^(y ^ • • • A "^^ ^ ^ .* ^•^ V V .^^* ^-^ ^ _p9- ,0' ,v .ALIPOHNIA fac Qtat aacmmcnto VaJlcv THE Sacramento Vafley OF CALIFORNIA Its Resources, Industries and Advantages Scenery, Climate and Opportunities Facts for the Investor, Home-Maker and Health'Seeker BY A. J. WELLS Published by the Passenger Department of the SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY San Francisco, Cal. J904 ^^ ^\\y. IN EXCH A THE Sacramento Valley. ^ ^ ^ VALLEYS AND POPULATION The earlier homes ot men were in the valleys of the v\'orld. As the rude beginnings of civilization began to till the soil, the river- conrses were followed. These offered the fewest obstacles. The farmers could not hew their wdy in the thick forests, and the rivers provided both water and food. Afterward the valleys were occupied by choice, because there were the rich and exhaustless soils. So that in India, in China, in Egypt, as in England and the newer lands of America, the drift of life has been first along the alluvial lands which border great rivers, and the centers of agricul- ture (the one industry which sustains cities and underlies organized society) have always been in the great valleys. They are the natural homes of men, and the pressure of population to-day will not long suffer habitable watercourses to lie unfilled. The Sacramento is one of the great valleys of the world. It has nearly fiOOO square miles of alluvial land, and its bordering foothill and mountain intervales represent not less than 2000 .square miles additional — an empire in itself. The soil is of exceptional fertility, being drawn through ages from the forested mountain ranges, its chemical elements held where deposited, in a region never visited by torrential rains. No country of the world, not Spain nor Italy, nor any of the countries bordering the Mediter- ranean, has a climate so kind to man, nor so vast a range of pro- ductions. The experts of the government, in their report on irrigation, say : "As an agricultural State California stands alone. No other humid or arid commonwealth has as diversified products. In some respects the climate is marvelous in its possibilities. . Sacramento," the report continues, "has the same lati- tude as Southern Illinois, yet is surrounded by districts where blue grass lawns are shaded by palm and orange trees. The summers are not too hot for the turf nor the winters too cold for the (tropi- cal) trees." Prof. Elwood Mead, in his report for the Department of /\gri- culture, speaks of "a world-wide movement toward the Pacific Coast," and predicts that "the opening years of the twentieth century will witness a new era of home-making in the West." It has already begun. California is in the dawn of this new era, and the Sacramento Valley is to be the theater of an immense activity. With the San Joaquin it constitutes the great agricultural heart of the State, and it is the only great valley on the planet which has at once a fertile soil, an inviting climate, vast unde- veloped resources and a sparse population. Are there serious disadvantages to account for this last statement? We know of none. It must be remembered that this is a new country. Men are yet living and active who saw the beginnings of our Sierra civilization. For a long time it was a remote land. It took months of time and half a year's income to reach it. After the railroad spanned the continent California was still far from the Eastern cities and homes and the sense of isolation was great. Now we are but three days from Chicago; the ends of the world hail each other, and travel is not expensive. Then, too, this is a large country. If the population is sparse it is only so comparatively. It is scattered over a great area. Nearlv 20,000 square miles of arable land are in the great interior valley, and this is a land too vast to be conquered except by degrees. THE DATS or GOLD In the American settlement of California the honest miner is the principal figure, and the romance of the early gold discoveries lies close to the great Sacramento X'alley. But the men of the pick and the shovel were not looking for valleys but for caiions and hills; not for farms but mines. For the first decade the whole fair land seemed to have no value save that deposited in the mountains and along their watercourses. The hard, dry soil, the broad, almost treeless plains, and the strange, unfamiliar climate, seemed to promise little for the farmer, and few attached any importance to wiiat is now the real wealth of the State. It was the land of gold and not of grain and fruits, and the brilliancy of the yellow metal in the sands and gravel drifts obscured every other interest with dazzling light. Years came and went without faith in what has since proved to be rich without precedent. This is not strange. Men move along the lines with which they are familiar. They judge from the facts which observation and experience have fixed in their minds. The pioneers in California saw that the farm life which they knew could not be practiced here. The seasons were topsy-turvy; midsummer showed a land asleep or dead. The rainless skies had left a hopeless aridity, in which no harvests could ripen. Spring came in autumn with the first rains, and midwinter by the calendar was in fact the season of growth, and the almanac tha! 1 nng by the kitchen stove at home was otit of joint in this new land. The adjustment of life to the new environment came slowly. ■■ , f ^ ^"^iltSk ^'^ilii^lP^initf^jL.' '^VRrsP' ■ ^' 4 ■■^ f ^^^ippir^ ■:Sr#"'^ '^^^ W ^^. , ^ _: -"^^U iRiaiJ'iim R^^ Sacramento Valley Peaches. Agriculture and horticulture became, in time, new arts, following the suggestions of the seasons and adjusted to new vicissitudes in Nature. Yet in a single generation these arts have made California the wonder of the world, and to-day it is as widely known by its harvests and its fruits as it once was by its yield of gold. But these two facts have delayed its growth in population. The bottom industry of society is agriculture, and there is no great development of towns and cities except as based upon the farm life of the country. Here men came first to mine the hills and not to plow the valleys. Afterwards, the conditions of soil and seasons were too new and unfamiliar to attract the farmer. In later years the mind has slowly adjusted itself to the facts of California climate. " Latitude " has been a difficulty. Natur- ally, the words "Northern" and "Southern" were clothed with their old-time significance, and Northern California was associated with other portions of the United States on similar parallels of latitude. But as we travel up and down in this region, we soon find that the general rule — that temperature diminishes one degree tor every degree of latitude as we go north — does not apply in California, and that the word " xXorthern " has here no climatic significance whatever. Here, as elsewhere in the State, we find an unexpected strangeness, a country not subject to the general law, and where the climatic miracle constantly surprises the traveler. There is substantial climatic unity, and the orange and the lemon, the olive and the fig, and the tropical palm tree are as much at home here in the Sacramento X^illey and the foothills as they are six hundred miles farther south. This is a condition unprecedented, and cannot be paralleled in any other country of the v.^orld. The wise man will make a note of it. It has taken fifty years to appreciate the fact that the relations between latitude and temperature in California are wholly anomalous ; that here is found the largest variation of an iso- thermal line in the world — the loop which embraces regions of equal temperature, reaching from Riverside County to Tehama and Shasta Counties in the north. It took time to accumulate facts ; it took longer time to perceive their significance. The suc- cessful growth of citrus fruits has placed the question beyond debate. To-day the time is ripe for the development of the Sacra- mento Valley. THE e:arliest settlements One of the great ranches ot the State, known all over the world, is the " Rancho Chico." John Bidwell settled beside the Sacramento River in Butte County, and the Spanish grant, made to him more than fifty years ago, is one of the show places of California to-day. On the 25,000 acres lying beside the river, there is growing now a wider range of plant life than can be found elsewhere, in one locality, in the world. In the long history of this great Rancho it is said there has never been a failure of crops. Nearly everything that can be grown in the temperate and semi- tropic regions of the earth can be seen growing on this land in vast variety and in wonderful luxuriance. With thousands of square miles of virgin soil to choose from, this pioneer sat down beside the river in this northern valley, and his sagacity is vouched for by the growth of to-day. That which attracted the pioneer remains unchanged — the broad, rich lands, and the beneficent climate. Another of the advance guard, coming before the days of gold, was John A. Sutter. Sutter's Fort stands within the corporate limits of the capital city. This old, historic landmark is rich in associations. It was the first gathering place of the straggling advance which preceded the great rush of gold seekers, after Marshall's discoverv at Coloma had become known. Sutter's Sutter's Fort — Reconstructed. home was the picket line of the new civilization which was coming. One of the earliest and largest grants of land ever made in this territory by Mexico was made to the adventurous General Sutter. With an empire to choose from, he located here, on the banks of the Sacramento. The richness of the surrounding country attests the wisdom of his choice. Where his fortress-home stood, in lone- liness on the flower-starred plain, is now a handsome city, and where he saw the herds of wild horses and the bounding antelope and deer are now rich farms and luxuriant orchards — the growth of half a century. These are but two examples of the wisdom that guided the pioneers in the early settlement of a great State. The " VVolfskill grant," of which Winters is the center, one of the earliest fruit districts in the State, is another example. Delightful climate, sit- uation at the base of rolling hills on the west, soil sedimentary and rich in the elements essential to plant life. Theodore Winters chose a location every way desirable, and today equal to the best. This will suffice. The agricultural beginning was in this region. The reasons which appealed to these early settlers is apparent to-day. It can hardly be said that " they builded better than they knew." The land was before them, and their judgment is not questioned by those who know the great Valley best. Old Stage Coach and Prairie Schooner of the Sutter's Fort, Sacramento. Days of '49. THC VALLBY CENTE:R We take up now, in their order, the points of interest in the region, the plains, the foothills and mountains, the cities and towns, and the productions of the country, anticipating, as far as we can, the questions which the home-seeker or the traveler might ask, and seeking to present a fair and just view of this sec- tion. This is the chief city of Northern California, and SACRAMENTO the capital at once of the county and of the State. It is an attractive and prosperous city. The traveler from across the mountains gets his first vivid impression of California in the streets of the capital. Here are new and strange growths in the dooryards; here is a half-tropical air and a profusion of bloom. Exposed in the market-places are unusual fruits. In the yards and gardens the broad leaf of the palm and banana and the luxuriant growth of the magnolia arrest attention. The date palm has even a tropical suggestion, and the Camellia Japonica abloom in February and March; the pansies, daisies and violets growing unprotected; the groves of orange and lemon in the suburbs; the yellow fruit in the market-places in December, and carloads leaving for the East even in November; and straw- berries, green peas and lettuce, and all kinds of vegetables, scarcely absent from the open stalls at any time during the year, tell a story of country and climate as strange as were the earlier stories of gold. The park around the State-house, covering about thirty aci'e.