Newspaper Page Text
jei. . WT " " J n -rf . V JB. $r i &A X T$ CMV , ? - -a-n j.'SJ?. I j ? w f ' mm&rj J-S- li'-T .y'bSB'-UE ' , IWZZ. . . U ad2liiSK'.irKi.r-.2.'fiK 3W0tfTW,'i- "SS.JSrf j&ggsgsicpl -t ESTABLISHED 1S77-KEW fwi ?lm m si of v- Wm?' X )i0 WRITTEN BY HlKSELE 5? - THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD MFT LITTLE THOUGHT OF IT AT FIRST Tlie "Wild Rush (corTiaonT.) KEMEMBER one day, in the Spring of 1848, that two men, Americans, came into the office and inquired for the Governor. I asked their business, and one answered that the had just come down Horn Capt. Sutler on special business, and thej' ' vau ted to see Gov. Mason in person. I took them in to the Colonel, and left them together. After seme time the Colonel came to his door and called lo me. I went in, and my attention was directed to a series of papers unfolded on his lable, in which lay about half an ounce of placer-gold. Mason said to me, " "What is that? " I touched it and ex amined one or two of the larger piece?, and asked, " Is it gold ? " Mason asked me if I had ever seen native gold. I answered that, in 1844, 1 was in upper Georgia, and there saw some native gold, "but it was much iiner than this, and that it was in phials, or in transparent quills; but I said that, if this were gold, it could be easily tested, first, by its malleability, and next by acids. I took a piece in my teeth, and the metallic luster was perfect I then called to the clerk, Baden, to bring an ax and liaichetfrom the bacli yard. When these werebrought, I took the large&t piece and beat it out flat, and beyond doubt it was metal, and a pure nielal. Still, we attached little importance to the fact, for gold was known to exist at San Fernando, at the Eoutli, and yet was not considered of much value. Col. Mason then handed me a letter from Capt. Sutler, addressed to him, a Yiew of the City of Benicia, elating that he (Sutter) was engaged in 1 -erecting a saw-mill at Coloma, about 40 miles up the American Fork, above his Fort at Kcw Helvetia, for the general benefit of the settlers in that vicinity ; that he had incurred considerable ex pense, and wanted a "pre-emption" to the quarter-section of land on which the mill was located, embracing the lail-race in which this particular gold had been found. Mason instructed me to prepare j a letter, m answer, for Ins signature. I -wrote of! a letter, reciting that California was yet a Mexican province, simply held by us as a conquest; that no laws of the United States yet applied to it, much less the land laws or pre-emption laws, which could only apply after a public survey. Therefore it was impossible for the Gov ernor to promise him (Suiter) a title lo the land ; yet, as there wore no settle ments within 40 miles, he was not likely to be disturbed by trespassers. Col. Mason signed the letter, handed it lo one of the gentlemen who had brought the tample of gold, and they departed. That gold was the firft diecovcred in the Sierra Nevada, which toon revolu tionized the whole country, and actually moved the whole civilized world. About this time (Maj'aud June, 1848), vau mom: imj'oktancu was attached io QriCKSU.VKK. One mine, the new Almadon, 12 miles Eouth of San Jose, was well known, and was in possession of the agent of a Scotcli gentleman named Forbes, who at the time was British Consul at Topic, ilex ico. Mr. Forbes came up from San Bias in a small brig, which proved lo be a Mexican vessel. The v-secl was seized, condemned, and actually sold, but Forbes was wealthy and bought her in. His title to the quicksilver mine was, however, never d'r filled, as he had bought it regular iefore our conquest J'HidMiod by trn( on of IX Apploloti Sz Co., MjluWtprs of tlie Personal Mcinolrb of dju. T. ltciuir.ti. M Ml Si "5 SERIES. That Follower- of the country from another British sub ject, also named Forbes, a resident of Sanla Clara Mission, who had purchased it of the discoverer, a priest ; but the boundaries of the land attached to tho mine were even then in dispute. Other men were in search of quicksilver, and the whole range of mountains near the New Almaden mine was stained with the brilliant red of the sulphurct of mer cury (cinnabar). A company composed of T. O. Larkin, J. I?. Snyder, and others, among them one John llicord (who was quite a .character) also claimed a valuable mine near bv. Bicord was a lawyer from about Buffalo, and by some means had got to the Sandwich Islands, where he became a great favorite of