The Argonauts of California: being the reminiscenses of scenes and incidents that occurred in California in the early mining days

by Charles Warren Haskins

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[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.]
[CONTENTS.]
[NAMES OF PIONEERS.]
[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE]

THE ARGONAUTS
OF CALIFORNIA

BEING THE REMINISCENCES
OF SCENES AND INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED IN
CALIFORNIA IN EARLY MINING DAYS
BY
A PIONEER

And believing that it will be of some historical value as well
as of interest generally to know the names of those who
were the first to venture forth in the search of gold, and
by whose energy and labor the foundations of a great state
were laid, and also a general prosperity created throughout
the entire country, I have therefore prefixed to the
work the names of those that I have been able to obtain,
numbering about 35,000, and including among them the
names of several thousand who are now living in the
various States of the Union.

TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN FROM LIFE
BY C. W. HASKINS.
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY
FORDS, HOWARD & HULBERT
NEW YORK
1890
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
C. W. HASKINS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.
R. Pierce & Co., Printers, 53 Lafayette Place, N. Y.
TO THE
SURVIVING MEMBERS OF THE
ADVANCE GUARD
OF GOLD HUNTERS,
THE CALIFORNIA PIONEERS
AND THEIR DESCENDANTS,
WHO ARE NOW LIVING THROUGHOUT THE
UNITED STATES,
THIS BOOK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE
AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

While residing in the village of Kingston, located upon the Cœur D’Alene River in the silver mining regions of northern Idaho during the winter of ’87-’88, and being compelled to remain within doors during the winter in consequence of the great depth of snow and intense cold, in order to pass away the time I amused myself by writing an account of scenes and incidents that occurred in California in early days in the mining regions, and which came under my observation. These events are written entirely from memory, but I have endeavored to give as near as possible the correct date of the events and incidents mentioned, as well as their location and names with all of which I was familiar. As to the the correct description of scenes and events, I ask the remnant of that band of sturdy Argonauts who laid the foundation of a great State to bear me witness.

C. W. Haskins.

Index to the Names of the Forty-niners.

Members of the various Pioneer Associations in the U. S. who are now living,	Page	[360]
Forty-niners residing in various parts of the Union who do not belong to any Association,	“	[385]
Survivors of Col. Stevenson’s Regiment,	“	[394]
Forty-niners now living in the Atlantic States,	“	[395]
Forty-niners who went over-land to California,	“	[395]
Forty-niners who sailed from City of N. Y.,	“	[414]
Forty-niners who sailed from the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut,	“	[453]
Forty-niners who sailed from New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other Southern ports,	“	[476]
From various Eastern ports,	“	[495]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

• Frontispiece.
  “Hello, Bill!”
  The Start for California.
  Brazilian Music.
  The Swell at Cape Horn.
  An Able Seaman.
  Forty-niners at the Hotel in Lima.
  The Operatic Shark.
  The Prolific Topmast.
  The Calm.
  Neptune’s Orchestra.
  The Bullwhacker.
  “Ye Done it Weel.”
  The Dandy Miners.
  Smoked Out.
  The Frisky Flapjack.
  Hangtown in ’49.
  “None in Mine.”
  The Industrious Prospectors.
  “I Shust Nose It!”
  Bulling the Mine.
  “Ther, Ther, T, other One.”
  The Ducks Take Water.
  Dutch Charley.
  Dan Boone and the Bear.
  The First Rat in Hangtown.
  Rats in Sacramento City.
  The First Young Lady in the Mines.
  The Spartan Mother.
  The Boys Aloft.
  Emigration of ’50.
  The Howly Fragment.
  The Argonaut and His Mule.
  The Steamboat Runners.
  The Miners’ Meeting.
  On His Trail.
  “I’v Shtruck it, Thin.”
  The Sailor Boy.
  The Chap Who Insulted a Lady.
  The Claim Jumper.
  The Art of Self-defense.
  Didn’t Believe in Compromise.
  The Disgusted Speculator.
  “Write Often, Boys.”
  The Jack Tars on the Hill.
  The Geological Lecture.
  Old Nick’s Grand Entrée.
  A California Cyclone.
  Only Two Days in the Mines.
  A Simile.
  Female Influence Illustrated.
  Not Ready to Go.
  The Voice of Old Dick.
  Big George and the Road Agent.
  “There She Comes, Boys!”
  Miners’ Comfort.
  “Dis am a Free Kentry, Massa.”
  Coasting in Idaho.
  Law and Order Triumph’s.
  Charley, the Female Stage Driver.
  Hank Monk in Time for Lunch.
  The Picket Guard.
  The Gambler’s Charity.
  The Road Agent Outwitted.
  From Fry-pan to the Fire.
  A Newcomer.
  Force of Habit.
  The Deserted Camp.
  Syd’s Last Prospect.
  Skunked.
  Ruined Castles.
  Meeting of the Old-timers.
  An Unexpected Festival.
  The Gold-saving Machine.
  Tex Gives Satisfaction.
  Not Raising Mutiny but Sugar.
  It’l Be Our Turn Next.
  Bob the Fiddler.
  The Power of Music.
  Old-timers in the Hall.
  Phantoms of the Old timers.
  Sam Plunket and the Indians.
  The Bear in a Quandary.
  The Power of Beauty.
  The Bean-pot Comet.
  Dick Arnold to the Rescue.
  The Brave Policeman.
  A New Motor.
  The Plum-duff.
  Donkey Instinct.
  Tex and the Alcalde.$1’49 Mosquitoes.
  The Bear and the Prospector.
  Sharpshooters.
  Discovery of the Old River Beds.
  Lost in the Mountains.
  Nature’s Lullaby.
  Discovery of Red Hill Gold.
  Bob Lost a Fortune.
  The Surprise.
  Curiosity Satisfied.
  Mining Ground Transformed.
  “Is it Me Agint?”
  “No More Frontier in Ourn!”
  Not that Kind of Bird.
  The Tarantula in the Boot.
  The Boston Boy and His Bugle.
  Found His Brother.
  Kanakas at Work.
  The Flight of Time.
  The Miller Taking Toll.
  Yank Revisiting Old Scenes.
  Coasting in Idaho.
  Town of Wallace.
  A Flush Hand.
  The Mississippians.
  The Return East.
  “Good Morning, William.”
  

