History of Placer county, California, Part 15

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

USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 15

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"* * * The river was forty to seventy feet wide, and now entirely frozen over. It was wooded with large cottonwood, willow and grain de boruf. By observation, the latitude of this encampment was 38° 37' 18".

" February 2d. It had ceased snowing, and this morning the lower air was clear and frosty; and six or seven thousand feet above, the peaks of the Sierra now and then appeared among the rolling clouds which were rapidly disappearing before the sun. Our Indian shook his head as he pointed to the icy pinnacles, shooting high up into the sky, and seem- ing almost immediately above ns. Crossing the river

on the ice, and leaving it immediately, we com- menced the ascent of the mountain along the valley of a tributary stream. The people were unusually silent, for every man knew that our enterprise was hazardous, and the issue doubtful. The snow deep- ened rapidly, and it soon became necessary to break a road. For this service a party of ten was formed, mounted on the strongest horses, cach man in succession opening the road on foot, or on horse- back, until himself and his horse became fatigued, when he stepped aside, and, the remaining number passing ahead, he took his station in the rear. Leav- ing this stream, and pursuing a very direct course, we passed over an intervening ridge to the river we had left. On the way we passed two huts, en- tirely covered with snow, which might very easily have escaped observation. A family was living in each, and the only trail I saw in the neighborhood was from the door-hole to a nut-pine near, which supplied them with food and fuel. We found two similar huts on the creek where we next arrivedl. and traveling a little higher up, encamped on its banks, in about four feet of snow. To-day we had traveled sixteen miles, and our elevation above the sea was six thousand seven hundred and sixty feet

"February 3d. Turning our faces directly towards the main chain, we ascended an open hollow along a small tributary to the river, which, according to the Indians, issues from a mountain to the south. The snow was so deep in the hollow that we were obliged to travel along the steep hill-sides, and over spurs where wind and sun had lessened the snow, and where the grass, which appeared to be in good qual- ity along the sides of the mountain, was exposed We opened our road in the same way as yesterday but only made seven miles, and encamped by some springs at the foot of a high and steep hill, by which the hollow ascended to another basin in the mount ain. The little stream below was entirely buried in snow. * * * We occupied the remainder of the day in beating down a road to the foot of the hill, a mile or two distant; the snow being beaten down when moist, in the warm part of the day, and then bard frozen at night, made a foundation that would beal the weight of the animals the next morning. Dur- ing the day several Indians joined us on snow-shoes. These were made of a circular hoop, about a foot in diameter, the interior space being filled with an open net-work of bark.

"February 4th. I went ahead early with two or three men, each with a led horse, to break the road. We were obliged to abandon the hollow entirely, and work along the mountain side, which was very steep. and the snow covered with an icy crust. * * * To- wards a pass which the guide indicated, we at tempted in the afternoon to force a road; but after a laborious plunging through two or three hundred yards, our best horse gave out, entirely refusing to make any further effort; and, for a time, we were brought to a stand. The guide informed us that we were entering the deep snow, and here began the difficulties of the mountain; and to him, and almost to all, our enterprise seemed hopeless. 1 returned a short distance back, to the break in the hollow, where 1 met Mr. Fitzpatrick. The camp had been all the day occupied in endeavoring to ascend the hill, but only the best horses had succeeded, not having sufficient strength to bring themselves up without the packs; and all the line of road between this and the springs was strewed with camp stores and equipage, and horses floundering in snow. I therefore immediately encamped on the ground with my own mess, which

HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY. CALIFORNIA

was in advance, and directed Mr. Fitzpatrick to en- camp at the springs, and send all the animals, in charge of Taban, with a strong guard, back to the place where they had been pastured the night before. * * * Two Indians joined our party here; and one of them, an old man, immediately began to ha- rangue us, saying that ourselves and animals would perish in the snow; and that if we would go back, he would show us another and a better way across the mountain. He spoke in a very loud voice, and there was a singular repetition of phrases and arrange- ment of words, which rendered his speech striking, and not unmusical. We had now begun to under- stand some words, and, with the aid of signs, easily comprehended the old man's simple ideas. 'Rock upon rock-rock upon rock-snow upon snow -- snow upon snow,' said he; 'even if you get over the snow you will not be able to get down from the mountains. He made us the sign of precipices, and showed us how the feet of the horses would slip, and throw them off from the narrow trails that led along their sides. Our Chinook, who comprehended even more readily than ourselves, and believed our situa- tion hopeless, covered his head with his blanket and began to weep and lament. 'I wanted to see the whites,' said he; ' I come away from my own people to see the whites, and I wouldn't care to die among them, but here,' and he looked around into the cold night and the gloomy forest, and, drawing his blanket over his head, began again to lament. Seated around the tree, the fire illuminating the rocks and the tall bolls of the pines around about, and the old Indian haranguing, we presented a group of very serious faces.

" February 5th. The night had been too cold to sleep, and we were up very early. Our guide was standing by the fire with all his finery on; and see- ing him shiver in the cold, I threw on his shoulders one of my blankets. We missed him a few minutes afterwards, and never saw him again. He had de- serted. His bad faith and treachery were in per- fect keeping with the estimate of Indian character, which a long intercourse with this people had grad- ually forced npon my mind. While a portion of the camp were occupied in bringing up the baggage to this point, the remainder were busy in making sledges and snow-shoes, I had determined to explore the mountain ahead, and the sledges were to be used in transporting the baggage. * * *

"February 6th. Accompanied by Mr. Fitzpatrick, I set out to-day with a reconnoitering party, on snow- shoes. We marched all in single file, trampling the snow as heavily as we could. Crossing the open basin, in a march of about ten miles we reached the top of one of the peaks, to the left of the pass indi- cated by our guide. Far below us, dimmed by the distance was a large snowless valley, bounded on the western side, at the distance of about a hundred miles, by a low range of mountains, which Carson recognized with delight as the mountains bordering the coast. . There,' said he, 'is the little mountain (Mt. Diablo)-it is fifteen years ago since I saw it; but I am just as sure as if I had seen it yesterday. Between us, then, and this low coast range, was the valley of the Sacramento; and no one who had not accompanied us through the incidents of our life for the last few months could realize the delight with which we at last looked down upon it. At the dis- tance of apparently thirty miles beyond us were dis- tinguished spots of prairie; and a dark line, which could be traced with the glass, was imagined to be the course of the river; but we were evidently at a

great height above the valley, and between us and the plains extended miles of snowy fields and broken ridges of pine-covered mountains. * * * All our en- ergies were now directed to getting our animals across the snow; and it was supposed that, after all the baggage had been drawn with the sleighs over the trail we had made, it would be sufficiently hard to bear our animals. * * * With one party drawing sleighs loaded with baggage, I advanced to-day about four miles along the trail, and encamped at the first grassy spot, where we intended to bring our horses. . Mr. Fitzpatrick, with another party, re- mained behind, to form an intermediate station be- tween us and the animals.

"February 8th. * * * Scenery and weather, com- bined, must render these mountains beautiful in Sum- mer; the purity and deep-blue color of the sky are singularly beautiful; the days are sunny and bright, and even warm in the noon hours; and if we could be free from the many anxieties that oppress us, even now we would be delighted here; but our provisions are getting fearfully scant. Sleighs ar- rived with baggage about ten o'clock; and leaving a portion of it here, we continued on for a mile and a balf, and encamped at the foot of a long hill on this side of the open bottom. * * *

" February 9th. During the night the weather changed, the wind rising to a gale, and commencing to snow before daylight; before morning the trail was covered. We remained quiet in camp all day, in the course of which the weather improved. Four sleighs arrived toward evening, with the bedding of the men. We suffer much from want of salt, and all the men are becoming weak from insufficient food.

" February 10th. Taplin was sent back with a few men to assist Mr. Fitzpatrick; and continuing on with three sleighs carrying a part of the baggage, we had the satisfaction to encamp within two and a hall' miles of the head of the hollow, and at the foot of the last mountain ridge. Here two large trees had been set on fire, and in the holes, where the snow had been melted away, we found a comfortable camp. Putting on our snow-shoes, we spent the afternoon in exploring a road ahead. The glare of the snow combined with great fatigue, had rendered many of the people nearly blind; but we were fortu- nate in having some black silk handkerchief's, which, worn as veils, very much relieved the eyes.

