OfatneU IttinecHitg ffiihtatg iltliata, Kent f orb BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE JACOB H. SCHIFF ENDOWMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF STUDIES IN HUMAN CIVILIZATION 1918 Date Due Sitn 1 i 1 WbC 1 41 946 "rtoiBi. n JIINS ) I94f -— \ rv -, A'/? ^ OCT 2 7 194S a -7 3^0 y-eAf^^ mG / h^ ^ ?9 f^ \ "4 ■ • Cornell University Library F 865 A43 California gold book : first nu99£t olin 3 1924 028 920 961 F A ^3. I Cornell University W Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028920961 J. \V, Marshall and Mis. Wimmer Testing G0I4 in Boiling Soap, California Gold Book FIRST ^^^^B NUGGEX ITS DISCOVERY AND DISCOVERERS SOME OF THE RESULTS PROCEEDING THEREFROM Wrw. ALLEN AND R. B. AVERY SAN FRANCISCO AND CHICAGO: DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY Printers and Binders /\77^-^^ Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1893, by W. W. ALLEN AND R. B. AVERY, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington D. C. INDEX. PAGE. Origin of Peter L. Wimmer 11 Boyhood of Peter L. Wimmer 15 Adventure with Indians 30 Early Pioneer Customs ^- 36 Youth of Elizabeth Jane Wimmer 33 Marriage of Jennie Wimmer 37 Wedding Trip to Missouri 44 Starting Across the Plains 50 Trials of Immigrants 61 James W. Marshall Discovers Gold 69 Discovery of Gold in Australia 76 Large Chunks of Gold 84 Del Norte County 103 Siskiyou County 103 Modoc County 104 Humboldt County 104a Trinity County - 105 Shasta County 108 Lassen County 110 Tehama County 113 Plumas County - - 114 Mendocino County lis Lake County 118 Glenn County 119 Butte County 119 Yuba County 131 Sierra County . - 135 Colusa County ... 138 Sutter Cou-nty ]30 " WDEX. Nevada County - . . 132 Placer County . . 135 El Dorado County .... 138 Sonoma County . . . 141 Napa County - ... 149 Yolo County - . . 151 Sacramento County . . 152 Amador County ... 159 Marin County - . . igo Solano County . . 154 Contra Costa County ... 167 Calaveras County . . 171 Alpine County ... 173 San Mateo County ... i^j-g Alameda County . . . - 178 San Francisco County ... 133 " California Hundred " . . 190 David Fitzgibbon - - . 191 San Joaquin County - . . - 198 Mono County . . . 202 Santa Clara County ... 204 Stanislaus County .... 207 Tuolumne County - ... 209' Mariposa County - - . . gig Santa Cruz County .... 2I6 Merced County . . . . 217 Monterey County - . . - 318 San Benito County ... 224 Fresno County - . . 235 Inyo County - - 227 Tulare County . . 228 San Luis Obispo County . 233 Kern County - . 235 Santa Barbara County 241 INDEX. Hi Ventura County ..... 246 Los Angeles County ... 349 San Bernardino County ... 356 Orange County ... 361 San Diego County .... 364 Railroads - . - 375 Theodore D. Judah . - 378 Central Pacific K. E. Company - 379 North Pacific Coast E. E. - 392 San Francisco and ISl orth Pacific E. E. 293 Oollis P. Huntington - - . .394 Mark Hopkins - - - - 297 Charles Crocker - - 399 Alban N. Towne - - 301 Senator Leland Stanford - - 304 Leland Stanford Junior University - . 309 Senator George Hearst . - - - 326 Phoebe Apperson Hearst - -^ 337 Senator James G. Fair - - 346 Hon. G. Wiley Wells . 353 Hon. A. T. Hatch . - - 356 Glaus Spreckels - - - 359 John D. Spreckels ... 370 Adolph B. Spreckels . . 370 Hotel del Coronado - 374 Henry Miller .... 330 Woman in Fruit Growing . - 386 Elise P. Buckingham - . . 387 T. Hugh Buckingham .... 391 Sarah A. Bates - - - - 391 Harriet Barrows - - . 392 Irrigation - . 394 Crocker-HufEman Land and Water Co. - . 397 B. J. Baldwin's Irrigating System . . 401 INDEX. iv H. A. Unruh ... 405 Sweetwater Dam .... 406 Eedlands ..... 408 Bear Valley Irrigation Co. - - - 410 Irrigation in Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties 411 Lake Hemet Water Co. - 414 Asphaltum - - - - 416 Standard Asphalt Co. - - - 421 Press of California 424 First Newspaper . - 424 First Daily Paper 425 Morning Call - . - 426 San Francisco Chronicle. 427 Daily Examiner 429 Daily Demokrat 430 Abend-Post 430 Evening Bulletin 430 Evening Post 430 Evening Eeport - 431 Journal of Commerce 431 Mining and Scientific Press - - 431 Oakland Newspapers . - 433 Pacific Coast Women's Press Association 434 Fireman's Fund Insurance Company - - 435 W. J. Dutton - - - - 436 D. J. Staples ----- 437 CONTENTS OF CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. INTEODUCTORT. Chapter I — Revolutionary Origin of a Pioneer. II — A Natural Adventurer. Ill— A Bloodless Victory. IV — Pining for the Indian War-whoop. V— Origin of the "F. F. Vs." VI — " Lo ! the Bridegroom Cometh." VII — Across Fifteen Hundred Miles Behind Oxen. VIII— To the Setting Sun. IX — Eoad Building in the Mountains. ^ X— James W. Marshall. XI— "The Woman Whom Thou Gavest." XII— Gold. Xlll^Wonderful Progress in Forty-two Years XIV — Railroads. XV — Remarkable Men-^What they have Accom plished. XVL — Woman in Fruit Growing. XVII^-Irrigation. XVIII— Asphaltum. XIX— The Press. XX — Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. ^0 tbe /IDarvelous iprogress of Calif ornla an5 tbe Brave an5 fln&ustrious Citisens wbose ban&i- worh is sbowtt tberein, is tbe California (Bol& JBool? IReverentialls ®e&icate& bg ^be autbors. INTRODUCTORY. THE CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK claims the atten- tion of the public for several reasons peculiarly its own. Up to date there has been no authorita- tive history of the discovery of gold in California, nor of those directly identified with that important event. Even in California different dates are given as the day when the first gold was picked up by James W. Marshall. Sev- eral years ago the first lump of gold picked up by a white person in California, and to which all the suc- ceeding excitement and wonderful ' results must be credited, came into the possession of W. W. Allen, one of the authors of the California Gold Book. He spent time and money in proving the genuineness of the historical nugget, and the exact date upon which it was discovered. It had never been out of the possession of Mrs, Elizabeth Jane Wimmer since it was given her a few days after its discovery by Marshall and tested by her. She and her husband made oath to its genuineness, and they were hon- est and reputable persons. It was twice shown to James W. Marshall by Mr. Allen, who indorsed its identity, the date of its discovery, and the other facts in regard to it detailed in this history. There were several other per- sons, now prominent business men of San Francisco, who had been shown the nugget when visiting Mrs. Wimmer and her husband at their home at Coloma, soon after the discovery was made, and while a wonderful interest attached to the " first find." Its peculiarities are indelli- bly impressed upon their minds. The identity of the famous lump of gold is therefore easily established without the aid of the following depositions: State of California, County of San Diego: Elizabeth Jane Wimmer, being duly sworn, deposes and says : I am the wife of Peter L. Wimmer. My hias- band and I went to Coloma, on the American river, Cali- fornia, in the year 1847. James W. Marshall lived with us. We went there to build a saw-mill for Gen. John A. Sutter. 6 INTRODUCTORY. In January, 1848, Messrs. Wimmer and Marshall picked up a nugget of metal and Mr. Wimmer sent it to the house to me by our son, and I boiled it in a kettle of soap all day to test it and see if it was gold. It proved to be a nugget of gold. From that mining began. The nugget of gold now in the possession of W. W. Allen, of San Francisco, is the identical nugget thus tested by me in January, 1848, and I have preserved it ever since. Elizabeth Jane Wimmek. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 23d day of March, 1885. J. M. DODGE, ( '^"^ ' ^ Cleek of the Superior Court, San Diego, ■< Seal >- Cal. \ ) By A. J. BBAED, ~'' DgpUTY Clerk. State of California, San Diego County: Peter L. Wimmer, being duly sworn, on oath says: That he is the husband of Elizabeth Jane Wimmer; that they were employed in the year 1847 by James W. Marshall and General Sutter to work at building a saw-mill at Coloma, on the American river, in the State of California; that they, in company with James W. Marshall, discovered the gold afterwards mined out at that place as follows, to- wit: Marshall and Wimmer were together and picked up the first nugget. Wimmer sent it to the house by his little boy with instructions to Mrs. Wimmer to test it, and she boiled it in a kettle of soap and tested it. Marshall afterward took it to Fort Sutter and had it tested with acids, and it proved to be gold. That the nugget now in the possession of W. W. Allen is the identical nugget thus discovered and tested by us, and has been preserved by Mrs. E. J. Wimmer as a relic of the great discovery, and is still her property. Peter L. Wimmer. Subscribed and sworn to, before me, this 18th day of April, 1885. A. J. Beard. Justice of the Peace of said county and State." The California Gold Book asserts that January 19, 1848, was the date upon which the great discovery of gold mTRODUCTORY. t in Cali-fornia was made, because : First, for the reason that that was the date given by Peter L. and Elizabeth Jane Wimmer; and was the only date mentioned by James W. Marshall in the conversations W. W. Allen had with him in regard to this matter. If more testimony is needed it is supplied by the following autograph card which Mar- shall distributed among his friends and the curious: AUTOGRAPH OF THElSCOVERER OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA January 19th. 184£ The date upon which any past event occurred is not more clearly and reliably fixed. The sketches of James W. Marshall, Peter L. and Eliza- beth Jane Wimmer, are largely autobiographies, being compiled from statements made by these persons, and written down at the time, and the correctness of which, so far as the Wimmers are concerned, was verified by frequent repetitions. They deserve to be received as the biographies of honest and earnest pioneers. California contains more than one hundred and one million acres of land. Of this more than half is still owned by the United States. The greater part of that is hilly and much mountainous, but very much is adapted to the production of the finest qualities of fruits, grapes and nuts. Hence the pen photographs of all the counties in the State, which will be found essentially correct, and which will give homeseekers af air estimate of every part of California. The assertion is made, with anxiety to be absolutely correct, that " no mistake can be made whatever part of California is selected for a home." The "citrus belt" used to be 8 IN TROD UC TOR Y. located exclusively in southern California. Practical experiment has proved that it extends to the "snowline," on the mountains, and that many kinds of fruits do best where snow is not unknown. The mountains are yet rich in opportunities for the searcher after precious metals. Many promising fields are still unexplored. Silver mines are not deemed the most desirable property at this time, though more or less gold is generally found in combination with silver. When American law makers determine that the producer shall be given the same influence in fixing the value of the prod- uct of his courage and industry as the foreign broker; when the same rule is applied which took gold out of the list of speculative commodities, then will silver mining be again profitable, and coast prosperity will be unob- structed by the behests of foreign stock dealers. Resump- tion of specie payments was as easily accomplished in this country as was ever any human act when the Government decided that every public obligation could be satisfied with any description of national money. Silver will be enno- bled, and its value fixed in this country — which is as far as an American statesman need look — whenever the Govern- ment acts for the best interests of its own people without consulting the wishes of foreign purchasers of bullion. The authors of the California Gold Book believe the railroad as much of an educator as the public school, and as great a civilizer as any other instrumentality in use among' men. It has given railroad enterprises only their appropriate prominence and only their proper credit. Less could not have been done and a claim upon the respect of its readers retained. The evidence is in its pages, empha- sized by the wonderful growth which has followed the introduction of railroad facilities in sections possessing no greater natural advantages than others that have retro- graded because lacking this convenience. The railroad will remain man's chief helper until some speedier means of transit and intercommunication has been discovered. It was the original intention of the authors of the Cali- fornia Gold Book to more extensively illustrate it. For this purpose a large number of photographs were obtained from the wonderful collection of coast scenes held bv tU'rkODUCTORY. 9 Tabor, of San Francisco. Only a few of these could be used, but for them we give proper credit here. California is first in climatic and health and comfort giv- ing advantages; third in wealth; fourth as an importer of merchandise, and fifth in exportations. This among States that were aged before the first American settlement had been established within her bounds. She was given number " 31 " in the roll of States only forty-two years ago. Situated beyond the mountains, and outside of lines of travel, she has overtaken and passed all but five of her prosperous sisters in every line distinguishing advance- ment, and in ten years more will be at the head of the class in everything but population and importations, and she will retain the place to which God has assigned her as the one State to which all eyes are turned in admiration and wonder. THE AUTHOES. CALIFORN ^^^■^^TJIA^'fJte^i;' EEVOLUTIONAEY ORIGIN OF A PIONEEE. The Wimtners were originally a noted family in the north of Ireland, and so close to the Scotch border that they may well be termed " Scotch-Irish." From various causes large numbers of the brave and indepen- dent natives of that section were among the earliest emigrants to the JSTew World. From the beginning of the eighteenth century until the Declaration of Inde- pendence the departures from Irish ports of natives of the north of Ireland and Scotland frequently reached the enormous number of more than ten thousand in a month. Comparatively, this was a larger number than now disembark at American ports from all the rest of the habitable globe. No wonder that the British authorities viewed with alarm the disappearance of such vast numbers of the men from among whom she had been in the habit of recruiting her armies. No wonder that every argument was used to stay the steady and increasing departure of emigrants. But the sturdy natives continued to land on these shores, and spread out to every part of the unexplored country. The careful and conscientious student will readily per- ceive the vital influence which these brave and indepen- dent pioneers have exercised upon the destinies of this country at every stage of its history. It might almost 11 13 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOk. be said that they and their descendants made its ^lory and greatness ; for, from the beginning until now, men of Scotch-Irish blood have been foremost leaders io every creditable achievement. It is now several years since Horace Greeley advised the young man to " go west." Ages before that the Creator had implanted in the hearts of the best and bravest of the human race a disposition to " move on " and " spy out the land " — to carry civilization and Christianity to the uttermost parts of the earth. It was this God-inspired disposition which compelled Columbus to turn the prow of his small vessel toward the center of an unknown and illimitable sea, in the hope that he might find races of men to civilize, or new worlds to explore. It is this God-implanted craving for adventure and danger which has subdued the vast wilderness in America with startling celerity, and created churches and school-houses on almost every section of land of the entire continent. It is the universal disposition to " go west " which has made this, less than four hun- dred years after its discovery, the wealthiest, most enlightened and most powerful nation in the world— an educating example to all peoples who are ambitious to become respected, prosperous and happy. John Wimmer was born in Virginia about the year 1750. When war was declared against Great Britain, it took him no time to select sides. He was a born patriot, and joined the ranks of the revolutionists, as did ninety-nine per cent of those of Scotch-Irish parent- age. John Wimmer possessed a fine constitution, great courage, an unassuming disposition, splendid intellectual qualities and coolness and self-possession which never deserted him under the most dangerous CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 13 and trying circumstances. These characteristics ren- dered him invaluable as a scout and Indian fighter, and his services were in constant demand until victory was achieved by the patriot army. Some years after the close of the revolutionary war, John Wimmer removed to Ohio, finally settling at Cincinnati. Previous to this Marietta, on the Ohio river, had become an important trading post, having been settled by a colony from New England. The country away from the river was still subject to incur- sions from roving bands of depredating Indians. The experience obtained during the war of independence stood Wimmer in good stead during these times. One incident is related which shows the coolness and rare resources possessed by this man. Returning from the trading post in 1808 Wimmer was captured by a band of marauding Indians, and hurried off to their tempo- rary camp on the Ohio river, where he was kept an unwilling prisoner. He at once commenced to gain the confidence of the chief and his tribe by meeting them with smiles, and engaging cheerfully in any amusement or duty in which others were employed. His course seemed to impress the leading men with a sense of his great superiority, and they began to look upon his skill with arms, and his apparent contentment and undeviating good humor, as connecting him in some degree with the Great Spirit. The culmination came soon. One day, when sitting in front of the wig- wam of the chief, a large bald eagle made its appear- ance over the camp, circled about for awhile, and then sailed away. Next day, about the same hour, the huge bird again appeared, and commenced circling above the heads of the watching Indians. Wimmer knew 14 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. that it had espied something of which it intended to make a meal, and that it would return again and again, until it succeeded in making the intended capture or was wounded and driven away. Providence had sup- plied him with the opportunity for which he had been praying. Wimmer arose, and with upturned eyes, and finger pointing to the circling eagle, in his usual calm, firm and impressive tones, thus addressed the awed Indians : " Does the mighty Chief and his proud braves see the Messenger from the Great Spirit ? Should he come again it would be to guide an enemy, and the Chief and all his braves would be -destroyed. But the Great Spirit has provided you with a guardian. When I was brought here I realized that it was for your salvation. You have been uniformly kind to me, and I declare that that treacherous bird shall never pilot an enemy to this camp. The great Spirit has given me power to divine his intentions, and he has also given me power to prevent his executing them. The Great Chief and his valiant braves, who have treated me so like a brother, shall have as a memento of that kindness, and as evidence that their conduct has saved them, the head of that cruel bird who would compass their destruction." The Indians were silent with superstitious fear. Wimmer seized his rifle, and with nerves of iron and unerring aim, fired at the slowly circling eagle. At the crack of the rifle, the huge bird began to whirl over and over in its rapid descent to the earth, and in a few moments fell lifeless almost at the feet of Wim- mer. The first effect was a glow of relief on the scared faces of the superstitious braves, to be instantly CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. 