It is the purpose of this chapter to present some of the vital truths about northern California, its climate, soil, resources, and general characteristics. The truth is more remarkable than any Aladdin-like tales that might be woven from the author’s imagination. This is perhaps the reason that the early legends that reached Spain attributed supernatural powers to the women of this land, which was supposed to be a living Eden, a sort of fulfillment of Shakespeare’s picture of fairyland, as portrayed in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The truth was added to by the early navigators until none could say where fiction and fact were blended.