View allAll Photos Tagged CALIFORNIA_GOLD
Three Fingered Jack has a volume of 2.4 cubic miles (10 km3) and a summit elevation of 7,844 feet (2,391 m). Its jagged edifice rises between Mount Jefferson and the Three Sisters volcanic complex. Three Fingered Jack lies within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness and is only accessible on foot by trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail. Located about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the city of Sisters, it is a prominent landmark in the area.
Douglas fir, Alpine fir, blue spruce, mountain hemlock, and bear grass can be found along the volcano and its hiking trails. Cascade parsley fern grows on Three Fingered Jack between elevations of 6,500 to 7,000 feet (2,000 to 2,100 m). There are also mountain goats in the surrounding wilderness area.
The origins of Three Fingered Jack's name remain unclear. One account claims that the volcano received its name from Joaquin Murrieta, a gold miner and vaquero during the California Gold Rush also known as Three Fingered Jack.
I am taking this picture from Hoodoo ski area on a nice clear day.
Thru Nevada City this Thursday Morning.
One set of exposures for the star trails. One set of exposures for the vehicle light trails. Then I waited for blue hour to grab an exposure for the details in the trees. Fun morning standing in the dark for two hours. It is crazy dark up here, even in town there is no ambient light. Not like the bay area.
Thanks for looking.
Spotted this Victorian House during a recent road trip to Oregon. I found it worthy of a Pic. Hope you do too.
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The Carson Mansion:
The Carson Mansion is a large Victorian house located in Old Town, Eureka, California. Regarded as one of the premier examples of Queen Anne style architecture in the United States.
The house is considered the most grand Victorian home in America. It is one of the most written about and photographed Victorian houses in California and possibly in the United States.
Originally the home of William Carson, one of Northern California's first major lumber barons, it has been a private club since 1950.
William Coleman Carson (July 15, 1825 New Brunswick – February 20, 1912 Eureka), for whom the house was built, arrived in San Francisco from New Brunswick, Canada, with a group of other woodsmen in 1849.
Carson had joined the California gold rush, arriving in the Trinity Mountains via the Eel River and Humboldt Bay. Carson soon contracted to provide logs for a small sawmill.
In November 1850, Carson felled a tree, the first for commercial purposes on Humboldt Bay. Carson soon went into the lumber business full time, and in 1854 shipped the first loads of redwood timber to San Francisco.
In 1884, on the eve of construction of the great home, his company was producing 15,000,000 board feet (35,000 m3) of lumber annually. The milling operations were combined with additional investments as far away as Southern California and at least partial ownerships in schooners used to move the lumber to booming markets on the west coast and all over the globe.
- Wikipedia
(iPhone 13 Pro Max, edited to taste)
Murphy's is a quaint little Gold Rush town in the foothills of the Sierras. It was founded in about 1845 and had it's heyday during the California Gold Rush which started in 1848. Today it's home to micro breweries, boutique wineries, exquisite little hotels and restaurants.
The California Poppy is in fact the state flower. They were everywhere on my recent outing to Point Reyes National Seashore. I saw a lot of deer too, and on close observation, I watched the deer pick off the poppy blooms. At one point, I was following a subject deer near a clump of poppies. I was hoping for a simple photo of her with the flowers. To my surprise, she put her face in them, and when she picked up, the poppies were gone. These have an almost two-toned scheme, whereas the ones I'm more used to seeing in SoCal are bright solid orange.
Collinsville and the Collins Company
In 1826, Samuel Watkinson Collins, age 24, his brother David, age 21, and their wealthy cousin, William Wells, purchased a sawmill and gristmill property along the Farmington River in South Canton, and began mass-producing high-quality axes as The Collins Company.
The Collins Company produced 1,300 types of axes, pickaxes and other cutting tools, which were used during in significant periods of history such as, the California Gold Rush, construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and the exploration of the North Pole by Admiral Peary in 1909. The U.S. Military also purchased millions of Collins tools for soldiers during WWI and WWII and subsequent wars.
