Geological Survey Bulletin 612 Guidebook of the Western United States: Part B

California, known as the Golden State, is next to the largest State in the Union. It is 780 miles in length and about 250 miles in average width, and has a total area of 156,092 square miles, being nearly equal in size to New England, New York, and Pennsylvania combined. The population of California in 1910 was 2,377,549, or about one-tenth that of the Eastern States named. The area covered by public-land surveys is 123,910 square miles, or nearly 80 per cent of the State, and 21 per cent of the State was unappropriated and unreserved July 1, 1914.

Along the State's 1,000 miles of bold coast line there are comparatively few indentations. The bays of San Diego and San Francisco are excellent harbors, but they are exceptional.

The climate of California varies greatly from place to place. Along the coast in northern California it is moist and equable. Around San Francisco Bay a moderate rainfall is confined almost wholly to the winter, and the range in temperature is comparatively small. In parts of southern California typical desert conditions prevail. The great interior valley is characterized by moderate to scant winter rainfall and hot, dry summers. Snow rarely falls except on the high mountains, where—as, for example, in the Sierra Nevada—so much of it may accumulate as to interfere with railway traffic.

Forests cover 22 per cent of the State's area and have been estimated to contain 200,000 million feet of timber. They are notable for the large size of their trees, especially for the huge dimensions attained by two species of redwood—Sequoia washingtoniana (or gigantea), the well-known "big tree" of the Sierra Nevada, and Sequoia sempervirens, the "big tree" of the Coast Ranges. Some of these giant trees fortunately have been preserved by the Government or through private generosity against the attacks of the lumberman.

The 21 national forests in California have a total net area of 40,600 square miles, or about one-fourth of the State's area. The national parks in the State are Yosemite (1,124 square miles), Sequoia (252 square miles), and General Grant (4 square miles). The national monuments in the State are the Cabrillo, Cinder Cone, Devil Postpile, Lassen Peak, Muir Woods, and Pinnacles, and there are bird reserves at Klamath Lake, East Park, Farallon, and Clear Lake.

Agriculture is a large industry in California, and with the introduction of more intensive cultivation its importance is increasing rapidly. In the variety and value of its fruit crops California has no rival in the United States, if indeed in the world. Its products range from pineapples and other semitropical fruits in the south to pears, peaches, and plums in the north, but it is to oranges and other citrus fruits and to wine grapes that California owes its agricultural supremacy. During the season from November 1, 1913, to October 31, 1914, California produced 48,548 carloads of citrus fruit, 42,473,000 gallons of wine, and 12,450 tons of walnuts and almonds .

Of its mineral products, petroleum ranks first in total value and gold next. In 1914 California's output of petroleum was valued at $48,066,096, about 25 per cent of the world's yield, and its output of gold at about $21,000,000. In the production of both petroleum and gold California leads all other States in the Union.

California was formerly a part of Mexico but in 1848 was ceded to the United States and on September 9, 1850, was admitted to the Union as a State. Its history is full of stirring and romantic episodes and should not be neglected by the visitor desirous of understanding the spirit of the land.

One of the power houses where electricity is generated from the Sierra streams, an industry that has now reached great magnitude on both sides of the range, is seen in Truckee River near milepost 225. The ledges of volcanic rock exposed in the canyon in many bluffs and cuts along the railroad present varied forms of lava, breccia (cemented fragments of volcanic material), and tuff or ash. The exposures are of many hues, light gray, rusty, purplish, and greenish.

At Floriston is a pulp mill, situated near the source of the wood from which the paper pulp is made. The wood is brought down from Hobart Mills by way of Truckee and nearly 100 cords of wood—four or five carloads—are used here daily. Floriston is in the narrowest and steepest part of the canyon. (See Pl. XLIV, A.) Reservoirs have been built in the river above the town to store water for developing power and for making ice in winter. No natural ice is obtained at lower elevations in California, and as the winters in the Nevada desert country are not very severe thick ice is rarely formed there. Consequently an extensive business has grown up in the production of ice on reservoirs built along the Sierra streams near the railroad. From this town onward many ice plants and storage houses will be observed, as ice cutting is the principal industry of many of the small places along the route. Iceland, a small station just beyond Floriston, has a name suggested by this industry.

