USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 13
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On the twenty-wrinth of March, the day after the California sailed from Trinidad with the news of its discovery, Capt. Douglass Ottinger, of the Laura Virginia, also weighed anchor and sailed from the harbor to see what else he could find. A few days later he discovered and entered a fine bay a few miles to the south which he named Humboldt, after the renowned traveler, and located the town of Hum- boldt.
Late in March Selim Franklin, C. E. Gordon, Captain McDonald and G. Chandler, with two sail- ors, left San Francisco in a whale boat in search of Trinidad. Early in April they came to the mouth of Eel river, which they supposed to be the Trinity. The schooner Jacob M. Ryerson appeared a few hours later, and the two companies united in explor- ing the stream a distance of forty miles, finding deep water. A town was laid out, and some of the men went overland to Trinidad to get goods that had been shipped to that point. Franklin returned from there to San Francisco to procure supplies and to advertise the new town, which he did by assuring every one that the river led direct to the mines, though he hrad no evidence of the fact beyond his hope that it was true.
A few days prior to this, however, Eel river had again been discovered and named. Samuel Bran-
A. M. Johnson
MRS. A. M. JOHNSON.
ALEXANDER M. JOHNSON,
Son of William and Mindwell Johnson, was born in Jefferson county, New York, August 2, 1829, His grandfather on the maternal side served as a lieu- tenant in the Revolutionary war. Alexander lived with an uncle in Jefferson county until the age of nine, when they removed to Jefferson county, Wis- consin, where he lived until the year 1843 when he went to St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, his parents being residents of that place. The following spring Alexander left home and worked four months on a farm in the same county. In the summer of 1844 he journeyed to St. Louis on a steamer, return- ing to the mouth of the Illinois river, where he engaged in lumbering till 1853, clearing $7,000 dur- ing that time from the business. During the same year, on the first of April, he left Illinois for Ore- gon, crossing the vast plains of the west and arriving in the Willamette valley in September. He com- menced life there as a wood chopper, contracting with Mr. White to cut one hundred cords of wood at two dollars per cord. He afterwards went south to Douglas county, and took up a donation land claim of 160 acres, on which he remained till the Indian war broke out in 1855-56. During the trouble with the aborigines Mr. Johnson was employed by the government in the commissary department. In the the spring of 1856 he purchased a band of cattle and drove them through to Siskiyou county. He made
a trip back to Oregon to sell his farm and then returned, giving his attention to the cattle business till 1859 in the Sacramento valley, and closing out all his cattle interests there in the fall of that year. He then returned to Siskiyou and in 1860 bought a farm here. In the spring of 1864 he bought an interest in the Union mills of Etna and engaged in buying and selling grain. Selling out the mill property and grain business in 1865, he opened a meat market and continued in the butchering busi- ness till 1869. In 1867 Mr. Johnson went by steamer to New York, visiting Washington and traveling through many of the Eastern States. He came back to Siskiyou in 1868. In 1870 he sold out the meat business and went to farming, moving in 1872 to the residence he now occupies. On the six- teenth of October, 1870, he married Miss Anna Smith, who was born in Savannah, Carrol county, Illinois, October 18, 1853. Their children born in Etna, are as follows: Effie May, born July 20, 1872; Daisy Dean, July 14, 1874; Anna Grace, January 6, 1876; John James, September 17, 1877; Clay, September 18, 1879. Since 1872 Mr. Johnson has engaged in quartz and silver mining. He is one of the solid men of Siskiyou county, owning some of the best mining property and water rights in the county. He is a man of great force of character and one eminently deserving of the high esteem and warm friendship which are universally felt for him.
