History of California, Volume VI, Part 8

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816

USA > California > History of California, Volume VI > Part 8

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

and Bidwell found more advantage in attending to a trading post opened by him.

The success on Feather River led to the explora- tion of its main tributary, the Yuba, by Patrick Mc- Christian, J. P. Leese, Jasper O'Farrell, William Leery, and Samuel Norris, who left Sonoma in July, and were the first to dig there for gold, making in three months $75,0009 The diggings on the Yuba were subsequently among the most famous in Califor- nia, and form the scene perhaps of more of the incidents and reminiscences characteristic of the mining days than any other locality. The leading bars or camps were those of Parks, Long, and Foster, where miners, although poorly supplied with implements, made from $60 to $100 a day; and it is supposed that they lost more gold than they saved, on account of the clumsiness of their implements.10 Below, on Bear River, J. Tyrwhitt Brooks camped with a party.11 Reading extended his field to Trinity River, the most northerly point reached in 1848; but he had the mis- fortune to encounter a company of Oregonians on their way south, and these, imbittered against all

8 Bidwell's Cal. 1841-8, MS., 231-3; Seeton, in Oroville Mer., Dec. 31, 1875. 9 McChristian, in Pioneer Sketches, MS., 9. Jonas Spect states in his Diary, MS., that he found gold on the Yuba, near Long Bar, June Ist. See also Yolo Co. Hist., 33; Yuba Co. Hist., 36.

10 Parks Bar on the Yuba was discovered in August by Stephen Cooper, John Marsh, John P. Long and two brothers, Clay, Willis, and Nicholas Hunsaker, who afterward held important positions in Contra Costa county. Charles Covillaud opened a store there later, and employed a number of In- dians to dig gold for him. He married, on Christmas, 1848, Mary Murphy, one of the survivors of the Donner party. He purchased the rancho where Marysville now stands, laid out the town, and named it for his wife. Parks, from whom the bar was named, came across the plains in 1848. Although fifty miners were at work when he arrived, and had been for some time, the bar was christened after him, because he was a man with a family, and more persons answered to the name of Parks than to any other. See account by Juanita, in Sacramento Rescue, Jan. 26, 1871. Juanita was a young Scotch- man, John C. McPherson by name, with considerable literary ability. While mining at Long Bar he composed a song in praise of the Yuba, which became a favorite among the miners, and has been frequently printed. Long bar was named after Dr Long. Burnett and a number of his companions from Oregon began their gold-seeking at this point. The population was then 80 men, 3 women, and 5 children. Foster Bar was one of the last opened in 1848. The gravelly clay dirt, often twelve feet from the surface, was hard to work. 11 Brooks' Four Months, 119-28. His party obtained 115 lbs of gold by Sept. Later, Buffum tried and failed.

TOWN-BUILDING.

Indians by the recent bloody wars in which they had been engaged with their own aborigines, drove him and his party of natives away from what afterward proved to be an exceedingly rich locality.12

Early in June John Sinclair went from his rancho, near New Helvetia, to the junction of the north and south branches of the American River, twelve miles above his house, and there worked fifty natives with good success. During the same month a party of Mormons abandoned their claim on the south branch of the American River, and crossing to the middle tributary, discovered the deposits on what was later known as Spanish Bar, twelve miles north-east from Coloma. This stream was the richest of any in all that rich region, this one spot alone yielding more than a million of dollars.

Into a ravine between the north and middle branches of the American River, fifteen miles north-east of Coloma, stumbled one day an Irishman, to whom in raillery had been given the nickname Yankee Jim, which name, applied to the rich deposit he there found, soon became famous. A few miles to the north-east of Yankee Jim were Illinoistown and Iowa Hill, found and named by persons from the states indicated. W. R. Longley, once alcalde at Monterey, was followed by Dr Todd into the place named Todd Valley. Hereabout remained many Mormons, who forgot their desert destination, turned publicans, and waxed fat. There were Hannon, one wife and two daughters, who kept the Mormon House; Wickson and wife, the house to which under their successor was given the name Franklin; while Blackman kept an inn at one of the fifty Dry Diggings, which, at the great renaming, became known as Auburn. 13

12 Weaverville Trinity Journal, June 20, 1874; Pacific Rural Press, quoted in Merced People, June 8, 1872.

13 Ferry, Cal., 105-6; Oakland Transcript, April 13, 1873; Alameda Co. Gazette, April 19, 1873; Hutchings' May., vol. ii. 197. On these streams some deserters realized within a few days from $5,000 to $20,000 each, and then left California by the first conveyance. Carson's Early Recollections, 6;

