HANGTOWN--FIRST IMPRESSION OF “THE DIGGINS”--IDEA OF A MINING
TOWN--GAMBLING HOUSES--THE STREET--THE STORES--JEW SLOP-SHOPS--THE
JEWS: THEIR PECULIARITIES--HANGTOWN ON A SUNDAY--BOWIE-KNIVES AND
REVOLVERS--GOLD-DEPOSITS--METHOD OF WASHING--LONG
TOMS--ROCKERS--PROSPECTING--MIDDLETOWN--OUR MENAGE.
The town of Placerville--or Hangtown, as it was commonly
called--consisted of one long straggling street of clapboard houses and
log cabins, built in a hollow at the side of a creek, and surrounded by
high and steep hills.
The diggings here had been exceedingly rich--men used to pick the chunks
of gold out of the crevices of the rocks in the ravines with no other
tool than a bowie-knife; but these days had passed, and now the whole
surface of the surrounding country showed the amount of real hard work
which had been done. The beds of the numerous ravines which wrinkle the
faces of the hills, the bed of the creek, and all the little flats
alongside of it, were a confused mass of heaps of dirt and piles of
stones lying around the innumerable holes, about six feet square and
five or six feet deep, from which they had been thrown out. The
original course of the creek was completely obliterated, its waters
being distributed into numberless little ditches, and from them
conducted into the “long toms” of the miners through canvass hoses,
looking like immensely long slimy sea-serpents.
The number of bare stumps of what had once been gigantic pine trees,
dotted over the naked hill-sides surrounding the town, showed how freely
the axe had been used, and to what purpose was apparent in the extent of
the town itself, and in the numerous log-cabins scattered over the
hills, in situations apparently chosen at the caprice of the owners, but
in reality with a view to be near to their diggings, and at the same
time to be within a convenient distance of water and firewood.
Along the whole length of the creek, as far as one could see, on the
banks of the creek, in the ravines, in the middle of the principal and
only street of the town, and even inside some of the houses, were
parties of miners, numbering from three or four to a dozen, all hard at
work, some laying into it with picks, some shovelling the dirt into the
“long toms,” or with long-handled shovels washing the dirt thrown in,
and throwing out the stones, while others were working pumps or baling
water out of the holes with buckets. There was a continual noise and
clatter, as mud, dirt, stones, and water were thrown about in all
directions; and the men, dressed in ragged clothes and big boots,
wielding picks and shovels, and rolling big rocks about, were all
working as if for their lives, going into it with a will, and a degree
of energy, not usually seen among labouring men. It was altogether a
scene which conveyed the idea of hard work in the fullest sense of the
words, and in comparison with which a gang of railway navvies would have
seemed to be merely a party of gentlemen amateurs playing at working
_pour passer le temps_.
A stroll through the village revealed the extent to which the ordinary
comforts of life were attainable. The gambling houses, of which there
were three or four, were of course the largest and most conspicuous
buildings; their mirrors, chandeliers, and other decorations, suggesting
a style of life totally at variance with the outward indications of
everything around them.
The street itself was in many places knee-deep in mud, and was
plentifully strewed with old boots, hats, and shirts, old sardine-boxes,
empty tins of preserved oysters, empty bottles, worn-out pots and
kettles, old ham-bones, broken picks and shovels, and other rubbish too
various to particularise. Here and there, in the middle of the street,
was a square hole about six feet deep, in which one miner was digging,
while another was baling the water out with a bucket, and a third,
sitting alongside the heap of dirt which had been dug up, was washing it
in a rocker. Waggons, drawn by six or eight mules or oxen, were
navigating along the street, or discharging their strangely-assorted
cargoes at the various stores; and men in picturesque rags, with large
muddy boots, long beards, and brown faces, were the only inhabitants to
be seen.
There were boarding-houses on the _table-d’hôte_ principle, in each of
which forty or fifty hungry miners sat down three times a-day to an
oilcloth-covered table, and in the course of about three minutes
surfeited themselves on salt pork, greasy steaks, and pickles. There
were also two or three “hotels,” where much the same sort of fare was to
be had, with the extra luxuries of a table-cloth and a superior quality
of knives and forks.
The stores were curious places. There was no specialty about
them--everything was to be found in them which it could be supposed that
any one could possibly want, excepting fresh beef (there was a butcher
who monopolised the sale of that article).
On entering a store, one would find the storekeeper in much the same
style of costume as the miners, very probably sitting on an empty keg at
a rickety little table, playing “seven up” for “the liquor” with one of
his customers.
