# Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/California

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Edition of 1921; disclaimer.
​CALIFORNIA, a State in the Western Division of the North American Union, bounded by Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Lower California, and the Pacific Ocean; land area, 155,980 square miles; admitted to the Union Sept. 9, 1850; number of counties, 58; pop. (1890) 1,208,130; (1900) 1,486,053; (1910) 2,577,549; (1920) 3,426,861; capital, Sacramento.
Topography.—The surface of the State is very mountainous, being traversed by two ranges extending in a N. W. and S. E. direction. The Coast Range, consisting of a number of broken ridges, has an average width at the base of 65 miles, and varies from 1,000 to 8,000 feet in height. The highest peaks are Mt. Ripley, 7,500 feet, and Mt. Downie, 5,675 feet. The Sierra Nevada Mountains join the Coast Range and extend along the E. border of the State for about 450 miles, with nearly 100 peaks exceeding 10,000 feet in height, the highest being Mt. Whitney, 14,898 feet, Mt. Tyndall, 14,386 feet, and Mt. Shasta, 14,350 feet. Between these ranges is a basin, at some early time the bed of a lake, about 450 miles in length, the N. section known as the Sacramento Valley, and the S. section as the San Joaquin Valley. This valley contains Tulare Lake, and is drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The coast line is irregular, with numerous capes and bays, affording many good harbors. San Francisco Bay is the largest and best harbor on the Pacific coast.
Geology.—The mountainous parts of California consist almost entirely of volcanic rocks, with many extinct craters. Tertiary and cretaceous sandstones are found in the foothills and along the coast range, while the central mass of the Sierras and their highest peaks are of granite. Metamorphic formations are found in the N. W., and extend along the Sierra and San Bernardino mountains and the detached triassic and Jurassic fields bordering the Sierras are known as the auriferous, or gold belt.
Mineralogy.—California was for many years the first State in the Union in the production of gold, but it has now dropped to second place. As early as 1841 gold was obtained by washing near the San Fernando Mission. In 1848, the discovery at Coloma of large gold deposits started the up-building of California. At first mining was carried on by washing the river gravel, and in 1851 sluices were built through which the water was passed. These sluices were filled with blocks of wood or stones, which collected the gold as it sank. Digging was carried on also, and in 1852 a hydraulic system was introduced, by which great streams of water were turned against the gravel banks. This process was successful, but by it the banks were rapidly swept away and the detritus threatened to choke the rivers, so that its use was soon prohibited by law. Gold is found in the metallic state, often associated with silver and other metals, on the slopes of the Sierras. It is also found in streams and alluvial deposits in coarse grains, and quartz deposits where it is extracted by amalgamation. A very rich quality of silver occurs in small quantities, and magnetic iron and cinnabar abound in the Sierras. Pyrites of iron and copper are found in gold-bearing quartz, and a rich variety of argentiferous galena occurs in San Bernardino county. Other valuable mineral products are: tin, plumbago, cobalt, granites, marbles, sandstones, hydraulic limestones and bituminous coal.
Mineral Production.—The combined output of gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead mines for 1918 was valued at $32,223,500. The iron ore output was 25,000 gross tons. The yield of silver was 1,533,000 ounces, of copper 48,538,000 pounds, of lead 14,655,800 pounds, and of zinc 4,697,900 pounds. The gold production was valued at $16,528,953. The estimate for 1919 was of gold $17,320,250, silver $1,244,386, copper $4,236,934, lead $253,944, and zinc $68,533. The most notable development in the mineral production of California has been the extraordinary increase in the production of petroleum. The production in 1899 reached scarcely 2,000,000 barrels. This has increased in 1906 to 34,500,000 barrels, in 1914 to 86,450,797 barrels, and in 1918 to 97,531,997 barrels. In the production of petroleum California was exceeded in 1918 only by Oklahoma. The total value of the production of 1918 was $118,770,790. This development resulted from the discovery of oil-bearing fields in various parts of the State.
Soil.—The soil varies with the surface conditions of the State. In the elevated portions it is rich, mellow, and easily worked, and timber land abounds. In the lower portions the soil varies from a rich loam to a heavy clay or adobe. What was formerly considered desert land can now, under irrigation, be turned into valuable agricultural districts.