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

North of Coloma Kelsey and party opened the diggings which took his name. South of it Weber Creek rose into fame under the discoveries of a com- pany from Weber's grant, now Stockton, including some Hispano-Californians. After a trip to the Stan- islaus, and a more favorable trial on the Mokelumne, with deep diggings, they proceeded on their route, finding gold everywhere, and paused on the creek, at a point about twelve miles from the saw-mill. There they made their camp, which later took the name of Weberville; and while some remained to mine, the rest returned to Weber's rancho for supplies. Trade no less than gold-digging being the object, a joint-stock association, called the Stockton Mining Company, was organized, with Charles M. Weber as the leading member.14 The company, although very successful with its large native corps, was dissolved in September of the same year by Weber, who wished to turn his attention exclusively to building a town upon his grant. 15 On the creek were also Suñol and company, who employed thirty Indians, and Neligh.

The Stockton company had scarcely been established at Weber Creek when a man belonging to the party of William Daylor, a ranchero from the vicinity of New Helvetia, struck into the hills one morning, and found the mine first called, in common with many other

Buffum's Six Months, 77. Sinclair was one of the first to find gold on the north branch. McChristian, in Pioneer Sketches, 9.

14 The other members were John M. Murphy, Joseph Bussel, Andy Baker, Pyle, I. S. Isbel, and George Frazer. Not having at hand all the requisites for the outfit, while the company proceeded to Weber Creek, Weber went to San Francisco and San José, and there bought beads, calico, clothing, gro- ceries, and tools, which were sent by boat to Sutter's embarcadero, and thence transported by wagons to Weber Creek, where a store was opened. Amongst the other articles purchased was a quantity of silver coin, attractive to the natives as ornaments. From the rancho were sent beef, cattle, and whatever else was available for use or sale. Weber, in T'inkham's Hist. Stockton, 72. According to San Joaquin Co. ITist., 21, there were other prominent members, but they were more likely to have been only of the party, and may have joined at another time and place.

13 Buffum, Six Months in the Gold Mines, 92, says that William Daylor, a ranchero near Sutter's Fort, was with Weber at Weber Creek, and that the two employed 1,000 Indians and took out $50,000. See, further, Carson's Early Rec., 5; S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 13, 1859; Alta Cal., July 31, 1856; Brooks' Four Months, 93.

INDIAN MINERS.

spots, Dry Diggings, afterward Hangtown, and later Placerville.16 It proved exceedingly rich, yielding from three ounces to five pounds of gold daily to the man; and from the middle of June, through July and August, the 300 Hangtown men were the happiest in the universe.

Thus far extended the northern district, which em- braced the tributaries of the Sacramento and the north side of the Bay,17 and centred in Coloma as the point of primary attraction, and whence fresh discoveries radiated. The region below, tributary to the San Joaquin, was largely opened by Indians. 18

On the Stanislaus, where afterward was Knight's Ferry, lived an Indian known to white men as José Jesus. He had been instructed in the mysteries of religion and civilization by the missionaries, and was once alcalde at San José. Through some real or fancied wrong he became offended, left San José, and was ever after hostile to the Mexicans, though friendly to others. Tall, well-proportioned, and possessed of remarkable ability, with the dress and dignified man- ner of a Mexican of the better class, he commanded

6 Buffum's Six Months, 92-3; Ferry, Cal., 105-6. 'The gulches and ra- vines were opened about two feet wide and one foot in depth along their cen- tres, and the gold picked out from amongst the dirt with a knife.' Carson's Early Rec., 5.

17 The Californian states that about this time there were many gold-seckers digging in the vicinity of Sonoma and Santa Rosa.

18 A map, entitled Positions of the Upper and Lower Gold Mines on the South Fork of the American River, California, July 20, 1848, is probably the earliest map made expressly to show any part of the gold region, unless it was preceded by another on a larger scale of the same diggings, which bears no date. There is, however, another map, which is dated only five days later than the first mentioned, and is entitled, Topographical Sketch of the Gold and Quicksilver District of California, July 25, 1848, E. O. C. D., Lt U. S. A. This is not confined to one locality, but embraces the country west of the Sierra Nevada from lat. 37° to 40°, and has marked on it all the places where gold had been found at that date. A Map of the Southern Mines, by C. D. Gibbes, 1852, accompanies Carson's Early Recollections. The many books and pamphlets published about California in Europe and the eastern states in 1848-9 generally contained inferior maps, and in some cases an attempt was made to show the gold regions. Such may be found, for instance, in Foster's Gold Regions; Wilkes' Western America; Brooks' Four Months among the Gold- finders; Hartmann's Geog. Stat .; Beschreibung von Cal .; Hoppe's Cal. Gegen- wart; Oswald, Californien; Colton's Three Years; and many other similar works. The earliest purely geological map appears in T'yson's Report, pub- lished by the war department in 1849.