the King, Ivamehameha; was his Attornej' Gciieral, and got into a difliculty with the Rev. Mr. Judd, who was a kind of Prime-Minister to his Majesty. One or the other had to go, and Bicord left for San Francisco, where he arrived while Col. Mason and I were there on some business connected with customs. Bicord at once made a dead set at Mason with flattery, and all sorts of spurious argu ments, to convince liim that our military government was too simple in its forms for the new state of facts, and that he was the man lo remodel it. 1 had heard a good deal to his prejudice, and did all I could to prevent Mason taking him into his confidence. "We then started Lack for Monterey. Bicord was along, and night and day lie vvas harping on hifcscbeme; but he disgusted Col. Mason with his flatter', and, on reaching Mon terey, lie opened what he called a law office, but there were neither courts nor clients, so necessity forced him lo turn his thoughts to something else, and quick silver became his hobby. In the Spring of 1848 an appeal came to our of lice from San Jose, which compelled TOE GOVKBNOK TO GO UP IX THESON. Lieut. Loeser and I, with a couple of Fouxded UY Tiios. O. Lakktn. soldiers, went along. At San Jose the Governor held some kind of a court, in which Bicord and the Alcalde had a warm dispute about a certain mine which Bicord, as a member of the Bar kin Company, had opened within the limits claimed by the New Almaden Company. On our way up wc had vis ited the ground, and uere therefore bet ter prepared to understand the contro versy. "We had found at New Almaden Mr. Walkinshaw, a fine Scotch gentle man, the resident agent of Mr. Forbes. He had built in the valley, near a small stream, a few board houses and some four or five furnaces for the distillation of the morcurv- These were verv sim ple in their structure, being composed of whalers' kettels set in masonry. These kettles were filled with broken ore about the size of McAdam stone, mingled with lime. Another kettle, reversed, formed the lid, and the seam was luted with clay. On applying heat, the mercury was volatilized and carried into a chimney-stack, where it condensed and flowed back into a reser voir, and then was led in pipes into an other keltic outside. After witnessing this process, wc visited the mine itself, which outcropped near the apex of the hill, about 1,000 feet above the furnace?. Wc found wagons hauling the mineral down the hill and returning empty, and in the mines quite a number of T:onora miners were blasting and driving for the beautiful ore (cinnabar). It was then, and is now, a most valuable mine. The adit of the mine was at the apex of the hill, which drooped off to the north. We rode along this hill, and saw where many openings had been begun, but these, proving of little or no value, had been abandoned. Three miles beyond, on the west face of the hill, we came to the opening of the " Larkin Company." There was evidence of a good deal of work, but the mine itself was filled up "ft row for- hint by what seemed a land-slide. The ques tion involved in the lawsuit before the Alcalde at San Jose was, first, whether the mine was or was not on the land be longing to the New Almaden property ; and, next, whether the company had complied with all the conditions of the mining laws of Mexico, which were construed to be still in force in Cali fornia. TORSE LAWS HEQUIKED that aii'one who discovered a valuable mine on private land should first file with the Alcalde or Judge of the District, a no tice and claim for the benefits of such dis covery; then the mine was to be opened and followed for a distance of at least 100 feet within a specified time, and the claimants must take out samples of the mineral and deposit the same with the Alcalde, who was then required to inspect personally the mine, to see that it ful filled all the conditions of the law, be fore he could give a written title. In this case the Alcalde had been to the mine, and had possession of samples of the ore ; but, as the mouth of the mine was closed up, as alleged, from the act jas&arfffiKBasaS 1iSSv 3hs. laassmsESR "-inrsstttss-sii-- i - n i - -.X75l" 5--"iSJS55 tMHrCTtVSSiS- -- I &&TttZttr?""