Probable route followed by Delano other emigrant routes Ld3l ens % net, &?*± t \ I I -./ : m °i ^ C ^A7 C NTo\ \ from Nebraska w OTTOWA, Peru — *- *, PH VI vorfh -Av_ i lependenceL'dg. v-v^^a- A5 CITY Poonviiie'N /?. ^ M I & * «& ^/Q 1 Beardstown From Ottowa To the Platte *&//fSi WaSuhkttes &t£. Caspar rf^« South Pass U5JO lake: city U5 40 To /California Ft Laramie^koy, and waiter, civil and obliging, and the Captain's a gentleman. Can I say more? It will pay a man to lay over a week just to make a trip on her. Well, we went on board. The cholera was bad at Sacramento, and Colonel Grant was not well. A rumbling in the lower regions was a premoni- tory symptom, and knowing that No. 6 was good for the epidemic, he wisely took stateroom No. 6, which with a free use of morphine, cayenne pepper, and camphor finally quieted the symptomatic in- dication of volcanic eruption. This is a horrible volcanic country about these days. I found the country as we passed along most tediously level, and I sighed for fifty pounds' weight on my back and a mountain to climb. How awfully dull it was, not a hill which would make a greenhorn puff, and the poor engine had to do it all. We arrived at San Francisco before daylight, and I sallied out 3 Captain Edgar Wakeman (1818-1875). Coincidentally, Wakeman also commanded a steamboat named the New Orleans on the Sacramento in 1850. He later earned the ad- miration of Mark Twain, who immortalized him three times as a Captain in fiction and who publicly solicited aid when Wakeman was old, ill, and needy. Morse, First History of Sacramento, 56; San Francisco Alta California, December 14, 1872; May 10, 1875; Ivan Benson, Mark Twain's Western Years (Stanford University, 1938), 152. [102] after sunrise to view a scene which to me was entirely new. How sadly was I disappointed. I had heard the beauty of the Bay de- scribed, its capacity to hold thousands of ships, and the town as a city. Why, gentlemen, I couldn't see the Bay at all, for the ships, jammed together like a vast forest of dead pines, hid it entirely, and I "couldn't see the town for houses." Now there isn't a single rancheria in California that you can't see the whole at a glance with all the women and children; and here you couldn't begin — it was abominable. A stranger would require a guide to find his way to any point along the trails, and had it not been for the kind care of Colonel Grant, I should have been prospecting up to this time — a lost miner in the gulches. All the people, and the trails were full as if they had found new diggings, wore clothes — actually fine white shirts, dress coats, and whole pants, with hair combed and brushed like new wigs, boots blacked, and you could scarcely find a check or red flannel shirt in the whole crowd. And then there were carts, drays, candy stands, bookracks, newsboys, and the Lord knows what all in the trails, so plenty that it kept me on a dogtrot to elbow my way through and keep up with the Colonel. Why, I actually saw a woman, at least the Colonel said it was one, with a parasol over her head, a bonnet on, and hang me if she wasn't dressed all over in silk. Thinks I to myself, she never drove team on the sand plain nor made acorn bread in a ranch, poor thing. Here she is cooped up in town without knowing anything of the beauties of nature! I pitied her from my soul. Everybody knew Colonel Grant just as if he had always lived in the mountains, and they all seemed glad to see him, shaking hands till his arm ached, and finally they got to shaking hands with his shadow. I was his shadow, for the tall houses hid the sun so that he couldn't have any other. So I shook hands till my legs ached, and I finally told the Colonel he must get another shadow, for I was used up. "Well," says he, "let's go to sea." "Go to see who?" says I. "Pshaw! I mean prospecting on the Bay." "Very well," said I, "I'm ready, pick in hand; lead, I'll follow your trail." So he made tracks for a wherry, and after pulling a long way out, we brought up at the foot of the barque Constance, Captain Barry, from Salem. 4 Here was a relief — we couldn't go on board without climbing, and I be- gan to feel at home. Climbing the side of a tall ship was no ways equal to climbing a hill five miles high, and the time it took was ridiculously small, but it rested me exceedingly, although it was 4 Captain John Barry (1805 or 1806-1876), a native of Salem. He was second officer of the Friendship of Salem when she was cut off and captured by Malays on the coast of Sumatra in 1831. The Constance arrived at San Francisco on August 10, 1850, 177 days from Boston, and departed for Manila November 15 following. San Francisco Aha Cali- fornia, August 11, 1850; Sacramento Transcript, November 18, 1850; Salem (Massa- chusetts) Register, January 24, 1876; San Francisco Pacific Marine Review, September, 1921. [103] prospecting on an entirely new trail. We were met on deck by Cap- tain Barry, whose frank and cordial hospitality was equal to that of an old miner. I somehow felt at home at once, on being ushered into the cabin. That perhaps is not strange, for I have lived in cabins or tents nearly all the time I have been in California, and the fashion of climbing to get into it was much more agreeable than that of stepping off of a flagstone into a hotel; and here, too, I could see a check shirt and a tarpaulin hat without that everlasting bowing and scraping of the barbarians on shore, and the masts, so trim and straight, put me in mind of the glorious old pines of the mountains. Thinks I to myself, this going to sea is not so bad after all. The sea- faring hombres are a civilized race with souls as large as their ships. We met several captains of other ships on board, and somehow, between tales of the ocean and tales of the mountains and desert, the time slipped like a mountain slide, and it was tea time before a gulch was tested. "Captain," says Grant, "shall you have any griddle cakes for supper?" "I do not think my cook knows how to make them," replied Captain Barry. "Come, D., roll up your sleeves and go into the cookroom and go at it," said G. The captains all laughed at the idea — "He cook? What does he know about cooking? No, no, that's breaking ground a little too strong." "I tell you what," said G., "I must have griddle cakes for supper, and he can make them — I know it." "Captain," says I, rising and throwing off my coat and cap, "don't you know that I came across the plains and have lived in the mountains? Did you ever see a miner who could not cook, wash, mend, make shoes, prospect, and spin yarns? Tell the cook to tote up the flour, and I'll tote up the cakes." We had griddle cakes for tea — I made 'em, and G. said they were better than those I made for him last fall on Mud Hill. Captain Welsh, of the Merlin, 5 was on board, and he gave a most interesting account of a recent visit to Loo Choo, one of the de- pendencies of Japan. It seemed to me that there were many particu- lars connected with his visit which would be of importance to our government to know, but as the recital is his own private property, I shall not touch it. He is a gentleman of talents and can make out (as he intends doing) a highly interesting document respecting that strange and peculiar people. I hope you will get his letter, and I promise you a rich treat from its perusal. We passed two nights on shipboard enjoying the hospitality of Captain Barry, whom I shall long remember, spending our days among the barbarians on shore. I might give you a labored descrip- tion of San Francisco, but I have hardly time now to go into particu- lars. I don't think you have got a clear idea of it from any descrip- 5 Perhaps Charles Welsh, an American sea captain who first came to California in 1848 and died at San Francisco in 1883. Bancroft, History of California, V, 771. 6 Now the Ryulcyu Islands. [104] tion which I have read, nor of the manners and customs of the na- tives. The town is abominably crowded with people, all dressed from top to toe. I haven't seen a naked man or woman in the streets, and their ways are as outre as their appearance. The buildings are overgrown things with doorways so large that you can walk in without getting on your hands and knees. Beef and bread are so ruinously cheap that the very dogs are fed on it, and when a man uses salt, he piles it up to waste just as if it cost nothing, and I actu- ally saw a little boy throw away a piece of bread which he could not eat at once. Just think of the poor starving souls on the plains. Water is of no more account than if a spring lay in every gulch, and — well, well, live and learn — notwithstanding my repugnance, I have about been persuaded to spend this winter here. A.D. 25. San Francisco, January 15, 185 1. 1 One year ago this day I was hard at work in the Feather River mountains, whenever the rains would permit, in building a fireplace and finishing off a comfortable cabin on a claim which I had taken up, with the bright anticipation that at the present writing I would be comfortably seated in a snug, carpeted room at home, with my family around me and a few friends, discoursing upon the wonders which I had seen, of the perils I had encountered, and showing with honest pride the curious specimens which I had picked up in the mines of California; and what has been the result? The building was completed, the work done, and I never worked so hard in my whole life. I lived with the utmost prudence and calculated to a nicety, but not only that claim, but twelve others in which I was interested, failed — all failed, and not a dollar was obtained, and by the changes incident to the country, I have become a resident and man of busi- ness in the most astonishing city of the Union. And yet I should not complain — nor do I. With only four dollars in my pocket when I arrived at Sacra- mento City last year, I have contrived to handle thousands, and al- though a great deal of it would not stick to my fingers; yet some of it did, and a portion of it is in a shape which neither "moth will corrupt nor thieves break through and steal," being a farm on the navigable waters of Feather River. 2 You never would dream that the True Delta had been the cause of my being a resident of San Francisco; yet such is the fact. You know the history of my first 1 True Delta, February 23, 1851. 2 Matthew vi: 19. The "farm" was probably at Oleepa. [105] acquaintance with Colonel Grant. By his solicitation I became your correspondent, and that correspondence made us acquainted with each other, which soon ripened into intimacy, and the True Delta was a bond of union between us. When I came down from the Gold Lake mountains in October, I paid Colonel Grant a friendly visit and, at his invitation, visited San Francisco for the first time, which resulted in my establishing myself for the time being in business here. Had it not been for the True Delta my first acquaintance with Colonel Grant would have ended where it began, at Mud Hill, and had it not been for the True Delta, I should not have classed among my friends one of the most generous, noble-hearted gentlemen I ever knew, despite of all his eccentricities. Men who live isolated in the mountains know but little of what is going on in the Valley, only in a general way, and those who live in the cities can scarcely understand and appreciate fully what is going on in the mines. Conflicting accounts often reach both parties, and I hesitate to describe only what I see. What I have written of the mountain region and such portions of California which I have seen, I have no reason to change. I simply described it as I saw it. I am now in a new sphere, and with a change of season, a change of climate, and a great change of association, I find myself in quite a new scene. And if I could make it pay I would vary the scene still more, for I would see the whole country — aye — and other countries too. Last year, from the 3rd of November till about the 1st of Febru- ary, it was pouring down "from the flood gates of Heaven" like big guns. The rivers overflowed their banks and more than one quarter of the Valley was submerged. This year, up to the present time, there has not been near as much rain as is usual at home, and the weather has been luxuriously pleasant. The climate on the Coast I think is healthy and decidedly desir- able for a residence, and were it not for three especial reasons — a wife and two children at home — I should not think of returning. The valley of Santa Clara and the country around San Jose pro- duce the finest vegetables in the world, as our markets, well sup- plied, abundantly testify, and when California shall have disen- thralled herself of the immorality, the vice, and hordes of Mexican and Sydney villains, 3 as well as a sprinkling from other countries, this portion of it will be desirable as a home. But now we are in a crisis, the result of which must bring ruin and misfortune to a multitude of individuals, though it may end in substantial benefit to the country. A failure in the mines, as well as a failure in the city, throws men upon their individual resources; 3 "In the early part of the winter of 1850 . . . Sydney convicts began to arrive." Across the Plains, 157. [106] and as the best business which has been followed the past season has been that of horticulture, thousands, by a natural impulse, are looking to Mother Earth for her bounty to replenish their pockets. This, of course, will develop the agricultural resources of the coun- try, as well as find a permanent and industrious population employ- ment. The country at this moment is overstocked with merchandise and provisions. In the mines, unless it may be in those most distant, there is more than can be sold during the winter; and this is the case in all the towns. Everything imported from the States is selling at a ruinous sacrifice, and as the want of rain in the mines prevents the dry diggings from being productive, less gold is obtained than was anticipated, a portion of which would go to pay for these goods. As soon as the upper towns and mines were supplied this fall, the price of many kinds of goods fell ninety per cent. Add to this the exorbitant rents demanded for any place to do business in, and you will not be surprised to hear of failures. There seems to be a universal stagnation in trade, and although there may be millions to loan on good security, scarcely any busi- nessman who is compelled to borrow can give the security required. A few days since I saw the invoice of a large lot of desirable goods for this market charged at Boston prices, and at higher rates than could be bought for here. Day before yesterday a finished house which had been sent out on speculation, which was said to have cost nearly four thousand dollars, was sold at auction to pay freight and brought eight hundred. This is a very common occur- rence; and when a man wants to build, he watches his chance to find a vessel selling off a cargo of lumber at auction to pay charges. Beautiful crushed sugar is selling at HVi cts.; best quality of lard at 10 and HV2 cts.; sugar-cured hams, in prime order, at 12V^ cts.; pickles in quart jars sold a few days since at $1.1 2Vi cts. per dozen. Arrivals of cargoes of merchandise are almost of daily occurrence, and we are advised that heavy shipments are on the way, so that I see no reason why this state of things may not continue for months to come. I received, a few weeks since, a large consignment of goods to sell on commission, and I have hardly sold enough to get back the small advances which I made upon them. Men are resorting to new methods of disposing of stocks, chiefly fancy goods, and that is by lottery. Heavy amounts of rich jewelry, and even a public house, are offered for sale in this way, tickets selling for from one to five dollars. But one of the most recent humbugs which has been got up is the astonishing discovery of Gold Bluff, up towards Klamath River. The very sand is so rich that it contains about one-tenth gold — so they say. A vessel has just returned from there with speci- mens of sand, but the company, instead of loading their ship down with the precious metal, have formed a joint stock company with a [107] capital of a hundred thousand dollars and are selling off shares at a hundred dollars a head. What fools — when they could have made so much more by a week's work in sifting gold at the Bluff — ahem! But fools are not all dead, and they are actually making large sales of shares. I have seen several gentlemen of intelligence who have visited the spot, who say that it is a ridiculous humbug. A.D. 26. San Francisco, April 1, 1851. 