East Coast of the United States

“ The length of the coast on the Atlantic from the northern limits of the United States around the capes of Florida to the Sabine, on the eastern boundary of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles; so that the addition of seacoast, including Oregon, is very nearly two-thirds as great as all we possessed before, and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles, being nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we possessed before these acquisitions. ”

“ The eastern coast is a rugged line of mountains, bare of all vegetation, — a continuation of the Hauran range, coming from the north, and extending south beyond the scope of vision, throwing out three marked and seemingly equidistant promontories from its south-eastern extremity. ”

“ HOW CLIMATE AND PHYSICAL FEATURES INFLUENCED THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST The story of the exploration and settlement of the Pacific coast, and of the great region lying between the Pacific slope and the Mississippi Valley, offers a most interesting opportunity to study the control which physical features of the earth exert upon the trend of men's activities. The position of the mountains, the courses of the rivers, and the character of the sea-coast have all helped to shape the history of the West. ”

“ It is hard for us to realize, now, that only sixty years ago the territory lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast was practically unknown. Try to imagine the feelings of emigrants, bound for the gold-fields of California, who have pushed into the Great Basin without knowing where to look for grass or water. They are camped by a spring of alkaline water scarcely fit to drink; their weary animals nibble at the scanty grass about the spring; far ahead stretches the pathless desert which they must cross; upon their choice of a route their very lives will depend. ”

“ The hungry ocean has gnawed and ravaged the New England coast, until along almost its entire length it is worn into ragged edges, forming islands, capes, promontories, bold headlands, peninsulas, bays, inlets and coves. In this coast are united the grand, the picturesque and the beautiful. Soft masses of foliage are in close juxtaposition with rugged rocks and dashing surf. ”

“ When an unknown land is accessible by water, the shore line offers the easiest means for the first explorations and settlements. So it came about that nearly all the eastern coast of North America was known before men ventured far into the interior. Then the large rivers, like the St. Lawrence, the Hudson, and the Mississippi, seemed to offer inviting routes into the recesses of the continent, but exploration through the pathless woods and rough mountains was slow. ”

“ At the West, although the vast numbers do not collect that congregate in the Chesapeake Bay and Currituck Inlet, there is an independence in the mode of pursuit that has a peculiar charm; and from the facilities afforded by the nature of the ground, the excellent cover furnished by the high reeds, and the immense number of single shots, the average{207} success is as great as in the more open waters of the Southern coast. ”

“ It resided almost wholly on the Atlantic coast
from Maine to Florida. Not more than five per cent of it was west of the
mountains. The line of inner settlement, now farther, now nearer, ran at
an average distance from the coast of two hundred and fifty-five miles. ”

“ A glance at a map of North America must impress one with the belief that the Pacific coast with its great extent of harbourless water-front is far less favourable to the growth or ideas, institutions, and industries than the deeply indented Atlantic shore-line. From the Isthmus of Panama to the State of Washington there is, as we have seen, but one harbour of the first class, the estuary of the Sacramento, and one of the second or third class, the estuary of the Columbia. From Puget Sound northward harbours are numberless. ”

“ Much has been written concerning the flowers, hills and climate of California, but at this time, when the world is looking toward our coast, would that more writers would reveal the thoughts that have been inspired in their minds by the sight of our great Western sea.
The prose-poem itself is a denial of the thought that the Pacific is a monotonous calm—an appreciation both of its storms and serenity written after several visits to the beach in which both moods were displayed. ”

“ In 1932 a strip of land 60 feet wide, extending east and west across the site, was deeded to the State of Delaware for roadway purposes and in 1940 about three-fourths of the site was sold including the entire northern wooded half and 2.71 acres of the southern half.
The white lighthouse tower now stands 0.3 mile inshore on the coast, the tower being 83 feet above water and the top of the lantern 87 feet above ground. A 25,000-candlepower light flashes white every 3 seconds and is visible 15 miles at sea. ”

“ In 1771 the first wooden tower at Portsmouth Harbor was built on a point of land running out into the harbor. This early colonial tower was one of the 12 lighthouses turned over to the Federal Government under the act of August 7, 1789. The original tower was replaced by another wooden tower in 1804. In 1877 this second tower was removed and a cast-iron beacon erected 1,000 feet east of the first station. This was on ground known as Newcastle. In reaching the lighthouse by land one has to pass through the “Old Fort” yard before arriving at the lighthouse reservation. ”

“ California replies that since the stated purpose of the Act was to restore the States' claims to the submerged lands within their historic boundaries which included all waters within the States' boundaries as inland waters and three miles beyond into the territorial sea, the 'coast line' or seaward edge of the 'inland waters' was to be defined in terms of what a State had historically claimed was its coastline, the line from which it had measured its boundary, by its three-mile claim to the marginal sea. ”

“ First, the mountain ranges run north and south parallel with the coast, and the natural lines of interior travel lead to the outlets through the Coast Ranges traversed by the Sacramento and the Columbia. The second and more general reason is that, owing to the warm currents in the Pacific, the portion of the west coast most favourable for a high degree of civilization is situated farther north than the similar belt on the Atlantic border. ”

“ The two sides of our great sprawling continent, the East and West, differ from each other almost as much as day differs from night. On the coast of southern California the dominant impression made upon one is of a world made up of three elements—sun, sea, and sky. The Pacific stretches away to the horizon like a vast, shining, gently undulating floor. Its waves are longer and come in more languidly than they do upon the Atlantic coast. ”

