Collection: Books and Periodicals

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Title: A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Publisher: Lewis Publishing Company Published: 1891 Copyright: In the public domain or published before 1925 Source(s): Google Books # of Pages: 713 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-07-22 00:25:09 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 06:30:36

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

Page: of 713  

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 85 dently from a bed east of the present summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During the cretaceous period, a great volcanic eruption occurred burying the country from Central California to British Columbia 200 to 3,000 feet under accumulations of lava. The glacial period followed this. The collection of diamonds and pearls is becoming quite an industry of late years along the Sierra Nevada. The gold-mining interest is noticed at great length elsewhere, and the principal mines, gold, coal, etc., are mentioned in the county sketches on subsequent pages. BOTANY. Northern California produces as many interesting plants as any other section of its size in the world. Sand and clay, rock and peat, hill and swamp, light and shade, mountain and valley, cold and heat,—all are sv varied as to favor the highest development of a larger number of species than almost any other part,of the world of the same area. A descriptive catalogue is not called for here. In 1882 Dr. Kellogg’s interesting and unique report was published by the State, and in 1888 the State Board of Forestry, aleo through the State department, published a magnificent report, prepared by those eminent botanists of Oakland, Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Lemmon. Asa Gray and Sereno Watson, two of the most eminent butanists of America, have published elaborate and expensive floras of California. ANIMALS. Following are brief notices of nearly all the quadrupeds of Culifornia: _ The grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis) is the largest and most furmidable of the quadrupeds. He grows to be four feet high and seven feet long, with a weight, when very large and fat, of a thousand pounds, being the largest of the carnivorous animals, and much heavier than the lion or tiger ever get to be. The grizzly bear, however, as ordinarily seen, does not exceed 800 or 900 pounds in weight. In color the body is a light grayish brown, dark brown about the ears and along the ridge of the back, and nearly black on the legs. The hair is long, coarse and wiry, and stiff on the top of the neck and between the shoulders. The “grizzly,” as he is usually called, was at one time exceedingly numerous for so large an animal; but he offered so much meat for the hunters, and did so much damage to the farmers, that he has been industriously hunted, and his numbers have been greatly reduced. The grizzly is very tenacious of life, and he is seldom immediately killed by a single bullet. His thick, wiry hair, tough skin, heavy coats of fat when in good condition, and large bones, go far to protect his vital organs; but he often seems to preserve all his strength and activity for an hour or more after having been shot through the lungs and liver with large rifle balls. He is one of the most dangerous animals to attack. There is much probability that when shot he will not be killed outright. When merely wounded he is ferocious; his weight and strength are so great that he “ bears ” down all opposition before him; and he is very quick, his speed in running being nearly equal to that of the horse. In attacking a man, he usually rises on hie hind-legs, strikes his enemy with one of his powerful fore-paws, and then commences to bite him. The black bear (Ursus Americanus) is found in the timbered sections. Dr. N ewberry, speaking of the food of the black bear, says: The subsistence of the black bears in the northern portion of California is evidently, for the most part, vegetable. The manzanita, wild plum, and wild cherry, which fruit profusely, and are very low, assist in making up his bill of fare. The brown, or cinnamon bear, is also common, and is not a different species from the the black bear. The panther, supposed by Dr. N ewberry to be the eis concolor—the same with the panther found on the Atlantic slope of the continent—has a body larger than that of the common sheep, and a tail more than half the length of the body. Its color is dirty white on the