15 followed by a frenzy of excitement as they realized that the messenger of the waiting enemy was forever powerless for evil. So great was the effect upon the Indians, that John Wimmer was loaded with presents, and escorted in safety and honor to the post at Mari- etta. He never lost his influence with this powerful tribe, and was the successful arbitrator in all disputes arising between the Indians and settlers as long as he remained on the Ohio river. When this country became engaged in war with England in 1812, John "Wimmer again enlisted and served until the troops were disbanded at its close. His services were specially valuable in repelling the merciless hordes on the frontiers of Ohio and Indiana. Incursions by these savage allies of Christian England were very frequent, and the destruction they wrought terrible, until after the defeat of Tecumseh at Tippe- canoe by General Harrison in 1813. In 1824 John Wimmer removed to Henry county, Indiana, where the last years of his life were spent among neighbors who loved and respected him for the nobleness of his character, and honored him for the service he had rendered his country. CHAPTER II. A NATURAL ADVENTtTEEK. Peter L. Wimmer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 5th day of April, 1810, eight years after that State had been added to the sisterhood, and when Cincin- nati was comparatively a village outpost. He remained there until 1824, when his father removed to Henry 18 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. county, Indiana, less than eight years after that State had been admitted into the Union. Peter L. Wimmer was not distinguished as a boy for love of books. He inherited the calm, self-possessed disposition of his father, and was an enthusiastic lover of nature. He never was excitable, and always hopeful of the future. The limited population, outside the village boundaries, made all the country appear like a wilderness, and young Wimmer would have played "truant" if there had been schools for him to attend, and would have spent most of his days on the banks of the musical brooks, dreaming of whence their sparkling waters came and whither they were tending ; or in the dense forest, studying woodcraft, and watching the gambols of the squirrels, or listening to the songs of birds. It was thus that most of his days were spent, after attend- ing to such duties about the cabin as were required of him. He was small of stature, but possessed of great strength for one of his weight, and always enjoyed perfect health. Under such management his mind matured faster than his body and the experience was fitting him for the future which destiny had prepared for him. When he was fourteen years old life in Cincinndti seemed too confined for his father, who was an involuntary pioneer, and it is not surprising that young Wimmer heartily seconded the proposition to invade the wilderness. Then the move was made to Indiana. More room was promised them. For four years the family remained united, respected and especi- ally happy and prosperous. Among their neighbors was the family of Capt. George W. Harlan, who was among the very first to cross the plains in 1846. The families were very intimate, and doubtless mainly CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 17 because Capt. Harlan had a daughter Polly who was more beautiful in the eyes of Peter Wimmer than any- thing else which had come from the hand of the Creator. He was not slow in making Miss Polly under- stand the condition of his heart, and was made happy by learning that the feeling was heartily reciprocated. As his life was without reproach and his disposition most kind and affectionate, the betrothal received the sanction of both families, and in the fall of 1828 Peter L. Wimmer and Polly Harlan were married, receiving the congratulations of every acquaintance in Henry county. Now, at this time, Peter L. "Wimmer had just passed his eighteenth year. He was the head of a family, however, and considered it his duty to hew out his own destiny. To that end he immediately emigrated to Michigan, still a territory, and then more unsettled than either Indiana or Ohio. He retained his residence in Michigan less than three years, when he removed to Illinois and settled on the Illinois river, near where the Kankakee empties into it. The " Prairie State " was then almost a boundless, uninhabited plain. A fringe of timber bordered all the water courses, and nearly the entire balance of the State was treeless. A few adven- turous families from Virginia and Kentucky had even then settled along the water courses of the lower half of the State, but the prairie solitudes were broken only by the whirr of the wings of the startled quail or prairie chicken, or the howl of the wolf. Black hawk and his fierce and merciless braves still claimed the prairie country for a hunting ground, and the shelter of the beautiful groves as their own rightful camping place. They were frequently out on the war path, their hands 18 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. red with the blood of their victims, and their horse trappings decorated with the scalps of murdered settlers. These were not all mere rumors. Too well the pioneer knew that the tales were based upon terrible blood-curdling tragedies, and that the horrid fate was one which might confront him and his loved ones. Scarcely a day went by that some passer did not tell of emigrant trains attacked-with a loss of one or more of their members. These tales of cruel massa- cres could not fail to terrify every settler on the fron- tier, but they seemed to discompose Peter L. "Wimmer less than any of his neighbors. All day long he would perform labor in his fields as faithfully and unconcerned as though he were surrounded by all the protecting influences of the highest civilization. He had sought the frontier advisedly, and knowing thoroughly every form of danger that would threaten his peace. He was determined not to lay aside his duty whatever might betide. His evenings were spent in his little cabin with wife and children. He possessed a fine voice and a splendid ear for music. With a retentive memory, his repertoire of domestic songs and pleasing tunes was unusually extensive. Till bed-time he could make the home circle as happy and contented as though there were not a barbarous Indian anywhere between the distant seas. So the evenings were rendered ten-fold dearer by the cheerful notes of Peter, as he sung hymns and love ditties to Polly and the children, and it mattered not how often they may have heard them, they were always as heartily applauded as if they were brand new. Thus lived Peter and Polly Wimmer from 1831 to 1836. The latch-string of their cabin door was always CALTFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 19 in easy reach of the weary wayfarer and a warm welcome was given to the traveler, no matter whence he came. The sterling characteristics of Wimmer fitted him for leader, and to that place he was pushed by the unan- imous voice of every one engaged with him in any enterprise, whether of danger or for the amusement and improvement of his fellow pioneers. The" home on the Illinois river had prospered, and a considerable com- munity had settled in the vicinity of the "Wimmer homestead. They were courageous, as successful pioneers must of necessity be. All were hopeful, and the realities in regard to that now populous section have not much surpassed the prophecies of every one of the early settlers. They knew that progress was inevitable, and that eventually the prairies must become as thickly populated as any State in the East, or any place in the old world. Still the coming of increasing numbers of home hunters was the signal for most of the first set- tlers to " move on," and they struck out for a section containing more room. They were not as greedy for riches as for adventure, and followed on toward the setting sun. It is doubtful whether any of the early settlers dreamed of the possibilities which attended the growth of Chicago, or the great prosperity which would be achieved by those who remained in the State. Nevertheless, they did know that the lands west of them would be claimed by some one at an early date and that it was honorable to be esteemed a hardy pioneer. So the stay in a new settlement was seldom more than a halt, and the restless and expectant fever kept their faces turned toward the west. 20 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. CHAPTER III. A BLOODLESS VICTORY. The equable temper, kindness of heart, upright con- scientiousness, moral characteristics, great personal courage and absolute self-possession, of Peter L. Wim- mer exactly fitted him for a safe and conservative leader. These qualities more than neutralized his lack of "book- learning." In fact, book-learning was at a discount ou the frontiers. The languages in use were the English, pretty well dove-tailed with provincialisms, and the Indian dialect. A knowledge of these were vitallj'^ necessary, and Wimmer possessed the gift of quickly picking up an understanding of the Indian talk, as well as a very thorough knowledge of his intentions, which almost seemed to be intuitive. But throughout his entire life, the great abhorrence in which "Wimmer held any degree of cruelty caused him to reach results by strategy, rather than by open warfare. Nevertheless, he was always prepared for the latter should peaceful measures fail. In ] 832 the Indians on the Kankakee river were in a very discontented state. They seemed to have for- gotten the decisive defeats sustained in their battles with the forces under Gen. Harrison a few years before, and on every occasion they protested against the inva- sion of their prairie hunting grounds by the whites. Incursions against the settlers were frequent, and the losses of horses and cattle an every day occurrence. Sometimes an unguarded settler was killed, and his mutilated body left where it fell. These occurrences terrorized the pioneers without inclining them to re-. CALIFORI^IA GOLD BOOK. 21 treat. They had come to stay, and felt sure they were but the advance guard of a vast population. In the early fall of 1832, signs which were startlingly significant to Wimmer, convinced him that the savages were preparing for a general massacre of the settlers on the Illinois river. The disappearance of grffeing stock was more frequent. Small bands of strange In- dians were seen in the vicinity of the settlements. Canoes, with two or three red men to each, were known to pass down the Kankakee into the Illinois river. T9ose Indians met by white men were surly and in- solent . It was learned that a camp was forming on the river bank just below the mouth of the Kankakee, and but a few miles from the Wimmer cabin. Afthat time the settlement contained over a dozen families, besides Peter, Polly and their four children. It was determined by the, white men in council that something must be done at once, and Wimmer recommended that the T' "'ans be met and decisively conquered before great numbers had time to assemble at what appeared to be a preconcerted rendezvous. Ten brave men an- nounced their readiness to follow Wimmer in defense of their wives and little ones. It was settled that all the w^men and children should be left at Wimmer's cabin, and the men, pr^'^ierly armed, should descend the river in large canoes, t :d capture the paipp of the Indians during the night. This plan was carried into effect Each of the eleven men was armed with a reliable gun. and knife, with the effective use of which every one was familiar, and three or four of the party were also provided with the old-time cavalry or horse pistol. It was a clear night in September, 1832, when Wim- mer and his small command got ready for their cam- 22 ■ CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. paign against merciless savages. Their boats were prepared, and all the members of the settlement were assembled to see them embark. Only those who have been through such scenes can form any idea of the fear and solicitude with which the wives gave the parting kiss to their husbands, or the earnestness of the prayers which ascended to heaven for their safe return. No one dared hope that all would come back alive and unwounded. Each wife feared that she might be doomed to widowhood. And the prayers and tears continued all that night through. Finally the men were off. They proposed to reach the Indian camp at the hour when it was known they were in the embrace of deepest sleep — about three o'clock in the morning. As the speed of the current would take them to the point they wished to reach previous to that time, there was no need to use the paddles except to guide the course of the canoes, and the passage was as silent as the grave. Occasionally the passing canoes would be scented or espied by some deer that had come to the river to drink, and it would bound away in affright. A few times slumbering birds were scared from their perch. Besides these insignifi- cant noises, there was nothing to disturb a stillness which could be felt by every one of the crew. All the discussion that was necessary had already taken place. Every man knew that failure meant a horrible death to the loved ones whose hope was in their strong arms and brave hearts. The vital necessity for success had braced every heart to its utmost tension. Arrived at the mouth of the Kankakee, the canoes were silently guided to the bank. Hidden under the overhanging limbs four Indian canoes were found. CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 33 As these would not carry more than three each, the party could very correctly estimate the number of savages they would have to overcome, the squaws hav- ing gone to the rendezvous by land. There could not be more than twelve, and possibly only eight. The first move was to cut loose the canoes, and push them out into the current of the Illinois river, then to secure their own canoes so that they could be used for crossing the river should retreat become necessary. Now for the attack. As soon as the top of the bank was reached, the silent party discovered the smolder- ing embers of the Indian camp-fire not more than a hundred yards away. The braves had selected a slight depression or little cove, for their camping place. Post- ing his men where they would command the camp, Wimmer went forward to reconnoiter. This was a most perilous duty, because it was scarcely possible that the invariable guard would not be found awake and alert. Crawling forward as noiselessly as any snake or savage, he soon discovered that eight soundly sleeping Indians, painted as if for war, laid alongside of the camp-fire, and the guard had succumbed to the somnolent influences of the silent night, and unsus- picious of danger, was sleeping as soundly as any of those he was trusted to protect. It took "Wimmer but a few moments to collect all the arms the braves had placed within easy reach when they lay down to rest. Loaded with these he crawled back to his anxious com- rades, and advised them of the number and condition of those they had to contend with. The arms he had brought were safely hidden away, and then all returned to the camp-fire, where a struggle was anticipated which was not without great danger, even though the stalwart braves were disarmed. 24 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. But, in the meantime, the active mind of Wimmer had conceived a plan for terrorizing the braves which is without parallel in all history. He directed his men to crawl to positions where they would completely sur- round the sleeping braves ; to have their weapons in readiness, but not to fire on an Indian until he gave the command. Then he crept to the position he desired, and laying his gun on his lap, in a steady voice, com- menced singing : "Heaven's delight is human kindness To the traveler on his weary way," etc. The first notes aroused the savages as completely as would the firing of a park of artillery, and every Indian grabbed for the weapon he was sure was in reach of his hand. Their consternation was beyond description at finding their weapons gone, and themselves at the mercy of an armed band of resolute men, and the ones, too, whom they had done so much to injure in the recent past. But what made their flesh creep with supersti- tious horror was the placid and unconcerned demeanor of Wimmer, who continued his song. The Indians stood paralyzed. When Wimmer had concluded his concert, he motioned the awed audience to be seated, and they obeyed without a dissenting gesture. Then he recounted to them the helpless condition they were in, and claimed that it was by the consent, and with the assistance of the Great Spirit. He told them of the depredations they had been committing — thefts and murders — upon a people who desired to live in peace with them, and do them good. These outrages must stop. The settlers would no longer put up with theft and murder. If the chief would now agree to return the stolen stock ; to commit no more depredations, and CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 25 to assist the settlers should other roving bands threaten them with attack, then peace would then and there be agreed upon, and the arms and canoes would be returned to them, and they would be suffered to depart in peace. The squaws, encamped only a hundred yards distant, had been awakened, and commenced a horrible howling when they found their husbands prisoners in the hands of armed white men. The chief soon silenced these, and without hesitation agreed to every suggestion made by Peter. The great pipe was lighted, and after one whiff the chief passed it on to Peter, and from him it went the rounds of every one of the contracting parties. The inspiration which had come to Peter had enabled him to obtain a bloodless victory over a dangerous band of Indians, and to prove to them that he believed other Indians than dead Indians could be good Indians. After peace was ratified, the canoes, which had floated but a short distance, were brought back, and, with the arms, were returned to the Indians. The chief asked the privilege of escorting the " great singer " and his men back to the settlement, and the return soon com- menced. Wimmer and the chief were seated in one of the Indian canoes, and took the advance. All the others followed. All night long the anxious watchers at the settlement had kept up their supplications, making fre- quent trips to the bank of the river, and peering away into the darkness in the direction their protectors had gone. At daylight all assembled on the bank and watched and waited. Sometime after sun up, Polly saw a strange canoe turn a bend in the river, and that a painted warrior occupied it with her husband. The worst was feared, and a wail went up when they felt 26 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. certain that those of their husbands not killed were returning as prisoners of the savages, who, they felt sure, would proceed to massacre them all. Peter signaled that all was well, and the reaction upon the wrought-up wives and children was almost painful. But when ail had arrived at the landing, and the results of the trip were made known, the shouting and rejoic- ing was never surpassed by the same number in the great State of Illinois since its first settlement. And it is a fact that the people of this settlement were never more disturbed by hostile Indians. Peter and Polly remained here in peace and security, and much beloved, until 1836, when they removed to Missouri, as they had been urged to do by Captain Harlan CHAPTER IV. PINING FOK THE INDIAN WAK-WHOOP. Captain George W. Harlan, whose ancestor came to Pennsylvania with, and as a friend of Sir William Penn, commanded a company during the later years of the terrible Indian wars on the Western frontiers. He did gallant service in the army commanded by General William Henry Harrison. Indeed, his whole life had been spent in fighting Indians, until the close of active hostilities with England in 1812-13, lost him his occu- pation. With the conclusion of peace he settled with his family in Henr}' county, Indiana, and for several years his relations and friends hoped his days would be spent there. But in a few years the Indian and buffalo had departed for the wilds of the West, put- ting the Mississippi and Missouri rivers between CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 27 them and civilization, and bear, elk, deer and other game was becoming exceedingly scarce com- pared with the vast numbers in the country when he first took up his abode in it. In fact, after 1832 he never was thrilled by a war-whoop, and in a