, as-
cended mountains, tracked their prey through forests,
descended abysmal canyons, and braved the heat, the
waterlessness,. the sand-storms and solitude of the desert
equally with the snow, wind and rain storms, the tor-
rents and the ruggedness of the mountains.
Then came the Indian ; as much a son of Nature as
the four-footed beast ; he used the trails ready made,
and here and there improved them. They were the only
highways and byways of the country until the white man
came. Some of these appeared to the Indian to come
105
106 California, Romantic and Beautiful
in gigantic white-winged birds that skimmed over the
face of the mighty ocean and carried on their backs
scores of men, who were clad in leather jackets which
turned the arrows fiercely fired against them, or made
the javelins, spears and lances thrown at them fall harm-
lessly to the ground. Others were men of stern face,
unsmiling and severe, worse even than their own sha-
mans or medicine-men, who sang songs and went through
mysterious incantations that angered their gods and
brought evil upon them.
Others of these white-faced men came over the land
riding on strange four-footed beasts, unlike any they
had ever seen before. They carried heavy sticks in their
hands, from which lightning and death-dealing thunder-
bolts were discharged at will.
These were self-willed, domineering, conquering men,
who said Go ! and they must go. Come ! and they must
come, who demanded that this and that be done, and
who, now and again, stole their wives and daughters,
and against whose power they were helpless to prevent,
rescue or be revenged.
Then they began to build great Jiawas, kans, or
churches, as they called them, for the worship of their
strange and unknown God, who was so different from
their own many gods; and they demanded work of every
man, woman and child in the land. Soon they increased
in number, and after building these churches all the In-
dians were engaged in their activities from the land of
the cactus and burning sands of the South to the big
trees and snowy mountain ranges of the North.
Then, suddenly, yellow pieces of rock were found that
seemed to send these white men crazy. They hunted
high and low for it everywhere, and with the passing
of a few moons the white-winged birds of the sea, which
On Mountain Trails 107
the Indians now knew were shifts, brought more white
men by the hundreds, the thousands, the tens of thou-
sands. The}^ also poured in over the mountain passes
in wagons drawn by bullocks, oxen and horses. They
rode in by every possible and impossible trail, and scores
and hundreds came in afoot, all eager, all anxious, all
hurried, all determined to find the yellow rock, or to
wrest the sand of the same colour from the bottoms of
the streams, or even out of the face of the hills.
What turmoil, what excitement, what changes ! On
their hillsides of peace and quiet for untold centuries
towns sprang up. By the Big Water scores, hundreds,
thousands of these white men built a vast city, whose
kans were in straight lines, in which they hoarded corn
and wheat and flour and fruit and vegetables and eat-
ables the Indians had never before heard of ; enough to
feed all the Indians of the land for many moons. They
also brought with them fire-water, water that burned the
lips and tongue and throat as it went down, that made
tears come to the eyes, but that made the drinker feel
that he was the unaided master of the dreaded mountain-
lion and lynx, aye, that would send him forth undaunted
and assured to slay the fierce and hitherto unconquer-
able grizzly.
Then, then, began the great era of trails. The white
man was irresistible. He was indefatigable. He was
restless. He would go everywhere. His knife, his
tomahawk were not of flint, but of a cutting-power
that surpassed anything ever before seen. He called the
material " steel," and he had implements he called pick-
axes, drills, shovels, and black sand he called powder,
which, when placed in holes, forced by hammer and
drill into the hardest and most immovable rock, rent it
In twain with a fierce, loud noise and a hateful smoke,
108 California, Romantic and Beautiful
but that showed how unconquerable were these pale-
faced strangers from the lands beyond the mountains
and the sea.
And thus trail-making in a modern sense began, until
now California is lined, seamed, scarred and criss-crossed
with trails that lead one to marvellous heights, through
paradises of delights, into abysmal depths of astonish-
ment and sublimity, through forests of perpetual gloom,
by streams of blue and magical white, and by lakes of
perennial beauty. To give the newcomer in California
a mere touch and go of the romance and beauty of these
trails is .the purpose of this chapter.
Go to any city, town or village in the State and ask
to be taken over a mountain, canyon or forest trail, and
you can scarcely fail to be accommodated. From San
Diego on the South to Eureka, Weed and Ft. Bidwell
on the North there are trails everywhere. Trails into
the Sierras, the Coast Range, the Santa Cruz Mountains,
the Sierra Santa Ines, Palomar Mountains, the Siski-
yous. Trails through the forests, into the canyons and
along the Cliffs of the Sea.
Well do I remember one of my earliest experiences
trailing over into the W^arner Spur of the Sierras, in
Modoc County, nearly thirty years ago, with beloved
Joseph Le Conte, the eminent geologist of the University
of California, and his son Joe — now also a professor
in the same university. We met at Reno, Nevada, the
two Le Contes coming by train, and I in a buckboard
drawn by four horses. We rode over two hundred miles
thus to Eagleville in Surprise Valley, and then trans-
ferred our sleeping-outfit and provisions to pack-animals.
What fun we had packing! We had only one pack-
saddle, and while Dr. Le Conte knew how to do it, he
preferred to let his son and myself " fight it out " for
ALONG (ILAt'lER TR.AIL.
On Mountain Trails 109
ourselves, after he had once shown iis how. It is half
the battle, if one is going for a prolonged camping trip,
to know how to pack swiftly and securely. Our packs
slipped sideways, backwards and forwards. They were
top-heavy, lop-sided and wobblety. They were every-
thing they ought not to have been and nothing they
should have been.
Now I know enough to take good pack-saddles, with
a pair of kyaxcs for each animal. A kyax is a box, large
enough to hold two five-gallon cans, but made of green
rawhide, stretched upon a wooden skeleton. It is light,
flexible and strong. With one of these strung from the
pack-saddle on each side of the animal, the load is care-
fully balanced, as each side must have as near as pos-
sible the same weight. The smallest heavy goods ■ —
canned provisions, sugar and the like, are placed in the
kyaxes, taking care that all supplies are in strong canvas
bags (which cannot burst and spill the contents). Upon
these things and in the crotch of the saddle the larger
and heavier things may be set, and then, over all, the
bedding", firmly and securely covered by canvas to pre-
vent tearing and catching upon trees or rugged rocks.
The final triumph of the packer's art is the tying on of
the pack. This should be done with the diamond hitch,
a style of rope lashing that the experience of many years
has demonstrated is the most secure.
But in those early days I knew nothing of the diamond
hitch, and I doubt w^hether Dr. Le Conte did. Anyhow
we didn't use it, and at every place where horses could
disarrange a pack, our horses succeeded, without effort,
in doing so. Our trail was none too good and clear,
and sometimes we got lost in the woods. Then was the
time for the pack-animals. They would neither lead,
follow, nor be driven. Their chief desire seemed to be
110 California, Romantic and Beautiful
to get out of sight, as speedily as possible, and then
either lie d9wn, or rub against the trees to work off their
packs. Poor creatures ! I can sympathize with them
now, for doubtless they were \'ery uncomfortable.
At one place — I can see them now — we came to a
stream flowing through a mountain meadow. The water
had cut the earth down several feet, so that the only
way to cross was to jump. Our own saddle-animals
went across without any demur, but when the pack-ani-
mals sprang something happened in every case. On one
pack we had tied our coffee-pot and several other jan-
gling pieces of tinware. When " Jennie " — for that
was the name of the patient carrier of the tinware —
jumped, the tinware made such an unexpected clatter,
or hit her in some rude fashion, that she was startled,
and before any one could prevent she was off like a
streak of yellow and dirty white lightning, evidently
scared out of all the senses she had.
Another pony, " Bob,'' managed to turn his pack, and
this so scared him that he began to make the most vig-
orous efforts to rid himself of it by kicking it from under
his belly with his two hind feet. Somehow one foot
caught, and in the jerk, threw him with such force that
most of the wind was knocked out of his body, as one
could tell by the deep, long, groaning sigh he let forth.
" Belle " was equally unfortunate. Her pack slipped
sideways in such fashion that she viewed its bulge on
her starboard side with suspicion. She gave it a vicious
side-swipe with her right hind foot and then started off,
in a sidling or almost circular fashion, until she suc-
ceeded in loosening everything. This scattered the few
wits sihe had left, and as if possessed with all the devils
that entered the swine of Gadara, she started off for the
North Pole, or the other, bucking furiously at every
On Mountain Trails 111
jump. Coffee, sugar, canned beans, condensed milk,
flour, a bottle that Dr. Le Conte used as a rolling-pin,
and a score of other articles were scattered in the melee.
Joe and I were frantic. But the doctor sat on his horse
laughing until the tears ran down his cheeks, until finally
he had to dismount to do his chortling and chuckling
on terra finna.
It took us a long time to gather our scattered horses
and goods and repack, and we both came to the con-
clusion that unless they were more expert than we most
packers well earned their $2.50 per diem.
Last week I took another brief packing trip. Leav-
ing Los Angeles on the four o'clock car, and riding to
Sierra Madre, with several companions, we put our sev-
eral belongings on a burro and started up the trail for
the Muir Lodge of the Sierra Club, up Little Santa Anita
Canyon. For more than half the distance the trail is
cut shelf-like on the slopes of Mt. Wilson, and as one
ascends he gains more and more expansive views of the
rich San Gabriel Valley. Most of it is now planted out
to orchards of oranges, lemons, grape-fruit, almonds,
peaches, apricots and pears, or to alfalfa or grain of some
kind. A score, a hundred different tints and shades of
green, contrast, harmonize, set off, each other, while the
scars of the various " washes," — the flood courses of
the rivers and streams, — like gigantic serpents stretch
their gray and tawny lengths from one side of the valley
to the other. After a long ascent, the ridge is reached,
then begins the descent into the bed of the canyon. The
trail is pretty much the same, — through chaparral of
a. dozen varieties, and with flowers of a thousand kinds,
— but the outlook is now down upon the winding course
of the canyon and its sheltered trees, and into the hidden
recesses of the rugged mountain. From below ascends
112 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the heavy roar of the stream, for there is still plenty
of water, though the heavy winter rains have passed.
Indeed, as soon as we reached the bed of the canyon,
we found vivid reminders that this year's storms have
been extra severe. It had rapidly been darkening as
we descended, and our guide ahead discovered changes
in the trail caused by earth-slides, or washing away by
the flood. Now for an hour and a half we felt our way,
crossing and recrossing the stream, almost guessing at
the trail a large part of the time, for so many portions
had been completely washed out, that changes innumer-
able had taken place. The pack-burro insisted upon
going where the old trail ought to be and refused to
cross the stream at new places ; those who were afoot
found it hard in the dark to cross the stream where
boulders were scarce. The only light we had was from
two ingeniously-constructed lanterns, called " bugs " —
made by taking a discarded tin can, rudely boring a
hole at one side, into which a candle is thrust, then wir-
ing a handle into the other side and using the mouth of
the can as a searchlight. Blunderingly, stumblingly we
crept along. There was little or no light from the stars,
and the moon was away off elsewhere. The trees grew
thicker, the noisy stream noisier as we proceeded. At
last we reached the houses, the bungalows, shacks or
cottages of those who have leased spaces from the For-
estry Department, and from now on the trail was more
certain. The flashing lights from uncurtained windows
dazzled our eyes yet gave a kind of silent welcome, and
now and again a shout of cheer arose from the inmates
in response to some cryptic yell given forth by our leader.
At last the signs told him that we were nearing the
Lodge. A meeting was to be held and the time assured
us the throng must already have assembled, hence his an-
On Mountain Trails 113
nouncing shout was eagerly responded to by half a dozen
sentinels. Heartily but hastily our hands were clasped
in greeting and a chair was provided for us in the door-
way, from which satisfactory outlook we could see the
crowd of men and women within, as well as the Lodge
itself, — a granite boulder building, with an immense
hospitable fireplace, beyond which a wide cushioned
lounge or seat lined the wall and continued around the
end and part of the opposite side of the building. It
is a locker, for the seat lifts on its hinges and allows
the deposition therein of rolls of bedding, sleeping-bags,
and the like of the members, who use the Lodge as their
headquarters for weekly, biweekly, monthly or casual
visits to the canyon, and its cushion, if necessary, makes
the basis of a good camping-out bed.
At the other end of the room is the library, — for these
city mountaineers are readers — and of good literature,
too, though most of the books deal with the mountains.
Flanking the bookcases on one side is the locker room
for the Sierra Club members, and on the other the
kitchen, where a kind of " large family " cooking ar-
rangements are provided for.
On the mantel above the fireplace is a fine auto-
graphed photograph of the honoured president of the
Club, — John Muir, — and the walls are dotted with
superior photographs of mountain scenes, waterfalls,
canyons, tree touches that have been contributed by the
members.
After an interesting evening cots and a few blankets
were provided in the open, and we were soon sleeping
the sleep of the healthfully weary under the silent stars
and canopied with the blue dome of God's own out-of-
doors. Though we had had lots of fun coming up the
trail in the dark, it was left for the morning to enable
114 California, Romantic and Beautiful
us to go still higher to the beautiful falls beyond, and
to climb to its lip and from thence look down on the dap-
pled surface of the tree-tops beneath. Glinting and glis-
tening in the sun, played upon by the breeze, alder and
sycamore, pine and willow each offered its own con-
tribution to the leafy dance of colour and rhythm, while
the sparkle of blue water, dashing foam and gray granite
beneath gave added notes of beauty. Fifty, a hundred,
or more of the Club members and their friends — school-
teachers, clerks, bookkeepers, heads of business firms —
were climbing the hills beyond, quietly sitting by the
stream, at the foot of the falls, or under the shade of
the trees. Some were clearly alone, — loafing and in-
viting their own souls, — while others were enjoying the
exuberance of the spring morning in its canyon expres-
sion with their friends.
Quiet mountaineering certainly, involving a compara-
tively easy walk up on Saturday night, and an equally
easy return Sunday evening or Monday morning, but
what a blessed way of spending the Sabbath for weary
city men and women. There is no sweetener of human
life more reliable and sure than the mountains. Flee
to them. Help comes to body, mind and soul as of yore.
The trees wave you a hearty welcome and afford shade
and shelter; the brook sings, in liquid, rich cadences,
its joyful message of the beauty of life and work, and
at night soothes you with the assurance that " something
attempted, something done, has earned a night's re-
pose ; " the fall booms out, with exuberant energy, its
accompanying harmonies ; the snow-clad peaks gaze
sympathetically down, lending their shadow when needed
to help curtain the world away; and over all broods the
peace of God which passeth all understanding and as-
sures the heart of man and woman that we are, indeed.
On Mountain Trails 115
the sons and daughters of God, and that His mountains
are blessed gifts to us.
Few countries in the world are so highly favoured
as is the Golden State in this matter of trails. There
are thousands of miles of them, and each has its own
individuality and charm. Some are well engineered and
made, others made themselves (that is, as far as man
is concerned — the wild animals having attended to the
matter before he came on the scene), some are up easy
grades, others up hills, rough, rocky, and steep. Every
taste can be satisfied, every mountain hunger appeased,
every kind of experience assured.
Other wonderful trail trips might be outlined by the
score, nay, by the hundred. Recently two friends made
five hundred miles in the Sierra Nevadas, wnth no other
company than that of their burros. They had to be
taught to put on their first pack, on reaching Sprlngville
from Goshen Junction, on the Valley Line of the South-
ern Pacific. Up the Tule River, on to the South Middle
Fork to Nelson's ranch; then to the Big Trees, and up
and on, they reached Grouse Meadows at eight thousand
feet elevation. Douglas spruces, silver and fox-tail pines
gave wooded-charm and the silence and serenity of the
mountain heights filled the soul with restful calm. Pass-
ing over to Freeman Creek they started a cinnamon
bear, but, as neither gun nor camera were available, they
left him alone. There are many sequoias along this
creek, many of them lying prostrate, felled in some giant
conflict of Nature's forces in ages gone by.
At Lloyd Aleadows they found a spring of sparkling
soda water — one of many such in California, the king
of which is the celebrated Shasta Springs in the Sacra-
mento Canyon, on the way to Mt. Shasta — where they
camped in company with an old mountaineer who
116 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" loaded them up " with yarns of experiences in the
Sierras nearly fifty years ago.
After seven days out they reached Little Kern Lake
in Kern Canyon. Here excellent fishing tempted them,
and they remained awhile, coming in touch with a uni-
versity youth who had charge of the supplies of the
Sierra Club, ready for their forthcoming mountain
" hike." Here the solitude was so primeval that they
dofifed their clothes and laundered them in rude and
primitive fashion.
The divide between Little Kern and Big Kern Lakes
has often been described by visitors — the purple blue
of the water surrounded by the deep and varied greens
of the trees, with the winding, frothy-white waters of
the Kern in one direction and in the other the storm-
swept slopes and summits of the Kaweah Peaks, and
the gaunt, gray rock that denotes Harrison Pass.
From this point they back-trailed to Little Clare Lake
on the Great Western Divide, which lies in a rocky bowl
on the rim of Soda Creek Canyon at an altitude of
10,400 feet. The view is commanding. Sawtooth and
Florence Peaks, Needham Mountain, flanked by deep
canyons and bedecked with glacial lakes, give majesty
and glory, while to the rear are the gray, snow-capped
monarchs of the Divide, in the distance the black and
brown bulk of the Kaweahs, while further away is the
whitish ridge bounding the eastern Kern basin. Two
thousand feet below Soda Creek sings in subdued strains,
while the snow lies sloping down to the rich blue of
the water of the lake.
The next day found them on the banks of Soda Creek
and camping at night on the wooded shores of Moraine
Lake. Near this is Chagoopa Plateau, — once glacial
lakes, — now four meadows and the finest fox-tail pine
On Mountain Trails 117
forest known, watched over by the dominating monarchs
of the air, the Kaweah Peaks, 13,816 and 13,728 feet
in altitude.
It is on the trail from Moraine Lake that one gains
the full majesty and glory of the Kern River Canyon.
Clarence King, Muir, and Jordan and a score others have
written of it, Keith and Jorgensen have painted it, and
yet few know of its rare sublimity. Resting one night
at Junction Meadow, the trail-makers climbed the rim
of the Kern-Kaweah Canyon, from which the canyon
begins, running back seven miles, flanked by peaks 12,500
to 13,500 feet high, the walls brilliantly coloured and
with melted snow dropping in silvery threads 1,500 and
more feet. The floor of the canyon is dotted here and
there with glacial lakes, adding attractiveness to the
pines that abound. This is deemed by many a real rival
to the Yosemite.
The next day there was only the faintest suggestion
of a trail and sometimes that failed, hence they guessed
their way along, past a dozen or more tiny jewels of
lakes set in rocks of pink and green. These rocks were
smoothed and polished, grooved and fluted, mute wit-
nesses to the mighty glacial action that made the lakes
and sculptured the towering peaks.
Thus they wandered and climbed taking in turn South
American Lake, at the foot of Harrison Pass, with its
two peaks, 13,983 and 13,625 feet high, where a most
marvellous view of the High Sierras is to be obtained.
There are fifty peaks, varying in altitude from 13,500
to 14,500 feet, in this immediate vicinity, the very ulti-
mate of mountain perfection in the United States, and
rivalling the Alps in their stupendous majesty.
And here, though they had many days more of climb-
ing, up and down, of fishing and photographing, of swim-
118 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ming in icy water, of sliding on the faces of incipient
glaciers, of losing their burros and finding them, of packs
dropping ofT at the most inopportune times, and many-
other adventures, I must leave them, though it may
interest the reader to learn that they finally wound up
their trip in the Yosemite itself, having completed a
most delightful and joyful round.
Just as a suggestion in regard to the variety afforded
let me but refer to two more regions, each of which has
its own chapter elsewhere in these pages. These are
Lake Tahoe and the Yosemite. At the former there is
the trail by the side of the lake, over rolling foothills
and through virgin forest, by glacial lake to the summit
of Mt. Watson; by the Truckee River, up by Bear Creek
and Deer Park Springs to Ellis Peak, Squaw Peak, and
half a hundred glacial lakes beyond, or down into the
rugged, tree-clad, picturesque deer retreats of the Rubi-
con River; up a score of mountains, — Tallac, Job's,
Job's Sister, Freels. Richardson, Jacks, Dicks, Agassiz,
Pyramid, etc., — all magnificent monarchs of the Sier-
ras, afifording Pisgah landscapes of mountains and can-
yons, clothed in forests of luxuriantly growing pines and
firs. On the eastern side of the Lake there are Genoa
and Marlette Peaks, each offering a wonderful view
of the Nevada mountain and desert country as well as
of the High Sierras.
Then at the Yosemite there are near-by and " civil-
ized " trails, easy enough for a blind man or an unac-
companied child of ten. hardier climbs up Tenaya Can-
yon, to Cloud's Rest, Mt. Starr King and lesser peaks
beyond, and then the whole sweep of the Sierras inviting
man to such wholesome and strenuous exercises, as those
of John Muir, Clarence King, and Smeaton Chase,
quoted elsewhere.
On Mountain Trails 119
The mountains of California are a godlike gift in their
large generosity, large content for men of diverse minds,
and the trails are man's encouragement to other men
to arise, enter in, seek and find.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CALIFORNIA COAST
The California Coast is unequalled by any similar
stretch of coast in the civilized world. England, Great
Britain, indeed, though an island, does not have so re-
markably varied a coast, considering scenery and climate.
Practically a thousand miles in extent, it reaches from
the 33rd parallel on the Mexican boundary to the 42nd
on the Oregon line.
There have not been wanting writers in the past ; not
professional writers, but travellers, world-explorers,
sailors, who have given vivid word-pictures of the Cali-
fornia Coast. Langsdorf, La Perouse, Vancouver, Simp-
son, Dana, Phelps are well-known names, and earlier
even than these are Cabrillo, Vizcaino, Sir Francis Drake
and the sailors and padres of the Mission epoch, when
Alta California was definitely possessed by Spain for
colonization purposes and the Christianization of the
Indians.
What a wonderful shore line for one State. Is there
any wonder poets have sung gloriously about it? Yet
they have not said a small part of the truth. Herbert
Bashford gives us one picture of its terror in his On the
Cliff:
" Safe are we here on the cliff; but ah! that mad shatter and crashing
Brings the chill tremor of fear, the short, hard, shuddering breath;
Look, oh, God, look beneath us! How fearful the tumult, the lashing —
Lashing of crazed, hungry billows that clamor for terror and death."
120
The California Coast 121
Yet these same billows roll in so easily on the sands
of twice a score beach resorts that in the summer over
a million people take up their residences near by that
daily they may sport in them. See the glad throngs
dancing and capering in the waves at Santa Cruz, at
Coronado, at La Jolla, at Long Beach, Venice, Redondo,
Ocean Park, Santa Barbara, Oceano, Pizmo, Montara,
Half Moon Bay, Bolinas, Crescent City, Eureka and
many other popular resorts, and one completely forgets
Bashford's picture and thinks only of the quieter moods
of the Pacific.
Many days the Pacific earns its name. George Ster-
ling, in his home at Camiel-by-the-Sea, has learned every
mood of the great Sunset Sea, and in solemn, stately
phrase has written of these placid times :
" No cloud is on the heavens, and on the sea
No sail: the immortal, solemn ocean lies
Unbroken sapphire to the walling skies —
Immutable, supreme in majesty."
Solemn though it often is. it has been and is a sea
of romance. Those queer-prowed vessels of Cabrillo, —
caravels they called them, — ugly, clumsy, crude as com-
pared with the greyhounds of to-day, sailed on her placid
bosom, wrestled with her stormy moods, groped their
way through her enveloping fogs and crept up north until
fierce gales drove them back to the south.
Sir Francis Drake and his freebooters sang and
shouted, laughed and hurrahed, as they captured galleon
after galleon carrying the proud flag of Spain, and laden
with the treasures of the Philippines, that came floating
near these shores. Here Rezanof brought his scurvy
Russians to eat of the fruit of the vines planted by the
Mission padres, and here Bouchard scared these same
122 California, Romantic and Beautiful
padres out of their seven senses by carousing in their
sacred temples and demanding of their substance for his
pirate crews.
Bret Harte put into swinging verse the romantic story
of Donna Concepcion Arguello watching for the return
of Rezanof's vessel. For was he not her avowed lover?
Was she not pledged to him ? How pathetic the romance
that he pictures of the faithful Concepcion :
" Looking seaward, o'er the sand hills stands the fortress, old and quaint,
By the San Francisco friars lifted to their patron saint.
Long beside the deep embrasures, where the brazen cannon are.
Did she wait her promised bridegroom and the answer of the Czar;
Day by day on wall and bastion beat the hollow, empty breeze, —
Day by day the sunlight glittered on the vacant, smiling seas;
Week by week the near hills whitened in their dusty leather cloaks, —
Week by week the far hills darkened from the fringing plain of oaks;
Till the rains came, and far breaking, on the fierce southwester tost,
Dashed the whole long coast with colour, and then vanished and were lost.
But he came not, and she waited
Until hollows chased the dimples from her cheeks of olive brown."
Forty or more years she waited, hoping, longing,
unaware of the death that had befallen her lover, until
Sir George Simpson, of the Hudson Bay Company,
visiting San Francisco, happened to recall the great Rus-
sian's name and told of his untimely end. But poor Con-
cepcion, in her heart the Russian's bride, had long turned
from earthly love to heavenly, and had found shelter
in the convent at Benicia.
Romance ! Do you not see the vessels of the United
States and England racing up the coast in 1846 striving
which shall reach Monterey first ? The Stars and Stripes
is ahead and the raising of that flag, rather than the
Union Jack of Old England, determined the historic
future of California.
The California Coast 123
Romance! Do you see the vessels of all nations, laden
with eager, rude, impetuous men, cursing the restraining
winds and baffling fogs, blessing the clear days, the sun-
shine and the favouring winds, as they urge their cap-
tains to carry every possible stitch of sail and speed on,
on, to the city of the Golden Gate, beyond which
stretched the land of gold. Here were the flags of every
land, here the tongues of the most civilized and the most
barbaric of earth, but all alike speaking, in their move-
ments, the same tongue in their eagerness for gold. And
think of many of those ships anchored in the Bay of
San Francisco, bereft of their crews in one hour, lured
from their duty, their chosen vocation, by the tales
told of the wealth to be had for the digging in the foot-
hills and placer fields of the Sierras.
It was in June, 1849, that these ships began to arrive
in San Francisco. Why did they all aim there? Why
not for San Diego, or San Pedro? The site did not
look promising; the Mission Dolores had no great attrac-
tions and Yerba Buena Cove — for that was the name
San Francisco had possessed until January, 1847 — was
backed by a mass of sand hills, which seemed the last
place in the world upon which an intelligent people would
attempt to build a city. Of course the harbour was
there, that an exuberant Britisher had dared to declare
was large enough to " float the whole British navy with-
out crowding," but there were a score of other places
on the Bay that appeared better suited for a city. It
is, to me, at least, one of the romances of the California
Coast that the site of its greatest city was determined
by the location of a Franciscan Mission, a building
erected by the Indians and their priestly directors, for
the avowed purpose of reaching the spiritual nature of
the original inhabitants of the country. I see in that a
124 California, Romantic and Beautiful
prophecy, a forecast, a providence, and hope therefrom,
the large, great, tremendous hope that San Francisco
is ever to remain a city that will appeal to, and reach,
the spiritual in all the children of men who come within
its influence.
But to return to the arrival of the vessels. In June
eleven of them arrived ; in July forty ; in August forty-
three; in September sixty-six; in October twenty-eight;
in November twenty-three; in December nineteen, a
total of two hundred and thirty in seven months.
And what vicissitudes had they not passed through.
Read the personal narratives of the men that came on
some of these ships. Packed on deck like sardines be-
cause of crowded cabins; short of water; often short
of food, or eating wormy pilot-bread that had to be
rebaked to make it possible; with jerked beef in one
case, at least, so tough, that it was dragged by a rope in
the sea for forty-eight hours " before any attempt could
be made to cook it or eat it without cooking. Sea-
bathing may accomplish much good, but it never yet
made tender Mexican jerked beef. Our supply certainly
never tempted the most hungry shark in our course."
On a diet like this one can well believe what one man
wrote : " I would have been thankful enough for the
mush with which grandfather's hogs are fed, and many
a night would have been glad to get my mouth into the
dirtiest puddle that Chapel Street ever saw." When
these ccaiditions were made worse by storm, by the roll-
ing and pitching of the crazy vessels on tremendous
waves, and by the discomfort of rain and sleet, spray,
spume and the actual dash of angry waters we can imag-
ine how eagerly these men looked forward to landing
in the desired haven of San Francisco.
But there were scores of cases to which the hardships
The California Coast 125
I have recounted would have appeared as but pleasant
changes in the day's monotony. One party chartered
a small coasting schooner, provisioning " her mostly
with rice and water. After thirty days' coasting, with
the alternation of land and sea breezes, their rice being
almost entirely exhausted, they found themselves but
two hundred miles farther north on a journey of some
two thousand miles. One of them, who was a Sabbath
observer, sickened and died, and was buried on the shore.
The small party then divided, a few continuing along
the coast on foot, while the rest remained on the vessel
and, after untold suffering from want of food and water,
six months afterward arrived at San Diego, where the
schooner was condemned as unseaworthy, and the com-
pany scattered, making their way to San Francisco as
best they could, poor in pocket and broken in health and
ambition. Those who landed pressed onward on foot,
mostly through a barren and desert country, devoid of
food, water or game, with their faces resolutely set
towards the magnet of the golden mines. When game
was to be had, even were it hawk or buzzard, it was
killed and greedily eaten, — kind, quality, and cookery
not being considered. Toads, lizards, and crows were
alike welcome, and any sun-warmed and stagnant pool
of water was considered most refreshing."
It requircB a powerful imagination to picture those
vessels anything like as they actually were. It was be-
fore the days when steamships were as common as
railway trains. There were a few, of course, but the
major part were sailing vessels. Not trim, new, hand-
some, well-equipped craft specially built for this new
and important voyage, but many of them were old,
ragged, unseaworthy hulks, leaking at every seam, that
the impatience and cupidity of men had rigged up, gloss-
126 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ing over with tin, wood, paint or even canvas the too-
glaring deficiencies, and making up in bunting and hurrah
what they lacked in seaworthiness and comfort.
And lest I be charged with gross exaggeration let me
give one quotation, out of a hundred I might otter,
in regard to the subject. Willard B. Farwell, writing
in The Century, of August, 189 1, after describing the
vessel his party bought in 1849 to reach California in,
and telling of their being becalmed near the equator,
says:
" Some three miles away to the northw^estward was
another ship, which by her rig was unmistakably an
American craft. Yet so f^at was the calm that her sig-
nals hung idly against the halyards. A boat was low-
ered, and a party of us started for an equatorial visit
to the stranger. She proved to be the Aurora from
Nantucket, an old whaler, worm-eaten and dilapidated
in her upper works, sorely afiflicted with dry-rot, and
looking as though she would not last to reach Cape Horn,
much less to round that formidable point and complete
her voyage. Compared to the Edivard Everett she was
a crazy old tub indeed. Months afterward, when our
anchor was let go in the harbour of San Francisco we
found ourselves within hailing distance of this same
old ' blubber-hunter,' which had made the port nearly
two weeks in advance of us ! She was the type of a
class of vessels that were pressed into service during
the California excitement, not one of which was regarded
as any longer seaworthy, but every one of which even-
tually made the voyage in safety, many entering ports
with pumps going, and running directly upon the mud-
flats of San Francisco harbour, only to be used as store-
ships or broken up by the old junk men for firewood,
or for the old iron and the rigging that remained."
The California Coast 127
It should not be forgotten, too, that the CaHfornia
Coast used to be the scene of whale-fishing on a fairly
large scale. Captain Beechey in 1826 reported that he
found seven whalers anchored at Sausalito, where they
obtained fresh water, and cut firewood from Angel
Island. That whales were not nnplentiful is revealed by
the fact that Julius H. Pratt asserts that in 1849 he
counted, off the coast of Lower California, in one day,
" a hundred and twenty whales of different kinds, one
of which, about seventy-five or eighty feet long, swam
just across our bow."
In 1855 there were over five hundred vessels engaged #
in whaling in the North Pacific, and Monterey had its
share of the business. The entrance yard to the Mission
in the city of Monterey is paved with the vertebrae of
whales, and ^^'hen I first used to visit the quaint old city,
before it had begun to put on modern airs, there were
several pairs of whale's jawbones, projecting in the air
like the ladder poles of a pueblo Indian's kiz'a, used as
gate posts. To this day schools of whales are often
seen and encountered in Monterey Bay and elsewhere
on the coast, their spouting attracting passengers cross-
ing to Santa Catalina Island. A few years ago a mon-
ster whale came ashore at Long Beach, and its skeleton
was preserved as a curiosity to those unacquainted with
the size of these gigantic sea-mammals.
The fact that Russia looked with longing eyes upon
the Coast of California, early in the nineteenth century,
has left an extra touch of romance on its shores. Rus- y
sian. River, Bodega Bay, Sebastopol, Mt. St. Helena are
all tokens of Russian occupation, and the ruins of Fort
Ross, in Sonoma County, but sixty miles north of San
Francisco is proof that they had some dreams of pos-
session or empire. It may be well here to note that the
128 California, Romantic and Beautiful
original Russian name for the Russian River was Slavi-
anka. Fort Ross was built in 1812, as a fortified tra-
ding-post of the Russian-American Fur Company. It
originally had, or was intended to have, forty cannon,
and there can be little question but that it was Russia's
intention to use it as a base for holding the northern
part of California against the claims of Spain. The
Spaniards protested, also, later, did the Mexicans, when
Mexico freed herself from Spain, and in spite of the
fact that in 1824 the Russian government pledged itself
against any acquisition of California territory south of
" fifty-four forty." Nature, however, protested more
vigorously than Spain or Mexico, and so efifectively that
in 1 84 1 Captain Sutter was able to purchase Russia's
interest and the Russians retired.
A portion of the twelve-foot adobe walls still remain
but the walls of the old church were badly shaken in
the 1906 earthquake. The roof, with its quaint cupola,
are intact, though the walls have collapsed and allowed
it to rest upon the ground. The hewn joists and rafters,
spiked together with hand-wrought nails, are still sound
and intact. The Commandant's house is used as a hotel
for the few chance visitors who come to see the deserted
glories of the place.
Was there no romance in the marvellous hiding of
the Golden Gate from the hunting, curious, eager eyes
of discoverers for two hundred and twenty years, as
recounted in another chapter?
Even earlier than that, was it unromantic to see the
ease-loving Indians of the coast construct their rude
bidarkas or their bolsas (their dugouts and tule rafts)
and paddle across the channel to the island beyond?
And even earlier than this was there no romance in
the coming to these shores of the drifting tree-trunks
The California Coast 129
of India, that somehow reached the seas of that Orient
land and floated out far, far into the tropic seas, and
then, as if seized by some fateful hand, slowly but surely,
with much wavering but no misgiving, aimed for the
Behring Sea, braved its ice and snow, passed through,
and finally allowed a storm to carry them far ashore at
Monterey, there to take root in drifted sand and people
the peninsula with their unique, gnarled, weather-beaten,
wind-tossed, storm-defying, Time-conquering cypresses?
Judge Richards, of San Jose, has written a most inter-
esting poem on this fact and a legend connected there-
with.
There is romance, too, in the names of the Coast.
Beginning with San Diego on the south to Cape Mendo-
cino on the north they speak clearly of Spanish discov-
ery, and many of them of the religion of the Spaniards.
Cape Mendocino, with its conical sugar-loaf rocky point
— the most westerly piece of land of the United States
save Cape Flattery, on the Canadian border — is the
one name that remains to us of those conferred by the
first and original explorer of the coast. It was in 1542
that Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay, which, however,
he called San Mateo. Beset by foul and contrary winds,
with cloudy weather and heavy fogs, an unusually early
winter adding to the cold and discomfort, his vessels
small and unwieldy, one being without a deck, the crew
worn and disheartened by the privations and sufferings
they had already undergone, it reveals the pluck and
determination possessed by these early explorers that
they stuck to their task as long as they did. We read
in their log of " winds from the north-northwest, which
did not let them carry a palm of sail," of a great storm
which " struck them from the southwest and the south-
southwest with rain and dark cloudy weather," and that
130 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" the Sunday following the tempest fell upon them with
much greater violence." Later " the wind shifted to
the southeast with great fury, and the seas came from
many parts, which harassed them much, and broke over
the ships, which, not having decks, if God should not
succor them, they could not escape. . . . They suf-
fered also in provisions, as they had only biscuit, and
that damaged."
For the winter they lay by at the Island of San Miguel,
— one of the Channel Islands, — and there, on the 3rd
I day of January, 1543, ''departed from this life Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo, captain of the said ships, from a
fall which he had on the same island at the former time
when they were there, by which he broke an arm near
the shoulder." Yet even in the face of certain death
he was dauntless and undismayed. The narrator tells
us " he charged them much, at the time of his death, that
they should not give up the discovery, as far as possible,
* of all that Coast."
Poor Cabrillo! His work unfinished, slain by an
accident, buried in the sands of wind-swept San Miguel,
no man to this day knowing where. Fate seemed to deal
hardly with him, for, one hundred and sixty years
later, when Vizcaino sailed up the coast he renamed most
of the points and places named by Cabrillo and thus
stole from him that honour so legitimately belonging
to him. The Sierra Nevadas were not renamed. Cape
Mendocino was discovered and named after Cabrillo's
death and that name holds to this day. But as a rule
Vizcaino made a clean sweep, and most of the names
used to-day were given by him. He followed the old
Spanish custom of bestowing the name of the saint of
' the day upon the place reached on that day. This is
the source of the beautiful and romantic Spanish nomen-
The California Coast 131
clature along the coast, which even the most rabid hater
of Spain and popery must acknowledge' is far to be pre-
ferred to the rude, vulgar, and often disgusting names
applied by the gold seekers of '49.
The Viceroy of New Spain, under whose direction
Vizcaino sailed, was Don Luis de Velasco, Count of
]\Ionte Rey, and in his honour the Bay of Monterey was
named, but Santa Catalina was named because it was
on her day that Vizcaino first saw it. So with San
Pedro, Point Concepcion and the rest. To those famil-
iar with the Catholic calendar the progress of the expe-
dition is clear.
For instance, they sailed into San Diego Bay Novem- f
ber 10, 1603. Vizcaino's flagship was named San Diego,
and the saint's day was November 12th, so he stretched
a point in the slight discrepancy in time and named the
bay after the patron saint of Spain, San Diego. The
island of San Clemente (St. Clement) was sighted on,
and named after, the saint's day, November 23rd ; Santa
Catalina (St. Catherine) November 25, while San Pedro
(St. Peter) was the bay in which the ship anchored
November 26th, the day of St. Peter. On the 4th of
December they reached and named Santa Barbara, on
the 8th Point Concepcion, so named for the day dedicated
to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the
Holy Virgin Mary; on the 13th they sighted the range
of mountains which they named Santa Lucia (St. Lucy) ;
while four days later they entered the Bay of Monterey,
so named after the Count of Monte Rey, the Viceroy
of New Spain at the time, who had authorized the
setting forth of the expedition. The small river Car-
melo, upon which later the beautiful Mission of San
Carlos Borromeo was to be established, and which was
to be the sainted Serra's home and his final resting-place,
132 California, Romantic and Beautiful
was so named after the Carmelite friars of the expedi-
tion. After a rest in Monterey Bay they sailed north-
wards again and on the 6th of January passed the Pimta
de los Reyes (the Point of the Kings), named from the
fact that on this day are honoured the three magi or
wise men who followed the star to the feet of Jesus, and
who, tradition says, were princes or kings. On the 12th
they sighted Point Mendocino, named after the Viceroy
Mendoza, who had sent Cabrillo forth on his voyage
of exploration sixty years earlier; while, after much
buffeting, they reached, on the 19th, latitude 42°, in
sight of a white point near high, snowy mountains.
This point, the next day, they named Cabo Blanco de
San Sebastian, from St. Sebastian, whose day is Jan-
uary 20th.
At this time the head winds became so severe and the
crew was so reduced by scurvy that discretion dictated
their return.
Dana made the Coast of California for ever memora-
ble in his Two Years Before the Mast, that universal
classic of "before the mast" life. Millions of people
have seen, in the clear light of his vivid and California-
stimulated descriptions, the Coast as it appeared in 1835,
before any literary artists had wreathed their halos of
golden glory about the theme. Santa Barbara, with its
bay, mountains and old mission and presidio; the way
the Sandwich Island sailors of an English vessel landed
through the breakers; the first experience at loading
hides and bags of tallow ; the storm that drove them out
of the bay; the wind they experienced off Point Con-
cepcion; the way the Spanish-Californians used to come
to the Yankee vessels and purchase their dry goods and
groceries in the cabins; the Mexican presidios of San
Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Francisco;
The California Coast 133
the Indians driving their oxen in the heavy and clumsy-
wheeled carrefas; the disgust of the sailors at learning
they might have to remain two or three or more years
on the California Coast; their dread of the southeasters
that made anchorage in the bay of Santa Barbara un-
pleasant ; their unloading hides over the slippery rocks
at San Pedro; and then the arduous task of pushing
or carrying them up the hill ; Dead Man's Island ; and
many other things are made to pass in review before
us like a series of moving pictures. Dana's pen was
graphic and he has certainly added much to the romance
of the California Coast.
It does not lessen the interest with which it is viewed
to recall that it was Dana's powerful and realistic descrip-
tion of the cruel whipping given to two of his sailor
companions off the California Coast that was one of
the chief factors in changing the law and prohibiting this
barbarous practice. Like the novel Ramona, that in-
fluenced the heart of the nation to a greater kindliness
towards the Indian, Tzvo Years Before the Mast led to
a general demand throughout the whole country for a
more humane treatment of sailors.
There is humour, as well as romance, in the change
that has occurred on the Coast since Dana's day.
When the sailors learned they were likely to be detained
longer than they expected he wrote : " Here we were,
in a little vessel, with a small crew, on a half-civilized
coast, at the ends of the earth, and with a prospect of
remaining an indefinite period, two or three years at
the least. When we left Boston we supposed that it was
to be a voyage of eighteen months, or tw^o years, at most ;
but upon arriving on the coast, we learned something
more of the trade, and found that in the scarcity of hides,
which was yearly greater and greater, it would take us
134 California, Romantic and Beautiful
a year, at least, to collect our own cargo, beside the pas-
sage out and home, and that we were also to collect a
cargo for a large ship belonging to the same firm, which
was soon to come on the coast, and to which we were
to act as tender."
The italics in the above quotation are mine. How
would Dana feel to be on the Coast now? Would he
regard it as half civilized and at the ends of the earth?
Little did he foresee what the future of this Coast was
to be.
Another remarkably interesting fact about the Cali-
fornia Coast was first noted by Dana. And it is a great
tribute to his accurate powers of observation that he
noted it and deemed it of sufficient importance to be com-
mented upon. He says : " After a few days we made
the land at Point Pinos (pines), which is the headland
at the entrance of the bay of Monterey. As we drew
in, and ran down the shore, we could distinguish well
the face of the country, and found it better wooded than
that to the southward of Point Concepcion. In fact,
as I afterwards discovered. Point Concepcion may be
made the dividing-line between two different faces of
country. As you go to the northward of the point, the
country becomes more w^ooded, has a richer appearance,
and is better supplied with water. This is the case with
Monterey, and still more so with San Francisco, while
to the southward of the point, as at Santa Barbara, San
Pedro and particularly San Diego, there is very little
wood, and the country has a naked, level appearance,
though it is still very fertile." ^
In Dana's day there were few, if any, lighthouses on
the whole Pacific Coast from Cape Horn north to the
Russian possessions. He speaks of their heaving-to
1 Dana's Two Years Before the Mast.
..-r^-*^ :
POINT CONCEPCIOX LIGHTHOUSE.
The California Coast 135
after dark, " for fear of making the land at night on
a coast where there are no Hghthouses and but indiffer-
ent charts." Yet, while I do not recall the date of tlie
erection of the old Spanish lighthouse on Point Loma,
it seems to me it must have been in existence at that
time. It still stands, useless and dismantled, a pictur-
esque reminder of the earlier occupants of the land.
The Life-Saving Service of the United States now
reports one hundred and six lights or lighthouses of one
form or another on the California Coast. The first is
seen as the seafarer approaches from the coast of Mex-
ico. It guards, guides and warns on the end of Point
Loma at the entrance to the Bay of San Diego.
Another interesting light is that of Point Concepcion
where the " nose " on its upper side receives the cold,
foggy breezes of the north, and on the lower the warm
and caressing winds of the south, for the coast here
makes an almost right-angle to the east, ere it proceeds
on its southward way again.
A whole book as large as this could be written on the
California lighthouses, the romance and picturesqueness
of their location, their storms, their calms, their outlooks,
and the experiences of their keepers, and it would cer-
tainly be a book of thrills, as well as instruction, were
such an one prepared.
If one desires to read romance in connection with the
Coast of California let him pick up any one of the Re-
ports of the Life-Saving Service during the years it has
operated on the Pacific Coast. Stories of thrilling wrecks
and more thrilling rescues, where men and women were
" snatched from the jaws of death," appear again and
again. Here are the mere skeleton outlines of stories
which appear in the 19 13 volume. August 29, 19 12, a
garbage 'barge, Lillebonne, from Oakland, was over-
136 California, Romantic and Beautiful
turned by a strong wind and rough sea a mile offshore
from the Point Bonita Station. Seven men were saved
after a great fight, but one poor fellow lost his life,
having gone down into the hold just before the barge
capsized.
January 28, 1913, the coasting steamer Samoa ran
ashore in a dense fog on Point Reyes. All the twenty-
one men of her crew were saved by the prompt and
brave action of the surf-men of the Point Reyes Life-
Saving Station.
Three times Mr. Adolph Sutro has been rescued from
possible death, owing to accidents to his hydro-aeroplane,
when operating on or near San Francisco Bay. On the
1 8th of May six men, who had gone to gather mussels,
on Mussel Rock, five miles down the coast from the
South Side Station, were discovered to be marooned.
It required skilled and brave work to rescue these men
on a line, through the breakers, in the dark.
In the past ten years there have been two hundred
and three vessels of different kinds stranded on the Cali-
fornia Coast, and in every case there were elements of
exciting romance.
This phase is not a pleasant one to dwell upon, —
the wrecking of vessels, the destruction of property, the
loss of precious human life. Yet it is not individual
to California. There is no coast in the world that has
no storms. This has no more than its share, and the
advance of science in the invention of more and more
delicate instruments, susceptible to all changes, will make
it certain, by and by, that every vessel will sound its
own warning when it is unexpectedly approaching shore,
whether in the impenetrable darkness of the night or a
dense fog. Means, also, may be found to enable a ves-
sel to hold its own in the heart of the fiercest storms.
The California Coast 137
In the meantime one cannot help but feel his heart
stirred if he chances to be on the Coast when a terrible
storm is raging. He gazes with awe upon the power
that moves millions of tons of water in gigantic, irre-
sistible waves. He listens to the roaring of the surf,
and the hoarse shouting of the winds and the shrieking
of the gales and wonders whence they all come, whither
they go, and what is the purpose of it all. Then,
almost instinctively, he asks himself: What mighty
power is this that can afiford to expend itself on such
tremendous storms and ocean turmoil? What is the
zvhy of it? The wisdom of our commercial and cu-
pidously acquisitive age is ever prating of conserva-
tion of energy. We have wrestled with the problem of
the lightning until we have harnessed Jove's bolts of
light and power to our street cars, and confined them,
like the Arabian Nights' genie, in a bottle, to drive our
machines for sawing wood, hoisting mud out of river
and harbour bottoms, lifting heavy cars of rock out of
mines, and a thousand and one menial services. Now
men are grappling with this " waste of power " — the
sea-waves. They have dotted the Pacific shores with
their water-wheels, wave-motors, current-fans . and
" thingamajig what-nots " to harness this power. They
have dazzled the eyes of thousands with their mirrors
and lenses, seeking to capture and confine the solar heat
so that they can make it a servant of man's will and
caprices. They would capture the wind-storms, as they
have the waterfalls and mountain streams to make them
turn their mud-wagons and drive their ploughs, but as
yet sun and wind, wave and storm, are wild, untamed
and free. Will they ever be subject to man? Who
knows ?
The earliest expedition to the Coast of California on
138 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the part of the United States was when Commander
Wilkes, of the United States Navy, was ordered by Mah-
lon Dickerson, Secretary of the Navy, to undertake an
extensive exploration of a large part of the world. His
fleet visited Madeira, Brazil, Terra del Fuego, Chili,
Peru, the islands of Polynesia, including the Sandwich
Islands, New South Wales, New Zealand, Oregon, Cali-
fornia, the Philippines, China, and home by the Cape of
Good Hope. The expedition covered the years 1838 to
1842, and it was on the 19th of October, 1841, that the
Commander reached the Bay of San Francisco. His
reports are contained in several finely illustrated volumes.
The settlement was then Yerba Buena, and Wilkes
evidently was not impressed by it, for he says : " The
town was not calculated to produce a favourable impres-
sion on a stranger. Its buildings may be counted, and
consist of a large frame building, occupied by the agent
of the Hudson Bay Company; a store, kept by Mr.
Spears, an American ; a billiard-room and bar ; a poop-
cabin of a ship, occupied as a dwelling by Captain Hinck-
ley; a blacksmith's shop and some out-buildings. These,
though few in number, are also far between. When to
this we add the sterile soil and hills of bare rock, it will
be seen that Yerba Buena and the country around it
are anything but beautiful. This description holds good
when the tide is high, but at low water it has for a
foreground an extensive mud-flat, which does not add
to the beauty of the scene."
What would Commander Wilkes think if he could
sail into " Yerba Buena Cove," and find there the mar-
vellous city that occupies it to-day, — the mud-flats built
up with sand and now covered with magnificent business
buildings, hotels, factories and warehouses; and all the
palaces of the rich, the more modest dwellings of the
The California Coast 139
well-to-do, and the rude hovels and shacks of the poor,
speaking of a population of half a million souls?
An interesting vessel sailed up the California Coast in
1846. Had a modern hydroplane from San Diego flown
out to sea and hovered over her sails — as would be
possible to-day — the aerial navigator would have heard
morning after morning psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs floating out over the placidly rolling waves.
Women and children's voices, too, blended with those
of men. Morning prayer was offered in loud and fer-
vent tones, though not always in classic, or even pure
English, and there were few days that passed w^hen ser-
mons were not preached. For this was the ship Brook-
lyn, bringing to California "Bishop" — afterwards
plain Sam — Brannan and his colony of Latter Day
Saints, or Mormons, whom Brigham Young had sent
as an advance guard to people and possess California.
The gold discovery shook up their Mormonism some-
what, yet, as E. G. Waite truthfully says, it should not
be forgotten that it was this shipload of early comers
who " gave to San Francisco her first prayer-meeting,
her first jury-trial, her first local advertising and her
first newspaper."
It was down this Coast, too, that the romantic and
foolish filibustering expeditions sailed for the establish-
ment of a republic in the Peninsula or elsewhere in Mex-
ico. William Walker, the man of Destiny, sailed from
San Francisco on the 15th of October, 1853, and, though
he had but forty-five men with him, ventured to capture
just forty-five days later the Mexican port of La Paz
and there declare the Independence of Lower California.
The independence did not last long, for Walker an-
nounced the freedom of Sonora, and started to march
across the Colorado River to free the land " from the
140 California, Romantic and Beautiful
attacks of the merciless Apaches." He was driven back
by the hostihty of the desert as much as by the Mexican
soldiers, reached San Diego in safety, returned to San
F'rancisco, was perfunctorily tried for violation of the
neutrality laws, and as everybody foresaw, was acquitted.
Lionized by the adherents of the South, who saw in
Walker's ambitions a means of spreading the territory
of slavery. Walker soon turned his attention to Nica-
ragua, and under pretence of a colonization scheme,
sailed, with fifty-seven men, from San Francisco, May
4, 1855, for Realejo. By a series of remarkable political
moves he became practical dictator of the republic for
a short time, was finally ousted, and escaped to New
York. Of his tragic end I have no space here to speak,
save that historians generally concur in the opinion that
had he had with him on his last expedition men of the
rugged temperament and daring bravery of his Cali-
fornia recruits his history might have been written dif-
ferently.
Even in later days Jack London has added a stirring
chapter to the romance of the California Coast by his
stories of his boyhood's experiences on a sailing vessel
in San Francisco Bay. His Tales of a Fish Patrol are
thrilling and exciting and suggest a life little known to
the law-abiding and peaceful citizens who have their
pretty and beautiful homes around the Bay. In John
Barleycorn, too, he makes us feel the thrill he himself
experienced, when, a lad of fourteen, he found himself
" inside his first ship, a smuggler, accepted as a comrade
by a harpooner and a runaway English sailor who said
his name was Scotty."
Somehow the Bay of San Francisco, with its great
San Pablo Bay and its swift-running Carquinez Straits,
have never been the same to me since I read of the
YELLOW - TAIL SALMON' AND BLACK SEA - BASS.
The California Coast 141
adventures, real or fancied, Jack London's genius has
made me see transpire there. Who could help feeling
with him, when, a mere lad of fifteen, slaving- and toil-
ing ten hours a day in the Oakland cannery, he felt
the " call of the bay " and responded to it: "I remem-
bered my skiff, lying idle and accumulating barnacles at
the boat-wharf; I remembered the wind that blew every
day on the Bay. the sunrises and sunsets I never saw ;
the bite of the salt air in my nostrils, the bite of the
salt water on my flesh when I plunged overside ; I re-
membered all the beauty and the wonder and the sense-
delights of this world of water denied to me."
Then, too, while I do not believe in war or battleships
or navies, I felt the thrill of something — was it patriot-
ism? — when the Oregon, built in San Francisco, was
bidden sail down the California Coast and all the length
of the Pacific shores of the American Continent, down
to Cape Horn, to hurry and join the Atlantic fleet in its
work of catching Cervera and the warships of Spain
under his control.
And, later, I felt the same something when I saw the
Atlantic and Pacific squadrons — stately vessels of the
line, cruisers, torpedo boats and the rest — sail through
the Golden Gate into San Francisco Bay, past Akatraz
Island, amid the huzzas of the more than half million
spectators crowding the heights and hills and vantage
points of the city.
From the commercial fisherman's standpoint the Cali-
fornia Coast becomes a region of romance. From quiet,
isolated, little known spots all up and down these rugged
or peaceful shores, every night rude fishermen, in rude
boats, using rude language, often meeting rude weather,
sail out into the open sea. or near the kelp-beds where
their catch is generally found. Black-bass, sea-bass, bar-
142 California, Romantic and Beautiful
racuda, sand-dabs, bonito, yellow-tail, Spanish mack-
erel and a score of other good food fish are brought in
by the ton. Boxed and iced, they are shipped in every
direction to the interior towns of California ; and on
the menus of the hotels, clubs and homes of Nevada,
Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and even New Mex-
ico and beyond, California fish are named as being
served.
The sporting fisherman would require a whole book
as large as this to begin to describe the fishing he is
able to enjoy on the Coast of California, at Catalina Is-
land and elsewhere. To such an one, or those interested,
I refer to the various books of Professor Charles Fred-
erick Holder, whose skill and experiences with the rod
are equalled only by his fluent facility in recounting real
" fish stories " that thrill and excite even those who know
nothing of the sport.
The California Coast is a godsend to the people of
the interior. It is their Mecca during the summer
months. They flock to the various " beaches " by the
scores of thousands, and these have sprung into exist-
ence during the past twenty years as by magic. There
are so many of them it seems useless merely to name
them, and to attempt even the briefest description of
each one would occupy far more space than can possi-
bly be given. Suffice it to say that San Francisco has
its group, reaching from Tomales Bay on the north to
Monterey on the south, and including Santa Cruz. The
people of San Luis Obispo have their small group ; Santa
Barbara is sufficient unto herself; Los Angeles, its large
group; Santa Ana and Orange a small group, while
San Diego, Coronado, Ocean Beach and La Jolla form
a unique group all to themselves at the southern extrem-
ity of the Coast.
The California Coast 143
Three Coast settlements have an enviable reputation
among artists. These are Carmel-by-the-Sea, where a
distinguished colony of literary people and artists have
their summer homes ; Monterey, where still others of
the San Francisco group of painters come for their sea
inspirations, and Laguna Beach, not far from San Juan
Capistrano. San Juan Point, of Dana fame, has its
group, many coming down for the summer from Los
Angeles. Of course Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San
Diego and Coronado all have their attractions for artists,
and I doubt not there are a score, a hundred, of delight-
ful places where artistic inspiration may be found.
If I were asked to state how many real harbours the
Coast of California possesses, my answer would be as
follows : There are two great natural harbours, those
of San Diego and San Francisco. There is one fair
harbour rapidly being converted into a good artificial
harbour by the United States government — that of Los
Angeles at San Pedro. Then there are fair harbours,
under good conditions, in Monterey, Santa Barbara,
San Luis Obispo, Bodega, and Humboldt, the best of
them all being the last named. Naturally there are lesser
"ports" and "bays," but these are the principal ones,
San Diego and San Francisco, however, being harbours
that compare favourably with the noted harbours of the
world. Each is more fully discussed elsewhere.
The California Coast is a busy coast, nowadays, for
steamers are plying up and down all the time, carrying
passengers and freight. Millions of feet of lumber are
brought from the north down to San Francisco, San
Pedro and San Diego, and thence shipped into the in-
terior. And when one thinks of the trans-Pacific steam-
ers, shuttling back and forth to China, Japan and far-
away Australia, hopping to the Hawaiian Islands and
144 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the tropic islands of the South Seas, and of the other
fleets that steam back and forth, up and down the coast
to Mexican and South American ports, and then contem-
plates in imagination the day when the Panama Canal
is opened and steamers and sailing vessels from the At-
lantic Coast and Europe add their activities to those
already here, there will be no denying that the Cali-
fornia Coast has materially changed since Sir Francis
Drake's, or Dana's days. Think of being able to take
your stateroom in London, Dunkirk, Genoa or Constan-
tinople and never leave the vessel until you land at San
Diego, San Pedro or San Francisco.
It took Dana one hundred and fifty days — a large
part of half a year — to sail from Boston to Santa Bar-
bara in 1835. With the Panama Canal opened it can be
done in fifteen days, or less.
I don't know whether the Canal will act upon one's
conscience as Cape Horn used to do, for it will be re-
called that Dana said it was a current expression in Cali-
fornia when he was here that " a man must leave his
conscience, at Cape Horn."
It may be interesting to remind my readers of the
great market these deep-sea vessels provide for the fruit,
vegetables, meats, poultry, eggs, etc., produced in the fer-
tile interior valleys. And this not only for what the
ships themselves consume but also for the exchanges of
commerce with the islands and countries of the further
Pacific shore. These markets undoubtedly will be mate-
rially enlarged as the traffic of the world pours to and
fro through the Panama Canal and California indus-
tries will reap a rich reward in the greater demand for
her products caused by the cheaper and easier modes of
transshipment.
CHAPTER IX
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
Already the Channel Islands of California have
become a definite influence in the life of the people of the
Pacific Coast. They will speedily extend this influence
until all the travellers and pleasure-seekers of the world
will come under their allurement, for they are easily
reached, are delightful for a long or short sojourn, winter
or summer, and they afford unequalled opportunities for
the yachtsman, hunter and fisherman.
The climatic conditions are remarkable. The winters
are never severe, though cool and bracing as a New Eng-
land late spring. The summers, however, are not hot, as
most people naturally assume. They are cooler than any
portion of the Atlantic Coast in the United States.
Charles Frederick Holder has well called them " Isles
of Summer," and in his recent book ^ he says : " The. per-
fect climate, in all probability, does not exist, but these
isles of summer are wild flower gardens when the East
is snow-bound, and, winter and summer, are great na-
tional playgrounds of the people. In winter one may
bask in mild yet bracing air. and in summer find life in
the open, with semitropical surroundings, yet without
extreme heat or humidity. This cannot be better illus-
1 For a large portion of this chapter I am indebted to Professor Charles
Frederick Holder of Pasadena, the author of The Chanvel Islands of Cali-
fornia, a book of 400 pages and many illustrations, and to his publishers,
A. C. McClurg & Company of Chicago.
145 ^
146 California, Romantic and Beautiful
trated than by saying that from May to October, or for
six months, the idler, angler, golfer, sportsman, or
health-seeker will not experience a squall or rainstorm —
comfortable, beautiful days following one another."
Stevenson would have revelled in these Islands could
he have visited and known them. Here is actually a
former lair of pirates and smugglers, and customs
officers and those whose duty it is to keep contraband
Chinamen from improperly landing on the shores of
California do not hesitate to declare that these Islands
still afford opportunities for the illegal and nefarious
practice of " running in " Chinamen whom the law says
shall be kept out.
The knowledge of the number of these Islands comes
^ as a surprise to most visitors. Those who visit San
Diego and Coronado often see the three largest of the
Coronados Islands, lying to the south, while those at Los
Angeles learn of Santa Catalina and San Clemente, and
in Santa Barbara of Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, but few
realize that, in all, there are twenty Islands.
San Miguel is the most western ; then come Santa
Rosa, Santa Cruz, the Anacapas, and San Nicolas.
These are generally known as the Santa Barbara group.
' Further down, opposite Los Angeles, known as the Santa
Catalina group, are the Santa Barbara Rock, Santa Cata-
lina and San Clemente. Then south a hundred miles are
the five Coronados, while off to the west are the sub-
merged remains of two islands — Tanner's Bank and the
Shoal of Cortes.
The geologists inform us that these islands are the
result of an abortive attempt of Nature to form another
Sierra, doubtless at the time the Coast Range was up-
lifted from the primeval sea. They vary in size from
Begg's Rock, which is a mere rocky mass often entirely
The Channel Islands 147
submerged, and Santa Barbara Rock, of a few acres, to
Santa Catalina, twenty-two miles long and with an area
of over fifty thousand acres.
Santa Catalina (or Catalina as it is popularly called
by Los Angeles people) is the best known. For thirty
years it has been the chosen ocean resort of the southern
metropolis. Steam and electric cars convey one to San
Pedro, where the great harbour of Los Angeles is being
made, and from whence steamers cross the eighteen-mile
ocean channel. During this trip one sees flying-fish dart
in every direction, porpoises sport lazily in front of the
vessel's prow, and whales are often seen spouting on
either side. Generally it is an easy, comfortable ride;
occasionally the sea is choppy and then the victim of
m-al de mer would better stay ashore.
Passing a pinnacle of rock, known as Sugar Loaf,
rounding into the tiny harbour of Avalon, where the
town of the island is located, the bay a perfect glassy
sea, with a crescent beach backed by the hills which
ascend in rugged majesty two or three thousand feet
into the air, one feels instinctively that here is a place
of romance as well as enchanting beauty.
First discovered by Cabrillo in September, 1542, again
visited by Vizcaino on the 28th of November, 1602,
who gave it its present name, granted by Mexico to Pio .
Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, deeded by
him to Nicholas Covarrubias, Sr.. one of the picturesque
dons of early days, sold to James Lick, the founder of
the Lick Observatory, then to a California boomer, who
cut it up into lots in the boom of 1885, then to a silver-
hunting English syndicate, it finally came into the hands
of the Banning Company, to whom its present develop-
ment is mainly due. Here then, in its history alone, is
romance galore. But if one only knew all he imagines
148 California, Romantic and Beautiful
might have happened here! Sir Francis Drake, that dar-
ing harrower of the Spanish in Good Queen Bess' days,
may have often lingered here ; there is no doubt what-
ever of the occupancy of the Indians v^hose rites were
performed in a temple fully described by one of the
priests of Vizcaino's expedition ; the rendezvous, possi-
bly, of pirates and smugglers both in Spanish, Mexican
and later American days, it breathes of romance as the
flower gardens of the South.
But the romance to the modern visitor lies in the sea-
lions that sport upon its shores, the glass-bottomed boats
that reveal the wonders of the sea-bed to inquisitive
eyes, the remarkable fishing that has made Catalina
famous to expert anglers the world over, the stage-ride
over the rocky ribs of the island and the open-air Greek
theatre, where a concert band discourses sweet music
during the season and — remarkable fact — where those
who take seats are not allowed to annoy their neighbours
with their godless and inane chatter — a thing, I believe,
known on or in no other concert-giving place in the
United States.
The hotel is fairly good, and there are boarding-places,
rooming-houses and tents for those who need them.
Many residents have purchased lots and own their homes.
Almost the first thing one does on arrival is to go out in
one of the glass-bottomed boats. Dr. Holder's descrip-
tions of what one sees are eloquent, graphic and accurate,
and it is interesting to note that he is doubtless the father
of this modem method of prying into the secrets of the
deep.
" The entire island, nearly sixty miles around, is lined
with a forest of Nereocystis, or kelp, a huge vine, whose
leaves rise and fold and unfold in the water, the abiding-
place of countless animals of all kinds. This fringe rises
The Channel Islands 149
ill deep water ten or twenty feet from the rocks, and
inshore are myriad forms of algae of various colours.
" I once sent a diver down into Avalon Bay and fol-
lowed him around in a glass-bottomed boat. It was a
remarkable spectacle to see this man walking on the
bottom of the sea, pushing his way through the kelp
forest. After awhile he sat down, crushed a sea-urchin
in his hand, whereupon the small fishes gathered about
and fed from his palm. Then he opened a wire trap,
which I had provided, placed the bait inside and held it
for a moment, or until a number of fishes (gold perch)
entered. He then closed the trap, and seeing game
was snared, I pulled it up. Altogether this little act
beneath the sea was very interesting. Here the kelp
forms itself into a beautiful picture, its rich olive hue
when it catches the sun looking not imlike a great band
of amber against the vivid turquoise of the water, as
deep water is so near the shore that often one can dive
into blue w^ater from the rocks.
" A common form in the weed is the giant California
starfish, its white tubercles against the pink or red sur-
face making it a striking figure against the green, red,
or purple weeds. Near it will be seen the large Califor-
nia sea-cucumber lying on the rocks, prone and motion-
less, and near by the long-spined sea-urchin, very similar
to the one of the Florida Reef, though not so long. With
it is a small, pure white sea-urchin from deeper water,
a charming contrast to the green weed that is in constant
motion, undulating in the waves that affect even this
quiet bay.
" We now drift over a rocky area where the water
appears to be a pale blue. A reddish-yellow crawfish
waves its serrated spines back and forth from a crevice,
and passing before him is a hideous octopus, searching
150 California, Romantic and Beautiful
for crabs or anything that it can lay its tentacles on.
This, without question, is the most fascinating animal
to be seen through the glass window. Timid, constantly
changing colour, hideous t© a degree, having a peculiarly
devilish expression, it is well named the Mephistopheles
of the sea, and with the bill of a parrot, the power to
adapt its colour to almost any rock, and to throw out a
cloud of smoke or ink, it well deserves the terror it
arouses. The average specimen is about two feet across,
but I have seen individuals fourteen feet in radial
spread, and larger ones have been taken in deep water
ofifshore."
It is on this trip that visitors are taken to see the sea-
lion rookeries at the east end of the Island, though they
are to be found, also, on all the islands. These interest-
ing creatures become very tame and are capable of being
taught remarkable tricks. Many of my readers doubt-
less will remember a troupe of these " seals " which per-
formed astonishing feats. They were captured on Santa
Cruz. They would pass a ball, no larger than an orange,
from one to another, poising it the whole time upon the
tips of their noses. Then the trick was done with a
large ball, and when it slipped to the ground, one of the
seals " picked it up " by placing bis nose underneath it,
tossing it in the air and catching it on his nose, and thus
carrying it securely. They also played with burning
flambeaux in reckless abandon.
They are now protected by law, though occasionally
a few are caught to be sent to zoological museums
throughout the country. The capture is generally made
at Santa Cruz, where the sea has made a breach against
the high cliffs. Watching the waves the boatmen wait
until they have a chance to jump ashore. The " catch-
ers " are cowboys, trained to the use of the riata. They
The Channel Islands 151
drive the creatures back until they hnd themselves caught
in a ciil dc sac, when they rush forward and charge their
Lormentors. As Dr. Holder says, it requires no little
nerve to stand and face the open mouths of the roaring
animals, as they come on with a peculiar galloping
motion. But now is the time to throw the riata. As
soon as the noose falls over the lion's neck, or elsewhere
to give a good hold, the men dash for the rocks where
they can get a turn with their ropes. For these animals
are vigorous and tremendously strong. Some break
away, biting the ropes apart, others slip the ropes ofif.
All seek to reach the water and " the men have to be
active to escape the horde of crazed animals (some of
which weigh one thousand pounds) which come sliding
down the kelp toboggan. xA.fter a long struggle the sea-
lions are mastered; the ugliest are gagged, bound,
thrown over, and tow^d to the boxes, into which they
are placed. Later they are hoisted aboard the launch
and carried to Santa Barbara, from which place they
are shipped to_ museums or zoological gardens all over
the world.''
The coach-ride over Catalina is one of the famous
rides of the world. Mr. George Greeley, of Pasadena,
is as famous in his day, as a driver, as Hank Monk was i
in Horace Greeley's day. I am not aware that there is
any relationship between the coachman of to-day and
the great editor and statesman, though it is a little sin-
gular that a Greeley no longer asks to be driven but
drives himself. The up grades are always taken on a
walk, but when the descent begins the passenger would
do well to hold on, for when Greeley lets go, — or per-
haps it should be written " lets 'em out." — the sensa-
tion is as near to that of being in a dirigible balloon that
*' bumps " something now and again as anything I can
152 California, Romantic and Beautiful
suggest. The horses enjoy it, so does Greeley, so does
the passenger if he be fearless and trustful. This is
called " Catalina tobogganing."
But it is the fishing that has made the chief fame of
Santa Catalina and the other Channel Islands. Dr.
Holder is as enthusiastic an angler as he is charming as
a nature writer. When he first came here nearly thirty
years ago he found it to be the meeting-ground of many
great game fishes caught nowhere else, and many in-
digenous to the locality. He found the leaping tuna, the
long-finned tuna, the yellow-fin, the white sea-bass, the
leaping swordfish that jumps and outfights the tarpon,
the yellow-tail, and many others, any one of which
would alone make any place famous. Being a thorough
sportsman, he set to work to put a stop to the indiscrim-
inate slaughter of these game fish. For the tuna used
to be " harpooned, caught with ropes, shot, perhaps with
bombs, or trapped in nets of rope." In 1898 the Tuna
Club was organized to secure fair play for these oceanic
game fishes. In his first annual address as president,
Dr. Holder said among other things :
" A year ago boats left Avalon Bay with from four to
ten heavy hand-lines, and tunas and yellow-tail and sea-
bass were slaughtered by the ton and thrown away. To-
day by your example not a boatman of Santa Catalina
will permit a hand-line in his boat. All use rods and
reels and the lines specified by the Club, and the result is
that few fish are wasted, the catch is reduced two-thirds,
and the sport is enhanced by the use of rod and reel."
An interesting chapter could be written alone on each
of the larger and smaller game fishes of the islands, and
Dr. Holder has written many scores of pages giving
accounts of the various catches of these fish. Some of
these have been exciting in the extreme.
The Channel Islands 153
Brief references, however, to the other islands, must
be made. The Coronados are in Mexican waters, though
few are aware of that fact. They rise out of the pearly-
faced sea — seen from Hotel del Coronado — like three
barren mountains from an alkali plain. One of them
has a decided resemblance to a gigantic figure of a
recumbent crusader in some European cathedral. The
one to the northwest is known as Cortez. It is four hun-
dred and sixty-seven feet high; that to the southeast is
six hundred and seventy-two feet high. At times they
appear very close to Hotel del Coronado.
" They are extremely rough and barren. One has an
attractive little harbour where small boats find refuge;
but the cliffs are steep, and hard climbing is necessary
to reach the summit. Surrounded by forests of kelp, they
afford a refuge for myriads of rock-bass, sheepshead,
and whitefish, while the great black sea-bass affords
famous sport for the tourists who congregate at Coro-
nado Beach very nearly opposite and in plain view.
" On the rocks seals, sea-bears, sea-lions abound ; and
formerly sea-elephants made the place their home; while
numerous birds breed here including pelicans, gulls, and
petrels."
" Off to the west of the Coronados, nearer San Cle-
mente, are two banks named after Cortez and Captain
Tanner, U. S. N., which have aroused much speculation
as * lost islands.' Many a romance has been written with
these banks as the foundation. Here it is supposed once
stood a Pacific Atlantis. It is unfortunate to have to
destroy so alluring a tale, but the stories of cities and
ruins seen down through the clear water are pure fic-
tion. The only population of the bank is a remarkable
variety of fishes, winter and summer; indeed the At-
lantis of Cortez and the Bank of Tanner doubtless are
154 California. Romantic and Beautiful
the winter homes of many of the summer fishes of the
inshore islands.
" Tanner Bank, called the ' lost island,' covers an area
of about fifteen miles in a west-northwest and south-
southeasterly direction, and is about four miles wide. Its
shallowest portion comes to within about one hundred
and sixty feet of the surface and there is deep water all
about it equalling two-thirds of a mile in some places,
showing that there is a virtual mountain of the sea. It
can be found readily by yachtsmen and fishermen.
" Cortez Bank, which lies to the south, is the real ' lost
island,' as this submerged mountain rises from water
over half a mile deep to within fifteen feet of the surface,
and has an area of about twenty-five miles long and
eight miles wide.
" At some points the depth is six hundred feet, but the
shallow portion is over Bishop's Rock at the southern
portion of the bank."
San Clemente is undoubtedly the overflow of a great
volcano. There are vast lava beds where the molten
rock poured out into the sea. One lava mass is known
as Cape Horn. The island is eighteen miles long as the
crow flies.
" Its forty or more miles of coast is mainly of rock
covered with an assortment of seaweed, the abode of
countless shells and mollusks, hence the haunt of vast
numbers of fishes. The water about it is deep, very few
shallows being found, and the chief anchorage for an-
glers is on the slope of the island mountain as it drops
away into deep water, or upon some minor peak which
branches out from it. This ensures a vast concourse of
bottom-feeding fishes ; and as the island is well offshore,
in the line of fish migration, it abounds in roam-
ing fishes, which come in large numbers and spend
The Channel Islands 155
the summer on the feeding and spawning ground of
their choice."
" Next to San Nicolas, San Clemente is the most
distant island from tlie mainland, but being nineteen hun-
dred and sixty-four feet high (Mount Cortez), it stands
out a conspicuous object in clear weather to the yachts-
man. From Point Loma near San Diego the run to the
southeast end (Cape Pinchot) is sixty miles, and the
course would be two hundred and eighty degrees true
west, one-half south mag. from Point Loma. From
Santa Catalina, the nearest outfitting point, the run is
about thirty miles to the east end ; twenty to Rowland's.
The channel is rough for small boats; to make it in
comfort the start should be made from Avalon at four
in the morning, thus avoiding the strong midday and
afternoon wind which sweeps down the wide open San
Clemente Channel from the open sea."
Anacapa is called the " ever-changing island," for it is
so strangely made up that it presents consitant changes of
a most peculiar character to the passing vessel. This has
led to many conflicting descriptions of it.
" It is doubtless an island in the last stages, fighting
for its life, though it may never have been larger; and it
is interesting to land and note the ravages of the sea. It
is the most easterly of the Santa Barbara group and is
not over eleven miles from the main land or Hueneme
Light, at the nearest point. To all intents and purposes
it is one island, Anacapa, but when you land or cruise
about it, near inshore, it mysteriously divides itself up
into three or more islands; doubtless the divisions have
been eaten in by the gnawing tooth of the sea. The
island forming the east end is the lowest; about a mile
long and a fourth of a mile wide, with an altitude of
about two hundred feet.
156 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" The middle island or link in the Anacapan chain is
nearly three hundred and twenty feet high, one and
three-quarters of a mile long, one-fourth of a mile wide.
The largest island lies to the west. Its peak, nine hun-
dred and eighty feet high, can be seen thirty-five miles
offshore when the day is clear and hot. The others can
be sighted from fifteen to twenty miles away, and are so
flat or peculiar that they appear like strange exhibitions
of the mirage. The little channels which divide the
islands are tempestuous places in storms when the sea
rushes through and climbs the shores, flinging the spoon-
drift and flying scud far into the interior and starring
the beetled cliffs with incrustations of salt."
On the way out to San Nicolas from Santa Catalina
one passes by Santa Barbara Rock. It is the outermost
of all the islands, fifty-three miles from the nearest main-
land or forty-three miles off the west end of San Cle-
mente. It is " about eight miles long, extending east
and west, and has an average of three miles in width,
though it seems more than that when butting into the
wind and flying sand. In the centre is a hill or mountain
rising to an altitude of about eight hundred and ninety
feet, a conspicuous object from many miles away."
" Just as at San Clemente, there is at San Nicolas
a volcanic cone off the west end, a most conspicuous
landmark in clear weather, but extremely dangerous in
thick weather, as it is eic!"ht miles northwest from the
west point of the island and is forty feet high. It is the
top of a mountain rising from the sea. and with nothing
to warn the mariner on a dark night except his presum-
able knowledge that "Regg's Rock is somewhere about.
There should be a bell buoy here. You can see Begg's
Rock ten miles off in clear weather. It is protected by
a circle of nereocystis, or kelp, and a reef runs north
The Channel Islands 157
and south from it almost three hundred feet in each
direction. That it is a singularly dangerous peak is evi-
dent from the fact that at night a ship might take a
sounding of sixty fathoms and five minutes later crash
on to Begg's Rock."
" From the sea, Santa Cruz Island is a jumble of lofty
hills and mountains, with deep gorges and canyons wind-
ing in every direction. Hidden away in the very heart
of the island is an ideal ranch, with a pronounced foreign
atmosphere, in a climate as perfect as that of Avalon on
the island to the south."
In the heart of the island is a wonderful valley as en-
chanting as The Valley of Diamonds. It is invisible and
unsuspected from the sea. Few, even of Californians,
know of its existence. Surrounded by stupendous preci-
pices and rugged mountains slopes, there are " masses of
verdure, rows of vines laden with grapes, acres of green
gardens, plume-like eucalyptus trees, besides walnut, fig,
and others."
Over sixty men are required to care for it. There are
two ranch houses covered with plaster and whitewashed,
each with " a small veranda and iron balconies wherever
there is an excuse to place one. In front of each is a
small, old-fashioned garden, with narrow winding walk,
filled with fragrant old-fashioned plants."
" Not far from the house is a little chapel, where serv-
ices are held, and to the west are the great corrals for
the horses, the shops for the wagon-makers, black-
smiths, tool-makers, etc. ; for nearly everything used on
the ranch is made here, even the ornamental iron rail-
ings. Over the big stable is the island clock — a peculiar
sun dial, ornamented by some of the men. Beyond are
the quarters of the wine-makers and their dining-hall.
In the latter is a list of rules, in Italian, as follows : * Do
158 California, Romantic and Beautiful
not throw bread upon the floor.' ' Eat your soup; it is
nutritious food.' ' Do not criticise your neighbour at
meals.' ' Do not talk loud.' " etc.
On the north coast at Point Diablo is the famous
Painted Cave. It is entered through a striking Gothic
arch, and is one of the most wildly romantic spots
imaginable.
" It is well called the Painted Cave," says Dr. Holder,
" as the salts have dyed or coloured it in a fantastic
manner, in brilliant yellows, soft browns, reds, greens,
and vivid white. The first room opening from the sea
may be sixty or seventy feet high, the walls beautifully
coloured or painted. From this room we i^ushed the
boat in and in until we came to a dark door opening
somewhat but not much larger than the boat. As we
approached, a wave came rolling in, sobbing, hissing,
groaning in a strange uncanny manner, and I noticed
that as it swept in, it almost closed the entrance. It was
not an alluring prospect, and I did not wonder that the
men displayed so little curiosity. There was but one
thing to do. We pushed our boat as near the hole as
possible and waited for the next roller, and as it filled
the entrance we pushed in immediately after it and got
through before its successor came along, a proceeding
easily accomplished. At once we were in almost absolute
darkness, a small vivid eye of light representing the en-
trance. It has been my good fortune to hear some sin-
gular noises in my day, but the pandemonium, worse
confounded, in this cave under the mountain of Point
Diablo at times exceeded anything I had ever heard.
" We had made a flambeau of waste, and tying this
to a stick endeavoured to see the roof or ceiling; we
also attempted to sound the cave, but all to no purpose.
I should imagine it was one hundred feet across. I
The Channel Islands 159
found on the side a ledge, and beyond, and under this,
were other caves or passages through which the water
went roaring, hissing, and revenberating in a series of
sounds which I could easily understand would demoral-
ize any one with weak nen'es. There were two ladies
with us : Captain Burnham and I rowed, and our fair
passengers were animated with a desire for investigation.
I am rather inclined to explorations myself, yet I could
not but think that if a particularly heavy earthquake
should occur at that time and lower the entrance a foot
or two, we should be imprisoned beneath the mountain.
As I stepped out on the shelf, screams, yells, and shouts
seemed to come from the dark unfathomed caves beyond,
and all the evil demons of this sea cave apparently sprang
to life. At the same time a particularly big wave came
in, filling the entrance completely, and as it went rever-
berating on into countless other caves, it released myri-
ads of reverberations and echoes until the sound was
deafening, confusing, and appalling.
" The cave was a sea-lion's den. When I stepped on
to the ledge I dislodged several by almost stepping on
them in the dark, and their barking protests as they
dashed out added to the volume of sound. As they
swam beneath us the water blazed with phosphorescence,
turning the place into a veritable witches' caldron. I
crashed two planks together to find out what sound
really was, and we could hear it bounding off and far
away into the interstices of the mountain in an appalling
series of sounds.
" Watching our chance, we reversed the operation ;
the moment a wave came in we pushed the boat through
into the dazzling sunshine.
" If I should attempt to designate the most striking
feature of Santa Cruz I should name its caves, as the
160 California, Romantic and Beautiful
entire coast on the water line appears to be cut and per-
forated by the gnawing sea. Some are large and open ;
others spout water and air with undisguised ferocity;
some merely hiss, growl, and moan as the sea rushes
into them ; while others again appear so far beneath that
the compact merely shakes the rock with a dull heavy
reverberation.
" The cave known as Cueva Valdez, toward the east
end on the north side, is quite as remarkable as the
Painted Cave. It is partly on land, and will hold several
hundred people. One entrance opens on the little bay,
really a very good harbour ; the other on a sandy canyon
that leads up into the mountains ; and there is a trail
along the rocky shore to the east."
" Santa Cruz is one of the largest of the islands, its
long axis being parallel to the neighbouring mainland
shore. It is twenty-one miles long, extending almost
east and west, with an average width of five miles. On
the western end a commanding peak rises to an altitude
of half a mile or more, or, to be exact, two thousand
four hundred and seven feet. Another peak on the east
end is fifteen hundred and forty-nine feet high. Santa
Cruz has a number of peaks with respective altitudes of
thirteen hundred and twenty-nine, thirteen hundred and
seventy-four, fourteen hundred and ninety-six, and fif-
teen hundred and forty-nine feet. On the northern
ridge there are peaks of eighteen hundred feet, twenty-
four hundred and seven feet, and twenty-one hundred
and forty-four feet."
In climate this island compares most favourably with
any part of the Riviera, as here are none of the hot winds
of Africa or the cold breezes from the Maritime Alps.
The eastern end, San Pedro Point, is twenty-one and
one-half miles from Santa Barbara and four miles from
The Channel Islands 161
Anacapa ; and the deep riotous little channel abounds, as
I well know, in game bonitos, great schools being seen
everywhere on clear days.
Santa Rosa is but five miles from Santa Cruz and is
owned privately. From its highest peak, Monte Negro,
fifteen hundred and sixty-five feet, an imposing view
may be obtained. " Its shores are high, precipitous
bluffs, abounding in great caves and little bays, but there
are no really good harbours. The east end is rocky and
dangerous, as two-thirds of a mile out a rocky cone
arises to within sixteen feet of the surface, and about
two miles away there is a shoal with less than thirty feet.
About two and a half miles from East Point there are
sand-dunes two hundred and fifty feet in height, always
changing in the strong wind, and once the home of hun-
dreds of natives, who have left tons of abalone shells to
tell the story. The extreme northern end of the island
is known as Carrington Point ; for nearly a mile it faces
the sea with a bold and menacing front at least four
hundred feet high, a notable sight from a long distance.
Nearly the entire island is surrounded with nereocystean
kelp, which constitutes a refuge for innumerable fishes."
" San Miguel, the property of the Government, lies to
the west of the Santa Barbara group, and is so near
Point Concepcion — but twenty-one miles distant — that
it is more exposed to the winds than the others, and is a
most dangerous place for shipping.
" But three miles from Santa Rosa across a turbulent
channel this island, seven and one-seventh miles long,
east and west, rises in two peaks in the centre eight hun-
dred and sixty and eight hundred and fifty feet high.
It has few beaches ; its shores are bold and rocky ; and
the western end when the wild wind comes tearing in,
is the true lair of the sand-dune. There are no trees, and
162 California, Romantic and Beautiful
few bushes of any kind, the chief verdure being grass of
a long coarse variety which thrives here. After the
rains wild flowers of various kinds appear, and the
assumption is that years ago San Miguel may have been
well wooded like the rest of the island, but now is being
blown into the sea."
CHAPTER X
California's climate
No romance equals the truth of the charm and delight
of California's climate. Summer as well as winter,
spring as well as autumn, — alike are alluring, healthful,
restful. It is true that the topography of California is
so varied that it reproduces the climate of every State
in the Union. This statement may seem to many to be
incredible, yet it is easily susceptible of proof. In our
" Glimpses of the Land " we saw that California con-
tained the highest peak, and also the lowest valley, in
altitude in the United States. Between these two ex-
tremes ranges every possible climate, although it is not
altitude alone that determines climate. California pos-
sesses glaciers and a desert that out-Saharas Sahara. It
has regions where from a hundred to two hundred inches
of rain fall annually, and others where not more than
an inch totals up the year's supply. Flowers, fruits and
vegetables grow perpetually somewhere in the State, yet
there are regions where for scores of miles the horses
must wear snow-shoes or they would sink into snow-
drifts and be lost.
I know of no country that is so all-embracing in to-
pography and climate. It is truly a cosmos within itself.
This is nothing to boast of as though it were something
personally achieved. Nor is it something to be offended
at, if, in stating the facts, the Californian seems to be
boastful. He had nothing to do with its making. He
163
164 California, Romantic and Beautiful
found it here, and accepts with gratitude, let us hope,
that with which the gods have favoured him.
Ever since Joaquin Miller wrote his First Families of
the Sierras, and gave the world his inimitable picture
of the scrubby little " judge " who on all occasions at-
tributed every achievement to " the glorious climate of
Californy," the expression has been common. It has
often been quoted in derision, or supposedly subtle sar-
casm, for, of course, California does not please everv-
body. It is even recorded, somewhere, that one of the
angels or archangels became dissatisfied with the con-
ditions of the celestial cit}^ and he is now — elsewhere.
There are disagreeable features in California, and such
a wholesale variety that it would be singular, indeed, if
some one at some time did not happen upon a climatic
manifestation of which he disapproved. Climates, like
men, must be judged by their averages, and the Cali-
fornia average is extraordinarily high. In my Through
Ramona's Country I recount my New Year's Day ex-
periences on many occasions, enjoying the snow of Mt.
Lowe, the Tournament of Roses at Pasadena, and a
swim in the Pacific, all within the short space of three
hours spent for actual travel.
Take the question of rain in California. The impres-
sion has gone forth that we have a " rainy season," when
we are deluged, while during the rest of the year we
are parched dry. The fact is we have far less rain, gen-
erally speaking, than, say, any of the New England,
Northern, Middle West, or Southern States. Through a
large part of California the rainfall is limited, from, in
San Diego, where the seasonal average is ten inches, and
Los Angeles, where it is nearer seventeen inches, to sev-
enteen in 1910 and twenty-nine in 191 1 in Sonoma
County, and twenty-two in Contra Costa County. By
California's Climate 165
this I do not mean to say that it is exceptional for it
to rain more than this anywhere in CaHfornia. There
are regions where over a hundred inches fall, and some
that exceed even this figure. But the average residence
sections do not have, at the most, more than twenty-five
to thirty inches in the year. Even Santa Barbara, which
faces the South Pacific, has an annual rainfall of only
eighteen inches ; Ventura, the next county south, six-
teen inches, thoug'h the year 1884 recorded thirty-eight
inches. On the other hand. Kern County, at the southern
end of the San Joaquin Valley, except in the mountains,
averages about six inches ; San Bernardino County, still
further to the south and on the other side of the range,
varies from two or three inches on the desert, to twenty
inches or more in the mountains ; while at Sacramento
the mean average for thirty-three years gives nearly
twenty-one inches, and Shasta County, at the head of
the Sacramento Valley, reaches an average of thirty-six
inches.
There is that in the climate of California — or is it
the climate? perhaps it is something more subtle than
climate — that makes one feel different. The primness,
the stififness. the formality, the reserves of life seem to
fall from one. A new spirit takes possession of the
whole nature. There is an expansion of soul, a freedom
of spirit, an exuberance of fancy, a springing forth of
spontaneous naturalness that carries one away from the
crystallized formalism of the older and staider sections
of the country. The old feel young, and the carew^orn
joyous, burdens drop away from the spirit as the clouds
flee before the California sun. The pure blue sky is
symbolic of the clear and speckless arch spreading over
the soul; the clarity of the atmosphere of the new in-
sight into life. The- wild and delirious singing of the
>/
166 California, Romantic and Beautiful
birds is but indicative of the new and unrestrained songs
that spring up in the heart ; and the sweet odours of the
ten thousand times ten thousand flow^ers but fill the soul
with unquenchable desires to make fragrant the barren
and flowerless lives of the unhappy and unfortunate. It
is a blessed land, this California land where the wine
of life flows so richly and fully through the veins of the
soul as well as of the body, where manhood becomes
more vigorous and strong and womanliness more gra-
cious and tender, where childhood offers so much more
to the budding life, and the young man and maiden live
in a perpetual springtime.
It was this " atmosphere," this intangible spirit that
led one of our poets to sing:
" It is not your mountains or magical chain
Of islands dim purple, or even the sea,
With gay racing billows by day, and by night
His monotone chant to uncomforted souls.
Not these, but the Spirit of these, but the breath,
The reviving, the incomprehensible Air
That we float in, and live in, and love till we die."
Think of the climate that called forth from the poet
this practically truthful description, and think of days
like this, when children may be out of doors studying
their lessons most of the days of the year:
" More perfect than a string of pearls
We hold the full days of the year;
The days troop by like flower-girls,
And all the days are ours here.
Here youth must learn; here age may live
Full tide each day the year can give."
Of its winter climate listen to this absolutely true song
of Joaquin Miller's, sung of San Diego :
California's Climate 167
My sunclad city walks in light
And lasting summer weather;
Red roses bloom on bosoms white
And rosy cheeks together.
If you should smite one cheek, still smite
For she will turn the other.
The thronged warm street tides to and fro
And Love, roseclad, discloses
The only snowstorm we shall know
Is this white storm of roses —
It seems like Maytime, mating so,
And — Nature coimting noses.
Soft sea winds sleep on yonder tide;
You hear some boatmen rowing.
Their sisters' hands trail o'er the side;
They toy with warm waves flowing;
Their laps are laden deep and wide
From rose-trees green and growing.
Such roses white! such roses red!
Such roses richly yellow!
The air is like a perfume fed
From autumn fruits full mellow —
But see! a brother bends his head,
An oar forgets its fellow!
Give me to live in land like this,
Nor let me wander further;
Some sister in some boat of bliss
And I her only brother —
Sweet paradise on earth it is;
I would not seek another."
Now see how Edward Rowland Sill sings his own
song to the same stimulating theme:
CHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA
" Can this be Christmas — sweet as May,
With drowsy sun and dreamy air,
And new grass pointing out the way
For flowers to follow, everywhere?
168 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" Has Time grown sleepy at his post,
And let the exiled Summer back,
Or is it her regretful ghost,
Or witchcraft of the almanac?
" While wandering breaths of mignonette
In at the open window come,
I send my thoughts afar, and let
Them paint j''our Christmas Day at home.
" Glitter of ice, and glint of frost,
And sparkles in the crusted snow;
And hark! the dancing sleigh-bells, tost
The faster as they fainter grow.
" The creaking footsteps hurry past;
The quick breath dims the frosty air;
And down the crisp road slipping fast
Their laughing loads the cutters bear.
" Penciled against the cold white sky,
Above the curling eaves of snow,
The thin blue smoke lifts lingeringly,
As loath to leave the mirth below.
" For at the door a merry din
Is heard, with stamp of feathery feet.
And chattering girls come storming in,
To toast them at the roaring grate.
" And then from muff and pocket peer,
And many a warm and scented nook,
Mysterious, little bundles queer.
That, rustling, tempt the curious look.
" Now broad upon the southern walls
The mellowed sun's great smile appears.
And tips the rough-ringed icicles
With sparks, that grow to glittering tears.
" Then, as the darkening day goes by,
The wind gets gustier without,
The leaden streaks are on the sky.
And whirls of snow are all about.
California's Climate 169
" Soon firelight shadows, merry crew,
Along the darkling walls will leap
And clap their hands, as if they knew
A thousand things too good to keep.
" Sweet eyes with home's contentment filled.
As in the smouldering coals they peer.
Haply some wondering pictures build
Of how I keep my Christmas here.
" Before me, on the wide, warm bay,
A million azure ripples run;
Round me the sprouting palm-shoots lay
Their shining lances to the sun.
" With glossy leaves that poise or swing,
The callas their white cups unfold,
And faintest chimes of odour ring
From silver bells with tongues of gold.
" A languor of deliciousness
Fills all the sea-enchanted clime;
And in the blue heavens meet, and kiss,
The loitering clouds of summer-time.
" This fragrance of the mountain balm
From spicy Lebanon might be;
Beneath such sunshine's amber calm
Slumbered the waves of Galilee.
" O wondrous gift, in goodness given,
Each hour anew our eyes to greet,
An' earth so fair — so close to Heaven,
'Twas trodden by the Master's feet.
" And w6 — what bring we in return?
Only these broken lives, and lift
Them up to meet His pitying scorn,
As some poor child its foolish gift:
" As some poor child on Christmas Day
Its broken toy in love might bring;
You could not break its heart and say
You cared not for the worthless thing?
170 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" Ah, word of trust, His child! That child
Who brought to earth the life divine,
Tells me the Father's pity mild
Scorns not even such a gift as mine.
" I am His creature, and His air
I breathe, where'er my feet may stand;
The angels' song rings everywhere.
And all the earth is Holy Land." *
Of the summer climate equally enthusiastic songs have
been sung, and powerful encomiums written, but few
strangers know or believe this. They are so carried away
with the incomparable winters that they cannot realize or
believe what the summer brings. Yet, as I have shown
elsewhere, experience demonstrates that the California
summers, in chosen locahties, are even superior to her
winters.
1 From Poems by E. R. Sill. By kind permission of Houghton, Mifl3in
& Co., Boston, Mass.
CHAPTER XI
IN AND AROUND THE GOLDEN GATE
The very name " Golden Gate " suggests romance
and beauty. Of the latter it has its sufficient quota, as
all who have seen it from the Berkeley Hills have de-
clared, when they have been fortunate enough to catch
the view as the setting sun slowly fell directly between
its rocky walls and blazed its path of golden glory from
the hills, over the bay, through to the far-away horizon,
with enough glowing gold spilled over the Gate's own
rocky masses to transmute them into a scene of tran-
scendent beauty.
Fremont named it in 1846, as he stood on the hills
at what was afterwards Joaquin Miller's " Hights." He
says : '* Approaching from the sea, the coast presents a
bold outline. On the south, the bordering mountains
come down in a narrow ridge of broken hills, termina-
ting in a precipitous point, against which the sea breaks
heavily. On the northern side, the mountain presents
a bold promontory, rising in a few miles to a height of
two or three thousand feet. Between these points is
the strait — about one mile broad in the narrowest part,
and five miles long from the sea to the bay. To this
Gate I gave the name of Chrysopylae, or Golden Gate :
for the same reasons that the harbour of Byzantium
(Constantinople afterwards) was called Chrysoceras, or
Grolden Horn."
In a note Fremont adds : " The form of the harbour
171
172 California, Romantic and Beautiful
and its advantages for commerce, and that before it
became an entrepot of Eastern commerce, suggested the
name to the Greek founders of Byzantium. The form
of the entrance into the Bay of San Francisco and its
advantages for commerce, Asiatic inclusive, suggested to
me the name, Golden Gate."
These authoritative statements, therefore, do away
with the explanations of the name evolved out of the self-
consciousness of certain people who were assured it was
so called because of the gold found in the State, or
because of the gold of its poppies. For Marshall did
t not discover gold until nearly two years later than the
name was applied.
Hence it may be regarded — from one standpoint —
as another of the unconscious prophecies that California
has been the subject of ever since men have written
about its glories and possibilities. Fremont would be daz-
zled with the commerce that now pours in daily through
his Golden Gate, and he surely would be entranced could
he stand on Alcatraz Island and see the marvellous build-
ings of the Panama-Pacific Exposition covering an area,
part of which, when he first saw it, was the barren,
rugged shore of the Gate, and another part a sand-spit
covered by the shallow water of the bay.
In site and environment, as well as in history, San
Francisco is romantic, and its beauty is unquestioned.
On varied ground, rising to its many hills — Rincon,
Telegraph, Russian. Buena Vista, Strawberry (in the
Park), and Nob (so called because of the "nobs" or
millionaires who built their residences upon it), are all
noted hills, and Lone Mountain, Twin Peaks, Bernal
Heights and Mt. Parnassus are more dominant hills
beyond.
In the early days of American occupancy there were
In and Around the Golden Gate 173
many other hills, but as most of them were of sand they
were removed as the city's needs required. In those days
vessels used to anchor by the side of where Montgomery
Street now is. Market Street was a great, long sand
hill that reached to the foot of the peak five miles away.
The first steam-paddy, or shovel, used in California was
brought for the purpose of shovelling that sand into
cars which took it to the bay and there dumped it; and
upon the filled-in space the city from Montgomery Street
to the present bay front has been built.
The hills and rises overlooking the Golden Gate have
all been seized and built upon by those who appreciate
fine views. For here the aesthetic senses are satisfied to
the full. The rolling tide of the incoming or outgoing
waters at one's feet, glistening and dancing in the sun-
shine, the green slopes of the hills on the opposite shore,
crowned by the tree-clad Mt. Tamalpais above, the whole
enlivened by the incoming or outgoing coast steamers,
Oriental liners, lumber or fishing smacks, freight and
oil schooners and pleasure boats, many of them with
white sails set and filled with the breeze, make a scene
of incomparable charm.
There are few large cities in the world that comprise
terraced hills within their borders, and yet that are sur-
rounded on three sides by deep water that allows the
ready handling and manoeuvring of warships and deep-
sea vessels. Yet San Francisco is so situated. It is on
the Pacific Ocean, on the south side of the Golden Gate
and on the Bay. Its only land entrance is by way of the
peninsula on the south side. This is enough to set it
off as a city by itself, a rare, remarkable city in location
that should make of itself all that Nature has made pos-
sible. Think of the inspiration that must come to a
people whose every view from window, porch, house or
174 California, Romantic and Beautiful
hill top is of the great Bay, the swelling tide of the Gate,
or the illimitable stretch of the Pacific.
Nor does this end the blessed environment. Beyond
the Bay lie the orchards and rich pasture lands of Con-
tra Costa, Marin and Santa Clara Counties, and the
eye sees Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton, Loma Prieta, and
on rare occasions even the dreamy, hazy, filmy sug-
gestions of the far-away snow-clad Sierras.
Then there are the islands, close by, in the bay, —
Alcatraz, Yerba-Buena, Angel and the rest, with the
ferry-boats shuttling to and fro, to Oakland, Richmond,
Sausalito, Tiburon, and further up to Mare Island and
the Sacramento River.
While entirely different from the city of the psalm-
ist's exuberant song, there is no denying that " beautiful
for situation is this city," and that many regard it as
the " joy of the whole earth." Some of her citizens have
recognized this. While there is as much mean commer-
cialism in San Francisco as there is in every other city
of its size, — and it will never rise to its possibilities
until these adverse elements " die ofif," — there have
always been a few who had the enlarged vision as to
what their city might become. James Lick did some-
thing to beautify and adorn it; Adolf Sutro bound the
sand hills together, built the Cliff House and embattle-
mented Sutro Heights, making them free to the people,
won a live-cent road out to the beach, and besides, planted
a million trees (more or less), and thus made possible
a dense forest in the heart of the city. Others have done
the same, to greater or lesser extent, though it is much
to be deplored that San Francisco had not the courage
and daring, the judgment and enthusiasm to seize the
opportunity the earthquake and fire of 1906 forced upon
it, and follow, as far as was possible, the plans for the
In and Around the Golden Gate 175
adornment of the city suggested by D. H. Burnham,
who, in 1904, had been requested and engaged to formu-
late such plans. It would have required almost super-
human courage, but had they dared, San Francisco
would, by that one act alone, have placed herself in the
very forefront of the cities of the world, and in a few
decades have more than won back all she had risked, or
spent. But far be it from me to criticize, in any other
than the kindest spirit, a city that was so stricken as
San Francisco. Her glorious resurrection after her so
near destruction is one of the wonders of the ages.
The great divisions of San Francisco are I, the Water
Front, II, South of Market St., Ill, the Presidio district,
IV, the several residence sections, V, the Latin Quarter
or Little Italy, VI, Chinatown, and VII, the Cliff House.
Each is worth a little personal attention.
I. The Water Front. This is the main gateway to
San Francisco. All the transcontinental railways land
their passengers on the eastern shores of the bay — at
Oakland, Richmond, etc., and bring them to the city by
ferry. The wharves of the Pacific liners are close by,
from which steamers sail to the farthest ends of the
earth. From this water front Charles Warren Stoddard
sailed to visit the South Seas, where he wrote his mar-
vellous South Sea Idylls; Mark Twain went to Hawaii
and wrote the sketches that helped give him his fame;
Robert Louis Stevenson left for the South Seas, where
he lived his last years ; and Jack London started on his
Snark trip. The North Beach is a historic spot in San
Francisco annals, and it is picturesque to the visitor of
to-day. Greek and Neapolitan, Portuguese and China-
man cluster in their varied boats, around Fisherman's
Wharf, and if the weather be just right, you can shut
your eyes, forget for a moment you are on the Pacific
176 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Ocean, open them again and be fully assured you are
back in Naples. Sounds, sights, figures, vessels, words,
colour and atmosphere are all Neapolitan. It is adjoin-
ing North Beach that the Panama-Pacific Exposition
grounds are located.
Swinging around to the south again, passing the Ferry
Building, at the other end of the Water Front, is China
Basin, and South San Francisco. Here is Hunter's Point
Dry Dock, the largest in America, and midway between
it and the Ferry Building are the Union Iron Works,
where the Ohio and Oregon were built for the United
States navy.
II. " South of Market '' is the euphemistic method of
describing the crowded, rougher, poorer section of the
city, as the Barbary Coast is the euphemism for that por-
tion of the W^ater Front where the Jack tars of all
nations carouse, drink, dance and revel.
III. The Presidio district naturally centres at the pre-
sidio, or fort. This is the Army Headquarters for the
Department of California. It is a glorious park of 1,54-
acres, overlooking the Golden Gate, where are the of-
ficers' homes, the quarters for the soldiers, the parade
grounds, and the ominous-looking guns that threaten
improper comers.
" War keeps his dreadful engines at command,
With frowning brow and unrelaxing hand . . .
A tiger sleeping on a bed of flowers,"
as San Francisco's poet-mayor so graphically worded it.
Now while, officially, it has nothing to do with the Pre-
sidio, there is a superior residence section adjacent to
the reservation that one's automobile should pass through
either before or after the Presidio trip.
IV. Then the various residence sections are interest-
In and Around the Golden Gate 177
ing to those who care about the architecture of a city's
homes, and a knowledge of their sites and environment.
San Francisco is remarkably fortunate in this matter,
though it is scarcely within my scope to enter into detail
upon the subject.
V. But when it comes to Little Italy, that is another
matter. These " city within a city " sections are always
fascinating to visitors. Partially on Telegraph Hill, and
the streets that radiate therefrom, is this Latin Quarter.
Here you hear the tongues of the Mediterranean and
smell the cooking of the lands thereof. Spaghetti and
red wine abound and garlic is not forgotten.
VL But most interesting of the quainter side of San
Francisco life is Chinatown — a new, rebuilt, remod-
elled Chinatown since the 1906 fire, but still Chinatown,
distinct, separate and individualistic. As Allan Dunn
wrote : " Many deplore the passing of the Old China-
town with the fire. The weird fascination of under-
ground cellars, where gamblers played behind labyrinths
of barricaded doors and passages, where the atmosphere
was fetid with lack of sanitation and the reek of opium,
and strange, long-kept edibles, where slave girls were
celled, bartered or murdered at will ; of polluted dens
where degenerate wrecks sought solace in poppy-var
poured dreams — all that is gone — but the Chinaman
. . . has not changed many of his spots." And else-
where he says : " Chinatown holds, it would seem, great
interest with great mystery. With somewhat of super-
stition and lethargy as regards the world's affairs elim-
inated with his queue, the transplanted Chinaman is not
so great a puzzle as of yore. We wonder at many of
his superstitions, his peculiarities of palate, his ideas of
musical scale, limitations of theatrical staging and the
like, but we know and understand something of his be-
178 California, Romantic and Beautiful
liefs and customs, have an admiration for the broad
tenets of his religion and many of his achievements in
the arts and sciences ; and we of the West and those
who have more than superficially visited the Orient, es-
teem him as a person of honour, of excellent family
traits and a man of parts."
But though the queue-clipping edict had its strong
influence in Chinatown, and many a Chinaman of the
older order can be seen, in brocaded trousers and coat,
be-felted shoes and button-topped hat, " feeling at the
back of his head at the place where his hair ought to
be " and is not, you may still see the dragon in China-
town, hear the clashing cymbals and clang of gongs,
squeak of fife and fiddle, smell the incense and all the
strange and fishy smells, and see the temples, bazaars,
food stores, barber-shops and the like of the older civil-
ization. But do not be tempted to talk " pigeon Eng-
lish " to the store-keepers, or you may be charged an
additional fifty cents for your want of perspicacity,
although your servitor may respond in kind with a grav-
ity and imperturbability equal to that of the proverbial
" boiled owl."
VII. The Clift' House for half a century was the out-
post of American civilization on the west. It was the
place of high revelry in the days of gold, the days of
old, and the days that immediately followed those of '49.
The present building is the fifth, although the first, in
1858, was named Seal Rock House. The second was
called Cliflf House. It was erected in 1861. The pres-
ent is a concrete structure, and its chief charm is that
it is built on the edge of the cliff immediately overlook-
ing the Seal Rocks, where barking, swimming, diving,
clumsily-walking sea-lions revel and enjoy the dashing
waves or catch the fish that come near by. All the moods
WINE PRESS STATUE, GOLDEN GATE PARK.
In and Around the Golden Gate 179
of ocean, too, from wildest storm to Nirvana-like calm,
may be enjoyed from the Cliff House, and I have spent
hours, at different times, watching the varied shipping
coming out or going into the Golden Gate near by. The
excellent hotel service of the place does not in any way
detract from its scenic advantages.
Immediately behind the Cliff House are Sutro
Heights, on which the builder of the Sutro Tunnel, and
the former mayor of the city, erected his home. The
grounds have always been open to the public.
On one side of the Cliff House are the Sutro Baths,
large, commodious and supplied with sea-water; on the
other stretches the beach, which for years has been grow-
ing in favour as a resort for the picknickers, pleasure
seekers and children of the city. Every Christmas Day,
too, the Olympic Club here takes its annual bath, run
and jinks on the beach, the moving picture of which is
shown the world around, as a proof of California's at-
tractive climate.
Not far away is the Life Saving Station.
The Great Highway is the Beach Boulevard for auto-
mobiles that begins at the Cliff House and extends for
miles south, and is but one of many of the delightful
roads that belong to San Francisco.
But, undoubtedly, the chief glory of the city is its
Golden Gate Park. And well it may be. Under the
control of a superintendent, Mr. John MacLaren, who
is an indefatigable worker and a genius in dealing with
plants, trees and flowers, this thousand acre patch has
grown, in forty years, from a wild waste of sand hills
to one of the most attractive and pleasing parks of the
world. There are a Temple of Music, Child's Play-
ground, Japanese Tea Garden, Museum fin a building
that remains as a memorial of the Midwinter Fair of
180 California, Romantic and Beautiful
1894), Academy of Sciences, Conservatory, Aviary,
Zoological paddocks, several lakes, an observatory, Ro-
man bridges, monuments galore. Stadium and athletic
fields, Tennis, Baseball, Football and other recreation
grounds. Windmills and a Chalet. Another interesting
feature is the Norwegian sloop Gjoa, the famous vessel
in which Captain Amundsen made his historic northwest
passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1908. The
people of Norway presented it to the City of San Fran-
cisco.
After the great fire (1906), this and the other parks
of San Francisco sheltered fully two hundred thousand
of those who were made homeless, and on June 2d the
Commencement Exercises of the schools were held at
the outdoor Temple of Music, and 1,700 pupils received
their certificates of graduation.
There are numberless smaller parks in the city, the
most interesting and historic being Portsmouth Square,
formerly the heart of Yerba Buena. Near the corner
of Dupont and Clay Streets was the house of Jacob
Leese, where, in 1836, the first Fourth of July celebra-
tion was held, and, in 1840, the first child born of Amer-
ican parents saw the light. The first hotel, custom-
house, church, school-house, bank, store and newspaper
ofhce were built around it, or near by. It received its
name from the fact that on July 8, 1846, the American
flag was first raised here from the United States sloop-
of-war, the Portsmouth, Captain Montgomery command-
ing, whose name was conferred upon the street one block
east. It was the city's centre during- that wild epoch of
the gold days. Here were the gilded palaces of gin and
chance to which the miners flocked, and, strange to say,
in 1850 a procession of Chinese marched around it, when
the city bade them welcome. This was prior to the sand
In and Around the Golden Gate* 181
lot agitations which culminated in the formulation by-
Congress of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 185 1 one
of the Vigilance Committee hangings took place on one
of the overhanging beams of the Custom House. Here
in 1879 the well-beloved Stevenson used to come and sit.
Hence the unique monument to Stevenson that now
stands there, designed by Bruce Porter and Willis Polk.
Union Square is nearer the present business heart of
the city. The St. Francis Hotel is at one corner. Its
chief attraction is the slender and graceful Dewey__Col-
umn, surmounted by a figure of Victory holding a laurel
wreath, designed by Robert Aitken. a San Francisco
sculptor of world-embracing genius.
The most historic building of the city is the Mission,
dedicated to the founder of the San Franciscan order,
and from which the city gains its name. Mr. Zoeth
Eldredge, an enthusiastic and painstaking historian of i
the city, has written two excellent volumes on The Be-
ginnings of San Francisco, which afford fascinating
glimpses of its life in those ancient (though chronolog-
ically not far away) days. Though a new and preten-
tious church edifice close by was shaken down in the
earthquake of 1906, the old adobe building still remains,
a memorial not only of the faith and devotion of the
padres, but of the satisfactory and conscientious work
of the Indians In the cemetery adjoining it are a num-
ber of interesting monuments, two of which are to Cora
and Casey, hanged by the Vigilance Committee of 1856.
One has little space in a book of this character to
speak of the ordinary hotels of cities, yet San Francisco
has two hotels that are so out of the ordinary that they
cannot be ignored. The Palace Hotel, for twenty years
after its erection, was the largest hotel in the world.
In its unique inner court the carriages of citizen and
182 California, Romantic and Beautiful
visitor, traveller and passing statesman used to be driven,
greeted by the blare of welcoming band. Now, remod-
elled after the 1906 fire, the elite of San Francisco meet
there for their daily greetings, society functions and
afternoon teas. The kitchens of the Palace are marvels
of ingenious arrangement, and in the barroom (I wish
it were in a better place) is that striking picture of
Maxfield Parrish portraying with the power of genius
Browning's Pied Piper of Hamelin.
The Fairmont Hotel is that dominating structure of
marble that rises triumphant, on Nob Hill, over all the
rest of the city, and that one first sees, whether he ar-
rives in San Francisco by the Coast Line up the Penin-
sula, or from the ferry-boat on the Bay. It was built
by the heirs of James Fair, one of the Comstock mag-
nates, hence its name.
There is no time when San Francisco wears such an
air of romance, to me, as at night time, and it should
then be seen from the ferry-boat. Here is Gelett Bur-
f gess's description : " There it lay, a constellation of
lights, a golden radiance, dimmed by the distance, San
Francisco the impossible, the City of Miracles. Of it
and its people many stories have been told, and many
shall be ; but a thousand tales shall not exhaust its treas-
ury of Romance. Earthquake and fire shall not change
it, terror and suffering shall not break its glad, mad
spirit. Time alone can tame the to^v^l . . . and rob it
of its nameless charm, subdue it to the commonplace."
In its surroundings and tributary country San Fran-
cisco is remarkably fortunate. Strange to say, as com-
pared with Los Angeles, it seems singularly deficient in
coast resorts. For years its ClifT House Beach, and
far-away Santa Cruz and Monterey were its chief ocean
attractions, with a few sparsely visited nooks of charm
In and Around the Golden Gate 183
and beauty to the north, as Tomales Bay. Of late years,
however, since the opening of the Ocean Shore Railway,
which runs forty miles south, several places have been
started, destined to grow into fame. Chief of these is
Montara, with three or four others running" close behind.
The chief mountain resort, close to the city, is Mt.
Tamalpais, on which is the most crooked railway on
earth. It turns, — not a somersault, — but a double
bow-knot, and in a little over eight miles, and an ascent
of 2,500 feet, has over two hundred and eighty curves.
It was built in 1896, and is a standard broad gauge road.
Its peculiarity is that the engine wheels clamp the rails
as they progress. There are no steeper grades than
seven per cent., but it is one of the famous mountain
railways of the world. It crosses deep-cut canyons in
the mountain where every slope is rich with the foliage
of redwoods, madrones, oaks, laurels, sycamores, man-
zanita, .sages, and a hundred forms of daintily-flowered
chaparral.
A little on one side from the summit are the Muir
Woods, given by Congressman Kent to the government,
and named after California's famous scientist-naturalist-
author, John Muir. The redwoods are of fine propor-
tions and exquisite symmetry and thousands visit them
every year.
But, necessarily, the chief charm to most of those
who make the ascent of Mt. Tamalpais, is the view from
the summit. It is wide and expansive — the ocean, with
the Farallone Islands on the one hand ; the wild, rugged
coast, and the beautiful valleys of San Mateo County
on the north, with Mt. St. Helena, fifty-six miles, and
Mt. Shasta, three hundred miles away, snow-crowned
and majestic, often in sight. If the day is clear enough
to reveal Shasta, the eye may generally follow down, to
184 California, Romantic and Beautiful
due east, the course of the Sierra Nevadas, where Mt.
Diablo and Mt. Hamilton in the nearer ranges come
into sight. On the south the horizon line is met with
the Santa Cruz range, the chief peak of which, Loma
Prieta, dark and gloomy, fifty miles away, is the dom-
inating landmark. Shut in by these encircling moun-
tains is some of the most fertile, varied and interesting
country of California. Sonoma and Napa Counties, with
their marvellously fertile valleys; Marin County, with
many picturesque and dainty growing suburban towns;
prosperous Richmond, started little over ten years ago
as the terminus of the Santa Fe Railway, and speedily
made the home of the Standard Oil Company's refineries
and distributing and receiving plants and pipe lines, the
Pullman Car Company's shops ; Winehaven, the plant
of the California Wine Association, etc., and now the
chief city of Contra Costa County, Berkeley, Oakland,
Piedmont, Alameda, the southern arm of the Bay as far
as beautiful San Jose on the south, while so close, it
seems as if one might almost toss a ball into a maze
of miniature streets lies San Francisco on its hills, serene,
indifferent to fate, the proud mistress of the Golden Gate.
All these places — and many that I have not named
— should be visited, and must be, ere one can know
California. Oakland, on the eastern shores of the bay,
is a city that is now enjoying its business and commer-
cial renaissance. For years it seemed to be resting, but
during the past eight years it has leaped into new life
and surprised itself with the vigour and strength of its
new-found powers. A most graphic, powerful and fas-
cinating account of the growth of Oakland and its subur-
ban sister of Piedmont is given by Jack London in his
Burning Daylight. While possessing all the charm of
vivid fiction it is largely based on facts, and thus read
In and Around the Golden Gate 185
gives the most satisfactory account of the growth of
Oakland that has ever been penned.
The city has built a majestic city hall that towers
like a supreme mountain peak above its fellows, 377 feet
above the street; and it has a magnificent two million
dollar hotel that is a pride and a delight. For years its
water-front was dominated by the Southern Pacific Com-
pany. Then by a happy suit, unintentionally started, the
control was given back to the city. The result is that
Oakland is now reclaiming hundreds of acres of low-
watered land hitherto useless in the bay. It recently
voted bonds for over two millions and a half for har-
bour improvements and intends soon to be one of the
greatest shipping ports of the Pacific Coast.
Oakland possesses the only cotton mills west of the
Rocky Mountains, and all the California grown cotton
is here manufactured into woven goods. Three systems
of transcontinental railways give passenger and traffic
service to the city, 1,607 trains running daily in and out
of its terminals. It is unique in the possession of a water
park of 170 acres. Lake Merritt, within its city limits.
Two parks line its shores and a beautiful boulevard
makes its placid waters accessible to all.
Berkeley is a purely university residential city, and
its life is dominated by the State University. Piedmont
is of much later growth, and is entirely built up of the
fine homes of the wealthy. Its park is of a superior
order and the Art Gallery, one of the best in California.
Alameda is another of the trans-bay cities that cannotj
be ignored. The county seat of Alameda County, it has
felt the recent impulse to new growth experienced so
largely throughout the State. It is really a suburban
city, having swift and frequent electric connection with
the ferry-boats to San Francisco, with the added advan-
186 California, Romantic and Beautiful
tage of a rich tributary " back country." The location,
however, is practically an island, hence it has the perfect
healthfulness that comes from perfect drainage and a
moving salt water environment. Much of its commer-
cial transportation is by water, and it is acquiring title
to all its water-front. Being so highly advantaged in
relation to the Bay, Alamedans rejoice in boating, yacht-
ing, swimming and other water clubs, girls as well as
boys having their full opportunities in these safe waters.
Another charm is found in the great number of house-
boats that anchor in the quiet waters of the small nooks
and bays along the shore.
This is also a large feature of the pleasant life of the
people of Tiburon, Sausalito, Belvidere and other fa-
voured locations on the north shore of the Bay of San
Francisco. Hundreds of people quit their houses in the
summer months and move to their " pleasure arks,"
where they at once become aquatic dwellers with all the
privileges of close proximity to the city of their daily
labour or nightly enjoyment.
The peninsula country, south of San Francisco, is fully
deserving a chapter in this book, but space forbids. There
are many residence cities and towns, like San Mateo,
Burlingame, Redwood, Palo Alto, Mountain View and
Santa Clara, between San Francisco and San Jose. This
latter is the oldest town in the State, having been founded
as a Spanish pueblo in November, 1777. While several
Missions were established prior to this time, this was
the first definite pueblo or town. The chief city of the
Santa Clara Valley, it has always been of considerable
importance, as the surrounding tributary country is of
the richest character. It possesses a fine tourist hotel,
the Vendome, situated in its own park, and is the start-
ing-point for the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton.
In and Around the Golden Gate 187
These are but cursory and rapid glimpses of some of
the " high Hghts " that catch the eye as one glances
around the region of the Golden Gate. No one is more
aware of its inadequacy than myself, and the disap-
pointed reader must realize that all that is possible in
a limited work of this description is to give him the out-
line or skeleton which he must fill in or clothe by further
investigation and mental acquisition.
CHAPTER XII
FROM THE STATE CAPITAL AT SACRAMENTO TO MT.
SHASTA
Equally romantic, beautiful, progressive and varied
with the San Joaquin Valley is the Sacramento Valley.
Though not quite so long in mileage it is about equal in
acreage, being nearly two hundred miles long and vary-
ing in width up to sixty miles. It has passed through
the same history as its southern compeer. First granted
by the Spanish or Mexican government in vast tracts,
most of which were confirmed when it came into the
hands of the United States ; then long used as mere
cattle ranges, wild pasture and for wild hay; next it
became the scene of grain-growing operations on a
gigantic scale. Here it was the steam-plough and the
twenty, twenty-six, thirty horse-propelled header and
thresher, or combined harvester as it is now called, was
invented and first used, and here for the mechanical
manipulation of these vast areas, steam and oil burning
engines are constantly being perfected for reducing the
labour of man.
Now, however, most of the large ranches have been
broken up and subdivided into tracts as small as twenty,
ten and even five acres. A vast agricultural population
is pouring in and the Sacramento Valley is now under-
going the greatest transition in its history. One's pen
can scarce keep up with the marvellous changes that a
year brings forth, and even to Californians, some of the
188
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 189
developments are upon lines that create surprise border-
ing upon incredulity.
For instance, when the severe frosts of 19 12-13 ^^'
tacked the citrus crops of Southern California, two or
three of the most extensive and progressive growers left
that much heralded and highly favoured section, bought
large areas in the foothill regions of the Sacramento
Valley, where careful observations for years had re-
vealed thermal belts never known to be seriously affected
by low temperatures. One man alone proceeded to set
out five thousand acres to citrus fruits, most of which is
now accomplished. Here, though five to six or even
seven hundred miles north of his former orange or-
chards, he will secure his crops nearly two months earlier,
and thus be practically assured of his market before
frosts are at all likely to appear. Orland, nearly a hun-
dred miles further north, has been shipping its oranges
for several years by Thanksgiving Day, and receiving
the higher prices that come from being thus early in the
markets.
The natural gateway to this inland empire is Sacra-
mento, the capital of the State. Formerly in the heart
of a grant made by the Mexican Governor Alvarado to
General John A. Sutter, in 1839, which became the ob-
jective point of emigrants to California before the dis-
covery of gold, it was naturally the best known interior
settlement in the whole of California when that wonder-
ful find occurred. Add to this that Marshall was in
Sutter's employ w^hen the gold was picked up, Sutter's
Fort ''as his home place was called) was as much on the
lips of the argonauts as was San Francisco. The city
grew up near by as a matter of course, and was named
Sacramento after the river. The securing of the State
capital was not accomplished without effort, several
190 California, Romantic and Beautiful
■
other strong rivals for the honour and emolument con-
testing Sacramento's claim. But the matter was finally
settled by the act of 1852. In 1856 it was decided to
build a state capitol, btit not until i860 was work begun.
It was originally limited to cost not more than half a
million but appropriations grew until the building as it
now stands has cost not less than seven millions. It is
one of the handsomest and most imposing of the older
state capitols of the country, but California is now
growing somewhat ambitious for a new, larger and more
modern structure. The grounds in which it stands, how-
ever, are beyond compare. A park of thirty-three acres,
with over one hundred and twenty varieties of trees and
shrubs gathered from all parts of the world, with added
varieties in the half-acre Memorial Park adjacent. The
trees of the Memorial Park were gathered from the bat-
tlefields of the Civil War and other places of fame in
American history. One of the buildings of great interest
near the Capitol is the State Insectary. It has been
found that several of the pests which afflict the citrus and
other profitable crop-bearing trees of California are
preyed upon and kept practically under control by certain
insects. These are gathered from all parts of the world,
and here bred and distributed where they are most
needed. To many visitors it is an unique plant, and
when they learn that distinguished entomologists from
France, Spain, Japan, South Africa, the Island of For-
mosa, etc., have visited America purely to study the
methods followed at the Sacramento Insectary, their
respect for " bug-breeding " is at once materially in-
creased.
One of the interesting historic spots of the State is
1 Sutter's Fort, in the heart of the city. Built soon after
General Sutter's arrival in 1839, it saw many thrilling
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 191
pages in the State's early history. Here the remnants
of the Donner party were brought after their fearful
winter at the lake which bears their name. Here Fre-
mont came and consulted with the doughty Swiss in
regard to the Bear Flag revolution, and seizing the coun-
try for the United States. To secure lumber for Sutter's
operations Marshall built the mill and constructed the
mill-race at Coloma, on the American River, some forty-
five miles away, as is elsewhere recorded, which led to
the discovery of gold. This discovery ruined Sutter,
though it laid the foundations upon which the city of
Sacramento was later built.
In the early history of the State, when placer-mining
was at its height, Sacramento suffered fearfully from the
washing down into and filling up of the river with the
sand, silt and other debris carried away in the process.
This " slickens " soon bid fair to cause the entire destruc-
tion of the city. Litigation was commenced to prohibit
placer-mining as a menace to the agricultural interests
of the State, and after a long and hardly fought series
of contests the latter won and placer-mining practically
became a thing of the past. Sacramento, however, built
great levees to protect itself from being swamped at
flood times and now the river is generally perfectly under
control.
Placer-mining was a most picturesque method of ex-
tracting the gold from the hillsides. It used the gigantic
force of hydraulics, skilfully applied, to do the work of
thousands of men in digging away the earth and washing
it down to the sluice-boxes, where any gold it contained
was arrested on the riffles. Water was conveyed under
great head into brass nozzles like those used by our
modern fire departments. From the Southern Pacific
Railway at Dutch Flat one may see the effect of this
192 California, Romantic and Beautiful
style of mining. The whole contour of the country was
changed, and though Nature has kindly covered up many
of her scars, enough still remain to show the harshness
of the treatment.
Now, however, by means of the dredger a similar up-
heaval of the country in certain districts is taking place.
At Oroville and Chico — or near by — and several other
localities in the Sacramento Valley, it is being success-
fully used to extract the gold. The process is new,
though it is merely a modern application of old meth-
ods. The dredger bites into the face of the country with
steel buckets which run on an endless belt. The " pay
dirt " is thus carried to the hopper, where the stones are
sifted out. Water then washes the earth over the riffles
where the gold is caught. By damming up the space
occupied by the dredger there is no escape of " slickens "
to fill up the river-beds, hence the old complaint against
hydraulic mining is not raised. But as this process
destroys the face of the country over which the dredger
passes, leaving the uncovered piks of boulders like bare
skeletons as the marks of its passage, there are those who
contend that it is of such [Permanent injury to the land
that it should be prohibited. Millions of dollars, how-
ever, are now taken out annually by this process, and
there would undoubtedly be strong opposition to any
prohibitory legislation.
