California in Perspective

• Author: Rockwell D. Hunt
• Published date: 01 November 1946
• Date: 01 November 1946
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271624624800128
• Subject Matter: Articles

203

California

in

Perspective

By

ROCKWELL

D.

HUNT

CALIFORNIA

is

a

land

of

superla-

tives.

She

claims

that

her

big

trees

are

the

oldest

and

largest

living

things

on

earth;

Mount

Whitney

is

the

highest

mountain

in

the

United

States,

barring

Alaska,

from

whose

summit

one

may

look

down

upon

Death

Valley,

the

lowest

place

in

the

country;

with

the

exception

of

&dquo;The

Giant

World

of

Texas,&dquo;

California

has

the

greatest

area

of

any

state

in

the

American

Union.

Within

her

ample

boundaries

may

be

found

every

kind

of

soil

and

every

va-

riety

of

climate

in

temperate

and

sub-

tropical

zones.

For

years

California

boasted

the

largest

production

of

pe-

troleum,

then

headed

the

Nation

as

air-

plane

producer;

for

numerous

horticul-

tural

crops,

including

peaches,

prunes,

oranges,

and

other

products

of

the

soil,

she

stands

at

the

top.

She

has

been

called

a

&dquo;Geologic

Wonderland,&dquo;

a

&dquo;Territorial

Paradise,&dquo;

the

&dquo;Golden

State,&dquo;

&dquo;Empire

State

of

the

Pacific,&dquo;

and

&dquo;Land

of

Heart’s

Desire.&dquo;

Before

the

coming

of

white

people,

California

was

sparsely

populated

by

many

tribal

bands

of

Indians

of

vary-

ing

degrees

of

culture,

who

lived

in

extremely

simple

homes

grouped

into

crude

little

villages,

or

rancherias.

As

a

rule,

these

Indians,

often

erroneously

called

&dquo;Diggers,&dquo;

were

far

from

war-

like,

most

of

them

knowing

nothing

of

the

&dquo;fierce

joy

of

the

Dakota

hunter.&dquo;

Their

mores

and

their

religion

were

most

primitive.

Their

contact

with

the

whites

in

uncounted

instances

brought

tragic

results.

Nevertheless,

the

Cali-

fornia

Indians

of

today

are

under

the

protecting

guardianship

of

the

United

States

Government;

their

population

is

increasing;

their

opportunities

for

ad-

vancement have

been

greatly

enhanced;

many

of

them

are

useful

members

of

society.

UNDER

SPAIN

AND

MEXICO

California

long

remained

concealed

from

European

enlightenment

and

from

the

Oriental

culture-this

despite

the

fact

that

it

was

but

fifty

years

after

Columbus’

great

discovery

that

Cabrillo

entered

beautiful

San

Diego

Bay,

nam-

ing

it

San

Miguel,

and

raised

the

flag

of

Spain.

California

has

been

called

the

child

of

Spain.

Spain’s

threefold

plan

of

occupation

involved

religious,

military,

and

civil

factors,

resulting,

after

extraordinarily

long

delay,

in

the

Franciscan

missions,

the

presidios,

and

the

pueblos.

San

Francisco

took

its

beginnings

from

the

presidio

and

the

mission

of

similar

name,

founded

in

1776.

Los

Angeles

was

the

second

California

pueblo,

founded

in

1781.

In

the

meantime,

the

English

influence

had

been

begun

with

the

activities

of

Francis

Drake,

as

early

as

1579.

After

preliminary

contact,

the

Rus-

sians

founded

a

colony

in

1812

some

sixty

miles

north

of

San

Francisco.

Their

presence

occasioned

much

un-

easiness

to

the

Spanish

authorities,

not

without,

good

reason;

but

after

three

decades

the

Russians

sailed

peacefully

away.

California

was

an

outlying

province,

or

territory,

of

New

Spain,

or

Mexico.

The

hampering

conditions

and

limita-

tions

imposed

by

remoteness,

by

ex-

treme

backwardness

in

transportation

and

communication,

and

by

Spain’s

diffi-

culties

in

faraway

Europe

rendered

any-

thing

approaching

modern

efficiency

in

administration

quite

impossible.

Nev-

ertheless,

heroic

efforts

were

made

un-

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