Vallerga Land

My first trip of the summer involved taking part in a wildflower seminar offered by the Sequoia Natural History Association. It was a very nice trip, and I had the opportunity to learn more about the flowers and sequoia groves in the Grant’s Grove region.

sequoia-june-27.doc

Indian Wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the colonial or federal government and the indigenous peoples of North America.

Although the earliest English settlers in what would become the United States often enjoyed peaceful relations with nearby tribes, as early as the Pequot War of 1637, the colonists were taking sides in military rivalries between Indian nations in order to assure colonial security and open further land for settlement. The wars, which ranged from the seventeenth-century (King Philip’s War, King William’s War, and Queen Anne’s War at the opening of the eighteenth century) to the Wounded Knee massacre and “closing” of the American frontier in 1890, generally resulted in the opening of Native American lands to further colonization, the conquest of American Indians and their assimilation, or forced relocation to Indian reservations. Modern scholars take different positions in the ongoing genocide debate. Various statistics have been developed concerning the devastations of these wars on both the American and Indian nations. The most reliable figures are derived from collated records of strictly military engagements such as by Gregory Michno which reveal 21,586 dead, wounded, and captured civilians and soldiers for the period of 1850–90 alone.[1] Other figures are derived from extrapolations of rather cursory and unrelated government accounts such as that by Russell Thornton who calculated that some 45,000 Indians and 19,000 whites were killed. This later rough estimate includes women and children on both sides, since noncombatants were often killed in frontier massacres.[2]

In his book The Wild Frontier: Atrocities during the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee, amateur historian William M. Osborn sought to tally every recorded atrocity in the area that would eventually become the continental United States, from first contact (1511) to the closing of the frontier (1890), and determined that 9,156 people died from atrocities perpetrated by Native Americans, and 7,193 people died from those perpetrated by Europeans. Osborn defines an atrocity as the murder, torture, or mutilation of civilians, the wounded, and prisoners.[3]
What is not disputed is that the savagery from both sides of the war — the Indians’ own methods of brutal warfare and the Americans destructive campaigns — was such as to be noted in every year in newspapers, historical archives, diplomatic reports and America’s own Declaration of Independence. (”…[He] has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”)

The Indian Wars comprised a series of smaller wars. American Indians, diverse peoples with their own distinct tribal histories, were no more a single people than the Europeans. Living in societies organized in a variety of ways, American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, though they sometimes fought as part of formal alliances, such as the Iroquois Confederation, or in temporary confederacies inspired by leaders such as Tecumseh.

Great Plains
Other related topics: Sand Creek Massacre, Sioux Wars, Black Hills War, Battle of Little Big Horn, and Wounded Knee Massacre

White conflict with the Plains Indians continued through the Civil War. The Dakota War of 1862 (more commonly called the Sioux Uprising of 1862 in older authorities and popular texts) was the first major armed engagement between the U.S. and the Sioux. After six weeks of fighting in Minnesota, lead mostly by Chief Taoyateduta (aka, Little Crow), records conclusively show that more than 500 U.S. soldiers and settlers died in the conflict, though many more may have died in small raids or after being captured. The number of Sioux dead in the uprising is mostly undocumented, but after the war, 303 Sioux were convicted of murder and rape by U.S. military tribunals and sentenced to death. Most of the death sentences were commuted, but on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Dakota Sioux men were hanged in what is still today the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

In 1864, one of the more infamous Indian War battles took place, the Sand Creek Massacre. A locally raised militia attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians in southeast Colorado and killed and mutilated an estimated 150 men, women, and children. The Indians at Sand Creek had been assured by the U.S. Government that they would be safe in the territory they were occupying, but anti-Indian sentiments by white settlers were running high. Later congressional investigations resulted in short-lived U.S. public outcry against the slaughter of the Native Americans.

In 1875, the last serious Sioux war erupted, when the Dakota gold rush penetrated the Black Hills. The U.S. Army did not keep miners off Sioux (Lakota) hunting grounds; yet, when ordered to take action against bands of Sioux hunting on the range, according to their treaty rights, the Army moved vigorously. In 1876, after several indecisive encounters, General George Custer found the main encampment of the Lakota and their allies at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Custer and his men — who were separated from their main body of troops — were all killed by the far more numerous Indians who had the tactical advantage. They were led in the field by Crazy Horse and inspired by Sitting Bull’s earlier vision of victory.

