A History of Tuolumme County, California

Preface

♦ This work, undertaken in the desire to preserve from oblivion the deeply interesting records of the short but eventful jDeriod of Tuolumne's occupancy by civilized man, has been carried out in the fullest form compatible with absolute accuracy. 'Whatever has been here set down has been subjected first to careful scrutiny, in the hope that the printed book might, in the matter of exactness at least, be worthy of those by whom its perusal is intended. .The limits of the story are necessarily circumscribed ) but considering the merely ephemeral interest which pertains to ordinary anecdote, and considering the comparatively few points on which the attention of future generations may center, it has been thought best to imitate in brevity and accuracy the more pretentious works of celebrated historians, and not allow the intense interest which at present pertains to the affairs of the Golden Age of California, to warp the historical spirit that should discriminate between that which is worthy of perpetuation and that which, although interesting in the vicinity of its happening, cannot lend value to a book which should be of permanent worth.

'It was with the idea of presenting a variety of subjects relating to Tuolumne, that several persons were engaged to assist in the compilation of special articles upon topics

11 PREFACE,

of industrial or scientific interest. Of these, the publishers have to thank Mr. Louis R. Tulloch, of Sonora, for a suggestive and timely article upon Pocket Mining, which will be found in its appropriate place. 'Unfortunately, the able and carefully written review by Miss Tulloch, of the Botany of Tuolumne has been crowded out of the volume.' To both of the above, the thanks of the publishers are extended, as also to Messrs. Randall and Roberts, of the Democrat, and the Messrs. Duchow, of the Independent, who have kindly loaned files of their papers to assist in the work.^The venerable Dr. L. C. Gunu and D. O. McCarthy, Esq., both of San Diego, also unhesitatingly forwarded the valuable files of their respective jDapers, when called upon, and their kindness is most gratefully remembered.

In conclusion it may be said that the thanks of the compilers are due to many other present or former inhabitants of Tuolumne county who have generously lent their assistance. H. O. L.

TjlBLE OF CONTEP

PAGE.

Arrival pf the Woods Party 1

Settlement of Jamestown and Tuttletown 3

The Earlier Arrivals in Tuolumne 7

Habits of the Miners 12

The Earliest Recorded Trials 13

•The First Murder 14

First Election in Tuolumne 15

Further Discoveries of Gold , 17

Town Government organized in Sonpra 18

Religious Affairs ^ 21

Discoveries at Columbia 22

Administration of Justice 25

Columbia's Sudden Misfortunes 27

A Female Pioneer 27

The Foreign Miners' Tax 28

The Sonora Herald 35

Riot of July, 1850, and Atterapted Lynching of Four

Mexicans 38

Mass Meeting and Proclamation of the Americans .... . 4A

Business Affairs in Sonora 47

Early Affairs in Jacksonville 50

Hawkins' Bar 52

Big Oak Flat 54

.Riot at Hplden's Gardens 55

IV CONTENTS.

