USA > California > Napa County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 68
USA > California > Lake County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 68
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Arsenic .- This substance is found in several of the springs, but only in tracings.
Magnesia .- This mineral is found in nearly all the springs in the county, in greater or less quantities.
Potassa .- This substance is found in many of the mineral springs of the county. In the form of a sulphate it is found in quite large quantities in the well known Epsom Salts Spring, a few miles west of Lakeport.
Other Metals .- Tracings of many other minerals or metals are to be found upon a close analysis of the waters and soils of the county, such as aluminum, chromium, etc.
MINERALS .- Of the six hundred simple minerals which have been dis- covered on the earth's surface, only nine form any considerable portion of it. These are quartz, feldspar, mica, limestone, hornblende, serpentine, gyp- sum, tale and oxyd of iron. Of these, quartz or silica is the most abundant of all, comprising at least three-fourths of all the crust of the earth. In the granite it forms one of the three elements, in all the sandstones of the world it constitutes the sole element, and in all the soils and vegetables it forms a large percentage. Quartz crystallizes beautifully, and is found in all shades imaginable, owing to its ready union with foreign substances. The red shades are the results of combination with the oxyd of iron ; the purple has manganese, or perhaps cobalt, as the coloring matter. In Lake County the very waysides are strewn with gems, in the shape of quartz crystals, which would cause the heart of the specimen hunter of the Eastern States to leap for very joy. The boy, listlessly driving his cows home from pas- ture at nightfall, hurls beautiful and glistening jewels after them, little car- ing for their loveliness. The more highly esteemed varieties of quartz crystals are the amethyst, rose quartz, prase, smoky and milk quartz, chal- cedony, carnelian, agate, onyx, jasper and bloodstone. Most all of these varieties occur in greater or less amounts throughout the county.
Feldspar .- This is one of the elements which enter into the composition of granite, and is quite common in other forms, though not at all approxi-
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mating quartz. When decomposed it forms a clay well adapted to the pur- poses of pottery and brick-making, which is known in commerce as kaolin. Spar is not found in any great bodies in Lake County, although it is scat- tered throughout the whole of it.
Mica .- This is the third element in granite, and is discerned from spar and quartz by always being crystallized in flakes, and is usually black, form- ing the black specks observable in most of granite rock. There is a great abundance of mica in Lake County, as many of the rocks of that section are micacious in their formation.
Limestone .- While there are no extensive bodies of limestone in Lake County, yet there are a few good quarries. Mention has already been made of the mountain of lime in Long Valley, which always looks as white as chalk at its western extremity.
Hornblende .- This is a tough mineral, generally dark colored, and occurs in volcanic rock. It is found in large quantities all through the mountains of Lake County. It is not useful for any of the general economic purposes.
Sepentine .- This mineral, in a coarse, massive form, occurs in large bodies in Lake County everywhere. The road leading from Middletown to Guenoc passes through a large body of it, only a few miles from the former place. It is of volcanic origin, and is easily affected by the action of the elements, and readily decomposes and forms soil ; it is a brittle rock, however, and is of no practical use to man, except some choice varieties like verd- antique, which is not found here.
Oxyd of Iron .- This is the matter which is commonly known as iron rust, and is either red or yellow, the shades being dependent upon the quan- titative union. It is this substance which gives color to almost all the stones and clays which come under our daily observation, and which are so conspicuous in Lake County. In the red sandstone or the red and yellow clay, the coloring matter is the same. In the red brick or the yellow " set- tlings" on the rock over which the water from a mineral spring has passed, the color is alone attributable to the oxyd of iron. Iron, however, seldom occurs in a body as purely the oxyd, hence in this form it is not found in this county.
Granite .- Strange as it may appear, although the entire surface of Lake County is covered with mountains, yet the eruptions did not extend deep enough or were not sufficiently violent to expose the bed-rock of the uni- versal granite, except in a few places, and there is no well defined ledge or quarry in the county. In the vicinity of Harbin Springs, a few miles north of Middletown, there are broken fragments of granite to be found in the hill-sides. They do not assume the shape of boulders, nor seem to have ever come into contact with water at all, but rather to have been exposed
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
to the action of fire, and the outer crust of the fragments are so charred that their identity is almost destroyed, and even upon breaking them in twain all characteristics of granite are seen to have disappeared in many of them, except the peculiar form of crystallization.