^, is full of flowers and half-tropical growths. Here are trees from the mountains where the snow-fall is deep, and trees from regions nearer the equator where the sun is hot. The visitor has come out of snow-storms and wintry desolation, and he finds himself in an Eden of foliage and bloom. The State-house is an imposing and beautiful structure, built ol granite at a cost of more than three million dollars. It shelters an extensive miscellaneous library, of somewhat unusual value, and one of the best law libraries in the Union. The city has a valuable art gallery, full of fine paintings and works of art, and supports a School of Design. A large Govern- The Capitol Square, Sacramento. Sacramento Orange Trees — Used for Shade. ment building of excellent architecture is iiere, in which the Post- office, the Land Office, the Weather Bureau and other departments of the general Government are located. Schools and churches, fine residences, ornamental grounds, shaded and well-kept streets, large business blocks and commodious hotels, with new structures going up constantly, indicate prosperity. Sacramento is a railroad center of much importance. The traffic up and down the Valley, the trans-mountain and trans-con- tinental travel, the immense foothill and mining and lumbering region, with its towns and villages and fruit farms, all find a center here. The Southern Pacific Railway shops are here, covering twenty acres of ground, and they often employ three thousand men. A good deal of money is invested in manufacturing, more than three hundred establishments turning out various products. A large wholesale business is done in the city, and it is the center of an extensive general trade. Three lines distribute electrical power, supply lights and furnish motive energy to most of the industries. The street car system is operated entirely by electricity, and natural gas furnishes both light and fuel. The city's rail and water transportation, its unlimited electrical possibilities, the immense and fertile acreage around it, filled with homes, the rich mining region directly tributary to it, and the vast fruit interests surrounding it, would seem to insure the capital city's steady growth in population and in commercial importance. There are many indications of a new and prosperous era open- ing throughout the State and the Sacramento Valley will shortly be the theater of an immense activity. Sacramento is the county seat of the county of the same name. Here are six hundred thousand acres of agricultural land, produc- ing wheat, barley, oats, corn and hay, hops, almonds, walnuts and all the fruits. It is sometimes said of a city that " it has no back country to support it." But Sacramento is central to an immense Sacramento River. area of wonderfully fertile land, with an unlimited water supply, four rivers traversing the territory immediately adjacent. More than ten thousand acres in the county alone are in alfalfa, and the dairying interests are large. Nothing is lacking to make this one of the richest farming regions in the world, or to insure the perma- nent growth of Sacramento. Southwest of the capital city lie the rich and level BRIGHTON farm and fruit land's around Brighton Station. A branch road runs from here to Placerville, one of the oldest of the mining towns. This is a great strawberry center — one of the most FLORIN wonderful in the world. Something in the soil, or the climate, or the combination of the two is respon- sible for an extraordinary yield. Seven tons to the acre is not an unusual yield. In 1893 the output was 8000 crates; in 1902 146,000 crates or nearly 1100 tons. They are shipped to Portland, Ore., Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Butte, Mont., Salt Lake and points as far as Chicago. Raspberries and loganberries — a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry — are also grown. The latter are very prolific. Florin is seven miles from Sacramento and is a progressive and growing town. The fine farms, the abundant fruit, the evidences ELK QROVE of ease and comfort appeal to the passing traveler. Everything grows — fruit, flowers, vegetables, grain — and there is no month in the calendar which does not pro- duce something, and in which are not gathered fruits and vege- tables for market. Strawberry Beds at Florin. 14 Among the Orange Ranches of Fair Oaks. This town lies between two streams, Dry Creek and the QALT Cosumnes River. The lands are desirable, and can l)e purchased lor from forty dollars to sixty dollars an acre. Yet perhaps 40,000 acres here will produce as good oranges as can be grown in the State. Grapes, olives, oranges, and deciduous fruits of many kinds are being planted, and lands are regarded as too valuable for grain growing. The exceptional character of the climate has hardly been realized. This county averages 238 clear days in the year, while the citrus region of Italy only reckons 220. Nice itself has but 229 cloudless days. In this region, naturally, fruit reaches a perfection unknown in other lands. From Gait a branch road reaches this pretty little town lONE of 1200 people, situated in one of the delightful sub- valleys of the foothills. It belongs to Amador, a rich mining county, but with much fruit and farm land. Oranges will do well here, and this red soil will produce the finest of grapes, tone is the terminal point of the Southern Pacific for this region. .Stages run to the large mining towns of Amador, Sutter Creek, fackson and others, and a large amount of freight is handled here. Returning to the main line we go back to Brighton, and take the branch road into El Dorado County. Through a fair and level country full of orchards, vineyards and hop fields we come to Fair Oaks Junction and a spur carries us to This is an attractive colony of Eastern ]x-ople who FAIR OAKS have located here. The high bluHs along the American River, and the rolling country on the iioilli iiKikcs lliis ;i picUirc'Sciik- le-ioii that will fill ii]) uilli liand- some homes as the city expands. Tlie land is thickly dotted with oak trees, in the colony are doc^tors, editors, bankers, clergymen and railroad men — business men of" ability and enterprise. The population is about <>()() and represents the growth of" six years. The fruits are oranges, lemons, olives, pomeloes, grapes and deciduous fruits, the chief attention being given to oranges and olives. It is but hfteen miles into the city, the gilded dome of the capitol shining in the sun, while eastward rise the purple masses and snowy summits of the vSierras. A beautiful region, in a delight- ful climate, and an instructive illustration of what can be done in this X'alley in the way of pleasant and profitable home making. It is one of the most beautiful spots in the State, and its industries are full of promise. Olive culture is a close second to orange culture, and the finest olives and olive oil are produced in this location. The charming location, the fine groves, the handsome residences, and general air of cultivation make this colony well worth a visit. The High .School, paid for by the citizens, and churches are indications of the quality of its citizenship. This is another colony growing citrus fruit, and ORANQEVALE has been remarkably successful . The absence of hurtful frosts and the early ripening of the fruit has been fully proven. The quality of the fruit is of the very Giant Fig Tree, Stephens' Ranch, Mayhews. 17 River Landing Below Sacramento. best, and the matter of orange growing in "Northern" Califor- nia has long since passed the experimental stage. Without scale or smut, never washed or rubbed before packing, and ripening early in the long, cloudless months, they are as bright in color and fine in tiavor as the best from other sections. This colony is older than Fair Oaks and almost equally pictur- esque. Here are about 500 acres in oranges, and no finer-looking groves can be found anywhere, or better fruit. Olives and vines are also in evidence. Grapes do exceedingly well and a vineyard will return from |575 to |;200 an acre net. This region is espe- cially adapted to table grapes, and the Flame Tokay grows to per- fection. This is the highest-priced table grape that is grown. Water from the American River is distributed, under pressure, for irrigation and domestic purposes. Good water, good land, good climate, and the colonists have added good schools, sur- rounded themselves with productive orchards, and with rural mail delivery and ready access to tlie city, liave made this a desirable neighborhood. Here is a great vineyard of 1900 acres and a winery. NATOMA The quality of California grapes and wines is no longer a matter of speculation. The demand is increasing both at home and abroad and the prices to the grower of wine grapes is remunerative. It takes but three years to bring a vineyard into bearing, and a handsome income is assured there- after from a small acreage. A small vineyard in this region was planted in 1854 and is perfectly vigorous and productive to-day. The great enemy of the European vineyardist is hail. Here it is unknown, and rain and frost are little more to be feared. Land can be had for from $-iO to |ilOO an acre, but there are no vineyards for sale. Nature has made this a desirable region, but many FOLSOn of the people here are being taken care of by the State. One of the two penal institutions of California is located here. The State shows its interest in the "Good Roads Move- ment " by providing broken rock — the work of the prisoners here — free to all districts that will use it. The region is attractive and productive and a good deal of fruit is grown Folsom was the center of active gold mining half a century ago. It is located on the American River, and ground Power House, Folsom, Cal. 19 Hop Fields, Showing Metiiod of Supporting Vines. that was trodden over for years lias recently proved very rich in the yellow scales. P olsoni is still in the valley proper, with much rich land around it at low prices. Dairying in all this region is profitable. Herds are kept in the lowlands until the grass dries up and are then driven to the summer ranges in the mountains. A winter range and a summer range within 100 miles of each other and both furnishing an abundance of natural and succulent grasses for feed is something that cannot be found in any other county in the State, or in atiy other State in the Union. This is a good region for the homeseeker, and will be sought out. There is much room for improvement, and the climate, the soil, the proximity to the Capital, the horticultural growths which are possil:)le make this a desirable place to come to for a fresh start. A Drying House for Hops. The foothills are here, and many small farms. They LATROBE are tucked away in many little intervales and on the hill slopes, as we climb up past Latrobe, Bennet, Shingle Springs, El Dorado and Diamond, small but thriving towns in a delicious climate, but dependent upon the rainfall and the prosperity of the farmers. I'^ine fruit is produced here without irrigation, though water in many places can be obtained of the ditch companies. Land is cheap. A good deal can be bought for ten dollars an acre, much for less. This land will produce grain or fruit. In a small way stock is raised, and Table Grapes, Fair Oaks. many farmers do a little mining during the rainy season. Large mines, well up the slope, and mills and lumbering furnisn local markets. Here is the terminus of the branch line — an PLACERVILLE old and famous mining center. The county still yields largely in returns of the yellow metal. The soil is granitic and the elevation from five hundred to fifteen hundred feet. Peaches are a never failing crop ; Bartlett pears reach perfection ; oranges are found in sheltered localities and do well. This is one of the oldest fruit growing counties, and, as elsewhere, the business is profitable. The whole State can show no better fruit than comes from this region. Placerville is a lively town, and growing. A door, sash and window factory has been recently built and other enterprises are assured. The only slate quarries in the State are near here, and the demand exceeds the output. The finest of white marble is found at Indian Diggings, and there are extensive deposits of limestone. There are good grazing lands, and grain, hay and vegetables yield a good revenue. The fruit industry is expanding, and new packing-houses are being erected to meet the demand. There are thousands of acres of sugar pine forests in the county. Coloma, where gold was first found, is eight miles northwest from Placerville. A small hamlet now, with a bronze statue of Marshall on a hill overlooking the American River. 22 Returning again to Sacramento we take the overland route and cross the American River. The suburbs of the capital city are green with grass and attractive with fruit and (lowers. One of the most noted thoroughbred horse farms of the West is close by, and dairy ranches, orchards and pleasant homes are observed. Growing ,t,,#p4®i ^M Oleander, Sacramento. 23 all the cereals, all the deciduous fruits, producing' successfully in recent years the citrus fruits, the county grows also hops, alfalfa and asparagus. This junction town, whence the line up the Valley ROSEVILLE diverges, is on the edge of the land ripples which are the beginnings of the Sierra foothills. They are uplands, hardly distinguishable at first from the valley, but becoming more broken and rolling as we go back toward the range. In the folds of the land are small valleys — little nooks holding a family, or two or three — places full of beauty. Roseville is a shipping point and about it are vineyards, orchards and farms. The lowly but luscious and tempting melon grows here, the crop rivaling Lodi's, and the quality equaling Georgia's best. Hay is grown and a diversified farm life is seen. Many grapes are grown As its name suggests, the rock-ribs of the planet are ROCKLIN thrust up here. The finest granite crops out and quarries are extensively worked. The State-house at Sacramento, the street curbings in San Francisco, and the solid fronts of many costly buildings are from these quarries. Here fruit ripens to perfection. Soil, climate, drainage — all combine to make as good a peach as a boy ever ate or an expert ever looked wise over. Oranges ripen early and with splendid color and pay well. Vine- yards are also in evidence, the first carload of raisins ever shipped from California going from Rocklin. Residence In City of Sacramento. A Washington Navel Orange Tree. The large shipping houses here tell the story of fruits, LOOMIS such as Eden never knew, the culmination of centuries of selection. Oranges, peaches, pears, berries ot many kinds — almost the whole catalogue. The small fruits are grown extensively. Olives are here, in a soil that seems to suit the gray and dusty looking tree and in an air finer than Italy knows. Decomposed granite makes an ideal soil for most fruit, and the decomposed climate of the best countries of the Mediterranean region could not excel this dry, warm, even-tempered atmosphere that never breaks out in scjualls. Still the granite yields to the