Monotonous Life at Weaver’s Creek--Dry Diggings
Uncertain--Discovery of a Rich Ravine--Great Results of One Day’s
Labour--Invasion of my Ravine--Weber and Dalor--The Indian Mode of
Trading--A Mystery--Settlement of Weaverville--Price of Gold-dust
in the Winter of 1848--Gambling--Cost of Provisions--Opening of the
Spring--Big Bar--Attack of the Land Scurvy--Symptoms and
Treatment--Lucky Discovery--Progress of Culoma--Arrival of the
First Steamer--Broadway Dandies wielding Pick and Shovel--Indian
Outrages--Capture and Execution of Redskins.
Our life at Weaver’s Creek became exceedingly monotonous. There were
about three hundred people then at work at this point, and whenever a
new ravine was opened, everybody swarmed to it, and in a few days it was
“dug out.” Moreover, dry digging is exceedingly uncertain. Where it is
necessary to search among the crevices of rocks to find the gold
deposits, one may at times dig and delve through the whole day without
striking a single deposit of gold. In this respect they are entirely
different and far inferior in point of certainty to the wet diggings
upon the banks of rivers. In the latter, where the gold is nearly
equally distributed among the earth, a certain amount of labour will
produce a certain reward; while in the former, success may not attend
the operations of the gold-digger. There is a remarkable peculiarity in
the gold of all dry diggings, which is, that the formation of gold in
every ravine is different, so much so that one acquainted with the
character of the gold in any certain region can easily tell by a glance
at a piece of gold from what ravine it was extracted. This can only be
accounted for on the theory, that in a narrow and deep ravine, where the
water runs swiftly during the rainy season, the gold courses further
over the rocks, and is more thoroughly washed, while in a shallow and
wide ravine, where but little water runs, it settles upon the first rock
on which it strikes, and retains its distinctive marks.
Tired of the old ravines, I started one morning into the hills, with the
determination of finding a new place, where I could labour without being
disturbed by the clang of picks and shovels around me. Striking in an
easterly direction, I crossed a number of hills and gorges, until I
found a little ravine about thirty feet in length embosomed amid low
undulating hills. It attracted my attention, I know not why, and
clearing off a place about a yard in length, I struck the soil which
contained the gold. The earth on the top was a light black gravel,
filled with pebbly stones, which apparently contained no gold. Below
this was another gravel of a reddish colour, and in which the fine
particles of gold were so mingled that they shone and sparkled through
the whole of it. A little pool of water, which the rains had formed just
below me, afforded a favourable place to test the earth, and scooping up
a pan-ful, I took it down and washed it, and it turned out about two
dollars. I continued digging and washing until I reached a slate rock,
in the crevices of which I found many little nests or clusters of gold,
some of them containing eight or ten dollars. These latter were
intermixed with a heavy red clay from which the gold was almost
inseparable. The gold was of the finest quality, both in size and
richness, and I flattered myself that I had here at last found a quiet
place, where I could labour alone and undisturbed, and appropriate to
myself the entire riches of the whole ravine. When I reached and had
explored the surface of the slate rock, I tried the experiment of
breaking the rock itself into small pieces and washing it. This proved
as rich as the red gravel, turning out two dollars to a pan-ful. The
results of that day’s labour were one hundred and ninety dollars worth
of gold dust, and I returned to the house with a most profound secrecy
resting on my countenance, and took good care not to expose to my
companions the good luck I had experienced. But either my eyes betrayed
me, or some prying individual had watched me, for the next morning, when
busily at work in my ravine, I found myself suddenly surrounded by
twenty good stout fellows, all equipped with their implements of labour.
I could say or do nothing. Pre-emption rights are things unknown here,
and the result of the matter was, that in three days the little ravine,
which I had so fondly hoped would be my own property, was turned
completely upside down. About ten thousand dollars worth of gold dust
was extracted from it, from which I realized a little over a thousand.
