appeared before the world. Then from all over southern California came orange men to get buds from these trees. Back home they went with the precious bits of life. Acres of seedling oranges were quickly shorn of their green crowns. Cut, cut, went knife and shears till only the stock was left, and then into a carefully made slit in the bark was placed the navel bud. It soon sprouted, and everywhere one could see the stranger growing sturdily on its adopted stem. Thousands of buds were sold from the two parent trees until there were hundreds of thousands of their beautiful children growing all over the state, giving golden harvests.
If we owe to two ladies the success of orange culture in California, it was a third who saved the industry when ruin threatened it. For a while all went merrily with the orange grower; then in some way, from Australia, there came into the country an insect pest called the cushiony scale, which settled on the orange trees and seemed likely to destroy them. “What can be done to save our trees?” was the cry from the people of the southland. What they did was to bring from Australia a different visitor, the dainty bug called the ladybird. She was eagerly welcomed. No one dreamed of bidding her, in the words of the old nursery rhyme, “fly away home.” She was carried to the diseased orchards, where she settled on the scale, and as it was her favorite food, she soon had the trees clean again. In time other pests came to trouble vine and fruit growers, but it is interesting to know that scientists nearly always succeeded in finding some insect enemy of the troublesome visitor, which would help the horticulturist out of his difficulties.
In the business of orange-growing, success is due in a large measure to care in the picking, packing, and shipping of the fruit–care even in those little things that seem almost of no consequence. The more particular Californians are to ship only the best fruit in the best condition and properly packed, the higher prices will the fruit bring, the higher reputation the state gain.
The lemon industry comes closely second to the orange. This fruit does not need so much heat as does the orange, but neither can it stand so much cold. It needs more water, but it bears more fruit and can be marketed the year round. The lemons not sold as fresh fruit are made to yield such products as citric acid, oil of lemon, from which cooking essences are made, and candied lemon peel. In this latter branch of the trade, however, the citron is more generally used, though it is not of so delicate a flavor.
The pomelo, or grape fruit, is fast gaining in favor and increasing in value.
To the stranger who visits California the orange is the most interesting of trees. To pick an orange with her own hands, and to pin on her breast a bunch of the fragrant blossoms, is to an Eastern woman one of the most pleasant experiences of her visit to the Golden State.
In the history of the growth of southern California, and especially of its orange culture, the use of water on the soil plays a prominent part. It was the discovery that the most sandy and unpromising-looking land became a miracle of fertility when subjected to the irrigating stream, that caused the wonderful prosperity of the dry portions of the state.
Irrigation, which means the turning of water from a well, spring, or stream, upon land to promote the growth of plant life, has been used by mankind for thousands of years. In Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, there are remains of irrigation canals made by people who lived so long ago that we know nothing of their history.
The padres who settled California were adepts in this science. In founding a mission they always chose its site near some stream, the water of which could be turned upon the cultivated fields; and the dams, canals, and reservoirs which the padres constructed were so well built that many of them have lasted until the present time.
It will seem strange to many people to learn that the highest-priced, most fertile farm lands in the United States are not to be found in the rich valleys of the Eastern states or the prairies of the middle West, but in the dry region between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Colorado, which belongs to the land of little rain, has in proportion to its size the richest mines of any state in the Union, yet the product of its farms, all irrigated, equals the output of its mineral wealth.
All the flourishing towns of southern California depend for their wonderful prosperity upon the fertility of the irrigated country surrounding them.
Trees and plants require water for their growth, but they do not all need it in like quantity, nor at the same time; therefore, the scientific farmer on arid lands, where there is an abundance of water for irrigation, has an immense advantage over his Eastern brother who depends for water upon the rainfall alone.
While the valuable raisin crop of the Californian is drying in the sun and the slightest shower would damage, or perhaps ruin it, just beyond lies the orange orchard, the trees of which are suffering for water. The fruit, the size of a large walnut, is still hard and green, and must have an abundance of the life-giving liquid if it is to develop into the rich yellow orange, filled with delicious juice, which adorns the New Year’s market. How would our ranchman prosper if he depended upon rain? As it is, he furrows his orchard from its highest to its lowest level; then into the flume which runs parallel with the highest boundary of the grove he turns the water from pipe or reservoir, and opening the numerous little slide-doors or sluice-gates of the flume, soon has the satisfaction of seeing each furrow the bed of a running stream, the water of which sinks slowly, steadily, down to the roots of the thirsty trees. After the water has been flowing in this manner for some hours, it is shut off, for it has done enough work. In a day or two the ranchman runs the cultivator over the ground of the orchard, leaving the soil fine and crumbly and the trees in perfect condition for another six or eight weeks of growth.
The first attempts of the American immigrant at irrigation were very simple–just the making of a furrow turning the water of a stream upon his land. Then, as he desired to cultivate more land and raise larger crops, his ditches had to be longer, often having branches. Soon neighbors came in and settled above and below him. They too used of the stream; there was no law to control selfishness, so there were disagreements and bitter quarrels over the water. Lawsuits followed and sometimes even fighting and murders. The remedy for this state of things was found to be in a company ditch, flume, or reservoir, with the use of water controlled by fixed laws.
There are some crops, notably grapes, which are grown without irrigation. The grapevine, instead of being treated as a climber, is each year trimmed back to the main stem, which thus becomes a strong woody stalk, often a foot or more in circumference, quite capable of withstanding the heat and dryness of the atmosphere and of drawing from the soil all the nourishment needed for the fruit.
Wheat, barley, and oats, both as grain and as hay, are largely raised without irrigation. Olives, and many deciduous trees, by careful cultivation may flourish without water other than the rainfall; yet notwithstanding this, for a home in southern California, land without a good water-right is of little value.
The wealth of the region is in a great measure in its expensive water system, which, by means of reservoirs, dams, ditches, flumes, and pipes, gathers the water from the mountain streams and conveys it to the thirsty land below.
Chapter XV
California’s other Contributions to the World’s Bill of Fare
By 1874 people in the Eastern states had begun to talk of California canned fruits. Apricots and the large white grape found ready sale, but California raisins, though on the market, were not in demand. That line from the old game “Malaga raisins are very fine raisins and figs from Smyrna are better,” represented the idea of the public; and figs, raisins, and prunes eaten in the United States all came from abroad. But how is it to-day?
Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners of our Eastern friends owe much to California. She sends the seedless raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, the citron and beet sugar for the mince pies and plum puddings. Her cold-storage cars carry to the winter-bound states the delicious white celery of the peat lands, snow-white heads of cauliflower, crisp string beans, sweet young peas, green squash, cucumbers, and ripe tomatoes. For the salads are her olives and fresh lettuce dressed with the golden olive oil of the Golden State. Of ripe fruits, she sends pears, grapes, oranges, pomegranates. For desserts, she supplies great clusters of rich sugary raisins, creamy figs, stuffed prunes, and soft-shelled almonds and walnuts. All these and other delicacies California gives toward the holiday making in the East.
But it is not only to the homes of the wealthy that she carries good cheer; to people who have very little money to spend, and those who are far away from civilization, as soldiers, surveyors, woodmen, and road-builders, California’s products go to help make palatable fare. To these her canned meats, fish, and vegetables, and canned and dried fruits, are very welcome.
The canneries and fruit-packing establishments of the state bring in many millions of dollars each year and give employment to a host of people, a large number of whom are women and young girls.
Most of the fruits California now raises came into the country with the padres. Captain Vancouver tells us that he found at the Santa Clara mission, at the time of his visit in 1792, a fine orchard consisting of apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots; and at San Buenaventura all these with the addition of oranges, grapes, and pomegranates. Alfred Robinson describes the orchards and vineyards of San Gabriel mission as very extensive. Wine and brandy were made at most of the missions, San Fernando being especially noted for its brandy. Guadalupe Vallejo tells of bananas plantains, sugar cane, citrons, and date palms growing at the southern missions. Palm trees were planted “for their fruit, for the honor of St. Francis, and for use on Palm Sunday.”
Not only did the padres enjoy fresh fruits from their gardens, but raisins were dried from the grapes, citron, orange, and lemon peel were candied, and much fruit was preserved. It is not recorded that they had pumpkin pie in those days, but a small, fine-grained pumpkin was raised extensively for preserves. It is still a favorite dainty among the native Californians, and no Spanish dinner is complete without this dulce, as it is called. Spanish-American housewives excel their American sisters in the art of preserving. Pumpkin, peach, pear, fig, are all treated in the same manner, being first soaked in lye, then thoroughly washed and scalded in abundance of fresh water, and then cooked in a very heavy sirup. The result of this treatment is that the outside of the fruit is crisp and brittle, while the inside is creamy and delicious.