Later, in 1890, a Ghost Dance ritual on the Northern Lakota reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, led to the Army’s attempt to subdue the Lakota. During this attempt, gunfire erupted, and soldiers killed up to 300 Indians, mostly old, women and children. The approximately 25 soldiers who died may have been killed by friendly fire during the battle. Long before this, the means of subsistence and the societies of the indigenous population of the Great Plains had been destroyed by the slaughter of the buffalo, driven almost to extinction in the 1880s by indiscriminate hunting.

Southwest
The conflicts in this large geographical area span from 1846 to 1895. They involved every non-pueblo tribe in this region and often were a continuation of Mexican-Spanish conflicts. The Navajo and Apache conflicts are perhaps the best known, but they were not the only ones. The last major campaign of the U.S. military in the Southwest involved 5,000 troops in the field. This caused the Apache Geronimo and his band of 24 warriors, women and children to surrender in 1886.
The tribes or bands in the southwest (including the Pueblos) had been engaged in cycles of trading and fighting each other and foreign settlers for centuries prior to the United States annexing their region from Mexico in 1840.

]Wars of the West timeline

Great Plains
_ Comanche Wars (1836–1875) on the southern plains, primarily Texas Republic and the state
_ Dakota War of 1862 — skirmishes in the southwestern quadrant of Minnesota result in hundreds dead. In the largest mass execution in U.S. history, 38 Dakota were hanged. About 1,600 others were sent to a reservation in present-day South Dakota.
_ Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868) — Lakota chief Makhpyia Luta (Red Cloud) conducts the most successful attacks against the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars. By the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), the U.S. granted a large reservation to the Lakota, without military presence or oversight, no settlements, and no reserved road building rights. The reservation included the entire Black Hills.
_ Colorado War (1864–1865) — clashes centered on the Colorado Eastern Plains between the U.S. Army and an alliance consisting largely of the Cheyenne and Arapaho.
_ Sand Creek Massacre (1864) — John Chivington killed more than 450 surrendered Cheyenne and Arapaho.
_ Comanche Campaign (1867–1875) — Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, in command of the Department of the Missouri, instituted winter campaigning in 1868–69 as a means of rooting out the elusive Indian tribes scattered throughout the border regions of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas.
_ Battle of Beecher Island (1868) — northern Cheyenne under war leader Roman Nose fought scouts of the U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment in a nine-day battle.
_ Battle of Washita River (1868) — George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle’s Cheyenne village on the Washita River (near present day Cheyenne, Oklahoma). 250 men, women and children were killed.
_ Battle of Summit Springs (1869) Cheyenne Dog Soldiers led by Tall Bull defeated by elements of U.S. Army under command of Colonel Eugene A. Carr. Tall Bull died, reportedly killed by Buffalo Bill Cody.
_ Battle of Palo Duro Canyon (1874) — Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa warriors engaged elements of the U.S. 4th Cavalry Regiment led by Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie.
_ Red River War (1874–1875) — between Comanche and U.S. forces under the command of William Sherman and Lt. General Phillip Sheridan.
_ Black Hills War, or Little Big Horn Campaign (1876–1877) — Lakota under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse fought the U.S. after repeated violations of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868).
_ Battle of Powder River(1876) — Cheyanne under Little Wolf clash with U.S.Army and Shoshone and Crow Allies
_ Battle of the Rosebud (1876) — Lakota under Tasunka witko clashed with U.S. Army column moving to reinforce Custer’s 7th Cavalry.
_ Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) — Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer.
_ Cheyenne Campaign or Cheyenne War (1878–1879) — a conflict between the United States’ armed forces and a small group of Cheyenne families.
_ Pine Ridge Campaign (November 1890 – January 1891) — numerous unresolved grievances led to the last major conflict with the Sioux. A lopsided engagement that involved almost half the infantry and cavalry of the Regular Army caused the surviving warriors to lay down their arms and retreat to their reservations in January 1891.
_ Wounded Knee Massacre (December 29, 1890) — Sitting Bull’s half-brother, Big Foot, and 152 other Sioux were killed — 25 U.S. cavalrymen also died in the engagement. 7th Cavalry Only fourteen days before, Sitting Bull had been killed with his son Crow Foot at Standing Rock Agency in a gun battle with a group of Indian police that had been sent by the American government to arrest him.

