Oa./^.'VvW^ '^^»:a: ^^*^^-^, ./^A./^»AA.«/^A*/^^A/^*^'^^'>* ^jy^Mft^^^^ fe^":^:; '■' I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ I ^/,c// -SM... ' \ — ♦ J UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. J '^Xx'^f^'irv^'^'^ ""- .«§,«,rg«.a§§^;^ ^^'^^-c.-<.,. ^w^A, ^^^fy^fpr^.^^\. ^.'7.;";M^^ MfMit^^^ ■rT^^r^rf^^^^ ^'E!^^!mrrr,^frm \r^^f^f\^r\^.r\^f\r\rfl^ '^rmpfT^m^^^f^^ m0.rnr^f\f^f\ fyr\f^f\r\ NAAAAfjrAr .^«wyw*'^''^'^ ^wrwrmf ^r\A^^^n^rs. ' |. .A^ ^rv, P^Aiiiii^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ''^''' \«^^^C«.^^.%0^I1r^^^^' I Sketches OP BUFFALO, CALIFORNIA, DELAWARE, COLUMBIA, AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ^Vtf^o^ BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1875. Entered according to Act of Conpress, in the year 1875, by LITTLE, HROWN, AND COMTANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ^. \b^ cAMnninoE: PRBSS OK JOHN WILSON AND 80?r. SKETCH OF BUFFALO. Buffalo, a city, port of entry, and the capital of Erie County, in the State of New York, U. S., about 293 miles N. W. from New York, in lat. 42° 53' N., and long. IS"" 55' W. It is at the eastern extremity of Lake Erie, at the mouth of Buffalo River, and at the head of Niagara River, which is here crossed by a fine iron railroad bridge. The city has a water front of about five miles on the lake and Niagara River. In population Buffalo is the third city in New York, and the eleventh in the United States. It was founded in 1801, became a military post in 1813, and was burned by a force of Indians and British, Dec. 31, 1813. After the war, the village was rebuilt, and was incorporated as a city in 1832. In 1820 it contained 2,095 inhabitants. After the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, its growth was rapid; the population being 8,653 in 1830, 18,213 in 1840, 42,261 in 1850, 81,129 in 1860, 117,714 in 1870, and 134,238 in 1875. Buffalo has many attractions as a place of residence. The city commands a fine view of the lake ; the climate is pleasant and healthful ; the streets, broad and generally lined with shade-trees, are well paved, lighted, and supplied with sewers. There are many fine residences with attractive grounds, and numerous squares and public places. A magnificent public park, or system of parks, embraciiifj over oOO acres, lias been laid out. It comprises three plots, situated in the northern, western, auji eastern parts of the city, connected by broad boule- vards which afford a continuous drive of nearly ten miles. The most prominent public buildinjrs are the City and County Hall, a ^ranite structure, in the form of a double Roman cross, with a tower 245 feet hi*;h, just erected at a cost of over $2,000,000; the United States Custom House and Post Office ; the Slate Arsenal ; and the Erie County Penitentiary, which is one of the six penal establishments of New York, intermediate between the reformatories and the State prisons. A State asyhnn for the insane is in process of construction at North Buffalo, with a front of about 2,700 feet, and a capacity for 600 patients. It will be one of the larjrest institutions of the kind in the United States, and will cost not less than $."J,0()0,()00. The city contains 76 churches, the most iniposinpj edifices being St. Joseph's cathedral (Homan Catholic), and St. Paul's (Episcopal). The j)ublic sciiools comprise a central ()0,000 and $3,000,000; the exports are less than $500,000. Since lb70, Buffalo has 6 been a port of entry for imports from Europe, which are transported in bonded cars from ea.^tern American ports. The number of hike vessels tliat arrived in 1«74 was 3,720 ; the clearances numbered 3,727 ; 7,643 canal-boats arrived, and about the same number cleared ; the latter carried 1,448,172 tons of freight, valued at $46,244,875. The immense quantities of grain moving from the Western States to the seaboard constitute the most important feature of the commerce of the city. The aggregate receipts (in- cluding flour) by lake and Grand Trunk and Canada Southern Railways in 1874 were 70,030,05,0 bushels. The receipts during the ten years ending with 1874 amounted to 522,874,944 bushels. For receiving, storing, and trans- ferring this vast amount of produce to canal-boats and rail- way-cars, there are 30 elevators, with an aggregate storing capacity of 0,875,000 bushels, and with a capacity for trans- ferring 2,072,000 bushels a day. Many of these elevating warehouses are costly structures of stone, or of iron and brick. Several of them have grain "dryers" attached. Live-stock and lumber from the Western States and Can- ada, and coal from Pennsylvania, are also leading items in commerce. In 1874, 504,594 cattle, 783,800 sheep, 1,431,800 hogs, and 21,937 horses, aggregating nearly $G0,000,000 in value, passed through Buffalo. For the ac- commodation of this traffic, extensive and wcll-ari*anged yards hav.e been erected in the eastern suburbs of the city. The receipts of lumber by lake in 1874 amounted to 145,- 024,639 feet, besides about 40,000,000 shingles and 25,000,- 000 staves. The imports of coal comprised 800,000 tons. The coal trade is nipidly increasing. The manufacturing interests of Buffalo are extensive, and have grown with marked rapidity in recent years. The leading establish- ments are blast-furnaces, rolling-mills, founderies, breweries, tanneries, manufactories of agricultural implements, and flour-mills. Of the last-named there are 11, with a yearly capacity of 893,000 barrels, the average annual production of flour being about 250,000 barrels. Wooden ship-building was formerly carried on here, but it has been superseded by iron ship-building. Two extensive establishments are de- voted to this industry, and have constructed the largest and finest steamers on the lakes, besides supplying several iron revenue-cutters for government service on the Atlantic Coast. The number of vessels built here in 1874 was 37, but they were mostly small ones. Many canal-boats are also built here. SKETCH OF CALIFORNIA, California, the name originally given to a portion of the region of western North America bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and apparently taken fiom a Spsmii^h ro- mance {Las Sergas de Esplandi(tn)^ in which tlie author speaks of '* tlie great island of California, where a great ahnndance of gold and precious stones is found." This romance was pul)li>hed in l')10, and, becoming (piite popu- lar, the name of California probably struck the fancy of some one of the officers or compauions of Cortez, and was applied by them to the newly discovered country, per- haps on account of its associMtioii witli a region fal>uIou>ly rich in gold, the early S|iaiiish discoverers in America always expecting to find an Kl Dorado in every new re- gion they entered. As at first used, the