Murder of Newby by Fuller 60

First Political Meeting ■ 61

Murder of Palmer by Thornley ; 62

The Holden's G-arden Chispa 63

The Barry Papers 65

Extracts from the Herald 71

Murder of Captain iSnow and Lynching of Two Mexicans ' 74

Lynching of Jim Hill in Sonora 76

Vigilance Committee 79

Organization of Sonora's Town Council 81

Progress of Sonora 84

Great Fire of '52 86

Kebuilding 88

The Chinese Question '91

Diversions of Early Days 93

Theatricals 97

Affairs in Columbia 99

ThejTuolumue County Water Co 100

The Star and the Gazette 101

List of Business Places in Columbia 102

Mining Affairs , 103

Social Affairs in Columbia 109

"The Fire of 1854" 113

Montezuma and the Hydraulic Ditch 115

Mr. Murray's Travels 116

Water for Mining Operations 125

Social Progress 128

Financial Matters 130

Fires in Sonora in 1853 134

The Miners' Convention ; 137

The Inner Life of the Miners 144

The Execution of Bruce in Sonora 147

Murder of Parrot by Nicholas 149

CONTENTS. V

The Heslep Murder and Lynching of Griffiths 153

Ditch Matters and the Miners' Strike 162

Completion of the Stanislaus Ditch 172

The Kittering- Worth Homicide 178

Recollections of Colonel Moore 181

Execution of Escobar and Sebada for the murder of

Sheldon 188

The Murder of Smith and the Lynching of Barclay . . . .190

The Hunter-Drake Shooting Affray in Sonora 197

Fandango Experiences 201

Eobbers and Robberies 207

Murder of Bond by McCauley 216

The Blakesley Murder 218

Hanging of Lyons, Poer and McCauley 220

Columbia in 1857 -^.221

The Miirder of McDonald and Leary in Columbia 223

More Recent Matters in Columbia 227

Fire of 1861 in Sonora 229

Murder of Judge Brunton 224

Military and Political Affairs 230

Decadence of the Southern Mines 233

Later Events in Sonora 234

The Murder of Sloane 240

The Bergel Murder 245

Stage Robberies 246

Railroad Matters , 249

Sonora — Its Society and its Business 255

Chronology of Tuolumne County 263

List of Officers from the Earliest Times 303

Theory as to the Formation of Gold Deposits in Quartz 434

Quartz Mining 439

Pocket Mining 457

VI CONTENTS.

Gravel Mining 464

Formation of the Auriferous Gravel Beds 473

Quartz Mills 485

Reduction Processes 489

Flouring Mills 494

Agricultural Resources oe Tuolumne County 495

BIOGRAJ-HIES,

Abbott, A 324

Arnold, N. A 326

Baker, G. C 323

Bacon, J. B (Appendix) 39

Baldwin, Dr. D. M (Appendix) 16

Barber, H. P 401

Barclay, S. C 318

Barry, Major R. C 380

Beauvais, A. B . 411

Beckwith, W. J ' 338

Bell, James 348

Bemis, O. L 383

Benham, J. A (Appendix) 7

Birney, Hon. T. C 382

Bishop, N 359

Bixel, Joseph 325

Blair, Spencer 314

Blake, Dr. C. E (Appendix) 10

Bluett, J. F 317

Bolts, John F (Appendix) 44

Bowman, John 374

Bradford, S. S 397

Browne, Doctor 407

CONTENTS. Vll

Bull, Horace 378

Burden, C 404

Butterfield, B. F 360

Cabezut, J. M 376

Cady, J. S 334

Campbell, W. A 326

Carter, C. H 313

Cavis, Hon. J. M 408

Chaffee, J. A 316

Chamberlain, Judge C. H 410

Chamberlain, J. P 316

Chamimey, A. D 358

Cheatham', Col 398

Christman, E. L 400

Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain) (Appendix) 47

Clough, E. H 345

Coffroth, J. W 400

Colby, A 399

Colby, C. H 337

Coles, J. L 330

Covvie, John 388

Culbertson, G. F 322

Cullers, F. C 369

Dart, J. P : 368

Divoll, J. G 361

Dorsey, Caleb 373

Douglass, J. B 406

Duchow, W. A (Appendix) 12

Dwinelle, S. H 403

Eichelroth, Dr. W. E 355

Evans, Gen. George S (Appendix) 32

Till CONTENTS.