whole year not half a dozen strolling braves would be near his home. He began to suffer with depressing loneli- ness, and to pine for the dangerous and exciting adven- tures which had given such stimulating zest to his earlier manhood. About this time news came from some old acquaint- ances who had made the commencement of a settle- ment just west of the Missouri river, and where the city of Lexington now is. They told of a genial climate, boundless pastures, treeless plains, the most fertile soil, excellent water, and just as much room for spreading out as the most ambitious pioneer could reasonably desire. The fair picture captured the fancy of Captain Harlan, and he commenced preparations for changing his abode, undeterred, but rather incited thereto, by the known and unknown dangers and obstacles he was told must be encountered on the long and toilsome journey. The facilities for communication with his daughter Polly, since her removal to Michigan, had been of the worst. A letter to or from her was a rarity. Yet he managed to acquaint Peter Wimmer with his intention to remove to Missouri, and to urge him and Polly to join him there. Needless to say Polly frantically favored the reunion. The unchangeable affec- tion existing between members of pioneer families has been remarked by every one as especially emphasizing the truism that " blood is thicker than water." Wim- mer sold his homestead and journeyed west, arriving 28 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. at the Missouri settlement almost simultaneously with his father-in-law, Captain Harlan. This was in 1837, and, as nearly all the land was subject to entry, he was not long in selecting a promising homestead, and it was done with the feeling paramount that, please God, here he would end his days. That " man proposes and God disposes" was as true then as it is now and ever has been. A fact strikingly apparent to every one acquainted with the early settlement of this country was the pos- session by every pioneer of two supreme governing ■ sentiments — love of country and belief in God. In de- fense of these all were ready to yield up everything. life included. They may have been illiterate, but all acknowledged the greatness and goodness of Jehovah — God everywhere. Not one in one thousand of those who laid the foundations of these mighty States, who fashioned the giants of the forest into hospitable homes, ever doubted the illimitable power of God, or questioned the absolute dependence of every living soul upon His omnipotent decrees. A detail of the customs of one pioneer settlement will fairly describe the course pursued by the builders of every new com- munity between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. All made haste to bend the reverent knee in earnest sup- plication and thankfulness to the King of kings. From the nature of things it was impossible for a handful of unsheltered settlers to at once erect a house of worship ; but with one mind, male and female, they began a search for the most beautiful and picturesque spot in the neighborhood, and always convenient to a spring or stream of pure water. There rough seats were provided and an arbor erected, under which they c 01 E CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 29 might join in praise and devotion when the weather was mild. They were not bigoted or sectarian. Every one was granted the widest latitude, and a visiting minister of the Gospel was heartily welcomed by all without inquiry as to his denominational predilections. When the weather was bad, should a preacher come into the settlement, some pioneer's cabin became a temporary church. Many eloquent and comforting sermons have we heard preached in the cramped limits of a frontier cabin, and every hearer honestly believed that " where two or three were gathered together in His name, there would He be in their midst," and with the same willingness and power to bless as though they were in the grandest temple ever erected in His honor. We cannot doubt that God has directed and con- trolled the destinies of this favored land ever since Columbus discovered the soil. He has guided and prospered the people — a veritable protecting " cloud by day and pillar of fire by night " — to an extent never enjoyed by the children of Israel in their day of great- est strength and glory. We have iegitimate authority for claiming to be specially " God's people," dwelling in " God's own country." Some honest, earnest, but unthinking persons have declared that God is not in the American Constitution. They are mistaken. If ever a document bore the unmistakable evidences of Divine inspiration it is the immortal deed securing to this people a " more perfect Union " than a " perpetual Union," and guaranteeing to every citizen the right to worship the Creator according to the dictates of his own conscience, forever secure from interference by any power on earth. God is there and the wisdom and 80 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. strength, born of His blessed omnipotence, breathes forth from everj'^ line of the Sacred Charter. From ocean to ocean comprises one vast temple, dedicated to the acknowledgment and worship of the ever-living God, and those who do not feel this sacred fact in the intellectual atmosphere of every community sadly mis- conceive the hopes and aspirations of the American nation. The members of the Harlan settlement in Missouri took an early opportunity to select and dedicate the loveliest and most romantic spot in the vicinity as a place of worship, and where the settlers might assem- ble whenever there was any question of general inter- est requiring consideration. It was close to a spring near the bank of the Missouri river, the waters of which have been dyed with Union and Confederate blood, as the soldiers under Colonel James A. Mulligan, of Illinois, on one side, and General Sterling Price, of Missouri, on the other, contested to the death for the exclusive right to its clear and sparkling water. Gal- lantly the handful of Illinois boys made the siege of Lexington niemora||le by their stubborn defense of the right to use the water of this historical spring, and as gallantly did the Confederate bo3's lay down life to obtain the coveted possession. Finally, the spring and camp passed to General Price by a surrender, but as a testimony of his high respect for the brave men with whom he had been contending. Colonel Mulligan and hia entire command were permitted to go to their homes on parole — a course very seldom pursued to- ward defeated opponents by either side, in any war. To return to the members of the Harlan settlement : A commodious arbor was constructed and covered with CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 31 boughs of trees until it was impenetrable to light showers of rain. Timbers of considerable size were split in half, and one side of the slab was hewed smooth. These were arranged conveniently for seats. Then in front was erected a platform, with a rough but serviceable table for the accommodation of the preacher, or any one who should desire to address the assembled settlers. To repeat, this was but a crude Temple of the Most High, with its counterpart in every pioneer settlement in the land ; but every fair Sunday it was filled with as devout an assemblage of worshipers as ever congregated in any city church. The first one to occupy this sylvan pulpit was Dear con William Smith, a divine from Virginia who had wandered to the far West bearing the banner of the Cross, and striving to do good to his fellows. He real- ized that times come to all, and to dwellers on the frontier more frequently than to others, when human sympathies fail to give consolation, and the weary soul longs for Divine help. He was here to comfort the yearning mourners, and point the way to the Great Helper. His flock was widely separated, but he visited, advised with, and comforted as many as he could reach, and he exercised a marvelous influence in bringing together the persons through whom the first discovery of gold in California was accomplished. The readers of this true history will all agree that " God works in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform," and yet the seeming impossibility of inti- mately connecting actors so widely separated, and with apparently divergent interests, is brought about by means so natural and simple that one seems to feel that it would have been utterly impossible for l,he 33 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. course of these lives to have led elsewhere or have resulted differently. So does the Ruler of worlds work out most all important events. CHAPTER V. Martin Cloud was a tobacco planter in Franklin county, Yirginia, and from 1820 to 1836 was con- sidered among the prosperous. He had a large planta- tion, and owned a considerable number of healthy and contented slaves, to whom he was a kind and indul- gent master. His family at that time consisted of a wife, two sons, one daughter, Elizabeth Jane, born June 18, 1820, and all the slaves might be included, because in many respects they were treated as affectionately as the other members of the household. Martin Cloud was a man of strict integrity, conscien- tious in the performance of all the duties required of him as a citizen and a member of the Methodist church. He was charitable to those needing aid, and his well- known kindness of heart was sometimes taken advan- tage of by the unscrupulous. Strong in the knowledge that to benefit himself by a wrong was in no degree a temptation, he was loth to believe that others could practice deceit. In an evil hour, a man named John Risley, from the State of New Jersey, applied to him for the position of overseer. Risley was shrewd and unscrupulous. There used to be a saying that a man " Jersey born and Georgia bred would shave a face of clay," meaning that he possessed less principle than keenness. Risley was keen and politic. He claimed CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 38 to be an expert tobacconist, thoroughly acquainted with its cultivation and cure, by improved processes, with which the Virginia planters were unacquainted. Besides he claimed to be expert in the management of labor. He sounded his own praises until he convinced Martin Cloud that he would be a valuable man to be connected with, and that his assurance that he could double the income of the plantation was more than probable. Having created this impression, so neces- sary to the success of his swindling schemes, Eisley announced the only terms upon which he would give Cloud the benefit of his invaluable services. He must be an equal partner in the land and slaves, and for this half interest he must be allowed credit. The sale was made, and the management of land and servants was surrendered to the practical control of a man who was naturally cruel and tyrannical, and always a scamp. This was a sad day for the slaves, who had never experienced any of the cruelties which made the lives of some slaves unendurable. Kisley selected a negro called big Dave to do the whipping, and for the slightest fault the negroes were subjected to merciless inflictions of the lash. A center post in the tobacco barn was where the slaves were tied and the lash applied until Dave and his barbarous master were satis- fied. This unnecessary cruelty was as painful to Mar- tin Cloud and his pious wife as to the colored victims, but they were powerless to prevent the whippings. One day Jennie's maid, Betsy, had displeased Eisley, and he ordered her to the whipping post. Little Jennie reached there before the punishment com- menced, and falling on her knees, she begged Dave to spare Betsy and punish her. Dave answered : 34 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. " Fore God, Missey, I'd rudder be beat myself dan strike a lick atter de little angel had told me not to. Massa Eisley is welcome to whip me for not whippin' Betsy, but I won't do it." Little Jennie was shrewd beyond her years. She told Dave to make the lash crack around the center post, and she and Betsy would scream at every blow, until Mr. Risley would think that Betsy was getting far more than he pretended she deserved. The plan was carried out, and it is certain that Jennie and Betsy performed their part in fine style, making more noise than would have been called for if the lash had been applied to Betsy instead of the post. But other evils followed the new management. The flush times on the lower Mississippi, when the most careful went wild in senseless speculations, had been followed by the inevitable reaction and the depressing influences extended farther than had the previous expansions in business. Every interest in Virginia was affected, and the planters suffered equally with merchants and traders. The times were undeniably " hard." Money was scarce, and individual credit a thing almost unknown along in the year 1837. To render the conditions worse, crops were • short, and the price of tobacco low. The large indebtedness contracted by Risley, and against the protests of Mar- tin Cloud, could not be met without sacrificing the plantation and most of the slaves. Martin Cloud made no contest. He had acted unwisely in putting so much authority into the hands of an unknown man, but he recognized and accepted his responsibility, by selling all he had and paying every obligation. "When this had been accomplished, pride or hope inclined him to CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 35 seek a new home, where he could build afresh, and possibly accumulate competency for old age, which was stealing on apace. We do not know that Martin Cloud claimed to belong to the " F. F. Vs."; but it is certain that no man was held in higher esteem by his neighbors, and no family commanded a sincerer sym- pathy from all who knew them than the family of Martin Cloud in their undeserved change of circum- stances. At that time, all the gold produced in the United States was found in northeastern Virginia, in North Carolina and in northern Georgia. A mint was established at Dahlonega, Ga., about this date, as the mines of Georgia were producing more abundantly than those of Virginia and North Carolina, and because there was no mint nearer than Philadelphia, and it was more dangerous to carry gold nuggets and dust across the mountains of East Tennessee and Virginia than it has ever been to transport gold anywhere on the Pacific Coast. There were no responsible express companies, and stage lines were few and far between. The Georgia output was nearly all from placer mines and the beds of creeks and rivers. Procuring a wagon and two yoke of oxen, Martin Cloud loaded up with such things as he had preserved from the wreck of his fortune, and in June, 1837, left with his family for Lumpkin county, Georgia, where he determined to try to retrieve his losses in a search for gold. The trip was tedious, and it was August before he arrived at his destination. Jennie was then in her seventeenth year, a healthy and blooming brunette, with lovely blue eyes, a peculiar combination always said to be charming. She was fairly educated for the time 36 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. and was as hopeful as the youDg ever should be. The fact that she would have to work, which had not been required of her in the Virginia home, gave her no con- cern. She was ready to share the family fortunes, and make home as happy as she possibly could. The feeling was shared by her father, mother and two brothers, and their advent into the mining camp was hailed with delight by all who were engaged in fortune hunting. The father and boys found employment at once, and Mrs. Cloud and Jennie added materially to the family income by conducting a miner's restaurant and boarding-house. The new life soon became as pleasant and cheerful as that to which all had been accustomed. Thus was spent the fall of 1837, and Jennie Cloud was being pre- pared by experience for the important part she was destined to play later in the canyons of California. » "We have said that we have no knowledge that Martin Cloud claimed to be a genuine "F. F. Y." He used tore- peat a tradition which was given as the true origin of that term. In the early days of the Virginia colony female emigrants were a rarity. The sexes were a long way from equality in numbers. The males had to depend for a wife on the supply of females sent out from England by speculations. These were held at high prices — 500 pounds of tobacco a head. They were taken at that price very readily. Later new dealers came into the market, and the supply became much larger. The price fell. A buxom wife could be bought for one hundred pounds of tobacco — the legal tender of the common- wealth. Then classes in rank were established. The descendants of the women costing 500 pounds of tobacco each were the F. F. V's — members of the exclusive "400," as it were — and those who brought only CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 37 100 pounds of tobacco were always known among the colored folks as "poor white trash." We do not vouch for the correctness of this legend. We do know that whole communities in the South held families in great contempt who had never owned a slave. CHAPTEE VI. " LO ! THE BEIDEGEOOM COMETH." The two years spent in the mines of JSTorthern Geor- gia were generally improving to the family of Martin Cloud. Gold was found in the soil, and in all the rivu- lets and streams entering the Chatahooche river from the North Carolina line to Marietta, in Cobb county. The quantity found was very small, and generally fine gold, but there were traditions of large nuggets, worth a small fortune, having been picked up by Indians, or some person who was not seeking gold. The possi- bility of more of these desirable nuggets being still in the sand and gravel kept the interest alive, and made the mining business intensely exciting. Jennie Cloud was the acknowledged belle of the camp, entering heartily into all the innocent amusements; but she developed a wonderful instinct for discovering rich dirt, and soon became a star " prospector." All the time not required to assist her mother, or in visiting and nursing the sick in the families of the miners, was spent in the gullies and hills looking for pay dirt. The returns in gold were not large, but the explora- tions gave great satisfaction and paid abundantly in experience. 