?fZZ- fi r-r'svj-cr. isJ.W M - SiiU- - c2iz- Moxtk of God, by a land-slide, it was contended by Bicord and his associates that it was competent to prove by good witnesses that the mine had been opened into the hill 100 feet, and that, by no negligence of' theirs, it had caved in. In was generally under stood that Bobert J. Walker, United States Secretary of the Treasury, wa3 then a partner in this mining company, and a vessel, the bark Gray Eagle, was ready at San Francisco to sail for New York with the title papers on which lo base a joint stock company for specula tive uses. J think the Alcalde was satis fied that the law had been complied with, that he had given the necessary papers, and, as at that time there was nothing developed to show fraud, the Governor (Mason) did not interfere. A t that date there was no public house or tavern in San Jose where wc could stop, so we started toward Santa CriizS and encamped about 10 miles out, to the west of the town, where we fell in with another party of explorers, of whom Buckel, of San Francisco, was the head, and after supper, as we sat around the camp fire, the conversation turned on quicksilver in general and the result of the contest in San Jose in particular. Mason was relating to Buckel the points and the arguments of Bicord, that the company should not suffer from an act of God, viz., the caving in of the mouth of the mine, when a man named Cash, a fellow who had once been in the Quar termaster's employ as a teamster, spoke up: "Gov. Mason, did Judge Bicord say that?" "Yes," said the Gov ernor; and then Cash related how he and another man, whose name he gave, had been employcd-by Bicord to under mine a heavy rock that rested above the mouth of the mine, so that it tumbled down, carrying with it a large quantity of eartii, and completely filled it up, as we had seen ; "and," said Cash, "it took us three days of the hardest kind of work." This was the art of God, and on the papers procured from Ihe Alcalde at that lime, 1 understand, was built a huge speculation, by which thousands of dollars changed hands in the United States and were lost. This happened long before the celebrated McGarrahan claim, which has produced so much noise, Monte and which still is "heinc prosecuted in the courts and in Congress. On the next day we crossed over the Sanla Cruz Mountains, from which we had SUI1UME VIEWS OF THE SCEXEI1Y, first looking cast toward the lower Bay of San Francisco, with the bright plains of Santa Clara and San Jose, and then to the west upon the ocean, the town of Monterey being visible 60 miles off. If my memory is correct, we beheld from that mountain the firing of a salute from the battery at Monterey, and 7J. 3 L --afc-T-S.- ' -. I uJ r ."' M. UIVTKv BI'MT. llIUi.1 LjlLII.IAt.. wttfl to foontc i&e tattle, and for tifjs wutotu itnft orphans." WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1896. counted the number of guns from the white puffs of smoke, but could not hear the sound. , That night we slept on piles of wheat in a mill at Soqucl, near Santa Cruz; niul, our supplies be ing short, I advised that we should make an early start next morning, so as to reach the ranch of Don Juan An tonio Yallcjo, a particular friend, who had a large and valuable cattle-ranch on the Pajaro Bivcr, about 20 mile3 on our way to Monterey. Accordingly, we were off b' the first light of day, and by 9 o'clock we had reached the ranch. It was on a high point of the plateau, overlooking the plain of the Pajaro, on which were grazing numbers of horses and cattle. The house was of adobe, with a long range of adobe huts occu pied by the scmi-civilizcd Indians, who at that time did all the labor of a ranch, the herding and marking of cattle, breaking of horses, and cultivating the little patches of wheat and vegetables which constituted all the farming of that day. Everything about the house looked deserted, and, seeing a small In dian boy leaning up against a post, I ap proached him and asked him in Spanish, 2S2SS!?(7.Msv... j .-sC5.-.-. . --??,icrrj7T'. mrnw&. Dunr.o. " Where is tho master ? " '' Gone to the Presidio" (Monterey). "Is anybody in the house?" "No." "Is it locked up?" "Yes." "Is no one about who can get in?" "No." "Have you any meat ? " " No." "An v flour or grain ? " "No." "Any chickens?" "No." "Any eggs ? " "Np." " What do you live on.?'