name of California was applied to the coast and the territory at a little distance from it, north of Mexico ; gradually it was extended over what we now call the '* Great Basin," ami with no wellnlefined limits to the north. At the present time, the name California means only the State of California, one of the United States of America, and the penitisula is called Lower Califoinia. To the Spanish Americans these natural divisions of the 9 country were, and still are, known as Upper and Lower California (Alta and Baja California), and the two were called " Las Californias " — the Californias. The first discovery of the coast of Lower California was made in 1534, by an expedition sent out by Cortez, and consisting of two ships, commanded by Bezerra de Mendoza, and Hernando de Grijalva ; and later, the Gulf, now known as the Gulf of California, was discovered and navigated by Cortez himself; after whom it was, for a time, called El Mar de Cortez, and later, El Mar Vermejo (the Red, or Vermil- ion, Sea), in consequence of the red color which it has at times, and which is probably due to the multitudes of small animalculae (crustaceans ? ) inhabiting its waters. In 1540, the mouth of the Colorado River was discovered by Aiarcon, in command of a fleet sent out by Mendoza for geographical exploration. In 1542, the coast of Cali- fornia proper was explored by Cabrillo as far north as Cape Mendocino, in latitude 44*^. In 1578, Sir Francis Diake entered the Pacific, and coasted along the shores of the American continent, reaching a point as far north as 48*^. Whether he discovered the bay and harbor of San Fraficisco has been, and still is, a matter of dispute. By some he is supposed to have tarried and refitted his ships at what is now known as Sir Francis Drake's Bay; by others he is believed to have done this in the Bay of San Francisco itself. The evidence seems to decidedly pre- ponder^ite in favor of the first of these suppositions. In lfi02, the bays of San Diego and Monteuey were dis- covered by Viscaino ; but more than a hundred and fifty years elapsed before the latter was visited again, and before settlements began to be made on the coast of Upper Call- 10 H fornia. The peninsula (Lower California) was entered by Jesuit missionaries in 1G*J7, and a permanent mission established at Loreto ; where, and at other points, the Jesuits maintained themselves, on the whole succt^ssfuUy, until 17G7, when they were expelled from the country by order of Charles III. of Spain, and all their property turned over to tlie Franciscan monks. Later, the Donnni- cans obtained exclusive possession of the jjeniusula ; and the Franciscans, not unwillingly, withdrew to Upper Cali- fornia, where they established themselves, built numerous missions, and throve remarkably until Mexico became independent of Spain in 1822 ; this event was a death- blow to the establishments of the Franciscans, which from that time forward lost ground from year to year, and tinally were broken up altogether in 1840. The treatment by the fathers of the natives of the country was successful so far as the accumulation of material wealth was concerned, but not in the sliiihtest deijree conducive to their intellec- tual advancement or development, as the so-called con- verts were simply the slaves of the "good fathers." The whole number of the mission establishments was twenty- one ; the first founded in 17GI), the last in 1820. They were all on or near the coast, or Bay of San Francisco, and the fathers disjjlayed most excellent judgment in selecting for their sites the very garden-spots of the country. The number of the aboriginal inhabitants of California has rapidly decreased within the past forty or fifty years. The various authorities agree in fixing their number at over 100,000 in 1823. In 18G3, according to the census made by the Indian Department, there were only 2'J,000; the census of 1870 gave about the same 11 results, namely, 29,025, 5,784 being actually enumerated, and the remainder merely an estimate. It is certain that the decrease in the Indian population was, at one time, exceed- ingly rapid ; it would appear, however, that at present it is much less so. The few that are left are mostly a degraded, miserable set of beings. During the time of the flourishing of the missions of California, the connection of the country with Spain through Mexico was a very loose one. Gradually a trade of some importance sprang up between the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the continent. Boston had for a number of years an entire monopoly of this business, whicii con- sisted chiefly of an exchange of groceries and cotton goods for furs and hides. The voyage usually lasted two years or more, and the profits were large. A few English- men and Americans wandered into California from different parts of the world between 1810 and 1830; and some adventurous and daring men found their way across the continent, in the pursuit of the dangerous and exciting business of hunting and trapping. It is estimated that there were, in 1830, as many as 500 foreigners on the west side of the Sierra Nevada. Of all these early pioneers, John A. Sutter is the one who is be-^t known, from the fact that the first effective discovery of gold, by the Americans, was made by men in his employ ; and also on account of the generous hospitality with which he welcomed the first comers into California, notably Fremont and his party. In 1842, Commodore Jones of the American Navy cap- tured the fort of Monterey, raised the stars and stripes, and took possession of the country for the United States ; but the next day he hauled down bis colors, and apologized 12 for his mistake. About tliis time the attention of tlie United States government liegan to be stron^dy at t rafted towards California ; and, as is universally believed in that State, the French and the English were also looking in that direction, with a view to a future possible taking possession of the country. All the circumstances connected with the seizing of Califorina by the Unired Suites will probably never be known. It appears pretty clear, however, that the authorities at Washington, having determined on a war with Mexico, and fully aware of the importimce to tilt' Tnited States of an extension of their territory on the Pacific, resolved to take possession of California, so that after the termination of the war, matters being settled on the basis of iiti possidetis, that country would become a part of the United States. At all events, Fremont being accidentally engaged in conducting a scientific expedition on the Pacific coast, received in May, 1846, verbal instruc- tions from an ofHcer dispatched from Washington in a national ship, and who haiou, was ever afterwards considered by the people to have been the real