Much of California’s mystery arose from the state’s geographical position，a region facing squarely（方形地，直角地）west across the Pacific，with its mountainous “back”turned to the rest of the nation．By 1900，American settlement had filled in the pockets of unmapped（地图上未标明的）land in the Far West．Washington State and Oregon were admitted to the Union，and the Pacific Coast was occupied by three states running south from Canada to Mexico．While a few territories remained to be organized into full－fledged states，the United States could now be truly said to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific．And Alaska，far to the North on the Pacific Coast，had replaced California as a mysterious frontier land with riches of gold．
Further，the Pacific and the lands west of California were becoming more fully a part of the life of the United States．Trade to Japan and China had been opened in the second half of the nineteenth century．Chinese immigrants（移民，侨民）and their descendants（子孙，后代），once confined entirely to California，were slowly beginning to create “Chinatowns（〈美〉唐人街）”in cities further east．
Even more important，the United States was assuming responsibility for the government of more and more Asian peoples across that Pacific．The Spanish American War of 1898left the United States as the custodian（管理人）of the Philippine Islands．And in 1900，Hawaii，whose population included native tribes and descendants of immigrants from many Asian nations，became the United States’last organized territory（领土，版图）．The increased importance of Asia and Asian affairs for the United States was recognized when President Theodore Roosevelt played a key role in mediating（调停）the end of a war between Russia and Japan in 1905．
If California had lost much its special nature as America’s outpost（边区村落）on the Pacific，the new century also reminded observers around the world that California could no longer be regarded as an uncomplicated paradise（天堂）of easy living．This lesson was brought home with terrible force on the morning of April 18，1906，when an earthquake shook the proud city of San Francisco for two full minutes．The quake and the fires that followed for three days left 500San Franciscans dead and destroyed more than 28，000buildings—more than a third of the homes，offices，and stores in the entire city．
Although damage was greatest in San Francisco，its effects were felt in every city from San Juan Bautista to the coast at Mendocino．San Francisco would be rebuilt，and Californians would learn to construct homes and stores that could better withstand（抵挡，经受住）future disasters．But no one could afford to forget what had happened that week in April，and no one could pretend that California’s bountiful natural resources somehow made the state or its residents immune（不受影响的）to nature’s equally generous capacity to destroy．
California faced the new century with a new maturity and sense of reality earned at a terrible cause．
Governor州长
Arnold Schwarzenegger在2003年11月17日当选为加州第38届州长。他优先考虑实现加州人都能找到工作和重建本州经济的繁荣。在执政时，他遇到空前的财政危机。他没有通过提高税收而是通过重新筹款等手段来改变破产的境况。在任职第一年里，他坚定地相信经济繁荣和环境健康应该齐头并进。而且，他还对孩子们作出了承诺，提供给他们优秀教师、最新教材和干净而安全的教学设施。
Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th Governor of California on November 17，2003．His landslide election as the state’s chief executive follows a distinguished career in business and entertainment．
Governor Schwarzenegger’s top priority is fulfilling his mandate（（书面）命令，训令，要求）from Californians to bring jobs back to the state and restore its prosperity．Upon taking office，he inherited an unprecedented fiscal crisis（财政危机）．He averted（转移）bankruptcy with measures that refinanced old debt and required the state to live within its means without raising taxes．Schwarzenegger’s workers’compensation reform package repaired a system that had the highest costs in the nation and his Indian Gaming Compacts secured California’s fair share of billions of dollars in revenue．In 2004，he signed legislation to prevent “shakedown”lawsuit（诉讼（尤指非刑事案件））which were driving jobs and businesses out of California and blocking its path to recovery．
Governor Schwarzenegger’s firm belief that economic prosperity and environmental health go hand in hand was evident during his first year in office．His Oceans Action Plan will set a national standard for the management of ocean and coastal resources．He created California’s Hydrogen Highway by Executive Order to support the transition to a clean hydrogen（氢）transportation economy．The Governor also signed historic legislation creating the 25－million acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy ［（自然物源的）保护，管理］，California’s largest．
Throughout his career，he has had a strong commitment to children．Before becoming governor，Schwarzenegger founded the Inner City Games Foundation and pushed for more funding for after school programs．He championed the After School Education and Safety Act of 2002（Proposition 49），overwhelmingly（压倒性地，不可抵抗地）approved by voters．As governor，he is taking action to give California’s children the quality education and opportunities they deserve．His settlement of the landmark Williams vs．California lawsuit［诉讼（尤指非刑事案件）］contained reforms that ensure qualified teachers for every student and clean and safe school facilities with up－to－date textbooks．He has increased per pupil spending and education funding and worked hard to give local schools the power to meet the specific needs of their own communities．
Governor Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver have four children—Katherine，Christina，Patrick and Christopher．
State Bird州鸟
加州鹌鹑作为州鸟是在1931年。作为一种广泛分布和用于有奖游戏的鸟类，加州鹌鹑以它的顽强和适应性而出名。它有丰满的身体，灰色的羽毛，看起来比鸽子要小一点。在它的头部有向下弯曲的黑色羽毛，在它嘴下的黑色口水兜部伴有白色条纹。在秋冬季一些或60只亦或更多成群结队，而到了春季就会成双成对。它们的巢在被挖出来的地下洞里，上面有树叶隐蔽着。它们每巢产卵6—28枚。