E. W. Maslin and His Recollections of Pioneer Days In Grass Valley.
Origin of Our Mining Laws
To Mr. E. W. Maslin, of Alameda, of whom Ben Taylor said: "He is like a
brother to me," I am indebted for information of much interest, bearing
on the olden days and Grass Valley in particular. Mr. Maslin came around
the "Horn" to California, in the ship Herman, on May 7, 1853. He arrived
in Grass Valley and went to work as a miner the following morning. He
now holds, and has for years, the responsible position in the United
States Custom House, San Francisco, of Deputy Naval Officer of the Port.
The clearing papers of every vessel that leaves San Francisco bear his
signature. Although in his eightieth year, his memory is as clear and
his sense of humor as vivid as when, a youth of nineteen, he left for
good, Maryland, his native state. Few men in the San Francisco bay
region are more widely known than he. His ready wit, cheery laugh and
fund of information--for he is extremely well-read--always insure for
him an attentive and appreciative audience.
Speaking of Ben Taylor, he told me a characteristic incident, which
being also typical of the men of '49, I give, with his consent, as
related. When the White Pine excitement in 1869 started a rush of
prospectors to Nevada, Mr. Maslin caught the fever with the rest. In
common with all who dug for gold, he had his ups and downs, the fat
years and the lean ones; at the time, his fortunes being at a lew ebb,
he joined the stampede. Several years previous to his departure,
without informing his wife, he had borrowed of Ben Taylor, three hundred
dollars, secured by mortgage on his house in Grass Valley. At White Pine
he met with considerable success, and in a short time sent his wife five
hundred dollars, telling her for the first time of the mortgage on their
home and requesting her to go to Ben Taylor at once and pay him in full.
It so happened that Taylor had called on Mrs. Maslin for news of her
husband, as she was reading this letter. She immediately tendered him
the check with the request that he would inform her to what the interest
amounted. "Why, Molly," said Ben Taylor, "you surely ought to know me
well enough to know I would never take any interest on that money!" When
it is remembered that the legal rate of interest at that time was ten
per cent, and that double that amount was not infrequently paid--Mr.
Maslin, in fact, expecting to pay Taylor something like five hundred
dollars--the attitude of the latter will be the better appreciated.
This seems a fitting place to pay a humble personal tribute of respect
to the memory of the men of "the fall of '49 and the spring of '50." Not
since the Crusades, when the best blood of Europe was spilt in defense
of the Holy Sepulchre, has the world seen a finer body of men than the
Argonauts of California. True, the quest of the "Golden Fleece" was the
prime motive, but sheer love of adventure for adventure's sake played a
most important part. Later on, the turbulent element arrived. It was due
to the rectitude, inherent sense of justice and courage of the pioneers
that they were held in check and, by force of arms when necessary, made
to understand the white man's code of honor.
So much in song and story has been said of the scramble for gold in the
early days after the discovery, and so little attention given to
the artistic and aesthetic sense of the pioneers, that the general
impression made by the famous old mining towns of California, when seen
for the first time, may be worth recording. In the massive stone hotels
and stores of that period, as well as in the careful construction
of dwelling houses, they exhibited a true perception of "the eternal
fitness of things." The buildings of the fifties, in their extreme
simplicity, are far more imposing than the nondescript, pretentious
structures of today, and will, beyond doubt, in usefulness outlast them.
As a result of ignoring the checker-board plan, and permitting the
streets to follow the natural contour of the hills and ravines, these
mountain towns seem to have become blended and to be in harmony with
the wonderful setting Nature has provided. All buildings, residential or
otherwise, are protected from the summer heat by umbrageous trees.
Lawns of richest green delight the eye, and vines and flowers surround
cottages perched on steep hillsides, or half-hidden in deep ravines.
The first glimpse from a distant eminence of any of the old mining towns
conveys the suggestion of peaceful homes buried in greenery, basking
contentedly in the brilliant sunshine, surrounded by the whispering
pines, with the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada for a background.
You also receive the impression of cleanliness. If there were any old
cans, scraps of paper and miscellaneous rubbish lying about in any town
through which I passed, I did not notice them. One is struck, too, by
the absence of the "vacant lot"--that unsightly blot of such frequent
occurrence in all towns in the process of building, especially when
forced by "booms" beyond their normal growth. Fortunately the very word
"boom," in its significance as applied to inflated real estate values,
has no meaning in these towns, with the result that they are compact.