CONTENTS.

[CHAPTER I]—The News. Looking Forward. The Start

[CHAPTER II]—Arrival at St. Catherina. American Pluck. The Four Brave Tourists

[CHAPTER III]—A Gale. The Ocean Swell. Cape Horn. The Magellan Cloud. The Native Tradition

[CHAPTER IV]—Arrival in Callao. The Relics of the Earthquake. The Frolic with the English Officers. Target Shooting. The Calm. Water Spouts. The Shark

[CHAPTER V]—The Arrival in San Francisco. Gold Machines. Going to the Mines. The Bullwhacker. Arrival in Hangtown. The View from the Hill

[CHAPTER VI]—Business in the Mines. The Various Mining Camps. Physicians in Camp. Dr. Rankin. Coloma. Process of Mining. The ’49 Emigration. Sauerkraut. Female Influence Illustrated

[CHAPTER VII]—The Kanakas. The Dry Diggings Deserted. Admission of the State. Scarcity of Reading Matter. The Cost of Letter Postage. The Ingenious Bartender. Prices of Drinks. Celebrating the Fourth of July. Hard Characters

[CHAPTER VIII]—Climatic Changes. Appearance of Familiar Herbs. Rats. The true Theory. Fall Emigration. The Johnson Cut Off. The Target. The First Young Lady. A Spartan Mother. The Boys Up a Tree

[CHAPTER IX]—Sickness in the Mines. Earthquakes. The Steamboat Men. A Miners’ Meeting. Lucky Bill. Kit Carson. The Financial Condition of the Miners. Australian Mike and His Tin Can. Portuguese Jo. The Divining-rod

[CHAPTER X]—Where the Rich Placers were Found. Miners’ Superstition. The Blue Clay Deposit. Gold Machines

[CHAPTER XI]—The Indian War. A Change in the Social Conditions. The Desperado. The Sailors. The Mines Worked Out

[CHAPTER XII]—Mining Speculators. The Lost Brother. Gambling. A Generous Gambler. An Important Discovery. Beginning of Fruit Culture and Wine Manufacture in California. The First Church Organization in the Mining Regions. “Old Nick” and His Animals. “Old Syd.”

[CHAPTER XIII]—Emigration of$1’51. Churches Erected. Mines Deserted. The Chinese Miners. Hill, River and Quartz Mining. Nature Frowns. The Course of Events Change. Fruit Raising. Prospecting. On the Homestretch

[CHAPTER XIV]—The Discovery of Silver in Nevada. The Stage Road. Hank Monk. Road Agents. The Parson. The Stool Pigeon. Spirits. The Boys Who Captured the Thief. A Young Dick Turpin. The Irishman and the Road Agent

[CHAPTER XV]—Where are the Pioneers? The Overland Stage. Pony Express. The Sound of War. A Wet Winter. The Hotel on the Road. The Railroad

[CHAPTER XVI]—The Forty-niner. Syd at the North Pole. The Homes of the Old-timers. The Remains of the Cabins of the Forty-niners. Panning out the Old Cabins

[CHAPTER XVII]—Meeting of the Old Timers. The Buckeye Tunnel. The Best as It is. Bozer Who Got Skunked. The Hydraulic Miner. Mike’s Explanation

[CHAPTER XVIII]—Why are so Many of the Old-timers so Poor? The Uncertainty of Mining. Tex and Barton Lee. Tex and the Hound. Tex on Board the Steamer. Tex at Golgona

[CHAPTER XIX]—Tennessee’s Letter from Tex. The War in Chili Gulch. Sam Brown and the Chap with the Mild Blue Eyes. Sam Brown and the Policeman. Old Kentuck and Sleepy Ben

[CHAPTER XX]—Yank Visits the Old Mining Camp. Yank Seated Upon the Boulder. The First Loaf of Bread. The Bean-pot Comet. How Julius Sailed Up the River. Jeff’s Plum Duff. The Stone Statue. The Old Miner Who was Robbed on Board the Steamer. The Cœur d’Alene Mines. Coasting

[CHAPTER XXI]—Their Names Unknown. The Types of Men in the Mines. Pike Illustration of Missouri Character. Bob the Fiddler. The Power of Music Illustrated. John Kelley the Musician. Joe Bowers. Jeff Visits Pioneer Hall. Old Miners in San Francisco

[CHAPTER XXII]—Pioneer Hall. Old Mike Explains. Something Wrong. The Business of Mining. Mike’s Philosophy. Yank at the Bay. The Expressman and the Broom Pedler. Lucky Bill and the Gamblers. Sam Plunket the Arkansas Beauty

[CHAPTER XXIII]—Bill Burnes Lynching the Colored Man. Dick Arnold. The Mining Regions. The Old-timers Disperse. The Phantoms of the Forty-niners. Forty Years have Passed. The Argonaut’s Soliloquy. The Great Changes. The Flight of Time. The Number of Pioneers Now Living

[CHAPTER XXIV]—“Good Morning, William.” The Return. Great Changes