The first of California’s dried fruits to come before the public was the raisin. Raisins are merely the proper variety of grapes suitably dried. Some think that they are dipped in sugar, but this is not the fact. The only sugar is that contained in the juice of the grape, which should be about one fourth sugar. The only raisin grape for general use is the greenish variety called the Muscat. The rich purple or chocolate color of the raisin of the market is caused by the action of the sun while the raisin is being cured. If dried in the shade the fruit has a sickly greenish hue. The seedless Sultana is a small grape, fast coming into favor for a cooking raisin.
The proper planting of a raisin vineyard requires a large amount of care and labor. But the summer is one long holiday, as there is little to do to the vines from early May until August. Then comes picking time. From all the country round gather men and women, boys and girls, and the work begins.
To be a successful raisin grower and packer, one must take care in all little things. The workman who neglects to cut from the branch the imperfect or bad grapes, or who lays the fruit in the trays so that it will be in heaps or overlapped, is apt to be soon discharged. After about a week of exposure to the sun and air, the grapes are turned by placing an empty tray over a full one, and reversing the positions. Then after a few days longer in the sun, the fruit goes to the sweat-box, a hundred pounds to the box, and is placed in a room in the packing house, where it lies about ten days. The bunches go into this room unequally dried, with still a look and taste of grape about them, but after this sweating process they come out uniform in appearance, rich, sugary, tempting,–the raisins of commerce, with little suggestion of the fruit from which they came. Then they are boxed.
There are generally three grades: very choice clusters, ordinary and imperfect bunches, and loose raisins. Raisins of the third class are sent to the stemmer and a large proportion of them then go to the seeder. Seeding raisins for mother and grandmother at holiday times used to be the duty and pleasure of the older boys and girls of the household. But seeding is now done by machinery. A machine will seed on an average ten tons daily. Before entering the seeder the raisins are subjected to a thorough brushing, by which every particle of dust is removed. They are then run through rubber rollers which flatten the fruit and press the seeds to the surface; then through another pair of rollers, with wire teeth which catch and hold the seeds while the raisins pass on down a long chute to the packing room, where women and girls box them for market.
With all fruits the drying process is much the same, though peaches, apples, and pears are first peeled. California figs, when dried, sell well. This is a fruit which is growing in favor, whether fresh, preserved, or dried. Fruit canning is an interesting process. The fruit is not boiled in sirup and then placed in cans, as is frequently the custom in home preserving, but when peeled it is placed directly in the cans, in which it receives all its cooking and in which it is finally marketed.
The raising of beets and the converting of them into sugar form an industry which is growing rapidly, and is of the utmost importance to the people of the Pacific slope.
The canning of fresh vegetables is a new industry which is bringing into the state a steady stream of money, and in addition is proving a double blessing to thousands of people, both those who gain from it their living, and those who could not otherwise have vegetables for food. A sailor said recently that if he could not be a sailor he would do the next best thing–can vegetables for other sailors. When Galvez received the order from the king of Spain to found settlements in Upper California, one of the chief reasons for so doing was that fresh vegetables might be raised for the sailors engaged in the Philippine trade. To-day the Philippines use a large portion of California’s canned goods.
In the southern counties olive orchards are being extensively planted. Near San Fernando is the largest in the world, covering thirteen hundred acres. Doctors have said that a liberal use of California olive oil will do much to promote the good health of mankind, and it is thought by many that the manufacture of olive oil will be one of the greatest industries the state has known.
Nut raising is keeping pace with fruit in importance. To an Eastern person it seems strange to see nut-bearing trees cultivated in orchards; though profitable, this method does away with the pleasures of nutting parties.
California’s crystallized fruits are in constant demand, especially for the Christmas trade. This crystallizing is a process in which the juice is extracted and replaced with sugar sirup, which hardens and preserves the fruit from decay while still keeping the shape.
One sometimes reads the saying, “Fresno for raisins, Santa Clara for cherries and prunes, and the northern counties and mountain-ranches for apples.” But in fact, California’s fruit industries are well distributed over the state, and the really excellent work which is being done in all sections will still advance as the people learn more of the necessary details and methods.
In spite of mistakes and experiments the steady progress on the California ranches is being recognized. Of one of our leading fruit growers, Mr. Eliwood Cooper of Santa Barbara, the Marquis of Lorne writes in the Youth’s Companion: “He has shown that California can produce better olive oil than France, Spain, or Italy, and English walnuts and European almonds in crops of which the old country hardly even dreams.”
A history of California’s products would be incomplete without a reference to him who is called the “Wonder Worker of Santa Rosa.” “Magician! Conjurer!” are terms frequently applied to Mr. Luther Burbank, the man who is acknowledged by the scientists of the world to have done more with fruits and flowers than any other man. Mr. Burbank waves his wand, and the native poppy turns to deepest crimson, the white of the calla lily becomes a gorgeous yellow, rose and blackberry lose their thorns, the cactus its spines. The meat of the walnut and almond become richer in quality, while their shells diminish to the thinness of a knife blade.
Yet in these seeming miracles there is nothing of “black art” or sleight of hand. The experiments of this wonderful man, the surprising results he gains, are obtained, first by a close study of the laws of nature, then, where he desires change and improvement, by assisting her process, often through years of closest application and unceasing toil. He is a man of whom it is truthfully said, “He has led a life of hardships, has sacrificed self at every point, that he might glorify and make more beautiful the world around him.” Any boy or girl who knows something of how plants grow and reproduce themselves will find great pleasure in following Mr. Burbank’s simple methods.
It is only recently that his countrymen have begun to appreciate the work of this great naturalist. A short time ago a resident of Berkeley, a student and book-lover, one who knew Mr. Burbank but had given little attention to his productions, was in Paris. While there he had the good fortune to be present at a lecture delivered before a gathering of the most eminent scientists of Europe. In the course of his address the speaker had occasion to mention the name of Luther Burbank. Instantly every man in the audience arose and stood a moment in silence, giving to the simple mention of Mr. Burbank’s name the respect usually paid to the presence of royalty. It is a name now known in all the languages of the civilized world, and numbers of the wisest of the world’s citizens cross the ocean solely to visit the busy plant-grower of Santa Rosa.
Luther Burbank was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1849, and while yet a lad his strongest desire was to produce new plants better than the old ones. His first experiment was with a vegetable. For the sake of getting seed, he planted some Early Rose potatoes in his mother’s garden. In the whole patch only one seed-ball developed, and this he watched with constant care. Great was his disappointment, therefore, when one morning, just as it was ready to be picked, he found that it had disappeared. A careful search failed to recover the missing ball, but as he thought the matter over, while at work, it struck Luther that perhaps a dog had knocked it off in bounding through the garden. Looking more carefully for it, he found the ball twenty feet away from the vine on which it had hung. In it were twenty-three small, well-developed seeds. These he planted with great care, and from one of them came the first Burbank potatoes. The wealth of the country was materially increased by this discovery; the wealth of the boy only to the amount of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, which he used in attending a better school than he had before been able to enjoy.
In 1875 Mr. Burbank, to secure, as he said, “a climate which should be an ally and not an enemy to his work,” moved to Santa Rosa, California. For ten years of poverty and severe toil he was engaged, for the sake of a livelihood, in the nursery business, making, in the meantime, such experiments as he had time for. During the next twenty years, however, Mr. Burbank was able to give nearly his whole time to his nature-studies. His energy is tireless, and his aim is to supply to humanity something for beauty, sustenance, or commerce better than it has possessed.
Perhaps among all his productions the greatest good to the world will arise from the spineless cactus. The scourge of the American desert is the cactus, commonly known as the prickly pear, the whole surface of which is covered with fine, needlelike spines, while its leaves are filled with a woody fiber most hurtful to animal life. When eaten by hunger-crazed cattle it causes death. After years of labor Mr. Burbank has succeeded in developing from this most unpromising of plants a perfected cactus which is truly a storehouse of food for man and beast. Spines and woody fiber have disappeared, leaving juicy, pear-shaped leaves, weighing often twenty-five or fifty pounds, which, when cooked in sirup, make a delicious preserve, and in their natural state furnish a nourishing, thirst-quenching food for domestic animals. The fruit of this immense plant is aromatic and delicate, and its seeds are at present worth far more than their weight in gold, since from them are to spring thousands of plants by means of which it is believed the uninhabitable portions of the desert may be made to support numberless herds of cattle.
Another of Mr. Burbank’s achievements is the evergreen crimson rhubarb, which is not only far less acid than the old variety, but richer in flavor and a giant in size.
