Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-01-01
FOOTHILLS OF THE SIERRA.
4 LAND OF PROMISE AND FUTURE
PROSPERITY.
Area, Adaptability to Guilt
walton, Etc.

Its Geological Formation, Climate,
Area, Adaptability to Guilt
walton, Etc.
Prepared for the New Years Edition of the
RECORD-U MON
That promising section known as the
Sierra Nevada foothills, lies along the
western slope of that chain of mountains
and extends from Redding, Shasta county,
southwark for several hundred miles.
This region has of late years come promi-
nently to the front as one possessing all the
natural requirements for small farm
ers and horticulturists, and the cheap
ness of the soil renders it a desirable
locality for immigrants. Mr.. A Bowman,
formerly of the State Geological Survey.
thus describes its geological formation,
which will prove Of interest 10 those I'M
acquainted Herewith. He says: "Gener-
ally speaking, there are gradually rising
low outliers Of upper tertiary grayels.
sands and clays all along the western base
VI Wv Ci~A4a- lASN are Olleil c..DDSu
volcanic matter and cut through by GRO
sions-the dry, winding arroyos through
the dattish hills that are familiar to every
one who has followed along the edge of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin plains.
These eroslons in some places cut down
into the middle tertiary, and even into the
cretaceous beds; but there is little surface
area of the latter. On the plains all is COW
cred up by the recent deposits. Patches
occur of middle tertiary and upper tertiary
where denudation has removed great
masses of tertiary country, with these ex-
cepuons for example, at Aillerton, on
both sides OF the San Joaquin, patch of
middle tertiary hills about three by ten
miles is seen, and at lone valley several
miles square of steep hills of this period
are laid down in slightly pitching beds.
The tertiary formations reach away up
into the Sierra, in the shape of ancient
river deposits. They change at from SEQ
TO l 800 feet altitude into fluviatile deposits;
although large portion Of the plains ter
tlary to below the present sea level, is also
fuyiatile, interbedded with lacustrine or
marine, sometimes apparently in alternate
order. The surface areas may be said to
change, going eastward. from recent to
upper tertiary (pliocene) as the soil belongs
above or below the volcanic outflow aad
then to the slate and granite formations of
the Sierra, extending to the summit. The
cretaceous formation shows scarceh any
surface area along the base of theSSierra
except in Shasta county, although from
Folsom north the ravines and canyols ex-
pose its edges-especially north of OrDyille
At Reddings ranch, and from there north
to Pit river, the flat country is all creta-
ceous, the tertiary being mostly reinoyed
by denudation. The same is true of
patches between there and Oroville. The
patch between Fort Redding and Hit river
is about twenty miles square The foot
hill cretaceous of Butte and Shasta coun-
ties is oyerlaid by the Shasta cod meas
ures, which are, | think, lniddle
or upper tertiary; and these again
by the upper tertiary fornation
by the volcanic ouif1ows from
the Lassen volcanic chain. No reaceous
rocks have been identified intermediate
between Folsom and TETON Pass. Litho-
logically the cretaceous beds are much
more silicifed and compacted than the
tertiary. They are the shales and con-
glomerates found in these regions, while
the tertiary are often loose and fra gle. and
scarcely worthy of classification in the
harder category. Both are very Regularly
beGded and only moderately tlNd here:
while on the opposite side of the valleys of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin they are
both tilted and altered-remarkably so IN
comparison with those on the east side,
and in proportion to their age generally
speaking. The older rock formations of
the Sierra foothills are, in the main, gran
ties south of Fresno river, and states north
THE SLATE REGION
Contains patches of granite often sew
,1nC
tween Folsom and the Central
Pacific Railroad a larger patch, eight
or ten miles square at the least. ex-
tending from the valley to near Auburn
The granite region at the south has also
patches of slate. Opposite Visalia, at the
edge of the valley, are two isolated patches
ten by twelve and ten by fifteen miles, Ii
remains only to trace the boundary be-
tween the slate north of Fresno river and
the tertiary of the valley. Along the line,
beginning at the south, are the Buchanan
copper mine, Indian Gulch, and Snellings,
near the western Mariposa county line; La
Grange, Knights Ferry, near the Tuo-
lumne line; Telegraph City, Campo Seco.
Michigan Bar, and Mormon Island. near
the edge of Calayeras, Amador and Ell
Dorado-in short, line separating these
mountain counties from the valley coun-
ties, or very nearly. Further north
the trainers of the counties did
not study the soil In Placer
county, Rocklin on the west and
Auburn on the east mark the granite linz
its; and from there north in Yuba to Oro-
vile, in Butte county, the first steep foot
hills of the Sierra are of the slate forma-
ton. The fat-bedded, unaltered forma-
tons of the foothills, described as upper
tertiary, rise to very different attitudes in
different places. The Oroville Cherokee
mesa is, if | remember Alright considerably
over 600 feet above the sea at the Cherokee
end. Similar isolated middle and upper
tertiary tmiocene and pliocene) hills are
found left III remnants all along the base of
the Sierra south of 0roville, while to the
north they are bolstered up against the
Sierra with cretaceous base, and pre-
served by volcanic Gaping covering
nearly the whole country. The states and
GRANTEES extend to the summit of the
Sierra, the line running between the gran
ties of the south and the states of the north
running slantingly from the point men
toned on Fresno river, through the heart
of Mariposa county toward Lake Tahoe, in
a tolerably direct line.
CLIMATE OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY
a gentleman thoroughly conversant with
the entire foot-hill section of the Sierra. its
cliiidte, sOll, temperature ana agricultural
resources, writes as follows: The mean
annual average temperature of Redding is
64o IS. The lowest point to which the
thermometer has fallen since record has
been kept was 270 in December. 1876. Its
annual average rainfall is 1905 inches.
Sumner. at the southern end of the
valley, has an annual average
temperature OF $50 90, and an
average rainfall of four inches. The
lowest point to which the Their
mometer has fallen at this place was also
27o, on the same day in December, 1876.
There is remarkable uniformity in the
climate throughout the Sacramento valley.
In it a difference of 80 of latitude between
$50 30' and 400 30' only lowers the annual
average temperature 4o 49, The differ
ence of the annual average temperature be-
tween corresponding degrees of latitude in
the Atlantic States, at an equal distance
from the ocean, is more than 50. Il has
been found that the foothills of the Sierra