THE NORTHERN AND THE SOUTHERN MINES--SPRING--THE MINES
INEXHAUSTIBLE--PRODUCE OF GOLD--JACKSONVILLE--A PET
BEAR--MOQUELUMNE HILL--THE POPULATION--THE HOUSES--INDIANS: THEIR
ULTIMATE FATE--A BULL-AND-BEAR FIGHT--TRAPPING BEARS.
The long tract of mountainous country lying north and south, which
comprises the mining districts, is divided into the northern and
southern mines--the former having communication with San Francisco
through Sacramento and Marysville, while the latter are more accessible
by way of Stockton, a city situated at the head of navigation of the San
Joaquin, which joins the Sacramento about fifty miles above San
Francisco.
My wanderings had hitherto been confined to the northern mines, and
when, after a short stay in San Francisco, business again led me to
Placerville, I determined from that point to travel down through the
southern mines, and visit the various places of interest _en route_.
It was about the end of March when I started. The winter was quite over;
all that remained of it was an occasional heavy shower of rain; the air
was mild and soft, and the mountains, covered with fresh verdure, were
blooming brightly in the warm sunshine with many-coloured flowers. In
every ravine, and through each little hollow in the high lands, flowed a
stream of water; and wherever water was to be found, there also were
miners at work. From the towns and camps, where the supply of water was
constant, and where the diggings could consequently be worked at any
time of the year, they had expanded themselves over the whole face of
the country; and in travelling through the depths of the forests, just
as the solitude seemed to be perfect, one got a glimpse in the distance,
through the dark columns of the pine-trees, of the red shirts of two or
three straggling miners, taking advantage of the short period of running
water to reap a golden harvest in some spot of fancied richness. This
was the season of all others to see to the best advantage the grandeur
and beauty of the scenery, and at the same time to realise how widely
diffused and inexhaustible is the wealth of the country. Inexhaustible
is, of course, only a comparative term; for the amount of gold still
remaining in California is a definite quantity becoming less and less
every day, and already vastly reduced from what it was when the mines
lay intact seven years ago; but still the date at which the yield of the
California mines is to cease, or even to begin to fall off, seems to be
as far distant as ever. In fact, the continued labour of constantly
increasing numbers of miners, instead of exhausting the resources of
the mines, as some persons at first supposed would be the case, has, on
the contrary, only served to establish confidence in the permanence of
their wealth.
It is true that such diggings are now rarely to be met with as were
found in the early days, when the pioneers, pitching, as if by instinct,
on those spots where the superabundant richness of the country had
broken out, dug up gold as they would potatoes; nor is the average yield
to the individual miner so great as it was in those times. Subsequent
research, however, has shown that the gold is not confined to a few
localities, but that the whole country is saturated with it. The mineral
produce of the mines increases with the population, though not in the
same ratio; for only a certain proportion of the immigrants betake
themselves to mining, the rest finding equally profitable occupation in
the various branches of mechanical and agricultural industry which have
of late years sprung up; while the miner, though perhaps not actually
taking out as much gold as in 1849, is nevertheless equally prosperous,
for he lives amid the comforts of civilised life, which he obtains at a
reasonable rate, instead of being reduced to a half-savage state, and
having to pay fabulous prices for every article of consumption.
The first large camp on my way south from Hangtown was Moquelumne Hill,
about sixty miles distant, and as there were no very interesting
localities in the intermediate country, I travelled direct to that
place. After passing through a number of small camps, I arrived about
noon of the second day at Jacksonville, a small village called after
General Jackson, of immortal memory. I had noticed a great many French
miners at work as I came along, and so I was prepared to find it rather
a French-looking place. Half the signs over the stores and hotels were
French, and numbers of Frenchmen were sitting at small tables in front
of the houses playing at cards.
