the great lumber industries around it, a home market for all its products 

 is assured. 



Mendocino County is thus far merely an evolution. It has grown up 

 unnoticed and without help from the outside. Its inhabitants have been 

 dropping into it one by one during the past fifty years, and few who have 

 entered have had any wish to depart. Thus the valleys are peopled with an 

 easy-going, satisfied class, who enjoy their large holdings and their easy 

 prosperity, and make no effort to make known abroad their fortunate sur- 

 roundings; yet they have an open heart for the new-comer. 



No irrigation; no hot summers; man need add nothing to the produc- 

 tiveness of the soil, nothing to the climate, or to the scenery, — all are per- 

 fect,— just awaiting the tide of immigration to be appreciated and enjoyed. 



Trout in every stream; big game in the mountains; wonderful medicinal 

 springs with their health-giving waters gurgling unappreciated to the 

 ocean; good grammar schools in every settlement; high schools in all the 

 towns; churches everywhere. 



Ukiah, the county seat, is a beautiful town 113 miles north of San 

 Francisco. An ideal home life can be enjoyed here. Its population will 

 double within the next five years. 



Willits, in the center of the county, is the proposed division on the 

 Eureka extension, and her citizens call her "The Town of Destiny." 



Along the coast, Mendocino City and Fort Bragg are prosperous lumber 

 towns with sheltered landings, affording them water transportation. But 

 ten miles of railroad remain to be built to connect the coast towns with 

 the Southern Pacific at Willits. This will be completed within the year 

 and will afford these towns and mills their long-desired all-rail connection 

 with the lumber markets of the interior. 



Destiny and the Harriman system call on Mendocino County to awake 

 and prepare herself to receive the home-seekers of the world within her 

 vast confines. For 1907 will witness great doings "North of the Bay," 

 and confident, with the knowledge of her wealth and her charms, she 

 calmly awaits the inspection of the investor, the home-seeker, and the 

 tourist. 



Ventura County 



VENTURA COUNTY, which faces on Its south side, for its whole length 

 of fifty miles, the wondrous Santa Barbara Channel, is among the 

 smallest counties in the State. Embraced within her territory are 

 1,800 square miles, of which less than one fourth are under culti- 

 vation. The balance is mountainous and is given up to grazing. 

 The valleys of the county are watered by the Santa Clara and Ven- 

 tura rivers and their numerous tributaries. The Santa Clara River extends 

 from the northeast to the southwest across the county, and through a 

 fertile and productive valley known as the Santa Clara Valley. The Ventura 

 River extends from north to south through the western portion of the county 

 and empties into the Pacific Ocean just west of the town of Ventura, from 

 which river the town is supplied with water. These streams have an 

 abundance of trout, and are excellent for fishing. 



Another important valley is the Ojai, a great amphitheater, whose walls 

 are mountains rising like citadels. This basin has the appearance of a 

 nest, is well timbered, and has a very rich, productive soil. 



Other large valleys are the Conejo, admirably adapted to the raising 

 of wheat, oats, barley, and other crops; the Simi, where large wheat fields 

 are seen, and prunes, apricots, and other fruits are successfully grown. 

 In this valley are artesian wells for irrigation. The Las Posas is another 

 valley devoted to the raising of small grains, fruits, and beans. The Sespe, 

 lying along each side of the Santa Clara River, is another ideal spot for the 

 growth of the orange, lemon, apricot, walnut, and other fruits. An abun- 



