c^ 
 
 d 
 
THE 
 
 MARCH OF EMPIRE 
 
 THROUGH three: DKCADES. 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 Sketches of California History ; 
 
 EARLY TIMES AND SCENES ; LIFE IN THE MINES ; TRAVELS BY 
 
 LAND AND SEA BEFORE THE ERA OF RAILROADS ; THE 
 
 EAST DURING THE YEARS OF THE CIVIL WAR; LIFE IN 
 
 THE BORDER STATES; CROSSING THE PLAINS WITH 
 
 OX Ti5AMS; CROSSING THE PLAINS ON THE 
 
 TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY; PROGRESS 
 
 AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE GOLDEN 
 
 STATE ; RESOURCES ; ETC., ETC. 
 
 NIRS. rvIAtvLIE STARRORO. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO: 
 GEO. SPAULDING & CO., GENERAL PRINTERS, 414 CLAY STREET. 
 i8c4. 
 
 iss^ 
 
Fife A 
 
 Zilii 
 
 1 
 
TO THOSE 
 
 WHO WERE EVER MY WARM FRIENDS, ALIKE IN SUNSHINE 
 
 AND IN SHADOW, 
 
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In response to many requests of friends and acquaint- 
 ances, I have copied from the tablets of memory a brief 
 recital of adventures which occurred during thirty years 
 of wanderings in the West, mingling it with scraps and 
 sketches of history. The author feels a natural timidity 
 in i)i'esenting her personal experiences to the public, but 
 hopes it may prove of sufficient interest to warrant a pe- 
 rusal, the object being to preserve, along with many other 
 and worthier works, a remembrance of those old-time cus- 
 toms, scenes, modes of traveling, etc , which belong essen- 
 tially to the past, and which are fast disappearing in reality, 
 as also from memory. 
 
 To those who have participated in the stirring scenes of 
 early days in California and the Western border, it is to be 
 hoped this little volume will recall many similar adventures 
 and pleasurable events ; and to the general reader and the 
 young to whom these accounts are but as scraps of remote 
 history and bygone times, it is my earnest hope that this 
 brief recital will prove a faithful mirror, which will reflect 
 the peculiar scenes and adventures connected with the dawn 
 of civilization in the West 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Looking back over tlie long, eventful trail of 
 nearly thirty years, how distinctly one recalls 
 to memory the fabulous stories of gold discov- 
 ered on the Pacific Coast and the wild excite- 
 ment they created; the smile of derision with 
 which they were received by some, but with 
 belief and faith by the many. And how vividly 
 returns to mind the Adsions of long trains of 
 emigrant wagons, that, winding slowly west- 
 ward, moved out of the border cities, laden 
 with their rich freight of human beings — men, 
 Y/omen and tender children — bound for the coun- 
 try of their aspirations, California-— the land to 
 which so many longing eyes were hopefully 
 cast, the Mecca to which thousands of pilgrims 
 bent their daring and adventurous steps, and 
 the shrine of many a splendid dream and gilded 
 hope ! 
 
 How well those ambitious dreams and gilded 
 hopes were realized, the years have given us 
 answer. Out of the then indiscernible and 
 hidden future, time has enrolled chapter upon 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 chapter of our young State's dazzling history; 
 a history, that is replete with the daring deeds, 
 heroic acts, privations and adventures of her 
 early pioneers. The civilization and cultivation 
 of the golden Occident is due to the brain, 
 muscle and sterling principles of her early 
 pioneers. To them the country was an almost 
 unbroken wilderness, over whose rich but un- 
 cultivated valleys roamed herds of cattle and 
 horses, and peopled by a rude, barbaric race. 
 Unskilled and ignorant, and unambitious, they 
 dreamed away an idle and listless existence — 
 unenviable, indeed, save for its luxurious con- 
 tent. 
 
 But the discovery of gold, in 1848, oj)ened 
 up a new era on the Pacific slope, and immi- 
 gration poured in by sea and land. It is the 
 old story of how thousands left their cheerful 
 firesides ; left friends, kindred, wives, little 
 ones, and all that centres in that sweet word 
 home, and with the new, unexplored gold fields 
 of California in view, they braved the terrors 
 of the sea, the long voyage around the "Horn" 
 and the dread malaria of the tropics ; or, 
 "crossing the plains," they braved "dangers 
 seen and unseen ' ' in the wild and trackless wil- 
 derness, over swollen rivers and across snowy 
 mountains. Ever in danger of an attack from 
 the hordes of merciless savages that lined their 
 path, they toiled onward, often without guide, 
 and nothing save the compass and their trust 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIEE. 9 
 
 in God to direct tliem to the land of their 
 hopes. Alas ! how many " faltered by the way- 
 side," and, weary, found a rest in an unknown 
 grave by the flowing river, in the dim sands of 
 the desert, or under the pines on the mountain's 
 brow. Perhaps it is in consequence of the 
 dangers and hardships endured, and the suc- 
 cess which attended their efforts, that a sort of 
 lofty pride mantles the brow of the gray-haired 
 pioneer as he recounts in thrilling tones the 
 adventures which befel his party when he 
 "crossed the plains" in the Spring or Sum- 
 mer of '49. The lustre of that pride which 
 glows with a just fervor in the heart of the 
 pioneer of the forties, is felt, though perhaps 
 more dimly, in the breast of the immigrant of 
 the fifties. It is, therefore, with a feeling of 
 pleasure that I review a part of that early his- 
 tory; that I look back over a portion of the 
 long, eventful trail — a portion, too, of the trail 
 that is fast becoming obliterated by new inno- 
 vations. " Crossing the plains" w ith ox teams, 
 which journey required a period of nearly six 
 months, and ' ' rounding the Horn' ' in a sailing 
 vessel, are remembered now as events that be- 
 long essentially to the past. They have passed 
 into history along with the Digger Indian, the 
 Spanish vaquero and the old adobe building, 
 and things and scenes associated with and a 
 part of the introductory pages of our still 
 young, but rapidly developed State. 
 
10 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 No more the long, unbroken trains 
 Of ox teams on the desert sands, 
 
 Bear onward, in the creaking wains. 
 The emigrant in weary bands. 
 
 The years that passed! the years that passed! 
 
 Bear witness to unwritten tales 
 And histories; for along the vast 
 
 Dim trackless sands and winding vales. 
 Once stirred, in Life's quick throbbing beat, 
 The tramp of many thousand feet. 
 
 They live with us, those years that made 
 Our young athletic State unfold 
 
 Her hidden powers of wealth, and laid 
 Her history in an age of gold. 
 
 And we, a part of that great throng. 
 
 Who bravely stemmed the threat' ning waves — 
 
 Or trackless waste, that all along 
 Was thickly marked with new made graves; — 
 
 Oh! we cannot forget the old 
 Long journeys to the "Land of Gold." 
 
 To-day the shining track of steel 
 
 Stretches from East-land to the West. 
 
 We sit in gliding car and feel 
 The idle luxury of rest — 
 
 And templed cities, vast and fair, 
 Pass by like phantoms on the air. 
 
 But O! our hearts cannot forget 
 
 The past — that is a part of us: 
 Those long remembered times, which yet 
 
 Are sacred as the half -buried dust 
 Of those, who fainting found a rest 
 
 In the wild deserts of the West. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE DEPARTURE — EVENINGS ON SHIP-BOARD — SALT WATER 
 BATH — GREEN ISLAND OF CUBA — CENTRAL AMERICA — 
 THE NATIVE WOxMEN — CASTILIAN LADIES/ 
 
 In a fair city of the west, one lovely morning 
 in October in 1854, there was gathered at the 
 de]3ot a group of friends. It was the occasion 
 of my departure for California in companj^ with 
 my husband, on the eastward bound train for 
 New York. Looking backward over the dim 
 trail, grass-grown and half obscured by the 
 crowding events and wonderful changes since 
 that time, I find myself wondering if indeed I 
 am the same being, the same, who almost thirty 
 years ago, amid a vast throng of fellow-voy- 
 agers, was outward bound for the new country 
 of golden dreams. 
 
 Time passes quickly enougli ; but looking back 
 through all these years, and briefly summing up 
 the changes, the vast achievements of science, 
 the progress and improvements in the history 
 of nations, the wonderful inventions and re- 
 markable discoveries, and the grand opening up 
 of the western half of our continent, it would 
 seem that ages and ages had written its intelli- 
 gible hieroglyphics on the world's history. So 
 rapidly have these events succeeded each other, 
 
12 • THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 tlicit in going back in retrospection over the old 
 familiar landmarks, I brush aside the foliage, 
 and remove the dense undergrowth as I attempt 
 to reveal some of the scenes and events of those 
 long past years. 
 
 That bright October morning ! There was that 
 peculiar perfume in the atmosphere suggestive 
 of early frosts. There was that dreamy haze 
 which gives to the sunshine a softer tint, the 
 beautiful haze of Indian summer. The hills 
 were crow^ned with sumach, wild grape vines, 
 etc., and were arrayed in all the crimson glory 
 of early autumn. And as our train sped swiftly 
 on, we drank in the sweet breezes that came 
 from the low woodlands — saw the fields of rust- 
 ling corn bending underneath their freight of 
 tawny grain, the lark, soaring in mid air, car- 
 rolled to us a glad goodby, and farm houses, 
 cities and villages passed in rapid succession. 
 Having reached New York, the grand Ameri- 
 can metropolis, with its endless, busy streets, 
 filled with a surging mass of human beings — 
 and after spending a few days in sight-seeing, 
 we purchased tickets for the P. M. S. S. Co. 
 line, and were soon on board the staunch steam- 
 er North Star, running between New York and 
 Aspinwall. The black cloud-like vaj)or issuing 
 from the smoke-stack, tells us that she will ere 
 long be on her voyage; and soon there is the 
 hurry and commotion of departure, the creak- 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. * 13. 
 
 ing of machinery, groaning of the engines, rat- 
 tling of cordage, and amid it all the hoarse com- 
 mands of officers. With the rapid farewell of 
 friends, the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, 
 we are out upon the bay and steaming down the 
 Sound, and feel that we have launched our bark 
 on the broad ocean, have sundered old ties, 
 parted from the country of our birth, from 
 friends and old associates and familiar scenes — 
 and with wdiat thronging emotions did I stand 
 and watch the dim receding strand, and saw 
 in the distance through the blue vapor of that 
 bright October morning, the forms I loved, 
 and waving hands. 
 
 There is always something indescribably sad 
 in parting from those we love; but a parting- 
 like this ! — to see the blue weaves close over the 
 shining track of the vessel, to watch the fast- 
 fading shore and see around us the great world 
 of waters, is doubly solemn. We had on board 
 nine hundred passengers, but amid the hurry 
 and excitement of the first few hours out at sea 
 I stood alone, feeling that sinking of the heart 
 as I watched the shore of my native land recede 
 from sight. Going on deck the next morning, 
 I strained my eager vision to the right, but 
 ihere was not the faintest shadow of the land, 
 not the most cloud-like semblance visible on 
 the far horizon. Around us, on either hand, 
 rolled the blue, restless waves of the Atlantic. 
 
14 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 It was then that we realized that we were in- 
 deed launched on the vast world of waters. 
 How limitless it appeared, as it rolled, billow 
 upon billow, till lost in the far distance it van- 
 ished on the rim of the clear horizon. At such 
 a time, and such a place, how forcibly are we 
 reminded of our own feebleness and our utter 
 dependence on the Supreme Being — He who 
 spake worlds into existence, and guides the 
 ship through the trackless ocean. At such a 
 time, in such a place, we are prone ' * To own 
 the littleness of man; the mightiness of God." 
 There is inherent in the soul of every human 
 being a worshipful tendency, a tendency to own 
 and acknowledge the grandeur and goodness of 
 the Maker of the Universe; but soiled by con- 
 tact with the world and long wandering from 
 the fold of the Good Shepherd, like wayward 
 children, we often forget His loving presence, 
 and worship new idols; but brought face to 
 face with His grandest creations \\ e cannot but 
 acknowledge and bow in adoration before the 
 great First Cause . What though we are led away 
 by " vain philosophies " and false speculations, 
 beyond and over it all we know that God reigns. 
 It was such a thought, unuttered but felt, that 
 stirred my soul as I stocd gazing out on the 
 grandeur, the fearful sublimity of the ocean, 
 and thought of the perils and hardships ''of 
 those who go down to the sea in ships." My 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 15 
 
 spirits, young, light and elastic, soon became 
 accustomed to the novelty and grandeur of the 
 scene that daily met my view. It was my de- 
 light to take my seat at the prow of the vessel, 
 and watch with tireless pleasure the ship, as it 
 rose and fell with the motion of the waves, now 
 up above the foaming waters while the stern 
 was deep in the trou<>h of the sea. and then re- 
 versed, I was let down and down until my out- 
 stretched hand could almost reach the boiling 
 billows. Few ladies attempted this feat, and 
 often I was warned by the sailors and officers 
 that if I remained there I would get seasick, 
 but it was my good fortune never to be troubled 
 with that disagreeable sensation. As days 
 passed we formed some pleasant acquaintances, 
 it being a recognized endeavor to try to make 
 the time pass as pleasantly as possible; so life 
 on shipboard proved, though rather irksome, 
 to be one long holiday, in which one is released 
 from the set rules and toils and cares of exist- 
 ence. On such a voyage warm friendships are 
 often formed that last through the eventful 
 mazes of a lifetime, but in this one instance it 
 is somewhat singular that of all that vast com- 
 pany with whom we journeyed, with whom we 
 laughed and sang and parted on the golden 
 shore, I have since met but one. Doubtless 
 they, like ourselves, have wandered in devious 
 paths, have floated with the ever-restless tide 
 
16 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 of the times, have followed the phantom, till, 
 weary of the search, are content at last to find 
 a home in some sequestered vale or mountain 
 slope. 
 
 Evenings on shijDboard were particularly de- 
 lightful. Gathered on the deck in little groups, 
 we whiled the long hours away in pleasant con- 
 versation, rehearsing stories and singing songs, 
 the music floating out and blending with the 
 murmur of the waves. At other times the blue 
 Atlantic — often variable and fretful — rolled its 
 great waves and rocked our strong ship as a 
 cradle. It was on such occasions that most of 
 the passengers sought their berths, and, assum- 
 ing a reclining position, endeavor to keep 
 down their rising — breakfast, dinner or sup- 
 per. There was then a noticeable falling off at 
 table; a sort of let-me-alone-if-you-please ex- 
 pression on the woeful faces of the afflicted 
 ones. Not infrequently some tlmughtless pas- 
 senger neglected to close the port-hole of his 
 state-room, and the sea, suddenly rising, 
 drenched him from head to foot. I was on one 
 occasion the thoughtless victim of a salt water 
 bath. 
 
 While reclining one day in my berth, rocked 
 by the motion of the vessel, and for want of 
 better amusement, watching the changing posi- 
 tion of everything movable — hats tumbling from 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 17 
 
 their racks, carpet sacks and baskets sliding 
 and careening across the floor, and boxes, bot- 
 tles, etc., slipping, thumping and rolling hither 
 and thither, there was a momentary darkening 
 of my window, and as I turned to look, a deluge 
 of the "blue and boundless" drenched me from 
 head to foot. I uttered a scream , and to add to 
 my "ten or fifteen different emotions," I was 
 greeted by a hearty peal of laughter. As soon as 
 I could clear my vision of the " briny deep," I 
 recognized my next-door neighbor, who was 
 hanging on to my door and laughing heartily at 
 my moist, unpleasant appearance. It was what 
 the sailors called a ''heavy sea," and I thought 
 so, too; but laughing is catching, and as the sea 
 continued rough, I had not many days to wait 
 to repay my neighbor in her "own coin." One 
 day while standing at her door talking, she and 
 her little girl being in her berth, there was a 
 sudden lurch of the vessel, a grating sound, 
 and then — whizz! swish! down came an abun- 
 dant shower of old Neptune, completely cover- 
 ing for £. moment mother and child. I could 
 have laughed revcngeftdhj, only the poor, little 
 babe presented such a pitiable picture as it 
 clung to the wet garments of its mother. 
 
 Days passed, and one fine morning we saw dim- 
 ly on our left, rising proudly out of the sea, the 
 green island of Cuba. It was crowned with ver- 
 
18 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 dure, a very queen of the ocean; the waters were 
 cahn, rippling along its low, bright shore. 
 
 0, isles that sliine! O, isles that shiue! 
 
 Across the blue Carribean sea, 
 I seem to see their faint sea-line 
 
 Whose silver strand my spirit binds 
 By far-off dreams of memory. 
 
 But steaming past, we are soon out of sight 
 of the beautiful vision, and soon after we be- 
 held the cloud-like outlines of a coast, and 
 drifting outward and floating past us were 
 stray planks, bark, seaweed and the floating de- 
 bris of the shore, all harbingers of joy to the 
 weary voyager. Soon the shore became less 
 phantom-like and more distinct, and we snifted 
 the sweet land breeze, and felt with rapture 
 that we were nearing the far-stretching shores 
 of Central America. 
 
 Ere long our noble ship lay moored at the 
 long wharf of Aspinwall, and we gathered up, 
 amid the general hurry and commotion, our 
 traveling equipments, and as we ste23ped on the 
 unfamiliar shore felt, indeed, that our feet 
 pressed foreign soil. There to our right stood 
 a group of palm trees, drooping and picturesque, 
 and lo! " beneath the palm trees' leafy shade,'' 
 there lounged and idled a group of natives. In 
 the peculiar costume of the bronzed sons of the 
 tropics, they lazily watched the disembarking 
 of the passengers. If we had imagined that 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 19 
 
 the town itself would present a foreign appear- 
 ance, that the houses would be built in the 
 hacienda, adobe veranda style, we were mis- 
 taken. The long rows of hastily erected wooden 
 buildings, generally one story high, were essen- 
 tially modern and American, at least the busi- 
 ness portion. But the inhabitants were all 
 shades of color, the natives ranging from the 
 light brown to the swarthy copper color, and 
 merging into the sleek jet-black Jamaica negro, 
 black as imagination can paint him; for him I 
 entertained a sort of respect, as it was evident 
 he was pure blood, but for the mixed element 
 one could scarcely imagine his nationality, be- 
 ing to all appearances a little of everything 
 colored. 
 
 The native women, with immense woven bas- 
 kets poised on their heads, filled with oranges, 
 pineapples, bananas, cocoanuts, j)lan tains, and 
 other tropical frtiits, with Mexican cakes, meat, 
 etc., thronged the streets vending their wares. 
 In striking contrast to them were the Castilian 
 ladies of the upper classes, who might be seen. 
 on -balconies and verandahs, reclining in easy 
 chairs and hammocks, enjoying a ^' dolce far 
 niente'' sort of existence. Lithe and graceful 
 of figure, and fair of face, their long black curls 
 swept over their shoulders in lustrous negli- 
 gence, while with unceasing motion they swayed 
 their fans. Did you ever observe Avith what 
 
20 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 fascinating grace of motion the Spanish beauty 
 handles her fan ? A languid undulating grace 
 of motion that is at once the envy and despair 
 of the Northern belle, and that is entirely in 
 harmony with the indolent luxurious character- 
 istics of the climate — the rich, warm, ease-lov- 
 ing tropics. 
 
 CHAPTKR III. 
 
 A RIDK ON MULE-BACK — THE MOUNTING COMMENCED — SCENES 
 AND INCIDENTS — CROSSING THE ISTHMUS. 
 
 At the time of which I write, the Central 
 American railroad across the Isthmus had* not 
 been completed, and rumors of a ride on mule- 
 back to complete the journey had reached our 
 ears. Novel pictures of this portion of the jour- 
 ney were portrayed in glowing colors — of steep 
 and rocky defiles in the mountains; of dark, 
 swift rivers to be crossed; deep, gloomy marshes 
 to be forded — and all on muleback. The bare 
 recital was enough to make the stoutest fem- 
 inine heart quail with apprehension. 
 
 Shortly before train time, my husband went 
 to a store and purchased for me a pair of calf- 
 skin boots; — boys' boots. It was generally un- 
 derstood that thi-re was going to be '"fun 
 ahead ' ' — maybe trouble — and we deemed it 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 21 
 
 best to be ready for any emergency. Those 
 wlio had crossed the route before were well 
 aware that it was advisable to be *' booted" if 
 not spurred for the occasion. 
 
 At six o' clock in " the morning the warning 
 whistle of the train sounded, and amid the rush, 
 tumult and excitement, nine hundred passen- 
 gers — "more or less," as the lawyers say — 
 armed to the teeth with knapsack, overcoats, 
 umbrellas, babies, poodles, guns, bird-cages — 
 everything portable — went flying to the cars, 
 bearing down upon the train like "an army 
 with banners." 
 
 There was the Frenchwoman, with her poodle; 
 the tall, angular hunter, with his gun; the old 
 maid, with her bird-cage; the Dutch Avoman, 
 with her four children, and her pair of twins in 
 her arms; and there was — yes, there was, with- 
 out doubt — the little woman with the calfskin 
 boots, and when the engine shrieked, the bell 
 rang and the train moved out from the foreign 
 American-built city of the tropics, there was a 
 general smoothing down of rufiled plumages, 
 and with faces aglow with perspiration and ex- 
 citement, we prepared to enjoy a flying glimpse 
 of the scenery, etc. We cross bridges and span 
 broad rivers and dark marshes, and rumble 
 through deep gloomy forests, and faintly catch 
 glimpses of thick trailing vines, heavy jungles 
 and beautiful trees. Near noon we arrive at 
 
22 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 the terminus of tlie railroad — a small collection 
 of slianties. bamboo lints, etc. A short time is 
 allowed for dinner and to make preparations 
 for the mule ride, a distance of twelve miles yet 
 intervening .between the terminus of the rail- 
 road and Panama, 
 
 A few restaurants, mere temporary affairs, 
 are kept here by the natives — no very elaborate 
 bill of fare. We enter one and call for dinner. 
 We are motioned to a dark greasy-looking ta- 
 ble, innocent of cloth, and a tall, very yellow- 
 tinted Spanish woman, with long black curls, 
 silently fries some ham and eggs, which, with 
 some black coffee supplemented by a plate of 
 Mexican cakes, comprises the entire bill of fare, 
 one dollar per meal. Strengthened and invig- 
 orated, we feel ready for the twelve-mile ride. 
 If we are to believe as truth the stories which 
 have reached us of the dangers and hard- 
 ships, and in some cases, terrible adventures 
 which have befallen many on this mule trail, we 
 may well be pardoned for being apprehensive. 
 What terrors and dangers may not lurk in the 
 depths of yon dark forest, \\ here the trail en- 
 ters clear and distinct, but is soon swallowed 
 up in the dense foliage and thick jungle ! Close 
 at hand is a large corral, into which has been 
 driven an immense drove of mules. The pas- 
 sengers are now allowed to go and select their 
 animals. Though the mule-ride is included in 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 23 
 
 our through ticket, those who have crossed the 
 Isthmus before are aware that by giving the 
 natives in cliarge a few clolhirs extra he can se- 
 lect his mule from the band In this way it 
 was my good fortune to get for my riding ani- 
 mal a line large gray mule— ''yes," says a lady 
 at my elbow, " the very same one I rode over, 
 just three months before.'' A short time pre- 
 vious to this, there had been a terrible massa- 
 cre of Americans as they crossed the Isthmus, 
 and according to the custom of the times and 
 also apprehensive of trouble, most of the pas- 
 sengers were well armed. For this reason it 
 w^as deemed advisable to start on the trail all 
 together. The mules all being selected, the 
 mounting commenced. 
 
 There was the big, fat woman to be provided 
 with a mule, and the "heavy city father,'" of 
 aldermanic proportions, and it was a singular 
 fact that, as a rule, these big, fat people invari- 
 ably had the misfortune, and I may say morti- 
 fication, of getting the small, lean, jack-rabbit 
 mule. It is a noticeable fact, that in almost 
 every instance these immense people never get 
 things in proportion to their size. With w^hat 
 anxiety and misgivings did they view tJie situa- 
 tion ! And how carefully did they mount and 
 deposit their ponderous weight on the backs of 
 the trembling, patient brutes ! 
 
 ' ' Oh, I know I shall never get t here alive ! ' ' 
 
24 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 said a bulky lady, as slie towered over lier tliin 
 little donkey, There also were ladies who had 
 never been on horseback in their lives, and to 
 whom the sight of a mule — a " horrid mule " — 
 was enough to drive them mad. That they had 
 to mount the horrid creatures, and be jostled 
 and shaken — perhaps shaken off, was an idea 
 too preposterous to be entertained. To add to 
 it all, in "those good old times" we had no 
 side-saddles — not on the mule trail. The style 
 of riding advised by our male escorts was the 
 style in vogue long before the invention of side- 
 saddles, and much as we disliked to adopt the 
 mas/suline mode of riding, we found before we 
 had proceeded far both the wisdom and safety 
 of it. Partly through timidity and partly 
 through humiliation, several of the ladies de- 
 murred, and then refused to ride at all; some 
 were crying as though their hearts would break, 
 others were angrily scolding, and it required 
 some time before they could be convinced that 
 they must ride, since it was impossible to walk. 
 Such a scene ! Nine hundred passengers mount- 
 ing nine hundred mules, with their various and 
 multifarious equipments, belongings and en- 
 cumbrances, the average being a roll of blan- 
 kets strapped on behind, two carpet-sacks on 
 the pummel of the saddle, and a large overcoat, 
 shawl, bird cage, basket, umbrella, etc., which 
 was carried in front. One may well imagine 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIEE. 25 
 
 that under this nondescript lo id the little mule 
 was lost to sight — not entirely — his ears, like 
 Banquo's ghost, "Avould not down," but, true 
 to nature, pointed with unerring fidelity to 
 some imaginary degree in the zenith, assuring 
 the traveler that he was a living reality. 
 Mounted upon the hurricane deck of my noble 
 gray, I sat an unobserved spectator, having 
 accepted the inevitable with as good grace as 
 I could command. 
 
 At last all being ready, we. took up our line 
 of march — "by twos and threes and single." 
 Soon after entering the trail, it became neces- 
 sary to go single file. Our little party, consist- 
 ing of four or ^\e ladies and eight or ten gentle- 
 men, expressed a determination to try to keep to- 
 gether — a feat which might have been perform- 
 ed had it not been for the long trains of pack 
 mules laden with freight, merchandise, bag- 
 gage, etc., in charge of the dusky natives. 
 Wherever an opportunity offered, the natives 
 drove their pack trains ahead, and in among 
 the passenger train, often separating friends 
 and acquaintances. On one occasion a swarthy 
 native in charge of a number of pack mules, in 
 endeavoring to get ahead of me, drove them 
 so closely against my mule as to nearly knock 
 me off. Quick as thought, a voice behind me 
 rang out, " What are you doing, you black ras- 
 cal?" "Go to h — 11," defiantly shouted back 
 2 
 
26 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 the native. Immediately there was the click of 
 a revolver, and turning I saw the gentleman, a 
 fellow-passenger, with weapon drawn, was 
 ready to fire. ''Don't shoot, Thornton," said 
 some one in front of me, "keep cool, don't 
 slioot." The cap snapped, and the native hav- 
 ing gone on, Thornton put up his revolver, 
 when the gentleman in front proceeded to ex- 
 plain to the excitable Thornton the dangers of 
 a serious affray with the natives on their own 
 soil— "for," said he, "if you should happen to 
 kill one of these black rascals, you would be 
 tried by the Spanish authorities, and the prob- 
 able result would -be instant death, or at least 
 languishing for years in a Spanish dungeon. 
 The natives were bold and insolent, and con- 
 stantly endeavoring to get their pack mules 
 ahead of the passengers. They fully compre- 
 hended the advantages they possessed in being 
 on their own soil, surrounded by their own 
 countrymen, and did not fail to heap insults 
 and indignities on defenseless Americans Adien- 
 ever they could get them in their power. 
 
 Although this novel and romantic part of the 
 journey was beset with perils, inconveniences 
 and annoyances, there were many things new 
 and interesting to the lover of nature, and many 
 incidents mirth-provoking and ludicrous. For 
 a long distance the route lay through the heart 
 of a deep dark jungle, so dense arnd thick that 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 27 
 
 tlie sunshine scarcely ever penetrated it at mid- 
 day. There were strange and beautiful trees, 
 and clinging vines whose heavy weight hung 
 doAvn ill a wealth of fruit and foliage. Far off 
 the monkeys skipped and chattered from limb 
 to limb of the tall trees; gay plumaged birds 
 flitted in and out of the sombre woods, and one 
 could imagine the reptiles and wild animals 
 that doubtless infested the depths of the forest. 
 When at length the character of the route 
 changed, we ascended into a rocky and mount- 
 ainous region, where for a long distance the 
 trail led through a narrow defile in the mount- 
 ains, affording only room enough for one ani- 
 mal to proceed, single file. 
 
