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The Golden Gate provides a narrow entrance to the west coast's most defensible harbor, making its strategic value readily apparent. Between 1776 and 1846, Spanish, then Mexican, guns defended the harbor entrance. Starting in 1846, American soldiers guarded the passage and built fortifications on both sides of the channel and on Alcatraz and Angel Island. The Golden Gate is the only major break in the coastline for nearly 1,000 miles. The Sacramento and San Joaquin River systems, consisting of 12 major rivers, drain nearly 40% of California, and all of the water flows out through the Golden Gate. The water is over 300 feet deep in the middle of the channel.
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San Francisco, California · United States
