The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1855-04-13
A ROCK OF GOLD!
Important Letter from the Kern River Mines
Monster Gold Boulder Worth 50 600, 600

tFrom the California Chronicle, Marcn,T.b
The following letter has been handed to
us for publication with the assurance that it
is authentic. A grocer at North Beach Of
fered on Saturday before last, his stock of
goods for sale at a very low price, with the
expressed intention OF going to Kern River.
He went off, with several friends. in great
buster, on the America, on the next morn.
ing. Our informant bought the stock of
goods, took possession of the grocery, and
found in the back room quantity of dererted
clothes and papers, among others this letter,
which had no post. mark, but apparently had
been carried for some time in pocket. If
the letter be true, the great boulder will no
doubt become famous the world over. We
scarcely know what TO think of the letter;
but we would advise our readers particularly
those engaged in any business, to beware
Of running after any wild reports, such as
those of Gold Bluff and Gold Lake have
been, and as those OF Kern River may be.
JONES CAMP, Kern River. Feb. II, 1855.
DEAR BOB: Sell out your grocery and
come down here, right straight. Come as
soon as you can. Every day gone is the
half of fortune. Don't forget to bring
good supply of stone chises and drills. a
couple of hammers and kegs of powder; but
I'm Id afraid shall starve to death before
you come.
This is the way of it. Four weeks ago
left Fort Miller to see the Kern River
country, and with little thought of mining.
Well, | came and saw that the miners were
doing well, but found no claim rich enough
to suit me. was making ready to leave
two weeks before Monday, and on Sunday
went out hunting. On the edge of little
stream styled Polulume Creek shot hare
and he managed to run off towards the noun
tain, about two miles off. l was out of caps,
and could not shoot him again. He was
full in sight all the time, and | followed him
through the oak opening, and the greater
part of the time he was little more than ten
feet ahead Of me. Just at the foot of the
mountain succeeded, after many attempts
in hitting him with club. was thorough.
| ly tired and laid down in the shade of large
rock. After got rested, was SO hungry
that kindled a fire, dressed my hare, and
fixed him up before the fire 10 roast.
While he was there doing good, sat
down and began to pick at the rock with my
butcher knife, had picked away for some
minutes, hardly looking at the rock, when
all at onceI observed little gold in it.
jumped up, and by Jupiter! the whole bould-
er-about ten feet high and wide, and twice
as long-was lousy with gold! In one side
there was place about two feet square
where the quartz was richer than any ever
saw in the San Francisco assay Offices.
picked out $40 with my knife in half an hour,
| danced like crazy man; and If had not
been afriad, would have yelled worse than
Thousand Indians at a war dance. | can't
liken my feelings to anything ever felt on
earth. At first felt scared at the thought
OF how rich would be, and my heart rose in
my throat; then | felt though had been
chased hard by the devil, and had managed
to get inside Of Heavens gate just as Satan
was about 10 catch me by the coat tail. II
was not long before got over my happy
spell. had no money; no tools, provisions
were high; had no friends and no acquain-
tances; ate my hare, and stayed on the
rock thinking, till it was too late to go home.
II got-cold: laid down and tried to sleep,
but could not; got up and walked back and
forth, thinking, all night. 1t was terrible
miserable night.
In the morning when the sun shone upon
the rock, was happy again. estimate its
value not less than $20O000O, possibly
So 900 900 or $40 ,OOO, 900 it might even be
Now Bob. don't laugh at me. was desper-
ately wild with joy. | who had been a
dreamer, and poor devil so long, was to be
rich! to be king! to be able to carry into
execution all the darling schemes which
have so often brought the ridicule of the
stick in. the muds upon me! 1 was at last
to be able to 60 home and claim Rosetta,
under the hard conditions claimed by your
father.
Towards noon l got hungry. went up
the side of the mountain to some pine trees,
in the sides of which the squirrels had placed
acorns in holes made by woodpeckers in
search of worms. dug out lot of acorns,
carried them down to the creek, ate them
with fine pepper-grass growing alongside OF
a spring. Invent back to the rock, and s;aid
there till three O'Clock studying what should
do. could not resolve. then went to my
camp about eight miles off. The folks
wanted to know what was the matter, I said
| had wounded buck and got lost in chas-
ing him. The next morning found that
my horse had been stolen. bought some
provisions; another revolver, and another
pick and shovel and pan, and went back
A bout so yards from the rock was trail
upon which the miners passed every day,
and | was afraid to work in the day. AT
night | went TO work to cut off a corner OF
the rock, but soon broke the pick so that
it was useless. could find no chise or
hammer. People got suspicious OF me-
Several followed me; one man found me sit.
ting down not one hundred yards from the
rock. | got scared; carried water in my
bucket the whole two miles from the stream
and made mud with which | washed over
the whole surface of the rock. In doing
! this had to get twenty seven buckets oil
water, and just tina job alone compelled me
to walk one hundred and eight miles, and
was whole week about il, doing a greater
portion of the work at night, and sleeping in
the day time,