As the business and number of factory laborers grew, the Collins brothers built housing, a Congregational church, bank, and other structures to support workers and their families – this section of Canton became known as Collinsville.
The former railroad line, which Sam Collins brought to Town and through the middle of the factory in 1850, has today been converted to the Farmington Valley Greenway Rail Trail (fchtrail.org) for recreational use. The 1935 Collins hydro powerhouse on the River, is currently being rebuilt to supply water-powered electricity back to the grid.
Collinsville, in the heart of Canton, Connecticut, is a treasure trove of victorian industrial innovation and history, and one of “America’s 10 Coolest Small Towns” as recognized in Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine.
California is sometimes referred to as a "Green and Gold" state. In a drought year like this one, the hills are quite "golden" early in the year. Official state colors are blue for the sky and gold for the California Gold Rush.
Downieville is another one of the those local towns founded during the California Gold Rush era. At its peak in 1851, the population was 5000, mostly made up of hopeful miners, trying to make their fortune. As of the last census, less than 300 people call the town their home. I've always enjoyed the quiet quaintness of this town. Here the Downie River intersects the center of town.
Downieville CA
Twenty five miles north of Grass Valley, along State Highway 49, lies the remote old mining town of Downieville (population 158). Situated at the confluence of the North Fork of the Yuba and Downieville rivers, the town boasts more natural wonders than any town has a right to have. Old steel bridges built in the early 20th century, wooden sidewalks, and buildings that date to the California Gold Rush are just a few of the in-town attractions. As if that isn't enough, the steep terrain here contains a water shed rich in voluminous creeks and streams. One is never far from the sound of cascading water. Pauley falls (shown above), located along Pauley Creek on the north side of town is a mere sideshow. But what a sideshow it is.
Downieville CA
The New Almaden quicksilver mine in the Capitancillas range in Santa Clara County, California, United States, is the oldest and most productive quicksilver (i.e., mercury) mine in the U.S.[4][5] The site was known to the indigenous Ohlone for its cinnabar long before a Mexican settler became aware of the ores in 1820. By the time they were identified as mercury, the mine was perfectly timed to supply the California Gold Rush.[6] The mine ran intermittently after 1927 and eventually closed. It was purchased by the county and is now part of Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Wikipedia
HFF
In 1862, silver and gold were discovered in the southern Baja California Sur mountains, leading miners from Mexico and the United States to rush to settle in El Triunfo in a gold rush.[4] Many of the miners had participated in the 1849 California gold rush.[4] In 1878, the mine was taken over by the British El Progreso Mining Company and became more successful. Once the largest city in Baja California Sur, it was home to more than 10,000 miners.[2] In its heyday the town was a cultural center, where Francisca Mendoza taught and performed.[5] El Triunfo was the first town in the region to install electricity and telephones.[6] Pianos and other instruments were brought to El Triunfo from around the world and a piano museum still exists.[7] When mines shut down in 1926, most of the townspeople left to look for work elsewhere.[2] The 2010 census reported a population of 327 inhabitants.[1] El Triunfo is one of the best preserved 19th and 20th century mining communities in North America and remains an important site for archaeological research.[8 - Wikipedia
On the Road - Sunset in Fresno 2
Valle San Joaquín - Fresno - California
Video "CALIFORNIA Gold Rush MARIPOSA": www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTNU9_XjL50&t=27s
Video "YOSEMITE National Park": youtu.be/o9kjE305sFg
Video "... On the Road": youtu.be/BIohfLij5mU
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The Merced River, in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a 145-mile-long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through the southern part of Yosemite National Park, where it is the primary watercourse flowing through Yosemite Valley. The river's character changes dramatically once it reaches the plains of the agricultural San Joaquin Valley, where it becomes a slow-moving meandering stream.
