[Illustration: NEVADA FALLS (height 617 feet). Yosemite Valley. ]

STORIES OF CALIFORNIA

BY

ELLA M. SEXTON

NEW YORK

THE MACMILLAN COMPANYLONDON: MACMILLAN & CO. , LTD. 1903

_All rights reserved_

1902, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

Set up, electrotyped, and published September, 1902. ReprintedOctober, 1903. 

Normond Press J. S. Cushing & Co. --Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass. , U. S. A. 

FOREWORD

To recount in simple, accurate narratives the early conditions andsubsequent development of California is the purpose of this book. Inattempting to picture the romantic events embodied in the wonderfulhistory of the state, and to make each sketch clear and concise aswell as interesting, the author has avoided many dry details anddates. 

Several of the stories endeavor to explain the remarkable physicalcharacteristics of California. The work to this end was renderedlighter by the hope that the reader might find the book merely anintroduction to that larger knowledge of personal observation andinquiry. 

But the writer's chief aim has been to interest the children ofCalifornia in the beautiful land of their birth, to unfold to them thelife and occurrences of bygone days, and to lead them to note and toenjoy their fortunate surroundings. 

Among the many authorities consulted for the work, specialacknowledgment is due to the historians, Theodore H. Hittell and H. H. Bancroft. 

CONTENTS

CALIFORNIA'S NAME AND EARLY HISTORY

THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS AND OF FATHER SERRA

BEFORE THE GRINGOS CAME

THE AMERICANS AND THE BEAR-FLAG REPUBLIC

THE DAYS OF GOLD AND THE ARGONAUTS OF '49

MINING STORIES

HOW POLLY ELLIOTT CAME ACROSS THE PLAINS

THE BUILDING OF THE OVERLAND RAILROAD

STORY OF THE WHEAT FIELDS

ORCHARD, FARM, AND VINEYARD

THE STORY OF THE NAVEL ORANGE

THE LEMON

FLOWERS AND PLANTS

THE BIG TREES AND LUMBERING

OUR BIRDS

OUR WILD ANIMALS

IN SALT WATER AND FRESH

ABOUT CALIFORNIA'S INDIANS

THE STORY OF SAN FRANCISCO

MEN CALIFORNIA REMEMBERS

OUR GLORIOUS CLIMATE

SOME WONDERFUL SIGHTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

NEVADA FALLS (height 617 feet), YOSEMITE VALLEY

FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA

MISSION CHURCH, MONTEREY

OLD SAN DIEGO MISSION. Founded 1769

MISSION SAN LUIS REY. Founded 1798

MISSION DOLORES. Established 1776

SANTA BARBARA MISSION. Founded 1786

UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER

PLACER GOLD MINING. Washing with Cradle

AN ORANGE TREE WITH FRUIT AND BLOSSOMS

PALMS OVER 100 YEARS OLD AT LOS ANGELES

HOP VINES

AMONG THE HOP VINES

WHITE SANTA BARBARA POPPY

WILD CALIFORNIA POPPY

IN A MISSION GARDEN

A CHRISTMAS GARDEN

"WAWONA" (28 feet in diameter)

THE GRIZZLY GIANT (33 feet in diameter)

BIG TREES AT FELTON, SANTA CRUZ CO. 

YOUNG TOWHEE

BABY YELLOW WARBLERS. From photographs by Elizabeth Grinnell

CALIFORNIA RED DEER. From a photograph by George V. Robinson

LEAPING TUNA

BLACK SEA BASS

HUMPBACK WHALE (57 feet long)

TROUT FROM LAKE TAHOE

INDIAN WOMAN WITH PAPPOOSE

INDIAN WOMAN WITH BASKETS

INDIAN BASKETS

SEAL ROCKS, SAN FRANCISCO

THE NEW CLIFF HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO

ENTRANCE TO JAPANESE TEA GARDEN, SAN FRANCISCO

FALLEN LEAF LAKE

MOUNT SHASTA FROM STRAWBERRY VALLEY

"EL CAPITAN" (3300 feet in height)

YOSEMITE FALLS

NATURAL BRIDGE, SANTA CRUZ

[Compiler's note 1: Four illustrations were omitted from the publishedbook, but were listed in the Illustrations pages. ]

STORIES OF CALIFORNIA

STORIES OF CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA'S NAME AND EARLY HISTORY

A Spanish story written four hundred years ago speaks of California asan island rich in pearls and gold. Only black women lived there, thestory says, and they had golden spears, and collars and harness ofgold for the wild beasts which they had tamed to ride upon. Thisisland was said to be at a ten days' journey from Mexico, and wassupposed to lie near Asia and the East Indies. 

Among those who believed such fairy tales about this wonderful islandof California was Cortes, a Spanish soldier and traveller. He hadconquered Mexico in 1521 and had made Montezuma, the Mexican emperor, give him a fortune in gold and precious stones. Then Cortes wishedto find another rich country to capture, and California, he thought, would be the very place. He wrote home to Spain promising to bringback gold from the island, and also silks, spices, and diamonds fromAsia. For he was sure that the two countries were near together, andthat both might be found in the Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, as hecalled it, by sailing northwest. 

So for years Cortes built ships in New Spain (or Mexico), and sent outmen to hunt for this golden island. They found the Gulf of California, and at last Cortes himself sailed up and down its waters. He exploredthe land on both sides, and saw only poor, naked Indians who had a fewpearls but no gold. Cortes never found the golden island. We shouldremember, however, that his ships first sailed on the North Pacificand explored Lower California, and that he first used the nameCalifornia for the peninsula. 

It was left for a Portuguese ship-captain called Cabrillo to find theport of San Diego in 1542. He was the first white man to land uponthe shores of California, as we know it. Afterwards he sailed north toMonterey. Many Indians living along the coast came out to his shipin canoes with fish and game for the white men. Then Cabrillo sailednorth past Monterey Bay, and almost in sight of the Golden Gate. Butthe weather was rough and stormy, and without knowing of the fineharbor so near him, he turned his ship round and sailed south again. He reached the Santa Barbara Islands, intending to spend the winterthere, but he died soon after his arrival. The people of San Diegonow honor Cabrillo with a festival every year. He was the sea-king whofound their bay and first set foot on California ground. 

About this time Magellan had discovered the Philippine Islands, andSpain began to send ships from Mexico to those islands to buy silks, spices, and other rich treasures. The Spanish galleons, or vessels, loaded with their costly freight, used to come home by crossingthe Pacific to Cape Mendocino, and then sailing down the coast ofCalifornia to Mexico. Before long the English, who hated Spain andwere at war with her, sent out brave sea-captains to capture theSpanish galleons and their cargoes. Sir Francis Drake, one of theboldest Englishmen, knew this South Sea very well, and on a shipcalled the _Golden Hind_ (which meant the Golden Deer), he came to theNew World and captured every Spanish vessel he sighted. He loadedhis ship with their treasures, gold and silver bars, chests ofsilver money, velvets and silks, and wished to take his cargo back toEngland. He tried to find a northern, or shorter way home, and at lastgot so far north that his sailors suffered from cold, and his ship wasnearly lost. Obliged to sail south, he found a sheltered harbor nearPoint Reyes, and landed there in 1579. Drake claimed the new countryfor the English Queen, Elizabeth, and named it New Albion. A greatmany friendly Indians in the neighborhood brought presents of featherand bead work to the commander and his men. These Indians killedsmall game and deer with bows and arrows, and had coats or mantlesof squirrel skins. 

[Illustration: FATHER JUNIPERO SERRA. ]

Drake and his sailors repaired and refitted their vessel during themonth they stayed at Drake's Bay. They made several trips inland alsoand saw the pine and redwood forests with many deer feeding on thehills; but they did not discover San Francisco Bay. On leaving NewAlbion, Drake sailed the _Golden Hind_ across the Pacific to the EastIndies and the Indian Ocean, and round the Cape of Good Hope home toEngland, with all the treasure he had taken. The queen received himwith great honors and his ship was kept a hundred years in memory ofthe brave admiral, who had commanded it on this voyage. 

During the next century several English commanders of vessels sailedthe South Sea while hunting Spanish galleons to capture, and theseships often touched at Lower California for fresh water. Some ofthe captains explored the coast and traded with the Indians, but nosettlements were made. 

Then the Spanish tried to find and settle the country they had heardso many reports of, thinking to provide stations where their tradingships might anchor for supplies and protection. Viscaino, on hissecond voyage for this purpose, landed at San Diego in 1602. Sailingon to the island he named Santa Catalina, Viscaino found there a tribeof fine-looking Indians who had large houses and canoes. They weregood hunters and fishermen and clothed themselves in sealskins. Viscaino went on to Monterey and finally as far north as Oregon, butowing to severe storms, and to sickness among his sailors, he wasobliged to return to Mexico. 

For a long time after this failure to settle upon the coast, theSpanish came to Lower California for the pearl-fisheries. Along theGulf of California were many oyster-beds where the Indians securedthe shells by diving for them. Large and valuable pearls were foundin many of the oysters, and the Spanish collected them in greatquantities from the Indians who did not know their real value. 

In this peninsula of Lower California fifteen Missions, orsettlements, each having a church, were founded by Padres of theJesuits. But later the Jesuits were ordered out of the country, andtheir Missions turned over to the Franciscan order of Mexico. 

With the coming of the Franciscans a new period of California'shistory began. Spain wished to settle Alta California, or that regionnorth of the peninsula, and Father Serra, the head and leader of theseFranciscans, was chosen to begin this work. 

How he did this, and how he and his followers founded the CaliforniaMissions you will read in the story of that time. 

THE STORY OF THE MISSIONS AND OF FATHER SERRA

The old Missions of California are landmarks that remind us of FatherSerra and his band of faithful workers. There were twenty-one of theirbeautiful churches, and though some are ruined and neglected, otherslike the Mission Dolores of San Francisco and the Santa Barbara andMonterey buildings are still in excellent condition. From San Diego toSan Francisco these Missions were located, about thirty miles apart, and so well were the sites chosen that the finest cities of the statehave grown round the old churches. 

Father Junipero Serra was the president and leader of the Franciscanmissionaries and the founder of the Missions. He had been brought upin Spain, and had dreamed from his boyhood of going to the NewWorld, as the Spanish called America, to tell the savages how to beChristians. He began his work as a missionary in Mexico and therelabored faithfully among the Indians for nearly twenty years. But ashis greatest wish was to preach to those in unknown places he was gladto be chosen to explore Alta or Upper California. 

Marching by land from Loreto, a Mission of Lower California, FatherSerra, with Governor Portola and his soldiers, reached San Diego in1769. Here he planted the first Mission on California ground. Thechurch was a rude arbor of boughs, and the bells were hung in an oaktree. Father Serra rang the bells himself, and called loudly to thewondering Indians to come to the Holy Church and hear about Christ. But the natives were suspicious and not ready to listen to the goodman's teachings, and several times they attacked the newcomers. Finally, after six years, they burnt the church and killed one of themissionaries. But later on there was peace, and the priests, or Padresas they were called, taught the Indians to raise corn and wheat, andto plant olive orchards and fig trees, and grapes for wine. They builta new church and round it the huts, or cabins, of the Indians, thestorehouses, and the Padre's dwelling. In the early morning the bellscalled every member of the Mission family to a church service. After abreakfast of corn and beans they spent the morning in outdoor work orin building. At noon either mutton or beef was served with corn andbeans, and at two o'clock work began again, to last till eveningservice. A supper of corn-meal mush was the Indians' favoritemeal. They had many holidays, when their amusements were dancing, bull-fighting, or cock-fighting. 

San Diego, called the Mother Mission, because it is the oldest church, is now also most in ruins. But its friends hope to put new foundationsunder the old walls, and to recap firm ones with cement, and preservethis monument of early California history. 

After Father Serra had started the San Diego settlement he set sailfor Monterey. Landing at Monterey Bay, he built an altar under a largeoak tree, hung the Mission bells upon the boughs, and held the usualservices. The Spanish soldiers fired off their guns in honor of theday and put up a great cross. The Indians had never heard the sound ofguns and were so frightened that they ran away to the mountains. Thesecond Mission was built on the Carmel River, a little distance fromthe site of the first altar. This was called San Carlos of Monterey, and the settlement was the capital of Alta California for many years. It was also the Mission that Father Serra loved the best, and afterevery trip to other and newer settlements he returned to San Carlos ashis home. This Monterey Mission is well preserved, and books, carvedchurch furniture, and embroidered robes used in the old services arestill shown. 

At both San Diego and Monterey a presidio, or fort, was built for thesoldiers. These forts had one or two cannon brought from Spain, andhad around them high walls, or stockades, to protect, if it should benecessary, the Mission people from the Indians. The cannon were firedon holidays, or to frighten troublesome Indians. 

All the Mission buildings were of brown clay made into large bricksabout a foot and a half long and broad, and three or four inchesthick. These bricks, dried in the sun, were called adobes, and wereplastered together and made smooth by a mortar of the same clay. Then the walls were coated outside and inside with a lime stucco andwhitewashed. The roof timbers were covered with hollow red tiles, eachlike the half of a sewer pipe, and these were laid to overlap eachother so that they kept the rain out. The floors were of earth beatenhard, and the windows had bars or latticework, but no glass. The largechurch was snowy white within and without and had pictures broughtfrom Spain and much carved furniture, such as chairs, benches, andthe pulpit made by the Indians. One or two round-topped towers andfive or six belfries, each holding a large bell, were on the church roof, and a great iron cross at the very top. 

[Illustration: MISSION CHURCH, MONTEREY. ]

[Illustration: OLD SAN DIEGO MISSION. Founded 1769. ]

Night and morning the Mission bells rang to call the Indians to massor service, and chimes or tunes were rung on holidays or for weddings. These Mission bells were brought from Spain, and it was thought ablessing rested on the ship which carried them, and that shipwreckcould not come to such a vessel. We read of one captain joyfullyreceiving the Mission bells to take to San Diego. When nearing thecoast his vessel struck a rock, yet passed on in safety because, ashe said, no harm could happen with the bells on board. On his journeysevery missionary carried a bell with him for the new church he was tobuild. Father Serra's first act on reaching a stopping-place was tohang the bell in a tree and ring it to gather the Indians and peoplefor service. 

San Antonio, a very successful Mission, was the third one established, and it was in a beautiful little valley of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Every kind of fruit grew in its orchards, and the Indians there werevery happy and contented, and in large workshops made cloth, saddles, and other things. San Gabriel, not far from Los Angeles and sometimescalled the finest church of all, was the next to be built. This wasthe richest of the Missions and had great stores of wool, wheat, andfruit, which the hard-working Indians earned and gave to the church. The Indians, indeed, were almost slaves, and worked all theirlives for the Padres without rest or pay. At San Gabriel the firstCalifornia flour-mill worked by a stream of water turning the wheel, was put up. Some of the old palms and olive trees are still growingthere. 

San Juan Capistrano, founded in 1776, was one of the best-knownMissions, for it had a seaport of its own at San Juan. Vessels came toits port for the hides and tallow of thousands of cattle herded roundthe Mission. The first fine church of this Mission was destroyed byan earthquake, and many people were killed by its falling roof. It wasrebuilt, however, and still shows its fine front, and long corridorsor porches round a hollow square where a garden and fountain used tobe. 

Old records tell us that Father Serra felt that there should be achurch named in honor of Francis, who was the founder and patron saintof the Franciscan brotherhood of monks to which these missionariesbelonged. When Father Serra spoke of this to Galvez, that priestreplied, "If our good Saint Francis wants a Mission, let him show usthat fine harbor up above Monterey and we will build him one there. "Several explorers had failed to find this port about which Indians hadspoken to the Spanish. At last Ortega discovered it, and Father Palou, in 1776, consecrated the Mission of San Francisco. Near the spot wasa small lake called the "Laguna de los Dolores, " and from this thechurch was at last known as the Mission Dolores. But the great citybears the Spanish name of Saint Francis, or San Francisco. A fortwas erected where the present Presidio stands, and later a batteryof cannon was placed at Black Point. It is told that the Indians werevery quarrelsome here and fought so among themselves that the Padrescould get no church built for a year. In that part of San Franciscocalled the Mission, the old building with its odd roof and three ofthe ancient bells is a very interesting place to visit. There arepictures, and other relics of the past to see, and in the graveyardmany of San Francisco's early settlers were buried. This was the sixthMission of Alta California. 

The Santa Barbara Mission, where Franciscan fathers still live, hasa fine church with double towers and a long row of two-story adobebuildings enclosing a hollow square where a beautiful garden is kept. One of the brotherhood, wearing a long brown robe just as Father Serradid, takes visitors into the church, and also shows them the gardenand a large carved stone fountain. This church is built of sandstonewith two large towers and a chime of six bells, and was finished in1820. 

The Santa Ynez Mission was much damaged by the heavy earthquake thatin 1812 ruined other Missions. Here the Indians raised large cropsof wheat and herded many cattle. Over a thousand Indians, it is said, attacked this church in 1822, but the priest in charge frightened themaway by firing guns. This warlike conduct so displeased the Padres, who wished the natives ruled by kindness, that the poor priest wassent away from the Mission. 

One of the early Missions was San Luis Obispo, where services arestill held. It was specially noted for a fine blue cloth woven bythe Indians from the wool of the Mission flocks of sheep. The Indiansthere also wove blankets, and cloth from cotton raised upon their ownlands. 

San Juan Bautista, or St. John the Baptist, north of Monterey, had asplendid chime of nine bells said to have been brought from Peru andto have very rich, mellow tones. San Miguel had a bell hung up on aplatform in front of the church, and now at Santa Ysabel, sixty milesfrom San Diego, where the Mission itself is only a heap of adoberuins, two bells hang on a rude framework of logs. The Indianbell-ringer rings them by a rope fastened to each clapper. The bellswere cast in Spain and much silver jewellery and household plate weremelted with the bell-metal. Near them the Diegueño Indians worship ina rude arbor of green boughs with their priest, Father Antonio, whohas worked for thirty years among the tribe. They live on a rancherianear by and are making adobe bricks, hoping soon to build a churchlike the old Mission long since crumbled away. 

The last of the Missions was built in 1823 at Sonoma, and proved veryactive in church work, some fifteen hundred Indians having been therebaptized. 

Father Junipero Serra died at more than seventy years of age, at SanCarlos. During all his life in America he endured great hardshipsand suffering to bring the gospel to the heathen as he had dreamed ofdoing in his boyish days. A monument to his memory has been erectedat Monterey by Mrs. Stanford, but the Missions he founded are his bestand most lasting remembrances. 

BEFORE THE GRINGOS CAME

This is the story Señora Sanchez told us children as we sat on thesunny, rose-covered porch of her old adobe house at Monterey onesummer afternoon. And as she talked of those early times she workedat her fine linen "drawn-work" with bright, dark eyes that needed noglasses for all her eighty years and snow-white hair. 

"When I was a girl, California was a Mexican republic, " said theSeñora, "and Los Gringos, as we called the Americans, came in shipsfrom Boston. They brought us our shoes and dresses, our blankets andgroceries; all kinds of goods, indeed, to trade for hides and tallow, which was all our people had to sell in those days. For no one raisedanything but cattle then, and all summer long the cows cropped therich clover and wild oats till they were fat and ready to kill. Inthe fall the Indians and vaqueros, or cowboys as you children callthem, drove great herds of cattle to the Missions near the ocean wherethe Gringos came with their ship-loads of fine things and waited fortrading-days. 

[Illustration: MISSION SAN LUIS REY. Founded 1798. ]

[Illustration: MISSION DOLORES. Established 1776. ]

"For weeks every one worked hard, killing the cattle, stripping offtheir skins and hanging the green or fresh hides over poles to dry inthe sun. When dried hard and stiff as a board the skins were foldedhair-side in, and were then worth about two dollars apiece. Thebeef-suet, or fat, from these cattle was put into large iron kettlesand melted. While still hot it was dipped out with wooden dippersinto rawhide bags, each made from an animal's skin. When cold and hardthese bags of tallow were sewed up with leather strings, and thus theywere taken to Boston. 

"So much beef was on hand at such times that not even the hungryIndians could eat it all while it was fresh. The nicest pieces werecut into long strips, dipped into a boiling salt brine full of hotred peppers and hung up to dry where the sunshine soon turned the meatinto carne seca, or dried beef. We put it away in sacks, and very goodit was all the year for stews, and to eat with the frijoles, or redbeans, and tortillas, which were corn-cakes. 