1 Eds. of Free Trader — Don't you want to come to California? Don't you want to get rich? Do not the piles which we are taking out ex- cite your acquisitiveness? Well, why don't you come? You read the papers and of course see the accounts of the new diggings daily dis- covered. And you occasionally see men returning with piles, and why can't you get it if they can? Let me see. The gold is here for a certainty; for a certainty new mines are found, and as certainly the papers report it; men go home, too, with money. O, aye, it takes a confounded sight of labor and prison fare to look for the placers, and when you get your finger on it, the placer is displaced like the flea's whereabouts and — what amount actually do men bring home? You hear amounts variously estimated; but do you know — do they show you their piles? I have been sometimes amused with reports from your scandal-loving country of the sums which various men have the reputation of bringing home, when it leaks out here not unfrequently that for thousands you should read hundreds. Good Lord — why, I could show you on paper that I am worth from twenty to forty thousand dollars; but if I should show you the gold it might sink to tens. Paper currency is unknown in any other way only as State, county and city script, and that at about sixty per cent, discount — but calculating a man's wealth here on paper generally proves at greater discount than city script. We hope, however, that this fact will not be made known, and that the gold fever will continue; for we have lots of Indians to kill off and about six hundred miles of mountains to settle, and con- fidently expect an increase of at least twenty thousand souls to our population, 2 besides the usual mode of peopling new territories. If you come, don't bring any money; for what is the use when you can shovel it up? It will plague you to keep it when you do — that I i Free Trader, May 17, 1851. 2 The influx of 1851 was well over twenty thousand, but less than that of each of the two preceding years. Bancroft, History of California, VII, 696. Cf. p. [108] know to be a fact from experience. If you are determined to come, let me give you a few words of advice, so that you can pass muster and be respectable among us. First, drink brandy; then learn to play at monte; become a mem- ber of some church; rob somebody to get your hand in; fill your pockets with bogus dollars; then slope 3 between two days, and you will be prepared to go into business immediately on your arrival without preliminary practice; and you no doubt will be appointed a judge or elected to some office. If you are not, stick to gambling till your turn comes. If you want some inferior business, you can get a silent partner — sometimes called a sleeping partner, though not always silent — and open a cigar store; and then with what you can steal, you will do something in the diggings. I have only to add that you will be in a great country, among a great people, and be one of us. For the last four months I have been a citizen of San Francisco. As I am a candidate for no office under the sun of California, I can safely say that my interests are not exclusively identified with those of the dear people, but no doubt would be with a fat office in per- spective. As it is, I can't well do any other way than tell you the truth. Well, then, San Francisco is a town such as I never saw before. There is a vast amount of intellect, science, and go-ahead-activeness in its mixed population, and I think it must become one of the most important cities on the Pacific so long as the mines continue pro- ductive, and they cannot be exhausted in a lifetime. The climate is salubrious, and the country along the Coast is healthy; but dead animals in these latter days do emit an offensive effluvia, in spite of what it might have been in Mr. Bryant's times. In sober prose I like San Francisco and the seacoast, and if my three especial reasons 4 were fairly domiciled here, I should prefer living here to any town east of the Rocky Mountains. As for giving you a labored description of the town, I shan't do it; for you have read descriptions over and over in the papers, and then a bosom friend of mine — ycleped "Old Block," has "done the deed," 5 and I hate to write what has been written over and over. 6 If you will get up a subscription and send me my three reasons, I won't come back at all, but will take a trip to the Celestials and give you sketches from China — as for that matter I could do it almost any day by looking from my office into the street; for we have 3 Run away. 4 Wife and two children. 5 Shakespeare, Macbeth, II, ii, 15. 6 His "Pen Knife Sketches ... by an Old Block" were appearing in the Courier. San Fran- cisco California Daily Courier, June 21, 1851. Cf. Pen-Knife Sketches. [109] Chinese men and women as well as natives from all nations and some parts of the moon. The latter resemble the people of earth very much; only they have tails, wings, and are born with their clothes on, and generally fulfill their promises. For a particular de- scription of these last, please see my journal when I go there, page 56. Our citizens have been lately gratified with the sight of about a dozen Japanese who were picked up at sea in a shipwrecked condi- tion, far from their native land, by an American ship and brought to this port. You know that Japan has been a sealed country to the world and but little is known of its customs. They resemble some- what in appearance the Chinese; but there is a marked difference, and it is hoped their advent among us may lead to an intercourse with their nation. I was walking along Long Wharf, one of the prin- cipal thoroughfares of our city, on Sunday, in company with a num- ber of ladies and gentlemen, when we met them promenading. We mutually stopped to gaze at each other; the ladies especially at- tracted their attention, and they apparently seemed unable to de- termine to what class of humanity the countrywomen belonged, and, like my Indians last summer, appeared to ask each other, "What things those animals were?" — They appear to be an inquisitive but inoffensive race. They are treated with kindness and attention. Had you received the first part of my journal 7 you would have learned of my first introduction to a somewhat remarkable man, Colonel Joseph S. Watkins, formerly of Virginia. In our trying trans- it across the plains, we became well acquainted with and formed a warm friendship for each other, and among the thousand petty annoyances of the journey calculated to engender ill-feeling, we had a mutual sympathy which an ignorant, agitatious, and self-willed class of our companions could not understand nor appreciate. I could give you many anecdotes of his goodness of heart and great- ness of soul, and you would come to the conclusion that he is of the "salt of the earth," with but few like him. We parted on our arrival in the Valley, though with the expectation of soon meeting again; but this was prevented by a strange course of events, an interesting history in itself, and until within a few days we lost sight of each other. About three weeks ago I put a notice in the Pacific News in- quiring for him. 8 This happily reached him in the southern mines, and he immediately addressed a letter to me, and two days ago I was gratified with a visit from him. A man who was an intimate friend of Jefferson and Marshall, who for a term of twenty-one years occupied a prominent station in the councils of Virginia, a man of large scientific and literary acquirements and of great experience in life, could not fail to be a useful and amusing companion, and al- ■ Cf. p. 19. 8 Delano ran a business card in the San Francisco Pacific News, March 11-21, 1851. [110] though he has not been successful as a millionaire, he is extensively known in California, respected for his talents, and beloved for his virtues. The attention of Californians is beginning to be turned to quartz mining extensively, and so far as present prospects are concerned, it promises more certain return than any other mode of working gold. I do not choose to speak of it more particularly now, as much is ex- perimental; but thus far it has been generally successful. I have given my views upon the subject for publication to a gentleman from New York, both geologically and practically, and will not trouble you by a repetition. Rich veins have been discovered, and I have traced one person- ally 150 miles. The only way these can be successfully worked is by the concentration of capital; individual labor can do but little. My opinion is that here is the fountainhead of all the gold and that this species of mining will form for a hundred years to come the legitimate mining, and one of the principal sources of wealth, of California. Extraordinary developments have been made, and I may speak more particularly hereafter. I will, however, mention that it will cost from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars to open a mine and get it ready for practical mining, and science is necessary to be successful. I forget what your laws and customs are at home. I know only the customs of the Pacific. Will you please inform me whether my wife is married again or not? If a man dines out here, he may find himself turned out of house and home when he comes back to tea, and is met in the door by the other husband to tell him his bread and butter "isn't as it used to was." A lady came here from the States to join her husband, who was at work in the mines. On her arrival, he dispatched a friend with funds to pay expenses and bring her up to his mountain home. Not hear- ing from them, "he went down into Egypt" 9 and found his friend married to his wife, and keeping house together. Like a sensible man, however, he went back to the mines and "tended tu what he was duin." I could give you a list of the latest robberies and murders, but you will get enough by the papers which I send you by the steamers regularly. I saw Keefer and Olmstead 10 a short time since — well and doing well. I see by a paper that Jesse Green has returned safe, for which I heartily rejoice; for a better man never crossed the plains, nor one whose success would give me more pleasure. I hope to take him by 9 Genesis xlii: 2. 10 John Olmstead, of Ottawa. He had a store at Placerville in December, 1849. Free Trader, February 23, 1850. [HI] the hand next fall. I have not seen George Green. I heard he was hard at work, but with what success I did not learn. Direct all com- munications to me here. Yours truly, A. Delano. 27. Grass Valley, Nevada County, June 11, 1851. 1 Once more in the mountains — once more among the everlasting hills of California, the land of circumstance and of adventure. How truly may it be said that "no man knoweth what the morrow may bring forth." 2 When I last descended from the snow-capped peaks of the Snowy Mountains, 3 1 thought that it was for the last time and that that my weary feet would no more climb their dizzy heights, nor my tongue again be parched by burning thirst. But, alas, a life of ease is not for me, and, until the sun of life goes down, I may hardly hope for rest. Yet "hope on, hope ever," and in California even hope for heaven. The desire for wealth brought me here, and the weary search for gold hath made misery often my companion; yet although I have not been completely successful and have run many risks, I am not discouraged and will still plod on. Trade in the city became dull and fluctuating, and an opportunity occurring of sell- ing out to advantage, it could not be neglected, for here you must go 1 True Delta, July 23, 1851. 2 Cf. James iv: 14. 3 Sierra Nevada. [112] with the current. Stemming it is destruction; so I closed for the time my "merchandise." About the same time the subject of quartz min- ing began to attract attention and my mining experience was sought. I examined a vein at Grass Valley, between Yuba and Bear rivers, made a favorable report, backed up by an offer to invest all I pos- sessed in the world, and became a party in a quartz mining com- pany. And this species of mining will be the text of my sermon. Through the whole extent of the California mountains veins of quartz extend which have been found to contain gold in veins, in many instances visible to the naked eye, and which, upon assay, are found to yield astonishing results. It is believed generally that here is the matrix of gold and that from this source the gold of the gulches and streams comes by the decomposition of the rock as well as by being thrown out by volcanic force; and by the action of the elements it slides down to where it is found on the banks of streams and in low grounds. It is found in the rock from the finest particles, invisible to the naked eye, to that of spangles and in lumps such as are picked up in the gulch and river diggings. In large masses of rock you trace a regular vein, generally in small spangles but sometimes in decayed or porous portions. It pre- sents many fantastic shapes; I have seen it assume the shape of a tree, then of leaves, a heart, a human face, &c, &c. These veins of quartz vary in thickness from that of a knife-blade to three feet, and a few score feet may exhibit these changes; but twelve to eighteen inches may be a kind of maximum. They seem to have been forced up through strata of slate or of gray granite, which often present an appearance of decomposition. Sometimes they are in proximity with hornblende. Occasionally the quartz is found decomposed, and in its stead is a rich gravel and earth which yields from ten cents to five, ten, even fifty dollars to the pan. Gold Tunnel, at Nevada City, is of this character. By the politeness of G. S. McMakin, Esq., one of the proprietors of that rich mine, I was enabled to make a thorough inspection of their tunnel. It lays in a small ravine worn by water and is, perhaps, sixty feet above the bed of Deer Creek, which flows at its base. In sinking a shaft for the purpose of coyote digging in October last, they struck the vein of quartz which was mostly decomposed, and in December they commenced a regular tunnel to follow the vein. The vein is of a reddish or iron brown, but all the earth which is excavated appears to be extremely rich. — Mr. McMakin took about half a pound of dirt indiscriminately in a pint cup from the side of the mine in my presence, and without using much care in washing, it had fifty cents, and in 1 15-16 of dirt in another instance he found two dollars and eighty cents. They have followed the vein an hun- dred and ten feet, and it is now about three feet thick, with a dip of forty-five degrees to the east. The base and surrounding rock is [113] gray granite, partially decomposed. Occasionally a large boulder is found through which they blast. They are following the vein, not downward, but horizontally. There are other tunnels at Nevada City, but none so rich as this have been discovered, and in some the vein has not been struck. At Grass Valley, five miles below Nevada City, are probably the most extensive quartz mining operations that exist at this moment in California. Late last fall a layer of quartz was struck in sinking a shaft for coyote digging on the top of a hill, since called Gold Hill, which was found to contain a large deposit of gold. The quartz here seems to lay in slabs and boulders as if it had been raised and a mass of earth, falling in, filled the cavity, leaving the quartz near the sur- face; and consequently, although there is a large quantity of ore, there is not a regular vein, unless at a greater depth than it has been prospected. Across a small ravine south, and perhaps eighty rods distant from Gold Hill, is Massachusetts Hill, where the Sierra Ne- vada Quartz Mining Company is located. 