Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume], April 18, 1850, Image 1

About Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883

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BY E. P. WALTON & SON.
MONTPELIEK, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1850.
VOL.XLIV, NO. 23. WHOLE NO. 2270.
iUatcljmcm & State journal.
rUHMSIIEIt KVEIW TJIUKSDAY MORNING.
TERMS $1,20 rash in udmnce ; 2,00 if payment is not
diMle iii advance; iotcrctt alwiO charged ft em the ccd of
the year.
iUtsicliancous.
REPORT OF HON. T. BUTLER
KING, ON CALIFORNIA,
ITS POPULATION, CLIMATE, SOIL, TKODUCTS,
PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND METALLIC AND MIN
ERAL WEALTH.
Washington, March 22d, 1S50.
Sir : In obedience to your instructions,
dated the 3d of April last, I pioceeded to
California by way of the Isthmus of Pana
ma, and arrived at San Francisco on the
4th of June.
The steamer in which I took passage was
the first conveyance that reached Califor
nia with intelligence of the inauguration of
President Taylor, and the appointment of
his Cabinet, and that Congress had failed
to aid (he Executive in providing a govern
ment for the people of that territory. The
greatest anxiety was naturally felt and man
ifested to ascertain the cause of this neg
lect on the part of the Government of the
United States, and what steps duty to them
selves required them to take, in the pain
ful and embarrassing position in which they
were placed, for their protection and wel
fare. A brief skcich of their position will ex
plain the cause of this anxiety.
The discovery of the gold mines had at
tracted a very large number of citizens of
the United States to that territory, who had
never been accustomed to any other than
American law, administered by American
courts. There they found their rights of
property and person subject to the uncer
tain, and frequently most oppressive, oper
ations of laws written in a language they
did not understand, and founded on princi
ples, in many respects, new to them. They
complained that the alcaldes, or judges,
most of whom had been appointed or elect
ed before the immigration had cammenced,
were not lawyers by education or profes
sion; and, being American, they were, of
course, unacquainted with the laws ol .Mex
ico, or the principles of the civil law on
which they are founded.
As our own laws, except for the collec
tion of revenue, the transmission of the
inaiN, and establishment of post ofiires, had
not been extended over that Territory, the
laws of Mexico, as they existed at the cou-j
elusion of the treaty of Gaudalonpe, Hidal-.
go, regulating the relations of the nliubil
ants of California with each other, necessa
rily remained in force; yet, there was not
a single volume containing those laws, as
far as 1 know or believe, in the whole terri
tory, except, perhaps, in the Governor's of
fice, at Monterey.
The magistrates, therefore, could not
procure them, and the administration of
justice was, necessarily, as unequal anu
lluctuating as the opinions of the judges
were conflicting and variable.
There were no fee-bills to regulate costs,
and, consequently, the most cruel exactions,
in many instances, were practised.
The I'realcst confusion prevailed respect
ing titles to properly, and the decision of
tu.ts, involving the most important rights,
and very large sums of money depended up
on the dictum of the judge.
The tale of the territory by Mexico to the
United States had necessarily cut olfordis-j
solved the laws regulating the granting or i
procuring titles to laud ; and, as our own
land-laws had not been extended over it, the
people were compelled to receive such ti-;
ties as were offered to them, without the
means of ascertaining whether they were
valid or not. .
Litigation was so expensive and precari
ous, that injustice and oppression were fre
quently endured, rather than resort to so
uncertain a remedy. I
Towns and cities were springing into
existence many of them without charters
of any legal right to organize municipal
authorities, or to tax property or the citi
zens, for the establishment of a police, the
election of prisons, or providing any of
those means for the protection of life and
property which arc so necessary in all civ-,
il communities, and especially among a peo
ple mostly strangers to each other.
Nearly one million and a half of dollars
had been paid into the custom houses, as
duty on imported goods, before our revenue
laws had been extended over the country;
and the people complained bitterly that
they were thus heavily taxed without being
provided with a government for their pro
tection, or laws which they could under
stand, or allowed the right to be represent
ed in the councils of the nation.
While anxiously awaiting the action of
Congress, oppressed and embarrassed by
tins state of affairs, and feeling the press
ing necessity of applying such remedies, as
were in their pouer and circumstances
teemed to justify, they resolved to substi
tute laws oi their own lor the existing sys
tem, and to establish tribunals for their pro
per and faithful administration.
In obedience, therefore, to the extraordi
nary exigencies of their condition, the peo
ple of the city of San Francisco elected
members to form a Legislature, and domed
them with full power to puss iaws.
The communities of Sonoma and of Sac
ramento city followed the example.
Thus were three legislative uouies or
ganized, the two most dista.it bung only
130 miles apart.
Other movements of the kind were threat
ened ; and doubtless would have followed,
in other sections of the territory had they
not been arrested by the formation of a
State government.
While the people of California w ere look
ing to Congress for a Territorial Govern
ment, it was quite evident that such an or
ganization was daily becomins less suited
to their condition, which was entirely dif
ferent from that of any of the I crritoncs
out of which the new States of the Union
had been formed.