"All we bought from the Gringos was paid for with hides and tallow, so it was well, you see, children, that my father owned ten thousandcattle; for counting relatives and Indian servants, we always had morethan thirty people on our ranch to feed and clothe. We raised grainand corn and beans enough for the family, but had to buy sugar, coffee, and such things. 

"Did we have many horses, you say? Yes, droves of them, and we almostlived on horseback, for no one walked if he could help it, and therewere almost no carriages or roads. Neither were there any barns orstables, for the mustangs, or tough little ponies, fed on the wildgrass and took care of themselves. Every morning a horse was caught, saddled and bridled, and tied by the door ready to use. All the ladiesrode, too, and I often used to ride twenty miles to a dance with Juan, my young husband, and back again in a day or so. 

"Sometimes we went to the rodeo, where once a year the great herds ofcattle were driven into corrals, and each ranchero or farmer pickedout his own stock. Then those young calves or yearlings not alreadymarked were branded with their owner's stamp by a red-hot iron thatburnt the mark into the skin. After that the bellowing, frightenedanimals were turned out to roam the grassy plains for another year. Wehad plenty of feasting and merry-making at these rodeos, and a wholeox was roasted every day for the hungry crowds, so no one went fastingto bed. 

"Those were gay times, my children, " and Señora Sanchez sighed andsewed quietly for a while till Harry asked her if they kept Christmasbefore the Gringos came. 

"Yes, indeed, " she said, laughing, "we kept Christmas for a week, and all our friends and relatives were welcome, so that our bigranch-house was full of company. Indeed, some of the visitors slept inhammocks or rolled up in blankets on the verandas. Our house was builtround the four sides of a square garden, with wide porches, where wesat on pleasant days. There was a fountain in this garden, and orangetrees, which at Christmas-time hung full of golden fruit and sweetwhite flowers. On 'the holy night, ' as we called Christmas Eve, wehung lanterns in the porches, and everybody crowded there or in thegarden for their gifts. 

"No, we had no Santa Claus nor Christmas tree, but my father gavepresents to all, even to the Indian servants and their children. A fanor a string of pearls, perhaps, for my sisters, the young señoritas; afine saddle or a velvet jacket for my brother; and red blankets or gayhandkerchiefs for the Indians, with sacks of beans or sweet potatoesto eat with their Christmas feast of roast ox or a fat sheep. Afterwards we danced till morning came, or sang to the sweet tinkleof the guitars. Well do I remember, children, when the good Padres, or priests, at the Mission forbade us to waltz, that new dance theGringos had taught us to like. I recall, also, that the governor onlylaughed and said that the young folks could waltz if they wished. So at my wedding, soon after, when we danced from Tuesday noon tillThursday morning, you may be sure we had many a waltz. 

"Pretty dresses, Edith? Yes, gay, bright silk or satin ones, with manyruffles on the skirts and wide collars and sleeves of lace, or yellowsatin slippers and always a high comb of silver or tortoise-shell anda spangled fan. And we had long gold and coral earrings and strings ofpearls from the Gulf, and, see!" as she pulled aside her neck-scarf, "here is the necklace of gold beads that was my wedding gift. Wehad no hats or bonnets, but wore black lace shawls, or mantillas, tochurch, or twisted long silk scarfs over our heads to go riding. 

"You will think the gentlemen were fine dandies in those Mexican days, when I tell you that they often wore crimson velvet knee trouserstrimmed with gold lace, embroidered white shirts, bright green clothor velvet jackets with rows and rows of silver buttons, and red sasheswith long, streaming ends. Their wide-brimmed sombrero hats weretrimmed with silver or gold braid and tassels. They dressed up theirhorses with beautiful saddles and bridles of carved leather workedall over with gold or silver thread and gay with silver rosettes orbuttons. Each gentleman wore a large Spanish cloak of rich velvet orembroidered cloth, and if it rained, he threw over his fine clothesa serape, or square woollen blanket with a slit cut in the middle forthe head. 

"Los Gringos used to laugh at the Mexican and his cloak, and not longafter they came the 'Greasers, ' as the Americans called the young menborn here in California, began to wear the ugly clothes the Gringosbrought out from Boston. And so the times changed, children, and ourpeople learned to do everything as the Americans did it and to workhard and save money instead of dancing and idling away the time. 

"And the bull-fights, Harry? Oh, yes, there was a bull-fight everySunday afternoon, and everybody went, as you do to the football games. The ladies clapped their hands if the sport was good, or if the bullwas killed by the brave swordsman. And if the men got hurt or thehorses, --well, we only thought that was part of the game, you see. Eltoro, as we called the bull, always tried to save himself; and if hewas savage and cruel, that was his nature, to try to kill his enemies. The gay dresses and the music was what I cared for, and then all myfriends were there, also. 

[Illustration: SANTA BARBARA MISSION. Founded 1786. ]

"But you must be tired of my old stories; is it not so, my children?No, you want to hear about the dances, you say? Well, every party wasa dance; a fandango or ball, if it was given in a hall where everybodycould come, but at houses where just the people came who were invitedwe called it only a dance. Every old grandfather or little girl, even, danced all night long, and the rooms were hung with flags and wreaths. All the Spanish dances were pretty, and the ladies with their gaydresses and mantillas, and the gentlemen in velvet suits trimmedwith gold, made a fine picture. At the cascarone, or egg-shelldance, baskets of egg-shells filled with cologne or finely cut tinselor colored papers were brought into the room, and the game was tocrush these shells over the dancers' heads. If your hair got wet withcologne or full of gilt paper, everybody laughed, and you laughed too, for that was the game, you know. Ah, there was plenty of merry-makingand feasting in those days, children, " and Señora Sanchez sighed againand went on with her "drawn-work, " while the bell in the old Missionchurch near by rang five o'clock, and we children ran home talking ofthose old times before the Gringos came to California. 

THE AMERICANS AND THE BEAR-FLAG REPUBLIC

While Spain owned Mexico and the two Californias, the Missions were attheir best and grew rich in stores of grain and in cattle and horses. Almost all the people were Spanish or Indians, and they lived at theMissions or in ranches near by. But when Mexico in 1822 refused to beruled by Spain, Alta or Upper California became a Mexican territory, and, later on, a republic with governors sent from Mexico. The MissionPadres did not like the change, and thought that Spain should stillown the New World. Before long it was ordered that the Missions shouldbe turned into pueblos, or towns, and that the Padres were no longerto make slaves of the Indians. The missionaries were to stay aspriests, and to teach the Indians in schools, but the Mission landswere to be divided so that each Indian family might have a small farmto cultivate. From that time the Missions began to decay and werefinally given up to ruin. 

Then Americans began to come in, the first party of hunters andtrappers travelling from Salt Lake City to the San Gabriel Mission. All kept talking of the rich country where farming was so easy, andthey wished to have land. But the Mexicans and the native Californiansdid not believe in allowing the Americans, as they called all thepeople from the Eastern states, to take up their farming lands andhunt and trap the wild animals. So there was much quarrelling. But theAmericans still poured in, got land grants, and built houses. 

In 1836, though Alta California declared itself a free state, and nolonger looked to Mexico for support, Mexican rule still continued. TheUnited States had wanted California for a long time, and had tried tobuy it from Mexico. The fine bay and harbor of San Francisco, knownto be the best along the coast, was especially needed by the UnitedStates as a place to shelter or repair ships on their way to theOregon settlements. England also wanted this bay, but the Californianstried to keep every one out of their country. 

Among the Americans who came overland and across the Rocky Mountainsabout this time was John C. Fremont, a surveyor and engineer, who wascalled the "Pathfinder. " On his third trip to the Pacific Coast in '46he wished to spend the winter near Monterey, with his sixty huntersand mountaineers. Castro, the Mexican general, ordered him to leavethe country at once, but Fremont answered by raising the American flagover his camp. As Castro had more men, Fremont did not think it wiseto fight, but marched away, intending to go north to Oregon. He turnedback in the Klamath country on account of snow and Indians, as hesaid, and camped where the Feather River joins the Sacramento. Itis almost certain that Fremont wished to provoke Castro and theCalifornians into war, and so to capture the country for the UnitedStates. 

A party of Fremont's men rode down to Sonoma, where there was aMission, and also a presidio with a few cannon in charge of GeneralVallejo. These men captured the place and sent Vallejo and threeother prisoners back to Fremont's camp. Then the independent Americansconcluded to have a new republic of their own, and a flag also. Sothey made the famous "Bear-flag" of white cloth, with a strip of redflannel sewed on the lower edge, and on the white they painted inred a large star and a grizzly bear, and also the words "CaliforniaRepublic. " They then raised the flag over the Bear-flag Republic. ManyAmericans joined their party, but when the American flag went up atMonterey, the stars and stripes replaced the bear-flag. 

At this time the United States and Mexico were at war on accountof Texas, and Commodore Sloat was in charge of the warships on thePacific Coast. The commodore had been told to take Alta California, if possible; so, sailing to Monterey, he raised the stars and stripesthere in July, 1846, and ended Mexican power forever. The Americanflag flew at the San Francisco Presidio two days later, and also atSonoma, Sutter's Fort, or wherever there were Americans. The flag wasgreeted with cheers and delight. Then Commodore Sloat turned the navalforce over to Stockton and returned home, leaving all quiet north ofSanta Barbara. 

Commodore Stockton sent Fremont and his men to San Diego and, takingfour hundred soldiers, went himself to Los Angeles, where the nativeCalifornians and Mexicans were determined to fight against the rule ofthe United States. General Castro and his men and Governor Pico, the last of the Mexican governors, were driven out of the country. Stockton then declared that Upper and Lower California were to beknown as the "Territory of California. "

In less than a month, however, the Californians in the south gatheredtheir forces again and took Los Angeles. General Kearny was sent outwith what was called the "army of the west, " to assist Fremont andStockton in settling the trouble. Peace was declared after severalbattles, and Kearny acted as governor of the new territory, displacingFremont. At last, by the treaty which closed the Mexican war in 1848Alta California became the property of the United States, and LowerCalifornia was left to Mexico. 

From that time there was peace and quiet, and before long thediscovery of gold brought the new territory into great importance. Therush to the gold mines brought thousands of men, and as no governmenthad been provided for the territory, Governor Riley in '49 called aconvention to form a plan of government. 

This Constitutional Convention of delegates from each of California'stowns met in Monterey. The constitution there drawn up lasted forthirty years, and under it our great state was built up. It declaredthat no slavery should ever be allowed here, and settled the presenteastern boundary line. 

The first Thanksgiving Day for the territory was set by GovernorRiley, in '49. The first governor elected by California voters wasBurnett, and in the first legislature Fremont and Gwin were chosenas senators. Congress at last admitted California into the Union bypassing the California bill. On September 9, 1850, President Fillmoresigned the bill. 

Every year on the 9th of September, or "Admission Day, " we thereforekeep our state's birthday. At San Jose, in '99, a Jubilee Day washeld in remembrance of the beginning of state government fifty yearsbefore. 

[Illustration: UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER. ]

[Illustration: PLACER GOLD MINING. (Washing with Cradle. )]

THE DAYS OF GOLD AND THE ARGONAUTS OF 1849

California has well earned her name of "Golden State, " for from herrich mines gold to the value of thirteen hundred millions has beentaken. Yet every year she adds seventeen millions more to the world'sstock of gold. No country has produced more of this precious yellowmetal that men work and fight and die for. The "gold belt" of thestate still holds great wealth for miners to find in years to come. 

Long, long ago people knew that gold was here, for in 1510 a Spanishnovel speaks of "that island of California where a great abundanceof gold and precious stones is found. " In 1841 the Indians near SanFernando Mission washed out gold from the river-sands, and other mineswere found not far from Los Angeles. 

But James W. Marshall was the man who started the great excitementof '48 and '49 by finding small pieces of gold at a place now calledColoma, on the American River. Marshall, who was born in New Jersey, came to this state in 1847, and being a builder wished to put uphouses, sawmills, and flour-mills. Finding that lumber was verydear, he decided to build a sawmill to exit up the great trees on theriver-bank. He had no money, but John A. Sutter, knowing a mill wasneeded there, gave Marshall enough to start with. 

So the mill was built, and when it was ready to run Marshall foundthat the mill-race, or ditch for carrying the water to his mill-wheel, was not deep enough. He turned a strong current of water into it, and this ran all night. Then it was shut off, and next day the ditchshowed where the stream had washed it deeper and had left a heapof sand and gravel at the end of it. Here Marshall saw some shininglittle stones, and picking them up he laid one on a rock and hammeredit with another till he saw how quickly it changed its shape. He wassure that these bright, heavy, easily hammered pebbles were gold, butthe men working about the mill would not believe it. So he went toSutter, who lived near at a place called Sutter's Fort, because hisstores, house, and other buildings were built around a hollow squarewith high walls outside to keep off the Indians. Sutter weighed thelittle yellow lumps and said they certainly were gold. 

The flood-gates between the mill-race and the river were opened again, and water ran through the ditch, washing more gold in sight. Sutterpicked up enough of this to make a ring and had these words marked onit:--

"The first gold found in California, January, 1848. "

Both Sutter and Marshall tried to keep what they had found a secret, but that was impossible, and soon people were flocking to thegold-fields. Then began a wild excitement known as the "gold-fever, "and men left their stores and houses, gave up business, and left cropsungathered in a wild chase after nuggets of gold. 

By December of 1848, thousands of miners were washing for goldall along the foot-hills from the Tuolumne River to the Feather, a distance of 150 miles. A hundred thousand men came to Californiaduring 1849, these Argonauts, or gold-hunters, taking ship or steamerfor the long trip from New York by the Isthmus of Panama. Some wentround Cape Horn, or else made a weary journey overland across theplains. "To the land of gold" was their motto, and these pioneersendured every hardship to reach this "Golden State. "

Then the miners, with pick, shovel, and pan for washing out gold fromthe gravel it was found in, started out "prospecting" for "pay-dirt. "The gold-diggings were usually along the rivers, and this surface, or"placer, " mining was done by shovelling the "pay-dirt" into a pan or awooden box called a cradle, and rocking or shaking this box from sideto side while pouring water over the earth. The heavy gold, eitherin fine scales or dust, or in lumps called nuggets, dropped to thebottom, while the loose earth ran out in a muddy stream. The rich sandleft in pan or cradle was carefully washed again and again till onlyprecious, shining gold remained. 

So rich were some of the sand bars along the American and Featherrivers that the first miners made a thousand dollars a day even bythis careless way of washing gold where much of it was lost. Thenagain for days or weeks the miner found nothing at all. He wouldwander up and down the cañons and gulches, prospecting for anotherclaim, and dreaming day and night of finding a stream with goldensands, or of picking up rich nuggets. If he found good "diggings" hewould build a rough shanty under the pines, and dig and wash till thegold-bearing sand or gravel gave out again. Sometimes he had a partnerand a donkey, or burro, to carry tools and pack supplies. More oftenthe Argonaut cooked his own bacon and slapjacks and simmered his beansover a lonely camp-fire, and slept wrapped in a blanket under thetrees. If he had much gold, he would go to the nearest town, buy foodenough for another prospecting tramp, and often spend all the rest ofhis money in foolish waste. 

Sometimes a company of miners would build a dam across a river orstream, and turn it from its course, so they could dig out and washthe rich gravel in the river-bed. A flume, or ditch, would often carryall the water to a lower part of the river, leaving the bed of theupper stream dry for miles. In this kind of mining the "pay-dirt" wasshovelled into long wooden boxes called sluices, and a constant streamof water kept the gravel and earth moving on out to a dumping-place. The gold dropped down or settled into riffles, or spaces between barsplaced across the bottom of the sluices, and once a week the water wasturned off and a "clean-up" made of the gold. 

It was not long before the rivers, creeks, and gulches had all beenworked over and most of the gold taken out. The miners knew that thisloose gold had been washed out of the hills by the rains and storms ofcountless years. So some one thought of using a heavy stream of waterto break down the foot-hills themselves and to carry the gold-bearinggravel to sluice boxes. This is called hydraulic mining and is thecheapest way of handling earth, as water does all the work andvery little shovelling is needed. But since a strong water-power isnecessary, a large reservoir and miles of ditches or wooden flumesmust be built, so the first expense is large. The water usually comesfrom higher up in the mountains, and is forced under great pressurethrough iron pipes, the nozzle or "giant" being directed at thehillside, which has already been shattered by heavy blasts of powder. The water tears thousands of tons of earth and gravel apart, and themuddy stream flows through sluices, where the gold is left. In thiskind of mining a great quantity of débris, or "tailings, " must bedisposed of. 

For years this débris was washed into the rivers or on farming lands, filling up and ruining both, and leading to endless quarrels betweenfarmers and miners. But at last the courts stopped hydraulic miningexcept in northern counties, where débris went into the Klamath River, upon which no boats could run and near which was little farming. Butall the mines in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river-basins were idletill, in 1893, Congress appointed a Débris Commission. These miningengineers issue licenses to work the mines when satisfied that thedébris will be kept out of the rivers. There are in the state manyhundred thousand acres of gold-bearing gravel lands yet untouched, that could be worked by hydraulic mining. 

In drift-mining the rich gravel is covered by hard lava rock thrownup by some old volcanic outburst. Tunnels are driven by blasting withdynamite, or by drilling under the rock to reach the gravel whichusually lies in the buried channel of an old river. The long drifts, or tunnels, needed are very expensive and only mine owners withcapital can work these claims. 

Richest of all are the quartz mines, where beautiful white rock, richwith sparkling gold, is found in veins, or "lodes, " cropping out ofhillsides or dipping down under the earth. The great "Mother-lode"of our state runs like an underground wall across Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa counties and has been traced for eighty miles. 

Some poor miner usually finds a ledge of quartz-rock and digs down theway the ledge goes. He puts up a windlass, worked by hand, over thewell-like hole he has dug out, and hoists the ore out in buckets. Buthe soon finds, as the hole or shaft goes deeper, that he must timberthe sides to keep them from caving in, that he must have an engine toraise the ore and a mill to crush the hard rock. So he sells out to acompany of men, who put in costly machinery, deepen the shaft, and byheavy expenditure get large returns. 

The quartz ledges dip and turn, so tunnels and cross-cuts are run tofollow the golden vein, and all these are timbered with heavy woodensupports to keep the earth and rock from falling in on the men. Theminers work in day and night gangs, using dynamite to break up thehard rock, and sending ore up in great iron buckets, or in cars if thetunnel ends in daylight, on the hillside. Sometimes the minersstrike water, and that must be pumped out to keep the mine from beingflooded. 

The ore is crushed by heavy stamps, or hammers, and then mixed withwater and quicksilver. This curious metal, quicksilver, or mercury, is fond of gold and hunts out every little bit, the two metals mixingtogether and making what is called an amalgam. This is heated in aniron vessel, and the quicksilver goes off in steam or vapor, leavingthe gold free. The quicksilver, being valuable, is saved and usedagain, while the gold, now called bullion, is sent to the mint to becoined into bright twenties, or tens, or five-dollar pieces. 

Some of the gold in the crushed ore will not mix with the quicksilver, and this is treated to a bath of cyanide, a peculiar acid that meltsthe gold as water does a lump of sugar. So all of value is saved, andthe worthless "tailings" go to the dump. Even the black sands on theocean beach have gold in them. In the desert also there is gold, whichis "dry-washed" by putting the sand into a machine and with a strongblast of air blowing away all but the heavy scales of gold. 

Though the Argonauts of '49 found much wealth in yellow gold, our"Golden State, " on hillsides, in river-beds, or deep down in hiddenquartz ledges, still holds great fortunes waiting to be found. 

MINING STORIES

A large book might be filled with the stories told by the menwho found gold in the early days. Their "lucky strikes" in the"dry-diggings" sound like fairy tales. Imagine turning over a big rockand then picking up pieces of gold enough to half fill a man's hatfrom the little nest that rock had been lying in for years and years!

And think of finding forty-three thousand dollars in a yellow lumpover a foot long, six inches wide and four inches thick! This wasthe biggest nugget on record and actually weighed one hundred andninety-five pounds. The next one, too, you might have been glad topick up, as it held a hundred and thirty-three pounds of solid gold. Little seventy-five and fifty-pound treasures were common, and asoldier stopping to drink at a roadside stream found a nugget weighingover twenty pounds lying close to his hand. 

It paid to get up early those days, also for a man in Sonora, whiletaking his morning walk, struck his foot against a large stone, andforgot the pain when he saw the stone was nearly all gold. Anotherman, with good eyes, got a fifty-pound nugget on a trail many peopleused all the time. One day, after a heavy rain, a man who was leadinga mule and cart through a street in Sonora, noticed that the wheelstruck a big stone; he stooped to lift it out of the way, and foundthe stone to be a lump of gold weighing thirty-five pounds. In lessthan an hour all that part of the town and the street was staked offinto mining-claims, but no more was found. One of the largest of thesenuggets was found by three or four men, who took it to San Franciscoand the Eastern states, and exhibited it for money. They guarded theprecious thing day and night, but at last quarrelled so that it had tobe broken up and divided between them. 

