Experience of a Goldfinder.
Having had the good fortune to return safe and sound from a
region, which, when I had trod it, at least, was considered
to be equally full of perils as of gold dust, I very
willingly comply with the friendly request made me by the
editor of "The Fireside Magazine" to detail precisely what I
saw, what I felt, and what I suffered during my short visit
to California. I shall "nothing extenuate nor set down ought
in malice," nor will it be necessary for me to do either, as
it is scarcely possible to exaggerate the wild life or
extraordinary scenes which these persons usually encounter,
who, like myself, are induced, partly by a love of adventure
and partly by a wish to gather a fortune in a hurry, to
forsake civilised life, and plunge among the most anomalous
and heterogenous society - if one can call it so - that was
ever probably brought together, before, on the face of the
habitable globe.
I do not pretend to give anything like a consecutive
narrative, for if I were to undertake such a task, it would
extend over volumes instead of pages, and besides, as I never
contemplated recording my travels, I took no particular
notes, and therefore, I might, where I to enter into details
as to sites and distances, lead to incorrect estimates and
inferences, or possibly offend the critical judgement of some
learned Theban, to whom such matters are the "be all and end
all" of travel.
Having thus briefly detailed my intentions, and
stated to my reader what I mean to do, I commence "Rambling
Recollections," by recording that I and my three comrades,
(not one of whom, except myself, had ever handled an axe, a
spade, or a hammer, ten times in their lives,) arrived in San
Francisco, on the 28th April, 1849, and took up our temporary
station at the United States Hotel, where we succeeded, as a
favour, in gaining admittance at fourteen dollars per week
each for our rooms, and five and twenty for our board, which
I am bound to say was exceedingly good, both in quality and
quantity, as well it might at the price.
Of course, as may be supposed, with such an expensive
rate of living to stimulate us, we very soon began to look
about us; and indeed we had not been half an hour in our
hotel, when we sallied forth to make observations and
enquiries. There never was so curious a scene. The streets
were busy with the hum of men, not two of whom seemed to be
of the same nation. The "boy" from Tipperary, with his
quizzical look of blended fun and wonder, jostled aside the
wilder looking Malay, who clapped his hand to his crease
belt, at the obstruction, but hesitated to draw it on looking
at the athletic proportions and rollicking swagger of his
possible antagonist. The cockney from Cornhill walked side by
side with a long-tailed Chinaman from Peking or Hong Kong,
and the New Yorker or Philadelphian Quaker, quiet but astute
looking, glanced curiously at the sarapes and sombreros which
his new brother, a "genuine" Californian, was endowed with.
Here were to be encountered canny Scotchmen, phlegmatic
Germans, sober Swedes, and long bearded Russians,
intermingled with wild looking Indians, some with bows in
their hands and quivers of arrows at their backs, or else
shouldering the suspicious looking rifle on their brawny but
naked shoulders.
And the town itself presented quite as curious
an appearance as its inhabitants. Half built houses, run up
in any fashion, and with any sort of materials, stood gaping
and unformed on every side; many of them had canvas sheds in
front, with swing signs elevated above them on poles and
hooks, detailing the trades and professions of their owners,
in all sorts of languages that, I believe, ever were invented
or spoken by the tongue of man. Neither was this
extraordinary scene confined to the town itself; hundreds of
tents and houses were scattered over the heights, and along
the shore of the bay almost as far as the eye could reach,
while the mountain in the background and the forest of masts
in the noble harbour, confined the area of view and made the
whole more life-like and impressive.
Bewildered and dazzled by the multitudinous
groupings around us, we returned to our hotel, and here, in
the very streets, on the broad highway, in front almost of
our window, we saw the first gold dug - the first "blood
drawn" as one of our friends termed it. Two or three men, and
half a dozen semi-clad urchins, were digging up the earth
with knives, placing it on paper after crumbling it in their
hands, and picking out the grains of gold after blowing
cautiously away the lighter dust. The gatherers, however, did
not pretend to say that the precious ore was contained in the
soil itself, although more than one did assure us that it was
so. It was more probable that it was the sweepings of the
stores or the leakings of the miners bags, although it is
questionable, after all, if from such sources grains so large
as we heard of could be gathered, as twenty or thirty dollars
a day were sometimes said to be realized from this strange
occupation.
