USA > California > El Dorado County > Historical souvenir of El Dorado County, California : with illustrations and biographical setches of its prominent men & pioneers > Part 13
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would wait a moment, to take his horse and conduct us to it. We readily accepted this civil offer. In a short distance we came in sight of the fort ; and, pass- ing on the way the house of a settler, on the opposite side (Mr. Sinclair's,) we forded the river, and in a few miles were met, a short distance from the fort, by Captain Sutter himself. He gave us a most frank and cordial reception-conducted us immediately to his house, and under his hospitable roof we had a night of rest, enjoyment and refreshment, which none but ourselves could appreciate."
Thus far General Fremont's report, to which we may add that he started out with fresh horses and pro- visions the next morning, to attend to and to relieve the main body of the party, left higher up in the moun- tains under Mr. Fitzpatrick's command; they met them on the second day out, a few miles below the forks of the American river, and Fremont says : " A more forlorn and pitiable sight than they presented, cannot well be imagined." (No wonder, that a few days before, that Indian had taken them for his compan- ions.) They were all on foot-each man weak and emaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaci- ated as themselves. They had experienced great diffi- culty in descending the mountains, made slippery by rains and melting snow, and many horses fell over precipices and were killed, and with some were lost the packs which they carried. Among these was a mule with the plants which were collected since leav- ing Fort Hall, along a line of 2,000 miles travel. Out of 67 horses and mules with which the party had commenced crossing the Sierra, only 33 reached the Sacramento valley, and they only in a condition to be led along. None of the men were lost, though a few of them got weak-minded on the last part of the journey, caused from the privations and exposures and the overstrained exertions in crossing the mountains.
In the following pages we shall give the history of a party which was crossing the Sierra Nevada a few years later, but experienced far more serious privations and a sadder end, and forever will have a place in the an- nals of the history of California.
HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY.
[From Thompson and West's History of Nevada County.]
"Three miles from the town of Truckee, and rest- ing in the green lap of the Sierras, lies one of the loveliest sheets of water on the Pacific coast. Tall mountain peaks are reflected in its clear waters, re- vealing a picture of extreme loveliness and quiet peace. Yet this peaceful scene was the amphitheater of the most tragic event in the annals of early Cali- fornia.
RESIDENCE ,MP DAIRY RANCH OF G . BASSI ROCKBRIDGE· [LOTUS P.O.] ELDORADO, Co · CAL.
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EARLY CONDITION. INHABITANTS. EXPLORATIONS.
'The Donner Party' was organized in Sangamon county, Illinois, by George and Jacob Donner and James F. Reed in the spring of 1846. In April, 1846, the party set out from Springfield, Illinois, and by the first week in May had reached Independence, Mis- souri, where the party was increased until the train numbered about two or three hundred wagons, the Donner family numbering sixteen, the Reed family seven, the Graves family twelve, the Murphy family thirteen. These were the principal families of the Donner party proper. At Independence provisions were laid in for the trip and the line of journey taken up. In the occasional glimpses we have of the party, features of but little interest present themselves be- yond the ordinary experience of pioneer life. A let- ter from Mrs. George Donner, written near the junction of the North and South Platte, dated June 16, 1846, reports a favorable journey of four hundred and fifty miles from Independence, Missouri, with no forebod- ings of the terrible disasters so soon to burst upon them. At Fort Laramie a portion of the party cele- brated the Fourth of July. Thereafter the train passed unmolested upon its journey. George Donner was elected captain of the train at the Little Sandy river, on the 20th of July, 1846, from which act it took the name of 'Donner Party.'
"At Fort Bridger, then a mere trading post, the fatal choice was made of the route that led to such fearful disasters and tragic death. A new route via. Salt Lake, known as 'Hasting's Cut-off,' was recom- mended to the party as shortening the distance three hundred miles. After due deliberation the Donner party of eighty-seven souls-three having died-were indueed to separate from the larger portion of the train (which afterwards arrived in California in safety) aud commenced their journey by way of Hasting's Cut-off. They reached Weber river' near the head of the canyon in safety. From this point in their journey to Salt Lake, almost insurmountable difficulties were encountered, and instead of reaching Salt Lake in one week, as anticipated, over thirty days of perilous travel were consumed in making the trip-most pre- cious time in view of the danger imminent in the rapidly approaching storms of the winter. The story of their trials and sufferings in their journey to the fatal camp at Donner lake is terrible; nature and stern necessity seemed arrayed against them. On'the 19th of October, near the present site of Wadsworth, Nevada, the destitute company were happily re-provis- ioned by C. T. Stanton, furnished with food and mules, together with two Indian vaqueros, by Captain Sutter, without compensation.
