The opinion among the troops, however, was general, to the effect that the Indian department suffered terribly, and that large numbers of them had passed over to the happy hunting ground, and were, probably, already engaged in chasing grasshoppers in the spirit land; but after the smoke of battle had been drifted through and the ground sluiced away, but one old squaw, with her papoose, were found in a ditch asleep.
The Grand Army of the Sierras captured all that was to be found in the deserted Indian camp, the spoils consisting of an old pack saddle, a jack knife with two blades, and one woolen shirt. These were taken into town, and, under orders from the Government, sold at auction to the highest bidder, the proceeds going into the Treasury and thrown in among the surplus.
This terrible and devastating uprising was thus squelched, and the Indians said they would do so no more, and they never did. The great conflict which was participated in and decided by the valor of undisciplined Irregulars, not only saved the entire country from utter destruction, but, in addition, demonstrated the fact to the interest of all concerned in mining, that the black sand which had heretofore been thrown aside as valueless was in reality worth $1 per pound, avoirdupois, in the following manner:
Powder for the grand army being scarce, an enterprising and shrewd storekeeper in the town, who furnished certain supplies, substituted kegs of the aforementioned sand in its place, and it was said that in consequence of the great similarity of appearance, neither the grand army, the Indians, nor Uncle Sam, ever knew the difference.
For further particulars and details please refer to the history of the great conflict, as I do not wish to trespass too much upon such incidents as are matters of historical record.
I desire, however, to mention a few facts in relation to this race of Indians, for, in my opinion and judging from appearances, they are very probably the ancestors of the great Mongolian race, and that the latter descended from them. Of course, this was some time ago, and it may be possible that it is just the other way, although it matters not which party made the descent first, or which did the degenerating part of the business. That the Indians have retained the old original dialect, however, is an evidence of a very close relationship, which the most skeptical must acknowledge.
Previous to the great battle which decided the destiny of the race and the safety of the country, and when the grand old eagle, with prophetic eye soared from aloft and, sailing majestically across the rocky cañon, flapped its wings with joy from the top of the great American banner suspended from a pile of sage brush, the Colonel in command had dispatched an officer, in full regimentals, to demand the immediate surrender of all goods and chattels which were contraband of war. This meant, of course, all squaws and papooses which were in arms. The reply told the tale of their descent at once.
“You Melican man heap allee samee fool. You no foolee me muchee. You sabe squaw? You no takee, you wantee. You come catche.”
The officer explained that his object was only to cover them with the old flag to protect them from the cold weather, as there was every indication of rain.
Quite a change in social conditions was now taking place. Balls and dances were more frequent, and the mining regions began to assume the appearance of civilized communities. To our Eastern friends it was of course a conundrum how women could live with safety here in the mines of California, in the midst of such a crowd of cow boys and frontier desperadoes. It did seem rather strange, but the reason why women could not only reside here in perfect safety, but could travel about the country free from insult and molestation as well, I will give an illustration of: