THE
ARGONAUTS OF CALIFORNIA.
Page 335.
CHAPTER XXIII
BILL BURNS LYNCHING THE COLORED MAN--DICK ARNOLD--THE MINING
REGIONS--THE OLD-TIMERS DISPERSE--THE PHANTOMS OF THE FORTY-NINERS--FORTY YEARS
HAVE PASSED--THE ARGONAUTS’ SOLILOQUY--THE GREAT CHANGES--THE FIGHT OF
TIME--THE NUMBER OF PIONEERS NOW LIVING.
“OH, say, Pike, do you remember when Bill
Burnes and his crowd of border ruffians undertook to hang that colored chap,
Bartlettt, over on Weaver Creek in ‘51?” asked Tennessee.
“Oh, yaas, indeed,” answered Pike, “for
you know I was right thar and seen it all.”
“Well,” Yank continued, “when I was down
there to the Bay there was an article about that affair published in the Argonaut.
But wasn’t that little Providence chap, Dick Arnold, clear grit, though?
But, pshaw, who would want to run the risk of his life just to save a darky,
anyhow? You remember that I asked him afterwards how he could run such a risk
for a colored man, and a stranger, too.
“’Oh, well,’ says the little black-eyed
cuss, ‘if it had been a yellow dog I would have done it all the same upon
general principles, jest to show that crowd that they couldn’t run this country
any longer.
“’Why, you remember that ‘twas this same
crowd, the Bill Burnes’ gang, who undertook to make trouble when we voted upon
the adoption of the constitution, governor, or law and order, anyhow, out here
in California, and they gave us to understand that if we Yanks undertook that
sort of business they would clean us out. At the meeting they tried to scare us
out, but found we didn’t scare worth a cent. So you see, boys, when they
started in to lynch the darky, Barlett, me and my pard concluded that they jest
shouldn’t do anything of the kind. But, pshaw, we didn’t run so much risk
Page 336.
as you think, for we knew
that kind of a crowd. Why, when they see me running over on top of their heads,
with my knife in between my teeth to cut the rope, they knew right off that
some of them derned Yanks were around and they had better take keer, and they
did, too.’”
“But the best of it was,” said Pike, “to
see old Schowton, the sheriff, and the whole crowd jest go for the brush when
Burnes throwed the rope over the darky’s head, and then jerked him up into the
top of the oak tree. Yes, and the judge, jury, sheriff and all hands ran a race
to see who would get into the brush first.”
“Well, but where were you and Yank all
this time?” asked another.
“Well, I reckon’ we made for the brush,
too, and I jest thought there was agoin’ to be some shootin’, sure, for there
was more than thirty of that crowd along with Burnes, but when they seen them
two little chaps comin’ up the hill agin with the darkey, one on each side of
him, with their guns in their hands, they jest wilted.”
“Do you remember the chap, Joe Hart, who
had that rich claim in White Rock cañon, up near Hangtown,”
Yank asked. “It was in ‘50 that they said he had $60,000 worth of dust salted
down at that time. Well, blamed if I didn’t meet him on Market street, in San
Francisco, with a back-load of brooms. He was peddling brooms and told me that
he could make a very good living, that is if he weren’t very particular about
how good he lived. And one day I was riding in one of the street cars, and who
in thunder do you s’pose was driving it? Why, old Varmount, as we used to call
the little chap who had such a big claim at Forest Hill in ‘56. He went in some
kind of business down thar, and when his money gave out his business followed suit, and he got a job
of car driving for a living. I tell you it isn’t any use for an old miner to go
down there with his dust to go into business among strangers. There are lots of
chaps down there who are just laying for that kind of game. They had better
keep their dust up here, and help build up and improve the old worn-out and deserted
mining regions.
“For I tell you what it is: up here among
these old hills is just going to be ther garden spot of California. No finer
climate in the world, or soil that is any better for raising fruit, grape
vines, or kids either. I just reckon that we old Forty-niners will live to see
the time when all these old hills, flats and ravines where we used to
Page
337 Illustration.
Page 338.
mine, which we have tramped
over for so many years prospecting, will all be levelled off, fenced in, and
planted with vines and fruit trees. Yes, they will sure; for people are just
now coming from the East, and it won’t be long before you will see railroads
running up into all these old deserted mining regions, just as there is soon
going to be up into old Hangtown. Just imagine the bell ringing, and the engine
whistling as it flies up through the ravines among the hills where we mined in
early days. Why, boys, suppose when we were up there to work forty years ago,
some of the boys had said that the time would come, and we would live to see
it, when these hills and flats would be fenced in, covered with fruit trees and
vines, and with nice pleasant homes around in among them, and that a railroad
would be built, and a train of cars would be seen rolling up into old Hangtown,
too. Why, they would have been called crazy, and the preachers would have been
sent for to come and hold an inquest over them.”
As it was now getting late in the day, a
few of the old miners who had fruit ranches near by were soon compelled to leave.
