USA > Illinois > Illinois in the fifties; or, A decade of development, 1851-1860 > Part 3
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"Gold! Gold !- I Have Found It!"
opened and permitted to run all night. Next morning early Marshall went to the mill alone, closed the flood- gates and proceeded to examine the result of his experi- ment. Much to his satisfaction he found the channel had been washed out till it was much wider and deeper. The loose earth had been washed down stream, but the heavier sand and gravel were yet in the channel. While examining the latter Marshall's attention was attracted by some shining lumps of mineral. Picking up one of these it was found to be heavy and bright yellow in color. Marshall could think of nothing having these characteristics except sulphuret of iron, but that he re- membered is brittle. How was this? He hammered it between two pieces of rock and was delighted to find that it hammered out-that is, it was malleable !
By this time the other men had come to their work, and seeing them Marshall cried out, "Gold! Gold! I have found it!" But none of them was disposed to believe his words; indeed, they thought he was half crazy. Re- alizing that what he regarded as a valuable discovery was not to meet with appreciation at Coloma, he saddled a horse and with some specimens in his pocket started for Sutter's Fort, fast as the animal could carry him.
Captain Sutter we left so occupied with his many en- terprises nearer home, that he gave little heed to the sawmill building at Coloma. But to the latter place the fates had decreed that his attention was soon to be drawn, and drawn irresistibly.
One day not far from January 20, 1848, Marshall rode up to the Fort, his horse in a lather of sweat and he him -. self, in a state of excitement. He immediately asked for a private interview with Captain Sutter and when this was granted he produced the specimens and told where
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Coloma-Where Gold Was Discovered
and how they were found. Captain Sutter was a well- informed man and went about the examination of the mineral in an intelligent and thorough manner. It so happened that he had in his library a copy of the British Enclycopedia and in his stores some nitro-muriatic acid. He consulted the cyclopedia, under the title of the article on gold, and was gratified to find the speciments pos- sessed all the features and characteristics of that precious metal, and furthermore, reacted to all the tests at his command.
When at the conclusion of his investigations, Captain Sutter said that the mineral was undoubtedly gold, Mar- shall became excited and suggested that they at once go back to Coloma. This Captain Sutter was opposed to, but finally gave his word that he would go next day. Having exacted this promise from Captain Sutter, Mar- shall immediately mounted a fresh horse and started on his return trip. A cold winter rain was falling steadily and Marshall had not tasted a bite of food since meeting Captain Sutter. but these things did not deter him from riding fast as his horse would carry him.
Next morning it was still raining, but Captain Sutter, true to his promise, started on horseback for Coloma, having for company an Indian soldier and a vaquero. When they were well on their way they saw a man crawl out of the brush into the trail, a little distance in front of them, and upon approaching closer, found that it was Marshall, still under great excitement, who, it seemed, after reaching Coloma and looking about for a little time, mounted a fresh horse and started back on the trail hoping to meet Captaain Sutter, which, as we have seen, he fortunately did. The party rode forward rapidly and reached the millrace before nightfall. Here
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Trying to Keep a Secret
the gates were opened wide and the water permitted to flow all night. Next morning a number of additional specimens were found in the bottom of the race and later Captain Sutter took these to a goldsmith, had them fashioned into a large ring, within which, was engraved the following: The first gold discovered in January, 1848."
After looking around for a day or two, Captain Sutter returned to his fort. Before starting, however, he ex- acted a solemn promise from each of Marshall's em- ployees that they would under no circumstances divulge the secret of the discovery. He realized that some of his irons, of which he had many, would burn if the discovery became generally known. But a secret, such as the one Captain Sutter was trying to keep under cover, was hard to hide. One W. P. Wimmer, with his wife and family, had a temporary abode near Marshall's mill. Mrs. Wim- mer did the cooking for all the employees, among whom ·was a teamster who, upon arriving from the fort with a load of provisions, was told of what had happened in his absence, by his landlady, at whose table he was striv- ing to satisfy a hungry man's appetite.
