CHAPTER XIV.

THE MINES-PANDEMONIUM.

After my first unsuccessful venture at mining I returned to Johnson's ranch and completed my unfinished journey to Hangtown. This place was so named from its having been the scene of a triple hanging in '49 of three desperados who had exhausted the patience of the better class by their many crimes.

Until the summer of 1850 this was one of the richest placer mines in the state. The town consisted mainly of one narrow street, following a zigzag course along the gulch. The buildings were of cheap material and of rude structure, many of them merely miners' cabins of cotton cloth or shakes split from pine blocks. Piles of dirt and tailings from the abandoned claims filled much of the space btween the hills, forming the narrow gulch. A few Americans were at work with pick, pan and rocker besides quite a number of ChinaThe town contained about one thousand inhabitants. The population, like all mining towns at that time, was of a mixed class, good, bad and indifferent, representing nearly every nationality on the globe and some of the worst elements of them all. Every species of gambling was in full blast, from faro and three-card monte down the list to the thimble and strap game.

men.

The latter consisted of doubling a strap of leather and rolling it in a round form, and the operator offering to bet two, four, or six ounces that no man could so place a stick in the loop in the center of the strap that it would be caught as the strap was unrolled by the sharper. Six ounces, or one hundred dollars, were often won or lost on both of the last two simple "dead open and shut games."

Night was the time for the gamblers' and other low resorts, all of which were run on the high pressure principle. This was true, not alone in the mining towns, but in all cities as well. San Francisco, Sacramento and Marysville were wide open towns, where tens of thousands of dollars were won or lost nightly.

Miners gathered from all the surrounding camps into Hangtown after the day's work was over, either to bet their dust or witness the exciting scenes in the gambling rooms. "Coon Holler," Diamond Springs, Mud Springs, Shingle Springs, Dogtown, Fiddletown, Yuba Dam, Dead Men's Gulch and the South Fork were all represented around the gaming tables at night.

Personally, I never took any part or lot in anv game of chance save that of a spectator. Faro was the principal game plaved in all popular gambling houses, and a loud word was seldom spoken. A man might stake and lose his last dollar and silently disappear. Professional gamblers, as a rule, were fine-looking men gentlemen in appearance and manners. Lavmen from "away back east" have been known to meet a former pastor at the gambling table dealing faro. Handsome and well-dressed women not infrequently had their tables of faro or monte in fashionable resorts and public gambling rooms both in the cities and mining towns

If a purse was to be made up for a sick or unfortunate miner or one disabled by some misfortune, the only sure and successful place to obtain contributions for his relief or to defray his expenses back to the "States" was in the gambling rooms. I have seen tens and twenties thrown into the hat until the requisite amount was made up. A glance at the applicant for charity—whose case would be presented by some responsible miner— was sufficient, without a question being asked.

Another class, known as the desperado, preyed not alone upon the miner, but upon all classes alike. Not gold simply, but life, was too often demanded to satisfy their thirst for blood and notoriety. The border ruffian from Texas, and escaped convicts from Sydney, known as 'Sydney ducks," were among the worst of this class. When cards were unlucky and theft impossible, the desperado did not hesitate to live upon the proceeds of another obtained by sin and shame. If wishing to make a raise by more desperate means, he was always careful to get "the drop" on his victim. His "best hold," however, was in bluffing the verdant pilgrim just from the East, known on the plains as the "greenhorn" and in the mountains as the "tenderfoot." The cowardly desperado would pull his revolvers around to the front so the handles could be seen, ruffle his hair, and, with fierce looks and terrible oaths, placing himself in front of his victim, would address him about as follows: "Seen yer before, young feller! Can't call yer name. Oh, yes, Jones. Lemme tell yer, Jones, this yere's a bad place, heap er bad men-bad man myselfsaved yer life the other night. Don't tell me I lie! (reaches for his pistol)-saved yer life-lend me a fiver. Ain't slept for a week—been drunk a month;

would just as lief kill a man as eat! Ugh!" Makes a motion to draw his revolvers. The frightened tenderfoot, anxious to escape from such a dangerous man, readily hands over the first coin he comes to, whether a $5 or $10, and insists that no change shall be offered back.

The banding together of these desperate criminals in San Francisco for plunder, led to the organization of the vigilance committee in 1856, in which Gen. W. T. Sherman, Judge Terry and other men of note were concerned. The murder of "James King of William" by Casey was the last act in the fearful drama preceding the vigilantes. King was the founder and editor of the Evening Bulletin, and was somewhat intemperate in his language in denouncing the murderous gangs that infested the city. He was a brave, honest man and good citizen.

Gold dust was the only circulating medium until 1851, when $16, or ounce pieces, and $50 octagonal "slugs" were coined by private parties. Twenty-five cents was the least amount paid for any article, however small. A single pie sold for $1, and other articles of luxury in the eating line in like proportion. Whenever a pencil, an egg, a drink or a cigar was purchased the buckskin bag of dust was presented, and what the seller could take with his thumb and finger went for two bits. Scales were used later.

The only mining implements in 1849-50 were the shovel, pick, pan and rocker, and long handle dipper used while sitting and rocking the "cradle" with the left hand, dipping water into the hopper in which the dirt was placed. This was followed by the "Long Tom" and sluice, into which the water was conveyed

by gravity while the miners stood upon either side and shoveled in the auriferous earth. Finally the hydraulic process was adopted, the most rapid and efficacious of all.

The first quartz lead discovered and worked was by Alvinza Hayward, on Rancheri creek in Amador county, near where I was placer mining at the time. I believe that after the lapse of 50 years it is still valuable.

The day after my arrival in Placerville, I left for Live Oak bar, on the South Fork, three miles due north, hoping to make a strike to replenish my nearly exhausted finances. Meeting with a small mining party whom I had known 'back in the States," I was welcomed as one of their number.

We remained there a couple of weeks, realizing only fair compensation for our labor, and then went 12 miles down the river to Coloma. This is where gold. was first discovered on January 19, 1848, by James W. Marshall, who had contracted to build a sawmill for Gen. John A. Sutter. He had turned the waters of the river into the race in order to widen and deepen it, and when the water was turned off he noticed several yellow particles in the sand, and picked up a number of them, one weighing several pennyweights. The news of the discovery did not reach San Francisco until February, 1848. Then followed such an excitement as the world had never before seen. Its thrill went to the remotest corners of the earth, and caused among all classes the most intense excitement. The eyes and thoughts of all men turned to California as the land of promise, and suddenly all ways seemed to lead to her golden shores.

Here, within 100 yards of the old millrace, we built a