USA > California > El Dorado County > Historical souvenir of El Dorado County, California : with illustrations and biographical setches of its prominent men & pioneers > Part 15
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" July 5th, 1848, we commenced our journey toward the mines, and reached, after a hot and dusty ride, Mormon Island.
" When Colonel Mason and party reached Mormon Island, they found about three hundred Mormons there at work ; most of them were discharged soldiers from the Mexican war. General Robert Allen raised a bat- talion of five companies of Mormons at Kanesville, Iowa, now Council Bluffs, early in 1846 ; Allen died on the way and was succeeded by Cooke ; these were discharged at Los Angeles early in the summer of 1847, and most of them went to their people at Salt Lake, but some remained in California-and as soon as the fame of the discovery of gold spread, the Mor- mons naturally went to Mormon Island. Clark, of Clark's Point, one of the elders, was there also, and nearly all of the Mormons who had come out in the sailing vessel Brooklyn, which left New York in 1845, with Sam Brannan as leader. Sam Brannan was on hand as the high-priest, collecting the tithes. As soon as the news spread that the governor was there, per- sons came to see us, and volunteered all kinds of in- formation, illustrating it by samples of the gold, which was of a uniform kind-scale gold, bright and beauti- ful. I remember that Mr. Clark was in camp talking to Colonel Mason about matters and things generally, when he inquired: 'Governor, what business has Sam Brannan to collect the tithes here?' Clark admitted that Brannan was the head of the Mormon church in California. Colonel Mason answered : ‘ Brannan has a perfect right to collect the tithes, if you Mormons are fools enough to pay the tax.' 'Then,' said Clark, ' I, for one, won't pay any longer.' And Colonel Ma- son added : "This is public land, and the gold is the property of the United States ; all of you are tres- passers, but as the government is benefitted by your getting out the gold I do not intend to interfere.' I
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
understood afterward, that from that time the payment of the tithes ceased, but Brannan had already col- lected enough to hire Sutter's hospital and to open a store there, in which he made more money than any merchant in California during that summer and fall.
" The next day we continued our journey and reached Coloma, the place where gold had been first discovered, about noon. Only few miners were at work there, by reason of Marshall and Sutter's claim to the site. There stood the saw-mill unfinished, the dam and tail-race just as they were left when the Mor- mons ceased work. Marshall and his family of wife and half a dozen tow-headed children were there, liv- ing in a house made of clapboards.
" Here, also, we were shown many specimens of gold, of a coarser grain than that found at Mormon Island. We crossed the American river to its north side, and visited many small camps of men in what were called the ' dry diggings.' Some of these diggings were extremely rich; sometimes a lucky fellow would hit on a 'pocket,' and collect several thousand dollars in a few days ; and then again would be shifting about from place to place 'prospecting,' and spending all he had made. Little stores were being opened at every point, where flour, bacon, etc., were sold-everything being a dollar a pound, and a meal usually cost three dollars. Nobody paid for a bed, for he slept on the ground, without fear of cold or rain.
" As soon as we had returned from our visit to the gold mines, to Monterey, it became important to send home positive knowledge of this valuable discovery. The means of communication with the United States were very precarious, and I suggested to Colonel Ma- son that a special courier ought to be sent ; that Sec- ond-Lieutenant Loeser had been promoted to first- lieutenant, and was entitled to go home. He was ac- cordingly detailed to carry the news. I prepared with great care the letter to the adjutant-general, of August 17th, 1848, which Colonel Mason modified in a few particulars ; and, as it was important to send not only the specimens which had been presented to us along our route of travel, I advised the colonel to allow Captain Folsom to purchase and send to Washington a large sample of the commercial gold in general use, and to pay for the same out of the money in his hands, known as the 'Civil fund,' arising from the du- ties collected at the several ports in California. He consented to this, and Captain Folsom bought an oyster can full, at ten dollars an ounce, which was the rate of value at which it was then received at the cus- tom-house. Folsom was further instructed to contract with some vessel to carry the messenger to South America, where he could take the English steamer as far east as Jamaica, with a conditional charter, giving
increased pay if the vessel would catch the October steamer. Folsom chartered the bark La Lambayecana, owned and navigated by Henry D. Cooke, who has since been the governor of the District of Columbia. In due time this vessel reached Monterey, and Lieut. Loeser, with his report and specimens of gold, em- barked and sailed. He reached the South American continent at Payta, Peru, in time, took the English steamer of October to Panama, and thence went on to Kingston, Jamaica, where he found a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans. On reaching New Orleans, he telegraphed to the War Department his arrival ; but so many delays had occurred, that he did not reach Washington in time to have the matter embraced in the President's regular message of 1848, as we had calculated. Still, the President made it the subject of a special message, and thus became official what had before reached the world only in a very indefinite shape. Then began that great development and the emigration to California, by land and by sea, of 1849 and 1850."