Basalt .- This is a rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle-green particles of olivine frequently disseminated. It is usually of a greenish- black color, or of some dull brown shade of black. It constitutes immense beds of rock in Lake County, and may be seen everywhere. It is also the principal rock from which was formed the great mass of boulders met with on all the mountain sides, and in the valleys. It has often a prismatic structure, as at the Giants Causeway in Ireland, where the columns are as regular as if the work of art. A very similar formation is seen along the roadside from Glenbrook to Kelseyville, the similarity being so striking that the casual observer, in passing by on the stage, is attracted by it. Basalt is a very tough and durable rock and is much used for macadamizing roads, and paving streets of cities ; yet, strange to say, the worst roads in Lake County pass through the heart of a basaltic section, and the boulders lie idly by the roadside awaiting the blast and sledge to make them of ines- timable value to the people.
Trap .- This is a heavy, massive, igneous rock, of a greenish-black or grayish color, consisting of an intimate mixture of feldspar and hornblende, or pyroxene. This rock may be distinguished from basalt, of which the latter is simply a species, from the fact that trap generally contains nodules throughout the mass. Travelers along the roads in Lake County will often observe a face of a body of rock which seems to have had a shower of small boulders fall into the mass of which it is composed when the mass was in a liquid state, and the boulders, extending in size from a pebble on up almost ad lib., have the appearance of lodging in the liquid and became a part of the mass when cooled. When the rock is blasted oftentimes it will break around these nodules, thus apparently proving that they are veritable boulders of a foreign rock, but a close examination will show that in reality the whole body of the rock is homogeneous. The surface of the rock, after a long exposure to the action of the elements, becomes shaly, and these nodules then disclose the fact that they are only a part of the common rock. This result is obtained by the filling up of the cavities in the rock which were formed by the bubbles of air and gas which became incorporated and imprisoned in the mass when it came out of the volcano. The matter which is in these interstices is of course a part of the substance of the body of the rock, or such portions of it as are most easily acted upon by the operations of water, and the process is infiltration.
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
Obsidian .- The geology of Lake County would be incomplete without due mention being made of the great bodies of obsidian which are to be found within its limits. The main body of this rock lies to the south-west of Uncle Sam Mountain, and the road from Glenbrook to Kelseyville passes through a large portion of it, and the road leading from Kelseyville to Lower Lake passes through a portion of it also. It is a volcanic production -a veritable lava, but with such marked peculiarities, that it is noticed sooner than any other rock by the casual observer. To all intents and pur- poses it is a glass, and will fuse at as low a temperature as will glass. How it was formed in Nature's laboratory or smelting-works far down under- neath the ground, is an interesting subject for scientific research. Soda and silica abounded here in sufficient quantities, and evidently in very nearly the right proportions, to form glass, and heat was the only element lacking for the effecting of the union, and glass was the natural result. In the course of time chemical action generated the requisite degree of heat, and the molten mass began to ooze out of the crater and to spread over the sur- face of the country. From day to day the volume increased, and lapped over the already partially cooled mass, and apparent stratification occurred. Since this flow evidently extensive eruptions have occurred, and the mass is broken and sundered in all directions. The depth of the body varies from a few inches to several feet, and the color ranges through all the shades from gray to black, and from the dull, lusterless leaden surface to the bright, almost mirror-like.
Lava .- There is lava everywhere all over the surface of Lake County, ranging through all the grades from ashes to hardened rocks. One kind of this rock is quite soft when first quarried from the ledge, but time and exposure to the atmosphere serves to harden it, and in a short period it becomes very enduring, and in the course of time attains a degree of hard- ness almost equal to basalt. In fact, it is incipient basalt, and only requires the proper conditions to develop it into the latter rock.
