USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
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which the bluff where Maroon's house, Judge Palm- er's, and others are situated, is a relic. . This piling up of fine quicksand, must also have been the work of ages. It will be obvious to any one, that a slight difference either in the obstruction in carrying off of the debris from the mountains above, or an increase in the erosive and carrying power of the mountain streams, would produce a change in the lines of deposit in the valley.
It might have occurred by a change of channel, as there is much to show that the Mokelumne river has occupied various channels; for instance, it once ran through Story's chain south of the bluff through which he tunneled; also, at the Metzer ranch, it ran in a channel north of the present one. The next change was the erosion of the present channel and the wearing away of a large portion of the bluff, leaving the flat where the town was standing in 1860, now covered with alfalfa patches, vineyards and orchards. What a period of time to contemplate! Yet all these changes are recorded in rocky bluffs around the town, in such characters that all may read who wish to. One step will lead to another until the whole will be like an open book.
After this somewhat lengthy digression, the bluffs may claim attention. The claims were very rich. In many instances the proceeds of a week's drifting would pay the whole expense of opening. The first to go down met with a great amount of water. It was feared for some time that the water could not be controlled, but when several companies began to work, the water was so reduced that it gave but lit- tle trouble. William Cook had a claim which paid a hundred dollars a week to the man. Kidd, Porter & Lyman had a claim near where Judge Palmer's residence now is, which paid even better than that. Krail, Perkins & Barnett also had a good claim in the same vicinity. The Murray brothers, Wad- dell brothers, Phil. Kennedy, McCarty & Hinkley, Christie, English & McIntyre, Walters, John Cook, Calvin Cole, also mined on the bluff with success, as did many others. The mines on the hill north-east of the town were also discovered about this time and many moderate fortunes were made. This place was called
CHAPARRAL HILL.
Miner Frink, afterwards member of the Assembly, Joseph Cochran, Mat. Leary, Patrick O'Keefe, Ned and Jerry McGraw, Geo. Wagner, who was Asso- ciate Judge and member of the Assembly, etc., Joe Hall, Geo. Sitzer and brother (the latter being killed in his mine), Tom Love and Joe Clark (fighting Joe), all had good claims here. The town began to grow. Restaurants, saloons, breweries, stores, hotels, and other institutions common to California mining towns, also came and flourished as long as the mines lasted. Several substantial buildings, made of fine sandstone resembling granite, with fire-proof shut- ters and doors, still attest the prosperity of the years of the bluff diggings. Main street, running towards
_the river, had the best buildings and largest stores, some of which would do credit to a city. Among these were those of J. W. D. Palmer & Co., John Cook, William Cook, Holman & Co., Nye & Co. The building of the Cooks was removed to Buena Vista some five or six years ago and the place mined out by Chinamen. Palmer & Co. were at the foot of the street nearest the river. Chinatown, also a large settlement, was between Main street and the river. From Palmer's present store to the bluff was a solid line of buildings. The bluff was also laid off into streets and was considerably built up, as was the hill north of the town. In its best days Lancha Plana had perhaps a thousand inhabitants. During this period many shafts were sunk in the hills around Lancha Plana. A line of holes were sunk north- ward towards the Boston ranch to connect with the French Camp lead. In some places considerable gold was found, and the blue clay above the gravel led the miners to think they had discovered the Blue Lead. The blue clay was eventually found to indi- cate coal. Many of the prospectors sunk through the half-charred, half-decayed piles of drift-wood and encountered noxious gases, destructive to life. In one of these shafts near the big reservoir, a man, on going down, was overcome and fell insensible to the bottom of the shaft. Men had been crushed by fall- ing banks of earth and had met death in various ways, but the fire-damp was a new fiend, and when it was known that a man was killed with it, and that his body could not be recovered, the whole popula- tion left their work for the scene of the accident.
The shaft was about one hundred feet deep, and the pile of dirty, black, decayed vegetable material, with a disagreeable smell, indicated too well the nature of the gas which had destroyed the man's life. Dr. Tillson, a druggist, asserted that he could saturate a handkerchief with a liquid that would render the gas innocuous. Thus assured, a man vol- unteered to go down slung in a rope, so that in case of being overcome, he could be hauled out before fatal results should happen. He succeeded in fasten- ing a rope to the body, and it was hoisted to the surface. Life was of course extinct, as the body had been in the shaft some hours.