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

universal respect, and on the death of Estanislao, that is to say, Stanislaus, chief of the Wallas, José Jesus was chosen his successor. Courting the friendship of this savage, Weber had through the intervention of Sutter made him his firm ally. On organizing the Stockton company, Weber requested of José Jesus some able-bodied members of his tribe, such as would make good gold-diggers. The chief sent him twenty- five, who were despatched to Weber Creek and given lessons in mining; after which they were directed to return to the Stanislaus, there to dig for gold, and to carry the proceeds of their labor to French Camp, where the mayordomo would pay them in such articles as they best loved.19

This shrewd plan worked well. The gold brought in by the natives proved coarser than any yet found. Weber and the rest were delighted, and the Stockton company determined at once to abandon Weber Creek and remove to the Stanislaus, which was done in Au- gust. The news spreading, others went with them; a large emigration set in, including some subsequently notable persons who gave their names to different places, as Wood Creek, Angel Camp, Sullivan Bar, Jamestown, Don Pedro (Sansevain) Bar. Murphy Camp was named from John M. Murphy, one of the partners.20 William Knight established the trading post at the point now known as Knight's Ferry.

19 They met with rare success, if the writer in San Joaquin Co. Hist., 21, is to be believed. They found, he says, in July a lump of pure gold, weigh- ing 803 ounces avoirdupois, the general form of the nugget being that of a kidney. Its rare beauty, purity, and size prompted the firm of Cross & Hobson of San Francisco to pay for it $3,000 ... to send to the Bank of England, as a specimen from the newly discovered gold-fields of California. Gold-dust-was selling at that time for $12 per ounce, and the specimen, had it sold only for its value as metal, would have yielded the Stockton Mining Company only $966.

20 San Joaquin Co. Hist., 21. Carson says, Early Rec., 6: 'In August the old diggings were pronounced as being dug out, and many prospecting parties had gone out. Part of Weber's trading establishments had secretly disap- peared, and rumors were afloat that the place where all the gold came from had been discovered south, and a general rush of the miners commenced that day.' Tinkham asserts that Weber proclaimed the discovery on the Stanis- lans, and was willing every one should go there who wished. The greater the number of people the more goods would be required.

TOWARD THE SOUTH.

Such was the richness of the field that, at Wood Creek, Wood, Savage, and Heffernan were said to have taken out for some time, with pick and knife alone, $200 or $300 a day each.

The intermediate region, along the Mokelumne and Cosumnes, had already become known through parties en route from the south, such as Weber's partners. J. H. Carson was directed by an Indian to Carson Creek, where he and his companions in ten days gathered 180 ounces each. Angel camped at An- gel Creek. Sutter, who had for a time been mining ten miles above Mormon Island with 100 Indians and 50 kanakas, came in July to Sutter Creek. Two months later, when further gold placers on the Co- sumnes were discovered, José de Jesus Pico with ten men left San Luis Obispo and proceeded through Livermore pass to the Arroyo Seco of that locality and began to mine. In four months he obtained suf- ficient to pay his men and have a surplus of $14,000.21

Mokelumne or Big Bar was now fast rising in importance. A party from Oregon discovered it early in October and were highly successful. Their num- ber induced one Syrec to drive in a wagon laden with provisions, a venture which proved so fortunate that he opened a store in the beginning of November, on a hill one mile from where the first mine was discoy- ered. This became a trade centre under the name of Mokelumne Hill.

The richest district in this region, however, was beginning to appear on the head waters of the Tuol- umne, round the later town of Sonora, which took its name from the party of Mexicans from Sonora who discovered it.22 The Tuolumne may be regarded as the limit of exploration southward in 1848. It was

21 Pico, Acontecimientos, MS., 77.

22 Amongst the first who helped to settle Sonora in 1848-9 were Joshua Holden, Emanuel Lindberg, Casimir Labetour, Alonzo Green, Hiram W. Theall, R. S. Ham, Charles F. Dodge, Theophilus Dodge, Terence Clark, James Lane, William Shepperd, Alfred W. Luckett, Benjamin F. Moore, William Norlinn, Francisco Pavia, José M. Bosa, Elordi, Remigio Riveras, and James Frasier. Hayes' Cal. Mining, i. 33.