The first piece Marshall found was said to be worth about fifty cents, and the second over five dollars. Almost all, though, that was foundwas like beans or small seeds or in fine dust. No one tried to weighor measure such gold more correctly than to call a pinch between thefinger and thumb a dollar's worth, while a teaspoonful was an ounce, or sixteen dollars' worth. A wineglassful meant a hundred dollars, and a tumblerful a thousand. Miners carried their "dust" in a buckskinbag, and this was put on the counter, and the storekeeper took outwhat he thought enough to pay for the things the miner bought. A largethumb to take a large pinch of the gold-dust meant a good many extradollars to the storekeeper in '48 and '49. Yet nearly every one washonest, and gold might be left in an open tent untouched, for therewas plenty more to be had for the picking up. Those who would rathersteal than work were driven out of camp. 

Some of the "sand bars, " or banks of gravel and earth, washed down bythe Yuba River were so rich that the men could pick out a tin cupfulof gold day after day for weeks. One place was called Tin-cup Bar forthis reason. Spanish Bar, on the American River, yielded a milliondollars' worth of dust, and at Ford's Bar, a miner, named Ford, tookout seven hundred dollars a day for three weeks. At Rich Bar, on theFeather River, a panful of earth gave fifteen hundred dollars. 

Yet the miners were seldom satisfied, but were always prospecting forricher claims. A man would shoulder his roll of blankets, his pick andshovel, with a few cooking things, and start off hoping to find somerich nugget, leaving a fairly good claim untouched. 

The most extravagant prices were charged the miner for everything hehad to buy. Ten dollars apiece for pick and shovel, fifty more for apair of long boots, with bacon and potatoes at a dollar and a half apound, soon took all his gold-dust to pay for. A dozen fresh eggs costten dollars, and a box of sardines half an ounce of gold-dust, whichwas eight dollars. There was no butter to buy, for any milk wasquickly sold at a dollar a pint. The hotels charged three dollars ameal, or a dollar for a dish of pork and beans, and a dollar for twopotatoes. 

Lumber cost a dollar and a half a foot, but carpenters would not buildhouses when they could make fifty dollars a day by mining. As therewas no lumber for the cabin floors, the ground was beaten hard andreally made a good floor. In Placerville the houses were built alongthe bed of a ravine, and in sweeping these earthen floors some one sawgold-dust glittering, and found that rich diggings were under foot. Thereupon many of the miners dug up their cabin floors, and one mantook about twenty thousand dollars in nuggets and gold-dust from thesmall space his cabin covered. 

Very few women and children came to the mines in early days, and thefirst white woman to arrive in a camp had all sorts of attentions. Sometimes the town was named for the woman first in the place asSarahsville and Marietta. If a lady visited a mining-camp, the men farand near would drop work and come in just to look at the visitor. Onelady, who sang for the miners on her arrival in their town, was givenabout five hundred dollars' worth of gold-dust. 

A child was a great curiosity, and any pretty little girl was sure tohave a collection of nuggets or a quantity of gold-dust presented toher. The theatre and circus companies who visited mining-camps soonfound out that a little child who could sing or dance was a greatattraction. The miners used to throw a shower of money or nuggets atthe feet of such little favorites as we throw flowers now. 

As there were no women living here for some time, the men having lefttheir families at home in the Eastern states, miners had to washand cook and make bread for themselves. Men who had been lawyersor ministers at home, when there was no one else to do such things, washed their dishes or their red flannel shirts. On Sunday no oneworked at mining, and the men baked bread and cleaned house, andSunday afternoons they dried, patched, and mended their clothes. If aminister was in town, he held services on a hillside, or in the diningroom of some shanty called a hotel, and all the camp came to hear himspeak, or sang the hymns with him. 

So the miners lived and worked and wandered along rivers and roughmountain trails on the west side of the Sierras, gathering up goldwashed down by mountain streams. These Argonauts, or gold-seekers offifty years ago, are almost all dead now, but the treasures they foundmade California known throughout the world. Their golden harvest hasmade the state richer than they found it, for they used the wealth tobuild cities, to cultivate farming-lands, and to plant orchards andvineyards where the mining-camps used to be. 

HOW POLLY ELLIOTT CAME ACROSS THE PLAINS

This is the story of a little girl who in 1849 rode all the wayfrom Ohio to California in an emigrant wagon. Polly Elliott hasgrandchildren of her own now, but she remembers very well the springmorning when her father came home and said to her mother, "Lizzie, can you get ready to start for the land of gold next week?" She hearsagain her mother saying, "Oh, John, with all these little children?"She says her father answered by swinging her, the eleven-year-oldPolly, up to his shoulder and calling out, "Here's papa's littlewoman; she'll help you take care of them, " as he carried her round theroom, laughing. 

This was "back East, " as Polly Elliott, now Mrs. Davis, says, --inOhio, where they had a pretty white house set round with apple andpeach orchards all white and pink that May day. Her mother criedbecause they must leave the house, and because they had to sell alltheir furniture and the stock except Daisy, the pet cow, and Buck andBright, the oxen, who were to draw the wagon. A round-topped cover ofwhite cloth was fixed on the big farm-wagon. Then they piled into ittheir bedding in calico covers, a chest or two holding clothes andhousehold goods, a few dishes and cooking things, and plenty of flour, corn meal, beans, bacon, dried apples and peaches, tied up in sacks. 

Polly says she supposed the trip would just be one long picnic, whilethe four children thought it fine fun to "sit on mother's featherbedand go riding, " as they said. So they started off for California. A long, long ride these emigrants had before them; a weary trip, plodding along day after day with the patient oxen walking slowly andthe burning sun or pelting rain beating down on the wagon cover. Therewas a train of other wagons with them, some pulled by horses but moreby yoked oxen, and the men walked beside the animals and cracked longwhips. A few men were on horseback, but all kept together, for Indianswere plenty and were often hiding near the road, watching for a chanceto cut off and capture any wagons lagging behind the party. 

Day after day, Polly told me, they travelled westward to the settingsun. They left the orchards and shady woods of Ohio and Indiana farbehind them, and crossed the wide prairies of Illinois andMissouri also. When they came to rivers they drove through shallowfording-places, where Polly and the children used to laugh to see thelittle fishes swimming round the wagon wheels. Sometimes the riverswere deep, and the wagons were ferried over on a flatboat that wasfastened to a wire rope, while oxen and horses swam through the waterbehind them. If it did not rain, the children and all were happy, andit did seem like a picnic. But Polly says she never hears the rainpouring nowadays as it did then, and that there were many times whenthey were wet and cold and miserable, and because the wood and groundwere wet they could not even have a fire. 

At night the teams were unhitched and the wagons left in a circleround a big camp-fire, where supper was cooked. Polly says her motherused to bake biscuits in an iron spider with red-hot coals heaped onits iron cover, and these biscuits with fried bacon and tea madetheir meal. They always cooked a big potful of corn-meal mush forthe children, and this, with Daisy's milk and a little maple sugar ormolasses, was supper and breakfast too. Then the women and childrencuddled up in the wagons for the night, while men slept, wrapped inblankets, around the camp-fire or under the wagons, with one always onguard against danger from prowling Indians or wolves. 

Every man or boy carried a rifle or shotgun, and killed plenty ofgame. Deer and antelope were always in sight after they crossed theMissouri River, and the meat was broiled or roasted over the coals oftheir campfire. Wild turkeys and prairie-chicken tasted much betterthan bacon, Polly said, and she learned to cook them herself. 

When the emigrants reached Nebraska, they were in the "buffalocountry, " and great herds of big, shaggy, brown or black buffaloeswere feeding on the grassy plains. The animals were larger than oxen, and the Indians depended upon the flesh for food and the thick, warmskins for robes or blankets. The emigrants shot thousands of buffalocows and calves, and what meat could not be eaten at once was cutinto long strips and hung in the sun or over the fire to dry. Thiswas called "jerking" the meat. On jerked buffalo or venison and flourpancakes many emigrants lived all the way across. Game was so plentyand so easy to shoot, that by stopping a few days, a good stock ofmeat could be laid in while the oxen were resting. So they travelledthrough Nebraska, and for weeks and weeks saw nothing but long grasswaving in the summer winds, and yellow sunflowers--miles and miles ofsunflowers. Polly grew very tired of the hot sun blazing down on theclose-covered wagon, and of the dust raised by the long wagon-train. 

About this time she remembers that her father bought her a littleIndian pony, and from that happy day the child rode beside the wagon, and could keep out of the dusty trail, or ride a little way off on theprairie, if she liked. The pony carried double very well, so a smallsister or brother was often lifted on behind for a ride. One nightthe Indians, who were always prowling round and coming as near thewagon-train as they dared, frightened the horses and got away with tenof them. All the women and children cried, Polly says, for they wereafraid the redskins would come back and kill them. In the morningPolly's father and some of the men found the Indians' trail andtracked them to a wooded cañon. The hungry thieves had killed onehorse and were so busy feasting on it that the white men surprisedthem and shot all the Indians but two or three. The lost horses andPolly's pony whinnied to their masters from a thicket, where they weretied, and were taken back to camp. 

On and on over the great plains of Wyoming the wagons carried theseemigrants. Many found the trip grow tiresome, while the oxen and muleswould often lie down in their traces and refuse to go any farther. Afew days' rest, and the rich bunch-grass to crop soon set the stockall right, and the white-topped wagons crawled ahead again. Soon theemigrants saw blue, hazy mountains, far off at first, then nearer andnearer, till at last their road led through a pass between the peaks. 

Then Polly remembers riding through Utah, with its queer red cliffsand high rocks carved in strange shapes by winds and weather; thestretches of sandy desert; and beyond those, grassy meadows andstreams fringed with green willows. After a while Great Salt Lake laysparkling in the sun and looking cool and blue. All around it werealkali deserts or wide plains, hot and dusty and white with salt orsoda. The "prairie schooners, " with their covers faded and burnt bythe sun, went very slowly over these desert wastes, Polly thought, and Nevada, with its dusty gray sage-brush land on either side of theroad, seemed not much better. 

"Papa's little woman" had her hands full now; for her mother was soill she seldom left the wagon. All the cooking fell to Polly's share, and then she would ride along for hours with a little sister on herlap and fat brother "Bub" behind her on the saddle-blanket, so thather mother might rest and be quiet. 

But soon the clear green Truckee River ran foaming and fretting besidethe road, and off in the west rose the snowy peaks of the SierraNevada Mountains. Then the people began to laugh and to sing, for theyknew that California, the land of gold, was almost in sight and thattheir weary journey was nearly ended. 

And one day they said joyfully to each other, "We are in Californiaat last;" and it was a happy company that travelled down through thepines of the mountain sides and the oak trees of the foot-hills. Manyemigrants left the train when they got to the great Sacramento Rivervalley, and settled here and there to farming. Polly's father withothers kept on to the gold-diggings and camped there. He built alog-cabin soon, for it was almost winter and time for the rains, andPolly says she was glad to have a house at last. They finally took upfarming land near what is now Stockton, as gold-mining did not pay. 

Mrs. Davis, who is straight and strong, and still a hard worker, saysher five months' trip across the plains was almost like a long picnicafter all, for she has forgotten many of the trying and disagreeablethings. 

THE BUILDING OF THE OVERLAND RAILROAD

The army of emigrants and gold-hunters who crossed the plains toCalifornia found it was a long and tiresome trip by wagon-train or onhorseback. The oxen or mules would sometimes get so tired that theycould go no farther; and because the food often ran short, there wasmuch suffering from hunger. 

The longest way of all to California was by sailing vessel from NewYork round Cape Horn, nearly nineteen thousand miles to San Francisco. The passengers paid high prices and were six months on the way. Thosewho came by the Panama route had trouble crossing the isthmus, whereit was so hot and unhealthy that many died of fevers and cholera. ThePacific mail steamers connecting with a railroad across the isthmusat last shortened the time of this trip of six thousand miles totwenty-five days. For ten years all the Eastern mail came this waytwice a month. 

It was thought a wonderful thing when the "pony express" carried mailtwice a week between St. Joseph, Missouri, where the Eastern railroadsended, and Sacramento. To do this a rider, with the mail-bag slungover his shoulder, rode a horse twenty-four miles to the next station, where a fresh pony was ready. Hardly waiting to eat or sleep, therider galloped on again. Five dollars was often charged at that timeto bring the letter railroads carry now for two cents. 

So you will see that a railroad to join California to the Easternstates was a great necessity and had often been talked of. Severalways to bring the iron horse puffing across the plains and up themountains with his long train of cars had been laid out on paper. Theemigrants had found that the best highway from the Missouri Riverto California was to keep along the Platte River in Nebraska to FortLaramie and the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, then by Salt Lake, and along the Humboldt and Truckee rivers, crossing the Sierrasat Donner Pass. Other roads were talked of, and Senator Benton ofMissouri favored a nearly straight line between St. Louis and SanFrancisco. Some one, in objecting to this, said that only engineerscould lay out a railroad, and such men did not believe a straight linepossible. The senator answered: "There are engineers who never learnedin school the shortest and straightest way to go, and those are thebuffalo, deer, bear, and antelope, the wild animals who always findthe right path to the lowest passes in the mountains, to rich pasturesand salt springs, and to the shallow fords in the rivers. The Indiansfollow the buffalo's path, and so does the white man for gameto shoot. Then the white man builds a wagon-road and at last hisrailroad, on the trail the buffalo first laid out. "

For two or three years surveyors and explorers tried to find theeasiest way to build this great overland road. Several railroad actsor bills were passed by Congress, and the California Legislature gavethe United States the right of way for a road to join the two oceans. 

The first railway in the state was opened in '56 from Sacramento toFolsom, a distance of twenty-two miles. This was built by T. D. Judah, an engineer who had thought and studied a great deal about theoverland road so much needed to bring mail and passengers quickly fromEast to West. 

A railroad convention, made up of men from the Pacific states andterritories, was held in San Francisco in '59, with General JohnBidwell, a pathfinder of early days, as the chairman. Here Mr. Judahgave such a clear and full account of the central way he hadplanned, that the convention sent him to Washington, D. C. , to see thePresident, and to try to get Congress to pass a Pacific RailroadBill. He had very little help in the East, but at last four menof Sacramento, Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, andCharles Crocker, took an interest in Judah's plans, and in '61 theCentral Pacific Railroad Company was formed. Mr. Judah went backto the mountains and studied the pines in summer and the wintersnowbanks, to make sure of the easiest grades and the shortest andbest way for the track-layers. He found that to follow the TruckeeRiver from near Lake Donner to the Humboldt Desert, would mean theleast work. The tunnels would be through rock, and he believed thatsnow might easily be kept off the track with a snow-plough. 

His report pleased the company, and they sent him again to present thecase at Washington. In '62 President Lincoln signed an act or bill toallow the Union and Central Pacific companies to build a railroad anda telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific. In Californiathe land for fifteen miles on each side of the way laid out was givento the railroad company, and two years was allowed them to build thefirst hundred miles of track. 

Ground was broken for the Central Pacific the next year in Sacramento, and Governor Stanford dug up the first shovelful of earth. Then thework went steadily on, but it was hard to raise money. Stanfordand his company carried the line forward as fast as possible. Moreland-grants were given, which doubled the company's holdings, and in'65 the road was fifty-five miles past Sacramento and had climbed overmuch difficult work. 

The steamship owners, the express and stage companies were all againstthe railroad, and tried in every way to make people think that anengine could never cross the Sierras. Yet the grading went on, whilean army of five thousand men and six hundred horses was at workcutting down trees and hills and filling up the low places. A bridgewas built over the American River, and slowly but surely the trackclimbed the steep mountain-sides. Most of the laborers were Chinese, as white men found mining or farming paid them better. 

In '67 the iron horse had not only climbed the mountains but hadreached the state line, and the Union Pacific, which had been layingits tracks over the plains of the Platte River, began to hastenwestward. The two railroads were racing to meet each other, and theCentral sometimes laid ten miles of rails in one day. 

Ogden was made the meeting-point, though at Promontory, fifty mileswest of Ogden, the last spike was driven. A thousand people met atthat place in May, '69, to see the short space of track closed and theroad finished. A Central train and locomotive from the Pacific camesteaming up, and an engine and cars from the Atlantic pulled in onthe other side. Both engines whistled till the snow-capped mountainsechoed. The last tie was of polished California laurel wood, witha silver plate on which the names of the two companies and theirofficers were engraved. It was put under the last two rails, and allwas fastened together with the last spike. This spike, made of solidgold, Governor Stanford hammered into place with a silver hammer. Eastand west the news was flashed over the long telegraph line, that theoverland railroad had been finished and that two oceans were joined byiron rails. 

Now, while flying along in the cars so fast that the trip from Chicagoto San Francisco takes but three days, it is hard to believe thatlittle more than thirty years ago travellers in the slow-moving"prairie-schooner" took over five months to cover this same distance. 

STORY OF THE WHEAT FIELDS

The Spanish Padres, as the Mission priests were called, taught theIndians to plough and seed with wheat the lands belonging to thechurch or Mission. They used a simple wooden plough, which oxenpulled. When the warm brown earth was turned up, the Indians broke theclods by dragging great tree branches over them. After the fall rainsthey scattered tiny wheat kernels and covered them snugly for theirnap in the dark ground. 

More rain fell, and soon the soaked seeds waked, and started inslender green shoots to find the sunshine, and day by day the stalksgrew stronger and the fields greener. Higher and ever higher sprangthe wheat, till summer winds set the tall grain waving in a seaof green billows. Have you ever watched the wind blow across awheat-field? Over and over the long rollers bend the tops of thegrain, that rise as the breeze goes on and bend low again at the nextbreath of wind. 

When the hot sun had ripened the grain, and all round thewhite-walled, red-roofed Mission the fields stretched golden and readyfor harvest, the Indians cut the wheat, and scattering the bundlesover a spot of hard ground, drove oxen round and round on the sheavestill the wheat was threshed out from the straw. Then Indian womenwinnowed out the chaff and dirt by tossing the grain up in the wind, or from basket to basket, till in this slow way the yellow kernelswere made clean and ready to grind. 

A curious mill, called an arrastra, ground the grain between two heavystones. A wooden beam was fastened to the upper stone, and oxen or amule hitched to this beam turned the stone as they walked round. Thefirst flour-mill worked by water was put up at San Gabriel Mission, and it was thought a wonderful thing indeed. 

Even in those early days California wheat was known to be excellent, and many ships came on the South Sea, as they then called the PacificOcean, to load with grain for Mexico or Boston or England. Since thattime our state has fed countless people, and over a million acres ofvalley and hill lands are green and golden every year with food forthe world. To Europe, to the swarming people of China, Japan, andIndia, to South Africa and Australia, our grain is carried in greatships and steamers, and hungry nations in many lands look to us forbread. 

For a long time after the Mission days, all the grain had to be hauledto the rivers or sea-coast for shipping. Then the overland railroadwas finished, and within the next fifteen years an additional twothousand miles of railways were built in California, and nearly everymile opened up rich wheat land that had never been cultivated. Soongreat wheat ranches stretched far over the dry, hot valley plains. 

The ground is ploughed and seeded after November rains, and all winterthe tender blades of grain grow greener and stronger day by day Marchand April rains strengthen the crop wonderfully, and June and Julybring the harvest-time. As no rain falls then, the ripe wheat standsin the field till cut, and afterward in sacks without harm. All thework except ploughing is done by machinery, and this makes the wheatcost less to raise, since a machine does the work of many men and theexpense of running it is small. 

Some of the ranches have three or four thousand acres in wheat, andit may interest you to know how such large farms are managed. Theploughing is done by a gang-plough, as it is called, which has foursteel ploughshares that turn up the ground ten inches deep. Eighthorses draw this, and as a seeder is fastened to the plough, and backof the plough a harrow, the horses plough, seed, harrow, and cover upthe grain at one time. There the seed-wheat lies tucked up in its warmbrown bed till rain and sunshine call out the tiny green spears, andcoax them higher and stronger, and the hot sun of June and July ripensthe precious grain. 

