USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 54
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MINING PHRASES.
A drift is an opening from a shaft, six to eight feet in height, and from four to six feet in width, as circumstances require.
A cross-cut is the same kind of opening, and gen- erally runs cross-course from the drift.
A winze is a small shaft sunk from one drift to another.
An upraise differs from a winze in that the dig- ging is upward instead of downward.
An ore-breast is the ore exposed by the drift, or cross-cut, and breasting out is the extraction of the ore or gravel.
Stopes are the same as ore-breasts, with this exception, that the former means the ore overhead, the latter, in front or on the sides; and stoping ont is taking out the ore.
A lateral drift is a side drift, or cross-cut.
A shaft is " up cast " when the current of the air is upward instead of downward, in not sucking the air from the surface.
Pay-gravel is that which bears sufficient gold to make its mining profitable.
Chute of ore, a body of quartz containing ore con- tinuously for a greater or less extent, leading from the surface downwards, either direct or indirect; sometimes called a "chimney."
Foot-wall, the rock next to and beneath a quartz vein, when the vein is in an inclined position, con- tradistinguished from the hanging-wall which over- lies the vein.
Vein and lode are synonomous, being a stratum of quartz in primitive rock, which is commonly called " country rock." "Ledge" and "lead " are improperly used when referring to a vein or lode.
THE " GLORIOUS DAYS " OF '49.
At the present date, the impression appears to prevail that in the " glorious days " of '49, and the early years of mining, all that was necessary to accumulate wealth was to go into the mines and pick up the gold. In truth, however, it was only the lucky ones who found it in greater abundance than their daily necessities required; while the busi- ness, manufactures, professions, and salaries, of later years, give better fortunes and livings than the pioneers enjoyed. The following is a vivid picture of early days in the mines. It first appeared in the San Francisco Picayune, in 1852 :-
THE MINER'S LAMENT.
" Why will ye dig?" Son of man! for the light of whose presence my spirit yearneth and my bowels grumbleth, dost thou ask me why? Is it not writ- ten that fortune smiles upon fools? And for the sake of these smiles hath not thy servant been mak- ing a fool, yea, an ass of himself, in vain ? For three years and ten days he has sojourned in this place. He has dived into the water; he has torn ancient rocks from their resting places, and removed them afar off; he has likewise torn his breeches in parts not to be spoken of; he has rooted into the mnd like unto a swine. His beard hath grown long; the skin upon his hands and face hath changed its color, until he is now likened unto a wild beast; and his garments are rent and soiled, so that " sack- cloth and ashes" would be as fine linen and purple to him. He would fain feed on husks, but there are none. Yes, he who in times past was wont to fare sumptuously, and to grumble over greater delicacies than were piled before Dives, now snuff's with glad- ness the fragrance of pork and beans, and gnashes his teeth impatiently at a frying slap-jack. Hc bolteth a raw onion with unspeakable avidity. Potato skins fear his presence, beef vanishes from before him, and dogs look in vain for the bones. He sighs for the flesh-pots of Egypt, and mourns over the barenness of the land. In his sleep, never- theless, the good angel of the past deigns to visit him, and delightful visions are opened to his recol- lection, for a delicious "bill of fare" floats before the mind of the dreamer, and he orders "oysters
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and terrapin for six," only to awaken to his infernal slap-jacks and molasses.
All this hath thy servant endured. Is he not then a fool, an abomination in the sight of wisdom ? And is it not to such, and such only, that fortune dispenseth her favors? Yet she has deserted me. I approach her and she fleeth ! I " double on her trail," and she turneth away ! I await her coming, and she stands still ! I secrete myself in her path and seize her unawares, but she glideth off as though I had caught a hog by his greased tail! Sic transit, 1 exclaim, as with a sick heart I revile poverty and curse fortune.
Lo! are not these evils, and wherefore should they be visited on thy servant ? Surely he hath not sinned as other men sinneth. He hath not coveted his neighbor's ox. nor his ass, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, for be it known unto thee that there are no maid-servants here. He bath abided by the law and the prophets, but the profits have not abided by him!