Sandstone .- There is but very little true sandstone in the county of Lake, and what little there is is broken up so that no ledges of it exist, except here and there. A beautiful example of this formation can be seen on the road-side just south of Kelseyville. In a cut there the sandstone is exposed and appears in regular stratifications. The formation is very recent indeed, and has been made since the cessation of violent volcanic action. It is very soft yet, and will never devolop into a true stone. The variety of sandstone known as shale occurs very seldom here, though there are outcroppings of it on the west side of Scotts Valley.
SPRINGS .- The springs of Lake County are a marvel, and to write of their beauty and usefulness would require the pen of a poet. They may be divided into three general classes, as follows: Pure cold water, cold mineral
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
water, and thermal mineral water. Of the first there are thousands and thousands; every hill and mountain side teem with them, and the weary traveler and his thirsty beast find streams of pure water, cool and fresh, gushing from the wayside banks, and gathered into troughs for his conven- ience. The flow of these springs vary from a few gallons a day to barrels per minute. The largest flow, perhaps, in the county, is from the Howitzer Spring, the stream from which crosses the road a short distance north of the toll-house on Cobb Mountain. The amount of water which comes pouring forth from this place is something wonderful to contemplate, and, what is more strange, the yield seems to be always the same; winter's flood nor summer's drouth seem to have no appreciable effect upon it. Whence comes all this grand body of pure water which is yearly poured from the mountain sides of Lake County ? No one knows! It is evident that the fountain head is far away from the outlet, and far above it also. The snow melting on the far away Sierras must be the grand center of supply ; and when we come to contemplate what a wonderful system of channels and veins there are in the surface of the earth, and how perfectly they all work, it is a fit subject for reverential meditation. How it gushes from the rock, in its pure and crystalline beauty, glittering and glistening in the sunshine as it dances down the hill-side, refreshing and cheering the thirsty world, making the flowers to spring up in their glorious grandeur, making the grass to put forth its greenest shoots the whole year through. What a glorious mission on earth has this spring of water! To man and beast and bird and tree and shrub and grass and flower and fruit-to all that exists on the face of the earth, it proves a grand, glorious, inestimable boon.
" From the rock amid the desert, Gushing forth at God's command, Streams of water, pure and sparkling, Laved and cooled the thirsty land; Hearts were cheered and eyes grew brighter, Pleasure thrilled in every vein ; Even age forgot its weakness, While it drank and drank again. Oh, the spring forever flowing, Life and health and hope bestowing !"
As stated above, the mineral springs are divided into two general classes, cold and thermal. Each of these classes have quite a number of represen- tatives in the county, a full and extended account of all of which will be found further on in this work.
TIMBER .- While Lake County is not essentially a timber county, still it is well wooded, and a full description of this feature of the section de- serves a place in these pages. The redwood of the coast (Sequoia semper- virens) does not grow at all in Lake County, nor indeed does any redwood tree. It is doubtful if there is a single redwood tree of any variety within
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
the entire limits of the county. The next coniferc that is indigenous to the Pacific Coast, in the scale of usefulness, is the yellow fir (Abies Williamsonii), which grows in clumps and groves all over the county, and on some of the mountain tops is found in vast and extended forests. It makes excellent lumber, and the mills of the county are engaged chiefly in the manufacture of lumber from it. It grows tall and straight in Lake County, reaching oftentimes a height of two hundred feet, making a very stately tree. A con- gener, red fir (Picea amabilis), is commonly known by the name of Oregon pine, and is quite prevalent throughout Lake County, but is not so gener- ally spread over its face as the former. It does not make as good lumber here as it does farther north, although it is prized for its toughness, but not for its durability nor fineness of grain, in both of which qualities it is sadly lacking. Of the several pines, the sugar pine (Pinus Lambertiana) is by far the most important, and in fact it is the only kind of pine of which any use can be made at all. It is the choicest of all the soft woods produced in Lake County, or indeed on the Pacific Coast. Its fiber is compact and its grain fine, while it works very easily, and beyond the fault of "season checking" is altogether a desirable lumber. It is used principally for doors, sash, blinds, counters, shelving and similar purposes. While it does