The reports from the mines continue to be of the most favorable character. Gold has been discovered upon Trinity River, about two hundred miles north of Sacramento City, and the digging has proved to be equal to that of any of the other placers. The mouth of the river, which empties into Trinity Bay, has been surveyed, and, being considered a very good harbor, a town has been projected, to be situated upon the shore at the mouth of the river. Rich diggings have been opened near Mariposa, and on one occasion, a mass of gold and quartz, weighing fifty pounds, was taken from them, and sold for sixteen hundred dollars. Several important discoveries have been made on the Mokulumne River. Out of one hole, three men, in two days, took the sum of four thousand dollars. It is thought that more bullion will be obtained during the dry season of the present year, 1850, than has been received since the commencement of the gold-digging. This seems to falsify the predictions of some persons, that the gold region would be speedily exhausted.
The following is an account of some bloody transactions upon the North Fork of the American River. We extract it from the Pacific News of May 15th, 1850:—
"About two weeks ago, a party of Indians came stealthily upon a few miners who were sleeping after their work was over in their tents on the North Fork, some twenty miles above Auburn. Before the Indians gave any warning to the whites of their presence, they killed two, wounded another, and then succeeded in making their escape. On Friday of last week, a trader, who was travelling with his team, was surrounded by Indians when about fifteen miles above Auburn. The arrows from their bows took effect upon his person, and he only saved his life by a precipitous flight. They carried off his coat which he left in his wagon, with $600 worth of gold dust in the pocket. They also robbed his wagon of several valuable articles. Upon receiving news of this attack at Auburn, a number of men set out on horseback, in pursuit of the Indians. They overtook them in a valley not far from Auburn, and found a large party of them drawn up to meet them. The Indians were armed with bows and arrows and had one gun. The whites attacked them, and soon put them to flight. The Indians left a considerable number of dead behind them, and it is supposed that they carried off many more. Two of the whites were wounded with the arrows of the Indians, but not fatally.
"It is believed by many of the miners that there are white men among the Indians, inciting them to hostilities. It is pretty certain that a German doctor has been leading them on in their attacks. A meeting was held at Auburn, last Monday evening, to raise a company of volunteers for the purpose of scouring the country, and making war upon the Indians wherever found, so long as they maintain a hostile position, and a number of men were enrolled."
A portion of the Indians of the eastern part of California have always manifested their hostility to the whites, and have taken numerous occasions to wreak their vengeance upon those whom they consider the invaders of their country. But the pursuit of such a course will only hasten their own destruction. They are in no condition to contend with the whites, and their proper course would be to conciliate those whom they cannot resist. The following account of an exterminating expedition against the Indians is from the Alta Californian of the first of June. To our thinking, the punishment far exceeded the offence, and the officer who gave the order for extermination, is culpable in a high degree.
"We have received particulars of the recent slaughter of a large body of Clear Lake Indians by an expedition sent out against them from the United States garrisons at Sonoma and Benecia. The tribe that incurred this terrible punishment, comprises the natives of Sonoma and Napa valleys, and has maintained, in general undisturbed peaceful relations with the white settlers of that section of California. Last summer, however, a stubborn family Indian offered an indignity to the wife of one Kelsey, who had resided in the country some nine years, for which he was taken before a magistrate and sentenced to receive one hundred lashes. After this punishment, on the same day, we are informed Kelsey, sought the wretched offender, and laid him dead at his feet, shooting him in the presence of several gentlemen, who remonstrated with him on the barbarity of the deed. This man Kelsey was afterwards murdered, as was also a brother-in-law, by the Indians of the neighborhood. Since then repeated acts of violence have been visited upon the natives, and our readers will remember the accounts which we published a few months since, of outrages committed in Sonoma and Napa, by a party of desperate white men. The Indians were driven to the mountains, and subsequently made depredatory incursions upon their old masters, driving away cattle, and indulging their natural propensity to steal. Complaints were made,—doubtless the accounts of their conduct highly colored,—to the garrisons of Benecia and Sonoma, and on the 1st of the month an expedition was fitted out against them, composed of a detachment of infantry, and a company of dragoons, under command of Lieutenant Davidson, (seventy-five in all,) with orders to proceed against the Clear Lake Indians, and exterminate, if possible, the tribe.
"The troops arrived in the vicinity of the lake, and came unexpectedly upon a body of Indians numbering between two and three hundred. They immediately surrounded them, and as the Indians raised a shout of defiance and attempted escape, poured in a destructive fire indiscriminately upon men, women, and children. 'They fell,' says our informant, 'as grass before the sweep of the scythe.' Little or no resistance was encountered, and the work of butchery was of short duration. The shrieks of the slaughtered victims died away, the roar of muskets then ceased, and stretched lifeless upon the sod of their native valley were the bleeding bodies of these Indians—nor sex, nor age was spared; it was the order of extermination fearfully obeyed. The troops returned to the stations, and quiet is for the present restored."
Here is the account of more Indian troubles.
"Fight with the Sacramento Indians.—Treaty.—In consequence of depredations of the Indians of the Sacramento valley and outrages committed by them, General Thomas J. Green, 1st Division, State Militia, ordered out two companies of Mounted Volunteers, under command of Captain Allgiers and Captain Charles Hoyt, and marched from Oro, on the 17th of May, in the direction of Deer Creek. On the same day Lieutenant Bell, of Captain A.'s company, with ten men, encountered a large number of Indians, killed five, and took six prisoners.
"On the 18th the command scoured the country in the region of Deer Creek and Bear River. On the 19th, the trail to Colonel Holt's mill, where he was murdered, was taken, the villages found to be deserted, and the white settlement abandoned.