INTO THE SETTLEMENTS. HALT.
Having begun the ascent of the lofty and precipitous east slope of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, one night about the first of September the
camp-site selected was at a spot said to be directly on the boundary
line between Nevada and California.
Lounging after supper about a huge bonfire of balsam pine, the
travelers debated the question whether we were really at last within
the limits of the Mecca toward which we had journeyed so patiently
throughout the summer. While so engaged, the stillness, theretofore
disturbed only by the murmur of our voices and occasional popping of
the burning logs, was further dispelled for a few seconds by sounds
as of shifting pebbles on the adjacent banks, accompanied by rustling
of the foliage, waving of tall branches and tree-tops, and a gentle
oscillation of the ground on which we rested. These manifestations
were new to our experience; but we had heard and read enough about the
western country to hazard a guess as to the significance of the
disturbance.
"Jack," aroused from his first early slumber of that particular
evening, raised himself on an elbow, and asserted, confidently:
"That settles it; we _are_ in California: that was an earthquake."
Appearing already to have caught the universal feeling of western
people regarding the matter of "quakes," he chuckled, in contemplation
of his own perspicacity, and calmly resumed his recumbent attitude,
and his nap.
The summit of the Sierras was reached within about two days from the
commencement of the ascent. We met no people in these mountains until
we had proceeded some distance down the westerly slope, and reached a
mining camp, near a small, gushing stream, that poured itself over and
between rocks in a tortuous gorge.
The camp was a small cluster of rough shacks, built of logs, split
boards and shakes. As if dropped there by accident, they were located
without regard for any sort of uniformity. These were the bunk cabins
of the miners; some of the diminutive structures being only of size
sufficient to accommodate a cot, a camp-stool and a wash-basin. A
larger cabin stood at about the center of the group, the joint kitchen
and dining-room.
As we drove into the "town," the only person within view was a
Chinaman, standing at the door. For most of us this was a first
introduction to one of the yellow race. He was evidently the camp
cook.
Major Crewdson approached the Celestial with the salutation: "Hello,
John."
"Belly good," was the reply.
[Illustration: "'Melican man dig gold"]
Having already heard it said that the invariable result of an
untutored Chinaman's effort to pronounce any word containing an "r"
produced the sound of "l" instead, we thought little of that error in
the attempt of this one to say "Very," but believed that his
substitution for the initial letter of that word was inexcusable.
"What is the name of this place?" continued Crewdson.
"'Melican man dig gold."
"Yes, I know that; but, this town, what do you call it?"
"Yu-ba Dam," the Chinaman answered.
This response was intended to be civil. Near by the Yuba River was
spanned by a dam, for mining purposes, known as Yuba Dam, which gave
the mining camp its name.
Further on we came to the first house that we saw in California; and
it was the first real house within our view since the few primitive
structures at Nebraska City, on the west shore of the Missouri River,
faded from our sight, the preceding spring. During a period of about
four months our company had traveled thousands of miles, through
varying wilds, in all of which not one habitation, in form common to
civilization, had been encountered. Seldom has civilized man journeyed
a greater distance elsewhere, even in darkest Africa, without passing
the conventional domicile of some member of his own race. Long ago
such an experience became impossible in the United States.
[Illustration: Pack-mule route to placer diggings]
This house was a small wayside inn, situated where a miners' trail
crossed the emigrant route; a roughly-made, two-story, frame building,
with a corral adjoining; at which mule pack-trains stopped overnight,
when carrying supplies from Sacramento and Marysville for miners
working the gold placer diggings along the American and Yuba rivers.
We camped beside the little hotel, and the next morning were for the
first time permitted to enjoy a sample of the proverbially generous
California hospitality, when the landlord invited our entire company
into his hostelry for breakfast.
Our entrance into California was in Nevada County, thence through
Placer, Sacramento, Solano and Napa, and into Sonoma.
Over the last one hundred miles we saw evidences that the valleys,
great and small, were rapidly filling with settlers.
The last stream forded was the Russian River, flowing southwesterly
through Alexander Valley, to the sea. Having crossed to the western
shore, our motley throng found itself in the settlement embracing the
village of Healdsburg, an aggregation of perhaps a dozen or twenty
houses. There our worn and weather-stained troop made its final halt;
and the jaded oxen, on whose endurance and patient service so
much--even our lives--had depended, were unyoked the last time, on
September seventeenth, just four months after the departure from the
Missouri River.
Considering all the circumstances of the journey, through two thousand
miles of diversified wilderness, during which we rested each night in
a different spot; it seems providential that, on every occasion when
the time came for making camp, a supply of water and fuel was
obtainable. Without these essentials there would have been much
additional suffering. Sometimes the supply was limited or inferior,
sometimes both; especially during those trying times in the westerly
portion of the Humboldt region; but we were never without potable
water nor fire, at least for the preparation of our evening meal.
Nature had prepared the country for this great overland exodus from
the populous East; a most important factor in the upbuilding of the
rich western empire, theretofore so little known, but whose
development of resources and accession of inhabitants since have been
the world's greatest marvel for more than half a hundred years.
As I look back, through the lapse of nearly sixty years, upon that
toilsome and perilous journey, notwithstanding its numerous harrowing
events, memory presents it to me as an itinerary of almost continuous
excitement and wholesome enjoyment; a panorama that never grows stale;
many of the incidents standing out to view on recollection's landscape
as clear and sharp as the things of yesterday. That which was worst
seems to have softened and lapsed into the half-forgotten, while the
good and happy features have grown brighter and better with the
passing of the years.
Whether pioneers in the most technical sense, we were early
Californians, who learned full well what was meant by "Crossing the
Plains."
END.
[Transcriber's Notes:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
inconsistencies.
The transcriber made changes as indicated to the text to correct
obvious errors:
1. p. 15, awkardness --> awkwardness
2. p. 44, we though best --> we thought best
3. p. 45, knowldege --> knowledge
4. p. 68, maner --> manner
5. p. 74, consciouses --> consciousness
6. p. 103, characteristc --> characteristic
7. p. 114, unusal --> unusual
8. p. 149, "tenderfoot' --> "tenderfoot"
9. p. 153, "good Indian' --> 'good Indian'
Several occurrences of mismatched quotes remain as published. Also,
some illustrations have been repositioned to appear between paragraphs,
causing some to move to a different page, but page numbers in the
Contents remain as published.
End of Transcriber's Notes]