[Illustration: THE ARGONAUT’S SOLILOQUY.
See page 342.]
THE ARGONAUTS
OF CALIFORNIA
BEING THE REMINISCENCES
OF SCENES AND INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED IN
CALIFORNIA IN EARLY MINING DAYS
BY
A PIONEER
_And believing that it will be of some historical value as well
as of interest generally to know the names of those who
were the first to venture forth in the search of gold, and
by whose energy and labor the foundations of a great state
were laid, and also a general prosperity created throughout
the entire country, I have therefore prefixed to the
work the names of those that I have been able to obtain,
numbering about 35,000, and including among them the
names of several thousand who are now living in the
various States of the Union._
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN FROM LIFE
BY C. W. HASKINS.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY
FORDS, HOWARD & HULBERT
NEW YORK
1890
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
C. W. HASKINS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.
R. PIERCE & CO., PRINTERS, 53 LAFAYETTE PLACE, N. Y.
TO THE
SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE
ADVANCE GUARD
OF GOLD HUNTERS,
THE CALIFORNIA PIONEERS
AND THEIR DESCENDANTS,
WHO ARE NOW LIVING THROUGHOUT THE
UNITED STATES,
THIS BOOK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE
AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
While residing in the village of Kingston, located upon the Cœur
D’Alene River in the silver mining regions of northern Idaho during the
winter of ’87-’88, and being compelled to remain within doors during
the winter in consequence of the great depth of snow and intense cold,
in order to pass away the time I amused myself by writing an account
of scenes and incidents that occurred in California in early days in
the mining regions, and which came under my observation. These events
are written entirely from memory, but I have endeavored to give as near
as possible the correct date of the events and incidents mentioned, as
well as their location and names with all of which I was familiar. As
to the the correct description of scenes and events, I ask the remnant
of that band of sturdy Argonauts who laid the foundation of a great
State to bear me witness.
C. W. HASKINS.
Index to the Names of the Forty-niners.
Members of the various Pioneer Associations in the U. S.
who are now living, Page 360
Forty-niners residing in various parts of the Union who
do not belong to any Association, “ 385
Survivors of Col. Stevenson’s Regiment, “ 394
Forty-niners now living in the Atlantic States, “ 395
Forty-niners who went over-land to California, “ 395
Forty-niners who sailed from City of N. Y., “ 414
Forty-niners who sailed from the States of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Connecticut, “ 453
Forty-niners who sailed from New Orleans, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and other Southern ports, “ 476
From various Eastern ports, “ 495
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Frontispiece.
“Hello, Bill!”
The Start for California.
Brazilian Music.
The Swell at Cape Horn.
An Able Seaman.
Forty-niners at the Hotel in Lima.
The Operatic Shark.
The Prolific Topmast.
The Calm.
Neptune’s Orchestra.
The Bullwhacker.
“Ye Done it Weel.”
The Dandy Miners.
Smoked Out.
The Frisky Flapjack.
Hangtown in ’49.
“None in Mine.”
The Industrious Prospectors.
“I Shust Nose It!”
Bulling the Mine.
“Ther, Ther, T, other One.”
The Ducks Take Water.
Dutch Charley.
Dan Boone and the Bear.
The First Rat in Hangtown.
Rats in Sacramento City.
The First Young Lady in the Mines.
The Spartan Mother.
The Boys Aloft.
Emigration of ’50.
The Howly Fragment.
The Argonaut and His Mule.
The Steamboat Runners.
The Miners’ Meeting.
On His Trail.
“I’v Shtruck it, Thin.”
The Sailor Boy.
The Chap Who Insulted a Lady.
The Claim Jumper.
The Art of Self-defense.
Didn’t Believe in Compromise.
The Disgusted Speculator.
“Write Often, Boys.”
The Jack Tars on the Hill.
The Geological Lecture.
Old Nick’s Grand Entrée.
A California Cyclone.
Only Two Days in the Mines.
A Simile.
Female Influence Illustrated.
Not Ready to Go.
The Voice of Old Dick.
Big George and the Road Agent.
“There She Comes, Boys!”
Miners’ Comfort.