Then a great machine called a "header and thresher" is driven intothe field and sweeps through miles and miles of bending grain, cuttingswaths as wide as a street, and harvesting, threshing, and leavinga long trail of sacked wheat ready to ship on the cars. Thirty-sixhorses draw the header, and five or six men are needed to attend tothis giant, who bites off the grain, shakes out the kernels, throwsthem into sacks and sews them up, all in one breath, as you might say. The harvesters work from daylight to dusk, and three-fourths of ourwheat crop is gathered in this way. 

Much golden straw is left, besides that which the "headers" burn asfuel, and farmers stack this straw for cattle to nibble at. The stockfeed in the stubble fields, too, and strange visitors also cometo these ranches to pick up the scattered grains of wheat. Thesestrangers are wild white geese, in such large flocks that when feedingthey look like snow patches on the ground. They eat so much that oftenthey cannot fly and may be knocked over with clubs. In the springthese geese must be driven away by watchmen with shot-guns to keepthem from pulling up the young grain. 

The largest single wheat-field in California is on the banks of theSan Joaquin River, in Madera County. This covers twenty-five thousandacres and is almost as flat as a floor. It is nearly a perfect squarein shape, and each side of the square is a little over six miles long. There are no roads through this solid stretch of grain. Two hundredmen, a thousand horses, and many big machines are needed to work thiswheat-field. 

Some of the big harvesters that cut and thresh the wheat are drawn bya traction-engine instead of horses. In running a fifty-horse-powerengine high-priced coal had to be burnt but now the coal grates arereplaced by petroleum burners, and crude coal-oil is the cheap fuel. This does not make sparks to set the fields on fire like burning coalor straw and so is safer to use. 

On large ranches wheat can be grown for less than a cent a pound, while it has brought two cents or double the money when sold. Butthere are not always good crops, as the grain needs plenty of moisturein the spring when rains are uncertain. 

The wheat crop of the state has fallen off of late to less than halfthe yield of earlier years, but the deep, rich valley soil still growsgrain enough to feed hungry people in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as in our own Union. Great quantities are taken in largefour-masted ships to Liverpool, England, and there made into Americanflour. Our own flour-mills turn out thousands of barrels of flour, and this travels far, too. The first thing picked up in Manila afterAdmiral Dewey's victory was a flour sack with a California mill mark. 

It would need a long, long story to tell how far from home and intowhat strange places the yellow kernels of California wheat sometimestravel, or to picture the odd people who depend upon us for food. 

ORCHARD, FARM, AND VINEYARD

Long ago the Mission Fathers taught the Indians to plant and to takecare of vines and fruit-trees. They built water-works to bring life tothe thirsty trees in the dry summers, and to grow oranges, limes, and figs, as well as peaches, apricots, and apples. They trainedgrape-vines over arbors and trellises round the Mission buildings, andfrom the small, black grapes made wine. Olive trees and date-palms didwell at the southern settlements. But most of these orchards died whenthe Mission Fathers were no longer allowed to make the Indians workfor the church property, though a few old palms and olive trees arestill standing. 

During Mexican days each ranch owner raised enough grain or corn andbeans for his own family but planted no fruit, or but little, whilethe Americans who came to seek gold thought farming a slow way ofmaking a living. People soon found out, however, that our fine climateand rich soil made good crops almost certain, and there was suchdemand for fruit and farm products that more and more acres werecultivated each year. 

Our leading industry now is farming and fruit-growing, andCalifornia's delicious fresh or cured fruit is sent all over theworld. Large amounts of barley and hops are shipped from here toEurope, and our state produces almost all the Lima beans used in thecountry. 

The citrus fruits, as oranges, lemons, and pomelos, or "grape-fruit, "are called, grow in the seven southern counties, or in the foothillson the western slope of the Sierras. The trees cannot endure frost andmust be irrigated in the summer. Orange trees are a pretty sight, withtheir shining green leaves, white, sweet-smelling flowers, and thegreen or golden fruit. About Christmas-time, when oranges ripen, bothblossoms and fruit may be picked from the same tree. Los Angeles andOrange County grow most oranges, but San Diego is first in lemonculture. Half a million trees in that county show the bright yellowfruit and fragrant blossoms every month in the year. The othersouthern counties also raise lemons by the car-load to send east, orfor your lemonade and lemon pies at home. 

[Illustration: AN ORANGE TREE WITH FRUIT AND BLOSSOMS. ]

[Illustration: PALMS OVER 100 YEARS OLD AT LOS ANGLES. ]

There, too, the olive grows well, that little plum-shaped fruit youusually see as a green, salt pickle on the table. The Mission Fathersbrought this tree first from Spain, where the poor people live uponblack bread and olives. Olives are picked while green and put ina strong brine of salt and water to preserve them for eating. Darkpurple ripe olives are also very good prepared the same way. Did youknow that olive-oil is pressed out of ripe olives? The best oil comesfrom the first crushing, and the pulp is afterwards heated, when asecond quality of oil is obtained. Olive trees grow very slowly, anddo not fruit for seven years after they are planted. But they live ahundred years, and bear more olives every season. 

The black or purple fig which grew in the old Mission gardens bearsfruit everywhere in the state. Either fresh and ripe, or pressed flatand dried, it is delicious and healthful. White figs like those fromabroad have been raised the last few years, and it is hoped in time toproduce Smyrna figs equal to the imported. 

While peach orchards blossom and bear fruit six months of the year inthe south, most of this pretty pink-cheeked fruit grows in the greatvalleys, or along the Sacramento River. Pears also show their snowyblossoms and yellow fruit in the valleys and farther north. TheBartlett pear is sent to all the Eastern states in cold storage carskept cool by ice, and also to Europe. 

The finest apricots are those of that wonderful southern country, miles and miles of orchards lying round Fresno especially. Yet thevalleys and foot-hills produce plenty, and in the old mining countiesvery choice fruit ripens. Apples like the high mountain valleys, wherethey get a touch of frost in winter, though there is a cool section ofSan Diego County where fine ones are raised. Cherries do well in themiddle and valley regions, the earliest coming from Vacaville, inSolano County. 

Grapes grow throughout the state, though the famous raisin vineyards, where thousands of tons are dried every year, are around Fresno. Mostof the raisins are dried in the sun, but in one factory a hundred tonsof grapes may be dried at one time by steam. The raisins are seeded bymachinery, and packed in pretty boxes to send all over the coast, andthrough the states, where once only foreign raisins were used. Manyvineyards in the southern part and middle of the state grow only winegrapes, California wines, champagne, and brandy having a wide use. 

Great quantities of fresh fruits are used in the state or sent away, while the canneries put up immense amounts, also. Canned fruit reachesmany consumers, but it is expensive. Our cured or dried fruit, howeveris so cheap and so good that millions of pounds are prepared everyyear. Such fruit ripens on the tree and so keeps all its fine flavor. It is then dried in the sunshine, which not only fits it for longkeeping but turns part of it to sugar. Apricots, peaches, pears, andcherries are usually cut in halves or stoned before drying. Prunes arefirst on the list of cured fruits, and they seem the best to use asfood. The ripe prunes are dipped into a boiling lye to make the skintender, then rinsed and spread in the sun a day or two. They are thenallowed to "sweat" to get a good color, are next dipped in boilingwater a minute or two, dried, and finally graded, a certain number tothe pound, and packed in boxes or sacks. 

Several kinds of nuts grow well in the state. All the so-called"English" walnuts, with their thin shells, are raised in the south, Orange County furnishing half the amount we market. Peanuts andalmonds are a good crop there, also, though almond groves are in allparts of the state. Both paper and thick-shelled almonds are usuallybleached, or whitened, with sulphur smoke to improve their color. 

Santa Barbara and Ventura are the bean counties of the state, and sendLima beans away by train-loads, while Orange County grows celery forthe Eastern market. Very high prices are received for this celery andother vegetables sent from California during the winter season whenfields are covered with snow in the East. 

And did you know that the state produces a great deal of sugar? Tonsand tons of sugar-beets are grown throughout the farming lands, andharvested in September. When the juice of these crushed beets isboiled and refined, it makes a sugar exactly like cane sugar and muchcheaper. One-fifth of the beet is sugar, it is said. 

Even the dry, worthless mountain sides are valuable to the bee-keeper. The bees make a delicious honey from the wild, white sage, which growswhere nothing else will live. This sage honey brings the very highestprice. 

Oats are raised in the coast counties, and corn in the valleys, butowing to cool nights and dry air the corn seldom makes a good crop. Orange County, however, claims corn with stalks twenty feet high anda hundred bushels to the acre. In the south, also, that wonderfulforage-plant, alfalfa, will produce six crops a year by irrigation andgive a ton or more to the acre at each cutting. 

Along the upper Sacramento River stretch the great hop-fields fullof tall vines covered with light-green tassels. At hop-picking seasonmany families have a month's picnic, children and all working dayafter day in the fields and pulling off the fragrant hops. Indians, too, are among the best hop-pickers. The dried hops are bleached withsulphur, baled, and in great quantities sent to Liverpool, where withCalifornia barley they are used in brewing malt liquors. 

An odd crop is mustard, and at Lompoc, in Santa Barbara County, enoughfor the whole country is grown. Both brown and yellow mustard iscultivated, and the little seeds, almost as fine as gunpowder, aresold to spice-mills and pickle-factories. 

Whole farms are taken up with the production of flower-seeds or bulbs, with acres and acres of calla-lilies, roses, carnations, and violets. The tall pampas-grass, with its long feathery plumes, gives aprofitable crop. Indeed, one can scarcely name a fruit, flower, ortree that will not thrive and grow to perfection in our mild climateand rich soil. 

THE STORY OF THE NAVEL ORANGE

Who has not enjoyed a juicy navel orange, while wondering at itspeculiar shape and lack of troublesome seeds? Yet few people know thatthis particular variety has brought millions of dollars into our stateand made orange growing our third greatest industry. 

Read this story of the seedless orange, this "golden apple ofCalifornia, " which was first cultivated by Luther Tibbets, ofRiverside, and learn how Southern California has profited by its navelorange crops. 

Nearly thirty years ago Mr. Tibbets came from New York to this stateand took up free government land near what is now the beautiful cityof Riverside. He was one of the half-dozen pioneer fruit-growersof that region, and had noticed at the San Gabriel Mission how wellorange trees grew there. His wife and daughter waited in Washington, D. C. , until a home should be ready here for them, and they often sentMr. Tibbets plants and seeds from the Department of Agriculture. Tothis Department and its gardens in Washington, many curious plantsare forwarded from other countries for growing and experiment in theUnited States. New kinds of grain or fruits are carefully cultivatedand watched by the Department, and from it farmers can always getseeds or cuttings to try on their own farms. 

Mrs. Tibbets often visited the Department gardens, and in 1873 shewrote to her husband that she could get him some fine orange trees ifhe would promise the government to take great care of them and to keepthem apart from other trees till they fruited. Of course he agreed togive them special attention, and therefore that December he receivedthree small, rooted orange trees. A cow chewed up one of these, butfor five years the others were watched and tended. Then sweet whiteblossoms appeared on each little tree, and afterwards two oranges, like hard green bullets at first. Finally, in January, 1879, Mr. Tibbets picked four large, well-flavored, golden oranges, the firstseedless ones ever grown outside of Brazil. 

From the hot swamps of the tropical country at Bahia the United StatesConsul had sent six cuttings of this peculiar orange to be plantedin the Washington gardens. All died but the two at Riverside. In 1880they bore half a bushel of fruit, and the new seedless oranges weretalked of throughout Southern California. The other orange growershad been cultivating "seedlings, " trees which bore smaller fruit, withmany bitter seeds and a thick skin. Many of these growers now cut backtheir seedlings to bare limbs, and grafted the new orange on thesebranches. This is called "budding, " and is done by cutting off a thinslip of bark with a tiny folded-up leaf-bud on it, inserting the graftin the branch to be budded and securing it there with wax to keep theair out. The little bud drinks in sap from the tree stem, and growsand blossoms true to its own mother tree. 

There were few orange groves then, but soon nearly all were buddedto the new kind, seventy-five acres being so changed on the BaldwinRanch; and when these trees began to bear, some five years afterwards, people were much excited over the seedless fruit. 

Such high prices were paid for these oranges at first, that orangegrowing boomed all over Southern California. People thought theirfortunes were made when they set out a few acres of small budded treesthey had paid a dollar or more apiece for. Whole towns sprang up indry treeless valleys where only cattle and sheep had pastured, and land worth only twenty-five dollars an acre before the orangeexcitement, sold quickly for eight hundred and a thousand when plantedwith trees. The towns of Pomona, Redlands, Monrovia, and others inthe orange localities were unknown before 1885, and grew to severalthousand population in a few years. Everybody talked of the greatprofit in orange growing, and people who had nurseries of young treesgrown from navel buds made fortunes. 

At this day thousands of acres of seedless oranges are in full bearingand no one buys the old kinds. Hundreds of car-loads of the seedlingsare not even picked, and ninety per cent of the eighteen thousandcar-loads which make the season's orange crop are navel oranges. Overforty-five millions of dollars are now invested in the growing andmarketing of this remarkable fruit. 

At Riverside, the home of the orange, the two original Washingtonnavel trees still stand. Mr. Tibbets guarded them for years, had themfenced with high latticework, and seldom allowed any one to touchthem. He refused ten thousand dollars for them, since for months hesold hundreds of dollars' worth of buds from these parent trees. Thesetwo trees and their large family have caused thousands of people tocome to the state, and have built up Southern California wonderfully. 

THE LEMON

For many years people who use that sour but necessary fruit, thelemon, thought that only the little yellow ones which came from thefar-away island of Sicily were good. The men who import foreign fruitsalways said so; and in spite of the fact that the larger Californialemon was more acid, of as good flavor, smooth skinned, and golden, people believed the Mediterranean groves produced the best. But, atlast, our warm, dry air, good soil, and plenty of water, together withcare and skill while growing and packing, have made California lemonsthe most in demand. These lemons keep well, and bear shipping and longjourneys better than the imported fruit. 

Citrus fruits, as the orange and lemon are called, do well in all thesouthern counties, and San Diego County boasts of not only the largestlemon grove in California, but in the world. This is a thousand-acretract overlooking San Diego Bay and cultivated by the Chula Vistacolony. It was once a pasture given up to wandering bands of cattleand sheep. There was little water, and no one ever thought these drymesa lands would one day be a beautiful garden spot, green with theshining lemon leaves, and golden with fruit. 

A company was formed to develop this forty-two square miles of land, and to get water for irrigation, since all the trees must have littlestreams of water round their thirsty roots three or four times duringthe dry summer. A great dam was constructed on the Sweetwater River, near Chula Vista, and a reservoir built. Water was piped from this tothe lemon groves, which are about a hundred feet below the reservoir, and from May to September the trees are irrigated. This is done byploughing furrows on each side of a row of trees and turning smallrills of water slowly down them till the ground is soaked around thetree roots. No one thought the great reservoir would ever be empty, but two winters with but little rain made it necessary to put downmany wells in the dry bed of the Sweetwater River, and from these astrong steady flow of millions of gallons is pumped into the waterpipes. So this great lemon orchard is always sure of water enough, returning the gift later in generous golden measure. 

One may pick lemon blossoms, ripe and green fruit every month in theyear from the same tree, but most of the crop ripens from November toJune. 

Lemons are carefully cut from the tree, and usually picked by size, aring being slipped over them, without regard to their ripeness. Theygrow so thick on the tree that a man can pick more than twenty boxesa day. In preparing it for market the fruit "sweats, " as it is called, in airy boxes, for a month in winter and ten days in summer, andripens and colors during this process. Then each lemon is wipeddry and clean, wrapped separately in tissue-paper, and packed forshipment. The cost of a box of lemons from the tree to the railroad isabout thirty-five cents. 

Thousands of car-loads are shipped to the Eastern and Middle states, while the Pacific Coast is a never-failing market. 

Small, imperfect, and bruised fruit goes to the citric acid factorynear the packing-houses. From these oil of lemon, lemon sugar, andclear green citric-acid crystals are made, and the crushed waste isreturned to the grove and ploughed in about the trees as a fertilizer. 

FLOWERS AND PLANTS

"When California was wild, " says John Muir, "it was one sweetbee-garden throughout its entire length, and from the snowy Sierra tothe ocean. "

There were so many yellow poppies in this great unfenced garden, thatthe Spanish sailing along the coast called it the "Land of Fire" fromthe golden flowers covering the hills. Near Pasadena, in SouthernCalifornia, these poppy fields may still be seen glowing so brightlyin the sun that you do not wonder at the name "Cape Las Flores, " orFlower Cape, which the sailors also gave to this part of the country. 

[Illustration: IN A MISSION GARDEN. ]

[Illustration: A CHRISTMAS GARDEN. ]

The poppy is our best-known wild flower, planted by Mother Naturebefore white men ever visited these shores. When the Spanishsettled here they called the poppy _copa de oro_, or cup of gold. The gold hunters spoke of it as the California gold flower, and sentthe pressed poppies home in their letters. But its correct name isthe Eschscholtzia (esh-sholt'si-a), from the name of a Germanbotanist and naturalist, who studied the plant and wrote about italmost a hundred years ago. 

From February to May the poppies are most plentiful, but a few may befound almost every month in the year. Have you noticed the finely cutgreen leaves, and the pointed green nightcap that covers each bud tillthe morning sunshine coaxes off the cap and unfolds the four satinygolden petals? The flowers love the sun and close up on dark, cloudydays, or if brought into the house. But put them in a sunny window thenext morning, and you may watch the cups of gold open to the light. 

Some of the poppies are a deep orange-color, while others are a paleyellow. And as you walk through the fields you may pick a hundred ateach step, so thick do the plants grow. The wild bees find a yellowdust called pollen or "bee-bread" in the poppy, the same golden powderthat rubs off on your nose, when you put it too close to this cup ofgold or to lilies. 

Then in this "unfenced garden" were also the baby blue-eyes, whosepretty pale-blue blossoms come early in the spring, each one with adrop of honey at the foot of its honey path, as the black lines on itspetals are called. 

Can you name twenty kinds of wild flowers? Around San Francisco andthe bay counties you will count, after the poppy and baby blue-eyes, the shining yellow buttercup, the blue and yellow lupines that grow inthe sand, the tall thistle whose sharp, prickly leaves and thornyred blossoms spell "Let-me-alone, " the blue flag-lilies and redpaint-brush, yellow cream-cups, and wild mustard, and an orangepentstemon. These with many yellow compositæ or flowers like thedandelion, you will find growing on the windy hills and dry, sunnyplaces. Hiding away in quiet corners are the blue-eyed grass, anda wild purple hyacinth, the scarlet columbine swinging its goldentassels, shy blue larkspur, a small yellow sunflower, and wild pinkroses. Among the ferns in shady, wet nooks are white trilliums and adelicate pink bleeding-heart, while the wild blue violets and yellowpansies love the warm, rocky hillside. 

Mariposas, or butterfly tulips of many colors, grow in the foot-hillsand mountains. Perhaps our most beautiful wild flowers are the lilies, of which we have over a dozen kinds. In the redwood forests there is atall, lovely pink lily, and many brown-spotted yellow tiger-lilies. Upin the mountain pines a snowy white Washington lily sometimes coversa mountain side with its tall stems bearing dozens of sweet waxenblossoms. In the wet, swampy places bright red, and many small orangelilies bloom in late summer. 

In the high Sierras are found strange and pretty blossoms unlikethe flowers of valleys and sea-coast. There you will see themountain-heather with pink, purple, or dainty white bells, thegoldenrod, and gentians blue as the sky. Strangest of all is thesnow-plant. This curious thing sends up a thick, fleshy spike a footor so in height and set closely with bright scarlet flowers. It growswhere the snow has just melted round the fir trees, and leaf, stem, and blossom are all the same glowing red. 

Most of the valley and coast wild-flowers bloom and ripen their seedsbefore the dry summer begins. Such plants die and wither away in theheat, but their seeds are safe on the warm ground till fall rains soakthe earth and set them growing again. In the high mountains a thickblanket of snow covers the sleeping seeds till May or June, and thensunshine wakes them once more. 

[Illustration: "WAWONA" (28 feet in diameter). ]

[Illustration: THE GRIZZLY GIANT (33 feet in diameter). ]

No doubt you have seen many of our shrubs or tall bush-plants in yourvacations. Do you remember the sweet creamy white azaleas and thebuckeyes that grow along the creeks in the redwoods? And the featheryblue blossoms of the wild lilac crowding in close thickets upthe hillsides? One of our shrubs is a holiday visitor, theChristmas-berry, whose bright-red clusters trim your house at thatgay, happy season. The manzanita is another pretty bush, with pinkbells that ripen to small scarlet apples in the fall. 

