USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches > Part 13
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Keseberg has lost several fortunes, and is now living in pov- erty at Brighton, Sacramento County, with two idiotic chil- dren.
FATE OF DONNER AND WIFE.
When the third relief party arrived at Donner Lake, the solo survivors at Alder Creek were George Donner, the Cap- tuin of the company, and his heroic wife, whose devotion to her dying husband cansed her own death during the last and fearful days of waiting for the fourth relief. George Donner knew that he was dying, and urged his wife to save her life und go with her little ones with the third relief, hut she refused. Nothing was more heart- rending than her sad parting with her he- loved little ones, who wound their childlish arms lovingly around her neck, and besonght her with mingled tears and kisses to join them. But dnty prevailed over affection, and she retraced the weary distance to dio with him whom she had promised to love and honor to the end.
Mrs. Donner was the last to die. Her husband's body, care- fully laid out aud wrapped in a sheet, was found in his tent. Circumstances led to the suspicion that the survivor (Kcse- berg) had killed Mrs. Donuer for her flesh and her money; and when "he was threatened with hanging, and the rope tigbt- ened around his neck, hie produced over five hundred dollars in gold, which probably he had appropriated from her store."
STRANGE AND EVENTFUL DREAM.
George Yount was the pioneer settler of Napa County. He, in the winter of 1846, dreamed that a party of immigrants were snow-bound in the Sierra Nevadas, high up in the mount- ains, whero they were suffering the most distressing priva- tions from cold and want of food. The locality where his dream had placed these unhappy mortals, he had never vis- ited, yet so clear was his vision that he described the sheet of
water surrounded by lofty peaks, deep-covered with snow, while on every hand towering pine trees reared their heads far above the limitless waste. In his sleep he saw the hungry human beings ravenously tear the flesh from the bones of their fellow-creatures, slain to satisfy their craving appetites, in the midst of a gloomy desolation. He dreamed his dream ou three successive nights, after which lic related it to others. among whom were a few who had been on hunting expeditions to the Sierras. These wished for a precise description of the sceuc foreshadowed to him. They recognized the Truckee, now 'tlle Donner Lake. On the strength of this recognition, Mr. Yount fitted out a search expedition, and with these men as guides, went to the place indicated; and prodigious to re- late, was one of the successful relieving parties to reach the ill-fatedl Donner Party. :
Of the eighty-seven persons who reached Donner Lake, only forty-eight escaped. Of these twenty-six are known to be 'living in this State and in Oregon.
SCENE OF THE DISASTER.
The best description of the scene of the disaster was given by Edwin Bryant, who accompanied General Kearney's expe- (lition in IS47 to bury the remains. He says: "Ncar the prin- cipal cabins, I saw two bodies entire, with the exception that the abdomens had heen cut open and the entrails extracted. The flesh had been cither wasted by famiuc or evaporated hy cx- posure to the dry atmosphere, and they presented the appearance of mummies. Strewn around the cabins were dislocated and broken skulls (in some instances sawed asunder with care for the purpose of extracting the brains), buman skeletons, in short, in every variety of mutilation. A more revolting and appall- ing spectacle I never witnessed. The cabins were burned, the bodies buried, and now there is nothing to mark tbe place save the tall stumps, from ten to twenty feet in height, which sur- round some of the rocks on the lake's shore."
TRIALS OF THE PIONEERS.
It was in the few years prior to the discovery of gold that the genuine pioneers of California braved the unknown dangers of the plains and mountains, with the intention of settling in the fair valley, of which so much was said and so little known, and building a home for themselves and their children. Many of these immigrants crossed the mountains hy nearly the same route pursucd by the Central Pacific Railroad, except that they followed down Bear River to the plains.
The first settlement reached by them was that of Theodore Sieard, at Johnson's Crossing, on the Placer County side, and a few miles below Camp Far West. This settlement was made in 1844, and was the first point reached by the members of the ill-starred Donner Party in 1847. Opposite Sicard's settlement was Jobnson's ranch, owned by William Johnson and Sehas- tian Kyser, wbo settled there in 1845. Johnson's Crossing was for years a favorite landmark and rallying point.
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THE EARLY DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
The Discovery of Gold.
NO HISTORY of the State, or of a county in California would be complete without a record of the rush to this coast at the time of what is so aptly termined the "gold fever."