I was a little earlier afoot next morning than my
companions, and strolled out before breakfast to have another
look at this extraordinary town. Early as it was, thousands
were astir and business was in full swing. The sign or name
over one of the shops or stores struck me as singular; it
ran thus:- Patrick Murphy, from Cork, sells everthing,
Wholesale and Retail." I entered this receptacle, or omnibus,
and found the proprietor eating his breakfast of ham, coffee,
bread and butter, from off his own counter. He had the air
and manners of a gentleman, and asked me "what I pleased to
want," with the perfect address of one. Seeing this, I frankly
told him who I was, what I was, and what I wanted. I came to
sell, not to purchase. We had brought with us from New york a
venture of "miscellanies," as we called them, consisting of
blankets, cloths, wide-awake hats, shoes boots, and a few
rifles. This, indeed, was partly a speculation of my own, and
I was proportionately anxious about it. Three words with my
new friend settled the business." Send your goods to me, allow
me a commission of twenty-five percent, and I promise you a
quick return."
"But I want to leave San Francisco
immediately," said I, "or at least as soon as possible."
"So do I," replied he laughing. "I am selling off my
stock and mean to be off to the mines in four or five days,
at furthest. I was there last year, and did pretty well
considering. During the rains I came here and took to a new
trade to keep down expenses, and have done pretty well at
that too. But I long to be once more at the placer, and if I
only succeed as well as I hope to do, I shall return to
Europe and sit down contented during the rest of my life."
"Do you mean to travel alone?"
"Why, no; not if I can find pleasant companions."
"And safe ones," said I.
"We are all safe companions here now," said he; "our
self-imposed laws are too stringent for the dishonest. If a
man steals he hangs, or is shot down like a wolf; and since
our 'trial by jury` has come out, and a few wholesome
examples (backed by a little naked unadorned Lynch Law) have
been made, it is wonderful what a reformation it has caused."
After a little further discourse, during which I
found out that his name was not Murphy at all, that he
rejoiced in a more aristocratic Irish prefix, and had adopted
this present one from mixed motives of whim and vanity- and,
finally, that he was an intelligent and well informed man,
particularily in all that related to the mines or resources
of California, I left him, and returned to the hotel, well
pleased at having made the aquaintance.
On a further enquiry, I found that he was well known
by the soubriquets of "Paddy from Cork," and "gentleman Pat,"
and that his character stood high, both as a dexterous
trader, and an honourable man.
That day our goods were transferred from the ship to
his store, and he dined with us. During the evening our
arrangements were talked over and canvassed. Before he left
us we had agreed to travel under his guidance to the mines,
and such was the expedition he used, that on the seventh
morning after our entrance to San Francisco, we were leaving
it again for the mines, having in the meantime, sold of our
surplus stock at an enormous profit, for it was just the
proper season for doing so, and provided ourselves with
everything that the experience of our friend or the
information picked up by ourselves told us would be most
needful.
We went determinedly to work. Our dress was coarse
and durable, our boots equally so; we had pans, knives, axes,
hammers, rammers, wooden bowls, and the means of putting
together "cradles" to wash the gold. We carried a light
canvas tent, easily packed, jerked bacon, dried meats, flour,
biscuit, plenty of coffee and sugar, and a single large tin
flask of brandy, for we were determined teetotallers to a
man, and were resolved to keep from all stimulants, except in
case of illness, or some such necessity. We carried also a
small, but well considered medicine chest, which one of us
was well qualified to dispense, and having fairly loaded a
stout mule and a stouter horse, for both of which we paid 310
dollars, with our luggage, neatly made up, we walked on
gallantly by the side of our steeds, our knives hung to our
leathern belts, our rifles in our hands, and "revolvers" in
our pockets.
It was on the sixth of May we commenced our
journey, and early on the fourteenth we reached Stockton, a
distance of a hundred and fifty miles, having passed through
Pueblo San Jose, which has, since then, been selected as the
seat of the legislature of the State, en route. The weather
was charming, and the country through which we travelled
equally so. Almost the entire way was a magnificent valley,
unoccupied, except by a few solitary rancheros. The hills
were covered with a bursting vegetation of the wild oat and
mustard, which looked deliciously green and fresh, while the
mountain slopes were wooded with timber, oak, pine, cypress
and red wood, as regularly planted as they might be on the
slope of a hill in a gentlemans demense.
We entered Stockton about noon, and remained until
next morning. Like almost all towns as yet founded by the
Americans, (Benicia excepted) Stockton is unpleasantly and
unfavourably situated. San Francisco is exposed to summer
heats, clouds of sand, hurricanes of great violence, and in
winter to inundations - at least in its lower parts - from the
rains. But then its noble harbour and roadstead redeems it.
Sacramento City, built on the eastern bank of the river of
the same name, at its junction with the Rio Americano, is in
summer an oven, in winter, a swamp.
Stockton is situated on the San Joaquin, and has
equal advantages and disadvantages with the others, both in
its being low, swampy, and subject to periodical inundations,
(although not as serious as Sacramento, to which they have
done great damage,) and in its being favourable for trade and
commerce.
