Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a 1, 210-mile National Park Service unit in the United States National Historic Trail and National Millennium Trail programs. The trail route extends from Nogales on the U. S. -Mexico border in Arizona, through the California desert and coastal areas in Southern California and the Central Coast region to San Francisco. The friendly Quechan Indians they encountered there were growing most of their food using irrigation systems and had already imported pottery, wheat, the Pueblo de Los Angeles would be established in 1781 by eleven families recruited mostly from Sonora y Sinaloa Province. It took Anza about 74 days to do this initial reconnaissance trip to establish a route into California. The return trip only took 23 days as he now had found a trail with sufficient water to land access to California possible. On the Gila river he encountered several villages of Pima Indians. These were a peaceful and populous tribe with extensive crops. In Anza’s second trip he returned to California via the Gila River path he had discovered with 240 friars and they took 695 horses and mules,385 Texas Longhorn bulls and cows with them —starting the cattle and horse industry in California.
In California the cattle and horses had few enemies and plentiful grass in all but drought years and essentially grew and they started from Tubac Arizona on October 22,1775 and arrived at San Francisco Bay on March 28,1776. Both these pueblos and missions were on the California side of the Colorado River near the mouth of the Gila River but were administered by the Arizona authorities, the settlement of Los Angeles, California involved two groups totaling 44 persons including 22 children. They passed through the new missions on the Colorado River, Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción, the group arrived at the Colorado River in June 1781. Rivera y Moncada sent most of his party ahead, but he stayed behind to rest the livestock before continuing their drive across the desert and his party would never reach San Gabriel. In July Rivera was killed along with the missionaries, settlers. The Quechan and Mojave Indians rose up against the party for encroaching on their farmlands, included in the casualties were Fernando Rivera y Moncada military commander and former governor of California and Father Francisco Garcés founder of the missions on the Colorado River.
In four well supported punitive expeditions in 1782 and 1783 against the Quechans the Spanish managed to gather their dead and ransom nearly all the prisoners, the Yuma Crossing and the Anza trail were closed for Spanish traffic and it would stay closed till the late 1820s. California was nearly isolated again from land based travel, about the only way into California from Mexico would now be a 40- to 60-day voyage by sea. The goal of the 1775–1776 trip was to establish a mission, the trail was an attempt to ease the course of Spanish colonization of California by establishing a major land route north for many to follow. It was used for five years before being closed by the Quechan Indians in 1781
Alta California
Alta California, founded in 1769 by Gaspar de Portolà, was a polity of New Spain and after the Mexican War of Independence in 1822, a territory of Mexico. The region included all of the states of California and Utah. Large areas east of the Sierra Nevada and San Gabriel Mountains were claimed to be part of Alta California, to the southeast, beyond the deserts and the Colorado River, lay the Spanish settlements in Arizona. The areas formerly comprising Alta California were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War in 1848, two years later, California joined the union as the 31st state. Other parts of Alta California became all or part of the U. S. states of Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. The Spanish explored the area of Alta California by sea beginning in the 16th century. During the following two centuries there were plans to settle the area, none of which were effectively carried out. Ultimately, New Spain did not have the resources nor population to settle such a far northern outpost.
To ascertain the Russian threat a number of Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest were launched, the Spanish Crown funded the construction and subsidized the operation of the missions, with the goal that the relocation and enforced labor of Native people would bolster Spanish rule. The first Alta California mission and presidio were established by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra, the following year,1770, the second mission and presidio were founded in Monterey. In 1773 a boundary between the Baja California missions and the Franciscan missions of Alta California was set by Francisco Palóu, the missionary effort coincided with the construction of presidios and pueblos, which were to be manned and populated by Hispanic people. The first pueblo founded was San José in 1777, followed by Los Ángeles in 1781, by law, mission land and property were to pass to the indigenous population after a period of about ten years, when the natives would become Spanish subjects. In the interim period, the Franciscans were to act as mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Native residents, the transfer of property never occurred under the Franciscans.
As the number of Spanish settlers grew in Alta California, the boundaries, conflicts between the Crown and the Church and between Natives and settlers arose. State and ecclesiastical bureaucrats debated over authority of the missions and they advocated that the Natives owned property and had the right to defend it. Governor Diego de Borica is credited with defining Alta and Baja Californias official borders, Mexico won independence in 1822, and Alta California became a territory of Mexico. The Spanish and Mexican governments rewarded retired soldados de cuera with large grants, known as ranchos, for the raising of cattle. Hides and tallow from the livestock were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century, the construction and domestic work on these vast estates was primarily done by Native Americans, who had learned to speak Spanish and ride horses
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County, United States, and home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116, the Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,010,025 as of the 2010 Census. Tucson is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor, the city is located 108 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi north of the U. S. –Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the United States, Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson include Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Midvale Park, Tanque Verde, towns outside the Tucson metro area include Benson to the southeast and Oracle to the north, and Green Valley to the south.