One may search in vain for the "house to let" sign. When no more houses
were needed, no more houses were built. This compactness of form,
cleanliness, and the elimination to a great extent of the rectangular
block, contribute in no small measure to that indefinable suggestion
of the Old World--a charm that haunts the memory and finally becomes
permanent acquisition.
However clever the stories of the romancers--of whom Bret Harte
preeminently stands first--after all, their characters were
intrinsically but creatures of the imagination; the pioneers were the
real thing! Yet such is the nature of this topsy-turvy world, the copies
will remain, whilst the originals will fade away and be forgotten!
The writer will always hold it a privilege that he had the pleasure of
meeting in the flesh a remnant of the men who laid the foundation of
the institutions by means of which this great Commonwealth has grown
and prospered; big, broad-minded, strong men who, whatever their
failings--for they were very human--were generous to a fault, ever ready
to listen to the cry of distress or help a fallen brother to his feet,
scornful of pettiness, ignorant of snobbery, fair and square in their
dealings with their fellows. Alas, that it should have come to "Hail and
Farewell" to such a type of manhood!
At my request, Mr. Maslin, at one time a practicing attorney, dictated
the following succinct account of the origin of the mining laws of
California. The discovery at Gold Hill, now within the corporate limits
of Grass Valley, of a gold-bearing quartz ledge, subsequently the
property of Englishmen who formed an organization known as "The Gold
Hill Quartz Mining Company," led to the founding of the mining laws of
California. On December 30, 1850, the miners passed regulations which
had with them the force of laws, defining the location and ownership of
mines. It was provided that claims should be forty feet by thirty feet;
a recorder was to be elected by the miners and all difficulties arising
out of trespass on claims were to be tried before the recorder and two
miners, an appeal to be taken to the justice of the peace.
When quartz lodes began to be discovered and worked, it was found that
the location of claims by square feet did not protect the miner or
afford sufficient territory upon which to expend his labor. Accordingly
a miners' meeting was held in Nevada City on December 20, 1852, and a
body of laws prescribed, governing all quartz mines within the county of
Nevada. The following were the salient features: "Each proprietor of a
quartz claim shall be entitled to one hundred feet on a quartz ledge or
vein; the discoverer shall be allowed one hundred feet additional. Each
claim shall include all the dips, angles, and variations of the same."
The remaining articles related to the working, holding and recording
of claims. This law was incorporated in the raining legislation of the
State of Nevada and has formed the basis of the mining laws of each
territory of the United States. Thus we have a proof not only of
the intelligence of the early miner, but also of his capacity for
self-government. It must be remembered that the miners came from all
over the United States, but principally from the West and the South.
Probably none had seen a quartz ledge before coming to California, yet
the necessity for extending a claim as far as the ledge dipped was
soon perceived, as also the taking into consideration a change in the
direction or course of the lode. Commenting on these laws and the causes
leading to their adoption, Mr. Muslin became emphatic. He said:
"No body of rough, uncouth, pistolled ruffians, such as Bret Harte
depicts the miners, would have formed such a group of benevolent,
far-reaching and comprehensive laws. The early miner represented the
best type of American character. He was brave, undeterred by obstacles,
enduring with patient fortitude the perils and privations of the
long journey of half a year by land, or a tempestuous voyage by sea;
undaunted alike by the terrors of Cape Horn or the insidious diseases of
the Isthmus of Panama. He met the, to him, hitherto unknown problem of
the extraction of gold and solved it with the wisdom and vigor which
distinguish the American. Observe that the provision against throwing
dirt on another man's claim anticipated by many years the famous
hydraulic decision of Judge Sawyer. It is another way of stating the
maxim of law and equity: 'so use your own property, as not to injure
that of another.'"
Mr. Maslin agrees with Ben Taylor that the hangings and shootings of the
period following the discovery of gold have been grossly exaggerated.
On this point he said: "I will venture to assert that in certain of
the Mississippi Valley States, in their early settlement, more men were
killed in one year than in ten of the early mining years in California."
Of lynching, he said: "There were few lynchings in California, and
those mostly in the southern tier of counties, of persons convicted of
cattle-stealing." In connection with lynching he related a serio-comic
incident that occurred in Grass Valley in the early days.
Several fires had taken place in the town and the inhabitants were in
consequence much excited. A watchman on his rounds espied a light in a
vacant log cabin, and entering, caught a man in the act of striking
a match. He arrested him and the populace were for taking summary
vengeance. A man known as "Blue Coat Osborne" cried out, "Let's hang
him! Nevada City once hanged a man and Grass Valley never did!" This was
an effective appeal, for the rivalry that has lasted ever since already
existed. Fortunately, wiser counsels prevailed; the man was subsequently
tried and acquitted, it appearing that he was a traveling prospector
who had merely entered the cabin in order to light his pipe! In this
connection, I may state that Mr. Maslin confirmed the story of the three
friends in Nevada City, who attempted to withstand "the ordeal by fire."