Those Territories had been at first slow
ly and sparcely peopled by a few hunters
and farmers, who penetrated the wilder
ness, or traversed the prairies in search of
See American Intoraoce Company et a!, r Carter, 1ft
rclsi.' ujfemc Cuuit UrfOiU, 212.
game or a new home ; and, when thus grad-1
ually their population warranted it, a gov
ernment was provided for them. They,
however, had no foreign commerce, nor
anything beyond the ordinary pursuits of
agriculture and the various branches of bus
iness which usually accompany it, to induce
immigration within their borders. Several j
years were required to give them sufficient :
population and wealth to place them in a
condition to require or enable them to sup
port a State Government.
Not so with California. The discovery
of the vast metallic and mineral wealth in
her mountains had already attracted to her,
in the space of twelve months, more than
one hundred thousand people ; an exten
sive commerce had sprung up with China,
the ports of Mexico on the Pacific, Chili
and Australia.
Hundreds of vessels from the Atlantic
ports of the Union, freighted with our man
ufactures and agricultural products and
filled with our fellow citizens, had arrived,
or were on their passage round Cape Horn ;
so that in the month of June last there
were more than three hundred sea-going
vessels in the port of San Francisco.
California has a border on the Pacific of
10 degrees of latitude, and several impor
tant harbors which have never been sur
veyed ; nor is there a buoy, a beacon, a
light-house, or a fortification on the whole
coast. .
There are no docks for the repair of na
tional or mercantile vessels nearer than
New York, a distance of some twenty thous
and miles round Cape Horn.
All these things, together with the prop
er regulations of the gold region, the quick
silver mines, the survey and disposition of
the public lands, the adjustment of land ti
tles, the establishment of a mint and marine
hospitals, required the immediate formation
of a more perfect civil goverment than
California then had, and the fostering care
of Congress and the Executive.
California had, as it were by magic, be
come a State of great wealth and power.
One short year had given her a commercial
importance but little inferior to that of the
most powerful of the old Stales. She had
passed her minority at a single bound, and
might justly be regarded as fully entitled to
take her place as an equal among her sis-,
ters of the Union
When, therefore, the reality became
known tr. the people of that Territory
that the Government had done nothing to
relieve them fiom the evil and embarrass
ments under which they were suffering, and
Mcing no probably of any change on the '
subject, which divided Congress, they adop
ted, with most unexampled unanimity and
promptitude, the only course which lay open
to them the immediate formation of a
Stale government.
They weie induced to take this step not
only for the leasou that it promised the
most speedy remedy for present difficulties,
but because the great and rapidly growing
interests of the Territory deniaudcdit; and
all reflecting men saw, at a glance, that it
ought not to be any longer, and could not
under any circumstances, be much lunger
postponed.
They not only .considered themselves ucst
qualified, but that they had the right to de-
cide, as far as they were concerned, the
embarrassing question which was shaking
the Union to its centre, and had thus far
deprived them of a regularly organized civ -
il government. They believed that,
forming a constitution, they had a right
establish or prohibit slavery, and that
their action as a btatc, tlicy would be sus -
tained by the North and the South
They were not unmindful of the fact,
that while Northern statesmen had contend
ed that Congress has power to prohibit
slavery in the Territories, they had always
admitted that the States of the Union had
the right to abolish or establish it ;.t pleas
ure. On the other hand, Southern statesmen
had almost unanimously contended that
Congress has not the constitutional power
la prohibit slavery in the Territories, be
cause they have net the power to establish
it ; but that ti.e people in forming a govern-
meut fur themselves, have the right to do
either. If Congress can rightfully do one,
they can certainly do the other.
This is the doctrine put forth by Mr.
Calhoun, in his celebrated Resolutions of
1847, introduced into the Senate of the
United States, among which is the follou-
'"S : j
Jlesoh-eJ, Thu it is a funJamcntal principle
in our political creed, that a people in loaning
a constitution have the unconditional right to
form anil adopt the Government which they may
think best calculated to secure their liberl y, j
thereto, i.o other condition is imposed by the
Fedeial Constitution on a Stite, in order to be
rwnfri!v nnl iitinmo.G' nnit in rnnrnmiil'
admitted into this Union, except that its const!
union shall be " icpubl.caii," and tint the impo
sition of any other by t ongrcss oulJ not only
be m violation of the Constitution, but in duect
coufl ct "ith the principle on which our political
sv stern icsts.
President Polk, -in his annual message,
dated 5th December, 16-13, uses the follow
ing language :
I'ne question is believed to be ra'h ;r r.b
tr.ict limn practical, whether slavtry evcrcuii
or would exist in any portion ot the acquired
tcrutory, even if it vvcr: kit lo the upiLn oi the
tlaveuulding .state theutsclve. From the na-tuit-
of the cl, male and piojuciuns in much the
larger porlion ot it, it ii ceituiu it could never
exist; and in the remainder, the probabilities
are thai it would not.