The river first formed as the Sierra Nevada rose about 10 million years ago, and sediment eroded from its canyon helped form the flat floor of the San Joaquin Valley. Glaciation during the ice ages carved the high elevation parts of the watershed, including Yosemite Valley, into their present shape. Historically, there was an extensive riparian zone which provided habitat for millions of migrating birds, and the river had one of the southernmost runs of chinook salmon in North America.
Miwok and Paiute people lived along the river for thousands of years before Spanish and Mexican military expeditions passed through in the early 19th century. The California Gold Rush brought many people into California and some settled in towns along the lower Merced River. A railroad was built along the Merced canyon, enabling mining and logging in the upper watershed, and later carrying tourists to Yosemite National Park. Conflicts between settlers and Native Americans resulted in wars, including the expulsion of the Ahwahnechee from Yosemite.
Large-scale irrigation was introduced to the San Joaquin Valley in the late 19th century, and led to the construction of numerous state, federal and privately owned dams, which blocked migrating salmon and caused a large decline in riparian habitat. Diversion of water for irrigation often reduces the river to a small stream by the time it reaches its mouth. Efforts to mitigate environmental damage include habitat conservation work, re-establishment of historic streamflow patterns, and the construction of a salmon hatchery.
The headwaters of the Merced River are at 8,017 feet at the foot of the Clark Range subrange of the Sierra Nevada, rising at the confluence of the Triple Peak Fork and Merced Peak Fork after they cascade down glacially polished slopes from the high country in the southeastern corner of Yosemite National Park. From its headwaters, the river flows north for a short distance and collects the Lyell Peak Fork. The course of the Merced then turns to the north west and flows through a steep walled canyon for 2.5 miles where the river receives the Red Peak Fork and then collects into Washburn Lake, 7,612 feet above sea level.
The Merced continues to the northwest for 3 miles where collects into Merced Lake. Leaving Merced Lake, the river continues to the west northwest for 2.3 miles where the canyons open up into Echo Valley. The river then turns generally westward for another 3 miles, where it snakes through a spectacular narrow gorge between massive, glacially resistant granite cliffs. The gorge opens up after Bunnell Point and Sugarloaf Dome confine the river to form Bunnell Cascade, before turning southward through the Lost Valley of the Merced, and then spills over a granite cliff into Little Yosemite Valley, named for its resemblance to Yosemite Valley downstream.
The Merced River drops over Nevada Fall and Vernal Fall, together known as the "Giant Staircase", then receives Illilouette Creek and flows into Yosemite Valley, where it meanders between pine forests and meadows that fill the valley floor. Tenaya, Yosemite, Bridalveil and Pigeon Creeks join the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. Beyond the glacial moraine at the western end of the valley the river flows through the steep Merced River Canyon, picks up Cascade Creek and turns south near El Portal. State Route 140 follows the river out of the west entrance to the national park, a few miles before the South Fork Merced River, the largest tributary, joins from the left.
The river arcs northwest to receive the North Fork, and a few miles after it enters Lake McClure, formed by New Exchequer Dam. Below New Exchequer, the river flows west through a heavily irrigated region of the Central Valley, passing through McSwain and Crocker-Huffman Dams and the cities of Hopeton, Delhi and Livingston. It joins the San Joaquin River at Hills Ferry, a few miles south of Turlock.
When my buddy Harv popped over from Hawaii last April, we took a day out of our exploration of the California Gold Country to check in on Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is not a place where you will find gold, but you will find lots of blue. This won't embellish your pecuniary prospects, but it will certainly enrich your soul.
Sand Harbor, Nevada
When the sun goes down
And the band won't play
I'll always remember us this way...
-Lady Gaga ♥
This song says so much, in so many ways. I know for me, it says that at the end of the day, no matter what happens. I can always count on my friends to be there. This is how I'll always remember us, literally California Gold. ♥
A friend visiting from Mexico joined me for a trip to the Sierra Nevada mountains. On the way back we stayed in Placerville, a small town that had its heydays during the California gold rush in the 1850s. The town earned its historical name Hangtown because of the numerous hangings that had occurred there.
