A rest
A solitude
No gold to be found
An exploring party
Good fortune
Food and security
More cradles
A fortified shanty in preparation
A dessert after dinner
Dejection
Thoughts about home
No other gold-finders to be seen
Mormon trail
Salt Plain and the Great Salt Lake
A weary day's journey without water
Saline exhalations
The inland sea and its desolate shores
A terrible whirlpool
The shanty finished
The trapper's services retained
The camp visited by an Indian tribe
A friendly sign
The pipe of peace
A "trade" with the Indians declined
Some depart and some remain
Provisions run short
Hunting expeditions
Something about a bear.
_Sunday, July 30th_.--We rested somewhat late upon Saturday morning to
make up for the fatigues of the journey from Weber's Creek. On
surveying the country we found ourselves in a perfect solitude. Not an
Indian, far less a white man, was to be seen. The fertile valley of the
Bear River--with its luxuriant grass, in which nestled coveys of the
Californian quail--seemed almost untrodden by human foot, and sloped in
great beauty between the ridges of rocky hills and peaks of granite,
with dark ravines and canones between, which hemmed it in. Our first
care was of course to try the capabilities of the country in the way of
gold. We therefore separated ourselves, and sought different points of
the channel of the stream, and different chasms, which in the winter
time conducted the mountain torrents into it.
To our great astonishment and disappointment, one by one we returned
into the camp with the news of our non-success. By the old trapper's
advice, an exploring party was despatched to follow up the stream
towards its head. They travelled the distance of some ten or twelve
miles, crossing some of the more important tributaries of the main
river, and had the good fortune to strike upon a spot where a slight
examination was sufficient to prove that the gold existed in great
abundance in the sand and shingles, and imbedded in flakes amid the
rocks. To-day we have moved the camp to this spot; and, as we are now
beyond the reach of aid from white men, and have begun to feel that we
must be, for some time at least, a self-supporting party, our first
thoughts are turned towards making arrangements for obtaining a supply
of food, and for ensuring our security. Bradley, Joe White, and José,
are to be our hunters; Malcolm, Lacosse, and McPhail, are to set to
work to-morrow to make a couple of cradles, the carpenter giving them
an occasional helping hand, but occupying himself principally in
superintending the construction of a large shanty, sufficient to
accommodate the whole party, with a rough fortification around,
composed of pine logs and palisades, pointed at the top, sufficient
to enclose a space of ground into which the horses could be driven at
night, out of the way of any outlying Indian who might be thievishly
inclined. We calculate that the construction of the shanty, with its
appurtenances, will occupy at least a week--in all probability, much
longer. Malcolm, McPhail, and Lacosse, are to join us in our labours as
soon as they have finished the cradles. The hunters had good luck
to-day, and came in with a couple of fat bucks. The trapper had also
snared a number of quails, so that our table was nobly furnished. Our
dinner, also, included a dessert of a fruit similar to apples in taste,
but not larger than well-grown gooseberries. These had been gathered
and brought in by the trapper in the morning.
_Sunday, August 6th_.--I have felt very low-spirited these last few
days. One's thoughts have turned towards home, and an indescribable
sensation of melancholy has been weighing me down, which at last my
companions have begun to take notice of. This evening, just as the
remainder of the party contemplated turning in for the night, I pulled
out my note-book, and began writing beside the camp-fire.
"¿No puede Vm. dormir?" said Don Luis to me, as he moved away towards
the tent.
"No, Senor," replied I. "Pienso a la veja Ingleterra; a mi Hermano y a
mis amigos."
"Por ventura a una amiguita," observed Don Luis.
I laughed, and answering, "Es possible, Senor," went on writing.
We are now regularly settled on the Bear River, and have, as yet, seen
no signs of human life round about us. The reports, therefore, which we
heard at Weber's Creek, of the gold-finders having penetrated into this
valley, would appear to have been without foundation. We have observed
a fresh-made trail, which the old trapper seems to consider passes in
the direction of the Truckee Lake; and we have noticed the remains of
several camp-fires at different parts of the valley. In all probability
this trail has been made by the Mormon emigrants, who are reported to
have gone on a gold-hunting expedition across the salt desert to the
shores of the Great Salt Lake, a distance of seven or eight hundred
miles. The old trapper had some wonderful stories to tell about the
dangers of the journey across the Salt Plain. How that a man has to
travel, from the first faint break of grey light in the morning, as
hard as his horse will carry him, over a desert of white salt--which
crunches and crumbles beneath his horse's tread at every step he
takes--until the sun has gone down behind the tall peaks of the distant
Sierra Nevada. No water but of the most brackish kind can be procured
to refresh either horse or rider through the whole of this weary route,
while their lips are parched with thirst, and their eyes and nostrils
become choked from the effects of the saline exhalations rising up on
all sides from the desert over which they are passing. And as for the
Great Salt Lake, the desolate shores of this inland sea have been, for
the most part, carefully avoided by both Indians and trappers, and no
living being has yet been found daring enough to venture far on the
bosom of its dark turbid waters; for a belief exists that a terrible
whirlpool agitates their surface, ready to swallow up everything that
may venture within the bounds of its dangerous influence.
