AGRIC. DEPT. ^ CALIFO TO D SAN FRANCISCO A iTS METROPOLIS FOR THE HOMESEEKER ORCHARDIST FARMER MECHANIC DAIRYMAN STOCKRAISER MANUFACTURER TOURIST ^he California Promotioni Committee San F'ranclsco / CALIFORNIA TODAY SAN FRANCISCO ITS METROPOLIS A CONCISE STATEMENT CONCERNING THE STATE THAT FACES THE ORIENT, AND THE CITY BY THE GOEDEN GATE. UNDISPUTED FACTS AND TEEEING FIGURES FROM VARIOUS AUTHENTIC AND OFFICIAE SOURCES CON- CERNING THE GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, COMMERCE, OUTLOOK, RESOURCES, INDUSTRIES AND PEOPLE — PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. compiled: By. ' '' *.,* 'X ^ CHARLES SEDGWICK AIKEN 1 903 THE CALIFORNIA PROMOTION COMMITTEE OF SAN FRANCISCO PUBLISHERS << 1 V \ ^J> Copyrighted, 1903 BY The California Promotion Committee OF San Francisco PRESS OF PHILLIPS, SMYTH & VAN ORDEN CLAY AND SAN80ME ST8. SAN FRANCISCO, CAU / Let me arise, and away To the land that guards the dying day, Whose burning tear, the evening-star, Drops silently to the wave afar ; The land where summers never cease Their sunny psalm of light and peace. Whose moonlight, poured for years untold, Has drifted down in dust of gold ; Those morning splendor^, fallen in showers, Leave ceaseless sunrise in the Bowers. —EDWARD ROWLAND SILL. 273462 THE California Promotion Committee OF SAN FRANCISCO The California Promotion Committee is composed of fifteen representative business men of San Francisco and the State selected from the different commercial organiza- tions, and has for its object the promotion of the development and the advertising of the resources of Cal- ifornia with a view of inducing people to locate in the State. The members of the Committee give their services gratuitously and their well-known reputation insures to all inquirers unbiased and unprejudiced information. The funds for carrying on this work are subscribed by a large number of bankers, merchants, professional men and others of the city of San Francisco^ The California Promotion Committee has representa- tives in all portions of the State and is kept conversant with the conditions in the several localities, thus enabling it to direct and properly locate newcomers to California according to their various inclinations, whether they come as visitors or wage-earners. The Committee maintains headquarters in the central part of the city of San Fran- cisco convenient to the hotels and other points of interest, where all are cordially welcome and reliably informed regarding the city and State. At these headquarters may be found reading, writing and lounging rooms for the con- venience of visitors. PERSONNKL -OF- THE CALIFORNIA PROMOTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS Andrea Sbabboro, Chairman, San Francisco, RUFDS P. Jennings, Executive Officer, San Francisco, Charles Bundschu, Treasurer, San Francisco, Geo. W. McNear - • - San Francisco, W. A. BisSELii . - - - San Francisco, Arthur R. Bbiggs - - - Fresno, James A. Barr ... - Stockton, N. P. Chipman ... - Bed Bluff, Will S. Green - - - - Colusa, W. H. Mills .... San Francisco, E. O. McCoRMiCK - - - San Francisco, V. A. SCHELLER - - - - San Jose, E. D. SwEETSER . . - . Santa Rosa, A. A. Watkins - - - - San Francisco, C. M. WoosTER - - - - San Jose, REPRESENTING Manufacturers' and Producers' Assn. Chamber of Commerce Merchants' Association Merchants' Association Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad California State Board of Trade San Joaquin Valley Commercia Assn. California State Board of Trade Sacramento Valley Development Assn. California State Board of Trade. Southern Pacific Company Coast Counties Association California State Board of Trade San Francisco Board of Trade California State Board of Trade ^ % Executive Committee Andrea Sbarboro W. H. Mills Charles Bundschu Geo. W. McNear A. A. Watkins Rufus P. Jennings N. P. Chipman Committee on Finance Charles Bundschu Arthur R. Briggs A. A. Watkins Committee on Advertising and Conventions e. o. mccobmick Rufus P Jennings c. m. wooster Committee on Colonization James A. Barr Will S. Green v. a. scheller Committee on Manufactures A. Sbabboro Geo. W. McNear N. P. Chipman Committee on Employment A. A. Watkins W. A BiSSELL E. D. SWEETSER A. Frank Hess Secretary Committee on Exhibits C. M. WOOSTER W. H. Mills Arthur R. Briggs CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Purpose of the Bodk — Recent Events that Have Caused an Awakening in the West — The Oriental Outlook — Alaskan Development — Annexation of Hawaii — Gold Mining — Horticultural Progress — The Charm of Climate — A State for Comfort and Prosperity — Demand for Men of Energy and Thrift — Facts Little Known Heretofore Concerning Marvelous Fertility and Climate of Central and Upper Portions of Cali- fornia — Oranges, Olives, and Tropical Fruits in Northern Counties — A Vast Empire with Tremendous Possibilities. The Californian loves his State because his State loves him, and he returns her love with a fierce affection that men of other regions are slow to understand. — David Starr Jordan. CALIFORNIA TO-DAY! The phrase speaks of present opportunity in the great State that is bound to be greater — greater in population, in resources that result from skill and trade, in commerce compelled by the world's demands. This volume is designed to tell and to picture concisely, truth- fully, and plainly, the chief facts relative to the State and its possibilities; facts such as will answer briefly the ques- tions that might be asked by anyone thinking of making California his home. No book of this size could do more than to satisfy interest in briefest detail ; to point the way to knowledge that may be had for the asking ; to refer to and to quote men whose authority in special lines is recognized the world over; to give figures of Government and State officials; to tell of things from the standpoint of the writer's experi- ence ; and last, but above all, to present by the finest reproductions of photographs, scenes of natural beauty, of industries, of houses, lands, factories, horses, cattle, door- yards, dairies, race-courses, irrigation ditches, poultry yards, business blocks, buildings in the chief cities, parks, steamships, railroads — the thousand things that mean O > i > 10 "'"'" CALIFORNIA TO-DAY much to one whose face is turned toward the F'arthest West — all this is here attempted and accomplished in reasonable measure. To the stranger to all things Californian, to one who forgets that the State's area is larger than all England and Scotland combined, there may be found some lack, but enough is here compressed to excite the wonder of anyone reasonably familiar with the vastness and the variety of California's resources. To tell in any satisfying detail of products, of industries, of men behind them, and opportunities for others, would require an Encyclopedia Californica as large as the Britannica. Newworid /pj^-g g^^^^ ^^^^ to-day faces the Orient is scarcely a Old World, half century old, but the years have been years of active, many-sided progress. Their history is that of civilization in brief, of the subduing of wilderness, of home-making under skies as blue as Italy's and air as beatific, by men and women of brain and muscle; of the growth here, in fifty years, of a State where a million and a half of people have homes; of the impetus westward following events of the Spanish war until to-day the New World and the Old World face each other through the California gateway. Westward the j^ ccutury ago, and the century through, Europe and Empire. America have shaken fists and shaken hands by turns across the Atlantic. To-day at the opening of the Twentieth Century the path of progress is over the Pacific. Old World powers are gathering their forces in the Orient. Alaska and "the isles of the sea" belong to America. The course of empire is still westward as much to-day as when wise Bishop Berkeley penned his famous prophecy. And the pathway across the United States is through California. To tell, then, of this big State and the gateway, where Increase of State Products. — East is East and West is West, is the object of this volume. It tells many old facts and many new ones. It tells, for example, that all New England and New York and -Pennsylvania besides may be laid out in California's giant area of mountain and valley, but it notes, too, that California is fast taking a leading 12 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY place among the creative art centers in the world. That the harbor of San Francisco is one where the fleets of all nations may easily ride at anchor at one time is here noted, as well as the later significant fact that the gold product of all the fifty-seven counties of California, for the year 1902, over $17,000,000, far exceeded the total gold product of the Klondike since its discovery. It is well worth noting, too, that whereas in 1890 the total orange shipments east filled only 4,016 carloads, in 1901-1902 they were considerably over 24,000 carloads, a contrast that tells wonders of the industry and the pluck of the orange growers of the State. The Wonders To the straugcr, California, so vast and so varied, is out-of-Doors. bewildering. Few, even of old residents, know one-half of its attributes or its charms. Its very sun and sky and air fascinate. Frowning cliffs and towering trees all speak of the wonders of out-of-door living. The new-comer should form a fairly definite idea of what he desires in home surroundings, and then seek for his ideal. Its attainment is sure; he has only to decide. If he does not care for the prize-winning oranges of Porterville, Palermo, Redlands, or Riverside, he may prefer the matchless apples of Watson ville or of the half-way- to- top Sierra, of Nimshew or Susanville, or of the other mountain regions. If he cares naught for mountains, let him seek the valleys; if aweary of landscape let him seek the never-tiring sea. Why not '(The publishers of this volume — The California Promotion Committee — are men who believe in all Cali- fornia, who know its resources, are sure of its possibilities, and wish others to share their knowledge, and come to this winterless land to live and prosper in never-ending thankfulness for climatic comfort. ' California Givcu suushiuc and spring-like weather through all the winter months, and Nature comes close to doing the rest. To the resident or the tourist in California in winter the question is not so much what to do as when. In the infinite variety of recreations, of diverse sports, of many things to do in the open air, the seeker for home or Come this Way, too Winter Con- ditions. THE STATE ' 13 for health or diversion is bewildered, never bored. Spring- time ever suggests to the man weary of snow and stoves all sorts of cheery things. The — new grass pointing out the way For flowers to follow everywhere, suggests tramps afield, botanizing tours or early wild flower hunts. That feeling begins in California's Novem- ber, for then the new grass is sprouting, and tips of early grain will soon show through the summer-fallowed soil. An odd but welcome impression it is to travel westward to the Pacific, leaving snowflakes in Boston or Chicago, and to run down the Sierra slopes into California's winter- spring. There's a fragrance of upturning soil and the meadow lark's thrilling notes — never a suggestion of winter. The traveler has the feeling of having skipped at least five pages of the almanac! It is immaterial — and this is something all tourists ^^l^ ^^ and health seekers do not realize — whether the seeker for ciimate. comfort and sport in winter enters California by the central or southern routes of travel, for the soft air of alluring days will greet him at both points. There are nooks, both north and south, where winter living is idyllic. Thousands of people to-day know of the palms and orange groves of Pasadena, where ten might tell of the attrac- tions, for example, of St. Helena, or Woodland, or Modesto, five hundred miles away to the north. Yet there are palms and oranges and olives and pomegranates and a wealth of tropic fruit and tropic air in and around those other points. And these places — St. Helena and Pasadena and Woodland and Modesto and Riverside— merely stand as types of sunny winter resorts where the snow-weary may gather, and sport or idle the hours away. The stranger to California is to bear in mind that ^^^rtJ^'^ climatic conditions are more a matter of east and west than of north and south. Go to the Sierra in winter and one may get all the sleigh rides he wants, but nearer the sea-coast, in sunny valleys, the air is tempered, and a tropic clime is there. Golf is the ideal winter sport for Californians. *' You 14 CAIvIFORNIA TO-DAY ^'^°Keep ^^^5 there's so much outdoors here !" a golf devotee half- sportsmen apologetically explained. Not a hotel of any note but has golf links of inspiring dimensions. The links at Coro- nado, at Redlands, at Riverside, at Los Angeles, at Santa Barbara, at Del Monte, at San Rafael, at San Jose, at Paso Robles, and on the big Presidio reservation at San Francisco, are among the best known. But the great game has taken fast hold on people devoted to athletics and sunshine sports, and new links in out-of-the-way spots are being laid out every day. Golf, tennis, polo, wheeling, fishing, walk- ing, riding, and all the out-of-dooring one can imagine, in- cluding gardening in manifold forms, are here for the nature lover, and the sport enthusiast to do and to dare. If he wan- der about the State, to any of the big first-class hotels that are fast dotting the landscape of every tourist town, he will find all the accessories of rest and recreation. "This is a sportsman's paradise!" exclaimed a well-known eastern man a few years ago, as he stood beside a Sierra lake in September and pulled out the ros3^-tinted rainbow trout by the dozen. If he had waited until winter he might have made a similar exclamation, not beside that Sierra lake, per- haps, but elsewhere within this State of continuous charm. Climate Bccause California winters are ideal, the State has winter and Summer! gained justly a reputation for cheerful comfort that draws thousands annually from res^ions of wind and ice and snow. Why sit beside steam pipes or hug coal stoves when you can bask in the sunshine under an orange tree ? But do all seekers for comfort and health realize that California summers are idyllic ? Here is opportunity for escaping from overpowering summer heat as surely as later the California trip means the dodging of icicles and snowballs. Here is the paradise of the camper and the sportsman, for no rain- storms will come to upset outing calculations. Here is the most equable of climates, joined with chances to meet" Nature at first hand, in mountain canyons or big tree groves. Here are Sierra lakes so filled with trout that a cubic water ordinance ought to be enforced, and here are hundreds of mineral springs, shown by medical science to be not only equal, but superior, to the famed Nature . . 16 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY fountains of the old world. Surely California as a sum- mer resort takes second place with no region on earth. Good-bye to Conversation about climate is usually a sedative; Big Fuel Bills. -11 i -i 1 r • -1 1 figures tell best the truths ot air and temperature, and later on the records of government weather officials will speak for themselves. For prospective settlers as well as tourists there is pleasure in the thought of climatic com- fort. It's an old story to Californians, but to men who have endured blizzards and have paid fuel bills big enough to endow a college, the subject has fascinating interest. Libraries could be filled in telling pleasure seekers of the attractive resorts of California. San Francisco with its Cliff House, and its picturesque harbor and cool air, is not to be slighted as a seaside resort. Then there are Coronado, Santa Cruz, Aptos, Capitola, Del Monte, Pacific Grove, Bolinas, Pescadero, San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Santa Catalina Island and Newport and many others. All Kinds of Of mineral springs there are enough in the Sierra Mineral , ^ . ^ ^ ^ ^^ Springs, regiou and m Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties to drive Germany out of business could their health-restoring qualities once become known to the many sufferers who annually seek the waters of Europe. The Shasta,. Aetna, Napa Soda, Paso Robles, Santa Ysabel, Paraiso,, Congress, Bartlett, Lytton, and Highland Springs, and those around Santa Barbara, are among the best known. Among the big trees of the State the tourist or recreation-seeker ever finds instruction and pleasure. In the Mariposa, Calaveras, Grant and Giant forests, in the Big Basin or Sempervirens Park of Santa Cruz, the lover of Nature may wander and wonder in endless enjoyment. "^^Mountlins' Aud thcu the mountains! From Shasta to San Jacinto, from Diablo to Whitney, they are ever new and ever alluring to the admirer of Nature's rugged handi- work. With Yosemite always first, and Hetch Hetchy and Tehipite, and the canyons of Kings and Kern rivers, and Lake Tahoe and its marvels, and the Truckee and McCloud rivers, there is wide choice for the man w^ho oves the mountains. At Mt. Hamilton and Echo moun- THE STATE 19 tain, astronomers may be made happy, while varied attractions may be found at Mt. Lowe, Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Wilson, Mt. Howell, and hundreds of other sky- scraping summits. Concerning society and education and the general outlook here, note these words of President David Starr Jordan, of Stanford University : ''With all this, the social life is, in its essentials, that ^^^^l^^""^ of the rest of the United States, for the same blood flows Education. in the veins of those whose influence dominates it. Under all its deviations and variations lies the old Puritan con- science, which is still the backbone of the civilization of the republic. Life in California is a little fresher, a little freer, a good deal richer, in its physical aspects, and for these reasons, more intensely and characteristically American. With, perhaps, ninety-five per cent of identity there is five per cent of divergence, and this five per cent I have emphasized even to exaggeration. We know our friends by their slight differences in feature or expression, not by their common humanity. Much of this divergence is already fading away. Scenery and climate remain, but there is less elbow-room, and the unearned increment is disap- pearing. That which is solid will endure; the rest will vanish. The forces that ally us to the East are growing stronger every year with the immigration of men with new ideas. The vigorous growth of the two universities in Cali- fornia insures the elevation as well as the retention of these ideas. Through their influence California will contribute Development ^ . of the a generous share to the social development of the East, universities, and be a giver as well as a receiver. To-day the pressure of higher education is greater to the square mile, if we may use such an expression, than anj^where else in our country. In no other State is the path from the farm- house to the college so well trodden as here. It requires no prophet to forecast that educational pre-eminence is already assured. But however close the alliance with Eastern culture, to the last certain traits will persist. "California is the most cosmopolitan of all the States of the Union, and such she will remain. Whatever the The Need of California 20 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY fates may bring, her people will be tolerant, hopeful and adequate, sure of themselves, masters of the present, fear- less of the future." I Contrast the population of California with the popu- Today. lation of the snug commonwealth of Massachusetts. Bear in mind the possibilities of land fertility, of growing cities, and some of the many causes that develop a grow- ing State and see that California to-day has room for double and treble its present population, room for mil- lions more to live and thrive in climatic comfort. Cali- fornia to-day needs men and women, needs them in the cities as well as in the country, in the fruit orchards, hop fields, grain fields, and mines; has need for laboring men, for men of trades, for men of small capital. Idlers are not wanted, nor men who think the world owes them a living, or believe they can pick gold from the streets in this land of gold. There is gold in the soil, and on top of the soil, but it can be had only by persistent labor. There is certain success here and a mild climate and a broad outlook, and young and old of whatever place or class, desirous of a better condition or of greater things in life, are urged to read of California and consider the advantages that residence offers. In this book all lines of industries and of social life conditions cannot be touched upon in detail. Reference to the index, to pages of statis- tics and to miscellaneous published volumes cannot but prove helpful to all those desiring more detailed infor- mation. Information In Sau Fraucisco the publishers of this volume — The for the Asliing. ^i.^.-r. • r^ • ..,, Laliiornia Promotion Committee — maintain headquarters with well-informed assistants whose duty it is to give information concerning the State to all applicants. If there are questions unanswered in this book — and inevitably there are many — write to the California Promotion Com- mittee at the address given elsewhere and a prompt reply and as definite information as it is possible to secure is assured the correspondent. This committee has no lands to sell and no cause to advocate beyond the settlement of California. ! D a w > O 6 > QQ !> H H Ed H ;> o H >o a m c! > :^ ^q ws O H M MO o 5^ << o CHAPTER II. SAN FRANCISCO — The Wonderful City by the Golden Gate — Its Unique Characteristics — Growth Following the Discovery of Gold — Unrivalled Situation for Controlling the Commerce of the Pacific — At the Gateway of the Great Interior Valley of California — Recent Increase in Commerce, Bank Clearings, Manufactures, and Industries — A Vigorous Municipality with Stirring History — The New Charter and Reformed Government — Remarkable Building Activity — In vestments of Eastern Capital and Oppor- tunities — Manufactures aud Cheap Fuel — Shipbuilding — A Rendezvous for War Vessels — The Battleship Oregon and its Builders— Equable Climate, making City a Favorite Summer as well as Winter Resort — Two, Transcon- tinental Railroads and More Coming — Steamship Lines to Alaska, Mexico, the Orient, Australia, and Islands of the Pacific — Growth of Arts and Letters — Young Writers and Painters Gaining World Fame — Social Life and Characteristics — Cost of Living — Cheap Suburban Transportation. Vea, here sit we by the Golden Gate, Nor demanding much, but inviting you all, Nor publishing loud, but daring to wait, And great in much that the days deem small. — Joaquin Miller. A HALF CENTURY AGO, San Francisco, Califor- nia's metropolis, was little more than a sand-hill settlement. To-day it is a populous city of over four hundred thousand inhabitants and an outlook before it, commercial, industrial, and social, second to no other city in the w^orld. In its land-locked harbor, to-day, fly •the flags of ships of all nations. Through its Golden Gate, out across the Pacific to the Orient, north to Alaska, south to Mexico, Central and South America and to the islands of the sea, go steamships and sailing craft laden with passengers and diversified cargoes. Hawaii, Philippines, Alaska, the awakening Orient — these mean a new San Francisco. Westward, across the continent, a half-dozen new lines of railway are approach- ing California's metropolis. The West is wide awake; the East is looking westward; old things are passing away; new things are here; action is in the air. Marvelous Growth. 