Miscellaneous Documents and Reports

Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.

Switch View to Grid View Slideshow

1903 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1901

1903 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1901, copies of some of the publications, bulletins and letters issued by the Society and others throughout the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.
1904 - California and Its Missions - Their History to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Vol. II, Bryan J. Clinch

Clinch wrote a two-volume, extensive history on the early development of the lower and upper California missions. In Volume II, the author, a well-known San Francisco architect, described the principal events beginning with the founding of the California missions of Alta California.
1907 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1906

1907 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1906, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.
1910 - A Mission Record of the California Indians; Putnam, Kroeber

The Mission Record of the California Indians was in response to a list of questions sent to Alta California in 1811 by the Spanish government of Mexico. The “interrogatorio” was answered at the various missions, the replies collected and prefaced by the president of the mission with a short general statement or abstract of the answers received to each question and then presumably forwarded to Mexico with a copy retained in the archives of the Santa Barbara Mission.
1910 - The United States Consulate in California

This is the story of the first and only United States consulate in California. Thomas Oliver Larkin served in four different official capacities under the United States government -- as United States consul in California from 1844 to 1848; as confidential agent of the government from 1846 to 1848; as navy agent from 1847 to 1849; and as a naval store keeper from 1847 to 1848. Rumors of war with Mexico over Texas and later with England over the Oregon boundary reach California.

When Larkin became consul for the United States, the US consular service was on an uncertain basis both as to law and usage. The law establish the U.S. consular service passed Congress in 1792 with various amendments including those of 1803, 1818 and 1840. The chief duties during Larkin’s term were to protect the general interests and rights of US citizens within the consular jurisdiction; to take charge of the estates of citizens dying abroad without legal representatives; to succor destitute seamen and provide for their return home; to care for stranded vessels; and to authenticate various papers. The use of the United States consuls for the compilation of commercial reports to aid in the extension of commerce was not developed until about 1853 and thereafter.
1911 - California under Spain and Mexico, 1535-1847; Irving Berdine Richman

This book provides history of the California and Pacific Coast of the United States under Spain and Mexico, based on original sources, chiefly manuscript, that were found in the Spanish and Mexican Archives and other repositories.
1911 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1910

1911 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1910, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.
1912 - Report of the Conservation Commission of the State of California

The report prepared by the Conservation Commission of the State of California investigated and gathered data and information concerning forestry, water, the use of water, water power, electricity, electrical or other power, mines and mining, mineral and other lands, dredging, reclamation and irrigation, providing such information for the purpose of revising, systematizing and reforming the state laws pertaining to these subjects.
1912 - The missions of California and the old Southwest, Jesse S. Hildrup

A publication exhorting the glory of the California and Old Southwest missions, the golden climate and the efforts by the padres to save the Indian from his primitive life and ultimately prepare them for the civilization which came later under American sovereignty. The author viewed the region as the "chosen land, so wonderfully endowed by Nature, made possible the spiritual and civilizing purposes of the Church by the very configuration of its surface, the fertility of its soil, its temperate and subtropical climates, and its abundant water, which were stored in natural reservoirs and available for lowland cultivation by the process of irrigation, and by rivers, creeks, and streams running to the sea and to inland lakes ... ."
1913 - Water Resources of California, Part III, Water-Supply Paper 300

The water available for irrigation and domestic supply was the chief factor in the development of southern California, which then had a population of more than 1,000,000 people. The many mountain streams of California afforded abundant hydroelectric power, the utilization of which in manufacturing enterprises and in transportation had been made possible by the progress of electric-power transmission during the previous decade.

Information concerning the quantity of water carried by the streams had been and would continue to be an important factor in the development of these resources, for the fundamental importance of stream-flow data was so thoroughly recognized that it is almost impossible to finance any project depending on stream flow without presenting authentic records of flow covering a period of years. The measurements of the flow of streams in California was begun by the California State engineer in 1878, in accordance with the law requiring him "to investigate the problems of the irrigation of the plains, the condition and capacity of the great drainage lines of theState, and the improvement of the navigation of rivers." To make the information available six reports were prepared published as water-supply papers.
1914 - Bibliography of the History of California and the Pacific West, 1510-1906; together with the text of John W Dwinelle's Address on acquisition of California by the United States, Robert Ernest Cowan

The study of the bibliography of California, of which this printed essay was the result, began many years prior to 1914. The notes were made primarily as a guide to the collection of that class of books, and included all printed documents relating to the State with the exception of those of the newspaper and periodical presses. The publication lists about 1,000 titles up through 1905. The book also contains John W. Dwinelle’s “Address on the Acquisition of California by the United States.
1914 - Report of the State Agricultural Society for the Year 1913

1914 report by the California State Agricultural Society on the production and resources of California along with a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties in the State and statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.
1916 - Irrigation Districts in California, 1887-1915, Bulletin No. 2