quarryman, and the PENRYN granite soil nourishes the spreading orchards. No lack of faith here in the success of oranges, as new groves testify. These foothills get "brown as a berry," but "laugh and grow fat" with harvests wherever the water runs. It is a good region. There are hundreds of scjuare miles of such land in 26 Calitornia that will grow the hnesl truit hi the world in as fine all air as ever human being breathed; and the land is cheap, and will presently grow beautiful w'ith homes and orchards. This is the center of the Placer County fruit NEWCASTLE belt. More than one thousand carloads of deciduous fruits were shipped from this point in 1900. Here the business hrst sprang into prominence, and its importance is testified to to-day by the widening area in fruit trees. Cherries grow almost riotously, and the robins and the small boys will tell you where the i)est ones are. Here are some of the largest cherry trees in the world, and one at least has yielded three thou- A Vineyard in the Foot Hills sand pounds in one season. The town is prosprnjus and isliglilt-d by electricity. this is the county seat, and one of the charming towns AUBURN of the Coast. It is much resorted to for health, its elevation being just right. First-class hotels, good water, electric lights, street railways, a storehouse of fruit, and in touch with the mines, it has much to attract the visitor. The red soil is characteristic of the foothills, and the diversified landscape, in the midst of which the town is situated, gives it a picturesque aspect. The two seasons are spring and summer, blending imper- ceptibly, and with a charm like that of Persia, where it is said that they have very little weather. So delightful were the conditions that no one talked about the weather. It was not the subject of remark. There are multitudes who not only have never lived in such a climate as this, but cannot realize it to the imagination. There will be a city here before many years. "No empire," said Montesquieu, "so enduring as the empire ol climate," and that will make Auburn famous some day and multiply its streets and homes. The red hills all about are scarred by the gold seekers. These are stations on the way up the long western slope of the Sierras, and are embowered in fruit trees. All the fruits grow here, and no more delicious climate ever made CLIPPER GAP APPLEQATE AND NEW ENGLAND MILLS Orchards, Where Once the Miner Delved. childhood rosy, or wooed the invalid back to health. These dry, red hillsides look uninviting, but the orchards and vineyards do not. Wherever the water can be turned on the growth is quick and luxuriant. The peach blooms the second year from the pit, then bears on for thirtv vears or more. The olive fruits on the Cape Horn, American River Canyon Below, Gold Run Diggings as Left by the IVIiners. Mediterraiiean after seventeen years; here it bears a full crop at seven. This is a pleasant foothill town of considerable activity. COLFAX It is a distributing point for Iowa Hill, Forest Hill and other mining towns. Here, too, the Narrow Gauge Railroad runs off to the rich mining towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City, and carries supplies for the region beyond. The elevation here is about 2500 feet. The rainfall is abundant, and the Bartlett pear and the Tokay grape grow without irrigation. They bring the highest prices in Chicago and New York. We marvel at the faith which said that a railroad CAPE HORN could l)e builded through these mountains, and at this point it is still more amazing. Cape Horn is a projection of the rocky framework of the mountain — a shoulder thrust out and a shelf of rock, like a great epaulet, on the shoulder. Along this awful curve the train creeps and halts a moment. Everybody "rubbers" now and does it (juickly, for the vision does not tarry. The train rolls on, but you have a picture of blue depths that will last a lifetime. A dizzying height and an impressive scene, where, 2200 feet below, the American River, a mere thread, zigzags down its golden channel. Eastward are seen the washed-out banks of Iowa Hill, scarred and seamed by the men of another gener- ation. Westward, over orchards and vineyards, lies the town we have lately left, and beyond, in the haze, sleeps the great Valley. Thi GOLD RUN DUTCH FLAT TOWLES rand raiion of the American River is vvortli gx)ing far to see. These quaint old towns are full of interest. Their old flavor is gone, but the air is full of the romance of the olden time, and seems to ex- hale reminiscence and inquiry. Life had a golden hue when men could gather gold by handfuls. In a ravine we have just passed five cartloads of dirt yielded one man $16,000. Others collected from 1500 to 11500 a day — and no doubt wished it was more. The deep gold-bearing gravels of ancient river-beds, lying high above the present watercourses, were rich with gold.' The ravines are still profitably worked. Good apples grow on these mountain slopes, and many kinds of fruit in a small way. The fine dry air full of balsamic odors, the pure water, the fruit and the novelty of mining processes attract many summer visitors. Towles is a center for considerable lumbering. Still in the scenic region, and where the weary emigrant trains crawled slowly down the long looked for western side of the Sier- ras. It is only 38 miles back to Colfax from Cisco, yet in that distance we have Here are the long snow-sheds, a little trying limpses only of noble BLUE CANON EMIGRANT GAP CISCO climbed 3512 feet. to the sightseer to-day, who catches scenery where a plank is missing, Dutch Flat, Sierra Nevada, 31 Donner Lake. Independence, Donner and Weber Lakes lie here, CASCADE near the summit. They are famous for their LAKE VIEW beauty and their trout, and are the resort of sports- men from near and far. These crystal waters, lying outspread at this elevation, looked down upon by the tall pines and by the frozen summits where the snow lingers, are called glacial lakes and hark back to a period too cold for comfort, when the ice cap fitted the hills and all was bleak and desolate. Now flowers bloom in the open spaces and green forests stretch away, " excellent as the cedars of Lebanon." Donner Lake is seen from the train, "lying like a great sapphire in its pine setting among the clustering crags." This is the chief town of the mountain region, located TRUCKEE on the river of the same name. Northward, stages run to Sierraville, and a fair mountain valley, called Sierra Valley, has attracted many settlers. To the south runs a narrow-gauge road — the Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company — carrying the traffic and the travel to the great lake. The road follows the river and the ride is one of great interest and much beauty. The river is the outlet of the lake and runs off into Nevada, where it is lost in Pyramid Lake. Truckee has long been a wood camp — a lumberman's town — and the forests have almost disappeared in the maw of the market. 32 Glimpses of Lake Tahoe. THE MATCHLESS LAKH Tahoe is one of the world's gems, set in a noble ring ol mountains and peaks, 6280 feet above the sea. There are lakes at higher elevations than this, but none with at once its majestic A Corner of Lake Tahoe. proportions, its surpassing beauty of color and its vast depth. It is 23 miles long by about 13 broad, and has been sounded to 1800 feet, with depths beyond which the line could not fathom. Its waters are emerald for a mile from shore, and inside of this emerald Fallen Leaf Lake. zone are of a wonderful blue. The outer ring is transparent, and the boat seems to float in the air, so pellucid are the waters. This splendid body of water lies but about fifteen miles from the main line of the Southern Pacific, and is reached from Truckee by the Lake Tahoe Railway, a narrow-gauge line that follows the picturesque little valley of the Truckee River. In the heart of the Sierras, in a region wild and beautiful, easily accessible, with a delicious air rarely disturbed by storms from May to October, it is a favorite resort for multitudes. All about are mountain lakes scooped out of the granite by the glacier, and trout streams, and waterfalls, and fine hotels make the region very attractive to the visitor and the vacationist. In this high region the world of care and toil seems far away, and mind and body rest. The waters are always cold, and the trout that come from their depths, attracted by the lure of the angler, are the finest of their tribe. Trolling on the lake is a favorite sport, and a half day's catch of these large fellows makes a fine display. A couple of trout streams on the eastern side take the sportsman up into quiet and beautiful mountain meadows and stretches of woodland and forest, while Mount Tallac, Freels Peak, and many rugged and lofty points of the hills, make an inspiring landscape. The lake has a fringe of fine trees around it, and in places magnificent forests sweep down to the edge. A very handsome little steamer, capable of carrying 200 people, plies to and fro, and no ride can be more delightful on a summer day. Hotels and resorts are numerous. Emerald Bay is a remarkable nook of the lake, beautiful in its seclusion, in the color of its waters, and the Eagle Falls in a rocky defile just at hand. The Tallac House is a Glimpse Mountain Lakes. large and well appointed hotel, in a tine growth of pine, cedar and tamarack. Sail and rowboats are available, and a climb to the top of Mount Tallac makes a memorable day. Nearly ten thousand feet high, it shows the vast inter-mountain region for long distances, in every direction. Many small but charming lakes are easily reached — Fallen Leaf, Cascade, and a dozen more. Glen Alpine is a wild region, only seven miles away, where a cluster of these glacial lakes are found, abounding in gamey trout. The scenery is very grand. From McKinney's various places of interest are reached. The Lakeside House is at the State line, partly in Nevada and partly in California. From it excursions go to Freels Peak, the highest summit about the lake. Glenbrook is a pleasant hamlet on the Nevada side, and Tahoe City welcomes you at the outlet of the lake. Tahoe Tavern is here, with accommodations for 800 guests, and from here the steamer starts on its daily trips around the lake. A hsh hatchery is near by, and the manipulation and care of the young trout may be watched with interest. Many people summer near this beautiful highland water and fine private homes are found along its shores. Returning to Truckee we go on rapidly down the ri\er. Here is lumber and ice, and headquarters for fly fishers on the BOCA river. The ice crop of this region is harvested with great regularity. So do extremes meet. We pass out of the 3C Paper Mills, Floriston, Truckee River Canyon. midst of flowers and triiit and summer airs and vvinterless skies lo where the snow falls heavily and the ice grows thick. Fl OPISTON '^ large paper plant is established here, and wood is turned into pulp and paper with great rapidity. This is a flourishing Nevada town, a few miles beyond RENO the California line. Between it and Truckee are but thirty-five miles, so steeply does the range sweep down. A long and massive uplift on the western side, a broad depression, then a defiant wall of rock, plunging abruptly down to the plain; the one side well watered, and with orchards and forests; the other nearly barren, rocky and arid; on the west, vast fertile plains; on the east, desert, sage-brush and alkali. Running north from Reno is a narrow-gauge road, the Northern California and Oregon Railway. It reaches Lassen County with a branch into Plumas County, serving large lumber, stock and farming interests. Several fine mountain valleys lie to the north, and stock-raising and dairying is very profitable. Here the man who likes the storms and snows of winter, with fine forests, delightful summers, game and fish and few social con- ventions, can be gratified. We return to Colfax on our way back to the X'alley and run out on the Narrow Gauge. This is a mining town of much importance. GRASS VALLEY The mines are quartz, and are worked now at great depths, but are very rich, and the yield has been continuous for many years. Besides the well-known 37 mines where the town has grown up, there are many others in the district. Considerable farming and fruit growing is carried on, and the mountain valley, from which the town takes its name, is attrac- tive and full of homes. This is the county seat, a thriving little city of NEVADA CITY several thousand. It is connected with Grass Valley by an electric road five miles in length. Drift, and gravel and quartz mines abound, many known throughout the mining world. Those having tillable land find a good market for all they can produce. The region roundabout is dotted with mines, and the county is the banner gold-producing county of the State. The climate varies with the elevation, but is everywhere health- ful. Fruits, vines and berries are abundant. In the higher regions the apple attains great perfection. Apples and ice, grapes and oranges — this is the range of a single county, and between these extremes the whole gamut of deciduous fruits is run. Out of snow-banks into the gardens of the Hesperides you can go in an afternoon's ride. the: ilAST SIDi: Back again at the Roseville Junction, we go up the main valley. A large deposit of potter's clay gives to this place a LINCOLN distinctive industry. Sewer pipe, tiling, pressed brick and architectural terra c(^tta are extensively nianufac- Irrigation Dam, American River, Near Auburn. 