It should be noted that, . while to those w^ho see the
land after a dredger has gone over it there seems no
possibility for its further use, experience has demon-
strated that it can profitably be planted to eucalyptus.
The dredger overturns the earth to a great depth and
when the soil is replaced the boulders are generally on
top. This has the same effect as extraordinarily deep
ploughing, and the contention is that, if compelled, the
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 193
dredgers might so redeposit the soil, making it sufficiently
cover the rocks as to put an end to even the temporary
devastation that seems inevitable. In the case referred
to, however, the eucalyptus v^ere planted among the
rocks, and have thrived abundantly.
It is chiefly to its agricultural and fruit-growing in-
dustries and the development of the small ranch or farm
out of the vast holdings that formerly held back the
Sacramento Valley, that one must now look for its con-
tinued material advancement. Vast sums of money are
now being expended by great corporations and private
capitalists in putting in irrigation systems that mean
the entire change of thousands of acres of this rich
and fertile land. Alfalfa thrives wonderfully and stock
raising and dairy farms are profitable.
Hops, too, find their natural habitat in the Sacramento
Valley. Crops to the extent of millions of pounds are
grown annually within view from the dome of the Cap-
itol at Sacramento.
It is a surprise to many to learn that the Sacramento
Valley is the largest producer of almonds in the world.
Three counties alone produce more than all the rest of
California, and the quality is exceptionally fine, the nuts
being large, rich in flavour and fine in texture.
All the deciduous fruits grow to perfection and garden
truck, small berries and asparagus are canned by the
thousands of tons as well as shipped for the great mar-
kets of San Francisco, Oakland and other large cities.
The olive thrives well almost all over the State, but
it reaches a high degree of perfection in the Sacramento
Valley. Indeed one of the largest producers in the
world is a woman, who by personal attention and meth-
ods has developed a wonderful business. The olives of
California are seldom, scarcely ever, picked green. They
194 California, Romantic and Beautiful
are allowed to ripen fully on the trees. This develops
a rich sweetness and a food value totally unknown to the
green olive of European commerce, and the eating of
which is confessedly an acquired habit. No one con-
tends that the green olive has the slightest food value;
it is merely a relish, a useless and, indeed, harmful lux-
ury, as it is indigestible. But the ripe olive is full of
nutriment, besides having a sweet and delicious flavour,
when properly cured. The California habit of eating the
ripe olive as a food is extending throughout the East
with increasing rapidity, and the result is the speedy en-
largement of the olive industry. Olive crops have al-
ready been contracted for, at large prices, for ten and
even twenty years ahead, and a vast amount of new
planting is being done annually. There are few sights
more beautiful than that of an olive orchard when the
crop is ripe, the deep brownish black of the fruit con-
trasting delightfully with the silvery green of the leaves.
At Orland, in the upper portion of the Sacramento
Valley, is the only Calif ornian manifestation of the bene-
ficial activities of the United States Reclamation Serv-
ice. A large dam was constructed in the Coast Range,
from which the water is conveyed to fourteen thousand
acres of land at and near the town.
In the higher foothills, above the orange belt, apples
and pears thrive famously. The former seem to need
the tang of a little winter to develop their juicy qualities
and the apples of this valley find a ready market because
they possess those desired essentials.
The Sacramento Valley is so wide in some portions
that it has two and even more lines of railway to supply
its needs, one on the east side and the other on the west.
It is also blessed with abundant water transportation, the
Sacramento and Feather Rivers being navigable for
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 195
freight and passenger steamers as high up as Marysville,
which constantly ply to and fro from San Francisco.
Marysville, like Sacramento, owes its origin as a city
to the influx of the gold seekers, for the Feather River,
the upper reaches and the tributaries of the Sacramento
were rich in the pi-ecious nuggets and dust. Chico is
another of the famous cities of the valley, having been
laid out by General John Bidwell, who came to California
in 1841 with the first overland wagon train. But from
one end to the other, on both sides, towns and cities are
growing into wealth and commercial importance. There
are ten valley counties and all are progressive and fully
in accord with the modern spirit of improvement and
highest development, and to do them justice would re-
quire a book of this size for each one. And in addition
there are counties partially or wholly back in the Sierras
overlooking the Sacramento and which scenically are its
chief asset.
Here as in the San Joaquin, the valley dwellers are
blessed not only with the life-giving water from the
mountains, but they find in them their constant aesthetic
delight, their scenic enjoyment. Amador, El Dorado,
Placer, Nevada, Sierra, Plumas and Shasta are all moun-
tain as well as valley counties. How rich in canyons
and ridges, peaks and summits, which delight the eye
and stimulate the soul of man, as well as in mines, crops,
pastures and herds, few strangers to them can conceive.
Chief of all the mountain peaks in the northern part
of the State, and in the impressive grandeur of its soli-
tary estate, chief of all California, is Mt. Shasta, which
may be regarded as the sentinel and guard of the north-
ern pass into the Sacramento Valley.
Mount Shasta is the Fuji-San of California. It ha=;
not yet been made sacred, but that is because the Cali-
196 California, Romantic and Beautiful
fornian is neither as religious nor practically wise as is
the Japanese. It stands out digniiied, solitary, majestic,
impressive, fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-
four feet above sea-level, and from the moment one
gains his lirst glimpse uf it in ascending the Sacramento
River Canyon vintil he bids it adieu on crossing the
Siskiyous it dominates and controls him. As the train
winds from side to side of the canyon, and the cannon
itself makes its sinucni^ curves in the heart of the hills
the great snow-clad suinmit appears, first on one side,
then on the other, and the traveller rushes from window
to window, eager not to lose sis'ht of so glorious a
mountain altar for a single minute.
An altar it surely is, for it lifts up men's hearts to the
sun-lit sky, to the serenity of the stars, to the pure blue
of the atmosphere, to the majesty and strength, the nour-
ishment and beauty it contains. It would be well could
ten thousand new men be taken daily from our cities and
set down at the foot of such a mountain as Shasta and
bid remain there for a lull twenty-four hours. They
should see a sunrise flame on the summit an hour before
it reached the valley; watch the whole process so won-
derfully described by Joaquin Miller :
" Where the Sun first lands in his newness,
And marshals his beams and his lances,
Ere down to the vale he advances,
With visor erect, and ride swiftly
On the terrible night in history.
On the terrible night in his way,
And stays him, and, dauntless and deftly,
Hews out the beautiful day
With his flashing sword of silver."
They should watch the colourings, changeful and
varied, as the sun makes his stately march through the
heavens. They should hear the birds sing and see them
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 197
fly to and fro, up and down in their simple happiness;
they should glimpse the soaring eagle, vulture and hawk
high in the flawless heavens and know the ease with
which God's feather-clad messengers cleave the sky;
they should smell the incense of cedar and pine, fir and
tamarack, spruce and juniper, and the commingled odour
of a million million flowers and all the sweet scents of
clover and timothy and bunch grass and tules as they
ascend in a tribute of thankfulness, praise and gratitude;
they should hear the myriad " lobgesangs " of ten thou-
sand times ten thousand tiny beings of earth and sky all
joining, though unconsciously, in the glorious paean of
melody and harmony; then they should see the master
artist paint his vivid sunsets — not a fixed canvas, but
a moving picture of divine colourings, splendid, gor-
geous, enthralling — and finally feel the sable serenity
of night at a kingly mountain's base.
" 'Tis midnight now. The bent and broken moon
All batter'd, black, as from a thousand battles,
Hangs silent on the purple walls of heaven."
But before they saw the sunset I would demand that
they climb to the virgin snow-fields on Shasta's rugged
sides, and see the husbanding care with which every
snowflake is guarded, packed down, stored with everv
other snowflake, so that stormy winds cannot wrest them
away from the peaceful beds in which they lie ; then I
would bring them to springs below, bubbling forth from
solid rock, out of soft cienega, or trickling from sloping
bank; they should see the melting snow tumbling down
— as Major Powell graphically phrases it — " the moun-
tain-sides in millions of cascades. Ten million cascade
brooks unite to form ten thousand torrent creeks; ten
thousand torrent creeks unite to form a hundred rivers
198 California, Romantic and Beautiful
beset with cataracts; a hundred roaring rivers unite to
form the Colorado."
To a lesser extent than to the Colorado these words
apply to the Sacramento, all of which I would have the
city men see, know and, as far as possible, understand.
They should follow the brooks, creeks, and smaller
rivers until they merge into the dashing, sparkling, roar-
ing McCloud and the Sacramento. Even then they
should not rest, for I would urge them on and they
should see the water taken out and used to turn the
water-driven dynamos that supply the light and power
for towns and cities hundreds of miles away, thus adding
to the comfort and power of man; and then they
should see these waters poured forth into giant canals
and smaller laterals, through head-gates into distributing
ditches where trees and vegetables, alfalfa and timothy
by the thousands of acres, hundreds of thousands, eagerly
drink of the nourishing stream and pour forth a com-
pensating flood of train-loads of almonds, walnuts,
peaches, nectarines, plums, prunes, oranges, lemons, and
hay for the feeding of the sons of men and the financial
enrichment of their producers.
I would thus practically have them learn the nourish-
ing power of a mountain, see the life-giving streams that
flow from its bosom, grasp and fully understand why'
the Indian calls all snow-tented mountain summits the
maternal breasts of the valleys below. Such mountains
receive but to give. They glean each snowflake from
the sky and eagerly hoard them but to pour them forth
in generous life-sustaining flood later on, when, in his
ardour of wooing the Earth to be fruitful, the Sun would
parch and dry and wither.
Oh! marvellous wisdom of Nature; divine control-
lings of clouds and mountain barriers, of rain-fall and
THE SACRAMENTO RI\ER.
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 199
snow-fall, of temperatures and elevations; of sunshine
and shadows. Ardent sunshine lures the ocean's waters
to soar in cloud-made aeroplanes o'er valleys and foot-
hills; mountain barriers arrest their eastern progress
and pile them up in fleecy billows upon an amethystine
sky; barometric pressures raise or lower temperatures
and rain or snow falls upon the receiving heights ; snow
is eagerly hoarded in accumulating banks ; granite sum-
mits shadow them from sun and wind ; warmth and cold
solidify these banks from fleecy snow to close-packed
neve or crystal ice ; ardent heat slowly melts neve or ice
and sends tinkling music of gentle water's flow until
roaring, tumbling creeks have formed and rivers are
made to flood the thirsty valleys a hundred, twice a
hundred miles away with vivifying life and fructifying
power.
Should the insensate mountain surpass man in its in-
telligent receiving and whole-hearted giving? Is there
here no analogy for man's instruction? Is the mountain
to be a nourishing power and man selfishly to absorb for
himself all he receives?
As the writer of the Hebrew proverbs sent man to the
ant, so would I send men to the mountains that they
might learn of them and be wise. I would let the giving
streams sing in their ears the eternal truths that there
will he tio pockets in their shrouds, and that
" All they can hold in their dead cold hands
Is what they have given away."
Mount Shasta is an enduring teacher of unselfish
giving, a never-silent asserter of the truth that man re-
ceives but to give — he is God's steward, and the higher
his intellect and skill allow him to reach into the blue
of the heavens to arrest the wealth-laden clouds, the
200 California, Romantic and Beautiful
greater is his responsibility as well as his glorious oppor-
tunity to give, GIVE, of that which has so generously
come to him.
Is there no romance here? Is there no beauty? Oh!
romance of the teachings of the silent snowladen sum-
mits ; beauty that flows from the generous givings of
the mountain-heights. Many a blossom-laden orchard,
fruit-laden tree, smiling field, fertile foot-hill, prosperous
farm, happy child, thriving farmer, contented wife, with
all the dainty, robust, exquisite, rugged beauty and
thrilling or quiet romance connected therewith, springs
from the storm-^scarred battlements of Mount Shasta.
Hence we hail the majestic mountain of the ages as
a radiant centre of Beauty and Romance.
Even one day of such experiences, to money-sordid
men, selfish men, haughty men, ignorant men, city men,
would be a blessing, a revelation, a vision, and if the
one day could be made thirty, they would feel in them-
selves new impulses, new desires, new aspirations, new
ambitions for purer, better, more helpful things than
mere victory in the strife of trade and commerce.
How Shasta has stimulated the poet! Joaquin INIiller
used to live in its shadow. One of his earliest books he
called Shadozvs of Shasta; and one of his first poems
was commenced 'neath its inspiration. In and around
its valleys Keith painted some of his greatest pictures,
and Thomas Starr King and other famous orators have
gained from it lessons to teach to their fellows.
The easiest approach to Shasta is on the Southern
Pacific Railway, which reaches it by way of the Sacra-
mento Canyon. There is also an automobile road cov-
ering practically the same ground. Leaving Redding the
valley is soon merged into the narrowing canyon. All
the way up the scenery is increasingly interesting, and
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 201
one desires to stop at a score places, each famous to its
own group of annual visitors.
But undoubtedly one of the most delightful and restful
places of the Shasta region is Castle Crags Resort. It is
not a camping-out place, but is unique in that it consists
of log cabins, scattered about in pleasing confusion
among the trees, on the hilly slopes, around a common
centre, where dining-room, club-house, social hall, etc.,
are located.
Castle Crags itself — from which the resort takes its
name — ^ is a towering, jagged ridge of granitic up-
thrust, rearing its bristling spires about four thousand
feet above the Sacramento River, — which is here at an
elevation of about two thousand feet, — and clearly seen
from Castle Crags Resort, Shasta Springs, Dunsmuir,
Castella, and several other points along the railway.
The formation is not uncommon in the High Sierras,
and several similar masses are to be found, as for in-
stance. Cathedral Spires in the Yosemite, and the Min-
arets of the High Sierras.
At Castle Crags the granite has two lines of cleavage,
the vertical, which makes the jagged spires, and the
transverse, which divides it into blocks. This latter
cleavage, however, cannot clearly be seen from below.
It is only when one stands near by that the block divi-
sions are discernible.
A finely engineered and easy trail has been made from
the farm to the foot of Castle Dome. This is the most
imposing member of the group, and has a shape, when
seen from the southwest, not unlike the Half Dome of
the Yosemite Valley. The other principal members are
sharp, jagged spires, slightly inclined from the perpen-
dicular.
It is not a dangerous feat to climb to the summit of
202 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Castle Dome, yet it is ticklish for one unused to slippery
granite faces, where a slip or a misstep may mean a fall
of a hundred feet or more. In making the climb, in
August, 19 1 3, when I came within about twenty-five to
fifty feet of the summit, I was alone and without a rope.
It was an exciting, interesting, stimulating experience.
Had I had a rope to aid me on my return I should
have made the summit. After climbing up a fairly steep
rise to one of the lesser " steps '' of the Dome I found
a cleft up which I might have come with ease. I used
it for the return and descended in a minute what had
taken me more than half an hour to climb. It gives one
a sensation almost of breathlessness to find himself sud-
denly looking down from a narrow shelf — say five or
six inches wide — on which he is holding by one foot,
while hi5 fingers grasp a tiny ridge above, to a depth of
one, two hundred feet. But when he climbs higher still
and then gets a sudden glance down of twice the height,
he must keep his nerve or further climbing or descent
becomes impossible. None but the clear-headed and self-
controlled should attempt such simple climbs even as to
the top of Castle Dome.
From the porch of the Casino at Castle Crags Resort
one secures an unusually fine and rather unique view of
Mt. Shasta. The view is up the Sacramento Canyon,
which is lined on either side with a wealth of trees of
both evergreen and deciduous growth. Beyond this,
soaring into the azure, is the majestic and sublime peak,
none of its wooded lower slopes being discernible. It is
so overpowering, so completely filling this circumscribed
outlook, so impressive and commanding that one instinc-
tively feels as the farmer did on seeing a rhinoceros for
the first time, when he exclaimed : " There ain't no such
animal." It seems so ponderous, so positively to shut
MT. SHASTA, LOOKING UP THE SACRAMENTO CANYON.
From the State Capital to Mt. Shasta 203
out all the rest of the world that one part of you pro-
tests and exclaims : " There ain't any such mountain."
But it is there, and it grows upon you, whether seen
from this, or other points where fuller views are ob-
tained, giving its incomparable setting. While there are
many remarkable mountain views in California, and the
Sierras afford objects for years of study and pleasure,
I doubt whether any worthier objects of man's attention
can be found than Mt. Shasta and its surrounding coun-
try.
CHAPTER XIII
FROM SACRAMENTO TO KERN THROUGH THE SAN JOA-
QUIN VALLEY
The great interior valley of the heart of California is
practically divided into two parts by the Bay of San
Francisco. The northern smaller half is the Sacramento
Valley, the lower larger half the San Joaquin Valley.
It is in the memory of hmidreds of people still living
in California when this three hundred mile long valley
] was a cattle pasture, covered with millions upon millions
of poppies and other native flowers. Then the gigantic
gang-ploughs were put upon it, and ripped up the broad
acres prior to the planting of the grain, and when it had
sprung up and ripened the marvellous headers were in-
vented to cut the ripe heads, thrash and sack them all in
the one operation. Did you ever read Frank Norris's
Octopus? He saw these ploughs, headers and thresh-
ing machines at work and drew wonderful pictures of
them in the first of a proposed trilogy of novels dealing
with " the epic of the wheat."
" The ploughs, thirty-five in number, each drawn by
its team of ten, stretched in an interminable line, nearly
a quarter of a mile in length. They were arranged, as it
were, en echelon, not in file — not one directly behind
the other, but each succeeding plough its own width
farther in the field than the one in front of it. Each of
these ploughs held five shears, so that when the entire
company wa/S in motion, one hundred and seventy-five
204
From Sacramento to Kern 205
furrows were made at the same instant. At a distance,
the ploughs resembled a great column of field artillery.
Each driver was in his place, his glance alternating
between his horses and the foreman nearest at hand.
Other foremen, in their buggies or buckboards, were at
intervals along the line, like battery lieutenants."
Then he proceeds with graphic ^skill to describe the
whole process of ploughing. It is a series of wonderful
word moving pictures. Later in the book he describes
the six-horse-team grain drills, seeding the thousands of
acres of a great ranch, " fecundating the living soil ;
implanting deep in the dark womb of the Earth the germ
of life, the sustenance of a whole world, the food of an
Entire People."
Here is his picture of the harvester: "The machine,
shooting a column of thick smoke straight upward, vi-
brating to the top of the stack, hissed, clanked, and
lurched forward. Instantly, motion sprang to life in all
its component parts ; the header knives, cutting a thirty-
six foot swath, gnashed like teeth; beltings slid and
moved like smooth flowing streams; the separator
whirred, the agitator jarred and crashed; cylinders,
augers, fans, seeders and elevators, drapers and chaff-
carriers clattered, rumbled, buzzed, and clanged. The
steam hissed and rasped; the ground reverberated a
hollow note, and the thousands upon thousands of wheat
stalks sliced and slashed in the clashing shears of the
header, rattled like dry rushes in a hurricane, as they fell
inward, and were caught up by an endless belt, to dis-
appear into the bov/els of the vast brute that devoured
them.
" It was that and no less. It was the feeding of some
prodigious monster, insatiable, with iron teeth, gnashing
and threshing into the fields of standing wheat; devour-
^
206 California, Bomantic and Beautiful
ling always, never glutted, never satiated, swallowing an
entire harvest, snarling and slobbering hi a welter of
warm vapour, acrid smoke, and blinding, plunging clouds
of chaff. It moved belly-deep in the standing grain, a
hippopotamus, half-mired in river-ooze, gorging rushes,
snorting, sweating; a dinosaur wallowing through thick,
hot grasses, floundering there, croucliing, grovelling
there as its vast jaws crushed and tore, and its enormous
gullet swa.llowed, incessant, ravenous, and inordinate."
But, most wonderful and powerful of all pictures of
this great wheat epic, is the one wherein he describes its
flow down the big steel chute into the hold of the vessel
that is to carry it away over seas to the hungry hordes
of Europe. This description is interwoven with the
horrible, tragic, retributive, and dramatic end of one of
the characters of the story,- but it is one of those pas-
sages, once read, can never be forgotten.
And it was the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacra-
mento Valley that made possible these descriptions. The
discovery that the wheat harvest might bring into Cali-
fornia more money than the gold taken from her mines
was the impact behind the impulse to plant wheat, and
then this machinery " had to be " invented to make pos-
sible its cultivation and barv^esting on so vast a scale.
Without this wheat development in California The Octo-
pus and The Pit, of Fnank Norris, could never have been
written.
There were portions of the Valley of the San Joaquin,
however, where grain did not grow as well as others.
I remember, thirty or more years ago, seeing herds of
antelope come down from the mountains where populous
streets of thriving cities now stand, and until very re-
cently the jack-rabbits of the uncultivated portions of the
valley were such a menace, and actually did so much
From Sacramento to Kern 207
damage to the growing crops near by that " rabbit
drives " were annually organized for their slaughter,
and, if possible, entire extermination. These drives
were remarkable. Under the direction of skilled mar-
shals the assembled ranchers in buggies, on horseback,
mule or buiro-back, and afoot, took up their stations,
and at given signals moved forward. " From off the
surface of the ground, at first apparently empty of all
life, and seemingly unable to afford hiding-place for so
much as a field-mouse, jack-rabbits started up at every
moment as the line went forward. At first, they ap-
peared singly and at long intervals; then in twos and
threes, as the drive continued to advance. They leaped
across the plain, and stopped in the distance, sitting up
with straight ears, then ran on again, were joined by
others; sank down flush to the soil — their ears flat-
tened; started up again, ran to the side, turned back
once more, darted away with incredible swiftness, and
were lost to view only to be replaced by a score of others.
" Gradually, the number of jacks to be seen over the
expanse of stubble in front of the line of teams in-
creased. Their antics were infinite. No two acted pre-
cisely alike. Some lay stubbornly close in a little de-
pression between two clods, till the horses' hoofs were
all but upon them; then sprang out from their hiding-
place at the last second. Others ran forward but a few
yards at a time, refusing to take flight, scenting a
greater danger before them than behind. Still others,
forced up at the last moment, doubled with lightning
alacrity in their tracks, turning back to scufile between
the teams, taking desperate chances. As often as this
occurred, it was the signal for a great uproar.
" ' Don't let him get through ; don't let him get
through.'
208 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" ' Look Gilt for him, there he goes.'
" Horns were blown, bells rung, tin pans clamorously
beaten. Either the jack escaped, or confused by the
noise, darted back again, fleeing away as if his life de-
pended on the issue of the instant. . . .
" By noon the number discernible was far into the
thousands. What seemed to be ground resolved itself,
when seen through glasses, into a maze of small, mov-
ing bodies, leaping, ducking, doubling, running back and
forth — a wilderness of agitated ears, white tails and
twinkling legs. The outside wings of the curved line
of vehicles began to draw in a little.
" As the day advanced, the rabbits, singularly enough,
became less wild. When flushed, they no longer ran so
far nor so fast, limping off instead a few feet at a time,
and crouching down, their ears close upon their backs.
Thus it was that, by degrees, the teams began to close
up on the main herd. It was no longer thousands, it was
tens of thousands. The earth wias alive with rabbits.
" Denser and denser grew the ithrong. In all direc-
tions nothing was to be seen but the loose mass of the
moving jacks. The horns of the crescents of teams be-
gan to contract. Far off the corral came into sight. The
disintegrated mass of rabbits commenced, as it were, to
solidify, to coagulate. At first, each jack was some three
feet distant from his nearest neighbour, but this space
diminished to two feet, then to one, then to but a few
inches. The rabbits began leaping over one another.
" Then the strange scene defined itself. It was no
longer a herd covering the earth. It was a sea, whipped
into confusion, tossing incessantly, leaping, falling, agi-
tated by unseen forces. At times the unrespected tame-
ness of the rabbits all at once vanished. Throughout
certain portions of the herd eddies of terror abruptly
SEEDLESS GR,A.PES.
From Sacramento to Kern 209
burst forth. A panic spread ; then there would ensue
a bhnd, wild rushing together of thousands of crowded
bodies, and a furious scrambling over backs, till the
scuffing thud of innumerable feet over the earth rose to
a reverberating murmur as of distant thunder, here and
there pierced by the strange, wild cry of a rabbit in dis-
tress.
" The line of vehicles was halted. To go forward
now meant to trample the rabbits underfoot. The drive
came to a standstill while the herd entered the corral.
This took time, for the rabbits were now too crowded to
run. However, like an opened sluice-gate, the extending
flanks of the entrance of the corral slowly engulfed the
herd. The mass, packed tight as ever, by degrees dimin-
ished, precisely as a pool of water when a dam is opened.
The last stragglers went in with a rush, and the gate was
dropped." ^
It is needless to quote this forceful and graphic de-
scription further. The slaughter of Ihc innocent, but
fearfully destructive pests, was essential to the success
of the farmers. They are now well under control, .and
the rabbit drive is practically a thing of the past.
To return now to the wheat-growing. Ordinary
farmers, even those who worked on the largest scale, in
the East and in Europe, never conceived tlie extent of
some of these vast ranches in the San Joaquin.
After many years of great harvests, almost with start-
ling suddenness it was discovered that if this land had
water it was one of the most wonderful natural vine-
yards in the world. All around Fresno vines were
planted out, and to-day in that one county there are o^'er
fifty million vines, most of them in bearing", wine, table
* From The Octopus, by Frank Norris, Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden
City.
210 California, Romantic and Beautiful
or raisin grapes. Muscats and malagas, sultanas and
Thompson's seedless grow to such perfection, and ac-
cumulate such rich flavour and sweetness as to have
made Fresno raisins world famous, and its output twice
as large as that of the whole of Spain. Its annual pro-
duction is between eighty and ninety million pounds.
To encourage the industry and educate the people of
the United States as to the food value, as well as deli-
ciousness of Fresno raisins, Raisin Day was inaugurated,
to be celebrated annually on April 30th. The idea has
taken hold famously. Hundreds of thousands of pack-
ages of raisins are distributed freely in the cities of the
East, millions of pieces of literature distributed, and the
consumption of raisins thereby increased wonderfully.
In the thousand years of the industry in Europe the
idea of the seeded raisin was never evolved, — even if
conceived. But within twenty years after the beginnings
of raisin growing in the San Joaquin Valley, an invent-
ive genius devised a machine for taking out the seeds,
and now in the neighbourhood of thirty-five thousand
tons are seeded and packed annually in Fresno County
alone.
It is a wonderful sight to see the vineyards change as
the year progresses. Early in the season the vines are
leafless, the rugged, gnarled centre sending out its long
brown stems, ten, twenty, or more feet long. Then pru-
ning day comes, and practically the whole of these stems
are removed. Now the vines look like dead stumps,
ready to be grubbed out ; but after thorough ploughing,
irrigation and fresh cultivation, the springtime sees them
begin to send forth new shoots, which by and by are
covered with leaves. In May the grapes are well set and
then they grow rapidly, the whole vine becoming more
beautiful in its richly coloured leafage as the months
From Sacramento to Kern 211
progress. This is the period that the vineyards impress
one as of the glory of the Lord — the thousands of
acres that the San Joaquin Valley possesses demanding
instinctive homage.
When the grapes are fully ripe they are picked and
placed on trays in the sun to dry. To aid this process
they are occasionally turned over. Being of different
sizes some dry out thoroughly while others are quite
moist. To equalize the moisture they are dumped into
" sweat boxes," where they stand and sweat for several
days, when they are removed to the packing-house,
where the fine clusters are sorted out and packed, the
lowi?r grades assorted, and those that are to be seeded
are sent through that process. Then through the whole-
salers they are distributed to the dealers and thus come
into the hands of the people.
Wine grapes on the other hand are picked and shipped
in carloads to the winery where they undergo the vari-
ous processes of conversion into wine. That this indus-
try is not yet dead in California is proven by the fact that
in Fresno County alone there are twenty-seven wineries
and twenty-nine distilleries, some of them among the
largest in the world.
One of the show places of the Fresno region is Kear-
ney Park, bequeathed to the University of California as
an irrigated experimental farm, by its founder, Theodore
Kearney. It is reached by a magnificent palm-lined ave-
nue, eleven miles long, and comprises five thousand one
hundred and eighty-two acres, of which fifty are in
oranges, twenty-five in olives, eight hundred and fifty in
Muscat grapes, and four thousand in alfalfa and grain.
All the counties of the San Joaquin Valley are now
reaping the rich rewards of irrigation and the breaking
up of the large cattle and grain ranches into smaller
212 California, Romantic and Beautiful
holdings. Stockton, in San Joaquin County, is one of
the oldest American towns in the State. It is in the heart
of a thriving farming country, some of which is re-
claimed land from the delta of the San Joaquin River
and its tributaries. In this county alone there flow the
San Joaquin, Calaveras, IMokelumne and Cosumnes Riv-
ers. All of these rivers brought down from the moun-
tains vast deposits of sand and silt. These accumulated
and in the centuries filled up vast areas, one of which was
found to be marsh land covered with tules. This was
valueless, and yet examination found it rich in vegetable
matter from six to sixty feet deep. Reclamation projects
were at once undertaken on a large scale, levees built to
keep out the water at flood periods, and the breaking up
of the tule roots and planting to vegetables and grains
begun. The results have been man^ellous. The figures
are astounding. I have seen asparagus beds covering
thousands of acres, celery occupying a whole island, and
whole sections in red onions. \\'hen it is also known
that from two thousand to four thousand pounds of
asparagus are taken from one acre, the fertility of the
soil may be understood. It is from this region that a
large part of the tender and tasteful asparagus of Cali-
fornia comes, and it is shipped out fresh and in cans by
the hundreds of tons. In one season the crop amounted
to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
Lodi, on the other hand, is the centre of a great grape-
growing country. The flaming Tokay does remarkably
well here, and over two thousand five hundred acres are
planted alone to table grapes. Last year nearly three
thousand cars of these grapes were shipped from the one
town of Lodi to Eastern markets.
Unlike most California counties this of San Joaquin
is plentifully supplied with water as well as rail traris-
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ENTR.A.NCE TO KEARNJ:Y PARK.
From Sacramento to Kern 213
portation. The San Joaquin and its affluents are a tre-
mendous help to commerce. They form a perfect maze
of waterways through the delta region and freight traffic
alone is worth fully fifteen millions of dollars annually,
and one firm that uses launches for passenger traffic
carried, in 19 12, more people than did the Pacific Mail
Steamship Co., on the Pacific Ocean. Yet this county
is not backward in its highways. In 1909 it bonded itself
for nearly two millions for good roads, and is now work-
ing hand in hand with the State Highway Commission
for the further development of its road system.
Sunny Stanislaus is an equally progressive county,
though, until its irrigation systems were well under way
and its large ranches broken up into smaller holdings its
advancement was retarded. Now the Modesto-Turlock,
Patterson and other irrigation systems have completely
changed the character of the country. It is a joy and
a delight to ride over finely paved county roads and State
highways and see the number of prosperous farms
springing into life. Little more than ten years ago the
Modesto district was practically one wheat field of
eighty-two thousand acres. A few people of vision felt
that while wheat was necessary and reasonably profitable
the land could be made to give forth ten times as much
if properly irrigated, and the water of the Stanislaus,
Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers were waiting to be
poured on to the thirsty land. It has taken years of hard
work and expensive litigation to accomplish this, but
the change is already made and Sunny Stanislaus is not
a mere pretty mode of verbal designation, but applies to
the prosperous rancher's facial expression as he sees his
rich crops being hauled to market. Lands have increased
ten times in value and are paying far more heavily than
of yore. Vegetables of every kind thrive abimdantly
214 California, Romantic and Beautiful
and thousands of dozens of cans of peas, tomatoes,
pumpkins, etc., are put up annually.
The Patterson region is one great green alfalfa and
grain field, flanked with fig, almond, and olive orchards.
Stock is raised and fattened here, and the dairies are
among the most famous in the State. It has developed
in the past few years, under a pumping system of irriga-
tion, one share of stock in the water company being sold
with each acre of ground. Thus when the land is three-
fourths sold the water company automatically comes into
the possession of the land owners.
Merced, Madera, Tulare, Kings, and Kern Counties
all have the same truthful and joyous song to sing, with
more or less local variations. All are prosperous, all
beautiful, but some run up into the base, and higher, of
the Sierra Nevadas, and their foothills are found to be
" thermal belts " where citrus fruits grow to perfection.
Others have developed great oil wells that are the sur-
prise of the w^orld, as they have added hundreds of mil-
lions to the wealth of California. The one county of
Kern alone, produced in 19 lo, nearly forty-one million
barrels of oil, or about one-eighth of the world's whole
production. Certain gushers have poured out their
wealth in such profusion and with such physical power
as to render impossible the most strenuous efforts of
expert engineers to curb them. One, the Lakeview
Gusher, for nearly three months poured out its oil in an
uncontrolled flood of over fifty thousand barrels a day,
with a deafening roar that could be heard for many
miles.
Another older, and at one time greater, industry, was
that of turning the centuries-old trees — or at least they
looked like it — of the Sierra Nevadas into lumber.
Great areas of forest were logged in the mountains, and
From Sacramento to Kern 215
the logs brought down to the mill by ox teams in rude
and heavy wagons, or in sleds drawn over the early
snows, or, in later years, " snaked " by dogs and chains
attached to an endless cable worked by a donkey engine.
Here they were swiftly ripped into planks and timbers,
joists and studs. To get this finished lumber in the val-
ley used to be an expensive task of hauling in wagons.
Then some one invented the lumber flume in Nevada,
and it was not long before it was used in the San Joaquin
Valley. A water supply wais found, and the liquid stored
in a reservoir until there was a good " head " for con-
stant use. The flume was constructed of wood, and it
was soon discovered that when the sides were sloped,
making the flume V-shaped, if the lumfcer stuck for any
cause in floating down, a slight rise in the water soon
floated it free and allowed it to escape the obstruction.
It was thus carried long distances, .and down precipitous
places, and though the original cost O'f building the flume
was great the saving over the old method of transpor-
tation was so vast that if there was anything like a large
amount of lumber to be conveyed the flume paid for iteelf
over and over again. Flumes were built ten, twenty,
thirty and mare miles, over precipitous clifYs, across deep
ravines, over wild, rough and rugged country where a
road could never have been constructed, and the lumber
thus transported to the nearest railway. On arriving at
its destination, men stood on platforms, ready to seize it
and drag it into piles from whence it was sorted and
distributed in accordance with the requirements of the
trade. The water, having served its useful purpose, was
then sold for irrigation purposes and thus far more than
paid for itself. This fluming process may still be seen at
several of the " receiving " or " feeding " stations in the
Sierras or in the San Joaquin Valley. Once in a while
216 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the lumber jacks ride in a rudely constructed tlume-boat
down the flume. It is an experience never to be for-
gotten, especially if the flume i's built high on stilts in
places, as it generally is, or has some desperately wild
pitch, as occasionally happens. The practice, however,
is not encouraged by the lumber merchants and produ-
cers, on account of the great risk to human life.
To the lover of the romantic and beautiful in scenery
one of the chief charms of the San Joaquin Valley — to
use an Hibernianism — is its mountains. The Coast
Range on the west is a stepping-stone from the sands of
the Pacific Shore to the higher, grander and more ma-
jestic Sierra Nevada range on the east. The Yosemite
and Hetch-Hetchy Valleys are reached from the San
Joaquin Valley, the western gateway being from ]\lerced,
at which point the Yosemite Valley Railway connects
with the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Then a little
further to the south, from Sanger, PoTterville, Visalia,
or Lemon Cove, one may leave for the Grant Forest —
one of the most southerly group of Sequoia Giganfea, the
California Grove, the Grant National Park, beyond which
are the Kings and Kern River Canyons and Alps, de-
scribed briefly in another chapter. These are scenic re-
gions as yet unknown to the major portion even of the
people of California, so preoccupied have they been in the
development of their lands, and the choice of mountain,
canyon, forest, ocean and island scenery being so exten-
sive. Yet these canyon valleys almost equal the Yose-
mite and are deJstined, ultimately, to be quite as famous.
It is in this region, in a creek tributary to Kern River,
that the golden trout was found. The scientific experts
of the United States Government grew enthusiastic over
it, and designated it a marvellously beautiful trout.
Kearsage Pass, twelve thousand and fifty-six feet
From Sacramento to Kern 217
above sea level, and one of the highest of the Sierra
Nevadas, is in this region. It is so narrow a ridge that
one's horse may stand with forefeet on the eastern side,
and hind feet on the western. The marvellous contrast
between the eastern and western slopes is nowhere made
clearer than at this point, the descent to the east being
swift and rocky, while that on the west is gradual, and
richly clad with verdure.
The Sierras overlooking the northern portion of the
San Joaquin Valley are rich in reminiscences immortal-
ized in the works of Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Joaquin
Miller and others, for who can forget The Jumping Frog
of Calaveras, The Society upon the Stanislaus, The La-
test Chinese Outrage, Truthful James, Thompson of
Angels, and the rest ? Hence both in romance and beauty
the San Joaquin Valley makes great claims upon the in-
terest of all who come within its confines.
CHAPTER XIV
4 THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
" Ye who love
The shaggy forests, fierce delights
Of sounding waterfalls, of heights
That hang like broken moons above,
With brows of pine that brush the sun,
Believe and follow.
" Come, lovers, come, forget your pains!
I know upon this earth a spot
Where clinking coins, that clank as chains,
Upon the souls of men, are not;
Nor man is measured for his gains
Of gold that stream with crimson stains.
" There snow-topp'd towers crush the clouds
And break the still abode of stars,
Like sudden ghosts in snowy shrouds,
New broken through their earthly bars.
And condors whet their crooked beaks
On lofty limits of the peaks."
. Famed in song" and story, the theme of many an
' orator's eloquence, the subject of the artist's highest
endeavours, the Mecca of the sight-seer, the paradise of
the geological, arboreal, and botanical student, the Yo-
semite Valley has occupied a unique position of high
allurement even in California, the land of allurement.
Why is it that the Yosemite so proudly reigns su-
preme in the hearts of men? That its charms attract
more to-day than they ever did ? It is a sign of genuine
goodness that its attractiveness never fails. As Joseph
218
The Yosemite Valley 219
Le Conte used to say : " That picture only is good that
one can see again and again with increasing pleasure.
That book only is good that one can read again and
again with increasing pleasure." And the same with
music, drama, oratory and architecture. The same prin-
ciple applies to scenery, with the incomparable advantage
added thereto, that the artist is not human but Divine.
There seems, however, in the Yosemite, a power that
calls potently year after year to those who are familiar
with its grandeurs and glories. They return to it, they
climb its rocky trails yearly, they stand in awe and
admiration, or gently expressed delight, before falls and
cascades, and laugh with glee as they did when they
first saw the foaming, dancing, glancing waters of the
Happy Isles. The sunshine, glinting through the pines
and other evergreens, gives dreams of supernal mys-
tery and beauty now as powerfully as when first seen,
El Capitan possesses the soul with serene majesty as
much as ever.
Ah, there is the secret. Yosemite becomes one's
friend, and it is a friend of many and varied accomplish-
ments. It is many sided, much gifted, and in that fact
lies its chief power to gain and hold friends.
I remember when I first saw Yosemite. My sister and
I had driven in a buckboard over the weary alkaline
plains of Nevada, up over the Bridgeport grade, through
the snow-fields of the High Sierras. We had camped
out night after night, had talked and sang to miners
and woodsmen, to pioneers and newcomers, had driven
over perilous grades and roads that the hand of man
had not touched since the preceding fall — for the win-
ter's snows were scarce melted over many miles — and
we had had tedious and rather exhausting days. Day
after day we came nearer to our goal. At last we were
220 California, Romantic and Beautiful
told that we should surely see Yosemite the next day.
Higher and higher our weary horses walked. The trees
were growingly delightful to the eye, but they were not
what we wanted. At length we were actually on the
Yosemite grade, and a sudden turn in the road brought
us to Inspiration Point, where the fullness of Yosemite's
glories strikes the beholder in one swift blow. Our
horses stopped of their own volition, held doubtless by
the subtle force of the majestic scene over our senses
and conveyed to them by that mental power of whose
action we know so little.
Inhaling deep breaths we looked into each other's eyes
and without a word each knew that the other was sat-
isfied. That one great, long view gave us to know that
we were satisfied. What a wonderful word that is —
satisfied. How much it expresses of content, of grati-
fication, of mental rest. Had we then known those two
wonderful lines of Edwin Markham I am sure our exult-
ant voices would have shouted or sung them then and
there :
" I ride on mountain tops, I ride,
I have found my life and am satisfied."
Since then I have gone to Yosemite as often as oppor-
tunity has allowed, and each visit brings new joys and
added satisfaction.
And what is the view that entrances all who gaze upon
it? The eye at first sight is uncertain which has the
greatest power, El Capitan or the exquisite Bridal Veil
Falls. The former is on the left, the latter on the right,
and one's eyes swing back and forth, resting first on
one, then on the other, appraising their respective powers
over the senses. The falls are so elusive, so changing,
so steady and yet so ephemeral. Every gust of wind is
The Yosemite Valley 221
reflected or expressed in that swaying column, which,
however, is etherealized into a dehcate spray, with lacy
filmings and scallopings, each one alive, chasing those
ahead. You see the water pour over the tip of the fall
and then the outer particles, caught by the air in the
rapid descent, break away from the main body and are
at once transformed into these scallopings, down-shoot-
ing in merry chase, one after another, in a never-ending
race. Then, suddenly, a gust of wind strikes the fall
and transforms the delicate forms into almost impal-
pable mist and spray. It is this filmy veil, swaying in
the sunlight, that gained the fall its name — Bridal Veil.
The main column of water also sways to and fro in the
wind, swinging like a pendulum, at times, but with a
freakish irregularity that holds the eye expectantly, won-
deringly, guessing what it will do next.
Upon such a living, moving, active, sprite-like, irre-
sponsible body of water, with such a filmy, lace-like,
misty veil of tenderness and beauty surrounding it one
can imagine how the sunbeams love to frolic. They play
hide and seek with the falling water and spray, darting
jewel and diamond-like effects upon and over them,
which dazzle the eye of the beholder and yet demand
his constant homage. An elusive rainbow moves to and
fro, up and down, as the water and spray sway back
and forth and the wind gusts blov/ the mist as they will.
While the eye rests upon this wonderful fall it is held
completely by its rare, dainty, exquisite charm.
At last it breaks away and daringly roams to the other
side of the vast canyon valley. There El Capitan seizes
the gaze and holds it, but with an entirely different power
from that exercised by Bridal Veil. Here proud strength,
awesome majesty, supreme serenity reign. Might, pon-
dcrousness, power are allowed their full measure of
222 California, Romantic and Beautiful
exercise over the human senses and spirit. Is there on
all the earth another such face of rock? Three thou-
sand three hundred feet of sheer precipitous height, with-
out a single crack or break to mar the solidity of its bold
wall, El Capitan is the most kingly, awe-inspiring single
mass of granite known. In contrast, the eye seeks Bridal
Veil Falls again. Then we again realize, like a flash,
the reason why Yosemite has such power over the hearts
and minds of men. It is so diverse — the tender, airy,
filmy mystery of the sun-dazzled fall, the serene, majestic,
awe-inspiring face of the mural monarch. The effect is
enhanced by the trees of the lower slopes, the green and^i
flower-spangled meadows, through which the calm,
placid Merced — the river of mercy — flows down to
take cool nourishment to the parched acres of the valley
below.
Now let us move on. As we do so the three massive
peaks which form the background of Bridal Veil Falls
appear in regular order, and we learn that they are called
the Three Graces, to correspond to the Three Brothers
on the opposite side of the valley. These soon come
into view and we can understand the impulse that led
the Indians to name them Pompompasus — the leaping
frogs — for their contours singularly suggest the shape
of the squatting frog just preparatory to taking a leap.
Driving along through a fine forest that has been care-
fully preserved in the valley, over a well-watered and
well-kept government road, the discomforts of roughness
and dust that earlier visitors to the Valley endured are
forgotten, and, indeed, unknown. The river accompan-
ies us along our way, now close at hand, then retiring
to the leafy shade through which the sun occasionally
gives us glimpses of its dazzling surface.
In rapid succession the Cathedral Rock and Spires,
The Yosemite Valley 223
Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point come into view, each
with its own distinct individuality and attractiveness.
All these peaks rise from 2,700 to 4,000 feet above the
floor of the Valley.
Almost under the shadow of Sentinel Dome is Camp
Ahwahnee, the site of the first house ever erected in the
Valley and one of the excellent " camps " provided for
visitors. The Yosemite camps all consist of tents, well
provided with all ordinary necessities for comfort, with
a common dining and lounging hall. All alike are shad-
owed by glorious yellow pines, the chief differences
being in one's personal preference for location and im-
mediate environment. Ahwahnee has an excellent repu-
tation and I know it is well deserved. The table is the
best in the Valley, and the service is as good as the table.
Elach tent is provided with electric lights, double-mat-
tressed beds, hot and cold water, with baths handy when-
ever desired. Every night a glorious camp-fire of great
pine and fir logs is built outside, and visitors sit in the
warmth of the blaze and sing or chat, listen to an im-
promptu concert, entertainment of varieties, or the ad-
dress of some willing speaker.
Then, when it grows chilly, there is a novelty in indoor
fire-places waiting to warm you in the pretty sitting-
room. The room is built on two levels, with two great
stone fire-places, back to back. In theory, the upper level
is the Ladies' Own, but in comradeship of camp-life, a
sociable commission has ruled otherwise ; and the men
are not rebuked when they invade the ladies' sanctum,
while it goes without saying that khaki skirts, and even
frills and flounces, are welcome to mingle among the
masculine boots and gaiters around the lower fire-place.
Almost directly opposite Camp Ahwahnee is the glori-
ous Yosemite Fall, the pride of the centre of the Valley,
224 California, Romantic and Beautiful
which Nature seems to have so much loved that she set
it apart to occupy the whole of one side of the Valley's
centre. Two thousand seven hundred and fifty feet from
lip to bottom pool, divided into three parts, — the Upper
Fall, the Cascades, and the Lower Fall, — it is a mag-
nificent spectacle, and its music is no less wonderful than
its appearance.
Not far from its base is Camp Lost Arrow, where those
who enjoy the voice of the waterfall day and night may
live within its rejoiceful sound and feel the stimulus of
its never ceasing song. For years, before such fine pro-
vision was made for the thousands of visitors that now
flock to Yosemite, this used to be my favourite camping-
out place. In my blankets stretched out upon the ground,
Avith the blue sky for my canopy, and my saddle or cam-
era case for a pillow, I have spent many a night in trem-
ulous enjoyment, — thrilled to the verge of tears by the
unearthly beauty, mystery and sublimity of my surround-
ings, and hearing such voices as never before, with mes-
sages of which I could catch the faintest intimations in
the singing of the Great Fall, upon which I never tired
of gazing.
On the river is the Sentinel Hotel, the old hotel that
has long done service, but that it is hoped will soon be
replaced by a modern, commodious and adequate struc-
ture. For what the hotel was capable of, visitors have
long been grateful, and under the present management
one received all that was possible.
Close by is the village of Yosemite, where stores, post-
office, photographic studios and the superintendent's of-
fice are. H. C. Best, the artist, has a summer studio
here, and across the river, past the Sentinel Hotel, Chris.
Jorgensen has a studio and house, as picturesque in
structure as is their location.
The Yo Semite Valley 225
From a point close by one may gain a fine view of
the chief glory of the Valley, the Half Dome, the loftiest,
most sublime and at the same time most impressive and
beautiful of all the rocky sentinels that guard this abode
of glory. Rising over 4,750 feet above the floor, where
all is clothed in richest verdure, its face sculptured by
Time and Storm, Glacier and Frost, while its head is
smoothed to graceful curves, it is poised in calm, serene
majesty.
Across is the more rounded and complete North Dome,
near which is Mt. Watkins and Washington Column,
while nearer at hand are the Royal Arches. As we ride
towards them the varying views received of all these
distinctive objects serve the more to impress their unique
power upon us. The Merced River still flows through
the valley, until, when close to the Domes, the main can-
yon divides into three branches, that up which we are
going to see Mirror Lake being Tenaya, the one to the
right centre, Merced, and to the extreme right, Illilou-
ette.
Mirror Lake is really formed by a spreading out of
Tenaya Creek, and early in the morning, just at sunrise,
before the slightest zephyr ripples its surface, is the only
time to see it at its best. The reflection is as perfect
as the objects reflected, and the wall of the Half Dome,
where trees project, is pictured to perfection in the clear,
pure mirror face of the water. Now watch the lancing
of the darkness by the crystal spears of morning. Then,
suddenly, there comes the gleam of the sun, more bril-
liant than any diamond, dazzling the eyes through the
trees. " The Grove and Mount of Transfiguration," one
instinctively calls them, and he moves to a different angle
to get the same scene again. This, one may do half a
dozen different times, and it is only when the sun in-
226 California, Romantic and Beautiful
duces the winds to come from their haunts and play over
the face of the water and destroy its brilliant smooth-
ness that one is willing to tear himself away for fresh
scenes.
Turning now up Merced Canyon, a fine glimpse is
had of Illilouette Falls on the right, with the Happy Isles
and the Cascades at our feet. The water bubbles, dashes,
sparkles and sings so joyously after its wonderful leaps
over the cliffs that make Vernal and Nevada Falls that
one instinctively knows that no other name than Happy
Isles would have been appropriate to those rocky and
tree-clad boulders and land patches in the river. But
when the eye first glimpses Vernal Falls, one stops for
quite a while to feast on its quiet, solemn, resistless
majesty. It has such a calm and serene look, so different
from Bridal Fall, Yosemite and Illilouette. Its broad
front, smooth and even, its outer waters lashed into
foam, comes over in such a calm, dignified, stately fash-
ion that it well represents an aged man's cultured brow,
on which his white hair adds beauty as well as serene
dignity.
A mile beyond is Nevada Fall, between six hundred
and seven hundred feet high, whose waters are so dashed
and churned and tossed about ere they are hurled over
the lip that they are of a snowy whiteness. They come
over in an entirely different fashion from those of Ver-
nal. They seem hurried, almost apologetic, fluffy, fussy,
nervous and agitated, so different, indeed, that it is hard
to conceive the same water can so entirely change its
character in the short mile before it appears as Vernal
Fall.
By all means take the trail to these two falls, circle
around the Cap of Liberty and across Illilouette Basin,
up to Glacier Point, from which one of the sublime
The Yosemite Valley 227
views of the Canyon below, the Falls beyond and across,
and the supernal heights of the High Sierras on the
eastern horizon, may be had.
On returning be sure to visit Curry's Camp, the most
popular and extensively patronized camp of the Valley.
Mr. Curry was the first to render camp life, with its
open-air camp-fire evenings, and the general dining-
room, a favourite method of enjoying Yosemite. Since
he began his camp has rapidly increased until now he can
accommodate with comfort over five hundred guests.
In the last year he has put in an enlarged open-air
(heated) swimming-tank, a fine large dance and con-
cert pavilion, steam laundry and ice and refrigeration
plant.
Situated directly under Glacier Point, the wall of
which is a sheer precipice, 3,250 feet in height, it nat-
urally suggested to an ingenious mind like that of Mr.
Curry a beautiful and startling efifect which is carried
out every night. The watchword of Camp Curry is
the couplet :
" Where the fire falls.
And the Stentor calls."
When supper is over, and the guests are comfortably
disposed around the camp-fire, Mr. Curry makes his
usual evening speech, then, with a voice of resounding
power, gives the Stentor's call to the watchman on Gla-
cier Point above. There a great bonfire has been lighted,
and now, when its pile of wood is reduced to ashes, they
are bodily thrown over the precipice, to fall in a mar-
vellous, mysterious and dazzling cataract of fire to the
valley beneath.
One must not hurry at Yosemite. Go to Mr. Coff-
man, who for many years has had charge of the livery
228 California, Romantic and Beautiful
stables, and secure from him a saddle-animal. Then
day after day visit the various outlook points on the
rim. Go higher up Tenaya Canyon to the beautiful
Tenaya Fall, the Dome Cascades, a thousand feet high,
and the Tenaya Cascades, seven hundred feet in sheer
vertical descent. Go up to the Little Yosemite, and to
Cloud's Rest, and if you like a real genuine camping-out
trip, Mr. Cofifman will fully equip you and send you
forth on an excursion to the heavenly places of the High
Sierras, where glacial fountains sing their songs of crea-
tive joy and the grizzly and condor used to reign su-
preme, — the one in the peaks, and the other in the sky.
But no one should visit Yosemite without going to
Foresta and the Hetch-Hetchy Valley. Foresta is on
the Coulterville automobile road into the Valley, and is
a unique place. When the Yosemite National Park was
created, the enabling act precluded the possibility of any
person owning a private home in or near the Valley,
unless it was secured from some one who already owned
patented land within the boundaries of the reserve. Two
years ago a group of California's most representative
men and women in the educational and literary world
thought it would be an excellent plan, were it possible,
to establish a summer camp in or near the Yosemite,
where lots could be purchased and homes erected for all
time, undisturbed by Government or Forest Reserve
plans. After considerable search this place was found
close to the rim of Yosemite, two miles by trail, and six
by automobile road from El Portal, chosen as a home
by a lover of beautiful trees and one wdio desired close
proximity to Yosemite, with all the advantages of the
privacy of private ownership.
Arrangements were at once perfected for the carrying
out of the home plan, and such men and women as Pres-
The Yosemite Valley 229
ident Benj. Ide Wheeler, of the State University, Joaquin
Miller, John Muir, Professors Harley Wiley and E. J.
Wickson, the head of the State Experimental Stations,
Henry Morse Stephens, Jaffa, A. C. Jones, A. Lange,
W. D. Armes, artists as Xavier Martinez, literary per-
sonages as Jack London, Herman Whitaker, Ninetta
Eames Payne and Ida Mansfield Wilson, secured lots and
entered into the plan for a home and a great summer
assembly at Foresta — which was the name chosen for
the new camp.
Cottages were erected, and a store, hotel, assembly
hall, etc., established. Good roads and trails were built,
and a water system installed. Here not only the owners
of lots and homes may go, but all interested in the Yo-
semite and what it affords, with the advantage of what
Foresta has in addition, are invited to become its guests.
Here, wearing one's oldest clothes, one may find perfect
relaxation, rest, and recuperation. The hunter, sports-
man and fisherman are as welcomed by Nature as is the
geologist, botanist and student of the trees. One may
boat, canoe, swim or fish, and all the innumerable trails
of the Yosemite call for walking and riding on mule,
horse or burro. The Big Trees are close by, and if one
wishes a touch now and again of the busy travelling
world. El Portal is less than half an hour's walk away.
But Foresta's especial claim upon the attention of the
refined and intellectual, the quiet, the studious and the
cultured is its unique plan for a summer assembly. All
the university, literary, artistic and social leaders who
associated themselves with Foresta did so with the ex-
press agreement that they would give of the best of
themselves to make the literary and artistic features of
Foresta what the unequalled environment suggested and
demanded. Who can do less than give of his best in
230 California, Romantic and Beautiful
such glorious preserves? Inspiration flows out from
these majestic trees, massive rocks, towering spires, sing-
ing cataracts, jocund cascades, and the flowers and birds
give example in the richness and perfection of their
colouring and the delicate sweetness of their melodies
as to what men should give to their fellows. So wit
and wisdom, philosophy and counsel, humour and advice,
together with melody and harmony are to flow forth
unrestrained and unconfined. But the chief charm of
these is that they are to be more informal than formal.
Spontaneity and natural expression are expected rather
than prepared formal speech. In the words of the For-
esta announcement :
" Thoughts shall be expressed by those who have them,
and men and women shall hear without compulsion.
Scientists, philosophers, poets, and those who have con-
victions yet untried — men and women to whom the
world is listening — shall be invited here for mutual
good. The speaker may sit upon a stump or stand be-
neath a tree and speak the things that are in his heart;
the hearer may rest upon the ground, sit upon a log,
or walk away into the forest."
My own interest in Foresta is best demonstrated by
the fact that I have purchased several lots there, and
am anticipating the pleasure of making for myself, some
day (or at least helping to do so), a summer camp where
I and mine may enjoy this place of blissful surroundings.
Yet ere I leave Yosemite I would take my readers to
two spots I am never tired of, and never expect to be.
These are Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Big
Trees. The latter is described in the Forest chapter,
and Wawona was one of my first of California " loves."
Its centre is the Wawona Hotel, conducted for years by
the noted Washburn Brothers, all of them with wonder-
The Yosemite Valley 231
ful records as drivers of the most distinguished of men
and parties to the Yosemite for the past forty years. It
is a liberal education to be admitted to conversation
vv'ith one of them if he can be induced to tell of his ex-
periences and associations. The Wawona Hotel used
to be the home of Thomas Hill, whose canvases of Yo-
semite will ever stand as imperishable mementoes of his
artistic genius. Surrounded on every hand by the incom-
parable and varied scenery of the High Sierras, located
in its own park of beautiful trees, with fertile meadows
through which a clear mountain stream constantly flows,
one finds this a rare place for rest, or as a stopping-place
from which to start on a score or more of delightful trips.
Chief among these are the Mariposa Grove of Big
Trees and Glacier Point, but one also finds delight in
Wawona Point, Chilnualna Falls, the Glacial Lakes,
Signal Peak, and the many groves of Sierran trees that
are found in exquisite beauty on every hand.
Many people have found that an excellent way to
enjoy Yosemite is to go in by the railway to El Portal,
and auto-stage to the camp of their choice, then, after
their stay is over, leave by stage, which runs daily to
Wawona and the Big Trees, and thence, by powerful
automobiles, to Madera, over the old stage-road. Thus
a complete horseshoe is made, and there is no travelling
twice over the same ground.
Automobiles are now allowed to enter the Yosemite
National Park. Only one road is open, however, viz.,
by way of Coulterville, and there are many restrictions
and conditions rendered imperative for safety over the
precipitous roads where horses also are used.
Hence one needs to inform himself before he takes
the trip, and should he desire to go easily he can ship
his auto by rail to El Portal.
232 California, Romantic and Beautiful
The Yosemite Valley Railway has made the trip an
easy one, when compared with the old staging days.
Both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific connect directly
with it at Merced, and after crossing the plain it enters
the wondrously beautiful Merced Canyon, which it fol-
lows all the way to El Portal, the terminus just outside
the Park limits.
Here a wonderfully attractive and romantic hotel has
been constructed on a wooded plateau on the canyon
side, surrounded by wide verandas and enclosing a
flower-enriched patio. The hotel being owned by the
railway, its manager, Mr. F. A. Kline, is instructed to
see that every guest goes away happy and satisfied.
There are many picturesque spots round and about El
Portal, — the incline to the sawmill, the great pine
forests, Foresta, the Hetch-Hetchy, the Tuolumne and
Merced Groves of Big Trees, fishing and hunting galore
(for this region is outside of the Park and therefore
unhampered by its restrictions), so that it makes a de-
lightful stopping-place either going in or returning from
Yosemite.
The ride from El Portal into the Valley is now made
by automobile stages instead of the old passenger coaches,
and thus, each year sees the trip made easier and the
disagreeable features eliminated.
Elsewhere I have referred to the delights of climbing
the High Sierras in winter. The Yosemite Valley is
the best place in the world from which to gain such an
experience. The railway, stages and hotels are open all,
or most, of the year, and one is taken into the very heart
of the mountains without efTort. How wonderfully
things have changed in a few years. When Miss Gor-
don-Cummings wrote in 1878 of the winter in the Val-
ley she said : " In some of the canyons the snow accu-
The Yosemite Valley 233
mulates to the depth of a hundred feet, while fifteen to
twenty feet sometimes fall steadily all over the moun-
tains, at the rate of four or five feet in a day. So the
few regular inhabitants of the Valley make up their
minds to total seclusion during this period, and provision
themselves accordingly, knowing that till the warm
breath of spring shall melt their prison walls, not even
a chance horseman or cat-like Indian will invade their
solitude. The wailing of the wild winds and the roar of
the rushing rivers are the only murmurs that can reach
them from beyond their lonely valley."
Now, however, the shriek of the locomotive whistle
penetrates as far as Mirror Lake, and the crack of the
driver's whip echoes from El Capitan to Cathedral
Rocks, and from Sentinel Dome to the Three Graces,
through the winter as well as the summer. Hundreds
enjoy the sports of winter in sight of the great ice dome
thrown up by Yosemite Fall, — tobogganing, sleigh-
riding, storming a snow-fort, snowballing, skiing or
snow-shoeing, skating, building snow men, sliding, —
while six hundred miles away in the same State other
hundreds are cheering and applauding the flower-dec-
orated floats, automobiles and carriages of the Pasadena
Tournament of Roses.
A few days' experience makes one able to travel fairly
well on snow-shoes, and then the mountain climbing may
begin. It is well to take a guide along, and not to go
too far to start with. As soon as one's wings are strong
further flights will suggest themselves.
One of the greatest joys that can come into a human
being's heart is one of the results of these winter trips,
wisely and cautiously taken. That is, that Nature is
a friend; she is ever kindly disposed to mankind; her
heart-beats are tender and gentle, and even in winter
234 California, Romantic and Beautiful
her breast is a good place to rest upon, to gain new
strength, vigour, and courage for the battle of life.
Again and again Muir practically demonstrates this as
he tells, in his Mountains of California, of his sleeping-
out experiences, and Snow-Shoe Thompson, surrounded
by the High Sierran landscape, swathed in deepest snow,
" stretched upon his bed of boughs, with his feet to the
fire, and his head resting upon one of Uncle Sam's mail
bags, slept as soundly as if occupying the best bed ever
made; though, perhaps, beneath his couch, there was a
depth of from ten to thirty feet of snow."
CHAPTER XV
THE LAKE TAHOE REGION
The name of John C. Fremont, the Pathfinder, ex-
plorer of California and Oregon in the early 'forties,
namer of the Golden Gate, Republican candidate for
president, general in the Civil War, scientist, scholar,
warrior, statesman, diplomat, and author, is one to con-
jure with in many fields. But while Fremont's cosmo-
politan achievements will ever keep his memory green,
I doubt whether any one thing he ever accomplished will
ultimately bring him greater renown and gratitude than
his discovery of Lake Tahoe, — the Big Water, the High
Water of the Washoe Indians. It was on February 14th,
1844, that the great explorer, on his trip to California
from the Dalles of the Columbia, in Oregon, having
passed up Carson Canyon, from the valley in which
Carson City now stands, climbed a rounded peak near
to Freel's Peak, at the southeastern end of the lake, and
thus discovered this remarkable body of water. He says
in his journal: "February 14. Accompanied by Mr.
Preuss, I ascended to-day the highest peak to the right,
from which we had a beautiful view of a mountain lake
at our feet, about fifteen miles in length, and so entirely
surrounded by mountains that we could not discover an
outlet. We had taken with us a glass; but, though we
enjoyed an extended view, the valley was half hidden
in mist."
235
236 California, Romantic and Beautiful
For many years the strangest stories were told of
Lake Tahoe, — that it had no feeding streams, as well
as that it had no outlet, — but in the fifties and sixties
it was pretty thoroughly explored, its origin scientific-
ally studied, and its charms so expatiated upon that ever
since it has held an established place in the high esteem
of men.