The finding of gold at Coloma by Marshall was not the real discovery of the precious metal in the territory. But the time and cireninstances connected with it, together with the existing state of affairs, caused the rapid dissemination of the news. People were ready and cager for some new excitement, and this proved to be the means of satisfying the desire. From all parts of California, the coast of the United States, and in fact.
theuce to the Butte Mountains up the Sacramento Valley, as far as the location of Chiro.
While passing over the black adobe land lying between the Butte Mountains and Butte Creek, which resembled the gold wash in Brazil, Dr. Sandels remarked: "Judging from the Butte Mountains, I believe that there is gold in this country, but I do not think there will ever be enough to pay for the working." Dr. Sandels was hurried, as the vessel upou which he was to take passage was soon to sail, and he could not spare the time to pur-ne his scareli to any more definite end.
GEN. BIDWELL. KNEW OF GOLD.
1844 .- When General Bidwell was in charge of Hock Farm, in the month of March or April, 1844. a Mexican by the namo
SPITER'S MILL, WHERE GOLD WAS DISCOVERED.
the world, poured in vast hordes of gold-seekers. The precious metal had been found in many places.
DR. SANDELS' SEARCH FOR GOLD.
1843 .- In the sumuer of 1843, there came to this coast from England, a very learned gentleman named Dr. Sandels. He was a Swede by birth. Soon after his arrival on this coast, the Doctor visited Captain Sutter. The Captain always thought there must be mineral in the country, and requested Dr. Sandels to go out into the mountains and find him a gold mine; the Doctor discouraged him by relating his experience in Mexico, and the uncertainty of mining operations, as far as his knowledge extended, in Mexico, Brazil, and other parts of South America. He advised Sutter never to think of having anything to do with the mines; that the best mine was the soil, which was inexhaustible. However, at Sutter's solicitation, Dr. Sandels went up through his grant to Hock Farin, and
of Pablo Gutteirez was with him, having immediate supervis- ion of the Indian vaqueros, taking care of the stock on the plains, " breaking" wild horses, and performing other duties common to a California rancho. This Mexican had some knowledge of gold mining in Mexico, where he had lived, and after returning from the mountains on Bear River at the time mentioned, he informed General Bidwell that there was gold up there.
As heretofore mentioned, Dr. Marsh describes gold and sil- ver mines as early as 1842.
SUTTER'S SAW-MILL CONSTRUCTED.
1847 .- Captain Sutter alwayshad an unconquerable desire for the possession of a saw-mill, by which he could himself furnish the necessary material for the construction of more improved buildings than the facilities of the country could at that time afford. Around his fort in 1847, was a person named James W.
64
MARSHALL'S DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
Marshall, who had a natural taste for mechanical contrivances, and was able to construct, with the few erude tools and appli- ances at hand, alinost any kind of a machine ordinarily desired. It way to this inan that Sutter intrusted the ercetion of the long-contemplated and much needed saw-inill. The contract was written by Mr. John Bidwell, then Captain Sutter's Secre- tary, and signed by the parties. Marshall started out in No- vember, 1847, equipperl with tools and provisions for his men. He reported the distance of the selected site to be thirty miles, but he occupied two weeks in reaching his destination in Co- loma. In the course of the winter a damn and race were made, but when the water was let on, the tail-race was too narrow. To widen and deepen it, Marshall let in a strong current of water directly to the race, wbich bore a large body of mud and gravel to the foot.
MARSHALL'S DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
1848 .- On tho 19th of January, 1848, Marsball observed some glittering particles in the race, which he was curious enough to examine. He called five carpenters on the mill to sec them; but though they talked over the possibility of its being gold, the vision did not inflame them.
One lump weighed about seventeen grains. It was malle- able, heavier than silver, and in all respects resembled gold. About 4o'clock in the evening Marshall exhibited his find to the circlo composing tho mill company laborers. Their names were James W. Marshall, P. L. Wimmer, Mrs. A. Wiminer, J. Barger, Ira Willis, Sydney Willis, A. Stepliens, James Brown, Ezekiah F. Persons, H. Bigler, Israol Smith, William Johnson, George Evans, C. Bennett, and William Scott. The conference resulted in a rojeetion of the iden that it was gold. Mrs. Wimmer tested it by boiling it in strong lyc. Marshall afterwards tested it with nitric acid. It was gold, sure enough, and the discoverer found its liko in all the surrounding gulches wherever he dug for it. Tho secret could not he kept long. It was known at Yerba Buena three months after the discovery.
TWO IMPORTANT EVENTS.
