California's hay, grain and alfalfa fields are nearly as large in area as the States of Con necticut and Delaware. California's fruit farms cover more than twice the area of Rhode Is land; and California's acreage to vegetables another Rhode Island. Nor do these figures for vegetables include half another Rhode Is land in cultivated home-lots. California's acreage in beans, sugar, beets and potatoes is 15 per cent larger than Rhode Island.
name California, for which so many preposterous derivations have been urged, is taken from a Spanish romance, called de Esplandian' of Esplan dian') by Ordonez de Montalvo (translator of de printed about 1510, and often mentioned in old sources. °California' was a mythical island °on the right hand of the Indies, very near the Terrestrial Paradise,' peopled with Amazons and Griffins. The name was first applied to the peninsula (discovered by Jimenez 1533) and is first recorded thus in Preciado's diary of Ulloa's coastwise voyage in 1539. In time it came to be used indefinitely for the whole Pacific Coast from the peninsula practically to Nootka; and later °the Cali fornias," differentiated into Baja (or Lower) California and Alta (Upper) California, the former including about what is now the Mexi can Peninsular Territory. The first European to touch the present State was Alarcon, who went up the Colorado River sonic hundreds of miles in 1540. The first seaboard exploration was by Cabrillo 1542; and the next important coast explorations were by Sir Francis Drake 1579, and Vizcaino 1602. The first colonization of Upper California was in 1759 by the Fran ciscan missionaries under Junipero Serra, with a small escort of Spanish troops. These pioneer missionaries had by 1800 founded 18 missions, whose total population, mostly Indian neo phytes, was 13,000. Three other missions were established by 1823. The mission period lasted about 65 years; converted over 80,000 Indians; erected in the wilderness at least $1,000,000 worth of buildings, and had developed stock raising and wheat on a scale which astonished Humboldt. In 1834 the Mexican government odisestablished" the missions and confiscated their property. The Indians were scattered, and perished in great numbers. The buildings were plundered and left to decay. At present
the Landmarks Club (incorporated) is pre serving the mission edifices. The State passed from Spanish rule to that of the Mexican repub lic, 1821; was seized, practically without resist ance, by the United States in 1845, and ceded by Mexico at dose of Mexican War; admitted to the Union, 9 Sept. 1850. The American dis covery of gold caused an unprecedented trans continental migration (see Population). Aside from the great impetus given steam and clipper ships, the migration had other unique features — like the Merchants' Express, which employed 5,000 men, 2,000 wagons and 20,000 yoke of oxen in freighting across the continent; and the Pony Express, which carried mail (letters only) at $5 per half ounce, 1,950 miles horse back from Independence, Mo., to San Fran cisco, in 10 days; and the Butterfield stages, 8 times a month between Saint Louis and San Francisco, via Texas and New Mexico; quickest time, 21 days from New York to San Francisco. Extraordinary records were made in this over land traffic. Robert H. Haslam ((Pony Bob*) made one continuous ride of 380 miles; and William F. Cody (°Buffalo Bill") one of 384, without stopping except for meals and to change horses— both as riders of the Pony Express. The quickest time made by this route (1,950 miles), was 7 days, 17 hours. The growth of this overland traffic led California capital ists, heavily subsidized by government, to build a transcontinental railroad. Ground was broken at Sacramento for the Central Pacific Railroad 8 Jan. 1863. The road was completed by driv ing of a spike of pure California gold by Gov ernor Stanford in the presence of distinguished company at Promontory, Utah, 10 May 1869. In 1877 the Southern Pacific Railroad from Texas tidewater to San Francisco was completed. In 1885 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Los Angeles from Saint Louis; and in about 1910 was extended to San Francisco. The latter and the Southern Pacific Railroad are among the longest railroad systems in the world, the former with a mileage of 8,648 and the latter with a mileage of 7,065. The modern development of California dates from competi tion of these two lines during the decade be ginning 1886.