As I walked up the town I nearly stumbled over a young grizzly bear,
about the size of two Newfoundland dogs rolled into one, which was
chained to a stump in the middle of the street. I very quickly got out
of his way; but I found afterwards that he was more playful than
vicious. He was the pet of the village, and was delighted when he could
get any one to play with, though he was rather beyond the age at which
such a playmate is at all desirable. I don’t think he was likely to
enjoy long even the small amount of freedom he possessed; he would
probably be caged up and shipped to New York; for a live grizzly is
there a valuable piece of property, worth a good deal more than the same
weight of bear’s meat in California, even at two dollars a-pound.
From this place there was a steep descent of two or three miles to the
Moquelumne River, which I crossed by means of a good bridge, and, after
ascending again to the upper world by a long winding road, I reached the
town of Moquelumne Hill, which is situated on the very brink of the
high land overhanging the river.
It lies in a sort of semicircular amphitheatre of about a mile in
diameter, surrounded by a chain of small eminences, in which gold was
found in great quantities. The diggings were chiefly deep diggings,
worked by means of “coyote holes,” a hundred feet deep, and all the
ground round the town was accordingly covered with windlasses and heaps
of dirt. The heights at each end of the amphitheatre had proved the
richest spots, and were supposed to have been volcanoes. But many hills
in the mines got the credit of having been volcanoes, for no other
reason than that they were full of gold; and this was probably the only
claim to such a distinction which could be made in this case.
The population was a mixture of equal proportions of French, Mexicans,
and Americans, with a few stray Chinamen, Chilians, and suchlike.
The town itself, with the exception of two or three wooden stores and
gambling saloons, was all of canvass. Many of the houses were merely
skeletons clothed in dirty rags of canvass, and it was not difficult to
tell what part of the population they belonged to, even had there not
been crowds of lazy Mexicans vegetating about the doors.
The Indians, who were pretty numerous about here, seemed to be a
slightly superior race to those farther north. I judged so from the fact
that they apparently had more money, and consequently must have had
more energy to dig for it. They were also great gamblers, and
particularly fond of monte, at which the Mexicans fleeced them of all
their cash, excepting what they spent in making themselves ridiculous
with stray articles of clothing.
But perhaps their appreciation of monte, and their desire to copy the
costume of white men, are signs of a greater capability of civilisation
than they generally get credit for. Still their presence is not
compatible with that of a civilised community, and, as the country
becomes more thickly settled, there will be no longer room for them.
Their country can be made subservient to man, but as they themselves
cannot be turned to account, they must move off, and make way for their
betters.
This may not be very good morality, but it is the way of the world, and
the aborigines of California are not likely to share a better fate than
those of many another country. And though the people who drive them out
may make the process as gradual as possible by the system of Indian
grants and reservations, yet, as with wild cattle, so it is with
Indians, so many head, and no more, can live on a given quantity of
land, and, if crowded into too small a compass, the result is certain
though gradual extirpation, for by their numbers they prevent the
reproduction of their means of subsistence.
At the time of my arrival in Moquelumne Hill, the town was posted all
over with placards, which I had also observed stuck upon trees and rocks
by the road-side as I travelled over the mountains. They were to this
effect:--
“WAR! WAR!! WAR!!!
The celebrated Bull-killing Bear,
GENERAL SCOTT,
will fight a Bull on Sunday the 15th inst., at 2 P.M.,
at Moquelumne Hill.
“The Bear will be chained with a twenty-foot chain in the middle of
the arena. The Bull will be perfectly wild, young, of the Spanish
breed, and the best that can be found in the country. The Bull’s
horns will be of their natural length, and ‘_not sawed off to
prevent accidents_.’ The Bull will be quite free in the arena, and
not hampered in any way whatever.”
The proprietors then went on to state that they had nothing to do with
the humbugging which characterised the last fight, and begged
confidently to assure the public that this would be the most splendid
exhibition ever seen in the country.
