A Shining Valley - The Great Desert Lake in California

[Planita13]

by Planita

The Republic of California in 2019​

This thread would be depository for the various maps, wikipages, wikiboxes, and graphics for my Gran Lago timeline. Yes this will work like @Kanan's excellent TL on this forum too.

For a bit of backstory. So there is a region called the Salton Sink in Southern California where a rather large region sits below sea level. Right now it contains the much smaller Salton Sea which was created by accident in the early 20th century, when some workers accidentally redirected the entire flow of the Colorado River into the region. Now its a rather stinky mess as the water slowly dries up leaving behind harmful dust, lots of dead fish, and a big political problem. However in the past the Colorado River once flowed directly into the Sink, forming a large prehistoric lake known as Lake Cahuilla.

The basic premise of my timeline is what if the lake still existed today? The divergences that this lake creates affects California, the United States, and the world, making it a much different place. I already have a basic idea of what this United States and the world would look like, but I would always appreciate input from interested peoples.

You may have seen other posts for this timeline on this forum, but I am in the process of updating them to the new canon. Any future installments I make to this timeline will be posted and threadmarked here.

 

[Planita13]

Updated 27 May

 

[Planita13]

Please note.

All posts by me that are not threadmarked have been removed from canon.

 

[Unknown]

Good start; waiting for more...

 

[Tyche]

This looks spectacular so far!

 

[Planita13]

Good start; waiting for more...

This looks spectacular so far!

Thank you very much! It's my first timeline so I hope its enjoyable.

 

[HeX]

I love independent California scenarios. You just got yourself another viewer!

Will Hollywood have the same cultural significance as IOTL?

Also, is there some sort of program used to make fake Wikipedia articles? I myself can never seem to find anything like that.

 

[Planita13]

I love independent California scenarios. You just got yourself another viewer!

Will Hollywood have the same cultural significance as IOTL?

Also, is there some sort of program used to make fake Wikipedia articles? I myself can never seem to find anything like that.

Well sorry to be a downer, but California is a state in the United States. A Spanish-speaking state with a unique culture, but still part of the United States. It was once independent but the USA invaded it in the 1850s.

While California TTL provides excellent vistas for flim making, Anti-Hispanic sentiment has prevented the American film industry from being centered in California. There is however a growing Californio flim making industry based around the Gran Lago.

Oh I use the Wikipedia sandbox that comes with a Wikipedia account to make these articles and then fiddling with Inspect Element and a image editor.

 

[Sharque]

Spanish-speaking state

Since Spanish is the only official language in CA, does that mean road signs, government offices, local TV, etc. in the state only have Spanish or are they bilingual?

This timeline has great potential! Can't wait for more!

 

[HeX]

Well sorry to be a downer, but California is a state in the United States. A Spanish-speaking state with a unique culture, but still part of the United States. It was once independent but the USA invaded it in the 1850s.

Oh, I just kind of assumed since it was called the Republic of California that it was independent. Does the term 'republic' mean the same thing 'state' would in the context of the US?

 

[Planita13]

Since Spanish is the only official language in CA, does that mean road signs, government offices, local TV, etc. in the state only have Spanish or are they bilingual?

This timeline has great potential! Can't wait for more!

Thank you very much! I'm glad to see interest in my project.

For the status of English, it varies across the state but in general its bilingual. Even though it's not mandated, the state and local governments provides services in English out of necessity because it's a state in the USA. Same with TV channels too, the majority of channels are in Spanish but there are English TV stations too.

 

[Planita13]

Oh, I just kind of assumed since it was called the Republic of California that it was independent. Does the term 'republic' mean the same thing 'state' would in the context of the US?

The "Republic" moniker doesn't actually signify a special political status, it is just a reminder of the old Republic of California before it was invaded by the United States. It's like the official name of Virignia, with its "Commonwealth" label. When California became a state, the ruling party made it it's official name to stir some national pride.

 

[Unknown]

Where is the American film industry centered? I think Texas would be a good place, IMO...

 

[Planita13]

Where is the American film industry centered? I think Texas would be a good place, IMO...

I haven't established that yet, but Eureka (OTL Northern California+Nevada) or Texas as you suggested would be good places.

 

[Unknown]

Eureka would be a good place; it has deserts, mountains, etc. within a couple hundred miles of each other, and San Francisco seems like a natural fit for a movie capital...

 

[Planita13]

Eureka would be a good place; it has deserts, mountains, etc. within a couple hundred miles of each other, and San Francisco seems like a natural fit for a movie capital...

Yeah I would agree. Plus it's close to California so when the average American's bias against Hispanics (mostly) goes away, they can establish themselves there too.

 

[GlebPro2004]

Saw this on some other threads, and instantly got interested. Will be exiting to see how the rest of the states and the world are.

By the way, what are the other Free States?

 

[Nazi Space Spy]

This is incredible!

 

[Planita13]

Saw this on some other threads, and instantly got interested. Will be exiting to see how the rest of the states and the world are.

By the way, what are the other Free States?

Thank you very much! I plan on covering the rest of the United States in the future, like the free states. That is on the agenda. For now I will just say that they are minority-majority states.

This is incredible!

Glad to hear that you think so

 

[skozik]

Ivilyuat having ~6500 speakers (if my math is right), rather than only 35 (out of 800 ethnic Cahuilla) IOTL, is a neat consequence of there being a massive lake in its heartland.