“Dis am a Free Kentry, Massa.”
Coasting in Idaho.
Law and Order Triumph’s.
Charley, the Female Stage Driver.
Hank Monk in Time for Lunch.
The Picket Guard.
The Gambler’s Charity.
The Road Agent Outwitted.
From Fry-pan to the Fire.
A Newcomer.
Force of Habit.
The Deserted Camp.
Syd’s Last Prospect.
Skunked.
Ruined Castles.
Meeting of the Old-timers.
An Unexpected Festival.
The Gold-saving Machine.
Tex Gives Satisfaction.
Not Raising Mutiny but Sugar.
It’l Be Our Turn Next.
Bob the Fiddler.
The Power of Music.
Old-timers in the Hall.
Phantoms of the Old timers.
Sam Plunket and the Indians.
The Bear in a Quandary.
The Power of Beauty.
The Bean-pot Comet.
Dick Arnold to the Rescue.
The Brave Policeman.
A New Motor.
The Plum-duff.
Donkey Instinct.
Tex and the Alcalde.$1’49 Mosquitoes.
The Bear and the Prospector.
Sharpshooters.
Discovery of the Old River Beds.
Lost in the Mountains.
Nature’s Lullaby.
Discovery of Red Hill Gold.
Bob Lost a Fortune.
The Surprise.
Curiosity Satisfied.
Mining Ground Transformed.
“Is it Me Agint?”
“No More Frontier in Ourn!”
Not that Kind of Bird.
The Tarantula in the Boot.
The Boston Boy and His Bugle.
Found His Brother.
Kanakas at Work.
The Flight of Time.
The Miller Taking Toll.
Yank Revisiting Old Scenes.
Coasting in Idaho.
Town of Wallace.
A Flush Hand.
The Mississippians.
The Return East.
“Good Morning, William.”
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I--The News. Looking Forward. The Start.
CHAPTER II--Arrival at St. Catherina. American Pluck. The Four Brave
Tourists.
CHAPTER III--A Gale. The Ocean Swell. Cape Horn. The Magellan Cloud.
The Native Tradition.
CHAPTER IV--Arrival in Callao. The Relics of the Earthquake. The
Frolic with the English Officers. Target Shooting. The Calm. Water
Spouts. The Shark.
CHAPTER V--The Arrival in San Francisco. Gold Machines. Going to the
Mines. The Bullwhacker. Arrival in Hangtown. The View from the Hill.
CHAPTER VI--Business in the Mines. The Various Mining Camps.
Physicians in Camp. Dr. Rankin. Coloma. Process of Mining. The ’49
Emigration. Sauerkraut. Female Influence Illustrated.
CHAPTER VII--The Kanakas. The Dry Diggings Deserted. Admission of the
State. Scarcity of Reading Matter. The Cost of Letter Postage. The
Ingenious Bartender. Prices of Drinks. Celebrating the Fourth of July.
Hard Characters.
CHAPTER VIII--Climatic Changes. Appearance of Familiar Herbs. Rats.
The true Theory. Fall Emigration. The Johnson Cut Off. The Target. The
First Young Lady. A Spartan Mother. The Boys Up a Tree.
CHAPTER IX--Sickness in the Mines. Earthquakes. The Steamboat Men.
A Miners’ Meeting. Lucky Bill. Kit Carson. The Financial Condition
of the Miners. Australian Mike and His Tin Can. Portuguese Jo. The
Divining-rod.
CHAPTER X--Where the Rich Placers were Found. Miners’ Superstition.
The Blue Clay Deposit. Gold Machines.
CHAPTER XI--The Indian War. A Change in the Social Conditions. The
Desperado. The Sailors. The Mines Worked Out.
CHAPTER XII--Mining Speculators. The Lost Brother. Gambling. A
Generous Gambler. An Important Discovery. Beginning of Fruit Culture
and Wine Manufacture in California. The First Church Organization in
the Mining Regions. “Old Nick” and His Animals. “Old Syd.”
CHAPTER XIII--Emigration of$1’51. Churches Erected. Mines Deserted.
The Chinese Miners. Hill, River and Quartz Mining. Nature Frowns.
