Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

About This Item:

Title: Topographical Reports of Lt. George H. Derby (Volume 11)(1932) Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection Published: 1932 # of Pages: 5 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-08-30 15:38:39 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 05:54:06 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 05:54:06

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 5  

116 CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY of which we shot many. We made an observation at sunrise for the variation of the compass, which was found to be 16° 49’ east; a very large variation, but not as great as at the Buttes, where we found it nearly 18°. I was disposed to attribute this to local causes or attraction, but could find no evidence of iron, or in fact any other mineral, in the soil. We observed this day, as before, numerous herds of cattle and horses, one of which came to water at the creek about sundown, within a few hundred yards of our encampment. We observed comparatively few troublesome insects in this part of the country. Fleas, so annoying in the lower settlements, are here almost entirely unkown. Their troublesome office is, however, disagreeably supplied by an unpleasant-smelling pismire which covers the soil, and by its nocturnal rambles effectually banishes sleep. We left Butte creek on the 26th, and after travelling south of east about 15 miles over the dry and parched prairie, which was cracked in some places to the breadth of six or eight inches, rendering the wheeling extremely laborious, we struck “Lawson’s route.” This we found an extremely good road, upon which we marched some 12 miles further, passing many emigrant-wagons filled with dirty and unhappy-looking women and unwholesome children, and encamped on the bank of Feather river, six miles above the ford. The eastern valley, between Butte creek and the spurs of the Sierra, is from 30 to 40 mile$ in width, of rich soil, and covered during the spring and summer with fine grass. It is watered by the Feather river and its branches.’ This river rises in the Sierra, and flows slightly west of south through the valley, emptying into the Sacramento. It is remarkably straight throughout its whole course, making four small or abrupt bends, and is generally in the same latitude; wider, though not as deep as the Sacramento: Its banks are thickly wooded, for some two miles in depth, throughout its entire extent, with the holly and long-acorn oaks, sycamores, beech, ash, and alder trees. Its general depth during the dry season, or from the last of May until the first of November, is from two to ten feet; and its bed is much obstructed by sand-bars, which, while rendering fording at numerous points perfectly safe and easy, prevents entirely its navigation even by the smallest class of vessels. It is fed by numerous small creeks which run down the ravines of the Sierra, and in whose dry beds during the summer rich deposites of gold have been and still continue to be found. I observed three rancherias of Indians upon its banks within 12 miles of the crossing of “Lawson’s route,” which may contain in all from 300 to 500. They are all of the same wretched class with those observed upon the Sacramento. They appear perfectly harmless and remarkably good-humored, and many of them are in the employment of the emigrants who have squatted in the vicinity. On the 27th we marched six miles down the Feather river, crossing in about two feet water. A small island in the middle of the stream renders the ford more easy, and would be useful in the construction of a bridge at this point, which the high banks render practicable. We kept the river road for several miles, and then crossed the plain to the “Yuba,” nine miles further. This plain is precisely of the same character as the others—unbroken, like them, save by a few ridges of Veh 11 4ar THE TOPOGRAPHICAL REPORTS OF LIEUTENANT GEORGE H. DERBY 117 low hills, and of the same rich alluvial soil. We encamped on the “Yuba,” in the vicinity of Rose’s rancho, a beautiful site for farming or grazing, but apparently subjected to but little cultivation. We found here a small adobe house, redolent with the odor of whiskey, and festooned with strings of jerked beef. The “Yuba” is a small but rapid stream, flowing southwest from the mountains, and emptying into Feather river, Its bed is rocky, giving its waters a turbulent character, particularly when swollen by the rains or melted snows of the Sierra. Its banks are wooded and not as high as those of Feather river, and it is occasionally subject to overflow. ‘The soil in the immediate vicinity is of the richest description, and in the upper part of the river and its tributary, “Deer creek,” the richest deposites of gold have been discovered. Leaving ‘Rose’s rancho,” we marched across the plain to Bear creek, striking the road from Noyes’s rancho to Johnson’s at a distance of about six miles from Rose’s. We found Captain Day’s command comfortably established at camp “Far West,” upon the reserve, and preparations being made for building. We remained here during the 29th and 30th, and made observations for the rate of the chronometer, which, as I had supposed, had changed its rate very much from being jolted in the wagon. The weather had prevented our making but one lunar observation, from which I established the longitude of the Buttes, and. my map is projected from that data. Bear creek is about forty miles in length; it has two branches, which unite about thirty miles from its mouth; its course is nearly straight, as is the case with nearly all the rivers of the valley; and it empties into Feather river, being the second branch of importance in point of size. Its banks are thickly wooded towards its mouth, mostly with shrub-oak, buck-eye, and alder. In the summer it has but little water, but is never entirely dry; in the winter it becomes a deep and rapid stream, overflowing its banks to a very considerable extent. I have been informed that one instance has occurred of individuals going from *Johnson’s rancho” to Sutter’s fort in a whale-boat, the entire plain, forty-five miles in extent, having been submerged during a freshet; but I do not vouch for the truth of the statement. Leaving camp Far West on the 31st, we travelled down the creek to its mouth, then continued upon the branch of the Feather river until we had arrived within a mile of the town of Vernon (situated at its mouth, and supposed to be the head of navigation upon the Sacramento,) where we encamped.’ Feather river, near its mouth, is a very broad and beautiful stream. Its banks are heavily timbered, and some fifty feet in height, coming down abruptly to the water, There is a sufficient depth of water as far as the mouth of Bear creek to float any small-size vessel; but the frequent occurrence of extensive sand-bars renders the navigation to this point at present impracticable. During the night we killed three veritable raccoons, the first that I had ever seen in this country. The town of Vernon is situated at the junction of the Feather and Sacramento rivers, and that of Frémont immediately opposite. , Each contains some twenty houses and one or two hundred inhabitants. The { valley of the Sacramento, on the western bank of that stream, is for the most ~