Southwest
_ Navajo Wars (1861–1864) — ended with Long Walk of the Navajo — Arizona Territory and New Mexico Territory.
_ Hualapai or Walapais War (1864–1869) — Arizona Territory
_ Apache Wars or Apache Campaigns (1864–1886) Careleton put Mescelero on reservation with Navajos at Sumner and continued until 1886, when Geronimo surrendered.

Here are a few resources that can help you in your study of the U.S. Constitution. Can you add another one?

Resources on the Constitutional Convention and the U.S. Constitutions

#1: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/charters_of_freedom_6.html

#2: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/preamble/

History of the 50 States Project

The U.S. mint has been commissioned to issue a distinctive 25 cent coin for each of the 50 states. The front of each quarter will have the traditional image of George Washington, but the reverse side will have a design distinctive to each individual state. Five different quarters will be issued each year between 1999 and 2008.

The basic resource for this on-going project is the website Coin Facts (http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_dollars/50_states_quarters/50_states_quarters.htm), specifically the portion dealing with the current 25 cent piece.

The task of this project is to complete the following tasks:
1. Create notes that decode, or explain, the symbols on the back of each quarter.
2. Write a paragraph that uses these symbols teaches us about the history of each state.

For example, here is how you would complete the tasks for the California quarter:

Notes:
1. “California 1850”: the year California became a state.
2. “a man with a walking stick”: this is John Muir, a famous conservationist.
3. “a bird in flight”: the California condor, a specie threatened by extinction
4. “a mountain” and “Yosemite Valley”: this is Halfdome Peak, the symbol of Yosemite Valley. Yosemite was saved as a national park by John Muir.
5. “2005”: the year this coin was minted.

Paragraph:
The “California quarter” was issued in 2005. On the back of the quarter there are a number of symbols that tell us something about California’s history. The date “1850” tells us when California became a state. Other symbols show California’s commitment to saving the environment. These symbols include the conservationist John Muir, the California condor, and Yosemite Valley. Taken together, they show that Californians have worked in both the past and the present to preserve animals and places for future generations.

Parts of the project:

Part I. The original 13 states
Part II. The First 3 “new states” added under the Constitution
Part III. States from the old Northwest and Southwest Territories (warning: 2 states from this
group are unavailable on the current data base. Extra credit will be given if you can
identify and decode these two quarters.)
Part IV. The first states from west of the Mississippi River

Here are some summary notes for the first four chapters of Rise to Rebellion:

Rise to Rebellion

Part I. The Sentry (pages 3 to 12)

1. Foreshadowing: references to increasing tension and conflict between Bostonians and British soldiers.
2. Who is Hugh White? Why did the author select this character to begin this story?
3. What did you learn from reading this selection?

Part II Adams (pages 13 to 24)
A.
1. Introduction to John Adams
2. The aftermath of the violence is described from his point of view.
3. Introduction to Abagail Adams, and the pair she and John have formed.
4. How does Adams view “the law”?
5. Notice Adams’ insistence on facts, distrust of rumors.

B.
1. Adams agrees to present Captain Preston. Why?
2. Introduction to Sam Adams.
3. Why is Sam “happy” about the riot?
4. What observation does Sam make about his cousin John?
5. What recent events does Sam cite to make his “history lesson”?
6. Paraphrase Sam’s description of the colonial point of view.
7. How are John and Sam different?

Part III Gage (page 25 to 34)

1. Introduction to Thomas Gage, and his perspective on life.
2. Social roles: compare/contrast Thomas and Margaret Gage vs. John and Abagail Adams.
3. Army behavior vs. civilian behavior.

Part IV Franklin (page 34 to 48)
A.
1. Franklin the eccentric.
2. Why is Franklin in London? How long has he been there?
3. Describe Franklin’s relationship with
a. Mrs. Stevenson
b. Deborah, his wife
c. His children

B.
1. Insight into Franklin’s thinking as he almost invents sunglasses.

C.
1. Who is Samuel Johnson?
2, How old is Samuel Johnson? Does this seem to have an affect on how he
thinks?
3. Johnson gives the British point of view of the situation in America. Paraphrase
it.
4. How does Franklin react to his conversation with Johnson?

In light of recent events, here’s some information I gathered on the history of wildfires. Tragedies such as our most recent wildfire bring up many topics can give some insight to, but don’t expect any easy answers.

Where do the rights of the individual stop, and rights of the group take precedent? An individual homeowner refusing to evacuate their home versus fire and police risking their own lives to evacuate the public from dangerous areas?

Separation of powers between the different levels of government? Should the local fire chief have the authority to call in a U.S. military helicopter without permission from the California state fire co-ordinator? If we do permit this, who has to settle any lawsuits if something goes wrong? The city? The state? The U.S. government?
——————————————————————————————————-
SanDiegoFires
Disaster, insurance folks double damage estimate
By Pauline Repard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 30, 2007
As firefighters nearly corraled the blazes that have devastated more than 368,000 acres of the county, authorities sifted through ashes yesterday and interviewed witnesses to determine how each fire started.
As of last night, all but one wildfire remained under investigation.
Authorities have located the exact power pole, in the 1500 block of Rice Canyon in eastern Fallbrook, where the 9,500-acre Rice Canyon fire began.
Together, the Poomacha, Rice Canyon, Witch Creek and Harris fires destroyed 1,595 homes, according to Cal Fire totals.
The financial tally of destruction across the region is still mounting. Disaster and insurance experts have doubled their estimates of property damage – from $1 billion last week to $2 billion yesterday.
Those costs will include $893 million in lost productivity, $500 million in damage to homes and $400 million in lost furnishings, appliances, vehicles, clothing and other possessions, the San Diego Institute for Policy Research projected yesterday.
The institute estimated $200 million in damage to other structures and $100 million for supplies and emergency workers’ overtime pay.
Most of the property losses will be covered by insurance, the institute said.
Cal Fire said firefighting costs countywide since Oct. 21 have reached $38 million. That bill could rise further because the battle against the flames hasn’t ended. As of last night, a few hot spots remained near Palomar Mountain in North County.
Fire officials aren’t expecting major flare-ups because the weather is forecast to stay cool and misty through tomorrow.
But by late Thursday or early Friday, a moderate Santa Ana should develop and cause humidity levels to drop again, the National Weather Service said. The winds could include gusts of up to 50 mph in canyons and passes.
Cal Fire is keeping some firefighters and resources in Southern California in anticipation of the coming Santa Anas.
Since Oct. 21, the Witch Creek fire – the largest conflagration – has burned nearly 198,000 acres from near Julian to Rancho Santa Fe. The fire is 95 percent contained and is expected to be fully controlled by Saturday.
Containment means firefighters have encircled a fire, minimizing its risk of spreading. Controlled means a fire is extinguished.
Near the Witch Creek inferno, the Poomacha fire started in Pauma Valley and has charred almost 50,000 acres. It is 70 percent contained, with full control expected by Nov. 5.
In South County, the Harris fire, which began in Potrero, is 85 percent contained at 90,440 acres. Full containment is expected Wednesday and full control on Saturday.
The Rice Canyon fire, which broke out east of Fallbrook, was fully contained Sunday at 9,472 acres. Full control is predicted for Nov. 5.
The Horno fire on Camp Pendleton is fully contained at 21,004 acres, with full control expected Thursday.
In the nearby Fallbrook area, the Rice Canyon fire scorched about 20,000 avocado trees. The California Avocado Industry Association yesterday estimated that as much as 20 percent of San Diego County’s avocado crop was destroyed last week.
Countywide, many schools reopened yesterday after an even more widespread and extended shutdown than in the 2003 Cedar fire. All campuses are expected to resume classes by Wednesday.
——————————————————————————————————-

Notable Wildfires Since 1950

Forest Fire Basics

Expository Writing

Writing The Essay

Planning

Revising

Drafting

Essay Structure

Drafting Paragraphs

(Hacker, Diane. A writers’ Reference 3rd edition. Bedford Books. Boston, 1995.)

A. PLANNING

I. Assess the writing situation

a. Subject - is it worth writing about, is it too broad or too narrow, and is it detailed enough

b. Sources of information - Where is the information coming from? Is it personal experiences, from observation, interviews, or from documentation/reading.

c. Purpose - Why are you writing? To inform, persuade, entertain, is it a call to action, or a combination of all.

d. Audience - Who is the audience, how well are they informed on the subject, what do they need to learn, and what is your relationship to them?

e. Length - Are there any specifications, if not what is appropriate?

f. Document design - Are there any specifications, do you have any guidelines or examples?

g. Deadline - When is the deadline? Make sure that you plan for all the stages, including typing, proofreading, and the final.

