Part 4

The new comer, on preparing himself to start for the mines, first should know what he wants for his expedition. Many start lumbered with baggage, imagining that they cannot and must not forego the indispensable comforts of life. All baggage is a burden and heavy expense to the miner; the cost and sometimes the difficulty of transportation forbid any such commodities; and besides, it will always impede his free movement, if he should want to go from place to place. He should have absolutely nothing more than what he can carry on a beast, if he be able to have one; or if not, what he can shoulder himself. The less one brings to the mines, the better prospects of success he may have, and the more he is loaded with goods, the more probably he will lose. This is the secret why all hard working men who are inured to hard labor and strangers to enervating comforts, such as sailors and mechanics, generally do very well. The miner needs good, stout and warm clothing, just enough in quantity for a change for the sake of cleanliness--a pair of stout boots or shoes, or both, two good blankets to sleep comfortable, warm and dry; his mining tools consisting of a pick-axe, spade, spade, crowbar, a tin pan to wash gold in, a good sheath knife, iron spoon and a trowel. The pick-axe and crowbar should be of a convenient size for handling, and well steeled on the ends. A washing machine is used when there are two or more working in partnership. All the machines that have been brought here from the States are absolutely useless; they have proved profitable only to the venders there. The simple machine which here is in common use consists of three light boards three feet long and about ten inches high, put together in the shape of a cradle with two rockers underneath; the bottom board is made a little narrower; the sides on the upper edge from the middle backwards, are bevelled off two or three inches, and the same is done forwards so that the board, when looked upon from the side, presents an irregular hexagon; at the head part of the machine, on the upper edges of the boards, rests a box of boards, called a sieve or riddle, from three to five inches high, with a tin or sheet-iron perforated bottom; it is fixed, sometimes, in a manner to be taken out when necessary, sometimes on hinges to be thrown backwards when it is necessary to throw away the washed stones. The head part of the machine is well boarded; at the opposite extremity a board is likewise placed, the upper half of which is cut out in the shape of a cresent, leaving about three or four inches at the bottom of it; this opening serves for a passage of dirt, stones and water that are thrown in at the head into the sieve. It has also one or two bars or cleets across the bottom board at the distance of a foot each, and about three inches high. The perforations of the sieve or riddle are sometimes triangular, whose base and sides are about an inch, sometimes they are circular, of the diameter of about three-quarters of an inch. Under the riddle, in the interior of the machine, a board inclined diagonally and backwards is fixed, leaving however a sufficient space at the lower edge of it for the passage of the stones, dirt and water; it is called by the miners an apron or screen; the object of it is to throw back the water that it may cover the whole bottom equally and run an even current. In the bottom board, about the centre of it, there is a hole an inch in diameter, made back and close to the first and second cleet, if there be but two of them, which is well stopped and opened only when it becomes necessary to take out the residue, dirt and gold, to separate the latter from the former by washing it in a tin pan, which should be of the size of milk pans used in the States. The tin pans are to be got at San Francisco at from three to four dollars, or in the mines at the trading posts for the double amount. The machines can be got at these posts by paying from two to four ounces; but it is so easily made that any one himself can make it and save the money. If put together by means of screws rather than nails, it could be taken apart and conveniently carried about when necessary. The machine requires also a piece of strong wood of from two to three feet long, to be firmly fixed to both sides across the box to be used as a handle for rocking. To work these machines, in some places, as on the banks of rivers, two persons only are required; while in dry diggings where water and gold dirt are not so conveniently situated, it requires three or four persons to do the same work; one to work the machine, another to dip and throw water on it, a third to carry dirt, and the fourth to dig it; or two to dig and carry, and two to wash dirt. However, according to circumstances these partnerships are formed, it can only be said that there is no occasion for more than four persons in a company, and frequently three or two do better than four. For protection and occasional service that one may require from another, it is always better to be in partnership with a suitable person or persons: in messing, for instance, it is better to have several in a mess for the sake of occupying the same tent, and having less cooking to do, as in such cases this is done by turns. The small machines have thus far been the best machines in use, and under the circumstances of pressing necessities of miners, in which they had their origin, nothing better or more convenient could have been got up; but they cannot be said to be the result of a scientific investigation and extensive experience. Recently, a very great improvement has been introduced into the method of washing placer gold. This improvement is the “Burke Rocker,” as improved by Jackson, and which is now generally used in Virginia for washing gold in similar deposites to those of California; it is there no longer an experiment as it has been used in those mines for thirty years past, after an examination of all the processes for washing gold both in Europe and America. This rocker has been found to be perfectly applicable to the soil here, as two of them have been in a successful operation on Mormon Island for some time past under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Jackson himself. It is destined to effect great changes in the process of washing gold in this country, and particularly when the miner that now works independently and alone will find his labor very hard and not paying him sufficiently, since this machine being worked with mercury, saves the most minute particles of gold that escape the eye, and thus gives in aggregate a greater result than can be sometimes obtained by washing large pieces alone. It requires five persons only to work one of these rockers; their great excellence can be summed up in a very few words: by the use of one about four times the quantity of earth may be washed by each man daily, and probably from two-fifths to three-fifths more gold is obtained from any given quantity washed. They will be doubtless ere long used with great success in going over the field already washed by the present imperfect method; as the bars and banks of rivers and the earth in “dry diggings,” for certain it is that the amount of fine gold dust inevitably lost by the smaller machines is greater than all that is saved ordinarily.