4 On this hill the last-named company are in active operation and are opening their mine scientifically so that it may be worked for years. Here they struck a well-defined vein four inches thick and which increased in richness and thickness as they proceeded down, when at the depth of sixty feet the vein was eighteen inches thick, the dip being to the east at an angle of forty-five degrees. At this depth they came to water, but the vein can be followed north and south above the water. They then commenced a tunnel at the base of the hill about an hundred and fifty feet below its apex, and had proceeded only twenty feet when they struck what is supposed to be a lateral vein twelve inches thick of the same character of earth as at Gold Tunnel at Nevada City. They are continuing the tunnel through this vein in the direction of the vein which they must reach within two hundred feet. You may judge something of the character of the vein when I tell you that they employed from five to twenty men at an expense of five dollars per day in prospecting — have dug at least four hundred feet, and probably nine tenths of the labor in opening the mine has been unproductive of revenue; yet they have paid all expenses of labor, board and tools, and acquisition of working territory from the mine itself, by crushing pieces of quartz by hand in a mortar and washing without quicksilver, and have at this moment ten thousand dollars' worth of rock and rich earth raised (estimating it at thirty dollars per ton, the price paid at the mills) clear of expense. The mines in that vicinity do not sell their richest specimens to the crushing mills. It is only the refuse rock or that in which gold is not visible to the naked eye. The rich specimens the miners crush themselves by hand, and these yield one to ten dollars, and even 4 Delano was a member of this company. [114] two ounces to the pound. Indeed, I have one piece weighing nine ounces avoirdupois which, by estimating its specific gravity, con- tains three ounces of gold. I will at some convenient opportunity send you a specimen. One of the specimens weighing fourteen pounds, from this vein, contain- ing over six hundred dollars, was sold to go to the World's Fair, 5 after being shown in New York. A year ago there was but a single shanty at Grass Valley; now there are two hundred wood houses, good hotels, stores, a sawmill, four steam crushing mills in opera- tion, and four more in active progress of erection, and vast quanti- ties of rock piled up ready for use. New veins, or rather new open- ings of the vein, are continually made, and it appears to be uni- formly rich as a general thing, though some placers are richer than others. The mills in operation are too light and too imperfect. They should be not less than twenty horsepower, with stampers weighing two hundred and fifty to five hundred each. Those now operating are of from ten to twelve horsepower engines, with stampers weigh- ing about one hundred pounds, though heavy mills are being erected. One by Walsh, Esq., is of sixty horsepower and no doubt will be effective. But the greatest difficulty is in saving the gold; not more than one fifth is extracted or saved. The general average saved by the mills is five cents to the pound in the refuse rock. Repeated experiments have shown that four fifths of the gold is lost and that there is much more in the quartz which is passed off at the mill than is saved. This subject is occupying the attention of scientific men here, and I hope it will at home. But a small part will amalgamate with quicksilver; if fire is applied, no flux is known which may be reduced to extensive practical use, and if dissolved by acids, the expense of the latter absorbs all the profits. A new era in gold-dig- ging seems to have arisen. Although surface digging is still carried on with its usual labor and disappointments, with its very few successful ones, the mode of washing the earth has steadily im- proved and dirt that at first would not be touched with the pan is often made very profitable with the sluice. But the developments made in the quartz veins seem to make it as certain here as mining in Peru, Chile or Mexico, where mines have been worked for more than two hundred years, and it is thought that capital may be as safely invested in this species of mining as in railroad, factory or bank stock, in shipping, farming or merchandise. But this requires capital to commence with. Individual labor and poor machinery amounts to nothing and must, in general, prove a failure. To open a mine properly it may cost twenty thousand dollars, though in some instances by good luck, two thousand dollars may strike the vein; and then to purchase the requisite machinery thirty to forty thou- sand dollars more may be required before a dollar is returned, but 5 The first international exhibition, at the Crystal Palace, London, 1851. [115] by an expense of two or three thousand dollars a vein may be pros- pected and a degree of certainty arrived at which will justify a farther expenditure. I append a calculation predicated upon what is actually done at some of the mines at Grass Valley. I will take a twelve-horsepower engine with poor crushers and imperfect ma- chinery and exorbitant wages as a basis : 10 tons crushed in 24 hours is 20,000 lbs. Yield per pound 5c. Total per day $1,000.00 Expenses. 20 men at $10 per day, men boarding themselves $200 Wear and tear and extras 100 — 300.00 Profit $ 700.00 One year, say days 300 $210,000.00 Leaving a profit of two hundred and ten thousand dollars per year. Men can be hired at from three to five dollars per day; and with proper machinery thirty and forty tons of rock can be crushed as well as ten, which, of course, increases your profits. Now, instead of estimating the yield at five cents make it one half or two and one half cents, and you will find you are doing rather a snug cash busi- ness; and then hit upon some method of saving all the gold, and instead of two and one half cents to the pound, you will have from fifteen to twenty-five cents at least. God forbid that I should mislead anyone on this subject. I have suffered too much myself to wish even a dog to endure what I have, but I desire to give my countrymen the truth and the benefit of my experience without my hardships. It is an impression gaining favor here that quartz mining will become a legitimate business of Cali- fornia as much as woolgrowing in the Western States, and I confess that I am compelled to adopt that opinion from what I have seen. I have personally traced this vein by outcrops and excavations more than a hundred and fifty miles, and feel confident of its extent. It passes through the country in a southeast and northwest direction, following the main direction of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the general dip is to the east at an angle of forty-five degrees. There are evidences of silver in quantities, but I defer that subject until my information is more definite, although I have seen beautiful speci- mens of pure metal that had been melted like the lumps of gold which we find. [116] The awful fire at San Francisco has beggared hundreds and ruined thousands. 1, too, come in for my share of loss and at pres- ent can only say as the fellow did when the saddle turned and threw him into the mud, "just like my d d luck." Truly yours, A. Delano. 6 This was the fifth "great fire." Soule et al., Annals, 329. 28. San Francisco, June 13, 1851. 1 Friends Osman — I was most agreeably surprised by a visit from my friend Dr. Hall, who is on his way home. If I can rejoice at the success of any man, it is at his, for one of a better heart or more moral honesty I never met. He is one who returns unscathed by the vices of California and is the same here as at home. He is among those who are entitled to my best regards, and I cordially hope that his last days may be prosperous and happy. I wish you would tell McNeil to write me, for in our long sojourn together, in the hour of trial and amid danger and difficulty, I learned to appreciate his kindness and good will. Oh! how I should love to sit down with some of those old returned Californians and while away an hour or two in talking over our travels along the Nemahas, the Platte, the plains, the desert, the canons, and the mountains. I could almost come on purpose to see Captain George Green and the brave old pioneer, his father, and other good men and true who suffered the perils of that arduous trip. You see my heart is expanding towards them, and I can't help giving utterance to my feelings. As your country is great for reports, I have been amused — not offended — at one I have recently heard respecting myself and to this effect, "that Delano provided nothing for his family when he left home, that he had sent them nothing since he has been here, and that he traveled across the plains with another woman." As to the first two, it may spoil a good story when I refer the lovers of the dark side to my own family for the truth of the two first counts, and for the third, I simply ask those who traveled in our train to state the facts. As for women, I did save the life of one here in San Fran- cisco, and gave her shelter and protection after the fire for two or three days, until she got a situation with Captain Sutter's family at one thousand dollars a year; and could you hear her story, it would be that of respect, and that even here a man may do a good deed 1 Free Trader, August 9, 1851. [117] which he may not blush to own. Except this one, who by circum- stances was thrown upon my protection by a course of events — an interesting tale of itself — when a man should blush not to do as I did, and when I was encouraged by pious and good people of both sexes, there are not three other females in California that even know my name; and I do not blush, nor need any of my friends blush for any act of mine since I have been in this God-forsaken land, nor will they have occasion to. I feel that it is scarcely necessary for me to speak a word in defense of myself, and I drop the subject. We are in the midst of certainly a moral and nearly a political revolution. The outrages upon the order-loving people have been so great — so many murders, robberies, and incendiary conflagrations have been committed, not only here but throughout California, and so wretchedly has the law been administered, that the people have arisen in their might to protect themselves. Since the great fire, eight different palpable attempts have been made to fire the city. It is no longer safe to walk the streets after dark unarmed, and we do not know when we lay down at night but that before the morning sun our dwellings may be burnt to ashes. The magistrates and police cannot execute the laws if they would. Lawyers are found who will make the technicalities and subtleties of the law subservient to the horde of villains who are in our midst, to screen them from justice. The penal colonies of Great Britain are emptying their hordes of convicts upon our shores, and every arrival from Sydney swells the number by hundreds. A mass meeting was held on the Plaza yesterday — another today, and another will be held tomorrow, to adopt some measures to protect ourselves and check the crime that is carrying murder and desolation to our citi- zens in their dwellings. This is no fancy sketch. Ask any man who is returning from California — he will attest its truth. A man was caught in the act of setting fire to the city a few days ago. He is in the hands of the law and will escape. 2 Night before last a man was caught with a safe which he had stolen. He was seized, tried by the citizens fairly and impartially, found guilty, and hung before daylight. 3 There are thousands upon the Plaza today, and with a small ex- ception, the feeling of self-defense was the ruling one. A few at- tempted to stem the popular current, and a gang of bullies and rowdies attempted to put down the movement on the part of the people, and at one time there were indications of a severe fight. But the people triumphed — resolutions passed which amounted to little 2 On June 3, 1851, Benjamin Lewis underwent a preliminary examination on the charge of arson; his indictment was twice quashed for "defects" and he was released. Soule et al., Annals, 340-341. 3 On June 10 John Jenkins stole a safe from a store on Long Wharf. At midnight the Vigilance Committee hanged him. Ibid., 570. [118] else than revolution, and tomorrow another mass meeting is to be held. All men regret that the exigencies of the case demand the stormy interposition of the people to punish crime, but lamentable as it is, the case is necessary. No man has ever been legally executed for murder in San Francisco, and but two in the State, 4 out of the hun- dreds committed. In one of the cases alluded to it was for a cool unprovoked murder of an influential citizen. The culprit was con- demned to be hung, but the Governor (McDougal) gave him a re- spite and then a full pardon, but the people broke into the jail and executed the just sentence themselves. 5 Some forty persons have been murdered here since last fall, and every murderer has escaped. You can form but little idea of the actual state of things, but Dr. Hall can tell you more than I have time to write. The city is nearly rebuilt since the fire. I am once more in my old office — rather, in a new one, where the old one stood. I find my actual loss by the fire was a little over twelve hundred dollars, but as luck would have it, it didn't break me. It came a little hard, as it was money loaned out. — Quartz mining is still good and will be for ages. Business, I mean merchandising, is good for nothing. Goods are lower than in New York — even in the mines it does not pay as a general thing. Men dare not employ capital, and there is neither confidence nor credit. I am writing out my journal as I get leisure, and although I have not determined to publish it, I may conclude to do so eventually. 6 After leaving the Humboldt we were in a country but little known, and almost every day presented something new and strange. I saw in a number of the Free Trader that a regular trade had sprung up between San Francisco and Sydney in importing women who are sold at public auction. This is certainly news to us. No such thing has happened since I have been a resident of the city, and all I can learn about it is that about a year ago some females were brought from Sydney, and by their own consent their time was sold by the Captain long enough to pay their passage. I send you a 4 Bancroft lists fifteen executions in the State during the first nine months of its existence, but which, if any, were strictly legal is not now discoverable. Popular Tribunals (2 vols., San Francisco, 1887), I, 155-171. 5 Hamilton McCauley was tried, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death by the Napa court of sessions in March, 1851, the execution to take place on May 15. Governor McDougal sent a reprieve, but it failed to arrive in time to prevent the hanging. Ibid., I, 166-170. John McDougal (1818-1866), second governor of California, was a "gentle- manly drunkard, and democratic politician of the order for which California was destined to become somewhat unpleasantly notorious." Bancroft, History of California, VI, 645. 6 It was published in part in the Free Trader, February 8-9, 1850, and in full as Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings, 1854. Cf. p. 19. [119] Courier (Daily) which contains a Pen Knife Whittling — the last number. 7 — I am writing hurriedly, as you perceive. I can't tell when I shall come home. Perhaps your newsmongers will have me married again soon, and then you know I shall not dare come. There are many of your citizens for whom I entertain warm feelings of friendship, and I hope to take them by the hand within a year. — I'm growing garrulous and will close. Truly yours, A. Delano 7 The San Francisco California Daily Courier, June 21, 1851, carried "Pen Knife Sketches — 2d Series, No. 5, By an Old Block." But earlier numbers are unavailable. 29. Grass Valley, Sierra Nevada Quartz Mines, June 29, 1851. 1 Climate, &c. — I'm going to give a lecture. Please be seated and attend respectfully to the speaker. I am about to make some experi- ments, my dear hearers (or readers), for your edification, and you will of course follow my directions in order that your understanding may be properly enlightened with regard to the subject before us. Climate, then, the first matter for our consideration, is bounded on the West by Sacramento City. Wheugh! who ever heard of climate being a geographical discovery before? — attention! then — no inter- ruption. We do up things in California to suit ourselves, and the Lord knows some of 'em are antagonistic to all natural and human laws. If we freeze in San Francisco and sweat in the Valley of the Sacramento, it is our privilege to do so. I am now in the sweat re- gion and am about giving you its boundaries according to my dis- coveries. Climate, then, is bounded on the North by the Cascade and Pit River Mountains; on the East by Nevada City, Auburn, and that line of hills; on the South by Mount Diablo, and how much further I can't tell, as I have only been to the Devil — I meant the Devil's Mountain. It has been a mooted point whether the sun is hot or cold, but it is generally allowed that the sun makes the climate warm. In California there are two causes — first, big fires under- ground — second, the sun overhead — and by climbing Mount Di- ablo just beyond Sacramento City in a hot day, you will see that the sun is a red-hot mass that sends his burning rays hizzing and fizzing from above to meet the steam and internal heat of the fires under the Valley of the Sacramento, so that the climate here is between two fires, and would you experiment on the warmth of this climate? 1 True Delta, August 6, 1851. [120] Well, take off your coat — "good" — now your vest — "very well" — slip off your pants — "ridiculous" — off with your shirt — "git out" — why, the natives do it here — now go to a baker's oven just as he is putting in his bread, and crawl in, and you'll not only be done brown but get a pretty correct idea of the climate about these days in this part of California. At this blessed moment I am setting in my nice log cabin breathing the hot but pure mountain air of this pleasant location, divested of all covering except shirt and pants and I wish they were off — and my handkerchief is doing duty manfully, but hang me if it can dry up the streams that course o'er my brows. Now for the "and so forth." The determination of the people in the cities to protect themselves against the lawless gangs of des- perados who are bringing ruin upon the whole country is extending itself to the mining districts. Sensible that such felons will take refuge in the mines when an asylum is no longer afforded them in the cities, the miners are associating for the purpose of punishing crime, and Vigilance Committees are organizing. One was formed here last night, and we are ready to pay our respects to all scoundrels who may be inclined to pay us a visit. Repugnant as this course is to Americans who are brought up in the school of law and order, there is no other way to save our lives and to protect our property, for the technicalities of the law have been perverted to screen the guilty and protect them in their career of crime so long that nothing is left but a resolution in fact to put the law into the hands of the people to protect themselves. You will learn by the public prints the infamous use made of the pardoning power by Governor McDougal in granting a full and free pardon to a murderer, a wanton and de- liberate murderer. 