24 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY The past year shows unprecedented activity in all lines, in real estate transfers, in clearing house receipts, in building contracts. Huge structures of steel and stone, — a credit to any city — have been built. More are being constructed. Capital from the older eastern cities, as well as from the centers of finance abroad, is being invested here. No longer do those lines of Bret Harte truthfully describe the city, Serene, indijBFerent to Fate, Thou sittest at the Western gate. Currents of In 1902 total real estate sales in San Francisco county Trade, amouutcd to $41,000,000; in 1901, $29,147,969, an increase for the year of over $10,000,000. The coinage at the United States Mint (1902) aggregated $47,310,988.00. In 1901, $81,072, 490. Total receipts of customs duty paid into the United States Treasury, San Francisco, dur- ing 1902, $7,735 015.42; 1901, $7,125,082.34; 1900, $7,693,342. Wheat exports from San Francisco during 1902 were 9,152,436 centals, valued at $10,213,105; 1901, 9,294,538 centals valued at $9,526,812; 1900, 7,733,- 667 centals valued at 7,923,347; 1899, 3,245,434 centals valued at $3,576,329. Nine savings banks of San Fran- cisco held on deposit December 31, 1902, $144,295,034.57; on December 31st, 1901, $133,430,482. The rapid growth of the city is shown by its total bank clearings for the past five years, which were as follows: 1898, $813,153,024; 1899, $971,015,072; 1900, $1,029,582,594; 1901, $1,178,169,- 536; 1902, $1,342,927,204. un°quermong ^^^ Fraucisco is uuique among cities, a study among the Cities, the municipalities of the world. Here are many charac- teristics of older places, adjusted to cosmopolitan demands. On this peninsula has grown up a city eighth in size among the cities of the nation. Qualities of West and Bast, and North and South, are here mingled and devel- oped. Practical and poetical sides of life here touch in equal and harmonious growth. Painter and musician, stockbroker and merchant, are shoulder to shoulder. Progress in commerce and literature has been conspicu- ous. Critics remark to see such lines of endeavor, of par- ALONG THE SAN FRANCISCO WATER FRONT, WHERE ARE MOORED SHIPS FROM THE PORTS OP ALL. THE WORLD, 26 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY allel growth in the same community. Here is the soft air and blue sky of Milan, the marine outlook of Naples, with Mount Taraalpais personating Vesuvius; the hills of Rome, the winter climate of the Riviera, and people who are the combination of New England energy and Oriental luxury. Sdividlmuty^ The open-air life that is possible the year through, coupled with the coming hither, in the search either for riches or for health, of the world's best brain and brawn, have formed here, on the Nation's western shore, a com- munity that stands for untrammeled individuality. The genius, free from conventions, here finds breathing room. In books and on canvas these truths have already been demonstrated. The characteristics of the city are the characteristics of the State in a measure. Newcomers hear in California and in San Francisco much of the missions and see some of them, that chain of land-marks along the old King's Highway from Mexico to San Francisco and beyond. They mark the pathway of the padres of old Spain, who founded in the wilderness of that age, at intervals of a day's journey, buildings for worship marked by the cross of Stories of Christ. The story of it all, of old Father Junipero Serra the City. i ■, • • • .,. r\ • i r and his associates, is attractive history, bo is the story or the Argonauts following the gold discovery in January, 1848; so is the story of this unique city built here by men who came for gold; and then gold finding and gold mining, fruit growing, stock raising, and stock broking, exciting political troubles of early days, the sandlot demagogism, the anti-Chinese movement, all help to form a history worth reading about, but a history too long for the telling here, too fascinating for the reader who wishes to learn of things more vital, of California and of San Francisco to-day. '^^^iSTand These stories of history are a backward look, but Action, there is a living present on the Pacific shores to-day, and a forward look that can have no backward glancing. Things are doing here, and busy men need now to learn only of progress, pf advances in value, of chances for investment, while over all and around all is the lure that here, on this SAN FRANCISCO 27 western shore, is a climate of comfort, of chances for out- of-door exercise and out-of-door daily pleasures all the year around — no cyclones, no blizzards, no thunder- storms, nothing but soft-falling rains and sunshine. In the half-century just passed, history has been ^"^0*0^ making rapidly here in the far West, but it is history that tuecity. means something, and history that stands: Here is a picture of the city sketched by that noted Hnglishman, James Bryce, in his ''American Commonwealth." He says: "Few cities in the world can vie with San Francisco either in the beauty or in the natural advantages of her situation; indeed, there are only two places in Kurope — Constantinople and Gibraltar — that combine an equally perfect landscape with what may be called an equallj'- imperial position. Before you there is the magnificent bay, with its far-stretching arms and rocky isles, and beyond it the faint line of the Sierra Nevada, cutting the clear air like mother of pearl; between mountains through which ships bear in commerce from the farthest shores of the Pacific; to the right, vallej^s rich with corn and wine, sweeping away to the southern horizon. The city itself is full of bold hills, rising steeply from the deep water. The air is keen, dr}^ and bright, like the air of Greece, and the waters not less blue. Perhaps it is the air and light, recalling the cities of the Mediterranean, that makes one involjintarily look up to the top of these hills for the feudal castle or the ruins of the Acropolis, which, one thinks, must crown them." All the world of letters and all the world of men who knew him loved "the Tusitala," Robert Louis Stevenson, romancer and wizard of the South Seas and essayist of rarest worth. Said he of San Francisco: "But San Francisco is not herself only. She is not Robert •^ Louis only the most interesting city in the Union and the Stevenson's 1 1- r-i,- • -., Words. nugest smelting pot 01 races and of precious metals; she keeps, besides, the doors of the Pacific, and is the port of entry to another world and an earlier epoch to man's history. Nowhere else will you observe (in the ancient phrase) so many tall ships as here convene from round the 28 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Craft from the South Seas. Discovery of San Francisco Horn, from China, from Sydney, and the Indies; but scarce remarked amid • that crowd of deep-sea giants another class of craft, the island schooner, circulates — low in the water, with lofty spars, and dainty lines, rigged and fashioned like a yacht, manned with brown-skinned, soft-spoken, sweet-eyed, native sailors, and equipped with their great double-ender boats, that tell a tale of boisterous sea-beaches. ''I stood there on the extreme shore of the West and of to-day. Seventeen hundred years ago, and seven thousand miles to the east, the legionaries stood, perhaps, upon the walls of Antonius and looked northward toward the mountains of the Picts. For all the interval of time and space, I, when I looked from the Cliff House, on the broad Pacific, was that man's heir and analogue — each of us standing on the verge of the Roman Empire (or, as we now call it, Western Civilization), each of us gazing onward into zones unromanized." This city, that Mr. Bryce compares to Constantinople Bay- and Gibraltar, is in latitude 37° 47' north; longitude 122° 25' west. It is upon the west shore of San Fran- cisco bay, a land-locked harbor that has been the pride of navigators ever since Lieutenant Juan de Ayala, in August, 1775, sailed into the harbor through the Golden Gate, and told the world of its wonders. It is twenty-six miles long and six miles wide. The accredited discoverer of the bay of San Francisco is Caspar de Portola, and the date November 7, 1769. With his little party he was travel- ing northerly, searching for the Mission of HI Carmelo, near Monterey, but had lost his bearings and traveled many miles out of his way. A year later came the founding of the Mission of San Francisco — the Mission Dolores — in memory of San Francisco's patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi. The founding of Mission Dolores, October, 1776 — a campaign of peace while our revolutionary forefathers were battling on the Atlantic Coast — was the beginning of San Francisco. Then it was known as Yerba Buena, and a picture of it is well drawn in Richard Henry Dana's 30 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY "Two Years Before the Mast." It was just a little village of hide and tallow traders, until the discovery of gold roused the world to send this way the best of men from all nations. Here, for three-quarters of a century, the sacrificing priests toiled and taught their Indian pupils. Here, later, came troops from Spain by way of Mexico. Then came the building of a fort, and the laying out of the Presidio, and after that, ships from many quarters of the world for horns, hides and tallow and water supply. January 19, 1848, is the date of thfe gold discovery, when James W. Marshall, an employee of General John A. Sutter, found, in the millrace of Coloma, El Dorado county, bits of sparkling metal that he knew were gold. Like the shots at Lexington and Concord, Marshall's cry crySelfd ^f "Gold!" was heard round the world. Hither in two Round the years, from over sea and over land, came more than one World. -^ ' ' _ hundred thousand adventurous men. San Francisco was the rendezvous, and thence up the river, thence over the hills by mule-back and horse-back, they went to the mines of the Sierra Nevada. Stern tales are told of these days, and the seeker for the picturesque may find many stories and many narratives of adventure and romance, pathetic and tragic, all relating to these days of treasure seek- ing. Mining in the Sierra and in the streams flowing from it, developed trade and brought about a certain amount of stock-raising and agriculture. Then the adventurous men fell back upon the towns and cities, back to Marysville and Sacramento, to San Jose and San Fran- cisco. This city, by reason of its location upon the bay, of its vast fish food supply, of its small social center, soon became the headquarters and chief city of Alta California, a position which it has ever maintained, until to-day it holds its rank ias the chief city of the United States west of Chicago. ^"^^'^oTthe This early rapid growth of the city, as well as the Argonauts, growth of California due to the gold discovery, meant the coming here of men of strength of mind, as well as of body. Their impress has been left upon the city and upon the State. Between April and December, 1849, — to indi- Fortifications of the 32 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY cate, as a curious fact, the rush westward — 549 vessels brought into San Francisco harbor over thirty thousand passengers, and during the same months nearly fifty thousand came overland. During 1849, the gold dust receipts at San Francisco were over $1,500,000 and the year following this increased to $3,000,000. In 1852 ofiicial shipments of gold dust aggregated $46,599,044, all of which meant wealth and growth for San Francisco. But enough of history. Let us consider things to-day. The harbor of San Francisco is land-locked, the bay Golden Gate, aud its conuectious extending north and south for about forty miles affording deep water anchorage for the merchant fleets of the world. It is entered through the Golden Gate, a strait five miles long, and one mile in width at its narrowest portion. These straits within the ten years, 1890 to 1900, have been fortified with the most approved modern ordnance, and the fortifications are recognized by military experts as among the best defences of any city of the Nation. Within the bay, several islands are controlled by the Government, and fortified, while at the Government Navy Yard at Mare Island, north of the city, and at the Union Iron Works, on the peninsula, are docks capable of receiving the largest modern war ships. sanFraSco' Suburbau commuuitics have grown up about the city, chief among which are Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, San Rafael, Belvedere, Sausalito, San Mateo, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto. Electric and steam railways and ferries bring these places in close communication with the city at the lowest suburban railroad rates in the world. There are in the city over 140 miles of electric railways, seventy-seven miles of cable roads, twelve miles of steam dummy system, and ten miles of horse railway. The steep hills caused the invention here of the cable railway, now used in many cities of the world. Market street is the artery from which diverge all principal streets. It is paved with bituminous rock, material used largely on all the streets. The city has a hundred and ninety-five miles of paved streets, and three hundred and five miles of sewers. In the early days the number of wooden dwellings was consider- So oq -I W2 c 3^ ti'-i £;3 s w w ► a2 o o P3 o »•■« 9 £:m O 3 J ft s* w < o p2 g 33 CO H(t> ^5- 3 34 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Schools, Libraries and Museums. able, but builders are no longer hampered by the fear of earthquakes. Brick and stone are being used more largely, excellent stone being found in the Sierra and Coast Range, and business buildings of ten and eleven stories or higher have been erected. Among the notable new buildings are the United States Postofiice, the Ferry Build- ing, Hayward Building, Mills Building, Spreckels Build- ing, Hall of Justice, Hotel St. Francis, Mutual Savings Bank, the Crocker Building, Rialto Building and the Flood Building on the old Baldwin Hotel site. The population in 1890 was 298,997, and in 1900 it was 342,782. The population to-day (May, 1903) is estimated at 410,000. In social and educational affairs the city is farther advanced than many communities. There are five daily newspapers printed in the English language, viz. : The Examiner^ The Chronicle^ The Call^ The Post, and The Bulletin. There are eight theatres. Chief among the museums are those of the Academy of Sciences, the State Mining Bureau, the State Board of Trade, the Pacific Commercial Museum, and the Alaska collection, the last- named controlled by the University of California. There is also a nucleus of an excellent museum owned by the city and located in Golden Gate Park, the result of the California Midwinter Fair, a successful exhibition held there in 1894, following the World's Fair at Chicago. There are eighty-two public schools, with 1,017 teachers, a total enrollment of 48,517 pupils (June 30, 1902), with average daily attendance of 34,771. The city has in all eleven medical and dental colleges. There are one hun- dred and forty-five churches of all denominations, one hundred and two charitable and benefit organizations, and forty-four hospitals and asylums. Arts and Crafts Creative. Few communities of the same age and period of growth can excel this city by the nation's western gate in arts creative and in educational advancement. "It's in the air," is the common saying, whenever one hears of some prodigy of painter or poet whose conception chal_ > O a a a tr" M H OS I QQ O H O O > K H o o o o r o H 36 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY lenges admiration. And perhaps it is, for certainly world history shows that the people of the open air, those who have close contact with Nature through nearly all the year, who revel in sunshine and high mountains and impressive forests primeval, lead the people of more artificial surroundings in craft creative, in hand and brain development, in painting, in sculpture, in literature, as well as in all athletic sports and feats of daring. Padres, Bcsidcs tliis natural endowment that encourages ITthelns. originality and development, the character of the pioneers of the State is a partial explanation of the condition of affairs as we find them to-day. And before the argonauts of '49, were the self-denying, spiritual-minded Mission fathers, conservators of the arts and teachers of men. Rare paintings brought by them from the Old World may be seen to-day well preserved within the quaint buildings that dot the California coast from Loreto to Sonoma. About San Francisco are centered the chief educational institutions of the Pacific Coast, notably the rich and fast- growing University of California, the new Leland Stanford, Junior, University, with its munificent endowment; the Santa Clara College, oldest of all California seats of learn- ing; the University of the Pacific, a Methodist institution of high class; St. Ignatius College famed for the scientific attainments of its instructors; and Mills College for women, classed as the Wellesley of the Pacific. -Westward Q£ g^jj thcsc collcgcs the Uuivcrsity of California, sit- he Course of " -^ ' Empire." uatcd across the bay from San Francisco, at Berkeley, named for Bishop George Berkeley, of Cloyne, whose "Westward the course of empire takes its way" is familiar to all schoolboys, is the chief, and is the keystone of California's well-organized educational system. This university, whose charter was granted March 23, 1868, graduated in 1902 490 students in its academic and pro- fessional colleges. Its faculties comprise more than three hundred men, with President Benjamin Ide Wheeler as the executive head. The university colleges of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and the law are located in San Fran cisco, most of them in buildings on property given the SAN FRANCISCO 39 State by the late Adolph Sutro, of the Sutro tunnel fame. Another affiliated college of the University of California is the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, situated on Nob Hill, San Francisco, in the palatial home built by the late Mark Hopkins, one of the original builders of the first overland railroad. To the location here of this high-class school of painting and sculpture the city owes largely its high rank for creative excellence. Each year this insti'- tute sends to Paris and to Rome and to the older art centers, scores of earnest students, whose good work has given San Francisco enviable fame in foreign ateliers. The University of California (at Berkeley) is by ij^^^g^.^ the terms of its charter an integral part of the educational of caiiiomia. system of the State. The University's endowment is capitalized at about eleven million dollars; its yearly income is about five hundred thousand dollars; it has received private benefactions to the amount of about four million dollars. The University is indebted to Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst for permanent building plans, upon a scale appropriate and comprehensive. At Berkeley there are one hundred and seventy officers of instruc- tion distributed among thirty-one departments; twenty- five hundred students; a library of one hundred and five thousand volumes; an art gallery; museums and laboratories; also the agricultural experiment grounds and station which are invaluable adjuncts of the farming, orchard, and vineyard interests of the State. In San Francisco, there are one hundred and thirty officers of instruction, besides demonstrators and other assistants, and five hundred and seventy students. Tuition in the academic departments of the University, during regular sessions, is free to residents of California; non-residents pay a fee of $10 each half-year. Instruction in all the colleges is open to all qualified persons, without distinction of sex. The founding a few years ago of Stanford Univer- uSveraities!^^ sity at Palo Alto, thirty miles below San Francisco, gave to the older University of California the stimulus of rivalry, notably in athletic sports, and each year the big LUMBER DOCKS AT THE WESTERN SECTION OP '.'HE SEAWALL, SAN FRANCISCO. SAN FRANCISCO \y) 41 football contest between the men wearing the cardinal of Stanford and the blue and gold colors of Berkeley wakes the city to as much excitement as do the gridiron battles of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Pennsylvania, in the East- ern cities. The university at Palo Alto is a memorial to the son of the late Leland Stanford and of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford. The bulk of the colossal Stanford fortune, made chiefly in overland railroad building and operating, has been given to this institution, of which Dr. David Starr Jordan is the president. The endowment of Stanford University is greater ^^'^^^'J'el^ than that of anj' other two institutions of learning in Stanford. America — amounting to over $30,000,000. It consists mainly of interest-bearing securities, and a landed endow- ment of over 100,000 acres. The Vina estate in Tehama county and the Gridley estate in Butte county are the largest tracts. In the erection of the university buildings it has never been necessary to touch the principal of this vast endowment. The interest has met all requirements. The location of the university' is ideal. Over thirty thou- sand acres are included in the university estate. Among well-known private preparatory schools are St. Matthew's Hall (Episcopal) at San Mateo; Mt. Tamal- pais Military Academy at San Rafael, conducted by the Rev. Arthur Crosby, kinsman of the famous Dr. Howard Crosby, of New York; Peralta Hall and Boone's Academy of Berkeley; Trinity School of San Francisco, the Thacher Preparatory school at Nordhoff and Price's school at Alta, Placer Technical county. The technical schools include the Lick, the ^ °° ^ Cogswell, and the Wilmerding, where manual training methods are well established. The city's public schools are noted for their efficient training. Here also is located one of several State Normal schools. With libraries the city is well supplied, and only lately has been the recipient of Andrew Carnegie's bounty for the erection of a library building. The free library contains over 126,000 volumes; that of the Mechanics' Institute 100,000; Mercandle, 75,000. Here also is the famed Sutro library of over 200,000 rare reference volumes. 42 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY °"1Iiakin°* An example of business-like art, due to the possibil- piotures. ities of Sau Francisco and California, is the painters' colony at Monterey, where for several months each year are produced pictures to sell to Eastern or English con- noisseurs. One m.an, last year, netted $4,200, as the result of his art and industry, painting systematically, and sending his work to New York dealers. San Francisco artists, who have won more than local fame, include Tom Hill, William Keith, PVed Yates, Theo. Wores, Charles Rollo Peters, A. F. Mathews, Francis McComas, R. Martinez, Miss Kuhne Beveridge, Ernest C. Peixotto, H. J. Breuer, L. P. Latimer, Jules Pages, Jules Tavernier, A. Joullin and Charles Dickman. In litera- ture, the roll of those who have gone out into the world of letters from this community is a long one. Joaquin Miller, Bret Harte, Noah Brooks, Gertrude Atherton, F'rank Norris, Ambrose Bierce, E. W. Townsend, Gelett Burgess, Booth Tarkington, Bailey Millard, W. C. Mor- row, Louis Robertson, Edward Rowland Sill, Flora Haines Longhead, Charles Keeler, Juliet Wilbor Tompkins, S. E. Moffett, Edwin Markham, Grace Ellery Channing, Jack London, Chester Fernald, H. J. W. Dam, Clay Greene, George H. Broadhurst — these are a few examples, anufaotures pQr the year ending 30th June, 1901, the chief manu- commerce. facturcs of Sau Fraucisco with the value of the product, were as follows: — Bookbinderies $800,000, breweries $4,- 000,000, coffee and chocolate $2,200,000, confectionery $700,000, cigars $2,000,000, crackers $1,750,000, chemicals $1,500,000, clothing $1,500,000, electrical $3,750,000 flour $3,000,000, fruit-canning $3,700,000, gas $4,500,000, glass $1,300,000, millinery $810,000, provisions $3,500,000, shirts $1,700,000, ships $3,000,000, shoes $2,300,000, sugar $14,211,516, tanneries $1,310,000, tinware $1,750,- 000, wire $1,500,000, wool-scouring $2,000,000. The city's official police department numbers (Jan- uary 23, 1903) 673 men. The Fire Department, under Chief Denis Sullivan, numbers 584 " men and no fire fighting department of any city ranks higher than does this one. w o H w u <^ pq O a 02 I— I o « W H !?: o o K < O H pq <: u SAN FRANCISCO 45 The citv is connected with the eastern States by three Transconti- •^ ^ . -^ nental through overland railways, the Central Pacific, the Railways. Southern Pacific (which controls the Central Pacific) and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe routes. Besides these, the cit}'- has trafiic connections with the Canadian Pacific, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern and other trans- continental roads. Lines of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe and their branches connect the whole State with the city, besides the smaller lines of the California North- western, North Shore, Sierra Railway, and other roads that penetrate the agricultural, mining and lumbering districts. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company has a large fleet of steamers pl3nng between San Francisco and Cali- fornian, Mexican, Puget Sound and Alaskan ports, while the trans-Pacific liners of the Pacific Mail, Occidental and Oriental, Toyo Kisen Kaisha, Kosmos, Oceanic, and other companies link San Francisco to Central America, to the Orient, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific. There is considerable river and bay transportation, uniting the city with Sacramento, Stockton, and other points on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The assessed valuation of real and personal property in 1902 was $420,355,541. Property is assessed at 60 to 80 per cent of its values. The city's tax rate is $1.2262 on the hundred dollars. The city's net debt (funded and float- ing, less sinking fund) is (June 30, 1902) only $17,185.77. After many years of notorious "boss" rule the city in Qo^^nmen? 1896 elected a reform maj-or. This was the most import- ant movement for good government in the history of the city since the Vigilance Committee of 1856. It was followed by the adoption (1899) of a new charter, formed by a board of Freeholders, and based upon the most approved models of modern municipal government. The city's control is centralized, giving more power to the mayor, who has the appointment and removal of the follow- ing commissions : fire, police, school, election, park, civil service, health, and public works. The principle of the "initiative and referendum" was incorporated in the charter, by which a percentage of the voters can compel VVHERI-: UNCLK SAM'S WAR SHIPS ARE BUILT. SAN FRANCISCO 47 the submission of measures for public approval. There are twelve departments of the Superior Court, five Justices Courts, and four Police Courts. The Board of Supervisors has eighteen members. The Board of Education has four members. The Board of Public Works controls the streets, sewers and public improvements of the city, and is com- posed of engineers of recognized standing. The water supply is excellent, being furnished by a private corpora- tion, the vSpring Valley Water Company. The development of crude petroleum has brought to ch^ap^^ei San Francisco cheap fuel and power for the development Manufactures. of manufactures, thus giving all lines of manufactures a tremendous stimulus until to-day, throughout the city and suburbs, as well as throughout the State, are growing up many prosperous manufacturing industries. In 1901, California produced 7,710,315 barrels of crude petroleum, and in 19U2 13,693,514 barrels, producing it at a price equivalent to coal, at three and four dollars a ton, and those who know say that this supply can readily be doubled. Expert electricians tell of the tremendous power possible through the transmission of electric energy caught from the rivers and water-falls of the Coast Range and of the Sierra Nevada. Already power of this class is being utilized in cities about San Francisco, and other projects are under way. The street railway system of the city is the cause of ^^^^°^ continued pride to residents, and constant favorable com- Railway ment from visitors. Up and down the steep hills of the city electric and cable cars are kept moving. The United Railroads street car system of San Francisco represents the investment of eastern capital. It was built by Califor- nians, but during the summer of 1902 was transferred to an eastern syndicate, the check of $17,599,675.15 being the largest check ever passed through the San Francisco clearing house. Under wise management a system of long rides for one five-cent fare is effectually carried out, bringing not only that vast pleasure ground, Golden Gate Park, to the doors of all residents, but enabling those AT THE CENTER OF THE CITY'S LIFE — THE INTERSECTION OF THIRD, KEARNY AND MARKET STREETS, SAN FRANCISCO. SAN FRANCISCO 49 whose homes are on crowded down-town streets to quickly reach the ocean shore or to enjoy the view and invigorating breezes from the bluffs of Presidio Reservation. Golden Gate Park — here is a pleasure reserve worth a ^ . . . Magnificent whole chapter of description. It comprises 1013 acres Park, and is valued at over fifteen millions of dollars. It is a wonderful pleasure ground of flowers and trees, lawns and various opportunities for recreation of all sorts. Once, naught but sandhills were here, and the marvelous beauty of the park is a demonstration of the possibilities of water and sand when directed by artistic controlling minds. For more detailed description of San Francisco and its picturesque surroundings, reference is made to a book pub- lished by the California Promotion Committee entitled "San Francisco and Thereabout" by Charles Keeler. CHAPTER III. THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. An InlandjEmpire— ;One of the^Great Fertile