A tunnel was run under Alum peak all the way in a coal formation. A man by the name of Packard ran a tunnel into the hill in which the Waddell broth- ers afterwards developed a coal mine. The nature of this deposit is fully treated in the chapter on coal. Suffice it to say here that probably Lancha Plana has the largest and best deposit in the county.
Lancha Plana had its largest population about 1860. At this time the Dispatch, now of Jackson, was running here under the charge of Heckendorn & Payne, and was quite a lively paper. From 1865 the town gradually decayed. The population left after the working out of the bluffs; the houses fell to ruins or were removed, and for many years the voting population has been less than one hundred.
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
The vines and trees make a nearly successful effort to cover up the scars caused by mining.
Among the first to develop the fruit business, were A. F. Northrup and Captain Kid. The former had an orchard on the flat, where Mat Murray's claim now is, early as 1859. In 1861 it became quite a place of resort, and was the source of much profit. The extraordinary productiveness of the land, as well as the excellent quality of the fruit raised, induced a great many to embark in that business. For some miles down the river as well as at Lancha Plana, fruit has for many years formed a heavy item in the production. Kientz, Lucas, Foster, De- Bolt, Northrup, Goodings, Van Zant, Bamert and others, have places noted for fine fruit.
PUT'S BAR.
This was discovered in 1853 by Putnam, now resid- ing at lone. It was a "wage-claim," never having been very rieb, though in 1855 to 1860 it had several hundred miners, mostly Chinamen. In an early day it was found to be good for raising watermelons, in fact, a "bonanza." Old Man Borden, as he was called, would bring them into market on the Fourth of July and get a great price for them. This was weeks earlier than Ione valley could do it, and eventually the river melons monopolized the market. A large vineyard was planted by Palmer and Woolsey below Put's Bar, but owing to the depression in the wine business, it was mostly dug up some years since. Table grapes have been found to be the most profita- ble. The quantity of ground suited either to the wine or table grape, is unlimited.
OVERFLOWS.
Lancha Plana and vicinity have suffered some from overflows. In 1861-62 the Mokelumne river rose nearly thirty feet, sweeping off the bridge between Laneba Plana and Poverty Bar and burying up the fine peach orchard owned by A. F. Northrup. The river took a "shear " against Poverty Bar, on the opposite side, and wore away nearly all the ground on which the town stood. Stores, dwellings, and barns, one after another, would be undermined and tumble into the stream, taking passage for the tules around Stockton. The town never recovered from the blow. Lancha being on bigber ground, escaped.
THE BONITA AFFAIR.
This occurrence was on the south side of the river, and, consequently, in Calaveras county; but, as the people engaged in it were from both sides, it is prop- erly a matter of record in this book. In 1852, during the flush times in the vicinity of Lancha Plana, the miners received notice that a greaser was to be hung; and a large number of men, perhaps a thousand, soon came together. The crime of which the Mexican boy was said to be guilty was of unmitigated atroc- ity. A Portuguese family in the vicinity had a beau- tiful little girl, four or five years of age, named Bonita, who was a general favorite with the miners.
Every one had a kind word for her, which she repaid with loving smiles. One day it was announced that she was lost. A general search was instituted, and the hills, ravines, thickets, and old shafts, in the neighborhood, were thoroughly searched. The worst fears with regard to her were realized. After some hours' search she was found in a thicket, insen- sible, with every appearance of having been outraged. Some way, suspicion was fastened on a Mexican boy of twenty or such a matter, who had formerly been in the employ of the father of the child. He had been seen fondling the child but a short time before her disappearance. Suspicion soon turned to accusation, and that to conviction, for the crime was of such a character that few men could remain cool enough to listen to reason. There was sense of justice enough to give the form of a trial, and a jury of twelve men was selected, ostensibly to try the accused, but really to confirm the popular verdict of guilty. Only a portion of the names can be recol- leeted : A. Norton and Jefferson Tarr, of Amador county; Alfred Small, Captain Allen, and Captain Knowlton, residences unknown; and B. S. E. Will- iams, now in the employ of the Central Pacific Railroad at Oakland. A man by the name of Beaty volunteered to act as counsel for the accused .. The jury sat around a miner's table, under a large tree, the spectators crowding around and interfer- ing very much with the comfort and deliberations of the jury. The " Steubenville boys" were anxious to commence the hanging, and impatiently waited the taking of the testimony, and the deliberations of the jury. The voluntary attorney, Beaty, proceeded to cross-question the witnesses after the usual man- ner of lawyers. One of the "Steubenville boys" backed up and took what they call the rump lock on him, i. e., took him by the seat of his broadcloth pants and dragged bim, squirming and kicking, out of the court, leaving a vacancy in the covering of his rear part which compelled a hauling off to repair damages. This rough though comical treatment of the law- yer was not unacceptable to the jury, who were per- fectly competent to question the witnesses for them- selves, and had been rather annoyed by his officious conduct.