In the sixties Mark Twain, the inimitable, the world-
famed, then unknown and ahnost poverty-stricken, came
with a friend from Carson City and camped for awhile
on its shores. His chief stopping-place was not far from
what is now known as Carnelian Bay. Later, in half
jest, half earnest, he wrote of his experiences. Poking
fun at himself and his camp-mate, he made the world
laugh, yet he wrought into his fun some pictures of
sterling worth that show how profound an impression
this glorious Lake made upon his receptive mind and
soul.
" At last the Lake burst upon us, — a noble sheet of
blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above
the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad
mountain peaks that towered aloft full three thousand
feet higher still ! It was a vast oval, and one would have
to use up eighty or a hundred good miles in travelling
around it. As it lay there with the shadows of the moun-
tains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I
thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole
earth affords. . . .
" We did not see a human being but ourselves during
the two or three weeks we were there, or hear any sounds
but those that were made by the wind and the waves,
the sighing of the pines, and now and then the far-off
thunder of an avalanche. The forest about us was dense
and cool, the sky above us was cloudless and brilliant
The Lake Tahoe Region 237
with sunshine, the broad lake before us was glassy and
clear, or rippled and breezy, or black and storm-tossed,
according to Nature's mood; and its circling border of
mountain domes, clothed with forests, scarred with land-
slides, cloven by canyons and valleys, and helmeted with
glittering snow, fitly framed and finished the noble pic-
ture. The view was always fascinating, bewitching, en-
trancing. The eye was never tired of gazing, night or
day, in calm or storm ; it suffered but one grief, and that
was that it could not look always, but must close some-
times in sleep. . . .
" So singularly clear was the water that, where it
was only twenty or thirty feet deep, the bottom was so
perfectly distinct that the boat seemed floating in the
air ! Yes, where it was even eighty feet deep. Every
little pebble was distinct, every speckled trout, every
hand's-breadth of sand. Often, as we lay on our faces,
a granite boulder, as large as a village church, would
start out of the bottom apparently, and seem climbing
up rapidly to the surface, till presently it threatened to
touch our faces, and we could not resist the impulse to
seize an oar and avert the danger. But the boat would
float on, and the boulder descend again, and then we
could see that when we had been exactly above it, it must
still have been twenty or thirty feet below the surface.
Down through the transparency of these great depths,
the water was not merely transparent, but dazzlingly,
brilliantly so. All objects seen through It had a bright,
strong vividness, not only of outline, but of every minute
detail, which they would not have had when seen simply
through the same depth of atmosphere. So empty and
airy did all spaces seem below us, and so strong was the
sense of floating high aloft in mid-nothingness, that we
called these boat-excursions ' balloon-voyages.' "
238 California, Romantic and Beautiful
In speaking of camping and sleeping out at night on
the lake shore, he says : '* Three months of this on Lake
Tahoe would restore an Egyptian mummy to his pristine
vigour, and give him an appetite like an alligator. I do
not mean the oldest and driest mummies, of course, but
the fresher ones. The air up there in the clouds is very
pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't
it be? — it is the same the angels breathe. I think that
hardly any amount of fatigue can be gathered together
that a man cannot sleep off in one night on the sand by
its side. Not under a roof, but under the sky ; it seldom
rains there in the summer time. I know a man who
went there to die. But he made a failure of it. He
was a skeleton when he came, and could barely stand.
He had no appetite, and did nothing but read tracts
and reflect on the future. Three months later he was
sleeping out of doors regularly, eating all he could hold,
three times a day, and chasing game over mountains
three thousand feet high for recreation. And he was
a skeleton no longer, but weighed part of a ton. This
is no fancy sketch, but the truth. I confidently com-
m.end his experience to other skeletons."
Then came Thomas Starr King, silver-tongued,
golden-hearted, diamond-souled, dedicated to God and
men. He first saw the Lake when visiting the mining-
camps in the interests of the Sanitary Commission, dur-
ing the Civil War. He and the heroic pioneer, John
Bidwell, rode up and down, back and forth across the
land, bidding men and women do their duty by the brave
soldiers who fought the battles for the Union and free-
dom in the fields of the South. His heart stirred with
fervid patriotism, he was the better qualified and made
receptive to see and enjoy to the full the glory of this
expansive mountain jewel of water. Returning to his
The Lake Tahoe Region 239
people in San Francisco he gave them a vivid picture of
its glories and enchantments, part of which is as fallows :
" Everything is charming in the surroundings of this
mountain lake ; but as soon as one walks to the beach
of it, and surveys its expanse, it is the colour, or rather
the colours, spread out before the eye, which hold it
with the greatest fascination. I was able to stay eight
days in all, amidst that calm and cheer, yet the hues of
the water seemed to become more surprising with each
hour. The Lake, according to recent measurement, is
about twenty-one miles in length, by twelve or thirteen
in breadth. There is no island visible to break its sweep,
which seems to be much larger than the figures indicate.
And the whole of the vast surface, the boundaries of
which are taken in easily at once by the range of the eye,
is a mass of pure splendour. When the day is calm,
there is a ring of the Lake, extending more than a mile
from shore, which is brilliantly green. Within this ring
the vast centre of the expanse is of a deep yet soft and
singularly tinted blue. Hues cannot be more sharply
contrasted than are these permanent colours. They do
not shade into each other; they lie as clearly defined as
the courses of glowing gems in the Wall of the New
Jerusalem. It is precisely as if we were looking on an
immense floor of lapis lazuli set within a ring of flaming
emerald.
" The cause of this contrast is the sudden change in
the depth of the water at a certain distance from shore.
For a mile or so the basin shelves gradually, and then
suddenly plunges off into unknown depths. The centre
of the Lake must be a tremendous pit. A very short dis-
tance from where the water is green, and so transparent
that the clean stones can be seen on the bottom a hundred
feet below, the blue water has been found to be fourteen
240 California, Romantic and Beautiful
hundred feet deep ; and in other portions soundings can-
not be obtained with a greater extent of line.
" What a savage chasm the lake-bed must be ! Empty
the water from it and it is pure and unrelieved desola-
tion. And the sovereign loveliness of the water that
fills it is its colour. The very savageness of the rent and
fissure is made the condition of the purest charm. The
Lake does not feed a permanent river. We cannot trace
any issue of it to the ocean. It is not, that we know,
a well-spring to supply any large district with water for
ordinary use. It seems to exist for beauty. And its pe-
culiar beauty has its root in the peculiar harshness and
wildness of the deeps it hides."
Can any one doubt the supernal beauty of the scene
that could inspire two such diverse geniuses as Mark
Twain and Thomas Starr King to such exquisite and
incomparable eloquence? Without exception every one
bows to that marvellous exhibition of colour. Within
me it arouses emotions akin to those stirred by wonder-
ful music. The colours are not so glowing as those of
sunrises and sunsets, but they are equally sublime, awe-
inspiring and enchanting. And I do not use these words
idly. The vast area makes the effect sublime and awe-
inspiring, and the surprise, the novelty, the rareness is
enchanting.
Up to the time that Fremont discovered Lake Tahoe
its shores had seen no other human beings than the
I Washoe and Paiute Indians who lived luxuriously upon
its delicately flavoured trout, and nourished themselves
with the equally delicious pinyon nuts which they gath-
ered in vast quantities from the near-by mountain slopes.
A century from the date of its discovery will see a
change more wonderful and marvellous than that which
dazzled the eyes of Rip Van Winkle for, by 1944, there
The Lake Tahoe Region 241
will be scarcely an acre bordering the seventy or eighty
miles circumference of the Lake that will not have its
private villa, cottage, or humbler residence of the nature-
iover. Already for sixty years steamers, launches, sail-
boats and skiffs of every kind have crisscrossed its sur-
face. To-day two or three of the finest private yachts
in the United States rest upon its bosom and, winter
and summer, a steamer makes its daily trips around the
Lake.
Climatically, Lake Tahoe is a place of wonderful an-
titheses. In summer, Mark Twain's description of the
air and the general atmospheric conditions is about as
near to accuracy as the ordinary human being can come.
It is ineffable, delightful, restful, soothing, stimulating,
health-giving, and all the other things that a delicious
mountain, lake and forest climate ought to be.
Starr King refers to the clarity and purity of the
water. Scientific investigation reveals that it is as pure
as water can be found, and its clearness is to-day the
marvel of all visitors. Mark Twain's comment upon
this fact is absolute truth.
While the Lake is so charming in summer, its winter
charms and delights are unknown. Practically every-
body flees the country except the few hardy mountain-
eers who stay to take care of property and protect it
from the fierce onslaughts of mountain winds and snow-
storms. Snow falls to the depth of eight, ten, twenty
and more feet, and only those who are familiar with
the use of snow-shoes can remain. Every tree bears its
burden of glistening snow and the white of God's feath-
ers from the clouds covers everything with a robe of
richest purity and angelic glory, or with a pall of cold,
dreary desolateness, according as the eye of the beholder
is attuned to the wintry aspect of the landscape.
242 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Yet the time will come, and speedily I believe, when
many thousands of hardy climbers and athletic moun-
tain lovers will take advantage of the incomparable ad-
vantages this region offers for winter sports. For snow-
shoeing it is unsurpassed, and those who know its win-
ter dress contend there is no comparison between its
charms and rugged allurements at that time and what
it offers in the summer.
One of the remarkable winter facts of Tahoe is that,
while the thermometer registers at times below zero,
and fierce freezing winds blow over the surface of the
Lake, it never freezes over, although all the smaller lakes
of the region, almost without exception, become coated
with ice to the depth of many feet.
Lake Tahoe is one of the largest lakes of the world
at its altitude. At average height the surface of its
waters is about 6,200 feet above sea level, and it is 23
miles long by 13 miles wide. Mountains surround it
on every side, those to the west being the last great crest
of the gigantic rock waves that make the stately Sierras.
One would need the fingers of both hands twice over to
enumerate the peaks that are in sight from the bosom
of the Lake that are over nine thousand feet high, and
fully half of these are over the ten thousand foot level.
While a large portion of the forest area has been
logged, there is sufficient of the old growth and an abun-
dance of the new to make a thousand ordinary forests,
hence it is a fascinating place for tree-study. Here at
the different levels, shading more or less into one an-
other, are groups of white and sugar pine, white and
red fir, rugged and gnarled junipers, a few spruce, clus-
ter after cluster of the exquisitely tinted and dainty-
leafed silver fir, and millions of attractive hemlock, tam-
arack, and mountain pine.
The Lake Tahoe Region 243
And as for lakes, if one were up in a balloon, he could
count hundreds of them while his aerial craft floated
the length of Lake Tahoe, and each and every one is
a jewel of sapphire, emerald, lapis lazuli, with occasional
flashings of pearl, opal and diamond, fixed in settings of
incomparable grandeur and majesty.
From most of the peaks one looks down into areas
that in bygone ages were the scenes of battles between
gigantic glaciers. Hundreds of square miles of the
granite mountains have been scored, planed, gouged out,
fluted and bevelled by these icy blankets, weighing mil-
lions of tons, and carrying other millions of tons of
rocky debris upon their surfaces to be deposited as lateral
and terminal moraines for puny man of later centuries
to climb over and peck into with geological pick and
hammer.
Desolation Valley, which is the first valley east of the
last ridge of the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, is one great
plane of glacially polished granite. Where the gougings
were deepest lakes are now found, and around these
grow white and purple heather that in delicate beauty
and sweet fragrance thrill the senses of a Scotchman
with delight. Tucked in on larger or smaller shelves
on the mountain slopes at different altitudes are scores
and scores of other glacially formed lakes, while every
valley has one or more of these beautiful bodies of water
nestling in serene quietude, while nesting birds sing their
sweet lullabys in the flags and sedges or mountain trees
which surround them.
Slowly, as the people of the West have gained more
leisure to turn to the pleasures of Nature from their
material strugglings. Lake Tahoe has attracted an in-
creasing number of summer visitors. To care for these
over twenty different resorts and camps have been estab-
244 California, Romantic and Beautiful
lished, from the commodious, elaborate and luxurious
Tahoe Tavern to the humblest camp where tenter or
hunter finds his simplest wants provided for.
The Tavern is situated at the end of the railway, which
connects with the Southern Pacific at Truckee. It is on
the immediate shore, not far from the outlet , of the
Truckee River, and is beautifully surrounded by giant
sugar pines and other trees. As a hotel it has but one
fault, and that is it is so attractive within itself that
many visitors are satisfied to remain in the perfect en-
joyments it affords of excellent food, perfect sleeping
accommodations, a thousand glorious views from porch,
lawn and window, while miles of easy walking in the
near-by park and on the lake shore afford all the exer-
cise one needs for health.
The steamer plies around the Lake daily during all
the summer months, and thrice or twice a week in win-
ter. At the south end rises Mt. Tallac — the chief
mountain as the Indians regard it, though two or three
other peaks rise actually higher — and claiming that
name for his hotel, E. J. Baldwin, one of the pioneers
of Virginia City, built what for many years was the most
important hotel on the Lake. Tallac House became
world famed, but naturally as the years have passed
it has become somewhat old-fashioned and out of date.
Shortly prior to his death, however, Mr. Baldwin planned
the erection of a new, commodious, modern hotel,
slightly to the east of the old Tallac House. The founda-
tion stone was laid amid great rejoicings, and work con-
tinued rapidly, the whole of the foundations being com-
pleted when his summons came, at the ripe old age of
eighty-six, to pass on. One result of his death was the
immediate cessation of the work, but Mrs. Anita Baldwin
McClaughry, of the Santa Anita Ranch, near Los An-
The Lake Tahoe Region 245
geles, has announced that in due time she purposes car-
rying out her father's plan, except that she will make
the whole structure fireproof throughout.
Al Tahoe and Lakeside are also fine resorts, the former
one of the newer of the better class hotels, while the Glen-
brook, on the Nevada shore, is as homelike, comfortable
and enjoyable as any but the most luxurious could de-
mand. At the north end Mr. L. P. Delano, of Reno,
is seeking to establish a high-class Club House, giving
to members lakeside privileges that they themselves can
control, while the invalid or neurasthenic, the physically
overworked or mentally overtaxed, who are benefited
by baths in naturally hot springs, find at Brockways that
rest, care and natural stimulation that will restore them
to health.
To those, however, who love the simpler phases of
life and who revel in the enjo}anent of Nature, where
luxurious living is not provided, there are five especially
charming camps that can be highly commended. These
are, I. Deer Park Springs, in one of the charming can-
yons a few miles from the Lake, where mountain trails,
hunting and the most enjoyable fishing in glacial lakes
allure one into the open all the time ; IL Emerald Bay
Camp, where Mr. N. L. Salter, of Yosemite Valley fame,
provides in similar fashion for his guests ; IIL Fallen
Leaf Lodge, where Professor W. W. Price, a Stanford
man, versed in the flora and fauna of the country and
able to give one more scientific information about the
region than is commonly possessed, gathers each year a
fine class of visitors ; IV. Cathedral Park, on Fallen-
Leaf Lake, where a former guide, Mr. Flugge, has estab-
lished a homelike resort, and V. Glen Alpine Springs,
one of the first of the camp-like resorts, where simplicity
reigns supreme, and where Nature is worshipped more
246 California, Eomantic and Beautiful
than fashion, and the healthful and tasty food prepared
is made delicious by hours of mountain climbing, boat-
ing, fishing, or studying the glacial lakes and other phe-
nomena that led David Starr Jordan to declare that
'' nowhere in the world is there a finer specimen of a
glacial valley than the wild, rough, barren territory
known as ' Desolation Valley,' above Glen Alpine
Springs, and there is no finer specimen of a glacier-made
lake than the excavated gorge filled with water, which
bears the name of Heather Lake. The carbonated spring
around Avhich the hotel property centres is one of the
finest in the mountains."
There are other well-known camps on the Lake, such
as McKinney's, Homewood, Bijou and The Grove, all
of which have their admiring clients.
Lake Tahoe is essentially a resort for the automobilist.
It seems that not only has Nature especially favoured
her in endowing her with such a plethora of never-
fading charms, but she also so planned the location that
men have made it one of the most easily accessible of
California mountain resorts. In reality one would nat-
urally think of it as far away, remote, inaccessible, but
the making of the pioneer roads over the mountains,
and then the fact that it was on the direct line of the
road to the mines of Virginia City, gave to the earliest
inhabitants good roads directly to its camps and hotels.
Later a fine road on the eastern slope of the Sierras
was constructed, so that now first-class State automobile
highways, winding their way through such scenery as
only the High Sierras afford, reach Lake Tahoe from
three directions in California, and two in Nevada. For
it must not be forgotten that the Lake is partially in
Nevada as well as California. In 19 13 a new automobile
road was completed around the west shore of the Lake,
The Lake Tahoe Region 247
thus affording every visitor the opportunity of viewing
its supreme charms from an elevation of about five hun-
dred feet. Taking the ride slowly these superior points
of vantage will bring out in the most perfect fashion the
beautiful colourings of the water. The sharp lines of
cleavage betw^een the blue and green, the sapphire and
the emerald, and the softer oranges and yellows are
made vivid at these angles and altitudes.
Taking it all in all the Tahoe region is one of the
most desirable regions not only California, or the United
States, but the whole world possesses.
CHAPTER XVI
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Southern California is generally regarded as that
part of the State "below the Tehachipi." It comprises
the counties of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, San
Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial. In its
confines there are three-score or more of growing towns
— like Monrovia, Pasadena, Glendora, Duarte, Pomona,
Ontario, Covina, Riverside, Redlands, Orange, Santa
Ana, Fullerton, Anaheim, Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Paula,
with such seaside resorts as Long Beach, Santa Monica,
Ocean Park, Redondo, and Venice, each of which could
well receive half a dozen or a dozen pages of this book.
I am compelled to pass them by with this most cursory
reference owing to the necessary limitations of space.
Progress has been, and is, so rapid in this favoured
region that by the time it is recorded it is already out-
of-date.
It might well be expected, even by one unfamiliar with
local conditions, that in the long stretch of country owned
by California there would be great varieties of climate
and scenery. This fact cannot be too strongly empha-
sized, and it is one of California's great claims upon the
attention of the world. It can offer such varied topog-
raphy and climate. A broad and general survey of
Southern California shows that it has about two hundred
and fifty miles of shore line, from Point Concepcion to
Tia Juana beach. This curves inward from the north-
248
Southern California 249
west to the southeast, so that the main trend of a large
part of the coast from Santa Barbara south is east and
west, rather than north and south. Beyond this lies the
alluvial plain upon which the glowing orange and lemon,
peach and apricot, plum and almond orchards delight the
eye and enrich the purse. Still furtlier to the east rise
the mountains, over which lie the Mohave and Colorado
" Deserts." It is this peculiar juxtaposition of ocean,
plain, mountain and desert that create the unique cli-
matic condition with which Southern California is
blessed.
For many years this region was sneeringly denomi-
nated the " Cow Country.'' It was deemed useless ex-
cept as a cattle pasture. But in the late seventies a few,
more observant and thoughtful than their fellows, began
to see other possibilities here. The asset of climate had,
as yet, scarcely been intelligently considered. They be-
gan to sound the loud timbrel on this theme. The Santa
Fe railway in time was built from Chicago to the Pacific
Ocean, and then began the " boom " that, so long as it
lasted, was one of the most remarkable instances of
frenzied speculation ever witnessed.
One of the earliest " visionaries " with the practical
mind was the firm of Raymond & Whitcomb, of Boston,
who arranged excursions for the people of the East. A
fine site, on a commanding knoll, was ofifered them if
they would erect a tourist hotel there. The offer was
accepted and the hotel built. This and Hotel del Coro-
nado were important factors in the early upbuilding of
Southern California. Then came also the Hotel Ar-
cadia at Santa Monica, the Sierra Madre Villa in the
foothills beyond Pasadena, the Painter and Green at
Pasadena, the Glenwood at Riverside, the Windsor and
Casa Loma at Redlands, the Arlington at Santa Barbara,
250 California, Romantic and Beautiful
all of which, as they catered to the well-being, comfort
and luxury of the Eastern tourist did their share in in-
creasing the fame of the land. The rapid growth of the
country has been one of the reamarkable phenomena of
modern times. In 1880 Los Angeles bad a population
of about twelve thousand. In 1890 it had sprung to
about fifty thousand. The federal census of 1900 gave
it 102,479, of 1910, 319,198, the directory census of
1913, 483,417, and it is pretty certain that it has already
passed the half million mark. And the wonderful fact
is that the whole country has developed in about the
same proportion. Forty years ago there was no Pasa-
dena. To-day it boasts a population of forty thousand,
with more beautiful homes in proportion to its size than
any other city in existence. Thirty years ago Long
Beach had its beginnings. In 1903 the federal census
gave it a population of 2,052 people. To-day it has fully
forty-five thousand ; and so on might the progressive
record be given.
Naturally the stranger wonders what can have brought
labout this wonderful development. The answer is sim-
ple. First, climate and scenery, second, the development
of the land by irrigation, third, the discovery of oil,
fourth, the development of hydro-electric power in the
mountains and its cheap transmission over long dis-
tances. Each of these development factors is treated
elsewhere in these pages.
There are seven entrances by railway to this land of
the orange and vine, cotton and the date. The Sunset
route of the Southern Pacific, aoros-s the Colorado River
at Yuma, past the Imperial and through the Coachella
Valleys and over the San Gorgonio Pass; the Santa Fe
and Salt Lake routes over the Colorado River at the
Needles and over the Mohave Desert and El Cajon Pass ;
Southern California 251
the Valley line of the Southern Pacific, through the San
Joaquin Valley and over the Tehachipi grade; and the
Coast line of the Southern Pacific by Santa Barbara and
over the Chatsworth grade. The ocean highway and the
aerial lines are also open and both are now being more
or less extensively used.
While the Avinter climate of Southern California has
become famous for its generally delightful, stimulating
and enjoyable qualities, only those experiencing it know
the charm of the summer climate. It is no exaggeration
to say that, taking it all in all, the summer is by far the
best time to visit Southern California. The ordinary
reasoning of the Eastern mind is here entirely at fault,
when it assumes that, because the winter is so warm, the
summer therefore must be unendurably hot. Take San
Diego as an illustration, for we have accurate weather
records of its daily temperature since 1872. The lowest
temiperature registered in January from 1872 to 19 12
was in 1880, 1883, and 1894, when it went to 32°. The
highest temperature in August, between the same period,
was in 1909, w^hen it reached 93°. The figures, however,
generally average around 80° for a maximum.
Perhaps this is hardly a fair example, as San Diego's
temperature, as I have elsewhere affirmed, is the most
equable of any known spot in the temperate zone on the
habitable globe. But it gives the general idea. Other
places have a slightly wider range, both for heat and
cold, but what I wish to assert with emphasis is that the
summers are equally delightful — and many say more so
— except for a few rare days, than is the winter.
The close proximity of the Pacific Ocean with its
vast volume of water maintaining a remarkably stable
temperature, the fact that there are few or no hills be-
tween the ocean and the habited plain to create unpleas-
252 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ant winds, and the 'high mountain barrier shutting off the
heated air of the desert are the secrets of the cool sum-
mer cHmate of this blessed country.
The winter of 19 12-13 ^^^^ the worst cold spell the
country had experienced since it came into the possession
of the United States. The orange, lemon and grapefruit
crops were seriously injured. Few trees, however, save
young lemon trees, were destroyed. The fact that it
caught most of the fruit growers unprepared is the best
proof possible of its unexpectedness and rareness. And
so confident are the people of its rare occurrence that it
has not interfered perceptibly one particle in the industry
— work has gone on in the orchards just the 'same, de-
velopment and new growth has continued as before, and
prices have not dropped one per cent.
Unquestionably the most astonishing of all the won-
derful development of Southern California has been in
the Colorado Desert, and this has demanded an especial
chapter for its consideration. The desert as an agricul-
tural and horticultural centre was a new thought even in
Southern California little over ten years ago. Now the
whole countr}^ has felt the impetus of the new thought
and Palmdale, Antelope Valley, the Alohave Valley and
a score of desert oases have already sprung into flourish-
ing existence. Water is the keynote to the change. As
one witty paraphrase has it :
" Little drops of water poured on grains of sand,
Make a mighty difference in the price of land."
Water has been found everywhere underlying the soil,
at varying depths, but pumping is made cheap by fuel oil
and electricity and even deep pumping, as, for instance,
at Corona, where the water has to be raised seventy-five
feet, for irrigating the orange orchards, does not hinder
Southern California 253
the orange growers from making good returns from
their crops.
But with all its development in many and various lines
it cannot be denied that Southern California's chief
assets are its climate and scenery in that they attract
hundreds of tliousands of wealthy people from all parts
of the world each year to enjoy them. The result is the
growth of the fashionable and luxurious tourist hotel to
an extent not surpassed in the populous centres of the
East. Santa Barbara has its Arlington and Potter, both
of them unusual structures, the latter on the beach and
surrounded by myriads of flowers ; Hollywood — a sul>
urb of Los Angeles, has its Hollywood and Beverley
Hills ; Long Beach its Virginia ; Del Mar its Stratford,
but of all the hotels of Southern California, indeed of
the whole State, the Mission Inn at Riverside is the one
that provokes and deserves especial comment.
Conceived by three poets — Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Miller and his sister, Mrs. Richardson, — romance and
sentiment were mixed in the cement and gravel of its
foundations, and have continued up to its tower cap-
stones. Poetry, romance and sentiment flow from it,
radiate in every direction, so that it begins to permeate
the visitor even before he enters its unique precincts.
The arched corridors that line the streets on the hotel
block, while not obtrusive,, are different. They demand
attention in a quietly insistent fashion and lead the eye
to the red tiled roofs, the campanile, the architectural
distinctions, the swinging bells, the saintly fignres of the
main building beyond.
Frank Miller came to Riverside when a mere boy,
forty years ago. His father founded the Glenwood Inn,
an ordinary small town hotel in the early days of River-
side. Hence he was practically born into the hotel busi-
254 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ness. It was his first and only occupation. But he was
a poet ; so was his sister ; and when he married he chose
for his wife another poet. Though protestants in their
rehgious faith they all had that large-heartedness of
spiritual vision that is able to glorify the noble and
heroic in those of another faith. Their love of Califor-
nia led them to a full study of the remnant bands of the
Indians — those aboriginal tribes that used to cover the
valleys and foothills with their rude kishes and kans in
which their healthy and happy offspring were born and
lived. They became interested in their avocations, their
primitive pottery and their exquisite and dainty bas-
ketry. The facts behind the story of Ranioua soon
became well known to them. Their deepest sympathies
were aroused. They studied the history of Ramona's
people. The Old Franciscan Mission structures had
always appealed to them, but as soon as they got hold
more fully of the human idea that these Missions were
founded and conducted by the Franciscan padres purely
for the spiritual, mental and social uplift of the degraded
savages of California, they took on a new and fuller
significance. For Mr. Miller if anything is intensely
human. Poetry to appeal to him must be full of the red-
veined heart of humanity. The Missions became more
than churches to him. His vivid and creative imagina-
tion soon saw each of these Missions as the leavening
centre of a vast Indian population. He reconstructed
the workshops, the forges, the mills, the looms, the thou-
sand and one industries that went on under the guidance
and control of the wise and practical padres. He saw
that they demonstrated their love to God by their self-
sacrificing, consecrated love to their degraded fellow
human beings. He began to honour, respect and love
these consecrated men as he had never done before ; he
Southern California 255
revered their devotion to God, but his heart warmed in
fullest sympathy when he visioned their active work for
the benefit and blessing of the California savages.
Then he studied the growth of California life on its
other planes. He saw the Spanish colonists come in.
He followed, in imagination, that procession of men and
women over the wastes of the Gila and Colorado River
deserts from Northern Sonora, who caine to people the
new settlement of San Francisco, and those who estab-
lished San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Diego and Los An-
geles. He gained a sure and comprehensive knowledge
of their social development. He followed them, as they
rode their peerless horses, to their fiestas, and bailies
and barbecues, and watched tliem lat their dances, and
contests of skill and horsemanship in the field. He saw
them at their rodeos, or round-ups of cattle and horses,
and got into the spirit of their large-hearted, free-handed
life with one another. He was soon saturated with the
spirit of " the splendid idle forties," and the glorious
open-handed " thirties," and tlie reckless friendly " twen-
ties," and the hospitable, generous " tens." He saw how
the Missions fitted into this unique pastoral life, so dif-
ferent from that of the sordid German, the cheese-paring
Scotchman, the money-loving Englishman, and even of
his own Puritan and Quaker ancestry of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. For here in Spanish house and
sacred Mission the stranger was ever welcome to the
fullest hospitality of home, bed and board. Horses were
found for those who needed them ; guides were fur-
nished ; food was supplied, with a generous abandon
known only in the land of the sun that warms the heart
to keenest brotherhood.
Without money and without price the bounty of the
Missions was given to every passer by. His need was
256 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the only question as to his fitness to receive. Even his
gratitude was not anticipated. To give freely, gener-
ously, bountifully of the best they had to all who needed,
was a part of the every-day religion of these padres of
the olden time, in addition to their unselfish care, edu-
cation and Christianization of the savages.
All these things Mr. Miller saw and felt, until they
began to ferment within his inmost soul. Brain and
heart had long been employed with them, but now his
soul — himself — was interested, engaged, enthralled.
The question sprang into being : Why cannot a modern
hotel be conducted on modern methods, yet fully imbued
with as much of the spirit of real hospitality, genuine
interest in the welfare of the guest, personal seeking for
his comfort as was manifested by these men of God
whose every-day life was a manifestation of their re-
ligion?
The idea grew. Its feasibility soon became apparent,
because, in Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and in Mrs. Richardson,
the spirit to do, and be, was within them.
The town of Riverside was growing. The fame of
the climate of Southern California was broadening and
widening. Thousands flocked to the Land of Perpetual
Summer. They wanted to see the town where oranges
could be picked and eaten in shirt-waists and sum-
mer tweeds, while the horizon line was glorified with
ten-thousand-feet-high-mountain-peaks bathed in virgin
snow. The Glcnzvood grew in size and business. Soon
its enlarged capacity was more than reached.
Now came the time to create in concrete and objective
form the vision that had been growing during the past
years. Mr. Arthur B. Benton, one of Los Angeles's
most individualistic architects, a man of vision and prac-
tical power, was called into what had hitherto been a
Southern California 257
family conclave. His genius was fired and plans were
soon prepared for the erection of a hotel, to be different
from any yet constructed. It was to suggest through-
out — in patio, entrance, lobby, hall, dining-room, loung-
ing-rooms, bedrooms — the warm, cordial hospitality of
the homes of the old Padres, yet able to meet all the de-
mands of the most exacting and world-blase travellers.
Mr. Miller's neighbours, his co-workers in the hotel-
field throughout California looked on in amazement as
Mr. Benton's architectural ideas took visible form.
Slowly the structure arose, and questions arose with it
on every hand. What did it mean? What was Miller
aiming at? The first glimpses of a new idea struck them
strangely. The poet's fancy, his carefully thought out
vision, seemed to them a foolish dream, a nightmare
monstrosity that would involve him in ridicule and dis-
aster. But glor}^ be for the men who know. The men
who are willing to be led by the larger, grander, nobler
vision. Quietly but insistently Mr. Miller went on with
his building. The simplicity and near-rudeness of the
doors, and interiors, and fireplaces, and ironwork,
shocked the susceptibilities of the nouveau-riche who
contended that nobody who was anybody would ever
think of " putting up " with such rude trimmings. But
regardless of the prophets of disaster and woe the build-
ers went ahead, and the building was completed. In the
meantime Mr. and Mrs. Miller bad furniture made to
suit their ideas, and they ransacked the East, Europe
and Mexico for objects of art, virtu and handicraft that
would add to the spirit of their enterprise.
Figures of saints were placed here, there and every-
where; morning, noon and night the chimes pealed
forth their silvery tones in church chorals, folk-songs,
and the homely music of the people; photographs and
258 California, Romantic and Beautiful
paintings lined the walls, indicative of the spirit and life
of the Mission epoch ; stained glass windows set forth
the social life and industries of Indians, Spaniards and
Mexicans in the old-time pastoral days " before the
gringo came," and in and through and above and over
all the genuine spirit of true-hearted hospitality brooded
and asserted itself.
The results have demonstrated the practical wisdom of
the poets' visions. The capacity of the Mission Inn has
been overtaxed year after year, so that the sound of the
hammer and axe are never still during the summer
months enlarging for the following winter season, when
the large influx of tourists demands more and more the
restful and pleasing accommodations this replica of the
old Mission days affords.
The crypt is a banquet-hall, the refectory a meeting-
place of knights and their ladies of good-fellowship, the
chapel a music-room where sonorous organ music, with
sweet accompaniment of harp, violin, and cello daily in-
spire the soul and strengthen the heart to nobler deeds.
Mr. Miller has gathered together also wonderful col-
lections of Indian baskets, rare old bells and unique
crosses, each of which is worthy a chapter in this book.
Altogether the Mission Inn is one of the rare beauty
spots of California, full of charm and delight to the eye,
enhanced by the wealth of Romance, Sentiment and His-
tory that hover about its every part, making it the rarest,
the most charming and the most unique of America's
hotels, and probably, of the hotels of the world.
In its homes, too, Southern California is peculiarly
rich. Santa Barbara, Pasadena, Monrovia, San Diego,
Ontario, Riverside, and a half a score of towns are
famous for their fine residences. Some of them may
well be termed " palatial." They are palaces that in the
Southern California 259
surpassing grandeur of their exteriors, the rich elaborate-
ness of their interiors more than vie with the old time
palaces of Europe. Yet they are not over-adorned in-
side or out. There is a refined delicacy about most of
them that charms the least susceptible.
One of the finest and most pleasing of these homes is
that of Mrs. Anita Baldwin McClaughry, the daughter
of E. J. Baldwin, for so many years one of the noted
pioneers of the State. When he died, he left his princely
domain near Pasadena, known as the Santa Anita Ranch,
with great plans for its development, incomplete. Know-
ing her father's desires Mrs. McClaughry, as soon as
the estate was partitioned, set herself to carry them out.
Regardless of expense the work is progressing rapidly,
and ere long this 3,500 acre ranch will be one of the finest
and best developed in the State. All the old buildings
are being torn down, and replaced with modern struc-
tures of concrete, and every acre is to be made produc-
tive to the highest extent.
In order personally to superintend the work of the
ranch Mrs. McClaughry erected her home upon it. It
is a California manifestation of the architectural style
known as the Italian renaissance, — light, airy and
sunny, every room receiving direct sunshine during
some time of the day. The gentle knoll, or loma, upon
which the house stands in the heart of its beautiful park,
adds to its impressive beauty and quiet dignity.
One of the first features that arrests the attention is
tihe fact that the live oaks that have always been one
of the native glories of the Baldwin estate are carefully
preserved and taken into full account in the landscape
gardening that the building of the home has necessitated.
Scarcely one has been removed. Their life and well-
being have been of primary consideration, and the result
260 California, Romantic and Beautiful
is a charming and powerfully attractive blending of the
native and artificially-domesticated trees that preserves
in heightened tone, the distinctively California quality of
the landscape. Scores of other native trees and shrubs
are planted in the gardens, so that as one's eye falls upon
roses, wistaria, lilies, fuchsias, dahlias, chrysanthemums
and a thousand and one garden flowers, he sees at the
same time the blooming adenostema, ceanothus, yuccas,
baby-blue-eyes, scarlet trumpets, calchortus, etc., which
link together, in novel but most effective fashion, the
enclosed area of the garden with the wild of God's great-
out-of-doors on 'the mountain slopes beyond.
The house is modern in every respect, with sun-
porches, open-air sleeping-rooms, ideal quarters for the
help, large and commodious library, Indian hall, jinks-
room, bowling-alley, billiiard-hall, a kitchen that would
be the pride of many a noted hotel chef, and with its own
refrigerating plant and coolers, with ice-making equip-
ment added.
Close to the bouse is a miniature Parthenon. Its clas-
sic and simple dignity harmonizes Avell with its arboreal
and mountain environment. It is a temple for the wor-
ship of physical and mental well-being, for its altar is
the swimming pool, of clear pellucid water from the
mountains, warmed by the wooing of the ardent Cali-
fornia sunshine, and thus tempting to an open-air daily
plunge and swim.
It should be remarked that all the paintings that adorn
the wialls of Mrs. McClaughry's home are by California
artists.
CHAPTER XVII
IN AND AROUND LOS ANGELES
In its growth Los Angeles is the wonder city of the
world. In 1880 it was a sleepy Mexican pueblo, with
American trimmings, and a population of 12,000. In
19 14 it is the most active, bustling, aggressive, growing
city in America, with a population of over half a million,
and the assurance to claim that by 1920 it will have
reached the million mark.
Los Angeles is a concrete example of the power of
effective advertising, when there is something to adver-
tise. Whatever her cliques and factions, her dissensions
and differences she stands united when advertising is
to be done. The proprietors of her newspapers have
ever been " scrappers " one with another, yet when it
comes to singing the praises of Los x^ngeles their voices
ascend in perfect harmony. Labour and capital have
their fights in Los Angeles as elsewhere, yet they are
found shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, and both use
their most seductive accents, w^hen telling the outside
world about Los Angeles. The railways and steamsliip
companies have spent many hundreds of thousands of
dollars in attracting attention to this city and its sur-
rounding country, for it is a long way from the East
and from Europe and fares are heavy and traffic rates
high. Not that they are exorbitant, but that the dis-
tances are so great they amount to so much more than
where the haul is shorter.
261
262 California, Eomantic and Beautiful
The assets of Los Angeles are climate, scenery, re-
markably close proximity to mountain, canyon, foothill,
forest, desert, seashore and island, excellent fishing and
hunting, oil and hydro-electricity for cheap fuel, profit-
able agricultural and horticultural crops, with mining
and cattle-raising not far in the background. It aston-
ished more people than a few to learn that in 19 14 the
richest agricultural county in the United States was Los
Angeles. Some of its citrus, walnut, pear, apricot,
almond, olive and truck farm lands yield heavy interest
on a higher price per acre than can be found perhaps
elsewhere in the world. It is nothing unusual for men
to make ten, twelve and fifteen per cent, net, on a pur-
chase price actually paid of two, three and even four
thousand dollars per acre. Climate, irrigation and ready
markets explain this.
But without question the chief attraction of Los An-
geles is its climate. Home seekers from all parts of
the world have congregated here. The United States
has a population of a hundred million, some of whom
are growing older and richer every year. Thousands of
these have lived all their lives where the battle of life
has been strenuous and climatic conditions arduous —
hot and oppressive in summer, fiercely cold and piercing
in winter. With money in the bank or invested where
it brings sure returns, why should these people longer
remain to battle with unkind Nature, when in California
she was invariably in gentler and more attractive mood?
Hence the wealthy, the growing old, and those whose
health was precarious have flocked to the land of the
sun-down sea, and, as they have seen opportunity for
investment, have poured out of their treasure lavishly,
knowing, with keen insight trained by years of pinching
and saving, that it would return many-fold in an in-
In and Around Los Angeles 263
credibly short space of time. As a result, therefore, Los
Angeles is peculiarly a non-Californian city, as far as
the spirit and genius of its people are concerned. It is
a conglomeration of middle-westerners largely, Illinois,
Iowa, Ohio, Nebraska, Indiana, having sent large con-
tingents, with sprinklings from the New England, South-
ern and Northern States.
Los Angeles, unlike San Diego, has had no one man
to whom it has owed much of its remarkable develop-
ment, although in its street railways three or four men
deserve especial attention. Its first rise above the ordi-
nary horse-cars of the early days was when the father
of Burton Holmes, the distinguished lecturer, came from
Chicago and installed a cable-railway system. A few
years later, in the late eighties, Moses H. Sherman and
Eli P. Clark came from Arizona, secured franchises and
began the putting in of electric railways in the city and
stretching out to the beaches and to the mountains at
Pasadena. Then Professor T. S. C. Lowe constructed
his unique incline railway to Echo Mountain, and be-
came a potent influence in the advertising of Southern
California's attractions. Then one day came Henry E.
Huntington and Charles Crocker, both important men
in the management of the Southern Pacific Railway.
Standing on Echo Mountain, overlooking the gloriously
beautiful plain that reached from its foot to the Pacific,
thirty miles away, one of the mountain enthusiasts burst
forth into a prophecy that, ere many years were passed,
this vast plain would become the scene of beautiful homes
from the mountains to the sea, and, to link them to-
gether and render transportation and commerce easy,
lines of electric railway would radiate from Los Angeles
in every direction.
Though trained by long experience in railroad con-
264 California, Romantic and Beautiful
struction and management to see things from a large
and prophetic standpoint, Mr. Huntington was staggered
with this tremendous concept, and instantly replied :
" Great scheme ! Wonderful plan ! But what would
you imagine would be the initial cost of such a railway? "
The enthusiast confessed he knew little of railways
but dared the " guess " that it would not be less than
five millions to start with, when Mr. Huntington re-
sponded : " A lot of money, young man, a lot of money."
" Yes," was the enthusiast's undaunted prophecy, " it
is a lot of money, but the time will come when the money
will be found and the man that knows how to spend it."
Some fifteen years later the enthusiast was dining
with Mr. Huntington at his New York club, and this
conversation was recalled, when the financier remarked:
" I little thought at the time I was to be the man, and
that instead of five millions the first shot out of the locker
would be fifteen millions. And since then the work has
so enlarged that we have multiplied the original fifteen
millions five times, and the end is not yet."
Here is the secret of the later " boom " of Los Angeles
and all the country round about. With swift electric
transportation at reasonable rates provided, the country
towns sprang into a new life as remarkable as that shown
years before by Los Angeles, and the very audacity of
the large faith of the railway builder, though it at first
staggered the little-minded investor, shortly hypnotized
him and made him frantic " to get in on the ground
floor." Hence it will be apparent that it has not required
any keen intelligence to buy building sites in the heart
of cities and towns, or ranches in the country and then
sit still "while outsiders came in and purchased them at
a substantial advance. Fortunately many — most, in-
deed — of the purchasers were workers and immediately
ALMONDS.
In and Around Los Angeles 2G5
began to build on their lots, or to develop their ranches.
The whilom cattle counties became the agricultural and
horticultural wonder of the world. Hundreds of thou-
sands of tons of fruits, green and dried, were shipped
East, North, Middle West and South, and California's
oranges, walnuts, lemons, grapefruit, figs, almonds,
peaches and apricots went forth as additional voices
to further herald her fame.
When settlers from the East returned to their old
homes and began to tell of what the new land had grown
to mean to them, their old-time friends and associates
heard them with wonderment, shading into pity and
finally open remonstrance. For that is one of the ro-
mances of California, that its wonders are so great, the
State so vast, the glories and beauties so transcendent
tliat he who tries to tell of them comes so far short of
the truth that he recognizes his own inability to present
things in the light of the glory in which he sees them,
while, strange to say, to his unknowing hearers, his vain
Teachings for the truth are accounted wild and foolish
fantasies, or wilful and deliberate exaggerations that
courtesy alone keeps them from designating by the
" shorter and ugher " word.
Even such a careful and watchful man over his speech
as the Right Reverend Bishop Conaty, of the diocese of
Los Angeles and Monterey, openly confessed that when
he went back to his old parish in the East, while he was
struggling to reach up to the majesty and grandeur of
the truths of California as he knew them, but realizing
that he was lamentably failing, his hearers were shaking
their heads and thinking within themselves : Ah, what
has come over our dear former pastor? With us he
Avas the soul of honour and truth personified, but now,
alas ! alas ! and alas !
266 California, Romantic and Beautiful
If one were to tell of the increase in land values in
Los Angeles in the past thirty years he could scarce
expect to be believed — they have gone up so astonish-
ingly. And the remarkable thing is that no one could
ever claim for Los Angeles that it had a picturesque
location, — in itself, — or that it promised to be a great
commercial centre, or that it would ever be a manufac-
turing city, or that it had a profitable contributory back
country. The matter of location, of course, no one
could change, but all the three later contentions against
its future growth have proven themselves absurd in the
light of actual events. It is a great commercial centre,
distributing its goods of every nature into the interior
towns, reaching through Arizona and Nevada into New
Mexico, Texas and even beyond. It is a great manu-
facturing city, having established many profitable plants,
whose number is being added to all the time; and as
far as its back country is concerned. I have already
shown it is the richest in the zvorld.
\ Is it to be wondered then, that the city has grown
beyond the wildest dreams of the most visionary; and
that in domestic architecture it has evolved several fea-
tures that are characteristic of the soil, climate and scenic
surroundings, and therefore distinctive. To merely ride
in a fast automobile through the residence sections would
require several days. In the business streets the sky-
scraper is in evidence on every hand, and where wild
pasture, alfalfa fields, and orange orchards and vine-
yards existed twenty — aye, even ten — years ago, are
found busy streets with all the alert activities of a busy
city.
The constant movement of the city's centre has been
an interesting feature to observe. Thirty years ago the
old plaza, opposite the mission chapel, was the city's cen-
In and Around Los Angeles 267
tre, though the predominating population was north of
it. Ten years later First Street might be regarded as
the civic centre. Slowly the balance moved westward
in spite of the powerful efforts made to counteract it,
until to-day Seventh Street, which thirty years ago was
the southern outskirts, is now the acknowledged busi-
ness centre of the city.
The speedy electric car has had much to do with
bringing about this result. New residence sections were
opened up in the far-away fields, and before one had
got used to the name, every lot was sold, the streets were
all graded and paved, houses built and the neighbour-
hood fully settled down, and a division further out being
graded, divided and sold. Colegrove, Hollywood and
Sherman were made accessible by the Sherman and Clark
electric line to Santa Monica. Now they are incorpo-
rated within the city and are populous suburbs, with mag-
nificent residences, great schools, churches, and libraries.
Historically Los Angeles is one of the oldest cities
of the Coast. Founded in 1781 by the Spaniards as a
colony adjacent to the Mission of San Gabriel, it pot-
tered along for about a century, passing through the
various vicissitudes consequent upon the severance of
Mexico from Spain, internal dissensions as to governor-
ship, the secularization of the Missions, the coming of
Fremont, and its final initiation into the brotherhood of
American cities. San Francisco always regarded it, not
as a brother, but a weak sister, and he was very rude
in his remarks about her. But, somehow, in the early
eighties people from the East began to discern her grow-
ing and budding charms and the " Boom " set in. Fren-
zied and irresponsible though that epoch was, it served
to give Los Angeles a name throughout the world.
Hence, when in 1885, the Santa Fe drove its last spike
268 California, Romantic and Beautiful
in the connecting rail with the East, and began to offer
special rates, and a great passenger traffic war ensued,
there came a sudden flood of people to the Pacific Coast
that for ever settled the question as to the power of its
charms. Whatever may be the personal opinion of a
few, there is no denying that to the great mass of the
reading people of the civilized world the mere name,
California, spells attraction, romance, and hope. Hope
that, some day, they may either visit it, or, more desira-
ble, move to it for life.
From this epoch the real, swinging uplift of Los An-
geles and Southern California really begins. The fed-
eral census of 1900 showed the population to be 102,479,
and 19 10 gave the figures as 319,198, a growth of one
thousand per cent, in twenty years.
Speedily following the stirring epoch known as the
" Boom " came the birth of the Chamber of Commerce.
It was fortunate in its early history and did things that
gained it the confidence of the citizens. It began a sys-
tematic campaign of advertising that I believe has never
been equalled in modern times. The world soon knew
definitely, through their literature, exhibits, lectures, pho-
tographs, etc., what Los Angeles and Southern Califor-
nia had to offer in addition to mere scenery and climate.
The " back country " was being developed. Water was
being found and brought to the surface for irrigation.
Dams were being constructed and great reservoirs
formed in the mountains for supplying the citrus and
other orchards with the needed fluid. The Chamber of
Commerce materially aided the citrus fruit industry,
which soon became the chief basis of the wealth and
prosperity of the whole southern section.
Then came the fight for the free harbour of Los An-
geles. Few of those who later came upon the scene can
In and Around Los Angeles 2G9
form any idea of the fierce stubbornness of the contest.
It must be understood that the coast near Los Angeles
has no natural harbour. There is none between San
Diego and San Francisco, a distance of six hundred
miles. There are several excellent roadsteads, but it
would require millions of dollars to convert any one of
them into a real harbour, suitable for the commercial use
of great ocean liners and freight vessels, and as a haven
for smaller vessels in time of storm. There were such
roadsteads at San Pedro and also at Santa Monica.
Collis P. Huntington, president of the Southern Pacific
Railway, wanted the government appropriation for
Santa Monica; the people of Los Angeles preferred San
Pedro. So confident was Mr. Huntington of ultimate
success that he extended the railway three miles from
Santa Monica, built a wharf at his chosen site, which
he called Port Los Angeles, at an expense of over a
million dollars. The chairman of the United States Sen-
ate Committee on Commerce, which passes on all har-
bour appropriations, was Senator W. P. Frye of Maine.
In spite of the reports, renewed again and again, of the
government's own engineers, in favour of San Pedro
as against Port Los Angeles, Senator Frye fought any
appropriation being made for the former place. It was
a long drawn out fight, and lasted seven years. Then
the people, largely by the aid of Senator Stephen M.
White, whom Los Angeles had succeeded in having
elected as United States Senator from California, won.
His statue — and it is a rarely excellent one — stands in
front of the Court House on North Broadway.
In due time Los x\ngeles decided that the city must be
expanded so as to actually reach the coast, so an annexa-
tion act was passed which eventuated in the creation of
a " pan-handle " reaching to and including San Pedro.
270 California, Romantic and Beautiful
which is now a portion of the corporation of Los An-
geles.
The harbour, therefore, of San Pedro, is officially and
legally the harbour of Los Angeles. It is inappropriate
to give too many facts and figures here, but it is safe
to say that upwards of five or six millions of dollars
have been spent by the national government and the city
of Los Angeles in building the great protecting sea wall,
deepening the entrance to forty-eight and fifty-two feet,
deepening the inner harbour and building wharves and
general conveniences for the rapid, cheap and easy han-
dling of passengers and freight.
The harbour of Los Angeles being largely a " made "
harbour, it can well be understood that both San Fran-
cisco and San Diego poke considerable fun at its preten-
sions, and very funny things sometimes appear which add
to the hilarity of nations. Yet it cannot be questioned
that the harbour is a great and growing asset to the city
and will be a great factor in its future development.
Los Angeles is a unique city, as a little consideration
will demonstrate. Her business capacities have been
cursorily referred to, but enough to show that she is
capable of doing large things, yet, side by side with the
harbour, the oil wells, the manufacturing plants, the cul-
tivation of vegetable gardens and fruit ranches, stands
her tourist trade. This demands the usual catchy stores
for souvenirs. Tourists, especially Americans, are " sou-
venir crazy," and Los Angeles has no objection. Hence
she has more stores for such objects than Niagara Falls
fifty times over, — shell jewelry, miniature boxes of
tiny oranges, orange-wood and lemon-wood placques,
ostrich feathers and eggs, alligator skin bags, Navaho
blankets, Mexican zarapes, Indian baskets, bows and
arrows, bowls, ollas and other pottery, idols, moccasins,
In and Around Los Angeles 271
drums, mineral specimens, spoons (of course), burnt
leather, carved leather, stamped leather, tiny Indian and
Mexican figures and a thousand and a half other things
painted, stamped, burnt, scratched, engraved or smeared :
" Souvenir of Los Angeles."
And as a necessary corollary there are the ostrich-
farm, where one can ride a swift and long-stepping os-
trich, or at least be photographed astraddle of one; an
alligator farm, where one thousand birds, — no, alliga-
tors are not birds, beasts, — no, that will never do, fishes,
— worse yet, — now we have it, reptiles, — , so the guide
informs us, — from the tiny creatures just hatched to
Monarch, who is five hundred years old, are shown to us.
But attractive with all the strange allurement and
attraction of behind-the-scenes in a theatre are the places
where " movies '' are made. Climate, sunshine and
variety of scenery close at hand are great factors in
this modern industry and several of the largest " movie "
making firms in the country have monster plants here,
— regular cities within their own walls, where railway
accidents, war scenes, domestic woes and blisses, Cur-
fezv shall not ring to-night and The Last Days of Pom-
peii are reproduced with all that verve, spontaneity and
naturalness that one looks for, and finds, only in a mov-
ing-picture show.
The chief beauty of Los Angeles is found in its parks,
its suburbs and in the glorious vistas of snow-crowned
mountain peaks, or deep purple ranges that rise up sud-
denly at the end of some street vista. One is reminded
of a sign that Joaquin Miller used to have on his gate-
post at The Hights : " There is nothing to see up here
except down yonder." There is nothing particularly
beautiful in rows of business blocks, though, of course,
in the residence sections there are charming houses, some
272 California, Romantic and Beautiful
of attractive, others of bizarre, architecture, with a
wealth of flowers that appeals to all. But in Elysian
Park, and especially Griffith Park, there are driveways,
bridle paths and outlook points that are beautiful beyond
compare. Save for Fairmount Park, in Philadelphia,
Griffith Park has the largest area of any park in Amer-
ica, and much of it is allowed to remain in its native
wildness, with merely enough roadways made through
it to render it accessible. An open-air California theatre
— an improvement on the Greek, in that electric lights
and other modern conveniences accompany all that the
Greeks had — ■ is being built which will seat twenty thou-
sand people, and with a possibility of enlargement to
three times the size should it ever be required. The
park w^as a gift to the city by Griffith G. Griffiths, who
many years ago purchased it with this thought in view.
It is her roads and electric-car system that enable Los
Angeles to pose as beautiful. And surely her robes, even
to the hem of her garment, are glorious. She herself —
well ! she's no prettier than many a bride, but there is
no world-famed beauty that can truthfully brag of finer
embroideries, skirts and diamond-buckles on her shoes,
gorgeous head-dresses, richer finger-rings and varied
nicknacks than can Los Angeles.
In thirty-five minutes, see her bejewelled ocean cinc-
ture, a galaxy of beach-towns that have the rich blue
of the Pacific as an allurement every day in the year,
and w^here surf bathing is indulged in every day, almost
without exception. Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Venice,
Playa del Rey, Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo, Cliffton-
by-the-Sea, San Pedro, Long Beach, Alamitos, Hunting-
ton Beach, Balboa, and Newport are all reached directly,
with express electric cars direct from Los Angeles.
Then, in the other direction stand the mountains, with
MT. LOWE RAILWAY.
In and Around Los Angeles 273
their Mt. Lowe Railway, Carnegie Observatory, and the
cool and delicious canyons, where running brooks sing
to sunshine-kissed trees, and gigantic mountain sides and
cliffs keep putting on ever-changing garments of colour
and tone for the delectation of the elect.
And between mountains and sea are miles and miles,
on either hand, of orange o-rchards, lemon groves, ave-
nues of palms, great mesas dotted over with poppies,
lupines and mustard, the groves of stately eucalyptus,
and all where the odours of a million times a million
flowers and blossoms unite with the salty tang of the
sea air and the pine and balsam laden breezes from the
mountains.
It is soothing, alluring, stimulating, restful, — accord-
ing to temperament, — there is no question, or people
would not return to it year after year from East, Middle
West, North and South as they do.
Mount Lo\ve is one of the " show^s " of Los Angeles.
It was named after Professor T. S. C. Lowe, who first
came into public prominence as the organizer of the
United States Aeronautic Service during the Civil War.
He next invented the artificial ice machine, then " water
gas," which revolutionized the light and fuel problem
of the country, and finally came to Pasadena, built the
electric railway into Rubio Canyon, designed and
equipped the Great Cable Incline to Echo Mountain, and
the electric road to Alpine Tavern. Hundreds of thou-
sands have thus been enabled to scale the Sierra Madre
Range and enjoy the glorious outlook over range after
range of mountains, foothills, fertile valley, seashore,
ocean and islands. The Lowe Observatory was also
built, for popular instruction and enjoyment, as well as
scientific research, on Echo Mountain, and Dr. Lewis
Swift, the great comet and nebulse finder, brought to
274 California, Romantic and Beautiful
preside over it. At his death Edgar Larkin was ap-
pointed astronomer, which post he still occupies.
On a neighbouring peak of the same range, Mt. Wil-
son, Andrew Carnegie has established the Carnegie Ob-
servatory. This is equipped, and in process of equip-
ment, with the' finest astronomical instruments known to
modern science. It is under the personal supervision
and governance of Professor George C. Hale, with a
band of competent assistants, and in the pure air of this
region great results are confidently expected to the en-
largement of astronomical knowledge.
\ Of the towns adjacent to Los Angeles little can be said,
but the people of Pasadena naturally feel that pages, or
whole volumes, should be written about their beautiful
city. So of South Pasadena, Pomona, Glendale, Whit-
tier, San Fernando and many others. And, truly, each
is worthy extended notice, but all one can say is that
God has done much to make possible the attractions of
them all, and that in their variety man finds his choice.
Each is different, yet all are beautiful, and it is a
" toss-up " when a party starts out for a long day's ride
which will charm the most.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF THE UNITED STATES
What pictures flood the imagination as one reads the
title of this chapter : The Southwestern Corner of the
United States — the beginning point of California ; the
first port of call on United States soil for the Panama
Canal; vessels from every part of the world; Uncle
Sam's battle-ships, cruisers, torpedo boats and destroy-
ers; boys' and girls' rowing-crews on the bay; stirring
polo games ; following the hounds ; daring feats with
aeroplanes ; startling dives from the heavens with hydro-
planes — half a dozen, a dozen giant dragon-fly-like
creatures buzzing in the high heavens, soaring into the
very eye of the sun, — ■ yachting in the ba}'' and in the
outer ocean ; Japanese gardens ; ostrich farm ; perpet-
ual flowers; Coronado Tent-City; the long sandy jspit
connecting Coronado with the main land, the quiet
waters of the bay on one side and the roaring, dashing
surf on the other; the majestic, flower-embowered hotel
on the Coronado strand ; gorgeous sunrises and sunsets,
illuminated desert mountains, foot-hills, valleys, islands
and ocean; the sturdy promontor}' of Point Loma, with
its lighthouse, " Bennington " monument, wireless tele-
graph apparatus, and the glistening dome of the Aryan
Temple of the Theosophical Brotherhood, a blaze of
dazzling splendour in the sunshine; avenues of palms;
groves of eucalyptus, orange, lemon and olive; and at
night-time the blaze of the thousands of electric lights
275
276 California, Romantic and Beautiful
of San Diego, South San Diego, National City, Imperial
Beach, Coronado and Point Loma making earthly con-
stellations rivalling in splendour, glory and fantastic
form those that have attracted the eyes of men to the
heavens since history began — these, and a score, a hun-
dred, five hundred, numberless pictures of beauty and
glory pour forth from the chambers of memory, evoked
])y the mere sound of the name that heads this chapter.
San Diego is one of the most marvellous of all the
marvel cities of the marvellous West. When its citizens
began to agitate in 1909-10 for a great exposition to
celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal in 19 15, it
boasted a population of some thirty to thirty-five thou-
sand people. For the half century of its life it 'had hung
on to the skirts of things, the butt of the jests, the jokes,
and, worse than all, now and again the pity of Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and the
larger towns of the State. When the Southern Pacific
Sunset Route was built its officials ignored San Diego
and 9wer\'ed away from it to cut obliquely across the
Colorado Desert to Los Angeles. Later the Santa Fe
generously took pity on it and built a branch line from
Los Angeles, Pacific steamers called for passengers and
freight, but everybody knew it ^\^as isolated ; and San
Diegans felt it. But the struggle for the Panama-
California Exposition has brought new life to the city
land to-day its population numbers over one hundred
thousand, and it is rapidly growing.
And why should it not grow? To those who seek
uniformity of climate, winter and summer alike; that
is, a climate that scarce knows such terms as winter and
summer, the San Diego region naturally appeals. For
the records show that it is the most self-poised climatic
centre the world knows. Its thermostatic pendulum
Southwestern Corner of the United States 277
swings with a less arc than any known region in the
world, notwithstanding the boasting of the far-famed
Riviera, the much lauded North of Africa, and all the
other chosen localities.
Then, too, another preeminent gift of God is its har-
bour; a naturally sheltered and completely land-locked
bay, with reasonably easy and secure access, twenty-two
miles long and capable of sheltering the navies of the
world. It is a placid sheet of water, encompassed by
gently rolling hills on the east and a lofty headland on
the west — Point Loma, once undoubtedly an island,
which seems to have arisen from the sea at the behest
of a benign Creator, to protect the vessels that seek har-
bour beyond.
Completely land-locked, with a depth af water over
the bar of thirty-one feet at low tide, with an inner
channel ranging from fifteen hundred to two thousand
feet in width, and from thirty-five to seventy feet in
depth at low water, and a normal tide of approximately
five feet, here was generous sea-room for the maneu-
vering of vessels to any reasonable extent. Federal
appropriations, however, have been made to dredge the
bar to thirty-five feet.
Rising from the bay shore to the north and east the
land ascends in semi- or irregular amphitheatre form,
capable of being terraced, and affording as perfect a site
for a city as can be found in the world. Diversified and
picturesque, seamed here and there with ravines, it only
needed man to come to people its slopes and construct
the city for which it was so remarkably well adapted.
Accordingly in 1867, after one or two prior efforts
had been made, A. E. Horton detennined to rise to the
Supreme Architect's plans. He laid out the city of to-
day. For twenty-isix cents an acre he bouglit one hun-
278 California, Romantic and Beautiful
dred and sixty acres where the central part of the city
now stands. By 187 1-2 the Horton House was built on
the site now occupied by the U. S. Grant Hotel, the plaza
laid out and development well under way.
Every stranger of intelligence who came to the scene
acknowledged that in the harbour was a magnificent
asset for the upbuilding of a city. Yet in these modern
days a harbour alone was not enough. Railroad connec-
tion with a great interior country, steamers carrying
precious loads of passengers and freight were essential
to take advantage of harbour facilities, or the finest har-
bour God ever made might remain idle and useless.
Climate unknown and unused might be fit for angels and
archangels, yet if man never came to utilize it wherein
was the world benefitted ? Population was essential, and
transportation facilities for the easy and convenient
handling of population and commerce.
Slowly, with many a setback, the population increased,
until in 1887, when the Santa Fe practically made its
eastern connections with San Diego the boom, which had
already set in in Los Angeles and vicinity reached its
sister city further south. Now, for a time, things moved
with such -rapidity as to be bewildering. John Law's
South Sea Bubble scarcely caused more excitement.
Theodore S. Van Dyke has written a fascinating story
of the time entitled Millionaires of a Day w'hich graph-
ically sets forth the frenzied condition that existed.
Then came the "flattening out" of the boom; after
which San Diego seemed to settle back -and quietly wait
for further dev^elopments which she felt were sure to
come.
In this as in many other Pacific cities the faith, te-
nacity and buo3'ant hope of a few men have done much
to make possible the success that has ultimately come.
Southwestern Corner of the United States 279
" Father " Hortoii was one, and Elisha S. Babcock an-
other. The fonner has passed on ; Mr. Babcock still
lives, with unabated vigour still directing his varied
enterprises.
It is interesting and instructive to note Mr. Babcock's
relationship with San Diego and Coronado. In 1883 he
first came to California and wintered in this then em-
bryonic city. His original home was Evansville, Indiana.