The pomato, a tomato grown on a potato plant, is most interesting. The plant is a free bearer, having a white, succulent, delicious fruit, admirable when cooked, used in a salad, or eaten fresh as our other fruit.
The experiments with prunes conducted at the Santa Rosa ranch have been of the greatest value to the state. For forty years the prune growers of the Pacific slope had been searching for a variety of this fruit which would be as rich in sugar and as abundant a bearer as the little California prune of commerce, and yet of a larger size, and earlier in its time of ripening. Mr. Burbank with his famous sugar prune filled all these requirements, and revolutionized the prune industry of the state. Besides this triumph he has succeeded in obtaining a variety of this fruit having a shell-less kernel, so that the fruit when dried much resembles those which are artificially stuffed.
The flowers which Mr. Burbank has evolved by his methods, and those which he has simply enlarged and glorified, are far too numerous to be named here.
In 1905 a grant of ten thousand dollars a year was bestowed upon Mr. Burbank by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., for the purpose of assisting him in his experiments. Seldom has money been better placed.
Chapter XVI
The Hidden Treasures of Mother Earth
Thousands of years ago, before the time of which we have any history, there were rivers in California,–rivers now dead,–whose sides were steeper and whose channels were wider than those of the rivers in the same part of the world to-day. Rapid streams they were, and busy, too; washing away from the rocks along their sides the gold held there, dropping the yellow grains down into the gravelly beds below. After a time there came down upon these rivers a volcanic outflow; great quantities of ashes, streams of lava and cement, burying them hundreds of feet deep, until over them mountain ridges extended for miles and miles.
Other changes in the earth’s surface took place, and in the course of time our streams of to-day were formed. As they cut their way through the mountain ranges, some of them crossed the channels of old dead rivers, and finding the gold hidden there, carried some of it along, rolling it over and over, mixed with sand and gravel, down into the lower lands under the bright sunlight. Here it was found by Marshall and the gold hunters who followed him. These were the placer mines of which we read in Chapter VII.
Gradually the best placer mines were taken up and the newcomers to the gold fields traced the precious metal up the streams into the gravel of the hillsides. Then was begun hydraulic mining, where water did the work. In the canons great dams were constructed to catch the flow from the melting snows of the mountains, and miles of flumes were built to carry the water to the mining grounds. Immense pipes were laid and altogether millions of dollars were invested in hydraulic mining. The water coming down under heavy pressure from the mountain reservoirs passed through giant hose which would carry a hundred miner’s inches, and, striking the mountain side with terrific force, washed away the earth from the rocks. Down fell the sand and gravel into sluices or boxes of running water where cleats and other arrangements caught and held the gold, which was heavy, while the lighter mixture was carried out into the canyon.
The material thus dumped on the mountain side was called debris, and to any one living in the mining region of the state that word means trouble –means fighting, lawsuits, ruin. For the debris did not stay up in the canyon, but was washed down into the rivers, overflowing farm lands, spoiling crops and orchards, and making the streams shallow, their waters muddy. So great was the destruction this process caused that, in 1893, the Congress of the United States enacted a law which provided for the creation of a Debris Commission to regulate the business of hydraulic mining in California. The result of the investigations of this commission was to put a stop to all hydraulic mining in territory drained by the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, or any other territory where the use of this form of mining should injure the river systems or lands adjacent. Thus, almost in a moment, the important industry was stopped.
It is estimated that over one hundred million dollars were invested in hydraulic mining. Much of this was entirely lost, as the expensive machinery rusted and the water system fell into ruins. It was very hard for the miners, as well as for the commerce of the state, but the act of the government was based upon the principle that one man’s business must not damage another man’s property. Clever engineers in the pay of the government are still trying to find some way by which the debris can be safely disposed of in order that this valuable system may resume operation.
Deprived of the use of water as their agent, gold hunters next tried mining by drifts; that is, by tunneling into the mountain’s side until the bed of a buried river is reached. These tunnels are often five thousand to eight thousand feet long. The gold is brought out of the ground before it is washed clean of the gravel. Sometimes it is mixed with cement, when it has to be crushed in rollers before it can be cleared of other material. The counties where drift mining is most in operation are Placer, Nevada, and Sierra.
Quartz mining is the most expensive manner of getting out gold, and a great deal of valuable and complicated machinery has been invented for this branch of the business. The quartz mines of California are among the richest in the world, and some of the greatest fortunes of modern times have been made from them.
In a mine of this kind there is generally a shaft, or opening, extending straight down into the earth, from which, at different levels, passageways branch out where the veins of gold are richest. The openings must be timbered to prevent caving in, and there must be pumps to remove the water as well as hoisting works to take out the material. Then on the surface, as near as possible to the mouth of the mine, must be located the quartz mill. When possible, a tunnel is used in this mining, which makes the handling of ore less expensive, for then there need be no hoisting works or pumps, since the tunnel drains itself.
Gold in quartz rock is generally in ledges or veins, one to three feet in width. Digging it out is not very hard, save where there is not enough room to stand upright and use the pick, or when, in a shaft deep in the ground, the heat makes it difficult to work. A California boy at the mines wrote recently: “Mining is not so bad; that is, if I could get along without the occasional whack I bestow upon my left hand. Last week I started a little tunnel and pounded my hand so that it swelled up considerably. Drilling is not hard, and loading is a snap, but it’s all interesting work and there is the excitement of seeing what you are going to find next.”
When the ore reaches the surface it is sent to the mill, where it is first pulverized, then mixed with a chemical which goes about catching up the grains of gold–arresting and holding them fast. It is quite a long process before the gold is completely separated from all other material and ready for shipment. Often the quartz contains other minerals of value, the separation of which requires much work.
There is a very rich mine in Nevada called the Comstock, which some years ago had sunk its shafts so deep into the earth that it became almost impossible for the miners to work on account of the great heat, the bad air, and the quantity of water which had constantly to be pumped out. How these troubles were remedied is the story of one of California’s greatest and best citizens. Adolph Sutro was a Prussian by birth, and his adopted state may well be proud to claim him. He had built a little quartz mill in Nevada, near the Comstock mine. Seeing the suffering of the workmen in all the mines on that mountain side, he thought of a plan for the construction of a large tunnel which was to begin at a low level at the nearest point of the Carson River and run deep into the mountain so that it could drain all the rich mining section, give good ventilation for the deep underground works, and afford a much cheaper and more convenient way of taking care of the ore. It was to be four miles long, with branches extending from it to different mines. Its height was to be ten feet; width, twelve, with a drainage trench in the center to carry away the waste water to the Carson River, and tracks on each side for the passage of mules and cars.
At first the mine owners were pleased with the project, and Mr. Sutro succeeded in forming a company to build the tunnel. Then he went to Washington, where the government became so interested in his plans that on July 25, 1866, there was passed an act of Congress granting Sutro such privileges in regard to public lands as would safeguard his work. About the time that the news of this action reached the West, the men who owned the mines and had made an arrangement for the use of the tunnel, decided that they did not want the work done; it is said, for the reason that they found Mr. Sutro too wise and far-seeing for them to be able to manage him. At all events, with all their wealth and power they tried to ruin him. They said that his plans were worthless, and any one was foolish to invest in the tunnel company. Then Mr. Sutro, by means of lectures upon the subject, appealed to the people. In California, Nevada, the Eastern states, and even Europe, he told what his plans would do for the miners and the good of the country. It was not long before he gained all the help he needed, and the great work was begun.
As the workmen progressed into the mountain side there were many difficulties to overcome. Day and night without ceasing the work went on. Laborers would faint from the combined heat and bad air, and be carried to the outer world to be revived. Carpenters followed the drillers, trackmen coming closely after. Loose rock, freshly blasted, was tumbled into waiting cars and hauled away over rails laid perhaps but half an hour before. Constantly in the front was Sutro himself, coat flung aside, sleeves rolled up. In the midst of the flying dirt, great heat, bad air, dripping slush, and slippery mud he worked side by side with the grimy, half-naked miners, thus showing himself capable not only of planning a great work, but of seeing personally that it was well done, no matter with what sacrifice to his own ease and comfort.
After the tunnel was completed, Mr. Sutro sold his interest in it for several millions of dollars. How that money was expended, any visitor to San Francisco well knows. With it were built the great Sutro baths, with their immense tanks of pure and constantly changing, tempered ocean water, their many dressing rooms, their grand staircases, adorned with rare growing plants, their tiers of seats rising in rows, one above another, with room for thousands of spectators, and their galleries of pictures and choice works of art. Over all is a roof of steel and tinted glass. Nowhere else in America is there so fine a bathing establishment.
