beyond the earnings of prisoners, were $58,653 64. | the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada, the winds On the 22d of July, 1862, 150 of the con- are not so high, but the rain-fall, though somewhat victs escaped, and seized Lieutenant-Governor less in quantity, occurs at the same seasons. The Chellis, and bore him along with them for some heat is more intense. In Southeastern California distance, to prevent the guard from firing upon there is very little rain, and the heats of summer them, but finally permitted him to go unharmed. on the plains are severe. The range of the therThey were pursued by the guard, and the greater mometer in Western and Central California is part of them recaptured the next day, the report much less than in the Eastern States. In San on roll-call showing that 33 were missing, 22 Francisco, as a result of ten years' observations, wounded, and 3 killed. Of the missing, a con- the thermometer never fell below 25° F., and in siderable number were afterwards arrested. only one instance rose to 98°. Its usual maximum was 85°, and its minimum about 30°. At Sacramento, in Central California, the average maximum heat of the summer months for five years was 960 5', and the average lowest degree of cold in winter was 30°, January being the coldest month; the annual average range of the barometer was from 29.70 to 30.23 inches; the number of clear days, 210; of cloudy and foggy days, 99; of rainy days, 55. The average rain-fall from January, 1853, to January, 1857, was 17.113 inches. The following table, giving the rain-fall at Sacramento for each month for the last ten months, we compile from one prepared by Thomas M. Logan, M.D., of Sacramento, for Bancroft's Hand-Book and Almanac of the Pacific States for 1863. It is of great interest as indicating the peculiarity of the climate of Central California,-its dry season:RAIN-FALL IN SACRAMENTO, CAL.

State Reform School, at Marysville.-An act was passed by the Legislature for the establishment and erection of a State Reform School. Commissioners were appointed to select a site and procure plans, &c. The commissioners reported in 1860 in favor of Marysville, Yuba county, as the site, that city having donated one hundred acres of land for the purposes of the school. They also submitted plans for a building, and $17,691 45 were expended in 1861 in the erection of buildings, and $37,000 more appropriated for the same purpose in 1862.

CLIMATE. The climate of California is greatly varied. West of the Coast Range it is characterized by high winds, with heavy precipitation of rain during the months of November, December, January, February, and March, and very little rain during the remainder of the year. Between

April

3.500 1.500 4.320

2.132 Spkle. 1.214

May...

June

July

August

1.450 0.210 1.150
1.841 Spkle. 0.203 1.037 2.491 0.590 1.808 0.925
0.001 0.310 0.010 0.033 0.350 0.098 0.000 0.017 0.135 0.011 0.074
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.012 0.000 0.030 0.549 0.000 0.045
0.000 Spkle. 0.000 0.000 Spkle. Spkle. 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006 0.002

vast inland sea, nearly as large, but not so deep, as Lake Michigan. The losses were estimated at several millions, but the evil was partly compensated by the new placers laid open, and the extensive river-beds whose golden sands were again ready for the miner; and, vast as had been the destruction of property, in a few months the bridges and dwellings were rebuilt better than before, and nearly all traces of the flood obliterated.

FLOODS.-The Sacramento and San Joaquin Val- | Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys formed a leys were desolated by two terrible floods during the winter of 1861-62. The first occurred on the 10th of December, 1861, and submerged the Sacramento Valley, the water rising higher than in either of the previous great floods of 1849 and 1852. During the next six weeks an unusual amount of rain fell, and the Sacramento, American, and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries continued very high and overflowed the lowlands. On the 10th of January the Sacramento River, at Sacramento, had reached twenty-four feet above low-water mark. The flood did not attain its greatest height till the 24th of January, when the

Census and other Statistics of the State.-In area California is the second State in the Union, and in case of the division of Texas, as provided,