Evans, T. J (Appendix) 9

Tales, Nathaniel 357

Fallon, Owen 329

Ferral, John (Appendix) 46

" Ferral, Judge Eobert (Appendix) 48

Foot, M 370

Francisco, Albert N (Appendix) 47

Fraser, D 356

Gale, Judge O. P 337

Galvin, E. E 378

Gibbs, W. D 342

Goodwin, J. A 404

Gorham, W. J 335

Grady, John H 419

Green, Alonzo .... : 408

Greenwood, Otis 390^

Gross, F.J 337

Gunn, Dr. L. C 377

Hall, George W 379

Hall, J 354

Harper, C. L 403

Harris, W. N 352

Heslep Brothers 385

Hibbing, William 370

Hubbs, Paul K 398

Hunter, E. F 389

Hunter, J. H 338

Hubbard, Winslow 317

Hyde, W. H 321

Jarvis, L. F 379

Jolly, John 352

Jones, J. M 401

Jones, J. P 396

CONTENTS. IX

Keith, J. W 369

Kelly, Patrick 402

Kephart, H 33G

King, John 359

Lampson, Dr. R. M 339

Latimer, J. B 359

Levy, David 381

^Levy, Louis 336

Lombardo, C 328

Long, Rev. Mr 394

Lopez, T 371

Lyons, E. G (Appendix) 3

Macomber Brothers 414

Major, J. W 318

Mansfield, William .... 349

Marshall,'^Hon. E. C (Appendix) 36

McCarthy, J. W 418

McDonald, C. B 399

McGarvey, Judge R 398

McPherson, Forbes 352

Mills, James 402

Miller, Sol . . (Appendix) 4

Minor, S. B (Appendix) 7

Mulford, Prentice (Appendix) 19

Palmer, H (Appendix) 4

Parsons, Edmond 347

Pease, H. M 384

Pease, C. S 330

Perrin, Otis 406

Potter, I. J 351

X CONTIJ^TS.

Pownall, Dr. Joseph 342

Preston, A. B il6

Quint, Leander 377

Randall, C. H 418

Raymond, E. S 359

Robinson, R. A 413

Rodgers, Hon. E. A 394

Rooney, Hon. J. F 387

Rosekrans, H. M 417

Rudorff, W. G 401

Rutherford, C. B (Appendix) 15

Rutherford, C. B 383

Sampson, J. A 413

Sedgwick, John , 378

Sevening, H 395

Sewell, Daniel (Appendix) 17

Smith, W. J 340

Smith, J. H 341

Solomon, P. L 400

Soulsby, Ben 324

Stair, Alexander 412

Stetson, J B (Appendix) 14

Stoddart, T. R 389

Stone, W. S 323

Street, H. L 333

Street, C. L 372

Stuart, J. W 357

Tannahill, James 321

Tibbitts, Dr. J. P 415

Thompson, H 396

Trask, P. M 344

Twist, E. N 319

Van Harlingen, John 376

Walker, Dr. John 351

CONTENTS. XI

Wells, Thomas 374

Wheeler, C. C 386

Williams, H. W 320

Wilson, Wm \ 320

Wing, Gideon 313

Wing, Hon. Stephen (Appendix) 45

Witt, T. J 402

Wright, George 354

Yancey, T. N 371

HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.

'The history of Tuolumne County properly commences with the date of its discovery by civilized men; a date which a careful comparison of accounts would show to have been in the ea-rlj' part of the summer of 1848, at which time a party of miners — Philadelphians, as is recorded — came to Woods' Creek.* This very significant fact may, then, be regarded as the starting point of these records. It was at this time that the western slope had begun to resound with the blows of the hardy gold-seekers, whom the unprecedented wave of immigration had moved to California, bringing the throngs of adventurers from many lands to people the heretofore silent canons and gorges of the auriferous belt, and to do their wonderful works, for which the world stands indebted.

'It has been poetically said, that, at the time of the first discovery by Americans, the country was one of the most picturesc[ue in the world. 'Noble forests existed, through which roamed the Indian and the d^er. ♦ Streams of crystal clearness flowed, fish playing therein in all the freedom of security. / The vast Sierra, bearing a diadem of snow, added grandeur to beauty. Pines and sequoias, the like of which can hardly elsewhere be found, tower heavenward. The oaks grew orchard-like in their regularity. 'Deer, antelope, wild fowl, in short, everything that was useful to man in his wild or unsophisticated state, here grew in profusion, to his hand. This j)icture, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, was not unfitted to the time and place.

Even now, after the lapse of a third of a century, and the desecration of land, the defilement of water-courses, and the annihilation of forests, the truth of those pictured lineaments niay be seen, and one may lament the work of the pioneers that has destroyed so much of beauty while building up a great and glorious State — the brightest gem in Columbia's diadem.'