conqueror of California ; and, in consequence, he came near being elevated to the Presidency. The country was entirely pacified before June, 1847 ; and in March, 1848, a treaty was ratified between the governments of the United States and Mexico, by which the whole of Upper Cali- fornia was ceded to the United States, just at the moment when the discovery of gold on the America River was beginning to attract attention; and when the news of the ratification reached the Pacific coast, the excitement had already spread far and wide ; San Francisco was deserted, and the whole population of the country was at work in tlie mountains, digging gold. The discussion as to what should be done with California, when acquired, began in Congress in 1846 ; and the question of slavery or no slavery in the new territory was at once raised. A most furious conflict followed, and nothing was accomplished during that session or the next; even as late as the ad- journment of Congress, on the 4th of March, 1849, the only progress made towards creating a government for the new territory, was that the United States revenue laws had been extended over it, and San Francisco made a port of entry. In consequence of this the people themselves got together in September, 1849, and a constitution was framed, forbidding slavery, and in other respects resem- bling the constitutions of the free American States. On the 7tliof September, 1850, a bill finally passed Congress, 14 admitting California into the Union as a State, and with- out slavery, but leaving New Mexico and Utnh open to its introduction. At the same time the celebrated '• Com- promise Measures " became a law, and these were supposed to have settled the question of slavery for ever in the republic ; the lapse of a fvw years proved, however, that this was a problem which admitted of no peaceful solution. By the treaty with Mexico, the United States did not acquire the Peninsula of Lower California, although they had military posses-ion of it at that time. It was proba- bly known to liie authorities at Washington, that it was a region of little value, as compared with the country to the north of it, or California proper. Lower California. Under this designation is comprised the \\hole p'-ninsuhi, and it extends from Cape St. Lucas to the boundary between the L'nited States and Mexico, which is a line "drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it uniies with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific one marine league due south of the soulh- ernmost point of the port of San Diego." The breadth of the peninsula varies very much, it being from five to six times as great between the parallels of 27° and 28^ as it is opposite the Hay of La Paz. The area of Lower California has been estimate*! as r)8,()0U square miles ; the recent cliarts of the American Hydrographic Office, base(),()()() square niiles. The interior of L«)\ver Calif »rnia is chieHy known to us, as to its pliysicid and geological structure, from a recon- 15 noissance made by Messrs. Gabb and Loehr, of the State Geological Survey of California, in 1867. This explora- tion was set on foot in order that some information might be obtained relative to tlie value of a concession made by the Mexican government to an American company. This grant was expected to lead to a settlement of the country ; but the whole thing turned out a failure. According to Mr. Gabb, the peninsula is divided into three distinct portions. The northern and southern ex- tremities have much in common with each other, while the middle division differs decidedly from the others in its physical characters. The most southern division consists chiefly of granitic rocks and high ranges, which with their spurs cover nearly the whole area from Cape St. Lucas to La Paz. Within this district, and lying between the spurs of the mountains, are many small valleys, some of which are very fertile, and well supplied with water. According to the American hydrographic charts, there are in this part of the peninsula two well-defined ranges, and the culminating point is given as 6,300 feet in altitude. It is iu this region, about half-way from Cape St. Lucas to La Paz, that the principal mines of the peninsula are situated ; and these are the only ones which, thus far, have proved to be of much value. They are in the districts of San Antonio and Triunfo. In 1867, these mines were produc- ing at the rate of about $20,000 in value of silver per month ; and, from recent newspaper notices, it would appear that they are still worked with success. The ores are, however, refractory, and not easily treated. Proceeding northwardly into the middle section of the peninsula, the granitic masses unite and form one moun- 16 taio range, which runs parallel with the coast of the Gulf, and at a distance of tifteen or twenty miles from it. It is known as the Sierra Gigantea, or del Gigante, and has an elevation of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Crossing this range and descending its western slope, its inclination is found to be very gradual, the granitic mass being flanked on that side by heavy accumulations of sandstone, wliich has a gentle dip away from the crest of the ridge. This sand- stone is quite destitute of fossils, but is believed by ]\Ir. Gabb to be of miocene age. It is cut by numerous vol- canic dykes, and also contains great quantities of material of erujitive origin, in the form of interstiatitied masses. In this portion of tiie peninsula tlie settlements are con- fliied to the eastern base of the Sierra Gigantea. Here, at numerous points along tlie coast, there are small vaihys, witli good harbors adjacent ; and these little j)atfhcs of country are very fertile, and adapted to the growtli of tropical and semi-tropical plants. By far the greater por- tion of the region, however, is extremely barren and for- bidding ; although occjisional deep ravines and narrow valleys ofter a marked contnist to tlie general sierihty of the rest of the country. The northern division of the peninsula is considerably broken by mountain ranges, resembling in this respect the soutliern extremity. Tlie culminating point is put down on the American liydroLMapliic cliarts at 0,130 feet in alti- tude, and it is called Mount Calamahue. Between the ranges are broad valleys, covered with grass, and saitl) nn'ridian forms the boundary from 42° south to the intersection of that meridian with the 31)th parallel, which takes place within the waters of Lake Tahoe, near its southern end. From this point the boundary runs oblicjnely in a south- easterly direction to the intersection of the Sotli parallel with the Colorado River, and thence down the river to the Mexican boundary line opposite the mouth of the Gila. The whole area thus embraced has been variously