 On each side a wall of rock rose perpendicu- 
 larl}^ many feet, as though a pass had been 
 hewn through the solid rock ; through this nar- 
 row defile, passengers and baggage trains 
 slowly wended their way. The pack mules, 
 loaded with boxes of merchandise, trunks, etc., 
 not infrequently became wedged in in some 
 uncommonly narrow place. This occasioned a 
 halt of the whole party, and a jamming and 
 squeezing until the mule could be liber- 
 ated, which often was not accomplished until a 
 native went around on top, threw ropes down 
 which were fastened to the animal's load, and 
 drew it up, thus freeing it. While riding along 
 through this narrow defile, I looked ahead, and 
 
28 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 to my astonisliment saw tlie passengers disap- 
 pear as if they had suddenly sunk into the 
 bosom of the earth, but on looking again I saw 
 them reappear in the distance. My husband, 
 who was a short distance in advance of me, 
 turned, and givyig me a look of stern command 
 not unmingied with fear and desperation, for- 
 bade my further progress. "Go back, go 
 back," said he, "don't come here;" just then 
 he disappeared, and leaning forward I caught a 
 glimpse of him at the bottom of what appeared 
 to be a terrible precipice. I heard the heavy 
 thud as the mule struck the ground, saw the 
 carpet sacks shaken up, heard the jingling of 
 the knives and forks in the lunch basket which 
 he carried, and though peril and danger ap-< 
 peared imminent I could not repress a smile at 
 the ridiculous picture presented — an indiscrimi- 
 nate mixture of mule, rider, carpet sacks, roll 
 of blankets, lunch basket, etc.; but with an 
 effort only equal to the emergency, the rider 
 quickly adjusted himself and his belongings, 
 and the mule, grave and solemn, proceeded on 
 his way as though nothing had happened. If it 
 had been instant deatli before me I could not 
 have stopped, neither could I have turned 
 around in the narrow pass; there was nothing 
 for it but to cling on with all the strength I 
 possessed. As we neared the descent, I 
 noticed the mule pause for a brief second, and 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 29 
 
 to my astonishment, lie carefully placed his 
 feet together in a little niche worn in the rocks 
 and giving a spring like a dog, we were down 
 altogether and safe. It gave us a terrible 
 shaking up though, and in speaking of it after- 
 wards, the tall, angular fellow from the backs- 
 woods remarked : ' ' Well, sir, them thar mules 
 does beat all natur fur bein' shore-footed; dang 
 if they don't !" We concurred. How the fat 
 people on the thin little donkeys, and the timid 
 ladies stood the fearful leap, I leave it for the 
 reader to imagine ; for me that terror was past, 
 and I v>^as looking out for what was ahead. 
 Being possessed of the rich heritage of youth, 
 high health, courage and indomitable spirits, 
 I thought little of the inconveniences, annoy- 
 ances and even dangers to which Ave were ex- 
 posed. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THROUGH A TROPICAL SWAMP — THE STUBBORN MULE — SEPA- 
 RATED FROM FRIENDS — THE OLD RUINED FORT. 
 
 With the fearful leap we emerged from the 
 narrow defile and entered a strip of low marshy 
 •land, which appeared to be a swamp, moist and 
 muddy, the mud increasing until a perfect 
 slush it reached half leg deep to the mules. 
 Through this the long line of passenger and 
 
30 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 baggage trains slowly splaslied. To add to the 
 gloomy prospect, tlie rain — one never knows 
 when to expect rain in that country — began to 
 descend in a gentle mist. It was as if to re- 
 mind lis that a thing is "never so bad but it 
 may be worse." Many a groan and impreca- 
 tion, "not loud, but deep," escaped the lips of 
 the j I ded passengers. I was provided Avith a 
 good wrap, and looking at my stout boots, I 
 took courage. It proved, however, to be only 
 a slight mist, and the sun was soon pouring 
 down its scorching rays with all the intensity 
 of that tropical climate. It came down fearfully 
 hot as we slowly dragged, single file, through 
 the slush of the swamp. 
 
 Presently an incident, interesting — nay, ludi- 
 crous — attracts the attention. Just in front of 
 me is a very tall, harmless-looking fellow, 
 mounted on a diminutive donkey. Beyond, in 
 the neighboring forest, the monkeys kept up 
 an incessant chattering, leaping from limb to 
 limb of the strange trees. So engrossed had 
 the tall man become with their exciting gam- 
 bols that he did not notice the limb of a fallen 
 tree I hat almost crossed his path. Soon his 
 foot caught against the limb in such a manner 
 that he could not extricate it without stopping. 
 "Whoa!" said he, '' Whoa, you dum fool! I 
 say, whoa!" But the animal kept on, and — 
 splash! thud! He had measured his length in 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 31 
 
 the mire. He arose, with many a dire invective, 
 the maddest and the muddiest, if not the wisest 
 man I ever saw. A native stopped the mule 
 long enough for him to remount. Such a sight! 
 Mud from head to foot. One learned before 
 getting to his journey's end that there is no 
 use trying to stop a mule. When once his head 
 is turned in a certain direction with a train, it 
 is simplv impossible for a stranger to stop or 
 turn him from the old beaten track. With a 
 stolid and persistent stubbornness, he turns 
 neither to the right nor to the left, but keeps 
 straight ahead, and sahrs no English; but his 
 quick and generous ear is instantly obedient to 
 the native's "Amoola! Hurra!" which, uttered 
 with their peculiar intonation, seemed to be 
 good mule language, and all that the exigencies 
 of the case required. By degrees, and taking- 
 no note of our wanderings, we emerged into a 
 broad and open thoroughfare, the macadamized 
 road that leads some distance out from the old 
 city of Panama Like the old cathedrals and 
 ruined forts, it appears to be a lingering land- 
 mark of an ancient civilization. Since leaving 
 the narrow defile the natives had driven their 
 pack trains ahead witli greater energy, and on 
 entering the road I found myself, with a small 
 party of friends, separated by long trains of 
 pack mules and their drivers from the main 
 body of the p ssengers. As "coming events 
 
32 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 cast their shadows before, " we knew by the scat- 
 tering bamboo huts, which are occupied by the 
 lowest and most depraved class of these people, 
 that we would soon be in the environs of the 
 city of Panama. Suddenly there was a stam- 
 peding of animals — exclamations in English, 
 cursings in broken English and Spanish — and 
 looking around, what was my horror to see that 
 a large drove of pack mules, with their dusky 
 drivers, had come in between me and my com- 
 pany, completely separating me from my friends, 
 and in the din and generr\l confusion I was be- 
 ing rapidly driven on with the pack train. While 
 endeavoring vainly to make my companions an- 
 swer my shouts, my attention was turned to my 
 animal. There had appeared suddenly at my 
 bridle bit, without noise and without warning, 
 as if from the very center of the earth, a being 
 who, for aught I knew, might be a denizen of 
 the lower regions. Low-browed and sinister 
 looking, his dark face had that hideous express- 
 ion that one is apt to associate in imagination 
 with the smell of sulphur and brimstone. He 
 looked defiantly in my face, while with his right 
 hand he kept a firm hold on my bridle bit. I 
 was alone, and already out of sight of my 
 friends ! With a frantic effort I palled up my 
 animal, and commanded him, with flashing eyes, 
 to ''Let go of my bridle." He looked warily 
 up and down the road, but still going on. Before 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 33 
 
 and behind, for miles, it seemed, there was 
 nothing to be seen but an endless train of 
 pack mules and their dusky drivers. Still 
 frantically pulling on my bridle, I saw 
 that, with all my efforts, he was by de- 
 grees taking me from the pack train and 
 from the main road, and entering a dim path 
 that led down behind a deserted bamboo hut — 
 and from there — where? With the energy of 
 desperation, I made an effort to stop my ani- 
 mal, and shouted, "Let go of my bridle," and 
 at the same time leaning forward, and aiming a 
 blow across his bare shoulders with my riding 
 whip ; but he dodged the blow, and giving me a 
 look full of sinister meaning, prepared to go on. 
 The moment of delay, however, had been my 
 salvation. As a last hope, I looked up the road, 
 and with feelings of joy and gratitude I dis- 
 cerned, amid the dust and moving pack trains, a 
 mounted figure. It was a horseman ! He was 
 galloping at full speed, and by his dress 1 knew 
 him to be an American. "Thank God!" I 
 murmured; and pointing with my whip, I said 
 to the native, " My friends are coming," The 
 rascal's keen eye had caught sight of the horse- 
 man, and he released his hold on my bridle. 
 By this time the horseman was at my side. 
 "Why, madam," said he, "you are losing your 
 w^ay. Are you alone ?" ''Yes," I replied, and 
 immediately told him the whole story, trem- 
 2* 
 
84 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 bling with excitement during its recital. I never 
 get frightened until the danger is over, or at 
 least these feelings so long held under control 
 find expression, when we realize that we have 
 passed though a danger, and we are safe. "But 
 where is the native? " said the gentleman. We 
 looked up and down, far and near, and lo ! he 
 had disaj^peared. As though the earth had 
 opened and swallowed him, he was nowhere to 
 be seen. I expressed some anxiety about my 
 friends, and being alone. "Never fear," said 
 he; "I'll see to your safety. I am a runner 
 from the Louisiana Hotel in Panama, on my 
 way to meet the passengers. They are doubt- 
 less not far behind." A large drove of pack 
 animals was passing, their copper-colored driv- 
 ers hoarsely shouting, "A moola ! Hurra! 
 Hurra ! ' ' and when the dust occasioned by them 
 had drifted away, we saw in the distance the 
 passenger train slowly coming into view. With 
 many heartfelt thanks to the stranger, whose 
 very name to this day is unknown to me, I re- 
 joined my friends. But for his timely arrival, 
 Avhat might have been my fate ? I shudder to 
 think ! Had some trivial circumstance delayed 
 his coming five or ten minutes, I doubtless 
 would not to-day be here, a living entity; would 
 not be here writing by the open window, wliere 
 the soft midsummer breeze steals gently through 
 the vines, and the mystic music of the pines 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 85 
 
 sings its cliangeful melody. On siicli a slender 
 thread does linman destiny so often liang ! 
 
 Eumors were rife of many a dark and bloody 
 deed that had been committed on this danger- 
 ous route. Men had been murdered for their 
 money and clothing, and women had been stolen 
 away and murdered for their jewelry. The na- 
 tives appeared to be the lowest type of human- 
 ity, treacherous, malicious, deceptive and ava- 
 ricious, many of them being capable of com- 
 mitting the foulest murder for a small sum of 
 money. Onl}' a few months before the natives, 
 armed, had waylaid a train of passengers, and 
 robbed and massacred them in open daylight. 
 These dark and awful rumors still filled the air, 
 and it was with feelings of gratitude and thank- 
 fulness that we arrived at the Louisiana Hotel 
 in Panama, and took shelter under its hospita- 
 ble roof. To one \n hose eyes had been accus- 
 tomed to the onward march of civilization, and 
 the giant strides of progress and modern im- 
 provements, this quaint and ancient Spanish 
 city, crouching in listless apathy, like a grand 
 old donna beside the sea, appeared a novel won- 
 der. Like all foreign cities of any importance, 
 it had its American or English quarter. Here 
 was a street of hotels, restaurants, saloons, etc., 
 but beyond were the dark adobe buildings and 
 bamboo huts. Taking a ramble after supper, 
 we paused in front of the dark and gloomy 
 
36 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 catlif dral, wliicli is built of sun-dried brick, its 
 walls several feet thick, and covered with a tile 
 roof. The ancient edifice looked as though it 
 might have withstood the storms of centuries. 
 Here knelt the Spanish devotee, clad in the 
 light attire of the low classes of the tropics, 
 and side by side with him came the high-born 
 Donna and her maid. Before one shrine they 
 knelt and offered up their aves to their patron 
 saint. 
 
 An object of thoughtful interest was the old 
 ruined fort, grass-grown and moss-covered, and 
 crumbling beneath the weight of centuries. Its 
 echoes responded noAv only to the whirr of the 
 bat, the hoot of the owl, and the hiss of the 
 venomous reptile; but it held in its massive 
 walls many a dark and bloody history. What 
 stirring tales of war, invasion and gallant de- 
 fense did the crumbling pile suggest! But 
 years had passed over its mouldering walls 
 since the hand of silence had hushed the ring 
 of its aforetime stormy echoes. Could the 
 ghosts of those long and half-forgotten days 
 arise, there would come forth from those ruined 
 aisles and grass-grown walls, the ghosts of mail- 
 clad Spanish heroes, whose deeds and deaths 
 are linked with that remote period, and with 
 the history of the old fort in the days of its an- 
 cient splendor. 
 
 It was scarcely considered safe for ladies to 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. . 37 
 
 be out on the streets at niglit, and tliough many 
 of us might have enjoyed a stroll under the light 
 of the moon in the quaint old town, and in the 
 picturesque suburbs, and along its placid shores, 
 we were forced to content ourselves as best we 
 could at the hotels. My husband, however, in 
 company with a fellow-passenger, took advan- 
 tage of the beautiful moonlit night for a ramble. 
 Save the light of the moon and the few lamps 
 and candles in the business houses, the city was 
 wrapt in gloom. Some impulse impelled them 
 to direct their steps toward the old ruined fort. 
 It was growing late, the streets were deserted, 
 and silence and gloom brooded over the vicinity. 
 As they neared the ruins, they caught the 
 sound of female voices not far off. Hastening 
 their steps the sounds became more distinct; 
 it seemed to be voices in entreaty, mingled with 
 sobbing and crying. " There's something wrong 
 here," said one. " Let's hurry." A few steps 
 farther, and in the dim half-light of the moon, 
 they saw a native leading two mounted mules. 
 As they approached, a voice rang out: "For 
 Heaven's sake save us,'' " w^e want to go to the 
 hotel, and this native is taking us we know not 
 where." In a moment they were at their side, 
 and demanding of the native where he was going 
 with the ladies, at the same time attempting to 
 take hold of the bridle, which the native held in 
 his hand. Nothing daunted, the native defiantly 
 
38 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 drew a long knife, and uttering a curse prepared 
 to defend his position. Enraged, one of the 
 Americans presented his revolver and exclaimed, 
 " If you don't leave here, I'll blow your brains 
 out." The gleam of the revolver jjroved to be a 
 powerful persuader, and the Mexican sullenly 
 slunk back in the shadows. I'he ladies were 
 the wife and daughter of the French Consul of 
 San Francisco. When described to me, I re- 
 membered having often seen them on ship- 
 board; they were remarkable for their large and 
 handsome figures, and beautiful, clear complex- 
 ions. They explained that they had become 
 separated from their ipsiTtj and were late in 
 getting in. and the native who had assumed 
 charge of their animals was taking them out of 
 the city, through the dark and gloomy suburbs. 
 Doubtless their flashing jewelry and rich attire 
 had been a strong temptation for the avarice of 
 the Mexican, for the fact was apparent that he 
 was stecdipg them aioay — where and for what pur- 
 pose we were left to surmise. With tears and 
 sobs they thanked their rescuers, who instantly 
 conducted them to the hotel. Their friends, 
 who had long been anxiously * awaiting them, 
 and wondering why they had not arrived, were 
 overjoyed to receive them. This incident, added 
 to my own j)ersonal experience convinced me that 
 we had heard no idle rumors, that dark and 
 mysterious deeds had been committed, and that 
 '' the half had not been told.'' 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 39 
 
 A heavy rain had fallen after our arrival, and 
 towards evening a crowd of passengers came in, 
 many of whom were soaking wet, a dejected look- 
 ing set, tired and hungry, and even in that trop- 
 ical country chilled through. Truly they looked 
 as though "life was one long eternal washday, '' 
 and that they had not only cast their colors in 
 the conflict, but were ready to be hung up to 
 dry. To add to their discomforts, all the extra 
 clothing they had with them was wet, too, and 
 their trunks — where were they ? ' ' Oh, if I 
 only had my trunk ! ' ' was the prevailing senti- 
 ment; but one might as well have tried to probe 
 the bottom of the sea for a pearl as to think of 
 getting one's trunk under the circumstances. 
 At such a time one keenly feels the uncertainty 
 of all things terrestrial, especially a defenseless 
 arid hapless trunk that has taken, or is sup- 
 opsed to have taken, a ride over a wild, inhuman 
 country on the back of a wild, irresponsible 
 mule driven by a wild, demoralized, irrepress- 
 ible son of the tropics. Ladies were scolding, 
 crying, laughing, and many of the wisest ones 
 were rapidly pacing up and down the parlors 
 and verandahs ' ' to keep up circulation ' ' until 
 they could get a change of clothing. Among 
 them all one did not fail to notice those cheer- 
 ful and sunshiny natures who, no matter how 
 disagreeable the circumstances, always '^make 
 the best of it ;" a determination not to let disa- 
 
40 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 greeable circumstances rob them of enjoyment. 
 They wait not for the gifts of fortune, for after 
 all the best things we have in life are not what 
 are thrown at our feet by the fickle hand of 
 fortune, but rather what we gain by stern will 
 and strong endeavor. 
 
 CHAPTKR V. 
 
 THE BAY OF PANAMA — PREPARATIONS FOR EMBARKATION — 
 THE SCENE ON THE BEACH — THE FLOWER OF MEXICAN 
 CHIVALRY — BAY OF ACAPULCO. 
 
 The following morning dawned beautiful and 
 bright. How lovely is early morning in the 
 tropics ! An early breakfast enabled us to take 
 a stroll along the beach. This was the day of 
 departure, and already the fine steamer Golden 
 Gate lay anchored in the offing. The Bay of 
 Panama is one of surpassing beauty. The 
 gleaming shore, shell-strewn and even, slopes 
 gently to the water's edge, reflecting in its trans- 
 parent beauty rock, shells, islands and the my- 
 riad boats that float upon its surface. The bay 
 abounds in islands, green and lovely, and al- 
 most burdened with a w^ealth of tropical ver- 
 dure Here are ornamental and pictueresque 
 haciendas, owned and occupied by the wealthy 
 Dons. Through field and meadow and pasture 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 41 
 
 land roam their fat herds, and goats, and sheep 
 climb nimbly over the overhanging rocks, giv- 
 ing to the lovely picture an air of homelike 
 beauty. In the offing lay moored numerous 
 vessels — sailing ships, barks, steamships, etc. 
 — and noticeable among them was a large Brit- 
 ish man-of-war. Her ponderous hull and omi- 
 nous port-holes, from which could be distinctly 
 seen the mounted cannon, frowned darkly over 
 the green surface of the bay. How fragrant 
 was the breeze, blown shoreward from the 
 islands! It was perfumed with an aroma of 
 spices, oranges, the sweet scent of the coffee 
 tree, and the myriad odors of the productions 
 of the fascinating tropics. Here everything 
 suggests indolence, luxury, abundance, ease. 
 No busy hum of trade and commerce, no stir 
 and strife of progress and improvement disturbs 
 the ease-loving natives. The poorer classes, as 
 a rule, collect the mango, the cocoa, the yam, 
 the plantain, and other wild fruits for their liv- 
 ing—and for their dress — but this was a matter 
 which seemed to be of minor importance to 
 them, a yard of cotton cloth being generally 
 sufficient for a full suit. 
 
 It was not long after sunrise before prepara- 
 tions for embarkatioQ were made. The bay, 
 gently sloping out to deep water for a distance 
 of a hundred yards or more, was so shallow that 
 even the small boats could not reach the shore.- 
 
42 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 How were we to traverse this intervening stretch 
 of sea? With iis there was no modern Moses, 
 who with a wave of his rod could bid the waves 
 roll back, and leave for our willing feet a dry 
 roadway to the vessel. In my wanderings it 
 had been my fortune to have been familiar with, 
 the various mod^s of ti'avel known to Christen- 
 dom — steamshiiD, steamboat, canal boat, flat 
 boat, stage-ride, horseback, muleback — ])ut the 
 means necessary to be employed in order to 
 reach the small boats was a "new departure" 
 from any style of traveling which I had hereto- 
 fore known. As the Central American native 
 seems to be. to all intents and purposes, an am- 
 phibious animal, it was therefore necessary, as 
 the only available ex23edient, to call into requi- 
 sition his services for this important undertak- 
 ing. Previous to this, many of the ladies had 
 thought that a muleback ride comprised the 
 realization of the horrible. What, therefore, 
 must have been their despair when they saw 
 that, in order to traverse that sheet of inter- 
 vening sea, it was necessary — nay, unavoidable 
 — to take that celebrated "post-back" ride with 
 which all early Oalifornians are acquainted, 
 either thx^ough experience or rehearsal. 
 
 The scene on the beach was one never to be 
 forgotten. It is photograplied on my memory 
 with imperishable fidelity. Beyond, in the of- 
 fing, lay the grand steamer, her officers and 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 43' 
 
 crew busy in making preparations for a speedy 
 departure. Near by were tlie small boats, 
 manned by swartliy natives; and on the beach 
 Avere crowds of passengers and piles of baggage 
 and freight. Among them all moved the dusky, 
 half-nude figures of the natives, intent on mak- 
 ing as many ten-cent trips, the price of trans- 
 portation, as possible. The outlook was any- 
 thing but desirable. Anxious faces looked sea- 
 ward, and trembling voices inquired if the boats 
 could not be "got nearer." Ladies looked dis- 
 mayed, and fat people, men and women, were 
 in despair; but, whatever feelings of repug- 
 nance or fear we may have had to this novel 
 mode of traveling, had to be thrust aside. It 
 was one of the things inevitable, and the placid 
 bay was soon disturbed by the lithe figures of 
 the natives, bearing their novel burdens to the 
 boats. What a medley of voices! — screaming 
 and crying and laughing, not to chronicle any 
 harsher expression of feeling. A thin, slender 
 native offered his services to an alder manic old 
 gentleman. "Me pack Mericano — ten cent," 
 said the native. "O, God bless me!" puffed 
 tlie old gentleman, "I'm afraid — I'm afraid, 
 my good fellow — I'm afraid you couldn't just 
 stand up to it." "O, me pack— -me pack," in- 
 sisted the native. The gentleman, seeing no 
 better opportunity, accepted of his services, 
 but his thin shanks trembled visiblv, and when, 
 
44 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 about half way to the boats, the native slip]3ed, 
 it brought a terrific scream from the frightened 
 voyager. 
 
 As we were all burdened with our traveling 
 equipments, each tried to take what they could. 
 As a consequence many an article w^as dropped 
 by its frightened owner and went bobbing over 
 the smooth surface of the bay ; gripsacks, hand 
 satchels, shawls, etc., were seen occasionally, 
 floating on the waves ; they were, however, 
 generally recovered by the agile natives. By 
 the small boats we were conveyed to the ship's 
 side, where a pair of steps were lowered to the 
 water's edge, and by this means we ascended to 
 the deck. If the sea happened to be rough, it 
 was with great difficulty that the boats could 
 keep their position near enough to the steps, in 
 which event there was danger of losing one's 
 footing and slipping between ; fortunately we 
 had no serious accident. After the completion 
 of the railroad across the Isthmus a staunch 
 wharf was built by the company, and vessels 
 since steam up to the wharf, receiving and de- 
 livering freight and passengers without the in- 
 convenience which the early emigrant experi- 
 enced. A gentleman whom I met years after- 
 wards, and who had shortly before visited the 
 East, remarked: "Well, the railroad is com- 
 pleted across the Isthmus; the passengers step 
 off the ship on to the cars — all very nice and very 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 45 
 
 pleasant ; but there's no more mule back ride, 
 no more post back ride, and not a bit of fun." 
 After much hurry and toil our gallant ship was 
 freighted and filled, and a strong breeze having 
 sprung up, the sails were unfurled, and under 
 steam and sail she swung round and rapidly put 
 to sea. We glide past fragrant islands, rich 
 with their wealth of verdure, their quaint homes 
 nestling in orange and mango groves, the cattle 
 and flocks of goats feeding on the hills — all 
 seen indistinctly through the soft, filmy haze of 
 the tropic seas. With the little boats idly rest- 
 ing in cove or on sandy beach, one recalls to 
 memory the beautiful lines : 
 
 " For tb(-y sail their ships 
 Through the waters that slip 
 Among the bright isles of the good and the blest.'' 
 
 Indeed it was difficult to associate a thought 
 of other than ' ' the good and the blest ' ' with 
 such a picture. One was fain to think that life 
 might pass in such a place without a jarring 
 note or sound of discord to mar the serenity of 
 its luxurious beauty. But around on every 
 hand were the evidences that ignorance and 
 superstition and the despotism of Papal power 
 held dominant swav. No free schools of en- 
 lightenment instructed them in progress and 
 intelligence, and scarcely yet had the illumina- 
 ting daAvn of Christian civilization shed its first 
 faint beams on this gifted tropical land. 
 
46 THE MARCH OF EMPIEE. 
 
 Soon the green shore and the verdant islands 
 were lost to view in the dim rim of the ocean. 
 For days it was ours to see nothing but the 
 blue expanse of waters, its myriad fish, and at 
 rare intervals, a stray sea-bird. With what 
 pleasure we sat at night at the prow of the ves- 
 sel and watched the luminous phosphorescent 
 light, which the ship ploughed up like myriad 
 sparks of fire, as she skimmed through the dark 
 blue water. Often a shoal of fiying fish were 
 blown across the vessel's deck; numbers were 
 caught and examined; they were provided with 
 fin-like wings, with which they were enabled to 
 fly with the wind quite a distance. Large black 
 fish Avere often seen, throwing jets of spray 
 many feet in the air; these fish resemble whales. 
 Porpoises, sharks, and the beautiful changeable 
 dolphin, were at times seen. Early one morn- 
 ing we awoke to find that the mountainous coast 
 of Mexico was plainly visible on our right, and 
 weie told that we were entering the harbor of 
 Acapulco. The bay of Acapulco is perhaps one 
 of the handsomest land-locked harbors in the 
 Avorld. Bock-ribbed and rock-bound, it is sur- 
 rounded on all sides save the one point of en- 
 try. The gray dawn was just stealing over the 
 sleeping water as the vessel cast anchor some 
 distance from the shore. Of the town itself 
 little could be seen; but the old fort, partly 
 dismantled and dilapidated, but still occupied 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 47 
 
 bj the flower of Mexican chivalry, frowned 
 grimly down from its commanding elevation. 
 From the fort ijie beach sloped gently to the 
 water. Out from the shore came numerous 
 smajl boats, resembling canoes, impelled by 
 natives and laden with the most delicious fruits 
 of the tropics, and with rare sea-shells and 
 other curiosities peculiar to the country. They 
 drifted alongside the ship and in broken English 
 offered their wares for sale. Up from the salt 
 sea there floated the fragrant aroma of oranges, 
 pineapples, bananas, lemons, etc., and a brisk 
 trade in these articles commenced. Basket-, 
 with long strings attached, for ihe purpose of 
 drawing our purchases up to the deck, a dis- 
 tance of some 30 or 40 feet, were furnished by the 
 natives. Twenty -five large oranges for 25 cents, 
 pineapples 25 cents each, and everything else 
 in proportion, and soon bunches of the beauti- 
 ful fruit festooned every compiirtment of the 
 vessel. The long saloon was as fragrant as a 
 tropical garden; we had effectually dispelled 
 for that voyage the peculiar salt water smell — 
 the odor of pitch, paint, etc. Most of the pas- 
 sengers ate sparingly, though the tempting fruit 
 looked delicious; but the dread of malaria-^ 
 "Panama fe\^r" — against whose fatal attacks 
 all had been warned, kept their appetite in 
 check. 
 
 Having sold out, most of the boats withdrew 
 
48 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 and then the diving commenced. These Mex- 
 icans take to the water as naturally as a duck; 
 they seem to be as much at home in the water 
 as out of it. Boys, youths, and full grown men 
 would plunge headlong from the prow of .their 
 boats in order to secure the small coins which 
 the passengers, in infinite amusement, tossed 
 from the vessel. Many a time the dusky figure 
 of a Mexican disappeared far out of sight as he 
 searched for the coin, but reappearing, he blew 
 the water from his mouth and shook his shaggy 
 hair like a dog, and was readv for another dive. 
 
 CHARXKR VI. 
 
 STORY OF THE CASTAWAYS — ON WATER ALLOWANCE — COM- 
 MITTED TO THE DEEP — LEFT TO PERISH. 
 
 Here in this rock-bound harbor was brought 
 more vividly to my recollection, the story of my 
 husband's early experience as first related to 
 me. In the spring of 1852 he took passage 
 from New Orleans by way of Central America 
 for California. His ticket took him only as far 
 as Aspinwall, where it was supposed that ves- 
 sels would be in readiness at Panama to take 
 them the remainder of the journey. That year 
 there was a very heavy emigration by sea. To 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIEE. 49 
 
 supply tlie demand, companies of speculators 
 chartered old, unseawortliy vessels, and pro- 
 visioning tliem on tlie cheapest plan, put to sea. 
 In consequence, some of tliem were lost, and 
 some were stranded on tlie Mexican coast, and 
 the passengers abandoned to their fate. So 
 great was the emigration that the port Avas 
 crowded with eager emigrants waiting for ves- 
 sels to take them on. After remaining in Pan- 
 ama some time, my husband, in comj)any with a 
 number of others, took passage on a sailing ves- 
 sel \\ liicli proved to be an old condemned hulk, 
 refitted by a swindling company, and not even 
 *' good for this trip only." Before purchasing 
 tickets, a number 'of the passengers applied to 
 the American Consul at Panama for informa- 
 tion in regard to the vessel, the company, etc., 
 and were assured by him that the Russell, the 
 name of the vessel on which they were to sail, 
 was a seaworthy vessel, and that the company 
 that fitted her out was perfectly reliable and re- 
 sponsible; they therefore purchased tickets, 
 paying $160 to San Francisco. This sum in 
 many instances was all the money many of the 
 passengers could command. Soon after setting 
 sail, they found to their dismay that the ship 
 was poorly provisioned and meagerly supplied 
 with water. To add to their anxiety, for days 
 and days the wind ceased to blow, and they lay 
 3 
 
50 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 becalmed in the awful heat of the torrid sun, 
 under the equator. 
 