!' -"iVaca" (nothing). The utter indifference of this boy and the tone of his answer, "IFada," attracted the attention of Col." Mason, who. had been listcning,io our conversation, and who kneWiCiiOugh of Spanish to catch the meaning, and ho exclaimed, with some feeling, "So we get nada for our breakfast." I felt mortified, for I had held out the prospect of a splendid breakfast of meat and tortillas, with rice, chickens, eggs, etc., at the ranch of my friend Jose Antonio, as a justifica tion for taking the Governor, a man of GO years of age, more than 20 miles at a full canter for his breakfast. But there was nQfhelp for it, and wc ac cordingly w6iTt a short distance to a pond, where Ave unpacked our mules and MADE .A GTiTJI HUEAKFAST on some scraps of hard bread and a bone of p'ork that remained in our alforju.i. This was no uncommon thing in those day's, when many a ranchcro, with his 11 leagues of land, his hundreds of horses and thousands of cattle, would receive us with all the grandiloquence of a Spanish lord, and confess that he had nothing in the house to eat except the carcass of a beef hung up, from which the stranger might cut and cook, without money or price, what he needed. That night wc slept on Salinas Plain, and the next morning reached Monterey. All the missions and houses at thot 4period were alive with fleas, which the natives looked on as pleasant titillators; but they so tortured me that I always gave them a wide berth, and slept on a saddle-blanket, with the sadclie for a pillow and the scrape, or blanket, for a cover. We never feared rain, except in Winter. As the Spring and Summer of 1848 advanced, the reports came faster and faster from the gold mines at Sutler's sawmill. Stories reached us of fabulous Diahi.o. discoveries, and spread throughout the laud. Everybody was talking of "Gold i gold !" until it assumed the character of a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert; citizens wore fitting out trains of wagons and packmules to go to the mines. We heard" of men earning 50, 500, and thousands of dollars per day, and for a time it seemed as though some body would reach solid gold. Some of this gold began to "Come to Ycrba Buena in trade, and to disturb the value of merchandise, particularly of mules, horses, tin pans, and articles used in Emmsmmfr Z3!C"r,:L. -;JvJ.KAffJLV,V5:N'A I, of course, could not escape the infection, and at last convinced Col. Mason that it was our duty to go up and see with our own eyes, that we might report tho truth to our Govern ment. As yet we had no regular mail to any part of the United States, but mails had come to us at long intervals around Cape Horn, and one or two overland. I well remember the first overland mail. It Avas brought by KIT CAKSOX in saddle-bag3 from Taos, in New Mexico. Wc heard of his arrival afc Los Angeles, and waited patiently for his arrival at Headquarters. Hi3 fame then was at its bight, from the publication of Fremont's books, and I was very anx ious to see a man who had achieved such feats of daring among the wild animals of the Bocky Mountains, and still wilder Indians of thePlains. At last his ar rival was reported at the tavern at Monterey, and I hurried to hunt him up. I cannot express my surprise at beholding a small, stoop-shouldered man, with reddish hair, freckled face, soft blue eyes, and nothing to indicate extraordi nary courage or daring. He spoke but little, and answered questions in mono syllables. I asked for his mail, and he picked up his light saddle-bags contain ing the great overland mail, and wc walked together to Headquarters, where he delivered his parcel into Col. Mason's own hands. He spent some days in Monterey, during which time we ex tracted with difficulty some items of his personal history. He was then by com mission a Lieutenant in the regiment of Mounted Bifles serving in Mexico under Col. Sumner, and, as he could not reach his regiment from California, Col. Ma son ordered that for a time he should be assigned to duty with A. J. Smith's com pany, 1st Dragoons, at Lo3 Angeles. He remained at Los Angeles some months, and was then sent back to the United States with dispatches, traveling 2,000 miles almost alone, in preference to be ing encumbered by a large party. Toward the close of June, 1848, THE GOI.D-FEVEE BEIXG AT ITS TIIGnT, by Col. Mason's orders I made prepara tions for his trip to the newly-discovered gold mines at Sutter's Fort. I selected four good soldiers, and with Aaron, Col. Mason's black servant, and a good outfit of horses and pack-mules, we started by the usually traveled route for Yerba Buena. There Capt. Folsom and two citizens joined our party. The first diffi culty was to cross the bay to Silucclito. Folsom,- as Quartermaster, had a sort of scOw with a "largo sail, with which to dis- Entrance to Tnn charge the cargoes of ships, that could not come within a mile of the shore. It took nearly the whole day to get the old scow up to the only wharf there, and then the water was so shallow that the scow, with its load of horses, would not float at the first high tide, but by infinite labor on the next tide she was got off and safely crossed over to Saucelito. We followed in a more comfortable schooner. Having safely landed our horses and mules, we packed up and rode to San Bafael Minion, stopping with Don Timoteo Murphy. The next day's jour ney took us to Bodega, where lived a man named Stephen Smith, who had the only steam sawmill in California. He had a Peruvian wife, and employed a number of absolutely naked Indians in making adobes. We spent a day very pleasantly with him, and learned that he had come to California some years before, at the personal advice of Daniel Webster, who had informed him that sooner or later the United States would be in possession of California, and that in consequence it would become a great country. From Bodega we trav eled to Sonoma, by way of Petal uma, and spent a day with Gen. Vallejo. I had been there before, as related, in the business of the Alcalde Nash. From Sonoma we crossed over by way of Napa, Suisun, and Vaca's ranch to the Puta. In the rainy season tho plain between the Puta and Sacramento Bivers is im passable, but in July the waters dry up; and we passed without trouble by the trail for Sutter's Fmbarcadero. We reached the Sacramento Bivcr, then full of water, with a deep, clear current. The only means of crossing over was by an Indian dugout canoe. We began by carrying across our packs and saddles, and then our people. When all things were ready the horses were, driven into the water, one being guided ahead by a man in the canoe. Of course, the horses and mules mininu. 9lRt VOL. at first refused to take to the water, and it was nearly a day's work to get them across, and even then some of our ani mals after crossing escaped into the woods and undergrowth that lined the river, but we secured enough of them to reach Sutler's Fort, three miles back from the l embarendpro, where we encamped at the old slough, or pond, near the fort. On application, Capt. Sutter sent some In dians back into the hushes, who recovered and brought in all our animals. At that time there was not the sign of a habitation there or thereabouts, except the fort, and an old adobe house, ea3t of the fort, known as the hospital. The fort itself was one of adobe walls, about 20 feet high, rectangular in form, with two-story block-houses at diagonal cor- ners. lne entrance was Dy a large gate, open by day and closed at night, with two iron ship'sgunsnearathand. Inside there was a large house, with a good shingle roof, used as a storehouse, and all around the walls were ranged rooms, the fort wall being the outer wall of the house. The inner wall also wa3 of adobe. These rooms were used by Capt. Sutter himself and by his people. He had a black smith's shop, carpenter's shop, etc., and other rooms where the women made blankets. SUTTER WAS MOXAECn OF ALL HE SUR VEYED, and had authority to inflict punishment even unto death, a power he did not fail to use. He had horses, cattle and sheep, and of these he gave liberally and with out price to all in need. He caused to be driven into our camp a beef and some sheep, which were slaughtered for our use. Already the gold mine3 were be ginning to be felt. Many people were then encamped, some going and some coming, all lull of gold stories, and each surpassing the other. We found prepa rations in progress for celebrating the Fourth of July, then close at hand, and we agreed to remain over to assist on the occasion ; of course, being the high officials, we were the honored guests. People came from a great distance to attend this celebration of the Fourth of July, and the tables were laid in the large room inside the storehouse of the fort. A man of some note, named Sin clair, presided, and after a substantial meal and a reasonable supply of aguar diente we began the toasts. All that I remember is that Folsom and I spoke for our party ; others, Capt. Sutter included, madespeechesand before the celebration was over Sutter was enthusiastic, and many others showed the efJects of the aguardiente. The next day (namely, Almaden Mine. July 5, 184S) we resumed our journey toward the mines, and, in 25 miles of as hot and dusty a ride as possible, we reached Mormon Island. I have hereto fore stated that the gold was first found in the tail-race of the saw-mill at