THE TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA 



rather more than Californians themselves to the popular 

 impression of the State and its wonders. It is the ileet- 

 ing tourist rather than the permanent resident who be- 

 comes the more reckless partisan of the charming climate, 

 the majestic scenery, and the vast resources which, to 

 his exhilarated imagination, seem certain to burst into 

 their full potentiality in the immediate future. 



Without doubt, the most influential books ever written 

 about California were those of Mr. Charles Nordhoff. 

 His California: for Healthy Pleasure, and Residence 

 (1873), and Northern California (1874), had a great 

 vogue at the time of their publication, and for many years 

 after. They are as fresh and readable to-day as when 

 written, and it is easy to understand why they should 

 have exercised so powerful an influence in making public 

 opinion. Mr. Nordhoff should not be confounded with 

 the superficial enthusiasts who study the country only 

 from car-windows and the verandas of luxurious hotels. 

 Addressing his books " to travellers and settlers," he evi- 

 dently realized the grave responsibility of the undertak- 

 ing, and made a conscientious effort to describe the 

 situation faithfully and conservatively. To keen observa- 

 tion, and a clear, vivid, descriptive style, he added a 

 shrewd common-sense, which enabled him to divine, with 

 striking accuracy, several important economic facts 

 which the residents themselves overlooked or ignored. 

 He went thoroughly over and into the country, accepting 

 no facts at second-hand which it was possible for him to 

 verify by personal investigation. 



Nevertheless, he wrote as a tourist-correspondent, and 

 is first among those of that class who havo given Cali- 

 fornia the place it holds in the popular imagination. 



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