 It was not long before they were put on water 
 allowance. A half pint of dirty, thick liquid 
 being a daily allowance. Their pro^dsions con- 
 sisted^of hard, mouldy sea biscuits, rotten meat, 
 mouldy rice, etc., none of it being eatable. 
 Without nourishment, and suffering for want of 
 pure water,' it was not long before the Panama 
 fever seized on the weakest and most delicate, 
 and the measles in an aggravated form, also 
 broke out among them. Many were prostrated 
 and lingered for days and even weeks, piteously 
 moaning in their delirium for home and absent 
 friends, and at last died afar from those they 
 loved; a slow death of disease and starvation, 
 without a draught of pure water to moisten 
 their dying lips. Among the number of that 
 hopeful band, more than twenty died and were 
 solemnly committed to the deep — their half- 
 starved and wretched companions, helpless wit- 
 nesses to the mournful truth. At last, after a 
 period of 53 days, they neared the i:>ort of 
 Acapulco. Here the captain anchored his ves- 
 sel, and having abandoned it, left the jDassen- 
 gers to whatever fate might have in store for 
 them. Cast in a foreign port, without friends, 
 and many of them without money — they real- 
 ized the helplessness of their condition, and 
 dark rumors were afloat of lynching the author 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 51 
 
 of their miseries, but these rumors reaching 
 the captain's ears, doubtless accelerated his de- 
 ])arture , f or he took passage on the next steam- 
 er bound for San Francisco. Those of the pas- 
 sengers who had money did so, also, but many 
 had not a dollar, and were forced to remain. 
 They applied to the American Consul at Aca- 
 pulco, and to his shame be it said, he did noth- 
 ing whatever to assist them in any way. Most 
 of them were sick, all were weak and feeble 
 from long starvation and lack of nourishment; 
 they however obtained fre.>li water but could get 
 nothing to eat without money. Without money 
 and without friends, and unable to understand 
 the language of the natives, they could do 
 nothing — this handful of half-starved men, but 
 to prolong existence as best they could, in the 
 hope that sooner or later they would succeed in 
 escaping on some passing vessel. Such was 
 their almost hopeless condition. 
 
 The provisions which the ship still contained 
 had dwindled down to mouldy rice and mouldy 
 sea biscuits, the biscuits to all appearance 
 having been baked years and years before, and 
 were so hard as to effectually resist all efforts to 
 break them, and when chopped open by means 
 of axes or hatchets, they were full of green and 
 yellow mould, and alive with small black bugs. 
 The starving men often soaked these biscuits in 
 the swill-barrel at the cook house — this being 
 
52 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 all tliat stood between tliem and starvation 
 Tliey were not however alone in their miseries 
 and misfortunes. They found on their arrival 
 that two or three vessels had preceded them, 
 having been cast into port and abandoned by 
 their captains. These vessels had been fitted out 
 by the same company that fitted out the Russell. 
 It Avas without doubt a preconceived arrange- 
 ment to agree to take them through to San Fran- 
 cisco, exacting full fare, and then cast them 
 ashore at Acapulco. The American Consul at 
 Panama was suspected of being interested in 
 the speculation. At least his conduct was 
 reprehensible, as he had not taken the trouble 
 to acquaint himself with the character of the 
 vessels, but not the least shadow of an excuse 
 could be found for the conduct of the Consul 
 at Acapulco. Here were a number of his own 
 countrymen starving and friendless — vrithout 
 the means of assistance, who had been cast 
 ashore at the foreign port where he held his po- 
 sition. They applied to him for assistance, 
 and he did nothing whatever to aid them. 
 
 Had it not been for iiope, they could not have 
 survived — the strongest constitution must have 
 succumbed; but Hope, the blessed illusion, still 
 beckoned them on — kept vigils by their emaci- 
 ated forms in the gloom of midnight; held up 
 her beacon light, brighter than the tropic sun; 
 whispered sweet dreams in their waking and 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 53 
 
 slumbering lionrs, and tlirongh want and sick- 
 ness and delirium, still held out to their won- 
 dering visions the golden promises that had first 
 lured them from home and friends. As days 
 passed on, by degrees the little band was 
 thinned; some died, and some were stowed 
 away on other vessels. Six weeks of this mo- 
 notonous time passed away. Ships often came, 
 laden witli their freight of passengers, and at 
 last, one bright morning, when the fine steamer 
 S. S. Lewis, with her humane captain, came into 
 port, bound for San Francisco, my husband, de- 
 spairing of receiving aid, determined to make a 
 desperate effort to escape. In company with 
 two or three others, he walked on board the 
 vessel, immediately set to work among the sail- 
 ors, and mingled with the crew. When fairly 
 out to sea, he went to the Captain and plainly 
 told his story, at the same time expressing his 
 willingness to work for his passage. The Cap- 
 tain, a noble and humane man, replied: ''Well, 
 that's all right. I'll give you a good, easy job," 
 and directed him to wash the decks once a day. 
 It was better fortune than was anticipated. In 
 tljose days so-called " stow-aways" were often 
 disposed of without much ceremony. A large 
 rock on the Mexican coast was pointed out to 
 me, where it was said that an inhuman captain 
 of a ship, on finding a ''stow-away" on his ves- 
 sel, had him conveyed and there left him to per- 
 
54 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 isli. The rock was above water in low tide, but 
 was conpletely covered by the sea in high tide- 
 When found on his vessel they were nearing 
 this rock, and the tide being low, he had him. 
 taken in a boat, and left there. Some kind na- 
 tives happened to see his perilous situation and 
 went to his rescue. The story, which doubtless 
 was true, has invested the rock with imperisha- 
 ble fame. On arriving in San Francisco, my 
 husband learned that the authorities there had 
 heard of the forlorn and helpless condition of 
 the passengers of the "Russell" and other ves- 
 sels at Acapulco, and had sent a ship to their 
 relief. What must have been their feelings of 
 gratitude and thankfulness on their safe arrival 
 after so long and perilous a voyage — a voyage 
 which, from the time they left the port of New 
 Orleans till they landed on the Pacific shore, 
 occupied a period of nearly six months. To 
 those who now make the journey from New 
 York to San Francisco in six or eight days, 
 these old stories of the early emigrants' jour- 
 neys and voyages, fraught with peril, romantic 
 adventures and hardships, seem like a sensa- 
 tional novel. For the most part, they are being 
 rapidly forgotten. Now and then we see a gray- 
 haired pioneer relating his early experiences j 
 but the noble ranks of the early pioneers are 
 growing sadly thin, and the young and rising 
 generation is filling up the vacancies. When we 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 55 
 
 look abroad upon the land, and see the wealth 
 of her splendid cities, and the beanty and pros- 
 perity of her country homes, how little we think 
 of the priceless treasures that were poured out 
 for their purchase — of the toil and self-denial 
 and sacrifice of those whose first footsteps left 
 their impress on her soil. 
 
 CHAP^TKR VII. 
 
 A GRAVE BY THE SEASIDE — THE MEETING OF A STEAMER — 
 THE SHIP ON FIRE — STANDING ON THE SHORE, 
 
 Before leaving the harbor of Acapulco, let me 
 direct the reader's attention or memory to a 
 grove of palm trees at the northern extremity 
 of the bay; drooping and cool, the luxurious 
 leaves seem trailing their slender points in the 
 rippling water. In the bosom of the grove is 
 the grave of a young American lady. The story 
 is one full of touching interest, and was related 
 to me by an eye witness of the occurrence. The 
 captain of a ship was taking his young and 
 beautiful sister to the Sandwich Islands for her 
 health, but when within -a short distance of 
 Acapulco she died. Within this lonely grove 
 of palms her grave was made. 
 
56 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 And there they laid her, 'mid the dark, dim 
 
 Shades, where orange flowers ever bloom above her tomb; ■ 
 
 Near the bi'oad bay, sheltered from the ocean's storms, 
 
 Where tropic breezes softly blow; and voyagers upon 
 
 The sunlit sea look on her place of rest and heed 
 
 It not — unknowing that beneath these shadowy 
 
 Palms, in this secluded spot, a gentle maiden sleeps. 
 
 Though our short stay at the port of Aca- 
 pulco was full of interest, and served to dispel 
 for the time the monotony of the voyage; yet 
 when the vessel swung round, and with her 
 prow turned northward was steaming up the 
 coast, we looked ahead with eager hopes, know- 
 ing that with no untoward circumstances, and 
 wdtli fair weather, in a few short days — 
 
 " That upward from yon sun-lined main 
 We soon should see the golden shore." 
 
 Up to this time little sickness and no deaths 
 had occurred, but one morning we heard that a 
 young German, with whom we were slightly 
 acquainted, was very sick. He had eaten too 
 much of the '^forbidden fruit," fever ensued, 
 and soon he was raving in delirium. His rav- 
 ings, in broken English, were pitiful to hear. 
 Nothing, however, could alleviate his sufferings; 
 he lingered so for a few days, and one morning 
 I woke to find that an ominous stillness reigned 
 about his state-room — it was the awful silence 
 of death. In the still watches of the night his 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 57 
 
 spirit had passed away. A little band of 
 friends gathered around and prepared his body 
 for burial. A burial at sea is one of more than 
 ordinary solemnity. The body was brought on 
 deck and sewed securely in a canvas sheet, a 
 weight being placed at the feet, and, while the 
 steamer lay to and silently floated on the waves, 
 friends and companions gathered around, and 
 in the soft glow of the evening sunset a chapter 
 was read and a prayer solemnly offered up. 
 The remains were then placed on a board, feet 
 outward, and amid the awful stillness it was 
 slowly lowered into the bosom of the ocean — 
 the waves parted, closed over the inanimate 
 form, and all that was mortal of one who had 
 lately moved among us, the picture of life and 
 high health, had sunk to rest in that dreamless 
 sleep that knows no awakening until ' ' the sea 
 shall give up its dead." To most of us he was 
 a stranger, but doubtless in the far off Father- 
 land some loving heart broke over the sad news 
 of his early death, and waiting hearts hoped 
 anxiously for letters from the absent one — let- 
 ters that never came, and how vainly they lis- 
 tened for the footstep and the sound of the fa- 
 miliar voice that was destined never again to 
 wake the echoes of home. Three times after- 
 wards we were witnesses of the solemn and 
 mournful ceremony of a burial at sea. 
 
 Still steaming up the coast we saw, one bright 
 3^ 
 
58 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 da}^ far ahead of us, a faint object on the rim 
 of the horizon; each moment it becomes more 
 palpably real, and we are soon conscions that it 
 is a vessel nearing us. How shall I describe 
 the meeting of a steamer on the wild loneliness 
 of the ocean? Dimly we see her masts and 
 rigging, and her black hull ploughing through 
 the dancing waves. All eyes are centered on 
 the object; nearer she comes, over the deep, 
 like a thing of life, sails and pennants and flags 
 streaming in the breeze, and a dark vapor of 
 smoke trailing like a cloudy veil to the wind- 
 ward; we hear the throb of her mighty engines, 
 the dip and splash of her revolving wheels — 
 nearer she comes ! There's a jingling of little 
 bells, a cessation of the throbbing of the en- 
 gines, the paddle wheels are still, and gently 
 gliding she floats upon the waves — a queen of 
 the sea. Crowded on the prow are the passen- 
 gers, waving hats and handkerchiefs, while 
 cheer upon cheer rings like welcome music 
 over tlie wild waves. The shouts are caught up 
 on our side, and echoed back again and again. 
 A small boat puts out from the steamer, manned 
 by two jolly tars, and bearing the captain or 
 first officer, who boards us and presents our 
 captain with the latest news from California. 
 There is an interchange of news, of friendly 
 feeling, and soon Ave see the small boat return- 
 ing. Again there is a jingling of the little 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 59 
 
 bells, a heaving of the engines, and the wheels 
 begin to revolve; a dip and a splash of the 
 wheels, and then another cheer rings clear and 
 musical, with echo upon echo, and the steamers 
 have passed. How like the- fleeting vision of 
 many a winsome face we have met on the broad 
 ocean of life ! Though the event in itself seems 
 trivial, yet the meeting of a vessel in mid ocean 
 and a friendly interchange of salutes, is like a 
 green spot in the wilderness, or like a friendly 
 face in a foreign land. It breaks the monotony 
 of thought; it breaks the monotony of the view 
 of endless waves forever rolling outward toward 
 the great sun, which seems to set within their 
 depths. 
 
 We passed one fair day the dark and desolate 
 looldng Island of Marguerita. Its rocky head- 
 lands and inhospitable shores had a short time 
 before been the scene of a terrible disaster. In 
 1853, the "Independence," bound for San Fran- 
 cisco, when near the island struck on a rock. 
 The thrilling story of the wreck was related to 
 me by a friend, who was one of her passengers. 
 Soon after striking, it was discovered that the 
 ship was on fire; every effort was made to quench 
 the flames — crew and passengers worked brave- 
 ly, and succeeded in keeping it in check until 
 they neared the island. It was the captain's 
 hope to drive her on the beach. A scene of the 
 wildest confusion now ensued; as the ship was 
 
60 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 filling witli water the boats were immediately 
 lowered, but so eager were the excited jDassen- 
 gers to escape, that the first two or three boats 
 were overloaded, and amid the din and general 
 confusion, and the terrified shrieks of men, 
 women and children, they sank before they left 
 the side of the shij^. The excitement amounted 
 to a panic. Hundreds of passengers jumped 
 overboard in the vain hope of swimming to the 
 shore. As they touched the water, they were 
 grasped by those who were already drowning; 
 others joined them, and clinging to each other 
 in groups and knots in the struggle for life, and 
 in the agony of despair and death, they sank to 
 rise no more. It was useless to endeavor to 
 swim when the sea around the vessel was full of 
 drowning men. 
 
 An attempt was made to save some by means 
 of a strong cable which was attached to the ship, 
 a boat having succeeded in reaching the shore 
 and securely fastening the other end. The rope 
 was soon filled, but so great was the strain 
 upon it that it broke midway, precipitating the 
 passengers into the sea. My friend and his 
 companion were ex23ert swimmers, but the dis- 
 tance and the roughness of the sea rendered the 
 attempt doubtful. Most of the women and 
 children were saved; the captain stood with pis- 
 tol in hand, declaring he would shoot down any 
 man who tried to escape in the boats before the 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 61 
 
 ladies were all saved. My friend and liis com- 
 panion were calm and self-possessed; tliey wit- 
 nessed tlie terrible scene, and concluded to re- 
 main on board as long as possible, and when the 
 vicinity around the burning vessel was cleared 
 of the dead and drowning, they would make a 
 brave attempt to swim for their lives. At last 
 the auspicious moment arrived. The heat was 
 now becoming intolerable, and the ship was 
 rapidly sinking. Realizing their awful situa- 
 tion, they looked into each other's faces — ''now 
 for it," said one, and hastily divesting them, 
 selves of most of their clothing, they looked 
 ahead, and seeing the way was clear, they simul- 
 taneously made a bold leap from the doomed 
 ship. "We took it easy," said my friend, 
 when relating the story, "resting occasionally, 
 and then going ahead with even, steady strokes; 
 biit I found before proceeding half the dis- 
 tance, that fatigue was telling on me. I rested 
 oftener, my companion always keeping near, 
 but somewhat in advance. My limbs began to 
 feel numb and torpid; a terrible weakness and 
 lassitude was stealing over me, I looked and 
 saw that the shore was slowly growing nearer — 
 but every stroke now required my utmost 
 strength, I looked again, and saw my compan- 
 ion standing on the shore and beckoning me, 
 but my strength had failed — not even his cheers 
 could renew my energy. It required all my ef- 
 
62 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 forts to l)car myself up. Suddenly I felt myself 
 borne onwarl by ii strong wave, and with joy 
 unspeakable, I realized tliat my hands touched 
 the sands of the shore! With that thrill of rap- 
 ture, all consciousness fled. When I awoke, I 
 was resting ' high and dry ' on the warm 
 sands of the beach — ^out of the reach of the 
 tide. By my side sat my companion, weak and 
 f^int, he too had had a close race for life; but 
 reaching the shore some moments in advance 
 of me, was just able to drag my senseless form 
 out of the way of the receding waves." The 
 scene was one which well might fill with dismay 
 the stoutest heart. In the offing, tossed by the 
 surging waves, was the dismantled ship, from 
 stem to stern a complete mass of lurid flame. 
 On the rock-bound beach, gathered in groups, 
 were the pitif iil remnant of destitute passengers. 
 Some weeping bitterly and calling on those they 
 loved, searched eagerly the bodies of the dead 
 that the waves had cast up, in the hope of rec- 
 ognizing a friend. Most of the women were 
 saved, but some of them had lost all that hith- 
 erto lent to life its brightest charm — a husband, 
 brother or son. Of all that hopeful and happy 
 throng that took passage on the staunch and 
 nol)le ship, only a small remnant remained 
 alive, and those were cast on a desolate island, 
 half-clothed, without shelter, and nearly desti- 
 tute — the outlook was indeed a gloomy one. A 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIEE. 63 
 
 small store of provisions had be 311 hastily 
 throYvii into one of the boats. Bat relief soon 
 came; by some means, the news of the disaster 
 soon reached San Francisco, and a ship was sent 
 to their assistance. Whatever may have been said 
 of the " greed of gold," v\^hich prompted thou- 
 sands to seek C ilifornia in its earliest days, it 
 had no effect in closing their hearts to the cry 
 of suffering. Their sensitive hearts responded 
 quickly to the appeals of sorro^v and misfor- 
 tune, and with open-handed generosity they 
 were ever ready to relieve the wants of the des- 
 titute and distressed. And be it said, too, to 
 their honor, that the habit has not "grown 
 weary in well doing." The many charitable in- 
 stitutions and homes for the friendless, stand 
 as eloquent monuments to their noble deeds. 
 
 CHAT^TKR VIII. 
 
 THE QUEEN ^OF THE WEST — "THE HOXEST MIN^ER" — TOWARD 
 THE MINES. 
 
 At the close of a long, fair day, the 26th of 
 October, 1854, our voyage was nearing its com- 
 pletion. The sea was possessed of that happy 
 quiet known to the Pacific. Over its bosom the 
 myriad lights reflected and radiated from the 
 gold of the vanished sun. The dancing waves 
 
64 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 S33med joyously luring us onward. To the 
 riglit t!i3 ro3ky hsadlands of the coast of Cali- 
 fornia became each instant more distinctly visi- 
 ble, and wrapt in the blue haze of distance 
 and dimly seen in the gathering twilight, we 
 discerned the gray wings of the Golden Gate, 
 as though thrown open to receive us. A dreamy 
 vapor, of soft, gray tint, wrapt its battlemented 
 heights, between which flowed in ceaseless 
 grandeur the broad surface of the sea. As night 
 drew on, the myriad stars in the blue dome of 
 heaven cast their clear reflections upon the 
 water, and lit like beacon lights our pathway 
 on the deep. With what happy hearts we 
 neared the shore — the golden shore — the land 
 of enchantment, of beauty, of dazzling wealth. 
 Floating outward from the dusky rim of ' ' the 
 long, low-lying golden strand," came the sweet 
 land breeze, so fragrant to our senses, so grate- 
 ful to the weary voyager. With hearts elate 
 and eyes happy with delight, we strain our vis- 
 ion to catch a glimpse through the dusky shadows 
 of the night of the imperial city of the west — 
 the queen of the Pacific ! Out of the gloom 
 there flashes a light ! another, and yet another, 
 and lo ! before our enraptured vision, she sits 
 enthroned upon her thousand hills, her myriad 
 lights flashing and radiating like so many thou- 
 sand gems far out on the bosom of the tranquil 
 bay. To us the strange, bright land means 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIBE. 65 
 
 home, and the steamer Laving moored at the 
 wharf, we gratefully and with happy hearts take 
 up our line of march for the shore. How awk- 
 wardly and unsteadily our '' sea legs " navigate 
 for a time the smooth and level wharf and plank 
 walk. So long accustomed to the pitch and 
 toss and careening motion of the ship, we with 
 difficulty graduate our locomotion to the solid, 
 unyielding surface of mother earth. 
 
 Well, reader, if you have ever been on ship 
 board you will know with what pleasure — nay, 
 unspeakable delight — we sat down to a supper of 
 beefsteak, eggs, fresh butter, etc., and lingering 
 over it all was the delicious fragrance of home 
 and land, and we may be excused if with an 
 unusual flow of spirits we next morning arose 
 and looked out upon the broad, green land, and 
 felt that we were free to roam wherever we list. 
 No longer imprisoned in the narrow confines of 
 the vessel, at the mercy of wind and wave, but 
 standing on American soil and gazing over the 
 broad and beautiful land, we felt that it was 
 ours. Even at this early date San Francisco 
 possessed many of the characteristics of a well 
 developed city. For the most part the build- 
 ings were hastily erected wooden structures 
 built to supply the immediate demand, but it 
 contained many handsome and costly- edifices, 
 numerous churches, schools, public halls, and 
 one fine theater. Situated as it was among the 
 
66 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 sand liills, tlie streets extended over hills and 
 hollows, very little attention at that early date 
 having been paid to grading and leveling. A 
 large part of the business portion of the city 
 was built over the bay — an insecure foundation 
 one felt it to be, and which it proved in many 
 instances; the rotting away of the planks on the 
 sidewalks and wdiarves created the fatal " man 
 traps" so well remembered of those early 
 times, and which rendered it unsafe for pedes- 
 trians at night, esjDecially strangers. The city 
 of San Francisco was peculiar in many respects. 
 When we come to reflect that only six years 
 before it w^as an insignificant trading post, 
 known as Yerba Buena (sweet herb), with no 
 stir and none of the energetic activity that 
 marks the thriving metropolis, and possessing 
 only a few hundred inhabitants, we look upon 
 its sudden growth and evidences of wealth as 
 something akin to enchantment. 
 
 In one short year, the year of 1849, it in- 
 creased in population from two to twenty thou- 
 sand. We look in wonder upon its crowded 
 wharves, with merchandise from every land; its 
 thronging thoroughfares, filled with energetic 
 citizens and strangers; and out upon the cres- 
 cent rim of its beautiful bay, and see steamers, 
 shij^s and vessels of every description and of 
 every nationality, riding at anchor or arriving 
 and departing. In wonder and admiration we 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 67 
 
 ask : Whence comes tliis change ? What magic 
 has wrought this wonderful transformation? 
 The mystery is solved in the answer: Gold! the 
 powerful lever that moves the civilized world. 
 Since the first discovery of gold, at Sutter's 
 Mill, near Coloma, in January, 1848, the aurif- 
 erous metal had poured in almost ceaseless 
 profusion into the city from the mines in the 
 interior. One could hear its musical ring from 
 day to day in the crowded business houses and 
 banking establishments; and night and day the 
 gambling saloons, fitted up in glittering splendor, 
 held their gilded portals open to the professional 
 sharper and the unskilled dupe. As San Francis- 
 co was the nucleus of all trafiic-on the Pacific 
 Coast, the "honest miner," having '^made his 
 pile," returning homeward, spent a few days in 
 the city; or, wishing to have a rest and a good 
 time, came hither. Away from friends, and 
 weary of the thronging masses that surged up 
 and down the busy streets, lonely and home- 
 sick, the open and hospitable doors of the 
 gambling saloons presented a pleasant tempta- 
 tion. Inside was light, cordiality, music, and 
 around the long tables centred an uuAvonted 
 attraction. Groups of men stood eagerly watch- 
 ing the players, as fortunes changed hands on 
 a throw of the dice or the turn of a card. Un- 
 der such circumstances, what wonder, if be- 
 coming mad with play and reckless with drink. 
 
68 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 men risked all, and losing, ended life by their 
 own hands. 
 
 The peculiar characteristics of the society of 
 this young and wondrous city were due to the 
 very circumstances to which it owed its growth 
 and onward march. The potent cry of gold, its 
 discovery and profusion, had reached not only 
 the Eastern States, but had spread over all 
 parts of the world. Bepresentatives of every 
 quarter of the globe flocked to its golden Shores. 
 Every language under the sun was syllabled on 
 her crowded streets. Every denomination of 
 religion was respected and tolerated. Here 
 stood, in unostentatious modesty, the Chris- 
 tian's house of worship, and by its side was the 
 gaudy pagan temple — the joss house of the 
 Chinaman — also the synagogue of the Jew. 
 Each worshipped his own peculiar God in his 
 own peculiar fashion. There was but one god 
 to whom all devotees bowed in universal hom- 
 age, irrespective of "race, age, color or prev- 
 ious condition," wdthout regard to politics or 
 place of birth, each heart poured out the rich 
 libation of its homage to the god gold. Gold 
 was the grand incentive — everywhere was the 
 extravagant display of wealth. Ladies prom- 
 enaded the streets attired in delicate-hued 
 silks and satins; others not so gayly, but just 
 as extravagantly dressed, appeared in rich and 
 heavy velvets and satins, and flashing with 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 69 
 
 jems set in tlie pure yellow gold of tlie country. 
 The grand opportunities of this far western 
 slope offered rare inducements to all classes of 
 men, unsuccessful politicians, lawyers, and 
 "gentlemen of leisure " who belong to that vast 
 class who, like Micawber, are always looking for 
 "something to turn up;" and men of the worst 
 character — thieves, gamblers, desperadoes, etc. 
 — mixed in the crowded thoroughfares. In such 
 a pecvdiar society, it would seem that it would 
 require ages and ages to transfer or remodel it 
 into anything approaching harmony and order. 
 Though gold was the grand incentive, yet there 
 were not wanting good men, men of noble 
 worth and sterling principles, who on more than 
 one occasion when justice slumbered and right 
 was crushed, and wrong, riot and outrage ran 
 through the country, by their wisdom and concer- 
 ted movement saved and restored society to tran- 
 quility and order. No small degree of praise is 
 due, also, to the noble Christian women, who 
 having left home and early friendships, came 
 with their families to sojourn in this new land. 
 It Avas due largely to their influence and exer- 
 tions that churches flourished, Sunday schools 
 were inaugurated, and many societies for the 
 relief of the sick, friendless and distressed were 
 organized. TIiosl' early pioneer women were 
 the very "Mothers of Israel" to the young, 
 disorganized and reckless state of society at 
 that time. 
 
70 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 Time could not be taken to remain long in 
 San Francisco. Our future home was nestling 
 among tlie aromatic liills of the Sierras — tliitlier 
 one bright morning we turned our faces, and 
 once more we were on the broad and beautiful 
 bay; we enter the noble Sacramento — in its 
 primitive beauty it was a lovely stream — clear 
 as crystal, abounding in salmon and other fish. 
 Since the mining era its waters have become 
 unlovely and muddy. Barges and scows fleck 
 its bosom, bearing grain, vegetables, and pro- 
 duce of all kinds to the Bay. Along the banks 
 are numerous Indian villages. Here, "Lo, the 
 poor Indian," spears salmon and dries them in 
 the sun. The Digger Indian is a wretched, 
 dirty, miserable creature, so far removed in his 
 habits from humanity, as to scarcely be deserv- 
 ing of the name. So hideous do the older ones 
 appear, that they are often frightful. It was a 
 long time before I could accustom myself to 
 look at them without a feeling of re23ugnance. 
 The absence of all the noble traits with which 
 Fennimore Cooper and like writers have invest- 
 ed the Indian character, in them is painfully 
 conspicuous. They are small in stature, indo- 
 lent, treacherous and cowardly, and like their 
 more noble brethren are fast passing away. It 
 is with surprise and pleasure that we note the 
 many prosperous looking farms or "ranches" 
 as they are termed in the far west, along the 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 71 
 
 banks of the river. The rich bottom lands pro- 
 duced a wonderful growth of cereals and vege- 
 tables, which brought exorbitant prices in 
 market. Glimpses of numerous river towns, 
 among them Yallejo, Benicia, Sacramento, etc., 
 lent to the country an Eastern aspect, and hav- 
 ing reached Marysville at the junction of the 
 Yuba and Feather Eivers, a pretty town of sev- 
 eral thousand inhabitants and a stirring centre 
 of trade for the broad plains and many mining 
 vicinities, we took the stage for Nevada City — 
 the place of our destination. Broad plains and 
 rich bottom lands hitherto undisturbed by the 
 plow, the domains of "Uncle Sam," lay invit- 
 ingly open to the energies and industries of the 
 tillers of the soil. It was a popular idea at that 
 time that the plain land was worthless, except 
 for. grazing purpose?. A few years, however, 
 changed that impression. 
 
 SCENES IN THE MINES — THE "LONG TOM " — THE ROCKER — 
 THE CHINAMAN, ETC. 
 