This teamster very naturally became interested, col- lected a few specimens and carried them with him when he returned to the fort. A little later he felt the need of some brandy and, recollecting his specimens, took these to the store of Brannan & Smith and sought to trade them for a bottle of the desired stimulant. Smith, one of the partners to whom the proposition was made, at once became indignant that some worthless mineral was thought good enough to exchange for his fine, choice brandy. In reply the teamster said the specimens were gold and he would be glad to leave the matter to the
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42
"The Cat Out of the Bag"
judgment of Captain Sutter. As Brannan & Smith had their goods in a building that adjoined Sutter's fort, it was little trouble to follow the teamster's suggestion. Of course when squarely approached in the matter, Captain Sutter had to tell the whole story.
Smith told his partner, Brannan, all about the discov- ery. Brannan became so interested that he at once went to Coloma, looked around for a few days and became so impressed with the magnitude of the "find" that he re- turned to the fort, rented a larger room, bought a larger stock of goods and in various ways got ready for an in- rush of people which he felt sure knowledge of the dis- covery would bring. Thus the secret was no longer a secret. "The cat was out of the bag."
As Captain Sutton feared, several of his irons were burned. At the tannery hides rotted in the vats; at the mill building at Brighton, all work ceased, for the reason that men could not be induced to do trifling, every-day work, when under their very feet rich mines of gold were, in a sense, beckoning them to come and unearth their hidden wealth.
After vainly endeavoring to stem the tide, Captain Sutter recalling the adage, "While in Rome do as the Romans do," called to his aid one hundred and fifty Indians and Sandwich Islanders, loaded a number of wagons with provisions, and started all on the trail that led to the mines at Coloma.
About a month after Marshall's discovery, one of his carpenters, whose name was Bennett, carried some of the specimens to San Francisco where they fell under the eyes of Isaac Humphrey, who had had experience in the gold mines of Georgia. From the size of the speci- mens and their general appearance Humphrey did not
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The "Forty-Niners"
hesitate to predict that the California mines would prove to be much richer than those of Georgia. Indeed, Hum- phrey was so impressed that he returned with Bennett to Coloma and after prospecting for a little time, built a rocker and went into the business of gold-washing and was richly rewarded. Very soon Humphrey had imita- tors who also built rockers and went to washing gold. More prospecting was done and this revealed the fact that the whole region around Coloma was richly gold- bearing. The news spread, but in that day of slow and uncertain communication it was received with incredulity in many quarters. However, immigrants began to come in freely, and finally in December, 1848, President Polk in his annual message, officially announced to the world that gold, in hitherto unheard of quantities, existed in the mines of California. In less than a month after President Polk's message the new year, 1849, was ush- ered in, and in a little time people began to pour into California from all quarters and continued to do so in unprecedented numbers. From this fact the year 1849 marked an era in the history of California gold and all who went to the new El Dorado then have since been known as forty-niners.
Of one forty-niner I have a very vivid remembrance -all the more vivid because this particular forty-niner was my father. And now of something pertaining to his experience I desire to speak.
Early in the spring of 1849, my father and three other men began making preparations for the contemplated trip to California. A special outfit was required for the long journey across the plains, over the Rocky Mountains and down the western slope that led to what all had come to look upon as a veritable Land of Promise.
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The "Forty-Niner's" Outfit
The plains of that day are now the fertile corn and wheat fields of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyom- ing. The outfit in which my father and his companions were interested consisted of a strong, heavy, made-to- order wagon, drawn by six oxen yoked together in pairs called "yokes". The wagon was covered with heavy ducking and in it were stored such things as were likely to be needed in making the long over-land jour- ney, far from civilization and its supplies.
Among the things deemed essential may be named cer- tain common tools, as handsaws, augers, axes and hatch- ets; such staple articles of food as bacon, flour, corn- meal, beans, coffee, sugar, salt and pepper; extra gar- ments of strong, durable fiber ; and last, but by no means least, rifles, other fire-arms and a good supply of pow- der and lead to make plenty of bullets. These last were necessary because the whole region west of the Missouri was infested with roving bands of Indians some of whom were disposed to be unfriendly. Further than this there were wolves, elk, deer, antelope, and buffalo in millions.
The family my father left behind consisted of a wife and five children ranging in age from a babe in arms to a daughter just budding into young womanhood; and strange to say, at this writing, sixty-six years later, all that family are alive, save the parents.
Arrived at St. Louis my father sold his horse and, after transacting some business, took passage on a steam- boat for St. Joseph, Mo. At that time Asiatic Cholera was epidemic in all the river towns, as the following letter written by him will show :
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One "Forty-Niner"
ST. JOSEPH, Mo., May 11, 1849.
Dear Wife and Children:
I take my pen in hand at this last opportunity of writ- ing to let you know that I am yet alive, though it is a mercy I am not in my grave, having so long been in an atmosphere of cholera and disease. I am just recover- ing from a spell of disease, bearing all the symptoms of cholera except cramping, and, had I been alarmed, I should have fallen a victim to that disease as did a num- ber on board.
The San Francisco had about 300 passengers, of re- spectable men mostly bound for California, of whom but two died, though our boat occupied twelve days in making her trip to this place. But be sure the cholera is on and along the river, the destruction of life being considerable on every boat. The most distressing scene occurred yesterday : The Steamboat Mary arrived hav- ing lost some forty of her crew and passengers, and not being permitted to land she went up (the river) and buried her dead. Then she returned and later steamed down the river to find a retreat for her sick and dying. Meantime, to see her deck crowded with women and children, who were not allowed to land, was indeed a melancholy spectacle. But enough of this-we are here and we trust safe. Our team is over the river and we expect to be on the plains this evening without hearing a word from you since I left home. In vain sought word at the Post Office. I should like to write about the difficulties of navigating the Missouri river and all about our trip and how near I came to losing my life.
Your affectionate Companion and Father,
JAMIES JOHNSON.
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A Toilsome Journey
We received another letter written two weeks later at Fort Kearney, now Grand Island, Nebraska, and this proved to be the last one. In this letter he stated that 2,900 wagons had been registered at Fort Kearney, and this number was thought to comprise less than half the train.
The wagon trains making these overland trips were organized and under the command of leaders. Of nights the wagons were parked, the animals herded on the prairie grass, and well armed guards posted at all points of the compass. This course was rendered necessary to prevent possible raids by Indians. Two of the four men of a certain wagon were a father and son. The latter was just passing out of his teens, and although it was before the day of the dime novel, this youth became im- bued with the idea that he would reach full manhood all the sooner if he could somehow manage to "kill his In- dian." Unfortunately for all concerned, the opportunity for this came all too promptly. and all too certainly. Meeting a lone Indian, the youth yielded to a murderous impulse, raised his gun, took aim and fired. His victim fell dead at his feet, as innocent of evil intent as anyone could be.
A little later the tribe took the matter up and follow- ing the Old Testament rule of "an eye for an eye", de- cided to demand of his friends the surrender of the murderer that he might be put to death. Accordingly the old men of the tribe came to the leading men of the emigrant train and made known their decision, and there seemed nothing else to do but surrender the rash youth whose heart-broken father could do nothing but bemoan the fate which he well knew would promptly overtake his son.
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The Grim Reaper
About the first of June, 1849, my father left Fort Kearney and with his companions plunged deeper into the wilderness. As before said, the letter written from this place was destined to be the last one he was to write to his family. We learned later that he wrote others but these failed to reach their destination. However, from time to time we heard from him indirectly through letters written by members of his party.
One evening in the following December two of my uncles came to our house with countenances that be- trayed the sad errand that had brought them. It turned out that they had just received a letter from a comrade of my father, saying that ten weeks before he had died from an attack of disease not long after reaching Sacra- mento City. Such was the fate of one forty-niner- reached the Land of Promise only to find there his grave. The companion of my father, who was near his own age, a man by the name of Gillispie, reached the gold-fields in safety, went to mining, and at the end of two years was two thousand dollars ahead. With this in his pos- session he took a ship at San Francisco and started home by way of Panama. But unfortunately he was stricken with an acute attack of disease from which he died and was buried at sea. His earnings, fortunately for all con- cerned, in due time reached his family in safety. The two young men of my father's immediate party returned home at the end of two or three years, with nothing to their credit but experience. One young man who went from our community, after two years spent in Califor- nia returned with four thousand dollars in gold. This in that day, and in that neighborhood, was looked upon as an almost fabulous sum.