PLATE XLIV.—A (top), TRUCKEE RIVER CANYON NEAR FLORISTON, CAL. View of the narrower part of the canyon through the Carson (or front) Range of the Sierra. Shows volcanic breccia in the ledges in the foreground and sparsely timbered lower slopes. Photograph furnished by the Southern Pacific Co. B (bottom), TRUCKEE, CAL., LOOKING EAST TOWARD THE CARSON RANGE. View taken from the lower end of the glacial moraines found in Truckee Valley, the upper part of the town being built on the terrace-like surface. Photograph furnished by Southern Pacific Co.

Boca is an ice station and seems to consist principally of a picturesque little hotel and a store. It is the starting point of the Boca & Loyalton Railroad, primarily a lumber road, running north to Loyalton (26 miles) and thence to Portola (45 miles), where it connects with the Western Pacific Railway. The canyon opens somewhat at Boca, and to the rear may be seen the high continuous crest of the Carson Range, just passed. West of the Carson Range and between it and the main summit of the Sierra there is a broad and relatively depressed area, the southern part of which is occupied by Lake Tahoe and the northern part by Sierra Valley. A belt of relatively low though mountainous country connects the basin of Lake Tahoe with Sierra Valley. This depressed belt, like the mountain scarps, is of structural origin. The area corresponds to a block bounded by faults, that has sunk or has been less uplifted than the adjacent ranges.

During the uplift of the Carson Range the upper portion of Truckee River was occasionally dammed to form a lake, but in the main the river kept its course by cutting down its channel across the hard rock as the mountains rose. West of Boca terraces built at former higher levels of the stream channel are represented by benchlike remnants along the sides of the valley, but the unmistakable evidence of the damming of Truckee River is found in certain distinctly and evenly bedded or laminated deposits of clay, sand, and gravel, which are interpreted as laid down under standing water. A glance at the geologic map will show that these deposits spread over an extensive area west of the Carson Range. It is supposed that after the close of the andesite eruptions there followed a long period of erosion, during which Truckee Canyon was cut to very nearly its present depth. Then came a basalt eruption, covering large parts of the valley and damming the river afresh. The resulting Pleistocene lake probably persisted during a large part of the glacial period, gradually diminishing in size as Truckee River cut down its outlet. Its beach gravels are found all around this upper Truckee basin.

Low terraces overflowed by basalt may be seen along the river, at one place (milepost 214) showing a good illustration of columnar joint structure, which is a characteristic shrinkage phenomenon frequently exhibited by such lava flows.

Truckee River from Lake Tahoe down to Boca or beyond is a favorite resort of fishermen in summer. Camps and a number of small hotels afford stopping places that are easily reached from the California side of the mountains. The route from Polaris (milepost 211) to a point near Emigrant Gap and Towle, on the west side of the Sierra, lies in the Tahoe National Forest.

Exposures of the thinly and regularly bedded lake deposits continue and may be seen in a cut just west of Boca. Here is a layer of white diatomaceous earth, which includes fragments of leaves and stems and is believed to have been laid down in quiet water.

Near the town of Truckee the valley broadens considerably and the river terraces become very distinct. To the north a branch lumber railroad climbs the edge of one of the terraces, exposing in deep cuts loose white bedded gravels and other stream deposits corresponding in age to the Pleistocene lake beds observed lower down the range.

