Early Settlers in the Valleys.

First Country in the World.

oppressive by any means as 80° at Chicago. Sunstroke is unknown and out-door workers never miss a day's labor because of excessive sunshine.

Since valleys are the natural homes of men, the pioneers of California-those hardy men who moved westward until stopped by the Pacific in those early days of history making, when Spanish governors ruled Alta California-established their haciendas amid the widespreading oaks that dot these valley plains. After them came the Argonauts, those American prototypes of Ulysses, lured over the plains and over the mountains by the cry of gold. In the valley became established stores and trading points for the mines of the Sierra and later cultivation of the fields, and the planting of fruit trees resulted. Of early conditions General Will S. Green of Colusa, writes:

"Half a lifetime of familiarity with this region has only deepened the conviction, early formed, that it is the first country in the world. The earliest pioneers nearly all located around San Francisco bay or in the Sacramento valley. They had their choice of all California and they naturally took the best. Sutter's Fort, central to one of the earliest and largest grants of land made in this territory by Mexico, stands to-day within the corporate limits of the city of Sacramento, the capital of the State, and the richness of the surrounding country attests the wisdom of the locator.

"The city of Chico, ninety miles further north, is on land originally granted by Mexico to Gen. John Bidwell, and all who visit that locality are impressed by the richness and park-like beauty of the country.

"Those earliest of the civilized settlers saw at a glance where the soil was richest, where timber was most plentiful and where water was most abundant, and there they planted their homes. They knew by observations in the countries they came from that where game did most abound, there Nature was most provident in her gifts, and the Sacramento valley was the game region par excellence in the early days of California.

Herds of

Animals.

"Bands of antelope numbered by the thousands, elk Great in great number could be seen at any time grazing on the Grazing rich forage of the valley. In 1851, a wood-chopper furnished the hotel-keeper in Colusa with an antelope each day for his board.

"When Governor Stanford, with ample means to secure his choice of land anywhere in the State, contemplated his stupendous vineyard enterprise, he sought a location in the Sacramento valley, and at Vina, one hurdred and ten miles north of Sacramento, he planted, and is growing there to-day, the largest vineyard in the world.

"The great Glenn ranch, as rich a body of land as the sun shines on, and on which it was the proprietor's ambition to raise in one season a million bushels of wheat, lies well north in this valley. The princely possessions of the late Senator Boggs, and others of the most noted agricultural holdings in the State, are within the confines of the Sacramento valley."

Occupations,

But attractive and profitable as are the varied rural Other industries of this section, orange growing, olive oil not Rural. making, and ripe olive pickling, grain producing, (for the valley is one of the vast granaries of the world with vast shipments through the Golden Gate to feed the Eastern States and Europe), there are other opportunities, notably in manufacturing and in mining, as well as the minor occupations that go to make up the life of towns and cities. The Sacramento river is navigable the greater part of its length. The railroad lines of the Southern Pacific Company run the full length of the valley, extending on to Oregon, and south through to San Francisco and though the San Joaquin valley, with many branches on all sides. Thus, the valley possesses transportation outlets by both water and rail.

The principal city of the valley is Sacramento, the capital of California, a modern city and well-built and fastgrowing, with broad streets, electric cars, business blocks of granite and brick and many modern structures built, or in process of construction. The State capitol is one of the

Valley

most imposing buildings in the West, with one of the finest Flourishing: capitol park in the country, and around the city gather cities. the life incidental to the capital of a great State. The principal other cities are Marysville, Oroville, Chico, Red Bluff, Redding, Willows, Colusa, Woodland, Vacaville, Winters, Auburn, Grass Valley and Nevada City, all well ordered places of thrift and progress. Throughout the valley everywhere are schools and churches and all that goes to make civilization and refinement. An old resident recently said:

"The Sacramento valley is a land in which are found the opportunities of the frontier together with the advantages of civilization and is essentially the place for the making of a home; no cold winters and no thunder storms; mountains close by and sea not far away; chances for outings in the pine forests or in the ocean surf, while canyons and woodland stretches and fast flowing streams make sportsmen happy."

Output of

Counties.

The mountains, both of the Sierra Nevada and of the Mineral Coast Range, are rich in minerals, and although mining is Valley the second oldest industry in the State (cattle raising being considered the first), the mineral lands of the State according to the best authorities have only as yet, figuratively speaking, received surface scratching. The last statement of the mineral output of the State credits the counties of the Sacramento valley with a product valuation of $16,031,601 out of $31,394,879 for the entire State. Elsewhere tables of the State Mining Bureau and of the highest expert authorities show the mineral product valuation of various counties of the valley. All through Placer and Nevada, El Dorado, Yuba, Butte, Shasta and Tehama, are gold mines that are being worked profitably, employing most modern mechanism. Gold mining is a leading industry in every county lying wholly or in part in the Sierras. While the easy surface diggings have for the most part been exhausted, new processes and cheaper power have given new impetus to the industry which promises to extend steadily and continuously.