2 It is but a sample of the manner in which the law has been administered by those entrusted with its execution. I am cognizant of all the transactions of the people at San Fran- cisco, having taken an active part in some of the public meetings there; yet I leave a description of them to others. I am now at work on my claim in the mountains. The condition of things is lamentable in other ways than the disorders of judicial proceedings. Business is nearly at a stand. By the late fires thousands are completely ruined and thrown out of employment. 3 Those who can stand the sun and severe labor go to the mines, but there are many, very many, who are unused to labor and although they may have the will, do not possess the strength and are in vain seeking employ- ment. At this time the best business and literary talent can be em- ployed in San Francisco for their board. Indeed, I know men of ability, of honesty, and of good morals, who could not even get that, and have not money either to live on or to get out of town. I 2 Cf. p. 119. 3 The sixth "great fire" occurred June 22, 1851. Soule et ai, Annals, 345. [121] never wanted to be rich so much in my life as since the fire. Rich, humph! Do you know that Colonel Grant has become a prophet? He had the impudence to declare to Dr. Morse 4 the other day that I never would be rich. The only thing I care about the prophecy is it's truth. Well, I can't steal, and if I can't get rich without, I shall enjoy the company of two Californians who can "Teach me to feel another's woe," 5 and Grant re-Morse for my sins of omission — eh, Colonel ? Let's see, where was I? O, talking about business. It is but little better in the mines than in the cities. Goods and provisions are abundant and cheap, affording but little profit. So many have rushed into trade that profits are cut down to little more than a living, and although mining is uncertain, yet at this moment it is, in my opin- ion, the surest business of the country. Agriculture is attended to, and where land can be irrigated very good crops are raised. I think there will be potatoes enough raised very nearly to supply the de- mand. Many places are found in the mountains — the foothills — which can be cultivated, for the mountain streams afford the means of irrigation. One of our company has 160 acres enclosed, and we are eating lettuce and radishes of his raising, and his potatoes are doing well. Indian corn has a bilious look, but barley and wheat thrive well. I think it possible to raise potatoes enough in the mountains to supply the miners. If this is ever done, it will cut off one great item of trade below. A general meeting of quartz miners is called to be held at Sacra- mento City on the 2d of July, for the purpose of agreeing on some general regulations respecting the amount of territory which a man may hold. This call is not responded to by all of the quartz dis- tricts. In some the laws are just and liberal, founded upon equity, and the utmost harmony reigns, as is the case here. It is thought that each district can make its own laws, which will apply better to its own locality than any general law. Here, the laws are made and allow a man to hold by preemption one hundred square feet of quartz ground, but he may purchase and hold for the purpose of running machinery, or for working actually, any number of claims within reason. To change this law might do much injustice to those who have made improvements or who have bought claims for the purpose of working crushing mills, and as all are satisfied now, our 4 Dr. John Frederick Morse (1815-1874), physician, editor of the Sacramento Union, and local historian. San Francisco Aha California, December 31, 1874. 5 Pope, The Universal Prayer. 6 The miners met and on July 3 passed a resolution limiting each claim on "the lead" to three hundred feet for the claimant and 150 feet for each partner. Sacramento Union, July 4, 1851. [122] people have determined to let well enough alone and not go into convention. This community is an orderly, peaceable and quiet one. There are seven crushing mills in operation, and many people at work. There are many scientific, literary and well-educated gentle- men among them, and several families are located here. We have a daily stage and mail passing through from Sacramento City to Nevada City, although a year ago a road was not opened, and the Indians were killing and driving off the whites. And lastly, I want to tell you a true story and conclude. Just before the great fire I was coming up here on foot; I took a cut across the mountains by a trail which led me several miles from any settlement. Passing along a dark and deep ravine which was as still and silent as the grave, I suddenly came upon the remains of an old camp where had stood a solitary and isolated miner's tent. In one corner I saw, partly cov- ered with dirt, the remains of a newspaper, and prompted by curi- osity I carefully uncovered it and looking at the head, saw that it read California True Delta. Comment is unnecessary, but I know how that poor fellow felt when he was poring over its pages in that lonely spot. A. Delano. 30. San Francisco, August 1, 185 1. 1 When the history of California shall be written, after time has mellowed the asperities of passing events, the occurrences of the present day will form a singular but strange chapter for the perusal of the statesman and philanthropist, as well as the bookworm. In a country whose people are proverbial for their love of justice and order, where the force of early education and of public example has tended to the observance of the law for the preservation of order and the protection of those rights which belong to free citizens, a state of things exists which borders upon anarchy and threatens to dissolve the social compact of the community; in fact, they have already arrived at the point where strong individual combinations are required to protect life and property from organized bands of desperadoes and heartless men who have made the existing laws an instrument to protect them in crime and high-handed villainy. If this state of things existed in a single town, city, or district, the evil could be corrected by the law itself, but strange to say the whole length and breadth of California is so beset with unprincipled men who set law, order and justice alike at defiance, or make use of the 1 True Delta, September 16, 1851. [123] first, by its technicalities, to subvert the others, that a revolution has become necessary for the protection of rights and at this mo- ment exists in progress throughout the State. On every side is sus- picion and distrust of men and authorities. In the cities, as well as in the mountain wilds, it is unsafe for men to go unarmed, and par- ticularly after nightfall; and even in thoroughfares in the largest towns, men are compelled to take the middle of the street, fearful that the first man they meet may be an assassin or robber with a slung shot or pistol. For a long time this was patiently endured. That reverence for existing law which is almost an intuitive feeling with Americans endured there, to await its action, in the hope that its just administration would rid society of its pests and excres- cences; but when at length it was seen that the executive itself, if not in actual collusion with crime, pardoned it in its most glaring de- formity; that criminals almost universally escaped punishment; that in more than two hundred murders in less than a year but a single legal execution had taken place in the whole State; 2 that the police force was wholly inefficient and sometimes even connected with the commission of crime; that witnesses notoriously perjured them- selves to screen their companions in guilt and prove an alibi; that public officers were guilty of peculation and malfeasence; and that for the guilty to be in any event condemned to prison was only affording an easy mode to escape punishment by the insecurity of the jails and the negligence of the jailors; in short, when it was found that under the administration of the law the insecurity of life and property increased instead of diminished, the people became aroused to a sense of their own wrongs and, convinced that there was no other mode of redress, resolved to take the punishment of their aggressors into their own hands, not in opposition to law and order, but to aid the law to do what of itself it could not do, pro- tect the honest part of the community. Not a morning paper ap- peared in San Francisco that did not herald the perpetration of some robbery or murder the previous night in the city, and it was the same from the mines and different parts in the whole country. In distant counties, goaded on to desperation by repeated acts of violence, the citizens occasionally tumultuously arose and seized the perpetrator, when the constituted authorities would interfere, generally with success, and the criminal almost invariably would escape punishment, till at length it became a byword and reproach when an arrest was made: "He will escape by the law." Up to the present moment, although within the past year at least forty murders have been committed in San Francisco and its immediate vicinity, there has never been a legal execution. In several glaring cases the perpetrators were admitted to merely nominal bail, without the ceremony of incarceration, and were free to continue their assaults 2Cf. p. 119. [124] and depredations. Incendiarism was so common that when the citi- zen laid down at night, his papers and valuables, as well as clothes, were placed in a situation where they could be seized at a moment's warning, and the thought was constant that before daylight should appear he might be a houseless, homeless, ruined man. These things could no longer be endured. Self-preservation rendered it imperative that the first law of nature should be observed, and that unless some united effort was made, society must resolve itself into its primitive elements and brute force be the only defense against aggression and violence. Every ship from the penal colonies of Great Britain only added numbers to the English convicts already here, while the vicious of all nations seemed by instinct to find a rendezvous on our shores, so that California contained hordes of the most accomplished vil- lains who had passed through every grade of crime and were pre- pared to practice their infernal arts upon the honest and industrious part of the community at the moment of their arrival. Under this state of things an association was organized in San Francisco, com- posed of its best and most prominent citizens, which soon swelled to a thousand, encouraged and approved by nine tenths of the whole community, who were determined to bring palpable offenders to prompt and speedy justice. Their first act was to take into custody a thief who was caught in the act of stealing a safe. He was fairly tried before a jury immedi- ately summoned, full proof of guilt was adduced, and without noise or parade he was taken to the plaza about midnight and hung on the piazza of the Adobe. 3 The second day after, a public meeting was called at which thou- sands of citizens were assembled, who, with but one single dissent- ing voice (from a lawyer), ratified by vote the acts of the Vigilance Committee (as it was called). 4 A second meeting took place the following day at which a series of resolutions were introduced, the object of which was to sustain the Committee in purifying the city from the pest of society and censuring the uncertain and tardy administration of justice by the officers of the law. An attempt was made to prevent the passage of these resolutions by a prominent member of the Legislature, backed up by a gang of rowdies and gamblers whom he had rallied around him and who endeavored to interfere with the meeting by violent and unfair means. But the resolutions passed by overwhelming acclamation. 5 — A revolution had in fact taken place. 3 This was the Jenkins affair. Cf. p. 118. The "Adobe" was the Custom House on the northwest corner of Portsmouth Plaza. Soule et al., Annals, 255, 343, 571. 4 At the meeting, held June 11, H. K. W. Clarke "almost alone" protested against the Committee's actions. San Francisco Alta California, June 12, 1851. 5 On June 12 David C. Broderick (1820-1859), President of the State Senate (later U. S. Senator from California), effectively led the opposition to the Committee, but its actions were finally endorsed the next day. Ibid., June 13-14, 1851; "Broderick," Dictionary of American Biography. [125] The Vigilance Committee were looked upon as the true purifiers of society, instead of the courts; yet in no case did the former im- pede the acts of the latter in its administration of justice; its only aim was to punish speedily those who were not secured by the police, without going through with the technicalities of the law, its insecurity and uncertainty; and yet they punished no criminal with- out a fair trial, without full and positive proof of guilt. The effect of this association was speedily felt. After the execution of Jenkins, numbers of known thieves and burglars left the city, and the Re- corder's dock, instead of being filled every morning with criminals, fell off at once to a few cases of drunkenness and disorderly con- duct. Determined to effect a thorough renovation, the Committee gave notice to notorious villains to leave the city in five days, and when they refused to obey, they were seized and placed in durance until they could be sent out of the country. Ships from the penal colonies were boarded and the characters of the passengers enquired into, and when they were satisfactorily proven to be convicts, they were not suffered to land, but compelled to return in the same vessel which brought them out. As a matter course there was opposition to the measures of the Vigilance Committee. The constituted au- thorities, sworn to administer the law (which, even if willing, they had been unable to do), looked upon these acts of the Committee as a breach of the law; the gamblers, thieves, their aiders and abet- tors, their counselors, who were deriving a revenue in shielding them from justice, weak men who had but little at stake or who could be influenced by the specious reasoning of those directly interested in opposing justice and speedy punishment, formed a party in opposition to the people, for the Vigilance Committee was now the only recognized organ of the people as a body. — Yet in spite of the remonstrances of the Courts, the maligners of those interested, and the doubts of the weak, the Committee steadily persevered in their work, and a feeling of security began to be felt which had not been done for a year and a half before. Even the pul- pit came forward to the rescue, and ministers of the gospel were heard from the sacred desk to approve of the acts of the Vigilance Committee, under the peculiar circumstances of the case. The ex- ample of San Francisco was speedily followed in all other towns in California, and Vigilance Committees were formed even in the mountains, at nearly every extensive digging, and at this moment, while the constituted authorities are endeavoring to throw impedi- ments in the way of these Committees, thus indirectly encouraging the commission of crime which they cannot punish, these associa- tions are calmly and steadily pursuing their object, and are restor- ing a degree of confidence in the community which has not been felt for many months. In addition to other benefits, these associations have had the [126] effect of instigating the Courts to renewed energy and more prompt execution of law and of justice; and when the time shall arrive that there is sufficient honesty and power in the Courts to faithfully dis- charge their duties in repressing crime and bring offenders to just- ice, they will at once resign the right of arrogating to themselves the power of punishing the guilty and leave it with those whose duty it is to protect the honest against fraud and violence. By the indefatigable energy of the Vigilance Committee a notori- ous robber was arrested, and the proof was so satisfactory that he was condemned to death. Previous to his execution, Stuart con- fessed his crimes," and brought to light what had long been sus- pected, that organized bands of desperadoes existed,* that certain lawyers were engaged to protect them with the chicanery of the law, and men of standing were implicated as aiders and abettors in their nefarious practices. Upon the execution of Stuart in open day at the instance of the committee, the authorities expressed themselves as being highly indignant of what they termed an outrage (on what? — their authority? — certainly not on justice). A grand jury was im- paneled at the instance of the Judge, 7 who charged them that an awful outrage had been committed in thus hanging a man contrary to law, although the felon had confessed himself guilty of the black- est crimes, and they were directed to bring in a true bill of indict- ment. The Mayor, 8 too, came out with a proclamation on the sub- ject, but the Committee, disregarding those impotent offerings of spleen, calmly and deliberately pursued the even tenor of their way, 9 determined that justice should overtake the guilty. A few days ago at Sacramento City, a young man just from the mines, named Wilson, was robbed in open daylight by four despera- does who decoyed him to an unfrequented part of the city. An alarm was raised, and in half an hour the robbers were in the hands of the Vigilance Committee. The authorities interfered and prom- ised most solemnly that they should be tried immediately without delay, and they were finally given up. It became known the follow- ing day that the trial had been postponed four days by the inter- ference of the lawyers, when the people assembled and in a deter- mined manner called upon the executors of the law to redeem their promises, and told them decidedly that unless they proceeded at once with the trial, they would take the prisoners themselves. Seeing that the people were not to be put off with promises, they then went 6 James Stuart, arrested for murder and robbery, was hanged by the Vigilance Committee on the Market Street Wharf, July 11, 1851. Soule et al, Annals, 314-315, 368, 578-582. 