esti- mated at from 155,000 to 188,981 square miles. The hist-mentioned figures are those given in the latest docu- ment published in connection with the United States 19 census, — General Walker's Statistical Atlas, — as well as in the Report of the Commissioner of the United States General Land Office for 1866. It is believed, however, that the first-named figures are much nearer the truth than the other higher statement, and tliat the area of California is somewhere between 155,000 and 160,000 square miles. Topography. The surface and climate of California, although extremely varied in character, bear everywhere a peculiar impress, very different from that of the Atlantic coast and Mississippi Valley States. The division of the year into two seasons — the wet and the dry — marks this portion of the Pacific coast in the most decided manner, and this natural climatic area coincides almost exactly in its extension with that of the State of California itself. Soon after crossing the Oregon line, we enter a region of summer and winter rains ; and, in Lower California, although the entire precipitation is exceedingly small, it is, on the whole, decidedly tropical in its character. Before, however, the nature of the Californian climate can be understood, it will be necessary to give some account of the physical structure of the State, and to indicate the interesting and somewhat peculiar character of the relief of its surface. California may be divided into three quite distinct portions, and these are very different from each other in importance, — the central being much the most densely populated, and in every respect the most valuable. This central portion is embraced between the parallels of 35° and 40°, and has, on its eastern side, the Sierra Ne- vada, and on its western the Coast Ranges, with the Pacific ocean at their western base. Between these two moun- tain chains lies the Great Central Valley, which forms so 20 marked a feature iu the topography of the State. This valley is drained by the Sacramento River, flowiiig fnun the north, and tiie San JoMqiiin, from the south, the two uniting about midway between the northern and southern extremities of the valley, and euleriny: the Hay of Snn Francisco through Suisun and Sun Pablo bays, which lat- ter is, in fact, but the northern expansion of San Francisco Bay itself. Suisun Bay, on the other hand, is rather the j)artly submerged delta of tiie united rivers, being slntllow, ai.d containing large, low islands covered with a dense growth of " tide " {Srirpns piihisfr/s). The entire lengfli of the Great Valley is about 4.">0 miles: and its breadth, which is small in its northern part, and gradually increasing towards the south, averages about 40 miles, including the lower foot-hills, so that the entire almost level area contains about l.S,000 square miles. The direction of the valley is par- allel with that of the ranges between which it is enclosed, or about X. .'31*^ W. ; but it gr.idually takes a more north- erly course, to the north of the Bay of San Francisco, in barnoiiy with the chanjie in tiie trend of the coast beyond the i)arallel of ^VJ°. From the mouth of tiie Sacramento to Keilding, at the northern head of tiie valley, the rise is ') '>G feet in 11)2 miles; and from the mouth of the San Joacjuin to Kern Lake it is 2 miles. A striking fea- ture of tlie Sacramento River is tiie fact tliat for 20() miles norlli from tlie mouth of tlie Feallier River it does not re- ceive a single triliutary of any note, althougli walled in by high moinitain ranges. Indeed, the whole ofthe (Jreal V.tl- ley is thus surroun0 miles. The hreadtli of this i;reat mass of mountains varies from 75 to 100 miles; and it nairows towards the north, while its altitude also declines in the same direction. The slope of the range is everywhere long and gradual on the west, and short and precipitous to the east, in which latter direction, of course, the general level of the Great liasin is attained, and this is from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. The highest part of the range is between the parallels of 36° 30' and 37*^ 30' ; here the passes are about 12,000 feet in elevation above the sea- level, and the peaks range from 13,000 to 14,886 feet in altitude, the cidminating point. Mount Whitney, being about 600 feet higher than any peak yet measured in the Rocky Mountains. From this peak, gf>1ng north, the range declines gradually, and at the point where the Central Pacific Railroad crosses it the summit is only 7,000 feet above the sea; this is in latitude 39° 20'. The slope of the Sierra in the central part of the State, opposite Sacra- mento, is about 100 feet to the mile, the range being there seventy miles in breadth between the valley and the crest ; farther north, Oj»j)Osite \'isalia, the average rise is as much as 240 feet to the mile, up to tlie summit of the passes, and 300 feet to the peaks. In this j)art of the range, the slope on the east is very abrupt, being as much as 1,000 feet to the mile from the summit to tlie level of Owen's Valley, a descent of about 10,000 feet. The western side of tlie Sierra Nevada is furrowed by extremely deep and j)recip- itous gorges, or canons, as they are universally called in California. These are narrow at the bottom, where there is u^ually barely room for the river to run at au ordinary 23 stage of water; tLeir sides slope upwards at a very steep angle, often as much as thirty degrees ; and they are sunk from one to three thousand feet, or even more, below the general level. These canons become more and more marked features of the range as we proceed north in the Sierra; and where the volcanic formations have spread themselves uniformly over the flanks of the mountains, so as to form a smooth and almost level surface, as is the case over an extensive area, the contrast between the deep and precipitous canons and the plain-like region, with its gen- tle slope to the west, in which they have been excavated, is a very marked one. The Coast Ranges form a large mass of mountains, almost as broad as the Sierra, but much inferior to it in elevation, and at the same time more complicated in details. The Sierra Nevada is essentially one range or chain, with great simplicity of structure. It is only here and there that, along the crest or near it, a double line of summits exists, with deep longitudinal valleys between, which are occasionally occupied by lakes, as in the case of Lake Tahoe ; while the Coast Ranges, on the other hand, are made up of numerous broken and indistinct chains, each of which usually has a distinct name, the different groups of ranges having, however, on the whole, a well-marked parallelism with the coast. Near the Bay of San Francisco the culminating summits are about 4,0U0 feet in altitude ; to the