38 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. The mania for gold has no counterpart. Of any- thing else known one may obtain " enough." Of gold, the more one has the more one wants. The names of those who have acknowledged themselves satisfied, and acted up to the acknowledgment, from the begin- ning of the world until now, could be told off on one's fingers. Ketired gold hunters are scarcer than hen's teeth. Miners may abandon the mines because the labor has got beyond their strength, but they persis- tently continue the chase for gold in some other ave- nue. Every intelligent human wants gold. "The love of it," as the well-paid preacher declares, may be "the root of all evil," but the one who loves it not is beyond the capacity of caring for anything. Those who have no hope of possessing gold themselves, delight most in hearing and reading about it. It has been so always, and will remain so until all humanity has reached that heaven whose chief attraction is its streets paved with "shining gold." Jennie Cloud was one of those hopeful, contented souls who are never despondent. If the find was small to-day, to-morrow would be more generous. Her buoyant spirits encouraged every one who came under her influence. She could have had her pick and choice of the stalwart young miners. Not one of them could claim that he was preferred to others. To all her presence proved a blessing. The winter of 1839-40 was a severe one for the miners of JSTorthern Georgia. It was not alone that "hard times" prevailed throughout the whole country, but the winter was an unusually wet and disagreeable one. In all the gulches there was almost continually too much water for profitable mining, and colds were prev- CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 39 alent, and of a specially virulent type. In nearly every family some member was seriously ill, and in some families there were not enough well ones to give the others proper attention. Under such circumstances the noble characteristics of Jennie found ample scope. She would visit, cheer and nurse the sick, and was nearly always supplied with delicacies for her patients which she had prepared with her own hands. Her constitution was splendid, but the unfortunate result which might have been expected, followed her untiring efforts in behalf of her neighbors. In January, after continuous exposure to the inclement weather, she was stricken down, and her grief at being denied the priv- ilege of ministering to her sick friends, made her case more serious than it would otherwise have been. She wassoon delirious, and spent hours in repeating consol- ing and encouraging words to those she had been in the habit of nursing. Now she required constant care and attention, and all the young folks, male and female, were ready to contest for the privilege of watching with her. Obadiah Baiz, a young man but a few years her senior, and who had long viewed her with feelings of earnest love, would not be denied the sad pleasure of constant and never-wearied watching. Young Baiz had no superior in the mining districts for moral rectitude, manly honor and good looks. In her heart, Jennie had long harbored the hope that Obadiah would declare the love which his respectful attentions to her indicated that he really felt. He had been a welcome visitor at her father's house, for even his jealous solici- tude ior her welfare could find no objection to the marked attentions of a young man so thoroughly worthy as young Baiz. During her delirium, and 40 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. while convalescing, Obadiah established himself beyond question as her devoted and willing servant. As health returned, many opportunities were utilized in making each other acquainted with all the hopes and aspira- tions of two loving hearts, and it was found that for many months these had beat almost as one. When Jennie was able to welcome her many friends, they readily surmised what she as readily admitted — that she and Obadiah Baiz were betrothed, and would unite in marriage sometime during the year. About this time Mrs. Cloud received a letter from her brother. Deacon William Smith, who had been do- ing missionary work in IS'orthern Missouri. He was enthusiastic in his descriptions of that promising country, and named the " Harlan Settlement " as the most desirable section he had found in all his travels. His descriptions of the rich and boundless prairies, watered by many streams and rivers, and the endless pastures for herds of cattle and droves of horses and mules, and which could be had without money, and at no other expense the year round than changing the stock from one free pasture to another, were decidedly en- chanting. The Cloud famil}' began to discuss the pro- priety of making another and longer move than the one from Virginia to Georgia. The gold mines did not give more than a hardly earned sufficiency for the ordinary requirements of the miners. There was no immediate prospect of work in the mines becoming any more re- munerative. As a matter of fact, the provision for old age was not " in sight " by a, long ways, and the mining claims seemed a very doubtful reliance for any such provision. Jennie did her best to encourage the hope that there CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 41 was a brighter day coming, but even her hopeful dis- position could not fix an early date for its arrival. The ways and means were still being discussed by the fam- ily when a second letter from Uncle Deacon Smith, far more highly colored than the first, about decided Mar- tin Cloud to become a pioneer. Obadiah Baiz, as was his right, had been cognizant of all the discussions held by the Clouds. He was clear headed and con- servative, and was slow about advising a move which was so important, and might be attended with dissap- pointment and even disaster. After the arrival of the second letter, written by a man of the high character of Deacon Smith, all hesitation disappeared from the mind of Baiz, all the dangers being resolved into the mere difficulties which would attend breaking up housekeeping in Georgia, and living for a few months in ox wagons on the road to Missouri. He became urgent for an immediate marriage with Jennie, so that he could join in the emigration as her special pro- tector, and take away the monotony and weariness of the journey by making of it a honeymoon outdoor pic-nic. The conversion of Baiz from his non-committal position to an energetic advocate for removal settled it, and preparations for the wedding began. The day was set, and the circuit rider was notified that his services would be required on the 25th day of April, 1840. In the meantime everything was being prepared for the comfort of the emigrants. Weddings were not every-day occurrences in Geor. gia, and not more than once in a generation were two as popular young people as Obadiah and Jennie joined in holy wedlock. Besides, the fact that the honey- moon was to be spent on a journey which all felt was 42 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. ' extremely perilous, added greatly to the interest and romance of this particular wedding. After the con- gratulations, and before these had been well digested, must come the parting which the most hopeful ac- knowledged would be for aye. Old Aunt Sally Stevens was an autocratic authority in that section on barbecues, pic-nics and wedding feasts. "With efficient and obedient aids the old col- ored cook could provide a feast for a county. Aunt Sally was installed as chief of the kitchen, and was promised fat shoats, a lamb or two, and all the chick- ens, butter, eggs and sweet potatoes which she might require. As it was getting late in the spring Aunt Sally was a little doubtful of obtaining the principal ingredient for the delicious and satisfying potato cus- tard, but several volunteered to furnish the potatoes they had reserved for seed, and Aunt Sally was satis- fied. Never before was there such preparation for any event in Northern Georgia. If a Fourth of July and Christmas, supplemented by a circus, could all have been promised " under one tent," there could not have been more anxious expectations. There was no mail- ing of special invitations. Everybody was expected, and they knew their welcome would be as honest as it was earnest. The morning of the great day came. It is a tradi- dition in the South that May day is bound to be rainy and Fourth of July always fair. The twenty-fifth of April was a Fourth of July in clearness and a May day in temperature. Very early the crowds began to assemble, and they included old and young, and servants as well as masters and mistresses. That was a custom usual in slave times. Betimes the bride and CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 43 groom appeared arrayed for the occasion. Neither wore " store clothes." Every article was home made except the ribbons and high comb with which the mag- nificent abundance of Jennie's auburn hair was held in place. The richly colored pressed flannel dress from a country loom, was as becoming as any trousseau ever prepared by Worth, and the hand-made lace with which her white scarf was trimmed would rival in value and beauty any from the looms of Lyons. A bouquet of fragrant flowers gave employment to her hands. Obadiah Baiz, in his closely fitting suit of home made jeans, resplendent with brass buttons, was the proudest man in Georgia, and took his seat beside Jennie with the dignity and courtesy of a prince. Promptly at 11 o'clock the minister arrived. He was dressed in a swallow-tailed coat, high standing collar held in place by an old-fashioned stiff stock which kept his chin well up, and made him appear many times more dignified than the occasion demanded. He walked immediately in front of the blushing couple and ordered them to stand up and clasp hands, and the interesting ceremony from the Methodist ritual was quickly said, and Obadiah Baiz and Elizabeth Jane Cloud were pronounced man and wife, with " what God has joined together, let no man put asunder." Then followed caressing and congratulations without cessation until the dinner horn sounded. Parson, bride and groom, and all the guests proceeded to a little grove a few yards from the kitchen, where Aunt Sally and her assistants had spread a feast that was creditable to her skill, and equal to the importance of the occasion. Before being seated, the minister asked an eloquent blessing upon the feast, upon every guest, 44 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. and especially upon the lovely couple who had just put up vows to " love, honor and cherish," and who were so soon to depart to a distant land in obedience to the command " to increase, multiply and replenish the earth." Then the feast began, and when the multitude were satisfied there were more than five basketsful remaining for the use of the servants, and to be sent to those in the neighborhood who were unable to come. On the 10th day of May, 1840, Martin Cloud, his wife and two sons, and Obadiah Baiz and Jennie bid a final adieu to their friends in northern Georgia. Since the wedding they had sold out their mining claims, implements and such goods as could not be packed in two large covered wagons, and still leave room for sleeping quarters in case of rain. A few rules had been decided upon for the prosecution of the journey, the most important of which was that the travelers should remain in camp from Saturday night until Monday morning. Not a wheel should be moved on any Sun- day during the trip. On Sunday the oxen as well as themselves should devote the time to rest and recupe- ration. Bearing with them the good wishes and sincere prayers of all their old neighbors, they started for the distant West hopeful and happy. CHAPTER VII. ACEOSS FIFTEEN HUNDEED MILES OF WILDEENESS BEHIND OXEN. In 1840 it was more than fifteen hundred miles from Lumpkin county, Georgia, to the " Harlan Settlement," now Lexington, Missouri, by any route that could be CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 45 traveled with a wagon. The Cloud party selected a longer route than needful, so as to cross the Mississippi river at Cape Girardeau, Mo., and make the trip up the west side of the Missouri river. It is a long ride to-day by rail, and across the States of Tennessee, Ken- tucky, Illinois, and almost the entire length of the State of Missouri. Let those possessing the most fer- tile imagination attempt to measure the courage and energy required to enable one to make this journey in an ox wagon when the whole length of road was through an almost unbroken wilderness, or across trackless plains. There was scarcely a traveler to be met on the long route, and no knowledge of ferries, divergence of trails, or difBculties and dangers in the way, could be obtained by other than actual experi- ence. These facts taken into consideration, and the reader is better prepared to estimate the endless resources with which every member of a pioneer party had to be equipped to overcome obstacles and avoid disaster. The Cloud party met with no remarkable incidents until the Mississippi river, opposite Cape Girardeau, was reached. They had taken up the march at the season when the woods and plains were carpeted with vernal green, and the oxen could satisfy hunger in a few hours on the rich grasses. The nights were not cold, and the days were generally pleasant. There was nothing really disagreeable in camping out, and every scene was new and interesting to these life-time residents of the older sections of the Union. When the Clouds reached the Mississippi river, near the end of June, the melted snows of the Eocky mount- ains, assisted by heavy spring rains, flooded the river, 46 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. and its current was filled with driftwood — whole trees and giant logs. The only means of crossing at Cape Girardeau was in a plank boat, propelled by man power, using a heavy oar on each side to give the boat head- way, and an oar at the rear which answered the pur- poses of a rudder. It was ten days before the river had commenced to fall, upon which event the islands of driftwood would begin to disappear from the current. Until then the experienced ferrymen knew it would be next to impossible to make a crossing, and absolutely impossible to make a crossing devoid of danger, and they refused to attempt to put the Cloud party across the river at any price. Patiently as they could they awaited the subsidence of the flood. Finally they were notified that the ferrymen would undertake to land them and their possessions in Missouri, but that two days would be required to convey everything across. The first day was spent in crossing the wagons, yokes and chains and other goods, with Martin Cloud, his wife and two sons. Obadiah Baiz, Jennie and the eight oxen had to wait until the morrow. Only four oxen could be taken in the boat at one trip, and Obadiah accompanied the first load, leaving Jennie to watch the remaining four oxen, and make the final trip in the afternoon in company with them. As there had so far been not a suspicion of danger or accident, no fear of any trouble was apprehended. The last four oxen were in the boat, and two-thirds of the distance between the banks had been accomplished, when the three boatmen were startled by a shrill scream from Jennie — " Look out for the log." To make the crossing the bow of the boat was turned slightly up the stream, so that the cur- rent should not carry it below the landing. The huge CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 47 log and the boat had been nearing each other, the one impelled by the current, and the other by the strong arms of the ferrymen, who had not noticed the threat- ened collision until their attention was called to it by the frightened shriek of Jennie. Then it was too late to avoid the shock. The blow was disastrous. The oxen were all thrown to the upper side of the boat, which immediately filled and sank, and Jennie, the ferrymen and the oxen were in the river together. The mishap was witnessed from the bank by Obadiah and the Clouds with such agonizing terror as cannot be described. To aif ord help was beyond the power of any but God. In this terrible moment Jennie was supplied with an inspiration which saved her life. She grabbed the tail of one of the oxen with a grasp as tenacious as life, and the faithful beast struck out for the distant shore. The ox swam low in the water and frequently Jennie would be submerged, and would think she was certain to drown. Before she was completely strangled she would get her head above water and would hear the screams of her mother and the encouraging shouts of her husband and father. And every moment the power- ful brute was getting nearer and nearer to the loved ones and safety. These facts induced her to hang on with the energy and strength of despair. Persons resuscitated from drowning tell about vivid pictures of every inci- dent of a whole life passing before their mental vision in the few seconds between being submerged and loss of consciousness. Jennie has frequently asserted that all the incidents of three lives — past, present and future — seemed to well up and become a part of her- self. Finally the brave old ox, with his precious 48 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. charge, reached the shore. There were willing hands to help him to land, and to seize the apparently life- less form of Jennie and bear her to a waiting cot. Very soon she returned to consciousness, andj except for the terrible shock, was but little the worse for this awful experience. Obadiah had given her up for lost many times during her passage to the shore. The time was short, but it was ample for him to enter into many silent covenants with God that if Jennie were spared every energy of his soul and being should be devoted to enhancing her comfort and happiness. These covenants were never forgotten or ignored by him in the future. As long as he lived his efforts were devoted to the happiness of the wife he had so nearly lost. In a few days Jennie was entirely recovered, and her spirits were as buoyant as they had ever been in her life. The short delay had rested the entire party, and the faithful oxen were seemingly stronger and more obedient than ever. Then the hopeful party took up the line of march for the Harlan settlement, greatly encouraged by their unusuallv quick and successful trip to this point. There was a trail leading past Iron Mountain, and north of west to Lafayette county, in which the Harlan settlement was situated. This trail was frequently traveled by parties going to St. Louis, whether from the southeastern or northwestern part of the State. When our travelers reached Iron Mountain they were surprised by the vast body of ore which is there collected in one mass, and its apparent richness. Two pieces of ore struck together gave out the clear ring of two pieces of pure metal They mar- veled that such a ponderous deposit, of such richness, CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 49 had not been utilized to a greater extent. And visitors to Iron Mountain now would marvel not less than did our travelers in the summer of 1840. An opening had been made near the top of the mountain, four or five hundred feet from its base. For more than fifty years ore approaching closely to pure metal has been mined and the excavation made in all these years would be more than filled by any one of many of the business blocks in any of our large cities. The St. Louis and Iron Mountain railroad skirts the base of the mountain. Across its track, and not more than a mile from the mountain proper, is a vast deposit of very rich magnetic ore. Surely in these two deposits there is enough raw material for all the street rails and steel vessels that the United States may have use for in ages to come. Our party left St. Louis to its right, and passed on by easy stages to its destination, arriving there early in October. The political campaign was at its height. "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," was the popular ticket. It was specially popular at the Harlan settlement, for Captain Harlan had shared the dangers met by Tippe- canoe in all the wars on the frontier. He was an enthusiastic, admirer of his old general, and believed that opposition to him for president was a species of high treason. Political meetings — Harrison ratifica- tions — were of frequent occurrence. The last and most important was to be held just about the time our trav- elers would reach the settlement. Their coming was wholly unexpected. They never had acquainted Dea- con Smith of their intention to remove to Missouri, and as luck would have it, he had been selected to deliver the speech of his life at this great Harrison rally, and the speech was to be followed by a grand barbecue, for 50 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. Harrisou was a real " F. F. Y." Deacon Smith was early on the ground, and from every quarter of Lafa- yette county came enthusiastic crowds with waving banners and tumultuous cheering. Before the speaking commenced, two wagons were seen approaching which bore the unmistakable marks of having made a long journey, and were instantly recognized as belonging to a band of .home hunters. Deacon Smith and all the others approached to bid the travelers welcome, and promise them aid and sympathy. His astonishment and delight at meeting his sister and her husband and family came near disqualifying him for the position of orator of the day on this great occasion. However, after the necessary handshaking and congratulations, the unexpected reunion had the effect of clearing his brain and inspiring him with a flow of language and a volume of convincing arguments, which he delivered with an eloquence that captured the last Yan Burenite who had risked his democracy by attending this meeting. The reception of the newcomers was most cordial. The new settlement had every thing desirable but people, and the families of Martin Cloud and Obadiah Baiz were recognized as a great acquisition. Deacon Smith had become highly popular, and these relatives of his got the benefit thereof. CHAPTER YIII. TO THE SETTING SUN. The site chosen for the Harlan settlement was one of the most attractive in the State of Missouri. In 1840 the population of the whole State was only 383,- CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. 