for in the act authorizing its admission, will be
the first. Its area is larger than the combined
areas of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illi-
nois; or, to take contiguous territory, it is equal
to New England, New York, New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia.
In population it ranks 26th, in density of popula-
tion 32d, having only 2.01 inhabitants to the square
mile. In absolute increase during the last decade
it ranks 27th, the opening of the new mining
fields of Australia, Frazer's River, Washoe. Colo-
rado, and Salmon and Powder Rivers having
drawn off large numbers of its mining-popula-beds
tion. In valuation it stands 25th, but should un-
questionably stand higher, as much of its exten-
sive improvements for mining - purposes were
unrepresented in the Census valuation. Though
not to any great extent a farming State, the cash
value of its farms reached $46,571,994; and its
real estate was assessed in 1861 at $80,966,374. In
general manufactures the State is improving.
Leather is tanned in large quantities, and is to
some extent an article of commerce. The manu-
facture of harness, boots and shoes, &c. is becom-
ing an important item. Flour, formerly imported
in large quantities, is now exported. In 1861 the
export of breadstuffs amounted to $3,583,700;
of feed grains, to $570,000; of wool and hides,
$1,062,250; and of quicksilver, $1,112,654. The
total exports, aside from gold, in that year, were
$6,988,500. In 1862, the receipts of gold and
silver at San Francisco were $49,000,000, of which
$36,000,000 was from the interior of the State,
$6,000,000 from Washoe, $3,000,400 from Oregon
and Washington, $1,500,000 from British Colum-
bia, and $1,900,000 from other sources.

MINING. There are three distinct gold-regions in the State, though the first two are connected by outlying placers and leads. 1st. The Eastern Range, extending from the summit-ridge of the mountains to within about 25 miles of the edge of the plains. In 1859 this district was supposed to possess about 1000 square miles of available mining-territory, including both placers and veins of gold-bearing quartz. 2d. The Middle Placers, situated at about an average distance of 20 miles from the line of the higher foot-hills, and having its western border within about 4 miles of the edge of the plains. This district covers an area of about 6000 square miles, and the mining is mainly gold-washing. 3d. The Valley mines, which are situated among the lower foot-hills of the mountains, and extend thence westward on to the eastern edge of the plains of the San Joaquin and Sacramento to an extent of from 3 to 5 miles. These mines extend from north to south a linear distance of about 250 miles. The amount of terri

tory occupied by these mines is probably not less than 6000 square miles. The profitable mining of the deposits in these, as in the Middle placers, has required the construction of extended watercourses for the washing of the gold from the

sand and gravel. The flood of 1861-62 laid bare
many new deposits in this region. The varieties
of mining are-Placer mining, which bears con-
siderable analogy to coal-mining in Pennsylvania,
adits being driven into the hills, and often through
solid rock, to the locality where the gold deposit
exists. Hydraulic mining, where a broad, open
ditch is carried through the hills, and the sides
washed down by directing a powerful stream of
water on them. River mining, in which, when the
rivers are low, the streams are diverted from their
courses by means of flumes, tail-races, &c., and the
of the rivers thus exposed and their sands
washed for gold. This can only be carried on for
about six months of the year. Gulch mining, in
which a large flume is formed below the surface
of the earth in such a manner as to receive all
the adjacent streams after being used by the
miners. And, lastly, Quartz mining, which re-
quires a considerable investment of capital, but is
profitable. In this description of mining the
gold-bearing quartz is crushed by powerful stamps,
in mills driven by steam, water, or mule power, to
the fineness of flour, and then the gold taken up
by means of quicksilver by the usual washing
process. In January, 1859, there were nearly 300
mills in operation, with an aggregate of 2610
stamps and 519 arastras. The cost of machinery
was estimated at $3,270,000. The entire receipts
of gold from California at the Mint and its
branches up to June 30, 1862, was $528,145,665 91.
The estimates of well-informed statisticians give
about 20 per cent. additional as the amount
shipped direct to England, retained in the State
as gold dust, or manufactured, previous to 1857.
Since that time, the direct shipment to foreign
ports has been somewhat larger; and it would
probably vary very little from the fact, if we esti-
mated the entire yield of the California gold-mines
to July 1, 1862, at $650,000,000. A recent writer
in the Bankers' Magazine, though without giving
his data, gives the product of the mines on the
Pacific coast, from 1849 to the present time, as
$1,047,000,000 in gold and silver; but this is, we
think, an over-estimate. But gold is not the only
valuable mineral yielded by California. Silver is
known to exist, and has been profitably mined in
El Dorado, Mariposa, Santa Barbara, and Santa
Clara counties; and most of the gold contains a
considerable proportion of silver. About $3,000,000
have thus been obtained since the discovery of
gold in California. Copper, strongly impregnated
with gold and silver, is found in Placer, El Dorado,
Shasta, and other counties. Quicksilver in the
form of cinnabar is largely produced at the New
Almaden, Guadaloupe, Aurora, and other mines,
and in 1862, aside from the home consumption,
the export of that metal reached the sum of
$1,112,654. Iron is found in large quantities and
various forms all along the Coast Range-in Placer
county in a condition approaching to native fron
in purity, and in Mariposa county in the form

of hydrate. Sulphate of iron in large quantities | sons among her citizens, yet the great mass have occurs near Santa Cruz, and magnetic iron in the same region. Platinum is almost as widely dispersed through the State as gold, though in smaller quantities; osmium and iridium are usually associated with it. Tin is also found in several parts of the State, and will probably ere long be mined with advantage. Chromium, gypsum, nickel, antimony, bismuth, sulphur, lead, salt, nitrate of potassa (saltpetre), borax, coal in large quantities and of good quality, marble of extraordinary beauty, alabaster, granite, buhr-stone, lime, &c., are the other principal mineral products of the State. Mineral springs abound.

