Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1888-01-07
A WINTER PILGRIMAGE
Amid Sunshine, Fruits and Flowers.
Special Correspondence.


ment of an excursion from that city to Oro-
vile to attend citrus fair. To tender
foot" the display of citrus fruit is matter
OF interest in this region OF sunshine, but
the Idea OF an exhibit in the winter, of ten
oer fruits, with oranges as the predominant
ing feature, was novelty indeed I said
exhibit in the winter" because by consult
Ing the calendar find it is the season of the
year when have been accustomed to posi-
tive evidence of winter, but in this locality,
II did not consult the calendar, I would
hardly style the month OF December, WIN
ter.
On the principle that it isn't q good plan
60 let any thing get away from you when it
is In sight, l concluded to become pilgrim
and join the excursion, and that is how I
find myself, at This holiday season, enjoying
the beauties Of a cirtus belt, studded with
the choicest gems of nature. This Pilgrim
age required q journey by rail of ITO miles
north OF San francisco, and more lovely
December morning when we started-sun
shining, thermometer above so deg.-it
would be difficult to conceive Though we
nave come the distance north of San Fran
CISCO which have named, this State is SO
immense that We are still in central Cali
rorn1a When l said Journey by rail. I
ought to except the crossing of the Straits
OF CarqulneZ. just in sight of the Govern
ment Navy Yard on Mare Island This was
accomplished by ferrying the train over
intact To be in harmony with all things in
California this ferry was something i'm
mense, exceeding in proportions similar
ferries In the East. The boat was 425 feet
iong by l16 wide, having four tracks and
capable or carrying forty-four cars and two
engines In the river crossings at Detroit
and Port Huron, Mich, it is considered sat-
isIactory to push the cars on The boat at
one side OF the river and draw them off at
the other, not Transporting the engine but
mere the engine runs on the boat with half
the train, and, lest it should be lonesome,
second engine pushes the other half ON,
and both engines, as well as the entire
train, glide rapidly across the straits, land
ing us ut Benicia
1t has always been matter of doubt to
me whether Benicla gained the greatest
reputation by at one time having been the
abiding place of John c. Heenan, yclept
,Benlcla Boy" who caused the American
Eagle to bristle with pride years ago over
the meeting with Tom sayers in the prize
ring, OF by having two or three times been
the supposed capital Of California. when
that cratic concern was, like Noahs dove,
hunting for resting place At all events,
IL Is thriving city now, and I'll wager that
agood many more of the present genera
zion have heard OF the Ben lcia Boy" than
the fact that the seat of government of this
state was located there. 1t IS almost map
proprlate, however, to refer to it as having
been the seat OF government, for, In those
days, that so-called seat was fitting about
between Monterey, San jose San Francisco.
Vallejo and Sacramento until it was every-
where little, but nowhere long.
A little over four hours ride brought the
pilgrims to Sacramento, where the dove of
government finally located some thirty odd
years ago, after having once or twice been
washed ashore to San Francisco, or else
where by foods A halt of couple OF hours
gave us chance to hastily view the capital
rs we'll as the capitol of California The
capitol and the grounds have cost the State
two and a half millions dollars and while
the building is perhaps surpassed by two or
three similar structures in the country, the
grounds can take the premium over all
corners, not excepting the National Capitol
grounds at Washington. Some eighteen
acres comprise the immediate grounds sur
rounding the State House, and as there
Is no killing off of trees, or leaves, or
flowers, or grass, in the fall, in order to give
nature chance to spread herself in the
spring, nature keeps right on with her
work the year around and double discounts
dollhouse landscape gardening. So Sacra-
mento leads the world Tor the United
States, which is about all of the world OF
any consequence in capitol grounds.
FAMOUS MINING CAMP.
1t was night when the pilgrims reached
what was once famous mining camp in
California-Oroville Located on the south
bank of Feather river, almost at the foot
OF Table mountain lies this city of 2, 500
people--as contented and uniformly pros
porous as any little city in the country. IT
have been unable to discover them. Twas
one of party of pilgrims who employed a
carriage to see the country, and seated on
the box by the livery-stable driver, was
quite struck when he pointed out large
sheep ranch as the property OF his father
aud mentioned the business in which his
father was engaged in town. Ordinarily
people in his station are not in affiuent cir
cumstances, but in Croville they don't seem
to have any other kind. Like all live towns,
it has newspapers, and here there are two
OF them: One Of them is daily, while the
editor OF the other, not to be eclipsed in en-
terprse, acts as Secretary of the Board of
Trade, and supplies all applicants by mail,
or in person, with information concerning
the country. 1t Is no use for any place to
try TO grow without newspaper men. 1t
simply won't.
This town was veritable deer, and when
she gold discoveries made California famous
The rush here was immense Away back in
the SOS it polled 1900 votes, the third
largest vote of any city in the State, only
San Francisco and Sacramento leading it.
The population receded after the subsi.
dence of the gold fever until in 1880 it
was /, 500, since which time it has taken q
new start, and steadily increased until the
town now numbers, as already stated,
$500 There were at one time 5000 Chi
nese hero, and there are still few hun
dred scattered about, but Oroville is now O
business city, instead of mining camp.
the County Seat of Butte County, and
the center of wonderfully thriving agri-
cultural and citrus country. For miles
about the city the evidences remain of
placer mining, but there is more spay dirt"
now in oranges and other products than in
mining. The banks of Feather river are
still wonderfully rich, but hydraulic mining
has been stopped by law in the interest Of
commerce and agriculture, as it fills up and
destroys the streams. The time was when
boats ran to Oroville from San Francisco
but to see the mining debris in Feather riv-
er (or where the river used to be) one
fairs There are still valuable working
mines in Butte County, but, on the
usual California scale of big things. this
county ia larger than Rhode Island and
well MP towards the size Of New Jersey, SO
that there is room, outside of Oroville, for
gold mining and still keep within the
county. After extracting literally millions
Of dollars of gold from the ground the citi-
zens of this county have now discovered
that untold millions still remain, in the
shape OF soil which is SO versatile that it
produces every thing, ranging from grain
to nuts, and from fruit to gold Though
this is central, and not as popularity sup
posed Northern California it is only within
q few years that the people have become
aware that citrus fruits could be produced
herd equal to any and superior to most
Orange trees We're a few years ago quite
generally planted in door yards as an orna-
anent, because they are eyergreens, and
thus by accident, after a few years passed,
tbs people found that they did not know
their own resources. The orange trees
began to bear until they become loaded
down, and as one goes about the city in
this (by the calendar) winter season
the luscious ripe fruit greets you on
every hand, Notwithstanding the immense