The Course of Events Change. Fruit Raising. Prospecting. On the
Homestretch.
CHAPTER XIV--The Discovery of Silver in Nevada. The Stage Road. Hank
Monk. Road Agents. The Parson. The Stool Pigeon. Spirits. The Boys Who
Captured the Thief. A Young Dick Turpin. The Irishman and the Road
Agent.
CHAPTER XV--Where are the Pioneers? The Overland Stage. Pony Express.
The Sound of War. A Wet Winter. The Hotel on the Road. The Railroad.
CHAPTER XVI--The Forty-niner. Syd at the North Pole. The Homes of the
Old-timers. The Remains of the Cabins of the Forty-niners. Panning out
the Old Cabins.
CHAPTER XVII--Meeting of the Old Timers. The Buckeye Tunnel. The
Best as It is. Bozer Who Got Skunked. The Hydraulic Miner. Mike’s
Explanation.
CHAPTER XVIII--Why are so Many of the Old-timers so Poor? The
Uncertainty of Mining. Tex and Barton Lee. Tex and the Hound. Tex on
Board the Steamer. Tex at Golgona.
CHAPTER XIX--Tennessee’s Letter from Tex. The War in Chili Gulch.
Sam Brown and the Chap with the Mild Blue Eyes. Sam Brown and the
Policeman. Old Kentuck and Sleepy Ben.
CHAPTER XX--Yank Visits the Old Mining Camp. Yank Seated Upon the
Boulder. The First Loaf of Bread. The Bean-pot Comet. How Julius
Sailed Up the River. Jeff’s Plum Duff. The Stone Statue. The Old Miner
Who was Robbed on Board the Steamer. The Cœur d’Alene Mines. Coasting.
CHAPTER XXI--Their Names Unknown. The Types of Men in the Mines. Pike
Illustration of Missouri Character. Bob the Fiddler. The Power of
Music Illustrated. John Kelley the Musician. Joe Bowers. Jeff Visits
Pioneer Hall. Old Miners in San Francisco.
CHAPTER XXII--Pioneer Hall. Old Mike Explains. Something Wrong. The
Business of Mining. Mike’s Philosophy. Yank at the Bay. The Expressman
and the Broom Pedler. Lucky Bill and the Gamblers. Sam Plunket the
Arkansas Beauty.
CHAPTER XXIII--Bill Burnes Lynching the Colored Man. Dick Arnold.
The Mining Regions. The Old-timers Disperse. The Phantoms of the
Forty-niners. Forty Years have Passed. The Argonaut’s Soliloquy. The
Great Changes. The Flight of Time. The Number of Pioneers Now Living.
CHAPTER XXIV--“Good Morning, William.” The Return. Great Changes.
THE ARGONAUTS OF CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEWS--LOOKING FORWARD--THE START.
In the winter of ’48 I resided in New Bedford, Mass. I had a chum.
What boy has not? My chum’s name was Bill. He had been absent from New
Bedford for a few months, and on meeting him, a few days after his
return, I greeted him with:
[Illustration: “HELLO, BILL!”]
“Hello, Bill! Have you heard the news?”
“No; what is it?”
“Well; while you were away, the news came that a man in California,
named Marshall, has made the discovery that there’s lots of GOLD out
there. He found a big chunk of it where he was at work.”
“You don’t say so! What’s he going to do with it; did he say?”
“That has nothing to do with the case. There’s the greatest excitement
here, you ever heard of. Not only here, but all over the country, on
account of the discovery. Thousands of men are getting ready to go out
there. A lot of ships down at the wharves are being fitted out for the
voyage, and they are going to take passengers cheap. Now what do you
say to going along?”
Bill did not seem to enthuse nearly as much as the occasion would
warrant, for said he,
“Well, now; I don’t see what reasons you can give for supposing that
there’s more gold there, simply because this man found a chunk of it.”
“But, Bill,” said I, with undampened ardor; “don’t you understand the
scientific nature of it? Isn’t it likely that there must be lots more
of it scattered about? Besides, the volcanic character of the country
is very favorable for that kind of a product, you know.”
