CHAPTER XXX.

Mountain counties-Area, resources, climate, and populationInyo-Mono-Mariposa-Tuolumne-Calaveras-Amador-Alpine-El Dorado-Placer-Nevada-Sierra-Plumas-Lassen.

TURNING northward from the Colorado river and the deserts of San Bernardino county, and following the ridge of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Oregon State line, is found that range of counties embracing the greater part of the Sierras, with their wonderful forest giants, lofty mountains, and magnificent waterfalls; here, too, are the great treasure vaults of the Golden State, with representatives of every race and kindred of man bowing to and knocking at their doors. This chain of counties is known as the

MOUNTAIN COUNTIES.

Some years ago, when the placer mines of some of these counties became exhausted, the miners abandoned them and sought the valley counties as a place of permanent abode. Within a more recent period, the great capacity of these mountain regions for producing grain, vegetables, and fruit has been ascertained: particularly have they become celebrated for grape-growing, and for producing the finest wines in California. Nearly every variety of fruit, including the orange, olive, lemon, and fig, grow in most of these counties, and orchards, vines, and gardens now bloom upon the ruins of the early miner's temporary home along the foot-hills and gulches of the western slope of the Sierras. For diversified agriculture and the far

mer's home, these mountain counties, generally well wooded, with pure water and pure air, are much preferable to the low and flat valley regions; and, although it is but a very few years since any attention was first paid to agriculture in this section, the material progress made is most encouraging.

INYO. The county of Inyo, the most southern of the mountain counties, is bounded north by Mono, northeast by the State of Nevada, southeast by San Bernardino, and west by Fresno and Tulare. The area of this county is 4,680 square miles-equal to the area of the State of Connecticut, and would make three States of the size of the State of Rhode Island, leaving 768 square miles. The whole of this county lies east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The surface is rugged, and interspersed with elevated mountains, lakes, valleys, and forests. The loftiest mountains in the State are in this county. The climate is mild: snow falls upon the mountain ranges in winter, but it is never very cold, and throughout the whole year sheep, cattle, and horses graze upon the hillsides and valleys. There is but little rainfall, and the summers are generally very warm. In the region about Owens lake and Owens river there is a considerable area of the most fertile land in California, and many small valleys of great richness throughout the county, many of which are cultivated with great profit. There are some forest trees upon the mountains and hill-sides, but a large area of the eastern portion of the county is destitute of trees, and is but a sandy desert. Springs of salt, sulphur, alkaline, soda, and poison are found; and mines of gold, silver, tin, lead, and copper, of great richness, exist. Lead is ex

tensively mined, and veins of quartz, rich in free gold, are worked with great profit. The remoteness of the county has, so far, much retarded its development. Mining, grazing, and agriculture are the chief resources of this section. Grain, vegetables, and fruit, including grapes, oranges, lemons, figs, and olives, grow, and the mulberry thrives well.

The whole population of the county is but 1,956; of whom 1,104 are native Americans and 792 are of foreign birth. Independence, the county-seat, has a population of 400. Cerro Gordo, Bend City, Kearsarge, Lone Pine, and Lake City are small towns in the county. It was in this county, in the vicinity of Lone Pine, that the severest earthquake ever experienced in the United States occurred, in March, 1872, as described in a preceding chapter.

MONO.-The next county northward is Mono. Like Inyo, it lies entirely east of the Sierras, and these two counties are the only ones in the State east of that chain of mountains. Mono runs along the Sierras for a distance of 170 miles, and is about 40 miles in width, but growing narrow toward its northern end. The area of this county is 4,176 square miles-double the size of the State of Delaware, and more than three times as large as the State of Rhode Island. It has the smallest population of any county in the State-430; of whom 305 are native Americans and 125 are of foreign birth.

The remoteness of this section from markets and the lack of means of transportation, more than the want of natural resources, have retarded the progress of this county. The surface of Mono is rugged and generally well wooded, particularly upon its western side. Owens

and other rivers have their fountain-heads in this county. Mountains of considerable altitude and lakes of wonderful fluids exist. Toward the eastern side of the county there are wide areas unfit for tillage, but there are also many beautiful and fertile valleys susceptible of high cultivation; and grain, vegetables, and fruit grow well. None of the semi-tropical fruits nor the grape have yet been cultivated. Agriculture and mining are the chief resources of the county. Farming and grazing are profitably conducted, and mines of gold, silver, and other minerals are found, but are yet very little developed. The climate is cold in winter, considerable snow falling upon the mountains, but in the valleys it is mild, and cattle graze upon the native grasses throughout the whole year. Summer is long, dry, and hot, but most agreeable.

Benton and Bridgeport are the only towns of any importance in the county; the latter town, situated near the Sierras, in the Big Meadows, is the county-seat.

MARIPOSA. This county lies directly west of Mono lake and upon the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is almost directly east from the city of San Francisco. It is bounded north by Tuolumne, east by Mono, south by Fresno, and west by Merced; and has an area of 1,440 square miles and a population of 4,572; of whom 2,192 only are Americans, while 2,380 are of foreign birth. The surface of the country is diversified with mountains, rolling hills, dense forests, beautiful valleys, dashing streams, and delightful water-falls. Here are the celebrated Big Trees and the famed Yosemite Valley and Falls. In that portion of the county in the Sierras snow falls to considerable depth in winter,

but along the western side snow is rarely seen, and cattle and sheep graze the year round upon the native grasses. Summer in the Sierras is delightful, the forests, foliage, and grass being green, while in the valleys below all is parched with heat. A great portion of the county is suited to grazing and farming, and each year these pursuits are receiving more attention. Fruitgrowing is conducted upon a large scale, and with profit. The fig, olive, grape, mulberry, almond, and orange grow, but not so well as in counties farther south. Mariposa possesses great mineral wealth, and veins of quartz rich in gold have been and are still worked with great profit. This is the most southern county of the chain of early mining counties extending northward from this point. The principal towns in the county are Bear Valley, Coulterville, Hornitos, and Mariposa, the county-seat.

TUOLUMNE.-North of Mariposa, and extending from the crest of the Sierras to the San Joaquin valley in the west, a distance of 70 miles, is the county of Tuolumne, with an area of 1,944 square miles, and a population of 8,150; of whom 4,182 are native American and 3,968 are of foreign birth. The county is bounded northwest by Calaveras, north by Alpine, east by Mono, south by Mariposa, and southwest by Stanislaus.

This county is famous in the early history of California for its rich placer mines, and still produces largely of the precious metals; but, like many of the mining counties, the placers are much exhausted, and quartz-mining has taken the place of the crevice-knife, pan, and shovel of the past. The county, once almost depopulated upon the failure of the gold placers, is now