405 



corner of California, about 200 miles distant across the Cascade 

 Range of mountains (the northern continuation of the Sierra 

 Nevada Range) . This might have been called the Sacramento, 

 as it is a much larger stream than the comparatively small 

 Sacramento, which has its source southwest of Mount Shasta, 

 60 miles north. This would have made the Sacramento River 

 from Goose Lake to the Strait of Carquinez and the Golden 

 Gate a river nearly 700 miles long, the longest river in Cali- 

 fornia. 



The scenery along the Sacramento Canyon from above Red- 

 ding to the foot of Mount Shasta is wild and interesting. Slopes 

 200 feet high crowd upon the river in places, and occasional 

 wider places in the valley afford locations for farms. Wherever 

 there is land not too steep or rocky, and soil has gathered there, 

 somebody finds a home and attempts to develop a farm. The 

 Sacramento, here a turbulent mountain stream wrestling with 

 boulders and rock obstructions, is a stream that invites the 

 fisherman. 



Lava from Mount Shasta in Sacramento 

 Valley 



From near Elmore north to the foot of Mount Shasta, a 

 distance of approximately 50 miles, the valley of the Sacra- 

 mento is occupied by lava, which was poured from the vent of 

 volcanic Mount Shasta and flowed down the valley. Sacra- 

 mento River persists in flowing down this valley. At Lamoine 

 lava terraces are on either side of the valley overlying slate 

 rock. The river has cut down through the lava and excavated 

 a canyon in the slate below. As Delta is approached, on the left 

 (southwest), a bluff of slate is overlain by 10 feet of gold- 

 bearing gravel which was deposited by the river when it flowed 

 at a level a good deal higher than now. The gravel is capped 

 or covered by lava which flowed down the valley. The river 

 has cut through the lava and through the gravel and has eroded 

 a canyon 60 feet into the slate rock. 