Besides this there are the lovely gardens of Sutro Heights, developed by Mr. Sutro’s money and genius from the barren sand-hills of the San Miguel rancho. In addition to these is the choice library of about two hundred thousand volumes, which is of great use to the people of San Francisco. Perhaps neither San Francisco nor California has yet quite appreciated the value of the work of Adolph Sutro.
Since 1848 the state of California has sent to the United States Mint over one billion dollars in gold. Of this, little Nevada County, which seems to be worth literally her weight in gold, has sent over two hundred and forty million. The Empire Mine is the leading producer of California, but there are others nearly as rich. Nevada City is in the center of this mining country. The streets are very hilly, and after a heavy rain people may be seen searching the city gutters and newly-formed rivulets for gold, and they are sometimes rewarded by finding fair-sized nuggets washed down from the hills above.
A visitor to one of the deep mines of California says:–
“We descended to the seven hundred foot level, where the day before a pile of ore had been blasted down. A little piece of the quartz, crushed in a mortar panned out four dollars in gold. I picked out one piece of rock, not larger than a peach, and the manager, after weighing and testing it, announced that it contained ten dollars in free gold. The kick of a boot would reveal ore which showed glittering specks of pure gold.”
In the estimate of many people all very valuable mines are supposed to be of gold, but this is a mistake. While gold is king in California, copper mining is rapidly becoming of great importance. A continuous copper belt, the largest yet discovered in the world, exists under her soil, and while a comparatively small depth has been so far attained, the profit has been considerable. One of the largest quicksilver mines in the world is at New Almaden. The value of the output of the borax mines is over a million dollars a year. There were mined in California in 1907 over fifty different materials, most of them at a value of several thousand dollars a year, with some as high as a million and over.
The mineral product of California outranking gold in value is petroleum, which has added greatly to the wealth of the state. Natural gas and mineral waters are also valuable commercial products.
To many, the most interesting class among minerals is the gems, of which California yields a variety. The beautiful lilac stone, Kunzite, was discovered near Pala, San Diego County. This county has also some fine specimens of garnets, and beautiful tourmalines are being mined at a profit. San Bernardino County yields a superior grade of turquoise from which has been realized as much as eleven thousand dollars a year. Chrysoprase is being mined in Tulare County, also the beautiful new green gem something like clear jade, called Californite. Topaz, both blue and white, is being found, and besides these, many diamonds of good quality have been collected, principally from the gravels of the hydraulic mines. In 1907 there was discovered in the mountains of San Benito County a beautiful blue stone closely resembling sapphire, more brilliant but less durable. It was named, by professors of mineralogy in the state university, Benitite, from the place where it was discovered.
Perhaps the most valuable of all the products of California is its water supply, either visible as in springs and streams, or underground as in artesian water. Of its use in irrigation, we have already spoken. In the production of electricity it is coming to be of the greatest importance, making possible the most stupendous works of modern times. Such is the undertaking of the Edison Electric Company in bringing down to Los Angeles, over many miles of the roughest country, power from the Kern River, tapping the tumultuous stream far up in the Sierras. The taking of the necessary machinery to those heights was in itself a wonderful labor. The power thus created is a blessing to a wide region.
Chapter XVII
From La Escuela of Spanish California to the Schools of the Twentieth Century
In no line has California advanced so far beyond the days of the padres as in her schools. In the early settlements there were no educated people but the priests at the missions and the Spanish officers with their families at the presidios. Later, clever men of good families came into the territory, took up land, and made their homes on the great ranchos, but among these there were few who would take the time or trouble to teach the children; so life to the young people was a long holiday. The sad result was that they grew up so ignorant as to astonish the educated strangers who visited the coast.
At the missions the padres had schools where they taught the young Indians something of reading and writing, religious services and songs, and the trades necessary for life. This, with their duties in the church and the extensive building and planting of the mission settlements, took all the time of the hard-working priests. Occasionally, an educated woman would teach her own children and those of her relatives, but like most attempts at home education, it was so interrupted as to amount to little.
In 1794 a new governor came from Spain who was so shocked at this state of affairs that he at once ordered three schools opened. The first, December, 1794, was held in a granary at San Jose and was in charge of a retired sergeant of the Spanish army. The children had been so long free from all restraint that they did not like to go to school, and their parents did not always take the trouble to insist. There were some reasons for this, as the masters did not know much about what they were trying to teach, and the use of the ferule and scourge (the latter a whip of cords tipped with iron) was frequent and cruel. There were no books but primers, and these were hard to obtain. The writing, paper was furnished by the military authorities and had to be returned when the child was through with it, that it might be used in making cartridges. These schools were for boys only, girls not being expected to learn anything except cooking, sewing, and embroidery.
Slowly the state of things improved, and in 1829 in the yearly report to the Mexican government, it was stated that there were eleven primary schools in the province with three hundred and thirty-nine boys and girls. One of the best of these schools was that of Don Ignacio Coronel of Los Angeles.
In 1846 the first American school was opened at Santa Clara by Mrs. Oliver Mann Isbell. It provided for children from about twenty emigrant families and was held in a room of the Santa Clara mission on the great patio. The floor was of earth, the seats boxes; an opening in the tiled roof over the center of the room allowing the smoke to escape when, on rainy days, a fire was built on a rude platform of stones set in the middle of the floor. Wherever the Americans lived, they would have schools, although their first buildings were bare and inconvenient, with no grace or adornment either inside or out. In some out-of-the-way places, whole terms of school were spent most happily under spreading live oaks.
In the making of the first constitution, educational matters were not forgotten; one section providing that there should be a common school system supported by money from the sale of public lands. On account of the minerals the lands so allotted were supposed to contain, it was believed that they would sell for such vast amounts that the state would have money sufficient for the grandest public schools that ever existed. In fact these lands brought in altogether, after a number of years, less than a quarter of a million dollars. The act provided also that the schools be kept open three months in the year. An effort was made to extend this period to six months, but was defeated by Senator Gwin.
Considering the state of the country when the public schools were begun, and the short time in which they have been developed, the California free schools are a credit to the state and to the men and women who have helped to make them what they are. No community is so poor and remote but that it may have its school if the inhabitants choose to organize for the purpose. Hardly can the settler find a ranch from which his children may not attend a district school over which floats the stars and stripes.
Money for educational purposes is now raised by state and county taxes on property, this sum, in cities, being largely increased by the addition of the city taxes. High schools have only recently been given state aid, and that moderately; the larger ones still depending, in a great measure, upon the special tax of the city, district, or county, according to the class to which the school belongs. The state supports one Polytechnic school, that at San Luis Obispo, where there are three courses, agriculture, mechanics, and domestic science.
About 1878, in the endeavor to teach the children of the worst parts of San Francisco a right way of living, the free kindergartens were begun. Perhaps their success cannot be better shown than in the fact that in the first year of the work along “Barbary coast,” one of the most turbulent districts of the city, the Italian fruit and vegetable dealers who lived there, brought the teachers a purse of seventy-five dollars, because the children had been taught not to steal their fruits and vegetables or to break their windows. The first free kindergarten was started on Silver Street in “Tar Flats” and had for its teacher a pretty young girl, with beautiful eyes and a mass of bronze-colored hair, whom the ragged little urchins soon learned to adore. That little school was the beginning of one of the best kindergarten systems in the country, and the pretty young teacher is now Kate Douglas Wiggin, one of America’s best loved writers, the author of those delightful books, “The Birds’ Christmas Carol,” “Timothy’s Quest” and others equally interesting. There have been many gifts to these kindergartens. In memory of their only son, Mr, and Mrs. Leland Stanford gave one hundred thousand dollars, while Mrs. Phoebe Hearst supported entirely three of the schools. Kindergartens may now form part of the primary department in the school system of any community so desiring, and are to be found in most of the cities.
Nothing in the educational work of California is of more importance than the five normal schools, which graduate each year hundreds of teachers thoroughly prepared in all branches for the important work of training the children of the state.
As the crown of the free school system, stands the state university at Berkeley. Many an interesting story might be told of the noble men, who as early as 1849 began their long struggle to gain for the youth of California the chance for higher education. The Reverend Samuel Willey, the American consul Mr. Larkin, and Mr. Sherman Day were leaders in this enterprise. There was much against them; men’s thoughts were almost entirely given to the necessities of everyday life, and few seemed able to see that a grand and beautiful future was coming to the new territory. The university secured its charter in 1868, but it was not until the adoption of the new constitution in 1879 that it was placed on a firm basis which could not be changed by each new legislature.
The coming of Mr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler to the presidency was one of the best strokes of fortune the institution has ever known. Under his management it has taken a great stride forward. In the work it does, and the high standard it demands, it takes its place side by side with the best universities of the older Eastern states. The work of its college of agriculture is becoming of great service to the farmer and fruit grower. The result of its experiments in determining the best wheat for the soil is of very great importance to the grain industry of the state.
