commenced, and, perhaps, were not sufficiently near the granite. Our
“lead” was the best one on the bar--we _knew_ by the looks of it--and
the next twenty buckets must show a different result. Our ambition was
again up, and our machine in motion, and, if possible, with increased
energy. After running through several buckets of dirt, we raised the
screen. There was not much gold on the top, but there was _some_; and we
worked on, thinking that we had not yet reached the best part of our
lead. I noticed that after raising the screen, the machine was rocked
with less energy; and it seemed to add to the weight of my pick-axe. We
resolved to visit the General. They had done a fine morning’s work, and
were in high spirits. They told us of many who had opened “leads,” and
worked them two or three days without success, when some one else would
step in, and make a fortune the first day. This was precisely our case.
We had got our “lead” almost opened, and if we should step out, some one
would step in, and get the fortune. This we were not disposed to do. We
had got on track, and were determined not to give way to any one. We
looked up, but there was no one in our “lead.” On our way back we
discovered many natural advantages that our “lead” had over the
General’s, and an even exchange would have been to us no object.
Our machine was again in motion. The sun had now almost gained the
meridian. The heat was excessive. Bent’s red flannel was outside of his
pantaloons, dripping with perspiration. My blue one was in the same
condition. I would think of those abandoned “leads,” and wish I had two
buckets. He would think of them, flourish his dipper, and rock the
machine, until its very sides would quake. We finally prepared to
adjourn for dinner, took out the screen, put the contents of our machine
in a pan, and commenced to wash out the dirt, which required some time,
then walked up to dinner. On our arrival at the tent, we weighed the
gold, and found it worth one dollar.
As it was our first day in the mines, we resolved to dine on pork, a
favorite dish in California. We cut a quantity into slices, put it into
the frying-pan, laying on it a quantity of sea-biscuit, filling the pan
with water, and covering it with a tin plate. We kept it on the fire
until the water evaporated--it was then ready for use. Our coffee, in
the mean time, was boiled in the tin coffee-pot. Seating ourselves on
rocks in front of the tent, we expressed our appreciation of the swine
tribe in unmeasured terms. We take a respite of an hour, and return to
our labor. We are anxious to get down to the granite, as we are sure of
finding there a rich deposite. Towards evening we struck the granite,
and were within reach of a fortune, deposited here by nature for our
express benefit. As it was late, we resolved to wash down what we had in
the machine, and prepare for a successful effort on the following day.
On our arrival at the tent, we found “Harry” and “Sam,” stretched out on
the ground, groaning with fatigue, declaring that they had never worked
so hard before, nor would they again. They had seen enough of the mines,
and were determined to return to Sacramento. After telling them of the
brilliant success that was about to attend our efforts, they agreed to
remain another day. We had pork for supper, and spent the night in
dreams of luxury. After an early breakfast we were again at our “lead.”
We were particular to scrape the granite, as we uncovered it, and after
running through ten buckets, we raised the screen; to our surprise, we
were doing no better than on the previous day. This we could not account
for. The only solution was, that the gold had never been there, and why,
we could not divine. It had the same appearance as the General’s lead,
which was paying the three from fifty to eighty dollars per day.
We worked on for some time, when “Bent” went up to cook the dinner, (we
had resolved to have pork,) and I took the pick, shovel, and pan, and
went “prospecting.” After walking some distance, I found a place which
combined, as I thought, every indication of a rich deposit, and my only
surprise was, that it had not been discovered before. It was on the
lower side of a large rock, which must, at high water, break the
current, forming an eddy below, where the gold must settle. On
discovering a “lead,” one has only to leave his pick, and his title is
indisputable. I left my implements, and hurried up to the tent. After
dinner we carried our machine to the spot, and were soon in a profuse
perspiration. “Bent” would frequently lift the screen, and it was very
apparent that the prospect beneath was not brilliant. He had become a
kind of thermometer to our success, and at every inspection his energy
would lag, and my bucket would grow the heavier. Late in the afternoon
we washed down our half-day’s work, and went up. Harry and Sam were
writhing with fatigue. Harry had over-heated himself; Sam, being a
mulatto, could endure the heat,--but his muscles had lost their tension,
and every bone was cracked. He was willing to stay, if I wished him to,
but Harry was bound for Sacramento. Bent said but little, still I could
plainly see a cloud in his horizon. He had an impediment in his speech;
and when I asked him what he thought of the prospect, he got into close
proximity to some very hard words, and, with great magnanimity, wished
the mines in the possession of an individual of brimstone notoriety,
whose name I will not mention. After supper, we weighed our afternoon’s
work, and had seventy-five cents. The man for whom Harry and Sam had
been working, had taken possession of a bar, which was paying him well.
As a general thing, the bars had been “prospected,” and the parts that
would pay taken possession of. There was, however private “leads” opened
daily, from which something could be made. Harry and Sam were too sore
to start down the next day, consequently they resolved to rest; and Bent
was willing to work the machine another day. As for myself, I must
confess that the camp-kettle had lost one coat of its gilding, and the
rocks were about the same color as those in the States.
We took an early start, and devoted an hour to “prospecting.” This time
we were more successful, we found a “lead” from which we got twenty
particles of gold in the first pan-full. We soon had our machine on the
spot. As we were placing it several miners passed on the way to their
work. They all looked, _we thought_, as if they considered us the most
fortunate of men, and we detected a lurking envy in their expression. As
soon as they left, our machine was put in motion; we now had no doubt as
to the result, and after running through ten buckets of dirt we raised
the screen, but, to our astonishment, there was not a particle of gold
to be seen. This was beyond our comprehension. We could not conceive of
a more convenient place for gold to deposite than this particular one,
and determined not to abandon it until we had reached the granite. This
we reached, and toiled on until noon, when we emptied our machine, and
had two dollars’ worth of gold. We adjourned to dinner, and learned that
a team had just arrived and was to return to Sacramento city the next
day. Harry, Sam, and Bent immediately resolved to take passage. They had
had their expenses paid to California, and were to work under the
direction of the Company, and have a portion of the proceeds. They, no
doubt, considered the dividends too small in proportion to the labor. I
determined to make a more thorough trial of the mines, and not wishing
to be encumbered sold the provisions, cooking utensils, &c., hired the
tent carried back, and the next morning the teamster had every
individual that accompanied our mule-team up, excepting a young man who
had been sleeping on the ground near our tent and myself. They all, no
doubt, had the same exalted opinion of the mines, and returned with
purses equally well filled. Harry and Sam had earned $40 beside what
Bent and myself had earned. This, together with what I received for
provisions, &c., amounted to $200, which I put into the hands of Harry
to give to one of the firm, who was at Sacramento city.
I was now alone. The two companions of the young man spoken of above,
had left him, and circumstances seemed to throw us in each other’s way,
and makes us companions. His name was Tracy. He and his companions,
Scillinger and Hicks, were from Sante Fé; they had crossed the
mountains, eaten their proportion of mule steak, and endured every
conceivable hardship. We were at once friends. We determined to gain a
higher point on the river, and, if possible, find a place where our
efforts would be more liberally rewarded. We consequently filled a small
camp-kettle with pork and hard bread, rolled up our blankets, to which
we lashed our pick and shovel, and slung them over our shoulders. Our
camp-kettle, coffee-pot, rifles, and tin-pans, in hand, we set out on
our expedition. We first ascended the mountain, and when at the summit
stopped to view the magnificent scenes around us; the heat was intense;
the thermometer stood at 100°; still we were looking upon a range of
mountains shrouded in eternal winter.
Our route lay over a succession of mountains, the peaks of which bore
unmistakable signs of volcanic formation, being covered with lava. Our
journey was a most fatiguing one, and at noon, having gained an elevated
point, we sat down to rest. I here noticed, for the first time, a
phenomenon which is of frequent occurrence during the summer months. A
heavy white cloud resembling a bank of snow rises from the Snowy
Mountains (Sierra Nevada,) and after gaining a certain altitude passes
off to the south, and is succeeded by another. After disposing of a
certain quantity of hard bread and pork, and kissing our flask, we
stretched ourselves out on the ground under the shade of a pine tree,
and were soon in the embrace of Morpheus. In one hour we were again
under way, and at 3 o’clock, P.M., arrived at the “dry diggings,” (now
Auburn.) This was a place of three tents, situated on the main road
leading to the Oregon trail, which it intersects twenty miles above.