"At the present site of Reno it was concluded to rest. Three or four days time was lost. This was
the fatal act. The storm-clouds were already brewing 'upon the mountains, only a few miles distant. The ascent was ominous. Thick and thicker grew the clouds, outstripping in threatening battalions the now eager feet of the alarmed emigrants, until, at Prosser creek, three miles below Truckee, October 28, 1846, a month earlier than usual, the storm set in, and they found themselves in six inches of newly-fallen snow. On the sunimit it was already from two to five feet deep. The party, in much confusion, finally reached Donner lake in disordered fragments. Frequent and desper- ate attempts were made to cross the mountain tops, but at last, baffled and despairing, they returned to camp at the lake. The storm now descended in all its pitiless fury upon the ill-fated emigrants. I.s dreadful import was well understood as laden with omens of suffering and death. With slight interrup- tions the storm continued for several days. The ani- mals were literally buried alive and frozen in the drifts. Meat was hastily prepared from their frozen carcasses, and cabins rudely built. One, the Schallenberger cabin, erected November, 1844, was already standing about a quarter of a mile below the lake. This the Breen family appropriated. The Murphys erected one three hundred yards from the lake, marked by a large stone twelve feet high. The Graves family built theirs near Donner creek, three-quarters of a mile further down the stream, the three forming the apex of a triangle ; the Breen and Murphy cabins were dis- tant from each other about one hundred and fifty yards. The Donner brothers, with their families, hastily constructed a brush shed in Alder creek valley, six or seven miles from the lake. Their provisions were speedily consumed, and starvation with all its grim attendant horrors stared the poor emigrants in the face. Day by day, with aching hearts and para- lyzed energies, they awaited, amid the beating storms of the Sierras, the dread revelation of the morrow, ' hoping against hope' for some welcome sign.
"On the 16th day of December, 1846, a party of seventeen were enrolled to attempt the hazardous journey over the mountains, to press into the valley for relief. Two returned, remaining fifteen, including Mary Graves and her sister, Mrs. Sarah Fosdick, and several other women, pressed on. The heroic C. T. Stanton and noble F. W. Graves (who left his wife and seven children at the lake to await his return) being the leaders. This was the 'Forlorn Hope Party,' over whose dreadful sufferings and disaster we must throw a veil. Death in the most awful form re duced the wretched company to seven-two men and five women -- when suddenly tracks were discovered im- printed in the snow. "Can any one imagine," says Mary Graves in her recital, "what joy these foot-
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
prints gave us? We ran as fast as our strength would carry us." Turning a sharp point they suddenly came to an Indian rancheria. The acorn-bread offered them by the kind and awe-stricken savages was eagerly devoured. But on they pressed with their Indian guides only to repeat their dreadful sufferings until at last, one evening about the last of January, Mr. Eddy with his Indian guide, preceding the party fifteen miles reached Johnson's ranch, on Bear river, the first settlement on the western slope of the Sierras, when relief was sent back as soon as possible, and the re- maining six survivors were brought in next day. It had been thirty-two days since they left Donner lake. No tongue could tell, no pen portray, the awful suffer- ing, the terrible and appalling straits, as well as the noble deeds of heroism that characterized this march of death. The eternal mountains, whose granite faces bore witness to their sufferings are fit monu- ments to mark the last resting-place of Charles T. Stanton, that cultured heroic soul, who groped his way through the blinding snow of the Sierras to immortal- ity. The divinest encomium-' He gave his life as a ransom for many'-is the epitaph, foreshadowed in his own noble words, 'I will bring aid to these fam- ishing people or lay down my life.'
