Download or read book The Central Sacramento Valley Story written by Howard R. Plank and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-12-13 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After describing the Central Valley of California the book focuses on the flood plain of the Sacramento River where most of the lands adjoining the river were a series of Mexican Land Grants. These grants were broken into private holdings after statehood and the challenging effort to reclaim the overflow lands began. The book covers the political and natural challenges in reclaiming these lands together with the introduction of a new crop, rice, and the development of new machines, primarily the Caterpillar tractor, that aided significantly in making the reclamation efforts successful.
Download or read book The Central Sacramento Valley Story written by Howard R. Plank and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-12 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After describing the Central Valley of California the book focuses on the flood plain of the Sacramento River where most of the lands adjoining the river were a series of Mexican Land Grants. These grants were broken into private holdings after statehood and the challenging effort to reclaim the overflow lands began. The book covers the political and natural challenges in reclaiming these lands together with the introduction of a new crop, rice, and the development of new machines, primarily the Caterpillar tractor, that aided significantly in making the reclamation efforts successful.
Download or read book The Fall and Rise of the Wetlands of California s Great Central Valley written by Philip Garone and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive environmental history of California’s Great Central Valley, where extensive freshwater and tidal wetlands once provided critical habitat for tens of millions of migratory waterfowl. Weaving together ecology, grassroots politics, and public policy, Philip Garone tells how California’s wetlands were nearly obliterated by vast irrigation and reclamation projects, but have been brought back from the brink of total destruction by the organized efforts of duck hunters, whistle-blowing scientists, and a broad coalition of conservationists. Garone examines the many demands that have been made on the Valley’s natural resources, especially by large-scale agriculture, and traces the unforeseen ecological consequences of our unrestrained manipulation of nature. He also investigates changing public and scientific attitudes that are now ushering in an era of unprecedented protection for wildlife and wetlands in California and the nation.
Download or read book Valley for Dreams written by Susan Wiley Hardwick and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Valley for Dreams is a fascinating historical geography of "forgotten California"--that portion of the Great Central Valley north of Sacramento. Structured around four key themes--the environment, people, economy, and landscape-- the book analyzes how this region's lush natural environment changed as successive groups and individuals made it one of the fastest growing and ethnically diverse rural areas in North America. The book's numerous maps, graphs, tables, sketches, and photographs bring the area's geography to life. Valley for Dreams is an important work for geographers, historians, and local residents interested in their town geographies.
Download or read book The Thirsty Land written by Robert W. De Roos and published by Beard Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the publicly financed Central Valley Project in California which built dams, reservoirs, hydroelectric plants, and canals. De Roos ( San Francisco Chronicle ) details the politics, economics, and social struggles played out by the actors involved, including Pacific Gas & Electric, the S
Download or read book River City and Valley Life written by Christopher J. Castaneda and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2013-12-09 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Often referred to as “the Big Tomato,” Sacramento is a city whose makeup is significantly more complex than its agriculture-based sobriquet implies. In River City and Valley Life, seventeen contributors reveal the major transformations to the natural and built environment that have shaped Sacramento and its suburbs, residents, politics, and economics throughout its history. The site that would become Sacramento was settled in 1839, when Johann Augustus Sutter attempted to convert his Mexican land grant into New Helvetia (or “New Switzerland”). It was at Sutter’s sawmill fifty miles to the east that gold was first discovered, leading to the California Gold Rush of 1849. Nearly overnight, Sacramento became a boomtown, and cityhood followed in 1850. Ideally situated at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, the city was connected by waterway to San Francisco and the surrounding region. Combined with the area’s warm and sunny climate, the rivers provided the necessary water supply for agriculture to flourish. The devastation wrought by floods and cholera, however, took a huge toll on early populations and led to the construction of an extensive levee system that raised the downtown street level to combat flooding. Great fortune came when local entrepreneurs built the Central Pacific Railroad, and in 1869 it connected with the Union Pacific Railroad to form the first transcontinental passage. Sacramento soon became an industrial hub and major food-processing center. By 1879, it was named the state capital and seat of government. In the twentieth century, the Sacramento area benefitted from the federal government’s major investment in the construction and operation of three military bases and other regional public works projects. Rapid suburbanization followed along with the building of highways, bridges, schools, parks, hydroelectric dams, and the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant, which activists would later shut down. Today, several tribal gaming resorts attract patrons to the area, while “Old Sacramento” revitalizes the original downtown as it celebrates Sacramento’s pioneering past. This environmental history of Sacramento provides a compelling case study of urban and suburban development in California and the American West. As the contributors show, Sacramento has seen its landscape both ravaged and reborn. As blighted areas, rail yards, and riverfronts have been reclaimed, and parks and green spaces created and expanded, Sacramento’s identity continues to evolve. As it moves beyond its Gold Rush, Transcontinental Railroad, and government-town heritage, Sacramento remains a city and region deeply rooted in its natural environment.