1848 .- The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which Califor- nia was ceded to the United States, was concluded in Mexico, on February 2, 1848. It proves to have been on that very day, the 2d of February, 1848, tbat here in California, Marshall rides in from Sutter's Mill, situated at what is now Coloma, forty miles to Sutter's Fort, his borse in a foam and himself all bespattered with mud; and finding Captain Sutter alone, takes from his pocket a pouch, from which he pours upon tho table about an ounce of yellow grains of metal, which he tbought would prove to he gold. It did prove to be gold, and there was a great deal more where that came from. General Bidwell writes: "I myself first took the news to San Fran- eisco. I weut by way of Sonoma. I told General Vallejo. He told que to say to Sutter ' that he hoped tbe gold would flow into his purse as tbe water through bis mill-race.'"
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
We cannot observe the coincidence of the date of this great discovery, with that of the negotiation of the treaty of peace with Mexico, by which California was acquired by the United States, without thinking. What if the gold discovery had come first ? What if the events of the war had postponed the con- clusion of peace for a few months ? What if Mexico had heard the news before agreeing upon terms ? What if Mexico's large creditor, England, had also learned that thero was abundance of gold here in California? Who can tell, wben in that case, there would have been peace, aud upon what terms, and with what disposition of territory.
THE DISOVERY OF GOLD DOUBTED.
In the bar room at Weher's Hotel in San Jose, one day in Feb- ruary, 1848, a man canie in, and to pay for something he had purchased, offered some gold-dust, saying that gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill on American River, and all were go- ing to work. The people were very incredulous and would not believe the story. An old Georgia miner said that what the man bad was really gold, and requested him to investigate tbe matter. When be arrived at Sutter's Mill, he asked Sutter regarding it, and the Captain assured him that it was a certain- ty, and that a man could make five dollars a day. He carried the news to San Jose and the place was almost deserted, every one hastening to the mines.
The people were suspicious regarding the quality and amount of the gold. As the weeks passed, confidence was gained and the belief that there might possibly be precious minerals in other localities was strengthened.
Prospectors gradually pushed out beyond the narrow limits of the first mining distriet, and thus commenced the opening up of the vast mining fields of California and the Pacific Coast.
SPECIMEN PIECES OF GOLD.
A Frenchman fishing in a prospect hole for frogs for his breakfast, at Mokelumne Hill, in November, 1848, discovered a speck of gold on tbe side of the excavation, whieb be dug out with bis pocket-knife and sold for $2,150.
Three sailors who had deserted took out $10,000 in five days on Weber Creek. Such strokes of good fortune turned all classes into miners, including tbe lawyers, doctors and preachers.
The exports of gold-dust in exchange for produce and mer- chandise amounted to $500,000 by the 25th of September. The ruling price of gold-dust was $15 per ounce, though its intrinsic value was from $19 to $20.
The first piece of gold found in California weighed 50 cents, and the second $5. Since that time one nugget worth $43,000, two $21,000, one $10,000, two S8,000, one $6,500, four $5,000, twelve worth from $2,000 to $4,000, and cighteen from $1,000 to $2,000 have been found and recorded in the History of the
MOUSE
LPAINTER
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RIODELLHOUSE 28 MILES FROM EUREKA AND 15 MILES FROM THE OCEAN, HUMBOLDT CO.CAL. A FINE SUMMER RESORT WITH LARGE ORCHARDS & GARDENS ATTACHED. GOOD HUNTING, FISHING & SAILING ON RIVER. L.PAINTER, PROPRIETOR.
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WONDERFUL PRODUCTIONS OF GOLD.
State. In addition to the above, numberless nuggets worth from $100 to $500 are mentioned in the annals of California gold mining during the last thirty years. The first two refer- red to were exchanged for bread, and all trace of them was lost. The linder of one of the $8,000 pieces became insane the following day, and was confined in the hospital at Stockton.
MERCHANTS REFUSE GOLD-DUST.
A inceting of citizens in San Francisco, presided over by T. M. Leavenworth and addressed by Samuel Brannan, passed reso. lutions in September, 1848, not to patronize merchants who refused to take gold-dust at SIG per ounce. A memorial was also sent from San Francisco to Congress in that month for a branch mint here. It stated, among other things, the opinion that by July 1, 1849, $5,000,000 worth of dust at $16 per ounce would be taken out of the mines. The figures were millions too low.
ADVANCE IN REAL ESTATE.