Connected with the university are: the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton; the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, the Hastings College of Law, and Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, in San Francisco; and an admirable University Extension Course which offers its advantages to the people of any locality throughout the state who may desire its help.
One of the most practical and important associations in the state is the Farmer’s Institute, which, under direction and control of the university, holds a three days’ meeting once a month in each locality throughout the state. Also, once a year, an institute of a week’s duration is held at Berkeley, where eminent scientists give their services, and the results are most helpful.
The university has received many gifts from distinguished citizens. Mrs. Phoebe Hearst has devoted much of her time and a large amount of her money to its improvement, and plans are under way to make it the most finished and beautiful educational institution ever owned by any state or country.
Barely one hour’s ride from San Francisco south, lies the Leland Stanford Junior University, which at the time of its foundation, in 1885, was the greatest gift ever bestowed upon humanity by any one person. In this noble movement Mr. and Mrs. Stanford were as one. Their only son died in 1884, and the university is a memorial of him, a grand example of the way in which those who are dead may yet live, through the good done in their names. Although entirely a private benefaction, its doors are open to students absolutely free of all tuition charges.
This university started with a large endowment, but after the death of Mr. Stanford, a lawsuit with the United States, and a shrinkage in the value of the properties it owned, ran the finances so low that for a short time it was found necessary to charge a small entrance fee. Even then, the college was kept open only through the economy and self-sacrifice of Mrs. Stanford and the members of the faculty, who stood by the institution with noble unselfishness. By the year 1906 the financial condition had become satisfactory and the attendance had materially increased. Two handsome new buildings, one for the library and the other for the gymnasium, were about completed when, on April 18, an earthquake, the most destructive ever experienced on the Pacific coast, shook all the region around San Francisco Bay. Stanford suffered severely: the two new buildings were ruined; so, too, was the museum and a portion of the chemistry building. Both the noble arch and the mosaics in the front of the memorial chapel were destroyed. Beyond this, comparatively little damage was done to the college buildings. The graduating exercises were postponed until the fall term; otherwise the disaster did not interfere seriously with the routine of study, neither did it affect the attendance in 1906-7, which was unusually large. In the fall of 1907 President Jordan stated that he was empowered to announce that Thomas Weldon Stanford, brother of Senator Leland Stanford, had decided to give the university his own large fortune of several millions.
It is generally recognized that the university owes a great part of its present success to the splendid talents and faithfulness of President Jordan, who has given the hardest labor of the best years of his busy life to helping it onward and upward. Its educational work is thorough, and its requirements are being steadily raised. It stands for the highest education that is possible. Addition is constantly being made to its group of noble buildings. Beautiful Stanford is the sparkling jewel in California’s diadem.
Not far from the University of California in the suburbs of Oakland is situated Mills College, which for many years was the only advanced school for girls of which the state could boast. This institution had its beginning as a seminary in Benicia, but was moved to its present situation in 1871. In 1885 it became a college with a state charter. In plan of studies and high Christian aim, it resembles Mount Holyoke, from which many of its leading instructors have been graduated.
There is no place here to speak of all the leading private schools of the state. Throop Polytechnic in Pasadena, the Thatcher School in the valley of the Ojai, and Belmont Military Academy are among the best. A word, however, must be said in tribute to Santa Clara College, without which the California youth of from twenty to forty years ago would have been lacking in that higher education which stands for so much in the making of a state. Incorporated in 1851, it was opened with funds amounting to but one hundred and fifty dollars, yet it grew steadily. With a clever Jesuit faculty, this college has done admirable work of so thorough a character as to win the praise of all those who have come in contact with its results. From it have been graduated such men as Stephen M. White, Reginaldo del Valle, and many other of our leading professional and business men.
Chapter XVIII
Statistics
The state of California lies between the parallels 32i and 42i north latitude, extending over a space represented on the eastern coast by the country between Edisto Inlet, South Carolina, and the northern point of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Its northern third lies between 120i and 124i 26′ west longitude. From Cape Mendocino, its most westerly point, the coast trends southeastward to San Diego Bay. The total coast line on the Pacific is 1200 miles.
The state’s greatest width is 235 miles, which is between Point Conception and the northern end of the Amaragosa Range on the Nevada line. It is narrowest between Golden Gate and the southern end of Lake Tahoe. Its area is 158,297 sq. miles, second only to Texas of all the states.
The population of California, according to the United States census of 1920, is 3,426,861, which has since been greatly increased. The following table shows the counties of the State:–
Counties of California
Area Population Valuation
Name Origin and Meaning of Name Sq. Mi. 1920 1910 of Property County Seat
______________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Alameda Sp., Shaded promenade
764 344,127 246,131 128,681,766 Oakland Alpine
710 243 309 422,063 Markleeville Amador Sp., Sweetheart
632 7,793 9,086 4,918,908 Jackson Butte Fr., Rounded, detached hill
1,660 30,030 27,301 16,057,766 Oroville Calaveras Sp., Skul’s (from Indian battle ground) 1,080 6,183 9,171 6,177,285 San Andreas Colusa Ind.
1,088 9,290 7,732 12,188,096 Colusa Contra Costa Sp., Opposite coast
728 53,889 31,674 21,753,956 Martinez Del Norte Sp., Of the North
992 2,759 2,417 2,882,445 Crescent City Eldorado Sp., The gilded (name given to fabled land of gold) 1,796 6,426 7,492 4,668,840 Placerville Fresno Sp., Ash tree
6,152 128,779 75,657 34,302,205 Fresno Glenn
1,270 11,853 7,172 10,645,524 Willow Humboldt (named for Baron von Humboldt) 3,496 37,413 33,857 24,911,492 Eureka
Imperial
4,200 43,383 13,591 El Centro Inyo
10,294 7,031 6,974 2,316,319 Independence Kern
8,050 54,843 37,715 24,050,871 Bakersfield Kings
1,176 22,032 16,230 7,883,009 Hanford Lake
1,328 5,402 5,526 3,258,020 Lakeport Lassen
4,520 8,507 4,802 4,590,748 Susanville Los Angeles Sp., The angels
4,200 936,438 504,132 169,268,166 Los Angeles Madera Sp., Timber
2,062 12,203 8,368 6,732,495 Madera Marin Ind.
549 27,342 25,114 14,489,582 San Rafael Mariposa Sp., Butterfly
1,510 2,775 3,956 2,270,246 Mariposa Mendocino Sp., (from Mendoza, viceroy of Mexico) 3,626 24,116 23,929 13,131,995 Ukiah
Merced Sp., Mercy
1,932 24,579 15,148 14,877,086 Merced Modoc Ind.
3,741 5,425 6,191 4,076,680 Alturas Mono Sp., Monkey, or pretty
3,020 960 2,042 1,151,109 Bridgeport Monterey Sp., King’s forest
3,340 27,980 24,146 18,962,554 Salinas Napa Ind.
780 20,678 19,800 13,840,291 Napa
Nevada Sp., Heavy fall of snow
972 10,850 14,955 7,203,349 Nevada City Orange (named for its chief product) 750 61,375 34,436 13,812 Santa Ana
Placer Sp., Loose (from placer mines) 1,365 18,584 18,237 9,677,724 Auburn
Plumas Sp., Feathers
2,694 5,681 5,259 2,792,091 Quincy Riverside
7,323 50,297 34,696 16,373,296 Riverside Sacramento Sp., The Sacrament
1,000 90,978 67,806 41,333,337 Sacramento San Benito Sp., St. Benedict
1,388 8,995 8,041 6,499,068 Hollister San Bernardino Sp., St. Bernard
19,947 73,401 56,706 21,392,228 San Bernardino San Diego Sp., St. James
4,278 112,248 61,665 20,807,594 San Diego San Francisco Sp., St. Francis (of Assisi) 47 506,676 416,912 564,070,301 San Francisco San Joaquin Sp., name of a saint
1,396 79,905 50,732 34,740,353 Stockton San Luis Obispo Sp., St. Louis the Bishop 3,310 21,893 19,383 13,680,235 San Luis Obispo San Mateo Sp., St. Matthew
434 36,781 26,585 18,999,564 Redwood City Santa Barbara Sp., St. Barbara
2,632 41,097 27,738 18,849,976 Santa Barbara Santa Clara Sp., name of a saint
1,286 100,588 83,539 61,390,817 San Jose Santa Cruz Sp., Holy Cross
424 26,269 26,240 12,560,071 Santa Cruz Shasta Fr., Chaste, pure
3,876 13,311 18,920 10,902,036 Redding Sierra Sp., Sawtoothed Ridge
960 1,783 4,098 1,844,560 Downieville Siskiyou
5,991 13,545 18,801 10,560,650 Treks Solano Sp., name of a mission
900 40,602 27,559 20,195,481 Fairfield Sonoma Ind., Valley of the Moon
1,620 51,990 48,394 30,380,419 Santa Rosa Stanislaus
1,456 43,557 22,522 12,834,108 Modesto Sutter (named for J. A. Sutter)
622 10,115 6,328 6,621,047 Yuba City Tehama
3,008 12,882 11,401 11,674,562 Red Bluff Trinity
3,282 2,552 3,301 1,651,362 Weaverville Tulare Sp., Reed-covered
4,952 59,032 35,440 17,447,042 Visalia Tuolumne Ind., Stone wigwams
2,208 7,768 9,979 7,089,725 Sonora Ventura Sp.