38 Clusters Like Those the Spies Bore Away From Canaan. tured. Much fine glazed work is produced for interior finishing The (]uality of clay is exceptionally tine. Considerable fruit is grown, going out in carload lots. These towns serve the farming lands in the EWING midst of which they are located. Vast grain SHERIDAN fields are in evidence and stock ranches are WHEATLAND numerous, sheep, cattle, horses and hogs being raised. Wheatland is in Yuba County and the name indicates the prevailing industry. As elsewhere, fruit growing is pressing in, and general farming becoming more characteristic of the community and the times. This town is also in Yuba County. An orange grove of REED about one hundred acres is near by. It is flourishing — the best kind of testimony as to the quality of the climate. Here are the steady going farms everywhere, a well established An Apple Orchard. and contented community, h'ruil orchards meet the eye at every turn. This is one of the oldest and best known towns MARYSVILLE in this part of the State, with a population of about 3,900. Marysville was born in the very morning of pioneer times, and gold was showered upon it from Oleanders !n Bloom. the Yuba and Feather Rivers. In later days it became the storm center of the struggle between the farmers in the valley and the hydraulic miners in the hills, the filling up of the rivers by the gigantic operations of great companies causing immense loss to the farmers by the deposit of "slickens" on their lands through the 41 increase ot flood waters. Grain and fruit farming are now sources of permanent wealth. General farming and stock-raising also occup)' the attention of the countryside. Machine shops, foundries, sash and door factories, flour mills and a successful woolen factory are found in the city. Its citizens are enterprising and make their influence felt in the affairs of the Upper Sacramento Valley. The low or bottom-lands of the county are not extensive, but the plains stretch away to the foothills, and are covered with farms and orchards. Many oranges and lemons are growing, wine grapes do well, and olives, almonds, and walnuts flourish. Stock receive no protection during the winter months and no food but that provided by the grazing lands. Irrigation is practised on the The White Seedless Grape. 42 Moonlight on Sacramento River. plains, but the provision made for irrigating is more extensive than the actual use made of the ditch systems. The rainfall increases as we go north, and the bottom-lands of this county are moist and rich. But the land, under the water systems, is safe-guarded against a dry season. Although hydraulic mining has been inhibited by the courts, except where they can control their own detritus, much prohtable work goes on in the upper part of the county. Quartz, sluice, and drift mining, and dredger mining in various localities provide camps and sustain towns, to which Marysville furnishes supplies. The ridge between the Yuba and the South Fork has produced vast quantities of gold, and French Corrall, Smartsville, North San luan, Columbia Hill, and Relief Hill have been famous gold-pro- ducing centers. The foothills are now producing fruit extensively, and the nooks and sub-valleys are occupied by cozy homes, and a climate that cannot be surpassed waits on these dwellers all the year. Going north from Marysville, we take the branch line to. Oroviile. The lands along the railroad do not look promising — HONCUT a not unusual fact along railroad lines. But the country roundabout is prosperous, and these red, gravelly or clayey soils are well adapted to the growing of fruit. Water is readily obtained from wells, and a number of small orange 43 orchards have recently been planted at Honcut. Olives do well also, and deciduous fruits. This is an orange colony. The whole region prom- PALERflO ises to become as famous as the fields of the south. Mark the region. Here we are more than 500 miles north of Los Angeles, yet the orange groves laugh at the lines on the map and go on ripening their golden fruit. There is nothing like it in the world; and nothing tells you so truly and so eloquently the climatic story as the orange grove. How soft the air; how equable the temperature; how free from blizzards, from sleet, or hail or frost; how long the summers, and how cloudless the skies. Look at these oranges. There is no smut on them; they are clean; their color is rich; their flavor is fine. This tells something of the soil and the dryness of the air. It is the home of the orange as certainly as Florida or the south of Spain. This upper valley is as much "the Italy of America" as any part of the State. Draw a line eastward on the map, and it will enter Europe near Lisbon, will pass through sunny, central Spain, will traverse the islands of Sardinia and Majorca, pierce the south of Italy, and in Asia will come close to the city of Smyrna — the city of figs. It is the Japan current in the Pacific, and the thermal belt on the land that gives us the best climate of the old world. The Scene In February In the Sacramento Valley. 11 Dredging for Gold in the Old Deposits of the Feather River, one flows down the coast of California; the other, an nivisible cur- rent, flows along the base of the Sierras, between the altitudes of 150 and 600 feet. It does not respect degrees of latitude. Below the snow and above the frost it provides a region where the fig, the olive, the orange, and the lemon, and all deciduous fruits thrive; and this climate-making current is attested by results. This " thermal belt " must not be confounded with the phrase, an "orange belt." Oranges will do well in almost all parts of the Valley, where the land is suitable, and where late frosts do not occur. Experts say that cold air from the heights, when rapidly cooled during tlie night, by radiation, drains down into the val- leys just as water would. It flows under and lifts up the warm air, so' that a few hundred feet elevation will show relatively high tem- peratures during the night, while points in the valley floor fre- quently show low temperatures. The foothill lands offer the best opportunity for orange grow- ing. Generally the uplands offer the better soil and climate, with lower prices, but thousands of acres in the valley are wholly safe from frost. This is a prosperous town, the terminus of the line OROVILLE on the east side. It has many attractions and advan- tages. In some respects it is unique. Here are beautiful and profitable fruit farms, and close by are orchards torn Looking up Feather River near Orovllle. •If) still in tlie Orange Belt. (This is the Latitude of Sicily.) up by acres to find the gold that is under them. The Feather River pours into the valley at this point and has been piling up its rich sediment and gravel for ages. It has raised the level of a large region and changed its own course so often that it is profit- able to explore its delta and uncover its old channels. This is done by vast dredging machines. The "fellows who turn the earth upside down " have left their mark here, and Oroville has become the most extensive field for the dredger in the world. The golden spoil comes from an ancient river-bed through which the gorge of the Feather River has cleft its way. The almost inaccessible North Fork Caiion is rich in gold and will yet yield millions. Bidwells Bar, Dog Town, Cherokee, Yankee Hill — these are old mining places, and gold is still abundant. Back of the town fine orange groves are seen, and olive orchards. Beyond the outspread of orchards the short slope and flat top of Table Mountain appears, a gravel formation capped with lava. The charm of the landscape is only equaled by the attrac- tions of the climate and the profit of the green groves. Destructive frosts are unknown ; the olive is vigorous and fruitful and the orange ripens early. More than half the crop is shipped before the close of November, and not seldom carloads go off by the twentieth of October. Shipments are practically over by Christ- mas time. This enables the grower to command the cream of the Eastern markets. That this region is to become one of the great mm:'- Home Near Woodland. 4S A Landing on Sacramento River. orange centers of California is beyond question. At present land suitable for orange culture can be bought for from |15 to |100 per acre. When in bearing such land is worth from |700 to |1000, and will pay good interest on the latter valuation. Figs and peaches flourish here and are profitable. The olive groves are a feature of the countryside. Trees eight years old are credited with 375 gallons of olives, which sold for 75 cents per gal- lon, pickled. There are oil mills at five or six points, and the pure oil made here is known in the market for its high quality. The scenic features of the mountains back of Oroville are very fine and a ride up to Downieville or Ouincy is full of interest and inspiration. The attractions for sportsmen are many, the hills being full of deer and the streams of trout. Returning now to Sacramento we go west to Davis, where the northern travel diverges for points around Mt. Shasta or in Oregon. We now take the main line via Marysville for the State line. This is a beautiful town of about five thousand WOODLAND people, growing and prosperous. The character- istic oak gives its charm to the landscape and to the town its name. Wheat, general farming, stock and fruit, with some irrigation and a growing interest in the alfalfa field and the dairy, mark the region. As irrigation takes away the precariousness which is associated with crops and harvests, farm life takes on a new attraction. Poultry claims attention hereabouts and with the growth of the blossoming clover, bees are introduced and prove one of the economies of the farm. Yolo County produces much fruit, and oranges and lemons are successfully grown. This is a pleasant town on the Sacramento, and has KNIGHTS about it, up and down the river, a rich country. LANDING The river here has a good current and is broad and impressive, a waterway of great importance and much used for freighting. A creamery here indicates the interest felt in cows, and clover, and good butter. Time was when neither butter nor milk could be found on the table of prosperous farmers; when wheat grew to the door and a garden or "truck patch " was unknown. Stock is profitable here and fruit and grape growers are making money. This fine town is separated from Marys ville only YUBA CITY by the Feather River. The two places are linked together by a fine bridge, a street car line and social and business ties. The town and the county have local option and have banished the saloon, so that the thirsty man in Sacramento River and Bridge, Sacramento. Yuba City must cross the river to get a drink. Tills fact may stimulate street car business at certain hours. Sutter County lands are rich, and the small cost of planting and the yield per acre made wheat growing profitable. But fruit presses in everywhere, as if with the weight of Destiny, and is becoming of vast importance here. The Briggs peach orchard is 50 known far and wide, and the Thompson seedless grape was first propagated here. This small white grape grows in such clusters as to be more conspicuous than the leaves. Marysville canneries take care o. much of the fruit grown in the county. A profitable crop, and largely grown, is hops. The California product commands a good price the world over. Vegetables yield immensely in the fertile bottom-lands. A striking object on the level plains to the northwest is the Marysville Buttes. This is a Spanish term for an isolated peak. Shasta and Lassen are buttes. The Marysville Buttes rise from two thousand to three thousand feet, and spring abruptly from the plain, having no connection with any range. This is the business center of a fine w^heat district, QRIDLEY now passing, like others, into fruit and dairying inter- ests. Hemp also promises to become an important product of the river bottom-lands. Several hundred acres have been grown, yielding well and paying well, even when shipped across the continent to market. It is indigenous to this valley and will become a leading industry. Growing wild it has reached a height of twelve feet. This county deserves the attention of the home-seeker. Lands are fertile, yet cheap, water plenty, and climate healthful, the air A Field of Alfalfa. Cherry Orchard, Chico. dry, and the days never depressing and sultry. Some new- industries ought to be attractive — the orange, the lemon and the olive; the fig also, with the new process of caring for and curing it, and the growing of hemp and tobacco, of flax and hops, all of which do well here and are profitable. There is a wide field to choose from. The resources here are the same as around Gridley. It BIQQS is a prolific wheat growing district, with fruit and stock as adjuncts. The town is the shipping point, and the social and business center. This station became a necessity to a broad grain field NELSON of a dozen miles in diameter. The station has become a town of nearly a thousand people, and the com- munity is prosperous Stock-raising and fruit from the beginning have shared popular favor. Originally a stock region, which perhaps explains the DURHAM name. It ships immense quantities of grain and draws from a larger field than that of Nelson. It is still a stock center, and diversified farming breaks into the wheat record. Butte Creek is crossed between the two stations. Splen- did oaks beautify the landscape — a feature of all this valley country. This is the chief town of the upper valley, a beautiful CHICO place with a population of about 4000. Chico is one of the oldest towns in the valley. At an early day, 53 A Three-Year-Old Peach Tree. it was planted near the bank of Chico Creek, the center of a dis- trict devoted by the founder to fruit and herds. A State Normal School is