These mines were not being worked to any extent, owing to the scarcity
of water. There were a few, however, engaged in carrying dirt, a mile on
their backs, and washing it at a puddle, in _town_. It was very
uncertain business. The gold found here was in larger particles than in
the river “diggings,” but there was a much greater uncertainty in
obtaining it, some toiling for weeks without making a dollar, and
sometimes finding pieces worth from $50 to $500. The gold has the
appearance of having been thrown up in a molten state, perhaps during a
volcanic eruption, and dropped into the earth.
After an hour’s detention we were again under way, and after traveling
sometime over mountains, changed our course, wishing to reach the river.
After an hour of the most fatiguing effort we were on a brink, with the
river beneath our feet, but so distant that it had the appearance of a
meandering pencil mark. We could, however, hear its subdued murmuring as
it struggled through its rocky channel. After a short rest, we commenced
the descent, which we found extremely precipitous, requiring the
greatest caution and attended with the most painful exertions. Sometimes
losing our foothold, we would slide down until we could catch by the
shrubs for support, and at others, be precipitated to the bottom of the
step. We at length reached the base and found ourselves on a small bar.
It being after sunset, we kindled a fire, steeped some green tea,
broiled a quantity of pork, by putting it on the end of a stick and
holding it in the fire, and after toasting the sea-biscuit, we sat down
on the rocks and paid our cook a most flattering compliment. I must
confess that I never felt the gnawings of hunger more keenly than on
this occasion, nor did I ever more fully appreciate the influence of
green tea. We were much fatigued, and after removing some of the larger
stones, spread our blankets and prepared for sleep.
We were strangers, never having spoken until a few hours previous; yet,
having been thrown together by chance in a strange land, we felt a
mutual interest that could scarcely have been stronger, had we been
brothers. I must here say, that I was associated with Mr. Tracy for the
succeeding three months, and no brother could have been more attentive
or sympathetic. Soon after we were blanketed, the moon gained a
sufficient altitude to look down into the cañon upon us. Our situation
was novel in the extreme. The mountains rose on either side to the
height of more than a mile, almost perpendicular. The moon and stars
looking in upon us with unusual brilliancy. The distant and incessant
howl of numerous packs of wolves, the restless gurgling and chafing of
the river, as it struggled angrily through its rocky channel, our lonely
and isolated situation, all conspired to generate strange thoughts, and
to bring up strange, and often unpleasant associations. To look at the
moon and think that our friends might be, at that moment, looking at the
same orb, and thinking of us--thinking, perhaps, that we were already
preparing to return home, having accomplished our most sanguine
expectations; then to look at the reality, think of the dark prospect
ahead, of the time that must intervene before we could think of
returning, of the innumerable hardships and privations that still
awaited us, a gloom imperceptibly stole over our imaginations, and hung
upon our thoughts like an incubus. But sleep soon dispelled our
melancholy, and wild fancy restored us to our friends.
Chapter Fourteenth.
A SEA CAPTAIN AS COOK--A HERD OF DEER--RETURN TO MORMON
BAR--KEEPING HOUSE--OUR MACHINE IN MOTION--$1,500 IN ONE HOUR--AN
ELOPEMENT--WASH DAY--SPORTING--PROSPECTING--DISCOVERY OF
GOLD--EXCITEMENT--FATIGUE--THE CAKES “HURRIED UP”--INCENTIVES TO
EXERTION--CANALLING A BAR.
We rose in the morning with renewed vigor, and after breakfast,
thoroughly prospecting our bar, (see Plate,) we moved on up the river.
We found the passage in many places extremely difficult, obliging us to
climb precipices to the height of two to three hundred feet. We examined
closely, but found no place sufficiently rich to pay for working. At
about 12 M. we arrived at a bar that was being worked by a company that
had recently purchased it of another company for $2,500.