north and south of the Bay the elevation of the ranges increases. Monte Diablo, twenty-eight miles distant from San Francisco in a north-north-easterly direction, is 3,856 feet in height, and forms a well-known land-mark, being froai its somewhat isolated position on the north, a very 24 conspicuous object over much of the central pojtion of tlie State. Tlie view fioin its summit is rem:irk.'il)ly compre- hensive, as is tliat from Mount St. Helena, at tlie head of Naf>a Valley, sixty miles north of San Francisco, and 4,.j43 feet in height. The flanks of the Coast Ranges on the western side of the Great Valley are very scantily provided with forests, and there is not a single stream on that side permanent enough to reach either the Sacramento or San Joaijuin throughout the entire year. The only streams which carry water in summer on the west side of the Sacramento Valley are Puta, Cache, and Stoney creeks, and these all disappear during the dry season, soon after leaving the foot-hills. On the western side, however, the conditions are greatly changed. The rain-fall, almost entirely cut off on the eastern slope of the Coast Ranges, becomes con- siderable on the western side of the more elevated Sierra, and numerous large rivers are fed from the melting snow during the summer; although, towards tiie close of the dry season, the body of water which th(!y carry has usually become very nuich diminished. The streams trihurary to the Sacramento on the east side are: the Feather, Yuba. American, Consumnes, Mokcliimne, ami several other smaller ones. The Feather has the largest drainage area of any river having its source in the Sierra. It runs for a long distance parallel with the Sacramento, re«'eiving on the east ail the drainage which woidd other- wise run into that river. There are no lakes in the Sacra- mento division of the Great Valley; but at its southern extremity there are several, one of which is of large size, having an area of not less than sevtu hundred i^quare 25 miles. Tills is Tulare Lake, which, together with Kern and Buena Vista ];ikes, receives the drainage of the southern part of the Sierra, by the Kern, Kaweah, King's, and other smaller stieams. Tulare Lake is quite shallow, being only forty feet deep ; its banks are low and reedy (hence the name, Tulare, a [dace of reeds or tules), and in wet seasons it overflows them and becomes greatly extended in area. At such times the excess of the drainage passes off into the San Joaquin ; but in dry seasons the evaporation is so great that there is no dis- charge in that direction. The northern branch of the San Joacjuiu heads in the grand group of summits of which Mounts Maclure, Lyell, and Ritter are the culminating points ; the southern rises on the north side of Mount Goddard. The united stream issues from the mountains at Millerton ; and, after gaining the centre of the valley, it turns and runs at right angles to its former course, receiv- ing three important tributaries and several smaller ones on the east, but not a single permanent one from the west. The areaure and fresh water, while others are alkaline, being without any outlet. The finest of tl»ese is Tahoe, which lies on the very summit of the Sierra, and at an elevation of about 6,200 feet. It has a length of about twenty miles, and is 1,500 feet deep, its water being extremely pure, as it contains only three grains of solid matter to the gallon. The overflow of this body of water passes off by the Truckee River, and enters Pyramid Lake, where it '' sinks," or disappears by evapora- 26 tioD. Clear Lake is anotlier beautiful sheet of water, in the Coai^t Ranges, and about the same length as Lake Tahoe, but much narrower and more irregular in shape. Owen's Lake is the "sink" of Owen's lliver, and is about eighteen miles long. Mono Lake is the sink of the streams rising in the Sierra between Mount Dana and Castle Peak. It is about fourteen miles long, and nine wide, and lies at an elevation of about 7,000 feet above the sea- level. There are several other large alkaline lakes in Lassen and Modoc counties, which receive tlie drainage of the eastern slope of the Sierra, within the limits of the State. Death Valley is the sink of the Armagosa River, and it has evidently been once an extensive lake, althougii now only a mud-flat in ordinary winters, and a dry, alka- line, desert plain in summer. All these lakes and depres- sions siiow very plaiidy, by the terraces wiiich surround them, that the water was formerly mueli moie abundant, and stoot, and perhaps starvation. Between Owen's Lake and Death Valley are the Panamint Mountains, which have lately been the scene of considerable mining excitement. A por- tion of the extreme southern part of the State in San Diego County is also below the sea-level. Here is a depressed area of Hfty miles in length, the width of which is unknown ; in its lowest part it is over 300 feet beneath the level of the sea. Dry Lake occupies the greatest depression of this area at the entrance to the Coahuila Valley. There are many fine points in the scenery of California, some of wiiit'h have already become well known from the descriptions of pleasure travellers who have flocked to the State from all parts of the world. The granite jtinnacles and domes of the Highest Sierra, opposite Owen's Lake ; the snowy cone of ISLtunt Siiasta, rising 10,000 feet al)ove the adjacent plains; the lovely valleys of the Coa-t Ranges, with their peculiar vegetation, — all these have their charms; but the point winch is most attractive of all is the Yosemite Valley. This is situated in the Sierra, 29 about 150 miles in a direct line, a little south of east, from San Francisco. Irs elevation is 3,950 feet above the sea, and it is hemmed in by cliffs varying from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in elevation. The |)rinci()al features of the Yosemite, and tliose by vvliich it is distinguished from all other known valleys, are: First, the near approach to verticality of its walls ; second, their great height, not only absolutely, but as compared with the width of the valley itself; and, finally, the small amount of talus or debris at the base of these gigantic cliffs. The waterfalls in and about this valley are also of wonderful beauty and variety. Those of the Yosemite Creek, which descend from the cliffs on the north side, are most remarkable for their height, which is, in the whole, not less than 2,600 feet; but divided into three parts, with one vertical fall of 1,500 feet. The Nevada and Merced Falls of the Merced River, which flows through the whole length of the valley, combine great height with a large body of water, and are wonder- fully grand. The Half Dome is one of the most striking features of the Yosemite, its elevation being 4,737 feet above the bottom of the