California as it is, and as it may be

by Felix Paul Wierzbicki

The agriculture of a country should be made the basis of every branch of industry and trade; these latter should, so to say, feed the springs of the former. In California every facility is offered to the farmer. The working of the various mines will guarantee him a profitable sale of all his productions. The exterior commerce naturally following the working of mines, will equally contribute its share in favor of the agriculturalist. The American whalers scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean to the number of nearly 700, will come to California for fresh provisions if they have the security that they will run no risk of losing their crews on their arrival there. It will be the duty of the Federal Government, as well as of the local authorities, to devise measures that will give this security to all shipping. The government squadron that will be constantly stationed in the Pacific, will also draw its provisions from California as soon as she shall be able to furnish them, since it will be less expensive to the Government, and more beneficial for the service; for much of the stores that are now shipped round Cape Horn at considerable expense, become unfit for use by the time they are wanted by the Navy.

Such are the unfailing sources from which the labor of the farmer will be liberally paid; but they are not the only ones. Every year will see them expand and always working for the advantage of the agriculturalist. It is not necessary to be gifted with an extraordinary foresight to predict that as soon as the industry and enterprise of the Americans take a fair footing on this soil, the commerce of the country will grow daily; the trade with China, with the Islands of the Pacific, and with the whole western coast of America will be ere many years, in the hands of American citizens resident in California, which will be made a depot of the industry of the whole Union. To swell this commercial tide beating against the shores of California comes the railroad that must inevitably be built across the territory of the Union, and whose terminus must be on the Bay of San Francisco. It may take many years before this work will be accomplished, but we have no doubt of its being sooner or later entered upon. We have a particular right to express our faith in the accomplishment of the work, as we were the first, at least to our knowledge, who, five years ago, prophesied on a public occasion, the union of New York with San Francisco by means of the iron bars laid across the continent. At that time it was more difficult to foresee than it is now, and probably those who then smiled at our enthusiastic visions of the future, will now agree with us that the time is not far removed when the Pacific shore railroad will pass into the facts of history. The accomplishment of this work will appear less difficult when we consider that one half of the proposed railroad is already built—we mean the distance from New York to Natchez. Now, combining all the results of the different branches of industry above spoken of, and which can and will be exercised in this territory whenever there shall be a sufficient number of inhabitants for the work, is it difficult to foresee the part California is to perform in the civilized world? And all this will ultimately turn to the especial benefit of the tiller of the soil. The country can sustain several millions of inhabitants with the greatest ease possible. The apparent drawback upon the agriculture of the country in the eyes of a farmer from the States is the comparative scarcity of timber and water; and he is more disagreeably impressed, if, arriving by land, he beholds, first of all, the extensive plains of the Sacramento.—Should he come from Oregon he feels home-sick, and is willing almost immediately to turn upon his heels for his well wooded home. But the Sacramento plains are not the best representatives of the country; they are good only for a scanty population; the want of an abundant supply of wood and water is only apparent at first sight, and particularly to those whose first idea of farming is to clear away the woods from the land they are to settle upon. The same time which the farmer in Oregon devotes to the clearing of land can be, if necessary, devoted to looking for and securing a lasting spring of water that may answer for all farming purposes—a thing very easily done, if one possesses a little knowledge and industry. We can say safely, that there is hardly a spot in California on which water cannot be found if looked for; although frequently on the surface there may be no signs of it, yet the ground, notwithstanding this, is so percolated with it that it needs, comparatively speaking, but little labor to strike upon a lasting spring. We doubt not that those who have means would find it profitable to sink an artesian well, if the land require it, which work would not be very expensive here, because there is never an occasion to go very deep in search of water in California. By what we have said we do not mean to imply that the necessity for these wells will be felt throughout the country; far from it—there are not only numerous streams in the hills that never dry up, offering fine mill sites, but others that wash the plains can be turned to agricultural purposes with all ease. At one time, when California was under the direction of the Spanish priests, it was like a garden; but the Mexican misrule blasted it like the Northern wind when it breathes upon a budding flower. Those who have not seen such things before, would be surprised at finding wheat and corn, the principal grains that are raised here, growing luxuriantly in plains where there are but scanty rains. We have seen excellent potatoes grow on a slope of a hill in the Bay of Monterey. This is undoubtedly owing to the moisture brought from the sea by winds, nightly dews, and to the fact that the sub-soil is always more or less moist. There is a remarkable advantage in the climate of California for the farmer; the seasons and their peculiarities are so well known that he can count almost with certainty upon the results of his rural labors.