here and fairly equipped. It is delightfully located and its campus is full of trees and flowers. fl^ ' 'M. \ ^ Fish Hatchery at Baird, Sacramento River. Reference has already been made to the great "Rancho Chico," the famous Bidwell estate. This magnificent property, under the oaks of which many famous men of Europe have walked, is being subdivided and sold. So also is the Wilson ranch — another large holding just north of the Bidwell. Chico is the center of a rich and charming region, where all kinds of fruit flourish, and where many industries offer choice of occupation. It is a stage point for much mountain travel, and handles a good deal of freight for the mountain towns and mines. A fine mineral paint comes from near Magalia and is prepared here for market. The ore carries gold enough to pay for mining. The tributary mines are still rich though long worked. The Cherokee is credited with a yield of |13,000,000. The Willard produced one nugget yielding $10,690. Cape Claim gave up 142 pounds of gold for a single day's run. Some of the most prom- ising gravel deposits in the State are in this region, and will yet be opened up. Extensive forests of sugar pine, yellow pine, spruce, fir and cedar are accessible, and at the head of Butte Creek a grove of abietene pines is found, the only grove known to exist in America. Its gum is medicinally valuable. A power plant furnishes light to the city, electric energy to run 65 mills and other machinery, and to operate dredgers at Oroville, twenty miles away. NORD Originally a cattle ranch, it has become wealth-producing in grain and fruit. The fields are broad and fertile. This is the station and shipping point for the famous Stan- VINA ford vineyard. It is a very attractive region, and was sel- ected by the far-sighted Senator Stanford for qualities which commended it to his business sense. The estate has been very productive, the great fields outlined with olive trees, and an atmosphere of successful husbandry everywhere diffused. Herds of graded cattle and thoroughbred horses have often pleased the sight. It is still a beautiful region of vines and clover and fruit. This is the junction point with the line that runs down TEHAflA the west side to Woodland. It is a small town in a county of great and varied resources. Every kind of fruit is grown extensively, save oranges. The peach has the larg- est acreage, then the prune, and next the apricot, the almond and the pear. The olive does magnificently, and many new orchards Grain Barges Going Down the Sacramento River. are being planted. Sugar-beets are likely to become an important industry here, and a factory will probably be established. Sheep and cattle-raising has risen into large proportions of recent years. The loveliness of rural life is nowhere more finely illustrated. Great oak parks dot the landscape; long lines of sycamore, cotton- wood and elder fringe the streams; orchards and vineyards, fields of alfalfa, always vividly green. Vast tracts of yellowing grain, stretching miles away, with flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, bands of horses, make up a picture wonderfully attractive. "A goodly 56 land," the Hebrews called litde Palestine; but here is a "Land of Promise " in a single county, with 700,000 acres of farm and fruit land, 800,000 acres of grazing land, and 500,000 more of timber or forest — a heritage a king might be proud to own. The county seat of Tehama, is a pioneer town on RED BLUFF the banks' of the Sacramento, with 2750 inhabit- ants. It serves commercially a large and pros- perous region, and is itself full of activity. Mt. Lassen shines yonder in the nortlieast, the blue of the Coast Range is seen in the west, while in the north the purple masses of the Siskiyou Moun- tains and the Sierras seem to blend with Mt. Shasta's white cone for the apex. P>om this environment of mountains and cations many streams escape, making it "a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." From the tall pine forests in the Sierras a V flume carries lumber forty miles to Red Bluff. Flour mills, an ice plant, cold storage, fruit packing, and planing mills make up part of the public utilities of the town. Mineral springs near by are much in vogue. This is another active center of fruit production COTTONWOOD and shipment. The olive will be heard from in these northern counties. The oil yield is large and the berry one of the coming fruit foods of the world. It will be asked for in its ripe state. The green thing is much in market, Characteristic White OaI<, Sacramento Valley. u7 A Mountain Road. because it ships and keeps well, but it is not palatable, not nutri- tious and not digestible ; but take a few ripe olives and a little bread, and you can tramp all day in the hills. Many locations in this county will produce good oranges. Fruit is still at the front as we go up the line. A ANDERSON packing-house is here and fruit prepared for ship- ment. In the southwest part of the county the Angora goat finds favor. In this and Glenn County the industr\ is a growing one. The goat thrives on the waste lands and brush of the hills, and is profitable. The Angora has more sense and more courage than the sheep, and is very prolific. We are now at the head of the great Valley. It REDDING spreads away like a floor, with scarcely a break, to Bakersfield — a distance of 447 miles. The length of the State is about 750 miles, so that much more than half its length is a level plain, of great, but varying width. And the temperature of this inland empire varies but little. Redding has a mean annual temperature of 61.4'' and Los Angeles, in Southern California, a mean average of 62°. There is nothing like it elsewhere on the planet. There are physical causes indeed, which in Europe push warm weather far north of corresponding latitudes on the Atlantic Coast of America, and these causes are similar to those which control the climate of California. But in no country can you travel 450 miles north — nay, 600 miles north — as here, and find the climate practically unchanged. Do not stumble, therefore, over the phrase " Northern California," as if it differed climatically from the orange lands of Southern California. It does not. On the contrary, oranges ripen in the north from four to six weeks earlier than in the south, perhaps because the orange sections here are farther inland, and so unaffected by the sea breezes or the humidity in the air which results from proximity to the ocean. Get the Southern Pacific's Climatic Map of Califorfiia. Note the pink sections. It is the region of the orange — 60 to 68 degrees. You can tell at a glance where you want to locate — ^where the Landing on Sacramento River. Young Vineyard in Sacramento Valley. climate will not disappoint you. It is. the climate of Los Angeles, but with the cheaper lands of a country not yet "discovered." And all this vast region wiU grow every product of the north temperate zone and of the semi-tropics. All that will grow in New England and all that will do well in Florida can be grown here on a single farm. Does not this make an ideal land for the farmer? The rainfall at Redding averages 34 inches, nearly twice that of Sacramento, so that irrigation is generally unnecessary. At the north of the town the Sierras and the Coast Range approach. The caiion of the Sacramento opens northward and the Valley spreads out like a fan below. Shasta County has an elevation of from 500 to 2500 feet, and is composed of valleys and foothills and the plateau at the head of the main valley. The central and southern portions consist of table-lands, while along the river are some rich bottom-lands. Redding is very prosperous, and increas- ing rapidly in population. Farmers and fruit growers find a good market for all they can produce. This is a new town of about two thousand people, KESWICK brought into existence by the smelting industry. A large plant is erected here, owned by the Mountain Copper Company. The modern methods of treating ore make this the base metal era, and smelters are coining money. This stimulates quartz mining, for the smelter must have a certain amount of ore for a flux. Three large smelting plants are at work in this vicinity and towns are building, population growing, and markets active. Trinity County, like Shasta, has a vast territory heavily mineralized, while the former has also extensive gravel deposits. The largest hydraulic mining property in the world, perhaps, is opening now, and water is being piped over twenty miles of almost inaccessible country. An immense sum was paid for the acres of golden gravel. Many cozy little homes are scattered through the mountains. The farmer, with a few acres of fruit and a little field for grain or pasturage is often a miner also, working a small claim at intervals. One such, three or four years ago, struck a pocket, taking out about |33,000 in a single day. That is one of the possibilities which make mining so fascinating. the: SHASTA REGION _ We return from prospecting in the hills and re- THE CANON sume our journey. We are now in the caiion of the Sacramento, creeping along the breast of cliffs, and through tunnels, and crossing and recrossing the river, amid scenes of great beauty and sublimity. From Redding, the great white cone of Shasta was seen, seeming to rise out of a forested horizon, and as we go upward, it gleams upon the sight again and again, a thing of beauty and of majesty. Its glory is best seen at a distance and from below. Then its dark lavas are suffused with a pale rosy glow, its white summit outlined softly agdinst the sky, and the wide placid sweep of its base is full of repose. Here the eastern wall beside us is broken by a rugged canon and the McCloud River comes pouring its cold flood into the Sacra- Castle Lake. 62 Scene in Canyon, near Mt. Shasta. rnento. Back among the hills it first joins the Pitt River, and the two streams, swollen by many mountain springs, add their volume to the Sacramento. All the region watered by the streams is wild and virgin. It is a district full of fine forest trees with many deer in the depths of the woods, and trout in the icy waters of the streams. The Pitt River cuts its way from the volcanic regions of the northeast, across a billowy sea of hills, and falls toward the west in a series of white rapids. The McCloud has the ice chill of Mt. Shasta upon it, and has worn its way through lava rocks, and tumbled down steep gorges, to lose itself in the larger stream that rolls down to the Bay. The Sacramento is muddy and sluggish far down the Valley, but here is clear, and bright, and turbulent, rushing and foaming among the rocks, a very ideal trout stream, and a line of light in the landscape. This was a sportsmen's hotel in the days when only the SIMS Oregon stage woke the echoes among the hills. It stands back from the station among orchards of apples and other fruits, on a fine plateau, in the most rugged portion of the Sacra- mento Cafion. Trout, game in its season, fruit and berries fresh from the fields, milk and butter from their own cows, and an old-time hospitality make this a restful place. SWFFT RPIFP These are camping places and hotels, close to- CRAO VIFW gether in a very attractive part of the caiion. BAILEY'S ^^^^ ^'^^ views, the delightful climate, the pure water, the numberless excursions into the hills, 63 Sacramento River in Canyon near Shasta Retreat. the wild flowers, the luxuriant ferns, the bathing and fishing, make these resorts very popular in this season. The fine hotel here was burned down and has CASTLE CRAG not been rebuilt. But the crags remain, one of the most striking rock piles of any country. The buttresses of this giant structure reach down to the bottom of the carion, and the columns and minarets of gray, steely granite, lifted high against the sky, are very impressive. They reach an altitude of four thousand feet, and easily and naturally suggest the towers and minarets of some lofty and impregnable castle of the 65 Middle Ages. Back of these splintered peaks, at an elevation of nearly seven thousand feet, lies Castle Lake, a lonely bit of crystal water, resting in its granite cup, over whose lip the wild azalea droops, and in whose depths the silvery trout floats like a shadow. The lake is accessible from this point by a steep trail, or farther up by horseback. Numerous fine UPPER soda springs SODA are found in SPRINGS thecaiion,and this is one of the most noted. It is an old and homelike place, in one of the wildest and most picturesque parts of the caiion. Shasta is but fifteen miles away, the fine coniferous forests, full of splendid sugar pine, spruce and cedar, and here and there, on sloping mountain sides or on top of dividing ridges, lie lovely meadows, the wild gardens of the deer, lush with grass, and starred with flowers. Noth- ing is finer; and you cannot cross one of these forest- hidden gardens without finding, perhaps still warm, the couch of the red deer, or, flaming in the sunlight, the brown and orange spotted tiger-lily, or a bed of blue and white violets and daisies. The water ot the Soda Springs is cold and palatable, and for cer- tain diseases very bene- ficial. The fish commis- sioners keep the river stocked with salmon and trout, and game can be found deep in the solitude of the hills. but a few steps from the track of the Southern Pacific, and is a regular stop- ping place for all trains. Everybody "drinks" here, and many fill bottles or demijohns for later refresh- 66 Sacramento River in Canyon. This mineral sprin SHASTA SPRINGS ment. The water is bottled here for a wide market. On a fine plateau above the springs are cottages, and many come here for rest and the benefits hoped for from the water. This is a