valley, with arj absolutely verti- cal face of 1,500 feet at the summit, turned towards the Tenaya Fork of the Merced, above wliich it rises. The scenery of the canon of the Tuolumtje River, which flows parallel with the Merced, a few miles farther north, is also extremely picturesque, and remarkable especially for the great number and variety of the cascades which occur at short intervals iu the deep gorge, the walls of which are bare and almost vertical {)recipices, in places more than a thousand feet In'gh. The river, which is not nuich less than a hundred feet wide, falls 4,650 feet in a distance of 80 twenty-two miles. A few miles farther down, the narrow gorge opens out into a beautiful valley, iu many respects a wonderful counterpart of the Yosemite, although iuferior to it in grandeur. This is called the Iletch-IIetchy. Above the Yosemite Valley the scenery of the High Sierra is very attractive, immense conical knobs or domes of granite being a prominent and very characteristic fea- ture of tiiis and other portions of the Sierra. Mount Dana, a little over 13,000 feet in height, dominates over the region above the Yosemite; and from its summit, which is quite easy of access, a magniticent panorama may be had of the Sierra Nevada, with Mono Lake, nearly 7,000 feet below, spread out like a map, and beyond it the lofty, and, in some instances, snow-clad ranges of the Great Basin, while several well-formed and very large volcanic cones are seen just to the south of the lake. Climate. The climate of California presents many fea- tures of interest, ditlering considerably from those obtaining in the Eastern and ^lississippi Valley States, which have furnished a majority of the immigrants to the Pacific coast und Great l»asin. There can be no doubt that emi- gration to California has, especially within the past few years, been greatly stimulated by the desire of people at the East to escape the sudden changes, tlie intense heats of summer, an«l the bitter coMs of winter, which characterize the climate of the wliole country east of the Uocky ^loun- tains. Tiie climate of California is very different in different parts of the State, according to distance from the ocean, situation with reference to tiie mountain ranges, and alti- tude above the sea-level. But there are certain peculiar features which ohtain all over the State. In the first place, the division of the year into two seasons — a dry and a rainy one — is the most marked general characteristic of the Californian climate. But, as one goes north, the winter rain is found to begin earlier and last longer ; while, on the other hand, the south-eastern corner of the State is almost rainless. Again, the climate of the Pacific coast, along its whole length, is milder and more uniform than that of the States in a corresponding latitude east of the mountains. Thus, we have to go as far north as Sitka, in latitude 57°, to find the same mean yearly temperature as that of Hali- fax, in latitude 44° 39'. And in going south along the coast, we observe that . the mean temperature of San Diego is six or seven degrees less than that of Charleston and Vicksburg, which are nearly in the same latitude as San Diego, and situated, one on the Atlantic, the other on the Mississippi River. But, in addition, we notice that the means of summer and winter are much nearer the mean of the year in California than in the east. Thus, compar- ing Washington and San Francisco, we have: — Mean of Year. Suimner. Winter. San Francisco, 56 60 51 Washington, . 56*07 36-05 76-3 This condition of things is not so marked as we advance into the interior of California ; but everywhere in the State the winters are comparatively mild, and the heat of summer is much less disagreeable in its effects, because the air is exceedingly dry and the evaporation proportionately rapid. The climate of San Francisco is indeed wonder- fully iinifotm ; and tlie bracin[)aienily iso- lated patches of limestone, which succeed one another in the line of direction of the axis of the range. The strike of the slates is usually parallel with that of the axis of the range, and their dip is, in general, at a high angle towards the east. Low down in the foot-hills, sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age occur in considcrahle (juantity. From the Stanislaus River towards the south, these strata are Tertiary, and they form (piite a liroad belt on White Kiver and Pose Creek. On the American River, and north of it, the Cretaceous rocks are occasionally well developed and full of orjranic remains. All these beds rest in ahnost horizt)!!- tal position on the iipturned edges of tiie auriferous slates, showing that the eh vation and metamorphi>m of the chain of the Si«'na took |thue |)revious to the Cretaceous epoch. These beds are of marine oiigin ; but there are very exten- sive masses of stdimenfary mateiials liigher up in the Sierra wiiich are fluNiatile and fre.sh-water dej)osits, and they are associated with great (juantiiies of volcanic detri- tus and solid lava which has evidently come down from the higher porti(Mis of the chain. The eruptive niat^-rials do not usually lie where they weie ejt cted, but seem to have been carried far fiom their original position by currents of waier, as they are made up, in great part, of rolled or brecciated nnisses, and are interstratihed with gravels and finely laiidnated rlays. 'I'hese latter often contain impres- sions of haves and whole trunks of trees, usually silicified, as well as bones of land and a(juatic animals. '1 he charac- ter of these fossil remains indicates that the formAtiou is of] 37 late Tertiary age, and it may be considered as Pliocene. Although the crest of the ^Sierra is frequently crowned by large masses of volcanic materials, there are no indications of present activity along the range, and only occasionally can remains of ancient crateriform openings be seen. In Plumas County, however, and especially iu the neighbor- hood of Lassen's Peak, there are several solfataric areas and well-formed cinder cones, some of which exhibit very marked appearances of recent action. From here northward, vol- canic masses cover more and more of the higher regions, and almost the whole of the north-eastern corner of the State is exclusively occupied by rocks of this character. Lassen's Peak (10,577 feet) and Mount Shasta (14,440 feet) are both extinct volcanoes, and the latter has, near its summit, hot springs and indications of solfataric action. The auriferous slates of the Sierra contain occasional fossils ; and, in quite a number of localities, these have been found in close proximity to well-marked and productive veins of quartz, which are now, or have formerly been, extensively worked for gold. These fossils are of Jurassic age, and no Silurian or Devonian forms