River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-01-05
A WINTER PILGRIMAGE
Amid Sunshine, Fruits aud Flowers.
Special Correspondence.
nunxrrVse E4f~4usu ~ ffaf

y
vile TO attend citrus fair To tender
foot" the display of citrus fruit is a matter
Of interest in this region OF sunshine, but
I the idea of an exhibit in the winter, of ten
der fruits with oranges as the predominant
Tag feature, was novelty indeed / said
exhibit in the winter because by consult
ing the calendar l ind IL is the season OF the
year when have been accustomed TO posi-
live evidence Of winter, but in this locality,
Il l did not consult the calendar, / would
hardly style the month OF December, win
/ Ter.
ON the principle that it isn't a good plan
to let any thing get away from you when it
Is in sight, | concluded to become pilgrim
and join the excursion, and that is how /
/ find myself. at his holiday season, enjoying
/ the beauties of cirJus belt, studded with
/ the choicest gems of nature This Pilgrim
age required u journey by rail of 40 miles
north OF San Francisco, and a more lovely
December morning when we started-sun
\ shining, thermometer above 90 deg
would be difficult 10 conceive Though we
have come the distance north of San Fran
cisco which 1 have named, this State is 80
immense that we are still in central Cali
/ fornia When | said a journey by rail, l
/ ought to except the crossing of the Straits
OF CaTQulnez, just in sight of the Govern
ment Navy Yard on Mare Island This was
/ accomplished DY IerIyluE the Train over
intact Ie be in harmony with ali things in
Caiiforn a this ferry was something inn
mense, exceeding in proportions similar
I ferries in the East The boat was 425 feet
/ long by 10 wide, having four tracks and
I capable of carrying fOrty-fOur cars and two
/ engines la the river crossings at Detroit
and Port Huron, Mich. IL is considered sat
] lsfactory To pIsh the cars on the boat at
I one side OF the river and draw them off at
I the other, not transporting the engine, but
D herA the Rn0ina Tha hpnE with half
the train, and lest it should be lonesome a
I second engine pushes the other half On
and both engines, as well as the entire
Z train, glide rapidly across the straits, land
/ ing us at Benicla
4 1t has always been a matter of doubt TO
me whether Benicla gained the greatest
reputation by at one time having been the
abiding place of John G. Heenan. yclepG
''Benicia Boy" VINO caused the American
Eagle to bristle with pride years ago over
/ the meeting with Tom SayeTs in the prize
Z ring, or by having two or three times been
the supposed capital of California, when
that cratic concern was, ike Noah's dove,
hunting for a resting place At ali events,
it s = thriving city now, and Eli wager that
agood many more of the present genera
I ton have heard Of the ''B anicia Boy" than
the fact that the seat of gov crnment of this
State was located there. IL is a!1cc-t nap
prOpriate, however, 10 refer TO 10 as having
been the ssat OF government, for in those
days, that sO-cailtd Sedt was fitting about
between Monterey San Jose, San Francesca,
Vallejo and Sacramento, until it was every
where little. but nowhere long
A little over four hours ride brought the.
pilgrims to tcramento, 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
7 where by Hoods A halt OF a couple OF hours
gave Us cnance to hasti view the capital
as well as the capitol of California The
/ capitol and the grounds have cost the State
tive and half millions dollars, and while
the building is perhaps surpassed b. two or
three SIMILAR structures in the country, the
grounds can take the premium over ali
/ comers not excepting the National Capitol
grounds at Washing on Some eighteen
acres comprise the immediate grounds sur
rorpd ng the State House. and as there
is no Killing off of trees or leaves, OF
flowers or grass. in the fall, in order to give
nature a chance TO spread herself in the
spring, nature keeps right on with her
work the year around ana double discounts
dollhouse landscape gardening So Sacra-
mento leads the word for the United
States which is ahou5 all of the world of
any consequence ia capi Of grounds
FAMOUS MINING CAMP.