From Truckee, the last town passed on the climb to the summit, a narrow-gage railroad runs up the main river valley to Lake Tahoe (15 miles) and a short lumber road goes north to Hobart Mills, but the latter does not carry passengers. There is much of interest from almost every point of view to be seen in crossing the Sierra Nevada, and many features of geology, physiography, forestry, and history which can here be only briefly noted. Beyond Truckee the evidences of glacial action become apparent. The Sierra down to an elevation of 5,000 feet was long buried under ice. The grinding of this moving ice mass widened the bottoms of the canyons, smoothed off and steepened their sides, and removed enormous amounts of loose rock and soil. To a large extent, however, the ice protected from water erosion the area that it covered. Moraines composed of rough and angular but not water-rounded bowlders of all sizes, mixed with finer detritus and sand, were deposited by the ice tongues that projected down the valley, particularly at their ends and along their sides. The lower valleys which the ice did not reach differ in form from those that were glaciated. Below the glaciated region the valleys are narrow and V-shaped in cross section, but the glaciated valleys are broader and U-shaped and many of them are characterized by nearly level stretches occupied by meadows (filled-in lakes), separated by rocky portions of steeper grade. At Truckee lake beds and stream terraces of the lower river course, the records of work by water, join moraines, the records of work by ice. The upper part of the town is built on the lowest identifiable portions of these glacial deposits. (See Pl. XLIV, B.) The canyon of Truckee River between Truckee and Lake Tahoe has evidently never been glaciated, though the glaciers extended down the tributary valleys from the west, just reaching the river at one or two points.

To the traveler in the heat of summer there is probably no more refreshing and on the whole delightful side trip on the journey across the continent than that to Lake Tahoe. The trip to the lake is usually taken by the branch railroad from Truckee, but it may also be readily made by automobile. The railroad terminus is at the northwest side of the lake, where its waters overflow to form the head of Truckee River. From this point a circuit of the lake may be made by a small steamer, the trip occupying most of a day. The steamer stops at many summer camps, hotels, and permanent settlements. During the winter most of the resorts are closed, as the snowfall is heavy at this elevation.

Lake Tahoe is not a natural wonder, as that term is applied to the Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, but the lover of nature can probably get no truer satisfaction than can be had from a quiet and restful sojourn along its beautiful shores. (See Pl. XLV.) There is much in the history of its origin and that of the ranges surrounding it that is full of interest.

PLATE XLV.—LAKE TAHOE, CAL. Shore and road near Tahoe Tavern. Rubicon Peak in the distance. Photograph furnished by Southern Pacific Co.

The lake is 21 miles long from north to south and about 12 miles in its greatest width. Its surface, which stands 6,225 feet above sea level, covers 190 square miles. The water is of unusual depth, Crater Lake, in Oregon, being said to be the only deeper mountain lake in America. A sounding of 1,635 feet was obtained a short distance south of Hot Springs, in what is perhaps the deepest part, but the contour of the bottom is not accurately known. According to a generally accepted statement this lake never freezes over in winter, probably on account of its great depth. The mountains around the lake rise abruptly and culminate in Mount Rose, in the Carson Range, at 10,800 feet. It has already been noted that the Sierra Nevada is here a double range of almost parallel north-south ridges and that the lake lies in a part of the depression between the two. The mountains of the Carson Range, east of the lake, though they do not seem unusually high or rugged as viewed from the lake, present an exceedingly bold escarpment when viewed from the Nevada side. The mountains to the west form the main watershed between the streams flowing to the Pacific and those flowing to the Great Basin. Near Tahoe the peaks on this divide do not attain so great a height as those of the Carson Range, but farther south the main Sierra becomes higher and culminates in Mount Whitney (14,502 feet).

One of the chief beauties of Lake Tahoe lies in the clearness and purity of its water and its wonderful coloring, varying from the deep blue of the main lake on a clear day to the crystal green of Emerald Bay. The lake abounds in fish, which include several species of trout. Shoals of the smaller fish may be seen from boats or along the shore and may be watched even at considerable depth through the clear water as they dart over the bowlder-strewn bottom.

There is a dam and headgate at the outlet into Truckee River by which the lake level is raised a few feet during the spring, the surplus water being released during the dry season, when it is most needed for maintaining a full flow at the power plant below and for irrigation in Nevada.

The statement sometimes made that "Tahoe is an old volcanic crater" is not true. The region about the lake shows evidences of volcanic activity of various kinds, and the lake waters themselves have probably been dammed at times by outpourings of lava. A lava flow appears to have temporarily filled the outlet channel below Tahoe City. The lake, however, lies in a structural depression—a dropped block of the earth's crust.

