History of Placer county, California, Part 11

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 558

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" I think now from all this you can form some facts, and that you can mention how thousands and thou- sands made their fortunes from this Gold Discovery produced through my industry and energy, (some wise merchants and others in San francisco called the building of this Sawmill, another of Sutter's folly) and this folly saved not only the Mercantile World from bankruptcy, but even our General Govt. but for me it has turned out a folly, then without having discovered the Gold, I would have become the richest wealthiest man on the Pacific Shore.

J. A. SUTTER."

James C. Ward, who visited Gen. Sutter in 1848, says of him :-

" A Swiss by birth, he held during the reign of Charles X. the rank of captain in the French army. He purchased the buildings at Ross, just north of Bodega, of the Russians, and as he proposed to set- tle the wilderness to the north of the Bay of San Francisco with European immigrants, the Mexican Government made him a grant of eleven leagues of land on the Sacramento river. After landing he camped, surrounded by hostile savages, in the open plain where the fort was afterward built, and the next morning, after dressing in full uniform, he went, accompanied by his Indian servant, both well armed. to the Indian village in the woods near by: 'The

HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

savages were informed through the interpreter that he came to them as a friend, and if they would help bim a little with their labor, he would make them presents.

" The Indians were set to work to make adobes, of which the fort was built. It is a parallelogram in form, with two bastions. In the middle of the square is a building two stories high, containing four rooms, and a counting-room upstairs. A black- smith shop, mill for grinding corn, scrape manufac- tory and dwelling are around it, built against the walls of the fort. At one time he had a well-drilled force of thirty Indians within its walls, with guards posted night and day for its defense. No one reached it without being fed and lodged.

" I passed the evening of my arrival, after supper, in his company. His manners are polished, and the impression he makes on every one is very favorable. In figure he is of medium height. rather stout, but well made. His head is round. features regular, with smiling and agreeable expression; complexion healthy and roseate. He wears his hair cut close, and his moustache trimmed short. a la militaire. He dressed very neatly in frock coat, pantaloons and cap of blue, and with his gold-headed malacca in hand. you would rather suppose him prepared for a saunter on the Boulevards than a consultation with Simplon, his Indian alcalde, about hands required for the day's work, or ox-teams to be dispatched here and there."

CHAPTER XI

THE KING'S ORPHAN.

His Observations in the Sacramento Valley in 1843-Indications of Gold-Life at Sutter's Fort-Indian Gourmands --- Won- derful Fertility of the Land.

IN 1843 a young Swedish scholar visited Sutter's Fort, and made observations which are now highly interesting. He had been educated at a Government institution, and, on that account. was known as one of the "King's Orphans." One of the requirements of the school was that the pupil, after receiving a gratuitous education, should travel in foreign lands. write out his observations and discoveries, and de- posit them in the library of the institution. In pur- suance of that duty, the young Swede found his way to California, made drawings of the Golden Gate, the town of Yerba Buena, and the old Presidio, vis- ited and described Sntter's Fort, and. on his way home, died at New Orleans. ITis papers fell into the hands of Col. T. B. Thorpe, who reported them to the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial Days of California. While examining the country surround- ing Sutter's Fort. in 1843. the ". Orphan " wrote :-

" The Californias are rich in minerals. Gold, sil- ver, lead, oxide of iron, manganese, and copper ore are met with throughout the country, the precious metals being the most abundant."

Describing Sutter's establishment. the Swedish traveler said :-

" It has more the appearance of a fort than a farm- ing establishment. It is protected by a wall ten feet high, made of adobes, or sun-dried brick. having a turret with embrasures and loop-holes for fire-arms. Twenty-four pieces of cannon, of different sizes, can be brought to defend the walls. Against the walls

on the inside are erected the store-houses of the es- tablishment ; also, a distillery to make spirits from the wheat and grapes, together with shops for coop- ers, blacksmiths, saddlers, granaries, and huts for the laborers. At the gate-way is always stationed a ser- vant, armed as a sentinel. I arrived at the estab- lishment in the morning, just as the people werc be- ing assembled for labor by the discordant notes of a Mexican drum. I found Captain Sutter busily em- ployed in distributing orders for the day. He re- ceived me with great hospitality, and made me feel on the instant, perfectly at home under his roof. The magical sound of the drum had gathered together several hundred Indians, who flocked to their morn. ing meal preparatory to the labors of the day, reap- ing wheat. The morning meal over, they filed off to the field in a kind of military order, armed with a sickle and hook.