1t was nighl wnen he p lgr.ms reached
4 what WAS once a famous mining camp in
| CaliIornia-0rovlle Located on the sou h
/ bank OF Feather river, almost al the foot
Z of Table mountain, lies t is city OF 2, 500
l peopls-as contentad and uniform v pros
porous as any little city in the country. II
I there are any really poor people mere, l
/ have been unable TO discover them. / was
[ one OF parry of pilgrims who employed a
I carriage To see the country, and seated on
/ the box by the hvery-s able driver, was
1 quite struck when he pointed out large
/ sneep ranch as the properly OF his father,
I ami mentioned the business in which his
father was engaged in town. Ordinarily
1 People in his station are not in fiji ien5 CIR
eun.stances, but IA OrovilIe they DONE seem
f=raa L. ~ Frs.a
/ II his newsp pers and here there are two
7 of dnem Orc 81 them is "A daily, while he
editor Of the other, not to q ecllpsed in en-
teTpr Sc acts as Secretary OF the Board of
{ Irsde, aud supplies all applicants by mail
o. in person, VITA lnfUrWs..C or concern ny
ths country IU Is no use for any place 10
Try 10 grow without newspaper men. IL
SIMPLY won't
Inns Town was veritable '49er and when
the gold discoveries made California famo US
the rush here was immense. Away back in
the sos il polied 500 votes the third
I / rgcsl vote of any city in the SUa e, only
/ SIN Francisco snI Sacramento le ding IL
. The population receJed after the subsi .
deuc o. the gold fever until in 1850 il
WIS /. 300, since when ine il has usGen q
new start, and steadily increased until the
town now numbers, IS already ated,
> 300 There We're at one tine D. 900 Chi
sc here, ami there are still a few hun
dred scat cred o. cut, but Oroville is now a
business city, Instead of a mining camp,
tie County Seat of Butte County and
the center Of wonderfully thriving agri-
cultural ami citrus country For miles
about he city the evidences remain of
I plscer mining, but there is more pay ~"
now in oranges and other products than IN
mining. The banks oil Fea her river are
still wonderfully rich, but hydraulic mining
has been stopped by law in the interest of
. commerce and agriculture, as it MS up and
destroys the streams. The time was when
boats ran to OrOvile from san Francisco,
but TO see the min .ng debris in Feather riv-
er Tor waere the river used TO Del one
can scarcely imagine such "A state of af-
ia rs There are sun valuable working
mines in Bate County, but, on tire
usual California scale of big tnings, his
county is larger than Rhode Island AID
well up towards The of New Jersey. so
TIA there is room, outside of Oroviile, for
gold mining and still keep with n the
county. After ex racting literally millions
OF dollars OF gold from she ground the cti-
I Zens Of this county have now discovered
that unto q millions still remain, in the
shape OF a sol which Is SO versatile that IL
produces every thing, rang ne from grain
I TO nuts, ana from fTuiu TO gold. Though
this is central, and not rs popularity sup
posed Northern California 1t is on Y within
few years nat the peopie have become
aware that citrus fruits cOu'd be produced
here equal 10 any an superior 20 most
Orange tre es Were few wears 90 quite
generally planted in dOOr-vardS as au Orna-
thus by accident atter few years passed
the people found that they did NOT know
their own resources The orange trees
began 10 bear until they become loaded
down, and as one goes abouG the city in
his (by the caieudaT) winter season
the luscious ripe iruit Creets you on
every hand, nOJwiU5 som ling re immense
/ amount that has been plucked for the tx
bibit This result has proven a revelation
AM now, scattered al through the county
orange groves are heiag estabi sned and in
many cases IRE well advanced. In fact
+ they claim - 900 fun hearing trees and
90, 900 more welt clong towards bearing
wiJhn radius of twelve miles OF this city
( As the county only Ia. $4,000 populat on
and this inc ud@s buS ness men, labOrers
miners and farmers. as We'll as truit grow
ers. and land is cheap. there is no wonder
that they eXpec 10 transform the old min
ing camp into "a vast orange grove As ten
acres of well Gu tivat ID orange grove af-
f0rds a sp endld income. they claim that
( here Is room for 100000 more people in
the citrus belt in this county These figures
seem large, but that is on V a neutral incl
dent of the climate Wlen vou consider
that the couu V conta ms I.1G4 square
mi IS. and 1880 600 ores. one half Of
which is agrIcu tlrai and fruit land the
calm does not seem so apocryphal after all
THE PILGRIMS SURPRISED
fruit fair in the n.er is a novelty in
IL eli kur - or IN az npvalfv in