The 1916 report covers the establishment of irrigation districts between 1887 and 1915. Under the Wright Act of 1887, the State sought to conferred on farming communities powers of municipalities in the purchase or construction and operation of irrigation works. The report considered the old irrigation districts from the point of view of what seemed to have been their purpose. They were grouped as follows:

Districts essentially nonspeculative and· formed to meet a bona fide demand for new irrigation works: Orland, Kraft, Orland Southside, Central, Colusa, Browns Valley, Modesto, Turloek, Huron, Tipton, Tule · River, Kern and Tulare, Poso, Ama'rgeza, Neenach, Palmdale, Pomona Orange Belt, Olive, Grapeland, East Riverside, Elsinore, San Jacinto and Pleasant Valley, Riverside Heights, Escondido, Fallbrook, San Marcos, Otay. (27)

Districts essentially nonspeculative and formed wholly or largely for reorganization or improvement of existing systems: Happy Valley, Madera, Selma, Alta, Tulare, Santa Gertrudes, Vineland, Glendora, Strong, Walnut, Anaheim. (11)

Districts essentially speculative: Sunset, Manzana, Little Rock Creek, Big Rock Creek, Rialto, Citrus Belt, Alessandro, Perris, Murrietta, Linda Vista, Jamacha. ( 11)

The report addresses the amendments and supplementary acts that were adopted and perceived as having greatly changing and strengthening the original act.
1916 - The Founding of Spanish California, Charles Edward Chapman

The first seven chapters of this book discuss the advance of the Spanish conquest overland toward the Colorado and Gila rivers, from 1521 to 1773, with some reference also to the occupation of the two Californias before the mainland conquest had reached those rivers. This portion of the book was presented as a doctoral thesis in May, 1915, at the University of California, in substantially the same form as it appeared here, under the title Preliminaries of the Spanish advance from Sonora to California, 1687-1773. Then follows the principal part of the work, to which were added two concluding chapters, showing that Spain did not, after 1776, continue her extraordinary efforts to develop Alta California.
1918 - Geology and Oil Prospects of Salinas Valley-Parkfield Area, California; Walter A. English

A 1981 report on an investigation undertaken partly to procure data for the classification of public lands located in the Salinas Valley-Parkfield area of California withdrawn from entry pending classification, and partly to determine areas in which the geologic conditions were favorable for oil prospecting so as to prevent useless expenditures in drilling dry holes in unfavorable areas. The work on which the report was based was done during the field seasons of 1915 and 1916.
1918 - Report of the State Agricultural Society for the Year 1917

1918 report by the California State Agricultural Society on the production and resources of California along with a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties in the State and statistics reflecting the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.
1919 - Catalogue of Materials in the Archivo General de Indias for the History of the Pacific Coast and the American Southwest, Chapman

The Sevillian archive, Archivo General de Indias, contained a wealth of materials on almost every conceivable subject in Spanish colonial administration and was the most valuable single archive on that field in existence. As of 1919, much material of the Spanish period relating to regions now within the United States was still found in various local archives. The report listed the pertinent files on California history in general and that of regions in the direct line of approach to California, especially Baja California and Sonora but also affairs of the easterly provinces of the northern frontier from Nueva Vizcaya to Texas.
1919 - Summary of the Annual Reports from Farm Advisors of California for Dec. 1917 to Dec. 1918, Circular No. 208

Noting that the prime requisites for the successful prosecution of the World War I were men, munitions, ships, finance and food, this report focused on food as that part of the war effort left primarily to the voluntary effort of the people. Two federal agencies were tasked with the food problem: The United States Department of Agriculture (food production) and the United States Food Administration (food conservation and distribution. The report discusses the establishment of the agricultural colleges and of the the agricultural extension organization with its local representatives known as farm advisors or county agents. Report also describes various efforts to increase food production, farmer participation, and various campaigns to further promote the war-effort goals of food production, conservation and distribution. Includes individual county farm bureau reports.
1919 - Summary of the Annual Reports of the Farm Advisors of California, Circular No. 208

The report discusses in some detail establishment of the Agricultural extension organization ultimately in every county by the placement of a farm advisor or county agent. In California, the local farm bureau acted as a cooperating agency through which the farm advisor could reach a wide range of activities; i.e., advice from the best farmers in the county as to what could be done and how to do it, ability to reach every community in the county, and provide a plan for organized self-help. The farm advisors coordinated the efforts of Federal, State and local agricultural organizations to encourage farmers to voluntarily increase productivity throughout World War I.
1920 - California's Greatest Opportunity - Reclaiming An Empire--The Valley of California, Col. R. B. Marshall