Download or read book History of the Sacramento Valley written by Joseph A. McGowan and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book History of Sacramento County California written by William Ladd Willis and published by Jazzybee Verlag. This book was released on 1913 with total page 1090 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SACRAMENTO COUNTY is named after the river upon which it is situated, and the latter was named by the Spanish Mexicans, Catholics, in honor of a Christian institution. The word differs from its English correspondent only in the addition of one letter. It would have been a graceful compliment to General Sutter if his own name, or the name New Helvetia, which he had bestowed upon this locality, had been given to the city. Helvetia is the classic name of Switzerland, Sutter's native country. This book tells the story of Sacramento County on more than 400 thrilling and entertaining pages.
Download or read book History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley California written by James Miller Guinn and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 1834 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Dreamt Land written by Mark Arax and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-05-21 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid, searching journey into California's capture of water and soil—the epic story of a people's defiance of nature and the wonders, and ruin, it has wrought Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land who has watched the battles over water intensify even as California lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land, he travels the state to explore the one-of-a-kind distribution system, built in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. The Dreamt Land weaves reportage, history and memoir to confront the "Golden State" myth in riveting fashion. No other chronicler of the West has so deeply delved into the empires of agriculture that drink so much of the water. The nation's biggest farmers—the nut king, grape king and citrus queen—tell their story here for the first time. Arax, the native son, is persistent and tough as he treks from desert to delta, mountain to valley. What he finds is hard earned, awe-inspiring, tragic and revelatory. In the end, his compassion for the land becomes an elegy to the dream that created California and now threatens to undo it.
Download or read book An Illustrated History of Sacramento County California written by Winfield J. Davis and published by . This book was released on 1890 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sacramento written by Steven M. Avella and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2003-09-10 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born of a country's collective desire for riches, Sacramento was resolute in its survival while other Gold Rush towns faded into history. It battled catastrophic fires, floods, and epidemics to become the original western hub and laid claim to the capital of a state that would one day have the world's fifth largest economy. The community's flourishing growth is not just a product of its economic viability, but a direct result of the cultural vibrance and fortitude of a diverse populace that remains the backbone of our country's most dynamic state.
Download or read book History of the Sacramento Valley California written by Jesse Walton Wooldridge and published by . This book was released on 1931 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Battling the Inland Sea written by Robert Kelley and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Of late historians have become increasingly interested in the vast re-ordering of the environment involved in the creation of America. Nowhere was this more true than in the Sacramento Valley where re-ordering edged into folly. Battling the Inland Sea is a powerful evocation of the losses and gains involved in battling the mighty Sacramento River. But more than this, it is an exploration of the national will as it sought to rearrange nature herself with such mixed results. Here is history dealing with the most elemental forces of land, water and engineering as they are shaped by public policy. Here is the profound drama of value and symbol which occurs when Americans come into conflict with forces over which they can exercise, as Robert Kelley shows, only the most transitory and pyrrhic victories."—Kevin Starr, author of the Americans and the California Dream "Robert Kelley's research into the origins of California's first great flood control system has already helped to inform the shaping of the state's water laws. Now he opens up the benefits of that work for the average reader in a wonderfully clear and engaging story that manages, among other things, to show that water development in the United States hasn't been just a matter of engineering but a cultural and intellectual achievement as well."—William Kahrl, author of Water and Power "A vividly written narrative of one of the major transformations of the physical world we inhabit. Robert Kelley draws upon his rich store of learning and insight to set the struggles over the Sacramento Valley into a broad context. His book contains important lessons for those who would understand the American economy, environment, politics, or culture."—Daniel W. Howe, author of The Political Culture of the American Whigs
Download or read book Lower American River written by Sacramento Public Library Authority and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flowing through Sacramento County, the American River has long been a dynamic neighbor to those living along its waters. As the American River flooded, its banks were leveed, and its course was corrected to allow for further settlement and industry. Sacramento, in a feat of civic engagement, raised its business district above the floodplain, echoing the earthen mounds the Nisenan people used to raise their homes. Massive dredgers tore the riverbed in search of California's famous mineral. Railroad tracks, and later roads, were built to accommodate for more and more people living along its banks. The American River pressed those banks, but the residents of the Sacramento Valley persisted and created a vibrant capital for one of the world's largest economies.
Download or read book The Settlement and Resources of the Sacramento Valley written by Esther Theresa Wildman and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sacramento the Commercial Metropolis of Northern and Central California written by and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