RESIDENCE OF A. M. JOHNSON, ETNA, SISKIYOU CO. CAL.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
nan had fitted out the schooner General Morgan, commanded by his brother John, and on the fifth of April anchored off the mouth of Eel river, the Laura Virginia also coming to anchor there. Two boats, each commanded by a Brannan, entered the river which they named Brannan river, followed by a boat from.Ottinger's vessel, which was swamped in the surf and Julius S. Rowan drowned. The Laura Virginia then sailed north and found and entered Humboldt bay. The Brannans explored the river some distance, and the next day crossed a neck of land at the foot of a high bluff, which they named Brannan bluff, dragging their boat after them, and entered Humboldt bay. To this they gave the name of Mendocino bay, after the cape not far distant, apparently forgetting to apply the name Brannan to it, also. They rowed to the the head of the bay and then walked along the coast to Trinidad, where R. A. Parker and his company received them hospitably. Parker had entered Trinidad with the schooner James R. Whiting, accompanied by Charles C. Southard, of the Gregg party, J. C. Campbell, living at Etna, Frank Lem- mon, Thomas J. Roach, Robert Atherton, Myers, a surveyor, and William Hawks. This party had commeneed to lay out a city, and invited Brannan's company to unite with them. This was done, and all was harmonious until the question of a division of lots was raised, and then there was trouble. Parker's party was much smaller than the other, and wanted half the lots, while Brannan insisted they should be divided in proportion to the number of men. The controversy ended in Brannan getting very angry, swearing considerably, and he was an artistic swearer, and taking his departure with his whole company; and thus the only capitalist in both parties was driven away. He went to point St. George and then to San Francisco in disgust. Mem- bers of his company decided to start a town on Mendocino (Humboldt) bay and cut a canal through to Brannan (Eel) river, which was to be their high- way to the mines. 4 .-
Of the town of Trinidad the following letter in the Alta speaks :-
TRINIDAD BAY, April 10, 1850.
I arrived here to-day in the brig Isabel; immediately went on shore and laid out part of a town. I surveyed about ten fifty- vara lots, taking R. A. Parker's south base line for my north lines and his west lines for my west lines, bordering on the Indian village to the east, and running down to the water. I immediately built a house, and ereeted the American flag some sixty or seventy feet above the hill. This hillfor knoll I intended for an observatory. We have called our location Warnersville. Below we have a fine valley, dotted with many fine trees and a fine soil. Already we have made many improve- ments, put up several houses and made a road to the hill. This place we call Isabel valley, at which we have left some men to improve in our absence. Trinidad possesses a fine climate and a soil adapted to cultivation. As yet we have not learned the correct distance to the mines, but believe it to be about forty miles. A party of Canadians have just arrived, consisting of fourteen men and two females, with sixteen fine pack horses. They bring flattering news from Trinity river. This place abounds with all kinds of game and fine woodlands. The hay is a good harbor with all winds except south and south-west; those blow directly into the harbor. The correct latitude of the hay is 41º 5' 56". Improvements are progressing with the utmost rapidity. Mr. R. A. Parker put up the first house, Mr. Van Wyck the second, and myself the third. We had an election on the thirteenth, and chose an Alcalde, Second Alcalde and Sheriff. We polled one hundred and forty votes. What do you think of that for a town three days old ? This place has fine streams of good fresh water. We found a number of Indi- ans, but they are inclined to be peaceable. Bark Galinda lost 8
three passengers, brig Arabian five, and schooner General Morgan one. These men were lost in landing in the breakers below the port. Yours, CAPTAIN R. V. WARNER, Of brig Isabel.
Captain Warner was mistaken about the men lost, for it was the Laura Virginia and not the General Morgan that lost a man, off the mouth of Eel river. The five men lost by the Arabian were Lieutenant Bache, United States Navy, Lieutenant Browning, United States Navy, John H. Peoples, W. W. Cheshire and John Purdy, their boat being capsized in the surf, four miles below Point St. George. Besides these disasters the Paragon, Eclipse and several other vessels ran aground on the bar at the entrance of Humboldt bay, or else were stranded in the surf off Trinidad. This, with the supposed loss of the Cameo, made quite a string of disasters, and gave rise to the following briny yarn, whose author is unknown, the Alta publishing it June 14, 1850. The Cameo did not meet the watery grave it was supposed to be resting in at the date this was thrown upon a defenseless world.
THE LEGEND OF THE CAMEO; -CR- THE PHANTOM BRIG.
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO SIR ROBERT RIDLEY.
'TWAS many years ago, In San Francisco bay,
A vessel called the Cameo With many others lay ;
For stories of our golden sands Had spread throughout the world,
And vessels there from every land, Lay with their sails unfurled.
Full many a mountain steep was scaled, And many a rock was cleft ; Some few found gold, but many failed, And were of life bereft ;
But death and danger still were spurned, The tide stili onward rolled,
And all creation was upturned, In that mad search for gold.
Ere long the country was o'errun, And gold could not be had, And many people then began To talk of "Trinidad ";
And some affirmed that they had seen A man, who heard one say
IIe kuew a person who had been In sight of that same bay,
And that some forty miles from there, He dug ten thousand pounds
Of gold, and any one might share Who'd go and ship it round.