Real estate in San Francisco took a sudden rise. A lot on Montgomery Street uear Washington, sold in July for $10,000, and was resold in November with a shanty on it for $27,000. Lots in Sacramento, or New Helvetia, also came up to fabulous prices that winter. By the month of October the rush from Oregon caused the Oregon City papers to stop publication. In December, the Kanakas and Souorians caino in swarms. A Honolulu letter, November 11th, said :-
"Such another excitement as the news from California ere- ated here the world never saw. I think not less than 500 persous will leave before Jannary Ist, and if the news con- tinnes good, the whole foreign population except missionaries will go."
The news did continue good, and they came, some mission- aries included. Soon there came up from the mines complaint of outrage and lawlessness, mostly against Kanakas and other foreigners. How well they were Tonuded, to what they led, und how they were suddenly audi summarily silenced, is a story that covers a very interesting part of the history of California and the progress of civilization iu America.
On the 29th of May, the Californian issued a slip stating that its further publication, for the present, would cease, he- cause nearly all its patrons had gone to the mines.
SAN FRANCISCO DESERTED.
A month later there were but five persons-women and chil- dren-left in Yerba Buena. The first rush was for Sutter's Alill, siuce christened Coloma, or Culluma, after a tribe of In- diaus who lived in that region, From there they scattered in all directions. A large stream of them went over to Weber Creek, that euipties into the American some ten or twelve niles below Coloma. Others went up or down the river. Some, more adventurous, crossed the ridge over to the north and middle forks of the American.
By the close of June the discoveries hart extended to all the forks of the Americau, Woher Creek, Hangtown Creek, the Cosumnes (known then as the Makosuite;, the Mokelumne, Tnolumne, the Yuba from uras, or yuras-grape), called in 1848 the " Yuba," or "Ajuba," and Feather River.
On July 15th, the editor of the Californian returned and issued the first number of his paper after its su-pension It contained a description of the mines from personal observation. He said :-
"The country from the Ajuba , Yuba; to the San Joaquin, a listance of about 120 miles, and from the base toward the summit of the mountains, as far as Snow Hill [ menn- ing Nevada], about seventy miles, has been explored aud gold found on every part. There are now probably 3,000 people, including Indians, engaged in collecting goll. The amount collected by each man ranges from $10 to $350 per day. The publisher of this paper collected, with the aid of a shovel, pick, and a tin pan, from $44 to $128 per day-aver- aging $100. The gross amount collected may exceed $600,000; of which amount our merchants have received ahout $250,000, all for goods, and in eight weeks. The largest piece known to be found weighs eight pounds.
NUMBER OF MINERS AND THEIR SUCCESS.
1848 .- On the 14th of August, the number of white miners was estimated at 4,000. Many of them were of Stevenson's Regiment and the disbanded Mormon Battalion. The Californian remarked on that day that "when a inan with his pan or basket does not average $30 to $40 a day, he moves to another place.
Four thonsand ounces a day was the estimated production of the mines five months after the secret leaked out. In April the price of flour here was S4 per hundred. In August it had risen to $16. All other subsistence supplies rose in the same proportion. Here is a part of a letter from Sonoma, to the Californian, August 14th :-
" I have heard from one of our citizens wbo has been at the placers only a few weeks, and collected $1,500, still averaging $100 a day. Another, who shut up his hotel here some five or six weeks since, has returned with $2,200, collected with a spade, pick, and Indian basket. A man and his wife and boy collected $500 in one day."
Sanı Brannan laid exclusive claim to Morinon Island. in the American, about twenty-eight miles above its mouth, and levied a royalty of thirty per cent. on all the gold taken there hy the Mormons, who paid it for awhile, but refused after they came to a better understanding of the rules of the mines. By Sep- tember the news had spread to Oregon and the southern coast and on the 2d of that month the Californian notes that 123 persons had arrived in town "by ship" since Angust, 26th. In the "Dry Diggings " near Anburn, during the month of August, one man got $16,000 out of five cart-loads of dirt
06
GRAND RUSH FOR THE GOLD MINES.
In the same digging, a good many were collecting from $300 to $1,500 a day.
In the fall of 1848, John Murphy, now of San Jose, discov- ered Murphy's Camp Diggings in Calaveras, and some soldiers of Stevenson's Regiment discovered Rich Gulch at Mokelumine Hill. That winter one miner at Murphy's realized $80,000. It was common report thint John Murphy, who mined a num- ber of Indians on wages, had collected over $1,500,000 in gold- dust before the close of the wet season of 184%.
The following notice of the discovery is from the Califor- nian, of San Francisco, on the 19th of April, 1848 :-
NEW GOLD MINE-It is stated that a new gold mine has been discovered ou the American Fork of the Sacramento, sup- posed to be [it was not] on the land of William A. Leidesdorff. Jeg., of this place. A specimen of the gold has been exhibited and is represented to be very pure.
