The Sierra citizen., 1854-08-05

come up with provisions. 1t is a matter
of dispute to this day whether Tim or my
self thmbled out Of the bunk that night
Be that as it may, l am certain that Tim
was the man who had the sugar in his
pocket. Mick and Morrison arrived in
the morning, and Simmons divided his
little stock of -four with us, and we were
once more in circumstances. Nothwith-
standing the proverb to the contrary,
brandy was the staff of life for few days,
in the room of bread. Spare us, ye ad-
vocates of temperance, and don't judge US
too harshly, especially if you never starved
in the mountains, or quenched your thirst
with snow! Iknow we can now get along
without it, nor is there any necessity for
importing New England rum from the
land of steady habits.
! remained at Slate Range two or three
days waiting for the provision that was
on the way. The rive. was very high,
and the mules had great difficulty in cross
ing at Fosters Bar. l started down to
meet them, or to 60 myself to Nye's
crossing for provision, but l met them be-
tween Slate Range and Fosters, and
turned back. Since that time l have
never been down as low as Fosters Bar;
and | suppose | am the only Fortyniner
who has never been out of the mountains.
When | got back DR.. Vaughan had go,
all Goodyear's provisions, but Sexton and
his partner agreed to let me have theirs
at two dollars pound all round. and Fifty
dollars for two gallons of vinegar. Here
was bill Of $4,000, and when got to
the Forks l had but FIVE hundred and fifty
pounds of flour. l had two hams and the
other party offered me half an ounce
pound for one of them l told them to
Keep their half ounces as we had enough
to do to get to the Forks, without packing
gold. Before this Mickey and myself had
quarreled about carrying the gold bag,
which was sometimes troublesome when
we were weary, although gold was what
we were toiling for
There was round tent close by, and
we built up good fire and cooked one
good meal before we did anything more.
l did the cooking while Mick and Bill
watched the frying pan, knife and pistol
in hand. The first painful went out of
sight in a twinkling, and then one Of them
swore that the first man that put his hand
in the pan again would get his fingers
chopped off Andrew Goodyear's whole
camp were there-Indians and all, fifteen
or sixteen in number, and would soon have
eat up all we had. We then suspended
cooking until we got away from them
We bargained with j. III. Foster (Cut
Eye,) to take our provisions to Goodyear
Bar, and across the river, for eighteen
ounces; and in the mean time we got them
packed from Slate Range to his ranch at
Oak Valley. Mick watched Cut Eye and
Bill packing, and l kept a lookout for
them at the store, until the provisions
were all transported. After this it began
to snow and rain, and then we had gh
time drinking brandy and playing cards.
Every now and then some one would put
his hand through the cloth in front of the
rude counter, foragipg for a slap,jacl
which might be left in the pan Two or
three crackers were served out to each
ole, and then the can was put under the
counter for the next day. l frequently
saw some of them putting their hands
through the hole, in fact did so myself,
as all that we could steal was clear gain.
We slaid there as long as the brandy
lasted, and after taking a parting dram
separated, to go back to Cut Eye Fos-
ter $ for more provision. The other boys
to start to Fosters and in the
meantime cleared away the snow from be-
side a log and went to playing cards,
though they had not q mouthful to eat
But what cared they. "Make haste boys
and get fire started, cut the cal ds, and
let US have no cheating o ye miners Of
California. how many a hearth might
have been made cheerful with the gold
that has been squandered for cards and
rum!
Foster spent two days looking for his
mules, but at last found them, and we
packed up as far as the spring at the top
Of Goedyear's Hill. Bill came along in
the evening with a hundred of -four, which
had slid forward on the poor animals neck.