CHAPTER VII

A TOUR OF THE GOLD-FIELDS

_January 2d, 1850._ Leaving Stockton we tramped through mud and water,

so like the coast of Louisiana (the Mississippi) that it might have

been winter there, instead of in California. We had packed the day

before leaving, so left early for our walk of twenty miles after our

pack-mules, and went over a partially sandy prairie to the Stanislaus

River, and at eight that night reached good wood and water, and encamped

about three miles from the river. Next morning, January 3d, we left in

the rain for the ferry, but owing to the bad weather, heavy roads and

exhaustion of Bachman and McGown, stopped at a good camping ground, with

excellent grass, after going only three miles. The rain poured all day

and all night, and we lost two days here in consequence, for the river

rose so rapidly that we could not cross our mules. The next day the most

of us did get over, and Clement and Hudson remained behind to look after

the mules.

_January 6th._ Leaving the middle ferry, known as Islip's, our first

day was over a good road with occasional quicksands in the way. The

next day, January 7th, 1850, as we had a cold northeast drizzle, we lay

by, and the following morning, January 8th, left for our destination,

the Chinese Mines. Many of the views before us, as we mounted hill

after hill looking towards the mountains, are very beautiful park-like

country; the roads are a series of mud-holes and quicksands at this

season, and the trees, either swamp, or post-oak, with occasionally a

fine ridge of a species of live-oak. At times we had to pack the cargoes

of the weaker mules, every few hundred yards, and at one place, had nine

mules mired at the same time, the mud being so tenacious that even when

the packs were taken off, the poor animals could not get out without

our help. Three days of such travelling brought us to our present camp,

the soil red clay and sand, mixed thinly with white quartz of various

sizes, but generally small, not more than two, or at most, three inches

in diameter, and generally even smaller.

[_No date_.] We went up to the "diggings"[39] on the morning after our

arrival, and looked round to see what prospects were ahead of us. We

found the little branches bored, and pitted, and washed out in every

direction, so much so that we tried to "prospect" for ourselves, and we

lost three days. We found the men already there kind and polite, showing

the mode of working and washing, of digging and drawing most willingly,

and tomorrow open a pit close beside some of the most fortunate.

The uncertainty of digging renders the life of the miner, for profit,

that of a gambler, for most of his good luck depends on chance. At times

you may see two pits side by side, one man getting two ounces a day, and

the other hardly two dollars: we heard of one instance of much greater

disparity; two friends working next each other found that at the end

of the week, one had an ounce of gold, worth about twenty dollars, the

other gold worth six thousand dollars. So it goes, and we shall all have

to work hard. Again and again I am overwhelmed by the thought that I am

at these dreary mines—I, who started intent on drawing and obtaining new

specimens—to have so different a destiny thrust upon me, is bewildering.

The ground here is beautiful rolling valley of sandy clay, so like the

post-oak country of Texas that one might almost fancy himself there. A

few pines are scattered about, the cones are very large, say six inches

long, and three in diameter; the seed is a pleasant nut, about the size

and shape of a small, shelled almond; the quantity of resin contained

is very great, and at the end of every leaf of the cones, quite a lump

is seen.

The ultramarine jay, and Steller's, the red-shafted woodpecker and

California quail are abundant, and many finches, some new, and others

that I know, are everywhere; but I have no time to skin and preserve

specimens. Then too, the black-tailed deer, California hare, and

grizzly bear, are common, as well as the small hare. There are some few

squirrels and a marmot or two, but I have not been able to procure them;

I have also seen the robin of this country and many others. The country

is otherwise barren, I wish I was out of it.

_January 20th, 1850. Chinese Diggings._ It does not seem possible,

remembering the difficulties of the road, that we are only seventy miles

from Stockton. The men began "rocking" yesterday, one cradle, and get

about a dollar an hour, but hope to get more when in the way of it.

Those at work around us get an average of fourteen a day, and at times

much more; then again a week's work is lost. The quantity of gold, so

I am told by those who know more of it than I do, is very great, but

so diffused that great labor is required to get it. The lottery of the

whole affair is beyond belief. The richest gulches are supposed to be

those on the river, the Tuolome [Tuolumne], or the creeks leading to the

river. The pit, or piece of ground allotted to each man is sixteen feet

square, this having been settled by the diggers, and the law is enforced

by an alcalde. Many is the week's work, the men say, when they do not

get the price of their board, and again large amounts are found. One

individual told me he was getting two ounces a day, and gave his claim

up, to join a company in digging out the bed of a river which they had

drained off. He worked a month at the river scarcely making two dollars

a day, while the man who bought his first place, had accumulated several

thousands. I have heard fifty such stories, but as a whole this country

will pay the laborer and the mechanic better than the miners, unless

the latter have capital. Had we come my route and reached here with

a hundred mules, a fortune could soon have been made by packing. But,

alas! against my better judgment I allowed myself to be swayed by Col.

Webb, who had his own way at the cost of twenty-seven thousand dollars,

thirteen lives, and the loss of many months to all the men who came

through.

_Chinese Diggings. February 1st, 1850._ Friday, and a most beautiful

day; birds all around are in gay chatter, and the song of the raven,

jay-like, but sweet to listen to, from the attempt at softness, as he

nods and bows with swelling throat to his mate. It is like March in

Louisiana. Alas for the poor fellows who have left the southern states

to come to this, and settle here as farmers; to be drowned out in

winter, and burnt up in summer! However, when the excitement of the gold

fever ceases, as it must, California will find its level with the other

states, and many a hastily made fortune will be as rapidly lost.

I am leaving for the North Fork of the Stanislaus, twenty-five miles,

to make one more effort to keep the company together and to pay off our

indebtedness to the stockholders, but I fear my efforts will be useless.

_Murphy's Diggings. Sunday, February 10._ Everything seems against

us—weather and season, water and rain, interrupt us in all our attempts

at work, and ill-luck seems to follow us. After fruitless labor at the

Chinese Diggings I came here, where the diggings are said to be very

rich, but where we have to wait for the waters to subside, perhaps two

months, and I have not the means to keep the men for that length of

time, even if the date of their contract did not expire before then.

These diggings are said to be the richest in the southern mining

district and here I came to make my last effort for the good of my men;

for myself my home is awaiting me, and ample means to pay off all the

indebtedness I have personally incurred; many times a day I thank God

I never asked one man to join the venture, though I feel strongly that

some, notably Clement, Walsh, Boden, poor fellow, my cousin Howard

Bakewell, and a few others joined because I did. Knowing this, and

knowing too how many have risked their all, I hesitate to leave, as long

as I feel I can be of help in any way, and shall go into the matter very

carefully with the men, most of whom however I know feel as I do.

_February 25th, 1850._ Today we all met together and after much serious

talk, I told the men that their time was more than up, and that,

consequently they were their own masters and the company dissolved. I

told them, too, that I was ready to help each and all to the best of my

ability, poor enough, but I believed we could do better in other ways

than mining. Not a word was said, and silently all went to their tents;

we had been a year together, in sickness and trouble, in boisterous

mirth and sorrowful anxiety, and like old and tried friends we felt

the coming separation keenly; we were all greatly depressed. I shall

be with the men for some weeks, and shall then try to make up for part

of what I have lost, making drawings and sketches, and collecting such

specimens as I can. I am bitterly disappointed for the men who have been

so faithful, and who have stood by me so staunchly, but as Tone said

to me some hours after our talk: "There's more money to be made here

by land speculations, and every kind of work than there is in mining,

and those who work will get on." I quite agree with him, and when one

hears of the return of men with large fortunes, ask if speculations in

land or trade, bar-keeping or Monte dealing has not swollen the first

few hundreds, dug and gained with hard labor, privation, or, in rare

cases, wonderful luck. Even then for one man who has a thousand, there

are hundreds who will not average a tenth of it after expenses are paid.

_March 6th._ Again on the road from Stockton east, towards the mines.

I have been to San Francisco and am now on my way to join Layton to

begin my tour of the mining and agricultural districts of this now most

fairy-like country, everything so smiling and beautiful, flowers of the

smaller varieties by thousands; and the snow melting sends its waters

down all the little rills and rivulets clear and pure, giving freshness

and luxuriance to the whole country; could it retain so much beauty

through the summer, I should pronounce it, at once, the most enchanting

land I had ever seen, and yet, as I think of the beautiful shrubs of

the east, and where they do exist, of the magnolias, wild roses, and

flowering vines and trees we have, I think the countries balanced, for

here two species of oak, three pines, the redwood and the laurel, will

almost enumerate the whole of the common varieties of trees.

Farther south, back of San Diego, in the valley of Santa Maria, I saw

the finest sycamores I have ever come across; they grow where they

have room enough to extend their gigantic limbs laterally, instead of

forcing their huge trunks in rivalry with the oaks, to get fresh air

and sunshine.

The country from Stockton is a clayey flat, so little of an inclination

to the land, that the water appears to lie until evaporated, and the

"sloughs" in many places are sluggish and seem to be more water-holes

than running streams, until they reach the Calaveras, which is a

beautiful creek nearly dry four months of the year, but the other eight

giving good water. The meadow-like flats about it look just ready for

the plough, though by using that, a sward of good grass would be lost.