1,722 28,724 18,347 11,171,219 Ventura Yolo Ind., Rushes
996 17,105 13,926 17,640,436 Woodland Yuba Sp., Uba, wild grapes
636 10,375 10,042 5,898,350 Marysville
List of Governors
Gaspar de Portola, April, 1769
Pedro Fages, July, 1770
Fernando Rivera y Moncada, May 25, 1774 Felipe de Neve, Feb. 3, 1777
Pedro Fages, Sept. 1O, 1782
Jose Romeu, April 16, 1791
Jose Arrillaga, April 9, 1792
Diego de Borica, May 14, 1794
Jose Arrillaga, Jan. 16, 1800
Jose Arguello, July 24, 1814
Pablo de Sola, March 31, 1815
California became province of the Mexican Empire, April 11, 1822
Luis Arguello, Nov. 10, 1822, First native Governor.
March 26, 1825, California became province of Mexican Republic.
Jose Maria Echeandia, Nov. 8, 1825
Manuel Victoria, Jan. 31, 1831
Jose Maria Echeandia, Dec. 6, 1831
Jose Figueroa, Jan. 15, 1833
Jose Castro, Sept. 29, 1835
Nicolas Gutierrez, Jan. 2, 1836
Mariano Chico, May 3, 1836
Nicolas Gutierrez, Sept. 6, 1836
Jose Castro, Nov. 5, 1836
Juan B. Alvarado, Dec. 7, 1836
Manuel Micheltorena, Dec. 31, 1842
Pio Pico, Feb. 22, 1845, to Aug. 10, 1846, end of Mexican rule.
The following were Governors under Military Rule, U.S.A.
John D. Sloat, July 7, 1846
Robert F. Stockton, July 29, 1846
John C. Fremont, Military Governor, Jan. 19, 1847, for 50 days Stephen W. Kearny, Military Governor, March to May 31, 1847 R. B. Mason, Military Governor, May 31, 1847 Persifer F. Smith, Military Governor, Feb. 28, 1849 Bennet Riley, April 12, 1849
Peter H. Burnett, Dec. 20, 1849, First State Governor, Democratic, received 6716 votes, total vote, 12,064. John McDougall, Lieutenant Governor, became Governor Jan. 9, 1851, Democrat
John Bigler, Jan. 8, 1852, Democrat John Bigler, Jan. 7, 1854, Democrat
John Neely Johnson, Jan. 9, 1856, American Party John B. Weller, Jan. 8, 1858, Democrat
Milton S. Latham, Jan. 9, 1860, Democrat John G. Downey (Lieutenant Governor), inaugurated Jan. 14, 1860, Democrat
Leland Stanford, Jan. 10, 1862, Republican Frederick F. Low, Dec. 10, 1863, Union Party Henry H. Haight, Dec. 5, 1867, Democrat
Newton Booth, Dec. 8, 1871, Republican Romualdo Pacheco (Lieutenant Governor), inaugurated Feb. 27, 1875, Republican (native state Governor)
William Irwin, Dec. 8, 1875, Democrat Geo. C. Perkins, Jan. 8, 1880, Republican Geo. Stoneman, Jan. 10, 1883, Democrat
Washington Bartlett, Jan. 8, 1887, Democrat Robert W. Waterman (Lieutenant Governor), inaugurated Sept. 13, 1887, Republican
H. H. Markham, Jan. 8, 1891, Republican James H. Budd, Jan. II, 1895, Democrat
Henry T. Gage, Jan. 4, 1899, Republican Geo. C. Pardee, Jan. 7, 1903, Republican James N. Gillett, Jan. 9, 1907, Republican Hiram W. Johnson, January, 1911, Republican; reelected on Progressive ticket, 1914
William D. Stephens (Lieutenant Governor), inaugurated March 15, 1917, Progressive
Electoral Vote
1852, Democratic, 4 votes
1856, Democratic, 4 votes
1860, Republican, 4 votes
1864, Republican, 5 votes
1868, Republican, 5 votes
1872, Republican, 6 votes
1876, Republican, 6 votes
1880 Republican, 1 vote
Democratic, 5 votes
1884, Republican, 8 votes
1888, Republican, 8 votes
1892, Republican, 1 vote
Democratic, 8 votes
1896, Republican, 8 votes
Democratic, People’s and Silver parties, 1 vote 1900, Republican, 9 votes
1904, Republican, 9 votes
1908, Republican, to votes
1912, Democratic, 2 votes
Progressive, 11 votes
1916, Democratic, 13 votes
1920, Republican, 13 votes
Bibliography
Bancroft–“History of California,” vols. I, II, Ill, IV, V, VI, VII. Bancroft–“California Pastoral.”
Bancroft–“History of North Mexican States.” Hittell–“History of California,” vols. I, II, III, IV. Royce–“History of California.”
Blackmar–“Spanish Institutions of the Southwest.” Montalvo–“Sergas of Esplandian.” Translator, E. E. Hale, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XIII, p. 265.
Vancouver–“Voyage of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean,” vol. III. Geronimo Boscano–“Chinigchinich,” “History of Mission Indians.” Translator,
Alfred Robinson–“Life in California.” Francisco Palou–“Life of Fray Junipero Serra.” Junipero Serra–“Diary.” Translated in magazine Out West, March-July, 1902.
Hakluyt–“Drake’s Voyages.”
Vanegas–“History of California.”
Davis–“Sixty Years in California.” Colton–“Three Years in California.”
Fremont–“Memoirs.”
Sherman–“Memoirs.” Century Magazine, vols. 41-42. Stoddard–“In the Footsteps of the Padres.” Lummis–“The Right Hand of the Continent.” Series, Out West Magazine, 1903.
Lummis–” Spanish Pioneers.”
Jackson–“A Century of Dishonor.”
Jackson–“Ramona.”