The counter served also the purpose of a bar, and behind it was the
usual array of bottles and decanters, while on shelves above them was an
ornamental display of boxes of sardines, and brightly-coloured tins of
preserved meats and vegetables with showy labels, interspersed with
bottles of champagne and strangely-shaped bottles of exceedingly green
pickles, the whole being arranged with some degree of taste.
Goods and provisions of every description were stowed away
promiscuously all round the store, in the middle of which was invariably
a small table with a bench, or some empty boxes and barrels for the
miners to sit on while they played cards, spent their money in brandy
and oysters, and occasionally got drunk.
The clothing trade was almost entirely in the hands of the Jews, who are
very numerous in California, and devote their time and energies
exclusively to supplying their Christian brethren with the necessary
articles of wearing apparel.
In travelling through the mines from one end to the other, I never saw a
Jew lift a pick or shovel to do a single stroke of work, or, in fact,
occupy himself in any other way than in selling slops. While men of all
classes and of every nation showed such versatility in betaking
themselves to whatever business or occupation appeared at the time to be
most advisable, without reference to their antecedents, and in a country
where no man, to whatever class of society he belonged, was in the least
degree ashamed to roll up his sleeves and dig in the mines for gold, or
to engage in any other kind of manual labour, it was a very remarkable
fact that the Jews were the only people among whom this was not
observable.
They were very numerous--so much so, that the business to which they
confined themselves could hardly have yielded to every individual a fair
average California rate of remuneration. But they seemed to be proof
against all temptation to move out of their own limited sphere of
industry, and of course, concentrated upon one point as their energies
were, they kept pace with the go-ahead spirit of the times. Clothing of
all sorts could be bought in any part of the mines more cheaply than in
San Francisco, where rents were so very high that retail prices of
everything were most exorbitant; and scarcely did twenty or thirty
miners collect in any out-of-the-way place, upon newly discovered
diggings, before the inevitable Jew slop-seller also made his
appearance, to play his allotted part in the newly-formed community.
The Jew slop-shops were generally rattletrap erections about the size of
a bathing-machine, so small that one half of the stock had to be
displayed suspended from projecting sticks outside. They were filled
with red and blue flannel shirts, thick boots, and other articles suited
to the wants of the miners, along with Colt’s revolvers and
bowie-knives, brass jewellery, and diamonds like young Koh-i-Noors.
Almost every man, after a short residence in California, became changed
to a certain extent in his outward appearance. In the mines especially,
to the great majority of men, the usual style of dress was one to which
they had never been accustomed; and those to whom it might have been
supposed such a costume was not so strange, or who were even wearing the
old clothes they had brought with them to the country, acquired a
certain California air, which would have made them remarkable in
whatever part of the world they came from, had they been suddenly
transplanted there. But to this rule also the Jews formed a very
striking exception. In their appearance there was nothing whatever at
all suggestive of California; they were exactly the same
unwashed-looking, slobbery, slip-shod individuals that one sees in every
seaport town.
During the week, and especially when the miners were all at work,
Hangtown was comparatively quiet; but on Sundays it was a very different
place. On that day the miners living within eight or ten miles all
flocked in to buy provisions for the week--to spend their money in the
gambling rooms--to play cards--to get their letters from home--and to
refresh themselves, after a week’s labour and isolation in the
mountains, in enjoying the excitement of the scene according to their
tastes.
The gamblers on Sundays reaped a rich harvest; their tables were
thronged with crowds of miners, betting eagerly, and of course losing
their money. Many men came in, Sunday after Sunday, and gambled off all
the gold they had dug during the week, having to get credit at a store
for their next week’s provisions, and returning to their diggings to
work for six days in getting more gold, which would all be transferred
the next Sunday to the gamblers, in the vain hope of recovering what had
been already lost.
The street was crowded all day with miners loafing about from store to
store, making their purchases and asking each other to drink, the
effects of which began
[Illustration:
J. D. BORTHWICK, DEL^{T.} M & N HANHART, LITH.
MONTÉ IN THE MINES]
to be seen at an early hour in the number of drunken men, and the
consequent frequency of rows and quarrels. Almost every man wore a
pistol or a knife--many wore both--but they were rarely used. The
liberal and prompt administration of Lynch law had done a great deal
towards checking the wanton and indiscriminate use of these weapons on
any slight occasion. The utmost latitude was allowed in the exercise of
self-defence. In the case of a row, it was not necessary to wait till a
pistol was actually levelled at one’s head--if a man made even a motion
towards drawing a weapon, it was considered perfectly justifiable to
shoot him first, if possible. The very prevalence of the custom of
carrying arms thus in a great measure was a cause of their being seldom
used. They were never drawn out of bravado, for when a man once drew his
pistol, he had to be prepared to use it, and to use it quickly, or he
might expect to be laid low by a ball from his adversary; and again, if
he shot a man without sufficient provocation, he was pretty sure of
being accommodated with a hempen cravat by Judge Lynch.
