RCG-I Seasonal Salon Fall Equinox 2006

California: A Captive Princess

I am not an Environmentalist, nor am I an Activist. My understanding of the Environmental issues that we currently face is probably average. I am, however, so much in love with all the faces of Mother Earth.

I feel like I have been living the “California Dreamin” illusion the Mamas & the Papas sang to me in the 60’s. Disneyland and Hollywood tourism account for visible income. This beautiful Earth seemed untouchable and too vast to be spoiled by commercialism.

My partner & I recently left the Hollywood/Los Angeles area and moved further north into the glorious mountain and high desert range of Kern County. It’s a radical change of scenery.

The geological diversity here is impressive and so vast it seems like an endless vista. From ancient volcanoes & pre-Columbian etchings in the desert to active earthquakes countywide, Mother Earth tells many stories.

You see oil rigs everywhere and many roads off the 5 freeway are named for old mines. Some old rickety wood mine fronts are active. I saw evidence of strip mining on hills or mountains; whole industries with huge movement of the natural rocks poured into trucks that load onto trains or ships for world-wide delivery. They are so far off the freeway that you can almost miss seeing them.

My natural instinct for research took over and I decided to look into the mining industry here in this state. The most well known is Gold Rush of 1849.

What I learned about the Gold Rush, is that it didn’t last long except in California legend. Reality of the era is that more people lived and died in poverty and despair than ever struck it rich. The Earth herself was ripped into viciously and without much thought.

Something else about the mining for gold that most of us may not realize is that it was an era filled with racism and violence against people of color whether they were Asian or Native American. Men’s spirits were broken with their dreams and they viciously lashed out on defenseless others.

Historical references to women of the era cite that the gender role of respectable women, who were considered the wives and sweethearts, was to remain back east. Eventually women did move west, and experienced amazing personal growth and the expansion of opportunities to make their own livelihood.

For instance, a woman named Mary Jane Megquire sold pies, opened a boarding house and ran a catering service. Eliza Farham worked as a matron in the women’s section of SingSing Prison before becoming a writer and feminist. Respectable women served meals, washed laundry, and also were entertainers. It was an opportunity for them to make considerable money.

In the beginning of the Gold Rush, one man could pan the rivers & creeks for gold, & then in order to see more of the flow to find the gold, it took two men to handle what was called a Rocking Tom that washed gravel.

Suddenly a whole industry was born in California. More men were required to dam or divert rivers, to build sluices and construct aqueducts. Obviously, a few owned the best of the land & employed the majority to work it.

Mining in California developed beyond panning for gold and became something different as it turned to dry mining of quartz. High pressure hoses were used to wash whole hillsides. Hydraulic mining employed hundreds of men as it continued to destroy the environment.

By the mid 1850’s, it was said that California had become somewhat of a captive princess. Bandits cut off her hands to steal the rings on her fingers. Whole mountains were washed away. Debris and silt clogged the rivers and creeks of the Mother Lode.

Despite falling gold prices, gold companies dominate the state's metallic mineral production. Gold makes up about 98% of the total value of metallic minerals produced in California. Other metallic minerals produced include silver, iron, mercury & ilmenite. All of the iron produced in 1998 was used in the production of portland cement. All silver and mercury were byproducts of gold production.

By 1869, over 47,863 men were employed in mining which had become CA’s leading economy. Eventually those numbers dropped to less than 11,000 when the invention of machines replaced manual laborers.

It was no longer just about mining gold, even though there are still approximately 820 active mines in the state.

Construction sand and gravel became California’s leading industrial mineral with a total value of $1.27 billion produced each year. In 2005, California ranked second among the states in non-fuel mineral production, accounting for approximately 7% of the US total.

California is the only producer of boron, rare earth concentrates, asbestos and tungsten. The state continues to lead the nation in the production of sand and gravel, portland cement, diatomite and natural sodium sulfate.

Whole mountainsides are once again or still being washed or cut down in a manner that is almost invisible. This activity is far enough away from tourism and conscious eyes. Where do we think our gravel, stones and sand come from? As an average person, I admit to never giving thought to road construction, or cement blocks or simple rocks for landscape decoration as coming from anywhere. It is out of sight and out of mind. Someone is taking care of it for me.

There is one very visible industry here.

Just before you come into the Tehachapi-Mohave area, you will see thousands of wind turbines that resemble airplane propellers on top of steel towers capturing wind. Here, outside our new hometown, is one of the world’s largest producers of wind-generated electricity.

Its interesting to learn that there has been some opposition to the installation of these windmills because they destroy the natural horizon of the mountains. And when they are in full motion, you almost lose your ability to focus on driving the curving mountain freeway they are so mesmerizing.

What a difference these two industries in California make on the environment. Mining clearly strips the princess of her jewels and the windmills add to her natural resources.

Wind energy produces about 1.5% of the state’s total electricity or enough to light up San Francisco. The state hopes to see those numbers rise to 15% in five years. It is the most cost effective and environmentally safe of all renewable sources of energy.

I see the princess California dancing in the Wind here. Mother Earth must be smiling too.

Bibliography:

California, Kevin Starr, Random House, Inc. NY. 2005

Life During the Goldrush, Victoria Sherrow, Lucent Books, 1998

The California Trail to Gold in American History, Carl R. Green, Carl R. Green Books, 2000

Winds of Change: A Look at Tehachapi’s Wind Industry, from the Tehachapi News, June 21, 2006

Women of the West, Cathy Luchetti, Antelope Island, Press, 1982