Usually, these and other shrubs cover the hillsides with a thick, matted tangle of stems and branches almost impossible to get through. This chaparral, as the Spanish called it, clothes the foot-hills andmountain sides with a close growth through which deer and bears alonecan travel and make trails or runways. Great stretches of buckthorn inthe north, and of sage-brush in the south, cover the wild lands, whilein the sandy desert tall, prickly cactus, yucca, and mesquite growwith the sage-brush in the blazing sun. 

Only a few of California's wild plants and flowers have been nowcalled to your notice. But children have sharp eyes, and you willfind many more to inquire about in your vacation days. Thenthe blackberries and thimble-berries will be ripe, and the pinksalmon-berry in the redwoods. Perhaps you will look for and dig up thesoaproot, that onion-like bulb of one of the lily family with whichthe Indians make a soapy lather to wash their clothes. Let us hopeyou will know and keep away from the "poison-oak, " the low bush withpretty red leaves, for its leaves are apt to make your skin swell upand blister wherever they touch you. 

What a long and pleasant story might be told you of our state's realgardens! Perhaps your teacher will give you an hour to talk about yourhome gardens, and to see how much you can tell about them. You mayhave flowers the year round, if you live on the coast, or in the warmvalleys where no Jack Frost comes with his icy breath to kill thetender plants. In such genial climates roses and geraniums bloom allyear, and only rest when the gardener cuts them back; and most of theshrubs and trees in parks and gardens are always fresh and green. 

Florists who raise flowers to sell find that here they can grow thechoicest and finest carnations, roses, and all the garden blossoms youknow so well. Many of these florists deal only in flower-seeds, andbulbs or roots of the lilies to send to the Eastern states or abroad, where people greatly prize California flowers. 

Plants and trees from all parts of the world thrive here, also. Youhave seen the palms, the tall sword-palm with its great spike of snowybloom in the spring, the fan-palm whose dried and trimmed leavesare really used for fans, and, perhaps, the date-palm. This treewas planted round the Missions by the Padres, and some, more thana hundred years old, are still standing at the San Gabriel Mission. These, and the magnolia with its large creamy blossoms, as well as thegraceful pepper-tree, are natives of warm, southern lands, while theeucalyptus, or gum-tree, was brought here from Australia. 

Look round, children, as you walk to and from school, or in the park, and try to know and name the green things growing there, the flowersand plants sent to make our world a pleasant place to live in. 

THE BIG TREES AND LUMBERING

The largest trees in the world are those forest giants of Californiawhich grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, and nowhereelse on the globe. People carelessly call these grand trees "redwoods"or "big trees, " but their family name is Sequoia, an Indian chief'sname. When the trees were first discovered, in 1853, accounts of theirheight and size were sent to England. Supposing this giant to be a newtree, it was there christened _Wellingtonia_, and also _gigantea_for its immense measurements. While Americans were trying to have itcalled _Washingtonia_, a famous Frenchman who knew all about treesdecided that the specimen sent him was certainly a sequoia, as namedby a German professor some six years before this time. So the tree wascalled _sequoia gigantea_ and quietly went on growing, unmindful ofthe four nations who had quarrelled over its christening. Why, indeed, should it bother its lofty head with the chatter of people whosecountries were unknown when this mighty tree was full grown? Forthese sequoias are the oldest of living objects and have probably beengrowing for four thousand years. How do we know this? Well, when afallen trunk is sawed across, one can see rings in the wood, and it isthought that each ring is a year's growth. John Muir counted over fourthousand of these annual rings on the stump of one of the Kings Rivertrees. 

These fine old trees grow in groves, and of the nine or ten grovesthe Calaveras and Mariposa are the best known. The Calaveras group ofnearly a hundred mighty trees was the first one discovered, and fourtrees here are over three hundred feet high. The fallen "Father ofthe Forest" must have been much higher, for it measures a hundred feetround its trunk at the root end. A man can ride on horseback for twohundred feet through its hollow trunk as it lies on the ground. Manyof the standing trees hollowed out by fires are large enough, used ascabins, to live in. 

The Mariposa grove of Big Trees, being not far from Yosemite Valley, is the best known, as thousands of tourists visit both places. Thereis a big tree at Mariposa for every day in the year, and two verywonderful ones, the Grizzly Giant and Wawona. Stage-coaches drive intothe grove through the tree Wawona, which was bored and burned outso as to make an opening ten by twelve feet. A wall of wood ten feetthick on each side of this opening supports the living tree. The greatGrizzly Giant towers a hundred feet without a branch, and twice thatheight above the first immense branches that are six feet through. This was, no doubt, an old tree when Columbus discovered America, yetit is alive and green and still growing. 

The largest tree in the world is the General Sherman, in SequoiaNational Park, and it is thirty-five feet in diameter. This means thatthe stump of the tree, if smoothed off, would make a floor on whichthirty people might dance, or your whole class be seated. You canscarcely imagine what a mighty column such a tree is, with its richred-brown bark, fluted like a column, too, and with its crown offeathery green branches and foliage. The bark is a foot or two thick. The trees are evergreens, and conifers, or cone-bearers. Sequoia conesare two or three inches long and full of small seeds. The Douglassquirrel gets most of these seeds, but there are still seedlings andsaplings or young trees enough to keep the race alive in most of thegroves. 

These groves of wonderful and rare trees are protected as NationalParks in the Sequoia and Grant groves, and Mariposa belongs to thestate. It is against the law to cut the trees in those groves. Theirworst enemy is fire, and a troop of cavalry is sent every year toguard them, and to keep out the sheep-herders, whose flocks woulddestroy the underbrush and young trees. But, unfortunately, lumbermenhave put up mills near the Fresno and Kings River groups, and, wastingmore than they use, are destroying magnificent trees thousands ofyears old in order to make shingles. When nature has taken such goodcare of this rare and wonderful tree, the Sierra Giant, men should tryto preserve the groves unharmed in all their beauty. 

Another _sequoia_ grows in great forests along the Coast Range fromSanta Cruz to the northern state-line, and beyond into Oregon. Thisis the _sequoia sempervirens_, the Latin name meaning always green. Redwood is its common name, and the lumber for our frame or woodenhouses is cut from this tree. Millions of feet of this redwood lumberare shipped from the northern counties of the state every year, upto Alaska or down to Central and South America. It is also sent faracross the Pacific to the Hawaiian and Philippine islands and to Chinaand Australia. 

While the _sequoia gigantea_ delights in a clear sky and hot sunshine, its brother, the _sempervirens_, prefers a cool sea-coast climate, offering frequent baths of fog. There is also a difference in the sizeof these trees; the redwood is often three hundred feet high, butis less in girth than its relative in the Sierras. There is not muchunderbrush and little sunshine in the cool, green redwood forests, each tree rising tall and stately for a hundred feet without branches, while the green tops seem almost to touch the sky as one looks up. Through the woods one hears the blue jay scream and chatter, and thetap, tap of the woodpecker as he drills holes in the bark to fill withacorns for his winter store. 

When the lumberman looks at these beautiful forests, he sees only manylogs containing many thousand feet of lumber, which he must get outthe easiest and cheapest way. He only chooses the finest and largesttrunks, and there is great waste in cutting these. The men beginto saw the tree some eight or ten feet from the ground, and soon ittrembles and falls with a mighty crash, often snapping off other treesin its way to the ground. After all the selected trees have fallen, fires are started to burn off the branches and underbrush so that themen can work easier. This fire only chars the outside bark of the big, green logs, but it kills all the young saplings, and leaves the oncebeautiful forest a waste of blackened logs and gray ashes. When thefire burns itself out, the logs are usually sawed with a cross-cut sawinto sixteen-foot lengths, since in that form they are easy to handle. Then oxen or horses haul them out; or sometimes a wire cable isfastened to them by iron "dogs, " or stakes, and a little stationaryengine pulls them away to the siding at the railroad track. Here theyare rolled on flat-cars, fastened with a big iron chain around thefour or six logs on the car, and taken on the logging train to themill-pond. They lie soaking in the water until drawn up to the keensaws of the sawmill that cut and slice the wood like cheese. The barkand outside is carved off as you would cut the crust off bread, andthen sharp, circular saws cut boards and planks till the log is usedup, and the log-carriage lifts another to its place. As the shiningsteel bites into the wood the noise almost deafens you and the millshakes with the thunder of log-carriage and feeders. Useless ends, slabs, and refuse are burnt in the sawdust pit, where the fires nevergo out. Very much of the tree is wasted and all the limbs. The redwoodtree has so much life and strength, however, that it sends up brightgreen sprouts around the burnt stump, and standing trees charredoutside to the tops will have new branches the next season. In theolder forests tall young trees are often seen growing in a ring roundan empty spot, the long-dead stump having rotted away. 

[Illustration: BIG TREES AT FELTON, SANTA CRUZ CO. ]

Near Santa Cruz is a grove of large and beautiful redwoods, manyof the trees being over three hundred feet high and from fortyto sixty-five feet around the base of the trunk. The Giant is thelargest, and three other immense ones are named for Generals Grant, Sherman, and Fremont. In 1846 General Fremont found this grove, andcamped, on a rainy winter night, in the hollow trunk of the treebearing his name. Here is also seen a group of eleven very tall treesgrowing in a circle around an old stump. 

In the Sierras, both in the _sequoia_ groves and forests above theBig-Tree region, are very large sugar-pines, red firs, and yellow-pinetrees, all of which make excellent lumber. Great forests of thesetrees, with cedars almost as large as the redwoods, are in thenorthern counties also. You may have seen sugar-pine cones which areover a foot long, the largest of all found, while redwood cones arethe smallest. Another great tree is the Douglas spruce, the king ofspruce trees, growing in both Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges. 

The California laurel, or bay tree, with its beautiful, shining greenleaves, and the madroño, the slender, red-barked tree on the hillsidesyou must have noticed in your trips to the country, as well as ourfine valley and mountain oaks. Try to learn the kinds of trees andstudy their leaves, blossoms, and fruit, and you will find every onea friend well worth knowing. Then you will wish to save them from fireand the lumberman's axe, especially the rare and old _sequoias_. 

OUR BIRDS

More than three hundred kinds of these dear feathered friends andvisitors live in California. Along the sea-shore, in the great valleysand the mountain-forests and meadows, even in the dry, hot desert, thebirds, our shy and merry neighbors, are at home. In many parts ofthe state they find sunshine and green trees the year round, and foodalways at hand. Yet sparrows, robins, and woodpeckers will stay in thesnowed-in groves of the Sierras all winter, contentedly chirping orsinging in spite of the bitter cold. 

If you know these wanderers of wood and field, these birds of sea andshore, and their interesting habits, you will wish to protect themfrom stone or gun, and their nests from the egg collector. You willlisten to the lark and linnet, and be glad that the happy songstertrilling such sweet notes is free to fly where he wishes, and isnot pining in a cage. And you, little girl, will not encourage thedestruction of these pretty creatures by wearing a sea-gull or part ofsome dead bird on your hat. 

To become better acquainted with birds, let us call them before us byclasses, beginning with our sea-birds and those round the bays and onthe coast. Some of these not only swim but dive in the salt waters, and to this class of divers belong the grebe, loon, murre, and puffin. They dive at the flash of a gun, and after what seems a long time, come up far away from the spot the hunter aimed at. These birdsusually nest on bare, rocky cliffs near the ocean, or on islands likethe Farallones, and their large green eggs hatch out nestlings thatare ugly and awkward and helpless on land. But they ride the greatocean-breakers, or dive into their clear depths easily and gracefully;and as they live upon fish or small sea-creatures, the divers onlyseek land to roost at night and to raise their young. 

Next come the gulls, who belong to a class known as "long-wingedswimmers. " They have strong wings and fly great distances, and withtheir webbed feet swim well, too. Most of the sea-gulls are white witha gray coat on their backs, but they look snowy-white as they fly. Youmay see them walking about the wharves, or perching on roofs and pileswatching for food, and seeming very tame as they pick up bits of breador the refuse floating in the water. They follow steamers for miles, scarcely moving their wings as they float in the air; and if you throwa cracker from the deck, some gull will make a swift swoop and snatchit before the cracker reaches the water. 

Far out on the Pacific the albatross sails proudly on his broad wings, and cares nothing for high winds or storms. He rests and sleeps on thebillows at night with his little companions, the stormy petrels. He isthe largest and strongest of our birds of flight, the very king of thesea. The stormy petrels are not much larger than a swallow. Sailorscall them. "Mother Carey's chickens, " and are sure a storm iscoming up when petrels follow the ship. The albatross, petrel, anda gull-like bird called a shearwater belong to the "tube-nosedswimmers, " on account of their curious long beaks. 

Along the coast, and wading in the shallow waters around the bays, aresome strange birds known as pelicans and shags. They are good fishers, and drive the darting, finny fellows before them as they wade in thewater till they can see and gobble them up. Most waders have undertheir beaks a skin-pocket deep enough to hold a fish while carryingit to their nestlings, or making ready to swallow it. All of thesesea-birds raise their young as far from the shore and from huntersas possible. Great flocks of them roost on islands fifteen or twentymiles out in the ocean, and fly into the bays every morning. 

Wild ducks, geese, the herons, mud-hens, sandpipers, and curlews aremarsh and shore birds that feed and wade in the shallow salt water, and nest on the banks or, like the heron, in trees near the bay. Theheron is a frog-catcher, and he will stand very still on his long legsand patiently wait till the frog, thinking him gone, swims near. Thenone dart of the long bill captures froggy, and the heron waits foranother. You know the red-head, green mallard, canvas-back, and smallteal ducks, no doubt, and have seen the flocks of wild geese flyingand calling in the sky, or standing like patches of snow as they feedin the marshes or grain-fields. 

Down on the mud-flats at low tide you see birds called rails, and also"kill-dee" plovers. The shoveller ducks are there, too fishing up withbroad, flat beaks little crabs and such creatures as are in the mud, straining out mud and water, but swallowing the rest. All these birdsare "waders" and delight in mud and cold salt water. They are usuallyquiet, or make only strange, shrill cries. 

In the sunny fields and woods we shall find many of the land-birds, and first comes a family whose habits are so like those of chickensthat they are called "scratchers. " These birds depend for food uponseeds and bugs or worms they scratch out of the ground. Up inthe Sierra sugar-pines and fir-woods lives the largest of these"scratchers, " the brown grouse. He is a shy creature, rising out ofhis feeding-ground with a great whirring of wings and out of sightbefore the hunter can fire at him. His peculiar cry, or "drumming, " asit is called, sounds through the woods like tapping hard on a hollowlog. His equally shy neighbor is the mountain-quail, while throughthe farming lands and all along the hillsides the valley--quail areplenty. Perhaps you have seen a happy family of these speckled brownbirds. Papa quail has a black crest on his head, and he calls "Lookright here" from the wrong side of the road to fool you, while Mammaand her little, cunning chicks scatter like flying brown leaves in thebrush. After the danger is past, you hear her low call to bring themround her again. In the desert and sage-brush part of the state thesage-hen, another "scratcher, " runs swiftly through the thickets, butmany are caught and brought in by the Indians. 

Our birds of prey are eagles, vultures, hawks, owls, and theturkey-buzzards, those big black scavengers that hang in the air. Incircles high above woods and fields some of these birds of prey sweepon broad wings, searching with keen sight for their food in some deadanimal far below. The California condor, a great black vulture-likebird, is almost extinct, and is only found in the highest mountains. It is very large of wing, and strong enough, it is said, to carry offa sheep. Both golden and bald eagles nest in tall trees in the wildestparts of the state. The chicken-hawk, whose swift sailing over thepoultry-yard calls out loud squawking from the frightened hens, you have often seen, and the wise-looking brown owls, too. A smallburrowing owl lives in the squirrel holes, and you may catch himeasily in the daytime, when he cannot see. 

The road-runner is of the cuckoo family of birds. It seldom flies, butruns swiftly along the roads, or in the desert, and is said to killrattlesnakes by placing a ring of thorny cactus leaves around thesnake as it lies asleep. The rattler is then pecked to death, since itcannot get out of its prickly cage. This fowl is like a slender brownhen in size. 

In the redwoods you hear the tap, tap, of the "carpenter" woodpecker, with his black coat and gay red cap. He drills holes in the bark of atree with his strong beak and then fits an acorn neatly into each safelittle storehouse. It is thought that worms and grubs fatten whileliving in these acorns, so that the woodpecker always has a meal readyin the winter when the ground is wet, or the squirrels have carriedoff the acorns under the trees. 

Humming-birds, or "hummers, " as the boys call them, are plenty in cityand country and so fearless that they will take a bath in the sprayof the garden-hose, or dart their long bills in the fuchsias almostwithin your reach. The bill shields a double tongue, which gets notonly honey, but small insects from the flower or off the leaves. Thehumming-bird's tiny nest is a soft, round basket, not much bigger thanhalf a walnut-shell, and holding two eggs, which are like small-whitebeans. Bits of moss and gray cobwebs are woven in this nest till itlooks like the branch itself; and here the little mother in her plainbrown dress hatches out and feeds the baby "hummers. " Her husband hasglistening ruby feathers at his throat and green spots on his head andback that glow in the sun like jewels. 

The highest class of birds is the "perchers, " and many friends ofyours belong to this. There are two families, however, of perchers, those that call and the song-birds. Calling over and over theirpeculiar note, the pewees, flycatchers, and king-birds, fly throughthe forests. The crow and blue jay belong to the singers, you willbe surprised to hear. And what a crowd of these song-birds thereare trilling and warbling in the sunshine! Have you ever watched themeadow-lark singing as he sits on guard on the fence, while the restof his brown-coated yellow-vested flock run along the field picking upseeds and insects?

Then there are the linnets, or "redheads, " who sing their sweet, merry tunes all summer, and if they do take a cherry or two the farmershould not grumble. They destroy many bugs and caterpillars and eatweed-seeds that might trouble the fruit-grower more than the missingcherries. The yellow warbler, sometimes called the wild canary, flitsthrough bush and tree and trills its gay notes in town and country. Song-sparrows, thrushes, and bluebirds warble far and near, while thered-winged blackbird makes music in wet, swampy places. The robin, who comes to city gardens in the winter, has a summer home in themountains or redwoods. There, too, the saucy jay screams and chatters, and flashes his blue wings as he flies, scolding all the time. 

In Southern California, among the orange groves or in gardens, themocking-bird trills in sweet, liquid notes his wonderful song. Hemimics, too, many sounds he hears, and sometimes when caged willwhistle tunes or say words. The mocker can crow or cackle like thechickens, or mew like the cat. Then he will whistle clear and loudtill dogs or boys answer his call. When they find themselves fooled, it is said, he mimics a laugh. 

From April to July the birds are busy, nesting, feeding theirfamilies, or teaching them to fly. Many eggs never hatch, and someare destroyed by wild animals. Boys often rob a whole nest to have onelittle blown egg in their collections. Then again the mother is killedand her brood starves to death. When the parent birds are teaching thenestlings to fly, cats also catch the little ones. So you see the poorfeathered things have many enemies. 

Let us try to protect the birds, and to let them live happy livesin freedom. Each one will thank you, either with sweet songs or withbeing a beautiful thing to see on land or ocean. 

[Illustration: YOUNG TOWHEE. ]

[Illustration: BABY YELLOW WARBLERS. From photographs by ElizabethGrinnell. ]

OUR WILD ANIMALS

Once upon a time, when the Spanish owned this state and called ittheir province of Alta California, there were great herds of antelopefeeding on the grassy plains, and at every little stream elk and deerand big grizzly bears came down to drink. No fences had been built, and the wild animals had never heard a rifle-shot. Free and fearlessthey ranged valley and hillside, or made their dens in the thickbrush, or "chaparral, " as the Spanish called it. 

Indian hunters watched the paths over which these wild creaturestravelled to water, and killed deer and antelope with their arrows. But these hunters were afraid of grizzly bears, for an arrow in Mr. Bear's thick hide only made him cross, and with one hug, or even alight blow from his paw, he could cripple the poor Indian. So in thoseearly days the old bears came year after year, and carried off sheepand cattle. The simple folks did not even try to kill them. Indeed, many of the red men believed that very bad Indians were punished bybeing turned into grizzly bears when they died, and they would nothurt their brothers, they said. 

When Father Serra's Mission people were starving at Monterey, thePadre learned that at a place called Bear Valley near by, there weremany grizzlies which the Indians would not kill. He sent Spanishsoldiers there, and they shot so many bears that the hungry Missionfamily had meat enough to last till a ship came from Mexico withsupplies. 