The estimated production of gold in the United States from 1848 to 1873 is, $1,240,750,000, of which California contributed $1,083,075,000, as the follow- ing table shows in detail :
From 1848 to 1852 $147,000,000
In 1852 1853
68,000,000
" 1854
1855 64,000,000
59,000,000
1856 63,000,000
1857 61,000,000
1858. 59,000,000
1859 59,000,000
1860.
52,000,000
1861 50,000,000
1862 51,500,000
1863 50,000,000
1864 35'000,000
1865. 35,000,000
1866. 26,000,000
25,000,000
1868
22,000,000
1869
22,500,000
1870.
25,000,000
6.
1871.
20,000,000
1872
19,049,000
1873.
18,025,722
1874. 20,300,531
1875 17,753,151
1876 18,615,807
1877 18,174,716
1778 18,920,461
" 1879
18, 190,973
1880
18,276,166
1867
59,000,000
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ROUTES OF IMMIGRANTS.
Blake gives the following table of the gold-yield of the world, for the year 1867:
California .
$25,000,000
Nevada
6,000,000
Oregon and Washington Territory 3,000,000
Idaho
5,000,000
Montana I2,000,000
Arizona.
500,000
New Mexico
300,000
Colorado
2,000,000
Utah and Appalach
2,700,000
Total for the United States $56,500,000
British Columbia
$ 2,000,000
Canada and Nova Scotia
560,000
Mexico
1,000,000
Brazil.
1,000,000
Chili
500,000
Bolivia
300,000
Peru
500,000
Venezuela, Columbia, Cuba, St. Domingo
3,000,000
Australia .
31,000,000
New Zealand.
6,000,000
Russia .
15,000,000
Austria
1,175,000
Spain
8,000
Italy
95,000
France.
80,000
Great Britain
12,000
Africa
900,000
Borneo and East India
5,000,000
China, Japan, etc
5,000,000
Great Total
$130,180,000
CHAPTER XV.
THE ROUTES OF IMIGRANTS TO CALIFORNIA AND HOW THEY ARRIVED.
Geographical Locations of Both Californias-California's Size and Population-Pacific Mail and Steamship Company- Different Ways and Routes to go to California-Forming Companies-Old Material to start a new Business with- What Emigrants took along with Them-The First Steam- boat on the Sacramento River-The Edward Everett Gold Mining Company -- The Different Traveled Routes in Regard to the Difficulties-On the Overland Roads-On the Isth- mus -- John Conness on Board the Sylph Arrived in San Francisco by the way of Ecuador-Number that Arrived al San Francisco.
Peninsular or Lower California lying between the gulf ana the ocean is about one hundred and thirty miles in breadth where joining the continent at the
north, under the 32d parallel, and nearly the same lati- tude with Savannah, Georgia; thence running south eastward, diminishing in breadth and terminating in two points, the one, Cape San Lucas, in nearly the same latitude with Havanna, the other at Cape Palmo, sixty miles northeast, at the entrance of the gulf.
Continental California extends along the Pacific from the 32d parallel, where it joins the peninsula, about seven hundred miles, to the Oregon line, nearly in the latitude of Boston. The Mexican government con- sidered the 42d parallel as the northern line of Cali- fornia, according to a treaty with the United States in 1828. The Golden Gate, the entrance channel to San Francisco harbor, is located under the same lati- tude as the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay and the Straits of Gibraltar.
