REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATORIES 99 



To sum up : In the San Bernardino mountains there would in all 

 probability be more wind and more dust, and certainly much greater 

 daily range of temperature and less contact with civilization, than in 

 the San Gabriel mountains. On the other hand, they are much less 

 steep, and already have graded wagon roads to the crests of their 

 ridges. 



San Jacinto peak rises 10,805 feet above the sea. On its eastern 

 side it is said to be the highest vertical wall in the United States. 

 From the summit one looks over the San Bernardino plains to the 

 west and over the Colorado desert to the east. 



Strawberry valley lies southwest of the peak, half-w^ay down, 

 5 miles away in a straight line, but 12 miles by the trails that one 

 must take. It is well covered with pines and oaks, and is in the 

 midst of many thousand acres of similar timber. It has numerous 

 springs of pure water and several streams that never fail. The 

 valley is wide and open, and is said to have numerous small eleva- 

 tions within its limits which rise some hundreds of feet above its 

 floor. Tahquitz valley (7,500 feet), Lily rock (7,973 feet), and 

 Tahquitz peak (8,826 feet) overlook Strawberry valley from the 

 east. From what we know of mountain temperatures, we should 

 expect these higher elevations to cause large daily variations of tem- 

 perature in the vallej^ below them. In themselves these higher levels 

 are too elevated and too inaccessible to be desirable sites for a perma- 

 nent astronomical station. 



Many earthquakes are felt in the San Jacinto mountains. Tahquitz 

 peak is especially noted for them. This circumstance alone counts 

 heavily against the region for astronomical purposes. 



I did not make a personal inspection of the mountains in the 

 vicinity of Santa Barbara. They were not considered when the work 

 in southern California was outlined. Later the question arose 

 whether a really fine site for an obsen-atory could be found there, 

 and I then made inquiries concerning them. I have particularly 

 consulted Mr. Lukens, and the salient facts respecting these moun- 

 tains are given in the following paragraphs : 



The Santa Ynez mountain is a ridge several miles in length, about 

 5,000 feet in altitude, lying parallel to the coast and rising abruptly 

 back of the city of Santa Barbara. Its summit is accessible by a 

 trail, and its air line distance from the sea is only 5 miles. Water 

 is not found anywhere near the summit. There is but little timber 

 on the mountain, and only a fair covering of chaparral — not nearly 



