My Dear Bro:
I am here again. Capt. Nye, as his disease grew worse, grew so peevish and abusive, that I quarreled with him and left. He required almost constant attention, day and night, but he made no effort to hire anyone to assist me. He said he nursed the Governor three weeks, day and night—which is a d—d lie, I suspect. He told Mrs. Gardiner he would take up the quarrel with me again when he gets well. He shall not find me unwilling. Mr. and Mrs. G. dislike [ a him], and are very anxious to get rid of him.1
Don’t send me that $75, and do not let anyone find out that you have got your salary—above all, Phillips—but no one if not necessary. Pay off your indebtedness to the school fund when you can do so without having to pay a heavy discount on your draft, and put the balance away by itself, and keep a strict account of your disbursement of it.
‸ Private.‸ I do not think these new placer diggings are a [“steamboat.”] A friend of mine, C. H. Higbie, happened to pass through the locality two years ago, and intended paying it a quiet visit this summer—so last week when the news came, he said nothing, but got a horse, and left here [ at that] night at midnight. I had a whispered message from him last night, in which he said he had arrived safely on the ground, and was in with the discoverers, turning the river out of its bed. They will allow no others to participate.2 Higbie left here while I was with Capt. Nye. Now keep all this entirely to yourself. Nine-tenths of the people who leave here fore the diggings, don’t know where to go to. Higbie is a large, strong man, and has the perseverance of the devil. If there is anything there, he will find it. And when he gets discouraged and leaves, rest assured he will leave no one behind him. You can no more discourage him than you can frighten him. Visiting the Yo-Semite Falls, [(100) miles] from here,) he carried for two-thirds of a day, a 60-pound pack on his back, and a rifle and shot-gun in his hands, and then, with this load, and all his company trying to dissuade him, he left the valley and climbed to the summit of the ridge, (which is 7,000 feet above the valley,) by a trail which the mountain goats are almost afraid of. I am telling you these things so that if you learn that Higbie calls the new diggings a steamboat, you can feel convinced that there is no gold in that part of the country.3 I am freezing for him to send word for me to come out there—for God knows a respite from this same old, old place would be a blessing.
From what I can learn, the Pride of Utah and the Dimes have run together, at a depth of less than 100 feet, and now form one immense ledge, of fabulous richness. I suppose the Annipolitan will share the same fate. They are down 15 or 20 feet on the ledge, and have passed through a 2-inch vein of rich decomposed quartz—but [they done] nothing with it of course, as it was too narrow to be worth working. I[t] was a cross vein,4 like all the rich rock in those claims.
I caught a violent cold at Clayton’s, which lasted two weeks, and I came near getting salivated, working in the quicksilver and chemicals. I hardly think I shall try the experiment again. It is a confining business, and [I] will not be confined, for love nor money.
Gillespie talks reasonably now, and I shall try and be ready for him as soon as he starts his paper. Tell him not to secure a San Francisco correspondent for the winter, because they do nothing here [ do during] the winter months, and I want the job myself. I want to spend the winter in California. When will his first number be published, and where?
Tell Church I would as soon write a correspondence for the “Age” as not, since [Lewis is] out of the concern, but want of time will not permit it.5 Besides, I have no private room, and it is a torture to write when there is a crowd around, as is the case here, always.
The 100 feet cut off from the Monitor segregates itself, without further action.
Don’t you know that when you let Gillespie read my letters you take all privacy away from them?
I do hope you will be able to get into your new office soon.
I shall go on a walking tour of 40 or 50 miles shortly, to pass get rid of this infernal place for a while. If I go, I will let you know. We projected the tour some time ago, but could not leave at that time.
Old Col. Youngs6 is very friendly, and I like him much.
Rip goes the d—d mail again, once a week. So when you are in a hurry, you will have to send by Express, as before.
Yr. Bro.
Sam.
I got the States letters you sent.
Explanatory Notes | Textual Commentary
’Twas but a few days ago that the news was whispered
round in a few private circles, that mines of gold had been
discovered down across the Adobe meadows. Directly parties of
horsemen were noticed to leave town during the still hours of
night, stealthily moving away to the west. And the late watchers
who saw them were mystified and told what they saw to others.
. . . Well, the next day . . . another and another party quietly
took themselves out of town. . . . The second night more departed,
and thus has this town excited itself for three several days and
nights, till anxious listening and watching has produced a
violent fever. . . . To-day everybody has been making up their
minds or their packs to travel by midnight hour or early dawn
towards the goal of all their visions—“a
heap of oro.” (Veni, Vidi 1862 [bib10488], 3) Ten days later the same correspondent reported “The Cement
Diggings, on Owen’s river, about which there was such a wild
excitement a week ago, will prove, I’m afraid, what the
miners here call a ‘steamboat sell.’ There are
about twenty men at work turning the river, and in a few days will
prospect its bed and solve the problem whether or not there is gold in
paying quantities in that region” (Veni, Vidi 1862 [bib10489], 1). In fact the cement mine was
never found again, although the search continued into the twentieth
century (see James W. A. Wright, iv–vi,
11–16, and Chalfant, 43–50).
Source text(s):Previous publication:
L1, 224–227; MTB, 1:199–200, brief paraphrase and excerpt.
Provenance:see Moffett Collection, p. 462.
Emendations and textual notes:
1862 • [possibly ‘1862.’]
a him • [‘h’ over ‘a’]
steam-|boat • steamboat
at that • [‘th’ over deleted ‘at’]
(100) miles • [‘m’ over closing parenthesis]
they done • [sic]
do during • douring [‘u’ over ‘o’]
Lewis is • Lewisi is [false start]