I The party of Philadelphians may, then, be regarded as the pioneers of Tuolumne County, for aught we know to the contrary. ( As mentioned above, they discovered Woods* Creek, naming it after their leader, the Rev. James Woods,*

♦ Those other members of the party whose names have been perpetuated, were James Savage, J. H. Rider, and Charles Bassett.^ The prime object of their search, gold, being found in quantity on the banks of the newly discovered stream, it proved a sufficient incentive to stay their progress, and at Woods' Crossing, the first mining settlement within the present bounds of the county was formed.

• Their work in extracting the precious metal proved extremely successful \ so much so that, the news spreading, an increasing number of immigrants turned their steps towards this as to a promising field.

' The next settlement was that of a party of Mexican miners, who, pushing up Woods' Creek beyond the Crossing, located Spnorian Camp — a name afterwards changed to Sonora-«-all the inhabitants of which were of Spanish extraction, until the arrival of the first Americans, who came most probably in the spring of 1849.' As to the exact time of their arrival, that is, and must ever remain, in doubt.t However, the weight of evidence inclines to the time above given. < Again, there is doubt as to the names

of the first American settlers of Sonora, but to Keeler

and R. S. Ham may x>rovisionally be given that honor. I The former, it is said, was the first to enter upon agricultural pursuits, he occupying land which was later included in the ranches of Messrs. Turner, Clark, Johnson, Ha,rrison and others.

/ In August, 1848, Colonel James, a lawyer of San Francisco, located on Woods' Cre^k, and entered into mining speculations, in the course of which Jamestown was founded; but as this perhaps too enterprising gentleman assumed liabilities which he could not meet, thereby distinguishing himself as the very first of the long line of unsuccessful speculators in mines, he incurred the ill-will of his neighbors to such an extent that, on his departure, the name of the town was changed, out of revenge; but, after a period of existence as American Camp, the old name was revived, probably never to be again dropped. / At nearly the time of Colonel James' advent, Judge Tuttle, arriving on Mormon Gulch, built the first log cabin in the county, the' previous structures having been cloth tents or Mexican remadan or brush houses.' This cabin became the nucleus of a village, which, in compliance with the custom of the times, was named Tuttletown.

Exceedingly rich placers were now discovered at Peppermint Gulch, and Mountain Brow boasted quite a settlement of men dwelling in te_nts.

Among the more notable discoveries made during the latter part of the summer of 1848^ was that of Jackass Gulch, for which name the accidental loss of a long-eared animal contrib^J;ed, but which posterity will doubtless agree to have been quite as characteristic of a man who could give such a designation.

/ Jackass Gulch, despite its name, immediately took rank as among the very richest of the diggings yet struck. / Its g^old was of a very coarse description, lumps of several ounces weight being of common occurrence; and it is stated that two of the earlier prospectors, Major Means and his brother Julius, took out from a claim of 100 square feet $10,000 worth of gold ! » Nor was the gulch limited to placer diggings. ( The same geutlemen discovered upon their claim a q^uartz vein which yielded two-thirds of its weight in gold ! ' Mr. Carrington's vein paid from $100 to $30,0 per day for years, by simply pounding the rock in a mortar, i Numerous discoveries of rich placers took place during the latter part of 1848, and the country rapidly filled up with seekers of hidden treasure, most of them, unfortunately, illy provided with means for comfortably existing through the ensuing winter/ Exorbitant prices and much suffering were the consequence^ From the annexed quotation of prices, it may be learned how scarce the comforts and necessities of life were. ' Flour during that time was $3 per i:)0und/ Hard bread, beans, coffee, sugar, saleratus, and indeed all the indispensable articles of culinary consumption, sold for the anrform price of $3 per pound.* Salt pork, however, is quoted at the higher figure of $8,» If so, it would §eem that it was regarded in the light of a luxury* Merchants, it is said, no doubt truthfully, made speedy fortunes, both by reason of the high prices of their goods and the low price of gold dust, which was paid for at the rate of $8 per ounce, in coin, or $16 in trade. ■'Mercbandising, liquor-selling, and gambling stood nearly upon the same plane, if what has been written may be believed, and all three callings were undoubtedly impaensely remunerative/ Gambling was freely practiced by all classes;* and the miner, after his day's work, betook himself to the monte or faro table, there to be relieved of his easily gotten ounces.* ' Spirituous liquors found an abundant sale at the price of $1 per drink, and the consumption, then as now, seemed one of the great objects of human existence.''