Valleys of the World, with Room for Millions — Placer Gold Soil that Produces Oranges — Abundance of Water^ for j Irrigation [and an Ample Rainfall — Vast Tracts of Alluvial Soil — The^Luxury of Climate — Olives, Oranges, "Wheat, and Stock Raising — Chances 'for {Men of Thrift with Little Money — Entire Families of Fruit^Pickers — Counties Embraced in the Valley and its Water-shed — The Capital of the State, a Beautiful City— Sagacity of General Bidwell, Pioneer of Early Days — Fig Trees and Orange Trees Planted by the Argonauts of '49 — Sutter's Fort and "What it Stands For — Vast Tracts being Subdivided — Opportunities for Small Families — Water-ways and Railroads Carrying Products to Market — Renewed Gold Mining Activity — Mineral Springs — Schools, Churches, and Cultured Communities — Electrical Power in the Streams that Flow from the Sierra. If you will delve beneath the sod, Rich gifts you'll find, stored up by God, In mountain cellars, hid from view. When Time was young* and earth was new. And floTving fortunes in our soil Are fountains, geysers, wells of oil. Our myriad miles of golden grain Ripple and wave like ocean'' s main. And joyous here the bird that flies ^ Neath ever-blue Italian skies. — Carrie B. Rice. PROBABlvY the most wonderful monument in the world is the big orange tree at Bidwell's Bar in Butte County. It is sacred to the memory of a New England miner unknown and long since passed from earth. In the spring of 1857 he dropped there the seed from which grew this thrifty orange tree. The tree told a story and a sermon — and it is not through telling and preaching yet. In its thrifty growth, its shining leaves, its cleanly well - developed fruit, it told and it tells of the possibilities of orange culture here on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada within 400 miles of the northern boundar^^ of the States and a little over 100 miles north from San Francisco. Men were a long time learning that 52 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Sunshine, this ttcc meant a semi-tropic climate, fig trees, and olive Warm Air and . ^ j o ■> Fertile Soil, trccs and waving palms. More orange trees have been growing since that tree at Bidwell's Bar was planted, but only in the past few years have people generally learned that the gold-bearing soil of the Sierra Nevada slopes, and the eastern slope of the Coast Range, of the rich fertile valleys of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin were capable of producing as many carloads of semi-tropic fruits as the transportation companies can haul to market. But the culture of oranges, fascinating as it is and meaning as it does the combination of winter sunshine, warm air and fertile soil, is only one feature of the long- latent possibilities of the great interior valley of California. It is with the upper section of this great region — the Sac- ramento Valley — that this chapter has to deal. The Great This vallcy of the Sacramento of California is an Sacramento ^ ^ -^ Valley, empire with many principalities. Such a region in the Old World or in the New England and Middle States would have been long before this as populous as the valleys of the Loire, or the Housatonic, or Susquehanna The area of the valley proper is estimated at something over 6,000 square miles with bordering foothill and and mountain region of nearly as much more. The coun- ties directly tributary to this great northern valley, some of them mountainous, some of them foothills, all of them valley and mountain, except Sutter, which is entirely in the valley, are, starting from the north; Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, Yolo, Sacra- mento, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada and Solano. • The total exact area of these counties according to Surveyor-Gen- eral's reports is 17,908,960 acres and is nearly equal to that of the State of Maine. Figures and comparisons like these indicate the size of this attractive region, but more than figures that tell where there is room enough to grow are desired by the serious man who is looking for a home, and he may be assured at the outset that this vast valley country of the West possesses countless alluring advantages that should woo him westward to seek and find. o w w H-l ^ ^> HE W "I] Ho CD 2 ?!• dO ^^ 54 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY in the Path- j^^ ^^^ £^gj. pj^^^e it's California, and California means way of the ^ > Nations, progrcss, development, the movement westward being in the world's view, in the pathway of the nations. Here is growth, here farms are becoming villages, villages becom- ing towns, towns becoming cities. Here is a healthful clime and a fertile well-watered soil. Through the center of the valley flows the Sacramento river, its headwaters near the base of Mt. Shasta, a snow-capped peak of Siski- you county 14,440 feet high. The river flows southerly joining the San Joaquin, which flows through the great interior valley northerly, emptying into the Pacific at the Golden Gate. A number of tributaries running through smaller valleys, flowing from the Sierra Nevada offer fer- tility as well as opportunities for power development. Among these are the McCloud, the Pitt, Yuba, Feather and the American, besides countless creeks. An inex- haustible supply of water pours through these river channels, diverted at many points all along the way for irrigation, and at several points, notably at Folsom and Colgate, being harnessed for the development of electrical power. The rainfall in this region is abundant, as will be seen by reference to meteorological tables of the United States Weather Bureau elsewhere in this volume. ^likls^in""- ^^^ right here, speaking of rainfall, it is well to com- ti™e. bat the idea of the New England men that rainy season means a perpetual drizzle from the first of November to the first of May. The rainy season of California is com- parable to the springtime of New England. There are storms and a steady downpour of welcome rain, lasting sometimes three or four days, but the usual storm of California's winter rarely lasts longer than twenty-four hours; usually ten or twelve hours and often occurs at night. After a steady downpour the sun rises bright and warm, the air is pure and clear, wild flowers start into being, before Christmas, new grass clothes the hillsides and the man in the country who looks abroad on mornings like these feels glad that he is alive and glad that he is here, far from snow-storms and blizzards, alert and vigorous under THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY 55 the smiling sun. In the great interior basin of California, the rainfall is heaviest on the west slope of the Sierras and increases steadily from south to north. The average rain- fall of the Sacramento valley is about seventeen inches. Along the edge of the Sierra foothills it is about twenty-five inches, running to nearly thirty inches on the north, as will be seen by reference to tables given elsewhere. In the mountains at an altitude of two thousand feet and upward the rainfall amounts to from 50 to 60 inches annually. These figures are significant; they mean that the rainfall of the Sacramento watershed is sufficient to irrigate every acre of arable land in foothill and valley. They mean that the great level valley of the Sacramento, now sparsely settled and devoted to immense wheat farms, and the foothill lands, still covered with native growth, are destined to become the home of a vast population. It may be that facts about climate seem a trifle over- p^openy^"^' worked. The tables of temperature given elsewhere tell their own story. In this Sacramento valley as well as in most of California except in the mountain counties, there is no winter that can be properly so called in the under- standing of people who live where the year has four seasons. Plowing in November, training roses on the side of the house on Thanksgiving Day ; hyacinths, narcissus, helio- trope, and other plants of rare perfume, blossoming in open air ; humming birds flitting in the honey-suckle, picking oranges November 1st, harvesting olives in Janu- ary, almond trees showing their pink blossoms of rare beauty in February— these are some calendar wonders. And again, let it not be forgotten that California temperature is not a matter of latitude as elsewhere, but rather of eleva- tion. Going north does not mean going to a colder cli- mate — the nieatt annual temperatures of Redding, Shasta County, and Redlands, San Bernardino County, are nearly the same, yet Redding is nearly 800 miles north of Redlands, and this annual mean averages between sixty- two and sixty-six degrees ; highest temperature in both, 107°, lowest temperature known in both, 25°. So-called. 56 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY General N. P. Chipman, Supreme Court Commissioner of California, long a resident of the Sacramento Valley and a practical horticulturist and profound student, and acknowledged authority, says in a recent paper on the resources of California : ^^open^Air "^^ California our climate makes it possible to profit- Gardens. ably usc cvcry day in the year. We have no month when vegetation in some form is not growing. Our wonderful diversity of products gives constant employment in the field, garden and orchard, and in all lines of manufactures, the weather is always propitious. You may not believe it, but I can take you to a property one hundred miles north of Sacramento, where you will find growing in the open, in one large orchard of 3000 acres, — apples, pears, cherries, prunes, plums, figs, oranges, lemons, almonds, raisins, apricots, olives, guavas, loquats, persimmons, — in short, every fruit to be found growing in Russia, France, Egypt, Greece, Spain, and in the entire Medi- terranean basin. I doubt if a like expression of climatic possibilities can be found elsewhere on the globe. *'One other fact, and we may leave the matter of climate. California is a universal sanitarium. In the mountains and in the valleys everywhere, barring of course Tte Climate here and there local influences to the contrary, the climatic Health'! conditions promote improved health to all who come. Special conditions, more favorable, appear in different places, but generally all latitudes and all regions invigor- ate and build up the physical functions. Our great val- leys lie parallel to our mountain ranges and the ocean, and residents find quick and easy change from one to the other ; the people of the interior go to the coast or the mountains for a change, and the coast people go to the interior and mountains. A few hours bring this most delightful change." But the fair conditions of the valley winter season do not mean excessive heat in mid-summer. True, the mer- cury does mount steadily upward, not infrequently leaving the one hundred mark behind, but the absence of humidity makes 105° in the heart of the Sacramento valley not so A SEMI-TROPIC SCENE AT OROVILLiE. 58 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY oppressive by any means as 80° at Chicago. Sunstroke is unknown and out-door workers never miss a day's labor because of excessive sunshine. iTthe valleys^ Siuce vallcys are the natural homes of men, the pioneers of California — those hardy men who moved west- ward until stopped by the Pacific in those early days of history making, when Spanish governors ruled Alta California — established their haciendas amid the wide- spreading oaks that dot these valley plains. After them came the Argonauts, those American prototypes of Ulysses, lured over the plains and over the mountains by the cry of gold. In the valley became established stores and trading points for the mines of the Sierra and later culti- vation of the fields, and the planting of fruit trees resulted. Of early conditions General Will S. Green of Colusa, writes: iftho wohZ "Half a lifetime of familiarity with this region has only deepened the conviction, early formed, that it is the first country in the world. The earliest pioneers nearly all located around San Francisco bay or in the Sacramento valley. They had their choice of all California and they naturally took the best. Sutter's Fort, central to one of the earliest and largest grants of land made in this terri- tory by Mexico, stands to-day within the corporate limits of the city of Sacramento, the capital of the State, and the richness of the surrounding country attests the wisdom of the locator. "The city of Chico, ninety miles further north, is on land originally granted by Mexico to Gen. John Bidwell, and all who visit that locality are impressed by the rich- ness and park-like beauty of the country. "Those earliest of the civilized settlers saw at a glance where the soil was richest, where timber was most plentiful and where water was most abundant, and there they planted their homes. They knew by observations in the countries they came from that where game did most abound, there Nature was most provident in her gifts, and the Sacramento valley was the game region par excellence in the early days of California. THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY . 59 "Bands of antelope numbered by the thousands, elk gj^go, in great number could be seen at any time grazing on the Grazing rich forage of the valley. In 1851, a wood-chopper fur- nished the hotel-keeper in Colusa with an antelope each day for his board. "When Governor Stanford, with ample means to secure his choice of land anywhere in the State, contem- plated his stupendous vineyard enterprise, he sought a location in the Sacramento valley, and at Vina, one hun- dred and ten miles north of Sacramento, he planted, and is growing there to-day, the largest vineyard in the world. • 'The great Glenn ranch, as rich a body of land as the sun shines on, and on which it was the proprietor's ambition to raise in one season a million bushels of wheat, lies well north in this valley. The princely possessions, of the late Senator Boggs, and others of the most noted agricultural holdings in the State, are within the confines of the Sacramento valley." But attractive and profitable as are the varied rural '^^^^^ . ... Occupations, industries of this section, orange growing, olive oil not Rural, making, and ripe olive pickling, grain producing, (for the valley is one of the vast granaries of the world with vast shipments through the Golden Gate to feed the Eastern States and Europe), there are other opportunities, notably in manufacturing and in mining, as well as the minor occupations that go to make up the life of towns and cities. The Sacramento river is navigable the greater part of its length. The railroad lines of the Southern Pacific Company run the full length of the valley, extending on to Oregon, and south through to San Francisco and though the San Joaquin valley, with many branches on all sides. Thus, the valley possesses transportation outlets by both water and rail. The principal city of the valley is Sacramento, the cap- ital of California, a modern city and well-built and fast- growing, with broad streets, electric cars, business blocks of granite and brick and many modern structures built, or in process of construction. The State capitol is one of the THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY 61 most imposing buildings in the West, with one of the finest Flourishing capitol park in the country, and around the city gather cuies. the life incidental to the capital of a great State. The principal other cities are Marysville, Oroville, Chico, Red Bluff, Redding, Willows, Colusa, Woodland, Vacaville, Winters, Auburn, Grass Valley and Nevada City, all well ordered places of thrift and progress. Throughout the valley everywhere are schools and churches and all that goes to make civilization and refinement. An old resident recently said: "The Sacramento valley is a land in which are found the opportunities of the frontier together with the advan- tages of civilization and is essentially the place for the making of a home; no cold winters and no thunder storms; mountains close by and sea not far away; chances for outings in the pine forests or in the ocean surf, while can- yons and woodland stretches and fast flowing streams make sportsmen happy." The mountains, both of the Sierra Nevada and of the ^^^^^f > Output of Coast Range, are rich in minerals, and although mining is vaiiey -. f 1 1 . 1 • 1 r^ / i . • Countiea. the second oldest industry m the btate (cattle raising being considered the first), the mineral lands of the State according to the best authorities have only as yet, figur- atively speaking, received surface scratching. The last statement of the mineral output of the State credits the counties of the Sacramento valley with a product valua- tion of $16,031,601 out of $31,394,879 for the entire State. Elsewhere tables of the State Mining Bureau and of the highest expert authorities show the mineral product valu- ation of various counties of the valley. All through Placer and Nevada, El Dorado, Yuba, Butte, Shasta and Tehama, are gold mines that are being worked profitably, employing most modern mechanism. Gold mining is a leading industry in every county lying wholly or in part in the Sierras. While the easy surface diggings have for the most part been exhausted, new processes and cheaper power have given new impetus to the industry which promises to extend steadily and con- tinuously. 62 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Resoufcelo'f Within the past four years, dredger mining has been Mountain introduced and gold dredges are working in many places. In the dredger field at Oroville, where the first successful machine was launched, twenty dredges, representing an outlay of more than $1,000,000 in machinery alone, are delving deep into the earth and reaping a golden harvest. The power resources of the mountain streams is an- other factor in progess. Bordering this valley are power plants that are attracting attention of the mechanics and electrical engineers of the world. Electrical trans- mission has been developed here to its greatest efficiency. The power of mountain streams is already driving the machinery of farms, mines, orchards and of factories located on the bay of San Francisco, one hundred and fifty miles away. What is now being done is but the beginning of the area of power transmission. The electric current brings to the door of the factory the power of the waterfall of the mountain canyon and delivers it at a cost which renders fuel plants out of the question. At present the supply of developed power is wholly inadequate to supply the demand, but new plants are building and will continue to be built. The waterfalls are among the most valuable assets of this section and give promise of a prosperity in all lines of activity where the question of cost of power is a factor. Long The Bay Counties Power Company, which transmits Transmission power to Sacrameuto and Oakland, has a plant at Colgate, Plants. ^^p^(,j[^y 25,000 horse power. Another is on Butte Creek, near Chico, with a capacity of 12, COO horse power, and near the same point a new plant is under way where 20,000 horse power will be generated. The same company con- trols the Fall River falls, twenty-five miles east of Oroville, which has a capacity of about 5,000 horse power. On French Creek, fifteen miles from Oroville, they have made surveys and begun preliminary work on a plant, the estimated capacity of which is 25,000 horse power. An- other lately formed has secured rights on the upper North Fork of Feather River and proposes to build a plant of 300,000 horse power. The same company, it is reported, Navy Yard 64 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY recently secured control of the Big Bend tunnel, fifteen miles above Oroville on the North Fork, where 25,000 horse power may be developed at comparatively small cost, ishmd -^^ Solano county is Vallejo, the navy yard town. Near it is Mare Island, a large reservation owned by the gov- ernment located in the northern end of San Pablo Bay, a tributary of San Francisco Bay. On this island are located the shops, docks, barracks, and of&cers' residences of the naval rendezvous of the Pacific fleet. Here war ships are constructed and repaired and the location here of these shops gives employment to many thousand men. Timber Upou the slopcs of the Sierra are vast tracts of pine Lands and . , _ . . , , ^ . , Lumbering timber of many varieties and large fortunes are invested Industries. . ^^ the lumbering industry. Among the recent interesting developments of the present is the acquisition of vast tracts of timber land in the mountains by corporations which propose soon to begin the manufacture of wood products on a larger scale than heretofore known in this region. For example, the Diamond Match Company, one of the largest corporations dealing in lumber and its products, has recently purchased 60,000 acres of timber land in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties. Its agents have been making surveys for railroad, and it is common belief that soon they will begin work on a gigantic scale. The signs of the times point to unprecedented growth in the industries growing out of timber resources. Tbe Despite all other attractions of California, mining, Out-of-door , ,. -,,. , ...,.--, Life that lumbering, and the things that attract m city iiie tor the Appeals. ^^Q^g^^Q^ man, the possibility of profit and health in an out-of-door life, in fruit growing of some sort, is the thing that must appeal. For life in the sunshine means health, and without health the human being is a nuisance. It is a difficult task to picture in words the vast orchards now growing throughout the valley and yielding annual delec- tation for the markets of California, the Orient, and the Eastern States; orchards of prunes, apricots, apples, pears, figs, almonds, peaches and olives ; groves of oranges, lemons and grape-fruit; countless acres of small fruits of THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY 65 rare excellence and more acres equally countless of vegetables of all sorts. The counties of the Sacramento valley yield annually over one-half of all the fresh deciduous fruit produced in California and over one third of the entire output, green, canned, or dried. The fruit growers are wide-awake and progressive, following modern methods in training and cultivating. Every county in the valley has thousands of acres of orchard, including almost every fruit grown. Trainloads of dry fruits are shipped from almost every station in the orchard regions. Immense canneries in various parts of the valley employ thousands of people during the canning season and pack thousands of tons of luscious fruit for the best trade. In the deciduous fruit business, too, the demand for the pro- duct has kept pace with the increased production, and there is no reason to doubt that such will long continue. The amount of land suitable for growing oranges in future of these valleys is practically unlimited, and results thus far Growing in warrant the prediction that within ten years the output Northern" of the counties included in the San Joaquin and Sacra- cJaiifomia. mento valleys will exceed twenty thousand carloads an- nually. As elsewhere noted, the future holds great things for the orange growing industry of the central and north- ern California counties, all for the reason that fruit ripens and is ready to go to the Eastern market by Thanksgiving Day. In 1893 four carloads were sent East, while last year more than 2000 carloads left the State from this section. Elsewhere tables of shipments indicate the growth of this industry. In 1901, more than half of the Oroville crop was shipped before Thanksgiving, and prac- tically the whole was off before Christmas. Orange culture is ever alluring, yielding returns that Profits of are almost beyond belief. The first orchard planted for o^Ige^ commercial purposes, by the Oroville Citrus Association, ^''o''®"- has proven a veritable bonanza. It was planted for the purpose of determining whether or not oranges could be grown profitably and it has settled the point. The orchard represents a total outlay of $24,000.00. It has returned to the investors $17,000.00, leaving the net cost Profits in e Pickled 66 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY to them at this time $7,000.00, and it is worth at a con- servative estimate $100,000.00. The crop of oranges of 1901 sold for more than $13,000. These are facts which can be verified at the office of the company. The associa- tion is composed of Oroville business men and they have made no secret of the results of their enterprise. The olive is rapidly becoming the staple product of oiites. the valley, especially of the foot-hill regions, and the suc- cess attained in the growing of this fruit is scarcely second to that which has attended orange culture. The ripe pickled olive has proved a revelation to olive consumers. It is rich, oily, delicious, and wins its way wherever intro- duced. The demand has increased more rapidly than the supply. A few years ago when first the olive groves of this region began to bear fruit, the growers found it almost impossible to market their product. To-day, immense pickling establishments turn out cured olives by the car- load and are unable to keep up with their orders. Oroville shipped last year one hundred thousand gallons of pickled olives. The price ranges from forty cents to a dollar and a quarter a gallon according to quality, and the business is very profitable. Olive oil is also manufactured extensively, and the oil industry is far past the experimental stage. Manufactur- ers who have been careful to maintain a high standard of purity and excellence find a ready market at remunerative prices, among those who have learned to distinguish the pure article. The future of olive oil making is full of promise, especially when the pure California olive oil is freed from the competition of the cheap adulterated oils of Europe. Early At many points deciduous fruits ripen early. In 1901 Cherries, the first chcrrlcs were shipped April 11th. In 1902, the season was later and the first cherries sold in Chicago, April 29th, for $2.30 per pound. In many cases the profits from an acre have amounted to over $200. Secretary F. E. Wright of the Sacramento Valley Development Asso- ciation, says : "The valley is the natural home of the fig. Small 68 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY orchards have netted from $180 to $200 per acre and with our present crude and imperfect knowledge of this fruit we are making serious inroads on the imported article. Figs and The vine with its products of wine and table and raisin Grapes, varieties is coming to the front. Our wines are being recognized as worthy of trial. Our Tokays as table grapes are eagerly sought after in Eastern markets, and Cali- fornia being the only raisin producer in the Union, we have only the Levant to compete with for this trade which covers the globe. °Fa™?ng "The grain product of this valley is still the para- Repiacing mouut interest, but growers are beginning to realize that Grain • .,,.., ^^ Growing, there are other pursuits that bring larger returns. Un account of persistent and continual annual sowing of our lands it has in places become impoverished for the grain product and this style of farming has become to a certain measure unprofitable and the era has come when the large land-holders recognizing this are turning their attention to diversified farming. The loss of the grain acreage, while somewhat startling to the old holders, is really a blessing to the new ones and the old ones, too. ' ' Right here is the opportunity for the home seeker to secure to himself a piece of good land at a reasonable figure, and if you can't do anything else with it pay taxes on it and watch it increase in value. . Sacramento < ' ^j^j^g Sacraiueuto vallcy and its watershed is an Valley and -' Its Watershed, empire in itself with its 17,908,960 acres of which 7,190,431 acres are in farms containing a population of only 224,972. This means on farms an acre to each person that are on farms, not including cities of about 320 acres. In figuring on the total of our area compared with European countries we can support a population of 3,000,000 easily, because Scotland with an area of 29,000 square miles (ours is a little over 28,000) supports 4,025,764. Scotland's con- ditions are not as favorable as ours. ' ' In making reference to the scarcity of farm help in this State which prevails, the idea of one man trying to farm 320 acres strikes me as being a little too much, in fact a great deal to ask of one man. This is what the farmer THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY 69 is trying to do and doesn't it appear that he is trying an impossibility ? The solution is to put a man on twenty acres instead of 320 acres. This is the only true solution of the farm labor question." And right here concerning farm labor and the con- o^t.^^.^^^ ditions that exist, it is well to clear the mind of the Health Lin. impression that has gone abroad that the farm laborer is often obliged to sleep out-of-doors. That many laborers do sleep out-of-doors is true, but a friend of mine who lives on a farm in Colusa county calls my attention to the fact that this is not a very demoralizing practice. Sleep- ing out-of-doors in California is regarded as an invigor- ating action and a health lift generally. Camping parties usually count on sleeping with nothing above them but the blue sky, and harvest hands, fruit pickers and others scorn even a tent covering and do so usually because there is no need of shelter. Thus out-of-door slumber has be- come a custom of the country established by the well-to-do; engendered by climatic conditions, and is enjoyed as much by the camping capitalist as by the humble harvest hand. Concerning prices of land, further correspondence ^^"g^*"'^ with those informed will give details, but generally speak- Bought For. ing it may be said that good land may be obtained in the Sacramento valley averaging in price from $25 an acre upwards, according to location and character of soil. Home-seekers are interested in the lands that are for sale, and the lands of this valley will bear comparison with any land on earth. The foothill lands of red gravel and clay are among the best of fruit lands. Foothill lands seem to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of citrus and deciduous fruits. Nearly all the oranges grown for market in the central counties of California are in the foothills, although orange trees may be found growing luxuriantly and bearing heavily in all parts of the valley region. Deciduous fruits attain the highest perfection on these lands and some of the most successful orchard districts in the State are in the foothills. The foothill lands offer an inviting field to the man of small capital. With water they will grow anything he may care to plant, and 70 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY by practicing care, economy and thrift he can acquire a competency within a very short time, wiii^support The level valley lands which are certain to be sub- a Family, divided and sold as rapidly as there is demand for them, will bear comparison with the rich soil of the valley of the Nile. While small farmers are comparatively few, enough of them exist to prove beyond question that a few acres devoted to a diversity of crops, properly tilled, will support a family in comfort and plenty. o ortunities ^^^ Opportunities offered by these lands are of the of Today, greater valuc because of the growing scarcity of good land at this time. A few years ago the enterprising Easterner packed his goods into a wagon and moved West; he staked out his claim to the fertile plains adjacent to the Missouri, and the land was his for the taking. To-day there is no desirable government land that is available, but the stream of western immigration remains un- checked. The opportunities of the Sacramento valley exist because the valley is as yet comparatively unknown in the East. 'The movement now on foot to advertise California and the great interior valleys is certain to attract hither within a short time a vast number of people bent on securing land. The opportunities of to-day will not exist to-morrow. The certainty of future growth in population, in productiveness and in all that goes to make a prosperous country, is a matter which should appeal to the home seeker. Transportation facilities by water and by rail, close proximity of great commercial center and sea- port, the existence and rapid development of vast re- sources of power, all these, as well as the fertility of the land and salubrity of the climate, should challenge the attention of every reader of this book._^ Wonders of I^ake Tahoc — that mountain sea on the boundary line Lake Tahoe, a ^ ^ . -^ Mile Above between California and Nevada and forming part of the eastern boundary of Placer and El Dorado counties — is a continuous revel of unfailing joy. Such lights and shades, such morning and evening effects, such depth of shadow on forest-lined shores, such sunlight flashes on rippling waves, are marshaled for the camera at no other place 72 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY known to geographer or photographer. Up here in the Sierra Nevada, 6,220 feet above the level of the sea, the air is of wondrous clearness. Clouds gather on the mountain crests all about, and floating overhead cast shadows into the unfathomed depths. The waves are of changing hues. Yellow and emerald and indigo tints are here, giving the water-color artist rapturous and busy ArtiSic hours. But for direct picturing of the marvelous and Effects. j.a^pi(jiy changing combinations of sunlight and shade, the camera is most effective. The lake is twenty-three miles long and thirteen wide — a crystal mirror in the rugged Sierra setting. Around the shores of the lake are many summer hotels and famed camping resorts. Into the lake run trout streams of unfailing delight to the sportsman. High in the mountains all about are other deep-water lakes of rare beauty. CHAPTER IV. THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. California's Great Central Basin— The Great Producing District of the State — A Region of Wondrous Fertility — A Vast Granary — Important Stock and Dairy Interests — The Most Important Raisin District in the World — A Treasure Bed of Horticulture — Extensive Oil Fields — Vast Timber and Mineral Lands — An Inexhaustible Water Supply — An Irrigation System of Unequalled Magnitude — What Professor Elwood Mead Says — More Irrigable Land Than Watered by the Nile — Stockton, the Delta City— Profits In Table Grapes— Great Dam at La Grange — Porterville Oranges — Fresno and Its Varied Resources — Yosemite Valley and the National Reserve — In the Bret Harte Country. Royal the reaches of wheat in the valley ! Abundance has blessed the wide wastes of the plain. And hosts of the strong-headed harvesters rally At dawn-flush to garner the glittering gf ain. Full hang thy orchards with fruitage of summer, Thy citrons 'mid blossoms bless winter and spring. But autumn, the radiant year cycWs last comer. Bears, clustered in purple, the grape which is king. — Chari^ES KEEI.ER. LOOKING at the topographical map of California, the curious formation of the mountain ranges attracts the eye. The towering Sierra Nevada form the eastern border and boundary, while circling about in the form of an inverted letter C are the mountains of the Coast Range, bounded on the north by the Siskiyou and on the south by Tehachapi. Enclosed within these mountain ranges is the great interior valley of California, The Great the north half the Sacramento, the south half the San vaiieyof Joaquin. , Properly speaking, it is one great valley, the natural drainage from both centering in the Sacramento river, flowing westerly into San Francisco bay and out into the Pacific. Climatic conditions in both Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys are much alike, but to the resident each valley has its special characteristics that make it of peculiar value. No old resident of the San Joaquin, for 74 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY example, will admit for a moment that anywhere on earth exists a country superior to that about his home, and the Sacramento valley man holds equally positive opinions, vlneyof This whole valley of California has been compared, the Nile, and justly so, with the vast valley of the Nile, where the scientists and engineers of England have been at work solving the greatest engineering problem of modern times. Quoting a recent writer, A.J. Wells: " Here is the great sea valley of California, and there is the valley of the Nile. That is ancient ; this is modern. That is sown with forgotten generations ; this is virgin soil, still gay with the wild flowers of its youth. There the old and the new civilizations meet, and the regenera- tion of the country through its agriculture is begun ; here the methods of to-day wait to renew the wealth and in- crease the population of a valley that will one day be as famous as the valley of the Nile, and will maintain, in latter-day comfort, as dense a population." Rich This valley of the San Joaquin is about two hundred Mountain -^ ^ n Treasure Beds, and fifty uiilcs loug and averages sixty miles in width, and comprises a total area of nearly 34,000 square miles. Its counties, including the foothill and mountain regions that drain naturally into the valley, comprise Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne. The most northern county of the valley is Amador ; the most southern, Kern. In the mountains are rich mines and richer treasure beds undeveloped. In the valley are vast areas of fertile soil, much of it well cultivated, but acres upon acres are waiting for the energy of the settler. Raisins, the equal of any the world produces, center about Fresno. Throughout the valley from San Joaquin to Kern are vast ranches producing wheat that is shipped from tide- water to the grain markets of the world. Kern county is the center of the great petroleum in- dustry of comparatively recent development. All along the foothills are sheltered regions where semi-tropical fruits — oranges, lemons, olives and figs, — grow luxuriantly and ripen so early as to give these regions a marked ad- w a V > > w H H H H W H o CO 76 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY vantage from the standpoint of the shipper who wishes to reach Eastern markets before rival sections send their shipments. oran°e Around Porterville in Tulare county there is a large Groves, area of orange groves, and shipments of oranges from Porterville alone last season (1902-1903), amounted to 367 carloads. Throughout the valley are well-tilled farms (which to every Californian are known as ranches), pro- ducing fruits and other products, including prunes, peaches, apricots, figs, olives, plums, pears, berries, wine, oranges, lemons, lumber, wheat, barley, corn, melons, potatoes, wool, alfalfa, cattle, sheep, horses, poultry. All these products tell of the fertility of the valley, but with more people these products of this fertile district are capable of vast increase. Down from the Sierra flow rivers and creeks fed from the glaciers of snow-capped mountains, giving an unfailing water supply which needs only to be diverted to make fruitful large sections of now unproductive lands. Professor Klwood Mead, the govern- ment expert, now associated with the University of Cali- fornia, whose recent report is most interesting, says of the great valley, that the water supply available there, "ought to make of it the Egypt of the western hemisphere. Within a radius of five miles I saw every product of the temperate and semi-tropical zones which I could call to mind." And he adds that there are " more acres of irri- gable land in the San Joaquin valley than are now watered in Egypt from the Nile, where agriculture alone supports more than five million people." ^TeSc -^^^ ^"^y ^^ *^^ water of these fast-flowing streams Power, of value for irrigation purposes, but for the development of power, and principally electric power, for manufactures. Already several such projects are begun and a number of progressive mining companies are using power obtained from this unfailing source. From Electra, on the Mokelumne river, forty-five miles from Stockton, a power line has been constructed to San Francisco, one hundred and forty-eight miles distant. The plants serving this line have a capacity of 15,000 78 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY horse power, which can be increased at small expense. This line supplies power for mills and factories throughout its length. Irrigating the Qf ^-^^ 1 446,114 acres of land under irrigation in San Joaquin ' ' _ o Valley. California, according to the last Government report, 749,917 acres, or something over one-half, were in the San Joaquin Valley alone. This immense area is irrigated in part by canal systems and in part by pumping plants lift- ing the water from wells which tap the great reservoir of water underlying the entire San Joaquin valley, at depths varying from twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet. The great dam at La Grange, Stanislaus county, on the Tuolumne river, in the Sierra foothills, is an example of what can be done to harness the waste waters. Here a flow of 75,000 miners' inches is diverted, sufiicient to irri- gate 375,000 acres. This dam was recently constructed at a cost of over $550,000. In San Joaquin county, the delta county of the valley, there are now two irrigating systems to which a very large alfalfa, dairying and fruit growing area is tributary. The reclaimed lands of this county are irrigated through substantial flood gates built in the levees. In Fresno, Madera, Merced, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties, an immense district is embraced within a most excellent system of irrigation. Through each county of this valley one may go, pointing out matters of peculiar interest, but space does not permit detailed description of the advantages of the various counties. San Joaquin county alone contains 87*5,000 acres, and in common phrase is known as "the gateway " of this region. Through it pass most of the travelers going from Sacramento, the capital of California, to the lower counties of the valley, or to Los Angeles. FertiieDeita ^^^ Joaquiu couuty alouc is a principality made up of San Joaquin, a most euterprisiug populatiou. The delta or tule lands consist of about 150,000 acres, originally classed as swamp or overflowed lands, and covered with a dense growth of flags or tules. A large portion of these lands consists of islands embraced by channels and connecting forks of the San Joaquin river. They have 80 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY been reclaimed by dyking in large areas, and within the past few years have been developed by intensive agricul- ture to rank as the most productive lands of the county. In this area are found large tracts of peat lands, which are devoted to asparagus, celery, potatoes, onions, chicory, beans, and other vegetables ; black loam of unfathomed depth, made from the accumulation of decayed vegetable matter during past centuries ; sandy loam, in w^hich the detritus brought from the mountains by floods is blended with the vegetable mold of the tules ; and alluvium, con- sisting of patches and zones of extremely rich and gritless deposits washed from the Sierra. Fertile The best known of the delta lands are : Bouldin Islands of the San Joaquin. Islaud, whcrc there is an asparagus farm of 1,700 acres, from which two great canneries put up each season 100,000 cases of asparagus for which the world's epicures pay half a million dollars; Staten Island, largely devoted to stock raising on its evergreen pasture, but where also fortunes have been made 'during the past few years in growing potatoes; Rough and Ready Island, where some of the finest cherries, apricots and peaches of the State are grown ; Roberts Island, an extensive tract, on which are produced the heaviest crops of wheat and barley, the most abundant yields of potatoes, beans and onions and the only chicory grown on the Coast ; Union Island, similar to Roberts Island in the variety and quantity of its veget- able productions. North of Stockton, along the Calaveras and Mokelumne rivers, the soil is a rich, black, sandy loam. Here are many of the vineyards, orchards, small truck gardens and dairies of the county. In this section from ten to thirty acres are found to be a sufficient holding to enable the owner to support his family and at the same Ten to Thirty time accumulatc a bank account. The newcomer, as a Eniugh^ rule, engages in general farming and truck gardening, finding that with a few cows, chickens and an alfalfa patch an income is assured from the start. In the immediate vicinity of Stockton is found a rich black soil that produces heavy crops of grain, produce and fruits. Southward from the city is a region whose soil is 82 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY a sandy loam, devoted largely to dairying, alfalfa and grain farming. sanj^^uin According to the census of 1900, San Joaquin county Valley Leads, was the leading county of the State in the production of wheat, barley, rye, potatoes and chicory. Experience has shown the county to be well adapted to the production of alfalfa, almonds, apricots, table and wine grapes, berries, peaches, pears, olives, cherries, and produce of all kinds. On the subject of grapes and wines in San Joaquin county, Frank A. West, of Stockton, one of the leading winemakers of California, in a recent signed article says: "The profits in grapes of the last few years have ranged from $50 to $200 per acre, according to local condi- tions ; table grapes having in some cases yielded the last named figure and even more. I give below a few figures taken from our records of the past fifteen years which show the smallest sum received by growers in any year and the yearly average : Ezra Fiske, smallest receipts $28 per acre ; average for fifteen years, $49 per acre. Fitz- gerald Estate, smallest receipts, $24 per acre, average for fourteen years, $56 per acre. D. H. Loveland, smallest receipts $15 per acre, average for fifteen years, $82 per acre. J. W. Bunch, smallest receipts, $78 per acre, average for ten years, $98 per acre. A. L. Bonham, small- est receipts, $30 per acre, average for fifteen years, $101 per acre. These figures are authentic and not in any way ex- ceptional, dozens of similar cases can be cited from our books. Attractions '< 'j'jie growing of table grapes is an industry which ap- vineyard. peals vcry strougly to thrifty families, for, in addition to the excellent prices generally received for the grapes a considerable sum is received for the labor of packing, which has been comfortably carried on in the open air. " The cost of planting and growing a vineyard depends entirely upon local conditions and upon the character of the work done ; but when once in bearing the cost of cul- tivation and care does not vary much from $15 per acre per annum. This, of course, does not mean that a farmer hav- ing ten or twenty acres in vines will pay out in cash $15 THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 83 per acre, but that to hire the work done and pay for every- thing used in the way of hay and feed, horse hire, labor and incidentals, will cost that much. A farmer owning a vineyard in connection with general farming is out of pocket only a very small sum in cash, for the reason that the work done in his vineyard is done when nothing else could be done. To this $15 add $2 per ton for the actual cost of harvesting a crop, and it is evident that a very small crop will pay a profit even if the present prices for grapes were cut in two." Stockton, the county seat of San Joaquin county, is ^f^^sf^^J^on. seventh in size among the cities of California. In advan- tages it is second only to San Francisco ; for here where waterways and railways meet, where the product of the vast fertile valley must come to reach tidewater, where miners from the foothills and mountains come for sup- plies, surrounded as it is by a country of marvelously rich soil, with natural gas wells for cheap fuel and lighting, with a climate so mild that the storm-bound New Englan- ders cannot but regard it as close to Eden — here are ideal conditions for the building up of a great city. For many years Stockton has drawn to it large manu- facturing interests. Here is the home of the combined harvester, that product of inventive brain, which enters a field of standing grain and passing through it, leaves behind filled sacks ready for shipment. Here are also woolen mills, .flour mills, tanneries, a pottery that the old world might envy, the only window glass factory on the Pacific Coast, factories that turn out complicated mechan- ism for dredging the rivers and sloughs, big establishments that produce farm and mining implements. Between Stockton and San Francisco ply steamers carrying both freight and passengers, and the steamer trip in summer down the picturesque channel and river on through the straits of Carquinez, Suisun and San Pablo bays into the bay of San Francisco, is a favored one for the traveler. That Stockton should be known as the *' Delta City," The Delta instead of the more common term, " Gateway," is the con- tention of many proud residents, for by reason of its loca- 84 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY tion upon the rich delta of the San Joaquin come most of its natural advantages. The rare combination here of cheap power, raw material and low transportation charges makes the city an ideal spot for the manufacturer. Natu- ral gas underlies the city in great quantities. The oil region of the San Joaquin valley and the unlimited water power of the Sierra are easily accessible. The Tesla coal region, close at hand, comprises over twelve square miles, a remarkable mineral soil, producing good fuel coal as well as clay for pottery, limestone, manganese, glass sand and cement gravel. Educational 'j^jjg schools of Stocktou and San Joaquin county rank Features of , .... . the County, high among educational institutions. The two high schools of the county prepare students for the University of California and Stanford University as well as for the State normal schools. Jas. A. Barr, city superintendent of the Stockton schools, says : " While the family man seeking a new home may in- quire about soils, markets, crops, he seldom fails to ask about the schools of the particular locality he is investi- gating. '* The resident of San Joaquin county, present or pros- pective, whether his lot be cast in city, village or outlying district, is certain to secure for his children a good common school education. The eighty-four school districts outside of Stockton with their 106 teachers provide a system of schools that covers every part of the county and that fur- school uishes as thorough a primary and grammar school educa- system. ^^^^ g^g g^j^y parent could wish for. " In the graded schools of Stockton the course of study provides for eight years of instruction below the high school. In the schools of the county, both graded and un- graded, the cotirse of study extends through a period of nine years, the extra year being added for the benefit of the large number of pupils who are unable to attend a high school. " While in many of the county schools one teacher has all nine grades to instruct, the course of study is so 86 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY arranged as to secure thorougli instruction in those sub- jects that are of most use in everyday life. The larger villages and towns have excellent graded schools, employ- ing from two to seven teachers each. To the homeseeker looking toward the gateway ci ty it may be of interest to know that the Stockton course of study is used as a text book in various State normal schools and universities, that it has been placed on each teacher's desk as a reference book in various cities in Canada and the United States, and that it has been taken as the basis for courses of study in many cities and counties through- out the country." - '^Tssesil '^^^ assessed valuation of the counties of the San Valuation. Joaquiu vallcy has been steadily increasing by reason of the added productiveness caused by the industrious resi- dents as well as by the general prosperity of the entire State. The total assessed valuation, according to the latest figures of the State Controller (1902), of all the counties of the valley is $164,777,761, an increase of $6,911,306 over the preceding year. These counties com- prise a land of opportunity to-day equal to any section of this State. Men are needed here for developing not only the soil but the mines ; for lumbering and irrigation pro- jects, for home-making and for lending their brains and their labor to upbuild the State. ^f Modesto South of San Joaquin county, in order stretching and Stanislaus across the valley, are the counties of Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and Fresno. Modesto, the county seat of Stanis- laus county, is seventy-seven miles south of Sacramento, the capital of the State, and ninety-two miles north of Fresno, thirty miles south of Stockton ; all these figures by rail. Modesto is a thriving city with many advantages and attractions for the business man as well as for the resident seeking health. Through the county run the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers, the last two navigable for six months of the year. Stanislaus presents the typical California climate; about the same weight of clothes comfortable all the year. THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 87 The winter is short and mild, the rainfall at the county cluloriia seat ranging from eight to twelve inches annually, snow cumate. unknown, frost infrequent and rarely damaging even to tender plants and the susceptible or'ange blossom. Roses bloom in the open air as late as December and January, and in March are again in bloom. The average tempera- ture for November, December and January, deduced from early morning, noon and late evening observations, is fifty degrees; for June, July and August, seventy-seven degrees. Thunder and lightning are heard and seen rarely and from afar; tornadoes and cyclones are unknown elements in California. '' Bright and clear " reads the weather observer's record almost uniformly, and balmy and bracing applies also save for occasional periods of a day or two in the height of summer. The heat, however, at these infrequent periods is dry and less distressing than that of Eastern cities, often when the thermometer registers twenty degrees lower. The soil is a sandy loam on the plain between the souand -^ _ -^ ^ ^ Products. Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers ; heavier and with some adobe on the west side of the San Joaquin ; a strong, red soil and adobe in the foothills. It has largely been planted to wheat for twenty-five to thirty years. The wheat crop averages from 100,000 to 1 10,000 tons. In 1902 the yield was approximately 100,000 tons, worth, at the ruling price at this writing, no less than $2,200,000. Stanislaus also produces annually an average of 5,000 tons of barley and 5,000 tons of rye, each of a market value of from $14.00 to $16.00 per ton. Corn and oats are produced, but in comparatively small quantities, the other cereals being more profitable as a rule. Whenever irrigation is prac- ticed, the range of products is practically unlimited, em- bracing everything known to the temperate and semi-tropic zones. Oranges — choice fruit that to see is to covet — are ready for the Thanksgiving market, commanding from $2.00 to $2.50 per box, net ; limes and lemons leave noth- ing to be desired ; olives, almonds, walnuts, prunes and figs yield prolifically. 88 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Irrigation Systems of the The La Grange dam has already been referred to here. County. Its completion is the result of uniting two irrigating dis- tricts known as the Turlock and the Modesto : one embrac- ing 176,000 acres lying between the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers ; the other embracing 82,000 acres lying between Tuolumne and Stanislaus. The Tuolumne is the source of supply for both districts. This stream has a watershed second only to that of one other river of the State, carries a vast volume of water and is never-failing, fed by the perennial snows of the Sierra. The water rights of the districts take precedence over all others save that of a mining company possessing a very limited appropria- tion. The United States hydrographer's reports, covering daily measurements extending over a series of years, demonstrate that the flow of the Tuolumne river, at the point where the water is diverted by these irrigation sys- tems, is never less than five thpusand cubic feet per second and frequently rises to ten thousand cubic feet per second. The Turlock district appropriation is fifteen hundred cubic feet, or seventy-five thousand acres, or twice the area em- braced in the district. The appropriation for Modesto dis- trict, with about half the acreage of Turlock district, is in corresponding ratio. The dam is located just above the historic mining town of La Grange, in the foothills of the Sierra, thirty-two miles distant from the centers of the dis- tricts, and constitutes one of the greatest structures of the kind in the world. It is three hundred and twenty-seven feet in length, ninety-seven feet through at the base and twelve feet through at the crest, one hundred and twenty- seven feet in height, arching up stream. Turlock Canal f jjg Turlock district canal system comprises twenty- two miles of main canal, seventy-four feet in width at the bottom and designed to carry a maximum depth of eight feet of water ; two main laterals, aggregating thirty-five miles, forty feet in width on the bottom ; and six sub- laterals, aggregating eighty miles in length, ranging from eighteen to forty feet in width, floor measurement. The main canal of the Modesto district system is sixty- two feet in width on the bottom, and will supply ninety 90 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY miles of laterals ranging from eighteen to forty feet in width. °Ga^tn* '^^^ Turlock district system represents a bonded indebtedness of $1,200,000 at five per cent, the bonds run- ning forty years, no part of the principal payable until 1922. The Modesto district system represents a bonded indebtedness of $1,100,000, at five per cent, no part of the principal payable until 1922. The tax to defray interest and maintenance averages forty-five cents per acre in the Turlock district, the property embraced in the city of Modesto paying two-fifths of the Modesto district tax, which would otherwise be eighty cents per acre. After 1922 one-twentieth of the principal of the bonded indebt- edness will be payable annually ; or the bonds may be re- funded at lower interest. It is figured by residents that in a few years over eighty-two thousand acres in the center of the county will by reason of the water brought upon it become one great garden. Here, already, are thriving orchards and vine- yards and extensive tracts of alfalfa — that prolific forage grass that is the wonder of the stranger and pride of the Californian and the all-the-year-around food friend of cattle and horses. Concerning alfalfa and what it stands for, T. C. Hocking, President of the Stanislaus county Board of Trade, says : " Dairying is becoming a very prominent industry, because of the favorable conditions and excellent profits. Twenty acres in alfalfa will support thirty cows, and one man at a salary of $35.00 per month will milk and care for the herd. The milk will bring at the creamery from $4.50 to $7.00 per cow, according to the grade of the cow. The skimmed milk, returned and fed to calves and hogs, will afford an income sufficient to meet expenses, leaving the- returns from the creamery net profit. Modesto Creamery patrons received twenty cents a pound for butter fat fur- nished in May, 1902. The land can be purchased in small tracts at from $25.00 to $40.00 per acre, and can be graded, checked and planted to alfalfa for from $6.00 to $10.00 per acre — for $6.00, if the man does the work him- Dairying in Stanislaus. Yields. THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 91 self; $10.00 under contract. Planted in the fall alfalfa attains a fine stand by spring, and is good for seven years without re-sowing, yielding five crops annually, each crop one and one-half tons to the acre, affording pasturage after the curing season. With a few acres in alfalfa, and a few cows, a family is assured of a living within a very brief ^^p period. There is a creamery at Ceres and a model ten thousand dollar creamery at Modesto, with skimming stations here and there. " Another product providing a read}' and early source of income is the sweet potato. It is produced to perfection in this sandy soil and by aid of irrigation, the crop matur- ing in four months. The yield is from eighty to two hun- dred sacks to the acre, commanding an average price of about ninety-two cents per sack. Land producing sweet potatoes is invariably choice laud for peaches, which are always in demand by the canneries at prices affording net profit from $75.00 to $150.00 per acre. Melons, beans, corn and like products also yield abundantly on this land." Stanislaus has a population of between ten thousand and eleven thousand, and an assessment roll of $1,200,000, the State and county tax for the seventeen years averages $1.38 cents on each $100.00 assessed valuation. The county has neither bonded nor floating indebtedness. Next south of Stanislaus is Merced, a little to the county, north of the geographical center of California on either north and south or east and west measurement. It is a parallelogram in shape, measuring sixty miles from the Sierra to the Coast Range, and forty miles from the counties of Madera and Fresno on the south to the county of Stanislaus on the north. It has a total area of 2,600 square miles, or 1,664,000 acres. The western edge of the county is mountainous, but Growing and nearly the whole of the remainder is good, level land, and stock-raising, nearly all of it adapted to the higher forms of agriculture . that go with irrigation. A very considerable area of the county is taken up by a few large ranches, whose size runs THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 93 into the tens of thousands of acres. These are used chiefly for the production of grain and for stock raising. One by one, however, they are being subdivided and placed on the market, and new districts are opened up for settle- ment. There is plenty of good land and good water to be had in Merced county at fair prices, and in the next decade its farming population is likely to increase to two or three times the present figures. The San Joaquin river flows through the eastern part -^bandance "^ ^ , . , . ^ of Water. of Merced county in a stream, which, in the rainy season, is large enough to admit of some navigation. Into it flow on the west a series of small creeks : Los Banos, Syca- more, San Luis, and others ; and on the east there are the Merced river, a large volume of water, the Chowchilla river, Bear creek and the Mariposa. There is an abun- dance of water for present use and enough is flowing to waste in the San Joaquin to water a vast area which is now only used for wheat. The soil varies in different sections of the county, but the greater part of it is a sandy loam of great depth. Wheat is still the largest single crop of the county. Its production is carried on in the wholesale manner that usually prevails in the San Joaquin valley. Barley, oats, and corn are also grown in quantities ; the first of them is exported chiefly for brewing purposes and the product raised in Merced county is particularly bright and free from rust. There is a successful creamery in operation near the town of Merced, and the butter which is shipped from there to San Francisco commands a price above the market average for its superiority. One unique agricultural feature of Merced county is ^ ^ ^ . . -^ Sweet Potato the growing of sweet potatoes. The district northwest of the Region. town of Merced, near the stations of Atwater and Batata, produces about two hundred carloads of the vegetable annually, and the "Merced Sweets" are the standard of the San Francisco market. The soil of this region seems to be particularly adapted to them, and the product aver- ages fifteen thousand pounds to the acre, bringing about a cent a pound. Plenty of instances could be quoted where Acres of Insect 94 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY they have yielded the grower two hundred dollars an acre, although the average is, of course, much lower. Another unique product of Merced county is the Destroyer, buhach, from which insect powder is manufactured and sent all over the United States. Over three hundred acres are devoted to the pyrethreum plant, as it is called, and the business is said to be .very profitable. The town of Merced, the county seat, contains about three thousand population, and is an incorporated city of the sixth class. It is one hundred and forty-three miles from San Fran- cisco. Here is a flouring mill with a capacity of one hun- dred barrels a day, two electric plants, and a number of shops and prosperous stores. People are wide-awake and enterprising and have a Board of Trade, which is at work making the merits of the county widely known. Other towns in the county are La Grand, Snelling, Dos Palos, Ivos Banos, and Batata. Fresno's Fresuo couuty is located in the center of the San Position and -^ Area. Joaquin valley. Fresno, the county seat, is the geograph- ical center of the State. The boundaries of the county extend across the San Joaquin valley, from the Coast Range mountains on the west to the summit of the Sierra Nevada on the east. The county contains 5,606 square miles or 3,587,840 acres, of which it is estimated fully 900,000 acres are tillable soil. The census of 1900 gave the county 41,000 population and Fresno city now (1903) has a population of about 20,000. Fresno county presents a great variety of climatic conditions and soil. It is divided into four regions ^ — ^the To ra h f^othiU regiou, the valley region, the timber or forest and Climate, regiou, and the region of snow and ice. It will be readily understood that with such a variety of topographical con- ditions a corresponding variety of climatic condition exists. The yearly seasons are two. The dry season usually begins about June 1st and lasts until about the 1st of No- vember. The average rainfall is about ten inches. There is an average of two hundred and seventy-five days of sun- shine in the year. There is no time in the whole year o OQ a H » M CI w H 03 W" ^^ 35 ?§ >■ o UH w S OH hS OQ '-' W d H H Irrigation and Production. 96 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY that men and teams may not work out of doors. The extreme summer temperature ranges from ninety to one hundred and ten degrees, but the atmosphere is very dry and the heat is not so perceptible as in localities where there is a humid climate. The nights are nearly always cool. There are no sunstrokes, no hail storms. The health reports show that Fresno city and county death rates are the lowest of any in the State. The county is irrigated mainly from the Kings river, which rises in the Sierra Nevada mountains and passes through the entire farming district, though there are other principal sources capable of large development. The dis- tribution of water is operated by splendid irrigation sys- tems, comprising thousands of miles of main and branch distributing canals, supplying an abundance of water at a minimum cost of 62^ cents to a maximum of 75 cents per acre per annum. A failure of crops on irrigated land is unknown. The principal products are: cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, hides, wool and tallow, lumber, firewood, gold, copper, petroleum, wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, oranges, lemons, olives, figs, all kinds of deciduous fruits, table grapes, raisin grapes, dried fruits, raisins, wines and brandies, butter, cheese, poultry, eggs, all kinds of garden vegetables, sweet and Irish potatoes, tomatoes, celery, melons, all kinds of berries, honey, etc. There are 1,194,900 deciduous fruit trees in the county and this number is added to each season. There are 77,255 acres of vineyard producing wine and raisin grapes. Fresno Grazingf and foothill lands not under irrisfation are Land Values. ° . ^ obtainable at from $5 to $10 an acre and gram land at from $15 to $25 an acre. Land with water, suitable for alfalfa, fruit and vines, at from $35 to $75 an acre. First class vineyards in full bearing command from $250 to $350 per acre ; good orchards in bearing from $150 to $200 per. acre ; unimproved citrus lands from $50 to $100 an acre. Industries of Frcsuo couutv is the greatest raisin producing district the County. . 1 1 a t 1 • • • • • i m the world. Making raisms is a very simple process, and one that any intelligent man can engage in success- fully with the information that is always to be had from 98 • . CALIFORNIA TO-DAY others engaged in the business. Wine grapes are also very profitable. They require less handling than the rais- ins, as they are picked and carted to the winery at once. Deciduous trees of all descriptions thrive and the orchard business is one of Fresno's most profitable enter- prises. Olives, Figs The fie: in Fresno county deserves particular men- Oranges and " .... Lemons, tiou, as there is no other locality in California where this fruit will do as well or where so much has been done in cultivating and improving the fruit. As the result of the efforts of Mr. George C. Roeding, a prominent horticultu- rist, Fresno now produces the Smyrna fig, an achieve- ment which has not been accomplished anywhere else in America. Oranges are grown successfully, but the oldest groves are located in the eastern part of the county, at the base of the foothills. The citrus fruits of this district have re- peatedly taken prizes at district citrus fairs. State fairs and international expositions. The advantages that Fresno claims are freedom from frost and certain con- ditions of soil that produce a superior fruit, but the chief advantage is the fact that Fresno county oranges ripen and are ready for market about November 1st, thus reaping the benefit of the early high prices in the Eastern markets. Orange trees begin to bear the fourth year after planting. At five or six years of age the trees should bear well and yield a handsome income. Lemons are also successfully grown. "^"Dair *in*^ Alfalfa grows luxuriantly and is the basis of success Profits, fjf ii^Q dairy industry. The yield from an alfalfa field is very large. The hay is shipped from Fresno in large quantities to Southern California and Arizona. One acre of alfalfa will keep a cow the year through. Raising alfalfa provides the surest and quickest means of obtain- ing an income, and dairying is one of the most attractive occupations, as it provides the opportunity to raise money during the time required for trees and vines to come into bearing. Fresno has some very extensive creameries and these have established skimming stations all over the 100 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY county, where the farmers sell their cream. To an}/ think- ing man who knows about dairying, these conditions sug- gest the way to a profitable business. The late Mr. Mc- Nulty, manager of the San Joaquin Creamery, said in an article on dairying : Dairymen "The qucstiou is oftcH asked, ' does dairying pay? ' s^y- It is my opinion that there is no other place on the map of the world where one's finger can be placed where feed can be grown so abundantly and cheaply as in the San Joaquin valley. Alfalfa is pre-eminently a cow feed, and the butter produced from the milk of alfalfa-fed cows, if skill- fully and scientifically handled, produces a texture and a flavor that cannot be surpassed." The manager of the Danish Creamery, Mr. Murphy, says the average amount paid for butter fat is $55 to $60 per cow annually. This is exclusive of the value of the calf and the skim milk. Another Fresno county dairy- man says : " I milked last year an average of forty-three cows per month ; sold during that time butter fat to the amount of $55.93 per each cow; also raised and sold calves and hogs to the amount of $19.71 per each cow, making the total earnings of each cow for the year, $76.65." All kinds of cereals are successfully grown in Fresno county without irrigation. The area sown to wheat and barley is 335,981 acres annually. The gross value of cereals, alfalfa, hay, wine and raisins aggregated for 1902 $8,749,958. Poultry, Eggs Poultry farming is a source of large profit to the and Melons. . o r^ farmer. There is always a good market for eggs and chickens. Honey is another source of profit. Alfalfa honey is very fine and ranks with the clover honey of the East. Vegetables, small fruits and berry farming are other means by which the farmer may easily add largely to his income. Cattle, Hogs Cattle, hogs and sheep are all raised in large numbers and Sheep. » cs r ^ a for both home use and for shipment. In fact, so favorable are the conditions for this business in Fresno that thousands of cattle are brought from Arizona and coast districts to the pastures of Fresno county, where they are Minerals and Lumber. Oil in Fresno. 102 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY fattened for the markets of San Francisco and elsewhere. Hogs are a source of great profit, both to the large stock- grower, the small farmer and the dairyman. The mountains in the eastern part of Fresno county are vast storehouses of wealth. Almost every known mineral is to be found, and while some few mines are worked this great region of mineral wealth is practically not exploited at all.X In the mountain region are the great forests from which vast quantities of lumber are made annually. This includes yellow and sugar pine, cedar, fir and redwood. Some of the trees from which this is cut are the largest in the world, being the Sequoia Gigantea^ measuring over one hundred feet in circumference, y Fresno county is a large producer of petroleum. The wells are located in the southwestern part of the county, in the vicinity of Coalinga. The district comprises some wells that are among the best in the State. This supply of oil for fuel so near to Fresno is a very great advantage. It means close at hand cheap fuel for all purposes. Among the manufacturing and commercial enterprises of Fresno county the packing houses, annually handling thousands of tons of fruits and raisins are easily first in importance. Recent inventions for extracting seeds from raisins have enormously increased the consumption and the industry gives employment to thousands of men, women and children. The wineries are being largely aug- mented and are among the finest and most extensive in the country. There are also flouring mills, ice factories, creameries, cream of tartar works, agricultural implement and box factories, canneries, a brewery, planing mills, sash and door factories, soap factory, macaroni factory, brick and tile works, oil refineries, etc. Fresno's '^\i^ pubHc school system of Fresno is unexcelled. Schools. ^ -^ . ., ^^ ■ The buildings are modern and well equipped. The Fresno City High School is one of the most imposing structures of its kind in California. There are seven High Schools in the county, two of which stand upon the accredited list of the State University and pupils are graduated and prepared for collegiate course. Manufactur- ing Interests. 104 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY "^^^fIHw '^^^ ^'^^y °^ Fresno ranks third in shipping import- ance in California. It is the metropolis and business center of the San Joaquin Valley and the natural gravitat- ing point for the production and commercial energy of a great and enormously productive country. It is a rail- road center, eight lines radiating from it. Fresno city and most of the principal towns of the county are on the two transcontinental railroads, the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe, which furnish the best facilities for trans- portation and for shipping. i^ogresl^ In addition to the advantages named, the city has an opera house, good churches, five banks, a county court- house costing over $200,000, a new $30,000 library, the gift of Andrew Carnegie, and Congress during the last session appropriated $150,000 for a federal building. There is marked activity in building. A large number of new business blocks and fine residences have been built and are constantly in course of erection. A great deal of substantial street improvement is being done and pave- ments and cement sidewalks extend in every direction. One of the greatest marks of progress during the past year has been the building of a system of electric cars. It serves not only the city of Fresno but extends into the more populous suburban localities and is being extended to the mountain regions. The city has a good sewerage system, well paved streets, good fire department, gas, electricity, good water, and an efficient postal service. The city's In fact, Fresno is a first-class modern city. It promises much for the future. Fresno's trade is on the increase constantly. It occupies the center of a locality which produces enormous quantities of readily saleable com- modities. All of the conditions for manufacturing are close at hand— cheap fuel, cheap power, and unlimited possibilities for the production of raw material of almost every kind. The great need of the city and county is population — pe3ple who are willing to work, who will take advantage of the natural conditions waiting to be utilized for the benefit of mankind. THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 105 Up in eastern Kern is a curious settlement of BMqur^**"^ Basque sheep-herders, roaming the steep slopes and coiony. canyons, guarding their flocks and living in a primi- tive wildness suggestive of the rugged conditions that prevail in their native Pyrenees. And this adapta- bility of the old world resident to the new world is one of the alluring attractions as well as one of the novelties of all California. The observing traveler finds stowed away in some inviting nook, anywhere from Mendocino to San Bernardino, natives of far-away lands, who have come here simply because of the charms that Nature offers, comfort and happy living. In few other States is there to be noted the wide diversity in this respect. In Kansas, Nebraska and the Middle West one finds communities made up almost entirely of Germans, Swedes, or transplanted Kentuckians or Ohioans. All these and more does California harbor; to all these and more does the State extend the open arms of welcome. Industry and law-abiding are the only price to pay for making a home in this region of all regions where sun is king. In Tulare county, on the foothill branch of the South- oranges of , . , Tulare. ern Pacific, is the orange-growing section heretofore re- ferred to and of which Porterville is the central shipping point. Here are more than 6,000 acres planted in the best varieties of oranges and the shipments to eastern markets are increasing rapidly. The county seat is Visalia, a picturesque city in the foothills and the center of a fer- tile and attractive region. In Tulare county is located the Sequoia National Park, a reserve of monster trees of the sequoia gigantea. Just beyond the county's eastern boundary, Mt. Whitney (14,898 feet), the highest moun- tain in the United States, excluding Alaska, rears its snow-capped summit. In Kern county, the southern-most county of the Kem county valley, are the wells of crude petroleum that recently have drawn to this section investors and speculators from every- where. The product is being shipped throughout the United States and is proving a bonanza for all concerned. THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 107 The Kern river district is the most productive of all the oil fields in the county. The other producing districts are the Sunset, McKittrick and Midway. Because of the valuation made by the discovery of oil, land values rose in this district from $1.25 an acre to four, five and even ten Th«Kern ^ ' ^ Kiver thousand dollars an acre. The Kern delta is a vast estate oeita. of 400,000 acres, which is under a system of irrigation remarkable for its simplicity. Nature has done everything possible to make Kern river an ideal stream from which to divert water into artificial channels at minimum expense. Large areas are being annually added to the irrigable terri- tory. The county contains many artesian wells. Kern river is said to contain minerals which have a wonderful fertilizing effect. The Kern river is the source of power for an electric generating plant, from which power is trans- mitted to Bakersfield and Kern City for illumination, fac- tories and the operation of a street railway two miles in length, connecting the two places. In the classification of the counties of California, the «ioh footMii ' and Moantain foothill and mountain counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, counties Amador, and Calaveras, whose watershed is toward the west, are naturally included in the great San Joaquin val- ley. Of Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne readers from far away have heard much in the romances of Bret Harte, for here are located the picturesque old mining towns of Angels, San Andreas, Douglas Flat, Dry Town, Moke- lumne Hill, Copperopolis, Poverty Flat, and other settle- ments as rich in nomenclature as they were once and are still in gold. But there is more than romance about these regions of Sierra pine and red soil and granite bedrock. Here is the vast region of the Mother Lode from which countless millions in gold have been taken, and in which millions more remain to make the fortune of the prospec- tor and investor. All through this section are rich mines with big outputs, and mining improvement and develop- ment is going on constantly. Jointly in Mariposa, Tuolumne and Madera counties i'ot*»e Yosemlte. is located the Yoseraite National reserve, the Yosemite valle^'-, that world wonder being located in Mariposa THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY 109 county. To reach the valley are several different routes, the principal one being by way of Raymond and Wawona, by Oakdale and Jamestown, and by way of Big Oak Flat. A railroad has been projected to the boundaries of the great national park, and this means great things for the progress of Mariposa county. The soil is fertile and beneath the soil is gold, which miners have been working since the earliest days of the California gold excitement. ;^'^/>:PPie •^ " Raising Up on these mountain slopes are orchards of apples that Region. have won fame for the quality which is given by the climatic conditions here. The mountains are covered with magnificent forests of sugar pine. Lumbering and mining and fruit raising constitute principal industries. . There is no space to describe the marvels of the great Yosemite, that gorge in the Sierra Nevada to which awe- inspired tourists come time and again and always parting with the feeling of impressed grandeur caused by their better acquaintance with this marvel of Nature's handi- work. Through the San Joaquin valley north to south with R^iiroa^ <^ ^ J ^ J Present and many branching lines run the overland routes of the Planned. Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads. Here also is the Sierra Railway running up into the mountains, and vari- ous lines of stages traverse the country, making easy easy access to all points. From Bakersfield to the sea at San Luis Obispo or near there is projected the Midland Pacific Railway, Iwhose promoters promise a speedy comple- tion of a line which will afford the south San Joaquin val- ley a sea outlet. Through the valley run many trains daily both local and through, and both transcontinental lines are eagerly competing for the vast growing trade of this prosperous region. CHAPTER V. COAST COUNTIES NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. Beautiful Valleys of Napa and Sonoma — Vineyards and Wine Cellars — Last of the Old Mis- sions — Petrified Forest — Cities of Santa Rosa and Napa — Lake, the Switzerland of California — Redwood Timber Forests of Mendocino, Hum- boldt, and Del Norte — Rich Mines of Trinity — Marin and Its Sky-seek- ing Railway — Summer and Winter Resorts and Mineral Springs — Traces of Russian Occupation — Sportsmen's Paradise in the Eel River Country — Progressive Eureka and its Future — Sheep and Cattle Raising — The Largest Wine Tank in the World. Now in midwinter^ see ! the buds unfold ; The yellow poppies open one by one ; The mountain streams, bound by no despot cold. Flash through the woods, rejoicing as they run. A most fair land : it is the land of gold ; It is the land of pleasure and the sun . — Flora Mcdonald Shearer. AS the State increases in population the large coast region north of San Francisco must grow steadily, for its resources are the marvel of all visitors. Here is a region of vast area, of unfailing rainfall, well supplied with timber, rich in minerals, with thousands of sheltered valleys and yet with population comparatively small. More railroads and more people are needed for de- velopment. The Southern Pacific, California Northwest- ern, the North Shore, all have lines which pass through this rich and growing territory. The forests of Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino and the rich mines of Trinity are the primary objects for railway extension, but fruit- growing, wine-making, hops, grain, alfalfa, cattle, and the thousand and one agricultural and horticultural indus- tries must grow up and thrive on a scale unimagined at present. The harbors of Hureka and Crescent City are excellent. The fleet vessels of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company now ply between them and San Francisco. 112 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY vaueyso*! ^f this group of couiities, Marin, Sonoma and Napa the State, have been settled the longest and have characteristics somewhat similar. Sonoma and Napa are the vineyard valleys of the State. The population of Sonoma ranks sixth among the counties. Of the 25,000,000 gallons of dry wines produced by the State last year (1902), Sonoma county alone produced considerably more than half. The hill-sides as Avell as valleys in this section are especially adapted to vine-growing. These wines, like all California wines, have been slowly winning their way to a place in the high estimation of connoisseurs and have secured many awards at the great world's expositions. Within the past two years the wine-making industry has received a new stimulus and to-day vast areas of hillside and valley are being cleared and planted with the choicest varieties of vines. Surface Wine St. Helena iu the upper end of the Napa valley boasts Cellar. ^^^ largest surface stone wine cellar in the world, known as the Greystone, having a capacity of over 3,000,000 gal- lons. The building is three hundred feet long, one hundred feet in depth, and four stories in height, with several con- necting tunnels extending far back into the hillside. Around this section are many other vineyards, nearly all with cellars constructed on the tunnel plan, the soft vol- canic rock being readily tunneled. These cellars are modeled after those of the Old World and are especially valuable for ageing wines. A Near St. Helena is Howell mountain, a famous vineyard Vineyard _., District, district noted for the fine character of the soil, peculiarly adapted to producing grapes that make wine of high-class, delicate flavor. This Howell mountain plateau is gaining wide fame as a sanitarium for the relief of lung and throat troubles. The plateau is covered with balsam fir and pine trees and the air the year round is dry, warm and delight- ful. A short distance from St. Helena is a sanitarium, a branch of the famous sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michi- gan, where a large business is done in the manufacture of health foods. 114 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY Many Acres in Around St. Helena and other points in the Upper Napa vines andin ..,--. -^"^ , ^ Olives, valley, oranges and lemons thrive well and ripen early as well as figs, almonds, olives, prunes, peaches and nearly all varieties of fruit. The wine made in 1858 in Napa county was the real beginning of the viticultural in- dustry in California. It was at once recognized that in Napa county all the climatic and soil conditions combined to make the culture of wine grapes successful. A vineyard on resistant stock will yield each season from three to eight tons of grapes to the acre, which at present prices will bring from $1 75 to $200. Wine is selling at from twenty to twenty-seven cents per gallon, in large quanti- ties, making the industry exceedingly profitable. The culture of the olive pays in Napa valley, and no finer brand of olive oil or pickled olives can be found than that put upon the market by Napa producers. From five acres of ten-year-old trees, Mr. Vincent Smith (whose olive grove is three and a half miles from the city of Napa) last season gathered four tons of olives, worth $50 per ton in the open market. Nut-bearing trees are on the in- crease, and almonds and English walnuts are sure and profitable crops. At Napa, the ^ notable feature of Napa county is its stone bridges County Seat. ^ •' " and culverts. Over $70,000 have thus far been expended in this one county in making these enduring and neces- sary monuments. One bridge alone across Putah creek in Berryessa valley cost over $19,000. Around Napa, the county seat and a thriving modern city, are many private schools, and in this section of the county are a large num- ber of manufacturers. Just below Napa is an elaborate plant for the manufacture of cement from native rock, and in the city are glove and shoe factories, canneries and wineries. A branch of the Southern Pacific runs through the entire length of the Napa valley. The city of Napa is on Napa creek, which is navigable for small steamers whicli ply between here and San Francisco. TheBohemian A short distance above Guerneville on the Russian river is Bohemia Grove, the summer outpost of San Francisco's Bohemian Club, an organization of artists and THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES . 115 writers widely known for the work done by its members in creative lines. The club is the only club in the world which owns a grove of one hundred and sixty acres of red- wood trees, and here for several weeks in the summer the members gather, Druid-like, and join in revels and worship beneath these forest veterans, whose growth began when Carthage was a world power. These midsummer gather- ings draw visitors of kindred minds from faraway points, and they go away telling not only of the revels but of the wonderful climatic surroundings and the comfort of sleep- ing under the trees in the open air. In Sonoma is prosperous Healdsburg, and the progres- liounSiing sive towns of Cloverdale and Geyserville. Near Cloverdale Towns, is the largest orange grove in the county. Healdsburg is in the foothills at the base of Fitch mountain and in the beautiful Sotoyome valley (valley of flowers), with the Russian river flowing at the outskirts of the corporation limits on the east and south and the evergreen Coast range hills rising to the west. It derived its name from Harmon G. Heald, who built the first house and opened the first store in 1855. The town is on the line of the California Northwestern railway, sixty-six miles a little west of north from San Francisco, twenty miles from the ocean in direct line and sixteen miles from Santa Rosa, the county seat. Healdsburg is an incorporated city and contains several mills and factories. Within five miles there are 5,000 people. An important feature of Healdsburg is the municipal ownership of its electric light, power and water system. A storage reservoir in the hills supplies water to operate a 200 horse-power Pelton wheel for generating power. A transmission line eight and three-quarter miles long conveys the power to the city. Cloverdale has recently been supplied with an electric po°Jer."^"'^ light and power plant, by a company organized by A. Sbar- boro, its president. The water is taken from Sulphur creek and delivered through a flume four feet square to a modern power house near the mouth of the Russian river, with a fall of 300 feet. The plant will supply light and power to Cloverdale and surrounding country — Preston, THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES 117 Italian-Swiss Colony at Asti, Geyserville and the shortage required by Healdsburg, At the head of Napa valley with its slopes running to ^^^^^^^^ Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, is Mount St. Helena, suverado. 4443 feet high, known in Spanish as Silverado and made famous in story by Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived here for a time before taking up his permanent residence in Samoa. Russia was once anxious to keep its hold in Northern California, and St. Helena is an enduring monu- ment of the aggressive ambition and skillful diplomacy of that powerful nation. Just before their departure from Ross, the Russian settlement on the coast of Sonoma, in 1841, Wossenessky, a naturalist, ascended the mountain, attached a lead plate to its summit bearing the day and date of the ascent and the name Helena which he bestowed upon the mountain in honor of his Imperial mistress, the Empress of Russia, thus marking the end of an unequalled march of conquest and colonization extend- ing from the Ural Mountains in European Asia through Siberia to Alaska and thence to the northwest coast of California. In the mountain ranges around Mount St. Helena are numerous deposits of quicksilver and one of the best pro- ducing mines of the State is located near Calistoga. Around here also are numerous mineral springs and health resorts. The'county seat of Sonoma county, Santa Rosa, is one Santa Rosa and of the attractive cities of the State, with electric lights and surroundings, all modern improvements. The city is reached by two railroad lines, the Southern Pacific and the California Northwestern, the latter line extending far beyond to its terminus at Willitts in Mendocino county. All about Santa Rosa are fruitful orchards, productive vineyards, and fertile fields. Olives, oranges, prunes and all fruits bear abundantly. Below Santa Rosa is old Sonoma, the oldest town in the county, where the Bear Flag was raised in 1849, and the site of one of the chain of mis- sions established by the padres of old Spain, extending 118 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY at intervals of a day's journey up the California coast from Mexico. ^"so^noma^ It is claimed by Sonoma that it is the most diversified in its products of all the counties of the State. Its super- ficial area is one million acres. It is bounded on the south by the bay of San Francisco, on the west by the Pacific ocean, on the north by Mendocino county, and on the east by the Mayacmas range of mountains. At least half the area of the county is valley or foothill land." In the foothills are tracts of alluvial soil which equal the valleys in fertility; they are warmer, drier and better for many purposes than valley lands. The finest wine grapes, cit- rus fruits, olives, apples and nuts are grown in the foot- hills. Of the land suited for the growth of staple crops, grapes, olives, fruit and berries, not one-half is under cultivation, leaving a vast field for future development. The population of the county is over forty thousand, mostly engaged in agricultural pursuits. Its assessed wealth is $29,000,000. Its annual production of wealth from the soil is $7,500,000. This is one hundred and seventy-five dollars per capita for every inhabitant, includ- ing women, children and all other non-producers. Or to put it another way, it is nine hundred dollars a year for every registered voter in the county. The view of the great central valley about Santa Rosa, especially from the coast hills opposite its background of encircling mountains is of vast extent and beauty. '°*^mdge J^s^ w^s^ ^f S^^t^ ^^s^ is t^^ ^^^^ Ridge country, Country, where the best of apples, berries, stone and seed fruits are grown. It is fifteen miles in length by a width of six miles, and is one hundred feet above the level of Santa Rosa valley, which it parallels and bounds for fifteen miles on the west. Its soil is a rich sandy loam, appar- ently of marine origin, naturally drained and easily culti- ' vated. Apples are a very profitable crop on this fruit ridge. They produce with proper care and culture forty boxes to the tree, worth from thirty-five to seventy-five cents a box. There are eighty trees on an acre. The yield is readily figured, and runs into hundreds of dollars per acre. Prunes 120 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY yield from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars per acre, and berries one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. The experimental farm of Luther Burbank, the wizard of horticulture, is on this ridge, though his home is in Santa Rosa. ooionTNear Three of the largest wineries in the State are in cloverdaie. Souoma couuty, two of which are in or near Santa Rosa. They have made the wines of Sonoma as famous as the Fal- ernian of ancient, or the Chianti of modern Italy. The Italian-Swiss Colony has its principal vineyard near Cloverdaie. During the vintage of 1902 the colony crushed in its different wineries 40,000 tons of grapes, producing over six million gallons of wine and brandy. The colony's trade has extended all over the world. The colony which commenced in 1881 with no capital but the in- come being derived from the sale of 2,250 shares of stock payable by monthly installments, now has several vineyards and wineries in different parts of the State, with a total capacity for production and storage of 11,500,000 gallons. '^°'?5T ^^ Asti near Cloverdaie, on the colony property, is the the. World, largest wine tank in the world. This tank was built after the adage that " Necessity is the mother of invention." In 1897 the grape crop in California was larger than any previous year; vintage was nearly at hand and it was too late for the colony to have tanks built in which to, store the wine that was to be made from this enormous crop of grapes. In the rear of the winery there existed a hill of rocky formation. The secretary of the company, Mr. Sbar- boro, conceived the idea that a hole could be dug in this hill and a reservoir made to hold the surplus quantity of wine, and immediately set to work on the project. Some of his colleagues hesitated to do the work for fear that the reservoir might leak and thus cause an enormous loss, but after considerable argument, he convinced them that by building a concrete wall two feet thick all around the inside, putting also a concrete floor a foot thick and a con- crete top all hermetically sealed, that there could be no danger of any leakage. It required forty -five days and nights to build the tank, THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES 121 fifty men and twenty-five teams being employed for that purpose. When the tank was first filled, tests were made daily through an air pipe to see if any leakage took place, but it was perfectly tight. It took two steam pumps seven days to raise the wine and fill the tank. After leaving the first wine in the tank ninety days it ^„_^ ° . . , J' J 500,000 Gallon was withdrawn and distributed into twenty-five thousand wine Tank, and forty thousand gallon wooden tanks in the cellar be- low through a four-inch galvanized iron pipe reaching the bottom of the tank through a tunnel six feet high and one hundred and fifty feet long. Shortly after the tank had been emptied two hundred citizens of San Francisco with their wives and daughters were invited by the colony to have a ball inside this tank — the first event of the kind in history — and it proved a great success. The tank is eighty-four feet long and thirty feet wide and twenty-five feet high in the clear, and contains a fraction over 500,000 gallons of wine. A. Sbarboro, one of the officers of the Italian-Swiss Colony, and also a director of the Promotion Committee, in writing to an inquirer recently, says: '' I beg to call your attention in reference to the sur- rounding country of Cloverdale, that I have recently visited the Riviera, which is the garden spot of Europe, and that I have looked in vain to find any shrub, flower, tree or plant that is not growing at my villa site, four miles south ciimate Like of Cloverdale. I am sorry that you have been unable to visit the citrus fair at Cloverdale which would have dem- onstrated to you what we can do in the northern part of Sonoma county. No better showing could have been made at Riverside, Sicily or any other part of the world." The cultivation of the olive and manufacture of its pro- ducts, is an interesting industry in Sonoma It now has over 150,000 trees, mostly in bearing. Olive oil made in Sonoma county took a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition and the first prize at the World's Fair at Chicago. There is a considerable quicksilver production in So- noma. One mine near Guerneville has bsen successfully worked for twenty years, and there are other mines of THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES 123 great promise near the Geyser Spring in course of develop- ment. One of the most profitable industries in Sonoma county pouu^y ° is poultry raising. It yields an annual product of $2,000,- Raising. 000 a year, of which more than one-half is shipped from Petaluma. Petaluma is an up-to-date town with an important manufacturing interest, a large commerce and many beautiful homes. It is but thirty miles by water from Petaluma to San Francisco. It is surrounded by poultry farms of all sizes from a few hundred hens up to the great ranges of Leghorns with incubator capacity for hatching 3,000 chicks at once. Three thousand dollars is paid out every day in cash for poultry products, and nearly as much butter, cheese, and milk and cream. The advantages of poultry raising in Sonoma county are nearness and relia- bility of market, quick cash sales, length of the season, abundance of green food and certainty of crops without irrigation. Concerning the characteristics of the coast counties the Hon. Robert A. Thompson writes recently: "The combined areas of the coast counties, Marin, So. noma, Mendocino and Humboldt is equal to many States- They front for over two hundred miles on the ocean, ex- tending inland to the east for one hundred miles. They are sparsely populated and comparatively undeveloped, but even as they are, produce more wealth per capita than any other counties in the State. Generally speaking, this rich and inviting section is known only to those abroad whose attention was directed to its advantages through private sources, or to those who had some special reason to investigate its varied advantages. "The coast counties differ in climate, soil, mode of ^^°®'"^^ . -^ ' ' Charactens- culture, flora and other products, from the interior. The tics of the -I • r 11 ' /TA1 r 1 • 1 Upper Coast annual ramiall is greater. The season of growth is longer, counties. No irrigation is necessary. There are no droughts. The dry years in the interior are bonanza years on the coast — , prices are high and the yield is enormous. Crops are more frequently hurt by too much than too little rain. The red- Great 124 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY wood, the most available of all American forest products, here finds its natural home. A continuous redwood forest stretches along the ocean front of the northwest coast for Redwood ^"^^ hundred miles, a timber belt of unsurpassed magnifi- Forests. ccuce and of incalculable commercial value. Individuals of this family of trees attain a height of three hundred and fifty feet, a diameter of twenty feet and a circumference of sixty feet. Their average diameter is from ten to fifteen feet on the best land. " Eel river and Russian river valleys are the largest in the coast counties. The former runs northward to Humboldt bay. Russian river valley runs southward, fronting on the bay of San Francisco. It lies east of the timber belt of Mendocino and Sonoma counties. It is one hundred and thirty miles long and has an average width of ten miles. Its soil has long been noted for its produc- tion of Indian corn, which yields sixty bushels to the acre without irrigation. This fact is mentioned as a witness for the soil and climatic conditions, there being no other section of the state where this crop grows without irriga- tion. All other cereals, stone, seed and citrus fruits, the grape, the olive and especially berries yield large returns. The foothills have a milder climate than the valleys and are equally productive." Likeness to North from San Francisco just across the Golden Gate the Bay of -" . . . - ^ . Naples, is Marin county, a picturesque section divided into sum- mer homes for San Franciscans, permanent residences in the many attractive towns, vast tracts of timber, camps in the redwoods and an excellent country for the city sports- man. Marin is small but diversified. Mt. Tamalpais, 2,592 feet high, is its land-mark, seen from far inland. It is a common thing for tourist visitors to San Francisco to liken San Francisco bay to that of Naples and no small part of the comparison is the likeness of the volcanic peak of Tamalpais to that of Vesuvius, of Tamalpais. Sau Rafael, the count}^ seat, nestles at the foot of the mountain. Sausalito, a thriving suburban town, is on the bay shore only a half hour's ride from San Francisco, 126 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY while Belvedere, Mill Valley, Larkspur, and a dozen other little settlements are alluring spots for homes. Crossing to Marin county from the metropolis, the traveler passes Alcatraz and Angel Island government reservations, well fortified and part of the system of de- fending San Francisco bay. Where Sir Northerly through Marin county run the North Shore Francis Drake . . . Landed, and the California Northwestern railways. Both main- tain an excellent suburban ferry and train service. Point Reyes, a peninsula and the most westerly point of Marin county, is guarded by a government light-house, and here indented in the rocky shores is Drake's bay, where that bold buccaneer. Sir Francis Drake, landed during one of his sixteenth century voyages. Swa?S ^^ ^^^ tip-top of Mt. Tamalpais is located Tamalpais the World. Tavcm, readied by the broad-guage railway that is an at- tractive bit of engineering. The road was constructed in 1896 and is justly considered one of the great scenic lines of the world, excelling in grandeur of landscape features and diversity of bay, island, cities. Pike's Peak, Mt. Cenis or Mt. Lowe. The road starts from Mill Valley and the traveler may make the trip quickly and comfortably. There are 277 curves in a distance of eight and a half miles, during which there is an ascent of about 2,500 feet, nearly a half mile, the steepest grade being about seven per cent. If in following the tortuous course the curves had been continuous, there would be forty-two complete circles made. The longest straight piece of track is but 413 feet. A° About half way up the mountain, on a broad southern Engineering Feat, shoulder is the "Double Bow Knot," where the track of the railroad parallels itself five times within a distance of about 200 feet, forming as the name denotes an almost perfect double bow knot. The fact of overcoming the grades in such a short distance and by such an ingenious way has caused the " double bow knot" on Mt. Tamalpais to be pronounced one of the greatest of railroad engineering