Merely the body of the ravine, however, was dug, and after it was
entirely deserted, many a day I went to it, solitary and alone, and took
from one to three ounces out of its banks. In the early discovery of the
mines, and the first working of the “dry diggings,” it was supposed that
the gold existed only in the beds of the ravines. But since a more
philosophical idea of the cause of gold deposits has been entertained,
it is found that, in many cases, depending upon the character of the
soil, the banks upon each side prove richer in gold than the ravines
themselves. The gold having descended from the hillsides, should it
before reaching the ravine strike a rocky gravel or hard clay, will
remain there instead of descending farther; and thus it happens
universally, that when gold is found upon the sides or banks of a
ravine, the soil is of one of these descriptions. Accident has proved
this oftener than scientific reasoning. When we first reached Weaver’s
Creek, we found, in the very heart of the settlement, a ravine which
seemed to have been completely “dug out,” so much so that, by labouring
in it, it would not yield five dollars a day to a man. Report said that
nearly one hundred thousand dollars had been taken from it about the
time of its discovery, and it was supposed there was little or none
remaining. One day, however, about the first of February, an ignorant
Irishman sank a hole about six feet deep on the bank, twelve feet from
the bed of the ravine. He struck a hard, solid white clay, through which
gold could scarcely penetrate, and by washing it, took out the first day
nearly one hundred dollars worth of gold. This, of course, attracted
crowds to the old ravine, and before a week had elapsed, nearly fifteen
thousand dollars had been taken from the place which was supposed to be
entirely worthless. Among the prizes was one piece weighing twenty-eight
ounces, and valued at four hundred and forty-eight dollars; and I have
no doubt that to this day the banks of many of the ravines are as rich
in the pure metal as were their beds on the first discovery.
The diggings upon Weaver’s Creek were first wrought by a German, Charles
M. Weber, a _ranchero_ on the San Joaquin, who went thither in the early
part of June. He carried with him articles of trade, and soon gathered
around him a thousand Indians, who worked for him in consideration of
the necessaries of life and of little trinkets that so win an Indian’s
heart. He was soon joined by William Dalor, a _ranchero_ near Sutter’s
Fort, and the two, together with the labour of the Indians, soon
realized at least fifty thousand dollars. By this time, individual
labourers began to come in, and one of Dalor’s men one morning started
into the hills for newer and fresher diggings. He struck what was
formerly called the “dry diggings,” but which now goes by the euphonious
name of “Hang-town,” from the circumstance I have previously related as
having occurred there.
Indians still frequent this vicinity in considerable numbers, having
acquired a taste for the luxuries of mouldy bread, putrescent codfish,
and jerked beef, which form so large a portion of the stock in trade of
the provision-dealers who supply the miners. I have often been amused to
witness the singular manner in which they make their purchases. When the
gold was first discovered, they had very little conception of its value,
and would readily exchange handfuls of it for any article of food they
might desire, or any old garment gaudy enough to tickle their fancy.
Latterly, however, they have become more careful, and exhibit a
profounder appreciation of the worth of the precious metal. When they
desire to make any purchases from a dealer, they usually go in a party
of ten or twelve, and range themselves in a circle, sitting on the
ground, a few yards distant from the shop, and then in a certain order
of precedence, known to themselves, but not laid down in the learned
Selden, they proceed to the counter in rotation, and make their
purchases, as follows: placing on the palm of the hand a small leaf or
piece of paper, on which is perhaps a tea-spoonful of gold dust, the
Indian stalks up to the dealer, and pointing first at his _dust_ in
hand, and then at whatever article he may desire, gives a peculiar
grunt--_Ugh!_--which is understood to mean an offer; if the dealer
shakes his head, the Indian retires, and returns with a little more gold
dust, going through the same ceremony continually until a sufficient
amount is offered, when the dealer takes it and hands over the coveted
article. The only conceivable object of this mode of proceeding is that
the poor creatures have been frequently plundered, and are afraid to
trust themselves alone with a white man with too much gold upon their
persons. Another peculiarity is, that if, for instance, they should
purchase half a dozen hard biscuits for a teaspoonful of gold, and want
several dozen, they will return with one tea-spoonful more, obtain six
biscuits and retire, and then return again, and so on until they have
obtained the desired quantity.
About the first of February, the rains and snows commenced again with
four-fold vigour, and continued through the whole month with little or
no interruption. Inured, however, by our previous experience, and
stimulated by an ambition that will carry men through dangers and
difficulties which else would appal them, we continued our labours in
right good earnest, and returned many a night to our log hut drenched
with the rains that had been pouring on us through the day. A blazing
log fire, and a pipe of tobacco, compensated us for the hardships we had
endured, and we were ready, the next morning, to undergo the same for
the like object. One morning, after a severe rain storm and swell of the
river, I was passing up its banks, and gazing earnestly upon it, when my
attention was suddenly arrested by the sight of gold lying scattered
over the surface of the shore. I commenced gathering it up, and soon had
exhausted it. How it came there I was never able to satisfactorily
determine. Some of the pieces, to the weight of two and three dollars,
were lying ten feet above the edge of the river’s bank, and every little
stone had gathered round it a greater or less quantity. The first day I
picked up about four ounces, and waited for another rain. It came that
night, and the next morning I found gold there again as plentiful as it
had been the day before. In addition to this, I observed, in the
crevice of a rock nearly in the centre of the stream, a large deposit;
and though it was cold and wintry weather, I bared my nether limbs, and
waded in to get it. With my sheath-knife I tore it from the crevice in a
very few minutes, and hurried home to dry myself, and learn the extent
of my good fortune. I found that the gold I had taken from the river’s
bed weighed nearly three ounces. For several days I continued to find
gold daily scattered over the surface of the bank, when it suddenly
disappeared, and I never saw more of it. How it came there was a mystery
which I have never been able to fathom. It was either rained down from
the clouds, thrown up by the river in its course, or was washed by the
rains from the banks. The latter theory, however, I proved to be
incorrect by washing several pans of earth from the bank, which turned
out little or nothing; and the only plausible idea I can entertain on
the subject is, that it was gold which had been washed from the ravines,
carried by the river in its course, and deposited by it on the banks,
although this theory very unsatisfactorily accounts for the great
distance from the river’s edge at which I found it. But if the latter
theory be correct, what must be the richness of the bed of that river
into which, for ages past, the ravines that open upon it have been
pouring their treasures. As yet, no attempts have been made to dive into
its bed,--and I doubt not, when capital and labour are combined for this
purpose, immense profits will be realized.