Hut however this may be, the question, in
volving. as it dies, a piiucipleot equality of
rights of the separate and everal States, at e
qual ciip inneis m the confederacy, should not
be -.isrtgiidi'd.
In .jig.tiizuig guvcrnnients over t!iC3e Terri-tor.e-,
no out, imp ced ou Congress by the Con.
stiuu ill regime uiiliaoy stiouiu letrisia-.c on
the oubjtctof eUvery, while ilicir poer to do
soisnotoniy seriously questioned, but denied
by many ot the soundest expounders of that in
strument. " Whether Congress shall legislate or not,
the people of the acquired Territories, when is
scmbled 111 convention to form Slate constitu
tions, will possess the sole and exclusive power
to determine for ihernselves whether slavery
shall orslwll not exist within their limits."
The people of California, therefore, act
ing in conformity with the views thus ex
pressed, and what seemed to be the gener
ally admitted opinion in the States, had ev
ery reason to suppose, and did suppose, that
by forming a constitution for themselves,
and .deciding this question in accordance
with their own views and interests, they
would be received with open arms by all
parties.
In taking this step they proceeded with
all regularity which has ever characterized
the American people in discharging the
great &. important duties of self-government.
As already stated, I arrived at San Fran
cjscoon the morning of the fourth of June.
The steamer in which I was passenger
did not stop at Monterey ; I therefor did.
not sec General Hi ley, nor had 1 any com
munication villi him until about the middle
of the month, when he came to San Fran
cisco. A few days after my arrival, his
State Constitution, dated the 3(1 of June,
was received.
The people acted in accordance with
what they believed to be the views of Con
gress, and conformably to the recommenda
tions of the proclamation ; and proceeded,
on the day appointed, to elect members to
a convention for the purpose of forming a
constitution, to he regularly submitted to
the people, for their ratification or rejec
tion, and, if approved, to be presented to
Congress, with a prayer for the admission
of California, as a Slate, into the Union.
I desire here to make a brief and em
phatic reply to the various unjust and most
extraordinary accusations and insinuations
which have been made respecting the
movements of the people of California in
forming their State government.
I had no secret instructions, verbal or
written, from the President, or any one else,
what to say to the people of California, on
the subject of Slavery ; nor was it ever hint
ed or intimated to me that I ivas expected
to attempt to influence their action in the
slightest degree on that subject. That I
never did, the people of California will bear
me witness. In that territory there was
none of the machinery of party or of the
press, and it is even more absurd to suppose
that any secret influences, for or against
slavery, could have been used there, than it
would be to believe that they could he suc
cessfully employed in Maryland or Georgia. I
I therefore declare all assertions and in
sinuations, that I was secretly instructed to,
or that I did in any way, attempt to influ
ence the people of California to exclude
slavery from their Territory, to be without
foundation.
The election of delegates to the conven
tion proceeded rcjuhrly in pursuance of the
proposed mode of holding il, and as far as.
I am informed, no questions were asked
whether a candidate was a Whig, or Dcmo
ctat. or whether he was from the North or
South. The only object seemed to be, to
find competent men who were willing to
mane the sacrihce oi tune which a proper
discharge of their duties would require,
As soon alter my arrival at San Francis
co as the arrangements of General Smith
would peririt, I proceeded with him to the
interior of the country, for the purpose of
examining the gold region, and other inter
esting and important portions of it. I did
not return until the Kith of August. The
elections had taken place when 1 was in the
mountains. I was taken ill on the "Uth
of that mouth, and was confined to my bed
and my room more than two months.
The convention met on the 1st of Sep
tember. So it will be seen that I was not
present when any election was held, nor had
I any thing to do with selecting or bringing
out candidates; and my illness is sufficient
proof that I did not, and could not, had I
been disposed, exercise any influence in the
convention, which was sitting one hun-
dred and thirty miles from where I was,
in I Some intimations or assertions, as I am
tojnnformcd, have been thrown out that the
in j South was not fairly represented in the con-
j leulion. 1 am told by two ol the members
of Congress elect from California, who
were members of the Convention, that of
the thirty seven delegates designated in
General ltiley's proclamation, sixteen were
from slavcho!dinr, ten from non-slavchold-
iug States, and eleven who were citizens of
California under the Mexican government,
and that ten of those eleven came from dis
tricts below 39" 30m. So that there were
in the Convention tvvcuty-six of the thirtj
seven members from the slaveholding States,
and from places south of the Missouri com
promise hue.
It appears on the journal of the ennven-
! tion, that the clause in the constitution ex
eluding slavery passed unanimously
I now proceed to give you the result of
my inquiries, observations and reflections,
respecting the population, climate, soil and
productions the general character of grants
op'laud from Mexico the extent and con
dition of the public domain the commer
cial resources and prospects the mineral !
and metallic wealth of California.
rurULATION.