feats. THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES 127 Attractive Hotel Rafael. Rendezvous for In northern Marin, dairying and poultry raising are flourishing industries, and there are vineyards and fruit farms all about in valley and on hillside slopes. At San Rafafel is one of the best tourist hotels in the State —the Hotel Rafael — attractive both summer and winter. In the canyons and great ravines of the county, quail and other game birds are thick, and rare sport can be obtained at almost any time during the open season. The Country Club has leased a large acreage in the northern part of the county, and here the sport is exceptionally fine. The Tamalpais Sportsmen's Club control a large tract in the southern part of the county, and here also there is good shooting and fishing. Deer are also plentiful and some startling records have been made in Marin county in the pursuit of this agile game. Yachtmen find the southern coast of Marin especially adapted for their pastime, and at Sausalito, we find the Yachtsmen. San Francisco and Pacific Yacht Clubs, and at Tiburon, the Corinthians. Well fitted club-houses, where frequent entertainments are given, are located at these places and the sport is both exciting and pleasurable. Frequent cruises are held and races for cups and the championship are a part of the club life. Great expense is gone to by the members in fitting up yachts to enter in the champion- ship races. At Mill Valley and other places there are gun clubs, and various resorts throughout the county can boast of perfect golf links and tennis courts. Lake county with its mineral springs, its lakes of Lakecounty'i crystal clearness, its rugged mountain peaks, its fast- springs. flowing streams, the blue sky ever overhead and red soil under foot, with wide-spreading oaks, with towering pines and firs, has gained the name of the ' ' Switzerland of Cali- fornia." It is pre-eminently a resort county, but that means simply that those who live without the county are , as anxious as they can be to spend days each year amid its | delights. The residents know and love the charm of their j mountain slopes and their fertile valleys and few counties [ THE NORTH COAST COUNTIES 129 of the State offer more attractions to the man whose capital is more in brain and brawn than in the size of his bank account. For here nature is in her kindliest mood almost the whole j^ear through Ideal homes are here, as there are in other upper Cali- Foothui fornia foothill counties — picturesque homes, healthful ^°™''- homes, with roomy cabins, roofed with redwood shakes, sided, often, with pine-logs, fenced with timber cut from the mountain sides; homes with fire-places, cavernous and comfortable, veritable inglenooks built of stone, dug from the hillside behind the house, and piled up with clay taken from the soil close at hand. And here are sparkling springs, clear water and plenty of it, brought from the rocky hills near by; water for drinking and irrigating, if need be, although the rainfall through all this region makes irrigation something, not to be thought of, except where the home-builder needs a patch of clover or alfalfa to keep his cows in the proper butter-making humor the year round. Over these shake-roofed cabins — I can see many of shaS-rTOfed them through all this section — climb rosebushes riotously, cawns. with blossoms of yellow gold, decking the sides and waving from the roof peaks. About the dooryard are fig trees that bear abundantly, white figs or black figs, of succulent taste and fragrant odor. Here, too, are olives, with deep purpling fruit amid their gray-green foliage. Orange trees are often here, too, and lemons, for oranges thrive fre- quently as high up and as far north as this, and here, too, are vineyards bearing luscious green-gold clusters of Mus- cats or rose-red Tokays, deep purple Missions or tiny bunches of golden Chassellas. The barns of such homes trifle with the climate, with open doorways, and sides banked only with hay, impudently daring the weather to do its worst. For the winters here, while often cool and shaip during January and February, are laughable from a climatic standpoint, to anyone who has lived in New En- gland or old England or the Middle United States. Lakeport is a thriving town on the shores of Clear Lake ^^^^^ ^^""^^ r o of Clear Lake. and from it run little steamers, carrying travelers to and 130 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY from the many attractive resorts. From Bartlett Springs, a famous resort for Californians, automobile stages run across the country into the Sacramento valley, connecting with the west side line of the Southern Pacific. North and westerly from Lake is Mendocino, a county of wondrous possibilities and comparatively little de- veloped. The main line of the California Northwestern railway penetrates almost to the center of the county at Willits, and is projected northerly into Humboldt, to touch the ocean on Humboldt bay at Eureka. Mendocino Meudociuo is kuowu chiefly for its forests, but as the Forests, forests are cleared, agriculture and horticulture follow and in hundreds of valleys throughout the big county are opportunities for home-building and fortune making. Here are vast tracts of redwood timber land; here are many mineral springs, and wide ranges where sheep and cattle thrive all the year. Ukiah, the county seat, is a wide-awake city with many improvements and many more projected. It takes its name from a redoubtable Indian chief who helped make history in the early days when the Anglo-Saxon was roaming the California wilderness. In Mendocino rises the Eel river, a water course that finds its ocean outlet in Humboldt bay. Humboldt is a county that, like Men- docino, up to the present time has been largely devoted to lumbering, but other industries are following fast, and in the towns of Eureka, Areata, Ferndale, and Fortuna are growing up communities of many resources. CHAPTER VI. COAST COUNTIES SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. Populous Section Immedi- ately About San Francisco, the Metropolis of California — Oakland, Third City in the State — Picturesque and Attractive Section on Eastern Shore of San FranciscoBay — Homes on the Foothills Facing the Golden Gate — Many Educational Institutions — Early Fruit Region — Alameda and Contra Costa Counties — The Santa Clara Valley Paradise — City of San Jose and Recent Progress — L,ick Observatory and ML Hamilton — San Mateo, Its Suburban Homes and Spreading Oaks — Leland Stanford Junior University and its Work — Santa Cruz by the Sea — Big Basin Redwood Park — Old Monterey — Marvels of Famed Del Monte — Pacific GroveMarine Laboratory, Salmon Fishing, El Carmelo Mission — San Benito and its Undeveloped Resources — Fertile Valleys of Monterey and San Luis Obispo — Sugar Beets and Beet Sugar — Mineral Springs — Paso Robles and Santa Ysabel. It's O my heart, my heart, To be out in the sun and sing — To sing and shout in the fields about. In the balm and blossoming. — Ina Coolbrith. WHILE not directly south of San Francisco, the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa easterly across San Francisco bay, are notable communi- ties to be included in this chapter. Their proximity to the greatest city of California gives them special advantages for residence purposes, for manufacturing, for educational institutions, and for the many suburban features which a great city demands. The city of Oakland, Alameda's county seat, is the third city of California and a place of rare beauty. Its site is almost ideal, situated on the sloping plain which runs from the Contra Costa hills southerly and westerly to the waters of San Francisco bay. Over this vast plain are spread live oaks, centuries old, shading the streets in many places and affording centering points for many at- tractive parks and gardens. The city is well built up with homes, owned not only by residents of Oakland, but many San Francisco merchants and professional men have their COAST COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH 133 residences here. North of Oakland is Berkeley, the site of the University of California, and south of Oakland the attractive suburb of Alameda. Oakland's water-front on San Francisco bay is des- o»>^ia°d's •^ ^ ^ Communlca- tined to make it of more than ordinary commercial im- tionwithsan , , ..,.,, Francisco. portance, and the government, recognizing this, has been devoting for some years appropriations to the construc- tion of a tidal canal so that deep water vessels may come close to the city's wharves. Great as are its manufacturing and maritime advantages, it is principally as a home, a resident town, that Oakland has grown to be the third largest community in the State, containing over half the population of the county. It has attracted to itself many thousands of the business men and professional men of San Francisco. They do their business there, but will live only in Oakland. Three ferry systems — soon to be four — connect it with San Francisco. Abundant trains distribute through the main arteries of the city whence 130 miles of street car lines radiate to San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Haywards, Melrose, Fitchburg, Elmhnrst, Em- eryville, Ivorin, Berkeley and Alameda. This intra-urban and the suburban system of rapid transit is now being ex- tended to Richmond and San Jose. All these lines render easy of access most attractive localities for abode. Nearly one thousand new homes have been erected during the Rapid past year and they are all upon healthful sites. Building New Homes, lots and rents are cheap, and houses are sold or rented as fast as they are built. The commutation rates of travel are the lowest in the world. While building has been the rule throughout the county, particularly has this been noticeable in the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda. Alameda county has a population of 131,000 according to the last census, which gave Oakland city a population of 67,000. The city council, realizing the rapid growth of the city, recently ordered a new census taken, and this gives a figure of 82,974. The future holds much in store for this county. Already it is the terminus of the Southern Pacific rail- Bonding the City for Parks. 134 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY road and the Santa Fe is building an extension of its line from' Point Richmond. It will co-operate with the Realty Syndicate in the management of a new ferry system be- tween Oakland and San Francisco. Steps are being taken in the city of Oakland to bond the city for something over $2,000,000 for the purpose of acquiring parks, boulevards, additional school houses and sites and a new city hall. The Federal government has nearly completed a new post-office building for use of the city at a cost of $200,000. The Carnegie library has also been completed during the past year. Mr. Carnegie's donation for that building was $50,000, and for the site the citizens subscribed $20,000. One of the important projects undertaken here during the past year, and one which will not be completed for some time, is the building of a tunnel to connect Alameda and Contra Costa counties. A range of hills now separates the two counties and has served as a hindrance to travel between the counties. Both counties have sought to have the tunnel built, and, in fact, it was started many years ago by private capital, which proved inadequate for the enterprise. Within the past three years the Mer- chants Exchange of Oakland undertook the task and though a special act of the legislature was required to authorize the expenditure of the money, it was accom- plished, and the necessary appropriations made by both counties. The estimated expense of constructing the tunnel is very nearly $30,000. Big Plant of One of the latest corporations to appreciate the advan- ce Pacific ri/^i-ii'-irii Steel tages 01 the Oakland side of the bay as a manufacturing csompany. ^gj^^^j- jg ^^iQ Pacific Stccl Company, which is already erecting a big plant on the twenty-five acres of land it recently acquired in Hast Oakland. In the hills east of Oakland is located Mills College, which has been designated the *' Wellesley of the" Pacific Coast," as it is one of the best-known and most efficient colleges for women in the United States. Throughout the county are scattered a number of notable secondary schools, nearly all of them leading their students to the University COAST COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH 135 of California at Berkeley. The characteristics of this ^^e^jty institution are elsewhere noted. The university stands or California, to-day among the recognized institutions of learning in the United States and during the last years of the admin- istration of its recently retired president, Martin Kellogg, and the few years of the aggressive work of the present president, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, has moved rapidly to a place of acknowledged high standing among the world's best universities. Its aim is not only for the education of the young men and young women of California, but its well-managed university extension system, its farmers' institutes, its lecturers in all branches, that go out among the people telling of the latest advances of science in agriculture, horticulture and mining, stock-raising and dairying and other lines of practical learning, have made it a power for great good in the development of the fast- growing State. Tuition here is absolutely free to all resi- dents of the State, and the student without wealth may here find numerous ways of earning his own way through the four years of his college term. Here at Berkeley also is the State Institute for the Education Deaf, Dumb and Blind, which, under the guidance of Pro- untortunats. fessor Warring Wilkinson, an acknowledged expert in this line for training the unfortunate, has for a quarter of a century stood for all that is best in this peculiar class of educational attainment. Close by, in Oakland, is the Home for Adult Blind, an admirable institution main- tained by the State. Concerning Oakland's climate, and the record is prac- tically true of all Alameda county, statistics are rather instructive than interesting, but Oakland's equable cli- mate is quite clearly demonstrated from the daily records noted at Chabot Observatory. Since January, 1876, (be- ginning of the recorded observations), the annual average temperature has been 50°. The average temperature of its coldest weather has been 48°; that of its warmest, 62°; and its average humidity, 80°. The average temperature of 1902 was 50° ; the temperature of the warmest day, 70°; of the coolest 39°; the greatest variation in twenty-four pa < o M 2 K COAST COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH • 137 hours 33°; the least 6°; days in which rain fell, 83; days of '^^^*^^^ frost, 22; number of clear and fair days, 268. The greatest monthly variation of temperature was in October, viz., 43°; the least in January, 26°. The average daily range of temperature for the year was 17.33°. Rainfall in inches during the year was 23.92. Separating the period into seasons corresponding with those in the East, the mean temperature of the spring was 58.85°; of the summer, 59.83; of the autumn, 54.87; of the winter, 49.27. The difference between the warmest and coldest months of the spring was 6.65°; of the summer, 2.9'; of the autumn, 11.5° and of winter 5,7°. Contra Costa, eastward and over the hills from Ala- contra Costa'B Fruit meda is noted for its small fruit farms over in the Alham- Farms. bra valley back of Martinez, the county seat; for its poultry ranches, for its big grain store-houses on Carqui- nez straits where the deep water ships come direct to the wharves to secure their cargoes. The manufacturers in this section are the Sacramento River Packers Association, Garratt's Foundry, Copper King Smelting Works, the Peyton Chemical Works, California and Hawaiian Sugar Refinery, and Selby's Gold Smelting Works, where gold quartz from all over the State is brought to be turned out in the form of bullion, the Union and National Refining Companies, which have been built within the past eighteen months, and the powder mills of the California and Giant Companies, located near Pinole, but two or three miles from Selby's. On Point Pinole, which iuts out into the ^*°y -^ , ' -' _ Industries. San Pablo bay, is located the works of the International Explosives Company. Other lesser industries are estab- lished along the shore between Point Pinole and Point Richmond. Three years ago the site on which the towm of Richmond has been built, was a farm. To-day it has a population of more than 2,000. The town is the terminal of the Santa Fe road, which has its shops located there. The Standard Oil Company has made it the terminal of its big pipe line from the Southern oil fields. A ferry service connects the point with San Francisco. 138 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY During the past year the county court house has nearly been completed. It will cost over $200,000, and is one of the finest county buildings in the State. A new high school has been established in Martinez and a three story school has been built at the same place. Next south of San Francisco is the county of San Mateo, a suburban region of sea-coast, mountain and valley, dotted with summer homes, picturesque orchards and vineyards, and along the overland coast line of the Southern Pacific Company are a number of attractive towns, of which Redwood, San Mateo, Menlo Park, Bel- mont, are the chief. sJa^torsan Rcdwood, the county seat, is an incorporated town of Mateo County, about 2,000 pcoplc, whose property is assessed at over $618,000. It is a manufacturing place of considerable and increasing importance, owing to its excellent location between a railroad and navigable water channel. Its tribu- tary area is about one hundred and eighty square miles, extending by reason of numerous roads far into the forests and along an extensive coast region. The largest single industry of the town is that of tanning hides, and the excellence of the leather is known in every market. The principal tanning company em- ploys about one hundred and seventy-five men and pays out in wages over $100,000 a year. Artesian The water supply of the place, owned by the city, comes, as at Stockton, HoUister and some other towms, from artesian wells, and in regard to cost, quality and quantity gives satisfaction to the community. Power and light are furnished by a company whose headquarters are at San Jose, and which supplies a large number of towns around the bay. This power is chiefly for pumping water to irrigate vegetable fields and for many other domestic purposes is better than are steam or gasoline engines, so it is rapidly coming into use on many farms in this region, as well as in the towns. The electric light plant is owned by the city. The schools of Redwood are the pride of the commu- PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT DELIVERING THE COMMENCEMENT DAY ADDRESS IN THE GREAT HEARST AMPHITHEATER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. MAY 14. 1903. 140 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY nity, which spent $40,000 on the building which holds the grammar and high school departments, but they are now planning for a separate high school building. There are also excellent private schools within easy reach, and Stanford University is only five miles away. Superb Groves South of Rcdwood the traveler passes through superb of Natural x-v • . . Oaks, groves of natural oaks, through Fair Oaks, with its excellent homes, club house and golf links, past the Flood mansion, now the property of the University of California, and past other fine country homes to Menlo Park, peopled by some of California's wealthiest and best-known resi- dents. To the east of the village is St. Patrick's Semi- nary for the education of priests, a magnificent brick structure with ample surroundings, on which a million dollars has already been spent. At Menlo Park is also the Hoitt school for boys. At the northern end of the county around San Bruno are famous dairies which supply San Francisco's markets, and here also running close into San Francisco are large tracts given up to the ' raising of vegetables. At South San Francisco — so named, but in San Mateo county — is the extensive manufacturing plant of the Western Meat Company. Here also are manufactories of paints and oils and other industries that naturally find their home just without the boundary of a large city. At San Mateo is St. Matthew's Hall, an Episcopalian school for boys, widely known for its military features as well as for the high moral standard set for its students. Sports at Near San Mateo is Burlingame, the "Tuxedo" of California, where many millionaires of the West have made their homes and have settled down to enjoy the luxury that wealth affords, amusing themselves with cross-country hunts, automobile excursions, golf, tennis, house-parties, and the usual round of sport that country life in California makes possible. Around here are large places devoted to the growing of cut flowers, not only for the San Francisco market, but for Portland, Seattle and Salt Lake, shipping this fragrant freight daily to far away points. One place here has sold as high as $40,000 COAST COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH 141 worth of cut flowers in the San Francisco market alone in a single season, and here in one ten acre tract is a won- drous garden of violets — violets of all sizes and shapes and varieties, from the tiny pale blue Marie-Louise to the monster California, that perfumeless purple beauty whose wondrous elegance has won fame among violet lovers all the world over. All sorts of industries thrive along the bay shore of San Mateo, from frog and terrapin raising to oysters and poultry. On the marsh near Redwood an extensive tract is given up to the production of salt. Just south of the boundary line of San Mateo in Features Santa Clara county at Palo Alto is the Leland Stanford university. Junior University, that institution that has, in recent years, drawn to it the eyes of all the world of learning. Here has grown up, probably, the richest university in the world, for its present endowment, as elsewhere noted, aggregates fully $30,000,000. Under the guiding hand of the late Senator Leland Stanford, and of Mrs. Stanford, and of its first and present president, David Starr Jordan, the university has grown rapidly, until both in number of students and in character of the curriculum, the institu- tion stands well to the forefront among its college rivals both east, west and abroad. This university is only one of the notable features of that small empire, Santa Clara county. A glance at the map shows the county's sheltered situation with the high pine-clad hills of the Coast Range shielding it from the sea winds and the long spur of mountains of the Mount cura's Hamilton range protecting it from the warm winds of the eastward. Through the valley north and south runs the coast line of the Southern Pacific, giving the residents of the valley practically suburban traffic with San Francisco. San Jose is notable among cities of the world, situated aShit is in the center of a fertile valley, gathering to itself a population noted for culture and for learning, attracted hither by the climate, by the famous schools, as well as alluring scientists in special lines to the big Lick Observ- atory on Mt. Hamilton. 