The banks of the creek, which should be called “Weber’s” instead of
“Weaver’s,” are well lined with lofty, magnificent oak and pine trees,
and the soil along the banks is capable of producing the common articles
of agriculture in great profusion. A town, with the name of
“Weaverville,” has now been formed upon the direct site of the original
settlement,--although there are miles of extent on the banks of the
creek which are probably rich in gold, and will one day prove as great a
fortune as already has the site of the present town of Weaverville.
Among the peculiarities consequent upon the extraction of gold, may be
mentioned the fact, that in Weaver’s Creek, during the whole winter of
1848, the price paid in silver or gold coin for gold dust was from six
to eight dollars per ounce. I, myself, bought some hundred ounces of a
Mexican for six dollars and a half. The only object in selling gold for
coin was to procure specie for gambling purposes,--and gambling was the
life of two-thirds of the residents there at that period. At the same
time, communication with San Francisco and Sacramento City having been
closed by the rains, provisions were enormously high. A few items will
give an idea of gold-mine prices. Flour was selling at one dollar per
pound, dried beef at two dollars, sugar at a dollar, coffee seventy-five
cents, molasses four dollars per gallon, pork two dollars per pound,
miserable New England rum at fifty cents per glass or eight dollars per
bottle, and tobacco at two dollars per pound. At these prices, the
trader and transporter realized a greater profit from the miner’s labour
than the miner himself; but provisions must be had, and no price,
however great, could deter the labourer from purchasing the necessaries
of life.
About the first of March, the long and severe winter broke up, and,
tired of our winter quarters, our party made a division of the remaining
provisions and cooking utensils, broke up housekeeping, and most of us
started for the Middle Fork. Our travel was not diversified by anything
new or strange, and, upon striking the river, we proceeded up it about
eighteen miles above the “Spanish Bar” to a bar opposite the “Big Bar,”
where we pitched our camp, constructed a machine, and commenced
operations.
The soil on this bar was exceedingly sandy, and the surface was covered
with huge imbedded rocks, which required an immense amount of severe
manual labour to remove. Below this was a red gravel, which was united
with gold, the washing of which turned out about four ounces per day to
each man. I was again dreaming of fortune and success, when my hopes
were blasted by an attack of a terrible scourge that wrought destruction
through the northern mines during the winter of 1848. I allude to the
land scurvy. The exposed and unaccustomed life of two-thirds of the
miners, and their entire subsistence upon salt meat, without any mixture
of vegetable matter, had produced this disease, which was experienced
more or less by at least one-half of the miners within my knowledge. Its
symptoms and progress may not be uninteresting. It was first noticed in
the “Dry Diggings,” where, about the middle of February, many persons
were rendered unable to walk by swellings of the lower limbs, and severe
pains in them. It was at first supposed to be rheumatism, and was
treated as such. But it withstood the most powerful applications used in
that complaint, and was finally decided to be scurvy. So long as the
circumstances which caused it continued, the disease made rapid
progress. Many, who could obtain no vegetables, or vegetable acids,
lingered out a miserable existence and died,--while others, fortunate
enough to reach the settlements where potatoes and acids could be
procured, recovered. I noticed its first attack upon myself by swelling
and bleeding of the gums, which was followed by a swelling of both legs
below the knee, which rendered me unable to walk; and for three weeks I
was laid up in my tent, obliged to feed upon the very articles that had
caused the disease, and growing daily weaker, without any reasonable
prospect of relief. There were, at that time, about eight hundred
persons at work on the river, and hoping to get some medicine, I
despatched one of my companions one morning, with instructions to
procure me, if possible, a dose of salts, and to pay for it any price
that should be asked. He returned at night with the consoling news that
he had failed, having found only two persons who had brought the article
with them, and they refused to sell it at any price.