Their labor was attended with fair success, but they did not succeed in
making wages after paying the above sum. There is a law established by
custom in the mines, which allows a man a certain space, generally ten
feet, extending across the river. It is by this law that companies take
possession of bars, and their claim is never disputed, as it is a
privilege of which all wish to avail themselves. We ascended the river
still higher, but found nothing to encourage us. We deliberated some
time and concluded to reascend the mountain. We returned to the
encampment of the above-mentioned bar, where we found an old man, a sea
captain, acting as cook. They had no tent, but slept in the open air.
The cook had a large camp-kettle hanging on a tripod under a live
oak-tree, cooking pork and beans, and preparing dinner for thirty men.
It seemed a strange occupation for a sea captain; still, it had not yet
lost its novelty, and he seemed to enjoy it much. I noticed, however,
that he would frequently hitch up his pantaloons and look “aloft.” After
resting an hour
[Illustration: G. V. COOPER DEL.
ON STONE BY J. CAMERON
LITH. of G. W. LEWIS, 111 NASSAU ST. N. Y.
J. C. TRACY AND MYSELF “PROSPECTING.”]
we went to a ravine, filled our flasks with spring-water and commenced
ascending the mountain. On arriving near the summit we came upon a herd
of deer, and wounded one, but did not succeed in capturing it. We soon
found ourselves again in view of the Snowy Mountains and resolved to
encamp for the night. After partaking of a sumptuous meal, (pork and
hard bread) we again reclined on the couch of nature, her sweetest
incense borne by the gentle breezes to our sleeping senses. (The _dust_
was blowing furiously.)
We took an early start on our return to Mormon Bar, and arrived in the
evening much fatigued. We resolved to make an effort here at mining, and
back it up with any amount of energy. We purchased a machine and made
all the preliminary arrangements in the evening, preparatory to a start
at an early hour. We had no tent, consequently resolved to rent a suit
of apartments from Nature, and looking about we found a large rock on
the brink of a precipice, one hundred feet above the river. The place
was secluded and pleasant. In front of the rock, on the mountain side,
was a kitchen sufficiently large for _our_ family, including the
sleeping apartment. The space was shaded by a small oak tree; and,
growing against the rock, were two other trees. Behind the rock was a
space about twelve feet square, well shaded and was to serve as our
dressing-room. A person to jump out of the back window would land in the
river.
Tracy had volunteered to act as cook, and in order to have things in
harmony, I called him wife, and _he_ was perhaps as well calculated to
get along under the circumstances as any _one_ I could have got. As to
kitchen furniture, he cared more for the useful than ornamental, and was
calculated to manage the domestic affairs with the strictest economy. We
had a small camp-kettle, a coffee-pot, and two tin plates; I had a knife
and fork and tin cup. Tracy had a pocket-knife, and a water-tight Indian
basket, which served him as a coffee-cup. I slung my hammock to the
trees that grew against the rock; he spread his blanket on the ground, a
few feet distant, and we were keeping house.
We arose in the morning full of energy, and didn’t think there were any
two individuals in that “section” destined to accomplish more than
ourselves. We shouldered our implements and were soon on the margin of
the river. As we were placing our machine, a miner came along and
informed us that, on the previous day, a Mr. Eccle had got out in one
hour $1,500. We had suspected all along that there were rich deposits in
the vicinity, and now our _suspicions_ were confirmed. Our machine was
soon in operation, and as the $1,500 would flash across our imagination,
I would strike my pick the deeper. Tracy would flourish his dipper,
strike up some familiar air, and the cradle would rock as if propelled
by the furies. If there had been _anything_ in it except dirt Tracy
would have had an accompaniment to his song. We washed through ten
buckets, and raised the screen; it did not look very encouraging--we run
through ten more--Tracy thought there _wasn’t quite as much as there was
before_--he began to lag, and I must confess I was obliged to recur
often to the $1,500 to keep the necessary elasticity in my suspenders;
we stopped a moment to rest, and speculate on the probable appearance of
the spot where the above sum was obtained; we came to the conclusion
that it _must_ have looked very like the spot we were then at work in.