The country from here becomes very gradually more and more undulating,

changing the nature of the soil every few miles. In some places the

hills are of clay, and valleys of greyish loam, or red sand thickly

mixed in with quartz; in many cases water-worn, but all is so beautiful

that were the woods more dense, and the water-courses now so inviting,

"never-failing," the farmer would here find his Paradise, and by

selecting his land so as to avoid the gravelly sub-soil, which is too

abundant for richness, and choosing that which has the clay foundation,

his plantation might be one of great permanence, for the rains here do

not wash off much of the soil.

_March 8th._ Following up one of the north forks of the Calaveras, we

passed through beautiful valleys, green and luxuriant, but very short

stretches of grass; the hills, at times, so close together at the base

that the valley was almost lost; but the ascent was rapid, and we found

ourselves soon on the singular hills of this country within a mile of

the Mokolumne [Mokelumme] mines, where we camped for the night.

_March 9th, 1850._ The ice this morning was half an inch thick, and the

cold at day-light, intense. One hour after sunrise, the day began to

be summer, and at nine o'clock our coats were off, and we were riding

towards the beautiful view made by the interesting lines of Mokolumne

hill and its adjacent fellows, all eccentric, and all interesting.

The soil in the ravines here is mostly clay, but from time to time

partakes of the sandy red clay so common in this country, resembling

very much the gravelly hills of the post-oaks of Texas. The ride up the

stream to "Mokolumne rich gulch," is very interesting, passing between

two hills, or lines of hills, with occasional ravines leading down to

the creek we were following.

We passed an Indian village of six huts; the squaws were pounding

acorns to make "payote," in natural mortars, formed by the slight

indentations being used constantly; the pounding of the stone (small

granite boulders, water-worn smooth), sometimes wear the holes a foot

deep; but they are generally deserted before that depth is reached. A

smooth, flat stone is usually preferred by the Indians to begin on, and

if the country suits their purposes, and the lodges remain any length

of time in the neighborhood, the stone is often marked with thirty or

forty of these mortar holes.

[_No date._] Leaving "Rich gulch," we took a southerly course over the

ridge, and wound down the branches of the Calaveras, until the various

rivulets united and formed what is called the "north branch of the

Calaveras." Where we crossed, it was about eighteen inches deep, and

runs over a rough bed of various-sized pebbles, with larger lumps of

granite and quartz for the horses to stumble over, making the ford when

the stream is muddy from recent rains, very treacherous. The soil is of

the same character for a mile or two, occasionally of a reddish loam,

containing both clay and sand, mixed with gravel, of angular formation,

very small, and with more or less quartz, equally various as to the size

and quantity of the pieces.

The pits dug by the miners at the Chinese Diggings, five miles from the

Tuolome [Tuolumne] River, and midway between the mountains and plains,

among the hills, present ordinarily a superficial loam of from six to

eighteen inches, rich, at times, but again of the light bluish clay;

the next stratum is of reddish clay and gravel, and very hard, ending in

slatey rock, soft and dead to pick at, and having the usual friability

of the trap slate that is so plentiful all over the country, sticking

up in places like the headstones of a deserted churchyard. At Wood's

Diggings the same appearance is seen, but with the slate in more upright

strata and hard.

_March 18th._ At Murphy's New Diggings, the gulch is full of lumps of

granite and heavy gravel; in the part called "The Flat" in the lower

part of the valley the soil is of great depth, in places eight to ten

feet, less in others.

_March 20th._ From Murphy's New Diggings to Angel's Camp is six miles;

the country just undulating, inviting the squatter to put up his log

house, made from the few pines that, from time to time, form little

clusters, but so far apart as always to arrest the attention, and call

forth the admiration of the wanderer through these lonely hills, where

the want of woods to me gives more solitude than our densest forest; so

much for habit, for I recollect well that "Beaver," my Delaware Indian

guide in Texas, always was anxious for the prairie, whenever I took him

into the deep swamps of the Brasos or Guadaloupe.

"Angel's Diggings" is one of the many repetitions of the same thing

seen every day. A beautiful little brook, with precipitous sides,

and gravelly or rocky beds; high hills of red clayey loam, mixed or

sprinkled with bits of quartz and slate, forming continual amphitheatres

at almost every bend of the creek. Here I met a gentleman who had, for

many years, been washing gold in the Carolinas; he had a quicksilver

machine of his own invention, price one thousand dollars, which he

was working with six men. He told me he was getting a pound a day from

the sands he was washing, which had been washed already in the common

rocker. He did not feel so sure of its efficacy in the clay diggings,

but for sand it certainly was admirable. These diggings like all I have

seen that were worth anything were completely riddled; first by the

top washing, and "dry" washing of the Mexicans, then by the hurried,

superficial "panning out" of the lucky American who came first and

reaped his fortune; next better dug out by the gold digger for his three

ounces a day, and now toil and hard labor gave the strong determined

washer from small amounts to, occasionally, an ounce a day, when the

water will permit him to work.

_March 23d._ Our road to Cayote [Coyote] made a "V" from Murphy's, over

a poor soil, with nothing of interest along the six miles but a small

elevation of semi-basaltic sand-stone, mixed with granite, with large

particles of crystal-like spar.

The approach to Cayote is down a red clay hill, of course, and is on a

point made by two little rivers (I should call them streams) which meet

at the lower end of the diggings. The larger one is called the Cayote

River, a branch of the north fork of the Stanislaus, and the diggings

are about ten miles up if you follow the windings of the creek, but by

the road only five to the Stanislaus.

The first year these diggings were worked many large amounts of gold

were dug here with little labor; the second year required harder labor

for poorer results, and it is its early reputation that keeps it up,

though some holes are still paying well; I was told four, out of the

fifty then being worked. The largest amount taken in the time I have

been here, two days, was found by five Englishmen, two pounds and three

ounces; others are well content with an ounce a day and do not give up

their holes if much less than that is the result of ten hours or more

work.

There are a few Indians near this place; poor, miserable devils, dirty

and half clothed, for they have given up buckskin for Mexican blankets,

their faces begrimed with dirt and their whole appearance one of neglect

and filth. They dig a little gold from time to time and leave a good

share of it with a French trader, Poillon by name. He makes his trade

pay by giving them presents in the morning to secure their good-will,

and a little extra change at night, on his provisions. I saw him selling

the lowest part of a leg from the forequarter of a very poor beef at

an abominable price, and he turned to me with a pitiful expression,

and asked if he ought to let it go for so small a price, showing me an

ounce of gold. All Indian trading appears to be done in the same way,

make them presents, and then charge double the value of the gift, on

the first article they buy.

The food of these Indians is chiefly the "payote" made from the acorns

into a kind of gruel, rather astringent to the taste of the white man,

but to an Indian digestion all seems good that can be swallowed.

I saw a papoose, too small to walk, with a stone in his hand half as

big as his head, shelling out the nuts of the pine-cone, cracking and

eating them with the judgment of a monkey, and looking very much like

one.

Their wigwams faced the south, and formed an irregular cluster of bark

and mud cones; the usual number of fox- and wolf-like dogs gave the same

effect that I am accustomed to, but the tribe is not as handsome as the

Indians of the east, or even the Yumas, Pimos, or the Maricopas on the

Gila.

Leaving Cayote diggings, the trail for five miles passes between two

moderately high ridges to Carson's Creek, where the soil changes to a

much poorer quality; crossing the creek we ascended a fairly high hill,

from which I took a sketch across the Stanislaus. The sunset effect was

fine, but I had no colors with me.

_March 25th._ After crossing the Stanislaus we ascended a long hill

leading about southwest, towards the "Mormon Gulch" three miles distant.

The road wound up ravines for the first two miles, and would have made

as beautiful a walk as it did a ride. All nature was still and calm,

and the silent scene brought Sunday to both our minds, and we agreed

that whether in the wilderness, or at home, the day brought a feeling of

tranquillity. We almost changed our minds when we reached the diggings,

so different was the scene. The bar-rooms were all doing a "thriving

business," and the monte dealers were doing even a better, gloating over

the hard-earned piles of gold dust which ought to have served a better

purpose.

Passing all this, and going up a beautiful gorge, winding at times so

as almost to form a semi-circle, we turned our course, and came upon

a most exquisite cascade; the water split upon a bold rock about fifty

feet high and tumbled in leaps of from six to ten feet until it reached

the rocky bed, where it rushed on boiling and bubbling impetuously until

it joined the Stanislaus.

Our walk to Wood's Creek was hot and tiresome, and after cooling off

we took a sponge bath, the water being too cold for a plunge, and then

sauntered about looking for the best points at which to take views of

this most beautiful part of the country. Situated, by comparison, in a

basin, and straggling up and down the creek are here situated Wood's

diggings, Jamestown and Yorktown. The soil looks poor, and the rock

is granite and sandstone with some slate. On the high points and peaks

of "Table Mountain" huge masses of conglomerate boulders, two feet and

more in diameter, are scattered everywhere, and give a dreary look to

all the north side of Wood's diggings. The hill to the west has shot up

into beautiful obelisks of quartz, and you only cease to admire it to be

in raptures over the views seen by turning east, to look over mountain

beyond mountain, snowy peaks bare of trees, and between them the rounded

points of hills, looking tiny by comparison. To the south, bold, rounded

but high mountains, full of verdure and with most graceful outlines,

enchant you, while the verdant stretches at the foot of these mountains

have a pastoral air which made us think of home.