Some idea may be formed of the celerity with which
towns spring up in California, by the history of Stockton. In
the winter of 1848, a solitary ranch stood in the midst of
Tule-Marshes; in May, 1849, the Port contained thirty vessels,
and the town numbered more than four hundred inhabitants,
living in what was literally a town of canvas. Here again, as
in San Francisco, all was business and bustle. The clank of
hammers, the shouting of men, the tramping of mules, the
unloading of wares, by their parti-coloured guides and
owners, all showed the anxiety of the new inhabitants to
proceed to business without loss of time. It was a very
pretty and picturesque sight, and cheered us on wonderfully.
The next morning we struck our tent, and resumed
our journey to the mines on the Mokalume River, for which we
were bound. Our way lay upward among the hills. At first the
country was pleasantly variegated with oak, sycamore, and
red-wood, but as we rounded the mountain spurs, noble pines
of splendid size surrounded us on all sides. Making a little
detour, our friend Murphy came upon the trace of a deer and
shot it. This gave us venison collops to our coffee, after
which we slept gloriously, with the balmiest night air that
ever smoothed a travellers brow or pillow, flowing all around
us.
At lenght we reached the top of the hill that
over-looked the Mokalume river or valley. It was just sunset,
and a more exciting and beautiful scene could not be
imagined. In the extreme background, was the bold crown of
the Sierra Nevada, with range upon range of mountain, sloping
down, until they ended in that upon which we stood. Below us
ran the river - the scource of all our golden hopes - along
the banks of which we could plainly see the tents, various in
hue and capacity, of those who had already preceded us in our
search after fortune. About three quarters way down, as we
descended - which we at once commenced doing - we found a
sort of wooden town, built of rude timber and thatched with
boughs. This was called the Sonerian town, and was inhabited
by Mexicans. Here we found a "hotel," such as it was, kept by
a Frenchman, and as we wished to learn the ways of the place,
we put up there for the night.
At the first dawn of day, we started for the river
bottom, and here, on a piece of level sward, we finally
pitched our tent, emptied our stores, and prepared in earnest
for work. Our first attention was turned to the construction
of two "cradles," as they are called. Within three or four
hours we had them finished of stout deal planks and rockers,
with firm pieces of close wire placed horizontally at their
head. Carrying these, and armed with pans, shovels, and
scoops, we selected our first position, near a "bar," and
plunging boldly into the stream, commenced our search. It
required three of us to work a "cradle," one shovelled the
sand upon the wires of the cradle, which allowed only the
smaller particles of earth and sand to fall through; a second
labourer kept rocking the cradle constantly; and a third,
kept flinging water upon the mass of earth inside. The thick
black sediment remaining at the bottom of the cradle was
afterwards scooped out and dried in the sun. It was
tremendously hard work, especially when the sun got high, but
the certainty of gain supported us, and we wrought
cheerfully, resting an hour or two to eat our dinner, and
then commencing again as merrily as ever. Those of us who
were not engaged at the "cradle," were using their scoops and
pans quite as diligently, and, on the whole, when night came,
we had every reason to pleased with our first day's earning.
We continued this for a week, and then we changed
our location, and began to think of other things, to which a
consideration of the geology of the region around led us.
The gold region of California is between four and
five hundred miles long, and from forty to fifty broad,
following the line of the Sierra Nevada. This area will
probably be increased hereafter. It embraces these extensive
ranges of hills which rise on the eastern border of
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and terminate in the base of
the main ridge of the Nevada. There are numerous streams
arising from the springs of the Sierra, which receive the
waters from the melting snows and from the rains in the wet
season. These commence in November and end generally in April
- although, sometimes they extend into May.
These rivers disembogue [sic] into the Sacramento
and San Jocquin, and are, probably twenty miles apart.
The principal formation in these hills talcose
[sic] slate; the superstratum, sometimes penetrating to a
great depth, is Quartz, and the general opinion, formed by
all intelligent men who have examined the region is, that the
gold, whether in detatched pieces, or particles, or in veins,
was created in combination with the quartz. For gold is not
found on the surface of the country, or as if thrown up and
scattered by volcanic action, but is found only in particular
localities, and attended by particular circumstances and
indications. It is found in the bars and shoals of rivers, in
Ravines, and in what is called dry diggings.
The gold found in the rivers is, evidently,
brought down by the attrition of the current, wearing away
the quartz, and bringing the gold down with it into the bed
of the stream, and as the velocity of some streams is greater
than others, so is the quantity brought down; and so, also, is
the size of the particles of gold determined. In the dry
season, the channels are mostly without water, and the gold
is easily collected from the margins and shallows.
The "dry diggings," are places were quartz
containing gold, has cropped out, and crumbled to fragments,
by the action of the atmosphere and the water. the gold has
been left as it was made, in all imaginable shapes and sizes,
from a grain to several pounds weight, but a very large
proportion of the gold so found has more or less quartz
adhering to it.
