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

by Charles Warren Haskins

By the way, passing through the Cœur d’Alene mining region the remains of an old road can be seen that was built by the Government some time in ’61 or ’62 for the purpose of opening a communication for the transportation of troops and stores between the Pacific Coast and the East. This road was built from Walla-Walla, in Washington Territory, to Fort Benton, Montana. Many of the old bridges, or rather the ruins of them, can yet be seen, and are very numerous, for upon one portion of the Cœur d’Alene River, from the town of Wallace to the town of Mullan, a distance of nine miles, the river has to be crossed, I think, fourteen times. The builder of this road, Mr. John Mullan, is at the present time a

resident of the city of Washington, D. C., and engaged in the practice of law.

Another phenomenon I noticed here was the new style of coasting (at least to me) practiced by the girls and boys during the moonlight evenings, their sleds consisting simply of deer skins. These would be spread out upon the snow with the hair side down. At the starting point, at the top of a steep hill, sitting down upon the skin, the sides and ends would be drawn up as snug as possible, and when a number were ready the signal would be given, and being assisted in the start by the boys, away they go without regard to order or method. The fun in this style of coasting does not consist so much in seeing who will reach the foot of the hill first, but if they can descend and retain their sitting posture, which is almost impossible, for the contact with each other in their descent causes them to roll over and over, for the hands are occupied in holding fast the ends of the deer skins, and to roll is easy. Of course the scene at the foot of the hill, where the boys and girls all finally meet upon one common level, and badly mixed, is where the fun comes in.

CHAPTER XXI.

Their Names Unknown—The Types of Men in the Mines—Pike’s 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.

DURING a lull in the conversation about this time, it was mentioned by an old miner as a singular circumstance, that although the old-timers present had been acquainted with each other for nearly forty years, he would bet his old blind mule, that was hitched to the fence outside, “agin a chew of tobacco,” they couldn’t tell the names of one another, which was found upon trial to be the case.

“Well, boys,” said Yank, “in old times we didn’t ask the name of a man; but whar are you from was the main question, the information to be desired, and many had become so accustomed to satisfying their curiosity upon this point that in course of time it was possible to tell with some certainty what State a man was from by his general appearance. For in those early times, when the various States were more thinly settled than at present, the individuals of each State possessed some peculiarity of form, feature, or, their pronunciation of certain words, by which they could be distinguished, that is, by any one who took the trouble to study the differences between them. For instance, an acquaintance of mine in early days who had from curiosity studied the peculiarities of the emigrants from the various States, said that he could tell, as soon as he laid his eyes upon a new comer, what State the latter was from.

“There” said he, “do you see them chaps a-digging that tail race by the foot of the hill? Well, they are from away down East, the State of Maine. See, they are large, heavy framed, tall and awkward in their movements, and when they walk their long arms swing about like the arms of a windmill. Notice how angular their bodies are. That is caused by friction in circulating about among the granite boulders of their native State. The Vermonters are tall, like their neighbors, but of better build. Now down yonder beyond the bridge you notice a number of men at work. Well that first gang is from Massachusetts, and the gang below them comes from Connecticut. Now, you see, although they are all New Englanders, yet they differ very much from the boys of Maine. They are, as a general rule, of shorter stature, with short arms, and more compactly built. But although the boys from the New England States differ very much in their general appearance, yet there is one trait peculiar to them, by which, as a general rule they can be distinguished from the boys of many of the other States, I mean of course here in the mining regions, and that is they are industrious, and are little inclined to waste their time in loafing around among the saloons and gambling houses.