Soon after the arrival of the fall emigration of ’50, a very pretty young married woman, wife of a Mr. Herrick, the hotel-keeper, could frequently be seen riding a pony around among the hills. On one occasion she was met upon the road a few miles from town by one of this class of men who offered her an insult. She was not long in reaching town and reporting the fact, and almost as quickly as I have stated it he had a rope around his neck, while the other end was thrown over the limb of a tree, but upon promising faithfully that he would never do such a thing again, or never insult another woman in California, he was allowed to depart. An insult to a woman was by these rough miners considered a worse crime than robbery or murder, and punished accordingly, and for this reason a woman could travel alone and unattended anywhere among the mining regions in the early days.
The presence of woman not only illustrated the influence of changed social conditions, but also the effect upon civilization in general; for previous to her coming, as I have before mentioned, there was among all, or at least the greater portion, a total disregard for appearances, and a visit to the miner’s cabin would show that his mode of life and household arrangements were sadly in need of repair. Under woman’s influence, the old cabin was put into proper shape; a washboard and tub stand by the door; the dishes are regularly washed and arranged carefully upon the shelf, and the yard in front of the house has been cleared of old hats, boots and either rubbish—showing by the changed appearance of the old castle and its surroundings the effect of this magical influence, tending toward higher conditions of civilization.
You see yonder a large cabin; it has recently undergone a complete transformation. You observe that a new addition has been put on for the convenience of cooking arrangements; in front of the house, which was formerly littered with tin cans and piles of rubbish, all is now smooth and clean. A pretty fence now surrounds the house, and if you approach closer you will observe a sweet-pea vine and a morning-glory running up around the window, fastened with pieces of cotton twine, and in the corners of the yard, and along by the fence, you will also notice growing bushes of certain varieties of roses.
The door opens and thence comes the pilgrim chap. But he does not look like the same boy at all. Can it be he? That “biled shirt” and those store clothes and shining boots have changed him somewhat in appearance. But why this change? What is the matter with him, you ask. Walk with me towards the house. Do you hear that strange sound? ’Tis not the wail of a hyena or of a catamount from yonder mountain, but the wail of an infant in the direction of the house. That is what’s the matter. That rocking motion you hear is not made by a miner’s cradle, but the other kind, and in it is a very valuable nugget, a ten-pounder that the pilgrim has just struck, and 24 carets fine. And now don’t you think that it is the presence of woman that tends to elevate mankind, or you old forty-niners in particular, to higher conditions of civilization?
“I reckon,” say each and all of us.
The desperadoes and border ruffians from Texas and Missouri were now quite numerous. Many robberies were committed and some shooting participated in occasionally. There were also many of this class inclined to jump claims, when it was possible to do so without danger, and, as one of them expressed it who had jumped a claim belonging to a young man who had just gone to his cabin for
