D——N WASHOE.
Many men who were in the country during the summer and fall, left for California before winter set in, some with the intention of returning and others cursing the country. These last were men who had for years been working in the placer-mines of California and who had rushed over the mountains to Washoe as soon as news reached them of the great wages being taken out with rockers. They supposed there were extensive placer-mines in the new region. When they found none but such as had already been gutted by the Johntowners and the Chinese who had worked about the mouth of Gold Cañon, they wanted nothing more to do with the country. They had no taste for working quartz veins or for deep mining of any kind. They lingered in the country till toward fall, hunting for rich pockets in veins of quartz that appeared to be gold-bearing, then rose up and in a flock crossed the Sierras to the more congenial hills,[hills,] flats, and gulches of the “Golden State.”
Many persons, however, remained at Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City, and Dayton, and a rough time they all had of it before spring. The first snow fell on the 22nd of November; it snowed all day, and four days later again set in, when snow fell to the depth of five or six feet, cutting off all communication between Gold Hill and Virginia, though the two towns were but a mile apart. The worst of the winter was between this time and the 1st of February. In December many cattle were dying of cold and hunger about Chinatown (Dayton), where they had been sent to find a living in the valley along the Carson River. Not only cattle, but also horses, donkeys, and animals of all kinds died of cold and hunger. Most of them starved to death. It was impossible to procure food for them.
In March, 1860, hay was selling at 50 cents per pound and barley at 40 cents. Men could not afford to keep horses, and therefore shot them or let them wander away into the valleys and flats and take their own time about dying. Food for man was about as dear as that for beast. Flour sold for $75 per 100 pounds in Virginia City; coffee at 50 cents per pound, and bacon at 40 cents. Lumber was worth $150 per thousand feet, and all else in proportion. None of the settlers starved, but the stomachs of many of them had frequent holidays. Fuel was scarce, it being necessary to pack it through the deep snow from the surrounding hills, where, at that time, was to be found a sparse growth of stunted pines and cedars. The stoves of the saloons and lodging-houses were well patronized. Bean-poker and old sledge were the principal amusements, aside from talking over the great expectations, which all cherished. Every man who had a claim expected to sell it for a fortune when spring came.
Little work could be done in the mines, but that little showed them to be growing richer and richer for every foot of progress made or depth attained. The excitement was at fever heat in California, and a grand rush of capitalists was expected as soon as the mountains could be crossed. This being the case, those who were wintering in Washoe though physically uncomfortable were comfortable in spirit. Gold lent its hue to all of their visions of the future.
BUSINESS.
Some Indians lingered in the neighborhood, and they were quite as hard up for provisions as the whites. They frequently came to the cabins of the miners to beg food. On such occasions—like some white beggars—they began business by presenting a paper to be read. The paper very often read as follows:
“This Indian is a d—d old thief. He will steal anything he can lay his hands on. If he comes about your camp, break his head.
A Friend”