Bill smiled skeptically, and gave me the benefit of his geological
knowledge as follows:
“Oh, yes, I know. The gold is thrown out from the bowels of the earth,
where it’s manufactured, by the volcanoes and scattered about on the
tops of the mountains. Then along come the earthquakes and shake it
down among the grass roots and bushes in the valleys, where you expect
to scrape it up by the bushel.”
“Oh, well, it may prove to be, as you say, a wild goose chase, after
all; but there’s a ship, now at the wharf, right from San Francisco,
and one of the sailors, who seems to be a real honest chap, told me
that the country was chock full of gold. He said that after they had
hoisted up the anchor to start home he scraped the mud off the anchor
and washed more than five pounds out of it--”
“Of what--mud?”
“No, of GOLD; REAL GOLD!”
“Oh, pshaw! Do you believe that yarn?”
“Why, of course I do! Sailors are noted for their veracity.”
“Nothing of the kind. They have the reputation of being the biggest
liars on earth; especially when out on the water and the wind blows
hard.”
Still true to my colors, I protested, “That’s impossible.”
“No, ’tis not, for if you were sailing a ship out at sea and the wind
blew real hard, you’d lie too.”
Bill’s levity fell upon unappreciative soil. I was too much in earnest,
and resumed:
“I’m bound to go out there, Bill, if I don’t pick more than a hatful of
gold in a day. There’s nothing like trying, you know. But what’s the
use of going after gold, you say? Well, now, isn’t that what we are all
after, and nearly crazy to get? And, isn’t it easier to go to a country
where you can scrape it up from the ground or pick it out from among
the grass by the bucketful, than it is to toil and sweat and worry
through a long life here?”
I cannot now remember whether Bill was just a little cynical, or simply
echoed the opinions of some of the wiseacres of that day when he
parried my query with,
“There’s plenty of money in the country now, and more is unnecessary.
What are you going to do with it all?”
“That’s a singular idea,” I answered. “Do you suppose it’s possible to
have too much money in the country? Such old, puritanical notions about
money are ridiculous. You and I haven’t too much and we could use a
few millions to good advantage, if we had them. And if it should prove
true that lots of gold can be found in California, you’ll live to see
this country step to the front among nations in wealth, prosperity and
enterprise.”
In my ardor I had risen to unwonted heights of eloquence.
Bill thought that there was enough enterprise in the country, already.
I assured him that when we began to send gold back from California in
ton lots, the various enterprises would boom to an extent never before
witnessed in the world.
Bill had, however, taken the negative side of the issue and fired
another broadside at me:
“Yes, but Jo, aren’t you going it a little too fast in anticipating
such big things? For my part, I don’t believe that there’s enough gold
in all of California to do all that. ’Twould take bushels of it, you
know.”
Upon confirmation of the news of the discovery of gold in California,
all was commotion in the various seaports of the Atlantic coast.
Vessels of all sizes and descriptions, from the small, 50 ton fishing
smack, that would be compelled to crawl along near the shore, up to
the noble clipper ship, that was able to contend with the elements
in mid-ocean, were fitted up with conveniences for passengers in
greatest haste. Many vessels sailed early in the year of ’49 for the
Eldorado. It was not, however, until the spring that the grand stampede
commenced. By April 1, in ’49, 50,000 good, able-bodied men, and a few
women, all desirous of bettering their condition and acquiring wealth
in a much easier and quicker method than by the old-fashioned, slow and
plodding methods of their ancestors, were upon their way to the other
side of the continent, willing to encounter the danger from Indians
or starvation, whilst an equal number preferred to risk the dangers
of a journey by sea to the land of gold. In company with about one
hundred others, we took passage in the clipper ship “America,” Capt.
C. P. Seabury, from the port of New Bedford, Mass. On the morning of
the 1st of April, the fact was announced that all must be on board at
10 A.M. The anchor was raised from its muddy bed below;
the sails were unfurled to the breeze; the bow of our boat swung round
a bit and pointed out toward the billows in the big ocean beyond. We
bade farewell to friends who accompanied us out to the light-house;
and, with hearty wishes from them that we might meet with the greatest
success in our venturesome undertaking, sailed out upon the broad ocean
in the direction of Cape Horn. We watched the green hills, with which
we had been familiar from early childhood, as they vanished from sight
below the horizon, and wondered then if ’twas so ordained by the powers
above, that we would soon be enabled to return again to these familiar
scenes of our boyhood days with our pockets lined with tin (and some of
us still continue in the same business, at the old stand, of wondering).