Humboldt, in his Essay on New Spain,
the population of Upper California,
1 ' t liave consisted of--
I Converted Indians, lo.HCiU
02
Other classes,
i,3uo
Alexander Forbes, in his history of Up
per and Lower California, published in
i London, in 1S39, states the number of con
verted Indians in the former to have been,
In 1631, 18,03:5
Of all other classes, at -1,31:2
He expresses the opinion that this num
ber had not varied much up to 1835, and
the probability is, there was very little in
crease in the white population until the
emigrants from the United States began to
cutei the country in 1S33.
They increased from year to year, so that 1
in 1840, Colonel r reuiont hau little dilhcul
ty in calling to his standard some five hun
dred fighting men.
At the close of the war with Mexico, it
was supposed that there were, including
, discharged volunteers, from ten to fifteen
lliousauu .Americans anu uaiiiuriiiaus, ex
clusive of converted Indians, in the Terri
tory. The immigration of American citi
zens, in 1849, up to the 1st of January last,
was estimated at eighty thousand of for
eigners, twenty thousand.
The population of California may be
safely set down at 115,000 at the com
mencment of the present year.
It is quite impossible to form any thing
like an accurate estimate of the number of
Indians in the Territory. SinceJhri com
mencement of the war, and especially since
the discovery of gold in the mountains, their
number at the missions and in the valleys
near the coast, hare very much diminished.
In fact the whole race seems to be rapidly
disappearing.
The remains of a vast number of villa
ges in all the valleys of the Sierra Nevada,
and among the foothills of that range of
mountains, show that at no distant day
there must have been a numerous popula
tion, where there is not now an Indian to
be seen. There are a few still retained in
the service of the old Californians, but these
do not amount to more than a few thousand
in the whole Territory. It is said that
there are large numbers of them in the
mountains and valleys about the head wa
ters of the S-ni Joiquin, along the western
base of the Sierra, and in the northern part
of the Territory, and that they are hostile.
A number of Americans were killed by
them during the last summer in attempting
to penetrate high up the rivers in search of
gold ; they also drove one or two parties
from Trinity river. They have, in several
instances, attacked persons coming from or
returning to Oregon, in the section of coun
try which the lamented Captain Warner
was examining when he was killed.
It is quite impossible to form any esti
mate of the number of these Mountain In
dians. Some suppose there are as many as
three hundred thousand in the Territory,
but I should not be inclined to believe that
there can be one-third of that number. It
is quite evident that they are hostile, and
that they ought to be chastised for the mur
ders already committed.
The small bands with whom I have met,
scattered through the lower portions of the
foot-hills of the Sierra, and in the valleys
between them and the coasts, seemed to be
almost the lowest grade of human beings.
They live chiefly on acorns, roots, insects,
and the kernel of the pine burr occasion
ally they catch fish and game. They use
the bow and arrow, but are said lo be too
lazy and effeminate lo make successful
hunters. They do not appear to have the
slightest inclination to cultivate the soil, nor
do they ever attempt it, as far as I could
obtain information, except when they are
induced to enter the serviceof the white in-
habitants. They have never pretended to I
hold any interest in the soil, nor have thev
been treated by the Spanish or American
immigrants as possessing any.
The Mexican government never treated
with them for the purchase of land, or the
relintiuishmcnt ofany claim to it whatever,
Thev are lazy, idle to the last degree, ami I
. . " . . J ' . . ... a -
although they are said to be willing to give
their services to ai.y one who will provide
them with blankets, beef and bread, it is
with much difficulty that they can be made
to perform labor enough to reward their
employers for these very limited means of
comfort
Formerly, at the missions, those who I
were brought up and instructed by the
priests, made very good servants. Many of!
these now attached to families seem to be;
faithful and intelligent. But those who are
at all in a wild and uncultivated state, arc
most degraded objects of filth and idleness.
It is possible that government might, un
collecting them together, teach them, in
some degree the arts and habits of civiliza
tion ; but, if we may judge of the future
from the past, they will disappear from the
f ice of the earth as the settlements of the
whites extend over the country. Avery
considerable military force will be necessa
ry, however, to protect the emigrants in
the northern and southern portions of the
territory.
CLIMATE.
I now come to consider the climate. The
climate of California is so remarkable in its
periodical changes, and for the long contin
uance of the wet and dry seasons, dividing as
they do, the year into about tw o equal parts,
which have a most peculiar influence on
the labor applied to agriculture and the pro
ducts of the soil, and, in fact, connect them
selves so inseparably with all the interests
of the country, that I deem it proper briefly
to mention the causes which produce these
changes, and which, it will be seen, as this
report proceeds, must exercise a controlling
influence on the commercial prosperity and
resources of the country.
It is a well established theory, that the
currents of air under which the earth pass
es in its diurnal revolutions follow the line
of the sun's greatest attraction. These cur
rents of air are drawn towards this line from
great distances 011 each side of it; and as
the world revolves from west to east they
blow from northeast and southeast, meeting,
and of course causing a calm, on the line.
