USA > California > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 3
USA > Oregon > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 3
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The GULF OF CALIFORNIA, called by the Spaniards the Sea of Cortes, but more commonly the Vermilion Sea, is a great arm of the Pacific, joining that ocean under the 23d parallel of lati- tude, and thence extending north-westward between the conti- nent on the east and the Californian Peninsula on the west, to its head or termination, under the 32d parallel, where it re- ceives the waters of the Rivers Colorado and Gila. Its length is about seven hundred miles : its breadth, at its junction with the Pacific, is one hundred miles ; farther north it is somewhat wider, and still farther, its shores gradually approach each other, until they become the banks of the Colorado.
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
The western, or peninsular coasts of the gulf are high and steep, offering very few places of security for vessels ; and not a single river enters the sea on that side. Its castern, or continental shores, are generally low, and the sea in their vicinity is shallow, which renders the navigation along them dangerous. The prevailing winds are from the south ; a current, however, constantly sets out from the gulf, which is perceived by vessels passing at a consid- erable distance from its mouth.
The territory on the eastern side of the Californian Gulf includes two large political divisions of the Mexican Republic, of which the northern is called Sonora, and the southern Sinaloa, each extend- ing from the coasts of the gulf, to the dividing ridge of mountains. These countries are as yet but thinly inhabited ; they are, how- ever, from the number and richness of their mines, the productive- ness of their soil, and the salubrity of their climate, calculated to support an immense population, for which the gulf, and the many rivers flowing into it from the mountains, will afford the means of communicating with the rest of the world. The port of Guay- mas, in Sonora, in latitude of 27 degrees 40 minutes, is said to be one of the best on the Pacific side of America. Mazat- lan, in Sinaloa, at the entrance of the gulf, has been hitherto much frequented by vessels ; but it is neither so secure as Guay- mas, nor is the surrounding country so fertile and healthy. Far- ther south-east is San Blas, now the principal commercial port of Mexico on the Pacific ; and still farther, in the same direction, are Navidad, Acapulco, and Tehuantepec, all of which have been at times the seats of considerable trade.
The PENINSULA OF CALIFORNIA is about one hundred and thirty miles in breadth, at its widest part, where it joins the continent, nearly under the same parallel of latitude with the city of Savan- nah, in Georgia. Thence it extends south-eastward about seven hundred miles, varying, though generally diminishing in width, between the Pacific on the west, and the Californian Gulf on the east, to its termination in two points - Cape San Lucas the southernmost, in latitude of 22 degrees 52 minutes, corres- ponding nearly with that of the city of Havanna - and Cape Palmo, sixty miles east by north of the other, at the entrance of the Californian Gulf. This country consists entirely of stony ridges and narrow sandy valleys, and is simply the prolongation through the sea, of the great maritime chain of mountains which borders the western coast of North America, from the Californian Gulf to the Arctic Sea.
The climate of the Peninsula is as hot and dry as that of Arabia. At its southern extremity the earth is occasionally moistened by a shower in summer ; near its junction with the continent, rain is
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
never seen except in winter ; and in the intermediate portion, many years in succession pass by without the appearance of a single cloud. Under such circumstances it may be concluded, that the springs of water must be rare and small, and the surface generally bare and free from vegetation. Yet wherever irrigation is practised the pro- ductiveness of the soil is extraordinary ; and in the little oases, where a scanty stream runs through a narrow sandy valley, pine- apples, plantains, figs, grapes, oranges, and all other fruits of torrid climes, are yielded in abundance, and of the finest quality.
