The geography is not an exact view from any one place in California, although the waters were described in 1849 as being "of the Sacramento" and the mountains in the background as being "the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada."

Original 1849 text describing the seal
Around the bevel of the ring are represented thirty-one stars being the number of states of which the union will consist upon the admission of California. The foreground figure represents the Goddess Athena (Roman: Minerva) having sprung full grown from the brain of Zeus (Roman: Jupiter). This is introduced as a type of the political birth of the State of California without having gone through the probation of a Territory. At her feet crouches a grizzly bear feeding upon clusters from a grapevine emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country. A miner in engaged with a rocker and a bowl at his side, illustrating the golden wealth of the Sacramento upon whose waters are seen shipping typical of commercial greatness and the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make up the background while above the Greek motto "Eureka" (I have found it) applying either to the principle involved in the admission of the State or the success of the miner at work.

reference source: California: Answers.com