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

reached in August, so that before the summer months closed all the long Sierra base-line, as I have described, had been overrun by the gold-seekers, the subsequent months of the year being devoted to closer develop- ments.23 One reason for the limitation was the hos- tility of the natives, who had in particular taken an aversion to the Mexican people, or Hispano-Califor- nians, their old taskmasters, and till lately prominent in pursuing them for enslavement.

These Californians very naturally halted along the San Joaquin tributaries, which lay on the route taken from the southern settlements, and were reported even richer than the northern mines. Among them was Antonio Franco Coronel, with a party of thirty, who had left Los Angeles in August by way of San José and Livermore pass.24 Priests as well as publicans, it appears, were possessed by the demon in those days; for at the San Joaquin Coronel met Padre José María Suarez del Real who showed him a bag of gold which he claimed to have brought from the Stanislaus camp, that is to say, Sonora, recently discovered. This decided Coronel and party to go to the Stanis- laus, where they found a company of New Mexicans, lately arrived, a few Americans, as well as native Californians from San José and proximate places. To the camp where Coronel halted came seven savages,

23 Carson's Early Recollections, 6-7; Stockton Independent, Sept. 14, 1872; Findla's Statement, MS., 7; San Andreas Independent, Jan. 1861; Jansen, Vida y Aventuras, 198-200; Pico, Acontecimientos, 77. According to a state- ment published in the Alta of Oct. 13, 1851, in the summer of 1848 one Bomon, a Spanish doctor, while travelling with a large party of Spaniards, Italians, and Frenchmen in the southern part of the state, came upon a river so rich in gold that with their knives they took out five or six ounces a day to the man. They got into trouble with the natives, however, who killed 48 of the party, and forced the rest to flee for their lives. Bomon set out from Mariposa dig- gings with some companions in 1851 in search of this placer, and at the same time a French company left the same place with a similar object; but both expeditions failed. The narrator thinks that this might have been Kern River, but the whole story is probably fiction.

24 The account I take from the valuable manuscript, written at the dicta- tion of Coronel by Mr Savage in 1877, Cosas de California, Por el Señor Don Antonio Franco Coronel, vecino de la Ciudad de Los Angeles. Obra, en que el antor trata particularmente de lo que aconteció en la parte del sur durante los años de 1846 y 1847.

CORONEL AND PARTY.

wishing to buy from him and his party, and offering large quantities of gold for such articles as took their fancy. One of Coronel's servants, Benito Perez, was an expert in placer-mining. Struck with the display made by the natives, he proposed to his master to let him have one of his dumb Indians as a companion, so that he might follow, and see whence the savages ob- tained their gold. It was dark before the Indians had finished their purchases and set out for home, but Benito Perez, with Indian Agustin, kept stealthily upon their tracks, to the rancheria where Captain Estanislao had formerly lived.

Perez passed the night upon a hill opposite the ran- chería hidden among the trees, and waiting for the Indians. Early the following morning the same seven started for the gold-fields, taking their way toward the east, followed by the Mexican and his companion. At a place afterward called Cañada del Barro the seven began to dig with sharp-pointed stakes, where- upon Perez presented himself. The Indians were evi- dently annoyed; but Perez set to work with his knife, and in a short time obtained three ounces in chispas, or nuggets. Satisfied with his discovery, he went back to Coronel. The two determined to take secret possession; but eventually Coronel thought it would be but right to inform his companions, especially as Perez' report indicated the mine to be rich. Secrecy was moreover of little use; their movements were watched. In order not to delay matters, Perez was despatched with two dumb Indians to secure the richest plats. This done, Coronel and the rest of his friends started, though late in the night. Such was their eagerness, that on reaching the ground they spent the night in alloting claims in order to begin work at daybreak.

Everybody was well satisfied with the first day's working. Coronel, with his two dumb Indians, ob- tained forty-five ounces of coarse gold. Dolores Se- púlveda, who was busy a few yards away, picked up a

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

nugget fully twelve ounces in weight; and though there were more than a hundred persons round about, all had great success. On the same bar where Sepúl- veda found the nugget worked Valdés, alias Cha- pamango, a Californian of Santa Bárbara, who, by digging to the depth of three feet, discovered a pocket which had been formed by a large rock break- ing the force of the current and detaining quantities of gold. He picked up enough to fill a large towel, and then passed round to make known his good for- tune. Thinking that he had money enough, he sold his claim to Lorenzo Soto, who took out in eight days 52 pounds of gold. Water was then struck, when the claim was sold to Machado of San Diego, who also, in a short time, secured a large quantity of gold.