The Spanish name of the city, Tucsón, is derived from the Oodham Cuk Ṣon, meaning base of the black, Tucson is sometimes referred to as The Old Pueblo. Tucson was probably first visited by Paleo-Indians, known to have been in southern Arizona about 12,000 years ago, recent archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River have located a village site dating from 2100 BC. The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural Period and these people constructed irrigation canals and grew corn and other crops while gathering wild plants and hunting. The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson saw the first extensive use of vessels for cooking. The groups designated as the Hohokam lived in the area from AD600 to 1450 and are known for their vast irrigation canal systems and their red-on-brown pottery. Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692, a separate Convento settlement was founded downstream along the Santa Cruz River, near the base of what is now A mountain.
Hugo OConor, the father of the city of Tucson, Arizona authorized the construction of a military fort in that location, Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. During the Spanish period of the presidio, attacks such as the Second Battle of Tucson were repeatedly mounted by Apaches, eventually the town came to be called Tucson and became a part of Sonora after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Tucson was not included in the Mexican Cession and Cookes road through Tucson became one of the important routes into California during the California Gold Rush, south of the Gila River, was obtained via treaty from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase on June 8,1854. Tucson became a part of the United States of America, although the American military did not formally take control until March 1856. In 1857, Tucson became a station on the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line. The Overland Mail Corporation attempted to continue running, following the Bascom Affair, devastating Apache attacks on the stations, from August 1861 to mid-1862, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory, the eastern capital being Mesilla.
In 1862, the California Column drove the Confederate forces out of Arizona and all of what is now Arizona were part of New Mexico Territory until 1863, when they became part of the new Arizona Territory
California Current
It is considered an Eastern boundary current due to the influence of the North American coastline on its course. It is one of five major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones, the others being the Humboldt Current, the Canary Current, the Benguela Current, and the Somali Current. The California Current is part of the North Pacific Gyre, a large swirling current that occupies the northern basin of the Pacific. For example, Half Moon Bay at 37 degrees latitude has no month with a high above 67 °F. Additionally, extensive upwelling of colder sub-surface waters occurs, caused by the northwesterly winds acting through the Ekman Effect. The winds drive surface water to the right of the flow, that is offshore. The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current and this is the mechanism that produces Californias characteristic coastal fog and the negative temperature anomaly measured in Californias coastal waters during summer. This translates into cold coastal waters during the summer, stretching from Oregon to Baja California and this does not include the coastal water surrounding San Diego, where a warm water anomaly occurs.
The cold water is highly due to the upwelling, which brings to the surface nutrient-rich sediments, supporting large populations of whales, seabirds. Winds of the direction and strength to induce upwelling are more prevalent in the presence of Eastern boundary currents. Phytoplankton production is increased in these areas because the nutrient-rich water lying below the pycnocline is relatively close to the surface and is thus easily upwelled. Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in 2011 that the surface temperature of the water at Scripps Pier has increased by almost 3 degrees since 1950. The Bakun upwelling index is based on a 20-year average of the monthly mean Ekman transport for different regions off the California coast and it ranges from 300 meters-cubed/second to −212 meters-cubed/second. There is year-round upwelling off Southern Californias coast, but it is strongest in the summer months, off the coast of Oregon and Washington, there is forceful downwelling in the winter months, and upwelling in the region is restricted to the months of April through September.
Primary production is a topic of interest among those who study the California Current, in their study and Venrick found great variability in both biomass and the productivity of phytoplankton in the California Current. The differences observed by Hayward and Venrick in carbon-fixation rates show the nature of the California Current. Several studies have investigated the carbon flow from primary production to the fish stocks which depend on the California Current. Lasker described powerful jets and squirts off northern and central California and these jets and squirts move large quantities of cold, nutrient rich water offshore
Viceroy
A viceroy /ˈvaɪs. rɔɪ/ is a regal official who runs a country, city, province, or sub-national state, in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning in the place of, a viceroys territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjectival form is viceregal, less often viceroyal, the term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more used to indicate a viceroys wife. The title was used by the Crown of Aragon, where beginning in the 14th century, it referred to the Spanish governors of Sardinia. In Europe, until the 18th century, the Habsburg crown appointed viceroys of Aragon, Catalonia, Portugal, Sicily, with the ascension of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, the historic Aragonese viceroyalties were replaced by new captaincies general. At the end of War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish monarchy was shorn of its Italian possessions and these Italian territories, continued to have viceroys under their new rulers for some time, Sardinia would have a viceroy until 1848.
