12 BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAI) OE' FISHERIES. 



Volcano Creek originally probably had its outlet to the westward through the 

 same valley in which it now flows. As Kern River cut its canyon deeper and deeper. 

 Volcano Creek did the same, cutting back from Kern Canj'on, however, only a mili' 

 or two, and doubtless forming considerable falls. During this time it is believed 

 that the poition ol' South Fork of Kern above the tunnel was a tributaiy of Volcano 

 Creek. SulJ-^l■(|ll(•lllly the region through which Volcano Creek flows has been 

 materially iiKidilit d l)y flows of lava from several volcanoes which appeared on tlic 

 floor of the valley or near it. Professor Lawson identilied six such volcanic cones, 

 at least four of which I was able to locate, one being on the left side of the South 

 Fork just above the tunnel. These small volcanoes sent streams of lava in various 

 directions, particularly down the gorge of Volcano Creek almost to the bottom of 

 Kern Canyon. This lava stream filled the gorge of the lower part of Volcano Creek, 

 which had been cut down nearly to the present Kern level. Above this gorge the 

 stream has been variously obstructed by lava flows, one result of which has been to 

 crowd tile stream to the north and northeast sides of the valley. Another and ver}- 

 important result was the damming of the stream and causing the formation of a 

 broad alluvial plain in the vicinity of the craters. Eventually this plain was carried 

 so high as to make the drainage unstable, the stream discharging sometimes by the 

 Volcano Creek Valle^y, sometimes by the South Fork Valley, and doubtless being 

 sometimes divided between the two. As Volcano Creek partially reopened its 

 ancient channel by eroding the lava, the habit of the upper streams was tinally 

 changed, so that, instead of adding to the alluvial deposit, the}" began to excavate it; 

 and when this change occurred it happened that the main branch of Volcano Creek 

 discharged toward the west, while the eastern branch discharged eastward, 

 constituting the present upper waters of the South Fork. The ridge between 

 the two is merely a remnant of the alluvial deposit and is now only a few yards in 

 width. Its narrowness suggested to certain ranchers living in the valley of the 

 South Fork the possibility of increasing, for irrigation purposes, the flow of water 

 in the South Fork by tunneling the ridge. The level of Volcano Creek is slightly 

 higher than that of the South Fork, and when the ditch or tunnel was made a por- 

 tion of the water of Volcano Creek flowed into the South Fork. (PI. v, tigs. 1'2 

 and 13.) Mr. George W. Stewart, agent of the United States Land Oflice, Visalia, 

 Cal., has kindly furnished the following information concerning this tunnel: 



From the records of the board of supervisors of Tulare County, Cal., sitting as a board of water 

 coniniissiuiiei-s, I find there was presented to the board in 1883 a petition of Patrick Brady and 30 

 others tn l)e allowed to divert from Whitney [Volcano] Creek at a point near a narrow ridge Ijetween 

 Whitney [\*oicano] Creek and Ramshaw Creek [South Fork of Kern] 4 miles below Whitney [\'olcano] 

 Jleadows and 3 miles above Ramshaw Meadows 10,000 miner's inches of water under a 4-inch pressure, 

 the same to be conveyed through a ditch and tunnel, the water to be used for stock, manufacturing, 

 and irrigation, in township 26 south, ranges 33, 34, and 35 east. The said records show that imder 

 date of September 13, 1883, it was ordered "That prayer of said petitioners be granted and that they 

 have out of said Whitney [Volcano] Creek, at said point of diversion, sufficient water to fill their 

 ditch — that is, 10,000 inches under 4-inch pressure." 



The tunnel was driven through a hill (ridge) composed mainly of disintegrated granite and, I 

 have been informed, soon caved in, and was then transformed into what miners call an "open cut." 

 This also caved in .so that it had to be abandoned, and the w-ater was diverted at a higher point on the 

 stream, I believe, about IJ miles above. I have been told that the amount of water diverted through 

 the tunnel was sufficient to permit the golden trout to escape into Ramshaw Creek. In 1899 when I 