51 Y02, and Lafayette county contained more deer, buffalo and elk than inhabitants. But the coming of settlers, and the prosperity they would create, was only a ques- tion of time. The soil was adapted to the growth of everything produced in the temperate zone, and the yield of tobacco and hemp had proved far beyond that obtained in Kentucky, Viginia or Maryland. These were the only products which, at that time, could be depended upon to bring ready cash, or, at least, the only articles which would return a good profit after paj'ing for transportation and brokers' commissions. The settlers up to date were all honest and thrifty, and others were coming in every week from the South and East who would have been welcomed anywhere. Many from the South brought their slaves, and the plains were being transformed into orchards and fields of waving grain. The meeting place at the spring was still retained for the uses of the settlement, but school- houses and churches began to take the place of arbors. The various neighborhoods were getting dissatisfied with having to depend wholly upon the Harlan settle- ment for a place in which to assemble. During the next three years there was not a hint that any one of the settlers was not there to stay. It seemed to be just the spot all had been longing for, and fitted to fill every human requirement. The section was unusually healthy until 1843. Then the ague seemed to become epidemic, and of a most virulent type. Now the medi- cal profession would give the complaint some other name, but then it was known as chills and fever. It was in nearly every family. The members of the Harlan settlement were largely related, either by blood or marriage. They were a 53 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. social people, and met nearly every Sunday at the arbor, or wherever there was preaching, and as fre- quently as possible at each other's homes. The fami- lies of Peter Wimmer and Obadiah Baiz were on adjoining farms, and they were congenial in their tastes, and specially friendly in their associations. Either vsras always ready to help the other, and the fre- quency and freedom with which small services would be asked, and the promptness and pleasure with which they were rendered, can only be understood and appreciated by pioneers. Great services would have been performed with equal promptness. The family of Wimmer now consisted of Polly and five children, and that of Obadiah Baiz had been increased by two lovely chil- dren since he and Jennie left Georgia. In the late summer of 1843 both families were sadly afflicted. Obadiah Baiz, so long in the enjoyment of perfect health, was stricken with the prevailing fever. About this time Polly Wimmer was taken down with the same complaint. All that affection could do was done for each, but during the fall both died^ leaving two sadly bereaved households. It was not in thenature of Peter Wimmer to repine, and his attentions to his motherless children became redoubled and more affec- tionate. The grief of Jennie Baiz was very great, but it was lessened by the necessity for the care of her two little ones. The intimacy of the two families was increased. Jennie could perform very many necessary services for the little helpless Wimmers which Peter was ignorant how to do ; and a thousand things about the Baiz homestead required the strong arm and expe- rienced brain of a man. Even their mutual afflictions increased and strengthened the bonds of friendship. CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 53 Having known the departed ones so intimately, none other in the world was so qualified to console, as were these two to comfort each other. Together they decorated the tombs of the loved and lost with flowers, and together they communed of all the hopes and ex- pectations which had been buried in the grave. Each had been given such consolation as their friendly neighbors could bestow, but their mutual condolences seemed more genuine and comforting because each knew the bereavement of the other's heart by the poignancy of its own grief. The end of these intimate relations the reader has already surmised. After a year of mourning and loneliness, a wedding gave Polly "Wimmer's five children an affectionate mother, and the two orphans of Obadiah Baiz a Christian father. All their acquaintances joined in congratulations, because they knew the sterling 'worth of each of the partici- pants in the marriage obligations, and that from every point of view a more wise and commendable arrange- ment could not have been made. It was a marriage of affecliicm as true and deep as though neither had ever loved' before, and could be consummated without dis- loyalty to their former companions. But more : this wedding was in accordance with the decrees of Provi- dence, as was the educating incidents Jennie experi- enced in the ravines and gulches of northern Georgia. Both were necessary preliminaries to the discovery of gold in California. The new graves in the cemetery on the hill-side over- looking the Harlan settlement, combined with a rest- lessness which was growing upon Capt. George "W". Har- lan and »ome of the other pioneers, and which might be traced to their natural desire to be "moving on" 54 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. — to be planting other foundations for prosperous com- munities — ^had induced a considerable number to talk of going west. The settlement was not far distant from Fort Independence, the point near the Missouri river at which all the trappers and hunters in the employ of the American Fur Company, and all the traders from Taos and Santa Fe, in New Mexico, and other points in the Rocky Mountains and beyond, came for supplies, or- to take boat for St. Louis. The stories told by these brave adventurers, many of whom knew little of English and less of civilization,'were far too rose-colored to be believed in their entirety ; but enough was probably true to quicken the pulses of men who had never known any existence but that of frontiersmen. Especially glowing were the descriptions of California. These were mainly corroborated by the lately published story, "Three Years before the Mast," by Dana, of Boston, a copy of which had found its way to this backwoods settlement. Captian Harlan exercised great influence over the honest settlers, all of whom had perfect con- fidence in his judgment. He was early determined to know more of the land of perpetual summer if he lived long enough to make the trip. Every story from the Pacific was listened to with avidity, as they are to this day, and at the Sunday gatherings, and whenever there was a visit exchanged, the main subject of talk was California. The war with Mexico was then fully determined upon, the election of James K. Polk having shown a majority of the people in favor of assisting the Texans in sustaining their right to independence. A large portion of the settlement were conservative, and argued that Lafayette county v/as plenty good for any one, and that it was wise to " let well enough alone." CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 55 They wanted none of California, or any other place in the Rocky Mountains or beyond. This gave the ques- tion two sides, with earnest defenders of each, and the discussions were constant, generally friendly, but some- times decidely warm and exciting. During the year and more that this was the prevailing subject of tallc in the Harlan settlement, the citizens of Hancock and the adjoining counties in Illinois had killed Joe Smith and some of his followers, and had determined that all the rest should leave Ifauvoo or meet a lilce fate. The Mormons had previously been driven from Mis- souri, and knew they were too few in numbers to es- tablish themselves in the vicinity of civilized communi- ties, and in 1845 had passed by Fort Independence on their pilgrimage to the desert. It was known they had made a stand at Salt Lake, and Captain Harlan insisted that if these ungodly persons could make the trip Christians need not fear to undertake it, and a considerable number of his hearers agreed with him, so that towards the fall of 1845 quite a company had decided to journey to the Pacific with all they possessed, including wives and little ones. In fact, it was settled and understood that they would take a last farewell of every relative and friend who did not accompany them, or Avho should not follow later on. A possible return was not thought of by any one. It having been settled that the move would be made, preparations were commenced. All who had decided to join Captain Harlan were practical and experienced men. They had made long journeys, but heretofore settlements were not more than a few days' journey apart. Now they all knew that after leaving Fort Independence no settlement of whites would be 56 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. seen until the long and perilous journey was con- cluded. When Deacon Smith learned that Peter "Wimmer and Jennie, the Deacon's niece, had concluded to jour- ney to California, he made no attempt to dissuade them. Rather, he gave them encouragement, accom- panied with his blessing. He said to Peter : " You are undertaking a long journey. It is not probable you will ever care to return to Missouri. You prob- ably have noticed that all persons, on hearing of a new country, immediately conceive a visionary picture thereof. In my mind I have such a picture of your California. I think it is a land flowing with milk and honey, and peculiarly blessed in soil and climate by the God we revere. I am sure it is adapted to the growth of fruits and flowers and vines, and that all manner of grains will grow there luxuriantly. I can not help imagining it much like the land of Ophir, whence, the Bible tells us, came the gold and precious stones which ornament the streets of the New Jerusa- lem. If I live until science has explored the valleys and mountains of California, I will be much disap- pointe'd if vast amounts of silver and gold are not pro- duced for the use of man. I believe you have chosen well, and if I were 3'ounger would be tempted to join the Harlan band, and defy the perils of the dangerous journey." The first care of the emigrants was the construction of wagons for the trip. As there were no boats or ferrymen on the route, the wagons had to be made strong, and the beds so nicely jointed that they would be water-tight, and would answer for boats when rivers had to be crossed. The covers were made of CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 57 superior tent cloth, impervious to dew or rain, and the tops of all provided for this band were uniformly painted a bright red. The side-cloths of every wagon cover had "California" in large letters painted on each. The wagons were all of extra size, even for "prairie schooners," and as perfectly constructed as skill of man, and fine workmanship and material, could compass. They were to be drawn by four yoke of cattle each, and two cows for each wagon had been broken to work in the yoke, so that the emigrants would not want for milk on the way. Indeed, provis- ion was also made for a supply of butter. A churn was fastened to the outside of each wagon, and into this the surplus milk was poured ; and the violent shaking it would receive in passing over the rough roads would produce an excellent article of butter. Every other article which experience had taught fhem would be required, was procured. Fresh meat they were sure to have in plenty, as the whole country through which they were to pass was alive with all kinds of game, and especially buffaloes, elk, deer and antelopes. It was arranged that all who intended to join the " Harlan Band " should rendezvous at Fort Independ- ence early in April, 1846. In good time Captain George W. Harlan, Jacob Wright Harlan, George Harlan, Jr., John Hargrave, Peter L. "Wimmer, John Spence and Ira and John Yan Gordon, with their wives and children, were in readiness. There were others, who, including the unmarried men, formed a party of eighty-four souls, and about one hundred wagons. The season was unusually late that year, and it was not deemed safe to make the start until the 58 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. grass began to appear. The company went into camp on Indian Creek, twenty-five miles west of Fort Inde- pendence, April 12, 1846. Other organized com- panies arrived at that point, until there were probably five hundred wagons, accompanied by some bands of cattle and a number of horses, which were being driven across the plains on speculation. May first the Harlan band broke camp, and took the trail for the Platte river. A considerable number of adventurous Americans had already crossed the plains ; but notwithstanding there was no road between the Missouri and Pacific which deserved any other appella- tion than " trail." The emigrants were mainly de- pendent upon notes made from information gained from trappers, and the very rough map which had been constructed to aid in the translation of the notes. It was NfbY-^ much like Columbus turning the prow of his vessel toward the center of the illimitable ocean, and trusting to God and his own courage and genius for the discovery of a route, and to meet and over- come difliculties. Like in his case, every provision had been made to meet emergencies which could be foreseen; but it was the vast unknown which might furnish insurmountable obstacles. In both cases there was indomitable courage, and it is said, and is un- doubtedly true, that God smiles upon and blesses the brave, while He heartily despises a coward. Many years ago, using old Zephry Hencontre for an interpre- ter, we asked an Indian brave, who was decorated with scalps of many enemies, what Avas the unpardon- able sin ? Quick as a flash he answered, " to lie and be afraid." Civilization cannot furnish a better answer. Falsehood and cowardice are twins. The good and CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. • 59 truthful man has no call to be afraid of man or his maker, and our emigrants comprised as brave and true a body of men and women as ever embarked upon any undertaking inspired of God. A stout "windlass had been provided, and was taken along, which was to be used in forcing the wagon bed boats across rivers, and for drawing the loaded wagons up, and letting them down mountains, which were too steep for the strength of the ox teams to manage. In- deed, these pioneers anticipated finding precipices where even the oxen might have to be raised and lowered by man power, and the windlass and an abundance of strong ropes would be a necessity. They knew, before starting, some of the obstacles they were sure to encounter. They were practically the absolute vanguard of the immense emigration which took place a few years later. They were spared some of the terri- ble sights which shocked those who crossed the plains in 1852, and later, when almost every rod of the route from the Platte to Sacramento had one or more skele- tons of those who had started with as brilliant expec- tations as any of our party ; more brilliant, in fact, for inexhaustible gold mines were expected by those who left their homes in the East after the beginning of 1849, only to find the bones of the victims of cholera, and leave their own skeletons to increase the vast number of unsepultured dead, which strewed the plains all the long way. The Harlan band was treated to the finest kind of weather at the start. The main trouble experienced was the frequent crossing of the Platte, which became dangerous at some places where the bottom was a bed of quicksands greedy for victims. In such places the 60 • CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. only safety was in goading the oxen forward. If they halted for a few seconds the hungry sands commenced to swallow wagons and teams. In one case, when Mrs. Wimmer was driving a team, a second's halt gave the sands time to grasp the feet of the off wheel ox with a death-like grip, and make it impossible for him to move. Each instant he was sinking deeper and deeper. Jennie sprang upon the tongue, and reaching the front, with voice and goad, she spurred the lead oxen, still fortu- nately free, to pull the fast disappearing ox from his dangerous position. Her self-possession and prompti- tude saved this ox, and probably the others from being swallowed up by the treacherous sands. Sometimes, in the sloughs and small streams entering the Platte, the quicksands were so plentiful that it was impossible to ford or ferry. Then the windlass was rigged, and the stout rope fastened to all the yokes and to the tongue, and wagon and oxen were dragged across by main strength. When unfordable rivers were met with, the windlass and ropes did service. A stout post was securely sunk on the bank, and the cable was fastened to that. Then the other end was taken across the stream by a man on horseback, and there fastened securely to another post. Then the crossing began in the wagon-bed boats, and generally two or three days would be consumed in ferrying the train across. This time was utilized by the women in washing and drying the clothing, and in recuperating the stock. It was a very tiresome way of making haste, but the brave pioneers made no complaint. Thus the brave band worked its way across the rivers and plains to the base of the Eocky Mountains, at a place on the Sweet Water, which they named Indepen- CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 61 dence Rock, because there they celebrated the Fourth of July. Independence Rock has retained its name, and from 1846 until now overland emigrants 'have planned to reach that point for the anniversary of the country's natal day. Here, too, the plain is abandoned, and mountain and canyon, with their constant vary- ing landscape, become a pleasure and excitement, for no one knows what magnificent views may be presented at the next turn in the mountain road. The celebra- tion here was not merely a patriotic hurrah over the national greatness, and the extent and richness of the national domain. It was also an occasion of heartfelt thankfulness. Every member of the Harlan band who had started from Missouri was here to answer the roll- call, and there had been no indisposition of consequence experienced by old or young. The " cloud by day and pillar of fire by night," which signifies the protection of heaven, seemed to ward off sickness as well as other dangers, and our emigrants settled down contentedly for a three days rest. CHAPTER IX. EOAD BUILDING IN THE MOUNTAINS. The halt of three days at Independence Rock was in some sort indispensable. Wagons and other things demanded repair, and the cattle were in need of rest. In all the long journey between the Missouri river and the Sacramento valley, the Harlan band halted nowhere more than a day, except at Independence Rock and Fort Bridger, and while John Hargrave lay waiting for death. Three or four days were spent at Fort Bridger, 62 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. and here information was received which determined some of the band to attempt a new route, while a num- ber, including the ill-fated Donner family, concluded to stick to the old and longer trail, known as the Hall route. Captain Harlan had been assured that a long distance could be saved by following up the Sweet Water to its head, and there crossing the divide into Echo canyon. His information gave no hint of unusual difficulties in the way, and certainly none which could not be sur- mounted in a small part of the time which would be saved by taking the new route. Eeid, the Donnersand a few others, were opposed to " swapping horses in the midst of the stream,'' and stuck to the better known route, encountering such misfortunes as will be remem- bered as long as there is history of pioneer trials. The division somewhat weakened the band, and was greatly regretted by Captain Harlan and those who elected to try the new route. Few difficulties, greater than those heretofore experienced, were met with until the divide had been practically crossed, and the pioneers entered Echo canyon. Here trouble began. The canyon is scarcely wide enough to accommodate the narrow river which traverses it, and there was no room for roads between its waters and the abrupt banks. In many places great boulders had been rolled by the mountain torrents and. lodged together, forming an impassible way until drilled and blasted into fragments which could be handled. Three such obstacles were encoun- tered, and only about a mile a day was averaged for more than a week. The sides of the mountain were covered by a dense growth of willows, never penetrated by a white man. Three