During the Neocene epoch and the earlier part of the Pleistocene epoch the waters of Lake Tahoe stood much higher than now, probably on account of lava dams which have since been cut through. Distinct beaches that mark former higher levels are found up to about 100 feet above the present lake, but it is believed that the waters formerly rose to still greater heights. At Tahoe City the most distinct of these old beaches is a terrace 35 to 40 feet above the level of the lake, and it is this terrace that makes the level ground on which Tahoe Tavern is built. Similar terrace levels may be distinguished from point to point almost all the way around the lake. (See Pl. XLVI.)

PLATE XLVI.—CAVE ROCK, LAKE TAHOE, NEV. The bench in the foreground is a remnant of a former higher shore and is now utilized by the road that passes around this side of the lake to Glenbrook and thence over the range and down to Carson City. Photograph furnished by Southern Pacific Co.

West of Truckee the main line of the railroad follows Truckee River for a little over a mile to the mouth of Donner Creek and then runs up along the south side of the broad glaciated valley of that stream. Here morainal deposits and forms characteristic of glaciation are conspicuous. Huge bowlders of granite, brought here on the moving ice during the glacial epoch, strew the surface on all sides.

At milepost 206, by looking across Donner Creek, the traveler may see a large white cross at the forward edge of a low terrace on the opposite side of the valley. This is a monument to the Donner party, whose tragic story is told at length in most of the histories of early California emigrations. About half a mile above this cross, in the woods near the lower end of Donner Lake, is a cube of granite inscribed as follows:

This stone marks the site of the Donner party cabins, where a monument will be erected under the auspices of the N. S. G. W. [Native Sons of the Golden West] to the pioneers who crossed the plains.

Donner Lake and the pass now used by the railroad are particularly dentified with one of the emigrations that preceded the great gold rush to California in 1849. Of these earlier emigrations to the Pacific coast there were two. The first was that to Oregon in 1843, during which some parties turned off and entered California, guided along Humboldt River by the renowned mountaineer, Joe Walker. The second was that to California in 1846 during hostilities between the United States and Mexico. Bancroft says:

These adventurers were assured that California was a most delightful country—one every way desirable to settle in; that it was thinly peopled and except along the seaboard almost unoccupied; and that now the Nation was roused to arms, engaged in a hand to hand conflict with the weaker power, it would probably result in the acquisition of all that territory by the stronger. * * * The result proved as had been anticipated; scarcely had the emigrants of 1846 arrived in the valley of California when the whole magnificent domain fell a prize into the lap of the United States.

It was during the second of these migrations that the Donner tragedy¹ occurred.

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¹In the spring of 1846 some 2,000 emigrants were gathered at Independence, Mo., waiting for the grass of the plains to attain sufficient growth for feed for their cattle before commencing the long journey to the Pacific coast. Some of these were bound for Oregon and the rest for California. Among the parties that were finally formed for the journey was one known as the Donner, or Reed and Donner party. It consisted of the brothers George and Jacob Donner and their families and others, making in all about 88 persons; 24 were men, 15 women, and 43 children. It was a well-equipped party, and George Donner a man of some wealth, who was at its head, was carrying a stock of merchandise for sale in California. For a time all went well. Most of the emigrants of those days followed the Oregon Trail northward as far as Fort Hall, Idaho, and then, turning southwest, crossed to Humboldt River in Nevada and so went west to the Sierra. At Fort Bridger, Wyo., however, the party met a man whose advice was to cause their ruin. Lansford W. Hastings, who had led a party of emigrants across to Oregon in 1842 and had returned and published a guide to Oregon and California, now claimed to have discovered a shorter route which would save 200 miles over the old route by Fort Hall. After deliberating several days the emigrants divided. The greater part, going by Fort Hall, reached California in safety, but the Donner party, who had elected George Donner captain, decided to try the Hastings cut-off. Both parties left Fort Bridger on July 28.

