Weekly Trinity journal., 1857-07-04
PERICRINATIoNs OF "LOKALITEMS."

Last week we made our promised visit down
.he river, and will now give brief account of
our adventures, and the result Of our observa-
tons. Nothing Of particular interest befel us
until we arrived at the North Fork, where hay-
ing partaken of the hosptalities of the Mcssrs.
Kelly. and taken mug of - Lager with friend
Bilay, we proceeded up the East Fork to take
look at the new ditch Of e. W. Durkee q Co.
This ditch commences about half mile above
the mouth of Rich Gulch where a substantial
dam is erected, which nothing but earthquake
or Comet seem likely 10 move. A short distance
below the dam the water is carried across the
river in fiume twenty feet above the bed Of the
river, and three hundred and iOrty-fve feet long.
and still further down rccrosscs in flume fifty
feet high. and four hundred and fifty feet long.
We examined the work as far as it was cOmplet-
ed. and think it as perfect as anything of the
kind we have ever seen. Some Of it is cut
through solid rock, and it seems impossible that
any part of it should cave in or give way. 1t is
certainly monument Of indomtable energy,
skill aud perseverance, as q brief history of it
will show.
About the first of last September, Durkee, who
bad failed in business at Weaver and surrender
ed his property to his creditors, happened in his
travels, to strike that part of the river, and per-
ceiving the natural advantages, resolved to build
a ditch, although he had not dollar in the
world. Nj desptrdndum howeyer, was his motto
and as he could not work to advantage alone he
soon succeeded in associating with himself three
Others who with energy and industry equal to
his own, also possessed a small amount of the
needfM. On the tenth day of September these
four men commenced operations, and through
the whole of the winter labored with uuceasng
industry, some OF the time with three feet of
snow on the ground, and in all that time lost but
two days. All the work was done by themselves
alone, and the result is that they have now two
miles of the work completed. carrying now
twelve sluice heads of water, and capable OF con-
tanning double that quantity when needed
! They have already sold enough water to pay all
their expenses except their labor have secured
some of the most valuable claims on the ditch !;
have good house, garden. NC, and will sell
water enough to pay for the finishing of the
work. which when fully completed will be over
five miles long, and command some of the richest
claims on the East and North Forks. AS an old
friend of Durkee, we feel gratifed at his pros
poets. He has experienced about as many ups
. and downs as any one we ever knew, and until
now the do,cnS have been considerably ahead.
We first knew him years ago, in Massachusetts, as
owner and driver of a stage coach Next we
met him in this state, Captain and part owner of
the little Steamer Islander, (snCe called the EX-
celsior) the first steamer that entered the Fea-
ther River. A long fit of sickness reduced him
to his last dollar, but soon after when we were
running on Steamer from Sacramento TO Marys-
Vile behold there was Durkee running line of
Stages in opposition, and probably about the
only man who ever successfully ran horse flesh
against steam.
The failure of Barton Lee broke him again
and for some time we lost sight of him. Since
then, however, we have in our pcrcgrin atoms
encountered him some half-doZen times gene
rally on the outskirts of civilization. at one time
establishing u ferry and building the trail from
Union to the Klamath again building cabin
for the accommodation of wayfarers then clear
ing and fencing farm and at last in the present
situation. where he will be likely to make per-
mauent hOme having sent for his family to join
him. His history furnishes n good example to
those who are inclined to give up in despair
when i'll fortune ovcrtakes them, and we hope
they will profit by it.
MtNzANGH
This was our next stopping-pIace and we found
the miners in pretty good spirits, some of them
having struck the lead, after having dug for two
or three years for nearly nothing There is
rich vein OF gold running through this fiat and
across the river to CoX's Bar, and probably ma
ny miles down the river, but ii lies so deep that
many become discouraged before reaching it,
and abandon the place. One gentleman told us
chat after drifting many weeks without finding
any gold he gave it up as q bad job, when some
other persons went n and in less than foot
from where he lett off struck dirt that paid them
a hundred dollars day. Several of the claims
there and at ChilOns and Whites Bar arc pay
ing from ten to fifty dollcrs per day to the man,
ana prODably many more places COuIu DE 1Onnd
that would pay as well, but many hard days
work will have to be done before it is reached
SO those who are afraid of hard work or are
/ easily discouraged. had better seek some other
part of the country.
C0x's BAR
Here we found the miners drifting in the hill
some distance above the river. and were informed
that they had in some places proSpectcd as high
as four dollars to the pan. The hill has been
prospccted in several places where it paid from
! the surface two and a half cents to the pan, and
| Beatty Co. will have ditch completed from
/ the Saw-mi Creek this fall, which will furnish
water to work the diggings good distance up the
| hill, when we expect to more lively times
! there than has been for three years past. We
/ had not time TO more than glance at the diggings
around Little Prarie, but the miners appeared to
be doing fair business and made no complaint
Of hard times. We finished our visit by expl0r-
ing the drift of Penny Co., which is und0ubt-
! cdly one of the most valuable claims on The river.
| The drift runs into the hill nearly two hundred
feet, on the bed rock, and one of the men at work
there told us he scraped out of the further end
efeDeH ounces the day previous.
We were, on the whole, very much pleased
with the appearance of things as far as we had
an opportunity to observe and we think that the
men who have so faithfully worked for years in
reaching the deposit are now in fair way to get
paid for their labor.