Our machine was again in motion, and with renewed energy; Tracy was
really outdoing himself; the $1,500 would flit through his imagination
and he would almost throw the machine into spasms; I expected every
moment to see his pantaloons and red flannel shirt part company; the
only connecting link was a single India rubber suspender which was
stretched to its utmost tension. We resolved to run through one hundred
buckets before dinner, and, by straining every nerve, accomplished it.
We panned down our half-days’ work--it amounted to two dollars. It had
been excessively hot, the thermometer rose to 106°, and when we arrived
at our encampment we were as wet as if we had been wading the river. We
boiled some pork and sea-biscuit together in our camp-kettle, made
coffee, and having placed two large stones against the rock, sat down to
dinner. Our spirits were buoyant and our anticipations high.
Soon after dinner our machine was again making its spasmodic movements,
and continued them during the afternoon; we did not allow ourselves to
forget the strong resemblance between our “lead” and the one in which
the $1,500 was obtained. At night we had another two dollars to put into
the company purse. It is Saturday night, and we feel that we shall hail
the day of rest with pleasure. After supper we retire, having our usual
serenade, and during the night one of the troupe made love to and eloped
with one of Tracy’s boots; I imagined from a hint thrown out in the
morning that he would have preferred dispensing with the music.
Mining operations cease on the Sabbath; and miners attend to mending,
washing, &c. Tracy and myself went to the river to do our washing; the
vocation to me was entirely new. I commenced on a pair of white merino
drawers which I sometimes used instead of pantaloons; they looked very
well when I commenced, but it was different after working on them half
an hour; it would have troubled an experienced washerwoman to tell what
color they ought to be; I first tried soap, then sand, but it was of no
use; it appeared only to _set the color_. I put them in the river and
put a stone on them; what effect the rainy season had on them, I have
not been able to learn. I took my rifle, and trespassed on the Sabbath
by shooting a rabbit and several quails; we consequently spent the
afternoon in feasting, and on Monday morning were in a condition to
_tire_ our machine.
We resolved to run through two hundred buckets, and no two men ought,
and few could do more. When night came we had $4 to add to the purse. We
resolved to spend the next morning prospecting. We started at an early
hour, and after testing a number of points, decided upon one, and
immediately started our machine. At noon, not liking the result, we
determined to spend the afternoon in a further search. We went some
distance up the river, carefully examining every point, until we came to
a perpendicular ledge of rocks, overhanging the river. We thought no one
had ever attempted to ascend this, and by doing so ourselves might find
on the other side what had not been examined. We succeeded in gaining
the summit, and on going down the other side, commenced to examine the
crevices of the rocks. To our astonishment, Tracy found a piece of gold
worth a dollar. We were much excited. It was too much to bear in
silence. He opened his mouth to halloo but his eye again fell upon the
piece of gold and he did not. We found several smaller pieces, and were
now satisfied that we had at last found the place for which we had been
so long and anxiously looking. We followed down the side to the river,
and there found a small bar, into which the gold must find its way, as
it was washed from the crevices above. We examined the bar and found
particles of gold, and decided to take possession at once. It was late
in the afternoon, but at this particular time, we decided not to put off
till to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, and immediately started for
our machine, which was a mile distant. We were soon underway ladened
with our implements, with perspiration gushing from every pore. We found
our task a hard one; were often obliged to rest, and as often would our
success flit across our imaginations, when we would again shoulder our
machine, and push on. It was dark long before we reached our
destination; we were obliged to climb over crags of rocks, where one
misstep would have precipitated us into the river below. We toiled on,
and at length reached our destination. We would gladly have remained
here during the night, but our clothes were saturated with perspiration,
and, although the days were hot, the nights were on the other extreme,
sometimes rendering it uncomfortably cold, even under our woollen
blankets. There was no alternative but to return, and we again ascended
the precipice, and after a most fatiguing march reached our encampment.
I had heard of people’s bones aching “out loud,” but this was the first
exhibition of the kind I had ever witnessed. We were soon in the embrace
of Morpheus, and fancy carried us home.