I had often heard of these bull-and-bear fights as popular amusements in
some parts of the State, but had never yet had an opportunity of
witnessing them; so, on Sunday the 15th, I found myself walking up
towards the arena, among a crowd of miners and others of all nations, to
witness the performances of the redoubted General Scott.
The amphitheatre was a roughly but strongly built wooden structure,
uncovered of course; and the outer enclosure, which was of boards about
ten feet high, was a hundred feet in diameter. The arena in the centre
was forty feet in diameter, and enclosed by a very strong five-barred
fence. From the top of this rose tiers of seats, occupying the space
between the arena and the outside enclosure.
As the appointed hour drew near, the company continued to arrive till
the whole place was crowded; while, to beguile the time till the
business of the day should commence, two fiddlers--a white man and a
gentleman of colour--performed a variety of appropriate airs.
The scene was gay and brilliant, and was one which would have made a
crowded opera-house appear gloomy and dull in comparison. The shelving
bank of human beings which encircled the place was like a mass of bright
flowers. The most conspicuous objects were the shirts of the miners,
red, white, and blue being the fashionable colours, among which appeared
bronzed and bearded faces under hats of every hue; revolvers and
silver-handled bowie-knives glanced in the bright sunshine, and among
the crowd were numbers of gay Mexican blankets, and red and blue French
bonnets, while here and there the fair sex was represented by a few
Mexican women in snowy-white dresses, puffing their cigaritas in
delightful anticipation of the exciting scene which was to be enacted.
Over the heads of the highest circle of spectators was seen mountain
beyond mountain fading away in the distance, and on the green turf of
the arena lay the great centre of attraction, the hero of the day,
General Scott.
He was, however, not yet exposed to public gaze, but was confined in his
cage, a heavy wooden box lined with iron, with open iron-bars on one
side, which for the present was boarded over. From the centre of the
arena a chain led into the cage, and at the end of it no doubt the bear
was to be found. Beneath the scaffolding on which sat the spectators
were two pens, each containing a very handsome bull, showing evident
signs of indignation at his confinement. Here also was the bar, without
which no place of public amusement would be complete.
There was much excitement among the crowd as to the result of the
battle, as the bear had already killed several bulls; but an idea
prevailed that in former fights the bulls had not had fair play, being
tied by a rope to the bear, and having the tips of their horns sawed
off. But on this occasion the bull was to have every advantage which
could be given him; and he certainly had the good wishes of the
spectators, though the bear was considered such a successful and
experienced bull-fighter that the betting was all in his favour. Some of
my neighbours gave it as their opinion, that there was “nary bull in
Calaforny as could whip that bar.”
At last, after a final tattoo had been beaten on a gong to make the
stragglers hurry up the hill, preparations were made for beginning the
fight.
The bear made his appearance before the public in a very bearish manner.
His cage ran upon very small wheels, and some bolts having been slipped
connected with the face of it, it was dragged out of the ring, when, as
his chain only allowed him to come within a foot or two of the fence,
the General was rolled out upon the ground all of a heap, and very much
against his inclination apparently, for he made violent efforts to
regain his cage as it disappeared. When he saw that was hopeless, he
floundered half-way round the ring at the length of his chain, and
commenced to tear up the earth with his fore-paws. He was a grizzly bear
of pretty large size, weighing about twelve hundred pounds.
The next thing to be done was to introduce the bull. The bars between
his pen and the arena were removed, while two or three men stood ready
to put them up again as soon as he should come out. But he did not seem
to like the prospect, and was not disposed to move till pretty sharply
poked up from behind, when, making a furious dash at the red flag which
was being waved in front of the gate, he found himself in the ring face
to face with General Scott.
The General, in the mean time, had scraped a hole for himself two or
three inches deep, in which he was lying down. This, I was told by those
who had seen his performances before, was his usual fighting attitude.