Of all flesh-eating animals this grizzly bear is the largest andstrongest. He can knock down a bull with his great paws, or kill andcarry off a horse. He can live on wild berries and acorns with grassand roots he digs out of the ground, yet fresh meat suits him best, and he prefers a calf, which he holds as a cat does a mouse. 

Nothing but stock was raised in California in those days so longago, and cattle were counted by the thousands and sheep by tens ofthousands. Then the grizzly and cinnamon, or brown, bear feasted allthe time on stray calves and yearlings. Every spring and fall thecattle, which had roamed almost wild in the pastures, were "roundedup" by the cowboys, or vaqueros. After the work of picking out eachranchero's stock and branding the young cattle was over, the vaquerosthought it fine fun to lasso a bear, --some old fellow, perhaps, who had been helping himself to the calves. It is told that one bigcinnamon bear, while quietly feeding on acorns, looked up to findthree or four cow-boys on their ponies in a circle around him. Theyspurred the trembling ponies as close to him as they dared, and yelledat the tops of their voices. The great brute sat up on his haunchesand faced them, growling and snarling. One vaquero sent his ropeflying through the air, and the loop settled over a big, hairy forepaw. Then the bear dropped on all fours and made a jump at the pony, which got out of his reach. Another Mexican threw a lasso and caughtthe bear's hind foot; and as he sat up again a third noose droppedover the other fore paw. Then the poor trapped creature, growling, snarling, and rolling over and over, began a tug of war with thelariats and the ponies. Once a rope broke, and horse and rider tumbledin front of the bear. He made a quick, savage jump, but was pulledback by the other ropes. Then Mr. Bear sat up straight and tugged sohard that another lariat broke and sent the saddle and rider over thepony's head. With one sweep of his paw the bear smashed the saddle, but the cow-boy saved himself by running to an oak tree. At last Mr. Bear was getting the best of the fight so plainly, and had pulled thefrightened ponies so near him, that the man who was thrown off endedthe poor animal's struggles with a rifle-ball. 

A Chinese sheep-herder tells this funny story about a bear: "Me lunout, see what matta; me see sheep all bely much scared, bely much lun, bely much jump. Big black bear jump over fence, come light for me. Meso flighten me know nothin', then me scleam e-e-e-e so loud, and lunat bear till bear get scared too and lun away. "

A few grizzlies are still found in the Sierras, and black and brownbears are often seen with their playful little cubs. The smallfellows are easily tamed and may be taught many tricks. They will livecontentedly in a bear-pit, or even if chained up, and as most of youknow, they like peanuts and pop-corn well enough to beg for them. 

The panther, or mountain-lion, is another large flesh-eating animalwhich makes his home in the thick woods conveniently neighboring thefarmers' corrals and pastures. Not long ago a boy in Marin County, who was sent to look after some ponies, saw a big yellow dog, as hethought, "worrying" one of the colts. When he came nearer he foundit was a wicked-looking, catlike creature, and knew it must be aCalifornia lion. He had nothing with him but a heavy whip. The pantherleft the wounded colt and crouched ready to spring at the boy, but hewas on the alert and struck it a terrible blow across the eyes withhis whip, and then another and another. Half-blinded and whining withpain, the panther turned tail and ran away, while the boy's pony, trembling and snorting with fright, galloped home with his braverider. 

In one of the mountain counties a woman, hearing her chickenssquawking one day at noon, ran out to find what seemed a big dog amongthem with a hen in his mouth. She rushed straight at him with a broom, when the animal turned. She found it was a great panther, who snarledand made ready to spring at her. As she screamed and started to runaway, her foot slipped on a steep and muddy place, and she slid downthe little hill right into the panther's face. He was so frightenedthat he jumped the fence and hurried to the woods. 

This great yellow cat is both savage and cowardly, and he has beenknown to follow a man walking through the woods, all day, yet hesneaked out of sight at every loud call the man gave. He chases deerand gets many small and helpless fawns, hunters say. 

Fur-hunting was once a profitable business for the Indians, who wereclothed in bear and panther skins when the first white men came toCalifornia, and had many furs to trade or sell. The Indians trappedotters, beavers, and minks, and the squaws tanned the deer-hides tomake buckskin shirts or leggings. Hunters and trappers still bring inthese wild animals' furry coats after trips to the high mountains oruntravelled woods, where the shy creatures try to live and be safefrom their enemies. 

In early days herds of a very large deer, called elk, fed on the wildoats and grass. These elk had wide, branching horns measuring threeor four feet from tip to tip. Only a few of them now survive in theredwood forests in the northern counties. There were plenty of themonce where San Francisco now stands. Dana in his book called "TwoYears Before the Mast, " tells us that when his ship dropped anchor offthe little village of Yerba Buena about sixty-seven years ago, he sawhundreds of red deer and elk with their branching antlers. They wererunning about on the hills, or standing still to look at the shipuntil the noise frightened them off. At that time the whole countrywas covered with thick trees and bushes where the wolf and coyoteprowled, and the grizzly bear's track was seen everywhere. 

[Illustration: CALIFORNIA RED DEER. From a photograph by George V. Robinson. ]

There are plenty of deer in the redwoods now, and in the highSierras are black-tailed and large mule-deer. In the woods round MountTamalpais timid red deer live, too. In winter, when it is cold andsnowy in the northern counties of our state, these deer often comeinto the farmer's barnyard to nibble at the hay. 

There are still left in the mountains among the pines and snowy cliffsmany mountain-sheep. These curious big-horned animals resemble boththe elk and the sheep, and it is said they can jump from a high rockand land far below on their feet or heavy, twisted horns without beinghurt in the least. 

Of all the great herds of graceful, fast-running antelope, once themost plentiful of our wild animals, only a very few can now be foundon the eastern slopes of the Sierras. 

But Master Coyote, who might well be spared, so cruel and cowardly ishe, still sneaks up and down the whole state, and his quick sharp barkgives notice that the rascal is ready to steal a chicken or a lamb ifit is not protected. With his bushy tail and large head he is half foxand half wolf in appearance, and mean enough in habits to be both. Hecan outrun a dog and even a deer, and though he catches jack-rabbitsand the Molly Cottontail usually for food, he would help his brother, the wolf, to kill a poor harmless sheep. 

This gray wolf is a savage creature and hides in the thick forests byday, slinking out at night to the nearest sheep corral or turkey-penif he can find one unwatched by some faithful dog. His friend andneighbor, the fox, likes fat geese and chickens as well as birds, squirrels, and wood-rats. The queer raccoon lives in the redwoods andis often caught and kept in a cage or chained for a pet. 

Wildcats, both gray and yellow, are found in the thickly timberedparts of California, and the badger makes his home in the mountaincañons or pine woods. There, too, the curious porcupine dwells. He iscovered with grayish white quills, which bristle out when he is angryor frightened. No old dog will touch this animal, for he knows betterthan to get a mouthful of sharp toothpicks by biting Mr. Porcupine, who is like a round pincushion with the pins pointing out. A dog whohas never seen this prickly ball will dab at it, and have a sore pawto nurse for weeks after. 

Two or three kinds of tree-squirrels live in the pines and redwoods, the Douglas squirrel being well known in the mountains. The groundsquirrel, or chipmunk, digs holes in the ground, where he hides hiswinter's store of grain and nuts. 

Three of our smaller wild animals are very common and very troublesometo the farmer. The skunk, which looks like a pretty black and whitekitten with a bushy tail, and also the weasel, destroy all thechickens and eggs they can reach, and they are so cunning that it ishard to keep them out of the hen-house. That little pest, the gopher, we are all well acquainted with, since he gnaws the pinks and rosesoff at their roots in your city garden while his large family ofbrothers and sisters kill the farmer's fruit-trees and vines. Thegopher digs long tunnels under ground, making storerooms here andthere in these passages, which he fills with grass, roots, and seeds. In each cheek he has a pouch, or pocket, large enough to hold nearly ahandful of grain, so the little rascal carries his stores very easily. The traps and poison by which the farmer is always trying to make waywith him, he is sly enough to let alone. His greatest foe is thecat, which watches patiently at the hole where the destructive littlefellow is digging and usually catches him. A mother cat will sometimesbring in two or three gophers a day to her kittens. 

IN SALT WATER AND FRESH

Tom and Retta Ransom were two of the happiest children in the state, I believe, when told that their summer vacation was to be spent atCatalina Island. To see the wonderful fish that swim in those warm, Southern waters, to watch them through the glass-bottomed boat, todip out funny sea-flowers with a net, or catch the pretty kingfish andperhaps a "yellowtail, "--why, they could talk of nothing else!

How they skipped and danced and chattered about the trip! Atlast Mamma said, "Well, everything is packed and ready, and we goto-morrow. " Then what fun it was to stand on the steamer's deck andsail "right out through the Golden Gate, " as Retta said. The biggreen billows of the Pacific Ocean caught the boat as she crossed theoutside bar and tossed salt spray almost into their faces. Little thechildren cared for the drops of water, for they were so glad to beoff on their trip and to say good-by to San Francisco's summer fog andcold winds for a time. 

And there on Seal Rocks, near the Cliff House, were the seals, orrather sea-lions, clumsy creatures like black rubber sacks withfins, or flippers, and a head. Some were lying in the sun and otherscrawling up the steep, wet rocks. Those highest up were asleep andquiet, but most of them kept barking or growling as they tried to finda sunny place to bask in. Sometimes when frightened these sea-lionswill pitch headlong from high rocks into the ocean and dive out ofsight at once. Mrs. Ransom said she remembered seeing one that waskept for years in a salt-water tank, and that, although they seem soclumsy, this sea-lion jumped so quick that he caught a fish thrown tohim before it touched the water. Once fur-seals were in great numbersoff our coast, and lived on the rocks as these sea-lions now do. ButIndians, or later on white hunters, killed them, or drove them upnorth where the crack of the rifle is not heard. 

On to the south the steamer sailed through the foaming waters, and asTom stood watching the white-capped waves go dancing by, he saw, twoor three times, a black fin come up, and then another. At last a mansaid, "Look at the porpoises playing. " Tom screamed with delight asthey jumped and chased each other till their black, shiny backs wereclear out of water. These fish are sometimes called sea-hogs and arefive or six feet long. Either to get their food of small fish, or inplay, they keep swimming and diving near the tops of the breakers. Fishermen catch them with a strong hook and use the thick, leatheryskin for straps or strings, while they try oil out of their blubber orfat. 

All that day and night the boat kept steadily on her way, and the nextmorning they were in Santa Barbara Channel. It was so pleasant sailingon this summer sea in the soft, warm sunshine that even the sea-sickladies felt better and came on deck. Mamma agreed with the childrenthat the steamer trip was much nicer than the hot, dusty cars. Justthen some one called, "See the whale, " and looking quick Tom and Rettasaw what seemed a fountain of water rising high in the air about halfa mile away. Soon another went up, and two or three more, for thegray hump-backed whales like this stretch of smooth bay. They arewarm-blooded animals and not fish at all, so they must come to the topof the waves for air to breathe. The air and water spout out through"blow-holes" on top of the whale's head, and rise like steam in thecolder air. The children's mother told them that the whale is thelargest of all animals, and that it lives on little jellyfish. It swimswith its great mouth wide open and catches all the tiny sea creaturesin its path. A fringe of whalebone hangs down from the roof of thewhale's mouth, and he strains the water out through this and swallowsthe fish. As the boat went on, the children said, "There she blows, "as the sailors do when they see whales spouting in the distance. 

[Illustration: LEAPING TUNA. ]

[Illustration: BLACK SEA BASS. ]

Late that night the steamer got to San Pedro, and you may be sure Tomand Retta were up early the next morning. As they came off theboat, there was a crowd of people on the wharf who were pulling in"yellow-tail" as fast as they dropped their lines. This fine fish isa little like a big salmon, but with golden-yellow fins and tail. Itsbody is greenish gray, with spots of the prettiest rainbow colors, which grow brighter as the fish dies. These fish bite easily, but assoon as caught begin to rush back and forth, fighting and trying tosnap the line. 

The children here took a smaller steamer for the twenty-mile tripacross to Catalina Island, and on the way over they saw a whole"school" of whales and a flight of flying-fishes. Yes, really andtruly, these little fish fly or sail through the air, for their finsbalance them like a parachute. They skim along ten or twelve feetabove the waves, and then drop in the water to rest, taking anotherflight whenever their enemies, the porpoises, chase them. 

How happy the children were to land at the little town of Avalon, andto know that they were to have a month at this beautiful place! Theyhurried down to the beach and their first choice of amusements was theglass-bottomed boat. These boats have "water-telescopes, " which areonly clear glass set in boxed-in places. The glass seems to make theripples still, so that you can look down, down to the bottom of theocean, twenty or thirty feet below you. 

The boatman rowed the children out in the bay, where the water, nowgreen, now blue, was always clear as crystal. On the rocks and sandat the bottom starfish and crabs crawled slowly along or clung to somestone. The purple sea-urchins, queer round-shelled creatures coveredwith thorny spines, crowded together, and the ugly toad-fish hidin the green and brown seaweeds. Blue, purple, and rainbow-coloredjellyfish floated on top of the waters, while gold perch with redand green sunfish swam through the seaweed "like parrots in some hotcountry's woods, " Retta thought. In the shallow places on the rocksthose curious sea-flowers, the anemones, looked like pink or greencactus blossoms. The children never tired of the water-telescope inall their stay at the island. 

At night the warm ocean waters seemed on fire, since they are fullof very tiny, soft-bodied creatures, each of which gives out a faint, glowing light. Every day the fishermen brought in new and strangefishes. The black sea-bass, heavier than the fisherman himself andlonger than he was tall, were wonderful, and they could hardly believethat such big fish were caught with a rod and line. 

But the leaping tuna pleased Tom the most, since he thought it suchfun to watch them jump into the air like silver arrows after theflying-fish. Not so large as the black bass, the tunas are strongenough to tow a boat along when running with a hook. One will drag aheavy launch through the water as if a tug had hold of it, andwill fight for hours, rushing and plunging till tired out. Then thefisherman pulls him up to the boat and ends his struggles. 

Tom and Retta were fond of watching the curious fish and sea-plantsin the glass aquarium tanks on shore also, but their happiest time waswhen they gathered shells on the beach. They never found out the namesof more than those of the limpet, turban, and scallop, though theypicked up baskets full of tiny pink and white beauties, all frail andof many kinds. These shells were once the homes of sea mollusks, as such soft, fleshy creatures are called. But to Tom and Retta theshells were only pretty playthings, to be doll's dishes, or cups, orpincushions, perhaps. 

One morning some fishermen saw a shark, and no one dared to go inbathing for a few days. This great, savage, "man-eater" shark does notoften come north of the Gulf of California. Sometimes small ones arecaught with a hook and line off Catalina Island, and Tom was alwaysglad to see such sea-tigers destroyed. 

Of course the children did not want to go home, till at last Mrs. Ransom explained to them that in the ocean and bay near San Franciscothere were odd fish and strange animals too. And so it turned out, forin a day's fishing over at Sausalito Tom caught many silver smelt andtomcod, with flat, ugly flounders, and a red, big-eyed rock-cod. Thefrightened boy almost fell out of the boat, too, when he pulled in alarge sting-ray, or "stingaree, " as the boatman called it. This queerthree-sided fish, with a sharp, bony sting in its back, flopped roundtill the man cut the hook out, knocked its head till it was no longerable to bite, and threw it overboard. These rays have to be fenced outof the oyster-beds along the bay, since they have big mouths fullof such strong teeth that they crush an oyster, shell and all, anddestroy every one they can reach. 

Oysters are grown in great quantities in the oyster-beds along the bayshore. The largest size, which are called "transplanted, " are broughtfrom the East as very small or baby oysters and dropped into shallowwater, where they cling to rocks or brush-piles till grown. 

Tom also caught a perch, and clinging to it as he drew in his linewas a large, hard-shelled, long-clawed crab. Tom put the crab in thebasket, knowing well what delicious white meat was in the fellow'slegs and back. 

Clams that burrow deep in the mud and may be found at low tide, by digging where their tell-tale bubble of air arises, and the oddshrimps, so good to eat, the children already knew about. Chinesefishermen catch shrimps in nets, dry them on the hillsides, and sendboth dry meat and shells to China. They dry the meat of the abalonealso, and use the beautiful shells, which you have no doubt seen, forcarving into curios, or making into jewellery. 

A salt-water creature very destructive to shipping and the wharves isthe teredo, or ship-worm. This brown inch-long worm lives in woodthat is always under water, such as the bottoms of ships and the roundpiles you see at the wharves. He hollows or bores out winding tunnelsin the wood with the sharp edge of his shell until the piles crumbleto pieces. This small animal would finally destroy the largest woodenship if sheets of copper were not put on the sides and keel to protectit. 

When Retta saw Tom's basket of fish she said, "Well, I think thefresh-water fishes much prettier. I am sure the rainbow and DollyVarden trout with their bright-colored spots, which we saw up in theTruckee River and the mountain lakes last summer, were better to lookat and to eat than these sea monsters. " Tom laughed and said, "Oh, that was because you helped to catch some of those. Do you rememberthe big black-spotted trout we saw in Lake Tahoe? And the littlespeckled fellows we caught in that clear creek in the redwoods, andhow we wrapped them in wet paper and cooked them at our camp-fire?I wish we could go up to the McCloud River, though, and see the babytrout in the fish hatchery there. "

So their mother told them that the tiny trout eggs were kept introughs with clear, cold water running over them till they hatchedout. Then the little things, not half as long as a pin, were placed inlarge tin cans and sent to stock brooks and lakes, and in a year or sothey grew big enough to catch. 

The most valuable of our food-fishes is the salmon, a largesilvery-sided salt-water fish that takes fresh-water journeys too. For they swim up the rivers every year to lay their eggs in the clear, cold streams, knowing, perhaps, that the salmon-fry, as the young arecalled, will have fewer enemies away from the ocean. The salmon goover a hundred miles up to the McCloud River to spawn, and will jumpor leap up small falls or rapids in their way. Indians spear many ofthem, but a number go back to the ocean again. Thousands and thousandsof ocean salmon are caught along the northern coast and taken tothe canneries. There the fish are put into cans and cooked, and whensealed up are sent all over the world. California salmon is eaten fromIceland to India, and its preparation and sale give employment to manypeople. 

[Illustration: HUMPBACK WHALE (57 feet long). ]

[Illustration: TROUT FROM LAKE TAHOE. ]

ABOUT CALIFORNIA'S INDIANS

When the Spanish and English first landed on this part of the NewWorld's coast, they found the Indians who dwelt inland almost naked, and living like wild animals on roots and seeds and acorns. The tribesalong the seashore, however, were good hunters and fishermen, andthose Indians along the Santa Barbara Channel and the islands nearby were a tall, fine-looking people, and the most intelligent of therace. They had large houses and canoes, and clothed themselves insealskins. 

The Indians Drake saw near Point Reyes had fur coats, or cloaks, butno other clothes. They brought him presents of shell money or wampum, and of feather head-dresses and baskets. With their bows and arrowsthey killed fish or deer or squirrels, and being very strong ranswiftly after game. They seemed gentle and peaceable with the whitemen and each other, and were sorry to have Drake sail away. 

In later years the Indians who lived here when the Mission Padres camewere stupid and brutish, because they knew nothing better. They werelazy, dirty, and at first would not work. But the patient Padrestaught them to raise grain and fruit, to build their fine churches, to weave cloth and blankets, and to tan leather for shoes, saddles, or harness. But although the Indians learned to be good workmen, they liked idleness, dancing, and feasting much better, and when theMissions were given up the Indians soon went back to their formerhabits. 

There were no distinct tribes among these Indians, and they had nolaws. Nor was there a king or chief over many natives. They livedin small villages or rancherias, each having a name and ruled by acaptain. Each rancheria had its special place to hunt or fish, and hadto fight its own battles with the other families of Indians. 

The men did nothing but hunt and fish, or make bows, stonearrow-heads, nets and traps for game. The women not only had to gathergrass seeds, acorns, and nuts or berries, but they had to do all thefield-work and carry the heavy burdens, usually with a baby strappedin its basket above the load. In preparing food for cooking, thesemahalas, or squaws, put seed or acorns in a stone mortar and poundedthem to coarse meal or paste. Sometimes a grass-woven basket wasfilled with water, and hot stones were thrown in till the water beganto boil. Then acorn or seed meal was put in and cooked into mush. Thismeal, or that from wild oats, was also mixed into a dough and baked onhot stones into bread. Game or fish was eaten raw, or broiled a littleon the coals of the camp-fire. 