It has been often stated that the first women who arrived in Sonora were two sisters, Mariana and Jesus Ramirez; but the latter of the two, who is now the wife of J. M. Cabesut, Esq. of Sonora, disclaims the truth of the story, and says that the dis^inciiou belongs to other Mexican ■women, of the family of Leon, who arrived several months previous. ^Less unassuming was Ah^ Chi, a Chinese immigrant, who was the forerunner of the great and disastrous wave of his fellow-countrymen. / This Celestial kept an eating house in Sonora, near the spot now occupied by O'Brien's store, and which was well patronized by the miners, being looked upon as the best kept restaurant of the town. ^'

« Within the short space of half a year from the discovery of gold in California, extensive prospecting had been done, and the gold-bearing territory had been examined for hujadreds of niiles along the Sierras, and many extremely rich finds had been reported.'' Notably this was the case in Tuolumne County.' News of this sort traveled fast, and this region, then called the Southern Mines, became the cynosure of all eyes looking for the fabled El Dorado. The reports sent by the earlier prospectors were probably not in excess of the truth;' but there came an era of exaggeration, of wild misrepresentation, whose effects recoiled injuriously upon the new communities.,' One of the earlier writers said : " The main bulk of the immigration centered here. / * * But so many gold seekers brought along with them some great drawbacks to the prosperity of the country. * Hordes of gamblers kept in the wake of the industrious miners, accompanied by rum-sellers and abandoned females;.' and no sooner was a camp laid out by the miners, than a large rough tent was erected by the outcasts; a plank, resting on two empty barrels, served for a counter; and in lieu of the " fixins" of a regular bar, a barrel of whisky, with a tin cup or two, and we had a first-class hotel and gambling saloon, from which issued the din of cracked fiddles and the chink of money, from early morn until late at night; and not infrequently would the sun find the gambling tables crowded and the game and the dance as lively as ever. * * * "WTe are even yet reaping the fruit of these drones of society.

It was the result, in a great measure, of the vast influx of Spanish population, and has been one of the chief hindrances to a better a a , 4g rstanding between the Amencan and Spanish peoples." I The latter part of this writer's words are included to show the prevailing feeling which existed even as late as 1860 (date of his writing) among Americans, against the Mexicans. 'Time has partly removed these injurious and unjust feelings, but they are not yet fully eradicated from the American breasts The author continues: "Hostility to everything American was originally engendered against us by the Mexicans during the war of 1846, and had not died out in 1849.W Nor is it to be wondered that the Chilians, Peruvians, and other Spanish immigrants who spoke the same language, had habit s and religion identical, and who were daily regaled with stories of the brutality and injustice they had received at the hands of the American people. * * From the Spanish, the disaffection sjDread first to the Fi'ench, then to the German and Italian portion, and lastly to the Australian immigrants, extensively known by the euphonious cognomen of " Sydney Ducks," a name very soon to become synonymous with all kinds of fraud and rascality. «Accordingly, collisions became of daily occurrence. * * f Murders soon followed, and became so frequent that at one time it was seriously mooted whether foreigners should not be expelled from the mines. f It eventuated in bringing down upon them the heavy mining tax * * tantamount to expulsion from California.? i Thus far the venerable writer has been quoted, in order that his words might assist to a proper understanding of some of the events which took place at a somewhat later period in the county's history; events which, it wonld seem, had their starting point in that [most unjust and reprehensible war against Mexico, which had ended but shortly before this history commences.