" Breakfast was by this time announced for the family, which was served up in an out-house adjoin- ing the kitchen. It consisted of wholesome corn- bread, eggs, ham, an excellent piece of venison, and coffee. In the rear of the fort is a large pond, the borders of which are planted with willows and other trees. This pond furnishes water for domestic use, and for irrigating the garden. The want of rain is the greatest evil that befalls the country. In the front of the fort there are inclosures for horses and cattle, and places to deposit corn and wheat. The manner of threshing was conducted on a most patri- archal plan, the grain being strewn upon the floor and then trodden out by horses or cattle, which causes it to be much broken and mixed with the earth, and almost impossible to clean.

"The raising of wheat, corn, horses, and cattle, constitutes the principal business of Captain Sutter ; but he has realized considerable income from the sal- mon fisheries of the rivers, the fish being unequaled in flavor, and found in the greatest abundance. He also organized extensive hunting and trapping expe- ditions for the skins of the beaver, otter, elk, deer, and antelope, but in this he was greatly interfered with by the Hudson Bay Company, who sent their hunters upon his grounds. He complained to the proper authorities, but they paid no attention to the matter. His enemies, not content with thus injur- ing him, informed the suspicious Mexican Govern- ment that Captain Sutter was concocting revolu- tionary plans, and that he encouraged deserters and other disorderly persons to live at his settlement. Captain Sutter replied to these charges by stating that he had received the grant of his lands on condi- tion that he should obtain settlers, the principal por- tion of whom he expected from Europe. To make amends, he had encouraged all the stragglers in the country to flock to his central position, and they be- ing chiefly unmarried men, and some rather lalwess spirits from the mountains, they soon formed a very independent set of men, and were quite competent to defend themselves.

" The Government at Monterey was not satisfied with this explanation, and urged on by envious neigh- bors, it was prompted to send to Captain Sutter a committee of investigation. The Captain was so en- raged at the indignity that he treated the committee with great contempt, and said he could defend him- self against any force that might be employed against him. Whereupon the Government at Monterey threatened to send a military force, but thought bet- ter of the matter when they learned the character of the men Sutter had about him, and the Russian armament he had mounted on the walls of the fort:

SUTTER'S FORT IN 1846.

but they annoyed him with lawsuits, and, after a great deal of difficulty, he was acquitted of any treasonable designs against the Government.

'. The Hudson Bay Company having destroyed his trade in furs, he retaliated upon them by erecting a large distillery, with the product of which he se- cretly purchased from the hunters of the Company the greater part of their furs, and managed to make more by the operation than if he had kept up a large hunting establishment of his own.

" Mr. Sinclair, a partner with Captain Sutter in farming pursuits, and a Mr. Grimes, have large and productive farms on the American Fork. Mr. Sin- clair is from Scotland, is a very interesting gentle- man in conversation, and possesses great enterprise in business. He was a hunter for many years among the Rocky Mountains, acting as a clerk to one of the Hudson Bay Company's expeditions. He treated me to a rural breakfast, and, in accordance with his old habits, broiled his meat on a ramrod stuck up be- fore the fire. The limpid and beautiful river near which his home is situated, is made doubly attractive when compared with the sultry plains in the vicinity, upon which good water is not always to be ob- tained."

The " Orphan " explains the process of Indian sig- nal-fires :-

" A hole is dug in the ground much wider at the bottom than at the top; this hole is filled with com- bustibles and set on fire; once well ignited the hole is nearly closed at the opening. By this means the smoke rises to a considerable height in a column, and thus information is conveyed to different tribes of the approach of an enemy or friend, and whether they are coming in large or small bodies."

