"On the 20th, the Indians, two or three hundred strong, were discovered within two miles of Bear River, upon an elevated conical hill. An engagement took place, in which eleven Indians were killed and a number wounded. About fifty of the state volunteers were engaged. None were killed, but Captain Hoyt, Lieutenant Lewis, and Mr. Russell were wounded. Major Frederick Emory (brother of Major Emory, United States Topographical Engineers of the boundary Commission,) was accidentally shot through the thigh with a rifle ball. He was aid-de-camp to General T. J. Green.
"On the 25th, the Indian Chiefs Weimer, Buckler, and Pooliel, came in, by permission, and entered into a treaty of peace between the three tribes, severally represented, and the State of California and Government of the United States. The treaty is sensible and comprehensive."
In the following, among other interesting intelligence, will be found an account of that which was expected long before it occurred—the resistance of some of the numerous body of foreign gold-seekers to the tax imposed upon them. The license tax is certainly a just one; but the foreigners presumed upon their number and strength, that they had power sufficient to resist its imposition. The easy excitability of the Americans, upon any subject connected with their own soil is well known; and it is exceedingly strange that a serious collision did not take place. We extract from the Alta Californian, of June 1st, 1850.
The Alta Californian has letters from Stockton to May 22d. On the Tuolumne, but little gold digging has been effected since last fall along the banks. The gold is under water, and preparations were making by companies to dam the streams to get at it. This work has been actively going on for five or six months. There is want of men at this kind of work, and eight or ten dollars a day is readily obtained. The diggings at Jamestown, Sonora, &c., have been partially deserted on account of new diggings discovered at Columbia, three miles from Sonora, at the last accounts some two thousand persons had collected there, and town lots were selling at high prices.
Sonora is growing very rapidly, being in the centre of an extensive mining region. It is likely to be next to Stockton in size and importance. Discoveries of rich placers have been made in its vicinity lately; some of the richest holes at Columbia are thirty, forty, and fifty feet deep. A serious difficulty has broken out at Sonora. A number of foreigners refused to comply with the law taxing them for the privilege of working the mines. A time was fixed by the collector to summon a posse of American citizens to prevent them from working. The day previous to the time fixed, the foreigners paraded with guns, &c., and reinforcements of Americans were sent for from the neighboring towns. A letter from Stockton, dated May 22d, adds:
"In the evening, the sheriff, Mr. Work, was accosted by a Mexican, who asked him if he was not an officer, or the officer who intended to enforce the payment of the license. On replying that he was, the Mexican made an attempt to stab him, when a person standing by, named Clark, with a single stroke of a bowie knife, nearly severed his head from his body. Thirty armed Americans soon arrived from Mormon Gulch, and the whole American population were on the alert all night.
"At last accounts there were two or three hundred Americans at Sonora, under arms, and others were hourly arriving. On Monday the excitement had somewhat abated. Hundreds of the Mexicans and Chileans were packing up and leaving for Stockton. Many of them disclaimed having had any intention of resorting to arms, and all were evidently more or less frightened at the aspect of affairs. It appears that the Mexicans who took part in the disturbance, were led on by some hot-headed Frenchman, lately arrived from France, of the Red Republican order. They found, however, that the majority of the Spaniards were not disposed to join them, and it is supposed that the whole affair will blow over without any very serious consequences. The affair will probably be a severe blow to business, for the present, in Sonora."
The Stockton Times has a letter from Sonora, giving the details of this difficulty. The foreigners said they were willing to pay four or five dollars per month, but that the amount demanded was utterly beyond their power to pay. They made this statement at an interview with the Governor. The letter goes on as follows:
"During the discussion, an American who wished to get out of the crowd, began elbowing his way from the place where he stood, when a Mexican or Chilian, in front of him, drew a pistol. In a moment a dozen revolvers were out, and a precipitate retreat was made by the foreigners. No shot was fired, but the Mexicans were alarmed, and the town was cleared in five minutes. Our peace now seemed threatened by about five thousand men outside, and no inconsiderable alarm was created in town. The citizens armed themselves, and expresses were sent to Mormon Creek and Sullivan's Diggings, from which places about five hundred well armed Americans arrived, and marched through the streets with guns and rifles on their shoulders. The demonstration was sufficient; the crowds in the vicinity soon dispersed, and quiet was restored. The only thing to be feared, is the misguided zeal of our own citizens, who although generally sympathizing with the discontent occasioned by the unjust tax, are incensed that the foreigners should presume to take the law into their own hands, and may not be willing to allow the affair to rest where it is.
A serious affray took place this afternoon, in which a Mexican was seriously wounded. A man was noticed parading the streets with two or three pistols and a knife in his belt; the man was intoxicated, and the sheriff arrested him, or rather took his arms from him. While in the act, a Mexican came up behind and made a stab at the officer with a large knife. The murderous intent was frustrated by a bystander, who, with a bowie knife, struck the man, wounding him severely. Mr. Work, the sheriff, was happily untouched.