138 Adventures in Scenery 



of its great tributaries, the American, Yuba, Feather, and Pit, 

 meets the San Joaquin east of San Francisco Bay. The floor 

 of the Great Valley extends far north of the latitude of San 

 Francisco Bay. The vast structural basin which embraces the 

 area between the two great mountain systems, the Sierra 

 Nevada and the Coast Ranges, extends far to the north. The 

 Sacramento, which technically begins in the foothills of Trinity 

 Mountains southwest of Mt. Shasta, may properly be said to 

 include Pit River, which emanates from Goose Lake on the 

 boundary between California and Oregon, east of the crest of 

 the Sierra Nevada. What is termed the Great Valley of Cali- 

 fornia includes the Sacramento Valley as far north as Redding, 

 or nearly to the point where Pit River joins the Sacramento. 

 The Sacramento Valley is a broad flat plain extending from 

 Carquinez Straits north 160 miles. It is about 50 miles broad 

 at the south and narrows to about 20 miles at Redding. 



Axis of the Valley but Little above Sea Level 



The lowest part or bottom of the Great Valley is but little 

 above sea level. The city of Stockton is less than 20 feet above 

 sea level. Sacramento is 30 feet, and Davis, where is located 

 the State Agricultural Experiment Station, is 42 feet. The 

 valley bottom where the San Joaquin turns north after descend- 

 ing the Sierra slope is about 150 feet above tide water. Lower 

 in its course the river meanders over the flat plain forming 

 islands and sloughs. By means of harbor improvements and 

 cutting a canal through the winding lagoons Stockton is made 

 a seaport, and boats from the San Francisco harbor tie up at its 

 docks. Where the two great rivers, the San Joaquin and the 

 Sacramento, join to enter Carquinez Strait they are met by 

 tidewater from the ocean. In times of flood the water from 

 these great rivers is not able to reach the ocean and large areas 

 along the lower courses of both rivers are overflowed. When 

 it happens that the two rivers are at flood at the same time the 

 levees which have been constructed along the banks are not 