The aboriginal population of the peninsula consisted of four or five thousand savages, who derived their subsistence from the fish with which the surrounding seas are filled, and from roots growing on the borders of the rivulets. Until the beginning of the last century, all the attempts of the Spaniards to form establishments of any kind in the country, proved fruitless. At that time, how- ever, the Jesuits, by permission of the King of Spain, undertook to convert the natives of the peninsula to Christianity, and to initiate them into the usages and arts of civilized life ; with which view they formed a number of missions on the coast of the gulf, and, by untiring assiduity, they succeeded partially in their objects. In 1768 the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish dominions, and their establishments in California were confided to the Domi- nicans, who have ever since directed them, with little advantage in any way .*
The number of persons in the peninsula at present has been variously estimated ; from the best accounts, it does not exceed five thousand, of whom a small proportion only are Mexicans, and very few are of European origin. The principal places now occupied by the Mexicans are - Loreto, the capital of Old California, a mis- erable village of about two hundred persons, situated near the gulf, opposite the small Island of Carmen, in latitude of 25 degrees 14 minutes - La Paz, on the Bay of Pichilingue, a little farther south, the port of communication with Mexico -and Port San José, near Cape San Lucas.
The east coast of the peninsula has long been celebrated for the size, beauty and fineness of the pearls found in the oysters which abound in the parts of the gulf adjacent ; and the search for these precious stones has always formed the principal employment of the Spaniards in that quarter. The pearls are obtained, with much difficulty and danger, by Indians, who dive for them to the depth of twenty feet or more, and of whom a number are thus annually drowned or destroyed by sharks. The value of the pearls, pro- cured by this means, appears to be small when compared with the
* See Chapter III. of the History.
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
time and labor spent in the search for them : in 1825, eight ves- sels engaged in the business, collected altogether five pounds of pearls, worth about ten thousand dollars ; occasionally, however, a single stone is found of value sufficient to compensate for the losses and disappointments of many years of fruitless toil. In 1825, Lieutenant Hardy, of the British navy, was sent to the Californian coast from London with two vessels, carrying diving-bells, by the use of which it was expected that the pearl fishery might be con- ducted more profitably and with less danger : unfortunately, how- ever, it was discovered that the oysters always lie in crevices of the rocks, at the bottom of the sea, to which no access can be ob- tained by means of the diving-bell ; and the enterprise was in con- sequence abandoned.
On the west, or Pacific coasts of the peninsula, no settlement has ever been formed or attempted by a civilized nation. This coast offers many excellent harbors, but the want of fresh water in their vicinity must ever prove an effectual obstacle to their occupation. The principal harbors are - the extensive Bay of La Magdalena, in latitude of 25 degrees, separated from the ocean by the long island of Santa Margarita, which appears to stretch much farther inland than had been until recently supposed - the Bay of Sebastian Vizcaino, under the 28th parallel, east of the Isle of Cedars - Port San Bartolomé, called Turtle Bay by the British and American traders -and Port San Quintin, an excel- lent harbor, with fresh water near it, in latitude of 30 degrees 20 minutes, called by the old Spanish navigators the Port of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, and rediscovered in 1800 by Captain O'Kean, a fur-trader from Boston. At the distance of a hundred and twenty miles from this coast, under the parallel of 28 degrees 45 minutes, is the small rocky island of Guadelupe, the existence of which, after it had been denied by many navigators, has been ascertained.
CONTINENTAL, or NEW, or UPPER CALIFORNIA, extends from the peninsula about five hundred miles northward, on the Pacific, to Oregon, or the country of the Columbia, from which it is divided, naturally, by the Snowy Mountains, and politically, by the 42d parallel of latitude. Its boundaries on the east are not as yet determined in any way : some geographers consider as New California only the region immediately adjacent to the Pacific, be- tween the coast and the summit of the nearest great chain of mountains ; others extend its limits to the Colorado ; while others include in it, and others again exclude from it, the whole territory drained by that river.
The country between the Pacific and the summit of the great chain of mountains running nearest the coast, is the only portion
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
of New California of which any distinct accounts have been ob- tained. This chain, which traverses the whole of the peninsula, thence continues northward, nearly parallel to the sea-coast, as far as the 34th degree of latitude, where rises Mount San Ber- mardin, one of the highest peaks in California, about forty miles from the ocean. Beyond that latitude the coast turns more west- ward, and the space between it and the mountains becomes wider, so as to exceed eighty miles in some places ; the intermediate country being, however, traversed by ranges of hills. or smaller mountains connected with the main ridge. The principal of these inferior ranges extends from Mount San Bernardin north-westward to its termination, at the entrance of the Bay of San Francisco, near the 38th degree of latitude, where it is called the San Bruno Mountains. Another range, called the Santa Barbara Mountains, runs between the one before-mentioned and the coast, and termi- nates in the north at the Cape of Pines, on the south-west side of the Bay of Monterey. East of the Bay of San Francisco is the Bolbones ridge, between which and that of San Bruno is the long valley of Tule, containing several large lakes.