times spurs of the mountains had to be crossed by rigging the windlass on top, and Hoisting a Team Up the Mountain, CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 63 lifting the wagons almost bodily. The banks were very steep, and covered by loose stones, so that a mountain sheep "would have been troubled to keep its feet, much more an ox-team drawing a heavily loaded wagon. On the 11th of August, while hoisting a yoke of oxen and a wagon up Webber mountain, the rope broke near the windlass. As many men as could surround the wagon were helping all they could by lifting at the wheels and sides. The footing was untenable, and before the rope could be tied to anything, the men found they must abandon the wagon and oxen to destruction, or be dragged to death themselves. The faithful beasts seemed to comprehend the danger, and held their ground for a few seconds, and were then hurled over a preci- pice at least T5 feet high, and crushed in a mangled mass with the wagon on the rocks at the bottom of the canyon. The loss of the wagon was serious, but it was not felt as was that of the oxen, whose faithful service for so many weeks had endeared them to every member of the band. Finally the mountain was crossed, and the band entered Salt Lake valley. So slow and toilsome, to say nothing of its dangers, had the latter part of the journey been, that members of the party compared the universal joy and rejoicing to what they supposed would be felt when the gates of heaven were opened for their entrance into the realms of eternal bliss. Even the cattle seemed to share in the general cheer. A camp was established in the edge of the valley, near the Jordan river, and all felt sure that the worst was passed. These were the pioneers, as the reader must remember, who were actually blazing out a route for the use of mamy thousands in the future. Their 64 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. information as to proper routes was meager, and in most cases lacked definiteness, and at every foot they were attacking tiie absolutely unknown. It is not strange that after the mountain mysteries, the luxuri- antly clothed valley welcomed them as a paradise. For the first time in many weeks, there was music and dancing in the camp. Mrs. Jacob Harlan and her sister Minerva were expert violinists, and the character of music furnished the dancers was superb. But the rejoicing was tempered by hard and careful work. The rough usage the wagons had received in the mountains had racked the wagon boxes until they were as worthless for ferry boats as a sieve would be. They all had to be carefully caulked, because the Jor- dan and other rivers were to be crossed. In due time all were again in perfect repair, and the Jordan river was crossed. Now came the saddest incident of the trip. John Hargrave had taken cold after a day of extra trying labor in the mountains, and it had fas- tened upon his system and developed into typhoid pneumonia. His sickness affected every member of the band, and the affection among whom could be measured by the serious dangers they had shared together. He was too sick to travel, and no one thought of moving a rod until he was well again. The delay troubled them not a little bit, but sorrow at the serious illness of Hargrave grieved every one of his comrades. From day to day he became worse, until at last he died, and a fearful gloom settled upon the camp. His grave was made on a knoll near the river Jordan, and no one ever had a more sincere band of mourners to lay him away. His last resting place was a bower of flowers placed by loving hands, and every CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 65 flower and particle of earth that formed his covering was wet with the tears of the mourners. A prayer was said and a hymn sung, and his sympathizing friends left him to the quiet of the desert, until he shall be awakened on the resurrection morn. Near the crossing of the Jordan river, Peter Wim- mer and John Spence, while hunting, discovered a couple of petrified Indians. They were in solid stone, as natural as life, and would have formed a most valuable addition to any collection of natural curiosities. The hair of each was as firmlj' fixed in the solid rock or petrified head, as ever was hair on a living person. But the policy of this band had been to preserve peaceful relations with the Indians who might be met, and to treat all with the sincerest kindness. The policy was effective. The band was undisturbed by Indians on the whole route. They seem to have been advised of the friendly character of the band with the vermilion- colored wagons, and the Indians gave them courteous treatment. Wimmer and Spence felt sure the Indians would look unkindly on any disturbance of their curi- ously preserved dead, and the everlasting mummies were left where they were found. The route of the band was on the south side of Salt Lake, and skirting the mountain so as to be sure of water. When the edge of the real desert was reached, which was readily recognized from the chart and descriptions received, preparations w«re made for crossing the desolate wastes. Provided with an ample supply of water, and thoroughly rested, the train started across, and was two days and nights almost uninterruptedly moving on before safety for the stock from thirst and starvation was reached. Then there was another rest. Soon after starting a mountain was 66 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOR. reached, which the members of the band called Back- bone mountain, and skirting which brought them to the Thousand Springs valley, and from thence across to the little Humboldt, and down this to Mary's river, now the Humboldt. They passed down that to the Basin and Sinks, and across the desert to the Truckee river, which takes its rise in the Sierra Nevada moun- tains. Reaching the head waters of the Truckee, the windlass and ropes were again necessary to lift the wagons and oxen over the rocks. Here the party were treated to a general snow-storm, which gave them the impression that there was a mistake somewhere in styling this the land of perpetual summer. Crossing the divide, the party was on the Yuba river, and soon after the divide was crossed to Bear river. Before starting down the mountain, it happened that Mrs. Wimmer was alone in camp, when she had an unexpected and decidedly unwelcome caller. A huge grizzly made the camp a visit of inspection, pro- bably induced thereto by the scent of the cooking which was new and specially pleasant to his olfactories. Mrs. Wimmer was frightened, and undecided whether to seek safety in flight, or hide in one of the wagons. Finally she thought of bombarding a wagon-box with stones, and accompanying that with all the noise she could make. This mode of attack proved eminently successful, and the bear moved leisurely off to the mountains. None of the band, when told of the visit, could remember that he had lost a bear, and so spent no time in looking up this grizzly. On the Bear river another of the band was laid to rest. The grief at the loss was not so great as when John Hargrave was stricken down, but the funeral CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 67 rites were performed in sorrow, not unmixed with thankfulness, because it is improbable that so large a company ever made the long journey across the plains with only two calls to perform the burial service. There was great cause for thankfulness that the band had so well escaped loss from accident or disease. From this point the Harlan band went down to Steep hollow, and from thence across to Johnson's rancho, on the edge of the Sacramento valley. Here they were received with such an expressive welcome as made them almost forget their trials and the dan- gers through which they had passed. The owner of the rancho was formerly an English sailor, but several years previously had left the ship and married a squaw, and was now living most contentedly. Nothing he possessed was considered too good with which to welcome and regale the wearied emigrants, and here they stopped for ten days, recruiting the strength of themselves and cattle. Their objective point was' Sutter's Fort, but having met with one who was glad to tell all he knew about that point, and the ease with which it could be reached, they fully realized that their long journey was practically ended, though many miles were yet to be traveled. The grass was luxuriant and the air warm, and the emigrants and stock recuperated rapidly. About the 20th of October, 1846, the Harlan band left the hos- pitalities so generously tendered by Mr. Johnson, and started on the last lap of the long journey. Only one incident of any importance occured before they reached Sutter's Fort. A recruiting officer met the band and sought to enlist all the able-bodied men for service in the Mexican warj'^which was then raging furiously; 68 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. but the men had started for a given point, and declined to be side-tracked until the women and children were in safety. The band arrived at Fort Sutter about the 15th of November, 1846, and were heartily welcomed by the owner, Capt. John A. Sutter. After a short time spent in looking over the condi- tion of things, and getting Jennie and the children in comfortable quarters, Peter. L. Wimmer joined Captain Aram's company and started out in defense of the country. His service was brief, as he was shortly afterwards disabled by being thrown from a wagon, the team he was driving having become unmanageable and run away. Before he was fit for active duty, the war was practically ended, and he was employed about the Fort. In this way nearly a year passed, and then Captain Sutter determined to build a flour mill on Sutter creek, and Peter Wimmer, Peter Quivey, John Starks, and an old man named Gengery, were sent out in search of the timber required. After Wimmer and Starks had cut the first timber, and hewed out two mill shafts, the enterprise was abandoned, and a point was selected in Coloma valley, on the American river upon which to construct a saw-mill, and Mr. Wimmer and his family left the Fort August 25, 1847, and took up residence in the vicinity of the mill site, where Peter Wimmer was employed, and Elizabeth Jane Wimmer thus became the first white woman to set foot in a section of the country whose fame very soon after became as wide as the world. During the first nine months of her residence in Coloma valley, not another white woman ventured there. CAl IFORNIA GOLD BOOK. f^J? 'CHAPTER X. JAMES W. MAESHALL. James W. Marshall was born in Hope township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, May 10, 1812. Lit- tle is known of his early boyhood, but he was appren- ticed to learh the wagon and coach-making trade when very young and became a careful and expert work- man. When out of his apprenticeship he caught the "Western fever" and went to Indiana to "grow up with the country." Soon afterwards he went to Illi- nois, and in 1840 made another move, this time beyond the Missouri river, and bought a farm in the Platte purchase, near what is now Leavenworth, Kansas. Here he remained till 1843, and was obtaining finan- cial success. He was specially subject to malarial influences, and was so severely afflicted with chills and fever during the fall of that year that his physician advised him that he must leave the country or die. His face was turned westward and he refused to go back toward the place of his nativity. In May, 1844, his was one of about one hundred wagons that set out for the Pacific. The intention of these emigrants was to reach California, and there was no division of the train until Fort Hall was reached. There Marshall and about forty others determined to branch off and proceed to Oregon, and from thence go to California if their interests should so incline them. The Indians were then very troublesome, but so watch- ful was the company to which Marshall was attached that no attack was made upon it during the entire trip. 70 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. Marshall was dissatisfied with his prospects in Ore- gon and only remained there during the winter. The climate was too wet, and the probability of another attack of chills and fever decided him on making his way to California, which he did overland, arriving at Cache creek, about forty miles from New Helvetia, now Sacramento, in June, 1845. Very soon after- wards Marshall made the acquaintance of Captain Sut- ter, and about the same time bought two leagues of land on Butte creek, in what is now Butte county. This he stocked with cattle to the extent of his means and credit, and improved the place so that he could live there in comfort. In the summer of 1846, a considerable portion of the Mexican population, led by ambitious men, began to anticipate a date at which the American residents would be in the ascendant if emigration were not stopped, and organized to prevent any more Americans from enter- ing California. Force was threatened. Fremont was then at Sutter Buttes with an insignificant command, and Sutter, Marshall, and all the other Americans within reach, organized to join Fremont in defense of their countrymen. The " Bear Flag " episode was inaugurated. Marshall made a good and efficient soldier, until the surrender of General Andres Pico in March, 1847, closed the war, and he was mustered out. He returned to Fort Sutter to find his ranch devastated, and his stock all gone. No one would tell who was responsible for his losses, and he became wholly despondent. Nothing better offering, Marshall accepted the posi- tion of overseeing some Indians employed by Captain Sutter in burning charcoal. His health was bad, and was not improved by the almost hopeless prospect? CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 71 ahead of him. He was camping out near the burning pits, and for want of proper food and care, became almost helpless. In this condition he was found by Mrs. Wimmer, who prepared and carried to him food, and encouraged him with hope until he was placed in their cabin by Peter "Wimmer, where he could receive proper attention. He was soon restored to compara- tive health, and with it a return to hope. At this time Captain Sutter was the largest producer of grain in the Sacramento valley, and probably in California. Large numbers of emigrants reached the Coast every fall -.and the prospects were that the num- bers would greatly increase in the future. All of them had to have flour, and would like to have lumber. Both articles were scarce and high in price. Marshall recommended the building of a saw and grist-mill. An agreement was entered into with Cap- tain Sutter, by which Marshall would perform the labor, and Sutter furnish the money required. The articles of agreement were drawn by John Bid- well, prohibition candidate for President in 1892. Under this agreement Marshall hunted up a location, finally selecting the place where gold was found, because it was convenient to timber, and it was possible to transport lumber thence to Fort Sutter by wagon. August 19, 1847, Peter L. "Wimmer, Jennie "Wimmer and ten Indians, set out for Coloma, and work com- menced on the mill as soon as they arrived. Wimmer was engaged as overseer, and Mrs. "Wimmer as house- keeper, and all were under the directions of Marshall. The mill building progressed slowly, and during the month of December the dam and headgate had been completed, and water was turned on at night, so as to 72 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. wash oat the sand and gravel which would be dug up by the men during the day. This was considered by Marshall a more certain way of getting rid of it than by shovelling, as by the latter method considerable would fall back from the bank into the race. The date is very uncertain when the first gold was noticed. Marshall had frequently seen shining specks in the bottom, when noting the effects in the morning which had been produced by the flowing waters during the night previous. On the morning of the 19th day of January, 1848, after the water had been turned off by shutting down the headgate, Marshall and Peter Wimmer were walking leisurely along the tail race of the mill, where the water had run all night, and washed away all the loose dirt dug up by the men the day before. Marshall observed a shining specimen lying on a flat rock close to the side of the race. Picking it up, turning it over in his hands, it required no great stretch of imagination to consider it a very remarkable representation of the " Bear " which had adorned the flag he had lately helped to raise as an emblem of California independence. The specimen at the time attracted his attention more because of its peculiar shape and queer likeness to a bear, than for its probable value. Handing it to Wim- mer, he said, " What do you think of that ?" Peter took it in his hand and felt its weight, and said, " That must be gold, I would take my pay in that metal." He became convinced that what his wife had so often said must be true ; that the specks of bright metal that they had so often seen were gold. Jennie had prepared to make a kettle of soap that day, and the two men had fixed her kettle of lye on CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 73 the fire before they left the cabin. Marshall says, " Well Peter, we will send that to Jennie, and let her boil it in her soap kettle all day, and see if it will tarnish it." Thus agreed they sent it to Jennie by Wimmer's boy. She threw it in the soap kettle after declaring positively "that it was gold," and there it remained for the day. Her positiveness did not impress any of the men present with a belief that gold existed there. What could a woman know about such matters ? Even her husband believed with the others that it was " fool's gold " or possibly copper. No inquiry was made about the specimen until next morning at breakfast. Then several jokes were sprung upon her. She was asked what kind of soap her gold made ? Would it do away with the necessity of grease in soap making ? If so, there was plenty more out therein the sand and gravel. Then Jennie went for her kettle, and pouring the soap into a trough, made by hollowing out the stump of a tree, at the bottom of the kettle she found this beautiful nugget, polished bright by the action of the lye. Seizing it, she sprang into the cabin, threw it on the table before her husband and Marshall, shouting aloud, as she had from the first, "there is your nugget, and it is pure gold. " Peter Wiramer was now fully converted to his wife's belief that gold was there. The others admitted that it might be gold. Marshall was reticent in expression, but seemed deeply impressed with the possibility that it might, indeed, be gold. Other small nuggets were collected, and four or five days after, James W. Mar- shall took them all with him to Fort Sutter, where other matters called him. 74 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. Tests at the fort proved that it was really gold, and Capt. Sutter accompanied him to Coloma on his return. Upon their arrival at the cabin, the news of the test brought great joy to the little band and especially to Jennie, who felt that she was thus thoroughly vindi- cated in her convictions, and many hearty eulogies were passed upon her that evening. As she spread the table and loaded it with the best of everything in camp to eat, Marshall handed her the nugget she had thus tested in her kettle of soap, and says, " here Jennie ; this will make you a nice ring, and it shall be yours." Jennie kept it with a vjoman's care, and always took great pride in showing the first nugget of gold found in California. The number of whites engaged in the mill when gold was discovered was thirteen, including Mrs. Wimmer. None of those who were first in the field, were ever very wealthy, and not one had the ability to retain a sufficiency of what he did make, to render his old age comfortable. Only two are left, Henry W. Bigler and Azariah Smith, Mormons, and they are residing in Utah. Here is a fact for those who credit the super- stition in regard to the number " 13." The mill was completed and furnished the lumber for making the rockers to mine with, and cabins for the miners, as they arrived and located claims or engaged in trading. James W. Marshall was not a success as a miner. In fact, he was not a success at anything. He tried to be independent, and was no doubt governed to an ex- tent by pride, and a feeling that he had not been ap- preciated by the men who had become immensely rich through the means he had discovered. He had real grievances, due almost entirely to some quality want- CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. 