This machine is a simple trough about nine feet long with a bottom made of cast iron plates perforated throughout, the size of the holes increasing gradually as they descend towards the lower end; beneath these plates there are draws in which mercury is put; the dirt, as the machine keeps rocking slowly, is carried along the plates by the water thrown from above by a pump and washed down, gold together with finer particles of dirt descend into the draws to be amalgamated with mercury. The produce of such a washing is then put into a retort to separate the gold from the mercury. In the process of separation of the former from the latter, about two per cent. only of mercury is lost. These two kinds of machines are the only ones which we can recommend from our own observation; they are well adapted for these mines at least, and they can be easily procured here. Numerous inventions for this purpose were brought from the States, and none of them answered the sanguine expectations of their owners; they are not worth here even the cost of the materials they are made of.

The provisions used by the miners consist of mess pork, bacon, hams, jerked beef, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, beans, rice and dried apples, fresh beef and mutton whenever they can get it, which is sometimes the case, and deer meat when they can kill it. As much as one can, for the sake of his health, he should abstain from using much salted provisions in the mines, and to counteract their bad effect on the system, it is advisable to use vegetable acids, like lemon juice, which in the mines is sold bottled up; citric acid, which is more easy to carry, or even tartaric acid, dried apples, and other dried fruit serve the same purpose. In using these acids it is better to use them with water alone without sugar; just making it acid enough to suit the individual taste. Dried apples made into apple sauce with sugar are agreeable to take, and are calculated to keep the bowels open, an important consideration for the miner. If one should be attacked with diarrhœa or dysentery of course he should abstain from them. One of the articles equally important as others we have not yet mentioned; we mean saleratus. In making camp bread it is necessary to use it to make the bread lighter. The prices at which provisions can be bought at present in San Francisco are the following:

Mess Pork, per bbl. $28.00 Bacon, per lb. 28 Hams, do. 35 Sausages, do. 40 Flour, per bbl. 12.00 Sugar, per lb. 15 Tea, do. 1.00 Coffee, do. 12 1-2 Chocolate, do. 40 Beans, per bu. 1.50 Rice, per lb. 10 Dried Apples, do. 25 Jerked Beef, do. 25 Lemon Juice, per bottle, 1,00 Salæratus, per lb. 1,00 Vinegar, per gal. 1,00

As the miner proceeds on his route and farther from San Francisco, he will find, as a general rule, that traders expect to make each a hundred per cent. profit upon the original price they paid. In this way it happens that in the remotest points of the mines he will have to pay three or even four hundred per cent. upon San Francisco prices. One of the chief reasons for this is the high charges for transportation of goods. However, competition has already effected some changes in these matters, and ere long may effect more. Notwithstanding these high prices, it may be sometimes more convenient for the miner to buy his provisions at the nearest point where he intends to work, or is working, than to carry them along with him all the way; here we cannot give him any advice as to what would be the best course; he must determine himself according to the circumstances he may be in, and the means he may command.