Now, therefore, I renounce these diggings; I absquatulate the premises; I " vumose the ranch;" I take off; I put out; I go; I slope, without serip or provender, taking no heed for the morrow-for the morrow takes no care of me. Ere five days shall have passed the shirt-tail of thy servant will be waving in the breezes of Nevada. A remnant of it will be nailed upon the top of the highest mountain that he crosses, as an emblem of the extremity to which a man may be reduced in this land of Ophir. But think not, oh Elisha, that I would rend my gar- ment for this alone. Verily, I say unto thee, an evil genius hath long pursued me. She has followed so close upon my footsteps that every thread and fibre of my shirt-tail are familiar to her eye. And if in pursuit of me she should gaze upon this relic in the solitary fastness of the mountain she will at once recognize it, and, believing me to have been torn and destroyed by wild beasts, she will retrace her steps, and thus I will escape her.
I go hence, Elisha, unto the town of Sonora, where it has been prophesied that thy servant will heal the sick and prosper with amazing prosperity. As Moses reared the serpent in the wilderness, for the children of Israel to look upon and be cured of their infirmities, so will I elevate my tin among the Gen- tiles, that they may gaze upon it and be made whole. Their offerings of gold and silver will be acceptable unto me, and if they live not afterwards peradvent- ure they may find treasure in heaven.
THE MINERS' PROGESS.
[Written by one who has " been there "]
The following unique poem was published in the Golden Era in May, 1873, describing a meeting between two '49ers, who compare notes of their wanderings in the language of the prospectors, which, with the names of localities and persons, the routes of travel and incidents, the trials and triumphs of the miners' life, will bring vividly to recollection in the minds of pioneers many thoughts of by-gone days :-
" Hello !" "HTel-low!" "Why, Jim !" " Why, Dan !" "Good Lord !" I want to know !"
" Well, well ! old fel ! gives us your han'- But, Jim, how does it go ?"
"Oh ! sometimes gay and sometimes rough- And how's it go with you ?"
"Well, times jes now's a little tough Up here in I-da-ho."
" But where ye been, Jim, ever sence We left the Stanislow;
And pulled up stakes down thar at Dent's- Now eighteen years ago ?"
" Well, sence that time that we put out On that stampede from Stoney,
Been mos' the time knockin' about Way down in Air-e-zony.
"Only been back a month or so, And thought I'd take a tramp
Through the old diggin's 'long with Jo, Who stops at Nigger Camp.
"Started from Alpha on our trip, And passed up the Divide,
Through Tangle-Leg and Let-Her-Rip, Red Dog and Whiskey Slide.
" Then after leaving thar we went Down by the Tail-Holt Mill.
'Crost Greenhorn Mountain to Snow Tent, And up to Gouge Eye Hill.
" From Gouge Eye down to Esperance, Slap Jack and Oro Fin;
Through Deadwood over to Last Chance, Root Hog and Lost Ravine.
" From Petticoat to Shirt-Tail Flat, And on by Murderer's Bar,
Crost Bloody Run and thro' Wild Cat, To Poker and Lone Star.
" From Angels' Camp down by Rawhide We took a run one night,
Through Chinese Roost and Satan's Pride Acrost to Hell's Delight."
"Then came along to Poverty, Dead Broke and Bottle Ridge,
By Hangtown, Poor Man and Lone Tree, Garrote and Smash-Up Bridge.
"Through Nip and Tuek and Old Bear Trap, Coon IIollow and Fair Play,
Along the Scorpion and Fur Cap, Kanaka and El Rey.
" We stopped one day at Never Sweat, Another up at Ophir;
Then moved our boots on to You Bet, And struck across by Gopher,
To Sucker near Grass Widow Bend, Whar, as 'twas getting late,
We brought our journey to an end Down by the Devil's Gate."
" Well, Jim, you must uv seen a heap; I'd like to make the rounds
As you have done, and cast a peep Through the okl stamping grounds."
"Y-e-s, but I tell you what it is, The times they ain't no more
In Californy as they was 'Way back in Fifty-Four."
"But 'bout the girls and Schneider's Frow, And Kate and Sal Magee ?
I s'pose they've all got married now- Leastwise they ought to be."