California embraces an area of 188,981 square miles or 120,947,840 acres. This gives her the second place of all the States in the Union; so far as popula- tion is concerned, with her 864,686 inhabitants, (ac- cording to the census of 1880) she takes the twenty- fourth place between the States. The magnitude of the State will be more readily comprehended by comparing her with Great Britain. California will be found 78,235 square miles larger than the United Kingdom. Of the total population of 864,686, there are 518,271 males, 346,415 females; 572,006 are native Americans, 292,680 foreigners; 767,266 are white, and 97,420 colored.
Before the discovery of gold in California, as early as March, 1847, Congress had proposed a mail route from New York to Astoria via the Isthmus of Panama, with semi-monthly trips on the Atlantic side and monthly trips on the Pacific side, with San Francisco destined to be one of the way ports, California being then quite sure to become a part of the United States. An annual subsidy of $200,000 was offered to a responsible party who would take the contract, but capital seemed to be scarce, or kept back from the enterprise on account of the probably low profit, and a full year passed away before Messrs. Howland and Aspinwall, as the principal capitalists, in April, 1848, formed the Pacific Mail SteamshipCompany, taking the government's contract. They immediately went on to
construct three new steamers. The discovery of gold then was not yet known in the East, the plan for these boats was drawn as for mail and freight transportation only, passengers not being provided for. They were finished as cheaply as possible, in just economy with the profits that possibly could be expected out of the speculation. These steamers were the California, the Oregon and the Panama, and they were to run on the Pacific side from the Isthmus to Oregon.
Just in time the news of the great discovery in Cal-
1
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
ifornia had arrived East and began to scatter around, showing to such a clear-headed speculator like Aspin- wall that there was something, if not a million in it, and urging upon him the necessity of changing the plan of his three steamers, then under construction. This was immediately done. and their completion hurried on. No sooner than one of them had been completed and equipped was she sent out on her voy- age by the way of Magellan Straits for the Pacific ocean and San Francisco. The first to arrive at this latter port on February 28th, was the California, the Oregon followed on March 31st, and the Panama entered San Francisco harbor on June 4, 1849. Thus was opened up a new route to the El Dorado of the Pacific coast.
Since the St. Louis newspapers, in 1840, had pub- lished the glowing description of California, out of Dr. Marsh's pen, this country, just far enough distant to become a field for the golden dreams of many a ro- mantic youth ; publications like Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," and the Wilke's exploring expedi- tion, had nourished this feeling, and some returned whaler had helped and aided in his circle with his de. scriptions, that the romance did not die out. Now, then, this land appeared again in a new dress, "cov- ered with gold," and letters filled with gold dust had arrived together with more inviting descriptions and urgent invitations by friends. The romance had de- veloped into reality and the attraction grew to an irre- sistible strength, the youth talented with romantic fancy filled the ranks of the adventurers, ready with the next chance to start for the newly ac- quired American province, the new El Dorado, where everybody could help himself to as much of the precious metal as he pleased, without the investment of a great capital. And the only question to be settled by these fresh made adventurers was to decide by what route they could reach their far destination the quickest. According to the home location, those liv_ ing on or near the Atlantic ocean found it most con- venient to go by water, either all the way around Cape Horn, or by the way of Central America, cross- ing the Isthmus at Panama, at Nicaragua, or across Mexico ; while those of the Western States mostly preferred to go the entire distance by land across the And now to say what all was going along with these vessels, besides the passengers, one could hardly imagine anything that these smart Yankees had forgot- ten. Many of the adventurers who were trying to make fortunes on this coast had an idea that this country was lacking of everything, and they brought with them all the necessities of life; all the imple- ments, tools and machinery for starting most every plains, where several routes afforded the way to the Pacific coast : the Santa Fe route, or generally called the Santa Fe trail, via the Arkansas valley to the Rio Grande, then through Sonora to the Rio Gila, and crossing the Colorado river to enter California from the south-eastern part; or the route Fremont had taken, up the Platte river, through the South Pass of the Rocky mountains, through Utah, passing by Fort Hall, follow- | trade ; supplies were taken along to open stores of ing the Humboldt and Carson rivers towards the every description ; printing presses and all the sup-
central part of the Sierra Nevada. Here the Carson pass leading down into El Dorado county was the most preferred one; another favored pass was following up the Truckee river, crossing on the summit to Bear river ridge and tracing down the latter river. Another route across the plains took a more northerly direc- tion, and passed over the Sierra Nevada by the Pitt river route, or Lassen's Cut-off, to enter California in the northern part.