The southernmost part of New California resembles the penin- sula in climate, being very hot and dry, except during a short time in the winter. Farther north the wet season increases in length, and about the Bay of San Francisco the rains are almost constant from November to April, the earth being moistened during the re- mainder of the year by heavy dews and fogs. Snow and ice are sometimes seen in the winter on the shores of this bay, but never farther south, except on the mountain-tops. The supply of water from the heavens, however, sometimes ceases for nearly two years in succession, even at the Bay of San Francisco ; such a drought was experienced there in 1840 and 1841, during which the inhab- itants suffered severely.
The prevailing winds on this coast are the south-east, which blows generally from April to November ; and the north-west, which is almost constant during the remainder of the year. It is, however, remarked, that the north-west wind is more regular and violent north of Cape Conception, a point near the 35th de- gree of latitude, and the south-east, on the coasts south of that place.
Among the valleys in this part of California, are many streams, some of which discharge large quantities of water in the rainy season ; but no river is known to flow through the maritime ridge of mountains from the interior to the Pacific, except perhaps the Sacramento, falling into the Bay of San Francisco, though several are thus represented on the maps. The valleys thus watered afford abundant pasturage for cattle, with which they are covered ; there
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
are, however, but two tracts of country capable of supporting large numbers of inhabitants, which are, that west of Mount San Bernar- din, and that surrounding the Bay of San Francisco ; and even in these places, artificial irrigation would be indispensable for success in agriculture.
The animals originally found in California, were buffaloes, bears, deer, wild hogs, wild sheep, beavers, foxes, and many others not known elsewhere ; sea otters were also very abundant in the bays of Monterey and San Francisco, but are now seldom seen. One of the scourges of this part of America is the chapul, a kind of grasshopper, which appears in the summer, especially after a long continuance of dry weather, in clouds, like the locusts of Southern Asia, destroying every vegetable substance found in their way. Cattle and horses were introduced into California by the Spaniards from Mexico during the last century, and have increased in an ex- traordinary degree, particularly in the plains and valleys between the coast and the mountains of the northern portion.
The aborigines of Upper California are generally considered less ferocious and violent, but more indolent and vicious, than those of the peninsula ; they have, however, been placed, by those who have had the opportunity of studying their character and dispositions, with the Hottentots, the Patagonians, and the Australians, among the lowest of the human race. The first attempt to civilize these people, was made by the Spaniards in 1769, immediately after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the peninsula. With this object, a number of missions were formed near the coast, under the direc- tion of Franciscan friars, forts being at the same time erected in various places, for the security of the missions and the occupation of the country. Towns were subsequently laid out and settled, and public farms were cultivated by the natives under the direction of the friars and soldiers. All these establishments have declined considerably since the overthrow of the Spanish government in Mexico, in consequence of want of funds and the diminution of the influence of the priesthood ; of late years, however, the com- merce of the country has increased, and many vessels, chiefly from the United States, now resort to its ports, laden with manufactured articles, for which they receive hides and tallow in return .*
In 1835 the number of the missions was twenty-one, and of the towns seven ; to which were attached about twenty-three thousand persons, mostly of the aboriginal race ; many of the missions have, however, been deserted since that time. These places are nearly all situated immediately on the coast, though some of the most extensive and flourishing are farther in the interior. For their
* See Chapters IV. and XVII. of the History.
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
government they are arranged in four districts, each bearing the name of the principal presidio or fortress on the coast, namely : San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco.