I processed a balanced, a paintery, and a photographic HDR photo from three RAW exposures, blended them selectively, and carefully adjusted the color balance and curves. I welcome and appreciate constructive comments.
Thank you for visiting - ♡ with gratitude! Fave if you like it, add comments below, like the Facebook page, order beautiful HDR prints at qualityHDR.com.
-- ƒ/16, 50 mm, 2, 6, 15 sec, ISO 400, Sony A7 II, Canon 50mm f0.95 "Dream Lens", HDR, 3 RAW exposures, _DSC1258_9_0_hdr3bal1pai5pho1f.jpg
-- CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, © 2025 Peter Thoeny, Quality HDR Photography
Merry Christmas Everyone!
This is another interpretation of a wonderful morning I had in our Bay. I got totally drenched twice and I thought that I shouldn't chance a third encounter.
I am sure I could have stayed for some more fun but I didn't think my camera would survive the stay without a housing!=)
If you like this story, check out the time David Yu and I faced a wave in my car!
Image of the old church on the hill in Hornitos, California during the 1850s California gold rush era.
SR 49 (State Route 49) is a north–south state highway in California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49-ers", the waves of immigrants who swept into the area looking for gold, and a portion of it is known as the Gold Country Highway.
This is between Sacramento and Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma where gold was found on January 24, 1848.
I had to watch for incoming surf and splash as I got low and close to the sea wall. No wonder the giant chain is rusty!
Fort Point has been called "the Gilbratar of the West Coast", and "one of the most perfect models of masonry in America." Construction began during the height of the California Gold Rush (1853) and was completed in 1861. Although its guns never fired a shot in anger, Fort Point has witnessed Civil War, obsolescence, earthquake, bridge construction, reuse for World War II, and preservation as a National Historic Site.
In the late 1930s, plans for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge also involved plans for the demolition of Fort Point. Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss recognized the architectural value of the Fort and created a special arch which allowed the construction of the bridge to occur safely over Fort Point.
Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.
The location was named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The company's twenty-mule teams were used to transport borax from its mining operations in Death Valley.
Millions of years prior to the actual sinking and widening of Death Valley and the existence of Lake Manly (see Geology of the Death Valley area), another lake covered a large portion of Death Valley including the area around Zabriskie Point. This ancient lake began forming approximately nine million years ago. During several million years of the lake's existence, sediments were collecting at the bottom in the form of saline muds, gravels from nearby mountains, and ashfalls from the then-active Black Mountain volcanic field. These sediments combined to form what we today call the Furnace Creek Formation. The climate along Furnace Creek Lake was dry, but not nearly as dry as in the present. Camels, mastodons, horses, carnivores, and birds left tracks in the lakeshore muds, along with fossilized grass and reeds. Borates, which made up a large portion of Death Valley's historical past were concentrated in the lakebeds from hot spring waters and alteration of rhyolite in the nearby volcanic field. Weathering and alteration by thermal waters are also responsible for the variety of colors represented there.
Regional mountain-building to the west influenced the climate to become more and more arid, causing the lake to dry up, and creating a dry lake. Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today. The dark-colored material capping the badland ridges (to the left in the panoramic photograph) is lava from eruptions that occurred three to five million years ago. This hard lava cap has retarded erosion in many places and possibly explains why Manly Beacon, the high outcrop to the right, is much higher than other portion of the badlands. (Manly Beacon was named in honor of William L. Manly, who along with John Rogers, guided members of the ill-fated party of Forty-niners out of Death Valley during the California Gold Rush of 1849.)
The primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas is Furnace Creek Formation. The Formation is made up of over 5000 feet (1500 m) of mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. The borates were concentrated in these lakebeds from hot spring waters and altered rhyolite from nearby volcanic fields.
