New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-12-26


coarse particles OF gold over the head Of the crsil,
Il coarse seive. upon which the su-fercus earth 4
sced. snt. the machine b-inx In motion ~ster !,
poured upon the .eive. and the gold. sand snd fine
earthly msier IS thus taken into the boy u the nus
chine. vhle the gravel . ec,ei Al these methods
sre more or less imperfect sae the process BY ana
nation with quicksilver has rot been sdopssd up 10
this date u supposed that indeed one bar the gold
contained 70 given quantity Of earth q o.i BY the in.
perfect measures taken for cleaning Il
A the workmen ascend the streams iuto the mount.
sins the gold becomes cosrscr and more massive On
the lower portions u the Is found In thin IA,
particles resembling small golden ish scales Higher
In the mountains 10 % found varying in size from the
nes, PARTICLES 70 pieces OF Eve or SIX In weight
sni Of al conceivable forms Many Of the largest pieces
contain small portions Of quartz and other Srsnite rock
mocdted IN them. The gold 10 DUG out of the
crevces among the rocks In the dry beds 81 mountain
torrents with picSaNes small iron bars spades butcher
! snives sticks a. sc. IN many places the streams
dow over strata Of coarse slate OF shse standing vert
csly. snd between the different layers the gold lie
] posted By the water
/ A. no one Al. vet has found the soi In ia native
mstriX question often suggests Itself iis origin
beleve the gold = found the spots where
4 lr ,insly as To its native bed and that much Of the
hne gold has been swept down from the mountains by
torrents OF water. Almost all the rocks In PIPER Cali
orns impcriecty organized being SOFT ard ris1le
and incapable OF resisting the scton Of the weather
In the process Of time the mountains have gradually
crumbed away into nue dust and the gold has been
liberated The gold. from It's msssiyeness and
great specific gravity, wss not removed from the noun
slc-, Nntftas tue me gull swept OF % the
plains below
The extent Of these golden deposits il /. impossible
90 conjecture. Gold has been found $50 miles shove
Slttsr Fort Ii dug in great quantities At slmosi all
points along Feather Jubs and Bear Rivers and upon
the American Fork and al It's tributaries upon the Cos
umnes and Stsnisaus Rivers and upon boa sides OF the
san Joaquin River. IL has been found At Botegs ON
the ssscoasi and al various points the chain O noun
tans which sepsrsies the waters lowing into the san
joaquin from those which enter the Pacific far south
A. Ciudsd DE los Angeles. Il has also been found In
considerable quantities In the earth of the plains
the mission of santa Clara IL IS thus known T. exist
throughout region OF country OF morn than 80 miles
IN extent and IL probably extends into Oregon
There subjects upon which one cannot write the
truth without exciting Incredibly and il "a with great
dfirnce that shall attempt - speak of the richness
OF the mines I went % them in the most skepticsl
| frame ot mind. and came away btitcrsr From All
that can learn "a 90 similar deposits of I0ld else
where believe these % De- the richest placer mines in
the world ! am satisfied from personal observation
that active workmcn can get from 50 20 $40 per day
estimating the gold AZ SO per ounce, troy. Many IN
stances arr known of persons having obtained from
/ $500 % > Oou in aday for each man am meeting
persons daily in this place who have been absent less
than three months and have returned with from 5000
| "a - 90 in gold dust While among the mines col
ected large number of facts. from which the follow
/ ing are taken at random a specimen
OF he most southery tributary of the American Fork
! l6 miles from the main stream. where Messr.
Nelly aud Cr0wly got with SIX men In SIX DAYS, ten
ten and half pounds of gold syoirdupois weight In
the bottom of dry ravnc of the same stream, Messrs
| pay and McCoums removed, with party at Indians
/ and white men, -lIOON In two dlys and within two
hundred yards ~ the main stream From another dry
rsvlne. within lew rods of the last mentioned Il IL
said that $4,000 were collected he three days Mr. e.
: Lyman. clergyman unaccustomed 10 labor informs
that he got $50 for about ave hours work each day
N Nsca New Mexican who resides about 80 miles
ffom suffers told me he, with four other men got
seventeen pounds of gold avordupois weight In seven
days. ! the goid MAJOR Cooper late OF Missouri
with two men and one boy got l. O01 Ia two days Mr.
Sinclair had been engaged In digging gold about five
Is with party Of Indians numbering about forty
sometimes more and sometimes less tie gave hi. In.
dans meat sugar coffee flour and rice aud they ate
three times per DAY. They were mostly wild Indians
and worked together with pans Ia i've weeks. after
paying an bis Indians and the current expenses of the
party, be- had slsOOO, or upward of ninety pounds
troy weight, of gold dust. The gold was shown Mr.