However trustful everyone was of his own success, there were certainly few strong minded enough to set out on the expedition alone-dependent on their own strength and good luck; all others not in possession of such amount of self-confidence attached them- selves to a larger body of men, or formed a company for their own protection and satisfaction; this being a neces- sity for the travel overland, it was an attribute of the travel by sea giving an agreeable comfort. But the de- pendency in this direction as well as other necessary preparations, absorbed, with most of them, too much time to allow them to move on immediately, as the sea- son was too far advanced, thus giving better opportunity for preparations and for making proselites for the em- igration, to start on the journey as early as spring would allow the moving. The seaport cities as well as the frontier post of the far west, early in 1849, became the redezvous places of thousands of people, and their assemblage and the purpose for which they came, gave birth to many hitherto unknown branches of in- dustry at these places. Here all the old horses, mules, oxen and cows, together with old wagons of every de- scription, were brought to these fitting-out stations and found a ready market and sale ; the emigrants on their journey being compelled to pay the highest prices for all things of necessity. There, old vessels, laid up for years, and half rotten, or forgotten entirely at their moorings, were brought to life again ; a new coppering and other most necessary repairing was done as fast as possible, the vessel fitted up as a pas- senger boat and advertised as a fast sailing vessel in best order, awaiting passengers for California, and every one of them were filled with passengers who were willing to risk the old crafts, being all anxious to reach the far destination as fast as possible.
69
ROUTES OF IMMIGRANTS.
plemental parts, to bring the blessings of the news to the new country, whole houses, in all their parts, ready to be put up; one wing of Mrs. Perry's hotel at Salmon Falls, El Dorado county, came around Cape Horn- we could state a good many more, but this one exam- ple may suffice ; more thoughtful people went on to invent machines for washing gold and sold them to the adventurers, who stowed them in with the other baggage to make use of when arriving at the El Do- ado. One party, made up as the "Ganargwa Mining Company," among other curiosities were accom- panied by a coining press, with steel dies, for the coin- ing of five and ten dollar gold pieces ; for what could they do with all the gold that they expected to dig without being coined ? And even the first steamboat ever run on the Sacramento river was imported that way by the excited adventurers. We give the follow- ing from a Boston newspaper, published as a " Recol- lection of the late Edward Everett"," the writer of the article calls himself one of the party :
" In the month of December, 1848, a party of ad- venturers numbering one hundred and fifty, from all the New England States, became infected with the gold fever, which raged then extensively all over the coun- try, in consequence of discovering the precious metal in California. These men formed a company and purchased a ship called the Edward Everett, and named their company 'The Edward Everett Mining Company.' The shares were three hundred dollars each, and no person could hold more than one share, because the company wanted strength-not orna- mental members. After the shares were allotted, and the ship purchased, it was suggested that Mr. Everett should be notified of the compliment the company had paid him, and that we should be happy if he would give us any information respecting the country we were about to visit, and the art of mining. The hint was acted upon, and in a few days we received a letter from Mr. Everett, in which he stated that, with facts and docu- ments we desired, he had forwarded us a choice lot of books, the perusal of which he hoped we would find interesting during our long passage to the new El Dorado. There were about a hundred and fifty vol- umes. embracing Prescott's, Bancroft's Sparks' and other standard works ; besides several text books rel- ative to mining, some pamphlets regarding the climate, soil and geology of California, and works that gave a very distinct account of the early settlement of the Jesuits, and the manner in which they had extended their influence by the aid of Missionaries and Christi- anity among the Indians.
"After a six months' passage we arrived in California, moored our ship along the mud banks of Benicia and there built a steamboat with the material which we
had purchased in Boston. It was a flat-bottomed boat, and a clumsy affair, but it was propelled by the aid of steam and with paddle wheels, and that speci- men of our work we named Edward Everett, Jr. This steamer was the first one that ever navigated the Sac- ramento river ; and it should be known in history that through the kindness of Edward Everett, the orator and statesman, the one hundred and fifty adventurers were proud to place his name on the sides of their rude craft, a wonder in those days, when only sailing vessels ascended the river."