142 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY ^^^^muion ^^^^ Santa Clara valley, through which Governor Pounds of Gaspar de Portola marched with his troops way north in 1769 when seeking San Francisco bay, is about sixty miles long and averages twenty miles in width. In the valley lands and far up into the hills are orchards — orchards producing all kinds of fruit, but chiefly prunes. In the year 1901 over 100,000,000 pounds of prunes were shipped out of California to the markets of the Eastern States and Europe and the bulk of this product came from the Santa Clara valley. A conservative estimate of the Santa Clara valley prune crop for 1902 is 80,000,000 pounds, valued at over $2,100,000. The crop of apricots brought over $560,000, and the total receipts from ex- ported dried fruit product of the year was something like $3,000,000. In canned fruits, the county is not less notable, the estimated receipts for the crop of 1902 footing up to over $2,400,000, making a grand total of receipts for dried, canned and fresh fruit shipped for 1902 not far from $7,000,000. Blooming It is duHug the blossoming season that the valley presents its greatest charms whether as a panorama or scene in detail. Then the white blossoms cover it almost like a mantel of snow. It is a hopeless task to convey an impression of the beauty of this scene to one whose eyes have not beheld it. Six million fruit trees are in bloom simultaneously. Of these four millions are prune trees and are in bloom in the same time, while with them peach, apricot, pear and cherry, are mingled to give color tints to the scene, for the deep pink of peach blossom adds here and there a patch of color to relieve the snowy whiteness of the general tone. Mile after mile these masses of blossoms stretch before the eye until thej'- blend with the blue of the horizon. Blossom The blossom season is a long and delightful one. Season 11 i 1 r • ' ' of Santa both to the rcsideuts and the thousands ot visitors who Clara (Valley, g^^j^ ^^^ vallcy to cujoy its cHmatc. The almonds are the first to show their bloom, beginning usually the last week in January, and in a few weeks these are followed by the peach, the cherry, the pear, the apricot, and then 144 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY the prunes, the latter about the middle of March or early in April, and finally by the apples. It is no wonder, comments a recent writer, the people of Santa Clara annually celebrate the blooming of the fruit trees with a "Blossom Festival," and that visitors come from great distances to join in the celebration or witness the unique spectacle. Unique it is indeed, for no where else in the universe can such a sight be witnessed as this mountain-girt valley of fruit trees during the blossom season. The Japanese celebrate the blooming of the cherry trees, but all the cherry trees in Japan are but as a satellite to the sun compared, with the blooming orchard of the Santa Clara. RtotSn ^^ ^^^ seasons of the year flowers may be seen in Midwinter, profusiou about the homes. The ever-blooming roses,, hedge rows of callas in bloom, the many colored flowers of geranium, the beautiful, long-stemmed California violets, and many other flowers may be seen during the entire winter. But it is in April and May, just following the rioting of Nature in the blooming orchards that flowers are seen in an almost incredible abundance. Huge rose bushes climb over houses and fences and far up among the limbs of great trees, covering them with a wealth of color. Paradise of In Santa Clara county are about 4,000,000 prune Fruits, trees, 600,000 apricot trees, 500,000 peach, 1,500 cherry, 10,000 olive, 125,000 pear, 20,000 almond, 10,000 walnut, 3,000 fig, 25,000 apple, and large numbers of orange, lemon, nectarine and other kinds of fruit and nut trees not grown on so large a scale. Oranges may be profitably grown here, but the climate and soil are better adapted to deciduous fruits. Conditions of the soil and climate render this one of the best prune-growing districts in the world. For this reason prune culture in the United States has found here its greatest development. Three-fifths of all the prunes produced on this continent are grown in this valley whose trees yield upwards of a hundred million pounds of cured fruit annually. The matter of superior quality accounts COAST COUNTIES TO THE SOUTH 145 for the concentration of the industry in this valley. Prunes and other fruits are dried in the sun and not by artificial heat, as is necessary in less sunny climes. There are dried annually about three million pounds Dried"lnd each of peaches and apricots, and pears and apples, to a canned Fruus. total of a million pounds more. Seven canneries pack more than twelve million cans of fruit annually, as well as great quantities of tomatoes and other vegetables, while all varieties of fruits are shipped fresh to the extent of twenty million pounds annually. Here also are many acres of small fruits and berries, strawberries yielding constantly from April to December. Many acres are devoted to the growing of wheat and barley, which give large yields of the finest of grain. Only the superior value of the fruit crop prevents the valley from being a continuous field of grain. Much grain is cut for hay and there is also considerable meadow land devoted to grass hay of about the same market value. Many acres, too, are devoted to the growing of vegetables and flower seeds. This is an industry highly developed, in this valley. Last year the product of seed exceeded five hundred tons, more than half of which were onion seeds, the remainder being of many varieties. Seedsmen all over the United States buy the Santa Clara seeds and know they are putting on the market the best that can be grown. The assessment roll shows that there were in 1901 13,020 acres in wheat, 13,200 in barley, 30,900 in hay, 397 in potatoes, 240 in blackberries, 159 in rasp- berries, 261 in strawberries and several thousand in seeds. The total exports annually are enormous. iThe orchard feature of Santa Clara valley combines to famines of I . ... . Fruit Pickers. form in the fruit picking season a novel picture, for from San Jose and other cities and towns in the country go forth men, women and children to harvest the crops of prunes, apricots, grapes and other products. The labor is such that all may find employment and there is a steady demand for labor of this character at good wages. Often entire families camp in an orchard; they are given all the fruit they care to eat and here they camp enjoying a sum- 146 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY mer outing as well as making a snug sum for various uses on returning to their homes. This valley and all Califor- nia needs laborers of this character. Throughout the State within the past years by means of committees of improvement and development associations and the central committee under whose auspices this volume is published, a determined effort has been put forth to bring to the State labor of this character. The Chinese and Japanese are here in large numbers, but their labor is not as satis- factory to the good citizen as white labor, and thrifty men and women here may find plenty of healthful work to do, in the fruit harvesting season especially. \ ! Historic Between San Jose and the Leland Stanford Junior Mission ^ ^ 2,140 516 1,580 3,460 1,750 4,087 2,796 3,450 800 958 780 1,484 2,361 7,008 1,007 1,476 20,055 8,400 42 1,370 3,500 470 2,450 1,355 425 4,050 910 6,078 911 1,540 1,486 611 3,200 3 276 4,935 2,232 1.850 1,017 625 130,197 509 11,116 17,117 11,200 7,364 18,046 2,408 8,986 37,862 5,150 27,104 4,377 16,480 9,871 6,017 4,511 170,298 6,364 15,702 4,720 20,465 9.215 5,076 2,167 19.380 16,451 17,789 19,696 15,786 4,657 17,897 45,915 6,633 27,929 35,090 342,782! 35,452 16,637 12,094 18,934 60,216 21,512 17,318 4,017 16,962 24.143 38,480 9,550 5.886 10,996 4,383 18,375 11,166 14,367 13,618 8.620 Oakland Markleeville .. Jackson Oroville San Andreas... Colusa Martinez Crescent City.. Placerville Fresno Willows Eureka Independence. Bakersfield .... Hanford Lakeport Susanville Los Angeles Madera San Rafael Mariposa Ukiah Merced Alturas Bridgeport Salinas Napa Nevada Santa Ana Auburn Quincy Riverside Sacramento Holiister San Bernardino.. San Diego San Francisco ... Stockton San Luis Obispo Redwood City ... Santa Barbaaa ... San Jose Santa Cruz Redding Downieville Yreka Fairfield Santa Rosa Modesto Yuba City Red Bluff Weaverville Visalia Sonora Ventura Woodland .'... Marvsville 66,960 149 1,645 2,000 600 1,441 1,380 699 1,748 12,470 893 7,327 500 4,836 2,929 726 882 102,479 1,600 3.879 366 T.^50 1,969 800 700 3,304 4,036 3.250 4-933 2,050 546- 7,973 29,282 1,315 6,150 17,700 342,782 17,506 3,021 1.653 6,587 21,500- 5,659 2,946^ 500 1,263 505 6,673 2,024 . 800 2,750 968 3,528 1,922 2,470 2,88& 3.497 * Lo» Angeles School Census figures (July, 1902), show population of over 150,000. + The pOfiulation of San Francisco is reckoned, January, 1903, at fully 425,000. CALIFORNIA TO-DAY 187 VALUE OF PROPERTY IN EACH COUNTY OF CALIFORNIA For the Years 1901 and 1902 and Rate of Taxation (State rate, .383 cents), according to report com- piled by E. P. Colgan, Controller of State. COUNTIES Value of Real Estate 1902 Value of Im- provements on Real Estate 1902 Value of Personal Property Grand Total Value of all Property 1901 Grand Total Value of All Property 1902 Total State and County Rate of Taxation, Each $100 1902 Alameda Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Contra Costi Del Norte El Dorado Fresno Glenn Humboldt Inyo Kern Kings Lake Lassen Los Angeles Madera Marin Mariposa., Mendocino Merced Modoc Mono Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento San Benito San Bernardino.. San Diego San Francisco.... San Joaquin San Luis Obispo. San Mateo Santa Barbara ... Santa Clara Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Stanislaus Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yolo Yuba $50,005,575 149,021 2,519.952 8,632,040 3,079.235 8,873,688 8,947,060 2,164.810 2,050,990 19,040,479 7,755,707 13,110,017 888,734 13,103,218 4,889,929 1,973954 1,707,270 65,847.865 3,710,760 7,487,160 1,425,603 6,893,935 9,619 004 1,380,315 479,024 11,979,800 5,761,430 2,713,900 6,789,515 4,152,870 1,403,979 6,213,261 16,020,500 4 124,150 8,684,655 11,118,441 191,804,510 19,600.504 8,133,632 8,632,895 9,093,647 31,894,505 6,514,540 4,742,351 1,070,220 4,795,303 10,919,982 14,987,570 7,592,585 4,271,845 6,389,235 747,871 9,500,020 3,586,930 5,451 481 10,859,671 2,687,640 128,684,825 122,533 1,368,570 2,284,115 1,634,545 1,060,705 2,946,835 284,530 1,111,185 5,702,997 756,704 2,781,445 510,823 2,793,583 1,134,179 707,577 542,618 30,229,010 653,880 2,847,090 423,303 1,862,826 1,200,134 562,140 333,351 2,687,680 3,604,180 2,636,965 2,451,190 2,016,715 454,166 3,435,125 9,261,570 947.065 4,181,550 4,083,623 96,631,790 6,542,634 1,635,841 3.584.225 2,703,615 13,869,400 2,930,295 1,984,974 344,850 1,561,765 3.918,782 6,126,805 1.428,255 836,280 1.715.550 438,564 2,433,491 2,097,115 ' ,538,445 2,312,360 1,292,165 $10,419,276 43,619 591,008 1,993,318 816,575 1,253,621 3,482,076 264,758 605,740 3,741,710 1,030,656 2,649,062 511,579 3,904,011 1,173,618 438,239 1,155.238 *i6,979,898 957,455 1,156,220 343,456 1.744,119 1,687,342 1,217,978 212,016 1.863,485 1,762,555 1,046,800 1,377-990 853.135 311,990 1.133,760 4,642,140 914,500 1,323,620 2,391,823 89 859,788 3,769,322 1,910,701 1,952,795 1,601,795 4,243.365 1.308,675 1,988,356 188,080 1,291,345 1,923,852 2,847.335 1,669,130 722,015 1,929,990 290,764 1,970,4 799,410 1,492,140 1,416,970 993,675 ^89,771,005 300,828 4,641,489 13,879,046 5,434,379 11,812,546 17,079.931 2,048,444 4,039,566 30,770,729 10,007,218 18,099,949 1,885,336 21,129,890 7.565,903 3,178,460 3,499.650 103.328,904 6,289,942 12,108,904 2,096,587 10,660,254 13,657.777 3,003,805 1,137,276 18,016,456 11.765.301 7,076,340 11,245,544 9,097,657 2,093,004 12,248,709 34,346,017 6,018,740 16,416,149 19,961,959 413,388,420 32,023,372 12,313.984 14,484,957 13,969,868 51,920,963 11,222,967 9,362,304 1,529,604 8,991,828 17,524,117 26,003,179 12,037,410 6,364,459 10,910,679 1,567,998 15,794,307 6,424 670 8,658,243 16,034.346 5,464,434 Totals? $690,974,783 $284,226,533 $200,164,271 Ji, 241, 705,803 $1,290,750,465 $92,103,782 3 > 7,508 4,618,830 14,174,591 5,714,800 11,850,008 i7,475,<02 2,746,567 4.243,585 32,049,386 10,330,877 19,044,551 2,000,229 22,558,092 7.871,294 3, '53.614 3' 743.520 118,266,624 6,469,885 12,292,947 2,192,412 10,940,403 14,426,770 3.216,423 1,071,641 18.772,749 12,100,985 7.171.631 11,882,916 9.467.385 2,256,279 13.498,385 35,018,484 6,275,678 18,687,923 20,341,614 420,355,541 33,307.767 13,078,101 14,937,522 15,276,271 51,990,152 11,540,781 10478,514 1,736,862 9,549,738 17,987,040 26,257,616 12,403,8 6,468,909 11,240,967 1,502,120 16,476,032 6,688,655 9,398,496 16,127,878 5,599,895 45 - 03 - 60 - 22 - 89 - 35 - 13 - 20 - II - 09 - 75 - 19 - 50 25 50 34 - 05 - 20 - 60 - 50 - 90 - 37 - 60 - 75 - 6082 20 - 33 - 205 - 45 - 04 - 50 - 40 - 31 - 35 - 00 - 24 - 28 - 20 - 15 - 10 - 50 - 95 - 65 - Note— Where two rates of taxation are given, th" lesser rate is that levied upon property situate within the limits of incorporated cities or towns, such property being exempt from road tax. f Includes special school tax of 36.3 cents. 188 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY METEOROLOGICAL DATA OF SAN FRANCISCO. THE ANNUAL RAINFALL. Recorded by the United States Weather Bureau. «H *^ » CD a s 83 § •< n> 1879-80.... 1880-81.... 1881-82..., 1882-83.... 1883-84.... 1884-85.... 1885-86.... 188&-87.... 1887-88.... 1888-89.... 1889-90.... 1890-91 .... 1891-92.... 1892-93.... 1893-94.... 1894-95 .... 1895-96.... 1896-97.... 1897-98.... 1898-99.... 1899-1900. 1900-01.... 1901-02.... 1902-03.... 0.01 0.02 Tr. Tr. 0.06 0.23 Tr. 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.10 0.04 Tr. Tr. 0.01 0.01 Tr. 0.02 0.02 Tr. 0.01 0.04 Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr. 0.09 Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr. 0.25 0.26 0.42 0.33 0.11 0.01 0.29 0.98 Tr. 0.31 77 0.02 21 1.05 0.77 0.52 0.10 1.06 0.46 0.78 Tr. 0.78 05 0.54 2.66 1.48 2.55 0.72 1.48 Tr. 0.13 7.28 ao4 1.65 0.16 1.73 0.11 1.55 1.70 0.86 3.92 1.48 0.64 1.70 4.46 2.23 1.87 12.33 8.69 4.65 3.85 1.68 2.96 2 01 1.92 1.04 0.92 3.94 6.65 7.68 2.53 0.30 4.99 7.42 0.24 2.07 1.90 9.24 3.34 6.81 0.04 5.80 1.28 0.72 13.81 9.61 5 16 3.25 0.98 7.26 5.62 2.42 2.90 5.08 3.05 2.75 2.25 5.99 2 69 9.01 6.99 2.31 1.43 8.14 0.28 4.34 2.36 4.41 1.22 1.12 2.13 1.62 3.67 0.10 2.65 4.11 0.64 1.37 5.79 5.03 0.90 1.23 7.27 2.32 3.73 1.76 2.08 0.90 3.45 3.01 8.24 1.01 2.07 0.84 3.60 7.78 4.73 1.96 2.85 4.08 0.60 1.89 2.85 4.56 0.24 7.61 1.91 80 2.65 6.23 10.06 2.00 1.22 1.51 6.33 3.17 5.28 2.30 0.11 0.96 1.18 2.44 1.39 1.03 0.50 1.24 5.16 0.27 0.19 0.62 1.08 1.64 0.98 0.56 1.12 0.22 0.21 3.52 0.23 0.14 0.37 0.06 38 2.17 1.07 1.25 1.86 0.15 1.31 0.60 0.72 0.61 1.44 0.86 0.32 0.69 1.05 Tr. 126.66 0.6929.86 5.04 0.01 2.57 0.19 0.04 0.07 0.27 0.03 0.10 0.11 Tr. 16.14 20.12 32.38 18.20 33.08 19.04 16.74 23.86 45.85 17.58 18.53 0.03 21.75 0.5618.47 25.70 I2I.75 0.22 23.47 0.191 9.38 0.0116 87 0.05 18.47 Tr. Tr. Tr. 23.17 19.75 18.28 MEAN TEMPERATURE OF SAN FRANCISCO. Recorded by the United States Weather Bureau. YEARS. » a c » cr s » <-l » 3 > •0 2 Cm B a n > a P a •a a B <9 1 < 1 1 1 > a a c » 1880 48.0 54.0 49.4 47.0 50.6 51.1 51.2 51.2 52.6 46.7 50.4 4«.2 51.7 47.4 47.7 48.6 52.2 48.6 46.7 53.0 50.7 49.8 46.7 48.8 55.3 48.8 48.8 50.8 55.3 56.8 47.8 53.9 54.0 49.1 51.1 52.4 50.3 48.4 53.8 55.3 50.7 52.6 51.6 53.6 52.2 52.9 49.4 54.4 53.4 54.0 54.5 57.7 43 6 55.8 53.4 57.2 53.8 55.0 54.2 51.2 50.6 52 2 54.3 48.9 51.2 52.2 5i.2 55.8 51.6 53.3 57.9 53.0 53.2 56 58.2 55.4 55.8 57.8 58.8 54.8 53.4 53.1 52.4 55.2 54.8 51.6 57.4 54.4 5-5.0 54.0 51.8 54.4 57.7 58.0 57.0 58.0 59.4 58.1 59.1 57.0 56.9 58.8 59 8 55.7 58.0 55.8 55.4 57.6 56.3 57.4 52.6 53.0 57.0 539 55.5 57.2 58.6 59.5 61.4 60.2 57.8 59.4 59.4 62.4 60.2 59.2 60.2 56 8 56.5 55.9 58.7 57.2 58.9 59.0 56.9 57.6 56.7 56.9 58.8 59.1 59.7 58 8 50.5 S8 fi 68.9 59.7 59.8 63.1 59.6 61.8 f^2.4 62.0 62.8 64.6 60.4 61.8 60.2 59.3 63.4 60.7 59.6 60.8 59.0 58.2 68.3 58.5 61.9 59 8 56.6 58.8 67.9 58.2 60.7 58.6 64.2 61.6 61.8 62.4 59.7 59.6 57.6 59.6 58.8 54.2 55.1 53.2 54.1 57.4 57.8 56.8 56.4 57.0 58.8 59.0 58.6 56.9 55.6 59.4 56 9 53.2 51.0 52.8 50.8 52.8 54.0 53.6 52.2 53.2 51.3 49.8 49.6 51.1 52.4 49.7 54.9 1881 56 6 1882 55.2 1883 59.8 61.4 H1.6 60.3 56.6 61.4 58.8 59.8 59.4 58.1 56 6 56.4 58.4 59.4 58.2 56.2 55 9 58.2 55.6 59.5 59.2 60.0 59.6 60.6 57.8 60.8 60.4 61.4 61.8 59.4 56.6 59.2 58.4 59.5 57.6 57.0 58 3 59.7 56 4 60.6 55 6 1884 56 7 1885 1886 57.8 57.3 1887 56.5 1888 57.3 1889 57.9 1890 56.3 1891 56.6 1892 56.0 1893 1894 54.3 1895 48.6 55.6 1896 58.8i 53.4 58.4 53.1 61.2 55 4 59.2 57.0 ■ 52.8 50.7 49.7 49.6 50.2 52.9 50.6 55 9 1897 1898 55.1 54.6 1899 55.0 1900 1901 58.9 61.8 59.3 56.3 57.0 54.8 56.2 55.2 1902 55.4 CALIFORNIA TO-DAY 189 METEOROLOGICAL DATA OF LOS ANGELES. THE ANNUAL RAINFALL. YEAR s s o tf ^ 1.45 5.06 1.66 .46 2.66 1.83 2.87 .15 12.36 3.58 .01 2.01 2.52 3.32 .29 2.36 3.17 .12 6.48 .27 .66 .22 .41 1.26 3.39 .22 8.52 .19 .37 .13 3.77 .46 2.97 .19 2.31 .02 .98 .03 1.81 .18 .99 .54 .45 .68 2.98 .16 1 a B §■ "J o a B §■ ►1 .67 8.40 .27 .52 1.82 .08 .00 2.56 1.07 4.65 5.55 1.65 1.18 .26 .80 2.68 4.02 6.26 L35 15.80 .13 2.32 .00 1.99 4.40 4.18 .20 3.65 .00 4.62 .80 .78 1.66 2.12 .01 .05 Tr. .12 .90 .90 6.53 Tr. .46 .00 2.08 2.50 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 133 1.43 1.01 1.62 3.15 1.05 7.78 .20 6.04 .25 7.83 .25 .88 7.29 .94 5.84 3.23 3.70 1.26 2.64 1.17 2.49 1.62 1.56 .36 2 66 3.47 13.37 .01 1.41 9.25 .80 :92 1.36 8.56 3.19 2.27 .49 .46 Tr. 5.62 .51 .04 Tr. 4.38 3.35 .04| .00 .01! .00 .63] Tr 1.021 .03 .39 1 1.39 .06! Tr .Oli .11 .20 .05' .65! .03! .31 J.061 .06' .07 .01 .01 .02 .00 .06 .03 .20 Tr. ,19 .01 .30, Tr. lOl Tr. 75 1 Tr. 041 .58 81' Tr. 50 Tr. 03! Tr. Tr. .00 .00 Tr. .02 Tr .27 .07 .04 Tr. .00 Tr .00 .00 Tr. Tr. .02 Tr. .07 .00 Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr. .00 Tr. Tr. .00 Tr. .00 .00 .02 Tr. Tr. .05 .21 .11 Tr. .15 .10 .03 .61 .01 .03 .06 .00 .06 .01 .00 .00 Tr. .01 .73 Tr. Tr. .01 Tr. .00 .00 Tr. .02 .01 Tr. Tr. Tr. .09 .03 Tr. Tr. .14 .82 .05 1.42 .39 .30 .02 .17 .40 6.96 .03 .00 .33 .75 .02 .24 1.30 2.47 .09 1.59 .26 1.88 .40 18.65 5.53 10.74 14.14 40.39 10.69 17.20 16.24 21.04 33.31 12.49 12.84 18.72 22.96 7.51 12.55 11.80 14.28 4.83 8.69 11.30 11.96 13.12 MEAN TEMPERATURE OF LOS ANGELES. YEAR z o < a a B B o* cr a -ierra..; 576,182 Siskiyou 1,067,451 Solano 12,600 Sonoma 173,147 Stanislaus 29,169 Tehama 6,000 Trinity 752,280 Tulare 69,526 Tuolumne 1,710,171 Ventura 350,570 Yolo 2,300 Yuba 189,754 Unapportioned 33,280 AUTHORITIES For facts furnished and assistance rendered in compiling this volume, credit is oue the following authorities, in addition to those already noted else- where : The Officers and Members of the California Promotion Committee ; Harry Ellington Brook, Los Angeles; Colvin B. Brown, Secretary Chamber of Commerce, Stockton; W. A. Beard, Oroville; Pro- fessor Elmer E. Brown, University of California, Berkeley; J. F. Coope, Santa Cruz; B. L. Cad- walader. Secretary Police Commissioners, San Francisco ; Benj. W. Day, Chief Clerk United States Mint, San Francisco; T. C Friedlander, Secretary Merchants' Exchange, San Francisco ; J. A. Filcher, Secretary California State Board of Trade. San Francisco; Dr. R. M. Green. Oroville; Mrs. Will S. Green, Colusa; H. K. Gregory, A. G. P. A., A. T. & S. F. Ry., San Francisco ; Geo. W. Heintz, G. P. A. North Shore Railroad. San Francisco; Victor Hen- derson, University of California. Berkeley, T. C. Hocking, President Stanislaus County Board of Trade, Modesto; Inyo Register, Bishop; J. J. Keegan, Secretary State Board of Horticulture, Sacramento; J. E. Locke, California Northwestern Railway, San Francisco; J. W. McCarthy, Secre- tary Fire Commissioners, San Francisco ; Professor Elwood Mead, University of California, Berkeley ; Profesi-or Alexander McAdle, in Charge United States Weather Bureau, San Francisco; Out West Magazine, Los Angeles ; G. A. Parkyns, A. G. F. & P. A. Southern Pacific, Los Angeles; D. E. Perkins, Secretary Board of Trade. Visalia; Pacific Oil Reporter, San Francisco; R. X. Ryan, G. P. A. California Northwestern Railway, San Francisco; Capt. A. F. Rodgers, United States Coast and Geo- detic Survey, San Francisco ; James Sutton, Reg- ister University of California, Berkeley; San Fran- cisco Chronicle; Sausalito News; Sunset Maga- zine, San Francisco ; Charles Howard Shinn ; Paul Shoup, San .lose; Arthur A. Taylor, Santa Cruz; William Thomas, San Francisco; Hon. Robert A. Thompson, Santa Rosa ; Cress Unger, Chief Clerk, Collector of Customs, San Francisco ; Earle Ashley Walcott, San Francisco Examiner ; President Benj . Ide Wheeler, University of California, Berkeley ; PYank Wiggins, Secretary Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles; A. J. Wells, San Francisco; F. E. Wright, Secretary Sacramento Valley Development Assodation, Colusa; Harry L. Wells, San Jose; PassengerDepartments Southern Pacific and Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroads. BOOKS ABOUT CALIFORNIA Among many books written concerning California, the following may be listed as of special interest to those desiring to learn of the State's resources and characteristics, both material and romantic : "Ramona," by Helen Hunt Jackson; " Under the Redwoods," "A Ward of the Golden Gate," "A Sappho of Green Springs," by Bret Harte; "The Californians," "Los Cerrltos" and "Before the GringoCame," by Gertrude Atherton ; " The Remit- tance Man," by Beatrice Harraden ; " John Charity" and "Quicksands of Pactolus," by Hor- ace Annesley Vachell ; "Blix," "MacTeague" and "The Octopus," by Frank Norris; "In the Foot- steps of the Padres," by Charles Warren Stoddard ; " The Picaroons," by Gelett Burgess and Will Irwin ; "Stories of the Foothills," by Margaret Collier Graham; "Southern California," by Theodore S. Van Dyke; "Stanford Stories," by Charles K. Field and Will Irwin; "For the Blue and Gold," by Joy Lichtenstein ; "California and the Cali- fornlans" and "Knight and Barbara," by David Starr Jordan: "Autobiography of a Grizzly," by Ernest Se ton- Thompson; "The Black Curtain," by Flora Haines Loughead ; "A Summer in a Canyon," by Kate Douglas Wiggln ; " History of California," by Theodore Hittell ; " History of the Pacific Coast States," by H. H. Bancroft ; " She of the West," by Bailey Millard; "The Little Lady of Lagu- nitis," by Richard Henry Savage ; " Bird Notes Afield" and "San Francisco and Thereabout," by Charles Keeler ; " The Johnstown Stage," by Robert Howe Fletcher; "On the Trail of a Spanish Pio- neer." by Dr. Elliott Coues. Index— California To-Day. ^ j& PAGE Alameda County 131-133 Alfalfa 98-163 Almonds, Sacramento Valley— Illustration 60 Alpine County 160 Amador County 74-107 Army Transport— illustration 39-35 Asparagus Growing on Bouldln Island- illus- tration 81 Assessed Valuation, Table of 187 Asti Wine Tank 128 Authorities, California Today 190 Berkeley Oaks— Illustration 21 Beet Sugar Factory at Spreckels— Illustration 185 Big Basin, The 153 Blossom Season, Santa Clara Valley 142 Bohemia Grove 114 Books About California 190 Bret Harle's Country 107 Buhach 94 Building a Warship— illustration 46 Bully Hill Mine Shipment— illustration 165 Burlingame 140 Butte County 51-65 Calaveras County 107 California Polytechnic School 156 California Promotion Committee 7-8-12-20 Celery 183 Chemistry Building. State University— illus- tration 132 Cloverdale 115 Colgate, Electric Power House— illustration. . . 167 Colusa County 52-58-59-61 Combined Harvester 83 Combined Harvester in action— illustration. . . 92 Contra Costa County 137 Counties of California 186-187 Dairying in Marin County— illustration 110 Dairying in San Joaquin— illustration 99 Dairying 90-98 Del Monte, Hotel 153 Del Norte County HI Delta Lands of San Joaquin Valley 78-80 Educational Features 19-84 Eel River Valley 124 El Dorado County 52-61 Electric Power Development 47-54-62-76-78-115 Farm Labor 20-69 Figs 98 Flower Growing 140 Fresno County 94-96-98-100 Fresno, City of 104 Fresno's Shaded Highways, One of— illustra- tion 95 Glenn County 52 Glenwood Hotel 180 Gold Discovery 30 Golden Gate, The 32 Gold Output 12-32 Gold Dredging 62 Gold Ridge Country, The 118 Golf, The Winter Sport 13-14 Grain Sheds, San Francisco— illustration 50 Healdsburg 115 Hearst, Mrs. Phoebe A 39 Hollister, City of 158 Hopfleld Vista— illustration 116 Howell Mountain ; 113 Humboldt County 130 Independence Lake 164 Introduction (Chapter I) 10-21 Inyo County 164-169 Irrigating Olive Orchard— Illustration 103 Irrigation In San Joaquin Valley 78-88-96 Jordan. David Starr 19-41 Kern County 74 -105-107 Kings County 74 Klamath River, Headwaters— illustration 15 PAGE Korea, Pacific Mail Steamship— Illustration ... 37 La Grange Dam 78 Lake County 127-129 Lakeport 129 Lake Tahoe 70 Lassen County 160-164 Lick Observatory 146 Logging in Humboldt— illustration 127 Los Angele.s 171-173-178 Annual Rainfall 189 Bank Clearings 173 Population 172 Temperature 176-189 Lumbering Industries 64-108 Madera County 74 Mare Island Navy Yard 64 Market Street, San Francisco— Illustration. . 82-48 Marin County 124-127 Mariposa County T. 107 Marshall, James W., Discoverer of Gold 30 Mendocino County 130 Merced County 91-93 Mills College 134 Mineral Product by Counties 190 Mineral Springs 18 Mineral Output 61-62-107-186 Minietta. Mines of 166 Mining Building, State University— Illustra- tion 136 Mirror Lake, Yosemite— illustration 11 Mission San Antonio 154 Mission Dolores, Founding of 28 Modesto, City of 86 ModocCounty 160 Mono County 159-164-166 Monterey County 163 Mountain Counties (Chapter VII) — 159-168 Mountains, Wonders of the 16 Mt. Lowe 178 Mt. Shasta 54 " " (illustration) 2 Mt. St. Helena 117 Mt. Tamalpais 124-126 Mt. Whitney 105-164 Napa County 114 Nevada County 61 New Almaden Quicksilver Mines 148 Nob Hill, San Francisco— illustration 33 North Coast Company's (Chapter V) 111-130 Oakland, City of 131-133-134 Orange Boxing near Los Angeles— illustra- tion 170 Orange County 171 Orange Culture 66-87-98 Orange Grove, Riverside County — illustra- tion 185 Oranges, Shipments of 12-65-179 Orchard Home— illustration 18 Orchard near Sebastopol— Illustration 119 Oroville Citrus Ass'n 55 Oroville Olive Culture 66 Oroville Orange Grove— illustration 53 Owens Valley 168-169 Paciflc Grove 164 Palm Springs 183 Palm Tree, Butte County— illustration 57 Paso Robles, Hotel and Hot Springs 156 Pasadena, City of 178 Peach Drying in Sacramento Valley— Illustra- tion 67 Peach Drying in Stanislaus County— illustra- tion 88 Pears of Santa Clara— illustration 155 Petaluma, Town of 123 Petaluma Poultry Farm— illustration 113 Petroleum. Production of 47-103-105-107 Picking Olives— Illustration 108 192 INDEX PAGB Pigeon Ranch near Los Angeles— illustra- tion m Placer County 53-61-70 Plowing by Steam— illustration 108 Plumas County 160 Potato Field, San Joaquin County 85 Porterville Orange Shipping Point 7&-105 Porterville Orange Grove- illustration 77 Port Los Angeles 179 Potter Hotel, Santa Barbara 183 Power House at Colgate— illustration 161 President Roosevelt at Berkeley— illustration. 139 Prunes, Shipments of 142 Prune Trees in Bloom— illustration 151 Quicksilver Mining 1 17-121-148-158 Rainfall 54 Raisin Drying, Fresno— illustration 97 Raisins 96 Redwood City 138 Riverside County 180 Russian River Valley 124 " " " (illustration).. 17 Sacramento, City of 59 Sacramento Valley (Chapter III) 52-72 Sacramento Valley, Climate of the 51-55-56 Sacramento Valley Development Association.. 66 Salinas, City of 154 San Antonio, Mission 154 San Benito County 158 San Bernardino County 182 San Diego County 182 Sandstone Quarry in Colusa County— illustra- tion 71 San Francisco (Chapter ID 23-49 Bank Clearings 24 Bay of San Francisco 28 Customs 24 San Francisco— Golden Gate Park 49 Latitude and Longitude 28 Manufactures and Commerce 42 New Buildings 34 New City Government 45 Police and Fire Departments 42 Population 34 Railroad and Steamship Lines 32-45 Rainfall 188- Real Estate Sales 24 Schools, Libraries and Museums 34-41 Street Railway System 32-22 Suburljs , 32 Temperature 188 Wheat Exports 24 San Francisco and Thereabout 49 San Gabriel Mission 171 San Joaquin County Vineyard— Illustration — 79 San Joaquin County 80 San Joaquin Valley (Chapter IV) 73-109 San Jose. City of 116-148 San Luis Obispo County 156 San Luis Obispo, City of 156 San Mateo County 138 San Pedro Harbor 179 Santa Barbara County 182-183 Santa Barbara Mission— Illustration 180-181 San Rafael 124 Santa Catalina Island 179 Santa Clara College 146 PAGE Santa Clara County 142 Santa Clara Mission 146 Santa Cruz County 148 Santa Cruz, City of 149 Santa Rosa, City of 117 Santa Ysabel Hot Springs 156 Seaside Resorts 16-175 Seed-Growing in Santa Clara Valley 145 Sequoia National Park i05 Shasta County 52-54-55 Sherman Indian Institute, Riverside 180 Shipment of Bullion, Shasta County Mine — illustration 164 Sleeping Out of Doors 69 Sierra County 164 Siskiyou County 52-54 Soda, Owens Lake 169 Solano County 52-64 Sonoma 117 Sonoma County 118 Sonoma Hop Kiln— illustration 125 South Coast Counties (Chapter VI) 131-158 Southern California (Chapter VIII) 171-185 South San Francisco 140 Stamboul— illustration 143-147 Stanford Memorial Church— illustration . . 36-39-41 Stanford University 141 Stanislaus County 86 Stevenson, Robert Louis.... 27 Stock Farm Scene— illustration lOl St. Helena 1 1^ Stockton's Warehouse and Milling District- Illustration 75 Stockton, City of 83-84 Sugar Beet Factory 161 Summer Climate 14 Sweet Potatoes 93 Sutter County 5* Tahoe, Lake 70 Tehama County 52 Thermalito Olives— illustration 63 Tokay Grapes 68 Tonopah, Nevada 16ft Trans-Pacific Cable, Landing the— illustration 43-44 Trinity County 11» Tulare County 74-7ft-78 Tuolumne County 74-78 Turlook Irrigation District 88 Ukiab 130 University of California 36-39-135 University, Leland Stanford Jr 36-39-41-141 United States Mint, San Francisco— illustra- tion 8S Valuation by Counties 187 Vallejo. City of 64 Ventura County 18^ Waterfront, San Francisco— illustration. .. 25-31-40 Weber Lake 164 Wheeler, Benjamin Ide 19-135 Wine Growing 112-114-120 Wine Tank, Largest in the World 120 Winter Climate 12-lS Y achting on San Francisco Bay 127 Yolo County 52 Yosemite Valley lOr Yuba County 52 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to tine NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW OCT 1 4 1997 8ENtOfJtLL JAN 2 3 m6 ■trCTBEHiTEEET 12,000(11/95)