Our cradles were finished on Monday, and the shanty on Saturday
afternoon. It includes a sort of outhouse for cooking, and the rude
palisades around are quite sufficient protection for the horses against
any attempts the Indians are likely to make to drive them off. As soon
as our building labours were over yesterday, we set to work digging and
washing, and were very successful. The country about here is of course
much more rugged than in the lower diggings. Grass is plentiful in the
valley, but the rocky heights are covered with a stinted vegetation,
offering no food to our horses. The soil, mineralogically considered,
does not seem to vary materially from that in the neighbourhood of
Weber's Creek. If anything, it is more impregnated with gold. On
Friday, Don Luis discovered a large rough lump in a canone about a mile
from the shanty; and the next evening a similar lump, though rather
smaller, was picked up by Bradley in one of his hunting excursions.
_August 8th_.--We have engaged the services of our friend the trapper
at the rate of fifteen dollars a-week, with an allowance of whisky
twice a-day. He will hunt for us, but will have nothing to do with gold
digging and washing. He has a tolerable contempt for dollars, or else
he would have demanded higher wages. A man who has spent nearly all his
life in the wilderness, who has known no wants but such as his rifle
could quickly supply, may, however, well look with contempt on the
"root of all evil." If he were hungry, a shot at some panting elk or
bellowing buffalo would stock him with food for weeks to come. If he
were athirst, the clear water of some sparkling rivulet would yield him
all that he would require. The hide of the bear or of the buffalo would
serve to clothe him and to shelter him from the sharp night frosts;
while a score of beaver skins would purchase him ammunition more than
sufficient to last him all the year round. What, then, should he want
with gold?
Yesterday, while we were at dinner, we were surprised by seeing a party
of Indians approaching the camp from the direction of Truckee Lake.
They appeared not to have any hostile intentions, so we quietly awaited
their approach. The foremost chief held before him a long stick, with a
bunch of white feathers dangling at the end. Story explained to us that
this was a friendly sign, and said we had nothing to fear from the
party. As they approached nearer towards us, they commenced dancing and
singing, and we could soon perceive that very few among them were
armed, and that altogether their appearance was anything but warlike
and imposing.
Story went out to meet them, and shook hands with the few foremost
chiefs. When they reached the shanty, before the door of which we were
seated, the chiefs gathered on the right-hand side of us, and squatted
themselves down upon the ground, when the pipe of peace was immediately
produced by a veteran chief, and handed round. I took a few whiffs with
the rest, and then we learnt from our visiters that they were anxious
to engage in a trade. All that they had, however, were some few
esculent roots and several bags of pine-nuts. These last they roast and
eat, but the taste is far from pleasant. In exchange for them, they
wanted some charges of powder and ball. Three of them, I noticed,
possessed old Spanish muskets, of which they seemed particularly proud;
they held them in the usual cautious Indian style, with the butt-end
clutched in the right hand, and the barrel resting on the left arm. A
few of the others had bows and arrows slung across their backs. We
pleaded shortness of ammunition as our excuse for declining the trade.
Our provisions being run low made it impossible for us to offer them
anything to eat, so we gave them a few blankets, which we could well
spare, by way of keeping ourselves in their good graces; as, according
to Story, they would have considered it a great affront if we had
neglected to make them any presents.
The Indians remained and encamped outside our fort; last night and this
morning the greater part took their departure. The guard last night had
orders to keep a sharp look-out, as we thought that our friends, even
though they had no hostile intentions towards us, might still take a
strong liking to some of our horses; but nothing of a suspicious
character occurred. Five young men of the tribe also have stopt behind,
who wish to continue with us and work for us, but the low state of our
commissarial renders it desirable not to accept their offer, unless our
hunters return to-day with a good stock of provisions.
_August 13th_. Our hunters have been very successful these last few
days. We have a large stock of elk meat, which we intend drying after
the Indian fashion. On Friday, while Don Luis and the trapper were out
together, they were surprised by the sight of a huge bear right before
them, slowly walking up towards them. As soon as he arrived within
about a hundred paces he squatted down upon his haunches for a few
moments; but, as they got nearer to him, and just as they were
preparing to give him a greeting in the shape of a couple of balls
through his head, he rose up and scampered off. They fired, but without
success, and the brute plunged into a dense thicket; after which they
saw nothing more of him.
Our Indians, after stopping with us a couple of days, during which
period we compelled them to encamp at night-time outside the fort, took
their departure early on Friday morning, or else during the night of
Thursday, unperceived by our sentinels. They, however, took nothing
with them belonging to our party, except a couple of blankets we had
lent to the two principal men.