At the start the Donner party followed approximately the present route of the Union Pacific Railroad and had little difficulty until they reached Weber Canyon, where the roads seemed impassable for wagons. Making a detour to avoid this canyon, they did not reach Salt Lake until September 1. From September 9 to 14 the party were crossing Salt Lake desert, going around the south end of the lake by the route which is approximately that of the Western Pacific Railway today. Here disaster began to overtake them. Some of the oxen died of thirst, a part of the wagons and goods had to be abandoned, and some of the party were forced to walk. Rations were short and the first snows of the season commenced. The cattle were attacked and stolen by Indians and the situation gradually became desperate. Slowly they made their way westward across Nevada.

On October 19 the starving emigrants met a relief party with some provisions at the lower crossing of Truckee River (site of Wadsworth). After resting a few days the party proceeded up by Truckee Meadows (Reno) and finally, on October 31, reached the vicinity of Truckee. Here the winter snows overtook them. On December 16 some of the party attempted to escape by crossing the summit on snowshoes. A few succeeded in reaching Sacramento and told of the plight of their companions. When the rescue parties reached Donner Lake they found that 36 of the 81 who had camped at the lake had perished.

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Just beyond the Donner cross and before the first snowsheds are entered, a bit of the lower end of Donner Lake may be seen by looking through the trees up the valley ahead. From this point the train turns southwestward, going up one side of the valley of Cold Creek, and then doubles back again, still climbing, on the other side. As the train rounds the loop in Cold Creek valley the rear platform affords a view of the Sierra crest, culminating in Tinker Knob (9,020 feet), only 2 or 3 miles distant. Along the north side of Cold Creek the snowsheds are almost continuous. They extend from this valley along about 40 miles of the railroad, the last shed being just beyond Blue Canyon, on the west slope. It is unfortunate that no satisfactory plan has yet been devised to protect the tracks from snow without marring the most beautiful part of the route over the mountains.

Rounding the point of the ridge at the left (north) and passing through a curved tunnel, the train comes out just above Donner Lake. The basin of this beautiful mountain lake is apparently of glacial origin, as the water occupies a hollow, evidently once filled by a glacier, with bare granite cliffs at its upper end and a heavy terminal moraine at its lower end. This moraine holds back the water of the present lake, but the basin is believed to have been originally dammed lower down by flows of basaltic lava which spread across the valley just west of Truckee and through which Donner River subsequently cut its way. Near the head of Donner Lake the train runs back into another southward loop and, crossing some heavy deposits of morainal debris, comes out above the upper end of Donner Lake. (See Pl. XLVII, A.) From this point it is but little more than a mile to the long tunnel through granite by which the crest is pierced.

PLATE XLVII.—A (top), DONNER LAKE. Glaciated ledge of granite in the foreground. Photograph furnished by Southern Pacific Co. B (bottom), DESOLATION VALLEY, NEAR LAKE TAHOE. Characteristic view of the higher Sierra even in midsummer. The bare and more or less rounded surfaces of the rock ledges testify to the scouring action of the ice that has moved over them. Photograph furnished by Southern Pacific Co.

Donner Pass, the highest point along the railroad, is just above the tunnel. The elevation of the tunnel is 7,012 feet; the pass above the tunnel is of course somewhat higher. Just beyond the tunnel is a flag stop known as Summit Hotel, and half a mile or so farther is the station in the snowsheds called Summit. Although it is difficult to see out of the snowsheds, glimpses to the south disclose the west side of the main Sierra crest, usually with at least a few snow patches throughout the summer. The 150-mile trip from Sacramento to this point, a climb of nearly 7,000 feet, and down the east side of the range into Nevada is mentioned in the Sacramento papers in the unimpassioned phrase "going over the hill." And yet they say that the westerner exaggerates.

The annual precipitation is very high over the west slope, ranging from a mean of 52 inches at Cisco, at about 6,000 feet, to 48 inches at Summit, 1,000 feet higher.¹ At the higher elevations a large proportion of this precipitation is snow, as it rarely rains much during the summer. Near the summit the snow may accumulate to a depth of 20 feet on the level during a single winter. (See Pl. XLVII, B.)