 Some miles from Marysville, we came in 
 sight of the first mining camp. Down near the 
 bed of the river miners were at work; some 
 shoveling, some digging, and others throwing 
 
72 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 dirt into an odd-looking contrivance for saving- 
 gold — tlie *'Long Tom," an improvement on the 
 "Eocker;" the Rocker being about the first 
 rudely-constructed appliance for that purpose. 
 Up to this time, the Rocker and the Long Tom 
 were in popular use in the rich surface diggings 
 along the beds of the rivers. Gold was then 
 plentiful and easily saved by the simplest pro- 
 cess. The miner toiled day in and day out, 
 cheered by th'j reward of yellow gold; and at 
 night dreaming of home and loved ones, the 
 music of the Long Tom, mingled with the sweet 
 voices heard in his dreams. At first sight, a 
 miner's camp Avas not to the newly-arrived 
 Easterner a very attractive spot, being very 
 often a collection of rude cabins built of un- 
 hewed pine logs, with chimney of stone or rock 
 in the gable end. Above towered the tall, mo- 
 tionless pines, through whose branches the gen- 
 tle wind made mysterious and fascinating music 
 — below, roared the yellow waters of the river, 
 and in the background, the yellow hillsides 
 were seamed and scarred — the rugged surface 
 laid open, scraped and marred by the pick and 
 shovel of the indomitable miner. As v\^e ap- 
 proached that part of the road which lay along 
 the banks of the Yuba, mining camps became ' 
 more numerous, some very attractive and pietty 
 villages enlivening the scene. Here the inno- 
 vations of the Chinamen were observed. Already 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 73 
 
 in the early history of California they were be- 
 ginning to crowd white men to the wall. At 
 iirst they worked mines that white men had de- 
 serted, but gradually in their own unobtrusive 
 way, possessed themselves of some of the most 
 valuable surface or placer mines. But they 
 worked their mines on a far different principle 
 from that of others. Others paid their labor- 
 ers high wages, boarding them on the best the 
 country afforded. The Chinamen brought bands 
 of ignorant Coolies from China, who were in 
 reality mere slaves, subject to his commands 
 and entirely obedient to his authority; he fed 
 them on the cheapest diet, rice and other cheap 
 articles of food, shipped from his own country: 
 the clotliing. too, was brought ready-made from 
 China; they slept in tents or cabins deserted by 
 other miners, on bunks made of boards and 
 sacks for bedding, and a sort of stool or box 
 for a pillow. In this way the Chinaman spent 
 none of his golden gains in the country, but 
 steadily and persistently robbed the country of 
 its golden treasure. He sucked the life-blood 
 from her veins, laid open her rich arteries of 
 treasure, and in unremitting toil gathered it up 
 and shipped it to his own land. Though Cali- 
 fornia was a free State, and Americans on their 
 own soil were not permitted to bring and keep 
 slaves to toil in the mines or any other voca- 
 tion, yet the Chinaman was tolerated in carry- 
 4 
 
74 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 ing on a system of slavery, more obnoxious and 
 more ruinous to American interests than was 
 ever African slavery in the Southern States. 
 Strange inconsistency of our Government! As 
 time wore on, the more thoughtful awoke to a 
 realization of the true state of affairs. Every- 
 where bands of these yellow-skinned foreigners 
 were working like swarms of ants, crowding out 
 white men from the best placer mines — where- 
 ever they could get a foothold, there they were. 
 Shipload after shipload was landed in San 
 Francisco — and dispersing, wound their sinuous 
 persistent way to the mines. The voice of indig- 
 nation rose in strong protest against them. 
 Legislation was appealed to, taxes were imposed 
 on all foreigners, and exacted of Chinaman. A 
 second time taxes were levied on foreigners, 
 Chinamen alone being affected by it. They 
 were required to pay four dollars per month for 
 working in the mines, but they knew no such 
 thing as discouragement. Whenever possible, 
 they evaded the tax collector. When he made 
 his appearance at a viUage, a runner was sent 
 to the next, and thence to the next, and soon, 
 as if by magic, swarms of Chinamen laden with 
 provisions, bundles, etc., Avere seen ambling 
 from the villages seeking a hiding place in the 
 foot-hills; there they remained a few days till 
 they supposed the tax collector had passed, 
 and gathering again in the mines, were soon es- 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 75 
 
 tablished at work. Not infrequently imposi- 
 tions were practiced upon tliem by tlie miners, 
 who viewed them with dislike and suspicion. 
 During the dry season, the ''honest miner," 
 ever ready for an opportunity to earn a ' ' few 
 scads," would occasionally arm himself with a 
 large ledger, and donning a coat and assuming 
 a solemn and official air, repair to a Chinese 
 camp to ''collect taxes." On such unlooked- 
 for calls, the Celestials were generally taken un- 
 awares, and generally obedient, and cowardly 
 delivered up "the ready." If, however, ihey 
 were disposed to dispute or evade the point, 
 the muzzle of a revolver comj)elled compliance. 
 Such raids were regarded by many of the miners 
 as a good "joke," and were related with much 
 satisfaction. Even at this period they were re- 
 garded with great detestation, and the universal 
 sentiment was against them. It was the first 
 mutterings of the storm — whose rumblings 
 have since been heard along the distant years, 
 and the fur\' of which have at different times 
 risen and subsided — but which to the prophetic 
 eye, we fear, has not yet culminated. "Over- 
 head the clouds hang low and heavy, as though 
 the storm is stayed but not spent." 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been done to 
 stop their further immigration, true to their 
 character, they are quietly and persistently 
 penetrating our borders, and in every way pos- 
 
76 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 sible, evading the law. What is to be the end 
 of all this? is the pertinent query; a question 
 that has agitated the country since the first 
 years after the discovery of gold, " China cheap 
 labor" is encouraged by monopolies — railroad 
 corporations, steamship companies and the or- 
 ganizations that profit by their labor; but it is 
 the working classes who have keenly felt their 
 demoralizing and distressing influence, the in- 
 dustrious and deserving, whom by their cheap 
 labor they have crowded to the wall and impov- 
 erished. In those years they had not as tliej 
 have of late, supplanted white labor in the dif- 
 ferent branches of mechanical pursuits — large 
 manufacturing establishments, and also in the 
 rural districts where they are employed in vine- 
 yards hop-yards, clearing land, and in other 
 ways, not to mention them as having entirely 
 monopolized the position of cooks, house-ser- 
 vants, gardeners, laundrymen, etc. In every 
 branch of industry, tuJiite labor has been crippled 
 and paralyzed in consequence of our inability to 
 cope with the low rate of wages for which 
 Chinamen are satisfied to work. 
 
THE DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS — THE TOWN OF GRASS VALLEY — 
 AN IRASCIBLE MINER. 
 
 How deli glitf 111 was my first view of the 
 mountains, the delectable mountains ! Kising 
 from the low foot-hills, swell upon swell and 
 crest upon crest, until dim and vague their 
 snowj summits were merged in the pale 
 blue of the far horizon, and as the coach wound 
 its way among the hills, the aromatic odors of 
 pine, fir and other species of evergreens came 
 to us with a pleasing sense of newness; then, 
 too, the sun shone with a new and fascinating 
 brilliancy, throwing its golden shafts through 
 the dark trees that stood in solemn grandeur 
 along the wayside, or illuminating the depths 
 of cool canons where the river swept its flashing 
 waters onward. Everything was new and 
 strange, and for me possessed an indescribable 
 charm. The active and energetic towns of 
 Kough and Keady and Grass Valley, presented 
 many attractive home pictures. Here, too, 
 were churches and schools. Wherever fam- 
 ilies sojourned, churches and schools were 
 found — we say sojourned, for very few, if 
 any, in those days contemplated permanently 
 
78 
 
 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 settling in the country; some set the limit of 
 their stay to two years, some to three, but very 
 few to more than five. At the expiration of 
 their self-imposed exile thoy confidently ex- 
 pected to have made tlieii- fortune, and return 
 "home." But as time wore on, and in many 
 instances " fickle fortune " eluded their grasp, 
 they came to love the strange, new country, its 
 salubrious climate, the pleasant mornings and 
 cool, restful nights, and saw that the earth 
 wherever watered yielded abundantly, they be- 
 gan to make homes, to plant orchards and vine- 
 yards, and with a shivering feeling tiiey looked 
 back to the sterile, barren winters and the sul- 
 try heat of the Eastern States, and found that 
 they were wedded to the new home, its very 
 customs, the freedom of its lovely hills and val- 
 leys. Maiiy, however, suffered keenly the tor- 
 tures of home-sick less in vain yearnings to see 
 the loved ones of old; like Rachael weeping for 
 her children, they "would not be comforted, 
 because they were not." At the hotel in Grass 
 Valley where we stopped for dinner, I fell into 
 conversation with the pleasant landlady. I re- 
 marked on the beauty of the surrounding hills 
 and lovely view before us. "Ah, yes," she 
 replied, "it is all very beautiful, but," with a 
 little sigh, "it is not like home." I then knew, 
 by the far-away look so full of sadness that her 
 gentle heart was pining for the old home-life, 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 79 
 
 the dear companions. and well-beloved associa- 
 tions. Her grieving heart doubtless echoed 
 the sentiment — 
 
 "I'm lone and sad — and why not be? — 
 
 Upon this foreign strand, 
 
 For o'er the deep, nnfathomed sea 
 Sweet th lights will ever visit thee 
 
 My home — my native land!" 
 
 The town of Grass Valley was noted as the 
 place where the first quartz mill was erected 
 and successfully run. It was for a long time 
 
 the home of Delano (more generally known 
 
 as " Old Block "), a genial writer of early days, 
 whose "Chips of the Old Block," containing 
 humorous sketches of crossing the plains, life 
 in the mines, etc., were universally read. Here 
 also dwelt, for some time, the erratic Lola 
 Montez. 
 
 It was about three o' clock in the afternoon 
 that the coach, enveloped in a cloud of dust, 
 drove up to the entrance of the Metropolitan, in 
 Nevada City. Around the hotel, and postoffice 
 adjacent, groups of rough-looking miners were 
 assembled; the narrow and busy streets were 
 crowded with a motley throng. Having sought 
 our room and divested ourselves of our travel- 
 ing wraps, we walked out on the verandah, anx- 
 ious to get a glimpse of what was to be our 
 home for an indefinite period. Like a strange 
 
80 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 bird set down on a foreign shore, amid new 
 sights and new scenes, I looked around. The 
 city itself nestled cosily among the hills, in a 
 dip of the mountains, the business portion be- 
 ing compactly built. Scattered around on the 
 adjacent hills, which environ the city proper, 
 were residence houses, cosy cottages and cabins 
 of the miners — portions of the city reaching 
 outward, as if striving to stretch its wings be- 
 yond the narrow limits of its busy centre. Over 
 the hills, in every direction, were evidences of 
 the track of the miner. The earth wa ^ seamed 
 and scarred with ground sluices and perforated 
 with holes — deep holes — where old shafts for 
 prospecting had been sunk. It looked as though 
 demon claws had scooped and hollowed and 
 mutilated the bosom of mother earth. Long 
 trains of sluice boxes were seen, through which 
 roared and ripj)led a stream of yellow, muddy 
 water; by the side of them bands of miners 
 stood, with their shovels leisurely shoveling in 
 the gravelly soil which contained the precious 
 metal. Nevada City, at the time of which I 
 write, was the center of numerous rich placer 
 mines, and was a flourishing and prosperous 
 place of business — a very pretty mining town, 
 located among the lower Sierras, with a genial, 
 salubrious climate, warm and pleasant winters, 
 with very little frost and snow ; hardy vegetables 
 grow and flourish the year round. Its citizens 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 81 
 
 were energetic and enterprising, and if one 
 may judge from the manner in which several 
 have since distinguished themselves, were pos- 
 sessed of more than ordinary intellectual gifts. 
 A. A. Sargent, who has since won Senatorial 
 honors, was at tliis time an obscure and unpre- 
 tentious lawyer, whose feet had not then com- 
 menced ascending the ladder of fame. William 
 Stewart was also a young nnknown lawyer; and 
 I recall many other names of lesser importance 
 who have sprung into honorable notoriety, hav- 
 ing for their stepping stone the little mountain 
 town — Nevada. 
 
 Soon after our arrival, many of my husband' s 
 old mining companions came to visit us. What 
 was -my surprise to see them all, without one 
 exception, dressed in the recognized uniform of 
 the mines — coarse boots, duck overalls and the 
 universal gray flannel shirt — this being the 
 style adopted by all honest citizens, merchants, 
 officials, mechanics, miners and others. No one 
 in those days possessed the temerity to initiate 
 broadcloth and a ''biled shirt" on ordinary 
 occasions, unless it was the sporting class of 
 men — gamblers, thieves, road agents, etc. A 
 well-dressed man was looked upon with sus- 
 picion. If one of "the boys," as the min- 
 ers were universally called, should so far forget 
 himself as to don a ''stovepipe" hat, he was 
 the mark of special derision and practical 
 4^ 
 
82 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 jokes, and was not long permitted to enjoy his 
 new possession. In some unguarded moment 
 the hat was knocked off, and amid uproarious 
 mirth, was set upon by half a dozen fun-loving 
 fellows, and soon rendered an uncanny object, 
 "a thing that was, but ne'er will be again." 
 Notwithstanding the rough appearance of the 
 miners, one soon learned that beneath their 
 coarse exterior throbbed noble souls and prin- 
 ciples of high integrity. So much has hereto- 
 fore been written about the desperate and law- 
 less class of adventurers who came to Califor- 
 nia in early times; but a short residence in the 
 country made it apparent that there was also 
 another class — the picked men of every nation- 
 ality flocked hither to better their fortunes, and 
 in quest of adventure; men of fine minds and 
 finished education, men of culture and brain. 
 As elsewhere, one had only to ^^ choose their 
 company, not let their company choose them." 
 One was apt to wonder, on first introduction 
 into the mines, if these bronze-bearded, gray- 
 shir ted miners were the only type of society 
 the country afforded; but on better acquaint- 
 ance was surprised to find that many of them 
 were gentlemen of culture and refinement and 
 education, and possessed of a polish of manners 
 which well might cause the envy of a Chester- 
 field. During the dry seasons, the coat was an 
 article of dress universally ignored, and for a 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 83 
 
 miner to sport an umbrella in tlie rainy season 
 was a weakness not to be tolerated. But in the 
 heavy rains, especially the first rains of the sea- 
 son, the regular miner would don his rubber 
 suit, boots, coat and hat, and standing out in 
 the dripping moistness, enjoy the situation. 
 This was considered "the correct thing." 
 There was no music so sweet to the miner's 
 ears as the- droning melody of the abundant 
 rains; to him it sang : more gold ! more gold ! In 
 many places they depended entirely on the win- 
 ter rains to work their mines. At this time com- 
 paratively few women were found at the mines. 
 In such well-settled towns as Nevada and Grass 
 Valley, there were quite a number; but com- 
 pared to the number of men, they were few. 
 A new arrival was the subject of general com- 
 ment, and a group of miners generally assem- 
 bled at '^ stage time " eager to get *' news from 
 home," and I may add, to catch a glimpse of 
 the newly arrived lady passengers. If some- 
 body's wife, or somebody's sister had come, the 
 first questions propounded were — * ' Is she 
 pretty?' ' and then, "Is she young?'- The eager- 
 ness with which men sought to catch a glimpse 
 of a "new lady's" face, was remarkable, and to 
 the lady, extremely embarrassing. It was not 
 the rude stare of impertinence or insolence, for 
 excepting perhaps the one thing, gold, the hon- 
 est miner had more genuine reverence for a 
 
84 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 true looman, than anything earthly. The def- 
 erential courtesy which emanated from the 
 heart, and was not a mere formality, was due 
 to circumstances. An article is valued accord- 
 ing to its scarcity. The courtesy and reverence 
 accorded to women in those early days, was a 
 marked feature of society in the mines. A little 
 anecdote will serve as illustration. Years after, 
 when residing in one of the interior valleys, I 
 became acquainted with a lady whose girlhood 
 had been spent in the mining town of E. In 
 conversation with her one day, she referred to 
 the old chivalrous politeness which marked that 
 era and place, and with some enthusiasm ex- 
 claimed, " Why, wlien I resided in E., I never 
 walked up street without having /or^// Aafe lifted 
 to me as I passed! but Mrs. S., it is the God's 
 truth that I haven't had a hat lifted to me since 
 I have lived in this village." The scarcity of 
 women, and the corresponding appreciation in 
 which they were held, was one of the peculiar 
 features of the society in the mines. Entering 
 a lecture room, concert or theatre, the house 
 would be crowded with men, with perhaps half a 
 dozen ladies occupying the front seats. Balls, 
 evening parties and socials, though of frequent 
 occurrence, often proved a '' delusion and a 
 snare," to a large majority of the masculine 
 portion. If the presence of half a dozen ladies 
 supplemented by three or four little girls, 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 85 
 
 ranging in age from four to ten years could be 
 obtained, a grand ball was in order. The hall 
 was filled with gentlemen; twenty to one lady, 
 being a fair average; engagements were entered 
 into so far ahead, that unless a lady frequently re- 
 ferred to her memoranda, she was liable to 
 make a mistake. If so, some gentleman would 
 be slighted, somebody's feelings wounded, words 
 followed, a little unpleasantness ensued — the 
 lady's particular friend would take it up, and 
 about this time the floor manager appeared on 
 the scene, and escorted the now highly enraged 
 gentlemen from the hall, where the matter was 
 generally settled outside in a manner most sat- 
 isfactory to the parties. 
 
 In consequence of the scarcity of families, 
 ''keeping bach" was the prevailing style of 
 living among the miners. From four to six 
 men usually ' ' cabined ' ' together, taking turns 
 doing the cooking week about. A very humor- 
 ous story was told us of a very irascible miner, 
 which will illustrate some of the annoyances and 
 grievances to which they were subject. At 
 Wood's Eavine, some four miles from Nevada, 
 in a certain cabin, three mining companions 
 were ''keeping bach " together. Not to be too 
 personal, we shall designate them as A, B and 
 C. One Monday morning, B arose early, it 
 being " his week " to cook, kindled the fire in 
 the huge fire place, and filling a sheet iron 
 
86 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 camp kettle with water, into whicli he put some 
 potatoes to boil, swung it over the fire, and be- 
 gan preparations to make some biscuits. A 
 few momenta later he noticed that the fire was 
 out and there was no water in the kettle; re- 
 kindling the fire and filling the kettle, he re- 
 sumed his bread making; some time elapsed, 
 and having occasion to look at the fire, he was 
 astonished to see that there was not a spark, 
 and on inspection found that the kettle was 
 again dry. This time muttering a "bad word." 
 and refilling the kettle and starting the fire 
 anew, he continued making the bread. Becom- 
 ing absorbed iti that scientific occupation, he 
 forgot all about the fire; but on going to put 
 the bread into the "Dutch oven," he was 
 brought to a halt, by observing that instead of 
 a glowing fire, there was nothing but black em- 
 bers; the kettle, too, was dry. This was " too. 
 much" — at least for B's explosive nature. 
 Jerking the kettle from the rack, and giving 
 vent to a series of exclamations, he emptied it 
 of its contents, and holding it up to the light, 
 saw with indignation and disgust, that there 
 was a large hole in the bottom ! Striding to 
 the door he opened it, threw the kettle on the 
 ground and began jumping on it, then seizing 
 an ax near by, he placed the kettle on a stump, 
 and was mauling it with all his strength, accom- 
 panying each blow with remarks that were more 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 87 
 
 expressive than elegant. The noise had long 
 before awakened " the boys, ' and one of them, 
 C, an unpardonable wag, arose, strode to the 
 door, and opening it, looked out at the irate B, 
 and coolly remarked, ''Give it to it, Bill, give 
 it thunder!" 
 
 What -sacrifices men suffered — what discom- 
 forts they endured — what untold yearnings for 
 home and loved ones! What exile and isola-' 
 tion did they not expsrience for gold! How 
 meagerly at the last were they (the vast throng) 
 requited. Only the voiceless mountains, scarred 
 and seamed with their ambitious endeavors, 
 stand mute monuments of many a story of wreck 
 and disappointment. 
 
CHAPTKR XI. 
 
 THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE — DESTRUCTION OF NEVADA CITY 
 BY FIRE — SNOW SLIDES IN THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 In consequence of the lax manner in wliicli 
 justice was administered during the first years 
 of the country's history, it may not inaptly be 
 called the age of crime. Nowhere was life and 
 property safe. The daring exploits of noted 
 highwaymen, murderers, thieves and robbers 
 of every description, and the swindling opera- 
 tions of depraved politicians are familiar to the 
 readers. It was at this time, while residing in 
 Nevada City in 1855-56, that the whole country 
 was aroused to indignation by the murder of a 
 peaceful citizen of San Francisco^an honora- 
 ble and brave man, James King of William, a 
 journalist, who had dared to speak out openly 
 in defence of the right. For this he was shot 
 in open day in a public part of the city. The 
 news spread over the country like wild-fire, and 
 knowing well the leniency of the law, and the 
 depravity of public officials, the people took 
 the law in their own hands, and reorganized 
 the ''Vigilance Committee," which had dis- 
 banded in 1851. The murderer of King was 
 speedily hung, a few other executions occurred, 
 and Judge Lynch for a time held supreme sway. 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIKE. Q\) 
 
 From this time dates the gradual dawning of 
 better things in the moral atmosphere of the 
 country. 
 
 In the summer of 1856, in July, the beautiful 
 and flourishing mountain city of Nevada, was 
 destroyed by tire. It was one of those calm, 
 autumn-tinted days when the sun shone as it 
 shines only in the heat of mid-summer, not a drop 
 of water had fallen for months. Sitting at my 
 window, my attention was arrested by a shout, 
 and as I stepped to the door, out from the heart 
 of the city there arose as if from hundreds of 
 brazen throats, the cry of fire ! fire !! fire !!! 
 along with the cry I observed a dense mass of 
 black smoke curling upward, mingled with red 
 tongues of fiery flame. With the exception of 
 some fifteen or twenty staunch and handsome 
 brick buildings, the city was built like all other 
 mining towns, of fragile frame buildings — cloth- 
 lined, and most of them cloth-ceiled and par- 
 titioned. Against the devouring element these 
 offered no resistance. Families in the vicinity 
 where the fire originated, had barely time to 
 escape with their lives; those farther on, moved 
 their goods out on to the streets, and as the 
 flames advanced, still farther. Soon that por- 
 tion of the town was swept clean of every 
 building, and now the flames were spreading to 
 Main street, in the vicinity of the brick build- 
 ings which it was hoped would afford some 
 
90 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 check to the advance of the rapacious monster. 
 Vain hoj^e ! One after another, after a slight 
 resistance, was seen to succumb to the devour- 
 ing element and the intense heat. Around the 
 staunch brick buidings the red tongues of flame 
 circled and roared like the howling of demons, 
 and yielding to their invincible fury, the fire 
 burst from windows and roof, and the tottering 
 walls fell. Ere long, the business part of town 
 was a sea of flame ! Not a vestige of a building- 
 remained, save one — one building alone stood 
 the awful avalanche of fire — blackened and 
 smoked and begrimed it stood alone, the only 
 building left intact and erect on the spot of des- 
 olation and ruin. Though many long years 
 have passed since then, the event is one that by 
 me a mere eye witness will never be forgotten. 
 The surrounding hills and suburbs beyond the 
 reach of the flames were covered by the escap- 
 ing inhabitants — women with their children 
 seeking refuge from the fire, and strong men, 
 some weeping over the loss of goods and world- 
 ly effects; most of them were burdened with all 
 they could carry, some were hatless and coat- 
 less, and begrimed with dust and smoke in 
 their futile endeavors to quench the flames. 
 Many had lost all their worldly possessions, 
 with nothing left but the clothing they wore, 
 others saved their money and jewelry. 
 
 But the saddest chapter in this story of ruin 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 91 
 
 and desolation, was not yet revealed. After it 
 was all over, and friend inquired for friend, it 
 was ascertained that a number of persons had 
 perished. It was supposed that many of the 
 staunch brick buildings were " fire -pro of,'' and 
 acting on this belief, and in the mad excite- 
 ment of the moment, several young men were 
 known to have entered these buildings in the 
 expectation that they could survive the awful 
 deluge of fire. Yain delusion! Their bones 
 were found in the cellars, whither they had fled 
 in the suffocating heat. Some were identified 
 by their watches and portions of clothing near- 
 est the ground. So perished, in a mad freak 
 of excitement and cruel delusion, some of the 
 finest and most promising young men of the 
 city. Time has obliterated in my memory their 
 names and particulars of their sad fate, but 
 doubtless this reference will reach the eye of 
 some who have cause to remember sorrowfully 
 the minute details. 
 
 The smoke had not cleared away from the 
 ruins of the city, before numerous white canvas 
 tents rose all over the blackened site, and as 
 speedily as possible, the bones and remains of 
 the unfortunates were collected and given burial. 
 Scarcely had the flames subsided, before prep- 
 arations for building were commenced. Teams 
 were busy hauling lumber, and soon the ham- 
 mer and saw were heard in every part of the 
 
92 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 burned town. Relief for the destitute and dis- 
 tressed was sent from mining camps and valley 
 towns far and near, with the promptness and 
 generosity so characteristic of the times. In 
 the course of a few weeks Nevada emerged 
 from her awful baptism of fire, rebuilt and re- 
 newed, many of her buildings being replaced 
 by more substantial and finer ones than those 
 preceding. Almost every mining town of any 
 im23ortance suffered from the effects of fire, in 
 consequence of the fragile and inflammable 
 character of the buildings, and in some cases 
 the carelessness of the inhabitants. 
 
 Such was the delightful climate of the lower 
 Sierras that it was a most j)leasant place to 
 make homes. Possessing a rich, fertile soil 
 peculiarly adapted to the growth of fruit, vines 
 and vegetables, it was no surprise that in a 
 short time the numerous inviting sites for farms 
 or ranches were located; and traveling among 
 the mountains it was no uncommon thing even 
 in those days to come upon a quiet farm nest- 
 ling among the hills. A good ^* ranch" was 
 more valuable than an ordinary gold mine. 
 Farm produce of all kinds had a ready market 
 in the towns and camps near by, and fruit, 
 butter and eggs brought fabulous prices. 
 
 But mountain farming was not without its 
 objectionable features. All land being mineral 
 land, according to mining laws, if a gold bed 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 93 
 
 was discovered on a ranch, the discoverer had 
 the right, by paying for property destroyed, to 
 open up his mine and sluice it all away. I 
 have seen many beautiful farms undermined 
 and sluiced away, and where once was a cosy 
 home, surrounded by orchard, vineyard, grain- 
 field, garden, etc., nothing remained but a 
 "howling desolation." The insecurity of prop- 
 erty in the mines prevented many from seeking 
 to settle permanently there. 
 
 In the autumn of 1856, in harmony with the 
 spirit of unrest then prevailing, we listened to 
 to the voice of the siren, who whispered more gold 
 ahead! ahead! and selling our comfortable home 
 for half its cost, and disposing of our mines at a 
 sacrifice, we moved to Chipps Flat, Sierra Co., 
 in the upper Sierras, in the deep snow belt. 
 Here we purchased several interests in a min- 
 ing ditch — a ditch for the purpose of conveying 
 water to the mines. The property was valua- 
 ble and the mines flourishing, and settling 
 here, we felt that we had invested in something 
 that was certain and would bring in a hand- 
 some income soon. How vain are human ex- 
 pectations ! 
 
 The little hamlet of Chipps Flat was situated 
 in the heart of a rich mining district, above the 
 deep canon of the Yuba river. The latter part 
 of the journey was made on mule back. The 
 steep, winding, zigzag trails led doAvn the canon 
 
94 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 and up again, on tlie ragged edge of perilous 
 precipices and over bare ledges of rock, up and 
 still up, till the river looked from our towering 
 eirie like a silver skein flowing in the dark 
 chasm below. A single misstep and we were 
 in danger of being hurled hundreds of feet. 
 From one point towering far above the little 
 hamlet we looked over the grand amphitheatre 
 of mountains, rolled back as far as eye could 
 reach, and remotely in the distance the gray 
 swell of the vast plains bounded by the dim 
 outlines of ihe Coast Kange. Through the val- 
 ley, distinctly visible, winds the sparkling Sac- 
 ramento. On dusk}^ nights in this clear atmos- 
 phere, the lights on the river steamers could be 
 plainly discerned. From this towering point 
 one counted no less tlntn ten mining towns in 
 the vicinity. Orleans, Moores and Woolseys 
 Flat, Minnesota, Centerville, Alleghaneytown, 
 Smiths Flat, Oak Flat, Lafayette Hill, and 
 Chipps Flat; all more or less prosperous min- 
 ing camps. 
 
 Many tons of rich ore were shipped from 
 these localities. Quartz mining and "tunnel- 
 ing" were the principal features of industry, 
 the busy stamping of the mills was a familiar 
 sound. There one enjoyed all the advantages 
 of the ' beautiful snow ;' ' it fell almost incess- 
 antly during the winter. It attained a depth of 
 seven feet in the winter of 1856-57. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 95 
 
 Avalanches or snow slides were of frequent 
 occurrence, often resulting seriously to life and 
 property. On one occasion my husband and a 
 companion were at' work on a " flume" several 
 miles from home. The snow had fallen to a 
 great depth and hung in masses on the side of 
 the mountain. Their attention was arrested by 
 hearing a roaring noise, and looking up, they 
 saw an immense body of snow from the height 
 above descending. For my husband to spring 
 into the flume and lie down, was but the work 
 of a moment; and after the avalanche had passed, 
 he looked around for his companion. Fcr some 
 time he was nowhere to be seen — the huge body 
 of snow had lodged in the bottom of the canon 
 some three hundred feet below; following this 
 with his eye, and closely scanning every object, 
 he at last saw a human figure sitting at the bot- 
 tom of the canon and surrounded by masses of 
 snow. To his repeated shouts there was.a faint 
 wave of the hand. As speedily as possible, he 
 hurried to him and found him bruised and 
 bleeding and jammed on the rocks and brush 
 over which he had been so rapidly carried. 
 Fortunately no bones were broken, and after 
 a short time an effort was made to reach home. 
 Faint and weak, his companion was scarcely 
 able to walk on level ground, but with help, 
 and by dint of shoveling a pathway for a few 
 steps and resting at intervals, they were at last 
 
96 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 enabled to reach the bank of the ditch where a 
 road was partially broken. It was a long, weary 
 and painful march, and after what seemed to 
 be an interminable length of time, they reached 
 the village. 
 
 Another serious cause of accidents in these 
 heavily timbered mountains, was the rolling of 
 huge timbers from the mountain tops. Large 
 trees were often felled on the mountain sides, 
 their limbs used for fuel and their ponderous 
 trunks " staked up " and left to rot. As time 
 went on, the stakes rolled away, and having 
 slipped its fastenings, the tree, agreeable to 
 the law of gravitation, descended, and woe to 
 the humble cabin that stood in its way. I knew 
 a lady who was one day standing in her house 
 when all at once she was conscious of a grating, 
 rambling sound; before she had time to specu- 
 late as to its cause, there was a terrific shock, 
 and immediately the whole end of the cabin was 
 burst in, and the ponderous body of a tree 
 stopped in the centre of the wreck. She was 
 left on one side of the kitchen, surrounded by 
 mutilated furniture and broken crockery, while 
 the huge body of an ancient pine some six feet in 
 diameter disputed her exit. In a neighboring 
 town I saw at one time the ruins of three cabins 
 that were leveled to the ground by the rolling 
 of a giant of the forest from the heights above. 
 A man and his wife occupied one of the cabins 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 97 
 
 — the lad J was instantly killed, and her hus- 
 band badly injured. In one of the other cabins 
 a "lone miner" was sleeping, who escaped more 
 fortunately. By some means he was thrown to 
 the ground, face downwards. As it was a ground 
 floor, he had a snug squeeze, but escaped un- 
 hurt, leaving the cast of his features in the 
 yielding clay. 
 
