October 5
I enjoyed the delightful company of Muriel, JoAnn, and David this afternoon and came away with this book, Up and Down California: The Journal of William H. Brewer.
David encouraged me to borrow it and indeed it’s perfect in preparation for my upcoming trip to Sequoia. The book is made up of letters written by the #2 guy in the 1860-1864 California Geological Survey. I just read the section of his stop in LA when the population was 4,000. It was very fun to read. Actually, I’m going to copy a paragraph right here, italics are in the original text!
“Here is a great plain, or rather a gentle slope, from the Pacific to the mountains. We are on this plain about twenty miles from the sea and fifteen from the mountains, a most lovely locality; all that is wanted naturally to make it a paradise is water, more water. Apples, pears, plums, figs, olives, lemons, oranges, and ‘the finest grapes in the world,’ so the books say.
“The weather is soft and balmy-no winter, but a perpetual spring and summer. Such is Los Angeles, a place where every prospect pleases and only man is vile.'”