" Nothing could be done, in the meantime, for the relief of the sufferers at Donner lake, without securing help from Fort Sutter, which was speedily accom- plished by John Rhodes. In a week, six men, fully provisioned, with Captain Reasin P. Tucker at their head, reached Johnson's ranch, and in ten or twelve days' time, with provisions, mules, etc., the first relief party started for the scene at Donner lake. It was a fearful undertaking, but on the morning of the 19th of February, 1847, the above party began the descent of the gorge leading to Donner lake.
" We have purposely thrown a veil over the dreadful sufferings of the stricken band left in their wretched hovels at Donner lake. Reduced to the verge of starvation, many died (including children, seven of whom were nursing babes), who, in this dreadful state of necessity, were summarily disposed of. Rawhides, moccassins, strings, etc., were eaten. But relief was now close at hand for the poor, stricken sufferers. On the evening of the 19th of February, 1847, the still- ness of death, that had settled upon the scene, was broken by the prolonged shouts. In an instant the painfully sensitive ears of the despairing watchers caught the welcome sound. Captain Tucker, with his relief party, had at last arrived upon the scene. Every face was bathed in tears, and the strongest men of the relief party melted at the appaling sight, sat down, and wept with the rest. But time was precious, as storms were imminent. The return party was quickly gath-
ered. Twenty-three members started, among them several women and children. Of this number two were compelled to return, and three perished on the jour- ney. Many hardships and privations were experienced, and their provisions were soon entirely exhausted. Death once more stared them in the face, and de- spair settled upon them. But assistance was near at hand. James F. Reed, who had preceded the Don- ner party by some months, suddenly appeared with the second relief party, on the 25th of February, 1847. The joy of the meeting was indescribable, especially between the family and the long absent father. Re- provisioned, the party pressed on, and gained their destination after severe suffering, with eighteen mem- bers, only three having perished. Reed continued his journey to the cabins at Donner lake. There the scene was simply indescribable ; starvation and disease were fast claiming their victims. March Ist, according to Breen's diary, Reed and his party reached the camp. Proceeding directly to his cabin, he was espied by his little daughter, who, with her sister, was carried back hy the previous party, and immediately recognized with a cry of joy. Provisions were carefully dealt out to the famishing people, and immediate steps were taken for the return. Seventeen composed this party. Half starved and completely exhausted, they were com- pelled to camp in the midst of a furious storm, in which Mr. Reed barely escaped with his life. 'This was 'Starved Camp,' and from this point Mr. Reed, with his two little children and another person, strug- gled ahead to obtain hasty relief, if possible.
" On the second day after leaving 'Starved Camp,' Mr. Reed and the three companions were overtaken by Cady and Stone, and on the night of the third day reached Woodworth's camp, at Bear valley, in safety. The horrors of Starved Camp beggar all description, indeed, require none. The third relief party, com- posed of John Stark, Howard Oakley, and Charles Stone, were nearing the rescue, while W. H. Foster and W. H. Eddy (rescued by a former party) were bent on the same mission. These, with Hiram Miller, set out from Woodworth's camp on the following morning after Reed's arrival. The eleven were duly reached, but were in a starving condition, and nine of the eleven were unable to walk. By the noble resolution and herculean efforts of John Stark, a part of the num- ber were borne and urged onward to their destination, while the other portion was compelled to remain and await another relief party. When the third relief party, under Foster and Eddy, arrived at Donner lake, the sole survivers of Alder creek were George Donner, the captain of the company, and his heroic and faith- ful wife, whose devotion to her dying husband caused her own death, during the last and fearful days of
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DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
waiting for the fourth relief. George Donner knew he was dying, and urged his wife to save her life and go with her little ones with the third relief, but she re- fused. Nothing was more heart-rending than her sad parting with her beloved little ones, who wound their childish arms lovingly around her neck, and besought her with mingled tears and kisses to join them. But duty prevailed over affection, and she retraced the weary distance to die with him whom she had promised to love and honor to the end. Such scenes of anguish are seldom witnessed on the sorrowing earth, and such acts of triumphant devotion are among the most golden deeds. The snowy cerements of Donner lake enshrouded in its stilly whiteness no purer life, no purer heart than Mrs. George Donner's. The terrible recitals that close this awful tragedy we willingly omit.