 Such were some of the peculiarities 
 of the higher Sierras. Early one fine 
 mnrning in July, I found myself with a party 
 of friends en route for that gem of the mountain 
 — Sierra Valley, distant about 35 miles. As 
 the journey had to be made on horseback, we 
 had secured an early start. It was a grand and 
 glorious ride ! Thirty-five miles in one day on 
 horseback over the winding trails of the Sier- 
 ras ! Now speeding through sweet, green vales, 
 where the native grasses stand breast high to 
 our horses, and crossing crystal streams and 
 shadowy rivulets — climbing abrupt and rocky 
 ascents, and anon, traversing the bald peak of 
 some towering height, over beds of everlasting 
 snow, where the force of the sun is powerless 
 to melt its solid crystal. Far up in these ele- 
 vated solitudes, miles and miles from any hu- 
 man habitation, we observed a lone mound, 
 and turning aside, halted a moment. It was a 
 solitary grave. There was no name on the 
 mute head-board, and nothing to furnish a clue 
 5 
 
98 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 to the sad story; but time and neglect and the 
 fury of the elements had not obliterated this 
 lone, sad trace of the last resting place of a fel- 
 low being. "Lost in the snow," perhaps, 
 we mused; a not uncommon fate which befel 
 many a luckless gold hunter. 
 
 No marble rears its stately head 
 
 To deck thy lonely pillow, 
 No proud fame mocks thy humble bed — 
 
 Nor rose, nor weeping willow; 
 But may the sigh by strange lips borne, 
 Be wafted to thy spirit home. 
 
 The wild winds jDlayed thy dying note — 
 
 The night frowned darkly on thee — 
 Cold was the snow, thy funeral robe, 
 
 And stern the blast before thee; 
 The night is past, the wind is still, 
 Best, x^ilgrim, on this storm-beat hill. 
 
 Thoul't hear no more the cruel blast 
 
 That Destiny threw round thee, 
 For Death's dark wing has o'er thee past, 
 
 And stern's the Fate that bound thee, 
 And stillness wraps thy silent tomb — 
 Where mountain flowers about thee bloom. 
 
 But may the sigh low breathed by her, 
 
 As sad she gazed above thee, 
 Ascend into thy radiant sphere; 
 
 For those the friends who loved thee, 
 For all must share a lonely grave, 
 'Neath deep oblivion's changeless wave. 
 
 The dusky shadows of twilight were fast gath- 
 ering over the scene as we commenced the de- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 99 
 
 scent of the mountain that overlooked Sierra 
 Valley. Green and beautiful it lay, surrounded 
 on all sides by towering mountains; crystal 
 streams flowed through its length, and herds of 
 cattle fed on the luxuriant grass. Here we 
 formed the acquaintance of *' Alice," Mrs. Or- 
 delle C. Howk, a warm-hearted and hospitable 
 lady, and a writer of those early times, who 
 contributed storie.^, sketches, etc., to '^ Hutch- 
 ing' s Magazine" and other periodicals. She 
 and her husband, with a few other families, 
 comprised the few settlers of this romantic and 
 sequestered vale. After spending a week in 
 recreation and rest, we returned home. 
 
CHAPTTER. XII. 
 
 A CHANGE OF SCENE — THE "W.ASHOE" EXCITEMENT — THE 
 FESTIVE GRASSHOPPEIi — THE EARLY SKTTLER. 
 
 After a few year's residence among the high- 
 er Sierras, we became weary of the deep snows 
 of winter, the isolation of the locality, etc. , and 
 in December of '58, turned our faces valley- 
 ward, with the intention of farming. A few 
 miles from Marysville we found a suitable lo- 
 cation. The rich ri^^er bottoms of tlie Yuba 
 that had not then been inundated by the de- 
 spoiler "Slickens,'' yielded bountiful returns for 
 the toil of the husbandman. All along the 
 river were fine farms, with orchards, vineyards 
 and grain fields. Many acres of the best land 
 had not as yet been touched by a plow. And 
 plain lands that could not be irrigated, at that 
 day, were not generally thought worth farming. 
 
 Among the most noted orchards was Briggs', 
 three miles from Marysville, a large and flour- 
 ishing -one. Fruit sold on the ground at 
 12J cents per pound, yielding a handsome in- 
 come yearly. Alas ! how has the scene changed. 
 Over all that smiling and prosperous region — 
 over every foot of that rich alluvial soil — over 
 orchards and vineyards, and prosperous farms, 
 the dreaded "Slickens" has spread devastation 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIEE. 101 
 
 and ruin. Where once was beauty and wealth 
 and sweet homes, nothing remains but desola- 
 tion — everything except the roofs of houses 
 and the tops of trees buried in the slimy insin- 
 uating yellow debris. The introduction of hy- 
 draulic mining brought disaster and ruin to 
 much of the richest and best lands of the State 
 by flooding them with the yellow washings from 
 the mines. 
 
 Up to 1859, very little attempt had been 
 made to raise corn in the State — many enter- 
 taining the opinion that the soil and climate 
 were unsuited for its production, but our corn 
 crop that year on bottom land averaged one 
 hundred bushels to the acre. In September of 
 the same year, we attended the County Fair at 
 Marysville, held in the old pavilion and grounds. 
 It was a grand success; every branch of indus- 
 try being represented, and the products of the 
 soil were an interesting feature. It was not 
 wanting in evidences of culture and refinement, 
 and an interest in the arts and sciences to prove 
 the wonderful and rapid march of progress and 
 improvement in a young State not yet having 
 finished her first decade. 
 
 The Fair was rendered memorable by the 
 presence of one of the most noted men oi the 
 period — the great and lamented journalist, 
 Horace Greeley. He had arrived in (California 
 a few weeks previous, having made that sum- 
 
102 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 mer liis celebrated overland journey by way of 
 Ben Holliday's stage line. 
 
 What a deafening tumult of applause greeted 
 him as he arose, a plain, farmer-like looking 
 man — and made a speech entirely in harmony 
 with his appearance. 
 
 The same year was marked by an event 
 which cast a gloom over the entire State — 
 the political duel which was fought by Judge 
 Terry and the Hon. David C. Broderick, in 
 which the latter was killed. The affair created 
 great excitement and much comment; and as 
 a remarkable event has taken its place in his- 
 tory. The feelings of the country which were 
 aroused over the affair, are still fresh in the 
 memories of those who were residents here afc 
 that time. 
 
 Towards the close of '59 the discovery of the 
 Washoe gold and silver mines created wild ex- 
 citement. Nevada, previous to its admission 
 as a State, was known as the ' 'Washoe' ' country. 
 In keeping with the spirit of adventure, my hus. 
 band, being an experienced miner, determined 
 to form one of a party bound for the new gold 
 region. I therefore concluded to visit during 
 his absence my old home in the East; and early 
 in i860 I took passage with my two children on 
 the steamship Sonora for New York, to remain 
 as I then contemplated, a few months, or a 
 year at most — but how little we know of the 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 103 
 
 hidden mysteries of tlie future ! How little I 
 dreamed that nine long years, with their singular 
 changes would pass ere I should set foot on the 
 land to whose genial climate and many fascina- 
 tions I was strongly wedded! But such are 
 life's vicissitudes. Up to this time the first 
 ominous whisperings of Civil War had scarcely 
 awakened a serious sentiment on the far-off 
 Pacific Coast; but I found on my arrival in the 
 Eastern States that the threatening news of the 
 on-coming storm pervaded every heart, and in 
 April of the following year the bugle sounded 
 the '* Call to arms.'' 
 
 After the long and eventful journey I reached 
 at last the familiar scenes of my early years, 
 and once more on board of one of those grand 
 and superb floating palaces of the Western 
 waters, we were steaming down the queen of 
 rivers, the beautiful Ohio. How familiar and 
 yet how strangely altered seem the old land- 
 marks! Her banks are gemmed with stately 
 cities, rich in beauty and wealth, with towns 
 and hamlets, with broad plantations and mag- 
 nificent residences — the low - lying lands 
 are now and then broken by rugged bluffs and 
 picturesque and romantic scenery. They seem 
 to glide past us like the vision's scene in dream- 
 land. Steamboating on the western rivers in 
 one of those old-time magnificent steamers was 
 a mode of traveling that for comfort and su- 
 
104 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 preme enjoyment is unsurpassed; but like many 
 another custom of " Auld Lang Syne," has 
 been superseded by more modern changes. 
 How pleasant to pace slowly up and down the 
 ''hurricane deck" on quiet evenings when the 
 sunset rays are gilding the tops of the noble 
 trees that droop over the river banks ! And 
 not less charming is it to hear on the morning 
 air, sang out in ringing tones, "Wood yard ! 
 wood yard !" Snatching a shawl if the air is 
 cool, we select a seat on the ''guards," and 
 while the steamer is gracefully and grandly 
 "rounding to," we have ample time to note 
 the scene. Vast piles of cord wood flank the 
 banks, and a woodman's cottage, low-browed 
 and brown, is seen at a distance. Now the boat 
 has touched the bank ; a daring deck-h;»nd 
 springs ashore, and, with cable in hand, fas- 
 tens it securely; the gang j)lank is shoved out, 
 and the crew in long array file out to the wood 
 yard; and, while they shoulder their burden 
 and bear it on board, we listen and catch the 
 familiar negro chorus, sung in their peculiar 
 melodious intonation. There is brisk work for 
 a few moments, the melodious music of mellow 
 voices mingling with the clatter attending 
 the "wooding up." Then we hear the mate's 
 voice, in stern command, "Let go the cable ! 
 Haul in the plank !" Then there's a jingling 
 of little bells — a puff of steam, the last man 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 105 
 
 springs on board and we have soon left the 
 wood yard far behind. 
 
 After lingering in the Middle • and Western 
 States for several months, I at last proceed 
 on my journey, my final destination being the 
 frontier country of Nebraska, then a Territory 
 in the first stages of its settlement. Here my 
 mother' s family had immigrated during my six 
 years' sojourn in California. Scarcely had I 
 reached my journey's end before the bugle 
 notes of civil war sounded from Fort Sumter, 
 and the ' ' call to arms ' ' thrilled every heart, 
 and here, as elsewhere, all was excitement, 
 commotion and activity — companies were being 
 drilled and regiments organized in all the 
 '*pomp and circumstance of war." 
 
 The frontier countries, though far removed 
 from the seat of war and the vicinity of hostili- 
 ties, suffered no little in consequence; the hard 
 times caused by the war being felt more acutely 
 on the border, for various reasons, than in the 
 Middle and Eastern States. All articles im- 
 ported to the country commanded exorbitant 
 prices, while there was scarcely a market for 
 home produce. The means of trans]3ortation 
 w^ere meagre and limited. Railroad facili- 
 ties to the remote frontier, were scarcely 
 dreamed of. During war times many articles 
 reached fabulous prices. For illustration: Tea 
 was four dollars per pound, coffee seventy-five 
 5* 
 
106 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 cents per pound, calico fifty cents per yard, and 
 muslin seventy cents per yard, and all imported 
 articles in proportion; and thougli the country 
 produced abundantly,the low price paid for home 
 products made very distressing times. Corn, 
 which was the staple, was ten and fifteen cents 
 per bushel, butter eight cents per pound, eggs 
 ^ye cents per dozen. Add to this the fact that 
 Indian depredations and hostilities continually 
 threatened the remote settlements, and we have 
 a not very attractive picture of the frontier dur- 
 ing the years of the war . The country, in it- 
 self, was a rich and promising land, whose 
 broad, rolling prairies and rich bottom land, 
 free to the adventurous settler, offered fine in- 
 ducements to those seeking homes on Uncle 
 Sam's dominions. 
 
 My mother's farm, situated on the Nemaha 
 River, was well out towards the confines of 
 civilization, and *' forty miles from any town.'' 
 On more than one well-remembered occasion 
 the cry of "Indians are coming" was wafted 
 to us from the border, and packing our house- 
 hold goods in a wagon, and driving our stock 
 before us, we turned our backs on the ap- 
 proaching foe, and making forced marches, 
 sought safety in a more dense settlement. Here 
 we consolidated our forces, and having sent out 
 a scout to ascertain, if possible, the cause of 
 the rumor, awaited the turn of events. The re- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 107 
 
 ports, at one time, at least, proved to be but 
 too well founded. Two men of our acquaint- 
 ance, settlers, several miles back, liad been 
 treacherously murdered at a station on the ' ' big- 
 road," cattle had been stolen, and other depre- 
 dations committed. The information that we 
 received was to the eifect that these two men, 
 Messrs. Kelley and Butler were traveling, and 
 had stopped at a station, and while there were 
 warned by a friendly Indian that a band of In- 
 dians were about to attack them. It was not 
 long before they made their appearance, and 
 Kelley, unarmed, boldly advanced to meet them, 
 extending his hand in token of friendship. The 
 Indian immediately leveled his rifle, the bullet 
 taking effect in Kelley' s breast, who staggered 
 to the house, sat down, and soon expired. The 
 other Indians ran up and shot Butler, who, 
 climbing to the loft, laid down and there died. 
 In consequence of this outrage many settlers 
 left their homes, their growing crops, and 
 everything except a few portable articles, 
 and fled in terror from the border, some 
 never to return. Most of them, however, 
 returned after a time, not without a feel- 
 ing of insecurity, lest at any time the 
 murderous savages would rise en masse, and 
 massacre the few defenseless settlers scattered 
 at intervals along the banks of streams, miles 
 and miles from where relief could be obtained. 
 
108 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE, 
 
 Though bands of roving Indians often passed 
 through our neighborhood, no serious outbreak 
 occurred, and when the war was over and peace 
 declared soldiers were again garrisoned on the 
 frontier to protect settlers and travelers, and 
 once more a feeling of security prevailed. Im- 
 migrants came pouring in, and soon the dawn- 
 ing of the railroad era accelerated the march of 
 civilization. Other causes of minor importance 
 also operated against the immigrant of '^ye 
 early period," among them being notably the 
 festive grasshopper. For years and years they 
 came regularly, swarming down upon the luxu- 
 riant crops like an "army with banners." Un- 
 heralded and uninvited they came, in swarms 
 so dense as in some instances to obscure the 
 sunlight. If the careful husbandman did not 
 immediately begin storing his crops there would 
 soon be nothing left but the bare ground to 
 tell where but a few hours before had been 
 fields of waving corn, golden wheat, vegeta- 
 bles, fruit, etc. There was nothing that the 
 raj)acity of his nature w^ould not devour — on- 
 ions, garlic, tobacco — and having annihilated 
 the tobacco crop, they sat in swarms on the 
 fences and defiantly spit the tobacco juice in 
 the faces of the ravaged farmers. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, I may be par- 
 doned for referring to some of the peculiar feat- 
 ures and incidents which belong essentially to 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 109 
 
 those early times. The country being sparsely 
 timbered, lumber a^ a consequence was scarce, 
 and out on the frontier particularly so, and fre- 
 quently settlers of limited means built in lieu 
 of a house "a dug-out." In connection with 
 this style of habitation an itinerant Methodist 
 minister met with a ludicrous adventure. In 
 traveling in a sparsely settled part of the coun- 
 try he lost his bearings, and wandered around 
 for some time. At length night came on, black 
 and moonless. After a long time he came to 
 the bank of a stream, and knew if he followed 
 it he would sooner or later reach a settlement. 
 With this hope he began hallooing at intervals, 
 but could find no habitation. After awhile he 
 came to a field of corn and a w^ell-defined road 
 that led to a garden. Soon he heard the bark- 
 ing of dogs, but no house was visible. Weary 
 and hungry and almost in despair, he mounted 
 an eminence near by and gave vent to a 
 shrill ^'halloo." Scarcely had the sound of 
 his voice died away before there bounded 
 up at his very feet the figure of a man, shock- 
 headed and half - clothed, who inquired in 
 dismay, ''What on earth is the matter?" 
 '' Why, huUoo, where do you live ?' ' said the 
 traveler. "Why, I live at home down here. 
 ''Where do you live, and what do you want, 
 and who are you?" "B'gosh I thought I 
 was surrounded by a band of injuns." Ex- 
 
110 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 planations followed, and when ''tlie settler" 
 found that he merely had an inopportune call 
 from a traveling divine he opened the door 
 of his subterranean dwelling and hospitably en- 
 tertained him. In relating it, the minister 
 naively remarked: "I supose in my wanderings 
 that night, I walked over several large and 
 flourishing settlements." 
 
 More than a passing reference is due to the 
 earh^ settler of the border States, who belongs 
 to that hardy and adventurous class that hew 
 the road for civilization. With his worldly 
 effects in a rickety wagon, covered with a bed- 
 quilt and drawn by a pair of oxen, and with a 
 small drove of cattle following, driven by a 
 boy on a thin-legged pony, he with his fam- 
 ily and little cavalcade penetrated the heart 
 of the wilderness, and staking off a claim in this 
 raw world, prepared to '' make improvements;" 
 that is, to build a cabin and break a corn- 
 patch. One cannot contemplate his character 
 without feeling for it the most profound admir- 
 ation and respect. It was his to bare his val- 
 iant breast in the very van of advancing civiliza- 
 tion; through his tattered rags the lonesome 
 blizzards of the unpeopled prairies swept with 
 reckless energy. His unshod and barnacled 
 feet were exposed alike to the nipping frosts of 
 early spring and the burning trails of summer 
 saunterings, and upon his superanuated coon- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. Ill 
 
 skin cap the merciless elements descended. 
 He had come to the country in the dawn of 
 •adversity, and, having spent the best years of 
 his manhood, was growing old and gray under 
 the snows of many winters, and warped and 
 bent by "hard times" and summer suns, and 
 when I saw him last was still lingering on the 
 '^ ragged edge " of hope — longing for the tardy 
 van of civilization to cast its wave of better 
 fortune at his feet. 
 
 The prevailing mode employed by the aver- 
 age writer in describing the early settler and 
 the pioneer is to invest him with a character 
 ignorant, uncultured and boorish; something- 
 after the following style : " Stopping in front 
 of a rude, log hut, we uttered a shrill halloo ! 
 At the sound of our voice a tall, gaunt, lan- 
 tern-jawed individual made his appearance 
 and, with mouth open, viewed us with evi- 
 dent curiosity. In answer to our 'good day,' 
 he said : 'Wall, stranger. How d'y'edo? Won't 
 ye light ? ' * No, thank you. Can you tell me 
 if I am on the right road to B. ? ' '' Sartain, 
 stranger, sartain. You jest keep right straight 
 ahead, an' you'll git thar.'^' Such is merely an 
 overdrawn and exaggerated picture, for one is 
 often surprised to find in these far frontier set- 
 tlements the smallest and humblest abode being 
 the homes of the educated, the refined and cul- 
 tured, and almost invariably men of vim, enter- 
 
112 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 prise and daring. In this instance tliey had 
 immigrated here years before, and anticipated 
 securing homes and advancing and prospering 
 with the growth and development of the conn- 
 try, but tiie long years of the Civil War and 
 local causes had lain a paralyzing hand for the 
 time being on progress and improvement. Since 
 the removal of these causes what a picture is 
 here presented ! Through all that country that 
 was then an unsettled wilderness — the haunt of 
 the hungry wolf, the cayote, the elk, antelope 
 and buffalo — where still w^ere seen the scattered 
 remnants of the wigwam of the lone Indian, 
 there have risen on their hunting-grounds and 
 battle-grounds flourishing towns and pleasant 
 villages. A network of railways cross and in- 
 tersect each other, and along their route and 
 on the vast prairies are fields of corn and wheat 
 and comfortable farm houses, and verily, here 
 has the *' March of Empire" left the imprint of 
 its shining footsteps ! 
 
CHAPTKR XIII. 
 
 to colorado — across the plains — fort cottonwood — 
 attacked by indians —a water spout, or cloud burst 
 — pike's and long's peaks. 
 
 To those who had spent years in the genial 
 climate of California, the rigorous Avinters, Avith 
 their continuous snoAv- storms, and the tardy 
 springs of Nebraska Avas a serious objection, 
 and as my husband had returned to the East, 
 Ave, Avith an unconquerable desire to dAvell again 
 in the land of the pine, the fig and the orange, 
 started for California * 'across the plains," Avitli 
 ox-teams, in the spring of 1864. We joined a 
 small party of friends from our immediate neigh- 
 borhood, Avhose destination Avas Colorado. A 
 short time previous to this* the discovery of 
 gold and silver mines at Pike's Peak had cre- 
 ated a Avild excitement, and as this Avas before 
 the era of railroads in that region, the ' ' Big 
 Road" from the Missouri River Avas croAvded 
 A\dth long trains of Avagons, some bound for 
 Denver, then a thriving toAvn, and others for 
 points still farther Avest. There Avas also a 
 large emigration that year to the Pacific Coast. 
 The Avar had caused an unsettled state of 'soci- 
 ety, and many sought homes in those more 
 quiet and peaceful countries. The emigrants 
 
114 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 of tliat time not only suffered the exposures, 
 inconveniences and hardships incident to such 
 a journey, but were momentarily in danger of 
 being attacked by hordes of wild savages, 
 through whose lands they passed. 
 
 We had not proceeded far on our journey be- 
 fore rumors of attacks from Indians in advance 
 of us caused some anxiety. Our journey lay 
 along the Platte Eiver, and, as far as the eye 
 could reach, it took in miles and miles of level 
 land, green in the month of May, and skirted 
 by hills and abrupt bluffs. These plains were 
 the home of the wild cactus, and in many places 
 their showy flowers beautified the lone, desert- 
 ed landscape. At intervals of many miles, the 
 dreariness of the long level road, the distant 
 hills and capricious river, was broken by sight 
 of a rude hut, inhabited by "a bold pioneer," 
 one of those daring and adventurous spirits 
 who recognize no such word as fear. The hut 
 was usually built of sod, the sod of the plain 
 cut in uniform shape and dried and put to- 
 gether after the manner of brick. It was the 
 only available material for building purposes, 
 and, built layer upon layer, offered a stout de- 
 fense against the attacks of the wary and watch- 
 ful foe. It was not infrequently the case that 
 "the bold pioneer" made friends with the In- 
 dians by taking a wife from one of the most 
 powerful tribes. Besides being a "stage sta- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 115 
 
 tion" for the regular overland stage, lie carried 
 on a brisk traffic with the Indians and white 
 hunters and trappers in furs, hides and pelts, 
 giving in exchange blankets, beads, etc., and 
 alivays ivhisJcy, which latter found innumerable 
 customers among the endless throng of thirsty 
 emigrants. 
 
 We passed the pretty and picturesque Fort 
 Cottonwood, the fortifications and buildings 
 being built mostly of hewn cedar. The bluffs 
 and canons beyond the fort contained vast quan- 
 tities of this beautiful timber. The fort was 
 garrisoned by a small detachment of soldiers 
 for the purpose of protecting travel and guard- 
 ing the frontier. The overland stage at each 
 station was provided with an escort of soldiers, 
 who accompanied it from one station to an- 
 other. It was not an uncommon occurrence 
 for the soldiers in those journeys to be "picked 
 off" or "taken in a surround'' by the vigilant 
 and ever wary foe; but it was a rare thing that 
 an Indian was captured, dead or alive. A story 
 was related of an Indian being captured the 
 summer before, and, after being duly and very 
 much scalped, was buried in a shallow grave. 
 A squad of soldiers traveling that way were 
 told of the achievement. Doubtful of its truth, 
 they demanded to see the remains, and, on re- 
 pairing to the spot, they unearthed the body 
 and scalping it again, bore away the ghastly 
 trophies in exultation. 
 
116 THE MAECH OF EMPIKE. 
 
 On such a journey as that of crossing the 
 plains, one grows weary of the unvarying mo- 
 notony, the long clays in the wagon, with its 
 ceaseless creaking, and if with ox teams, the 
 slow plodding of the oxen, the very voice of 
 the driver, with his occasional, and scarcely 
 necessary, ''gee, gee. Brandy!" " haw. Buck, 
 haw!" There is the long yellow road stretch- 
 ing for miles before us, the green sweep of 
 plain, and the sombre hills flanking our left, 
 while to the right runs (does it?) yes, some- 
 times, that questionable and doubtful river, 
 the Platte. However, one of a sunny tempera- 
 ment, and fully determined, might contrive, on 
 such a journey, to experience a degree of pleas- 
 antness, especially if in a large train, and with 
 a jovial company. If a halt was ordered early, 
 there was ample time for supper, the savory 
 out-of-door odor of the cooking, gathering of 
 the "buffalo chips," — (does' t it seem like an 
 age since we crossed the plains?) — and after 
 supper we restfully reclined on our blankets on 
 ths grass while the patriarchs, fearlessly and 
 enjoyably smoked their pipes, and speculated 
 on the new land to which we were journeying, 
 the progress of the war, and' its probable re- 
 sult; w^e, awed and made silent by the vastness 
 of the untenanted dominions, looked around, 
 saw the sunset fade away, the blue of the sky 
 grow deeper, and the stars slowly shed their 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 117 
 
 luster over the darkening earth. Among the 
 fun-loving and less thoughtful at such times, 
 the jest and song went round, and the sound of 
 laughter and mirth penetrated the gloom and 
 floated out and was lost in the grim darkness. 
 
 During the 3^ears of the civil war there was a 
 heavy emigration across the plains from the 
 south, and though many of them hated the 
 ' * brave old flag, ' ' they were glad to seek peace 
 and protection under its folds in the prosper- 
 ous countries of the Pacific Coast. We chanced 
 to camp one evening in close proximity to a 
 large train of Southerners. It was near a sta- 
 tion, and the stage having arrived there a short 
 time before^ brought the latest war news, which 
 was in substance that a victory had been gained 
 by some of the rebel forces. There was great 
 rejoicing -that night in the neighboring camp, 
 and "Hurrah for oioa side!" rang upon the air 
 in lusty chorus. 
 
 Rumors of trains attacked by Indians reached 
 us from time to time, and one day a band of 
 painted Avarriors, hundreds in number, passed 
 us. Two large powerfully built warriors, in all 
 the glory of red paint, buckskin, beads, feath- 
 ers, dignity and general magnificence, conde- 
 scended to honor our humble camj^ with a 
 call — a call long enough to eat up and devour 
 everything we had cooked, that being an im- 
 mense pot of beans and bacon, an astonishing 
 
118 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 amount of bread, a half bushel of cookies, 
 about four pounds of crackers, cold potatoes, 
 pickles, "and setery," too numerous to men- 
 tion. We were glad when they left; we felt 
 relieved, and we tvere relieved. Though they 
 \\ ent away without paying their bill, we w^re 
 glad when they departed and have scarcely 
 ceased rejoicing yet. Had they continued to 
 devour everything eatable an hour longer, with 
 the same avidity as they did during those mem- 
 orable fifteen minutes, not a soul in our camp 
 would have been alive to-day to tell the tale. 
 Though we suffered no personal attack, we 
 afterwards learned that ' ' the war had actually 
 begun; " before us and behind us the murder- 
 ous savages were committing their diabolical 
 deeds. 
 
 I subsequently became acquainted with a 
 lady who that same year crossed the plains, 
 reaching Denver two weeks in advance of us. 
 Their train was attacked by Indians, some of 
 their number being killed; fortunately, she and 
 her family escaped. Their party was a small 
 one, consisting of their two wagons, in charge 
 of her husband and brother, and two wagons 
 loaded with merchandise, in charge of a man 
 and his son. One day, while traveling along 
 as usual without any thought of danger, her 
 brother, whose wagon was just behind the one 
 she occupied, stepped up to her wagon and got 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 119 
 
 his rifle. She noticed the action and asked 
 what was the matter ? ''Nothing, I hope," he 
 replied, ' ' only I don't like the looks of those 
 dark objects just above the bluffs there. ' ' Look- 
 ing in the direction he indicated she saw on the 
 verge of the hills, some distance, away, numer- 
 ous dark objects, mere specks, outlined against 
 the horizon. Scarcely had he ceased speaking, 
 when up on the top of the hill there appeared 
 in plain view a band of mounted warriors, and 
 the next moment, swift as a shower of arrows, 
 they swept down upon the little train. Her 
 brother stood ready with his gun, but, circling 
 past, they dashed on to the rear wagons, which 
 contained merchandise. There they soon dis- 
 patched the drivers, killing both instantly; and 
 unharnessing the mules, proceeded to load them 
 with the contents of the wagons, which was flour, 
 sugar, meat, etc. After plundering the wagons 
 they mounted their ponies and, driving the 
 mules before them, slowly trotted off over the 
 bluffs. 
 
 When within about one hundred miles of 
 Denver, we were witnesses of one of the most 
 terrible rain and hail storms that ever visited 
 the Platte region. It was a water sj^out or 
 cloud burst. We afterwards ascertained that 
 we were on the verge of the storm. As the rain 
 and hail began to descend, we halted our wag- 
 ons, and looking westward saw a black cloud 
 
120 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 resembling a horn of plenty emptying its con- 
 tents in a fearful deluge. Hail stones of 
 enormous size fell, striking with great force 
 our dumb, unsheltered animals, and the vivid 
 sheet lightning played with continuous glare 
 on the covers -of our wagons as though the ele- 
 ments were ablaze. After the storm was over, 
 and we resumed our journey, we found some 
 immense hail stones, one by actual measure- 
 ment, was nearly three inches in diameter. We 
 were not aware of the extent of the damage 
 done by the storm, until, on reaching Denver, 
 nearly two weeks after. We then learned that 
 the water spout had emptied its contents on a 
 poition of the city and vicinity, that the loss of 
 property, of houses, fences and stock was enor- 
 mous, and the loss of life considerable. Such 
 was the force of the rain, that stock herders in 
 the hills had scarcely time to reach a shelter? 
 and in some instances were drowned; liouses 
 were floated off and wrecked. Cherry Creek 
 was full of the debris, dismantled and half -sub- 
 merged buildings — drowned stock, fences, etc. 
 Before arriving in Denver, we found that 
 our teams were in such a condition as to be un- 
 lit to travel much farther; add to this the fact that 
 the whole Indian country was aroused and arm- 
 ing against the whites, induced us to stop in Colo- 
 rado, intending to stay during the winter and 
 resume our journey to the Pacific Coast the fol- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 121 
 
 lowing spring. As we n eared our journey's 
 end, tlie snow-tipped summits of Pike's and 
 Long's Peaks in the Eocky Mountain range, 
 each day became more distinct. Hidden from 
 view by a roll of hills, and lying at the base of 
 the mountains, was the active and growing 
 town of Denver.* We had decided, however, 
 to proceed to the mines, and chose the vicinity 
 of Black Hawk, Central City and Nevada as our 
 place of destination. These three mining 
 towns were forty miles from Denver, and lo- 
 cated consecutively in a gulch. Camping for a 
 short time in the verge of the city, it was pleasant 
 to look once more upon the bright, attractive 
 homes of civilization — hear the busy hum and 
 stir of modern improvement, and feel the secu- 
 rity and friendship that a settlement of our 
 countrymen and kindred afforded. 
 