_March 27th._ My day passed in a vain attempt to transfer to canvas the

scene before our tent; when I had worked some hours I went into the tent

next to ours, where lies a poor man, ill, pale, dejected, unable to move

even a few steps. His mud roof leaks, the soil forming the side of his

cabin is so porous that it admits such quantities of water that a ditch

is necessary to carry it off from the dirt floor. This man came round

the Horn, and the long voyage and poor food left him such a victim of

scurvy that since he arrived in California, the first of last October,

he has worked only six days; the relative with whom he came, and who has

toiled for both, has only been able to keep them in provisions, with his

best endeavors; he has no money to get home, now his only wish. This man

is the brother of Barnum, the museum man; he has written to him, and is

awaiting a draft which will enable him to return.

Day and night (these beautiful moonlight nights), flock after flock of

wild geese pass almost hourly over our heads to the north. I give up in

despair trying to fathom the use of their migration, when hundreds of

their fellows are known to breed so far south. Their courtship is kept

up as they fly high over the grassy plains where they fed last fall, for

if you look closely at the flock, you will see that with the exception

of the old gander, a fourth larger than the others, as a rule all the

rest are in pairs, and the males follow the females so closely that the

line is composed of two very near together, two a little distance from

them, and so on to the end.

_March 28th._ Wood's diggings having given me such sketches as I could

take, we took the valley road to Chinese diggings, en route for Hawkin's

[Hawkins's] bar, on the Tuolomne. We were assured before we left that

"Woods" now only giving five dollars at the most to good workers,

once gave as many ounces, and is now kept up on its past reputation by

the storekeepers, as all prospectors must pay something; one takes a

drink, another some fresh meat, another a pair of boots; all is sold

at exorbitant prices, and storekeepers get rich if no one else does. We

are now leaving Layton for Sonora Camp, and I, for Hawkin's Bar.

Every turn gives some vista of beauty in this Garden of Eden; the soft

southerly breeze is perfumed with the delicate odor of millions of the

smaller varieties of prairie flowers, in some places so abundant as to

color acres, whole hillsides, so thickly as to hide the ground, and my

mule had to eat flowers rather than grass. One without home ties might

well feel all his days could be passed in the beauties of these valleys,

roseate yellow and blue, so soft that the purest sky cannot surpass the

color for delicacy. Tangled masses of vines climb everywhere, hiding the

hard surfaces of the quartz rocks, and beyond this exquisite vegetation

always some view, wild and impressive, meets the eye.

But to facts: Bob Layton says: "Don't bring your wagons through Chinese

Diggings;" and I agree with him, unless you have nine yoke of pretty

good oxen to your load of three thousand five hundred pounds. I believe

that teams such as these do get about three miles a day across the boggy

flat and post-oak quicksands of these diggings. (In many places the

body of the luggage wagon is six inches deep in the mud.) This condition

lasts from December to March inclusive.

What this country must be in summer I cannot say, but if it cracks as

the soil does south of Los Angeles, it must indeed be miserable, and

the stories of the Mexicans we met below the Colorado must be true, when

they said it was almost impassable.

A few miles on towards Hawkin's Bar on the Tuolomne the country is very

fine, and little plains and valleys fill the six miles, all but the last

one, which is a steep descent, short and rugged, over clay and rocks.

On this ridge the grass is sparse, and "arrow-wood" was plentiful. The

day's march over, you set up your tent, and find cool and delicious

water from the Tuolomne just as it leaves its mountain gorge; a little

creek on the left which has taken its rise below the altitude of snow

is twenty degrees warmer, and so more welcome for bathing purposes.

[Illustration: HAWKINS'S BAR, TUOLUMNE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST

_April 1, 1850_]

_March 29th._ The Tuolomne here, one mile above Hawkin's Bar, comes out

of a gorge in the hills, which is both steep and rocky, and sends forth

the troubled stream to be tossed and dashed over rocks and shallow bars,

for miles through hills and chasms until it reaches the plains, when it

moves quietly, but still rapidly at this season, as it makes its way

to the San Joaquin, ninety or a hundred miles from the mouth of that

stream.

The river here rises and falls daily and nightly almost with the

regularity of the tide, not ordinarily more than a foot or two, this

being due to the effect of the sun on the snows of the mountains; the

warmer the day the higher the water. At night many men in parties of

from twenty-five to fifty are here engaged in digging canals to drain

the bed of the river at low water. I learn however that they are greatly

hindered in this by numerous springs in the bottom of the river, and

though there is no doubt a great deal of gold, the difficulties of

getting it without machinery are more than can be realized by any one

who has not been here and tried.

The buzzards in this upper country are just pairing. I have seen three

or four couples of the California vulture but have not secured one yet.

The bar which was dug here last year is now under water, but I am told

it was very profitable and many made five or six thousand from their

summer's work. There are many here waiting for the plains to dry and

snows to melt, when Hawkin's celebrated bar may again be worked. While

I am here, I may as well try to give an idea of how the work is done.

When a spot has been selected the digger opens a pit, ordinarily four to

six feet deep, but sometimes only the top soil has to be removed before

the digger can commence washing; this depends on whether he comes to

soil tenacious enough to hold the gold, and keep it from sinking down

through light, sandy, or porous soils, until it meets with a formation

which prevents it from going deeper into the earth. Sometimes in such

places are found large deposits called "pockets," and doubtless there

are still many to be discovered. When suitable soil is found the digger

takes a panful for washing, and with doubt and anxiety goes to the

nearest water to see if his "hole" will pay. He stirs the earth and sand

in his pan around, until all the soluble part floats off over the sides

of the pan, which is kept under water; he then begins shaking backwards

and forwards with a regular movement what is left in his pan, to settle

what gold is in it; the gold sinks and all the lighter gravel is tipped

to the sides, and the gold is quite below all except the black sand, so

like emery that when the gold is very fine it is a great drawback, and

difficult to separate. Should the digger find gold enough to warrant his

washing the clay at the bottom of his pit, and thereby gaining half an

ounce a day he goes on washing, but grumbles at his hard luck, hoping

that as he gets deeper in his hole he will get richer also, and that

when he comes to rock, he may find a "pocket." The cradle is set up,

the water poured over, and the monotony of the digger's life begins, a

sort of voluntary treadmill occupation, until homesick and tired, even

if successful, he ties up his wallet which contains his wealth, secretes

it about his body, and tramps off. A man who is usually successful, and

there are not so many, may have acquired five or six thousand dollars,

but he has usually aged ten years.

_April 5th._ Leaving Hawkin's Bar for Green Springs, we sauntered

along the trail under the beautiful post-oaks, just now in their

greatest beauty, with leaves half-grown and pendant catkins. Now we

shot a partridge or a hare, or stopped to let "Riley," our pack mule,

luxuriate in some little patch of rich grass, in which he stood knee

deep. Overhead we saw the heavy, sweeping motion of the vulture's

wing, or watched his silent circles. Around us are flowers innumerable,

brilliant, soft, modest, fragrant, to suit all fancies, till, having

finished our eight-mile journey, the sun began to cast its evening light

over the landscape, for we had started late. Layton had rejoined me,

and we set up our tent and I made a sketch.

_April 6th._ Four o'clock found us on our way back to Hawkin's, to meet

a friend of Layton's, N. Howard, who was to be our companion. It was

cloudy but beautiful, and at Wedgewood's tent we found our friend, and

shelter, of which we were glad, as rain was beginning to fall and soon

came down in torrents, swelling the little brook near the tents to a

roaring stream.

_April 8th._ After being delayed by rain, our trio started for Don

Pedro's Bar, eight miles down the Tuolomne. The country to look at is

most beautiful, and our short walk was one of pleasure and admiration.

_April 9th._ This morning we crossed the river and after a trot of about

five miles came to the cañon. I made my way to the lower end called

Indian Bluff and my sketch was finished by probably five o'clock; but

having no watch I cannot tell. Here I saw the nests of the California

vulture, but on the opposite side of the river, now an impassable

torrent.

The country on the south side of this river, where we are, is very

hilly, the soil tolerable, and the trees still post-oak. We leave for

Stockton tomorrow.

_April 10th._ The road was pleasant on our way back to Green Springs

and for a mile further, and when evening came we pitched our "line"

tent, and commenced cooking our supper. We had a California hare, a

mallard and a plover, all killed out of season, but food we must have.

Howard boasted of his coffee, Layton is the baker of the mess, whilst I

parboiled my slices of pork to rid it of its coarse flavor, fried out

the lard, and have turned and re-turned the loin and hindlegs of our

hare. "Riley" safely tethered near us had an equally good supper of the

grass and flowers that were to be his bed, and we spread our blankets

and went to sleep, or rather the other two have done so, and I, writing

by the firelight, shall soon follow their example.

