362 Adventures in Scenery 



Fernando Valley was formed. Here is the San Fernando Pass, 

 a "saddle" between the Santa Susana Mountains on the west and 

 the San Gabriel Mountains on the east. A tunnel has been cut 

 through the hills leading to Newhall. Thus a highway has 

 been opened to Saugus and the Santa Clara Valley. 



The city of San Fernando (23 miles from Los Angeles, El. 

 1,066 feet) is at the northern point of San Fernando Valley, on 

 an alluvial fan or "wash" built by Pacoima Creek. The old 

 Mission of San Fernando is two miles southwest of the center 

 of the city. Brand Park is a beautifully green oasis supplied 

 with moisture, as was the Mission of old, by a "cienaga" spring 

 from an alluvial fan that floors a small valley to the north. A 

 mile southwest of the city is a reservoir into which waters from 

 Owens Valley, 250 miles away east of the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains, are brought by aqueduct to supply the city of Los 

 Angeles. 



An anticlinal fold in the rocks along the northern flank of 

 the San Gabriel Mountains, from Newhall Canyon eastward to 

 Sand Canyon, is the location of the Elsmere oil field. The oil 

 is obtained from wells generally not more than 1,000 feet deep, 

 from coarse sandstones and conglomerates of Tertiary age. 

 The first oil refinery in California was built a mile south of 

 Newhall, relics of which are still standing just west of the 

 highway. 



Just north of Newhall Placeritas Canyon enters Newhall 

 Valley from the east. It is interesting historically to note that 

 in 1842 gold was discovered in Placeritas Canyon, about four 

 miles east of the highway. Placer gold in not very rich 

 amounts may still be obtained in the canyon, though the dis- 

 trict ceased long ago to be actively worked. 



Down Newhall Creek the walls of the stream channel are 

 steep. The stream, which is dry much of the year, meanders 

 over a wide gravelly bottom during floods and cuts the banks 

 at the sides. The high terraces which characterize this and 

 other stream valleys entering the Santa Clara, mark stages in the 