Mr. Maslin is justly jealous for the reputation of the Argonauts.
Perhaps Bret Harte's miner, with his ready pistol, was as far from the
mark as Rudyard Kipling's picture of Tommy Atkins as "an absentminded
beggar"--an imputation the real "Tommy" hotly resented. At the same
time, such stories as "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "Tennessee's
Partner," not to quote others, prove Bret Harte conceded to the
miner, courage, patience, gentleness, generosity and steadfastness in
friendship. If Bret Harte really "hurt" California, it was because,
leaving the State for good in February, 1871, he carried with him the
atmosphere of the early mining days and never got out of it. He never
realized the transition from mining to agriculture and horticulture, as
the leading industries of the State. Thus his later stories which
dealt with California, written long after the subsidence of the mining
excitement, continued to convey to the Eastern or English reader an
impression of the Californian as a bearded individual, his trousers
tucked into long boots and the same old "red shirt" with the sleeves
rolled back to the shoulders! As lately--comparatively speaking--as the
Chicago Columbian Exposition, a lady told me she met at the Fair a woman
who said she wanted to visit California, and asked if it would be safe
to do so "on account of the Indians!" While Indians do not appear in
Bret Harte's pages, it is a safe conjecture that, through association
of ideas, this lady conjured up a vague vision of a "prairie schooner"
crossing the plains, harassed by the Indian of the colored prints!
The following picture of the trying of a civil suit under difficulties,
though in all probability causing little comment at the time, would
undoubtedly do so at the present day, were the conditions possible. In
1853 Mr. Maslin owned, with his brother, a one-fifth interest in ten
gravel claims at Pike Flat near Grass Valley. On the ground of alleged
imperfection of location of a portion of these claims, they were
"jumped," and litigation followed.
The case was called before "Si" Brown, a justice of the peace, at Rough
and Ready, in a building (of which I obtained a photograph) used as a
hotel and for other purposes. In the long room, now occupied as a store,
Judge Brown held his court. On the right was a door leading to the bar.
Extending the whole length of the room were four faro tables. At the
rear the judge, jury, attorneys and the principals in the lawsuit made
the best of the accommodations.
After stating the case, Judge Brown thus addressed the gamblers at the
faro tables: "Boys, the court is now opened, call your games low!" In
accordance with this request, though still audible, came in a monotonous
undertone, the faro, dealers' oft-repeated call: "Gents, make your
game--make your game!" The bets were put down and the cards called, in
the same subdued voice. At intervals, an attorney on one side or the
other would arise and say: "I move you, your Honor, that the court do
now take a recess of ten minutes." The court: "The motion is sustained;
but go softly, gentlemen, go softly!" It is probably needless to add
that judge, jury, principals, attorneys and witnesses filed out of the
door leading to the right; returning in ten minutes to resume the trial
to the not altogether inappropriate accompaniment from the faro dealers,
"Make your game, gents, make your game!"
The spirit of rivalry between Grass Valley and Nevada City has been
accentuated, of late, by the efforts of the former town to secure the
honor of being the county seat, on the claim that it possesses nearly
double the population of Nevada City. Politics serve to intensify the
feeling; Grass Valley, which contains many people of Southern birth,
being largely Democratic in its affiliations, whilst Nevada City is as
strongly, and, one may add, as conservatively, Republican.
Possibly the oldest building in Grass Valley is the Western Hotel. It is
so hidden in the surrounding trees that it was with difficulty I took
a photograph in which any portion of the hotel itself appeared. In the
garden stands a splendid English walnut over forty years old; and on
the porch, the well and pump to which I have before alluded as a
distinguishing feature of the old-time hostelry, add a quaint and
characteristic touch.
Grass Valley and Nevada City are nearly three thousand feet above sea
level. The air, in consequence, is light and pure and the heat seldom
excessive. It would be difficult, the world over, to find a more
agreeable or salubrious climate.
It was with genuine regret that I left Grass Valley the following
morning; not even Sonora possessed for me a stronger attraction. As I
paused on the summit of the hill, for a farewell view of the town, I
mentally resolved--the Fates permitting--I would pay another and more
protracted visit to this land of enchantment.