California Book of Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Index
Abalone, 22
Acapulco, 68
Admission to the Union, 179-182
Adobe, 93
Alameda, 182
Alaska, 214
Alba, 110
Alcalde, 104, 108, 173, 174
Alfalfa, 244
Afileria, 209
Alta, 86
Alvarado, 125, 133, 134, 136
American government of California, 173-179 American River, 150
Americans in California, 129, 134, 140-146, 149 Anaheim, settled, 212
Anian, Strait of, 53, 62
Apricots, 256
Area, 289
Arguello, Captain Lulls, 128, 131, 132 Arguello family, 145
Arroyo Seco, 97, 146
Ascension, Padre, 8, 670
Atole, 94
Avalon, 68
Ayala, Lieutenant, 88
Bahia, 249
Bailey, W. F., quoted, 185
Bananas, 257
Bancroft, quoted, 206
Bandini, aids Americans, 145
Bandini, Dona Arcadia, quoted, 137
Bandini, Mrs., makes flag, 146
Barley, 255
Bautista, 134
Bear Flag Republic, 142
Beets, 260
Belmont Military Academy, 287
Benitite, 277
Benton, Senator, 182, 195
Berkeley, State University at, 283
Bidwell, quoted, 166
Bolero, 116
Bonito, 22
Borax, 276
British, visit California, 130
Broderick, David C., 190, 191
Buffalo Bill, 186
Burbank, Luther, 262-266
Burnett, Peter, 181
Butte County, oranges in, 247
Cable, Pacific, 225
Cabo de Pinos, 55
Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez, 48-56, 72 Cacafuegos, 60
Cactus, 265
Cahuenga, treaty of, 146, 148
Calaveras grove, 235
Calhoun, 179
California, area of, 289
California, climate of, 13-18
California, geography of, 13,14
California, name, origin of, 11, 12 California Column, 198
California Lancers, 193
Californite, 276
Camisa, 116
Canneries, 257, 260, 261
Cape Mendocino, 67
Capitol, 204
Carmelo River, 71, 87
Carmenon, Sebastin, explorations of, 67 Carne seco, 101
Carquinez, Strait of, 14
Carreta, 116, 118, 213
Carrillo, in convention, 177
Castillo, Domingo, map of, 12
Castro, General, 139, 140, 142
Cattle raising, 108, 113
Celery, 256
Central Pacific Railroad, 197-201
Chagres, Panama, 163
Chamisso, Albert von, 182
Chapman, 125, 126
Cherries, 262
China, war with Japan, 223
Chinese, in California, 202, 203
Chinese, work on railroad, 198
Chinigchinich, 25, 33-36, 45, 47
Chippa, 43-45
Cholos, 138
Cigaritos, 109
Citron, 246, 256
Civil War, 180, 189-194
Clay, Henry, 178
Cleeta, 19-29, 45-47
Climate, 13-18
Club wheat, 242
Cody, Mr., 186
Coloma, mill near, 150
Columbia, and Panama Canal, 222
Colony days, 211-214
Colton, Rev. Walter, 173, 174
Colton, quoted, 203
Comandante, 136
Comstock mine, 271
Concepcion de Arguello, 130, 131
Conquest of California, 139-146
Constitution of 1849, 178
Constitution of 1879, 203
Constitutional Convention of 1849, 177 Cooper, Ellwood, 262
Copper mining, 276
Corn, 244
Coronel, Don Ignacio, school of, 280 Cortez, Hernando, 12, 53, 74
Cotopacnic, 46
Counties, 290, 291
Cradle, used in mining, 158
Crespi, Juan, 75, 100
Crocker, Charles, 197-199
Cuatrito, 117
Cuchuma, 22, 26, 32, 35, 45
Cushiony scale, 250
Day, Sherman, 284
Debris, 268
Del Valle, Reginaldo, 288
Dewey, Commodore, in Spanish war, 217 Dios, 110
Dolores mission, 88
Donner party, 167
Dragontea, 57
Drake, Sir Francis, 57-66, 12, 73
Drakes Bay, 63
Dress of early Californians, 115, 116 Dried fruits, 260
Drift mining, 269
Dulce, 258.
Earthquake (1906), 225-228
El Camino Real, 95
El Refugio, 125
Empire mine, 274
England, explorations, 59-66
Escuela, 279
Explorations, 48-73, 81-83
Farallones, 81
Farmer’s Institute, 285
Ferrelo, 56, 57, 85
Festivals, 126
Fiesta, 126
Figs, 260
Flores, General, 146
Flour trade, 243
Forests, 229-236
Forty-niners, 156, 172
Fremont, Captain, 139-143, 146
Fremont, dispute with Kearny, 148, 149 Fremont, elected senator, 178
Fremont, explorations, 139, 107, 195 Fremont, on land question, 182
French, visit California, 129
Frijoles, 98
Fruit, 246-263
Fruit, canned, 257, 260
Fruit, crystallized, 261
Fruit, dried, 260
Fruit, preserved, 258
Fugitive Slave Law, 190
Galli, Francisco, 66
Galvez, Jose de, 75-78, 84, 87
Gems, 276
Gente de razon, 124
Gentiles, 80
Gesnip, 19-33, 38-47
Gicamas, 70
Gigantea, 234
Gillespie, 140, 143, 146
Gold, discovered, 147, 151, 155
Gold, early mining, 154-160
Gold, modern mines, 267-271, 274
Golden Hind, ship, 66
Governors, list of, 292
Graham, 133, 134
Grain, 238-245
Grape fruit, 252
Grapes, 254, 258-260
Guam, 225
Gwin, in convention, 177
Gwin, senator, 178, 189, 190, 281
Hague, 220, 221
Harte, Bret, 180, 200
Harvester, 240
Hawaii, 218-220, 225
Hearst, Mrs. Phoebe, 283, 285
Hecox, Mrs., quoted, 171
Hittell, quoted, 205
Hopkins, Mark, 197
Huntington, Collis P., 197, 198
Huntington, H. E., 239
Hydraulic mining, 160, 268, 269
Ide, 141.
Immigration after 1848, 156, 161-172 Indian Bar, 184
Indians, aborigines, 19-47, 54, 63, 64 Indians, baskets, 43-45
Indians, boats, 39
Indians, clothing, 21, 31, 32, 33, 43, 63 Indians, food, 28, 29, 38, 42, 45-47
Indians, houses, 26
Indians, hunting, 23-25, 42, 43
Indians, myths, 80, 45
Indians, worship, 33-36
Indians in Santa Catalina, 70
Indians, mission, 91-105, 127
Indians, on ranches, 110-112
Indians, recent history, 206-208
Irrigation, 245, 252-255
Isadora, 138
Isbell, Mrs. Oliver Mann, 280
Jacal, 26
Japan, 223-225
Jesuits in New Spain, 76
Jiminez, 53
Jones, Commodore, 136, 137
Jones, W. C., 182
Jordan, President, 287
Juan, 48, 51, 52, 56
Judah, Theodore D., 196-198.
Kahhoom, 43-45
Kearny, General Stephen, 145, 148, 149 Kern River, electric power from, 278
Kindergartens, 282
King, Thomas Starr, 192
Klamath, 37, 38
Korea, 223
Kotzebue, Otto von, 132
Kunzite, 276
Ladybird, 250
La Fiesta, 126
Laguna rancho, battle of, 146
Laguna rancho, sheep on, 210
Land question, 182, 183
La Perouse, 129
La Posesion, 55
La Purisima mission, 89
Larkin, consul, 136, 137,139, 284
Leland Stanford Junior University, 285-287 Lemons, 245, 251
Lick Observatory, 284
Lollah, 30
Lopez, Juan, 147
Lorne, Marquis of, quoted, 262
Los Angeles, beginnings of, 107, 108. Los Angeles, captured by Americans, 143
Los Angeles, church built by Chapman, 125 Los Angeles, during Civil War, 194
Los Angeles, in colony days, 213
Los Angeles, Kern River power, 278
Los Angeles, old palms in, 144
Los Angeles, State Normal School, 283 Lumber, 229-236
Lummis. Charles F., author, 249
Macana, 22, 27, 28, 31, 32, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 46 Machado, Agustin, 122
McKinley, President, 218, 220
Maestro, 113
Mahan, Captain, quoted, 220
Malaga, 256
Manchuria, 223
Mandarin orange, 248
Manila, cable to, 225
Manila, trade, 67, 74, 77
Manila Bay, battle, 217
Marin County, 226
Mariposa grove, 234
Marshall, James, 150-153
Mason, Colonel, 149, 154
Mayor domo, 110
Mendocino, Cape, 67
Mendoza, 72
Merced River, 160. 111
Mexican government of California, 124 Mexico, dispute over Plus Fund, 221
Mexico, revolt against Spain, 122, 124 Mexico, war with the United States, 134-135, 140, 174 Micheltorena, Governor, 137
Millay, 48
Mills College, 287
Mines, modern, 267-277
Missions, 76-105
Missions, aid government, 123
Missions, irrigation, 252
Missions, orchards, 257, 258
Missions, schools at, 279
Missions, secularized, 103-105, 126 Missions, wheat raising, 237-239
Modocs, 208
Monterey, attacked by pirate, 125
Monterey, captured by Jones, 186, 137 Monterey, captured by Sloat, 143
Monterey, mission founded at, 85
Monterey, presidio of, 87
Monterey Bay, discovered, 55, 71
Monterey Bay, Portola at, 81
Mountains, 18-16
Muchachas, 110, 112
Muchchos, 110
Murphy, Virginia Reed, quoted, 168
Muscat grape, 258
Mussel Slough District, 201
Nahal, 31
Nakin, 29, 47