The storekeepers did more business on Sundays than in all the rest of
the week; and in the afternoon crowds of miners could be seen dispersing
over the hills in every direction, laden with the provisions they had
been purchasing, chiefly flour, pork, and beans, and perhaps a lump of
fresh beef.
There was only one place of public worship in Hangtown at that time, a
very neat little wooden edifice, which belonged to some denomination of
Methodists, and seemed to be well attended.
There was also a newspaper published two or three times a-week, which
kept the inhabitants “posted up” as to what was going on in the world.
The richest deposits of gold were found in the beds and banks of the
rivers, creeks, and ravines, in the flats on the convex side of the
bends of the streams, and in many of the flats and hollows high up in
the mountains. The precious metal was also abstracted from the very
hearts of the mountains, through tunnels drifted into them for several
hundred yards; and in some places real mining was carried on in the
bowels of the earth by means of shafts sunk to the depth of a couple of
hundred feet.
The principal diggings in the neighbourhood of Hangtown were surface
diggings; but, with the exception of river diggings, every kind of
mining operation was to be seen in full force.
The gold is found at various depths from the surface; but the dirt on
the bed-rock is the richest, as the gold naturally in time sinks through
earth and gravel, till it is arrested in its downward progress by the
solid rock.
The diggings here were from four to six or seven feet deep; the layer of
“pay-dirt” being about a couple of feet thick on the top of the
bed-rock.
I should mention that “dirt” is the word universally used in California
to signify the substance dug, earth, clay, gravel, loose slate, or
whatever other name might be more appropriate. The miners talk of rich
dirt and poor dirt, and of “stripping off” so many feet of “top dirt”
before getting to “pay-dirt,” the latter meaning dirt with so much gold
in it that it will pay to dig it up and wash it.
The apparatus generally used for washing was a “long tom,” which was
nothing more than a wooden trough from twelve to twenty-five feet long,
and about a foot wide. At the lower end it widens considerably, and the
floor of it is there a sheet of iron pierced with holes half an inch in
diameter, under which is placed a flat box a couple of inches deep. The
long tom is set at a slight inclination over the place which is to be
worked, and a stream of water is kept running through it by means of a
hose, the mouth of which is inserted in a dam built for the purpose high
enough up the stream to gain the requisite elevation; and while some of
the party shovel the dirt into the tom as fast as they can dig it up,
one man stands at the lower end stirring up the dirt as it is washed
down, separating the stones and throwing them out, while the earth and
small gravel falls with the water through the sieve into the
“ripple-box.” This box is about five feet long, and is crossed by two
partitions. It is also placed at an inclination, so that the water
falling into it keeps the dirt loose, allowing the gold and heavy
particles to settle to the bottom, while all the lighter stuff washes
over the end of the box along with the water. When the day’s work is
over, the dirt is taken from the “ripple-box” and is “washed out” in a
“wash-pan,” a round tin dish, eighteen inches in diameter, with shelving
sides three or four inches deep. In washing out a panful of dirt, it has
to be placed in water deep enough to cover it over; the dirt is stirred
up with the hands, and the gravel thrown out; the pan is then taken in
both hands, and by an indescribable series of manœuvres all the dirt is
gradually washed out of it, leaving nothing but the gold and a small
quantity of black sand. This black sand is mineral (some oxide or other
salt of iron), and is so heavy that it is not possible to wash it all
out; it has to be blown out of the gold afterwards when dry.
Another mode of washing dirt, but much more tedious, and consequently
only resorted to where a sufficient supply of water for a long tom could
not be obtained, was by means of an apparatus called a “rocker” or
“cradle.” This was merely a wooden cradle, on the top of which was a
sieve. The dirt was put into this, and a miner, sitting alongside of it,
rocked the cradle with one hand, while with a dipper in the other he
kept baling water on to the dirt. This acted on the same principle as
the “tom,” and had formerly been the only contrivance in use; but it was
now seldom seen, as the long tom effected such a saving of time and
labour. The latter was set immediately over the claim, and the dirt was
shovelled into it at once, while a rocker had to be set alongside of the
water, and the dirt was carried to it in buckets from the place which
was being worked. Three men working together with a rocker--one digging,
another carrying the dirt in buckets, and the third rocking the
cradle--would wash on an average a hundred bucketfuls of dirt to the man
in the course of the day. With a “long tom” the dirt was so easily
washed that parties of six or eight could work together to advantage,
and four or five hundred bucketfuls of dirt a-day to each one of the
party was a usual day’s work.