California gold made a great increase in the money
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Gold and Prosperity
circulation of the country and the result was a real boom in business and a more than doubling in the price of all commodities. A second result of California gold was a great improvement in the manner and condition of liv- ing among the people generally.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE STAGE COACH, STAGE DRIVER, STAGE STAND, AND AN ORIGINAL DR. JEKYL AND MR. HYDE.
Go call a coach, and let a coach be called, And let the man who calleth be a caller. -Henry Carey.
Whoe'er excels in what we prize, Appears a hero in our eyes. -Swift.
In the late forties and early fifties, the stage coach reached its most prosperous era. Long experience had enabled its managers to develop a capacity for overcom- ing obstacles, and to a degree meeting the wants of the traveling public. The coaches were made of the best material obtainable. Moreover, the wheels, tongue, axles and doubletrees, while strong and durable, were not awkward and clumsy in appearance. The body, large enough to accommodate eight or ten passengers inside, instead of resting on iron springs, was suspended on heavy leather straps. At the rear end was the boot for carrying trunks which were protected from the weather by a strong, heavy, leather curtain, securely buckled to the sides of the coach. In front was the driver's seat with space at his feet for the main pouch and travelers' handbags. A kind of bannister of iron rods surrounded the top of the coach where extra baggage and passengers were carried. Beside the driver was an extra seat al- ways in demand in fine weather.
The stage driver was a unique character. He was
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Accidents and Emergencies
always trustworthy and in his way manly. The stage lines carried the United States mail, and it was the busi- ness of the stage driver to get this and the passengers through to their destination ; and this he sometimes had to do in the face of many difficulties. In certain seasons the roads were little else than a slough of mud and in this the coach sometimes mired down.
Then perhaps there would come a time when the ground was partially frozen, when both horses and coach would one moment be on a crust of ice and the next in a mire of mud. Sometimes the tongue would break and one had to be extemporized from a fence rail and rope, or straps. Sometimes a wheel would break down, and again a convenient fence rail would be utilized by fas- tening one end of it on the forward axle, resting the rear axle on its middle, and leaving its other end to drag on the ground. Under these circumstances the jaded horses literally dragged the coach to the next stage stand, where it was turned over to the blacksmith and wagon maker who in those days were experts in their callings. Meanwhile an extra coach, if one was available, if not a vehicle of some kind, was temporarily pressed into service and the mail and passengers hauled to the next stage stand.
One of the delights of my childhood was to watch an incoming stage coach. Upon approaching the village the driver always managed to put his horses on their mettle and as a result they would be in a fast trot and champing their bits. Meanwhile the body of the coach, suspended on leather straps, swayed to and fro in grace- ful curves. As soon as the coach came to a standstill, stable boys took out the horses and put fresh, well- groomed ones in their places. Meanwhile the mail pouch
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Stage-Coach, (A. C. McClurg and Co., by permission )
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Franklin House, Greenville, Ill .- a Stage-Stand in the 50's. Lincoln was once entertained here.
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"Changing the Mail"
was taken to the postoffice where it was opened, its con- tents emptied out and sorted over. After taking out letters and papers intended for that locality, the remain- der, with mail matter dropped in the office, was returned to the mail sack, which was locked and returned to the care of the stage driver. Putting the mail pouch through this process was called "changing the mail". When all was ready, the passengers in their seats, the trunks in the boot, extra baggage and passengers on top, the driver mounted his seat, as proudly as ever a king mounted his throne. There with four lines in one hand and his long whip in the other, he could "touch up" the leaders, give a "cluck" and sharp "git-up" to the wheel horses, when all would start off at a lively trot. Again the body of the coach would sway gracefully, again the small boy would be delighted and vow that when he grew to manhood he would be a stage driver.
