The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1923-10-24

US OF Lower Call fornla.
still survives as a profitable industry
and is in the hands of two or three
concessionaires with headquarters at
La Paz.
A few silver mines, notably at
Triunfo, in the south, and Las Flores,
on the Gulf coast, have been worked
profitably. Onyx is mined and shipped
to California, and enormous salt de
posits exist on the shores of the SAINTS
Clara desert and on Carmen island.
Most of 1t Mountainous.
Lower California is for the mos
part mountainous, with irregular
plains, mainly along the Pacific coast
and smaller plains and valleys here
and there along the Gulf coast and
in the more elevated interior. In eli
matte and other physical features the
northern third of the peninsula is a
continuation of extreme southern Cal
! ifornia, with local notifications. In
| the east the southern end Of the Col
oradO desert crosses the border and
! continues down the Gulf coast to San
Felipe bay, but is more broken by des-
ert mountains than on the Californian
side of the line. The part of the des-
ert lying Immediately south of the Cal
ifornian border, with Mexicali as its
chief town, is improved by irrigation
from the Colorado, and shares with
the adjacent Imperial valley of Cali
forr1ia in axfaO civa aor,.icr rr1ral dQvQl-
Opment from this source.
Along the Pacific side low range
of coast mountains rises from 1000 to
1000 feet short distance inland and
extends over 100 miles southerly from
the border. Back of this range lies
series of narrow valleys, beyond
which rises the main interior noun
tain range, forming the backbone of
the peninsula. These mountains con-
stitute a high, narrow range over $50
miles long extending southeasterly
from the California border. The
southern section of this range, form
ing the San Pedro Martir mountains,
rises from 5000 TO over 10000 feet
above the sea and has q rugged and
broken crest with bench-like valleys.
These are the highest and most pic
turesque mountains in the peninsula.
Magdalena bay farther south is a
beautiful land-locked harbor, with the
narrow entrance guarded by the head
lands of high, mountainous ridges ex-
tending back some distance on Mag
dalena and Margarita islands. The
bay is about fifteen miles across, with
mainland side and to the north and |
northwest.
The absolute shelter within this bay
and its delightful, sunny winter eli |
mate has for years made it a favorite |
winter practice ground for our Pacific |
fleet. The bay is about LOO miles
from San Francisco, directly on the |
route to Panama.
La Paz a Pleasant City.
La Paz, the Oldest and most attrac-
tive town in Lower California, is at
the head of La Paz bay, in the Gulf.
1t is the capital of the southern dis
trict and the chief commercial port
of the peninsula, containing nearly
5000 people. The streets are well
laid out and there are some excellent
stores and many comfortable houses.
The gardens are filed with palms and
various tropical fruit trees, which give
the place a strongly tropical appear
ance though set in the midst of an
arid desert plain. Water
Is abundant near the surface and Is
pumped for irrigation purposes. La
Paz has always been the base of the
pearl fisheries, which extend along the
east coast of the peninsula and far
down the west coast of the Mexican
mainland. North of La Paz the only
owns on the Gulf coast are the small
agricultural settlements at Loreto and
Mulege and the busy mining camp Of
Santa Rosalia, the largest town in
lower California.
The climate of Lower California In
General is hot and arid, as shown by
he existing desert conditions. In the
lorthern part conditions afs closely
Ike those in the adjoining parts of
outhern California; in the middle
hey are more arid, but the extreme
outhern end, though arid tropical, has
lore regular summer rains. The rain
all on the peninsula comes from two
ources. The winter rainy season
long the north Pacific coast extends
over the northern parts of
over California, and sometimes win
,r storms reach its extreme southern
nd. In summer the tropical rainy sea,
IN extends across from the Mexican
ainland to the southern end