Norris snd ono companion took from dry rayine not
far from those already mentioned : 900 in two days
and the dirt packed horses more than two hun
bred ysrds 10 the water Mr. Aaron Angland got from
OILS labor ia twenty consecutive days alter his ar
rival At the mines. s2.3oO Bu, might go on stating
facts ike these until should tire your patience
You will be- nNiou- % know where this Il 10 end
prospect Of exhausiiny the mines The gold l.
found extending over an immense tract Of country and
t j. 90 universally difused in the earth 81 the gold r.
gious that il may b. said 10 constitute portion ~ the
sl tis most abundant in the valleys and the beds ~
because tho earth has been removed by water
aud the gold remains but II 10 found the tops and
ies Of the mountains hundreds OF eet above the VA
tfr
When in the mining country ! endeayofed e. obtain |
VII the miners and others could afford
value 0f The mines and the number II people en-
p'0yed n them The lowest estime ! heard made Of |
the ~Orsmen was three thousand including both whites
and Indians but this number wa augmented BY daily |
from all parts OF Csliorns from Oregon and
Son and from the Sandwich Islands There has been
such drain from the Islands that there Is scarcely
mechanic LEFT Al Honolulu The same l. likely o. be- the
case n Oregon, every vessel comes IN from there
crowded and W. hear Of lsrge overland emigration |
Among the people engaged n the mines however, there
many runaway sailors deserters from the army, |
trappers, and mountalneers, who naturally Idle, ds
syaied aud -sOiute In short taken Ia the aggregate
the miners the worst kind Of lao0ring population
have asked tor estimates on the gains ~ all the
miners AZ work n the gold regions, including botn
whites and Indians and have never heard them stated
less thsn six dollars per day TOR each person be-
ege taxing these minimum estimates data that dur
ing the year commencing July ], l-i-. there will be /
= 10000 removed from the mines reckoning the |
ounce troy aSl5 This sum Is considerably greater |
according 10 McCullochs Commercial Dictionary than
the total amOuet O gold taken from al the mines In the
nited States Tor the fifteen years ending IN l-- and
Il nearly three times great as the entire gold coin
age Of the United states Mint al IL branches Tor the
same year.
From the last Information { have seen able 10 col |
lect believe that something 800 600 a -l6 per
ounce troy will have left California In the three months
ending sept 80 and of this amount a least four nths
will ind rs way - foreign markets and consequently
o. foreign minis. The will be the TOR some
years tO come, unless Immediate measures are taken
by Government q establish Branch Mint In CaiiiOr
MA and In the mean time United states coin Il al |
most totally unknown from Cape Horn 20 Pugets
SQUAD 10 this country the greatest inc0nyennce pre-
walls for want Of coin, while enormous amounts u IN
coined gold lying dormant 10 the hands Of the PEG
pie u they sell H. heavy sacrifice ID incurred and Il
they keep IT, DO Improvements can BE- made, aud they
destitute Of the means Oi support be interests "
the nitsd States well those OF California call |
loudly Tor immedsfe relief from Congress.
10 Is impossible % foretel What VII b. the ultimate |
result of this sudden Development Of wealth lis sui
fccnty obvious. however. that the country will be
premaureiy filed by restless eEcitable adventurous
and reckless p0pu alton and that extended agricultural
0r mechanical improvement, are A. al end for some
years Gambling ami all softs OF thOugniess
yrofssion begin % prevail me present excitement
Nl yast numbers Of the Idle vicious sud desc
lutte Refugees from Justice from the ned -tsLes
sell other countries viii lock - California among
The better disposed population, and will ind shelter
among the slmOs, naccessi1e Businesses u the noun
talns where such mines of wealth ara nov opened |
Ihcse z0ns ot vast extent and remote from
toe regular s.tsment- ard from the operation II The
-xs il the solitary u lhe Sierra Nevada are
tile clusters OBJ men with nothing 0ut the trees TOR
their covering ADD no PROJECTION but their ygi
lance and strength. Many Oi these peOpi. known
o. possess very large amounts ~ gold fsometnes
mech - twenty Thousand d0.4arsJ wrapped IN their
blankets where there = eye - and agent ~
pursue the guilty Il IL strange vixen the temptation
% great. that the r0bD.r and assassin should be-
abroad amOng the mountains Many rObberies and
.ome murders sre known already - have occurred
Bat little attention i excited By these events where all
LII.