II. Experiment with techniques for exploring ideas.

Don’t just plunge in, explore more than one technique, such as listing, clustering, questions, and freewriting.

a. Listing - list ideas, brainstorm

b. Clustering and branching - highlight the relationships among ideas Ex. Teaching staff–regular

—-part-time—-college professors

—–local talent————artists

————musicians ————judges and politicians

c. Asking questions - who, what, where, when, why and how

d. Freewriting - nonstop writing, everything that you know about subject, set aside ten minutes to do this.

III. Settle on a tentative focus

Ways to focus on the material. Get a tentative central idea, thesis sentence or overriding purpose.

IV. Sketch a tentative plan/informal outline

B. DRAFTING

MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR PLANNING MATERIAL CLOSE AT HAND

I. Draft an introductory paragraph of 50-100 words. These should be sentences to engage the reader and end with a statement of your main point. The introduction should include one of the following: startling statistic or unusual fact, vivid example, description, paradoxical statement, quote or bit of dialogue, question, analogy, joke or anecdote.

II. Characteristics of an effective thesis - it is limited, sharply focused, and not too vague.

III. Draft the body - Keep the focus in mind, what does the thesis promise. Compose your preliminary plan and block out the paragraphs accordingly.

IV. Draft the conclusion - Echo the main idea without repeating it, summarize the main point, pose a question for future study, offer advice, or propose a course of action. Do not introduce new ideas. End crisply and on a positive note.

C. DRAFTING PARAGRAPHS

CLUSTERS OF INFORMATION SUPPORTING THE ESSAYS MAIN POINT. THE PARAGRAPHS SHOULD BE CLEARLY
FOCUSED, ARRANGED LOGICALLY, WELL DEVELOPED, ORGANIZED, COHERENT, AND NOT TOO SHORT OR TOO
LONG.

I. Focus on a main point - The paragraphs are all unified around a main point. All the sentences in the paragraph are related to that point.

a. State the main point in the topic sentence, and this is what is expected as the reader continues on.

b. Sticking to the main point. Sentences that do not support the main point are to be deleted or moved elsewhere in writing.

II. Develop the main point - Don’t use a series of brief paragraphs, develop them into larger more detailed ones.

III. Choose a suitable pattern of organization.

“Methods of Development”
a. Examples and Illustrations - reader asks “for example”, illustrations, extended examples

b. Narration - tells a story or part of a story, recounts

c. Description - sketches portrait of a person, place or thing by using concrete and specific details that appeal to one or more senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch)

d. Process - chronological order, step by step

e. Comparison and contrast - compare- - comparison two subjects similarities and consideration of differences, contrast- - focus on differences only

f. Analogy - the comparison of items that appear to have little in common

g. Cause and effect - effect to causes or causes to effects

h. Classification and division - class- - regrouping items into categories according to consistent principle, division- - takes one item and divides it into parts according to consistent principles

i. Definition - puts a word or concept into a general class and provides enough detail to distinguish it from other members in the same class.

IV. Make paragraphs coherent. Flow one to the next without bumps, or shifts. Tie the old information to the new information.

a. Link ideas clearly- learn the paragraphs main point and the details that link to it

Put the paragraphs in the essay in a clear hierarchy

b. Do not use repeating key words, use a variation of the word

c. Use parallel structure- the same point of view and verb tenses throughout, bind series of sentences which express the same information together

d. Maintain consistency

e. Provide transitions- to show addition(and, also), to give examples(ex., for instance), to compare(also, similarly), to contrast(but, yet), to summarize or conclude(that is, to sum up), to show time(after, next,
later), to show place or directions(above, below, beyond), to indicate logical relationships(if, so, thus)

V. If necessary adjust paragraph length. 100-200 words for the body and the introduction and conclusion shorter.

a. Reasons to begin a new paragraph. Introduction or conclusion, shift to new idea, shift in time or place, to emphasize a point, to highlight contrast, to provide reader with a needed pause, a change in speakers.

b. Reasons for combining paragraphs. To clarify organization, to connect ideas, or to bind text that looks choppy.

D. REVISING

LOOK AT FOCUS, ORGANIZATION, PARAGRAPHING, CONTENT, AND OVERALL STRATEGY.