/ Among the earlier of the arrivals in Tuolumne County are enumerated the names of Col, B. F. Moore, Florida; Emanuel Linoberg, Poland; James Lane and Peter Mehen, Ireland; Josh. Holden, Texas; James Frazier, Scotland; R. C. Barry, Texas; Alonzo Grreeu and Terence Clark, New York; /Dr. Bell and 'A. Elkins, Texas; /N. F. Murphey, M. D., Ireland;! H. W. Theall, Pennsylvania;/ A. W. Luckett, Texas;< C. F. and Theophilus Dodge,^New York/ Dr. Wm. Shepherd, Ohioj Dr. W. Norlinn, Germany; Casimir Labetqure, France; B. F. Butterfield, New.Xork; Dr. Clarke, Louisiana; C. M. Radcliffe, Scotland; W. H. Ford and Wm. Pusick, New York; Theodore Saunders; Charles Heffernan, Thomas Hill, Theodore Lopez, Lieut. Wm. Srnith and George R. Searle, New York (the eight preceding were soldiers in Stevenson's Regiment); Jacob Green, Texas, one of the Yucatan Volunteers; William Bowman, Texas, one of the Mier prisoners, who escaped death by drawing a white bean at the famous drawing of lots; Dr. Lewis C. Gunn, Philadelphia.

• Among the more prominent individuals of the foreign element were: Miguel Lesqui, France; L. Rondina and Francisco Pavia, Italy; Luis G. Elordi, Francisco Escobar, Baltazeo Estaben, P. Rojas, J. M. Vallenzuela, Remijo Riveras, Jose M. Bosa, M. Neguro, G. Aguazo, Ramon Enriquez, Luis Ordas and V. Davilla, all of Mexican or South American nationality, and of whom the last named is said to have been the first jeweler of Sonera. The above named are known to have cqme before January 1, 1850.

The following named came in either during the last part of 1849 or very early in 1850/ T. M. Van Benschoten, Louisiana;!, J. D. Patterson, Texas;«R. M. Heath, Charles M. Creaner, J. S. Ogier, James C. Morehead, Isaac A. Stevens, and James W. Co£froth, Ohio; Leander Quint, Maine; A. W. Richardson and H. P. Barber, England; L. A. Besancon, Louisiana; E. F. Sullivan, Texas; George "Work, New Yoi-k (last from Mexico); Major A. Elkins, Texas; Major Henry Charbonelle, France; John Bannister, Texas; David S. McDowell, Mississij)pi ; Jose Maria Cabesut, Mexico; John E. Stokes, Ohio.

The foregoing list comprises but a small portion of the whole number who had arrived in what is now Tuolumne County previous to the beginning of the year 1850; but they were representative men, the most of whom took a prominent part in the affairs of their time, and some of whom yet live to remember the exciting times and great achievements of the pioneer days.-^^

. Much has been written concerning the habits, mode of life and pursuits of the golden age of the State j* Volumes of most interesting matter could be compiled on these and kindred subjects, but the themes have so often been touched upon by writers that every one, at this later time, may be considered to have accurate ideas thereon. '

The designation " Golden Age" is not inapplicable to a time in which the search for the metal was attended with such abundant success. ' The records of the time prove the truth of the oft-repeated assertions of the " Old '49-ers,'' that gold could be gathered almost in any required quantity by the exercise of their primitive means of extraction. The pick, the pan and the shovel constituted the sole apparatus by which fortunes were made. / Finds, amounting to hundreds and even thousands of dollars, were too common to excite comment, and the labor of a single week often produced enough to carry the fortunate miner to his home in the East, there to live his remaining years in comfort. -*Not all, however, who were favored by the sight of the goddess Fortune, were minded to return. I Some there were from whom her face was averted, and after many years of painful seeking, they have found their rest, or, perchance, they still live among the hills that once echoed a livelier strain, and are awaiting that round of Time's cycle that shall lay their bones beside those of others gone before.^The old Californian is a being whose present life is but a retrospection of the early days, i He lives but as one awakened from an entrancing dream, to tell the glories of the days of '49; to describe the opportunities of accumulating wealth, when gold was so plenty that any man could sally out with his pan and shovel and make enough in a day to set at rest all thought of present need./ These things, and many more, have for years formed the great staple of conversation throughout the Western Slope, and the statements conned and repeated have taken on, like the tales of the other Argonauts, a tinge of exaggeration, however unrefined and unpoetical.i The oft repeated accounts of the phenomenal honesty of men in those days excite wonder and admiration in the later generation, who can not understand how a miscellaneous aggregation of men of all nationalities could have escaped contamination by a few to whom such noble traits were strangers.' The state of society which admitted of miners leaving in their cabins, with unlocked doors, large amount? of gold dust and other valuables could not have been of long continuance; hence the papers of an early date in 1850 teem with accounts of robberies, murders, and all descriptions of outrages, which have not suffered any cessation thus far. ' It is, notwithstanding this fact, not proper to doubt the truth of the assertions of such highminded morality, but to ascribe it to the agency of fear. /

