treasu.es, and civilization was prepared to use them for the good of mankind. The ready passage across the vast and inhospitable deserts of the American continent, by means of railways, has already changed (and will probably change still more in the future) the course of commerce; and San Francisco and New York may hope to rule, in large part, the commerce of the world.

California is remarkable for the salubrity of its climate, where the rigors of winter (save on the mountains), and the excessive heats of summer are equally unknown, and for the variety and magnitude of its natural curiosities. Of the last the Yosemite valley and the Big Trees are the most prominent. She has near 1,000 miles of railroad, and has made ample provision for education.

Calfornia was the thirty-first State. It has an area of 188,982 square miles, equal to 120,948,480 acres. The population in 1870 was 560,247, entitling her to four Representatives in Congress.

By act of 1866, this State, with Oregon and Nevada, constitutes the ninth judicial circuit, and forms two judicial districts. California has seven ports of entry, viz.: San Francisco, Monterey, San Diego, Sacramento, Sonoma, San Joaquin and San Pedro; also, one port of delivery, Santa Barbara. California was obtained from Mexico by conquest in 1846.

The capital is Sacramento. She holds her State election on the first Tuesday in September. Her Legislature meets on the first Monday in December, but meets only once in two years. The enacting clause of her laws is: "The people of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows."

This State might be called the Mother of Rivers, since it contains the high watershed, or tableland, where the rivers sending their waters to two oceans, in three directions, have their sources. The head waters of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, and the streams flowing into the frozen ocean of the north are all found here. In 1680 the unwearied La Salle visited the head waters of the Mississippi, but this region was long left to the sole occupation of the Indians.

Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, was built in 1819. No other territory was acquired, by extinction of the Indian title to the soil, until 1837; and in 1849 the civilized population gathered about the trading posts and missions amounted to less than 5,000. It then received a Territorial government. A considerable portion of the State having in 1851 been ceded, by treaty with the Indians, to the government, was immediately entered on by the settlers; and in 1858 it was prepared to take rank among the sovereign States. It was admitted in May of this year, by act of Congress.

In 1862 the State passed through the appalling crisis of an Indian massacre of the outlying settlements. It began without warning, in the midst of fancied security, and before adequate

protection could be forwarded, some 500 men, women, and children were murdered with all the accompaniments of savage cruelty. Some $3,000,000 of property was destroyed. In a short time sufficient force was gathered to overpower the savages, and they were in large part removed from the State. The surface is undulating and high, and the soil, in good part, extremely fertile. Portions are open and rolling prairie; the remainder heavily wooded. Though the winters are long and cold, the air is dry and invigorating, and the climate healthy. It is specially favorable to the growth of wheat. Commerce is favored by the Mississippi, navigable to St. Paul, and by good harbors on Lake Superior, as well as by numerous railways. Its provision for education is excellent, and a State University at St. Anthony's Falls promises to form a suitable crown to its intellectual advantages.

This State was admitted into the Union on the 11th day of May, 1858, and made the thirty-second State. It has an area of 83,531 square miles, equal to 53,459,840 acres. The population in 1870 amounted to 439,706. This State is entitled to three Members of Congress.

It lies in the eighth judicial circuit, which is composed of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas and Minnesota. Minnesota forms one judicial district, and has no ports of entry or delivery.

St. Paul is the capital. The Legislature meets annually on the Tuesday after the first Monday in January. The State election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.