The party leave the Mormon diggings
Cradles sold by auction
Laughter and biddings
The wagon sent back
The route to the saw-mills
A horse in danger
A miss at a Koyott
An antelope hit
Mr. Marshall
Venison steaks for supper
The saw-mills
Indians at work
Acorn bread
Where the gold was
How it was got
Gentlemen and horses
New-comers
"Yankee Doodle" and the "Star-spangled Banner."
_Sunday, July 2nd_.--Yesterday, in accordance with the resolutions
debated this day week, we left the Mormon diggings, and pursued our
course up the Americans' River. It was on Thursday night that we
adopted the final determination of moving off from our late quarters;
and, accordingly, next day I walked with Bradley and McPhail through
the diggings, to try to find purchasers for our cradles. This was not a
difficult task. We had plenty of offers; and we were so importuned by
some six or eight people, who were anxious to trade with us, that we
decided in a minute on having an auction of them. I was not bold enough
to play the part of auctioneer myself; but Bradley very coolly mounted
on the top of one of the machines, and called upon "gentlemen traders"
for their biddings. This was a capital move. The highest offer we had
previously obtained was one hundred and sixty dollars for the largest
of the two machines; but Bradley succeeded in coaxing the purchasers
on--stopping now and then to expatiate on the mint of gold which, he
guessed, he would warrant it to produce daily; and then calling to
their minds the fact that this was "the identical cradle into which the
lump of gold weighing two ounces and three-quarters--the largest piece
ever found at the Mormon diggings--was about to have been shovelled,
when it was discovered and seized hold of by the fortunate digger--the
gentleman on my right hand--who, as you all know, in accordance with
the admirable laws of these diggings, laid claim to it as his private
property." This produced a roar of laughter; but, what was better, it
produced a roar of biddings, and the cradle was knocked down at one
hundred and ninety-five dollars, payable in gold dust, at the standard
rate of fourteen dollars the ounce, or a discount of ten per cent, if
settled in broad silver pieces. The other cradle fetched us one hundred
and eighty dollars.
For these two cradles, therefore, we got three hundred and seventy-five
dollars' worth of dust. The same night we occupied ourselves in
constructing strong bags, made of rough hides, and well strapped round
the person for the conveyance of the gold dust and scales which we had
already amassed.
On Wednesday morning, before sunrise, we had sent the wagon and wagoner
back to Mr. Sinclair's rancho, accompanied by José, who returned on the
evening of Thursday with the horses.
We found, on starting, that our horses could not carry all the
provisions, and at the same time perform a good day's work. We,
therefore, left some of the more bulky articles under the charge of a
man from San Francisco, known to Bradley, and departed. We made good
progress for a mile or two; and, as we crossed the brow of a hill,
halted a moment to observe the busy aspect of the washings, as they
appeared from a distance. The country, as we ascended the stream,
became hourly more hilly and broken. Its general aspect was grassy, and
the soil appeared fertile. Here and there deep gullies crossed our
path, over which we had great difficulty in urging the horses, heavily
loaded as they were. At one of these ravines, the animal which conveyed
the tent-poles lost his footing, and went scrambling down the edge of
the descent, bearing with him a whole avalanche of gravel and shingles.
Malcolm and Lacosse went after the brute, and succeeded in forcing it
up by a less precipitous path.
At noon we halted and dined. During the afternoon, we observed a sort
of small jackall, of the kind called Koyott, hovering about the line of
march. It only occasionally showed itself amongst the long rank grass
and bushes. Bradley, however, got his rifle ready; but, although he
fired several shots, the animal was too nimble or restless for even the
practised eye and hand of a Yankee rifleman to be certain of his aim.
In a shot at a young antelope which bounded past, however, Bradley was
more successful; and we were rejoiced at the prospect of a supper on
tender venison. In a few minutes he had slung the animal over his
horse's haunches, and we proceeded on our route.
The country became more broken and mountainous as we advanced; and in
approaching the location of the saw-mills, the hills appeared to rise
nearly one thousand feet above the level of the Sacramento. They were
diversified by groves of gigantic pine and oak trees. We were looking
anxiously about for the saw-mills, when we heard the crack of a rifle;
and presently a man in white linen trousers, with his legs defended by
buckskin mocassins, wearing a broad Mexican sombrero, and carrying his
rifle in his hand, approached us. This person turned out to be Mr.