7 Justice Alexander Campbell (1820-1911) of the county court of sessions. San Francisco Alta California, June 13, 1851; Chronicle, July 7, 1911. 8 Charles J. Brenham (1817-1875). San Francisco Alta California, July 12, 1851; May 11, 1875; Soule et al, Annals, 735-739. 9 Gray, Elegy. [127] on with the examination according to law, and a week has been dragged along, during which one has been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, two to be hung, and one remains to be tried. The testimony is positive, as the robbery was witnessed by several in- dividuals; yet, had not the Courts been urged on by the people, weeks would have, in all probability, been consumed; and it is not at all improbable that the villains might have escaped. 10 And such is the present condition of California. With a beautiful climate, abounding in the elements of wealth and of comfort, it is on the verge of anarchy from the imbecility of its rulers; and were it not for the stern determination of the honest part of community to rid the country of its hideous excrescences, it would soon resolve into the primitive condition of society when justice and protection could only be given by the power of the sword and the will of the strong. You will think the picture too highly drawn. You will think I am excited. On the contrary, I am of a dispassionate tempera- ment, and the portrait may be judged by every public account which you receive through the press, as well as at the hands of returning Californians. Yours, A. D. *On the 4th of July at Nevada City, a young man whom I had known many years told me that he was offered seven hundred dol- lars a month to steal mules, horses and cattle. It is needless to say that he indignantly refused. 10 James Wilson was robbed of two hundred dollars on July 9, and the next day William Robinson, John Thompson, James Gibson, and Owen Cruthers were indicted. A Vigilance Committee was organized, July 11. A jury convicted Robinson, July 15. Robinson, Gib- son, and Thompson were sentenced to death, July 20. All three were hanged, August 22. Sacramento Union, July 10-12, 16, 21, August 23, 1851. 31. Sacramento City, August, 6, 185 1. 1 Gentlemen: I find my time so much occupied that I shall be un- able to continue my correspondence with your paper and of course must relinquish all claim on you for sending your paper either to me or to my friends on my account. — Since the fire of the 4th of May, 2 I have been, like thousands of others, a gentleman loafer, living on the glories which were left after the fire had done its worst and thinking what I would do if I was a respectable man — that is, 1 Free Trader, September 27, 1851. 2 At San Francisco. [128] if I had money. As a man's merit is chiefly measured by the fullness of his purse, my claim to the high consideration of my countrymen is only moderate; but I console myself with the pleasing reflection that I care but devilish little about it. I have just read two numbers of the Free Trader and a letter written by Mr. Gum to Mr. Keefer, by which I see that you are blessed with floods, scarcity of money, office seekers, and high life below stairs 3 in various ways. The con- clusion that we come to here is that no man knows anything unless he has been to California, for we are about fifty years ahead in knowledge to you poor deluded mortals at home. When we see you chaffering and higgling about a few cents in county operations or a half a cent in the price of coal, it looks mighty small, and the con- clusion we come to is that you are a picayune people. Why, I haven't seen but one copper cent since I have been in this country and that gave me the diarrhea. I gave the fellow two bits to throw it away. A strange convulsion of nature has recently oc- curred here. The mountains have all turned into gold, and instead of digging as was formerly the case, and living on pork and bread, all you have to do is to load up a wagon with rock and dine on mush and milk which fill the gulches. I've written truth so much before that I can afford to lie a little now. Well, now in sober earnest, the streams are so low that the beds can be worked to advantage, and a vast amount of gold will be taken out, more than in any previous season. The quartz mining is becoming profitable and begins to be worked systematically — $ 1 ,520 was taken from one mine last week. — All of our company have sold out except myself. They call the trade thirty thousand dollars. I still hold on with the new company and am to superintend the mining for three hundred dollars per month. I intended to have come home this fall, but as I want fifteen barrels of gold, I must wait till spring. I have but little idea of ever coming back to live, and somehow the conviction is forced upon my imagination that I have a good chance here. But let me tell you one thing, boys, if you come here to get rich, you will have to look the elephant square in the face in some shape or other. I intend to get married next week; I have bribed two sheriffs and four auctioneers to buy a woman or two at the first auction sale of livestock. Would you like a few dozen? They are of but little account here, and although there is quite a rush of them from the States, they will find the market glutted and will be compelled to work for a living at from fifty to a hundred dollars per month on their arrival. They had better stay at home. The squaws have vastly improved the Bloomer dresses. From neck to heels they wear only a small grass apron. This they say does not impede the free use of their limbs and is much more comfortable in hot weather; besides 'tain't half the 3 Cf. High Life Below Stairs, a popular farce by James Townley, first produced in Lon- don, 1759. [129] trouble to dress and undress. — Pshaw! what's the use of dictating to women what dress they shall wear? They'd do as they please any- how. I intend to let all my wives take their own way and thereby save myself a hatchelling. Murder, robberies and gambling is on the wane. The glorious Vigilance Committees are teaching the courts their duty, and order is coming out of chaos and confusion. Had Milton lived now he would have placed the scene of the grand combat in California; at all events his devils would have found plenty of ammunition here. There is no suffering on the plains this year so far. But '49 and '50 will afford a thrilling theme for some future historian. Saw Keefer just now — he is doing well, and I am glad of it. He is an energetic, industrious man, and has the milk of human kindness in his veins. I saw Pete Hoes at Grass Valley last week — is doing noth- ing, and probably will not. 4 I haven't got to drinking, stealing or gambling yet, but expect to commence in a day or two. There is lots of news, but the papers have it all, and letter-writers are getting below par. — Money is scarce and taters is fell. 5 Yours, &c, A. Delano. 4 Peter Hoes, of Ottawa. He was reported to have been in San Francisco in September, 1849. Free Trader, December 7, 1849. 5 I.e., fallen in price. [130] 32. Grass Valley, August 30, 1851. 1 Once more a miner — once more a delver in earth in search of its hidden treasures. Speculation, merchandise, literary efforts, idling and the various employments which men are forced into in this un- paralleled country, unparalleled for good and evil, have again set- tled into primitive operations, and I am again a mountaineer, my castle a cabin, my frills a red shirt, my hope in the mines, and my heart with my family beyond the Missouri. But gracious heaven! what a change two years has produced. When I detailed to you, in my first letters, the toils and hard- ships of the miner exemplified in my own experience, I little thought that in so brief a space of time such a mighty change would occur. Where we then climbed mountains weary and fainting under the heavy loads we carried on our backs, where by difficult paths a mule brought us our hard and homely fare, where the bare means of ex- istence was all we expected — now good roads are opened with daily stages running over them from the principal towns in the Valley; these roads are lined with comfortable houses for the accommoda- tion of travellers, where the luxuries of life may be had in profusion, and a vast number of teams loaded with all the necessaries and comforts for man are constantly passing. Villages and towns are springing up among the hills which exhibit the life and bustle of trading towns, and society, though by no means purified of its excrescences, begins to assume the form of civilization. Immense works are undertaken which might daunt the resolution of wealthy capitalists at home, and are carried through with success. In short, in every direction you behold a sublime spectacle of the energy and indomitable perseverance of a free people, who think and act for themselves, and make science and art their slaves in securing the talisman of Earth — gold. Rivers and creeks are turned from their channels and carried by canals miles along mountains, over hills, across gulches, by means of aqueducts, for forty miles or more, thus distributing the indispensable element to the miner for separating the gold from the earth and opening to man rich deposits which could not be worked without water. The water of Deer Creek is thus turned and by ditches, troughs and hose is carried many miles in various directions, giving em- ployment to thousands who without it would be idle; and a canal is in progress, to be forty miles in length, which will turn the water of Bear River from its bed for a similar purpose, as well as expose its 1 True Delta, October 8, 1851. [131] own rich deposits to the miner. Another gigantic scheme was in agitation, and the stock of the company was subscribed. This was to turn the Yuba for similar purposes, high in the mountains, with a canal of sufficient capacity to float lumber and ice to the Valley. It was then projected to continue the canal across the plain to the mouth of the American River, thus supplying Sacramento City with lumber and ice — the latter an essential article in this fervid climate. The engineer assured me the route and work were feasible, except about forty or fifty rods, where it would have to pass along a per- pendicular canon so high that there were no means of erecting works for a flume, and so many difficulties presented themselves at that point which seemed to require the whole wealth of California to overcome, that the plan was reluctantly abandoned, for the present at least. Since the discovery of gold in its matrix, which are the quartz veins extending apparently through the whole length and breadth of the country, a new impulse has been given to the energies of Californians. There is at this place perhaps more machinery in active operation at this time than at any other point in the State, although it is highly probable that many other places are quite as rich which still remain undiscovered. At this time there are six steam quartz mills and one water mill in operation, and one steam mill and another water-crushing mill are in progress of erection. Instead of one hill and one vein of quartz, it appears by examina- tion that many veins exist in nearly all the hills in this region, and this gives such a certainty for continuing operations for a term of years — a permanency of business — that the mountain valleys are being taken up for farms and cultivated; good buildings are erected in the villages, and this hitherto wild and inhospitable mountain country is fast assuming the settled condition of the active, bustling, yet permanent towns of the iron mountains of Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding the horde of villains who throng in our midst, the high character of the miners and operatives for intelligence and various acquirements still deservedly continues. Among them I have for a neighbor and friend, Mr. Frederick M. Catherwood, cele- brated the world over as an artist and traveler. 2 You would little dream that that modest, quiet man, standing by that puffing, stamp- ing, noisy crushing mill, without a particle of ostentation in his manner, dressed in a plain, coarse, drab corduroy dreadnought coat and pants, with high coarse leather boots reaching above his knees, his head covered with a broadbrim California hat and his somewhat 2 (1799-1856). A native of England, Catherwood was also a railroad promoter. He came to San Francisco in 1849, took an active interest in a Panama railroad, and was now associated with the Benicia-Marysville railroad survey. He returned to England in 1852 and was lost on the steamer Pacific, never heard of after leaving Liverpool for New York in 1856. Frederick Boase, Modern English Biography (3 vols., London, 1892-1901), I, 571; Victor W. Von Hagen, Frederick Catherwood, Archt. (New York, 1950), 3, 110-113. [132] prominent nose bridging a pair of spectacles, was the artist who illustrated the admirable works of Stephens' Petraea and Yucatan, with drawings taken on the spot. 3 It is even he, and if you would make him blush, why speak to him of his works? He has too much modesty to intrude himself on your notice, but if you will draw him out you will find him a gentleman as well as an artist, and he is the president of his company and one of the proprietors of the mill. A year ago there were no inhabitants here. — Occasionally a soli- tary miner might be seen resting his weary limbs in the shade of a magnificent pine, or while prospecting under the weight of his blankets, mining tools and transient supply of pork and hard bread, keeping a cautious watch with his hand on his trusty rifle to guard against surprise, not knowing but in another instant an arrow from the bow of some lurking treacherous savage might terminate his toil and earthly career at one and the same moment. Now in this immediate vicinity there are probably two thousand men at work, with all the comforts of life within their reach, and the only danger is from the robber and midnight assassin, and these are now held in check. Families are coming in, and although female influence is but little felt, still the germ is laid, and the lower mines will soon present that feature in the happiness of isolated man. I must confess, however, that my former ideas of the purity and stern morality of the opposite sex have been somewhat lowered — perhaps my ideas have been too exalted — but it too often happens here that females who have borne unexceptionable characters at home adopt the code of morals of the country and instead of en- deavoring to stem the current, float along with it. I am no casuist and will not seek for the cause. This sentiment may draw down upon me the frowns of my fair countrywomen at home, but I can't help it, and as I am no candidate for even a place in their affections, I shall take the world as I find it and ask no favors. Near us is an Indian ranch filled with dirty, squalid, disgusting savages, but as I have given you a picture of Indian life, I will not advert to it now. They are peaceable and quiet, and their chief is friendly to the whites. The nights are getting cold, and my blankets are scarcely sufficient to keep me warm, but the days are hot. A. D. 3 John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852). Known as "the American traveler," he wrote Inci- dents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia, Petraea, and the Holy Land (2 vols., New York, 1838) ; Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (2 vols., New York, 1841), with sixty-five plates by Catherwood; and Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (2 vols., New York, 1843). Stephens was also a steamship and railroad executive, associated with a transatlantic line, the Hudson River Railroad, and the Panama Railroad; he went with Catherwood to South America in 1839 on a confidential mission for President Van Buren. Dictionary of American Biography. [133] Grass Valley, September 29, 1851. 