_April 11th._ Our road today was almost the same that I had travelled

with the company going from Stockton to Chinese Camp or diggings, but

how changed the scene. The road then was soft mud and mire for miles;

now it is as hard as brick, and the hills then scarcely tinged with

green by the early sprouting vegetation are now fresh and beautiful

with every shade of green and brilliant flowers of all colors. At every

rise of ground we paused and turned to look back at the range of the

Sierra Nevada softening and mellowing in the hazy light of the sun, the

brilliancy enhanced by the deepening blue of the distant hills which

form the last outline on the eastern horizon.

Here I tried my hand again at oil painting for landscape, but can

only blot in what will answer hereafter to give me local color. After

painting about three hours we packed up and started again, as there

was no water near us, and took our direction westerly. We found the

beds of the streams that in January were beautiful little rivulets,

now bright sand bleaching in the sun, their waters dried up or only a

tiny trickle. As we descended from one table land to another the rich

vegetation became broken by spots of barrenness, and at times whole

plains of weeds, not strong and rank showing fertile land, but coarse,

noxious, ungainly with disgusting smell, extended for three or four

miles and we followed the dusty road almost feeling that we were again

on our terrible journey through Mexico last summer.

All these valleys along the river look more fertile in winter than at

this season, as the wet and moisture gives the appearance of richness,

which is now completely dissipated by the already parched-up effect of

the land.

To give you some little idea of the changes occurring in this country:

the ferry we crossed last winter (and could only be taken over after

great bargaining for a dollar each), we crossed today, all three of us,

and our mule for the same sum of one dollar. So at the mines, the same

change has taken place; last year an ounce was considered the average

of the produce of good working men per diem; this year half an ounce

is considered the average, by equally good and better skilled workmen.

The people at home will not believe that the roads are travelled by a

continuous line of miners; some on foot, some with packs, mules, wagons,

in search of "better luck."

The snows are melting so fast just now that the river is within two feet

of being as high as when I crossed in the winter just after two nights

of rain; then it was muddy, and anyone could see was not in a natural

state, now though almost as rapid and deep its clear waters do not give

the angry look it had then—so much for summer and its softening effects.

* * * * *

The road from Stanislaus over broad prairies of poor sandy soil extends

for miles until nearing the edge of the line of beautiful old oaks that

fringe French Creek and its swamps; then the earth becomes richer and

sends up a growth of clover and beautiful grass knee high, until you

reach Stockton. Indeed all the best lands of the San Joaquin River are

admirably suited for planting with proper drainage and cultivation.

The sea breeze at this season is cold and searching, keeping the

thermometer at 60 degrees and 62 degrees for days; when a lull comes the

heat is at once oppressive, and the mercury rises to 80 degrees or 85

degrees, and the heat dances before us almost in palpable shapes; the

water all stagnant sends its odor of decaying vegetation everywhere,

accompanied by myriads of mosquitoes. These conditions exist for miles

over the east side, towards the mountains of the San Joaquin.

_April 16th._ I am still at Stockton making various excursions with

Layton and his friend Howard from New Orleans, and sketching constantly

and steadily. I am indeed crowding all sail to start for home on

the steamer which sails on June 1st, with Capt. Patterson. I have

made nearly ninety careful sketches, and many hasty ones, the most

interesting I have been able to find in these southern mines, and expect

to leave in a few days for Sacramento.

_Stockton, April 18th._ I am hardly fit to write for I have just had

most melancholy news from Simson. Lieut. Browning, my dear and devoted

friend; to whom I owe a debt of gratitude which I can never pay, for his

friendship and kindness to me last year, from the hour that he took my

hand on the accursed Rio Grande River until we parted in San Francisco,

has been drowned. With Lieuts. Bache and Blunt he was examining the

coast near Trinidad Bay, and on attempting to land, the boat "broached

to" in the breakers and capsized. Five were drowned, among them Lieuts.

Browning and Bache. Thus is added another victim to our ill-fated

expedition. Strange that from first to last we have been so fatally

followed. Night after night Browning and I shared the same tent, the

same blankets; we knew each [other] well, we were friends.

_April 23d._ The whole country to the north and east of Stockton

through to the Calaveras is most rich and splendid soil, but in many

places too low for farming, but the grazing was excellent, quantities

of wild oats, rye grass (I think), clover and a species resembling

red-top. In many places the grasses were breast high as I waded through

them but generally full knee-deep. As we neared the Calaveras we lost

our way trying to avoid some bad arroyos, and followed a trail off

to the eastward, perhaps three miles, and the country if changed at

all, changed for the better. Finding the trend of the trail we were

following did not suit our ideas of direction, we turned back at even

more than a right angle, and in half an hour entered a wood of open

timber, with here and there a lagoon or quagmire of mud and mire; but

we worked through and Layton went ahead to reconnoitre, and in about

twenty minutes reported the river, which we followed down on a good firm

cattle trail, and in half an hour more had come to the upper settlement

of the ferry, and were stopped by the fences of newly made farms, and

again driven to the swamps to get only a few hundred yards down to the

ferry.

We crossed the river after having assisted some Germans with about six

hundred sheep, and camped for the night tired enough, having made only

about ten miles, but walked nearly twenty of hard travel.

_April 24th._ As the traveller leaves the north side of the Calaveras

and rises higher, the ground becomes cold and has a bluish-looking

clay for the road, almost as hard as soft brick, and more tenacious;

there are streaks of sandy soil, and in a few places good land; this is

scarce however, between the Calaveras and Mokulumne where the Sacramento

road crosses the plain. The last three miles of the road is through a

pleasant, half-wooded country of live-oak and a few varieties of other

shrubs, for the whole of the wood is small.

The sandy road was a great relief to us after the lumpy one of the

morning, and we tramped merrily on, until we reached the Mokulumne, and

saw a comfortable (for this country), log and jacal built house, and

passing about two hundred yards further on, spread our blankets under

some half dozen magnificent oaks, and after washing away the dust and

heat in the clear, cold little river, very rapid but smooth, ate our

lunch of fried pork and bread, and stretched ourselves out to rest for

an hour, when we packed up, and being ferried across in a pretty good

flat-boat, the only one between Stockton and Sacramento, we continued

our walk to Dry Creek over just the same description of country we had

had in the morning; but it became more sandy if anything, and towards

evening was more of a rolling country. Before we camped for the night

we swam "Riley" across a creek about twenty feet wide, and paid one

dollar and fifty cents for ourselves and belongings to cross in a sort

of canoe, which took us about five minutes.

At the ferry house was a comfortable looking woman with four little

children, one an infant; like the Texans she told us they had plenty of

cattle, but only one milch cow, so we went on.

_April 25th._ This morning mounting a slight rise of ground we at

once found ourselves on a high dry, too dry, prairie, facing a bracing

northwest wind, just strong enough to feel it stirring up our spirits,

and we went cheerily on for about eight miles to a bridge, crossed

it, and for about two miles had a succession of sloughs to cross, some

boggy, some quicksand, others we had to swim. By carefully sounding we

kept our packs dry in crossing, and safely reached the back of Murphy's

corral, where I skinned a magpie I had shot, and Layton took a nap. We

then went to admire Mr. Murphy's fine stock of brood mares, and the

young horses he is raising. At three in the afternoon we packed and

left for Sacramento City, keeping to the road for eight miles, when

we came to a wood where we collected sufficient fuel for our evening

cooking, and went on two miles or so to a lagoon of excellent water, and

camped. We had no tent poles, so did as we had done often before, spread

one side of the tent on the ground and laid our blankets on that, and

covered ourselves with the other part; a corner was put over my gun used

as a pole, which gave a place to sit, and also protected our solitary

candle from the wind, so we ate our supper in comfort, and enjoyed a

kill-deer and a couple of snipe we had shot.

We did not hear a sound but the croakings of hundreds of frogs from the

pond by our side. Our long campings out had accustomed us to solitudes

like this, but on our desolate, half starving march of last year, doubt,

anxiety, yes and fear, had always taken from the complete enjoyment

of such freedom as this. The country was so flat that the horizon was

lost even in the bright moonlight, and the perfect silence, the pure

cloudless sky overhead, the quiet little lake, tended to make everything

full of solemnity and peace.

_April 26th._ This morning half a gale was blowing from the northwest

and we were glad to wear our blanket coats until the sun warmed up the

earth. We reached "Sutter's Fort" at noon, and lay down under the adobe

wall to take our lunch. I was disappointed in the view I had hoped to

take; here, on a boundless plain, with two or three hospitals around it,

stands a sort of rancho, not so good in many respects as those of New

Mexico, but all in the same style, the sides being a series of rooms,

one corner being better fitted up for the rancher and his family.

Under some grand old oaks three hundred feet to the eastward, is a

cemetery containing a number of graves all made, they tell me, last

year when miners and emigrants alike succumbed to illness brought on

in many cases by exposure, poor food, and, in some cases, doubtless by

disappointed hopes.

Sacramento City is a country village built on a flat point, between a

lagoon and the river just below the junction of American River, so low

as to be eighteen inches under average high water mark. It has been a

source of such speculations as '36 never heard of. I was shown a plot of

some half-dozen half lots, which cost last fall two hundred and fifty

dollars. The gentleman who owned them, Dr. Pierson, told me he had

sold two of them, about a quarter of the whole, for three thousand five

hundred dollars, after holding them six months. Truly people did come

to California to make money, and some made it, but California will for

the present lower the moral tone of all who come here.

