Fresno County CA Archives History - Books .....The Valley In May 1892
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of The Counties Of Fresno, Tulare, And Kern, California

THE VALLEY IN MAY.

  The month of May has robed the great valley of the San Joaquin in a garb of
beauty. The oak forests, which burst into leaf early in the spring, present to
the eye when viewed from an eminence a vast billowy sea of green. The wide plain
seems an unbroken expanse of waving grain, just beginning to ripen for the
harvest, field succeeding field, and mile succeeding mile as far as the vision
can extend. Lawns are fresh and beautiful, and flower-gardens contain a wealth
of bloom; climbing vines wind about arbor and lattice, making masses of leaf
sprinkled with blossoms of every hue. Flowers from the north grow in the shade
of the palm from the south. Numberless plants from nurseries nestle with the
spine-covered but brilliantly flowered cactus from the desert. The most
beautiful ornamental exotics from every clime and every corner of the world are
naturalized here, and grow and thrive by the side of the flowering favorites
native to the soil, which have been transplanted from forest and field.

  Such is this great valley in the last days of a California spring,-the period
of transition between the showery April weather and the warm, rainless summer.
May finds it a land of beauty, and leaves it a paradise.

  We will attempt to convey to the reader the scene meeting the eye of the
traveler on his entrance into this great valley. The writer will ask the reader
to be seated with him on the north-bound train over the Southern Pacific
railroad. We will discuss different topics until we pass through the great
Mojave desert, and note the grand scenery through the Tehachapi mountains, the
wonderful engineering skill displayed in rounding the many points, crossing
canons, through tunnels, and the famous loop where the railroad doubles over,
across and under itself in finding its way into the great valley below. The long
grade descended, and before the traveler lies the great San Joaquin valley. An
almost level plain extends away to the north 500 miles. Practically an unknown
stretch of territory reaches/all the way from Caliente to Bedding, walled in by
mountains on either side. The very immensity of the valley of the San Joaquin
and Sacramento, for they are practically one, is a source of attraction, for
truly it is without an equal in more respects than one.

  If it be winter or spring when the tourist reaches this portion of the State,
the earth will be dressed in the most gorgeous garments of green and gold,
purple and red, white and blue, -all the colors of which nature is capable.
Hundreds of thousands of acres will be a sea of waving grain, the passing breeze
rippling over it as the wind does over the water. Other hundreds of thousands of
acres will be covered with a natural growth of grass and flowers of unlimited
variety, but in gorgeous masses of color, visible for miles. Here a whole slope
will be a literal field of the " cloth of gold," there royal purple will be
massed over acres and acres, and yonder purest white or azure blue salutes the
vision in solid masses, unmixed with I other shades. The soft, balmy breeze
comes in at the car window, spicy and perfumed as no artificer can produce or
imitate; the drowsy hum of bees is in the air, and a feeling of delicious
languor and contentment steals over the senses.

  Although the level plains extend as far as the eye can reach, yet so lovely is
it in its springlike dress that not for a moment does it become wearisome.

  Suppose, however, that it be midsummer when this journey is undertaken. Except
where orchards or vineyards, alfalfa or cornfields, with their dark green
verdure, relieve the eye, the landscape is a dull monotone of brown, with
slightly varying shades. In the great grain-fields huge machines move to and
fro, apparently of their own volition, cutting gigantic swaths of golden grain,
and leaving their pathway strewn with sacks bursting with choicest wheat. By the
side of the track acres are covered with these sacks, literally corded up and
awaiting shipment to tide-water. No fear of rain haunts the farmer here, and he
calmly stacks up the threshed grain in the open field, with no shelter other
than a handful of straw, and perhaps not even that. Later in the season the
traveler will be delighted with the sight of thousands of tons of apricots,
peaches, raisins, etc., spread out in the sun to dry, and he will doubtless
learn with surprise that, cured with no other aid than the heat of the sun and
the desiccating power of the atmosphere, that fruit will rival the choicest
products of the most expensive and elaborate evaporators in use elsewhere.

  Great irrigating canals, large as rivers, will attract notice all through the
valley, their waters spreading out in every direction and making valuable lands
that otherwise would be little else than a desert. Artesian wells, too, that
rival the most noted ones in this or the old world, may be seen in this valley.
Single wells that flow one, two, almost three millions of gallons daily are
here, while those of smaller proportions are to be met on every hand. A single
one of these wells will furnish water enough for a thousand acres, and sometimes
even more, and their value reaches a sum that would appear fabulous.

  Every few miles a halt is made at a town well built and prosperous and
surrounded by comfortable homes and farms. Then the great colony region of
Fresno County is traversed, and now the traveler will be told of thousands of
men who enjoy incomes from little plats of from ten to thirty acres far larger
than the farmer of the East can realize from ten times that area with thrice the
amount of labor Here small farms are numbered by the thousand, and the uniform
prosperity of their owners is apparent from the comfortable, even elegant homes,
and the general air of happiness that exists.

  From the time the San Joaquin valley is entered at the south until it is left
at the north the observant traveler will find an abundance to interest and
amuse, and not to have visited this great valley will have been to miss one of
the most important portions of the State.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Memorial and Biographical History
OF THE COUNTIES OF
Fresno, Tulare, and Kern, California

Illustrated
Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Prospective Future: with Profuse Illustrations of its Beautiful Scenery,
Full-page Portraits of Some of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of
Many of its Pioneers, and also of Prominent Citizens of to-day.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants." -Macaulay.

CHICAGO:
The Lewis Publishing Company.
Undated, but OCLC lists a publication date of 1892


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