Col. Marshall proposed a state-wide engineering project that would provide irrigation water to 12,000,000 acres of land in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Livermore and Concord valleys, as well as water for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bay cities. The water would come from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. He envisioned an increase in the State valuation of $6,000,000,000. Additionally hydro-electric current generation would furnish all the power necessary for construction as well as supply more power than would be needed for use on electric railroads, in municipal lighting, for manufacturing, and for domestic use in homes, and the sale of that power would be a big revenue producer. He believed the establishment of 3,000,000 "happy country homes" in the Valley of California would defend California from invasion given that there could be no better propaganda for patriotism than to place owned homes in the hands of citizens.
1920 - Irrigation of Twelve Million Acres in the Valley of California; Robert Bradford Marshall

By 1920, California's potential wealth in land reached into billions of dollars; 12,000,000 acres of available agricultural lands remained practically untouched. Marshall proposed a large plan that would make the Valley of California the world's greatest garden. The engineering plans for such a project must be comprehensive, for their execution must not only assure the complete reclamation of 12,000,000 acres of valley lands but must also effectively and forever control the river floods and insure safe and continuous river navigation throughout the year. The hydro-electric current generated along most of the streams would furnish all the power necessary for construction as well as supply more power than would be needed for use on electric railroads, in municipal lighting, for manufacturing, and for domestic use in the new homes as they were established, and the sale of this power at fair rates would be a big revenue producer.

This document is Marshall's proposal to irrigate 12,000,000 acres in California. From a diversion dam to be built across the Sacramento River above and near Redding water would be carried in large canals down each side of the Sacramento Valley and up each side of the San Joaquin Valley. These main canals would operate by gravity, siphons, or pumps, or through tunnel as might be necessary. On the main West Side Canal opposite San Francisco a large supply would be diverted for the use of the San Francisco and Bay Cities unit. The main East Side Canal would be twice dropped and twice again started at new and higher levels on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. Separate in construction and operation from the two Valley of California systems but necessarily cooperative in a State-wide sense, was a third system, called the "Los Angeles unit." The system would always be dependent upon the Kern River, which would be diverted through a long tunnel for use in southern California. To offset the diversion of the Kern River water from the San Joaquin Valley the Klamath River would be diverted below Klamath Falls and carried into the upper Sacramento River near Shasta Springs. The tributary streams would be drawn upon through reservoirs and further flexibility of the total flow would be provided by additional storage below the canals.
1920 - Third Biennial Report of the State Water Commission of California

The California State Water Commission was created to carry out the terms of the Water Commission Act passed by the Legislature in 1913, and approved under referendum December 19, 1914. This act provides for a definite record of water right titles and constitutes a code of water law governing the use of surface water and underground water :flowing through known and definite channels, based upon rights by appropriation. It is designed to serve three main purposes.

First-To provide a definite system for public supervision of the initiation of water rights acquired subsequent to the adoption of the act and a complete record thereof in a central office.

Second-To provide a procedure whereby all rights to surface water, under appropriation initiated prior to the date the law became effective (December 19, 1914) and usually uncertain in many important elements, such as amount, priority, etc., can be definitely ascertained and recorded.

Third-To provide necessary administrative machinery under which water can be equitably distributed to the various diversion systems entitled to its use, in other words, to provide state supervision of valuable property rights in water were defined and recorded under the laws of the state.
1921 - Petroleum Resources of California, Bulletin 89

By 1921, the increasing demand for petroleum and its products, and the inability of production to keep pace with requirements, for several years, resulted in widespread prospecting throughout the world for possible new oil fields. In California, "wild-cat" wells were being drilled in many localities, some of them in places where even a cursory inspection of the geology would tell the futility of looking for oil. This report aimed to furnish information as to the unfavorable as well as the favorable areas of development of additional petroleum resources in California. The purpose of the report was to briefly take stock of the oil resources of the state and in particular to determine, if possible, the opportunity that existed for extending the productive area into districts that had previously been regarded as unfavorable.
1921 - Third Biennial Report of the State Water Commission of California

The State Water Commission, an administrative and quasi-judicial body having supervision over the acquisition and defining of water rights and the use of water from the natural stream channels and lakes of California, was created to carry out the terms of the Water Commission Act of 1913. The act provided for a definite record of water right titles and constituted a code of water law governing the use of surface water and underground water flowing through known and definite channels, based upon rights by appropriation. The third report of the Water Commission noted the increase in work in terms of volume and diversity. More permits and licenses to appropriate water had been issued than in any previous biennial period, and ore adjudications and court references had been before the Commission. Activity in the initiation of water development projects since the close of World War I had been phenomenal. The idea of public supervision of canal diversions from natural streams had also been put into effect. The report also addressed future work of the Commission.
1923 - California County Boundaries with Maps, Owen C. Coy

The object of this volume is to present a brief but comprehensive account of the formation of the counties of California, together with a more detailed study of the location and changes in the county boundaries. Beginning with the first legislature, in 1849, which divided the state into twenty-seven counties, the agitation for new counties and for county boundary changes has continued down to the present time, when there are fifty-eight counties, with consequent radical changes in boundary lines.