There are few refining influences and men become coarse and profane in

language, while the hard life does not improve the temper; the sight

of the gold they see dug, and the fortunes they hear of that have been

made in months, some few even in weeks, make them avaricious.

Many lots of land, valued last year at one thousand dollars, are now

valued at ten thousand dollars, but sooner or later the fall must come.

Sutter's Fort appears to have been built with great care as to its

means of defence, though at first sight a visitor would be puzzled to

know why it was called a fort at all; closer examination shows that it

once had, from all appearances, four square towers, some twenty-five

feet high, one at each corner, each tower mounting four, eighteen, or

at most, twenty-four pound carronades, and the effect of these on the

Indians was all that was required for protection, for the Indians here

are a very low class and poor race, far inferior to the eastern tribes,

and like the Mexicans cowardice is their chief trait, or at least their

most prominent one; and if Mr. Sutter could have had twenty faithful

followers, he must have been "monarch of all he surveyed."

The swampy neighborhood, bad atmosphere, and malarial conditions must

render this section of country unhealthy to a great degree for half

the year; for as autumn comes on the daily supply of freshly-melted

snow-water from the mountains will no longer purify the lagoons and

bayous of the vicinity.

[Illustration: "A DRY GULCH" AT COLOMA, SUTTER'S MILLS

_May 2, 1850_]

Fever and ague is very prevalent now, and dysentery feared by all. Many

of the farmers I find here tell me they are only working to get money

enough to get back with, and that nothing would induce them to settle

here. They have unfortunately not seen the lower part of the valley and

what lies about Los Angeles and to the southward—that is the flower of

California.

_April 29th._ Alas, is it for good or for bad luck, that I have just

learned that Layton and myself cannot travel with safety across the

country here, as below, on account of the ill-will of the Indians, and

that a party of less than six will be unsafe up and across the middle

fork of the American River. How stories of Indians are told to every

traveller. Though often near them, I have never found any who were not

greater cowards than myself, and we leave today for Sutter's Mills,

Georgetown, etc., in good health and spirits.

_May 4th. Coloma._ "Sutter's Mills" is about fifty miles [distant],

nearly east of Sacramento. The road to it after passing the first four

or five miles runs through a sandy soil, covered at present with what

we call "sneeze-weed." There is no water, until after leaving the river,

American Fork, we crossed a pretty little "spring branch" as it would be

called in Louisiana. The grass is sparse and poor along the whole route,

and the face of nature looks like August in the eastern states, so

completely that as the refreshing cool breezes come to us each morning,

I almost fancy it is the first of September. But in the valleys and on

the hillsides the heat is most oppressive, though, as in England, if you

stand still for only a few moments in the shade, you soon feel chilled

through.

The valley here is not as wide as at Stockton by at least twenty miles,

and the grand masses of snow covered mountains seem almost within a

day of you, whilst south you still have distance to give additional

enchantment to the view. The oaks here are small, not more than from

eighteen inches to two feet in diameter; if the soil in which they

grew had any richness, I should say the whole forest was of forty

years growth at most, but for the occasional presence of a grove of

magnificent pines, from a hundred to nearly two hundred feet high. I

have measured many at the angle on the ground and have proved it with

rods so that I know I am very nearly correct in my statement.

_May 6th._ Crossing the river at Coloma, on a good bridge, we commenced

our ascent of the long and in many places very steep hill. We found

a start at dawn would have been much better than at ten, which it now

was, as our poor mule "Riley" felt the heat greatly; but with occasional

pauses up we went, passing wrecked wagons and broken pack-saddles in

several of the narrow parts of the cañons that the road wound through.

We were not sorry when we found we had reached the last hill and mounted

it, hoping to be repaid by some distant view, but on no side could we

see more than a few miles; and we journeyed on, wondering who would

be[40] at the mushroom town, Coloma, renowned for being the place where

gold was first found by the whites.

We were told that Captain Sutter had made a large fortune by digging

gold with many of the Indians he had about him; how true the story is,

of course, I cannot say.

[_No date._] Starting early we had time enough to reach Georgetown, and

after the first few miles, were pleased to see a most favorable change

in the forest we passed through. A better class of white oaks appeared,

and following up a beautiful little creek we gradually came to a pine

growth large and magnificent; both yellow and white pine were there,

also the long coned pine, and many superb cedars over a hundred feet

high. In many places these trees were felled, and split into laths and

joists so straight and fine that but little dressing was requisite to

fit them for the buildings here constructed, frame houses one story

high. I saw some maples, very like what we call "soft" maple, an elm or

two, and many specimens of Nuttall's splendid dogwood in full bloom.

The ultramarine jay is here by dozens, robins, fly catchers, chats,

finches by hundreds. I see daily new birds and plants that a year's

steady work could not draw, but if our government would send good men,

what a work of national pride could be brought out! Geology, botany,

entomology, zoölogy, etc. The views are frequently superb, and the

hemlocks and pines of many species most beautiful.

We reached Georgetown—two rows of poor houses and sheds. The houses all

one story, but some with piazzas, and here we took our supper at the

"Pine settlement" as it is called.

APPENDIX

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL COMPANY[41]

[Extract from the New York "Evening Express," February 9, 1849.]

A company of young men started yesterday afternoon, who, under the

command of Major H. L. Webb and J. W. Audubon, will take the land route

via Corpus Christi, Monterey, etc., to the gold regions of California.

The whole company will number one hundred. Thirty-five or forty went

from Philadelphia yesterday.

They proceed direct to Cairo, which is the rendez-vous of the party;

here they will be joined by companies from the West. At New Orleans or

thereabouts as most convenient, they will purchase mules, horses and

all necessary equipments, each man finding his own outfit.

We append a list of the names of those who go from here in this company,

so far as known.

Audubon, John W.

Ayres, Venancia

Bachman, Jacob H.

Barclay, William B.

Benson, Leffert L.

Benson, Robert, Jr.

Black, John A.

Bloomfield, John J.

Boden, Hamilton J.

Brady, Henry

Brady, John

Cararley, John

Clement, James B.

Combs, Frederick S.

Cowden, Henry

Cree, William J.

Damon, Luke

Davis, Geradus T.

Delancy, John

Doubleday, Ulysses

Elmslie, James D.

Ely, Justin, Jr.

Graham, Charles Montrose

Graham, A. Clason

Graham, A. Spencer

Hall, Thomas H., Jr.

Havens, Langdon H.

Hinckley, Lyman T.

Hudson, David

Hutchinson, William A.

Kashon, Israel

Kearney, John, M. D.

Lambert, Edward A.

Lambert, John B.

Lambert, John S.

Lambert, Joseph

Lambert, J. Robert

Lee, Augustus T.

Liscomb, Samuel H.

Liscomb, William H.

Mallory, Henry C.

McCusker, Peter

McGown, Andrew J.

Molinear, William D.

Nevin, Andrew M.

Osgood, E. W.

Plumb, John H.

Powell, Emmett

Rodgers, J. Kearney, Jr.

Sherwood, James W.

Sherwood, Richard W.

Shipman, Aaron T.

Sloat, Lewis M.

Steele, George D.

Stevens, John

Stille, Henry

Stivers, Daniel A.

Stivers, William D.

Tallman, Harmon

Tone, John H.

Trask, John B., M. D.

Valentine, Charles

Valentine, Thomas B.

Valentine, Matthias B.

Van Buren, George T.

Watkinson, Joseph S.

Walsh, Nicholas J.

Warner, James

Webb, Edward C.

Webb, Watson

Weed, George

Whittlesey, Gilbert B.

Whittlesey, William

Williamson, Isaac H.

Winthrop, Francis B.

INDEX

Abert, Lieut. James W., 142.

Alamito, 95.

Alamo River, 74, 76.

Altar, 16, 143-145.

American River, 233, 237.

Angel's Diggings, 210.

Aquafrio, 85.

Arizona, 154-165.

Audubon, Caroline Hall, 26.

Audubon, John James, 21-28, 35, 41.

Audubon, John Woodhouse, 12, 14-18, 241, 242;

memoir, 21-38;

Journal, 41-240.

Audubon, Lucy, 26.

Audubon, Lucy Bakewell, 21-25, 27.

Audubon, Maria Bachman, 26.

Audubon, Victor Gifford, 22, 25, 36.

Ayres, Venancia, 169, 195, 242.

Bachman, Jacob H., 75, 83, 85, 168, 169, 174, 199, 242.

Bakewell, Howard, 61, 64, 65, 204.

Bakewell, W. G., 46, 48.

Baltimore, 14, 44.

Barclay, William B., 70, 242.

Barratt, ——, 119, 140.

Bartlett, John Russell, 84, 168.

Benson, Leffert L., 61, 70, 242.

Benson, Robert, Jr., 58, 61, 70, 242.

Berthoud, Nicholas, 22.