" February 11th. High wind continued, and our trail this morning was nearly invisible-here and there indicated by a little ridge of snow. Our situa- tion became tiresome and dreary, requiring a strong exercise of patience and resolution. In the evening I received a message from Mr. Fitzpatrick, acquaint- ing me with the utter failure of his attempt to get our mules and horses over the snow-the half-hidden trail had proved entirely too slight to support them, and they had broken through, and were plunging about or lying half buried in the snow. * I * *

wrote him to send the animals immediately back to their old pastures; and after having made manls and shovels, turn in all the strength of his party to open and beat a road through the snow, strengthen- ing it with branches and boughs of the pines.

" February 13th. We continued to labor on the road; and in the course of the day had the satisfac- tion to see the people working down the face of the opposite hill, about three miles distant. * * * The meat train did not arrive this morning, and I gave Godey leave to kill our little dog (Tlamath), which he prepared in Indian fashion; scorching off the hair, and washing the skin with soap and snow, and then

EARLY CONDITION OF THIS REGION.

cutting it up in pieces, which were laid on the snow. Shortly afterward, the sleigh arrived with a supply of horse meat; and we had to-night an extraordinary dinner-pea soup, mule and dog. * *

" February 16th. We had succeeded in getting our animals safely to the first grassy hill; and this morning I started with Jacob on a reconnoitering expedition beyond the mountain.

" We traveled along the crest of narrow ridges, extending down from the mountain in the direction of the valley, from which the snow was fast melting away. On the open spots was tolerably good grass; and I judged that we should succeed in getting the eamp down by way of these. Toward sun-down we discovered some icy points in a deep hollow, and, descending the mountain, we eneamped at the head- water of a little creek, where at last the water found its way to the Pacific. * * * We started again early in the morning. The creek acquired a regular breadth of about twenty feet, and we soon began to hear the rushing of the water below the ice-surface, over which we traveled to avoid the snow; a few miles below we broke through, where the water was several feet deep, and halted to dry our clothes. We continued a few miles further, walking being very laborious without snow-shoes. I was now perfectly satisfied that we had struck the stream on which Mr. Sutter lived; and, turning about, made a hard push, and reached the camp at dark. * * *

"On the 19th, the people were occupied in mak- ing a road and bringing up the baggage; and, on the afternoon of the next day, February 20, 1844, we encamped with the animals and all the material of the eamp, on the summit of the pass in the dividing ridge, one thousand miles by our traveled road from the Dalles of the Columbia. The people, who had not yet been to this point, climbed the neighboring peak to enjoy a look at the valley. The temperature of boiling water gave for the elevation of the encamp- ment nine thousand three hundred and thirty-eight feet above the sea. This was two thousand feet higher than the Sonth Pass in the Rocky Mountains, and several peaks in view rose several thousand feet still higher. 3

From the summit the party passed down the western slope of the Sierras, following the general course of the stream, and suffering many hardships and privations, encountering much deep snow and sustaining life on none too juiey mule meat. The stream whose course was being followed was the south fork of the American river. Deseribing the happy termination of this perilous journey by an advance party of eight, Mr. Fremont says :--

"March 6th. We continued on our road through the same surpassingly beautiful country, entirely unequaled for the pasturage of stock by anything we had ever seen. Our horses had now become so strong that they were able to carry us, and we trav- eled rapidly-over four miles an hour ; four of us riding every alternate hour. Every few hundred yards we came upon little bands of deer ; but we were too eager to reach the settlement, which we momentarily expected to discover, to halt for any other than a passing shot. In a few hours we reached a large fork (North Fork of the American river), the northern branch of the river, and equal in size to that which we had descended. Together they formed a beautiful stream, sixty to one hundred yards wide, which at first, ignorant of the nature of the country