As stated before, whatever else the stage driver might or might not be, he was always trustworthy. In those days banks were few and far between, and our present methods of exchange were very little in vogue; conse- quently the stage driver was not unfrequently entrusted with large sums of money and he never betrayed his trust. Though he was almost never a total abstainer, on duty he drank little or nothing. He was always full of good stories, always chewed tobacco and in expectorating could hit the head of a ten-penny nail eight feet away. Moreover, if the occasion seemed to justify it, he could "swear by note". About every ten miles along the stage route there was what was known as a stage stand, where there was a tavern and a large stable for housing and caring for the stage horses. These taverns were usually two-story buildings with a long porch running the whole
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52
"A Mighty Hot Hell"
length of the structure. On a post about eight feet high, between the porch and the road, was a frame, about three feet long and two feet wide, in which swung a large thick board upon which, in big letters, was the name of the tavern with sometimes the additional words, "Entertainment for Man and Beast". The first name of our village was Amity, consequently the tavern had on its sign in front, "Amity Hotel". Some wag read it, A-mity Hot-el-"A Mighty Hot Hell!", and soon these words were in the mouth of every one. Whether from this cause, or from some other, the village was given, and yet bears, the name of the famous Indian maiden, Pocahontas.
But this village tavern, despite its unseemly nick- name, deserves more than a passing notice. It was a two-story structure with a wide porch running the whole length of its front; through its center was a hall that led into a large dining-room; and upon one side of the hall was a lady's parlor and on the other the office, usually referred to as the bar-room; but why bar-room, no one could tell, for not a drop of intoxicating drink was sold about the premises, and for that matter not even in the village; furthermore the landlord was a total abstainer. A stairway in the hall led to a number of sleeping rooms up stairs.
The food furnished was substantial and not unappe- tizing, but from lack of modern methods of preserving meats and fruits the bill of fare at certain seasons lacked variety and at times came dangerously near to "hog and hominy". But whatever the table lacked in off-seasons was more than compensated for in late summer time, when it was literally loaded with things supposed to be good for the inner man.
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The Typhoid Fly
But O, the flies! Flies everywhere! Flies on every- thing! Flies in everything! But little wonder, for at no great distance from the kitchen door was a big ma- nure pile-an ideal incubator for hatching these house- hold pests. And what more natural that the flies there generated should go straight to the kitchen and dining- room, neither of which were screened for the good rea- son that the genius who later devised that great boon for the housewife, the fly screen,* had as yet not had his inspiration.
About three feet above the dining-room table and ex- tending its whole length was a strong cord to which was attached strips of paper that reached nearly down to the dishes. At mealtime it became the duty of someone to manipulate this cord in such a way that the papers hanging below it were set in motion and the flies for the time being kept from alighting on the food.
In private homes as mealtime approached someone went to a bush or tree and broke off a small branch well supplied with leaves, and with this industriously plied, the flies, with more or less success, would be kept from the table. Instead of a branch from a tree people in better circumstances used a brush made of ostrich feathers.
Strange as it now seems, flies in the fifties were re- garded as scavengers and hence their coming in untold numbers was welcomed. On the advent of summer I more than once heard the wise ones predict that we were destined to have a sickly season for the reason that there were so few flies! How things change! The supposedly innocent housefly of two generations ago has
*Fly screens came in general use in the later 60's.
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A Well-Dressed Stranger
been renamed the typhoid fly, and rightly. Rightly be- cause this old-time "scavenger" of the old days, not only carries typhoid germs, but those of tuberculosis, of diphtheria, and many other virulent diseases as well.
In my childhood the tavern and stage stand comprised the real "hub" of the village. Here four times every day the stage, the fastest conveyance of its day, would stop, well-dressed strangers would alight to stretch their legs, if not to get meals at the tavern, alert stable boys would care for the horses, the always picturesque stage driver would bite off an immense chew of "terbaccer" and maybe put a new cracker on his whip. Meanwhile the landlord had come out and was proceeding to make himself agreeable. Usually with a clean shaven face and the appearance of being well kept, he was all polite- ness and had a kindly word for all.
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