 Our rest was brief, and once more on the 
 march, we soon enter the hill country. Our 
 road lies through the pretty town of Golden 
 City, an infant village merely. The country 
 around it is broken — the miniature valleys 
 abounding in grain ranches, stock ranches, etc, 
 Ere long we penetrate the fastnesses of the 
 "Rockies." I had been familiar with the 
 kindly grandeur and sublime beauty of the Si- 
 erras, but what a contrast was here presented ! 
 For miles and miles our road led through deep, 
 dark canons walled on either side by solid rock, 
 6 
 
122 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 steep and perpendicular. Stunted pines and 
 scant vegetation at times varied the barren 
 scenery, and a clear stream flowed tlirougli the 
 length of the canon, along the banks of which 
 many varieties of beautiful flowers hitherto un- 
 known to me, bloomed in great profusion. 
 
 We soon found that Colorado differed from 
 California in many respects. The mines, which 
 were gold and silver quartz mostly, were owned 
 generally by Eastern capitalists. The climate 
 was severe and rigorous — subject to violent 
 wind and snow storms, and intense cold. In 
 certain seasons the wind howled and shrieked 
 up and down the gulches and across the barren 
 rocky ridges in furious blasts, often filling the 
 air with the fine ' ' tailings ' ' or dust from the 
 mines, and chips, bits of wood and pebbles would 
 come clattering against the window^s and sides of 
 the houses, creating a perfect pandemonium. All 
 articles of consumption — all supplies were trans- 
 ported across the plains, a distance of 600 miles, 
 in wagons. During the winter, with every 
 slight fall of snow, all articles of food advanced 
 in price, especially such heavy articles as flour, 
 meat, potatoes, etc. Flour at one time was $16 
 per sack; beef, 50 cents per pound; potatoes, 
 25 cents per pound, and all heavy articles in 
 proportion. Vegetables of all kinds were very 
 scarce and commanded a high jirice. Canned 
 goods were the principal de]3endence. Color- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 123 
 
 ado at tliat time was badly *'grasslioppered," 
 and for years and years was a sufferer from tliis 
 merciless marauder. Tliis was tlie prime cause 
 of tlie liigli price of vegetables and home pro- 
 duce. ^Tlie years of the civil war were per- 
 haps the darkest in the history of Colorado 
 since its settlement by the whites. Her means 
 for conveying supplies were meagre and limited, 
 and through a country that was swarming with 
 liostile foes. Her forts were poorly garrisoned 
 and the Indians roving on her vast plains com- 
 mitted unchecked depredations and outrages on 
 the defenseless inhabitants. 
 
 At last the long and severe winter drew 
 to a close, and with the advent of spring, 
 balmy winds and soft sunshine, and beauti- 
 ful flowers, the glad beanrs of peace illumi- 
 nated the land. News of the fall of Kich- 
 mond was telegraphed through the rocky wilds 
 of this struggling, new country. Even in the 
 heart of this wilderness the fires of patriotism 
 burned fervently in the bosom of every loyal 
 citizen, and great was the rejoicing when the 
 noAvs was received. Business of all kinds was 
 suspended; miners came from the underground 
 works and exchanged their mud begrimed suits 
 for holiday attire. Quartz-mills were "shut 
 down" and mining camps deserted, while towns 
 and hamlets were decorated with banners and 
 flags and every symbol of universal rejoicing. 
 
l%4z THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 At niglit the mountains were ablaze Avitli illumi- 
 nations, torcliligiit processions, bonfires, etc., 
 and the steady booming of anvil and cannon 
 reverberating through the fastnesses of the 
 mountains proclaimed the dawn of peace. 
 
 Alas ! how sudden is often the transition from 
 jov to sorrow. Scarcely had the echoes of the 
 cannon died away among the resounding peaks 
 and rocky canons, when closely following in the 
 path of these great victories there came the 
 mournful tidings of the assassination of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln — he Avho was alike tiie friend of 
 the South as of the North. It seemed as though 
 the pulse of the nation had ceased to beat. 
 ''The thunderbolt had fallen to the hearth," 
 and the whole country put on the badge of 
 mourning. 
 
 "He was our standard bearer — lie 
 Can gilt up the thread of destiny 
 And round the breaking Union bound 
 And wove it firmly. 
 
 The hand that signed the act of grace 
 Which freed a wronged and tortured race." 
 
 Again was business suspended, but from a 
 far different cause, and instead of the loud 
 booming of cannon there was an ominous 
 silence — a silence fraught with dark forebod- 
 ings. Each one felt he had lost a personal 
 friend. 
 
STILL ON THE WING — THE SUNSET LAND — A RAILROAD ACROSS 
 THE CONTINENT. 
 
 Ill June, 18G5, my liusbaucl joined a party 
 wliicli Avas formed for tlie purpose of prospect- 
 ing for mines in the interior. He therefore 
 determined to send liis family "back East," 
 and I once more found myself in company witli 
 a small party of returning emigrants, with our 
 faces turned toward the land of the rising sun. 
 Indian hostilities continued, and the Governor 
 of the Territory had. shortly before issued or- 
 ders that all trains should travel tAventy-five or 
 more in a company. As soon as possible we 
 joined with another train, and each night 
 on going into camp formed the wagons into a 
 corral and a guard was kept during the night; 
 each man and woman carried weapons ready 
 for defense. About sunset one day, we passed 
 the ruins of the old American Hanch where a 
 feAv months before a provision train of 80 wag- 
 ons had been captured by the Indians, their 
 drivers who did not escape by flight, were either 
 killed or taken prisoners. After pillaging the 
 wagons and taking what they desired, they 
 burned the remainder; the ground was strewn 
 with wagon tires, hubs and odd bits of iron. 
 
126 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 It was said fcliat during tlie attack two Indians 
 liad been killed, and tlieir bodies left in tlie 
 ruins of the old sod liut. We camped about 
 two miles below tlie ruins, and two women 
 belonging to tlie train, accompanied by several 
 men, Avalked back tliat evening in order to see 
 tlie carcasses of the dried up and "very dead 
 braves." In describing them, tliey said that 
 instead of decomposing, they merely dried up, 
 their skin adhering to the bone and their hands 
 and feet resembling claws. What horrible fas- 
 cination induced them to walk those four long 
 miles in order to feast their gaze on this re- 
 volting spectacle, I was unable to understand; 
 as for myself, thoroughly wearied with life in 
 the wilderness, I would gladly have traveled 
 as far again to avoid their vicinity. 
 
 Being near the scene of recent murder and 
 outrage, our little camp redoubled its watch- 
 fulness. Four men stood guard that night, 
 and long after the hour of retiring, I laid 
 awake thinking and looking at the stars through 
 the window in my wagon — I could not sleep. 
 The night was chilly, and a fire smoked and 
 blazed near my wagon, around which the watch- 
 ful and alert guard at times sat and talked. 
 The conversation naturally, under the circum- 
 stances, centred on Indian stories, ladian at- 
 tacks, crossing the plains, etc., and as the night 
 wore on they grew more and more eloquent — it 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 127 
 
 seemed to me tliey were gifted witli an mofid elo- 
 quence on that particular subject. Now and 
 tlien one of the guards stole from the little 
 group and patroled the camp. About midnight 
 one of them came in and remarked : "I'm blest 
 boys if I ain't afraid there's suthin skulkin' 
 among the horses." A hasty look at their 
 trusty rifles, and the four men started away to 
 reconnoitre. I arose and looked out, wondered 
 what I should do in case of an attack. Exam- 
 ined my pistol and saw it was loaded, looked 
 at the form of a lady who occupied the wagon 
 with me, and at the peaceful faces of my little 
 children all quiet and undisturbed in slumber — 
 sat and listened, and after what seemed to be 
 an interminable length of time, the four men 
 came back and quietly resumed their places by 
 the fire. "Well," remarked a tall, saffron-col- 
 ored, sandy whiskered fellow, " danged ef I 
 didn't think I seed a hoss agoin acrost to the 
 bluffs jest after we got out thar." " O dry up,'' 
 came in reply; "we've got nervous tellin' our 
 Injun yarns — but I say, Bill, sposin' we wus at- 
 tacked, what ivould you do?" Bill, thus ap- 
 pealed to, straightened himself up and replied: 
 ^' Do? Bj jingo I'd fight if I got cornered and 
 had to, but I'd run if I could." Though the 
 time, place and circumstances were little calcu- 
 lated to inspire mirth, I could not repress a smile 
 at the simple frankness of Bill's reply, and 
 
128 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 though one might not give him credit for re- 
 markable daring, we were prone to trust his ve- 
 racity i — however, such frequently display most 
 courage when it is most needed. One of the 
 world's greatest generals once remarked when 
 he saw an ashen-faced man marching up to a 
 battery, " There goes a good soldier; give me 
 a man who knows his danger and faces it with- 
 out flinching. " Bill certainly possessed one of 
 these requisites — he seemed to comprehend 
 thoroughly his danger. Needless to say there 
 was little sleep for me that night, and it Avas 
 with a feeling of relief and gratitude that I 
 watched the slow approach of day, the indis- 
 tinct streaks of the gray dawn, heard the first 
 noisy stir of camp life, and saw the sun rise 
 large and yellow, flooding the long stretches of 
 tawny plains — and our hasty breakfasts being 
 soon dispatched, our Avagons slowly moved into 
 line and stretched out on the long, dusty road. 
 We met one day a long train of Mormon pros- 
 elytes bound for the kingdom of the ' ' Latter 
 Day Saints." Poor, ignorant and dirty — they 
 seemed to be the dregs of some foreign country. 
 As wagon after w^agon rolled past us, and 
 groups of men,women and children, barefooted, 
 toiled on in the sand, numbers of our train sa- 
 luted them with " I say, you're going the wrong 
 way !" " Hallo there ! better turn back old 
 man!" and the like; but with their faces turned 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 129 
 
 Zionward, and the toes of tlieir feet pointing 
 toward the City of the Saints, they heeded not 
 the scoffs and sneers of the nnbelievers, and 
 turning neither to the right nor to the left, kept 
 stolidly on their way In direct contrast was a 
 train of returnino; Mormons with wdiom we 
 camped occasionally. They had escaped the 
 terrors of the law and the ^'Avenging Angels," 
 and after a residence of years in Zion, at last 
 were going home. They conversed but little on 
 the subject of Mormonism, but if one might 
 judge from a casual observation, their souls 
 seemed tojiave been steeped in the waters of 
 Marah; the slightest reference made to the sub- 
 ject from time to time, convinced us that it 
 stirred up a flood of painful and unpleasant 
 recollections. There was one woman particu- 
 larly whom I shall never forget — she had re- 
 sided there fifteen years, and without doubt had 
 had her share of bitter experience. Her face, 
 her speech and very manner impressed us ^s 
 one who had drank deeply of bitter waters. 
 
 With feelings of heartfelt gratitude for our 
 safe journey, we entered the confines of civili- 
 zation. A few" months later my husband, joined 
 us, and locating in the town of B., on the Mis- 
 souri River, we engaged in the photographing 
 business. This section of the country is one 
 of the most -fertile and attractive portions of 
 the State. The soil is rich and capable of pro- 
 6^ 
 
130 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 duciiig all kinds of fruits, vegetables, cereals, 
 etc., peculiar to this latitude. The country is 
 beautiful, abounding in rolling hills, bluffs and 
 prairies. The hills are covered with a dense 
 growth of timber, and the rich dark woods 
 abound in nuts of various kinds — hickory nuts, 
 walnuts and hazel nuts; and along the streams 
 are found wild plums in great profusion, and 
 equaling the finest cultivated plum in delicacy 
 of flavor — wild strawberries are also abundant, 
 and gooseberries, etc. Notwithstanding the 
 many attractions that surrounded us in this new 
 home, our faithful hearts, which could not forget, 
 were prone to turn in restless yearning to the 
 land of the setting sun. Agreeable to the im- 
 pulse, in November, 1869, we found ourselves 
 once more westward bound, this time on the 
 Transcontinental Eailway. 
 
 THE SUNSET LAND. 
 
 Ah! many a morn when the earth is fair 
 
 And the lark's wikl song rings clear — 
 Sweet visions steal through the empty air, 
 Away from the finished years — 
 O, had I the wings 
 Of the bird that sings — 
 I would speed o'er the trackless main, 
 Where lingeringly 
 By the sunset sea, 
 Those years I'd woo again. 
 
 And many an eve when the sky is bright, 
 And the heavens are deejily blue, 
 
THE MABCH OF EMPIRE. 131 
 
 And the wind swims up with a winsome light, 
 And the stars shine brightly through — 
 
 I dreamily 
 
 Call back to me 
 A land on the sunset shore, 
 
 Where wave dark pines 
 
 Over hidden mines, 
 My feet hath pressed of yore. 
 
 Where the golden oriole plumed his wing, 
 
 And the huntsman's horn was heard, 
 
 And the streamlet's voice in its wandering 
 
 Was free as the x^roud, bright bird — 
 
 On the mountain's crest 
 
 In the far-off West 
 Was mj^ home of the cherished x^ast, 
 
 Where swift and sweet 
 
 Beneath my feet, 
 Life's flowers were thickly cast. 
 
 The flowers have dropped from youth's fair shrine, 
 
 And the years will return no more, 
 Bnt the fragrant breath of the murmuring wind 
 Blows soft from that sunlit shore — 
 
 And phantoms fair 
 
 Through the viewless air, 
 Oppress me with regret, 
 
 Sweet pictures come 
 
 From lips now dumb, 
 Whose words I never can forget. 
 
 O, linger, winds ! of the far-ofl" land, 
 
 And voices of buried times, 
 And blow ye waves from the golden strand. 
 With the murmuring song of the pine, 
 
 For unto me, 
 
 Thy song shall be 
 A rhythm with memories rife— 
 
 Whose melody 
 
 Shall cling to me 
 To the sunset shores of life. 
 
132 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 A railroad across the continent, wliicli has 
 been a reality over sixteen years, is now scarce- 
 ly considered an achievement of more than ordi- 
 nary interest, and like the transatlantic subma- 
 rine cable, hardly awakens at this time more 
 than a passing thought. But a quarter of a 
 century ago those who entertained the theory as 
 at all practicable Avere looked upon as mere en- 
 thusiastic visionaries. I remember when, at 
 one time, I ventured to timidly predict that I 
 should see the day — nay, fervently hoped to cross 
 the continent by rcdlway, my earnest remark was 
 laughed to scorn, and I was doubtless consid- 
 ered an unreasoning visionary. There was at 
 that time such a theory — but a theory which 
 then seemed as impalpable and improbable as 
 does, at the present, ' ' Symmes' theory of the 
 North Pole," and though it had its earnest 
 supporters, the undertaking, so gigantic and 
 full of peril, so difficult, and requiring such an 
 enormous outlay of capital, was looked upon as 
 an event which, if ever accomplished, would 
 belong to the dim and remote future; one, per- 
 haps, that our great-grand-children might pos- 
 sibly live to see, but which was beyond the 
 pale of our destiny. But since that time what 
 grand and glorious achievements have the fruit- 
 ful years unfolded. From a prominent journal 
 we quote : "At present there are seven over- 
 land railroads, either completed or in progress, 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 133 
 
 to reach the Pacific O.cean; embracing four 
 systems — the Central and Union Pacific, the 
 new Atlantic and Pacific route, the Texas Pa- 
 cific and Southern Pacific. The Denver and 
 Eio Grande is pushing for this Coast, and the 
 Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, 
 which proposes to extend its line from Dacota 
 to Pacific Ocean. The last spike was but a 
 few we.eks ago driven in the Northern Pacific 
 and Canadian Pacific. Then there are two 
 Mexican roads, which will soon span the Mexi- 
 can portion of the continent, besides two ship 
 canals projected." 
 
CHAPTKR XV. 
 
 ECHO CANYON, THE BEADTIFCTL — DEVIL's GATE— THE HUMBOLDT 
 DESERT— THE MAIDEN'S GRAVE. 
 
 Novemhrr 15th — A drizzling rain and lowering- 
 sky hovered above our departure. Tlie ride to 
 tlie station, distant some four miles, was un- 
 comfortable in the extreme, but once on the 
 train, we are fairly started. By six o'clock the 
 same day we took the 'bus for the Council 
 Bluffs depot for Omaha — just one hour too late 
 for the westward bound train, and perforce must 
 wait another day. 
 
 November Idth — At four o' clock we take a 'bus 
 for the depot, and through mud and mire un- 
 limited go slashing and splashing till at last we 
 are set down at the depot, where, with many 
 other impatient emigrants, we wait two mortal 
 hours, then we hear a shriek, a puff", and the 
 monster is gliding abreast the platform. Then 
 "there is hurrying to and fro" — O, what a 
 gathering of bundles and baskets, overcoats, 
 lap-dogs, babies, guns! — everything portable — 
 and what a rush, lest you may be left or be 
 without a seat! As those things are items wor- 
 thy of consideration, we join the general melee, 
 and start for the cars. My husband takes the 
 
THE MARCH OP EMPIRE. 135 
 
 lead, bearing tlie provision trunk and slirub- 
 box, while Ernest follows Avitli a huge roll of 
 blankets and a gun. Walter supports his gun 
 and carpet sack triumphantly, and May and I 
 are left to bring up the rear with the two little 
 children and the two baskets, which we do right 
 nobly. Some little distance has to be traversed, 
 over railroad tracks and around freighted cars — 
 and of all the funny sights ! I haven' t seen any- 
 thing to equal it since I "crossed the Isthmus" in 
 '54. Each man, woman and child loaded with 
 their respective bundles , and all in a hurry ! I got 
 to laughing so that I was unable to get into the 
 car; but, thanks to a gentleman, was assisted 
 in. These are the second-class cars — $60 per 
 ticket — and we carry our own provisions, which 
 is no small item, as we are told that this will be 
 our home for eight or ten days. So we smooth 
 down our feathers and settle down quite com- 
 fortably, occupying as many seats as "the law 
 allows us," for we are thinking of eight or ten 
 nights when we shall have to improvise beds of 
 the seats and our blankets. We throw aside all 
 reserve and conventionalism, and are soon in 
 friendly converse with several of our fellow-pas- 
 sengers. Some five or six ladies are in "our 
 car" — intelligent, lively and sensible; while the 
 gentlemen are agreeable and polite — slio! says 
 conscience, as though the gentlemen were not 
 everywhere agreeable and polite. 
 
13G THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 Soon the engine shrieks a final farewell 
 through the gloom, and we realize that we are 
 indeed on the grand continental railway, bound 
 for the Pacific Coast (the third time) — th?it we 
 have left friends and old associations — and, 
 heedless of the din and clatter, the merry talk, 
 the jokes and confusion, w^e find ourselves prone 
 to indulge in tender recollections, but this must 
 be put aside, for we have not yet had time for 
 supper. So now, that we are fairly under way, 
 the dinner baskets must be discussed. When 
 bed time arrives, the car is crowded. Each 
 person seeks to get himself into such a position 
 as will be most likely to woo the drowsy god. 
 Looking down the car, I notice that hats, boots 
 and waterfalls occupy the most conspicuous po- 
 sitions, though many from choice — "Hobson's 
 choice" — have taken a sitting position to secure 
 a nap. Not much sleep visits our eyelids the 
 first night, having occasionally been awakened 
 by the jokes of the "boys "who were so un- 
 fortunate as to linve given up their seats to the 
 ladies. I feel a profound solicitude for those 
 poor fellows, w^lio to all appearances are doom- 
 ed for eight or ten consecutive nights to vary 
 the monotony of restless wanderings through 
 the aisle with "roosting" on the backs of seats; 
 but the way of the emigrant is hard, and the 
 "wee sma' hours" of niglit are kept noisy by 
 sleepy jokes. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 137 
 
 Novembtr 17th — We look out and see the long 
 level stretch of Platte bottom. Certainly so 
 far this is one of the mo^t favorable railway 
 routes in the world — almost a dead level, from 
 the Missouri to the mountains. We are getting 
 on finely — a nice, warm car, soft cushioned 
 seats, good lights, good fires and plenty of wa- 
 ter, though not very good. Conductor keeps 
 clear and we're "masters of the situation." 
 
 November IStJi — Cheyenne — A pretty little 
 town, 516 miles from Omaha. No end to ho- 
 tels, eating saloons, drinking saloons, etc., 
 while in the distance I saw some two or three 
 neat and beautiful churches. It is a town of 
 two or three years' growth, containing several 
 thousajid inhabitants. It is perfectly surpris- 
 ing! Situated in the heart of the wilderness — 
 hundreds of miles from civilization — a young- 
 city blessed with neat churches, schools, busi- 
 ness houses and pretty residences, etc. Yerily 
 to hear is to doubt, but to see is to believe. 
 
 "I hear the tramp, the mighty tread 
 Of nations yet to be — 
 The first low wash of waves where soon 
 Shall roll a human sea." 
 
 And seeing the march of civilization in this 
 young city of the wildnerness, we hear the voice 
 of the mighty waves of emigration beating and 
 surging against its rocky strongholds. 
 
138 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 At Antelope a second storm overtook us. It 
 blew in wild gusts and eventuated in a snow 
 storm. The snow is now three or four inches 
 deep but the afternoon sun is shining warm and 
 radiantly. We are now on the eighteen-mile 
 grade, said to be the most dangerous grade on 
 the whole route. Every ten miles, "more or 
 loss," as the lawyers say, we pass a station 
 house where a man is constantly employed to in- 
 spect ten miles of the road and keep it in order. 
 They are scattering human habitations — the dis- 
 tant outposts of civilization. 
 
 November 19th. — Carefully and slowly last 
 night we came up the long grade which termi- 
 nated at Sherman — the summit — the highest 
 point on the route, reaching an altitude of 8,000 
 feet above sea level. And now for the down- 
 grade, steeper than the up-hill. I have never 
 experienced a more exciting ride. It is fear- 
 fully sul)lime! We skim the ground — we fly! 
 We ily through strips of seemingly level plain, 
 through deep cuts whose frowning and over- 
 hanging rocks project directly above us. It is 
 a lovely moonlight night, rendered still more 
 beautiful by the ground being covered with 
 snow. Through all this long, swift ride I held 
 mj baby fast gathered in my arms. What if 
 some overhanging, treacherous rock had slipped 
 its fastening and rolled upon the track? What 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 139 
 
 if — a thousand tilings. Away ! I will not dream 
 of these. God's hand that stilled the tempest 
 is with us as the iron horse with its precious 
 freight thunders across the Rocky Mountains. 
 What a sense of relief I experience when the 
 long twenty-mile grade is past; a grade of 
 eighty feet to the mile. We draw a long breath, 
 for we have passed some frightful places dui- 
 ing the fearful ride. At one time the train 
 stopped in the middle of a rocky ridge, on 
 either side of which was a deep, yawning chasm. 
 Now and then the engine started with a jerk, 
 then backed again, still keeping us in this un- 
 comfortable position, while the storm without 
 howling and surging and thundering against 
 the cars, rocked us as in a cradle, suggesting 
 terrible thoughts. But at last we passed safely 
 over the frightful causeway. We have passed 
 Laramie, a very nice little town, besides many 
 other little stations of lesser importance. 
 
 We can scarcely believe that we are in the 
 Mountains, for around us on either side are 
 smooth, unbroken plains as if designed by na- 
 ture for the path of the iron horse. Afar, on the 
 left, the deep blue swell of the Wind River 
 mountains is plainly visible. It is clear and 
 beautiful, though rather cold weather to-day, 
 and the clouds are hurled back against the 
 horizon. We go on at a good swinging pace; 
 expect soon to be in Promontory. Our jour- 
 
140 THE MAKCH OF EMPIKE. 
 
 iiey lias been enlivened by herds of deer, ante- 
 lope, and elk, also badgers and wolves — no 
 buffaloes. The song of bird is seldom heard 
 along the tarack. 
 
 November 20 — A most lovely day. The pet 
 canaries in my neighbor's cage are reveling 
 in the warm sushine. We are at Wahsatch, 
 116 miles from Promontory. I hear the men 
 sounding the car wheels, which is done every 
 fifty miles, the engine is also changed every fifty 
 miles. A number of boys have boarded the 
 train, selling bread, cakes, coffee, etc.; bread 
 twenty-five cents per loaf, coffee ten cients per 
 cup. We are going through romantic and 
 picturesque scenery. Bear River, clear and 
 murmuring, over a pebbly bed is a lovely lit- 
 tle stream. At noon we enter Echo Canon, 
 the beautiful. A romantic natural defile, some 
 100 feet wide by 17 miles long, the mountains 
 on either side, tall and majestic, are of red sand- 
 stone abounding in rocky ridges and covered with 
 tamarac and sage brush, and bearing unmistak- 
 able evidence of having been worn by the action 
 of waters, years, perhaps centuries ago. It is 
 picturesque beyond description — the long, level 
 dell through which a clear stream rijiples and 
 wanders, and the frequent occurrence of warm 
 springs, around and near which the green grass 
 grows in all the luxuriance of early June. Here 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 141 
 
 on tlie very summits of these loftiest peaks we 
 see the remains of ancient breastworks built 
 years ago by the Mormons under Brigham 
 Young, in order to shoot down on the Govern- 
 ment troops which were sent out by Uncle Sam 
 in 1857 to suppress Mormonism. 
 
 These enduring breastworks, situated as they 
 are on the tops of these loftiest peaks, recall to 
 the peaceful traveler a scrap of frontier history 
 which is interesting in the extreme. For many 
 a long year they will remain a monument to 
 the failure of an attempt to crush out a "pecu- 
 liar society," which for its abominable prac- 
 tices and outrageous creeds and its ignorant 
 and fanatical followers, has no similarity in the 
 world's history. They seem to recall to mind 
 the millions of Avasted army munitions and 
 treasury funds, and the utter failure of that 
 memorable attempt. 
 
 Weber River, running through the canon is 
 clear and full of mountain trout. We have 
 stopped at Echo City, a small hamlet. Here 
 we bought some Utah apples — fruit of a su- 
 perior quality. This is a lovely spot. We 
 have passed several Mormon villages, and I 
 notice two features which seem to be char- 
 acteristic of this "peculiar" society, to- wit: 
 the utter and hopeless poverty of the people, 
 and the number of children. Judging from the 
 number of little, tow-headed saints that swarm 
 
142 THE MARCH OF EMriRE. 
 
 about the low log lints, we come to the conclu- 
 sion that this must be a "manufacturing" vil- 
 lage. At sunset we near the renowned natural 
 wonder, called Devil's Gate. 
 
 History and tradition have made us familiar 
 with this remarkable and awe-inspiring place. 
 Huge mountains frown narrowingly on either 
 side, at the base of which a dee]) and rugged 
 hole seems to have been scraped by demon 
 claws. The mountains of solid rock descend 
 almost perpendicularly, and at the very bottom 
 of the gorge the Weber Kiver, deep and dark 
 tumbles among the rugged rocks. The rail- 
 road track spans the wide and gloomy gorge. 
 
 Slowly we pass above and look from the 
 dizzy height — only a narrow railroad bridge on 
 which to cross this " Witch's Cauldron." 
 
 Not the least interesting feature of this awe- 
 inspiring and wonderful place is the old emi- 
 grant road. Far below it winds its course 
 around the margin of the river, a worn and yel~ 
 low track. At one point, where the mountains 
 descend adruptly nearly to the river brink, the 
 solid rock has been picked and hewn away as if 
 by painful labor, until there is, by careful 
 driving, just room for a wagon to pass; above 
 hang the jutting frowning rocks, and below rolls 
 the deep dark river. How many wearied teams 
 have passed under that shelving cliff! How 
 many toil-worn travelers have shuddered in 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 143 
 
 fear and terror as tliey passed beneath tlie 
 shadow of this threatening mass of rock! How 
 many human skeletons lie whitening in the 
 deeps of this dark river! The river tells ns not 
 in its unconscious murmurings, the wind brings 
 no wispers in its wild ravings, and the stony 
 mountains bear no record on their frowning 
 fronts; but we recall to memory stray stories of 
 the sufferings of the early emigrants — of lost 
 stock, wrecked wagons, and dead men's bones — 
 that haunt this awful "Devil's Gap." We pass 
 on, and a sigh of relief escapes us as the last 
 car rolls past the gorge, and we emerge from 
 Echo Canon into an open plain, bounded by 
 stupendous mountains, whose view is shortly 
 cut off by the gloom of gathering night. But I 
 cannot leave the canon without allowing my pen 
 to linger over the record of a most rare and 
 beautiful sight. It was about three o'clock, 
 the day fair and sunny, at a point where the 
 mountains reared their stupendous heights on 
 either side, and covered the caiion with shadow. 
 In the deep shadow I saw above me glimmering 
 in the clear transparent air a single large and 
 lovely star! Star of the daylight in the Bocky 
 Mountains! Was there another one that saw 
 it ? I shall accept it as a harbinger of future 
 good. 
 