" The third relief party rescued four of the last five survivors ; the fourth and last relief party rescued the last survivor, Lewis Keseberg, on the 7th of April. Ninety names are given as members of the Donner party. Of these forty-two perished, six did not live to reach the mountains, and forty-eight survived. Twen- ty-six, and possibly twenty-eight, out of the forty-eight survivors are living to-day-several of them residing in San Jose, Calistoga, Los Gatos, Marysville, and in Oregon.
"Thus ends this narrative of horrors, without a par- allel in the annals of American history, of appaling disaster, fearful sufferings, heroic fortitude, self-denial and heroism."
About two weeks before the Donner party found the way across the mountains barred with snow, an- other emigrant train passed in safety ; among these emigrants were Claude Chana, now living at Wheat- land, Yuba county, and Charles Covillaud, one of the original proprietors of Marysville, who married Mary Murphy, of the Donner party, from whom the name of Marysville was derived. The widely different ex- periences of those two parties, in crossing the Sierras over the same mountain route, gives a striking illus- tration of the sudden changes that, inside of a few days, by means of one single storm, may appear in this region, and that traveling in, or over the moun- tains in the winter season, under any consideration, is a venturesome enterprise.
CHAPTER XIV. DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
Early Discoveries of Gold-J. S. Smith, of the American Fur Company-J. Ross Brown's Report to Congress-Baptiste Ruelle at San Fernando-James Dana, Mr. Greenhow, Dr. Santels-James W. Marshall-What Led to the Discovery,
and How it Happened-Communication of the Discovery to Sutter-Isaac Humphrey-Mormon Island-California Press in Regard to the Discovery-Don Andreas Pico's Exploring Expedition-Captain Charles M. Weber's Ex- pedition-Jonas Spect on the Yuba-Major P. B. Reading in the Northern Region-News of the Discovery of Gold Reache; Monterey-The Governor's Trip to the Mines -- Official Forwarding of the News to Washington-Table of Mining Products of California.
From the time that Cortez, in his letter to his mon- arch, Charles V of Spain, dated October 15, 1524, wrote that the great men of Colima had given him information of an island of amazons, or women only, abounding in pearls and gold, etc., through about three centuries the people of Spanish nationality, under Spanish as well as under Mexican government, were dreaming the golden dream, and the opinion that the country abounded in precious metals seems never to have died out entirely; but the realization of the dream did not come, and no gold or other metals had ever been discovered by the people of that nationality, and Mexico finally was satisfied with the trivial sum of $15,000,000 for the abdication of California and New Mexico, none of the peace-making parties having an idea of the richness of the country they were treating about, notwithstanding Marshall's dis- covery was actually made a short while before the meeting of the commissioners at Querataro.
The very first knowledge of precious metals was the discovery of silver at Avizal, in Monterey county, in 1802. The following letter is an important document, showing that Jedediah S. Smith was not only the first white man to come overland to California, but that to him is due the first discovery of gold in California :
"GENOA, CARSON VALLEY, { September 18th, 1860.
" EDMOND RANDOLPH, EsQ., S. F. :
"FRIEND RANDOLPH-I have just been reading your address before the Society of Pioneers. I have known of the J. S. Smith you mentioned, by reputa- tion, for many years. He was the first white man that ever went overland from the Atlantic States to Cali- fornia. He was the chief trader in the employ of the American Fur Company. At the rendezvous of the company on Green river, near the South Pass, in 1825, Smith was directed to take charge of a party of some forty men (trappers) and penetrate the country west of Salt Lake. He discovered what is now known as Humboldt river. He called it Mary's river, from his Indian wife, Mary. It has always been known as Mary's river by mountain men since-a name it should retain for many reasons.
"Smith pushed on down Mary's river, and being of an adventuresome nature, when he found his road closed by high mountains, determined to see what kind of a
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
country there was on the other side. It is not known exactly where he crossed the Sierra Nevada, but it is supposed that it must have been not far from where the old emigrant road crossed, near the head of the Truckee. He made his way southerly after entering the valley of the Sacramento, passed through San Jose and down as low as San Diego. After recruiting his party and purchasing a large number of horses he crossed the mountains near what is known as Walker's Pass, skirted the eastern shore of the mountains till near what is now known as Mono Lake, whence he steered an east-by-north course for Salt Lake. On this portion of his route he found placer gold in quan- tities, and brought much of it with him to the encamp- ment on Green river.