camping spot, grouped about a magnifi- SH ASTA cent spring, pouring out a great volume of icy water. RETREAT Several fine mineral springs are also on the grounds, and Shasta is in full view. Plants and flowers grow in great profusion, and the air is full of the balsam of pine and spruce and fir. The retreat is under church control, and has a tab- ernacle for public services. The Chautauqua Assembly is one of the summer attractions. There is a tavern with airy rooms, and comfortable cottages. Here a fine view of Shasta is obtained, and this is the MOTT visual center for all the region. The lover of the grand and beautiful will look up to it at noonday, pale and shadowy against the sky; will linger at evening to see the great lava cone glow with light, when the caiion is dark with the gather- ing gloom of night; and will even " turn out " to see its dark head outlined at dawn amid the fading stars, or strongly set upon the arch of rose which heralds the coming sun. Turning the glance back over the route we have traveled, the slopes of the great cafion are seen and the outlying cliffs of Castle Crags, while to the west, Scott Mountain looms up in majesty. The rambling, picturesque, and homelike hotel, long SISSON known as "Sissons," has disappeared. It had its day, and many a sojourner at the old, romantic inn thinks of it with a sigh of regret. The fame of the place was wide-spread, and the old homestead was enlarged, and patched, and added to from year to year until it had a character of its own, and was as original in appearance as it was home-like in the experience of its guests. Strawberry Valley, full of willows and brush, became a meadow, with a background of dark velvety pines, and above that belt of green rose the white, triple cone of the great mountain. It was worth ten years of common life to sit on the veranda at Sisson and look out over that peaceful mountain meadow, and up the shining slope of that " Burned-out crater, healed with snow," and watch the play of light on granite crag or lava flow, or to sit in the sunlight of July and see a snow-storm raging about the mountain summit, and rain falling in the valley at its feet. The railroad is here now, a bustling town is in the valley, and a hundred things have changed. But the new "Sissons" is attractive if it is modern, the old-time hospitality is there, and the mountain is unchanged. A delightful summer resort, it often has weeks of excellent sleighing, and then the tavern is alive witli guests from the city to whom the snow and the sleigh-ride is a novelty. 68 Upper Falls, McCloud River. THE MIGHTY SENTINEL A climb up Mt. Shasta in August or September is an event for the vigorous. The timber line is at an elevation of about 8000 feet, where the hrst camp is made. Horse Camp is next at 11,000 feet, and from there the climb is made on foot. Thumb Rock is 13,000 feet, and if nausea, faintness, or violent heart action does not " lay you out," the 1440 additional feet between you and the summit can probably be slowly made. At the top the air is piercing and cold, but the view is entrancing. The blue roll of forest land, stretching away from your feet, the symmetrical form of Mt. Pitt yonder, warm and rosy in color, the Three Sisters and Jefferson beyond, the Klamath and Cioose Lakes in their environment of lava and burned-out volcanoes; eastward the INIadeline plains, and the pale high key of Nevada deserts; southeast the Sierra's green bulk, and over it, eighty miles away, Lassen's Peak, standing up, bold and fine; south, the deep cafion of the Sacramento, and away below, the brown and sunny plain of California; on the west, a confused mass — "A misty camp of mountains, pitched tumultuously," billowy as the sea, with ridges and peaks and dark abysses and shaggy rock chains. You seem to be on one of the summits of the world, and everything falls away from your feet and is softened In the Siskiyou Mountains. 70 A Tunnel in the Siskiyou Mountains. and subdued by distance and spread out like a map. It amply repays exertion and loss of cuticle from the reflection from the snow fields, but only those should attempt the climb who are in first-class physical condition. Here we diverge a little, taking the short line called UPTON the " McCloud River Railroad." It is chiefly a lumber line, penetrating the rich forest region to the east. Of old time we went from Sissons to the Big Bend in a stage-coach, twenty-five miles of delightful ride. Now we take this odd "switch back " railway and climb the grades and round the hills, until we reach McClouds, where are noisy mills and logging trains and mountain homes. The river, a few miles beyond, is a quiet stream, its source not far away in the green meadows at the foot of Shasta on the east. Its mother is Mt. Shasta, and it wells up out of the earth, icy cold. It grows rapidly, a hundred rills and springs adding to its volume, so that a dozen miles shows a broad tumult- uous river, dark in the shadows of the great trees, and gathering strength with every mile. It has immense attractions for the Nature lover and the sportsman. The noblest trout of all the tribe, the " Dolly Varden," lurks in this dark green water, wary and full of vigor. Deer and bear are in the wilder regions, where the mill men have not penetrated, and mountain lions are not seldom seen. Fine views of Shasta are obtained as one climbs along the trails. The region is full of splendid timber, the finest sugar-pine forests of the State, or of any State, being found in the McCloud Basin. 71 Going northward again, toward Oregon, we note the lessening forest growth until we reach The name is suggestive. It is literally the edge EDQE WOOD of the forest. Thereafter, climbing to the Siskiyou summit, a distance of twenty-five miles, there is very little timber. The country is broken and rolling, with farms here and there, and extensive cattle ranges. This is forty miles north of Sisson and is the junc- MONTAQUE tion point of the Yreka Railroad, running to the town of the same name, the county seat of Siskiyou County. It is a town of considerable importance. Mining, lum- bering and cattle raising are the chief industries. Farms are in the small valleys and the whole county is prosperous. From this point a stage line runs to Klamath Hot Springs, AQER eighteen miles distant, and near the border line between California and Oregon. It is one of the most attractive mineral spring resorts in the State, partly because of the excellence of its waters, and partly because of its beautiful scenery and the charm of the trout stream at its doors. The Klamath is a dashing mountain stream, alive with trout. The elevation is about 2700 feet, and the temperature never high. Salmon, silver and rainbow trout can be found within sight of the hotel. The Siskiyou Mountains run over into Oregon. From their summit we look down into the faraway Rogue River Valley, one of the finest of Oregon's many fine valleys. Going on a little, we cross the head waters of the Klamath River, rolling westward to the Pacific, and at Cole's we are at the end of our northern journey, and the next step is Oregon. Turning back now, we go down the mountains, and through the caiion of the Sacramento and out upon the broad valley to Tehama. From this point the road diverges, and we take the west side line to where we left the main track at Woodland. We thus see the tier of counties on the Coast Range side of the Sacra- mento. The distance from Tehama to Woodland is about one hundred miles. THE WEST side: This town, on the north side of Thomas Creek, is a FINELLO small business center for a grain growing district. It is on the edge of the old-time regime in farming methods. This is a colony center, separated from Finello by RICHFIELD Thomas Creek, and not more than two miles dis- tant. It marks the transition to a more stable form of agricultural life, and settles up the country. Children born belong to the land ; schoolhouses are builded, and communities formed, and an independent citizenship takes the place of renters 72 ^A% 0^ ^mi 1 A Tehama County Cherry Tree. ($18 worth sold from this tree in one year.) and employes, whose only interest in^the"country is what they can get out of it. This is an old-time town of about 1100 people, CORNING (]uite surrounded by the colonies which have been planted in the wheat fields, and have transformed tlie face of the country. Conservative ranchers stick to cattle and grain. One sold off part of his holding to the colony managers for 125.00 per acre, and when he saw what could be done with, the land bought a good share of it back at |;72.00 per acre. Many are in the ruts of habit and method, and do not see the possibilities of development until it is actually demonstrated before their eyes; they stay by the forms of industry which they know. This is a striking example of what this region and MAYWOOD a inmdred like it are capable of, and what courage, COLONY confidence, foresight and intelligent energv will do. In 1S90 this was a wheat field. At first 4000 acres were subdivided; but additions were (juickly made. As fast as one tract was settled up another was thrown open and settlers soon found to occupy it, until the original 4000 acres had expanded to 27,000. To-day, Maywood Colony is a prosperous, contented, 74 industrious and successful aggregation of home builders. A plot of the central group of colonies shows the town of Corning com- pletely invested with orchards and farms, nearly every lot being sold and occupied. There are hundreds of comfortable homes, fine business blocks, well equipped hotels, schools, churches, an opera house, and all the evidences of a progressive and successful enterprise. Oranges do as well as anywhere ; olives are profit- able as pickles, or converted into oil ; peaches, pears, apricots, vegetables, grain, poultry, melons, sugar-beets — everything goes. A huge fig tree, five feet in diameter, and a black walnut, eighty feet high, hint the wide range of tree growth. Peas and tomatoes are produced by the ton, the cannery taking all that can be grown. A flock of a thousand to fifteen hundred turkeys is not an uncom- mon sight in the region. The Colony district, ten years ago, had but about 100 people, exclusive of Corning. It now numbers 2000, and with the old town fully 1000 more. The newcomers are Eastern people, who had but little capital and no knowledge of farming and fruit raising as practiced here. Competent California farmers guided the first efforts, and no difficulty or hardship has been experienced in "getting started." Back of all has been a wise management, a liberal and enlightened policy. Then soil and climate. The growth can be duplicated on hundreds of thousands of acres in this rich valley. It requires only the initiative, fair treatment, intelligence and wide advertising. Multitudes only want to know the facts about California. There are hundreds of w Cleek's Acre at Orland. (Two people supported by this acre for twenty years.) 75 Court House, Willows, Glenn County. chances here to one in the older communities, and no unequal contest with Nature, with cold, and frost, and storm. Outside of the limits of the colony just left, we dip KIRKWOOD into the conservatism of farm life again. This is a market town for a district given to grain growing, to live stock and a little fruit. But the object lessons in many localities are breaking into the old cultcu"al habits, and new life and growth begin to appear. This is Gleiui Coimty — a few years ago a vast wheat ORLAND held. But change is in the air — transition to new methods. ( )rland is growing, and the region round- about filling up, and a diversity of the products of the land gives the tiller of the soil an immense advantage. He always has some- thing to turn off. Here is alfalfa, and butter, and honey, melons, oranges, lemons, all kinds of deciduous fruit, and all kinds of vege- tables. ()li\es and almonds flourish. One tract of ()H acres set lo almonds returned, in 1901, 19 tons, which sold for 11 cents a pound; net result about 13500. Oranges and lemons are being planted. The Lemon Home Colony is two miles out from Orland, with good land, well watered. It is monotonous to repeat that citrus fruits will do well at a hundred points hitherto untried. We are trying to tell the truth about a vast region. It is Nature's fruit realm. It has millions of acres as well adapted to oranges and lemons as Sicily, Malta, the (irecian Archipelago, the south of France, or the best section of Spain. The soil and the climate here insure High School, Willows, Glenn County. the success of oranges, lemons, olives, apricots, peaches, prunes and almonds. But increasing attention is being given to water and to alfalfa, as in many other places. The town is growing. You may see here a single acre which for twenty years has supported the owner and his wife in comfort. Land is not high, it is cheap. As in many places, it is men that are wanted — men who can plow a straight furrow, who know good land when they see it, and who have something to sell every time they go to town. Land is plenty, and men with intelligence and energy can make a fresh start anywhere in this valley with half the eftbrt their fathers put forth to clear the forests or break the soil of the Middle West. The business center again of a wide area QERriANTOWN devoted to grain and stock. Land can be bought for from |20 to |65, land under cultiva- tion, but without improvements. It is a good region. This little city has a population of about 1600, and is WILLOWS full of life. The tributary country is rich in grain and fruit. Willows is the junction point of a branch line that traverses a productive region as far as Fruto. This euphonious name indicates the prevailing industry. Yet stock- raising, dairying, and general farming is in vogue. One man grows 10 acres of tomatoes, netting him from 1700 to |1000 a year. Another raises barley, alfalfa and potatoes, and from 37 acres netted, in 1901, $2600. River bottom-land set to peaches returned |120 per acre from a large tract. ■ ' • ' •'^^f^f^^f^^i^^^M •■:.