ive, the Russians in 1839 began to consider
the question of giving up their post. They finally sold everything
at Ross and Bodega, except the land, to Sutter, an American who
had acquired a large ranch and established a post or fort at the
mouth of the American River. In 1841 the Russians sailed away,
never to return. The Spaniards were greatly relieved when this
happened, for they had not known how to get rid of their unwelcome
neighbors peaceably, and were reluctant to stir up trouble with
Russia.

The stockade at Fort Ross has entirely disappeared, but two blockhouses,
the little chapel, and the officers' quarters remain as the Russians
left them.

Fort Ross is now-a pleasant, quiet hamlet. A store and a farm-house
have been added to the old buildings. Behind the sloping meadows
rise the partly wooded hills, while in front lies the little bay
where once the boats of the Russian and Aleut seal hunters moved
to and fro. Occasionally a small schooner visits the cove for the
purpose of loading wood or tan-bark for the San Francisco market.

[Illustration: FIG. 72.--RUSSIAN BLOCKHOUSE, FORT ROSS]

Fort Ross was never marked by serious strife and seems destined to
go on in its quiet way. The blockhouses are rotting and beginning
to lean with age, and in time all evidences of the once formidable
Russian post will have disappeared.

DEATH VALLEY

To most of us Death Valley is thought of only as a mysterious region
somewhere in the Southwest, a place which we are accustomed to
picture to ourselves as being the embodiment of everything that
is desolate and lifeless,--a region where there is no water, where
there are no living things, simply bare rocks and sand upon which
the sun beats pitilessly and over which the scorching winds blow
in clouds of dust. The reality is hardly so bad as this, for there
are living things in the valley, and water may occasionally be
found. Nevertheless it is a fearful spot in summer, and has become
the final resting place of many wanderers in these desert regions,
who having drunk all their water failed to find more.

We have already learned something about the Great Basin: we know
that it is made up of vast desert plains or valleys, separated by
a few partly isolated mountain ranges. The valleys are peculiar
in that they are basins without outlets, and for this reason are
known as sinks. Many of the lakes once occupying the valleys are
now quite or nearly dry, and the lower portio