Thus, when the sun is directly, in com
mon parlance, over the equator, in the mouth
cf March, these currents of air blow from
some distance north of the tropic of Cancer,
and south of the tropic of Capricorn, in an
oblique direction towards this line of the
sun's greatest attraction, and forming what
are known as the northeast and southeast
tradevvinds.
ln,e ?ln. l" Pal" rounu u.e sun,
-.1 11.. 1. .......... (l.A l...n ..r .It.n.hnu ....rfl.
cr.
auuuiiv Ullliitsiuuiiiii; ui uiituotiifii iiui iii, i
in summer these currents ot air are carried
with il ; so that about the middle of May the
current from the northeast has extended as
far as the 38th or 39th degree of north lati
tude, and by the twentieth day of June, the
period of the sun's greatest northern incli
nation, to the northern portions of Califor
nia and the southern portion of Oregon.
These northeast winds, in their progress
across the continent, towards the Pacific
ocean, pass over the snow-capped ridges of' saine latitudes. It is dry, however, and prob
the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Neva-fauy m)t more oppressive. On the foot-hills
da, and are of course deprived of all niois -
ture which can be extracted from them by
the low temperature of those regions of eter-1
nal snow, and consequently no moisture can
"be precipitated from them, in the form of
dew or rain, in a higher temperature than
that to which they have been subjected.
They, therefore, pass over the hills and
plains of California, where the temperature
is very high in summer, in a very dry state;
and so far from being charged with mois
ture, they absorb, like a sponge, all that the
atmosphere and surface of the earth can
yield, until both become, apparently perfectly
dry.
The process commences, as I have said,
when the line of the sun's greatest attrac
tion comes north in the summer, bringing
with it these vast atmospheric movements
and on their approach, produced the dry
seasons in California, which governed by
these laws, continues until some time after
the sun repasses the equator in September,
when, about the middle of November, the
climate being relieved from these northeast
currents of air, the outhtvesjwinds set in
from the ocean charged with moisture the
rains commence and continue to fall, not
constantly, as some persons have represent
ed, but with sufficient frequency to desig
nate the period of their continuance from
about the middle of November until the mid
dle of May, in the lattitude of San Fracis
co, as the wet season
It follows, as a matter of course, that the
dry season commences first, and continues
longest in the southern portion of the Ter
ritory and the climate of the northern part
is influenced in a much less degree, by the
causes which I have mentioned, than any
other section of the country. Consequent
ly we find that as low down as lat. 39. deg.
rains are sufficiently frequent in summer to
retider irrigation quite unnecessary to the
perfect maturity ofany crop which is suited
to the soil and climate.
There is an extensive ocean current of
cold water which comes Yrom the northern
regions of the pacific or, perhaps, from the
Artie, and flows along the coast of Califor
nia. It comes charged with, and emits in
its progress, air, which appears in the form
of fog when il comes in contact with a high
er temperature 011 the American coast, as
the gulf stream of the Atlantic exhales va
por when it meets, in any part of its pro
gress, a lower temperature. This current
has not been surveyed, and therefore, its
source, temperature, velocity, width, and
course, have not been accurately ascertain
ed. It is believed by Lieut. Maury, on what he
considers sufficient evidence and no high
authority can be cited that this current
comes from the coast of China and Japan,
flows northwardly lo the peninsula of Kam
taschatka, and making a circuit to the east
ward strikes the American coast in about
latitude 41 or 42. It passes thence south
wardly, and finally loses itself in the tro
pics. Below latitude thirty-nine, and west of
the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada, the for
ests of California are limited to some scat
tering groves of oak in the valleys and a-
long the borders of the streams, and of red
wood on the ridges and in the gorges of the
hiils sometimes extending into the plains.
Some of the lulls are covered with dwarf
shrubs, which may be used as fuel. With
these exceptions, the whole territory pre-
'sents a surface without trees or shrubbery
It is covered, however, with various species
f I C . -t f .,
of grass, and for many miles from the coast
with wild oats, which 111 the valleys, grow
most luxuriantly. These grassps and oats
mature and ripen early in the dry season,
and soon cease to protect the soil from the
scorching rays of the sun. As the summer
advances, the moisture in the atmosphere
and the earth, lo a considerable depth, soon
becomes exhausted; and the radiation of
beat, from the extensive naked plains, and
"in siues, is very great.
The cold dry currents of air from the
northeast after passing the rocky mountains
and the Sierra Nevada, descend to the Pa
cific, and absorb the moisture of the at
mosphere, to a great distance from the laud.
The cold air from the mountains, and that
which accompanies the great ocean current
from the northwest, thus becomes united,
and vast banks of fog are generated, which,
when driven by the wind, has a penetrating
or cutting effect on the human skin, much
more uncomfortable than would be felt in
the humid atmosphere of the Atlantic at a
much lower temperature.