“ The whole region is crossed and recrossed by wagon roads and railways. Many mining towns are scattered through the mountains which dot the seemingly boundless expanse of desert, while in every place where water can be found there are gardens, green fields of alfalfa, and herds of cattle.
Before the year 1840 some knowledge had been acquired of the borders of the Great Basin. Trappers and explorers had crossed the Rocky Mountains and had gone down the Columbia River. There were Spanish settlements in New Mexico, Arizona, and along the coast of California. ”

“ On the west rolled the blue Pacific; on the east rose the noble Coast Range; and over all, like a celestial benediction, hung the California sky—a superb sapphire we never see East. The setting sun lit up the distant hills, as we gazed, and now clothed with crimson and gold—an ineffable glory of splendors—the snow-clad peaks, that towered to the north and east. Up there was the frozen zone, most of the year round; but down on the Plains, the balmy zephyrs of the tropics, and nature literally one wild scene of beauty and of glory. ”

“ There are practically no rocks on our Southeastern coast, so that we must imagine ourselves now somewhere in New England—let us say on the southern shore of Rhode Island. All along the north side of Long Island Sound, about Buzzards and Narragansett bays, and then from Boston Harbor right up to Labrador, the shore is rock, with many headlands, reefs, and islets, separated by shallow coves or by swift tidal runways. ”

“ We have also some notable instances on the Pacific coast, as "Cape Orford" or "Blanco;" "Cape Gregory" or "Arago;" "South Farallon" or "Southeast Farallon;" and in Alaska there are instances too numerous to mention.
In the third class of cases, the locality to which the name applies, we may cite "Isle-au-Haut" Bay and "East Penobscot" Bay, on the coast of Maine; "Hempstead" Bay, on the coast of Long Island, a bay which is almost filled with small islands, rendering it most difficult to satisfactorily define the limits; "Chincoteague" Bay, on the Jersey coast, is an instance of growth ”

“ On the Atlantic coast are cities and states, which, in commerce, in capital, and in all the productions of wealth and skill, are not far, if at all, behind those of Europe. Advancing through New York and Pennsylvania, a traveller enters the new states beyond the Alleghanies, and although Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, and Nashville are inferior to but few cities on the sea-coast, still the population is not so dense, and the country shows fewer signs of cultivation. ”

“ Notwithstanding an identity of genera has been remarked upon their opposite shores, there are, nevertheless, certain others, frequent upon the East Coast, that appear wholly wanting on the north-western shores: of these, the existence of some, even in the tropical parts of New South Wales, seems governed by the primary formation of the coast, its mountainous structure, and consequent permanency of moisture in a greater or less degree ”

“ As the Powers finally arranged it, the map of the West Coast is like a mosaic, like the edge of a badly constructed patchwork quilt. In trading along the West Coast a man can find use for five European languages, and he can use a new one at each port of call. ”

“ Such is the produce of Easter Island, or Davis's Land, which is situated in latitude 27° 5' 30" S., longitude 109° 46' 20" W. It is about ten or twelve leagues in circuit, hath a hilly and stony surface, and an iron-bound shore. The hills are of such a height as to be seen fifteen or sixteen leagues. Off the south end, are two rocky islets, lying near the shore. The north and east points of the island rise directly from the sea to a considerable height; between them and the S.E. side, the shore forms an open bay, in which I believe the Dutch anchored. ”

“ Just in front of the headland can be seen the two peaks of the mountain of Rano Raraku, from which the statues were hewn and which is the most interesting place in the island; while on a clear day there can be obtained a glimpse of the northern coast and the sea beyond.
Such is Easter Island. It bears no resemblance to the ideal lotus-eating lands of the Pacific; rather, with its bleak grass-grown surface, its wild rocks and restless ocean, it recalls some of the Scilly Isles or the coast of Cornwall. It is not a beautiful country nor even a striking one, but it has a fascination of its own. ”

“ If California ever becomes a prosperous country, this bay will be the centre of its prosperity. The abundance of wood and water; the extreme fertility of its shores; the excellence of its climate, which is as near to being perfect as any in the world; and its facilities for navigation, affording the best anchoring-grounds in the whole western coast of America,— all fit it for a place of great importance. ”

“ On the northeastern shore this bay is surrounded by high ranges of hills. At the mouth there is a luxuriant forest of live oak and another even larger at the upper end, together with a heavy growth of redwood. On the southwestern shore is a small estuary navigable only by small boats, and on the same shore two inlets in which anchorage is possible. Another, to the east, has a rancheria of Indians like those at Monterey. This coast appears to have locations very suitable for missions, although I examined them only from a distance. ”

“ Fewer and still fewer of her people return East, to spend their hard-earned fortunes; and the generation now growing up there regard the Coast as their natural home, and love it dearly. Proud of the soil and enamored of the climate, they expect great things of the future, and surely all the world should wish them well. There are no better or braver men, than our citizens there generally, and the Pacific slope is safe in their hands and brains, beyond peradventure. ”

“ The great mineral wealth of California and the advantages which its ports and harbors and those of Oregon afford to commerce, especially with the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans and the populous regions of eastern Asia, make it certain that there will arise in a few years large and prosperous communities on our western coast. ”

“ So also would the whole remaining western coast of America, from Nootka Sound to the southern extremity of Chili, be brought near to the civilized world, and become, in consequence, also peopled, cleared, and cultivated. Without such a communication is opened up, these coasts, and states upon them, can scarcely ever be brought to this state, but to which it is most desirable for the general interests of the world, and of the human race in it, that they should be brought. ”

“ The eastern coast, in particular, is provided with little more than a few imperfectly protected roadsteads. The southern portion of the west coast is distinguished by a series of back-waters, or lagoons, parallel with the coast, and affording a safe and convenient waterway for small vessels when the season of high winds makes the ocean unnavigable. ”