As the trial proceeded, it appeared that there was no evidence to prove the connection of the boy with the outrage; that he was asleep on a porch during the time of the absence of Bonita, though he joined in the hunt after the alarm was raised, and they brought in a verdict of "not guilty." This was not what the crowd had come for. They had come to see a hanging and meant to see it too, especially the Steubenville boys. One of their number had been killed by a Mexican, not long before, in an affray in a dance house, and they were ready to hang all greasers on the slightest excuse. The crowd soon began to boil. The larger part had been partaking freely of whisky, and were in no mood to listen to reason or be thwarted. Some of the jurors
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(who, by the way, had early become alarmed at the quantities of whisky which had been drunk, and resolved to drink nothing and were consequently sober), were roughly handled. Captain Knowlton was knocked down for asserting the innocence of the boy. It was now evident that a first-class riot was impending. It was hundreds maddened with whisky against dozens only of sober men. The sober men stood around the intended victim, and protested against the hanging. A proposition was made to give him a new examination before Dr. Brusie, the Justice at Winters' Bar. The doctor was a man high in the esteem of the community. This brought a few more men to the side of the jurymen. Taking advantage of an opening in the crowd, the boy was hustled into a wagon and hurried away to Winters' Bar, and an examination commenced; but the crowd soon came up, more violent than before. Though the evidence against the boy amounted to nothing, it was evident to the Justice that the only chance to save his life was to send him to jail. A powerful man by the name of Cunningham was deputized to take charge of him. It was now getting nearly night, and the rioters feared they were about to lose their prey. Some dozen or more, among whom was Tom Love, resolved to drag him out and shoot him, and with drawn pistols rushed into the crowd. The boy retreated behind the burly form of Dr. Brusie, who was thus placed in an interesting situation. He was thoroughly aroused by this time. Shaking his fist in the faces of the rioters, he shouted: "I will have you all arrested for this." Though so many pistols were pointed towards him in the effort to cover the boy, the mob had no intention of kill- ing him. They rather admired his pluck, knowing him to be in the line of his duty, and furthermore, to have injured him would have arrayed the whole country against them. Two of the mob succeeded in getting the boy, and were leading him out, a man on each side, when the drawn pistols pointing towards them caused one of the men to let go the boy, who immediately swung to the rear of the other man who was holding him, crying to Manuel, the father of the girl: "Shoot him! shoot him!" At this point of the affair, Williams, who had from the first to the last used every effort to save the boy's life, shoved him into the crowd, so that to shoot would endanger the life of the rioters, as well as others. Cunningham now tried to get the boy away. A scuffle ensued and Cunningham was thrown to the ground. While the attention of the crowd was engaged, two men, Williams being one, rushed the boy over the bank of the river, which here was ten or twelve feet high, got him out of sight, and conducted him to a store owned by a man by the name of Waters, who con- cealed him in a back room. When the row over Cunningham had subsided, and the would-be exe- cutioners had time to look around, the intended victim was gone. It was now moonlight and a search was made. Dr. Brusie had deputized Waters
to take the boy away to Mokelumne Hill, which he intended to do the next morning; but a party of the rioters getting on his trail, and shortly after- ward entering his store, he took the boy out through a rear entrance and safely made his way with him to Mokelumne Hill, where he was detained until the session of a Grand Jury, when, no evidence appear- ing against him, he was set at liberty.
INDIAN WAR.
