X INTRODUCTION. 



This Alpine region of California occupies the upper part of the Sierra 

 Nevada, from Castle Peak to Kern Eiver, a distance of 200 miles ; and 

 throughout that distance all the main peaks rise to 13,000 feet or more. 

 The exact height of Mt. Whitney is not known. The surveying party 

 made two trials to get to the summit, but failed. C. R. King reached an 

 elevation of 14,730 feet, and was there arrested by a precipice. He 

 thought there were 300 or 400 feet of elevation above him. The main 

 Fork and the north Fork of Kern River rise on the southern and western 

 slopes of this mountain, and King's River on its northwestern slope. 

 The main Fork of Kern River runs southward for thirty miles through 

 a tremendous canon, in the upper part of which the river falls 10,000 feet 

 within six miles. A mountain whose summit is six miles east of Mono 

 Lake, and 7,000 feet above it — a pretty steep ascent — is called Mt. Dana. 

 A peak further south, with an elevation of 13,700 feet, is called Mt. Grant ; 

 another of 14,500 feet is called Mt. Tyndall; a third is styled Mt. Brewer. 

 From Castle Peak, in latitude 38°, for a distance of 200 miles along the 

 summit of the Sierra, there is no pass known that can be traversed by a 

 wagon, or less than 11,000 feet in altitude. It would not be safe to assert, 

 however, that no lower pass will be discovered. Much of the range has 

 not yet been examined. Throughout all this Alpine region the views are 

 very extensive, and the scenery grand beyond that of Switzerland, though 

 not so picturesque; that is, not sd beautiful in little places. At some 

 future time it will become a place of great resort for tourists and travelers. 



§ 3. The Great DrougJit— The winters of 1862-63 and 1864-65 proved 

 to be unusually dry, the former bringing only 15|- and the latter only 8^ 

 inches of rain at San Francisco, instead of the average of 21 inches. Two 

 such dry seasons coming together proved very disastrous, and there was 

 a general failure of crops, and a great mortality among cattle. It was esti- 

 mated that out of 3,000,000 horses, neat-cattle, and sheep that were in the 

 State in 1862, 800,000 perished by starvation within two years, and most 

 of those which survived had a very narrow escape. The southern coast 

 couniies suffered most severely, some of them losing two-thirds of their 

 cattle, which were the main stock of their wealth. The year 1865 is 

 known as the year of the great drought, and the native Californians say 

 that at no time within forty years had two consecutive seasons passed with 

 so Httle rain. 



§ 4. The EarthquaJce o/ 1865. —On the Sth October, 1865, San Francisco 

 was visited by an earthquake that surpassed in violence any shock felt 

 here within the recollection of the oldest inhabitants. It occurred on 



