John Charles Fremont was an American explorer. He was born in 1813 at Norfolk, Virginia and died in 1890. Educated at Charleston, South Carolina, after a brief service in the navy he joined the US corps of topographical engineers, and married the daughter of SenatorBenton. In 1842 he explored a portion of the Rocky Mountains. In 1843 and 1844, with remarkable skill and energy, he conducted an exploration of the regions of Utah, the basin of the Columbia, and the passes of the Sierra Nevada. In 1846, while in conduct of another exploration in California, he assisted in the Bear Flag War, alleging instructions from George Washington, co-operated with Commodore Stockton in the conquest of California, but was court-martialed for disobedience to General Kearny.
In 1848 he explored, amid great hardships, the paths from Sante Fe to Sacramento, and made a similar expedition in 1853 and 1854. These explorations made him famous as the 'Pathfinder', and in 1856 the new Republican party made him its candidate for the Presidency, but was defeated. In 1861 he commanded in Missouri, but, prematurely ordering emancipation, was removed. In 1862 he commanded against Jackson in the Valley. In 1864 he was nominated for the Presidency by a convention of radical Republicans dissatisfied with Abraham Lincoln, but finally withdrew. Research John Fremont
Alpujarras is a district of Spain, in Andalusia, between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean. The region is mountainous, but with rich and well-cultivated valleys yielding grain, vines, olives, and other fruits. The traditional inhabitants were Christianized descendants of the Moors. Research Alpujarras
California is a state in the west USA on the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1533 and named California after a fictional island in a story by a contemporary Spanish author, or perhaps it was so named from the Spanish Caliente Fornalla, meaning hot furnace and alluring to the climate. California was admitted into the USA in 1850.
The coast extends the full length of the state, measuring about 700 miles, following the indentations. On the southern part of the coast are a few islands. The state may be divided into three distinct portions - the central being much the most densely populated. This central portion is embraced between the parallels 35 degrees and 40 degrees, and has on its eastern side the Sierra Nevada, and on its western the Coast Ranges. Between these two mountain chains lies the Great Central Valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, renowned for its beauty and fertility.
The principal river is the Sacramento, which flows south for upwards of 300 miles, receiving numerous affluents from the Sierra Nevada, and falls into the Bay of Suisun. The San Joaquin rises in the SierraNevada, flows north for about 250 miles, and joins the Sacramento about 15 miles above Suisun Bay. It receives the waters of lakeTule or Tulares, and has numerous tributaries. The Bay of San Francisco, forming the most capacious harbour on the Pacific coast, is about 60 miles in length, 14 broad, and with a coast-line of 275 miles. It is connected with the ocean by a strait about two miles wide, and from five to seven long, called the Golden Gate. The city of San Francisco stands on the north-west shore of the southern arm.
The peaks of the SierraNevada - MountShasta, Lassen's Butte, Spanish Peak, Pyramid Peak, Mounts Dana, Lyell, Brewer, Tyndall, Whitney, and others - reach from 10,000 to nearly 15,000 feet above the sea (MountWhitney is 14,886). The volcanic character of the state is manifested by the mountain formations; and earthquakes are frequent.
California is celebrated for its many wonderful natural objects and remarkable scenery. Noteworthy are the Yosemite Valley and the 'big tree groves,' containing groups of giantredwood trees - Sequoia gigantea - some of which reach the height of nearly 400 feet.
The mineral resources of California are of great importance. Gold is found in abundance, being first discovered in 1848, and subsequently brought a great rush of settlers to this part of the world. Among other minerals found in the state are silver, mercury, copper, coal, lead, tin, antimony, cobalt, etc.
California, being intersected by the isothermal line of 60 degrees, has the same mean annual temperature as the north of Spain and the centre of Italy, and may, generally speaking, be esteemed genial and mild. The year may be divided into a dry and a wet season. On the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada the climate is said to be that of constant spring. Wheat, barley, oats, maize and other cereals, the root-crops and vegetables of temperate climates are very largely grown. Fruits are most varied, including olives, grapes, apples, pears, plums, figs, oranges, peaches, pomegranates, plantains, bananas, and cocoa-nuts; the indigo-plant also, and the sugar-cane and tobacco, yield abundant returns. The cultivation of the vine rapidly extended from the 19th century, and the production of wine and brandy and raisins increased rapidly, and by the late 20th century Californian wines were world famous.
The mountains of Europe form several distinct groups or systems of very different geological dates, the loftiest mountain masses being in the south central region. The Scandinavian mountains in the north-west, to which the great northern peninsula owes its form, extend above 900 miles from the Arctic Ocean to the south point of Norway. The highest summits are about 2450 metres. The Alps, the highest mountains in Europe (unless MountElbruz in the Caucasus is claimed as European), extend from the Mediterranean first in a northerly and then in an easterly direction, and attain their greatest elevation in Mont Blanc (4810 metres), Monte Rosa, and other summits. Branching off from the Alps, though not geologically connected with them, are the Apennines, which run south-east through Italy, constituting the central ridge of the peninsula. The highest summit is Monte Corno (2908 metres). MountVesuvius, the celebrated volcano in the south of the peninsula, is quite distinct from the Apennines. By south-eastern extensions the Alps are connected with the Balkan and the Despoto-Dagh of the south-eastern peninsula of Europe.
Among the mountains of South-western Europe are several massive chains, the loftiest summits being in the Pyrenees, and in the Sierra Nevada in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in the former, La Maladetta or Mont Maudit, has an elevation of 3403 metres; Mulahacen, in the latter, is 3567 metres, and capped by perpetual snow. West and north-west of the Alps are the Cevennes, Jura, and Vosges; north and north-east, the Harz, the Thuringerwald Mountains, the Fichtelgebirge, the Erzgebirge and Bohmerwaldgebirge. Further to the east the Carpathianchain incloses the great plain of Hungary, attaining an elevation of 2440 or 2590 metres.