"The gold that he brought with him, together with his description of the country he had passed through, and the large amount of furs, pleased the agent of the American Fur Company so well that he directed Smith again to make the same trip, with special instruc- tions to take the gold fields on his return and thoroughly prospect them. It was on this trip that he wrote the letter to Father Duran. The trip was successful until they arrived in the vicinity of the gold mines, east of the mountains, where, in a battle with the Indians, Smith and nearly all his men were killed. A few of the party escaped and reached the encampment on Green river. This defeat damped the ardor of the company so much that they never looked any more for the gold mines.
"There are one or more men now living who can testify to the truth of the above statement, and who can give a fuller statement of the details of his two journeys.
"The man, Smith, was a man of far more than average ability, and had a better education than falls to the lot of the mountain men. Few, or none of them, were his equals in any respect.
" THOMAS SPRAGUE."
J. Ross Brown, in his report to Congress in 1867, says : "The existence of gold in California was known long before the acquisition of that territory by the United States. Placers had long been worked on a limited scale by the Indians, but the priests, who had established the missionary settlements, knowing that a discrimination of the discoveries thus made would frustrate their plans for the conversion of the aborigi- nal races, discouraged by all means in their power, the prosecution of this pursuit, and in some instances suppressed it by force. As early as December, 1843, however, Manuel Castanares, a Mexican officer made strenuous efforts to arouse the attention of the Mexi- can government to the importance of this great interest."
At San Isidor, in San Diego county, gold was dis- covered in 1828, and another discovery of the same metal followed in the western limits of Santa Clara county, in 1833. Gold placers were known as early as 1841 near the mission of San Fernando, about fifty-five miles to the northeast of Los Angeles, by a French Canadian named Baptiste Ruelle, for a many years a trapper. He had found his way into New Mexico where he learned to work the placer mines. From there he continued his trip to California, where he made the above mentioned discovery. These mines, though worked by half a hundred men, did not prove rich enough to attract attention. In rare instances nuggets were found weighing an ounce, but the average wages did not exceed twenty-five cents a day per hand. Those mines were still worked in 1845, when Dr. John Townsend and General John Bidwell visited the camp, but the work was unpro- gressive ; the gravel banks in three and one-half years constant work had been penetrated little more than twenty-five feet. Baptiste Ruelle came to Sutter's fort in 1844, and stayed there until 1848. The gold ex- citement drove him to the mines again where he, after Humphrey, was the first experienced miner at Coloma, and hundreds of miners learned from him the use of pan and rocker ; but after a short time he settled on Feather river, above the Honcut and lived there till the time of his death.
In 1842, James Dana, the well-known geologist, visited the coast accompanying the Wilkes' Exploring Expedition, and wrote about the discoveries as follows : "The gold rocks and veins of quartz were observed by the author in 1842, near the Umpqua river, in Southern Oregon, and pebbles from similar rock were met with along the shores of the Sacramento in Cali- fornia, and the resemblance to other gold districts was remarked, but there was no opportunity of exploring the country at the time."
And Mr. Greenhow, writing in 1844, says : "The only mine as yet discovered in Upper California is one of gold, situated at the foot of the great westernmost range of the mountains, on the west, at a distance of twenty-five miles from Los Angeles, the largest town in the country, it is said to be of extraordinary rich- ness." This undoubtedly refers to the above-men- tioned mines near Sar: Fernando, the distance from Los Angeles having been given to the writer some- what short.
In 1843, Sutter's fort was visited by a young Swedish scholar, Dr. Santels, known as the "King's Orphan," on account of having been educated at a government institution of Sweden, which education bore with others the requirement of traveling in for- eign lands for a certain period of time, and to write
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DISCOVERY OF . GOLD.
out his observations, etc., to be deposited in the library of that institution. In pursuance of that duty the young Swede, by means of an ocean vessel, found his way to California, made drawings of the Golden Gate, the town of Yerba Buena and the old Presidio, from where he visited Sutter's fort and made a sketch and description of the same ; but on his way home he died at New Orleans. His papers fell into the hands of T. B. Thorpe, who reported them to the Associated Pioneers of the territorial days of Califor- nia. After having finished his examination trip through the country this gentleman wrote in 1843:
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