so it is pleasant to remember occasions when our local world seemed revolving in an intoxicating atmosphere of self-praise and mutual admiration. For the encouragement of these agreeable sentiments, admission day continues to be celebrated in California, and is by statute a legal holiday.

The Spanish-sired young state, like a Sabine maiden, had been wrested from her kindred, and forcibly wedded with a greater people. She had protested in vain, and consented with reluctance; yet she had con

48

music, an oration by Judge Bennett, and an original ode by Mrs Wills of Louisiana. See S. F. Picayune, Oct. 19, 30, and 31, 1850; S. F. Pac. News, Oct. 21, 28, 29, and 30, 1850; S. F. Herald, Oct. 19, 25, 28, and 31, 1850; S. F. Courier, Oct. 31, 1850; S. F. Bulletin, Sept. 8, 1875; Sonoma Democrat, Sept. 14, 1878; Napa Register, Sept. 21, 1878; S. F. Post, Sept. 9, 1878; Petaluma Argus, Oct. 5, 1877; 8. F. Call, Sept. 9 and 10, 1870; Sac. Union, Sept. 13, 1871; Pac. Rural Press, Sept. 20, 1879; Oakland Transcript, Sept. 9, 1877; Visalia Delta, Sept. 11, 1875. Jacks, of S. F., manufactured a medal which was designed to commemorate the admission of the state, and to compliment her friend, the statesman of Ky. It was 2 inches in diameter, weighing over 2 ounces. On the upper edge was engraved, 'California, admitted Sept. 9, 1850;' on the lower edge, 'City of San Francisco, October 29, 1850.' Within the circle was inscribed, 'Presented to Henry Clay by Jacks and brothers.' On the reverse was a raised rim like a wreath, composed of small gold specimens from Bear, Yuba, and Feather rivers, and from the Los Angeles Mining Co.'s veins. Inside the wreath were 30 small stars, with a large star in the centre, on which stood a piece of white gold quartz of the size and shape of an acorn. S. F. Cal. Courier, Jan. 25, 1851; Sac. Transcript, Feb. 1, 1851.

48 In Feb. 1850, the people of Los Angeles, alarmed at the action of the legislature in taxing land, held a mass meeting to propose some method of escape from the impending evil. They wished not to have to pay the 'enormous expense of a state govt; and complained that the legislature favored the more thickly populated north, disregarding the interests of the thinly populated south. This was unavoidable, as the public domain could not be taxed, and the lands covered by Spanish grants only could. The Los Angeles people said they feared ruin; and proposed to petition congress to form a territory to be called Central California, embracing the country from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. An address to congress was finally adopted, declaring that they had not had time to become acquainted with American institutions when they joined in forming a state constitution. They believed a territorial govt the most suitable. Ruinous taxes would have to be levied to support the state. They could not believe congress would admit Cal. as a state. It was too large, and the interest too diverse. They would have a separation and a territorial govt. It was signed by Manuel Requena, prest, Enrique Dalton and Agustin Olvera, secs. Val., Doc., MS., xiii. 39; Hayes' Scraps, Angeles, i. 5, 12, 29-30; Sta Bárbara Arch., MS., viii. 229-30, 233; Costa Coll., 25-36. On the 9th of May, 1850, Foote produced in the U. S. senate a letter addressed to him by Agostin Harazthy, of San Diego, enclos ing the address of the Los Angeles meeting. The Santa Bárbara and San Luis Obispo people were opposed to the memorial. Foote moved to have the documents printed, but objections being made, they were not received. Cong. Globe, 1849-50, 967.

49

sented, and now joined in the rejoicings. Henceforth her destiny was one with the superior race. At the union the world looked on amazed.50 The house she entered was divided against itself on her account. But under all these embarrassments she conducted herself with dignity, doing her best to preserve the honor and unity of the nation, and contributing of her treasures as required of her with a liberal hand. Thrice blessed California! Blessed in giving rather than in receiving; for of all the many mighty states of this American confederation, she has given more and received proportionately less than any one of them.

49 An address 'a los Californias,' urging them to celebrate, was printed in Spanish, and circulated among the native population.