The five old-timers were making preparations to start for other mining
localities. Jeff was on his way to Arizona, having heard of the new mines
there. Yank was about starting for the Yucon. Jersey was headed for the Coeur
D’Alene silver region, where he was interested in a galena and silver mine,
from which he was expecting to realize an immense fortune, whilst Tennessee and
Jim had concluded to examine the Kootenai country, in British Columbia. Jeff
remarked:
“Well, now, boys, we are soon to part again,
each to go his own way, but all determined to continue in the old business of
prospecting to the end, unless we strike a pile in time to enjoy a few years
before we go, relief from our labor in quiet and comfort down in the big city
by the sea.”
“Yes,” says Yank, “and we will continue in
this business for all time. And just let the present generation hand it down to
their children, and to their children’s children, as well as to all future
generations who will make their dwelling places throughout the old mining
regions, that those phantoms that are occasionally seen wandering about among
the ravines and cañons in the dead hours of night, carrying upon
their backs rolls of blankets, as well as an old tin pan, pick and shovel, are
only the restless spirits of a few old miners who are, from force of habit,
hunting for some spot
Page
339. Illustration.
Page 340.
where they can get a few
colors to the pan, and find the bed rock pitching. They are the spirits of
Jeff, Yank, Old Pike, Tennessee, Jersey and Jim, the old Forty-niners.”
It is now forty years since a few
thousands of hardy adventurers sailed out upon the broad ocean from the various
sea ports on the Atlantic coast, and also about an equal number of thousands
crossed the barren plains in that eventful and long - to - be - remembered year
of 1849, to follow upon the trail of the Star of the Westward-bound Empire,
which, tradition said, was coursing across the continent, and which was
supposed to have finally set somewhere upon the Pacific Coast. And what a
transformation has taken place since their arrival upon the shores of
California! Here, where we first landed, where all appeared like a vast army
encampment, with the sand hills dotted with tents, we now find, in place of
those primitive and original conditions, a great city, the foundations of which
were laid by those original tent-dwellers, and which has in a few short years
sprung into existence as if impelled by some magical-hidden subterranean
influence in the mountain regions. And it is this magical influence, more
potent than the lamp of Aladdin, which has accomplished such wonderful
transformations in so short a space of time that we have come thousands of
miles by sea, as well as across barren sands and deserts, to seek for the
widely scattered fragments of the once richly paved streets of the “New
Jerusalem.”
These wonderful transformations are not,
however, confined to the few large cities of the plains, or to those the
foundations of which are laid by the sea, but are visible over the entire
country, for even among the hills and mountain ranges, as well as in the broad
and rich valley bottoms, can now be seen the pleasant homes and residences of
the farmer, the fruit, and the vine grower. There can yet be seen, also, among
the deep ravines, upon the level spots of the steep sides of the cañons,
and in other localities, the ruins of the once pleasant homes of the old
Forty-niners; but these have, in the great majority of cases, like the greater
number of their once happy and energetic occupants, gone to decay. Many of
them, however, yet exist in form, and to all outward appearances, from a
distance, have an air of usefulness and solidity; but upon a nearer approach it
will be
Page
341. Illustration.
Page 342.
found that the foundation
only remains; the bark upon the old logs has rotted and fallen off, and the
decayed logs have a seedy, antiquated appearance. The once palatial residences
of the old-timers, which have withstood the storms and battled with the
elements for nearly four years, are now, like many of their former occupants,
existing only in form. They have fought the fight and have won, and many of
them are yet in existence, roaming upon various portions of the earth’s
surface, resembling in their seedy and antiquated appearance the old logs of
their ancient castles among the mountain ranges, and like these requiring but a
slight push or a gentle breeze to throw them from their foundations into the
ravine below.
Yet there is, after all, among the old
Forty-niners a great satisfaction when, from a commanding eminence or standing
upon the rugged cliff of some mountain peak, the Argonaut can take a view of
the surrounding country spread out before him below, and see the pleasant homes
upon the flats, among the ravines and sunny slopes of the hillsides of the once
thickly populated mining region. The country that once was dreary and desolate,
now covered with extensive forests of fruits and vineyards ; and away further
back among the hills, where formerly dwelt the grizzly and other wild animals,
can now be seen the cabins of the herders with their immense droves of cattle
and flocks of sheep. In the valleys below he can see fields of waving grain,
and the railroad trains rushing through them in various directions, filled with
travelers from all parts of the world who have come to view this wonderful
transformation scene. He includes, also, in the view the great cities beyond,
which have risen during this brief period, and are now filled with a busy
crowd, all engaged in fierce warfare, endeavoring to see who will get there
first, and in which none are anticipating that they will get left.
All of this the old-timer views from his
lofty perch upon the mountain summit, and with these thoughts running in his
mind:
“Although I am not at present in a
suitable condition or circumstances to take an active part in the busy scene,
or even to mingle with the well-dressed crowds that are promenading the streets
of the great cities (for the stylish plug hat that I sported in my early mining
days has long since been jammed and knocked out of shape by my mining
acquaintances, my store clothes are in tatters, and
Page 343.
my biled shirt and fancy
necktie also have long since faded and gone), yet there is consolation in the
thought that I assisted by my labor to lay the foundation of all this grand
panorama, in motion below me. And amid the solid rocks which form the
foundation, and beneath the corner-stone upon which the whole fabric rests,
will be found the results of my labor, cheerfully contributed towards the
erection of this grand and noble structure.”
