The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1850-11-16
California Correspondence.
IsprrrSpEycr, Sept I, 1880


tains, amid the most sublime scenery ever saw,
where the snow skill fingers On the hills and
where the ice freezes in our buckets every night
In this pure and bracing atmosphere there is no
sickness, aud two months from this time the living
throng who forced their way into these wildS will
be compelled 10 return 10 the Valley 10 escape
the deep SHOWS which will then cucumber this
desoia,c portion Of California M transit from
, the alley WAS a series of adventures which |
have partially and briefly detailed 10 the n o.
True Delta, uns Of whose correspondents | am,
(by request write none otheIs) and il was
one of the most interesting excursions ever
made
will not detail /; to YOU, as there is subject
matter enough lcft for full communication with
"ui II. The evening previous to my leaving
Nsys'iIie had the felicity OF receiving your vel
come letter and one from my wife, beng the on
ly ones have received from Ottawa since the
date OF 25,h March. | also received copy of
the Free Trader, being the fourth number which
has reached me in California.
Hereafter direct all communications to Mnrys-
vile iuba county. wish had more Of ~ At
tentlSe correspondents ms yourself for one Of our
greatest pleasures is receiving letters from home
"a, proof Of thiS-"Hsllo, Handy "a capital
fellow from Albion, Michigan, and whose tent
joins mne)--had you rather get letter from
home and go without your dinner, with n noun
tain appetite, or get your dinner and 60 without
the letter u had rather have the letter any
tIme-why, there's no comparison" That's my
case exactly ST scni on your letters. | am IN
the region VI tho fabulous gold lake but even
here, there are rs clseN here, good and poor Dig
slng>, and many poor fellow is dclving away
without being able scarcely to earn the salt for
his purridge, willie \ few very few, are doing
well, or passally so and vet this Is the richest
portion OF golden California which have seen
You know my predictions with regard TO the suf.
teruzs Of the cuanIng overland enIigraEts, They
are pouring in upon Us and IN such a condition as
Ia excite pity from hearts Of stone Last year
the great fault of the cuiErants WAS on loading
The present year the enisrants seem 10 have ial.
len INTO the other extreme. They had not proys.
ions enough and then many started with horses
{ for tho sake Of greater speed.
/ Last year the grass WAS unusually good, bet
/ ter than It had been for many years. But now,
either from drought or heavy SHOWS, the gra,,
WAS dried up, or the melting SHOWS filed the va.
lcys with water and oyenluwed the grassy bot.
toms The valley ofthe Humboldt where We ira.
yelled many days along the borders Of the stream,
this year was a vast lake and the emigrants were
obliged TO take the hills. frequently making long
f
valleys, where scarcely any forage could be Oh
tanned. | recollect one place where they were
compelled to go thirty miles over difficult noun.
Trims cut Of their course to make about sN One
man paid an Indian s. 5 to swim to little island
on the Humboldt and bring over grass enough to
feed his mule, Under these circumstances teams
gave out, horses and mules broke down, proyis-
ions were exhausted, and hundreds Of miles from
the settlements and far from ID, men women and
children were left entirely destitute, without n
mouthful to eat and without the means Of getting
forward. Perhaps a broken down horse or mule
would be left 10 carry n remnant ofsupplies yet
even without this slender aid, YOU might see even
mothers wsding through the deep dust or the lea
W sand OF the desert, climbing mountain sleeps
leading their poor children by the hand or the
once strong man pale, emacsed by hunger and
fatigue, carrying his feeble infant on his back cry
ing for water and nourishmentN and appsa.ing =
revenous appetite from the carcass ola dead mule
or horse, and when they sink exhausted upon the
ground at night overcome with WEAKNESS and
want Of nourishment i. was only with the certain
ty Of the morning sun they would have TO 90
through with the same or greater evils. Is It
strange then, that under such desttution and mis-
~, where for week, draught Of gucL water could
not be had, that many preferred suicide to this
living death In one day on the Humboldt,
men and > women druW ned themselves. The
men were observed and taken out once 5ut they
persisted in declaring that death was preferable
and succeeded III committing the desperate deed
The women had families and unable longer 10
witness the suffering Of their children with no
prospect OF relief, chose the dreadful alternative
can well appreciate their feelings; for although
my sutferlngs las, year were not SO great, yet
have seen many day that death had no terrors
By the earliest who succeeded in reaching the
valley the sufferngs Of the rmigrants made known
and large and liberal contributions Of provisions
were made and sent out. In addition, traders
forced themselves over the SHOWS Of the Sierra us
far a. the Humboldt, but these supplies were
scarcely felt Five pounds of flour were dolcd
on. TO man from the free supplies, and after.
wards reduced to two and a half with which they
had to travel 200 miles, ami the traders asked ?
and half dollars pound for -four and pork
Hundreds had no money, and even If they had, a
large amount would be required TO obtain cnough
to sustain \ family through. OF course all were
not thus destitute. Some arrived who had pro-
vded themselves we'll but hundreds and hun.
dreds suffered thus. And now what will they do
when they arrive Labor, though nominslly
from 5 to S dollars day, there is not sufficient
employment for even those who wintered here,
and while few very few, may strike a good
lead and do well, the great mass can scarcely get
enough to sustain life We shall see more suffer.
ing. more destituion this winter than there ever
70 be en- and although there ia gold in the noun.
taiu, the interchangeable attempt TO sc, it Of those
who ean,eayesr ago without success, wheresoey.
er courage, reng;h and manhood have been used
to its full exto,, surely should convince you At
home tina, il is fo,.v to forsake living business
at home, and come he, in the desperate search
Of gold | saw few days vince an old friend OF
nine from Indiana who had jus. arrived lie mad
suffered on the plains, but he got Though =
He WAS scientific engineer, an indln tiotS "o''
thy man, and doing we'll at home. lie hal CO.
temporary berth as engineer Oh small steamr cat
At 800 month, when he could have got more
At home. "Why did you come heref asked
did not all our letters discourage further emigra
.ionr Yes, but you said there was gold here,
and we thought we could get it If you could
NAT we could get it if anybody could; besides
too, to speak frankly. we thought that as 90 many
were getting rich that they only wrote such let
tsrs back to keep others away. And the state
ments in the papers too, Of tho immense sums re-
ceived from California and extracts taken from
California papers Of rich diggings being continu'
ally discovered Of those who had dug large sums
| in few days or weeks, made US think that your
letters Of advice were dictated BY sinister motives