10 HISTOBY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTT.

• At this date the observing student of history is struck most forcibly with the apparent air of prodigality that pervaded all classes and all doings of the time of which this section treats, and indeed of the subsequent years of rich strikes. He sees the spectacle of myriads of hardy, adventurous men daring every danger and hardship in the frantic pursuit of gold, which, after attaining, they flung recklessly away! It needs no further exemplification of this than the further spectacle which he sees to-day of the remnants of those myriads dragging out their days, mostly in penury and want, many of whom, once possessors of unbounded wealth, which could have purchased every comfort which desire could dictate, but now living in squalor, and djdng, to be buried by the hands of charity! " With some, the fierce fight for wealth p>ast, and the prize ungained, ambition loses her sway, and the once energetic miner settles into the narrow groove of a hanger-on of a whisky saloon, to clean the spittoons for a drink, to aAvait the generous patron at whose expense the liquid stimulant passes his appreciative lips. For such ends as these does he wear out his days and belie the promise of his earlier years. « But not all are thus. Some of that immortal band still carry hearts as brave as those that first dared the perils of the "Horn" to dig the sands of the Stanislaus and the Tuolumne. 'The weight of years has not diminished their courage nor abated their energy, which still dii'ects them in their toil for the perhaps delusive goddess. • Ever in the van when new regions are explored and new fields give, up their treasure, the rigors of an Alaskan winter can not daunt them, nor the soft sweetness of a tropic climate lull them into forgetfulness of the spirit of the early Californian. • By the mountain top his camp-fire burns, and the crags

of the Andes and the Cordilleras echo back the still forceful blows of his pick. ► Never until the kindly earth against which his own stirring blows have fallen shall inclose him in his windowless palace of rest, shall his efforts cease. 'His little cabin is perched far up the rugged side of the mountains that bound the State he helped to found. »The railroad train passes far beneath, bearing back those of hapj)ier fortune to the old home and friends in the East; but the old prospector's work is not — never will be finished until he lies down in his blankets for the last time. 'There is heroism in his work; there is heroism in every day's existence of every old Californian whose spirit is not quenched nor his soul debased by misfortune's slights. • All honor to the men who advanced civilization's bounds over the Western shore! Kindness and honor to the living;* honor and peace to the dead!

M Travel to the Southern mines was very constant during the year 1849, the immigrants coming by way of Sto_ckton, the road from which to Sqriora becoming a celebrated route. 'The garrulous recorder of those times informed his readers that the camp-fires on that highway were near enough together to show the traveler his way. He also says that the dealers in mining tools provisions and general merchandise, who, by the way, wisely combined the retailing of liquors with the above, also supplied the hungry miners with pork and beans at the moderate rate of one dollar per plate ! A similar charge was also made for house-room for sleeping, the applicant finding his own bedding. It is mentioned that board was at the rate of three dollars per day. The same veracious chronicler says that gold-dust, serving as a medium of exchange, was often guessed at as to its value. Gold scales, he explains, were unknown at that date, and such an amount of gold as could be held between the thumb and finger was called a dollar's worth, while a teasgoonful passed for an ouncej a wineglassful was one hundred dollars, and a tumblerful was called a thousand dollars. / Much gold was dropped in handling, and to obviate this loss, blankets were stretched upon the counters and gambling tables, which received the falling particles.