As the sun rises from day to day, week
after week, and month after mouth, in un
clouded brightness during the dry season,
and pours down his unbroken rays on the
dry, unprotected surface of the country, the
heat becomes so much greater inland than
it is 011 the ocean, that an under current of
cold air, bringing the fog with it, rushes o
ver the coast range of hills, and through
their numerous passes, towards the interi
or. Every day, as the heat, inland, attains a
sufficient temperature, the cold, dry wind
from the ocean commences below. This
is usually from eleven to one o'clock ; and
as the day advances the wind increases and
continues to blow till late at night. When
the vacuum is filled, or the equilibrium of
the atmosphere restored, the wind ceases ;
a perfect clam pcrvails until about the same
hour the following day, when the same pro
cess commences and progresses as before,
and these phenomena arc of daily occur
rence, with few exceptions, throughout the
dry season.
These cold winds and fogs render the
climate at San Frauciaco, and all along the
coast of California, except the extreme
southern portion of it, probably moie un
comfortable, to those not accustomed to it,
in summer than in winter.
A few miles inland, where the heat of
the sun modifies and softens the wind from
the ocean, the climate is moderate and de-
;.,i,i(-,,i 'i'i,,. !,- in ;.!, II,. of tlr
j- , go , as , rclarJiaoor or ren.
1 J O
der exercise in the open air uncomfortable.
The nights arc cool and pleasant. This
description of climate prevails in all the val
leys along the coast range, and extends
throughout the country, north and south, as
far eastward as the valley of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin. ' In this vast plain the
sea-breeze loses its influence, and the de
gree of heat in the middle of the day, dur-in-r
the summer mouths, is much greater
than is known on the Atlantic coast in the
0f the Sierra Nevada, and especially m the
i jee ravines of the streams, the thermomc-
ter frequently ranges from 110 deg. to 115
tie", in the shade, during three or four
hours of the day, say from eleven until three
o'clock. In the evening, as the sun de
clines, the radiation of heat ceases. The
cool, dry atmosphere from the mountains
spreads over the whole country, and renders
the nights cool and invigorating.
I have been kindly furnished by Surgeon
General Lawson, U. S. army, with thcr
mometrical observations, taken at the pla
ces in California, viz: At San Francisco,
by Assistant Surgeon W. C. Parker, .for
six months, embracing the last quarter of
1847, and the first quarter of J848. The
monthly mean temperature was as follows :
October, 57; November, 49 c; Decem
ber, 50 ; January, 49 ; February 50 ;
March, 51 .
At Monterey, in latitude 36 33 m.
North and longitude 121 West, on the
.coast, about one degree and a half South of
San Francisco, by Assistant Surgeon W. S.
King, for seven months, from May to No
vember inclusive. The monthly mean tem
perature was ; May, 50 0 ; June, 59 ; Ju
ly, bi - ; August, 59 ; September, 58 ;
October, (10 ; November, 50 c .
At Los Angelos, latitude 33 0 7 m. lon
giude west 1 18 7 m. by Assistant Sur
geon John S. Griffin, for ten months from
June, 1847, to March, 1848, inclusive:
The monthly mean temperature was : June,
73 0 ; July, 74 ; August 75 e ; Septem
ber, 75 ; October C9 5 ; November 59 ;
December, 00 . This place is about for
ty miles from the coast.
At San Diego, latitude 32 0 45 m., lon
gitude west 117 11 m , by Assistant Sur
geon J. U. Summers, lor the loiiowing
three months of 1849, viz : July, monthly
mean temperature, 71 ; August 75 ;
September, 70 5 .
At Suttersville, on the Sacramento river,
latitude 38 32m. north, longitude west
121 c34 m., by Assistant Surgeon R. Mur
ray, for the following months of 1849 ; Ju-
, jy, monthly moan temperature 73 ; Au
igust, 70: September, C5 ; October,
05 .
These observations show a remarkably
high temperature at Sau Francisco during
the six months from October to March in-
1 elusive: a variation of only eiht decrees
1 in the monthly mean, and a mean tempera
ture for the six moths of 51 degrees,
j At Monterey we find the mean monthly
temperature from May to November, inclu
i sive, varying only six degrees, and the mean
I temperature of the seven months to have
been 53 0 . If we take the three Summer
' months, the mean heat was 00 3 . The
mean of the three Winter months was a lit
tle over 49 0 ; showing a mean difference
on that part of the coast, of only 11 bc-
tween Summer and Winter.
The mean temperature of San Francis
I co, for the three winter months, was pre-
ciscly the same as at Monterey a little
1 over 49 .
I As these cities are only about one degree
and a half distant from each other, and both
I situated near the ocean, tcmperatue at both,
i in summer, may very reasonably be suppos
ed to be as nearly similar as the thermome
ter shows it to be tit winter.
The mean temperature of July, August 1
and September, at San Diego, only 3 0
53 m. south of .Monterey, was 12 . The
mean temperature of the same months at
Monterey was a little over 59 , showing a'
mean difference of 13 . i
This would seem to indicate that the I
cold ocean current is thrown off from the
southern part of the coast by Point Concep-(
tion, and the Islands south of it; and con-,
sequeutly its influence ou the climate of
Sau Diego is much less than at Monterey
and San Francisco. j
At Los Angelos, 40 miles distant from
. the coast, the mean temperature of the three .