*' U^ Colusa, LooKing West. Another market-place and shipping point for grain NORMAN and stock. The western foothills furnish good pasture and in the rougher brush lands the Angora is profit- Orange and Lemon Trees, Colusa High School Grounds. able. From a flock of five hundred, one owner sheared two thou- sand five hundred pounds mohair, selling for thirty cents a pound. His flock was increased by four hundred kids. There is a growing market for the long silky fleece. We are still in the midst of wheat fields, wide, flat MAXWELL reaches of country. Diversified farming is growing in favor, and the monotony of yellow grain-fields will soon disappear. Hogs are seen in the fields, and other stock, and more atten- tion will be given cows and the dairy. The character of the soil will reveal itself at a glance. The mountains on the west side are full of delightful camping Apricot Orchard, Yolo County. places, and some of the most famous mineral springs are easily reached. Deer and bear are plenty, and foxes, coyotes and panthers are readily found. On the east the Sacramento River offers good fishing, and ducks and geese in their season. This is the connecting point with the COLUSA JUNCTION "Colusa and Lake Rkilroad." It runs east to Colusa and northwest to Sites, and from the latter by stage to Bartlett Springs and other Clear Lake points; Sites is a small foothill town. The foothills of both mountain ranges, the Sierra and the Coast, have many fine and 79 fertile little valleys, and the climate is always exceptionally fine. Where water can be had they make ideal places for fruit. Along the Coast foothills, water can usually be had by digging wells. Colusa is a town of nearly 2000 people — with its extensions, 2200. Electric power has been brought in, and is available for pumping, for irrigation, and for other mechanical purposes. A great body of magnificent alluvial land is here, that will grow anything, with plenty of water for purposes of irrigation. Lands are being cut up into small farms, and fruit growing will supplant wheat farms. Oil is found of a superior quality, and may prove very productive. The lands along the river are protected by levees, and the river itself is made to serve for winter irrigation. Bartlett Springs, which is not far from here, is very celebrated and nuich resorted to for the cure of certain diseases. Other springs in Laguna Valley, Near Vacaville. the county are used as summer resorts, and for the healing virtue of their waters. The Colusa stone quarries are drawn upon from all parts of the State. The fine quality of the stone shows in the new^ Ferry Building at San Francisco, and in the band-stand at Golden Gate Park. Considerable land is for sale here at fair prices. The population is about 1200, and the town is in WILIJAMS the midst of vast grain fields. The increased value of stock is being recognized, and this industry, A Dairy Herd in the Valley. and greater diversity of farm jjroducts, is with fruit farming, growing. The whole region is dexoted to grain and stork. A R BUCKLE The town serves as a shipping point, and for market purposes and social life. W'lien some pastoral bard arises — some modern DUNNIGAN X'irgil, surveying these boundless wheat plains, will he find poetry in the scene ? There are figures for the census, but not much to inspire the poet. The barns are not ideally colored, like Eastman Johnson's, and where there are any at all, they are not " as wide as a Dutchman's barn, " the monot- ony of endlessly pleasant weather dispensing with barns, in most cases, and piling the grain in sacks in the field. The country tributary to Dunnigan produces grain — and a great deal of it. Poetry is still immolated here under the wheels of giant YOLO combined reaping and threshing machines; or buried by the gang i)low. It is a vast industry, but too easy for profit in these competilixe days. A brief period of plowing and sowing, anotiier of harvesting, and then the employes drift away to the towns or cities, and the rancher waits for Jiext year. Mean- time, California imports a hundred things she consumes, and ought to produce at home. Pork, condensed milk, preserves, jellies, jams, poultry, eggs, sugar — all ought to l)e provided in this opulent State. Woodland we saw on our way north. This town is the point of divergence from the main line DAVIS to Sacramento. It belongs to Solano County, a very prosperous region, having a frontage on San Pablo and Suisuu jiays, and tide-water navigation at Suisun and \'allejo. From this section farm products have been shipjied extensively to the Philippines. Wheat, oats, barley, sugar-beets, dairying, live 8'J Field Solano County. Stock, deciduous fruits and nuts, wine and table grapes are all rej)- resented. Davis is a pleasant Iionie-like town ot the countr)-, brown- cheeked and vigorous with health. A brisk little city a few miles down the line, serving a DIXON good district of country. An irrigating canal has been surveyed, and a storage dam will be built up Putah Creek to serve this section. Already there is a prosperous cream- ery here, and with irrigated alfalfa lands its business \\'ill rapidly increase. Like Dixon, this is a market town and shipping BATAVIA station for a miscellaneous farming section. Grain, dairying, live stock and tVuit represent the industries, and markets are easily reached. The reclamation districts, in the eastern part of the count)-, have done extensive work, and the harvest of cereals has been bountiful. In the western end, the re- opening of a valuable cjuicksilver mine promises profitable returns, 83 This prosperous valley town is a junction point, a branch ELHIRA line running up the rich Vaca Valley, as far as Rum- sey. Opening out into the great interior valley, almost unperceived amid the rolling hills, is the doorway to the home of the cherry and the apricot. Elmira sits in the broad valley sur- rounded by fertile lands, and is a place of considerable activity. A few years ago the fine little valley about us was VACAVILLE a wheat field, with not a house in sight; now there is a population of several thousands, and hundreds of prosperous families. There is much comfort, and not a little affluence amid all this green boscage. Many a nice home has been built out of fruit. The " House of Cherries," or the " House of Apricots," might well be the designation of many a luxurious home. Peaches have often yielded |350 an acre here, and apricots not seldom |200, while cherries have returned even more. The profits of later years are not so great, but a large shipment was made in 1901 , and the returns have put the orchardists in good humor for a year. A very fascinating business still, if the fortunes of a dozen years ago are not so quickly made. Vacaville stands in a garden of the Hesperides, and the last days of February or the first ones of March the blossoming orchards are a poem. The town has a population of about 1500 and is prosperous and progressive. This pleasant town is in the edge of the broad valley, WINTERS in the center of an old Spanish grant. Here a date palm — a child of the desert and the sunshine — ripens its fruit year by year. This speaks volumes about the equableness of the temperature. The almond, the orange, the lemon, the vine and the pomegranate do well. A fruit orchard of 20 acres yields |1700 cash and a living for its owner. A woman, gardening and fruit- growing on 40 acres, in 1901 received net $3575.50. Royal apri- cots and Muir peaches on 70 acres returned |4344 — an average crop. Almonds on 40 acres, 9 years old, netted |100 per acre. In 1901 the return exceeded this by |25. Corn is planted here in January and later crop in March, and is marketed in May. Beans go into the ground early in February, and peas are ready for market in March. Frost has never harmed these early crops. This town is still in the great valley. Woodland is MADISON not far away, in the midst of farms of fruit and grain. It is all beautiful, fertile, oak-dotted, and would seem to be a paradise for the farmer. Here we enter another and larger valley than that of ESPARTO Vaca, but of the same general character. It is twenty-four miles long, by three or four wide, and is protected on every side, opening only on the great plains. The orange shows a clear bright fruit of fine flavor, and ripens early. The rainfall is go(jd, and grain mingles with the green of orchards. The soil is very deep and is formed of volcanic detritus, 8-1 Indian Acorn Hut near Rumsey. (One of the few left on this Coast.) RUMSEY This is the head of the valley. Here roamed the Digger Indian, living largely upon acorns. Here stood their great "sweat-house" and the rude thatched hovels of the tribe. These lords of the mountains and the plain are nearly gone. The valley is full of fruit, and most of the growers paid for their land out of the proceeds of the orchards. The purchase price was often paid at the end of the third year, so profitable had been the use of the land. Thrift and economy have made an independent community. Cozy homes and schoolhouses are amid the fruit and nut trees. Commg back to the main line, we stop briefly at Suisun. SUISUN Tide-water comes up close to the town, and wild fowl and sportsmen are plentiful in their season. The valley called Suisun is devoted to fruit and the yield is large. This county town is a mile or so to the eastward, FAIRFIELD and beyond its grazing huids and hay fields are the reclamation districts, where cereals are grown. Oats grow well here, a reminder of the days when over all these low hills the wild oats grew luxuriantly. The "'49er" will tell \'ou proudly, in proof of the soil's fertility, that wild oats on any hill could be tied across your saddle bow. Tliis whole region is health- sea breeze from the Golden (iate being a daily ful, the \isitant. lit CORDELIA of the pa\inji Westward lies a little town, in the midst of broad fields of heels. Many carloads are shipped from Cordelia to the refinery at Crockett. This is one industries of many sections of tlie State. Corn Without Irrigation, Sonoma County. The Napa and Sonoma Valleys are reached NAPA JUNCTION through this junction point, from Vallejo on the south, and by a short link from Suisun. The county seat is a beautiful little city, at the head NAPA CITY of navigation on the Napa River. A place of churches and schools and much culture, it has about it excellent roads, and an intelligent and prosperous country- side. No fairer valley can be found in the State, nor one more fertile or with a more charming climate. A broad and beautiful boulevard leads out from the city two miles to the State Hospital for the Insane. This is a large and handsome building, with fine AcU-kcpl grounds, and cost |1 ,500,000. It has about 200 attaches on its pay-roll. The city is one of homes, and its streets are well shaded and the whole place attractive. A woolen mill, glove factory, two shoe factories, tanneries, wineries, cream of tartar works, warehouses, newspapers and gas and electric lights are among the public utilities. A fine stone library building is the gift of one of its citi- zens. Napa Valley itself is a garden, full of beauty and bounty. There is no more prosperous region in the State. It is an inviting valley for the general farmer, the vineyardist or the fruit grower. Olives yield well and oil is profitably made. Cherries are a good bearer. Two and one-half acres have yielded 4000 boxes, averaging |1.00 per box. Four acres of prunes have returned $500, and four of Bartlett pears $275. This is good profit. The valley is very beau- tiful and the climate cooler than farther inland. This is a low, oak-crowned mound, its great, wide- OAK KNOLL spreading trees making an attractive setting for a fine home. It is a place of great beauty. This pretty village is the center of farms and YOUNTVILLE orchards, about nine miles north. The veterans of the Civil War have here an* excellent home, where they wait to be mustered out. Apple Orchard at Preston, Sonoma County. 