I. Make global revisions- whole paragraphs may be dropped and others added, review from the audiences’ perspective

a. Purpose and audience- does it accomplish its purpose and is it appropriate for the audience

b. Focus- do the introduction and conclusion focus clearly on main point

c. Organization and paragraphing- can readers follow the overall structure, are the ideas ordered effectively, do the paragraphs make sense, and are any of the paragraphs too long or too short for easy reading

d. Content- is the supporting material persuasive, which ideas need further development, are the parts proportioned sensibly, where might there be deleted material

II. Revise and edit sentences- style and clarity, try to avoid wordiness and reliance of linking with the word and

EXAMPLE

Original Paragraph

Finally, we decided that perhaps our dream needed some prompting, and we visited a fertility doctor and began the expensive, time consuming round of procedure that held out the promise of fulfilling our dream. All this was to no avail, and as we approached the sixth year of our marriage we had reached the point where we couldn’t even discuss our childlessness without becoming very depressed. We questioned why this had happened to us? Why had we been singled out for this major disappointment?

Revised Paragraph

Finally, deciding that perhaps our dream needed prompting, we visited a fertility doctor and began the expensive, time-consuming round of procedures that held out some promise of our dreams fulfillment. Our efforts, however, were to no avail. As we approached the sixth year of our marriage we could no longer even discuss our childlessness without becoming very depressed. We questioned why this had happened to us. Why had we been singled out for such a major disappointment?

III. Proofread the final manuscript. Search for misspellings, typographical errors, and omitted words or word endings. Proofread out loud. Check that the conclusion fulfills the promise made in the introduction, and make sure that each paragraph is linked.

E. ESSAY STRUCTURE

I. Introduction—-the topic sentence goes here with general statements and the thesis statement

II. Body—-the body is the longest part of the essay and can contain as many paragraphs as is needed to support the controlling ideas of your thesis statement

A. Paragraph 1- topic sentence

1. Support statements
2. Support statements
3. Support statements–concluding sentence

B. Paragraph 2 - topic sentence

1. Support statements
2. Support statements
3. Support statements–concluding sentence

C. Paragraph 3 - topic sentence

1. Support statements
2. Support statements
3. Support statements–concluding sentence

III. Conclusion—-restatement or summary of the main points, final comment, and concluding sentence

Quartz/Gold mass, Sonora.CA

General comments for 8/13/07

Today was a day of surprises.
Last night there was a noticeable amount of smoke in the air. It got in the way of seeing the meteor shower to some degree. It turns out the source of the smoke was the fire that has been burning NE of Santa Barbara. Surprising how the air currents move things around
While I was taking in the sunrise, one of the sights I got to enjoy was the unusual cloud patterns the updrafts on the east side create. One was backlit in such a way it looked like the letter “Q”.
Rock Creek must be an example of a mircro-climate. It was the only place where I found any abundance of wildflowers. The trip from Rock Creek to Sonora Pass was very sparse and dry. Not much from Sonora Pass to Jamestown either.
Time for the trip was about 8 hours, though it must be taken with the understanding that there were lots of breaks along the way.
Life is rather dead here in Jamestown. The Jamestown Hotel is up for sale. The restaurant and bar are closed. I wonder what the future holds for this place?

Wildflower in Rock Creek Canyon:

1. Hooker’s primrose
2. Sticky poppy
3. Wandering daisy
4. Skyrocket/scarlet gillia
5. Gentian
6. Paintbrush
7. Yarrow
8. Common monkeyflower
9. Monk’s hood
10. Lupine
11. Alpine goldenrod
12. Pennyroyal

Bishop Canyon, eastern Sierra

Gentian, Rock Creek Canyon

McGee Canyon, eastern Sierra

8/15/07

Quartz/Gold sample, Sonora, CA

Summary of the prospecting portion of the trip:

Josh Vick has had a very busy summer season. It turns out his operation was featured on the Travel Channel, and since then he has had almost more business than he can handle. For example, on my first day there were nine other people, and on the second day there were ten. We were in some productive areas, and both groups were pretty compatable so everyone got some decent gold. On the second Josh felt we were working some ground that had not been worked in a very long time, if ever. We found several “clinker” sized pieces, enough for everyone to get at least one. Josh also took care of me by giving me some samples of gold embedded in native rock, and a baggie of crusted granite ore.