The Indians got many deer, and one way of hunting them was to put thehead and hide of a deer over the hunter's head. The make-believe thencrept along in the high grass till near enough to the quietly feedinganimals to put an arrow through one or more. All the streams werefull of fish then, and salmon swarmed in rivers that ran to the ocean. These salmon the Indians speared or shot with arrows. They also builtrunways or fish-weirs and made them so that the fish would becomecrowded into a narrow passage, and could easily be dipped out withnets or baskets. 

When the Americans came here they called these Indians "Diggers, "because they lived on what they could dig or root out of the ground. They were very fond of grasshoppers, and ate them either dried orraw, or made into a soup with acorn or nut-meal. Fat grubworms andthe flesh of any animal found dead was a great treat. If a whale orsea-lion was washed ashore on the beach, the Indians gathered round itfor a feast, and soon left only the bones. 

[Illustration: INDIAN WOMAN WITH PAPPOOSE. ]

[Illustration: INDIAN WOMAN WITH BASKETS. ]

But they had no idea of saving food, so they fattened when there wasplenty, and starved when dry years made the acorns or nuts scarce. Having no salt, they did not try to dry or smoke the meat of deer orother wild animals. Nor did they at first lay up nuts and seeds, aseven the squirrels or woodpeckers do, for winter use. But wanderingfrom place to place, they camped in the summer along the rivers, wherefish was plenty and the wild oats gave them grain. In the fall theyhunted pine-nuts and berries in the mountains, till snow drove themdown into the valleys. 

Each Indian town, or rancheria, had a name, and many of these namesare still in use. At the north lived the Klamaths, Siskiyous, Shastas, and the savage Modocs, whose months of fighting in the lava bedscaused the death of General Canby and many soldiers. The Porno tribesof Lake county, Yrekas, Hoopas, and Ukiahs, are well known at thepresent day. Tehama, Colusa, Tuolumne, Yosemite, and other placesrecall the Indians who gave each its name. The San Diego Indians arestill known as Diegueños and live on a reserve, or lands set aside forthem. 

Almost all the natives had Indian money, called wampum, which theymade from abalone or clam-shells by cutting out round pieces likebuttons or small, hollow beads. Little shells were also used, and thewampum was strung on grass or on deer sinews. The Pomos still makethousands of pieces of this money, and so many strings of it will buywhatever the buck, or Indian man, and his mahala, or squaw, wish toget. 

General Bidwell, who came to California in 1841 and surveyed the landfor many ranches, says of the Indians at that time:--

"They were almost as wild as deer, and wore no clothes at all exceptthe women, who had tule aprons fastened to a belt round their waists. In the rough work of surveying among brush and briars I gave the menshoes, pantaloons, and shirts, which they would take off when workwas done, carry home in their hands, and put on in time to go to workagain. But they soon learned to sleep in their new things to savetrouble, and would wear them day and night till a suit dropped topieces. They were quick to do as the whites did, and when paid incalico and cloth Saturday night, by Monday they had on their newskirts or shirts all made up like ours. Yet every Indian would choosebeads for his wages, and go almost naked and hungry till the nextpay-day. "

General Bidwell treated the Indians honestly and kindly, and in returnthey were his friends and helped him much to his advantage. In 1847 hesettled on the great Rancho Chico, and part of his land he gave to theMechoopdas, as the Indian rancheria there was called. They worked toplant orchards and at all his farm-work, and he treated them so fairlythat old men are still living on this ranch who as boys helped thegeneral in his tree-planting and road-building. A whole village ofthese Mechoopdas live on the Bidwell place owning their houses, whileMrs. Bidwell is their best friend and helps them in sickness andtrouble. The men work in the hop fields and fruit orchards, and thewomen make baskets. 

All the California Indians are basket-makers, and their work is sowell done and so beautiful that it is much prized. The Pomos of Lakeand Mendocino counties make especially fine baskets for every purpose. Indeed, the Indian papoose, or baby, is cradled in a basket on hismother's back; he drinks and eats from cup or bowl-shaped baskets, andthe whole family sleep under a great wicker tent basket thatchedwith grass or tules. All Pomo baskets are woven on a frame of willowshoots, and in and out through this the mahala draws tough grasses orfine tree roots dyed in different colors, and after the pattern shechooses. Sometimes she works into the baskets the quail's crest, smallred or yellow feathers from the woodpecker, green from the head of themallard duck, or beads. She also hangs wampum or bits of abalone shellon the finest ones. The storage baskets are four or five feet high tohold grain or acorns, and the baskets to fit the back and carry aload are like half a cone in shape, with straps to hold the burdenin place. Their smaller berry baskets hold just a quart. Some arewater-tight and are used to cook mush in. Fish-traps and long narrowbasket-traps for quail are also made out of this willow-work. 

On the Bidwell ranch is an old Indian "temescal, " or sweat-house. Itis an underground hut, or cave dug out of a hillside, with a hole inthe top for smoke to reach the air. The Indians used to build a bigfire in this cave and then lie round it till dripping with sweat. Acold plunge into the creek near by finished the bath, --Turkish, wecall it. Nowadays the Indians use this place for a meeting-room andfor dances. 

The older Indians still dance and rig out in all their finery offeathers and beads, though the young people are ashamed of theirtribal customs and wish to be like the white folks. Some of theirdances are named for a bird or animal, and the Indians must imitate bytheir dress and cries the animal chosen. In the bear dance the dancercrawls about the fire on all fours with a bear's skin about him. Hewears a chain of oak-balls round his neck, and as he shakes his headthese rattle like a bear's teeth snapping shut, while all the time hegrowls savagely. The feather-dancer, with a skirt and cap of eagles'feathers, will whirl on his toes like a top for hours, while the otherIndians sing and the master of the dance shakes a large rattle. 

The California Indians are slowly passing away, and though all overthe state there are still rancherias, the land that was once theirvery own will soon know them no more. 

THE STORY OF SAN FRANCISCO

The Mission and Presidio of San Francisco were founded in 1776 byFather Palou, and two little settlements grew up around the fort andat the church. The Presidio was built where it is now, and ships usedto anchor in the bay in front of it, though the whalers usually wentto Sausalito to get wood from the hills and to fill their water-casksat a large spring. From early Mission times the Spanish name of YerbaBuena was given to that part of San Francisco's peninsula betweenBlack Point and Rincon Point. Ship-captains and sailors soon found outthat the cove or bay east of Yerba Buena was the best and least windyplace to anchor their vessels, and later on hundreds of ships founda safe harbor there. The name Yerba Buena, or good herb, was givenon account of a little creeping vine with sweet-smelling leaves whichcovered the ground and is still found on the sand-dunes and Presidiohills. 

For many years the small settlements made no progress, and the restof the peninsula was covered with thick woods, where the grizzly bear, wolf, and coyote roamed, while deer were plenty at the Presidio. Thenin 1835 Governor Figueroa, the Mexican ruler of California, directedthat a new town should be started at Yerba Buena cove. The firststreet, called the "foundation-street, " was laid out from Pine andKearny streets, as they are called to-day, to North Beach. The firsthouse was built by Captain Richardson on what is now Dupont Street, between Clay and Washington. The next year a trader named Jacob Leesebuilt a store. It was finished on the Fourth of July, and in honor ofthe day he gave a feast and a fandango, or dance, at which the companydanced that night and all the next day. This was the first Fourthcelebrated in the place. 

Two or three years later a new survey laid out streets betweenBroadway and California, Montgomery and Powell. A fresh-water lagoon, or lake, was near the present corner of Montgomery and Sacramento, and an Indian temescal, or sweat-house, beside it. The bay came upto Montgomery Street then, with five feet of water at Sansome, andmudflats to the east. During the gold excitement of '49, when hundredsof ships dropped anchor in the bay, many sailors deserted to go to themines, and some of the old vessels were hauled in on these mud-flatsand made into storehouses. All that part of the city east ofMontgomery Street is filled or made ground, and when new buildings areto be started wooden piles or cement piers must go down to get a firmfoundation. 

Until 1846 only about thirty families lived at Yerba Buena. Then ashipload of Mormon emigrants arrived and pitched their tents in thesand-hills. Samuel Brannan, their leader, printed the first newspaper, _The California Star_, in '47. That year also the first alcalde, ormayor, of the new town, Lieutenant Bartlett, appointed an engineernamed O'Farrell to lay out more streets. He surveyed Market Street andmapped down blocks as far west on the sand-dunes as Taylor Street andto Rincon Point or South Beach. He gave the names of such well-knownmen as Kearny, Stockton, Larkin, Guerrero, and Geary to these streets. Mission Street was the road to the Mission Dolores, and about thistime Bartlett ordered that the Presidio, the Mission, and Yerba Buenashould be one town and should be called San Francisco. 

Then came the gold fever, and nearly every one left town to go to themines. Many people sold all they had to get money to buy mining toolsand food enough to live on till they struck gold. Men started for themines, leaving their houses and stores alone with no one to care forgoods or furniture. 

But news of the finding of gold had reached other places, and soonships from the Atlantic coast, Mexico, and all over the worldbegan sailing into San Francisco Bay. In '49 the first steamer, the_California_, arrived from New York, and soon five thousand peoplewere in San Francisco, where most of the supplies for the gold-fieldshad to be bought. Many of the newcomers lived in canvas tents orbrush-covered shanties scattered about in the high sand-hills or inthe thick chaparral. Some houses were built of adobe bricks, and thetwo-story frame Parker House was thought to be so fine that it rentedfor fifteen thousand dollars a month. Some wooden houses were broughtout from the East in numbered pieces, like children's blocks, to beput together here, and others thought to be fireproof were of ironplates made in the East. 

The first public school was opened in '48 and in the same buildingchurch services were held Sundays. The first post-office was in astore at the corner of Washington and Montgomery streets in '49. By1850 the city had five square miles of land that had been cut downfrom sand-hills or filled in on the mud-flats. The houses along thecity-front were built on piles, and the tide ebbed and flowed underthem. Long wharves for the unloading of ships ran out into deep water. At Jackson and Battery streets a ship was used for a storehouse, andafter the earth was filled in this stranded vessel was left standingamong the houses. On Clay and Sansome streets the old hulk _Niantic_had a hotel upon her decks, and the first city prison was in the holdof the brig _Euphemia_. 

[Illustration: INDIAN BASKETS. ]

While most of the miners were steady, hard-working men, honest, andvery kind and generous to each other, some drank and gambled theirhard-earned gold-dust away with a get of men who were ready to do anywrong thing for money. The gamblers and bad characters grew sotroublesome by '51 that the police could do little or nothing withthem. Every day some one was robbed, or murdered, and thieves oftenset fire to houses that they might plunder. As the judges and policecould not control these criminals, nearly two hundred good citizensformed a "vigilance committee. " It was agreed that bad charactersshould be told to leave town, and that robbers and murderers shouldbe punished by the committee. Not long after, the vigilance committeehanged four men, and roughs and law-breakers left town for the mines. Men soon learned to keep the laws and do right. 

Since almost all the houses in San Francisco were light frames of woodcovered with cloth or paper, and since there was no fire department, there were six great fires, each of which nearly burnt up the town. The only way to stop the flames was to pull down houses or to blowthem up with gunpowder. But almost before the ashes of one fire hadcooled, wooden, cloth and paper buildings would cover whole blocks, tobe burned again before long. The fifth great fire, in '51, destroyed athousand houses and ten million dollars' worth of property in a night. One warehouse containing many barrels of vinegar was saved by coveringthe roof with blankets dipped in the vinegar, as no water could behad. The iron houses that had been thought fire-proof were of no use. Men who stayed in them found too late that the iron doors swelled withthe heat and could not be opened, so that those within were smotheredto death. 

Then people began to guard against such fires by building new housesof stone or of brick. The sixth great fire destroyed most of thewooden buildings in the business part of the city. After that, with two or three fire companies and engines and better houses, people no longer dreaded the fire-bell. Water was piped into the cityfrom Mountain Lake, and there was plenty for all purposes. 

[Illustration: SEAL ROCKS, SAN FRANCISCO. ]

[Illustration: THE NEW CLIFF HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO. ]

So the city grew larger, until in '53 there were fifty thousand peopleof all races and countries who called San Francisco home. Chinese andJapanese, the Mexican, African, Pacific Islander, Greek, or Turk, orMalay elbowed crowds of Americans, English, French, and Germans. Itwas said that any foreigner could find in the city those who spoke hislanguage, and that gold was a word all knew. 

The largest yield of gold from the mines was in '53, and the nextyear was a poor year for the miners. They bought fewer goods in SanFrancisco, and the storekeepers found business falling off. Too manyhouses had been built, so rents went down and times were hard fora year or two. In '55 there were many bank failures, and businesstroubles of all kinds made the people restless, and roughs andmurderers carried a strong hand. Then the "law and order party, " asthe vigilance committee was at that time called, began once morethe task of punishing those who robbed or killed. A list of criminaloffenders was made out, and such were sent away from the state. One excellent result of the vigilance committee's labors was that a"people's party, " as it was called, chose the best men to govern thecity, and for years after peace and order were in San Francisco. 

In '54 the city was lighted with gas for the first time, at a cost offifteen dollars a thousand feet. In that year also the mint began tocoin money from gold-dust, making five, ten and twenty-dollar pieces. Lone Mountain Cemetery was laid out about this time, and the old YerbaBuena graveyard, where the City Hall now stands, was closed. 

San Francisco had, for some years, trouble about titles to property, owing to false or defective land-grants given by the Mexicans. Mentried to take possession of lots they had no real claim to by buildinga shanty on the ground and squatting there, and the "squatter troubles"between such land thieves and the rightful owners caused lawsuits andshooting affairs. A land commission finally settled these disputes, throwing out all the false claims and giving titles to the properpersons. 

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO JAPANESE TEA GARDEN, SAN FRANSISCO. ]

The little village of Yerba Buena has now grown to be the largestcity on the Pacific coast and one that is known the world over. It iswidely and justly celebrated as the centre of great manufacturingand shipping interests, for its fine buildings, its climate, and itsbeautiful surroundings. San Francisco Bay, the harbor the Franciscansnamed for their patron saint, is noted for its picturesque scenery. Golden Gate Park, with its thousand acres of trees and lawn andflowers stretching out to the Pacific Ocean, the famous Cliff House, and the Golden Gate, through which so many Argonauts sailed intoCalifornia, are the most attractive and best known places. 

MEN CALIFORNIA REMEMBERS

Many pages of this book might be filled with California's roll ofhonor, --with that long list of men whose names are remembered wheneverthe state's history is recalled. 

Explorers, Mission-builders, Argonauts, and pioneers were the men whohelped to make California the fair state you know and live in. Fromthe first day of the Spanish discoveries on this shore of the PacificOcean, we find brave and great men who gave their best efforts, andsometimes their lives, for California. 

Let us head our brief list with Cortes, the name-giver, who dreamedlong years of the golden land he was never to see. Then Cabrillo, thesea-king whom San Diego people honor every year because he found theirbay and first set foot on California's ground. Next comes the boldEnglishman, Sir Admiral Francis Drake, who intended that his queen, Elizabeth, should have this Indian kingdom, as he believed it tobe. The stone Prayer-book Cross, in Golden Gate Park, was put up tocommemorate the service of prayer and psalms, offered at Drake's Bayby Fletcher, the minister on the Admiral's ship. 

Good Father Serra, the founder of the Missions, his friendand brother-priest Father Palou of San Francisco, and theirfellow-laborers Crespi and Lasuen, helped in the work of buildingchurches and teaching the Indians. Governor Portola, the first Spanishruler of Alta California, assisted the Padres, and also found SanFrancisco Bay. Lieutenant Ayala, however, sailed the first ship, the_San Carlos_, through the Golden Gate. Another governor, de Neve, founded San José and Los Angeles, and wrote a set of laws for the twoCalifornias of his time. That wise ruler, Governor Borica, orderedschools opened and tried to get the Indians to farm their lands and toraise hemp and flax. 

Many of the old Spanish settlers and explorers have left us theirnames, though they are themselves forgotten, as Martinez, Amador, Castro, Bodega, and countless others plainly show. The EnglishmenLivermore, Gilroy and Mark West, those early settlers, Temple and Riceat Los Angeles, Yount and Pope of Napa Valley, Don Timoteo Murphy ofSan Rafael, and Lassen the Dane, for whom Lassen's Peak was named, were among those who came here before 1830. 

Governor Figueroa, called the "benefactor of Alta California" orderedthe Missions to be given up to the Indians. By directing that thetown of Yerba Buena should be laid out, he also is remembered as thefounder of San Francisco. Richardson, who carried out the governor'sorders, was the first settler and Leese built the first frame-house ofSan Francisco. 

In Governor Alvarado's time many Americans came to the new country, although Alvarado and General Vallejo tried hard to keep them out. Vallejo was then the military commander, and had headquarters atSonoma, where he had an adobe fort and a few soldiers to protect theMission of Solano. Here General Vallejo was living with his Indian andCalifornian settlers when the place was taken by Ide, the leaderof the "bear-flag party. " Vallejo, set free when the short-lived"bear-flag republic" went to pieces, lived many years at Sonoma. Hewas afterwards a member of the first legislature. He tried hard in1851 to have the state capital at Vallejo; but he failed, for he didnot keep his agreement to put up buildings for government use. 

A man well known in the early days was John Sutter, a Swiss, who builta fort and settled where Sacramento now stands. He called his colonyNew Helvetia, and soon had about three hundred Indians at work forhim. Some of the men were carpenters, blacksmiths, and farmers, whilethe women wove blankets or a coarse cloth. His fort enclosed about anacre of ground, with an adobe wall twenty feet high. A large gate wasshut every night to keep safe those inside this walled fort. You haveread that Marshall, who found gold, was building a sawmill for Sutterwhen he picked up the precious yellow nuggets. Sutter and Marshallquarrelled at last about the ownership of the mill at Coloma, wherethe pieces of gold were picked up. Marshall died a poor man, unhappyand neglected by the state, which has since put a costly bronze statueover his grave. 

Sutter was very active in the Micheltorena war, when GovernorMicheltorena was defeated and put out of office by Alvarado andCastro. 

The last of the Mexican governors, Pio Pico, tried his best toprevent the rush of Americans into his country, but though Castro, the military commander, helped him, the Americans came and stayed. Andboth Pico and Castro with their soldiers were driven out of Californiaat last by Fremont and Stockton. 

General Fremont, the "path-finder, " who could easily find the best waythrough a wilderness and could make maps or roads for others tofollow him, is a striking figure in California history. He made threeexploring trips to this coast, Kit Carson, the famous hunter andtrapper, being his guide and scout. From the Oregon line to San Diego, Fremont knew the country. He was a brave Indian fighter and helped tocapture California from Mexico. Fremont was appointed governor of thenew territory by Stockton, and was the first senator from Californiarepresenting the state in Congress. In 1848 Fremont sent a map of thecountry to Congress, and on it named the strait at the entrance toSan Francisco Bay the Golden Gate. He was, therefore, the first to usethis beautiful name now known the world over. His wife, Jessie BentonFremont, is still living in Los Angeles. 

Commodore Sloat, who raised the American flag at Monterey, andCommodore Stockton were United States naval officers who helped toconquer the Mexican and Indian forces with the aid of Fremont andGeneral Kearny. These four men won the land of gold for the Union. 

General John Bidwell, another "path-finder, " who in 1841 led the firstparty of white men over the Sierras, lived to be over eighty years ofage. He saw the state, once a wilderness where naked Digger Indianschased elk and antelope, grow to a pleasant land of orchards andvineyards, of great cities full of people. General Bidwell was for atime in Sutter's employ, and surveyed nearly all the large ranchesand the roads in early days. All his life he planted trees and builtroads, and at his great Rancho Chico is one of the largest orchards inthe state. Part of his life-work was to help a tribe of savage Indiansto be good American citizens, and as one of the fathers of Californiahe should always be remembered. 

Many notable names appear in the days when the finding of gold broughtthis shore of the Pacific Ocean before the eyes of the world. Amongthese are Gwin, who was chosen senator with Fremont; Larkin, widelyknown as the first and last American Consul to California and for hisaccounts of the gold discovery; and Halleck, first secretary of thestate and afterward General Halleck. 

The streets of San Francisco honor some of the citizens of 1848 and1849: Geary, the first postmaster; Leavenworth and Hyde, the firstalcaldes or mayors; Van Ness, Broderick, Turk, and McAllister, recalling prominent men of those days. Spanish families like Sanchez, Castro, Noe, Bernal, and Guerrero had also a place on the city map. Indeed, every town has some native Californian names in and around it. 