through which that river ran, we took to be the Sacramento. We continued down the right bank of the river, traveling for a while over a wooded upland where we had the delight to discover tracks of cattle. * * * We made an acorn meal at noon and hurried on. Shortly afterwards we gave a shout at the appearance on a little bluff of a neatly built adobe house with glass windows. We rode up, but, to our disappointment, found only Indians. There was no appearance of cultivation, and we could see no cattle, and we supposed the place had been aban- doned. We now pressed on more eagerly than ever; the river swept round in a large bend to the right ; the hills lowered down entirely; and, gradually enter- ing a broad valley, we came unexpectedly into a large Indian village, where the people looked clean, and wore cotton shirts and various other articles of dress. They immediately crowded around us, and we had the inexpressible delight to find one who spoke a lit- tle indifferent Spanish, but who at first confounded us by saying there were no whites in the country ; but just then a well-dressed Indian came up and made bis salutations in very well-spoken Spanish. In answer to our inquiries, he informed us that we were upon the Rio de los Americanos (the river of the Americans), and that it joined the Sacramento river about ten miles below. Never did a name sound more sweetly! We felt ourselves among our country- men; for the name of American, in these distant parts, is applied to the citizens of the United States. To our eager inquiries he answered, 'I am a vaquero (cow herd) in the service of Captain Sutter, and the people of this rancheria work for him.' Our evident satisfaction made him communieative; and he went on to say that Captain Sutter was a very rich man, and always glad to see his country people. We asked for his house. Ile answered that it was just over the hill before us, and offered, if we would wait a moment to take his horse and conduct us to it. We readily accepted his civil offer. In a short distance we eame in sight of the fort; and passing on the way the house of a settler on the opposite side (a Mr. Sinclair), we forded the river; and in a few miles were met a short distance from the fort by Captain Sutter himself. He gave us a most frank and cordial reception-eon- ducted us immediately to his residence-and under his hospitable roof had a night of rest, enjoyment, and refreshment, which none but ourselves eould appre- ciate."

Gen. Fremont the next day started back with provisions and horses to meet and relieve the main body of the party, who were several days in the rear. He met them near the forks of the river, " Each man, weak and emaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaciated as himself." Of sixty-seven horses and mules, only thirty-three had survived that terrible journey across the mountains. Many of them had been killed for food, while others had died of starvation or exhaustion or lay at the bottom of rocky eañons, down which they had plunged from the precipitons heights above. Many valuable specimens, collected during the long jour- ney were lost.

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

HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

building a home for themselves and their children. Many of these immigrants crossed the mountains by nearly the same route pursued 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 Sicard, 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 Johnson's ranch. owned by William Johnson and Sebastian Kyser, who settled there in 1845. Johnson's Crossing was for years a favorite landmark and rallying point.

The next Winter after Fremont made his perilous crossing of the Sierras, another party, a band of hardy pioneers, worked their laborious way through the drifting snow of the mountains, and entered the beautiful valley, one of them remaining in his snow- bound camp at Donner lake until returning Spring made his rescue possible. The party consisted of twenty-three men: John Flomboy; Captain Stevens, now a resident of Kern county, Cal .; Joseph Foster; Dr. Townsend; Allen Montgomery; Moses Schallen- berger, now living in San Jose. Cal .; G. Greenwood, and his two sons, John and Britt; James Miller, now of San Rafael, Cal .; Mr. C'alvin; William . Martin; Patrick Martin; Dennis Martin; Martin Murphy, and his five sons; Mr. Hitchcock, and son. They left Council Bluff's, May 20, 1844, en route to California, of the fertility of whose soil and the mildness of whose climate glowing accounts had been given. The dan- gers of the plains and mountains were passed. and the party reached the Humboldt river, when an Indian named Truckee presented himself, and offered to guide them to California. After question- ing him closely, they employed him as their guide. and as they progressed, found that the statements he had made about the route were fully verified. He soon became a great favorite among them, and when they reached the lower crossing of the Truckee river, now Wadsworth. they gave his name to the beautiful stream, so pleased were they by the pure water and abundance of fish to which he had directed them. The stream will ever live in history as the Truckee river, and the fish, the famous Truckee trout. will continue to delight the palate of the epicure for years to come.