Our passengers, being unaccustomed to the situation, soon felt very
peculiar sensations produced by the motions of the vessel. We sought
the entrance to the basement, into which we managed to make our way in
an oblique kind of a style, and retired to our sleeping apartments,
there to remain until we deemed it safe to again climb out upon the
roof of the vessel.
We were satisfied in a few days that we were very fortunate in our
selection of a vessel for the voyage, for we found that she was a
strong, staunch one; a fast goer, with a good crew and commanded by an
expert seaman, who understood his business. Fortunately for
[Illustration: THE START.]
us, perhaps, we had as passengers a number of old veteran (retired) sea
captains, who were always very ready and willing, without remuneration,
to give our captain all necessary advice, at such times when, in their
opinion, he needed it. When, in their opinion, there was danger of
the ship sailing too fast, they would advise him to take down some
of the big sails; or, again, when the wind was too high, they would
become aware at once of the danger of the ship running under, front end
foremost, and at such times they would advise the captain to stop her.
Under such conditions, where there were many men of experience keeping
their weather eyes open for emergencies, it is evident that we, the
passengers, felt perfectly secure from danger, and could sleep without
fear.
During the voyage we amused ourselves, no doubt, in the same manner
as passengers of vessels usually do, by various games. There were an
assortment of musical instruments, and card playing was an amusement
much in vogue; but a few of the younger passengers of a sporting
tendency, would bet upon the speed of the ship and the number of miles
we would sail upon the succeeding day. Some of the older ones, however,
of a more elevated character, who were above such petty amusements,
would practice at leap-frog upon deck during pleasant weather. When
the weather was otherwise they would pass their time below, in betting
with each other upon the number of plums they would be able to find
in their respective rations of duff, and many were enabled to enjoy
double rations at the table in consequence. In the opinion of many of
the older passengers, one very important fact had been overlooked in
our great haste to start for the golden shores of California, and that
was, the failure to make suitable provision for the storage of gold
dust. This was, indeed, an oversight, for nothing had been provided
suitable for the purpose. It therefore taxed the ingenuity of the
older ones, and many were the devices proposed. One very ingenious and
sanguine individual commenced the manufacture of leather pouches from
old boot-legs or from pieces of canvas, maintaining that these would be
found the most convenient. Another insisted that good, strong, stone
ale bottles were far superior for stowing the finer grades of dust,
and such was his faith in them that he had actually brought two or
three dozen with him. But where is the limit to genius or the faculty
of adaptation to conditions, for if no other person had appeared upon
the stage with a superior device for the purpose, the inventors of the
boot-leg pouch and of the ale bottle devices would have divided the
honors between them for their ingenuity. The possession of an older
head with greater experience, however, suggested that although leather
pouches and beer bottles might answer very well, they would probably
be found very inconvenient to handle on account of the great specific
gravity of gold. He therefore suggested that the best way to pack the
gold dust, and the best means of handling it, would be to put it into
empty pork barrels, for these could be rolled with ease and of course
would be more convenient for shipping. The greater portion of the
passengers saw at once the superior advantages of the pork-barrel idea,
and resolved to adopt that method.
One old gentleman spent his time in the construction of a dredging
machine for raising the sand from the river beds, and for extracting
the big nuggets from among the rocks at the bottom; whilst another
one busied himself in making sheet-iron scoops, to which long poles
were to be attached. His idea was to take his station under the shade
of a tree, upon the river bank, scoop up the rich golden sands and
extract the gold from it upon dry land, without the danger of being sun
struck or wetting his feet. Many of the more intelligent ones among
our passengers kept a daily record of scenes and incidents during our
voyage; but so much of this class of literature has been heretofore
brought before the public that a report from any of them would not be
of much interest at this time.