AHC: California's Central Valley becomes as populated as Tokaido Corridor

[mlp]

the current western United States is geographically dominated the Central Valley, one of the most fertile valleys in the world. OTL it comprises 160,000 sqkm and dominates the state of California. For reference here is a picture of the Central Valley compared to the Japanese Home Islands:

With a POD during the Spanish colonial era, make this Central Valley become an early population center, comparable to population centers in Japan or other parts of the Old World. Bonus points if they become more populous than New England by present day without major war or famine affecting population growth.

 

[Padilla]

the current western United States is geographically dominated the Central Valley, one of the most fertile valleys in the world. OTL it comprises 160,000 sqkm and dominates the state of California. For reference here is a picture of the Central Valley compared to the Japanese Home Islands:

With a POD during the Spanish colonial era, make this Central Valley become an early population center, comparable to population centers in Japan or other parts of the Old World. Bonus points if they become more populous than New England by present day without major war or famine affecting population growth.

An early gold rush is your best bet to create population centers in the region. As there were not as many natives in California than in other parts of America and encomienda or hacienda system would not be viable and with a sizeable white population the most likely scenario is to split the land in smaller states,still way bigger than European states.

 

[mlp]

hmm could early irrigation possibly work? make the land more fertile in general?

 

[Intransigent Southerner]

As there were not as many natives in California than in other parts of America

California was perhaps the most densely populated area of North America.

 

[JennyB]

I think somehow you'd need colonisation from China or Japan, to the extent that it became an independent country. I've no idea how you'd do that, though.

 

[Arkenfolm]

An early gold rush is your best bet to create population centers in the region. As there were not as many natives in California than in other parts of America and encomienda or hacienda system would not be viable and with a sizeable white population the most likely scenario is to split the land in smaller states,still way bigger than European states.

But look at Zacatecas and Chihuahua which also had rich mining opportunities yet remained sparsely populated. This was in part due to the fact there wasn't a large indigenous population to force into mining (like in the Andes with Potosi, say), but also suggests that a gold/silver rush isn't necessarily the solution toward getting such a population. Even then, I think the region which will benefit is the Bay Area since you need an easy way to get the gold out of California, and there's just too many risks to carry out the trade over land.

California was perhaps the most densely populated area of North America.

IIRC wasn't it very spread out? Although the indigenous people of the Central Valley did indeed have a large population even after repeated epidemics.

I think somehow you'd need colonisation from China or Japan, to the extent that it became an independent country. I've no idea how you'd do that, though.

You still have the fact that Asian settlement will focus especially on the Bay Area/San Diego.

Remember that the Central Valley is also prone to extreme flooding which in recorded history has happened only once, although archaeology and indigenous narratives suggest it happens every few centuries.

 

[mosodake]

You still have the fact that Asian settlement will focus especially on the Bay Area/San Diego.

There were (and still are) large numbers of Asians that settled in the Valley to farm. A good number were Japanese and lost their land or did not return after internment.

Remember that the Central Valley is also prone to extreme flooding which in recorded history has happened only once, although archaeology and indigenous narratives suggest it happens every few centuries.

The Sacramento and American rivers flooded fairly regularly before the dams were built. Since most settlement would be near those two rivers being as they are the only large year-round sources of irrigation water in the northern half of the valley, even a minor flood would cause a lot of damage as they did OTL. Until the Yolo Bypass was built, Sacramento would get either flooded or cut off from neighboring towns in wet years. In order for there to be permanent large-scale settlement of the valley, the rivers would have to be dammed or people would have to adapt to unpredictable flooding.

 

[Arkenfolm]

There were (and still are) large numbers of Asians that settled in the Valley to farm. A good number were Japanese and lost their land or did not return after internment.

The Sacramento and American rivers flooded fairly regularly before the dams were built. Since most settlement would be near those two rivers being as they are the only large year-round sources of irrigation water in the northern half of the valley, even a minor flood would cause a lot of damage as they did OTL. Until the Yolo Bypass was built, Sacramento would get either flooded or cut off from neighboring towns in wet years. In order for there to be permanent large-scale settlement of the valley, the rivers would have to be dammed or people would have to adapt to unpredictable flooding.

Yes, the Central Valley was attractive to Asians, but I'm thinking of an Asian-dominated colony as opposed to the OTL concept of Chinese/Japanese/etc. migrating to a Euroamerican California. Although if we can't have a POD from earlier than the Spanish colonial era (is that from the start of Spain's New World empire or the official Spanish colonisation of California?), then the PODs to make an East Asian colonial empire are limited. Although there was a TL here about "Zheng dynasty" of Tungning/Taiwan fleeing to California in the wake of failing to retake China from the Qing, and the Spanish being unable to stop them. I suppose you might be able to find a way for the Japanese to take California too--maybe instead of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's desire to become Emperor of China, he instead wants to dismantle the Spanish Empire starting with the Philippines, and is able to copy European ship designs to build a strong navy to accomplish this goal, along with suppressing opposition in Japan itself? Although of course not very prestigious and rather out of character for a Japanese leader of his era, it would probably be easier than what Hideyoshi planned OTL. He could settle Japanese peasants and loyal daimyo in California as a way to prevent Spanish expansion in that direction and as a forward base for a potential attack on the mines of northern Mexico and the Valley of Mexico proper. Again, not very plausible, but with such a late POD we have very few opportunities to allow for an Asian colonisation of California.

For flooding, I'm imagining something like this. IIRC, a bigger Central Valley flood happened in the 17th century. It's quite apocalyptic if you live there, and no doubt played an impact on the long-term course of indigenous cultures in the Central Valley.

 

[Padilla]

But look at Zacatecas and Chihuahua which also had rich mining opportunities yet remained sparsely populated. This was in part due to the fact there wasn't a large indigenous population to force into mining (like in the Andes with Potosi, say), but also suggests that a gold/silver rush isn't necessarily the solution toward getting such a population. Even then, I think the region which will benefit is the Bay Area since you need an easy way to get the gold out of California, and there's just too many risks to carry out the trade over land.



IIRC wasn't it very spread out? Although the indigenous people of the Central Valley did indeed have a large population even after repeated epidemics.



You still have the fact that Asian settlement will focus especially on the Bay Area/San Diego.

Remember that the Central Valley is also prone to extreme flooding which in recorded history has happened only once, although archaeology and indigenous narratives suggest it happens every few centuries.

The Spanish colonization consisted on sending bureacrats(this includes clerks) to America while distributing land to nobles or people in the army which would distribute the gold and silver between themselves while sending a small portion back to Spain. If you allow workers to keep a fraction of what they earned in mining a lot of European inmigrants would have moved to the mines/the rivers.

 

[Deleted member 109224]

1) Earlier gold rush leading to more people
2) Expand San Franciso. There was an early 20th century proposal to expand the city in a borough-based system to include Oakland, Berkely, and area immediately south of the city. If this were to happen, I'd imagine the knock-on effect would be infrastructure linking the areas.
3) Avoid Chinese exclusion and the Japanese gentlemen's agreement. More people = more density.
4) Avoid zoning laws limiting the height and density of housing.

 

[IchBinDieKaiser]

As someone born and raised in California's central valley I can tell you this, the only way to get this area more populated is to have a bigger, and more diverse economy. Areas of the world where the biggest industries are agriculture, especially in more industrialized countries like the U.S., tend to have lower populations the closer to the present you get. Most of the agricultural labor in the region comes from machines, or migrant workers.

Basically, you need to get the central valley to have a more diverse economy. Geographically speaking, the Bay Area is more ideally situated to have a bigger economy, being closer to ocean trade routes.