Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Why Not Another Helping of God's Country?

In the northern part of California's Central Valley, about halfway between Sacramento and Redding is this island in a sea of flat farm fields. Sutter Buttes is often called the smallest mountain range in the world. If you look it up on a map, you will see that it's a pretty accurate description. I have always been fascinated by Sutter Buttes, and I every time I drive north from Sacramento, there they are off of I5 in the distance. I recently read something interesting about its history. Before the white man came and leveed the Sacramento River and drained the Valley to make way for farm fields, the Central Valley would flood every winter. The Indians who lived in the Valley would evacuate to the Buttes as they were the only high ground for miles around. In March of this year, the fetching Mrs. Chanman and my infant son went for a little day trip to Sutter Buttes to check them out. The funny thing about Sutter Buttes is that they are all privately owned. Only a few months ago did California get a chance to buy a part of the land so it can be turned into a state park, and the landowners within the Buttes are fighting the sale tooth and nail. The saving grace is that there is a public highway that cuts right through the middle of the Buttes. It was along this highway that I took the photo on the bottom. So the hill you see in that photo is just one small part of the entire range. Once we exited the Buttes, I took the long shot from the highway that circumvents the Buttes. That of course would be the photo on the top. There is a golf course within Sutter Buttes that I would love to play. If that catches your interest, here is the course's website.

Good Day to You, Sir

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have always found the Sutter Buttes to be quite beautiful. Driving from the Sacramento area to Red Bluff on Hwy 99, you get to see the backside of this range, which shows more of their dimensions and size. Although I have never been any closer than Hwy 99 or I5 to them, I have always been fascinated. My husband actually played a round of golf at the course that you referenced and he said it was absolutely beautiful. Thank you for the bit of history on this piece of California. T