The story spread, like any lie, A party sailed in haste, But s on returned-the reason why, They could not find the place. Sir Robert Ridley then did swear That he was bound to go, And he would curry people there In the old Cameo.
The victims rushed their fare to pay, For Robert did them tell, That he would surely "find the bay, Or run the brig to h-1" And which of these two things he did Will soon appear before ye,
If ye will but take pains to read The rest of this true story.
The day of sailing came at last, And all were there on hand ;
The sails were set and soon they passcd The outmost point of land.
The grog was good, they all felt gay, And all things promised well ;
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Says Bob, "We'll either find the bay, Or run the brig to h-1.
One day they came in sight of land ; A party went on shore ; But none of all that lucky band E'er saw the Cameo more ; But many a sailor tells a tale Of the old Cameo's ghost, Doomed to the end of time to sail Along the north-west coast.
Long days, and weeks, and months passed on The Cameo ne'er came back ;
A schooner, called the Paragon, Was started on her track ; For still the golden fever raged, And people were so mad,
As ships and pilots to engage, To go to Trinidad ;
And all along that rocky shore, Where e'er a hoat could land,
Some one would start a canvas store, And a large city plan.
The Paragon had sailed some time, When one morn, just at light,
The wind being fair, the weather fine, A vessel hove in sight ; And with a glass they did discern, What much they wished to know,
Her name, for upon her stern It was, the Cameo.
The men on hoard the Paragon Gazed on the brig with fear, And as they slowly moved along, Each moment drawing near, And saw the strange, unearthly look Of vessel and of crew,
Their limbs as with an ague shook, And pale their faces grew ;
For in those forms, that looked so wan, Those pale and death-like faces, They recognized full many a man They'd seen in other places.
Sir Robert soon the schooner hailed, And wished to know her name, Where she was bound, and when she sailed, And from what port she came ; And when the answers all were given, He cried in accents sad, "There is no harbor under Heaven Called 'Bay of Trinidad.'"
And sighs, and groans, and shrieks were heard, As down from mortal view, Beneath the wave they disappeared, That phantom brig and crew ; And while they gazed in sore dismay, There 'rose a sulph 'rous smell, And loud was heard, " We'll find the bay, Or run the brig to h-1."
That night the schooner anchored near, And there arose a gale,
Which gave the crew new cause of fear, And made stout hearts to quail ; For ragged rocks were all around, 'Gainst which the waters roared, Which certainly was not a sound, To comfort those on board ; And all prepared to meet their fate, And thought that hope was vain, And thronged upon the deck to wait The parting of the chain.
The schooner trembled like a reed, Then with an awful shock,
The chain gave way, and on with speed She hastened towards the rock. But cool and calm, devoid of fear, Did her bold captain stand, And clear of rock her course did steer Direct npon the sand.
The crew were saved, but there she lays, Dismantled and forlorn, The prettiest schooner of these days, The famous Paragon.
The brig Arabian next did meet The Cameo on the wave,
And of her crew, ere sun had set, Five found a watery grave ;
For when the phantom brig appears, Most dire is the effect ;
The sight of her has been for years Forerunner of a wreck.
But onward she is doomed to sail, Along the rock-bound coast,
And when most loudly roars the gale, Is seen the Cameo's ghost ;
And then a voice is heard to say, With loud, unearthly yell, " By God, we'll either find the bay, Or run the brig to h-1."
May 1st, 1850.
Besides the town of Humboldt, two others were laid out on Humboldt bay in April, Eureka and Uniontown, that became its rivals as well as Trini- dad. During the same month the town of Reading was laid out on the Sacramento river by Major P. B. Reading, as a supply point for the Trinity mines. During all this time the Trinity mines were fast fill- ing up by mnen from the Sacramento valley. A number had wintered there, and as early as Febru- ary they began to pour in across Trinity mountain, settling generally on the north fork. Many were induced not only to embark in the sea expeditions, but to hasten overland to the new mines, by such letters as the following in the Sacramento and San Francisco papers :-
SACRAMENTO CITY, March 9, 1850.
The latest news from Trinity is that seven men and two boys have just arrived in this city from there with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mr. J. D. Baker, formerly proprietor of the Brannan House, is now in my office and tells me that he has seen the gold, which is in some forty large-sized bags. Mr. Moran, one of the party, has deposited his portion at Mr. Lee's store (formerly Priest, Lee & Co.), of this city. The party left here in the latter part of December, 1849. Two of the men are from New York, two from New Jersey, and the others from Oregon. Beat this from the southern mines if you can!