These large administrative territories became known as Viceroyalties, New viceroyalties were created for New Granada in 1717 and the Río de la Plata in 1776. These units gathered the local provinces which could be governed by either a crown official, audiencias primarily functioned as superior judicial tribunals, but unlike their European counterparts, the New World audiencias were granted by law both administrative and legislative powers. The Bourbon Reforms introduced the new office of the intendant, which was appointed directly by the crown and had broad fiscal and administrative powers in political and military issues. The government started six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, in 1505, however the post was centered by governor Afonso de Albuquerque, who became plenipotentiary, and remained so. The duration in office was three years, possibly longer, given the power represented, of the thirty-four governors of India in the 16th century. After the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, the governors of Brazil that were members of the Portuguese high nobility started to use the title of Viceroy.
Brazil became a permanent Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, the designation Viceroy, although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. The Governor-General continued to be the representative of the Crown. The viceroys reported directly to the Secretary of State for India in London and were advised by the Council of India, alongside the Commander-in-Chief, the viceroy was the public face of the British presence in India, attending to many ceremonial functions as well as political affairs. During the offices history, the Governors-General of India were based in two cities, Calcutta during the 19th century and New Delhi during the 20th century, whilst Calcutta was the capital of British India, the viceroys spent the summer months at Simla. The two historic residences of the viceroys still stand, the Viceroys House in New Delhi and Government House in Calcutta and they are used today as the official residences of the President of India and the Governor of West Bengal, respectively
Arizona
Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Nevada and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments.
To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See lists of counties, rivers, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau.
Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
San Diego
San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union.
The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra.
By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
Salinas Valley
The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive agricultural regions in California. Located within Monterey County, it is west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay, the Salinas Valley is famously mentioned in John Steinbecks novels. The Salinas River, which formed the fluvial valley and generated its human history, flows to the northwest or up along the principal axis. The valley was named during the late 18th-century Spanish colonial Alta California period, the seasonal Salinas River had brackish tule ponds in broad depressed areas, and more salinity during summer and drought lowered flows. The valley runs in a southeast to northwest alignment, John Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men was set in the Salinas Valley, with the valley providing the backdrop for some of his most famous novels. The Salinas Valley runs approximately 90 miles southeast from the Salinas River mouth near Castroville and Salinas towards King City, the valley lends its name to the geologic province in which it is located, the Salinian Block.
Cities and populated places in the Salinas Valley include Bradley, Chualar, Greenfield, King City, San Ardo, San Lucas and Spreckels. The Salinas Valley is located in between the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountain ranges, which border the Salinas Valley to the east and the west, respectively. It lies between two ranges and Santa Lucia Before colonization, the valley was inhabited by indigenous Salinans who lived by hunting and gathering. The commercial farming sector of the Dustbowl era forms the backdrop for several John Steinbeck stories including East of Eden, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, The Chrysanthemums, and Johnny Bear. At a railroad crossing about one mile south of Chualar, a bus carrying Mexican migrant workers collided with a train in September 1963, killing 32 passengers and injuring 25. It was the most serious accident in U. S. history. The portion of U. S. Route 101 where the accident occurred was named Bracero Memorial Highway at the 50th anniversary of the accident in 2013, at that time two survivors of the crash were still alive.
Agriculture dominates the economy of the valley, promoters call the Salinas Valley the Salad Bowl of the World for the production of lettuce, broccoli and numerous other crops. The climate and long growing season are ideal for the flower industry, in particular, a large majority of the salad greens consumed in the U. S. are grown within this region. Strawberries, lettuce and spinach are the dominant crops in the valley, other crops include broccoli, wine grapes, and celery. Due to the intensity of agriculture, the area has earned itself the nickname Americas Salad Bowl. Salinas Valley is an important viticultural area, three American Viticultural Association American Viticultural Area domains are located within Salinas Valley, the Arroyo Seco AVA, the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, and the Monterey AVA
Native Americans in the United States
In the United States, Native Americans are people descended from the Pre-Columbian indigenous population of the land within the countrys modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of distinct tribes and ethnic groups. Most Native American groups had historically preserved their histories by oral traditions and artwork, at the time of first contact, the indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some of the Northeastern and Southwestern cultures in particular were matrilineal, the majority of Indigenous American tribes maintained their hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire tribe. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. Assimilation became a consistent policy through American administrations, during the 19th century, the ideology of manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement.