San Diego, the southernmost settlement of any importance on the Pacific coast of California, and the first established by the Spaniards in that country, is situated on the north side, and near the entrance of an extensive bay, which communicates with the ocean by a narrow passage opening to the south, in the lati- tude of 32 degrees 41 minutes. The bay runs into the land about ten miles, and is separated from the Pacific by a ridge of sand ; vessels of any size may enter it, and find safe anchorage and protection from all winds within a mile of the northern shore. The town of San Diego, the trade of which is probably greater than that of any other place in California, is a small village, situ- ated about a mile north of the bay. The presidio is a mud fort, two miles farther inland ; besides which, there are some fortifica- tions capable of commanding the entrance of the port. The mis- sion is distant seven miles from the presidio, in a valley, through which a torrent of fine water rushes during the rainy season. San Juan is a small, unsafe and inconvenient harbor, in latitude of 33 degrees 27 minutes, about sixty miles north-west of San Diego. Farther west is San Pedro, in latitude of 33 degrees 43 minutes, open to the south-west winds, but totally shel- tered from the north-west. The country immediately around these places is sandy and barren, yielding little besides grass for cattle ; in the interior, however, is the wide tract already mentioned, extending to Mount San Bernardin, which is said to be of great fertility wherever it is properly irrigated, pro- ducing wheat, vines, olives, and fruits of various kinds. In this tract, at the distance of thirty miles from the sea, stands Pueblo de los Angeles, the largest town in California, containing a thousand inhabitants ; and near it is the Mission of San Gabriel, the vine- yards of which formerly yielded a large supply of good wine.
From Port San Pedro the Californian coast runs westward more than a hundred miles to Cape Conception, a point situated in latitude of 34 degrees 22 minutes, which is as much dreaded by navigators, on account of the violence and frequency of the storms in its vicinity, as Cape Hatteras, near the same parallel on the opposite side of the continent. Opposite this part of the coast are the Islands of Santa Barbara, the only ones of any great extent on the eastern side of the Pacific, between the en- trance of the Californian Gulf and the 49th degree of lati- tude. They are eight in number, of which four, called Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, and San Clemente, contain from twenty to fifty square miles of surface each ; the others being mere rocks.
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
Between the Island of Santa Cruz and the main land on the north, is the Channel of Santa Barbara, fifteen miles in width, on the north side of which stand the presidio, mission, and town of Santa Barbara: the harbor is an open roadstead, sheltered from the . northerly and westerly winds, but affording little protection to ves- sels on the other sides ; the surrounding country is a sandy plain, divided on the north by the Santa Barbara range of mountains, which extends along the coast to Monterey.
At the distance of a hundred miles north of Cape Conception the Santa Barbara range of mountains terminates on the shore in a point called the Cape of Pines, between which and another point, twenty-four miles farther north, called Cape New Year, is included the Bay of Monterey. This bay lies in an indentation of the coast almost semicircular ; its southern part is, however, separated from the ocean by the Cape of Pines, and thus forms a cove or harbor, near the shore of which stands the town of Monterey, or San Car- los de Monterey, the seat of government of California. This is but a wretched village of two or three hundred inhabitants, mostly In- dians; and although the surrounding country has a good climate and soil, and might, with little labor, be sufficiently irrigated by means of two small rivers flowing from the mountains, scarcely any article of food, except beef, can be obtained there. The mis- sion stands three miles south of the town, in a valley watered by the River San Carmelo. The presidio, which is styled a castle, near the town, and the fort on the Cape of Pines, at the entrance of the harbor, are merely mud walls, with a few old guns, nearly all of them ineffective.
From the eastern shore of the Bay of Monterey, a sandy plain extends to the foot of the San Bruno range of hills, between which, and the Santa Barbara range, is a long valley, traversed by a river called the Buenaventura. This river rises in the south-east, and falls into the Bay of Monterey, though, on some maps, it is erro- neously represented as flowing from a great distance in the interior. Across the maritime range of mountains, near the northern shore of the bay, is the Mission of Santa Cruz, to which vessels commonly resort for water and provisions ; and a little farther in the interior is the incorporated town of Branciforte, having about three hundred inhabitants.