75 ing in himself. He was never prosperous. In 1877, the legislature of California voted him a pension of $1,200 per year to continue for four years. In 1887 $5,000 was appropriated for a monument, and this was erected on Marshall Hill, overlooking the point where the first nugget was discovered, and was unveiled May 3, 1890. James W. Marshall died alone in his cabin at Kelsey's Diggings, Eldorado county, in 1885, with not enougli wealth to defray the expenses of his simple burial. We have BO desire to detract anything from the credit due him. He picked up the first nugget of gold in Cali- fornia. It is certain that this find would have amounted to nothing at the time, and possibly not for years, had it not been supplemented and rendered effective by Mrs. Wimmer. We intend to make no apology for the niggardliness of the State and National governments, which gave no appropriate recognition of the actors who were the means of bringing the most unparalleled prosperity known since the world began , nor has there been an- other instance where the Nation has so utterly ignored persons through whom such great services to humanity have been rendered. The service and the neglect are alike phenomenal. Such honor as has been accorded to James W. Marshall came after it could not gratify him, and the California Gold Book is the first to give the true story of Jennie Wimmer's connection with the great discovery. Indeed, most of the pretended histo- rians fail to spell her name correctly, and some would deny her any credit upon the strength of statements made by a couple of Mormons, who did not attempt to veil their feelings of animosity against this true Ameri- can woman. 76 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. CHAPTER XI. We have asserted that Mrs. Jennie Wimmer was the 'direct instrument in giving to the world the mil- lions of gold recovered from the gravels and rocks of California, and for all that has been mined in the Australasian colonies as well. This we have proved as to California, and it now behooves us to make proof of the rest of our claim. In 1788 a convict in New South Wales reported that he had picked up a nugget of gold, and the vast quan- tities found more than fifty years later renders his claim more than probably true. A guard was sent with him to verify his story and he failed to find any more. As an example and warning to other convicts who might be inclined to seek favor by such means, the unfortunate man was given one hundred and fifty lashes on the bare back. At other times, as convicts were opening roadways, pieces of gold were picked up. For some reason, wholly incomprehensible, no use was made of these constantly occurring finds, and no effort to learn whether gold existed in the country in paying quantities; but, on the contrary, as stated by Mr. Har- graves, every convict road maker who was so unfor- tunate as to " find a lump of the precious metal was instantly punished." The mystery of the existence of such vast quantities of gold in a country examined by geologists, and cultivated by civilized people, with- out any one suspecting its plentifulness, is no longer a mystery. Since the first nugget was picked up by the convict near Port Jackson in 1788, the excuse of "dig^ CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 77 ciplining the convicts " made a severe whipping the certain and only reward for finding gold. In 1827 Mr. E. H. Hargraves was in New South Wales, and resided there almost continuously for the next twenty-two years. He was not an educated geol- ogist or mineralogist, but he was a close observer of nature. In his journeying through the unsettled por- tions of the colony he took particular note of the char- acter of soil and rock, but without any view to the dis- covery of minerals. In 1830 a piece of gold, several ounces in weight, was found near the Fish river, by a man in the employ of a Mr. Low. It does not appear that he was flogged for finding it, neither is there any record that any sys- tematic effort was made to discover its origin. In 1835, a shepherd named Macgregor found quartz containing mineral, and which he sold in Sydney, find- ing it to be gold. After that once in each year, on his visit to Sydney, he would take with him specimens of gold-bearing quartz which he had found in the Well- ington district. He sold the small quantities he found to a man named Cohen, who transferred it to a jeweler to'make up in goods ordered by his customers. In 1839, Count Streleczki, an eminent geologist, made a careful geological examination of the identical territory v/hich afterwards became the richest gold fields in Australia. He collected a large number of samples of rock and quartz, and these were submitted to Sir E. Murchison, who compared them with the gold-bearing rocks of the Ural mountains, and in 1844 the latter published his opinion that " gold must exist ill Australia," and in 1846 before the Eoyal Geological Society of Cornwall, he urged the superabundant corn- 78 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. ish tin miners to emigrate to New South Wales, and there obtain gold from the alluvial soil. In 1841, Kev. W. B. Clarke was making a geological survey for the colony. He picked up a piece of quartz containing gold, as he afterwards testified, and the weight of one specimen was about a penny-weight ; it was what might be termed a fair sample. That bit of quartz was found at the head of the Winburndale val- Ly and in the granite westward and of the Vale of Clwyd. In 1846, a very considerable piece of gold was brought to the notice of the colonial government by a Mr. Smith, who demanded an "adequate reward" for his discovery. Investigation proved that a shepherd had found the lump of gold by accident, and after- wards sold it to a Mr. Troppet, who sold it to Mr. Smith, and none of the parties could indicate whence the gold came with any degree of definiteness. This was the true state of knowledge about gold in Australia, when news of the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia reached the Australian colonies. At first it was not believed to have any foundation in truth. The news created no unusual excitement until a vessel from California arrived in Sydney having twelve hundred ounces of gold on board. Then every one went wild. The Mr. Hargraves we have named had been in hard luck most of the twenty-two years he had spent in the colony, and the great mass of the inhabitants com- plained of the same kind of experience. Conclusive evidence that there was gold in California, a place of which not one of them had any previous knowledge, except that it was somewhere across the sea, set all the adventurous spirits crazy with excitement. In July, CALIFORNTA GOLD SOOK. 79 1849, the British barque Elizabeth Archer sailed with 168 passengers, eight of whom were cabin pas- sengers, and one of the latter was E. H. Hargraves, the keen observer of rocks and soil. At the end of seventy- eight days the Archer cast anchor in Saa Francisco, and as soon as possible passengers and crew were off to the mines, every one of them deserting the barque tiie night of her arrival. In this chapter we have nothing to do with the vascillating fortunes of the miners. As soon as Hargraves and the eight others who had joined fortunes with him got a location, they tried recovering gold by washing the gravel in pans. This method was unsatisfactory, and they bouglit a second-hand rocker which had been introduced by the " Georgia miner," no other than our friend Jennie Wimmer. Even then, without special instruction as to its use, " eight of us worked hard the whole day, and returned to our tent at night, covered with mud from head to foot, with the scanty earnings of twelve shillings, or eighteen pence each." When posted as to how they worked the cradle in Georgia, they were rewarded with an average of six dollars a day to the man. But the rocks and the soil had a more startling effect on Hargraves than present success or failure. " }&.j attention," he says, " was naturally drawn to the form and geological structure of the surrounding country ; and it soon struck me that I had some eighteen years before traveled through a country very similar to the one I was now in. In New South Wales, I said to my- self, there are the same class of rocks, slates, quartz, granite and soil, and every thing else that appears necessary to constitute a gold field. Hargraves under- took to argue his companions into a belief that there 80 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. might be gold in Australia. He was laughed at, and told that many trained geologists had passed over those fields, and if gold was there some of these men whose business it was to read the rocks and reveal the secrets they contained must inevitably have discovered it. Thus Hargraves secured no sympathizers in his hopes ; nevertheless, nothing disheartened, on March 6., 1850, he wrote to S. Peck, a merchant of Sydney : " I am very forcibly impressed that I have been in a gold region in New South Wales, within 300 miles of Sydney ; and unless you knew how to find it, you iniglit live for a century in its region and know nothing of its existence?'' It will be noticed that he gives Mr. Peck no idea of the direction of the supposed gold region from Sydney nor its distance, only that it was within " 300 miles." Till the following November Mr. Hargraves engaged in mining, and did as well as a reasonable man could hope to. " But the greater our success was," he writes, " the more anxious did I become to put my own per- suasion of the existence of gold in New South Wales to the test. In a few days afterward I set sail for Port Jackson in the barque Emma, Captain Devlin, bent on making that discovery which had so long occupied my thoughts, and reached the place early in January, 1851." Mr. Hargraves says : " The Georgia miner taught the people in the first instance how to obtain the gold by washing, but for which in all probability, notwitn- standing what had been found of it, the story of its discovery might have passed away and become an idle tale, like that of the shepherd who found gold near Wellington, in New South Wales, thirteen years CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 81 before ; for neither Captain Sutter nor Mr. Marshall knew how to obtain it, except by picking it up with their fingers." Mr. Hargraves says that it was with an anxious heart that he landed in Sydney, ia January, 1851. He felt positive that there were rich placer mines in New South Wales, and he had expressed this earnest belief to every friend and acquaintance since his first experience in the mines of California. From not a single one had he received any encouragement, and from most jeers and indirect insult. February 5th he set out on horse-back for the point where he intended to make his first explorations. February 10th, he reached Guyong. There he received his first words of encouragement, and they were from a wouian. Mrs. Lister was the keeper of the hotel. She was a ladj"- of refinement, and was forced into such an occupation by reverses of fortune. As Mr. Hargraves required a guide, it became necessary to inform Mrs. Lister of the object of his visit. She entered into the scheme with enthusiasm, and sent her young son to show him the most direct route to the points he wished to reach. Fifteen miles from Guyong, February 12, 1851, Mr. Hargraves washed his first pan of dirt, found gold, and in his excitement, said to his young guide : " This is a remarkable day in the history of New South "Wales. I shall be a baronet, you shall be knighted, and my old horse will be stuffed, put in a glass case, and sent to the British Museum." On returning to the Inn that night, Mrs. Lister rejoiced with Hargraves on his fortunate discovery. From Guyong Mr. Hargraves proceeded to the Wel- lington district, where the sheepherder Macgregur, 82 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. had found the gold. There his friend, a Mr. Cruik- shank, had settled. He was a man of prominence and intelligence. Without absolutely discrediting the reports of Hargraves, his friend tried to dissuade him from wasting his time in a hopeless enterprise, l^ot so Mrs. Cruikshank. She was sanguine that he would succeed. Almosb at their very door a pan of dirt was taken, and on washing it, gold was discovered. Again his only encouragement came from a woman, and she declared her intention of continuing to explore the sands until she had procured gold enough to make all the rings required to satisfy her pardonable vanity_ Mr. Hargraves had an idea that the Crown ought to liberally reward the first practical discoverer of gold. To the end that he might obtain such reward, he returned to Sidney. The colonial secretary was a Mr. Deal Thomson. To him Hargraves reported at once, showing him a quantity of fine gold which he had washed from the sands on the Crown lands. Mr. Thomson doubted the truth of the story, remarking " That it was very strange the government geologist had not found it, if it existed in natural deposit." He said further : " If this is a gold country, Mr. Hargraves, it would stop the home government from sending us any more convicts, and prevent emigration to Cal- ifornia ; but it comes on us like a clap of thunder, and we are scarcely prepared to credit it." The next day, April 3, 1851, Mr. Hargraves made the following proposition to the colonial secretary : " I have the honor to submit, for the earlj' consider- ation of the government, the following propositions: That if it should please the government to award to me, in the first instance, the sum of £500 as a compensa- CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 88 tion, I would point out the localities to any officer or officers they may appoint, and would undertake to rea- lize to the government my representations, and would leave it to the generosity of the government, after the importance of my discoveries and disclosures have been ascertained, to make me an additional reward commensurate witii the benefit likely to accrue to the government and the country." April 15th the colonial secretary sent Mr. Har- graves the following answer : " In reply to your letter of the 3rd inst., I am direc- ted by the governor to inform you that his excellency cannot say more at present than that the remuneration for the discovery of gold on Crown land, referred to by you, must depend upon its nature and value when made known, and be left to the liberal consideration which the government will be disposed to give it." Before leaving the mines to serve notice of discovery upon the colonial government, and try to make terms with it, Mr. Hargraves had shown how to construct and use the cradle introduced into California by Jennie Wimmer. When he got back to the mines some ten thousand pounds of gold had been taken out where he first discovered it by the few who had heard of the discovery, and the news of it was spreading on the wings of the wind. Later Mr. Hargraves was awarded ten thousand pounds sterling by the government, and many valuable presents of plate and jewelry by firms, clubs and individuals. He was also appointed commis- sioner of crown land, at a salary of twenty shillings per diem. In 1854 he published " Australia and its Gold Fields," which had a good sale. He was after- ward l<^ nigh ted and pensioned for life. 84 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOR. Considering the vast amounts of treasure recovered from the rocks and valleys of the Australian colonies, and the fact that it was directly due to the discoveries made by E. H. Hargraves, his reward would seem insignificant, though much superior to anything ten- dered the discoverers of gold in California, to which all the gold discovered since 1848 is almost directly attributable. Tet Mr. Hargraves bears testimony to the encouragement he received from Mrs. Lister and Mrs. Cruikshank, and gives only the proper credit to the " Georgia miner," who was none other than Mrs. Jennie Wimmer. Thus, ridicule it as man may, to the "woman whom Thou gavest" is Christianity, civiliza- tion and commerce indebted for the wonderful impetus given them by the discovery of gold in Calif ( irnia, and not less that which took place with the discovery of gold in the Australasian colonies. CPIAPTEE XII. GOLD. " The love of money is the root of all evil." " Gold is the mother of all good." This apparent paradox takes nothing from the absolute truth of each state- ment. Love of money, and the wise expenditure of wealth, have nothing in common. Tracing the animal man back through the ages, his grandest achievements and his highest development are found in close prox- imity to a gold mine. Rarely has a nation been prom- inent in art and science, and the results of civilization, which has not had stores of the yeUow metal to draw upon, and in those rare exceptions the people had CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 85 invaded the strongholds of other nations, and carried off the gold accumulated by them during centuries. The Temple at Jerusalem would never have been rebuilt, had not Solomon been able to draw upon the mines of Opbir. The golden sands from the blackness in " darkest Africa " have shed a blessed light over the people of the earth, and there can be no renewal of the sad scenes comprised in the centuries of " Dark Ages," unless again gold becomes almost unknown among men. In all the past, when civilization and progress seemed subsiding into the gloomy unknown, it is a fact that the known veins of precious metal had given out, and no new ones were being discovered. New gold fields would light afresh the fires of Christian zeal and philanthropy, and thereupoji^he sun would shine with new brilliancy in the firmament over human advance- ment. God will never close His ears and eyes utterly to the wants of men. When progress is threatened with complete stoppage, then the beneficent finger points out the means for its revival, and humanity moves on to the higher and happier plane. Gold was not abundant in 1848. The world needed a new supply. The census returns of the living nations indicated a far more rapid increase in population than in the gold that would be needed to meet expanding requirements. The discovery came exactly at the right time, and the flow was so abundant that for a time gold was the cheapest known commodity in California, and later, in the gold producing localities of the Aus- tralasian colonies. In some places lumber was sold by the pound, and fift}"^ cents per pound at that; flour at three dollars per pound, and otherthings in proportion. The times were financially unhealthy, and always are 86 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. when life's necessities cost anything approaching their weight in gold. Equally at outs are the times when only labor is cheap. Gold was discovered at Coloma, January 19, 1848. So doubtful was Marshall of the value of his discovery that he rbade no effort to prove that it was gold he had found for several days after. It was forty miles to Sutter Fort, and a test could not be made nearer. As he had not been at the Fort for some time, he made a trip required by other matters, and in no degree influ- enced by the specimens of metal carried in his pocket. This fact is important as showing that only Jennie Wimmer had confidence in the value of the metal. There are other facts which appear peculiar at this distance from the discovery. Not later than the first weeii in February, Captain Sutter and Marshall were back at the mill, and the discovery of gold was made known to ail the men. The "Georgia miner" had superintended the construction and operating of rockers. Gold was being secured in quantity. Considerable was soon after sent to San Francisco, and went as low as $4 per ounce in exchange for supplies. Early in May the editor of the California Star went to the mines, presumably to gather facts of interest to his readers. He announced in his paper on May 6th, that he had re- turned, and on May 20th noticed the departure of a fleet of launches, " laden with superlatively silly people '■ on their way to the mines. Prospects, four months after the discovery, were of small moment, or facts were being withheld from the public for some inconceiv- able reason by Marshall and Captain Sutter, but the news was spread abroad with astounding celerity, audit was accepted at its full value by men of a class having no CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 87 superiors. In every city in the north and south of America, companies were organized, and in many cases incorporated, for the development of mines in the far West. By the spring of 1849, more than thirty thou- sand brave and ambitious men had rendezvoused at Independence, Mo., Leavenworth, Kansas, St. Joseph, ■ Mo., and Council Bluffs, la., ready to attack the mys- teries of the plains as soon as vegetation began to send forth green shoots. Ninety-nine in every hundred of these would-be gold hunters had enjoyed the privi- leges of enlightened Christian homes. The great- majority of them were not "crossing the Eubicon;" were not going away to stay, and had no call to " burn their bridges behind them," as do desperate men who have declared war against morals and society, and are traveling under a banner inscribed " The world owes me a living." In a word, there never was a more patriotic and order-loving set of men engaged in any enterprise since the world began than the Argonauts of 184:9, who had temporarily severed home ties, and from whose numbers come the members of the California pioneer class, be they scattered where they may to-day. It is not to the acts of men gathered from cultivated homes in the United States, or else- where, that the necessity for vigilance committees or the services of Judge Lynch originated. At first Cali- fornia had to receive all that came from the ends of the earth, no matter how desperate or depraved. A year or so later it could divide these undesirable characters with Victoria and New South Wales, and rejoice in the relief from the presence of numbers of the desperately bad, as well as the golden prosperity of the Australa- sian colonies. 