! months is 74 ; of the three Autumn months '
tiT . ,,rtli ftir,f tiintnr in,fi I h."T 3 I
At Suttersville, about 130 miles from the I
i i 2 .i. .. r i 1 ,i !
ocean, auu -a uoiiu ui i.ua augciu, tuc
mean temperature of August, September,
and October was G7 3 . The mean temper
ature of the samo months at Monterey was
59 ; showing a difference of 8 c between
the sea coast and the interior, on nearly the-
samc parallel of latitude. A much greater
difference would undoubtedly appear if we
had observation for the Spring and Sum
mer mouths at Suttersville and the gold
mines. '
These variations in the climate of Cali-J
fornia account fir the various and conflict-1
iug opinions and statements respecting it. !
A stranger arriving at San Francisco in
Summer is aunuved by the cold winds and1
fogs, and pronounces the climate iulolera-j
bfe. A few months will modify if not ban-'
ish his dislike, and he will not fail to ap-
prcciate the beneficial effects of a cool, '
bracing atmo-phere. Those who approach '
California overland, through the passes of
the mountains, find the heat of Summer, in !
; the middle of the day, greater than they
have been accustomed to, and therefore ma-,
ny complain of it.
Those who take up their residence in the
.valleys which arc situated between the great
I plain of the Sacramento and Sau Joaquin
, and the coast range of hills, find the cli
(mate, especially in the dry season, as heilth
' ful and pleasant as it is possible for any cli
! mate to be which possesses sufficient heat
jto mature the cereal grains and edible roots
j of the temperate zone.
The division of the year into two distinct
I seasons dry and wet impresses those
who hive been accustomed to the variable
climate of the Atlantic States unfavorably.
The dry appearance of the country in sum
mer and the difficulty of moving about in
winter, seem to impose serious difficulties
in the way of agricultural prosperity, while
the many and decided advantages resulting
from the mildness of Winter, and the bright
clear weather of Summer, are not appreci
ated. These will appear when I come to
speak of the productions of California.
We ought not to be surprised at the dislike
which the immigrants frequently express to
the climate. It is so unlike that from which
they come, that they cannot readily appre
ciate its advantages, or become reconciled
to its extremes of dry and wet.
If a native of California were to go to
New England in Wintcr.and see the ground
frozen and covered with snow, the streams
with ice, and find himself in a temperature
many degrees colder than he had ever felt
before, he would probably be as much sur
prised that people could or would live in so
inhospitable a region, as any immigrant ev
er has been at what he has seen or felt in
California.
So much are our opinions influenced by
early impressions, the vicissitudes of the
seasons with which ve are familiar, love of
country, home and kindred, that we ought
never to hazard a hasty opinion, when we
come in contact with circumstances eulircly
different from those to which we have all
our lives been accustomed.
SOIL.
The valleys which are situated parallel to
the coast range, and those which extend
eastvvardly in all directions among the hills
towards the great plain of the Sacramento,
arc of unsurpassed fertility.
They have a deep black, alluvial soil,
which has the appearance of having been
deposited when they were covered with wa
ter. The idea is strengthened by the fnct
that the rising grounds on the borders of
these values, and many luffs of moderate
elevation have a soil precisely like that of
the adjoining plains.
This soil is sonorous, that it remains per
fectly unbroken by gullies, notwithstanding
the great quantity of water which falls in it
annually duriug the wet season. The land
in the northern part of the terrifory on the
Trinity and other rivers, and on the bord
ers of Clear Lake, as far as it has been ex
amined, is said to be remarkably fertile.
The great valley of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin has evidently been, at some re
mote period, the bed of a Lake ; and those
rivers which drain it, present the appear
ance of having cut their channels through
the alluvial deposit after it hid been formed.
In fact it is not possible that they could
have been instrumental in forming the plain
through which they pass. Their head wat
ers come from the extreme ends of the val
ley, north and south ; and were it not for
the supply of water received from the
streams which flow into them from the Sier
ra Nevada, their beds would be almost, if
not quite dry in the summer months. The
soil is very rich, and with a proper system
of drainage and embankment, would un
doubtedly, be capable of producing any
crop, except sugar cane, now cultivated in
the Atlantic States of the Union.
There are many beautiful valleys and
rich hill sides among the foot-hills of the
Sierra Nevada, which, when the profits of
labor in mining shall be reduced so as to
cause its application to agriculture, will
probably support a large population. There
is said to be a rich belt of well-timbered and
watered country extending the whole length
of the gold region between it and the Sierra
Nevada, some twenty miles in width. There
is no information sufficiently accurate re
specting the eastern slope of the great
snowy range to enable us to form any opin
ion of its general character or soil. Some
of its valleys have been visited by miners,
who represent them as equal to any portion
of the country to the westward of it.