The gluttonous habits of the Indians are described: " The Indians that constituted the crew of the schooner, having been rather stinted of food for a day or two, determined on a feast as a recompense for their previous fasting. They presented on that occasion a spectacle I had never before witnessed of disgusting sensual indulgence, the effect of which on their conduct, struck me as being exceedingly strange. The meat of the heifer, most rudely cooked, was eaten in a voracious manner. After gorging themselves they would lie down and sleep for a while, and get up and eat again. They repeated this glut- tony until they actually lost their senses, and pre- sented in their conduct all the phenomena peculiar to an over-indulgence in spirituous liquors. They cried and laughed by turns, rolled upon the ground, dozed, and then sprang up in a state of delirium. The following morning they were all wretchedly sick, and had the expression peculiar to drunken men recovering their reason after a debauch."

The great fertility of the soil in parts of the Sac- ramento valley is referred to as follows :-

" Vegetables of all kinds can be raised in the great- est abundance, frequently two or three crops a year. Wormwood and wild mustard abound as weeds. Oats grow wild, and the cultivated grow to an enormous height. Wheat crops sown in the Fall, carly the fol- lowing year have yielded one hundred and fourteen bushels to the acre. At the Mission of St. Joseph it was ascertained that the yield was one hundred and twenty bushels to the acre, and the spontaneous crop the following year was sixty bushels to the acre. The wheat of Taos has six distinct heads. Clover and the grasses are extraordinarily fine and pro- ductive. Indian flax grows wild all over the coun- try. Horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs thrive well, and

are possessed in greater or less numbers by all thé inhabitants, and are tended by herdsmen."

CHAPTER XII.

SUTTER'S FORT IN 1846.

Aspect of Sacramento Valley-Sinclair's Ranch-A Lady Pion- eer-Captain Sutter at Home-The Fort Described-Condi- tion and Occupation of the Indians-Farm Products and Prices-Dinner with the Pioneer-New Helvetia.

THE following interesting and accurate description of Sutter's Fort, before the gold discovery, is from Edwin Bryant's work, " What I Saw in California," published in 1849. Mr. Bryant, with a party of nine persons, left Independence, Missouri, on the 1st of May, 1846, and reached Sutter's Fort about midsum- mer, when he took the following observations :-

"Sept. 1, 1846. A clear, pleasant morning. We took a south course down the valley, and at 4 o'clock P. M. reached the residence of John Sinclair, Esq., on the Rio de los Americanos, about two miles east of Sutter's Fort. The valley of the Sacramento, as far as we have traveled down it, is from thirty to forty miles in width, from the foot of the low benches of the Sierra Nevada to the elevated range of hills on the western side. The composition of the soil ap- pears to be such as to render it highly productive. with proper cultivation, of the small grains. The ground is trodden up by immense herds of cattle and horses, which grazed here early in the Spring, when it was wet and apparently miry. We passed through large evergreen oak groves, some of them miles in width. Game is very abundant. We fre- quently saw deer feeding quietly one or two hundred yards from us, and large flocks of antelopes.

"Mr. Sinclair, with a number of horses and In- dians, was engaged in threshing wheat. His crop this year, he informed me, would be about three thousand bushels. The soil of his rancho, situated in the bottom of the Rio de los Americanos, just above its junction with the Sacramento, is highly fertile. His wheat-fields are secured against the numerous herds of cattle and horses, which consti- tute the largest item in the husbandry of this coun- try, by ditches about five feet in depth, and four or five feet over at the surface. The dwelling-house and outhouses of Mr. Sinclair are all constructed after American models, and present a most com- fortable and neat appearance. It was a pleasant scene, after having traveled many months in the wilderness, to survey this abode of apparent thrift and enjoyment, resembling so nearly those we had left in the far-off country behind us.

"In searching for the ford over the Rio de los Americanos, in order to proceed on to Sutter's Fort, I saw a lady of a graceful, though fragile figure, dressed in the costume of our own countrywomen. She was giving some directions to her female ser. vants, and did not discover me until I spoke to her, and inquired the position of the ford. Her pale and delicate, but handsome and expressive countenance, indicated much surprise, produced by my sudden and unexpected salutation. But, collecting herself, she replied to my inquiry in vernacular English, and the sounds of her voice, speaking our own language. and her civilized appearance, were highly pleasing. This lady. I presume, was Mrs. Sinclair; but I never saw her afterwards.