Marshall. He received us kindly, and asked the news from the lower
washings, and also how matters were looking at Sutter's when we passed
through. Mr. Marshall had a gang of fifty Indians employed, and Captain
Sutter had another party of nearly double that number, on the same bank
of the river.
We encamped in a woody bottom, by the side of a small stream, which
joined the main torrent here, and where there was good pasture for the
horses. Mr. Marshall's house was about a mile and a half further up the
river. After a good supper of venison steaks--thanks to Bradley's
rifle--we turned in for the night.
Nest day, Lacosse and McPhail, attended by Horry, and driving two extra
horses, rode down to the Mormon diggings, for the purpose of getting up
the provisions which we had left behind. Meantime, I walked out to
reconnoitre our new quarters. I soon arrived at the mills, and saw the
spot where the discovery of the gold had first been made, by the
torrent laying bare the sides of the mill-race. Here I met Mr. Marshall
again. Of course the operations of the saw-mill had been stopped, for
the workmen were employed in the vicinity, either above or below the
works, digging and washing on their own account. Mr. Marshall paid the
Indians he had at work chiefly in merchandize. I saw a portion of the
gang, the men dressed for the most part in cotton drawers and
mocassins, leaving the upper part of the body naked. They worked with
the same implements as those used in the lower washings. Not far from
the place where most of them were employed, I saw a number of the women
and children pounding acorns in a hollow block of wood with an oblong
stone. Of the acorn flour thus produced they made a sort of dry, hard,
unpalatable bread, which assuredly none but an Indian stomach could
digest.
Upon instituting a more particular search into the nature of the
country and our prospects, we found that the places where the gold was
found in the greatest abundance, and in the largest masses, were the
beds of the mountain torrents, now dry, which occasionally descend into
both the forks of the stream. We clambered up some of those precipitous
ravines, and observed, upon several occasions, as we scrambled among
the shingle, shining spangles of gold. The soil was evidently richly
charged; but the great disadvantage was the comparative distance from
water, in the evening our friends arrived from the lower diggings, with
the provisions all safe and sound, and the next day we determined to
set to work.
_July 3rd_.--Selecting a likely place in the heart of a steep mountain
gorge, we transported thither the larger Indian baskets which we had
purchased at Sutter's Fort, and, shovelling the earth into them, passed
poles, cut from the nearest pine tree, through the rope-handles we had
affixed to these baskets. Resting the poles on our shoulders, we
carried the loaded baskets to the brink of the stream, and then set to
work after the old fashion, with our hands in the baskets. Our success
was great, and the day's return shows a decided improvement upon the
Mormon diggings. The soil here is more richly impregnated with gold
than below; but the labour of carrying the earth to the water is
excessive, and I am so tired this evening that I very reluctantly
opened my journal to make this short entry.
_July 4th_.--As we were starting off to the river with our first basket
loads of gravel this morning, Lacosse suddenly remarked that he did not
see why the horses should be living like gentlemen when the gentlemen
were working like horses; and he proposed to use the shoulders of our
nags, instead of our own, for the conveyance of the earth. We all fell
in with this proposal, wondering it had never struck us before, and the
horses were soon fetched from their comfortable quarters among the tall
rank grass, and set to work, with the baskets slung over their backs,
like panniers.
Several new-comers from the Mormon diggings passed us to-day, bound
further up the Fork. In the morning Mr. Marshall paid us a visit, to
know how we were getting on. He had heard from Captain Sutter, who
stated that he thought of starting for the upper or lower washings
himself, as soon as he had gathered in his wheat harvest, which he
hoped to accomplish during the present week. A number of wild ducks
haunt the, river, and especially abound in the grassy and weedy pools
which skirt its edges. This morning we shot some of these, and found
them an agreeable addition to our dinner bill of fare.
The afternoon has been passed among the greater part of the miners here
as a celebration of the anniversary of American Independence. Something
like an out-door feast was got up, and toasts were drunk and songs
sang; "Yankee Doodle," and the "Star-spangled Banner," being the chief
favourites. Bradley made a smart speech: and, contrary to his usual
practice, complimented us Englishmen with a round of pleasant allusions
to the mother country.