Shell, Big Horn County, Wyoming
The Shell Lodge was built in 1896 by two English pioneers on their way to claim their fortune in the California gold rush after serving for the English Army in India. They contracted Swiss masons to build this first, and nearly only, local building made out of locally mined river sandstone. The original owners sold the store in 1926, because people had begun to buy automobiles and were able to travel and shop in nearby Greybull. The Shell Store was kept open as mercantile store until 2005.
The lodge was purchased in 2006 by a Belgian family, who were managing the nearby Hideout Lodge & Guest Ranch. They renovated the Lodge and the large yard (now a private park) on its east side.
This year (2020) a new owners, Kevin & Emily, finished another renovation and opened The Shell Store. The photo above shows the new look. They have good food. Stop by and say hi to them.
That Arizona sky burnin' in your eyes
You look at me and, babe, I wanna catch on fire
It's buried in my soul like California gold
You found the light in me that I couldn't find
So when I'm all choked up
And I can't find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won't play
I'll always remember us this way
Lovers in the night
Poets tryin' to write
We don't know how to rhyme
But, damn, we try
But all I really know
You're where I wanna go
The part of me that's you will never die
So when I'm all choked up
And I can't find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won't play
I'll always remember us this way
Oh, yeah
I don't wanna be just a memory, baby, yeah
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
So when I'm all choked up
And I can't find the words
Every time we say goodbye
Baby, it hurts
When the sun goes down
And the band won't play
I'll always remember us this way, way, yeah
When you look at me
And the whole world fades
I'll always remember us this way
Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.
The location was named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The company's twenty-mule teams were used to transport borax from its mining operations in Death Valley.
Millions of years prior to the actual sinking and widening of Death Valley and the existence of Lake Manly (see Geology of the Death Valley area), another lake covered a large portion of Death Valley including the area around Zabriskie Point. This ancient lake began forming approximately nine million years ago. During several million years of the lake's existence, sediments were collecting at the bottom in the form of saline muds, gravels from nearby mountains, and ashfalls from the then-active Black Mountain volcanic field. These sediments combined to form what we today call the Furnace Creek Formation. The climate along Furnace Creek Lake was dry, but not nearly as dry as in the present. Camels, mastodons, horses, carnivores, and birds left tracks in the lakeshore muds, along with fossilized grass and reeds. Borates, which made up a large portion of Death Valley's historical past were concentrated in the lakebeds from hot spring waters and alteration of rhyolite in the nearby volcanic field. Weathering and alteration by thermal waters are also responsible for the variety of colors represented there.
Regional mountain-building to the west influenced the climate to become more and more arid, causing the lake to dry up, and creating a dry lake. Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today. The dark-colored material capping the badland ridges (to the left in the panoramic photograph) is lava from eruptions that occurred three to five million years ago. This hard lava cap has retarded erosion in many places and possibly explains why Manly Beacon, the high outcrop to the right, is much higher than other portion of the badlands. (Manly Beacon was named in honor of William L. Manly, who along with John Rogers, guided members of the ill-fated party of Forty-niners out of Death Valley during the California Gold Rush of 1849.)
The primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas is Furnace Creek Formation. The Formation is made up of over 5000 feet (1500 m) of mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. The borates were concentrated in these lakebeds from hot spring waters and altered rhyolite from nearby volcanic fields.
I found gold at the neighbors! But left it there! I only took a photo! .... ;-))
Best viewed in large!
Main floor on the library.
Opened in 1916, the Grass Valley Library - Royce Branch is a historic Carnegie library listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Grass Valley Library was named for the California philosopher, Josiah Royce, whose family settled on this site during the California Gold Rush.
Carnegie libraries were built with money donated by Scottish American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, United States, including some belonging to public and university library systems. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and others in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Serbia, Belgium, France, the Caribbean, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Fiji.
Shot for Our Daily Challenge :“Library”
Susurrant: A soft, whispering or rustling sound. That is what the wind sounded like swirling through the grass.