This affair occurred in the Summer of 1859. A large number of Indians, variously estimated at from three to six hundred, had been holding a fandango or war dance, on the hill north of the town. Some were from the northern part of the county, some from Calaveras, and quite a large number from Tuolumne. The festivities were mostly over, and many of the Indians had gone. An American, not mueh above an Indian in appearance, and, probably, far below one in character, elaimed a horse which one of the Indians had in his possession. The Indian declined giving it up, alleging that he had bought it of the white man, which, on inquiry, afterwards proved to be true, or, at least, had won it in a game of cards. The white man employed Miles Hunts- man, the Constable, to get the horse for him. It does not seem that the Constable had any writ to replevy the horse, or that he even made a demand for it, but went as an individual, took the horse and was leading him off, when the Indians commenced shooting arrows at him, and the claimant of the horse. Huntsman returned the fire with his revolver, which he emptied of the six shots, and then retreated; by this time all the Indians were after him in full cry, the arrows flying in clouds. He fell, pierced by several arrows, not far from the junction of the Winters and Lancha Plana road. When it was learned in the town that Miles was killed, every one that eould raise a fire-arm started in the pur- suit of the Indians, who commenced dispersing with all possible rapidity. The Jackson valley Indians, who had always been peaceably inclined, claimed protection at the houses of some who had employed them for washing, and other purposes, and would not join in the stampede, and probably saved their lives by so doing. Some of the Indians remaining near the camp were pursued, and one was shot near Waddell's ranch; he died game, shooting his arrows after he was shot through and through, and unable to stand on his feet. Great numbers had forded the river, and others had crossed by the bridge. These were also pursued, and as a great many shots were heard, it was supposed that numbers had been killed.
Exaggerated stories prevailed that day and even. ing with regard to the number slain, but careful inquiry limits the casualties to two Indians slain- one at Waddell's ranch, and one near Campo Seco, who was shot by a sailor who was pursuing him, and who got shot in turn by the Indian-and one Indian's leg broken by a ball from the revolver of Huntsman in the beginning of the fight, and the
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
two white men mentioned, though many valiant (?) men boasted of having slain scores. One Wallace, a Canadian (we hope he was no descendant of Sir William), was found shooting at a squaw and some little children, who, when overtaken in the pursuit, sat down and buried their faces in their laps, the Indian token of submission, which, however, did not prevent the valorous man from emptying his revolver on them. Their escape was due to his nervous feel- ings, or their being in a hollow below him, which caused him to over shoot. He was stopped in his shooting by Tom Love, who, though on the war- path against the Indians, had no heart for shooting squaws. The wounded Indian was taken to the office of Drs. Boarman and Schoneman, and his leg amputated, some squaws acting as nurses. He recovered, and has become a farnous beggar, in fact a nuisance, thrusting his wooden leg forward every- where as a reason for charity. It has been to him quite a fortune.
MIDNIGHT SCARE.
While the extravagant reports of numbers slain were still believed, a report got into cireulation that three hundred Tuolumne Indians were nearing Lan- cha Plana with a determination to avenge the slaughter of the Indians; the place was to be wiped out. It was impossible to learn the origin of the rumor, but it was believed, and runners were sent to all the houses on the outskirts of the town, and the people all bronght in. The stone stores were con- sidered as the best for a defense, and as many as could be were quartered in these buildings. All the arms were collected, and put in the best condition. A military company was formed, and R. W. Palmer, who claimed some knowledge of military affairs, was pnt in command, Dr. Tillson being second officer. The men were drilled to charge and retreat, to act as skirmishers or advanced pickets, and were marched and countermarched until it was thought they would do to trust as soldiers. Their arms were then inspected, and the amount and quality of the ammunition ascertained. Some of the arms were woefully deficient. Tim Conway had a little pistol, but it had no loek.
" What do you expect to do with that ?" says Captain Palmer.
" Oh, be jabers! won't I make it hot for the In- dians when I touch it off with a match ?"
He thought he was " good for one Indian, any how." Guards were stationcd at the different cross- ings of the river, and at all points where there was a probability of being attacked. Instructions were given to the women and children to put out the lights and lie flat on the floor, when the shooting commeneed-a proposition that some of the more nervous were in favor of putting into practice at onee. Mrs. Boarman, who seemed to have some of her husband's coolness, or which is better some of her own, remarked that, " We might as well sit up until the Indians come." Dr. Tillson, who was but recently
married, made his wife a very affecting good-bye. " My dear wife, my country calls, and I must obey. I trust that we may meet again. Good-bye, my dear." It is said that she urged him to take a frying- pan to hold before his face when the arrows began to fly. She was very proud of the Doctor's handsome face, and did not want it disfigured. The popula- tion did not all muster at the drum-beat to defend the town. John Sprague, who owned a livery stable, got out a buggy and team, took his wife and chil- dren, and started as fast as horse flesh eould go, and did not stop until he reached Stockton, alarming the whole country on the way. At Poverty Bar, as Milton said of Satan after he awoke from his sleepy drench,
" He called so loud that all the hollow depths of Hell resounded." " Turn out! Turn out, for God's sake! The In- dians are murdering everybody at Laneha Plana."