Birds, 56, 86, 111, 146;

bald-pates, 175;

buzzards, 221;

Caracara eagles, 139;

chats, 239;

cliff swallow, 129;

finches, 202, 239;

fly catchers, 239;

gadwalls, 175;

geese, 183, 184, 185, 216;

hawk, 182;

heron, 111, 185;

jay, 182, 202, 239;

mallard, 224;

partridge, 159, 223;

plover, 224;

quail, 202;

raven, 203;

robin, 202, 239;

sandhill cranes, 183;

vulture, 176, 182, 221, 223, 224;

woodpecker, 128, 182, 202.

"Birds of America," 23, 36-37.

Black, John A., 106, 115, 195, 242.

Bloomfield, John J., 75, 195, 197, 242.

Boden, Hamilton J., 60, 61, 63, 116, 204, 242.

Boggs, Biddle, 51, 138, 153, 187, 195.

Brady, Henry, 61, 70, 242.

Brady, John, 61, 70, 242.

Brazos, 50, 51.

Brice, Maj. Benjamin W., 52.

Browning, Lieut., U. S. N., 34, 71, 77, 78, 79, 81, 85, 94, 102,

120, 125, 170, 171, 179, 193, 195, 197, 228.

Brownsville, 15, 45, 51-55.

Buena Vista, 16, 91.

Cactus, 93, 136, 142, 157.

Cairo (Illinois), 15, 46, 241.

Calaveras, 207, 209, 229, 230.

Caldwell, Lieut. James N., 69.

California, 11, 13, 165-240.

Camargo, 58.

Camels, 12.

Campbell, Dr., 63-66, 72, 73, 77.

Camp Ringgold. _See_ Ringgold.

Cararley, John, 242.

Carrol, Frank, 85, 92, 106, 110, 111.

Carson's Creek, 213.

Cerralvo, 84.

Cerro Gordo, 99-100.

Cerro Prieto, 118.

Chapman, Maj. Wm. Warren, 50, 55.

China (Mexico), 58.

Chinese Diggings, 200, 202, 203, 204, 209, 216, 217, 225.

Cholera, 14-16, 50, 58-71, 74, 94, 105.

Cincinnati, 45.

Circus, 100, 102.

Clement, James B., 29, 33, 51, 61, 70, 77, 140, 195, 199, 204,

242.

Cole, Thomas, 138.

Collier, Col. James, 165, 167.

Coloma, 17, 237, 238, 239.

Colorado River, 16, 163.

Combs, Frederick S., 74, 75, 242.

Concepcion, 113.

Conchos River, 110.

Cooke, Col. Philip St. George, 155

Cooke's Wells, 166.

Couts, Cave Johnson, 161, 163, 164.

Cowden, Henry, 70, 242.

Coyote, 211, 212, 213.

Cree, William J., 174, 195, 242.

Creosote plant, 158.

Cumberland, 14, 44.

Damon, Luke, 75, 195, 242.

Davis, Clay, 68, 69, 77, 78.

Davis, Geradus T., 242.

Davis's Rancho, 55, 59, 64, 71, 104.

Delancy, John, 242.

Don Pedro's Bar, 224.

Doubleday, Ulysses, 83, 85, 242.

Dry Creek, 230.

Elmslie, James D., 70, 83, 85, 195, 242.

El Pozo, 94.

El Valle, 102.

Ely, Justin, Jr., 61, 70, 242.

Exchange Hotel, 187.

Florida, Rio, 101.

Follen, ——, 61, 70.

Frejoles, 137.

Fremont, John C., 142.

French Camp, 187.

French Creek, 227.

Frenchtown, 44.

Gabilana, 117.

Gaines, Gen. Edmund Pendleton, 48.

Gambling, 177, 188, 193, 196, 197, 206, 214.

Georgetown, 17, 237, 239, 240.

Gila valley, 155-163.

Gold, discovery of, 11, 13.

Gold-fields, 199-240.

Graham, A. Clason, 242.

Graham, A. Spencer, 242.

Graham, Charles Montrose, 91-92, 242.

Graham, Col. James D., 155.

Grasshoppers, as food, 150.

Green Springs, 223, 224.

Hall, Thomas H., Jr., 242.

Harrison, W. H., 59, 61, 64, 65, 67.

Havens, Langdon H., 33, 62, 71, 111, 138, 165, 174, 193, 195,

242.

Hawkins's Bar, 217, 218, 221, 223.

Hays, Col. John C., 29, 75.

Hewes, ——, 195.

Hidalgo. _See_ Parral.

Hinckley, Lyman T., 59, 105, 138, 195, 242.

Horde, ——, 68, 71.

"Hounds," 188.

Howard, N., 223, 224, 228.

Hudson, David, 62, 75, 127, 185, 187, 195, 199, 242.

Hutchinson, William A., 195, 242.

Independence (Missouri), 13, 14.

Indian Bluff, 224.

Islip's, 199.

Jamestown, 215.

Jesus Maria, 120-122.

Kashon, Israel, 242.

Kearney, John, M. D., 72, 242.

Kearny, Gen. Stephen W., 13, 16.

Kingsland, Daniel C. and Ambrose, 14, 31, 34.

Labrador, 24.

La Cadena, 97.

Lambert, Edward A., 106, 195, 242.

Lambert, John Booth, 58-59, 242.

Lambert, John Robert, 195, 242.

Lambert, John S., 106, 195, 242.

Lambert, Joseph, 106, 195, 242.

La Motte, Maj. Joseph H., 55, 67, 71.

"Landmarks Club," 180.

Laurel Hill, 45.

Layton, Robert, 17, 130, 163, 195, 206, 217, 223, 224, 228, 229,

231, 237.

La Zarca, 98.

Lee, Augustus T., 174, 195, 242.

Liscomb, Samuel H., 63, 66, 105, 110, 195, 242.

Liscomb, William H., 61, 65, 242.

Lizards, as food, 150.

Los Angeles, 16, 178, 179, 218, 237.

Luis Rey, 175-176.

Maguey, 72, 89.

Mallory, Henry C., 33, 82, 107, 108, 163, 179, 190, 193, 195, 242.

Mammals:

Antelope, 98, 112, 183;

black-tailed deer, 181, 202;

California marmot, 112, 175, 202;

elk, 183, 184, 185;

grizzly bear, 202;

hare, black-tailed, 98, 112;

hare, California, 202, 224;

hare, small, 202;

pocket mouse, 149;

squirrels, 202;

wild horses, 185;

wolves, 185.

Mapimi, 16, 96-97.

Marcy, Gen. Randolph B., 168.

Maricopa Indians, 156, 161, 213.

Marin, 85.

Matamoras, 51, 52.

Maybury, ——, 108, 109.

Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 51.

Mazatlan, 88, 142.

McCown, Capt. John Porter, 30, 71, 77, 80.

McCusker, Peter, 195, 242.

McGown, Andrew J., 195, 199, 242.

McLea, ——, 193, 195.

Mescal, 89.

Mesquite, 54.

Meteoric iron, 103.

Mexico, 84-154.

Mier, 82, 83.

Mining at Jesus Maria, 121.

Mining camps, 200.

Mining, methods of, 221-223.

Minniesland, 27.

Missions, 17, 170-171, 175, 176, 177, 180.

Mississippi River, 46-49.

Mitchell, ——, 70, 79, 195.

Mokelumne:

Hill, 208;

mines, 208;

"rich gulch," 208;

river, 230.

Molinear, William D., 92, 242.

Money, stolen, 66-68, 71, 73, 77, 78.

Monterey, 16, 86-87, 195, 241.

Mormon Gulch, 214.

Murray, Lieut. Edward, 172, 173.

Murphy's Diggings, 204, 211.

Murphy's New Diggings, 210.

Nevin, Andrew M., 242.

New Orleans, 15, 48-49, 241.

New York City, 14, 41-43.

Number, in company, 241.

Ord, Lieut. E. O. C., 172.

Oregon trail, 13.

Osgood, E. W., 142, 242.

Papago Indians, 147-152.

Paragarto, 129.

Parral, 16, 102-106.

Parras, 16, 91, 93.

Paso Chapadaro, 116.

Payote, 186, 208, 213.

Pennypacker, ——, 106, 108, 152, 195.

Peons, 89.

Perry, Dr., 92, 174, 195.

Philadelphia, 44, 241.

Pima Indians, 16, 143, 155, 156, 161, 213.

Pitochi, 118.

Pittsburg, 15, 45.

Plumb, John H., 142, 242.

Popagallos, 85.

Powell, Emmett, 243.

Prices, 113, 189.

Pulque, 89.

"Quadrupeds of North America," 27, 30, 36-37.

Ramos, 85.

Rattlesnake, 147.

Rhoades, ——, 117, 119, 181.

Rinconada, 89.

Rinconada Pass, 90.

Ringgold, Camp, 55, 64, 67, 69, 82.

Rio Florida, 101.

Rio Grande City, 15, 55, 59, 62.

Rio Grande (river), 15, 49-83.

Robber's Rancho, 85.

Rocky Mountains, 106-110.

Rodgers, John Kearney, Jr., 47, 72, 243.

Roma, 15, 61, 72.

Routes to California, 13.

Sacramento City, 17, 231, 233, 237.

Salmon, 185.

Saltillo, 16, 88, 90-91.

San Antonio de Bexar, 178.

San Diego, 16, 171, 174, 206.

San Diego Mission, 170.

San Felipe, 168.

San Fernando, 180.