The last, although not of the least important articles for a miner, are arms. One need not be armed cap-a-pie in the mines, but a good rifle may be frequently useful to keep the evil minded at a respectable distance; or when in the woods, or far away in the mountains, an Indian may be in his way, or the grisly bear, and then a fire-arm may be sometimes necessary. Colt’s pistols are very convenient weapons. It is hardly necessary to say that he needs a few cooking utensils, with which he should be provided. A small hatchet may be equally necessary. In conclusion, we would say to the miner in one word, take no more with you than you absolutely need, that you may move lightly; as it may be sometimes necessary for you to go on foot. Thus equipped in all the necessaries, the miner will start on board of a lanch, where he has to pay from 14 to 16 dollars passage money, and if he have much baggage, from 2 to 3 dollars per hundred weight freight, bound to the city of Sacramento, or to Stockton, according to his fancy. He is to provide himself with provisions for the trip, which may last from three to seven or eight days. Taking the Mokelamy river as dividing the gold region into the northern and southern portion, the miner is to start accordingly--for the Sacramento city when he wishes to go northward, or for Stockton on the San Joaquin, if he go southward. It may be expected from us that we should give particular advice to the miner where it is best for him to go to dig. Now, it is impossible so to do conscienciously; the whole extent of the mining district is crowded with people, consequently for the very crowd, those spots that were good for a few, now are not so when there are many, as the subdivisions of the produce must be greater, and less must fall to the share of each. We may say in general terms, that farther south from the Touolomy to the San Joaquin, the diggers were not so numerous as elsewhere, consequently there is yet a better chance there than on other points. West of the Sacramento, some two hundred miles from the city of Sacramento, about the Trinity river, there are yet virgin ravines and streams, as very few have ventured so far.

On the Feather river and the Yuba, there were very good diggings; crowds of people, whites and Indians, have worked there for these two seasons; however, by going farther up these rivers some untouched spots may be found. We will remark here once for all, that the higher you go up the rivers the greater difficulties you will meet in getting over the ground, as they are more inaccessible; at the same time mules and horses are needed to carry you and your provisions, and you may also lack grass for your animals. But to know how far one may go up the rivers of the gold region, he must exercise his judgment, and he may depend on this fact, that there is no gold at the heads of these rivers, as we have examined them, and they all spring in the Sierra Nevada; as soon as you see the oak and red soil disappear from the hills surrounding them, you need not go beyond this line farther than from five to ten miles to convince yourself there is no gold there.

The Bear Creek was not very rich in the precious metal, and now may be less so as it has been worked. On these rivers people generally were making an ounce per day, some much more; but how long it may continue so we are not able to say. These rivers being accessible for a considerable distance to waggons, diggers crowded there, as provisions were cheaper there than anywhere else. These rivers have their forks, or in other words, tributaries of more or less importance. Below the mouth of these forks it is well to look for deposits of gold in the main streams. The Bear Creek has a tributary called the North Fork, in extent probably from forty to fifty miles. The Yuba has two forks on the north bank of some importance. The distance from the Bear Creek to the Yuba in some places hardly can be more than ten miles. The general course of the Bear Creek is West by North nearly; it meets the Feather river about ten miles below the Yuba, which likewise mingles its waters with the latter. The Feather river, which heads far at the North, taking almost a parallel course with the Sacramento, runs on in a South-Westerly direction, and having thus accumulated its waters is lost in the last mentioned majestic stream some distance below.

From the city of Sacramento, the miner has two routes before him, from which to select--he may start for the upper tributaries of the Sacramento, viz: for the town of Vernon, at the mouth of the Feather river, then up to the mouth of the Bear Creek, and farther up to the mouth of the Yuba, or to any of these points, direct from the city of Sacramento. Another route is for the American river, which has three tributaries, known as the North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork. Waggons go up to the North Fork for seventy miles. The Middle Fork is inaccessible to waggons--it empties itself into the North Fork about ten or twelve miles above the South Fork, and the latter joins the former at the distance of about thirty miles from Sacramento City. At this junction there is on the South Fork an island called Notoma, or more commonly Mormon island, from the fact that a company of Mormons were the first to dig here. The diggings have proved very good; one could average an ounce per day. There is a company of miners who dammed or rather turned the current of the river for a short space, and now are reaping abundant fruits of their labor; they are getting out from $1500 to $2,000 per week, working with mercury in the Virginia rocker. It is a trading post, where many traders are established; a stage from Sacramento City stops here on its way to Sutter’s Mill. Going to the Middle Fork one must pass the South Fork at the point where is now quite a settlement, known as Sutter’s Mill or Columa, a corruption, probably, of _Columba_. The distance from Sacramento City to this town is 45 miles of tolerably good waggon road. There is no lack of traders; there is a Saw-Mill and a Post-Office. From this point the miner has to start with pack-animals if he wish to go up any of the rivers. The points known on the Middle Fork where a good many miners have been engaged are the Spanish Bar, higher up Ford’s or Middle Bar, farther up the Big Bar, and still farther up Rector’s Bar; the first 15 miles distant from Columa, and the last about thirty miles. The hills bordering on all the streams in the gold region are difficult of descent generally speaking, and they are so at these points also. In our opinion, the South Fork, is or was one of the richest portions of the gold region, its dry diggings proved very profitable to almost all the miners that have been engaged in them. Every river has its dry diggings, as it means washing in the ravines neighboring upon rivers, and which have small streams that are sufficient to afford water for washing gold. The dry diggings on the right bank of the South Fork, known as Kelsey’s Diggings, and on the left as the Old Dry Diggings were very rich. Last winter a good many Oregon people built log houses in both of those diggings, and passed the winter digging, when the weather permitted; the fruits of their labor were abundant, and most of them have left their places with bags full of the precious pelf.--Although they have done their work pretty thoroughly, yet there may be some places found that may pay. The South Fork has a tributary known as Weber’s Creek, on which a good deal of gold has been dug out; it has a small settlement of log houses in the neighborhood of the settlement just spoken of, on the left bank of the Fork. The distance from these trading posts to Sutter’s Mill is about twelve miles. There is a direct waggon road from Sacramento City to these diggings.