To an old-timer, the wonderful changes and
transformations which have taken place within, apparently, so short a space of
time are hard to realize; and one who has followed the business of mining, more
particularly for many years have come and gone since he first landed upon the
shores of the country.
But why does life seem so short to the
miner, and why do the years seem to crowd so quickly upon each other, and to
pass in such rapid secession? That such, however, is the case, and that we grow
up amid the excitement of such conditions unconscious of the existence of time,
all old miners can testify to. We find that before we are aware of it our hair
is tinged with gray; our children grown up around us; they, in their turn are
married, and lo, and behold, we, the old-timers, who have remained unconscious
of the fact that time will not even wait for a Forty-niner, are to our
astonishment informed that we have attained at last to that period of our
existence when we can adopt the title of father with the grand in front of it.
But why does time pass so rapidly with those who are engaged in mining? Is it
in the climate? No, but in the industry which we follow. We read in Pope that
man never is, but always to be, blessed, and this applies to the business of
mining with full force; for the miner never has yet, but always is just going
to strike it. It is always just a little ahead, and so it continues to the
miner, for but a small proportion of them ever reach it. Yet the continuation
of daily, weekly and yearly anticipations, as yet unrealized, but which are
soon to be, causes time to pass unobserved, and the old Forty-niner, who, in
his imagination, has been here but a few short years, finds to his astonishment,
when the little ones are climbing over him, pulling his whiskers and calling
him “Grandpa,” when he comes to think of it, as old Pike would say, that he has
been here a right smart chance.
But the old miner might ask if this is not
true of all other kinds
Page 344.
of business, or of human
affairs in general, as well as the business of mining ? No, only to a limited
extent, although ‘tis true enough, as observation and experience shows us, that
the continual expectation of the satisfaction of our desires is the fundamental
base of all human action; the one great incentive to exertion, We find,
however, that whilst a reasonable length of time in which to satisfy our
desires is allowed and expected in all other kinds of business, in mining the
case is reversed. And it was for this
reason that thousands left their Eastern homes, upon the discovery of gold in
California, believing it possible that gold in large quantities could be
scraped up from the surface of the earth in a very short space of time. If a proper knowledge of gold mining had been
as well understood at that time as has since been acquired by dearly bought
experience, and that only about the same proportion of persons would have
succeeded in it as was possible in any other business requiring the same space
of time for its development, the emigration to this Coast would have been much
less in early days, The amount extracted from the mines would no doubt, have
been the same and with similar effects, perhaps. At any rate, the expectations of the early
pioneers would have been more reasonable, and disappointments in the business
of mining would have been less, since they would have corresponded with such
expectations.
In view of the fact that forty years have
now elapsed since the exciting news was wafted across the continent that gold
had been discovered upon the Pacific Coast, it would be of great interest to
know what has become of this vast army of gold seekers, the Argonauts, who left
their friends and homes in the year of ’49.
The estimate has been made that the number
of vessels which sailed from the Atlantic seaports of the United States in the
year ’49, including steamers bound for California, was something near 400. The number of persons, including the
emigration across the plains in’49, therefore, who left their Eastern homes in
the year ’49 to seek their fortunes upon this side of the continent, must have
been nearly 60,000. Taking an estimate
of those who are now living, and of those who joined the various Pioneer
Associations, it would be safe to conclude that there are living at present of
that vast multitude, at least 15,000.
About 8,000 of them are living upon the Pacific Coast, while the greater
portion of the remainder are scattered
Page 345. Illustration.
Page 346.
throughout the United States
from Bangor, Maine, to New Orleans on the south, and to Colorado in a westerly
direction.
The greater portion of the Argonauts are
making their homes in the towns and cities, where very many of them are yet
engaged in active business; while a journey throughout the agricultural
districts of the Pacific Coast will discover the fact that large numbers are
engaged in farming in all its various branches of grain, fruit and stock
raising. In some of the mining counties will be found, also, many of the
old-timers who have abandoned the business of mining, and are now engaged in
the fruit industry, and in many cases, too, in the very same localities where
they mined long years ago. They have filled up the deep shafts, leveled off
piles of rocks and tailings, and by means of brush dams have restored again to
their original condition the barren and stony places which were washed out in
the search for gold.
A visit to some of the now deserted mining
camps throughout the mining regions, will bring to light many of the old
pioneers who are yet lingering around the spot where they first located upon
their arrival, loath to break away from their first and earliest associations,
and content to remain and live over again, in imagination, the early mining
days, with their pleasing incidents and associations. Of the Argonauts who are
at present engaged in mining the number would be found small, not exceeding,
perhaps, 500. But they are scattered throughout the length and breath of the
Pacific Coast, wherever there is a prospect of new mining discoveries, from
Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, and a few of them will be found in every mining
camp of any importance.
Page 347. Illustration.
Transcribed by:
Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Proofread by Betty Vickroy.
© 2008 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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