The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1849-03-27
From the Boston Iraretler.
THE LATEST FROM CALIFORNIA.

-e-N~Ne
ments in respect to the gold mines, exceeding,
if anything, the marvellousuess of former ac-
counts 1t having been very courteously sug
gested by one of our contemporaries, that the
whole thing was deception, we now publish
the letter entire-with a single exception
and with the name attached. 1t was written
to relative in this city, and there is no room
to doubt its authenticity. The original letter
is in our possession. 1t is postmarked at st:
Louis, and came overland, no doubt but by
what particular route, we are not informed.
There is no impossibility or improbabiity in a
letter reaching us in 55 days from San Fran
cisco. We are informed that person was in
this city on Saturday. who left San Francisco
on the 2Sd of January The exception to
which we have alluded, is statement no less
marvellous than others contained in the letter,
but for private reasons, it is withheld:
SAN Francisco, Jan. 20, 1S49.
DEAR UNCLE-I set myself down to write
few lines, to let you know that / am in the
land of the living and that am now enjoying
tolerably good health. While l was in the
gold diggings, my health was bad for month
| or so for there we had no houses. and for the
most part had to sleep on the ground or under
rocks, where we could get place. Talk Of
the ARMY never saw half the hardship while
was in the service, that / have seen in the
gold digcings Could we have houses or good
/ tents, however, we could be comfortable, even
at the diggings.
| As for gold, hare got plenty of 1t. have
got about 79S pounds. 1t sells here for from
| IL to 16 dollars the ounce. was in the dig
gings three months and half, and if | had
had something to wash out the dirt clean, l
should have got as much again for We can get
nothing near all of it out. have number
of pretty large pieces-One piece reighing .fre
pounds.
i i want you to come out here; you can get
Just as much gold as you want. i know where
there is ledge, that is almost solid gold but
1 shall not tell any body, nor work at it, till
my friends come out. found it out by one
of the Indian Chiefs, whose life saved, when
he was about to be murdered. A great many
are killed, and nothing is said about it
The excitement is so great, that everybo-
dy has been digging gold, and every one here
has got plenty of gold. Living here is now
two dollars day. 1t has been ten dollars.
The gold country is immense. l have been
five hundred miles up the country; and the
farther we 90, the thicker the gold is. l think
on the river where / was, the fountain head is
in the mountains; but it is awful travelling to
get up to my ledge. know where there is
plenty of Siirer in the mountains. We found
that when was with the Indians. They took
me prisoner, and was with them nine months.
AT last l discovered that one of the chiefs was
al L. I
find that great many of the Indian Chiefs are
Free-ndSOnS. 1 was made mason by the re-
recommendation of an aged friend, before left
Michigan. left there when the war first be-
gan, and went and joined Colonel Fremont's
regiment. We crossed the mountains, and
got taken by The Indians. i was released in
consequence of being a mason and ! would
advise all that intend to come out to this wild
country, TO be masons, for they triU find true
friends among The Indians. The Indians hold
masonry to be sacred--which it is.
If you was here, you could make money at
your trade Just as fast as you please for me
chanics here will not work at their trades,
because they get rich SO much faster at the
gold diggings.
You never saw such set as there is in this
place. There are people of all nations and Of
all colors. If Congress does not make some
laws, and strict ones too, do not know what
we shall do II will be 'the hardest fend off,"
The population here are getting to be awful
bad; and II is caused by that curse Of the earth,
Rum. If that had been kept out, there would
have been no trouble here. 1t is warm wealth
er here now. No snow. There was some
snow at the diggings, but not much.
If you come out come with number. i he
more that come together, the better they can
IL II 4t,oN.
come from Monterey, that they had found an
inexhaustible gold mine, about 60 miles from
there, and also some silver mines but IRE take
no notice of the siIrer mines, which can be got
at, at half the trouble of the gold. Qucksil-
yer is here in abundance in all the hills.
Don't delay in coming, and bring good
company with you. If You can get here in
July or August, YOU can get up the country
before the rainy season commences, and then
you can get fixed, so that you can work at the
mines all winter If you please. There are
plenty of moose and deer in the mountains,
and cattle and all kinds of game and fowls.
Wild turkies are rs plenty as prairie hens in
Wisconsin. Wild hcrses are as thick rs they
can be and on the branch Of the river where
L have been, they have never been culled out.
shall leave for the diggings again some
time in March, and stop until August, when l
hope 10 see you and all the rest of my relations. |
There is gold enough for all the young mt of
the whole New England States and wish |
they were all here. But it is time enough vet,
and there is gold and silver enough. l hope
we shall have mint here, SO that we can get |
the worth of our gold.
Bring out some good boats, that will draw
two or three feet of water. Take with you,
thick clothing and flannel shirts. Bring some
good garden seeds, and all sorts of vegetable
seeds. have been to a portion of the coun-
try, about which there is not much known, and
where gold is plenty. Grapes and other fruit
grow wild there in abundance. There was
once a settlement there, but now not person
is living. There are ruins there of an old
church, and that very old. You can make out
that it was a church, and that is all.
can get along with the Indians first rate.
Only be kind to them, and you can do any
thing with them. could tell you ten times as