not grow to any great extent in Lake County, yet there are a few quite large bodies of it. In the vicinity of Bogg's mill, on the eastern slope of Cobb Mountain, about ten per cent. of the lumber is sugar pine. On Elk Mount- ain, in the northern portion of the county, the percentage of the sugar pine amounts to thirty. The ratio of the lumber producing timber in three different localities is as follows : At Bogg's mill, forty-five per cent. yellow fir, forty-five per cent. red fir, and ten per cent. sugar pine ; at Pine Mount- ain, sixty per cent. red fir, twenty per cent. yellow fir, and twenty per cent. sugar pine ; at Elk Mountain, thirty-five per cent. red fir, thirty-five per cent. yellow fir, and thirty per cent, sugar pine. This will give the reader a very fair idea of how the lumber yielding timbers of Lake County are distributed. We would state that what is commonly called yellow pine is yellow fir, and that the pines that are common in the county are not lum- bering woods. The best of these is the Pinus Coulteri, which rises about sixty or seventy feet, and is distinguished as having the heaviest cones of any of the family of conifers. Who that travels about Lake County is not familiar with those trees under which bushels of enormous cones are found lying in the spring of the year ? This is the tree to which we refer. The California white cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), abounds in Lake County, growing very large and reaching a height of two hundred feet. It is an excellent timber for economical purposes, and has been so generally sought for that there are but few of them standing now in their primeval glory. The cypress grows here also, forming a very beautiful tree.
2
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
Of the other varieties of trees which grow in Lake County the chestnut oak (Quercus densiflora) is the most important. It is that variety of the oak which yields the tan-bark of commerce, and is very familiar to all resi- dents of the county. It seems generally to be found growing in company with the coniferc. In this county but little use is made of the wood, although it makes quite a fair quality of firewood. It is not thought worth while to prepare it for market in any other shape, and it is not known whether it would be suitable for economic purposes or not, but it is to be presumed that it is not so considered by the woodsmen themselves or it would be put upon the market in that shape. The laurel (Oreodaphne Cali- fornica) is a wood much prized, and some very fine trees of this grow in Lake County. It is scattered pretty much all over the county and will eventually be a staple article of export, when the demand for it will justify the labor and other expense requisite to get it to the San Francisco market. The live-oak (Quercus virens) is the most prized of any of the oaks which grow in Lake County, for its wood, not for lumbering purposes, however, but for firewood. It is considered the best wood for fuel on the coast and always commands an advanced price in any market where it is offered for sale. It is to be found on all the mountain sides in the county, and as the most of the county is comprised of mountain sides it stands to reason that the trees are pretty generally diffused over the country. There are several other varieties of oaks, such as the black oak, valley oak, etc., none of which are, however, of any importance either for lumber or wood. Probably the widest diffused tree and of least value in Lake County is the madroña (Ar- butus Menziesii). Go where you will the madroña meets you on the way- side, until its face becomes so familiar that should you miss it for a mile or two and come suddenly upon it you gaze with kindly eyes, somewhat as you would upon a long-lost friend. There is a tree, the soft maple (Acer rubrum), which grows in Lake County, and is not seen in the counties south of it. It extends northward, and is found in large bodies in Oregon. It is a beautiful lawn or avenue tree, and there can be nothing more lovely than the multi-colored leaves of a grove of maples in the autumn season, after " Jack Frost " has touched them with his icy brush and changed the sombre chlorophyl to the bright-hued colors of the rainbow. Another rare tree for California, the chestnut (Castanea, Californica), is found occasionally in Lake County. The tree has every outward appearance of the Eastern chestnut, of which every person reared east of the Alleghany Mountains has such fond childhood reminiscences ; but the nut is a great deal smaller. It is encased in a bur just as competent to prick the bare foot of the small boy out chestnutting as its congener at the East. Quite a considerable alder (Alnus) grows along the streams of the county and on the low flat lands. It is used for nothing except light summer firewood. It is never exported,
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Geography, Name, Topography, Geology, Etc.
as the shipper would come out badly in debt on each cargo. There is an occasional white ash (Fraxinus alba) and rarely a white poplar (Populus alba) growing on the mountain sides, but not in any bodies at all.