The Contributions of California to the Volunteer Army. The remoteness of California from the scene of the war has not caused her to be indifferent to the great issues at stake; and, though there were at first a small proportion of disloyal per

been thoroughly and heartily loyal. Five full regiments of infantry and two of cavalry have been raised in the State, and two regiments of California citizens or former residents, at the time in the East, have enlisted in the service of the Union. A part of the California Volunteers have, by direction of the Government, been employed in garrisoning forts and stations in the Pacific States and Territories. A portion of the cavalry and infantry have come to the East by steamer, and a column of seventeen full companies (five of them cavalry) have crossed the plains for New Mexico.

The State militia is fully organized, and consists of one division of six brigades. The Governor is commander-in-chief, and Lucius H. Allen major-general commanding.

XXXIV. OREGON.

Organized as a Territory in 1843. Admitted into the Union, 1859. Capital, Salem. Area, 102,606 square miles. Population, 1860, 52,565.

* Appointed by the Governor, the district being created by the Legislature of 1862.

The receipts into the Treasury from all sources from September 10, 1860, to September 8, 1862, were.........

Add balance in Treasury, September 10, 1860............

Total amount of revenue..

$91,788 04
3,899 01

$95,687 05

The expenditures for the same period, including $159 16 interest paid by the Treasurer, were........

Balance remaining in Treasury, Sept. 8, 1862 ..................

Valuation and Taxation.-The Census valuation of the property of the State in 1860 was $28,930,687. The assessors in 1860 returned the amount of ratable property as $23,886,951, and in 1861 as $21,288,931. The tax of 1860 collectable in 1861 was $48,475 81, and that of 1861 collectable in 1862, $43,117 07. There were in Sept. 1862, delinquent taxes as yet uncollected, to the amount of $5,236 26.

ment.

Agriculture.-Oregon is admirably adapted to agricultural pursuits. Western Oregon has extensive valleys, well adapted to the growth of fruit, especially apples, pears, plums, and shrub-fruits, in which it is unsurpassed; considerable portions of this land are also well adapted to cereals; the

EDUCATION.-Four colleges have been incorporated by the State: viz., the State Agricultural College, at Eugene City, Lane co., incorporated Sept. 1862; Willamette University, at Salem, under the direction of the Methodists; Pacific University, at Forest Grove, Washington co., founded by the Congregationalists, and McMinnville Col-mountain-slopes form excellent pasture-lands, and lege, at McMinnville, Yamhill co., under the charge of the Baptists. The United Brethren in Christ have also a school, which they are endeavoring to raise to a college, at Sublimity, Ma

rion co.

Common Schools.-Congress has granted to Oregon, as to all the new States, one-eighteenth of the surveyed lands for educational purposes, and the fund arising from the sale of these lands has been in most cases paid into the county treasuries. About $16,000 of the School and University funds was in the State Treasury in 1862. The large grants of land to settlers in Western Oregon have caused the population to be too much scattered to maintain good schools, except in the villages and towns; but this evil is fast disappearing, and there are now common schools established in almost every neighborhood. Eastern Oregon is settling

much of this country is equal to any in the United States above 40° of latitude for sheep and cattle raising. Eastern Oregon is also well adapted to grazing; and though but little rain falls east of the Cascade Mountains except during the autumn, yet the bunch-grass (festuca) forms abundant and excellent pasturage. The wool-clip of the State in 1861 was 444,000 lbs.; in 1862, in consequence of the flood, 344,000 lbs. The lands of Eastern Oregon, especially in the valleys of the Des Chutes and John Day Rivers, from their rich soil and hot summers, are also admirably suited to the culture of the sorghum, which has already been commenced with great success. The Klamath basin is better adapted to grazing than any thing else. Southeast Oregon, east of the Burnt River, is a sterile desert region, forming a portion of the Great Salt Lake Basin.