Panorama of Mount Shasta from Castle Crag, Siskiyou County, ca.1900-1940

Photograph of a view of Mount Shasta from Castle Crag, Siskiyou County, ca.1900-1940. Sparsely scattered trees and shrubs cover the rocky mountain areas in the foreground. A dense forest cover the shorter mountain area between Castle Crag and Mount Shasta. Mount Shasta, covered in snow, can be seen in the distance.; "Mount Shasta is located in the Cascade Range in northern California about 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of the Oregon-California border and about midway between the Pacific Coast and the Nevada border. One of the largest and highest of the Cascade volcanoes, snowclad Mount Shasta is near the southern end of the range that terminates near Lassen Peak. Mount Shasta is a massive compound stratovolcano composed of overlapping cones centered at four or more main vents; it was constructed during a period of more than 100,000 years." -- unknown author.; "The Castle Crags Wilderness was established in 1984 with the passage of the California Wilderness Act. This 10,500 acre addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System contains towering spires, steep-sided canyons, and a few alpine lakes. Most of the area is covered by high brushfields and rocky outcrops with a few wet meadows in the creek headwaters. Mixed conifer forests can be found on the north, east and west facing slopes. For thousands of years, the Indians living around the base of Castle Crags regarded this formation with awe and superstition, rarely if ever venturing up into its heights. After a few years of gold rush in the 1850's, the relationship between miners and Indians strained to a breaking point. The result was the 1855 Battle of Castle Crags, which marked the beginning of the long and drawn-out Modoc War. The primary location of this battle was at the very northwest end of the Crags between what is now known as Battle Rock and Castle Lake. By 1886, construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad through the Sacramento River canyon was completed, resulting in extensive lumber and mining operations. Chromium mines were operating as late as the 1950's in one part of the Castle Crags. Today none are operational, and most mines have been swallowed up by the re-emerging wilderness. In 1933, concerned citizens succeeded in acquiring much of the land that became the Castle Crags State Park." -- unknown author