Cortes

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

an arm of the Pacific Ocean, separating Lower California from the Mexican mainland. It is 700 miles in length and varies in width from 40 to 100 miles. There is but little navigation carried on there. On the W. coast are pearl fisheries. The gulf was discovered by Cortes, and for some time was called after him. The river Colorado empties into the N. extremity. The principal ports are San Felipe, San José, and La Paz on the W. shore, and Mazatlán, and Guaymas on the E. shore. CALIFORNIA, LOWER, a territory of Mexico, comprising a peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean, and separated from the mainland throughout its entire length by the Gulf of California. It is nearly 800 miles in length, and from 30 to 120 miles wide; area 58,328 square miles. It is largely mountainous and arid, but possesses valuable agricultural and mineral resources. The chief towns are Ensenada de Todos, Santos, and La Paz, the capital. Pop. about 55,000, of whom perhaps a half are Indians. CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF, a non-sectarian coeducational seat of learning in Berkeley, Cal. The undergraduate department is located at Berkeley, 9 miles from San Francisco; the astronomical department and Lick Observatory at Hamilton, Santa Clara co., and the professional schools at San Francisco. Tuition is free. The principal benefactor of the university, from 1896, was Mrs. Phœbe A. Hearst, widow of Senator Hearst. Her gifts reach millions of dollars. As a result of these and other resources of endowment, the institution has become one of the richest of American universities. In the fall of 1919 there were 5,276 men and 4,002 women enrolled as students. The teaching staff had 696 members. There were 458,000 bound volumes and 185,000 pamphlets in the library. David P. Barrows, Ph. D., professor of Political Science at the university, was elected President of the institution, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler in June, 1919.