88 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. It is not our purpose to attempt a detail of the production of any camp in the State of California or on the Pacific coast. There is no day that we are not told substantially, " that the discoveries of 1848 were not specially important. If Marshall and his associates had not discovered gold, others would soon have done so." This is rather an unmanly way of shirking the responsibility which must ever attach to those who shared the blessings resulting from the discovery of gold, and yet ignored the claims of James W. Marshall and Jennie Wimmer until their cares and troubles were buried in the grave. The English government re- warded Hargraves generously immediately after his experience in California mines enabled him to point out the unsuspected wealth hidden in the sands of New South "Wales, and the other Australasian colonies. Later, when his investments had proven his want of business judgment, and he was threatened with want, that government gave him a pension for his lifetime, and those who became prosperous through his discover- ies were exceedingly generous in their treatment of him. That is in marked contrast with the treatment accorded by the government and the great army of private beneficiaries to Marshall and Jennie Wimmer. No care was taken to provide for the old age and necessities of either, and the small sums given them were tendered as charitj'', and not as benefits they had earned a thousand times over. It was in consequence of such neglect, and the actual want of Mrs. Wimmer, and her equally infirm husband, that the first nugget of gold discovered passed into the hands of W. W. Allen in 1877, and was used by him with the National and State governments, and prominent pioneers, in vain CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 89 eflForts to obtain help for them. The genuineness of the nugget and the justness of the claims were acknowledged, but assistance was studiously withheld. Surely these apologists for unparalleled neglect have never attempted to form an estimate of what the dis- cov.ery of gold in California, and in Australia, which really hinged upon that, has accomplished for human- ity. Ten years after the mines of California and Australia had begun to pour the golden current into the channels of trade the world over, the life of the American Nation was attempted by the most for- midable and well organized force of brave and deter- mined men who ever rebelled against a parent gov- ernment. But for the prosperity and strength born of the addition of California and Australian gold to the wealth of the world, the United States would have been dismembered, and the ability of man for self-govern- ment would have become a matter of grave doubt among patriots. A little later war occurred between France and Germany, and the awful destruction of life and property, consequent upon active war, was cut short because one of the contesting parties could pay a war indemnity of one thousand millions of dollars in gold, a feat which would have been impossible for the combined nations of the globe prior to January 19, 1848. In 1848 there were not more than two men in the United States reputedly worth as much as $1,000,000 each. To-day there are more than one hundred men and women in the single city of San Francisco who are individually worth more than that, and from seven to ten thousand in the United States ; and it is not a rarity for single benevolent individuals to give from a quarter of a million up to found a college or 90 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK. university, or spend that much in some other direction for the improvement of mankind. In the same ratio has been the advances in science, manufactures, culti- vation of soil, production of lands, culture of minds prosperity of communities, conveniences of travel, intercourse of peoples, and ease and comfort in which men and women live. These advantages are not all confined to the limits of the United States, though far more evenly distributed among her citizens than elsewhere. The early miners of California depended entirely upon placer mining, or gold found in the sand and gravel along streams and gulches, or where the surface had been washed down from the mountains and deposi- ted on the flats for ages. For the first few years after the discovery there was no quartz mining. Even in 1850 it was estimated that only $40,000 was invested in quartz mining machinery in the whole State. The following is a list of the nuggets found, so far as known, which produced gold up into the thousands in value: California has yielded many large and beautiful " nuggets " of gold, but for the size of her chunks of gold, Australia leads the world, at least in modern times, and there is no record of the big finds of the miners of ancient times in the nugget line. Though California has not produced very many nuggets of the great size of a few of the largest found in Australia, she has yielded an immense number of very large " chunks" of gold and of pieces of curious and beautiful shapes, treasured by miners as "specimens", and of larger sizes than the pieces called " chispas." Indeed, California ranks as a coarse gold region, coarse gold CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 91 being found in almost every camp in the state, whereas in many countries, even in most all other places in the United States, nearly, all the gold found is in the shape of fine dust or very small grains. The first big lumps of gold found in California crea- ted great excitement among the miners. They at once began picturing in imagination masses of gold larger than could be lifted by a dozen men. It was a common camp-fire amusement. There were afloat stories of men sitting down to starve by huge golden boulders rather than risk leaving their finds to go in search of transportation facilities. The first nugget of suflBcient size to create more than a mere local sensation was found by a young man who was a soldier in Stevenson's regiment. It is related that he found it in the Mokelumne river while in the act of taking a drink from the stream. The nugget weighed nearly twenty-five pounds. The finder at once hasten, ed to San Francisco with his prize, where he placed it in the hands of Colonel Mason for safe keeping. The big lump was sent to New York, and placed on exhi- bition. It created a furor and was probably the cause of many a man striking out for California. The largest mass of gold ever found in California was that dug out at Carson Hill, Calaveras county, in 1854. It weighed 195 pounds. Other lumps weigh- ing several pounds were found at the same place. August 18, 1860, W. A. Farish and Harry Warner took from the Monumental quartz mine, Sierra county, a mass of gold and quartz weighing 133 pounds. It was sold to R. B. Woodward, of San Francisco, for $21, 635.52. It was exhibited at Woodward's gardens for some time, then was melted down. It yielded gold to the value of $17,654.94. 92 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. August 4, 1853, Ira A. Willard found on the "West branch of Feather river a nugget weighing fifty-four pounds avoirdupois before, and 49^ pounds after melting. A nugget dug at Kelsey, El Dorado county, was sold for $4,Y00. In 1864 a nugget was found in the Middle fork of the American river two miles from Michigan Bluff, that weighed eighteen pounds, ten ounces, and was sold for $4,204 by the finder. In 1850 at Corona, Tuolumne county, was found a gold quartz nugget which weighed 151 pounds 6 ounces. Half a mile east of Columbia, Tuolumne county, near the Knapp ranch, a Mr. Strain found a nugget which weighed 50 pounds avoirdupois. It yielded $8,500 when melted. In 1849 was found in Sullivan's creek, Tuolumne county, a gold brick that weighed twenty- eight pounds avoirdupois. In 18T1 a nugget was found in Kanaka creek, Sierra county, that weighed ninety-eight pounds. At Rattle- snake creek, the same year, a nugget weighing 106 pounds 2 ounces, was found. A quartz boulder found in French gulch, Sierra county, in 1851, yielded $8,000 in gold. In 1867 a boulder of gold quartz was found at Pilot Hill, El Dorado county, that yielded $8,000 when worked up. It was found in what was known as the "Boulder" claim, from which many smaller gold quartz nuggets have been taken at various times. Some years ago a Frenchman found a nugget of almost pure gold, worth over $5,000, in Spring gulch, Tuolumne county. The next day the man became insane. He was* sent to the Stockton asylum, and the nugget was forwarded to the French consul, in San CALlFOkNlA GOLD BOOK. 93 Francisco, who sent its value to the finder's family in France. In 1854, a mass of gold was found at Columbia, Tuolumne, w'eighing thirty pounds, and yielded $6,625. A Mr. Yirgin found at Gold Hill in the same county a boulder that weighed thirty-one pounds eight ounces, and when melted yielded $6,500. A gold quartz boul- der found at Minnesota, Sierra county, weighed twenty- two pounds and two ounces and yielded $5,000. In 1850 a nugget was found at French gulch, in the same county, that weighed twenty-one pounds and eleven ounces, and contained gold to the value of $4,893. In 1876, J. D. Colgrove, of Dutch Flat, Placer county, found a white quartz boulder in the Polar Star Hydraul- ic claim from which he obtained gold to the value of $5,760. At the Monumental quartz mine, Sierra county, in 1869, was found a mass of gold that weighed 95 pounds, 6 ounces. It was found in decomposed quartz at a depth of 25 feet below the surface. This was the only " pay " found in that particular part of the mine. All the auriferous energy of the vein at that point seemed to have been concentrated in the one nugget. In 1855 a nugget weighing sixty pounds was found at AUeghanytown, Sierra county. It was a mass of gold taken from a quartz vein. Several other large " chunks " were taken from the same mine — lumps of nearly pure gold, weighing from one to ten or twelve pounds. Those masses of gold were dug by Frank Cook (afterward city marshal of Marysville) and others, his partners. In 1851, a Mr. Chapman and others flumed a set of claims on the middle Yuba. When the water was 94 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOk. turned from the river into the flume, about the first thing seen in the exposed end of the channel was a horseshoe-shaped mass of pure gold, which weighed twenty-eight pounds. This was a very handsome " showy " nugget. It was sold to Major Jack Strat- man, of San Francisco. The Sailor diggings on the North fork of the Yuba, just below the south of Sailor ravine, about three miles from Downieville, were wonderfully rich in nuggets. The diggings were owned and worked by a party of English sailors in 1851. In their claim the sailors found a nugget of pure gold that weighed thirty-one pounds. They also found a great number of nuggets weighing from five to fifteen pounds. The party all left together for England. They took with them all the nuggets they found, both great and small. The}' were carried in two canvas sacks, the weight being too great to be conveniently handled in one sack. When the party reached England, they, for a considerable time, made a business of exhibiting their collection of nug- gets, and various fancy specimens, in all the large towns and cities, thus infecting great numbers of people with the gold-digging fever, for just at that time came the world startling news of the great gold discoveries made in February of that year in Australia. In French ravine. Sierra county, 1855, there was found in the claim of a Missourian named Smith a double nugget of about pure gold. The larger of the two nuggets weighed fifty pounds, and connected with it by a sort of neck was a lump of gold weighing fifteen pounds. In taking out the nugget the two were broken apart. The large nugget yielded $10,000 and the small one $3,000. California gold book. 95 In September, 1850, B. F. Wardell, now in Virginia City, found in Mad canyon, on the Middle fork of the American river, a nugget of solid gold weighing six pounds. The nugget had in it a round hole and the finder made use of it in his cabin as a candlestick. It was doubtless the most valuable candlestick on the Pacific coast. After the nugget had been thus used so long that it was covered with candle grease, the owner sold it, grease and all. In the early days of placer mining in California colored miners vrere proverbially lucky. Companies of white men were always ready to take in a colored raan as a partner, believing that he would bring them good luck. Steve Gillis, of Virginia, Nev., a veteran printer and pionaer of the Pacific coast, gives the fol- lowing sample of " nigger luck :" " In 1863 a colored miner, who was out on a prospecting trip, found on the slope of the Table mountain, Tuolumne county a nugget that weighed thirty -five pounds avoirdupois, and yielded over $7,000. The nugget was found on the slope where Table mountain drifts down towards Sha's Flat. The man saw a corner of it sticking out of the ground, and digging it up he planted it in a new place near by, marking the spot, and continued on his way to his intended prospecting ground. He did not take up a claim where he found the nugget, as he believed it to have rolled down from some point high up on Table mountain. He found such good pay in the place he went to prospect that he remained there at work for several weeks, feeling quite at ease in regard to the big nugget he had cached. Finally he quit work in his digging, and set out to look for his big nugget. On coming in sight of the spot where he 96 CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. had buried it, he almost dropped in his tracks, for he saw a big company of men at woric just where he had made his " plant." The men proved to be a lot of Italians, and they had worked up to within about ten feet of the spot where lay buried the big nugget. For- tunately the " colored brother " had with him on that trip his " rabbit foot," for the " rescue " was about as fortunate as the " find." In a drift mine at Eemington hill, Nevada county, in 1856, the half of a smoothly washed boulder of gold quartz was found which yielded $4,672.60. The nugget was smooth on all rounded sides, but had on one side a flat, rough surface. At the time the chunk was found it was remarked that the other half of the boulder might possibly be somewhere in the same claim. In 1858 the owners of the mine had a hired man who was engaged in drifting out pay dirt. One day this man unexpectedly announced that he was going to leave ; that he was going down to Nevada City to try his luck for a time. The man was paid his wages, and, shouldering his blankets, took his depar- ture. After he had been gone a short time, one of the partners said : " It is strange that the fellow should all at once quit work here, when he had a steady job at as good wages as he can find anywhere in the country. I wonder if he has not found the other half of that boulder ?" The party addressed scouted the idea. " You may laugh," said the suspicious partner, " but I feel in my bones that the fellow is packing the miss- ing half of that boulder away in his own roll of blankets." "Well, what are you going to do about it ? " ., " I am going to mount a horse and follow the fellow. CALIFORNIA GOLD BOOK. 97 I am going to make him shell out that chunk of gold." " So ? Very well ; you shall have my half of all you get." Mounting his horse, the man who had " suspicions " took the road to Nevada City with a sixshooter in his belt. When he overtook his man and asked him to throw down and open out his roll of blankets, the fellow was at first quite indignant and inclined to be ugly, but when he saw a revolver leveled at his head, he cried out : " Cave ; now, how in did you find out that I'd got hold of the other half of that nug- get?" "Guessed it," said the mine-owner. "Shell her out." Down went the blankets and out came a big golden nugget. Sure enough, it was the other half of the boulder. Taking the chunk the owner told the man to " git ;" that as he had met with a great temptation he was forgiven. The half thus received panned out $4,430.75, making a total for the whole boulder of $9,103.25. The suspicious partner was very sick when he saw the missing half of the boulder brought home. However, the other, after paying himself $1,000 for Lis trouble and his ability as a detective, divided the remainder with the man who had laughed at him in the start. Fie said he took only $20 for his trouble and risk ; but for his " sabe " he must have $980. Near Sonora, Tuolumne county, in 1852, a nugget weighing forty -five pounds, and containing gold to the value of about $8,000, was found. The finder had a friend who was far gone with consumption, yet was trying to work in the mines. The owner of the nugget &8 CALIFORNIA COLD BOOK". saw that by working in the water, and lifting heavy boulders this man was fast killing himself. He told his friend to take the big nugget and go back to the States, and exhibit it, as at that time such a mass of native gold was a curiosity, to see which many would willingly pay a reasonable sum. As the ailing man was well educated, it was arranged that besides the nugget, he should take some fine dust "chispas," gold-bearing quartz, black sand, gravel and dirt from a placer, and the like, and with all was to fix up a lecture on life in the mines, mining operations, and California in general. When the owner of the nugget wanted it, or its value, be was to let the other know of his need. The sick man took the nugget to the States, got up his lecture, and did well wherever he went. For a time the miner heard from his friend pretty regularly; then for months lost track of him. He began to think his nugget lost ; that perhaps his friend had been mur- dered and robbed in some out-of-the-way place. One day, however, a letter reached the miner from a banker, in New Orleans telling him that his friend had died in that city, but had left the big nugget at the bank sub- ject to his order. The miner wrote to have the nug- get melted down, and in due time he received a check for a little over $8,000. Pocket mining, as practiced by the experts of Cali- fornia, is a branch of gold-hunting that may be said to stand by itself as an " art." The pocket miner follows up the trail of gold thrown off from a quartz vein, and strewn down a mountain slope, until he at last reaches the mother deposit, whence the gold scattered below proceeded. This is an operation which sometimes requires many days to be devoted to the careful wash- SEP 12 i«y^ CALIFORNIA ^6^ B