" Married ! You can buek high on that; Some of them several times;
First fellers they jest had to get- They didn't have the dimes.'
"Well ! well ! do tell is that the way The gals is goin' on ? But how's the boys and old man Ray, And Ike and Steve and John ?
And what became of Zaccheus Wade, Who run the big mule train ?"
"W-a-al, Zach he made his pile, they said, And then went back to Maine.
" And so did old Pop Ray and Steve, And Ike and Johnny Yates -- And made a raise at last, 1 b'lieve, And went home to the States."
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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
" And Slater, him that took the trip With us to Yazoo Branch ?"
" Wal, Slate, he kind o' lost his grip, And settled on a ranch."
"And Jackass Jones that came about With whiskey on the Bar ? "
" Well, Jackass, too, he petered out, And went-I don't know whar."
" And tell me, where is Jerry Ring, Who kept the Grizzly Bear, Jes' down forninst the Lobscouse Spring, And kilt the greasers there ?
"That Greaser Jose, don't you know, That stabbed Mike at the ball, The time we had the fandango, At Blood and Thunder Hall ?"
"Oh, Jerry, didn't do no good, Got sweet on a woman, And tuek at last to drinkin' hard, 'Cause she got sort o' common-
" Y-a-s, was by nature low inclined, And went clean to the bad, Which worked so on Jerry's mind It almost made him mad.
"Diek went one day up Pike Divide, And thar lay Jerry dead, A navy pistol by his side --- A bullet in his head.
"Tight papers them on Jerry Ring, But Jim, just bet your life,
Them women is a dreadful thing- For me-no, nary wife!"
" But Plug Hat Smith that kept a stand- Sold pens and ink and sich ?"
" Wal, Ping he helt a poorish hand, And never struck it rich.
"Got sort o' luny and stage-struck, Cut up a heap o' capers, And final went below and tuck To writin' for the papers."
" And Sally Jake, that drove so long There ou the Lightnin' Line, And afterwards from One-Horse Town To Webfoot and Port Wine ?"
"Got hurt on Bogus Thunder Hill- Throwed over his horses' neeks- - Was carried up to Coyoteville, And thar hant in his cheeks.
"'Twas kind 'o queer; these they said, War the dyin' words o' Jake's:
' Wal, boys, I'm on the down-hill grade, And cannot reach the brake.'"
" And Butcher Brown that used to boast He'd killed so many men ?"
" Ah, Butch, he met his match at last- Van Sickle settled him;
Went to Washoe, kilt three thar- Found it gettin' hot -- Health required a change o' air, And so got up and got.
" Said how he'l sent a baker's dozen Acrost lots to the grave- Would like to make the number even Before he took his leave.
" So went for Van and eame blamed nigh A gettin' him they say, Then on his horse that stood near by He jumped and rode away.
" Now, Henry ain't no hand to blow, But jes' that sort o' lad On which its always safe to go Your very hottom sead.
"Said to himself, like: 'Now this whelp, To get his even tally, Will likely go and skelp Some neighbor up the valley.
" Reckon I'd better block his game, And do the thing at one't- Besides, I don't much like this same llough way o' heing bounced.
" When Sam had got off 'bout a mile, He heard a Minie hun, Looked round and thar war Van all heeled- Who after him had eum.
"Not faneying much that Minie's tone' Sam put off on a run, Like he would rather save his own Than raise the ha'r o' Van.
" And so they rid-wal, I spect, Nigh on a three-mild race- Exehanging shots without effeet, When Van gave up the chase --
Leastwise lay off, for about midnight, When Sam came back to Lute's, He let him out in a square fight, Jes' standin' in his boots.
"Next day the jury found deceased, His name was Samuel Brown, And further that they all believed He had been taken down
By one Van Sickle, and somewhar About Lute Old's last night, And on their solemn oaths did swar He sarved the d-d cuss right!"
"Bully for Van! He's hard to beat- And for the Jury, too --
Though most a shame that way to cheat The gallows of its due.
"Whar's sailor Jack, that used to cruise With Alabam and Yank,
Them chaps that bilked the boarding-house And burst the faro bank?"