A great part of northern and eastern Europe is level. The great plain of North Europe occupies part of France, Western and Northern Belgium, Holland, the northern provinces of Germany, and the greater part of Russia. A large portion of this plain, extending through Holland and North Germany, is a low sandy level not unfrequently protected from inroads of the sea only by means of strong dykes. The other great plains of Europe are the plain of Lombardy (the most fertile district in Europe) and the plain of Hungary. Part of Southern and South-eastern Russia consists of steppes.
The main European watershed runs in a winding direction from south-west to north-east, at its northeastern extremity being of very slight elevation. From the Alpsdescend some of the largest of the European rivers, the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po, while the Danube, a still greater stream, rises in the Black Forest north of the Alps. The Volga, which enters the Caspian Sea, an inland sheet without outlet, is the longest of European rivers, having a direct length of nearly 2720 km, including windings 3840 km. Into the Mediterranean flow the Ebro, the Rhone, and the Po; into the Black Sea, the Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Don (through the Sea of Azov); into the Atlantic, the Guadalquivir, the Guadiana,, the Tagus, and Loire; into the English Channel, the Seine; into the North Sea, the Rhine, Elbe; into the Baltic, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Duna; into the Arctic Ocean, the Dwina.
The lakes of Europe may be divided into two groups, the southern and the northern. The former run along both sides of the Alps, and among them, on the north side, are the lakes of Geneva, Neuchatel, Thun, Lucerne, Zurich, and Constance; on the south side, Lago Maggiore, and the lakes of Como, Lugano, Iseo, and Garda. The northern lakes extend across Sweden from west to east, and on the east side of the Baltic a number of lakes, stretching in the same direction across Finland on the borders of Russia, mark the continuation of the line of depression. It is in Russia that the largest European lakes are found - LakesLadoga and Onega.
The geological features of Europe are exceedingly varied. The older formations prevail in the northern part as compared with the southern half and the middle region. North of the latitude of Edinburgh and Moscow there is very little of the surface of more recent origin than the strata of the Upper Jura belonging to the mesozoic period, and there are vast tracts occupied either by eruptive rocks or one or other of the older sedimentary formations. Denmark and the portions of Germany adjoining belong to the Cretaceous period, as does also a large part of Russia between the Volga and the basin of the Dnieper. Middle and Eastern Germany with Poland and the valley of the Dnieperpresent on the surface Eocene formations of the tertiary period. The remainder of Europe is remarkable for the great diversity of its superficial structure, rocks and deposits belonging to all periods being found within it, and having for the most part no great superficial extent. Europe possesses abundant stores of those basic minerals which are of most importance to industry, such as coal, gas and iron, Britain long being particularly favoured in respect of coal and iron, though by the end of the 20th century Britain's iron, coal and tin mineral wealth had been exhausted. Coal and iron were also traditionally obtained in France, Belgium, Germany and Poland. Gold is found to an unimportant extent, and silver is widely spread in small quantities. The richest silver ores are in Norway, Spain, the Erzgebirge, and the HarzMountains. Spain is also rich in quicksilver. Copper ores are abundant in the UralMountains, Thuringia, Cornwall, and Spain. Tin ores were found in Cornwall until the 1980s, and in the Erzgebirge, and Brittany.
Several circumstances concur to give Europe a climate peculiarly genial, such as its position almost wholly within the temperate zone, and the great extent of its maritime boundaries. Much benefit is also derived from the fact that its shores are exposed to the warm marine currents and warm winds from the south-west, which prevent the formation of ice on most of its northern shores. The eastern portion has a less favourable climate than the western. The extremes of temperature are greater, the summer being hotter and the winter colder, while the lines of equal mean temperature decline south as we go east. The same advantages of mild and genial temperature which western has over eastern Europe, the continent collectively has over the rest of the Old World.
Europe is occupied by several different peoples or races, in many parts now greatly intermingled. The Celts once possessed the west of Europe from the Alps to the British Islands. But the Celtic nationalities were broken by the wave of Roman conquest, and the succeeding invasions of the Germanic tribes completed their political ruin. At the present day the Celtic language is spoken only in the Scotch Highlands (Gaelic), in some parts of Ireland (Irish), in Wales (Cymric), and in Brittany (Armorican).
Next to the Celtic comes the Teutonic race, comprehending the Germanic and Scandinavian branches. The former includes the Germans, the Dutch, and the English. The Scandinavians are divided into Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians. To the east, in general, of the Teutonic race, though sometimes mixed with it, come the Slavonians, that is, the Russians, the Poles, the Czechs or Bohemians, the Servians, Croatians, etc. In the south and south-east of Europe are the Greek and Latin peoples, the latter comprising the Italians, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. All the above peoples are regarded as belonging to the Indo-European or Aryan stock.
To the Mongolian stock belong the Turks, Finns, Lapps, and Magyars or Hungarians, all immigrants into Europe in comparatively recent times. The Basques at the western extremity of the Pyrenees are a people whose affinities are debated. Research Europe
Mining districts were formerly organised districts in the USA. In 1849 the great rush for the mineral belts of the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains occurred. In 1866 there were 500 organized districts in California, 200 in Nevada, 100 each in Arizona, Idaho and Oregon. These districts were created and organized by 'all the freemen of the camp', who elected officers and clothed them with authority to enforce the laws they ordained. These laws were, as a rule, obeyed in the strictest sense. Research Mining District
Mother Lode is the gold-mining region in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada of California, USA. It was the centre of the Californian gold rush with peak production in 1852. Research Mother Lode
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