A born hunter, devoted to the out-of-door life, one can
well imagine how this almost virgin land appealed to
him. The Coronado islands and peninsula, Point Loma,
the hills, valleys and mountain slopes for a hundred miles
around, were solitudes, a hunter's paradise, where one
might roam undisturbed for weeks.
It did not take such a land long to conquer him. He
sold out in Indiana, moved bag and baggage and came
to the land that had won his heart. His active brain and
body, however, were compelled to find work. He saw
into the future. Others saw with him. They had estab-
lished a national bank; he helped enlarge its scope. So
with the gas and electric company. He put new life into
the water company that supplied the city with domestic
water, and with his associates built the street car lines,
which, later, he and Mr. John D. Spreckles made into
an up-to-date eleotric traction system. When the Santa
Fe system decided to build to San Diego, it was Mr.
Babcock that secured the water-front franchises, ground
for the terminals and built the wharves, coal bunkers,
etc., needed. Then he saw the possibilities in the line of
tourist travel and home development. In his hunting,
he and his dogs had roamed over the Coronado penin-
sula, about eight miles long, which separates San Diego
Bay from the ocean. This peninsula has two large heads
containing over a thousand acres each. He and three
280 California, Romantic and Beautiful
others purchased the Spanish grant which embraced this
land. The south " head " was subdivided and named
Coronado Beach. Lots were sold to people all over the
United States ; a ferry across the bay was established,
and a steam railway built around the bay connecting the
new city with San Diego. He also sunk wells near the
head of the bay and piped the water to Coronado. In
time the city grew, until now it is one of the noted resorts
of the Pacific coast.
During this period of activity he planned and executed
the building of Hotel del Coronado. Even the people of
San Diego said he was crazy; and those of Los Angeles
and San Francisco merely shrugged their shoulders in
sneering sarcasm. The folly, or insanity, was so ap-
parent. Yet Hotel del Coronado in the south, and Hotel
del Monte in the north, with Hotel Raymond in Pasa-
dena between, did more to attract the thousands of
wealthy travellers and home-seekers to California, and
to satisfy their immediate needs when they got there,
while they were letting the charm and glamour of the
country " seep into " their systems, than all else com-
bined.
It is an interesting piece of history to recall that the
only way sufficient carpenters and mechanics could be
secured for the work was by importation in " car-load
lots " from the East. One car-load of fifty-one carpen-
ters was brought in, all expenses advanced, and, on their
arrival in San Diego they w^ere approached by an agent
from Ensenada, Mexico, where their services were
needed, accepted his offer, and without a word of thanks,
or any offer to reimburse Mr. Babcock, this band of
" honest American working-men " sailed away and were
never seen again.
To further the interests of the growing city and sing
Southwestern Corner of the United States 281
its praises to the outside world, as well as to provide its
citizens with news, he took over the daily morning
Union, and the evening Tribune. Special editions of
these, fully illustrated with finely executed engravings of
San Diego and Hotel del Coronado were scattered
broadcast throughout the East, and thus became useful
heralds of the country's chamis.
Then the people of California's interior valley and
mountain regions began to clamour for a more mod-
est stopping place by the sea and bay, where yet they
would enjoy all the Nature advantages possessed by
those who dwelt in the great and magnificent Hotel del
Coronado. Accordingly Mr. Babcock planned the Coro-
nado Tent City, the most unique and well-favoured
camp for seaside dwellers in the world. The peninsula
just below the hotel is a mere narrow sand spit, with
ocean on one side and bay on the other, not more than
a stone's throw apart. Thousands of car-loads of sand
and dirt were hauled from the mainland to make a solid
foundation for the city of tents and its buildings. Then
a fiirst-class brass band must be organized to help enter-
tain the vast crowds that came to enjoy this rare expe-
rience. Swimmers would play awhile in the breakers and
in three minutes were on the other side enjoying the
placid waters of the Bay.
Work like this, however, was but play to Mr. Bab-
cock. He had larger ideas at work in his active brain.
Whenever office cares began to press too hard he called
for his horse and dogs, and off he went over all the wild
land, into the canyons, ravines, gorges, up the mountain
slopes, from the Santa Ana River on the north, into
Lower California (Mexico) on the south, and east as
far as the Colorado River. Hunting every one called
it, and so it was. But there was not only the sport of
282 California, Romantic and Beautiful
shooting game. The hunter was a keen-eyed surveyor.
His barometer and a hand level were with him contin-
ually. He was seeking reservoir sites, studying water-
sheds, with an eye to wrest from wild Nature a sufficient
and adequate water-supply for the city of San Diego —
as he saw it in the not too far distant future. Thousands
of persons yet unborn will unconsciously give their trib-
ute of thanks and joy to Mr. Babcock, in the mere joy
of their physical existence, for what he did on those
solitary hunts. Every available site was studied, and it
is amusing to those of us who know the facts, that sites
loudly proclaimed as new and available discoveries to-
day were weighed in the balance and found wanting by
Mr. Babcock twenty-five years ago. The locations de-
cided upon, he filed upon the land, incorporated the
Southern California Mountain Water Company, planned
the system of water development, now in operation,
which linked four immense reservoirs in one perfect
chain, within the close distance of forty-five miles from
San Diego, and within the heaviest rainfall belt of the
county. Old and inadequate water companies had to be
bought out; tangled claims to land, water-rights and
filings to be straightened out ; new sites located and pur-
chased. This took many years of time and a large out-
lay of capital. Then actual construction on two unique
dams was begun — the Upper and Lower Otay. When
the latter was completed (and Mr. Babcock was his own
engineer), no hydraulic engineer would give a word in
its favour. It is thirty feet under ground, one hundred
and thirty feet above, over four hundred feet wide at the
base, and twenty feet wide at the top. Its capacity is
fourteen billion gallons. It was started as a masonry
dam, but as bed rock could not be found on one side after
boring one hundred feet, it was completed as a steel-core
Southwestern Corner of the United States 283
rock-fill dam. Burlap and asphalt were used to cover
the steel core, which was embedded in concrete. It has
since been copied in its main features by many eminent
engineers. The other dams were built — Barrett par-
tially — and Morena completely, with the Upper Otay.
The latter is practically the first reinforced concrete dam
ever constructed. This type of structure was then un-
born. It bows up stream. To strengthen it Mr. Bab-
cock used over two miles of steel cable, — discarded
from his cable railway when it was converted into an
electric railway, — winding it back and forth from side
to side and embedding it in concrete. Engineers predicted
it would not stand. It is seventy-seven feet in height
above the bed of the stream, fourteen feet wide at the
base and four feet wide at the top. Its capacity is 680,-
000,000 gallons, with .a flow over its top of two or three
inches deep. It has never required repairs and is to-day
as tight as when constructed. Who can estimate what
this wonderful water system has meant to the develop-
ment of San Diego?
Yet even these achievements do not end the list.
After trying to rest awhile, travelling with his family,
etc., Mr. Babcock came back to San Diego and erected
the largest solar salt works in the United States. In
191 1 the plant produced seven thousand tons of crystal-
lized salt. In 19 1 2 the output was nine thousand tons,
and in 1913, twenty-three thousand tons. The ultimate
capacity of the plant as designed is seventy-five thousand
to ninety thousand tons per year, and already this tire-
less, energetic worker has planned to ship salt to India,
China and Japan.
I have been thus prolix for two reasons : the develop-
ment of San Diego and Coronado has always fascinated
me on account of the rich charms land attractions they
/
284 California, Romantic and Beautiful
possess, and Mr. Babcock's individual work has been so
varied, so loyal, so persistent that I felt my reader, in
going over the scenes with me, might enjoy this personal
recital as we went along.
Another man of later date to whom San Diego and
Coronado owe much, is John D. Spreckles. His faith
and works have paralleled those of Mr. Babcock. He
came to San Diego about twenty-five years ago, was
captured by the climate, built himself a home at Coro-
nado, " took hold " and soon had a hand in everything
— water-works, street railways, Hotel del Coronado, the
ferry, banks, theatre, hotel structure, business blocks, and
yet has worked in such a broad, manly fashion that, in
the main, he has won and retained the esteem of all the
citizens of all classes.
When it was decided to make the roads of San Diego
County measure up to what the city itself was aiming for
Mr. Spreckles, Mr. Spalding (of sporting goods fame)
and Mr. Scripps of the Scripps Newspaper Syndicate,
were elected or appointed as a County Road Commission.
Serving without pay, with comprehensive ideas as to
what road building should be, all of them with practical
business training, they succeeded in getting bonds voted
for two millions of dollars with which they revolution-
ized the roads of San Diego inside of a couple of years,
and to-day I say for them, without fear of successful
contradiction that, population and area considered, there
are no finer roads in America than this county affords.
There are over four hundred and fifty miles of well con-
structed automobile boulevards, including the famous
Point Loma road, with an additional five hundred miles
of good country roads, reaching from the desert, over
the mountains to the sea, affording an infinite variety of
charming, delightful, restful or exciting rides. It is
Southwestern Corner of the United States 285
through work of this nature that Mr. Spreckles and his
associates have won the respect and gratitude of their
fellow citizens.
When Mr. Spreckles had been in San Diego long
enough to understand conditions, and saw what a mag-
nificent empire was developing in the Imperial Valley as
a " back country " to San Diego, he determined to do his
best to secure direct railroad communication over the
mountain, through Imperial, with the East. Imperial
County backed him up with vigour, and in 1907 the San
Diego and Eastern Railway was launched, the bonds
authorized by the State Railway Commission in 19 14,
and construction work is now rapidly being pushed at
both ends.
Other public spirited men saw the need of a first-class
hotel. The U. S. Grant was projected. " A White
Elephant," everybody exclaimed, except the few far-
visioned optimists. The hotel was built, however. It is
a magnificent concrete structure, the finest of its kind in
the world, has over five hundred rooms, half of them
with private bath, a theatre capable of seating twelve
hundred people, a smaller concert hall, a salt water swim-
ming plunge and equipnient of baths equal to many of
the famous Eastern watering places.
To merely furnish such an hotel in modern fashion
meant a fortune, yet the man was found to undertake it
in James H. Holmes, who for many years had been the
popular host of the Hotel Green, at Pasadena. Inside
of three months from its opening the U. S. Grant was
turning guests away, and ever since, has had a most
prosperous career.
When San Diego's pu'blic spirited men determined to
have an Exposition to celebrate the opening of the
Panama Canal scarcely any one deemed it possible. Yet
286 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the very effort needed to bring it about has developed
a loyal spirit in San Diego that will be worth — as the
years pass, as well as now — a thousandfold more than
its cost. The pluck, self-reliance, confidence gendered
by the enterprise has already resulted in bringing the
population up to a hundred thousand, and this will be
more than doubled within five years.
The Elks wanted a hall for their meetings, etc. The
architect figured it would cost them forty thousand dol-
lars. They had four hundred members; just one hun-
dred dollars each. It was suggested, and inside of a
year the lodge was meeting in its own beautiful building.
The rapid growth of the city has brought great public
improvements in its wake. The Santa Fe have built a
fine new depot, commensurate with the dignity and needs
of the modern city. The harbour is being improved in
accordance with a grant made by the State in 191 1 of
absolute control of its water-front. This is bulkheaded,
eleven miles in extent and comprising an area of 1460
acres ; a concrete pier has also been erected, 800 feet long
and 130 feet wide, and great coal-bunkers are being
provided for sea-going vessels.
The Panama-California Exposition was utilized by
San Diego better than any exposition has ever yet been
utilized by the city in which it was held. San Diego
rejoices in the possession of its own jDlayground named
Balboa Park, of fourteen hundred acres. This was made
the site of the exposition. A permanent concrete bridge,
of seven arches, one thousand feet long and 136 feet
high, over Cabrillo Canyon, connects the two divisions
of the park. Almost on one end of this bridge is the
California building, of concrete, in the Spanish colonial
style, rising two hundred feet above the foundations,
surmounted by a tiled dome, and its glorious proportions
Southwestern Corner of the United States 287
further beautified by a stately tower at one corner. It
is now used as a State institution for the dissemination
of infonnation about CaHfornia and her resources, scenic
wonders and other attractions.
As Balboa Park is only ten minutes away from the
heart of the city, and yet is three hundred feet above sea
level the dome and tower of the California building may
be clearly seen a hundred miles out at sea.
Another permanent attraction resultant from the Ex-
position is the wonderful park growths of trees, shrubs
and flowers. These were one of the chief marvels of
the Exposition, and gave joy to millions, as they will
surely do in the future.
San Diego's climate has made it world-famed and as
a result It has a number of nearby resorts of greater or
lesser note. La Jolla is one of the most famous of these,
with its wonderful sea caves, its marine laboratory and
exquisite blue ocean. There is also a fine Episcopal edu-
cational institution for girls here known as the Bishop's
School.
Del Mar, on the sea-coast road coming down from
Los Angeles has its well-built and conducted Stratford
Inn, and National City, Ocean Beach, Cardiff-by-the-Sea
and Chula Vista all have their especial attractions.
But chief of all of San Diego's resorts is Hotel del
Coronado, the building of which by Mr. Babcock has al-
ready been referred to. Charles Dudley Warner, in his
Our Italy, openly confessed he knew of nothing else in
the world with which to compare it, and asserted that he
never saw any other hotel that so surprised him at first,
that so improved on a two wrecks' acquaintance, and that
left in the mind permanent impressions so agreeable.
Standing in its own park of several acres, the building
itself, with its fine patio or inner court, covers about four
288 California, Romantic and Beautiful
and a half acres of ground. For a quarter of a century
I have enjoyed this magnificent hotel. It has kept step
with all modern improvements. Its equipment to-day
is as perfect as if the hotel were erected but yesterday.
In his Seven Lamps of Architecture John Ruskin
wrote most eloquently and feelingly of the memories and
associations that accumulate in an old family mansion,
in a castle, cathedral or palace. Is not this one of the
great charms that gives to the feeling and sentient when
they stand before, or enter into the portals of, such
buildings an imaginative participation in those events
that particularly appeal to them? Who has not felt the
thrill, the awakening of the emotions, when, under elo-
quent and sympathetic guidance, a A^isit has been made
to these centres of accumulated associations? The In-
dians have a similar belief. They go even further than
the highly civilized. They are fully assured that the spir-
its of the happy and blest, — or the converse, — return
to inhabit, in invisible form, those places where their
joys or sorrows were lived in the flesh.
Were I a writer of sentimental novels I should here
expand into a rhapsody something like the following:
" Many a time when I have visited Hotel del Coronado these beh'efs
have asserted themselves in my own mind. I have found myself picturing
the happy couples who have come here on their honeymoon. Wandering
arm in arm or hand in hand they delightfully haunt the corridors, the
sitting and lounging rooms, the walks and the beach. One sees them in
the palm and flower-embowered patio, when the brilliant moon sheds glory
all around and the mocking birds are giving full voice to the exuberance of
their own mated happiness, looking into each other's eyes, glistening with
that light that is seen nowhere else, on land or sea than where love supreme
shines out upon a beautiful world.
" Even the varied songs of Old Ocean are attuned to this theme. Though
the waves and surges are new, the water is the same and the shore, and the
songs are all keyed to the old note, ever new, of overflowing happiness.
The sky takes on a deeper blue in the daytime because of it, and the stars
Southwestern Corner of the United States 289
are more dancingly radiant remembering the loving glances, fond hand-
clasps and kisses of affection they have looked down upon.
" Even the dining-room becomes a place of sacrament dedicated to
Joy, where everyday food partakes of new blessing. Every table is sancti-
fied by the joy of numberless happy couples. Across there loving looks
have been exchanged, whispers of bliss heard. The radiant aroma of
satisfied love affects, blesses, glorifies every article of food placed there.
Lentils become lotus, the mo.st ordinary food divine delicacies. Everything
is transfigured; a halo of happiness transforms; the room itself is a cool
symphony of delight; the snowy linen, glistening cut-glass, shining silver
of the tables a lure to the senses. The soft moving attendants, male and
female, are swift-winged mercuries of pleasure, alert to express every half-
formed desire. The soup is an amber ambrosia fit for the delectation of
celestial beings; the greens of the salads take on a tenderer tint; the fruits
look richer; the foods less gross. Personally transformed by the excellence
of Love, everything else becomes inestimably enriched, incomparable, super-
excellent. The fish-salad is no longer a mere artistic combination of fish,
vegetables and sauce, but a glorified blending of the rare essences of sea
and land. The slices of beef or mutton bring before us sun-kissed meadows
where princesses of unearthly beauty lead kine and lambs with lengths of
Cupid-strung blossoms, and the eyes of millions of exquisite flowers tender
the profoundest homage of the soul. The breasts of broiled quail or chicken
transform us to slopes familiar with the rustling of angels' wings and we
see the glossy sheen of olive-green leaves and the tender purity of myriads
of white, cream and lilac blossoms, over which stand, in calm serenity,
the fairy cream cups of numberless Candlesticks of Our Lord.
" Here and there flash the ambers, purples, hyacinths and topazes o f
wine, the glowing and iridescent notes of color of women's dresses, the ar-
resting maroon, malachite or purple of their hat feathers, and then, crown-
ing all, the glorious pictures of sea, surf, bay, foothills and mountains
glimpsed through the open windows, through which also pour life-giving,
body-soothing zephyrs, laden with odors from the ever-blessed gardens
of enchantment.
" Ah! it is a divine gift to be young and in the enjoyment of love's young
dream, but thrice happy he, she, who, through the magic of imagination
and blissful environment can recreate, or accept the recreation of the
happy past and live again in its revivified memories. Such happiness comes
to those who yield to the prevailing spirit of Hotel del Coronado."
My ! my ! How rhetorical, rhapsodical and sentimental
I became, as I wrote. I believe I must try my hand at
that kind of writing again. But, unfortunately, in the
present pages I am but a plain every day man, trying to
290 California, Romantic and Beautiful
tell a wonderful story in a plain, unvarnished fashion,
and I must content myself with prosaic facts. Hence I
am compelled to a simpler method of expressing the
above thoughts. Note, too, how compressed, boiled
down, they become, when reduced to their " greatest
common denominator " in the two following paragraphs.
If this belief be true in regard to Hotel del Coronado
numerous tourists who visit this charming place must
see visions of matrimonial bliss, past or present, real or
imaginary, when they enter its portals, for it is a favour-
ite resort for the newly wedded.
Many a happy couple has been seen wandering about
the delightful rooms, lingering in the corridors, haunting
the palm and flower-embowered patio or strolling on the
beach. To these light-hearted guests everything seems
clothed with special beauty and romance. The moon
sheds glory all around, and mocking birds sing tlieir
happiness to appreciative ears. The surging waves are
joyous instead of " sad," and even the viands served in
the dining-hall are particularly interesting and satisfac-
tory. And the radiance of the honey-moon falls upon
many a warm-hearted observer and awakens a sympa-
thetic smile or the memory of a happy past.
I can also truthfully assert that bridal couples, old
married couples, bachelors, .widows, widowers and all
classes and conditions of men and women of the better
sort, receive a cordial welcome from Mr. John J. Hernan.
the manager, who personally sees to it that all his guests
have the best that can be provided for them in every way.
Coronado is one of the chief polo centres of the United
States. A fine turf field is provided and here some of
the great tournaments of the world have been played.
s?n^*?«V
Southwestern Corner of the United States 291
Fascinating in the extreme to the spectator as well as
the player is the chase after the little white ball, and the
polo ponies, bred as carefully as the most prized thor-
oughbred racers used to be, for strength, speed and in-
telligence, enter into the game with a spirit and vigour
equalled only by the riders.
On North Coronado Beach the Navy and War De-
partments have established their school of aviation. The
equable climatic conditions render the air navigator more
opportunities for daily practice than are afforded else-
where and there is scarcely a day in the whole year when
aeroplanes or hydroplanes may not be seen — often half
a dozen or more at a time — skimming through the air,
spiralling to great heights, or shooting down to the
water like giant dragonflies.
Point Loma, the protecting hill that shields San Diego
bay from the northwest, is one of the most attractive
spots California has to ofifer. Here is situated the In-
ternational Centre of the Universal Brotherhood and
Theosophical Society. This world-wide organization
is the continuation and outgrowth of the original The-
osophical Society founded by Mme. H. P. Blavatsky in
New York in 1875, continued after her death by Will-
iam Q. Judge, and now under the direction of their
successor, Katherine Tingley.
The Point Loma Headquarters were established by
Mme. Tingley in 1900. Among its activities, the most
famous is that of the Raja- Yoga College, which has
become a Mecca for educationalists from all over the
world. Here some three hundred pupils, of twenty dif-
ferent nationalities, ranging from tiny tots just able to
walk to young men and women taking an university
course, are being educated under the Raja-Yoga system
founded by Mme. Tingley. The aim of this system of
292 California, Romantic and Beautiful
education is to induce the harmonious development of all
the faculties, mental, moral and physical. The results
obtained are certainly very remarkable, and justify the
prediction that as these young men and women go out
into the world they will have a powerful influence in
raising the tone of life in their various native countries.
The influence of this system touches the lives of all who
come in contact with it, even of the oldest students of
Theosophy.
The principal buildings in connection with the Theo-
sophical Headquarters are the Raja-Yoga Academy and
the Temple of Music and Drama, whose great glass
domes form a landmark that can be seen for miles in
any direction ; and the famous Greek Theatre, the first
to be built in America. The latter is situated at the head
of a canyon running down to the Pacific; at the back
of the arena is a beautiful Doric stoa of most perfect
design; the architecture and setting make this theatre
one of the chief 1:)eauty spots of the \Ytst. The Theatre
seats about two thousand people, and the acoustics are
perfect. Music and the Drama are very important fea-
tures in the Raja-Yoga System of Education.
Another important activity connected with the Inter-
national Theosophical Headquarters is that conducted
by the Aryan Theosophical Press, where four monthly
magazines are produced, one in the Spanish language,
and which also has a large output annually of Theo-
sophical books in several languages. In the Photo-
graphic and Engraving Department all the engravings
for illustrating the magazines are made. By means of
distribution of literature an enormous propaganda is
carried on all over the world.
Beyond the Theosophical Headquarters is the United
States Government reser\^ation, where stands the old
Southwestern Corner of the United States 293
Spanish lighthouse, now dismantled. A modern revolv-
ing light is located on the end of the point below. On
the Bay side of the point is the Quarantine Station above
which looms up the monument erected to the memory
of the sailors who lost their lives on the ill-fated Ben-
nington.
The ride out to Point Loma is on a magnificent boule-
vard and the scene at the end of the Point is universally
conceded to be one of the noted views of the world.
Behind one, and to the right, sweep away in endless
expanse the perfect blue of the ocean. At one's feet are
the varying colours of the Bay, leading the eye over the
Coronado peninsula, with its curving sandy beach, and
at the head of which are the two " islands," one of them
crowned with the striking pile of Hotel del Coronado.
Beyond the Bay rises the city, terrace above terrace, em-
bowed in a glory of arboreal beauty, while beyond are
mesas, foothills, and sublime mountain peaks, nearby
and far away, forming a galaxy of snowy crested
ranges, or purpled-hazed summits that the eye never
wearies of seeing or the imagination of contemplating.
CHAPTER XIX
THE CALIFORNIA DESERTS AND THEIR RECLAMATION,
WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO IMPERIAL, COACHELLA
AND ANTELOPE VALLEYS
f "I am the Desert, bare since Time began,
Yet do I dream of motherhood, when Man,
Some day, at last, shall look upon my charms
And give me towns like children to my arms."
The desert always has possessed a lure for many and
diverse human beings. There is something in the vast
distances, in the pure and invigorating air, the clear
pellucid atmosphere, the ever blue sky, the stimulating
sunshine, the ineffable nights, the incomparable stars,
the glorious freedom, that appeal irresistibly to certain
types.
^ To others it comes as a place of despair bringing up
pictures of the privations of early-day pioneers, of trap-
pers, hunters, gold-seekers, the world's restless rovers,
who, long before the days of railway trains, automo-
biles, aeroplanes, telegraphs or telephones, started forth
to explore the wild and desolate places of the earth.
Wells, springs and water-pockets were known only to
the Indians, and save during the rainy season the hardy
adventurers often suffered thirst, even at times lost their
lives, for need of the precious fluid whose very exist-
ence the desert seemed to deny. Many a sinister mound
unmarked by stone or head-board denotes the toll the
desert was wont to exact from those who dared and
defied it, but ultimately became its victims.
294
The California Deserts 295
To others again the desert acts as a mental stimulant,
a defiant challenge, an arousement. It seems to say:
" Here I am, virgin soil and space, practically un-
touched of man since time began. Desert I have ever
been, desert I now am, desert I shall ever be. I defy
man to change me, to tame my wildness, to make me
bring forth anything but the wild and wonderful
growths I have made my own."
And some men have always been found daring enough
to accept the challenge. They have made trails, con-
structed roads, built railways over the waste areas, bored
for wells, and conveyed streams over mountain ranges
and foothills to irrigate the virgin soil and make it yield
to the yoke of man. But they have been the few, the
rare, the unusual ones.
Now, however, comes modern science and mechanics
to man's aid and the desert of the past is rapidly suc-
cumbing to the new conditions. Science and mechan-
ical skill now say to this sphinx of the past :
" We will strip all mystery, all horror, all dread from
your face; with our steam engines and automobiles we
will penetrate to 3^our most secret and remotest recesses ;
with our high voltage long distance electric transmission
of power from far-away mountains we will dig or bore
deep, deep into your heart and find the artesian foun-
tains, which for centuries have been locked up in im-
penetrable prisons; with this same power we will uproot
your wild and savage cactus and yucca growths, smooth
down your rugged and irregular surfaces, plough deep
into your soil, and plant therein the seeds of modern
agriculture; for mesquite, desert willow, yucca palm
and creosote bush we will give you the apple and pear,
plum and apricot, almond and olive, date and orange.
" With our cement canals and steel conduits we will
29G California, Romantic and Beautiful
convey nourishing water where we will, and alfalfa
fields, waving grain — of barley, oats, rye, Egyptian
corn and millet — of fruitful vine — of Malaga, Mus-
cat, Thompson Seedless and other grapes shall alternate
with our blossom and fruit-laden orchards.
" Where the horned-toad, Hzard, chuckawalla and des-
ert turtle, with the occasional coyote, jack-rabbit, hawk,
buzzard and eagle alone represented animated creation,
happy and healthy men, women and children shall come,
happy because they are healthy, and healthy because the
life of work in the open o'f God's great out-of-doors
conduces to that harmony of body, mind and spirit we
call health."
Hence the Day of the Desert, as Desert, is past. The
Bells of Change are ringing out the old, ringing in the
new. The past thirty years have seen the " Desert of
the San Joaquin " become the most fruitful vineyard
of the world; the Colorado Desert (Imperial Valley)
in seven years become the proud ai'biter of her own des-
tinies as Imperial County; the Valley of Little Shells
— • Conchilla, popularly known as the Coachella' Valley
(on the same Colorado Desert) has become the home
of the date palm, the luscious watermelon, the nectar-
filled cantaloupe, the long-staple Egyptian cotton, the
sweet potato and the honied fig; the Cucamonga Desert
is a 4,000-acre vineyard and one of the finest citrus fruit
sections of California; the Antelope Valley (part of
the Mohave Desert) challenges the world to equal its
crops of pears, apples, almonds and alfalfa.
These are but a few of the desert areas of the Golden
State that have lost their identity, that now " blossom
as the rose," that are radiant with the bloom of a hun-
dred thousand orchards, where the grade, grammar and
high school bells are heard in every section, the cheerful
The California Deserts 297
bells of numerous churches ring- in the rest and peace
of contented Sabbaths, where are the well-built and com-
fortably furnished bungalows of prosperous people and
where is heard the toot of automobiles of farmers who
have no debts and a balance in the banks.
There are still areas, however, waiting the hand and
activities of man to effect these transformations. Pros-
perity and wealth still await the efforts of those men
who are willing to grapple with the problems of the
desert and overcome them.
In the earliest ages, long before man came upon the
scene, the romance of the desert began. How came it
into existence? Most people imagine that deserts were
always there, formed at the hour of Creation by the
almighty will of God and the fiat of His word. But
science shows us that deserts have grown, been built
up, just as man erects a house, only that it has taken
coomtless centuries and inconceivable energy to produce
these wonderful results.
It is one of the romances of natural transportation
that the Colorado River for centuries has been carrying
down, every year, a Jiundrcd or more millions of tons
of rocky debris, in the form of sand, silt, pebbles and
mud, all of which has gone to form the Mohave and
Colorado deserts, and to fill up the upper portion of the
great opening in the earth's crust that we call the Gulf
of California.
The romance of this desert's history actually began \
when the Indians first went upon it, dared its horrors,
explored its wild wastes, and finally made homes near
its edges. Then, in our own historic time, came that
redoubtable explorer, Don Juan Bautista de Anza, sent <
by the Viceroy of New Spain, from Sonora to find
a road from the Mission Settlements of Northern Mex-
298 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ico to those of Alta California. With a handful of sol-
diers he came up to the small presidio or fortress of
Tubac, some sixty miles south of Tucson, Arizona, then
boldly struck out through the country of the Apaches
to the Gila River, down that uncertain stream to the
muddy Colorado and its treacherous Yuma Indians,
across and over the fiery sun-scorched wastes of the
desert — the alkali flats, sand hills, sand levels, playas
and stretches of malapais — to the pass through which
he came to fertile and blessed \'alleys, and in one of
them stood the Mission San Gabriel.
This same warrior made his report of the feasibility
of the road, and then proved his faith by returning over
it, recruiting soldiers and colonists for the new presidio,
mission and town that were to be established on the
newly discovered, magnificent harbour of San Fran-
cisco. A few months later saw him back again with
a string of soldiers and their wives, colonists (men,
women and children), together with one hundred and
sixty-five pack-mules carrying munitions of war, pro-
visions and the private baggage of the officers and sol-
diers; a herd of five hundred and thirty horses, etc., and
three hundred and fifty-five cattle.
What a procession to cross the desert ! It must have
I been over a mile long, and every day it started out in
pretty nearly the same fashion. The chaplain of the
expedition. Padre Pedro Font, of the Franciscan order,
gives us an accurate and detailed picture. Four soldiers
went ahead as scouts. Anza led off with the van-guard.
Font came next, and after him came men, women and
children, escorted by soldiers; then the lieutenant
brought up the rear-guard. Behind these followed the
three pack-trains, with the loose horses, and last of all
the beef-herd. As soon as they started Font would
The California Deserts 299
strike up a hymn, the Albado, to which all the people
responded.
In imagination we see them marching along, some-
times openly and at other times stealthily watched by
Indians, startled out of their solitary monotony of life
by such a great gathering. Who understood its sig-
nificance? A new civilization was crossing the desert
in those colonists, soldiers and priests. That hymn was
an unconscious sounding of the death-kneli of heathen-
dom and savagery. In that procession was the germ
that sprang into life as the " City of Destiny," the
City by the Golden Gate, the undaunted city of San
Francisco.
How one would have enjoyed looking on their night-
camps, if it could have been done without any of the
weariness such desert-travelling produces. Tents arose
as by magic; rude shelters of boughs covered with
cloaks, blankets, .shawls, etc., added to the picturesque-
ness, while bustle, excitement, shouting at the mules
accompanied the removal of the packs, the building of
fires for cooking the evening meal, and the stretching
out of blankets for sleeping. Every night an evening
hymn was sung, as a rule each family striking up its
own favourite, in its own key and at its own tempo, and
paying no attention to the others. The pious heart of
Font triumphed over the jumble and discord, and he
asserts that the variety had a pleasing effect.
Now and again excitement reigned supreme in the
hearts of some of the party, as, for instance, once when
a soldier's wife gave birth to a fine child, but unfor-
tunately the labour was difficuJt, and the mother died
at dawn.
Accompanying the party as far as the Colorado River
was another Franciscan friar named Garces. This same
300 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Garces was quite an explorer. He had gone over the
country with Anza on his first trip, and now started off
on another expedition of his own. He rambled up and
down, reaching the Havasupais in the stupendous depths
of their cataract-canyon home, near the Grand Canyon,
then crossed the Little Colorado and wandered over the
Painted Desert until he reached the Hopi villages, where
he witnessed -the interesting and beautiful Flute Dance
ceremony, finally arriving in safety at his cell in Tuba-
tama in Sonora. A few years later he was appointed
to the Missions of the Colorado River, for the Yumas,
as related in the chapter on the Missions, and there
became a martyr to the treacherous ferocity of these
untamed savages.
Aye, and in that same uprising the former governor
of California, Rivera, was cruelly done to death, he
and the men who formed his escort. And while it did
not seem at all romantic at the time, fleeing from the
sudden death that had come upon his former comrades
and friends, scared that every sound he heard was of
a foe stealthily creeping upon him. afraid to travel by
day lest he be seen, and by night lest he get lost, fam-
ished for want of water, starving for want of food,
crazed for want of sleep, it was a romantic ride made
by Ensign Limon, one of Rivera's soldiers, who brought
the news to the horror-stricken priests at San Gabriel.
But we must not linger too long on these earlier day
historic memories. We must take one peep, however,
/at Pattie and his fellow trappers who braved the desert's
'; dangers in 1829, only to fall into the hands of suspicious
Mexicans, who imprisoned them and kept them cooped
up in their adobe jails for a full vear or more: at Fre-
mont and Kit Carson as they passed by; at General
Kearny and his one hundred dragoons who formed the
The California Deserts 301
Army of the West, and wiho inarched to the subjugation
of CaHfornia to find two great disappointments ahead of
them — one, that Sloat, Fremont and Stockton had al-
ready achieved the conquest of the Golden State, and
the other, that a band of six hundred disaffected Mex-
ican-Californians was determined to challenge their free
passage over the land. The sad field of San Pasqual
was only a few musket-shots from an outlook point
over the desert, and there poor Captain Johnston and
seventeen of his troopers laid down their lives. General
Kearny was wounded, and had it not been for the daring
\ bravery of Kit Carson and the young Lieutenant Beale,
it is doubtful whether the Kearny section of the Army
of the West would ever have been heard of again.
A few bands of Indians always have lived on the
edges of these deserts — the Mohaves and Yumas, the
Chimehuevas and Cocopahs on the Colorado River side,
those of tribes akin to the so-called Mission Indians of
California on the San Jacinto, San Gorgonio and San
Bernardino Mountains' sides. A brave, hardy, rugged
lot of aborigines, using the wonderful and scareful
spring of hot water at Palm Springs as their health
resort, gathering their big-pitted native dates from the
palms of Palm Canyon, collecting their acorns from the
mountain slopes and making their mush, flour, bread,
tortillas, drink and candy from the beans found on the
mesquite trees which dotted the desert's face on every
side.
Then came the foreshadowing of a new era. One
man with a vision, Dr. Wozencroft of San Bernardino,
a pioneer of pioneers, looked over this great eighty-
mile long and fifty-mile wide desert. He saw the tur-
bulent floods of the Colorado River pouring uselessly
by. He grasped the possibilities, the certainties, if these
302 California, Romantic and Beautiful
two — the sun-kissed desert and the muddy river —
could be joined in solemn and happy wedlock. He saw
with clearest sight the children that must come of such
a union, and he realized what it would mean to hundreds
of thousands of home-seeking men and women. He
engaged engineers, sought to interest capital, bombarded
the seats of government, wrote, spoke, described, pic-
tured, argued and reasoned. But he was ahead of his
time. The wiseacres laughed at him, the know-it-alls
pooh-hooed his " insane folly," and even the '' far-see-
ing " legislators in Washington scornfully and jeeringly
made him a present of thousands of acres which their
experts specially reported as land that was now and
always would be useless, because incapable of cultiva-
tion. Fate seemed to be against Dr. Wozencroft, how-
ever, for he died before anything could be accomplished.
Yet his work was not in vain.
The wonderful thing about some visions is that they
persist. Even though the men who first see them die
and pass on. the intangible scenes of their unconquerable
souls are projected into the atmosphere, as it were,
ready to dominate some other far-seeing soul at the
proper moment. This moment arrived in due time, and
then it was haste, haste, all haste, to visualize the vision
in objective reality. A headgate was put into the bank
of the Colorado River, a canal cut through the sand
to the bed of a prehistoric river, — the Alamo, — which
would convey the water to the distributing point on the
edge of the desert that Fate had now decreed should be
a desert no longer.
Watch the workmen put in that headgate.
Then grasp — or try to — the full significance of this
fact, viz., that in seven short years from the digging
up of the first shovelful of earth, the sawing of the first
The California Deserts 303
board for that headgate, the hammering of the first nail,
three milHon acres — more or less — of this whilom
desert, was raised, by the act of the legislature of the
supreme State of California, to the honour, dignity and
responsibility of a county.
Desert! Laugh at the term and all it implies. In
seven years its barren, desolate wastes were transformed
into as fertile acres as those of the Nile Valley; thirty-
five thousand happy and prosperous people had made
it their homes, the towns and cities of Calexico, Holt-
ville, Imperial, Brawley, El Centro, and Silsbee had
sprung into existence, with fine streets of stores, banks,
hotels, theatres, churches and homes, each with its one
or two daily or weekly newspapers and all the other
concomitants, such as water-works, fuel gas, electric-
light, power, sewer, that go to the making of a pros-
perous cosmopolitan life.
New cities have since sprung into life, and Date City,
Seeley, Dixieland, Heber, Rockwood, Bernice, West-
moreland, and Nileland are on the map, actual realities
and rapidly growing. The Southern Pacific, years ago,
built a railway from Imperial Junction down into Mex-
ico, tapping all the important towns, save Holtville,
which was independent enough to build its own line,
connecting with the capitol of the new county. In Feb-
ruary, 19 14, the State Railway Commission empowered
the issuance of bonds for the completion of the San
Diego and Arizona Railway, which is to reach from the
" Harbour of the Sun " into the heart of fertile Im-
perial County, completely across it into the growing
empire of Arizona. The last week in February of 19 14
I personally rode over the rapidly extending railway,
past Seeley and Dixieland, out to Coyote Wells, which
is practically at the foot of the range of mountains
304 California, Romantic and Beautiful
that separates the Imperial Valley from the San Diego
Country. How long will it take to complete it? It
is not hard to prophesy, but the prophet labours under
the diflkulty that no one can foresee the immediate
or later results of the building of that railway. Ready
access to the nearest Calif ornian seaport to the Panama
Canal will be merely a few hours away. Cotton, grapes,
canteloupes, melons, onions, sweet potatoes, asparagus,
cattle, sheep, hogs, butter, eggs, poultry of all kinds,
hay, grain — in a few hours within the span of sunrise
to sunset — may be transferred from the ranches on
this former desert to the hold of a New York or Eu-
ropean bound steamer, and actually out of harbour,
sailing' on the bosom of the briny deep, bound for its
far-away destination. Even Aladdin with his wonderful
lamp, or Who-ever-he-was with his magic carpet, could
not perform greater wonders than these.
All this, however, has not been accomp-lished without
struggle. Nature, at times, has seemed to be very ad-
verse to man's claims and, in one instance, nothing but
the fact that a great railroad's main track was jeopardized
seemed to stand between the Imperial Valley and ruin.
The story of that struggle and its success is an epic
of modern achievement as thrilling and exciting in its
alternate hopings and despairs as is Homer. When put-
tine in the headgate in the Colorado River, which was
to allow the vivifying water to flow into the Valley,
Mr. Rockwood planned to place it at an elevation of
ninety-eight feet above sea level. Mr. George Chaffey,
the financier and practical irrigation expert, who had
undertaken to carry out the project, but who was under
no contract or obligation to do the work as Mr. Rock-
wood had planned, intended to sink it to the ninety-six
foot level. But, unfortunately, just as the work was
The California Deserts 305
progressing, an unexpected spring flood came, and com-
pelled the hasty completion of the work. As settlers
were already on the lands, and life was impossible with-
out water, Mr. Chaffey hastily constructed the headgate
but was compelled to put it in at an elevation of 103
feet, five feet higher than Mr. Rockwood's, and eight feet
higher than his own, intention. The situation, however,
was saved and work in the desert begun and successfully
carried on. This was in the spring of 190 1. In Febru-
ary of 1902 Mr. Chaffey sold out his interests to Mr.
A. H. Heber, who agreed to lower the headgate, and
also put in two supplementary ones, which Mr. Chaffey
deemed essential to the safety of the system. Unfor-
tunately Mr. Heber was unable to carry out his promise,
and Nature soon demonstrated how essential it was that
it should have been done. The canal leading from the
headgate, not having the depth it should have had, rap-
idly silted up and, during the period of low tide, when
water was most needed in the Valley • — ■ for without it
the summer's sun would reconvert everything into des-
ert inside of a few weeks — • it was impossible to secure
it. Mr. Rockwood then did what nothing but the urgent
needs of the settlers would have led him to do. He cut
a by-pass from the river to the canal, below the silted
up portion, and thus allowed the water to run directly
from the river to the irrigation headworks. Before the
spring floods came this was closed up safely and all
was serene, no one dreaming that the very success of
the expedient was its chief menace. Mr. Heber was
thus lulled into security and so were the settlers. The
former did not feel the pressure to lower the headgate
as he would have done had the settlers gone without
water to their temporary ruin, and the latter did not
know, or at least did not realize, the jeopardy in which
306 California, Romantic and Beautiful
they were placed. For the next year brought the same
difliculty which was relieved in the same fashion, and
the next year the same. Now, however (in 1905), Mr.
Rockwood was caught by an unexpected spring flood
just as Mr. Chaffey had been caught in 1901. All ef-
forts to close the by-pass were vain. The rushing waters
came faster and more of them, until, after repeated
efforts and the expenditure of many thousands of dol-
lars, the narrow passage, cut to allow a temporary flow
of water into the canal, was a mile wide and thirty-five
feet deep, through which every drop of the great river
was pouring to find its level where it might.
Where did it go?
The ancient Alamo River was full to overflowing, but
enough was conveyed to the headgates at Sharps to
threaten the washing out of the whole system and the
deepening of the canals to such an extent that water
could not be raised to the level of the lands. At Sharps
the river takes an acute turn to the north, through the
eastern side of the Valley, past Holtville, and it finally
emptied into the lowest level of the desert floor. On
the other hand, much of the overflowed water found
its way to Volcano Lake in Mexico, and from there
again overflowed into the New River, which ran north,
on the western side of Imperial Valley, and likewise
emptied into the old sink of the desert.
When there had been heavy floods in past years,
before the Imperial reclamation work was begun, water
had been found mysteriously to flow into this sink.
As it was near to Salton, a station on the main " Sunset
Route " of the Southern Pacific, it was soon known by
the name of the Salton Sink. For a long time the news-
papers published ridiculous stories of the inflowing of
water through subterranean channels into the Salton
The California Deserts 307
from the Pacific Ocean, but in due time it was found
that all this water came by way of Volcano Lake, from
the overflows of the Colorado River, down New River.
This flood of 1905, however, was so much more seri-
ous than any flood had been for so many years, and the
fact that the whole of the waters of the Colorado River
were being diverted into it by way of the Rockwood
cut, through the Alamo, as well as the New River, made
of the Salton Sink, in a few months, the Salton Sea,
fifty miles long and twenty miles wide.
It reached the track of the Southern Pacific. They
moved it to a point they deemed safe. The rising waters
flooded it again. Again it was moved. Once again the
slow-rising water came, with what seemed to the anx-
ious railway officials unseemly haste. Once again the
track was flooded and removed. Each removal, naturally,
meant a large expenditure to the Railway Company.
By now the whole countr)'- was aroused. The her-
culean efforts of the California Development Company
to close the breach were still in vain, and the Southern
Pacific Company felt it was a matter they must seriously
consider, for the line was again threatened. President
Roosevelt was appealed to. He called upon Mr. E. H.
Harriman, president of the Southern Pacific, to do the
work, and assured him that Congress would pay the
bill. With characteristic energ}^ Mr. Harriman's leading
engineers undertook the work. Every flat and dirt car
and engine capable of being used was requisitioned, and
three quarries rifled day and night to supply rock for
the filling up of this rapacious maw. Millions of tons,
— scores of thousands of car-loads of rock were brought,
and train-loads of thirty-five and forty feet long piles,
scores of tons of steel cable for the weaving of wire
tnats, into which thousands of bundles of arrowweed
308 California, Romantic and Beautiful
and other brush were woven, to afford temporary hold-
ings for the car-loads of rock, which otherwise would
have sunk into what seemed to be a " bottomless pit."
Day after day, week after week, the apparently hopeless
conflict was waged. There was never a moment's ces-
sation. Three gangs of men were worked on eight-
hour shifts, and fiercely blazing electric lights turned
the night into day that no moment might be lost. The
Salton Sea spread out until it was practically seventy-
five miles long and twenty-five broad before the tireless
efforts of Mr. Epes Randolph and his assistants began
to give promise of success. Nature now wearied of
the conflict, seeing that she had found men dauntless
enough to take her great challenge, and the floods from
the melting snow began to diminish and finally dwindle
to their normal flow. Then, with an extra spurt, work
on the restraining dam across the cut was hastened, the
breach finally closed, and with a sigh of relief that was
changed into a national song of victory, the engineers
declared their hard fight won, their victory achieved.
It was one of the most wonderful struggles of his-
tory, and the Southern Pacific said it cost them three
millions of dollars. When, however, the 1)ill was pre-
sented to Congress, that august body, for reasons which
I never clearly understood, repudiated the word of the
nation's president and offered the railw^iy a million dol-
lars in settlement of the account. To my mind the
Nation is still indebted to the Southern Pacific to the
extent of two million dollars, unless it can be shown
that their bill was fraudulent.
Guarded by levees, the danger of flood reduced to the
minimum by the increasing number of irrigation sys-
tems drawing water from the Colorado, and an addi-
tional factor of safety being added in the monster La-
.^' . i;mi.^'£^:i-.T' .. '. :
The California Deserts 309
guna Dam, which crosses the river a few miles above
Yuma, and distributes water to both the CaHfornia and
Arizona sides, there is no possibiHty of a recurrence of
this danger.
Freed from all menace or fear, the settlers of the
Imperial Valley have steadily gone on making further
encroachments upon the vast wastes and solitudes, until
now their achievements have become the wonder of the
world.
To some mentalities, however, there may not seem
to be much beauty in the romantic transformation of
the desert, yet there are few who can look upon these
vast fields of green alfalfa, the immense areas of olive,
orange, lemon, peach, apricot, pomegranate and fig
orchards, with the stately groves of tropical date-palms,
the miles and miles of luscious melons and canteloupes,
and the thousands of acres of growing cotton with its
fluffy balls of purest white making the green all the
more delicious, without feeling a quick wave of ad-
miration sweep over him. For the alfalfa that grows
here is richer and greener than anywhere else, the olive
leaves more silvery and grayer, the oranges more viv-
idly golden, the lemons and grapefruit of a softer, more
delicate tinge, so that even the colour values are en-
hanced by strengthening or refining and softening.
Then, too, there are the great bands of horses, of
cattle, of sheep, that have been brought here to fatten.
There is a beauty all its own in them. Pastoral scenes
by the mile which Gray and Oliver Goldsmith and
Crabbe and Wordsworth would have delighted to de-
scribe.
Even every irrigating ditch has a beauty and charm
peculiar to itself, — the rapidly-growing cottonwoods,
the towering eucalyptus lining its banks, — and the lush
310 California, Romantic and Beautiful
grass growth, all combine to make these streams of
living waters channels of delight to the eye.
Harold Bell Wright had no difficulty in seeing the
t romance of the desert. He came, attracted by the stories
he had heard, he foregathered with old-timers who told
him of the desert as they used to know it, he met Mr.
W. F. Holt, the father of Holtville, the builder and
head of the Holtville Railway and successful projector
of many most helpful and useful enterprises, and there
leaped into his mind a story that he soon put upon paper,
and was printed by the hundreds of thousands of copies :
f The Winning of Barbara Worth. In all its main state-
ments regarding the transformations of the desert caused
• by man's indomitable energy and unconquerable will this
romance is soberest truth. And to its pages I refer those
who would follow this phase of the subject further.
As yet, however, I have said nothing of the beauty
of the desert; and I am afraid I can say but little, for
the subject is beyond my powers. It requires greater
verbal ability than I possess. I wish the reader might
have been with me on the automobile ride I took recently
(February 24, 1914) in near proximity to El Centro.
The first thing every one notices is the clarity and dry-
ness of the atmosphere. Though cool it was pleasant
and agreeable, and one breathed it in deeply with a sat-
isfying sense of its exquisite purity. The green on
every hand, in all its varying shades, seemed to make
the gray, soft tones of the unreclaimed areas more
" bloodless " and arid. Yet there is a delicate beauty
in the atriplex, or salt bush, and a vividness of the green
of the creosote bush (Larrea Mexicana), that is only
equalled by the deep green of the magnolia, laurel and
orange. The date-palms gave their stately dignity to
the scene as if proud of their presence in this western
The California Deserts 311
habitat, — far away from their native Persian Gulf.
The flooding sunHght compelled every colour to yield
to its dazzling brilliancy, like a triumphant king demand-
ing tribute on every hand. The great mountains, tower-
ing in places thirteen thousand feet into the cloudless
cerulean sky, presented their purple barriers to the eye,
and as the sun began to sink, cast vast shadows over the
thirsty land below. A few clouds on their summits be-
came orange and crimson, glowing in supernal beauty,
and casting a halo all along the far-extending ranges,
which became flushed with rich pink, chocolates, deep
purples, madder-lakes and crimsons, until, as if the light
of a great day had slowly been turned out, the vivid-
ness was diminished, and a gentle, almost melancholy
tinge of gray covered the scene. But soon the stars
came out. They came with a close vividness never seen
in a moist climate. There were myriads more of them
than are revealed on the clearest night in the East, and
they seemed a fitting conclusion to a day of rich experi-
ences, suggesting thoughts of unwearying watchfulness,
serene peace and never failing brilliancy.
The Coachella Valley
All that has been said of the remarkable development
of the Imperial Valley applies with equal force to the
Coachella Valley, except that the source of the water
which has worked the transformation is different. The
Coachella Valley, though a part of the great Colorado
Desert, is now too far away from the river to receive
water for irrigation from its stream. But a few years
ago the government, in seeking to aid the Indian, sunk
a trial artesian well. At great depth a marvellous flow
of pure water was struck, which came forth with such
312 California, Romantic and Beautiful
force as to demonstrate the existence of a great under-
ground flow. Since then scores of wells have been put
in from above Indio to below Mecca, with gratifying
results. Near Indio water is found from fifty to two
hundred feet below the surface, but pumping is required
to make it available for irrigation. At Coachella the
artesian flow has pressure enough to make the water
rise several feet above the surface, and at Thermal and
Mecca many of the wells are gushers. In 19 13 I put
in a well on land I had purchased from the Southern
Pacific Company. We went down in the neighbourhood
of nine hundred feet, and there came rushing out, with
great force over the casing, a flow of between fifty-five
and sixty inches.
The Government has its two date experimental farms
in the Coachella, one at Mecca, the other at Indio.
Date culture has gone past the experimental stage and
now it has entered upon its era of full development.
Egyptian cotton of the finest quality is found to grow
here, with large yield, as it grows nowhere else in the
United States, and the Calimyrna fig (a fig developed
in California by Mr. Geo. C. Roeding, of Fresno), that
has all the sweetness of the Oriental fig with qualities
that allow it to be packed and shipped across the con-
tinent, zuhile fresh, is being planted out in large quan-
tities.
The Antelope Valley
In the Antelope Valley, on the Mohave desert, equally
astonishing transformations have taken place, though
in somewhat less dramatic though equally romantic
fashion. Forty, fifty years ago, herds of antelope
roamed over this valley in vast numbers, hence the name.
Standing at what is now Palmdale one can look over
The California Deserts 313
about 640,000 acres, of what in those early days were
regarded as absolutely irreclaimable desert. Thirty
years ago, before the day of the gasoline engine and
cheap pumping-plant, settlers came to this gaunt land
of yuccas, brush, grass and sage. They dug wells, and
found enough water for their own use near enough to
the surface, but that watered no crops; hence it was
not long before they were compelled to abandon their
claims. Seven years later the flood streams of Little
Rock and Big Rock Creek, which flowed down from
the surrounding mountains tempted a fresh crop of set-
tlers, and an irrigation district was formed and some
two thousand acres of almonds and prunes planted out.
The altitude, how^ever, was too high; the trees bloomed
too early and the cold lingered too late ; and in addition
the government and the railway that owned many of
these lands got into bitter litigation, and, as if this were
not enough, water litigation arose. It took twenty- four
years to finally and completely settle the litigation, but
even then, when poor men tried to settle on this land
they found it cost them too much, and again it was
abandoned.
A few men, however, stuck to their lands, and, fur-
thermore, some of them early ventured on a different
crop. They planted pears and apples. In 1909 it was
discovered that one of these men who, seventeen years
before, had planted pear trees, was receiving $2,000
per acre gross, from his crop. This was the exceptional
case, but several others were receiving large, wonderfully
large, returns. The result can well be imagined. A
company undertook to install a perfect and complete
irrigation system. Lands were sold and planted out
to these tested crops, and now the region is one of pros-
perity and increasing values. Here, as in so many other
314 Oalifornia, Romantic and Beautiful
regions of California, the constant cry is for more cap-
ital for development, and as fast as it comes it is being
put into good use, — use that will soon convert land that
has been " desert " for centuries into orchards of beauty
and great monetary value.
Adjacent to this desert country, yet so situated in
relation to the Colorado River as never to be actually
a part of it, is the Palo V^erde Valley. Twenty, ten,
years ago known as the Blythe ranch, it was always
regarded as an oasis of rich verdure. When finally di-
vided into small plots and put on the market, and those
adjacent portions of government land opened for settle-
ment, it almost immediately sprang into prominence.
The town of Blythe, with smaller settlements as Neigh-
bors, Palo Verde and Rannels, were founded, a first-
class canal system built of over one hundred miles in
length, for distributing water from the Colorado River,
and alfalfa fields, fruit orchards, asparagus, sweet pota-
toes and onion beds, many acres in extent, are already
in profitable operation.
On a bench above the Valley, and in the mountains
beyond lie the Palo Verde Mesa and the Chuckawalla
Valley, both capable of marvellous development as soon
as water is placed upon them.
CHAPTER XX
IN THE SMALLER VALLEYS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH
In addition to the two great central valleys of Cali-
fornia, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, and the
remarkable valleys of the desert, the Imperial, Coachella
and Antelope, there are numberless smaller valleys
throughout the State deserving more than passing atten-
tion. Only a few of the more distinctive, however, can
be mentioned.
Between the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevadas
there are many more or less detached ridges of moun-
tains or hills, and between these, lie many fertile and
beautiful valleys. In Santa Barbara County lie the Lom-
poc, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos, Santa Maria, Santa Bar-
bara and Carpenteria Valleys, once vast cattle ranges,
now rapidly being transformed into small ranches, where
the fig, vine, orange, lemon, peach, almond, guava.
loquat and walnut thrive. The climate is of the best
the southern part of the State has to offer and the ex-
tension of the State and County highways has prac-
tically solved the chief question of easy transportation.
Del Norte and Humbolt Counties at the extreme
northw^est of the State have few valleys, as yet, of com-
mercial importance, though the Eel River Valley, in
Humbolt, has begun a development which will continue
for many years and ultimately make it an empire of
wealth.
315
316 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Mendocino, the next county south of Humbolt, how-
ever, is rich in fine and prosperous valleys, chief of
which is the Ukiah, eight to ten miles long, and from
two to three miles wide, and with a population already
of over five thousand. Grain, large fruits, vegetables,
berries, grapes and hops all do well. OfT from this val-
ley are two small but exceedingly rich valleys. Redwood
and Coyote, and fourteen miles northeast of Ukiah is
Potter Valley, with 7,500 acres of fine land largely
under fruit culture. Further still to the north is the
75,000 acre Little Lake Valley, where the celebrated
Willits potatoes grow. Anderson Valley is known for
its fine apples, and Round Valley, the largest in the
county, is a good farming section where there are also
many fine Bartlett pear and prune orchards. The Sanel
Valley, along the Russian River, has an orange belt, and
also grows fine hops, the town of Hopland, with its
nearly one thousand inhabitants, having grown up and
thrived upon that profitable crop.
North and east, on the Oregon line, is Siskiyou
County with fine large and numberless smaller valleys.
Strawberry Valley is dominated by Mt. Shasta, the
supreme monarch of the northern Sierras, and the many
foothills that reach down in every direction from that
sublime peak, divide it into many arms. It can best
be likened to a wide and sloping gutter, the Sacramento
River flowing through the channel, and the slopes vary-
ing in intensity. The elevation varies from 3,100 feet
to 3,500 feet above sea level, and many fruits and vege-
tables as well as forage grasses thrive abundantly.
Squaw and Butte Valleys are both extensive, and at
present have much uncut timber, but experience has
demonstrated that both are good fruit and vegetable
regions, as is also Shasta Valley, thirty-five miles long
In the Smaller Valleys 317
and eighteen wide and containing about four hundred
thousand acres. Half of this is already profitably
farmed, while the rest is sloping foothill which, in time,
will all be planted out to fruit.
Scott Valley, once a great lake, now encloses about
a hundred and fifty thousand acres of fine arable land,
and is both irrigated and drained by the stream that
once fed the prehistoric lake, filled it up with sand and
silt and thus destroyed it. Though nearer to the ocean
than Shasta Valley and generally subjected to its influ-
ence, it is more protected from wintry winds, and there-
fore is not an undesirable place of residence, surrounded
as it is by majestic mountains.
Modoc County lies at the extreme northeastern boun-
dary of the State. With an area as large as that of the
State of Connecticut it has many valleys within its con-
fines, the chief of which is Surprise Valley, sixty miles
long, wath a population of upwards of 'three thousand
people. Then there are the Pitt River Valley, in which
is Alturas, the county seat. South Fork, Big, Little Hot
Springs, Jess and many other valleys, all of greater or
lesser importance.
South of Modoc is Lassen County, in which are sev-
eral large and prosperous valleys, chief of which is the
Honey Lake Valley. Here alfalfa and fine fruit, espe-
cially apples grow in abundance, and now that the re-
gion has good railway service its development will grow
apace with the rest of California.
Trinity County has several charming valleys located
betw^een its many mountain ranges. Indeed the time
will come when these valleys will be chosen as home
locations by people who appreciate their majestic and
picturesque environments. Chief of these are the Hay-
fork, Hyampom, Trinity, Mad River and Hetten Val-
318 California, Romantic and Beautiful
leys, where everything that grows in the Sacramento
Valley does equally well.
Adjoining Trinity is Shasta County, which is seamed
with valleys in every direction. The most important
are Happy and Hot Creek Valleys, the former being
essentially a fruit-growing section, where Elberta
peaches thrive abundantly, and where lemons also grow-
well. The olive crops of this valley have made it famous
throughout the civilized world, for here is located a
i20-acre grove of the Ehmann Olive Company of Oro-
ville. Hot Creek and the Fall River Valleys are fine
alfalfa regions and thousands of acres still remain open
for development.
From the romantic and scenic standpoint Shasta
County contains many of the most picturesque spots in
the State. The McCloud River is a paradise for the
angler, and the Lava Beds, Mt. Lassen, Black Butte,
Burney Falls, and a score of other natural wonders will
ultimately attract their millions of fascinated travellers.
All of what might l^e termed the Sierran Counties —
counties in which a portion of the Sierra Nevada Range
is located — possess picturesque and fertile valleys.
Many of these have been found especially adapted for
apple and cherry culture, and profitable crops are annu-
ally being raised. They also afford fine pasture for
stock and sheep in the summer months. These counties
reach from Plumas on the north to Liyo and Kern on
the south, a distance of five hundred or more miles,
hence it must be expected that they vary marvellously
in climate, scenery and agricultural and horticultural
advantages.
Placer County, for instance, has a large area of foot-
hill country, subjected to the influences of the Sacra-
mento Valley, hence it grows fruit of great variety and
In the Smaller Valleys 319
wonderfully fine flavour and in quantities not surpassed
by any county in the south.
Mariposa and Madera Counties are similarly located
in regard to the Sierras and the San Joaquin Valley,
and in the former county, the Jerseydale region lying
between two thousand to four thousand feet altitude
has proven itself one of the finest mountain apple sec-
tions of the State, one Spitzenburg tree having pro-
duced thirty-two boxes in a single season, and a Bald-
win, thirty-seven boxes. These, of course, are excep-
tional cases, but they show what can be done.
The Napa Valley is one of the garden spots of the
world. Its vineyards and orchards are the pride and
glory of all who see them. There are roads that wind
along between these richly cultivated areas, and other
roads, clinging to the rugged mountain sides, which
look down upon them, with, here and there, glimpses
of patches of vineyard of five, ten, fifty acres, far up
above, rescued from wild chaparral or forest and planted
to catch the most sun.
At the head of this valley Mt. St. Helena stands as
a proud sentinel. Stages of the most modern type still
run over its shoulders from Calistoga to the picturesque
Lake County beyond. Robert Louis Stevenson describes
both the drive and the country in his Silverado Squat-
ters, and has thus added the charm of romance to its
picturesqueness. Near the town of St. Helena is the
St. Helena Sanitarium and the home of Mrs. Ellen G.
White, who, with her husband, practically founded the
church of the Seventh Day Adventists as it is governed
to-day. Mrs. White was also the inspiration and guide
of the early day movement toward more hygienic liv-
ing, and the treatment of disease by what are now known
as the Battle Creek Sanitarium methods. While the
320 California, Romantic and Beautiful
development of these methods is owing to the genius
of Dr. J. H. Kellogg, the superintendent, the germ of
them began with Mrs. White. These sanitariums are
to be found in every country of the civilized world, and
most of them are specific and direct tributes to her power
and influence as an organizer. Every Seventh Day Ad-
ventist in the w^orld feels the influence of this elderly
lady who quietly sits in her room overlooking the cul-
tivated fields of the Napa Valley, and writes out what
she feels are the intimations of God's spirit, to be given
through her to mankind. This remarkable woman, also,
though almost entirely self-educated, has written and
published more books and in more languages, which
circulate to a greater extent than the written works of
any woman of history. They are shipped by the car-
load.
Then the Sonoma Valley in Sonoma County, for ever
made memorable by Jack London in his Valley of the
Moon, The Iron Heel, Burning Daylight, and others of
his powerful novels, is another garden and glory spot.
Here are Santa Rosa and Sevastopol, where Luther Bur-
bank, by grasping Nature's wonderful secrets, is work-
ing marvels in plants, fruits and flowers. The roads
are fine for coaching or automobiling, and one rides for
hours through refreshingly green vineyards laden with
their pale green, golden green, and purple treasure.
Hills on either side are covered with variegated chapar-
ral, where quail are piping, meadow-larks are bubbling
over with song, and mocking-birds even at night carol
of the joy of living.
One can ride back and forth half a dozen ways in
Sonoma Valley, and then cross over from Santa Rosa
and across the hills to Calistoga in Napa Valley. Or,
keeping up north, to the left one enters the Russian
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In the Smaller Valleys 321
River Valley, past the noted Asti vineyards to Clover-
dale.
