El Centra to Yreka 33 



That volcanic activity is not yet extinct in the Lassen Peak dis- 

 trict is shown by the presence of numerous solfateras and hot 

 springs. At Bumpass's Hell, near the southern base of Lassen 

 Peak, there are boiling mud pools and vigorous solfataric action. 

 Considerable deposits of sulphur occur at the head of Mill 

 Creek, in Hot Springs Valley, at Lake Tartarus, and the Geyser 

 near Willow Lake. Pitt River, principal headstream of the 

 Sacramento, crosses the lava plain from the plain of the Great 

 Basin in northeastern California. As has been stated before, 

 Mt. Shasta is a vast volcanic cone, built up by successive depos- 

 its of lava poured from its great throat. Its top now stands 

 14,161 feet above sea. Its snow capped head stands high 

 against the sky, visible for many miles. Lavas from its crater 

 flowed far down the valley of the Sacramento. The river has 

 eroded a gorge in the hard lava rock, and thus nature has opened 

 a way for the railroad and the highway between San Francisco 

 on the south and Portland and Seattle on the north. 



Here Is Yreka 



This is a wild and romantic country, and here is Yreka, 850 

 miles from El Centre by a line such as a bee might follow, but 

 along which there is no highway! The vast rough lava plain 

 broken by many volcanic peaks, and dissected by streams, offers 

 a striking contrast to the low-lying desert plain of the far south. 

 This is a desert of broken lava rock, high, exceedingly rough, 

 home of wild game, fish, and fowl, scene of terrific Indian war- 

 fare, favorite haunt of the hunter, land of logs and sawmills, 

 an empire in the rough, wildly fascinating. Yreka, here we 

 come. The journey has been long but it has been delightful. 

 We are prepared now to study the marvelous story of Califor- 

 nia's geology. 