Agriculture.—The State is very rich in its agricultural interests. The acreage, production and value of the principal crops in 1919 was as follows: corn, 87,000 acres, with a production of 2,871,000 bushels, valued at $5,139,000; oats, 175,000 acres, with a production of 5,250,000 bushels, valued at ​$5,040,000; wheat, 990,000 acres, with a production of 16,335,000 bushels, valued at $33,323,000; barley, 1,000,000 acres, with a production of 30,000,000 bushels, valued at $42,300,000; hay, 2,352,000 acres, with a production of 4,257,000 tons, valued at $73,220,000; beans, 395,000 acres, with a production of 4,464,000 bushels, valued at $19,418,000; potatoes, 88,000 acres, with a production of 11,352,000 bushels, valued at $19,412,000; cotton, 167,000 acres, with a production of 102,000 bales, valued at $21,930,000; rice, 142,000 acres, with a production of 7,881,000 bushels, valued at $21,042,000; and hops, 11,000 acres, with a production of 17,875,000 pounds, valued at $13,764,000. There were, in 1919, 88,197 farms, with a total acreage of 27,931,000, valued at $1,614,694,000.
Manufacturing.—In 1914 there were nearly 5,000 manufacturing industries, There were 10,057 establishments, 176,547 workers engaged, with salaries and wages of $140,842,691. The capital invested was $736,105,455, and the value of the manufactured products was $712,800,764. The chief industries were meat packing, fruit and vegetable canning, lumber, foundry, and machine-shop products, flour and mill products, petroleum, and shipbuilding.
Banking.—In 1919 there were 290 National banks in operation, having $62,976,000 in capital, $22,017,000 in outstanding circulation, and $126,244,000 in United States bonds. There were also 298 State banks, with $34,391,000 in capital, $253,301,000 in deposits, and $342,137,000 in resources. In the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, the exchange at the United States clearing houses in San Francisco aggregated $6,703,134,000.
Education.—The public school enrollment in 1918 was 596,155. There were 11,680 teachers in the elementary schools, and 2,882 in the high schools. The average salary of male teachers in the elementary schools was $905; female $895; in the high schools $1,450.64 for male teachers and $1,336.95 for female. The annual expenditure for schools is $34,133,122. There are 13 colleges with an enrollment of 15,136. The principal universities and colleges are: University of California (opened 1869, non-sectarian); Leland Stanford Junior University (1891, non-sectarian); St. Ignatius College (1855, Roman Catholic); Santa Clara College (1851, Roman Catholic), and the University of Southern California (1880, Methodist Episcopal). See Leland Stanford Junior University; California, University of.
Charities.—State institutions on Nov. 30, 1919, held 15,169 inmates, distributed as follows: State reform schools, 734; hospitals for the insane, 10,124; Industrial Home for Adult Blind, 139; Home for Feeble-minded, 1,301. There were 2,871 in the State prisons.
Railroads.—There are 12,145 miles of railway and 3,032 miles of electric railways in the State. California has 19 lines of ocean steamers plying to China, the Philippines, Chile, Panama, Mexico, and Alaska. There are also 13 coastwise lines.
Finances.—The revenues for the fiscal year 1918-1919 were $50,132,906.37, and the expenditures $50,681,433.48. On July 1, 1919, the net bonded debt was $44,138,500. The assessed valuation of taxable property was $4,023,009,588.
State Government.—The Governor is elected for a term of four years and receives a salary of $10,000 per annum. The legislature has 40 members in the Senate and 80 in the House. There are eleven Representatives in Congress. The State government in 1920 was Republican.
History.—The name California was applied to an island in the Pacific in 1521, and, sometime between 1535 and 1549, was also applied to that part of North America now known as California and Lower California. Several Spanish and English explorers visited this section during the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1769 the Franciscan monks founded San Diego and soon afterward many other missions, including Dolores at San Francisco, 1776. In 1826 the first American emigrant train entered the present limits of the State, and in 1840 Monterey was made the capital. The United States tried to form an alliance with California in 1846; but the Americans already settled there seized Sonoma and proclaimed a republic. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, San Francisco was seized by the Americans, and, on Aug. 15, 1846, California was declared United States territory. In 1848 gold was discovered, and this led to a great immigration. In less than four years there were 250,000 people in the State. Many of these were lawless and capable of any crime, and several times vigilance committees were organized by the better class for active measures in the suppression of crime. California was admitted to the Union as a Free State, Sept. 9, 1850. In 1869 the Central Pacific Railroad was completed, and the employment of Chinese in this work led to serious riots, and resulted in the passage by Congress of the Chinese Exclusion Act. During the Spanish-American War and the American operations against the Filipino insurgents, nearly all the expeditions to the ​Philippine Islands started from San Francisco. Agitation against the immigration of Japanese laborers, which became acute in 1912 and the year following, and which was quieted by a compromise between the American and Japanese Governments, again became a source of irritation in 1920. The action of the United States Government in practically debarring Japanese immigrants from California was bitterly resented by the Japanese people.
* Copyright, L. L. Poates Eng. Co., 1921