 Since leaving the Black Hills the weather 
 has been warm and pleasant. During the night 
 
144 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 we pass a very interesting portion of our jour- 
 ney — Ogden, quite a nice city bordering on 
 Salt Lake, also Corinne and Promontory. At 
 the last named place we change cars and speed 
 on. The shadows of night are around us, and 
 on we go; while close upon our left the dim far 
 stretching water of the Great Salt Lake repose 
 and glimmer in the starlight. Many regrets 
 are expressed that we could not have viewed 
 the great interior basin by day. 
 
 November 21st. — Daylight finds us speeding- 
 over the Desert. The country presents a level 
 tract of land, boun'ded on either side by grand 
 majestic mountains. The soil is strongly im- 
 pregnated with alkali. Sage brush and grease- 
 wood with occasional patches of wild rye, are the 
 only vegetation. The weather during the day 
 is warm and pleasant, at night it is freezing 
 cold. We pass "section houses," Chinese 
 camps, and eating saloons, all board shanties. 
 We see a few Indians, the only ones we have 
 seen on the journey, begging at the camps. 
 
 Passed Elko last night; a pretty little town; 
 regretted it was at night. Here runners came in- 
 to the cars, bringing apples, pears and grapes; 
 the finest fruit I ever saw. We have had a ]3er- 
 fect feast, and all the small emigrants are per- 
 fectly delighted. We go on safely and easily 
 making our eight or ten miles an hour. Halted 
 at ten o'clock long enough to allow the gentle- 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIEE. 145 
 
 men to take a bath in a warm spring, the steam 
 of which was plainly visible a few hundred 
 yards off in Humboldt Yalley. A fellow pas- 
 senger, an old gentleman seventy years of age, 
 remarked when he saw the passengers running 
 to the spring through the thick sage brush, " I 
 don't see what they want to run away out there 
 for, a scuffin out their boots." 
 
 Heigho, what fun the conductor made last 
 evening. He is a jovial, hearty soul, and kept 
 us awake with his jokes. He is an exception 
 to the generally recognized assertion that ^'Con- 
 ductors are the meanest men in the world.'' 
 
 November 2'2c? — Had a nice time this morning, 
 got out with a small party and took breakfast 
 at Winnemucca; fresh biscuits, buckwheat 
 cakes, ham and eggs, tea and coffee, sweet po- 
 tatoes, Irish ditto, butter, pies, fruit, etc., 
 meals 50cts; '' meals at all hours and accommo- 
 dations for one," besides the landlord gave us 
 a new Frank Leslie's Illustrated. Nice landlord! 
 good breakfast ! will patronize him every time 
 we come this way. We are soon under way 
 again, while the same seemingly endless mo- 
 notony of sage brush and greasewood covers 
 the broad valley, and the mountains repose si- 
 lently in the distance. Along the track wheie 
 the ground has been thrown up, the soil has an 
 ashen-gray appearance, as though the country 
 
146 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 had at some day in the far past been deluged in 
 burning lava, and is at present the silent witness 
 of a volcanic eruption. Strange country, deso- 
 late and uninviting ! I am anxious to see what 
 will come after this long, monotonous valley of 
 the Humboldt. 
 
 How many fine views we pass in the night. 
 Last night we passed that romantic spot, The 
 Maiden's Grave. An emigrant girl was buried 
 there long years ago, her grave left with only a 
 rough board to mark the spot, but when the 
 hardy men of California came to lay ''the shin- 
 ing track of steely rails," they enclosed the sa- 
 cred spot with a neat stone fence and placed a 
 stone cross at the head, the symbol of Chris- 
 tianity — the act was touching and praiseworthy. 
 The spot is pointed out and the history recited, 
 but how many, alas! how many, sleep that 
 dreamless sleep, their graves unknown and their 
 very names almost forgotten? How many sim- 
 ilar histories of broken hearts and desolate, 
 sorrowing homes and wrecked hopes are 
 brought forcibly to our faithful memories by 
 the touching sight of the maiden's grave? 
 
 We are now within one day's travel of Sac- 
 ramento. How near it seems, and yet how far! 
 It is a most lovely day, the sun shines with daz- 
 zling lustre, the heavens are a dreamy blue, the 
 brown valley stretches far and level, with near 
 pictures of brown mountains and distant views 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIEE. 147 
 
 of tall , blue peaks that lift their brows far up 
 in the clear air and seem to kiss the skies. 
 
 Afternoon — We are at Humboldt City, and 
 behind in the mountains we can see the mines 
 — faint indications of the feeble powers of man 
 in striving to wrench from the bowels of the 
 adamantine rocks, earth's precious gems. We 
 now j)ass a spot where some Chinamen are delv- 
 ing in the ground and bringing out sulphur. 
 It looks like the pure article. We wonder if 
 his Satanic Majesty wears a pigtail, and we feel 
 easier when we glide past the spot, prolific with 
 brimstone and imps with pigtails and almond 
 eyes. 
 
 November 2^d — When we awoke this morning 
 the grand, beautiful scenery of California 
 greeted our vision. Breakfast at Truckee, a 
 pleasant looking town of 2,000 inhabitants. 
 The view is essentially Californian. It looks 
 like home and smells like home. Hail Oro! How 
 familiar look the tall sloping mountains, cov- 
 ered with beautiful evergreens, and valleys 
 through which murmur sparkling streams. We 
 realize we are nearing home, that our journey 
 is nearly at an end, and with what haj)py hearts 
 we look out as the train speeds onward. We are 
 now nearing the summit of the track reaching 
 an altitude of 7,042 feet, descending at the rate 
 of 90 feet to the mile; we go down 500 feet in 
 six miles. The scenery is grand beyond de- 
 
148 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 scription; we feel like we are on tlie ''great 
 backbone of eartli." Here on tlie lofty sum- 
 mits of the Sierra Nevada, men were tied — it was 
 necessary to secure them by tying them with 
 ropes until they could pick a foothold in the 
 solid, sloping rocks — and inch by inch the gran- 
 ite was picked away till a roadway was made, 
 and after an enormous outlay of money and 
 toil and engineering and brain work, the grand 
 Continental Railroad was a success! I look 
 down from this awful height and see the tops 
 of tall pine trees, which appear dwarfed and 
 insignificant, and a stream goes on its winding 
 way, which looks like a silver thread. It is by far 
 the grandest, most fearfully sublime portion of 
 the road, but much of the view is shutoff by snow 
 sheds which are very substantially built to 
 ward off the avalanche from the overhanging 
 mountain. We pass through numerous tun- 
 nels. Snow sheds and tunnels are so closely 
 connected, that we scarcely realize when we 
 emerge from a tumnel into a snow shed. A mo- 
 mentary glimpse of green mountain peaks, 
 frowning rocks and dark canons, and we glide 
 into darkness and gloom. Around rocky points 
 thousands of feet above green valleys and mur- 
 muring rivers the train speeds on, and now the 
 summit is reached and passed, and we are on 
 the down' grade, another wild and fearful ride. 
 Words fail to express our sensations. It is 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIEE. 149 
 
 the sublimity of grandeur, wild and grand be- 
 yond description, far as tbe eye can see, the 
 dark blue mountains are rolled range uj)on 
 range, and crest upon crest. 
 
 We arrived at Colfax about five o'clock, 50 
 miles from Sacramento; we will be at our jour- 
 ney's end to-night. The mountains begin to 
 present a spring-like appearance. The tender 
 grass reminds us of May showers and sunshine. 
 Cottages are scattered about, and hamlets re- 
 posing in dreamy green valleys; we see green 
 peas and cabbage plants in the gardens. We 
 are now in Placer County — the scenery is lovely. 
 What a transition from that of two days ago. 
 The monotonous wastes of the Humboldt have 
 given place to spring-time verdure, rippling- 
 streams, gardens, vineyards, etc. On speeds 
 the train to Sacramento , where we arrived safe- 
 ly last night at 12 o'clock, November 24th, 
 1869. We were eight days and six hours on 
 the journey, and with heartfelt thanks for our 
 safety, we rest after our long and fatiguing 
 trip. 
 
 We look around us and feel the soft, balmy 
 atmosphere, the warm rays of the genial sun- 
 shine, and though it is rainy winter, flowers 
 are still growing and blooming in the garden- 
 beds, the verandahs of residences are yet green 
 and lovely with vine and bloom — in striking 
 contrast is the severe, cold, drizzling Novem- 
 ber weather we left just eight days ago. 
 
CHAF*TE:r XVI. 
 
 BERRYESSA VALLEY— THE DEVIL'S GATE — PLEASANT VALLEY — 
 A NIGHT UNDER THE SKY — GRAND ISLAND — A PICTUR- 
 ESQUE VALLEY — THE HAUNTED DELL. 
 
 A few weeks spent in patient searcli for a lo- 
 cation for a home, and at last Berryessa Valley, 
 in Napa County, was selected. Here we arrived 
 on the 2d of January, 1870, glad to rest from 
 wearisome journeyings, and happy to feel that 
 we were once more settled, and at liome. 
 
 Napa County has been appropriately and just- 
 ly called one of the garden spots of California. 
 It is rich and fertile, abounding in beautiful 
 valleys divided by mountain ridges, which af- 
 ford excellent pasture for stock. It has long 
 been noted for its equable and j)leasant climate. 
 The soil is well adapted to all agricultural pur- 
 poses. In many favored localities tropical 
 fruits flourish. Napa Yalley — the largest and 
 oldest settled valley in the county, is in itself 
 a gem of loveliness. What nature may have 
 failed to do for this romantic and lovely vale, 
 has been more than atoned for by the uealth, 
 industry and enterjorise of man. 
 
 Berryessa Valley, distant from Napa City 
 some 26 miles, was until within the last fifteen 
 years, the home of native Californians — the 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 151 
 
 Berryessa Bros., from whom it takes its name. 
 Previous to its settlement and purchase by 
 Americans, it was the ''Eancho De Las Putas," 
 the property of the wealthy and luxurious 
 Spaniard. The lingering remnants of its once 
 wealthy and powerful owners still reside, broken 
 in fortune and thinned in numbers, on a small 
 portion of their once vast possessions. At 
 sight of them, handsome and commanding, and 
 still gifted with the dark beauty of their race, 
 one is led back in imagination to those prime- 
 val days. The valley was then little else but a 
 wilderness of verdure— over whose vast pasture 
 land roamed herds of horses and cattle, where 
 the native grasses waved so high as to hide in 
 their waving verdure the bands of cattle that 
 fed thereon. A few adobe dwellings, staunch 
 built and comfortable, were the only marked 
 evidences of a semi-civilization. Numerous In- 
 dian villages along the banks of streams en- 
 livened the solitude; deer, bear and other ani- 
 mals abounded in the surrounding mountains. 
 Here, dreamed away in listless and luxuriant 
 ease, the lordly Don, and his numberless re- 
 tainers, the dusky Diggers. The sun rose and 
 set, year after year, on the same scene — the 
 same verdure of spring and tawny glint of 
 autumn. Troops of dusky Indians lounged on 
 their rancherias, mashed their acorns in rude 
 stone bowls, and broiled their steaming veni- 
 
152 
 
 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 son or bear meat by tlie smoking fires near 
 their wigwams, and with no thought of the fu- 
 ture, and no warning dream of the encroach- 
 ing footsteps of the pale faces, cared for no im- 
 provement and desired no change. But a land 
 so gifted and so glorious, could not slumber 
 long, unawakened by the ' ^ march of empire." 
 The echo of its footsteps resounded on her 
 border, and every leaf and blade of grass, and 
 breath of wind, stirred to the sound! Before 
 its resistless strides the native Californian and 
 his belongings vanished like the dew of yester- 
 morn. And lo ! we see before us what a change 
 the fruitful years have wrought ! There are long 
 lines of fences — vast fields of grain and corn — 
 homes of wealth, beauty and refinement — and 
 herds of cattle and horses and flocks of sheep 
 feed on the green hill pasture. For miles the 
 valley is level as a floor, without hill or hollow, 
 and save the numerous ' ' weeping oaks, ' ' pre- 
 sents an open scene of beauty and prosperity. 
 Through its entire length flows a crystal stream, 
 and in its centre is the quaint and pretty vil- 
 lage of Monticello. For a period of ten years 
 this beautiful valley was our home. 
 
 It was midsummer — the early morning cool 
 and balmy — and in company with a small party 
 of friends with capacious vehicle and camping 
 outfit, we were intent on a protracted journey 
 for the purpose of visiting friends in the neigh- 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 153 
 
 boring county. Down the canon, which is the 
 natural outlet of Berryessa Yalley, we made 
 good time. The morning air was laden with 
 the delicious perfume of wild grape blooms, 
 wild roses, and the flashing waters of the crys- 
 tal stream of Putah. On either side, the 
 mountains, grand and imposing, reared their 
 peak-like battlements. A ride of a few miles 
 brought us to the Devil's Gate, a ponderous 
 mass of boulders, between which the old road 
 of Putah Canon formerly ran. A sulphur 
 spring in the vicinity, from which we drank, 
 and which, when coupled with the Satanic title 
 of the gate, was strongly suggestive of a very hot 
 climate and things not pleasant to contemplate. 
 Here is the dividing line of Napa and Yolo 
 counties. It is written in large, white letters 
 on the black face of the rock, and at the right, 
 a corner of Solano county juts out in a huge 
 mass of mountainous rock. 
 
 A few miles further on, we pass the vegeta- 
 ble farms in the vicinity of Pleasant Valley. 
 Here grow the earliest vegetables that are taken 
 to the San Francisco markets. Acres and acres 
 of tomatoes, beans, squashes, etc., are to be 
 seen, with bands of Chinese gathering them. 
 
 Turning a point, we sweep over undulating 
 
 hills, and are in full view of a young city of 
 
 the plain — Winters, a town of some two or 
 
 three years' growth, but for two seasons the 
 
 7^ 
 
154 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 terminus of the Yaca Yalley Eailroad. Pass- 
 ing, tlience our course lies northward — on the 
 broad plain of the Sacramento Yalley, devoid 
 of tree or shrub, but one vast, endless grain- 
 field. The eye rests on many substantial farm- 
 houses with groves of orchards and green vine- 
 yards — others are mere tenant houses, small, 
 and dark and dreary looking, and all glinting 
 and glowing in the hot rays of a July sun. But 
 beyond and far, what do we behold? — a crys- 
 tal lake of clear, transparent waters, in which 
 the reflections of grain-stacks and houses were 
 plainly visible. We urge our steeds onward. 
 Let us bathe the hot eyes and cool the burning 
 brow in the limpid waters of the beautiful 
 lake! The vision fades, it is only the mirage 
 of the plains. Years ago, tired and thirsty, 
 how oft we saw the same thing on the Colorado 
 deserts, where in the limitless expanse of land 
 and sky it lured the thirsty traveler on — a very 
 ignis fatuiis. Ere long, a more cheering feat- 
 ure of country is seen — we enter a beautiful 
 belt of forest land, and hail with pleasure the 
 inviting shades and sweet winds that sweep 
 through the woods. Such droves of rabbits 
 and- hare scampering and galloping in every di- 
 rection, and the air is vocal with the songs of 
 birds. 
 
 As night closed around us, we sought a farm 
 house where we procured hay for our horses, 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 155 
 
 and selecting a pleasant camj)ing spot, ordered 
 a halt. How grateful was the odor of the de- 
 licious coffee and broiling steak in the open 
 air, but weary of the long day' s ride, we soon 
 sought slumber — our only canopy the blue, 
 dark vault above. The line of light in the 
 western horizon is fading— far off we hear the 
 lonesome "too whit, too whoo " of an owl. 
 The sound of the horses munching their hay, 
 and the sleepy note of some drowsy bird borne 
 on the invigorating night wind greet the ear. 
 There is a short prayer breathed for the loved 
 ones at home, a thought of the dear old friends 
 at the end of our journey, a dim gleam of the 
 wonders of God's creation, with the words 
 "The heavens declare the glory of God and 
 the firmament showeth his handiwork " — then 
 sense and sound are lost, and we drop into for- 
 getfulness. The clarion notes of the morning 
 bird at the gray dawn, roused us from a long, 
 restful sleep. How strangely, brightly beauti- 
 ful the stars shone down over the dark bosom 
 of the slumbering earth ! How cool and sweet 
 came the morning wind, bearing in its low 
 whispers the variable noises of awakening na- 
 ture ! Breakfast soon over, and. we resume our 
 journey. The broad Sacramento valley was be- 
 fore and around us. In the distance a timbered 
 line of dark, green trees showed where the 
 noble river ran. Beyond were the "Buttes," 
 
156 THE MAKOH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 bold, rocky and awe-inspiring, and in the back- 
 ground, dim and almost nndefinable, we saw 
 the faint outline of the beloved Sierras! my 
 first view of them for many years. Entranced 
 by the view, and lost in pleasant recollections 
 of bygone times, we scarcely heeded the time, 
 till the pretty little village of College City was 
 in sight, with its handsome church spire and 
 neat private residences. The land in the vi- 
 cinity was formerly a large sheep pasture, and 
 owned by a gentleman — Mr. Pierce. Dying, 
 he left his property for the purpose of building 
 a church and college — which is known as Pierce 
 Christian College, and for its age and location 
 is one of the finest institutions of learning in 
 the country. We passed the handsome little 
 church, in the grounds of which repose the re- 
 mains of tliis friend of humanity. There is a 
 modest marble monument over the grave, but 
 the work planned by his brain, and dictated by 
 his heart, will live long after the marble has 
 perished — its infiuence for good will be felt for 
 generations. 
 
 Northward and towards the bluifs we now 
 direct our course — where we know warm hands 
 and loving hearts are waiting to give us wel- 
 come. 
 
 Two days later, and with some friends we are 
 journeying towards Grand Island, a grand 
 sweep of open country, with the bold Buttes in 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 157 
 
 front and the dark line of trees margining the 
 river growing nearer. 
 
 And tliroTigh the soft sun-liglited air, 
 We see the mists that hover where 
 The river's margined bosom lies. 
 
 We go through grain fields, pass corn patch- 
 es, and cosy little cottages nestled deep among 
 gigantic sycamore and oak trees, ere we reach 
 the slough on the other side of which dwell 
 those old companions of our early years. The 
 bridge is crossed — the gate is opened, and 
 though nearly]eighteen years have passed since 
 we stood face to face, the cordial^ grasp of the 
 hand and the hearty welcome, assure us that 
 time has not so completely wrecked our once 
 youthful looks, but that the resemblance can 
 be traced. We find here Mr. and Mrs. Steph- 
 en Burtis, the brothers M. and G. Stinchfield 
 and Wm. Wright — old Nevada miners twenty 
 years ago, who were for many years our old- 
 time friends and companions. Time has dealt 
 kindly with them, and though there are a few 
 gray hairs, and a few lines of care that were 
 not there twenty years ago, the hearts are still 
 young and true to old friendships. Truly, 
 *' there is naught on earth more beautiful, or 
 excellent, or fair, than the face of a friend," 
 and a friendship that survives the wrecks and 
 misfortunes and disasters of two decades, is 
 
158 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 '' better than diamonds." Here we spent a 
 day under tlie geif^rous shade of the sycamore, 
 recounting old scenes and memories, rambling 
 in the beautiful woods where we cut our names 
 on the bark of a grand, old tree, unmindful 
 meanwhile, that our ages were counting up 
 among the 40' s, the 50' s, and even the 60' s. 
 But time sped away, and with many a kind 
 good by and promise to meet again, the morn- 
 ing sun found us homeward bound. 
 
 THE MEETING. 
 
 A golden day, siiubright and fair — 
 
 A broad expanse of land and sky — 
 And thro' the soft, sun-lighted air. 
 We saw the mists that hover where 
 
 The river's margined bosom lies. 
 
 We drifted down through fields of light — 
 
 Our gallant steeds still bore us on, 
 From the far bluffs, now dim and white, 
 Toward the river darkly bright— 
 
 Toward the Island's belted zone, 
 
 I'd tarried long in distant lands, 
 
 And years had swiftl}^ c me and gone, 
 Since last I clasped the friendly hand- 
 Since last I met the olden band, 
 
 Where breathes the pine's low monotone. 
 
 But strong desire now nerved me on. 
 To greet the dear old friends of yore — 
 
 While fainter grows the hills beyond, 
 
 And nearer the enchanting bound — 
 The Island fringed with sycamore. 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 159 
 
 We reacli the bridge — unbar the gate — 
 
 We gaze into each other's eyes, 
 And hands that sundered long by Fate, 
 Now clasp, tho' life is growing late, 
 
 And smiles come up in glad surprise. 
 
 A long, sweet day in summer's prime, 
 We spent amid the grand, old trees, 
 And backward, to the olden time 
 We wandered — while the low, sweet chime 
 Of long ago, came on the breeze. 
 
 Just as we did so long ago, 
 
 We wandered through the deep, dark woods, 
 We watched the shadows come and go — 
 We heard the wind sing soft and low-, 
 
 The charms of Nature's solitudes. 
 
 But night threw her unwelcome spell. 
 
 Along the Island's girdled shore 
 Something upon our spirits fell — 
 We knew that soon the word^VtreiyeZZ 
 
 From heart to heart would echo o'er. 
 
 Crossing the western bonndary of Berryessa 
 Yalley and travei sing the graded road, a dis- 
 tance of ten or twelve miles, we enter another 
 of Napa County's most beautiful valleys, Pope 
 Yalley, and for diversified and picturesque 
 scenery it is perhaps the most interesting and 
 romantic. Fields of level land and belts of 
 rich woodlands are broken by hills and eleva- 
 tions crowned with verdure. Beautiful wind- 
 ing roads cross and intersect each other in be- 
 wildering mazes, and clear, sparkling streams 
 from the cool depths of the mountain fastnesses 
 
160 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 wind through the vale. In riding through 
 the valley, one is continually being surprised 
 by the charming glimpses of home-life and 
 fascinating rural pictures disclosed to view. 
 Eural villas and residences of wealth and beauty 
 nestle among the mountain and forest streams, 
 and grain fields, and orchards, while the green 
 hills covered with flocks and herds, contribute 
 to make a scene most charming and perfect. 
 
 Fair vale of the mountain ! 
 
 With its streamlets and fountains, 
 And fields that grow green 'neath the touch of the sun, 
 
 Where the cool oaken shadows 
 
 Fall aslant on the meadows, 
 And the winds weave a rhythm with the bees' drowsy hum. 
 
 This quiet and lovely vale is surrounded by 
 points of more than passing interest. In its 
 immediate boundaries are located some of the 
 most popular health retreats and summer resorts 
 on the Coast. The quicksilver mines are also 
 located near. But the most interesting, and 
 certainly the most fascinating attraction in the 
 vicinity, is the mountainous chain that sepa- 
 rates the valleys of Pope and Napa. 
 
 It differs from the ordinary Coast Range 
 hills in soil, climate, productions, water, etc., 
 and is simj)ly one of those wonders of a won- 
 der-abounding State. Here tower the finest 
 specimens of forest trees, the lofty redwood, 
 the stately pine, the fir, the beautiful madrona. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 161 
 
 and numerous otlier species of forest growth. 
 The soil is deep and fertile and adapted to the 
 cultivation of vineyards and fruits of all kinds. 
 The climate is unrivalled in uniformity and 
 kindliness of temperature. Cold springs abound, 
 and numerous mountain streams, clear and 
 sparkling, flow through canons and plateau, 
 often forming picturesque aud romantic water- 
 falls and cascades. One of the most beautiful 
 is J^olian Falls, situated in the depths of a dark 
 forest — and some 60 feet in height. In early 
 spring when the stream is swollen, the large 
 body of water taking a sheer leap over the per- 
 pendicular precipice, tumbles in foam and 
 spray into the miniature lake, filling the chasm 
 with a deafening roar, and speeding onward 
 takes its noisy way down through the canon. 
 Around and above, the mountains tower their 
 green, moss-covered sides and forest-crowned 
 summits. 
 
 Down in the heart of an evergreen forest, 
 
 Where the dark shadows hang heavy and deep, 
 And the winds in their wantonness sport thro' the tree tops, 
 
 While murmnrs the streamlet in musical sweep — 
 There is the realm of the naiads and fairies, 
 
 'Mid the tall grasses, the ferns and the blooms — 
 Their laughter and song float in mystical echoes, 
 
 And mingle their music with rarest perfume. » 
 
 Ah! sweet as the dream of a poet's delusion, 
 
 And fair as the castles we build in the air, 
 Is this dell in the forest in lovely seclusion, 
 
 The home of the naiads and the tryst of the fair; 
 
162 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 Far up from my perch where the mountain pine quivers, 
 I watch and I listen, entranced by the spell 
 
 Of the echoes that ring on the miniature river, 
 
 That's lost in the shadows that droop o'er the dell. 
 
 I hear their sweet laughter with snatches of singing — 
 
 Of "tra-la-la-la"— "Come Will " and "Come Sue," 
 ** Press forward " and " hasten!" their echoes are ringing, 
 
 And fainter in answer " We're following you," 
 " Ah, tarry awhile " — come the voices entreating, 
 
 " We're lingering to rest in this beautiful dell — 
 Where the ferns and the mosses and wild rose in greeting 
 
 Have flung 'round the spot their bewildering spell." 
 
 And mid the dense leaflets by winds tossed asunder, 
 
 I catch a rare vision of maiden or — sprite? 
 They repose on soft mosses of velvety wonder, 
 
 Or chase the swift humming bird brilliant with light; 
 Still upward, and clearly their voices are floating, 
 
 As if heedless of aught save the 'wild' ring hours — 
 As happy and glad in their gay, careless sporting, 
 
 As the elfins themselves that inhabit the flowers. 
 
 I know the sweet spot that Nature hath vested 
 
 With the deepest of shadows and brightest of sheen, 
 For there has my sad heart and weary feet rested, 
 
 As I listened, entranced by the charm of the scene— 
 For sweet as the dream of a poet's delusion. 
 
 And fair as the castles we build in the air. 
 Is this dell in the forest in lovely seclusion. 
 
 The haunt of the naiad, and the tryst of the fair. 
 
 Here on the northern slope of this evergreen 
 mountain in the salubrious climate of the Ther- 
 mal Belt, surrounded by charming and romantic 
 scenery — and with little to disturb the tranquil- 
 lity but the voices of nature, is the home of the 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIBE. 163 
 
 writer, ''Arcadian Heights." The air is freight- 
 ed with the rich aroma of pine, fir, redwood 
 and other species of resinons wood; and the 
 water, clear and soft, is unsurpassed. Until 
 within a few short years ago, the mountain was 
 a dense forest, the home and the abode of deer, 
 bear and other animals — but it is now rapidly 
 being redeemed from its primeval state, and 
 converted into pleasant and comfortable homes. 
 We who now plant orchards, vineyards, olive 
 groves, etc., are but the second wave that 
 follows in the van of civilization — we toil 
 and we delve, and unearth the hidden germs 
 of the soil. But shall there not come after 
 us — following in the road our toil has 
 hewn, those who, wiser, shall hold in their 
 possession the mystic key that will unlock hid- 
 den treasures and lay bare avenues of wealth 
 of whose splendor and magnificence we, in our 
 little day, have never dreamed ? Who can tell ? 
 
 O, give me a home in the wildwood, 
 
 Where the free bird singeth ever, 
 Where the moss-grown bank of the forest glade 
 
 Hangs over the rushing river, 
 And the grand old trees of the western land 
 
 Shall stand by my cot forever. 
 
 And there by the forest's darkling rim. 
 
 Lit up by the sun's soft splendor, 
 I love to live — and I live to love, 
 
 With a heart as light and tender 
 As the birds themselves, whose winsome songs 
 
 Sweet homage unto me render. 
 
164 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 I dream wliere the wild flowers softly blow, 
 And tlie tall pines darkly quiver — 
 
 And I rove wliere the rustling western wind, 
 Thro' the redwood wildly shivers, 
 
 And I love the sound, for Nature's voice 
 So singeth her songs forever. 
 
 And nearer upward my soul is drawn, 
 
 To the home of the one Eternal, 
 Whose many mansions no eye hath seen 
 
 In the land of the Supernal, 
 Over whose fair flowers no blight is cast, 
 
 Whose fields are forever vernal. 
 
 Oh! what were the world's proud boast of wealth, 
 
 Or its fever- dreams of glory — 
 To peace and rest in the wildwood's breast, 
 
 With the dark trees bending o'er me. 
 While lips I love and hearts that are true, 
 
 Breathe ever the old, sweet story. 
 
CHAr^TKR :kvii, 
 
 RETROSPECTION — CONCLUSION. 
 
 During the last tliirty years, since 1854, the 
 time at which onr story opens, have occurred 
 some of the most remarkable events in the 
 world's history — scientific discoveries, wonder- 
 ful inventions, and the rapid progress and de- 
 veloj)ment. of civilization in its onward march. 
 Scarcely sixteen years have passed since the 
 completion of that stupendous work — the Cen- 
 tral and Union Pacific Kailroad across the con- 
 tinent. It was the initial stej) in opening up 
 to civilization the immense West; but until its 
 commencement and completion the success of 
 the undertaking, by the mass of people was 
 considered impracticable. The Atlantic Cable 
 also takes a front rank among the remarkable 
 achievements embraced in that period. It too 
 had its hosts of doubters and scoffers, both in 
 the old world and the new, and the full glory 
 of its success was scarcely dreamed of, even by 
 the gifted brain that conceived it. The idea 
 appeared to the world unreasonable and impos- 
 sible that a submarine cable could be made so 
 strong as to reach from continent to continent, 
 so durable and impervious as to resist the ac- 
 
166 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 tion of salt water and the natural enemies of the 
 deep — and could for any considerable time be 
 kept in working order. Previous to that time 
 it had required weeks and even months for 
 news to reach us from the old world. Had we 
 been told then that the news from England, 
 speeches delivered in Parliament, the state of 
 Her Majesty's health, etc., could reach us in 
 the short space of eight or ten hours, the state- 
 ment would have seemed highly absurd. 
 
