The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1850-02-08

zier was beaten Tor Congress by Wing
Col. 10. Anderson.
I hone we will have the general result,
and letters from home, on Col Bicknelis
return. who is now in San Francisco.
Cant. Suffer is a fine looking, honest
Du,chman, liberal and kind. good hard
sense, and is now here elecl'oneeiing' IKE
a Tennessee Sheriff whose time has eX-
pired. bu, candidate for re election. lie
saws "tha, he has governed Indians. Span
;ards and white men, and if they will elect
him Governor they will say old Jno. A.
Suffer is pretty good Governor" There
is some sickness here, and it would be inn
,ossible to be otherwise, people living ont
of doors, under trees and in tents. We
will 90 back to where we left the "boys,"
build US cabin, and live comfortable du'
r,no the Winter or wet season. Wood is
worth from sixteen 10 twenty dollars per
cord, pumpkins "lor sase," Every scarce)
rs cts. per pound. You pay tor every
thing here. II you look at man rather
straight, he charges you dollar, ana
have not been so exravagant as to look al
"gal" vet in this place. Where there are
supposed 10 be ten thousand souls, there
are no, more than fifty women. This is
fine market for them, and if the lady from
New York would come with her ship load
vouch for her fortune. paid 5O cts
for the privilege of grinding two axes. hold
myself and furnish the turner. No per
son considers the prices high here, and
indeed they are not, considering the price
of labor. An OK driver gets $40 per day.
IN TN w
Gambling is carried TO grea ter extent than
any place ever heard Of beiore-no pub.
lie house but what is filled with gaming
tables. They cannot be avoided by any
pe,son who wishes 10 do so, and with them
a bar, but Tor all this, there was never bet
ter order in any village IN The States. |
have been here a week and have not seen
three drunk men. You are treated like a
gentleman, you hear no halloolng in the
town nor around it. Several churches well
attended, still there is no Sabbath here,
working and gaming the same every day.
The owners of slaves have no difficulty in
retaining and receiving their servlces.-
There is fortune here Tor every man in
California. There is one for me aud il |
keep my health, will make it, and not be
always about it either. and come home
wish some of the other friends were here,
and if any Of them do come, or any person,
can give them some Information, that
would do them good seryice--Do not cross
The plains; It's Too long, dious and toll
some q trip. bu! # they do cross, use pack
mules, Tor If they start with a wagon, they
will in all probability lose their teams. We
left 81. Josephs, Mo-, company Of twelve
wagons. We 60, 10 the sink OF Mary's
river, 1900 miles from ST. Josephs, with 10
wagons, the teams very week. From
Mary's to Carson's river, distance oil 80
miles, there IS not vestige Of vegetation
seen nor drop Of water. but a few sail
wells dug by the emisrants, and the water
not fit TO use. After letting our cattle rest
a day. cutting and curing grass, our casks
filled with water, we took the desert, and
but five wagons got through. Mr.. Camp
BELLS Ga brother oil Jas. w. of KnnxvIle,)
mess lost five oxen. their wagon, their
clothing and provisions. but what they
could pack on their backs and one steer
A second mess well provided with every
thing, and Doctor with fine stock OF
medicines. lost five head of cattle. their
wagon, much fine and Iaborers clothing.
got through with an OK and COW packed and
what they had on their backs. A third
mess lost four oxen, out OF eight, wagon
and first rate outfit, getting whit they
could pack on four broken down oxen. A
fourth mess lost three oxen out of six, and
abandoned their outfit. a fifth, abandoned
all but what they could pull in cart with
t,eyn Nho n
through, abandoning half their outfit
Three others got through, but with great
difficulty. The other team was mules
The sand was 10 or l2 inches deep and
,ha, played the duce with our teams. We
(he Monroe boys doubled our teams at
the sand, took one wagon through, rested a
day, and brought the other very easy. Nor
was the desert more disastrous to ours than
10 companies preceding US. The last
twenty eight Of the thirty nine miles was
one continued scene of destruction of
property, horses, mules. oxen, wagons,
provisions Of all kinds, fine and common
clothing. and every thing that man could
think Of for his comfor, or use. The last
fifteen miles would average wagon for
every two hundred yards, nor Were you
on, of the stencil of dead animals one STEP
A wagon load .! bacon was left with The
name Of the owner, and his card telling all
10 help themselves. In another place about
1000 pounds of -four with the same card
These were the largest lots Ief. but thou
sands Of pounds slrew,d the desert. Soon
after getting on Carson's river. the emf
grants were met by the government relief
parties. with mules, oxen and provisions,
and just in time for many. We crossed
one ridge of the mountains before any was
offered to US, and we could have got
through without any assistance, but we
took pair Of Uncle Sans oxen and got
through with ease.
Gov. Smith deserves the gratitude of the
emisrants for the assistance rendered them,
many Of whom would have suffered other.
wise. suppose he was acting under i'm
from the President, still much
credit is due him for the prompiness and
order 10 which the business was done. We
were later crossing the plains than would
ever be again. On the 18th October there
was snow storm belore US, in which a
DIR. Brown of 81. Louis was caughr-his
horse and four steers were frozen to death.
His wife suffered greatly walking in snow
two and three feet deep. Ii had melted
when we got there, but the roads were still
with ice in many places, and much
snow in banks on the sides Of the noun.
eaine