" Jack left the country on a ship, And t'others, I don't know as They ever got back from a trip They tuck to Barbacoas."
" IFear anything of Teddy Karn, Or Bruisee Bob Magoon?"
" Both down thar at the Bay, I hearn, Keeping a 'Bit Saloon.'"
" And him that wore the big moostache?" " You mean that rich French Count -- He's down thar too-a slinging hash At the Miners' Restaurant."
" Y-a-s, 'Frisco's lousy with them kind, And bums of all condition- Some capping for the DEMI MONDE, Some playing politician."
" But tell me, Jim, about the sights, And what you've done and seen: Reekon you had some 'Pache fights, Down yonder whar you've been?"
"Y-a-s, got us in a rocky pass- And thar corralled one day, They had a dead sure thing on us- Couldn't fight nor get away.
" And fore our party eould back out, They shot poor Fred MeKean; The arrows flying thick about, And not a varmint seen.
" And when I found that Fred would die, I felt almighty bad, And jist langhed out-I couldn't ery, I was so thundering mad!
" And then I said, now look here, boys, Ef you would save your lives, You jist put up them shootin' toys, And sail in with your knives.
" Raisin' quick the 'Pache whoop, I started on ahead-"
" And did t'others back you up?" " Yes, Dan, you bet they did!
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AGRICULTURE.
"And when the eusses seed us come, They raised a scrouging yell, To which our boys sang out each one, ' Wade in and give 'em -! 'h-1
" And of our band I b'leeve the whole Was wounded more or less; But we made good Indians of them all, And they'll stay good-I guess.'
"Poor Fred, when I came back to him, Though trying hard to speak, Could only say: 'tell mother, Jim,' He was so powerful weak.
" And next day we made his grave Upon a little knoll, Under the shade of a mesquit grove On the road to Cristoval.
" We had after that another fight, With them yar pesky fellows, Down at Arroya Saucelite, Among the little willows.
"But thar they didn't get us foul- We'd larnt their sneakin' ways- And you can swar we made 'em howl, And git between two days.
" As for their names, why, Dan, sich frights You never came acrost- 'Espiritu Santo,' which the whites They call the Holy Ghost."
"' Las Mariquitas,' ' Juan de Dios '- These names they seem so funny, We christened one the ' Runty Marias, And t'other ' Pious Johnny.'
" We altered heaps o' Greasers names- ' Los Ojos de Inez,'
' Sierra Blanco,' ' Sebastians,' ' El Cobra' and ' La Paz.
"So, too, we changed 'mongst other things, ' San Pedro ' to St. Pat;'
'The eyes of Inez ' to ' Mnd Springs,' ' La Paz ' to ' Quaker Flat.
"' El Pajara' we called 'The Bird,' . La Reina, 'Gypsy Queen,' ' Salinas ' and ' El Rio Verde,' 'Salt River' and 'The Green.'
"'San Nicholas' we dubbed 'Old Nic,' 'Morino ' ' Dirty Dun, '
' Arroya Muerto,' ' Murder Creek,' 'Puereo,' 'Ground-Hog Run.'
" We cut our name on every cross, And burnt some to the ground, To let the natives know their boss, The white man had been round.
"Warm thar! Why, Dan, 'twas jes' that hot That beans were cooked well done, And we always biled the coffee-pot It standing in the sun.
"Soldiers who died they nearly froze- Least that is what they tell- And sent right back for their underclothes The moment they got to-well,
"Not to the land of the holy ones, Whar blood shall cease to flow; And thar being no nse for these sons of guns, They're not very apt to go.
"Staid there three years and then turned south, C'ame back to ('amp Mc Phail, And so on down to Quesnelle Mouthi, And cross the La Hache Trail.
" To Kamloops and Okinakane, And through the Grand Coule, By way of the Samilkameen, Clean round to Kootenai.
"Stopped till I made a raise again, Then started out anew; And striking cross by Cœur d' Alene, Came on to Idaho.
"Well, Dan, you've been about some, too- But tell me, if you know, What has become of Ned McGrew, And whar is Sleepy Joe,
And Poker Pete and Monte Bill, And-I forget his name- What used to run the whiskey-mill, And keep the keno game ?"
