The Sierra Nevada is a range of extreme scenic grandeur and natural beauty, some of its valleys, as the Yosemite, the Forks of the Kings, and the Hetch-Hetchy, presenting sublime scenic spectacles. The range protects from the east the long, central, fruitful valleys of the San Joaquin and of the Sacramento. The Coast Range parallels the sea coast line and protects from the west. They unite near the 40th parallel and combined, extend northward into Oregon as the Cascade Range. The Great Valley is a basin between the two first ranges, gradually rising to them through foothills. The northern branch of the trough-like plain is known as the Sacramento r and the southern as the San Joaquin Valley, each drained by a river of the same name, heading from opposite directions, uniting in the valley's western center and coursing westward to empty into San Francisco Bay.
There was a time when the combined stream went out into the ocean through the Golden Gate, but owing to the sinking of the coast, in a great convulsion of nature and the earth, of which there is a hazy Indian tradition, the river was "drowned." Tidal influence is felt now no further inland than at Sacramento and Stockton. The coast subsidence once flooded the lower part of the valley, as even now at the junction of the rivers an overflowed' delta and marsh is forming and slowly being made into dry land by silting, the surface overgrown with tules. These reclaimed marshlands have proven remarkably productive. When the gold seekers first appeared, the Feather River was navigable by small boat to Marysville in Yuba County, and the Sacramento as far as Red Bluff in Tehama County. Today they are scarcely navigable above Sacramento. The San Joaquin carries less water than the Sacramento, although dredging could make it navigable.
Time was when the San Joaquin was navigable for freight scows, towed by light draught tugs, in spring high water, above the present railroad bridge across the river at Herndon in this county. Miller & Lux provisioned their big cattle ranches thus, and by water sent to market hides and spring wool clips. Millerton, the old county seat, was at times so provided with merchandise as a cheaper means of transportation than hauling by freight wagons from Stockton. The river was a navigable stream as far as Sycamore Point, above Herndon, and was so delineated on the old maps. So well recognized was the fact that when a bridge was put in at Firebaugh, it was made a draw so as not to impede navigation of the stream. A demonstration river journey from Stockton with a light river steamer was successfully made in the summer of 1911 in connection with an abortive agitation for a reduction of railroad freight rates and a congressional appropriation for the dredging of the river as a navigable stream as in the days of yore to near Fresno.
The Coast range streams flowing eastward into the San Joaquin are small and dry in the summer. Those from the Sierras, flowing westward, are large, permanent and supply the water for irrigation. The main drainage line of the valley is consequently forced over to the west side by the delta accumulations on the Sierra side. In evidence of this, the Kings has silted up so large a delta as to block the one time continuous drainage of the valley and form Tulare Lake behind the dam as a permanent body of water. Later so much water was taken for irrigation that with the evaporation the lake almost went dry and the lake shores were farmed. A few years ago, six in fact, the water accumulated again and the lake was reproduced but of reduced size. The Kern River's debris also dammed the valley, creating Buena Vista and Kern Lakes at the extreme southern end, though in high water stages Buena Vista discharges northward into the Tulare basin and also southward into Kern Lake.
The western sides of the valley are much drier than the eastern because of the Coast range barrier, and therefore are in greater need of irrigation. Much of this land will bear good grain crops in average rainy years. Other large areas are semi-arid and suitable only for grazing during the spring months. Nearly one-third of Fresno County's area is on the dry west side, which if ever brought under irrigation would yield results to duplicate the agricultural wonders of the past and add immensely to the productive wealth of the county.
The climatic extremes of the valley are greater than in the coast region. The summers are hot, but the air is dry and the temperature is borne therefore with less discomfort than the summer eastern weather. In this dry summer heat, the valley counties have a most valuable asset. It ripens crops earlier and forms saccharine in the fruit, while it enables the grower to dry it with the aid of the sun. The lack of humidity prevents dew at night and thus maintains the drying process by night and day. The humidity is at times as low as six percent, and while the mercury may register 110 degrees this temperature is felt less for discomfort than one twenty or thirty degrees lower in a region of humidity. This desiccating summer heat has made Fresno the world's raisin district, an extensive citrus fruit grower and a leader in sun-dried fruit. Sunstroke is as great a rarity as a snowstorm. The mean daily average maximum temperature from May to September is eighty-one degrees, and the mean minimum during the remaining period fifty-eight degrees.
Experiment has demonstrated the existence of an orange belt extending practically the entire length of the eastern side of the valley from Bakersfield, in Kern County to Oroville, in Butte County. In this connection there is the interesting fact to be noted that oranges ripen earlier than in Southern California by one month to six weeks, probably because the southern belt is not protected from the ocean winds and cooling fogs as the central is, and the growth and maturation of the fruit is slower. Latitude has apparently little influence on the climate. Near the coast there is in reality only a few degrees difference between the northern and southern temperature, yet there is an earlier appearance of spring fruit, and in the ripening of oranges in the north than in the south. One must seek for other modifying local conditions in the ocean, the wind and in mountain barriers to account for the anomalous climatic variations.
The semi-arid plains were once considered valuable only as stock ranges. Grain was sowed, but with disastrous results in dry years. An industrial change came about with irrigation, and great ranch tracts were subdivided into small ones, which could be better taken care of and yielded larger returns. Fresno County is proof of what irrigation will do and has done. It is one of the pioneer irrigated regions of the coast, the first experiment having been made in the early 70's near Fresno with four sections in wheat. Fresno is pointed out today as the typical California irrigation district.
Describing this district system. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 237 on "Irrigation in California" said of Fresno: "Considering its area, it is the most highly developed district in the state," It added:
"Before the first irrigation of grain was attempted near Fresno, the land could scarcely be sold at $2.50 an acre, but as soon as the results of irrigation became known, land sales increased and twenty-five dollars to thirty dollars an acre was given freely for the raw land, which now when in deciduous trees or vines is worth $250 to $500 per acre. The citrus lands of the foothills that now sell for $1,500 to $2,000 per acre when in full bearing groves would be valueless without irrigation."
California's great valley is exceptionally located and conditioned for a much larger population than it now supports. Encompassed as it is by mountains, the drainage channels converge at Carquinez straits, from which there is freightage with the world by deep sea vessels, receiving their cargoes "at the very door of the valley." It is maintained that when the Sacramento will have been navigably deepened to Red Bluff and the San Joaquin dredged and by a canal tied in with the more southern Tulare and Kern basins, the great region will be in a position to begin a supplemental development without bounds. The scheme has been given serious thought and tentative plans for it studied. To help out this water transportation project, the valley is at present served by two transcontinental railroads with numerous feeders.
The student of history cannot overlook the fact how little the waterways influenced the exploration and settlement of California, or even to aid in the transportation of crops. Save for irrigation, the streams of the state have not assisted inland development, excepting the lower Sacramento, the San Joaquin in the days gone by, and the smaller arms of San Francisco Bay. Yet the economic importance of the streams as sources of power to be developed for commercial and manufacturing enterprises cannot be ignored. The electric energy to be generated and transmitted