The first day of May dawned with clear blue skies. I headed out to Mount Tam for a five mile hike on the Bolinas Ridge Trail. This hike presented a first. A bobcat sighting! I only snagged one photo but seeing this creature in the wild was more exciting than the photo itself. The reptiles were out and sunning themselves and the wildflowers were still in abundance. I wanted to enjoy the green hills before they start turning into that iconic California gold!
Happy Monday Folks!
Went riding in the hills yesterday to check on the wildflower status. Still a little early for most areas, but we decided to visit an area we have never been to before mainly because their are no services for MILES. This area sits right on the San Andreas fault.
This is what greeted us.......................gorgeous. More beautiful flowers are on their way.
Placerville, CA
In the days of 1849, when this city was called Hangtown, vigilantes executed many men for various crimes. This was the site of Hay Yard, on which stood the 'Hangman's Tree.' The stump of the tree is under the building on which the plaque is placed. Location: 305 Main St. Placerville
Placerville, in the California Gold Country, was once called Hangtown. An effigy of a man being hung is roped from the second floor of a building where the Hangman's Tree bar, an historic spot marks the spot of the town hangings. Gold was discovered in this region, and the wild west atmosphere created a dire need for laws to regulate criminals and those who took what they wanted, including lives. Hangtown was one of the first places where justice was delivered with a rope from a tree. It was initially called Dry Diggins but changed its name to Hangtown for the many hangings that meted swift justice to offenders during the mid 1800's.
www.seecalifornia.com/attractions/placerville-hangmen-tre...
Dante’s View, Death Valley, California
A view of the Death Valley salt flats from Dante’s View. That salt and mud is all that remains of the Lake Manly, the name given to a lake that filled the valley in wetter times during the last ice age. It is named after William Manly, one of the party of 49ers who nearly perished attempting a short cut to the California gold fields and who gave the area the name Death Valley.
In more recent times, occasional extensive rains have revived a portion of Lake Manly to the point where people could paddle a kayak across it. The area’s aridity soon enough evaporated the water, restoring the salt and mud you see here.
For a boy raised in the Mountains of Wyoming, a hot desolate plain with lots of dry grass in the San Joaquin Valley of California hardly seems a likely place to find one of the 3 varieties of elk native to the United States. It is certainly not one of the most scenic areas in California. I visited the small viewing area on the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve twice before without seeing one elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes) up close. But on this visit my luck changed. I could hear bull elk bugling as I left my vehicle but could only see shadowy shapes behind the tules (native reeds) that blocked most of the view at the so called viewing area. But with some patience; and waiting; I finally got some shots of these beautiful animals including this one of a bull elk. The high ridge behind him is the Elk Hills.
The Tule Elk State Natural Reserve located at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley, protects a small herd of tule (toó-lee) elk. Three subspecies of elk (Cervus elaphus also known as Cervus canadensis) still survive in the United States, Roosevelt elk, Rocky Mountain elk and tule elk. Most of the elk familiar to westerners in the US are Rocky Mountain elk. The smaller Tule elk are an endemic California subspecies that was once hunted nearly to extinction. Before the California Gold Rush in 1849 an estimated half a million tule elk ranged the length of the Central Valley of California which includes to San Joaquin Valley. Depending on the availability and quality of vegetation, each tule elk needs several acres of forage to thrive. California’s lush Central Valley originally provided ideal grazing range for the tule elk.
Even so, the elk subspecies began its California decline in the 1700s with the arrival of European settlers. They imported grasses and grazing animals that competed with both native vegetation and native animals. Hunters and traders further decimated the state’s elk population when they began killing them for hide, tallow, and later meat to feed the 49ers (as the Gold Rushers were called). By the time elk hunting was banned by the State Legislature in 1873, the tule elk was believed to be extinct.