have ever been discovered any- where in the Sierra. In Plumas County, Triassic fossils have also been discovered, but only in one locality of limited extent. These are, however, identical with species belonging to the Alpine Trias, which have been found in large quantities, and in numerous localities, on the eastern side of the Sierra, and which prove that this interesting group of rocks has a wide distribution on the Pacific side of the coniinent. The limestone belt, already mentioned, a|)pears to be entirely destitute of organic remains, except in the extreme northern part of the State, where, in one or two 38 localities, it has heen found to contain well-marked carbon- iferous types. Farther soutli, ihis rock has l)econie much metamorphosed, and is in many places cojiverted into marble, while its organic remains appear to have become entirely obliterated. The Coast Ranges are made up almost entirely of Creta- ceous and Tertiary marine strata, chiefly sandstones and highly bituminous shales. The Cretaceous rocks occur from the Canada de las Uvas northward along the east side of the Coast Ranges, gradually occupying more and more space in a northerly direction. After passing the Bay of San Francisco, this formation makes up nearly the whole mass of the mountains, which grow more elevated and rougher towanls the north, the rocks being much metamorphosed and broken by granitic intrusions. In the vicinity of Clear Lake (latitude 3"J^) there is a belt of volcanic materials, acc()mj)anie;3. At the time of their greatest protluctiveness, the yield of the Californian gold washings reached about sixty-five millions of dollars in value a year ; this was from 1850 to 1853. If there were 75,000 miners ac- tually employed at this time, the average amount ob- tained must have been fully eight dt)llars a day per man. The average is thought by many to have been as high as twenty dollars a day during the year following the first discovery. At this tinie the diggings for gold were chiefly along the rivers. These were '' fiumed," — that is, the water was taken out of the natu'al channel by means of wooden fiumes, — and the accumulations of sand and gravel in the former beds were washed. All the small ''gulches'* or ravines leading down the sides of the steep and narrow valleys, or canons, were workecovered there ; but it was found that mining could not be made profitable in that distant region destitute of water and fuel. Quite recently, the Panamint Kange, in the same vicinity, has attracted much attention. The only paying silver mines in the State seem, however, to be those in the Inyo Range, at Cerro Gordo, where the 47 ore is chiefly galena, rich in silver, and also containing considerable gold. The yield of this district in the year 1872 was nearly a million of dollars in value, six-tenths of which was silver. Quicksilver has been extensively mined in California, the mine of this metal at New Alraaden, Santa Clara County, having been discovered and worked previous to the gold excitement. All the workable deposits of cinnabar thus far known to exist are situated in the Coast Ranges, and they are chiefly limited to the meta- morphic Cretaceous group of rocks, in which they are associated with serpentine, imperfect jasper, hornstone, and chalcedony. By far the most important mines are those at New Almaden, a few miles west of San Jose. These produced, in their palmy days, during the years 1853 to 1857, and 1861 to 1869, from two and a half to three and a half million pounds of quicksilver per annum. In 1870, the production had fallen off to one million pounds. The total production of the New Almaden Mines between 1850 and 1870 was a little over forty millions of pounds. The New Idria Mine is in Monterey County, about ninety miles south of New Almaden. This has also been, for some years, a quicksilver-producing locality of considerable im- portance. Cinnabar also occurs in considerable quantity at numerous places north of the Bay of San Francisco, in Napa and Lake counties. The most important mine in this region is the Redington, near Knoxville, in Lake County. The export of this metal from California was, in former years, very large, reaching, in 1868, the amount of 44,506 flasks, or 3,404,709 pounds ; in 1870, it was only 6,359 flasks, although the production for that year was estimated at 28,600 flasks, or 2,187,900 pounds, of which 48 12.000 were tlie product of tlie New Alniadcn Mine, 7,(jO0 of the New Idiia, and of tlie renialndt-r, al)out one- Iialf was from tlie Hedington, and the rest fioni various smaller mines north of the liay of San Franeisco. Copper ores occur in a great many localities within the limits of the State of California, and ai some of these a large amount of work has been done, although at the present lime there docs not seem to be a single locality where the ores ot this metal are now mined. Quite large masses of nearly pure native copper, mixed with the red oxrde, have been found in the north-western coiner of the State, and also faither* south in the Coast Ranges. No permanent mine has, how- ever, yet been developed at any point on the west of the Great Valley. In tlie foot-hills of the Sierra, at a place known as Copperopolis, in Calaveras County, there is a very extensive deposit of copj)er ore, which was actively mined some ten }ears ago, producing very largely fi)r a time. The mass t>f ore here was, in places, as nai h as thirty feet wide, although not of high grade. In 18(54, the value of the siii|iments of copper ore from California was a little over a million d(>llars; this was almost all from one mine, the Union, at Copperopolis. Tin h;is been discovered at one h)cality in the southern part of the State, in the Temescal Uange, about forty miles south-east of Los Angeles; and mining was attempted here, but the locality has been for some time abandoned. Zinc and lead occur, in the form of the suljihuiet, in a great nuniher of the (piait/ veins of the <:old-bearing belt; they are generally present, however, only in small (piantily, and have not been made the object of mining enterprise. Iron ore-; are also found, in several localiics, in lar^e cpiantity ; the want 49 of suitable cheap fuel has prevented these ores from being utilized, and all the iron consumed on the Pacific coast comes from the Atlantic States or from Great Britain. Coal of the true Carboniferous period does not occur any- where on the North American continent west of the eastern base of the Cordilleras ; but there are, at various points, extensive deposits of lignite and imperfect coal ; in some of these, the woody structure is entirely obliterated, and the substance may with propriety be called coal. It is rarely the case, however, that it does not contain a large percentage of water. These deposits are both of Tertiary