May opened with accounts of new discoveries. The Cali- fornian of May Bd said: "Seven men, with picks and spades, gathered $1,600 worth in fifteen days." That was a little inore than Sta per man per day. On the 17th of May the same paper said :--
" Many persons have already left the coast for the diggings. Considerable excitement exists here. Merehants and mechanics are closing doors. Lawyers and alcades are leaving their desks, farmers are neglecting their crops, and whole families are forsaking their homes, for the diggings."
By May 24th gold-dlust had become an article of merchan- dise, the price being from $14 to $16 per ounce. The Califor- nien of that date had these advertisements ;-
(HOLD ! GOLD! ! GOLD !!- Cash will be paid for California gold by R. R. UT BUCKALEW, Watchmaker and Jeweler, San Francisco.
GOLD! GOLD !! GOLD !!!- Messrs. DICKSON & HAY are purchasers of Sacramento gold. A liberal price given. BEE HIVE.
THE SECRET WOULD NOT KEEP.
Before Sutter had quite satisfied himself tbat the metal found was gold, he went up to the mill, and, with Marsball, made a treaty with the Indians, buying of them their titles to tbe region round about for a certain amount of goods. There was an effort made to keep the secret inside the little circle that knew it, but it soon leaked out. They had many misgivings and much disenssion whether they were not making themselves ridlienlous ; yet by common consent all began to hunt, though with no great spirit, for the " yellow stuff" that might prove such a prize.
Slowly and surely, however, did these discoveries creep into the minds of those at home and abroad; the whole civilized world was set agog with the startling news from the shores of the Pacific. Young and old were seized with the California fever; high and low, rich and poor, were infected by it; tbe prospect was altogether too gorgeous to contemplate. Why, they could actually pick up a fortnue for the seeking!
GRAND RUSH FOR THE GOLD.
While the real argonauts of 1848 were wandering around among the hills and gulcbes that flank the western slope of the
Sierra Nevada, armed with pan, spoon, and butcher-knife, test- ing the scope and enpabilities of the gold mines, the news of discovery was speeding on its way to the Eastern States, by two routes simultaneously.
It reached the frontier of Missouri aud Iowa hy the Mormon scouts and moving trappers about the same time that vessels sailing round Cape Horn took it to New York and Boston, which was in the late autumn of 1848. The first reports re- peatedly confirmed and enlarged upon. threw the whole coun- try into the wildest excitement. In the city of New York and the extreme Western States the fever was hottest.
EMIGRANT COMPANIES FORMED.
1849 .- The adventurers generally formed companies. expect- ing to go overland or by sea to the mines, and to dissolve part- nership only after a first trial of luck together in the " dig- gings." In the Eastern and Middle States they would often buy np an old whaling ship, just ready to he condemned to the wreckers, put in a cargo of such stuff as they must need themselves, and provisions, tools, or goods, that must be sure to bring returns enough to make the venture profitable. Of course, the whole fleet rushing together through the Golden Gate, made most of these ventures profitless, even when the guess was happy as to the kind of supplies needed by the Cali- fornians. It can hardly be believed what sieves of ships started, and how many of them actually made the voyage.
Hundreds of farms were mortgaged to buy tickets for the land of gold. Some insured their lives and pledged their poli- cies for an outfit. The wild boy was packed off hopefully. Tbe black sheep of the flock was dismissed with a blessing, and tbe folorn hope that, with a change of skies, there might be a change of manners. The stay of the happy household said "Good-bye, but only for a year or two," to his charge. Unhappy husbands availed themselves cheerfully of this eheap and reputable method of divorce, trusting time to mend mat- ters in their absence. Here was a chance to begin life anew.
THE MINERS' LAWS.
The miuers found no governmental machinery competent to proteet their lives or their property, and hence each mining camp made a law unto itself. The punishment, of course, was sure and swift, and, as a consequence, there was but little of it. Gold was left in deep cañons with no one to watch it, and every opportunity was afforded for theft; but if there were any disposed to take what did not belong to tbem, the knowl- edge tbat their lives would pay the forfeit if detected, deterred them from it. The excitement of the times led to gambling. It seemed that almost everybody, even those who had been leading church members at the East, were seized with the ma- nia for gambling. Tables for this purpose were set out in every hotel, and one corner of many of tbe stores, both in mines and cities, were set apart for the monte table.
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