I was almost in despair: with only a blanket between myself and the
damp, cold earth, and a thin canvass to protect me from the burning sun
by day, and the heavy dews by night, I lay day after day enduring the
most intense suffering from pain in my limbs, which were now becoming
more swollen, and were turning completely black. Above me rose those
formidable hills which I must ascend ere I could obtain relief. I
believe I should have died, had not accident discovered the best remedy
that could have been produced. In the second week of my illness, one of
our party, in descending the hill on which he had been deer-hunting,
found near its base, and strewn along the foot-track, a quantity of
beans which sprouted from the ground, and were in leaf. Some one, in
descending the hill with a bag of them on his back, had probably dropped
them. My companion gathered a quantity and brought them into camp. I had
them boiled, and lived entirely on them for several days, at the same
time using a decoction of the bark of the Spruce tree. These seemed to
operate magically, and in a week after commencing the use of them, I
found myself able to walk,--and as soon as my strength was partially
restored, I ascended the hill, and with two companions walked into
Culoma, and by living principally upon a vegetable diet, which I
procured by paying three dollars per pound for potatoes, in a very
short time I recovered.
I found matters very much changed at Culoma; the little settlement of
three houses had grown into a large town. Buildings were being erected
in all parts of it, and hundreds of tents whitened the plain. The
steamer Oregon had just arrived at San Francisco on her first trip
upward from Panama; and the fleet of sailing vessels loaded with
passengers, attracted by the report of the gold discovery in the United
States, had begun to arrive. All sorts of people, from the polished
Broadway dandy, who never handled an instrument heavier than a whalebone
walking-stick, to the sturdy labourer who had spent his life in wielding
the pickaxe and the shovel, had come to California, and all for one
common object,--to dig gold; and one class was as enthusiastic, and
anticipated as good success, as the other. As there were no such
accommodations as hotels at Culoma, everybody was living in tents,
cooking their own provisions, and getting ready to pack up and proceed
to the Middle Fork. Some of them had commenced working on the banks of
the South Fork in the immediate vicinity of the mill, and could be daily
seen sweating (for the weather by this time had become exceedingly warm)
under a load of tools sufficient to dig a whole canal, on their way to,
or coming from their places of labour. As I have before said, very
little gold has been found in the vicinity of the mill,--and the
gold-diggers there, at that time, were rewarded by not more than five
dollars per day.
Most of them had brought with them some one of the many newfangled
machines that were manufactured in the United States, after the reports
of the gold discovery reached there, like the razors of Pindar, “to
sell.” They were of all imaginable shapes and sizes, some of them
appearing most admirably adapted to the churning of butter. These were
tried and found to fail, and have so far been invariably abandoned for
the common rocker, which is, as I have before said, the best machine to
be used in connexion with mere manual labour. Many of the new-comers
were most wofully disappointed at the appearance of things, finding that
gold, instead of lying scattered in “big lumps” over the earth’s
surface, was only to be obtained by the most severe toil.
About this time, reports were daily arriving at the settlements of
outrages committed by Indians upon whites in the vicinity of the North
and Middle Forks. A report which afterwards proved to be strictly
correct, came to the mill, that a party of Indians had descended to the
camp of five white men on the North Fork, while the latter were engaged
in labour, had broken the locks of their rifles which were in their
tents, and then fallen upon and cruelly beaten and murdered them. A
large party, headed by John Greenwood, a son of the celebrated
mountaineer, was immediately mustered at the mill, and started in
pursuit of the Indians, and tracked them to a large Indian _rancheria_
on Weaver’s Creek. This they attacked, and after killing about twenty of
them, took thirty prisoners, and marched to the mill. Here they
underwent a trial, and six of them, having been proved to have been
connected with the party who killed the white men, were sentenced to be
shot. They were taken out in the afternoon after their arrival, followed
by a strong guard, and, as was anticipated, a little distance ahead
being allowed them, they ran. They had no sooner started than the
unerring aim of twenty mountaineers’ rifles was upon them, and the next
moment five of the six lay weltering in their blood. Soon after this,
several expeditions were fitted out, who scoured the country in quest of
Indians, until now a redskin is scarcely ever seen in the inhabited
portion of the northern mining region. Their _rancherias_ are deserted,
the graves of their ancestors are left to be desecrated by the white
man’s foot-print, and they have gone,--some of them to seek a home
beyond the rugged crest of the Sierra Nevada, while others have
emigrated to the valley of the Tulares, and the whole race is fast
becoming extinct.
After having remained some time at the mill, I returned to my old
residence at Weaver’s Creek. I found it deserted; the opening of the
warm spring weather had drawn away the entire population, both of our
settlement and the “Dry Diggings,” to the richer _placers_ of the golden
rivers. I remained but a few days, when I proceeded to Sacramento
City.