"Wal, as for Ned, can't 'zaetly say, But 'bout t'other three, The last we heard, were up this way, A hanging on a tree-
Went into the Road Ageney Along with Texas Jim; The Vigilants of Montany Likewise also got him.
"Sleepy was drowned at Upper Dalles, And so was Al La Tour- Went in a skiff over the falls, And we didn't see 'em no more.
"Some think Ned was eat hy bears, And I most think so, too, 'Cause didn't one gobble up Nie McNares, On the trail to Cariboo ?
"Cold up North! I've known a name To congeal in my mouth; And that's how the saying came About the 'frozen truth.'
"Yes, and I've seen still stranger feats, You know, Jim, I'm no liar-
The flames freeze into solid sheets, As they rise up from the fire."
"Sure that's right cold! But tell me, Dan, How goes the mining game, And what's the chance here for a man To strike a paying claim ?"
" Wal, jest 'bout here it's rather slim, But I've got one that pays, So pitch right in here with me, Jim, And when we've made a raise,
We'll put off north with a good rig; For yesterday I seen Gus Gape, who said they'd struck it big, High up on the Stickeen.
"Or, if you rather like the south, Why, then, it's south we'll go; The only drawback is the drouth, Down that ar way, you know."
The next we hear of Dan and Jim May be on the Youkon, Or in the forest. damp and dim, That shade the Amazon;
Or what's more likely still, we shall Hear of them on their way To the diamond fields beyond the Vaal In South Africa.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
AGRICULTURE.
EARLY Efforts at Cultivation-The Dry Valley Thought a Desert-A Change in the Scene-The Pioneer Fruit Planter -Claude Chana-Pioneer Cultivators and Orchardists- Early Ranches in the Valley-Assessor's Report in 1855- Assessor's Report in 1856 -Fruit Trees-Vines -- Grain-Live Stock-Flonring-Mills Required-Progress in 1857-Ranch of J. R. Nickerson-Spring Valley Ranch-Assessor's Report in 1870 -- Successful Horticulturists-J. W. Hulbert-An Unusual Frost.
THE missionaries who in 1767 brought to Califor- nia the semi-civilization of patriarchal, or mediaval
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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
times, came dependent on the soil for their subsist- ence, and. through three-quarters of a century of Spanish oceupaney, undisturbed by foreign intrusion, prospered with their flocks and herds, rudely tilled the ground in favored localities; planted the grape, the orange and the olive, and thus to a limited extent proved the capacity of the country to sup- port mankind. The first Americans came as farmers, but were absorbed in the Spanish settlements and adopted the Spanish customs. A few timidly scat- tered over the country, seleeting the most lovely sites, where springs and streams maintained a more lasting verdure, and there ventured the planting of small areas of wheat. barley, corn and beans. The great valley of the Sacramento and the bordering foot-hills were deemed arid wastes, titted only for the grazing of cattle; and the high Sierra was totally unexplored. Pasturage was the great resource- commerce, manufactures and mining being an advanee to which their enlightenment was not prepared.
THIE DRY VALLEY THOUGHT A DESERT.