I met a San Francisco friend in Hangtown practising his profession as a
doctor, who very hospitably offered me quarters in his cabin, which I
gladly accepted. The accommodation was not very luxurious, being merely
six feet of the floor on which to spread my blankets. My host, however,
had no better bed himself, and indeed it was as much as most men cared
about. Those who were very particular preferred sleeping on a table or a
bench when they were to be had; bunks and shelves were also much in
fashion; but the difference in comfort was a mere matter of imagination,
for mattresses were not known, and an earthen floor was quite as soft as
any wooden board. Three or four miners were also inmates of the doctor’s
cabin. They were quondam New South Wales squatters, who had been mining
for several months in a distant part of the country, and were now going
to work a claim about two miles up the creek from Hangtown. As they
wanted another hand to work their long tom with them, I very readily
joined their party. For several days we worked this place, trudging out
to it when it was hardly daylight, taking with us our dinner, which
consisted of beefsteaks and bread, and returning to Hangtown about dark;
but the claim did not prove rich enough to satisfy us, so we abandoned
it, and went “prospecting,” which means looking about for a more likely
place.
A “prospecter” goes out with a pick and shovel, and a wash-pan; and to
test the richness of a place he digs down till he reaches the dirt in
which it may be expected that the gold will be found; and washing out a
panful of this, he can easily calculate, from the amount of gold which
he finds in it, how much could be taken out in a day’s work. An old
miner, looking at the few specks of gold in the bottom of his pan, can
tell their value within a few cents; calling it a twelve or a twenty
cent “prospect,” as it may be. If, on washing out a panful of dirt, a
mere speck of gold remained, just enough to swear by, such dirt was said
to have only “the colour,” and was not worth digging. A twelve-cent
prospect was considered a pretty good one; but in estimating the
probable result of a day’s work, allowance had to be made for the time
and labour to be expended in removing top-dirt, and in otherwise
preparing the claim for being worked.
To establish one’s claim to a piece of ground, all that was requisite
was to leave upon it a pick or shovel, or other mining tool. The extent
of ground allowed to each individual varied in different diggings from
ten to thirty feet square, and was fixed by the miners themselves, who
also made their own laws, defining the rights and duties of those
holding claims; and any dispute on such subjects was settled by calling
together a few of the neighbouring miners, who would enforce the due
observance of the laws of the diggings. After prospecting for two or
three days, we concluded to take up a claim near a small settlement
called Middletown, two or three miles distant from Hangtown. It was
situated by the side of a small creek, in a rolling hilly country, and
consisted of about a dozen cabins, one of which was a store supplied
with flour, pork, tobacco, and other necessaries.
We found near our claim a very comfortable cabin, which the owner had
deserted, and in which we established ourselves. We had plenty of
firewood and water close to us, and being only two miles from Hangtown,
we kept ourselves well supplied with fresh beef. We cooked our “dampers”
in New South Wales fashion, and lived on the fat of the land, our bill
of fare being beefsteaks, damper, and tea for breakfast, dinner, and
supper. A damper is a very good thing, but not commonly seen in
California, excepting among men from New South Wales. A quantity of
flour and water, with a pinch or two of salt, is worked into a dough,
and, raking down a good hardwood fire, it is placed on the hot ashes,
and then smothered in more hot ashes to the depth of two or three
inches, on the top of which is placed a quantity of the still burning
embers. A very little practice enables one to judge from the feel of the
crust when it is sufficiently cooked. The great advantage of a damper
is, that it retains a certain amount of moisture, and is as good when a
week old as when fresh baked. It is very solid and heavy, and a little
of it goes a great way, which of itself is no small recommendation when
one eats only to live.
Another sort of bread we very frequently made by filling a frying-pan
with dough, and sticking it up on end to roast before the fire.
The Americans do not understand dampers. They either bake bread, using
saleratus to make it rise, or else they make flapjacks, which are
nothing more than pancakes made of flour and water, and are a very good
substitute for bread when one is in a hurry, as they are made in a
moment.
As for our beefsteaks, they could not be beat anywhere. A piece of an
old iron-hoop, twisted into a serpentine form and laid on the fire, made
a first-rate gridiron, on which every man cooked his steak to his own
taste. In the matter of tea I am afraid we were dreadfully extravagant,
throwing it into the pot in handfuls. It is a favourite beverage in the
mines--morning, noon, and night--and at no time is it more refreshing
than in the extreme heat of mid-day.
In the cabin two bunks had been fitted up, one above the other, made of
clapboards laid crossways, but they were all loose and warped. I tried
to sleep on them one night, but it was like sleeping on a gridiron; the
smooth earthen floor was a much more easy couch.