Passing from trees to shrubs we find the manzanita growing every- where, its bright red bark and deep green leaves contrasting beautifully, and producing a charming effect on the landscape. Here and there in clumps and clusters the buckeye (Æsculus pavia) grows all over the county, and in the time of blooming they make the air in their vicinity redolent with rich odor. Another shrub, which is the chief of all flowering shrubs in the county, is the wild azalea (Rhododendron Californicum). This is described by Volney Rattan, in his "Popular California Flora," as follows : " R. Californicum, Hook, is a large evergreen shrub, with large, bell-shaped, rose-purple. flowers; a true Rhododendron, probably not found south of Lake County." The beauty of these flowers cannot be described ; they must be seen to be appreciated. The shrub sometimes attains a height of twenty feet or more, and is laden to the bending of the limbs with great clusters of roseate flowers. A large cluster of them may be seen on the road-side near the foot of Mount St. Helena. But the shrub of all shrubs in the mountains of Lake County is the chemisal (pronounced cheméese). Go where you will and there is chemisal to the right, left, fore and aft of you; and it grows . so thickly that a mountain sheep cannot get through it. It must have been on the top of a chemisal mountain where the patriarch Abraham was sent by the Lord to try his faith ; at least, such a mountain would be a good "place to find a sheep fastened by the horns.
There are other trees and shrubs growing within the limits of Lake County, but those of major importance have been mentioned and described. Another shrub is the wild hazel, which is perhaps not found south of Lake County. The writer has given the subject a great deal of research, and is convinced that for all practical purposes all the trees and shrubs of import- ance have been touched upon, not with the master hand of a professional . botanist, but rather by a close and careful observer of facts and things as he passed by the wayside. Months would be required for the former, while weeks suffice for the latter.
SOILS .- The soil of Lake County is characteristically mountain, or in other words, that kind which is formed by the direct action of the soil- making machinery, so to speak, of a mountainous region. There may be said to be three classes of soil here, viz: argillaceous, adobe and loam, and in all of these there is more or less of sand and cobble-stones. The first named is quite widely diffused, and is found on all the mountain sides, and is, of course, not very prolific, trees, shrubs and grasses growing only indif- ferently in it. Adobe is to be found on the hill-sides and in the valleys. It
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-LAKE.
is much given to land-sliding in the winter season, and gives much trouble in the way of obstructing roads. It is not apparently so rich here as in some of the other counties of the State where it predominates, but is con- sidered very fair wheat and grazing land. The loam is the best of all soils in the county, and is found along the rich alluvial bottoms of the county. In it all manner of fruits and vegetables thrive very well indeed, and in fact, anything that will grow anywhere will grow in the rich soil of the beautiful valleys of Lake County. There is a peculiar " half-and-half" kind of soil which predominates on the "second bottom," or benches of land lying at the foot of the mountains, which is known locally as "manzanita soil." It is composed of clay, adobe, and loam in spots, with here and there an alkali or " scald " spot. It grows a most excellent quality of wheat, but not much can be said of the quantity. In all mountainous sections the effect of water is to carry off the lighter particles of richer loam to the valleys below, and perhaps far away near the mouths of the streams, while the heavier, coarser materials are left, and those soils which do not wash away easily ; hence, near the foot of the mountain we find boulders, further away cobble-stones, and further on coarse gravel, then finer, until the mar- gin of the stream is reached, where there is a fine bed of loam. Should there be a body of adobe or clayey soil near the foot of the mountain, the most of it will be found still there, as the water rushing in madcap torrents from the gorges of the mountains to the river in the valley below can have but little effect on it. There is a small amount of another kind of soil in this, county which, though forming no considerable portion of the soil of the county, must not be overlooked. This is the bog or peat soil, formed by the decaying vegetation in the swamps of overflowed and tule land in and around the lakes, and perhaps in other places in a limited amount. This soil is composed of decayed vegetation, guano, detritus and sedimentary deposits from the overflow of streams, mixed with a large percentage of preserved roots, the principal preservative agent being tannic acid. This is the richest soil known in the county, and the yield of grain and vegetables from fields of this character is simply marvelous.
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