In this latter valley are a score of vacation resorts,
where people from San Francisco and all the other
cities, inland and coast, come to play. Swimming, boat-
ing, fishing, hunting, tramps, mountain climbing, loafing
— what a joy it is to rest in the open and renew one's
youth. Then, too, near Monte Rio, is the celebrated
Redwood Grove of the Bohemian Club. This club was
founded early in the modern history of San Francisco
by a few of the literary and artistic spirits that found
themselves there soon after the first great decline of
the gold excitement of 1849. Slowly the club grew in
power and influence. Its members were all individual-
ists. They cared nothing for precedent or other men's
ways of doing things, hence in their annual celebrations
they struck peculiar and striking notes of fun and enter-
tainment that made an invitation eagerly sought after.
In time they bought the Bohemian Grove, a magnificent
forest of redwood giant trees, some seventy-five miles
from the City of the Golden Gate, and now for the past
thirteen years have conducted an open-air play, espe-
cially written for the Bohemian Jinks by one of their
own members, the music as well as the book, the cos-
tumes, staging and all the acting done within their own
ranks, until it has become as distinct and recognized
an event in the dramatic world, as the Passion Play of
Oberammergau is in the religious world. The first real
" Grove-Play," as these Midsummer Jinks are now
called, was given in 1902. It was written by Charles
K. Field, now the Editor of The Sunset Magazine, and
the music was written by Joseph D. Redding, the au-
thor of the well-known American opera Natoma.
George Sterling, the poet of whom Joaquin Miller said :
322 California, Romantic and Beautiful
" He is the greatest imaginative poet since Dante,"
wrote for one Jinks The Triumph of Bohemia, and Her-
man Scheffauer, The Sons of Baldur. Will Irwin's con-
tribution was The Hamadryads; a Masque of Apollo.
The performance always begins at nine o'clock at
night. Rows of redwood logs are used for seats. The
stage has no scenery except that supplied by Nature.
The only lights are the few needed by the orchestra.
About six to seven hundred spectators are present. The
stage is between two gigantic trees, the tops of which
lose themselves in the darkness of the heavens above.
'' On all sides," writes one who knows,^ " great trunks
— ten, fifteen feet in diameter, two hundred, three hun-
dred feet in height — tower aloft. At the back of the
stage is an abrupt hillside covered with a dense growth
of shrubs and small trees, picked out here and there with
the shafts of redwood. Amid the tangle of brake and
brush, the trail, which the eye can scarcely see by day,
winds its devious course.
" Everything is tuned to the occasion — the hush and
the darkness, the majesty of the ancient trees, the subtle
perfumes of the forest in the soft night air. It is the
atmosphere of poetry ; it is beauty, peace. . . ."
Who is there that cannot imagine a powerful play,
given by men full of the spirit of California, under such
conditions? It is stirring to the senses, but immeasur-
ably more so to the imagination, and one feels that
here, though with the help of some important modern
adjuncts, he can see early man, in the dawning of the
dramatic instinct, rendering his first plays.
And it must be remembered that neither professional-
ism nor publicity has touched these Grove-performances
with their tainting hands. None but members and those
' The Bohemian Jinks, by Porter Garnett.
In the Smaller Valleys 323
holding visitors' cards can possibly gain admittance, and
these latter must be non-residents of California. Tickets
cannot be purchased at any price, and hence, the com-
positions, both literary and musical, are written solely
for the enjoyment of the Club and its visitors. In this
the Grove-play is unique in the history of the world,
though the past year or two the demand has been so
insistent, that some portions of the play have been staged
and presented on the return of the Club performers to
San Francisco.
Nearer to the Golden Gate than the Sonoma and Rus-
sian Valleys is the Petaluma Valley, the home of the
industrious hen. Petaluma claims about three million
biddies, faithfully laying eggs daily, and making at least
a dollar a year profit for their owners. " Hen " ranches
abound on every hand, and the crowing of the festive
rooster is the chief sound heard in the land. Yet it is
an interesting valley to visit and those who live there
find life profitable in more ways than one.
In San Francisco one will often hear Mill Valley
referred to. This is just across the bay, in Marin
County, and is the gateway to the Muir Woods and
the Mt. Tamalpais Railway. It is a gloriously beautiful,
riotously enchanting section of country homes, built on
the hillsides among the primitive trees that used to shel-
ter the Indians.
Not far away is San Rafael Valley, one of a series
of sheltered valleys, all of which have been preempted
by San Franciscans for their surburban homes. Every-
thing is beautiful, flower-embowered, well cared for, yet
there is little of the agricultural going on. Several of
the finest homes of the State are to be found here, rival-
ling in charm those of the San Gabriel Valley in the
south.
324 California, Romantic and Beautiful
And thus might I write by the score of pages of the
valleys of California. Perhaps I ought just to refer
to one county in the south, — that of San Diego, —
for there are many charming and alluring valleys
" South of Tehachipi." El Cajon Valley — pronounced
Ca-hone — has often been termed by world-travellers
" one of the rarely beautiful valleys of the world," lies
about fifteen miles northeast of San Diego. It is now
richly cultured, irrigation having been the " waver of
the magic wand." Here Beatrice Harraden, author of
the much discussed Ships that Pass in the Night, used
to come and reside with English friends, Avhile she
gained new strength to return to her literary work.
Indeed several of her shorter novels, and one of her
books were written here.
Thirty-four miles north of San Diego is the Escondido
Valley, — pronounced Es - kon - deed - o, — commonly
known as the " Sun-kissed Vale." In the " Straw Hat
Parade " in San Diego, in February, 19 14, appeared an
automobile, laden with bright, cheery, rosy-cheeked
maidens from the Escondido High School. On each
side of the car the thrifty-minded Chamber of Commerce
had placed a painted banner with flaring letters, —
ESCONDIDO'S
SUN KISSED VALE
Some waggish lads of the High School, " unbe-
knownst " to their elders, succeeded in changing the
lettering somewhat, and the girls, with their escorts
of staid fathers and mothers of the city In the machine
ahead, were considerably surprised at the laughter and
cheers with which they were greeted, until some one
called their attention to their revised slogan, —
In the Smaller Valleys 325
ESCONDIDO'S
UN KISSED GIRLS
Escondido is especially adapted for the growth of
grapes, and both for table and raisins their quality is
unsurpassed. Like Napa, Sonoma, and the San Joaquin
Valleys Escondido is a field of glowing green when the
vineyards are all wearing their new summer dresses,
and thousands each year go to the " Sunkissed Vale "
to enjoy the Grape Festival which has now become an
annual event.
The San Luis Rey Valley receives its name from the
old Franciscan Mission, dedicated to Saint Louis, the
king, and this, and the Rancho Guajome — not pro-
nounced as it is spelled, but Gwa-ho-meh — where Helen
Hunt Jackson used to visit, when she was preparing to
write her Indian romance, Ramona, are two places of
perennial interest to the tourist. A. little further along
is Pamoosa Canyon, where the Frazee Castle is built
on the chaparral-clad slopes, and where Lark Ellen —
Ellen Beach Yaw — one of California's world-famed
singers — makes her summer retreat.
The Poway and Alpine Valleys are northeast and east
of San Diego, the former a grape-growing section, and
made romantic with memories of the tribes of Indians
that used to live here from time immemorial. The lat-
ter valley, as its name implies, is in the hills. It is on
the way between the ocean and the desert, and it is
therefore a noted winter and summer resort, combining
in a peculiar manner the charms and advantages of
mountain, desert and sea. San Diego possesses many
places of interest, and one has a peculiar attraction in
326 California, Romantic and Beautiful
that it is the first " Little Landers " Colony in America.
The plan was devised by William E. Smythe, one of
the fathers of modern irrigation in America. It is based
upon intensive cultivation of the soil, the making of a
living upon " little land," and cooperative management
of all buying and marketing, and the beautification of
the town, all the utilities of which are conjointly owned.
CHAPTER XXI
THE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA
California is a large State. Take England, Scot-
land, Ireland and Wales, and add to them Maine, Dela-
ware and Rhode Island ; place them down in California
and there would still be six hundred square miles left
in which to play baseball or golf.
Massachusetts has 8,315 square miles; Delaware,
2,050; Maine, 33,040; New Jersey, 7,815; Connecti-
cut, 4,990; Rhode Island, 1,250; New York, 49,170;
Vermont, 9,565; Ohio, 41,060. All these States could
be " scripped " in California, with a thousand square
miles to spare, for it has an area of 158,360 square miles.
In this vast area there are set apart by the National
Government twenty-one National Forests, which I
should say, at a mere guess, cover from one-fourth to
one-fifth of the entire State. , Beginning on the north
and coming south there are Modoc, Klamath, Shasta,
Siskiyou, Trinity, Lassen, Plumas, Tahoe, El Dorado,
California, Mono, Stanislaus, Yosemite, Inyo, Sierra,
Monterey, Santa Barbara. Sequoia, Kern, Angeles and
Cleveland Forests. Each of these has its own individual
charm and personal characteristics. For instance, Mon-
terey is as different from Mono, as Vermont is from
Florida, while Klamath has few. if any, points in com-
mon with Cleveland.
To attempt, therefore, even a cursory survey of these
327
328 California, Romantic and Beautiful
forests would be impracticable in these pages. This is
merely a suggestive chapter, throwing out a few hints
as to what the visitor can find in them. The subject is
romantic and beautiful enough to demand prolonged
study, and health and inspiration will be found in the
doing of it.
These National Forests are set aside by presidential
proclamation or legislative enactment to preserve the
watersheds of the nation, to conserve the water supply
and the timber for all time. The latter can be conserved
only by wise and scientific forestry, the cutting of such
timber as is " ripe," with a simultaneous or prior plant-
ing of equal areas for future growth. It was not until
Roosevelt's presidency that these conservation needs of
the nation were seriously and earnestly considered, and
to him and Gifford Pinchot the practical inauguration
and early working out of this most useful of national
plans is owing.
Since that day there have sprung up new professions
in the United States — new in the sense that they now
include a small army of men, while prior to that time
there were but few in the nation who knew anything
of them. These professions are Forestry and Forest
Ranging. The two materially overlap, yet each is dis-
tinct in itself. The Forester must understand trees and
their diseases and growth, their timber value, and every-
thing that goes with the business of lumbering. He
must know how to gather seeds and plant them, so as
to secure new growth where old trees are to be cut out.
He must understand how to foster natural growths, and
yet take away the surplus and unnecessary young trees
that would prevent others from maturing for lumber,
and at the same time practically understand how forests
conserve the snow and water supply. He must be a
The Forests of California 329
wise fire-fighter and know how to protect the forest in
his care from this dangerous and destructive element.
To the Ranger much of the detail of this work is
committed, wuth the added responsibilities of watching
out that sheep and cattle do not over-run the ranges of
the forest and destroy the natural grasses. The pests
and parasites that injure trees must be located and over-
come, whether of vegetable or animal origin, and vigi-
lance exercised to see that the laws for the public use
of the National Forest are known and observed.
To know' and enjoy the trees of the various Cali-
fornia forests is a delightful study, and the books of
John Muir, W. L. Jepson, J. Smeaton Chase and J. G.
Lemmon, together with the learned and comprehensive
volumes published by the Forestry service, are all avail-
able for that purpose. There are a few points, however,
that attention may here be called to. For instance the
cypresses of the Monterey Forest, on the world-famed
" Seventeen Mile Drive " of Hotel Del Monte, are
found practically nowhere else on the American Con-
tinent. They are unique here. The Cereus gigantens is
found rarely in California, though very common in
Arizona. Those in California are on the banks of the
Colorado River or not far away. The Yucca Mohavi-
ensis, or Joshua tree, is a rare product of the Mohave
Desert, while the Fan-palm (neo-lVashingtonia filifera)
finds its native habitat on the Colorado Desert near to
Palm Springs.
There are two species of California's " Big Trees,"
— the Sequoia Gigantea and the Sequoia Sempervirens.
To distinguish them it is growing customary to speak
of the former as Sequoias, the latter as Redwoods. Of
course they are both redwoods, their bark is very much
the same as are also their exquisite lace-like leaves.
330 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Professor W. L. Jepson, of the State University, in his
recently published masterly work, The Sylva of Cali-
fornia, gives interesting descriptions, which also note
the differences between the species.
A grove of these redwoods, giving the name to a
mountain. Redwood Mountain, is to be found up above
Hume, towards King's River. This highly-favoured
spot can be reached from Visalia or when one visits the
Grant National Park. One passes Hume Lake, follow-
ing along its picturesque feeder. Ten Mile Creek, which
conveys the melted snows of the mountain heights down
to the placid-faced lake. High on the opposite moun-
tain-side logging-camps appear, where these centuries-
old giants are being axed and sawed down, denuded of
their branches, cut into appropriate lengths, and then
" snaked " to the saw-mill, where the relentless teeth
of the never-still band-saw tear them apart into planks,
timbers and scantlings.
Look up into the blue vault above. How perfectly
that harmonizes with the varied green of the trees, and
the red and brown, gray and black of the trunks. Here,
at five thousand feet elevation, yellow pines abound,
then higher still sugar pines, white fir and silver fir.
And who can conceive the glory and stateliness, the
beauty and delicacy of avenues of these most graceful
of mountain trees? Well may visitors and strangers
rave over them, for even unimpressionable cowboys,
Italian lumbermen and business-like forest rangers learn
to love them with a devotion that never tires.
By and by logging-camps are left behind, and save
for an occasional shingle-making camp the forest is un-
touched. How good it seems to find some places where
the devastating hand of man has not yet reached. It
is a steady uphill climb to the summit of the ridge, and
The Forests of California 831
then at Quail Flat Redwood Mountain comes into sight.
Directly before us it rises, a rounded monarch, a vast
green dome, for redwoods completely cover it.
There are wonderful domes to some of the churches
and temples of Europe. Sir Christopher Wren's ge-
nius is enshrined in St. Paul's in London, and Michael
Angelo's in St. Peter's at Rome. Men stand entranced
before Santa Sophia in Constantinople, the Mosque of
Omar in Jerusalem, and the Taj Mahal at Agra. But
here is Nature's own handiwork, and on a scale of mag-
nificence, grandeur and majesty never conceived, aye,
and never possible, to mere man. Aisle after aisle of
stately columns of rich, living, glowing red. Marble
and onyx are beautiful, and lapis-lazuli and jasper are
glorious in their colourful splendour, but they are dead.
Here in the redwood is a radiant, joyous, glowing life,
with an ever-changing gamut of colour upon which sun-
shine and shadow play continuously like the magicians
they are.
Near Boulder Creek, the State Forest preserves for
ever a number of giant redwoods in their natural habitat.
Unlike their cousins, the Gigantea, they need to be near
the sea, and they are never found more than twenty
to fifty miles away from the ocean. They occur only
in eight California Counties, Humbolt, Mendocino.
Sonoma, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and
San Luis Obispo. There is a private grove at Felton,
and the big tree, the tall tree, from which Palo Alto
gains its name, is a solitary redwood by the railway
track.
In speaking of the trees of California there are a
thousand spots that should be visited, each with its own
objects of peculiar attraction, but among others that
notably stand out is the wild park given to the City of
332 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Chico, in Butte County, by Mrs. Annie E. K. Bidwell,
the wife of General Bidwell. This wonderful natural
park follows the course of the mountain stream for a
score or more of miles. Fine driveways have been made
through it, and the hundreds of live-oaks, sycamores,
cottonwoods, willows and other trees, accompanied by
the cheery voice of the rippling stream, and festooned by
thousands of vines in the richness of their flowering, and
with the open spaces and shady spots carpeted with an
infinitude of flowers, make it one of the rarest and most
delightful drives in the country.
Near it, too, on the Chico Rancho, is the Joseph
if Hooker Oak, the largest live-oak in the known world.
Careful measurement and computation show that seven
thousand persons could stand under its shadow when
the sun's rays were vertical, and these figures were veri-
fied by Gen'l W. T. Sherman when he and President and
Mrs. Hayes visited it. It is 105 feet high, its trunk
25 7-10 feet at the ground, and 28 4-10 at a height of
eight feet; its longest limbs on the south side are loi
and 105 feet, and the circumference of circle outside of
branches 446 feet. Allowing two square feet for every
person it is estimated that 7,885 might stand beneath
the tree. It received its name from the distinguished
American botanist. Dr. C. C. Parry, who is authority
for the statement made by Sir Joseph Hooker, that it
is the largest oak in the world.
CHAPTER XXII
THE FLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA
Poets have sung their sweetest songs, orators have
indulged in their highest flights of brilliant rhetoric,
colour photographers have excelled themselves in their
endeavours, artists have vied with each other in glowing
canvases, simply to do justice to the wealth of flowers
that bloom in the gardens and in the wilds of California!
Pasadena's Tournament of Roses is an annual tribute
to the midwinter growth of flow^ers in the southern part
of the State. Saratoga's Blossom Carnival is an equally
fervid tribute to the plethora of blossoms found in the
one valley, that of the Santa Clara, when the prune
trees are in bloom. Van Nuys has its Poppy Festival.
Sierra Madre its Flower Carnival, Bishop its Harvest
Festival, Saint Helena its Vintage Festival, Watsonville
its Apple Carnival, Oroville its Orange Festival, and
many other communities their especial fetes, at all of
which myriads of flowers are used.
Santa Cruz justly boasts of its flower growths. Every
home, even the most humble, may have its flowers in
such profusion and of such a character as to excite the
envy of a prince in a less favoured clime. Wistaria,
clematis, and smilax climbers grow in such extravagance
as to render the man who attempts to describe them
liable to serious charges of mendacity. Geraniums and
pelargoniums are grown in hedges, ten, twelve feet in
height, or over trellises and porches. So also with the
333
334 California, Romantic and Beautiful
heliotrope and fuchsia. They here become trees and
attain a height of twenty, thirty, forty and more feet.
Roses are found by the million and into the hundreds
of varieties, and calla lilies, freesias, narcissus, gladiolus,
amaryllis and iris grow by the acre, and some of them
can be supplied by the thousands of dozens almost
throughout the whole year.
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles,
Orange, San Diego and a score other counties in the
State can truthfully make the same kind of claim, with
a few variations for climate and soil. Indeed Santa
Barbara and Montecito are as emphatic in their claims
for recognition as any place well can be, for the South-
ern Pacific trains pass through acres which are as richly
flowered as space will allow. The Potter Hotel at Santa
Barbara is world-famed for its flowers, but equally so
is the Hotel del Coronado, the Raymond at Pasadena
and Hotel del Monte. Indeed the latter, in the variety
of its flowers is not surpassed in California, nor, I ven-
ture to say, in any open-air garden in the world. It
publishes a bulky catalogue of its flowers, so astonishing
is the variety and so great the demand for knowledge
concerning them.
Though the gamut of flowers changes somewhat on
going north the gardens are just as profusely coloured
and the hillsides as gorgeously decked in Marin, Contra
Costa, Napa, Sonoma and all the counties of the north,
and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys as in the
better-known (perhaps because better advertised) flower
embowered south.
Indeed it is almost impossible for one to go anywhere
in California, from the snowy heights of Shasta and
Whitney to the alkali flats of the Mohave and Colorado
Deserts, from the sea-sh-ore to the foot of the Sierras
The Flowers of California 335
on Nevada's boundary, without, at some time of the
year, being entranced by the multitude of flowers that
adorn the landscapes.
It should not be forgotten that it is in California that
Luther Burbank has done such wonderful things in the
improvement of flowers and in the changes that he has
brought about in them. The Shasta daisy and the
gorgeous amaryllis are two of the well-known products
of his genius and skill.
But it is not so nry^h of the ordinary and fairly well-
known cultivated flowers that T here wish to speak.
California is rich in its wild flowers to a degree unknown
to all except those who are nature lovers or botanists,
and it is to the romance and beauty of these wild treas-
ures of mountain, desert, foothill, canyon and island
that I wish to devote this chapter.
Few people are aware that the heather grows richly
in California. In the High Sierras there are acres of
it. One of the lakes of the Tahoe region is named
Kalmia, after one of the heathers. It seems to love
the rvigged edges of the glacial lakes, and well do I
remember the delight with which I found my first speci-
mens. Shy and retiring, dainty and exquisite, they are
the violets of the mountains, but how they thrill the
heart with memories, and warm one through and
through with their gentle loveliness.
In all of Muir's writings are constant touches of
exquisite description of the delicate or richly flaunting
glories of the mountain flowers. Such as : " Here [in
Bloody Canyon] for the first time I met the Arctic
daisies in all their perfection of pure spirituality, —
gentle mountaineers, face to face with the frosty sky,
kept safe and warm by a thousand miracles. I leaped
lightly from rock to rock, glorying in the eternal fresh-
336 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ness and sufficiency of nature, and in the rugged ten-
derness with which she nurtures her mountain darhngs
in the very homes and fountains of storms."
Later : " I found the so-called Mono Desert, like the
rye-field, in a high state of natural cultivation with the
wild rose and the delicate pink-flowered abronia; and
innumerable erigerons, gilias, phloxes, poppies and bush-
compositae, growing not only along stream-banks, but
out in the hot sand and ashes in openings among the
sage-brush, and even in the craters of the highest vol-
canoes, cheering the gray wilderness with their rosy
bloom, and literally giving beauty for ashes."
But while Muir writes thus generally of the Sierran
flowers, he can write equally well of individual varieties.
And of these there are many in our mountains. For
instance, between Lassen's Butte, Lake Tahoe and the
Yosemite the careful seeker may find a shy, retiring,
small flower, rare even to the botanist. It is the Steer's
Head (Dicentra uniflora), a wild cousin of the Bleeding
Heart of my lady's country garden. It has a brief
period of flowering, coming out as soon as the snow
has disappeared from a slope, raising its inconspicuous
stem one and a half to three inches high, on the top
of which rests the peculiar shaped flower which led some
poetic mountaineer, the first moment he saw it, to give
it its name. For as Dr. W. L. Jepson says : *' The two
lower spreading petals curve out on each side from the
flower and answer excellently well for a steer's horns.
The two upper petals are narrowed to a snout-like proc-
ess, and are notched on each side toward the base (that
is at the end nearest the summit of the flower-stalk),
so as to reveal the dark ovary beneath, thus furnishing
* eyes ' for the fairy cattle, while above the ' eyes ' is
a sepal making a good enough forelock. Of the many
The Flowers of California 337
hundred kinds of flowers which furnish fancied resem-
blances, I beheve that there are not many which are so
httle strained as this."
Of an entirely different character of flower, and as
common as the steer's head is rare, is the ceanothus,
generally spoken of as the California lilac. In the Santa
Cruz ^Mountains it can be found in its flaunting, innocent,
exuberant loveliness. It is dainty and exquisite as it
lifts itself aloft to be gazed upon and enjoyed. There
are myriads of blossoms — nay, myriads of myriads —
the mountain slopes for miles and miles, up and down,
across and beyond, are covered with them. They can
be seen miles away, like a soft, unique-tinted cloud, rest-
ing upon the rugged slopes. Bailey Millard sprang into
song when he saw them :
" My hills are poets; all the year
They sing to me their lays sublime;
They sing joy-songs with voices clear
And sweetest sing in April time.
Then they their purple robes put on
Robes spun in April's lilac looms
Their royal flowered robes they don,
For then the ceanothus blooms.
' Faint, faint at first, then deeper toned
Till all the banks are gowned and caped,
And my hill monarchs, high enthroned,
Are in the ceanothus draped!
" Stay, Spring! still let my monarchs wear
Their robes and sing their songs sublime;
Let it be April all the year
And always ceanothus time! "
Companioning with the ceanothus on the mountains
is the dainty flowered, red-trunked and stemmed man-
zanita. To this day. familiar though I am with these
white-pink-tipped bells, I always think of " fairy bells "
338 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the moment my eyes fall upon them. And instinctively
I look for the magic circle of the " little people/' and
feel like lifting up the leaves in the hope that some of
them may be hidden there, peeping out at the bewhis-
kered monster who dares thus to intrude upon their
hallowed ground. How I wish I might be a fairy for
a few hours or days, so that I might, when again
changed back to manhood, be able to describe in fitting
terms the relationship these dainty fairy bells of the
manzanita have towards us.
Ina Coolbrith has written an exquisite sonnet upon
our Mariposa Lily, in which she asks :
" Insect or blossom? Fragile, fairy thing,
Poised upon slender tip, and quivering
To flight! a flower of the fields of air."
The tiger lilies are equally wonderful and beautiful,
and the Matilija poppies have gained us much fame in
England, where, with care, they can be made to bloom.
They are not rare, but occur from Santa Barbara south.
The name was given — Matilija — because they were
found in great profusion in this canyon a few miles
above Ventura. By many it is regarded as our most
regal flower — feminine, of course, in its dainty white-
ness, and planted in large quantities in a large garden
or open park makes an enchanting vision of purity and
delicate, diaphanous grace.
In many of the woods those shy, rare, delicate ex-
otics — the orchids — are to be found. Several times
when wandering idly through the untracked forests,
where man's foot seldom treads, I have come upon them,
to be startled as well as delighted: startled sometimes
at their weird, peculiar forms; delighted at the rare
discovery. But I cannot attempt to describe them, so
The Flowers of California 339
fragile, peculiar, unlike other flowers. It takes a true
and great poet to express in words their mar^•ellousness.
Here are George Sterling's inimitable suggestions and
pictures as delicate in phrase and felicitous in \'erbal
choice as the plants themselves are delicate and rare:
"Ye
Seem spirit flowers born to startle man
With intimations of eternity
And hint of what the flowers of Heaven may be.
Thou, O palest one!
Dost seem to scorn the sun,
And, in a tropic, dense,
Languid magnificence.
Desire to iinow thy former place.
Where no man comes at night,
And in its antic flight
Behold the vampire-bat veer off from thee
As from a phantom face.
And thou, most weird companion, thou dost seem
Some mottled moth of Hell,
That stealthily might fly
To hover there above the carnal bell
Of some black lily, still and venomous,
And poise forever thus."
Of the California golden poppy — Copa da ore —
pages might be written; nay, the University of Leland
Stanford ptiblished a volume full of its science, its lore,
its beauty, and its influences. Few know^ the glory of
this incomparable satin-vestured flower, in the mlass,
unless they have seen it by the millions on a sloping
foothill, or on a mesa upon which one could look from
some superior height. Well might the sailors of the
early Spanish navigators, gazing upon their golden bril-
liancy as they covered the foothills, thirty miles away,
call out Capo de Flores! — the Cape of Flowers!
Its Spanish name is peculiarly appropriate — cup of
340 California, Romantic and Beautiful
gold, — sheeny, satiny, glossy, lustrous gold, but with
petals so frail and delicate as to shrink at a touch. Ina
Coolbrith daintily sang of it :
" Thou art nurtured from the treasure-veins
Of this fair land: thy golden rootlets sup
Her sands of gold — of gold thy petals spun.
Her golden glory, thou! on hills and plains,
Lifting, exultant, every kingly cup
Brimmed with the golden vintage of the sun."
Another common flower to Southern Californians in
the season of its blooming, yet rare to most Americans,
and precious to all who see it, whether for the first time
or the thousandth, is the Yucca WHipplei, poetically
called by the Spaniards, " the Candlestick of the Lord."
On the foothills and mountain slopes in spring and early
summer it rises from its cluster of lance-like green
leaves, a tall, sentinel stalk, ten, fifteen, twenty feet high.
The upper portion is hung with creamy waxen bells,
that catch and softly radiate the sunlight, thus making
them shiny lanterns of joy and beauty even in the blaze
of midday. Literally thousands of them march on the
hills round about Los Angeles and San Diego, and it
is a common thing to see an automobile return from a
Sunday picnic trip with one or more of these purely
resplendent minarets of floral beauty, carried as trium-
phant banners of a blessed day. I used the word
" march " above, and some may think it a misplaced
word. Yet no one that ever saw them would deem it
so. They tower over and above all the ordinary brush
and flowers of the hillsides, and there are so many
thousands of them, that they actually appear like strange
soldiers of a floral kingdom marching in soleinn and
semi-orderly array to the mountain tops.
I hesitate to declare how manv blossoms I have
The Flowers of California 341
counted on one of these slender stems : One, two, three
and four thousand, and Miss Parsons, whose IVild Flow-
ers of California every flower-lover should possess, risks
her reputation for veracity by asserting that they some-
times have as many as six thousand.
Akin to this in its slender tallness, and in the fact that
it is crowned with a striking mass of flower panicles,
yet unlike it in every otlier respect, is the thorny desert
ocotillo, or cat's claw, — aye, those who have suffered
from too close contact with it call it " the devil's
claw." This is found only on the arid deserts of the
southland. It is a bunch of thorny sticks shooting
up from a common centre, each stick evidently try-
ing to grow up straight but, being compelled to yield
room to his fellows, finally compromising on a slight
angle. Each stalk grows independently of all others
and attains its own individual height. Some are very
straight, others fall over almost like the graceful palm,
and still others have sudden angles and strange twists.
Sometimes the very tips, after the stem has grown up
straight to a height of twelve, fifteen, and even eighteen
feet, droop over with an air of dejection which seems
to say the battle to keep straight is too hard. Occa-
sionally they attain a height of twenty feet. I have
counted one hundred and twenty stems on one ocotillo,
though few have so many. The general appearance of
the tree is as if a handful of straight-stemmed plants
had been put in a vase, so that, while at the base the
stems were kept all together, they had spread out, up
above, in every direction. I found them in full flower
at the end of March. The flower is a flaunting panicle
of a brilliant scarlet, composed of beautiful bell-like
blossoms. Sometimes, when looking toward the sun,
the flower appears like a flaming plumaged paroquet
342 California, Romantic and Beautiful
or other brilliantly feathered bird resting on the end
of a limb.
The ocotillo has the remarkable habit of leafing out
after a rain. The leaves are a tender green and spring
out along the stems, side by side with the thorns. Even
though it be but a slight rain and only the stems (not
the roots) get wet, the leaves appear. Padre Junipero
Serra, the founder of the California Missions, had a
very poor idea of this " candle cactus," as he called it.
He said it was useless, even for firewood.
With flowers as satiny and wearing even more bril-
liant colours than the copa da oro, the cactuses of the
desert must not be overlooked. It seems impossible that
such thorny, inhospitable creatures can be crowned with
such exquisite blossoms, but it cannot be denied that
they are as delicate in texture, almost, as the rarest
orchid, and their colours are often resplendent in their
vivid brilliancy.
Yellows, roses and scarlets are their special colours,
but the variety, the gamut they play upon is a perpetual
surprise. Opuntias, echinocactus, mamillaria, cereus, —
all alike have these rare attractive flowers, the cup gen-
erally deep and its base filled with heavy scented pollen
to allure the day and night insects, without which pol-
lenization could never be accomplished.
Nor should one overlook, — nay, it would be im^-
possible for the most inattentive to oz^erlook either of
them if they happened within his vision — the two giant
forms of these desert plants, — the cereus gigantea or
saguaro, or sahuaro (pronounced swa-ro), and the
Yucca Mohaviensis, or Joshua-tree, or tree Yucca.
For many years the botanists affirmed that the sa-
guaro was not found in California, though numbers have
their habitat on the Colorado River. They are quite
The Flowers of California 343
common, however, in Arizona. Giant trees, indeed, they
sometimes stand in solitary shafts, again with one, two
or more projecting arms, ahnost Hke stately semaphores,
but covered from head to foot with the strongest and
most piercing thorns. Nature must protect her own,
and unless it were armoured against the fierce heat of
the sun and predatory animals, no plant would be able
to live through a single day on the desert. The arrange-
ment of the thorns is wonderfully accomplished in geo-
metric designs. When the flowering time comes these
monster trees blossom forth into a rich and gorgeous pur-
ple. Graceful, slender, stately, the suaharo is the minaret
among trees, with flutings more perfect than man can
create.
On the other hand the Joshua tree has its trunk and
branches out like an ordinary tree, but one has only
to come near it to realize that there is nothing ordinary
about it. It abounds on certain portions of the Mohave
desert, and rises to a height of forty or more feet. The
railway traveller, seeing it for the first time, seldom
fails to conmient on its weird, fantastic, peculiar shape.
It begins to flower in March, with large bunches of
soiled white petals. These have a penetrating and some-
what disagreeable odour.
The dale a spina sa, or smoke tree, is practically known
only to those who love the desert. Many a time I have
caught sight of one in the distance, towards sunset, and
for a few moments the illusion was perfect, of a gently
rising, smoky white cloud from a camp fire, and I have
found myself eagerly looking for the human beings who,
assuredly, must be somewhere around.
When flowering dalea spinosa is a most gorgeous
and glowing spectacle. Every point blossoms into
flower, and every flower is a treasure of deep purple.
344 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Imagine a tree covered with fifty to a hundred thousand
of these blossoms, bathed in the pure, knninous desert
atmosphere, and made glowing and resplendent in the
desert sun. It is a spectacle of royal purple that the
eyes of man, unfamiliar wnth the desert, have never
gazed upon, — a spectacle of colour that would have
dazzled the eyes of those used to the royal purple of
the great Solomon when he and his spouse ascended the
throne, aye, even had he and his whole court been robed
in the transcendent richness of Tyrian purple.
Another of the peculiar, weird, and in a way, repul-
sive, though fascinating flowering plants of California
is the darlingtonia — the pitcher plants. They are not
common, — the special variety bearing the State's name,
and the enthusiastic botanist will take a long trip to see
them. How well do I remember the first time I saw
a mass of them together a few miles from Quincy,
Plumas County. There they seem to find their chosen
habitat, lifting their yellowish-green hoods from the
marshy soil, into the vivid sunlight, like snakes moving
to find warmth. Miss Parsons rises to literary skill as
she describes them :
" If you have never seen the plant before, you will
be in a fever of excitement till you can reach the spot
and actually take one of the strange pitchers in your
hand to examine it. Nothing could be cleverer than
the nicely arranged wiles of this uncanny plant for the
capturing of the innocent — yes, and of the more know-
ing ones — of the insect world who come within its
enchantment. No ogre in his castle has ever gone to
work more deliberately or fiendishly to entrap his
victims, while offering them hospitality, than does
this plant ogre. Attracted by the bizarre yellowish
hoods or the tall, nodding flowers, the foolish insect
The Flowers of California 345
alights upon the former and commences his exploration
of the fascinating region. He soon comes upon the
wing, which often being smeared with a trail of sweets,
acts as a guide to lure him on to the dangerous entrance
to the hood-like dome. Once within this hall of pleas-
ure, he roams about, enjoying the hospitality spread for
him. But at last, when he has partaken to satiety and
would fain depart, he turns to retrace his steps. In the
dazzlement of the translucent windows of the dome
above, he loses sight of the darkened door in the floor
by which he entered and flies forcibly upward, bumping
his head in his eagerness to escape. He is stunned by
the blow and plunged downw^ard into the tube below.
Here he struggles to rise, but countless downward point-
ing, bristly hairs urge him to his fate. He sinks lower
and lower in this ' well of death ' until he reaches the
fatal waters in the bottom, where he is at length in-
gulfed, adding one more to the already numerous vic-
tims of this diabolical plant."
One of the most graphic, true and gripping pieces
of literature about flowers ever written, in my humble
judgment, is Theodore Van Dyke's account of the pro- ^
cession of the wild flowers in Southern California.
Charles Dudley Warner deemed it so beautiful that he j
quoted the larger part of it in his Our Italy, — which,
by the w^ay, in itself is a marvellous tribute to the sur-
passing power of this lovely land over a trained literary
mind.
Van Dyke's description is much too long to quote
here, but to the interested, let me refer them to his fas-
cinating volume,^ or to Warner's quotation.
Perhaps the rarest and most distinctive, as certainly
1 Southern California, pages 38-49. Ford's, Howard & Hulbert, New
^ York, 1886.
346 California, Romantic and Beautiful
it is the most famous of all of California's rare floral
treasures is the foolishly-named Sierran snow-plant. It
does not look like snow, it neither lives on, in, or under
the snow, it does not feel like snow, and should not be
named snow. Found only on the mountains above, say,
four thousand feet to the timber line, it appears after
the snow has melted. It used to be regarded as a para-
site, but this is a mistake. It undoubtedly partakes of
the fungus character and thrives on decomposing vege-
table matter. Sometimes it is found in the open, but
generally in the occasionally lit-up shade of some wood,
where the soil is moist and rich. With a base sur-
rounded by short, almost stubby, asparagus-like leaves,
it flowers half way up the stem and thence to the top
in a rich, clustering mass of vivid scarlet bells. Seen
in the flaming sunlight it seems, in comparison to its
dark surroundings, a vivid electric torch. In the coun-
try around Yosemite there are hundreds of them, and
I have found many in the Tahoe region and even high
in the Santa Cruz and Coast ranges. But even though
one should find many he never loses the sense of delight
and surprise each time. It is as though some beloved
friend took pleasure in secreting many rare and precious
gifts of the same desired kind where one is apt to stum-
ble unexpectedly upon them, but each discovery only
seems to add to the charm.
It was up in the Yosemite region that Helen Hunt
Jackson was prompted to write her vivid and impres-
sionable description of them. She said : " We saw
clumps of them in the wildest and most desolate places.
Surely there can be no flower on earth whose look so
allies it to uncanny beings and powers. ' Sarcodes
sanguinea,' the botanists have called it; I believe the
spirits of the air know it by some other.
The Flowers of California 347
" Imagine a red cone, from four to ten inches in
height, and one or two in diameter, set firmly in the
ground. It is not simply red, it is blood-red ; deep and
bright as drops from living veins. It is soft, flesh-like,
and in the beginning shows simply a surface of small,
close, lapping, sheath-like points, as a pine-cone does.
These slowly open, beginning at the top, and as they
fold back you see under each one a small flower, shaped
like the flower of the Indian pipe, and of similar pulpi-
ness. This also is blood-red ; but the centre of the cone,
now revealed, is of a fleshy-pinkish white; so also is
the tiny, almost imperceptible stem which unites the
flower to it. They grow sometimes in clumps, some-
times singly. As far off as one can see the dim vistas
of these pine-forests will gleam out the vivid scarlet of
one of these superb, uncanny flowers. When its time
comes to die, it turns black, so that in its death, also,
it looks like a fleshy thing linked to mysteries."
It must not be thought, for one moment, that I have
exhausted this fascinating theme. Only the very " high
lights " have been touched ; a few suggestions given ;
a few of the rare and special attractions pointed out.
Hence, the botanist, whether professional or lay, can
rest assured that he will find romance and beauty galore
in the rarer, stranger, and entirely different flora of the
Golden State.
While in this chapter I have dealt almost entirely
with the wild flowers of the State there is a fact con-
nected with the wealth of garden flowers found on
every hand that it is well to call attention to. Many
of the cities, towns and villages of the State have Im-
provement Clubs or Beautification Committees. These
distribute plants, such as roses, chrysanthemums, etc.,
for planting in gardens, along the highways, and in
348 California, Romantic and Beautiful
vacant corners. For instance Los Angeles County has
already planted about a hundred miles of public highway
to roses, and Pomona is planting ten to fifteen thousand
roses, Los Angeles (city) over one hundred and fifty
thousand, Riverside, Long Beach, ten, twenty, thirty
thousand each, and so on. At Riverside, the Beautifi-
cation Committee, assisted by the boys of the agricul-
tural class of the Polytechnic High School, distributed
six thousand rooted chrysanthemums of fine varieties.
Each applicant brought a card of fixed size, on which
name and address was written, and as soon as the plants
were distributed, the number and variety were added to
these cards, which were then filed for reference. This
is the way the cities are made bowers of floral beauty.
Even the poorest classes are able to help, and do help,
most materially, as they love the flowers with a greater
devotion because in the past some of them have not
been easy to obtain.
Another interesting enlargement of this flower move-
ment is being set in motion as this book goes to press.
The Women's Clubs, City and County officials and others
of the State, are planting out roses all along the State
and County highways described in Chapter XXIV, and
at every Mission Bell along the ancient Spanish Camino
Rcal,^ Castilian roses. Then along the strip on each side
of the road wild California poppies are being planted.
In a few years this will make the Floral Highway of
the World.
* (Cah-tnee-no Ree-ahl) The King's Highway.
CHAPTER XXIII
California's universities, colleges and
observatories
Romance and beauty cluster about California's edu-
cational institutions. It is certainly romantic that the
2 best privately endowed university of the world is in
California, and that it has three world-famed astro-
nomical observatories founded and conducted by private
gifts. And, Nature as well as man, has made them all
the scenes of great and commanding beauty. The State
University at Berkeley has a site that in itself is a won-
der and a glory. On a sloping hill that rises to majestic
grandeur, and dotted with dignified and hoary live oaks
that have braved the storms and drank of the fogs and
rains of a thousand years, no finer site ever rejoiced the
hearts of student, faculty and president, or thrilled the
bosoms of visiting parents and guests. It overlooks the
wide expanse of bay, and is directly opposite the open
walls of the Golden Gate. The natural recipient of all
the learning of the Occident, it reaches out its welcom-
ing arms, and stands with open heart and mind recep-
tive to all it can gain from the Orient.
It began as the College of California, established in
Oakland in 1S55. and did not move to Berkeley until
1873. Some great and notable men have been on its
faculty, chief of whom may be named John and Joseph
Le Conte, Edward Rowland Sill, Bernard Moses, E. W.
Hilgard. and George Holmes Howison.
Of late years, under the presidency of Benjamin Tde
349
350 California. Romantic and Beautiful
Wheeler, who came here from Cornell, the university-
has expanded wonderfully. One of its principal bene-
factors is Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, who has not only been
generous with her money, but, of infinitely greater im-
portance, has given of her daily life, her moral influ-
ence, her home thought, her motherly consideration to
the well-being of the students, especially the girls. And
her directing and far-seeing mind has had a most potent
influence in shaping the future of the campus and its
architecture. Unstinted in her generosity, ever ready
to respond to every legitimate call, she has also induced
her son, William Randolph Hearst, to make a notable
contribution to the equipment of the university in the
open-air California theatre, modelled after the ancient
Greek Epidarus. It is of reinforced concrete, in a nat-
ural amphitheatre, with perfect acoustics and with a
seating capacity (including the stage) of about eight
thousand. On the occasion of President Roosevelt's
lectures — as at many other times — it has been
crowded to its utmost capacity, over ten thousand people
then finding room to hear the distinguished speaker.
At such a time it is a most inspiring sight, — colour,
motion, life, animation, joy, singing of birds, sunshine,
waving of pennants, the green of the surrounding trees,
the perfect blue of the overarching sky flecked with
clouds of purest white, making a spectacle of thrilling
enchantment.
From the educational side there is a difference be-
tween the University of California and Stanford. The
former is dominated largely by President Wheeler's
devotion to the Greek spirit of culture, the latter to the
modern spirit of scientific investigation. Both, however,
are broad and liberal, hence their ideals overlap consid-
erably.
California's Universities 351
It should not be forgotten that at Berkeley, largely
owing to the energetic labours of Professor Henry
Morse Stephens, is located the Hubert Howe Bancroft
Library of Spanish-Americana. This was gathered by
Mr. Bancroft from all quarters of the earth, while he
was a business man of San Francisco, often at personal
loss and sacrifice, to enable him to write his wonderful
histories. The library is an object lesson to the world
in the application of business foresight to historical sci-
ence. It is not California boasting, but the simple, un-
varnished truth, that never in the history of all the ages
has such a collection as this of original sources for the
writing of history been gathered together. Bancroft
deserves — and will secure — the undying gratitude of
the centuries yet to come, not only for the histories which
he was the means of creating, but because of the new
standard he set for the early accumulation of historic
data.
" The oldest educational institution west of the Rocky
Mountains " is the proud title of the University of Santa
Clara. Originally the ninth of the Franciscan Missions,
it was secularized in 1836-37 by order of the Mexican
Assembly. In 1846 it was a parish, the Indians placed
on their own responsibility, and Padre Real, the pastor,
authorized to sell the ]\Iission lands to pay debts and
support himself and the church. March 19, 1857, the
new parish priest, a cultivated and learned Jesuit, Father
John Nobili, began to prepare for the establishment of
a college for Catholic boys and young men. He secured
the charter in 1855. From that day it has gone on grow-
ing in strength, power, numbers, wealth and influence,
until in June. 1912, having received due authorization,
it launched forth upon its career as a full-fledged uni-
versity. Several new buildings already have been
/
352 California, Romantic and Beautiful
erected and there is every expectation that it will add
to its laurels, in its larger capacity, to those won while
it was less favoured and less pretentious. It has sent
out such influential men in the legal profession as
Stephen M. White, D. M. Delmas and James D. Phelan,
the first-named. United States Senator from California,
and the last-named, the mayor of San Francisco. George
Montgomery, the father of modern aviation, was one
of its professors, Martin V. Merle, the author of several
successful plays, a pupil, and Father Ricard, the distin-
guished astronomer, one of its present faculty.
The Leland Stanford, Junior, University was the gift
of Leland and Jane Lathrop Stanford as a memorial
to their son, a beloved lad who died before his maturity.
There is no more touching story of devotion to a high
ideal in the history of education than that written by
David Starr Jordan, the first president, in his Life of a
Good Woman. Sacrificing everything that most women
hold dear, with a tenacity of purpose positively thrilling,
often living in comparative poverty and obscurity in
order not to diminish by one dollar the imperilled en-
dowment of the school of her love, she cherished and
cared for it up to the day of her death. The romance
of that simple story should never be forgotten, and Dr.
Jordan has done the world a favour by recording it at
the proper time.
The University itself is endowed with many millions
of money, but the true spirit of its mental and spiritual
endowment is revealed in the fact that during the days
of financial stress, while the Stanford estate was being
settled, there were times when president and faculty
were reduced to a salary basis that barely covered the
necessities of life. Yet they stuck to their posts, ever
cheerfully, bravely and without a murmur, and in such
California's Universities 353
discipline the spirit of the institution was developed.
David Starr Jordan was its first president, and its con-
trolling influence until his resignation in 19 13, when Dr.
John C. Brenner, who had acted as president during
Dr. Jordan's many absences, was elected.
In location, surrounded by vineyards and beautiful
clusters of live oaks, the rolling hills to the west, and
the sloping fields of green to the Bay on the east, the
buildings of stone in the expanded Mission or Spanish
type of architecture, with low, tiled structures around
an inner and outer quadrangle, punctuated with stately
towers and gateways, Stanford pleases the eye and charms
the soul. From a first year's class of some four hun-
dred and sixty-five students to its present number of
some three thousand is a wonderful growth. And of its
far-reaching influence in the State's highest development
no one may venture to prophesy.
In Los Angeles the Methodists, during boom days,
established the University of Southern California. For
awhile it flourished amazingly, and at inflated values,
it had an endowment that staggered the imagination.
Then came the " flattening out," and for several years
the institution went through severe storm and stress.
But its friends rallied to its support, it weathered the
gale, and when Los Angeles began to grow and expand,
it reaped the reward of its faithful waiting. Naturally,
however, it cannot be expected to rank in the same class
with the State endowed, or the fortune-blessed Universi-
ties of the north, but it is doing good work, has a grow-
ing body of fine students, a faculty that is impressing
itself upon the new generations, and a campus and build-
ings much too circumscribed for the work they are ac-
complishing.
In its subordinate, but equally important, educational
354 California, Romantic and Beautiful
institutions California is not one whit behind its uni-
versities. These include Pomona College, at Claremont,
a growing institution founded by Congregationalists ;
and under the presidency of James Blaisdell, an educator
of rare endowments and capable of arousing great en-
thusiasm for the highest ideals in his students; Occi-
dental College, in Eagle Rock Valley, Los Angeles,
whose president, John Willis Baer, for years was one
of the most potent influences in the world-wide work
of the International Y. M. C. A.; and Throop College
of Technology, at Pasadena, founded by Amos G.
Throop, a well-known business man of Chicago, and
which under the leadership of President James A. B.
Scherer bids fair to become one of the best endowed and
most powerful technical colleges, as it is also the most
advantageously located, of the entire West.
There are four State Normal Schools, the oldest one,
at San Jose, a model institution both in its buildings
and work. In Los Angeles new buildings are being
erected on a new site ; at Chico, by the energy and gen-
erosity of John Bidwell, the northern part of the State
is provided for ; and in San Diego the extreme south
has its teachers educated in a classic structure, the site
of which overlooks one of the most inspiring views
known to man.
There are several colleges in California deserving of
more than passing note. Principal of these is Mills
College, the first college for women on the Pacific slope,
founded in 187 1 by Dr. and Mrs. Cyrus T. Mills, five
miles east of Oakland. A beautiful, well-watered estate
of a hundred and fifty acres was planted out with a
wealth of trees, shrubs and flowers that now embower
the buildings in a glorious riot of colour and leafy
beauty. In 1877 the school and property were deeded
California's Universities 355
to a board of trustees, to be conducted as a nonsectarian
but Christian school for young- women. Dr. Mills re-
tired from the presidency in 1884, to be succeeded by
his noble wife, who, a few years ago, gave way to
Dr. Luella C. Carson, formerly Dean of Women at the
University of Oregon.
Peculiarly blessed in its climate California has nat-
urally won to itself institutions that rely upon climate
and clear atmosphere. James Lick, the eccentric mil-
lionaire who was willing to be regarded during his life-
time as a miser that he might accumulate money for the
benefit of his fellow men, was the first to establish or
prepare for the establishment of a great astronomical
observatory in California. At first he contemplated put-
ting it up in the High Sierras on Lake Tahoe, and Ob-
servatory Point, north and east of Tahoe Tavern, is
named from the fact that that was the chosen site, but
he was finally prevailed upon to erect it upon Mt. Ham-
ilton, overlooking his old home at San Jose in the Santa
Clara Valley. Over a million and a quarter was spent
in its erection and equipment, and there have been many
notable gifts in addition to the Lick endowment. It is
now a portion (as Mr. Lick designed) of the Astro-
nomical Department of the State University. Several
noted astronomers have done excellent work there,
amongst others such men as Holden, Barnard, Burnham,
Keeler, and Campbell, the present director, with his
assistant, Perrine.
When Professor Lowe constructed the Mount Lowe
Railway, in the Sierra Madre Range, above Pasadena
and Los Angeles, in 1894, he established also the Lowe
Observatory upon a commanding site slightly above
Echo Mountain. Calling to preside over its destinies,
Dr. Lewis Swift, of the Warner Observatory, of Roch-
356 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ester, N. Y., the latter brought with him the sixteen-
inch refracting telescope given to him by the people of
that city. For many years he lived here, hunting for
nebulas and comets and giving delight and instruction
to thousands of visitors who, under certain conditions,
were given the freedom of the Observatory. Then, in
August, 1900, when Dr. Swnft's increasing years com-
pelled him to resign, Professor Edgar L. Larkin became
the director, a position he has filled with eminent honour
to himself and the satisfaction of many thousands ever
since.
On a neighbouring peak, Andrew Carnegie was in-
duced to establish a Solar Observatory. Professor
George C. Hale, formerly of the Yerkes Observatory,
came to Mt. Wilson with his photographer, Ferdinand
Ellemnan, and with a small horizontal telescope made
several photographs of the sun and its spectrum. These
suggested so much that he immediately interested Mr.
Carnegie, with the result named.
Situated at an elevation of 5,890 feet on the eastern
end of the Mount Wilson ridge, the Mount Wilson Solar
Observatory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
is above four-fifths of the fog and the imperceptible haze
and smoke of the valley below. The record of an av-
erage of close to three hundred days and nights a year
that the instruments are in use shows how well chosen
the location is.
In several respects the equipment of the Observatory
is without equal and entirely different from the usual
conception of astronomical instruments. This is due
to the fact that the men in charge are original investi-
gators, and the Carnegie Institution is able to supply
the money necessary to build instruments of a size and
kind never before attempted. The investigations being
California's Universities 357
entirely photographic, all the instruments are designed
to this end. Reflecting star light from the silvered sur-
face of concave glass mirrors to the photographic plates
results in much shorter exposure than the use of lenses
of the same size, and the reflecting telescope has many;
other advantages in design and construction over the
refractor. At present the equipment consists of : a sixty-
inch reflector mounted in a large dome sixty feet in
diameter and used for work on the stars every night
the weather conditions permit ; a horizontal reflecting
telescope used for routine photographs of the sun daily ;
a tower telescope sixty feet high and a second tower
telescope, almost three times as large, one hundred and
fifty feet high, both used for solar w'ork. The tower
telescopes are unique; the larger one has a circular pit
ten feet in diameter and eighty feet deep under the cen-
tre, and fitted with instruments to form a huge spectro-
scope, so that, the beam of sunlight, reflected from two
mirrors and passed through a lens at the top of the
tower, is brought to a focus at the top of the pit, there
it passes through a narrow slit to the bottom of the pit,
where it is resolved into the spectrum and reflected back
to a photographic plate beside the slit at the top; the
distance travelled is over three hundred feet.
There is now in process of construction a new reflect-
ing telescope with a mirror one hundred inches in diam-
eter mounted under a dome ninety feet across, which,
when finished, will be the largest ever built and close
to the limit of mechanical ability of the present time.
It will be completed soon after the publication of this
volume.
The offices, laboratories, and instrument shops located
in Pasadena are as important as the telescopes on Mount
Wilson, for the reason that a mere collection of pho-
358 California, Romantic and Beautiful
tographs would be simply interesting, and it is only by
seemingly endless measuring, calculating, and comparing
that the real value is worked out, while the shops are
necessary to build and keep in repair instruments which
cannot be bought and are not duplicated anywhere.
CHAPTER XXIV
AUTOMOBIONG IN CALIFORNIA
The rapidity with which mankind nowadays rushes
to bring to culmination an epoch was never more force-
fully illustrated than with the automobile. Thirty years
ago unknown, even in the vaguest way, save to a few
enthusiastic experimenters, the automobile is now the
accepted vehicle for the whole civilized world. Not
even such gigantic moral movements as Christianity,
the spread of Mohammedanism, the abolition of the
Slave Trade were consummated with a tithe of the speed
with which the automobile has conquered the travelling
world.
The citizens of California alone own over a hundred
thousand automobiles, and thousands are brought into
the State by tourists who come both winter and summer
to enjoy its climatic, scenic and restful advantages.
Hence for its own citizenship, who are satisfied with
nothing less than the best, and to meet the exacting
demands made by those who come from other States,
and who are used to the best that money can purchase,
California has felt impelled to provide a complete sys-
tem of roads from one end to the other. Enlightened
self-interest alone was urgent sufficient to bring this
wonderful desideratum to pass, but when to business
profit was added the vision of greater personal pleasure
in gaining easy and pleasant access to all the scenic por-
359
360 California, Romantic and Beautiful
tions of the State, the proposition had but to be sug-
gested to be taken up in every county with enthusiasm.
The result is Cahfornia has already largely secured
what will be, when completed, the most perfect system
of State and county roads in the country. This has been
effected by concerted action of both State and county,
stimulated by the fact that good roads are recognized as
an essential factor in the rapid and normal development
of any progressive country.
It seemed a gigantic request to prefer to the State
legislature of 1909 that it provide for an appropriation
of eighteen million dollars to construct a State High-
way. But so thoroughly were the legislators posted
upon the wishes of their constituents in regard to this
matter that there was practically no opposition and the
act was duly passed. Successive legislatures not only
approved of but added to the efficiency of the State
Highway Commission — the body charged with the
work — and also provided ways and means for main-
taining the highways after construction.
No sooner had the State declared itself than the re-
spective counties began to agitate for an enlargement of
the plan, aixl demanded of their supervisors that they
contribute their quota to the work, for the especial bene-
fit of their own counties. The results showed the eager-
ness of the counties to participate, for in a short time
bonds to the amount of another eighteen million dollars
were voted by the respective counties for this purpose,
thus calling upon California as a whole to expend as
speedily as good work would justify the enormous sum
of thirty-six million dollars upon her State and county
highways.
To coordinate the work of State and counties re-
quired some skill and tact, but the frank and open way
Automobilinsr in California 361
in which the State Highway Commission went to work
produced the desired effect. The Department of Engi-
neering of the State of California, composed of seven
men, was charged with the responsible guidance of the
highway work. They were called an Advisory Board.
Its composition was as follows, — the Governor, State
Engineer, Superintendent of State Hospitals, Chairman
of the State Board of Harbour Commissioners of San
Francisco, and three otlier members appointed by the
Governor. This Advisory Board met, and in accord-
ance with powers vested in it, elected the three appointed
members (appointed for that express purpose) as the
" California Highway Commission," and empowered
'' to take full charge of the entire matter of the con-
struction and acquisition of a system of State highways."
The Advisory Board reserved to itself the right to place
its final seal of approval upon all the decisions of the
Commission, and the latter scrupulously required the full
endorsement of their plans before they ivent ahead and
put them into execution.
Their plan for securing the cooperation of the coun-
ties was somewhat as follows : They called upon every
county in the State, through their Boards of Super-
visors to provide free rights of way and to build all
bridges necessary for the State highway zvithin their
respective limits. The responses were most encoura-
ging. The value of this help on the part of the counties
is beyond estimation. With full local knowledge of the
situation the county officials could clear up titles to
rights of way and secure deeds, overcoming the local
difficulties that were sure to arise, as no outside central
body could have done.
The Act called for two State highways, one on the
Coast and the other through the great interior valleys of
362 California, Romantic and Beautiful
the Sacramento and the San Joaquin. Naturally there
were bound to be differences of opinion as to the courses
of these highways, and if the counties were to be al-
lowed to dictate how the State highway should run
through their territory, it would naturally be " as
crooked as a dog's hind leg." This would materially
add to the expense, and also defeat the avowed purpose
of tlie highways, which was to provide the most direct
and convenient intercommunication between all parts of
the State.
This question early arose in Butte County, the county
seat of which is Oroville. With a broad, patriotic and
magnanimous view of the situation that w411 ever re-
dound to their honour and prove their loyalty and de-
votion to the good of the State as a whole, the county,
with the full consent of the citizens of Oroville, united
in declaring that the county seat waived all claim to be
upon the main highway and that they would cheerfully
accept whatever route the Commission, after due inves-
tigation, decided upon as the best. Here was a splendid
example which has materially influenced other counties.
In others, however, friction arose, and to settle definitely
the questions at issue the Governor, as chairman of the
Advisory Board was appealed to. He called upon the
Attorney General for a specific interpretation of the act
as applied to the case at issue, as well as other points
that had been raised. The answer was definite that the
act placed upon the Highway Commission alone the
responsibility of determining the location of the trunk
highways and of the laterals which were to connect the
county seats with the trunks. The main roads were to
be by the most direct and practicable routes. In accord-
ance with this decision the Commission then proceeded
to locate the highway. The local authorities were called
Automobiling in California 363
upon to suggest, the State engineers to report, and then
the Commission personally went over the proposed
routes, laid the result of their studies before the Advisory
Board, with their recommendations, and finally an-
nounced the routes officially chosen.
The actual building was then begun. Here many
problems were encountered. They were met as follows.
It was decided that the Commission should purchase all
the crushed rock, cement and other material required,
thus making the inspectors of the Commission alone
resfjonsible for their quality, doing away with any ques-
tion of scamping or graft, and materially reducing the
cost of purchase, also of transportation. Over twenty-
five per cent, and more has been saved in this way, in
these items alone, beside encouraging many small con-
tractors to undertake sections of the road, which, had
they been required to purchase the materials needed
they scarcely would have ventured to do. This was
deemed good policy, as distributing the payment for
work through the hands of many, rather than a very
limited coterie of opulent contractors.
The State Highway Commission also undertook to
protect all contractors in their use of questionable paving
patents. There have been so many complex and diverse
patents issued for road-making that to wait until all the
questions were legally solved and difficulties were re-
moved would seriously retard the work. The Commis-
sion, therefore, resolved that the State should bear this
responsibility so that the contractors would not feel that
they must put in higher bids to cover the risk they were
running; and, furthermore, they deemed it the better
policy, if royalties wxre to be paid, that, as the State
would ultimately have to pay them anyhow, the matter
should be placed in their hands to begin with.
364 California, Romantic and Beautiful
In the meantime the actual engineers were having
their own peculiar problems to meet. They had a cer-
tain sum of money to spend with which they were re-
quired to build a certain number of miles of road. No
privilege was given to them to build as far as they could
with the money provided, but they vinst so figure and
plan that the whole highway system should be actually
completed within the sum provided. Realizing that the
roads after being built must be maintained, they had
to look therefore at the problem from the standpoint
of the future as well as the present. This meant that,
on the average, including administration expenses, the
roads must not cost more than $6,600 per mile, which
was obviously too little if the whole system was to be
paved.
As a result of much deliberation the Commission
adopted as a standard type of paving to meet the average
conditions a Portland cement concrete roadway, fifteen
feet wide, protected by a thin surfacing of asphaltic oil
combined with stone screenings. This did not mean that
all the State roads w^ere to be so constructed, for some
of the roads were already paved to a width of twenty-
four feet where the traffic seemed to require it, and sur-
faced with asphaltic concrete. Nor did it mean that
all of the roads would be paved, for in some of the
mountain counties such a treatment would be absurd
under present traffic conditions.
No sooner were these conclusions announced than a
number of contractors complained to the governor that
the " thin bituminous wearing surface " was not per-
manent, and advocated that the work be done in ac-
cordance with specifications which they submitted. Af-
ter full hearing the governor decided that the plan sub-
mitted by the contractors was impossible. According
Automobiling in California 365
to their own showing their type of wearing surface
would cost not less than $4,752 per mile, while that of
the Commission was costing only $440 per mile, — a
cost more than ten times as great, — and the mere
interest on which would practically pay the cost of main-
taining the thin surface by replacing it every two years,
if necessary. To follow the contractors' plan would
exhaust the whole appropriation on about forty-seven
per cent, of the mileage required. In effect, therefore,
it asked that certain portions of the State be favoured
and other sections neglected.
The State expects to construct about 1,300 miles and
the counties a little more, so that the total mileage will
amount to 2,700. In determining which work to do
first the Commission has been influenced by those coun-
ties which have purchased the State bonds. For in-
stance, Los Angeles County banks subscribed for $270,-
000 worth of bonds, the Highway Commission agreeing
to expend that amount in Los Angeles County, it being
legally entitled to that work, and more. At the same
time it must be recalled that no county will be ignored,
even though it purchases no bonds. It will simply have
to wait until the bond purchasing counties have had their
work done.
To faciliate and urge on the work systematically the
State is divided into seven parts, with an engineer in
charge of each division. It can be imagined, therefore,
how, with startling suddenness, the whole State seemed
to spring into a fever, with breakings out of piles of ce-
ment, crushed rock, barrels of asphaltum, road rollers,
cement mixers, workmen's huts, etc. For not only the
State began work, but the counties also. As early as
September, 1907, Sacramento County voted $825,000.
About the same time Los Angeles voted $3,500,000.
366 California, Romantic and Beautiful
March i6, 1908, San Joaquin County pledged $1,890,-
000, and August 3, 1909, San Diego voted $1,250,000.
As soon thereafter as possible almost every county came
into line, and the result has been an example, an inspira-
tion and a joy to the world.
County Highway Commissions have worked in har-
mony with the State Commission, and as nearly as pos-
sible, while there has been diversity in local road speci-
fications as there also have been in those of the State
roads, there is a general uniformity and harmony, the
object being to suit the road to the local conditions.
While the State owns no rock quarries, some of the
counties do. and this public ownership has materially
added to the extent of the work the County Commis-
sions have been able to accomplisli with the money at
their disposal.
The question is sometimes asked as to the age of the
bonds and interest rates. Those of the State are forty
years at from four to five per cent., and the counties
vary from twenty to forty years at the same interest
charges.