1 Science is progressive. The wonderful development of the power of steam by Fulton was only the prelude to vast and material im- provement, until it has at length reached the perfection exhibited at the present day. It is so in mechanics — it is the same in astronomy, in geology; it will be so in mining and its modus operandi. On the first discovery of gold in the placers of California, the first mode of washing was by the pan; then a rough rocker was substituted, which was subsequently much improved, and quicksilver introduced. This was succeeded by the Long Tom and then by the sluice, by which it was found that dirt which would not pay by the pan or rocker yielded a handsome profit, and ground which had been passed over as worthless was found to contain gold in such quantities that for- tunes were made. When the first quartz veins were worked the specimens, or those pieces in which gold was visible only, were saved, and these were pounded out by hand, until by repeated ex- periments and the introduction of machinery it was found that much of the rock which had been discarded was really rich and contained gold enough to make its extraction a profitable labor. Another dis- covery followed, that the dirt in immediate proximity with, and in which the quartz was imbedded, was rich, often richer than the quartz itself, and it was not until many tons had been thrown away or mixed up with valueless dirt that this fact became known, and 1 True Delta, November 5, 1851. [134] now, on visiting a mine, you will see its pile of quartz on one side and its pay dirt, as it is termed, on the other. The first mill erected here was a small one, by water power, which proved a failure. This proceeded from the want of a proper application of the power. The next was a twelve-horsepower steam engine, which was abandoned or sold out by the company, after involving them in debt. Another steam mill of the same power was put into operation and by being properly constructed and prudently managed, was successful, and this company became the purchasers of the first steam mill, and after spending money enough to get it into the right condition and making such improvements in the mode of saving gold as were suggested by their experiments, this mill was made effective. Other mills were then erected, having the benefit of the experi- ence of the pioneers, and they have gradually improved one upon the other, until all are now able to save much more of the precious metal than it was possible to do in the first experiment — enabling them to crush poorer rock and at less prices than at first, and make a profit to themselves and to the miner. Experience develops facts, too, which are of the utmost import- ance to those who would engage in gold working. The estimates of the capabilities of the machines for crushing have generally been too high — where it was confidently asserted that thirty and forty tons of rock could be crushed in a day, it is found that ten to fifteen is the result, by the power applied, and when the power of the engine has been called from twenty-five to thirty-five or forty horse, it may go from fifteen to twenty or twenty-five. Sufficient power is abso- lutely important, and too much is far preferable to too little. The expense of running an hundred-horsepower engine is but a trifle more than that of a ten-horse, being chiefly in the amount of fuel consumed, and when forty or fifty tons of rock is actually crushed in a day, the profit to the mill as well as to the miner is proportion- ably great. Poorer rock can be worked, and at a less price, and it is a mistaken idea to suppose that all veins are equally auriferous. Some will yield little or nothing, others will barely pay, while some are decidedly rich, and these varieties not unfrequently occur in the same hill, and there is a difference, too, in the same vein, but so far as my experience goes, the same vein will give a fair general aver- age. While some veins will yield an average of five cents, others will give only three, two, or perhaps less, and a mill of forty horsepower can make money in working a medium average of rock, while a ten- horse would run in debt. Instead of there being a single general vein running through the country, with lateral veins, as I once supposed, we find several veins often in the same hill, some rich, some of medium value, others of little value. An experienced eye will detect the quality of the rock at a glance; that is, he can tell with much probability whether the vein will pay for working or not, and if [135] there is doubt, he can determine by a simple process with much certainty, so that money and labor may be saved before large in- vestments are made. And in prospecting too, a man accustomed to it will find the locality of a ledge by a process he can hardly explain, where others would pass it unnoticed. There are mills here which are working on three different principles. First — the stampers, by steam; second — a small water mill with six stampers on the trip- hammer principle, with a flutter wheel about thirty inches in diam- eter, in which there is a great waste of power as it is arranged; and the third is upon the Chilian system, having four upright crushing wheels, the individual weight of which can be made to reach twenty- five hundred pounds. This last is nearly ready to run. The two first do the work very well; as for the last, if I may be allowed to hazard an opinion, it will, I think, be found that it will crush the rock ad- mirably, as well perhaps as is desired, but that it cannot crush as great an amount in a given time as the stampers. Still this remains to be seen. One apparent advantage that it suggests is that the amalgamation proceeds with the crushing, and hot water will be used, which will expand the quicksilver, giving it a greater surface and consequently collecting more gold than by the ordinary amal- gamating process. Another water mill is in progress of erection about two miles below here by Mr. Kelley, having a water wheel of thirty feet in diameter, where there will be not only a great saving of power but thousands of dollars a year in the way of wood, engi- neers, firemen, wood-choppers, &c, &c. His mill will probably work as well as any in this vicinity. Experiment has proved that only about one half of the gold is now saved by the improvements which have been made since the commencement of operations. A small quantity of rock which had been worked over was submitted to chemical analysis, when it yielded in addition at the rate of ninety dollars per ton, showing that an ample field for investigation and experiment is still open to the scientific and ingenious. You will frequently hear of rich specimens being found in quartz. This is so, but do not confound this with the average yield. — All paying veins will occasionally produce rich specimens, and although it is desirable to see gold visible to the naked eye in quartz, it is not necessary in order to determine whether it contains gold or not. I do not know that any positive maximum of the amount which an engine can crush or not has been arrived at, but suppose it will be from half a ton to a ton to the single horsepower, carrying the necessary gearing and machinery. But one thing is certain, power- ful engines are more profitable than small ones, and I think that in a short time the small engines in the country will be abandoned, to be superseded by more powerful ones. Lest I be thought too prolix, I will bring this subject to a close, only observing that what I write [136] or have written has been according to the best information I could obtain at the time. Since my first communication on quartz mining, 1 have acquired more particular knowledge. It still continues to excite a lively interest in our State. Among other distinguished visi- tors to Grass Valley, General Atocha,- of whom you are cognizant, has made a tour of observation, and it gave me pleasure to afford him all the knowledge I possessed of mines and mining. I found him an intelligent and agreeable gentleman, with enlarged views and a mind capable of forming and carrying out great designs, and I have spent no time more agreeably in California than the two evenings and one day that we were together. I sincerely hope that the result of his investigations may prove profitable both to himself and Mexico. Ex-Governor Blanshard, of Vancouver Island, 3 and Cap- tain Fanshawe, of the British Navy, 4 were here at the same time, and all seemed delighted with their visit. It is a pleasure to meet gentle- men of any nation. The Sierra Nevada Quartz Mining Company, of which I have spoken in a former communication, have sold out their mine to Dr. J. Delavan, the agent of the Rocky Bar Company, 5 and he is erect- ing machinery and driving ahead with characteristic Yankee energy. — Some of the mills have taken out eight hundred to a thousand dollars per day, though this must always vary according to the quality of the rock and other circumstances; some days more, some days less. A. Delano. 2 Colonel A. J. Atocha was the personal representative of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in the U. S., 1846-1848. Wilfrid H. Callcott, Santa Anna (Norman, Okla- homa, 1936), 230, 248, 262. 3 Richard Blanshard, first governor of Vancouver, left the island August 27, 1851, to re- turn to England. Bancroft, History of British Columbia, 1792-1887 (San Francisco, 1887), 265-282. 4 Edward G. Fanshawe (1814-1906), captain, Royal Navy, 1845; rear admiral, 1863; lord of the admiralty, 1865; vice admiral, 1871; K. C. B., 1881. Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement. 5 Dr. James Delavan. Sacramento Placer Times, November 24, 1849. The Rocky Bar Company was "memorable as the first of its class to mine on a large scale in the pockets of Eastern investors." Pen-Knife Sketches, xiii. [137] 34. Shasta City, October 20, 1851. 1 The air was bracing but not cold when at sunrise on the morning of the 4th, I took a seat with the driver on the box of the stage for Shasta City, whose locale is among the foothills and at the very southern base of that rugged broken range of mountains which stretch from the extreme northern end of the Valley of the Sacra- mento through to Oregon, and thence in wild and solemn grandeur through the British and Russian possessions in North America, and interrupted only by the narrow Strait of Behring into Asia. Cross- ing the Sacramento as we left town, we were soon gaily rolling over the bosom of the broad Valley, with the bold dark outline of the Coast Range looming up on the west, and on the east the Sierra Nevada with its broad foothills seemed gradually to rise till at a great distance it blended with the sky like sombre clouds without indicating its own extreme altitude, still presenting a prominent and vivid component part in the charming view. Occasionally we were driving along the banks of the river through groves of evergreen oak and then launching out into a tule swamp miles in length, over- flowed by the river in flood seasons, making a large lake, when about eleven o'clock we reached the city of Fremont, our first change. 2 This important town is situated near the confluence of Rio de las Plumas (Feather River) with the Sacramento, and stands an ex- ample of the speculative energy of the Calif ornians of '49. Like every other town on a navigable stream it is at the head of naviga- tion, though steamboats do run an hundred miles above. It contains about forty houses, twelve of which are occupied by families; the others are to rent on easy terms to any who would like a quiet nook far from the noise and bustle of the city. In the fall and winter of '49 it possessed extensive water privileges, for during the overflow the communications between the houses was by means of boats, and an acquaintance of mine who was the wealthy proprietor of eight hundreds lots in the city assured me the fishing on them was ex- cellent. For any person desirous of making a permanent investment an excellent opportunity is offered here. Leaving Fremont with its reminiscences, we drove along the Sacramento for a few miles, when our road launched out upon the plain, where for fifty miles there was no water, only in wells dug at 1 True Delta, December 7, 1851. 2 A town across the Sacramento River from Verona (formerly Vernon). Fremont was founded in 1849 and abandoned not long after Delano's visit. H. E. and E. G. Rensch and Mildred B. Hoover, Historic Spots in California: Valley and Sierra Counties (Stan- ford, 1933), 535. [138] intervals of eighteen to twenty miles, and where much of the way the tules and vegetable mould indicated submersion in flood season, making it by no means a desirable location for the biped creation. The plain was dotted with large herds of elk, antelope, and deer which in seeming security scarcely moved beyond gunshot from us, barely raising their heads with curiosity as we passed, as if to en- quire what the devil we were doing on their stamping ground, while we on our part were smacking our lips with the poetic thought of a broiled steak from their haunches. About sixty miles above Sacra- mento City, between the Sacramento and Feather rivers and about midway of the plain, rises a strange, queer, isolated old mountain called the Buttes, 3 that looks as if it had been one of the hills which the fallen angels had used for ammunition in Milton's Paradise Lost. There it stands, where the Valley is twenty miles wide on either side, lifting its bare, craggy, misshapen, undescribable brown peaks two thousand feet towards heaven, baring its rough brows to the elements, its furrowed and rent sides attesting the power of time and might of the Almighty, and a beacon to the bewildered traveler on the plain. It is one of the strange things of California which defies my power of description, and the only way I can get at it is to leave a blank thus, and let you fill it with an artist's pencil to suit your own imagining. As the sun disappeared behind the dark hills of the Coast Range, his rays still shone brightly on the high crest of the Buttes, and it seemed as if twilight was approaching before the old mountain gave up the contest for light and fairly bade us good night. A little after dark we were sitting down to a glorious supper at the city of Colusa, a thriving capital of just twelve houses, beautifully situated on the west bank of the river and of course at the head of navigation — that is, for steamboats that don't run higher. Adjoining the town is a large village of Indians. 4 1 was strolling along the river by starlight after having discussed a savory elk steak, when I was startled by an unearthly yell, a sound of lamentation from the direction of the Indian village. Curious to know the cause of this sudden outcry, I bent my steps in that direction. Before every lodge were seated several women and children who were piteously lamenting with tears of grief coursing down their cheeks, while in groups the men sat silent or talking in subdued tones, and I never saw a whole com- munity who seemed more grief-stricken than these untutored and naked savages. An old warrior replied to my enquiry by informing me that five of their men had accompanied a gentleman of Colusa to the mines to dig for gold. Four of them had set out on their return 3 Sutter Buttes, Colusa County. 4 Wintun Indians. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, 351-390. [139] alone, when they were assaulted by the mountain Indians and two of them killed; the others, making their escape, had just arrived with the sad intelligence. With them it was a national calamity and their grief was as sincere as it was touching. And death was rife among them. Supported in the arms of three or four squaws a woman was dying. The death rattle was in her throat, and before morning she too was numbered with the dead. All night long the wailings were continued, and as we left early the following morning we observed a large circle of squaws dancing a slow and measured tread around the body of their departed sister. May the Great Spirit be propi- tiated and the soul of the poor savage be made happy according to its capacity. Our nearest approach to the Coast Range was probably not nearer than fifteen miles. We could see that a range of lesser but rugged hills extended along the base of the main range with appar- ently a valley between them, but from this the mountains seemed to rise in broken and abrupt masses to a great height, more like the Sierra, from the desert on the eastern side of the snowy mountains. They appear too broken to admit of a wagon road, and only here and there show signs of vegetation, but up to this time it is a sealed and mysterious country opening a new field of enterprise and of toil to some future explorer. All I could learn was that a party of men had once attempted to make explorations. They were gone from home six days, had ascertained that gold existed in the hills, that there were fine valleys with beautiful streams flowing through them and an abundance of magnificent pines, but that the country was inhabited by bold and warlike tribes who were hostile and treacher- ous and that an ingress among those lofty hills was attended with difficulty and danger. 5 But the time will soon come when the atten- tion of the indomitable Yankee will be diverted from the eastern mountains towards the West, and then the tales of suffering, of toil and blood, of savage warfare and Christian cupidity, will find a locale in the broad, broken belt between the Pacific Ocean and the Valley of the Sacramento. As we approached the termination of the Valley towards the close of the third day, the ground became more uneven, and near Red Bluff we entered the foothills which were the stepping stones to the united ranges of the Coast and Sierra Nevada mountains. On the left were the lofty, rugged peaks of the Coast, before us the Trinity and Sacramento mountains stood out in bold relief, and on the east and north the Sierra was surmounted by the snow-clad points of Lawson's Peak and Shasta Butte, the latter ris- ing like a white cloud an hundred and twenty miles distant, attain- ing the immense altitude of thirteen thousand feet. G The road be- 5 The Lassik Indians inhabited Mendocino County. Ibid., 143-144. 