To go from Sacramento City to the Mokelamy, the miner has to pass the Consumnes at Dailor’s farm, about eighteen miles from the above place, and then farther south, the Dry Creek, from which the first trading post at the Mokelamy diggings may be about 30 miles distant. The Mokelamy diggings are distant from Sacramento City about from 50 to 60 miles--a waggon road leads to them. The Consumnes has not been dug much, but the Dry Creek had a very good reputation among the miners. The banks and dry diggings of the Mokelamy have been rich in gold, and may be so still; some diggers passed last winter there, and were not sorry for so doing. This summer there have been many digging, but their labors have been disturbed by hostile Indians. We think there may be yet rich diggings there.

Supposing our miner to have arrived at Stockton and he proposes to go to the Mokelamy, he would have to cross the Calaveras at the distance of about 15 miles, and strike the Mokelamy diggings 70 miles distant from the above mentioned town. If he should like to go South, he would find diggings on the Stanislaus, about 40 miles distant from Stockton; then he might pass on to those of the Touolomy, 20 miles distant from the latter, and farther on he would meet at the distance of 30 miles with those of the stream _La Merced_, then at the distance of about 20 miles he would come to the stream _Mariposa_. In a direct line from Stockton to the Mariposa it may be from 80 to 90 miles. Throughout the gold region waggon tracks and trails are well worn out at present; at convenient distances on the roads, there are trading posts established where can be had water and pasture for animals, and where one can stop. At Sacramento City or Stockton teamsters are to be found who know all those routes, and take up miners’ baggage to any place they like, if it be accessible to waggons. It would be impossible to describe the routes particularly, considering that they go mostly through an uninhabited country; the only sure way to learn the direction of the place one intends going to, is to enquire at the place he starts from. We can do here no more than give general directions on the subject. In the Southern portion of the mining district, Indians are somewhat numerous, and it is well to be on one’s guard, as they, if they do no other harm, are apt to steal your horses. There is a difficulty in keeping horses throughout the mining district, on account of the trouble of taking care of them, or of the danger of losing them, and which difficulty increases as the season advances, for then grass grows scanty. In the neighborhood of nearly all the diggings there are men who make it their business to take charge of miners’ animals, at the rate of from twenty to thirty dollars per month. Whatever may be the trouble of keeping a horse in the mines, yet it is a great convenience, as one is enabled to move about freely whenever he wants. The prices of horses and mules in the city of Sacramento and Stockton and throughout the mines, are fluctuating; they are according to season, demand and supply of the animals. In the commencement of the spring, when miners were starting for the hills, horses were selling at from two to three hundred dollars apiece; towards the fall, good horses could be got for one hundred and fifty, and mules from fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars; however, next season we believe the animals will be cheaper than the last, as there has been a large number of them introduced by the immigrants from the States and from Mexico. The rate of transportation by waggons varies, of course, according to distances; but it ranges from twelve to twenty, and sometimes even thirty dollars per hundred weight. The season and quantity of teamsters regulate these matters somewhat. In hireing a man to drive a team, one must pay him from two to three hundred dollars per month, as every one expects that in whatever business he engages, his chances to make money should be as good as those of the miner, and that is the principal reason why wages of all kinds are so high in this country; but they are beginning to come down a little. Sometimes it is necessary to pay a man for his day’s work an ounce _per diem_.

Now, we will suppose an inexperienced miner is arrived at the place of his selection in the mining district; we will suppose him also to have started for the mines in company with one who has had already some experience in the handling of the pick-axe, shovel and pan; for he must have a week or so of apprenticeship in order to be _au fait_ with the practical part of the business.