Report of Hon. T. Butler King, on CaliforniaGideon and Company, 1850 - 72 páginas |
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agriculture American amount annum ascertained Assistant-Surgeon believed BUTLER KING California China climate climate of California coast range collecting gold commencement commissioner Congress crops cultivated currents of air degree discovery distance dollars dry diggings dry season earth establishment estimate extensive foot-hills foreigners freight gold dust gold region grants hills hundred thousand immigration important increase Isthmus of Panama labor land latitude 39 laws Los Angelos metallic Mexican Mexico miles millions miners mines Monterey monthly mean temperature months north-east northern oats ocean opinion Pacific plain population portions probably proper purchase quantity quartz quicksilver render require rich rivers Rocky Mountains round Cape Horn Sacramento and San San Francisco San Joaquin secure Sierra Nevada slavery soil steamers sufficient summer supply suppose Territory tion trade twenty Union United States mint valleys Valparaiso vast vein-mines veins vessels wealth west coast wet season winds winter
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Página 21 - ... most luxuriantly. These grasses and oats mature and ripen early in the dry season, and soon cease to protect the soil from the scorching rays of the sun. As the summer advances, the moisture in the atmosphere and the earth, to a considerable depth, soon becomes exhausted ; and the radiation of heat, from the extensive naked plains and hill-sides, is very great. The cold, dry currents of air from the northeast, after passing the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada, descend to the Pacific, and...
Página 53 - Gold is not found on the surface of the country, presenting the appearance of having been thrown up and scattered in all directions by volcanic action. It is only found in particular localities, and attended by peculiar circumstances and indications. It is found in the bars and shoals of the rivers, in ravines, and in what are called the " dry diggings." The rivers, in forming their channels, or breaking their way through the hills, have come in contact with the quartz containing the gold veins,...
Página 53 - The principal formation or substratum in these hills is talcose slate; the superstratum, sometimes penetrating to a great depth, is quartz. This, however, does not cover the entire face of the country, but extends in large bodies in various directions— is found in masses and small fragments on the surface, and seen along the ravines, and in the mountains overhanging the rivers, and in the hill-sides in its original beds. It crops out in the valleys and on the tops of the hills, and forms a striking...
Página 37 - ... farmyard, and, consequently, no labor is necessary to provide forage for them; tha't ditches are easily dug, which present very good barriers for the protection of crops, until live fences can be planted, and have time to grow. Forest trees may be planted with little labor, and in very few years attain a sufficient size for building and fencing purposes. Time may be usefully employed in sowing various grain and root crops during the wet or winter season.
Página 27 - We ought not to be surprised at the dislike which the immigrants frequently express to the climate. It is so unlike that from which they come, that they cannot readily appreciate its advantages, or become reconciled to its extremes of dry and wet. If a native of California were to go to New England in winter, and see the ground frozen and covered with snow, the streams with ice, and find himself in a temperature many degrees colder than he had ever...
Página 55 - ... the action of quicksilver. This gold, not having been exposed to the attrition of a strong current of water, retains in a great degree its original conformation. These diggings, in some places, spread over valleys of considerable extent, which have the appearance of an alluvion formed by •washings from the adjoining hills, of decomposed quartz, and slate earth, and vegetable matter. In addition to these facts, it is beyond doubt true that several vein-mines have been discovered in the quartz,...
Página 10 - That it is a fundamental principle in our political creed, that a people, in forming a constitution, have the unconditional right to form and adopt the government which they may think best calculated to secure their liberty, prosperity, and happiness; and that, in conformity thereto, no other condition is imposed by the Federal Constitution on a State, in order to be admitted into this Union, except that its constitution shall be republican ; and that the imposition of any other by Congress would...
Página 27 - ... impresses those who have been accustomed to the variable climate of the Atlantic States unfavorably. The dry appearance of the country in summer, and the difficulty of moving about in winter, seem to impose serious difficulties in the way of agicultural pros27 perity, while the many and decided advantages resulting from the mildness of winter, and the bright, clear weather of summer, are not appreciated.
Página 22 - When the vacuum is filled, or the equilibrium of the atmosphere restored, the wind ceases; a perfect calm prevails until about the same hour the following day, when the same process commences and progresses as before, and these phenomena are of daily occurrence, with few exceptions, throughout the dry season. These cold winds and fogs render the climate at San Francisco, and all along the coast of California, except the extreme southern portion of it, probably more uncomfortable, to those not accustomed...
Página 35 - I may say, cures these grasses and oats, so that they remain in an excellent state of preservation during the summer and autumn, and afford an ample supply of forage. While the whole surface of the country appears parched, and vegetation destroyed, the numerous flocks and herds which roam over it continue in excellent condition. Although the mildness of the winter months and the fertility of the soil secure to California very decided agricultural advantages, it is admitted that irrigation would be...