6 Mount Shasta is actually 14,161 feet high. [140] came more broken, the hills higher, till at dark we arrived at Shasta City, the extreme point attainable by wagons in this direction in the mountains. Beyond this, mules alone can thread the narrow and intricate passes of the hills, and the constant arrival and departure of large pack trains with supplies for thousands of miners in that isolated country gave the town an appearance of life and bustle quite unexpected. Here the stores were well filled with merchandise, the hotels afforded comfortable quarters and their tables were loaded with not only the comforts but the luxuries of California, and the dream of hardship is only to be realized in the mountain country beyond. From this point northward it is necessary to go with some show of force and to keep a constant guard at night to prevent attacks from the Indians, and during the day it is not safe to leave the train even for a short distance. Yet an hundred and fifty miles north of Shasta City is a rich valley, thirty to fifty miles long by three to five wide, taking its name from the gigantic Butte at its head and affording a local habitation, even in this distant and isolated region, for another town of five hundred houses, called Shasta Butte City. 7 Would you believe it that such a town exists in this remote region? It is even so. Supplies are brought by mules from the south, while on the north a very feasible wagon road is opened to Oregon City, from whence supplies are also drawn; so that a communication is now open through the wildest imaginable country from California to Oregon. The geography of the Cascade Mountains is no longer a mystery, and the rivers are explored, rich valleys are found, and their cultiva- tion already begun. The northern Indians are a larger, more intelli- gent and more warlike race than those of California. They wear clothes and live in log or wood dwellings and are very ingenious in many articles of domestic manufacture, while a portion of their country is valuable for agricultural purposes. 8 In the neighborhood of Shasta I observed vast quantities of auri- ferous quartz, more than can be exhausted in hundreds of years, and I also saw many specimens which were brought in from Shasta Butte City, from Scott and Trinity rivers and their affluents, indeed in all directions, north and eastward, for an hundred miles or more. The imagination can scarcely stop at estimating the amount of mineral wealth still existing undisturbed in its matrix in the northern moun- tains; yet, while it is there, men will not stop to calculate the ex- pense, the difficulty and hazard of life in obtaining it. A.D. 7 Now Yreka. Gudde, California Place Names. 8 Battles between the whites on the one hand and the Shasta, Pit River, Rogue River, and Modoc Indians on the other were fought from 1851 on, culminating in the bloody Modoc War of 1873, which cost the lives of eighty-one whites and uncounted Indians. After this the Indians remained on reservations assigned to them. Caughey, California, 383-386. [141] 35. Parkman, Ohio, June, 1852. 1 Eds. True Delta — My last communication was from Grass Valley, California, dated, I think, in February. I do not know whether it reached you or not, but it was my last from the land of gold. 2 On my arrival at home, I became fully aware of the vastness of the throng which is hurrying on to distress, to misery, and immense suffering by a headlong journey across the plains. If a true repre- sentation of the condition of California would have any effect in preventing individual suffering, the readers of the True Delta would be benefited, for your columns have set forth these things in their proper light always, and to me it seems strange that people should become so infatuated as to rush into dangers with eyes wide open. California is indeed a great country, with a beautiful climate and fertile soil, and in this last particular I have been compelled to change my early opinion. 3 And gold is there in such quantities that I do not believe that the labor of a century can exhaust it. But be- cause such is the fact, do not let any man say, "If it is there, I can get it." There are difficulties in the way which are insuperable. There are just as smart men there who are as industrious, as ener- getic and prudent, as the best who are now on their way. Three years' experience proves that where one of these energetic men is successful, hundreds are scarcely making a living. From the com- mencement to the present moment the continual cry of "new dis- coveries — rich diggings," has been brought to the public eye, and how many have been successful? Not one tenth part of those en- gaged in mining, and those are mostly of that class of men whose nerves and sinews are braced to stand the severe labor by practice from childhood. Thousands of those who cannot endure the labor of the mines, or who have been unsuccessful, have returned to the Valley and are exercising the various trades and professions to which they were accustomed at home, so that every trade is over- represented, and profits are cut down to a living business — in many instances scarcely affording that — and before I left, hundreds were unable to obtain employment for their board. And when you add fifty thousand souls to those already there, the number of helpless ones will increase rather than diminish. 1 True Delta, June 23, 1852. The editor writes: "The following interesting letter from a gentleman whose former contributions to the columns of the True Delta, from California, excited much attention, will not be without interest at this time, when the tide of emigra- tion is again rapidly setting towards the modern Ophir." 2 Apparently it was not received. 3Cf. p. 21. [142] There may be five thousand farms opened in California this sea- son, perhaps more, and next year double that number. Farming at this moment is profitable, but will it continue so to the end of time? When I first went there, all our vegetables were brought from the Sandwich Islands, Australia, and Oregon, and a small part from Spanish America, and the prices were exorbitant. Now California raises her own vegetables, or nearly so, and in such abundance that prices have fallen almost immeasurably. For instance, in 1849-50 potatoes sold in San Francisco from twenty to thirty cents per pound. These were brought from abroad. Now they are sold, of a superior quality and raised at home, at from three to five cents. Importation has virtually ceased. Flour is still imported, but in one year California will raise wheat enough for home con- sumption; in two there will be a surplus, and with no outlet prices must fall so much as to reduce farming to a mere living profit. The soil of California is capable of producing a greater amount than that of our Western prairies even. Sixty and eighty bushels of wheat to the acre is common. I have many statistical items in my posses- sion attesting its agricultural capacities, and you know my early opinion was at antipodes with this. Now all this in political economy is well, and speaks well for the capacity of the State; but when we reflect that beyond home consumption the market will be limited, the natural inference is that farming in a short time will be no more profitable than other kinds of business. And those who cannot work cannot live. The immense emigration of this year 4 will probably keep the prices of provisions up for the season. They may, in fact, advance, while the price of labor will decline and thousands seek employment as they do now, in vain; but at the moment there is a surplus, which will be within the next two years, there will be no sale. The only business that I know of now that is not being over- done is lumbering. The mountains are accessible for wagons and railroads and can furnish the lumber which is now imported, and will do so as soon as the prices of labor and hauling are sufficiently reduced to compete with importing prices. The country is large enough and productive enough to support a dense population, and individual suffering would be less if it was filled up by degrees; but one great difficulty is, too many are rushing in at once before the way is sufficiently prepared for them. Now a limited number can cross the plains safely and with comfort if properly provided, but this year there are too many going at once. In addition to the stock actually required to draw the wagons on the road, a large number of cattle are being driven for market. They will generally reach the Rocky Mountains in safety — that is, there will be grass enough to sustain the cattle. But immediately on going through the South Pass 4 The climax of the Gold Rush may be dated 1852, when more than 100,000 went to California. Bancroft, History of California, VII, 696. [143] the desert country commences, grass will be difficult to obtain and, I believe, impossible for so great a number. The consequence will be that the cattle of emigrant trains will die, and families will have a terra firma shipwreck, hundreds of miles from human aid. If they have money to duplicate their teams from droves, they may be parti- ally relieved; but very many will not be able to pay the California prices which will be asked, and they will be left to get along the best way they can, which will be on foot, or die. We shall probably receive as heart-rending accounts of the suffer- ings of the present emigration across the plains as any which have preceded it. After the emigration of 1850, such was the waste of property on the road that travelers from Salt Lake or between trad- ing posts in the region, where there was little or no wood, were scarcely troubled a single night to collect fuel to cook with, for the wagons abandoned and the furniture, handles of picks, shovels, axes, &c, &c, furnished them an abundant supply, and this will probably be the case after the present emigration has passed. I had intended to have spoken of the Nicaragua route in this communication, but it is already long enough. With my experience in crossing the plains I would rather take a family to California by the land route, provided the emigration did not exceed ten thousand, than through Central America, with the present facilities of travel- ing up the San Juan River and to San Juan del Sur. As it is, I would not risk their lives this year, either way. A. D 36. Parkman, Ohio, August 1, 1852. 1 The immense resources of California, as yet only partially de- veloped, afford to the political economist and to business men a fruitful theme of contemplation. Although there is now much in- dividual suffering and misfortune, the elements of prosperity are at work which, in an unparalleled short period in the history of na- 1 True Delta, August 12, 1852. The superscription is a glowing valedictory, but no more than Delano deserved: "We have pleasure in publishing the following letter from one of the ablest correspondents it was our good fortune to secure in California in the early days of the gold discoveries. The writer, Mr. A. Delano, left Ohio [actually Illinois] among the first of the bold adventurers to the shores of the Pacific, and passed through the perilous trials which then beset those who heroically braved the dangers of flood and field in their exciting explorations. His letters to this paper were graphic, truthful, eloquent and patriotic, overflowing with generous sentiment and the spirit of manly independence so characteristic of the sons of the glorious West. Should he again return to California — and who that has once been there can long remain away? — we hope to hear from him fre- quently, as of yore, and shall always cheerfully and gladly give him a conspicuous place in the columns of the True Delta." [144] tions, must place it among the most prominent States of the Union for wealth and extensive business operations. With a most prolific soil, a genial climate, with vast mineral wealth, the genius of the people only requires the fostering protection of a liberal govern- ment to develop these resources, and where public effort fails in many instances to carry out important ends, individual associations will not be wanting for their consummation. In a country so new as California, having so vast a field for varied enterprise, Government cannot at once effect all the facilities necessary for the transaction of the immense business carried on by its citizens; and the commer- cial world, but for individual association, would labor under im- mense disadvantages. The transmission of dust and coin from one extreme point to another, from the most distant mines over almost impracticable mountain roads to the Atlantic States, would be next to impossible, with certainty, by any Government provision. The merchant at home or in the cities along the Pacific seaboard might look in vain for remittances if dependent on Post Offices, and at isolated points the poor, toil-worn miner would live for months without the gratification of hearing from home or of sending a por- tion of his hard-earned gains to those who are dearer to his memory than life, were it not for the express companies which individual enterprise has established. These, in fact, have grown out of the necessity of the case, and by system, energy, and perseverance have grown into an important link in the great chain of commercial enterprise. At first established for the speedy transmission of letters, money, and small packages from one important town to another along the principal roads and thoroughfares of the Atlantic States, by degrees they have spread, like the veins of the human system from the prin- cipal arteries, not only over the body corporate of our own country, but their fibres reach Europe, Asia — in fact, the whole civilized globe; and no country has felt their vivifying influence more than California. These connected links reach every mountain and dell where civilized man finds an abiding place. Almost every bar and diggings beyond the reach of mail arrangements has its connecting express line, and the glistening eye of the sunburnt miner, as through them he receives the missive of love from home, attests the estima- tion in which they are held in California. But for them, how many hearts would be sad — how many hopes disappointed! Why, I myself had toiled a year, suffering all that human nature could endure on the plains and in the mines, without hearing a single word from my family, and although they had written monthly by the mail, the first letter I received to tell me they were still alive was delivered into my hands by a mountain express. 2 To Califor- nians and those connected with them, this is a matter of infinite im- 2 Cf. p. 42. [145] portance, and a grand consideration is that of responsibility. No man likes to trust valuable packages to irresponsible hands, and it is a matter of public congratulation that companies of undoubted means, as well as of indomitable energy, are in existence. Livings- ton and Wells 3 are known among the successful pioneers of ex- presses, and I see by the public papers that they are extending their operations by association to California, under the name of Wells, Fargo and Company. These veterans of the Express are too well known for comment. Some of those connected with them I have known from childhood, 4 and I speak understandingly when I say that more energetic, faithful, and perfectly responsible men do not exist in any express company than these. They have commenced their California Express with an actual capital of three hundred thousand dollars, have contracted for the transmission of parcels with the U. S. Mail steamers, thus avoiding the possibility of delay, and they send a trusty messenger with every ship. Their arrange- ments for crossing the Isthmus are such that speed and certainty are assured, and drafts drawn by them are honored as surely as those of any bank in the Union. The ramifications of their express will extend to every mining district in California, as it does now to nearly every town in the Atlantic States; and the estimation in which they are held on the Atlantic will insure their success on the Pacific side of the continent. As an old miner, knowing the wants and feelings of that busy class of our California community, I most humbly wish them success. I sail on the 5th for San Francisco, and you will hear from me again as usual, from time to time. 5 Yours, A. Delano. 3 Johnston Livingston was associated with Henry Wells in an express business in New York State, 1845-1854, before the formation of Wells, Fargo and Company. Henry Wells, Sketch of the Rise, Progress, and Present Condition of the Express System (Albany, 1864), 10. * Cf. p. 64. 