62 GEOLOGY — SEARCH FOR GOLD — COAL. 



some difficulty. The central portions of the Sacramento valley are entirely destitute of huilding 

 stone, hut the foot hills of the mountains which horder it on either side will furnish trap, 

 granite, or sandstone, in ahundance, and within a distance which will render them available 

 for all the wants of railroad construction. Near the upper end of the Sacramento valley the 

 hills which horder it are composed of trap, much of which would form an excellent huilding 

 material, and would he everywhere accessible. From this point to the Columbia river, over all 

 parts of our route, trap rock exists in abundance, and varieties would be everywhere attainable 

 which would meet any want of building stone that might arise. 



GOLD. 



From the fact that other portions of California and Oregon had proved to be so rich in gold, 

 especial interest was excited in our exploration of so much new territory by the anticipation 

 that we might discover other localities in which this precious metal might be obtained. In no 

 part of the region which we traversed, however, after leaving the Sacramento valley, was I able 

 to detect any good evidence of its existence. Nearly all portions of our route are covered by 

 accumulations of recent volcanic matter, by which the underlying rocks are as completely con- 

 cealed as though the whole country was buried under a heavy bed of snow. 



In many localities which we visited there are exposures of metamorphic slates, but they are 

 nowhere talcose in character, nor contain veins of quartz, which would be the repositories of 

 gold. In almost every stream which we crossed an effort was made by "panning" to obtain 

 " the color," but uniformly without success. At the point where we left Pit river the boulders 

 of quartz and other rock found in the bed of the stream led me to suppose that, at some point 

 higher up in its course, the rocks might be found which usually contain it. The metamorphic 

 slates there exposed have a more promising appearance than elsewhere, and in that vicinity I 

 obtained the only traces which I saw of copper. From these circumstances I was led to believe 

 that here, if anywhere on our route, valuable deposits of metal might be discovered. In the 

 Klamath and Des Chutes basins the surface is either occupied with plateaus, or hills of trap, 

 or by stratified tufas, or infusorial marls. The gold of Port Orford has already been alluded 

 to, but I was not able to examine the geology of the vicinity sufficiently to trace it to its source. 

 Gold mining is there carried on empirically, as in most parts of California, and it is worth an 

 effort, on the part of those who may have the opportunity, to determine the law upon which 

 the accumulations of gold in that vicinity depend. 



COAL. 



The want of this mainspring of modern progress, which has been felt by the inhabitants of 

 California, has been supplied, only imperfectly, from the eastern States, or from other coun- 

 tries ; and the price paid for coal transported from great distances has been so high that they 

 have naturally felt a deep interest in the discovery of deposits of it within their own borders. 

 Their efforts, with this end in view, have, however, been attended with but partial success. 

 Beds of lignite have been found in various locations, which have served for a time to excite, 

 and, subsequently, to disappoint the hopes of their discoverers. Although the fact has fre- 

 quently been announced in the journals, no true coal had been found in California or Oregon 

 at the date of our arrival in San Francisco. About the time of our arrival in San Francisco, 

 however, the carbonaceous deposits on the shores of Coose bay began to attract the attention of 