The larger part of the work of both State and county
is being done by contract, therefore there is little room
for appointees to positions through political pull. Men
are judged by their competency, ability and character,
and if they lack m all or any of these they are let out.
The wages paid are the same as in the same positions
in private service.
I have been thus explicit in going over all the features
of this work as I am satisfied other States will soon see
it to be to their advantage to do as California has done,
and it is with laudable pride that I am able to record
her advanced position in this important field of pro-
gressiveness. Property adjacent to both State and
Automobiling in California 367
county highways are increased in vahie, new sections
are being opened up and settled, every farmer, merchant
and automobile owner in the State is directly and im-
mediately benefited, and visitors to the State are given
an opportunity to know it as a whole in a short space
of time, such as before good roads would have required
the travel of a lifetime.
To attempt, therefore, in this chapter to do more than
suggest what the visiting automobilist may enjoy in
California is merely to take him along the 2,700 miles
of highway and county roads that by the time this book
is issued will be practically completed. There are a
few broad suggestions, however, that may be thrown
out to advantage.
No other State in the Union offers so many oppor-
tunities to the automobilist as does California. It is
both Mecca and Paradise. For several years past the
number has constantly increased of those who have come
over the more or less rough and rugged desert and
mountain routes and when the transcontinental roads
are completed it is safe to prophesy that thousands will
come over them.
Though it is a truism, it, nevertheless, will bear repe-
tition that California is unique in the comprehensive-
ness of its scenery. Everything is here provided, from
the highest snow-clad mountain summits to the playas —
alkaline beds of extinct lakes — and sandy desert wastes
below sea-level.
Around Mount Shasta one may motor day after day,
scarcely for a moment losing sight of the Fuji-San of
Northern California, while at the same time enjoying
enchanting miles through glorious forest isles, or exhil-
arating whirls up and down foothills or through the
canyons of the upper reaches of the McCloud and Sac-
368 California, Romantic and Beautiful
ramento Rivers, where their cool waters are whipped
into foamy whiteness by their mad rush to the lower
levels.
In the Napa and Sonoma Valleys one passes through
lanes of enchantment where sweet-smelling vineyards
extend for scores of miles. The ascent of the Toll
House road over the shoulders of Mount St. Helena
into the Lake Country brings one past the immediate
region made memorable by the well beloved Robert
Louis Stevenson in his Sik'crado Squatters. If one has
time to stop at the foot of the mountain, he may see the
bubbling hot springs at Calistoga and enjoy a mud-bath
there. Then, after the ascent, up which even to-day
the six-horse stage coaches climb their tortuous way
along ravines and canyons that have always thrilled the
fearful traveller, at the Toll House he may see, perhaps,
the inflowing of the ocean fog as described by Stevenson.
On the other side of the mountain the road continues
its winding way through groves of pines and other ever-
greens, livened up here and there by the ligliier coloured
sycamores and aspens growing near the mountain
streams until the lake region is reached. No Words-
worth, Southey, Lamb or Ruskin has glorified the Cali-
fornia Lake region, but to tliose interested in aboriginal
life and lore, many a day may be spent visiting ranche-
rias of the Indians, watching the iiiaJwlas with marvel-
lous dexterity weave their incomparable baskets. Here
are women who take the glowing feathers from the top-
knots or breasts of gorgeous plumaged birds, the willows
from the near-by creeks, and the roots that they dig
up from the tule swamps and make of them poems and
symphonies of colour and weaving that ecjual in artistic
skill the finest work of the Persian rug-makers and that
emulate in dazzling glory the radiance of the sunrise
THE SACRAMENTO CANYON.
Automobiling in California 369
or sunget. One weaver has shown herself an adept in
niakdng baskets so tiny that when one shows them to
his friends they laugh him to scorn when he assures
them that they are the work of human fingers, made
without a microscope. Everybody takes them for seeds,
and yet careful observation reveals them as woven mas-
terpieces, requiring a manual and digital skill and dex-
terity that seem almost inconceivable, for some of these
tiny baskets are so small that the top of a small collar-
button is larger than three or four of them combined.
To those automobilists, however, who are not inter-
ested in Indians, there is enough of allurement in the
scenery to prove attractive, for one may climb out from
the Lake Country over the mountains on either side. If
he goes to the right when facing the north, he comes
into the Sacramento Valley with its thousands of blos-
soming acres, where fruit trees of every description are
taking the place of the foiTuer vast wdieat-fields. If
he goes to the left, he finally comes into the redwood
region, where day after day the roads wind through
dense forests of giant redwoods which as yet are too
far away from easy transportation to attract the crews
of devastating ax-men and loggers whose only thought,
as they look at a glorious arboreal monarch is : " How
many feet of lumber will he make? "
Then, there are roads along the seashore, some of
them passing by rugged headlands that suggest the
" stern rock-bound shores " of Mrs. Hemans' poem,
while others are along smooth and sandy beaches where
the surf comes rolling in from the placid ocean beyond.
Imagine the delight of days of motoring up and down
the Sierras. From Sacramento, Merced, Stockton,
Fresno, and a score of other valley towns, one may
start for excursions of endless pleasure. Up and up
370 California, Romantic and Beautiful
to the mountain crests, foaming streams first on one
side and then on the other, clumps of trees variegating
the landscape, large areas wihere the devastating hand
of man has cleared away the forests, other areas where
man's constructive hand is manifested in the planting
of orchards, higher, higher, the roads wind until Yo-
semite, Hetch-Hetchy, King's River Canyon, Kern
River Canyon, innumerable hot springs resorts. Lake
Talioe, Webber Lake, Wawona, the varying groves of
Sequoia Gigantea, and the icy glaciers which line the
peaks of the High Sierras are reached.
Once arrived, it is well to allow the machine to rest
awhile, the traveller going on foot or horseback to
innumerable places of pleasure Nature provides with
such a lavish hand. Waterfalls, cascades, lakes, glaciers,
mountain summits, romantic caverns, mossy dells,
fiower-bejewelled slopes, sihady forest recesses where
rare orchids bloom, deep canyons, sheltered 'Spots where
Indians make their summer homes, all invite the curious
and observant. The hunter may take his gun or riile;
the fisherman, his rod and line; the botanist, his flower-
wallet; the butterfly catcher, his net; the geologist, his
hammer; the bird-lover, his opera glasses; the photog-
rapher, his camera; and each and all will find adequate
occupation.
On the Monterey peninsula and in the Santa Cruz
moiuitains there are equal delights for the sightseer,
sportsman and scientist. Magnificently equipped hotels
provide stopping-places from which one may radiate
at will. To-day the objective point may be a pebbly
beach by the Pacific ; to-morrow, a golf or polo tourna-
ment; the next day some delightful lounging place on
a mountain height near a spring of cold mountain water ;
another day finds one coursing up and down the Santa
AutomoWling in California 371
Clara Valley, amazed at its hundreds of thousands of
richly blossoming prune trees or enjoying" the sight of
the ripening fruit, or the equally interesting period of
gathering, when armies of men and women pick the
fruit, long processions of wagons conveying it to the
driers and canneries, where other armies take it and
either can it or spread it out on trays for the sun to dry,
whence it is carefully packed ready to be sent to the
four quarters of the globe.
The San Joaquin Valley is equally interesting with
its scores of miles of vineyards, fig, olive, peach, apricot,
walnut and almond orchards, and its towering moun-
tain heights ranged in majestic grandeur on each side.
At the upper end, not far from Stockton, one may see
the fertile lands stolen from the San Joaquin and other
rivers, where crops of asparagus, potatoes and the like,
are taken in such immense quantities as almost to stag-
ger belief. At Fresno one may see the raisin-seeders at
work, those marvellous machines that accomplish the
apparently impossible, extracting the seeds from the
raisins with a speed and dexterity more than human.
At the proper season, picturesque bands of Chinese,
Japanese, Hindus and Swedish and Danish grape-pickers
may ijc found at work. This whole valley w-as once
an inland sea, then the home of nomad Indians and
bands of wild elk, deer, and antelope, then the site of
some of the largest grain fields in the world, where
immense machinery had to be invented in order to har-
vest the enormous crops. Now it is the scene of tens of
thousands of small farms, on which the happy and pros-
perous ow^ners have built simple, picturesque or ornate
residences, and from the fruitful acres of which millions
of tons of produce for the feeding of mankind and the
lower animals are annually shipped.
372 California, Romantic and Beautiful
On the eastern 'slopes of the Sierras, Mount Wihitney,
Mono Lake, Owens Lake, and scores more of natural
objects of great interest and curiosity offer their alluj-e-
ment. Good roads have been provided even here, and
one may go up into the Lake Tahoe region or to the
Yosemite or through into Nevada by this route.
Southern California also offers its incomparable at-
tractions. Winter and summer are alike here seasons
of delectation and enjoyment, unless one happens to
strike unusually heavy rains (such as occurred in Jan-
uary and February, 1914), or the occasional hot v^^inds
that blow in from the desert during the summer months.
It is hard for people unfamiliar with California to
believe that we who live here mean what we say when
we affirm and reaffirm that in the major part of Cali-
fornia it is equally delightful both summer and winter.
There is neither winter nor summer, as these terms are
generally used and understood in the North, East and
Middle West.
CHAPTER XXV
THE FESTIVAL SPIRIT IN CALIFORNIA
Does enviromnent affect the spirits of people?
Taine and scores of authorities, literary and scientific,
affirm that it does. I do not propose any attempt to
answer the question, but merely to state the fact that
something in California has produced a Festival Spirit
not observable to like extent elsewhere on the American
Continent, and in many respects, equalling that found
among the Latin races of Europe.
Furthermore, the outcome of this spirit is such that
I venture the affirmation that California has more varied,
distinctive and peculiarly appropriate festivals than any
country in the w^orld.
Like all other States California has its historic pag-
eants and festivals. These commemorate in striking
fashion the chief events in which their particular cities
are concerned or interested, as, for instance, San Diego
and Cabrillo. its discoverer; Monterey and Padre Ji-ini-
pero Serra, the founder of its mission ; San Francisco,
and Portola, the discoverer of its glorious Bay, and Bal-
boa, the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean.
N'aturally in these carnivals great stress is placed upon
the spirit of the heroes honoured. As I wrote at the
time of the Portola festival in the San Francisco Exam-
iner in reference to Balboa :
Who can think of that wonderful trip made over the
isthmus by the gallant Balboa with his handful of eighty
373
374 Galifornia, Romantic and Beautiful
soldiers and not be thrilled to the marrow ? He had not
amounted to much in his earlier years. He had fooled
away much of his time and disappointed his parents and
friends, but when the time of stress came, he was there.
All the manhood there was in him arose and asserted
itself.
He cried out to Fate : Bring on hardships, starvation,
hostile Indians, swamps, forests, tangled jungles, quick-
sands, impassable mountains, fevers, plagues, poisonous
and miasmic vapours ; bring them on — I dare, defy,
laugh at them all.
Nay ! I'll not wait for you to bring them. I will come
to meet them ; I will fall upon the Indians in their sleep ;
I will steal unexpected marches through the treacherous
and dangerous forests, quicksands and swamps ; I will
make tracks over the mountain before you know ; I will
meet, conquer and triumph, for I and my men possess
the " unconquerable souls of heroes," we are gods,
though in the germ.
That was the spirit of Balboa. He knew no defeat,
no discouragement, no disheartenment, and that is one
reason why San F'rancisco honours him.
In these festivals, however, California is Httle different
from all States that hold historic celebrations. Yet in
other and entirely unique ways. California is preemi-
nently a festival State. Every month, throughout the
year, some portion of it is in a state of carnival.
And the wonder is that the festivals, the carnivals,
the jollifications, are so varied. There is no monotony,
no duplication. In addition to the historic carnivals
there are climate carnivals — although that is not the
name they go by — as, for instance, the Pasadena Tour-
nament of Roses, held on New Year's day for the past
twenty-three years to demonstrate to the world what
The Festival Spirit in California ' 375
wonderful ilovver displays California can pnxluce in
the depth of winter.
At the same hour that the floral festivities are going
on in Pasadena a snow carnival is being held in the
Yosemite Valley, where tobogganing, sleighing, snow-
shoeing, snowballing, skating, and all the sports of win-
ter are being held amid the most stupendous and glo-
riously beautiful scenery of the American Continent.
Down at the beaches of Redondo. Venice and Long
Beach water carnivals are held at times of the year
when Atlantic bathers would dread the shock of the icy
cold waters of their ocean, and Christmas Eve sees scones
of thousands of San Franciscans on the streets that con-
verge towards Lotta's fountain on Market Street, listen-
ing to the ravishing strains of Kubelik's violin, or the
flute-like warbhngs and trillings of Teitrazzi-ni's match-
less voice.
Every day of the year, practically winter and summer
alike, the great Greek theatre at Berkeley is a festival
hall, where the population of the bay cities meet uncon-
sciously to celebrate California's marvellous climate.
For winter and summer, autumn and spring it is ever
open for concerts, recitals, plays, dramas, lectures, ser-
mons and the like, and its eight thousand seats are often
occupied and the standing room for two thousand addi-
tional people taken advantage of. And, by the way,
California is getting the open-air theatre habit. Ma-
dame Tingley long ago built an exquisite Greek temple
and theatre on the Pacific shore of Point Loma, near
San Diego. Avalon, on Catalina Island, Pomona, Mon-
rovia and several other towns have them, and now Colo-
nel Griffiths, of Los Angeles, is building one for the City
of the Angels that will seat frqm ten to thirty thousand
people, and with a possibility of enlargement to three
376 California, Romantic and Beautiful
times that size, and San Diego's is nearly completed
on the hill overlooking the Harbour of the Sun.
Then, while other States have their golf and tennis
tournaments, few have them winter and summer alike,
and California adds to these the joyous and exhilarating
game of polo. Tournaments of one or other, or all
three of these sports are held at Pasadena, Hotel Del
Monte, San Rafael, Hotel Del Coronado, and a score
of other places. Hayward and Vacaville have their
cherry carnivals, Sevastopol and Watsonville their apple
carnivals, Placerville its pear carnival, San Bernardino
its national orange show, Redondo its Easter carnation
festival ; Lodi, St. Helena and Fresno their grape car-
nivals, to which Fresno adds its raisin carnival.
This latter celebration is growing into nation-wide
fame, owing to the distribution of thousands of pounds
of raisins throughout the land. Granted it has a com-
mercial side, it's " magnificent advertising." Is it not a
tribute to something in the Fresno people that they can
plan, and carry out such advertising, and do it in the
Spirit that makes a real carnival of it at home? Fur-
thermoTe it is a real people's festival. It is sometliing
they want, pay for, plan for. arrange and carry out
themselves. All the cost is borne by themselves, and
mainly in small sums. And this is equally true of all
the California festivals. They are made possible by
the small contributions of the many people personally
interested.
To return, however, to the Festivals themselves.
Blythe and El Centro — the one in the Palo Verde and
the other in the Imperial Vallev — both hold cotton
festivals, for they now grow Egyptian cotton, with
finer, longer and stronger staple than any produced in
the South.
The Festival Spirit in California 377
And these are only some of the harvest festivals of
California, for there are a dozen others, like the Har-
vest Home festival of Bishop, the hop festival of Chico,
the beet festival of Oxnard, the sweet potato and Ber-
muda onion festival of Coachella Valley and the date
festival of Mecca.
Berkeley has an annual aquatic festival. Carmel-by-
the-Sea its historic pageant and open-air play, the Bohe-
mians of San Francisco their marvellous woods jinks
in their grove by the Russian River; Escondido its
grape carnival; Cloverdale its citrus fair; Concord its
walnut carnival. Elmhurst has an autumn carnival and
Van Nuys a poppy festival.
Healdsburg a combined harvest home festival and
an aquatic carnival on the Russian River, Oroville and
Crescent City, Santa Cruz and Monte Rio, all have
water carnivals ; Holtville, on the Colorado desert, a
New Year's day festival, triumphantly commemorative
of its winter agricultural and horticultural products ;
Los Banos, San Francisco, Pasadena and a score of
other cities have May Day festivals; Monterey its Fra
Junipero Serra day ; Oakland its Columbus carnival ;
Mt. Tamalpais its mountain forest play; Pacific Grove
its lantern festival.
Petaluma has its poultry fete; San Gabriel its Mis-
sion play ; San Leandro its cherry-ripe carnival ; Santa
Clara its Passion Play; Santa Cruz its orchid festival;
Santa Rosa its rose festival and battle of flowers; Ukiah
its hop festival and Ventura its San Miguel day.
The latest of all of California's characteristic festi-
vals to make a bid for popular favour, which it gained
in a remarkable degree was the Winter Straw Hat Pa-
rade of San Diego. Fortunately I happened to be pres-
ent, and, crowned with a gigantic Spanish straw som-
378 California, Romantic and Beautiful
brero, joined the revellers after witnessing the proces-
sion. It was several miles in length and everybody,
even the mascot horses, dogs, goats and a waddling
duck, wore straw hats, and the date was February the
second. Most of the men and boy paraders were in
their shirt-sleeves, for comfort, and the ladies were
all clothed in their lightest summer raiment, for, it is
a climatic fact that, as a rule, February in San Diego
is one of the warmest months of the year. The Straw
Hat Club began as a jest, but, finally, a clear-headed
citizen saw opportunity to make a day's unique celebra-
tion out of it, and this successful parade was its result.
In the brief account thus given of these festivals I
have written entirely from memory, and make no pre-
tence that the list is complete. Where can any other
country make such a showing?
Is it not well to look at the psychology of these car-
nival events? What is the secret behind them? Is it
not an unconscious, or conscious, expression of thank-
fulness to God for the superlative advantages California
offers to her sons and daughters — advantages they are
not slow to avail themselves of. advantages a^ varied
and many as they are remarkable and unique?
To some it may appear ahnost a sacrilege to place a
festival or pleasure carnival in the same category as a
Thanksgiving service, but I do so place it, and without
any hesitation or misgiving. We have hypnotized our-
selves too long with the belief that " religious " exercises
and expressions must be conducted in a church, in a
formal, solemn and dignified manner.
These methods are all right, but to assume that they
are the only legitimate methods of expressing thankful-
ness is both ridiculous and absurd.
The California mocking-bird is so full of thankful joy
The Festival Spirit in California 379
that he can't express it in the ordinary twelve hours
of daylight. He gets up and sings half the night to get
rid of it — or as one schoolboy happily expressed it in
his vernacular, " to get tlie joy off his chest."
As for the thrush, Browning expresses my idea of
him perfectly where he says :
" And he sings each song twice over
Lest you should think he cannot recapture
That first, fine, careless rapture."
Sings each song twice over in the passion of delight
that he feels !
There you have it! The natural spirit of thankful
joy that cannot keep silent if it would. That is the
spirit of all the real, spontaneous festivals and carnivals
of California. And the nearer they approximate to the
wild, simple, natural rapture of the bird the more real
and effective they are. The less formal they are the
better. For the natural and spontaneous always mean
more, express more, are more than the formal and
affected.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE INFLUENCE OF CALIFORNIA UPON LITERATURE
It is given to many countries and states to possess
creators of literature of a higher or lower class, and
for this gift of the gods those whom fortune has left
to be mere readers are grateful. But to few countries
has it been given that they, m themselves, are stimu-
lators of literature, that they fire the soul, arouse the
intellect and demand of the creator a definite place in
bis literary creations. Switzerland, Italy, Fi-ance, Eng-
land, Greece, have all influenced literature in this re-
spect, to a greater or a lesser degree. Every English-
man fully knows this as he recalls Browning's Home
Thoughts from Abroad; and Mrs. Browning's Casa
Giiidi Windows, Byron's Childc Harold, Tyndal's Rec-
reations in the Alps, will serve ais illustrations for Italy,
Greece and Switzerland.
But I doubt whether any country has so definitely
influenced literature of a high quality as has California.
Certainly no part of the United States, no, nor the whole
of it combined. For instance, I have elsewhere shown
how the Sierra Nevadas have inspired great writings.
I have made references to, and some quotations from,
Clarence King's Mountaineering in the Sierra Nei'ada
and John Muir's Mountains of California. To the most
exacting critic, even of the rigid and formal academic
type, these books are pure literature: personally I do
not hesitate to declare them classic. Add to these Muir's
380
Influence of California upon Literature 381
Yosemite I 'alley ,and My First Summer in the Sierras,
J. Smeaton Chase's Yosemite Trails and Joaquin Mil-
ler's Songs of the Sierras, First Fanmlies of the Sierras,
and Shadozvs of Mt. Shasta, together with Joseph Le
Conte's Ranihlings in the Sierras, and the mass of ex-
cellent descriptive material found in the Bulletins of the
Sierra Club, and it will be seen that the Sierras are
answerable for much that can truthfully be called liter-
ature.
In another chapter Bret Harte's vivid descriptions of
California, both in prose and poetry, are recalled. He
was saturated with what he saw and felt, and the Santa
Cruz Mountains and especially the placer-mining camp
regions of the Sierra Nevada foothills, from Plumas
County, where O'ne Horse Gulch was located, to Tuol-
umne County, in which Sonora, Jackass Flat, Tuttle-
town and Dow's Flat were situated.
Equa'lly entitled to consideration with Bret Harte's
best descriptive work is W. C. Bartlett's book of nature
essays, A Brecne From the Woods. Full of a quaint, dry
humour, exquisite in description, saturated with keen
sympathy and understanding this little volume is its
own passport. No one can challenge its right. Every
page is stamped with its author's gei^ius. ' The first
essay gave the book its title, and it originally appeared
as the premier article in the Overland Monthly in the
palmy days of Bret Harte's editorship. There are
eleven essays or chapters in all, and they are worthy
of Gilbert White, John Burroughs or Bradford Torrey,
and yet are different from them all in the fine, rare
individuality of their author. What fascinaibing pic-
tures does not this genial wit, genuine Nature-lover and
pure literary spirit give us of the Santa Cruz Moun-
tains, Mt. St. Helena, valleys and redwood forests in
382 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Mendocino County and nooks and recesses fit to engage
the attention of the gods. Here is one Httle quotation
to give a taste of his style ; " Observe the strong tend-
enc}'' in men, even of culture, to court the wildness and
rude energy of savage life. Let one sleep on the ground,
in a mild climate, for three months, and even the- man
who reads Homer in the original is content, often, to
sleep there the rest of hi.s life-time. It is better to tame
the savage rather cautiously, and with some reserve,
for if he be eliminated wholly, the best relations witli
Nature are broken off."
And does the world know that it was the stimulus
of California, the oxygen of the spirit of the West, that
started the fire of Mark Twain's genius? Many a fire
never passes the slovi', incipient stages for lack of
oxygen. California's open reaches and vast stretches
supplied this needful quality to Mark Twain, and he
sprang forth into vivid, luminous, warming fire that
never died down so long as he could hold a pen. The
Jumping Frog of Calaveras, and those wonderful Ta-
hoe, Nevada and Hawaiian sketches, were some of the
products of that fire. Surely the world cannot forget
its obligation to California for Twain.
It was here, too, that Palmer Cox's Brownies were
born, and Chimmie Fadden's creator first essayed litera-
ture in San Francisco. Gellett Burgess's fantastic genius
and Wallace Irwin's exuberant humour were born in
California. Hashamura Togo would not be tickling
people under the fifth rib to-day had it not been for
Irwin's fife in the Golden State.
Even Bayard Taylor owed much to California, world
traveller and writer though he was. There is nothing
finer in his poetry than The Pine Forest of Monterey,
written on the spot in 1849, and elsewhere in this vol-
Influence of California upon Literature 383
ume are the prophecies the land itself called forth from
1 his heart — one in prose, the other in verse. It is no
mean land that compels visions in the heart and brain
of one who has seen all the cultured and wild lands of
earth, and this fact alone is a speaking tribute to the
' compelling winsomeness of California.
Who that has ever read it can forget Edward Roland |
Sill's Christmas in California.
" Can this be Christmas — sweet as May,
With drowsy sun, and dreamy air,
And new grass pointing out the way
For flowers to follow, everywhere ?
" Has Time grown sleepy at his post,
And let the exiled summer back,
Or is it her regretful ghost,
Or witchcraft of the almanac ? "
And all through the twenty-one stanzas the sweet spirit
is caught and felt that there culminates :
" I am His creature, and His air
I breathe, where'er ray feet may stand;
The angels' song rings everywhere,
And all the earth is Holy Land."
Here is the triumph of genius which is led by the
immediate, circumscribed view to the knowledge of the
universal, the all-embracing.
His A)non(j the Redwoods, and his vivid pictures of .
Mt. Shasta can never die, and in his California Winter
one sees how he loved the East in spite of the power the
new western land had begun to exercise over him.
But many who are somewhat familiar with his poetry
are not aware of the rich treasures of his prose. Two j
of his essays — O/rr Tame Humming-birds and A
Rhapsody of Clouds — could only have been written
384 California, Romantic and Beautiful
by a poet fired to swift expression by the overwhelm-
ing, tender lovehness which fell upon his eyes. Ruskin
. never wrote anything finer about the clouds he so much
' loved than did Sill in this essay, which is full, too, of
interesting scientific observations told in the most fas-
cinating manner.
The clouds, or fogs, have inspired another fine piece
of literature, — written by a scientist, too, but one with
a poetic soul. Here are his opening words : " Cowled
and penitent like a Friar of Orders Gray, the City [San
Francisco] kneels in summer afternoons upon the lower
steps of the altar hills. Beneath the cassock of fog —
a loosely woven serge — are hopes, prayers, truth, and
gentleness. But also under that robe of gray lurk cun-
ning, greed, pride, aind pretense. Like the merciful
mantle of charity, tlie fog covers our many sins. We
who love the City» know that the gray covering stretched
overhead, while it dims the brightness of the sun, is at
once our richest asset and our greatest blessing."
Many a singer, like poor, unfortunate Richard Realf,
learned lessons of the Spirit in the beauty and glory,
the desert and crag of California. What profounder
poem of the soul is there in literature than his Indi-
rection.
" Fair are the flowers and the children, but their subtle suggestion is fairer;
Rare is the rosebud of dawn, but the secret that clasps it is rarer;
Sweet the exultance of song, but the strain that precedes it is sweeter;
And never was poem yet writ, but the meaning outmastered the meter.
" Great are the symbols of being, but that which is symboled is greater;
Vast the create and beheld, but vaster the inward creator;
Back of the sound broods the silence, back of the gift stands the giving;
Back of the hand that receives thrill the sensitive nerves of receiving."
Edwin Markham, too, is for ever indebted to Cali-
' fornia. Or shall we put it another way: The world
Influence of California upon Literature 385
that enjoys Markham is for ever, etc. It was on Cali- ,
fornia hills that he wrote:
" I ride on mountain tops, I ride;
I have found my life and am satisfied.
I am lifted elate — the skies expand:
Here the world's heaped gold is a pile of sand.
Let men weary and work in their narrow walls ;
I ride with the voices of waterfalls."
Frothingham, the biographer of Thomas Starr King,
the silver-tongued of the pulpit, the orator of the Sani-
tary Commission, whose soul's wings had taken flight
at sight of The White Hills of Nezv Hampshire, says
that the mountains and lakes of California inspired him
beyond himself, so that none of his nature writing
equalled two of the sermons he wrote — one on Lake
Tahoe and the other on the Sierra Nevadas — shortly
before he died.
Charles Frederick Holder, too, prince among princes
of nature writers, whose pen has never rested for nearly
forty years, has received this constant stimulus, so that
his recent books are as fresh, as exuberant, as spon-
taneous, as redolent of the wide, free spirit of Cali-
fornia as when he first came under its influence and
wrote his earliest little book on Pasadena, which is now
wiorth its weight in gold.
Two remarkable books owe their origin solely to
California's peculiar desert influences — these are John
C. Van Dyke's The Desert and Mary Austin's Land of '
Little Rain. Both are unusual, both were hailed by the
critics of every class with delight and both are destined
to live as literature. Professor Van Dyke, in /his Pref- ;
ace-Dedication contrasts the pure air and sunlight of
'the Colorado and Mohave Deserts with those of Italy
386 California, Romantic and Beautiful
and Egypt, and their colour with that of Venice, Cairo
and Constantinople. And he is no special advocate for
California. Yet he declared that " all the glory of the
old is as nothing to the gold and purple and burning
crimson of this new world." Furthermore he said:
^ " The desert has gone a-begging for a word of praise
these many years. It never had a sacred poet; it has
in me only a lover. But I trust that you, and the nature-
loving public you represent, will accept this record as
at least truthful. Given the facts perhaps the poet with
his fancies will come hereafter."
In reading this I wonder wihether Mr. Van Dyke ever
< read Madge Morris's poem To the Colorado Desert,
or Joaquin Miller's poems, some of which are elsewhere
quoted in these pages. And there are many lesser poets
who have been stirred to lines of beauty and power by
these same surpassing wastes that inspired Mr. Van
Dyke's prose-poem. For, from beginning to end, the
whole two hundred and thirty-three pages of this book
are poetry — of description, of imagination, of science
— put into prose form.
So, also, is Mary Austin's book. There is not a page
of it that is not rich in poetic fancy or description. It
was a revelation of the chann and allurement to be
found in the desert region east of the Sierras. •
Frank Norris was one who speedily fell under the
spell of California landscapes. Nothing came amiss to
him, from Mt. Shasta to Death Valley. His pictures
of the San Joaquin Valley have never been surpassed,
and those of the desert are equal to Van Dyke at his best.
i Look at this from McTeagne:
" The day was magnificent. From horizon to horizon
was one vast span of blue, whitening as it dipped earth-
ward. Miles upon miles to the east and southeast the
Influence of California upon Literature 387
desert unrolled itself, white, naked, inhospitable, palpi-
tating and shimmering under die sun. unbroken by so
muoh as a rock or cactus stump. In the distance it
assumed all manner of faint colours, pink, purple, and
pale orange. To the west roise the Panamint Range,
sparsely sprinkled w ith gray sage-brush ; here the earths
and sands were yellow, ochre, and rich deep red, the
hollows and canyons picked out with intense blue shad-
ows. It seemed strange that such barrenness could
exhibit this radiance of colour, but nothing could have
been more beautiful than the deep red of the higher
bluffs and ridges, seamed with purple shadows, stand-
ing sharply out against the pale-blue whiteness of the
horizon.
" By nine o'clock the sun stood high in the sky. The
heat was intense; the atmosphere was thick and heavy
with it. McTeague gasped for breath and wiped the
beads of perspiration from his forehead, his cheeks and
his neck. Every inch and pore of his skin was tingling
and pricking under the merciless lash of the sun's
rays. . . .
" The sun rose higher ; hour by hour, as he tramped
steadily on, the heat increased. The baked dry sand
crackled into innumerable tiny flakes under his feet.
The twigs of the sage-brush snapped like brittle pipe-
stems as he pushed through them. It grew hotter. At
eleven the earth was like the surface of a furnace; the
air, as McTeague breathed it in, was hot to his lips
and the roof of his mouth. The sun was a disk of
mcJlten brass swimming in the burnt-out blue of the
sky. ...
"The heat grew steadily fiercer; all distant objects
were visibly shimmering and palpitating under it. At
noon a mirage appeared on the hills to the northwest.
388 California, Romantic and Beautiful
McTeague halted the mule. ... As soon as he ceased
his tramp and the noise of his crunching, grinding foot-
steps died away, the silence, vast, illimitable, enfolded
him like an immeasurable tide. From all that gigantic
landscape, that colossal reach of baking sand, there arose
not a single sound. Not a twig rattled, not an insect
hummed, not a bird or beast invaded that huge solitude
with a call or cry. Everything as far as the eye could
reach, to north, to south, to east, and west, lay inert,
absolutely quiet and moveless under the remorseless
scourge of the noon sun. The very shadows shrank
away, hiding under sage-bushes, retreating to the far-
thest nooks and crevices in the canyons of the hills.
All the w^orld was one blinding glare, silent, motionless."
There! It almost takes my breath away to quote it,
for it is not only literature, intense, vivid, powerful
description by a master hand, but it is literally true,
for I have wandered over the region as did McTeague.
Think of the idea that the remorseless scourge of the
noon sun was so all-reaching that it made " the shadows
shrink away, hiding under sage-bushes and retreating
to the farthest nooks and crevices in the canyons of the
hiHs." '
Now set against this some of Jack London's descrip-
tions of the snow land of the north, which while written
I of Alaska are perfectly true of portions of winter Cali-
fornia :
" Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen
waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind
of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean
toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading
light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land
itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so
* McTeague, by Frank Norris, Doubleday and McClure Co., New York.
Influence of California upon Literature 389
lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of
sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a
laughter more terrible than any sadness — a laughter
that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laugh-
ter cold as tlie frost and partaking of the grimness of
infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable
wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and
the effort of life."
The above from White Fang; the following from
The Son of the U^olf:
" Nature has many tricks wherewith she convinces
man of his finity, — the ceaseless flow of the tides, the
fury of the storm, the shock of the earthquake, the long
roll of heaven's artillery, — but the most tremendous,
the most stupefying of all, is the passive phase of the
White Silence. All movement ceases, the sky clears,
the heavens are as brass; the slightest whisper seems
sacrilege, and man becomes timid, affrighted at the
sound of his own voice. Sole speck of life journeying
across the ghostly wastes of a dead world, he trembles
at his audacity, realizes that his is a maggot's life, noth-
ing more. Strange thoughts arise unsummoned, and
the mystery of all things strives for utterance. And the
fear of death, of God, of the universe, comes over him,
— the hope of the Resurrection and the Life, the yearn-
ing for immortality, the vain striving of the imprisoned
essence, — it is then, if ever, man walks alone with
God."
Ramona is another evidence of California's power
over literary genius. The wrongs of the Indians, the
departed glory of the Franciscan Missions, the gor-
geousness of the floral growths, the charm of the moun-
tains and valleys, the beauty of the trees are all set
forth in its pages and help to keep it the " best seller "
390 California, Romantic and Beautiful
of American novels for a continuous period of over
thirty years.
Jack London's books, some of them, are fairly sat-
urated, as he himself is, with California. Merely to
name the books that revel in accurate descriptions,
limned with a master hand, would be to fill one or two
pages of this volume. He has for ever immortalized
Sonoma, " the Valley of the Moon," where he lives,
Oakland, the Piedmont and Berkeley Hills, and the Bay
of San Francisco.
So, also, has Gertrude .Vtherton utilized her home
country and cities in some of her most powerful novels.
Poetry and romance ! romance and poetry ! How-
could the poet keep still when he found himself in an
atmosphere redolent of poetry and romance. When
John S. McGroarty's feet t(mched El Camino Real —
the King's Highway — he burst into song:
" It's a long road and sunny, and the fairest in the world —
There are peaks that rise above it in their snowy mantles curled,
And it leads from the mountains through a hedge of chaparral,
Down to the waters where their sea gulls call.
" It's a long road and sunny, it's a long road and old.
And the brown padres made it for the flocks of the fold;
They made it for the sandals of the sinner-folk that trod
From the fields in the open to the shelter-hoi^se of God."
Marah Ellis Ryan, whose Told in the Hills has thrilled
countless thousands both in book form and on the stage,
came to California, and immediately, like Helen Hunt
Jackson, she yielded to the aillurement of the climate,
the scenery, the old Franciscan Missions and the Indians,
and, taking up a year's residence in the padre's room
at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, wrote her For
the Soul of Rafael. Constance Goddard Du Bois fell
Influence of California upon Literature 391
under the same spell, and gave the world a literary gem
in A Soul in Bronze.
The curse of the world in all ages has been the dom-
ination of the past, the bondage to dead men's ideas,
the cringing spirit of imitation. Genius has been stifled
because in its unconsciousness it dared. Before sophis-
tication it sang out in its natural strains and because
these were tuned differently, rhythmed to a different
meter, and especially when they dared a new theme,
or new treatment the Old arose and smote with bloody
hand and the rest of the choir drew back afraid.
But, thank God, the pure sweet voices of the unso-
phisticated could not all be restrained, and glad uncon-
sciousness has winged their songs into the air, and,
somehow, California has gendered greater daring, more
stalwart bravery in its indifference and bold defiance
of standard themes and methods of treatment, than is
found elsewhere. Hence there is as rich a variety in its
literature as in its scenery, and as great a gamut as in
its climate and topography.
And one of its chief values to the world is that very
freedom, spontaneity, naturalness. Its insistent cry is
that shouted aloud by Wordsw^orth, Shdlley, Ruskin.
Browning, Carlyle, and that the world must hear and
heed if it would live in healthful happiness.
Another difference is in the rugged strength of its
songs. As one of its own singers has said, California
seems to have grown weary of the weak, effeminate
voices that murmur and moan and complain, and has
demanded stronger, more real and rugged, living voices :
" I am tired of effeminate singers,
Who mutter a bitter refrain;
Whose nervous intractable fingers
Strike discords again and again.
392 California, Romantic and Beautiful
O give me a music that lingers
Like dawn on a storm-driven main;
Like bells out at sea, when the ringers
Take heart and take hope from the strain."
So from its crags and peaks, its canyons and forests
have come the strong, stalwart voices of Miller and
Markham, Bierce and Tv^ain, Realf and Sterling, Lon-
don and Atherton, Austin and Bartlett, in prose and
poetic melodies of radiant manhood and womanhood,
and all combining to make a harmonic chorus that shall
delight, instruct and enthuse the world.
CHAPTER XXVII
California's influence upon art
One of the catchwords that began to have tremen-
dous vogue in the latter part of the nineteenth century
was " Environment." Our scientific philosophers in-
sisted that even the hitherto supposedly all-potent force
of heredity was compelled to yield to the later and
greater power of Environment. And thereupon began
to creep into our methods of education a new note.
Literature and history responded to it, so that now, in
tracing the history, past or potential, of any person or
nation, Environment is accorded a great and influential
place. Taine, in his masterly analysis of English litera-
ture has shown us the effect Environment had upon its
development and manifestations, and all the recent wri-
ters on Greece and Grecian history attribute the light-
heartedness and physical perfection of the nation by
the yEgean Sea to the radiant climatic conditions with
which they were surrounded.
The chapter on Literature briefly shows how Cali-
fornia has influenced this manifestation of man's
thought. What follows is suggestive as to how Cali-
fornia has helped to influence man in other phases of
his art life.
California runs riot in colour. The desert — Nature's
experimental palette board — the mountains, the for-
ests, the canyons, the foothills, the valleys, the sea-shore,
the islands, the sky, the atmosphere, the sun, the night
393
394 California, Romantic and Beautiful
luminaries, — what a full orchestra of colour it is. No
gray melodies, no colourless isingle instruments, but
gtlorious combinations of melody, harmony, soul-satis-
fying chords, compelling dissonances, unique resolutions,
played with every instrument known to Nature — earth,
sand, rock, weed, shrub, plant, tree, mountain, atmos-
phere and the keen observer can scarcely tell whether
sun or atmosphere is the more powerful in staining
everything, dominating, diirecting. What a land of
light and colour it is, flooding, bathing, invigorating
everything and everybody. Well may the bloodless and
colourless of other regions be attracted to it. They
come and absorb sunlight from our great river of life
as it flows through space in every direction. They drink
it in; eyes, nostrils, mouth, pores of the skin all receive
it, and thirstily take in its life-giving power. As nour-
ishing in its way as food, more necessary in some ways
than drink, more satisfying than wine, it is the universal
elixir and rejuvenator, the benign restorer of health,
youth, vigour, life.
It is, therefore, a great land for the artist, but a land
that teaches him, flaunts his ordinary puny training in
colour, seizes him by the throat, as it were, or gently
leads him by the hand, arouses him, soothes him, irri-
tates him, allures him with coJour melodies, hannonies,
concertos, and symphonies he never dreamed of before.
Surf, waves, billows, oceans of colour; torrents, rivers,
streams, rivulets, cataracts, cascades, sprinklings, drops
of colour; colour near by, colour in perspective, colour
in mass, colour in dots, streaks, flashes, areas, vast
plains; colours simple and complex, harmonizing and
clashing, separate and combined, loud and soft, timid
and bold, exuberant and quiet ; colours of dignity and
colours of frivolity, of pride and humility, — but all of
California's Influence upon Art 395
life, rich, full, abounding, various life; life free, abim-
dant, glorious.
This I claim as one of the marvels of California's
influence, one of its supreme gilories, that it has so dom-
inant a power over the artist. It is a new world, a new
environment, where new conditions simply demand new
expressions, and ere they know it, all save the most hide-
bound and obstinate, the most formal and self-centred,
are swept off their conventional feet, out of their con-
ventional atmosphere, beyond their conventional bounds,
away from their conventional limitations into the world
of spontaneity, naturalness and God-given, God-guided
freedom. The blood is fired with new fire, the brain
with new stimulation, the imagination with new thrills,
the sou'l with purer, truer, more natural inspirations.
In this new atmosphere the artist is no longer like Cin-
derella by the fireside, content with the humdrum drudg-
ery of the studio. He is thrilled with the passion of
being. He dares lift up his eyes and dance with the
princess of life herself in a spontaneous abandon of
naturalness that is as nectar to his thirsty soul. His
sight expands, his vision enlarges, his imagination soars.
Bounds are removed. He sees and feels now as never
before the Hmitless scope of his art. The beauty of Cali-
fornia is the Divine vision that has freed him, sent him
forth with the assurance that he is called of God in his
work and shall soon prove his power, win his spurs,
demonstrate his mastery.
I am well aware that all this may seem like a rhapsody
to the formal-minded, the stern and self -repressed, but
to me it is the very truth of God, and I cannot empha-
size, as much as I would like, that I deem it of the
highest significance that California possesses this power
over the minds of artists, leading them to a greater
396 California, Romantic and Beautiful
reliance upon the spontaneous, natural, even exuberant
expressions of what she presents to them. In the world
of art, as elsewhere, periods of faddism assert them-
selves. During these unfortunate epochs those who rely
upon the schools for guidance dabble about within the
circumscribed bounds and kill any original power they
may possess. But no such person can come to Cali-
fornia, sketch from Nature, and not be led speedily and
unconsciously away from all unnatural and (artificial
limitations. Her mountains that bathe in lakes of
purest blue ether, companion the stars and invite the
attentions of the cairessing clouds, lure the true artist
to studies that go beyond the bounds of the classroom.
He must watch the transient colours of sunrise and sun-
set — those peach-blov/^s and rose-mists and burning
blazes of oranges and madders — until they have burned
themselves into his consciousness; he must watch them
as they paint the mountains of the desert, the peaks of
the snow-crowned Sierras, the deep recesses of the can-
yon gorges, colour the face of the ocean and the sleeping
islands, and then, unless he be absolutely hide-bound
mentally, afraid of his own shadow, not daring to call
his soul his own, he will " let go " of the binding dis-
cipline of the past, and dare to be his own free, natural,
exuberant interpreter of God's beautiful world. He soon
learns the sublime audacity of impassioned youth, and,
if he keep his inspirations pure, gains them from the
fountain-head itself, revels in Nature, abstains from the
demoralizing and sense-blunting narcotics, stimulants
and over- feeding and drinking of a sensuous if not de-
based society, he is bound to become the true artist, —
he who expresses perfectly, because he expresses his love
for, his joy in, his work.
What matter if for a time he be too exuberant, too
California's Influence upon Art 897
joyous, too spontaneous, too free? Time will (juiet him
down soon enough ; and in the meantime all the world
loves a lover. It will rejoice in his exuberance, and the
sensible and sober-minded even will be glad for his joy-
ousness. The world of to-day is sad enough, solemn
enough, formal enough, fashionable enough. It needs
a little of the opposite; not of cigarette smoking, wine-
and whiskey-drinking stimulation, which leads to bes-
tiality, but of true, simple, youthful naturalness, the
same spirit that makes the frolicsomeness of the colt,
the calf, the puppy, or the horse turned loose from its
stall. Such an one mounts as on the wings of eagles,
runs and is not weary, walks and is not faint.
Most men become plodders soon enough.
Here in California, however, I have seen this magic
influence at work. I have watched William Keith, hair
■white as snow, eye dimmed with years, yet the fire of
youth in his soul, paint with a fervour that seemed al-
most feverish, so keen was his desire to catch the visions
inspired by his beloved California trees and mountains.
I have watched Carl Eytel on the desert, racked with
a hacking and persistent cough, tramping miles and miles
over the weary, hot, sandy plains, and then so eager to
transcribe for the world the glory of colour revealed
only in these secret places that he would tremble with
the glory and passion that had taken possession of him.
My friend. Dean W. L. Judson, of the Fine Arts Col-
lege of the University of Southern California, is no
longer young. His hair is white, his body frail, yet he
seems possessed with a spirit of youth and vigour that
cannot be suppressed. I have watched him as we have
journeyed down the Colorado River, when the order was
given to " Make Camp." Before the boat touched the
shore his easel, canvas, paint-box, brushes, palette and
398 California, Romantic and Beautiful
stool were ready, and before die boat's painter was made
fast, the artist painter was at work, fain to catch the
colours of a rapidly dying day in that rarefied and glori-
fied atmosphere.
Thomas Hill was thrilled with the Yosemite, as is
Best to-day, and Chris Jorgensen flees to the Pligh Sier-
ras and the Big Trees, Cadenasso to the eucalyptus, Miss
McCormick to the blue waters and quaint houses of Old
Monterey, Wendt and Symons to the rugged shores of
Laguna Beach, the hillsides of San Juan or the rocky
creek-bed of the Sespi. Brown worships in the foothills
and glorious summits of the Sierra Madre, Bond Fran-
cisco to the stateliness of the pines and the gorgeous
glowing of the desert, and a score, a hundred, thrill with
the same inspiration gained from California's inexhaust-
ible treasure house of beauty, glory, sublimity and maj-
esty.
California generates naturally the same spirit that
has made of the Italians a nation of artists and art-
lovers. It is not an easy task to convert the hard-headed,
stolid, reserved Teuton into the exuberant, joyous, spon-
taneous and natural. He is too afraid of being laughed
at. But against himself California wins. He yields as
did Turner, Tintoretto, and all the great colourists of
the past. California says so definitely : " Be not
afraid ! " that his fears are allayed and he steps out
boldly, trusting the inspiration that has come to his
own soul rather than the academic teaching of some
dry-as-dust professor, who has not climbed a mountain
in his lifetime.
Perhaps not all artists feel as I have suggested. There
is much in temperament; and it is not necessary that
all should feel exactly the same. It is enough that some
feel and respond. One Turner change 1 the artistic
California's Influence upon Art 399
thought of the world, when he found his interpreter
and expounder in Ruskin. There has been only one
Tintoretto, one Vandyke, one Angelo, yet each have
influenced the whole world. America is still in the
thralldom of fear of European " authority." She does
not know that it is better
" Youth
Should strive, through acts uncouth,
Toward making, than repose on aught found made."
Far better the gaucheries, the crudeness, the simplicity,
of natural youth, struggling for the ideal, than the per-
fections of unnatural work of low aim.
Hence in nothing does California rejoice me more
than in that it is compelling the world of literature and
of art, the world of men and women, to a more natural
outlook upon life, more natural and spontaneous modes
of expression, and, therefore, more nearly perfect real-
izations of life and its purposes.
CHAPTER XXVIII
California's domestic architecture
God is the great artist in architecture as in everything
else. He makes no mistakes and His methods are per-
fect. N^o one can criticize a straight Hne. a circle, a
sphere, a spiral, an oval, all the other " natural " forms.
They are natural, but also divine and, therefore, perfect
and above criticism. Nature, however, does not confine
herself to the simpler forms. Complex forms are just
as " natural "' as simple, if they are real. But in his
reaching after the beautiful, the ideal, in seeking out
many inventions, man has wandered far from the path-
way of purity, of certainty, of naturalness. To find the
right path it is well for him to unlearn, to forget, to
stick to the fundamentals. It may be tedious, but it is
the only sure and certain path. He must build firm,
solid, " deep upon the nether springs," and then take
his further steps cautiously, knowing they are true steps,
firmly planted and upon solid foundations. This is the
secret of the great appeal of the architecture of the Mis-
sions — that created by the Franciscan friars in Cali-
fornia. While Washington and his compeers were fra-
ming a new government for the benefit of mankind, the
Franciscan friars, on the other side of the Continent,
were framing a new architecture for the world's instruc-
tion, rather than copying what some one bad done before
them. For they refused to copy. They followed simple,
primitive, natural fonus, and created structures of such
400
California's Domestic Architecture 401
power, dignity, grandeur and sublimity as to compel an
ever-growing respect from all the thinkers and beauty-
lovers of the world.
These men were not architects. They had had neither
training nor experience. They were without traditions.
Hence to many their success seems little less than mar-
vellous. And certainly it would be more than marvel-
lous, it would be miraculous, were it not for the sure
and certain working out of the fundamental principle
I have laid down, viz., that when one sticks to elemen-
tals and then builds slowly, adhering closely the while
to the Divine as revealed in Nature, he cannot fail to
build with power, dignity, grandeur and sublimity. Suc-
cess is natural, is assured before one knows what he
has accomplished.
Not only, however, has California developed this ec-
clesiastical style of architecture. It has done more.
Another style has grown up spontaneously, exuberantly,
naturally upon our soil, and is known as the California
" Bungalow."
This term as originally used in India was applied to
a one-story structure, covered with either thatch or tiles
and surrounded by a veranda. The California type
materially varies. It is not confined to one story though ;
the major proportion of the structures erected and bear-
ing the name are of the so-called one story and a half
height.
If one accepts a strict definition of architecture, such
as that given by Vitruvius, wherein he requires that
every true building possess " stability, utility and
beauty," he would be compelled to confess that many
so-called California bungalows could not be classed as
specimens of architecture. Too many architects, in their
striving after the " original," and possessing only the
402 California, Romantic and Beautiful
spirit of the copyist make buildings that are neither
stable, useful nor beautiful. They feel there should be
conformity between their buildings and the God-blessed
country in which they find themselves, yet, because they
know not the fixed principles of the art they vainly pro-
fess, they become blind leaders of the blind and follow
or create fads, which the ignorant (even though rich)
public too often accept.
Some imagine that because the climate of California
is exceedingly friendly to man that, therefore, careful
construction in the architecture of the home is not neces-
sary. This is entirely false reasoning. Houses in warm
climates demand just as careful construction as those
in cold climates. Walls that keep out cold are necessary
to keep out heat. Stability under all conditions that
may arise demands the same anchorage, or secure foun-
dations, and proper " bonding " of materials in warm
countries as in cold.
The true paths of any art are always the true, simple
and natural ones. John Ruskin did not write his Seven
Lamps of Architecture in vain if he merely taught the
thoughtful of the American people that architecture is
an outward manifestation of inner and spiritual life.
We build as we are. If we are poor, proud and pre-
tentious our architecture is poor, proud and pretentious.
If we are sham and shoddy our architecture is sham
and shoddy. If we " make believe," our houses, stores
and office-buildings also " make believe." There is a
vast amount of " zinc front " in our civilization, hence
it is not uncommon to see pretentious buildings with
massive "stone" ornamentations — all of which exam-
ination reveals to be zinc, sprinkled with brown stone,
or painted to deceive the eye. As one witty friend re-
marked about the architecture of a certain striking
California's Domestic Architecture 403
church building- : " It is Queen Anne in front, but Mary
Ann behind."
The true architect will sternly set his face against
all structural sham or dishonesty. Sincerity will be his
first wiatchword, both in " style " and material. He is
as close to God as were the first great architects — the
Greeks, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Moguls, Tartars
and others who created what we are pleased to term
" styles " of architecture. These creators put into stable
and beautiful form the high ideals of their age, or of
their own souls. Why cannot our architects do the
same? Wihy not embody the spirit of our age, of our
beautiful country and its friendly climate? The inspi-
ration is here in tlie atmosphere, in the " everv'thing "
of this highly-favoured land. That there are some sin-
cere, true, earnest souls reaching out for these things
in architecture the observant visitor will discover. San
Francisco, Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, Fresno, Stock-
ton, Los Angeles. Pasadena, San Diego — all, and many
other cities possess these men and women ; for it must
not be forgotten that many women have successfully
entered the architectural field in this State of Equal Op-
portunities. But there is one architect whose work I
wish especially to call attention to because he has dared
to endeavour to do fully what I have tried to express.
This architect is Irving G. Gill, of Los Angeles and
San Diego. Early impressed by the wonderful adapt-
ability of the architecture of the Missions to the climate
and scenic environment of California he sought, not as
so many architects have done, to imitate or follow after
in their work, but to absorb from the original sources
of their inspiration. There is all the difference in the
world between more or less slavish copying, even though
genius may aid one to modify with pleasing effect, and
404 California, Romantic and Beautiful
gaining the original inspiration and allowing it to work
out in its own new way, as, in the Missions it then
worked.
I would enjoy giving several pictures of Mr. Gill's
work, but the limitations of space forbid. The interested
visitor to Los Angeles will find them. He may not be
pleased with them, at first sight, but as he studies and
his vision becomes clearer, he will find that truth, purity,
simplicity and naturalness have been his guides. He
will also discover that the " colour " values of this col-
ourful land have been utilized in a remarkable degree.
Slowly, but surely, architects are awakening to the
possibilities colour in verdure, in sunrise and sunset, in
atmospheric glow, affords them, not as a chance or hap-
hazard, but as a definite and reliable factor. Califor-
nians, some day, will cooperate with Nature in the use
of colour as the Italians do. Comparatively few now
do it, but when they do, who can conceive the results?
Here is a Congregational oburch at Riverside with a
square tower in the style of the Spanish renaissance.
The base for forty feet up is one square solid wall of
gray concrete. What a background for trailing Boston
vines, masses of poinsettias, and banks of reddish-yellow
cannae.
On Raymond Hill, at Pasadena, stands the hotel of
that name, with a proprietor who has an Italian sense
of colour. The building is a modem California mani-
festation of Spanish renaissance, with red tiled roofs,
square towers of brownish yellow, and great walls, cut
up with a thousand and one windows that reflect the
sun. It is a joy to see the bougainvilleas climb the
verandas, the masses of roses of different shades, the
beds of alluring pinks, the great stretches of green lawn,
the cunningly placed cypresses, the deep-toned oranges
California's Domestic Architecture 405
with their winter waxen blossoms, green fruit and yel-
lowing globes beautifying the walls and angles, porches
and entrances of the simply coloured buildings.
Mr. Gill is so fully imbued with this idea that he
demands the privilege, as part of his work as an archi-
tect, of laying out the garden that is to surround it.
Here in California we have gardens all the year around,
hence flowers, shrubs and trees are a stable factor in
the beautifying of a home. The house colour or tint
should set off the colour scheme of the garden, so that
every view coming towards the house is pleasing both
to its permanent and temporary resident.
In house interiors, also, colour must be taken into
consideration, not alone in the loud and vivid " colour
schemes " so often used, or even in the more modest
and gentler " tones," but in those subtler influences that
one at first scarce perceives, but which, when his senses
are attuned to them give the perceptive mind the keenest
delight.
Who has not noticed how a room has taken on a
new and pleasing tone by the introduction, say, of a
burnished copper bowl, or a piece of blue china? Who
has not seen a dining table illuminated with a basket of
roses, a greater or lesser mass of violets or jonquils?
Banks of golden cosmos will give a new glory to the
yellow candle-shades and add a richness to the hue of
any room, while the glare of an electric light is trans-
formed into a poem of colour by surrounding it with
a sea shell in which lurks the tint of the abalone or the
pearl.
When the building of homes is conducted in accord-
ance with the fundamental spirit I have sought to out-
line true architecture is bound to be the result, and this
distinction I claim for the work of Mr. Gill.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE JOURNEY TO CALIFORNIA
There are six routes to California from the East,
North and South. These are respectively known as the
" Central Route " of the Union and Southern Pacific
from Omaha to San Francisco; the "Sunset Route"
of the Soutliern Pacific from New Orleans to Los An-
geles and San Francisco; the " Portland Route " of the
Southern Pacific from Portland to San Francisco and
Los Angeles ; the " Santa Fe Route " of the Atchison,
Topeka, and Santa Fe from Chicago to Los Angeles and
San Francisco; the " Salt Lake Route '' of the San
Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake from Salt Lake to
Los Angeles; the " Feather River Route " of the West-
em Pacific from Chicago to San Francisco.
Hence the visitor has his choice of routes. The vari-
ous connections of these difi^erent lines also afford many
combinations, so that one may travel across the conti-
nent a dozen or more times, and each time find some
new and fascinating portion of our incomparable coun-
try for sight-seeing and study.
It is doubtful, however, whether in America any thou-
sand miles of railway can be found that contains as much
of scenic, ethnologic, antiquarian, geologic and historic
interest as does the stretch of the Santa Fe line from
a hundred miles east of Albuquerque, N. M., to the Pa-
cific Coast.
406
The Journey to California 407
This is practically the old Santa Fe trail, and over it
journeyed the great, heavy, lumbering- wagons — the
prairie schooners of the '40's and '50's — of the last
century, crossing the plains from Independence, Mo., to
Santa Fe, and later, across New Mexico and Arizona
to California. Later it was the route of thousands of
gold seekers, many of whom came to California with ox
teams. One could well write a book over this trail and
not exhaust its romance. But centuries before either
traders or gold seekers crossed over it from East to
West, the old Spanish conquistadores had learned much
about what it had to offer. On horseback, with mules,
burros or afoot, they came up from Sonora — first
Marcos de Nizza on his trip of reconnaissance, then Cor-
onado with his brave band of gold hunters, and zealous
Franciscan priests.
I Read Marah Ellis Ryan's Flute of the Gods, and study
the history of the Missions of New Mexico, and feel
your heart thrill at the conflict between the religions of
the two civilizations. Sure they were right, the brown-
gowned Friars Minor demanded acceptance of the relig-
ion they offered. Equally true they were right, the sha-
mans of the pueblo Indians invoked their time-honoured
gods of sun and sky, rain and storm, earth and heaven,
— that wonderful pantheon of gods that most American
writers know so little of, — and braved the white man's
death and hell rather than consent to their bronze broth-
ers and sisters receiving the new religion.
Then read of the dread day of Santana, Aug. 10,
1680, when all the Indians of the pueblos, from Taos
on the north to Zuni on the south and Oraibi on the
west, arose as one man and smote hip and thigh every
Spaniard they could reach. It reads like a chapter of
the Old Testament, where the orders were that not a
408 California, Romantic and Beautiful
soul — man, woman or child — should be spared. The
hated priests were burned alive, cast off cliffs, beheaded,
brained with war-clubs, scalped, and every one of the
detested new race was made to feel the deep and unal-
terable antagonism of the red to the white.
Equally as wonderful as its history is the scenery of
the land. The Painted Desert is there, and the Petrified
Forest with its quaintly carved hieroglyphics on the
near-by rocks; the Cliff and Caveate Dwellings; the
Meteorite Mountain; Sunset Crater; the Navaho
Church ; the Enchanted Mesa ; the sand and wind-
carved Mesas; the Mogollon Buttes; the Red-RDck
Country ; the Verdi, Tonto and Oak-Creek basins ; the
gigantic Agua Fria and San Mateo Craters; the miles
and miles of lava flows ; the ice-caves ; the sacred moun-
tains of the Navahos, — Pelade, San Mateo, San Fran-
cisco, — and in addition there is that most superlative
of the world's scenic glories — the Grand Canyon.
Time was when we had to reach it by means of stage,
wagon or horseback. Now a branch line of the Santa
Fe, starting from Williams, strikes almost straight north
across the Painted Desert and reaches the Canyon at
its very rim, where a commodious, picturesque and alto-
gether appropriate hotel, " El Tovar," receives the guest
and makes him feel at home. My old friend Brandt
has been its host ever since it was built, and his genial
and charming wife makes a worthy better-half in watch-
ing out for the comfort of the visitor. The porch of
the hotel directly overlooks the Canyon. Across the
abyss, to the right, is the black line, zigzagged and rough,
of the Bright Angel Creek, which gives its name to
the *' Fault " on this side, in the shattered strata of
which the Indians, centuries ago, following the rude
first trails of the mountain sheep, antelope, deer and
The Journey to California 409
other wild animals, made the first human footprints and
outlined the trail down which well-trained mules and
horses now convey thousands and thousands, and still
more thousands, of delighted, enchanted, awe-inspired
men and w'omen.
What a glory the Canyon is. Imagine a range of
mountains, the two opposite sides treated as if they were
two slates hinged at their tops, the bases opened up
and the summits thrust deep into earth's bosom. But
the " slates " are miles and miles thick, and the " moun-
tains " a mile or more high, so that as we stand on
those reversed bases that are now respectively the north
and south " rims " of the Canyon, and look down, we
see ravines, gorges, canyons, precipices, bluffs, towers,
pinnacles, buttes, solitary mountains and peaks, temples,
colonnades, arches, domes, — every conceivable feature
of rock and structure — a mile-deep abyss full of them,
but all on such a gigantic scale as to appear like the
vast, hideous, stupendously overwhelming objects of a
nightmare made real, transfused with radiant splendour,
dashed over with all the colours of the sunrise, sunset,
and rainbow in combinations never revealed to man
before, and transfigured with a glory as if from the
very throne of God.
Not an " inferno," as one graphic writer called it,
even though " savathed in celestial fires," for when the
eye of the mind becomes more accustomed to the tre-
mendous sight it grows to be a newer, better, larger
city of the blest, smiled upon by the Divine, a place for
angels, not demons, for transformed men, for such men
as the ages will yet lure from the protoplast when the
time is ripe for their coming.
Several trails now lead into these depths, each one
more wonderful than the other, reminding one of the
410 California, Romantic and Beautiful
Irishman's definition of American democracy, where
" every man is as good as every other man, and better."
For each trail has its own individuaHty, and it is so
overwhelming, so stupendous, so mentally overpowering
and dominating that while you are in its presence you
can scarcely think of other trails or scenes with which
to compare it.
Do not think that you can " see " this Canyon, " do
it," in a day or two, or even in a week. You must ride
on its rim, camp with its glories on points many and
various, go down all its trails, roam over its interior
plateaus, gaze up and down its manifold precipices,
stand at the base of its towering castellated structures,
gaze upon its wide-sweeping colonnades from below as
well as above, cross its raging river and climb up to
the looo-feet higher rim of the north side, and travel
a hundred or two miles east and west there, ere you
shall dare to begin to say you " know " the Grand Can-
yon. Be humble, be wise to learn, be receptive in the
presence of this vastness. Sit in meekness and reverence,
silent and still, and let the Voice of the Wide Expanse
be heard in its ponderous noiselessness. From its low-
est depths you shall hear the rumble of its roaring, dash-
ing, mighty river, softened by the distance into a mere
echo of a beaten drum.
It was in the heart of the various canyons of the
Colorado River that Major J. W. Powell, brave, indom-
itable, indefatigable, the one-armed hero of Gettysburg
— for he was a soldier in the Civil War and lost his
right arm at Gettysburg, — spent three months with his
men wresting from the black gorge and roaring river
the secrets of their existence. He had been warned that
it was a most dangerous trip. Miners, cowboys and
Indians alike declared that the river ran under the moim-
The Journey to California 411
tains with irresistible force ; there were whirlpools,
fierce rapids crowded with jagged boulders which tore
the water into spume and foam, and through which not
even a magic or fairy boat could pass in safety. They
pictured tremendous waterfalls like Niagara, over which
his boats would pitch, carried over by the on-sweeping
current, and the Indians protested that in many places
the " water-pony " — as they called the boat — would
" heap buck " and throw its occupants into the wave.
