The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-05-01

The report of T. BUTLER KING, in relation t.
California, is highly interesting document
Its great length alone prevents us from laying il
before our readers entire, AS it is, we shall hav.
to content Ourselves with the following extracts
A stranger at San Francisco in Summer, il
annoyed by the cold winds and fogs, and pro
nounces the climate intolerable. few month.
will modify if not Danish his dislike, and he viii
not fail to appreciate the beneficial effects of
cool, bracing atmosphere. Those who ap
proach California overland, through the passe.
OF the mountains, find the heat Of summer in the
middle of the day, greater than they have beer
accustomed to, and therefore may complain o.
it,
Those who take up their residence in the val.
leys which are situated between the great plain
OF the Sacramento and San joaquin and the coast
range of hills, find the climate, especially in the
dry season. healthful and pleasant as it is pos.
slble for any climate to be which possesses suf:
ficient heat to mature the cereal grains and ed.
dible roots of the temperate zone.
The division OF the year into two distinct sea.
sons-wet and dry-impresses those who have
been accustomed to the variable climate of The
Atlantic States unfavorably. The dry appea-
rance ofthecountry in summer and the difficult
ty otmoving about in winter, seem to impose Sc
rlous difficulties in the way of agricultural pros
perity, while the many and decided advantages
resulting from the mildness of winter, and the
bright clear weather of summer, are not appre
ciated. These will appear when come to speak
of the productions of California. We ought not
to be surprised at the dislike which the immi-
grants frequently express to the climate. 1t is
so unlike that from which they came, that they
cannot readily appreciate its advantages, or be-
come reconciled to its extremities of dry and
wet.
If native of California were to 90 to New
England in winter, and see the ground frozen
and covered with snow, the streams with ice,
and find himself in a temperature many degrees
colder than he had ever felt before, he would
probably be as much surprised that people could
or would live in so inhospitable region, as any
emlgrant ever has been at what he has seen or
felt in California
So much are our opinions influenced by early
Impressions, the viciscitudes of the season with
which we are familiar, love of country, home
and kindred, that we ought never to hazard a
hasty opinion when we come in contact with
circumstances entirely different from those to
which we have all our lives been accustomed.
SOIL.
The valleys which are situated parallel to the
coast range, and those which extend eastwardly
in all directions among the hills, towards the
great plain of Sacramento, are of unsurpa ssed
fertility.
They have deep black, alluvial soil, which
has the appearance of having been deposited
when they were covered with water. The idea
is strengthened by the fact that the rising ground
on the borders Of these valleys, and many hills
of moderate elevation, having soil precisely
like that of the adjoining plains.
This soil is so porous, that it remains perfect
~ unbroken by gullies, Notwithstanding the
great quantity of water which falls in it annual
ly during the wet season. The land in the nor
thern part of the territory the Trinity and 9TH
er rivers, and on the borders of Clear Lake, as
tar as it has been examined, is said to be remark
ably fertile.
The great valley of the Sacramento and San
} Joaquin has evidently been at some remote Pc
rod, the bed of lake; and those rivers which
drain it, present the appearance of having cut
their way through the alluvial deposits after it
had been formed. In fact, it is not possible that
they could have been instrumental in forming
the plain through which they pass. Their head
waters come from the extreme ends Of the val
ley, north and south, and, were it not for the
supply OF water received from the streams which
flow into them from the Sierra Nevada, their beds
would be almost if not quite dry in the summer
months. The soil is very rich; and with pro-
per system of drainage and embanklnent, would
undoubtedly be capable of producing any crop,
except sugar cane, now cultivated in the Attain
tic States of the Union.
There are many beautiful valleys and rich
hlll-sides among the foot hills of the Sierra Neva-
da, which, when the profits of labor in mining
shall be reduced SO as to cause its application to
agriculture, will probably support a large popu-
lation. There is said to be rich belt Of we'll
I m nd A.
whole length of the gold region, between it and
the Sierra Nevada, some twenty miles in width.
There is no information sufficiently accurate re-
specting the eastern slope of this great snowy
range to enable us to form any opinion of it's
general character or SOIL Some of It's valleys
have been visited by miners, who represent them
as equal to any portion of the country to the
westward.
The great valley of the Colorado. situated be-
tween the Sierra Madre and the Sierra Nevada, is
but little known. 1t is inhabited by numerous
tribes OF savages who manifest the most decided
hostility to the whites, and have hitherto pre-
vented any explorations of their country, and do
not permit emigrants to pass though it, There
fore, parties from Santa Fe, on their way to Cal
ifornia, are compelled to make circuit of near
a thousand miles northward to the Salt Lake, or
about the same distance southwark by the route
of the Gila. Although this valley is little
known, there are indications that it is fertile and
The name of the river "Colorado" is descrp-
tive Of its waters, they are as deeply colored as
those of the Missouri or Red river, while those
OF the Gila, which we know flow through bar
rem lands are clear. ''s.
It would seem impossible for large river to
collect sediment enough in sandy, barren sol,
to color its waters SO deeply as to give it name
among those who first discovered and have since
visited its shores. The probability therefore, is,
that this river flows through an alluvial valley
of great fertility, which has never been explor-
ed. The conjecture is strengthened by the fact
that the Indians who inhabt it are hostile, and
oppose as far as they can, all persons who at
tempt to enter or explore. This has been their
uniform course Of conduct respecting all portions
of the continent which have been fertile, aboun-
ding in game and spontaneous productions of
the earthj 'a h1 s1Hvf
As this valley is situated in the direct route
from Santa Fe to California, its thorough explo-
ration becomes matter ofvery great importance
especially as it is highly probable that the ele-
yated regions to the north of it covered with
snow most Of the year, will force the line of the
great national railway to the Pacific, through
some portion oft, '.. ,a3 &s@ }'aa g
The soil have described, situated west of