Don Victor Castro, said to be the first white child born in SanFrancisco, died lately at San Pablo in the house he had built sixtyyears ago. He was called the last of the Spanish grandees, those donswho, before the Gringos came, had estates that stretched miles awayon every hand, and thousands of cattle with many Indian servants. DonVictor built and ran the first ferry across San Francisco Bay. 

Sacramento was laid out as a town for Sutter by three lieutenants ofthe U. S. Army: Warner, who was afterwards killed by Indians; Ord, who was a general in the Civil War, while the third, in after years"marched through Georgia" as General Sherman. Marysville was also laidout by Sutter, and Stockton by Weber, who owned all the land aroundit. 

In 1849 Doctor Gregg and his party found Humboldt Bay. In 1851Yosemite Valley was discovered by Major Savage and a company ofsoldiers, who were out hunting hostile Indians. This band of Indianswas called the Yosemites, and their old chief's name was Tenaya, forwhom the beautiful lake is named. 

Those who came to California before 1850 were called pioneers, andmany of them built up great fortunes. Among them were Coleman, thepresident of the vigilance committee, Sharon, Flood, Fair, O'Brien, Tevis, Phelan, and James Lick. Lick was a remarkable man, who gaveaway an immense fortune; building the Lick Observatory, a school ofmechanical arts, free public baths, an old ladies' home, and givinga million to the Academy of Science and the Society of CaliforniaPioneers. 

In later days the names crowd thickly upon each other. Among editorsand literary men the fearless and ill-fated James King of the _EveningBulletin_, J. Ross Browne, the reporter of the first convention and amost interesting writer, Derby the humorist, "Caxton" or W. H. Rhodes, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, the historians Hittell and Bancroft, and thepoet Joaquin Miller may be noted. 

The governors of the state have been men remarkable as brilliantspeakers or lawyers and as wise rulers. In 1875, during the time ofPacheco, the first native-born governor, the order of "Native Sons ofthe Golden West" was formed, which now numbers over ten thousand youngCalifornia men. The "Native Daughters, " a sister society, follows alsothe idea of keeping the love of California warm in the hearts of herchildren. 

[Illustration: FALLEN LEAF LAKE. ]

[Illustration: MOUNT SHASTA FROM STRAWBERRY VALLEY. ]

OUR GLORIOUS CLIMATE

Not only a glorious but in many ways a wonderful climate is enjoyedby the people of California's sea-coast and mountains, her valleys andfoot-hills. In no other state can one find so many kinds of weatherin such short distances. For instance, in Southern California you maypick flowers and oranges in almost tropical gardens, and in an hourfind winter and throw snowballs on the high mountains overlooking theroses and orange groves you so lately left. 

Only in the mountains, along that granite backbone of the state knownas the Sierra Nevadas, are there four seasons, the spring, summer, autumn, and winter common to most of the United States. So the Sierrashave a distinct climate of their own. The Sacramento and San Joaquinriver valleys have another climate peculiar to themselves, while southof latitude 35 degrees the coast has less rain and is warmer than thecoast counties north of that line. 

In the greater part of the state the year is divided into a dry summerand a wet winter. The rains begin in October, and the first showersfall on dry, brown hills and dusty fields baked hard by steadysunshine since May. After these showers the grass springs up, andthe fields are green almost as quickly as if some fairy godmother hadwaved her wand. An army of wild flowers, whose seeds were hidden inthe brown earth, wakes when the rain-drops patter, and the plants getready to bloom in a month or so. For this season, from November toFebruary, with little frost and no ice nor snow, is winter in nameonly. Roses and violets bloom in the gardens and yellow poppies on thehills. 

People expect and hope for much rain in this so-called winter, since awet year assures good crops to the state. But the amount of rain thatfalls is very uncertain. It does not rain every day, nor all day, as arule, and each storm seems different. Sometimes a "southeaster" blowsup from the Japan Current, or Black Stream, as the Japanese call thewarm, dark-blue waters that pour out of the China Sea. This current ofthe Pacific Ocean flows along our coast in a mighty river a thousandmiles wide, and gives California its peculiar climate of cool summersand moist, warm winters. The southeasterly wind ruffles the bay withwhite-capped waves and dashes sheets of rain against window and roof. Then the wind changes, and all the clouds go flying to north or east, while from the clear blue sky brilliant sunshine pours down to makethe grass and flowers grow. During the winter months the sun is strongand warm enough to make out-door life delightful. 

The farmer depends greatly upon the rainfall. In a wet winter themoisture sinks far into the ground, but not so deep that the thirstylittle roots cannot find it in the summer. Early rains are needed tosoften the ground for November ploughing, and young grain and crops ofall kinds need rain through April. In the northern part of the statethe wet season begins earlier and lasts longer than in the south, while the southeastern corner is an almost rainless desert. 

In San Francisco the thermometer seldom falls below 45º in the winter, the average for the season being 51º. Perhaps in January or Februarythe sidewalks may be white with frost in the mornings, or hail mayfall during some cold rain-storm. Once in five years or so, enoughsnow falls to make children go wild with delight over a few snowballswhich are very soon melted. People can be comfortable the year roundwithout fires, and the clear, bright winter days with soft air andwarm sunshine are always pleasant enough to spend outdoors. Thisocean climate, due to the warm sea air, is enjoyed by the countiesfacing the coast and San Francisco Bay. In the valleys of the interiorwhite frosts are frequent, and thin ice forms on the wayside puddles. Once in a while killing frosts destroy fruit blossoms and cut down thegarden flowers and vegetables, but seldom do more damage. 

[Illustration: "EL CAPITAN" (3300 feet in height). ]

[Illustration: YOSEMITE FALLS. ]

In mountain regions, above five or six thousand feet, the very coldwinter lasts six or seven months. Snow falls almost constantly anddrifts to a great depth. Small lakes are frozen and buried in snow, and the trees are bent and weighed down with ice and sleet. Many ofthe wild animals come down to the foot-hills below the snow-line tospend the winter; but the bear curls himself up in his warm cave andsleeps through the cold months. In this snowy zone of the Sierras, about thirty miles wide, winter lasts from the first snowfall, aboutthe end of October, to the late spring of June. Then July and Augustare months of glorious weather, with clear, dry air and a cloudlesssky. During the day the temperature of about 80 degrees melts muchsnow, and the rivers carry it away in rushing torrents and falls oficy water. In September the frost turns the leaves of all but theevergreen trees beautiful colors of red and yellow. Indian summercomes during September and October, when the days are sunny and warm, and then the long winter sets in again. Peaks above eight thousandfeet are snow-clad on their crests and along their sides by deepdrifts the year round. 

Along the Pacific coast in summer cool sea-winds, called trade-winds, blow in from the ocean, and 60 degrees is the average temperature. Thefarther you go inland from the coast, the hotter it gets, and the heatis very great in the interior of the state. In the San Joaquin andSacramento valleys it is often over 100 degrees in the shade, thoughthis dry heat is not hard to bear, and the nights are always coolenough for one to sleep in comfort. 

Summer fogs are usual in the coast counties. The mornings are pleasantand sunny till about eleven o'clock. At this time the sun's raysgrow stronger in the interior valleys, and the hot air rises whiletrade-winds rush in from the cold ocean and fog settles down like athick, gray cloud over the bay and hills. July and August are cold andfoggy along the coastline, with strong west winds almost every day. InSeptember the winds die away, and sometimes a shower or two falls. 

The rainless desert, or southeastern corner of our state, is thehottest region of all. Here the sun glares down till sand and rocksseem heated by a fiery furnace. Every living creature gasps and pantsfor breath in the scorching heat. There are no trees, but only cactus, that queer, prickly, thorny plant, often fifteen or twenty feethigh in these wastes of sand, and low greasewood bushes. Under thisvegetation snakes, lizards, and horned toads bask all day and searchfor food at night. If travellers wander from the road in crossing thedesert, they are easily lost, and sometimes they die or go mad in theterrible heat. There are no springs, and water stations are a long wayapart, so that lost people usually die of thirst. As the heat of thesun's rays quivers over the burning sands, a curious sight calleda mirage is often produced. A cool, glassy lake or flowing riverbordered with green trees seems pictured in the air, and the hot andweary traveller can scarcely believe that only sand and rocks arebefore him. 

Can you tell which season you like the best? You will find the one youchoose in some part of this favored state. It is always summer in thesouth, and you may slide on the ice or throw snowballs all year in thehigh Sierras. 

SOME WONDERFUL SIGHTS

California is a wonderland where snowy mountains, mighty and ancientforests, glaciers and geysers, lakes and waterfalls, foaming riversand the cliffs and rolling surf down her long sea-coast give new andbeautiful pictures at every place. 

Through the whole state stretches the granite backbone of the SierraNevadas with its highest crest or ridge at the head-waters of theKings and Kern rivers near Fresno. Here Mount Whitney and a dozenother great peaks of the High Sierras or California Alps lift theirheads over thirteen thousand feet in the air. Here are to be seen mostmagnificent panoramas of lofty peaks, deep cañons, towering domes, andsnow-clad summits. The finest forests, too, in the world grow on theslopes of the Sierras, the immense pines and giant _sequoias_ ofthe General Grant and other National Parks in this section being thelargest and oldest of all. Kings River Cañon is a rugged gorge half amile deep with the river rushing through it in thundering rapids andcascades. 

The well-known Yosemite Valley is the gorge of the Merced River and, though only eight miles long and half a mile wide, holds the grandestof all our mountain scenery. The mighty rock El Capitan, over threethousand feet in height, stands at the entrance to the valley, andacross from it is Bridal Veil Fall, a snowy cascade so thin you cansee the face of the mountain through the falling waters. There aremany waterfalls, but the Yosemite is chief of them all. Here the rivertakes a plunge of sixteen hundred feet, the water falling like snowyrockets bursting into spray from that great height. 

Then, for six hundred feet more, the torrent leaps and foams througha trench it has cut out of the solid rock to the cliff, from which ittakes a second plunge. This Lower Yosemite fall is four hundred feethigh, the rushing waters turning into clouds of spray, which the windtosses from side to side. At Nevada Fall the Merced River leaps sixhundred feet at a bound, strikes a mass of rocks halfway down, andbreaks into white foam upon which rainbows play when the sun shinesthrough the misty veil. 

Besides the grand Sentinel Rock, Eagle Peak, Clouds' Rest, and otherhigh mountains in the Yosemite Valley, many domes or round-toppedpeaks like the heads of buried giants loom up, the most famous beingSouth Dome, Washington Column, Liberty Cap, and Mount Broderick. 

But no one can picture this wonderful valley with pen or brush orcamera and give its real charm. You must see it yourself to know andunderstand the beauty of great mountains and falling waters, of MirrorLake with its fine reflections of the surrounding scenery, and of therushing torrent of the Merced River in its swift coursing through thismighty cañon of the Yosemite. Thousands of tourists and sightseersvisit the valley from May to October. Then snow begins to fall andwinter sets in, as it does everywhere in the high Sierras. Very deepsnow-drifts cover the ground, lakes and rivers freeze, and the greatfalls are fringed with icicles, while a large ice cone forms at thefoot of the falling water. Many beautiful pictures may be found inthe valley in winter when Jack Frost is ruler of all the snow-clad, ice-bound cañon. 

Scattered throughout the Sierras are other valleys almost as fineas the Yosemite. These are not often reached by the army of summersight-seers, but true mountaineers find them. One valley which hasfine scenery is the Grand Cañon of the Tuolumne, the gorge beingtwenty-five miles long, with walls so high and steep that once enteredone must go through to the end. The Tuolumne River rushes, withterrible force and speed, in cascades and rapids down the granitestairway which is the floor of this cañon. The walls of the gorgerise so high that the traveller only sees a tiny strip of blue sky farabove him, and the great pine trees on top of these cliff walls seemonly the length of one's finger. 

It is supposed that all these valleys have been formed by glaciers, which during the ice age, thousands of years ago, filled the cañonsand swept over the mountains. These masses of ice, moving very slowly, ground and tore up the rocks under and around them till deep gorgesand steep, high cliffs were left in their tracks. Most of the glaciersmelted long ago, but on Mount Lyell, on Shasta, and a few of theSierra summits may still be found those ever-living ice-rivers, theone on Mount Lyell being the source of the Tuolumne River. 

California is rich in lakes, especially in the mountains where themelting snows gather in every hollow and form lakelets in chains orgroups, or in one large body of water like Tahoe, Donner, or Tenayalakes. 

One of the most beautiful lakes in the world is Lake Tahoe. It is sixthousand feet above sea-level, and the mountains around it rise fourthousand feet higher. On these peaks snow-drifts lie the year roundabove the "snow-line, " as a height over eight or nine thousand feetis called. Nevada, treeless and barren, is on the eastern side ofLake Tahoe, while the western or California side is green and thicklywooded with beautiful pines. But the first thing one would notice, perhaps, is the wonderful clearness of the lake water. As one standson the wharf the steamer _Tahoe_ seems to be hanging in the cleargreen depths with her keel and twin propellers in plain sight. Thefish dart under her and all about as in some large aquarium. There abig lake-trout shoots by like a silver streak of light, or here is aschool of hundreds of little fingerlings. Every stick or stone showson the bottom as one starts out on the steamer, and as one sailsalong where the water is sixty or seventy feet deep. In the middlethe lake's depth is fifteen hundred feet and the water is a darkindigo-blue. At the edge and along shallow places the color is brightgreen, as at Emerald Bay, a beautiful inlet three miles long. LakeTahoe is twenty miles in length and about five wide, and its icy coldwaters are of crystal clearness and very pure. 

Fallen Leaf Lake is a smaller Tahoe, and Donner Lake, not far fromTruckee, and now the camping-place of many a summer visitor, is theplace where years ago the Donner overland party spent a terriblewinter in the Sierra snows. 

Clear Lake and the Blue Lakes in Lake County are delightful placesto visit, and in this county, too, are the geysers. Some wonderfulcuriosities are seen here. You will find springs that spout up astream of hot water every few minutes, mineral springs from whichyou can have a drink of soda water, and an acid spring that flowslemonade. Alum, iron, or sulphur waters, either hot or cold, bubbleup out of the ground at every turn. At one spring you may boil anegg. Other springs are used for steam baths and also hot mud-baths. InGeyser Cañon is the strange place every sight-seer hurries to at once. Such rumblings and thunderings, such hot vapors and gases come fromthe cracks in the ground, that the Indians thought this was theworkshop where the bad spirit which white people call the devil usedto live and work. The deeper one goes into this cañon, the hotter andnoisier it gets. All round are signs telling where it is dangerousto step, while the ground is hot, and boiling water runs by in littlestreams. Steam rises from many pools, and the sulphur smell almostchokes one. Another curious spring, called the devil's inkstand, seemsfull of ink. Mount St. Helena, near here, is a dead or extinctvolcano, and probably there are fires in the earth under this regionwhich keep up these steam and sulphur springs. 

[Illustration: NATURAL BRIDGE, SANTA CRUZ. ]

Many of the Sierra summits are capped with volcanic rock, and Lassen'sPeak and Mount Shasta are extinct volcanoes. There are hot springs andcracks from which steam and sulphur rise on both of these mountains, and as earthquakes often shake the earth in different parts of thestate we know that underground fires are still at work. A great pieceof land on Mount San Jacinto in Southern California lately sank downabout a hundred feet, and cracks both deep and wide show that someforce from below gave a thorough shaking-up to that part of the state. 

Mono, Owen's, and several other large lakes are the "sinks" into whichrivers flow and lose themselves in the sandy or marshy shores. Theselakes have soda or salt in their waters, and great stretches of dryalkali lands around them. The famous Death Valley is a dry lake ofthis kind where the sun beats down on the white alkali plain till itis almost certain death to try to cross it without a guide. TheSalton Sea is a dry lake where almost pure salt is dug out, and greatquantities of borax and of soda are found in other beds, of dried-upstreams and lakes. 

But to tell of all the curious things nature has to show us inCalifornia, --of the forests of petrified trees, of the caverns cut outof the ocean cliffs by restless waves, or of those in the mountains orthe Modoc lava-beds, --well, you will see most of them, let us hope, inyour vacations. A large book might be given to the wonderful sightsof this great state, and it may be your fortune to visit and so alwaysremember a few we have named. 

PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY

Alta (äl´-ta). Amador (am´-a-dore). Alvarado (al-va-rä´-do). Ayala (ä-yä´-la). Bernal (ber-nal´). Bodega (bo-d[=a]´-ga). Cabrillo (ka-breel´-yo). Calaveras (kal-a-v[=a]´-ras). Carmel (kar´-mel). Castro (kas´-tro). Cortes (kor´-tez). Coloma (ko-lo´-ma). Diegueño (de-[=a]-gw[=a]n´-yo). Farallones (f[)a]r´-a-lones). Figueroa (fi-gwa-ro´-a). Franciscan (fran-cis´-can). Galvez (gal´-ves). Gringos (gring´-gos). Guerrero (gur-r[=a]´-ro). Junipero Serra (h[=u]-nip´-er-o ser´-ra). Klamath (klam´-eth). Los Angeles (los an´-ga-lees). Marin (ma-rin´). Mariposa (mar-e-po´-sa). Martinez (mar-tee´-nes). Mechoopdas (me-choop´-das). Mission Dolores (mis´-sion do-l[=o]r´-es). Modocs (mo´-docs). Monterey (mon-ta-ray´). Noe (no´-a). Ortega (or-t[=a]´-ga). Pacheco (pä-ch[=a]´-ko). Padres (pa´-drays). Palou (pa´-loo). Pio Pico (pe´-o pe´-ko). Placerville (pl[)a]s´-er-vil). Point Reyes (rays). Pomos (po´-mos). Portola (por-to´-la). San Antonio (san an-t[=o]-ni-[=o]). Sanchez (san´-ches). San Carlos (san kar´-l[=o]s). San Diego (san de-[=a]´-go). San Fernando (san fer-nan´-do). San Francisco (san fran-cis´-co). San Gabriel (san ga-brell´). San Jacinto (san ha-sin´-to). San Joaquin (san waw-keen´). San Jose (san ho-say´). San Juan Bautista (san wawn ba-tis´-ta). San Juan Capistrano (san wawn kap-is-tra´-no). San Luis Obispo (san loo-is o-bis´-po). San Miguel (san mig-gell´). Santa Barbara (san´-ta bar´-ba-ra). Santa Catalina (san´-ta kat-a-lee´-na). Santa Cruz (san´-ta krooz). Santa Lucia (san´-ta loo-she´-a). Santa Ysabel (san´-ta [=e]´-sa-bel). Santa Ynez (san´-ta e´-nes). Sausalito (saw-sa-lee´-to). Sierras (see-er´-ras). Siskiyous (sis´-ke-yous). Sonoma (so-no´-ma). Sutter (s[)u]t´-ter). Tahoe (tä´-ho). Tamalpais (tarm´-el-pies). Tenaya (te-ni´-ya). Tulare (too-lar´-ee). Tuolumne (too-ol´-um-ee). Ukiah (u-ki´-ah). Vallejo (väl-y[=a]´-ho). Viscaino (vees-kä-e´-no). Wawona (wa-wo´-na). Yerba Buena (yer´-ba bw[=a]´-na). Yosemite (yo sem´-e-tee). 

abalone (ab-a-lo´-nee). Adobe (a-do´-bee). Alcalde (al-kal´-day). Arrastra (ar-ras´-tra). Burro (boo´-ro). Cañon (can´-yon). Carne seca (kar´-n[=a] s[=a]´-ka). Cascarone (kas-ka-ro´-na). Chaparral (shap-per-ral´). Coyote (ki-o´-tee). Corral (kor-ral´). Debris (day-bree´). El toro (el to´-ro). Fandango (fan-dang´-go). Frijoles (free-yo´-lays). Galleon (gal´-le-on). Madroño (ma-dron´-yo). Manzanita (man-zan-ee´-ta). Mantilla (man-tee´-ya). Mahala (ma-ha´-la). Mesa (m[=a]´-sa). Mustangs (mus´-tangs), presidio (pr[=a]-se´-de-o). Pueblos (p[=u]-[=a]´-blos), ranche (ransh). Rancheria (ran-sha-ree´-a). Rodeos (ro-da´-os). Senora (s[=a]n-yo´-ra). Senoritas (s[=a]n-yor-ee´-tas). Sombrero (som-br[=a]´-ro). Sequoias (see-kwoy´-as). Serape (ser-ä´-pay). Teredo (te-r[=e]´-do). Temescal (tem-es-kal´). Tortillas (tor-tee´-yas). Tule (too´-lee). Vaqueros (vä-ka´-ros).