Burrough Valley facts for kids

Burrough Valley, also known as Burr Valley, is a small valley in California. It's located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, about 30 miles northeast of Fresno. The valley sits about 1,600 feet (490 m) above sea level and covers around 4,000 acres (16 km²).

Nature in Burrough Valley

Rocks and Land

The rocks in Burrough Valley tell an amazing story! They include both igneous rocks (formed from cooled lava) and sedimentary rocks (formed from layers of sediment). Many rocks here have also changed a lot due to metamorphosis. This happened because of frequent earthquakes and powerful movements of the Earth's crust.

Long, long ago, parts of the valley were ancient sea floor. Over millions of years, these pieces were pushed and changed by tectonic activity. You can find light-colored rocks like leucogranite and darker ones like gabbro. Quartzite and feldspar are also common. Serpentinite, California's state rock, is found here too. Some gold was even mined in nearby areas like Watts Valley, but it wasn't a huge amount.

Climate and Plants

Burrough Valley has a mostly dry climate. It usually gets about 20-25 inches (50-64 cm) of rain each year. However, this can change a lot, from less than 10 inches (250 mm) to more than 40 inches (1,000 mm).

The area is covered by central oak woodland, grasslands, and chaparral. Common trees in the valley include the valley oak, blue oak, and interior live oak. Along the streams, you'll find willows, cottonwoods, and white-barked sycamores.

On sunny, south-facing hillsides, there are patches of buck brush (Ceanothus) and scattered oak trees. North-facing hillsides are often thicker with manzanita, poison oak, live oak, California buckeye (Aesculus californica), and more buck brush. In spring, especially after wet winters, many wildflowers bloom. These include the bright California poppy, Mariposa lily, and different kinds of lupin and brodiaea.

Animals and Birds

Burrough Valley is home to many animals and birds. You might see black-tailed deer, mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes. Smaller animals include cottontails, gray squirrels, California ground squirrels, and many rodents. Wild pigs arrived in the 1980s.

Reptiles living here include the northern Pacific rattlesnake, gopher snake, two types of king snake, garter snake, northern alligator lizard, western fence lizard, skink, and whiptail lizard.

Amphibians in the area are tree frogs, California newts, several kinds of salamanders, toads, and the American bull frog. The bullfrog was brought here in the 1800s. The foothill yellow-legged frog used to be common but is now rare.

Many birds fly over and live in the valley. Golden eagles sometimes soar high above. Red-tailed hawks are often seen riding warm air currents. Other birds of prey include Cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, merlins, and kestrels. Turkey vultures are here most of the year but fly south in winter.

Common birds include crows, meadow larks, mourning doves, starlings, scrub jays, Steller’s jays, blackbirds, sparrows, towhees, western bluebirds, and humming birds. Wild turkeys, introduced in the 1960s, are now common. Band-tailed pigeons visit in fall and winter to eat acorns. The most common bird is probably the acorn woodpecker, known for its loud calls. Other woodpeckers include the red-shafted flicker and downy woodpecker. California valley quail are also common, with their distinct "chi-ca-GO!" call.

People of Burrough Valley

Early People

People have lived in the Burrough Valley area for perhaps 15,000 years! Very early people, called paleo-Indians, hunted large animals like the giant short-faced bear here. They left behind special spear points called Clovis points.

More recently, Native American tribes like the Yokuts (specifically the Casson or Gashowu tribes) and Western Mono tribes lived here. Some Mono people still live nearby on the Cold Springs Rancheria. The Mono people began living here about 600 years ago. They would cross the Sierra Nevada mountains to trade with the Yokuts. A very important food for these Native Americans was the acorn. You can still see bedrock mortars in rocks, which were used to grind acorns.

Gold Rush and Early Settlers

The first non-Native American settlers arrived in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush. Among them were Colonel Henry Burrough, who the valley is named after, and Henry Rivercombe. They came from Millerton, a gold-mining town. They might have been looking for gold in Burrough Valley, as small amounts were found here. A large mining camp called Sycamore Diggins even grew nearby in the early 1860s.

By 1870, Burrough and Rivercombe had left. The valley's story then became linked to nearby Tollhouse, which grew because of a toll road built to transport timber.

Timber and Railroads

In the 1870s, the area began to shift from mining to cutting timber. This was partly due to the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Santa Fe Railroads. When Leland Stanford placed a train station in Fresno in 1872, it helped Fresno grow quickly. The wood to build Fresno came from Pine Ridge, and until 1894, it all passed through Tollhouse. Many mill workers lived in Burrough Valley when they weren't working on Pine Ridge.

Seventh-day Adventists

Many settlers also came to Burrough Valley because of the Seventh-day Adventist church. In the 1870s, a leader named Ellen G. White told her followers to move to rural areas. Many Adventists came to Burrough Valley. Ellen G. White herself bought property here in 1888. She lived in the valley for a short time and said it was "a delightful place, with a good climate."

Stores and Post Offices

In the early days, Burrough Valley had two general stores that also served as post offices. The first was owned by Chester C. Burnett, starting in the 1870s. Later, Harry E. Spence and his wife Lutie opened another one in 1899. The post office closed in 1917. With cars becoming more common, people could travel further for supplies and mail.

Ranching and Today

In the 1890s, many people left Burrough Valley to join the farming boom in the San Joaquin Valley. The area then shifted to cattle ranching. Cattle ranching was the main business until the 1970s. Rising costs and low beef prices made it hard for ranchers to continue, so they began selling their land.

Today, Burrough Valley has become a community for people who are retired or who work in Fresno and other nearby cities. The population is now about 1,000 people.

Images for kids

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  A Clovis point, a type of spearhead used by early people in the valley.