The great Valley of the Colorado, situated
between the Sierra Madre and the Sierra Neva
da, is but little known. It u inhabited by nu
merous tribes of savages, who manifest the most
decided hostility toward the whites, and have
hitherto prevented any explorations of their
country, and do not permit emigrants to pass
through it. Therefore parties from Santa. Fe,
on their way to California, are compelled to
make a circuit of near a thousand miles north
ward lo the Salt Lake, or about the same dis
tance southward by the route of the (Ma. Al
though ihis valley is little known, there are in
dications that it is fertile and valuable.
The name of the River ' Colorado" is descrip
tive of its waters ; they are as deeply colored as
those of the Missouri or Red Itiver, while those
of the Gila, which we know llows through bar
ren lands, are clear.
It wo-ald seem impossible for a large river to
collect sediment enough in a sandy, barren soil
to color its waters so deeply as to give it a namo
among those who first discovered and have sir.ee
visited its shores. The probability, therefore, i
that this river (Iow3 through an alluvial valley of
jrcat fertility, which has never been explored.
This conjectur is strengthened by the fact that
the lndiins who inhabit it ore hostile, and op
pose, as far as they can, all persons who attempt
lo enter or explore it. This has been their uni
form course ot conduct respecting all portions
of the Continent which have been fertile, aboun
ding in game and the spontaneous productions
of the earth,
A3 this valley is situated in the direct route
from Sania Fe to California, its thorough explo
ration becomes a matter of vary great import
ance, esoecially as it is highly probable that tha
elevated regions to the north of it, covered with
suow during most of the year, will force the line
of the great National Railway to the Pacific
through some portion of it,
The soil I hive described situated west of thr
Sierra Nevada, and embracing the plain of the
iracramento and San Joaquin, covers an era, as
nearly as I can estimate, of between fifty and
sixty thousand square miles, and would, under a
proper system of cultivation, be capable of sup
porting a population equal to that of Ohio or
New Vork at the present time.
products or cir.iror.NrA.
Previous to the treity of peace with Mexico,
and the discovery ot gold, the exportable pro
ducts of the country consisted almost exclusive
ly of hides and tallow. The Californians were
a pastoral people, and paid much more attention
to the riising of horses and cattle than the cul
tivation of the soil.
heat, barley, maize, beans and edible roots,
were cultivated in sufficient quantity for homo
cot. sumption, but as far as I am informed, not
for exportation. At that time a full grown ox,
steer or cow, was worth about two dollars. Beef
citlle, delivered on the navigable waters of the
hay of San Francisco, are now worth from $'-iO
to $30 per head ; horses, formerly worth from
Sj to $10, are now valued at $60 to $150. The
destruction of cattle for their hides and tallow
has now entirely ceased, in consequence of the
dcrnaud for beef. This demand will of course
increase with the population ; and it would seem
that, in a very few years, there will be none to
supply the market.
Jt" we estimate the number of cattle, now in
California, at 500,000 head, which is believed to
be about the number and the population at
120,000, for the year 1850 a low estimate
and suppose it to increase 100,000 per annum,
there will be in the Territory or State, in 1854,
520,000 people.
If we ido t the estimate of those well acquain
ted vrith the demand, of half a beef, on an aver
age, to each inhabitant, it appears there will be
a consumption, in 1850, of 60,300 head ; in 1851,
ot 1 11.000; in 1652, of 1GO.0CO; in 1853, of
210,000; in 1854, of 200,000. Making an aggre
gate of 800,000, which would absorb all the pres
ent stcck, with its natural increase.
This is a very important matter, as connected
with the atnouut of supply which that country
will ultimately require fiom the Atlantic Slates
of the Union. There is no other country on
earth which ha?, or will possess, the means of
supplying so grcata demand.
Il is now a well established fact among the
emigraLts to California, that oxen possess great
er powers of endurance than mules or horses ;
that they will perform the distance with loaded
vagons in less tune, and come in at the end of
the journey in better condition.
Cows are now driven in considerable numbers
from Missouri, and the time cannot be far dis
tant when cattle from the Western States will
bu driven annually by lens of thousauds to sup
ply this new market.
It California increases in population as fast
ai lhe most moderate estimate would lead us to
believe, it will not be five years before the will
require wore than 100,000 head of beef cattle
per annum, from some quarter, lo supply tho
wants ot her people. It must cot be supposed
that silt piov'uiioDS may supply this vast demand.
Those who have attempted to live on such food,
during the dry season, have been attacked widi
scurvy and other cutaneous diseases of which
many have died.
there is no climate in the world vhere Ireeli
meat and vegetables are more essential to hu
man health. In fact they are intlbpensabls.
It must not be inferred that cattle driven a
cross the plains and mouutains, from tho West
ern State, will be fit for beefon their arrival in
California. But ono Winter and Spring on the
luxuriant pastures of that country will put them
in a condition which would render them accep
table in any Atlautic market.
These grazing grounds are extensive enough
to support five uaies as many cattle ai may bo
annually required; therefore, thew ".! be uo
scarcity of food for them.