But there are heroes of peace as well as heroes of
w'ar, and Major Powell was a hero in either sphere. He
went on w'ith his preparations and on the 24th of May,
1869, left Green River City, in Wyoming, with four
boats and nine men for the memorable expedition that
was to make his name for ever famous.
That expedition failed, however, to reveal all that
he was determined to know. So a second one was
planned which completed the work.
Afterwards Powell was appointed the chief or director
of the U. S. Geological Survey, and sent men of science
to study into the formation of the Canyon, who brought
back knowledge that has materially added to our con-
ception of the earth's upbuilding.
Since Powell several parties have successfully nego-
tiated the dangerous trip and at El Tovar there now
stands a battered, dented, apparently old boat, whose
metal sides are scratched, rubbed, and scarred with many
a conflict with the rocks, the story of w^hich is written
over it, recounting that certain modest adventurers made
the trip through the Canyons of the Colorado in it, with
various exciting and thrilling adventures. The photog-
raphers of the Canyon, too, the Kolb brothers, whose
studio is at the head of the Bright Angel trail, will tell
you of their successful trip, and their moving pictures
412 California, Romantic and Beautiful
of their experiences demonstrate that, httle by Httle,
even the most secret recesses of Nature are yielding
their secrets to the indomitable will, perseverance and
unconquerable energy of mankind.
THE END.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GENERAL HISTORY
Bancroft, Hubert H.: History of the Pacific States of North America.
Seven volumes devoted to California.
Bandini, Helen Elliott: History of California.
Dana, R. H.: Two Years Before the Mast.
DwiNELLE, John W.: The Colonial History of the City of San Fran-
cisco.
Eldredge, Zoeth Skinner: March of Portola and Discovery of the
Bay of San Francisco.
Hall, Frederic: The History of San Jose and Surroundings, with
biographical sketches of early settlers.
Hittell, Theodore H.: History of California.
Hunt, Rockwell Dennis: California, the Golden.
LuMMis, Charles Fletcher: Spanish Pioneers.
MacGroarty, John Steven: California: Its History and Romance.
Richman, Irving Berdine: California under Spain and Mexico.
Royce, Josiah: California.
Sexton, Ella M.: Stories of California.
TuTHiLL, Franklin: The History of California.
WiLLARD, Charles Dwight: A History of the Chamber of Commerce
of Los Angeles, California, from its foundation, Sept., 1888.
FRANCISCAN MISSIONS
Carter, Charles Franklin: The Mission of Nueva California.
Clinche, Bryan J.: Fray Junipero Serra. (An account of his life and
work in California.)
Coues, Elliott, Translator and Editor: On the Trail of a Spanish
Pioneer. (The Diary of Francisco Garces.)
Engelhardt, Zephyrin: The Missions and Missionaries of California.
Gleeson, William: History of the Catholic Church in California.
Hudson, William Henry: The Famous Missions of California.
Jackson, Helen Hunt: Glimpses of California and the Missions.
413
414 Bibliography
James, George Wharton: In and Out of the Old Missions of Cali-
fornia.
The Old Franciscan Missions of California.
Palou, Francisco: Life of Ven. Padre Junipero Serra.
ON THE INDIANS
Brinton, D. G. : Myths of the New World.
Clark, Galen: Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity.
CuRTiN, Jeremiah: Creation Myths of Primitive America in relation to
Religious, Historical and Mental Development of Mankind.
Goddard, Pliny Earle: Hupa Texts.
Jackson, Helen Hunt: Ramona.
James, George Wharton: Through Ramona's Country.
What the White Race may Learn from the Indian.
Wonders of the Colorado Desert.
— — Indian Basketry and How to Make Baskets.
Kroeber, Alfred Louis: Basket Designs of Indians of Northwestern
California.
Indian Myths of South Central California.
Types of Indian Culture in California.
The Religion of the Indians of California.
Miller, Joaquin: Life Amongst the Modocs.
Powers, Stephen: Tribes of California.
Smith, Bertha H.: Yosemite Legends.
ON THE PIONEERS
Pioneers Prior to the Military Invasion
Beckwourth, James P.: The Life and Adventures of James P. Beck-
wourth. Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer and Chief of the Crow nation
of Indians.
Conrad, H. L.: "Uncle Dick" Wootton, the Pioneer Frontiersman of
the Rocky Mountain Region.
Dellenbaugh, Frederick S.: Breaking the Wilderness.
Greenhow, Robert: The History of Oregon and California, and the
other territories on the Northwest Coast of North America.
Houghton, Mrs. Eliza P. ("Donner"): Expedition of the Donner
Party and Its Tragic Fate.
McGlashan, C. F.: History of the Donner Party.
Parkman, Francis, Jr.: The California and Oregon Trail.
Bibliography 415
Pattie, James O.: Personal Narrative of An Expedition from Saint Louis
to the Pacific and back through Mexico.
Peters, De Witt C. : The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson.
Robinson, Alfred: Life in Cahfornia.
Sabin, Edwin L.: Kit Carson Days.
Thornton, John Quinn: Oregon and California.
II
'- The Pioneers of Gold Days
Bryant, E.: What I Saw in California.
Clayton, Walter: Three Years in California.
Grey, William: A Picture of Pioneer Times in California illustrated with
anecdotes and stories taken from real life.
Manly, W. L. : Death Valley in '49.
Taylor, Bayard: Eldorado.
Taylor, William: Seven Years' Street Preaching in San Francisco,
California.
White, Stewart E. : Gold.
CALIFORNIA NATURE WRITERS
Austin, Mary: Basket Woman.
The Flock.
Land of Little Rain.
Bartlett, W. C: A Breeze from the Woods.
Chase, J. Smeaton: Yosemite Trails.
Hittell, J. H.: Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and
Grizzly Bear Hunter.
HoLDENjE. S. : Earthquake in California in 1890 and 189 1.
Holder, Charles F.: Life in the Open.
Big Game at Sea.
James, George Wharton: The Lake of the Sky (Lake Tahoe).
Jepson, Willis L.: The Silva of California.
Jordan, David Starr: California and the Calif ornians.
The Alps of the King-Kern Divide.
Keeler, Charles: Bird Notes Afield.
Kirkham, Stanton Davis: In the Open.
Where Dwells the Soul Serene.
The Ministry of Beauty.
King, Clarence: Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada.
Le Conte, Joseph: Elements of Geology.
Ramblings in the Yosemite.
416 Bibliography
Merriam, Florence A.: A-birding on a Bronco.
MuiR, John: Mountains of California.
Our National Parks.
My First Summer in the Sierra.
Parsons, Mary E.: Wild Flowers of California.
Van Dyke, John Charles: The Desert.
The Sea.
Van Dyke, Theodore S.: Southern Cahfomia.
Millionaires of a Day.
Wheelock, Mrs. I. G.: Birds of California.
White, Stewart Edward: The Blazed Trail.
The Mountains.
The Westerners.
INDEX
Titles of Chapters are printed in small capitals.
Titles of Books or Poems are printed in italics.
Abado sung, 39.
Acapulco, vii.
Advertising California, xv.
Agassiz Peak, 118.
Agricultural Development, ix, xi.
Aitken, R., 181.
Alameda, 184, 185.
Alamitos, 3, 272.
Alamo River, 302, 306, 307.
Albion, New, vii, x.
Alcatraz Island, 141, 172, 174.
Alfalfa, Introduction of, xiii.
Alpine Tavern, 273.
Alpine Valley, 325.
Al Tahoe, 245.
Alps of the King-Kern Divide, 76
(q-), 77-
Alvarado, Governor, 189.
American River, 103.
Among the Redwoods, 383.
Anacapa Islands, 146, 155.
Anaheim, 248.
Anderson Valley, 316.
Angel Island, 174.
Anita, Little Santa, Canyon, in.
Antelopes, 206.
Antelope Valley, 14, 252, 296, 312.
Anza, Juan B. de, ix, 62, 297.
Arbuckle, 11.
Architecture, Domestic, 400 et seq.
Arctic Daisies, 335.
Arguello, Concepcion, 122.
Arizona, Grand Canyon of, 408 et
seq.
Artesian Wells, 312.
Ar3'an Temple, 275 et seq.
Aryan Theosophical Press, 292.
Asti Vineyards, 321.
Atascadero, 5.
Atherton, Gertrude, ix, 66, 76, 390.
Aurora (vessel), 126.
Austin, Mary, 66, 385.
AUTOMOBILING IN CALIFORNIA, 200,
246, 359-372.
Avalon, 147, 149.
Aviation, U. S. School of, 291.
B
Babcock, E. S., 279.
Baer, John W., 354.
Balboa, 3, 272.
Balboa Park, 286.
Balboa's Sea, 41.
Baldtir, The Sons of, 322.
Baldwin, E. J., 244.
Bancroft, H. H. (q.), 55.
Bancroft Library, 351.
Banning Company, 147.
Barbara Worth, Winning of, 310.
Barleycorn, John, 140.
Barnard, 355.
Barrett Dam, 283.
Bartlett, W. C, 381.
Bashford, Herbert (q.), 21, 120.
Bayard Taylor. {See Taylor.)
Cays. {See also Harboiurs.)
Avalon, 147, 149.
Bodega, 127, 143.
Drake's, 43.
Half Moon, 41, 121.
Humboldt, 15, 143.
Monterey, ix, 8, 15, 40, 41, 50, 143.
San Diego, 28, 143.
San Francisco, 8, 13, 15, 42, 43,
44, 138, 140, 143, 172.
San Luis Obispo, 143.
San Pablo, 140.
Santa Barbara, 143.
Tomales, 142.
417
418
Index
Beach Boulevard, 179.
Beale. Lieutenant, 301.
Bean fields, 3.
Bear Creek, 118.
Bear Flag Revolution, ix, 191.
Beautification Committees, 347.
Beauty of California, x, 20.
Beechey, Captain, 127.
Begg's Rock, 146-156.
Beginnings of San Francisco, 181.
Bells of San Gabriel (q.), 57-
Below the Tehachipi, 248.
Belvidere, 186.
Benicia, 122.
Ben Lomond, 90.
Benton, A. B., 256.
Berkeley, 9, 62, 171, 1S4, 185, 349
ei seq., 375.
Bernal Heights, 172.
Bernice, 303.
Best, H. C, 398.
Bidarkas, 33.
Bid well, John, 195.
Bidwell, Mrs. A. E. K., 332.
Bierce, Ambrose, ix, 66.
Big Trees, 115. (5ee a/50 Sequoias.)
Big Valley, 317.
Bijou, 246.
Bishop Creek, 100.
Bishop's Peaks, 5.
Bishop's Rock, 154.
Black Butte, 318.
Blaisdell, James, 354.
Blavatsky, H. P., 291.
Bleeding Heart, 336.
Bloody Canyon, 335.
Blossom Festival (Saratoga), 7.
Blossom Time, In, 7.
Blythe, 314.
Boats. Indian, 33.
Bodega Bay, 127, 143.
Bohemia, Triumph of, 322.
Bohemian Grove, 321.
Bohemian Jinks, 321.
Bolinas, 121.
Bolsas, 33.
Boom, Southern California, 267.
Bouchard, 121.
Brannan, Sam, 139.
Brawley, 303.
Brenner, John C, 353.
Brockways, 245.
Brooklyn (vessel), 137.
Brown, Benjamin C., 398.
Buena Vista Hill, 172.
Bungalow, California, 401.
Burbank, Luther, xiv, 320, 334.
Burgess, Gelett (q.), 182, 382.
Burnham, 355.
Burnham, Captain, 159.
Burnham, D. H., 175.
Burning Daylight, 184, 320.
Butte Valley, 316.
Cable Incline, 273.
Cabrillo, vii, 28, 39, 43, 65, 120,
121, 129, 130, 147.
Cabrillo Canyon, 286.
Cadenasso, 398.
Cahuenga, Treaty of, ix.
Calaveras River, 212.
Calexico, 303.
California:
Abandoned, nearly, 45, 46.
Advertised, not sj'stematically,
XV.
Architecture, Domestic, 4cx)-
405-
Beauty of, 20, 27.
Big Trees of, 77, 115.
Boosters, xviii.
Called New Albion, vii.
Cattle in, xii.
Channel Islands. {See Channel
Islands).
Christmas in (q.), 167.
Citrus fruits, 189.
Climate, 163-170.
Climatic Cosmos, A, x, 163, 170.
Coast, 13, 120-144.
College of, 349.
Colour in, 393.
Coolbrith, Ina, on (q.), 66.
Cotton grown in, xiii.
Dates grown in, xiii.
Development Company, 307.
Diversified, x.
Domestic Architecture, 400-
Electricity in, 94.
Festivals, 7. {See Festivals.)
Fishing, 142.
Fogs, 91.
Future of, 18.
Glimpses of, i.
Grove (Sequoias), 216.
Gulf of, vii.
How to know, xvii.
Index
419
California:
Hydro-Electric Development, 94-
lOI.
Influence xjpon Art, 393-399-
Irrigation in, xiii.
journtey to, 406-412.
Land of Prophecy, 64-75.
Lighthouses, 134.
Literature, 380.
Military Invasion of, xii.
Newness of, xvi, 18.
Newspaper, First, in, 139.
New Year's Day in, 164.
Origin of the name, vi.
Peninsula of, 38.
Population, Cosmopolitan, xiv.
Rainfall, 71, 164.
Rapid Growth of, 18.
Redwood Park, 90.
Romance and Beauty, 20-27.
Routes to, 406-412.
Russians in, 127.
Size of, xvi, xix.
Southern, 14, 248-260.
Stimulator of Literature, 380.
Trees, 329
Unexplored, 28.
Universities, Colleges and
Observatories, 349-358.
Water in, 92, 93.
Wheat in, xiii.
World in itself, 19.
California, Southern, 14, 248-
260.
Boom, in, 267.
Climate of, 251.
Movies made in, 271.
Van Dyke on, 91, 345.
Californias, Las, vii.
Californians, The first, 29.
Calimyrna Fig, 312.
Calistoga, 3x9, 368.
Camino Real, 348.
Campbell, W. W., 355.
Candle Cactus, 342.
Candlestick of our Lord, 340.
Canyon, Kaweah, 117.
Kern, 116, 117.
Soda Creek, 116.
Cape Mendocino, vii, 28, 131.
Cape San Sebastian, 132.
Capital, State, 190. {See Sacra-
mento.)
Cardiff-by-the-Sea, 287.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, 121, 143.
Carmelo, Rio, 131, 132.
Carnegie Observatory, 273, 274,356.
Carnival of Flowers, xi. {See Festi-
vals.)
Carpenteria, 4.
Carpenteria Valley, 315.
Carquinez Straits, 9, 140.
Carrington Point, 161.
Carson, Kit, 300.
Carson, Luella C, 355.
Castella, 201.
Castle Crags, 12, 201.
Castle Crags Resort, 201.
Castle Dome, 201.
Castro and Fremont, 5, 83.
Catalina Island. {See Santa Cata-
lina.)
Cathedral Park, 245.
Cathedral Spires, 201.
Cat's Claw Cactus, 341.
Cattle Days in Cahfornia, xii.
Ceanothus, 337.
Cemetery of San Francisco, 181.
Central Pacific Railroad, ix.
Century, The (q.), 126.
Cereus, Giganteus, 329, 342.
Cermenon, Sebastian R. de, vii.
Chaffey, George C, 304.
Chagoopa Plateau, 116.
Channel Islands, 13, 60, 145-162.
Anacapa, 146.
Begg's Rock, 146.
Caves on, 159.
Climatic Conditions, 145.
Coronados, 28, 146, 153.
Isles of Summer, 145.
San Clemente, 4, 131, 146, 154.
San Miguel, 130, 146, 161.
San Nicolas, 146.
Santa Barbara Rock, 146.
Santa Catalina, 4, 131, 146.
Santa Rosa, 146, 161.
Santa Cruz, 146, 159.
Sea Lions, 159.
Shoal of Cortez, 146, 153, 154.
Tanner's Bank, 146, 153, 154.
Chase, J. Smeaton, 329.
Chico, II, 192, 195,354.
Chico Normal School, 354.
Chico Rancho, 332.
Chimehuevas, 301.
Chinamen, 146.
Chinatown, S. F., 177.
Chinese Exclusion, 181.
Christmas in California (q.), 383.
420
Index
Chrysopylae, 171.
Chuckawalla Mountains, 81
Chucka walla Valley, 314.
Chula Vista, 287.
Church, Dr. J. E., Jr., 103.
Citrus Fruits, 189.
Civil War, ix.
Clare, Lake, Little, 116.
Clark, Eli P., 263.
CHff House, 8, 178, 182.
Cliff ton-by-the-Sea, 3, 272.
Cloud's Rest, 118.
Cloverdale, 321.
Coachella Valley, i, 14, 101, 2g6,
311-
Coaching on Catalina, 151.
Coast Expedition, 137.
Coast Names, 129, 130, 131.
Coast Range, 11, 14, 15, 216.
Cocopahs, 301.
Cold Spell, 252.
Colegrove, 267.
College of California, 349.
Coloma, 191.
Colorado Desert, 13, 14, 81, 91, loi,
249.
Colorado River, i, 28, 32, 297 et
seq.
Colorado River Missions, 55.
Columbus, 21.
Colusa, II.
Comstock Mines discovered, ix.
Conaty, Bishop T. J., 265.
Concepcion, Point, 131, 134, 161,
248.
Coolbrith, Ina (q.), 7, 66, 75, 338,
340-
Cora and Casey hanged, 181.
Corning, 11.
Corona, 252.
Coronado, 121, 142, 143, 275 et seq.
Coronados Islands, 28, 146.
Cortes, vii.
Cortes, Shoal of, 146.
Cosumnes River, 212.
Cotter, 84.
Cotton introduced, xiii.
Cotton Mills, 185.
Count of Monterey, 41, 131.
Counties:
Alpine, 14.
Amador, 195.
Butte, 362.
Calaveras, 14, 212.
Contra Costa, 164, 174, 184, 334.
Counties:
Del Norte, 315.
El Dorado, 195.
Humboldt, 13, 315.
Imperial, 248.
Inyo, 318.
Kern, 165, 214, 318.
Kings, 214.
Lake, 319.
Lassen, 317.
Los Angeles, 248, 365.
Madera, 214, 319.
Marin, 174, 184, 323, 334.
Mariposa, 319.
Mendocino, 13, 316.
Merced, 214.
Modoc, 16, 108, 317.
Napa, 184, 319, 334.
Ne\'ada, 14, 195.
Orange, 248.
Placer, 195, 318.
Plumas, 195, 318.
Riverside, 248.
Sacramento, 334, 365.
San Bernardino, 165, 248.
San Diego, 248, 324, 366.
San Joaquin, 212, 334, 366.
Santa Barbara, 248, 315.
Santa Clara, 174.
Shasta, 12, 165, 195, 317.
Sierra, 195.
Siskiyou, 316.
Sonoma, 127, 164, 184, 319, 334.
Stanislaus, 213.
Sutter, II.
Tehama, 12.
Trinity, 317.
Tulare, 214.
Yuba, II.
County Highway Commission, 366.
Covarrubias, Nicholas, Sr., 147.
Covina, 248.
Cowboy Country, 249.
Cowboy, Day of, ix.
Cox, Palmer, 382.
Coyote Wells, 303.
Coyote Valley, 316.
Crawfish, 149.
Creation Myths of P. A. (q.), 34, 35,
36.
Creek, Freeman, 115.
Crescent City, 121.
Crespi, Juan de, 8, 40, 44, 46.
Crocker, Charles, 263.
Cucamonga Desert, 296.
Index
421
Cucamonga Peaks, 82.
Cummings-Gordon, Miss (q.), 26,
lOI.
Curtin, J. (q.), on Indians, 34, 35,
36.
Cuyamaca Mountains, 79, 80, 81,
91.
C3^resses, Monterey, 329.
D
Dalea Spinosa, 343.
Dana in California, xii, 120, 132.
Darlingtonia, 344.
Date City, 303.
Date Experimental Farms, 312.
Dates Introduced, xiii, 312.
Davis, 10.
Dead Man's Island, 133.
Death Valley, 13, 15.
Deer Park Springs, 118, 245.
Delano, L. P., 245.
Del Mar, 287.
Del Norte Valley, 315.
Delmas, D. M., 352.
Delta of San Joaquin, 212.
Desert:
Colorado, 13, 32, 91, loi, 249, 252,
296 et seq.
Lure of the, 294.
Mohave, 13, 14, 32, 249, 252, 296.
Reclamation of, x.
Transformation of, 309.
Deserts, California, and Teeir
Reclamation, 294-314.
As Climate Breeders, 91.
Desolation Valley, 77, 103, 243
Diablo, Mt., 15, 83, 174, 184.
Diablo Point, 158.
Diamond Hitch, 109.
Diaz, Melchior, 32.
Dickerson, Mahlon, 138.
Dick's Peak, 118.
Discovery of Gold, ix, xii, 10, 172.
Discovery of Oil, x
Distilleries, 211.
Divide, Great Western, 116.
Dixieland, 303.
Donner Lake, 13.
Donner Party, ix, 191.
Drake, Sir Francis, vii, x, 43, 120,
121, 148.
Drake's Bay, 43.
Dredgers, Gold, 192.
Drum Power-house, 98.
Duarte, 248.
Du Bois, Constance G., 390.
Dunn, Allan (q.), 9, 177.
Dunsmuir, 12, 201.
Dutch P"Iat, 191.
E
Eagleville, 108.
Earthquake of 1906, x.
Echo Mountain, 263, 355.
Eel River Valley, 315.
Ehmann Olive Company, 318.
El Cajon Valley, 324.
El Camino Real (q.), 390. (See also
Camino Real.)
El Centro, 303.
Eldredge, Zoeth, 181.
Electricity from High Sierras, 9, 94.
In Los Angeles, 99.
In San Francisco, 94.
Elizabeth Lake Tunnel, 93.
Ellerman, F., 356.
Ellis Peak, 118.
Emerald Bay Camp, 245.
English Explorers in California, ix.
Escondido Valley, 324.
Eureka, 121.
Evans, Admiral R. D., 5.
Everett, Edward (vessel), 126.
Eytel, Carl, 397.
Fadden, Chimmie, 382.
Fair, James G., 182.
Fairmont Hotel, 8, 182.
Fallen Leaf Lake, 103, 245.
Fallen Leaf Lodge, 245.
Fall River Valley, 318.
Fan Palm, 329.
Farwell, W. B. (q.), 126.
Feather River, 11, 194, 195.
Felton, 331.
Ferry-boat, Solano, 9.
Festival Spirit in California,
373-379-
Festivals, California:
Berkeley, Aquatic, 377.
Bishop, Harvest, 377
Blythe, Cotton, 376.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, 377.
Chico, Hop, 377
Cloverdale, Citrus, 377
Coachella Valley, Harvest, 377.
422
Index
Festivals, California:
Concord, Walnut, 377.
Crescent City, Water, 377.
El Centre, Cotton, 376.
Elmhurst, Autumn, 377.
Escondido, Grape, 325, 377.
Fresno, Grape, 376.
Fresno, Raisin Day, 376.
Hayward, Cherry, 376.
Healdsburg, Harvest, 377.
Holtville, Melon, 377.
Lodi, Grape, 376.
Long Beach, Water, 375.
Los Banos, May day, 377.
Mecca, Date, 377.
Monte Rio, Water, 377.
Monterey, Junipero Serra, 373.
Mt. Tamalpais, Forest Play, 377.
Oakland, Columbus, 377.
Oroville, Water, 377.
Oxnard, Beet, 377.
Pacific Grove, Lantern, 377.
Pasadena, Tournament of Roses,
374, 377-
Petaluma, Poultry, 377.
Placerville, Pear, 376.
Redondo, Easter Carnation, 376.
Redondo, Water, 375.
Russian River, Aquatic, 377.
San Bernardino, National Orange,
376..
San Diego, Cabrillo, 373.
San Diego, Straw Hat Parade,
377-
San Francisco, Portola, 377.
San Gabriel, Mission Play, 377.
San Leandro, Cherry, 377.
Santa Clara, Passion Play, 377.
Santa Cruz, Orchid, 377.
Santa Cruz, Water, 377.
Santa Rosa, Rose, 377.
Saratoga, Blossom, 7, 376.
Sevastopol, Apple, 376.
St. Helena, Grape, 376.
Ukiah, Hop, 377.
Vacaville, Cherry, 376.
Van Nuys, Poppy, 377.
Venice, Water, 375.
Ventura, San Miguel, 377.
Watsonville, Apple, 376.
Field, Charles K., 321.
Filibustering, 139.
First Families of the Sierras, 144.
Fishing, 141, 152.
Flip, 90.
Florence Peak, 116.
Flower, Mrs. Cyril, v.
Flowers of California, 333-348.
Wealth of, 26.
Flugge, Carl, 245.
Flnlc of the Gods, 407.
Fogs, 90.
Folsom, 96.
Fonte, Bartholomew de, viii.
Forest Rangers, 328.
Forest Reserves in California, 328.
Forests of California, 327-332.
Foreword, v et seq.
For the Soul of Raphael, 390.
Fort Ross, 127.
Fort Yuma, 55.
Franciscan Missionaries, viii.
Franciscan Missions of Califor-
nia, 38-63. {See also Mis-
sions.)
Francisco, J. Bond, 39S.
Frazee Castle, 325.
Freel's Peak, 118.
Freeman Creek, 115.
Fremont, xii, 5, 83, 300.
And Golden Gate(q.), 82, 171.
And Kearny, ix.
Coming of, ix, xii.
Crossing Santa Ines Mountains,
.4-
Discoverer of Lake Tahoe, 235.
In Los Angeles, 267.
In Sutter's Fort, 191.
Reports, x.
French Explorers in California, ix.
Fresno, 209, 210, 369, 371.
Fuca, Juan de, viii.
Fuji-San of California, 12.
Fullerton, 248.
Gabilan Peak, 5, 83.
Gali, Francisco, vii.
Game Fishes, 152.
Garces, Padre, 299.
Gauchama, 70.
Genoa Peak, 118.
Gila River, 551.
Gill, Irving G., 403.
Gjoa, 180.
Glass-Bottomed Boats, 148.
Glen Alpine, 103, 245.
Glendale, 274.
Glimpses of the Land, 1-19.
Index
423
Goddard, Pliny, on Indians, 34.
Goethals, xiv.
Gold, Discovery of, ix, xii, 106,
172.
Gold Seekers on Coast, 123.
Golden Gate, 8, 9, 128, 171, 179.
In and Around the, 171-187.
Park, 179.
Goldfield, Nevada, 100.
Gordon-Cummings, Miss (q.), 26,
loi, 232.
Goshen Junction, 115.
Grand Canyon, 32, 300, 408 d seq.
Granite Crags (q.), loi.
Grant Forest, 216.
Grant Hotel, 285.
Grant National Park, 216, 330.
Greeley, George, 151.
Griffiths, Col. G. G., 272.
Grouse Meadows, 115.
Grove, The, 246.
Guajome Rancho, 325.
Gulf of California, 32.
Gulliver's Travels, viii.
H
Hale, George C, 274, 356.
Half Moon Bay, 41, 121.
Hall, Sharlot M. (q.), 69.
Hamadryads, The, 322.
Hamilton, Mt., 15, 83, 174, 184,
186,355.
Happy Valley, 318.
Harbours. {See Bays.)
Los Angeles, 15, 143.
Harraden, Beatrice, 324.
Harriman, E. H., 307.
Harrison Pass, 116.
Harte, Bret, ix, 21, 41, 90, 122, 217,
381. _
Havasupai Indians, 300.
Hayfork Valley, 317.
Hearst, Mrs. Phoebe, 350.
Hearst, William Randolph, 350.
Heather, 335.
Heather Lake, 246.
Heber, 303.
Heber, A. H., 305.
Heights, On the, 76-104.
Helena, St., Mt., 83.
Hermosa, 3, 272.
Heman, John J., 290.
Hetch-Hetchy Valley, 13, 93, 216.
Hetten Valley, 317.
Hides, Trade in, xii.
Highest Point in United States, 15.
High Sierras, 117, 118.
Hights, The, 64, 65, 171.
Hilgard, E. W., 349.
Hill, Thomas, 398.
Holden, E. S., 355.
Holder, Charles Frederick (q.), 145,
i6t, 385.
Hollywood, 267.
Holmes, James H., 285.
Holt, W. F., 310.
Holtville, 303, 310.
Holy Cross, City of, 41.
Home-Seekers, Early, in California,
xii.
Homewood, 246.
Honey Lake Valley, 317.
Hooker Oak, 332.
Hopland, 316.
Horticultural Development, ix.
Horton, A. E., 277.
Hotels:
Arcadia, 249.
Arlington, 249, 253.
Beverley Hills, 253.
Casa Loma, 249.
Cliff House, 8.
Del Coronado, 79, 249, 280 e^ seq.,
334-
Del Monte, 334.
Fairmont, 8, 182.
Glenwood, 249, 253.
Grant, U. S., 278.
Green, 249.
Hollywood, 253.
Horton, 278.
Painter, 249.
Palace, 8, 181.
Potter, 253, 334.
Raymond, 249, 334, 404.
Sierra Madre Villa, 249.
St. Francis, 8, 181.
Stratford, 253.
Virginia, 253.
Windsor, 249.
Hot Creek, 318.
Houseboats, 186.
Howison, G. H., 349.
Howland's, 155.
Hudson Bay Company, 122, 138.
Humboldt County, 13.
Humboldt Valley, 315.
Hume, 330.
Hume Lake, 330.
424
Index
Huntington Beach, 3, 272.
Huntington, H. E., 263.
Hyampom Valley, 317.
Immaculate Conception, 131.
Imperial Valley, 14, loi, 296 etseq.,
303-
Improvement Clubs, 347.
Indian, California under the, 28-37.
Indian Feet, Under the Tread
OF, 28-37.
Indians:
Conquest of, 106.
Curtin, J., on, 34.
Of Desert, 301.
Goddard, Pliny, on, 34.
Kroeber, A. L., on, 34.
Life of, at Missions, 51.
Merriam, C. Hart, on, 34.
Powers, Stephen, on, 33.
Trail makers, 105 ._
Uprising at San Diego, 50.
Industries of the Missions, 51.
Ines, Santa, Mountains, 82.
Irrigation, California, xiii.
In Sacramento Valley, 10.
Modem, x.
Irwin, Wallace, 382.
Irwin, Will, 322.
Islands. {See Channel Islands.)
Isles of Summer, 145.
Italy, Little, 177.
J
Jacks Peak, 118.
Jackson, Helen Hunt, 37, 58, 325,
346-
Jamestown, xvi.
Jawbone (Los Angeles Aqueduct),
93- , .
Jayme, Padre, Martyred, ix.
Jepson, W. L., 329, 336.
Jess Valley, 317.
Job's Peak, 118.
Job's Sister, 118.
Johnson, Captain, 301.
Jordan, David Starr, 76, 77, 117,
352, 353-
Jorgensen, Chris, 117, 398.
Joshua Tree, 329, 343.
Judson, W. L., 397.
Junction Meadow, 117.
K
Kalmia, 335.
Kanno, Gertrude Boyle, 66.
Kanno, Takeshi, 66.
Kaweah Canyon, 117.
Kaweah Peaks, 116, 117.
Kearney, Theodore, 211.
Kearney Park, 211.
Kearny, Gen. Stephen, 300, 301.
And Fremont, ix.
Fight at San Pasqual, ix.
Kearsage Pass, 216.
Keeler, 355.
Keeler, Charles (q.), 68.
Keith, William, 117, 200, 397.
Kellogg, J. H., Dr., 320.
Kelp beds, 148.
Kelso, Tessa L., Miss, 58.
Kent, Congressman, 183.
Kern Canyon, 116, 117, 216, 370.
Kern County, 165.
Kern-Kaweah Canyon, 117.
Kern Lakes, 116, 117.
King, Clarence (q.), 84, 117, 380.
King, Thomas Starr (q.), 200, 239,
385-
King's and Kern Divide, 84, 216,
37°-
Klamath Lake, 12.
Knapp, Adelaide, 66.
Kramer Valley, 14.
Kroeber, A. L., on Indians, 34.
Laguna, 3, 143-
Laguna Dam, 55, 309.
La Jolla, 121, 142, 287.
Lake Region, 268
Lakeside, 245.
Lakes:
American, 5, 117.
Clare, Little, 116.
Donner, 13.
Fallen Leaf, 103.
Kern, Big, 116.
Kern, Little, ii6-
Klamath, 12.
Moraine, 116, 117.
Rhett, 16, 17.
Spaulding, 95, 97.
Tahoe, 13, 83, 103, 233-247-
Lake View Gusher, 214.
Langsdorf, 120.
Langtry, Mrs., v.
Index
425
Land of Utile Rain, 66.
Land of Sunshine (q.), 58, 59.
La Paz, 46.
La Perouse, 120.
Larkin, Edgar, 274, 356.
Lassen Butte, 318, 336.
Latin Quarter, 177.
Latter Day Saints, 139.
Lava Beds, 16, 318.
Le Conte, Joseph, 108, 219, 349.
Leese, Jacob, 180.
Lemmon, J. G., 329.
Lemon Cove, 216.
Lewis, E. G., 5.
Lick, James, 147, 174, 355.
Lick Observatory, 15, 186, 355.
Life at the Missions, 51.
Life of a Good Woman, 352.
Life Saving Service, 135, 136, 179.
Lighthouses, 134, 135.
Lilac, California, 337.
Lillebonne, 135.
Limon, Ensign, 300.
Literature, Beginnings of Califor-
nia, ix.
Little Clare Lake, 116.
Little Hot Springs, 317.
Little Lake Valley, 316.
Little Landers, 326.
Little Santa Anita Canyon, iii.
Location of Missions, 59.
Lodi, 212.
Loma, Point, 155, 275 et seq, 291,
292, 293.
Greek Theatre on, 292.
Loma Prieta, 90, 174, 184.
Lompoc Valley, 315.
Lone Mountain, 172.
London, Jack, 66, 140, 175, 320,
388, 390.
Long Beach, 3, 121, 127, 131, 248.
Lorenzo, San, River, 90.
Los Alamos Valley, 315.
Los Angeles, xvi, 2, 3, 18, 250.
Advertising, 261.
Aqueduct, 3, 93.
Assets of, 261.
Climate of, 261.
Electricity in, 98.
Harbour of, 15.
In and Around, 261-274.
Me.xican pueblo. A, 261, 267.
Normal School, 354.
Parks, 272.
Water Supply, 92.
Lowe, T. S. C, 263, 273, 355.
Lowe, Mount, xi, 273, 355.
Lowe Observatory, 355.
Lower California, 38.
Lowest Point in United States, 15.
Lucia, Santa, Mountains, 83.
Lumber, 2x4.
lAimber Flume, 215.
Lummis, Charles F. (q.), 58, 59.
Lyon Peak, 79.
M
MacLaren, John, 179.
Mad River Valley, 317.
Madre, Sierra, iii.
Maldonado, viii.
Manhattan, 3, 272.
Man with the Hoe, 66.
Manzanita, 337.
Mare Island, 174.
Marin County, 174, 323.
Mariposa Lily, 338.
Market, South of, 176.
Markham, Edwin, 66, 384.
Marlette Lake, 118.
Marlette Peak, 118.
Marshall, John, 10, 172, 189, 191.
Martyrdom of Padre Jayme, ix.
Marysville, xvi, 11, 195.
Matilija Poppy, 338.
Matilija Spring, 4.
Maxwell, 11.
McClaughry, Mrs. Anita B., 244,
259-
McCloud River, 198, 318, 367
McClurg, A. C., & Company, 145.
McCormick, Miss, 398.
McGroarty, John S., 390.
McKinneys, 246.
McTeague (q.), 386.
Meadows, Grouse, 115.
Meadows, Lloyd, 115.
Mendocino, Cape, vii, 132.
Mendocino County, 13.
Mendoza, Viceroy, 132.
Merced, 216, 369.
Merle, Martin V., 352.
Merriam, C. Hart, 34.
Merritt, Lake, 185.
Mexican Government, apology to,
ix.
Michaelis, R., 103.
Midwinter Fair, 179.
Military Invasion, xii.
426
Index
Millard, Bailey (q.), 337-
Miller, Frank, 253.
Miller, Juanita, 65.
Miller and Lux Ranch, 5.
Miller, Joaquin, v, ix, 23, 65, 164,
171, 200, 217, 321, 381.
Meeting with Mrs. Langtry, v.
Quoted on oxen, 54; prophecy,
64; San Diego, 39, 166; Sierra
Nevadas, 13, 65; Mt. Shasta,
196.
Millionaires of a Day, 278.
Mills, Cyrus T., 354.
Mills College, 354.
Minarets, 201.
Mining Camps, ix.
Missions, Franciscan, of Cali-
fornia, 38-63.
American Attitude towards, 57.
Architecture, 63, 400.
Bells of San Gabriel (q.), 57.
Carmelo Rio (San Carlos), 62.
Colorado River, 55.
Dolores, 123 {See San Francisco).
Indians, 301.
Industries at, 52.
Landmarks Club, Work of, for.
La Purisima Concepcion, 55, 56,
61.
Life at, 51.
Location of, 59.
Preserving the, 58.
* San Antonio, 61.
'San Buenaventura, 60.
*San Carlos Borromeo, 62.
^San Diego, 40, 50, 59.
^San Fernando Rey, 60.
^San Francisco de Assisi, 63.
^San Francisco Solano, 62.
^San Gabriel, 60, 62, 267, 298.
San Jose, 62.
^ San Juan Bautista, 62.
^ San Juan Capistrano, 60.
* San Luis, Obispo, 61.
^San Luis, Rey, 60.
San Miguel, 61.
^San Pedro, 55.
^San Rafael, 62.
** Santa Barbara, 60.
/* Santa Clara, 62.
^ Santa Cruz, 41, 62.
^ Santa Ines, 61.
Secularization of, 56.
^Sonoma, 50.
Mocking-bird, 378.
Modesto-Turlock Irrigation, 213.
Modoc County, 16, 108.
Modoc Indians, 17.
Mofras, De (q.), 68.
Mohave Desert, 13, 14, 249.
Mohave Indians, 301.
Mohave Vallej'', 14, 252.
Mokelumne River, 212.
Mono Desert, 336.
Mono Lake, 372.
Monrovia, 248, 258.
Montalvo, Ordonez de, vi.
Montara, 41, 121, 183.
Montecito, 4.
Monte Negro, 161.
Monte Rio, 321.
Monterey, 122, 143, 182, 370.
Bay, named, ix, 15, 41, 50, 131.
Count of, 131.
Flag Raised, ix.
Montgomery, Captain, 180.
Montgomery, Professor, 352.
Moraine Lake, 116, 117.
Morena Dam, 283.
Mormons, 139.
Morris, Madge, 386.
Moses, Bernard, 349.
Mosquito Pass, 104.
Mountaineering in the Sierras, 76,
380.
Mountain View, 186.
Mountains and Electricity, 94.
And Water, 92.
Mountains of California:
Agassiz, 118.
Chuckawalla, 81.
Climate Breeders, As, 91.
Cloud's Rest, 118.
Coast Range, 14, 15
Compared with Alps, 76, 79.
Cucamonga, 82.
Cuyamaca, 79, 80, 81.
Diablo, 15, S3.
Dicks, 118.
Freels, 118.
Great Western Divide, 116.
Hamilton, 15, 83.
In Winter, loi.
Jacks, 118.
Job's, 118.
Job's Sister, 118.
Loma Prieta, 90.
Mountains of California (q.), 234.
Needham, 116.
Index
427
Mountains of California:
On Mountain Trails, 105-119.
Palomar, 79, 80.
Pyramid, 118.
Richardson, 118.
Ritter, 86.
Rose (Nevada), 103.
San Anlonio, 82.
San Bernardino, 80, 82.
San Gorgonio, 2, 80, 81.
San Jacinto, 2, 80, 82.
San Miguel, 79.
Santa Ines, 82.
Santa Lucia, 5, 83, 131.
Santa Lucia Peak, 83.
Santa Ynez. {Sec Ines.)
Santiago, 82.
Shasta, 12, 15, 16, 83, 196.
Sierra Madre, in.
Sierra Nevada, 13, 115.
Siskiyous, 83, 196.
Starr King, 118.
St. Helena, 15, 83.
Tahoe Region, of, 84, 118.
Tallac, 118.
Tamalpais, 9, 15, 83, 183, 323.
Topatopa, 82.
Tyndall, 84.
Watson, 118.
Whitney, 15, 78, 84.
Wilson, III.
Mountains of California, 76, 90,
234, 380.
Mt. Lowe Railway, 60.
Mt. St. Helena, 319.
Mud Baths, 5.
Muir, John, 76, 86, 117, 329, 335,
.336, 380.
Muir Lodge, 113.
Muir Woods, 183, 323.
Mussel Rock, 136.
My First Summer in Sierras, 76, 380.
N
Napa Valley, 83, 319.
Natotna, 321.
Needham Mountain, 116.
Neighbours, 314.
Nelson's Ranch, 115.
Nereocystis, 148.
New Albion, vii.
Neic'brasky's Fertile Shore (q.), 21.
New Pictures from California (q.), 5.
Newport, 3, 272.
New River, 307.
Newspaper, California's first, 139.
Nileland, 303.
Nob Hill, 172.
Nobili, John, 351.
Noguchi, Yone, 66.
Normal Schools, State, 354.
Norris, P'rank, xiii, 66, 204, 386.
O
Oakland, xvi, 9, 18, 62, 174, 184.
Oakland Mole, 8.
Observatory, Mt. Rose, 103.
Observatory Point, 355.
Occidental College, 354.
Ocean, 121.
Ocean Beach, 142.
Ocean Park, 3, 121, 248, 272.
Ocean Shore Railway, 183.
Ocotillo, 341.
Octopus, 149.
Octopus (by Frank Norris), (q.), 204
et seq.
Oil, Discovery of, x, 214.
Oil Gushers, 214.
Ojai Valley, 3, 82.
Old Town (San Diego), 60.
Olives, 194.
Olj'mpic Club, 179.
On the di ffiq.), 120.
Ontario, 248, 258.
Open Air Theatres, 148, 350, 375.
Orange, 248.
Orchids, 338.
Oregon (battleship), 141.
Oregon Boundary, 12.
Orland, 11, 194.
Oroville, 11, 192, 362.
Ostrich Farm, 271.
Otay Dam, 282.
Our Italv, 2S7, 345.
Out Wes't (q.), 58.
Ouzel Basin, 77.
Overland Monthly founded, ix.
Overland Stage, ix.
Owen's Lake, 84, 372.
Owen's River, 3, 92, 100.
Oxnard, 3, 248.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company,
97-
Pacific Grove, 15.
428
Index
Pacific Ocean, 251.
Pacific, Trans-, shipping, 143.
Packing for trails, 109.
Painted Cave, 158.
Painted Desert, 300.
Painted Indians, 240.
Pajaro Valley, 5.
Palace Hotel, 8, 181.
Palm Dale, 252.
Palm Springs, 301.
Palm Springs Canyon, 301, 330.
Palo Alto, 8, 186,331.
Palomar Mountains, 79, 80.
Palo Verde, 314.
Palo Verde Mesa, 314.
Palo Verde Valley, 314.
Pamoosa Canyon, 325.
Panama Canal, xix, 144..
Panama Exposition, x, 172.
Parnassus Mountain, 172.
Parrish, Maxfield, 182.
Parsons, Miss, 341, 344.
Pasadena, 60, 248, 258.
Tournament of Roses, xi, 164.
Paso Robles, 5.
Pass, Harrison, 116, 117.
Pass, San Gorgonio, 2, 14.
Patterson, 213.
Peninsula of Lower California, vii,
38.
Peninsula of San l-rancisco, 186.
Perez, Captain, 49.
Perouse, La, 120.
Perrine, 355.
Perris Valley, loi.
Petaluma Valley, 323.
Pico, Pio, 147.
Piedmont, 62, 184, 185.
Pied Piper of Hamelin, 182.
Pinchot, Cape, 155.
Pinchot, Gifford, 328.
Pine Forest of Monterey, 382.
Pioneers, before Discovery of Gold,
ix.
Pit, The, 206.
Pitcher, Miss Anna E., 58.
Pitcher Plants, 344.
Pitt River Valley, 317.
Pizmo, 121.
Placer Mining, 191.
Playa del Rey, 3, 272.
Phelan, James D., 352.
Phelps, W. D., Capt., 120.
Poet of the Sierras, 64. {See Joaquin
Miller.)
Point Concepcion, 131, 161.
Point Diablo, 158.
Point Lobos, 28.
Point Loma, 155.
Point Mendocino, 132.
Point Pinos, 134.
Point Reyes, 132.
Point Reyes Life Saving Station,
136.
Polo, 290.
Pomona, 248, 274.
Pomona College, 354.
Pony Express, ix.
Popp3^ California, 339.
Population, Romance of, xiv.
Porterv'ille, 216.
Portola, Caspar, viii, 8, 40, 44.
Portsmouth (sloop), 180.
Portsmouth Square, 180.
Potter Hotel, 4.
Potter Valley, 316.
Poway Valley, 325.
Powell, Major J. W., 197.
Powers, Stephen, ^2>-
Pratt, Julius H. (q.), 127.
Preciado, vii.
Presidio, 8, 176.
Price, W. W., Prof., 245.
Prophecy, California the Land
OF, 64, 172.
Pumping, 252.
Punta de los Reyes, 132.
Purisima Concepcion, La, Mission
of, 61.
Pyramid Peak, 118.
Quincy, 344.
R
Rabbit Drives, 207.
Rainfall, 91.
Railway, Central Pacific, ix.
Raisin Day, 210.
Raja- Yoga College, 291, 292.
Ramona, 37, 58, 133, 254, 325.
Randolph, Epes, 308.
Rannels, 314.
Raymond and Whitcomb, 249.
Realf, Richard, 384.
Rebellion of Indians, 50.
Reclamation of Desert, x.
Reclamation Service, U. S., 194,
Index
429
Red Bluflf, 12.
Redding, 200.
Redding, J. D., 321.
Redlands, 248, 249.
Redondo, 3, 121, 248, 272.
Red Rock Tunnel, 93.
Redwood, 186.
Redwood, Habitat of the, 331.
Redwood Mountain, 330.
Redwood Park, 90.
Redwood Valley, 316.
Reyes, Point, vii.
Rezanof, 121, 122.
Rhett Lake, j6, 17.
Ricard, Father, 352.
Richards, Judge, 129.
Richardson, Mrs. Alice, 253.
Richardson Peak, 118.
Richmond, 174, 184.
Rincon Hill, 172.
Rio Carmelo, 62.
Ritter, Mt., 86.
Rivera, Captain, 56, 300.
Riverside, 248, 258, 404.
Road of a Thousand Wonders, 3, 8.
Rockwood, 303.
Rockwood, C. R., 304.
Roeding, G. C, 312.
Romance of California, x, 20.
Rookeries, Sea Lion, 150.
Roosevelt, President Theodore, 307,
328, 350-
Rose, Mt., Observatory, 103.
Ross, Fort, 127, 128.
Rothschild, Lady Constance, v.
Round Valley, 316.
Rubicon River, 103, 118.
Rubio Canyon, 273.
Russians in California, ix, 127,
128.
Russian Hill, 172.
Russian River, 127, 128.
Russian River Valley, 321.
Ryan, Marah Ellis, 390, 407.
Sacramento, 9, 10, 165, 189, 369.
Sacramento to Kern through
THE San Joaquin Valley,
204-217. '
Sacramento to Mt. Shasta, 188-
203.
Sacramento River, 11, 12, 174, 194,
196, 198, 200, 316, 368.
Sacramento Valley, 10, 11, 12, 14,
83, 165, 188, 193, 200, 369.
Salinas Valley, 5.
Salter, N. L., 245.
Sal ton Basin and Sea, i, 15, 80,
81.
San Antonio, Mission, 61.
San Antonio, Mountain, 82.
San Antonio (ship), 45.
San Bernardino, 70.
San Bernardino, County, 165.
San Bernardino, Mountain, 2, 80.
San Buenaventura, 3, 60, 82. {See
also Ventura.)
San Carlos Borromeo, Mission, 62,
131-
San Carlos (ship), 46.
San Clemente, 4, 131, 146, 153, 154,
156.
San Diego, vii, 39, 70, 123, 142, 143,
258.
Age of, xvi.
And Eastern Railway, 285, 303.
Bay of, 14, 28, 143, 277.
Climate of, 166, 251, 276.
Growth of, 18, 276.
Horton, A. E., 277.
Martyrdom of Father Jayme, ix.
Named, 131.
Normal School, 354.
Old Town, 60.
Pan-California Exposition, 285 et
seq.
Point Loma, 292.
Raja- Yoga College, 291 e^ seq.
River, 60.
Roads, 284.
Spanish Lighthouse, 292.
Theosophical Headquarters, 291
ei seq.
Uprising of Indians, 50.
Water Supply, 283.
San Fernando, 60, 274.
San Fernando Valley, 3, 14.
San Francisco, 8, 173, 299.
Barbary Coast, 176.
Bay of, 8, 13, 136, 138, 140, 141,
143, 172, 175; Discovery of,
ix, 42, 298.
Beach Boulevard, 179.
Beginnings of, 181.
Burnham's Plans for, 175.
Cemetery, 181.
China Basin, 176.
Chinatown, 176.
430
Index
San Francisco:
Cliff House, 176, 182.
Climate, 375.
Coolbrith, Ina (q.), 75.
Development of, ix, 175.
Divisions of, 175.
Eldredge, Zoeth, iSi.
Fairmont Hotel, 182.
Ferry Building, 176.
First Child Born, 180.
Fourth of July, First Celebration,
180.
Gold Seekers arrive at, 123, 124.
Golden Gate Park, 179.
Harte, Bret (q.), 75-
Hunter's Pt. Dry Dock, 176.
Little Italy, 176.
Midwinter Fair, 179.
Mission of, 62, 181.
Night Time at, 182.
North Beach, 175.
Oregon built, 141.
Palace Hotel, 182.
Poet Mayor (E. R. Taylor), 176.
Port of (Drake's Bay), 43.
Presidio District, 176.
Residences in, 176.
Sand lot agitation, 181.
Situation of, 173.
South of Market, 175.
Stevenson Monument, 181.
Sutherland, H. V. (q.), 75-
Taylor, B. (q.), 74-
Union Iron Works, 176.
Union Square, 181.
Water Front, 175.
Water Supply, 93-
San Francisco Solano, 62.
San Gabriel Mission, 60.
San Gabriel Valley, 14, in.
San Gorgonio Mountain, 2, 14, 80,
81.
San Gorgonio Pass, 306 et seq.
San Jose, xvi, 184, 186.
Normal School, 354.
San Jose Mission, 62.
San Joaquin River, 212, 213.
San Joaquin Valley, 14, 204-217,
371-
San Joaquin VaUey Mountains,
216.
San Juan Bautista Mission, 62
San Juan Capistrano, 60, 390.
San Juan Capistrano Point, 143.
San Lorenzo River, 90.
San Luis, Obispo, Mission, 5, 61,
70, 143-
San Luis, Rey, 60.
San Luis Rey Valley, 325.
San Mateo, 186.
San Miguel Island, 130, 147, 161.
San Miguel- Mission, 5, 61.
San Miguel Mountain, 79.
San Nicolas Island, 146.
San Pedro, 3, 123, 131, 272.
San Pedro Point, 160.
San Rafael, 62.
San Rafael Valley, 323.
San Sebastian, Cabo Blanco, 132.
Sanel Valley, 316.
Sanger, 216.
Santa Ana, 248.
Santa Ana Sierra, 82.
Santa Barbara, xvi, 4, 60, 70, 121,
142, 258.
Santa Barbara Island, 146.
Santa Barbara Rock, 146, 156.
Santa Catalina, 4, 127, 131, 146,
147, 156.
Santa Clara County, 62, 174, 186.
Santa Clara University, 351.
Santa Clara Valley (near San Jose),
5>8, 371-
(Near Ventura), 14.
Santa Cruz, 15, 41, 62, 121, 142-
146, 182, 333, 337, 370-
(Lower California), viii.
Santa Cruz Island, 146, 150, 157,
160.
Santa Cruz Mountains, 90, 184, 370.
Santa Fe Railway, 270.
Santa Ines, 4, 61.
Santa Ines Mountains, 82.
Santa Lucia Mountains, 5, 83, 131.
Santa Monica, 3, 248, 272.
Santa Paula, 248.
Santa Rosa, 320.
Santa Rosa Island, 146, 161.
Santa Susanna Tunnels, 3.
Santiago Mountain, 82.
Sarcodes sanguinea, 346.
Sausalito, 174.
Sawtooth Peak, 116.
Scheli'auer, Herman, 322.
Scherer, James A. B., 354.
Scott Valley, 317.
Scripps, 284.
Sea Cucumbers, 149.
Sea Lions, 150, 159.
Sea Urchins, 149.
Index
431
Seal Rocks, 178.
Seal Rock House, 178.
Seals, 150, 159, 178.
Secularization of Missions, 56.
Seeley, 303.
Sequoia Gigantea, 77, 216, 329.
Sequoia Sempervirens, 329.
Serra, Junipero, viii, 40, 42, 50, 70.
Sespe, 82.
Sevastopol, 127, 320.
Seventh Day Adventists, 319.
Shad OIL'S of Sliasta, 200.
Sharp's Heading, 306.
Shasta County, 165, 195.
Shasta Daisy, 335.
Shasta Mountain, 12, 16, 83, 115,
195, 199, 200, 201.
Shasta Springs, 115, 201.
Shasta Valley, 316.
Shepard, Mrs. Theo. B., xiv.
Sherman, 267.
Sherman, Moses H., 263.
Ship of Ihe Desert (q.), 65.
Ships That Pass in the Night, 324.
Shoal of Cortes, 146, 154.
Sierra Club, iii, 113.
Sierra Madre, 28, iii.
Sierra Nevadas, 3, 13, 15, 77, 83,
84, 107, io8, IIS, 117. 174, 216,
372.
Motoring in, 369.
Sierran Counties, 318.
Sill. E. R. (q.), 167, 3 9, 383-
Silsbee, 303.
Silverado Squatters, 15, 83, 319, 36S.
Simpson, 120, 121.
Siskiyous, 12, 83, 196.
Skylark, Ode to, 23.
Slickens, 191.
Smoke Tree, 343.
Smugglers, 146.
Smythe, W. E., 326.
Snark, 175.
Snow Carnival, 102.
Snow Plant, 346.
Snow Shoe Thompson, 102.
Soda Creek and Canyon, 116.
Solano (ferryboat), 9.
Solar Salt Works, 283.
Soledad Mission, 61.
Solitude Desirable, 16.
Son of the Wolf, 389.
Sons of Baldur, 322.
Songs of El Dorado, 68.
Songs of Golden Gate, 8.
Sonoma, 50, 184, 320, 368.
Sonoma County, 127, 184.
Sonoma Valley, 320.
Sonora, xvi.
Soul in Bronze, A, 391.
South American Lake, 117.
South Fork Valley, 317.
South Middle Fork (Tule River),
US-
South Pasadena, 274.
South Sea Idylls, 175.
South Yuba Water Company, 95.
Southern Pacific Railway, i.
Southwestern Corner of United
States, 275-293.
Souvenirs of Los Angeles, 270.
Spalding, Mr., 284.
Spaulding Lake, 9s, 97.
Spears, Nathan, 138.
Splendid Idle Forties, ix.
Sport (Fishing), 142.
Spreckles, John D., 279, 284.
Springvillc, iis-
Squaw Peak, 118.
Squaw Valley, 316.
St. Francis Hotel, 8.
St. Helena Mountain, is, 83, 319,
368.
St. Helena Sanitarium, 319.
Stanislaus River, 213.
Stanford, Jane L., 352.
Stanford, Leland, Jr., University, 8,
352.
Starfish, 149.
Starr King Mountain, 118.
State Highway Commission, 360 ct
seq.
State University, 9.
Steer's Head, 336.
Stephens, Henry Morse, 351.
Sterling, George, 66, 121, 321, 339.
Stevenson, R. L., is, 83, 146, 17s,
181, 319.
Stockton, xvi, 212, 369.
Stoddard, Charles Warren, S7) 68,
175-
Storms on California Coast, 137.
Strait of Anian, viii.
Strawberry Hill, 172.
Strawberry Valley, 316.
Sugar Loaf, 147.
Summer Climate, 170.
Sunset Magazine, 321.
Sunset Route, i.
" Sunshine " Williams, 7.
432
Index
Surprise Valley, io8.
Sutherland, H. V. (q.), 75-
Sutro, Adolph, 136, 174.
Sutro Baths, 179.
Sutro Heights, 174, 179.
Sutter, Captain, ix, 128, 16
Sutter County, 11.
Sutter, Fort, 9, 190.
Sweat Boxes, 211.
Swift, Dean, viii.
Swift, Dr. Lewis, 273.
Sylva of California, 330.
Symons, Gardner, 398.
Tahoe, Lake, 13, 84, 118, 235, 247,
335> iS(^^ 355> 372-
Tahoe Lake, The Region, 235-
247.
Tahoe Tavern, 244, 355.
Tales of the Fish Patrol, 140.
Tallac, Mt., 118, 244.
Tamalpais, Mt., 9, 83, 173, 183; 323.
Tanner's Bank, 146, 153, 154.
Taylor, Bayard (q.), 5, 67, 74, 382.
Taylor, E. R. (q.), 176.
Tehachipi Range, 14.
Tehama County, 12.
Telegraph Hill, 172.
Tenaya Canyon, 118.
Thermal Belts, 214.
Throop, Amos G., 354.
Throop College, 354.
Through Ramona's Country, 164.
Tia Juana, 248.
Tiburon, 174, 186.
Tingley, Mme. Katherine, 291.
Todos Santos, 50.
Togo, Hashamura, 382.
Toll House, 368.
Tomales Bay, 142, 183.
Tonopah, 100.
Topatopa Mountain, 82.
Tournament of Roses, xi.
Trails, On Mountain, 105-119.
Great Era of, 107.
Trail makers, The first, 105.
Trail, Packing for the, 109.
Trans-Pacific Shipping, 143.
Trees, Big, 115.
Tribes of California (q.), 34.
Trinity Valley, 317.
Triumph of Bohemia, 322.
Trout, Golden, 216,
Truckee River, 118, 244.
Tubac, 298.
Tubatama, 300.
Tula River, 115.
Tuna Club, 152.
Tunnels, Elizabeth Lake, 93.
Red Rock, 93.
Tuolumne River, 213.
Twain, Mark, ix, 175, 217, 382.
(q.), on Lake Tahoe, 236-239.
Twin Peaks, 172.
Two Years Before the Mast, xii, 132.
Tyndall, Mount, 84, 85, 86.
U
Ukiah Valley, 316.
Ulloa, vii.
Unt3er the Tread of Indian Feet,
28-37.
Union Square, 181.
Universal Brotherhood and Theo-
sophical Society, 291.
Universities, Colleges and Ob-
servatories, California's,
349-358-
Santa Clara, 351.
Southern California, 353.
State, 9, 185, 349.
Stanford, Leland, Jr., 8.
Valdez Cueva, 160.
Vancouver, 120.
Van Dyke, John C, 386.
Van D\'ke, Theodore, 91, 278, 345.
Velasco, Luis de, 131.
Vendome Hotel, 186.
Venice, 3, 121, 248, 272.
Ventura, 14, 248. {See also San
Buenaventura.)
Vigilantes Committee, ix, 181.
Vila, Captain, 46.
Vineyards, 209.
Visalia, 216.
Vizcaino, vii, 39, 43, 50, 65, 120,
147, 148.
Volcan Peak, 79.
Volcano Lake, 306.
W
Wagner, Harr, 41.
Waite, E. G., 139.
Walker, Wm., 139, 140.
Warner, Charles Dudley, 287, 345.
Index
433
Warner Spur of Sierras, io8.
Washoe Indians, 240.
Water Front in San Francisco, 175.
Water King in California, xiii.
Watson, Bob, 103.
Watson, Mt., 118.
Watsonville, 5.
Weed, 12.
Wendt, William and Julia B., 398.
Westmoreland, 303.
Whales and Whaling, 127.
Wheat King in California, xiii.
Wheatland, 11..
Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 349.
Whitaker, Herman, 66.
White, Mrs. E. G., 319.
White, Stephen M., 352.
White Fang, 389.
Whiting, Lillian, 2.
Whitney Mt., 15, 78, 84.
Whittier, 274.
Wild Flowers of California (q.), 341.
Wilkes, Commander, 138.
Williams, 11.
Williams, Rev. E. S., 7.
Willows, II.
Wilmington, 3.
Wilson, Mt., Ill, 274, 356.
Winehaven, 184.
Wineries, 211.
Winter Climate, 168.
Winter in Mountains, 107.
Woodland, 11.
Worth, The Winning of Barbara, 310.
Wozencroft, Dr., 301.
Wright, Harold Bell, 310.
Yaw, Ellen Beach, 325.
Yerba Buena, 123, 138.
Yerba Buena Island, 174.
Ynez, Santa. (See Santa Ines.)
Yolo, II.
Yosemite Trails, 76.
YosEMiTE Valley, 13, 22, 76, 118,
2i6,_ 218-234, 336, 348, 380.
Autos in, 231.
Best, H. C, 224.
Bridal Veil Falls, 220.
Camp Ahwahnee, 223.
Camp Curry, 227.
Camp Lost Arrow, 224.
Camping Trips, 228.
Cathedral Rock and Spires, 222.
Yosemite Valley:
Cap of Liberty, 226.
Cascades, 224, 226.
Chilnualna Falls, 231.
Coffman's Livery, 228.
Coulterville Road into, 231.
El Capitan, 219, 220.
El Portal, 228.
Foresta, 228.
Glacial Lakes, 231.
Glacier Point, 223, 226, 227, 231.
Gordon-Cummings (q.), 232.
Half Dome, 225.
Happy Isles, 219, 226.
Hill, Thomas, 231.
Illilouette Canyon, 225.
Illilouette Falls, 226.
Inspiration Point, 220.
Jorgensen, Chris., 224.
Kline, F. A., 232.
Lower Fall, 224.
Mariposa Grove, 230.
Merced Canyon, 225, 226, 232.
Merced River, 225.
Mirror Lake, 225.
Nevada Falls, 226.
North Dome, 225.
Pompompasus, 222.
Royal Arches, 225.
Sentinel Dome, 223.
Sentinel Hotel, 224.
Sierras in Winter, 232.
Signal Peak, 231.
Tenaya Canyon, 225.
Tenaya Creek, 225.
Three Brothers, 222.
Three Graces, 222.
Upper Yosemite Falls, 224.
Vernal Falls, 226.
Washburn Brothers, 230. ,
Washington Column, 225.
Watkins, Mt., 225.
Wawona, 230.
Yosemite Fall, 223.
Yosemite Valley Railway, 232.
Young, Brigham, 139.
Yuba City, 11.
Yuba County, 11.
Yuba River, 11.
Yuba South, Water Company, 95.
Yucca Mohaviensis, 329, 342.
Yucca Whipplei, 340.
Yuma, 309.
Yuma, Fort, 55.
Yuma Indians, 55, 298.
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