"Crossing the Rio de los Americanos, the waters

1.5

HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

of- which, at this season, are quite shallow at the ford, we proceeded over a well-beaten road to Sut- ter's Fort, arriving there when the sun was about an hour and a half high. Riding up to the front gate. I saw two Indian sentinels pacing to and fro before it, and several Americans, or foreigners (as all who are not Californians by birth are here called), sitting in the gateway, dressed in buckskin panta- loons and blue sailor shirts, with white stars worked on the collars. I inquired if Captain Sutter was in the fort. A very small man, with a peculiarly sharp red face and a most voluble tongue, gave the re- sponse. He was probably a corporal. He said, in substance, that perhaps I was not aware of the great changes which had recently taken place in California ;- that the fort belonged to the United States, and that Captain Sutter, although he was in the fort, had no control over it. He was going into a minute history of the complicated circumstances and events which had produced this result, when I reminded him that we were too much fatigued to listen to a long discourse, but if Captain Sutter was inside the wails, and could conveniently step to the gate a moment, I would be glad to see him. A lazy- looking Indian with a ruminating countenance, after some time spent in parleying, was dispatched with my message to Captain Sutter.

"Captain S. soon came to the gate, and saluted us with much gentlemanly courtesy and friendly eordi- ality. He said that events had transpired in the country, which, to his deep regret, had so far de- prived him of the control of his own property, that he did not feel authorized to invite us inside of the walls to remain. The fort, he said, was occupied by soldiers under the pay of the United States, and commanded by Mr. Kern. I replied to him that, although it would be something of a novelty to sleep under a roof, after our late nomadic life, it was a matter of small consideration. If he would supply us with some meat, a little salt, and such vegetables as he might have, we neither asked nor desired more from his hospitality, which we all knew was liberal, to the highest degree of generosity.

"A servant was immediately dispatched with orders to furnish us with a supply of beef, salt, mel- ons; onions, and tomatoes, for which no compensa- tion would be received. We proceeded immediately to a grove of live-oak timber, about two miles west of the fort, and encamped within a half a mile of the Sacramento river. * * * *

" He [Captain Sutter], planted himself on the spot where his fort now stands, then a savage wilderness, and in the midst of numerous and hostile tribes of Indians. With the small party of men which he originally brought with him, he succeeded in defend- ing himself against the Indians, until he constructed his first defensive building. He told me that, sev- eral times being hemmed in by bis assailants, he had subsisted for many days upon grass alone. There is a grass in this valley which the Indians eat. that is pleasant to the taste, and nutritious. Hle succeeded by degrees in reducing the Indians to obedience, and by means of their labor erected the spacious fortification which new belongs to him.

"The fort is a parallelogram, about five hundred feet in length, and one hundred and fifty in breadth. The walls are constructed of adobes or sun-dried bricks. The main building, or residence, stands near the center of the area, or court, inclosed by the walls. A row of shops, store-rooms, and barracks, are inclosed within, and line the walls on every side. Bastions project from the angles, and ordnance,

mounted in which, sweep the walls. The principal gates on the east and the south are also defended by heavy artillery, through port-holes pierced in the walls. At this time the fort is manned by about fifty well-disciplined Indians, and ten or twelve white men, all under the pay of the United States. These Indians are well clothed and fed. The gar- rison is under the command of Mr. Kern, the artist of Captain Fremont's exploring expedition.

" The number of laboring Indians employed by Captain Sutter during the seasons of sowing and harvest, is from two to three hundred. Some of these are elothed in shirts and blankets, but a large portion of them are entirely naked. They are paid so much per day for their labor, in such articles of merchandise as they may select from the store. Cotton cloth and handkerchiefs are what they most freely purchase. Common brown cotton cloth sells at one dollar per yard. A tin coin issued by Captain Sutter circulates among them, upon which is stamped the number of days that the holder has labored. These stamps indicate the value in merchandise to which the laborer or holder is entitled.