Bill Morrow got out his team and buggy, and went after the Wheeler girls, and ran away with them, hardly giving them time to dress. At Comanche, Sprague gave the alarm also, and for awhile confusion reigned there. Morning came at last, but no Indians, though during the day the Tuolumne chief, a vener- able and dignified Indian, came back to inquire into the shooting, which had taken place after he had left the fandango. He said that if any of his young men were guilty, they should be surrendered for punishment, and two or three days afterwards, a couple of young Indians were sent up, securely tied, for the Lancha folks to do with as they thought best. The panic was over, and the two Indians were sent to Jackson for trial; but no evidence against them appearing, they were set at liberty, and thus ended the Indian war. At this day it is impossible to form any correct conclusion as to the eause of the alarm, or whether there was any cause at all. It seems so much like a burlesque that we are some- times ready to conclude that it was a huge Irish joke, the Irish element being in the ascendency in the town at that time. If any race of people could have a bit of fun ont of such a matter, it would be the Irish. Captain Palmer, who lives at Jackson, upon being questioned as to the three hundred Indians marching upon Lancha Plana, says, "Certainly; they would have attacked the town if we had not prepared to defend it." But who saw them?
ORIGIN OF PANICS.
Lest some of our friends might undervalue them- selves while remembering these events, it may be well enough to make an extract from Washington Irving's "Life of Washington," page 196, volume I :-
" In the meantime the panic and confusion in- creased. On Sunday an express hurried into town breathless with haste and terror. The Indians, he said, were but twelve miles off; they had attacked the house of Isaae Julian; the inhabitants were fly- ing for their lives. Washington immediately ordered the town guards to be strengthened; armed some recruits who had just arrived, and sent out two
RESIDENCE OF J. D.STOLCKEN. VOLCANO AMADOR CO.CAL
RESIDENCE AND RANCH OF J.E. PETTITT. PLYMOUTH, AMADOR Co CAL.
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seouts to reeonnoiter the enemy. It was a sleepless night at Winchester. Horror inereased with the dawn ; before the men could be paraded, a second express arrived, ten times more terrified than the former. The Indians were within four miles of town, killing and destroying all before them. He had heard the constant firing of the savages, and the shrieks of the victims. The terror of Winchester now passed all bounds. Washington put himself at the head of about forty men, militia and recruits, and pushed for the scene of earnage.
"The result is almost too ludicrous for record. The whole cause of the alarm proved to be threc drunken troopers, earousing, hallooing, uttering the most unheard-of imprecations, and ever and anon firing off their pistols. Washington interrupted them in the midst of their revel and blasphemy, and con- dueted them prisoners to town."
This was in Virginia, and among the countrymen and neighbors of Washington.
THE BUTLER CLAIM
Was situated at the foot of the deep gorge which came out of the mountains, and was first owned by a party of negroes, hence was called the " Nigger Claim." The river was dammed and turned as usual in river elaims. The channel was straight and smooth and offered no holding-place for the gold, and all of the party except Butler left the claim. The following year Butler borrowed five or six hun- dred dollars of Unele Pompey, another colored man, and opened the elaim a little lower down in a bend. It proved the richest piece of ground ever found in the vicinity, or even in the two counties, being a mass of gravel six or eight fect deep, literally lousy with gold. A day's work with a rocker would pro- duce ten, twenty, thirty, and even fifty thousand dollars. Fred Westmoreland, a cool and sensible person, not liable to be excited, says he frequently saw a milk pan, the ordinary gold pan, heaping full for a day's work, so full that it could not be lifted by the rim without tearing in pieces. Some of the dirt, not so rieh, was washed in a long tom. According to Tom Love a hundred dollars' worth of dust could be seen following the dirt along the sluice-box, the hands who were tending it stealing the dust by the handful. A face or breast was worked on the bed of gravel, and the gold showed from the top to the bot- tom, a distance of six or eight feet. At the bottom the pure dust could be gathered with a spoon. When it was known how immensely rich it was, a number of men were anxious to have a share. The former partners of Butler were hunted up and induced to sell interests in the elaim. A number of suits were commenced against Butler, and some half-dozen or more lawyers engaged to share the procceds if successful. A receiver was appointed to take charge of the claim pending the suits. Robert Bennet, known as Bob Bennet, a well-known citizen of Lan- cha Plana, was once appointed custodian for a day. In a few panfuls of dirt he obtained dust to the amount of two thousand two hundred dollars, which, " Damned fool that I was, I turned over to the court.
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