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¹The mean annual precipitation at several places along the route is shown by the following table compiled from records of the United States Weather Bureau extending over periods of 30 years or more:

Mean precipitation on Sierra slopes along line of Southern Pacific Railroad.

	Inches.
Reno, Nev	8.	65
Boca, Cal	20.	84
Truckee, Cal	27.	12
Summit, Cal	48.	07
Cisco, Cal	52.	02
Blue Canyon, Cal	74.	22
Towle, Cal	59.	38
Colfax, Cal	48.	94
Auburn, Cal	35.	13
Sacramento, Cal	19.	40

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On the west slope of the range, between the elevations of 6,000 and 7,500 feet, is the great Sierra forest zone, although the full grandeur of the forest is not displayed along this particular route. A note on the principal trees to be seen between the summit of the Sierra and San Francisco Bay has been kindly supplied by Prof. W. L. Jepson, of the University of California.²

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²At the summit of the Sierra are found:

Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), a near relative of the yellow pine having a red, rusty, or wine-colored bark and a large cone suggestive by its outline of an old-fashioned beehive.

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a timber-line tree, dwarfed and often prostrate, commonly associated with the Jeffrey pine.

Tamrac pine (Pinus contorta var. murrayana), found chiefly at the higher altitudes and especially abundant in swampy meadows, but grows also on the granite ridges and is frequently a timber-line tree. It is characterized by its short foliage consisting of two needles in a place and by its small burrlike cones. This tree is not the eastern tamarack.

Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), a very characteristic tree of granite ridges and cliffs.

On the middle western slope the four prevailing species, which can probably be recognized from the train, are:

Yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa), the dominant tree of the Sierra forest belt and on the average the largest tree, except the big tree (Sequoia washingtoniana or gigantea), which is not of general occurrence. The yellow pine is distinguished by its yellow bark, which is checked into large plates 1 to 3 feet long and 6 inches to 1 or 2 feet wide, slightly resembling the back of an alligator. The cones are ovoid and about 3 to 5 inches long.

Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), usually associated with the yellow pine, occurs in the main forest belt; distinguished by its finely checked bark, by its cones 12 to 16 inches long, and by the very noticeable feature that the branches in the very top run out into a few unequal horizontal arms.

Incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), the only cedar-like tree at middle altitudes; has a reddish fibrous bark and for that reason is sometimes mistaken for the Sequoia by the amateur.

White fir (Abies concolor), a common tree on the lower slopes below the main summit, mostly associated with the yellow pine. These trees will probably attract attention because of the beautiful symmetry of their crowns, gently tapering to a pointed top. Their branches expand horizontally and impart a stratified or layered appearance to the crown. On the higher slopes of the Sierran axis this species is replaced by the red fir, which is similar in appearance but has a reddish instead of a whitish bark.

In the foothills there occur:

Digger pine (Pinus sabiniana), a light gray dusty long-needle pine, having a foliage so thin that it scarcely casts a shadow. It has a large, heavy cone and is sometimes known as bull pine.

Blue oak (Quercus douglasii), almost always associated with Digger pine, recognizable by its white trunks and bluish foliage.

In the Sacramento Valley the scattered oaks and groves are composed of:

Interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii), a symmetrical evergreen tree, frequently with a hemispherical top, set low to the ground.

Valley oak (Quercus lobata), a deciduous tree which is taller than the live oak and has long, drooping, cordlike branchlets pendant from the great crown.

Near San Francisco Bay the interior live oak is replaced by the coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), of similar appearance. A marked feature of Coast Range scenery is the considerable groves of the eucalyptus, an introduced tree, various species of which have been set out in this country within the last 30 or 35 years. They come mostly from Australia. Of the many species probably 120 are now represented in the State. They are rapid growers and produce exceedingly hard wood, which is difficult to cure for utilization as lumber but which is of very great strength when it can be properly seasoned.

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