Following the discovery of gold, in 1818. a new element came upon the scene, and a change in the order of things was made. Then mining was the chief aim of the people. Many of the new- comers were farmers familiar with the system of cultivation in the Atlantic States and Mississippi Valley, where the rains of summer brought to har- vest the annual plants, and these looked upon the broad plains, sered and sun cracked by the long summer drougths, as inhospitable, irreclaimable deserts. They had read reports of the great crops of wheat harvested by Captain Sutter, but his fields were on the low bottom-lands of the Sacramento River, which were deemed exceptional. and the country in general was condemned as desert. "Cross- ing the desert " was the common term for the jour- ney from the river to the mountains, or from one station where water was found to another. Although wild oats and other grasses grew luxuriantly, and cattle ranged and fatted over the wide area, still the plains were regarded as incapable of successful tillage. Some were so bold as to declare that where the native grasses would grow so thriftily culti- vated grain would also grow, but were generally ridiculed for their opinion, and years passed before the experiment was tried. Little by little the advanee in agriculture was made. Some favored spot of sandy loom by a river's bank, or some well- watered ravine, was sought and a farm was planted. Barley was in great demand for the feed for draught animals, and the high price it brought aroused the enterprising farmer to attempt its eul- tivation. It grew and yielded as they had never seen before, and its cultivation extended. Thus barley became the pioneer cereal of California cul- tivation. Gradually other plants were tried, and all found to grow and mature. The small patehes where grains and vegetables were produced were looked upon as the specially favored localities, and
while the great bulk of the barley, potatoes, melons, and all the wheat and fruit were imported from Chili, Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and other dis- tant countries, all the available land in California was said to be taken up, and men must seek some other country if they wished to farm. Years passed in this slow progress to cultivation. Men most anxious to win the fortune for which they had abandoned their homes in the East for the distant Pacific Coast saw about them as a free gift, ready to their hands, the most fertile of soils in the most genial and healthful of elimates, yet had not the sagacity, the patience, or the forethought to appreciate the fact, to take hold and plant and reap the certain reward. Those who ventured in agriculture were truly enterprising. but they were comparatively few in the first half dozen or more years following the gold discovery. Watermelons at from one to five dollars each, apples from Oregon at one and two dollars each, potatoes and onions at fifty cents to one dollar a pound, barley at ten to twenty-five cents a pound, hay at $100 a ton, eggs at $2.00 a dozen, milk at $1.00 a quart, and other articles pos- sible to obtain at proportionate rates, would seem to have tempted a rush of farmers to the field, but with all the sun-cracked plains were shunned and the mountain vales and gentle hills were despised as unworthy of the notice of the husbandman.
A CHANGE IN THE SCENE.
The slow progress of agriculture and horticulture made in California where the inducements were so great now seems unaccountable. Years have passed and the desert plain has beeome a sea of waving grain; the hills are brilliant with orange groves and verdant with the wide-spread vineyard. Peaches more luscious than those of the far-famed banks of the Delaware, and apples surpassing the choice of the Eastern States, now usurp the place of the chap- arral and manzanita; and the fig, apricot, prune, cherry, almond, walnut, and all the fruits, berries and products of the gardens of the despised foot- hills are sought in all the great markets of America. The tropical and the hardy fruits of the north grow side by side, and in such perfection that their fame has become world-wide. In these productions Plaeer County stands pre-eminent.
THE PIONEER FRUIT PLANTER.
While here the progress was so very slow at first, still Placer has the honor of being the pioneer of mountain counties in agriculture and horticulture, as she has now become the most famous in her produe- tions.
The pioneer fruit trees of Placer, as well as of the Sacramento Valley, now lie buried deep beneath the debris which the ruthless hydraulie pours upon the plain. As has been previously stated, the first miner for gold within the limits of the county was Claude Chana. To him is also due the honor of planting the first fruit trees, and we will give the emainder of the story of
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AGRICULTURAL.
CLAUDE CHIANA.
To the emigration of 1846, which that year was considerable from the Western States to the Pacifie Coast, does Placer County owe the presence of one of its earliest settlers; its pioneer fruit culturist; one among the first to till the soil, as well as the primat digger after gold within its borders, in the person of Claude Chana, born in France in 1811, who now lives at Wheatland, Yuba County. In the spring of 1846 a company to which Mr. Chana belonged started from St. Joseph, Missouri, for the then little known country of California, with a train of wagons drawn by oxen. At Weber Canon, Utah, this train over- took and for several days kept company with the unfortunate Donner party. The company with which Chana traveled passed the Donner company, and after the usual vicissitudes attendant upon such journeys, at length reached the Truckee River, up which they traveled, crossed the summit of the Sierra, struck the head of the Greenhorn branch of Bear River, descended Steep Hollow by dragging fallen trees behind their wagons, proceeded down the old trail to the head of Wolf Creek; thence to Hiram Austin's present place, and from there to Johnson's ranch-the first settlement they had seen in the country-on the north bank of Bear River, where there was then an adobe house and some pretensions toward cultivation. This was in October, and about two weeks before the occurrence of the storm which drove the Donner party, who were following, into winter quarters and prevented their further advance across the mountains.
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