The bull was a very beautiful animal, of a dark purple colour marked
with white. His horns were regular and sharp, and his coat was as smooth
and glossy as a racer’s. He stood for a moment taking a survey of the
bear, the ring, and the crowds of people; but not liking the appearance
of things in general, he wheeled round, and made a splendid dash at the
bars, which had already been put up between him and his pen, smashing
through them with as much ease as the man in the circus leaps through a
hoop of brown paper. This was only losing time, however, for he had to
go in and fight, and might as well have done so at once. He was
accordingly again persuaded to enter the arena, and a perfect barricade
of bars and boards was erected to prevent his making another retreat.
But this time he had made up his mind to fight; and after looking
steadily at the bear for a few minutes as if taking aim at him, he put
down his head and charged furiously at him across the arena. The bear
received him crouching down as low as he could, and though one could
hear the bump of the bull’s head and horns upon his ribs, he was quick
enough to seize the bull by the nose before he could retreat. This
spirited commencement of the battle on the part of the bull was hailed
with uproarious applause; and by having shown such pluck, he had gained
more than ever the sympathy of the people.
In the mean time, the bear, lying on his back, held the bull’s nose
firmly between his teeth, and embraced him round the neck with his
fore-paws, while the bull made the most of his opportunities in stamping
on the bear with his hind-feet. At last the General became exasperated
at such treatment, and shook the bull savagely by the nose, when a
promiscuous scuffle ensued, which resulted in the bear throwing his
antagonist to the ground with his fore-paws.
For this feat the bear was cheered immensely, and it was thought that,
having the bull down, he would make short work of him; but apparently
wild beasts do not tear each other to pieces quite so easily as is
generally supposed, for neither the bear’s teeth nor his long claws
seemed to have much effect on the hide of the bull, who soon regained
his feet, and, disengaging himself, retired to the other side of the
ring, while the bear again crouched down in his hole.
Neither of them seemed to be very much the worse of the encounter,
excepting that the bull’s nose had rather a ragged and bloody
appearance; but after standing a few minutes, steadily eyeing the
General, he made another rush at him. Again poor bruin’s ribs resounded,
but again he took the bull’s nose into chancery, having seized him just
as before. The bull, however, quickly disengaged himself, and was making
off, when the General, not wishing to part with him so soon, seized his
hind-foot between his teeth, and, holding on by his paws as well, was
thus dragged round the ring before he quitted his hold.
This round terminated with shouts of delight from the excited
spectators, and it was thought that the bull might have a chance after
all. He had been severely punished, however; his nose and lips were a
mass of bloody shreds, and he lay down to recover himself. But he was
not allowed to rest very long, being poked up with sticks by men
outside, which made him very savage. He made several feints to charge
them through the bars, which, fortunately, he did not attempt, for he
could certainly have gone through them as easily as he had before broken
into his pen. He showed no inclination to renew the combat; but by
goading him, and waving a red flag over the bear, he was eventually
worked up to such a state of fury as to make another charge. The result
was exactly the same as before, only that when the bull managed to get
up after being thrown, the bear still had hold of the skin of his back.
In the next round both parties fought more savagely than ever, and the
advantage was rather in favour of the bear: the bull seemed to be quite
used up, and to have lost all chance of victory.
The conductor of the performances then mounted the barrier, and,
addressing the crowd, asked them if the bull had not had fair play,
which was unanimously allowed. He then stated that he knew there was not
a bull in California which the General could not whip, and that for two
hundred dollars he would let in the other bull, and the three should
fight it out till one or all were killed.
This proposal was received with loud cheers, and two or three men going
round with hats soon collected, in voluntary contributions, the required
amount. The people were intensely excited and delighted with the sport,
and double the sum would have been just as quickly raised to insure a
continuance of the scene. A man sitting next me, who was a connoisseur
in bear-fights, and passionately fond of
[Illustration:
J. D. BORTHWICK, DEL^{D.} M. & H. HANHART, LITH.
BULL & BEAR FIGHT.]
the amusement, informed me that this was “the finest fight ever fit in
the country.”
