CALIFORNIA 



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CALIFORNIA 



Surface Features. As might be expected, 

 . this vast state has within its borders the 

 widest diversity of surface. Great peaks almost 

 15,000 feet in height, depressions well below 

 sea level, far-stretching valleys and river lands, 

 deserts and some of the most productive 

 regions in the world all these are to be found. 

 Nothing seems to be lacking except the stretches 

 of plateau land which the middle Western 

 states have in such plenty. Despite this va- 

 riety, however, a relief map of California shows 

 a fairly simple, orderly arrangement. To the 

 east and to the west there are high mountain 

 ranges which are joined together toward the 

 ends of the state, and between these ranges 

 is a valley so extensive that it almost merits 

 the name of a plain. The mountains, and con- 

 sequently the valley, extend in a generally 

 northeasterly and southwesterly direction, al- 

 most parallel with the coast. 



The Mountains. The Coast Range, as it is 

 called, is in reality a system, made up of a num- 

 ber of smaller ranges. It is in fact a coastal 

 range, running down in many places close to 

 the sea and breaking off abruptly in steep 

 cliffs, rendering the scenery of much of the shore 

 region strikingly picturesque. As a whole, this 

 western mountain system has a height of from 

 3,500 to 8,000 feet, but outstanding summits, as 

 San Bernardino and San Jacinto, attain alti- 

 tudes of over 10,000 feet. 



To the east, across the great valley, is the 

 far loftier Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Range, 

 the highest and steepest range in the United 

 States. This runs along the eastern border of 

 the state for over 400 miles, and has an average 

 width of about fifty miles. Above its rugged 

 central mass, which has its lowest pass about 

 5,000 feet above sea level, rise almost a score 

 of peaks above 10,000 feet in height. Chief 

 among these is Mount Whitney, the highest 

 summit in the United States if Alaska be not 

 counted, but its altitude of 14,898 feet is but 

 little greater than that of Fisherman Peak, 

 which is 14,448 feet (see WHITNEY, MOUNT). 

 Other lofty summits are Mount Corcoran, 

 14,093 feet; Kaweah Peak, 13,752 feet; and 

 Mount Brewer, 13,886 feet. Long stretches lie 

 entirely within the region of eternal snows, and 

 small glaciers are numerous, while of glacial 

 lakes, most of them 8,000 feet above sea level, 

 there are no fewer than 1,500. On the east the 

 Sierra Nevada drops abruptly to the great 

 plain, but to the west deep canyons have been 

 worn by the rushing rivers on their way to join 

 the Sacramento or the San Joaquin, The most 

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famous of these steep valleys, because the 

 most accessible, is Yosemite (which see), but 

 it would have in magnificence of scenery a 

 number of rivals if the others were equally 



CALIFORNIA 



This map shows boundaries, chief rivers, min- 

 eral products, leading cities and the highest 

 point of land in the state. 



well known. Of recent years the Hetch-Hetchy 

 Valley has attracted wide attention because 

 of the determined attempt on the part of the 

 city of San Francisco to dam up its river to 

 furnish a city water supply. Accounts of the 

 manifold beauties of the region appeared in 

 newspapers and periodicals all over the country, 

 and efforts were made to prevent what seemed 

 to many the vandalism of such a course, but 

 without success (see SAN FRANCISCO). 



To the north the Coast Range and the Sierra 

 Nevada are connected by spurs of the Oregon 

 Cascades, which contain a number of promi- 

 nent peaks, among them Mount Shasta (which 

 see), far famed for its grandeur and beauty. 

 To the south the great border ranges are 

 joined by the Tehachapi Mountains, the north- 

 ern boundary of that varied region known as 

 Southern California. 



Southern California. This comprises not only 

 some of the most productive sections of the 

 state, but in the remote southeast some of the 

 most desolate and arid waste land in all the 

 country, as well. The mountains are not so 

 high as those farther north, but most of the 

 surface is more or less broken, and occasional 

 peaks, as Mount Lowe, have acquired more 