5 But this apparently was the last Delano letter published in the True Delta. \a&so [146] Index Index Acapulco, Mexico, 64 Across the Plains and Among the Diggings (originally Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings), xi-xiii, xv-xvii, xxiii, 1-2, 4, 9, 12, 16, 19, 22-23, 25-26, 31, 38, 42- 43, 62,64, 74-75, 106, 119 Admission Day, 86-87, 93 Albion, Michigan, 89 Alciope, a ship, 71 Allgeier, Nicolaus, 44 Allingham, John T., 100 American River, 55, 132 Amsterdam, 42 Angle and Company, 74 Angle, Dr. M. B., xiv, 74 Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biog- raphy, 27 Armstrong family, 68 Asheville, North Carolina, 20 Ashley, William H., 75 Asia, 29, 56, 138, 145 Atocha, General A. J., xxi, 137 Auburn, California, 120 Auburn, New York, xxx Aurora, New York, xi, xxi-xxii, xxiv, 16, 64, 142 Australia, 81-82, 106, 118-119, 125-126, 143 Bacon, James, 43, 69 Baker, Captain, 7 Baldwin, Elmer, 42 Bancroft, Hubert H., xxiv, 16, 20, 47, 55, 66, 71, 75, 104, 108, 119, 137, 143 Barry, Captain John, xix, 103-104 Bean, Edwin F., xxiv Bear Creek, 43-44 Beardstown, Illinois, 2 Bear River, 55, 71, 113, 131 Bear Springs, Idaho, 65 Beckwourth (or "Beckwith"), James P., xvi, 75-77 Beckwourth Pass, xvi, 75 Bedford Company, 86 Behring Strait, 138 Benicia, 36, 132 Bensley, John, 42 Benson, Ivan, 102 Benton City, 16 Benton, Senator Thomas H., 16 Bible, 35, 39, 42, 105, 111-112 Bidwell Bar, xv, 22, 32, 40, 77 Bidwell, John, 32 Billinghurst, Mr., 34, 85 "Black Bart" (Charles C. Bolton), 2 Blackfeet Indians, 75-77 Black Hills, 75 Blanshard, Richard, xxi, 137 Boase, Frederick, 132 Bolton, Charles C. ("Black Bart"), 2 Boonville, Missouri, 6 Boonville (Missouri) Observer, 70 Boston, 71, 103, 107 Brenham, Charles J., 127 Broderick, David C, 125 Brown, Mr., of Chicago, 85 Brown, Robert, xii, 4, 6, 32, 69, 100 Bryant, Edwin, 27, 31, 37, 41, 54, 85, 109 Buchanan County, Missouri, 8 Burch, Charles H., 55 Burns, Robert, xii, 42, 59, 62, 67 Butte County, 82 Byron, 42 Calaveras County, 2 California Farmer, xxiv Callcott, Wilfrid H., 137 Campbell, Alexander, 127 Campbell, Thomas, 1, 13 Canton, 44, 48 Cape Horn, 25, 44 Cascade Mountains, 21, 29, 68, 120, 140- 141 Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Washington and Lee University, 19 Catherwood, Frederick W., xxi, 132-133 Caton, John D., 46, 51-52, 92 Caton, Laura A. S., 52 Caughey, John W., 7, 141 Central America, xxii, xxiv, 25, 36, 44, 65, 132-133, 143, 144, 146 Central Pacific, The, xxiv Chagres, Panama, 36 Chamisso, Adelbert von, 10 Chapultepec, Mexico, 46 Charleston, Maine, 82 Chautauqua, New York, 32 Chicago, 34, 57, 82, 85 Chico, 47, 75 Chile, 49, 115, 136 [149] China, 48-49, 63, 109 Chinese, xix, 109-110 Chipman, 31 Clarke, H. K. W., 125 Clear Creek, 47 Cleland, Robert G., 93 Clemens, Samuel L., 102 Coast Range, 27, 56, 138-140 College of the Pacific, 74 Columbia College, 42 Colusa, xxi, 139-140 Colusa County, 139 Conaway, Mary V., xi Concord, New Hampshire, 9 Constance, a ship, xix, 103-104 Cornyn, John H., 2 Council Bluffs, Iowa, 8 Crow Indians, 75, 77 Cruthers, Owen, 128 Crystal Palace, London, 115 Cutting, Mr., 18 Dane, G. Ezra, xi, xviii, xxv Davis, M. G., 36, 142 Davis, Peter L., 20, 47 Dawly, Mr., 37, 46, 79 Dawlytown, xv, 22, 36, 38-40, 42, 53, 61, 77, 79 Dayton, Illinois, xii, xiv, 7, 9, 13-14, 43 Dayton, Ohio, 3 Dean, Edwin F., xxxiv Deer Creek, 16, 20, 113, 131 Delano, Alonzo ("Old Block") — pronunciation of surname, xi-xii appearance, xi birth and family, xi early career and marriage, xi voyage to St. Joseph, Missouri, xii-xiii overland journey, xiii-xiv, 12-27 in the upper diggings, xiv-xxv, 22-98, 111-116, 120-123, 131-137 at Sacramento and San Francisco, xviii- xxi, 99-112, 117-120, 123-130 Shasta City, xxi, 138-141 Nicaragua and New York, xxi-xxii, xxiv Ohio, xxii, 142, 145 publications, xiii, xxiii-xxiv second marriage and death, xxv Delano, Austin, 64 Delano, Columbus, xi Delano, Fred, xi-xii, xix-xxi, xxiv, 16, 22, 46, 105, 109, 117, 131 Delano, Dr. Frederick, xi, 64, 67 Delano, Harriet, xi-xii, xix-xxi, xxiv-xxv, 16, 22, 46, 64, 105, 109, 117, 131 Delano, Hariett, 64 Delano, Joanna Doty, xi, 64 Delano, Joel A., xi, 64, 67 Delano, Maria Harmon, xxiv-xxv Delano, Mary Burt, xi-xii, xiv-xv, xix- xxi, xxiv-xxv, 10, 16, 19, 21-22, 46, 64, 89, 105, 109, 111, 117, 131 Delano, Mortimer F., 64 Delano, California, xi De La Noye, Jonathan, xi Delavan, Dr. James, 137 Derby, George Horatio, xviii, xxv Dictionary of American Biography, xxii, 15, 32, 46, 75, 125, 133 Dictionary of National Biography, 137 Donner Pass, xxiii Dunning, Lola, 82 Dunning, Zophar, 82 Eliza, 43, 69 Elliott, 80-81 Embassy, a steamboat, 2-3 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 81 Encyclopedia Americana, 2 England (see Great Britain), 132, 137 English Grove, Missouri, 12 Enterprise, 38, 92 Erie, Pennsylvania, 42 Europe, 48-49, 63, 145 Fandango Pass, xiv Fanshawe, Captain Edward G., xxi, 137 Fargo, William G., xxii, xxiv, 64, 146 Feather River, xv-xvii, 16, 20, 22, 24, 32, 38, 40, 43-44, 46, 52-53, 55, 58, 60-61, 64, 67,69, 77, 81-84, 86-87, 92, 96, 105, 138- 139 Ferguson, Milton J., xi Fires — Grass Valley, xxiii San Francisco, xviii-xx, 68, 117, 119, 121-123, 128 Fisher, Charles A., 19, 42 Fletcher, Dr. Mary Delano, xii, xxiv, 16 Floods, 41-42, 44, 106, 129 Forbestown, 38 Ford, Henry L., 55 Fort Childs, 9 Fort Hall, Idaho, 19, 65 Fort Kearny, Nebraska, 9, 12, 13-15 Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 19, 85 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 8 Foster, Stephen C, 34 [150] Fox River, Illinois, xii, 2, 74 France, 98 Fredenburg, Isaac H. ("Fred"), xii, 2, 4, 6-7, 9, 13, 43, 68, 100 Freeland, Captain John, xvi, 37, 46, 78-79 Fremont, California, 138 Fremont, John Charles, 47, 65 Frenchmen, 75-76, 81-82 Friendship, a ship, 103 Fulton, Robert, 134 Galveston, a steamer, 65 Gibbon, Edward, 95 Gibson, James, 128 Gihon, John H., xviii-xix, 68, 117-118, 121, 125, 127 Gillis, James L., xii Gold Bluff, 107-108 Gold Hill, 114 Gold Lake, xvii-xviii, 89, 92, 97 Gold Lake mountains, xvii-xviii, 97, 106 Goldsmith, Oliver, xvii, 84 Gold Tunnel, 113-114 Goochland County, Virginia, 19 Goodspeed Bros., 43 Goose Lake, 18 Grand Island, Nebraska, 15 Grant, Colonel Joseph, xv-xvi, xix, 36-38, 41, 44-45, 52-53, 69, 78-79, 85, 94, 96, 99-106, 122 Grant, Joseph, 36 Grant, Joseph Osborn, 36 Grant, Ulysses S., xi Grass Valley, xi, xix-xxii, xxiv-xxv, 16, 112- 116, 120-121, 130-137, 142 Grass Valley Telegraph, xxii-xxiv Grass Valley Union, xxv Gray, T. E., xvi, 65, 68 Gray, Thomas, 53, 127 Great Britain (see England), 118, 125, 137- 138 Greeley, Horace, 96 Green, George, 74, 112, 117 Green, Jesse, xi, 7, 9, 14, 43, 68, 74, 111, 117 Gregory, Winifred, 36 Gridley, Samuel B., 42 Gudde, Erwin A., xi, xvii, 43, 89, 141 Gum, Mr., 129 Gutierrez rancho, 71 Hall, Dr. Josiah, 69, 117, 119 Hamilton, 100 Handy, 89 Hanna, Phil T., 22, 37, 44 Hardy, 96 Harney's Landing, Missouri, 15 Harney, William S., 15 Harris, Matthew, xii, 12-14 Haskins, C. W., 36, 65 Hawaii (see Sandwich Islands) Hennepin, Illinois, 22 Henry, Andrew, 75 Henry County, Illinois, xvii, 85 Herkimer County, New York, 42 Hesperian, xxiv High Rock Canyon, Nevada, 17-18 History of LaSalle County, Illinois, 9, 42 History of Nevada County, xxiii History of Sacramento, xviii, 41, 100 History of Santa Clara County, 20 Hoes, Peter, 130 Holland, Erholtz, 34 Hollister, W. B., 83 Hoover, Mildred B., 138 Hudson River Railroad, 133 Hudson's Bay Company, 44 Humboldt County, 20 Humboldt (or Mary's) River, xiv, 16-19, 22-23, 53, 79, 89-90, 119 Hurlbut, Henry, 22 Hutchings' California Magazine, xxiv Idle and Industrious Miner, The, xxiv Illinois River, xii, 2 Illustrated History of Palumas, Lassen, and Sierra Counties, 16 Independence Bar, xvii, xix, 88, 94, 98 Independence, Missouri, 7-8 Independent Company of Louisiana Vol- unteers, 77 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, xii, 46, 52 Indians, xiii-xiv, xvi-xvii, xx-xxi, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14-15, 17, 22-23, 28, 38-39, 42, 47, 58, 64, 68-81, 87-89, 96, 100, 108, 110, 123, 129-130, 133, 139-141 I.O.O.F., xii, 46, 52 Irwin, William, 42 Isthmus of Panama, 25, 36, 44, 65, 132- 133, 146 Japan, xix, 104, 110 Japanese, xix, 104, 110 Jefferson, Thomas, xix, 110 Jenkins, John, 118, 125-126 "John Phoenix" (see Derby, George Horatio) [151 Johnson, William, 71-72 Journal of Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the State of California, xxiv Kansas River, 8 Kearney, Nebraska, 9 Kearny, Stephen W., 9 Keefer, Mr., Ill, 129-130 Kelley, Mr., 136 Kendall, George W., 1 Kern County, xi King, Captain, 69, 80 King, Joseph L., 36 Klamath Lake, 29 Klamath River, 107 Kroeber, A. L., 28, 68, 139-140 La Salle County, Ilinois, 22, 42-43 Lassen (or "Lawson's") Peak, 140 Lassen ( or "Lawson"), Peter, xiv, 16, 20, 47 Lassen Trail, xiv, 16, 20, 23, 53 Lassen's (or "Lawson's") Settlement, xiv, 16, 18-20, 27, 32, 43, 55 Lassik Indians, 140 "Lawson" (see Lassen) Leeper, David R., 82 Lewis, Benjamin, 118 Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings (see Across the Plains and Among the Diggings) Little Nemaha River, 65, 117 Little Volcano, 95-98 Liverpool, 132 Live Woman in the Mines, A, xxiv Livingston, Johnston, xxii, 146 London, 115 Long's Bar, 40, 68, 85 Loo Choo (Ryukyu Islands), xix, 104 Loring, Thomas, 69 Louisville, Kentucky, 3 Lynchburg, Virginia, xiii, 3-5 McCauley, Hamilton, 119, 121, 124 McDougal, Governor John, 119, 121, 124 McKee, Irving, 14 McMakin, G. S., 113 MacMinn, George R., xxiv McNeil, William, 43, 68, 73-74, 117 Maginnis, John, 36, 142 Maidu Indians, xvi, xx, 28, 38-39, 47, 58, 64, 68-74, 87-88, 96, 100, 110, 123, 129- 130, 133 Malays, 103 Manila, 103 "Mark Twain," 102 Marshall, John, xix, 110 Mary's River (see Humboldt) Marysville, xvi-xviii, 43, 61-62, 69, 82, 89, 96, 101, 132 Massachusetts Hill, 114-115 Mazatlan, 75 Memphis, Tennessee, 19 Mendocino County, 140 Merlin, a ship, 104 Mexicans, xviii, 27-28, 47-48, 60, 62, 93, 106, 137 Mexican War, 1, 5, 9, 37, 42, 46, 68 Mexico, 5, 48-49, 63-64, 75, 78, 115, 137, 143 Miller, William, 42-43 Milton, John, 130, 139 Miners' codes and associations, xv, xvii, 40-41, 49-50, 58, 63, 86-87, 93-94, 122- 123 Mishawaka, Indiana, 43, 80, 82-83 Mississippi River, 3 Missouri River, xiii-xiv, 4, 6-8, 14-15, 22- 23, 42, 131 Modoc County, 141 Modoc War, 141 Monroe, New York, 46 Montez, Lola, xxiii-xxiv Moore, William, 80-81, 83 Morgan, Edwin B., xxii, 64 Morrill, John, 9 Morse, Dr. John F., 36, 74, 102, 122 Mount Diablo, 120 Mount Shasta, 140-141 "Mud Hill," xv, 26, 34-37, 39, 45, 52-53, 104, 106 Nahl, Charles, xi Napa, 119 Neal, Samuel, 47, 55 Nebraska City, 9 Nelson Creek, xvii, 94 Nemaha Cut-off, xiv, 23, 65 Nemaha River, 65, 117 Nevada City, xx, 113-114, 120, 122, 128 Nevada County, 82, 112 Newark, Ohio, 7 New Holland (Australia), 168 New Lisbon, Ohio, 34 New Orleans, xix, 36, 65, 102 New Orleans California True Delta, 36, 74, 123 New Orleans, a steamboat, 102 New Orleans Times, 36 [152] New Orleans True Delta, xiii, xv, xix-xxii, xxv, 1, 36-37, 41, 44-45, 52, 60-61, 69, 75, 77, 84-85, 88, 94, 96, 99, 101-102, 105-106, 112, 123, 131, 134, 138, 142, 144, 146 New World, a steamboat, 102 New York City, xxi, 44, 48, 84, 94, 111, 115, 119, 132 New York Herald, 36 New York Times, xxiv New York Tribune, 96 Nicaragua, xxi-xxii, xxiv, 144 Nicolaus, California, 44, 55 Nisbet, James, xviii-xix, 68, 117-118, 121, 125, 127 Norton, William, 82 Octavia, a ship, 36 "Old Block," Delano's pseudonym, xi, xxiii- xxv, 109, 120 Old Block's Sketch Book, xxiv, 105 Oleepa, an Indian chief, xvi, 69-70 Oleepa, an Indian village, xvi-xvii, xix, 64, 67-69, 105 Olmstead, John, 1 1 1 "Olos" (Indians), 87-88 Oregon, xviii, 8, 17-18, 22-23, 29, 49, 63, 68, 95, 98, 138, 141, 143 Oregon and California Trail, 23, 141 Oregon Bar, 40 Oregon City, 141 Oroville, xv, 26, 34, 36 Osman, Moses, xiii, 1, 21, 81, 108, 117 Osman, William, xiii, xix 1, 5, 16, 21, 35, 64, 81, 89, 94, 108, 117 "Ottawa Bar," xv, 38, 40, 46, 52, 58, 73 Ottawa, Illinois, xii-xiii, xv, xix-xx, 1-4, 6, 9, 12, 19, 42-43, 46, 65, 68-69, 83, 89, 99, 100, 111, 130 Ottawa (Illinois) Free Trader, xiii, xvii, xix- xx, xxii, xxv, 1, 8, 12, 15-16, 19, 21-23, 26, 39, 42-43, 46, 64, 69, 80-81, 88-89, 94, 99-100, 108, 111, 117, 119, 128-130 Ottawa: Old and New, xii, 1-2, 7, 22, 42- 43, 46, 52, 68-69 Overland Monthly, 28 Pacific, a steamer, 132 Pacific Medical College, 74 Panama, 25, 36, 44, 65, 132-133, 146 Panama Railroad, 132-133 Parkman, Ohio, xxii, 142, 144 Past and Present of LaSalle County, Illi- nois, 7 Patrick, Dr. Sceptre, 66-67 Pen-Knife Sketches, xi, xviii-xix, xxii-xxv, 9, 16, 87, 109, 120, 137 Periam, 82, 84-85 Peru, 115 Peru, Illinois, xii, 2 Peter Schlemihl, 21 "Pikeys" (Indians), 87-88 Pit River, xiv, 18, 120 Placerville, 1 1 1 Platte River, 9, 15, 22-23, 54, 75, 117 Plumas County, 89 Pomeroy, F. C, xiv-xv, 22 Pope, Alexander, 122 Pope, Mr., 68 Potawatomi (or Pottawatomie) Indians, 14 Pottawatomie County, Kansas, 14 Potter, John, 47, 55 Reading, Pierson B., 47 Red Bluff, 140 Reddick, Joseph, 68 Reddick, William, 68 Redding, 74 Reed, Henry J., 42, 69 Register of the General Assembly of Vir- ginia, 19 Renfro and Company, 86 Rensch, H. E. and E. G., 138 Revolution, a steamboat, xii, 2 Reynolds, Mr., 42 Roberts, William H., 37 Robinson, William, 128 Rocky Bar Company, xxi, 137 Rogue River, 141 Rood, Walter D., 43, 69 Roosevelt family, xi Roosevelt, Franklin D., xi Royce, Josiah, 28, 48, 93 Russia, 138 Ryukyu Islands, xix, 104 Sacramento, xiii, xv-xvi, xviii, xx-xxi, 20-21, 25, 27-28, 32, 35-37, 39-42, 44-47, 49-52, 54-56, 63, 66-68, 93, 96, 99-102, 105, 120, 122-123, 126-128, 132, 138-139 Sacramento Democratic State Journal, xxiv Sacramento Placer Times, 137 Sacramento Themis, 43 Sacramento River, xiv, xix, 16, 18, 21-22, 26, 41, 43, 53, 57-58, 102, 138-139 Sacramento Transcript, xviii, 28, 36, 44, 93, 103 Sacramento Union, xxiii-xxv, 2, 16, 20, 36, [153] 47, 67, 122, 128 Sacramento Valley, xiv, xvii, xxi, 3, 16, 20- 21, 23, 26-28, 29, 31-32, 34, 37, 39, 41- 44, 47, 52-56, 58, 61, 65, 77, 81, 83, 87- 88, 90, 94-98, 106, 110, 120, 131-132, 138-140, 142 St. Joseph, Missouri, xii-xiv, xvii, 1-3, 6-10, 13-15, 85 St. Joseph Rpad, xiii St. Louis, Missouri, xii, 2-5, 7-9, 13, 65 St. Louis (Missouri) Republican, 7, 85 Salem, Massachusetts, xix, 103 Salem (Massachusetts) Register, 103 Salt Lake, Utah, 18, 144 Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), 49, 63, 71, 75, 143 San Francisco, xiii, xvi, xviii-xx, xxii-xxiii, 6, 28, 39, 42-44, 48, 50, 63, 65, 68, 74, 82, 100-110, 112, 117-128, 130, 132, 143 San Francisco Alta California, 6, 19, 20, 36, 39, 74, 102-103, 122, 125, 127 San Francisco California Chronicle, 36 San Francisco California Courier, xviii, xxiii, 109, 120 San Francisco Call, 42 San Francisco Chronicle, 127 San Francisco Golden Era, xxiii-xxiv San Francisco Pacific Marine Review, 103 San Francisco Pacific News, xix, 36, 110 San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board, 36 San Joaquin County, 20 San Joaquin Valley, 47 San Jose, 106 San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, xxii, 144 San Juan River, Nicaragua, xxii, 144 Santa Anna, General Antonio Lopez de, 137 Santa Buenaventura rancho, 47 Santa Clara County, 20 Santa Clara Valley, 106 Savannah, Missouri, 14 Scott Mountains, 29 Scott River, xxi, 141 Shakespeare, xvii, 2, 13, 34, 38-39, 74, 84, 101, 109 Shasta Butte (Mount Shasta), 140-141 Shasta Butte City (Yreka), xxi, 141 Shasta City, xxi, 138, 141 Shasta County, 47, 141 Shinn, Charles H., 41 Sierra Nevada Quartz Mining Company, xix-xxi, 114, 120, 129, 137 Smith, Ebenezer, xii, 6-7, 9, 32, 69 Solano County, 36 Soule, Frank, xviii-xix, 68, 117-118, 121, 125, 127 South America, 49, 56, 63, 115, 133, 136, 143 South Bend, Indiana, xii, 9, 14, 22, 43 South Bend (Indiana) Register, 9 South Bend (Indiana) Tribune, 9 South Pass, Wyoming, 143 Spencer, Mr., 44 Springfield, Illinois, 74 Squatter Riots, xviii, 28, 48, 60, 92-93 Stadden, Dan, 69 Starr, Bensley and Company, 42 Stephens, John L., 133 Stony Point, 79 Stringtown, xv, xvii, 81, 84-85, 88, 92 Stuart, James, 127 Sumatra, 103 Sutter Buttes, 139 Sutter, John Augustus, xviii, xx, 28, 44, 47, 75, 117 Sutter's Fort, 16, 19-20, 21, 25, 55 Sydney, New Holland (Australia), 81, 106, 118-119 Table Mountain, 37 Taylor, Colonel, 65 Tecumseh, Michigan, 3 Tehama County, 55 Terre Haute, Indiana, 67 Thompson, John, 128 Thorn, Benjamin K., 2, 7, 43, 68, 100 Townley, James, 129 Trinity County, 29 Trinity River, xxi, 29 Truckee, xxiv Turner, S. K. (?), xvii, 85 Tutt, Charles M., 9 Ulster County, New York, 2 U. S. Biographical Dictionary, 52 Utica, New York, 46 Van Buren, President Martin, 133 Vancouver Island, 137 Vernon (or Verona), 43, 138 Vigilance Committees — Grass Valley, xx, 121, 130 Sacramento, xx, 126-128, 130 San Francisco, xx, 118-119, 121, 120-128, 130 Von Hagen, Victor W., 132 [154] Wabash River, 66 Wakeman, Captain Edgar, xix, 102 Walsh, Esq., 115 Warren, Ohio, xxiv Washington and Lee University, 19 Washington, D. C, 95 Watkins, Colonel Joseph S., xix, 19-20, 110-111 Weaverville, 142 Wells, Fargo and Company, xxii, xxiv, 64, 146 Wells, Henry, xxii, xxiv, 64, 146 Welsh, Captain Charles (?), xix, 104 Willoughby, Dr. D. W. C, 39 Wilson, Charles L., 43 Wilson, James, 127-128 Wind River Mountains, Wyoming, 65 Wintun Indians, xxi, 139-140 Wood's Bar, 38 World's Fair, 115 Yates, Captain John, 75 Yateston, 64, 75, 100 Yreka, xxi, 141 Yuba City, 43, 69 Yuba County, 89 Yuba River, xv, xvii, 19, 22, 33-34, 39, 43- 44, 55, 62, 68, 87, 113, 132 Yubaville, 43 Yucatan, 78 Zeluff, Mr., 9 [155] 310 copies, of which 298 are for sale, were printed by Grant Dahlstrom at the Castle Press in Pasadena, California, in December, 1952 ^_-« '-''"\ <«**, WN ^ o < ^ F ±i o e z k- o Zl Li_l g CI | 1 l/^ ( ) < CD _l UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA B D3373D1 C001 ALONZO OELANOS CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENC 3 0112 025405801