88 Italian-Swiss Colony Home. This attraclixe town is eighteen miles from Napa, ST. HELENA and has a population of 2500 people. It is in a region of vines and of much fruit. The great stone wine-cellar near by is said to hold 3,000,000 gallons of wine. The great vineyards make the warm hillsides look like a section of " the sunny land of France," only there are more sunny days in the year here than France e\ er knew. Oranges and Fnglish walnuts are culti\ ated on the hill-slopes, and do not require irrigation. Almonds Mourish, and peaches, apricots, and prunes are in all the valley. Climatically the region is exceptionally good, and resorts are mimerous. The Adventists have a well-managed sanitarium here, and a large patronage. The health foods they produce are widely tlistributed . Napa Soda Springs, on the eastern mountain-side, is famous for its tine waters. It has attractive walks and driveways, and com- modious and elegant buildings. The panorama of tlie \alley and its towns, its fields and orchards and vineyards is very impressive. This is the third town in size in the county, and CALISTOOA is the terminus of the Southern Pacific, which traverses the valley. Stages run from this point to springs tlu'ther north and over Mt. St. Helena into Lake County. The .F^tna Springs, some miles distant, are quite celebrated. Calistoga has numerous springs of hot mineral water, and gold and silver and quicksilver is found in the vicinity. Quicksilver mines are running to their capacity, and new locations are being made. Pope, Chiles, and Berryessa Valleys are small nooks in the north- west, where general farming and stock-raising are the chief indus- tries. The raintall in all this region is ample, and no better resi- dence section can be found. Returning southward, we turn west again at Napa Junction and pass into Sonoma Valley. This is one of the choice valleys of the .State. The county is larger than the State of Rhode Island, and its products range from corn to oranges. The latter do well in sheltered localities, and the former grows as it does in Kansas, and without irrigation. Here may be seen large cornfields, the old- fashioned corn crib and the fat hogs which are characteristic of the middle West. Here, also, the vine, the fig and the olive are found, the alfalfa field and the prune and apple orchard. The amount of rainfall insures good harvests, and makes the region an attractive one for the farmer. The scenery is diversified and beautiful, and the climate free from excessive heat in the summer, while flowers blooming, stock pasturing, and oranges ripe in midwinter, speak of the mildness of that season. This is called the " City of Roses," and is the SANTA ROSA chief town of the valley. It is the county seat, and the largest city west of Sacramento and nortli Orchards in Rusbian River Valley — no Irrigation. 91 A Poultry Farm near Petaluma. Corn Planted in June— Crop of Hay from same ground in Spring, of San b'rancisco. It has a popiilalion of about eii;lU thousand, and double that number Hve w ithin a radius of a few miles. Sonoma is the largest, most populous and wealthiest of the Coast counties. It has a superficial area of about one million acres, and is the most diversified in its products of all the counties of this State. Half the area of the county is valley or foothill land, the latter being vvarni and dry, and adapted to the finest wine grapes, citrus fruits, olives, apples and nuts. Three of the largest wineries in the State art- here, and neither the Falernian of ancient or the Chianti of mod- 93 trn Italy is better than the wine here produced. Santa Rosa is the home of Luther Burbank, the great originator of new plants and fruits. One hundred thousand olive trees are producing, and the pickled fruit, and pure delicious oil, will count among Sonoma's largest exports. Apples are a distinctive feature of this region. California produces a good apple, of fine color and flavor — if the right soil and the proper exposure is found. The fruit grower turns off no more profitable crop than that yielded by the apple orchard, if his location and choice of stock is good. This town, located on Petaluma Creek, a tide- PETALUMA water channel, has a large commerce, and many good homes. It has the distinction of being the poultry center of the State. It is an important industry, and it is a reproach to the State that it does not produce poultry and eggs enough for its own consumption. In this county the annual product reaches two million dollars a year, of which Petaluma ships more than one-half. Poultry farms are everywhere, from a few hundred hens, up to great ranges of Leghorns and other vari- eties. This industry can be counted on to pay from 75 cents to |1.00 per fowl. It needs only attention to details. With a small acreage for cultivation, poultry furnishes a profitable adjunct. The sugar-beet grows well in this county. Near Petaluma and Sonoma, both on tide-water, large acreages are grown, and pre- parations are made to establish a factory for crushing the product. Thousands of acres of marsh land is suitable for beet culture and the industry has passed the experimental stage. The business of hop raising has long been a feature of agricul- tural life here. Not less than fifteen thousand bales are produced, and the profit per acre is good. Hop picking is a picnic season for many townspeople, who thus add to their health by an outing in the fields, and to their pocket-money by their work. The camps are very picturesque, and the fragrant hop fields, full of men and women, boys and girls, in the delicious September air, are very attractive. Choice Sonoma hops are rated as the best in the world. Neither vermin, mould, rust, red spider or storms mar the vines. Tobacco growing promises well, and will be one of the coming industries. It has made a good start and the plant thrives in almost every section. The climate fosters growth at almost any season of the year. The visitor will note that here corn grows without irrigation; that Sonoma is a hay county; that crops are certain, and that noth- ing that the farmer wants to grow is alien to the region. One of the best apple regions of the State is what is known as the Gold Ridge country, while on the coast south of this ridge is an almost ideal dairy country, the native grass being green nearly all the year. The rainfall in the coast counties above San Francisco extends from the first of October to the first of July. There are but three months in which showers do not fall — July, August, September. Cloverdale, Sonoma County — Oranges Do Well Here. This explains the green hills and valleys, when other parts of Cali- fornia wear a coat of brown. It explains the luxuriant cornfields. It explains the appellation, "cow counties," which long ago was given to the northwest coast. The mean winter temperature is about that of May on the Atlantic Coast. While driving along a road in Sonoma County one day, a gen- tleman saw different farmers engaged in the following operations: Planting potatoes, cocking hay, pruning hops, planting corn, dig- ging potatoes, and filling a crib with ripe corn. Query — What season of the year was it ? This county has produced the white blackberry, the stoneless prune, the Shasta daisy, the Burbank potato, and many variations in plant life from cross pollenization, the most successful originator of new and improved fruits and flowers in the world, Luther Bur- bank, having his home and gardens in this county. The canon through which Russian River flows CLOVERDALE to the sea — a valley rather than a canon — is one of the camping-places for San Francisco people. The tallest and largest redwood trees in the State grew originally on the bottom-lands along the river. Oranges have long been grown in Russian River Valley, and are now quite a commercial product about Cloverdale. This is the chief town of the valley and 95 "ill ' irfilil Geyserville, Sonoma County. a delightful place of residence. The culture of the tobacco plant is being introduced into the valley near Cloverdale^ with great promise of success. The petrified forest of this county is a great curiosity, as are the Geysers also, not far beyond. The latter are visited from all over the world. Hot vapors and gases pour out of cracks and fissures, and innumerable springs and streams from subterranean recesses spurt and spout in every direction, while the ground trembles and rumbles. The " Devil's Teakettle," the " Devil's Gristmill," and the " Devil's Kitchen " are some of the names affixed to localities. Yet there are a great variety of healing mineral waters, a perfect mountain atmosphere, picturesque drives, and good fishing along the shady Pluton River. The Geysers are reached by way of Calistoga. The trend of the coast affects the rainfall of Sonoma, the pre- cipitation increasing as the coast line runs west of north. The crops never fail, and the summers are never hot. Returning down the road we now touch two bay cities, and then are done. This breezy town, with its honorable Spanish name, VALLEJO is active and prosperous. It is in Solano County, which belongs at once to the Valley and to the Bay region. The portion of it which lies in the Sacramento Valley is of great fertility, and all crops are grown without irrigation, but would be better for it. At Vallejo is located the Navy Yard. Many men The "Solano " at Benicia. are continually employed on Mare Island, the large reservation owned by the Government. Here are located docks, shops, bar- racks and officers' residences, and here is the naval rendezvous oi the Pacific fleet. Here warships are constructed and repaired, and we of the Pacific Coast see at this point the defensive armor of a nation whose type is industrial, and which shows the visitor more plows tl^n swords, more schoolhouses than battleships and cruisers. The business of \'allejo is stimulated by the monthly pay roll of the Navy Yard, but the town has resources of its own, and the business area is extending. The streets are bitumenized, and new buildings show increasing prosperity. This is a town of about 3800 people. A military post, BENICIA with its appurtenances, is here, and a Government arsenal. The grounds are extensive and well kept, tlie drives and walks lined with trees which shade barracks, store- houses, offices and repair shops. Munitions for the Pacific Coast are kept here. The outl Dimnigan 82 Durham 5;; Dutch Flat ; 1 Edgewood 72 Elk Grove 14 Elmira S4 Emigrant Gap ."-1 Esparto S4 Ewing 4<» Fairfield 8(i Fair Oaks 15 Finello 72 Floriston.... 3() Florin 14 Folsom 19 Gait 15 Germantown 7 1 Gold, Days of 4 Gold Run 30 Grass Valley 3* 111 Gridley 52 Honcut 43 lone 15 Keswick 60 Kirkwood 76 Knight's Landing 50 Lake Tahoe 34 Lakeview 32 Latrobe 21 Lincoln 38 Loomis 26 Madison 84 Marysville 40 Mavvvood 74 Maxwell 79 Montague 72 Mott 68 Napa City and Junction 87 Natoma 19 Nelson 53 Nevada City 37 Newcastle 27 New England Mills 28 New Life 108 Nord 56 Norman 78 Oak Knoll 88 Opportunity, Day of 103 Orangevale 17 Orland 76 Oroville 46 Palermo 44 Penryn 26 Petaluma 94 Placerville 22 Population, \'alleys and 3 Red Bluff 57 Redding 59 Reed 40 Reno, Nevada 36 Richfield 72 Rocklin 25 Roseville 25 Rumsey 85 Sacramento 8 Saint Helena 89 Santa Rosa 91 Sentinel, The Mighty 68 Setdements, Earliest 6 Shasta Region 62 Shasta Retreat 68 Shasta Springs 66 Sheridan 40 Sims 63 Sisson 68 Social Life 109 Suisun 85 Sweet Brier 63 Tehama 56 Towles 31 Truckee 32 Upper Soda Springs 66 Upton 71 \'acaville 84 Vallejo 97 Valleys and Population 3 Vallev Center, The 8 Vina: 56 Wheatland 40 Williams 81 Willows 77 Winters 84 Woodland 49 Yolo 82 Yountville 88 Yuba City 50 SOUXHEIRN PACIFIC REPRESENTATIVES PASSENGER DEPARTMENT Chas. S. Fee, Passenger Traffic Manager San Francisco, Cal. T.H.Goodman, General Passenger Agent San Francisco, Cal. R. A. Donaldson, Assistant General Passenger Agent San Francisco, Cal. Jas. Horsburgh, Jr. Assistant General Passenger Agent San Francisco, Cal. H. R.JUDAH, Assistant General Passenger Aget it San Francisco, Cal. G. A. Parkyns, Assistant General Passenger Agent Los Angeles, (.'al. W. E. CoMAN, General Passenger Agent. Oregon Lines ...Portland, Or. Thos. J. Anderson, General Passenger Agent, G. H. & S. A. Ry Houston, Tex. Jos. Heli.en, Assistant General Pass. Agent, G. H. & S. A. Ry Houston. Tex. W. H Masters, Traffic Manager,M. L. & T. R. R New Orleans, La. F. E. Batturs, Assistant General Pass. Agent, M. L. & T. R. R New Orleans, La. DIVISION, GENERAL AND TRAVELING AGENTS Atlanta, Ga.— J. F. Van Rensselaer, General Agent 13 Peachtree Street Baltimore, Md.— B. B. Barber, Agent 109 East Baltimore Street Boston, Mass.— E. E Currier, New England Agent 170 Washington Street Butte, Mont.— H. O. Wilson, General Agent, O. R. & N. Co 105 North Main Street Chicago, III.— W. G. Neimyer, General Agent 193 Clark Street Cincinnati, Ohio— W. H. Connor. General Agent 53 East Fourth Street Denver, Colo.— W. K. McAllister, General Agent 1112 Seventeenth Street Detroit, Mich.— F. B. Choate, General Agent. : 126 Woodward Avenue El Paso, Texas— G. Waldo, Division Passenger and Freight Agent; G. H. & S. A. Ry. Fresno, Cal.— J. F. Hixson, Division Passenger and Freight Agent 1013 J Street Kansas City, Mo.— H. G. Kaill, General Agent 901 Walnut Street New York, N. Y.— L. H. Nutting, Gen. Eastern Passenger Agent 1 and 349 Broadway Oakland, Cal.— G. T. Forsyth. Div. Pass, and Freight -A-gt 12 San Pablo Avenue Philadelphia, Pa.— R. J. Smith, Agent 109 South Third Street Pittsburg, Pa.— G. G. Herring, General Agent 708-709 Park Building Reno, Nev. — John M. Fulton, Division Passenger and Freight Agent Sacramento, Cal.— J. R. Gray, Division Passenger and Freight Agent Salt Lake City, Utah— D. R. Gray, General Agent 201 Main Street San Diego, Cal.— F. M. Frye, Commercial Agent 901 Fifth Street San Francisco, Cal.— G. W. Fletcher, General Agent 613 Market Street A. S. Mann, Ticket Agent; P. R. Lund, Agent Information Bureau, 613 Market Street San Jose, Cal. — Paul Shoup, Div. Passenger, and Frt. Agent 16 South First Street Seattle, Wash.— E. E. Ellis, General Agent 619 First Avenue St. Louis, Mo.— J. H. Lothrop, General Agent 903 Olive Street SvRACUSE, N. Y.— F. T. Brooks. New York State Agent 129 South Franklin Street Tacoma, Wash.— Robt. Lee, Agent 1203 Pacific Avenue Tucson, Ariz.— C. M. Burkhalter. Division Passenger and Freight Agent W.\shington, D. C. — A.J. Poston, Gen. Agt., Sunset Excursions 511 Pennsylvania Av. Yokohama. Japan— T. D. McKay, Gen. Passenger Agent, S. F. O. R 4 Water .Street Rudolph Falck, General European Passenger Agent. Amerikahaus, 25, 27 Ferdinand Strasse, Hamburg, Germany; 49 Leadenhall St.. London, E. C, England; l.K Cockspur St., London, W. E., England; 25 Water St.. Liverpool, England; 11m Wynhaven, S. S. Rotterdam, Netherlands; II Rue Chapelle de Grace, Antwerp Belgium; 39 Rue St. Aiigustin, Paris, France. (Ad. 83-3-10-04-25.000) THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY Buffum, Photo. Olive and Orange Ranch, Fair Oaks. ^i06 Z^'S/tAv ym^.' o.i-' o. ' A^-*^ - V^ 3^. O^ » • • / "'^ ■^' '■ -^^ ^'■;-,7??^^-_ V^Ji ^ ^0^ -0^ .0^ *» " • ♦ c V ^r^^^' VT^^^^V