Coronel, leaving his servants at his claim, started to inspect the third bar of the Barro Cañada, with an experienced gambusino of the Sonorans known as Chino Tirador. Choosing a favorable spot, the gam- busino marked out his claim, and Coronel took up his a little lower. The Chino set to work, and at the depth of four feet found a pocket of gold near an un- derground rock which divided the two claims. From nine o'clock in the morning till four in the afternoon he lay gathering the gold with a horn spoon, throw- ing it into a wooden tray for the purpose of dry-wash- ing. By this time the tray had become so filled with cleaned gold that the man could hardly carry it. Tired with his work he returned to camp, giving Co- ronel permission to work his claim. The latter was only too glad to do so, for with a great deal more labor, and with the assistance of his servant, he had not succeeded in obtaining six ounces. During the brief daylight remaining Coronel made ample amends for previous shortcomings. The Chino's luck caused great excitement in the camp, where he offered to sell clean gold for silver; and had disposed of a con- siderable quantity when Coronel arrived and bought seventy-six ounces at the rate of two dollars and a

MINING LIFE.

half the ounce. The next day the Chino returned to his claim; but as large numbers had been working it by night, with the aid of candles, he decided on aban- doning the mine and starting upon a new venture. Purchasing a bottle of whiskey for a double-handful of gold, and spreading a blanket on the ground, he opened a monte bank. By ten o'clock that night he was both penniless and drunk.25 Such is one of the many phases of mining as told by the men of 1848.

25 Coronel, Cosas de Cal., MS., 146-51.

HIST. CAL., VOL. VI. 6

CHAPTER VI.

AT THE MINES.

1848.

VARIETY OF SOCIAL PHASES-INDIVIDUALITY OF THE YEAR 1848-NOTICEABLE ABSENCE OF BAD CHARACTERS DURING THIS YEAR -- MINING OPERATIONS -IGNORANCE OF THE MINERS OF MINING-IMPLEMENTS AND PROCESSES -YIELD IN THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS-PRICE OF GOLD-DUST-PRICES OF MERCHANDISE-A NEW ORDER OF THINGS-EXTENSION OF DEVELOP- MENT-AFFAIRS AT SUTTER'S FORT-BIBLIOGRAPHY -- EFFECT ON SUTTER AND MARSHALL-CHARACTER AND CAREER OF THESE TWO MEN.

SOCIETY in California from the beginning presents itself in a multitude of phases. First there is the aboriginal, wild and tame, half naked, eating his grass- hopper cake, and sleeping in his hut of bushes, or piously sunning himself into civilization upon an adobe mission fence, between the brief hours of work and prayer; next the Mexicanized European, priest and publican, missionary and military man, bland yet co- ercive, with the work-hating ranchero and settler; and then the restless rovers of all nations, particularly the enterprising and impudent Yankee. With the introduction of every new element, and under the de- velopments of every new condition, the face of society changes, and the heart of humanity pulsates with fresh purposes and aspirations.

The year of 1848 has its individuality. It is dif- ferent from every other California year before or since. The men of '48 were of another class from the men of '49. We have examined the ingredients composing the community of 1848; the people of 1849 will in due time pass under analysis. Suffice it to say

( 82)

THE INFLOWING CURRENT.

here, that the vile and criminal element from the con- tinental cities of civilization and the isles of ocean, which later cursed the country, had not yet arrived. Those first at the mines were the settlers of the Cali- fornia Valley, just and ingenuous, many of them with their families and Indian retainers; they were neigh- bors and friends, who would not wrong each other in the mountains more than in the valley. The immi- grants from the Mississippi border were accustomed to honest toil; and the men from San Francisco Bay and the southern seaboard were generally acquainted, and had no thought of robbing or killing each other.

After the quiet inflowing from the valley adjacent to the gold-fields came the exodus from San Francisco, which began in May; in June San Jose, Monterey, and the middle region contributed their quota, followed in July and August by the southern settlements. The predominance thus obtained from the start by the Anglo-American element was well sustained, partly from the fact that it was more attracted by the glitter of gold than the lavish and indolent ran- chero of Latin extraction, and less restrained from yielding to it by ties of family and possessions. The subsequent influx during the season from abroad pre- ponderated in the same direction. It began in Sep- tember, although assuming no large proportions until two months later. The first flow came from the Hawaiian Islands, followed by a larger stream from Oregon, and a broad current from Mexico and beyond, notably of Sonorans, who counted many experienced miners in their ranks. Early in the season came also an accidental representation from the Flowery king- dom.1

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of California, Volume VI, Part 8

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885-1890 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 816

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 816