From this point the party pushed on to the beauti- ful mountain lake, whose shores but two years' later witnessed a scene of suffering and death unequaled in the annals of America's pioneers. Here, at Don- ner lake, it was decided to build a cabin and store their goods until Spring, as the cattle were too exhausted to drag them further. The cabin was built by Allen Montgomery, Joseph Foster, and Moses Schallenberger, all young men used to pioneer life, and who felt fully able to maintain themselves by their rifles upon the bears and dear that seemed so plentiful in the mountains. The cabin was built

of pine sapplings, with a roof of brush and raw- hides; it was twelve by fourteen feet and about eight feet high, with a rude chimney, and but one aperture for both a window and door; it was about a quarter of a mile below the foot of the lake, and is of peculiar interest, as it was the first habitation built by white men within the limits of Nevada county, the entering wedge of civilization that in a few years wrested these beautiful hills with their wealth of gold from the hands of the barbarons Digger, and brought one more country under the dominion of intelligence.

The cabin was completed in two days, and the party moved on across the summit, leaving but a few provisions and a half-starved and emaciated cow for the support of the young men, who had undertaken a task, the magnitude of which they little dreamed. It was abont the middle of Novem- ber when the party left Donner lake, and they arrived at Sutter's Fort on the 15th of December, 1844, the journey down the mountains consuming a month of toil and privation. The day after the cabin was completed a heavy fall of snow com- menced and continued for several days, and white the journeying party were plunging and toiling through the storm and drifts, the three young men found themselves surrounded by a bed of snow from ten to fifteen feet deep. The game had fled down the mountains to escape the storm, and when the poor cow was half consumed the three snow-bound prisoners began to realize the danger of their situa- tion. Alarmed by the prospect of starvation, they determined to force their way across the barrier of snow. In one day's journey they reached the sum- mit, but poor Schallenberger was here taken with severe cramps, and was unable to proceed the follow- ing day. Every few feet that he advanced in his attempt to struggle along, he fell to the ground. What could they do? To remain was death, and yet they could not abandon their sick comrade among the drifting snows on the summit of the Sierras. .Foster and Montgomery were placed in a trying situation. Schallenberger told them that he would remain alone if they would conduct him back to the cabin. They did so, and providing everything they could for his comfort, took their departure, leaving him, sick and feeble, in the heart of the snow-locked mountains.

A strong will ean accomplish wonders. and a deter- mination to live is sometimes stronger than death, and young Schallenberger by a great exertion was soon able to rise from his bed and seek for food. Among the goods stored in the cabin he found some steel-traps, with which he caught enough foxes to sus- tain himself in his little mountain cabin, until the doors of his prison were unlocked by the melting rays of the vernal sun, and a party of friends came to his relief. On the 1st of March, 1845, he, too, arrived at Sutter's Fort, having spent three months

PHOTOGRAPHED BY J. M JACOBS T. J. Todd.

EARLY MINING HISTORY.

in the drifting snows of the " Snowy Mountains "- the Sierra Nevada.

The after history of the Indian Truckee, whose name so many objects bear, is an interesting one. Passing down the mountains, he arrived at Sutter's Fort with the main party, and remained until the breaking out of the war in 1846, when he joined Fremont's Battalion, and was ever afterwards known as Captain Truckee. He was quite a favorite with Fremont, who presented him with a Bible with the donor's autograph on the fly-leaf. This, with a copy of the St. Louis Republican, Captain Truckee jealously preserved till the time of his death- After the American conquest, Truckee returned to his people east of the Sierras, and when the rich silver discoveries in the Washoe region brought thousands of white men there, he became their fast friend and a universal favorite among the miners. The Indian camp where he lived was in the Palmyra District, Lyon County, Nevada, about a mile from Como, and near the spring where the town of Palmyra was subsequently built. One day in 1860, Captain Truckee went to the mining camp at Como to ask the men what remedy he should use for a large swelling on his neck. The men thought he had been bitten by a tarantula and advised him to apply a slice of bacon. Poor Captain Truckee died that night, his last request being to be buried by the white men and in the white man's style. The miners dug a grave near Como, in the croppings of the old Goliah Ledge, and good Captain Truckee was laid away to rest, the Bible and the paper he had cherished so long lying by his side.

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History of Placer county, California, Part 15

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