Cape Reyes, under the 38th parallel of latitude, the next re- markable head-land on the coast north of the Bay of Mon- terey, is composed of high white cliffs, projecting into the Pa- cific ; and when seen from the north or the south, it has the ap- pearance of an island, being connected with the main land on the cast by low grounds. A few miles south of this point, are two clus- ters of rocky islets called Farellones, immediately cast of which,
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
Port San Francisco, or the Bay of Saint Francis, joins the Pacific by a passage or channel two miles wide, and three in length, under the parallel of 37 degrees 55 minutes; that is, nearly in the same latitude with the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, and with the Straits of Gibraltar. From this passage the the bay extends north-eastward twenty miles, and south-eastward thirty miles, surrounded by ranges of high hills, and presenting one of the most beautiful and secure harbors on the Pacific, and indeed in the world.
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The northern branch of the bay becomes contracted near the entrance into a strait, beyond which opens a basin, called the Bay of San Pablo, about ten miles in diameter. A second pas- sage, called the Strait of. Carquines, unites this basin to another, filled with islands, into which two or three rivers empty. The Sacramento is the only one of these streams, the course of which has been explored ; it rises on the western side of the great range of mountains, along the base of which it runs from its sources, near the 41st degree of latitude, to its mouth, in the Bay of San Francisco, about three hundred miles, being navigable by small vessels for half that distance. The lower part of the country traversed by this river, is an alluvial plain, parts of which are prairies, while others are covered with forests of noble trees, prin- cipally oaks ; and from all accounts it is well adapted for the sup- port of a large population. Near the northern branch of the bay, are the missions of San Francisco Solano and San Rafael.
The southern branch of the bay extends about thirty miles from the entrance, and may be considered as occupying the bot- tom, or northern extremity of a long valley, which stretches between the San Bruno Mountains on the west, and the Bolbones range also communicating with the great Californian chain on the east. The presidio and mission of San Francisco are situated on the western shore of the bay, a few miles south of the entrance passage, at the termination of the San Bruno range of highlands ; the principal place of anchorage for vessels is a cove, a little farther north, between the western shore and the Island of Yerba Buena, where a settlement has been commenced by the English and Americans, who conduct nearly all the trade of that part of Cali- fornia. This branch of the bay is about twelve miles in its greatest , breadth; it terminates in the south, in a number of small arms, receiving streams from the valleys among the hills, one of which forms a communication, during the wet season, between the bay and the large Lakes of Tule, situated farther south. Of these lakes very little is known; they are said to be two or three in number, forming a chain about one hundred miles long, in the environs of which, is a large population of natives. Upon another
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GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA.
stream, entering the bay on the south-east, are the town of San José, and the contiguous mission of Santa Clara, in the midst of a delightful country, producing grains and fruits of all kinds in abundance, and affording pasture to numerous herds of cattle.
The excellence of the harbors afforded by the Bay of San Francisco, and the productiveness of the surrounding country, will doubtless render it one of the most important spots on the coasts of the North Pacific. It is already attracting the attention of en- terprising individuals, as well as of the governments of maritime states in Europe and America ; and there is but little risk in pre- dicting that it will, ere long, be the subject of contention between one or the other of those states and its present possessors, who have neither the means nor the will to develop its advantages.
Immediately north of Cape Reyes, in the latitude of 38 de- grees 33 minutes, a small bay, called Port Bodega, joins the Pacific, on the shore of the northern branch of which the Rus- sians, in 1812, formed a settlement, chiefly with the view of supplying their fur-trading establishments with meat and other provisions. A few years afterwards another settlement of a simi- lar kind, called Ross, was made by the same people, on the coast of the Pacific, about fifteen miles north of Bodega, near the mouth of a small stream, named by them the Slavinka Ross. Each of these places consisted of a stockaded fort, enclosing dwellings for the officers and magazines, and surrounded by other buildings, among which were shops for carpenters and smiths, and stables for numerous herds of cattle ; and in the neighborhood of Bodega a farm was worked, from which several thousand bushels of wheat, besides peas and other vegetables, were annually obtained. These establishments of the Russians in California have been a constant source of annoyance to the Spaniards and to their Mexican successors ; they have, however, it is said, been recently ceded to a company composed chiefly of Americans, who seem equally determined to dispute the authority of Mexico over the country.
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