"They are inveterate gamblers, and those who have been so fortunate as to obtain clothing, fre- quently stake and part with every rag upon their backs. The game which they most generally play is carried on as follows: Any number which may be concerned in it seat themselves cross-legged on the ground, in a circle. They are then divided into two parties, each of which has two champions or players. A ball, or some small article, is placed in the hands of the players on one side, which they transfer from hand to hand with such sleight and dexterity that it is nearly impossible to detect the changes. When the players holding the balls make a particular motion with their hands, the antagonist players guess in which hand the balls are at the time. If the guess is wrong, it counts one in favor of the playing party. If the guess is right, then it counts one in favor of the guessing party, and the balls are transferred to them. The count of the game is kept with sticks. During the progress of the game, all concerned keep up a continual monotonous grunt- ing, with a movement of their bodies to keep time with their grunts. The articles which are staked on the game are placed in the center of the ring.

" The laboring or field Indians about the fort are fed upon the offal of slaughtered animals, and upon the bran sifted from the ground wheat. This is boiled in large iron kettles. It is then placed in wooden troughs standing in the court, around which the several messes seat themselves, and scoop out with their hands this poor fodder. Bad as it is, they eat it with an apparent high relish; and no doubt it is more palatable and more healthy than the acorn mush, or atole, which constitutes the prin- cipal food of these Indians in their wild state.

"The wheat erop of Captain Sutter, the present year [1846], is about eight thousand bushels. The season has not been a favorable one. The average yield to the acre, Captain S. estimated at twenty- five bushels. In favorable seasons this yield is doubled; and if we can believe the statements often made upon respectable authority, it is sometimes quadrupled. * * * * The wheat-fields of

* Captain S. are secured against the cattle and horses by ditches. Agriculture, among the native Califor- nians, is in a very primitive state, and although Cap- tain S. has introduced some American implements, * * still his ground is but imperfectly cultivated. *

" Wheat is selling at the fort at two dollars and

HOOSIER CONSOLIDATED HYDRAULIC CLAIM OF POND & Co., TODDS VALLEY.

THE HISTORY OF THE DONNER PARTY.

fifty cents per fanega, rather more than two bushels English measure. It brings the same price when delivered at San Francisco, near the mouth of the Bay of San Francisco. It is transported from the Sacramento valley to a market in launches of about fifty tons burden. Unbolted flour sells at eight dol- lars per one hundred pounds. The reason of this high price is the scarcity of flouring-mills in the country. The mills which are now going up in various places will reduce the price of flour, and probably they will soon be able to grind all the wheat raised in the country. The streams of Cali- fornia afford excellent water-power, but the flour consumed by Captain Sutter is ground by a very ordinary horse-mill.

"I saw near the fort a small patch of hemp, which had been sown as an experiment, in the spring, and had not been irrigated. I never saw a ranker growth of hemp in Kentucky. Vegetables of several kinds appeared to be abundant, and in perfection. * * * * * * * *

* "Captain Sutter's dining-room and his table fur- niture do not present a very luxurious appearance. The room is unfurnished, with the exception of a common deal table standing in the center, and some benches, which are substitutes for chairs. The table, when spread, presented a correspondingly primitive simplicity of aspect and of viands. The first course consisted of good soup, served to each guest, in a china bowl, with silver spoons. The bowls, after they had been used for this purpose, were taken away and cleaned by the Indian servant, and were afterwards used as tumblers or goblets. from which we drank our water. The next course consisted of two dishes of meat, one roasted and one fried, and both highly seasoned with onions. Bread, cheese, butter, and melons, constituted the dessert. * *

* * *

"Such has been the extortion of the Government in the way of import duties, that few supplies which are included even among the most ordinary elegan- cies of life, have ever reached the inhabitants, and for these they have been compelled to pay prices that would be astonishing to a citizen of the United States or of Europe, and such as have impoverished the population. As a general fact, they cannot be obtained at any price, and hence those who have the ability to purchase are compelled to forego their use from necessity.

"The site of the town of Nueva Helvetia, which has been laid out by Captain Sutter, is about a mile and a half from the Sacramento. It is on an eleva- tion of the plain, and not subject to overflow when the waters of the river are at their highest known point. There are now but three or four small honses in this town, but I have little doubt that it will soon become a place of importance.

"Near the Embarcadero of New Helvetia is a large Indian 'sweat-house,' or temescal, an appendage of most of the runcherius."

CHAPTER XIII.

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History of Placer county, California, Part 11

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West Number of Pages: 558

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 558