In the ravines, the largest and best specimens of
gold are found, although their discovery, is by no means,
certain; as a man might work for hours without finding a
single flake or lump, while, by continuing in the rivers, he
was certain to earn more or less.
Still the temptation to try every available mode
was irresistible, and we extended our area, from time to
time, and when we grew wearied by stooping and poking in the
water, we generally tried the ravines and dry diggings. By
this means, I think, we both increased our gains and
preserved our health. Occasionally, however, one or two of us
had slight fever, and for a week in July I had a smart attack
of an intermittent; but nursing, blue pill, and quinine,
restored me, as they did all of us, and our temperate and
systematic diet, (which I specially recommend to all
gold seekers,) contributed mainly to that consummation.
Neither were we much inconvenienced by our
neighbours. As the season advanced, so did the new comers
increase, and although some of them were well disposed enough
to be both dishonest and insolent, still our little party
were all determined men, and were, moreover, supported by the
more civilized and industrious part of the community; and
thus, generally speaking, we escaped any serious loss or
inconvenience.
One example which was made of an incorrigible
thief and drunken idler, late in June, had a remarkabley good
effect. He was a German, and was evidently endeavouring to
organise a gang of all those who were tired of work, or who
found their profits not quite so splendid as they expected.
At length he stole my friend Murphy's best rifle, and some
lumps of gold, which were incautiously left in the tent. he
could not have ventured on a worse person. the robbery was
traced, the rifle found, the gold known by a particular mark
on one lump, weighing about thirteen ounces, and the thief
was seized and bound while he lay fast asleep. A jury of the
most respectable men was summoned, and as the fellow could
not deny his crime, he was found guilty at once. where it not
for me and my friend's influence, he would have been shot; as
it was we could not prevent unpleasant consequences. He was
soundly whipped by one square shouldered Suake Indian, and
his ears were completely cropped by another, hired for the
purpose; and thus marked and disfigured, he was banished from
the location, with the assurance that if he was seen amongst
us again, he would be shot down like a dog. He disappeared,
and we never saw him after.
On the whole , our party was remarkably fortunate.
We left the river in October, having worked inintermittingly
[in intermittingly?] and with excellent success. During the
last two months we had several men at work for us, some Indians,
and some others, principally Sonorians. To these we gave half
the gold they washed or found and their support, and although
we paid high for provisions, still the system was a profitable
one.
One way in which we employed these men, was in
cutting and damming a new channel for a certain number of
yards, of the river, and the new bed, thus laid bare,
invariably yielded a rich return. there were days at this
work when every man engaged in it collected eight ounces of
pure gold, but then there were others when half that amount
was not gathered.
We were also fortunate in finding out two or three
wells, or "pockets," as they are called, among the rocks, and
from these, in a few days, we extracted several thousand dollars.
In what are called "gulches," also, we were
singularly fortunate. These are in the dry diggings, and the
metal generally lies deep. In one of them it lay so deep,
that although two adventurers had tried it already, they gave
it up in despair, as not worth further trouble. Not so my
friend Murphy, however. He chanced to stumble upon it of a
Sunday evening, and, on the following morning, he and I set
to work. At the close of Tuesday evening we had taken from
the deserted hole more than twelve hundred dollars. Such is
perserverance and the good luck it brings with it.
The largest piece of gold we found during the
season weighed four pounds two ounces; we had others from two
pounds down to a few ounces, and not unfrequently, in the
newly dammed out parts of the river, pieces of two or three
ounces weight would be scooped up, and thrown into the
washing basket.
And let it not be supposed that we fared badly,
either. When we chose to pay extravagently for a good dinner,
we had only to go to the "hotel," and we could have venison,
turkey, quail, salmon, green corn, peas, and delicious milk
and butter. The price was an ounce of gold a head, which at
the New York mint, was worth eighteen dollars, and,
therefore, as it may be supposed, we did not too often
trouble so expensive an ordinary.
On the twenty-first of October we cried "content,"
We called an auction of our tools and superflous articles,
and sold them to excellent profit, to those who intended to
winter in the diggings.
On the twenty-second we recommenced our journey to
San Francisco, bringing away from the mines just forty-nine
pounds four ounces of gold each, the greater part of it pure,
as the profits of our expedition. I do not mean to say that
we did not suffer a great deal during our labours, as,
between insects, cramps caught in the water, pains from
stooping, etc., we may perhaps be said to have earned our
gold dearly; still, we had ample reson to be satisfied with
our 'divide," and I for one, would not hesitate over again to
incur the same danger and the same trouble, if sure of the
same result.
E.M.B.