San Francisco, 16, 17, 190, 193, 195.

San Joaquin River, 16, 183, 184, 190, 221, 227.

San Pedro, 178.

Santa Borgia, 118.

Santa Cruz, 110.

Santa Fé trail, 13.

Santa Maria, 170, 206.

Santa Rosa, 135.

Sherwood, James W., 243.

Sherwood, Richard W., 243.

Shipman, Aaron T., 61, 66, 70, 243.

Sierra Nevada, 175, 176, 225.

Simson, Robert, 33, 59, 61, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70, 77, 91, 95, 108,

179, 185, 195, 197, 228.

Sloat, Lewis M., 138, 165, 174, 243.

Sonora (Mexico), 16.

Sonora Camp, 217.

Soyopa, 137.

Stampede, 95.

Stanislaus River, 186, 199, 204, 212, 214, 227.

Steele, George D., 169, 174, 195, 243.

Stevens, John, 33, 61, 63, 64, 70, 163, 169, 174, 195, 197, 243.

Stevenson, John, 195.

Stevenson, Joseph, 128.

Stille, Henry, 243.

Stivers, Daniel A., 243.

Stivers, William D., 243.

Stockton, 16, 186, 187, 190, 195, 197, 199, 202, 206, 207, 225,

227-229, 238.

Suisun Bay, 190.

Sutter, Capt. John A., 239.

Sutter's Fort, 232, 234.

Sutter's Mills, 237.

Table Mountain, 215.

Tallman, Harmon, 61, 70, 243.

Tarahumara Indians, 113, 114.

Teller, ——, 105, 106.

Texas, 11, 29, 41.

Thorn, Capt. Herman, 161, 165.

Tomochic, 115.

Tone, Alice Walsh, 32.

Tone, John H., 32, 33, 110, 195, 205, 243.

Tonichi, 137.

Trask, John B., M. D., 58, 60, 61, 62, 74, 85, 108, 112, 119,

158, 174, 195, 243.

Trees:

Cedars, 239;

cottonwoods, 178, 181;

dogwood, 239;

elm, 239;

hemlocks, 240;

laurel, 206;

maples, 239;

mesquite, 54;

oaks, 178, 185, 206, 227, 230, 233, 238;

oak, live, 200, 230;

oak, post, 200, 201, 218, 223, 224;

oak, swamp, 200;

oak, white, 239;

pines, 201, 206, 210, 238, 239, 240;

redwoods, 196, 206;

sycamores, 178, 206.

Trinidad, 133-134.

Tulare valley, 16, 179, 182.

Tuolumne, 202, 209, 217, 218, 224.

Ures, 16, 139-141.

Valentine, Charles, 243.

Valentine, Matthias B., 243.

Valentine, Thomas B., 243.

Van Buren, George T., 195, 243.

Walnut Springs, 85.

Walsh, Nicholas J., 33, 59, 61, 66, 70, 126-127, 168, 169, 195,

204, 243.

Warner, James, 243.

Watkinson, Joseph S., 114, 174, 195, 243.

Webb, Edward C., 243.

Webb, Col. Henry L., 14, 15, 31, 42, 47, 48, 53, 55, 58, 60, 61,

73, 74, 76, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 203, 241.

Webb, Watson, 243.

Weed, George, 91, 157, 169, 195, 243.

West, settlement of, 12.

Whipple, Lieut. Amiel W., 162, 164.

Whittlesey, Edward, 63.

Whittlesey, Gilbert B., 243.

Whittlesey, William, 243.

Williamson, Isaac H., 243.

Winthrop, Francis B., 243.

Wislizenus, Dr. A., 84, 142.

Wood's Creek, 214.

Wood's Diggings, 210, 215, 216, 217.

Yaqui River, 137.

Yorktown, 215.

Yuma Indians, 161, 162, 213.

[Illustration: MAP TO ILLUSTRATE AUDUBON'S WESTERN JOURNAL 1849-1850]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] An experiment with camels was tried and proved a failure.

[2] John Porter McCown resigned his commission in 1861 to join

the Confederate army, in which he served through the war as

a major general.—F. H. H.

[3] Frenchtown was the western terminus of the New Castle and

Frenchtown Railroad, one of the first railroads built in the

United States and a part of the early route between the East

and the West. With the passing of the road, the town entirely

disappeared. It was located at the head of the Elk River

branch of Chesapeake Bay, below the present site of Elkton.

[4] Mrs. Alexander Gordon.—M. R. A.

[5] William Warren Chapman was brevetted major for gallant

conduct in the battle of Buena Vista, and died in 1859.

[6] _Travels in the Interior of North America_, by Maximilian,

Prince of Wied-Neuwied (London, 1843). Reprinted in Thwaites's

_Early Western Travels_, 1748-1846 (Cleveland, 1905).

[7] Major Benjamin William Brice served through the Civil War

in the paymaster's department and became a major general at

its close.

[8] The mesquit or mesquite is a tree, resembling the

locust, of which there are several species in Mexico and the

southwestern part of the United States.

[9] Camp Ringgold was an American military post below Rio

Grande City. Davis's rancho, mentioned later, was half a mile

above Camp Ringgold.

[10] Joseph Hatch La Motte, brevetted a major for gallant

conduct at Monterey, resigned from the service in 1846 and

died in 1888.

[11] China is located on the Rio San Juan about fifty miles

from the Rio Grande.

[12] Maguey is the Spanish name for the century plant.

[13] Col. John C. Hays, the Texas ranger and Indian fighter,

who won a national reputation at the siege of Monterey.

He went to California in 1849, became first sheriff of San

Francisco and afterward United States surveyor-general for

California.

[14] The route from the Rio Grande to the Rio Florida

is described in Wislizenus's "Tour to Northern Mexico,"

Washington, 1848 (Senate misc. doc. 26, 1st session,

30th Congress) and in Bartlett's _Personal Narrative of

Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California,

Sonora and Chihuahua_ (New York, 1854). Wislizenus was

physician in Doniphan's expedition, and Bartlett was United

States Mexican Boundary Commissioner. The Mexican Atlas of

Garcia y Cubas (Mexico City, 1859) furnishes maps that are

nearly contemporary and a list of haciendas.

[15] _Cabalgada_ is properly a troop of mounted men or

cavalcade. The word is here applied to the animals upon which

the men are mounted.

[16] Hidalgo del Parral, marked upon the maps both as Hidalgo

and as Parral, but more commonly the latter.

[17] The Taraumara or more properly the Tarahumara Indians

are described in H. H. Bancroft's _Native Races_, vol. i, chap. v.

[18] The Cliff Swallow (_Petrochelidon lunifrons_) is

described in Audubon's _Birds of America_, ed. 1840, vol. i,

p. 177. Audubon proposed the name _Hirundo republicana_ in

1824, but Say had named the species _Hirundo lunifrons_ the

year before. I am indebted to Dr. F. H. Snow for reference

to the synonymy and the account of the discovery of this

species in Coues's _Birds of the Colorado Valley_, part i,

pp. 426-429.

[19] _Frejoles_ or _frijoles_, Spanish for beans.

[20] Thomas Cole (1801-1848), an American landscape painter

of English birth, was one of the earliest artists to depict

the beauties of American scenery; he was noted for his scenes

in the Catskills. His recent death doubtless emphasized his

pictures in Audubon's mind.

[21] The Caracara or Brazilian Eagle is described in Audubon's

_Birds of America_, ed. 1840, vol. i, p. 21. It was found in

Florida by Audubon but so rarely occurs in the United States

that it is not included in the "A. O. U. Check List of North

American Birds." The name is derived from the hoarse cry that

it utters.

[22] _Caramba_ is the commonest of Spanish interjections.

[23] Many scientific reports appeared in the public documents

of this period. Fremont's "Report of an Expedition to Oregon

and California" was printed both in Senate and House documents

and in a separate edition in 1845. The Senate documents of

the 1st session of the 30th Congress, printed in 1848, contain

Emory's "Reconnoissance from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego,"

Abert's "Examination of New Mexico," Wislizenus's "Memoir

of a Tour to Northern Mexico," and Fremont's "Geographical

Memoir upon Upper California." Audubon probably had in mind

the cylindrical cactus figured by Abert.

[24] The Papago Indians belonged to the Piman family, but had

separated from the Pimas at the time of their conversion by

the Spanish missionaries.

[25] The _Dipodomys Phillippsii_ is a species of mouse

provided with a pouch and is popularly called the pocket or

kangaroo mouse.

[26] Philip St. George Cooke (1809-1895) served under Kearny

in the conquest of New Mexico, was given command of the

"Mormon battalion," which had been recruited at Council Bluffs

from among the Nauvoo refugees, and was sent from Santa Fé to

reinforce Kearny in California. The journal of the expedition

was printed at the time (Senate ex. doc. No. 2, special

session, 31st Cong.) and later in an expanded form as "The

Conquest of New Mexico and California" (New York, 1878). Cooke

commanded the federal troops during the territorial troubles

in Kansas, served with distinction in the Civil War and was

brevetted Major General at its close.