As ranchers worked their land they found a few survivors. Cattle rancher Henry Miller led a movement to protect any remaining tule elk by providing 600 acres of open range (near today’s preserve) and protecting the elk from hunters and others. In 1874, one lone pair of elk were found hiding in the tules near Buena Vista Lake. An 1895 count showed 28 surviving tule elk the herd began to increase on Millers 600 acre reserve. In 1932 the State Park Commission purchased 953 acres for a preserve near the town of Tupman. This Tupman Zoological Reserve would become the modern State Reserve.. About 140 elk were finally enclosed. In the 1950s, with new dams on the Kern River, the habitat shrank and so did the elk population. In 1954 just 41 surviving elk lived on the refuge. The Department devised a feeding program to keep the elk in good health; they also built artificial ponds, so the animals could drink and cool off during summer heat by wallowing in mud and water. It worked. The elk numbers increased. Elk from the reserve have been successfully transplanted to other areas in California. Today nearly 4000 tule elk are again free roaming the foothills and grasslands of California.
References:
www.parks.ca.gov/pages/584/files/TuleElkSNRWebBrochure201...
I saw this on Michael Frye's blog and thought if would be fun to try. Moving your phone camera while using pano mode.
A bit of New England in California..located just south of Half Moon Bay, Ca.
Built by James Johnston around the time of the California Gold Rush, The Johnston House is open to the public on the 3rd Saturday of each month between January and September.
Unusual to see this style of architecture in California.
An outhouse at Bodie California. Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
The library is located on Mill Street in Grass Valley, California.
Opened in 1916, the Grass Valley Library, Royce Branch is a historic Carnegie library listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Grass Valley Library was named for the California philosopher, Josiah Royce, whose family settled on this site during the California Gold Rush.
Carnegie libraries were built with money donated by Scottish American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929 in the United States, including some belonging to public and university library systems. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and others in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Serbia, Belgium, France, the Caribbean, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Fiji.
Shot for Our Daily Challenge :“Library”
Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.
Zabriskie Point is a part of the Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.
Millions of years prior to the actual sinking and widening of Death Valley and the existence of Lake Manly (see Geology of the Death Valley area), another lake covered a large portion of Death Valley including the area around Zabriskie Point. This ancient lake began forming approximately nine million years ago. During several million years of the lake's existence, sediments were collecting at the bottom in the form of saline muds, gravels from nearby mountains, and ashfalls from the then-active Black Mountain volcanic field. These sediments combined to form what we today call the Furnace Creek Formation. The climate along Furnace Creek Lake was dry, but not nearly as dry as in the present. Camels, mastodons, horses, carnivores, and birds left tracks in the lakeshore muds, along with fossilized grass and reeds. Borates, which made up a large portion of Death Valley's historical past were concentrated in the lakebeds from hot spring waters and alteration of rhyolite in the nearby volcanic field. Weathering and alteration by thermal waters are also responsible for the variety of colors represented there.
Regional mountains building to the west influenced the climate to become more and more arid, causing the lake to dry up, and creating a dry lake. Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today. The dark-colored material capping the badland ridges (to the left in the panoramic photograph) is lava from eruptions that occurred three to five million years ago. This hard lava cap has retarded erosion in many places and possibly explains why Manly Beacon, the high outcrop to the right, is much higher than other portion of the badlands. (Manly Beacon was named in honor of William L. Manly, who along with John Rogers, guided members of the ill-fated party of Forty-niners out of Death Valley during the California Gold Rush of 1849.)
The primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas is Furnace Creek Formation. The Formation is made up of over 5000 feet (1500 m) of mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. The borates were concentrated in these lakebeds from hot spring waters and altered rhyolite from nearby volcanic fields.
Rustic houses scattered along the Downie River in the California Mother Lode. Downieville was one of the main population centers during the California Gold Rush sporting a population of over 2000 people. Now days it's a sleepy out-of-the-way town of 280 inhabitants. It hasn't lost it's historical charm.
Downieville CA