Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-08-04
az aEoRaRrowN DIVIDE.
Rrief Outline of It's Wonderful Ee-
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TIE GEoRssFowG DIVIDE
A Brief Outline of It's Wonderful Be-
sources.
As we mentioned briefly in our last
issue, it was our pleasure to accompany
party last week on tour of inspection of
the Georgetown Divide, the object being,
as we were given to understand, to ascer-
tain its extent, its resources, and incl
dentally the feasibility of connecting that
region by railroad with the Central Pacific
road at some point which, on further IN
vestigAtion, may be deemed most feasible,
probably at Auburn OF Rocklin. The
project Of . railroad over there is some
thing for railroad men, or other men OF
means, and the future to determine but
as for the extent and resources of the
country they are certainly remarkable,
and well worthy brief description IN the
columns of the Herald. Living, as we
have lived, SO close 20 that region, we
had never visited it before, and not
withdrawing al we had heard, It's
wealth of available soil, It's fine water
sapply, and its vast forests of the finest
timber, were to as . great and
pleasant surprise. What is known as
the Georgetown Divide lies between the
South Fork and the Middle Fork of the
American river, extending from point on
the west where these two branches of the
American come together, little above
Folsom, eastwardly to the summit Of the
Sierras. The rivers on either side diyerge
toward their source, embracing in the
country dividing them vast area of tim
Der land and foothill fruit land. The town
Of Georgetown contains a population of
from 400 TO 500 souls. pleasantly located 1t
an altitude of about 2, 700 feet, and yet in
state of comparative prosperity, owing to
the mining developments of the locality.
1t dates It's origin almost as far back as the
period when gold was first discovered in
California, and from it the divide or which
it is situated evidently derives its name.
This divide is in Ell Dorado county, the
county that attracted the earliest gold
hunters, but being separated by the South
Fork from the old emigrant road, and the
road that transfers travelled so generally
in later years when hauling freight over
the mountains to supply the early
miners on the Comstock, its resources,
except such as were embraced In its rich
placers, gravel deposits and quartz veins,
remain to-day comparatively undisturbed.
It's timber has not been cut and hauled to
the valley by the tesmsters as back freight,
as is the case TO greater or less extent on
all the divides in this range of mountains
along which trans mountain roads were cut
Its vast pine forests stand there to-day in
all their prestine grandeur, barring the
slight encroaehments made upon them by
the ubiquitous shake. maker. And their ex.
tent is wonderful. From point about ten
miles up the ridge from Georgetown they
extend nearly or quite to the summit, dis
tance OF over 80 miles. and from the
Middle Fork to the South Fork, an average
width of about % miles. Those forests are
estimated to cover, in round numbers, from
400, 900 to 500, 600 acres. The timber in
cludes principally sugar pine, yellow pine,
fir, spruce, cedar and oak, the latter being
abundant in places and mainly valuable for
fuel. The pines stand thick aud are of the
finest form, many of them running to
hight of over 20 yards and varying in diam.
eter from to 8 feet. There are many
trees that will make from five to eight
thousand feet of lumber apiece, and yet,
putting the average of available trees at
ten thousand feet to the acre, the timber
on that divide would make nearly five bill
ion or five thousand million feet of lumber,
and this exclusive of the vast amount of
fire wood. But this is not all of the re.
sources Of that region. From the timber
line, the country, as a general thing, is
gradually undulating; and the soil, like
the soil on this divide at corresponding
attitudes, is admirably adopted to the pro.
duction of vines and all the staple fruits.
A L a.
rule, content themselves with small
orchards and vineyards for family use, and
with raising hsy, but these small orchards
and vineyards demonstrate concIusively
the wonderful adaptability of the soil and
other conditions to the production of the
most prolific crops of the very best quality
of fruit. For want of cheaper and more
convenient market facilities development
in this line has been retarded, but
with such opportunities for getting their
fruit to market as would be afforded by
railroad, the possibilities of that divide, as
a fruit. produoing region, can now hardly be
imagined. The soil, as rule, is deep, and
not so precipitous but in most places it
could be easily cultivated and as for the
matter of irrigation, it is the best watersd
section of the State that we know Of. The
California Water and Mining Company's
bitches cover it all, and they are always
Giled with clear water from sources near the
summit of the mountain that are never.
failing. What the foothills of Placer are
and are becoming as fruit producing re-
gion, the lower portion of the Georgetown
divide can be when once it shall be favored
with better transportation facilities. Ma
ture has been generous to that portion of
our neighboring county. We doubt if
there is another section of the State of
similar extent that possesses equal re-
sources of undeveloped wealth, and we feel
confident that if the parties who are at
present contemplating the project fail to
put railroad in there, it will not be long
until some other parties will, for in coun-
try like this, where there is SO much
money seeking profitable investment, such
vast resources of undeveloped wealth, SO
near at hand, are not going to be allowed
to remain undisturbed much longer, for the
want of comparatively small preliminary
outlay Placer Herald, July 18th.