When communication was opened between the new towns on the coast and the mines, which was not effected until May, there were about two thousand miners on the river. It did not take long then to get the topography of the country straightened out. It was found that Eel river was by no means a high- way to the mines, and that both Trinidad and Hum- boldt bays were of little use to the miners on Trinity river, who could communicate more easily and cheaply with the Sacramento valley than with the sea. It was also found that the Trinity river, whose eccentric course had so deceived the early prospectors, did not enter the ocean at all, but was simply a tributary of the Klamath. To see how this became known we must go back a little.
Among those who wintered on the Trinity were Robert G. Shaw, James Chick, Samuel Jackson and Julius Holtzwart. These men started down the river on the first of March, 1850, intending to go to its mouth in a canoe. They had progressed some thirty miles, when the canoe overturned, and all but Shaw were drowned. Thus was the knowledge of the location of Trinity and Klamath rivers delayed till they were entered from the sea in April. On the third of April Captain Ottinger of the Laura Virginia had discovered the mouth of the Klamath, but could not enter it. He located it in 41º 33' and supposed it to be Rogue river, as he considered it too far north for the Trinity. Fremont had given the
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
latitude of the Klamath at its source as 42° 27', and for this reason it was supposed to lie much farther to the north, in Oregon. When the Cameo was driven from off Trini lad in March and supposed to be lost, she proceeded to Point St. George, near Crescent City and landed her passengers. It was soon after, and near this place, that the Arabian lost five pas- sengers. B. W. Bullett, Herman Ehrenberg, J. T. Tyson, A. Heepe and Mr. Gunns, passengers of the Cumeo, explored the coast to the south on foot, an:l on the tenth of April reached the Klamath, which they supposed at first to be the Trinity. They explored the river up beyond the mouth of the Trin- ity, and parties coming down that stream soon set- tled the identity of both rivers. A few miles above the mouth of the Klamath they took up one hundred and sixty aeres of land each, on the south bank, and then started down the coast for Trini lad. They reached that place on the thirteenth and told of the discovery of the river, and quite a number returned with them to lay out the new town, which they called Klamath City. Here they learned the fate of five others of the Cameo party who had followed them down from Point St. George in a boat. They had been upset in the surf and four of them drowne. I, Eugene Du Bertrand alone being rescued by an Indian. This river was variously called Rogne, Chester, Trinity and Klamath, the latter name being found the correct one. A party explored it for a long distance in May, passing the mouth of the Trin- ity, and returning the same month, having been driven out by hostile Indians. Miners on upper Trinity river, with their usual restlessness, pushed down that stream, and thus settled the much mooted point of where the month of the river was. Pros- pecting parties up the Klamath and others down the Trinity soon set at rest all doubt as to the location and names of the two streams.
Klamath City had but a brief and inglorious career. It was soon discovered that the shifting sands at the mouth kept so incessantly altering and obstructing the channel, that it was a matter of con- siderable uncertainty when a vessel could enter, and when once inside it was just as uncertain when it could get out again. No sooner was this fact real- ized than the people, to use an expressive phrase, " slid out," and the beautiful metropolis, with its projected parks, boulevards and institutions of learn- ing became again a mountain wild, and so remains at the present time.
The towns on Trinidad and Humboldt bays vied with each other in their endeavors to secure tra le and travel. Every issue of the San Francisco Alta contained letters from both, landing their advan- tages to the skies and decrying their rivals. The Humboldt people said that Trinidad bay was not a safe harbor, in fact, no harbor at all, while the Trini- dad proprietors asserted that a vessel could pass neither in nor out of Humboldt bay in safety, because of the bar at the entrance. Both claimed to be nearest to the mines and to have the best road to them, and claimed to be doing all the business. The fact was that neither of them was in a situation favorable to do much business with the mines on Trinity river, but the discovery of gold on the Klam- ath, Salmon and Scott rivers, during the spring and summer, to which region they were the most
accessible points, saved them From wasting away like a plucked rose. Leaving them to fight their battle for supremacy, we will turn our attention to the dis- coveries above alluded to.