Coloma, 40 miles above Sutter's Fort, or 15 above Mormon Island, in the bed of the American Fork of the Sacramento Biver. It seems that Sutter had em ployed an American named Marshall, a sort of millwright, to do this work for him, but Marshall afterward claimed that iii the matter of the saw-mill they were co-partners. At all events, Mar shall and the family of Mr. Wimraer were living at Coloma, where the pine trees afforded the best material for lum ber. He had under him four white men, Mormons, who had been discharged from Cooke's battalion, and some In dians. These were engaged in hewing logs, building a mill-dam and putting up a saw-mill. Marshall, a3 the archi tect, had made the "tub-wheel," and had set it in motion, and had also fur nished some of the rude parts of machin ery necessary for an ordinary up-and-down saw-mill. Labor was very scarce, expensive and had to be economized. The mill wa3 built over a dry channel of the river, which wa3 calculated to be the tail-race. After arranging his head-race, dam and tub-wheel, he let on the water to test the goodnc3 of his machinery. It worked very well until it was found that the tail-race did not carry off the water fast enough, so he put his men to work in a rude way to clear out the tail-race. They scratched a kind of ditch down the middle of the dry channel, throwing the coarser stones to one side ; then, let ting on the water again, it would run with velocity down the channel, washing away the dirt, thus saving labor. This course of action was repeated several times, acting exactly like the long Tom Cunt.uucii on second r"K) CO XV - NO. 31-WIIOLE NO. 770. EXPLODING- A MM Story of the Crater Movement Petersburg, t CAUSE OF FAILURE. What Gen. Burnside Wanted to Do to Capture the ClUidel. UNDER THE SALIENT. Some Work Done by the Pri vates Who Were There. BY CLARENCE wilson, co. reg't. E, 2D PA. PR07fc W HAVE BEEN" A reader o f youl widely-c i r culated soldiers' j o u rnal for a number of years, and have always read with deep interest the private soldiers' side of the story of the late war tho bivouac, the march, and the battlefield. I am pleased to know that the column3 r ff i i & llgllif- of TriE National Tribute are al- F way3 open for publication of the private soldier s version of certain movements or battles fought during the rebellion, ac counts of which were narrated in tho Col. Pleasants. daily and weekly papers duringthe wa and in different histories-since. There is no doubt that the private soldier, or his regiment, brigade, or di vision, has been unjustly criticized many times in connection with some erreafc ! battle or movement, after it had proved a failure or miscarried, fought or made under the leadership of some officer, when really the failure was caused by incompetency, or through jealous in trigue. Your journal invites the pri vate soldier to give his side of the story. I have often wanted to give what I think was the real foundation for the failure of Burnside's mine explosion in front of Petersburg, July 30, 1864, and ste'.?, according to my way of thinking, where the blame lies. The original plan of the crater fight, proposed by Gen. Burnside, was, it i3 stated on the soundest military authority, a good one. It should have resulted in our capturing Petersburg that day, tho cutting of the railroads leading to Bichr mond, and who know3 but what it might have given us Bichmond, a few miles away. The First Division of the Ninth Corps, of which my regiment, the 2d Pa. Prov. H. A., was a member, was chosen, after Gen. Meade had interfered and changed Burnside's plan, to lead the charge, Gen. Ledlie commanding. I wish to say right here, the boys did wish our old commander, Gen. Stevenson, was in command. THE LATTER WAS KILLED at Spottsylvanfa Courthouse, Gen. Crit tenden assuming temporary commanA: Gen. Boenside. at Cold Harbor, Gen. Ledii resijrninfr becoming commander of the Division. He was afterwards "dubbed" by th boys as the " bomb-proof General," from the fact that after the mine was ex ploded, and while the debris was flying in the air, and while my brigade tho Second, of his division was charging; over the slope, he became weak in the knees, and darted very gracefully into a bomb-proof, and remained there during; the engagement, instead of following the division in and reforming us for tho ad vance charge beyond the crater to Ceme tery Hill. This division, my brigade particularly, jvmm Ll VVI " j t T -"Tr J $9 iij-T? A'tj 3jSi2'i & In n W