The second bull was equally handsome as the first, and in as good
condition. On entering the arena, and looking around him, he seemed to
understand the state of affairs at once. Glancing from the bear lying on
the ground to the other bull standing at the opposite side of the ring,
with drooping head and bloody nose, he seemed to divine at once that the
bear was their common enemy, and rushed at him full tilt. The bear, as
usual, pinned him by the nose; but this bull did not take such treatment
so quietly as the other: struggling violently, he soon freed himself,
and, wheeling round as he did so, he caught the bear on the
hind-quarters and knocked him over; while the other bull, who had been
quietly watching the proceedings, thought this a good opportunity to
pitch in also, and rushing up, he gave the bear a dig in the ribs on the
other side before he had time to recover himself. The poor General
between the two did not know what to do, but struck out blindly with his
fore-paws with such a suppliant pitiable look that I thought this the
most disgusting part of the whole exhibition.
After another round or two with the fresh bull, it was evident that he
was no match for the bear, and it was agreed to conclude the
performances. The bulls were then shot to put them out of pain, and the
company dispersed, all apparently satisfied that it had been a very
splendid fight.
The reader can form his own opinion as to the character of an
exhibition such as I have endeavoured to describe. For my own part, I
did not at first find the actual spectacle so disgusting as I had
expected I should; for as long as the animals fought with spirit, they
might have been supposed to be following their natural instincts; but
when the bull had to be urged and goaded on to return to the charge, the
cruelty of the whole proceeding was too apparent; and when the two bulls
at once were let in upon the bear, all idea of sport or fair play was at
an end, and it became a scene which one would rather have prevented than
witnessed.
In these bull-and-bear fights the bull sometimes kills the bear at the
first charge, by plunging his horns between the ribs, and striking a
vital part. Such was the fate of General Scott in the next battle he
fought, a few weeks afterwards; but it is seldom that the bear kills the
bull outright, his misery being in most cases ended by a rifle-ball when
he can no longer maintain the combat.
I took a sketch of the General the day after the battle. He was in the
middle of the now deserted arena, and was in a particularly savage
humour. He seemed to consider my intrusion on his solitude as a personal
insult, for he growled most savagely, and stormed about in his cage,
even pulling at the iron bars in his efforts to get out. I could not
help thinking what a pretty mess he would have made of me if he had
succeeded in doing so; but I regarded with peculiar satisfaction the
massive architecture of his abode; and, taking a seat a few feet from
him, I lighted my pipe, and waited till he should quiet down into an
attitude, which he soon did, though very sulkily, when he saw that he
could not help himself.
He did not seem to be much the worse of the battle, having but one
wound, and that appeared to be only skin deep.
Such a bear as this, alive, was worth about fifteen hundred dollars. The
method of capturing them is a service of considerable danger, and
requires a great deal of labour and constant watching.
A spot is chosen in some remote part of the mountains, where it has been
ascertained that bears are pretty numerous. Here a species of cage is
built, about twelve feet square and six feet high, constructed of pine
logs, and fastened after the manner of a log-cabin. This is suspended
between two trees, six or seven feet from the ground, and inside is hung
a huge piece of beef, communicating by a string with a trigger, so
contrived that the slightest tug at the beef draws the trigger, and down
comes the trap, which has more the appearance of a log-cabin suspended
in the air than anything else. A regular locomotive cage, lined with
iron, has also to be taken to the spot, to be kept in readiness for
bruin’s accommodation, for the pine-log trap would not hold him long; he
would soon eat and tear his way out of it. The enterprising
bear-catchers have therefore to remain in the neighbourhood, and keep a
sharp look-out.
Removing the bear from the trap to the cage is the most dangerous part
of the business. One side of the trap is so contrived as to admit of
being opened or removed, and the cage is drawn up alongside, with the
door also open, when the bear has to be persuaded to step into his new
abode, in which he travels down to the more populous parts of the
country, to fight bulls for the amusement of the public.