Thus the early gold-hunters started out on their voyage provided with everything the boldest imagina- tion could think of ; equipped, not as the law directed quite, but as the inclination dictated them. The trip around Cape Horn was tiresome and absorbed much time; but, after all, the travelers that took their choice of this route found that they had done the best, and in most every line of comparison the ad- vantage was on their side. They made a continuous progress, and after having sailed around Cape Horn they did not need to worry themselves; they pro- ceeded toward their destination, where they arrived - fresh and strong, having their outfit right on hand in the hold of the same vessel. The overland travelers starting with insufficient knowledge of their own necessities as well as the character of the country they had to traverse, had their wagons loaded down to the utmost with not much less of all kinds of stuff than the former class, soon enough found themselves con- cerned with difficulties, and experience was the mas- ter that taught them the right way. Most of the emi- grants were overloaded with provisions to such an ex- tent that it soon became a burden to them and their pulling animals; but short, they resolved to throw the burden overboard, and as others followed the same example, there could be found along the different emigrant roads piled up like cord-wood, all different articles of food, particularly hams, bacon and flour- barrels, and on more difficult points of the roads there were wagons loaded with goods left behind, on ac- count of an insufficiency of pulling animals, those from the abandoned wagons being required more necessary for the balance of the rigging. From the Missouri river to the passes in the Rocky moun- tains there were but little difficulties out of natural causes, the road leading continuously sloping up to- wards the mountains; but in crossing the mountains an amount of difficulties were to overcome that none of them had thought of before. But the emigrants of 1849, having toiled with their wagons over un- known plains and wild mountains across, the sandy and alkali deserts, learning by experience many de- vices for passing successfully the most serious obsta
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
cles. Zigzag trails had to be cut on the too steep hillsides to facilitate the passage of pack animals, and even of light wagons, and the rudiments of some of them may be found to the present time, though over- grown with lichen and ferns as well as all kinds of chaparral ; oftentimes wagons had to be taken down by ropes, or by attaching limbs of trees as a drag to enlarge the friction and thus break or retard the speed or pressure.
The number of emigrants from the Western States that set out in the spring of 1849, during the months of April, May and June, on their travel across the plains can only be approximately estimated, varying between 50,000 and 80,000, organized in com- panies numbering from about a dozen up to several hundred, most of them men, comparatively few women and children accompanying their husbands and fathers to the new country. Most of the emigrants, coming by the Santa Fe route, went to the southern mines ; those entering the territory by the Pitt river route went to the northern part ; the Truckee river pass led down to the mines on Bear, Yuba and neighboring rivers ; and the Carson rass brought those hunting the El Dorado down to the American river, and being satisfied here, they called it El Dorado. A third route to reach the El Dorado on the Pacific coast was by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and the emigrants who had selected the same, without any doubt calcu- lating on the shortest and cheapest way, found they had made a miscalculation, and were in the worst con- dition of all the emigrants ; for after being landed at Chagres, Navy Bay, or some other harbor, together with their baggage and eventually other outfit, they had to go across the Isthmus either afoot or on mule's back and await the arrival of the next steamer. Thus from 5,000 to 8,000 American emigrants were com- pelled to take involuntary lodgings up to the time when their chances would turn up to move further on, and not being accustomed to the tropical climate, ma- larial fever, cholera, etc., were ravaging badly in their ranks, and only the ardent desire to reach the land of such extravagant reports and so favorable promises could keep the minds of most of them upright. But the few steamers (only two were running yet on the Pacific ocean) could not give passage to one-fourth of the people arriving every week, the price for tickets run up immensely, and as comparatively few of the emi- grants had been wise and precautious enough to pro- vide themselves with through tickets to San Francisco, there was a good chance for other vessels that hap- pened to be around in this ocean. Vessels of every description came flocking into Panama harbor to get their share of this travel; unloading their cargo if necessary and making some arrangements for the
transportation of passengers-all ready to be either chartered or sold to a company of emigrants.
John Conness, now of Boston, but for years a citizen of El Dorado county, with many other future promi- nent citizens of this State, took passage on May 9th, 1849, on board the whaler-ship Sylph, Captain Francis Gardiner, of Fairhaven, and arrived at San Francisco, California, after an involuntary visit to the port of Tacamas, Republic of Ecuador, about 55 miles north of the equator, on July 26t.1, 1849.
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