50 The London Times, commenting on the admission celebration at S. F., said: Forgetting for a moment the decorative features of this exhibition, let the reader consider the extraordinary character of the facts it symbolized. Here was a community of some hundreds of thousands of souls collected from all quarters of the known world-Polynesians and Peruvians, Englishmen and Mexicans, Germans and New Englanders, Spaniards and Chinese-all organized under old Saxon institutions, and actually marching under the conmand of a mayor and alderman. Nor was this all, for the extemporized state had demanded and obtained its admission into the most powerful federation in the world, and was recognized as a part of the American union. A third of the time which has been consumed in erecting our house of parliament has here sufficed to create a state with a territory as large as Great Britain, a population difficult to number, and destinies which none can foresee.'

CHAPTER XIV.

UNFOLDING OF MINERAL WEALTH.

1848-1856.

EXTENT OF GOLD REGION IN 1848-9-AMERICAN RIVER THE CENTRE-EL DORADO COUNTY-SOUTH FORK AND SOUTHWARD-MIDDLE BRANCHPLACER, NEVADA, YUBA, SIERRA, PLUMAS, BUTTE, AND SHASTA COUNTIES -TRINITY AND KLAMATH — GOLD BLUFF EXCITEMENT, 1850–1 —DEL NORTE, HUMBOLDT, AND SISKIYOU-IN THE SOUTH-AMADOR, CALAVERAS, AND TUOLUMNE-TABLE MOUNTAIN-MARIPOSA, KERN, SAN BERNARDINO-LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO-ALONG THE OCEAN.

DURING the year 1848 the gold region of California was explored and worked from Coloma to the Tuolumne in the south, and to Feather River in the north, with a slight inroad upon the country beyond and westward to the Trinity. It might have been expected that observations would have extended farther in the south, since this was in a measure the pathway from Sonora and southern California; but hostile Indians, and the distribution of gold in patches and less regular streaks in dry ground, tended to discourage the casual prospector. In the north, on the other hand, every bar could be counted upon to contain sufficient color for remuneration or guidance, with greater indication of finding in this quarter the supposed mother beds. The inflowing hordes of 18491 and subsequent years followed the paths so far opened, and passed onward to the poorer districts beyond the

1 There must have been 10,000 or 12,000 people waiting in August for passage from S. F. to the mines, for small vessels were scarce. Connor's Stat., MS., 2; Crosby's Events in Cal., MS., 14. It was a repetition of the scenes en route given in the chapters for 1848.

Merced, and into the more attractive north-west, beyond the borders of Oregon and into Nevada.

The attention of new-comers continued throughout these early years to be directed toward the American River, as the chief centre and distributing point for mining movements. It was famed moreover for Marshall's discovery, and for a well-sustained production, not merely from placers along the crowded river-beds and intermediate uplands, but from the auriferous rock belt some thirty miles in breadth, which opened prospects for even greater operations. Coloma, the starting-point for the world-wide excitement, reaped benefit in becoming for a time a flourishing county seat, the head in 1848 of numerous mining camps, especially along the line to Mormon Island,, which multiplied further in the following years, with Michigan flat and Salmon Falls as the most prominent.* Improved methods, and such enterprises as fluming the river, in the summer of 1849, increased the yield and sustained the mining interest for years." the divide southward a still greater development took place, along Webber Creek, notably at the old

On

2 Coloma claimed the first ditch, in this region, the El Dorado, six miles long, for bringing water to her placer field. Here was placed the first ferry on the South Fork, and the first bridge in the county, to attest the popu larity of the spot. Later, fruit-raising arrested total decline.

3 Dutch Bar, Kanaka, Red, Stony, Ledge, Missouri, Michigan, and other bars. Negro Hill, opposite Mormon Island, so named after subsequent negro Lainers of 1849, had in 1853 over 1,000 inhabitants. Uniontown, first called Marshall, was the centre for the miners on Granite and Shingle creeks, with Poague's bridge and the second saw-mill in the county.