and Cretaceous age ; but at the localities extensively worked in California and on Vancouver Island, the beds belong exclusively to the last-named group. The only mines of coal of any consequence in California are those of Monte Diablo, so called because situated on the north slope of that mountain, and a few miles from the entrance of the San Joaquin River into Suisun Bay. The coal raised at these mines is of tolerably good quality for domestic use; but it cannot be used for ocean steaming or for making gas, as it contains a large amount of sulphur, and from ten to twelve per cent, of water. These mines have yielded of late about 175,000 tons per annum. There is also a laige deposit of about the same quality, and the same geological age, on Eel River, in Mendocino County. This is too far from navigable water to be utilized at present, as it caimot compete with the more accessible deposits on Vatjcouver Island, and at Bellingham and Coos bays, or with those more recently opened near Seattle in Washing- ton Territory. Petroleum was thought likely, at one time, to becouie of great importance as a product of California, 4 60 and several millions of dollars were expended in boring and searclnng for it, but almost entirely without success. The great bituminous slate formation, of Miocene age, which stretches along the coast from IMonterey to Los Angeles, does, indeed, contain a large amount of combu>tible matter, which may at some future time become of economical value. At present there seems to be no immediate pros- pect of this; and it is certain that the geological conditions are such that flowing wells, like those of Pennsylvania, will not be found on the Pacific coast. Borax is one of the mineral productions of California, \\hiGG barrels; to Panama, flour, 12,777 bar- 69 rels ; to Australia, wheat, 22,400 bushels; with other smaller amounts to numerous ports in and about the Pacific. The total shipments for the years 1871-1873 were as follows : — Flour, barrels. Wheat, quintals. Barley, quintals. 1871 . . . 232,094 1,311,679 12,371 1872 . . . 247,088 6,071,383 176,153 1873 . . . 479,417 9,175,960 260,890 Fruit is an item of great importance in the agriculture of California, the quantity raised being very large, and the quality excellent. The pear, plum, apricot, and grape, are especially good, and large quantities would be sent to the eastern States if the distance were not such as to make it difficult and expensive to transport this bulky and perish- able commodity. A large amount of capital has been in- vested in the manufacture of wine. As early as 1861 a million of gallons were made in that year, and in 1870 the product was estimated at 2,500,000 gallons. The princi- pal wine-producing districts are in the vicinity of Sonoma, north of the Bay of San Francisco, and in the region about Los Angeles. The value of the exports of wine has not increased much in the last three or four years; in 1873 it was $356,373. The quantity of wine which might be pro- duced in California, if there was a market for it, would be very large; but the quality is not all that could be desired, although the persons engaged in this business are sanguine in the belief that, with time and experience, the difficulties will be overcome, and their products be largely in demand in the eastern States, where, at present, there is scarcely any sale for them. California is a country particularly 60 adapted to raisino^ sheep, and tlie wool interest is a very important one. Tlie winters are so mild that slielter lor the flocks is not requiretl, and tln^y liave no other food tlian that which they pick up for themselves on the lower plains in winter, and in the higher mountain valleys in the suni- mer. The summit valleys of the Sierra are literally alive with sheep during the months of July, August, and Septem- ber, countless herds heing driven there from the parched-up plains at the base of the range. In 187^3, accoi'ding to the "Commercial Herald," ahout 30,000,000 pounds of wool were exported from San Francisco, and 3,000,000 con- sumed in the home manufactories. Manufactures. The value of the manufactures of Cali- fornia is given, in the Census Report of 1870, at ^Gr),.VJ4,- 536, the increase having been rapid within the {uist tea years; previous to 1800 almost every maimfactured article used in the State was imported from the east or from Kurope. The great distance of the Pacific coast from the manufacturing districts of the world offers a heavy premium for the establishment of various industries, especially for those which furni>h bulky and inexpensive products, such as wooden ware, agricultural implements machinery, coarse aiticles of clothing, and vehicles. The drawbacks are, the high price of labor, where the Chinese cannot be emp'oyelike to Chinamen, who are fiecjuently (b*Iven away from th<'ir claims, and expelled from districts by mobs. In such cases, the officers of the law do not ordinjirily interfere ; and, no matter how much the unfortufiate yellow men may be beaten or despoileoil, and nothing re tored to it. Another serious matter is the constant wholesale destruc- tion of the forests going on in the Coast Hanges and on the Sierra ; there is reason to fear that this will ev«'ntu- ally have a disastrous effect on the regimen of the rivers, causing inundations in the spring aning between the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, and lias an area of 2,120 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, on the west and south by Maryhmd, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and the Delaware l)ay and river. Its rivers are small and uuim- poitant, and most of them flow into the Delaware Bay or River. The Delaware and Chesapeake Canal connects the two great bays, and makes an easy water transit for j)rod- uce between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Delaware is an agricultural State ; a part of it is in a high state of cul- tivation. Besides wheat, maize, and other grain, peaches are grown in immense quantities, and sent over the coun- try. Small fruits are also raised for transportation. In the northern parts of the State are numerous manufiicto- ries. Wilmington has large machine-shops, cotton, paper, morocco, car and carriage factories ; and iron ship-building is largely carrie>«^ *%^^^^MWa^. W.^'^'^'?^?>'^'^«^«' ^w»;;R;;;;^;;^;;^v^,,^^^^* '^^i^f^^fk^^fKA^^^^^^h'^. ^•^•lyM^iA-^NA^' /OW^^i ^A*^^».-^'N, *"*>^««.. ;sS;i'"vv^~irt^;nSi;&, ^w^^^ m^mm^/^rf^m^^^^^i^h^^ '^^Mc^^^:^rCO^frrrmr^^r^ ^/^/^r^r^^/ h^yl^ ^f^^^;^^^ m%m^. mm?^m -^"^^s^^^s^g^?;^:;;^-^ ■ll^^BJ^V /^AAr^,^^n^^r>'«W''2i ..^^feSs^^'^^ ^^^-^ *^^/ ^:^^,r^^^^A«^^. W2>On^ mf^f^wfffM^m^ f&rr^ mfm- '^,rr\rrfy^ ■'!?i^;s^'?^ ^^^^^^x;;;sjakfe&fe.:? ^y^'^^??^^^^©?!^^ ■2a;;?;^«fi^'^"' *A-,/^/^'^AAi r\.^i,' >/^' \f")A ^Aa ^ ^ '^A