volcanic tectonic activity has molded the dramatic landscape of california. california has both the highest peak and the lowest valley in the mainland u.s. a land of extremes. california has 1100 miles of coastline. Rivers flow. two major rivers flow through the central valley. the sacramento and the san joaquin.with all geomorphic provinces: sierra nevada, great central valley, tranverse range, etc., collision of earths crust at the plate boundries. san andrea fault zone is a network of faults, 600 miles long extending from northwest gulf of mexico, passes through san francisco bay then veers off shore near cape mendocino. transform fault boundary created 30 million years ago when tectonic plates collided and continue to slide and subduct horizontally. pacific plate and north american plate. 130 million years ago collisions heated up the underlying mantle of the earth, liquified it as lava and eventually became the Sierra Nevadas and Large Scale slabs of Granite. Farallon plate began to slip underneath the north american continent some 250 million years ago which formed the basic basin and range geography of the state. part of the pacific ring of fire. a string of volcanoes that
as California Historian and Philospher Josiah Royce observed it, " There is nothing subtle about the landforms and landscapes of California. Everything is scaled in bold and heroic arrangments that are easily understood". 158,693 square miles of it. The myriad of birds, fish, beasts of every sort, great swards of wildflowers and berries, stands of redwoods, sequoias, and acorn-laden oaks made the land bountiful in every sense. Indians lived aware of such grandier within earth. humbled. knowing much of death and disaster from flooding, earthquakes, drought, rattlesnake, and grizzly bears.
The Native Americans of California arrived approximently years ago. They belonged to twenty-two Linguistic families. within these catagories were some sep hundreds of different languages. in the mountainous stream-rich northwest. Fishing peoples skilled in netting and spearing. Yuki, Tolowa, Karok, Hoopa, Wiyot, Mattole. Farther south in an around the Bay area where, were Pomo, Maidu, Lile'ek, and Wappo. The Costanoan and Coast Miwok were shell-fish gathering people. Esselen people of Big Sur near the Salinas River adept to mysticism and healing arts. Deer hunting skills of Rumsen Ohlone of southern monterey bay and the carmel valley.. The Salinan near the coast, with their indolent neigbhors of the great plains, the Yokut. Into Southern California we encounter (Hokan) Chumash who inhabited the channel islands and Santa Barbara mainland, building canoes resembling those of polynesia. (Uto-Aztecan)Gabrielenos centered around what is now Los Angeles and Orange County. The first christianized and missionized indians. To the east along mountains and plains of San Bernardino lived the Serrano. desert dwellers far south like Mojave and the Cahuilla, Luiseno),Kumeyaay near san diego river mouth an (Presidio Hill). and famous for expression through rock art in blair valley area of Anzo-Borrego Desert State Park. These Most Native California Indians had plenty of flora and fauna to sustain their lives. The land provided, they were not war-like. They did not create stone temples like cultures in central mexico, no signs of horse culture or warrior tradition. They did not develop elaborate hierarchies. They lived for survival, understanding the rouged terrain and extremist conditions of the land, they held a deep sense of the need of balance.the remarkable awarness of self through the rhythms of daily life was contrast to the self conscious self regarding ego of post renassaince europe. the likness of nature, the companionable presence of spirits, the creation of myths, totems, taboos, together with rituals and protocols for stylized warfare and more pervasisve peace for coming of age, sexuality, family, birth, life, and death for these people the world was alive with spirit. Oak Acorn was the universal food of bears and Native American alike., but each triblet distinct in its topography, its climate, its fish and game. determined sublte differences in life. agriculturalists of southeast,. Theirs would not be an easy life as first europe and then US invaded their lands, wiped out food supply, uprooted their culture, and decimated their numbers. First Californians would eventually encounter social forces, diseases, and genocidalviolence that would bring them to the brink of extinction. Indians were reffered to as "Diggers". Pablo Tac, John Rollin Ridge, and Sara Winnemucca.