Although timber cannot be found on every spot that is arable, yet we may safely assert that there is a sufficient quantity of it through the country to satisfy all the wants of the inhabitants that are yet to settle here. The coast range of mountains from Oregon down, is quite plentifully wooded; particularly near Botega on the North and Santa Cruz on the South side of the Bay of San Francisco. There are already from six to eight saw-mills in the country, and there is yet room for more. In fact, in our opinion, if the American farmer get rid of his stereotyped notions of farming, and using his intelligence, adapts himself to the climate and the state of the country, he will reap a golden harvest much more abundant than anywhere else; and even we would go farther and assert that he will do so with much less labor than in any of the States.

In connexion with the farming interest we cannot overlook the excellent state of natural roads throughout the country. A good road enables the farmer to dispose of his produce and greatly diminishes his rural labors. There are but a few, if any, countries that can boast of so good natural roads as California. From San Francisco down to San Diego, a carriage may pass along the valleys almost upon a beaten track, although everything in relation to roads is at present completely neglected. In Spanish times they were in a better state, for the Priests then used to make their journeys to San Diego in carriages all along the coast. A very little labor would make them even now all that roads need be.

Not less important to the farming interest, as to every interest in the country, is a railroad uniting the States on the East side of the Rocky Mountains with the Pacific shores. The advantages of such a National work are numerous, and if the people and the government of the Union understand fully its importance, they will lose no time in undertaking it. The practicability of the work is not to be questioned; the country through which it should pass, and the energy and enterprise of the American citizens are sufficient guarantees for its feasibility. The immense advantages in a commercial point of view to be derived from such an enterprise are indisputable. The trade of China, of the Islands of the Pacific and the whole Western coast of America, will be brought so much nearer the Union that it will not fail to pour immense wealth into her lap. She will become really a formidable commercial rival of Great Britain, and a common carrier to the whole of Europe. It will bind the whole Union with more indissoluble ties; the sectional interests of each State will be mingled and merged in the common interest made fast to the Pacific shore. To California individually, such a railroad will be of great consequence, as it will make it a centre of an extensive commerce, and will bring to her a sufficient population to develope all her internal resources.

Once before we have indicated the route for such a railroad, and we will take this opportunity to enforce it upon the public still more, as farther reflection and information upon the subject enables us to do even with more reason than before.

The projected railroad across the continent should start from the Mississippi near the mouth of the Ohio, or at such a point that the navigation will never be liable to be interrupted by ice; thence to the vicinity of the Arkansas; thence along the prairie ridge which separates the waters that flow into the Arkansas from those which flow into the Mississippi and Missouri, to the point where the road passes from Missouri to New Mexico, and by San Miguel to Santa Fe; thence up the valley of the Rio del Norte to the mouth of the Abaca creek; thence up the creek to the town of the same name, and thence through a pine forest of low sandy hills ninety miles in length to the Rio de la Plata, which is a tributary of the San Juan. The latter is a tributary of the Colorado. It should cross the Colorado to the Northwest side and proceed along the trail from Santa Fe to California to a point between the Mahahve river and the San Bernardino mountain; thence through about ten miles of low hills to the great valley of the San Joaquin; thence down that magnificent and fertile valley, about five hundred miles on a level, to the tide water of the Bay of San Francisco. By this route the road will pass over a dead level of about eight hundred miles at the eastern end, and about five hundred miles at the western; it will have no mountains to cross, will be nearly free from snow in all parts, will afford, for New Mexico, an outlet to both Oceans, and terminate at the best part of the western coast of America.

The point of the terminus of the railroad is by an accident, so to speak, already selected with a good deal of discernment; it is called the New York of the Pacific, situated at the upper part of the Bay of San Francisco, known here as Suisun Bay. An enterprising company, at the head of which is Col. Stevenson, have bought a tract of land at the mouth of the San Joaquin, where it mingles its waters with those of the Sacramento, and are already building a town. Its situation for the terminus of the railroad is very advantageous; it is level; has abundance of land to expand upon; it is in the neighborhood of grazing farms; its climate is healthy, as is the rest of the south bank of the San Joaquin; well-water can be found there within a few feet of the surface; the river is deep enough to admit large vessels close to the shore, and its water here is fresh and sweet; ships can water here with the greatest facility. The vessels going up the Sacramento pass within sight of it. It is a spot very judiciously selected for a town, and we have no doubt it will grow, as the proprietors spare no efforts to make it acceptable to new settlers.

But the railroad should not stop here; it should branch away along the shore to the point where now the town of Martinez is being laid out,—a very pretty site facing the straits of Carquinez; thence it should strike the valley of San Jose—one of the richest spots in California and which would support, a million of industrious inhabitants—and following along the coast terminate at San Diego.

The advantages of uniting the two opposite points of the country by means of a railroad, will not only help its speedy settlement—an important consideration in many respects—but will be equal to gaining a free port on the coast of Mexico for the exclusive benefit of American citizens. By the means of Santa Fe and San Diego, should the railroad be constructed as indicated above, the Union will have the command of the largest share of the Mexican trade.