 The little instrument, the telephone, though 
 of recent invention, and so universally used and 
 well known, is deserving of mention as being 
 one of the remarkable scientific inventions of 
 the past few years. The theory appeared to 
 many as that of a cracked-brained visionary. 
 The idea of holding audible converse with per- 
 sons hundreds of miles away by means of a 
 simple instrument inserted in a hole in the 
 wall of a building and connected with others 
 by a simple wire. It was all too simple and 
 absurd, and simple people could not understand, 
 and the simple world looked on and smiled, until 
 a plain unpretending man demonstrated it and 
 made it a grand success. Now every city and 
 town of any importance has its regular tele- 
 phone companies. 
 
 The electric light, too, that beautiful, bril- 
 liant, clear illumination, is ^mong the most re- 
 cent discoveries. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 167 
 
 We who live in the light and enjoy the ad- 
 vantages and conveniences of these and many 
 other grand developments of the last three de- 
 cades, little comprehend the state of things 
 — the Egyptian darkness, so to speak, in which 
 our grandfathers dumbly groped, and the dusk 
 shadows of which we of middle age distinctly 
 remember. One which we realize as one of the 
 most important things that has had a bearing on 
 the progress and enlightenment of the present 
 time, is the steam printing press. Through its 
 means general intelligence and knowledge have 
 been widely and generously distributed. It 
 does not require a remarkable memory nor a 
 very old person, to look back to the time when 
 books were rare and beyond the reach of the 
 masses. Newspapers and periodicals were like 
 angels' visits, ''few and far between." Print- 
 ing presses were only in large cities and towns, 
 and only hand presses were in use. How is it 
 now ? The steam printing press has become a 
 mighty power in the land, disseminating knowl- 
 edge and intelligence from all parts of the 
 world in countless books, periodicals, newspa- 
 pers, etc. By the general and cheap distribu- 
 tion of intelligence, it has been the means of 
 opening the door to thought, to invention, and 
 to the giant strides which progress and im- 
 provement have made, not only in the western 
 countries, but in the world. 
 
168 THE MARCH OF EMPIEE. 
 
 The American people are known as a reading 
 nation, and consequently a tliinking nation. To 
 tliem belong many of the scientific discoveries 
 and inventions of note which have been opened 
 to fhe world in the last fifty years. But rapid 
 as has been the advance of progress and im- 
 provement in this direction, it has only been 
 equalled by the development and civilization 
 of the West. 
 
 THE GREAT WEST. 
 
 What was the great west, that immense coun- 
 try lying beyond and west of the Father-of- 
 waters fifty — nay thirty years ago ? An intermi- 
 nable and almost untrodden wilderness. Many 
 of us remember, and smile as we recall the 
 picture that in our earlier geographies, across a 
 large portion of that interior country was writ- 
 ten" in bold capital letters— UNEXPLORED. 
 Previous to the year 1849 , only a few daring spir- 
 its, hunters, trappers and adventurers had pos- 
 sessed the hardihood to push through the almost 
 insurmountable barriers, and reach the Pacific 
 Coast. Before the dawn of the age of gold in 
 California, what was known of the countries of 
 Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Oregon ? They 
 were with little exception an unknown wilder- 
 ness, uncivilized and from their very nature un- 
 inhabitable, by white settlers. Their broad 
 plains, fertile valleys, and rich mountain glens 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 169 
 
 were swarming with hordes of cruel and blood- 
 thirsty savages, who made war on each other and 
 killed and tortured without mercy the few in- 
 trepid traders and hunters who had the misfor- 
 tune to fall in their way. The same is true of 
 the countries south — Colorado, New Mexico, 
 Arizona, etc. With little exception, save here 
 and there, where the vanguard of civilization 
 had daringly planted her outposts, it was an 
 unexplored and trackless waste, a supposed un- 
 inhabitable desert. 
 
 It has been said that there is now no desert, 
 and we sometimes hear the question : " "Where 
 is the great American Desert?" It is true that 
 geography has buried it — American progress 
 and enterprise have ignored it, and the railroad 
 era has eclipsed it, but we who have traversed 
 that long and wondrous track remember well 
 the long stretches of tawny sands — the misty 
 desert sands of the Humboldt. 
 
 However, here, amid that which was once 
 deemed a vast wilderness of desert, fertile spots 
 are found, and wherever found, there has indus- 
 try and enterprise flung out her royal signal — 
 farms are cultivated and homes and hamlets 
 lend an air of beauty to the scene — so that, lit- 
 erally, "The desert is made to blossom as the 
 rose." All along the shining track of the rail- 
 roads, civilization has planted her invincible 
 banner. Cities, towns and villages — not the 
 8 
 
170 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 mirage of the desert, but flourishing and 
 prosperous communities, peopled by the very 
 nerve and sinew of the land, rise upon the 
 misty air of the aforetime interminable des- 
 ert and unexplored centre land of the con- 
 tinent, the region which was for ages, for 
 aught history or tradition tells us, the do- 
 main of the savage, the primeval home and 
 haunt of swarms of buffalo, roving bands of 
 wild horses, and countless bear, deer, antelope, 
 elk, and many other species of wild animals pe- 
 culiar to the climate. But with the first shriek 
 of the mysterious monster, the iron horse, and 
 as the wave of civilization sweeps onward, we 
 see them vanishing like the dusky phantoms of 
 a dream. With sullen and reluctant step the 
 red brethren fall back before the advance of the 
 white man. Their dusky figures are dimly seen 
 through the clouds of dust, arising from the 
 herds of buffalo, wild horses and the myriad 
 animals who like themselves are seeking escape 
 and fleeing to the uttermost parts of the conti- 
 nent. On their familiar but now deserted hunt- 
 ing grounds, and along the margins of their be- 
 loved rivers, the white man has made homes, 
 and built splendid cities and turned the soil of 
 the green plain, which, yielding its weight of 
 golden treasures now bend in the passing breeze. 
 There, too, are schools, colleges and churches, 
 for wherever *'the course of empire takes 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 171 
 
 its way," there the Christian religion, like the 
 quenchless light of the eternal stars, sheds its 
 harmonizing and Christ-like influence. 
 
 Judging by the past rate of their decrease — 
 the Indian, like the Aztecs of Mexico, will soon 
 be numbered among the extinct races. He has 
 fulfilled his destiny, and as he stands on his last 
 refuge with his handful of followers, gazing 
 over his once grand and undisputed possessions, 
 we are reminded of the eloquent speech of 
 Iron Bull, chief of the Crows, who with a num- 
 ber of his tribe witnessed the driving of the 
 last spike of the Northern Pacific Eailroad. To 
 him was given the honor of presenting the spike 
 to be used on the occasion. His speech, on 
 being interpreted, was as follows : 
 
 ' ' This is the last of it — this is the last thing 
 for me to do. I am glad to see you here, and I 
 hope my people of the Crow nation are glad to 
 see you, too. There is a meaning in my part 
 of the ceremony, and I understand it. We 
 have reached the end of our regime and a new 
 one has come. The end of our lives, too, is 
 near at hand. The days of my people are also 
 numbered — already they are droj^ping off like 
 the last rays of sunlight which hang on the west- 
 ern sky. Of our once powerful nation, there 
 are now but a few left, only just a little hand- 
 ful, and we, too, will soon be gone. After the 
 savage, though, has given way to civilization. 
 
172 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 the whites will come, they will enjoy the same 
 bright skies, the same glad sunshine, the beau- 
 teous mountains, lakes and rills where once we 
 delighted so to roam. They will probably live 
 in it, populate it with the flowers of their race, 
 but will they forever remain in undisputed pos- 
 session of this grand domain? Who knows but 
 what some race, at j^i'esent unknown to them, 
 will make its appearance and overpower and take 
 away the land from them, too. Then, as the last 
 chief of the pale face nation stands before the 
 conqueror, will he bid him welcome to his all, 
 to his home, to his life, to his very soul, with 
 more earnestness and as much sincerity as his 
 red brother welcomes him now. I am glad to 
 see you here, I am perfectly willing to yield to 
 the advance of the higher and better civiliza- 
 tion; the iron horse will now have a free field to 
 itself, the Indian and Indian pony cannot hope 
 to further roam as in the past, where such a 
 civilizer penetrates. To you. President Yillard, 
 to you and your associates of the Northern Pa- 
 cific road. Iron Bull, Chief of the Crows, pre- 
 sents this spike, with the hope that you will 
 drive it well home, and thus have it bind the 
 hearts of your red brethren to you and your en- 
 terprise, as closely and as firmly as it binds 
 your ties of steel, the one to the other." 
 
TliE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 THE AGE OF GOLD. 
 
 173 
 
 The golden age dawned with its discovery 
 in California in 1848, since that time the aurif- 
 erous metal has been found in the larger por- 
 tion of the Pacific and northern countries. It 
 has served as a rapid civilizer and means of 
 opening up and developing those hitherto seem- 
 ingly inaccessible countries. It lured by its 
 glittering power unnumbered hosts from their 
 comfortable homes and the charms of society, 
 to brave dangers' and hostilities in the rude 
 borders of untried savage wilds. The growth 
 and development of those countries has been 
 something bordering on the magical. Had it 
 not been for gold, the glittering phantom, the 
 tardy march of civilization might have been 
 ages in accomplishing what a comparatively few 
 short years have done. Does it not then ap- 
 pear that the age of gold has fulfilled its mis- 
 sion ? Lo, the land is peopled— everywhere is 
 written the ' ' march of empire ! ' ' 
 
 DECREASE OF MINING. 
 
 Many of the mines — particularly in the rich 
 surface and placer regions, have been worked 
 out and abandoned. Towns which sprang up 
 in the short space of a few years, and which 
 grew and developed into active and prominent 
 business places, are now almost abandoned. 
 
174 THE MAKCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 How different their appearance now, contrasted 
 with those early days! Those now abandoned 
 milling camps were then scenes of activity, energy 
 and prosperity, with their long lines of sluice 
 boxes threading their way through the yellow 
 "diggings" and bands of busy miners picking and 
 shoveling in the coveted dust. From the rude 
 cabins which dotted every hill, the blue smoke 
 of the pine knots curling upward, told that tliey 
 were occupied. Fine hotels and neat cottages 
 and substantial' business houses occupied the 
 " main street ' ' of the camp. The sight of tliese 
 old deserted camps, wrecked dwellings, and 
 cabins mouldering into ruin, and the general 
 air of silence, and — death, brings up a mournful 
 train of thought. To one whose life and soul, 
 and whose very existence was a part of these 
 busy scenes, the once familiar but now wrecked 
 dwellings, bring a feeling akin to looking on 
 the face of a dead friend. It is an uncom- 
 forta'ble sensation, and though the sight of the 
 grand old mountains, always unchanged, sub- 
 lime and familiar, bring to the heart a feeling 
 of pleasure, we would fain hasten our steps and 
 leave a scene so full of wreck, desertion and 
 decay. 
 
 Quartz and hydraulic mining have taken the 
 place of the old methods, and in many places 
 this process of mining is carried on with suc- 
 cess and profit. Many towns and camps have 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 175 
 
 retained mnch of their early prosperity, and 
 along the foothills or lower Sierra, below the 
 snow line, other industries have claimed the at- 
 tention of the people. This region is better 
 adapted to the growth of some particular kinds 
 of fruit than the valleys. Apples, peaches and 
 many other varieties of fruit, possess a finer 
 flavor, and it is also highly adapted to the culti- 
 vation of the vine. Stock is raised to some ex- 
 tent among the foothills, and permanent homes 
 and prosperous communities abound. 
 
 WHEAT GROWING. 
 
 Though gold was the grand incentive that 
 lured the early emigrants to the Pacific Coast, 
 many of whom found it in almost exhaustless 
 plenty, but all found something better. They- 
 found a country whose genial atmosphere rivals 
 the famed Arcadia, a land whose wealth of soil 
 and blending of rare climatic influences is 
 equalled by few and excelled by none — a country 
 fitted in its natural conditions for the homes of 
 the proudest race of earth. From the restless 
 and exciting thirst for gold, and its feverish 
 and phantom-like chase, they turned their atten- 
 tion to the cultivation of the rich and fertile 
 soil. The yield was enormous, and they soon 
 acquired from this unlooked-for source, wealth 
 and prosperity, and with it contentment, and 
 California in the brief period of thirty years 
 
176 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 lias developed into one of the most important 
 wheat-growing countries in the world. In 1880 
 the wheat crop was worth over fifty million dol- 
 lars. 
 
 To the eye of the "^Easterner and those un- 
 accustomed to the large grain fields, such as are 
 met with in Sacramento, Colusa, San Joaquin 
 and other counties, the sight is one worthy of 
 attention. It is no uncommon thing here to 
 see thousands of acres owned and cultivated by 
 one man. The buildings of the farm comprise 
 in themselves a considerable village, being the 
 residence occupied by the family, the cottages 
 for the workmen, huge barns, stables, sheds, 
 blacksmith shop, windmill and tank house, and 
 various outbuildings. To the eye of the trav- 
 eler, as he journeys over the long, level plain, 
 these ranches present the appearance of a stir- 
 ing village, more paticularly if the season is 
 harvest and the hour noon. Several "headers" 
 and a thresher are usually employed, with their 
 necessary complement of men, horses and mules. 
 If within a mile or so of the house, they repair 
 thither for their meals, and as they hie toward 
 the house, men and animals present the appear- 
 ance of a regiment of soldiery. Generally, 
 however, a cook-house on wheels is provided, 
 which accompanies them night and day; water 
 is hauled in huge tanks and the company camj)S 
 wherever night overtakes them, in the midst of 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 177 
 
 thousands of acres of jellow grain waving in 
 tlie wind. Wrapping tliemselves in their 
 blankets they camp under the clear sky, with 
 no fear of rain or chilling dews to disturb 
 health or comfort. Immense stacks of wheat, 
 cut, threshed and in the sack, at intervals over 
 all the broad field, tell where ' ' the battle raged 
 the fiercest." But the custom of farming im- 
 mense tracts of land by a few individuals has its 
 serious objections. It is a species of monopoly 
 that is fast growing into disfavor, and in many 
 places, disuse. While it has, in years past, 
 been the means of enriching the few, it has 
 also retarded the growth of communities in 
 preventing thousands of families, in moderate 
 circumstances, from obtaining homes in de- 
 sirable locations, thereby rendering society 
 little more than a name. Where a neighbor- 
 hood comprises only a few families, and these 
 are scattered over a vast extent of country, 
 each farm encompassing several miles, little 
 social intercourse is possible. Schools are few 
 and far between, and churches still more rare. 
 Except for the pleasure of money-getting and 
 the power of wealth, this style of farming has 
 few attractions, especially to the cultured and 
 refined, and those who love the society of their 
 fellow beings. 
 
 Some years ago, a lady, accomplished and 
 refined, who had been reared in the kindly and 
 8^ 
 
178 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 social atmosphere of the Eastern states, mar- 
 ried a wealthy rancher of one of our wheat rais- 
 ing counties, who owned and cultivated several 
 thousand acres of fine land. He took his young 
 bride to his fine but lonely estate, whicli was 
 to him his only world. How was it with her? 
 Accustomed to the attractions of society, she 
 soon wearied of the monotonous hum-drum life 
 of a large ranch, of its confinement and loneli- 
 ness, and became discontented, repining for 
 home and the old life. In a few j^ears she lost 
 all interest in her surroundings; her mind, im- 
 paired, drifted into a settled melancholy; from 
 that she became a raving maniac, and when I 
 heard her mournful story from the lips of a 
 friend, she was in the asylum for the insane at 
 Stockton. 
 
 SMALL FARMING. 
 
 But it may now be said of the wheat rais- 
 ing mania in California that it has reached its 
 fever heat and subsided; other industries as 
 lucrative have sprung up, many of which will 
 come under the head of " small farming. " In 
 many counties, both northern and southern, 
 large tracts of land have been divided and laid 
 out in small subdivisions and sold to persons 
 desirous of engaging in fruit-raising, bee-keep- 
 ing and other industries, thus insuring homes 
 to families of moderate means and building up 
 communities of thrift, beauty and prosperity. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 179 
 
 In many of the soutliern counties tlie culture of 
 the orange, lemon, olive, fig and the vine are 
 taking the precedence in small farming. In 
 the central and northerji counties, viniculture 
 has taken a prominent position among the new 
 industries, a larga percentage of the land in 
 the State being peculiarly adapted to the 
 growth of the vine. 
 
 NAPA COUNTY. 
 
 Among the counties which are taking a front 
 rank in this rapidly increasing industry, we cite 
 Napa County. We mention this county more 
 particularly because it is oar county; for many 
 years our home has nestled among its beautiful 
 vales and mountains, and we know whereof we 
 speak. More than a passing reference is due 
 to this charming and attractive county which, ir- 
 regular in shape, consists of beautiful valleys 
 divided by mountainous ranges. The valley of 
 Napa, which is the principal one, is some 
 thirty-five miles in length, with a width varying 
 from one mile at the northern end to five at the 
 southern; through its entire length fiows the 
 lovely river of Napa, into which empty numer- 
 ous tributaries. The soil is peculiarly adapted 
 to the growth of the vine and the various semi- 
 tropical and temperate fruits. The climate is 
 cool, and at the southern extremity, subject to 
 fogs. The principal town, also the county seat, 
 
180 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 is Napa, noted for its attractive residences, 
 beautiful gardens, and fine location. Two daily 
 and two weekly papers are published here. 
 The Napa State Asylum for the Insane, located 
 in the suburbs of the town on a sightly emi- 
 nence, is an object of special interest. The 
 mass of buildings, stupendous and imposing in 
 appearance, are among the finest in the State. 
 Seen at a distance, this colossal structure, with 
 its massive wings, domes and towers, presents 
 a "ma'gnificent appearance. It was built at a 
 cost of 11,500,000, and accommodates from 600 
 to 800 patients. 
 
 Another noteworthy institution is the new- 
 ly finished "Veterans' Home," situated nine 
 miles from the town of Napa. The Napa 
 Valley Eailroad runs almost the whole length 
 of the valley, and terminates at Calistoga, 
 near the upper end, twenty-seven miles from 
 Napa. [The San Francisco and Clear Lake 
 Railroad, now being built, is designed to run 
 from Napa through a portion of the valley, and 
 crossing, takes its way into Lake County.] 
 
 Along the line of the Valley Railroad, are nu- 
 merous towns and pleasant villages, the most 
 noted, the most attractive and most prosperous 
 being, St. Helena, eighteen miles from Napa. 
 In this vicinity, and in fact through the entire 
 valley, the vine-growing industry has suj)- 
 pl anted that of wheat growing. Large grain 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 181 
 
 farms have been divided into small tracts of 
 from fifteen to twenty acres and upward, and 
 have been planted in vines, orchards, hop 
 yards, etc. The town itself is a charming and 
 busy centre of activity, situated as it is, in a 
 rich vine growing district, with its numer- 
 ous wine cellars, elegant residences, schools, 
 churches, etc., and surrounded by lovely sub- 
 urban villas and beautiful homes embowered 
 by tree and vine. The fact that two semi- 
 weekly papers are published here, both well 
 established and doing a flourishing business, is 
 proof of the prosperity of the place, the sur- 
 rounding country, and the energetic character 
 of its citizens. In 1880 the wine product alone, 
 of Napa County, was 2,867,250 gallons, and 
 there are fifty-one wine cellars in the county. 
 Besides its social and home-like attractions, it 
 presents to the tourist and the health-seeker, 
 various popular and inviting resorts, and points 
 of interest. There are in the vicinity of St. 
 Helena, the Crystal Springs and the White Sul- 
 phur Springs, also the Geysers, which have for 
 years enjoyed enviable fame. The noted Pet- 
 rified Forest is distant about fourteen miles, 
 and on the west, for miles, runs the beautiful 
 evergreen ''Howell Mountain." Circling its 
 green sides from end to end of the entire chain, 
 is the magical climatic wonder, the thermal or 
 semi-tropical belt. Above the reach of the fog. 
 
182 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 and Immid, cliilling atmosphere of tlie Talleys, 
 and out of tlie reach of frost, it possesses more 
 and greater attractions as a place of residence, 
 than are to be found in almost any other locality. 
 Like many another hidden treasure of this 
 strange land of wonders, its advantages were, 
 for many j^ears, overlooked; now, however, it 
 is being rapidly settled up by those who wish 
 to engage in fruit raising and the cultivation of 
 the vine. "Small farming" is not only en- 
 gaging the attention of that class of immigrants 
 who seek California with a view of settling, and 
 building up comfortable and pleasant homes, 
 but also of the princely " ranchers," many of 
 whom have become weary of the anxieties, 
 debts and uncertainties attending the farming 
 of an immense tract of land, which, with all its 
 show and apparent wealth, is in many instances 
 devoid of home and comfort. Many, too, have 
 become broken in fortune in a single season of 
 drouth, tbrough becoming involved in debt and 
 paying enormous interest on borrowed money. 
 To those who love the cultivation of the vine, 
 with its luscious grapes, and the various fruits 
 of the semi-tropical and temperate climate, and 
 also of berries and small fruits of every variety, 
 who love to plant and watch the unfolding of 
 the varied gems of the floral kingdom — all which 
 contribute to the beauty and necessities of a 
 home — to these, small farming possesses many 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 183 
 
 attractions. Thirty or forty acres in the val- 
 ley or on the hill-sides, cleared and in bearing 
 vines, fruits, etc., will insure to its possessor 
 comfort, plenty, peace and health, and with 
 grapes selling at the present rates, from $25 to 
 $35 per ton, according to variety, will, in the 
 end, bring a more satisfactory income than a 
 large wheat farm of several hundred acres. 
 
 California has, and justly, been called ' * The 
 Italy of America." Her skies have been com- 
 pared to those of Italy, Spain, Greece and Pales- 
 tine . The asserti on i s well founded from the va- 
 riety of her productions and the fascinating glory 
 of her climate. In many favored sections the 
 approach of winter is scarcely observable, save 
 for the falling of the leaves and the green grass 
 carpeting mountain and vale. Winter is an al- 
 most uninterrupted spring. 
 
 As an illustration, we cite with pleasure 
 *-'our own little world," which is situated in 
 the Thermal Belt on the green slope of the 
 beautiful mountain previously mentioned. 
 Although it is now the 6th of January, mid- 
 winter in the Eastern States, we have scarcely 
 yet felt a breath of king frost. The ^dnes 
 at my porch, madeira, rose, climatis, honey- 
 suckle, passion, etc., are as green as in midsum- 
 mer. The flowers are still in bloom, roses, 
 pinks, pansies, verbenas, myrtle, and other 
 varieties. I have ten or twelve varieties of 
 
184 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 geraniums, all of wliicli are uninjured by frost. 
 In the garden, raspberries of the Cuthbert va- 
 riety are still blooming and bearing. On Christ- 
 mas day I gathered a quantity — they were full- 
 sized, red and juicy. On the grape vines a few 
 tardy bunches of the second crop still linger as 
 though loth to bid farewell to autumn. The 
 ground is covered with green grass, and the 
 lovely manzanita, with its beautiful waxen flow- 
 ers, is in full bloom; add to this, the surrounding 
 evergreen forest, is made more fresh and per- 
 fect by the recent rains. In this we have pre- 
 sented a picture — and a true one, of " The Italy 
 of America." 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO IN 1884. 
 
 San Francisco in 1884, as in early days, when 
 the wealth of the mines poured in seemingly 
 endless profusion into the grand nucleus of 
 trade and commerce of the Pacific Coast, so 
 now the products of the soil and numberless in- 
 dustries, a far more substantial source of wealth 
 gravitates to that suburb centre. Steamers, 
 barges and scows on the broad rivers bear out- 
 ward to the bay, fruits "corn and wine," and 
 the numberless productions of ther country, and 
 the numerous lines of railroads tapping the rich 
 arteries of the interior, all laden with products 
 of the soil and the mines, glide onward and con- 
 
THE MAKCH OF EMPIEE. 185 
 
 verge at the same p.oint. A visit to tlie Bay City 
 toward tlie close of 1883, and we beheld her in all 
 her magnificence and splendor — truly, "A city 
 that is set on a hill cannot be hid ! " But what a 
 wonderful transformation since the time when 
 a stranger I first set foot on her glittering sands 
 nearly thirty years ago! No longer are the 
 hills covered with long strings of insignificant 
 and rambling shanties, thrown together to sup- 
 ply the immediate and pressing demand, for 
 these have given place to magnificent and pala- 
 tial mansions and imposing blocks of granite, 
 and looking from the bay as we steam toward 
 the shore, we see the golden shafts of sunlight 
 glancing over towers, domes, temples and min- 
 arets — in the words of a popular Avriter "A city 
 that rivals the cities of the East in splendor 
 and magnificence and excels them in wealth." 
 The hills in many places have been cut down to 
 fill up the hollows and the shallow margin of the 
 bay, and over this made land a large part of the 
 best of the city is built. Little does the stranger 
 surmise as he treads the crowded thoroughfares 
 of this part of the city, that the eager multi- 
 tude daily passes up and down over places 
 where the green waves of the bay once rolled 
 in undisturbed serenity. 
 
 Mills and factories, for the manufacture of 
 the various productions of the State, have been 
 in successful operation for many years; every 
 
186 THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 brancli of industry is here represented, every 
 bvisiness Las its headquarters here. Around 
 the rim of the beautiful bay that almost en- 
 circles the peninsula on which the city is sit- 
 uated, is a forest of shipping. Through the 
 magnificent Golden Gate steamers and vessels 
 of every description are arriving from all parts 
 of the world, and moored at the numerous 
 wharves, and riding at anchor on the bay, are 
 the various ''crafts of the sea," taking in 
 freight. Wheat, flour, fruits and wine are among 
 the principal articles of export. An immense 
 trade is carried on with China, Japan, the islands 
 of the Pacific, Great Britain, South America, the 
 Eastern States, and many other countries. 
 
 The lapse of years has not changed many of 
 the peculiar features of this essentially cosmo- 
 politan city. The population, which is at pres- 
 ent estimated at about 330,000, is composed of 
 representatives from all parts of the world, and 
 it is without doubt partly owing to this fact that 
 there are many features connected with it of 
 more than ordinary interest, even for a city of 
 its natural advantages and commercial import- 
 ance. 
 
 Strangers are invariably directed to Wood- 
 ward's Gardens, which, with their under- 
 ground aquarium department, beautiful plants 
 and flowers and innumerable curiosities, are 
 well worth a day's sojourn in the city, to visit. 
 
THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 187 
 
 The street cars are constantly filled with 
 eager sight-seers going to this popular resort. 
 To those who have not been accustomed to the 
 *' cable cars," the wonderful wire-rope rail- 
 roads, moving without the slightest visible 
 propelling power, gliding with their loads of 
 passengers straight up and down hills, over 
 which many of the streets of San Francisco run, 
 the sight is a novel one. 
 
 In the environs of the city are many charm- 
 ing resorts and splendid drives; the Cliff 
 House, famous for its Seal Eock, where abound 
 those curious specimens of the deep; Golden 
 Gate Park and the delightful drive to it along 
 the bay shore, with a view of the Golden Gate 
 and the ocean beyond, the broad bay, and nu- 
 merous islands, the ocean vessels, under full 
 sail and steam, ploughing the dancing waves or 
 riding at anchor on the bosom of the deep. 
 
 Golden Gate, the grand entrance to the 
 harbor and bay within, is a beautiful strait six 
 miles long by one mile wide. It is said that 
 when viewed from the east, at sunset, the effect 
 is sublime. It then is really a gate of gold in 
 a crimson setting, with the changing tints of 
 sunset reflecting and radiating on the vast ex- 
 panse of water beyond. 
 
188 THE MAECH OF EMPIRE. 
 
 AND THE SEA. 
 
 There's a land whose fair borders are washed by a sea, 
 
 A sea whose broad bosom is — peace. 
 'Tis a clime of our earth, but its glittering strand 
 Slopes down from a mountain chain wondrously grand, 
 
 Where the region of Empire doth cease; 
 And Empire sits there, by the far reaching sea, 
 With her feet in the beautiful sea. 
 
 Her footprints we've seen on the desolate plain 
 
 Where she trailed her white robes thro' the vast 
 
 Burning sands and deep rivers — now cities abound, 
 
 Which arose at the wave of her magical wand. 
 But the limit of Empire is cast, 
 
 And she sits on the land that is washed by the sea. 
 The waves of the west-going sea. 
 
 And the land that she reached at the last is the best; 
 
 For its mountains bear treasures of gold. 
 And the green sweeping plains and sweet vales seemed to woo 
 The homes that now greet us; and wandering through 
 
 Are the rivers, whose murmuring waters doth roll, 
 And mingle and merge with the waves of the sea, 
 The waves of the shimmering sea. 
 
 The vales breathe of spices and odorous bloom: 
 
 The orange, the tig and the vine; 
 And fields of rich verdure spread inland and wide, 
 Whose wealth is borne out on the far flowing tide, 
 
 To the strand whose broad margin is lined 
 With the vessels that freighted are bound for the sea, 
 
 The ships that sail over the sea. 
 
THE MAECH OF EMPIKE. 189 
 
 The Queen of the West, like a siren of old, 
 
 Sits throned on her radiant hills, 
 In sxDlendor and wealth. Her temples and towers 
 Kise grand from the sea, in their pride and their power, 
 
 And the land with her praises is filled — 
 And outward she looks to the gate that is gold, 
 Thro' which ages and ages the billows have rolled, 
 
 They bear on their breast to the sea — 
 In the barks that sail out to the Orient climes. 
 
 The treasure and wealth of the Queen of the West, 
 
 The bride of the beautiful sea. 
 
 THE END.