The former composed of Red Hill, Coyote Diggings, and Rich Gulch; the latter, beginning with Higgins' Point, was laid out as a town in 1853, and attained at one time a population of 3,000, sustained by tributary camps like Pinchemtight, Jayhawk, Green Springs, and McDowell Hill. In the summer of 1849 the Mormon Island Mining Assoc. undertook to turn the course of the South Fork, for the purpose of mining in its bed. Farther down another company was prepared for a similar task. Shares sold at $5,000. Alta Cal., Aug. 2, 1849; Placer Times, Apr. 28, June 19, Sept. 22, 1847; Brooks, Four Mo., 51, was there in June. In 1850 a 'green' hand took out $19,000 in three days, and three pounds of dust one afternoon. Sac. Transcript, Aug. 30, 1850. In Oct. 1850 there were 1,500 miners at Mormon Island making more money than ever. Id., Oct. 14, 1850; Jan. 14, 1851; Pac. News, May 27, etc., 1850; Crosby's Events, MS., 16-17.

5 The mines were never yielding better,' writes one to the S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 10, 1855, of the Coloma region.

See previous chapter on mines of 1848. Iowaville and Dogtown, later Newtown, were among the camps of 1849. Sac. Transcript, Apr. 25, 1850, etc.

AMERICAN RIVER.

8

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dry diggings, which after 1848 acquired the name of Hangtown, subsequently Placerville, the county seat. Below sprang up Diamond Springs and Mud Springs, each in a rich district, and along the northern line of the Cosumnes rose a series of less important bars, surpassed in wealth by several diggings on the divides between the forks. The adjoining Sacramento county came in for a minor share in the gold sand of both the American and Cosumnes, which was collected at a number of camps; 10 and along the border ran a quartz belt half a dozen miles in width, which was slowly opening. Eastward El Dorado miners had penetrated as early as 1850 into Carson Valley."

upper

North of the American South Fork, Kelsey and Pilot Hill formed the rival centres of two important groups of mines,12 and above them Greenwood and

In 1854 it polled the third largest vote in the state. The diggings continued rich all around for years, and were several times rewashed. Cal. Courier, Oct. 18, 1850; Pac. News, id.; Sac. Transcript, Apr. 26, Oct. 14, 1850, etc.

The latter renamed El Dorado. Diamond Springs competed in 1854 for the county seat. Cold Springs, above Placerville, attained at one time to 2,000 inhab. Shingle sustained itself.

As Grizzly Flat and Indian Diggings of 1850, the latter, near Mendon, having for a time, in 1855, a population of 1,500. Among the bars were Big, Bucks, Pittsburgh, and Nashville. Quartz excitements were rife in this region at the close of 1850. Pac. News, Oct. 18, 1850; Sac. Transcript, Nov. 29, 1850; Placerville Repub., June 27, 1876, gives a history of Grizzly Flat, and contributes in other numbers to different local reminiscences.

10 Below the well-known Mormon Island lay Negro Bar with 700 people in 1851; Alabama Bar, Big Gulch, later Ashland; Prairie City, the centre for several interior diggings, with a tributary popul. in 1854 of 1,000, quartz-mills near by in 1855; Texas Hill; the rich Beam Bar of 1849. The branches and extensions of several ditches reached this region in 1851-5, as did others along the Cosumnes, including Knightsomer's ditch, possessing since 1851 the oldest water right on this river. In 1855 there were 4 ditches in the county, 29 miles in length, which by 1860 increased to 11 ditches of 135 miles. Along the lower Cosumnes lay Michigan and Cook bars of 1849, the former with over 1,000 inhab. at one time. Katesville and Sebastopol rose later. other details, see Hist. Sacramento Co., 214-29, and references of later notes. 11 Pac. News, Aug. 21, Oct. 10, 1850; Cal. Courier, July 15, 1850. See Hist. Nevada, this series.

For

12 The former at one time having extensive business tributaries in Louisville, Columbia, Irish Creek, American Flat, Fleatown, Elizaville, Yankee, Chicken, Stag, Barley, and Union flats. Spanish Flat was named after Spanish diggers of 1849, when Mosquito Valley also claimed prominence with two camps. At Pilot Hill, later Centreville, discovered late in 1849, 32 miners wintered; yield $8 to $60 daily per man; many small nuggets. Id., Apr. 26, 1859; S. F. Picayune, Dec. 21, 1850; Connor's Stat., MS., 2.

HIST. CAL., VOL. VI. 23