Native Sons of the Golden West, 205 Navel orange, 248-250
Nevada City, 274
Neve, Felipe de, 107
New Albion, 64
New Almaden, quicksilver mines, 276 Nihie, 35, 36
No-fence law, 211
Nopal, 29, 32-36, 40, 41, 43
Normal schools, 283
Nuts, 257, 261, 262
Oats, 255
Ojai, 287
Olives, 246, 255, 261
Ollas, 22, 26, 85
Oranges, 246-254
Oregon, voyage of the, 216, 217
Oregon Country, 135
Ortega, discovers San Francisco bay, 82, 83 Ortega, rancho attacked, 125
Otter hunting, 132, 183
Outdoor life, 17, 18
Outlaws, 214
Pacheco, Governor, 205
Pacific cable, 225
Pacific Ocean, importance of, 18, 217 Padres, 51, See Missions
Pala, chapel, 89
Palou, Francisco, 75, 79, 88, 100
Panama Canal, 221
Panocha, 120
Papas pequenos, 70
Pasadena, settled, 212
Pastorel, 97
Patio, 94
Patron, 111
Patrona, 110, 112
Payuchi, 25-47
Pepe, 49, 50
Pesos, 60
Petroleum, 276
Peyri, 95, 96
Philippine trade, 58, 71-78, 201
Philippines, 217, 218
Pico, General Andres, 145, 146, 148 Pinos, Point, 55, 71, 80, 81
Pius Fund, 76, 220
Placer mines, 347, 158, 268
Plaza, 107
Pocket, in placer mining, 180
Pomato, 265
Pomelo, 252
Pony express, 185-188
Port Costa, wheat grader at, 243
Portola, Captain, 77-80, 88-85
Prairie schooner, 170
Preserved fruit, 258
Presidios, 85, 108
Prunes, 262, 266
Pueblos, 106-108
Pumpkin, preserved, 258
Quartz mining, 270
Quicksilver, 276
Railroad, 196-201, 205, 206
Rainfall, 14, 16
Raisins, 250, 258-260
Ramirez, 177
Ranch life, 109-127
Rancheros, 121, 122, 183
Ranches, modern, 262
Ranchos, 109
Rebosa, 118
Reyes, Point, 67, 81-88
Rezanof, Count, 130, 181
Rhubarb, 205
Riley, Governor, 176
Riverside, founded, 212
Riverside, oranges at, 247, 249, 250 Robinson, Alfred, quoted, 257
Rodeo, 113, 114
Roosevelt, 222, 224, 225
Ross, Fort, 131, 133
Routes to California, 101-172
Rurik, ship, 182
Russia, sells Alaska, 215
Russia, war with Japan, 224
Russians in California, 131-133
Sacramento, founded, 133
Sacramento, pony express at, 186
Sacramento, railroad begun, 198
Sacramento valley, 239, 269
St. John de Anton, 61
St. Michael orange, 248
Sal, Point, 130
Salinas River, 189
San Agustin, 67
San Antonio mission, 87
San Antonio, ship, 79, 83-85
San Benito County, benitite in, 277 San Bernardino County, gems in, 276
San Bruno, 182
San Buenaventura mission, 89, 99
San Buenaventura mission, fruit trees, 246, 257 San Carlos, ship, 79, 88, 287
San Carlos de Borromeo mission, 85, 86, 100, 120 San Diego, captured by Americans, 143-146 San Diego Bay, discovered, 50, 68
San Diego mission, 80, 92
San Diego mission, fruit trees, 248 San Diego mission, Indian revolt, 102
San Diego mission, wheat, 287
San Diego presidio, 108
San Diego, ship, 68
San Fernando mines, 148
San Fernando mission, 89,90
San Fernando mission, brandy, 257
San Fernando mission, fruit trees, 246 San Francisco, city named, 153
San Francisco, disorder in (Vigilantes), 184 San Francisco, during Civil War, 192, 198 San Francisco, earthquake and fire, 226-228 San Francisco, gold excitement, 158, 154 San Francisco, growth after 1848, 156
San Francisco, in war of 1898, 218
San Francisco, kindergartens, 282
San Francisco, pony express at, 186 San Francisco, Sutro baths, etc., 273, 274 San Francisco Bay, discovered, 88, 87, 88 San Francisco mission, 87, 88
San Francisco presidio, 108
San Gabriel mission, 87,90
San Gabriel mission, Chapman at, 125, 120 San Gabriel mission, mill at, 239
San Gabriel mission, orchards, 246, 257 San Gabriel mission, wheat, 237
San Gabriel River, battle of, 146
San Joaquin Valley, 239, 247, 269
San Jose, beginnings of, 107
San Jose, early school at, 280
San Jose, earthquake, 226
San Jose mission, 89, 121
San Jose mission, Indian revolt, 102 San Jose, ship, 83
San Juan Bautista mission, 89
San Juan Capistrano mission, 89, 98 San Juan Capistrano mission, attacked by pirate, 125 San Luis Obispo mission, 87
San Luis Obispo Polytechnic School, 282 San Luis Rey mission, 89, 95
San Mateo, 182
San Miguel, Cabrillo at, 50, 55-57
San Miguel mission, 89, 123
San Pasqual, battle, 145, 146
San Pedro, Bay-of, discovered, 54, 71 San Rafael mission, 89
San Salvador, 53
San Tomas, ship, 68, 71, 72
Sanchez, Padre, 246
Sanitary Commission, 192
Santa Barbara mission, 89
Santa Barbara mission, fruit trees, 246 Santa Barbara presidio, 108
Santa Catalina, 22
Santa Catalina, discovered, 53, 68
Santa Clara College, 288
Santa Clara mission, 89
Santa Clara mission, Indian revolt, 102 Santa Clara mission, orchards, 257
Santa Clara mission, school at, 280 Santa Cruz, town founded, 107
Santa Cruz mission, 80
Santa Fe, 78
Santa Inez mission, 89
Santa Inez mission, fruit trees, 246 Santa Rosa, 226, 264, 266
Saunders, and navel oranges, 249
Scale, orange, 250, 251
School taxes, 282
Schools, early, 113, 279-281
Schools, modern, 281-288
Sempervirens, 230, 234
Senor, 56, 133
Senora, 213
Senorita, 213
Sequoias, 230-235
Sequoya League, 208
Serra, Junipero, 75-80, 83-88, 102
Serra, Junipero, death of, 100
Serra, Junipero, work of, 91, 92
Seward, 179, 214, 215
Shasta, oranges in, 247
Shasta, Mount, 275
Sheep Industry, 209-211
Sherman, Wm. T., 149, 151, 164
“Shirley,” quoted, 184
Sholoc, 22-82, 85, 36, 89, 46, 47
Shumeh, 31
Sierra Nevada, 14, 16, 56, 100, 282 Slavery struggle, 175-179, 190
Sloat, Commodore, 142, 148
Soil, 16, 18
Solano mission, 89
Soledad mission, 89
Sombrero, 111
Sonoma, captured, 141
South Sea, 58
Southern Pacific Railroad, 201,290
Spain, colonies, 75, 77
Spain, colonies, explorations, 48-57, 66-73, 81-83 Spain, colonies, revolt against, 122, 124 Spain, colonies, trade laws, 119-122
Spanish government of California, 77, 122 Spanish-American War, 215-219
Stampede of 1849, 161
Stanford, Leland, gifts for education, 283, 286 Stanford, Leland, governor, 193
Stanford, Leland, railroad work, 197-200 Stanford, Mrs. Leland, 283, 286
Stanford, Thomas Weldon, 287
Stanford University, 285-287
Steamboat, first in California, 155 Stearns, Don Abel, 137, 147, 148
Stock raising, 108, 113
Stockton, Commodore, 143, 146, 148
Stockton, grain center, 242
Sugar, 260
Sultana grape, 239
Sutro, Adolph, 271-274
Sutro baths, 273, 274
Sutter, Captain John, 133, 150-152
Sutter’s Fort, 133
Sutter’s mill, 150, 153
Tamales, 209
Tangerine orange, 248
Telegraph, 195
Texas, 134, 135
Thatcher School, 287
Throop Polytechnic School, 287
Tibbetta, Mrs., and navel oranges, 249 Titas, 45
Tomales, 226
Tortilla, 93,111, 244
Trade, early, 119-122
Tres Re yes, ship, 68, 82, 83
Trist, 175
Tsuwish, 43, 45
Tuscon, 206
Tulare County, products, 247, 276
Tules, 30, 31, 35, 39, 40
Tuolumne grove, 284
Union Pacific Railroad, 197-201
United States, conquers California, 134-146 University of California, 283-285
Valencia late orange, 248
Vallejo, General, 125
Vallejo, General, captured, 141
Vallejo, General, in convention, 177 Vallejo, General, loses land, 183
Vallejo, General, quoted, 118, 148
Vallejo, Senorita Guadalupe, quoted 118, 121, 183, 257 Vancouver, Captain, 130
Vancouver, Captain, quoted, 257
Vanquech, 35
Vaquero, 111
Vasques, 214
Vegetables, 256, 257, 261
Ventura, Cabrillo at, 54
Vera Cruz, 74, 75
Vigilantes, 184, 185
Vizcaino, Don Sebastian, explorations of, 68-73 Wash-day expedition, 118
Webster, Daniel, 176, 179
Westminster, settled, 212
Wheat, 237-245, 255
Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 284
White, Stephen M., 288
Whitman, Walt, quoted, 219
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 282
Willey, Rev. Samuel, 284
Wolfskill grove, 246
Yerba Buena, 152
Yosemite, 238
Zanja, 94