The land of gold; or, Three years in CaliforniaColton, Walter
History
The land of gold; or, Three years in California
Colton, Walter
California -- Gold discoveries; California -- History -- 1846-1850
BOSTON.—This town is located on the American Fork at its junction with
the Sacramento. The plot of the town is beautiful—its situation
agreeable. Direct roads issue from it to the placers of the Yuba,
Feather river, the North, Middle, and South forks of the Americano. Like
Sacramento City, it is located within the grant of Capt. Sutter, whose
title to the enterprising proprietors will undoubtedly be found valid.
Several buildings have been erected, which give an air of stability to
the flapping tents which shadow its avenues.
STOCKTON.—This flourishing town is located at the head of an arm of the
Suisun bay, and is accessible to small steamers. It stands in the centre
of a vast fertile plain, and on a position sufficiently elevated to
exempt it from inundation. It is the commercial depot for the southern
mines; the miners on the Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mariposa,
Mercedes, and King’s river, are supplied with provisions and clothing
from its heavy storehouses. It will yet loom largely in the map of
California.
NEW YORK.—This town is located on the triangle formed by the junction of
the San Joaquin river and Suisun bay, with its base resting on a broad
plain, covered with clusters of live-oak. The banks of the river and bay
are bold, and above the reach of tide and freshet. The bay is
represented on the surveys which have been made as having sufficient
depth for merchantmen of the largest class. The communication with the
sea lies through the broad strait of the Carquinas. The town will
naturally command the commerce of the San Joaquin and its numerous
tributaries. The projectors of the town are Col. Stevenson and Dr.
Parker.
ALVEZO.—This town is situated at the head of the great bay of San
Francisco, on the Gaudalupe, which flows through it. It is the natural
depot of the commerce which will roll in a broad exhaustless tide,
through the fertile valleys of Santa Clara and San José. It lies
directly in the route to the gold and quicksilver mines, with a climate
not surpassed by that of any locality in the northern sections of
California. The fertility of the surrounding country must ere long make
itself felt in the growth and prosperity of this town. San Francisco is
dependant on the products of its horticulture. Fortunes might be made by
any persons who would go there and devote themselves exclusively to
gardening. But it is not in man to raise cabbages in a soil that
contains gold. The proprietors of the town are J. D. Hoppe, Peter H.
Burnett, and Charles B. Marvin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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