[27] James Duncan Graham was a member of Long's first

expedition. In 1840 he was appointed commissioner for the

survey of the Maine boundary and did good service in the

settlement of that controversy. He was for a time principal

astronomer of the Mexican Boundary Commission, but was

recalled, on account of disagreements with Commissioner

Bartlett, and made a separate report (Senate ex. doc. No.

121, 1st session, 32d Cong.). He reached the rank of colonel

during the Civil War and died in 1865. Mt. Graham, Arizona,

bears his name.

[28] The Pima Indians were called Pimos in the books of fifty

years ago. The Maricopas belonged to the Yuman family but had

united with the Pimas for protection.

[29] Herman Thorn, soldier in the Mexican War, distinguished

himself in the battles of Churubusco and Molino del Rey, and

was made captain. He was drowned October 16, 1849, as stated

later in the text.

[30] Cave Johnson Couts, a Tennessean and West Pointer, went

to California in 1848 as first lieutenant of dragoons in

Graham's battalion. He resigned his commission and married the

pretty daughter of a prominent Spanish family in 1851, settled

in California and acquired considerable property, and died in

1874.

[31] Audubon returned to the Gila at the point of its junction

with the Colorado. The usual emigrant road either kept to

the south of the Gila or crossed the river at the bend and

recrossed it sometime before coming to the Colorado. Audubon

must either have kept to the north of the river or omitted

to mention the recrossing. The crossing of the Colorado was

just below the mouth of the Gila. Lieut. Whipple was making

observations at this point at this time. Fort Yuma was

established here in 1852, opposite the present town of Yuma.

[32] Amiel W. Whipple, at this time lieutenant of

topographical engineers, later made one of the principal

Pacific Railroad surveys, and died a major general in 1863

from wounds received at Chancellorsville. The journal of

his expedition from San Diego to the Colorado was printed as

Senate ex. doc. No. 19, 2d session, 31st Cong. The entry for

October 15th, 1849, reads as follows:

"Arrived Colonel Collyer, collector of the port of San

Francisco, escorted by Captain Thorne with thirty dragoons.

Under their protection is also a party of emigrants, commanded

by Mr. Audubon, the younger, naturalist; Lieutenant Browning,

of the navy; Mr. Langdon Haven, and a son of Commodore Sloat,

were with this party, which was suffering for the want of

provisions."

[33] The Indian village of San Felipe has disappeared from the

modern map but the name is borne by a creek in this valley.

The journey from the Colorado to San Diego is described in

Bartlett's _Personal Narrative_, and the itinerary is given

in Marcy's _Prairie Traveler_ (New York, 1859). An edition of

the latter book, disguised as Burton's _Handbook of Overland

Expeditions_, was issued in London in 1863.

[34] Charles Franklin Carter's _Missions of Nueva California_

(San Francisco, 1900), gives a good description of the present

condition of the mission buildings of California. Under the

inspiration of Charles F. Lummis, the "Landmarks Club" of Los

Angeles has undertaken the work of repairing and preserving

their ruins. See also _Missions of California_, by Laura Bride

Powers, (New York, 1897) and _In and Out of the Old Missions

of California_, by George Wharton James (Boston, 1905).

[35] Edward Murray, at this time a lieutenant, resigned

from the service in 1855, was afterwards an officer in the

Confederate army.

[36] Edward O. C. Ord (1818-1883), at this time a first

lieutenant, later a major general in the Civil War. His long

and distinguished service gives his name a place in every

American cyclopaedia and biographical dictionary.

[37] San Luis Rey was reoccupied and a Franciscan college

established there in 1893.

[38] San Fernando is, of all the missions of California, in

the best condition. Its two principal buildings are in a good

state of preservation and the church has been re-roofed by

the "Landmarks Club."

[39] There is a map of the mining camps in H. H. Bancroft's

_History of California_, vol. vi, pp. 368-369. Topographical

details are given in the "Claim" sheets, issued by the United

States Geological Survey. The inset in the map of Audubon's

route, at the end of this volume, is intended to locate only

the places visited by him.

[40] The text is here slightly confused. Perhaps Audubon

wondered what would become of the "mushroom town" through

which he had just passed.

[41] The number of persons in the company varied widely at

different times. About eighty started from New York. The

list, here reprinted from the New York "Evening Express,"

contains seventy-five names but does not claim to be complete.

Apparently a number of men from Philadelphia, but not as many

as stated above, joined the company, since it is repeatedly

described as "at one time numbering ninety-eight." The

implication in the _Journal_ that there were but sixty-five

at Cairo must be an error. About fifty started from Roma with

Mr. Audubon but the number reached fifty-seven at Parras. One

subsequently died, another remained at Mapimi, three left

the company at Ures, eleven took the boat from San Diego

and "about forty" continued the march to Los Angeles. This

seems to have been the number of the reunited company in San

Francisco, of whom thirty-eight, including Mr. Audubon, made

the tour of the southern mines.

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THE

PRESENT STATE

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EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS

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ILLUSTRATED BY

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THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY

PUBLISHERS CLEVELAND, OHIO

Extracts from a few of the reviews

_American Historical Review:_ "The books are handsomely bound

and printed. The editing by Dr. Thwaites seems to have been

done with his customary care and knowledge. There is no want

of helpful annotations. The books therefore are likely to be

of more real value than the early prints from which they are

taken."

_The Independent:_ "The editor's annotations make the

present series worth possessing, even if one already owns the

originals."

_The Literary Digest:_ "It is next to impossible, at this

late date, even to a well-endowed public library, to amass a

considerable collection of these early travels, so essential

to an adequate understanding of the life and manners of the

aborigines, and the social and economic conditions in the

middle and far West, during the period of early American

settlement. The making of a judicious and competent selection

of the best and rarest of these writings has become an

inevitable requirement; and the patient company of historians,

librarians, and scholars will be quick to congratulate

each other that the great task has fallen to the hands of

so well-equipped an editor as Dr. Thwaites, eminent as an

authority on all questions pertaining to the exploration and

development of our great Western domain."

_The Forum:_ "A most helpful contribution to the study of the

America of a century or so ago."

_The Athenæum:_ "... A series of permanent historical

value ... It ought to find a place in every geographical or

historical library."

_Public Opinion:_ "The century that sets the bounds of this

work is the most important and interesting in the history of

the 'winning of the West;' ... it is comprehensive, and the

materials at the disposal of the editor assure a collection

that will be indispensable to every well-equipped public or

private library."

_The Nation:_ "A stately series, octavo in size,

typographically very open and handsome. The annotations are

abundant and highly valuable."

_New York Times Saturday Review:_ "An invaluable series of

reprints of rare sources of American history."

_The Dial:_ "An undertaking of great interest to every student

of Western history. Exhaustive notes and introductions are by

Dr. Thwaites, the foremost authority on Western history, who

is also to supply an elaborate analytical index, under one

alphabet, to the complete series. This latter is an especially

valuable feature, as almost all the rare originals are without

indexes."

"We cannot thoroughly understand our own history, local or

National, without some knowledge of these routes of trade and

war."—_The Outlook._

The Historic Highways of America

by ARCHER BUTLER HULBERT

A series of monographs on the History of America as portrayed in the

evolution of its highways of War, Commerce, and Social Expansion.

Comprising the following volumes:

I—Paths of the Mound-Building Indians and Great Game Animals.

II—Indian Thoroughfares.

III—Washington's Road: The First Chapter of the Old French War.

IV—Braddock's Road.

V—The Old Glade (Forbes's) Road.

VI—Boone's Wilderness Road.

VII—Portage Paths: The Keys of the Continent.

VIII—Military Roads of the Mississippi Basin.

IX—Waterways of Westward Expansion.

X—The Cumberland Road.

XI, XII—Pioneer Roads of America, two volumes.

XIII, XIV—The Great American Canals, two volumes.

XV—The Future of Road-Making in America.

XVI—Index.

Sixteen volumes, crown 8vo, cloth, uncut, gilt tops. A LIMITED EDITION

only printed direct from type, and the type distributed. Each volume

handsomely printed in large type on Dickinson's hand-made paper, and

illustrated with maps, plates, and facsimiles.

Published a volume each two months, beginning September, 1902.

PRICE, volumes 1 and 2, $2.00 net each; volumes 3 to 16, $2.50 net each.

FIFTY SETS PRINTED ON LARGE PAPER, each numbered and _signed by the

author_. Bound in cloth, with paper label, uncut, gilt tops. Price,

$5.00 net per volume.

"The fruit not only of the study of original historical sources in

documents found here and in England, but of patient and enthusiastic

topographical studies, in the course of which every foot of these old

historic highways has been traced and traversed."—_The Living Age._

"The volumes already issued show Mr. Hulbert to be an earnest and

enthusiastic student, and a reliable guide."—_Out West._

"A look through these volumes shows most conclusively that a new source

of history is being developed—a source which deals with the operation

of the most effective causes influencing human affairs."—_Iowa Journal

of History and Politics._

"The successive volumes in the series may certainly be awaited with

great interest, for they promise to deal with the most romantic

phases of the awakening of America at the dawn of occidental

civilization."—_Boston Transcript._

"The publishers have done their part toward putting forth with proper

dignity this important work. It is issued on handsome paper and is

illustrated with many maps, diagrams, and old prints."—_Chicago Evening

Post._