Expansion of European-American populations to the west after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native American lands and this resulted in the ethnic cleansing of many tribes, with the brutal, forced marches coming to be known as The Trail of Tears. As American expansion reached into the West and miner migrants came into increasing conflict with the Great Basin, Great Plains and these were complex nomadic cultures based on horse culture and seasonal bison hunting. Over time, the United States forced a series of treaties and land cessions by the tribes, in 1924, Native Americans who were not already U. S. citizens were granted citizenship by Congress. Contemporary Native Americans have a relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial, by comparison, the indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations. It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and these early inhabitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes.
The archaeological periods used are the classifications of archaeological periods and cultures established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips 1958 book Method and they divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, see Archaeology of the Americas. The Clovis culture, a hunting culture, is primarily identified by use of fluted spear points. Artifacts from this culture were first excavated in 1932 near Clovis, the Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and appeared in South America. The culture is identified by the distinctive Clovis point, a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute, dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B. P, other tribes have stories that recount migrations across long tracts of land and a great river, believed to be the Mississippi River.
Genetic and linguistic data connect the people of this continent with ancient northeast Asians
Sonora
Sonora, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Sonora, is one of 31 states that, with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities, the city is Hermosillo. Sonora is located in Northwest Mexico, bordered by the states of Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the northwest and Sinaloa to the south. To the north, it shares the U. S. –Mexico border with the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and on the west has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California. Sonoras natural geography is divided into three parts, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state and rolling hills in the center, and the coast on the Gulf of California. It is primarily arid or semiarid deserts and grasslands, with only the highest elevations having sufficient rainfall to support other types of vegetation, Sonora is home to eight indigenous peoples, including the Mayo, the Yaqui, and Seri. It has been important for its agriculture and mining since the colonial period.
With the Gadsden Purchase, Sonora lost more than a quarter of its territory, from the 20th century to the present, industry and agribusiness have dominated the economy, attracting migration from other parts of Mexico. Several theories exist as to the origin of the name Sonora and they encountered the Opata, who could not pronounce Señora, instead saying Senora or Sonora. A third theory, written by Father Cristóbal de Cañas in 1730, states that the name comes from the word for a water well, sonot. The first record of the name Sonora comes from explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Francisco de Ibarra traveled through the area in 1567 and referred to the Valles de Señora. Evidence of human existence in the dates back over 10,000 years. The first humans were hunter gatherers who used tools made from stones, seashells. During much of the period, the environmental conditions were less severe than they are today, with similar. The oldest Clovis culture site in North America is believed to be El Fin del Mundo in northwestern Sonora and it was discovered during a 2007 survey.
It features occupation dating around 13,390 calibrated years BP, in 2011, remains of Gomphothere were found, the evidence suggests that humans did in fact kill two of them here. Agriculture first appeared around 400 BCE and 200 CE in the river valleys, the lowland central coast, seems never truly to have adopted agriculture. Because Sonora and much of the northwest does not share many of the traits of that area
Lake Merced
Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco, in the U. S. state of California. The San Francisco Police Department shooting range, as well as a shooting club. The lake is home of the Pacific Rowing Club and St. Ignatius College Prep Rowing Team, Lake Merced was originally christened Laguna de Nuestra Señora de la Merced by Captain Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775. The most probable cause of the shock was attributed to heavy rains forcing a passage through the sandbank at the north-west, the Lake is reported to have lost 30 feet of water. A map from 1881 shows that the Lake still had a passage to sea,29 years later, by purchasing all local supply, the company created a monopoly on San Franciscos water. It was not until 1908, when the city approved construction of OShaughnessy Dam creating the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, that the city gained municipal control. Prior to the construction of the dam, Lake Merced was to serve as the main reservoir.
Around this time, Spring Valley sold off some of its land on Lake Merced, in 1940, Metropolitan Life bought the last of Spring Valleys land to build the Parkmerced apartment complex. Lake Merced at one time directly flowed into the ocean, the lake is fed by an underground spring, and at one time it did have an outlet to the ocean as shown on an 1869 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Map. The salt level was always fluctuating, and therefore some species of fish inhabit the lake are salt. There is active recreational fishing at the lake, the lakes water level had been shrinking for decades, endangering the historic role of Lake Merced to support a healthy ecosystem. Due to better management of the aquifer and occasional additions of water, on September 13,1859, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court David S. Terry killed United States Senator David C. Broderick in a duel at the lake
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