Early in June a number of men crossed the ridge from the north fork of Trinity and came upon the south fork of Salmon river, which they followed down to the forks and there struck rich diggings. Several hundred men collected there and spread up the north fork, working at various points along the stream. During the same month a party consisting of Rifus Johnson, James Duffy, -- Van Dusen, -- Dollarhide and a number of others, went on an exploring expedition up the Klamath from its mouth. They proceeded about as far as Happy Camp, when the Indians became so hostile they had to turn back. Leaving the river they struck across the mountains and reached the forks of Salmon river. They related wonderful stories of the richness of the bars on the Klamath river, asserting that a man could make two ounces a day. This was enough.
A company of some forty men was formed to go on a prospecting tour up the Klamath, in search of two ounce diggings. Among the number were two whose names and faces afterwards became well known in Sisikiyou county: Elward Bean, long a resident of Fort Jones, and J. M. C. Jones, then a lad but nineteen years of age, and still a resident of Yreka.
The party left the forks of the Salmon in July, and struck across the country in a north-westerly direction, reaching the Klamath, which there runs nearly south, a distance above the mouth of Salmon river. Their first move was to cross the stream to the west side, which they did by making a raft of two logs, secured by a lariat, upon which their effects were placed, and which they pushed across the stream, the men and stock swimming. This method of transportation was used in all of their frequent crossings of the river. They had secured a Klamath Indian or two for guides, being able to maintain an aggravating and uncertain conversation with them by means of the Chinook jargon, with which they were all slightly familiar. They then started up the stream, following an Indian trail, knowing that the best routes would there be found, sometimes going directly away from the river, across a spnr of mountains, but always getting back to it again. Their Indian guides would go with them as far as the limits of the range of their tribe or band and then stop, but others soon appeared in camp. Major Cook, probably to be provided for any emergency, was driving along a good fat steer, but one day it commenced rolling down a steep declivity, and when it reached the bottom it was quickly resolved from steer into minced beef, being left for the Indians to regale themselves upon, if they chanced to find it. In this way they passed up the stream, prospecting in a superficial and unsatisfactory way all the bars and streams they passed, frequently crossing the viver for that purpose, and always getting "color," but never finding any two-ounce diggings. One noon they camped a little more than half a mile below Seott river, and a few of them swam over to Hamburg Bar, where were congregated a large number of Shasta Indians, with whom they talked and visited. After prospecting a little on the bar,
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
they returned to camp, and the company resumed its journey. All are familiar with the bend in the river where Scott river empties into it, and it will be readily understood how, in following the trail over the spur of the mountain, around which the river makes a broad sweep, they missed seeing Scott river, although passing within half a mile of its mouth.
The next day near Oak Bar, where they also pros- pected, they lost a man by means of the Indians, and after that had considerable difficulty with them, the details of which will be given in another place. The highest point reached was a mile above the mouth of the Shasta river. Here they were overtaken and joined by the party of Rufus Johnson, which had been reorganized, the united company being about sixty strong. They then crossed to the south side, and started for Shasta valley, a glimpse of which they had obtained from the opposite hills. As the beautiful valley, with its wealth of tall and waving grass and its snow-crowned king, grand old Shasta, opened before their vision, it seemed like a veritable Garden of Eden, so different was it from the rugged and precipitous mountains through which they had been passing. They arrived at the mouth of Yreka creek the first week in August, only a few days after Joe Lane's party had taken its departure, and passing up the stream, camped at an open place among the willows and wild cherry trees that skirted its banks, but a few yards below the bridge on Miner street. The stream, as they found it, was radically different from what we see to-day. It was a succes- sion of deep holes, filled with clear water, having no clearly defined channel, as at present. Where they camped, they discovered a caché of dried salmon, a store of food evidently laid by for winter use by the savages, the contents of which they appropriated to their own use. Here they remained three days, to rest one of their men who had been wounded a few days before in a fight with the Indians. Little squads of men went out prospecting in all directions, one of them picking up, while crossing the flats, a chunk of gold weighing two dollars and a half. The men never heard of diggings on a flat, and so made no effort to prospect where the gold was found. Thus did the Yreka diggings narrowly escape being discovered eight months earlier than they were. Bean and Jones went up Greenhorn, and near the point of rocks found a little water. Here they stopped to work, finding half a dollar to the pan. A consultation was held, and it was decided not to stop there, as there was only ground enough for seven or eight men a few weeks. So they thought then. What those of them who are still alive think now, the millions of treasure since taken from Green- horn leave no room to doubt.
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